Chilled Pineapple in Cottage Cheese

A perfect summertime treat. Perfect for the morning. Perfect for an afternoon snack to cool off. Perfect for a hot, humid evening out on the porch.

I prefer nonfat cottage cheese, and alternatively, yogurt can be used. Hell, chilled anything and cottage cheese and/or yogurt sounds outstanding when it's hot. So pick and choose. Toss in some cinnamon (like we did), lemon juice, or grand marnier, and enjoy!

Avocado Tea Cake

Avocado Tea Cake. Anything with avocado is golden. Love the stuff. Sadly, I didn't make this. Also sadly, I forgot the name of the bakery that did! It was purchased at the SOWA Farmer's Market in Boston. We had to have some after they let us sample a piece.

It tastes as amazing as it looks. So soft and moist. So flavorful. So good I had to share it! Must go back. Must go back.

Popover Schmopover

What's the best way to make popovers?

As a featured publisher for Foodbuzz I check out the Daily Specials from time to time. Today, the daily special is a Popover Pan. I guess it makes popovers better than your average muffin pan.

Need it? No way!

Just use a muffin pan. You'll never ever go wrong. Cross my heart.

Better yet - make one of these Bread or Bun treats!

Sunflower Seed Butter and Avocado on Hawaiian Sweet Bread

Yum yum yum.

Today I came up with a whole new peanut butter sandwich combo. I like peanut butter well enough, but I really like other nut/seed butters. So I used sunflower seed butter from Trader Joe's, a quarter of an avocado I brought back from California, and some King's Hawaiian Sweet Bread.

The combination was fantastic. The sweetness from the bread mixed with the savoriness from the sunflower seed butter combined with the creaminess from the avocado had me wanting more and more and more.

Maybe I'll go make another one right now...

Homebrew West Coast Pale Ale

This is my first ever homebrew. I'm such a proud father. This must be what it feels like to have a child come into the world.

Anyway, I got a Mr. Beer kit for insanely cheap (like $10) and pumped out 2.5 gallons of West Coast Pale Ale over 6 weeks. 2 weeks of fermenting, 2 weeks of bottle conditioning, and 2 weeks of in-the-fridge conditioning. It's called the 2-2-2 method or something. Works like a charm. The brew came out slightly sweeter than I would've thought, but the flavor is crispy and refreshing.

I highly recommend trying it if you can find it for such a low price. I'm not going to use any of their other mixes; instead, I'm going to venture out on my own but still use their kit equipment. I'll be making a Newcastle clone soon and then an Oatmeal Stout. I can't wait!

Anyone else ever brew their own beer? Tips, tricks, suggestions?

Salmon, Spinach, Mushroom, Feta Flatbread Pizza

I am not one of those people who needs to make every single darn little thing from scratch. Don't get me wrong now - I love to make most things from scratch, and have an almost-obsessed desire to know how things work, but I don't need to do it every single time I make something. So for that reason (and because it's so darn cheap) I buy grocery store pizza dough and let it rise at home. Easy.

So at that point it just becomes a question of what you want to top your pizza with. I'm a huge fan of the nontraditional kinds of pizza. I've never done salmon on a pizza, so I thought I'd give that a try with the fresh spinach and mushrooms I bought. Then I threw on some feta I bought earlier and crumbled that over it after it finished baking, so as not to ruin that precious cheese.

It turned out amazing! The worst part was the dough, which was my fault for not letting it rise properly and spreading it out improperly as well. It made for a really crispy crust though, and only slightly on the chewy side of things. What's your favorite way to do an nontraditional, yet simple, pizza?

Fries Lies

What's the best way to make fries?

As a featured publisher for Foodbuzz I check out the Daily Specials from time to time. Today, the daily special is a French Fry Baking Sheet. I guess it makes crispy fries without deep frying and without turning.

Need it? No way!

Just follow these simple instructions for Baked Fries. You'll never ever go wrong. Cross my heart.

Pulled Marinaded Chicken, Cajun Baked Potato/Plantains, and Garlic Bread

Holy Cow! That's one long title!

But I wanted to capture as much as I could about what this succulent dinner was all about. And do I mean succulent! The chicken turned out so moist, so juicy, so jam-packed full of flavor (even though it looks fairly bland) that succulent hardly begins to describe it.

And the garlic bread! Mmm light, savory garlic bread. The exact same kind that came with the Complete Veggie Dinner.

Paired with plantains (above) and cajun baked potato (below).

So follow along below to find out how to create succulent chicken yourself - a healthy poultry experience everyone will enjoy!

Chilled Strawberries in Cottage Cheese

A perfect summertime treat. Perfect for the morning. Perfect for an afternoon snack to cool off. Perfect for a hot, humid evening out on the porch.

I prefer nonfat cottage cheese, and alternatively, yogurt can be used. Hell, chilled anything and cottage cheese and/or yogurt sounds outstanding when it's hot. So pick and choose. Toss in some cinnamon, lemon juice, or grand marnier, and enjoy!

Incidentally, we enjoyed these as a dessert on a muggier-than-usual kind of day. They were so good it made the mug go away! Well, almost. What do you do to cool yourself off on those kinds of nights?

The Mighty Poached Egg

What's the best way to poach an egg?

As a featured publisher for Foodbuzz I check out the Daily Specials from time to time. Today, the daily special is an Egg Poach Pod. What's that, you ask? "Flexible silicone Poach Pods stay afloat and upright automatically to cook eggs in minutes" in a pan of boiling water.

I love poached eggs. Seriously! I make them more often for breakfast than any other kind of egg. I even make them for dinner like when topping off a Loco Moco. And why? Because it's easy.

However, the traditional method of poaching an egg has never gone smoothly for me. I just can't do it. So I need tools like the pods, but I don't need anything quite so fancy at all.

In the beginning there was this little metal egg poacher that was similar to this that I picked up for $2 somewhere. Cool and easy enough but the eggs stuck more than I liked. So I figured out two fool-proof methods!

1. Steam the eggs! Sorta. Boil some water and put about an inch in a small bowl. Crack an egg into the water and place on top of a plate. Place the plate in your steamer until done.

2. Microwave the suckers! Do the same boiling water in a bowl method, crack egg into water, and microwave for 30 seconds to a minute until it's done. This is by far the easiest method and works every time without sticking.

However you do it, I think we can all agree poached eggs are friggin' delicious. In fact, I think I'll go poach an egg right now...

Loco Moco - Turkey Style

If you've been to Hawaii, you've had a loco moco. It's practically a national dish or something. Along with kalua pork and poi and SPAM! You can't forget about the spam there. I might need to make a spam musubi now...

Wow that egg did NOT want to stay on at all, whatsoever.

Back on topic! Focus! Our loco moco here is slightly different - it's made of ground turkey instead of beef - like we like to do around here (a la Grilled Hot Turkey Patties and Turkey Meatball Subs). Actually, this patty is made the same way as before. The patty is then placed on steamed white rice, smothered in a bit of gravy, and topped off with a poached egg for good measure.

We added asparagus to the side because, uh, I love veggies! Everything was delicious. Enjoy!

Vanilla

As a featured publisher for Foodbuzz I check out the Daily Specials from time to time. Today, the daily special is some Madagascar Vanilla. Pure, sweet vanilla extract - none of that imitation stuff.

The last time I used vanilla myself was for our Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream.

I have fond memories of going to Mexico and sampling, smelling, becoming intoxicated with their vanilla. A little pure extract goes a looong way, and I highly recommend using the pure stuff over imitation if you can afford it. That said, for most recipes it won't make too much of a difference, so don't beat yourself up over it.