The Yellow Vase

There are many places in life that I love to go, some I would like to visit more often and those that I will not see for a long time. Unfortunately the places I will not see for a long time, possibly never, are places like authentic French cafes. Really, we all know that it is not truly authentic unless it's run by people who are of that culture or you are actually in that specific country. One of my favorite things to do when I was in France a few years ago, was to go to a little cafe and just sit and watch the people pass by and chat with friends. The experience was heightened with a perfect pastry and cup of caffeinated beverage in hand. Ahhh yes, I can picture those memories now. It makes me want to shout Oui, C'est bon!
So I have been on a mission to find anything French that reminds me of my time there. I have black and white photographs lining my room, signs that say "Paris," and prints of French inspired scenes. One of my favorite artists is even French, Renoir!
Onward to the food! My mom took me out to eat the other day to a lovely little cafe called The Yellow Vase. The outside is a delightful yellow with tables on the patio and inside it is brightly lit because of large windows, they have various wares they sell conveniently located right as you walk in the door so you can browse before ordering and a lovely display of gorgeous pastries. You walk up to the counter like you would in any little cafe in France and order. My mom and I split a sandwich, 2 Almond Lattes and a Black and White Cupcake. Mind you I have never eaten here before and I was like a little giddy child getting to pick out my cupcake.
We decided to dine outside as it was a sunny day and perfect for chatting and people watching. Our sandwich came(my memory fails me on the name), and it is served with a little field greens salad. Then the almond lattes and piece de resistance---the cupcake!!! Everything was complete perfection. The baguette was perfectly crisp outside and soft inside. The chicken salad mix for the sandwich filling was delightful and the almond lattes were SO worth every penny. They even make little designs in the foam. Then I dug into the cupcake. The frosting was not that sugary, gunky stuff many places serve. It was creamy and vanilla goodness! The chocolate cake part was the gooey moist texture that you desire in a cupcake. It turns out they use all organic and natural ingredients in their cupcakes. They even have a chart listing the days they have each cupcake so you can plan your French journey accordingly. They even open at 7am so that you can go before work and get a treat...should you so desire...which is crazy, but I am just that crazy! So now I know that when I require a little authentic French boost, I can count on The Yellow Vase to take me back and I will pretend I am oh so sophisticated and shout: "Oui, C'est Bon!" Okay maybe I'm not that sophisticated, but I do what I want. Je t'aime Le Yellow Vase!

What's in a Latte? A Tea Latte That is!

Let me first say that after realizing that coffee was no longer suitable for me to drink like water on a daily basis, I kicked the addiction and switched over to a much less form of caffeine that my body can tolerate....TEA! I loved tea already, but was definitely more of a coffee drinker. I loved everything about it. Waking up in the morning without the aroma of Arabian Mocha-Java just seemed wrong and horrible. I decided that even if I lived alone and could not drink it, I'd still brew it just to wake up to that smell. Okay, not really, but I did say that. It'd probably turn out to take too much effort and I'd forget it. So back to the tea inspiration. It started with Starbucks...dun dun dun, that big green giant that seduces us into spending half our paycheck. They have this drink called a London Fog. The name sounds inticing doesn't it? My mom first brought this drink to my attention. We both agreed it is the most delightful drink. Earl Grey tea, vanilla syrup and milk. (Soy milk for me). YUM!
Then we went to Coffee Bean and that became our new favorite place to get tea lattes. They have the best variety of teas. Ginseng Peppermint, Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Moroccan Mint, you get the picture. Our wallets however, did not care about the wonderful cups of yummy deliciousness. For example, when I wonder where my money is going I check my bank account online. When I scroll down the statement and see entries like: Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Coffee Bean, Coffee Bean, Starbucks....Uh oh...I come to the realization that this is a very financially destructive habbit.
Then came the wonderful gift that my mom brought home. Her co-worker knew she was dealing with a lot of stress, loved those London Fogs from Sbux and gave her a little care package. It consisted of a tin of Tazo Earl Grey tea, Archer Farms Vanilla Syrup from Target and Voila! We can make our own tea lattes at home. Now we begin having a bit more spending cash, the lattes are absolutely delicious and we don't have to go somewhere to make a delicious treat. So we make them morning, noon and night and even though we go through syrup like crazy it's relatively inexpensive to buy more.
Then payday comes and I decide to splurge. I go to Coffee Bean and get a tea latte. First sip, ACK! It tastes like sugary dirty tea water...I drink it anyway. Then I'm out in my ministry and need a little boost being that it is a long day and I stop at Starbucks....first sip, ACK! Gross! What is up with this day!? I calculate that I just spent almost 10 dollars on dirty, sugary water. Then I decide I was better off preparing my own tea latte at home and bringing it with me. Lesson learned. So now I almost never go spend my hard earned money on dirty tea water. If I'm going to spend it, I want a quality beverage that I deem as deliciousness in a cup. That hasn't happened very much lately. Maybe all the baristas are new. I can count on my Riviera Village Coffee Bean though because it's usually the crazy comedian barista who knows what he is doing and heard me call my drink deliciousness in a cup and announced it loudly as such as he placed my drink on the counter.
So now my mom and I purchase the majority of our tea at Trader Joes. It's usually about $1.50 for a whole box, 3 bucks at Target on syrup and milk is about the same there. Yay cheapness! I love spending next to nothing and getting about a months worth of the greatest tea lattes on earth, if I do say so myself.

Experiment in Vegan Baking

So, I decided to take a risk and try something that I've absolutely never thought I would do. That is to try and bake vegan. Now this means using no dairy or eggs. Why in the world would I do such a thing? I love dairy and eggs, this is too true. In fact I love dairy so much that I'd marry it if I could. I'm serious! The only problem is, we have a rocky love/hate relationship. I LOVE it and it HATES me. It's really sad for a relationship to be so one-sided so I had to end it. I just couldn't take the repercussions of having dairy in my life anymore. So I've moved on after a bout of sadness and discovered a whole new world! Vegan! I discovered this when I took a trip to Trader Joe's with my mom and I was browsing around. I randomly looked on a shelf by the bread and there was a row of cookies. The one that caught my eye was a bag of Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. A light bulb went on in my head. I remember that Vegan meant no dairy or eggs. Mainly the no dairy thing caught my attention because I don't have an issue with eggs. After skimming the ingredients I ran to my mom and said "Look! Look! I can eat these!!!" She laughed and told me to throw them in the cart. Yay! Now getting to the crux of the story....

I came home today, popped two scrumptious cookies(as a side note my whole family loved them as well, they didn't even know they were vegan until I pointed it out) in my mouth and "ding" light bulb. I had the sudden urge to look up vegan cookie recipes and try my hand at them. I found a good website, compiled the ingredients and began. I didn't have flax seeds so I substituted applesauce for the eggs. It was much easier because I would have had to blend the flax seeds and soy milk into a paste. Not too difficult, but I'd rather open a jar than run to the store for flax seeds. Okay, so mix mix mix, taste the batter, brother tastes the batter(yes, we can because there are no eggs), and it tastes SO good.

The consistency looks like regular cookies and I start placing them on the baking sheet...then my brother starts talking about milk and I realized I didn't put the soy milk in! OH NO! I run to the oven and pull out the cookies, put them back with the batter and put the milk, stir, and UH Oh...they look runny now. I mix more and wonder what happened. Jennifer strikes again with her failing brain power. I forget that the recipe only calls for soy milk if I am mixing it with flax seeds. My brother has a great idea and suggest I just pour them into the baking sheet and make sheet brownies. Great idea Scott! Thanks. They fill the house with a delightful chocolaty aroma as they bake and lickety split they are done.

Then it's taste test time. I have to say they are good, not great. The batter by itself actually tasted better and Scott agreed. Although we all agreed they are different, the fact that the have no eggs and dairy makes them downright good. I'll try another recipe again and not mess with adding things when I don't need too, but I can always just run to Trader Joe's and get my sweet fix for about 3 bucks a bag. Oh yeah!

Creativity Is Overrated

Every now and again I get the urge to spice things up, mix it up, be what everyone deems as creative! So they can say wow those cookies were so good! Yes, I agree. Do you know why? Because she got creative with them...ooooohhhh. Yes, that was a conversation they would have had if my creativity burst had gone well. They did not say that though because well, my family is honest with me and let's just say my little spark of mixing things up didn't go as planned. Now with my current dietary changes, some things are left tasting a little plain. Extremely healthy and nutritious yes, but plain because I don't add as much of the sugar, butter, and no dairy like before I realized what it was all doing to my digestive system. SO...here I am being all good and healthy and it's delicious in a new way...but just a bit plain.

So here is what has happened this week. I made homemade applesauce and it went over big time. That dinner was delicious. I made pork loin with a delicious soy sauce/honey glaze, homemade applesauce for dipping, mashed potatoes(thanks to my mom), salad, asparagus and bread. It was quite the feast. The applesauce was SO delicious for lack of a better word that everyone ate it, one of my brothers practically licked the bowl. So yesterday I decided to use up all the apples in our fruit bin and make it again, but with a twist....oh yes, my very special twist. I added some orange zest and an array of spices. That part was good, smelled good, tasted...Bleh. It wasn't horrible and it's still getting consumed, but let's just say there is still a bunch left in the bowl. LESSON ABOUT APPLESAUCE: Use Mackintosh apples and Granny Smith apples. Really it's the only way to go no matter how much twisting and creativity you try to do with spices and zest of citrus fruits, it all goes flat without the right ratio of those 2 types of apples.

On to the next adventure. Right after the applesauce disappointment I decided to yet again change up another recipe. Pumpkin Spice Muffins. I had some leftover canned pumpkin from the previous batch(not quite enough, but I deemed it enough to make another batch). So there I am mixing and adding my own array of spices(deviating from the recipe...OH what a rebel!), and they are a little less orange than the first batch. Bummer, not enough pumpkin...but alas! My spice mixture will save the day. Once again they smell delicious as I am spooning them into the muffin pan. (Now remember that the first batch I made was awesome except lacked flavor..hence me adding new spices). So I'm about to put them in the oven and I say to myself: "Self wait! Let's spoon peanut butter on top and it will sink to the middle and add a protein kick to the muffins! Great idea self! Then top them with brown sugar for extra yummy factor! Self, you are too amazing!" It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Had I been using my brain properly I would have realized that the consistency of peanut butter is not made to sink to the bottom of a thick batter. Instead it melts all over the top and the brown sugar kind of looks weird like burnt peanut butter. Yay...ugh. Creativity fails, yet again. So I decide to let it go and try to reign in my perfectionist side, by not throwing them away. Then the darnedest thing happens. I'm taking them out of the pan and the peanut butter starts peeling off in sheets. Wow...this is ridiculous I laugh and keep going, and eating sheets of peanut butter that fall into the tin. Well, it didn't taste half bad. So they are not pumpkiny enough, and covered in shiny, peeling peanut butter. "It's okay self. Just let it go. Next time, don't be so darn creative!!!" So I'm not going to be The Next Food Network Star, whatever, I don't care...*sniff sniff*

Here are pictures of my latest creations. The pumpkin muffins are what's left of my PB Pumpkin Spice Muffins and the other dish is a Chicken, Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers pasta in Marsala Wine Sauce. Now that was a hit. The pictures really are the best camera phone quality aren't they? Oh well, even though I've taken photography and can take a decent picture, I'm lazy and pressed for time to pretend to be a food stylist and upload nice looking pictures. Maybe some day when it bothers me enough that I'm posting ugly pictures. For now, this is just another amateur cook, signing off! Bye!

Dietary Changes Lead to Ambitious Ideas

Today I received an amazing book: What to Eat with IBD-A Comprehensive Nutrition and Recipe Guide for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. I have the latter. Most people think of dietary restrictions as an awful thing and let's face it, they can be. However, when you know that certain food can actually hurt or heal you, then I'd say your going for the healing foods. This book has been an amazing find. It is actually written by someone who deals with the disease and not just a doctor. Oh and she's a dietician! Jackpot! It is really about relearning how to eat and lo and behold!!! A big secret....eat healthy. Not that I wasn't already, unless you count the Taco Bell Potato Tacos and McDonald's Egg McMuffin(they aren't that bad!) now and then. But, really my doctors could never tell me what to cook, eat or really do with diet other than trial and error.
So back to my recent discovery. I start examining this book, like I'm back in high school biology. For those of you that don't know, this means I'm reading and re-reading and memorizing, like I'm trying to ace a test. I LOVED biology and I love food, so I've got to figure out how to eat well and heal my body.
I decide to make "Pumpkin Spice Muffins" from the recipe section of the book. I made them this evening so they would be ready for breakfast in the morning.
They were easy to prepare and after slyly taking a taste of batter, I knew they'd be delicious once baked! The house filled with the smell of cinnamon, spices and that undescribable baking smell. Yum...my mouth was watering as I washed up the dishes. Out of the oven they came and I popped one out and started breaking it up to have my taste-tester (Mom) try some as well. All I have to say is how can something low-sugar, lactose-free, and full of nutrients be so delicious!? The outside was just the right texture and the top with the sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar was perfect. Then there is the moist, melt-in-your-mouth inside, steaming as we broke it open. SUCCESSS!!! I can eat real food and enjoy it!
So here is where the ambitious ideas come in. I am always looking for ways to make a few extra dollars. I get to thinking that maybe just maybe I can start a business. Creat some recipes, bake some samples, get some input, website, and start selling baked goods out of my kitchen for those with dietary restrictions. I'm really inspired at the moment and even want to see if I can be a registered dietician because let's face it...I've never met someone with my condition, other than the books out there that knows what they are really talking about. And I've never met anyone selling actual baked goods like this....so yes, it is an idea for now, but hey, who knows what the future holds other than what's written in the Bible?

Black Bean Casserole

So tonight I decided to go through my mom's recipe box and pick out something to make and decided upon Black Bean Casserole. It's actually extremely easy to make and I added ground beef to it instead of just leaving it vegetarian; my brother's would stage a revolt if a dish did not have meat. I informed them of my decision and regarding a dish without meat my brother, Scott said, "What's the point!?" So I'll keep my love for veggie dishes to myself. Anyway, I'm reading the recipe and after a long day and not a lot of sleep the night before(I always have an excuse!) I now have to read my mom's handwriting. This is not usually a difficult task except when it says "2 cloves minced garlic." The ingredient before that was cumin so I am still in spice mode. I'm thinking "Cloves!? What in the world would I put cloves in a dish like this for!? That's weird! I think I'll leave it out." Then I notice there is no measurement listing, just 2 cloves (apparently I can't read MINCED GARLIC, although being that it didn't say OF MINCED GARLIC I am at a loss) so I think that maybe it means fresh cloves and she just forgot to write how much garlic. "What!? Do we even have fresh cloves?" I determine that we don't and then I realize we are out of garlic which is no big deal. Hmmm...why are these ingredients written on the same line? The genius that I am never cluing in to the fact that what the dish is calling for is 2 cloves of garlic. DUH!!!! Fortunately, I decided to not put in cloves and when I realized how weirdly I had interpreted what 2 cloves minced garlic meant...well, what could I do? I literally smacked myself in the head. I will never ever forget that cloves are the parts of the garlic bulb. I did actually know this before this episode of kitchen mania, but my synapses were not firing well today. C'est la vie. Another story for the blogs.
Until next time, The Unexpected Cook

The Right Rice

Tonight was Taco Thursdays. Tacos are quick, delicious and easy for meeting nights. I got a little creative and threw in some black beans and green chilis into the ground beef, along with seasonings, of course. Everything was smelling good and simmering just spectacularly. Then there is the rice. You see the problem with rice is that for amateur cooks it can be difficult to distinguish one type from another. So I decided to try my hand at making my own version of Spanish Rice to go with my kicked up tacos. (The tacos themselves turned out great. Phew.) I threw in some seasoning, tomatoes, and pepper in the rice and put the lid on and let it go to town absorbing all the yumminess. Cooking rice is tricky because you can't take the lid off during cooking or that defeats the purpose. So you wait until the time is up to take a look at what it is you've created.
Back to distinguishing types of rice...there are many kinds...of which we have at least four varieties in our home. There is regular white rice that we use for most things...like Spanish Rice. Then there is my favorite, sticky rice. There is a term for it, of which fails me now and I am not running downstairs to get the name and make this technically accurate. Sticky rice is used in most asian dishes. We make a lot of beef broccoli stir fry and such in our home. It goes well and is easy to pick up with chopsticks, hence it being sticky rice. Well, it all looks the same to me. As I took off the lid to inhale the delicious smells and bask in the glory of my creation, I stirred once and saw the sticky consistency. Slop, squish, sqalsh. Immediately I knew I had done something very wrong! Long story short....tonight I made a giant batch of Spanish style sticky rice that wasn't seasoned nearly enough and tasted more like rice with tomatoes. Uh..I was going for healthy/interesting...yes Thoroughly Modern Jen's Asian-Spanish sticky rice and Kicked Up Tacos...heh heh. It's good, right?