We’re leaving to go out of town in a few minutes and won’t be back ’til Monday, so I’m typing this on the run! Sorry, no pics either — I’m using my SLR as I left my digital camera at my brother’s — and I still have to get the film developed. So for now I’ll leave you with the recipes and post the pics when I get back! Thanks to Clement of A La Cuisine for hosting!

Iced Tea Filipino-Style

Brew your favorite tea. Add honey and calamondin/kalamansi juice to taste (I had to use frozen concentrate as I don’t have an Asian store nearby). Stir well to blend and serve over ice!

Spiced Tea (Chai)

This always reminds me of spiced/mulled cider which we make in the fall — the spices are very similar except that the base is tea instead of apple cider.

For about 4 cups tea

3 teaspoons black tea or 3 bags black tea
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4-inch thick ginger coins
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
several grinds freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 teaspoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon cardamom, pressed lightly on a cutting board with the side of a knife

3/4 cup milk or to taste

Bring water to a boil with tea and spices. When boiling, lower heat to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Add milk and simmer 5 minutes more. Strain through a fine sieve or do it my way and strain through a coffee filter. Serve hot or chilled over ice.

Avocado Bubble Tea

For 2

Make some simple syrup with equal parts brown sugar or muscovado and water — brought to a boil then cooled and chilled. Cook some 5-minute tapioca balls for bubble tea (available at Asian stores, I got mine in New Jersey). Drain tapioca balls and mix with syrup in a large bowl. Leave in fridge until needed.
Brew 2 cups green tea. Chill in the fridge several hours. Blend with 1 cup whole milk (or use rice milk/soy milk if you have allergies) and 1 whole ripe avocado (peeled and pitted of course), the simple syrup (minus the balls) and additional sugar to taste if needed. Put a few tablespoons tapioca balls in the bottom of a glass (or for authenticity, a plastic cup:D). Pour avocado tea shake into the glass/cup and don’t forget your bubble-tea straw (also available at Asian stores). I love making bubble tea at home because you can make it with all-natural ingredients!

I also made Tea Eggs from Irene Kuo’s cookbook to take with us on our trip, and tea-smoked chicken breast that went into sandwiches – yum!! Recipes and pics coming next week!

This was going to be my SHF Entry last month — I made it the night before the deadline, but had to make the GORP balls after the results. The picture turned out okay, I think. But the sorbet itself? Blecch. DON’T.

Buttermilk and chestnut honey don’t seem to have been made for each other:(

But here, if you don’t want to take my word for it: BUTTERMILK AND HONEY SORBET Recipe at Epicurious.com.

Inspired by Nicky’s post on Delicious Days, and a jar of Nutella that the hubby brought home from Germany, I concocted this recipe using lessons I’ve learned from two sources: The Best Recipe and Laurel’s Kitchen:

The basic idea is to lower fat content by using half-butter-half-oil; wheat germ and wheat bran was added for more fiber; kefir, instead of yogurt was used, for the added health benefits (though yogurt is already quite the powerhouse in this respect). Here’s more information on kefir:

• From Kefir.net
• From Helios Nutrition
• From Lifeway, whose kefir I used in this recipe

My main challenge, again, was my dead oven; since I couldn’t use my regular muffin pans (they don’t fit in the toaster oven), I simply doubled the muffin liners, and fit them snugly in the toaster oven’s baking sheet — I came up with 12 muffins, albeit square-shaped. Of course, they’re not as pretty as I would have liked, but they’re pillowy soft and chocolatey sweet and just overall yummy.

Interestingly, my 6-yo who’s allergic to nuts didn’t like this at all when he saw it, which is just as well. He had cereal instead for breakfast. I’d feel sorry for him, except that he’s very happy I didn’t force him to eat these:D.

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup wheat bran
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
5 tablespoons safflower oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Nutella
2 large very ripe bananas, or 3 small, mashed
2 large eggs
1 cup kefir (I used strawberry-flavored)
More Nutella for topping if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk together flour, wheat germ, wheat bran, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients, except kefir, until smooth. Stir in dry ingredients into liquid ingredients, alternating with kefir, in two batches. Divide batter evenly among 12 muffin tins (or in my case, muffin paper liners). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Serve warm.

PS Now I’m wishing I got those muffin papers at Reading Terminal Market — I’d been looking for them forever and when I found them I decided I could just go back there anytime I needed them. Now I do and they’re 2 hours away:(.

PPS I just spent the last 30 minutes Googling. They can be ordered from lacuisineus.com, $6 for 25; pricey, but perfect for holiday gift-giving, and making everyday breakfasts special. Other places carry them but they’re either commercial stores (you need to order in BULK) or they only offer the other sizes/shapes. It’s also very difficult to find them online as they’re called different names: baking papers, muffin papers, disposable paper molds, ovenable baking molds, panettone molds, italian baking papers, professional muffin cups, silicon/e baking cups, bakery papers, straight-walled baking cups, and all the other permutations you can possibly think of….ARGH. I also happened on some controversy regarding the use of silicon in baking papers — yes, there’s the silicone baking pans and all, and then there’s the SILICONE-TREATED baking papers — but I’m too tired to dig deeper. Perhaps another day.

Catholic Culture : Highlights & Commentary

my favorite part:

One of the great laments of the Catholic historians is how the upheaval of the Industrial Age began the gradual disassociation of the average person from “the land”. When you rely on the land for food, till the soil and watch it yield its fruits, not only are you more likely to admit to the guiding hand of a loving God, but you are also much more likely to have a relationship with Him in prayer.

With summer coming to an end soon, I thought it would be a great time to include some canning information here for those of us who are looking for ways to preserve our harvest. The holidays are up next as well, and homemade gifts are always special — including jams, jellies and homemade mixes.

• Who else but the people who make Ball canning supplies? / Jarden Home Brands
• From the USDA
• Last year I wanted to can some lemon curd and hollandaise (as part of a food basket together with some English muffins and a chunk of Canadian Bacon, to make Eggs Benedict) but I was advised that this would be dangerous, so I sent this message to the people at Ball (the canning folks):
  

  Hi, I’m looking for information on safely canning lemon curd and hollandaise. I have received conflicting information from different people; some say it’s perfectly safe as long as you have enough acid in the recipe and you make sure the seal is perfect, some say that I’m risking botulism if I try it. Would love to get some help, please! Thanks!

  And this is the response I received:

  Thank you for your message. We do not recommend canning dairy products or anything with dairy products in it such as lemon curd. We regret we are unable to offer any recommendations or guidelines to do so. We appreciate you contacting us and wish we could have been of more assistance.

  Sincerely,
  Consumer Affairs

• Food Safety and Foodborne Pathogen Site
• From the Farm and Garden Forums, including a recipe and cautionary instructions
• I get my canning supplies from Wal-mart usually — they carry Ball — but I also like Weck’s.
• I LOVE French hermetic jars, but I haven’t found instructions on how to use them for canning (do you just seal them and that’s it?), so I haven’t tried using them — besides the fact that they’re expensive (the ones that Clearbrook Farms in Cincinnati uses are about $5 a piece, just for the jar!)
• My Favorite Books on Canning:
  • The Self-Sufficient Gardener: A Complete Guide to Growing and Preserving All Your Own Food by John Seymour — one of my favorite gardening books, but includes great information on canning as well
  • The Ball Blue Book of Preserving — a classic!
  • Clearly Delicious: An Illustrated Guide to Preserving, Pickling & Bottling by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz — I could just eat the pictures off of these pages!
  • The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food : Easy Step-by-Step Instructions for Freezing, Drying, and Canning by Janet Chadwick

I found the most darling little cookbook written by Jessie Carry Saunders titled “Not on Love Alone: A Cookbook. 244 pages. Cute illustrations throughout the book, with recipes arranged by month so you can cook with the seasons.

Basics are covered like how to properly equip your kitchen and what to stock in your pantry. The recipes themselves are kept simple, e.g., poached shrimp, cream scones, roast chicken, etc., with the ingredients usually numbering around 7, so there’s not much here to overwhelm the beginner cook. At the same time there are a few that are a tad more challening such as lamb tagine and cinnamon sticky buns.

Within the chapters is a peppering of notes that make for useful and interesting reading, such as a primer on salts (that one covers only three: table, kosher and fleur de sel). Besides the drawings, the writing itself is engaging and personal — the author gives you a peek into her and hubby JS’ experiences with food and its preparation, always with a romantic sense of adventure. Saunders used to work for Food and Wine, so the tone is confident and knowledgeable, but never overbearing.

I’ve got a brother getting married in October, so you can be sure this is going to be one of the wedding gifts they receive from me. Whoops, probably shouldn’t have said that as they may peek here every once in a while. But I’ll take my chances:)

Sample images by models | Gallery | LUMIX | Digital Camera | Panasonic

it’ll be years before we upgrade our relatively new fz20, but who says i can’t drool over this one….

These are some of the pancakes I prepared several weeks ago — I’m trying to clean out my pictures folder so I’m posting this, but I’ve misplaced my notes. I think this is based on a Food and Wine recipe, but since my kids don’t like blueberries IN the pancake batter, I made a quick blueberry pancake syrup instead.

Recipe will be posted as soon as I find it! It was SOOO good — with a slight crunch from the cornmeal in the batter.

Have you been to what I call the “Disneyland for Foodies”?

Jungle Jim’s used to be my early morning Saturday ritual. Every week, I’d get up around 7:15, grab myself a hot cup of coffee or tea, and drive to Jungle Jim’s, leaving my sleeping kids with the sleeping hubby. I’m there before 8 when the doors open, avoiding most of the crowd that comes trickling in around 9. By 10 or so I’m back home, and we have a lavish brunch provided by my latest foray of JJ’s offerings.

Jungle Jim’s is THE food-shopping mecca of the Midwest. Located in Fairfield, Ohio, it was about a half-hour away from our home in Blue Ash, but worth any traffic you have to navigate to get there. When we moved in 1998 from Texas to Cincinnati, Jungle Jim’s was first and foremost on my mind as I had already discovered the powers of the ‘net — and knew JJ was THE place to go if you were a foodie. The day after we moved — we were still at the hotel/temporary apartment — I dragged my family to see what all the fuss was about. One trip and I was hooked! Its 280,000-square feet of food-food-food is everything a foodie could ask for. (Compare that to New York’s Zabar’s, which is 20,000 square feet.)

This place is the only real ONE STOP SHOP I’ve ever seen! Wines, beers, cheeses, hearth-baked breads, international produce, all kinds of fish — filleted and whole, all types of meat and poultry — including things like venison, elk meat, and free-range chickens. For tongues that can handle any amount of heat, there’s the “Aisle of Inferno” holding about 800 different kinds of hot sauces. At the back of the store is the “European Village”, each country’s products housed in a little room (actually a trailer attached to the main building) and the country’s flag displayed at the entrance. You enter one and the country’s music is playing! I tell ya, Jungle Jim Bonaminio has thought of EVERYTHING…. and he still has a few tricks up his sleeve, including rides that will be operational sometime in 2006.

A trip to Cincinnati is incomplete without a pilgrimage to JJ, so on our last trip I dragged the kids with me while hubby was at work; I only wish I could have taken pictures inside the store, but I love JJ too much to risk getting myself banned from the place LOL.

At any rate, you can visit their website to learn more. Click on Departments — some will have a Photo Tour so you can see their extensive selection. Perhaps when we move back to Cincinnati in a few years you could come visit me and we can explore JJ together!

Here’s an October 2000 article on JJ’s from Smithsonian, and here’s a Business Week article that came out in April 2005. I don’t know about you, but I’d take Jungle Jim’s anytime over Wal-mart, and that’s coming from a regular Wal-Mart shopper. There’s something about JJ’s that WM won’t ever be able to touch: their dedication to foodies like me. I’m pretty sure Wal-Mart won’t be carrying triple creme brie or fresh water chestnuts anytime soon.

Jungle Jim’s International Market
Open 7 days a week. 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
5440 Dixie Highway
Fairfield, Ohio 45014
Phone: 513-674-6000
Fax: 513-674-6001

The Narnia Cookbook

my kids are long-time Narnia fans. ’nuff said.

Schatzli of For The Love of Travel and Food has tagged me for the Cookbook Meme originally started by Anthony of Spiceblog. (THANKS SCHATZLI! — these are the only tag games I know where you actually thank people for tagging you LOL) —

However, I’d like to beg off for the meantime and do a part 1 so I can do my tagging now, and answer questions later…. for these reasons (okay, lame excuses):

After 15.5 yrs of marriage and moving from apartment to house to apartment to house to apartment, etc., etc. — we are in our 8th home, I have gotten terribly disorganized — so this is a picture of my “working cookbook shelf” — the ones I use most right now for research and writing my cookbook:

I promised myself I’d organize these

(along with the shelves that will house them all eventually)
before I opened these: the 2 boxes holding my most precious cookbooks.

We’ve been here over a year and these books still haven’t seen the light of day. I haven’t been motivated before because I’m working on our library getting organized, but this meme just might do it! We also may be leaving in a month so I’m trying to get my act together and get organized. Hopefully I’ll be opening this box soon (within 30 days) and we can look at the contents together!

I could have just posted this next month, but I didn’t want to lose the opportunity of tagging Connie of Pinoy Cook, Lori of Dessert First, and Annalyn of Ajay’s Writings on the Wall/Munchin’ in Manila.

I hope they keep this meme going! C’mon gals, you’re IT!

Continue reading »

Sarah at The Delicious Life has posted the winners for the latest Paper Chef! Congratulations to Jennifer of Taste Everything Once for her Warm Spinach, Cremini, and Kalamata Salad with Creamy White Cheddar Dressing — a lovely salad that I think I’ll be trying soon — and of course to everyone for all the imaginative, delicious entries.

And here are the Black Olives’ Thank You Speech:

“Uhm, aherm, (wiping tears of joy). I’ve dreamed of the Golden Tomatilla all my life. I’d like to thank Sarah for recognizing my bit part in this creation. I would also like to thank the Academy of Tomatilla for their work and their dedication. Lastly, I’d like to thank the lovely Egg Yolks, Lemon Juice and Unsalted Butter for giving me this opportunity and to showcase my talent. That you were willing to step back and let me shine for a few moments speaks volumes about your humility and generosity. Your support is truly appreciated. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents, the Olive Trees, for giving me life. I wouldn’t be here today without you. Thank you all. Thank you. (wide sweeping bow)”

GORP. Gorp, you say? What in the world is gorp? For those that don’t know, here’s something from wikipedia:

Gorp (an acronym for Good Old Raisins and Peanuts or Granola Oats Raisins and Peanuts; also often called trail mix) is a food product used in outdoor recreational activities such as hiking, backpacking, mountaineering and camping. This food mixure is termed scroggin in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Gorp is a mix of food that usually includes those listed and many more. While pre-packaged commercial variants of Gorp are readily available, many outdoorsmen prefer to produce a homemade batch.

Different people have different recipes for Gorp, so I will leave it up to you to make your own. I usually start out with 1/2 cup each of an organic nut butter plus 1/2 cup of honey, then add the solids. I like a mixture of toasted oats or whatever cereal I have, some chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds, mini-chocolate chips or some dark chocolate chopped finely, some sunflower, poppy and/or pumpkin seeds, and chopped fruit like apricots (no sulfur please), raisins, dried cranberries and/or dried cherries. Just toss everything in a bowl. Put enough nut butter and honey in so it holds together, but not too much that it gets too goopy to handle. The proportions are totally up to you — I vary mine based on mood and what’s in the pantry. Mine have been dipped in cocoa powder, but you can use espresso powder too, or no powder at all.

You don’t have to be a backpacker to enjoy this; sometimes when I feel like pampering the hubby I whip this up really quickly and pack a few chilled balls with his lunch. I thought it particularly appropriate to post today, since today we celebrate 15 years and 7 months of being married, or 17 years and 7 months of being together. I got a rose, and he got these honey balls. And I kept this month’s entry to SHF simple, because I need to get ready for the monthly date:D. Ciao!

Edited to say: Forgot to say THANKS to Nic of Baking Sheet for hosting this month’s SHF. Here’s the roundup of entries!

with a book! (so what else is new LOL)

MaryJane Butters has written the book that I sooo *wish* I had written: MaryJane’s Ideabook-Cookbook-Lifebook: For the Farmgirl in All of Us. It’s filled with gardening information, sewing and cooking and crafts, even games for kids like jumprope ditties. I was so thrilled as I showed hubby the page on “Growing Your Own Gasoline”. (See, we wouldn’t need to rely on other countries’ oil if all of us did that! When you think about it that way, world peace isn’t that big of a leap anymore!) Man oh man what I wouldn’t give for a week with my family at MaryJane’s farm. Better yet take one of their courses and have *our* own farm. I stayed up ’til 2 this morning to read this book from cover to cover. WOOOOOWWWW. (Oooh, and ignorant me, I didn’t even know she already had a show on the Food Network — I first heard of MaryJane Butters when I was doing all this research into organic food and farmily — whoa typo, but it works, I meant “farming families”!)

…sigh…

That and Monty Don’s The Complete Gardener — the book that drummed the mantra into my head (and hubby’s via my mouth) “Two acres! Just two acres! That’s all I’d need!”…. both on my bedside table right now…

…. it’s enough to make a girl want to weep. And actually *want* to subscribe to cable after YEEEEARS of refusing to let that animal into the house!