Cantaloupe Drizzled with Lemon Cardamom Yogurt Sauce

As I get older, one thing that seems to get increasingly higher is my threshold of what constitutes "embarassing" behavior in public places.

In my middle school years, I would never leave home without my self-defined "mall outfit" - a fun shirt and jeans, makeup, and copious amounts of baubles emblazoned with smiley faces, yin-yangs, and peace signs (oh my god what were we thinking). Having parents in tow was an automatic source of embarrassment (for no logical reason).  All behavior was directed at the goal of "fitting in."

Eventually, things start to ease up.  You realize that no one actually dies if you decide to wear sweatpants out of the house.  And the mere fact that you have parents no longer seems to be a source of shame.

And now I am the girl who leaves home with giant knots in my hair.  As well as the person who traipses around markets, sniffing each melon to find the most wonderfully fragrant one.  Picking them up to make sure they are dense. Examining the color of the rind.  This is all very important work.  A bad melon is a bad melon.  But a good melon is transcendent.

But one could make the case that this behavior is quite odd.  Embarrassing, even.  Which I'm sure I will be told by Max sometime in the near future.  But that will be his problem, not mine.

Ingredients
Cantaloupe chunks (or slices, which would be prettier, but not as easy to eat )
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
zest from small lemon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon honey
pinch cardamom

Instructions
Mix the yogurt, lemon zest and juice, coconut milk, honey, and cardamom together in a small bowl.  Spoon over cantaloupe chunks.

Rice Paper Salad Rolls Recipe

Rice paper salad rolls are basically salads wrapped in rice paper. You probably already have plenty of salad ingredients in your fridge, but what about Vietnamese rice paper?  It's one of those pantry ingredients I've sometimes bought and used once, and then forgot about. And that's kind of a shame because it has a lot going for it. It's cheap, keeps forever and is easy to use.

Rice paper is traditionally used to make Vietnamese "Summer rolls" but like tortillas, it's extremely versatile and shouldn't be limited to only Vietnamese cuisine. Use it as a wrapper for pretty much whatever you like and you've got a great appetizer, snack or meal. While tortillas are served warm, rice paper rolls are served at room temperature.

I believe eating outdoors is more fun than eating inside, and that eating with your fingers makes everything taste better. So that makes rice paper salad rolls perfect for picnics (or take from home lunches). I have used all kinds of different fillings and this is a combination I really like, but experiment! Try sprouts, shredded chicken, smoked salmon, enoki mushrooms--the possibilities are endless. 

Rice Paper Salad Rolls

Makes 2 rolls

Ingredients

4 sheets rice paper

1 English cucumber, peeled

1 small carrot 

1 daikon radish
Avocado 

1 piece marinated or baked tofu, (or use homemade gluten free baked tofu)

4 lettuce leaves

Peanut sauce 

Instructions

Prepare the vegetables by peeling long lengthwise strips of each the cucumber, daikon radish and carrot using a vegetable peeler. The number of slices will vary depending upon the size of the rice paper you have. Then slice each strip into long skinny slivers. Cut the tofu and avocado into thin strips. 

Fill a bowl with warm water. Dip two rice paper sheets into the water, making sure the water flows between the sheets. Let the water drip off the rice paper, and then lay it on a flat surface. You want the sheets to be just softened enough so you can roll them. 

Lay one lettuce leaf on the double layer of rice paper. Top with thin strips of vegetables and tofu, but don't overstuff. Roll up like a burrito, either tucking the ends in or leaving them open. Serve with peanut sauce

Enjoy!

Berries with Hibiscus-Infused Whipped Cream

I'm not always great at multitasking.  Okay, if I'm honest, I'm never great at multitasking. But I love to believe I am.

One minute I'm full of hubris about simultaneously doing some laundry, engaging Max in a toddler alphabet game, cooking some dinner, running the ice cream maker, and perhaps slipping in a quick phone call.  And then time passes, and I've forgotten that I was actually doing laundry.  And now it is smelling a bit moldy and the clothes in the dryer are now wrinkled.  I have no idea what letter we are on in our alphabet game, and I've left things in the oven for too long.  Or over-whip the cream, as was the case the first time I made this hibiscus whipped cream.

I've always found it hard to be in the moment, I never feel I'm experiencing things quite right. I can be at the beach, and instead of feeling the coarseness of the sand as I dig my fingers into it or the chilliness of the salt water on my toes, I'm on my phone - absorbed in some reading or writing.  I know I should be doing this whole "mindfulness" thing, but that just doesn't work for me.

So juggling multiple things at once feels natural for me.  Even if I often fail spectacularly at them.  It is that rare, fortuitous occasion in which success happens that keeps me going at this multitasking endeavor.  Plus, I'm stubborn.

But even a stubborn person knows when to let it go.  So this time, I made sure to devote most of my attention to the task at hand.  And instead of playing an alphabet game with the tot, I tried teaching him to say "hibiscus," a rather amusing word coming from him.  And this time, things worked out.     

I would like to say that this will be a permanent change in behavior.  But I can assuredly say that isn't the case.  Because I'm stubborn like that.

Here we used the whipped cream to top some gorgeous blueberries and strawberries that were picked up at the farmer's market.  For more strawberry dessert ideas, Cooking Light put together this slideshow.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
3 tablespoons dried hibiscus leaves
pinch salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar

strawberries, sliced
blueberries

Instructions
For the hibiscus cream:  In a small pot over low heat, warm 1 cup cream and hibiscus leaves.   Take off heat and cover, letting the leaves steep in the cream for 20 minutes. strain and chill the mixture.  Once the hibiscus cream has chilled and is nice and cold, add the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer and add in another 1/2 cup of whipping cream.  Add a pinch of salt and the sugar and use the whisk attachment to the whip the mixture until stiff peaks form.  Serve with the berries.

Nambé CookServ

Wedding season is coming up and I recommend going off the registry to buy something really special. There are lots of basic items that end up on registry lists, for example, a stock pot or soup pot. You need a big one, but a smaller one is very useful too, especially for households of two people. I use mine for pasta, boiling potatoes, making soup and blanching vegetables. 

A soup pot will probably last you a lifetime so it's worth getting the nicest and most pleasing one you can find. To that end, the CookServe line of Nambé cookware fits the bill. Nambé recently sent me a soup pot to try and I really love it. It's so pretty to look at, I don't want to take it off the stove! All of the CookServ line is designed to be oven to table, made from 5 ply stainless steel and is compatible with all ranges including induction. It also has nubs on the interior of the lid to baste. I've found all the handles stay cool when I am cooking on the stove. The design of the cookware is one of the things that makes it so special, the uniquely curved shapes and handles. 

I know it's tempting to buy non-stick, but especially for a pot like this, it's really not necessary and most certainly isn't as long lasting. Non-stick is great for things like eggs and crepes, but you'll find alloy pieces much better value in the long run. 

Named for an ancient village, Nambé is a company based in Santa Fe, New Mexico and has been designing beautiful cookware, tableware, kitchenware and more since 1951. They work with some very well-known top designers including Karim Rashid, Their beautiful award-winning designs have been in museum collections since the early 1950's. 

Nambé is hosting a giveaway of a set of four Nambé CookServ Sauté Pans (8, 10, 12 and 14 inches) with a retail value of $650. Click on the link to enter : a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was given a piece of cookware to try, I was not paid to write this or any other post

Meet the Bloggers

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's the people I meet (online and in person) that make food blogging so worthwhile. It's been a long time since I've shared links to blogs that I love. Here are a few to bookmark (from upper left to lower right). Get to know these bloggers, you'll be glad you did.

Joumana Accad
Joumana is a Lebanese American food writer and home cook and the voice of Taste of Beirut. I learn so much from her blog where she shares recipes but also food traditions and ingredients. She offers a peek into a world that I know very little about. Also her photos are lovely. She's top on the list of bloggers I hope to meet in person one day.

Michael Procopio
I've known Michael and his blog, Food for the Thoughtless for ages, since we both blogged for KQED over eight years ago. This year seems to be his moment in the sun with nominations for awards for digital media and humor from IACP and James Beard. And it's about time! His humor is risqué and not for everyone, but it's always original and more often than not, witty. Always thoughtful, he also writes more poignant and provocative pieces.

Alice Medrich
I've been a fan of Alice Medrich since I worked in a gourmet food store as a teenager and got to know her Cocolat line of truffles very, very well. In addition to writing award-winning cookbooks she's now blogging. She's always on to something new--from pioneering low fat baking to working with unusual sugars and flours. You probably know her recipes too, but did you know she has a blog? Thank goodness! Because we need to keep tabs on this woman.

Irvin Lin
Irvin just won an award for best photography at IACP and I'm so pleased! He's not just a talented photographer but a baker, designer and all around nice guy. His blog, Eat The Love is a great place to go to get inspired. He travels, bakes and takes stunning photos.

Do you have some favorite bloggers at the moment? Let me know about them in the comments...

Whole Wheat Shells with Four Cheeses

Post hoc ergo propter hoc, or "after this therefore because of this"
We clearly spent way too much of our lives watching West Wing.

One must be mindful of not falling into this fallacious logic trap.  But sometimes, sometimes - one can be fairly sure that event "b" is indeed caused by event "a" based purely on the order in which these events happened.

Like, for instance, when you are at the beach and there is a snack stand.  And you order the bestest, most obvious of options - fries covered in some sort of spicy fake cheese sauce.  And you consume them.  And then a half hour later your stomach hurts.

Not that this happened to us or anything.

We all know that the cheese fries led to the stomach pains.

Yet after eating noodles slathered in a creamy, cheesy sauce, I feel so happy.  Joyful, really.  And I know it is precisely because of eating cheesy noodles that I am full of overwhelming joy.  In fact, I even contemplate the possibility of a benevolent supreme being who reveals a divine grace just by the mere existence of noodles and a sweeping array of cheeses.  It is precisely because of eating this most perfect of combinations of food that endorphins flood my entire being. I am sure that is not a logical fallacy.

Ingredients
1 pound whole wheat shells
3 cups half and half
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce (like Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups grated good quality cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Taleggio cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package directions.  Drain.  If, like me, you want to save on dishes, keep the cooked pasta in the colander and use the pot to make the sauce.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Add the half and half, cheeses, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce.  Stir, once the cheeses have melted and the mixture is nice and warm, pour the cooked pasta into the sauce and mix together.  Adjust salt and pepper levels to taste. Let the noodles mingle with the sauce over low heat until the sauce has thickened.

A Not So Usual BLT Sandwich - Creative Cooking Crew Challenge

I am not an imaginative person. Whether this is caused by, or results from, similarly unimaginative dreams remains to be seen.  But because of this personal failing, I had to actually Google ideas for playsets to encourage Max in imaginative play.

One suggestion that popped up a few times was the ever so vague "office worker."  It was suggested I place a not-loaded stapler, a rolodex, some paper clips, and junk mail, amongst other things, in a box for a child to pretend to be an office worker.

I kinda get it.  I love office supplies with all my heart and walking through an office supply store is like attending a place of worship for me.  

But - really?  This seems more like an imagination killer.  I have to believe that there are better ways of encouraging fantastic, epic play, the kind of play that as an unimaginative adult I have yet to think of.  Better than shoving a stapler and junk mail in a child's face and telling them to "be creative."     

And then maybe I wouldn't be so completely bereft of ideas for "imaginative play" that I have to resort to looking up things on the internet.  And perhaps I wouldn't have needed to lug out cookbooks and flip to the index, looking through all the words that start with B, L and T.  Because all of a sudden, I couldn't think of any foods that started with a B or an L or a T.

This month's Creative Cooking Crew Challenge is a sandwich, one built around three ingredients that start with the letters B, L, and T and are not bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

After frantically rifling through glossaries just to even think of foods starting with these three letters, we finally came up with a BLT combination of berries, liver mayonnaise and leaves, and turkey.  Works really well, actually. 

Here is this month's round-up of all the BLT sandwiches made by the Creative Cooking Crew this month - definitely check it out!

Ingredients
Berries, sliced (we used strawberries and blackberries)
Liver aioli
Leaves (arugula and mint)
deli Turkey meat (we used smoked turkey)
slices of multigrain bread

For the liver mayonnaise:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 small sprig rosemary
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound chicken livers
1 cup mayonnaise (homemade or store-bought)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
To make the liver mayonnaise:
Melt the butter and oil in a small pan over low heat.  Add the onions and rosemary.  Cook until the onions are nice and soft, about 8-10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.  Increase the heat to medium and add the chicken livers (add more oil if needed).  Cook those until they are cooked through and no longer red, about ten minutes.  Once the livers have cooked, take off heat. In a bowl, combine the liver and onion mixture with the mayonnaise and puree with an immersion blender until everything is smooth. Chill until ready to use.

To assemble the sandwich:
Toast two slices of bread.  Spread the liver mayonnaise on one of the slices.  On the other, stack slices of the turkey, arugula leaves and a bit of mint, then the berries.  Top with the remaining slice of bread and eat!