The Newest Wonder Food
November 23rd, 2009 | Author: Teresa

Lately I’ve been seeing “goji berries” popping up in the stores in the natural food sections.

Ho-Hum

Of course these are all the rage right now.

Goji berries might be good for what ails you

Also known as the “wolfberry and the “matrimony vine,” goji berries are the fruit of a woody perennial from China. They’ve been a mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years.

As they say, go read the rest. You shouldn’t be surprised to see China being mentioned prominently.  According to those who are into all this stuff, China is the place of miracles.  If we just did everything they did in old Chinese medicine, we’d all live to be 1001 at least.

Makes me tired.

However, the Whole Foods store where I shop sells Dark chocolate covered Goji Berries.  They are very very good.  They taste like dark chocolate covered raisins. Of course if they didn’t have the chocolate, I would never have bothered to buy them.  Now I’ll have to wonder if I am getting the health benefits from the berries or the chocolate… what a dilemma!

Category: Mmmm... Chocolate  | 2 Comments
A Homing Device for Those Hard to Find Food Items
November 19th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

So I was at the grocery store today to pick up a few odds and ends.  I do one “large” scale grocery run on Sunday morning, then stop in 1 or 2 times during the week to pick up any extras I may need.  (please note, when I say “large” I would be laughed out of the room by any self respecting shopper with 2-3 carts of food every week. It is – after all – only my husband and myself here and we don’t eat that much).  Today’s little excursion included a search for capers.

I have no idea why, but I always have a hard time finding capers in the store.  I know which aisle the stockers use. I even know the approximate location within said aisle.  Yet the few times a year when I want to grab a jar, it takes me over 5 minutes to find them.

They blend.

They are always located with the pickles and olives.   The jars are small.  For some reason I tend to look right past them.  The longer I look, the less I see them. The more irritated I become.  It gets to the point that I must make myself start at the top shelf and specifically look at each and every jar until I finally see them.

Of course I know they were hiding behind jars of olives the first 15 times I looked, yet when I have to make the laborious effort to look at every jar, they sudden sneak out of hiding and are sitting on the shelf as if they’ve been there all along.

With all the new techno-gadgetry out there, I think we need to come up with little tags for these hard to find items.  The homing signal can be coded into your cell phone.  As you waive the phone over the face of the shelves, it rings when it goes directly past the item you are looking for.  Think how much time it would save.

Of course I could always not buy capers.  Just leave them on the shelf.  But I do like them in certain dishes.  At least I have a new jar as of today.  I don’t have to worry about it for a while. In the meantime, I should “write an app for that”.  Heh.

Category: Condiments  | Comments off
All the Spam That’s Fit To Print
November 18th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

If you have gmail and you are at a loss for something to cook, just go to your spam folder…

Since you have to go to all the trouble of looking through the junk mail to be sure gmail didn’t grab a “real” email, Google has decided to make it a two for one stop.  They very helpfully serve up spam recipes in addition to the spam email.

For instance google currently believes I might like to make Spam Breakfast Burritos. Yes they give you a link and everything.

I find that so very thoughtful. Google not wanting me to go hungry…

Of course I’m sure if I didn’t have “ad bloc plus” running on my browser, there would also be ads to help me lose all the weight I’d gain by eating so much spam…

Interesting business they have going on.

Category: You Mean That's BAD for me?  | Comments off
Mmmm… Lemon
November 16th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

I found a recipe for Lemon Cheesecake bars on the Chicago Tribune site tonight.  I love lemon and I love cheesecake – although sadly if I eat too much cheesecake I end up with a migraine.  I may have to make these one day though.  They’re almost too good to pass up!  I’m going to reprint the recipe here, because we all know that newspaper articles soon disappear…

Lemon ripple cheesecake bars

Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 1 hour Makes: 16 bars
From a recipe by cookbook author Elinor Klivans

Crust:
1 cup flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces, chilled
Filling:
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ cup cold water
2 large egg yolks
1 ¾ cups sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 ¼ pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons flour
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup sour cream, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
Fresh berries, optional

For crust, heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square nonstick baking pan. Pulse the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt in a food processor. Add butter; pulse until a soft, crumbly dough forms. Press dough evenly over the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake until golden, about 20 minutes.

For filling, dissolve the cornstarch in the cold water in a small bowl. Whisk the yolks with 3/4 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture; cook over medium heat, whisking, until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot, about 4 minutes. Raise heat to medium-high; heat to a boil, whisking constantly. Cook until mixture is thick and glossy, 1 minute. Strain into a heatproof bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Let cool.

Beat cream cheese with remaining 1 cup sugar in a large bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the flour until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well between additions. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat until batter is smooth. Pour cream cheese batter over the crust; smooth with a spatula. Place lemon mixture in dollops on the cheesecake batter; carefully swirl it into the batter using the tip of a knife or a skewer.

Bake until golden around edges and just set, 40-45 minutes. Run a knife around edges to loosen the cheesecake. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour; refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Cut into bars; garnish with berries.

I’ll leave it to you to go to the site and find out all the low down details of how bad it is for your health. I think we all know this will never be health food. But it looks really good.

Happy Eating.

Category: Dessert!  | Comments off
Wow – What an Intense Few Weeks
November 12th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

I kept meaning to get over here and post, but events overwhelmed me.  Too much work and not enough down time.  Now the holidays are fast approaching.  I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is nearly here!  Where did the time go?!?!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year – bar none!  All that is expected is food.  I can do that.  If you don’t have to work, it’s the perfect long weekend.  Of course those who work retail very likely loathe Black Friday.  (I never go out if I can help it). But Thanksgiving itself is a real holiday in my world.

Back to that food.  I used to do a turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, green veggie, rolls, 3 pies, etc.  That’s a bit of overkill with only my husband and myself to feed.  This year the turkey dinner will be done at Christmas when the kids will be visiting.   My kids have always loved my turkey and dressing.  It is something that surprised me because I fully expected them to hate it (kids tend to dislike most everything their parents think they should like).   Yet love it they do.  Especially the dressing part.  Thank heaven or they would have starved.  heh.

The best part was always our dog.  After year one – she was ready for Thanksgiving for the next 16 years.  She LOVED the giblets.  I’d cook them up on the stovetop, chop them and let her have that part.  She would wait all day, sitting in the kitchen watching me bake the pies, boil the sweet potatoes, and all the other 1001 things that go into Thanksgiving dinner.  She was so patient.

I still miss her.

Now I need to contemplate what food I should cook for my husband and myself for that extra special holiday.

Hmmm… decisions.

Now off to finish some work before bed.  But I shall return (far sooner than past blogging indicates).  I now have a schedule!  I will be organized. Or not.  We’ll see.

Category: What's for dinner  | Comments off
Blog Meet Food
October 29th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

If you stop by my other blog, you might have noticed I’ve been a bit busy lately trying to fit in 2 trips and work and life…

Last weekend was the yearly blog meet at Eric’s place which is always such wonderful fun.  I decided I was going to blog about one of the dishes that makes a yearly appearance, then I realized that nearly everything we eat and drink makes a yearly appearance.  At which point I had to laugh.

On Friday, Bou arrives early and prepares dinner for everyone.  She assures me that she enjoys this.  I am glad because she is a good cook.  This year it was a baked ziti dish with salad and biscuits.

On Saturday morning we decend upon a local place and have a big country breakfast.  There is a buffet with eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, biscuits and gravy.  There is also a full breakfast menu for those who don’t want to eat the buffet food.  It’s all good country cooking.  It’s also where I get my yearly bacon fix (I don’t like to cook bacon at home – too messy and I’m too lazy – heh).

Saturday night Eric cooks up a ton of boneless pork ribs, a huge pot of baked beans,  there is more salad and… biscuits! (you see a theme here don’t you – biscuits rule!).

Sunday morning Elisson and his lovely wife cook breakfast for the departing crowd.  Scrambled eggs, bacon… biscuits and… apricot KUGEL.  Kugel is heavenly.  It’s a custard with noodles and apricots.  I’m not sure what seasonings, but it’s just fabulous.  I could never eat it at home – I’d gain 100 pounds in a week eating that stuff.

As for drinks – there are always the flavored vodkas, scotches, wines of various sorts, beer, soda, water (I drink water – I am not driving around in an unfamiliar place after having wine!).  I think that covers most of it.

All in all it’s a wonderful time and the menu is well worth the trip just on its own.  I couldn’t eat like this on a regular basis, but it’s a great time once a year and I do look forward to the food as much as the people.

Category: US South  | Comments off
Hello? Hello? Anybody Still Here?
October 08th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

I’ve been so busy lately I haven’t had any time to go looking  for fun food bloggy ideas.  *sigh*   Much as I love to eat, I don’t have many food related ideas when it comes to blogging.  How sad is that with such a terrific little blog title.   I’d diversify, but I already have another blog for that.   Maybe I’ll think of some other things to drop in here when the food news gets scarce. However, that requires thought and I’ve been brain fried for the past few weeks.

Well, I decided today to see what food news might be happening.  I ran across this hilarious article.

Calorie labeling doesn’t curb NYC fast food habits

You don’t say!  BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  All of the nation’s food nannies are cringing as they read this.  Next they’ll make it illegal to buy food they don’t think you should have.  THAT will teach you how to eat!  Good grief!

Or how about this?

What’s the worst Halloween candy you’ve ever had?

There were so many.  I refused to buy that crap to hand out at Halloween.  If I didn’t like the candy, I wouldn’t buy it to give to anyone else!   I agree with the author – the circus peanuts were gross as were those Mary Jane peanut butter taffy things.  GAK!

Okay – at the moment that’s all I’ve got.  Still not much, but it is something.  Back soon with more I hope!

Category: This and That  | 2 Comments
Salmon – It’s What’s for Dinner
September 25th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

Yes, tonight we are having salmon for dinner.  It’s a gorgeous day and we must get in all the grilling possible before the winter comes.

I realize that salmon is one of those things that people either love or hate.  I happen to love it.   We have a fabulous little fish market here. (check out the employees page – it’s hilarious)  The Boston docks get first crack at outstanding array of fish.  The downtown market is very close to the airport making it even easier to get fresh fish from farther reaches to market quickly.  I was talking to the owner one day and he was telling me very matter of factly that he gets down there around 5-6am to buy his fish for the day.  (we are about 40 miles out!)  They also make a delicious Rimoulade sauce.

I thank him for that – and his wife who makes the sauce.  I love the selection and it’s all about as fresh as you can get without catching it yourself.  Since I don’t ever want to do that, I’m happy someone takes the trouble to get the good stuff.

The northeast coast is the place to be if you love seafood.   They do love their food and most especially their fish.  It’s a wonderful thing!

Category: US East Coast  | 3 Comments
Dining Out
September 21st, 2009 | Author: Teresa

Poor little blog.  I’ve been so busy it’s been shamefully neglected.   As I constantly lament, I need days that are about 48 hours long so I can get everything done I want to do.

We just got back from a long weekend in Chicago.  When we go there, we spend most all of our time either eating or figuring out where to eat next.  Quite amusing.

Since this is a blog about food – I’m going to throw out links to the various places in the area we hit for food and drink while we were there this time.  If you’re in the city, you might consider stopping at any of them.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

The kids live on the north end of the city which means we mostly stay up north for convenience sake.  There is a cafe close to the hotel that does a most excellent breakfast menu.   They also do lunch and dinner, but we’ve never been there later in the day.  I’m not much of a breakfast eater, but my husband is and he loves this place.

First night had dinner at the Four Farthings which is a great place. I’ve been there twice now, great food both times. It was nice enough to sit outside which was terrific.

Friday we  had lunch at a diner near my daughter’s place, but for the life of me I don’t remember the name.  She was happy to see they are now open 24 hours – yet another place to stop for munching in the wee hours after a night out.  That evening we had dinner at a place called Rocks Lakeview. Apparently it just opened recently.  They have another place in Lincoln Park.  It was awesome.  Terrific food!  The waitress was incredible – she did our entire order from memory, special orders and all.  What fun.  Afterwards we stopped at a little bar called Brendan’s Pub which was just a couple blocks down the street from Rocks.  Great place and  not so loud you can’t talk.

Saturday after much shopping earlier in the day, we headed to Butch McGuire’s for lunch. It’s close to the hotel and since it was around 1:30 in the afternoon, it had mostly cleared out.  They make terrific sandwiches.   That night we went Lincoln Park and Sai Cafe – a Japanese restaurant.  Sushi and all kinds of good stuff.  Excellent food once again and terrific decor too.  They had 4 sushi chefs behind the bar.  Very impressive.

Last of all we headed to Clybar – on  Clybourn just north of Fullerton.  Let’s see if I can explain this one… just opened by the brother-in-law of a girl my daughter went to college with… got that?  It’s a Purdue bar (many of the bars pick college affiliations to draw fans).   It was fun, if deafening.  I know most bars go for the loud music thing – I need to carry earplugs.  Otherwise it was a great place.

There you go.  Some eating and drinking suggestions on the north end of Chicago.  I love that area – there are so many things happening all the time.  It’s fun to head out there and spend time roaming about.

Category: US Midwest  | 4 Comments
Grocery Shopping – the Competative Sport
September 07th, 2009 | Author: Teresa

We all have to grocery shop… or at least hit the occasional grocery store even if all we do is buy food to reheat.  Unless you are one of the lucky ones who has a person to shop for you, this is a fact of life.  Personally I find it one of the more irritating facts of life.

Once a week I make a “trip” to the closest Whole Foods to buy meat.  Yes, you read that right, I go to WF to buy meat.  Mostly it’s the chicken that I like the best, but since I’m there, I buy the rest of the meat I’ll be eating for the week.  The chicken is the only kind I’ve found that doesn’t leave me feeling queasy about an hour after a meal.  I have no idea what is in the chicken sold at regular grocery stores, but I can’t eat it on a regular basis.

Since the closest WF is 20 miles away, it has become a Sunday morning trip.  I try very hard to get to the store before the churches turn their captives lose on the world.  Sometimes I’m successful, most times I’m not (I’m so not a morning person and this is one time it becomes a problem).  I have tried to shop on other days of the week, but it never seems to take. Thus, Sunday morning has become the standard and I can’t seem to shake it.

Once I get to the store I have things fairly well mapped out in my head.  I know the store, I know what I need and I have a plan to get in and out as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, I have to also be in the store with a whole bunch of people who feel they are the only beings in existence.  It’s very annoying.

Currently this WF has plants out front for sale.  They take up half the sidewalk so there is just room enough for one person with a cart to get through.  If they stop, everyone else either has to stop or has to walk around this area in the street.  This weekend featured a guy who was apparently waiting for his wife.  He was an older guy and was pushing an empty cart – looked like he picked it up in the lot and was heading to the store when he just stopped, stepped away from the cart and stared into space (or out into the parking lot – take your pick).  This meant I had to backtrack and walk around him out in the street.  He was completely oblivious.

Of course going into the store after picking up my basket (I always use a hand basket since I can’t stand being stuck with a cart)  I do manage to get stuck behind people who want to stop directly inside the door and stare at whatever display the store has decided to use to festoon the entry way.   (I know Dogette blogged about this phenomena not too long ago, but can’t remember when) Therefore you either have to run them over or wait for them.

We won’t even talk about the people in the produce section.  It makes me want to scream…

Usually once I get to the check out line, I’m good because I know it will be over shortly.  But this week I ended up behind 2 women who were moving so slowly I wanted to either shake them to wake them up or place them out of the way and tell them that they would make great statues for people to stare at while awaiting check out.   I have one question…

How is it that people can move that slowly?  Really.  I don’t get it.  They were moving at about 1/10th normal speed.  How does one even get through the day?  I figured if they lived a mile from the store, it’s likely they started out heading in that direction at about 5am since I ended up stuck behind them at about noon.   I was afraid my meat would go bad waiting for them to get done and get the hell out of my way.  I almost asked the bagger to go get me some ice to put on my meat while I waited for them to move out.

Eventually they got done and it was my turn.  I got my groceries checked out, had them bagged, paid via credit card, signed the slip, and STILL got stuck behind them in the outgoing doorway!!!!

Yes, I know it’s essential to buy food, but I hate grocery shopping.

Category: This and That  | 4 Comments
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