Strawberry Jam Session

Posted on July 23, 2010 | 2 comments

The kids I used to nanny for would get in the minivan sometimes after I had been in there running errands alone.  The music would be bumpin’ and they’d go “Anna – were you havin a jam session in here?!”  

Yesterday I had a real life jam session – strawberry style.  

I thought to myself – strawberries are so cheap, and store-bought jam always has high fructose corn syrup in it – you should just make some jam yourself!  So I did…

I started with two pounds of strawberries from the fruit market.

I hulled and rinsed them, then cut them into bite-sized pieces.  I put about 3/4 cups of sugar over them, along with about 3 T. of lemon juice, and put them in the fridge to marinate for about an hour.  Mind you, I had no idea what I was doing at this point – but I figured it would work out. 

After that I put them in a pot and brought the mixture to a boil.  This is where things got sweet (literally ;))  

STRAWBERRY VOLCANO!!

It almost boiled over a few times, but I lowered the heat and stirred it down.  After about 40 minutes it got to be much more viscous and lava-like…

I let it sit and cool for awhile and then I had to have a taste.  So I put it on some of Udi’s bread, toasted, with butter: 

toast and jam

 

So good!  Not too sweet and just thick enough.  I put it in a leftover pasta sauce jar and have enough jam to last me a year!  (although I think it will only keep for about a week…)

So, lesson learned – don’t be afraid to have your own jam session.  And don’t buy into that Smuckers stuff 🙂

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From garden to table

Posted on July 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Zucchini fresh from Nick’s dad’s garden = simply delicious.  I just sauteed some up with olive oil, salt, and pepper and it was a perfect snack.  Tons of vitamins and good stuff – plus it’s free, and natural!  Unlike the vegetables I pick up from corner stands, or the ever-shady C-Town, this came right from the ground – and that is something magical.  

One day I’ll have my very own veggie and herb garden.  One day 🙂

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St. Pete Beach – Mad Fish

Posted on June 23, 2010 | Leave a comment

So I know I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks – but it’s kind of hard to blog when you’re basking in the sun, jet-skiing, and drinking rum runners all day.  Nick and I spent four glorious days in St. Pete Beach, FL for the wedding of one of Nick’s friends, and some much needed R&R.  After a quick canceled-flight debacle, we landed safely in paradise.

Isn’t it just dreamy?  The Sirata Beach Resort was so nice, and our room had an ocean view!  We spent hours walking the beach, laying by the pool, and eating some great meals!  I got my fill of grits and cheese grits (like gluten free hot porridge mixed with cheese soup).

The best meal by far was at Mad Fish – a really cool upscale seafood restaurant in a converted diner car.  This place had a really cool vibe – and it was nice to have some alone time with Nick.  And by alone time, I mean I shared him with this giant leaning tower of Pisa of donut onion rings.  Wait, let me repeat myself… DONUT ONION RINGS.  Like your traditional onion ring, but dunked in a donut batter, fried to a crisp, dusted with powdered sugar, and dipped in ketchup.  Nick was raving about these all weekend, telling everyone from his sister to the towncar driver about how mind-blowingly, gluteny-good they were.  One of those times that I wish I could just get rid of this pesky allergy…

In case you need a visual…

Man vs. Food

I, on the other hand, sat through the waitress bringing out one round of buttered bread that smelled amazing (Nick said it tasted like Pizza Hut?).  Then another round of these onion rings.  So by the time my meal got to the table I was ready to dig in.  Good thing the portion was GIGONDO!

I had wanted to try grouper, since it’s a specialty of the region – so I got the grouper and Gulf shrimp in tomato and caper sauce, with garlic risotto.  Mmm….

Gulf shrimp and grouper over garlic risotto

That giant white snowball on top?  That’s parmesan cheese.  The grouper was really flavorful and moist, and the shrimp were extra fresh.  I could only eat about a third of this, but it was worth every penny.

We also heard that the breakfast at Mad Fish is great too.  It’s definitely a must-go if you’re in the area.

Mad Fish

5200 Gulf Blvd.  St. Pete Beach, FL

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Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

Posted on June 7, 2010 | 1 comment

This stuff is good.  I use it instead of dressing on my salads (great if you don’t want to read the ingredients on a million bottles of dressing to see if they’re gluten free, plus it has ZERO calories).  It’s like a light soy sauce mixed with balsamic vinegar, but with a lot less sodium – plus it has 16 amino acids!

You can get a free sample sent to you here!

P.S. – Having thoughts of ordering the giant jug…

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Tribute to Gluten Free Chex

Posted on June 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

Over Memorial Day weekend, in a giant Giant supermarket in Easton, PA, I found my long-lost hidden friend – CINNAMON CHEX!!  I haven’t been able to find them in Queens or Manhattan, and there they were!

These must have been recently re-engineered, because they are more delicious than ever (seems like they put more of the chocolate or cinnamon flavor on the chex).  I love that they are certified gluten free, I love that they are crunchy and snackable, and I love that there are four whole varieties that you can mix and match and make into recipes!

Chex Pumpkin Pie Crunch, Lemon-Rosemary Crunch, Deviled Chex Mix, Buffalo Chex Mix….
The possibilities are mind-bogglingly endless!!  Get some gluten free Glutino pretzels, or some nuts, or some popcorn, and you can run WILD!

CHEX RECIPE INDEX

CHEX GLUTEN-FREE INDEX

My favorite – Chex Muddy Buddies (or puppy chow, as I like to call it :))

Breaking news – just saw that there are STRAWBERRY CHEX!?!?! Maybe they got discontinued, I sure hope not.

I MUST GET SOME NOW!!

And the hunt begins…

**Update: strawberry chex were discontinued in February.  Why do bad things happen to good people?!

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Mozzarelli’s – Friday Binge

Posted on May 26, 2010 | 2 comments

Last Friday it was gorgeous outside, and I decided to treat myself to a  slice of Mozzarelli’s pizza.  This place is dangerously close to my office, so I try to limit my visits there so I don’t get used to having delicious pizza within walking distance.

Even though there were many cheesy varieties, I settled on the spinach and mushroom slice:

I took this picture while walking, since I couldn’t stop myself from eating it on the way back to the office.  This pizza reminds me so much of my hometown favorite, Jet’s Pizza.  The crust is really crisp and chewy and greasy (but in a good way, to me at least) and then the tomato sauce is really thick, like it’s just tomato paste.  The spinach on this pie is nice and salty and sauteed in olive oil.

So I ordered my pizza, and then I’m browsing around the HUGE selection of desserts while I wait for it to heat up in the oven.

Bad idea… or, incredibly great idea.

They have sooooo many desserts I couldn’t resist!  They have cheesecake, tiramisu, giant brownies, strawberry shortcake, mocha cake, and lots more.

I settled on the carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  Mostly because it had the cutest little icing carrots on top.  Plus everyone in my office had carrot cake last week for a birthday party and I couldn’t have any.

By about 3pm – this is all that was left.  It’s amazing that I got my camera out in time to take a picture at the rate that I was shoveling this cake into my mouth.

LET ME EAT CAKE!

It was delicious.  Moist, lots of frosting, and…most importantly…really, really large.

I kind of felt sick after eating all of this.  But it was worth it.

Get it, girl:

Mozzarelli’s

38 Est 23rd Street (between Madison and Park, right across from Shake Shack)

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It takes two to Bistango

Posted on May 23, 2010 | 4 comments

After deliberating for days over where to go out to dinner on Friday night, we settled on Bistango on 29th and 3rd.  After meeting up with some people at the rooftop at Red Sky for a few overpriced drinks, we headed over to try out some gluten free Italian.  We sat outside, right across from the kind of seedy Tonic bar, but Nick could catch glimpses of the Mets game, so it worked out alright.  

To start, I got to eat bread!  Woot!  Usually I get to just sit there and stare at the bread basket, maybe taking a whiff just to taunt myself even more.  I’m not going to rave about the bread, as it really didn’t have that much taste.  If I could have slathered it with butter and jam it probably would have tasted pretty darn good.  But it was bread, and I could eat it, so I won’t complain. 

Nick and I split an appetizer of scallops with grilled pineapple: 

The scallops were good – cooked perfectly.  But for $13 I expect an army of scallops, not three little babies.  Wouldn’t get this again.

But then, the main event.  

I just had to get the gluten free ravioli.  Because, hello, it’s GLUTEN FREE RAVIOLI.  Hot dog!

I got the mushroom and ricotta ravioli with pink sauce: 

mamma mia

So delicious.  Nick confirms that you can’t tell that these are gluten free.  The pasta is perfect, not chewy or slimy, just perfect al dente.  The filling is cream and yummy and cheesy.  I could have had seconds and thirds.  

Now I’ve just got to find out where they get those ravioli, or how they make them.

Bistango, for the win.  

Get some tonight: 

Bistango, 29th St. and 3rd. Ave

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Product Plug – Foods By George

Posted on May 19, 2010 | Leave a comment

My local natural store in Astoria, Sai Organics, just started carrying a few products from Foods by George.  The company is based in Mahwah, NJ, so their products should start showing up in more stores in the area.

First on my list to try were the Cinnamon and Current English Muffins.

First of all, I was stunned by the low calorie count in these babies – only 220 for a HUGE muffin.  This thing is like two hockey pucks stuck together – only much more delicious and less hard and plastic.  They were $5.49 for four muffins, but sooooooo worth it!  They have the exact texture of English muffins, only BIGGER!

I’m sure these would be pretty simple to make, because they only have a few ingredients, but it’s the guar gum that gives them that great chewy bite.

I made some honey cinnamon butter and slathered it on a toasted muffin.  (2 T softened butter, 2 T honey, 1 tsp cinnamon).  I also tried one with peanut butter, and one with normal butter, and I’m thinking of putting cream cheese on the last one I have.

Sai Organics also started carrying their little personal-pan pizzas and pizza crusts.  I hope they get the crumb cake in though.

Yumyumyum.

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Stove – Astoria

Posted on May 13, 2010 | Leave a comment

I decided to start blogging about my Astoria-specific dining experiences on Why Leave Astoria? You can go to their website for my review and lots of other cool information on what goes on in my neighborhood!

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Go Mets!

Posted on May 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

This Friday I took Nick to the Mets/Giants game at Citi Field.  Our pre-game meal was barbeque shrimp and creamy pasta salad.

BBQ shrimp and pasta salad

First, let me say that I was underwhelmed with the pasta salad.  It just wasn’t creamy enough – I think I may have gone a bit overboard with the vegetables, and a little underboard with the mayo, but it ended up tasting like your basic pasta salad.  Which isn’t bad, necessarily, just didn’t blow my mind.  Next time I’ll probably make grits or polenta fries to go with these shrimp, since they were scrumptious.

Creamy pasta salad with veggies

1 c. gluten free pasta

1 bell pepper, diced (I used half green and half red)

1/2 c. broccoli florets

1/4 c. diced red onion

1/4 c.  mayo

1/4 c. balsamic dressing (I used Wishbone)

1/2 c. five cheese shredded blend

salt and pepper

Boil the pasta until al dente, adding the vegetables in when there is about 3 minutes left.  Drain well and rinse under cold water.  Mix in mayo, dressing, cheese, and seasoning.  Chill until ready to serve.

Barbeque shrimp

A lot of shrimp

Cajun seasoning

Barbeque sauce (we use Naturally Delicious, which is the first bbq sauce I’ve found that’s gluten free)

Put 1-2 T. oil in a saute pan, sprinkle in cajun seasoning.  When the oil’s hot, put the shrimp in and cook 1-2 minutes.  Flip them over and brush each one with barbeque sauce.  Cook another 1-2 minutes.

After dinner we headed off to the game, where we sat in our seats for about 15 minutes before we went off in search of some snacks.  I knew that they had Redbridge beer at their Big Apple brew station, but for food we settled on some fries from Box Frites.  We went back and forth over the sauce to get the whole time we were in line, but settled on the chipotle ketchup.  My choice was the ballpark mayo, which I wish we would have gotten.

Box Frites with chipotle ketchup

After that we walked around the field level for awhile, when we came upon this shining mecca:

Tadaa!!

A whole gluten free stand!  Now, all that they serve at this stand are gluten free hotdogs, hamburgers, and Kozy Shack.  So, I wouldn’t want to eat anything here anyway (especially when there are Cracker Jacks, Carvel, and french fries that you can have).  Either way, pretty neat.

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