Stevia is my new best friend

Even though I haven't mentioned it in a while, I'm still on my low-carb diet. I started off all gung-ho in January, then a trip to Mardi Gras in February threw me off track for several months. I picked it back up seriously in mid-June, after another trip to New Orleans. It is really hard to not eat carbs in New Orleans - I miss the food so much and just about everything is fried or on a piece of french bread, or both. And the New Orleans Original Daiquiris is probably the worst offender - a great big styrofoam cup full of sugar-y alcohol laden goodness. Luckily when I went back in August, I was determined to stay carb free and passed up all of my favorites (mostly). Sugar-free snoballs were my worst vice.

I've given up diet soda, too. The carbonation, the coloring, the caffeine, the artificial sweetener. I just figured it wasn't doing me any favors. I was drinking mostly water with a little bit of Crystal Light thrown in for some variety. But this week, I decided to start making Green Tea Iced Tea - and. Green Tea is all the rage - Lipton, Snapple, all the big guys are making green tea - either with unsweetened or sweetened with sugar or fake sugar. As a southern girl, you know I need my tea sweet.

Some time ago I read about Stevia - a natural herb sweetener that was not readily available in the US, but had been around for hundreds of years. You could buy it at specialty stores and it was marked as a "food additive" rather than a sweetener (something to do with the FDA and sugar lobby, so I've read). Only recently has the FDA approved it.

Trader Joe's carries stevia in several forms - packets, powder, pills and liquid. Each form has a different strength so be sure to read the package and find out how much you need - probably a lot less than regular sugar. Stevia has no calories and no carbs. The packets (which are a mixture of stevia and a neutral powder) were fine for a while when I was putting them in a cup of tea, but now that I've moved on to quarts of iced tea, I bought the full strength powder. It comes with a teeny tiny scoop. The green tea iced tea is so refreshing - I really wish I would have had it all summer. I know most people know how to make iced tea, but I had to fool with the recipe a bit to get it the strength I like (which is pretty strong and average sweet). Here it is:

GREEN TEA ICED TEA
Bring one quart of water almost to a boil. Turn off heat. Add 6 green tea bags and steep for five minutes. Add 7 (teeny tiny) scoops or 6 packets of stevia. Stir well and pour into two quart pitcher. Add one quart cold water and stir well.

I've got lots more to say about stevia, but I will save that for another day. :)

Bloom Where You Are Planted

Last summer I made this little piece of yard art, using an old window from my Chicago-bungalow style house and stencils of my daughters' handprints. The butterflies and smaller flowers are actually my daughters' fingerprints.
If you can't read the top it says "Bloom Where You Are Planted." I can't seem to find the origin of the saying, but it is often used in a religious context and I take it to mean, sort of, do the best with what you have. This little window has been moved around our home a lot - it was in the front yard, it was near our back gate, and somehow earlier this summer it ended up on our patio. So it was only fitting that some little random plant decided to start growing right in front of it.

But it's not just a random plant - it is a tomato plant. We noticed a sprout growing in the cracks between the bricks of our patio. Now, I'm pretty sure I didn't plant a seed a there. We're not quite sure how it got there, but it really took to heart the saying on my little window . Here is the full photo of our tomato plant:
And not only has it gotten absolutely huge with almost no tender loving care, extra water, special support stakes or fertilizer, it has many, many tomatoes ready to turn color. I normally plant a variety of red and yellow tomatoes and I am hoping these are yellow grape tomatoes, but I really have no idea until they turn. And check out the actual base of this plant, just squeezed between the two bricks. I'm guessing there must be some strong roots heading straight down.

Makes me wonder how much more I can do with all I've been blessed with. If this plant can thrive in bricks for goodness sake, I can certainly prosper with the support of a loving family, a beautiful home and so many, many blessings. Here are a few lessons from my tomato plant.

1. Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are - even the rockiest road can be the beginning of an amazing transformation and growth.
2. Even without support, if you search deep enough, the nutrients are there for you to thrive and blossom.
3. A little bit of sunshine paired with a little rain can go a long way. You've got to face what comes along and go with what you've got.
4. Make the most of what you have and in the end your efforts will be rewarded.
5. Sometimes you just gotta do what the sign says - like it or not.

Enough philosophy from me. Back to recipes tomorrow. :)

Honey Lime Chipotle Marinade

We received a little gift from a neighbor today for picking up his newspapers while he was out for a few days. He brought us two "bear" containers of fresh honey from his friend who is a local bee farmer. One container was a little more amber and the other a more golden - both were delicious. I've never really used honey in anything, but was determined to use it for dinner tonight. I had already thawed some boneless chicken breasts and decided to make a marinade. Here's what I came up with:

HONEY LIME CHIPOTLE MARINADE
3 T Honey
2 T Olive Oil
1 teas. ground Chipotle Pepper
1/2 teas. salt
Juice of 4 limes
Zest of 1 lime

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Place 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breast in a zip top bag and add marinade. Place in refrigerator for at least one hour. Cook as preferred.

This marinade was absolutely delicious. Not too sweet, not too spicy. We could have even added a little more salt and chipotle. You could really taste each ingredient in the marinade. This would also be great on fish.

And while we're on the topic of honey, check out my friend Mara's blog and contest. She is giving away some free organic raw honey from Tropical Traditions. Stop by and tell her Kristin sent you.

A TRU dining experience thanks to Foodbuzz.com

As a featured Foodbuzz publisher, every once in a while I get a little bonus. Usually I'm not available or my name doesn't get drawn out of the hat, but this time I hit the jackpot. Thanks to Foodbuzz and Visa Signature, I was one of 20 lucky bloggers to experience a lavish multi-course dinner at Tru in downtown Chicago. I photographed each course - but these photographs cannot begin to convey the aromas and essences of the entire experience. You'll just have to believe me when I say it was phenomenal. The pic to the left is just my water. :)





We were first served a Basil Collins - Rain vodka with basil infused sweet and sour mix and club soda. Oh so very yummy and refreshing. I drank most of it at this point. :)




A canape of Cauliflower Sphere with roe and lemon peel.




Beef Wellington
and Scallop Wonton




Two delightful, small pieces of bread - one brioche-like and the other a deep pumperknickel.






Nigella Sea Cured Salmon with lemon gelee and bachelor button flowers.








Peeky Toe Crab with Prosciutto,
pequillo, and cantaloupe-cava consomme





Frog Leg with roasted garlic, carrot and watercress







Olive-oil poached Scottish salmon with Granny Smith apple, coconut and thai long peppercorn.










Braised Beef Short Ribs with Unagi, Scallion pistou and miso emulsion. This was the most tender, melt-in-your-mouth beef I've ever tasted. And, yes, unagi is eel. Tastes like chicken. Just kidding.


Seedling Farms plum, sarsaparilla cream, milk chocolate, ginger-lime marinade.








Mignardises
(Petite Desserts)














I didn't even mention the wines - Alma de Blanco Godello Monterrei 2008 and Niepoort Twisted Douro 2006. And, on top of everything else, Executive Chef and Owner Rick Tramonto stopped by our dinner to say hello. Oh, plus we got a tour of the kitchen and a bonus dessert while we were there.

I promise to post more often now that summer is over!! I have a million tomatoes to be creative with!!

Mai Tai Cupcakes

Before I get started, I apologize, I know it has been FOREVER since I've posted. I have so many ideas backlogged, but I just can't seem to get rolling. Where has the summer gone?

Last night I participated in Iron Cupcake Chicago, a cupcake competition that began in Milwaukee and has picked up in some locations around the country. Here in Chicago, it is sponsored by Irma at Beautiful Cakes. There were 9 entries, but no judges as I had thought. Everyone one who attended had two votes - one for taste and one for appearance. And while I didn't win either category, how can you go wrong with tasting 9 fabulous cupcakes. And so, if I did my math correctly, that means I ate about 4 whole cupcakes. Not a good thing on a low carb diet. I walked extra fast this morning and for an extra couple of blocks to try and make up for it.

Now, on to the cupcakes. Mine first :) The theme was "tropical." I created a Mai Tai inspired cupcake - rum cake with orange/almond filling, lime cream cheese frosting and garnished with a flower-shaped dried pineapple round, a cherry and a fancy paper umbrella.

MAI TAI CUPCAKE
3 cups cake flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup whole milk
3 Tbls. Rum Extract (or real rum)
2 Tbls. Triple Sec

Cream butter and sugar. Add milk and extract. Combine flour and baking powder together. Add to liquid mixture one cup at a time. Pour into 24 cupcake molds. Bake at 350 for approx 18 - 20 minutes.

FILLING
3 Tbls. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
6 Tbls. granulated sugar
1 cup Half & Half
4 egg yolks
Zest from one large orange
1 Tbls Triple sec
1 Tbls Almond extract

Cook all ingredients except almond extract in a small pot over medium heat. Stir or whisk constantly until it turns creamy (kind of like pudding). Remove from heat, add almond extract, stir well and let cool. Use piping bag to pump filling into cooled cupcakes.

FROSTING
1 stick butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
Juice from 2 limes
Zest from 2 limes
4 - 5 cups powdered sugar

Mix butter, cream cheese and juice. Add sugar one cup at a time until desired consistency is reached.

DRIED PINEAPPLE FLOWERS
Slice top and bottom off of a whole pineapple. Slice off all of the outside rind and cut out any remaining eyes. Slice remaining core and fruit into very thin disks. Place parchment paper on baking sheet. Place pineapple on parchment paper and bake at 225 for approximately 4 hours, flipping once.

Here is my full display:


Here are a few of the other entries:
Heather over at Flour Girl made these delicious Rice and Bean cupcakes with horchata:

The presentation winner was this chocolate mango cupcake:


And the taste winner was coconut with cocoa nibs. And I hope she doesn't read this, but she must have brought the most friends. I'm just sayin'.

A few other entries:

A Revelation About Me

Today I realized that I will buy almost anything labeled Buffalo flavored or peppercorn ranch. Sometimes, even Cajun, even though I know what that really means.

Deep Fried Saturday

We had been waiting. Waiting for a nice day. Waiting for the bitter cold of winter to fade away. Waiting, so we could . . . fry turkeys. Yes, that's what I said. Fry turkeys. My family has been frying turkeys for holidays since I was a kid - but that was in New Orleans, where it is easy to stand outside all day in the middle of December. However, here in Chicago, our (ok, my) outside winter time is limited.

We did fry one turkey this year for Thanksgiving, but peanut oil is so expensive to use for just one turkey. My dad always fried turkeys with friends, one after the other, so you could share the oil and only heat up one pot. So some friends and I decided to wait until the weather got nicer and spend the day frying turkeys. We cooked up four 10 lb. turkeys. Everyone took theirs home to cut up and eat and freeze. We shared ours with our guests, and boy, was it juicy and delicious. The skin was flavorful and crispy, if you like that sort of thing.

And while we had a big pot of boiling oil, we decided to throw a few other things in the fryer - oreos, salami, mango fritters, tortellini and bananas. Here are the photos and the info:

DEEP FRIED TURKEY
--12-24 hours before frying, inject turkey with marinade. You can find injectable marinade along with the other marinades in your supermarket. (We used Tony Chachere's Creole Butter). Sprinkle your favorite seasoning or more Creole Butter on the outside of the turkey.
--With oil at 350 degrees fry turkey for approx 3 min per pound, plus three or four more minutes.

DEEP FRIED OREOS AND BANANAS
--Freeze oreos and bananas for at least two hours.
--Mix up your favorite pancake batter.
--Dip oreos and bananas in batter, place in hot oil (350 degrees) for approx one minute on each side.
--Drain on paper towel and sprinkle with powdered sugar.


DEEP FRIED MANGO FRITTERS
1 1/4 cup chopped mango (or peaches)
1 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1 Tbls. vegetable oil

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add egg, milk and oil. Stir until blended. Fold in mangoes. Our fritters were large (about 1/2 cup of batter) and required about 10 minutes of cooking time in 350 degree oil. Smaller fritters will cook faster. Drain on a paper towel and top with powdered sugar.

DEEP FRIED SALAMI - CHIPS AND STEAKS
--No prep. Just drop in oil.

DEEP FRIED TORTELLINI
--We used fresh pasta, not dried. But I suppose if you bought dried, you could boil it and then fry it.

Barilla Piccolini Smiles Photo Contest

Have little ones who love pasta? Here's a great chance to show off! Barilla Piccolini pasta is sponsoring a photo contest and your child could win a $25,000 scholarship! Think of all the cute possibilities! Even if you don't win, your picture could be featured on the Barilla web site.

Click here for all the details and be sure to read the fine print - which includes a June 28 deadline and says no professional photographers.

---I'm just wrapping up two full full days at the National Restaurant Association show. Whew! I'm exhausted from all the walking and stuffed from all the sampling! I'm working on a couple of stories to post and a bunch of photos. Check in again soon!

Tilapia Recipe Contest.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that, thanks to Foodbuzz, I'll be attending the National Restaurant Association show next week as a press correspondent. I can't wait to see everything. I've been getting all kinds of correspondence from public relations agencies about new gadgets and products, but this is one I thought I would pass on to you right now. I love tilapia and I might just enter myself. May the best foodie win!!

Calling all creative and cost-conscious cooks! Regal Springs Tilapia, the world’s largest producer of the mild-tasting, popular fish, is searching for the best family-friendly tilapia meal for no more than $15. Six finalists will receive cash prizes. The grand prize winner receives $5,000 and may appear on the company’s website and promotional materials. The contest begins May 15 and ends August 1, 2009.

Anyone in the 50 contiguous United States and District of Columbia who is over 18 and enjoys cooking fish can enter the contest. Recipes must be original and meals must include a tilapia entrée, salad and vegetable or fruit to feed a family of four for no more than $15. The judges may consist of professional chefs, restaurateurs and managers in the food service industry. Winners will be notified by email and announced on the website by Sept. 1. Judges will base their decisions on the following criteria: creativity, ingredients, thoroughness of instructions, and other such criteria as may be determined by Regal Springs Tilapia. For complete Contest requirements, Official Rules and to enter the Contest, log on to www.regalsprings.com or stop by booth no. 4264.

Pork Stuffed With Sundried Tomatoes

Well, I'm doing pretty good on the low-carb thing again. Not much weight loss to announce except what I had to lose again after Mardi Gras and Easter. I'm trying to be more creative than just putting meat on the grill, although I love to do that. We've been eating turkey burgers, chicken breasts and pretty plain stuff, so I thought I'd try something fancy - fancy for me, anyways.

My husband gave me a couple of great Trader Joe's products for mother's day - he did a good thing by not buying chocolate! I decided to try out the Sun Dried Tomato Bruschetta. But what do you do with bruschetta besides put it on bread? That was the dilemma.

I decided to stuff a pork roast with it. So easy. My roast was about 1.5 lbs and I used about half of this 12 oz. jar. I also mixed the bruschetta with some fresh parmesan cheese before I stuffed it inside the pork. Carefully slice an opening through the middle of the roast and spoon in the bruschetta. Seal the open end with toothpics. I cooked mine over indirect heat (about 300 degrees) on the grill for just under two hours. In the oven, I would probably do 350 degrees for just over an hour - it will depend on the size and thickness of the roast.

The flavors of the sweet sundried tomatoes and salty olives really went well with the pork and marinated nicely into the meat. This bruschetta was not very oily and was packed very densly into the jar, so it went a long way. You could use a lot less if you wanted.

If you have any other low-carb ideas for the other half of the jar, let me know!

Chicken Asparagus Roll Ups at the Wedding

The scene:
The ballroom was bathed in white satin and candlelight. “Over the top” would be an understatement. Did we really need so many glasses at each place setting? Real crystal at that. It was bad enough that I was overly anxious about who would be seated next to me, but now I needed to worry about using the wrong fork or eating someone else’s bread.

I found my place card – not just any place card, but a mini-sterling silver frame with my name engraved across the top and a photo of the bride and groom inside. As I awaited the arrival of the others at the “we-don’t-have-a-date table," I glanced at the menu. Baby lettuce salad with roasted peppers and goat cheese. Choice of filet mignon with a red wine blue cheese sauce or chicken rolled with provolone, parmesan and asparagus with a creamy butter sauce. Chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries. At least I won’t have food anxiety.

Slowly the ballroom filled with people who knew the bride probably a lot better than I did. But I’m guessing not one of them knew her well enough to say what I was about to say.


CHICKEN ROLLED WITH ASPARAGUS AND CHEESE
2 boneless chicken breasts, pounded thin
6 stalks of asparagus
Sliced provolone cheese (approx. 4 large slices)
Shredded or grated Parmesan (approx ¼ cup)
Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder

CREAMY BUTTER SAUCE
3 Tbls. butter
1 Tbls. flour
1 cup milk (I used 2%)
Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder

Season both sides of chicken breasts with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. (Or marinate chicken in your favorite Italian-style marinade). Sprinkle chicken with Parmesan cheese. Layer the provolone cheese on top of the Parmesan. Place three asparagus stalks at the bottom end of the chicken breasts and roll to the top. Secure with several toothpicks. Cook in 350 oven for approx 25 – 30 min.


For sauce, melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk well for about one minute, or until flour is dissolved in butter and starts to slightly bubble. Add seasonings. Add milk slowly and whisk to combine. Heat for 3 – 5 minutes over medium heat and whisk frequently.

Lessons learned – Use lots of toothpicks. It’s pretty hard to keep chicken rolled up when it is stuffed with stuff. And you don’t want all of that cheese getting out all over the place. And, you may notice in the photo that I grilled the chicken. I wasn’t about to let a mild Chicago Spring day pass me by without using the grill. The problem was that I didn’t use enough toothpicks, and the chicken decided to stick to the grill. You can see the missing grill marks in my photo. But the rest turned out perfectly – the asparagus on the inside was tender and just the tips were a little crunchy. The dish didn’t really need the creamy butter sauce, but it sure was good. Serve it on the side if you’d like.

Conversation over Taco Salad

Scene:
“That is one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard,” Sherry said.

“I know, said Casey. “I can’t believe he was crazy enough to do that. I could never.”

“Oh, don’t give me that, you do lots of gutsy things. Remember that time in college when you staged that fake protest?”

With a slight smirk, Casey glared at Sherry and took another bite of her taco salad.

“And that time you papered the tree in the quad,”

“Yeah,” Casey laughed and quickly maintained her composure. “But that was college. We were all carefree and stupid."

“Speak for yourself,” Sherry scolded as she reached over and took an olive off of Sherry's plate. “I was never carefree.”

A HEALTHIER VERSION OF TACO SALAD
1 lb. ground turkey (I used 93/7 lean)
1 pack Taco Seasoning (or make some yourself)
Baby Spinach Leaves
Black Olives
Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup sour cream (I used light)
1/4 cup salsa (I used black bean and corn salsa)

Brown ground turkey and mix with taco seasoning as directed. Mix sour cream and salsa in a bowl and mix well. Place spinach leaves in bowl and top with taco meat, cheddar cheese and olives. Top with salsa and sour cream mixture.

--Aren't those little peppers in my salad adorable? They are sweet red peppers. I haven't seen them at the grocery store, but bought a big bag of yellow, orange and red ones at Costco. They are great to crunch on alone, or with a dip. I saved some of the seeds and I'm going to try and grow some this summer.

Thanks Foodbuzz!

Sorry I haven't posted many recipes lately. I've been trying to get back to no-carb basics and for a couple of weeks that means just plain grilled chicken, cheeseburgers and pork for dinner. I haven't done anything really fancy, but should be on track next week.

So, I just wanted to take a few minutes to thank Foodbuzz for helping me get press tickets to the National Restaurant Association Show at McCormick Place here in Chicago, May 16-19. I'll spend at least two days taking so many pictures and notes! And I'm sure I'll have a sample or two along the way. I can't wait to blog about it all. Count on several, several days of posts - filled with the latest the restaurant and food industry has to offer. Thanks again, Foodbuzz!

More recipes and photos soon, I promise!

Homemade Chocolate Marshmallows

Some of you may remember my Christmas experiment of making homemade marshmallows dipped in chocolate. Well, my neighbors are still talking about them and one had a special request for chocolate marshmallows, rather than chocolate covered marshmallows. This recipe was one that did not use egg whites, but I thought I would give it a try. And I'm glad I did. These marshmallows were a bit more dense and oh so creamy. About 500 times better than any marshmallow you buy in a bag. The chocolate flavor came through tasting like a really good hot chocolate. The cocoa and sugar coating is necessary to keep the marshmallows from being sticky, but also added a nice chocolate flavor from the very first taste.

CHOCOLATE MARSHMALLOWS
Mostly from About.com

1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup + 2 Tbls water, divided, see below
3 envelopes gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cup light corn syrup
3Tbls. powdered sugar and 1 Tbls cocoa for coating

1. Prepare a pan (9x13 or cookie sheet) by lining it with aluminum foil or parchment paper and spraying in with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place water in small microwave bowl and microwave for 2 minutes. Pour cocoa into the bowl of water and whisk to dissolve the cocoa.
3. Place 1/2 cup cold water and gelatin into bowl of stand mixer with whisk attachment. Stir to distribute gelatin. Let sit for about 5 minutes.
4. Spoon warm cocoa into gelating and mix slightly to combine.
5. Place 1/2 cup water, corn syrup and sugar into medium sauce pan. Stir to dissolve. Cook without stirring over medium high heat until temp reaches 240 degrees. Remove from heat.
6. Pour sugar mixture into the chocolate/gelatin mixture (very carefully).
7. Whip at high speed for 15-20 minutes. Marshmallow will be creamy and slightly runny.
8. Pour the marshmallow into the pan and cover with another sheet of foil or parchment paper coated with nonstick cooking spray.
9. Let sit for 10 hours or overnight.
10. Combine powdered sugar and cocoa in small mixing bowl or, better yet, a sugar shaker.
11. Take top foil off of marshmallows and sprinkle with cocoa and sugar. Flip the marshmallows out of the pan, remove foil and sprinkle with cocoa and sugar.
12. Cut marshmallows into squares using knife coated with cooking spray, or I use a pizza cutter.
13. Put individual marshmallows into a large bowl and sprinkle all the sides with cocoa and sugar. Toss to make sure everything is covered otherwise the marshmallows will be very sticky.

Can be stored in airtight container. Do not refrigerate.

Bacon Salt - The Good and The Bad

It all started at Christmas. I decided to stuff my husband's stocking with bacon-related stuff, Bacon Bandages, Bacon Dental Floss and Bacon Salt.

The Bacon Salt is an actual, non-joke product. We stuck it on a shelf after Christmas and I just recently decided to give it a try. A sprinkled a bunch of it into a brine I made for a whole chicken. I put some on some Tilapia. It was decent - smokey, salty, peppery - like bacon. Duh.

But then I read the ingredients. Salt. Garlic. Paprika. Blah, blah. Monosodium Glutamate. What??? I thought just about everyone stopped using that stuff. Unless this is old school chinese food or canned soup, haven't we all decided that MSG is no not a desired ingredient? I have a few friends who are allergic and I never would have thought to read the ingredients on Bacon Salt. There are quite a few other ingredients that I can barely pronounce - none of which I saw in actual bacon - but probably serve some sort of preservative and non-caking purpose.

The company that makes Bacon Salt also makes Baconnaise - yep, mayonnaise that tastes like bacon. The weird thing is that as I was sitting down to write this blog post earlier this afternoon, ABC News ran a story (warning: video) on the guys who created Bacon Salt. True entrepreneurs. They have big plans for all kinds of bacon products - like popcorn and ketchup. It is obvious that I am not a health nut - heck, I bought bacon salt - but I really don't need to buy anything else with MSG.

I think I'd rather buy Squeez Bacon.

Great Customer Service

I know this is normally a food blog, but I was hardly home last week to cook anything blog worthy. So I just wanted to take a few minutes to point out some really good customer service I encountered in the last week.

The first one started with really bad customer service on a local level, and got saved by a national level. I took my kids to Cici's Pizza - you know, the really cheap buffet place. Well, they have a promotion where they are putting stickers on pennies to win free buffets and such. They leave the pennies in the parking lot and you are supposed to pick them up and bring them inside to redeem them. We picked up one that said "Free kids' buffet." Simple, right? We go inside (one adult, two kids) and hand it to the cashier who then says we need to drop it in a fishbowl and hit the target inside to get the free buffet. What's up with that - I had not seen that stipulation anywhere on line or in the store. Long story short, no free kids buffet, long line behind us - all presumably with pennies. We eat there anyway - because you can't explain to 7 and 5 year olds why you're not getting pizza.

So I go home and send a letter to a very generic cicispizza.com e-mail address. About three days later I get not one, but two personal (not computer generated) responses stating that the promotion does not work that way and they are sorry the employee did not understand. The fishbowl was for pennies that said "Enter for a chance to win" a free adult buffet. One letter simply apologized, and the other said to contact them for a free meal for the whole family. So I applaud Cici's corporate for responding personally to letters, but really fault someone at the local level for not understanding the promotion.

Next is www.verticalresponse.com. A friend of mine is president of the local NCJW and I offered to research e-mail marketing programs for her. E-mail marketing companies allow you to create e-mail newsletters with their templates and send to a big list, then you can track who opened it and who clicked on what. (Some others are Constant Contact, MailChimp, SubscriberMail and MyEmma.) I've used Vertical Response for personal businesses in the past and their program is easy to use and reasonably priced (by the e-mail, not by the month). Well they also have an AMAZING program for non-profits. If you have a certified non-profit program, you can get a free account with them and send up to 10,000 e-mails per month for free. I signed them up, filled out the correct paperwork, and sure enough, the program is completely free for real non-profts. And it doesn't stop there. I received not one, but two personal (not computer generated) phone calls - one when I initially signed up and another when we were accepted for the non-profit program. Both said thank you, asked if we needed help and left a name and phone number to call (on my answering machine, as I was not home).

I haven't decided yet if I want to go back to Cici's. Not because I was traumatized by the experience, but this is Chicago afterall. There is real pizza to be had. And I would recommend Vertical Response to anyone looking for a great e-mail marketing program.

Hopefully I'll be back to making some delicious dinners next week. I'm really working hard on getting back to low carbs and I really want to start walking - if it will ever stay warm in Chicago for more than one day.

Coconut Macaroons and the Gala

Scene:
There she was. I couldn't let her out of my site for even a second. It was risky tip that led me here, but it paid off. As the server approached, I reached for the coconut macaroon on the silver tray without taking my eyes off of her. Pretending to eat my dessert, I walked slowly to the back of the room to be closer to the woman for whom I had spent two years searching.

“You didn’t tell me that,” she harshly whispered to the man.

“Deal with it,” he said. “What difference does it make?”

As I saw the waiter with the half-full tray of macaroons make his way towards the unlikely couple, I wished I could get as close as he was. He would be close enough to sense her fear. To hear the unforgiving tone in her whisper. And maybe, just maybe, find out enough to save her.


COCONUT MACAROONS by Ina Garten

14 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the coconut, condensed milk, and vanilla in a large bowl. In another bowl, whip the egg whites and salt on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until they make medium-firm peaks. Carefully fold the egg whites into the coconut mixture.

Drop the batter onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper using either a 1 3/4-inch diameter ice cream scoop, or 2 teaspoons. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and serve.

Lessons learned: I made mine pretty big because I think the recipe makes 20, but I only made 10. I added a little bit of almond extract, too. My macaroons had a little pool of cooked liquid around them. It tasted good, but looked yucky, so I trimmed all of them. I’m not sure if a little more coconut would give the liquid a little something more to soak into. I also melted some bittersweet chocolate and dripped it across the top. They were absolutely delicious – sweet, chewy and moist.

Blackberry Scones and Chai Tea Latte at the Cafe

Scene:
Melissa takes the final bite of her blackberry scone and swallows hard. “Really, would you have done that?”

“No way. Sign of the times, I guess,” Gina says as she glances at the last few creamy drops of her chai tea latte.

“I would have expected at least a phone call. At least. Is that too much to ask?” She looks around the near empty café. Crumbs from the now forgotten scone speckle the small table, which is slowly transforming into a confessional.

“I mean really, just because we met online doesn’t mean he needs to dump me online.”

“But you didn’t even really like him,” Gina says. “You’ve really got to put this behind you. Don’t you think you have better things to worry about, like next weekend?”

“Whatever. I need a scone.”



BLACKBERRY SCONES (from the internet somewhere)
2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbls baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup butter, chilled
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk/cream/whole milk (I used evaporated milk)
8 oz. blackberries/halved (or a few more)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift dry ingredients together. Cut in the butter until it is all well combined. Whisk milk with egg. Incorporate liquids into dry ingredients (do not overmix!) until well combined. Lightly coat berries in a little flour, so they won't sink to the bottom when you bake the scones. Fold in blackberries. Drop heaping tablespoons (mine were bigger) onto a very lightly buttered cookie sheet about one to two inches apart. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 6 very large scones, more if you make them smaller

---Lesson learned. These are not your standard English-style, dense, dry (in a good way) scones. These are almost like very airy muffin tops. Yummy, but not traditional.


CHAI TEA LATTE from 2basnob.com
1 1/2 cups of water
1 1/2 inch stick of cinnamon
cardamom pods
1/4 inch fresh ginger root (sliced thin)
2/3 cup of milk
6 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons of Darjeeling Tea leaves

Place water, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and ginger in a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to low setting and simmer for 10 minutes. Add milk and sugar and again bring to simmer. Next, add the tea leaves, remove from heat and cover. Let steep for 3 minutes and strain. Enjoy!

--- Really? That seems like a lot of work. If you don’t have that kind of time or those ingredients, Oregon Chai is a delicious chai tea concentrate that you can pick up at just about any major grocery store. Make 6 or 7 chai tea lattes for what it cost for you to buy one at that fancy coffee store. If you want to brew your own tea, just look for Chai tea bags, then you can add milk and fake sugar to cut out a lot of the calories.

Homemade Hamburger Buns - Why Bother?

So, here's more on my bread-making escapades. I was just itchin' to use the last three cups of bread flour that I had. And since I had pulled out some burgers to grill for dinner, I found a neat little recipe for hamburger buns.

So, before I give you the recipe and the pic, let me say that these buns came out great! They were delicious and fluffy and my house smelled SO good when I baked them. But really, I didn't save any money, and by the time they were mixed and kneaded, then rose and then baked - I was looking at over an hour. My friend Missy said, spend the two bucks to buy them at the store and use the time to drink a margarita. And the kicker is, that usually the buns only cost $1 if I buy the store brand.

But did I mention how good my house smelled? It was really wonderful. I guess the most important thing is the quality of the ingredients that went into the buns - flour, yeast, milk, egg, honey - you get the picture. No high fructose corn syrup, oil, carageenan, soy lecithin - or fifteen other things I can't pronounce. Which would also explain how these fresh-baked buns went stale pretty quickly (when I left one out.)

So ultimately, this was a great experiment, and everyone who tasted them loved them, but I seriously doubt I will be making my own hamburger buns on a regular basis. Here's the recipe - sorry I don't have a source.

HOMEMADE HAMBURGER BUNS
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup unsalted butter (I used salted)
4 1/2 cups flour (I used 3 cups bread flour, the rest all-purpose)
1 package (2-1/4 tsp) yeast (I used active)
1 Tbls. honey
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, room temp

Heat the milk, water, honey and butter until butter is melted (liquid will be warm to the touch, not hot). Check temp and let cool to 120 degrees (or like I said, warm to the touch, but not hot). Beat egg in small bowl. Add a tablespoon or so of the milk mixture to the egg and stir. Add that to the bigger portion of the milk mixture.

Add yeast to about 1/4 cup of the milk liquid. Let stand for about 5 minutes. In a large bowl (or stand mixer bowl add two cups flour, salt, milk liquid and yeast mixture. Mix. Then mix in rest of flour 1/4 cup at a time. Mix well.

When the dough pulls together, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 min). Dough will be sticky, so be sure to flour your hands as well.

Divide dough into 12-16 parts. (I only made 10 buns.) Shape into balls, flatten slightly and place on baking sheet (use Silpat or parchment paper if you have it). Spray with cooking spray and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise for 30-35 minutes. Most likely, the edges will touch.

When buns have doubled in size, brush with egg wash and, if desired, sprinkle with sesame seeds or poppy seeds. Bake in 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.


So, the good:
the smell, the taste, quality ingredients

the bad:
the time, no cost savings

Do what works for you!! Me? I think I will opt for the margarita.

"Tie Dye" Cupcakes

Tomorrow is my daughter's 8th birthday. She saw these cupcakes on Semi-Homemade on the Food Network and wanted to make them. She did most of the decorating herself! To celebrate, we took a couple of girls to a movie theater, so these cupcakes actually went home as favors.

We made plain ol' box cupcakes with plain ol' white icing. Then with gel icing, we made stripes on the cupcakes, and using a toothpick, made lines, pulling the icing to look like tie dye. First one way, then the other. It was completely her idea to put the Sponge Bob toppers. Really, I can't take credit for that one.

Step 1:


Step 2:


Step 3:

These cupcake boxes from Wilton are great! The single ones were hard to find at craft stores, but I'm lucky enough to live close to the one and only Wilton store in the country.