Sage Dinner Rolls

So I just realized I never told you guys about these sage dinner rolls I made two weekends ago! SO TASTY! We used them with chicken sandwiches. I shreaded my chicked along with some BBQ sauce. John had his with some roasted red peppers, hummus, and feta. Mmmmm sandwiches mmmmmm. Don't tell anyone but I polished another two rolls off after said sandwich... I'm sorry I'm a carboholic for you!

The recipe comes from Sugarlaws... and she wasn't kidding when she says the dough is very sticky


Hence the heavy handed well floured counter!


The rolls were easy to toss together and totally delicious. I ate the reminder throughout the week. Taylor ham and egg sandwich anyone??


Sage Ciabatta Rolls
recipe found via sugarlaws
(I used 1.5 cups whole wheat and 1 cup APF... yum)

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of 100% whole wheat flour
1 cup plus 2 tbsp of hot water (110 degrees)
1 package of instant yeast (11 grams) (2 1/4 tsp)
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup fresh sage leaves ( I did 1 Tbs dried sage)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a food processor, mix white flour, wheat flour, salt, sugar, sage and yeast.
3. Turn on faucet until water is as hot as it gets. Measure a cup of water and add water to the flour mixture and knead until blended. Add olive oil and knead for 2-3 minutes more, or until blended (the dough is very sticky at this stage).
4. Place the dough in a greased bowl, coating all sides of dough. Cover bowl with saran wrap, and let rise somewhere warm for 20 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size.
5. Punch down dough. On a well-floured surface, pull off approximately 3/4 cup of dough and form into a rounded or oval roll shape. Coat roll dough with flour, and place on a greased cookie sheet.
6. Repeat with the remainder of the dough. There should be approximately 12 rolls total.
7. Cover all the rolls with saran wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes, or until doubled again.
8. Bake bread for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bottoms of loaves are golden.

New Ideas for old gadgets

Don't get me wrong, kitchen gadgets are fun, but sometimes you just don't have enough room for them. What do you do with all the ones you already own? Easy, come up with new uses for them. Take an egg slicer. I mean how often do you use this thing? I saw it chilling in the back of the drawer the other day and thought... hmmm what else could I slice up with that thing?


Inspiration. Mushrooms are soft enough that the fine metal string cuts right on through without mashing the mushrooms to pieces! Now when I make pizza I bust out this little guy for perfectly even slices to top my pizza!

Next up are some old wooden chopsticks (not the take out kind, nice ones) Wooden anything kinda makes me a little worried germ wise, but I didn't want to just toss them out.


Bingo! The wooden chopsticks work perfect for fishing a bagel or a small piece of bread out of the toaster! No more burnt fingers or jabbing a metal fork into it!

So I'm curious, what random kitchen gadgets do you have pull double duty?

Chocolate Spice Cookies

Even though Halloween falls on a saturday this year, many friends are opting to have their parties the night before, or in some cases the weekend before! Such was the case this past weekend. John and I dressed up and headed out the door to go to a friends annual party! AND man is this a good party. First off, everyone has to dress up, no outfit, no entrance. Second my friend is an AMAZING cook and I wish I took a shot of all of the food. It's over the top seriously.

Buffalo wing nuggets
Grapes stuffed with blue cheese
Fiesta Dip
Salsa cheese wraps
Cheese stick fingers
Bone shaped bread sticks
Pigs in a blanket
Cheese decorated to look like Frankenstein's head
Buffalo dip
Fried candy bars (no joke she makes them!)
Witches hat cookies
Oreo truffles
and seriously a good 10 other things!

For some reason I feel the need to bring something else even though there is enough food for an entire army! I brought along this chocolate spice cookies, they weren't my favorite, but they sure looked nice. They were all supposedly eaten so I guess they weren't that bad lol.


If you really want to make them you can find the recipe in Perfectly Light Desserts. I got this book as a gift and it's AWESOME! Yes this one wasn't the winning recipe, but it has tons of great ones in it.

Oh wait, you want to know what John and I went as? Hahaha, A prisoner of marriage and a convict :)
What's up with the purple ghost thing in the lower corner?? weird...

Cashew Chili

Since the weather has turned a bit chilly... it's about time to make some chili! HA... yes I know, horrible joke... This recipe can very easily be made vegetarian or vegan (just leave out the chicken... done and done). I must admit John made most of this so I'm not sure on exactly what went into it, but I can give you the bones of it. I was having a bad day... no real reason, just felt BLEH, and kept having random things go wrong. Like dropping a container of corn meal ALL over the floor *sigh*. In case you are wondering, it's amazing how far cornmeal can travel in one foul swoop. John's a sweetie and told me he'd clean up the mess and for me to go take a nap and then he'd get the chili started. So off I went and when my nap was all done, dinner was on the table and ready to go! Now that's what I call living!

John's Cashew Chili
Saute in the bottom of a big pot with a little olive oil
1 large onion diced
4 cloves garlic smashed and diced
1 red bell pepper diced
salt and pepper to taste

Then dump in
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 can red kidney beans (rinsed)
1 can white beans (rinsed)
1/4 cup white wine
few glugs of red hot
1 cup cashews (unsalted)
seasonings... not sure what kind he used... cayenne pepper...
possibly some other random things tossed in...

Let is simmer for awhile and taste... add more seasoning if it needs it

We made ours chicken chili, so we cubed up two chicken breast and cooked it in a pan with a little olive oil, once cooked through we added it to the chili. Not at all necessary, but John wanted more protein.

Yup that's it! And the best part is it all tastes even better the next day once it's marinated overnight... mmmmm this stuff was SO GOOD!! Can't wait to have leftovers for dinner tonight!

Plates of small sizes

As a food blogger, I feel like I can never have too many cute little plates. You know the ones, tiny, nice curves, perfect for a small portion of perfectly placed chow! Well ladies and gents... I found a pretty cool company. (actually they found me and I'm so happy they did!) CatererStore.com sent me a dozen samples of their amazing little plates/bowls/spoons that are perfect for serving appetizers or in my case, PERFECT for pictures for a food blog! I can guarantee you are going to see these bad boys a lot in upcoming posts.


They really are tiny, so don't think you are going to fit a meal on these guys. They are the perfect size for one bite. You buy them in sets of 12 and they will dress up any party. Just imagine a table full of little amuse-bouche. (someone here has been watching a bit too much top chef huh )


They also have lines of disposable plates (perfect if you don't feel like cleaning said cute amuse-bouche plates after the party is done). Not green enough for you... that's ok, they have bamboo plates too among other green products!


I seriously can't wait to start coming up with ideas of how to serve things on these! I have a feeling John is going to be rolling his eyes at me when he sees dinner is served on 12 mini dishes hehe! Sounds like fun!!


So what would be the first thing you would want to make and take pictures of on these cute guys?

Nature's Pride Bread Ambassador

So remember when I made these amazingly delicious peanut butter chocolate chip rum infused bread pudding muffins??

THEY WON!!!! That's right!! I'm going to be a Nature's Pride Bread Ambassador at the Foodbuzz festival!! GAHHH!!!! How freaking exciting is that! AND my recipe will be made and handed out at the tasting pavilion... along with cards featuring the recipe! Woohooo!!!

On a side note, there was also a competition through Bertolli and my buddies at the Duo Dishes won!!! Check it out and vote for their dish to be made here.

Jam sweetened with agave

The people at Wholesome Sweeteners posed a question to me... is it possible to make jam with agave instead of white sugar? This would be perfect for people with diabetes since agave has a lower glycemic index than white sugar. This is also great for people looking for a more natural alternative to high sugar jams. I've never used agave in jam before, but I was up to the challenge to experiment! They shipped me off a case of agave and I got cracking!

It's too bad it's not prime berry season anymore... but I made due and busted open a big box of strawberries I had frozen this summer (hand picked by me and Johns mom!). I wanted to try and make this batch using all organic products and went researching online for alternatives to boxed low sugar pectin. I came across some entries about using 1 Tbs of arrow root powder plus 1 Tbs of water mixed to make a paste... supposedly you add this to your bubbling jam and it magically solidifies your jam! ummm right...

For starters I was lucky enough to find arrow root powder in the bulk section of my local co-op. This way I could just buy a few tablespoons of the stuff instead of a 1 lb bag of it, and bonus it was 100% organic!


Note to my roommate: really I haven't developed a drug habit... this bag of white powder... well you see it's arrowroot... not crack... no really! Why are you looking at me funny??

The results of using agave and arrow root... a really delicious strawberry sauce... not jam. I'm waiting to see if it solids up anymore but after 2 days... it's still looking pretty liquidy.


So half the battle is won. The agave complimented the strawberries amazingly! The next try is going to be with a box of pectin... and once raspberries are back in season and not $50 a lb I'm going to make some raspberry jam using agave (since raspberries have natural pectin in them so you don't need a box of it), the agave is seriously delicious though!!

An exact recipe to come soon once I have it more so figured out :) So stay tuned! OH and if anyone has any suggestions... please feel free to let me know!

5 Minute Cheesecake in a Mug

Yes you read the title right. And yes, it's amazing, and yes it seriously only takes 5 minutes to make... the only bad part is you then need to let it cool and chill in the refrigerator... which in reality is a really good thing, because I might be making this every night if it didn't requiring the chilling time. So lets be thankful for that... so my bum doesn't double in size. I think John will be very thankful for that too!

I read about this fabulous idea over at Not Quite Nigella. A beautifully stunning and tasty blog. She takes the best pictures and is always tempting me with different high end restaurant reviews. Her original recipe can be found here. I changed up a few things (hers involved berries and lemon- much healthier than my version). I decided to have it mimic my 100% favorite dessert ever: Amaretto amaretti chocolate cheesecake. YUM


I wish I had some amaretti cookies on hand, that would have put this over the top... I had to settle for some almond biscotti I had made the day before.

5 minute amaretto chocolate cheesecake in a mug
adapted from Not Quite Nigella

2 1/2 tablespoons icing sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons low fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons fat free sour cream
1 tablespoon amaretto
1 tablespoon dark cocoa powder
1 egg white beaten well
1 amaretto cookie in a zip lock bag to crush

1. In a bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, egg, icing sugar and whisk well until very smooth. Add amaretto and cocoa powder and stir. (If you want to get fancy, add the amaretto and then separate into 2 bowls and add cocoa to one... then mix back together to create a fun swirl pattern)

2. Spoon into cup or mug and place on a plate in the microwave. Microwave for 1 minute on medium. Once done, check it for doneness (it shouldn’t be cooked). Microwave for 45 seconds on medium again. Jiggle it gently, the center should be slightly wobbly and it will firm up once refrigerated. If it’s still liquidey give it another 30 seconds on 50% power.

3. Bash the cookie in the ziplock bag with a rolling pin. Sprinkle the bashed up cookie crumbs on top of the cheesecake.

4. Place cooled cheesecake in the fridge for a couple of hours. When cold and set, eat greedily and smugly knowing that this only took you 5 minutes to cook it and it is low fat. (love her description of this step!)


PS I'm being featured over at the Down and out Chic!! If you haven't heard of her site you need to go check it out! She also has an etsy store which is filled with so many wicked cute things (like those earrings to the left... LOVE THEM)!! I'm totally honored that she asked to feature me!! So go and check her out!

POM

The people at POM wonderful sent me some more tasty products to try out... this time...


Pomegranate and kiwi juice along with a bottle of pomegranate and nectarine juice! (images taken from POM wonderful website)

I've talked about all the health benefits that come along with pom before, you can check them out here. The thing is, some people aren't the biggest fan of the flavor... enter in these juice mixes! They take a little bit of the kick out of the POM juice (which I personally like) but still leave you with the health benefits.

I thought I'd be over the moon for the nectarine version... but to tell you the truth I wasn't blow away. Now enter in the kiwi version... I was NOT thinking I'd like this... cracked it open and did a "well here goes nothing" *slurp* wait a second... *slurp* this is darn good!!!

So I say go and pick up the flavor you think you'd like the least and try it, you'll be surprised!! (These also come in mango, cherry, and blueberry!)

Stay Warm

How is October half way over?? And what's with these flurries in the air??

I'm doing a guest post over at Jeanne's blog The Wrong Century, if you want to learn how to make this cute hat...


... head on over and see! It only takes about 3 TV shows worth of time to make... and it's super easy... AND wicked warm!

Quinoa Pudding

I had high hopes for this recipe, I really did. I love quinoa, and I love rice pudding... put them together... what's not to love??? I'll tell you what's not to love... a pudding that ends up watery and not creamy... Truth be told this may be my fault and not the recipes... you see I used almond milk instead of skim milk... perhaps that was the issue?


Not looking so appetizing huh?


The thing is the flavor was good... it just looks disgusting... and the texture was definitely a bit offputting... I need to try this again with skim milk. If anyone tries it first... let me know! :)

You can find the recipe here. I added raisins and dried figs to mine (mmm figs).

Pesto for peeps with nut allergies

What's a girl to do when a coworker brings her a bucketful of basil? Make pesto!! I've been wanting to try a pesto recipe my friend Neva gave me awhile back. Neva has all types of food allergies, one of them being nuts, but this girl loves her some pesto... as long as she's the one making it :) I'll leave it to her own words on how to make it:

I have no clue what our recipe is! It's a true family-style one, where we just keep adding some of this and a little of that until it tastes right. My guess is it's one of those big bunches of basil from the public market, a bunch of garlic (we're usually heavy-handed with garlic, but I'd guess most people would like 3-4 cloves, since it's not cooked), grated parmasian (maybe 1/4-1/2 cups?), and then tahini (let's go with a 1/4 cup). Oh, and olive oil, salt, and pepper. There's a bunch of oil involved, I recall. We usually put the basil leaves in a food processor, along with the garlic and tahini, turn it on, and add oil as needed to make it into a paste. We stir in the cheese after that (I guess you could blend that in too - I can't think of why not), and add salt and pepper to taste. And then add all the other ingredients to taste again too! Is there maybe lemon in there also? Why not? Let's say there's juice from 1/2 lemon too, because it's always good to add a little acid to things. And, voila, there's my very accurate pesto recipe! lol


I made up a batch and spread it on some bread, and then grilled it up with some mozzarella, spinach, and mushrooms. SO GOOD! Yeah and that whole smearing some more on the plate to use for dipping sauce... way harder than they make it look on the food network! haha

I heart Pumpkin Pie

Well you all know I love pumpkin... as evident by all of the baked goods involving pumpkin that I have made. Pumpkin pie can be a total belly bomb, butter, half and half, buckets of sugar... say it aint so!! You all know by now we don't need all those things to make a good pie right?? I decided to make a few small pies this weekend... why? Because I saw this recipe for no roll pie crust on Joy the Baker's blog. It involves using a cheese grater and frozen butter... and a dash of cream cheese? Doesn't it just sound FUN!? I had to try it straight away.

The pie however wasn't the most photogenic subject... and I was bringing it to John's parents house so I couldn't slice out a piece to take pictures of... sorry folks this is all you get. Yes that is a heart shaped pan... kinda looks like a deformed kidney...


Ok enough of my bad photography... I really need to set up a mini photo studio... maybe once John and I get married... I'm planning on putting one in the basement bonus room (and yes it's also going to be a sewing/craft room - and yes I know I'm a dork)... I just need to build a light box... and umm buy lights... right.

Onto the recipe. I made this filling along side a full fat, full on filling version last Thanksgiving... I didn't tell the family which was which... and guess what? They picked the skinny version as the better of the two!! Take THAT half and half!!

I think you should all go home and make some pie... no need for a special occasion! You can make this filling without a crust for a total skinny pie or use a graham cracker crust (yum), or go to your own pie crust recipe. For this I used Joy's no roll recipe> here. I've used the crust recipe below in previous pie baking extravaganzas.

Born Again Pumpkin Pie
recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

1/4 cup crushed gingersnaps
1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour
3 tablespoons margarine, melted (I used a little more than 1 Tbs of butter)
1 16-ounce can pumpkin
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup refrigerated or frozen egg product, thawed
1 cup evaporated skim milk

Directions
1. In a 9-inch pie plate, combine gingersnap and graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and flour; drizzle with melted margarine and mix with a fork. Using your fingers, pat crumbs to cover the bottom and sides of the pan. Chill about 1 hour or until firm.

2. In a mixing bowl combine pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Blend in egg product with a rotary beater or fork. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour in prepared pie shell. Cover edge of pie with foil. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until center appears set when shaken. Cool on wire rack; cover and chill to store. Makes 8 servings.

Cooking Light Seafood Cakes

Cooking Light is one of those magazines I can always remember being around. My mom has subscribed to it for over 20 years, and I'm a subscriber now. A woman from Time Inc contacted me and asked if I wanted to write up a post about Cooking Light and that she loved my blog (swoon) seriously?? Someone at Cooking Light knows about my blog and likes it!! Totally made my day! Week... Year... :) Now if only they wanted to feature a healthy cooking blogger!! THAT would be amazing.

I recycle most of my magazines once I'm done paging through them... Cooking Light however sticks around. I consistently dog ear a dozen pages and add them to my "to make" list. The October issue is full of ones I want to try... buttermilk biscuits anyone? how to build a better bowl of noodles (YUM!), quick and easy recipes... what's not to love.

The first page I dogeared was for Seafood Cakes with Mustard Crema. I showed John the picture and said, "So what do you think? Will you eat it?" He thought the picture looked tasty so off I went. The recipe only takes 30 minutes start to finish (gotta love that!) so this is perfect for any night of the week, and most of the ingredients I have on hand (frozen shrimp is my friend). The great thing about this recipe is it is easily adaptable too. Lump crab meat a bit too expensive for you right now? I subbed in talapia that I quickly cooked up and then tossed in instead of the crab meat. Totally delicious and more budget friendly :)

I served these with a side of baked sweet potato fries (ALSO a recipe from cooking light LOL I just realized that). The sauce for the cakes was also delicious on the fries!


Seafood Cakes with Mustard Crema
recipe by Cooking Light

4 servings (serving size: 2 cakes and about 4 teaspoons sauce)
Ingredients

* 1/3 cup light sour cream
* 6 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
* 1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
* 7 teaspoons canola oil, divided
* 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
* 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
* 8 ounces peeled and deveined medium shrimp, chopped
* 8 ounces lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed
* 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
* 1 large egg, lightly beaten
* 1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

Preparation

1. Combine sour cream, 2 tablespoons parsley, mustard, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper, stirring with a whisk until blended. Set aside.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon canola oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add onion and celery; cook 5 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool slightly.

3. Combine shrimp and crab in a large bowl. Stir in onion mixture, remaining pepper, remaining 1/4 cup parsley, cheese, salt, egg whites, and egg; stir gently. Add panko; stir gently. Divide mixture into 8 equal portions; flatten to 1/2-inch-thick patties.

4. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add patties to pan; cook 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Carefully turn over; cook 3 minutes or until done. Serve with sauce.

Peanut butter and chocolate bread pudding

So I'm headed to the foodbuzz festival in a few weeks WOOHOO!!! Foodbuzz has partnered with Natures Pride to help six lucky food bloggers with their travel expenses!!! In order to become a Natures Pride Ambassador you have to come up with a recipe featuring one of their breads!! I was totally up for the challenge and wanted to come up with something other than a sandwich (although I do really love sandwiches).

Bread puddings are not normally something I would get excited about... they seem kind ho-hum to me... until I made this bread pudding muffin hybrid... OMG it's amazing. Melt in your mouth, blast of flavor amazing!!! I made a half batch (6 muffins) and each person who had one was looking for more. Delicious!!! I was a little skeptical of my mad tossing together or randomness... but trust me, in the end, these things are AMAZING!

It's like a peanut butter cup met up with a bottle of rum at a party and this was their love child.

steph chows and natures pride present: peanut butter and chocolate chip bread pudding muffins
(could I make the title any longer?)
Makes 6 muffins: you could easily double triple... whatnot this recipe and make it in a large baking pan instead of muffin tins, or make them in mini muffin tins! You'll just need to play with the time for it.

You will need:
4 slices natures pride 100% whole wheat bread
1 cup low fat butter milk
2 Tbs rum (I used captain morgans spiced rum)
3 Tbs brown sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbs all natural chunky peanut butter (room temperature)
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips


Toast and let cool then slice into 1/2 inch cubes:
4 slices natures pride whole wheat bread

In a blender, blend together:
1 cup low fat butter milk
2 Tbs rum (I used captain morgans spiced rum)
3 Tbs brown sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbs all natural chunky peanut butter (room temperature)

Pour blended liquid over bread and let sit for 20 minutes, toss to make sure all the bread gets coated and absorbed everything.

Fold in:
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Pack mixture firmly into 6 muffin tins (they will be very full). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

CHOW!!!!!

Skinny Eggplant Parm

Who ever thought taking a happy healthy eggplant and deep fat frying it was a good idea?? OK OK it was a good and tasty idea... but come on now we can make up some eggplant parm without the fryer and still have it taste delish!


I need to thank my coworkers for making this recipe possible :) Erika showed up to work with some extra eggplants she needed to offload (I was happy to help) and Niki showed up with a bucketful of basil she was looking to offload (oh why thank you, don't mind if I do!). Needless to say, it was easy figuring out what I was having for dinner that evening! The recipe is straight from Eating Well (I just doubled the basil...come on I had it and it was tasty! Oh and I used whole wheat bread crumbs) Other than that, you can follow their recipe word for word :)



Eggplant Parm
from Eating Well

* 2 eggplants (about 2 pounds total)
* 3 egg whites
* 3 tablespoons water
* 1 cup fine dry breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat crumbs)
* 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (1 ounce), divided
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
* 1/4 cup slivered fresh basil leaves (I did more)
* 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce
* 3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat two baking sheets and an 8-by-11 1/2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Cut eggplants crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Whisk egg whites and water in a shallow dish until frothy. Combine breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, salt and pepper in another shallow dish. Dip the eggplant slices into the egg-white mixture, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. (Discard any leftover breadcrumbs and egg white.) Arrange the eggplant slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes, turn the eggplant slices over, and bake until crisp and golden, about 15 minutes longer.

Stir basil into tomato sauce. Spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange half of the eggplant slices over the sauce, overlapping slightly. Spoon 1 cup of the remaining sauce over the eggplant and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese. Add a layer of the remaining eggplant slices and top with the remaining sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake, uncovered, until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Biscotti

Biscotti are one of those things I always said I didn't like... I now see this is because I never had good home made biscotti before last year. Jeanne sent me some and it was delicious!! After that I've been randomly baking it up to John's delight (who knew the boy liked biscotti so much??)


This recipe is straight from Martha Stewart, I've been emailed some other super deliciious biscotti recipes as well but for whatever reason I pulled this one out the other night (I think it's because I randomly stumbled upon the print out... I know so logical right) I only slightly changed her recipe, I subbed splenda for the white sugar and added 2 Tbs of brown sugar. I also used almonds instead of walnuts. YUM! I especially like how prominent the vanilla is in this recipe.

Whole Wheat Biscotti
recipe from Martha Stewart

vegetable oil, for baking sheet (I used pam spray)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for work surface
1/3 cup sugar (i used 1/3 cup splenda plus 2 Tbs brown sugar)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup walnuts (i used almonds) (chopped)
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a baking sheet with oil; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar (splenda and brown), baking powder, and salt; stir in walnuts(almonds). Set aside.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and vanilla. Add to flour mixture; stir just until combined.
3. On a lightly floured surface, with floured hands, pat dough into a loaf about 1 inch thick, 2 1/2 inches wide (and about 7 inches long); transfer to baking sheet. Bake until risen and firm, 20 to 25 minutes; cool completely on sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.
4. Place loaf on a cutting board, and using a serrated knife, cut diagonally into 1/4 inch-thick slices; place slices in a single layer on sheet. Bake, turning once, until dried and slightly golden, 25 to 30 minutes; cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 month.

Vegan chocolate truffles

Ok so I'm on a vegan kick with these last two posts huh? I saw these over at rawmazing and knew I had to give them a go! I had some agave from wholesome sweeteners still kicking around, so this seemed like the perfect thing to try it on! These are so simple and seriously delicious. You can mix them up any which way depending on people's tastes.

I mixed mine up a bit (come on who's really surprised) but went with the basic ratios of the recipe :)

Dried Cherry Chocolate Truffles
found and adapted from rawmazing

mix the following together in a bowl until smooth
1 cup cashew butter
1/2 cup dark cocoa powder
1/4 cup agave

Scoop out small balls of the mixture and flatten into round discs.
Wrap disc around
30 dried cherries or 30 nuts or both

Roll in shredded coconut to coat the truffles

Refrigerate until firm

chow!!!

This is a perfect no bake, super quick option... aka I made it to bring to John's parents when we had to be there in less than 30 minutes (no time to bake up something tasty so this was a perfect option!)

What's your go to super quick recipe when you need to bring something to a party that starts in less than 30 minutes :)

Two sided vegan bean soup

I read about this soup on Natalie's Killer Cuisine last week and knew I had to make it! Two kinds of soup, and it takes less than twenty minutes!! You pour it into the bowl at the same time, and then swirl for a very fun effect.


The soup is super filling (come on it's made with beans) and super flavorful. She isn't kidding when she says the balsamic gives it a beautiful flavor kick!

I topped mine with some Dr. Krakers that I got for winning the amazing race bar challenge at Special K's blog.


Head over to Natalie's for the recipe and pictures way better than I took on a late dark night (darn you bad overhead kitchen lighting!)

Logo - fail

So foodbuzz announced the winner of the logo contest for the food festival... and I didn't win :( I wanted to show you my concepts anyway though since I had so much fun with it!

John and I came up with a few concepts. So I leave it to you... which is your favorite??

Concept 1: golden gate bridge abstract


Concept 2: golden gate bridge abstract version 2


Concept 3: Trollybuzz square and horizontal formats


Concept 4: Trollybuzz version 2

Which logo is best?
	Concept 1: golden gate bridge abstract
	Concept 2: golden gate bridge abstract version 2
	Concept 3: Trollybuzz square and horizontal formats
	Concept 4: Trollybuzz version 2
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Pumpkin Ginger Spice Granola by Jeanne

Jeanne and I met about a year ago, it was for a cookie and ornament exchange (totally fate bringing us together). Here is what she sent me. She is seriously the most genuine and kind person you will ever meet, and I'm so excited to say I'll be meeting her in person in a little over a month!!! (she lives in SF and I'll be there for the foodbuzz festival) Over the past year we've had so much fun exchanging emails and realizing more and more how much alike we are! Same birthday (1 year apart), curly hair, the love of baking something for someone who isn't having a good day, crochet/knit crafty stuff, our love of the outdoors! We are like two peas in a pod, twins one might even say! So now I turn it over to Jeanne and her amazing granola!!

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Back at the beginning of September Steph did a post about pumpkin muffins and although I didn't realize it at the time that's what inspiring this recipe. All I remember thinking is, "Pumpkin? Already? Does that mean that summer is over?" (Really. Check the comments.) And although part of me was sad to see summer go, I started to get excited about autumn food. Who doesn't love a good squash?

And so without really realizing why, I started to look for a new pumpkin recipe to try. Before now I've made pumpkin muffins, pies, cakes, pancakes, cookies, soups and... I even made a chili once. (It was gross. I don't recommend it.) But as I considered all these recipes, none of those seemed quite right for what I wanted to make.

Then one morning over a bowl of Trader Joe Ginger Granola, wondering when the TJ pumpkin granola would hit the shelves, I came up with the best idea: I'd make my own Pumpkin Granola recipe! So I did! I scoured the internet, learning how to make granola. Then I threw in all of my favorite ingredients.

And I loved the result! I cut the sugar way down, so it's not overly sweet like the granola you get in the store, but the hint of pumpkin, the kick of ginger and the delicious spice make this the perfect thing to start a fall morning. I loved it so much that I wanted to share it!

That's where Steph comes in. She's graciously allowed me to share it with you. I sent her the recipe a while back. Her response? "I like candied ginger... but that seems like a TON! lol candied ginger in my breakfast granola... I don't know... "


Trust me Steph. It's fab. In my opinion, it's not enough candied ginger!
But that's up to you. The great thing about granola? You can make tons of substitutions and I'm sure it'll still turn out okay. But, this is what I did:


Pumpkin Ginger Spice Granola
Preheat oven to 325F.

Mix the dry ingredients.
2 1/2 Cups Rolled Oats
2 Cups Steel Cut Oats (If you don't have this, just use rolled oats)
1 Cup Almonds, coarsely chopped or slivered
1 Cup Walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 Cup Sunflower Seeds
2/3 Cup Crystallized Ginger, finely chopped
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Nutmeg, freshly grated
1/2 tsp Cloves
1/2 tsp Allspice

Add in wet ingredients:
16 oz Pumpkin Puree
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Oil
Mix until thoroughly combined and everything is moist. Put mixture on cookie sheets and bake for a total of 1hr. Stir mixture every 10-15 minutes.

When 10 min remain in cooking time, add:
1 Cup Golden Raisins

Take it out of the oven and ... don't chow. Sorry. Wait for it to cool and store in bags/Tupperware. After a day has gone by the flavor settles and it's TONS better. So it you can resist eating what has created the amazing smell in your kitchen wait 'til the next morning.
Then (just for you Steph) CHOW!

I love you Mr Taylor

And no John's last name is not Taylor... I'm talking about a different John entirely, John Taylor, the inventor of Taylor ham...

John Taylor you ROCK! OK the majority of you are probably going "what's taylor ham... and why is steph so in love with it" taylor ham is like home to me, well, it makes me think of home. It's a New Jersey thing, maybe if you live in Manhattan you're lucky enough to have experienced it as well. This stuff even has a fan page on facebook... not that I'm a fan of it or anything...

Taylor ham is also known as pork roll... there is actually a passionate discussion of the proper name being debated all over the internet... since we have nothing better to talk about... Northern NJ calls it Taylor Ham... Southern NJ calls it a pork roll... I'm sticking with my Northern NJ roots and calling it Taylor ham!!

You can order it online here. I know I know, it's processed meat, there is NOTHING healthy about this stuff... but come on people... everything in moderation!

It's hard to find this stuff outside of NJ... but on tuesday night, the stars were aligned and I found a box of it in the Wegmans near RIT!!! Of course I bought it straight away... and then proceeded to talk about how excited I was the whole night at the gym (as Sean and John rolled their eyes at me). For dinner I had the perfect meal: a taylor ham and egg sandwich... I had it on wheat bread though... you know to make it healthy *cough cough*

The bread actually came from Natures Pride, they are sweeties and sent me a loaf of whole wheat along with a loaf of 12 grain. The wheat is soft and not overly dense or dry like some wheat bread can be. It makes for a perfect hearty sandwich! Super tasty! And with 14 grams of whole grain PER SLICE, it's good for ya! The 12 grain was also pretty good, but there is something about sunflower seeds in bread... I always think they look like boogers... I know I know "steph don't talk about boogers on a food blog, it's nasty!"


Want to hear another funny story about me loving ham too much... I was sitting having a nice dinner with an old boyfriend, happily eating a nice plateful of ham (and apparently ignoring him). So he sweetly looks over at me and tell me he loves me... (so sweet right) well I don't hear him, look up and dreamily say "I love ham" in a voice sounding like I'm about to make love to the ham... hahahah WHOOOPS!!! Yup didn't live that one down!! Sometimes John asks me "you love me more than ham right??" Yes John I do love you more than ham :D

Is there a type of food you can only get when you are near home? Or is there a type of food you love more than your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife? hehe

PS can you believe it's OCTOBER??? when did that happen??