RECALL! Frozen Fruit Pops & Typhoid

August 27th, 2010 .

Would have liked my last post to sit at the top for a while, but there’s another recall out there.

Fruiti Pops Fruit Bars recalled after Typhoid outbreak.

Yes, it shouldn’t be about prepared foods…

August 27th, 2010 .
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It would be great if everything we thought was fantastic was organic, local, fair trade and eco-friendly.  But, things just don’t always work out that way, and sometimes some great guilty pleasures do nothing more than make us smile and put money in the pocket of a large corporation.  It’s not the end of the world – it’s just how things work sometimes.

Having said that – holy crap, I have a few new guilty pleasures!  First being Starbucks Via.  I am a woman who is not the biggest fan of instant coffee – at least when it comes to anything that is supposed to be a replacement for brewed coffee.*  I had been using Folger’s singles in a pinch when I either wasn’t in the mood to make a full pot of coffee, or out of regular coffee altogether.  Those worked quite well, and were better than any instant crystals I’d run into.  I was quite skeptical that an “instant” coffee could be better than anything I’d run into before.  When Starbucks did their initial rollout, my local store did “mocha mousses” with whipped cream & the Via crystals mixed – they tasted like coffee whipped cream with no graininess.  So, I knew it would least dissolve in water.  Let me say – this stuff is pretty good.  It’s not the same as a pot of coffee, but it is NOTHING like instant/freeze-dried coffee.  It’s more expensive than instant – I picked up an 8 pack for $8, but if you’re using it as emergency/backup coffee, it’s worth it.

My second guilty pleasure, courtesy of my new fridge/freezer.  It has been empty, cause the old one had defrosted and re-froze things multiple times, so it all had to go.  I happened to walk down the ice cream section of the market the other night…  I spied Twix Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches.  (Crappy flash link, but it’s there.)  AWESOME!!!!!!!  They’re very mini, which is fine – I am someone who can have 3 bites of ice cream and be happy.  It’s French Vanilla ice cream, with a ribbon of caramel, Twix cookie bits on top, and the whole thing covered in chocolate.  Just AWESOME!  Reminds me of the ice cream bars that Baskin Robbins used to have.  (And may still have, but I’ve not been in for a while.)

The third one is also ice cream…  Dove Cafe Collections.  Coffee flavored ice cream minis with chocolate chips & chocolate coating, or coffee ice cream with milk & dark chocolate coating.  Again, just a couple bites, but so insanely satisfying!!!!

*I will admit a love for GFIC’s Cafe Vienna & Orange Cappuccino.  I will readily admit that they aren’t really coffee, but a flavored delivery system for caffeine and sugar that presents itself in a hot-drink manner appealing to me.  I won’t say it’s really coffee.

I’m quite sure I couldn’t go vegetarian…

August 20th, 2010 .
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Last night I had a lovely dinner with two long-lost friends (20 year reunions & Facebook help you find those folks!) at a lovely vegetarian restaurant, Sunflower.

Now, when we made plans, I had no idea it was a vegetarian restaurant, and it was only mid-day yesterday did a light bulb go off in my head that it might not be a meat-lovers establishment.  One of my two friends is a vegetarian, and I am SO proud of her for it, because she has held hard to it since we were in high school.  (I remember how happy she was when she came to school one day and had made a ratatouille for her family and they really enjoyed it.)  So, I checked online, and sure enough – vegetarian.  A good thing to know ahead of time lest you go into dinner thinking, “Wow, I am SO in the mood for a bacon cheeseburger!”

Now, I do love my veggies, but I am a full-on carnivore.  Meat is AWESOME in my book.  But, I can handle a meat-free evening.  Sunflower has a heavy Asian influence on their menu, which does lend itself to good (and familiar) foods that are certainly enjoyable for even the most meat-loving chick.

We started with soups, as it was rainy and kinda chilly.  I got the Miso soup – it was outstanding.  I spent 3 years in Japan as a kiddo, and I know good Miso soup, and this was good.  (However, I don’t eat the tofu.  Never have.  Just LOVE the broth & onions.  The tofu & mushrooms are always sitting at the bottom of the bowl when I’m done.)  My compatriots went for the spinach-wonton soup and seemed to really enjoy it.

Then we split an order of the Rainbow rolls – 9 almost-bite-sized pieces.  (I made the error of trying to down one in a single bite.  Take two bites, trust me, or you’re going to be chewing a lot longer than you’d planned.)  I’m not even a big fan of sushi, but these were great.  Carrots, pickled daikon and cucumber.  Might have been the lack of chewy seaweed that made it extra-good, but it was very tasty.

Three entrees to share.  I ordered the Mizuni Sansai Noodles in Miso-Tahini soup.  My friends got a curry and a “Songbird” which was stuff in a Kung Pao sauce.  This is where I get a little lost in being a vegetarian.  I had to ask my companions, “Um, it says that it’s chunks of wheat gluten – what on earth is that?”
“You’ve never had fake meat, have you?”
“Pretty sure I haven’t.”
“It’s fake meat.”
“OOOK.”

All three items had either wheat gluten or soy gluten in them.  (Which I only recognized as something my gluten-free compatriots would not be allowed to eat, but had no idea what on earth it could be otherwise.)  I’ll admit it, I was beyond skeptical that anything could take the place of meat – but my Mom’s words echoed in my ears:  “Just try one bite.”

Now, the noodles had a ton of well, noodles, and veggies, and if there was fake meat in there, I missed it.  The curry & kung-pao had the fake meat as the main ingredient.  I tried the curry first.  Unfortunately, I rediscovered that I don’t much like curry.  I remember having it for the first time when we lived in Japan, and it was a Chinese/yellow curry, but it didn’t sit terribly well with me.  But this was a lovely orange/red curry!  It was different!  Sadly, it was still curry.  I really wanted to like it, but I just couldn’t.  Had nothing to do with the quality of it, but curry simply still isn’t my thing.  The kung-pao was lovely and spicy and very…kung pao.

But the fake meat just eludes me.  It was a bit chewy and tasted like a distant cousin of chicken, but it was certainly no substitute for meat, at least for me.  The mouth feel wasn’t like anything I’ve ever had, and while I won’t say it was unpleasant or terrible – it just wasn’t particularly close to being meat.  Given that there are multitudes of spectacular vegetables out there that can be cooked up in a myriad of spectacular ways – why even bother with fake meat?

Guacamole will have to wait for another day

August 15th, 2010 .
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The avocados I bought went from “not ripe enough” to “WAAAAAAY overripe and bordering on mush” in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.

I really need to figure out how to time ripening produce better.

The Majestic Cafe

August 12th, 2010 .
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Met up with my friend Stephanie tonight and we went wandering about Old Town Alexandria for dinner.  As we approached the Majestic Cafe, she asked if I’d ever been there.  Nope.  I’ve walked or driven by it countless times, but never been inside.  (And honestly thought it was a diner.)  She said, “It’s pricey, but good.”

Well, when it comes to good food, I am totally OK with pricey, so in we went.

And it kicks ass.  To start off with, the water is awesome.  I know how totally bizarre that sounds, because it sounded a bit strange to me when she said, “Get the still water – it is incredible!”  But it was also a million degrees out and I wanted water – and as much as I love sparkling water, at $4.50 for sparkling vs. $0.00 for still with a very emphatic recommendation – I went with the still water.  I have no idea what filtration/water softening system they use at the restaurant, but it makes water actually TASTY.  And from me, that is actually saying something, because I really am not much of a water drinker at all.  I downed 2 LARGE glasses of this water without even blinking an eye.  In the normal course of a day, I have to *force* myself to down 8 to 16 ounces of water.

As humid and sticky as it was, I wanted an icy cocktail, but wasn’t quite in the mood for one of their many tiki-rum drinks, and the Salty Dog I ordered was top-notch, but the “Missionary’s Downfall” in the awesomely goofy tiki-glass that Steph ordered seemed to perfectly fit the bill for her.  (I have to be in a certain mindset for rum drinks.  I have no idea why.)

For dinner, I got the sauteed soft shell crabs.  Outstanding.  They were smothered in perfectly ripe off-the-vine-this-morning tomatoes, sweet corn and lima beans.  (And I SO love lima beans!  My only argument would be that they need *more* lima beans in it!)  Steph had the Amish chicken, which she definitely seemed to enjoy and took the rest home for tomorrow’s lunch.  (Bonus:  When you get a to-go box, they put the date on it.  However, I can’t imagine anything from this restaurant lasting in the fridge more than 24 hours.)

By the time the dessert menu came around, I was perfectly stuffed and felt I couldn’t really avail myself of their selections (though I was tempted by the chocolate & bourbon beignets, as was Steph!) but I couldn’t resist their Irish Coffee.  I **love** Irish Coffee and if someone is bold enough to include it as a menu item, I have to see how it stacks up to the rest.  And the Majestic indicated that it “looked like a Guinness!”  Well, I love Guinness, too, so I had to check this out.  It’s coffee, Irish Whiskey and brown sugar, topped with their homemade whipped cream.  And it really does look like a Guinness!  And is very, very tasty.

The cherry on the top was chocolate truffles rolled in coconut that came with the check.  Beats a peppermint any day of the week.

Seriously, if you want an un-fussy place to eat with spectacular food – hit the Majestic.

Another kitchen gadget

August 10th, 2010 .
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OK, this one is something I probably should have had years and years ago, but never seemed to find one when I was looking around for one.  A potato ricer!!  It has 3 interchangeable blades for different levels of smushing and can go in the dishwasher.  (Gotta love that!)  I got it for a couple reasons – first being that I have had terrible results trying to make mashed potatoes by hand and a friend recommended I get one.  The second came to me when I ordered it:  Guacamole!!  This weekend I’ll be snagging some avocados and fresh tomatoes from the farmer’s market and giving it a whirl.

It’s another Avon kitchen goodie.  (Disclaimer: I’m a rep!  If you want to order one – click here and go to Shop Now/Gifts/For Home.  Orders over $30 get free shipping.)

Wait, what?

August 3rd, 2010 .

I have no idea why the two pics I posted the other day are now showing up in black & white – I’m quite certain they were in color when I uploaded…

Totally swamped today, but I will endeavour to fix it as soon as I can.

Seems that when I resized them, I managed to save them as greyscale .jpg – hadn’t even noticed that was an option!

Pancake incompetent no more!

August 1st, 2010 .

Made pancakes the other night, and for what I swear is the first time, they were terrific.  I’ve had problems in the past with pancakes for two reasons:  First, I didn’t have a decent griddle pan for them.  The pan I used is roughly omelet sized and was really not conducive to pancake making.  That has been fixed by acquiring a lovely 12″ non-stick griddle pan, from my local hardware store.  (They have an amazing kitchen gadget selection.)  I also have a weird problem with an inability to properly pour pancake batter.  I’m serious – it should be so easy, and yet, I always make a mess of it.  I’d seen a pancake dispenser in a diner once and thought “damn, I need one of those!” but I never really saw one anywhere.  And then I got my Avon catalogue…  HOLY CRAP, BATMAN, A PANCAKE DISPENSER!!

I was able to make perfectly sized pancakes that turned out wonderfully!  An excellent breakfast for dinner.  It comes apart easily for cleanup and does a great job controlling the amount of pancake batter hitting the griddle.  I love it.

If you want a pancake dispenser like this, Avon has it.  I am also an Avon rep, so if you want to order it from my site, that would be kinda awesome, too.  Just search on “pancake dispense” – and while you’re at it, browse the “Gifts for Home” section – they’re really rocking the cute kitchen stuff these days.

I’ve been quite the horrid blogger of late…

April 27th, 2010 .
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But life has had me steamrolled for a while.  Not an excuse, just an explanation.

However, this weekend – THE COUNTY FARMERS MARKET IS OPEN AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will do everything in my power to be up and out there – I need fun eggs if nothing else!

Some new Easter brunch lessons learned!

April 4th, 2010 .

Hasbrown Casserole:  Easier if you mix the CoC soup, sour cream, onions and S&P first.  Then the cheese, and then the hashbrowns.

Even though it calls for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, you can make it up, put it in at 325 degrees then put together the Egg Casserole, pop that in the oven and let it all go for an hour with no problems.

Bacon:  I need to just give up mucking around with cooking it on the stovetop.  Microwave works just fine, is faster, and doesn’t burn.

And finally, champagne that has been in the fridge for 1+ year (unopened) will not turn to vinegar, but will lose some of it’s oomph.