Book and Product Reviews Archives | Page 5 of 17

Celebrating a great year with a Holiday Pomtini Cocktail!

December 29, 2014

I’m toasting to a great year and ringing in a new one with this Holiday Pomtini cocktail made with orange vodka, peach schnapps and POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice! POM Wonderful is a current client and this post results from my work with the brand.

It has been quite a year. The kind of year that you hate to see end, but one that makes you excited to see what is next. Around here we’ve had everything from great travel and fun family visits to gaining an even greater appreciation for health.

On the business side of things, I’ve started working with so many new companies and organizations this year. It’s been enjoyable, challenging, and I like to think it has helped me grow quite a bit.

What better way to celebrate than with a martini!

Holiday Gift Ideas

December 14, 2014

It has been a year of cool finds around here which leads to a great list of holiday gift ideas! Whether you are buying for a cook, a runner or a traveler, I have a few ideas that will simplify your holiday shopping.

It’s the holiday season and what kind of blogger would I be if I didn’t share a few holiday gift ideas. Fortunately, compiling a list has been easy. I’ve come across so many things this year that fit every hat I manage to wear on a regular basis. If you happen to have a traveler, cookbook lover, runner or food blogger on your list, look no further. I have no doubt they will love these gifts as much as I do.

Whole Foods Gilman in Berkeley: Favorite Things

November 4, 2014

There is a new Whole Foods Market opening on Gilman in Berkeley! I had the pleasure of attending a media event last week. I learned so much and was so inspired that I had to share a recap.

There are few things I enjoy more than listening to people talk about their passion for good food. Last week, I had the pleasure of attending my first media event for an opening of a new Whole Foods Market in Northern California.

I was pretty excited to get the invitation. You see, we have a bit of a healthy addiction to The North Face Outlet on Gilman. This usually leads to a Saturday of visiting someone of the great craft brew spots in the area, like the Sierra Nevada Torpedo Room. So our conversations as we drive down Gilman in Berkeley have progressed kind of like this –

Vegetable Party Appetizers

October 14, 2014

Get ready for the holiday season with these vegetable party appetizers! From walnut-stuffed tomatoes, to hot pepper jam and eggplant pâté, you’ll love these easy-to-make recipes using Mucci Farms produce.

There are few things more perfect to me than aisle after aisle, bin after bin, and row after row of fresh produce. It’s why you’ll find me at the farmers market almost every week, hear me asking for just 5 minutes to run in this international market, and catch me hanging out the window with my camera as we speed past the farms when driving through the Central Valley. They can be as common as the green bell peppers my dad grows in his garden or as rare as the tropical fruits we encounter while traveling. Plain and simple, I love fruits and vegetables.

Hanoi Grilled Chicken from The Banh Mi Handbook

September 28, 2014

From the Vietnamese bread and fillings to tangy pickled vegetables, you can create your own restaurant-style sandwich at home with the help of The Banh Mi Handbook and this Hanoi Grilled Chicken.

I read about the Vietnamese Banh Mi long before I ever had the opportunity to take my first bite. I knew about the soft, but crusty bread, the numerous meat fillings, pickled veggies, hot peppers and the finishing touch of cilantro.

Often when you know this much about a food before you try it, you set yourself up for disappointment. Not so with this sandwich. I had built up in my head what the combination of those flavors would be, and it was better than I anticipated.

I’m not picky about my banh mi. I like the classic version I can grab for $3.50 when passing through Oakland’s Chinatown just as much as I like the fancy version for $10 filled with local, pastured lemongrass chicken that I get at food trucks.

There is an art to it though, don’t you think? It’s not something that I had considered making at home because, while it seems easy, man is it hard to get those flavors right.

Goat Milk Ice Cream, Baobab, Pre Run Snacks and Coconut Flour: Four Favorites September

September 10, 2014

It’s time for Four Favorites, the September edition! I say that like there have been previous editions. Well, there haven’t.

You see, I’ve come across so many cool specialty foods and ingredients over the past year. Some I buy myself, others are sent to me for review. Many have become regular staples in my kitchen, others are treats that I think you must try.

In the past, I haven’t felt comfortable sharing about some of my favorite finds because they aren’t all ingredients. Having a blog called Fake Food Free that is focused on eating fewer processed foods has pressured me for a long time to show that I make just about everything we eat.

The truth is, I don’t make everything. I used to make a lot more when we lived in Kentucky, but in the Bay Area I have access to so much. I’m finding foods that are equally, or more, natural, unrefined, delicious (whatever term you want to use) than I can even make myself.

Don’t worry. I plan to keep on cooking and making things from scratch as I have for the past several years. I value that. There are some things that I really want to share, though, because the products are great or the companies are doing great work. And sometimes you can use a good gift idea!

I love browsing favorite thing posts from other bloggers so I thought it was time I start my own. Just once a month and hopefully you’ll find something fun you haven’t tried before. Continue Reading…

Pomegranate and Pear Salad Recipe from Mason Jar Salads

September 5, 2014

Have you ever been the victim of being labeled the healthy eater at your workplace? If not the healthy eater, than the fancy eater?

I thought being teased by peers was something that I’d leave in grade school, but some of my jobs as an adult proved me wrong. I worked in public health so a lot of people were healthy eaters, but I quickly became labeled as a fancy eater in the lunch room.

I was the one who would bring in leftovers of Asian noodle dishes, black bean burgers or grilled pastured, local chicken. It was usually balanced out with some greens, fruit, some healthy fat — all the major food groups. I’d get comments about how healthy I ate and that I must cook, etc.

You never really know what to say to these things. Sorry? I promise I’m not trying to get attention, I honest-to-goodness just eat like this.

Javanese Carrot and Cucumber Pickle Recipe (Acar Timun)

August 5, 2014

This recipe for carrot and cucumber pickles remains one of my very favorites. If you like pickled veggies as much as I do, this cookbook needs some space on your shelf!

Javanese Carrot and Cucumber Pickle | fakefoodfree.com

The first time we traveled to Southeast Asia, I completely missed a very important thing about the cuisine.

It’s all about the condiments.

I saw the little bowls of peppers, relishes, chutneys and sauces on our table and I tried one here and there, but it wasn’t until we returned and I researched recipes further that I realized I should have been much more adventurous! Now, I can make a complete meal out of the condiments alone. Sweet, spicy, tangy, pickled, fermented – you name it and I want it.

I’ve become that annoying person at the dinner table who asks a million question of the server. What is that? How is it made? What’s in it? I’ll take any little piece of information I can grab to help me find a recipe so I can make it at home later, or at least attempt to. I always feel a little intimidated because it never seems to turn out just right. But that’s probably because I haven’t really had a reliable resource for recipes. Until now.

Apple Peanut Dog Treats Recipe

August 2, 2014

This post continues my series on peanut flour. If you’d like to read more, check out the Peanut Chile Rubbed Pork Chops and the Nectarine Coconut Peanut Flour Scones.

As soon as I read that peanut flour would make a nice addition to dog treats, I knew I couldn’t leave the pugs out of my recipe experiments. I hadn’t made homemade treats in a while and I got the feeling they were missing them.

They had no idea that what was going on in the kitchen had anything to do with them. I mixed, I baked, but then, I got ready to photograph.

Pineapple Mint Chutney Recipe

July 25, 2014

Friday is cookbook review day throughout the summer here at Fake Food Free. If you have a love of cookbooks be sure to swing back by for plenty of new ideas and recipes.

I don’t like to call it an addiction. That makes it sound as though it’s a bad thing.

Let’s go with attraction.

Yes. I have a strong attraction to canning and preserving cookbooks.

I have my mom’s old ones, I collect new ones and I never turn down the offer to test one out. Regardless of how simple or complex the recipes in the book may be, I always manage to find something I have never canned before.