Tastes Like Food

Bust out your apple corer

Bacon Is Good — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:38:20 +0000

It’s fall, apples are overflowing the markets, and it’s a great time to make applesauce. I didn’t realize just how easy or tasty homemade applesauce is, until I was inspired by Mixed Greens’ home made applesauce recipe.

I made a couple quarts of applesauce today, and it took about 10 minutes of my time, and about 45 minutes of cooking time. I used slightly tart Jonathan apples, and sliced them with my trusty corer (above). If you leave the skins on, it’s super fast. Plus the skins make the applesauce pink which is very fun. Clean, core, cook, and enjoy. Home made applesauce is way tastier than store bought — flavorful and fresh!

Recipes, treats, ideas at Momologie

Bacon Is Good — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:03:54 +0000

A great resource for recipe ideas, fun ways to display food, especially if you’re a mom of little ones, check out Momologie.

Funky, gruesome halloween candy ideas from Momologie.com

The screen capture above shows ideas for Halloween treats and candy decorations. Everything in that image is edible! Gorgeous images, the recipes and articles from Momologie are a treat to read.

Italian grandmothers are rolling over in their graves

Bacon Is Good — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:30:02 +0000

It seemed like the best way to reheat my leftover ravioli from Pasquini’s was to fry it up in a little olive oil. I don’t have a microwave. Cold ravioli sounded terrible. I think frying ravioli is a no no, but I’m not 100% sure. Nevertheless, I’m kind of a sucker for fried dough. It was delicious.

Delicious dessert decadence at D Bar in Denver

Bacon Is Good — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:46:38 +0000

On a recent date night, we went to D Bar and enjoyed these desserts.

On the left: Trio of fresh (still warm!) home made brioche donuts, topped with their donut holes, all coated with cinnamon sugar. On the side are swirls of chocolate and caramel in a vanilla dipping sauce.

On the right: Ice cream sandwich tower assembled with waffles, vanilla bean ice cream, smokey cherry compote and amaretto cream.

We also had special blends of tea and coffee. They’re open late, and also serve food. Beautiful textures, squares and materials in the decor surround you too.

High Fructose Con Ads

Bacon Is Good — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:04:44 +0000

Have your read Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and been amazed and frightened to learn how corn products seem to be everywhere? Have you been following a health-oriented goal to cut back on refined sugars and discovered how challenging that goal is since high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) appears to be in nearly every pre-packaged food?

Promo image for documentary film King Corn

The public is concerned we’re consuming too much HFCS, and in response food and drink manufacturers, including giants Kraft and Pepsi, are cutting it out of numerous products, and advertising it as HFCS free. (Been to Starbucks lately and seen how they’re advertising that their food case is HFCS free?)

Well, guess what? Now the corn industry is telling us it’s not really bad for us in their latest round of advertising targeted at moms. Read the full article: Corn Refiners Fight Back as Kraft, Pepsi Tout Revamped Products

Based on the headline to this post, you’ll probably know my point of view. Thank goodness many consumers are telling food companies they want HFCS out! I’m not surprised corn is fighting back. I make my choices as often as I can to avoid products with HFCS.

Bonus tip: want to learn more about corn and HFCS? Check out the not so well-known (yet) documentary King Corn, all about America’s favorite subsidized crop.

A big Texas-style spectacle

Bacon Is Good — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:42:35 +0000

On a cross-country road trip from Colorado to Texas, we found ourselves in the Texas panhandle at dinnertime. Wondering what to eat, we figured steak might be a good option. We were in small-town-ville, so we weren’t banking on much, maybe Appleby’s, TGI Friday’s, Outback Steakhouse or something along those lines. Then, as we were driving, we saw about the 5 or 6th billboard announcing the 72oz FREE Steak at the Big Texan — eat the entire 72oz steak and you eat for free. My man said “Why not?” I said “Okay, it can’t be THAT bad.” Well, so far it is my favorite part of the trip!

Okay, just to get it out of the way, neither of us got the 72oz steak. We weren’t planning to. Just figured the steak oughta be decent. So, here’s what happened…

Firstly, we learned that the Big Texan is a real-honest-to-goodness Route 66 attraction. And even at 8:30 at night in the middle of nowhere, the parking lot was full! We went in and put our name on the list for dinner. While we waited, we could play slots, browse the gift shop (of course!) where I found a tequila-flavored lollipop with a worm embedded in the sugar, and entertain ourselves at the shooting gallery. Seriously. We both took a turn shooting laser guns at old-time western zombies and skeletons.

Now, on to the dinner! We split an 8oz steak dinner (yes, there are normal sized portions), and the steak was delicious. The sides (corn, mashed potatoes, fried okra, fresh bread) were okay, not nearly as good as the steak. And all this time during dinner, we had a seat very close to the stage. The stage is where the folks who want to try for the 72oz FREE steak sit, complete with a timer, web cam and all the (potential) glory. So, about this FREE steak: to get a free steak, you must eat the entire dinner (steak, potato, bread, shrimp cocktail) in less than an hour. You sit on stage and the BigTexan.com web cam broadcasts you to the world. The pink Winners chart had a list of the winners from the last week or so.

These guys from Santa Fe went for it that night. (Note the timer, they were 19 minutes, 36 seconds in.) We aren’t sure if they got through the massive dinner in less than an hour, but I think the guy with the blue shirt might have gone all the way — he was making good progress.

I know, I know, there should be a law or something. But it’s Texas. Everything’s bigger in Texas!

Never leave zucchini unmonitored

Mixed Greens — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:34:24 +0000

It’s worse than an untrained puppy!

I left my (one) zucchini plant alone for two weeks, and this is what I got:

Zukes

My experience with large zucchini is that they tend to the bitter, but I plan to either grill these (lightly coated in olive oil) or shred and freeze them for zucchini bread.

Voodoo Doughnuts

Bacon Is Good — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:00:01 +0000

While in Portland Oregon, I was delighted to experience the world of Voodoo Doughnuts. (Mind you these are doughnuts, not donuts.) Huge, sweet, delicious fried doughy goodness in traditional flavors and crazy combinations… peanut butter chocolate, bubble yum, cap’n crunch, fruit loops, grape.

And it was hard to believe, but they had over a dozen VEGAN doughnuts. mmmmh. My dairy-sensitive, sugar-loving tummy was in heaven.
Check out the Voodoo Doughnuts web site

Nuttin Fancy: tasty fried food in Texas

Bacon Is Good — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:06:18 +0000

I don’t eat like this in Denver.

Driving through Texas, my man and I stopped in Clarendon looking for dinner. We scoped the town of about 2,000 and chose the Nuttin Fancy Cafe because the parking lot was jammed with cars. (Well the parking lot was full of trucks really, which seems to be what everyone drives, except for one guy on a vintage motorcycle.)

I ordered the fried catfish dinner. It came with a dinner salad, hand-battered fried catfish, fried okra, fried sweet breads (those long skinny tubes on the plate). It was delicious! And the service was great too.

So, rule of thumb: when in doubt, pick the place with the full parking lot, it’s where the locals go.

Oldest wine I’ve ever had: vintage 1978

Bacon Is Good — Sat, 30 May 2009 18:50:26 +0000

Not too long ago, I enjoyed a glass of this vintage wine along with a very tasty steak dinner at my parent’s house. A friend of the family’s was huge into wine, and occasionally shared wine with the parents as gifts, this was one such present.

As far as we could tell from the label (which is fascinating!) and bottle (stamped 1978, check out the old shape) this was a Cabernet Sauvignon from California Italian Swiss Colony (how about that for a combination). It was light bodied for a cabernet, with a little strawberry, and some smoky depths. Overall tasty, not the best wine I’ve ever had, but certainly one of the most fascinating!