misstenacity

I strength-train, myself, and I really think that the best solution is to slam down a whey protein drink (mostly protein), and then have a real truffle/ganache. I fight a never-ending battle with loving/hating/buying/eating protein bars, so this is a situation I've been in. I want to make my own bars, but then I think to myself, 'self, you really should just eat real food, high protein food, and then have a little REAL treat.' But if you do find an actual solution/recipe - I'd love to see it. *grin* Andrea in Albuquerque

I *love* eating salsa as gazpacho! Also, when I am 'done' with any Vietnamese meal I will drink what is left of the dipping sauce.... I guess I'm a spicy-tangy sauce freak. Hehe. Andrea in Albuquerque

This may or may not be worth noting, but I find that the best reason to make ice cream at home is to get the flavors that you CANNOT obtain in any other way. Fig-Port, Lowfat Fudge Truffle, Pumpkin Pepita... these are flavors I make at home. When I want HD's Dulce de Leche, I know where to find it. Why not just go to the store and buy Cherry Garcia? Then you know it will taste "right". Andrea Albuquerque, NM

In the same vein, I've had Jamaican Blue Mountain for $35/lb (about 4x the cost of this shop's regular beans). It was very very good, but in the 'diminishing returns' law, it was not FOUR TIMES as good as the usual coffee. Merely very, very good and noticably better than our usual beans. Andrea Albuquerque, NM

Finally tried the "very berry sundae" today, while picking up my 2 critical foodstuffs (organic mixed salad and Kirkland brand eggbeaters). At my Costco it is $1.55, where the un-topped frozen yogurt is $1.25. The sundae was very fluffy and twirled with berry syrup all the way down to the bottom of the cup, but the vanilla soft serve was quite a bit sweeter than the berry sauce, which was mostly blackberries in a light syrup. The soft-serve was high quality, almost gummy/chewy like a cheaper cousin of a gelato. Very tasty, and since I was hungry I had no problem finishing off the whole thing in record time - with an ice cream headache, of course. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Aww, dammit. I got myself hooked on sugar (again). Here's my latest target, so sugary-sweet it will either disgust you or just put you into a blissful sugar coma: Stonyfield Farm Creme Caramel Frozen Yogurt Andrea http://tenacity.net

BUMP on this thread because I finally had these things and they are... hmm. Rubbery, but not so much that it makes them "Gah." I par-boil them after draining in a water & soy sauce mixture, that gives them a mild salty flavor good for adding to soups, etc. In soups I think the texture is fine - it works well that way. However, eating them as "pasta" would be a bit weird... too much emphasis on the noodle, then. I had to go and do some Googling on the whole "swelling 50x" thing, in addition to some critical thinking about it. Pretty much my conclusion is, the FLOUR expands that much when introduced to water, and that's how they make the noodles. Essentially the noodles are Jell-o but made with a much more potent substance than gelatin, so for every 100g of noodles you have about 3g of flour and 97g of water. Thankfully, I'm not about to die from the enormous serving of them I just ate, but hopefully I also won't be stuffed for the rest of the day - I'm going out for sushi tonight! Andrea http://tenacity.net

I recently had my first natto experience at Yoshimatsu in Tuscon, as part of a "salmon & natto" bento box. It was stringy, as expected. Stinky, as expected. Tangy and beany and mild to the palate, also as expected. I can't say that I loved it, but I was far from disliking it. I think only a few more "tries" and I'll be hooked. Andrea http://tenacity.net

CAPRESE, done in any of a variety of ways: Tomato-basil sorbet with swirl of balsamic and 'morsels' of fresh mozz. Basil-mozz ice cream with swirl of balsamic and tomato pieces. ...hmm, can't come up with any more at the moment that don't just involve mashing all the flavors together. Andrea http://tenacity.net

My oh my - here come the Rome stories! Mine didn't involve food but rather a generous young woman and her moped giving me a lift, so I'll not go into that one. My favorite "alone" story is from Reno, NV. I was 22 and on a long cross-country roadtrip with a few destinations in mind but no hurry to get to them nor set routes. So, it was sometime after visiting a friend in Lander, WY that I ended up in Reno. I was moderately poor and sought out the place that I knew would have a fantastically large and cheap breakfast - the Circus Circus buffet. I made a few chit-chatty comments with an older man while at the buffet, but thought nothing of it. Once sitting at my table with inordinate amounts of food I saw that he was coming over, and I instinctively thought, "hmmm". For the record, I do often like sitting alone, just people watching, reading, etc. So with just a slight bit of annoyance I allowed him to sit with me. What a great decision! We chatted about why we were in Reno, which as you already know for me was for no reason at all, and for him it was a business trip but he apparently had a big thing for Keno. A big thing, since the hotel always comped him whatever he wanted while he was in town. We talked about his family in California, his kids and grandkids, and then he offered me a hotel room, being sure to mention that it was an extra room the hotel would give him - nowhere near to his. After he heard that I was sleeping in my car for much of my trip he couldn't not offer. With minor hesitation I did take him up on it, and enjoyed a very nice hot shower. Later in the day I walked around town and then joined him and a few business contacts for a very foofy dinner, the likes of which I was not in a position to appreciate. The next morning we had breakfast again, exchanged addresses, and I was on my way. Overall I thought, 'what a nice guy, if a bit lonely'. But he was not at all boring to talk to, and about a month after my road trip was over I recieved a letter from him with a picture of his daughter's family in CA, inviting me to visit if I was in the area again. A great experience, and if you hesitate to engage strangers out there in the world, just remember that about 1 out of 1000 might actually intend to do you harm. Maybe even less. Your odds are very high that you are going to come out of the situation with a good story and probably a new friend. Andrea http://tenacity.net

I used the pastry cream recipe that is now posted in the RecipeGullet. Having not seen the "original" from Lady M, I wasn't sure how thick to make the pastry cream layers. I knew I wanted very tender crepes, so I reduced the flour and substituted some cornstarch to make them less "toothy". I also didn't want to have the filling gush out with each forkfull, so I deliberately kept it thin between the layers of crepes. ← Thanks for the suggestion regarding cornstarch - I'll have to try that when I inevitably make this spectacular dessert. Today (because of another baking project), I had the thought that with a chocolate glaze on top of the finished cake it would become a "Boston Cream Crepe". Andrea http://tenacity.net

- Uncoated protein bars (so as to not be melty in times of warm car...); favorites are South Beach cereal bars, Balance Bar (chocolate almond only), Larabar. - Cooler with yogurt, pre-made salads (either by me or Trader Joe's), homemade muffins, mini tubs of half & half for dismal gas station coffee creamer situations. - A tin of my own personal CRACK. - Insulated coffee mug. ...that's about it. I do like to eat out a lot when traveling, after researching local restaurants for ages via eGullet and Chowhound. Andrea http://tenacity.net

What is that? ← Its an english muffin shaped bread made from sprouted grains. Essentially you take the grains (wheat, etc) and make them sprout. Then you take the sprouts, dry them out and then grind *that* into flour. Sprouting, it is claimed, makes the grain easier to digest and more nutritious. Here's the muffin product page: Sprouted Muffins Hope that helps. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Running this AM so just a simple fuel: Ezekiel sprouted english muffin w/ almond butter Weak coffee w/ half & half AFTER running it will be real coffee and probably porridge.... Andrea http://tenacity.net

After whining further up this thread about my college-age love of B&J Frozen Yogurt in Blueberry Cheesecake flavor (and how they no longer made it), I was cruising the HD website today and saw this: Light Blueberry Cheesecake!!! Now to just watch for when it hits the store and I'm all over it.... For the regular HD connoiseurs here, I do want to let you know that today I finally ate some REGULAR, PLAIN, VANILLA Haagen Dazs all by itself. (Not the vanilla bean variety, just "vanilla" - not sure the flavor difference) It was fantastic, but in my frozen delights I think I still prefer to get down and dirty with the dark chocolate. Yum. Andrea http://tenacity.net

Hot liquid in the morning (usually coffee but can be tea or even lemon water). Porridge. Oats or cornmeal. Salad, in inhuman quantities for lunch every day. I go through two 1lb tubs of the organic spring mix from Costco every week. Oh, and my Viactiv fake chocolate calcium chew, or generic-brand knockoff thereof. Andrea http://tenacity.net

There is a nice little coffee shop on the main drag in Carrizozo; the proprietor is a former Cheesehead and seems to love the southwest. Other than that, I'd check out Scott Sharot's book, "New Mexico Chow" for recommendations for several of the cities you've mentioned. Or, perhaps he will chime in here himself.... Andrea http://foodpart.com

There is one exit outside of Albuquerque that lists 2 restaurants, and when you actually are on the ramp, it says that both of them are "<--- 2.3 miles" (to the left) down old Rt 66. The amusing part of the tale is that the next exit is exactly 2 more miles down the freeway and the restaurants in question are actually just a few hundred feet away from that 2nd exit.... I would be frustrated if I were a motorist.... In other states this has also happened to me when I see a sign for an establishment, and only after you are on the ramp does it tell you its miles away. I suppose at least it tells you at all, eh? Andrea http://foodpart.com

Favorite smell as of late: scalded half-n-half. OMG. The way I drink my coffee is to pour 1oz of half/half into my favorite cup, then nuke it for 20 seconds until it is boiling, then add my coffee (6oz). (Its a small mug) But sticking my face into the mug as it comes out of the microwave and inhaling that hot cow-y goodness, well, that's just heaven to me at 8 o'clock in the morning. Andrea http://tenacity.net

No questions, Jason, only admiration! I can just hear that bugger sitting in the soup bowl saying, "ya wanna piece a' me???". Andrea http://tenacity.net

Regarding my lemon ice cream above, it didn't curdle thankfully, but ended up WAY too lemony. Well, maybe I should take that back. When served as part of a dessert plating in a quenelle form, it is probably fine. When I eat a damn big serving of it by itself.... very lemony. Took my tastebuds right off my tongue. :-) Today I made a really nice new flavor - maple oat date. Used date sugar as well as maple sugar (from King Arthur Flour), and then folded in chopped dates and toasted rolled oats as I was transferring it to harden. Unfortunately, it did still get a bit icy, though the flavor was lovely. I'll tweak with it some more and try to reduce the crystallization. Andrea http://foodpart.com http://tenacity.net

I'm about to make lemon ice cream for the first time, and I have my components chilling: 1. 'custard' base of half-n-half thickened with cornstarch, flavored with steeping lemon rind, and sweetened up real good.... (the rind will get strained out) 2. and separately, a syrup of reduced lemon juice and honey Now, when I combine the two tomorrow enroute to their freezing, is the thing going to curdle? Did I make a boffo mistake by using not all cream for the dairy base? Thanks! Andrea http://foodpart.com http://tenacity.net

Illogical and just plain dumb: I have my oft-used spices sitting in their little glass jars on the counter right next to the stove. Andrea http://tenacity.net

My first in at least 15 years, perhaps even 20. Sheesh. Tasting notes: outer shell that weird combination of sweet mixed with vague chocolate flavor mixed with waxiness. I bit gently still to avoid cracking the whole thing into pieces too early. The filling: syrupy and sticky sweet as I remembered, and obviously the best part of the whole confection, given that the chocolate shell is crap and only serves to hold in the fondant. Nevertheless, once the fake albumen and yolk were licked out completely, I still had to eat the rest of the milk chocolate shell. Andrea http://foodpart.com

I've had but precious few experiences with oysters: one raw on the half shell during a tasting menu, a few appetizers of "fully disguised" oysters (meaning Rockefeller, etc), and then just last night a salad topped with cornmeal-crusted pan-fried oysters. They had nice crunch from the coating, but many of them had a slightly bitter edge to the taste. Is this normal when an oyster is cooked? Did I have "not so fresh" specimens? Do tell.... thanks! Andrea http://tenacity.net