Tag: dinner

Put the crumbs to use

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When I got home from class yesterday afternoon, I had a few kitchen projects that img_8592needed addressing.

My sunflower seed butter having ridden into the sunrise with breakfast yesterday morning, I determined that it was time to inaugurate my Everybody’s Nuts “south of the border” pistachios. I sampled a few to make sure they passed the test:

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Oh my goodness. These are delicious. Mildly hot, mildly sweet, and super-spiced with chilli powder and cumin. YUM. I shelled a pile for the coffee bean grinder:

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And then ground away:

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Beautiful, right? I can’t wait until I have a real-live, sturdy, food processor someday. The thought of making more than 3 tbsp of nut butter at a time is mind-blowing.

My coworker Mildred’s birthday was yesterday, and since I wasn’t there due to my Thursday class, I wanted to bake her a cake to bring in today. Mildred doesn’t like chocolate (crazy), so I thought some Passover sponge cake would be just the ticket, especially since the recipe called for seven eggs and I had all that potato starch left from Passover. I obviously enjoyed the cake batter immensely. While baking, some “unfortunate” leakage occurred:

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The leaks conveniently doubled as taste-tests to make sure the cake was not poisonous:

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All clear. Phew.

Finished with a drizzle of the homemade black raspberry jam Wife gave me in Charlotte last weekend:

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I had both broccoli and smoked salmon (still from Tuesday’s egg event) on hand, so I set out to recreate one of the appetizers from Saturday’s wedding buffet for dinner.

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I’m so gourmet, right?

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For dessert, I knew I needed to incorporate all of these cake crumbs from the sponge cake I had just baked:

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I made chocolate peanut butter froyo with plain yogurt, part skim ricotta, unsweetened cocoa powder, PB2, ground flax, and chopped dates. Immersion blend, freeze for 20, stir, freeze for 20, stir, and then it’s done! Here’s my cake and ice cream bowl topped with coconut and pieces of chocolate-caramel-nut easter candy:

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Ahhhhhh, so so so so good! Even better than the Tasti-D I had earlier in the day, if you can believe that. (I also may have gone back and had several more bites of that Easter candy).

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When do you prefer homemade over store-bought?

Sample satisfaction

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On my way home last night, I stopped into a couple of grocery stores for about $11 worth of important items — milk and yogurt for making yogurt, part-skim ricotta (because it was on sale), and broccoli (because I needed greens!). I also collected a few samples along the way to incorporate into dinner:

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The plate includes a big ol’ pile of plain steamed broccoli, the rest of Myrna’s McDonald’s breakfast sandwich that she gave me yesterday when she got too full, and two little quiche samples — one sweet ham and one spinach — from Union Market.

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I don’t think I’ve had a McDonald’s breakfast sandwich since I was 7. My dad and I used to go on weekend mornings because I was a crazy picky eater (what happened??!) but I loved those biscuits more than anything. I would get mine with only an egg on it because I didn’t like sausage or melted cheese. I’m still not crazy about sausage, but, even though it’s not something I ever crave, this sandwich was definitely tasty! The biscuit was as good as I remembered.

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Dessert developed as I was getting the yogurt ready to go into the oven for overnight incubation. I’d picked up my two favorite brands to use as starters — Stonyfield and Ronnybrook — in fun flavors so I could play with the leftovers.

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I reserved the plain yogurt parts for yogurt making but kept the flavored fun parts (cream top, coconut pieces, chocolate-on-the-bottom) for me:

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I swirled in a bit of part-skim ricotta to make coconut-chocolate cheesecake yogurt and then dipped in a little sample sliver of peanut butter brownie from Union Market:

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I surrounded my brownie cheesecake bowl with fruit salad and a sample piece of cherry lattice pie, also from the market:

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Samples are so exciting!

For dessert #2 later, I had my leftover almond sunset tea from morning with two jasmine biscotti bites for dipping:

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What’s the best free sample, food or non-food, you ever got?

Eggspansion

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Last night, I attended a Foodbuzz event spotlighting Eggland’s Best eggs at Beacon Restaurant. Interestingly enough (or not), the PR agency that spearheaded the egg event last night, Weber Shandwick, was the same one that organized the Electrolux ICON event (remember the chocolate lava cakes? mmm, I do!) a couple weeks back.

Anyway, here’s the table I chose, complete with EB table decor (and my bellini, of which I drank half):

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Joining me at the table were Kerry of French Revolution (her egg recipe won the recipe contest last night!), Missy of Missy Maintains (the most competent product reviewer around), Megan of Runner’s Kitchen (she had JUST run the Boston Marathon the day before!!), Maya of My Feasts (and her husband), Jennifer of The Mama Chronicles (she is a Twitter whiz), and Bart of EB’s quality control team.

The theme of the event was breakfast for dinner (and eggs, obv), so there was a very well-stocked omelet station:

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With a number of possible toppings:

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I ordered my omelet with tomato, spinach, mushrooms, onions, asparagus, chicken, parmesan, and gruyere:

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There was also quite an array of breakfast extras:

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Here’s my plate:

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Omelet and bacon slice:

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Smoked salmon salad with capers and lemon juice:

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Chocolate croissant and almond-roll:

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Fruit!

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Scrambled eggs (I thought it was going to be polenta when I scooped it up — why would there be more eggs at the buffet station if the main course was already an omelet?!):

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I ate it all and then went back for more (obviously). Seconds on salmon salad:

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As well as a strawberry jam croissant and seconds on fruit:

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Probably didn’t need that third pastry but it was deliciously flaky and jammy:

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I ate all of the second plate. It left me teetering on the edge of uncomfortably full … but not quite there yet. I liked the feeling and was satisfied enough to stop nibbling with no qualms 🙂

Charlie (since we go way back and are on a first-name basis and all) gave a presentation about how EB chickens are fed food that is healthy for them and free of animal by-products:

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He asked for volunteers. I raised my hand (I thought there might be extra food in it for me!). He told me to crack an egg on my plate and then use my hands to lift the yoke out of it to show how strong and healthy the EB eggs are:

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Mission accomplished.

I also learned that the smaller the egg, the higher the quality. Actually, I learned more about eggs than I ever thought possible, but that’s the one fact that stood out.

At the end, I asked if I could take home the eggcelent centerpieces and got approval. Twenty-two eggs later, I was contemplating renaming my blog Tales of Eggspansion.

What came home with me: 22 fresh eggs, 2 bags (1 dozen) of hard-boiled eggs, coupons for 2 dozen free EB eggs, a cup of salmon salad, a cup of fruit salad, a tote bag, an umbrella, a stuffed “animal” egg, a spatula, a folder full of egg facts, a 2 GB external drive (!!!!!), and a coupon for a complimentary cocktail next time I am at Beacon.

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To fuel me through that labor intensive photo shoot, I had a couple pieces (maybe what’s pictured times 3) of chocolate-caramel-nut Easter candy and then called it a night.

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Tell me your favorite thing to do with eggs. Please?

If I didn’t have to sleep

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Last week, I bought this little bunch of “apple bananas” at a fruit shop near my office in East Harlem.

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They were the color that I normally love bananas, but apparently partly green is a no-go in the world of apple bananas. I took one bite and thought my tongue had fallen out because I could no longer feel it. Guess they weren’t ripe yet! I let them sit for the weekend and then decided to revisit one for my snack this morning. For size orientation:

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And I could actually taste the apple flavor in there!

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Inginia and I had our group this afternoon, and while Inginia put together a fun lunch spread (as usual), I worked some kitchen magic to make blue playdough for the kids:

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For lunch, I had 1.5 thin slices of French-ish bread with Inginia’s mustardy tuna salad:

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And 1/2 of a mini english muffin with peanut butter:

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A juntos (minus the extra 1/2 slice of bread and tuna):

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Some parents brought in an Entenmann’s walnut danish ring (whyyyyyyyy?), so I had two small slices (with another little dabble of pb on the side):

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The same parent also brought in a carton of Dole strawberry banana orange juice.  I usually only drink water because I’m a much bigger fan of eating than drinking, but I had to have a sip because I used to love these juices when I was little. My sip did not disappoint!

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After the group, I relieved my tuna breath with a Newman’s ginger mint, the best breath mint ever.

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I think I had four of these over the course of the day/evening.

Later in the afternoon, it was orange time! Note the neat edges on those orange peels thanks to my fancy schmancy orange peeler from Myrna:

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I also had a small handful of these pita chips from Jessica. So salty and garlicky, mmmmmmmmm:

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I had my first course of dinner right before I left work around 5:20: a cup of the pumpkin-sofrito Buitoni’s mushroom agnosomething and 3-grain tempeh that I made last night.

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My second course took place in class with variation #2 of flax pudding because Heather was looking for a tofu-free method (and because I was out of tofu AND yogurt):

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For that pumpkin pie flax pudding, I brought 1.5 cups unsweetened soy milk to a boil with 6 tbsp ground flax, cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves/ginger, and 2 chopped dates. After a couple of minutes there, I immersion blended in 1.5 cups of canned pumpkin and poured the mix into a container to chill in the fridge overnight. For my purposes, one serving equals one cup — so this recipe makes 3-4 servings.

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It would probably also work without the pumpkin because the flax seems to have incredible gelling properties. It just might come out a little bit looser.

Next up was my snack/dessert baggie with manchego cheese samples from the gourmet deli, two of mom’s kitchen sink muffins with sunflower seed butter for spreading, and sample pieces of Tate’s Bakeshop chocolate chip cookies from the deli:

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When I got home tonight, I snacked a bit while I got tomorrw’s food ready … as in I shoveled big piles of fruit salad and groatmeal into my mouth too fast to photograph them. What’s a girl to do when it won’t all fit in the container??

I was also super-excited to find that my first issue of Eating Well had arrived! I won the subscription from Brandi a little while ago, and I can’t wait to start reading it 😀 Sadly, I can’t start yet because I have to go to bed ASAP.

What would you be doing right now if you didn’t have to sleep?

Oh, one more thing (about me again, because obviously the world revolves around me) … I got hired!! Thanks to the tireless efforts of Heather, my supervisor, my amazing unpaid internship has miraculously found space in the budget to hire me full-time after the internship ends on May 8. I’ll officially start on June 1. I’ll be able to keep doing what I currently do (and what I love to do!) about 1/3 of the time; the other 2/3 will be a different more paperwork-based job but still good experience. So, not only will I continue to get my social work experience; I will also learn a new system and have a small amount of financial stability to get me through the last year of grad school. Phew!

I’m back …

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But not forever! My trip to Charlotte was perfect — as has been every trip to the “south” I have ever taken — and I am pretty confident that I’ll be heading in that direction again once I am done with grad school next year.

Wife and I woke up this morning to the sound of coffee beans grinding and pancake batter stirring! Kristin and Dustin were hard at work in the kitchen above us 🙂

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I topped my two blueberry pancakes with ICBINB and lite syrup:

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And while we’re on the topic of Kristin and Dustin’s aboveness and beyondness as hosts throughout this entire trip, there’s more! Wife’s car wouldn’t start yesterday when we were on the way to the wedding, so Dustin drove us the 30 minutes to the wedding and dropped us off so we wouldn’t be late. Later, he and Kristin drove back out with both of their cars so that they could leave one for us to use for the rest of the night!

While waiting for AAA to arrive this morning, we all relaxed in the kitchen with our tea (and coffee for the others), our pancakes, and the pretty birds right outside the balcony:

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Because Wife had to wait for the towtruck (and her car was out of commission, obviously), Kristin had to drive me to the airport. Add another star to the list of aboveness and beyondness!

I am so aware that I keep gushing about everyone on this trip … but between Kath‘s tour guiding and company on Friday, Wife’s willingness to drive up from GA and incur the wrath of the evil automobile spirits to go to the wedding with me, and Kristin and Dustin’s generous and fun hosting, I have never experienced such a hefty dose of hospitality in my life!

Once I got through security at the Charlotte airport, I finally got to enjoy some of the luxurious rocking and free wireless that I kept hearing about:

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As I rocked and blogged, I oranged with the orange that I had initially packed for Friday’s flight:

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And granola bar’d with this peanut butter granola bar that Kath and I scooped up from a free samples basket at Earth Fare on Friday:

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And chocolated with this Ferrero Rocher that Wife brought for me from GA, courtesy of Ted:

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An impressively well-rounded airport lunch if I do say so myself!

On the plane, I had a 1 oz. package of JetBlue cashews while I worked my way through Gastropolis:

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I’m a fan of the JetBlue unlimited airplane snacks deal (obviously). From the two flights, I collected four more bags of cashews and one mini-bag of chocolate chunk cookies:

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The other goodies that came back with me include a jar of PB2 from Kath and a belated Christmas present from Wife of a cupcake potholder (in the back), key lime jam (!!!) from her trip to Madison, and homemade black raspberry jam from Ted’s aunt. Thanks for the treats, ladies (and JetBlue)!

Due to the usual weekend subway delays, detours, and cancellations, I didn’t get home until about 6 and had to rush to unpack my suitcase, pack lunch/dinner for tomorrow, and make dinner for tonight. With no time to hit the grocery store, I had to rely on the freezer, a can, and a couple of promotional items I have received recently:

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While I sauteed the three grain tempeh in a pan with olive oil and minced garlic, I dumped the mushroom “agnolotti” that Foodbuzz sent into a saucepan with boiling water and half a box of frozen peas I found. I mixed everything together at the end (minus the pasta water) and then made a crazy sauce from 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, 2 tbsp sofrito, and a splash of unsweetened soymilk (for thinning). I saved most of it for the week’s lunches, but I had to sample a little scoop topped with homemade parm for dinner:

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The tempeh gave good texture and chew, and the wild mushroom flavor held its own. Plus, there’s pretty much no way to go wrong with pumpkin or sofrito separately, so why not put them together?

My main dinner event consisted of about 1 cup of fruit salad (mango, blood orange, strawberries, and blackberries), an overturned container of honey Oikos so that the honey took on an “icing” role (loved how this flavor was still plain yogurt with the honey on the bottom of the container), and a tbsp of ground flax with cinnamon:

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Now I have to race to get ready for bed. This is going to be a week for getting back on track — and it starts with getting eight full hours of sleep tonight!

What’s your goal for this week?