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Eating your feelings – the healthy way

12 Jan

Today is the first day of 2011 that I will spend alone. Paul has left for Indonesia. For the next six months.  It is both a sad and happy day indeed. Sad he’s gone again, but happy I have a whole year of cooking, creating, growing and learning ahead of me.

So, I sort of feel like this woman above. But we all know that’s not helping! I can’t just sit and stare out the window, even if I do have one of the best views in the city.  What else can I do? Yes, I can eat.  But instead of filling my face with fatty foods that will consistently fall short of filling that void, I’ll plan some recipes to make and share. 

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DIY Dinner: Hunt’s Brings prizes AND recipes to the table!

7 Jan

I was entering this fun little contest today, for a chance to Host the Ultimate Chef Party with Celebrity chef George Duran and after I didn’t win, they gave me a fun little recipe.  I was actually pretty impressed, because even though I didn’t win, the recipe they gave me (above, for Pizza Pockets) is super easy!

Not only did this remind me that I LOVE pita pockets, it also reminded me of when my mom would make me tuna pockets for lunch (not gross, even though it probably sounds like it).

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Two. Eight. One. Six. Three.

10 Dec

Two weeks till Christmas Eve.

My Christmas Table Scape

I just put away my Thanksgiving dinnerware and tablescape and dug around for things I could use in my Christmas tablescape.  Here’s a few different angles:

I pulled out all the white and red candles I had and made a montage with various holders and vases

Eight days till Paul gets home.

One person I want to wake up next to.

Six things I have to do before Christmas morning.

  1. Wrap presents
  2. Hang curtains
  3. Re-organize storage
  4. Prep home office
  5. Make holiday edible treats
  6. Finish buying presents (this should be first, but whatever)

 

Three easy DIY present ideas for hard-to-shop for people.

I know many of us are doing more with less this year, and it reminds me: we can still show just as much – if not more – love for those in our lives by making heartfelt gifts that can truly be appreciated by those we gift them to.  I count myself in that group of folks, and since I’m primarily a cook, I feel it’s only fair to share my skills with those around me!  So, here’s what I do: I pick up a handful of clean, modern bakeware dishes (have you seen them at your local grocery store, like Safeway? for like $4-6 a piece!), then I take a super simple bar cookie recipe and bake it IN the dish.  Wrap that up with some cling wrap, and a nice big bow with a thoughtful card. What do you have? A great, custom, irreplacable gift.  Telling someone you care in a card and making something from scratch for them is basically an iron clad way to get them to cry tears of joy and thanks. :)

So, here are three easy recipes you can bake into those dishes and giveaway proudly!  If you have questions about the recipes, or how to package, just leave me a comment!

Chocolate Chip, Oats ‘n Caramel Cookie Squares Recipe

 Ingredients
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create ‘n Bake® refrigerated chocolate chip cookies
1 cup quick-cooking oats
Dash salt, if desired
2/3 cup caramel topping
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 bag (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips (1 cup)

Preparation
 1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Stir or knead in oats and salt. Reserve 1/2 cup dough mixture for topping. In ungreased 9-inch square pan, press remaining dough mixture evenly in bottom to form crust.
 2. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until dough puffs and appears dry.
 3. In small bowl, mix caramel topping, flour and vanilla until well blended. Sprinkle walnuts and chocolate chips evenly over crust. Drizzle evenly with caramel mixture. Crumble reserved 1/2 cup dough mixture over caramel.
 4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides of pan to loosen bars. Cool completely, about 1 hour 30 minutes. For bars, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows. Store tightly covered.
 5. High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake crust 12 to 14 minutes. After topping crust, bake 22 to 27 minutes.

Brown Sugar Fudge Recipe

INGREDIENTS
2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup pure maple syrup
2 cups chopped walnuts
 

PREPARATION
• Stir together brown sugar, cream and syrup in a 3-quart casserole. Microwave at high for 17 to 19 minutes, stirring well after 7 minutes. To test doneness, a few drops of the mixture will form a soft ball when dropped into a cup of cold water.
• Let stand until lukewarm, then beat with an electric mixer for 10 to 12 minutes, until mixture becomes creamy.
• Add nuts and stir well.
• Pour into a buttered 8-inch square dish. Refrigerate until set.

Pumpkin Spice Bars Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 box spice cake mix
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 16-oz. can pumpkin
2 eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans

PREPARATION
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine cake mix, 1 egg, and melted butter; stir until mixture is well blended (mixture will be dry). Press into bottom of a 10-1/2 x 15-1/2 inch jelly roll pan.
• In another bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin, 2 eggs and salt; beat until mixture is smooth. Pour over crust. Sprinkle with pecans.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until filling is set. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Chill. Cut into bars and store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Pam Anderson is: TheBomb.com

7 Oct

On Tuesday night this week, I went to another fabulous Seattle Food Blogger event put on by the one and only, Frantic Foodie (Keren Brown) at the ever-evolving and inspiring Urbane restaurant inside the Hyatt downtown.

We (the Seattle Food Bloggers) were welcoming author and master cook, Pam Anderson, who is celebrated across the culinary industry, but also has a great food blog with her two daughters, http://threemanycooks.com/.

Pam had one of her talented daughters, Maggie, with her for the evening. We noshed on tasty local bites ranging from oysters to asian pear salad, salmon with a heirloom tomato relish and more.  (BTW, they have a KILLER HAPPY HOUR. take note!)

Pam talked about her journey in writing her new book, Perfect One Dish Dinners, and told us a bit about how the everyday cook can use it.  We got to thumb through it (which only made me want to buy a copy even more here) and then she opened the floor to questions….about pretty much anything.

In a word, Pam is: gasp-enducing (is that one word???).  Her tennacity and drive are palpable and she was truly inspiring to be around.  If nothing else, I recommend looking at the cook book because it gives us what I think we truly want: someone else does all the planning and all we have to do is do exactly what they say. She plans the whole meal, but makes it super simple to create.  She gives you effortless sides, adds in substitutions and even mentions possible wine pairings.

I of course put on the hat of  “broke-twenty-something-who-likes-to-entertain-on-a-weeknight-for-under-$40″ and I was really pleasantly surprised at how many meals could still step up to the plate.  While some meals would require a grocery store trip for ingredients, many things could be whipped up based on what you’ve got around the kitchen and garden.  And I’d estimate about 95% of the ingredients you need are inexpensive and readily available at any regular grocery store….so no specialty shops required.

Here’s a fun video she did about the book and her career path:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/mD2WPBCTJZPG1

Thank you to Keren for putting on this great event, and thanks to Pam for opening up about the process, encouraging us all to forge ahead, and for being kind enough to share moments with us individually afterwards.  It was great to meet you and good luck with the book!  Here’s to your next 6! :)

Food Matters: Get your CSA on!

1 Apr

I recently posted on my Twitter account:

  • Siiri Sampson Okay, I’m asking again: Searching for my #CSA for this year. Any #SeattleCSA* recommendations? GO! Add a comment

This post in particular is about finding a good CSA: Community Supported Agriculture

So, what does the CSA do?  Good question…

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Food Matters: mike’s hard humane tweetup!

17 Dec

Hi gang!

I wanted to make sure I posted today about a great local event being put on by the great peeps over at Mike’s Hard Lemonade:

Date: Thursday December 17th
Time: 6pm
Location: Sport Restaurant & Bar
140th 4th Ave. N. Suite 130
Seattle, WA 98109

Twitter#: #mikes or Hashtag:   #humaneholiday

What’s happening: For every guest, mike’s hard lemonade® will donate $5.00 to the Seattle Humane Society.
A rep from the Humane Society will talk about the good things they are doing in the community.  The Seattle social media community will announce a revamped seattle.socialcentral.net site.

Wanna go?!?!?!! Of course you do!

Here’s the Tweetvite: http://tweetvite.com/event/mikes

Of course, there’s drink specials, and all the proceeds from guest entry go to our furry friends! So, go, drink, enjoy, help! (as long as you’re over 21, of course!)

Food Matters: Drop in and Decorate

6 Nov

My ever-trusty coworker, Lauren, that brought us cast iron skillet corn bread earlier this week, just showed me the link to a great way to give back this holiday season: Drop in and Decorate!

Drop In & Decorate, gathered around the kitchen table.

Lauren heard about it on Food Blogga, and passed it on to me, thinking I might want to host a Drop in and Decorate party, and boy was she right!

First of all, it’s a big “No Doy” that we like to eat, decorate, bake and share cookies. Do you know ANYONE that doesn’t? I don’t.

Second, I like their little tag line: “Holiday cookies for donation: a simple action in a complicated world. You can do this.“

So, I’m going to sign up and do one in early December, especially because National Cookie Day is December 4th!

IMG_3531 by lydiawalshin.

The goal here is to bake with friends, family and groups, and donate those cookies to a local non-profit that focuses on serving basic human needs.

HOW SIMPLE and EASY!

Food Matters: Food Summit at Town Hall

15 Oct

I’ll let the article speak for itself, because Nancy is a great writer! I am going to the Food Summit next week, at Town Hall.

Let me know if you plan to attend. I would love to see familiar or new faces there!

Thanks to Nancy (www.twitter.com/nancyleson) @nancyleson for letting me know about it!

Don’t bake? No worries, someone else already is!

15 Oct

project pie 

Today I stumbled upon a neat blog post from Shawn Stewart, Music Director at 103.7FM, The Mountain.

She is participating in a great program called Project Pie, taking place through and benefitting the Lifelong Aids Alliance.

You can read the whole post about Project Pie by clicking this link.

Project Pie is a great way to have a homemade pie to take to someone’s holiday party (or eat by yourself on the couch the day after Thanksgiving, who am I to judge?), without having to do any of the cooking!  All the proceeds go to a great cause, and everybody wins!

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