London Swall'wing: Part II

 

I heartily approve of the Toffee Crisp. I don't really taste toffee, but whatever. There's plenty of chocolate, caramel, and crisp rice cereal. The baby happens to be toddling over to bang on the keyboard, or I'd say more. It would all be positive, but would I compose an epic poem in its honor? Nah. It's no Jaffa Cake.

 

 Mr. Tom is peanut brittle, but easy on the glaze. The peanut flavor is allowed to come through without being drowned in sugar. Nor does it feel like it wants to break your teeth. I appreciate that in a brittle. Thank you, Germany  (Mr. Tom happened to come to London via Germany).

Hurry! Eat the candy!

(London Swall'wing: Part I)

 -------

 

 

Don't Call it a Juice Cleanse.

Though I'm intrigued by many areas of holistic and "alternative medicine" (etc.), I'm pretty suspicious of fasting, cleansing, and [non-drug-related] detoxing.  Most of the time, these three things seem to be crash diets in disguise, and I'm not fond of dieting, either.  It may not be accurate or fair, but I will admit to jumping to the conclusion that many people doing cleanses secretly just want to lose 5-10 lbs.  I do think fasting is interesting as a spiritual discipline and/or form of protest (and sometimes necessary before medical tests*), but I hope I never convince myself to fast, cleanse, or detox to lose weight. 
 
Call it laziness if you want -- I certainly don't find myself to be disciplined enough to stick to a strict plan when it comes to food -- but I'm also not interested in regimented eating.  I eat basically what I want to eat (and can afford to eat) and I rarely feel guilty.  It's not because I'm not vain or insecure, either, and it's certainly not because I eat only healthy foods (as you can see on this site). If you want to, you can say I'm "just jealous" of the people who drop 6 pounds on "the Lemonade Diet" and feel super-energetic on day 4 (or whatever).

As far as "detoxing" goes, I trust my body to process what I eat and I know it will do a better job if I eat more things that are unprocessed and natural. Doctors seem to agree.  I have no doubt that it is good to eat in a mindful way, but I find it easier to swallow (so to speak) the idea that the best sort of "cleanse" one could do would involve eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains.  I haven't read anything that convinces me that it is necessary to fast or cleanse on a regular basis.

All this said (and said and said), I was given (not by the company, but by an unafilliated friend) a BluePrintJuice cleanse drink and BluePrintBar.  And since I am happy to snack on food created for "cleansing" if it means I get a blog post out of it, I tried them both.

The drink? "Yellow Lemon Water Cayenne Agave."  You know, something about the inclusion of the word "yellow" on the packaging throws me off a little.  "Yellow" is not a food.  It makes me think of artificial coloring.  Not sure why they'd include "yellow" in the name. Are there other colors of lemons? Anyway, it didn't taste bad.  I liked the small amount of spice.  The lemon is pretty palatable, like lemonade, and I prefer its slight tartness to overly sweet commercial lemonades.  BluePrint's cleanse program has been described on a lot of other blogs, and most reviewers have described this as one of the better flavors of juice in the program.

The bar? "Cherry Orange Almond Date."  I was prepared to dislike this, as I do not trust "health food bars." I typically assume something "raw, vegan, wheat free, gluten free, soy free, and kosher" will be tasteless and/or terrible, but it was quite good!  The cherry flavor was the strongest, and it was bright and fresh.  Almond and orange both came through well, and balanced the cherry.  I didn't taste the dates as much, but they lent a pleasantly thick sort of texture to the bar.  I like that it doesn't contain any sweeteners, sulphur, or preservatives.



My verdict?  I won't be "cleansing" my system via an expensive program of pre-bottled (but otherwise unprocessed) cold-press juices any time soon, and I don't think I'm much healthier for having eaten the bar (though the packaging tells me that cherry "contains melatonin, which helps regulate sleep patterns, prevents memory loss, and delays the aging process"), but I'd snack on either item again.  Score one for fad diets!




*I always eat a doughnut after my annual physical, to apologize to my stomach for the pre-checkup emptiness.

-------

Stuck on almonds

Dan's preparing for an installation at the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, NJ.  I went down to Flavor Paper, his main wallpaper distributor, yesterday to help with the "weeding" (removing the negative space from hundreds (thousands) of sometimes-tiny vinyl stickers.



These salted almonds (sent to us at Christmas by Dan's parents) saved the day.  Between them, a clementine, and some red raspberry leaf tea (good for uterine toning, I'm told!), I was able to get through multiple hours of picking away at sheets of vinyl with tweezers and my fingers.

When we were done, we grabbed some Tex-Mex at Lobo.  They start out by bringing the table a basket of what I judged to be above-average chips and salsa, in case you were wondering.  And I was hungry-but-not-ravenous, so my dinner of chicken enchiladas with verde sauce suited me well.


p.s. How's this for a bathroom?!

[Tiny Fashion Spread: Jeans and cardigan by Uniqlo, Tee from Forever 21, Onitsuka Tigers on the feet] 

-------

Not Pictured. < sigh >

Y'all. I just got back from Barcelona, Spain. My Iberico ham was confiscated by US customs agents, which I half expected (though we bought it from Duty Free in the hopes that would be an approved source). I can handle it.

What I didn't expect? They also confiscated my unopened bag of bacon-flavored sunflower seeds. I had not even taken a photo of the package. Although I suggested that there was possibly no meat product of any sort in this snack (as I have found that many "bacon-flavored" things are artificially flavored), I was shown no mercy. The agent let us keep our brick of Manchego, but I ask you, is that justice?

I have to admit: I teared up a little. The reason I bought it? To share with you, my loyal readers. The brand name? "Bacon and Me." Great, right?

I guess I'll never know. Thanks a lot, America.

-------

Emergency Snacks on Hand

Sometimes, when I'm riding on the subway or in an elevator, I think to myself, "How long could I live on the food I'm carrying with me if I got stuck?"

I cleaned out my bag this morning and discovered a number of snack items (plus a water bottle, Tylenol, and vitamins) -- Clif Bar, peanuts, cheese, and an apple.  As hungry as I've been lately, this wouldn't last too long, but I'll ride the elevator without fear this afternoon.

So, what's edible in your bag?

-------

DIY Snack Mix

I've been falling prey to the mid-morning sleepies at work lately, so today I took a small bag of homemade snack mix with me. It's just walnuts, almonds, and dried cranberries (if I'd had dark chocolate, I would have thrown that in there, too).  I think it helped!

-------

Pick Your Pleasure (or, if you're allergic to nuts, your poison).

Breakfast this morning: pecan stickies bought at The Green Dragon.  They needed no butter.  Delightful.

-------

Just another dessert from Whole Foods.

Bakery desserts in the case at Whole Foods are hit or miss.  For example, I found the chocolate pudding far too rich (took me three days to eat it!), and shudder with glee at the thought of another chipwich, but I straight-out-love me their mini pies. 

The "Natural Peanut Butter Bar" pictured above was so-so.  I think they should have skipped the lackluster peanuts pressed into the top and just gone with the chocolate and peanut butter flavors baked into the bar.

-------

Stackable Easter

We received a cute stack of snack-filled boxes in the mail.  Surprise!  It was an Easter gift from my parents, via Harry & David.

So, just what was inside?



Tiny box: 2 small, completely melted chocolate truffle balls.  I do mean completely melted.  I stuck this, the smallest box, inside the fridge for a day to let things harden back up.  Then we were able to eat the chocolate shells that remained. 




Little box: A bag of honey-roasted cashews and pecans.  I've never had honey-roasted cashews before.  Quite nice.  Lime would have been a good flavor, too.




Smaller-medium box: 2 bags of Debeukelaer piroulines, also called cigarettes Russes, yummy rolled chocolate and cookie straws.  They tasted just the tiniest bit flat, but I think these always look better than they taste.  I still quite like (and happily eat) them!




Larger-medium box: A small bag of individually-wrapped caramels and a large wad of tissue paper.  These were very nice -- soft and buttery and sweet.  You could have fit more in there, H&D!  (I kid, I kid.)




Large box: A good-sized bag of Dark Chocolate Moose Munch, which is a sort of snack mix with caramel popcorn and dark chocolate.  Almonds, cashews, pecans, and honey were also on the ingredient list.  I was excited about trying this.  Yum!  I love popcorn mixes. If the few moose I've seen in my lifetime (most in Rocky Mountain National Park) were actually eating this stuff, I'd be fighting them at the bushes.  Or . . . maybe not.  Have you seen a moose?  They're large.

Thanks, Mom and Dad!  It was my happiest Easter gift since the days of childhood Easter baskets!  And way better than jellybeans.

Waffle Kerfluffle

It happens in the best marriages: Dan and I had a breakfast-related argument.

He wanted waffles; I was sort of willing to make waffles (I just need to mention right off that he was busy, or he could have made them himself). I craved savory and edgy; he craved sweet and classic. I thought I might improvise cornmeal waffles with bacon and parmesan cheese; Dan thought I should go with something banana-related. Oh, the waffling that ensued (pun intended).

My making The Hungry Housewife's recipe for Banana Bread Waffles ended our kerfluffle. They didn't even need the sliced banana or nuts that were suggested as topping -- just a little syrup brought it all together.

Who can argue when waffles are this good?

I wasn't just there for the cupcakes. I swear.

Over the past months, Snackreligious cast regular Dan Funderburgh created MAP/Pursuit of Pursuit of Happiness, an amazing installation for Sigerson Morrison's boutique space on the Upper East Side.

Funderburgh combined wall stickers (designed by him and made by wallpaper company Flavor Paper, who sell a number of wallpaper designs by Dan) with framed work for this show. I made it up there Thursday night for the opening party. The art looked fierce, the shoes were even cooler up close than in photos, the tiny cupcakes had cream cheese frosting, and the samosas were a nice touch.






I loved seeing the three small beasts Dan had painted (made by his sister, ceramicist Eva Funderburgh, with whom he collaborated last year) on display with the jewelry at the store.




I choked on an almond, but recovered well with a few sips of white wine. Ah, the rich life.




Dan also designed the patterns imprinted on the straps of these Sigerson Morrison shoes.

If you are in NYC and would like to stop by, Dan's art and prints will be displayed in the shop for viewing and sale throughout the month of March.


Sigerson Morrison
19 E 71st St
New York, NY

My caramel hot tub.

I followed a chocolate brownie cake recipe I found online.

The blogger warned me that the cake might cave in as it cooled.




It did.

The recipe also said that, because I was supposed to fill the top of the cake with honey-roasted peanuts (I made them, too) and caramel sauce, this caving-in of the brownie cake wouldn't matter.




It didn't.


Never has something that looked so much like a hot tub tasted sooooo good.

When in a blizzard:

Look out for snow balls.




Make snow things.




Eat your emergency chocolate (nuts = energy!).

Alexander and...Almonds OR "Am I (un)doing this right?"

Maybe it's the alliteration, but I was really in the mood for almonds after my Alexander Technique group class. Here comes another one of my NYC Yoga Passbook experience posts:

Pass 3: Two classes in the Alexander Technique (1 attended so far) through ACAT (The American Center for the Alexander Technique), Union Square. The first class is a group introductory class, free with or without the pass. The second class allowed through the passbook offer will be a one-on-one session with a certified teacher. Rebecca from ACAT says, "let folks know to bring their coupon to the group demonstration. We are prepared to assign private lesson teachers at the event."
Date(s): 2/1
Instructor(s): Lisa Lutton, with hands-on assistance from Jane Tomkiewicz and Elizabeth Reid.
Thoughts: Even without the passbook, you can attend this class for free on the first Monday of each month. But that didn't make it seem like less of a value to me, when all was said and done. I appreciate that the passbook informed me about the session, which I otherwise wouldn't have known about.
I entered ACAT's space on 14th Street with a slight timidity, but eventually found myself feeling there hung a certain golden glow over the evening. The room warmed up, and so did I. Lisa Lutton (who also teaches in private practice on the upper west side) had a special air of calm authority about her, without seeming at all authoritarian. Need I say her posture was lovely? After Elizabeth welcomed us and introduced her, Lisa gave us an introduction to a few ideas behind the intentional, thoughtful movement that the Technique seeks and why it is efficient and desirable. We watched her demonstrate with her own body, and then with volunteers, the physical possibilities when one thinks "forward" and "up" while sitting, rising, standing, and even running.
Our small class (only six non-teachers/non-trainees were in attendance) then broke into 3 groups of two, each with a teacher, to practice a bit more focused upright and table work. I still feel like The Alexander Technique approaches "magical" when one first experiences it, due to how infinitesimal and almost "accidental" adjustments seem (though, of course, they're no accidents), but I am also convinced of its utility. I was in Lisa's small group, and she offered both verbal and kinesthetic/physical feedback while working with us. Something clicked for me on the table as she spoke about "undoing" and "doing less" with our bodies. I could feel progress when I occasionally managed to harness the "thinking without trying" she described. Who knew I needed to think about making my ribs go "mushy" to release inhibiting tension?
At the end of even such limited one-on-one work, and after a surprising but not at all upsetting tear rolled down my face (isn't it interesting how an emotional response can sneak up on one during new forms of physical movement?), I felt more stretched and buoyant for a few minutes, before sinking back into my poor posture and bad physical habits. I tried to think and un-do and allow my body to do less all the way home on the subway, and it felt good even though I have barely scratched the surface of "right."
I know it would take work to progress and retrain my body, but the effects of Alexander felt very real to me after this class. I'm interested in doing more work in the Technique, and will be looking into the "volunteer student" program ACAT offers to support its teacher trainees.
Post-Workout Comestibles: A handful of almonds felt right.
Total passbook classes/Goal: 4/40

Further Adventures in Snack Curation

[It's Poetry Tuesday, and I owe you one, but I'm so far behind in my blogging that I hope you'll forgive a couple of non-poetic posts today.]

A few weeks ago, the time came for me to curate (they say "host") the snacks during "Coffee Hour" (actually about 20 minutes) after church. I was instructed to bring enough light snacks for 40 people, milk, and juice. Cookies were suggested as the snack in the instructing email, but since I still had hundreds in the freezer from my holiday cookie party, I would have taken cookies as my offering even if they hadn't been given as the example.

The congregants in attendance ate over 160 cookies in about 15 minutes flat. I was glad I'd baked an extra batch of Mrs Fields with walnuts that morning. Sugar, peppermint snap, Nutella cranberry, and coconut Joe Frogger cookies rounded out my selection.

One of my favorite things about serving a variety of cookies to a large group of people is that everyone can have his or her own favorite. Each kind of cookie is "the best" to at least one person -- and usually to several. I think this is how attraction works in our non-cookie-oriented romances, too. Human hearts and attraction meters vary widely and wildly. No matter what you look or taste like, there's someone out there who is really into that.



P.S. Though I was the host and responsible for the treats that day, I appreciated the generosity of an unnamed churchgoer who dropped off two Trader Joe's tarts [one chocolate almond (my favorite and pictured above), one lemon] to bulk up the buffet.

This evening of exercise and high-calorie eating made possible by the TSA.

How tragic for Vincent that he couldn't fly home to Kansas with this jar of Sundae's Best (Jean's Java) hot fudge sauce in his carry-on luggage.

How awesome for us.



Thanks to Vincent's sauce-ditching, Ben and Dan and I were able to enjoy an impromptu evening of Wii Fit games and banana splits. Having 4 kinds of nuts in the house (pecans, walnuts, peanuts -- I know, they're technically a legume, and almonds) only made it more exciting.

Active! Delicious!

Very Pear-y.

I bought a new flavor of ice cream -- Caramelized Pear and Toasted Pecan by Häagen-Dazs -- because it looked like a nice departure from my usual selection of "Anything with Chocolate and Peanut Butter and Cookie Dough and Fudge and Crunchy Bits."

This was a good decision; the flavor changed my pace. The pear and pecan pieces ring true throughout. There's something festive and warm about it, which works well during this winter holiday season, but it's light enough to work year-round. Usually, I like my ice cream to hit hard, but I appreciate a subtler sweet in the right moment.

Pear and pecan together aren't overwhelming or bossy. They're honest. I guess I'm saying this frozen treat tells it to you straight.

An Unnecessary Adventure

[I know today should be Poetry Tuesday, but this is an emergency post!]

When the laundry man came to pick up this week's load, the batch of cookies in the oven (Cocoa Snowflakes) had 5 minutes left to bake. I checked the timer and paused the DVD of Miracle on 34th Street.

Moving quickly downstairs with our bag of dirty clothes, I closed the apartment door behind me (so the cat wouldn't get out). In my hurry, I had not taken anything with me -- no keys, no wallet, no phone. And when I heard the door click shut, I thought, "Oh. I hope the apartment door's not locked. That would be bad."

It was. Locked. And bad.

Dan was scheduled to be at soccer for another 1-2 hours. The cookies had 3 minutes left to bake. The downstairs neighbor was in the shower (I could hear it running) and didn't have keys or share a window. I could get on the fire escape from the downstairs apartment, if I waited for the shower to end (and allowed a decent interval for the shower-er to get dressed), but I was 90% sure our windows were all locked. I keep them that way so no one can get into our apartment from the fire escape.

These thoughts zooming through my head, I gave the laundry man the laundry and double-checked my apartment door. Still locked. Friends who hold on to a spare set of keys for us live nearby, but I had no shoes. I thought about shouting after the laundry man and asking him for a ride to the spare key holders' home. All options seemed terribly embarrassing.

I had to do it.

I pulled out my messy "baking" ponytail (I hadn't showered yet) hoping the hair might fall in such a way that it would hide my identity), unlocked the building's front door from the inside (in case I had to come back with no keys, as I didn't even know if our friends would be in), and ran 4 blocks barefoot to their house, feeling -- and probably looking -- like a crazy person (uncombed hair, no shoes or socks, dirty glasses, etc.). I rang the doorbell forcefully -- twice. I was hoping someone would be home, but not irretrievably asleep.

After that second ring, the door was opened. Rescued, I breathlessly, briefly explained my situation. I was promptly loaned sneakers and given my spare keys, at which point I ran/walked home, breathing hard, stopping only to explain to my next-door neighbor what had happened (apparently, I frightened his wife when I ran by on my trip out, unshod and shouting something about my apartment).

With the spare keys, I re-entered my home. The apartment smelled like cocoa and orange. The oven timer was blinking 00:00. The cat (and Miracle on 34th Street) waited patiently.

My feet are cold. My lungs hurt. My eyes are watering. My dear friends were rudely awakened. But the cookies may still be edible. They're cooling now.

And that is what matters.

Land of 10,000 Snacks

When we were in the Twin Cities, one of my favorite brother-sister duos (Matt and Laura, which is not to say that their sibling, Claire, is not also delightful, just that she wasn't in town) made generous gifts to me of assorted local snack foods. I must apologize for the delay in getting up a responsive blog post. But, at last, I have tried them all!

If only I didn't like these snacks so much; I could have called this blog post, "Minne-so-so," which seems pretty clever to me right now (I wouldn't say I'm blogging drunk, but I also wouldn't say I'm coming from a place of total sobriety). But how could I not enjoy the following?!

1. Pearson's Salted Nut Roll. I am so into salt with chocolate. Nothing tastes better after two white Russians and a big glass of water. This is like if peanuts that had only ever been to the zoo went to the CIRCUS!




2. Old Dutch Ketchup Potato Chips. Sweet. That's a description, not an interjection. Sweet and slightly tangy, the bag announces they are "Delivered fresh from the heart of the Upper Midwest." These are perfect for early evenings when you're just home from work and not looking forward to making dinner. The flavor isn't complex enough, so you're required to chase them with real food, but they're interesting enough to tide you over those minutes you need to sit on the couch and just recharge.

3. B.T. McElrath Chile Limon Chocolate Bar. Light on the limon, the chocolate has a rich, cocoa flavor and the spice builds with each bite. The citrus peeks through after a few. It can't make me Mayan, but it can make me miss Mexico.



*sigh*

4. Pearson's Milk Chocolate Bun with Caramel and Roasted Peanuts. Sticky in a delightful way, the Bun grabs hold and doesn't let go. Want to chew something over? Try one of these. Thick with caramel, it's a fistful of yum without being totally tooth-threatening.

5. Pearson's Nut Goodie (Original flavor). The Nut Goodie is a lot like the Bun, with chocolate and peanuts encasing flavor, but somehow the chocolate in the Goodie tastes like it is of a higher quality. The tan filling must be maple, which I don't always enjoy in sweets (beyond syrup), but it isn't bad. I can see why this would be a classic -- especially for maple fans.

6. Pearson's Milk Chocolate Bun with Vanilla and Roasted Peanuts. I don't know why, but I was suspicious of this one. I expected it to be heavy-handed on the vanilla. I also didn't see how it could compare to the caramel variety. But it is pleasing, filled with a subtle, though sweet, vanilla mash.

------

Mmmmmminnesota! Thanks, Matt (and Jessica) and Laura! I hope you don't mind if I come visit again sooner, rather than later. The Twin Cities taste sweet to me.