A list of everyday food that can get you high, although it sounds a lot more fun than it actually is.

Our Mother’s Day weekend in photos. We ate at a great French Thai place in Somerville.

Click on the photos for larger versions: Read the rest of this entry »

Just found out that we made it onto the invite list to become a shareholder in an organic student-run farm at Cook College. This means that every week we pick up a crate of vegetables and herbs, from June to September (or November, if we spend more money). I put us on the list because the produce in our local grocery store sucks, because pesticide-free food grown only a few miles away instead of being trucked here from god-knows-where really appeals to me, because it supports Rutgers University, and because it will completely force us to become more creative and healthy in our cooking, at least for the summer.

The cool thing is that every week’s harvest will be a surprise. Here is what last year’s harvest looked like. Apparently I am going to have to learn about chard. We just need to look at our budget and make sure we have the cash and, if so, we’ll start getting produce in about six weeks. My only worry is that there will be too much for us to deal with.

Brilliant.

Last night’s dinner came out great. I used this recipe from the Food Network to make a shepherd’s pie - I used ground turkey, though, so I understand that’s a cottage pie, right? My cupcakes this year were flavored with creme de menthe, and I attempted a swiss meringue buttercream, something I’ve tried several times previously with no success. It came out fine, but I think I don’t really care for smbc all that much. It tastes like sweet butter. Don’t get me wrong, though - the cupcakes were delish. Food porn after the jump, with a bonus picture of Freakgirl and her hair. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I had an overwhelming urge to bake something, so I made whoopie pies. Although not technically cupcakes, they’re close enough, don’t you think? Also, I really like to say “whoopie pie.” WHOOPIE PIE.

We went out and shoveled snow for a bit, which called for a good lunch. One veggie-bacon and tomato with mayo on toast later, I am a happy lady.

My Floridian sister just text-messaged me the following: “OMG Publix has pork roll. Life as we know it will never be the same.”

Just picked up three boxes at the Asian market. Trying not to inhale all of them at once.

Much like Joey Tribbiani, my favorite food is sandwiches. Esquire lists the Best Sandwiches in America. I am the kind of person who would plan a vacation using this list as an itinerary. Glad to see the pork roll, egg and cheese made it in! JERSEY REPRESENT!

Today is my mom’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mom!) and Wednesday is my brother’s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Ken!). Saturday night we all went out to dinner to celebrate, and came back to my parents’ house for cake, wine and Scrabble. It’s become a tradition that I make my mom her birthday cake. This year I took a recipe from The Whimsical Bakehouse, and here it is: Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, Caramel Nut Blast Balance Bar, having you in my life is like getting to eat a Snickers bar every day. I heart everything about you. You are a perfect breakfast, a superb pre-workout snack, and just having you in my life has made me a better person. If I could, Balance Bar, I would take you out behind the middle school and get you pregnant.

Valentine’s Day is coming soon, and who wouldn’t love a nice bacon-flavored token of your affection?

This week’s food obsession is Veggie Crisps. I have an unfortunate addiction to chips and I simply can’t eat lunch without something crunchy to go along with it. These fit the bill and also come in 100-calorie packs so I don’t go insane and dump the whole bag into my gullet. They’re certainly not health food, but I think they’re a better choice than regular fried potato chips. Today, I paired them with tomato soup. YUM.

At the supermarket a while back, while searching for cornmeal, we discovered TVP (textured vegetable protein). I haven’t used it yet (kind of scared), but I’m planning on it tonight. We have a vegetable soup mix and I’m going to add in some of the TVP to give it a hit of protein and make it a bit more filling. I’ll probably doctor up the soup a little as well. Are any of you readers familiar with cooking with TVP? We’re not vegetarian, obviously, but I like to go lower fat/higher protein whenever I can. I’m wondering if I should just dump the TVP into the soup, or if I should rehydrate it in some broth to give it more flavor. Thoughts? Recipes?