Posts: 12

1. 

   Breakfast: Fruit, Ham, Cheese

   22.Dec.07, 15:25 EST
   
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   Sometimes the best meals come together when you're desperate to put together something without going to the store. On this lazy Saturday morning with a pot of coffee almost done brewing, I put together the following. Lucky for me, there's always some good cheese in the house.
   
   Here's what I decided to work with:
   

   • frozen strawberries
   • a perfectly ripe pear
   • cottage cheese
   • black forest sliced ham
   • butterkase cheese
   • flax waffles
   • eggs

   For starters, I sliced the pear lengthwise and arranged with a portion of the cottage cheese in a bowl. Set that out.
   
   The strawberries were thawed in the microwave for about 2 minutes, then I added some sugar to taste. I mashed the strawberries, and got what is essentially strawberry sauce, which in my opinion is so much better than conventional apple sauce. Put that in a ramekin for use on the waffle or just to spoon straight to mouth.
   
   The Butterkase was fried in a bit of butter. You actually get the unholy illusion of cooking butter in butter. Mmm. Once it started to turn brown (we LOVE burst cheese around here), I cracked two eggs into the pan. Took out the ham, and one slice at a time filled each slice with a small mound of the egg/cheese. I folded the ham around the mix like a wrap. Got 4 of them.
   
   
   
   The reaction to this breakfast medly was nervous astonishment. Are these ham burritos? Where do I start first? Turns out everything was great!
   
   

2. 'yo baby, wanna spoon?

   05.Nov.07, 23:37 EST
   
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   As much as I love to cook grown-up food and drink grown-up drinks, there are certain delights that only the young are spoiled with. I am full-time working woman without children, but I still often check out baby food because it's small and there are *different novel flavors*!!
   
   I don't go for the strained peas or mini hot-dogs.. no, my childish culinary leanings are sweet.
   
   Animal crackers? Hell yes. Jetblue has them too.
   
   However, here's my tasty treat of the moment:
   
   
   First of all, it's awesome to say 'yo baby! (with a little hip swivel) when you're getting it from the fridge. Plus, there are cool flavors like apple and pear.
   

3. sorbet love

   31.Oct.07, 23:28 EDT
   
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   Passionfruit sorbet is a delicious but not necessarily surprising flavor.
   
   But hibiscus?! Yum, yum! My new favorite flavor.
   

4. 

   Indian food from scratch - success!

   07.Oct.07, 21:12 EDT
   
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   Last night I visited Jen and Jeff in their cute West Philly apartment. As soon as I saw Jen in the train station, I was greeted with a very enthusiastic "WE HAVE TO MAKE CHEESE!"
   
   So we did!
   
   We made paneer, the light and tasty cheese cubes that you may be familiar with from Palak Paneer. The cheese is actually quite simple to make: slowly bring whole milk up to a boil, and once the milk is boiling add the appropriate amount of lemon juice to make the curd separate from the whey. Stir, stir, then strain through cheese cloth. Finally, press down the curd with something heavy, perhaps a book on top of a plate.
   
   Jeff made a great palak, and started with a base of coriander-ginger-garlic paste. A large amount of baby spinach leaves were pureed to create a neon emerald mixture. Roasted crushed cashews were added, along with a few other spices. In with the paneer, and you have a dinner fit for a voracious and vegetarian crowd. Actually, we were only voracious, but it's good to know that we could please additional folks if needed!