Archive | September, 2012

Tropical Ice Cream for a Heatwave

30 Sep

I was going to post about my trip to San Francisco last week, detailing all the great food I ate and what I learned about my stomach’s reactions to certain things, but the heatwave in SoCal this weekend has totally trumped that post.

It’s been a long, hot summer here in Orange County. Which is fine, but we don’t usually get hit with any temps over 80 degrees F here on the coast. I mean, it’s part of the price we pay to live here, I thought, our payback for dealing with all the tourists leaving garbage in front of our house. (Really, people? Were you raised by wolves?) Continue reading →

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Chicken Biryani—Paleo Style

22 Sep

I think my long-standing readers know my Indian food obsession by now, so don’t worry—I won’t be blathering on about how much I love it, how important it is to toast and grind your own spices, and how delicious it is.

But a main component of Indian food is rice, especially if you can’t have naan bread to soak up all the delectable saucy goodness of a good curry. And saddest of all, I recently found out my stomach is not happy with poppadums, made from chickpea flour, and I have had a hard time coming to terms with this. It’s certain that The Husband had nothing to do with it, because if he could control my digestion, he could. But I did think it for a minute, since he’s never been a fan of chickpeas! Continue reading →

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My Unrequited Love Affair with Cheese

15 Sep

Cheese and I go way back. Back to the days of my childhood, where a box of Velveeta seemed to continually self-replicate on the same shelf in the fridge. We were never without it, and I can still see its distinct orange color in my mind’s eye, and taste that creamy, extremely fake flavor. A grilled cheese sandwich was made with none other than Velveeta when I was young.

My tastes developed as I got older, moved on adventurously to Monterey Jack, on to what we Americans call cheddar, then when I moved to England, my cheese mind was absolutely blown. Has anyone heard of Neal’s Yard Dairy? (UK friends: No prizes for guessing.) This place is incredible. It is like Mecca for cheese lovers, the Holy Grail. Seriously, if you’re a cheese lover, you’d weep when you enter. Why? Because they let you taste everything! EVERYTHING. Continue reading →

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Shiso Overload

9 Sep

The sun shines bright on shiso-basil pesto.

We’ve been getting the most delicious produce ever from Alegría Farms, a vertical hydroponic farm that popped up in Laguna Canyon. Twice a week we get a beautiful bouquet of lettuces, chard, kale, collard greens and plenty of herbs. (And the tomatoes. OH the tomatoes! The taste is so good you could faint.) The Husband loved their green smoothies so much that he bought me a Vitamix, which means I’m a very happy girl. Continue reading →

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Chocolate Caramel Brownies

1 Sep

Caramel and chocolate—a close second to peanut butter and chocolate!

I meant to post this last weekend, but it was a crazy few days filled with boring Quickbooks data entry, a visit to an awesome vertical farm in Laguna Canyon, drinks with my parents, two kids’ parties, a run around Lido Island and a stop at the Newport Beach farmer’s market.

You might be wondering how my paleo-style diet’s going, seeing as how these brownies are not on the menu at all, and I’m happy to say it’s going well. I made the brownies for the Laguna Beach Public Works Department, as they rescued my iPhone from certain death in a storm drain. Yes, I managed to drop my iPhone during a run which, combined with some unfortunate timing, bounced off my foot and straight down a storm drain. Continue reading →

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