Lori, Author at Fake Food Free

Lunch on the Elephant Trail

October 18, 2009

Last Monday I spent my day with an elephant. It certainly isn’t something I ever imagined I would do in my life. There are lots of elephant excursions in Thailand, but this one was a bit different. My husband and I enjoyed a full day at Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand, an organization the works to prevent the extinction of the Asian elephant and also operates as a rescue for the elephants as well as breeding them to preserve their existence.

The elephant trainer for a day program involved each of us, there were 5 in our group, be assigned to one elephant for the whole day. We bathed them, fed them, swam with them and rode them bareback for almost two hours throughout the country side, up steep hills and through creek beds. Simply unbelievable.

What does this have to do with food?

Our day with the elephants included what is probably one of the tastiest, not to mention most beautiful, picnics I’ve ever had. Laid out atop a banana leaf tablecloth, along the rocky path next to the water, were all kinds of Thai foods which had been prepared for us by a woman in a nearby village.

First, each person had three portions or rice. The one on the right was savory sticky rice to eat with the crispy fried chicken show in the photos below. The middle was purple sticky rice with coconut and then sweet sticky rice with egg custard. My favorite was the purple sticky riced with it’s incredibly nutty flavor and the pieces of coconut on top.

The small round cakes included one made of coconut that was a lot like a coconut gel. The yellow one was palm cake. The small yellow blobs (for lack of a better term) were sweetened egg yolks. Such a delicious combination of ingredients. The palm cake was our favorite.

Then, of course, there was fruit, every bit as fresh and delicious as the varieties we enjoyed in Brazil. Believe it or not, this was my first opportunity to try the red/pink dragon fruit. I found it to be much more flavorful than the white variety, very sweet with seeds similar to a kiwi. Just the beautiful color alone makes it exciting to eat.

Next was a huge selection of sweets steamed in leaves. Some were very similar to the sticky rices we’d already tried. One was a steamed banana cake that I failed to get a photo of. It was brown in color and had a very dense, gel-like texture. The most interesting was the rice and red bean steamed in the bamboo with palm sugar. This dessert exists in several Asian cultures I believe, but this was my first opportunity to have it.

No need to be worried about hungry elephants. They had a nice basket of bananas and sugarcane when we first arrived. Then they got all the vegetarian leftovers from our lunch, including the banana leaf we used as a tablecloth.

And this was no zoomed picture with the camera. My husband’s elephant, Say Thong, was munching some sugar cane right next to me.

I thought I would mention that, unfortunately, I’m having some major problems with the hosting account for my new blog, The 3 Star Traveler. I’m not sure that I will have the computer time to resolve it before the trip’s end so I will be sure to continue posting here when time allows.

Also, I just want to extend a big thank you for reading. Obviously my schedule is keeping me from staying up to date with everyone’s blogs and I truly appreciate that you are still reading mine. You’ll find me commenting again in a few weeks.

A Quest for Food – Eating for Activity

October 12, 2009

Our third guest post in the Quest for Food series come from Andrea at Off Her Cork. She is a runner and martial artist and her quest for food is all about fueling her body for the activity in which she regularly participates. She’s here to share her tips about eating in a way that keeps her energy levels up.

Hi guys! My name is Andrea and my little place on the web is called Off Her Cork. Our favorite Lori is off being the fabbo globetrotter that she is, so she asked me to do a little guest post for you all. Of course I agreed!

I describe myself as being a runner. I love running and when I don’t get to run, I become very cranky very quickly, which consists of me stomping around and acting all pouty as only a 32 year old can. However, I’m very new to running. I started running in July of 2008 and haven’t looked back since really.

Part of my start for running was to help me lose some weight and to also help my conditioning in order to help my martial arts. Because along with running, my husband and I train in two martial arts during the week as well. We both do Filipino stick and knife fighting and also Muay Thai. I can totally kick my husband’s butt but I’m not one to brag. 😉 This means my schedule is pretty jam packed!

Since running is still new to me, I’m still figuring out how my body works and responds to the activity. I’m currently training for my second half marathon which will be next month (eeep!), towards the end of October. Because I run and do martial arts, fueling properly is pretty important. One of the things that is drilled home for runners is that you need carbs. Carbs are good for you and you need to load up!

From my experience, I have to put a twist on this and say:

Find what works best for your body and make sure to eat smart carbs. Smart carbs are carbs that come from whole grains (oats, brown rice, quinoa), fruit, whole grain or whole wheat bread, and whole wheat or whole grain pasta. Not basic white semolina pasta. Not white rice or white bread. These are not beneficial and are just empty calories. If you work your body, you need to feed your body and feed it well.

Of course I’m still learning as I go along, but I have found for me personally carbs are okay but not enough. I need protein as well. To help my body recover from a run, I need three things:

Protein
Carbs
Small amount of fat

After a good run, no matter what the mileage, I will typically have a glass of chocolate soymilk as my recovery drink of choice. The length of the run and the intensity level will determine how much I have. Short runs equal a small glass. Long runs or runs where I sweated a lot, sometimes will get two glasses! Chocolate soymilk has it all, protein, a small amount of fat, and simple carbs to help give my body fuel and repair itself. I don’t drink milk, but chocolate milk would also work too.

And yes, I said the F word. Fat. I need it and so does my body. Fat helps me feel more satisfied and content. Which is what I want after an intense workout, otherwise if I feel empty all day long, I will eat to fill that void thinking that’s what I need. Which could lead to taking in too much and then I just blew my workout. Fat is not the devil and it is not bad when used in moderation and it is good fat that is eaten.

I follow the same rule for my long runs, which are Sunday mornings bright and early! A long run for me is anything over 5 miles. My favorite recovery and refuel meal after a long run is:

2% Fage (Greek yogurt)
Granola
Dash of maple syrup or jam

This also gives me exactly what I’m looking for. I get protein and fat from the yogurt, carbs from the granola, and simple sugar from the maple syrup or jam. YUM! And it does the trick of refueling and keeping me satisfied until Sunday breakfast so I can refuel with some more real food. During the week when I do shorter runs, I will eat oatmeal or oatbran for breakfast with a banana mixed in and some sort of additional fruit.

With my training, I have learned that protein is what I need more of as my miles increase and intensifies. I prefer to get my protein from seafood but will occasionally have meat as well. I also turn to nuts and nut butters for additional protein intake. Protein helps keep me satisfied and feeling strong.

The night before, my pre-race dinner is a combo of protein, fiber, and carbs. Whole wheat pasta, cheese, and lots of veggies. Or maybe pizza because is a great fuel source! And then on race day, it’s oatmeal with nut butter before heading to the starting line.

All of us are different and it makes sense that all of us are going to require different things to recover and refuel.

Thanks guys! And please come visit me over at OHC where we can talk more about food, running, and life!

P.S. In case you are just stopping by, I’m in the process of moving back to the US and am currently on an extended trip in SE Asia. I have weekly guest posts lined up this month and will be stopping by with foodie pictures from our travels as time permits.

Photo courtesy of the guest author.

Hong Kong: Adventures in Dim Sum

October 8, 2009

We stood there like typical tourists, a bewildered look on our faces. We were wondering if this was in fact the place the hotel desk clerk was referring to when she told us where to get dim sum for breakfast. We had just arrived at the hotel at about 8:30 am and although I had a list a mile long of recommended dim sum restaurants we were both too exhausted, hungry and still too disoriented to set out to find them just yet.

We knew right away there would be little English at this place and while we enjoy jumping feet first into other cultures, Chinese is a whole different ball game. I mean, you can’t make any type of wild guess at what words mean when reading the language. Whereas with languages like Portuguese or French you might recognize a word even if you don’t know the language much at all.

We were about to leave when what turned out to be one of the most adorable waitresses I’ve encountered greeted us in English. We asked if they had dim sum and she said yes as she seated us at a table with two women and one man. The place was obviously popular with an older group, like a retiree hangout. We were quickly welcomed without reservation.

Right away the group tried to show us how to prepare for our meal by cleaning the tea cup and chopsticks. Unable to understand, the woman next to me finally grabbed all my things and did it for me and then gestured for me to show my husband. We all laughed with each other in that way only a true language barrier can create.

They motioned for us to try our chopsticks and smiled and gave us the thumbs up when we succeeded which I have to admit was not an easy task. I am used to using my lightweight bamboo chopsticks at home and these things were heavy and not to mention a bit slippery. I’m sure I made quite a few faux pas as I tried my best.

Next we were given a lesson in the language as we were instructed to repeat the names of dishes. I received some nods, smiles and tiny cheers as I sounded my way through pronouncing them.

Fortunately, there was a menu available with English and although it wasn’t the official menu for the time we were there, they allowed us to select from it. We jumped right in and picked a variety of things. Some we’d had before, others were new and one was unidentifiable. Not bad for your first meal in a brand new country.

Along with the BBQ pork buns pictured above we ordered another favorite, steamed shrimp dumplings. The pork buns were some of the best I’ve had because they were not overly sweet. I’ve had some before that are more similar to a dessert, but these had a balanced savory flavor. The shrimp dumplings need little description. Hot and steamy, filled with tender shrimp surrounded by a delicately chewy dumpling exterior, they rank as my favorite dim sum dish.

Then this is where things got confusing. We thought we ordered steamed chicken with yam, but ended up with some rolls which can be seen in the photo above. It definitely wasn’t a disappointment, they were very good, filled with vegetables and shrimp, but I’m not exactly sure of all the ingredients.

Speaking of not knowing the ingredients our unidentifiable selection was quite interesting. It was listed as assorted meats wrapped in bamboo with oyster sauce. When it arrived, the um, meats, were certainly assorted. Actually I think the proper translation for the menu should have been meat parts. It included a piece of imitation crab and a piece of ham, the rest looked to be animal fat or cartilage of one variety or another. We ate what we could identify and tasted what we couldn’t. The flavor was actually very good, but the texture kept us from downing the whole thing.

Last, but not least, I have to show you my new favorite – pan-fried pumpkin cakes. Apparently, you can take me away from October and autumn in Kentucky, but you can’t take the pumpkin from me. These little bundles were fantastic. They had a crunchy outside layer and were filled with a thick, sweet paste on the inside.

The responsible traveler in me can’t even tell you exactly what the name of this place was as we didn’t see an official translated name. I can tell you it is on the third floor of the Emperor shopping plaza on Wan Chai road though.

As we were leaving I told my husband that dim sum experts may not have recommended that as the best in town, but nothing could compare to diving in with that cultural experience right from the start of our visit to Hong Kong.

A Quest for Food – Culture & Ex-pat Living

October 5, 2009

The first guest post in the Quest for Food series comes from Mindy of Mindy’s Mouthful. She’s graciously agreed to share with us how her year-long expatriate experience challenged the way she cooks and the way her family eats. Now that she’s back in the US she is trying to incorporate the healthy, culturally inspired habits she acquired while living in France.

It seems like forever ago when I found out that I was moving to France. I had an entire year to prepare, but what I didn’t end up being prepared for was how much time I actually had on my hands. Of course, I was busy with our two-year-old daughter and with helping my husband, who was acting as the director of our college’s study abroad program in Strasbourg, since I also work for the same school, but it was nothing compared to having to juggle all of these things at home and work a full-time job.

To fill this time, I started cooking. I always enjoyed cooking, and in fact, it was one of the things that brought my husband and I together many years ago–cooking together. Once I started experimenting with food in France, I decided to create a blog, Mindy’s Mouthful, to document my little adventures.

When I set foot in the local French grocery store, I was a little befuddled…it was so small. But it had the best vegetable section, and then when I started looking around, it also had a gigantic dairy section with every cheese imaginable. And in fact, upon closer inspection, the only things it was really missing were many of the prepackaged, highly processed foods I had come to rely on in the United States.
Of course, it had a breakfast food section and chips and soda and many of the junk and/or convenience foods that we have in the United States, but the main difference was that the ratio of fresh and packaged foods that were actually food (without all of the strange additives that we rely on in the U.S.) to bad-for-you convenience foods seemed to be exactly opposite of a U.S. grocery store.

The French also didn’t seem to be afraid of fat–not everything was full of it, but the pre-made tart crusts were made with real butter, the full-fat cream sold out before the low-fat, and everyone had some block of cheese in their baskets. (And I never once saw a low-fat version of cheese…) But what I also noticed in their baskets were plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. They bought meat, but very little of it. And slowly, my shopping habits followed suit.

When I started thinking about my return to the United States, I really realized how difficult it was going to be to keep up the good habits that I picked up in France. I had always been good about keeping fresh vegetables in our diet, but I knew the selection in my local grocery store in Kentucky was not going to have the variety and quality that I came to rely upon in my French grocery store.

In order to combat this, I joined a CSA for the first time. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to do it, but it’s one of the best things I’ve done. The CSA provides local, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and although I don’t have much choice in what I get, I do get to try out products I would never buy (or find, for that matter) in the local grocery store, like West African Stew with okra or Turnip Mash or Sauteed Kale.

We’ve been back for about two months now, and we’ve recognized that our eating habits have changed, but that without constant vigilance and pre-planning, we will be sucked back into buying out of convenience instead of making decisions based on health.

Photos courtesy of the guest author.

New Blog!

October 2, 2009

Just a short note for the travel fans out there. With this ex-pat journey coming to an end I am transitioning the blog where I recorded those experiences.

This week I launched The 3 Star Traveler!

The blog will be a place for me to share my passion for travel and offer some thoughts about our repatriation process. During our SE Asia trip I’ll be trying to post food related info here, but you can check out The 3 Star Traveler for more photos of our adventures.

I hope you’ll stop by!!

A Quest for Food

October 2, 2009

Since I started my journey with Fake Food Free not only have I been challenged to put my thoughts and explorations from a food perspective into words and recipes, but I’ve enjoyed reading the blogs of others who do the same thing. Over time you realize just how diverse the simple topic of food can be.

It is in exploring this world of food blogging that I realize we all have one simple theme in common – a quest for food. Our quests for food can revolve around culture, living in a new place, travel, reliving memories, improving health, or fueling for activity, and that’s just naming a few. All of these things can be very different, but with each food is involved and I find I’m drawn to all of them for different reasons.

If you’ve been following me over the past few months you know that I have some big things going on at the moment. For a little over two years my husband and I have been living in southern Brazil. As hard as it is to believe this journey is coming to an end. As of Saturday, we will officially be moving back to the US.

Rest assured my adventures won’t stop here. As excited as we are to return home, we are taking a break before completely settling in. Next week, after a short stop in the States we are headed off on a month-long trip to Southeast Asia.

Considering this theme I’ve had on my mind lately I have invited four of my favorite bloggers to provide guest posts for you during my travels. Each week you are going to have some excellent reading material with tips, advice and some new recipes all focused on different topics, but all related to a quest for food.

You’ll be getting excellent posts from:

Mindy – Mindy’s Mouthful
Andrea – Off Her Cork
Cathy –A Life Less Sweet
Amy – Delicious by Nature

Let me take the opportunity to thank each of them right now. You are going to love their posts! Each brings so much knowledge and personality to their writing and I enjoy reading their blogs. I am honored and grateful to have these ladies guest post here at Fake Food Free.

While I hope to do a post when free time conveniently coincides with Internet access, it is likely you won’t be seeing much of me. Obviously, with no kitchen to cook in recipes will be lacking as well. I do have intentions of sharing my food experiences along the way though so I hope you will continue your regular visits throughout the month.

When I’m back in November you can bet that there will be wide variety of real, delicious foods I’ll be recreating!

My Brazil through Food

September 29, 2009

Although this blog isn’t going anywhere in the near future, I feel like I need to mark this end to my ex-pat experience in some way. I finally decided there is no better way than to take a walk through the food journey I’ve experienced in the past two years.

We’ve been exposed to so many foods here – exotic fruits at their absolute peak of ripeness, rocket fuel coffee of which one sip will swing droopy eyelids wide open, sweets so sugary they make your teeth ache, and more beef than some cultures would consider consuming in a lifetime. Some I’ve loved, some were just okay and others I would pass on if offered again. However, all are part of my Brazil experience from a foodie perspective.

So let’s take a look at my Brazil through food.

Açaí, that powerhouse fruit from the Amazon. Everyone in the U.S. likes to talk about its miracle health qualities, but here, I eat it because it is just plain good. You can enjoy it as juice or loaded with fruit and granola in açaí na tigela.

Acerola, a fruit similar in shape to a cherry, but with the texture of something closer to a plum. It’s loaded with vitamin C and you’ll most often find it as a juice.

Açukapé has won the award for our favorite padaria or panificadora which is a bakery. It has a local flair and the most amazing pastries, not to mention a very local price. Most things you find there are less than 1 USD. Our favorites are the misto croissants filled with ham and cheese and the sonhos (although this name for them is not used everywhere in Brazil). They are donut-like pastry filled with cream or doce de leite and here they roll them in cinnamon and sugar.

Batata Suíça, or Swiss potato, is the ex-pat’s answer to the lack of hash browns. These shredded potatoes are filled with anything from meats to veggies and cheeses and then cooked in a skillet before being transferred to the plate. We get these when visiting Curitiba.

Bolo de rolo, is by far our favorite cake discovery here. It is typical to the northeast part of the country specifically Recife. A friend brought us one back from a trip and this is the only one we’ve had the pleasure to encounter here. It is a soft cake, almost resembling a cookie dough topped with a layer of goiaba (guava fruit) jam. The layers or so thin it is as amazing to look at as it is to eat!

A typical Brazilian churrasco complete with grilled meat, vinaigrette (veggies in oil and lime juice), farofa (toasted mandioca flour), and this one came with steamed mandioca (cassava, yucca).

Candied coconut is likely not the technical name and to be honest, I’m not sure what is. I normally just point to it and pick out my little cup when I buy it from the sweets lady at the feira. It consists of large chunks of coconut flesh loaded with a crisp, sugary coating.

Café, there has been way too much coffee enjoyment to adequately describe here. This one has doce de leite in the bottom.

Crème de papaya, a mixture of vanilla ice cream and the pulp of papaya which creates a smooth, soft, ice cream-like dessert. It is topped off with a shot of crème de cassis.

The feira (farmer’s market) is like a paradise for all things food especially those of the healthy, fresh variety. Jack fruit, bananas and mangos are only a few of the things you can see and buy there.

Maracujá quickly became my favorite fruit. Not only are the tart flesh and crunchy seeds delicious mixed into a fruit salad, but you can turn it into other things such as Cocada com Maracujá, sweetened coconut with the fruit pulp mixed in, and Mousse de Maracujá, a light and fluffy pudding dessert.

Mandioquinha, also called batata-baroa or batata-salsa, is a root vegetable that is like a cross between a carrot and a potato. It makes a smooth, buttery mash that went so well with this chicken covered in molho de maracujá (passion fruit sauce).

Moqueca, a stew typical to Bahia often made with shrimp or fish as well as tomatoes, onions and coconut milk. A friend made us for it here and we now always order it when out if we find it on the menu.

Tapioca is also typical to Bahia, but we can get it at our local feira. Ground tapioca is spread on a griddle and heated to form a tortilla-like flat bread. You can get it sweet or savory. This one had sweetened condensed milk and coconut.

Many a seafood feast when we made it to the coast. This, oysters baked with cheese on the island of Floripa.

Paçoca, a peanut candy that resembles a peanut butter fudge with ground peanuts and lots of texture. It is crumbly with a sweet and salty flavor.

Pamonha, cornmeal and milk combined and boiled in a corn husk. You can have it sweet or savory.

Pé-de-moleque another peanut candy that takes peanut brittle to a whole new level. It is soft and tender, and full of crunchy, whole peanuts.

Pinhão, from the pine cone of the Auraucaria tree, these pine nuts are steamed and salted. They taste like a cross between a bean and a nut, and are typical to the southern part of Brazil.

Brazil’s version of German (Alemão) food is one thing we always stop for in Curitiba. Salsicha branca, white sausages with mustard and submarinos, draft beers with a shot of liqueur inside.

Petiscos, or bar snacks, can be found around every corner. Our favorite find was fried mandioca wrapped in bacon.

Sushi abounds here with the strong Japanese influence in this area. I love their California rolls with mango and there is even a sweet variety of rolls which include cream cheese, strawberry and goiaba spread.

I rarely ate fried foods until I was introduced to the pastel. A puff pastry filled with meats, cheeses and veggies and deep fried until crisp and puffy. It comes with a mildly spicy sauce and vinaigrette. My favorites have been chicken with catipury cheese, the sundried tomato with arugula and mozzarella, broccoli with bacon and mushroom, and 4 cheese. Yeah, I’ve had a few in two years.

Of course there was the occasional caipirinha consumed. They aren’t my favorite, but when in Brazil… This one was made with mango, but I had a strawberry (morango) one not too long ago that was very good.

And last, but not least, Feijoada, the beloved national dish of Brazil, a wonderfully flavored bean feast with all kinds of pork parts. I, of course, gladly skip the parts, but I can’t knock the flavor of the dish. I always have to giggle a bit when I see a recipe in the States calling for pork loin or a similar item. That’s not feijoada, that’s black beans with pork. The real deal, although they often separate out the varieties of meats, includes sausage, rib meat, tail, ear, foot and I’m sure many others that are escaping me at the moment.

Gifts from Argentina

September 28, 2009

I have likely alluded to it before, but the next best thing to traveling with my husband when he goes away on business is being on the receiving end of gifts when he returns. This time he went to Argentina and the gifts were plenty; delicious gifts of the food variety.

First, a bottle of Malbec which was wonderful despite the fact that we had to drink it out of plastic cups. I know this can be considered a good-wine sin, but the glasses are all packed away and I assure I enjoyed no less than if it had come from the most expensive wine glasses.

Along with wine, most foodies know all about chimichurri, the popular condiment of Argentina made of parsley, oregano and paprika along with many other ingredients depending on the recipe you follow. My husband received a packet of the dried mix as a gift and we’ve been instructed to reconstitute the herbs in a bit of water, and then add some oil and vinegar. So you can expect a post about this tasty stuff when I’m back to cooking again.

Finally, I saved the best for last. By far one the best sweets I have had in South America are alfajores from Argentina. I never knew cookies, dulce de leche (doce de leite in Portuguese) and chocolate could be so good.

This dessert takes two light and tender cookies and secures them together with a generous helping of caramel goodness. Then, as if that wasn’t good enough, they are covered in chocolate. They crumble and melt in your mouth with each bite. What I find especially interesting is that the cookie has a very slight citrus flavor. At least that is what it tastes like to me.

According to my sources, which happen to be the boxes the alfajores came in; the dessert is an Arabic invention and comes from the word “al-hasu” which means filling. In Argentina they can be traced back to the Spanish city of Córdoba.

The kind we are familiar with are from Havanna a chain of coffee and sweets shops which you can find in the Sao Paulo airports and in some malls in Curitiba. Most often you can find the original flavor, but there are plenty of variations as well. You can find some filled with fruit spread and covered in white chocolate or some with chocolate inside and out, or with a hint of hazelnut flavor. Some lack the chocolate coating and are rolled in powdered sugar.

In Argentina, my husband found the Havanna variety, but he decided to take a chance on some different brands. These were actually less expensive so we were a little nervous that they may not be as good. We’ve purchased some generic brands here in Brazil and didn’t turn out to be very exciting.

Well, we had nothing to worry about. All have been amazing! He picked up a box of the original with chocolate outside and dulce de leche inside.

Next was a specialty box with fruit filling and white chocolate. There is raspberry, wild berry, strawberry and the one I’m most interested to try, but saving for last, wild rose hip. The jams are sweet with a mild tart flavor that goes so well with the white chocolate. And the cookie is that same tender, crumbly goodness.

I’ve not tried to make my own yet, but you can check out this post from Sweets Foods to find a list of all kinds of Alfajores recipes to try.

So as you can see I’m filling up this week on foods from all over South America, not only those from Brazil. Speaking of that, I need to figure out which of my suitcases is going to transport all the coffee I want to take back with me. Alfajores from Argentina and coffee from Brazil, now that is one match up worthy of lugging an extra suitcase!

Links to a Healthy Weekend

September 27, 2009

Hope you are enjoying this September weekend! I think we are actually all packed up! Well, except for the last minute things. I mean, I still need a plate to eat off of this week.

This time next week we will be landing in the US. No doubt we will hit the ground running as we drop things off, pack the rest and head out on our month long trip throughout Southeast Asia. Then I get to finish that off with a week in San Francisco and the Foodbuzz Blogger Fest! It is an exciting time for sure.

This will be the last links post for a while. They’ll return in November because I love sharing what I find and the posts keep me motivated to stay on top of my food and health reading around the web. I think you’ll be pleased with the great stuff this week!

Meeting demand for ancient grains on FoodNavigator.com
I am gladly welcoming all the ancient, yet new-to-me, grains that I have recently discovered. I am also thankful for all the food bloggers out there who show me how to use them! This is an interesting post about how companies are trying to keep up with our demand for gluten-free and other nourishing grains.

The Foodiots from the New York Observer
A wonderful article that creatively expresses how conversations around the water cooler have changed. Our new focus seems to be all about food!

Make Your Own Sausage on Chow
It’s Oktoberfest time! One of my favorite foods in the world is authentic German sausages. Given that they are accompanied by pretzels and spicy mustard, of course. I’ve never made my own, but this article will show you how!

Cauliflower & cashew pilaf with chickpea curry on the BBC Good Food Channel
The cauliflower and cashews in this dish sound fantastic! I would likely substitute in my chickpeas in curry as opposed to using a jar sauce, but this is a combination I would not thought of pulling together on my own.

Guilt-free Snacks Challenge at the Health Nut
If you have a favorite recipe for a healthy snack, head over to the Health Nut and submit it for the Health Nut Challenge 2. Entries are due by Oct 31st. While you are there you can check out the great recipe for Roasted Vegetable Wheat Crackers!

Photo from the Farmer’s Market (feira) in the Batel neighborhood of Curitiba-PR, Brasil

Kilos of Ice Cream

September 25, 2009

Imagine a self-serve, cafeteria-style ice cream shop.

First you must carefully select one of about seven types of bowls. (Better to go a little bigger than usual because you aren’t sure exactly what you will find.) As you make your way along the freezer case you see tubs filled to the brim with ice creams such as passion fruit, banana, chocolate, toasted coconut and doce de leite.

You use the scoops provided to create your bowl and then proceed to the toppings -sweet sauces, candies, fruits and nuts. Next, it is to the counter where your creation is weighed and you pay per kilogram. Each time you return for a visit you get to try a new creation made especially for you, by you.

Welcome to my ice cream experience in Brazil. Awesome, right? I know!

Visiting the ice cream shop is always an adventure. We usually end up with several bowls so we can separate flavors and toppings accordingly. It is way too difficult to pick a single dip, thus we had to start carefully selecting our walking route when out so we weren’t tempted to stop each time. Too much of a good thing and all that.

Although, given are soon approaching departure, I was determined to try some flavors I had passed up on previous visits. You know how you get stuck in a rut and always get the same kind for fear your new pick will only disappoint. My favorites always included coffee, doce de leite and coconut.

The topping of choice – farofa doce.

A play on words from the farofa that goes with beef served here which is toasted mandioca (cassava, yucca) flour, farofa doce is made to look just like it. It’s a sweet peanut concoction that is crumbled into a fine powder. Something similar to crumbled peanut butter fudge mixed with ground peanuts. Yeah, that’s close. Sweet and salty, and ice cream will never be the same again without it.

One flavor that I had routinely passed up, but just had to try, was corn (milho) ice cream. This flavor is popular in other countries as well, but I had never tried it before. If you’ve never had it, first, you have to erase any thought of what you might think the corn ice cream would taste like. I had those visions, too.

Now think about the sweetest corn bread you’ve had minus the grainy texture. Picture instead a creamy, smooth spoonful. That’s corn ice cream and I have to tell you it is amazing!

Actually, now that I think about it, it reminds me a bit of my mom’s corn pudding in ice cream form, however, no grains or pieces of corn. Promise. It’s interesting because you can identify it as corn flavor, but it is very appealing despite what the thought of corn made into ice cream may first bring to mind. I’d get it again without a doubt.

So when in Brazil, seek out some sorvete por kilo, try the corn flavor and always, always, get extra farofa doce. You won’t regret it. My waistline will likely not miss it, but my taste buds surely will!