Emergency Chocolate

A friend recently came to stay with me when she was feeling a little off-kilter. I asked if there was anything I could do to make her feel better. She responded that the only thing she wanted was these chocolate peppermint candies* that I bought at our local natural grocery store.
It is has become her favorite thing to eat when she comes over and needs dessert.  I had a bunch in the refrigerator because I bought them when they were on sale.  Unfortunately, there were no more left.  I ran to the store to get some more. The clerked helped to look but finally determined that those candies were only sold at Christmastime.
Upon returning home I told my friend and she was very saddened but took it like a trooper. Next christmas, I vowed to purchase even more so as not to run out. They were never mentioned again and we didn't give them another thought.
Until, watching these Everyday Food videos by Sarah Carey.  She recently did a video on Simple Rocky Road Fudge. Huzzah! I thought with a little tweeking, this could turn into the Chocolate Peppermint Candies.



Here is how I altered her recipe.

Instead of almonds I used peppermint candy canes crushed up.

The marshmellow fluff was changed into mini-marshmellows.  Also, because she likes dark chocolate, those were the chocolate chips that were used.

She gave the fudge for taste an 8 (on a scale of 1-10) It received a 6 on presentation because she would have preferred the peppermint on top of the chocolate. The candy sometimes got in the way of the chocolate sticking to the graham crackers.

 



* I would tell you the name of them but I forgot it. I have googled but can't find the name.

Hey Dumplin'

I have tried another Gwyneth Paltrow recipe again. This one is the Veggie Dumplings. The recipe call for (imho) alot of equipment and ingredients.  This is not one that you want to try "on the fly".  It takes time and organization.

 However, the recipe does say you can freeze them for the future and it does seem to make many at one time.

Ingredients: garlic, onions, cabbage, cooked quinoa, tofu,frozen peas, egg roll wrappers, soy sauce,

It is important to have the quinoa cooked first. Hopefully, you have some leftover. I didn't so it took about 18 minutes for the quinoa to get done.

First you have to chop up garlic, onions and napa cabbage.  Since I didn't have any Napa cabbage handy I did you a cabbage that my neighbor gave me. WooHoo!

 

You put the garlic, onion and cabbage in a food processor and blitz.  The onion seemed to get a little "pasty" before the cabbage was fully chopped so I chopped in smaller batches.

 

After mixing this together, you place it in a frying pan with neutral oil in it. They saute until the onion and cabbage are almost brown.

 

Add the tofu, quinoa, and frozen peas to the pan and cook until the peas are softened.

 

 

 

*Then remove the pan from the heat and add soy sause and toasted sesame oil. Mash it all together.

 

 

Get out the egg roll wrapper and place them somewhere flat. I used a baking sheet with a silicon mat on it for ease.

Wet all for sides of the wrapper so it will stick together when forming the dumpling. Some people use a pastry brush, I just used my finger. Add about 1 tablespoon of the filling to the middle.

 



 

Then, bring up all for sides to meet in the middle to form a dumpling.

 

The top of mine looked too large for the bottom and was very flacid.  So I decided to cut the original wappers into fourths and make the dumplings much smaller.

 

 

You then need to steam them for about 4 minutes. They suggest you use a bamboo steamer. I just use the steamer pot that came with my pans. They turned out pretty well. 

 



If I make them again I would make sure to:

1. Not make them when I am hungry
2. Get everything set up beforehand and have plenty of time to create them
3. Use one big batch and freeze some, so you don't have to go through this process everytime you want dumplings.
    

 

 

*This is the step I forgot to do and maybe why my dumplings did not look nearly as good as Julie's and Gwyneth's





 

Paco Joe

This was begun by Amanda Soule at Soulemama.com.  I wanted to join in.

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

Blueberry Bounty

This is the latest recipe from It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow that I have tried. The recipe called "flourless any fruit crumble" was chosen because the Fresh Market had a sale for the 4th of July on blueberries. It was good. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was about a 7 overall. Of course my friend who came over for dinner had three helpings so, opinions may vary.



This is the book picture

You start with 4 cups of any kind of fruit. The picture in the book looks like there are apples and blueberries. Due to the sale, I got 4 POUNDS for $10 so I had plenty. I did make sure to take the stems off before I washed them.



4 cups of blueberries

The author's said to use a shallow baking dish but I decided I wanted to use a different type and it may have alter the recipe.The next ingredient to add to the blueberries is maple syrup. It says you need 4 tablespoons but you only use 2 tablespoons with the blueberries. You use the rest of the syrup later so if you want to divide it to make it easier you might want to.




Maple Syrup

For the one tablespoon of lemon juice, I had some frozen that I was going to use. The recipe calls for fresh though. Unfortunately, the frozen didn't thaw in time. I did have a lemon and wound up using the whole lemon to get the one tablespoon of juice. I put it in with the blueberries.

Lemons Lemons

Julia and Gwyenth said that you could substitute groun up almonds for the almond flour in the recipe.  It was easy as pie to do. I had previously gotten a bag of almonds at Big Sam's and just put those in the food processor and ZAPP!

You need 1/2 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of Quinoa. The cookbook lists Quinoa flakes and the ingredient. I am not sure if these a the flakes or not. Fortunately, the rosemary and olive oil seasoning is in a separate bag. So the quinoa was just plain.  These go into a separate bowel for the topping. Then add the leftover maple syrup and some salt. This gets mixed well together and becomes the topping for the crumble.


When everything is put togeth you place this dish into a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. 

Before
 

 

 

 

 

 

Kettle Chip Crazy!

When I received my free chicken from the Kroger Deli through BzzAgent. I also got a free coupon for their Kroger Kettle Chips. I really enjoyed how light they were. In my opinion, most kettle chips are heavy and thick. They taste like eating fried cardboard. 
The Kroger brand were alot thinner and more delicate. I actually ate the entire bag of chips which I normally never do.

I didn't get a picture of the chips but here is what is left of the chicken.