Fun With Your Food

Blue Note Bakery is a custom cake shop here in Austin.  Mariah, from Dining In Austin,  set up a tasting for local food bloggers and you better believe I jumped at the opportunity. I didn’t realize it, but this is where BFF Cara and Mike got their wedding cake. THAT was a good cake.  I must have eaten a 1/4 of it haha (there were a lot of left overs!)

WARNING: SUGAR OVERLOAD begins NOW!

When we first arrived, Angela was setting up everything in the back so the group thumbed through photo albums of past cakes and photographed the display cakes.  Once everything was set up we had a talk about the shop and how it’s different from normal bakeries. ALL cakes are custom made; we saw everything from traditional white wedding cakes to party cakes of coolers with beer and even a RoboCop riding an unicorn cake.  The conversation moved toward the importance of local ingredients and Angela told us that she has her own chickens and she uses their eggs at her shop.  How cool is that? It makes me want a chicken haha She only has about 20 and they roam around her yard.  If she needs more eggs she knows a couple of kids down in austin who take care of chicken and she buys from them.

They also make their own fondant, so it actually tastes good.

Count them- SEVEN.  Seven cakes for us to sample.  I took pictures of each so I could remember what I was eating!

Tie Dye Vanilla, Orange Ginger, Gluten Free Chocolate Hazelnut, Pistachio w Espresso Buttercream and Honey Fondant, Chocolate Orange, Red Velvet, and Chipotle Chocolate with Salted Caramel Buttercream.

PHEW! And those were just the cakes….

The DIY frosting table.

I didn’t write down all the frosting- there were eleven of them! I remember my favorites though.  All are homemade (of course).  My top 3 were- Strawberry, Baileys Buttercream, Peanut butter.  The idea was, grab your cakes then choose the frostings you wanted on each cake.

I was a little overwhelmed with all the choices and eventually just made dots of frosting on my plate so I could try them all on their own.  Some of them didn’t even need frosting IMO.

My two favorite cakes

The Chocolate Chipotle

Pistachio w Espresso Buttercream and Honey Fondant

SALT was all I could think about after eating all that cake.  I wasn’t even hungry but I needed something to balance out all that sugary sweet cake. A group of us went out to TexMex to round out the evening.

What a great nite!

Teddy

Blue Note Bakery

Jalopys is a new trailer that serves sandwiches.  Now most of their menu was roasted chicken so I almost didn’t go because what can I eat, ya know? Luckily, they definitely will be having veggie sandwiches and they whipped up one of their prototypes for me (more on that later).  First, there are a few non food related things that I liked about this new trailer.

1) The owner hired all local artist to decorate the outside of the trailer.  Each artist is provided a section and while they’re not told what to paint at all, there is a quirky  eclectic feel to what I’ve seen so far (they weren’t done when I visited).

2) The sandwich drop. Again, it’s quirky and adorable.  I’ve also been told a free oatmeal cream pie sandwich or two have slid down for some customers!

3) Anyone could have a standard rack-o-chips for people to have with their meal but Jalopy’s has homemade veggie chips with different flavor choices.

Sprinkle on chips fresh from the frier and POOF- homemade BBQ chips

We spiced it up with some hot sauce too (on the chips of course).

Spicy black bean sandwich with fennel salad. Warning, if you don’t like spicy, tell them when you order. I happen to love  spicy. The fennel was my favorite part of the sandwich. I thought of one suggestion though, grated fennel would be easier to eat and still provide that crunch.

So the owner mentioned he’s looking for new vegetarian sandwich ideas. He probably isn’t ready to commit to tempeh or tofu (it IS a roasted chicken sandwich shop).  Any suggestions?

Teddy

Jalopy on twitter- http://twitter.com/jalopyaustin Read the rest of this entry »

If you get the chance to do any berry picking this spring/summer it’s possible you may have TOO MANY berries.  It’s exciting and very easy to be overzealous with your picking. I am guilty of this and thus, I make jam!

Most of the jam recipes I found required a LOT of sugar and that’s not really my thing. I searched for recipes that used agar agar and found that most used a fraction of the amount of sweetener. I went with honey has my sweetener but you can still use sugar or agave.

The amount of strawberries left were enough jam to fill a little more than one jar. I only had a pints worth of overripe strawberries.

Sampling the jam on a gingersnap cookie shaped like the state of Texas

Ingredients

1 pint overripe strawberries (1 FULL cup sliced/hulled)

1 large lemon (juiced and zested)

H20 to cover berries (1/2 – 1 cup)

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup chopped mint (or more-whatever you’d like)

2 1/2 teaspoons agar (let this bloom like you would gelatin)

Add all your ingredients except the agar into a pot and bring to a boil. Let the mixture boil uncovered and reduce for 10-15 mins or until your strawberries have begun to break down. Add the agar, stir it in well and let boil for another 2-3 minutes stirring occasionally.

You can ladle this into sterilized jars or unsterilized ones (these wont last as long but i doubt you’ll have the jam around too long anyway). So far I’ve had this with cookies, in oatmeal, on vanilla ice cream….  I enjoy the tang of lemon and the sweet of the berry in the recipe.  Feel free to make changes and let me know if you like it!

Teddy

Yep, I’ve got a certificate that says I’m a certified natural foods (macrobiotic) chef.  Wow- how’d that happen?! The year and a half has FLOWN by.

Two days before my graduation I helped with a catered meeting of our schools teachers.  I wasn’t able to get a lot of pictures but aren’t these cookies exquisite?

Almond Jewel Cookies (not my recipe)

Teaser recipe!  Sorry, it’s not mine to give out

My big day! One of the graduates made corsages for us out of wild flowers she picked. How nice, right?  Cara and Mike came and cheered me on, too.  Nothing better than a group of great people, nourishing food, and a new certificate.

Graduates strike a pose!

Once it’s on paper it’s real right?  The whole thing is surreal to me still.  I have one more thing to do before I graduate; my cooking demo.  I’ll be making a no-bake vegan version of my grandma’s blackberry and custard pie.  The date isn’t completely set but it is open to the public (so anyone can come!) and I will be providing samples for everyone!  Of course, I’ll send out an invite as soon as the date is set.  I’m hoping a few of my friends can come to help with my nerves! lol

things to look forward this week:

strawberry jam recipe, a new trailer review and MORE

Happy Monday

Boy am I behind on here!  Yesterday I made some strawberry lemon and mint jam with all of my overripe, leftover strawberries.  It is ah-mazing. I’ll have to share the recipe with you; I just haven’t taken photos yet.

PB & J oatmeal

I’ve been finding excuses to use it in everything.  For instance, this mornings breakfast was oatmeal PB and J style. I haven’t had oatmeal since winter.  It’s sooo filling that I didn’t eat lunch until 1.

Lunch:

crustless quiche

These crustless quiches are different from ones I have made before.  They’re a mixture of arame, sauteed onions, and kale.  I had to use the last of the kale I bought at boggy creek and this seemed fitting.  The quiche are so rich that I really enjoyed the freshness of the steamed kale next to it.

I’m still waiting on posting pictures from my graduation because I have it on good authority that one of my classmates has AWESOME pictures.  She promises to put them online soon… (fingers crossed people!) If I don’t have them in a few days I’ll just put up my own.

Look forward to a low sweetener jam recipe!

Teddy

Boggy Creek is a small organic farm that sells it’s produce directly to it’s customers in Austin. While it’s a little pricier than something at a chain grocers, the experience of going to the farm is fantastic.  You can literally see your vegetable/fruits being picked minutes before you buy them.  You can also wander the farm grounds, say hello to their chickens (they sell eggs), or snap a bunch of photos like I did.

What I bought:

Kale is probably my favorite type of green to eat.  I’m also partial to arugula and watercress right now too.

The peppery flavor of arugula is what keeps me going back for more.  I use it in simple salads, on sandwiches, or throw some in at the last minute with a noodle heavy soup.

This was my new experimental purchase.  I’ve had escarole in restaurants but haven’t taken it home much to play with in my own kitchen.  The bitter flavor puts some people off so beware if that’s not your cuppa tea.

I was in desperate need of greens so I went a little crazy.  Since I’m cooking for one, I see a LOT of green meals in my future. After shopping I relaxed and roamed around the farm with my camera.

Hanging garlic to dry. I can’t say I’ve ever seen the process of drying garlic. Pretty neat, eh?

Love the number of gloves hanging from this porch! This is definitely a farm home.

I graduated from culinary school this weekend, attended a birthday party, a murder mystery dinner party, a brunch and was able to make a dish for a potluck.  My graduation warrants it’s own post so I’ll be showing off pictures from that tomorrow.  The herbs I planted a few weeks ago need to be re-potted and I’m excited to go shopping for supplies today. Mondays are always hard for me. I’m so excited for the new week that I plan/try to do a million things at once. My list is already far too long today but I’m optimistic I can make a sizable dent. Hope you mark a few things of your list today too!

Teddy

Chocolate covered strawberries

Easiest best dessert EVER. Just use a double boiler to melt dark chocolate chips with a small amount of fat (I used crisco).  The small amount of fat makes the chocolate pliable on the strawberries instead of rock hard. Dip a strawberry, place on a piece of parchment in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes and you’re done.

I don’t want to publicly admit how many of these I made and ate.  However, I will say I gave MOST of them away. KU-DOS to me for that.

Pan fried dulse!

Lunch was brown rice + escarole salad with daikon, carrot and cucumber.  The highlight of the meal were my homemade chickpeas with pan fried dulse on top.  You should try pan fried dulse.  It’s salty and smokey and slightly bacon-ish (don’t ever think of it AS bacon because it’s NOT the same but it’s a great vegan-soy free healthy version)

T.C.'s Lounge

It was a friends birthday last yesterday and a group of us went to a local whole-in-the-wall blues lounge called TC’s. By the end of the night the band serenaded my friend with an amazing rendition of Otis Reddings “Lovin by the Pound”.

Git down with your bad self!

On a non food related note, I somehow matched the band last night. We were all in black and red- LOOKIN GOOD. haha Fun birthday times were had by all.  We should be having a real shindig this weekend, since everyone had to work and couldn’t stay out last night.

Time to head out and shop for a graduation dress. I know I don’t NEED a new dress, but hell I went to school for the last year and a half and I think a new dress to celebrate that might be in order.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

Teddy

Last weekend the bloggers of Austin traveled to Marble Falls for a berry picking trip.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it. I really wanted to go so I made my mind up to go the next week.  After blasting out some texts messages to friends I was able to convince my friend Sharon to come with me. Before we started our mini road trip I had a breakfast of my left over yogurt with some toasted pecans pieces I had in my pantry.

The rest of my yogurt with pecans

Sharon and I hit the road at lunch time.  We knew we wouldn’t be able to survive on strawberries alone so a lunch stop was in order.

Lulu B's Menu

Lulu B’s was a trailer that was on the way.  They serve banh mi (Vietnamese baguette sandwiches) for lunch and I love them.  Sharon had never been and was down to give them a go.

Lemongrass tofu sandwich

I ordered the Tofu Lemongrass (as per usual).  One of these fills me up every time and it’s only around 4 bucks. Sharon ordered a pork sandwich, she approved and said it was fantastic.

pickled veg and cilantro

Pickled veg and I really get along right now.  I can’t seem to get enough (crunchy tangy goodness). MmmM.  Lulu B’s has a nice outside eating area but I would recommend calling your order in before you go because it tends to take a little while.

Berry picking begins

Sweet Berry Farms is about an hour drive from my place.  That’s qualifies as a road trip to me and seeing this welcome at the end of the drive brought smiles to both Sharon and my faces.

Reuseable box

Grab yourself a reusable box to pick berries (they’re only 50 cents) and head out to the fields!

Strawberry fields forever!

You need to sample a few for quality control

Yes, I sample.  Who doesn’t??  There were some animals on the farm (a few horses and donkeys) and they sampled a few from us as well.

What will I make??

Chocolate covered strawberries are a must with these but I haven’t decided what else to make.  Any suggestions? Maybe jam? Perhaps I’ll freeze them?  We’ll see! I only have a couple of days to decide.

Baby blackberries

The next crop I want to pick is blackberries! I have to do a cooking demo in June.  The plan is to go pick berries and then use them in the demo (vegan blackberry custard pie- with berries picked by ME).

Sips for a cause

To end a perfect Tuesday I grocery shopped/happy houred/ate dinner at whole foods with some of my friends, all of which benefited a bunch of local charities. Whole foods announced today that $16,452 was raised during yesterday’s events!

Today I have a conference call on health coaching and I’d like to pick up some fresh greens from Boggy Creek Farm. I’ll probably be dipping some strawberries too.  Hope you have a good one!

Teddy

I finished course 1!

The last technique we learned was how to pipe roses.  I’ll admit my roses look very similar to carnations but that was my frosting’s fault- NOT MINE.  To be fair, I made the frosting but that’s just beside the point I’m making here.  LAlaaaLLAAA… How about we look at the picture instead.

It's a rose-ish?? lol

Every week while driving to class I pass by this beautiful wall of graffiti.  I’ve wanted to take pictures of it and since I have a camera now (YAY!), that’s what I set out to do after class.

How cute is that lil squirrel just hiding there by the buckets? shush! Don’t scare him- shesh

Trying out my new camera effects- Fish eye

My new camera has all these “magic” settings (they’re actually called MAGIC on the camera)  that I’ve been curious about.  So far my favorite two are Fish Eye and POP ART.

Another effect called POP ART

I’d live here!

Crazy faced POP ART!

Does this remind anyone else of those “WAZZZUUUPP??!!” commercials?  Oh if the artist only read that comment on his work, I’m sure that’s what he was going for. hahahaha

Veggie filled lunch

With the photo shoot all wrapped up and a cake decorated, I started on lunch.  I’ve been holding out on grocery shopping until tomorrow so it was slim pickins.  Just some brown rice, BBQ seitan, pickles and organ frozen veggies.

The Whole Foods at South Lamar is donating 5% of net sales tomorrow to a BUNCH of local food organizations:

Green Corn Project, Slow Food, Slow Money, Sustainable Food Center, and Urban Roots

Enough links for you there??  Definitely a good reason to put off grocery shopping for a couple of days.  Already went grocery shopping you say? Well, well, welllll lucky you, the store is throwing a happy hour from 6pm-8pm as well.  Cheap drinks for a good cause is always a good idea.  For the record, I’m doing both.  Double bonus karma points for me!

OK- dinner.

Butternut squash curry with mint

If you haven’t had 1) Sweet potatoes 2) Kabocha squash or 3) Butternut squash with some sort of red curry TRY IT.  I’m telling you the sweetness of these vegetables with the spice of thai red curries is heaven to me. I took a chance and added some mint that was about to go bad in with this one.  GOOD choice, Teddy! (pats myself on the back)

Organic Honey and Greek Yogurt

Dessert was a simple mixture of greek yogurt and some of the best honey I’ve had in a long time. It’s probably better for me to eat some local honey but I got this jar in a goodie bag and I’ve yet to make a dent in it.

Guess what? Tomorrow I’ve got plans to go BERRY PICKING!  I’m so excited, you have no idea.  I haven’t been since I was a kid living on the East Coast. Oh I hope I don’t gorge myself causing permanent damage (is that possible?  I bet I can do it if it is…) Anyhoo, if I suddenly stop posting it MAY be because of that.

See you sooonnnn! (maybe?? hahaha – no, I’ll see you soon)

Teddy

PS- One more time- GO TO WHOLEFOODS TOMORROW AUSTIN!!

Koriente for Dinner- silk tofu A

Saturday was my BIG DAY this weekend.  A friend of mine offered me a catering job for a wedding.  She did a LOT of the prep work but didn’t want to have to be working the whole wedding because she wanted to see her friend be married. I tried to remember to take pictures of everything but it got so busy I only snagged shots of the appetizers.  There were about 150 people at the wedding and only two of us rushing foods out.

Appetizer Number One- Mixed Berries with Zest

These berries were very simple but elegant.  Some foods are just gorgeous the way they are, right?

Appetizer Number Two- Mixed Cheeses with Grapes

I got to snack on a piece of cheese from these while I was putting them together (shhhh- don’t tell). I was working the wedding all day 1pm to 10pm and I was so busy I forgot to eat much!  I did sample what we were making to check flavors but that would hardly be considered a meal.

Crackers to go with Cheese

These are actually pre-made pita crackers.

Baked Brie with Fig Jam

I didn’t get to sample this but this definitely would have been my favorite dish of the entire night.  I used to HATE brie but slather it with fruit compote, warm it up and I’m in love.

I didn’t get home until 11pm that night.  I was so exhausted that I only had the energy to take a relaxing shower then pass out in bed.

Blanched Salad For Breakfast

I woke up HUNGRY today.  Since it was Sunday my fridge is mostly depleted.  I threw what I had into a quick blanched salad (to help with all that bread and cheese I had yesterday)

On Friday I thought that I would wake up Saturday and enjoy some cartoons and ol’ time cereal. That didn’t happen but I was grateful to have Cheerios and almond milk this morning. Hopefully I can have a cartoon morning soon.  I love doing those (probably about 2 times a year haha)

The rest of the day was grabbing only what I needed from Whole Foods, a FANTASTIC beer and cheese party at Jennie’s house and a failed cake attempt.  I’ve got to head to bed.  I have my final cake decorating class tomorrow.  We’re learning to make flowers! This is what I’ve been waiting for the whole series.  I’ll post picture of how that goes later.  Night!

Teddy