January Days

the final dinner party

"Watch out for that small thing that bites your ankles.."

..advised Bobby, when referring to the open dishwasher.

(It's fun coming to my parent's house for dinner)

Cookie Monster Inc.

Almond Macaroon

A few years ago, I operated a small cookie business in Santa Barbara. At the time, I also worked as a barista in a local coffee shop and absolutely loved it.  I thought I had found my niche- ready to slave behind an espresso machine for the rest of my life.

To supplement my coffee making skills, I began to bake cookies of all shapes and sizes- with almond macaroons being everyone's favorite. Everyday after work, I'd rush home and turn on the oven to begin baking. I'd get the KitchenAid in place, decide on an (innovative) recipe, and begin baking for the next 4 hours. I couldn't let my coffee shop customers down- even at the expense of 4 less hours of sleep.

Life was good.

A couple of months later, my romanticized idea of working as a full-time barista & maintaining a successful cookie business began to dissipate. It was a dog-eat-dog world in the cookie industry and let's just say I wasn't prepared to fight the other "cookie lady" for counter space any longer.

Fortunately for my parents, they were glad to see me move on to bigger and (better?) things.

Almond Macaroon Recipe

The preparation method for making these little guys is quite simple.

• 1 (7 oz) package almond paste
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 egg whites
• 3 dozen blanched whole almonds
• 1/2 cup shredded organic coconut

Grease your cookie sheet. Break the almond paste into smaller pieces and add them to the flour and sugar mixture. Add egg whites and extracts and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.

Place the dough in a decorating bag fitted with a #9 rosette tip. Pipe the dough onto the cookie sheet in 2 inch rounds. Top each with an almond and sprinkle with coconut. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. In the meantime, set the oven to 325. After 30 minutes, bake the cookies until edges are light brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet and place on a cooling rack.

Note: if you want to add more almonds or coconut while they are baking- that's always a good option. My friends always love more coconut than the recipe calls for. And for a finishing touch, you may top the cookies with a pinch of powdered sugar. Viola.

Perfect for adorning true dessert masterpieces

Renaud's hazelnut cake.

#happybirthdaynico

January Days

When warm weather happens to manifest itself on the shores of Santa Barbara, there's really only 3 things worth doing:

1. going whale watching

2. surreying down Cabrillo- maracas in hand

3. picking fruit in the garden

..and because my mom was busy today, the final option seemed most appropriate.

so-called cleanse.

In an effort to counter the effects of the holidays- and against my better judgment, I decided to do a juice cleanse. Knowing many people that swear by them, I thought I'd finally give it a try. 

After morning yoga at the Soup, I was ready to take on the challenge. Because I don't own a juicer (and never will), I drove straight to the nearest juice bar. I was going to pay someone to juice my juice.  I looked at the extensive juicing menu- having to squint my eyes to read the infinitesimally long descriptions.  I picked the first thing that sounded remotely palpable, with over 10 different vegetables and ginger. While I was waiting, I thought about grabbing a sandwich, but then remembered that I was on a cleanse. Damn.

Once my juice was juiced, I grabbed the cup, only to realize that it was warm. Gross. Who even does that?  I quickly asked for some ice cubes to make my juice less tepid in temp. The juice lady looked down her nose at me. Clearly I was not a seasoned juice drinker.

By the time I got home, I had gotten through about half of my juice. I added more ice cubes and chugged the rest- definitely the hardest thing I've done all year. I realized then that I was still famished. If anything, the juice had made me hungrier.

An hour and a half later, my juice cleanse ended with some chips & salsa. I prefer to eat my food rather than sip it anyway.

dishin up the nutrish

Avocado

Persea americana

Avocados are my favorite. They are rich in flavor, fun to pick off the tree (obviously) and extremely nutritious. 

I love adding avocado to just about anything.
When I'm not stuffing myself with guacamole at Gracias Madre, I add a few slices to my breakfast. This adds a wonderful soft flavor & gives you a long-lasting feeling of comfort.

Avocado nutriton, etc.

Avocados are great. They are native to Central and South America and have been cultivated since 8,000 B.C.E. There are dozens of varieties of avocados, with the Haas variety being the most popular in California. In fact, over 95% of all avocados consumed in the US are grown in California.

These little guys are extremely concentrated with nutrients and carotenoids. Such carotenoids are alpha-carotene & lutein, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin and violaxanthin. Avocados are also extremely rich in healthy (and unusual) fats. There is strong research that suggests that the consumption of avocado fat can decrease inflammation and help aid our digestive tract through the formation of transport molecules that help increase the absorption of fat-soluble nutrients. Avocado's polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols (otherwise only found in ocean plants) also provide anti-inflammatory benefits.

There has also been extensive research that suggests that there is a direct relationship between avocado consumption and anti-cancer benefits- specifically cancers of the skin, mouth and prostate gland. In healthy cells, avocado helps improve inflammatory & oxidative stress levels. However, in cancer cells, avocado helps to increase oxidative stress and shift the cancer cells into a cell death cycle (apoptosis). In essence, avocado consumption lessens cancer cell numbers, while simultaneously encouraging the creation of non-cancerous cells.


And the best part is that Santa Barbara is teeming with avocado trees, thus making them easily available all year!

Much of this research comes from Whole Foods. For more information, please see this link.

rainy day

perfect for a little baking.

l'amande

un peu de sucre

une pincée d'amour

La vraie perfection

If there's one thing Renaud is good for, it's his

almond croissant.

Renaud's Patisserie & Bistro is a stellar spot in Santa Barbara.

Serving authentic French fare, and some of the most mouth-watering pastries around. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Renaud's croissants are superior in flavor and texture compared to the ones you'll find in Paris.

Hence the reason, I usually pick up 3 croissants at time.

l'omelette

wintery is the new autumnal.

mothery influences

bacon & beer..

 it's what's for breakfast

ok.

she taught me well.

Rome, circa 1992.

Gelato, per usual.

Coudn't top this.

To be completely honest, all I really want to do in life is pick fruit.

It's the perfect meditative activity.

Dancing while doing it is also pretty great.

Especially when you get to stuff your face with sweet persimmons at the same time..

Outtatowner.

Every Christmas, Kerissa Barron comes to visit for an indefinite amount of time.
This is great because we share many things in common-
 crepe making, doing the sexy dance, and watching every season of Glee.

When we're not enjoying these pastimes, we like to break out the rolling pin & molasses to make some special treats. 

And as expected this year, we kept to our tradition.

If you'd like to make some of em', check out this wicked recipe that is easy to mimic.

the AM.

12:06: that's a wrap. 12:12: one piece of veggie pizza. 12:13: one piece of pepperoni pizza

12:19: three cookies. 12:16 1 cup of tea. 12:46: 1 caprese panini (toasted).

Healthy decisions.

#_#

..I love my roommates

a new element.

Two scientists at Zuni Cafe.

Two chairs. One bench.

Firewood piles & burnt brick walls

Modern pastels above his head.

A taste of Sancerre & la Vallée de la Loire.

Tangible effervescence.

Salty flavors from Marin's depths

And a sizzling combination of mushroom & sage

Sanctioned experimentation

And an epicurean delight..

Necessarily Stuffed.

Autumnal sweaters, turkey traumas, & copious amounts of Cab...

What isn't to love at the Van Buren Thanksgiving?

..and le Pièce de résistance.

..Just Kidding.

"We definitely will be staying open."

-Gracias Madre

The absolute worst.

"The big news of the day is the all-edifying-vegan-menu restaurant that is Cafe Gratitude is closing up all seven of its Northern California locations and the owners' other S.F. restaurant, Gracias Madre. SFist reports, via a Cafe Gratitude Facebook post, that the chain is closing the three S.F. locations along with the others due to 'a series of aggressive lawsuits.' " 

Depression is likely. 

November's 613.

Pomegranate

Punica granatum L.

I like pomegranates. Since I was young, I've been fascinated by this fruit. This might have something to do with my obsession with listening to Greek Mythology tapes on repeat everyday- Persephone was the best. However, it probably has more to do with making Pomegranate jelly every November. My Grandma would always have me over to help her shell and seed the pomegranates, boil the seeds, and add an inappropriate amount of sugar and gelatin. This process usually took 7 hours-but the end result was amaZing. November was my new favorite month.

Just this past week while I was at home for Thanksgiving, I came across a pomegranate tree. I was a little surprised to have found one that had fruit bearing on it because I'd never seen what it looked like. The pomegranates were so, so beautiful. I wanted to pick one (or eight), but was nervous that the winery we were at might be a little upset if I started pruning back their only pomegranate tree.

...Yeah, that didn't stop me.

Pomegranates are one of the oldest known fruits. They often appear in ancient Greek mythology (yes) and ancient Egyptian mythology and art. Grown abundantly throughout the Middle East, the Mediterranean and California, pomegranates are rich in nutrients and flavor. The little seeds have an awesome texture and leave a sweet & sour aftertaste in your mouth.

Pomegranates contain high levels of vitamin C and many types of antioxidants, namely from three anthocyanidins: cyanidin, delphinidin and pelargonidin. The polyphenol content is 3X the amount that is usually found in green tea and red wine.  Polyphenols are directly related to cancer and heart disease prevention. Wicked nutrition right here.

 

And the fun pomegranate fact of the day: The number of seeds found in a pomegranate are always 613- the same number of commandments in the Torah.

P.S. A tip for when you're seeding pomegranates: place the pomegranate in a bowl of water and break apart the rinds/membranes. This way, you won't get 6 billion pomegranate stains on your cute autumnal shirt.

Some things never change..

In the food world, things are constantly evolving. Fried chicken & waffles or donuts with bacon have become the next best snack (again, thanks Oregon for your creative genius).

However, when it comes to Gracias Madre, the delights of vegan Mexican food remain constant.

Allow me to reiterate from an earlier post that there are few restaurants that you can compare this place to- despite Brock's curmudgeon attitude to disagree. I won't bore you with the minute details again, unless you want to read up on them here / here.

It's safe to say that most people lose all culinary inhibitions when it comes to GM. Personally, I would eat there everyday if I could.

For now, twice a week will have to do.

And if you need a friend to go with, you know who to call..