Lori, Author at Fake Food Free

Four Favorites September

September 30, 2016

We are well into fall and I couldn’t be more excited about it. And by well into, I mean I have all kinds of fall in my heart. Mother nature and her 95+ degree days clearly does not. Despite them, cooler mornings do hint that it will feel like fall soon.

Another end of the month has rolled around and that means another edition of my four favorites where I share a brand, book, blog and break that I brightened my month. Satisfy your sweet tooth, brush up on your writing skills, fill up on comfort food and take a hike.

Cassava Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

September 28, 2016

Any time I get a new ingredient for the kitchen, I always seem to make cookies. Most often chocolate chip cookies.

I think it’s because I want to see how something unfamiliar behaves in something I know well.

Although, saying that cassava flour is unfamiliar isn’t exactly accurate. I became familiar with it when we lived in Brazil. Cassava = mandioca = tapioca.

There we ate farofa, pão de queijo and tapioca com goiabada. All are made with some version of the flour – fine ground, coarse ground, sweet, fermented or sour.

Pear and Ginger Stuffed Delicata Squash

September 26, 2016

Butternut squash and I have been familiar with each other for quite some time. The standard pie pumpkin? We go way back. Even the kabocha and I have shared many moments together.

But I have to admit that the Delicata squash and I are embarking on a fairly new relationship.

To date, I think I have purchased one. As in a single squash. It’s been so long ago that I don’t even remember what I did with it.

I know it sounds crazy. With a winter squash obsession like mine one would expect I’d be an expert at working with them all.

Well, I’m getting there. It’s finally the Delicata’s time to shine.

Rum Tea Cocktail

September 23, 2016

I’m celebrating Friday and the start of fall with a rum tea cocktail! It’s made with Dark Aged Rum that I received from Cruzan^®.

If you asked me to pick my favorite spirit, it would be tough to choose between bourbon and rum. One reminds me of our days living in Kentucky. The other gets me thinking about our many trips to the Caribbean.

Despite summer’s end, rum has won out lately for the taste buds. Maybe its because we have a Caribbean trip coming up in a couple months or maybe I’m just thankful that the temps here are now more beach-like and less I’m-frying-in-the-sun-like.

Autumn Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken with Apples and Onions

September 15, 2016

This simple slow cooker chicken is coated in savory spices and served with sweet apples and onions for the perfect fall meal.
This post is sponsored by Petaluma Poultry – Home of ROCKY® and ROSIE® Chicken.

Like many people, my introduction to poultry was in the form of the boneless, skinless chicken breast. Now, I have nothing against these chicken breasts. They still serve a purpose in my kitchen. Since I started this blog over eight years ago and got much more adventurous in my cooking, things have changed.

I’ve become more open to the versatility and the full flavor of other parts of the chicken.

I also didn’t mess around with graduating up to bone-in, skin-on parts. Nope. I jumped right into using the whole bird.

Broccoli Cashew Soup

September 13, 2016

This broccoli cashew soup is blended until creamy and garnished with curry chickpeas and cashews.

It’s pretty plain and simple how most of my recipes come about. I just like to experiment.

When there is a new ingredient that is all the rage or an old one that is being used in a new way, I simply want to see how it might work in some of my old favorites.

The ingredient of choice for the past little while has been cashews. You’ve probably seen how they can be turned into a creamy sauce. They are also being used to make a cheese-like product. It’s pretty fascinating if you are into that sort of thing. And I am.

A while back I made some creamed corn with cashew and recently I decided to see how the blended nuts would be in a broccoli cashew soup.

Balsamic Pearl Onions

September 10, 2016

I was browsing the Whole Foods salad bar the other day when I came across balsamic marinated Cipollini onions. Balsamic and onions are two of my favorite things so I dropped one in my to-go box. One bite and I wish I had taken 3 (or 10) more.

These onions are not new, and neither is the idea to glaze them in a balsamic-based sauce, but this was most certainly a new thing to me. Sweet and tangy, I just can’t get enough of them.

Given that I could snack on these all day, I decided to try my own version with pearl onions.

3 Things to Do in Irvine, California

September 8, 2016

3 Things to Do in Irvine | Travel | Fake Food Free

Irvine is one of those California towns that is surrounded by so many other action-packed places, that it often gets overshadowed. Drive your car a few miles and you are headed through Costa Mesa, on the beach in Newport or Laguna, or sitting in the heart of L.A.

After visiting for the first time last March for the Women In Travel Summit, I learned that this overshadowing is most certainly undeserved. That’s why I decided to reach out to Destination Irvine when I learned that my husband’s Dave Matthews Band concert agenda would take to Irvine in August.

The fine folks there helped us organize our weekend and as a result I have three things you must do if you find yourself there in the near future.

Chocolate Fig Breakfast Shake

September 6, 2016

I rarely make smoothies. I’ve just never been that into them. I’m confident this has to do with the fact that I simply don’t like the name smoothie. We’ve talked about this before, right? It’s kind of how some people dislike the word foodie (which I’m okay with, by the way).

So if I do make something that resembles a smoothie, it’s called a breakfast shake. On occasion, a breakfast shake is just the thing I want first thing in the morning. This is especially true when I have some killer ingredients to use in them.

Four Favorites August

September 2, 2016

August flew by and you won’t hear me complaining. I try not to make a habit out of wishing time away, but we’ve finally entered into my FAVORITE part of the year, September – December.

Before I jump in with both feet, though, I need to share my Four Favorites for August. This month I’m back to my regular pattern for this post featuring a Book, Blog, Brand and Break. We spent the past two weeks on and off with travel so I’ve had little time in the kitchen, but lots of time to read some new favorites and do some sightseeing.

This month, I want to share a book that redefines happiness, a blog with a splash of inspiration from Polish cuisine, a goat cheese we enjoyed all summer and a short trip in the heart of cheese and cherry country.