friday links

Happy Friday!

Happy to see the weekend is here.
And our weather is finally nice.
We have a nice long stretch of nothing but pure sun.
You have no idea how great this feels--we had a horrid winter.  Remember all those storms?


Looks tropical doesn't it?

What do you do when you're stuck in traffic on the Sagamore Bridge?
Take a photo of course.

Ben & Jerry's Greek Frozen yogurt is really good!
This is the peanut butter & banana. Loaded with peanut butter chunks.

Do you like my buddha? Found him at Lowes Depot--that scary hardware place that I hate.
I had to buy him, I mean come on, look at him.
Finding just the right spot for him in the garden--I'll let you know.

My "go to" snack for the car and office.
One bag each of trader joes: sweet & spicy pecans, smoked almonds, roasted coconut chips,
lightly sweet walnuts, and peanuts.

My latest obsession? Coconut Bliss Dark Chocolate Bars. Man those are good!

Google reader is closing down in june or july.
What readers are you moving to?
I heard Feedly is good.
Here are some easy tips for making the transition smooth from your old reader to Feedly.
Eating organic on a food stamp budget from bon appetit
Invisible plugs: recessed outlets (very clever) from remodelista
Why we struggle to lose weight from greatist
Peanut butter crunch coffee cake from food librarian
84 signs you have celiac disease from mindbodygreen
Carrot cake scones from savory sweet life
102 chakras: how our asana practice relates to chakras from yoganonymous
peach cobbler cookies from foods for the soul
How to make energy bars from america's test kitchen
How & why meditation works from positively positive
Has science discovered the answer to eternal youth? from intentblog
Cheater Korean Beef from girl who ate everything
DIY vintage duck toy cookies (stunning!) from sweet adventures of sugar belle
Make your own kombucha from the yellow house
PB & J twinkies from domestic rebel
The rise of the tick (very informative) from outside magazine
4 natural detox programs from yoganonymous
Get fitter, faster, stronger w/ quality sleep from marks daily apple
Giant rubber duck sails into hong kong harbour from the telegraph
DIY homemade root beer from america's test kitchen
Banana cupcakes w/ chocolate-pb frosting from the hungry housewife
Carrot cake pancakes w/ maple-cream cheese syrup from baker bettie
Gluten free rosemary-cheddar & black pepper crackers from 84th & 3rd
How to make gyoza from adora's box
Avocado fritters! from a beautiful bite
How to prevent diabetes with everyday foods from natural news
Freezing nerves may relieve chronic pain (for good) from everyday health
And last, but not least, I give you, "seeing eye guide for the text obsessed idiots" (not kidding!)

Have a wonderful weekend!

banana cream crumb cake

Painfully obvious how much I adore crumb cakes.
Kicked up crumb cake actually.
I make a LOT of crumb cakes on the blog.
Fell in love with them when I first went to NYC (oh a long time ago)
I saw this cake to crumb ratio what was literally 40% cake and 60% crumb; instantly I was in love.
Who was the brilliant creator of such a masterpiece?
With a small amount of research crumb cake aka coffee cake evolved.
Back then crumb cake and coffee were pretty much the same, now a days they have distinct meanings.
Like most food genres they do evolve or are a cross-breed of one thing or another by accident or by lack of one ingredients swapped out for another.
Interesting timeline I found on food cake evolution.
I've always had on my "to bake" list a banana crumb cake--it was time to cross that one off.
There is a hint of rum in here; how can you not bake or cook with bananas and not add in a touch of rum?


A little bit of prep work, but once that's all done the assembly is quite fun.
I love layers of flavors, don't you?

Sautee bananas with butter and a bit of rum. Don't skip this step, it's worth it I promise!

Use a spoon to layer or like I do just use your hands.

Gently flatten the banana layer down a bit.

Cream cheese layer in between the banana layers.

Mile high crumb. Crumb is the best part isn't it? I like my crumb a nice giant pinch of salt.



Since there is banana in the crumb cake, I like to store these in the fridge, especially in warmer weather.

banana cream crumb cake

print recipe

Cooks notes:  this is a thin cake batter; it’s more of a NYC style crumb cake.  

It will seem very thin when you put it in a 9x13 inch pan, but it does rise about ½ an inch.  

This is also a sticky batter, so use wet hands to smooth it out in pan. 

If the dough it too dry and crumbly, just add in a splash or two of half & half. 

Please keep this in the fridge, covered for best freshness.

cake:

¼ cup canola oil, plus more for pan  

½ stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan  

½ cup + 2 TB granulated white sugar  

1 ts baking powder  

½ ts coarse salt  

1 large egg  

¼ cup half & half (might need a splash more, can use whole milk)

1 ts pure vanilla extract  

crumb topping:

1 cup flour

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¾ ts coarse salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled

for the crumb topping:

In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients, pour melted butter over mixture, and toss with a rubber spatula until large crumbs form. Set aside.

banana-rum mixture:

2 large bananas, not overly ripe

2 TB granulated sugar, or to taste

2 TB butter

1-2 giant dashes of rum (I used Morgans Spiced rum)

for the banana-rum mixture:

Chop up the bananas into half inch pieces. Over medium heat, heat up the 2 TB of butter, Sautee the bananas until they get a little brown; then add in a dash or two of rum.  If you’re comfortable with flambé then go ahead and do so, if not, then just cook the rum out about 3-4 minutes.  Take off heat.

cream cheese mixture:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp.

1 large egg yolk

1 ts vanilla extract

2 TB white sugar

for the cream cheese mixture:

Mix all in a bowl (really well) until ready to use. Set aside.

for cake:

Place rack in center of oven, and heat oven to 350°.

Lightly butter a 9 x 13 baking pan and dust with flour, and tap to remove excess. (I’ve also used the Pam with Flour and it worked just fine). Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together 2 ¼ cups flour, add in the granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together egg, butter, half & half, canola oil, and vanilla.

Using a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture.   It’s a sticky dough, if the dough is not moist enough (looks/feel very dry and crumbly) you can add a few dashes of half & half in.

Keep in mind this dough is not pourable, not very liquid, more of a dough-like batter.

Spread batter evenly into prepared pan (to keep batter from sticking to your hand or spoon, just wet or oil your fingers or a spoon and spread evenly throughout pan). 

The batter should be about half an inch high, it will cook/rise to an inch thick. (Don’t worry if the batter is very thin and hard to get into the corners, it does spread out as it’s cooking).

Next put on the cream cheese mixture; I did this in vertical lines in the pan. And on the other sides of these lines I added on the banana mixture.  If you want swirls and no lines then apply the topping/ mixtures however you desire.  Next add on the crumbs, making sure to cover the whole top.

Bake for 14 minutes, rotate pan.

Then cook another 5-10 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

It is hard to tell when cake is done, but look for golden brown edges.  Remember the cake part is thin and does bake up fast. 

You have to let this set up at least an hour before slicing.

Using a serrated knife or bench scraper, cut into 3-inch squares.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2-3 days in the fridge

friday links

Happy Friday!


You have no idea how much I LOVE this one cookie.
And it's gluten free, which I can't even tell.
I just wish it wasn't so pricey!

And these!  Primal Strips. Oh I LOVE these.  Tasty little critters.
It makes seitan very tasty, which normally is an awful tasting, lack of a better word: blob.

This was good. It needs salt though. And you really need to crisp it up in the toaster to get that hard outer snap.

So now Trader Joe's makes its own rooster sauce? Any good?

Any good?

Finally!  And it's a big bag too.

When I first posted this on Instagram, asking you all how does one eat a chia seed, I was shocked at how many answers I got.
I still haven't bought it, I'm scared. All those little seeds!  Won't they grow grass in your stomach?
lol (I tease).

And finally Trader Joe's has cheap shredded coconut!

My weakness. I can polish a bag off in 10 minutes!

Not bad. They were ok.

Any good? That other cool whip has a lot of chemicals in it.

A biscotti that won't crack your teeth.

Any good?

Really sweet! I'll pass.

Hubby loves it, not me--just too pricey for half a chicken.

Around the web:

cake batter whipped cream from beyond frosting
those fancy new tea bags have might plastic in them from the atlantic
make the best coconut butter from marks daily apple
mongolian beef just like take out from table for two blog
bang bang shrimp from cinnamon spice & everything nice
butterscotch bliss bars from feed your soul
buckeye ice cream from baking society
momofuku blueberries & cream cookies from vintage kitchen notes
curry broccoli slaw from perfect pantry
avocado protein brownies from sweet twist of blogging
start each day with "aloha" from intent blog
6 steps to renew your faith in humanity from intent blog
chocolate-banana truffles from speciality cake creations
strawberry & chocolate cream pie from oh sweet day
hummingbird muffins from G bakes
meyer lemon buttermilk bars from une gamine dans la cuisine
strawberry cream cheese kolaches from homesick texan
coconut-lemon squares from scientifically sweet
curried mango chicken salad from macheesmo
best sources of enzymes from worlds healthiest foods
feed a family of 3 organic foods on food stamps? from bon appetit
4 common but often undiagnosed causes of fatigue from mind body green
7 key components of the Mediterranean diet from bliss tree
is food depressing you from greatist
potential diabetes breakthrough from harvard gazette
5 reasons sun salutations are the best way to start your day from yoganonymous
fish tacos w/ spicy sour cream from cbsop
neapolitan cupcakes from i am baker
butterfinger shortbread cookies from savory simple
10 reasons why kale is great from yoganonymous
chocolate peanut pie from serious eats
which has more nutrients: the stems or florets of broccoli from worlds healthiest foods
how to go BPA free from greatist

Have a wonderful weekend!

my go to red sauce

For those times when you truly want fresh tomato sauce, but haven't the time to boil, crush, mix, puree your own tomatoes--I always go for the San Marzano canned tomatoes. 
If you haven't tried cooking with these you must.
It will give you a little inside taste of what tasting fresh tomatoes from Italy tastes like.
They are a bit pricey, but from time to time I've seen Whole Foods have sales on them, and that is when  I stock up.
Hands down, these tomatoes are the best--so sweet, never bitter.
Mix them with fresh herbs, a little garlic, salt, pepper, maybe a little heat and you're good to go.
I'd like to share with you my "go to" red sauce, it has a tiny amount of heavy cream in it to bring it all together.
Feel free to add or take away what you like or don't like; it's a great base recipe for customizing it to your own tastes.
And as you'll notice we don't put cheese on this sauce; the flavor of the san marzano tomatoes are just so good, so sweet, that cheese takes away from that.
But feel free to customize this sauce to your own likings.

This paste goes a long way, it's very strong, so you only need a little bit.



This recipe makes just enough for about a pound of pasta.
Does it freeze? I have no idea.
I highly suggest saving a little bit for a homemade pizza--delish.

dawns red sauce

print recipe

1 can (28 oz.) san marzano crushed tomatoes (drained, reserve some of the liquid)

1 TB (or more) San marzano tomato paste

3-4 TB extra virgin olive oil

hand full fresh basil, chopped

hand full fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

fresh oregano (half a hand full) or 1 TB dried

2-3 TB fresh garlic

1 – 1 ½ TB heavy cream

1-2 TB fresh pepper flakes

salt & pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, heat up the olive oil, add in the garlic, sauté a bit.

Add in the red pepper flakes, heat through (1-2 minutes).

Add in the tomato paste, stir through.

Add in the drained crushed tomatoes.

Heat this through.

Then add in all your herbs and a pinch of salt & pepper.

Heat this through and taste-test—see what it needs.

Might need more salt or pepper or need more oregano.

Let it sauté a bit over medium to low heat.

If the sauce it too thick for you, add in some of the reserved liquid from the crushed tomatoes. (I like my sauce thick).

When ready to serve, add in about 1 to 1 ½ TB of heavy cream, heat through.

Serves enough sauce for almost a pound of pasta.

cashew-butterscotch cookies + OneFundBoston.org

Sorry for being so m.i.a. lately.
With all that's been going here in Boston, my world was shaken up, busy, crazy with work, etc..
On the day of the Boston Marathon, my husband who works at Mass General Hospital in Boston stayed home.
You can imagine my excitement, my confusion,  my gratefulness, my fear --all rolled into one on how lucky I was that he stayed home that day.  Anything could have happened. Anything!
We were blessed that nothing did, but I was so "spooked" (is that the right word?) that of all days, that was the day he stayed home.
My mind went a-spinning for days on end on the coulda, woulda, shoulda....it's only human nature I guess to do so, but thankfully for work, I submerged myself in to it to get lost and move on.
I haven't been baking for a while, but as I type this on Sunday night, I'm ready to get back into it again on Monday.
There are, as you know, a lot of people who were not so lucky and lost loved ones that day.
And a lot of other victims were badly hurt; their lives changed in an instant and forever.
Please if you can, keep those people in your hearts and if you can help them out with a donation to
OneFundBoston.org
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino have announced the formation of The One Fund Boston, Inc. to help the people most affected by the tragic events that occurred in Boston on April 15, 2013.
Thank you!
Our wonderful city of Boston is strong, a very strong city, with doubly strong resilient people.
It was good to see the Red Sox game last night.
Did you see that Neil Diamond showed up to sing?
Apparently he hopped a plane from california at like 12:30am, showed up at Fenway and asked "Can I sing?". There was no schedule, he just wanted to get here to Boston as quickly as possible in hopes they (Fenway) would let him sing.  As if Fenway would turn down Mr. "Sweet Caroline" himself.
Just like that.  What a great man.
If you didn't see it, here is the link.  (I know it looks as if he was lip-syncing, he wasn't, the song was playing along with him singing).
Brought tears to my eyes; every person in that audience was so proud.
All is well in Boston again...

The idea for these cookies...
Sometimes I buy things at Trader Joe's en masse, take them home and eat them en masse and later have an en masse stomach ache.
Said "en masse" this time was those delish thai-lime cashews.
Gosh those are good!
Once you have too much of one thing, you rarely go back to it for a while; that craving for it goes away.
I had a small amount left and wanted to use them use before the gift of staleness set in.
When in doubt on what to do with leftover sweets--throw in Cookies!
And it worked!
The thai spice, lime and hint of heat go really well in here, you really can't taste the heat that much or maybe my heat-tastebuds are numb from all the years of eating spicy foods?
Up to you if you want to add them, plain, roasted salted cashews is fine too.
But I know a few of you might have leftover trader joe cashews sitting in your cupboard right now.



I usually roll into oversized-tablespoon balls, never press flat, just leave as balls and let the heat of the oven do the rest.

cashew-butterscotch cookies

cookie dough based off of Jacques Torres cc cookie recipe

print recipe

2 cups cake flour

1 2/3 cups bread flour

1 1/4 ts baking soda

1 1/2 ts baking powder

1 1/2 ts coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 cup light brown sugar, loose pack

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 ½  ts natural vanilla extract

1 cup butterscotch chips or chunks

1 ¼ cups salted, roasted cashews

Sea salt for gently sprinkling tops of cookie dough balls, optional

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.

Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.

By hand, add in the butterscotch chips and cashews.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.

I scooped out about oversized tablespoon dough balls, and kept them as balls; did NOT press them flat.

Sprinkle cookie balls lightly with sea salt, making sure to push the salt into cookie dough. (this is an optional, but wonderful step)

Bake about 18-22 minutes or until center is not jiggly and edges are LIGHT golden brown.

Makes about 30-33 cookies.