Life is Liiiiike a Batch of Cupcakes

Recipe below: Strawberry Margarita Surprise Cupcakes

A healthy diet is all about balance. I’m a firm believer in working all the things you love into your life. Let’s be realistic. If you deny yourself something you truly love, how long are you going to be able to do it? And how happy are you going to be? And if you’re unhappy, what’s the point? Better to just figure out a way to work it in and be done with it. We’re not looking for temporary crash dieting here!

If we lived in a perfect world and could eat whatever we wanted with no repercussions, what foods would you ecstatically chow down on that you wouldn’t in this cruel, real world we live in? Me? It’s dessert! Ok technically, that’s not so much a food as a course, but how can you narrow down dessert? It’s one thing to justify high calorie foods that are also high in nutrients, but as much as I love them, desserts tend to be empty calories of processed flour and sugar. But I don’t care! I love to bake, and I love sweets after dinner. So I just find a way to work it in.

A friend asked me, after I told her about these cupcakes I’m about to drone on and on about, how I’m able to eat such things and stay so skinny. I told her I exercise a lot. And I do. But don’t just dismiss it! Getting fit really does just boil down to calories in and calories out. That’s boring, I know, but it’s true. Does that mean you have to meticulously count each calorie you eat and painstakingly track each calorie you burn everyday? Heck no! I mean, you can...but, ick! It’s all about finding what works for you. What’s really important is having a general understanding of what’s going in, and what’s coming out burning off. Some people like keeping a food journal. As much as I love documenting what I eat (via this here bloggy blog), I hate keeping a food journal. Go figure! There are websites to track and calculate exact calories in your meals, but that’s another post. The main idea is to have an idea of how many calories you’re consuming each day. I’m just talking in the general sense, here. Like, you ate a 1/2lb hamburger topped with a hot link and a side of fries vs. you ate a salad with grilled chicken on top.  But all that is another post because today I want to talk about exercise.

Anyone still here? Oh, I think I see someone in the back! You’ll be so glad you stayed.

A lot of us, including myself until very recently, have forgotten how important it is to move around! With everything at our fingertips, we’re lifeless blobs! Convenience is on its way to being a sin, and I’ve already embraced gluttony, so it’s off the table because I think we're only allowed one. Of course, one woman’s sin is another woman’s motivation! See, I love to eat. I don’t just love food (and oh do I ever love food...), I love the act of eating. I chew ridiculous amounts of gum between meals, just to keep my mouth busy...

[insert dirty joke here]

And since I love to eat ever so much, if I want to keep my trim figure up, I’ve got to run, run, run! The hardest part about starting an exercise routine is that starting part. The key here is routine, as in something you do more than once, regularly even! It's easy to try something once or twice, but really sticking with a regular exercise program is by far the hardest part about getting in shape, I think. The good news is, once you commit and keep it up, it becomes a part of your life, and thus, it becomes easier.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel!  It doesn't matter what you do, as long as you’re moving around. Though it does make sense to pick an activity you actually enjoy. Now don’t cop out on me people! I will maintain that anyone can find some activity they can do regularly they don’t completely hate. If you belong to a gym you never go to, chances are the gym maybe isn’t your thing. Try saving some money and finding other modes of movement! I didn’t know until I tried that I actually just preferred walking (and eventually running) around my neighborhood. Have a Wii? Try one of the many fitness games they have (and email me if you want some reviews). Try hiking somewhere scenic in your area, or a lake or forest or the beach! There’s always sports like tennis, basketball, or soccer, but since they require a friend, it’s best to find a lone activity for the everyday. The point is, move around, and do it several times a week. You don’t have to devote hours and hours to every workout. My motto is something is better than nothing. I know everybody’s daily lives are hectic and...well...packed!  It’s hard to imagine working more into your day, but trust me, it's all about baby steps. Once you work in 10 minutes, before you know it, you’ll find yourself extending it to 15. That’s how I started and look at me now! I learned to make exercising a priority in my routine and just...worked it in!  A little bit at a time.

And just one more quick rant: don't cop out on yourself!  Don't be one of those people that tries exercising once, doesn't see results, and then gives up.  It takes time, and you know it.  Don't be one of those people that chooses an activity that doesn't raise their heart rate above what it would take to get off the couch and go to the bathroom.  Exercising burns calories because your heart rate is raised.  Higher heart rate = more calories burned.  And this isn't really wrong, I just think it's silly: don't drive the two blocks to the gym (a ten minute walk, tops), and then walk on a treadmill once you get there!  There are a thousand and one excuses to not work out, and all they do is help you justify skipping something you aren't excited to do.  In the end, it's just a cop out.  Save the excuses.  You're in charge of yourself, and it's far better to just be honest with yourself.  If you don't want to exercise, then don't!  But no cake for you!

Ok, enough about exercise. Let’s talk dessert! I know they’re disgustingly trendy right now, but I’m kind of into cupcakes lately. They’re just so pleasantly pre-proportioned! And cake is so fluffy and sweet! And frosting! I love frosting. I could eat it by the spoonful. And when I say "could", I of course mean I totally have.  When I fill a pastry bag with frosting, I’m tempted to just squeeze it right into my gullet. Just tempted, haven't actually done that one...yet.  And by pastry bag, I mean a ziplock with the bottom corner cut off.  We're fancy at Chez Julie.

And now that my latest deep, dark secrets are out in the open, let’s talk about these cupcakes! They were awesome! The cake was light and fluffy, moist and delicious. It’s the buttermilk. Buttermilk does magical things with baked goods. And full of fruit! You’ll notice from the picture below that my strawberries sank to the bottom, which doesn’t so much matter to the overall flavor, but doesn’t make for such a pretty pic. It’s all about presentation! But fear not, I have a trick! By tossing the strawberries with a little flour, the theory is they stay properly suspended. I had to guess at how much flour to use, since obviously I'm coming up with it after the fact, so more flour might be necessary.  I've heard about this trick many times in the past, but I've never tried it, so you'll be like my guinea pigs!  Naw, it'll work.  If you're worried, you could always puree the strawberries first and just fold them into the batter, but I liked the burst of fresh berry goodness.

Mere cupcakes with frosting are not enough to fully excite me. Oh no. Not anymore.  I need to fill them. Because really, these are margarita cupcakes. Sure, there’s lime in the cupcakes, and lime in the frosting, but it’s just a hint. My cupcakes need that sour bite!  My lime needs to shine! By filling the center with lime curd, it gives the cupcakes a bright burst of citrus flavor. Delicious flavor! I love filling cupcakes. It’s a great way to sneak in another layer of flavor, and you never see it coming!  It's a surprise inside every cupcake.  They should change the saying to "Life is liiiiike a batch of cupcakes..."  See, those crazy post titles explain themselves eventually.

And who doesn’t love lime curd? Ok, probably plenty of people...but they don't exist to me.  Ever made your own citrus curd? It sounds intimidating, doesn't it? It’s actually super easy to make, as long as you keep one thing in mind: don’t leave the stove! It’s easy, but it’s also kind of a pain, unless you want scrambled eggs. But it’s only for a little while, and it only requires you to stir. Buck up and push through!

[Full disclosure: tequila doesn't come through very strong in baked goods.  In future batches, I'm still going to use it, and I still liked it in there.  Just don't expect a punch in the face like you can get with a stronger alcohol, like bourbon.  And if you're really in need of booze with only a little tequila left in the pantry, maybe just leave it out and drink a shot instead.]

This was my first time attempting swiss meringue buttercream, and not only was it a resounding success, it made a believer out of me. It’s light as a cloud and oh so delicate! The strawberry jam adds a refreshing flavor, and it’s nice and light to go with the texture. And delicate.  Just note these cupcakes don’t keep quite as well as a regular buttercream because the meringue hardens a bit in the fridge. But they still stay tasty!  And delicate!  And light!  It's like the strawberry frosting flavor is delivered to your mouth and you just have no idea how it got there.

These cupcakes really came together beautifully. The overall lightness of textures went really great with the more delicate and bright flavors of the fruit. Since it won’t weigh you down, it’s a great sweet treat on a hot summer day! This is a cupcake I will always make room for in my daily calorie bank!

Strawberry Margarita Surprise Cupcakes
(aka: strawberry lime tequila cupcakes with lime curd filling and a strawberry lime tequila swiss meringue buttercream...got that?)
cupcakes adapted from Annie’s Eats
buttercream adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes about 18 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
generous 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 TB tequila
1 TB lime zest
2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup AP flour

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line the muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
2. In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time until incorporated, then add the buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and tequila and mix until fully combined.
3. Sift the cake flour, baking soda, and salt together and stir into the batter until just combined.
4. In a separate bowl, toss the strawberries with the AP flour and lime zest. Add more flour if it’s not enough to coat the whole batch. Gently fold the strawberries into the batter.
5. Fill the cupcake liners with the batter, leaving about a 1/2 inch from the top. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a cake tester (i.e. toothpick) comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the lime curd:
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
4 TB unsalted butter, melted

In a small saucepan whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, lime juice, and butter and cook over moderately low heat. Taste the mixture (if you’re comfortable with the raw egg, which I know many people smarter than I are not) and add more sugar if it’s not sweet enough (I don't like it too sweet). Stir constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 to 7 minutes (that means when you run your finger along the coating on the back of the spoon, it should leave a line rather than running back together). Be sure not to let it boil or sit long enough to curdle. Strain curd through a fine mesh strainer and set aside to cool.

For the buttercream:
1 pound fresh strawberries, finely chopped
1 cup sugar, divided
1/4 cup tequila
1/4 tsp salt
1 TB lime juice
1 tsp lime zest
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into pieces
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

(makes about 2 cups)

1. Set a small pot over medium heat. Add the strawberries, 1/2 cup of sugar, tequila, salt, lime juice, and lime zest and simmer gently until a thickened syrup forms, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.  Once cooled, you can either puree the mixture or leave it in chunks.  I left mine chunky.
2. Set a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water. Add the egg whites and the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and whisk constantly over the heat until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture is warm when you stick your finger in it (about 160 degrees).
3. Pour the egg mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until stiff peaks form (not too dry though). Test this by removing the whisk attachment, swirling it around the mixture, and pulling it straight up and turning it rightside-up to face you. If they are properly whipped up, a small droopy peak should stick up on the very tip of the whisk.
4. Switch to the paddle attachment on the stand mixer, and beat the butter into the egg mixture on a medium-low speed, a few tablespoons at a time. Make sure the butter is fully incorporated before adding the next batch. If mixture separates after all the butter is mixed in, beat at a medium-high speed for a few minutes until it comes back together. Add the vanilla, beating it at medium-low speed, then turn the speed all the way down to low and mix for a couple of minutes to remove any extra air.
5. Gently fold in the strawberry jam mixture with a rubber spatula and stir until the buttercream is smooth.

Note: Feel free to use store-bought strawberry jam instead of basically making your own, and just cook it on the stove with the other ingredients for a few minutes until it comes together.

To assemble the cupcakes:

1. Using a pairing knife inserted at an angle, cut out a small cone-shaped chunk, about a 1 inch circle from the top of each cupcake. Fill the hole with the lime curd, about 1 teaspoon worth. You can either replace the chunk you removed, or eat it! leave it off.
2. Fill a pastry bag (or ziplock with the bottom corner cut off) with the frosting and go to town on your cupcakes. Or, you know, just use a spatula.

And Everything Nice

Recipe Below: Cinnamon Spice Zucchini Bread

It’s zucchini season! Zucchini abounds! Those lucky enough to be growing their own are overwhelmed with hoards of gourds (Ha! I rhymed!), and those not so lucky (like me, *sigh*) can get theirs on the cheap at the farmer’s market and grocery store. Win!

Do I even need to tell you where I’m going with this?

Zucchini bread of course! How can you not make zucchini bread when faced with it? I happened upon 3 such gourds of summer heaven, grown fresh from a local farm, recently, and it was never a question in my mind what to do with them. I got them at the farm, actually. What can I say? Having a Corgi gets you connected. Especially when the woman who owns the farm has 2 Corgis herself, and often invites a dozen other Corgis over to romp around her grounds.

You know what’s great about zucchini bread? You know, besides the fact that you get to essentially make a dessert, get away with calling it breakfast, and tell yourself it’s healthy because there’s a modicum of vegetable in it? It’s like a blank canvas. Well really, that’s what’s so great about quick breads in general.

What’s a quick bread?


Time out! Pull up an uncomfortable desk with gum stuck to the bottom. School is in session.

Ahem. Quick breads, for those not hip to the lingo, are breads that use leaveners like baking soda and baking powder instead of yeast. Without yeast you don’t have to worry about things like kneading, rising, and gluten development. You just apply heat to the mixture and they puff right up. Quick! Also, obviously, they have a completely different texture and flavor than yeast breads. Besides loaves like zucchini, banana, and pumpkin breads, other examples of quick breads include muffins, pancakes, biscuits, and waffles.

*briiiiiiiiiing*

That’s all for today class!


Quick breads are like blank canvases because they take on a variety of flavors and ingredients well. They can be breakfast or dessert, sweet or savory, decadent or healthy! You can easily elevate them with the addition of fruit, nuts, chocolate, and my personal favorite, booze! Which brings me to this zucchini bread. I happen to love this zucchini bread. This is my go-to recipe. But as the above spiel points out, you can modify it any which way to make it your own. So let’s talk a little about what I put into mine, and ways you could possibly make it yours...

I think zucchini is the best place to start. First off, you don’t even have to use zucchini. Any summer squash will do. Heck, swap it for carrots if you want! Some people would peel the skins off first, but I left them on. That’s where all the nutrients are, and by now you know how I am about throwing out the healthy parts! They softened right along with the flesh, so it definitely wasn’t a textural issue. Plus, they added cool green flecks to the bread!

Did you know that a great way to lighten up quick breads is to replace some of the oil with a mashed fruit or vegetable? Of course you did! Banana and pumpkin are excellent choices, but applesauce works great when you have another fruit or vegetable you want to be the star. It adds fluff without taking over the flavor. I use it in muffins all the time, so I try to always have a small jar on hand. I like the ones advertised as “naturally sweetened”, which just means no added sugar. If you have one with sugar, you might want to lessen the sugar in the recipe a bit.  [Edit: A reader with far bigger brain mass than I pointed out that naturally sweetened really just means they added fruit juice concentrates and other essentially-sugar-like products, and you're better off buying an applesauce that actually says no sugar added.  I agree 100%!  If you can find it, use it.  I could not, but that just means I have to look harder.  Apparently Motts sells a version.] 

I used only whole wheat pastry flour. It’s whole wheat flour that is ground finer than regular whole wheat flour, so the texture stays a bit lighter. I don’t see it sold at the big chain grocery stores, but any health food store (like Whole Foods) should have it, and in San Diego, places like Henry’s and Sprouts and Jimbo’s sell it. I love having it on hand, so I would recommend the purchase, but I definitely understand picking and choosing flours to stock your pantry with. AP flour, whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, bread flour, self rising flour, cake flour... Who has room for all that?! Not me. I stick to 4...okay, 5. AP, white whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, bread, and cake. And sometimes regular whole wheat (i.e. red whole wheat).

Hi, my name is Julie, and I have a problem with flour. 

Also, I need a bigger pantry!

If your sponsor is telling you to be strong and resist yet another bag of flour, or you just aren’t interested in a special trip to the store, you can, as always, use all purpose flour instead. It’s all purpose! But if you have some form of whole wheat flour, I would suggest half and half. It really adds a nice density to the bread that goes great with the spices. If I gave you some speech about the whole grains sopping up the booze for a boozier flavor, would you believe me? Ok fine, but it does add fiber and protein! So there!

Did I mention booze? Of course! What’s a quick bread without booze? Besides, you know, kid friendly. Heh. Bourbon, naturally. Bourbon goes awesome in quick breads. It imparts a deep, smokey flavor that goes great with nuts and spices. Oh the spices! Cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg...oh my! But the spice of all spices. The spice that makes this bread “the recipe” for me is the cardamom. Ever baked with cardamom? It’s magic. Almost floral. And potent! A little goes a long way, so be careful. It’s that ingredient that will make people go, “What is that hint of deliciousness I am tasting?” It can be a bit tricky to find, but I managed to find some at one of the big grocery chains. You just have to train your eyes away from the generic brand and over to the expensive ones right beside them. I know, I usually don’t bother either. But it might just be there! If you don’t have it, just leave it out. It’ll still be great. And if you’re going for a simpler palate, you could always nix everything but the cinnamon.

Nuts are always optional, but I like the texture contrast from their crunch, and the flavor they add. I prefer walnuts, but Husband isn’t a fan, so I use pecans instead.

If you’re wondering what those cinnamon-colored splotches are on my bread, that would be cinnamon chips! You know, like chocolate chips, but cinnamon. Again, they’re sold in all the big chain markets, right in the baking section along with the toffee chips or peanut butter chips. It was my first time baking with them, so it was a bit of an experiment. I didn’t expect them to melt, but since they’re essentially just flavored sugar, it does make sense.

Why do I love this zucchini bread so?  First off, it's moist!  Dense but moist, as good bread should be, thanks to the applesauce and zucchini.  The bourbon and pecans give a wonderful deep flavor, while the orange zest and spices make everything party together in your mouth.  And it's healthy.  What?  It is!  It's 100% whole wheat, it has vegetables, fruit, and nuts for protein.  And that tiny bit of oil wouldn't hurt a fly!  We just won't talk about the sugar.  Husband was so convinced by my argument that he went ahead and ate it for breakfast.

What do you put in your zucchini bread?

Cinnamon Spice Zucchini Bread
adapted pretty heavily from Serious Eats

Makes 1 loaf+

3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce (preferably “naturally sweetened”)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange zest
2-3 TB bourbon
2 cups zucchini, shredded (about 3 small zucchini)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1/2 cup cinnamon chips (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9x5 loaf pan with butter spray. 
2. In a stand mixer, beat the eggs, oil, and sugars until light and thick, a few minutes.  Add the applesauce, orange zest, vanilla, and bourbon and beat until combined.
3. Place the shredded zucchini in a kitchen towel (or a stack of paper towels), and gently squeeze out any excess moisture. Stir the squash into the wet mixture. 
4. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and mix until just barely combined. Don’t overmix! Gently fold in the pecans and cinnamon chips if using. 
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60-75 minutes, until a cake tester (i.e. toothpick!) comes out clean. It’s a good idea to rotate the pan halfway through. 
6. When it’s cool enough to handle, turn the bread out onto a cooling rack to cool completely, at least 30 minutes. 

Note: I ended up with a bit of extra batter, so I filled about 2 muffin cups with the extra, and pulled them out after about 30-40 minutes. They’re great for testing for poison while your bread is cooling. 

The Bright Side of Car Troubles

Recipe below: Somewhat Authentic Thai Green Curry

Speaking of bright sides, my life is such a comedy of errors at the moment, that I’m constantly focusing on the positives to keep sane. I’d rather laugh at my misfortunes than cry over them any day...and laugh I have! Small talk with my neighbors usually begins with their inquiring after any new disasters that have sprung up since last they saw me, and I can usually deliver on a good story to make us both chuckle. Usually centering around my car, lately. Batteries, tires, radiators. I’ve dealt with it all!

Sure, a leaking radiator isn’t exactly roll on the ground hilarious, but what about when I add that the extended warranty on the car just so happened to expire about a month before said leakage? Yes, that really happened.  Of course it did! 7 years and never a problem that the warranty would cover. But 7 years and 1 month? Well...you see what I mean. Ridiculous!

I also answer to Murphy.


What does all this complaining have to do with anything? Well that brings me to the particular bright side of my constant car troubles. The Asian Market! It’s right down the street from the dealership, and since that neighborhood is about 15 miles away from my house, it’s not very convenient to go regularly. So when Husband and I have to make the trek for some mechanical misfortune or other, we secretly look forward to the stop at 99 Ranch right after. Did I mention they have pork bao the size of my head? And the best darned red bean paste sesame balls, my personal favorite! We always stop at the bakery first to stock up before making the long trek up and down the many aisles.

Sure, most of the ingredients we save up to buy at the Asian market we could easily get in any well-stocked grocery store. But they cost twice as much, and the selection sucks! Did you know there are brands of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar that aren't Kikkoman? I know! Blew my mind when I first found out too.

Then again, there are ingredients that are essential to authentic Asian cuisine that for whatever reason haven’t made it into any of the 10 or so grocery stores in my area. Disappointing, isn’t it? It’s where I buy my miso paste, rice flour, red bean paste, and oodles and oodles of seaweed! I love the seaweed sprinkles that are tossed with toasted sesame seeds. It’s a great topping for rice, popcorn, or any dish that needs a little salty pizazz. Husband loves the sheets of the hot and spicy seaweed so much he buys them 8 containers at a time! It’s really a healthy snack, nicely filling without containing any substantial calories, and a wee bit of protein. Yum!

Don't eat that keffir lime leaf!

But what I really get excited about when I go there are the fixings for Thai food! Sure, a lot of stores now carry lemongrass, but what about keffir lime leaves and Thai basil? My favorite Thai restaurant would never offer my favorite dishes without them! And since I usually only frequent the store when the heavens decide to break my car (more often than I’d like!), I always take advantage of at least a couple of specialty ingredients I can’t buy anywhere closer. If you haven’t already guessed, I’m talking about curry!

I love curry. I used to talk food constantly with a former manager, and she would always marvel at my love of sauce. I love food drenched in a rich and flavorful sauce. Who doesn’t? It makes everything taste fantastic! And curries are the epitome of big flavors: warm, spicy, earthy, and herbaceous. They taste so complicated, but like so many dishes, curries are totally doable! Yes, I mean doable for you!  You know what the trick is? Finding a good quality curry paste. I’d like to make my own at some point, but if you don’t want to go through all the trouble, 99 Ranch has an excellent selection of tasty curry pastes, and your local Asian market probably does too! I went for green. It’s spicy from lots of chile peppers! Husband and I like spicy! You could just mix the curry paste with coconut milk for the sauce base, it would be deliciously simple. But I wanted to brighten the dish with some fresh ingredients already in the paste to make the flavor a bit more definitive and lively.

Now I’m the first to admit that this curry is anything but authentic. Or rather, I was going for authentic curry flavors, but I threw in some other totally inauthentic veggies along with it because they’re delicious and it’s my curry, so I’ll cook what I want to! I opted for classics like onion, carrots, baby bok choy, and mushrooms, but that just wasn’t substantial enough for me. I wanted more! So I also threw in celery and frozen peas because I love greenery, water chestnuts for their lovely crunch, and some red potatoes for texture. Yum!

As far as the sauce goes, garlic, ginger, and lemongrass are the holy trinity of deliciousness. Lemongrass is an ingredient I haven’t experimented with extensively, but I love the sunny, grassy flavor. When preparing the fibrous stock for consumption, just cut off most of the the top and the nub at the bottom and remove the first few layers until you’re left with a tender bit a few inches long. It doesn't look like much, but it goes a long way.  Make sure you mince it up nice and tiny so you get the flavor without any chewy bits. Keffir lime leaves, like lemongrass, are wonderfully aromatic. I treat them like bay leaves and throw them in with the simmering sauce for flavor, but remember not to eat them! I’ve substituted regular Italian basil for Thai basil before, and it certainly works in a pinch, but Thai basil is such a better compliment to the dish. Trust me. Nothing beats the intoxicating aroma of Thai basil.  And with no booze in this recipe, we need our kicks somehow, right? And then there’s the fish sauce. You’re not afraid of fish sauce, are you? I used it think it was nasty, but it turns out it was just an inferior product I had purchased. Good fish sauce is delicious! Not by itself, of course, but just a little bit added to the dish adds a salty, deep flavor (umami!) without being fishy in the slightest! The trick is just to show a little restraint. Don’t skip the fish sauce, trust me!  I opted not to get the Thai peppers.  I could only buy them about 20 at a time, and yikes!  That's a lot of heat!  Also, that's kind of the point of the curry paste.  All the heat are already in there!

This dish was awesome. Better than I expected. I love it when that happens! The flavors all came together so amazingly well, and the spicy kick was just right, so they weren’t masked. I usually go for brown jasmine rice, but this time I served the curry over quinoa. It’s a vegetarian dish, so I wanted the complete protein quinoa gives. Not to mention it cooks twice as fast. It’s seriously the best grain ever!

Now, with any luck I'll go many, many moons without being in the neighborhood of the Asian market again!


An aside: I tried to talk a little bit about the more exotic ingredients in this dish, but I didn't want to get all educational on you if you already know what the heck I'm talking about.  If you want to know more, feel free to email me or leave me a comment!

Somewhat Authentic Thai Green Curry

Makes about 8 servings

1 large onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium red potatoes, cubed
6 bunches of baby bok choy, chopped
8oz beech mushrooms
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch nob of ginger, minced (about 1 TB)
1 stalk lemongrass, tough outer leaves removed and discarded and the tender core minced
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp white pepper*
approximately 2 TB green curry paste (more or less to taste)
1 can coconut milk (I used light)
1 tsp fish sauce
5-6 keffir lime leaves**
1/2 cup Thai basil leaves
1 package frozen peas
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
4 stalks green onion, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1. In a large saute pan or wok over medium heat, sweat the onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes until they give off their water and begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add the baby bok choy and mushrooms, and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally, add the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass, stir to incorporate, and cook another 2 minutes or so. Everything should be smelling amazing!
2. Stir in the coriander and white pepper, and let it cook for a minute, then add the curry paste, and let it cook for another minute. [Note: If you are concerned about the level of spice, add just 1 TB to begin with (or less!), and incorporate the rest after you add the coconut milk in step 3.]
3. Add the coconut milk (be sure to shake the can before you open it!), fish sauce, and lime leaves. Now is the time to adjust the seasonings if it’s needed. Bring the mixture to a light boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are soft and the curry is thick and fragrant.
4. Stir in the Thai basil, frozen peas, water chestnuts, and green onion, and cook for just a minute or two, until warmed. 
5. Sprinkle with the cilantro and serve over brown jasmine rice or my choice, quinoa!

*I don't think I've mentioned white pepper before.  It's basically just like black pepper, but milder and it blends in more, color-wise, to a dish.  It's totally optional, or you could use a few pinches of black pepper.  I just like pepper!  I bought the white pepper at Ranch 99, but I've seen it in regular grocery stores too.

**There's not a perfect substitute for keffir lime leaves, but if you're going for a less fussy curry, a splash of lime juice at the end will help give it that brightness it needs.  Just go easy, you don't want it too acidic.

A Feature, A Feast, And Some Ice Cold Fruit

Recipe below: Tropical Summer Sorbet

Look out, people. I’m going to get all personal on you here. Talk about feelings and issues. Deep ones even. Just skip over it if you’re of a squeamish constitution, I completely understand.

When going through tough times, it’s so important to focus on the positives. Like, sure, I’m looking like a total porker after stuffing my face at my 4th of July feast...and again on the 5th...and then again today. I can’t stay away from the leftovers! But on the bright side, my boobs look awesome! Very full and vollllllluptuous. See? Bright side. 

Some aspects of life have been a total downer the last few months. I’m unemployed. Things in my house and cars keep breaking and requiring tons of money to fix, so now I’m poor. And I’ve recently deduced that apparently because I worked the first 5 years out of college in one profession, it’s impossible to move to any other. Because I would just leave the new position as soon as something better came along. Because people never do that within their own profession. People in college and younger beware this little fact.

But, the positives abound! The likes of the Pioneer Woman and her fabulous underlings have recognized my recipes on her Tasty Kitchen food community home page three times now! That’s three more times than I ever expected. And what’s more. So much more! Is that I've made it. My blog has made it. What is “making it”, and how do I know that I’ve done it? Well a certain co-habitating biped of the gentlemanly persuasion has been reading regularly. This individual does not read blogs, could care less about the random ramblings of his fellows, even those of his life companion. But he reads this modest one. Hi Husband!

Can I just run this food blog full time? That would be my first choice. I would get a fancy Apple laptop with the latest Photoshop software. I would get a top end digital camera and take lessons on how to actually use it. I would cook and bake in the kitchen all day long, concocting boozy creations and share them with you! Man, wouldn't that be nice?  Cross your fingers I win the lottery one of these days!



Oh, right. The small matter of the leftovers I mentioned. It was my second annual 4th of July barbecue feast! We had a few friends and one very adorable Beagle over to help us consume what can only be described as a smorgasbord. It’s all Husband’s fault, you see. I couldn’t decide between serving hot dogs, hamburgers, and BBQ pulled chicken, and he adamantly insisted that we have all three.

“How about all three?” He said.

Do you see what I have to put up with?!

And with all that meat, I couldn't serve just one salad. One measly side. Oh no. I had to do appetizers, grilled vegetables, a slaw, grilled mashed potatoes, a pie, and of course, bake my own buns. I was in the kitchen all weekend. It was awesome. And all Husband’s fault.

I think my guests were a bit overwhelmed by the variety of food available. I hope they don’t think I make that much food every time I have people over. Except that I kind of do. I have a problem. But I’m determined! I will have a few guests over sometime in the future, and I will cook a simple meal. One protein, one side, one veg. And one appetizer, and one dessert. And maybe some homemade bread. See? Totally not overboard. Right.



Well if you ate as much as I did to celebrate our Nation’s Independence, you’re probably in the mood for something a bit...simple and light. I’ve got you covered! This tropical fruit sorbet! It’s sweet. It’s delicate. It’s the perfect treat for a sunny Summer day. And best of all, it’s boozy! The hefty helping of rum not only adds an awesome tropical punch, but it lowers the freezing temperature of the sorbet, so it stays nice and scoop-able!  Heck, it’s even sugar free.  It's so delicious that it could just be a bright side to your own trying day.

Tropical Summer Sorbet

6 kiwis, skin removed and cut into pieces
1 mango, skin removed and cut into pieces
1/2 cup rum (I used light)
1/4 cup agave syrup (or more to taste)

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until liquefied. You may need more agave syrup, depending on the sweetness of your fruit. Chill mixture for at least 30 minutes. Add to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Move sorbet to a freezer-safe container and freeze for a few hours to harden.

Note: If you don’t have agave syrup, you can always substitute simple syrup instead.

Meal Fiesta Caliente!

Recipes below: Fiesta Black Beans, Chipotle Lime Pulled Chicken, Caliente Yogurt Sauce, and Watermelon Lime Margaritas

Let me just start this post off by saying that not only do you get recipes for a whole flipping meal in this post, you get a drink too!  Take that Guy Fieri and Guy's Big Bite!  So it may be a doozy of a post, but this is like 4 posts in one.  You're welcome!

Beans get a bum rap. They’re always an afterthought, an easy side. They’re baked with a pound of sugar, or fried with a pound of lard. They rarely have any real flavor imparted. Fat and sugar are not flavors. They are nutrients that Mitochondrial Eve and Lucy evolved to salivate over because it meant the food they were eating was a good source of calories. Not so much a problem for homo-folk nowadays. But real flavors are just as easy, and way more delicious! And it’s really too bad because beans are so versatile and healthy! They are full of fiber and protein, which fills your tummy up, and they take on all kinds of seasonings in all kinds of dishes. Really, what’s not to like?  

Oh right...they are the magical fruit.  Eh, get over it.  Take some Beano if you're worried.

I’m curious how other people build their meals. Me? It usually starts with one ingredient I feel like eating. In this case, I was craving black beans. Then I thought I wanted to do a play on refried beans because I wanted a creamier consistency. That got me thinking about Mexican flavors, and the meal just took form from there! I ended up with black beans, slow-cooked pulled chicken, and steamed broccoli, all flavored with chipotle chiles, lime, and tequila. Yum!

Limes are a fantastic way to bring Mexican-flavored food to life. They’re bright and acidic and a beautiful compliment to chiles. Chipotles in adobo sauce are deep and smokey, which I absolutely love, but regular jalapenos would have been good too. And of course, being me, I threw in some tequila because it’s an obvious pairing and delicious!

I steamed the broccoli, which I tossed with the caliente yogurt sauce, because I was just in the mood, but in hindsight, I think roasting the broccoli would have been even more delicious, and taken the sauce a little better. Also, even better would be just a simple slaw with cabbage and carrot. But really, anything that tickles your fancy would work. Also, a great vegetarian option would be to nix the chicken (duh) and toss some cooked brown rice in with the beans.  Oh, that sounds good! I'll be trying that next time!  You do know that rice and beans make a complete protein, thus serving as a suitable replacement for meat, right?  I'm sure all the vegetarians out there do, but all you looking to jump on the meat-light bandwagon (good for you!), take note.

With the 4th of July coming up this weekend, any of these dishes could be a great addition to your celebratory fare! I’m super excited to be hosting a barbecue with just a few friends, mostly neighbors, and their pups! I have to admit, I have kind of a problem when it comes to hosting. Besides my neurotic anxieties, I mean. I always make too much food! I just want to feed people all sorts of delicious foods, and it of course ends up being way more than anyone can possibly eat. But that’s ok. I figure Husband and I just won’t have to worry about meals for the next decade or so. Or Theo and his friends would be more than willing to help us out, I'm sure.

I’ll be serving some roasted red pepper and garlic hummus, and some spinach artichoke dip to start. Then, since we couldn’t decide between proteins, we’ll have hot dogs, hamburgers, and BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches (we are insane, I am fully aware). Yum! On the side, simple grilled veggies, a mango, corn, and jicama salad, and a curry coleslaw. And my grilled mashed potatoes are going to make a second appearance! This time I’m making a sauce with this blue and jack cheese blend they sell at Sprouts. It’s milder than blue cheese by itself, and I think will be delicious with the potatoes! And for dessert I’m trying out Alton Brown’s apple pie featuring apple brandy! I’ve been waiting to try this recipe for months!

What are you doing to celebrate the second runner up for biggest grilling holiday our Independence Day?  What's for dinner?

Fiesta Black Beans

makes about 8 servings for a side or 6 servings for a main

2 TB butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chile powder* (ancho or chipotle)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cans black beans (I’m approximating because I used dried beans, it may have been a little more)
1 7oz can diced green chiles
3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, deseeded and minced
1 TB adobo sauce
1/4 cup tequila
2 limes, juiced
8oz frozen corn, thawed
3-4 stalks green onion, sliced

*I highly recommend against buying just generic chili powder. First off, it’s awful, and second, you’re not looking to make the dish taste like chili, but chile. Most stores sell ancho or chipotle versions that are pretty good. I made my own!

1. In a pot over medium heat, melt the butter, and sweat the onions and garlic until soft.
2. Add the salt, coriander, paprika, cumin, chile powder, and cayenne pepper, and cook for a minute, until your kitchen starts to smell amazing (i.e. the spices release their oils).
3. Add the black beans, green chiles, chipotle chiles, adobo sauce, and tequila, and cook until soft and incorporated, about 5 minutes. At this point I took out a potato masher and loosely mashed the mixture, but that’s optional.
4. Add the lime juice, corn, and green onions, and stir to combine. Remove the mixture from the heat and serve.

Chipotle Lime Pulled Chicken

1 whole boiler chicken
1 jar of your favorite chipotle salsa (I'm partial to Trader Joe's)
6 cloves garlic, whole
1 lime, juiced
1/3 cup tequila
8 oz frozen corn, thawed

1. In a slow cooker, place the chicken in the bottom of the pot. Pour half the jar of salsa over the chicken, then sprinkle in the garlic cloves. Cook on high for 6-7 hours, until it is falling apart and delicious.
2. About 3 hours into the cook time, flip the chicken over for even cooking, and add the rest of the salsa, tequila, and lime juice.
3. When the chicken is done, fish out the carcass and bones, shred it up, and stir in the corn. Make sure you get all the bones! Some are very small and easily detach from the carcass, and these can be a big time chocking hazard!

Caliente Yogurt Sauce

Makes a little over 1/2 cup

1/2 cup Greek-style yogurt (I used 2%, but any will do)
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, deseeded and minced (2 was pretty darn spicy, so start with 1 if you're scared)
1 TB adobo sauce
2 cloves garlic
3 stalks green onion, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp chile powder
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and mix until incorporated. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Serving suggestion: Toss with roasted broccoli or shredded cabbage.


Did I mention I chased this delicious meal with a cocktail? Indeed I did! A watermelon and lime margarita, to be exact. Just pretend that picture below is in a margarita glass rimmed with salt, m-kay? Went perfectly with my Mexican fare! Just the limeade would be a refreshing treat anyone could enjoy on a hot Summer day.

Watermelon Limeade

5lb watermelon, chopped into chunks
3-4 limes, juiced
1/4 cup agave nectar or simple syrup, or more to taste
pinch of salt

1. In a food processor (or blender if you have a descent one), mix watermelon until it’s a liquid. You’ll probably have to do it in batches to avoid the juices spilling out. Pour it through a mesh strainer to remove any pulp. 
2. Add the lime juice, agave or syrup, and salt, and stir to combine.  Add more sweetener as needed, it'll depend on how sweet your watermelon is.  

To make this an adult beverage, blend with ice and tequila and serve in a margarita glass, or for a margarita on the rocks, pour a shot of tequila and the limeade over ice cubes.

Cinnfully Delicious

Recipe below: Tipsy de Leche Cheesecake Squares

The last P is here! Were you dying in anticipation? I know you were. Even though I already told you it was practicality, and even though that’s pretty darn self explanatory. That said, let me explain to you all about it!

All those instances in the two previous posts where I mentioned being reasonable? That’s where the practicality comes in. Use your judgement! Whatever I tell you, whatever anyone else tells you, it should make sense. Starving Cleansing myself with some nasty lemonade pepper mixture for a week obviously isn’t healthy. Reverting to our hunter/gatherer roots and cutting out all foods that depend on “modern” agriculture is...well probably fine, but weird, and must be a total pain. No wheat! And cutting out entire food groups (i.e. super low-fat, super low-carb), or depending on outside companies to feed you is not a realistic long term solution. What happens when you’re fed up with your diet? You haven’t built any new habits, so you’ll go right back to your old ones. If it doesn’t sound healthy, don’t do it. If it’s a temporary solution, it won’t be a permanent solution, so why do it?

I also thought of some more Ps that have been important to my weight loss.  It's a coincidence, I swear. Patience and persistence. If you’re being healthy, it’s not going to be fast. You’re going to have good days and bad days. It’s all about sticking with it. It’s not about making numbers move on a scale, it’s about feeling good! Change is hard, in any aspect of life. Have the patience to learn what works for you, and have the persistence to see it through.

Being mindful of portion, proportion, practicality, patience, and persistence, these guidelines have really helped when relearning how to feed myself. And it was a learning process. But at the same time, it was actually kind of fun! Every week was a new experiment. I found some recipes that sounded delicious, tried them out, had some hits, had some misses, and then tried a new experiment the next week. I figured out what I was comfortable with, what I enjoyed, and as I cooked more recipes, it got easier and it ended up being a lot of fun! I didn’t set out to develop a serious cooking and baking hobby. It just happened! I just wanted to learn how to cook well enough to feed myself in a healthy way. You don't have to get as involved as I did.  Healthy options can be fast and easy, and even inexpensive!  Give change a chance.

I've always loved cheesecake, but I’ve never owned a springform pan, which kept me from attempting my own all this time. Then I saw this recipe for cheesecake squares, and the heavens parted. Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

I love the combination of graham crackers and cinnamon, so I thought infusing it with a little Goldschlager, which is a cinnamon liquor, would go nicely. And it was awesome! Don’t have Goldschlager on hand? Well I highly recommend it for your liquor cabinet. Ever had a gingerbread martini? It's 2 parts Bailey’s, 1 part butterscotch schnapps, 1 part Goldschlager, shaken over ice. It will change your life. My favorite cocktail to drink around Christmas.

I love the deep, rich sweetness from the dulce de leche, and the Kahlua complimented the flavor subtly, but deliciously. Next time I want to try it with rum just to see if it holds up a bit stronger, but I definitely liked the Kahlua. Do I even need to go on about the flavor of these little gems? The cinnamon graham crust, the creamy, caramel cheesecake, the silky chocolate... They are divine. Heaven in your mouth. Ecstasy!  All the flavors and textures were wonderfully balanced in a perfect bite.

I cut these up super small so I could have just a bite of deliciousness. They are rich and the flavors are bold, so a bite was really a satisfying treat.  Feel free to cut yours a wee bit bigger.

The original recipe called for a 8 inch square baking pan, which I don’t have, and I didn’t modify the recipe to account for that when I made it. I think overall it was fine, but the crust layer was a bit too thin.  I had to really stretch out the crust layer to cover to whole pan. So I tweaked a few of the ingredients in my recipe to account for it.

This recipe, I would guess like many cheesecake recipes, is a bit of a process.  It involves lots of time in the refrigerator to chill and set, so make sure you read through the entire recipe before planning to bake it up an hour before company comes over.  I'm notoriously forgetful of that kind of thing when I bake.


A special thanks to my friend Geri for helping me come up with the name of these beauties!  You gotta have fun with it, right?

Tipsy de Leche Cheesecake Squares
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 81 1-inch squares

For the crust:
4oz graham crackers, or enough for 1 1/4 cups of crumbs
2 TB sugar
pinch of salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter (4 TB), melted
2 TB Goldschlager (cinnamon liquor)

For the cake:
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk (for the dulce de leche)*
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup milk (I used 1%, but whole is probably preferred)
1 8oz package cream cheese, room temperature
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup Kahlua (or rum)

For the glaze:
3.5 oz dark chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter (4 TB)
2 tsp light corn syrup


For the crust:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 9 inch square baking pan with a sheet of aluminum foil, leaving a few inches of overhang on the two opposite sides. Lay another sheet of aluminum foil similarly, covering the other two sides. Spray the pan with baking spray for good measure.
2. In a food processor, break up the graham crackers and pulse until you have crumbs. Measure out 1 1/4 cups of the crumbs, remove any leftover (and munch while you bake!), and put the measured crumbs back in the bowl of the food processor.
3. Add the sugar and salt, and with the mixer running, drizzle in the melted butter and then the Goldschlager and blend until it is fully combined.
4. Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan in an even layer. Bake 10 minutes, then cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes.

For the cake:

1. To convert the sweetened condensed milk to delicious dulce de leche, pour the can of milk into a bowl (or small pot) set over simmering water. Cover bowl and cook, stirring occasionally, for 40-50 minutes until the milk is thickened and a light caramel color.*
2. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the milk, and let stand for 2 minutes.
3. In a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, eggs, salt, Kahlua, and milk mixture at medium speed for a few minutes until fully combined. Add 1 cup of the dulce de leche and mix at low speed until just combined.
4. Pour the batter over the crust and smooth into an even layer. You're going to bake this in a hot water bath.  To do this, place the baking pan in a larger oven-proof container (I used a large roasting pan), and pour in boiling water until it reaches about halfway up the pan. Carefully move this to the oven and bake at 325 degrees until the center of the cake is set, about 40-45 minutes.
5. Chill the cake completely in the pan for a few hours, then chill in the refrigerator, covered, for several hours or overnight.

For the glaze:

1. In a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine all the ingredients. Stir until the chocolate is melted, and everything is incorporated and smooth.
2. Pour mixture over the cheesecake and spread in an even layer. Chill, uncovered until the glaze is set, about 30-40 minutes. Make sure it's not too hard or it will be difficult to cut your squares.

To serve:

1. Using the overhanging foil, gently pull the cheesecake from the pan and place on a cutting board. Using a thin knife, cut cake into 1 inch squares. To make sure you don’t make a total mess of your beautiful squares, wipe off the knife after each cut.
2. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

*Note: You can also buy dulce de leche, but I figure why bother?  It costs twice as much, and it's not hard to make.  But if you prefer to save a step over a penny, just measure out 1 cup of the store-bought stuff. 

Condiment Obsession

Recipe: Wasabi Tofu "Mayo"

Alright, so last week I left off the 3 Ps discussion with portion.  I've been thinking about what I want to say about the next P ever since.  Proportion. If portion is all about what size your plate is, I think of proportion as deciding what goes on the plate.  A small bowl of chocolate ice cream has a heck of a lot more calories than a bowl of roasted broccoli, and the broccoli has all those wonderful vitamins and minerals, not to mention an awesome little thing called fiber.  Rather than associating fiber with poop, as some may tend to do, try thinking of it as a nutrient in food that makes you feel full and for longer.  And as my mom always said, "it escorts the fat out of your body".

Yes, I mentioned poop on a food blog that's intended to get you to salivate over my delicious recipes. Yes, I can't help myself.  Yes, I'm seeing someone about this problem...or rather, I would be if I could afford a shrink.  I can't even afford a haircut people.  I'm starting to look like cousin it, but frizzy.  Yes, I made chocolate ice cream and roasted broccoli last week, so I have both on the brain.  Yes, they were both delicious.  And yes no, I did not eat them together.

What I'm trying to get at here is that it's all about balance.  We're not supposed to eat all of the same food, right?  Sure, Husband wishes he could eat steak 3 meals a day, but that's just not reasonable.  There are things called food groups, and we're supposed to eat a certain amount of food from each food group each day to get the nutrients we need to be healthy.  You might remember seeing a chart at some point in your life with a picture of a pyramid and random foods all stacked on top of each other and topped with the delicious sweets at the top. You might remember more recently seeing one that is eerily similar but at points different.  I personally don't subscribe to any ancient Egyptian depictions of food proportions.  What do they know?

Now I'm not a nutritionist.  I'm not an expert.  I'm just telling you how I ate to lose weight and get healthy.  Everybody is different.  Everybody has different needs.  You'll have to identify your own needs based on how much you exercise and just how your body chemistry is made up.  I try to eat pretty low in complex carbs (as in grains, breads, pastas, all that tastiness), not because carbs are evil, but because my body just doesn't seem to like a lot of 'em.  I get all icky-digesty and feel sluggish when I eat a heavy-carb based meal.  Not to mention my body seems to burn through carbs like a shopaholic on Black Friday.  I could eat an endless bowl of pasta...forever.  I know this about myself, so I treat carbs as a side component in a meal, rather than the star.  Also, since I exercise an above average amount, I eat a fair amount of protein.  Not just meat, but dairy, nuts, beans, lentils, etc.  How do you know what your body needs?  Listen to it!  When you eat a bowl of pasta, how does it make you feel?  Are you hungry again 5 minutes later?  I wasn't a big meat eater until very recently, and I ate protein in general pretty sparingly.  Then I started exercising, and high protein foods not only started tasting better to me, but I was actually craving them!  I wanted meat!  That was my body telling me it needed more of the nutrient to build my big strong muscles I was working so hard for.

But of course, those pesky macro-nutrients overlap (protein, carbohydrates, and fat).  Protein does not = meat.  Carb does not = bread.  Fat does not = butter.  Let's not be so cut and dry and try being reasonable. And you need each one of those macro-nutrients, so don't cut anything out!  It's not about low fat or low carb.  It's all about balance.  In other words, proportion!

There's one main guideline I like to follow: eat as many vegetables as you want.  Vegetables are so stinking healthy and low in calories (compared to volume), that I'll bet I would be physically sick before I could eat enough to get fat.  And I'm not talking about corn soaked in butter, people.  Be reasonable.  You know why?  Fiber!  Vegetables are chalked full of it!  Not to mention vitamins, minerals, sometimes a bit of protein, and sometimes a bit of sugar to make 'em yummy.  That means vegetables make you feel full.  And when you're full, you tend to stop eating.  That's always my problem. The stopping of the eating.

So here's what I do when building my plate (and that would be the appropriately sized small plate we discussed).  I fill half of it with vegetables.  That's right.  Half.  That's half your stomach room going to something that's rich in nutrients and that's going to stick with you for a solid few hours.  Now hear me out!  Sure, half a plate of green beans doesn't appeal as much as filling half that plate with garlic bread or pork chops.  Or rather, they don't right now.  You want to know something funny?  My taste buds completely changed with my eating habits, not to mention my attitude.  I started off this whole thing tolerating the vegetables.  They were something to get through.  Then as I ate them more, I started finding better ways to cook them.  Sure, steamed broccoli is ok, but if you roast it in the oven it's 20 million times tastier!  Cabbage braised with a horseradish sauce?  Delicious!  I say my taste buds changed, but I think really my approach to cooking vegetables is what improved.  The veggies don't have to be plain.  It's ok to spice them up with sauces, spices, and additions like nuts.  Make a complete dish that you want to eat.  When I started putting some real effort into preparation, everything starting tasting better.  Before I knew it, I was craving vegetables!  I'm not even exaggerating!  Last time I visited my parents my mom kept laughing at how insistent I was that our meals at home consist of enough vegetables to handle me.  "That salad is enough for me, but what about the rest of you?"  Give vegetables a chance.  And not just lettuce!  Don't just go home and eat a salad for dinner.  Spice it up!  I rarely eat lettuce.  Sure, it's healthy, but it's mostly water and doesn't stick with me like heartier vegetables do.  Not to mention it's rather boring!

So our plate is half full with vegetables, now what?  I usually split what's left in half and fill one remaining quarter with protein, and the other with whole grains.  Now from this description you're probably envisioning a plate split into three sections, one with some boring plain vegetable, one with a piece of meat, and one with some brown rice.  That's not really how you have to eat.  That's just what the proportions should look like.  Use that idea to make a complete combined dish, by all means!  For instance, I made a thai curry last week.  I used a ton of vegetables.  I spooned an appropriate amount of the vegetable curry mixture over some quinoa.  Not a bowlful, mind you.  Quinoa is a super healthy ancient grain that's very high in protein.  I had some cooked chicken left over from another dish, so I put an ounce or two on top.  At the end of the meal, I think my proportions were about right.  It's not a hard and fast rule, it's a guideline to keep in mind when you're building your meals.  And being mindful of proportion is definitely one of the main factors that led to my weight loss.

Now I know I've left some stuff out, like fruit and dairy.  I actually eat quite a bit of fruit, but I eat it with breakfast and as a snack later in the day, not generally as part of a main meal.  Same with dairy.  If they make it into other meals, great.  In my book you can't have too much fruit either.  Just don't eat it in place of vegetables.  

There's so much to say on this subject!  But I'll have to cut it short in the interest of theoretical finite interweb space.

To say it much, much more succinctly, don't just think about total calories.  Think about eating the right calories that are going to make you feel the best.  Just remember, portion is all about how much food you eat, and proportion is all about the type of food you eat.

Time to change gears and get to a recipe already!  I was watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on Food Network a few weeks ago and they were talking to this guy that does grilled cheese sandwiches.  He made this one sandwich with seared ahi and what he called wasabi mayonnaise.  But it wasn't mayonnaise at all!  It was tofu he combined in a food processor with wasabi powder and a bunch of other Asian-inspired ingredients.  Genius!  I decided to give it a go with a few additions of my own, and the results were pretty much spectacular.

It sounds odd, I know, but trust me.  This stuff is addictive!  I have been eating it on anything and everything ever since.  As a salad dressing on baby spinach, on brown rice sprinkled with seaweed and sesame seeds (that was such a wonderful combo), and drizzled over chicken tacos.  Yum!  For demonstration purposes (i.e. the picture at the top of this post) I poured some over some leftover quinoa I was snacking on.  That was delicious too.

The great thing about this stuff is it's super healthy!  If not for the tiny bit of sesame oil, it would basically be fat free, and since tofu is the base, you get a good punch of protein.  You're probably wondering how the tofu flavor comes through, and the answer is it doesn't at all.  The tofu gives a creamy, mayonnaise-like texture, but the flavor comes completely from the other ingredients.  The green onions and cilantro really brighten the mayo, and the wasabi powder gives it a nice kick and complex flavor.  The mirin and sweet soy sauce give it a bit of needed sweetness, which could easily be substituted with sugar and some added soy sauce if you don't have them in your pantry.  Ginger and garlic are a must in my book, but I didn't have any fresh, so I used powdered, and it worked just fine.  It's a recipe you can play around with.  I just kept throwing in ingredients until it tasted good to me.

This is definitely something you can throw together with whatever you have in your pantry and refrigerator.  As long as your combination of flavors is good, your mayo will be delicious.  You could even go in a completely different direction, and nix the Asian flavors all together.  You could try sun-dried tomatoes, basil, garlic, and some red pepper flakes for an Italian sub.  Maybe some good chili powder, cilantro, green onions, and jalapeños for a chicken quesadilla?  The possibilities are endless!

I bought a bunch of 8oz squeeze bottles at Smart & Final a few months ago.  Best purchase ever.  They were just a couple of bucks, and are great for storing various homemade condiments like strawberry puree I like to keep on hand for topping desserts, bbq sauce from scratch, and this wasabi mayo!

This recipe is also very budget friendly.  I bought the tofu on sale for $.99, the cilantro and green onion bunches were $.25 each, and everything else was just little bits from my pantry.  You can't buy a jar of mayonnaise for that!

Sure, it sounds weird, but it's also delicious, so give it a try!

Wasabi Tofu "Mayo"
inspired by the sandwich dude on Triple D

Makes about 12oz

1 package silken tofu, drained
3 stalks green onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 heaping TB wasabi powder
1 TB fresh ginger, minced, or 1 tsp ground ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced, or 2 tsp garlic powder
2 TB soy sauce
2 TB rice wine vinegar
2 TB sesame oil
2 TB mirin (sweet rice wine)
juice of 1 lime
1 TB sweet soy sauce (or use extra soy sauce and a little sugar)

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and processes until everything is well incorporated.  Taste mixture, and adjust seasoning to your liking.
2. Pour the mayo into a squeeze bottle or tupperware for storage.   

The 3 Ps, Portion, And Delicious Cake

Recipe: Brandy Buttermilk Apricot Cherry Upside-Down Cake

I read somewhere a few months ago that one of the reasons maintaining weight loss is so difficult is that a person spends so much time thinking about food while they're losing the weight, that when they've finally lost it, they are completely food obsessed.  As you can imagine, it's very difficult for someone who is obsessed with food not to eat...and eat...and eat...to the point of obesity!  And I can tell you, it is so true.  I was food obsessed before I lost 70 pounds, so you can imagine my struggle to balance my constant desire to shovel food in my mouth with my desire to stay healthy.  No really, when I say obsessed, I mean obsessed!  A good or bad meal can instantly affect my emotional state.  My social activities generally involve food in some way.  Want to hang out?  Sure, let's grab lunch!  You want to see that new movie with me?  Awesome, let's hit up the matinée and get dinner afterwards!  Hey Julie, how was your vacation?  Great!  The food was good!*  So yeah, I think it's safe to say I genuinely love food.  I am not one of those people couldn't care less what foods they ate, so eating healthy is just as easy as eating unhealthy. Oh ho ho ho, no.

I've developed a few methods for keeping my eating in check because a healthy lifestyle is about so much more than just switching to healthier food choices.  Despite what the masses tell you, there are no "good foods" and "evil foods".  Fat (and then Carbohydrates) is not the Devil's nutrient. Everything is a balance, and the loss of that sense of balance is why we're all fat!  And I could go on, but you don't have all day.

One of these methods, it's really more of a healthy lifestyle philosophy, I call the 3 Ps.  And those Ps would be portion, proportion, and practicality.  [I thought about prudence instead of practicality, but who wants to be prudent?]  Yeah, I know...it's is beyond cheesy.  But I can't help it they all begin with P!  Just bear with me people, mkay?  In the interest of keeping this post at short story length, I'm going to break this explanation up into a series.  Today I'll talk just about portion.

One of the keys to eating right is eating the right amount and eating the right amount of the right things.  [And if you only had to read that sentence once to understand it...10 points for you!] That's where portion comes in.  It refers, of course, to portion size.  As gluttonous, greedy Americans, we have been bred to always want more.  It's economical.  And we're nothing if not economical, am I right?  I'm sure you've read the news stories about how much more a single serving of coffee is today versus 50 years ago, or how much bigger portion sizes are at restaurants.  The first thing you need to do is get your portions back under control.

I find this difficult because when I'm eating something I like, I want to keep eating it until I can't possibly eat any more.  Well that's just too damn bad.  Now I (on my good days) eat the amount of food I need, rather than the amount of food I want.  I judge my need based on both hunger and calories.  I took some time to research the amount of calories I needed to eat in a day based on my sex, height, weight, and activity level, divided it up between whatever meals and snacks I wanted to eat in a day, and tried to hit those goals.

I just scared you away, didn't I?  Counting calories scares a lot of people away.  Including me.  Fear not!  In all that work I figured out that if I also ate the right proportions of types of food and stayed practical and realistic, I was hitting my calorie target all on my own.  No counting calories needed!  Thank goodness!  Basically, the idea is eat until you're no longer hungry, and try to eat sensibly.

So as I was saying, one important step to overcoming over-eating was getting a handle on my portions.  I'm sure you've heard this before, but it is so true.  Using smaller vessels to hold your food helps you eat less.  Now, I'm not saying switch your soup bowl out for a shot glass.  Be reasonable!  But switch out your ridiculously large dinner plate for a salad plate, perhaps.  Not only does it keep you from piling too much food on your plate, but you'll feel like you're eating a lot of food because the plate is full.  No joke!  If you scoop a correct serving of rice onto a giant plate, your eyes are going to tell you you're not eating very much, and your eyes send data to your brain way faster than your stomach!  I know when Husband and I finally replace our hand-me-down dinnerware collection (We kind of desperately need to.  As much as I love it, it's totally chipped!), it's going to be hard to find something isn't ridiculously over-sized.  Gluttonous, greedy Americans, remember?  If you're worried about taking too little food, just remember you can always go back for seconds if you really need to.  I don't recommend having seconds as a general rule, but if you do just be sure to wait 15-20 minutes between helpings to give your stomach a chance to tell your brain you're full.

The same goes for containers you pack your lunch in.  If you have some huge 4 cup capacity container to hold your super healthy brown rice and vegetable stir fry, when you go to fill it up, you're going to keep filling and filling until it's full, or at least way fuller than it should be.  And while one of the perks of healthier eating is getting to eat more food for the same amount of calories as unhealthy foods, there is a limit.  Be reasonable!  Here's why.  When you eat a lot of food, your stomach expands.  When you eat less food, it shrinks.  When your super stretched out stomach is empty, you eat until that big stretched tummy feels full.  If your stomach isn't so stretched, you feel full sooner, and as a result eat less to get that same satisfied feeling.  So it's not just about what you eat, but how much.  Being able to control your portions is essential.

Baby steps!  When faced with a sweet tooth and an uncut cake, I'll take a bigger piece than I should just as sure as the next gal.  That's why I take steps to prevent Piggy Julie from rearing her ugly snout.  You may recall I posted a few of those steps? Just being aware of your portions ensures you're headed in the right direction!


*It's completely true that I judge a place I've been based on how good the food was.  What's worse, my desire to visit a particular location is generally right on par with how good their food reputation is.  Case in point, I couldn't wait to visit France and Greece, and oh my word is the food there ever the best!  Germany?  Not such a huge desire.  That's not normal, right?

If you couldn't tell from the pictures of cake sprinkling this post, I may have just been bestowing my wisdom about eating right as a way to off-set that fact that I'm posting another delicious Summer fruit dessert.  Not to mention, that makes you one of the most unobservant people ever.  Way to go.  Did you also fail to observe that the Summer stone fruit is finally here?   I for one did not!  I love stone fruit!  Apricots, peaches, and plums, oh my!  What's more, I love baking with stone fruit!

You know what I really love about this cake?  It was one of those unexpected kitchen successes. I had some apricots and wanted to do an upside-down cake, so I hunted around my Google Reader until I found one that tickled my fancy.  As luck would have it, I had cherries on hand too!  I thought I'd get something ordinary but delicious, but this cake was delicious!  I actually exclaimed "Oh my!" when I took the first bite.  The cake was light and fluffy (and boozy!), and the fruit topping was sweet and bright (and boozy!).  The apricots were a little bit tart, the cherries had that deep, sweet cherry flavor.  Everything was beautifully balanced and delicious. And the brandy!  Oh the brandy.  It was a beautiful compliment to both the cake and fruit.  It's richness and complexity are definitely part of what made this cake so memorable.  When can I make it again?

Brandy Buttermilk Apricot Cherry Upside-Down Cake
adapted from Eating Out Loud

Makes a 12" cake

For the topping:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick)
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 TB brandy

For the cake:
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup brandy
1 tsp fresh lemon zest
7 apricots, sliced into medium-thin slices
1/2 cup cherries, pitted and sliced in half

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In an oven-proof skillet (preferably cast iron), about 10-12", melt the butter, brown sugar, and brandy.  Over medium heat, cook the mixture until it begins to bubble.  Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside to cool.
3. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the buttermilk.
4. Slowly add the flour, and then add the baking powder, salt, vanilla, brandy, and lemon zest.  Mix just until a smooth batter is reached.
5. Arrange the slices of apricots and cherries in the skillet, on top of the sugar mixture.  I wanted the top of the cake completely covered in fruit, so I really jam packed it in there.  If you want more of the cake to show through, use less.
6. Pour the batter over the fruit, and use a spatula to smooth it evenly over the cake, making sure to spread it all the way to the edge of the skillet. Move the skillet to the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.

Make it your own!  This recipe can be done in a ton of variations.  You can use any stone fruit in place of the apricots and cherries.  You can use any liquor you think will compliment the flavors well.  You know what would be really delicious?  Bananas and bourbon, of course!  I'll have to try that sometime soon.  

For the more vestal readers, first, I have no idea what you're doing reading a blog all about pairing booze and food (not that I don't appreciate the readership), and second, I'm confident this cake is still a knock-out without the brandy.  

Deliciously Sweet, Contrarily Sour

Recipe: Sweet and Sour Pork

This dish is a bit like my job search.  You know...at times sweet, and other times, um, sour. Pungent. Acrid. Biting. I totally broke out the thesaurus on that one.  Anyway, I had a bit of a rough week, on the job front, that is.  I wish I had some of this on hand to brighten things up because, while in life sour is generally inauspicious, in food it can be part of a necessary balance.  A delicious, delectable balance.  I'm putting the thesaurus away now, I promise.

I made this many weeks ago.  Remember Husband's birthday cake?  Yeah, this was the dinner that preceded dessert.  It turned out far better than I ever dreamed!  See, I'm not actually even a fan of sweet and sour sauce.  I don't like my food cloyingly sweet.  The recipes I see usually call for gobs of sugar (thus the cloy!*), ketchup, cider vinegar, and orange juice.  I know most Chinese food I eat is anything but authentic, but that doesn't even include soy sauce!  It's like the food culture supposedly inspiring the dish is completely lost.  After some hunting around, and massive experimentation in the kitchen, I finally rejiggered** something that has notes of the original Americanized dish, and hints of a more "traditional" Americanized, Chinese-influenced dish. [Phew!  That one was hard to type with a straight face!] That's right, I threw in a little ketchup and sugar, along with some darn soy sauce!  And oyster sauce!  And if we're using vinegar here, it should be rice wine vinegar, right?!

Getting the sauce just right was pretty hard.  The recipe below is definitely not hard and fast measurements.  If it's not sweet enough, add more juice or plum sauce (or ketchup if you must).  If it's not sour enough, add more vinegar.  For salt, add more soy.  For acid, more pineapple juice. You get the idea.  The oyster sauce, I think, gives it a bit more depth of flavor (umami if you'll pardon my buzz word), and the plum sauce gives it some sweetness without that ketchup tang.  But if you don't have plum sauce and oyster sauce on hand, by all means leave them out.  Don't buy them just for this one dish.  A bit more sugar and maybe some Worcestershire sauce would be acceptable substitutes.  Just keep tasting it and adjusting until it tastes just right to you.  This was the blend that was to Husband's taste bud's liking.

I know battered and deep fried chicken is what you normally get at the Chinese fast food joints, but who needs that?  Not only is it unhealthy, but it's unnecessarily unhealthy.  That's the worst kind!  Sure, battered and fried meat is flavorful, but you're lathering your food in sauce.  A flavorful sauce!  And I think the stir-fried pork provided a nice texture contrast to the soft vegetables.

Now I want to talk a little about mirin.  Have you heard of it?  Do you have a bottle in your pantry?  I highly recommend that you do!  It's a sweet rice wine, and I love it.  It has a sweet, mild flavor that goes well in all kinds of Asian-inspired dishes.  I like to use it instead of sugar.  It gives the sweetness I need and a bit more flavor. There's definitely more recipes with mirin on the way, so stock up!  I buy it at my local Asian market, but I've seen it at the major grocery stores too, right by the rice wine vinegar.

It's funny that I went into this dish not even liking sweet and sour sauce, and I came out of it with a new recipe in my arsenal!  Win!  Think you don't like it too?  Give this one a try.



*Is cloy a word?  Did I invent another word?  I guess that's what happens when you're bananas for bourbon.  New words tend to pop up in your repertoire.

**See what I mean?

Sweet and Sour Pork

Makes about 6 servings

1 lb pork loin, sliced into bite sized pieces
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can chopped pineapple in natural juices (not the kind in syrup), drained and juice reserved
3 stalks green onion, sliced into rounds
vegetable oil

For the marinade:
1 1/2 TB soy sauce
3 tsp mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 1/2 TB sesame oil
1 1/2 TB corn starch

For the sauce:
3 TB ketchup
2 tsp plum sauce
2 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp corn starch
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 inch knob of ginger, minced
1/4 cup reserved pineapple juice
1/4 cup orange juice

1. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade and place into a container or ziplock bag with the pork.  Marinate for about 30 minutes.
2. Whisk together the sauce ingredients, adjusting quantities to taste, and set aside.
3. In a wok or saucepan over medium-high heat, add 1 TB of vegetable oil and stir-fry the pork until it is browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes. Remove the pork from the wok and set aside.
4. Add another TB of vegetable oil, if needed, and stir-fry the bell peppers, onion, and garlic until softened and aromatic.  Add the sweet and sour sauce, pork, and pineapple, and simmer until thickened and lovely, about 10-15 minutes.  Sprinkle in the green onions at the very end.
5. Serve over jasmine rice (preferably brown), and enjoy!

Invoking Memories

Recipe: Berry Crisp

The best compliment I've ever received from someone who ate my food was an old co-worker who said that my Christmas rugelach reminded her of the ones her aunts used to make when she was a kid.  She said the best food is the food that invokes memories, and it is so true!  Vegetable and barley soup reminds me of my grandmother.  She always had a pot of it simmering on the stove when I went to her house.  Rice sprinkled with seaweed will always remind me of my freshman year in college, when Husband and I practically lived off the stuff (he had a handy little rice cooker in his dorm room).  And blackberries...well there will always be a special place in my heart for blackberries.

Growing up, there was an abundance of blackberry bushes all around my neighborhood.  Right across the street was the best spot for picking.  Come summer we would pick tubs and tubs of blackberries and bake tarts, pies, and cobblers galore!  I remember my neighbor's adorably cuddly Samoyed, rather ironically named Killer, helping himself to the berries of our labor if we weren't careful.  I remember baking with my mom in the kitchen, my sister and I fighting over who got to eat the leftover pie dough.  And unfortunately, I remember the year a fire burned down a sizable portion the area due to a brush fire, after which the city passed super strict laws about the distance of brush growing near peoples' houses.  They came and cut away all those wonderfully blackberry bushes, and our summer blackberry baking became nothing but an occasional occurrence. It was sad. Those poor blackberry bushes would never have dreamed of catching fire and burning our neighbor's house down!

To this day blackberries are my favorite berry.  A good, ripe blackberry has such a deep, sweet flavor.  It has the brightness of a berry, but something more too.  They're just more complex than a blueberry and strawberry in a way I can't describe. You just can't beat it.  So when they were on sale for cheap a few weeks ago, naturally, I stocked up!

I was tempted to do a cobbler, always my mom's go-to dessert.  They're delicious and easy, what's not to like?  But I was really in the mood for a little texture, and something with oats.  Oats are just the best in desserts, aren't they?  Once I decided on doing a crisp, I hunted around for a recipe, and ended up kind of mushing a bunch of ideas into one.  After the muffins, I didn't really have enough blackberries to go for a mono-fruit dessert, so instead I opted for an ensemble.

I had some delicious pears, a few strawberries, and to get the volume of fruit I wanted, I threw in a few frozen blueberries I had left over.  The great thing about crisps is that you can use whatever you want.  You could do one entirely with blackberries, or mix it up with some apples or stone fruit.  Whatever floats your boat, which is extremely useful when there's something different on sale at the store every week at this time of year.

I did end up making this boozy by throwing in some brandy.  When it first came out of the oven and I burned my mouth I was so impatient to try it, I could taste the brandy and it was delicious.  But when I ate some the next day the flavor had dissipated and I couldn't really taste it anymore.  I like booze to play a part in the background of my baked goods, but if it's not even detectable, then you're just wasting perfectly good alcohol..  Blasphemy!  Next time I would just leaving it out all together.  Blasphemy!  Damned if I do, damned if I don't.  It really just comes down to what fruit you're using.  If I had used only blackberries, the brandy probably would have come through a bit better.  If I was using apples, some apple brandy would have been awesome.  Grand Marnier and peaches. Bourbon and apricots.  Chambord and raspberries...

I'll stop before my drool over the keyboard rends finishing this post impossible, but the point is, finding ways to better booze this recipe is as limitless as deciding what fruit to use.  And that's what makes it fun!  Crisps are right there with cobblers when it comes to simplicity.  This is definitely one you could make with your kids, and start your own food memory tradition.

You may notice there's a bit of ice cream in these pictures.  I think ice cream and crisps go together like booze and berries. But it's a trick!  That's no ice cream.  It's a frozen banana.  Have you heard of this trick? Take a frozen banana (because you're freezer is overflowing with overripe bananas you're constantly stashing away like mine is, right?), and put it in the food processor.  At first it'll look a bit iffy, but after a minute or two, the banana breaks down enough that it gets this irresistibly creamy texture that is very reminiscent of ice cream (or frozen yogurt may be a bit more appropriate).  Seriously, that is 100% banana!  It's an easy, healthy dessert!  If you want to really spice it up, throw a spoonful of peanut butter in the food processor with the banana and top it with some chocolate chips. Heaven!  Ok, I admit it. I wanted a scoop of ice cream for the picture, and with my lack of an ice cream maker, I used the frozen banana trick.  But that's all changed now because I am now the proud owner of an ice cream maker!  Yay!  But that's another post.

So what's one of your favorite food memories?

Boozy Berry Crisp
loosely adapted from Parade

makes about 8 servings

For the berries:
6 cups berries (or other fruit of your choice, cut into bite size pieces)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp lemon juice
a pinch of cinnamon
1/4 cup booze of choice (completely optional, choose wisely)

For the crisp:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
7 TB butter, cubed and chilled

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a 9" pie plate (or similar-sized vessel) with baking spray.
2. Combine all the ingredients for the berries in a bowl and set aside.  [If you want to save on dishes to wash, you can just mix this directly into the pie plate.]
3. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the crisp except the butter. Stir to combine, then cut in the butter with a pastry blender, a fork, or even your fingers, until it comes together into small crumbles.
4. Pour the berry mixture into the pie plate, then sprinkle the crisp mixture over the top.  Bake for 1 hour, or until the crisp is a golden brown and the berries underneath have make a bubbling, thick syrup of deliciousness.  Let cool for 15 minutes.  Trust me on this one, it's hot.  You might want to place the pie plate on a baking sheet in case the fruit bubbles over, creating a total mess in your oven.  I decided to be a daredevil and wing it, and I came out unscathed.  Or rather, my oven did.