Homemade Granola & Yogurt

My apartment has been cleaner than it's ever been before. I've cleaned our fridge, Laundered all our linens, cleaned and installed our A/C, mopped the floors, dusted all the shelves....Unemployment is looking good for our humble little abode.

And when I'm not cleaning like a maniac I'm usually dreaming up some crazy recipe that will substitute for my cravings to go out to dinner. We're talking penny-pinching here, people. I've been a little more cautious at the grocery store, taking note of the per pound/per ounce prices more than ever before. But I decided to splurge a little on Wednesday and made a trip to the Union Square farmers market and Whole Foods - I had a few ideas brewing in mind.

One of which was something I've been meaning to do for a long time, which was make homemade granola. As far as the cost-effectiveness of homemade granola, the jury's still out. I made a pretty decent-sized batch of granola, but nuts and seeds and flax are still expensive.

The thing I love about making things at home is that you know EXACTLY what is being put into the foods you make. Duh. But really, I like the idea that granola is granola, not sugar and processed oats and refined wheats and what not. Without further ado, here is the recipe I used, passed on from my good friend Gillian:

4c - oats

4c - combined of some or all of the following: wheat germ, flax, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds and/or pecans, and/or walnuts, raisins and/or cranberries and/or cherries. (I have found the perfect combination of these to be: 2/3c wheat germ, 2/3c flax seed, 2/3c sesame seeds, 1/2c pecans, 1/2c walnuts, 1/2c pepitas, and 1/2c golden raisins)

some - cinnamon

some - salt

2c - oj

1c - honey (mostly maple syrup 2/3c and a little honey 1/3c)

1/2c - canola oil

preheat oven to 300.

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl

on the stovetop heat the oj, honey (or maple) and oil in a small saucepan until combined and smooth. Whisk together like a dressing. Pour 'dressing' over rest of the dry ingredients and fold everything together. The mix should be rather wet, like an oatmeal cookie dough.

Line 2 baking sheets or pans with foil, and spread the granola mixture evenly between the two sheets. Bake in the oven for an hour, stirring/checking ever 20 minutes. The longer the granola is in the oven the crunchier it will be, so bake for as long as it suits you tastes. I have found that in my oven, the perfect cooking time for my preferences is 1 hr. 15 min.

Leave out to cool for at least 30min, the longer the better. Stir around the granola with your hands and break up the larger chunks if you prefer. Make sure granola is completely cooled and dry before you store in airtight containers or ziplocs.

The finished product, mixed into some homemade plain yogurt

The result? After one hour of baking and about an hour or so to cool and set, I had perfectly nutty, chewy, not too-hard, not too-sweet, perfect with plain yogurt granola. (And to top it off, I made my own yogurt, too- whaddya think bout that!?) Keep in mind this is not your store-bought packaged crunchy hard granola. I cannot emphasize enought that it is a softer, chewier, less-sweet version. In my opinion, yummier. This recipe is definitely going to get some good use.

Good News in the 'hood

From NY Mag:

Adding to the excitement that Prime Meats has started serving burgers and steaks, Williamsburg all-American spot Walter Foods quietly started serving lunch last week, and where better to enjoy it than the new back patio you see before you. Owners Dylan Dodd and Danny Minch tell us they’re carrying items over from the dinner menu at the same price (the short-rib burger, the lobster club, the French dip, etc.) and adding a few under-$10 options such as a daily omelette and a bagel sandwich of scrambled eggs, bacon, and cheese. Tomorrow they’ll add a pastrami sandwich, and you can also expect a half-sandwich-and-soup special. Maybe best of all, the full raw bar is available during lunch, and (starting now) also at the bar during the break between lunch and dinner. Tuesday through Friday, lunch is from 11:30 a.m. till 4 p.m; dinner is from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. On the weekends, brunch is from 11:30 a.m. till 4:30 p.m. and dinner is from 6 p.m. till 2 a.m. — these are also the hours when the 50-seat back patio is available for your alfresco pleasure. Drinking-lunch recommendation: a John Daly (an Arnold Palmer spiked with vodka).

Wants and Needs, mostly Wants.

Big Sigh. My 'I Must Get This List' is growing. Here is my newest addition, which is going to the top of the list, a home carbonating appliance. The Sodastream Penguin. A few pumps and voila!, you have soda water without the waste of plastic bottles.

I will settle for their less-fancy model, the Sodastream Pure Jet, which for the economical price of $89.99 gives me all the bubbly pleasure I can ask for!!! Goal is two have this in my home within the next couple of months...

Lazy Sundaes

David Lebovitz's CANDIED BACON ICE CREAM

Grrrr I did it again. I've had trouble sleeping lately, and have been falling asleep at annoyingly late hours (3am, 4am) and as a result waking up much later than I ever intend to, not to mention with bags under my eyes. This is something I really wanted to avoid whilst unemployed- just because I don't have a job doesn't mean I don't have (or shouldn't have) things to do! Today I woke up so late that I am embarrassed to tell you exactly what time my clock read when I finally awoke from the restless state that was my slumber. I had huge plans for the day and they were squandered (yes, I really had huge plans), so I shamefully I ended up hanging out at home doing a lot of stuff around the house.

While doing things around the house my mind wandered to ice cream. I've been thinking of ice cream a lot lately. I was never a huge fan of it when I was little, but it's been growing on me through the years. I still prefer a solid vanilla or coffee ice cream over any of those chubby hubby funky monkey ice cream flavors, though. Clean and simple, that's how I like my ice cream.

But recently, I've taken notice to chefs starting to play with their ice creams and using really great ingredients to create what are truly artisanal ice creams and ice cream flavours (I am using the English way of spelling as it seems more delectable and artisinal to me). Nick Morgenstern, chef of the General Greene (and my big fat General Crush) has created an ice cream stand outside of his restaurant with five special daily flavors, flavors like Salted Caramel, Bourbon Raisin, Burnt-Honey Vanilla, and even Bacon! The Van Leeuwan Brothers have made a killing, not only with their truck which silently brings the freshest, most pure and simple flavor all around downtown Manhattan, but now with their packaged cartons selling at Whole Foods stores as well. Sweet Melissa just opened up a creamery, with a nice sit-down parlor-esque restaurant in the back, serving up crazy sundaes and old fashioned delights like Egg Creams (chocolate syrup, heavy cream/mill, and seltzer, hm...).

Since today was the first truly humid day of the year, I was reminded why ice cream fares so well out here in NYC. While in LA I was talking ice cream with Gillian, a very normal foodie conversation. We were thinking of how to re-invent flavors into ice creams, how to make them at their best. S'more Ice Cream! Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream! I think this is why ice cream is so fun and can be so delectable- it's like that part in willy wonka where little Violet Beauregard pops that piece of Wonka Gum in her mouth, which simulated a full course meal- you can recreate the flavors of a whole, solid pumpkin pie, of into a spoonful of creamy, icy goodness! David Lebovitz, true ice cream conisseur, is constantly exploring & writing about such creations and where he finds his flavors and inspirations. He's even written a book on ice cream which I am just dying to get my hands on.

Anyway during my little day dream session I decided that I want to create Caramel Apple ice cream. It's not that I am obsessed with Caramel Apples, or that I love apple products (because I don't, I actually quite despise apple sauce and apple juice and even apple pie), but rather I think that this ice cream would have a really cool flavor profile. Anyway, I will update you if this seemingly genius idea really is genius. Because I have a feeling it'll either be that or a huge disaster. We'll see!

Pointless Mom Emails

My mom sends me an average of, oh, 5 emails a day. Maybe 1 of these is a personal/positive/constructive/friendly letter. The remaining 4 are chain emails, random links, tips on how not to get robbed/attacked, emails about Jesus, emails about Jesus in Chinese, and my personal favorite- Power Point presentations with inspirational/cute catch phrases. That's a whole lot of my mom's emails rendered useless, my friends.

Because I think this is partially ridiculous but also partially amazing, I've decided to start sharing some of these. Here's one I got today. She sent me this because she knows I think of the Von Trapp Family day in and day out. (also for the sake of preserving the true essence of these emails, all fonts/colors will not be edited.)

from	Jin Tsao Chien
to		CHIEN Jessie vickie chien CHIEN RingLing WK
date		Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 3:59 PM
subject		FW: FW： The 7 Children in 'THE SOUND OF MUSIC'... after 40 years

The 7 Children in 'THE SOUND OF MUSIC'... after 40 years

The Sound of Music is a 1965 film. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1965 and is one of the most popular musicals ever produced.

Still remember the 7 children of The Trapp family?

They were having a reunion after 40 years and all were looking healthy and amazingly well.....

Good Week/Bad Week

I highly recommend adding The Week to your daily reading list, or just subscribing to it (It's pretty cheap not to mention a great bathroom read). The Week is, as it's namesake indicates, a weekly publication of current events, editorial roundups, cartoons, and all sorts of random bits of information from news sources all over the world. It's informative without being too wordy, which is important to me. (I could have just said it was concise, I know...)

My favorite section is the Good Week/Bad Week page. The editors take pretty bizarre news stories and deem them either good or bad for whoever or whatever is involved. Example:

Good week for:

'Heteropaternal superfecundation,’ after Mia Washington of Texas entered the biology textbooks because a DNA test revealed that her 11-month-old twins have different fathers. She admitted to have been sleeping with two men when they were conceived.

Internships, after a small Spokane, Wash., distillery developed a small army of volunteers to bottle and package its vodka and gin for no pay, as long as they get free shots of the products at the end of their shift. “It’s grown popular entirely by word-of-mouth,” said Don Poffenroth of Dry Fly Distilling.

Miracles, after a Texas couple reported finding a Cheetos cheese snack that bears an incredible resemblance to Jesus. Dan and Sara Bell said they will see what they can get for “Cheesus” on eBay. “If it’s only 25 cents, we’re just going to eat it,” said Dan.

Bad week for:

Maureen Dowd, The New York Times columnist, who admitted that a 43-word paragraph in a recent column was nearly identical to a paragraph written by blogger Josh Marshall. Dowd’s explanation was that she somehow lifted the paragraph from a conversation with a friend, who “must have read Josh Marshall without mentioning that to me.”

Driving under the influence, after a Massachusetts man was ticketed for driving erratically while eating a bowl of cereal on his lap. He explained that he was hungry.

Bodybuilding, after doping officials showed up to do steroid tests at the Belgian bodybuilding championship, and all 20 muscled competitors grabbed their gear and ran out the door. “I have never seen anything like it,” said doping official Hans Cooman.

See more Good Week/Bad Weeks HERE

Fleabag

look what's coming into town!

http://williamsburgfleamarket.com/about/

That, and this:

http://www.billburg.com/walks/

Lots to do in my hood this summer!

Laodicean

L-A-O-D-I-C-E-A-N (ley-od-uh-see-uhn). Whoa.

Some little girl from Kansas correctly spelled that word to win this year's spelling bee. I have mixed feelings about the spelling bee- I am a sucker for competition, especially nerdy ones that require contestants to spell things right. But at the same time, I feel so sad for these kids. The spellling bee might very well be the single greatest highlight of their childhood. Clearly these children are not cut out to be captain of any Varsity squad, or crowned their high school Homecoming Kings. Nerdom is so bittersweet.

However, they will probably go on to Stanford, get their Masters degrees in two years, then develop a some crazy Google-like startup, make a kabillion dollars, and hire me to clean their house.

Check out more Images via the Daily News

Also, you may not have known this, but check out my little moment of glory:

Santa Clara County Spelling Bee, circa 1994

Tanya and I wore our John Muir Wildcat t-shirts for school spirit. Nhut Pham went all out and wore a shirt & tie.

If I remember correctly, I got all my words right. I spelled Rendezvous perfectly. We got 2nd place, I think. Ahhh, the finer moments of my childhood.

DF

Went to dinner at Petite Abeille last night with Tanya and David, who are living in the city for the summer! Triple yay for excellent company, moules frites, and Chimay Red Ale. Yumyumyum!

You must be awfully confused right now. that picture above is OBVIOUSLY not of mussels nor fries nor any cute Belgian restaurant in NYC. What it is is a delicious-looking Taco stand in Mexico City. We started talking about Mexico City since that's where David grew up. Tanya and David have traveled there several times (but let's be real, where have they NOT traveled?), and mentioned that I would really love it there. After that, I did nothing short of invite myself to David's family's next Christmas get-together. Ooops, better dust off some of those high school Spanish textbooks. I've never been to Mexico City but have heard nothing but excellent things about the place- from it's native citizens as well as tourists who pass through. Everyone raves about how vibrant, how cultural, how bustling, how CHEAP! the city is...(Tanya really sold me on the $2 ceviches and guacamole)

It really got me thinking about my future travels, where I will go next and how long I will want to go for. That, and how I will fund the means to do so. Well flights to Mexico City are no more than $300 during off-peak season, so maybe you will see me there after the summer! A couple months in Mexico City to pass the cold NYC winter blues? I mean, porque no?

Image via Oishii Eats, one of my favorite LA foodie blogs!!

Holga + Wedding season

Holgas and weddings, what a perfect match!!!!

...see more lovely Holga pics and wedding pics (two of my favorite things), by Ashley Garmon