On Sunday We Eat

For the record Insomnia is full of suck

2010-01-21T06:51:00.001-08:00

I have high blood pressure and it's bumming me out

2010-01-20T10:38:00.000-08:00

Each pound a pound of flesh

2009-12-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

I am down nearly ten pounds since this time last month.

It happened pretty quickly, actually, coinciding with a family member's release from the hospital (into my care) as well as the quickly intensifying chaos of my life. Again, and to reiterate, when I feel my life circumstances spinning out of control (i.e., I cannot make it better for my loved one, I cannot stop the inevitable change barreling toward my head) I take it out on my body. And it's not really "taking it out" so much as it is "taking control." My body becomes one of the only things I can control, and this in the form of what I put into my mouth (or do not), how much I move (or do not) or how often I nourish myself.

It's a delicate and ugly dance. Overriding logic forces me to make good choices when I concede to make choices at all. Good choices usually involve lots of vegetables, some fruit and a few lean proteins. It's just that there aren't a lot of them. Choices, that is. Eating, in particular.

I lost five pounds on raw, when I tried it. Since then I've incorporated the raw idea into my meal plans but have not focused on raw so much as whole foods. Good foods. Yet I did lose five pounds eating raw, even when I was stuffing myself with all that good food. And so even eating in that way (something I perceive as quite good for myself), I couldn't keep my weight steady or on. Add stress to that and here I am, I suppose, ten pounds down.

I think ultimately the structure and stricture of eating raw is very, very good for me, because it mimics the control exercised vis-a-vis my eating disorder while still nourishing my body. Having said that, I would give much in order to not need to control anything. To accept life as it is and myself as I am.

That is the work, I guess.

For more information on the truth about eating disorders, please read this article by Carolyn Friedman. I've read through it myself, and while I'd potentially put more emphasis on the media playing a pivotal role in the exacerbation of these diseases, I found it to be extremely insightful and helpful.

Ascending to someplace

2009-11-03T04:02:00.000-08:00

Why yes, I have been off the grid. A family member was diagnosed with a problem and then had to have that problem excised clear from their body. This after what can only be called the detonation of my entire life, which, by the way, I am grateful for. Gratitude is essential to life.

Before going into the hospital this family member said that irrespective of the rubble that is my life, I seem happier now than ever. This is true. I am happy because I have been liberated from things. I don't mean people or even circumstances --- I have been liberated in my mind from preconceived notions of what ought to be. Who I am. I am precisely as I present in this moment and I am fine with that. Sure, I seek to better myself or ascend, but right now beneath blankets and at the very first flash of dawn, I feel better already. I have ascended to someplace, some wonderfully neutral place, and I am grateful.

Breakfast:
Fruit smoothie, emphasis on blueberries.

Lunch:
Vegetable sandwich on sprouted grain bread: romas, cucumbers, spinach, hummus.

Dinner:
Salad: spinach, bleu cheese, raw pecans, dressed with cold pressed EVOO, balsamic and agave nectar.

The Magnesium Cure

2009-10-05T05:53:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Magnesium/Symptoms of Deficiency

Natural Calm Products

Magnesium Oil by Sunfood.com

Natural Skin Care Tips

2009-09-23T08:25:00.001-07:00

Nutritious (and yummy!) smoothie recipe

2009-09-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

Why having an eating disorder led me to raw

2009-09-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

Raw Food Challenge Recap

2009-09-18T08:40:00.001-07:00

Eat better

2009-09-16T09:14:00.000-07:00

Life's unreasonably tough right now. This is okay; I'm not complaining. It's just hard. I'm really just here to opine on how stress affects my eating. Because it does. Insofar as I don't do much of it. Eating, that is.

I actually feel nauseous a lot. This could have something to do with my basic health; my immune system is not what it should be, as usual. But when you're nauseous you don't much want to eat a bowl of fruit, or anything for that matter. I guess I could stomach some rice but I don't feel motivated or well enough to make it.

Although I don't careen about the world all stressed out, I do think it gets to me in other ways, and this is one way. Food becomes secondary, I don't want to watch shows with beautiful people, I don't want to talk to anyone about anything. I just want to stay in bed and watch Oprah. (This implies Oprah is not beautiful, which is in fact not the case.) Which I obviously cannot do. I have to force myself out of these sweats and go out and buy some food, get a prescription, get something to eat. Just being outside should help.

My friend is coming next week. There will be much culinary debauchery -- I am looking forward to this. I know at the very least she'll make me eat, and I'll be happy to, largely because I'll be happy.

I don't think I'm depressed. I'm just inundated. I want to focus on all the sunshiney aspects of the food I ought to be eating, but it's hard to even acknowledge the sunshine. Last night I had to set boundaries with two people and ended up in tears, bereft, poured out. It's all too much is how it seems. But I'll be all right. I honestly just need a plan. Baby steps to the elevator.

First order of business in reference to this plan: eat better.

Still plugging along (to the best of my ability)

2009-09-09T16:42:00.000-07:00

I went away this Labor Day and found out first hand how difficult it is finding ways to eat raw in a cooked world. I couldn't manage it hardly at all, and after becoming so sick after even the smallest (S.A.D.*) meals, I started to stop eating altogether. Seems the body acclimates quite quickly to the raw lifestyle, which is good on a lot of levels, just not when you're forced to transition to another way of eating. Alas. How to go from sixty to zero in just one day!

Am back on raw now, thank God. Fruits, nuts and more fruit. Due to some surgery today (local anesthetic) I'm a bit less-than-motivated to go rummaging for food, but hopefully I ultimately make a healthy choice. It's kind of hard caring about things when you're on narcotics which make you want to hug everybody.

In any event, I will definitely continue with the raw way of life. It'll be curious to see what percentage I ultimately reach and sustain. Irrespective, I know it's a great thing for me right now; it makes me feel good -- like I'm doing something wonderful for my body. Which I am. More fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds never hurt anybody!

*standard American diet

Let's Just Break It Down

2009-08-31T08:51:00.001-07:00

Quick Weight Loss with Raw

2009-08-30T14:30:00.001-07:00

Day 12 Raw: Lose Weight Fast

2009-08-28T13:22:00.000-07:00

Day 10 Eating Raw Y'all

2009-08-26T15:38:00.001-07:00

Day 8 Raw

2009-08-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

The last three days have been quite hard. Life gets in the way sometimes and mucks up all your great plans. That's okay though. We've got to allow for those things, and then we've got to be able to pick ourselves up and keep moving. I really do think if we can manage that, we're doing all right.

Day Five eating Raw

2009-08-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Blueberry Chocolate Smoothie

2009-08-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

I made a delicious smoothie today. The base was organic, unfiltered blueberry juice, to which I added frozen pineapple and blueberries and a banana. Yum. A smoothie would be perfect just like that, but no...I then added a heaping teaspoon of organic cacao powder (sooooo good for you) and a teaspoon of raw honey (ditto). The end result was a chocolate-blueberry smoothie, delightfully tasting and truly healthy.

What a great way to start the morning! Next time I make it, I'll take a picture and note the amounts so I can include it here as a recipe. Though it's really about eyeballing it and adjusting to your personal tastes.

I also think I'll substitute the blueberry juice base with something like almond milk, which should make the smoothie more creamy, like a shake.

Day Four on Raw Ya'all

2009-08-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

Had some really cool conversations today with people who are on their own nutritional journey. I've thought a lot about why eating raw actually feels like a spiritual thing -- and I think I begin to touch upon this reason toward the end of the following video. Loving our body and treating it well has everything to do with love in general, love as a discipline. I do think we need to love ourselves actively; in doing so we are able to love others more fully.

And what the world needs now? Is love, sweet love!

Day Three on Raw Ya'all

2009-08-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

Going Raw, Day # 2

2009-08-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

I have a surprising amount of energy, for real. Usually by the time I get home I am whacked out and ready for a good hour of zoning in front of the tube. Not these last couple of days. I'm not necessarily attributing it ALL to raw, but it's definitely different. Maybe it's because I'm happy with what I'm doing for myself? Could be. I also think, though, that when we eat living things we actually transfer the energy of that life into our own bodies. That's why fresh picked fruit/veggies are so superior to the veggies that are yes, fresh, but nonetheless have been sitting around on store shelves for awhile. The closer eaten to the time of life? The more of that life energy --- the raw nutrients and goodness --- is transferred to you.

I'm hungry, man. I cannot even DESCRIBE to you the huge salad I had three hours ago (I try to though in the vid below). I'm going to go eat. And eat. And eat. I can eat whatever I want as long as it's raw! That goes for dried fruits and seeds and nuts ... something "regular" dieters might be able to have, but only in limited amounts. Not me. A lot of this food I used to view as special --- treats. Grapes, watermelon, bananas, dried fruit, pecans, etc. Before I'd have a little of them here and there, supplementing my "regular" diet --- but now I can (and do) eat immense amounts of them, and I feel great! And my body is working, I can tell. That's why I'm hungry so soon after I've eaten. My body is burning up the food as fuel, giving me energy, and when it needs more, I give it more.

It's really cool, just observing the changes. I feel pretty good about it. Not deprived at all.

Day One Doing Raw Ya'all

2009-08-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Easy Veggie And Hummus Sammich

2009-08-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Remember that raw hummus recipe from yesterday? I hope so, since it was only yesterday.

ANYWAY, here's me using that hummus in a easy-breezy veggie sandwich why btw? Totally tasted awesome. I had to make seconds for everybody which is kind of amazing when you realize that it was HEALTHY.

Delicious Raw Hummus (made with zucchini)

2009-08-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

Wonderful recipe for raw hummus I found on the innernahs. It's really very good, I promise!

2-3 zucchini
cumin to taste
juice of one lemon
approx 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic (or more, depending on your tastes)
sea salt to taste
2 - 3 tablespoons tahini

Mix and eat!

Day before I go raw

2009-08-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday, the day before I start going raw. I have some thoughts about it, most of them good, and for the most part I'm very excited about getting started on a process I know will be extremely beneficial to me.

I'm tired today. I had to take Benadryl to get to sleep. That's something I hope will change very soon, what with the incorporation of raw foods, exercise and lots of water into my diet. I think I have to change a whole lot, not just the way I eat --- and I'm prepared to do that.

I called a not-for-profit organization today and inquired about a position there. I'd probably make far less than I do now, but it's a meaningful organization and I know I'd thrive in a situation like that. So ... a lot of things are beginning and ending in my life. Lots of it is hard, but I think all of it is good.

Going Raw and Why

2009-08-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

Going raw

2009-08-15T10:03:00.000-07:00

Starting Monday I'll be going back to 80% - 90% raw. I'm going to do this for at least two weeks for detoxification and then re-evaluate at that time to see if I want to continue. Last year around this time I had been eating raw for nearly a month and felt incredibly good because of it. I also looked great -- my skin looked shiny and polished and even the tenacious rash on my leg abated altogether.

Breakfast:
Fruit smoothie

Lunch:
Juices, raw nuts, berries, raw cheese

Dinner:
Spinach salad, seeds, nuts, fruit

I'll drink fruit juices (blueberry, carrot, orange, grape --- all organic) throughout the day along with lots of water.

I'll be weighing myself as well, and even though I don't need to lose weight, I'd like to see how much I lose nonetheless. A slimmer person who still manages to lose weight eating raw is indicative of the significant amount a heavier person will lose by doing the same.

Why I'm doing this:

I'm feeling run down again. I have a lot on my plate right now and I have to be physically able to deal with it all. I'd like more energy and verve. Also, I'm toying with the idea of becoming clinically "underweight" as a means to mitigate my high blood pressure. I read in Dr. Joel Fuhrman's informative book, Eat To Live, that it is possible to handle high blood pressure naturally if a person drops approximately ten pounds below their "ideal" body weight. This intrigues me as there's nothing I'd like more than to get off the pills-for-life regime I presently suffer (synthroid for thyroid and avapro for high blood pressure).

However, given my interest in natural beauty, I might not like the way I look if I am too thin. So we'll see.

The Anatomy of a Healthy Smoothie

2009-05-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not a big breakfast eater, and so in lieu of a large meal I tend to make some kind of smoothie chock full of things to keep me going for a few hours.

I drink these nearly every day, if not at breakfast than at lunch -- sometimes even for dinner. They're easy to make, delicious and extremely healthy for you.

The ingredients are not difficult to find or hard to use. I'll explain why I personally use them, too, so you can decide whether you want to begin incorporating some of these things into the smoothies you make at home.

8 to 12 oz water or orange juice for base
Fresh or frozen fruit
1 - 3 tablespoons coconut oil
Nascent iodine, 4 drops
Biotics Research Aqueous Multi Plus
1 teaspoon blue agave

Let's go through them one by one:

Orange juice: Oranges are a superfood. Superfoods are foods which contain important nutrients not usually found in other foods. Basically they are the superheroes of foods. The more we eat these foods the healthier we will be. I try to eat as much off the superfood list as I possibly can each day.

In this case, when unable to consume actual oranges, use orange juice. Get organic with all the pulp, if you can. I realize in the picture above I've got Tropicana and that's because wow, I'm kind of human and also totally budget conscious. Still, I get organic whenever I can. What's also wonderful, though, is using a filtered water base with actual orange slices mixed in with the rest of your fruit.

Fresh or frozen fruit: Everybody needs about five servings of fruit a day, isn't that what thye say? Personally I can't imagine eating that much whole fruit (I'm not as big a fruit lover as others I know) and so this smoothie is a good way for me to get what I need all in one go. Remember: fruit should never be eaten with anything else because the digestive processes required to break down fruit are different from the processes used to break down protein and carbohydrates. If you eat fruit with anything else, the fruit will be last to be processed, and this will cause fermentation in your stomach.

One other thing to remember is that the darker the fruit, or more vibrantly colorful, the more healthy and anti-oxidant rich. Blueberries are also a superfood and I tend to always have them on hand, either to throw into smoothies like these or to put on top of my oatmeal (oats? also a superfood). Unsweetened blueberry jam is also a healthy treat to have around the house --- use liberally on toast or scones or whatever you like. Blackberries are also fab in smoothies, as well as strawberries --- but one warning about strawberries: only eat organic. There's more pesticide found on strawberries than nearly any other fruit.

Coconut Oil: I recently wrote a post on what I consider to be the miraculous properties of coconut oil. As such I not only apply coconut oil liberally to my body, but also ingest it one to three times a day. It adds a nice flavor in this smoothie, and so I recommend it.

Nascent Iodine: I use nascent (or atomic) iodine specifically as a tonic for my thyroid, but its benefits, I believe, are legion:

...another, more modern form of Iodine is nascent iodine. It is a consumable iodine in it's atomic form rather than it's molecular form. It can hold an electromagnetic charge which basically means it has a huge release of energy when consumed.
According to Dr Guy Abraham Iodine is detected in every organ and tissue in the body. And so essential is it for life that a deficiency in it will bring a wide variety of afflictions (including cancer) that are difficult to trace back to the trace mineral, iodine. It used to be routinely added to bread as a supplement up until 20 years ago.

60 million mainland Japanese consume a daily average of 13.8 mg of elemental iodine, and they are one of the healthiest nations based on overall well being and cancer statistics - Abraham, G.E.

Because iodine deficiency results in increased iodine trapping by the thyroid, iodine deficient individuals of all ages are more susceptible to radiation-induced thyroid cancer.

Iodine occurs naturally in very small quantities in Salt (iodized), Cod, Shrimp, Tuna, Milk, Eggs and in much, much larger quantities in Seaweed. Some companies also offer it as a supplement.
Source.
(Please note that the referenced article also indicates an added benefit when taking nascent iodine with transdermal magnesium. I intend to write a post about the wonders of transdermal magnesium and how it has positively impacted my own health. Look for it soon.)

The few drops of nascent iodine used in this smoothie are undetectable.

Biotics Research Aqueous Multi Plus: This liquid vitamin supplement was recommended to me by my trusted integrative M.D. I've taken a lot of supplements, as it's my opinion that the traditional diet no longer provides for the essential vitamins and minerals we all need. I recommend this brand because it works for me. If taken by the tablespoon it tastes a bit like orange flavored cough syrup, though not nearly as objectionable (if you, like me, hate taking cough syrup). I have no problem whatsoever with it, and it too is undetectable in this smoothie.

Blue Agave Nectar: I don't use too much of this as obviously this is a sweet enough smoothie without it. However, sometimes I use more tart fruits like pineapple and the like, and in those cases agave sweetens nicely. I prefer it to honey. Clearly, add according to your own taste.

Enjoy!

Out In The Garden

2009-05-24T13:10:00.001-07:00

Snapshots from today in the garden.
I was very excited to get in there and get my hands dirty.

I wear this outfit nearly every time I garden, and have for years.
Because I'm a farmer and all.

***

The garden was overgrown and dry.
Still, the Greek oregano managed to come back
like gang busters, as did the sage.

***
Getting my hands dirty. Gardening is actually hard work, yo.
After hours of this kind of squatting as well as all the shoveling and angling,
my body aches. It's a good ache, though.

***
Final result. I prioritized this year, only planting the things I knew I would use.

It's been a good day.

Summer Garden

2009-05-23T15:16:00.000-07:00

The sunshine does wonders for me.

I dropped the top and drove around all day, ultimately landing at the garden store. Produce is ridonkulously expensive these days and I prefer to grow my own anyway, where I can. This midwest soil is bananas-good. And so I went and picked up my flats of Roma tomatoes, my sweet basil, my spinach, my (one, for the love of God) cucumber. I'll plant them tomorrow and within weeks will be eating my own harvest. I have to say, there's very little quite so satisfying. I make my own hummus and garnish it with my own cucumbers and tomatoes. I make mounds of bruschetta. I use the basil and Roma tomatoes, add mozzarella and then make tasty paninis . The spinach is new this year (I failed miserably with it last year) and if any of you know me, you know how I love spinach salads. So it's good. It feels and tastes very good.

Sunshine? Also good. You out there reading this? Probably totally vitamin D deficient. Don't feel bad because most of us are. But vitamin D acts as a well-being hormone within us; it actually has the ability to make us feel better, lighter, calmer. Vitamin D deficiency has also been linked to a variety of maladies/conditions. So get your fifteen minutes, people, or supplement if you need to. And eat those veggies. And eat that fruit!

Meanwhile I'll take pictures of my garden and the things I make with my harvest.

Stay tuned.

Be enough

2009-05-19T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today someone jokingly said something to me and it hurt me. Actually it hurt me pretty deeply.

I know he didn't mean it to hurt me and in fact probably wasn't thinking about me at all as he said it, but it stung nonetheless. When he said what he did I was struck with the idea that I will never be good enough for anybody, not even myself. It wasn't his ultimate message but it's what I heard. Because the problem is mine. Sure, maybe he was a little insensitive but the fact is that I am constantly in a position to receive those messages because part of me believes those messages to be true.

My logical mind assures me the messages are complete rubbish but the heart seems to absorb them nonetheless. And it's the heart that has the greatest ability to hurt us.

We're all wounded in one way or another. We carry our crosses. We all get hurt, too, and lots of times it's by people who don't mean us any harm but who nonetheless hit us where it injures the most. Who knows what it is for you? I only know what it is for me.

It's in these times that I am struck by how much work I still have to do. The enormity of what lies ahead immobilizes me. I can manage the micro only; the macro is too much to take on at once. I'm also aware of how alone I am on this journey --- which is as it should be --- but it's a hard pill to swallow. Sometimes I wish others would understand more or even help me carry it, but it's not their duty to do so. It is not their work. I get that.

And so I get hurt, I might even trip up for awhile, but then I keep going. Because I'm the only me that I've got.

And it's got to be enough.

The Miracles of Coconut Oil

2009-05-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

I have been using Coconut Oil (raw, certified organic) for some time now. I apply it topically and also ingest it. People get scared hearing about me actually eating it; they worry that it's a saturated fat and will somehow adversely affect my cholesterol, weight, heart and general health. The amazing thing is that coconut oil actually helps with all of that.

Topically I am quite liberal with it, applying it all over the body to smooth and heal my skin. (I often supplement my coconut oil with cacao butter which is also very healing -- I must say, I'm a pretty good smelling woman. ;) ) When "on plan" I also ingest approximately 1 - 3 tablespoons a day, usually pouring it into orange juice or incorporating it into a fruit smoothie.

I have extremely sensitive skin. The older I get, for whatever reason, the more intolerant I become to medicines, foods, lotions, perfumes, dyes, detergents. I have a long standing (and usually dormant) rash of indeterminate origin on my left calf which becomes inflamed any time I come into contact with something aggravating to my body, which, in this day and age, is more frequent than I like. Coconut oil is one of the only things that not only soothes this rash but also eliminates it. (Magnesium oil has been utterly essential as well. I will write more about that in the future.)

I'm from Hawaii. I'm also an Irish white girl. Back when I was a kid living on Maui and Oahu, nobody used sunscreen; ah those innocent times when women looked sixty by the age of 35. Anyway, given location and ethnicity, I burned to the point of blistering more times than I care to recall. Nonetheless, I have good skin. In fact I have great skin for my age (certainly according to my doctors), and I have absolutely no doubt that it's because I use products like organic coconut oil. I am not over-stating the effect it's had on my life. It's part of a health and beauty regimen to which I'm diligent, and I think it really shows.

I see other women my age, some a decade or more younger. At times I can't believe how old they look; how dried out; how wrinkled. Not me, though, and I'm being real. There's moisture in my skin and it's smooth. It's healthy.

And it's not just about my skin. Again, coconut oil is good for overall health. For example I also have Hashimoto's thyroiditis which results in hypothyroidism, or a slow/sluggish thyroid. The thyroid, as you may or may not know, regulates metabolism, so when it's sluggish it's a real quality of life issue. Before being diagnosed I was literally bed ridden 80% of the time. I remember my young child drawing a picture for me --- a picture of me --- and in it the bed was actually a part of my body. She couldn't differentiate between the mattress and me --- shocking!

I was fatigued, losing hair, gaining weight (no matter how little I ate or hard I worked out) as well as experiencing a whole host of other symptoms. The coconut oil has helped with all of this. I still take thyroid medication but also supplement with the oil and nascent iodine. The results have been nothing short of miraculous. I no longer take naps. I no longer feel fatigued. I no longer have brittle hair and red, dry skin; I have shed all extra weight and feel healthier at this age than I did twenty years ago. I also feel I look better now than then, hands down.

Many things contribute to my current state, to be sure. I am not claiming to be the picture of health, but I am saying that certain things have helped immensely even when I haven't taken the best care of myself. I am interested in eating for beauty and organic skin care; my library is stocked with books about diet, nutrition and herbs used for beauty and vibrancy. I don't do all that I need to do all the time, but I do enough.

Coconut oil is integral to my approach and I recommend it strongly.

To review the specific product I use, click image:

Also potentially of interest: The Coconut Oil Miracle (Previously published as The Healing Miracle of Coconut Oil)

Intriguing Smoothie Recipe I must Try

2009-05-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

Found this smoothie recipe online and it looks quite good. Lots goes into it, obviously, and perhaps I wouldn't use all ingredients, but man, tons of power nutrients listed here.

I'm going to try it, and am posting it here for my own records.

Start off with half an inch of water and put it into your vitamix.

Add:

Spoon of raw and organic honey
Spoon of raw/organic coconut oil
Pinch of organic sea salt
Handful of organic cashews or organic brazil nuts
Two squirts of vanilla stevia

Blend on high until silky smooth. Now you have your base!

Now Add:

Half a cup of Organic Frozen Berries (or fresh berries like strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, etc.)
1.5 - 2 cups Coconut water or some kind of nut milk (I prefer coconut water, but I do use nut milk sometimes. Such as vanilla almond milk or hemp milk)
2 to 3 (or more :)) big tablespoons of Cacao Powder
1 - 2 teaspoons of Goji Berry Extract powder
Handful of Goji Berries
2 to 3 tablespoons of some kind of seeds (I like Chia seeds the best. But you can use flax seeds)
1 - 3 scoops of SunWarrior Protein
1 - 2 tablespoons of tocotrienols
1-2 tablespoons of SunWarrior activated barley (optional)
1 tablespoon of maca extreme (be careful! :))
1 -2 tablespoons of The Sun is Shining (or spirulina)
1 tablespoon of organic peanut butter (optional)

Blend that all up until smooth and enjoy!

You can basically mix and match ANYTHING you want and be okay. The more you put, the thicker the smoothie will be. As you start making more of them and watching what you put everyday, you’ll get a good idea of what works for you. There is so much you can put into smoothies its incredible. Like I said, once you have your base, you can dump stuff in and it’ll still taste good! The ingredients above are just some of the things I put in my smoothies. Some days I put other stuff and substitute. All depends on what you feel like.

The best part is, they taste GREAT and they make you feel GREAT.

Intuit

2009-05-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

Let's talk more about this intuitive eating business.

Not now or anything.

I'm far too busy attempting to intuit what to eat.

My mind is shrieking an entire leg of lamb but maybe what it's really saying is: asparagus and air.

Kimmer is just a part of the problem (a despicable part, but still)

2009-04-30T06:59:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I have a great interest in diet and nutrition. This of course is ironic as, like most of you also know, I struggle mightily with my own weaknesses in this area. I'm not alone in this, however. If anything, I'm in the majority. I'm probably a lot like you.

Many of us are specifically looking for a way out of the endless diet loop; a way to "lose weight fast" and "keep it off". We want to lose thirty pounds in a month in order to fit into a wedding dress. We want that beach body by summer. These rationalizations miss the mark and drive far too many to do truly unhealthy things to themselves.

A few years back I was a "low carber". I ate very few carbohydrates (even the complex kind, which are necessary to good health) as well as no refined sugars. I started the LC program because my brother had been diagnosed with extremely high (read: absurd) cholesterol and "prescribed" a low carb way of life (specifically, Atkins). At the time it seemed ridiculous to me; eating all that meat and fat in order to lower numbers. Still, he did it for years and actually brought his cholesterol down*. He also said he felt good and had more energy.

Since I'm predisposed to the same conditions as Jesse, particularly high blood pressure, I decided to give his seemingly successful Way Of Eating (WOE) a go and joined him in eating that way for nearly a year.

(I am not going to go into an exhausting treatment of the low carb lifestyle. It's a controversial subject and believe me, I've seen (and been a part of) every debate. Suffice it to say I no longer personally eat that way and am exceedingly the happier for it. I find too many low carb programs** to be unhealthy and just plain bad for the body.)

During that year of low carbing I became involved in various online forums. The most popular was Low Carb Friends. I enjoyed the people there, got tips and recipes and even developed a friendship or two. All in, it was a cool community. Which brings me to my point.

If any of you were on the LCF board over the past 1 - 3 years, you may remember hearing a lot about someone named "Kimmer". (Who am I kidding? I'm sure you did.) When I was there, Kimmer (and her followers) were touting a supremely austere permutation of the low carb lifestyle, which really wasn't a permutation at all: it was straight-up starvation wrapped in a low-carb bunless burger. Minus the burger.

Kimmer claimed to have lost 198 pounds in eleven months on her "plan". Eleven months! She was also willing to share all those low carb diet secrets --- for the right price, of course. She created a website to sell those secrets, charging $60 a membership. Low carb devotees flocked. As just an example of Kimmer's plan -- quaintly called Kimkins -- people were actually told to achieve what's called SNATT, which stands for "semi-nauseous all the time". Lovely, right? And if you weren't in the state of SNATT then by God you were doing Kimkins incorrectly.

The "diet" itself called for 300 - 500 calories a day, which, hello, is starvation. Seems anybody who knows even the smallest amount about healthy eating would be able to see that, but no. Kimkins blew up with all kinds of people, especially the pro-ana communities. Within a year's time Kimmer (real name Heidi Diaz) pulled in something like 1.2 million in online sales.

Yes, 1. 2 million.

But then something else happened. People following Kimkins -- the ones who'd bought the memberships and into the program -- began losing things like .... hair. Skin luminoscity. Energy. They were becoming sick. Some would even make inquiries about these symptoms only to be told they were eating too much food.

The kicker? Former "Kimkins" devotees, smelling something foul at last, hired a private investigator to find and follow Heidi Diaz. Know what she looks like?

Wait for it...

This.

Yes, that's right. Not only is Kimmer handing out dangerous and potentially fatal "diet" advice, she is also morbidly obese (weighing in at 300+ pounds) and follows none of that advice herself. Click here for actual video surveillance of Heidi Diaz. It's precious.

It's also enough to sicken me. Don't worry about Kimmer though --- she's being sued and her name is being bandied about on myriad television programs. Any profit she made will no doubt be pissed away (if there is a God) as lawyer bills pour in. It's called karma and it couldn't have happened to a greater gal.

Stories like this make my blood boil. I can't tell you how many supplements I've tried through my life, or WsOE, all in some vain hope to achieve "optimum health". What I didn't know then, however, and which I do know now, is that health is not for sale. Health is also singular to the individual, meaning nobody is ever going to teach you the right way to be healthy (or even thin) except you. What works for you might not work for the next guy because you have unique needs. There's only one you.

And so the answer? Listen to your body.

Yes, it really is as simple as that. Listen to your body as it tells you exactly what you need to know, to do, to eat. This is roughly what intuitive eating is; it involves acknowledging your hunger and then examining it to figure out what your body is truly asking for. For example, maybe your first inclination is to eat ice cream, but the more you examine the inclination or hunger, the more you realize that what you really want is oranges. Or water. Or spinach. Or even, yeah --- ice cream. It's about ultimately eating what the body truly wants; as much as you like without pigging out. Doesn't sound so bad, right?

My point is that you don't need someone else to "teach" you how to listen to your own self. Sure, a lot of us have supremely lost our way, and that's why good and reputable books like If You're Going To Eat At The Refrigerator, Pull Up A Chair (Geneen Roth) help us to listen and re-learn. That's fine. Information never hurt anybody.

But your body will always do the work for you, if you let it. The body always seeks its way back to wellness and balance and will achieve it if you get out of your own way. Don't let scam artists like Heidi Diaz and other so called "experts" make you think you can't do this by yourself. You not only can, you should. You're the only expert that matters.

You're the only one who can heal yourself.

*as far as I know, Jesse now has a modified low-carb WOE and couples it with (what I consider to be) a bananas amount of hardcore exercise. He's certainly trim, but I worry about his health. His cholesterol goes up and down, but it is frequently high.

**not all low carb programs are created alike. One or two actually make sense, such as The Goddess Diet, which I will review in an upcoming post.

Keeping Track

2009-04-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, hummus with cucumber and tomato on whole grain flat bread crackers. Twice. Coffee. Some water.

Today, hummus with cucumber and tomato, spinach salad with chicken, bleu cheese, oil & vinegar dressing, one glass of wine.

Vitamins both days (Reliv) with coconut oil.

...Just marking my progress, ya'alls.

Og say food good

Important

2009-04-23T18:07:00.001-07:00

~~I did better today.~~

One coffee, one coke, one glass of wine, a large bowl of soup. Some water.

I hate to admit that the above constitutes "better", but it does.

At present my constitution is weak. I keep hurting myself, trying to become stronger. As if the universe doth conspire. Yet it doesn't. It's honestly just me. What I've done to myself.

Granted, I went through all that medical drama. It's not insignificant. Laying inert for so long, a body can forget its better days. But I've wanted those better days, and badly. Not the perfect form --- no. Just health. Wellness.

Last summer I was doing a lot of spiritual work. The more work I did, the more refined my diet became. Not in a dysfunctional way. In a ... spiritual way.

I began to become intolerant of wine. Hard liquor. Red meat. Coffee. It started in June (and I believe it's all documented here in this blog) and by August I was vegan. Not just vegan, but my food was approximately 90% raw. My skin glowed. I had boundless energy. The feeling of failure vanished; I'd accomplished my own rescue.

Used to be I could do something for a week and then pretend I'd done it a lifetime. I could eat salads, drink smoothies, supplement. One week? Done. After that? As long as I wanted. Precedents are important to me.

Yet here, now, I cannot even fathom a week. Myopia. It's the bottom of the well in which I'm currently residing. Stress has dumped me here, and people, and conditions. Mortal coil conditions.

Even as I wrote that I knew it was a cop out.

I have dumped me here. Me. Me.

I cannot ask anybody else to throw the proverbial rope down to me, either. I've got to dig fingernails into cold stone grooves and hoist my own self out of this dark. I know can do it. God, I know I can.

This comes off dramatic, I realize that. But it's that critical. You have no idea, not really. I've been trying to tell you for some time ---- it's very important.

Gut Spill

2009-04-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'll tell you what: on paper, I certainly have all the answers.

See, it's never been about information. It's never been about knowing things and referencing them at will. What it's been about, actually, is implementing that which I already know, and this, my friends, is where I fall short.

So very short.

Why. Why? I ask myself this all the time. Why? I won't bemoan my faults. They are legion and plus most of you know them already. You know how I do so well only to go off the rails on a crazy train. How I consistently fall short. You're probably as frustrated as I am. I'm sorry for that.

My food is dictated by my emotions. If someone hurts me I either starve or I eat. Either way it's a punishment of self; a kind of affirmation of what's been externally laid upon me. It's so much uglier that way, when we do it to ourselves.

Believe me, I know.

I've had a long standing eating disorder. I like to tell people I don't "practice" this eating disorder anymore, mainly because I don't want them to worry. But urges never leave you, not really. I imagine it's the same for an alcoholic or someone who gambles compulsively. Maybe they "practice" restraint, but inwardly they always have that particular Achilles heel. They are always aware of that ever-present skulking shadow of who they could be.

Because they know what they're capable of.

Me too. For real. Me too. I was bulimic for many years. That's hard to say out loud or in print. It's a distasteful condition and I absolutely get that. Mine was different by degree, I suppose: I purged but I did not binge. It was all about austerity. About a kind of punishment, I think. And a kind of control.

I constructed a "box" filled with things I allowed myself to eat --- healthy things, good things, unrealistic things. The only problem was that the box got smaller and smaller, ceaselessly. Soon it was a dot and not a box. Soon no food actually lived within that box, only woe, only judgment. I could eat nothing. Everything I did put into my mouth was a transgression; something I felt deeply. Painfully.

Until I got rid of it.

I'm smart, I'll tell you that right now. I know a lot of you think I'm vain but in actuality I'm not. In fact I'm egregiously demure in a lot of ways, as well as unsure to a fault. However, I know I'm smart. What I'm saying is: I know how to eat. I have all the books. I've done all the research. It's not rocket science, people.

Believe it or not I'm actually passionate (and well educated) about good nutrition. It's just that this information never seems to extend to me. Just other people. I feed them, I make sure they're well. But me?

Starve, bitch.

Pay, bitch.

Why. Why. Why? Don't make me go to my father. Honestly, just don't. I don't want to. God that's dark. It's hard to even sit with, here in this room.

Don't make me go to my mother either, or the hell she went through, the price she paid for simply being alive. Or the evil she did and never acknowledged.

Don't let me go to my brother, please, because to me he is a Man Among Men. The prototype. Don't make me go to him though, to the loneliness, to all that we shared and witnessed together; two children huddled together in the dark. Don't let me go to the abandonment when he left me. Don't make me feel that.

That's why. It's why. Why! I have been to countless therapists. I've ripped open my person; I've spilled out these things to them, each one. Yet none of them have helped. I've charmed the lot of them; I've been such a good girl on that couch. Because I am a good girl, see? I am a good person. I am someone who wants to be the best for all the best reasons.

Still, I'm woefully incapable. They never saw it. They bought into the intellect. They bought into the smile. They thought it meant wellness. They thought it meant I was well!

But I've never been well.

Oh I'm sorry, folks. This will probably be down come morning, because it's all too raw and too disclosing to share. But it's also the damned truth. I like telling the truth, even when it pains me. I figure somebody out there will read it and they'll relate on some level. Maybe we'll commiserate. Maybe that's why I'm here. I wish I knew.

Ok, perhaps in actuality I have no answers, only more questions. I only know that I want to be what I believe I can be. She's such a grand person, this woman I see in my mind. I want to be just like her.

Is there some kind of way?

When eating is a chore, you know there's a bigger issue, Sparky.

2009-03-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

I think part of the problem here is that eating has begun to feel a bit like a chore, at least when I am home. "Oh dear, now I have to go and get the blender out, and the juice, and the fruit, and the coconut oil. Oh, now I have to mix it all up and then I have to drink it."

I put it off indefinitely because I'd rather be doing something else. Then what happens? I find myself at 5pm either faint or really hungry. When you're faint you'll shove anything in your mouth to make it go away; same goes when you're hungry.

Today I was in the middle of watching my taped The Bachelor: After The Rose (priorities, ppl) and I knew I had to eat. I was ravenous. I also knew I'd "started over", which in my case means, well, eating. And eating well. But it was such a good Bachelor! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I didn't want to leave!

But I'd started over.

Sometimes I think I like being hungry. Or I like denying myself in some way; it's like control. Maybe it's an outward expression of something going on inside of me, something ambiguous I cannot define and which I'm only now beginning to perceive. I don't know. I have wrestled with eating disorders in the past; it would not surprise me if there was a distorted emotional component charging this whole thing.

In any case, I ultimately made a spinach salad with seeds and some chicken breast. I ate it all. I felt better instantly, and in a lot of ways.

And then I finished After The Rose.

My God, did you people see that?

Starting Over

2009-03-01T05:19:00.000-08:00

I haven't been taking care of myself.

It wasn't that long ago (early summer?) that my body began telling me things I should and should not eat, and I listened. I grew my own tomatoes, my own herbs, my own cucumbers. I ate homemade hummus and crowned it with my very own harvest. I drank water and stopped drinking coffee because it literally made me sick. As did all alcohols. I ate spinach every day, as well as a variety of seeds and nuts, and cut out all meat (not on principle, but because my body literally phased those things out).

I was...healthy. I actually felt good.

Oh how the Crystals have fallen. Ever since my first surgery I have, for the most part, forgotten to eat. It's not driven by some misbegotten need to be thin, but rather a complete disregard for self, as well as an inappropriate focus on things of less importance. In other words, Crystal became secondary. Why feed and nurture my own body? Everything seemed wrong in my life, so why not my nutrition, too?

I didn't care.

On the train home the other day I had an intuitive flash, such as some of you know I do. It was of a fruit smoothie, believe it or not, with coconut oil in it. Benign, I'm sure you're thinking: maybe she was just hungry. But I wasn't. And it wasn't the visual that was important, but the feeling in my na'au (as we say in Hawaii), or spiritual gut, that was most relevant. And also frightening.

It was a warning.

I must get this back on track. My health is precarious because I have now made it so, along with the myriad procedures, etc., I have suffered in the last half year or so. Now I must undertake a nutritional intervention on myself. I have to go all-in again, becoming completely proactive, because if I don't, grim things may very well trickle down the pike in my direction. I do not want this.

You may think this is superstition but it's not. See, our bodies talk to us all the time. They tell us we need water, or minerals, or iron, etc. It's just that we don't listen, and in my case, I purposely stopped listening. Now look at me: my jeans all sag, my face is pale and there's no glow on my cheeks, at least compared to what used to be.

And so, today, I start again.

McDonald's is not the temple to which I am referring

2008-09-08T20:01:00.000-07:00

Today I recovered.

I wanted to throw up all day, what the hell. Talk about misery. I am perpetually amazed at my body's lack of tolerance for all the food I know all ya'alls is eating, which is all the food I used to eat, happily. My body beat me up over it. It kicked me right in the gut and called me a bitch for even daring to deviate from the pristine raw outline it had so painstakingly drawn out for me. And I get it, I really do. Think I'll do that again? Ohohoh! No way!

Did I even eat today? I'm trying to think. Jesus, I'm not even sure. Wait, I think there was a banana, and I know I supplemented (including coconut oil and enzymes). That's really all I could keep down. The rest of the time it was lukewarm water (the best way to drink it, I'm sorry to inform you) with lemon. I did have coffee, insomuch as I paid five whole dolla for one cup of it, then had to throw the whole thing away because as I sipped I almost vomited it right back into the cup. I know you love reading this, and honestly? It's for your own bloody good. You're all treating yourselves terribly!

The body acclimates to wellness. The body in fact loves to be well and seeks physical attunement and alignment with wellness and health in general. And so when we allow the body to be well and to achieve balance, and if we then maintain this balance for a significant amount of time, the body literally forgets what it is like to be out of balance. It comes to rely upon the fine way we have been treating it. Until of course, one fateful weekend where bars and friends and Metallica cover bands converge, when you find yourself drinking unnecessary amounts of liquor and ingesting a whole pile of grease laden french fries. And then the body suddenly forgets all the rad things you've done for it and becomes punitive, in fact wanting to hurt you. And so it does. I have been struck down by this body of mine. Wounded, all for the sake of a french fry and a cosmopolitan!

Aspire to 80% raw, I am telling you. Stop drinking carbonated drinks, too, because they kill your insides and deplete your bones and are not anything found in the Garden of Eden. Drink water, for the love of God, it's not that hard. Half your body weight in ounces is a good place to start, and tea and other beverages do count toward your total water intake. Also please throw out your ridiculous white people iceberg lettuce. Its nutritional value pales in comparison to other, far superior greens, such as romaine and even better, spinach. Spinach will improve your eyesight, provide vital vitamins and minerals and much, much more. Throw raw seeds and nuts into the spinach just for crunch and grins. Dress it with a nice olive oil and balsamic mix, super easy to make, maybe add a little honey (which happens to be a superfood, not unlike the spinach and nuts) and some orange juice. This makes for a delightful meal, and is chock filled with zinc and b vitamins.

And please, I beg of you, stop eating at McDonald's (or any other fast food barftastic place). McDonald's is simply swill dressed up as "food". It is worse than dog food actually, and is also addictive. How many times do you put that stuff into your bodies? I mean, seriously? STOP IT. Instead eat whole foods that actually occur in nature of their own accord. For example Nutri-grain bars do not actually grow on trees. Nor do Fritos. These things are processed in plants where people probably sneeze right on them or else wipe fecal matter hands all over the food stuffs they are handling. Make the promise today: I shall only eat foods that occur in nature! I shall eat them in the most clean and organic state possible!

And then just do it. YOUR BODY IS YOUR TEMPLE.

Check me out, I'm lecturing you. Yes, all THREE of you.

Three Days I Don't Want To Re-Live, Thnx

2008-09-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

I knew it was coming.

I knew at some point I'd be put in a situation where I would have to eat the kinds of food I used to eat, that being meat, mayonnaise, french fries, etc. I had put it off for a long time. When going out I'd eat very little, or just bread, always making sure to eat beforehand or after. It's been nearly three months that I've been a vegetarian. Not because of some rabid perspective about it, but because it feels better to me and I genuinely like it. Also, should the case arise and I want to eat meat, I will definitely eat meat. It's just that the case hasn't really arisen ... until this weekend.

I was out all weekend, at bars with friends, at bars listening to bands, and then one final hoorah at home with guests in celebration. The first night out I had a "veggie sandwich" which consisted of gross white bread buns, sauteed mushrooms with mozzarella and some fried peppers. I had to eat it because I also had a cosmopolitan (first time I'd had hard liquor in as long as I've been a vegetarian) (Wait! I forgot about those two sidecars!). I was sick all night. I felt awful the next day, too, and that's when I went to see a band I know play. I had too much to drink and fell down in the parking lot, cutting my knee. I didn't even drink that much! I also had french fries, I think, and the next day paid for it dearly. My body was screaming no! no! to all the food and alcohol I'd consumed. I woke up feeling guilty and broken.

And then yesterday at the in-home party, we barbecued "hawaiian style" chicken (which btw, is fabulous) and ate it with mac salad (Hawaii staple) and white rice. I didn't eat a lot and in fact had been drinking filtered water with lemon all day (this cleans the liver). Still, as soon as I ate it I got sick and I mean sick.

Know what I learned? It's just not worth it to go back. Know what else I learned? That's the kind of jazz I was eating and drinking all the time before, and look what it does to the body! Look how the body rejects it!

I will always allow for the occasional dietary deviation -- but never again will I do it three days in a row. It will take me all week to feel strong and whole again.

Lifestyle Issues

2008-08-31T10:15:00.001-07:00

I haven't posted any new recipes because truth be told I've been on a cleanse of sorts. I do drink smoothies, however, chock full of all manner of glorious things, and I have taken pictures as well as noted which blends make me feel particularly well, and why. Awhile back I also candied some tomatoes and made some fun and delicious flavored oils; photos and recipes of all these things to come at some point in the near future.

Mainly though I am eating a lot of raw foods. Spinach, nuts, seeds, cherries, bananas, etc. I use a little bit of olive oil to dress my veggies, and the rest of the time I use raw virgin coconut oil for medicinal reasons. I get more than enough healthy fats using that. I mix the coconut oil with orange juice (about a tablespoon to half a glass) and drink three times a day. The oil helps with thyroid function (I have Hashimoto's) and I am amazed over the great things it's doing for my skin, and also my energy levels. I will post more expansively on this soon.

Basically I eat the same thing nearly every day. This doesn't make good fodder for a food blog of course, but I will perhaps begin to include my observations on living 90% raw, as well as how this lifestyle is affecting my general well-being. I believe in nutritional intervention. I believe in holistic care. I believe in being the staunchest advocate for my own health care, and one way I do this is by trying to ingest things I know will truly feed my body. It's been a reverent exercise. The body truly is a temple, and the more we treat it as such, the better we begin to feel in so many areas of our life.

So, if nobody minds some deviation from the tried and true course (that being rad recipes that taste awesome), you'll be hearing from me more often on a variety of nutrtional topics currently of interest to me.

Peace.

Rice with Pecans and Dried Cranberries

2008-07-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I just recently posted a rice recipe good for just about any occasion, but now I have another. Believe me, you'll thank me, it's that good. This one is adapted from the Whole Foods Cookbook and has a bit more crunch than the other, I'd say, mainly due to the raw vegetables. It's just as delicious and versatile (think lunch, dinner, potluck, debauched face-smothering).

And did I mention easy? Because easy is the best part. My grade: A

Rice with Pecans and Dried Cranberries

Ingredients:

Dressing:

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons raspberry vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 - 2 tsp sugar

Salad:

1 cup rice (I use calrose because I'm a Hawaii girl and addicted to calrose, but wild would probably be even better and you could also use brown)
water, enough to cook rice (see instructions according to rice used)
1 cup pecan halves, toasted
1/2 red onion, diced
1 yellow or orange pepper, seeded and diced
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup minced parsley
8 green onions, chopped

Directions:

For dressing, combine vinegars, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper and mix well. A blender is good for this.

For salad, cook rice according to specifications and reserve. Let cool.

Once rice is cool, add pecan halves, pepper, cranberries, parsley and green onions. Other nice bits for this salad might be celery and carrot. Combine the dressing with salad ingredients, starting with a quarter of the dressing and increasing until you are comfortable with the taste. For example, I do not use all the dressing called for this recipe -- probably about 3/4ths, actually.

Chill before serving.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook: 45 minutes for rice, 20 minutes for chopping/dressing -- 1 hr 5 min, all in

Sonoma Turkey Salad

2008-07-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

This recipe is a riff on the Whole Foods Cookbook recipe which actually calls for chicken instead of turkey. I picked turkey, however, because first of all I prefer the taste and second, it's also a SuperFood. I always try to get a few SuperFoods in each day, and this is one easy way to do it (in fact there are three SuperFood ingredients within this recipe, which I note with an asterisk).

This dish is tremendously easy to make and also extremely summery. It would be great at a potluck or eaten as a light entree with a crisp white wine or an ice cold margarita. I also imagine adding a bit of horseradish to the dressing would give it some interesting punch -- though I have yet to try it. Excellent stuff! My grade: A+

Sonoma Turkey Salad

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 lbs turkey breast, cooked, cubed, chilled * (I buy mine cooked from Trader Joe's, but you can make your own, or use chicken breasts)
2 cups seedless red grapes, halved
1/2 red onion, diced
3/4 cup roasted pecan halves *
(sunflower seeds would probably also be great in this)

Dressing:

1 cup mayonnaise
5 teaspoons good honey (the darker the better) *
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar (I use raspberry red wine vinegar for added dimension)

Directions:

In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, honey, poppy seeds and vinegar. Mix until thoroughly combined and there are no lumps.

In a separate bowl, add cubed turkey, pecans, diced onions and halved grapes. (Celery would also be good in this for some nice crunch.) To this mixture add the dressing, a quarter of a time. I never use all the dressing I make, but would rather have it on hand then not have enough. I usually use about three-fourths of the dressing for this entire dish. (The rest of the dressing is great on salads or can even be used as a marinade for fish, etc.) Mix well. Serve chilled as an entree (with a nice spinach salad) or in a sandwich.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/cook: 20 minutes (unless cooking your own turkey or chicken)

The Most Delicious Caprese Paninis Ever, I SWEAR

2008-07-25T18:01:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had a Caprese salad? They're delightful, really; thickly sliced tomatoes piled with fresh buffalo mozzarella and sweet basil leaves, and drizzled, typically, with balsamic vinegar and fine olive oil. They're fabulous in the summer. I sometimes add a little salt to my Caprese salads, but not always, since fine herbs and good vinegar/oil usually does the trick.

I decided to kick my Caprese salad up a notch, making a panini sandwich out of it. I thought I'd incorporate my Easy Breezy Every Day Pesto into it to add some nice punch and flavor. Because it's important, I made sure that all the ingredients were as fresh as possible.

The result was something out of this world -- fresh, light and even healthy. I made mine in a waffle maker because honestly? Do you think I'm going to spend $50 for a panini maker? Hardly. A waffle maker will do just fine, and if you don't have one of those, try toasting the sandwich in a cast iron skillet, the sandwich weighed down by another heavy pan or pot. Works expertly. My grade? To the moon and beyond! A++

The Most Delicious Caprese Paninis

Ingredients:

3 Roma tomatoes
Good balsamic vinegar
Good extra virgin olive oil
1 container buffalo mozzarella in water
15 - 20 leaves fresh sweet Basil
pesto
1 loaf sliced Italian bread (or ciabatta)
butter

Directions:
About an hour before panini making, marinate thinly sliced Roma tomatoes in balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The tomatoes will let off liquid into the oil and vinegar, creating a nice marinade.

About ten minutes before panini making, turn on waffle maker or begin to heat pan.

One hour later, arrange two bread slices for sandwich making. Slather both pieces with homemade pesto (the more the merrier, depending on how much you like the green stuff). Atop the pesto create a layer of marinated Roma tomatoes. Atop the tomatoes layer thinly sliced buffalo mozzarella. Atop the mozzarella drape the sweet basil leaves. Create sandwich, lightly buttering the outsides of both pieces of bread, and then brushing on a light layer of olive oil.

Place sandwich into waffle maker and close lid. Watch closely, making sure cheese melts and tomatoes and basil become sufficiently wilted. Pull sandwich when bread is golden brown. Cut in half and serve immediately.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook time: 30 minutes prep, 5 minutes cooking (per panini)

Easy Breezy Every Day Pesto

2008-07-25T17:50:00.000-07:00

Pesto is good in so many ways. With pasta, on sandwiches, or as an enhancement to other condiments like mayo or olive oil. And pesto is most fabulous when made fresh. There's nothing to it, even I can do it! For this recipe I pulled herbs from the garden and mixed it with simple store-bought items to make a panini entree too good to be believed. My grade: A

Every Day Pesto

2 cups fresh sweet basil
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup quality olive oil
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup quality Parmesan cheese (Pecorino is also quite nice)
2 - 4 garlic cloves (I use 4!)
Kosher salt to taste if you like (I rarely use any salt)

Take all ingredients and combine in food processor. Start conservatively with both olive oil and Parmesan cheese, tasting all the while. Blend until nicely mixed, presenting as a somewhat smooth and nutty texture.

This pesto will last several weeks in your refrigerator. You can add olive oil periodically to moisten the mixture.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook: 10 - 15 minutes

Wild Rice Salad

2008-07-21T17:44:00.000-07:00

I came across this mouth-watering recipe on Simply Recipes, a site I really enjoy and also highly recommend. I knew I had to try it; the sesame oil, wild rice and cranberries seemed bound to be delightful. And they were; all of it was. I made a pig of myself with this dish, seriously. I did modify the it a bit to suit my particular tastes, which the recipe here will reflect. Feel free to do the same. Get creative. My grade: A+

Wild Rice Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain rice
1 cup wild rice
4 cups vegetable broth
8 green onions, sliced
2 cups thawed frozen peas
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Salt and pepper

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 Tbsp dark sesame oil

Directions

1 Put the vegetable broth in a medium sized saucepan. Add the rice and wild rice, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover. Let cook for 40 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool completely. (I used calrose rice for this, and made both rices in a rice pot. Worked out nicely.)

2 Heat a small skillet on medium high heat. Add the almonds. (If you like, lightly coat the bottom of the skillet with oil.) Cook, stirring frequently, until lightly toasted. Remove almonds from pan and let cool.

3 Whisk together the olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar, and sesame oil.

4 In a large bowl gently mix together the cooled cooked rice, green onions, peas, dried cranberries, almonds, and dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste, if needed.

Chill completely before serving. Serves 8-10.

Difficulty: Easy

Oven Roasted Tomato Bruschetta (on Focaccia)

2008-07-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

Surprisingly we're still doing the vegetarian thing, though now we're calling it the "no red meat thing", because every once in awhile (usually on Sundays, for barbecuing) we eat chicken. I don't miss it though, especially when there are so many fabulous tasting meatless meals to enjoy.

This bruschetta is a perfect example. Not like typical bruschetta, which is made with raw tomatoes and usually served on a more crusty bread, this bruschetta is made with "candied" tomatoes piled high on soft, toasted focaccia with mozzarella and fresh basil from the garden. It's a nice twist on the old standard. Additionally, these tomatoes would be fabulous in paninis, and for that reason I'll indicate their preparation separately from the entire dish. My grade for the bruschetta: B+

Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Several ripe Roma tomatoes, seeded and cored
Good balsamic vinegar
Good olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper

Take the prepared tomatoes and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Drizzle as liberally as you like with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake at 300 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.

When finished, chill and then set aside. Reserve some if you like for a jar. These last awhile in your fridge.

Oven Roasted Tomato Bruschetta (on focaccia)
One loaf store-bought focaccia (I use Trader Joe's)
Butter
Olive oil
Reserved oven roasted tomatoes (chilled)
12 - 15 leaves fresh sweet basil
Buffalo mozzarella, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced

I realize I don't have exact measurements here, and that's because I like a lot of basil and a little less mozzarella. I often omit the butter (though I like the taste it imparts). Prepare according to your proclivities.

Slice focaccia about 1/2 inch in thickness. Lay on cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Add a little bit of butter to each slide if you like. Broil on hi for approximately 5 minutes. Watch closely; they toast quickly and can burn. When finished, set aside.

Grab your oven-roasted tomatoes, now chilled, and if you like, add some garlic. If they need some more balsamic, add conservatively. Slice sweet basil in long thin strips. Arrange mozzarella on top of toasted focaccia, and then add tomato mixture and basil. Serve immediately.

The Best Hummus, Tabbouleh and Tzatziki you'll ever put in your big vegetarian mouth

2008-07-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

This week we're being vegetarians.

I personally am doing this for spiritual reasons; the rest of my family, however, is doing it because I have to do it. Not to make it sound harsh or draconian; it's actually been pretty lovely eating this way. Vegetarian food doesn't have to suck, come to find out. In fact it can really be great, especially with recipes I'll be giving you today.

My husband loves hummus. I always thought it looked a bit like toddler poop and so was never really game to eat it. Until about four years ago, when I finally tried it slathered on pita bread and topped with tzatziki and tabbouleh which my husband insisted I try. Now, you won't hear me admitting this often, but my husband? He's been absolutely right, all along!

Here are three recipes for these dishes that are both easy and delish. They'd be great as an appetizer, but we enjoy them for dinner and no one is left unsatisfied. Enjoy! My grade: A+

Easy and Delicious Hummus (Hummous) (as adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine)

Ingredients:

2 16 oz cans chick peas (garbanzo beans)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4th cup olive oil
1/2 - 1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions

Add all ingredients into food processor and puree. I'm serious. It's that easy. Add more or less oil to get the consistency you prefer. If you don't want to use too much oil, warm water works well, too. Always taste during the process so the spices are just right. You can add olive oil and additional lemon juice on top of the hummus upon serving. I usually just do the oil, though, because the lemon used is adequate.

For a nice variation, add sun-dried tomatoes and/or roasted garlic.

Tabbouleh (as adapted from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook by Diana Shaw)

Ingredients:

1 cup bulgur wheat
1 1/2 cup water, boiled
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cucumber, seeded, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, minced
2 tablespoons fresh mint, minced
2 scallions, minced, white part only (I also use shallots)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium tomato, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt to taste

Directions:

Bring water to a boil. Add bulgur wheat and remove from heat. Let sit for a 1/2 - 1 hour. In this time the bulgur wheat will soak up the water, enlarging. At the end of allotted time drain bulgur through sieve, making sure to remove all water. Transfer to bowl.

To bulgur wheat add add chopped cucumber and tomato, parsley, garlic, mint, olive oil and lemon juice, mixing thoroughly. Serve room temperature or refrigerate up to 3 hours.

Tzatziki (Cucumber-Yogurt Dip) (as adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine)

1 1/2 cups plain whole milk yogurt (I like Greek)
1 cucumber, seeded, diced
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced fresh mint
2 teaspoons minced fresh dill
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
Kosher salt to taste
Fresh mint for garnish

Mix yogurt, salt and garlic. Add to this the diced cucumber (making sure to drain all excess water from cucumber), vinegar, mint, dill and olive oil. Stir to blend and season with more salt if needed. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

Serve all three on whole grain pita bread. I like to layer first with the hummus and then atop that add razor-thin slices of cucumber and tomato. Atop that I add the tzatziki and then tabbouleh. Brilliant!

Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 4 people well

Spicy Tomato, Orange and Cucumber Salad

2008-07-03T10:05:00.000-07:00

I like to make it a point to serve a side salad with nearly every meal, not simply because it's nutritious, but also because I love salads of all types. I also want to teach my child to love them as much as I do, and although it's been a long road to hoe with her, it seems we've finally hit a nice stride.

Case in point is this recipe, which was provided to me by the ever lovely Amy D. My daughter loved it (we served it with the Red Chile Grilled Chicken below, which she also loved), probably because of the orange slices and lime juice. Doesn't matter, though. It's nutritious and I'll take it! My grade: A

Spicy Tomato, Orange and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

4 Roma tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1 large orange, peeled and without pith, chopped
1/2 - 1 cucumber, peeled if you prefer, chopped
1 lime, juice of
1 tsp chili powder

Directions:

Chop all vegetables and fruits. Squeeze lime juice over mixture and add chili powder; toss. Add or increase lime as you prefer; same with the chili. A bit more orange in this might be nice, too.

Serve right away (if you let sit, the tomato and orange will devolve into a vinaigrette) with grilled meats.

Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 3 - 4, modest (side) portions

Red Chile Grilled Chicken

2008-06-29T11:21:00.000-07:00

I'd like to give a shout out to Simply Recipes, a fabulous site with loads of delicious and fairly uncomplicated recipes that every cook can enjoy.

Recently I saw a recipe there for Red Chile Marinated Grilled Chicken which immediately caught my eye. Because it's summer and we're always grilling (I recently bought my husband one of those robo-grills from Weber), I thought this recipe would fit the bill nicely for outdoor cooking, but also be decent enough for indoor broiling, if it came to that.

I also didn't have all the ingredients on hand, so please note that the recipe I've posted here is modified per my preparations, with the only glaring difference being my addition of one cup of dark brown sugar. After having tasted it, I cannot imagine having it without the sugar, so please do try it. My grade: A

Red Chile Grilled Chicken (adapted)

Ingredients

3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken parts, preferably thighs, trimmed of excess skin and fat (I used four bone in breasts and four thighs, and liked it all)
Salt to taste
1 1/4 cup Mexican red chili sauce (I bought a large can of Mexican tomato sauce with chilis -- is this the same thing? Either way, it was perfect.)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
A couple of turns on a black pepper grinder
A pinch of dried oregano, crushed (I used dried Greek oregano from my garden)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (I think I used 3 whole cloves, but we like garlic)
1 cup brown sugar

Garnish

Avocado slices
Thinly sliced lettuce or cabbage
Thinly sliced radishes
Cilantro

* To make your own homemade sauce, take 2 ancho and 2 guajillo chiles, open them up, remove the stems, seeds, and ribs. Lightly toast the chiles on a medium griddle or cast iron pan for a minute or two, flattening them down with a metal spatula. Place the chiles in a saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let soak for 10-15 minutes, until chiles are softened. Place chiles, 1 1/4 cup of the soaking water, 1 clove of garlic, a pinch of salt, in a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Proceed with the recipe, but don't add any more garlic to the sauce.

Method

1 Combine chili sauce, vinegar (2 Tbsp if using canned sauce, 4 Tbsp in you've made your own sauce), allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cumin, black pepper, oregano, sugar and garlic. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let cool.

2 Reserve some sauce for basting. To the rest of the sauce add all (salted) chicken parts and cook at low heat for an hour. (I always do this when I'm grilling chicken; it cuts down on cooking time and ensures tenderness). Once done cooking, let cool and then place in fridge until time to grill.

3 Remove the chicken from the refrigerator before starting up the grill. Preheat your grill, allowing for a space on the grill for cooking the chicken with indirect heat. (If using coals, move all the coals to one side of the grill, if using gas, after the grill is hot, turn off one of the burners.) Brush the grill grates with olive oil. Make sure the chicken pieces are well coated on all sides with the paste-like marinade. Place the chicken pieces on the indirect heat part of the grill (not over a flame or coals). Cook, covered, for 25-30 minutes, turning the pieces over after the first 15 minutes. Try to keep the temperature in the grill around 350°F. Chicken is done when juices run clear, breasts have an internal temperature of 165°F and thighs 175°F.

If you aren't in a grilling mood, you can bake the chicken pieces in the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the chicken pieces in a roasting pan, skin-side up. Cook for about 45-50 minutes, until breasts have an internal temperature of 165°F and thighs 175°F.

Serve garnished with sliced avocado, sliced lettuce or cabbage dressed with a little vinegar and oil, sliced radishes and cilantro.

Difficulty: Intermediate

Serves: 4- 6

Easy Baked Chicken Paremsan

2008-06-11T16:18:00.000-07:00

The following picture does not do what I just put into my mouth any justice whatsoever. Just know that going in:

I have an herb garden and it is rad.

Within this herb garden I have thyme, tarragon, sweet basil, rosemary, Greek oregano, sage, Italian oregano and Italian parsley. I also grow my own Roma tomatoes, broccoli, green beans and peppers. It makes me feel earthy. It makes me feel agriculturally superior. And that's because I am agriculturally superior.

Today with the basil and oregano I made a lovely sauce. My tomatoes are not in yet, so I used a can of plum tomatoes from Trader Joe's and they worked splendidly. I poured the thick sauce over breaded chicken breasts and baked, for the easiest and most fresh, most delicious Chicken Parm ever.

I mean, let's face it. Chicken Parmesan isn't the hardest dish to cook. It's actually damned easy. But when done right, it's good. And what helps make it "right"? Freshness. Herb-y freshness. And so I don't think I'm necessarily telling you to cook Chicken Parm so much as I am encouraging you to grow your own herb garden, because with fresh herbs you can make simple, rustic meals come alive. I served this one with garlic butter bread and it was stupid good. In fact I would smear the sauce all over my body and painstakingly lick it off if I wasn't wary of perhaps frightening my innocent child.

I'm that serious about it. My grade: A

Easy Baked Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

Chicken:

4 chicken breasts, pounded flat
seasoned bread crumbs (I make mine fresh from a baguette, which I toast and then grind)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
Bufallo mozzarella in water, drained, sliced
Parmesan cheese
vegetable oil for frying, about 1/2 cup

Sauce:

28 oz can whole, skinned plum tomatoes (or any tomato you prefre)
1.5 tsp Kosher salt
2.5 tsp sugar
1 tsp fresh Greek Oregano, minced
1 tsp fresh sweet basil, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Pound breasts flat, about 1/2 inch in thickness. Whisk together egg and milk. Place breadcrumbs into bowl. Dip each breast into egg/milk mixture, then liberally coat with breadcrumbs. Fry in oil, 3 -4 minutes each side, until golden brown. When done, place into bake pan and layer two to three slices of buffalo mozarella atop each breast.

In food processor, add tomatoes, salt, sugar, herbs and garlic. Puree.

Pour tomato mixture over chicken layered with cheese. Atop this sprinkle the Parmesan cheese, according to your tastes. You may also layer more mozzarella, if you like.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes, serve.

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 20 minutes prep, 30 minutes cooking
Serves: 3 - 4

Hawaiian Style Chow Fun

2008-06-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

My recent trip to Maui was exceptional for a variety of reasons, but mainly the food. I ate a lot of it. In fact I ate all my favorites multiple times, every day. It was why I went back to Hawaii, honestly. Sure it's lovely there and all; there's a great big beach and fantastic sunsets and sunrises. It's temperate. The people are lovely.

But let's be real here: with me, it's all about the food.

And one of my absolute all-time favorites? Hawaiian Style Chow Fun. I don't know how that might translate here on the mainland; names for stuff there are different than they are here (case in point: manapua in Hawaii is called char siu bao here on the mainland -- and it is way better in Hawaii, I might add). But what you're looking at in the picture is Chow Fun as I grew up with it, and as it ought to be served and enjoyed, because it is rad. It's easy to find the ingredients for it at your local Asian market, as well as easy to make.

So try it, mainlanders. You'll love it. My Grade: A+

Hawaiian Style Chow Fun

Ingredients:

1 TABLESPOON vegetable oil
1/2 pound pork or char siu, sliced in thin strips
1 T. chopped ginger
2 T. oyster sauce
2 T. soy sauce
2 cups bean sprouts
1 stalk celery (sliced thinly)
2 carrots julienne
2 green onions finely sliced
Chow Fun (or hefen) noodles, cooked and drained

Heat oil in skillet until very hot, fry either pork or char siu for 1 minute. Add ginger, oyster sauce and soy sauce, sauté 1 minute, add vegetables and stir fry for a couples of minutes. Add noodles and heat for 2 minutes, stir occasionally.

Serve on large platter.

Roasted Vegetable Menagerie

2008-04-30T06:20:00.001-07:00

Vegetables all ways are just fine by me (except maybe out of a can and then boiled), but hands down I prefer to roast vegetables if I at all can. It doesn't matter what they are, either; usually whatever I have on hand that can stand a hot oven and blend well with potatoes, goes onto the pan. I eat roasted vegetables as an entire meal, too; usually with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. My husband likes to add some rice, which I think is superfluous because really, veggies can fill you up just fine. Veggies can make you healthy, too. And veggies always give me the big wide happy face!

Last night for my roasted vegetable concoction I included asparagus, brussels sprouts, parsnips, carrots, red potatoes, russet potatoes, garlic, shallots and red onions. I know, crazy, isn't it? And the thing about these veggies is that they cannot all be fired at the same time; you have to stagger it. And so for this particular menagerie, I put the potatoes, carrots, minced garlic and parsnips in first (if I were using whole cloves of garlic I'd probably add them at the 30 minute mark), then 20 minutes later added brussels sprouts, then ten minutes after that I added onions and shallots and then eight minutes after that, the asparagus. I cooked the whole thing for an hour.

To break it down, that's:

1 hr for potatoes, parsnips, minced garlic and carrots
40 minutes for brussels sprouts
30 minutes for onions and shallots, and;
18 minutes for the asparagus

I cooked the whole thing at 375 and tossed all veggies liberally with olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary (be conservative, it's a strong spice) and thyme.

Oh behave! The results? My grade: A+

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 1 hr 15 minutes (15 minutes prep)
Serves: 4 - 6 (depending on how piggish you are -- I am quite piggish)

Gadgets

2008-04-28T13:17:00.001-07:00

I was reading Ruhlman's recent article on favorite kitchen gadgets. Of course his might as well have said a simple caveman club to kill a pig or a cow, given his apparent purist tendencies. (I mean that in a good way, I swear.) Still, it got me thinking about all the useless gadgets I've amassed over the years, and the ones I love, too. Because some I really do adore. But if I were on a desert island (equipped with electricity, running water and a stove), which of my many gadgets would I take?

It was an easy decision. It's my Kitchenaid Immersion Blender. I really do use it for everything. I make brilliant soups with it especially, and I happen to love soups, especially when they're filled with creamy goodness, like this one. It's so much easier then hauling piping hot liquid into a blender only to have it later spray all over your kitchen and also into your eyeballs, which hurts.

I have a lot of really preposterous gadgets, as well. Like the Fry-Daddy deep fryer which I never use and which is too small to fry anything sinful and delicious, like chicken. A waste of space is what it is. And then there are the garlic presses which do not work and which require the strength of ten Mr. Universes to use. Ridiculous. I ought to throw them out this instant, but do I? Will I, ever? No. And this, from the woman who hates clutter.

I think we have gadgets because it makes us feel like chefs. We see all those fancy people on Top Chef with their fandangled gadgets and we think Wow, if I just had gadgets, I could be somebody! Yet in actuality, just as Ruhlman asserts, you don't need much. A good knife, maybe some tongs, a nice spatula and you're golden.

Enough of this alleged white meat

2008-04-28T13:14:00.001-07:00

I have officially had too much pork for one lifetime. I am off pork. Off it, I say, you cannot convince me otherwise. Even though we went to the butcher and had him section out four humungous pork butts for our culinary enjoyment, and I have three of them left. It's enough. I need vegetables; a nice Caprese salad with a light vinaigrette, perhaps. Chicken breast, yes, that's the ticket, or a soup. Nothing thick and creamy which I (and my thighs) prefer, but something brothy and filled with healthy goodness. I'm telling you, I'm turning over a new leaf. No more of the fabulous indulgences like cream sauces and entire pork butts, at least for today. Maybe even tomorrow, if I have the discipline. And I think I do.

It's the Pig, I swear

2008-04-17T16:29:00.000-07:00

It's not that I haven't been cooking these past few weeks; au contraire, my friends. I've been cooking quite a lot! It's just that I've been cooking much of the same recipes you see here over and over and over again, though mainly pork. I guess you could call it a rut, and that's your prerogative, but I prefer to call it lots and lots of really rad slow cook pulled pork straight from Jesus.

I will concede, for the record, that my other recipe for pulled pork is more difficult and not nearly as tasty as the following very simple and delicious recipe:

Really Ridiculously Easy (And Darn Tasty) Slow Cooked Pork

Ingredients:

1 pork butt roast (no loin, no ribs, it says butt and hey, I mean butt), at least 4 pounds
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup apple juice, unfiltered, organic
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Directions:

Place roast in slow cooker, sprinkling it on all sides with Worcestershire sauce, then patting it down with brown sugar everywhere. Add salt and pepper. Pour apple juice down the sides of the cooker, not directly onto roast. Cook for 6 - 8 hrs on low.

And then eat, pray, love.

Hey don't look at me that way. I realize it's potentially "wrong" or "bad" in some medical way that we eat one entire pork butt per weekend but I swear, it's just a fad. Or maybe it's that we just really really really love the pig. Whatever it is, you'll pry this slow cooked loveliness from my cold dead hands.

Pineapple Pecan Upside Down Cake

2008-03-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

Being a Hawaii girl, I approve of all things pineapple, even spam-and-pineapple over rice, but that is another matter altogether. Please don't challenge me ever.

And so I set out to make a fabulous pineapple upside-down cake for Easter supper, wanting a different kind of dessert, something flavorful and Spring-like. I think I managed all very handily. (Recipe adapted from here.) The cake was moist, light and sweet with a nice after taste of rum, vanilla and almond. It was also easy (cooked in the same skillet in which you melt the butter and sugar) and truly delicious. I also liked the use of pecans as opposed to cherries (a trend I find kind of harftastic), and will in fact be making this in the future without the pineapple and with the pecans, for a nice and simple coffee cake.

Needless to say everyone at the table raved...mainly because they knew they'd better, but also because it really was fabulous. My grade: A

Pineapple Pecan Upside Down Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 ripe medium pineapple, peeled, cored, eyes removed and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds (about 4 or 5 slices)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
14 pecan halves
1 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
1 tablespoon dark rum

Directions:

Melt 3/4 stick of butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet, over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium high and cook until the sugar mixture is bubbly, about 2 minutes. Arrange pineapple slices in the skillet in a pleasing pattern and continue to cook for 2 minutes, or until the sugar mixture turns an amber color. Arrange the pecan halves in the spaces between the rings. Set aside to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Stir together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the remaining 1/2 cup butter and the granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing just until incorporated. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately in 3 batches, mixing at low speed after each addition until just combined. Stir in the vanilla, almond extract and rum.

Spoon the batter evenly over the pineapple slices in the skillet. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes.

Cool the cake in the skillet on a wire rack for 4 minutes only. Run a thin knife around the edge of the cake and, wearing oven mitts and working quickly, invert the cake onto a cake plate, keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together. Carefully lift the skillet off cake and replace any fruit stuck to the bottom of the skillet, if necessary. Arrange the fresh cherry halves, cut side down, into the top of the cake, in the center of the pineapple rings.

Serve cake warm or at room temperature.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Prep/Cook Time: 1 hr 20 minutes (approx)
Serves: 6 - 8

Copy-cat Jamba Juice Orange Dream Machine Recipe

2008-03-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

One of the most addictive things for me is the Jamba Juice Orange Dream Machine smoothies. You probably know the ones -- extremely overpriced but oh so nom-nom-nom. Anyway, I found a copy-cat recipe for this marvelous drink and thought I'd post it here for both myself and anybody else who'd like to try it. (They're fab!)

Orange Dream Machine Smoothie Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 scoops frozen vanilla yogurt
2 scoops orange sherbet ice cream
1/2 cup low-fat milk (soy or rice is fine)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/8 cup - 1/2 cup of ice (not too much is needed)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to blender and, well...blend.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook: 5 minutes
Serving: 1

Slow Cooked Apple Roast Pork

2008-03-17T10:12:00.000-07:00

While I delight in beef and chicken, my absolute favorite meat has to be pork. Barbecued pork, pork Asian-style, pork roast: you name it and by God, I'll eat it. And so because I love it so much, I am often looking to find or create a new recipe that will make my beloved piggy sing. By the rave reviews received from various members of my household, I think I may have done just that.

This slow cooked pork is fall-off-the-bone tender, juicy and full of beautiful apple-infused flavor. It is basically a bone-in roast pork cooked slowly in a flavorful apple-brown gravy, a concept both Midwestern and divine. I happened to cook mine in my slow cooker but this can easily be placed into a Dutch oven and cooked for about 3 (or more) hours at 325 degrees for about the same results.

What kind of results? Fabulous results. My grade: A

Slow Cooked Apple Roast Pork

Ingredients:

For the Sauce:

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
32 ounces low-sodium pork stock (if you do not have pork stock, try beef or chicken)

You may want to use up to 64 ounces of stock, depending on consistency of sauce and amount desired to turn into gravy after roast is cooked. Make sure consistency is not too thick but also not too thin. If anything, err on the thin side.

1 1/2 cups apple juice
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 - 2 pork bouillon (or beef) (check for saltiness before adding second bouillon)
1 yellow onion, sliced in wedges
3 cloves minced garlic (we are garlic people and put up to five cloves and are very happy with it)
1 teaspoon Kosher salt (build with salt, starting with half teaspoon and working up)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

+ 1 teaspoon cornstarch + 1/3 cup water, to be used after roast is cooked

Melt butter in pot big enough to contain amount of broth called for. When melted add flour and mix, making sure there are no lumps. Once mixed add broth gradually, continuing to mix to make sure there are no lumps. Once mixed add apple juice, Worcestershire sauce, onions, minced garlic, bouillon, salt and pepper. Test at all times for roundness of flavor. Add more salt and pepper, if needed, or more Worcestershire (though careful here, it has a distinct flavor). Start slowly on the salt and bouillon and build upward to desired taste.

Cook mixture until flavors are blended, about ten to fifteen minutes.

For the Roast:

4 pound bone in pork roast
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dry thyme (or 2 teaspoon fresh thyme)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat olive oil in frying pan. Add pork roast and brown on both sides until meat is golden brown. Remove from pan and place in slow cooker or Dutch oven. Rub with minced garlic and then sprinkle with Kosher salt, black pepper and thyme. Reserve.

Pour sauce mixture over reserved pork roast. Set slow cooker to low and cook for 6 - 8 hours, depending on cooker. If using Dutch oven, cook for 3 hours (or more) at 325 degrees.

Once roast is finished, pull out pork and pour sauce through sieve into pot. The sieve should catch all onions, which should then be placed back over pork. At this point pork can be shredded if you prefer to eat it that way.

In pot with sauce, add cornstarch dissolved into water gradually and heat, stirring constantly until sauce becomes a thickened gravy. Taste always; season if needed. When at desired thickness, serve on the side as gravy or pour directly over roasted pork and onions and serve.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes plus 6 - 8 hours
Serves: 5 - 6

Fan-freaking-tastic Carrot (with Pineapple) Cake. I am SERIOUS.

2008-03-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

I just love carrot cake. It's not that chocolate and vanilla cakes are bad, they're just kind of ... pedestrian. Common. I like a cake with some refinement, with some class. Yes, what I'm saying is that I like my cake with a little bit of jazz hands.

Carrot cake has been my favorite since childhood. I perpetually requested it for my birthday cake and we used to buy the Oregon Farms boxed version like crazy people. My mother never made it from scratch, and now after having made my own, I can't imagine why. It's not tough and plus, it's nine million times better. Even if you hate baking, or if everything you try turns out dry and flaky and off, try this recipe anyway, particularly if you like carrot cake. It's a combination of two great recipes and it's rich. It's moist. The cream cheese frosting is easy and to die for. I'm serious. I wanted to stuff my entire head right into this cake and stay there forever. My grade: A+

Carrot (with Pineapple) Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:

3 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (I actually make mine closer to a puree, because my family doesn't like to actually KNOW they are eating carrots and therefore cannot actually SEE any.)
1/2 cup diced pineapple (I make a puree out of this, as well)
1 cup chopped toasted pecans
Non-stick baking spray, like Pam

Cream Cheese Frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease 2 (8-inch) cake pans with non-stick spray and set aside. Cream butter in mixer. Add the sugar and beat. In separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make sure to mix well.

Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with the eggs (one egg at a time). Mix well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and mix. Add carrots and pineapple and beat on medium speed until well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Fold in the nuts. Divide evenly between the 2 cake pans and bake until set and a cake tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest in the cake pans for 10 minutes. Invert onto wire racks, remove from the pans, and let cool.

For Frosting: In a large bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar slowly, beating constantly. Add the vanilla. (Pecans can also be added to frosting mixture if you like. I don't do this because I don't like nutty frostings.)

When cake is cool, place 1 cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread the top with cream cheese frosting and then top with the second cake layer. Spread the icing on top and around the sides of the cake and let harden slightly before serving.

Difficulty: Easy - Intermediate
Prep/Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves: 8 - 10

Green Beans with Garlic and Shallots

2008-03-17T09:30:00.000-07:00

This is a perfect side dish recipe. I love it with all roasts, all casseroles, even by itself. I use fresh green beans only because frozen or canned are not from Jesus. Add some crispy fried pancetta to the mixture too, if you're looking for something different and are feeling like Giada. Note too that my shallots are pretty dang caramelized, but that's because that's how I like them. If you like them less golden, by all means, YOU DO YOU.

Green Beans with Garlic and Shallots

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and washed
3 large shallots, sliced or chopped, depending on size desired
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Blanch green beans by boiling in water for approximately 1 - 3 minutes. Remove immediately and plunge into ice bath (a bowl filled with ice and water, which will stop the cooking process immediately). Leave in ice bath for a minute or so and then drain and reserve. (Blanching preserves texture, color and flavor of vegetables and is a preferred method of preparation.)

In pan heat up olive oil, adding sliced shallots and cooking until caramelized, about 5 - 10 minutes. Toward last two minutes of cooking add minced garlic and incorporate. When finished remove shallots and garlic from pan and place into bowl. Reserve.

Add one more tablespoon olive oil to pan and heat up. Add green beans and saute for four minutes. Add salt and saute another 1 - 2 minutes. Remove from heat and combine garlic and onions with green beans, mixing. Serve hot.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Cheese-Inside Cheesyburgers (Oh My God!)

2008-03-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

Again, and this should go without saying: I am a Food Network Junkie. Certifiable. I watch all the hosts except maybe one or two that I simply cannot stand (I'm sorry but...Alton Brown? Manic! Insane! Slow down!) and am presently really enjoying Guy Fieri. You know him; he's the guy from Guy's Big Bite with the spiked white hair and a hankering for dude-food and big cocktails. The kind of guy I would like, right?

Anyway, I was watching Guy on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and just happened to see a couple of guys in Minnesota prepare what looked to be the best freaking cheeseburger in the world. Big, thick, packed with juice and what looked like flavor, these guys placed a big ol' hunk of cheese in the center of their patty as opposed to topping the patty with cheese after the fact. And oh my God.

I wanted to get into my car and go to St. Paul immediately, but given the price of gas these days and plus the fact that hello it's winter in Minnesota, I decided to try to make these fabulous burgers myself. I made sure to buy ground chuck with good fat content to insure juiciness, but also mixed it with ground sirloin which I knew would pack that wonderful flavor. And WOW, were they good. My grade: A+

Cheese-Inside Cheesyburgers

Ingredients:

2 parts 80/20 ground chuck to 1 part 90/10 ground sirloin (I used 2 lbs to 1 lb)
1 - 3 cloves of garlic (one clove for each pound of meat used)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 - 2 ounces cheese of choice per burger (about 1/2 inch thick and about 4 inches long) we used cheddar, pepper jack and American)
Hamburger buns, store bought, your favorite
1 tablespoon olive oil
Hamburger garnishes (lettuce, tomato, onions, mayo, mustard, you know the drill)

Directions:

Mix first four ingredients in large bowl. Salt and pepper is dependent upon amount of meat used. Needless to say seasoning is essential, meaning too little salt = bland while too much salt = inedible. Ride the lightning, my friends, and make the right choice for the amount of meat you have.

Pat down a thin, large patty with burger mixture and place hunk of cheese in the center of the patty. Pat another thin, large patty of equal size, and place it on top of the existing patty with cheese. Mold together, sealing ends. (Slapping the patty back and forth in your hands is the easy way to do this.) Fry in cast iron pan or atop grill until cooked to specification. Don't know how to judge when a hamburger is done? Read this.

While burgers are cooking, heat olive oil in griddle or frying pan atop stove. Toast hamburger buns until golden brown or desired coloration/texture is achieved.

When burgers and buns are finished, assemble with garnishes and EAT. Just EAT and EAT and EAT.

Difficulty: Extremely easy
Prep/Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 8 + depending on size of burgers (and based on 3 lbs of meat)

Toasted Onion Mashed Potatoes

2008-03-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

Another side dish I kind of just want to slather all over my body. I'm sorry, but mashed potatoes are the bomb. And bland mashed potatoes are ridiculous! Yet how many times have we all eaten them? Or else they come straight out of a box which is particularly gagtastic. Make your own mashed, people, and don't forget the butter and salt.

Look, if you're going to have mashed potatoes in the first place, you've already basically psychically agreed to put on some weight, am I right? So why not just go whole hog? Add that whole stick of butter (I know, I said it), add that salt, add that heavy whipping cream. Because trust me, you'll love these potatoes. LOVE THEM. My grade: A+ plus nine +s

Toasted Onion Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 - 5 extra large Russet potatoes, peeled, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons
2 teaspoon + Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper (add to taste)
1 - 2 cups chopped onions
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Peel and chop potatoes and place them in pot. Cover with water plus one inch and cook until done, which is when fork or knife slides through potato effortlessly. Turn off heat and reserve, undrained.

In pan, add two tablespoons unsalted butter and melt. When melted add 1 - 2 cups chopped onions and cook until truly toasted -- which means fully caramelized and golden -- about ten minutes.

Drain potatoes and place them into bowl. Add caramelized onions, and all other ingredients except heavy whipping cream. Mash potato mixture and then slowly begin adding heavy whipping cream until desired consistency is reached.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 - 6

Best Ever Maple Oat Nut Scones

2008-02-19T11:24:00.001-08:00

I was looking for a way to duplicate the Starbuck's Maple Nut Scone at home, since it's long been one of my favorite breakfast treats, ever. The thick, sweet glaze and tasty, maple-y moist bread has always been a winner to me. We're also the kind of family that likes to laze about on Sunday, with our tea or hot chocolate or piping hot mochas, and this scone is always the perfect complement. Have I found a way to duplicate the recipe? I think so, for the most part, but with a few important modifications (see recipe below). The scones themselves are not as thick as I'm used to, but I don't care about that -- for me it's all about the deliciousness. And are they delicious? Why yes, yes they are. My grade: A

Best Ever Maple Oat Nut Scones

Ingredients

For The Scones

1 cup oats (quick or old-fashioned)
1 1/2 cups flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
5 tablespoons good maple syrup
2 1/2 tablespoons cold butter (small pieces)
1 large egg
1/2 cup half-and-half or heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons maple extract
1 cup chopped pecans

Maple Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons good maple syrup
5 teaspoons half and half
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 teaspoon maple extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F.
Using a food processor or blender, finely grind oats.
In a mixer, mix flour, oats, sugar (white and brown), salt and baking powder.
Add maple syrup and butter and mix well.
In a small bowl, beat the egg with the cream and maple extract.
Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix well.
Add pecans and mix just to incorporate.
Place dough on a floured surface. Knead and pat dough into a 8 to 10 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place wedges on top and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until light brown.
Remove scones from oven to wire rack. Let cool about 3 to 5 minutes.
Mix glaze ingredients until smooth. Adjust the amount of water to get to the desired consistency. I like the glaze to be rather thick. Spread lots of glaze over each scone and dry about 15 minutes before serving.

Difficulty: Intermediate
Prep/Cook Time: 50 minutes
Serves: 8

Best Ever Caramel Apple Crisp

2008-02-19T10:22:00.001-08:00

As I've stated previously, I'm not the crisp or crumb person in the house -- my husband is. He could eat an entire crisp straight out of a dutch oven over a campfire if given the chance. I'm more a cake or pie person, but don't get me wrong, a good crisp is certainly hard to beat. But to me, crisps can tend to be a bit blah. Boring. Snore. I like something with a little oomph, which is what led me to do a world wide web innernets search for the best ever to-die for apple crisp, in order to please and wow my ever appreciative husband.

I may have found the recipe, folks. Granted I've adapted it a little, cutting out the evaporated milk and also processing the oats until they resembled bread crumbs more than whole oats, but either way, the end result sure comes close to what I was looking for. Who can turn away from ooey gooey caramel slathered over piping hot cinnamon apples? My grade: A

Best Ever Caramel Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

Apple filling:

5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 cup butter, softened

Caramel Sauce

1 14 ounce package caramels, unwrapped
3 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, toss apples with sugar, flour, cinnamon, lemon juice and water; spread evenly in 9X13 pan.

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the caramels with the milk. Heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is smooth. Drizzle caramel sauce over the top of the apples.

In another bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, oats and butter; spoon mixture evenly over caramel and apples.

Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes (apple mixture will bubble and topping will be golden brown).

Difficulty: Intermediate
Cooking time: 1 hr 40 minutes
Yield: 12 servings

Perfectly Juicy Meatballs in Rich, Sweet Marinara Sauce

2008-02-19T09:59:00.001-08:00

I like my marinara sauces thick and on the sweet side, packed with dimension and flavor. Of course I make it myself, because making it yourself is so easy and plus in the end you get exactly what you want, according to your tastes. It's fresh. It's homemade. It's delightful.

Oh and I love meatballs, too. I typically make them the same every time, although I'll switch it up here and there, adding minced mushrooms or different cheeses to taste. They're as easy as pie which is another reason I make them at home instead of buying them frozen in bags. Why do that? Meatballs are meant to be juicy and delicious, not thawed out and bland. I'm telling you, these two recipes are fabulous and easy, and once you try them you'll be making your own sauce and balls from this day forward, forever. My grade for each: A+

Rich, Sweet Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olve oil
3 14 oz cans Italian peeled tomatoes (I like San Marzano), pureed
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
5 cloves minced garlic
Half a yellow onion
7 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
2 ounces fresh basil, chopped, or to taste

Directions:

In a saucepan, heat oil. Add onion and saute until transparent. When cooked, add garlic, peeled/pureed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, pepper flakes, salt, bay leaf and basil. Cook, uncovered, for twenty minutes. When done, remove bay leaf and use immersion blender to puree, or regular stand blender. Blend until desired consistency is reached.

Perfectly Juicy Meatballs

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground chuck
2 ounces dried bread crumbs, as fresh as possible
3 large eggs
4 ounces grated Romano cheese
2 tablespoons whole milk
1 small yellow onion
2 ounces minced basil leaves
2 ounces minced Italian parsley leaves
5 - 7 minced garlic cloves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. If mixture seems too soft or loose, add bread crumbs. Roll meatballs about the size of a golfball or ice cream scoop. Cook for 35 - 40 minutes. When done, place in sauce and simmer for another 15 - 20 minutes.

Difficulty: Easy
Yields: 8 servings

Paula Deen's Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake From Georgia

2008-02-19T09:47:00.001-08:00

I love cake --- any kind of cake. Lemon, white, chocolate, and especially apple. Oh I've searched the internet round for the perfect apple cake recipe, and although I think I'll continue to try new things, I will say that Paula Deen's Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake From Georgia (omg mouthful) comes quite close to fitting the bill. The only thing I'll say is that the original recipe's 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil is just too much, producing great moisture, sure, but also too much synthetic oil taste which I don't happen to love. Instead I replace the oil with two sticks of melted unsalted butter and a half cup of pure vegetable oil. Sometimes I don't even add the oil and just use apple sauce instead (a half cup with the two sticks of melted butter). The taste is always more dimensional and pleasing, which is why I recommend you make the same replacement when trying the recipe, too. My grade: B+

Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake From Georgia

Ingredients:

Cake:
Butter, for greasing pan
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup pure vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange juice
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups peeled and finely chopped apples
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Sauce:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease a tube pan.

For the cake: in a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs, melted butter, oil, orange juice, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and vanilla extract; and mix well. Fold apples, coconut, and pecans into batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 1 1/2 hours.

Shortly before the cake is done, make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan, stir in the sugar, buttermilk, and baking soda, and bring to a good rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute. Pour the sauce over the hot cake in the pan as soon as you remove it from the oven. Let stand 1 hour, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook time: 1 hr 30 minutes
Yield: 16 - 20 servings

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (That Everyone Will Love)

2008-02-19T09:30:00.001-08:00

Me? I tend to like things spicy. Some of the other members in my family? Not so much. This creates quite the conundrum when I'm in the mood for Mexican food, because I like blazing hot salsa and burn-your-tongue hot sauce. But those things are typically added after the fact, which is what makes this Creamy Chicken Enchiladas recipe so great. There's lots of flavor, but it's mild flavor. Add all the spices you like, or keep it low-key and mellow. The resulting enchiladas are thick and juicy, slathered in a savory, tasty sauce that everyone will love. And for those of you hot-heads out there who like your food like I do, add the inferno salsa after the fact. My grade: B+

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

Enchilada/Filling:
8 - 10 8 inch flour tortillas
1 pound chicken breasts, diced (or Rotisserie chicken from market, skinned and diced)
1 medium onion
1 cup sour cream
4 oz cheddar cheese (or your preferred cheese)
Cilantro to taste, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced

Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 15 oz can chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 10 oz can Rotel chopped tomatoes and chiles
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ancho chilli powder
1 tsp chicken bouillon
1/4 tsp salt
4 - 8 oz cheddar cheese

Directions:

Take cooked, skinned and cubed chicken breasts/meat and place in bowl. To that add 1 cup sour cream, cilantro, garlic, minced onion and 4 oz cheddar cheese. Mix well.

Divide chicken mixture evenly between eight tortillas. Roll and place seem down in lightly greased/sprayed 9X13 baking dish.

Melt butter in pan. Stir in flour and make a roux, cook until bubbly. Once bubbling add chicken broth and bring to boiling. Once boiling remove from heat, adding chili, ancho chili, chicken bouillon, Rotel tomatoes and chiles and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (I often puree the Rotel tomatoes before adding, as certain members of my family don't like chunky tomatoes in their meals. This adds the flavor without any of the texture objections.)

Pour sauce liberally over rolled enchiladas, making sure to get sauce into every nook and cranny. Atop the sauce liberally spread 4 - 8 oz cheddar or Mexican blend cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 - 30 minutes, until cheese is melted and edges are golden brown and bubbly.

Difficulty: Easy - Intermediate
Prep/Cook Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 8

Perfectly Heavenly Potato Soup

2008-02-19T09:09:00.000-08:00

I love potato soup, any time, anywhere, as long as it's warm and good. And if I'm making the soup myself, it not only has to be full of comfort and lots of flavor, but it has to be easy. Recently I threw together a wonderful soup that took about thirty minutes, tops, which, if you're like me and want your food and want it now, is a recipe made in heaven. And let me tell you, it was dee-lish. Next time I make it I'll probably add smoked ham chunks and corn. Oh my! My grade: A+

Perfectly Heavenly Potato Soup

Ingredients:

7 medium potatoes
Half a cup of butter
4 cups milk
2 cups half and half
1 pound bacon, fried crisp and chopped into bits
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup parsley, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
2 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
8 oz cheddar cheese

Directions:

Peel potatoes, then slice or cube into small chunks. Place in pot and cover with water, plus one inch. Boil and cook until ready, when knife or fork slides through potato easily.

In separate pan, fry bacon until crisp (bacon can also be baked in the oven on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes, or until crisp). Once bacon is done, remove from pan and chop into bits. Remove bacon grease from pan except for 1 tablespoon. To this add minced garlic, onion and green onion. Fry until onions are translucent and tender, about ten minutes. When cooked, add three fourths of the bacon bits and reserve entire mixture. The other fourth of the bacon bits can be put into a bowl or Ziploc bag for garnishing later.

In another pan, melt butter. Once melted, add flour to make a roux, mixing until lumps are gone, about one minute. Add two cups milk and one cup half and half to mixture, stirring continuously to make sure no lumps form. Set the burner on medium/high, adding rest of milk and half and half to mixture, plus chopped green onions, bacon, garlic and onion mixture. Heat until bubbling, making sure not to burn. After bubbling, turn heat off and add all remaining ingredients. Serve immediately, garnishing with more cheese, chopped green onions and bacon bits.

Difficulty: Easy
Prep/Cook Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 5 - 6

Bobby Flay's Throw-down Winning Black Pepper Biscuits

2008-02-19T08:27:00.000-08:00

Being a complete Food Network junkie, I just love the Bobby Flay throw-downs. Sometimes he gets a little wild and crazy for my tastes, transforming something simple and easy into something complicated and overly gourmand, but on average, I love what Flay creates. Every time I watch his throw down show I get hungry too, usually setting out within hours to duplicate the winning recipe and almost always being more than pleased. Next on my list are his chocolate chip cookies and meatloaf, but this weekend? This weekend it was biscuits, and boy were they good.

Is there anything more simple and delicious than a biscuit made right, slathered in butter or jam? I can't think of anything. Light and buttery with the perfect airiness, these biscuits won over the entire family. I prepared some regular style and others with Monterey Jack cheese (added at the last moment, with the buttermilk), and all of them were brilliant. My grade: A

Bobby Flay's Black Pepper Biscuits

Ingredients:

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, plus 4 tablespoons, melted
1 1/2 cups cold buttermilk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, not super fine and not coarse, somewhere in between

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Using a dough cutter, combine until ingredients are incorporated. Scatter the cold butter pieces over the top of the flour mixture and continue to combine until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and pulse until the mixture just begins to come together.

Scrape the dough onto a lightly flour counter. Pat the dough into a 10 by 12-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick. Use a 3-inch round cutter to cut out biscuits. Press together the scraps of dough, and repeat process. Place the biscuits on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper; brush the tops with cream and sprinkle with black pepper. Bake the biscuits for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and brush the tops with melted butter.

Difficulty: Super Easy
Prep/Cook Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 16 biscuits

Blueberry Crumb Cake

2008-01-31T11:54:00.000-08:00

Ah, Ina has done it again. But then she always does! With me, this woman can do no wrong, literally. (Except for perhaps the Croissant Bread Pudding I recently made, but that was because I apparently detest bread pudding of all kinds, and not because of anything dear Ina did.) I want her home, her kitchen and especially her gardens. Covet, covet. I love nearly all of her recipes. I find them basically uncomplicated but also refined to the palate, thus thoroughly enjoyable.

I saw her make this Blueberry Crumb Cake on her recent Weekend Lunch episode. Frankly it looked divine. I myself am not an obsessive crumb cake personality such as my husband happens to be, but like any other good wife I do try to please him, and therefore decided to make this dessert on his behalf. Little did I know I'd end up eating most all of it myself.

It's just that it was so good. With the lemon zest and the fat, sweet blueberries---I found myself eating three whole pieces at one sitting. Oh the husband had some too, don't get me wrong, just not a whole lot, as most of it was gone by the time he made it home. And so if you like blueberries and crumb cakes of any kind, be sure to try this recipe. It will not disappoint!

My grade: B+ (I piled the streusel on too high, rendering it somewhat dry, which was completely my fault. Had I not, the grade would be higher.)

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Ingredients:

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

Preparation:

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,
crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cakes

2008-01-31T11:39:00.000-08:00

I'm not afraid to admit that I like Paula Deen. I'll shun nothing as long as it tastes great and won't give me a heart attack on the spot. (Four days later? Negotiable.) And Paula Deen's food pretty much always tastes good, plus it's easy. My only fundamental issue with Paula is the use of boxed products in some of her recipes. For example, the recipe I'm posting today, Gooey Butter Cakes, calls for a boxed yellow cake mix. I can see how this would be simpler. How it makes sense. But I tried it with the yellow box mix, and did I like it? No. Perhaps it's my palate, perhaps it's that I'm an elitist. Either way, it tasted too synthetic and, well, false. That's the only way to describe it.

But then my good friend pointed me to Whole Food's Yellow Cake Mix recipe. (Here is another Basic Yellow Cake Mix recipe that looks promising.) Call me dim, but I'd never considered that people spent their time actually making cake mixes. I thought if people wanted to make a cake from scratch, well they were going to go whole hog and make/bake that cake right then and there. Apparently not so, and the result? Homemade mixes. And me? Very pleased.

This means I can enjoy Paula's Gooey Butter Cakes with no palate issues and no elitist regrets. It should be noted that Paula's Pumpkin version of these butter cakes are apparently the best of all butter cake variations. I'll be trying it in the future, make no mistake. My grade: B+

Gooey Butter Cakes (recipe pinched with thanks from recipelink.com)

Ingredients:

Cake

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix (or make from scratch, as I prefer, recipes above)

1 egg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Filling

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.

Still using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth; add eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce speed of mixer and slowly pour in butter. Mix well.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. Just remember that these wonderful little cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way.

Ina Garten's Croissant Bread Pudding

2008-01-31T11:21:00.000-08:00

I can't help it, I love Ina Garten. She makes everything look so easy and do-able and plus her kitchen is perfect. Are those sun lamps beneath her cabinets, feeding those pots of rosemary and thyme? Knowing Ina, they probably are. Fabulous.

One thing I've never loved, however, is bread pudding. Oh I'm not sure why, I guess I figure if I'm going to eat pudding it ought to be something smooth and sinful like dark chocolate pudding or homemade butterscotch; that's the kind of pudding person I am. Plus bread pudding isn't really pudding, at least according to how I know it. It's usually been more akin to soggy custard bread in a bowl, and who wants to eat that? I mean really.

But then Ina made her Croissant Bread Pudding one fateful Barefoot Contessa episode, and I was sold. I knew I had to try it. It seemed easy enough and as it turns out, it was. My daughter helped me the whole time, gleefully stacking the croissants and then adding the raisins and pouring the custard. We waited anxiously as it cooked, and when the timer rang we couldn't wait to pull it out of the oven.

And it looked wonderful! And the smell? The smell was even better. The pudding was golden brown and a little crispy on top, and we couldn't wait to dive into it. The verdict? Well, my daughter loved it, but me? Alas, and I hate to say this, but I'm still not a bread pudding fan. BUT THAT'S ME. If someone loves bread pudding, then by all means, try this recipe as I'm sure you'll love it. I might sweeten it a bit more if I were to make it again (which I won't), but all in all, I think it came out just as Ina intended it. My grade: B

Croissant Bread Pudding
Ingredients:

3 extra-large whole eggs
8 extra-large egg yolks
5 cups half-and-half
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 croissants, preferably stale, sliced horizontally
1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Preparation:

In a medium bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, half-and-half, sugar, and vanilla. Set the custard mixture aside. Slice the croissants in half horizontally. In a 10 by 15 by 2 1/2-inch oval baking dish, distribute the bottoms of the sliced croissants, then add the raisins, then the tops of the croissants (brown side up), being sure the raisins are between the layers of croissants or they will burn while baking. Pour the custard over the croissants and allow to soak for 10 minutes, pressing down gently.

Place the pan in a larger one filled with 1-inch of hot water. Cover the larger pan with aluminum foil, tenting the foil so it doesn't touch the pudding. Cut a few holes in the foil to allow steam to escape. Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 40 to 45 more minutes or until the pudding puffs up and the custard is set. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8 to 10

Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin

2008-01-31T11:03:00.000-08:00

Mmmmmm stew. Sometimes it's hard to beat a good stew or pot roast, especially when you live in the Arctic tundra such as I do, with snow and wind and rain freezing everything in sight. It makes you want comfort food; lots and lots of it. Corn breads, mashed potatoes, pot pies, that kind of thing. Oh, and stew.

Growing up, I never liked stew. Maybe it was because of the Dinty Moore-type quality my mother used to make, or all the mushy peas and carrots, or maybe the overly thick sauce. Whatever it was, it killed the stew mood for me, every time. Recently, however, I had to start questioning: how bad could stew be? I loved pot roast, for example, and that wasn't very different from stew, was it? Still, I wanted to find the best stew recipe out there, and so I scoured the internet until finally a good friend turned me on to her favorite stew recipe from epicurious.com (which I believe came from Bon Appetit). I'd actually seen it once or twice in my internet travels, but upon receiving her recommendation, I knew I had to try it.

Keep in mind I didn't have all the hoisin sauce the recipe called for, nor did I ultimately need the cornstarch. I also added Worcestershire sauce fairly liberally and used a Zinfandel, not a Cabernet. In addition I threw in some sun dried tomatoes (something I saw both Ina and Giada do), pearl onions (as opposed to sliced regular), and probably two or three cups of beef stock.

And so did I like it? Boy did I ever. The husband did too, calling it "refined and spectacular". Even the kid enjoyed it, but especially the easy mashed potatoes I whipped up to accompany the stew. Raves all around, and I do hope you'll try it. My grade: A-

Mahogany Beef Stew with Red Wine and Hoisin Sauce

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed, cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces
3 1/2 cups chopped onions
2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian herbs, undrained
1/2 cup hoisin sauce*
2 bay leaves

1 pound slender carrots, peeled, cut diagonally into 1-inch lengths
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparation:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over high heat. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper. Add meat to pot; sauté until brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Push meat to sides of pot. Reduce heat to medium; add 2 tablespoons oil to pot. Add onions; sauté until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Mix meat into onions. Add 1 cup wine, tomatoes with juices, hoisin sauce, and bay leaves. Bring to boil.

Reduce heat to low, cover pot and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and 1 cup wine. Cover; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover, increase heat to high; boil until sauce is slightly thickened, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes longer. Reduce heat to medium, add cornstarch mixture and simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Season stew with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Chill uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before serving, stirring occasionally.) Transfer stew to large bowl. Sprinkle with parsley; serve.

* Available at Asian markets and in the Asian foods section of some supermarkets.

Serves 6

Perfect Lemon Pound Cake

2008-01-31T09:21:00.000-08:00

I am in search of the perfect lemon pound cake recipe because, if I have to be honest, I am a fool for lemons.

Lemon dishes of any kind, provided the lemon is mixed with sugar. Which means I am not talking about lemon on salmon, for example. I am talking about lemonade, lemon bars, lemon cookies, lemon frosting, etc. Which leads me to my recent obsession with lemon pound cake. I tried to make a lemon cake yesterday and to put it politely, it was awful. I've never purported to be a master baker, just a baker who wants to be a master. I don't understand exactly what baking powder is in relation to baking soda, as an example, nor do I honestly care. I just like when my baking works. Oh don't get me wrong, the lemon cake I made was certainly quite tasty, it just felt like a wet sponge on my tongue as I ate it. Not really what I was going for. So what is my point, you ask?

I think I have found a lemon pound cake recipe with some real promise. I shall be making it post haste and then reporting back with my findings. I will also soon be posting about my Dutch Oven BBQ Ribs and my blueberry crumble cake which was omg so good.

What I'm saying is, be patient a little longer. I'll be back after I try this potentially fabulous recipe.

Spinach Salad with Orange Honey Vinaigrette and Gorgonzola

2008-01-14T07:00:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just can't beat a good salad. I typically subscribe to the KISS philosophy (Keep It Simple, Stupid), opting for dark greens instead of light, and less ingredients rather than more. Yes, less is more, as evidenced in this favorite of mine. All you need is fresh spinach, crumbled Gorgonzola for garnish and the following homemade dressing:

Orange Honey Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

With food processor running, drop garlic and parsley down feed tube and let process until garlic is minced.

Turn off machine and remove cover, add all remaining ingredients except salt and pepper, replace cover and process for several seconds until well blended.

Taste and add more honey if you wish, and salt and pepper to taste.

Keep bottled in the fridge and shake well before using.

My grade: A (it's now my favorite vinaigrette, hands down.)

Thanksk to Lennie from RecipeZaar for this recipe.

Chicken with Roasted Vegetables and Gorgonzola

2008-01-13T16:27:00.001-08:00

What a weekend. I went on a mini-road trip, only to return home to a typical family whirlwind. Four hours of intense labor later, I collapsed into a ball of wahwah and promptly checked out. Today was a bit better. Still busy, however, I was at least able to throw together a simple and rustic family favorite. The meal, coupled with a well timed bottle of pinot noir, was just what I needed. My grade: A-

Chicken with Roasted Vegetables and Gorgonzola
Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper, cut per preference
1 orange red pepper, cut per preference
4 large red potatoes, cubed
3 - 4 large shallots, cut per preference
5 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary (about 2 sprigs)
4 - 6 sprigs thyme
1 1/2 tsp Kosher salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper (or to taste)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/8 cup quality olive oil plus 2 tablespoons
3 chicken breasts
Gorgonzola to garnish, about a tablespoon per serving

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mince garlic, rosemary and thyme, reserve. Cube potatoes; slice shallots and bell peppers. Combine on large cookie sheet with kosher salt, black pepper, butter and olive oil. Mix with hands to distribute herbs and oil/butter evenly. When done, place in oven, roasting anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how you prefer the tenderness of your vegetables.

Approximately 20 minutes before vegetables are finished roasting, heat 1/8 cup olive oil in frying pan. When hot, put in chicken breasts (I keep the breasts whole and then cube when still hot, but you can cube ahead of time and saute in oil, if you prefer), cooking approximately 4 - 8 minutes per side, depending on thickness of breast. (Make sure not to overcook, which will make the chicken dry.) Take chicken breasts from the oil just moments before they are fully done.

Pull vegetables from oven when chicken is done; you should have about ten minutes left, total, to your roasting time. Add chicken with the rest of vegetables, mixing well. You may like to add a bit more olive oil here if needed. Finish roasting, making sure chicken is fully cooked (but not overcooked!) before taking cookie sheet from oven.

Garnish with Gorgonzola while still hot. Serve with Spinach Salad with Orange Honey Vinaigrette and Roasted Red Bell Pepper Bisque.

Serves 4 heartily

Living Lebowski

2008-01-11T04:58:00.000-08:00

It's been particularly spare eating this week. I've been, as usual, too busy, too rushed, too pressured, too a lot of things. I don't prepare "real" dinner meals Monday through Friday, not for myself or anybody who lives with me, God bless them. We eat fruit or cereal or toast at night. Sometimes I'll have a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and a chunk of smoked Gouda. It's always sufficient. It also seems completely practical to me; there's no rule that we have to eat huge platefuls of casserole each evening, is there?

But I digress. This week, because I've been eating sparingly, I decided that instead of a good Cab, I'd have one ice cold White Russian in the evening as my cocktail of choice. More filling, you see. I'd forgotten what a good drink it is. I can't drink them in large quantities; the milk and the sweet can be overpowering if consumed too enthusiastically. But every once in awhile, like this week, a White Russian is right up my alley. My grade: A+++

The Classic White Russian

2 ounces quality vodka, like Grey Goose or Effen
1 ounce Kahlua or coffee liqueur
Cream (or half-and-half, or milk)

Cheers!

Sinfully Good Mexican Hot Chocolate

2008-01-07T14:21:00.001-08:00

I see a can of Swiss Miss and I have a certain reaction. Real chocolate lovers never use mix, of course, and why in the world would they? How can there possibly be real sinful chocolate in that blue can? There isn't.

And so it takes more time, more materials. And sometimes it takes creativity. How do you make a pot of chocolate better? By using real chocolate of course, and real cream, and real vanilla beans. How do you make it more debauched than even that? Just egregiously fabulous? Well, you make that pot of chocolate Mexican, thus rendering it Mexillent.

All you Swiss Missers out there, please stop being Philistines and try this instead. Enjoy! My grade: A+

Ingredients:

2 cups half-and-half
2 cups milk
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
8 ounces milk chocolate (or white chocolate, or semisweet, or a mix of your favorites)
1 vanilla bean, seeds from
2 cinnamon sticks
cinnamon sticks or vanilla beans for garnish

Instructions:

Warm half-and-half and milk in pot. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, chili powder, seeds from vanilla bean and vanilla extract. Whisk vigorously to blend well (clumped spices are no fun!). When completely blended, add 2 cinnamon sticks. Continue heating.

When mixture is steaming and hot to the touch (make sure not to boil!), add 8 ounces of your chosen chocolate. Melt and blend. Serve immediately, garnishing each mug with a cinnamon stick or vanilla bean, or with whipped cream.

Feeling more grown up? Add two to four tablespoons of dark rum for something extra special.

Serves 4

Southwestern Chicken Chowder with Roasted Poblano Peppers and Corn

2008-01-07T12:50:00.000-08:00

I honestly don't know how I came up with this recipe. I will say though that I'm a bit of a soup magician, throwing all kinds of things in a pot and somehow making them taste acceptable. Maybe even fabulous. This chowder was no exception, I have to say. I think I trolled around the Food Network site a bit before concocting it, and could have been inspired by both Emeril and Paula. All I know is, this is some good soup. I realize it looks like a lot of work, but in actuality most of it is prep, and prep can usually be done way ahead of time. I'm just saying, if you like soup---especially hearty southwestern types---you might like to give this a go. My grade: A

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil
3 large carrots, cut into ½-inch dice or as preferred
2 large onions, cut into ½-inch dice or as preferred
⅛ cup garlic, minced
2 large poblano peppers, roasted and seeded*, diced
16 oz whole kernel corn, roasted
3 or 4 large Yukon gold potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin, or to taste
¼ teaspoon dried thyme, or to taste
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
3 quarts chicken broth (homemade is better, but if you don’t have any on hand, use low sodium organic)
¼ cup minced cilantro leaves (more or less, to your taste)
1 roasted or grilled chicken, largely diced (store bought rotisserie is fine)
1 stick unsalted butter
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg (a pinch)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp chipotle chili powder**
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream

Preparation:

Spread whole kernel corn one-layer deep over cookie sheet. Roast at 400 for approximately 15 - 20 minutes, until kernels brown slightly. Remove from pan; reserve. (If you prefer not to roast corn, that would be fine.)

Peel potatoes and chop, about ¾". Place in pot, cover with water plus one inch. Do not add salt. Cook through; when fork passes through potatoes easily, they are done. Drain and reserve.

Heat oil in large stockpot over medium heat. Add carrots, onions, garlic, poblano peppers (see note #1 below), salt, white pepper, cumin, all chili powders or blends (see note #2 below), and thyme. Saute for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften.

(**For a more creamy soup, when the veggies are tender, add a cup of chicken stock to mixture and transfer to blender. Puree and return to the pot. Alternatively, for half creamy/half chunky consistency, take half (or more, or less) the veggies, add the stock and puree, then return to pot.**)

Stir in chicken bouillon. Add (the rest of) the chicken broth, tomato sauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, cilantro and corn and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. After this, add potatoes and the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until the chowder is thick and the chicken and potatoes are heated through.

Shortly before the chowder is done, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes to cook the flour. Do not allow the mixture to brown! Ladle 1 cup of the hot liquid from the stockpot into the skillet, whisking constantly.

When the first cup of liquid is incorporated, add another 2 cups of liquid, 1 at a time. Pour the mixture in the skillet into the stockpot, whisking to blend. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes longer, or until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove pot from the heat. Stir in cream, blending, heating.

Serve with Monterey Jack Cheese and Sun-dried Tomato Quick Bread and some sangria.

Note #1: Green poblanos are always cooked or roasted. Use broiler or gas oven. After 80% of the skin has blistered, place poblanos in brown paper bag for ten minutes. Then under cold running water rub off tough outer skin, seed and peel, then chop/dice.

Note #2: Canned chipotles work as well, simply mince them and add to soup according to desired heat. Dehydrated chipotles work too; grind them then add according to desired heat.

Note #3: Go slowly with nutmeg and cinnamon, as these are unique flavors. Some like more, some like less.

Note #4: Salt and pepper amounts listed are somewhat conservative. Adjust to your personal taste.

Yields 12 - 16 servings.

Monterey Jack Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Quick Bread

2008-01-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

A wonderfully tasty quick bread, with preparation taking less than fifteen minutes. Cooking time 45 minutes plus, given the reliability of your oven temperature. Bread is done when inserted toothpick is removed clean.

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2cups Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, not in oil, chopped as desired
1 4 1/4th oz can black olives, drained, chopped
4.5 oz can green chilies, drained, chopped
1/2 cup white onions, sauteed in olive oil until tender
1/4th cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4th cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
1 4.5 oz can green chilies, drained, chopped
1/4th cup olive oil
1 large egg, beaten
butter for greasing pan

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325. Generously grease 9X5 inch loaf pan with butter.

In a large bowl (I used my Kitchenaid), blend all ingredients except for flour. Do not over mix. When done, add flour and combine only until mixed.

Pour into prepared loaf pan, bake for 45 minutes or until inserted toothpick is removed clean. Cool for fifteen minutes then transfer to rack.

Great with Southwestern Chicken Chowder with Roasted Poblano Peppers and Corn.

My grade: A

* adapted from this recipe.