A Friendsgiving Feast
Although, Jimmy did buy an organic turkey from Wholefoods. Check!
Depsite some organic herbs and vegetables here and there the rest of the food is completely butter and cream laden. But what would life be like if you didn't let yourself be bad every once in a while?
The turkey is in the oven and it smells heavenly. I would bottle this smell if I could -- fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic, lemon, onion...mixed together with olive oil and turkey juice!! Ohhh....how I love Friendsgiving. And the great thing about today is that two weeks from now we get to celebrate the real deal.
Skip ahead to today, Sunday November 15th. I stopped writing mid-post yesterday when the first set of friends arrived. It is better now to be writing and reflecting upon the meal. It was absolutely amazing!
Here is the menu:
-Garlic Mashed Potatoes w/ fresh chives (involved roasting a whole garlic w/ olive oil, which was mashed into the potatoes!)
-Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread (Barefoot Contessa -- Oh, Ina Garten, this cornbread was the best I have ever had!)
-Cranberry pineapple sauce
-Roasted Brussel Sprouts
-Green beans sauteed in garlic and olive oil.
-Parmasan Crisps
And for dessert:
-Apple Crisp (Barefoot Contessa) --sadly no photo :(
-Pecan Pie (Gourmet --the last issue)
-Pumpkin Pie (Gourmet-- the last issue)
-Birthday cupcakes (Magnolia Bakery Cookbook) Golf Inspired--thank you Martha Stewart! Claire baked these as well as the apple crisp...these were delicious!!!
Unfortunately, everyone was a bit too full to enjoy more than the apple crisp, which was fantastic! We enjoyed it a la mode (alamodee as Jimmy's friend Ryan likes to say) with Haagen Daaz FIVE Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. One brave soul, Eric, powered through a piece of pecan pie and another, Ryan, the birthday boy, enjoyed 3 plus of his delicious birthday golf inspired cupcakes.
It was a meal to be proud and now as Jimmy and I sit on the couch with some Sunday coffee and leftover cornbread....I am planning a trip to the gym and a week of healthy detox eating! On my agenda for the week -- baking some Feel Full vegan muffins and 3 visits to NYSC!!
Green Tea with Taste
I know that a lot of people struggle to enjoy the taste of green tea. This is unfortunate because we all know that green tea is extremely good for us. It is especially important to drink right now in the colder months for a little immune boost. Um, hello? Swine flu!! Some people may manage to drink green tea but suffer through each sip, while others may choose not to drink it at all. I was one who chose to suffer through my cup...but not anymore! There is now a solution for all the green tea haters in the world!! I discovered it last week wandering the aisles of my neighborhood health store and I have been drinking it ever since. The tea is called Good Earth and the flavor is Lemongrass!! This tea is shockingly tasty and you do not need to add any sweetener. It has a naturally sweet taste that I guess is the Lemongrass, however, to me it tastes a little like passion fruit. It also smells devine. I drink it in the office to de-stress and to warm my stomach in between meals. Yummm! I am already excited to pick up another box (and maybe check out a few more flavors)!
The Things We Do For Love
Here is a tiny excerpt from a conversation I had with my bf, Jimmy, over Gchat today. It is in regards to our dinner reservations on November 20th at Maialino, a new italian restaurant in the Manhattan. Note, I have chosen to omit our nicknames for each other for both your sake and my own!
Jimmy: ____, question for you
Me: Yes, ____
Jimmy: Maialino is Italian for little (or baby) pig.
And the specialty at Maialino is "Maialino for two."
Can we get that?
Me: Hahahaha
Awwwww
____, you are too cute.
[It is] a little pig?
A baby pig.
Do you think it's a piglet?
Jimmy: I'd rather not speculate.
Me: Does it sound delicious ____?
Jimmy: I'm sure that if they have the balls to serve something that's named for the place, it's gotta be good.
Me: That's true.
____, I will probably say yes to you ____ (which means I will say yes).
Jimmy: Oh, ____!
You're so wonderful to me.
The things we do for love! Jimmy does have a food blog after all (Golden Eats) dedicated to eating New York whole. I will let you know how this meal turns out. However, I doubt I will make any nutritional discoveries a la the chicken liver at Falai.
FAT! SO? -- Questions, Concerns, Comments Anyone??
Happy Monday everyone! I read an article in the Sunday Times yesterday that struck a chord of concern within me. The short article was about a new book out on the shelves by Marilyn Wann called "Fat! So? " The headline under the title states "because you don't have to apologize for your size." True, you do not have to apologize for you size...big or small. Obesity and health are subjects that should not be dismissed and the title of the book Fat! So? does just that. Wouldn't it be just as acceptable to write a book and title it Anorexic! So? Since I have not read the book I will stop typing now. I am liable to say something very stupid about a potentially wonderful and inspiring tale on how to be healthy and happy regardless of size -- something that I fully support. I think the book's cover design is awesome by the way!
Check out the website: www.fatso.com
BPA-Free Bottled Water
I made my daily trip to Health 4-U today on Park Avenue between 30th and 31st street and picked up a bottle of Penta water. This bottled H2O appears to be some of the healthiest water you can buy out of a bottle nowadays. Apparently, Penta undergoes an 11-hour patented purification process that not only removes all traces of Bisphenol A, but also trace pharmaceuticals. This water is marked as chlorine, arsenic, fluoride, chromium 6 and MTBE free. What I wonder, does this mean that all other bottled water actually comes with these unwelcomed particles!? Either way, I am not a fan of plastic bottles since they are extremely unsustainable and cruel to our lovely lady Earth. It is unfortunate that Penta water is so hard to come by...Check out these claims posted on the back of the Penta water bottle:
- Penta has proven anti-anging benefits
- Provides superior hydration over sports drinks
- Penta's patented process energizes the water
- Penta's crisp, clean taste gives a sense of well-being
Oh, Preserv-ed Girl Scout Cookies
Tonight I am home alone. My dinner, a light and unsatisfying meal, has been consumed. The Yankee game is on but it is not enough to tide me over for the night. I need something. And something I found…nestled deep in my kitchen cabinet: Year-old Caramel Delight Girl Scout cookies.
A year old! And still these cookies tasted like they were baked yesterday. Never has freshness been such a massive turn-off. I allowed myself to indulge in 2 cookies before turning over the box to be horrified. NO, I did not read the fat or calorie content. I went right to the list of ingredients, or rather preservatives. And this is exactly how the list read.
Ingredients: Sugar, enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid) corn syrup, vegetable shortening (palm, partially hydrogenated palm kernel, and/or coconut oils) coconut, sweetened condensed milk (milk, sugar) high fructose corn syrup, contains less than 2% of: sorbital, dextrose, cocoa (processed with alkali) whey, glycerine, salt, leavening (sodium bicarbonate ammonium bicarbonate monocalcium phosphate) soy lechithin, natural and artificial flavors, artificial color (red #40 lake, yellow #5 lake, blue #1 lake, blue#2 lake).
Gross and gross! This list is the very example of ingredients we need to avoid. Spell check cannot even process these words, let alone our bodies!
So I am glad to have been the guinea pig for tonight’s post! Tomorrow I will be hitting the grocery store and stocking up on some healthy snacks (dried fruit, nuts, yogurt, granola bars). The box of once beloved Caramel Delights is now in the trash and my kitchen is already a much safer place.
What evil foods do you have hiding in your kitchen cabinets?
Liver In My Mouth: A Nutritional Discovery
The powers of persuasion failed me last Friday evening when I lost a dining debate to my boyfriend, Jimmy. He overruled my vegan request and instead we dined at his restaurant of choice, Falai, an off-beat Italian eatery in the East Village. I do admit he had an easy win once I saw Falai’s menu. The menu managed to tempt me despite a few revolting dishes featuring beef tongue and chicken liver. It was the night before Halloween, so why not indulge in some good eats?
The restaurant was small and beautiful with good music, friendly waiters and an open kitchen. We were both happy to be there and we were enjoying our wine when suddenly the chicken liver dish landed on our table! I don't know how or why it happened (wait, yes, I do -- my boyfriend is a foodie) but within minutes there was a piece of liver in my mouth. I didn’t want to eat it, really I didn’t, but it smelled so good, and it looked so good. So...I did and it was AMAZING.
I only had two bites of Jimmy's chicken liver, but just two bites were enough to send me into a chicken liver tailspin. How could something so gross taste so good? And if it tastes good, could it possibly be good for you? Being the conscious eater that I am, especially when it comes to animals and their organs I couldn't wait to hit the internet and do some research. It did not take long for me to learn that liver is a miraculously healthy food.
Early in my online search I stumbled upon words and phrases like "sacred," "magical," "highly nutritious," and "power food." I was dumbfounded. According to the Weston A. Price Foundation for Wise Traditions liver "contains more nutrients gram for gram than any other food." Liver includes all of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, every single one of the B vitamins and a ton of minerals, not to mention it is jam-packed with protein. As I continued to read on the Weston A. Price website I learned that some people (I would guess very few people) eat raw liver. And not just any raw liver, but liver that has been diced if you will, frozen, and then either swallowed like a pill or sprinkled on food as a supplement. Whoa. And this practice is all in the name of health! There is even a holistic doctor in Manhattan who recommends raw liver to all of his cancer patients.
So there you have it. Chicken liver. A power food. Don't jump out of your seat just yet because chicken liver (or any animal liver) comes with a small list of disclaimers. One, if you have high cholesterol stay away because liver has a ton of it. Two, if you enjoy chicken liver don't eat it everyday. It is important to limit your liver intake, not only because of all the cholesterol, but because it loaded with vitamin A. When too much vitamin A is consumed it becomes toxic. And lastly, if you enjoy liver, try to buy free range and grass fed for top quality. And please, please know how to prepare it. Quick prep and bland seasoning is likely to result in a taste just as disgusting as is the idea of eating liver.
I feel lucky that my first experience with chicken liver was a pleasant one. Since I plan on keeping it that way liver will remain a rare indulgence. Down the road if I ever cross paths with a delectable and irresistible dish of chicken liver, I will happily oblige and I encourage others to as well, since we now know that liver is a nutrition worthy food and a potential culinary delight!
For more information and pictures of our dinner, check out Jimmy's blog, Golden Eats.
I only had two bites of Jimmy's chicken liver, but just two bites were enough to send me into a chicken liver tailspin. How could something so gross taste so good? And if it tastes good, could it possibly be good for you? Being the conscious eater that I am, especially when it comes to animals and their organs I couldn't wait to hit the internet and do some research. It did not take long for me to learn that liver is a miraculously healthy food.
Early in my online search I stumbled upon words and phrases like "sacred," "magical," "highly nutritious," and "power food." I was dumbfounded. According to the Weston A. Price Foundation for Wise Traditions liver "contains more nutrients gram for gram than any other food." Liver includes all of the fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, every single one of the B vitamins and a ton of minerals, not to mention it is jam-packed with protein. As I continued to read on the Weston A. Price website I learned that some people (I would guess very few people) eat raw liver. And not just any raw liver, but liver that has been diced if you will, frozen, and then either swallowed like a pill or sprinkled on food as a supplement. Whoa. And this practice is all in the name of health! There is even a holistic doctor in Manhattan who recommends raw liver to all of his cancer patients.
So there you have it. Chicken liver. A power food. Don't jump out of your seat just yet because chicken liver (or any animal liver) comes with a small list of disclaimers. One, if you have high cholesterol stay away because liver has a ton of it. Two, if you enjoy chicken liver don't eat it everyday. It is important to limit your liver intake, not only because of all the cholesterol, but because it loaded with vitamin A. When too much vitamin A is consumed it becomes toxic. And lastly, if you enjoy liver, try to buy free range and grass fed for top quality. And please, please know how to prepare it. Quick prep and bland seasoning is likely to result in a taste just as disgusting as is the idea of eating liver.
I feel lucky that my first experience with chicken liver was a pleasant one. Since I plan on keeping it that way liver will remain a rare indulgence. Down the road if I ever cross paths with a delectable and irresistible dish of chicken liver, I will happily oblige and I encourage others to as well, since we now know that liver is a nutrition worthy food and a potential culinary delight!
For more information and pictures of our dinner, check out Jimmy's blog, Golden Eats.
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