Hubby and I went for a long hike up in the hills this morning so we were able to justify dessert. We had a sweet tooth (rather we have a sweet tooth - every day) but nothing interesting in the house.
There was some biscotti in the pantry but knowing they had been there for about a month I perceived them to be stale and tasteless, even though I knew biscotti has a decent shelf life.
I was just about to inform my husband that we had nothing in the house and suggest to him that we travel to our favorite pastry shop, Fleur de Cocoa in Los Gatos, CA (not far from our house). However, as soon as I thought about one of our favorite desserts at Fleur de Cocoa, the lemon & blueberry tart, I was inspired! I had fresh blueberries and some wonderful English lemon curd in the fridge... why not make my own version of that lemon & blueberry tart?
I spread the lemon curd on the biscotti, topped it with the fresh blueberries and voila! We suddenly had a tasty dessert to enjoy with our coffee without having to make the little trek to Los Gatos. Though it wasn't quite the same as Fleur de Cocoa's spectacular tart, I was happy to save the time and money today.
What's there not to love about this time of the year? Warmer weather, longer days and the Farmer's Markets start to fill up with more and more of the season's best produce.
Every Sunday morning I do a yoga class at my gym (well, almost every Sunday). Just outside my gym there happens to be a little Farmer's Market (Santana Row, San Jose).
I noticed a new vendor recently selling nice looking desserts but with a sour-faced lady sitting behind the table and staring into the space. She wasn't engaging anyone and she looked so unfriendly so I wasn't inclined to stop at her booth. But that didn't stop my dessert-loving husband who decided to ask her what her goodies were. Her answers were short and factual. No details about the ingredients or how it's made, no opinion about how it tasted, no smile - she acted like she was bothered to have to answer his questions. So I didn't even bother to ask her why the Tiramisu was not being kept cold on that 85-degree day.
I was planning to write about the wonderful fruits and vegetables I tasted at the market but the marketing professional in me compelled me to tell you about this woman's poor attitude. I was astonished that she had no interest in trying to sell her products at all. Why the heck was she there?
The interaction with her was so negative that despite how lovely the desserts looked I could not justify giving her my money. I preferred to give it to someone else who had a better work ethic and was going to give me a pleasant experience. I even returned to her booth the following two Sundays after the first encounter to give her the benefit of the doubt (perhaps she had an emotional trauma that first day), but she was exactly the same. And each time I observed to see if customers were going to her booth - they were not. They must have felt the same negative vibe.
Maybe it's the marketer in me that was sensitive to her unfriendliness (or cluelessness). But if I'm going to spend my money (especially on something I don't absolutely need), the interaction should be a positive experience. She wasn't the only one selling desserts there.
Bottom line... a peachy attitude can go a long way. No matter what you're selling, whether it's computer software or cakes, it's important to provide good customer service, which starts with a good attitude and making the customer feel important. I bet replacing her with an enthusiastic seller who is well-versed about the products would triple or quadruple sales.
The organic zucchini I purchased the other day stared at me every time I opened the fridge. My intention was to grill it with some fish but because of the cold and rainy weather, I was craving something that would comfort me... like one of my favorite chocolate cake recipes. Yeah!
As you can imagine, zucchini doesn't really have that much flavor (unless it's enhanced with salt, olive oil & perhaps a little garlic), so in a way, the zucchini in this cake recipe only serves to add a little texture and moist carb (in lieu of more flour). Plus it's healthier - it has greens/vitamins and fiber. The chocolate (and coffee in the recipe) pretty much overwhelms the true zucchini flavor. So what's the point? It makes feel like I'm eating a healthier cake... that's enough to justify baking it. Yeah!
I've baked this cake many times before and I've modified the recipe to make it a little more "healthy", but the original recipe is based on this recipe by one of my favorite food bloggers, Clotilde Desoulier.
The modifications I've made are:
- I use all whole wheat flour
- I add 1 cup more zucchini than the recipe calls for to make it more moist (compensate for the dry whole wheat flour)
- I decrease the sugar by almost half
- I use 60% chocolate chips (Ghirardelli)
- I add raw walnuts
In this last batch:
- I substituted half of the butter for greek yogurt (+ 1 TB)
- I added 2 TBS brewed espresso (+ the instant coffee granules) for a little more flavor intensity
I appreciate that the recipe allows me to use up zucchini when I have a big harvest in the garden. Also that it's easy and doesn't have too many ingredients.
The only thing I wonder is how many slices of cake equals one serving of vegetables? :-)
I got the most amazing and delicious assortment of baked goodies this holiday from my generous friends. Recipes for some of them can be found in the links.
Italian Biscotti and Amaretti - the Biscotti baked by my friend Michael's Italian mom, and the Amaretti by my friend Maria's Italian mom... so they are authentic. I was compelled to make myself an espresso (macchiato) before I sat down to enjoy these treats. Grazie mille signore!
Chocolate Chip Cookie - from my friend Theresa who is Baker Extraordinaire! I once hosted a holiday cookie exchange where we did a tasting and rating, and her cookies won first place out of 12 cookies. She's had this secret recipe for 20+ years and has brought the cookies to many parties over the years - one of my favorites.
Cranberry Bliss Bars - I'm not the number one fan of dried cranberries but in this recipe it works for me because it combines well with the cream cheese frosting. My friend Edith baked these and she says this is a Starbucks recipe.
Double Chocolate Cheesecake - also made by Theresa (Baker Extraordinaire) who got the recipe came from Epicurious. She says "I didn't do the ganache glaze and I used half bittersweet and half semi-sweet chocolate. I also crushed some heath bar candy and sprinkled it on the crust." This was my husband's favorite - he's a cheesecake-aholic.
Peanut Butter Blossoms - also baked by my friend Edith, these are a classic Hershey's recipe using the Kisses chocolate. Peanut butter in cookies is always a hit with me and combining it with chocolate is a winner.
When I picked up the little 6-ounce box of tapioca I didn't believe it actually made 17 servings as it said on the box. I had 11 people for dinner and I wanted to make sure to have enough so I bought 3 boxes, just in case. I hate running out to get last minute ingredients, especially during holiday season. Well sure enough the one little 6-ounce box did indeed make MANY servings.
The recipe on the back of this box called for coconut milk (rather than regular milk, I used light coconut milk) which I was happy about because I was planning to top it with some Asian fruit. I used turbinado sugar (instead of granulated white sugar), which gave it a nice flavor.
The only thing I would change on the recipe is to decrease the water. Too much water made the consistency more soupy than I was expecting. I wanted a pudding-like texture, so next time I'm going to add only 1/2 or 3/4 of the water. Luckily I had a tapioca powder (by the same company) so it was easy to thicken with that. But I had to wait until it was half cooled before I can determine what the final consistency was going to be, never having made tapioca before. So I had to re-heat the soup to add the thickener - reheating something always makes me nervous because you never know what's going to happen.
So now I know how to work with tapioca and I'm looking forward to making it again.
Pumpkin Bars, Pumpkin Bread, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
I knew that my mother was stocking her fridge with lots of pumpkin and pecan pies and that we would eat at the meals on the other days of the weekend. So I had to come up with some other dessert ideas.
The Pumpkin Bars taste like a pumpkin cheesecake in between a crumbly crust with rolled oats and walnuts, topped with white chocolate chips and white/milk chocolate chips.
The Pumpkin Bread was made using a recipe posted here earlier this month, only without the zucchini.
The Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies were for anyone who didn't want to have pumpkin.
Coconut Tapioca Pudding
I also wanted to have a dessert with an Asian influence so I served Coconut Tapioca Pudding in individual glass bowls topped with chunks of fresh persimmon fruit. The combination was delicious and I was happy it worked out.
Chocolate from Europe and the USA
Everyone in my family loves chocolate so I set these bowls out so everyone can have their chocolate fix.
I love when May comes around because that means it's strawberries time! I picked up a flat of organic strawberries at the farmers' market the other day and have been enjoying them daily. Sometimes I put them in cereal with soy milk or with a little vanilla ice cream - yum!
Last weekend I had a little dinner party to celebrate my sister's birthday and Mother's Day. I needed to make a gluten free dessert/birthday cake for my sister so I made this...
Strawberry Yogurt Trifle
1. Sliced up a small loaf of gluten-free lemon poppy-seed cake I found at the shop. Put a layer of that on the bottom.
2. Then I poured a little bit of fresh squeezed orange juice on the cake.
3. Then a thick layer of yogurt - I used a mixture of sweetened vanilla low-fat yogurt and unsweetened plain non-fat yogurt.
4. Then I placed a layer of strawberries (cut in half) on top of the yogurt.
And then repeat the 4 previous steps. The great thing about trifle is that it doesn't have to look perfect. I didn't take measurements, just did it by eye. You can add other fruit or replace the OJ for jam. Feel free to take some creative liberties.
Easy and delicious and healthy and not too sweet. It was a hit!
About the photo The fabulous photo above with the cereal is by giant dwarfof Flickr. The photo below is the Strawberry Yogurt Trifle that I made.
On food, eating, cooking, gardening and experiences that nourish the body and soul. Photos featured are taken mostly by me - this blog is mostly a visual diary of my food (and some non-food) adventures.
I'm curious about sources of nourishment and food preparations. Simple food is best - fresh, highlighting the natural flavor, easy to prepare and healthy for us and the environment. Hope you enjoy learning with me.
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