Dig IN - A Taste of Indiana

I was provided with tickets for an event that I had never even heard of but that is so perfect for me that it was an ideal event to cap off my birthday weekend.

Dig IN - A Taste of Indiana

This was a festival of food, wine, and brew.  This was a "farm to fork" event where local producers provided food and local chefs made delicious dishes with it. 

Christy and I made it to about 18 out of 24 food stops.  We only halted our eating because we were stuffed.  Seriously stuffed.  Some was delicious, some was good, some was just ok.  Some was very creative, some didn't live up to the description provided. 

I think we visited 4 local wineries, often having more than one taste.  We visited 4 or 5 local breweries.  We stopped visiting the wineries and breweries because we were thirsty and wanted water more than anything.  Plus, we were stuffed. 

So here's a run down of some of what we tried:

The first thing I have to say that I loved was Christy bought us each a Wine Yoke from Best Vineyards Winery.  This allowed us to carry our wine glass with no hands which made it easier to enjoy the food stops. 

Of the wineries and breweries, there were a few I would love to splurge and buy from in the future. 

My favorite for a sweet wine was a tie between the Apple Spice wine from Wolfcreek Wines and the Sweet Black Raspberry from Best Vineyards.  My favorite for a dry red was the Chambourcin from Rettig Hill Winery.  Christy loves- I mean really, really loves- their Grand Rouge because it's a dry red blend made from the Norton grape (the only wine grape that is truly native to the US).

For the breweries, I most enjoyed the Wheat Ale from Mad Anthony Brewing Company.  Several of the beers offered were hops based and I don't enjoy that bitterness.

For the food... oh the food!!  My first observation is that I love being able to enjoy an event with a friend who totally understands what I mean when I say "To really enjoy that dish, you had to have the perfect ratio of goat cheese in each bite."

For the food, I'm just going to go down the list of what was provided in our event program.  ** Means I really liked it.  ~ Means thumbs down.  Anything else was fine, good- not bad, not spectacular.

~ Black Swan Brewpub  Christy and I first met the founders of Black Swan at the State Fair last summer where they were competing in a BBQ cook off.  Talking to these 2 guys clearly demonstrated their passion for and understanding of food.  We were eager to try the place but it's far from home.  Last winter, we had the chance to go on a day long event in Hendricks Co and we ended our day with a fantastic meal at Black Swan.  We are definite fans of Black Swan.  That said, we did not love what we had at this event.  The listing says "Summer salad with peach vinaigrette, stout glazed smoked Indiana duck breast and cheese crisps."  Black Swan was one of our last stops.  There were no chese crisps, no hint of dressin gon the greens.  The duck was delicious.

Brad Gates Catering & Events  "Duck & goat cheese dumplings with sweet & sour peach sauce"  This was yummy.  The dumpling was a sort of wonton and there was also some sort of slaw that the wonton was served on.  Definitely an intriguing blend of flavors.

Cafe Patachou "Assorted heirloom tomato gazpacho with roasted corn relish"  The cool thing about this offering was that there were 6 or 7 different heirloom tomato gazpachos offered.  Christy grabbed 3, I grabbed 3.  I don't remember all the styles of heirloom tomato that we grabbed- pineapple, chocolate, zebra, peach, and more.  We had a few bites of each, we each had favorites, and we quickly moved on.

Circle City Soups  ""My Dad's" sweet corn chowder"  My Dad's Sweet Corn comes from Tipton and is one of those items that sells out almost every week at the Farmer's Market.  Corn chowder made from it was bound to be delicious and it certainly was.  Christy loves all things corn so this was one of her favorites.

Circle City Sweets  "Indiana peach and frangipane tart"  This was a nice treat. Nice balance of flavors, easy on the palatte and stomach.

** Fermenti Artisan  "Homemade heritage breed bacon with fermented root relish and Capriole Farms goat cheese"  This is the dish that I made my earlier comment about the ratio of goat cheese on each bite.  The fermented root relish looked like shredded beets but was sweeter.  The presenters of the food also mentioned something about apples in it.  It was a cool dish and great for summertime.  I liked this dish more than Christy liked it.

** Indiana Downs  "selection of tarts"  This doesn't do it justice.  We weren't able to sample everything they offered because they were changing it up every hour.  What we had was delicious but I don't know what it was.  Something with a goat cheese consistency and taste on top, a fruit compote of some sort, and they used edible flowers as well.  Yummy and intriguing.

IUPUI Food Service  "spaghetti squash with homemade ricotta"  Didn't love this dish.  I love spaghetti sqaush so my hopes were high.  The dish was served cold and I found that I don't like spaghetti squash cold.  The ricotta was very creamy and the guy serving it said it was marscapone.  There was also a raw marinara sauce.  It was different and the ingredients individually were fine but it just wasn't my favorite dish.

Chef JJ's Back Yard  "watermelon peach smoked bison with spicy house pickle"  This was yummy! The serving wasn't too much- a literal bite and it was just right.  They served it on a skewer so you got a bit of bun to hold the sauce, the bite of meat, and then the pickle.  It was really very tasty.

** JW Marriott "Crispy pulled prok with braised native beans and rendered Indiana bacon layered with pork jus, hickory syrup, and pork emulsified foam"  This was one of my favorite dishes.  Had there been room in my tummy to have a second helping, this would have been my choice. I felt like I was eating off a fancy Food Network show. This was served in a little cylindrical cup and the food was in layers. The description given really doesn't do it justice. It was simply amazing.

~ Joseph Decuis "mini Wagyu burgers with hot pepper onion relish and havarti" This was probably my least favorite dish, unfortunately.  The cheese overpowered the flavor of the beef.  Wagyu is supposed to be a very special beef and the flavor was completely lost.  I also didn't get much from the hot pepper onion relish.  I even took off the top bun and tried a bite that really focused on the meat and relish and still didn't enjoy it.

** Keltie's  "bread pudding with caramel sauce"  DELICIOUS.  Everything about it was right.

The Local Eatery and Pub  "grilled bison tostada with roasted tomato and corn salsa, lime pickled cantaloupe with cilantro"  I was VERY excited to try this dish.  2 of my favorite ingredients are listed- lime and cilantro.  This was good but I had complaints.  The tostado was more like a basic tortilla chip.  The bison and salsa was delish.  Seriously liked it.  The cantaloupe was a small bite sized melon ball and tasted like... cantaloupe.  I didn't taste any lime or cilantro- total bummer.

R Bistro  "brined and roasted turkey, vegetable salad"  I didn't think this was a dish that would draw people in to their restaurant, necessarily.  It was good but didn't stand out.  The turkey was fine.  The vegetable salad with filled with yummy raw veggies- cabbage, green beans, radishes, I think.  It was fine.  But not great.

** Second Helpings  "beef tenderloin with fontina cheese, potatoes and savory tomato chutney"  This was delish.  I was very excited to try this dish because I love what Second Helpings does for our community.   I very much encourage you to click the link to their website and see the very cool program that is Second Helpings.  This was some of the best cooked beef I've had- the flavor and moisture were exactly right.  The tomato chutney was sweeter than I expected and the flavor popped in my mouth.

Served Cafe & Bistro  "Bees Knees: french toast wyport wine and honey, pork tenderloin, swiss cheese, strawberries. Coopers Hawk port wine syrup, sprinkled with powdered sugar."  This was unique and tasty but didn't stand out as a favorite.  Some of the elements were either lost or were just unremarkable. 

** Severin Bar & Grill  "Applewood smoked lamb, grilled peach and poblano relish, bicolor corn and wild rice goat cheese fritter, blueberry demi"  This was an amazing dish.  The lamb was perfect.  The relish was ah-MAY-zing.  The fritter was heaven.  I also loved watching them cook- they had set up little cooking stations using bricks- I didn't get to see completely how it worked but it was definitely unique. 

Zest! Exciting Food Creations "Farm2Spoon caldo frijo on chili-spiced tortilla with queso fresco"  It was good.  Didn't love it.  Partially because I was overly stuffed at this point.

The other offerings sounded amazing but we simply didn't have room in our tummies. 

Next year, I hope to include Teagan in the event.  I think her taste in food will continue to expand over the next year and she could really enjoy it.  I would also make sure we plan to be there for the entire 5 hours.  I'd love to get several of the food offerings and go sit in a shady spot and just enjoy and then lay back and relax a bit.  This would help with the overstuffing thing, I think.  They also offered a speaker series but I wasn't able to get to any of them- if I plan effectively next year, I think I can make that work better, too.  I'd be sure to bring a big bottle of water, too.  Wine and beer are great but I was soon quite parched and water was a better cleanser of the palette.

Other free samples of the non-alcoholic variety came from Natural Born Juicers (loved it) and B Java Coffee and Tea (had a coffee soda that was quite tasty and perfectly brewed).

There was also live music but I didn't catch which band it was that I was enjoying so much.  They were good and played a nice variety of everything from classic rock to Bob Marley.  The tables in their tent were full and they also had people waiting in food lines winging and dancing (myself included).

We also enjoyed offerings and came very close to buying items from the Indiana Artisans tent.  I've been a fan of Chocolate for the Spirit since that holiday event in Hendricks Co so I was eager to see Julie again.  We loved tasting the maple syrup- and especially the bourbon infused maple syrup- from Burton's Maplewood Farm. 

My biggest regret is that I left my phone in the car.  No tweets, no pics, no notes aside from the things I quickly jotted down in my event program.

I have to admit that when I first learned of the event, I was very glad to have been given the tickets for free.  I balked at the price.  $20 in advance, $30 at the door (Note- bring cash!! Also note that kids 4 and under are free, kids 5-15 are $7).  However, having attended this shindig, that is an amazingly fair price.  Had I purchased my tickets in advance (which I totally would to save the $10), I would have more than gotten my money's worth with the amount of food, alcohol, and SWAG that I picked up. 

Other local eateries that support local producers and business I'd love to see there would be Scotty's Lakehouse, Oakley's Bistro, and The Loft at Trader's Point Creamery.

I Dug IN and I Dug It and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Focusing on Pie

I am working my tail off to keep up my pie commitments. It's tough, it really is. Saturday night... Jeff was away from home for the day, evening, part of the night. So the kids and I got to eat food that we like that he might be pickier about. It's my way of experimenting! So we made these chicken nachos. The kids and I had a lot of fun shopping for all the ingredients- Teagan helped me remember everything we needed to buy. Scoop tortilla chips, smothered in shredded cheese, topped with rotisserie chicken, cooked until the cheese is all melty. Topped with fresh tomatoes, avocado, cilantro. Uber yummy!

Christy came by... and what's an evening after a hard day of parenting without a glass (or 2... or 4) of wine? And what's win without... pie??!!

This is an apple tart that came from the clearance freezer section at Target. Christy has a sixth sense when it comes to Target clearance! And this are a definite WIN. So it's a french apple pie with ginger ice cream.

Had a few bites of this store-made banana cream pie on Sunday. The kids wouldn't eat it. It gave me a tummy ache. I wanted banana cream pie because we didn't go to the family reunion in TN this weekend... and one of the best things about that reunion is the FOOD. And there are usually 3 or 4 dishes of banana pudding. Which I know isn't the same as banana cream pie but it was a splurge, last minute, unplanned purchase.

A Birthday Meal

I've shared my OAKLEYS bistro dining experience before. It was amazing and unforgettable. Christy was jealous. So we used my birthday as an excuse to go and enjoy that Tuesday wine tasting and 3 course meal. Oakleys did not disappoint!

foie gras parfait honey fois gras mousse / fried fruit and vidalia onion compote / maderia cream

potato crusted mahi mahi baby vegetables / eggplant puree / tomato fondue / heirloom feta relish

We didn't know what this was. Thankfully, Steven Oakley came by our table and we were able to receive a little education on our baby vegetables. French green beans, baby asparagus and the unknown veggie was baby bok choy (it was uber yummy).

ice cream / sorbet tasting pineapple ginger snap ice cream / strawberry balsamic sorbet

The pineapple ginger is on the left. It was the hands down favorite. The pineapple wasn't overwhelming but brought a crisp tropical whimsy to the depth of the ginger. The middle dish was strawberries, dried strawberries, a cream sauce, and mini shortbread cookies. And on the right is the strawberry balsamic sorbet. That was a fascinating and delicious experience. The balsamic hits your tongue first and you fill up your taste buds with that distinct flavor (but not overwhelming or strong, mind you). It sets the stage perfectly for the strawberry that comes after- making the strawberry sweeter. So good!!

Thank you to my bestest girlfriend Christy. Like a sister. No words. So much to enjoy and explore together. An aunt to my children. Someone I can always trust to be completely honest with me. Someone I can crack up laughing with. Someone who will fight to save my marriage and always help me do what's right. Totally and completely in my corner. Love ya!!

Colby Controversy Creates Chaos

Here's the deal on this cheese debacle... I sent an e-mail to the reporter on the ground at the State Fair, Dan McFeely. He's been blogging his experiences and Fair finds for our local paper (Indianapolis Star). His blog is Deep Fried. And you can see the Cheese story there right now... I sent him an e-mail, explaining what had happened. In addition, one of the heads of my local moms' community sent him a link to the thread that was started about it. He took it all and ran with it. A new thread was started to discuss his findings.

I'm having a blast with this big Cheese Controversy, by the way. And I hope people realize that I'm having fun with it. At best, this will encourage people to hit the Dairy Bar at the Fair so they can see this mysteriously orange-y, yellow version of gouda.

In all seriousness... After reading Dan's findings and his discussion with the person from the cheesemaker (Swissland), I did a little searching for this cheesemaker. I visited their website. Guess what cheese isn't listed anywhere in their online store? Feta? Present? Mozzarella? Present! A mix of cheddar and bleu? Present! GOUDA? Nowhere!!! I'm telling you... Colby is trying to take over the world and it is starting with our beloved Indiana State Fair. I think Colby is going to work its way through all the state until it comes to the greatest battle- Wisconsin. We can't let Colby win! We have to put our collective foot down and stand up for the rights of a pale-yellow, creamy cheese like Gouda! Fellow cheese lovers!!! Who is with me?? (Or has Colby already infested your cheese sensors?? Is this problem more widespread than I'd realized??)

Just to be clear...

COLBY

GOUDA

GOUDA

COLBY

COLBY

GOUDA

A Garden Report

Guess what we've been eating at my house? Fresh vegetables. From our garden. Organically grown (sludge free, anyway) without pesticides or other crap. A rich mix of topsoil and manure. Carefully watered, keeping an eye on the rain. Watching the tiny sprouts grow and blossom. And now we have squash. Sliced, sauteed in olive oil, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground tellicherry pepper. And a bounty of tomatoes. Teagan is especially fond of the yellow ones. We had 5 green beans on Friday but they were gobbled up at dinner. I found this last straggler on the vine this afternoon. My mom, who is largely responsible for the success of the garden, is rather jealous of my harvest. Her own garden- larger than my own- has been meticulously watered, fed, cared for... and routinely eaten away by deer and critters. She hasn't enjoyed a single bite from her own plants. But MY garden... my garden is providing a regular supply of tomatoes, squash, and now we are starting to see green beans and cucumbers forming. Maybe I can do this afterall!

Why I Love Costco

I've had an ongoing love affair with Costco since it arrived in Indy several years ago- back before I had children. I could make jokes about the giant tubs of mayo or huge tubes of toothpaste (I have been oft impressed by the giant bottle of A1). But instead, I want to share a couple of things I love about Costco. 1. Diapers. I buy the Kirkland Signature (Costco store brand) and 1 case basically lasts a solid month. I guess I should be able to spit a bunch of numbers at you- how much a case costs, how many diapers are in a case, price comparisons to other brands and stores. But I don't have all of that in front of me. What I can tell you is that there is great comfort in only buying diapers once a month. Ballpark cost is $40 a month. The diapers are quality. I'd compare them to Huggies Supreme. We don't have leakage issues. I'm going to go ahead and put the wipes plug here, too. I love their wipes. 1 case lasts... months. And we use those wipes on butts, hands, faces, feet, spills, carpet, tables... not all at once, of course. Today was a Costco shopping trip day. I found a deal that almost made me cry. Tears of joy. Yesterday, I had an allergy attack. I had no drugs on me. I like Zyrtec (cetirizine hydrochloride). I went to CVS to pick up a box. 14 count of CVS brand was $6.49. $0.46 per pill. Today I found this at Costco: 365 pills. A year's worth of drugs- more, actually, since I don't take it daily. 365 pills. In a bottle. Wanna know how much 365 pills cost? At the CVS price, the cost of the bottle would have been $169.20. The Costco price?

$15.95 ~ $0.044 per pill

Still not sold on how great Costco is?

Do you know what today is?

National Cheesecake Day

That's a Costco cheesecake. It's 16 slices. It's 2" tall. It's creamy, yummy. It cost $12.99. Explore the joys of Costco. Go around lunchtime so you can enjoy the samples (we had incredible roast beef, cheese, chicken sausage, potstickers, salmon, olives, and brown rice chips). Buy gas at a price that is usually cheaper than the corner gas station (a tip- I was once told by a gas employee that the price is set each weekday morning and then stays put until the next weekday morning- so when the other gas stations are raising prices all day long, Costco stays steady). Eat a giant slice of pizza and have a fruit slushie at the food court (or one of the only hot dogs I will ever actually eat). And please get yourself some cheesecake today. Celebrate! It's a National holiday! Amen.

Do you like carrot cake?

I love carrot cake... and Christy and I had lunch at this new NY Deli called Stanley's today... and there was this refrigerated display case holding all of these desserts. Cheesecake, chocolate cake, struedel, giant cookies... and this divine, ginormous carrot cake.

Do you like carrot cake? Did your eyes get huge, your mouth start to water?

If so...

I am so glad you aren't here because there is no way I'm gonna share this puppy!!

OAKLEYS bistro

Last night, I had the pleasure of attending a business dinner that was truly extraordinary. Brief history. I've been doing business with this company for at least 5 years. Some of my favorite people in terms of people I work with. This was a special annual visit from my sales rep, customer service rep, and the president of their company. I don't often get to see or talk to the president (Jim) but always enjoy my time with him. He's a father of 3, grandfather of 1 (she's 18 months old and he and his wife take great pleasure in doting on her). He is also a foodie. He and his wife spend their time enjoying fine food, fun food, experiential food. He has the inside scoop on a lot of the food world. He hails from Chicago so he has a lot of great food choices at his fingertips. I was instructed to pick a restaurant. Something "real nice." Eesh! Pressure! I know what kind of food I like... but my budget of nice isn't what this guy was looking for. I nailed it. OAKLEYS bistro If you click over there and read the menu- note the wording. Those are ingredients, not a description of the food. And it isn't every ingredient. But it gives you an idea of what the dish is. It was like eating the dishes created on Iron Chef or other Food Network shows. The plating was impeccable. The food was delicious. I arrived a few minutes early. There was a free wine tasting going on so I enjoyed a couple ounces of white and a couple ounces of red. Came inside and sat down. I ordered a Malbec that was delightfully spicy. We peruse the menu. It's almost overwhelming because the options are so fantastic. I'm completely torn on what to order. Since it's Tuesday, there is a special tasting menu. For $30, you get a 3 course meal. Starter, Entree, Dessert. This Tuesday, the tasting menu started with an heirloom tomato salad, went on to halibut, and ended with banana stuffed french toast. None of it is what it sounds like. The heirloom tomato salad was served on a small rectangular plate. There was a long strip of cucumber that had been curled into a single twist across the plate. On one side of the cucumber was a quarter of a green tomato. Red on the other side. Carmelized pearl onions and blue cheese and croutons dotted the plate. There was a drizzle of... balsalmic vinaigrette and something else (pesto, maybe). It was pretty. It was impressive. And the flavors layered together beautifully. 2 of us had the tasting menu. 1 had the duck. 1 had the vegetable plate. The halibut was served on a small bed of perfectly creamy mashed potatoes. There were a few peas, thin slices of asparagus, an avocado mixture on top, various crispy, thin greens of some sort. (I really should have swiped the menu so I could remember what it all was). The duck- I had a bite- was delicious. I've never liked duck. Apparently, I've never had it cooked properly. On one side of the plate was a sliced piece of duck. Fanned out, pink in the middle, the outside lightly crispy. A spring roll of duck confit off to the side. It looked so yummy. The vegetable assortment... was simply gorgeous. A vegetable lasagna. An open mushroom ravioli. Couscous stuffed cabbage. Peas with a parmesan pudding. I had a little bite of that pudding. Heaven. Bliss. It wasn't overwhelmingly cheesy or overly rich. It was so impressive when set down that I simply had to try and take a pic. Unfortunately, the flash went off so it isn't nearly as pretty in the pic as it was when set down. The dessert wasn't what it sounded like in my "IHOP mind." No texas toast or supersized bread soaked in egg and milk and cooked on a griddle. No way. No slices of chunks of banana. It was a small square of banana bread. A sprinkling of pecans. A small scoop of what tasted like chocolate gelato. A fresh strawberry, a leaf of mint. It was a true dining experience. Some of the bites were so perfect... I nearly cried. You all know that food has the potential to be really powerful for me. And this was one of those meals that I will never forget and am eager to experience again. I told Christy all about the meal and we jumped online so I could point to things and remember things. We also read more about the Chef Proprietor, Steven Oakley. This man has worked hard to get to where he is. And he pays it back, pays it forward. Check out what he does for the community. Christy and I are going to celebrate my birthday. My birthday falls on a Weds so we will celebrate the evening before, after work. We want to go on Tuesday so we can be there for another wine tasting, another tasting menu. I'm not sure we can wait the weeks between now and then without breaking down and making a Tuesday evening of it much sooner.

An Important Message on This Easter Sunday

The title probably scared off any readers who are fearful of overwhelming Christian messages. Or those who are tired of the sappy, happy greetings. I wanted to do something a little different. I want to share something personal and important with you. Something that could change your life. Or at least improve your enjoyment of this sugary holiday. How to eat a Peep Doesn't matter if you like Peeps or not. How to eat them is an important life skill. There is the nibble the side method... Bite off the head and then work your way down the body... Or stuff it all in your mouth at once!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Garlic Parmesan Artichoke Dip

OMG. This stuff is insanely good. I went to a Tastefully Simple party a while back and bought this stuff called "Garlic, Garlic." It's used to make a chip dip and you can use it to season stuff, too. It's, obviously, heavy on the garlic. I had found this other recipe for some kind of spicy artichoke dip and got to thinking about it and came up with the following renovated version: 1 cup mayo 1/2 c parmesan cheese (use the good shredded stuff and not the sprinkly dry stuff) 1 c crushed ritz crackers 1/2 ts worcestershire sauce 1/2 ts Garlic Garlic (just use garlic powder if you don't do the Tastefully Simple thing) 2 14-oz cans of artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped Preheat oven to 350. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Blend together all ingredients except the artichokes. Fold in artichokes. Spread into casserole dish. Cover. Bake 20 mins. Serve with tortilla chips, pita chips, hawaiian bread, or whatever you love to dip! It's seriously yummy and addictive. I'm in trouble because I am the only person in my house who will eat it (kids are in bed and Jeff doesn't eat artichokes).

Liz's Canned Chili

I am all about simple, easy, and less work when it comes to cooking. I don't do complicated.

Once upon a time, I found a great recipe for a knock off of Wendy's chili. It was good but involved a lot of cutting and chopping and such. So I adjusted it to make it easy. And now I'm going to share it with you! It's a little late to make it for the Super Bowl... but it's dang good chili anytime! Mine's in the Crock Pot right now.

Ingredients:

3 lb ground sirloin
frozen onion
minced garlic
seasoning - salt/pepper, etc
2 cans of kidney beans, drained
2 cans Red Gold tomato sauce
2 cans Red Gold petite diced tomatoes
1 can Red Gold roasted garlic and onion tomatoes
1 can Red Gold chili ready with onions tomatoes
2(ish) tb chili powder
1(ish) ts cumin
1 1/2 c water

In a large skillet, add onion and garlic. I love both so I use a lot of each and I never measure. Get those started up and add your ground sirloin. Sprinkle on seasoning halfway through browning. I use a local seasoning called Shoup's that I get from our State Fair. It has a lot of stuff in it but the main seasonings in it are garlic, salt, and pepper. In a crock pot or large soup pot, open all those cans, drain the kidney beans, dump everything in. I do mine in the Crock Pot- easier but not as fast as on the stove. Add chili powder and cumin, mix well. Drain the meat. Add drained meat to the tomato mixture, stir well. Add in 1 1/2 c water. Cook it. I do mine in the Crock Pot on high for 2-3 hours. You can simmer on the stove for an hour. Basically cook until everything is hot and bubbly and well melded and such. Serve with... sour cream, cheese, fritos, crackers, etc.

I Like Tea

I go through phases where my morning beverage of choice is coffee. Then it's hot chocolate. Then it's a combination of the 2.

But lately, an old love has returned and won my heart and loyalty.

Tea.

Hot tea, iced tea. My only requirement, at least for tea that I buy, is that it be some sort of herbal or fruit infusion.

I'm in second place for best tea stash in the office- Christy is the reigning champion.

Surrounding me, it colorful and pretty little boxes, are the following variety of teas.

Celestial Seasonings chocolate caramel enchantment chai (this one is in my mug right now)

Stash raspberry and white tea

Lipton herbal peppermint

Stash moroccan mint green tea

Celestial Seasonings gingerbread spice

Celestial Seasonings sugar cookie sleigh ride

Lipton herbal apple cinnamon

Lipton herbal orange

Celestial Seasonings acai mango zinger

Celestial Seasonings red zinger

Twinings Pure Peppermint herbal tea

And I have some individual tea bags or small sample packets of...

Tazo China Green Tips

Celestial Seasonings country peach passion

Celestial Seasonings raspberry gardens green tea

Celestial Seasonings chamomile

What is it about tea that is so wonderful? From Christy's plethora of options, I love the Tazo Wild Sweet Orange. She is enjoying a mug of it now and I stole the packet that the tea bag came in because the smell is so divine. "A juicy blend of lemongrass, citrus herbs, licorice root & orange essences." If I inhale slowly and deeply, I can sense each of those individual notes. It starts with the orange, moves to the subtle lemongrass and citrus herbs and then leaves a tiny little hint of licorice root. There is something so comforting and simple about a cup of tea. The warmth, the calm, the scent, the flavor. But I don't just drink my teas hot. I also enjoy them as iced tea. I will steep a tea bag in some sugar water (packets of sugar dissolved in hot water- just enough water to dissolve the sugar). Once the water has developed the intense color of the tea, I add in some cold water and then top off with ice. At home, I do this in a larger container. At work, it's in a 32 oz cup (souvenir from a summertime excursion to the local zoo). For Christmas, Christy gave me a flowering tea set. A cute little clear glass teapot and a series of various loose leaf teas that have been hand tied so that when the hot water combines with the tea, it opens up and blossoms and changes size and shape and such. It sounds more spectacular than it is but the tea is amazingly good (Numi brand), especially the jasmine tea.

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.

~ C.S. Lewis

May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, a tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you and all your heart may desire

~ Irish Blessing

The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort, and refinement.

~ Arthur Gray

The Snack Tray

There are some days and evenings when the idea of cooking a meal just isn't in the cards. Today, our routine was slightly out of whack so instead of making dinner, I made a snack tray for the kids to munch on while playing and watching a movie. I took my snack tray- an egg carton that I'd rinsed and wiped out- and filled it with their favorite small snacks. Pepperoni, blueberries, cheddar cheese, and grapes.

They wolfed down the cheese and grapes before settling into individual favorites.

For Zach, the pepperoni was a hit.

For Teagan, nothing is better than blueberries.

I'd first heard this idea in a Dr. Sears book (I forget which one, honestly). My mom has mentioned it, too. Both recommended using a muffin tin... but a muffin tin is a lot harder to clean out than my little egg carton! Plus, if there are leftovers in the egg carton, I just close it up and pop it in the fridge until later!

From what I understand, there are plenty of picky eaters and too-busy-toddlers who eat well with this method. It avoids table time fights and battles and still gets healthy stuff into their little bodies. It's a grazing type of feeding- and it works perfectly for days like today!

How to Make Banana Blueberry Muffins

I know it's been almost a week since Teagan and I actually made our Healthy Banana-Blueberry Muffins. Now you get to find out exactly how we made them! First, get an almost-four year old to put the papers in the muffin tin. This has been Teagan's expertise in the kitchen since she was 2. She's gifted that way. Next, assemble your ingredients and find a cute kid to stand next to them. Ingredients: 1 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled) 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled) 1/4 cup wheat germ 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 1/3 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup packed light-brown sugar 2 large eggs 2 ripe bananas, (when mashed, about 3/4 cup) 1/3 cup reduced-fat (2 percent) milk (I used whole because that's what we buy) 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 cup frozen blueberries Preheat your oven to 375. Whisk together flours, wheat germ, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together butter and sugars.

It will look like this.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. In yet another bowl, mash up your banana. I use frozen bananas. Whenever I have banana on the counter that starts getting too brown for the people in my family to eat, I toss it in the freezer. Frozen bananas are great for baking. And for making baby food (sidebar- I made all of the food that both of my babies ate. Neither ever ate a jar of food, at least not from my hands! I didn't set out that way but it ended up being so stinkin' easy that I just kept going with it and suddenly... no more purees, just table food. I think making my own baby food made the transition to table food easier.).

Add your milk and vanilla to the mashed banana.

" With mixer on low, alternately add flour mixture and banana mixture to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix just until combined. "

I forgot to take a picture of the frozen blueberries in the batter. Or even of the batter after all of that alternating of flour and banana mash... so skip right ahead to...

Fold blueberries into batter. (Fold them because they are delicate and if you just stir them, the berries and juices will just take over the batter and everything will be bluish-purple. If you don't know how to "fold," think of it like laying the blueberries on top in a strip and then tucking them into bed for the night. You just ease batter up and over, up and over and the blueberries will incorporate into the batter gently.)

Fill up those muffin cups! The recipe makes 12 so fill them pretty full.

"Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes, rotating pan halfway through. Let cool in pan 10 minutes; transfer muffins to a rack to cool 10 minutes more. "

While waiting for those muffins, try on your big sister's winter coat. You will feel all special and stuff.

YUMMY! MUFFINS!

Look at that blueberry goodness!!

You want to run out and make some right now, don't you??

A Lesson On Chocolate

I think I've mentioned before that I'm a chocolate snob. I didn't used to be. Used to be that anything that claimed to be chocolate was fine by me. Hershey's, Twix, Nestle, Reese's... as long as there was chocolate involved, life was good. Back then, Russel Stover or Whitman's was a big treat. Back then, I hated dark chocolate. How could anyone eat it? It tasted like dirt, it was too bitter. I think I heard once that your tastes change every 7 years or something. My tastes have definitely grown up and I am hoping that don't grow back! *** I'll start with easy to find good chocolate. Lindt Ghirardelli Both are easily available in most retail locations. Both are good quality, and even sometimes really great, chocolate. I prefer Ghirardelli when baking (prefer to generic or Nestle). Currently at my desk, I have Lindt Intense Pear. It's dreamy. Perfect for that combination of sweet, fruity, and chocolatey. Of course, there are also the lesser known brands. The harder to find. Patric This isn't at the top of my list but it is a good chocolate. Thanks to my friend Christy, my desk drawer has a bar of 70% Madagascar Sambirano Valley. Vosges I have a very unique bar that I know many will turn their noses up at (or stick their tongues out at). It sounded very odd- which is why I had to buy it. It was a good gamble because I really love it. Enchanted Mushroom. 66% cacao, reishi mushrooms, walnuts. Sounds weird but it's really good. Umami and all that. Santander This was a real treat to discover. It just sounded interesting and ended up being a favorite. It's all gone now... sad... Looking at the website, there are lots of other things to try from this brand. And something cool about the Santander website... once you click into a product, it shows a graph. I have no clue where the data comes from or even how to specifically read the measurements. But it is still a cool tool to give you an idea of the taste of the product, of the components and texture. And a shout out to Trader Joe's! My favorite chocolate treat are the french truffles. They are only sold during the colder months of the year. They are dreamy. But I've yet to really go wrong with a dark chocolate product from Trader Joe's. ***

Let's learn about dark chocolate, shall we?

Chocolate is made from the cacao pod. Inside the pod are beans. The edible part of the bean is called the nib. Unsweetened chocolate, generally used in baking, is made of pure chocolate nibs with nothing added to it. Dark chocolate adds fat and sugar. The percentage listed on the package tells you the amount of pure cocoa in the product- the remainder is usually cocoa butter and sugar. Dark chocolate also contains no milk product. Unsweetened chocolate tastes yucky. Dark chocolate tastes divine. The purer, the better. *** There are oodles of brands out there that Christy and I have yet to try. Some we've read about and drooled over. But mostly we have a list. As we discover new chocolates, I'll share our thoughts. And if you discover a chocolate that you think is interesting or you try something truly delicious, please share!

A Yummy Dinner

No pictures but I wanted to share the deliciousness that was dinner. And it was insanely easy. 2 flatbreads (Target, Archer Farms brand- I used the Asiago and Parmesan) sauce (we had a jar of red and a jar of white) toppings We made 2 pizzas. One was red sauce (plain old Ragu spaghetti sauce) with pepperoni (placed carefully by Teagan and completely covering the sauce. Drowning in cheese- a mozzerella and parmesan mix. The other was heaven. Christy stayed for dinner and she and I were both head over heels with this one. Alfredo sauce (again, Ragu). Fresh baby spinach. Sliced mushrooms. Oodles of shredded mozz and parm. All that goodness sitting on that Asiago and Parmesan flatbread... Lordy. And the night cap... a glass of sangria wine and some of those from scratch chocolate chip cookies I made last night. Aaaaaaaaaah. (And for those interested, I just put the flatbread on a cookie sheet, loaded on the toppings, baked at 350 for 7 minutes, rotated the cookie sheet, baked another 7 minutes.)

Love You With Food

I baked this weekend. Saturday morning, Teagan and I made banana-blueberry muffins. I'd earmarked the recipe and bought the missing ingredients (frozen blueberries and wheat germ) the weekend before. Then I saw that Mrs. 4444 Cooks had made the same muffins and I took it as a sign that I needed to get on it. I took pictures of the entire process. I haven't loaded the pics yet... and my kitchen has horrible lighting so they aren't the best pictures. I'd love to become a better food photographer. We made a dozen muffins and ate 6 of them over the weekend. I ate 2, Jeff ate 1, Teagan ate 1, Zach ate 2. I brought the remaining 6 to work. Last night, I decided that the bag of Ghirardelli semi-sweet morsels sitting in my baking supplies needed to be used ASAP. It's been a long time since I've made cookies from scratch. I remembered that Alton Brown had done a couple of episodes of "Good Eats" on cookies and had recipes on how to make cookies thin or puffy or chewy. I asked Jeff to choose- he chose thin. They are delicious. I don't have a pic of the few I brought to work because they have been consumed. I was even a super nice Mommy... knowing that my Teagan doesn't like chocolate, won't touch chocolate... I made 6 cookies with no chips. Just for her. That's love. That's love. And I realized... it isn't that I love with food. But I do find a profound sense of satisfaction when someone really likes something that I have made with my own hands, something I have made specifically for them. There is a man in our church who cooks and bakes for the church. We have weekly suppers and he is often the chef. He bakes every Sunday morning- raisin cinnamon scones and cinnamon rolls and oatmeal cookie and the most divine chocolate chocolate chip muffins. He has a gift. A talent. And he shares it. He was sitting next to us this week and I raved about my choc-choc muffin... pure bliss. I looked over at my son and he held a chunk of oatmeal cookie in his hand. These cookies are thick and chewy and moist. Not your typical little oatmeal cookie. And it struck me. The pleasure and pride that this man must feel as he looks around and sees all of these people enjoying, taking pleasure, being nourished by something he has created. And a sudden sidebar... I wonder if that is how God feels when he sees us being kind to each other? When he sees us being kind, nourishing, caring, compassionate... when he sees that from the beings he has created? I don't love with just food. But I do show my love with food. And feel love with food. When someone makes something specifically for me... I'm honored. I know I get this from my mother. At every holiday, there is something on the table that belongs to someone. It isn't necessarily some gourmet dish. But it is something that my mother has made for that person. Ryan's Stove Top. Jason's Roasted Potatoes and Carrots. Jeff's Angel Food Cake. Ted's Chocolate Cream. Martha's Cheesecake. And I've started to follow in her food steps. I make my cranberry sauce because my brother, Ted, and my aunt, Martha, love it so much! I really like it, too, of course. But it "completes" their holiday meal. It's another legacy from my mother. And it's a trait I'm proud to carry on. We've recently decided to eat out less and eat in more. Which means more cooking for me. And while the time crunch is stressful, I have to admit to enjoying it. I like cooking. I like tossing together ingredients. I wish I had more time to really cook and become skilled at it. But the food I make tastes good and I take great pleasure in finding something my family really enjoys eating. Jeff likes food that "tastes good." But he also has a very bland palette most of the time. He'd be happy if our weekly menu was baked chicken, rice, peas or broccoli... and frozen pizza. He's happy to lunch on a peanut butter and bologna sandwich. I've yet to make something that he loves. And I've had to learn to disconnect emotions from food in our relationship. I want to show my love by making food he loves, food he can't get enough of. I want him to have a favorite meal or dish that I can make just for him... for his birthday, when he's had a bad day. He doesn't work that way. He doesn't feel love that way. Talk about a disconnected love language! What's funny is that he knows how to love me with food. He can bring home a treat... or make dinner... he can speak my language. My earliest and happiest memories come from my Grandma's kitchen, my Mom's kitchen. My "happy place" in my heart is my Grandma's kitchen (and my memory is of 2 different kitchens that she had during my childhood). Moments that touch my heart now is when my mom bakes and cooks with my daughter and will do so with my son. And I hope that my children have their Grandma's kitchen happy place in their hearts as they move through life. There is a legacy of love and food and cooking in my family. I'm so glad to be part of it and so glad it doesn't end with me.

Please Check This Out!

I've got yet another blog for you to go check out!!! There's some big web awards in voting process right now. I found out about it through Cake Wrecks. She's in the food blog category (even though she should be in the comedy section) and just a few days into voting, she's already way smoked the competition. I decided to check out the other food blogs and came across a true gem. Foodie at 15 (now 16) This kid is AMAZING. He is fun to read, his passion is evident, and I look forward to seeing where he ends up... Oh... and just for kicks, go vote for him for this award thingee. Cake Wrecks is well attended too... so spread the bloggy love...