The Farkle Risk
While waiting for the ball to drop on New Year’s Eve, we watched four five reruns of Big Bang Theory, ate leftover Oreo Dream cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, and played Farkle. Despite my staunch chocolate and cookie addictions, the last part was the highlight of the night. Continue reading for recipe.
Best Meals of 2012
I know, the logical order would have been to start with my favorite meals of the year and finish with desserts… But I love sweets so much that I couldn’t wait to share those with you! I promise I didn’t forget about my top breakfast, lunch, and dinner dishes though: here they are! Continue reading for recipes.
Bending the Rules
I’m not allowed to keep bags of popcorn kernels in the house. It’s a safety-comes-first type of rule. The temptation is just too great to pour them into a pot, heat it uncovered on the stove, and watch as the fluffy white morsels explode out and rain down on the kitchen floor.
Instead, I’m required to have adult supervision whenever I make a popcorn snack. No picking super small pots or hiding all of the lids. (Yes, I’ve tried…) Continue reading for recipe.
I Should’ve Been a Boy Scout…
When I mentioned to my guy that I had never attempted to make a cobbler, he replied, “Oh, it’s really easy!” Pause, rewind… WHAT? My man, who avoids baking like the bubonic plague, has made cobbler before me??
After I nearly went into anaphylactic shock, he finally explained that he baked cobblers in Boy Scouts. They emptied canned peaches into a Dutch oven, dumped a boxed biscuit mix on top, and heated in over the fire until their stomachs growled and the fruit juices bubbled.
Well then. Continue reading for recipe.
Death By Flour (And Chocolatey Nutella)
My mother nearly killed me a few weeks ago. She drove up to visit, and as I munched on my afternoon snack, she dropped this on me: “I’m giving up flour!”
Choking on my carrot, I barely spluttered out, “W-w-what?” as I reached for my water glass.
“I’m giving up flour,” she repeated.
“Forever?” My mind was racing… How could my mother, my one and only mother, omit flour from her diet when her daughter dreams of becoming a baker??
She reassured me that no, this was a temporary diet-change-for-weight-loss thing, and she still enjoyed the occasional English muffin or fudgy brownie… In moderation. Limited moderation.
(You can call the ambulance driver back; I’m not going to die from a heart attack after all.) Continue reading for recipe.
Pumpkin Pie for Breakfast!
Last Friday morning, my internal alarm clock buzzed a little earlier than my electronic one, so I hopped out of my steamy shower with some extra time to spare. After the chilly weather that blew into town, my bones begged for a hot breakfast to warm them up. I nixed my usual bowl of oatmeal and reached for milk and flour instead.
Within 10 minutes, my skillet of pancakes filled the house with their toasty sweet aroma, encouraging my guy to stumble into the kitchen rubbing his eyes and ask for the leftovers. Since I only mixed up enough for me (he rarely wakes up before I leave in the mornings!), I promised him another batch over the weekend before riding off to work. Continue reading for recipe.
Like Mother, Like Daughter
I inherited distinct genes from my mom: my dark blonde hair, fair skin, and tendency for food crazes. Yes, we both suffer from food addictions. Some last a week, some last a lifetime (dark chocolate comes to mind…), and some last somewhere in between.
A couple of years ago, Mom discovered MorningStar’s black bean burgers. She ate one for lunch or dinner almost every day, and when I visited and smelled its spicy southwestern aroma wafting out of the kitchen, I teased her about her obsession.
And then she made me try one. Continue reading for recipe.
SWAK — And Baked Goods!
For Christmas, my grandparents sent me a gift card to Williams Sonoma. That afternoon, I scoured the store’s website, as excited as a kid in a candy store as I browsed page after page of rolling pins, cookie cutters, and grill pans. During my search, I discovered two differed sizes of pretty gold loaf pans that, with tax, added up to almost the exact amount on the card. Continue reading for recipe.
What I Should’ve Learned From Beckham
During my vegan challenge, I realized that if I ordered my favorite chicken vindaloo, the vegan police would throw me straight into herbivore jail. Not willing to pay the bail—1,000 pounds of tofu and tempeh—I flipped the page of the Indian restaurant’s menu to search for a different option.
The dish called “Aloo Gobi” caught my eye. I remembered sitting in a movie theater watching Jess, the main character in “Bend It Like Beckham,” trying to learn the recipe from her mum. Since I had been laughing too much at her juggling vegetables, I completely forgot what went in it! But with a name that fun to pronounce, the dish just had to be exotic. Continue reading for recipe.
It’s Not Easy Being Green
Maybe Kermit wasn’t referring to veganism, but it’s just as true for vegans as it is for frogs. The majority of the restaurant world heavily depends on diets of dairy, eggs, and meat, so unless you’re willing to cook for yourself, veganism is tough.
But it’s well worth it. In just over a month, I not only branched out and tried new dishes at a few vegan-friendly Asian and Indian restaurants, but I also prepared foods like tempeh and seitan that I’d never even seen before in grocery stores. And I even baked an elaborate four-layer, fondant-covered vegan birthday cake! Continue reading.
Foods for the Soul 