teacher by day - chef by night
You guys – seriously… keep reading! I know you might be thinking “UGH; Brussels Sprouts” – but I urge you to try these if you aren’t already a fan of these delicious mini-cabbage delicious things. If you already know how awesome these guys are, then …
FRESH Food is the Best! I don’t think that there is any argument to that. If you had fresh strawberries being put in a blind taste test against thawed strawberries from the freezer, I am sure the fresh ones would win. Or if you had …
We like things spicy around here. So last year when Rich decided that he wanted to grow habaneros, I supported him. Well, who knew that two little plants would produce so many peppers. I think that all year we used about 25 habaneros (and that is including recipes which used lots of them, like hot sauce, infusing vodka, and pepper flakes). I don’t know how people stand spicier peppers. So, long story short: we basically swore off super spicy peppers and decided to stick with the perfect pepper instead: Jalapenos.
A Jalapeno Pepper is just spicy enough. You get plenty of kick, but not too bad that you will burn your nose just chopping them or ruin a dinner by adding it to dinner! We still have more Jalapenos than we really can use without adding them to everything I cook (so the friends who I am sharing with aren’t complaining)!
One of the most popular jalapeno dishes around here has been Jalapeno Poppers. Now these are not your unhealthy deep-fried poppers, no – these are pretty healthy (low fat cream cheese & cheese, if you want to think “healthy” it is actually a well balanced snack: you have your dairy and your vegetable)! Even my mom and Rich’s mom, who both do not like super-spicy foods, enjoyed these. As Rich said “you need to add the heat [from baking them] to take away the heat [spicy-ness]”.
When you are “Entertaining Elegantly” – it does not need to be stuffy or stuck-up or difficult! Throwing your food “on a stick” is a great way to have beautiful presentation, easy to grab goodies, that everyone will love! Make skewered antipastos for your next …
When people ask you what your favorite food is, what answer do you give them? For me I have to always say that it is a tie between Chips & Salsa and Dark Chocolate (I know, its a strange “combination” – but as long as …
“Rich – I made you a snack – it’s in the fridge next to the milk…” I think that if I said that phrase more often we might be engaged (just kidding honey, kinda)
But in all seriousness – Rich LOVES cookie dough, even though he tells people all the time (as he is shoveling mouthfuls of cookie dough) how consuming raw eggs is bad for you. I figured I would show appreciation for all his hard work & commuting & such and treat him to a batch of ‘raw’ cookie dough to help deal with the tough semester he is having.
I didn’t want to go fully “vegan/healthy/raw” on him just yet though. I am sure that he will enjoy those ‘healthier options’ when I do try them [soon], but I am trying to loose weight and didn’t want to be tempted by having something sitting around that I could pretend was healthy. This Egg-Free Cookie Dough I (quite obviously) know is not “healthy” even if they are egg free and won’t give us salmonella!
adapted from The Cupcake Project (using a whole stick of butter – no need to mess around with measuring a stick & a half… going for easy here)
Mix up all ingredients in a bowl (fork, spoon, spatula, whatever) & add in your mix-ins (e.g. 1/2 cup chocolate chips). DONE – we like chilled chocolate chip cookie dough, so this is now stored in a Tupperware in the fridge ready for danger.
And I leave you with this, today’s Question of the Day… What is your favorite Guilty Pleasure (food related or not)!? [mine is chocolate]
