Summer Lessons

Ah summer, it slips away so fast...and yet I am not sure what I did exactly. Unlike Leanne, I didn't travel to Europe and eat Spanish hams (in my dreams), but you can see from Elle's post that we had some good eating adventures in WA across to MT.

In a week when we start school again, students will exchange family vacation horror stories, video game high scores, summer job complaints, and of course, all the

summer romances. In the spirit of this ritual, I thought I would share some of the lessons I learned in the last three months.

1. Modern rules...Mikes drools.

We had a cannoli eat off in the Boston North End on our northeast adventure. We went for the two acclaimed heavyweights: Modern Bakery and Mike's Pastry. Modern won by many points...but don't take my word for it (shout out to LeVar Burton) create your own categories (we chose: presentation, filling, shell, and general taste) and recruit a man who will keep tally for you. We purchased Daniel a black and white cookie, a la' Seinfeld, to keep him happy.

2. Fluff is hard to transport.

We were DETERMINED to bring back fluff from the Northeast, as the Whoopie Pie is the state dessert of Maine. After much searching, Daniel's mom and I found a grocery store stocked with the stuff. We purchases two huge (plastic) containers. One was packed in a suitcase, and one in a carry on. We should have figured that the FAA would confiscate the one in the carry on, which they did. I figured that they went back to the break room and ate fluffernutters for dinner. The one in the suitcase exploded into a giant sticky marshmallow mess. We were very sad. However, the next week Ellen came to WA and packed a jar of fluff for me, it exploded...BUT Ellen remebered to put it in a plastic bag and around 90% was salvaged. Long story short, order fluff from amazon, it is a lot easier.

3. No Heat=No Tomatoes

My garden is horrible this year. It has been a very cool summer, which I appreciate in terms of my air conditioning bill, but so far...I spy a bowl full of tomatoes and no peppers or cantaloupe to speak of. My cukes are a foot high, but there is no way that they are going produce enough to can pickles. Boo.

4. Don't accidentally swallow a plum pit at the farmers market.

'Nuff said.

5. My favorite summer recipe:

D&M Clausen (Iced)

2 shots espresso (we use D&M Hi-Octane)

1-ish cup of H2O

2-ish shots of fat free Half and Half

2 Tablespoons of Carmel syrup (found next to the Hersey's chocolate syrup)

Stir together. Fill the rest of your glass with ice. Drink and feel happy to be drinking such a Delicious nectar. Needless to say that old Zorro has been busy this summer.

As we are heading off into fall, does anyone have any fun and new ideas for my school lunch? I am very very very bored of eating greek yogurt every day.

Ahem. Back in Business.

So this summer has been, well, let's say this summer has been eventful. I finished school. Went to Washington, took a vacation to the great wilderness of Montana, moved out of my apartment in Boston, stayed with my grandmother for two weeks in Milwaukee and about a week ago I moved to New Orleans. Did I tell you guys I was moving to Louisiana? Well I did. Yes, in August. I don't want to talk about the heat.

So I was busy, and without internet, and blah blah blah excuses. I am back and excited to be blogging from my new home, now known as the Southeastern headquarters of LotC.

While I was in Yakima Laura and I went raspberry picking nearby and accidentally picked about 11 pounds. Woops.

Check out the advanced berry carrying apparatus. 

We breakfasted every morning on the porch. I often had english muffins with peanut butter and fresh raspberries smushed on top. Mmmmm. I also got to cash in my gift certificate to the Longoria Coffee Shack. I opted for a the Longoria version of the classen (klassen?) - americano with cream and caramel. Yum. Someone else was interested in breakfast as well. Silly dog, coffees are for humans.

In Montana I acted as our chef for the trip. I made sure to make hearty breakfasts each morning.

Food photography courtesy of my mom.

I am somewhat ashamed to say those were some of the fluffiest, tastiest pancakes I have ever made...and they came from a mix. Sigh, I will have to work on my homemade version.

We needed hearty breakfasts because our days were spent hiking, biking, and watching wildlife.

Moose!

After I got back to Boston I went on a short trip to see Erik in Connecticut and then we spent the night in NYC. We went to our favorite dim sum place in Chinatown and ate way way too much. I had a to take a rest on a bench afterwards.

Just a small part of the food we ordered.

After we had digested with a walk we got pickles

from The Pickle Guys which were as amazing as 

I remembered. We plowed through two or three 

right on the spot. Later that afternoon we relaxed 

at a beer garden. It was a bit cheesy (waiters in

 fake lederhosen) but it was a beautiful afternoon 

and really relaxing. I later stuffed a giant pretzel 

in my gaping mouth hole.

We finished the night with some amazing Mexican 

food and sangria, but it was really dark in the 

restaurant and I didn't get any pictures. We shared the 

chile rellenos with jalapeno corn bread. I wanted to 

have a pickle for dessert when we got back to the 

hotel, but was able to demonstrate some self control.

Looking back at my pictures from that day it is clear
that 90% of the things we do NYC are eating related.
The next morning we had some fresh New York
bagels and coffee and I jumped on the Bolt Bus back
to Boston. Erik got to keep the remaining pickles.

After NYC I went back to Boston, moved out of my apartment (thank you Alex and Katie for taking all of my leftovers!) and went to Milwaukee to kick it grandma style. I had a great time there and my Grandmother stuffed me full like she was thinking of making foie gras out of me. It was fantastic. If you are ever in Milwaukee I highly recommend you get yourself to Kopp's Frozen Custard. You will never want ice cream again after you have had this magical treat.

Finally I made it to New Orleans, my new home. We have been settling in and I haven't done too much cooking. Also there is no way we are turning on our oven until at least October. (Did you guys know it was so hot in Louisiana??) So I started a little garden in the back. Southeast Louisiana's growing season goes all the way to November, so you can plant for a second crop now. I am just starting with basil, chives, mint, and of course CHARD! I have also been going to our local farmer's market and getting some southern treats such as okra. And some even more southern treats like fresh made tamales!

The tamales were jalapeno cheddar. Of course I added some sriracha for good measure. I know tamales take forever to make, but there must be a quick approximation I could learn to whip up. I will look into this. 

Anyway, this is all to say I am sorry I was gone so long and I am back with a vengeance. Expect tales of me boiling peanuts, wrestling alligators, and mastering red beans and rice.

Back from Europe, and hooked on Nutella

Matt and I just got back from 25 days of trekking around Europe. Highlights for me, (see if you can figure out which cities we visited!), were:

• Flamenco
• Tapas
• Gaudí
• Gelato
• Guinness
• Cheese boards, and......
• NUTELLA!!!

With that in mind, here is my current breakfast obsession:

Grilled French bread with Nutella and fruit

Butter that bread!!

There is something about grilling the bread on my flattop grill, rather than toasting it in the toaster. I think it's because the bread gets the chance to pick up some of those yummy "left over" grill flavors :)

Top it, generously, with NUTELLA*, and any fresh fruit you have around! Bananas, raspberries, strawberries.... YUM!
*Yes, you are right... that is not actual Nutella. It is Nutkao. It was on sale at Big Lots! OK??! But guess what? Generic Nutella is just as tasty as actual Nutella. Not only was is cheap (because what's not cheap at Big Lots!??) but we also had a 20% off coupon! Love it!

Potluck schmotluck

While we wait for further installments of The Northeast Vacay I want to share some pictures from a recent vegetarian potluck I attended. A few weeks ago my brilliant friend Katie suggested that we gather at her apartment for snacks and margarita's made with fresh squeezed lime juice (told you she was brilliant.) I did not have to be invited twice. I was a terrible blogger and forgot my camera. Luckily Katie was on top of her game and sent me these pictures she took.

I brought two dishes. A southeast asian inspired salad/slaw with peanut dressing and spinach balls.

It tasted better than this presentation suggests...

The slaw didn't have much of a recipe. I shredded half a cabbage, a few carrots, red and green peppers, and a few small hot peppers. Then I crumbled up a few sheets of nori over the top of everything and sprinkled it with white sesame seeds. The dressing was a slightly modified version of the one offered here.

Hand formed by Erik

The spinach balls were a great snack and I would heartily recommend them as an appetizer for the next amazing dinner party you hold. I followed a recipe by Modern Beet. I divided the recipe by 3 (!) and it still made a heck of a lot of balls. I'll be honest with you all and tell you that the recipe is sort of a pain - with the spinach cooking and squeezing and ball forming - but if you have a sous chef to help you it makes all the difference.

Here is a plate with our first course displayed in all of its glory.

Katie made the green peppers stuffed with chili and Greg made the chickpea crepe and spinach artichoke dip. Nom nom nom.

Food model aka Amanda

Second course was polenta lasagna made by our host, Katie. By this time our belts were busting.

Katie made the polenta from scratch, naturally

 Our last course was dessert. Amanda made poppy seed cupcakes with a fresh blueberry glaze. Delicious, but I don't have a picture sadly. Trust me, they were good. I think Amanda used this recipe from Joy the Baker, only she veganized it because she is so crafty. It was good and the cake was super moist. Just how I like my cake!

This potluck was good warm up for a fourth of July potluck you might attend. Unfortunately I will not be doing any fun potlucking myself. Instead I will be soaring through the air in a metal tube, heading west back to the homeland.

Are you making any special treats for the fourth? Anyone have good airport for recommendations for Atlanta or Salt Lake?

The Northeast Vacay: Part I (aka: why I don't eat lobster)

Chelllloooo folks-

As you may or may not know we had a LotC meet up in the Northeast last week. From Beantown to Maine, we vacationed, and ate hard. It was fabulous, but I seemed to catch Ms. Ellen's stomach flu from somewhere...I blame it on the screaming baby sitting in front of us on the plane. Instead of Powerade, I am clutching a bowl of jello and watching Anthony Bourdain eat tons of great Indian food that I can only dream about. I digress...

First stop in our great NE adventure was Maine. One of the first activities we were treated to was the rehearsal dinner at our B&B: The Bear Mountain Inn.

Daniel was very excited about all the good eats. We were then informed that in the NE, lobsters are called bugs. Gross. In short, this is why I pass on Lobster...though I do love me a crab cake!

P.S. Chelo: School of Rock reference.

Ellen's Guide to Whole Wheat Baking

I'm going to be honest with you guys. I am suffering from a major bout of stomach flu today. I have been in my pajamas all day, curled in a fetal position in my bed clutching blindly to this:

Yep, tastes disgusting.

So it is hard to write about food today, but I must persevere. Inspired by Laura's recent struggles with whole wheat pizza dough as well as my recent success making an apple pie with whole wheat crust I thought I would share what I have learned through trial and error with you all.

Worth the price!

1. Use a high quality flour. In almost every case I am supportive of choosing the cheaper option, or the store brand. It wasn't until I purchased fancy whole wheat flour - it was on sale - that I realized all flour was not created equal. I really think that when it comes to whole wheat the brand makes a difference. Splurge on the good stuff (it is still pretty cheap) and stock up when it is on sale.  I use King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour. I used to use Trader Joe's brand, but found their grind was too course. King Arthur's is extremely fine - basically feels like regular AP flour.

You will notice I recommend white whole wheat. Traditional whole wheat bread is milled from red wheat. White whole wheat comes from - you guessed it - white wheat! It has a milder flavor than red wheat due to a lack of phenolic compounds as well as a lighter color. Translation: you can trick people into eating whole wheat baked goods! The best part? It is nutritionally equivalent to traditional whole wheat flour.

Apple pie with 75% whole wheat crust

2. Don't be too ambitious if you are adapting a recipe. When "whole wheating" a recipe for the first time I usually replace 50% of AP flour with whole wheat. Go a 100% replacement and you are likely to have a mess on your hands. If 50% works well increase the ration the next time.

3. Wait. I read somewhere that because of the coarser grain whole wheat flour absorbs liquids at a slower rate than traditional flour. I have no idea if this is actually true, but I have taken to waiting a few minutes before mixing/kneeding. Can't hurt, right?

4. Pick your battles. Some things just aren't going to work. I'm not going to try to make a fluffy 3 layer cake with 100% whole wheat flour. I think baked goods tend to work better when there is a lot of other stuff at play. I have had success with carrot cake, oatmeal cookies, banana cake, zucchini bread,  etc. Sugar cookies were a big fail.


I will leave you with my pizza crust recipe, which I think is pretty good. Erik said he could eat the crust plain he liked it so much!

Quick Pizza Crust (makes one pizza crust the size of a cookie sheet)
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (plus more for kneeding)
1 envelope yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup very warm H2O
3 Tablespoons oil

Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Combine flours yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water and oil and mix together. Gradually add up to 1 more cup of whole wheat flour, kneeding until elastic (3 or 4 minutes.) The dough will be sticky, but try not to add too much extra flour. Press dough onto greased cookie sheet. Add your toppings and sauce and cook for 12 - 15 minutes.

I haven't tried Leanne's trick of par baking the crust but I will be trying it for sure next time!

Erik wanted me to note that he chopped all of the veggies!

Do you guys think there are some things not worth trying to healthify? Something like cinnamon rolls comes to mind for me. Or spritz!

The perfect end to an unperfect day

What a week it has been! If you are a teacher, you know what the last week of school can be like... 44 report cards to finish, cumulative files to complete, oh... and you still have to keep those kids safe (notice I didn't say "teach"). So at the end of a long day (usually 10 hour days the last week of school), what could be better than some homemade pizza and a big glass of wine?

Laura, I'm sorry for your "fail" with the ww pizza crust. My pizza crust is NOT homemade--it's the pre-made stuff from Trader Joe's. You get points for making your own.

BBQ chicken pizza & with caramelized onions and smoked Gouda:

A few tips for this pizza:
Roll out the pizza dough fairly thin. Place it on your pizza stone (I have one from Pampered Chef). Brush it with olive oil, and let the crust par bake for about 7-9 minutes before putting any toppings on.

Toppings: BBQ chicken (my hubby did a good job of grilling the chicken), caramelized onions (took me 2 hours--the night before--to get them good and caramelized**see note below), mini herloom tomatoes, & smoked Gouda. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Add a sprinkle of cilantro on at the end.

To top it off, Matt & I enjoyed a nice big glass of:

Rideau Estate Syrah. YUM!

** I have been trying my hand at caramelizing onions for quite some time now. It seems that to caramelize onions properly you need to have lots of time on your hands. I have read many cookbooks on how to do this properly and most say it takes around an hour. After cooking the onions on low for close to an hour, I usually get impatient and turn up the heat a little. Come back 10 minutes later, and whadda ya know? They're burned already. The key to caramelizing the onions is time. You have to wait until the onions are good and translucent. Cookbooks can be deceiving--this can take longer than 1 hour!!! After about 90 minutes of cooking on low, I finally turned the heat up to "2" on my burner. 30 minutes later, I had beautiful caramelized onions :) Totally worth the time!