Tag Archives: cookies

A Cookie to Rely On

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One of the [many] things I love about baking is how wonderfully reliable it is.

Now matter how gray the sky is, or how tired I feel, or how many times I dropped my pen in a 10-minute period, I know that I can mix butter, sugar and flour together in a very specific combination and it will make something wonderful. I love that.

It is that passion, in fact, that is what got me interested in vegan baking. Just because someone exercises their personal right to not consume animal products do NOT mean they shouldn’t experience that same reliable joy that a cookie or cupcake can bring. It just shouldn’t.

And so as I tiptoed into the realm of vegan baking, I came across Dreena Burton, author of three quite successful vegan cookbooks and a fantastic blog. I made her chocolate cake and fell in love. But what drew me to her first were these.

Super-Charge Me! Cookies.

Sick and tired of the hydrogenated-oil filled, high fructose corn syrup-ridden, over-processed cookies that are all the rage on grocery store shelves, she got down to the business she knows so well and created a cookie as delicious as it is healthy.

For me, it was love at first bake. The recipe involves OATS, one of my favorite foods, and yet was still adaptable in terms of flavor combinations and add-in variety. Most importantly, they taste.so.good. I kept a constant stash in the freezer and looked forward to whipping up a new batch when the last one disappeared. They made a perfect pre-gym snack, early morning my-stomach-is-not-awake-yet bite, accompaniment to tea. And I can’t remember how many times I would finish a batch and have to make another after the plate of fresh cookies “mysteriously” disappeared when a wanderer happened by the kitchen.

I played around with the recipe a lot, but here is my basic go-to mix when my stash starts to get low. I always play around with the spice combination, add-ins, and nut/seed butter, and every batch turns out just a little differently. You can make them wheat-free (with spelt flour) if you’d like – this recipe actually introduced me to spelt flour and I’ve kept some around ever since!

Ingredients:

1 c. rolled oats

2/3 c. spelt flour OR scant 2/3 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/2 – 1 tsp. cinnamon (I always use more like 1 tsp because I’m a cinnamon addict)

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cardamom

3-4 Tbs chocolate chips (I use vegan chips because they taste the exact same and are cheaper at Whole Foods)

1/4 – 1/3 c. dried fruit (cranberries are my fave, but anything will work – you don’t have to add any at all, if you’d prefer!)

1/3 c. ground flax

1/2 c. maple syrup (or any kind of liquid sweetener; maple seems to have the best texture)

3 Tbs. nut/seed butter

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (can also do combinations of vanilla + almond, vanilla + rum, etc)

2 Tbs oil (olive, canola, sunflower…walnut oil makes one amazing cookie!)

Preheat the oven to 350 F. I always forget that part, and then I have to use all of my will power to not eat all of the dough…don’t do that to yourself.

 

Mix the oats, flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a medium-large bowl.

Then add the chocolate chips (or butterscotch, or peanut butter…) and the dried fruit and mix it in.

Next in a smaller bowl, mix your wet ingredients: flax meal (yes, I know, not really ‘wet’, but it has just enough moisture that it works better mixed in here), maple syrup, extracts (vanilla and whatever else – I’m a fan of rum extract myself ;) , nut butter, and oil. Not gonna lie – I’ve used half oil/half applesauce before for various reasons (walnut oil is, um, a tad pricey), and it works [almost] just as well.

I highly recommend experimenting with different nut butters – even the brand makes a difference in flavor. I’ve used different peanut butters, almond butters, and most recently sunflower seed butter (one of my roommates is deathly allergic to nuts). Nutella is next on my list…

Looks weird, tastes great. Go with it.

You probably know where I’m going with this: wet —> dry!

Mix it all together, put it on a silpat mat/parchment papaer/aluminum foiled/greased baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes – check it then. They can dry out, but in my experience they need more time in the oven rather than less.

And while you’re waiting….lick the spoon.

These freeze really well, and I’ve found they last longer if I freeze them after letting them cool for about an hour.

And by “last longer,” I mean it becomes slightly more difficult for me to eat 4 in one sitting.

Do let me know if you make these and come up with a particularly amazing combination – I’ll do the same.

Unexpected Austin

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Wednesday, August 11th 2010: Wake up far too early for a sunny day in August. Eat some melon. Head to airport. 
Destination: Austin, Texas.
Purpose: Training as a Peer Mentor for Academic Programs International.
[Just wanted to set the scene for y'all. Why the James Bond writing style?...If I told you, I'd have to kill you.]
Once I passed through security – always a barrel of laughs, that process – I proclaimed it breakfast time. And whaddya know, but there was a UFood Grill in the American terminal. I have heard of this particular restaurant and have always wanted to go, but all its Massachusetts locations are in downtown Boston, and it’s not easy to just hop down there. (Mostly because I refuse to drive in Boston. I value the lives of myself and my car far too much.) It’s a super casual dining place that features all health-focused fresh foods – AND tart frozen yogurt. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I have a frozen yogurt, erm, problem. The problem being that I love it and will get it at pretty much anytime of the day or night, irregardless of actual hunger. It’s usually worth it.
But, I also saw they offered smoothies, and that sounded perfect so early on in the day. I grabbed a yogurt and the Mango Madness smoothie – mango, banana, and orange juice.
It was a little heavy on the OJ flavor, but it was pretty tasty. And it made me happy to see a substantial healthy breakfast option in the airport. It made me smile.
I had a layover at OHare in Chicago, and was equally as successful in finding a healthy lunch option!
It was lacking in the protein department, and was seriously screaming for some avocado, but it was really fresh and tasty. The cilantro made ALL the difference, and I was really impressed that it was even there! When I think of airports and herbs together, I see a flight attendant asking me if salt counts. Go OHare and cilantro!
Got to Austin and eventually found the other 3 Peer Mentors who were with me – we were on the same flight the whole time!
I’m just going to say it now: I have never, EVER in my life experiences humidity like I did in Texas. It was what I think rain forests and green houses are like. It was intense and inescapable. But I actually kind of liked it – the air conditioning never felt too cold! 
Despite all the heat, we still saw plenty of runners and bikers and strollers out and about, sweaty and smiling. It was impressive. Insane, but impressive.
After getting to the hotel, my roommate Gab and I chilled in the room and literally talked for 2.5 hours straight. She had studied with the API Toscania program, and it was absolutely incredible to share our mutual Italy experience/adventures. In fact, the entire time in Austin was like the best therapy I could have asked for in the transition back to home life. I loved hearing about everyone else’s experiences and even though we all went to different places, we all had the common ground of loving every minute of it and it was amazing to connect with that. It was just the coolest group of people. I kinda wish we got to work together more as Peer Mentors. But before I get too wish-washy…
On to the FOOD. We definitely ate well in Austin. The first night, we went to a Tex-Mex place. As we should have.
 
[Insert here bowls of some seriously delicious salsa, guacamole, and queso. I always thought queso was just glorified melted Veleveeta cheese....I was wrong. It's amazing.]
I went with the fish tacos for my entree. It was a tough choice, but I’ve always wanted to try them, and I do love me some grilled tilapia. It was a good choice :)
The corn tortillas were soft (my fave!) and tasted homemade, and I never thought I would say this, but the best part of the dish was the Chipotle Ranch dressing drizzled on top. I usually opt for no dressing, because the plate typically arrives drowning under a cloying, bland, cheap-tasting white goo. But this was unlike no other ranch I’ve ever tasted. It was light but wonderfully creamy, well-spiced but not too hot, and accented the dish without taking any other flavor away. Basically, exactly what a sauce should be. One of the best tex-mex experiences I’ve ever had. (The only one that was better was a seafood enchilada in downtown Boston when I was around 9. It remains in my head as one of the tastiest seafood dishes yet to reach my mouth. I could eat one right now.)
After dinner, the group of us wandered around downtown Austin (ha! that rhymes with Boston!…maybe I need to get out more.). Austin is such a cool city! It reminded me a lot of Charlotte, North Carolina which I was totally not expecting. Most of our group ended up doing a bit of bar-hopping on the [in]famous 6th street, but my 20-year-old status and very tired self prevented me from doing the same. Luckily, my roommate and one other girl were also still 20, so I wasn’t alone. Yay for the youngin’s!
After a none-too-restful night, I awoke groggy but excited to get started. It was so great to actually meet the people I had emailed obsessively and see the building where that rather hefty check was sent to. The API Staff is just awesome. And a lot of them are Gillianasana readers, which just makes me grin like an idiot to know. [Hi everyone!!!] And the office decor is SO cool. The creative director Mark is, well, creative. It’s really colorful and fun, and I have plans to decorate my future apartment a la API. You’re all invited to my housewarming party. Bring chocolate.
We went out to lunch & I had my first one of these:
A fried pickle! And the consensus was that it tastes like…um, a fried pickle. Yep.
Dinner was really exciting. Like, really really exciting.
Italian! What else would get me so excited?
[That was some delicious focaccia. Nothing like the focaccia I had in Italy...but delicious nevertheless. Crispy, cheesy, chewy. God I love bread.]
Remember my first garganelli experience? I loved the shape, and when I saw it on the menu simply done with a tomato & basil sauce, my mind was made up quite quickly.
Simple is always a good way to go.
The dining experience in Austin was really fun. Great food + great conversation. It was, well, great!
And lo and behold, what was across the street from this Italian restaurant but a frozen yogurt shop. I was all over that like white on rice.
This was my first experience with pay-per-ounce fro yo, and I must say, I am jealous of those of you who have one nearby. Although my wallet sure is happy without them.
But who can say no to this??
Not I. 
I went the next night too.
The next and final day, we all gave our presentations about our personal study abroad experiences. It was so much fun to hear everyone’s, and made me want to go back. And then go everywhere they went. Global tour, anyone?
Earlier, we met with our program managers, aka the person I stalked via email for 3 months when I was dealing with the massive amount of paperwork involved. [Note to all those study-abroad hopefuls I just scared: most of it is now done online. I am jealous.]. Mine was absolutely awesome, despite the fact that I emailed her 3 times in a row in a period of 10 minutes, and it was so cool to meet her (and see a pic of her adorable son!). 
Another highlight was lunch.
Turkey+sprouts+lettuce+tomato+mustard+”avocado”. Apparently in Texas, when you see avocado on a menu, it means guacamole. Only one more reason I love Austin. More places should adopt that principle.
But dessert basically eclipsed everything else. There is a “cookie delivery service” nearby that the office orders from often, understandably. But the kicker? The cookes are delivered fresh from the oven.
In one word? GENIUS.
That was hands-down the best M&M cookie I’ve ever had. It was all gooey and melty and warm and if I didn’t have enough reasons to up and move to Austin, this would do it. I want to open a fresh-from-the-oven cookie delivery service. Seriously. Possibly one of the best business strategies I’ve ever heard of.
After our training was all over (*tear*), a small group of us decided to check out Barton Springs Pool, which is a public outdoor swimming area with natural water. (I don’t know how else to describe it; by “natural,” I mean not chlorinated. So before you start giggling about the concept of “unnatural water”…shutup.)
[I love that there is an award for "Best Swimming Hole."]
We ran back to the hotel and I fought with the hotel printer, and before I knew it, it was dinner time! We met at a tapas bar (we were going for barbecue, but the was an hour-long wait, and it was already 8 o’clock. Not happening.).One of the group studied in Barcelona, so needless to say, we asked him for recommendations. I
went vegetarian.
It was some fresh bread with some of the best grilled veggies I’ve had – and I have had a lot! It was leeks, artichokes, and asparagus in smoked olive oil + sea salt. The leeks literally melted in my mouth. That romesco sauce on the side was none too shabby, either. I wanted to partake in the bottle of wine, but that pesky age limit and my conscience stopped me. Oh, to be in Italy again.

It was really a great trip. Even better than I expected, and I was pretty excited to begin with! The job will be a lot of work, but studying abroad is something I’m pretty passionate about & I think it will really be fun. 
That wasn’t the only surprise; the trip seemed to trigger a bit if reverse culture shock. Perhaps it was all the talking about living in our respective countries and how much we loved and grew from it, but either way, I came home happy but a little hurtin’. But what it really did was remind me of what a crazy, confusing, beautiful experience studying abroad is and, for me, was. And I’d do it all over again.
Thanks, Austin!
I think I’ll be back ;)
~Namaste~
[P.S. - if anyone read this earlier, my mouse clicked the "Publish" button of its own volition when I was halfway through writing it. Hate it when that happens.]

What’s in a Name…or Post Title

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Welcome to…
My yard. 
A.k.a, the Gillianasana photography-practice site.
No Flash
—–>
 w/ Flash.
Couldn’t decide.
All my mother. I bake, she gardens. Hobbies are important.
Especially when they become your career! Yesterday I zipped down to Providence, Rhode Island to check out the Johnson & Wales culinary school campus. It hopped to the forefront of my list when I read about their Culinary Nutrition program and decided it was definitely worth a visit. It was indeed, and I got a lot of really good information and now have way too much thinking to do. I’m going on a college tour road trip with my brother (a senior-to-be in high school) and madre this coming week, and on the way back we are stopping in Hyde Park, New York to check out the holy land  CIA – Culinary Institute of America. It’s the big one, where you go to be in the food industry. It scares me. 
That said, tomorrow we leave for Philadelphia and will be on the road until Friday night! I am bringing my mini laptop and will hope and pray to find hotels with wireless access or computers – but just in case I can’t, I promise I WILL return! With pics. LOTS of pics. I’m looking at this trip as a good time to practice my [food]photography skillllllz. 
Speaking of which…breakfast anyone?
Melon is one of those foods I could (and often do) eat every day and never get sick of it. Especially this kind:
Tuscan melon!
It is a lot like canteloupe, only smaller and I find a little sweeter and stronger in taste.I had this in, where else, Florence, and fell in love. Look for those indented lines in the rind. It’s amazing.
Blueberry Acai Dannon Light & Fit
Yes, another new flavor I was powerless to try. I actually really liked this – I could actually taste the acai and it blended wonderfully with the sweet blueberry! It’s kind of a hard flavor to pinpoint, but I find it a little tart and a little sweet at once, a bit like pomegranate. The only issue, other than the ingredient list, is the awful fake-sugar aftertaste. WAY too sweet. I wish it had just been sweetened with real fruit! Oh well, I ‘ll just have to do it myself.
Nothing like a waffle on a Saturday morning (er…afternoon…)
AB-squared: apple butter + almond butter. A perfect combo.
Did some shopping at Old Navy. Ugh, shopping. I can never find exactly what I want. BUT, I did get a pretty cute dress 50% off because one of the straps was broken! Sewing won’t even be necessary. LOVE that!
I came ravenous. Nothing a smoothie can’t fix – especially when it involves this:
Amazing Grass’s Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion protein powder.
I used half the packet + 1 c. frozen mango + 1 c. almond milk + splash vanilla. I should have added a little extra cocoa powder, but didn’t.
Aglow with healthy goodness!
I didn’t love the Amazing Meal – it was a little too spirulina-y for me. But I didn’t hate it either, and liked it with the mango very much. Of course, I like pretty much anything with mango….Either way, as far as Amazing Grass goes, the Kidz Wildberry and Original Superfood powders are in the lead.
The liquid health theme continued with this:
I got it on sale at WFs last week. As usual with Kombucha, I have no idea what to make of this! What I love about it is the complexity of the flavor – it changes every second it’s on your tongue and definitely keeps me interested. This one went from berry-sweet to flowery and then very pine-y. I probably wouldn’t but it again, but it was a fun try. I wish the Honest brand would go on sale again!
Because my mother, brother and I hit the road tomorrow, we had to have Father’s Day a little early.
Dinner on the patio!
Including:
My grandmother’s salad: romaine, tomatoes, avocado, red onion in red wine vinegar+olive oil and S+P.
Grilled eggplant, marinated in balsamic + olive oil. Melt-in-your-mouth amazing. Probably one of my favorite things.
Roasted taters
Fresh pasta in a vegetarian sauce for me, lamb for the fam. [Don't worry, I had some tempeh for protein ealier!]
And my present to the man of the day:
Chianti, straight off the boat plane.
YUM!!
Tippy agreed.
For dessert, I whipped up some peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies (Dad’s fave)  using the Supercharge Me cookies recipe:
The first batch was gone before the second even left the oven. I think they liked them. 
Dessert also included this newbie:
Chobani Champions honeynana!
It’s not thick at all; it’s basically like regular yogurt, but I suppose that could very well be more appealing to kids which I assume are the target consumers here (although I know plenty of “grown-up kids” who would be attracted by the cartoony design). The flavor is great though! Unlike the chocolate, the cane sugar taste blends  in very well. It reminded me of a yogurt I ate all the time when I was little, but I can’t remember exactly which one – I think it was Yoplait Custard-Style Vanilla. SO good. Gotta love nostalgia foods :)
Time to go pack, pack, pack! 
~Namaste!~
P.S. Remember that surprise I mentioned? Check out the sidebar — I’m a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher!!! Dancing most definitely ensued when I got the email. I love Foodbuzz, and my absolute favorite blogs are all a part of its awesome community, so I’m super excited and proud to be too. Share the foodie love!

Squish, Squash, Applesauce

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I have some SERIOUSLY exciting news….but I’m going to keep it a surprise. Because suspense and tension is fun!
Yesterday was a big day. Was anyone else excited?
They’re HERE!!!
4 NEW Larabar flavors. And no, your eyes do not deceive – that IS chocolate chip cookie dough!! I am going to stalk WFs until they carry them. And they will.

Last night in a fit of…something, I baked up another batch of Supercharge Me Cookies – this time with unsweetened carob chips and chopped dried apricot.

YUM. What’s a day without baking, I wonder.
This batch was actually a lot less crumbly than my first attempt – maybe it was the switch from whole wheat flour to spelt flour? The batter was much wetter this time. It made them more cookie-like…but I think I liked the first texture better! Since making these again is an inevitability, I will just have to play around with it.

Hmm, what else have I been eating…

Apple cinnamon cream of wheat = comfort food at its finest.

*Insert here Dunkies’ Iced Toasted Almond coffee – I may have a new fave flavor!!*


Half a Tomato Basil panini from Panera – I got lucky and my mom only wanted half! Pretty much like pizza…in sandwich form. No complaints here.

And finally…

TEMPEH!
I bought some a while back and keep forgetting about…until tonight.
I first tried tempeh at a hippie dippie little restaurant in Boone, NC (one of the most surprisingly cool towns ever) when I was there with a class to hear a talk at App State. I had had tofu, but never tempeh, so I went for it – and have never looked back. I LOVE this stuff. The texture is just so fun – grainy and a little chewy, yum. Like tofu, it is a fermented soy product and has little flavor on its own, but I like to look at it as a culinary blank canvas. Tonight, I mixed up a random marinade off the top of my head (always a little scary when I do that…)
-2 T maple syrup
- 1 T (about) grey poupon mustard
-splash of cider vinegar
-onion powder, rosemary, paprika, S+P
It was a little too much maple syrup, but not a total failure. My mom liked it very much :) I let it marinate in the fridge for a couple hours (maybe 2.5?) before baking it at 350F for about 30 minutes, flipping a little over halfway through. It was in there a little too long and I probably should have flipped sooner, but it worked. Since my body seems to be rejecting the mere thought of animal meat (seriously, except for fish, the thought of eating it makes me gag), I was so relieved to have some on hand. I even bought more at the store today! Let the experimenting begin! I’m a tempeh-recipe-researching fiend. Bring it.

We ate it with my mom’s “Mexican Squash Casserole”. She just kind of made this up one night and it ended up being fabulous! It sounds a little weird, but it’s really quite good. We’ve been discussing alterations to it, but here is the basic recipe – I apologize for the estimations, my mom just eyeballs when she cooks (an ability I really envy!):
- 5-6 smallish yellow squash (3-4 if they’re bigger)
- diced white onion, probably about 1/2 of a large
- 2 eggs
- ~1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley, if desired
-shredded mozzarella, maybe about 2/3 c.
- 16 oz (1 container) ricotta cheese (fat free, part skim, whatever)
- salsa
- shredded cheddar cheese (we’ve used fat free, I suggest using less of the real stuff for flava)

1. Lightly steam the squash. When done, cut them into half-rings.
2. Mix the ricotta, mozzarella, eggs, and onion – and a little S+P and fresh parsley wouldn’t hurt, either :)
3. Place the mixture in a baking dish and cover the top with salsa – as much as you deem enough. We don’t use much more than a thin layer, as the flavor will seep down as it bakes.
4. Cover the top with shredded cheddar cheese. It will melt so again, only a light layer is necessary, but it’s all up to you!
5. Bake at 400F for about 35 min – until the cheese is bubbling.
6. Don’t burn your mouth gobbling it down too fast!

Threw it on a bed of spinach. Because even squash should be comfy before I devour it.

While the cookies were baking, I snacked on one of these:

These are actuall WAY bigger than they look on the box – don’t you love it when that happens? I kinda liked the mango better (I know, big shock); this one isn’t quite enough of a “mix.” It’s really heavy on the strawberry – the only reason I know it’s not all strawberry are the hunks of a tropical yellow fruit (I can never taste it well enough to tell if it’s mango or pineapple), and while I love them, I wish there were more. On the bright side [for me, at least], it says there is coconut in it but I can’t detect the slightest hint of it. I’m not big on coconut flavor (my mother abhors it, I can tolerate it but don’t crave it), so I was happy about that. Oh well, the mango was awesome, so I ‘ll stick to that. [Haha, get it? "stick" to that? because it's a popsicle??.......wow. even I'm telling myself to move on.] 

I will leave you with the cutest.face.ever.

What I miss most when I’m at school? Having a dog.

P.S. – I’m glad to hear that the new layout is liked! It’s not perfect, but it was fun to play around with and I liked that I got use my own picture in the header (even if it took me 20 years to get it right….) :)

Eat, Drink, and Watch Parades

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HAPPY FLAG DAY!!!

Every June 14th, my little hometown has a parade. It’s always a fun day. I was in the parade for 8 years, first with my dance teacher’s studio, then for 5 with marching band. And now, I’m just happy to be the alumna who sits on the sidewalk and watches, glass of vino in hand :)
A blend from Montepulciano. I wish I had been able to go there – a little hill town in Siena – if nothing else for the wine. Next time!!!
Also had a little salad and…
Olives. I miss Italy.
What I really love about Flag Day is that when you walk around, you notice that everyone is just happy.  Kids are gearing up to collect as much candy as their ziplocs will hold, adults are chatting over grilling burgers and dogs, teenagers are maneuvering multiple conversations between friends and cell phones. And it’s the same every year. There is something to be said for tradition. 
I was obsessed with getting something from these guys when I was little. That blow-up Pink Power Ranger balloon was a must-have in 5-year-old Gillianasana land.
Check out the dog on the leash tied to her pants!! Loved it :)
I was one of them. RepreSENT. [The crazy looking kid in the back right would be my brother. Oh, he makes me proud.]
What’s a parade without marching clowns?
More doggies!
Yes, that is a stuffed dog on a gigantic fire hydrant. You see why I like this parade.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just rewind back to Saturday every Monday?
Let’s do it.
Starting with b-fast:
Melon + RASPBERRY Chobani!!
I’d heard good things, and decided to pony up thr $1.50 to try it. Good choice.
This was YUMMY! I really loved it. As with most Chobanis, the “fruit on the bottom” is more like jam and mixes perfectly without being cavity-inducing or fake-tasting. Yogurt-vana.
Again, most flavored Chobanis don’t stand against the sideways spoon test:
But it’s still thick enough to be a respectable Greek yogurt, and the flavor makes up for it. I definitely recommend it.
I also had one of my banana bread-turned-muffins:
Very tasty. Quite spicy – I like to add a lot of different spices and see what happens. Here I think it works!
Family friends came over for dinner and my mom put together some seriously delicious pasta:
Trofie al caprese!
Fresh pasta + grape tomatoes, halved + fresh cubed mozzarella + lots of fresh basil. She just dressed it in an olive oil+ balsamic vin dressing. It was wonderful, and so easy. A perfect summer dish!
I made more vegan chocolate-almond cookies for dessert, as per request of mia mama:
But I chose to devour this little guy instead:
A cannolli from our little Italian deli, Tutto Italiano. The best this side of the Atlantic.
It also inspired a new recipe idea I’m pretty excited about….oh, the suspense!!
On Sunday, I played working girl and helped a personal chef my mom knows who owns her own catering/chef company. She’s pretty much a one-woman show, and it’s quite impressive! Being curious about this kind of job, I asked if I could be her assistant – sous-chef, if you will – for a day and she kindly obliged :)
A big day calls for a big breakfast! Since I had to get up pretty early, I turned to an old standy-by: overnite oats.
Before bed. into the bowl went:
1/2 c. oats
1.2 c. almond milk
1 T ground flax
10 cherries, sliced up
cinnamon, vanilla, cocoa
The next morning, after a 30 second spin in the microwave to take off the chill, I cracked open a fresh Fage container and scooped 1/3c. on top:
Oats > ice cream sundae anyday!
All mixed up ;)
I think a combination of a tad too much cinnamon + sleepy tastebuds made this not as tasty as expected, but it had pontential. And kept me happy for a good 3-4 hours, which is quite a feat for me!
My morning was spent chopping veggies for salad, mixing up broccoli slaw, and shucking corn. A LOT of corn. It’s all good, I just pretended I was Pocahontas. I know what you’re wondering and yes, I can paint with all the colors of wind.
The event was a graduation party at a rather ritzy house. It was a really helpful, educational experience for me and while I’m not sure it’s a trade that’s calling my name, I did enjoy it. It was, however, a looooong day of chopping, stirring and standing. After passing out on the couch briefly when I came home, the only dinner that really appealed to me was in liquid form.
Green Monster it was!
Featuring this:
With almond milk, banana, cherries, a big handful of spinach and a splash of vanilla:
I was surprised at how much I liked the original flavor! It was a little grassy, but it added a nice flavor. My only worry would be that I would get tired of the same flavor in smoothie after smoothie. 
Do any of you use powders in smoothies? Do you use multiple kinds to switch it up, or do you have a solid standby that keeps you happy? 
In other product-related news, I’ve found a new waffle love!
Nature’s Path has really got the crispy-on-the-outside/soft and dough-on-the-inside thing down. And while I will admit there is not even the slightest hint of pomegranate flavor, the flavor it does have is delicious! Whole grain-y and sweet, almost honey-y. Exactly as it should be.
Man, I love toaster waffles. A lot.
I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow AM, so I better hop off to bed.
Any other World Cup watchers out there? I’m hardcore Italia, all the way. Looks like it’s gonna be a tough cup to win!
~Namaste~

Edible Vengeance

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This being my blog and I all, I have every intention on being 100% honest on here. And honestly – today was not a good day. I know exactly why, but that didn’t change the fact that just getting out of bed was a challenge. Every negative thought possible was running through my head, about everything – my body, my abilities, my future – it was an endless stream of depressing negativity.
What I hate most about days like this is how LOUD the ED voice becomes. I should eat as little as possible, work out as long as possible, blah blah blah blah BS. There was a time where I could and would listen. But now, it just pisses. me. off. So, I fought back. How, you may ask?
Chocolate.
First in the form of yogurt:
I have had this for a while, but was saving for dessert…and then kept forgetting about. This morning was time.
It was good, quite good (although not amazing). At first it felt “wrong” eating something so chocolatey…but really, it’s not all too far away from what I would put in oats.
I mean look at the ingredients:
It was a tad sweet for me, but all in all yummy. And it helped – made me feel just a little stronger.
Oh, and the chocolate did not stop there. Oh no.
Chocolate-covered cherry oat bran.
[Note: Next time, cut cherries smaller!]
Amazing Grass GreenSuperfood Chocolate
With almond milk, banana, cherries, and a splash of ‘nilla. 
LOVED this. Very deep and chocolatey; I was impressed! I liked this as much as the Kidz Wildberry flavor – my only reservartion in buying a bigger container was that I don’t necessarily want a chocolate-flavored smoothie every time I make a smoothie…maybe I will like the Original? Anyone else tried these before?
I continued my day of “edible vengeance” – after quite the breakdown in the kitchen with my mom – with probably the best sandwich this side of the Atlantic:
This is an Italian Sub from a little Italian Deli near my house that I grew up going to. The family who owns it is from Southern Italy and import most of their products, and make their [absolutely mouth-watering] bread. Walking in there is like walking into a mini-Mercato Centrale. It’s wonderful. And they make the best Italian sub ever on their crunchy, golden, doughy baguette that rocks my carboholic socks.
Although, I will say this – there is nothing “Italian” about an Italian sub except for the individual ingredients. Yes, the bologna, salami, mortadella, mozzarella, and all that is Italian – but try to find this in Italy, and it’s simply not there. In fact, when we explained what an Italian sub is to my Food & Culture professor, she looked at us like we had 3 heads! It is such a cool example of how food changes and adapts to a different culture. One of the many reasons why I love it so :)
Anyway, the vengeance went right on into dinner:
Artichoke-onion-garlic pizza on whole grain crust from Whole Foods. Aka, heaven.
This was so yummy. Their whole grain crust is to die for – you can see the flax seeds hangin out in it! YUM. And really not all that expensive, either!
I suppose today has been a long time comin. I can tell because I’ve had a serious itch to bake, bake, BAKE! And I have. Tonight it was Jenna’s Whole Wheat Banana Bread that I made into muffins:
We had ripe bananas, I had the recipe pulled up…it was fate.
That little heart is from the end of my box of Kashi Heart to Heart cinnamon cereal (one of my favorites!). The two on the bottom have a drizzle of almond butter on top, and though you cant see it, the top 2 have a brown sugar sprinkle on top. I like getting creative with the presentation :)
And last night, I made Dreena’s SuperCharge Me! cookies:
With craisins and vegan chocolate chips.
May I just say – WHOA. These are incredible. I just love sweets that are good & good-for-you. The flax meal gives them a wonderful nutty flavor and texture! I will be making these again. Butterscotch will be involved.
And speaking of chocolate [when I am not speaking of chocolate?], the Amazing Grass trial continued yesterday with:
I loooved the Wild Berry, so I had high hopes for the Chocolate!
1/2 nana + 8 cherries + 1/2 c. almond milk + ~1 c. spinach + 1 packet Kidz Chocolate SuperFood.
Meh. I didn’t like this one much – too…grassy? I was really surprised when I liked the regular Chocolate so much! It was better after I added a hefty spoonful of cocoa powder, but still – I’ll stick to the Wild Berry.
More new things were sampled yesterday, including:
Sideways-spoon test:
It passed – a little too well, though! It was a bit too reminiscent of eating glue. And it had a weird texture, like a little gritty? I’ll keep on keepin on with Fage, the tried & true [love].
Took advantage of a 5 for 5 sale at WFs and got some new Odwalla bars – well, new to me.
I liked it, but it was not very pomegranate-y at all. It reminded me of a NutriGrain bar without the icky sugary filling. I might not buy it again, just because it wasn’t exactly a stand-out, but it was worth the try.
In other news, I think my body is insisting on becoming a vegetarian. My mom and I went to the gym and then when we got back, she made a lentil-chicken soup using leftover chicken from dinner this past weekend. It smelled good, and I do love all-things lentil…but I couldn’t stomach the idea of chicken. No idea why. But, if your body screams at you, it’s a good idea to listen – so I made this tasty mess:
This was 2 egg whites + the remains of the tofu package I used for the cake frosting. It was Nasoya Lite Silken Tofu, because it was the only silken tofu the store had. It mixed with the egg whites more or less easily, and I cooked it in the pan with some broccoli slaw, garlic salt, pepper, oregano and rosemary. I drizzled it with *the best* olive oil, and when it needed still a little something more, I added a splash of golden balsamic vinegar – perfect. With a slice of whole grain bread from Costco. It was really tasty! I will definitely be making this again!
I wish I could say that’s all that’s been happening over here, but…this ain’t the half of it. Emails, culinary school research, job search…oy vey. This is definitely a job for yoga.
~Namaste~

YogurTastic

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Ok, so originally I was going to start a “theme of the week.” And then I decided to do one big themed post instead. And then that post was getting a little ridiculous and overwhelming, so I’m back to my theme week. Oy. Anyway, welcome to…
WEEK OF YOGURTASTICNESS!!!
Yes, all of this ado has been about yogurt. But some really, really yummy yogurt!
Let’s start with the ultimate. The best of the best [so far]. The almighty…
Fage Total 0%.
This is greek yogurt on crack. It’s just sooo thick and creamy and plain ol’ good!
I go for the 0% because in all honesty, I really don’t like full-fat dairy. I have always hated the taste of milk and can’t for the life of me drink it straight. When I was little, it had to be spiked with Hershey’s or I would hold my nose while swallowing. One of my many [lovable!] quirks. Yogurt and ice cream tend to be the same. Cheese was the same too, up until I went to Italy, cheese Mecca. The flavor of regular dairy just grosses me out. I’m odd, but I accept it.
I adore Greek yogurt in general because it’s so thick and creamy and amazing. Fage is the best of the best that I’ve tried, although I am making a point to try them all. I eat yogurt every single day (one of my favorite breakfast elements!), so this is a very doable challenge. But seriously, how many yogurts do you know can pass the sideways-spoon test?
[Fage + blueberries + cocoa powder. SO yummy.]
Look at that! Doesn’t even budge! It’s a little tangy, like most plain yogurt, but not in a bad way – makes for a lovely and interesting, dessert-like flavor I think. If you like Greek yogurt and have yet to try Fage – seek it out! You will not be disappointed. (Although I can’t say the same for your wallet…but I know you can buy the big a$$ containers for about 8 bucks up here in Mass, and it can last for a while.ish.)
I am aware that there are indivudal Fage flavored containers, but I have to talk myself into spending the dough on them…and also, they are usually add-in-the-fruit style, which I am not a fan of. Nope, I’m not much for -fruit-on-the-bottom style. In my experience it’s just too syrupy-sweet and, um, unfruity to be worth when I can just add in my own fresh fruit and enjoy it more. But, I do love trying new things, so we’ll see ;)
I did try another greek brand – Brown Cow, in Strawberry flavor:
Unfortunately, this beige bovine proved to be far inferior to dear Fage. It did NOT pass the sideways-spoon test:
In fact, this was dangerously similar in texture to regular, nonGreek yogurt. Not necessarily a bad thing, except for the fact that it claims to hold the classic Greek thickness and it, well, doesn’t. It had a little of the Greek tang, and it wasn’t soupy or anything. I enjoyed it in general, but not as Greek yogurt. Sorry Brown Cow, keep on grazing.
Next contender (and part of this morning’s complete breakfast):
Chobani 2% Pineapple
Yes, 2%. I figured 2.5 grams of fat wouldn’t be enough to gross me out and, well, I really like pineapple! This did NOT disappoint. Although it didn’t exactly pass the sideways-spoon test with flying colors…
It was still definitely Greek with the texture and tang. It’s no Fage, but it’s a solid second choice. And I really like all their flavors…I hope I can find the pomegranate!
Today was one of those days where the only moving I did was from counter to fridge. I’ve had worse days;) And the fridge bore some lovely eats!
This may sound ca-ray-zay, but I made this on a whim after I came home and was craving some BBQ sauce. I found this guy hanging out:
And went with it. LOVE the sweet onion flavor!!
Roasted parmesan-BBQ broccoli. I love broccoli – especially roasted (and even more as a pizza topping! UNO’s spinoccoli, anyone??), and I know it’s delish with parmesan, so I combined all 3. Literally all I did was set the oven at about 375, throw the broccoli on a sheet with a little cooking spray [or olive oil], sprinkle with the parm and drizzle with the sauce. It’s really yummy, I promise!! Makes for a pretty awesome snack :)
I also was eager to try the quinoa salad I made last night, because grain salads are usually much better after they’ve chilled overnight and the flavors have the time to mesh more. It didn’t disappoint!
 I took one bite, though, and genius struck: it was screamin for some guac!
Totally took it to the next level. Note to self: Add avocado next time this salad is on the menu!
After a day of…well, absolutely nothing, I turned to my favorite rainy day activity: baking!
I have been dying to try Dreena (from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan)’s vegan cookies because I usually have most of the ingredients on hand and, um, when is it ever a bad time for delicious, freshly baked cookies?? [NEVER!]
I started with her Homestyle Chocolate Chip cookies:
I’ll admit, they’re not Tollhouse, but this was only the first time, and I did have to make substitutions – half granulated/half brown sugar instead of all unrefined, kosher salt instead of sea salt, and though I think what I used was unbleached all-purpose flour, we keep it in a big unlabeled container so I am not 100% sure. I also used 3/4 white flour and 1/4 wheat flour, but I like the extra bit of grainy texture it gave them. Definitely worth a try…or seven!
Next batch: Double Chocolate Almond Explosion cookies!
Seriously, with a name like that, how could you not want to make these??
The recipe is very similar to the choc. chip one, and I altered a couple other things as well. I didn’t have sliced almonds, but I did add the almond extract and I’m pretty sure that was what put these cookies over the top of amazing chocolatey goodness. I LOVED these!! I added the almond on top (gotta make it perty!). On the last three, I added a crushed-up 72% cacao Ghirardelli square.
I thought they kind of looked like wings!
And then the wings melted into little melty pools of deliciousness. MMMMMM!
Please make these now. That is all.
Oh, and did anyone love Glee tonight?? I’ll be totally honest, I’m not sure how much I even like Vocal Adrenaline. All Jesse does is screamo, which is sad because he has such a nice singing voice. I like the variety of the solos in New Directions. 
Oh god. I’m beyond addicted.
~Namaste~

Behind the Scenes

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Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day…but let’s be honest, dessert is the most exciting. So why not combine the two?
Best of both worlds: chocolate-blueberry oat bran. With a sprinkle of cinnamon on top, for good measure ;)
The majority of my Sunday was spent playing waitress at a “tea” for a ritzy-ditzy house tour my mother had helped organize as a member of the Historical (or as my father lovably dubbed it, Hysterical) Society in our town. Basically, my job was to take the massive quantities of donated food in various tupperware containers and make it look like this:
I could complain, but in all honesty…I love this stuff. Y’all know me and my pretty food – it tastes better! I’ve always really liked being that “behind-the-scenes” person who makes stuff happen, but no one really ever sees it. I don’t know, must be some crazy spy thing. When I was in high school, I played in the pit orchestra for the senior musical twice and loved it. No one could see us – but we were the music. I like that that’s kinda the point – striving to be so good that it’s effortless, no one thinks twice about it. It’s such a feeling of accomplishment for me. Catering really would be a fun job for me. I think it’s so cool how there really is a job made for everyone’s personality – from the star in the spotlight to the shy kid making the music. The real trick is finding that job, I guess.
Wow. You know you’ve been watching Glee for 2 days straight when the stage is a metaphor for everything. Oy.
That night was a lot of fun – we went here for dinner:
Pretty gorgeous, right?
That would be the back yard of family friends who used to live right next door. Saying he has a knack for gardening may be the understatement of the decade.
An “Italian style” dinner was planned, so of course I was super excited. And the best part was I got to help make it! Man I love working in the kitchen. It’s like therapy.
It was a truly beautiful meal.
(LuLu must have been PMSing or something, because the pictures are a bit subpar – girlfriend needs some camera Midol.)
We started with a caprese salad:
Chop up fresh tomatoes. Chop up fresh mozzarella. Chop up fresh basil. Toss with olive oil and S+P. Drizzle with a little balsamic. And take a trip to Italy in one bite.
I suppose “traditionally” it’s a slice of tomato, a slice of the mozz, then a basil leaf and the drizzling and sprinkling, but this is easier to serve, and just as tasty. It basically depends on what you are going for with the presentation. Experiment!
Now, no Italian dinner is complete without…
Pane. Bread. And lots of it. I’m not talking Wonder White here, people – go for the good stuff. Crusty, soft, doughy goodness. Heck, it’s easy to just make yourself!
And, of course, the pasta.
Ohmygoodness, please go make this pasta right now.
We used fresh pasta (if you can, do it – it makes a huge difference!). This is trofie, that kind of stretched-and-twisted shape (we used it in my cooking class and it rocked!). Pasta shape is actually pretty important – the shape of the pasta will hold the flavors of the recipe differently. If you’ve got a pasta with a lot of stuff, short, fat and textured is probably better, like a rigatoni or fusilli (the spirals). Spaghetti, however, is good with the perfectly simple (and simply perfect) marinara sauce.
This pasta was SO EASY:
To start, take a big slice of Italian bread and pulverize it to bread crumbs. Gotta love that Cuisinart! If you don’t have a food processor, I would try toasting it juuuuust slightly, then just chopping the crap out of it. This part was done before I got there, but I would say it was 1/4-1/3 cup’s worth, so add more if need be.
In a skillet, heat up some olive oil (we used about a quarter of a cup; I find you can really play around with the amount of olive oil in recipes and see what result you like best) and toss in a LOT of garlic – we used 4 cloves. Yes, that’s 4 whole cloves. Just go with me.
When the garlic has turned golden brown (it probably won’t take long), add capers (maybe 1/3 cup?), slightly chopped would be good, and 1/4 cup of parsley to the skillet. Then, add those bread crumbs. Stir it all around until the bread crumbs have turned golden and toasty and have soaked up all the oil. Toss in your pasta – if you are using fresh, you really only need to boil it for about 3 minutes. Throw it in a fantastic bowl and serve.
I know, too easy, right?
This was soooo yummy! I have plans to make it again – with a little added lemon and maybe some prosciutto. Speaking of which…
Our main course was just lovely – turkey stuffed with fontina cheese in the middle and wrapped in prosciutto. Really, truly wonderful. Crispy, smoky prosciutto, juicy turkey, melty smooth cheese. Paired with some green beans on the side, the meal could only be described as…bellissima.
(I had a LOT more turkey than that. I repeat – so.good.)
And then dessert.
Strawberry shortcake. Alright, it’s not exactly typically Italian, but it is summer, aka strawberry season! Roll with the punches. Would that all punches were this sweet.
We ended with a glass of prosecco, a cheese plate, and good conversation. Yup – that’s Italian!
And while we’re on the topic, I got myself a little treat at the grocery store today:
Ciao Bella is a gelato brand that I tried last summer for, what else – the mango sorbetto. And it’s good. Actually, it’s the best mango sorbet I’ve had this side of the Atlantic. And I when I saw this little baby container, I just couldn’t resist. 1 dollar for 100 calories of mango-y goodness? Yes please!
Complete with cute spoon under the lid!
For size comparison. It’s a baby!
(P.S. – NO idea what the significance of the mangoes bearing the name Alphonso is. When it comes to mango…I’m not too picky ;)
On a separate note – does anyone know why Blogger uploads some of my pictures wrong-side up? I can not for the life of my figure it out. When I got through my pictures on My Computer and rename them, I make sure they’re all right-side up but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Grrr. I’ll get to the bottom of this. Bring. It. ON.
I have a teeth cleaning tomorrow (and I’m just thrilled…NOT), but I will be back – with a theme of the week and everything!
~Namaste~

Chocolate Anger, Green Contentment

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 I mentioned a slight kink to my lovely day in the sun yesterday – a sudden cloud cover, if you will. Downright stormy in fact. But this was not a storm of hurricane winds or torrential rain. This was a technological cloud of doom – my internet was gone. Now, you might say “oh, kids these day, they  lose their precious internet for an hour and think the apocalypse has come” – but I am NOT finished. My internet was gone because there was supposedly another person using my internet account, and of course that sent me into a tailspin of questions, like “if they got my internet password, what other passwords could they have??!!” My dad later explained that it was probably just a router reboot issue, and the “other user” was probably me, it just hadn’t logged me out correctly – but this was not something I knew to consider. Angry and powerless, I turned to the one thing that always helps: baking.
Some people run when they get angry. Others listen to loud music. I make cookies.
These were the cookies we made in my first cooking class and they were so incredible, I’ve been craving them ever since. We had all the ingredients on hand, and thanks to my mom who sent me my food scale, I was all set. A little too much flour (they were a little bread-y), but I halved the recipe so I think the proportion may have been off. Instead of dark chocolate chips, I chopped up some of my egg left over from Easter. Delicious, brownie-like, and not even very damaging from a nutritional standpoint. I felt quite a bit better.
I didn’t have a lot of time to focus on the internet issue anyway because tonight we had tickets (thanks to my study abroad program) to MoMix, a modern dance company performance! We had heard that it was awesome, and very much like Cirque Du Soleil (which I adore), so I was pretty excited! It was a very interesting performance – modern dance goes a little over my head, but I can usually get it for the most part. It was just such a cool experience to see it! The music was really good, and the dancers really did a beautiful job. I think I like Cirque a liiiittle bit more, but this was really cool. Such a fun way to spend a Wednesday night!!
After that, I convinced the roomies to get gelato because they had yet to try Perche No!, which is where my other roommate and I went over Spring Break and declared it our favorite Florentine gelato so far (although Vestri may tie up the competition…).
After falling in love with their soy vanilla flavor, I tried the soy chocolate – and was not disappointed! It was very cocoa-y, which I love. Sometimes when I’m having a chocolate craving, I just have a little spoonful of cocoa powder. It sounds weird, but it works – my theory with chocolate is, the darker the better! I also got mango because, well, I’m pretty much obsessed with all things mango. SO good!
We came home and sampled my cookies (I think they were approved of…), and then my internet issue came flying back at me. I was not in the best of moods. And it only got worse when I broke my tea mug, and then seconds later remembered I had a report for my cooking class due tomorrow, which was actually today as it was already past midnight. Not gonna lie, I had a bit of a breakdown. I pulled it together (although another cookie may have been eaten), cleaned up the mug shards, wrote the paper, and got to bed. Unfortunately, that didn’t leave me much pillow time, and I am feeling it today.

BUT, Italian was more or less painless. I left actually pretty excited because yesterday we gave oral presentation about our favorite books and I chose:

Ruth Reichl is one of my very favorite authors. This book is about her time as The New York Times’ food critic, and it is just a completely charming, funny book. I’ve read her others, which I like almost as much as this, and just started her newest one, Not Becoming My Mother. ANYway, my Italian teacher went out and bought it after she heard me talk about it! I love spreading the foodie love :)

Today continued to make up for last night’s ick-factor when I came home, made a big cup of coffee, and discovered my internet to be restored. And all was well again. Honestly, I think my issue last night was lack of sleep more than anything else. It’s just been a bit of a tough week sleep-wise. And really, when I look back on my semester here, I am not going to remember the internet-less nights of stress; my trip is going to be marked by my sunny afternoons spent lazing in Piazza Indipendenza, making fun of the pigeons and talking to the dogs.

The ladies who lunch sit.

Lazing in the piazza is exactly what I did today – after my cooking class, of course! Today was a “green class”   – lots of antioxidant/fiber-filled goodness!

Patate agli spinaci
This was very interesting. We took boiled potatoes and peeled them–you want to boil vegetables with skins on because if you peel them first, the water will take and dissolve all the nutrients! Of course, you can do this to create a vegetable stock – all the nutrients seep into the water. But for this purpose, boil-and-peel! The potatoes were then riced (I am pretty sure it was a ricer?) –you could probably grate them too– and mixed with spinach that had been sauteed shortly with olive oil and garlic. This mix was put in a pastry bag and squeezed onto a baking sheet into perty potato-spinach flowers and sprinkled with parmesan cheese (which got all crunchy and golden and delicious!), and baked. They were pretty tasty, although I feel like they could have used a bit more oomph. More salt maybe? I feel like potatoes and spinach are two more or less bland-flavored veggies (don’t get me wrong, though, I love eating both!) and they needed more than just the herbs and cheese to make these really *pop.* Ok, I just talked about potato-spinach flowers for about five minutes, NEXT plate…

Trofie al pescatrice e pesto
Holy WHOA this was SO yummmmmmy!! We used trofie, a type of pasta that looks like it’s been stretched and then twisted, and is popular in Liguria which is near Genova where basil is grown for pesto! Nice little linkage there, no? We made the pesto, but instead of using water like last time, we used some ricotta cheese to make it creamier. Normally I don’t like super creamy pesto, but it went so perfectly with this dish! Into the pasta also went cubed pieces of fresh swordfish…oh dear, how I love fish. I’m pretty sure my eyes lit up when he said we would be making fish! The fish taste was not at all overwhelming and was perfectly balanced by the sweet and creaminess of the ricotta-pesto, and the pasta choice of trofie worked really welll. Something about the thin shape and soft denseness really seemed to accentuate the pesto flavor and the alternate texture of the fish. Definitely had 2 servings of this! Could have happily drowned in it.

Foccacia agli spinaci
They made the foccacia from scratch, of course, so the chances of this being amazing were pretty good from the start. We used mozzarella instead of the usual scamorza, because the mozzarella is fresh and less fatty. They sauteed the spinach in olive oil and garlic and then stuffed it inside the foccacia (btw – that is not an easy to word to spell) and baked it. Towards the end of baking, Marco (our teacher) brushed olive oil and white wine on the top so that it would turn a nice golden color. The secret to making foccacia in under an hour? Use a pinch of sugar in the dough. The yeast loooves sugar and will grow faster with the addition of the sugar.
This was out-of-this world good!! It was just salty enough and suuuper doughy (a very good thing!). I had extras on the crust because it was just. so. good. I just love bread. You start with yeast, flour and water and yet the variety of different results you can get from those simple ingredients is infinite. So cool.

Finally, my team’s dish:

Bet you can’t guess!

Sfogliatine di pomodori verdi (con sorbetto di limone)
This is basically a jam made of green tomatoes, lemon juice, and cane sugar inside puff pastry. We de-seeded and cubed the tomatoes and cooked them in a pan with the sugar and juice of half a lemon, and towards the end of cooking added crumbled pieces of panbrioche (a sweet bun, basically) to thicken it. We brushed milk (instead of egg yolk) on top of the sealed pastry triangles and sprinkled them with a little more cane sugar. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes or so, and you’re good to go. We served them with a “dollop” (my teacher was very proud he remembered that word) of lemon sorbetto, which put these over the edge! It may sound very odd, but it worked so well. The green tomatoes are higher in acidity, and paired with the sweetness of the sugar and the sweet-sour sorbet (plus that hot/cold contrast), this was one of the most uniquely tasty dishes I’ve ever had. The jam was SO easy to make; definitely worth a try on my own! (Or your own – if you want the recipe, just leave a comment!)

After class & said-park lounging, the roomies and I decided on aperitivo for dinner. I have given up trying to takes pictures in Kitsch because it’s just too dark, but just image a nice glass of prosecco and various little appetizer tastings. Always lots of food and nice prosecco for the low low price of 8euro. Hard to beat.

We have make-up classes tomorrow  - whatever classes we didn’t have on Monday (we got it off for Easter). I know I am going to the market for my Food & Culture class to walk around and talk to the vendors. Should prove to be quite interesting at the least!

~Namaste~