Berry Good!

Kate first turned me on to Brookside's enrobed goodies by bringing a pouch of dark-chocolate-covered goji berries to a welterweight championship viewing at my house.

Lest you get the wrong impression, I don't particularly enjoy boxing -- but, as it turns out, I DO enjoy chocolate-covered goji berries!  I also sought out the brand's pomegranate and açaí with blueberries (not pictured).  The pomegranate were slightly disappointing; I wish Brookside had captured the juicy crunch and tart, fresh flavor of pomegranate seeds, but they didn't.

I enjoyed my taste of the açaí/blueberry chocolates (a gift from Angela), but they didn't measure up to the goji, which remain my favorite.



Something about the bright chewiness of that berry meshes best with the dark chocolate they've used.

They're a little more expensive than I like to see, if I can be candid, but officially delicious.

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Venezuelan Beaver Cheese

Gjetost Cheese is a Scandanavian whey cheese that goes by many names. Read more about it!





This cheese is the color of peanut butter. It is a little sweet (the process of making it includes the caramelization of sugar) and neither entirely hard nor entirely spreadable.



It was good alone, but delicious with fruit. I ate mine on an english muffin with Anna's homemade blueberry jam. I hear it also goes well with slices of pear.

Shortcake again, please.

I took my shortcake biscuit leftovers and swapped out blueberries for the strawberries of earlier this week. Yumwow.

Shortcake top tip: crush a little of your fruit with sugar in a bowl. Use this and whole fruit together to top your shortcake. This makes everything juicier and gives textural interest.

The Accidental Patriot

My grandfather's birthday is July 4th (Happy Birthday, Grandpa!), so those holiday three-day-weekends during my childhood were often spent happily at his house (and especially, in his little above-ground pool), celebrating his birthday and the Fourth with sparklers and fireworks, grilled hot dogs or burgers, birthday cake, ice cream, and the festive wearing of red, white, and blue items of clothing. I took my fashion choices very seriously and tried to incorporate all three colors on the big day.

In high school, as I was stretching my coltish-yet-sarcastic-and-cynical legs, I still enjoyed Grandpa K's birthday and the relatives (and the pool, the summers before we totally outgrew it), but I began a tradition of making sure I was not wearing red, white, and blue on The Fourth of July. I continued to take my outfits seriously, but in a different sort of way. Clearly, I would have been the lamest of all lames if I coordinated my colors with a national holiday, you guys! Jeez.

Now look at me: a softened-and-aging adult, and I've almost come full circle. Here I am on July 4th, wearing blue, white, and green (I'm almost to Quacker Factory land, aren't I?!) and baking a fruit tart in the colors of the flag.

It's not my fault, cynical teenage Self! I have had a handful of blueberries languishing in the fridge for more than a week. Then I impulsively bought 2 pints of sour cherries at the farmer's market on Monday but have not had the time to use them in my cooking up to this point.

This morning I knew the fruit had to be used or I'd risk it rotting in the refrigerator. I found this recipe, which was originally written for pears but which Chowhounds said worked as well with sour cherries and other fruits. I threw caution to the winds and tossed the blueberries on top, realizing I was now creating (and planning to eat) a red, white, and blue dessert on Independence Day, of all days.

I used 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 1/2 tsp of almond extract in the batter and sprinkled brown sugar over the top before baking, but otherwise followed the recipe as given.



OMG, y'all. Moist, moist, moist. Yum, yum, yum. More, more, more!! Happy freakin' Fourth of July! I'm feeling kind of patriotic about this.

There's always time for pie.

On Sunday, Shannon made a key lime pie. There were also strawberries. On Sunday night, I did what I do best -- I put everything on a plate (with extra graham cracker crust) and ate it all.

I don't mean to be stereotypical, but I do happen to be eating chocolate and thinking about shoes.

I'm being honest in the title of this post, if a bit defensive. I'm not into chocolate and shoes because I'm female. I'm into them because I'm me. And I've got my priorities (fairly) straight -- I don't love them to the detriment of more intellectual pursuits (not that I'm pursuing that many intellectual things through this blog, as you know). But I do happen to be a lady who likes both chocolate and shoes. Give me a break, imaginary critics. There are plenty of men out there who enjoy these things, too (or would, if men's shoes came in such variety).

Tragedy! It has been a week of woe, where my shoes are concerned. Finally, the weather is warm enough for me to show off my recently acquired toenail polish, and my open-toed shoes are torturing me every chance they get. First, a very old pair of low-heeled brown sandals gave up the ghost. I just can't get the ankle straps to stay up. Over the years, I've tried taping, tightening, adjusting constantly, and ignoring; I've hit my limit. Goodbye, low-heeled brown sandals.

Then, a new pair of $6 flip flops (bought on sale over the winter and tried on, but not worn while walking around until yesterday) turned on me. These jerkos not only chose to both dig their fake-leather straps into my feet, causing the sort of pain that feels like it will leave bruises, but the right-foot flop decided to twist as I walked, leaving my right foot constantly falling off the sole of its shoe. I thought I had finally found that elusive plain black thong I'd been looking for (no crazy colors or fake crystals on my flip flops, please). But I was wrong. Why, oh why? Also, goodbye.

I should have been wearing my supremely comfortable (once they're broken in), never-angering handmade moccasins by Manimal, because I have them in two colors (support small business owners! Watch for sample sales!) and I love them. Wanting to show off my pedicure was nothing but hubris. If I'd gone for the toe-enclosing mocs I would not have been doomed to two days of foot pain and rage.

Wait a minute. Am I going to talk about inedibles for the rest of this item? Let's get to the snacks. A few moments of sanity amidst my days of furious feet? Brought to me by eating squares of a Vosges Haute Chocolat Goji bar. This fancy chocolate was an unexpected gift from Louis, produced upon the occasion of our finishing a monster (5 months or more) recording project at work. Thanks, Louis!

"Tibetan goji berries/pink Himalayan salt/deep milk chocolate/45% cacao" is printed on the front of the box for this 3 oz. (85 g.) bar. On the back? An overwritten essay on "How To Enjoy An Exotic Candy Bar" by someone named Katrina (whose bio was also overwritten, so I stopped reading it), including instructions such as "Take 3 deep breaths. Rub your thumb on the chocolate to help release the..." blahblahblah.

I didn't take three deep breaths. I rubbed my thumb on nothing. I just ate the chocolate. And it was delicious. I had forgotten about the Goji berries promised by the packaging, so their chewiness surprised me. The salt, which I was looking forward to, was as good (and pink) as I'd hoped. I love salt with chocolate. I did wonder if this bar might be better in a darker chocolate, but I'm no snob; I like milk chocolate, too. In fact, though I've had other flavors of chocolate bar from this line, the Goji Bar is my favorite so far.

Eating a bit of the bar yesterday helped me get through the day without running out to buy replacement shoes just so I could take the rotten flip flops off. Eating some today has me feeling like I take whatever shoes come next, good or bad. And that's some empowering salty chocolate!

Christmas in July

My version of Christmas in July is when my birthday (February) comes in May because I finally make an appointment to use the spa gift certificate I was given by my favorite 2-friends-and-a-baby.

Ira, Illa, and Irina at Serenity served me amazing treatments, most of them enjoyable and relaxing, topped off by a "spa snack" at the end of my afternoon. It's hard to take a picture when you're getting a manicure (actually, it's a little hard to eat, too), but I memorized the details to report back to you.

Serenity Spa Snack

• banana slices (half a banana's worth)
  
• walnuts (4 or 5)
  
• almonds (small handful)
  
• blueberries (small handful)
  
• strawberries (3, large)
  
• dates (2)
  
• dried apricot slices (3)
  
• green grapes (2)

With a glass of water, this was a welcome plate to pause over after an hour-long massage; 30 minutes with my hands trapped in paraffin, plastic bags, and oven mits; ten minutes of steam blowing up my nose; and a fair amount of extraction pain.

A week's worth of tasty

A new brand of yogurt called Rachel's (made in Broomfield, CO) caught my eye at Whole Foods. I bought 5 flavors for a total of $3 and commenced to the taste-testing each morning at work. Good news! I kept notes for you.

1. Marionberry Guava - First of all, I learned that a Marionberry is a type of blackberry. I learned that from the internet, not from the yogurt. This is pleasingly tart (a word I use a lot because it's a flavor I seek out) and fruity. The texture is smooth with just a hint of lumpiness. I could tell right away that this was not the yogurt of my youth. It's much more sophisticated and, well, delicious.

2. Pink Grapefruit Lychee is another nicely tart flavor, I detect layers of both types of fruit in there. It really tastes fresh and special.

3. Mango Pineapple Passion Fruit is my favorite of the five I picked out. A pineapple sweetness peeks through the richness of mango, while a banana back note adds a smooth and creamy depth.

4. Exotic Cherry Black Currant has a familiar "cherry vanilla" yogurt color but a much more intensely fruity flavor. The lids have started spitting a good deal of yogurt if I don't tear them off carefully, but that's a minor concern.

5. Pomegranate Açai, which was the first flavor on whose label I noticed the trademarked phrase "Wickedly Delicious," is an "Essence" flavor (as opposed to the other category of "Exotic" yogurts). This yogurt is extremely aromatic, which is apparently part of the "Essence" experience. Unfortunately, I think the company sacrificed something to get at this aromatherapy-in-yogurt concept. This was my least favorite flavor. For one thing, it was an unappealing old salmon pinky-brown. It also tasted the most artificial of the yogurts I tried, bringing to mind harshly fruity candy. ETA: However! This is Kevin's favorite flavor so far, he told me. So don't skip it on my account if you're into the tart and the scented and the yogurt.

Yogurt is a pretty straightforward snack, even with such unusual flavors. One of the few confusing things about these yogurts is that there are so many variations on the packaging. I do think they all said they were hormone-free with probiotics and omega-3 DHA "for the heart, brain and eyes," but otherwise there were too many names, categories, and trademarked slogans.

Some of the yogurts are marked "Exotic" (Marionberry Guava, for one). Others are "Vitality" (Pomegranate Açaí) or "Refresh" (Pink Grapefruit Lychee), but I gather those are "Exotic," too. I guess each flavor is either "Exotic" or "Essence," but beyond that some of the flavors have "catchy conceptual" names in addition to the names of the fruit flavors they capture.

There's a page on Rachel's website that explains the categories, but I think what they've come up with is a little more complex than necessary, especially as most people do not seek out the website of the yogurt they found at Whole Foods. They could have just had "Essence" and "Exotic" and left it at that. Or just name the flavors after the fruit represented inside!

One could argue that these yogurts are a bit overwrought, but that's a small quibble after what I feel was a delicious discovery. I'll certainly be seeking out more flavors.

Mulberry memories

I lived in Dubuque, IA from the age of 5 until I was 15. Our yard was a great place to snack. We had two apple trees (one red delicious; one yellow delicious) that put out fruit every other year. Sometimes Dad had to burn the tentworm nests, which was exciting and scary. And sometimes we got paid to pick up apples under the trees (parents, think carefully when you set your per apple price. There are more rotten apples under that tree than you think).

We also had sour grapes growing along the edge of the garden (which we did not plant) and wild chives, which we used to trick my next door neighbor Lisa into eating grass (by telling her that's what we were eating and, boy, was it good!).

We had a big vegetable garden and tomato plants on top of the hill for much of my childhood, too. And there were currants that were great made into jelly but sour and good right off the bush. There was also a large mulberry tree in the side yard.

I ate a lot of mulberries in and under that tree. I learned to avoid the green and overripe berries in favor of the perfectly plump, purply, finger-staining fruit. I don't remember them having an amazing flavor, but they were on our tree in abundance and it is fun to eat something you've just picked off a tree. Especially if you've climbed that tree, pretending you've run away from home, strung up a rope with clothespins on it to pretend you're living there kind of like the boy in My Side of the Mountain, and are enjoying the idea that you will now forage for food for a living.

I had never seen a white mulberry until I bought the ones I tried today. They claim to be "The Turkish Delight" (not to be confused with the Turkish Delight eaten in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I assume) and are much sweeter than the dark mulberries I remember. A tad too sweet for me, actually. "The berries are an excellent source of Vitamin C and iron," claims the package, so that's good, but they taste a little like raisins, which fruit I don't exactly love. I won't hate eating more of these (in granola, maybe), but I don't think I will be buying them to snack on regularly.