I love food. I love making it, eating it, looking at it, listening to others talk about it, planning a menu, and writing about it. When I travel, I take food photos. Food brings me joy and it I only have a little money left to spent, I want to buy good food with it. Lately, I began thinking I should write some of my meals down so I have an easy reference. The one place where I can't lose them is the internet, and thus a blog is born.

We are committed to healthy eating. My husband and I always thought we were eating well. In retrospect, it was not as good as I thought. Russ had a heart attack at age 43 which completely changed our food trajectory. We rarely, if ever, eat meat now. Our diet is mostly vegetarian with lots of fish, eggs, and the occasional chicken. Our only dairy is nonfat plain Greek yogurt and sprinkling of a hard cheese for flavor (not melting). Bread is at a minimum. We eat lots of greens, fruit, and nuts. If someone thinks that this sounds awfully boring, it rarely is and we are not draconian in our eating. The trick is to know when to splurge (on a homemade piece of bread or a good piece of chorizo) I use lots of seasonings and am not afraid to use good fats.

I will not be using annoying acronyms like EVOO and it will not take long to see that I am a big Trader Joe's fan. What I am not a fan of is following long complicated recipes. More often than not, I don't even use one. Sometimes it flops but most of the time it turns out pretty darn good. I will not be counting calories but have always looked for ways to trim fat and sugar without sacrificing taste. Not everything will be perfect or lowfat, but that is what treats are for.

I am inspired by Julia Child who was the epitome of simplicity and grace. By my mom who taught me to cook by letting me cook myself and can put together a superb meal without cracking a cookbook. By my sister-in-law Sue who makes the prettiest poached egg I've ever seen and believes in the importance of plating well. If it looks good, it will taste even better.

Because I am still a step or two behind technologically and because most of the time I cook, I am hungry, I will most likely not take photos of every meal in this blog. However, hopefully I can provide enough of a descriptive narrative so that the reader can almost see and taste it!

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Creme Brulee for breakfast

So this wonderful idea came from my sister Beth.  I love the custardy goodness of  creme brulee, but it is not the healthiest menu item until it morphed into a breakfast dish and I made a few changes (listed in parenthesis).

Here is the original recipe with my changes, and I cut it in half for just the two of us.


2 1/4 cups old fashioned oats (soaked in water for 15 minutes and then drained).
1/3 cup sugar (or sweetener to taste.  I like Truvia or Splenda and tried the recipe with both).
Pinch of salt (which helps to bring out the flavor of everything)
3 1/3 cup milk (almond milk)
2 eggs (I guess you could use 4 egg whites, but I have grown to embrace the whole egg)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar (I added more to get that browned sugar crust on top)

Preheat oven to 350 and spray baking dish with nonstick spray.
Combine milk, eggs and vanilla in large bowl. Add oats, sweetener, cinnamon, and salt; mix well.  (I added some ground flax seed which I try to put into everything). Pour into baking dish and spread out mixture.  Bake 25 minutes or until center is jiggly but not runny. Edges should be lightly browned and may pull away from dish slightly.  Remove from oven.

Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the top. Return to oven and bake till sugar is melted. Turn oven to broil and heat until sugar bubbles and browns slightly (about 1-2 minutes). Allow to cool slightly, cut into 8 servings.

Russ liked it topped with plain Greek yogurt, but I loved it with just a few chopped pecans thrown in.
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Friday, October 4, 2013

Last of the season tomato tart

It's not that we've stopped eating or I've quit cooking, rather its just food became more functional for a while instead of being relaxing or a creative outlet.  Part of this was that we moved across the state, as we started new ventures and settled in a new town.  Just recently have I started reconnecting with food after rediscovering my worn and torn cookbook stashed away from one of our overseas boxes.  I also love the bounty of fall gardens.

With a handful of the last tomatoes (which seems like an extraordinary long season) during the middle of Indian Summer this week, I made my last tomato tart of the year.  It is one of my favorite things to make and I have turned the recipe into something quite simple.

Sue introduced me to it many Novembers ago when tomatoes were not at their height but because they were a heirloom variety were still delicious.  She used phyllo dough.  I use refrigerated croissant dough.  Both are flaky and delectable.  My dough is less time consuming.  Hers is pleasantly complex.

After spreading the dough, I spread a generous schmear of whole grain mustard and arrange the tomato slices.  To top, I sprinkle grated gruyere or swiss cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

It is especially good leftover for breakfast with a poached egg.
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