Ever since I was a tween, I've bought exclusively "oil-free" face washes. I have oily skin, you see. So that made sense to me. It's never really helped, of course, but I didn't know what else to do. Last week I started a new routine which sounds absolutely crazy. The Oil Cleansing Method (OCM). Basically, you mix castor oil and olive oil (see? food related!) and rub that all over your face instead of washing it with soup (ha ha! I meant soap of course, but I'm leaving my typo because it makes me laugh. Soup on the brain!) and water. You the place a hot wet washcloth over your face until it cools, then use the cloth to wipe away all the oil. I've been at it for almost a week and have had no breakouts! I had a couple zits, but they pretty much disappear in a day! Who'da thunk it? Olive oil is not only delicious and heart healthy, it's good for your skin...even if you have oily skin!!
Now for the edible side of olive oil. So, say you're having a dinner consisting on french bread, olive oil, salt and pepper, with some meats and cheeses. Say You're full of the meats and cheeses but you still have some bread left. And you spot a bite size dark chocolate within arms reach. Here's what you should most definitely do....dip your bread in the oil/salt/pepper, warm the chocolate with your hand a little, put it on the oily bread and eat it. You will be a very very VERY happy person. Talk about foodgasm. *melts*
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, December 28, 2006
holiday recap-kinda random
Sorry I've been a slowpoke on this thing. I've actually been cooking quite a bit. A couple weeks ago, I made my very first Roasted Chicken!! I can't believe it took me so long to try that. It's so easy. I used Nigella's method of rubbing the bird with salt, pepper and butter, sticking a lemon "up it's bum" and cooking for 15 minutes per pound plus 10 minutes. Voila. Juicy delicious chicken.
In fact, that's what I made for Christmas dinner. As I side dish I made roasted brussel sprouts. I love brussels sprouts, but that was my first time using fresh instead of frozen, as well as my first time roasting them. Mmmm-mmm! Maybe I should just roast everything from now on. Roasting is da bomb. The sprouts were kind of sweet, buttery...just darn good. Apparently roasting is a good method...even brussel sprout non-lovers are coverted by this method. Oh, and speaking of brussel sprouts...TURTLE FARTS!!!! that story is kinda cute, dontcha think?
So, today I tried my first scone. I know! I never was tempted...they don't look all that appealing to me. But I tried a St. Louis Bread Co. (Panera for out-of-towners) Golden Raisin one. And it was soooo good! Who new?!? Scones are yum! But, hence, it's almost a new year....holidays winding down and all that, so the nutrtion info on that particular scone isn't terrible, but If I make my own I can drop that fat and calorie content a bit. One recipe I found is Pear and Cardamom scones. I've got plenty of cardamom, and the sweetheart has been on a pear kick lately. These cranberry ones are gonna have to make an appearance also. These don't look too tough too make. They seem to be one step up from quickbreads and simple cookies, but not as scary (for me) as bread. I got a bunch of green tea as a gift...scones will go nicely, eh?
I've been enjoying being a Crockpot owner. I made the Fennel and Sage Pork I had on my links list. It was good. I subsituted Pork shoulder roast for pork loin, though, because loin? Hella expensive. Isn't the whole point of slow cooking that you can utilize the fat and connective tissue of the tougher cut of meat anyway? Yup. It turned out plenty moist. Same with our chuck roast and Jack's BBQ brisket/chuck roast combo.
The most fun crock pot thing we've made for is a recipe from the book Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes. It's delish chocolate lava brilliant thingy that our friend was generous enough to let us cook at her house while we all went out to dinner even though she is pretty terrified about heating elements left on while she's away...hopefully the wine and laughing and good food helped calm her anxieties...The result was worth it. Served over ice cream, it was chocolatey, warm, and rich. Here's the recipe ('cept in place of sweet cocoa powder I used unsweetened, and instead of crushed sweet chocolate I used finely chopped dark chocolate bar...Dark is the way to go...):
Hot Fudge Spoon Cake
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sweet ground chocolate, such as Ghiradelli
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
TOPPIMG:
1/4 cup sweet cocoa powder, such as Ghiradelli
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Vanilla ice cream or coffee frozen yogurt for serving.
1. Coat the slow cooker with butter-flavor non-stick cooking spray
2. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, ground chocolate, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center, add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla, stir the liquid ingredients until well blended, and continue stirring in widening circles, gradually incorporating the dry ingrediaents, until you have a smooth batter. It will be thick. Spread evenly in the cooker.
3. To make the topping, combine all the ingredients in another medium size bowl and wisk until smooth. Gently pour over the batter in the cooker; do not stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
4. Turn off the cooker and let stand, covered, for at least 30 minutes before refrigerating or serving right out of the cooker.
5. To serve, scoop the cake into individual bowls. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or coffee frozen yogurt alongside the cake. Spoon some of the fudgy pudding at the bottom over the cake and ice cream.
The restaraunt we went to on that night, BTW, was the Pitted Olive. What a neat little place. A small hubby and wife operation with really good food. A small menu, with the chicken, pork and trout specials changing nightly. It's almost the kind of place I'd like to run someday with my babycakes. He cooks and controls the menu, I greet and host and decorate and wait and help develop the wine list and menu....We'll be going back. the food was impressive, and not expensive.
That's about all I can think of for my holiday recap. Oh! I got a new digital camera for Christmas, so expect even more food porn.
In fact, that's what I made for Christmas dinner. As I side dish I made roasted brussel sprouts. I love brussels sprouts, but that was my first time using fresh instead of frozen, as well as my first time roasting them. Mmmm-mmm! Maybe I should just roast everything from now on. Roasting is da bomb. The sprouts were kind of sweet, buttery...just darn good. Apparently roasting is a good method...even brussel sprout non-lovers are coverted by this method. Oh, and speaking of brussel sprouts...TURTLE FARTS!!!! that story is kinda cute, dontcha think?
So, today I tried my first scone. I know! I never was tempted...they don't look all that appealing to me. But I tried a St. Louis Bread Co. (Panera for out-of-towners) Golden Raisin one. And it was soooo good! Who new?!? Scones are yum! But, hence, it's almost a new year....holidays winding down and all that, so the nutrtion info on that particular scone isn't terrible, but If I make my own I can drop that fat and calorie content a bit. One recipe I found is Pear and Cardamom scones. I've got plenty of cardamom, and the sweetheart has been on a pear kick lately. These cranberry ones are gonna have to make an appearance also. These don't look too tough too make. They seem to be one step up from quickbreads and simple cookies, but not as scary (for me) as bread. I got a bunch of green tea as a gift...scones will go nicely, eh?
I've been enjoying being a Crockpot owner. I made the Fennel and Sage Pork I had on my links list. It was good. I subsituted Pork shoulder roast for pork loin, though, because loin? Hella expensive. Isn't the whole point of slow cooking that you can utilize the fat and connective tissue of the tougher cut of meat anyway? Yup. It turned out plenty moist. Same with our chuck roast and Jack's BBQ brisket/chuck roast combo.
The most fun crock pot thing we've made for is a recipe from the book Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes. It's delish chocolate lava brilliant thingy that our friend was generous enough to let us cook at her house while we all went out to dinner even though she is pretty terrified about heating elements left on while she's away...hopefully the wine and laughing and good food helped calm her anxieties...The result was worth it. Served over ice cream, it was chocolatey, warm, and rich. Here's the recipe ('cept in place of sweet cocoa powder I used unsweetened, and instead of crushed sweet chocolate I used finely chopped dark chocolate bar...Dark is the way to go...):
Hot Fudge Spoon Cake
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sweet ground chocolate, such as Ghiradelli
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
TOPPIMG:
1/4 cup sweet cocoa powder, such as Ghiradelli
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Vanilla ice cream or coffee frozen yogurt for serving.
1. Coat the slow cooker with butter-flavor non-stick cooking spray
2. In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, ground chocolate, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center, add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla, stir the liquid ingredients until well blended, and continue stirring in widening circles, gradually incorporating the dry ingrediaents, until you have a smooth batter. It will be thick. Spread evenly in the cooker.
3. To make the topping, combine all the ingredients in another medium size bowl and wisk until smooth. Gently pour over the batter in the cooker; do not stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
4. Turn off the cooker and let stand, covered, for at least 30 minutes before refrigerating or serving right out of the cooker.
5. To serve, scoop the cake into individual bowls. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream or coffee frozen yogurt alongside the cake. Spoon some of the fudgy pudding at the bottom over the cake and ice cream.
The restaraunt we went to on that night, BTW, was the Pitted Olive. What a neat little place. A small hubby and wife operation with really good food. A small menu, with the chicken, pork and trout specials changing nightly. It's almost the kind of place I'd like to run someday with my babycakes. He cooks and controls the menu, I greet and host and decorate and wait and help develop the wine list and menu....We'll be going back. the food was impressive, and not expensive.
That's about all I can think of for my holiday recap. Oh! I got a new digital camera for Christmas, so expect even more food porn.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
i'm thankful for chocolate and Nigella
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I had several family gatherings with lots of yummy food. On Thanksgiving I was to bring a dessert other than pie...Preferably chocolate. I decided to make Nigella's Triple Chocolate Brownies from Nigella Feasts. I have never made brownies from scratch...the box stuff is usually a crowd pleaser. But the recipe looked awesome, and I've been building up my baking skills little by little lately, so I gave 'em a shot. They were pretty easy to make...and they turned out AWESOME if I do say so myself. Actually, Jack said they were the best brownies he's ever had, so take his word for it. He doesn't say stuff like that unless he means it. Here's some brownie porn:
Yeah, they are wonderful brownies. Super-duper rich (with 3 sticks of butter, 6 eggs and 3 kinds of chocolate, what do you expect?!?), and I'll definitely make them again for a special occasion. And I'm not allowed to make my usual Krusteaz Fat-Free brownies with stuff added again...after Nigella's recipe, those just won't do.
Yeah, they are wonderful brownies. Super-duper rich (with 3 sticks of butter, 6 eggs and 3 kinds of chocolate, what do you expect?!?), and I'll definitely make them again for a special occasion. And I'm not allowed to make my usual Krusteaz Fat-Free brownies with stuff added again...after Nigella's recipe, those just won't do.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
chocolate chunks (installment 1)
A quick couple bites of chocolate goodness...
On an impulse, I bought one of these Green & Black's Mayan Chocolate Bars a few nights ago. Though I enjoy those chocolate orange things, they aren't my first choice for a chocolate treat. But this Mayan bar had other spices in it as well, and holy cow is it yummy. Such a sensual blend of slightly bitter, rich chocolate, bright warm orange and comforting cinnamon and spices. I've been having a few squares of it every night this week, and I still have lots left. You don't need much to satisfy your chocolate craving. It does overpower wine (or at least the Valpiocella I tried it with), but it goes quite well with pumpkin beer.
Speaking of chocolate cravings, I caught a wee bit of Nigella's show over the weekend. It was the chocolate episode. While everything she made looked worth trying, I was especially excited about the last thing she made...hot chocolate...with Rum innit!! It looked sooo good. There was also cinnamon and honey in it...two of my favorite flavors at the moment. I will be making this. And I need to learn more about rum...it seems like something I should like. Dark rum. My new winter drink of choice? We'll see. Here's some intro to rum web pages and some recommendations from Forbes to get me started.
On an impulse, I bought one of these Green & Black's Mayan Chocolate Bars a few nights ago. Though I enjoy those chocolate orange things, they aren't my first choice for a chocolate treat. But this Mayan bar had other spices in it as well, and holy cow is it yummy. Such a sensual blend of slightly bitter, rich chocolate, bright warm orange and comforting cinnamon and spices. I've been having a few squares of it every night this week, and I still have lots left. You don't need much to satisfy your chocolate craving. It does overpower wine (or at least the Valpiocella I tried it with), but it goes quite well with pumpkin beer.
Speaking of chocolate cravings, I caught a wee bit of Nigella's show over the weekend. It was the chocolate episode. While everything she made looked worth trying, I was especially excited about the last thing she made...hot chocolate...with Rum innit!! It looked sooo good. There was also cinnamon and honey in it...two of my favorite flavors at the moment. I will be making this. And I need to learn more about rum...it seems like something I should like. Dark rum. My new winter drink of choice? We'll see. Here's some intro to rum web pages and some recommendations from Forbes to get me started.
Monday, January 24, 2005
food love
Valentine's Day. Yeah, it's kind of a silly hallmark holiday, but the food involved makes all the heart-shaped stuff and glittery teddy bears worth it.
There's wine, of course. I can't think of many things much more sensual than rich red wine. Here's a good guide to choosing wine.
A couple of romantic food books that look quite interesting; Intercourses and Aphrodite.
If you're not up to reading, and would rather snuggle up to a romantic movie, how 'bout a romantic food themed movie? I recommend Chocolat (mmm, Johnny Depp) and Like Water For Chocolate.
Um, yeah guess that brings us to a very important valentine food: CHOCOLATE! Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate, and more Chocolate. And a review of the last one's masala chocolate bar. Sounds interesting, and yummy.
How about a nice date? Find out the most romantic restaraunts in your neck of the woods.
And if you offer to take me to White Castles, all you'll get from me is a paper napkin and some bittersweet heart candies. I mean I'll admit the White Castles candle-lit dinner is a quirky idea, but it's still stinks in there.
Speaking of those heart candies, here's a candy heart generator. fun!
Valentine's traditions around the world.
Back to food:
"The Aztecs called the avocado tree "Ahuacuatl which translated means "testicle tree". "...and other interesting aphrodisiac info.
Oh, and this might just be the ultimate romantic food...bread, chocolate & olive oil...all together. I'm yours!
So light some candles, throw on something a little more comfortable, pop the champagne, and read mushy love poems. Even if you're spending this one alone, there's still all that chocolate, so don't be sad...Celebrate the holiday that celebrates some fabulous food!
Be mine,
steph
There's wine, of course. I can't think of many things much more sensual than rich red wine. Here's a good guide to choosing wine.
A couple of romantic food books that look quite interesting; Intercourses and Aphrodite.
If you're not up to reading, and would rather snuggle up to a romantic movie, how 'bout a romantic food themed movie? I recommend Chocolat (mmm, Johnny Depp) and Like Water For Chocolate.
Um, yeah guess that brings us to a very important valentine food: CHOCOLATE! Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate, and more Chocolate. And a review of the last one's masala chocolate bar. Sounds interesting, and yummy.
How about a nice date? Find out the most romantic restaraunts in your neck of the woods.
And if you offer to take me to White Castles, all you'll get from me is a paper napkin and some bittersweet heart candies. I mean I'll admit the White Castles candle-lit dinner is a quirky idea, but it's still stinks in there.
Speaking of those heart candies, here's a candy heart generator. fun!
Valentine's traditions around the world.
Back to food:
"The Aztecs called the avocado tree "Ahuacuatl which translated means "testicle tree". "...and other interesting aphrodisiac info.
Oh, and this might just be the ultimate romantic food...bread, chocolate & olive oil...all together. I'm yours!
So light some candles, throw on something a little more comfortable, pop the champagne, and read mushy love poems. Even if you're spending this one alone, there's still all that chocolate, so don't be sad...Celebrate the holiday that celebrates some fabulous food!
Be mine,
steph
Monday, January 03, 2005
over-stuffed
Now that the holidays are over, everyone's making thier New Years resolutions. Heck, I made some. But I thought this post-New Years post should go in a different direction...eating lots, excess & gluttony. that's the theme for today.
Eat like a Sumo wrestler. Man those recipes look good. And healthy, too!
While we're in Japan, gotta mention competitive eating, a sport which the country seems to excel at (without getting fat...WTF?). And yes, I said sport.
Planning some excess drinking? Follow thses tips for a feel-good tomorrow.
Excess cooking.
Excess Americanized Mexican dining (and Cartman likes it, too!)
Excess chocolate? no such thing...but this comes close. *drool*
Just want to feel big? Eat little foods.
Want inspiration to actually get bigger? A database of weight-gain stories.
Ananova's list of stories about world record food.
Speaking of which, Have you seen the Discovery Channel's show "Big?" The replicate everyday objects to huge scale. They've done a blender, a pop-corn popper, a bbq grill, a toaster and an espresso machine...plus some non-food related stuff (but who cares about that stuff, eh?).
Sure gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins. But heck, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment (harr harr). So, go overboard once in awhile! You can live a big life but have a big heart at the same time.
Eat like a Sumo wrestler. Man those recipes look good. And healthy, too!
While we're in Japan, gotta mention competitive eating, a sport which the country seems to excel at (without getting fat...WTF?). And yes, I said sport.
Planning some excess drinking? Follow thses tips for a feel-good tomorrow.
Excess cooking.
Excess Americanized Mexican dining (and Cartman likes it, too!)
Excess chocolate? no such thing...but this comes close. *drool*
Just want to feel big? Eat little foods.
Want inspiration to actually get bigger? A database of weight-gain stories.
Ananova's list of stories about world record food.
Speaking of which, Have you seen the Discovery Channel's show "Big?" The replicate everyday objects to huge scale. They've done a blender, a pop-corn popper, a bbq grill, a toaster and an espresso machine...plus some non-food related stuff (but who cares about that stuff, eh?).
Sure gluttony is one of the 7 deadly sins. But heck, I guess I'm a glutton for punishment (harr harr). So, go overboard once in awhile! You can live a big life but have a big heart at the same time.
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