New Things: Gluten-Free Edition

 Alright, I have to admit - I'm lazy. Phew, that felt good to get off my chest. While home-baked goods are delightful, sometimes I just gotta take a shortcut.

I just came home from Seattle - such a beautiful city and luckily, it was sunny for most of my stay. 

For a few years, my cousin has battled issues with food and has become sensitive to dairy, gluten, red meat and chicken eggs. Just recently, she launched a new company called Just Vittles. Just Vittles lives by the motto of "clean food for modern families". It is a fantastic site and I am proud to say that I will be interning for it. So do me a solid, check it out, and sign up! 

My cousin has inspired me to try cooking with healthier alternatives. Instead of honey and sugar, I've tried using agave nectar. Let me tell you, it is amazing and so much better for you. Want to find out more about agave? Check it out here. I just bought coconut and almond flour along with coconut crystals as a substitute for cane sugar so stay tuned for some more recipes.

Whilst getting these materials at the grocery store, I found this cookie mix by The Pure Pantry, which promises its mixes to be gluten, dairy, soy, nut and egg free. So needless to say, I bought it, tested it out and voila, the cookies turned out to be pretty darn good. While they don't taste like your ordinary, gluten filled cookie, they don't taste like a piece of cardboard and are pretty moist. To this mix, I added chocolate chips, coconut, walnuts and dried cranberries. Of course, you can add whatever you want.

Anyways, if you're feeling lazy like me and want to try something gluten-free, stock up on some of these cookie mixes and let me know what you think!

For now, happy nomming and remember to check out Just Vittles. 

-Emily

Summer Yogurt

Hey folks! Yes, it's been a while but we got lives and some serious eating to do!


The school year is finally over so a toast to summer 2011. May it bring some noms, tanning and a lot of aloe vera and not AP summer reading and SAT prep. (I know we're all dying to take practice tests at the nearby Princeton Review. Am I right?)


Kelly is currently in Oaxaca for two months for a program called Amigos de las Américas where she lives with a community and builds community projects to better benefit the families there. 


Anyway, I've been spending my summer days by the pool, getting reading done and flaunting big floppy hats with a lot of sunscreen by my side whilst eating some awesome greek yogurt.
Greek yogurt has caught the world's eye and has been noted as one of the healthier eats for one's diet. It has  a thick consistency and low in calories. 
To learn more about why greek yogurt is good for you, click here. 
So for the summer, I present to you my version of greek yogurt to eat for breakfast or as a snack.


Greek yogurt with strawberries, brown sugar and honey
2 tablespoons of plain greek yogurt
4 strawberries, cut into quarters
Brown sugar
Honey - I used raw honey and melted it down in the microwave
In a small bowl, I placed the strawberries on top and sprinkled brown sugar over the yogurt  to add some sweetness to it. After, I drizzled honey over the strawberries and tada - this masterpiece is complete. 


Now, you can add as many strawberries and as much yogurt as you'd like but this is normally how I take my yogurt.
Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer!


-Emily

Two Yolks, One Egg.

Have you ever seen this before?

It's a late Friday night and I have a never ending love for fried eggs.

Great source in protein and so delicious too.

Anyways, I'm standing over my stove with some browned butter bubbling in the pan and as I crack one egg - my mouth slowly drops* - two tiny yolks in one egg.
(*I get easily amused with small things, excuse me for my dork-ness)

I thought this was just a lucky egg but nope, I continued to fry a few more eggs and I found two more eggs with the exact same thing.

How does that happen? Did some weird funky mutation occur in the fertilization?
(Wait, do chicken eggs fertilize? I should have really payed more attention in biology class last year...)
Am I going to die?

Oh egg scientist, please explain this to me and send me a letter with this explanation.

Thank you.

-Emily

Almond Butter at it's Finest

Peanut butter and jelly plus banana sandwiches just remind us of first grade days with the metal vintage lunch boxes.  Cut off the crust mom!

Spring break: One week away

The number of tests in a 5 day school week: too many.

Thank you for making us take a trigonometry final math teachers! We adore you.

... But two versions of almond butter and banana sandwiches totally helped us power through this trigonometry nonsense.

Version One:
Almond butter (preferably crunchy. Barney Butter is our personal favorite), Nutella, and sliced bananas on your favorite piece of bread. (Only thing in our pantry was country potato bread which really does smell like potatoes...)

Version Two:
Almond butter, your favorite strawberry preserves (or whatever jam you prefer), sliced bananas, and a drizzle of honey on top of the bananas. We swear, the honey makes everything taste 110% better.

This ain't no ordinary pb&j, this is hardcore ab&j (get it? Almond butter and jelly, oh so creative.)

Eat with a glass of milk and you're set! Just let the Nutella and jelly ooze and seep out of the sides. Too good.

Happy nomming!

- Emily & Kelly

Citrus Infused Sugar

Plain cane sugar can be boring... Spice up some things? Yeah?

The citrus smells just brings so much joy to the nose, it's just so.. Fresh. Citrusy I guess, if that's an actual adjective.

Stir a teaspoon of this into your favorite cup of tea and voila, you literally have a cup of heaven.

The best part is, it took five minutes to make this and after, your hands just smell like orange all day. How great is that?

Citrus Sugar:

1 teaspoon of any citrus zest

1 cup of granulated sugar

Mix the zest with the sugar and use a large knife to scrape the sugar and zest in a back and forth motion until the sugar turns into a slight orange color.

You'll also know when it's mixed when everything smells like citrus fruits, mmm. 

Maybe put it in a jar with a pretty ribbon? 

Send em out as darling little gifts to your tea party gals or if you're studying for a test, mix it with your tea or sprinkle on top of some fruit.

Inspiration from: Joy the Baker (you'll be seeing her a lot on this blog)

- Emily & Kelly

Toasted Epi Loaf with Fresh Mozzarella

First off, I hate daylights savings with a passion of a thousand suns and it's a Sunday - which means it's Monday tomorrow which means school. Bleh.

I'm also procrastinating on a lot of my schoolwork. Not like I have an essay due tomorrow or anything... But some bruschetta sounds awesome.

So yes, went to San Francisco yesterday and came home with two Acme Epi loaves and day old bread is so good to toast up. Brush on some of your best olive oil, crushed garlic and top it off with some fresh mozzarella.

Slice an epi chunk in half and smack it face down in the butter coated pan. Just let that baby fry and sizzle till golden brown and becomes nomtastic.

How to make this quick easy bruschetta:

Slice day old bread (French baguettes are usually good, I used a french Epi Loaf)

Spread about a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice and take place small amounts of minced garlic on the bread. (Don't add too much because the garlic is a really strong and pungent flavor)

Heat up a frying pan with about 1/2 teaspoon of butter

Place the slices of bread with the olive oil spread face down and press down with a spatula, allowing the bread to brown and crisp

When golden brown and toasted, remove from frying pan and place one slice of fresh mozzarella on each piece of bread.

Add Heirloom tomatoes if you wish, I didn't have any available with me but it really compliments the bruschetta and voila!

Enjoy and happy nomming!

- Emily

The Slanted Door

Bay Bridge

Grapefruit Jicama Salad with Cabbage, Onions, Carrots and Candied Pecans

Grilled Lemongrass Pork with Imperial Rolls and Rice Noodles

The Confectioner's Plate: Pineapple Cotton Candy, Milk Chocolate Hazelnut Nougat, Almond Butter Toffee

The Ferry Building

Ok. The Slanted Door is my favorite restaurant, hands down.

If I could eat anywhere before I die ( For example: if crazy bald cats were about to take over the planet), I would eat at this amazing place.

So I guess this isn't very high school friendly but hey - sometimes we just gotta have adventures and San Francisco is definitely the place for a teenager to explore and have fun!

Located in the Ferry Building by Pier 1 and in the heart of San Francisco, the restaurant and location itself could not be anymore perfect. The view of the ocean and the Bay Bridge just makes you feel like you're in a movie.

I usually don't dig fusion restaurants (I like my stuff authentic thank you very much) but this is an exception. 

The desserts are so creative and the pastry chef is a master. They change their dessert menus every few weeks so each time you go, there will always be something different.

Indeed it was different. I freaking got pineapple cotton candy for dessert and it literally came out on a smooth rock plate and there was this freakishly awesome metal stick with a giant yellow wad of tangy (not too sweet) pineapple cotton candy.

How in the world does one come up with these things? Seriously? Dear Pastry Chef, you are a genius.

Even after you're done dining at this delightful place, you can walk around the Ferry Building and go the famous Ciao Bella for more dessert and Acme for bread. (I'm serious, Acme bread is probably the best bread ever.)

..But if you do plan to go try making reservations because it is usually very busy.

And on weekends, this small cute building holds a lively farmer's market filled with music and delicious food and cute trinkets.

Next time you're looking for an adventure - specifically a food adventure, add the San Fran Ferry Building to your list.

For more info, click below!

The Slanted Door

The Ferry Building Marketplace


- Emily