baby it's cold outside

When I was 15, maybe 16, I went skiing. Shockingly I wasn't half bad, and if it wasn't one of the most expensive hobbies known to man, it might have been a sport that I could have been half decent in. Anyway the most important part of this story is that I wore one pair of gloves. By lunch time my fingers hurt as they were thawing out, and by the time I was getting ready to leave they were puffy and retaining water. They went back to normal, and I assumed my flirting with frostbite was behind me. Turns out once you flirt with frostbite your fingers are never the same again. I need two pairs of gloves and once my hands start to get cold I'm in trouble. They hurt and ache and take a long while to warm up.

Living in Boston quite possibly aggrivates the situation. The windchill has been in the negatives every night and like I mentioned yesterday our house isn't really in the well insulated category. Once I've put on a few layers of shirts and pants there is really nothing left to do, but make something that will warm me up from the inside. Hot chocolate does an amazing job, and tea does too, now that I figured out that if I put it in a travel mug it will stay warmer longer. I know that seems a little bit of a silly thought, but how often do you consider using a travel mug in your house? I'm telling you, it will change your life.

A nice warm pot of potato soup will warm me up for days. I have been dreaming about it ever since my roommate from Oregon posted something on her facebook about it. Matt wanted to make steak for dinner last night, and I wanted soup. We pretty much had a three course meal. It was wonderful and terribly fancy. This soup is so easy and takes maybe 45 minutes to make.

Potato Soup and a warmer tummy:
2-3 slices of bacon – Fry them up in the pot you're going to make the soup in.
Remove the bacon. Add 3 medium potatos peeled and cubed, 2 stalks celery chopped, 2 medium carrots diced, 1 small onion diced, 1tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper.
Cook with a cup of water for 15 minutes. Combine 2 tbsp. flour with 2 cups milk. Add to potatoes. Heat until boils. Ok that's what the recipe says, but mom said to try not to let it boil, or it will form a skin. Crumble the bacon and serve on top.

This pot makes enough for a family of 5, or a few good meals for someone living on their own. My mom has tried to make it with turkey bacon and it just does not turn out nearly as good. The fat in the bacon really makes the soup. It's hardcore winter out there, which means think like an eskimo. Just replace the seal fat for bacon. Your world will be a happy place.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Coconut pudding, soup, and steak

Ever had a bad week? This week had no reason to be bad. I wasn't terribly busy. I didn't have a ton of homework. I did follow people I didn't know into my house Thursday night, but honestly, other than that freshman year flashback, everything was going according to plan.

And still I was exhausted. I was cranky, and I totally slammed my bedroom door to make everyone attending the party at my house know that I was not pro-party when I had to get up the next morning early. To make matters worse it was freezing outside, and inside because our windows were put in, in 1932. Oh and the best part of the entire week was when I emailed the head of maintenance to "remind" him that if he didn't fix the lightswitch for our bathroom and someone fell and hurt themselves, the management company would be held liable. I was just asking for someone to call me a bitch, because when it happened (I was pretty much counting on it happening.) I was going to smile and say, thank you, I work damn hard for that title.

The only cure for such a terrible case of an unexpected bad week is running away. Tembleque and potato soup and steak tonight have done their part as well. Tembleque is a coconut pudding that is served cold. I was never a fan of coconut growing up, it was a texture thing, but as an adult I can't get enough. One of Matt's favorite desserts is coconut cream pie. Any guesses where I run away to when I run away. He just gets me, and appreciates my need to be a bitch sometimes, emphasis on sometimes.

Here's the templeque recipe, trying it is a must!
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt

Mix salt, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add in the coconut milk. Turn the stove on medium. This is the tricky part. You want to bring the mixture to a boil, because it won't thicken till it boils. However if you bring it to a boil too quickly you'll end up with lumps that won't go away. Keep the stove at medium and stir constantly. You will see lumps, but a few are fine, because once the whole pot thickens the lumps will disappear. Keep it boiling until everything is smooth and thick, a pudding consistency. You can pour this into pretty much any mold. Tonight I poured it into a loaf pan. Wet the pan to make sure you'll be able to flip it out. Refrigerate till cool. Once it is cool, flip it out onto a plate and serve it.

While the templeque is amazing, adding a little toasted coconut to the top of it makes it even better. I put about a 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 cups of coconut, and 1 tbsp of butter into a frying pan. Fry till the coconut gets a little color. It's like candy. I was actually surprised at how good it turned out.

The soup, well you'll have to wait till the next post. I need to watch a few episodes of Sons of Anarchy and think about the homework I should be doing. Maybe I'll go grab a little more of that toasted coconut too.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Is there cat in this?

My parents have really good friends who they take trips with. It's adorable and very empty-nesty of them. All of their pictures of them with one of us kids on their hip or frazzled smiles and peanut butter on their outfit while on vacation are behind them. They miss us. They really do. On one of these aforementioned trips my parents ate at a buffet in Chinatown. My dad found some mystery meat and was over the buffet entirely. He called it cat, as a joke.

Turns out people in China still really do eat cat and what creeped me out even more was that they eat dog too. I guess the Chinese government decided that, like the foot wrapping tradition of years gone by, this whole pet eating thing needed to stop. Anyone caught eating dog or cat will be fined over $700 US and businesses selling dog or cat meat could face fines of over $7,000 US. That's a pretty hefty pricetag for eating a pooch.

Supposedly eating dog warms you up. I have heard the same about seal. Just looking at my little puppy warms me up inside, but I really can't imagine eating her. Cats were actually not eaten as regularly in China as most Chineses restaurant jokes would assume. Superstition it seems is the reason for this; cats are thought to come back and seek revenge. I kind of believe this. That adorable cat you see in my picture was probably plotting out his next leg that he would pad his claws into. Cats are sassy, sassy enough to seek revenge even after death.

The best part of the AOL Slash/Food blog that I read this information from is the comments left under it. My reaction to this post was: GO CHINA! You may have messed up with the whole blocking facebook from your citizens thing, but you definitely took the right step in banning dog and cat consumption.

Some people who commented went all but-this-is-a-cultural-tradition on the story. I just can't imagine dogs really being a worth-while sorce of meat and I know for a fact that most cats are not. Is Chinese culture really going to suffer from this loss? I have a feeling that would be a negative, and I know for a fact that if I was starving the goats would go first. The cat licks my toes and drools (it doesn't get much cuter or quirky than that) and the dog wakes me up with sloppy puppy kisses.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

The free bagel I never ate

This story began yesterday. I was putzing around facebook and found an ad that said if you become a fan of Einstein Bros., you would get a coupon for a free bagel and cream cheese. Matt was coming up to chill with me today, so I was all OH YEAH I'll finally have something for us to do. I sent a message to Matt the second I saw the ad. BECOME A FAN, AND WE CAN RUN AROUND AND HAVE FUN TOMORROW!

The enthusiasm was almost alarming. I wasn't even sure how to handle it myself, and I was starting to get rather hungry for a bagel. There were not many Einstein Bros. in the Boston area. I found one at 725 Commonwealth Ave, plotted out the route using the T, and Matt and I headed out. We took the T to Boston University Central and started looking for the Einstein Bros. I could almost taste the cream cheese.

Bagels are such a tasty treat. As you may or may not remember Matt and I actually tried our hand at making our own bagels . I wish I had more time in my life, because those bagels were really quite the treat. According to Matt, Einstein Bros. made great bagels.

When we got off the T, Matt and I started walking. We were kind of just excited to be somewhere new, and it was not too cold out. Walking and walking and walking. Finally I looked up at the numbers on the building and asked Matt where this place was.

Matt - "The numbers are going down."
Me - "That's 881. The last one was 825."

I was hungry and the sun decided that it wasn't into shining and keeping me warm anymore. We walked between what was 800 Commonwealth Ave. and 600 Commonwealth Ave probably about 2 or 3 times. It felt like 23 times and I was getting cranky. I wanted a bagel. Is that really too much to ask? I became a fan, and I wanted a bagel! 725 Commonwealth Ave appeared to be a school of art for BU. Big cement building, no sign of bagels or warmth. Desperate, like I mean MATT I HATE THIS IDEA AND SOMEHOW IT IS TOTALLY YOUR FAULT desperate, we walked into a dining area that seemed to have Starbucks and Jamba Juice and those kind of places in it. A girl handed me a flyer for some BU event, but still no bagels.

Dejected and feeling like a total failure for coming up with a plan that wasted 2 hours and resulted in two crabby people and no bagels, we got back on the T and headed home. Matt, feeling hopeful, suggested we try to get our free bagels when I went down to Providence this weekend. It turns out that there are no Einstein Bros. near Providence, and the one we couldn't find in Boston was in the basement of that cement building. I don't think either of us wanted to talk about said bagel place for a good long time. I was over it!

I have always been skeptical about anything that is free. Normally there are strings attached. Today I felt like there was a hardcore web involved. Thankfully dinner worked out as planned. I bought a pork roast that needed to be sold pronto. It was marked down a few dollars. I froze it immediately. I bought a packet of onion soup mix and poured it into the crockpot, added two cups of water, defrosted the pork roast, threw it in, and turned it on high. Three hours and a pot of rice later and we had a wonderful dinner. Our plates were cleared and our tummies were full. Today's life lesson: when you can't have your free bagel you earned, make pot roast and move on.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

There's salmonella in my salami

While those two things sound kind of cute together the result is not so cute. If you have been reading this blog for long, you know that I have strong opinions about people getting upset about salmonella chicken. Chickens are dirty; cook the meat. Unfortunately when my mom bought salami for our sandwiches for lunch (my brother went through a hard salami phase and I think we might have had salami sandwiches for a good two years straight because of it), she could not know or fix the lunchmeat if it was contaminated with salmonella.

It appears that the contaminated salami was sold in Costco, so no one in Rhode Island had the chance to get sick. I am almost proud of my little state of Rhode Island. I mean way to keep Rhode Islanders safe, by not selling your product to them. I am not so sure this was the Daniele Inc.'s purpose; either way they now have a multi-state mess on their hands.

According to the Providence Journal, 184 people in 38 states have gotten sick from the contaminated salami since July. That's a lot of people. It is rather unfortuante in the food industry that this kind of thing takes so long to float to the surface. The problem is most people are ok with 24 hour stomach bugs. The problem with that is that there is no such thing as a 24 hour stomach bug. In almost every case it is food poisoning. People hardly think of food poisoning, and when they do, they hardly go back to the company to complain about the issue. I totally get that part. My dad was food poisoned by Panera Bread. He does not want to step even in the direction of that place again. Violently throwing up all night does that to you.

The Daniele Inc. seems to think the salmonella is in the pepper, because it was only found in the peppered salami. I can't help but wonder how salmonella got in the pepper. I suppose it will be one of those food mysteries. You know like why that guy with the peanut plant shipped out those salmonella contaminated nuts. This world is full of crazies, and I'm glad my brother is over his hard salami phase.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Pastry people

I am a pastry person. You can call me a dough ho, a sugar slut, or a brownie bitch; but I probably would look at you and ask," really that's all you got? The meatheads from JWU (pronounced j-woooo) were way more creative than that." I could live on bread, and chocolate is a severe addiction. I admit it, so I'm thinking that meetings are unnecessary.

I, of course, have wonderful friends who are culinary people. They get all hot and bothered over sauces and bok choy and beef tips. I love these people. They make my life complete, in the most foodie-sense it can be. I am just sadly not one of them. I love to make good food, but I just don't have a real passion for it. Recreating a recipe is about the distance I'll go, and since Matt gets all hot and bothered when I make cheesesteaks I don't really have to ever run a marathon.

This weekend I stayed in Boston and got my pastry people fix. My friend Kate and her roommate Evan were both pastry majors at JWU. Evan has a Kitchen Aid stand mixer that makes me drool every time I see it. When I spent Halloween with them, there were red velvet cupcakes with icing that looked like an eye in their fridge. Now that is what, after the first week of Emerson, my life needs.

Kate and I spent most of Friday night figuring out how to put together this apron kit she bought. It was honestly adorable, but the directions were in a different language. Ok they weren't technically in a different language, if you understand what "clip, turn, and topstich" means, you probably would have been a useful addition to our Friday night escapades. Instead of really thinking about the pattern, we resorted to the uber-mature method of me singing out "clip, turn, and topstich" and Kate bending over on the floor laughing. This kind of fun Friday night doesn't come around every weekend, and it is absolutely and understandably ok to be jealous.

Saturday morning Kate and I made pancakes. She had been telling me all about these buttermilk pancakes that she made at home and I was of course all for a re-creation. She had powdered buttermilk that had the recipe on it, but we had bought real buttermilk.

Flashback to breads class: When using fresh yeast, leave out the extra water needed to bloom the yeast.

I think you can guess what we did to the pancakes. I saw Kate putting water into the pancakes and wondered why the pancakes would need water in them, since we were putting real buttermilk in the recipe; it was Kate's kitchen so I kept my mouth shut. The pancake batter turned out a tad bit liquidy, so what did we decide would be the perfect solution - Add more flour! Talk about a flashback to breads class. I think I resorted to this method many times, and it worked most of the time. It didn't work when some idiot in my group left the yeast out, when she was supposed to mise-en-place (get everything together) the day before; but that's a totally different story.

Our pancakes were not as fluffy as Kate had hoped. We added about a cup of chocolate chips to each pancake, so in the end it was a total success. After leaving Kate's apartment, I thought to myself how much I laugh when I'm hanging out with her. I think it's because we both get hopped up on chocolate, but we're pastry people. It's what we do best.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

The Wall Street Journal - Chocolate Edition

In case you are the last person to know (You were probably up late waiting on the Massachusetts senate race results; I understand.), Cadbury was finally sold to Kraft foods. AND it wasn't a cheap deal. Kraft must think the $19.1 billion is worth it. Those Cadbury eggs are pretty darn good, and it's almost easter, so they'll make all of that back in no time. Well maybe not in no time; that's kind of like saying winter will be over in no time. Boy wouldn't that be nice!

Turns out Cadbury makes more than those yummy eggs that line the shelves at Easter. They have strange looking candy bars and gum too! (You really have to check this out. http://www.cadbury.com/OURBRANDS/Pages/Ourbrand.aspx I think I want to fly to England and roam their factory. If you want to donate to Emily's Cadbury fund, feel free.)

From all my snooping I really have been impressed by Cadbury's web presence and openness about the deal with Kraft. They have every offer and all of their statements in podcasts, slides, press releases, and documents. Maybe they stuffed a bunch of computer nerds in a room with only cadbury eggs to eat till they finished everything. I would pay to have been one of those nerds, probably not $19.1 billion; but I would pay!

I tried a Ritter Sports Bar for the first time ever yesterday. I was quite impressed. I mean it's not a Cadbury egg, but it was good chocolate, creamy, not waxy. They are a little more expensive than my Hersheys bars, but definitely worth a treat every now and then.

While we're on the subject of chocolate, I would like to speak for two seconds on Valentines Day. You'll be hearing a lot more about this subject, but here is just a teaser. When buying chocolate, don't always go for expensive chocolate. Expensive chocolate can be extremely tasty, but there has to be something amazing about it to warrant the cost. Find me hot chili pepper truffles and I'll pay good money for them. Know your girlfriend or boyfriend's chocolate preference. One day someone gave me dark chocolate. I was not friends with that person for long. I'm going to get called out for this, but a majority of men like dark chocolate while a majority of women like milk chocolate. You know your partner better than me, but I'm warning you giving a milk chocolate girl dark chocolate is kind of like handing her a bag of dog poo. No one wants to eat dog poo.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

This one's for the tacos

Sunday night Glen Bell Jr. passed away. I know his name by heart now, because I have been trying to write this post since then. Glen Bell Jr. was the founder of Taco Bell. I have been having so much trouble writing this post, because I am not a fan of Taco Bell. I think their meat tastes like paste and talk about salt; Taco Bell uses salt like it's going out of style.

Those are not the things one really should put in a post about the poor guy dying. I mean this guy was probably a great guy. He brought Mexican food into the daring world of fast food. There aren't many fast food chains that have made it big time. Most Americans could name all of them pretty easily. Taco Bell wasn't another burger joint. They were something new. Yes they may use meat paste and a lot of salt, but one guy saw a need and filled it. Way to go Glen, way to go!

Ok now that was nice and kind, so I have to say something about Taco Bell. Please pardon me Mr. Bell Jr., for just a moment while I rant.

I think it was about 2 weeks ago that I saw the ad. I honestly thought it was a joke. Healthy and Taco Bell seemed super silly. McDonalds added salads a few years back and Wendys followed. Thankfully they got over it. They still sell salads, but I don't know of many people that see those salads as truly healthy options. It's just a silly thing to even think.

Well Taco Bell has decided to create a Drive-Thru diet. I don't know what marketing group created the name of this "diet" or even thought of something this ridiculous. When Glen Bell Jr. started Taco Bell, I don't think he ever thought his concept would lead to diet foods. It is almost as ridiculous as the Subway diet. Dear Jared, eating subs every day is not at all good for you. Let's be honest eating anything fast food related every day is probably not good for you.

Diets are everywhere right now. Everyone is trying to lose a few pounds and most food related companies are trying to get business by making customers think that their food will be the thing that will wipe away the pounds. It's all about money. Well Taco Bell after the loss of your founding father, I think it's time to give up on the diet scheme, go retro like Pepsi, and bring back that chihuaha. Those really were the best commercials; they even made me want to grab some meat paste for lunch.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Pancake Showdown

In this corner we have Matthew Schaffer, amateur cook and 26 year old guy who is always trying to save a little bit of money. And in the other corner we have Emily, with a pastry degree from Johnson & Wales University and at times an overly large ego about her cooking abilities.

The battle: pancakes! You know those sometimes fluffy, sometimes oily, hopefully done in the middle morning foods. Matt and I don't often battle it out over food. Let's be honest I would win and he would be sad, or he would win and I would be furious. Either way it doesn't sound too fun. It's just that Matt and pancakes weren't getting along.

I think it was probably about 2 weeks ago that Matt told me he bought pancake mix and messed up the pancakes. It was an epic fail according to him. Seriously concerned I thought to myself, how does someone mess up box pancakes. It would be kind of like saying, I made box brownies and they turned out awful. Ummm if that's the case you should be banned from ever stepping into a kitchen again. Anyway I listened to Matt's story two days in a row of how he made the mix and it got messed up. It kind of sounded like they were sticking, and I was having a few good laughs over the situation.

When I flew into Providence yesterday, I had two goals. The first goal was to go grocery shopping so I wouldn't starve once I got to Boston and the second goal was to teach Matt how to make pancakes. Well there was one other minor goal of surprising Matt with my new haircut, but he didn't notice it until I told him, I CHOPPED OFF HALF MY HAIR! I'm beginning to think his pancakes abilities are the least of my worries.

This morning was d-day. We were going to make pancakes. I, being the overly cocky expert pancake maker that I am, poured some oil into his pan. It was actually way too much oil and I had to pour some out, but who is paying attention to little details like that. I heat up the oil in the pan and pour in some pancake mix. It sizzles just right and looks good. I grab the spatula to flip it and DISASTER. Even with 1/8 inch of oil coating the entire bottom of the pan the pancakes were sticking.

Dude your pans suck! No now was not the appropriate time to discuss the quality of his pans. Should I have played fair and admitted that his mishaps might have been the pan and not his lack of pancake skills? YES! Did I? NO WAY JOSE! I managed to be tough with the pan and create some half decent pancakes. They weren't perfectly shaped or remotely pretty, but they were edible. And that was with a pastry degree. I can imagine why he said he was about to give up on pancakes. His pan was just awful.

There is one light at the end of this dark pancake tunnel. I think I have convinced Matt to buy a nonstick pan. Just one nice frying pan. When that happens, I will hopefully be able to show Matt once and for all why I laughed so hard when he said he couldn't make pancakes. THEY ARE LIKE THE EASIEST THINGS IN THE WHOLE WORLD!

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

There are bakers and then...

And then there are people like my sister who couldn't follow a recipe if her life depended on it. She cooks a lot, and normally does a decent job. Baking just isn't her thing. She decided that she would be the one to make my birthday cake. I was a little skeptical, but who am I to judge.

*side story* One day I handed my sister a recipe for no-bake cookies. You know the peanut butter chocolaty delicious things that taste like fudge. Anyway I told her it was easy just follow the recipe. Next thing I know I hear the KitchenAid going and I think to myself, you don't use a blender to make that recipe. No you don't, but she did. She poured all of the ingredients into a bowl, and turned the mixer on. No bake, no fuss, just mix. The oatmeal that is supposed to cook and bind the cookies together blended into a flour and the cookies were rather interesting to say the least. *end side story*

I came out while my sister was starting to measure out the dry ingredients for the cake. She was putting all of the ingredients in a bowl. This is a perfectly fine step, but we do have a KitchenAid mixer (after the no-bake cookies disaster we obviously know she knows how to use it) and the lovely thing about the chocolate cake recipe is that you can throw all of the ingredients in and just mix. I suggested the mixer and she said she was doing it her way. I let it go.

"Emily!" I was waiting for it. Well I didn't want to be waiting for it, but I hadn't heard the KithenAid at all, so it was coming. There in the bowl were all of the ingredients for the cake. It looked pretty gross and unmixed. I grabbed a whisk and fixed it and asked once again why she didn't use the KitchenAid.

What is a cake without icing? Well I figured if she didn't want to use the mixer for the cake, she would definitely use it for the frosting. Oh no! She puts the peanut butter in a bowl, and looks at me.

"I will not fix frosting by hand!"

Oh the huffing and puffing that went on as she put it into the bowl for the KitchenAid and started blending. The end result: well it was kind of thick. I told her to put it on the hot cake and hopefully it would melt down a little. No that is not official advice, but baking with my sister brings out the worst in me.

Tonight my mom, sister, and I are going to friends to celebrate my birthday and eat a lot of cake. While it doesn't look like the Cake Boss would approve of it, the cake my sister made should taste pretty good. For all of you non-bakers out there, I hope you leave your baking to a professional. It's just safer in the long run.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

I kind of like salt

So the city of New York is at it again. Last time they said no more trans fat. It was a pretty big blow to the restaurant industry in the city. I remember being at cooking school at the time and everyone being up in arms about the repercussions. Shockingly Americans are still fat even though they can't get trans fatty filled foods in New York City. Well now the city has decided that controlling salty foods is a good idea. They are asking food manufacturers and restaurants to cut 25% of the salt content out of their food.

I am all for healthier eating, but when the government starts to push healthier eating I have to wonder. I guess the real question is, is this working. Did the ban on trans fats really make the people of NYC and everyone who visited NYC healthier?

I don't think anyone really knows, but what we do know is that Americans are still fat. It's kind of like someone who smokes. Back in the 1950s smoking was considered perfectly fine. There wasn't a million studies and plenty of proof that smoking caused lung cancer. Today we know all of this stuff and charge $8 a pack for cigarettes that are full of warning labels (you are going to kill yourself if you consume this product), but people still smoke. All of that government intervention really didn't do very much.

Going out to McDonalds every day to eat a big mac and fries will kill you just as fast as cigarettes will. If you didn't know that already, then I'm sorry to bust your bubble. Oh and the tooth fairy isn't real, but your mom was very adept at getting the tooth out and the money under your pillow. Go mom!

I love salt. I love salty foods. If you can't appreciate a good salty potato chip, then you probably have no taste buds. By using salt like sea salt, which has more of that salty flavor, you can use less salt without over dosing on sodium. Processed foods are high in sodium no matter how you cut it. By making food yourself, you will use probably half the salt and never know the difference. You might even notice that you don't feel the need to chug a gallon of water after eating it. The government isn't going to make Americans healthier; Americans are going to have to make Americans healthier by making smarter choices.

I am a big sweet and salty fan and all of this salt talk is making me hungry for some of that chocolate bar I got for my birthday. Thank goodness my friend did not just send a "Call me" note. It's almost 10 am, which is obviously the perfect time for some morning chocolate. And for the record, the day of the city of New York decides that all chocolate should have 25% less sugar in it, will be the day I take part in that right to peacefully protest or not so peacefully. No one messes with my right to eat chocolate that taste good.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Happy Birthday to me

That there in the picture was my 21 year old self. Happy goofy carefree, guys, those were the days. Today at 6 pm I turn 22. The highlight of my day was going bra shopping at Walmart and going with my mom to her therapy appointment. Well really the highlight of my day was watching the man fix my computer, but a birthday should have many highlights right?

Monday I promised my chocolate cake with peanut butter icing recipe. It really is a staple at any of our birthday celebrations. I suggest you make this recipe pronto. I am told I will not be getting my cake till tomorrow. There are times when I just feel the love.

Moist Chocolate Cake
2 cups of Flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cups of cocoa
2 cups of sugar
1 and 3/4 cups of oil
1 cup of hot coffee
1 cup of milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour all of the dry ingredients into a bowl or mixer. Mix. Add oil, coffee, and milk. Mix till smooth. Make sure there isn't a pocket of dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs one at a time. Mix well. Pour into a greased 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

Peanut Butter Icing
Ok I don't really use a recipe for this, but here's the basics. 1/4 cup of peanut butter. 1/4 cup of butter. Blend. Add a couple tablespoons of milk and some confectionery sugar. Here's the part I never keep track of. You add the confectionery sugar till it's the consistency of icing. If it gets too hard add some more milk. If it starts to taste a little too sweet, add some more peanut butter. Simple, a breeze, and normally a great idea to liven up a chocolate cake.

"It all leads back to bras in life." Some things never change in life. Like I said earlier I went bra shopping with my mom and sister. I came home with two bras, tried them on, and now I am back to square one. Mara and mom ended up with two more bras and all of the other stuff they found. This would be the reason that, when someone is foolish enough to ask me to marry them, I will be taking numbers on people who want to come dress shopping with me. If I take theses two, they'll end up with dresses and I won't.

22 seems rather old to me. I remember when I was little and was going to be married with 2 kids by the time I was 22. Now I just wish I could go back to being 16 and making my brother, sister, mom, and dad chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Ok enough whining. It's time for me to go and examine my old bras before my mom and sister convince me that we need another shopping trip tomorrow. I'm really thinking the ones I have could last till I can shop alone again. You need to go make some cake or cupcakes. Someone should enjoy some cake on my birthday!

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Out with a bang

In honor of my last few days as a careless 21 year old, my computer screen went completely black. It was still performing its normal functions; it just decided it needed a little bit of privacy, so I was not allowed to be involved. Considering that my entire life was somewhere encoded inside the newly self-conscious machine, I called Dell. Well actually I called India, because as you might already know Dell ships all of its calls out to India. I have met some very nice Indian people in my 21 years of life; however I have never spoken to a nice Indian when trying to deal with a problem with Dell. The last time I called Dell I had an Indian man tell me to go get a soda while he took extra long to process my order. I emailed the highest executive's email I could find and made sure that they understood that Puna or Unjab or whatever his name was should be fired. Mean? Irrational? A little over-dramatic? Oh yes I was all of those things and more. I am just not very fond of the Indian snarkyness I am normally greeted with when I call about a computer emergency.

Patricia-but-you-can-call-me-Pat did nothing to change my views. She told me to watch my computer for two days after installing something and then letting her know if there was still a problem. Oh yes because I had time for that. I NEED MY COMPUTER TO BREATHE PROPERLY LADY; I LIVE IN AMERICA, NOT INDIA!!! Poor poor Patricia-but-you-can-call-me-Pat. Luckily enough she caught on about the fifth time she silenced me when my computer was thinking and I yelled HELLO HELLO ARE YOU THERE? I really had nothing new to tell her, but I think she got the message that I was an annoying American and should be given what I want. Mission Accomplished! Now I am waiting for an American to come and pretty much replace my whole computer. Well it might not be an American, but if Patricia-but-you-can-call-me-Pat shows up I might allow my computer's self-conscious tendencies to persist for a while longer.

As if the computer was not enough, this morning I found out that I should have sent in my drivers license renewal out 3 weeks ago so I could get my picture taken before I left. Now I get to go into the place and cry to them and beg them to let me take my picture, because I can't get on the plane without my drivers license renewed. AND I tried to get a prescription refilled at Walmart, but the woman thought that a prescription that was from June 2009 and had 3 more refills expired after a year and a year, according to her, was January 1st 2010. What is wrong with this picture? Maybe I should call up Patricia-but-you-can-call-me-Pat. I bet she'd have a thrilling commentary on the situation.

So now I am computerless, one day late taking my prescription, and in the last few days of my careless 21s I wasted 2 hours talking to India. There is however one bright note. I received a package today from a very good friend. I am hoping that she hasn't forgotten my love/need of chocolate and has included a giant bar of Hersheys chocolate bar as she has done with all of my gifts since I met her during my Oregon excursion. Of course she might have just sent me a package with a letter in it that says "WHERE ARE YOU?" I would probably deserve that gift more since I have been horrible and have disappeared from most of my friends since I have been home. Please help it be a chocolate bar!

In all honesty 21 was not a careless year at all. I have a feeling 22 won't be either. The solution: stock up on chocolate like it's Y2K and the green bean aisle has already been emptied. Tomorrow I'll post the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing recipe. It may not be your birthday Wednesday, but I am sure you could use a little treat. Make cupcakes and freeze some, so you can pretend its your birthday all through the winter months.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Warning: Hope you've already eaten dinner

I was sitting in the airport for a long while yesterday. Delta there are times when I wonder how you function on a daily basis. One more shout out to Southwest and then I'm done whining.

Anyway all of this airport lingering made for an abundance of HLN viewing in the terminal. Somewhere between the story about the 5 story icicle in Philly and oh-my-goodness it's cold in South Dakota story, they ran this PSA ad. The soda industry is not happy about the ad. Holy nose-cicles batman! I personally wanted to throw up watching it. There is something about fatty substances that aren't crispy and pork like that kind of makes me want to vomit.

The message of this ad is very important. I am in a constant battle against soda. It's not that I am not a big fan of Coca Cola, because I am. I am just against the daily consumption of such products. I was never raised with soda in the house. We had soda when we had pizza or family over, and whatever was left over normally didn't get used up. A glass of soda equaled a sweet. I could have 3 cookies instead of that glass of soda.

Water, juice, TEA, there are so many other liquids worth consuming. I won't judge if you're a coffee lover. There is just nothing redemptive about soda. You might as well be drinking glasses of fat.

As a treat I think soda is a very wonderful thing. Think of it as dessert. Most people don't have it every day, and in small portions it is rather tasty. Speaking of desserts, my birthday is coming up. I'm thinking chocolate cake with peanut butter icing.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

So this is what food poisoning looks like

Fried chicken and grits may sound like good ideas. They may seem super tasty. Well I can't say grits ever seemed super tasty to me, but I was looking forward to some good Southern food. Bob you can come looking for my mom; we're leaving for tomorrow and yes we're in the South.

Anyway on this trip I came to the very real understanding that I don't like some of this Southern food that I was so excited about. The fried green tomatoes kind of tasted like fried green pickles. The gravy on the mashed potatoes I ate yesterday tasted like creamy salt. I am all buttered out and I didn't even get to Paula Dean's restaurant.

I may have just eaten at the worst places in the South. It is possible that these fried green tomatoes you are looking at are just an awful example of true Southern food. I really don't know. I do know that I was raised on food that was normally not fried in oil and, while my mother was a big salt fan, did not taste like salt water. My theory is that I was just not raised to like Southern food. I was raised to appreciate good food and maybe the places I ate over vacation just weren't A+ restaurants. It is possible. All I know is that I was not a fan.

No one was a fan of the tomatoes my sister took a lovely picture of. Uncle Bud felt sick first, then me and then everyone else admitted to feeling a little nauseous. Food poisoning? I really don't like making harsh statements without reasoning, and no one was violently ill, just bad tummy aches.

Tomorrow we leave the frigid South and head back to the frigid Pennsylvania. I am not really sure what I will like better, but I can say that I will be happy to be eating normal food again. I think salads for a good week might bring my body back to life.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Bacon and Shrimp...I must be on vacation

The one thing I look forward to on vacation is eating some good food. I mean I try to eat good food on a regular basis, but on vacation I try extra hard to eat good food. Today we went out to lunch and dinner. Breakfast was continental at the place we are staying.

I know a lot of people who are not fans of the bagel and cereal and fruit continental breakfast, but when it's free can you really be upset about it. My problem with these breakfasts is that I always pick a bagel and I always wait for 5 years by the toaster. Yeah I know it sounds like a personal problem to me too. Maybe I'll go for cereal tomorrow. When do I ever get the chance to eat cocoa crispies. Did I mention I try not to eat very healthy on vacation?

I was fairly hungry by the time lunch came around and cold. Yes you can narrow our vacation location to the East coast, because the entire East Coast is blanketed in frigid temperatures. Oh Global warming, how lovely you look right about now. Hungry and cold meant I wanted something comforting and fatty for lunch. We ate at a fish place, but I was not into fish, so I went for the BLT. This place appeared to do a BLT right. I mean look at all of that bacon. It sure was tasty, and it was the good crispy bacon that really isn't chewy. Chewy bacon is hard to eat in a sandwich. I normally eat half the bacon in one bite, because it all falls out of the sandwich.

After such a hit at lunch, I was a little worried about dinner. One can only pick the perfect meal choice so many times before they pick a dud. We went to The Bonefish Grill, and were told by the expert (Uncle Bud) that the Bang Bang Shrimp tacos were amazing. Taking his advice seemed like the most reasonable option. Aside from being bothered by the annoyingly calm way the waitstaff talked, the food was amazing. The tacos were a little spicy, but the flavor was wonderful. They were breaded from what I could tell and then tossed in the "Bang Bang" sauce. It was sweet and spicy with tropical flavors. It definitely had the creaminess of coconut milk, and there was a tang like pineapple.

The tacos were accompanied by homemade potato chips. It was great, because when the tacos became too spicy, you could just eat the chips. I am a little bothered that they taught their waitstaff to talk in calming soothing voices and that they wore white chef coats. Sometimes you can look beyond some of these things in order to eat some bangin tacos. Oh yeah you knew it was coming.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

This is why I fly Southwest

Flying can be a lovely experience. It can also be a horrid experience. When I fly Southwest Airlines, which is probably 6 or so times a year, I have lovely experiences. I get on, I fall asleep, sometimes I wake up for the free peanuts, and then I walk off singing their praises.

Today my family and I were traveling for vacation. I would tell you where we were going, but my mom's a psychologist and I'd rather not have any What About Bob moments. Speaking of What About Bob, that has to be one of my favorite movies of all time, and I really hope you go out right now and find it somewhere. Just buy it. It really is a classic.

Anyway we were flying Delta Airlines and I was gearing up for a long day. I packed snacks, because I am not one to go without food. I pack food when I go to certain friends. You know those people who don't ever offer you food and never eat snacks. They appear to never eat at all. Freaks of nature! I don't go to the great extent of not being friends with these non-eating people, but I come prepared.

I assumed my purse full of goodies would hold us through the long day. Little did I know Delta Airlines sucked at life. I don't normally give this kind of review for something that tries so hard to bring me to a fun destination, but seriously Delta should have a -5 star rating.

First we have to walk out onto the tar mat because the plane is the smallest one they could find. I think some kids got larger toy planes for Christmas. We were of course in the last aisle of the plane. The temperature back there was probably 102 degrees. I don't know why.

This was just our first flight. The snowy scene we arrived at after the 102 degree ride made me thankful for all things frosty. I kind of wanted to bask in the coldness. It was ridiculous.

We had a little bit of a layover before our next flight, so we went to find something to eat. Many of the snacks had already been consumed. Quiznos was a surprisingly pleasant option at the airport. I honestly have never tried Quiznos. I have of course seen their "mmm mmm mmm mmm toasty" commercials. Mara and I split a large Italian, which I did not let them toast. Anyone who likes Italian hoagies toasted needs to get their head examined. Those meats just taste so much better cold.

The little bit of the layover came and went and we weren't boarding the plane. Supposedly there was a crew member who we were waiting on. Don't they have to show up on time for the plane to take off??? Yeah I know I thought they did too. Turns out that they don't. We were delayed an hour, because the flight attendant was called in and had to drive 2 and a 1/2 hours to get to the airport. I may be going out on a limb here, but shouldn't a large company like Delta Airlines have a better system to get their employees on time for flights. No, because Delta Airlines sucks!

Southwest Airlines has flight attendants that sing to you while getting you to your destination on time or early. My family started calling me a Southwest commercial after about the 15th time of me saying that on Southwest Airlines would have never had this problem. When we finally got on the airplane, we were all of the way in the back of an equally tiny plane. Within about 15 minutes our seat area was 102 degrees again. The flight attendant, who had been late, was pleasant, which was a plus; but definitely did not get Delta out of the doghouse with me.

We did make it safely to our destination. We found some dinner, and now I'm relaxing with my dad and sister watching Mythbusters. It's not 102 degrees and I am not crammed in a tiny plane. Life is good. Matt called me to find out about the trip. I told him about the flight situation, and he says "That's why you fly Southwest." If there was any question, this is why I'm in love with this man.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily

Snacks-a-plenty

45% of Americans make new years resolutions according to the Today Show this morning. That's a lot of people sitting around today staring at those 5 lbs of fudge rolling over their pants. I'm really not one for resolutions. I mean if you want something to change in the New Year then change it. Going around with a list of things to do differently sort of defeats the purpose of a new year. The old is behind. Those 5 lbs were gained. If you want rid of them, get rid of them; but don't go around talking about how you're going to stop eating this and start doing that. Such plans hardly get carried out.

Last night my family and I rang in the New Year with our neighbors. We have had this tradition since I can remember. Normally we play games or just sit around and talk. There is always plenty of food involved and it's all around an amazingly good time. Anyway I said that to bring up this epiphany that our neighbor had, Pennsylvania is the snack capitol of the world. Now I can not say if this is true, but I did like the sound of it.

When my mom's uncle was living in Florida and California, his mom (my Nana) would send him pretzels, because he couldn't get PA pretzels when he was living across the country. Since then Herrs, Utz, and other PA distributors have branched out. Unfortunately the really good pretzels and chips are still only found in PA.

Everyone does kettle-cooked potato chips now, but I remember as a little girl thinking that some people had potato chips that tasted a lot better than the ones my mom bought. Kettle cooked wasn't quite as popular then and my replace-ground-beef-with-ground-turkey mother was not into buying the greasier Utz kettle cooked chips. Boy were they tasty though. They are still the best kettle cooked chips I have ever tasted.

How did my home state and its surrounding area come to be the go-to spot for snack food? That's kind of like asking how New England came to be filled with textile mills. We just knew what was up in PA. Pretzels and potato chips kind of make the world go round.

For all of you who are still staring at those 5 pound rolling over your pants, I am sure snack food is the first thing you will cut out of your diet. I am warning you, that would be a grave error on your part. Sometimes you just have to have some Utz kettle cooked potato chips. Moderation. Eat a hand full, think wow that was tasty, and then move on. My problem (well I have don't often have those 5 pounds of rolls, but that's another story) is that I want some chips and then I eat some pretzels and some ice cream and I keep eating until I realize that really all I wanted was a few chips.

I really hope not a one of you are making a New Years Resolution. Too many people spend their lives making plans and deciding what they are going to do and how they can make their lives better and they never get around to actually doing anything. It is time to actually do something. Finding some potato chips from PA would be a reasonable start.

Happy Eating!!!

Emily