From: Bon Appetit magazine

A creme fraiche custard is folded into the mixed-fruit filling of this elegant crisp.

12 Servings

Topping
1 cup of all purpose flour
6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling
2 large eggs
1 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3 cups blackberries (two 5.6-6oz packages)
4 medium nectarines (about 18oz total), pitted, cut into 1.5in cubes)
1/4 cup sugar
Vanilla ice cream

Topping: Whisk flour, golden brown sugar, lemon peel, and sale in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and vanilla; stir until evenly moistened but crumbly. Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Filling: Whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. Whisk in creme fraiche and vanilla. Add 1 tablespoon flour; whisk to blend. Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Rewhisk before continuing.

Preheat oven to 375F. Butter 8×10in oval ceramic dish. Place berries and nectarines in large bowl. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup flour and sugar over; toss to coat. Transfer to prepared dish. Pour egg mixture evenly over fruit. Using fingers, crumble topping over fruit, distributing evenly.

Bake crisp until custard is set and topping is golden brown, about 55 minutes. Let cool at least 10 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving.

Scoop crisp into bowls. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

New juice from PomWonderful

Pom Wonderful provided me with some of new fruit drinks which they are selling.  It has taken a while for me to get around to reviewing them, so they may have already hit the store shelves.  In any case, these are new products of theirs.  In the past I have discussed other Pom Wonderful products:

• Pom Wonderful Pomegranate Juice
• Pom Wonderful PomX Teas

The two new flavors are

• Pomegranate-Kiwi
• Pomegranate-Nectarine

Pomegranate Kiwi

I enjoyed the pomegranate kiwi drink.  Pomegranate juice is similar to grape juice in that it is very tart.  I go for bland tastes, so it can become a little bit much for me.  The kiwi flavor really took the edge off the flavor, so I enjoyed it more.  I still diluted it some with water while drinking it.

Pomegranate Nectarine

This seemed to be sweeter and less tart than the Pomegranate Kiwi.  It still had the pomegranate flavor though.  I think it was my overall favorite of the different juices I tried.

Spring was officially here on 21st September. This is my 4th spring in Argentina. I look forward to spring, mainly cos you see a medley of colors coming to life after 3 months of dull grey dreary winter colors (it does not snow here), so you can imagine my excitement when spring approaches. Spring also means its time to go pot up my seedlings that i have planted during fall or winter and kept indoors. Either that or it means a visit to the nursery to get new plants!

Well this spring was a little different. First I was able to witness some wonderful blooms from a friend’s, Norma, garden. In her garden there were numerous rose bushes, an assortment of fruit trees and other foliage plants. What really interested me were the fruit trees really. Now mind you, Norma is no avid gardener, tell her about mealy bugs, thripes and red spider mites and she would go “QUE?”, meaning “What?” in spanish. Norma speaks english and understands it only if i speak slowly, so very often i get excited and start blabbering off she would go “QUE? sorry i do not understand you, pls speak slowly” hehe. Anyway well she has a plum tree, 2 nectarine trees, 1 cherry tree and 2 to 3 grape vines in her garden. For a non avid gardener, how she came into possession of a garden abundant with ornamental and fruit trees is because she rented the house.

And so i was busy pottering round her garden on the 21st checking out the plants and blooms and here are some pictures to share.

Nectarine Bloom

Nectarine Blooms

Nectarine Tree

Plum Blooms

Plum Tree

Cherry Blooms

and an assortment of some spring ornamental blooms

i like this next one

Tristagma Uniflorum

ECU of Tristagma Uniflorum

Underside of Tristagma Uniflorum

My favourite thing about the warmer months is the fruit, and I am so excited that stone fruit season has started. These little white nectarines are the perfect size to fit half into a 70mm tart. They are sitting in a pistachio frangipane.

Although today is cold and wet, these tarts look and are perfumed like summer.

I love thieves. They make my day.

I’m talking about “fruit boy”. “Fruit boy” started off about a month ago (at least for me).  He came in my line one day, and “didn’t have enough money for fruit” so he asked me if I had cash. I said no (which is true, I almost never carry money on me, just debit cards.) and then he asked the lady behind him. She seemed uncomfortable about it, so she quickly said no, and ignored him. So he kept bugging her, saying things like “what’s the matter? you can’t help me?” to which I was ready to kick him out of my line and take the damn nectarine. She ended up paying for it, and he left with the fruit. I then saw him talking to John Gerris (former NBA player), and leave. I apologized to the lady for the awkward moment, and I flagged John down to my register. I told him what happened, and the woman said she would take care of it anyways and I told John to watch him next time.

So the next night, I was working again, and “fruit boy” comes back. He goes straight to the service desk, and tells Shannon that he left a pear last night. That’s a lie. First of all, you “bought” a nectarine that you didn’t pay for, and then you have the nerve to come back in to say you “forgot” a pear? Get the hell out.

So then I figured his little scam, and I paid attention to his MO. He’s extremely skinny, about 5′6, freckles, reddish hair, brown eyes, always wears a baseball cap, baggy jeans and a button down shirt. Until recently, now he switches up his shirts to regular or polo shirts. But I recognize him right away. And he’s under 21, that I know because I see enough of his license sometimes to see the “under 21″ bright yellow mark. Oh, and he always steals a piece of fruit.

So a week goes by, and fruit boy is back. So he tries to tell me he paid for the peach, (which I know he didn’t) but Brownie let me give it to him for free since Brownie didn’t know his scam. To which me and a few other people explained to Brownie what’s going on with that kid. So he was like “okay next time we get him.”

So then later on, he goes through self scan another day. So I see him, and warn the rest of the cashiers and the people at self scan. We had 3 people at self scan guarding as he entered one of the self scans. We didn’t see him take anything, but that doesn’t mean anything. I know we had to take some stuff from him that he “didn’t want”, and we removed it from his sight so he wouldn’t try to take it.

So weeks go by, and I heard from another cashier that “fruit boy” came in and tried to steal a trial size shaving cream in front of Norine, who’s our newest manager. Brownie said she dealt with him.

So everyone knows who “fruit boy” is.

Then he came in two nights ago. I guess he tried to get to the service desk about the fruit, but Tony (manager) denied him and told him he needs to pay for it at a register. I watched him go through Stephanie’s line, and he walked out pay for the fruit. I was excited.

So then “fruit boy” comes in last night. He bought four things, and I was waiting for him to hold the fruit back from me, claiming he paid for it, in which I think at this point I would strangle him and probably throw him out myself. He actually paid for it, and I did everything I could to bite my tongue. When he came up to me, I was tempted to say “so, are we paying for the fruit today or are we going to steal again like we have been for about a month or so now”, or say some off color comment to him. But he paid, I wished him a good day, even though I rather grab him by the ear and throw him out.

Tyler came up to me later, and asked me if we had to let him go again with free fruit. I said “no, he actually paid today”, in which we gave each other a high five and laughed.

So, “fruit boy”, if you read this, I hope you stop stealing. And, if you think you can get away with it, I am watching you. If I so even see a hint of you stealing, I will pick you up, and carry you outside for an old fashioned beating. And believe me, when I am done, you won’t be able to use those “grabby” fingers for a while. And if I get suspended for a day, I don’t care.  I’m not allowing you to steal; to raise the prices of food for us poor people who work our asses off to make a damn dime. Get a job, somewhere, anywhere, if you are desperate for money. Oh and I also won’t let you steal so that my pay gets cut and Stop and Shop can claim some bullshit that they don’t make enough money to give us a decent raise. Stop and Shop makes enough damn excuses to cut hours and not give us raises, don’t give them more reasons.

So I have totally failed in my TWD commitment.  I really wanted to believe that I would have the time to bake something from this wonderful cookbook every weekend, but with the busy holiday season upon us I am finding myself with no free time left at all!  I actually made all three of these pie/tarts like 3 weeks ago, but just have not had any time to post about them.  They are definitely some of the prettiest things I have made, the Baci Tart I think was my favorite.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Crunched Caramel Tart-Tuesdays with Dorie

Because it is part of Tuesdays with Dorie, you will have to go HERE to get the recipe.  This turned out AMAZING though, and if you like incredibly rich chocolatey goodness, you should make it!

Baci Tart

This one was my favorite….it was just so pretty to look at!  I didn’t want to cut into it….

This was taken from The Art and Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet

Ingredients
Tart Dough:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 cup flour

2 1/2 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder

Place the butter and sugar in a stand mixer and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.  The mixture should be smooth and creamy.  Scrape down the bowl with a spatula.  If there are any lumps of hard butter still visible, beat for another minute to completely blend them into the mixture.  Add the egg yolk and beat well.  Scrape down the bowl.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and cocoa powder.  Add to the butter mixture all at once.  Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and blend just until the dough comes together and looks moist, with a dark, uniform color.  Scrape down the bowl.  If there are any patches of flour unincorporated butter, finish mixing the dough by hand with the spatula.  If you beat too long, you will have a smooth, batterlike dough, which will be harder to press into the pan because it is sticky.  If this happens, chill the dough for 15 minutes before continuing.

Scrape the dough clumps into the tart pan.  Use the heel of your hand to press the dough into an even layer across the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Press from the center of the pan outward, building up some extra dough where the bottom meets the sides.  Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour or in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Filling:

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/4 cup water

2 TBSP light corn syrup

3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned

1 1/2 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Frangelico cream

Bake the shell: Preheat oven to 350 F and put the oven rack the center of the oven.  Bake the tart shell for 15 minutes.  Check for cracks, repair any if necessary.  Return to the oven and bake for another 15 to 17 minutes.  Remove and place on a rack to cool while you prepare the filling.  Leave the oven on.

Filling: Combine the cream and butter in a small saucepan and heat just until the cream begins to simmer and the butter is fully melted.  Remove from the heat and let the mixture sit while you make the caramel.

Combine the water and syrup in the medium saucepan.  Sprinkle the sugar over the top.  Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally with a heatproof silicone spatula, until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear.  Turn the heat to high and boil rapidly, swirling the pan occasionally (do not stir) to cook the sugar evenly, until it turns a golden honey color.  When it is honey-colored (think of the amber-colored honey at the supermarket), remove from the heat and immediately add the warm cream and butter mixture.  The caramel will rise dramatically in the pan, so you may want to wear an oven mitt while doing this.

Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to blend the caramel and cream.  If there are any bits of hardened caramel floating around, put the pan over the lowest possible heat and stir gently until the caramel melts.  Add the hazelnuts to the caramel and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel turns a light golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes.  It should be the color of those chewy square caramel in the supermarket.  Immediately pour the filling into the cooled tart shell.

Bake at 350 F for 17 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling.  Transfer to a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely.

Finish the tart: Bring an inch of water to boil in the bottom of the double boiler.  Turn off the heat.  Place the chopped chocolate in the top of the double boiler and place over the steaming water.  Stir occasionally with the spatula until the chocolate is melted and smooth.  Place a resealable plastic bag in a cup and fold the top of the bag over the rim of the cup to hold the bag in place.  Scrape the chocolate into the bag, and squeeze the chocolate into one corner.  Cut off the very tip of the corner, and squeeze the chocolate through the hole and stripe it over the entire surface of the tart in any pattern you like.

Lattice-Top Nectarine-Blueberry Pie

Ingredients:

2 recipes of your favorite pie crust dough, one for the pie and one for the lattice top

6 medium nectarines

6 ounces of blackberries

1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 to 2 tsp for sprinkling

3 TBSP all-purpose flour

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

1 large egg yolk

2 TBSP milk or cream

Roll out one recipe of the pie dough.  Transfer to a 9 inch pie pan and chill until ready to use.  Firmly shape te other recipe of dough into a small rectangle, then roll it into a 14 by 12 inch rectangle that is about 1/8 inch thick, trimming if necessary.  Carefully fold the dough into quarters, transfer it to a baking sheet, unfold, and chill until ready to use.

Rinse the nectarines and pat dry.  Use a paring knife to cut each in half, remove the pit, and cut into 4 or 5 slices.  Transfer to a large bowl.  Add the blackberries to the nectarines.  Add the sugar, flour, and lemon juice and gently toss with a spatula until the fruit is evenly coated.  Scrape the filling into the chilled pie shell.  From the chilled rectangle of dough, create a lattice.  REfrigerate the pie for 30 minutes but no longer than 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400 F and put the oven rack in the bottom 1/3 of the oven.  Beat the egg yolk with the milk or cream to create an egg wash, then use the pastry brush to lightly glaze the lattice and outside edge of the pie crust.  Sprinkle the top with sugar and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling and tender.  Transfer to a cooling rack and allow the pie to cool for 40-60 minutes.

Once again, I’m so darn glad the weekend is finally here.  I’ve got a full to-do list to accomplish, but it just feels so nice to have a full two days to spread out all of my tasks.  Trust me, I wholeheartedly plan on unrolling the yoga mat multiple times this weekend for some major relaxation!  I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t had a chance to do much yoga, but I’ve been missing it terribly.  I also rented Monsters Vs. Aliens to watch this evening, so I’m hoping it will give me a few laughs.

For tonight’s post, I have a few reviews in store for my wonderful bloggies…

The Good – Oskri Cashew Bar

When I first saw this bar at my local natural foods store, I was really excited to find another healthy, delicious bar to try out.  The ingredient list is fabulous – Cashews, rice syrup, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds, honey, buck wheat, amaranth, and crisp rice.  And the nutrition stats (160 calories, 2.5g of fat) are equally impressive.  While the bar’s texture is a bit sticky and hard, I found that it didn’t bother me at all.  The taste is really good with an almost tart flavor that shines through.  (The price isn’t too bad either. )  It’s definitely a great buy if you happen to come across it!

I had this delicious bar for a snack with an organic golden delicious apple and a blueberry activia light.

The Not-So-Good – Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes

I’ve heard quite a few good reviews for this product, but I have to admit that I found the cereal to be quite plain.  Was it bad?  No, but it wasn’t anything to go crazy about either.  The nutrition is impressive with 5g of fiber, 4g of protein, and only 4g of sugar per 3/4 cup serving, but I think it needs a little something more to amp up the flavor.  However, I’m not too much of a “fruit in my cereal” kind of girl, besides the occasional banana, so I think you have to like that sort of dealio to fully enjoy this cereal.  Just my opinion, but I wouldn’t necessary recommend this one.

I had my cereal topped with raw sunflower seeds and organic skim milk, with an organic nectarine on the side.

On that note…

Gotta love Kombucha.  I enjoyed this delicious Synergy beverage this afternoon!

Hope everyone is looking forward to a RELAXING (or crazy busy if that’s your cup of tea ) weekend ahead!

Heather

I’ve been channeling my productivity these past few days, and I feel like I’m finally getting a bit more caught up on my tasks.  It’s definitely a full time job to keep ahead of the game in both school and everyday life, but it feels so good to accomplish what I need to get done, knowing that it’s my best effort.

It seems like the topics of stress and hectic schedules seem to be prevalent across the blogs.  As a whole, I we are all quite committed and dedicated individuals.  We strive for our best, whether in healthy living, school, or everyday life.  But we ALL have to keep in mind the goal to do our best WITHOUT getting overwhelmed. Taking a little time to ourselves, whether it’s going for a walk, doing yoga, baking, or watching your favorite TV series, is critical to balance out the stress in our lives with some fun.

It’s been SO DARN COLD these past few days!!!  I’ve definitely been spoiled for most of September with beautiful weather, but Autumn is certainly making its appearance now.  Mornings are just freezing… in fact, I’ve had to scrape frost off my car windows the past two mornings before heading into school. NOT FUN!  Just a preview of the joys of Winter when I’ll be shoveling off 3 feet of snow from that same car at 7am. 

My Calculus test this morning went really well, so I came home from lunch in a pretty decent mood.  I’ve been filling up on my Pomegranates lately, and decided to open up another for lunch.  I sliced up an organic nectarine and topped it off with my organic Pomegranate.  I also had some Oikos Vanilla greek yogurt, some raw almonds, and a glass of V8 fusion.

Seriously, Pomegranates are so good mixed with yogurt!

Haha, I had some fun bursting the seeds and giving my yogurt some color.

For an afternoon snack, I refueled with a light string cheese, corn thins, peas in a pod, sliced cucumber from my grandparent’s garden, and sparkling flavored water.

For dinner, my mom made a delicious stew in the slow cooker.  Potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, onions, and deer venison all in a tomato base.  I had a whole wheat seeded bun on the side and a glass of organic skim milk.

I’m headed downstairs to blow of a little steam on the treadmill.  Then it’s back to work! 

FINAL CALL ON THE SECOND HALF OF MY DOUBLE GIVEAWAY!!!

Heather

I can honestly say that I can’t recall a time when I’ve felt more overworked and overwhelmed from school.  Not to mention everything else that has been going on in my life these past couple of months.  Things just seem to keep piling up at school, and of course life doesn’t stop for tests, papers, and homework. 

I have such a difficult course load this year – Calculus (MAJORLY DIFFICULT!), Spanish 4, AP Language and Composition, American History, and Chemistry – that all require so much time and effort to maintain top grades.  It’s so hard for me to find a balance in my life when school and grades are such a priority to me.  Not only that, but I’m feeling so much pressure to hold the position of Valedictorian my final year of high school.  It just creates so much stress and agitation when all I truly want to do is just take some time off to relax. 

AUGH!  Well, enough ranting… I just needed to get that out of my system.  You guys know what a positive, glass-half-full person I always am, and I wholeheartedly love being that way. But everyone has her own stressful moments, and it does a girl good to vent them out!
   

Now, let’s get on to some eat from the pasts couple of days!
   

Let me direct your attention to another deliciously created wrap on a whole wheat tortilla:

• organic spinach
• organic red pepper
• sliced tomato from my grandparent’s garden
• sliced cucumber from my grandparent’s garden
• 1/2 Organic Sunshine Breakfast Patty

With the rest of the tomato, a strawberry activia light, and a glass of light soymilk.

And now an afternoon snack courtesy of yesterday…

An Oikos greek yogurt, raw sunflower seeds, dried apricots, an organic nectarine, and a sparkling iced green tea.

Mixing action is SO required on this one!

For breakfast this morning, I put together something a little different than my norm – Whole Soy & Co Plain Yogurt mixed with raw pumpkin seeds, a large organic banana, and a glass of organic skim milk.

My “out of the ordinary” cravings continued into lunch, and I put together a delicious spread of organic carrots, a sliced organic gala apple, 1/2 of a Natural Ovens Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raison Bagel, a glob of organic peanut butter (DIPPING!!!), and a glass of organic skim milk.

That definitely hit the spot!  I actually bought those bagels on accident… I was attempting to buy BLUEBERRY whole wheat bagels and this bag of Cinnamon Raison was stocked in the wrong spot.  Luckily, I’m totally digging my accidental bagel buy.  Delicious!

My Calculus book is glaring at me to get studying for ANOTHER test tomorrow.  Better get to it!

Once again, be sure to submit your entry for Part 2 of my Double Giveaway!!!

Heather

Ok, this is a Two-Part Title…
   

#1.  Blown Away

OMG, we have INSANE winds here in Wisconsin today.  I don’t mean “oh, yes, there is a cool breeze hitting me” – I mean FULL BLOWN, KNOCK YOU OVER IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL, NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DRIVE IN WITHOUT GOING IN THE DITCH winds. Yup, it’s crazy here!  I got hit on the head with an acorn walking from my car to my front door after school and was decently surprised when I didn’t get a concussion.
   

#2. Pomegranates

Lord, we have found the promised land… urrrrr… FRUIT!

You will probably all think I am crazy, but I had NEVER tried a Pomegranate before yesterday.  Not because I didn’t want to, but because I honestly never saw one in stores before.  You can imagine my elation when I saw that beautiful “Organic Pomegranates” sign while stocking up on my groceries this weekend.

Now, I’d like to start out with a little tutorial on how to eat a Pomegranate.  Considering I was completely in the dark on how to go about this before yesterday, I’m guessing a few others out there are as confused as I was.
  

How To Prepare/Eat a Pomegranate

Step 1:

Slice the top off the Pomegranate and any of the core that remains visible after chopping.  Score the Pomegranate several times.

Step 2:

Fill a bowl with cool water and allow the Pomegranate to sit in the water for about 5 minutes to soften up.

Step 3:

Pry open the Pomegranate into wedges and pull out the arils (seeds) and drop them into the water.  You will see that the arils sink to the bottom, while the white pulp and flesh of the Pomegranate stay floating on the top.

Step 4:

Skim the top of the water to take out the unwanted pulp and flesh.  Strain the arils and put back into the bowl.

Step 5:

CHOW DOWN!!!
    

One thing I have learned in my Pomegranate trials is that these babies squirt their *very stainable* juice all over you if you’re not careful.  Even when you first cut into the fruit, they tend to spray out quite a bit.  Either wear an apron, an old shirt, or be EXTREMELY careful for flying Pomegranate juice.

Now for the Pomegranate Eats…

Yesterday, I had put together an amazing snack to try out this fabulous fruit for the first time.

Pomegranate, Corn Thins, Stonyfield Fat Free Plain Yogurt, sparkling iced green tea.

The Pomegranate:

On the yogurt:

Mixed together and in my mouth:

FABULOUS!!!

The star of today’s lunch was another Pomegranate.  I sliced up an organic nectarine, topped it with a pile of arils, and had it along with some raw almonds, a vanilla activia light, the rest of the Pomegranate, and a glass of organic skim milk.

Of course, some mixing did occur here as well.

My teachers decided it would be fun to load with me homework tonight, so I’d better get on it!  Hope everyone had a wonderful start to their week!

Reminder to check out my DOUBLE Giveaway!!!

Heather

I want to thank each and every one of you again for the wonderful feedback on my Fashion Diaries #2.  I’m having so much fun putting these posts together, and I’m so glad that everyone seems to be enjoying them!

Tonight we are featuring a couple of NEW PRODUCTS!!!
              

To start things out, we have a Clif Mojo Mountain Mix Bar.

This is the first time I’ve tried one of Clif’s Mojo bars, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect.  The nutritional stats were pretty decent, although the sodium was a bit high (220mg).  The taste, however, was FANTASTIC!  The bar had the perfect mix of nuts, pretzel, chocolate chips, dried fruit, and crisps.  With its bendy, yet crunchy texture, it made an exceptional snack.  The high sodium added a salty taste that was actually one of the bar’s highlights.  It truly tasted like trail mix, and I would definitely recommend it!

I had this delicious bar for an evening snack with a large organic granny smith apple.

Next up, we have Real Foods Organic Original Corn Thins.

I bought these on a whim when my grocery store was out of brown rice cakes, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to try them out!  Although they had quite a different taste than rice cakes, I ended up enjoying the change.  These corn thins had a light, crunchy texture with only a slight, plain flavor.  The corn thins had a much more airy texture than my usual rice cakes and weren’t as mess when breaking/biting off pieces.  Obviously, the corn thins are VERY thin, but I was surprised to find myself liking their size!  I would easily compare their taste to lightly salted popcorn… aka pretty darn good.  Check these out if you see them around!

I enjoyed a few thins for an afternoon snack today with a Brown Cow low fat Cherry yogurt, an organic nectarine, and a sparkling iced green tea.  Fabulous!

My foot is feeling just fine today, and my cold is slowly getting better day after day.  Luckily, I should be all set (KNOCK ON WOOD!) for at least a few months as far as medical dealios are concerned.  Haha, it appears the “Operation Guy” – yes, I am referring to the board game! – is finally all sewn up!

Heather

This picture is all too familiar.

Anyone remember JULY???

Thankfully, THIS TIME it’s nowhere near as serious as my bunion surgery.  

I had my minor surgery this afternoon to remove the warts on the bottom of my foot.  The worst part of the whole ordeal was the FOUR deep shots my podiatrist had to give me to numb everything up. YOUCH!!! Definitely not too pleasant when the needles are aimed at the softest soft on the bottom of your foot!

I cringed my way through and now just have to hobble around for a while.  I actually managed to go for a short walk this evening, so I think I’ll make it through this one.

Backing up to this morning, I tried out a new cereal (for me, at least) for breakfast – Kashi Honey Almond Flax GoLean Crunch.

Yes, I know I am SOOOO behind the times on this one, but the cereal just never stood out to me before now.  I am SO glad I tried it out!!!  What a great cereal!  It’s a quite calorie dense, but I was surprised to find that a small portion really filled me up and satisfied me.  The taste was sweetened, but didn’t taste overly sugary.  With noteworthy nutritional stats, I’d totally recommend it!

I topped my bowl with organic skim milk and had an organic banana on the side.

Rushing back home for lunch today, I had the hardest time picking out what I wanted.  As usual when this happens, I listened to my craving and chose exactly what appealed to me.

Organic raw hazelnuts, Oikos greek yogurt, organic gala apple, organic nectarine, and a glass of light soymilk.

Not your average “lunch,” but I sure enjoyed it!

In the afternoon, I headed to my surgery out of town again.  After bearing through the pain, I treated myself to a lovely Starbucks Grande Iced Skinny Hazelnut Latte.

Well-deserved!!!

I’m quite the lucky girl – there is an In-service Day for teachers tomorrow, so I have my Friday off from school!!!  I’m guessing I’ll be pretty lazy with my foot wrapped up, but we all need a little relaxation now and then!  With my sniffling, stuffed up nose / headache / cough, I could use a day to sleep in too.

Have a wonderful evening and Friday!

Heather

I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the first entry in my “Fashion Diaries.”  Looks like I’m not the only fashionista in the blogging world!   I can’t wait to further develop this new branch of the blog and share my passion for fashion with all of my stylish blogettes! 

Now, switching over the EATS…

Being as my grocery store was out of bananas when I went shopping this weekend, I have definitely been going a bit “bananas” without daily banana dosage.  You wouldn’t believe how difficult it is to come up with breakfasts WITHOUT bananas for THREE whole days!  Luckily, a shipment came in today, and my loving mother ran into town to replenish my stock. 

In the meantime, I present Yesterday’s Banana-Less Breakfast:

My first course was juicy organic nectarine.

While enjoying this lovely nectarine, I popped an Ezekiel 7 Sprouted Grain English Muffin into the toaster and topped it off with MaraNatha raw almond butter and Bumbleberry Jam.  With a glass of vanilla light soymilk.

When I made it home from school for lunch, I whipped together a healthy wrap.  I took a Joseph’s whole wheat and flax Lavash bread and topped with the following:

• organic spinach
• organic romaine
• 3/4 organic avocado
• sliced cucumber from my grandparent’s garden
• alfalfa sprouts
• black pepper

I was totally digging this combination!

With a vanilla activia light and a glass of V8 fusion.

Making our way to lunch today, I was overjoyed to see a pile of bananas on the table when I came home from school for lunch, so OF COURSE I blended up an AMAZING brown green smoothie. 

In the blender:

• 2 cups organic spinach
• 1 organic BANANA
• 1 tbsp MaraNatha raw almond butter
• 1 cup organic skim milk
• 1/2 cup frozen organic cherries
• 3 ice cubes

HEAVEN!!!!  This was actually the first time I’ve EVER made my green smoothie with normal milk, and I have to admit that I didn’t notice much difference.  I normally use soymilk (vanilla or plain).  I actually might like the milk a little better since it seemed to make my smoothie a bit thicker and blend better with the other flavors, but I love my smoothies either way.

With a few Ak-Mak crackers on the side.

Things have been going pretty well with school these days… I’m finally getting caught up with all my work, which makes it SO much less stressful for me. It felt so good today when I got back my Calculus exam in class today and found out that I got a perfect score PLUS the extra credit.  Just goes to show that taking life as it comes and not letting things build up and overwhelm you will always pay off in the long run!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!

MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT MY GIVEAWAY!!!  My contest ends tomorrow (Wednesday) at 7pm.  I will be announcing the winner tomorrow night’s post.

Heather

If you wear delightful perfume that captures the attention of everyone you meet, but actually are a grumpy old woman with yellow teeth, then this is the fruit for you!

PEAK SEASON May – September

ORIGIN China

GROWN California

PURCHASED Grocery Store

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OVERALL
I want to smell this nectarine all day every day.  I don’t want to eat it, I am not disappointed about throwing it out and I don’t recommend it to anyone.  I may try this one again though because the fragrance was so damn awesome.  (Note: tried this again two weeks later and my conclusions are exactly the same – sad).

APPEARANCE
Very pretty rich red orange yellow coloring, smooth skin, medium yellow flesh
AROMA
perfection – just smells completely delightful, perfumy, sweet, makes me want to shove it up my nose permanently
TEXTURE
slightly mealy but not awful, not my favorite texture though
TASTE
Completely ho hum, general nectarine flavor but not sweet really – a disappointment after how amazing the fragrance was

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NOTES

This particular nectarine is a white and yellow nectarine combined.  The note at the grocery store indicated that they are “super sweet” when ripe.  I’m not sure how one would attain that.  Mine was at the perfect pressure for ripeness and looked beautiful.

RECIPES
David Lebovitz’s Nectarine Sorbet
Grilled Nectarines with Feta

I had a busy night tonight, so going to get right on into it! I was a snacky mcsnackerson this afternoon. No idea why. Well yeah I do, the lack of sleep. It always throws my appetite out of whack.

I had my current fave fruit today as snack #1. It’s posing in front of the pictures I tacked up in my office today, and it strongly resembles the butts that Sir Mixalot rapped upon in the infamous video of ‘Baby Got Back’.

Snack #2 was a delicious banana muffin, made by me – the baker extraordinaire. Haha, not really. It too wanted to pose in front of the pictures. They make me happy. It’s funny how such a little thing can make such a big difference in atmosphere. I’ve never really felt like this was MY desk until today.

Oh, and that mark on my hand is not indicative of bad hygiene, it’s from a Sharpee and it won’t come off

I usually don’t eat my snacks until about 3:30 and both of those were consumed by 2. So I did myself a favor with snack #3.

What was that favor, you ask? Well I prepped a jar of peanut butter so that I could make oats in a jar again tomorrow.

And by prepped, I mean licked almost clean with a spoon

After work I came home and readied myself to go to a movie screening in my college town with the roommate. It was for a funny movie that was… mostly funny.

We had some chips and salsa and a drink before the movie started. I forgot my camera and had to use the roommate’s iPhone but I forgot to have her email it to me. It was nothing miraculous though.

I wanted ice cream after the movie really bad, but it was too late for all that sugar. I think I might have to satisfy that craving soon though!

Sorry for the drive-by post! It’s 10 15 p.m. which is certainly past my bedtime! Have a good night. TGIF tomorrow!

Oh 21st century, why have you not yet delivered the scratch-n-sniff jpeg?! How else to convey that the scent of this nectarine tart reaches through your nose to your brain and pumps your pleasure center so full of smell-good steroids that the next thing you know you’re lying on your kitchen floor thinking, “I wonder who will mop up the puddle of goo I have become? Also, how did the bottoms of my cupboards get so dirty?”

Tarts have become my new favorite thing while I work diligently to master the pie crust. Because pie is yucky, but somehow the thin flakiness of the SAME DOUGH made into a tart is just delectable. Besides which, I find tarts to be more flexible than the average pie, being of a more delicate nature and requiring less “stuff” to fill them. Witness one nectarine tart, born of half a dozen nectarines that went from hard to nearly mush on my counter overnight. Also on my counter? One half of a lemon and a bag of almond flour. Oh yeah, baby, it’s ON!

Nectarine Tart with Ginger*

crust:
1¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup almond flour
12 tbsps (1½ sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
3 ounces ice water
1 tsp salt

filling:
4-5 nectarines, sliced
scant ¼ cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground ginger
juice from ½ lemon
1-2 tbsps cornstarch, depending on the juicy-ness of your fruit

make:
Since I’m a clumsy newbie, I put my work bowl and pastry cutter in the freezer for a few minutes to help keep the butter cold as I work it into the flour mixture. That’s right, I said, “pastry cutter.” By hand, suckahs! (Nothing against food processors, and in fact if you have one, I suggest you use it. I just don’t happen to have one.) So work the butter into the combined flours until it looks like cornmeal with many pea-sized lumps of butter in there. Add just enough water to help it come together.

This is where I always want to overwork the dough because I look at that floury mess and think, That can’t be right. BUT IT IS! A floury mess IS RIGHT. Actually, it should be more like a floury mass. Dump the mass onto some plastic wrap, shape it into a ball, press it down to a disk-ish shape, wrap and refrigerate. It’s this resting period which will get everything together so you can roll it out in a single shape rather than a big heap of flour down your front. Overworking the dough activates the gluten in the flour and makes a tough, flat-bread consistency instead of the crispy, flaky goodness that crust should be.

While the dough is resting, put your nectarines in a bowl and toss with the rest of the filling ingredients. Add or subtract as is your fancy here, but I hope you’ll give the ginger at least a try. It’s the awesome sauce for this recipe.

*If I’d given this recipe some kind of… oh, I dunno… forethought, I would have included more almonds at some point. Maybe an almond paste under the nectarines? Probably some toasted, sliced almonds on top of the finished product. The I would have included “almonds” in the recipe title. Next time.

Let the dough sit for at least 15 minutes in the fridge, then roll out with a generously floured rolling pin. It’s this step I always struggle with, ending up with an amoeba-shaped blob that then has to be reshaped by a cut-and-press method in the tart pan. I have found, however, that rolling it out on lightly floured parchment paper saves the ears around me from much cursing.

So, press it gently into the tart pan and fill with nectarine mixture. I just dumped the crumbs from the dough on top because it seemed like a shame to waste them. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes. Or 375 for 30 minutes. I think I used some combination of both.

Here’s what I love about this tart: EVERYTHING. Especially the almond flour in the crust. OMG, yum! The juicy, tart nectarines turn the most lovely shades of purple and red and orange that it looks like a sunset on a plate. And the variations! The possibilities are quite endless; I hope you tell me what you came up with!

Hello again all you lovely people! It’s a lovely Monday evening, yes? Well maybe not so much – but there are some things that are good about it. Like, Gossip Girl returning to our lives. And it being one day closer to the weekend (don’t act like you don’t start the countdown on Monday). And, if you reside in my household there is yummy fresh corn in your belly right now. Okay that last one probably doesn’t pertain to many of you, but still.

The afternoon was A-okay. I had some sexist stomach pains, if yunno what I mean. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying a happy little afternoon snack.

A nectarine

and a Kashi Peanut Peanut Butter bar. In my opinion, these little nuggets are quite bland. There is very little peanut butter flavor. I prefer the Honey Almond Flax a lot more.

The remainder of the afternoon zipped by, as Mondays tend to do. After work, I skee-daddled straight to the gym to get my sweat on. I wanted to be worked out, showered, and fed before the shows started

On the way over to the gym the weather was so nice that I decided to run the half mile there, but when I got to the gym I didn’t feel like stopping so I ran a 1.5 mile loop around downtown and then went back to the gym to do 24 random minutes on the elliptical before running/walking/sprinting home. It was a great workout!

I came home and did the showering thing, which I won’t go into because this isn’t THAT kind of web site. And then I got started on the feeding myself thing!

I roasted up some fresh corn on the cob. It was my first time actually dealing with corn in the husk, I’m such a novice in the kitchen! But I got it done. I can’t believe I waited this long to cook my own fresh corn! I was just intimidated by it. I’m going to be eating a ton of corn from now until the stores stop selling it that is for sure.

I paired the corn with a grape tomato + spinach + mozzarella sandwich. It was divine. I stuck the bread in the toaster oven to crisp it up and melt the cheese and then added the cold tomatoes and spinach. It was perfect.

Then it was time to settle in and let the viewing begin! TV watching is going to be quite the production in our apartment this fall. When we were still in school (ahem, meaning still being helped out by our loving parentals) we had TiVo and didn’t really have to worry about missing our “stories”.

But now that we’re living out here in the real world on teeny tiny budgets, we have to watch the shows when they come on and suffer through the commercials. Sigh… Actually I don’t mind the commercials because they provide time for things like: dirty dishes, teeth brushing, lunch preparing, etc.

Many questions today!

1. Do you have TiVo or do you watch TV the old school way?

See my answer above ^^.

2. Are you into Gossip Girl?

I tried really hard not to be, but it sucked me in! Last year I had class during the show though, so I really have no idea what’s going on in the lives of S, B, N, or LB. Did I get that right?

3. Do you get up and do stuff during commercials (for those of you without TiVo)? What are your favorite things to do?

homemade veggie dumplings (tofu, kimchi, mushrooms, onions, cabbage) with carrot sticks, tomato skewer,  takuwan flowers with nori centers, soy sauce (chick bottle) and salad dressing (plain bottle).  apple sidecar has apple and nectarine slices, raspberries, a lemon fruit gel and a basil garnish.

as seen on:  http://grannychoe.com/wordpress/?p=229