::: blackberry and mint brunch

I'm tired of being tired.

When I'm tired, I don't have the energy to cook for myself.  

On Wednesday night my dinner was half a pint of vanilla bean ice cream.  Last night I had a one ounce packet of chocolate hazelnut butter for dinner.  After I finished the hazelnut butter I remembered that I have a birch pollen allergy that makes my throat itch when I have hazelnuts.  So that was fun.

The irony is that I need nutritious meals to combat the endless fatigue.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands this morning.  Using what I had on hand, I put together a quick and elegant brunch.  Blue machine Naked Juice plus blackberry mint french toast.

Blackberry French Toast

1.  2 eggs
2.  1/4 c. milk
3.  6 slices of baguette
4.  chopped mint
5.  handful of halved blackberries
6.  a few pads of butter
7.  organic maple syrup

Whisk eggs and milk together.  Lightly coat the baguette slices and place into a slightly warmed buttered frying pan.  (My frying pan would only accomodate three slices at a time, so when the toasts were sufficiently browned, I kept them warm in a 300 degree oven while I made my other three slices.)  Lightly butter your french toast and garnish with sliced blackberries and chopped mint.  Serve with maple syrup.

Note: 5-6 thin slices of baguette will serve 1; egg/milk mixture will serve 2-3.  Extra egg mixture can be scrambled immediately or kept in the fridge for up to two days.

::: funfetti layer cake with strawberry buttercream

Last weekend I had a craving for funfetti cake.  While I do have somewhat of a sweet tooth, my cake craving was catalyzed by the most unlikely of culprits... a DIY nail polish tutorial on "birthday cake" nails (think pink + multi-colored glitter!).  Now the sensible thing to do in this situation would have been to proceed straight to Susie Cakes on Chestnut Street where layer cake is available for purchase by the slice.  Instead, I chose to spend four hours baking a funfetti layer cake with strawberry buttercream.  Everything was made from scratch because that's the way I prefer to do things.  The long way.  

I used a recipe from another blog.  The buttercream frosting was mostly intuition, with Candace Nelson's (founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes) recipe on the Martha Stewart blog as a guide.  

After diligently assembling and frosting my cake, I cut myself a small slice.  It's always satisfying when the fruits of your labor are sugary sweet!  The rest of the cake went to work with me on Monday.  It was gone by Tuesday!

Funfetti Layer Cake with Strawberry Buttercream

(funfetti layer cake)

1.  2 c. all purpose flour
2.  1 tbsp baking powder
3.  1/2 tsp salt
4.  14 tbsp room temperature unsalted butter (or use salted butter and omit the salt in the recipe)
5.  1 1/2 c. sugar
6.  2 tsp vanilla extract
7.  1 c. milk
8.  5 large room temperature egg whites 
9.  1/4 c. rainbow sprinkles 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.  In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl beat the butter with a hand mixer gradually adding the sugar, beating until well blended.  Beat in vanilla extract, reduce speed to low, and beat in the flour mixture and the milk in alternating batches.  Begin and end with the flour mixture, taking care to avoid overmixing.

In a large bowl beat the egg whites on high until stiff peaks form.  With a rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter until just combined.  Fold in the sprinkles and divide batter between prepared pans, and smooth with a spatula.  Work quickly as certain brands/types of rainbow sprinkles may begin to lose their color if overmixed.

Bake the cakes for about 30 minutes, inserting a toothpick in the middle and making sure it comes out clean.  Transfer to wire racks; let cool for 10 minutes.  Invert onto racks and cool completely.

(strawberry buttercream)

1.  8 tbsp. slightly cold, unsalted butter
2.  6-8 whole frozen strawberries, pureed in food processor
3.  3 c. powdered sugar
4.  1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cube the butter and begin mixing with powdered sugar in 1/2 c. increments.  After approximately half the powdered sugar has been added, mix in the vanilla.  Add strawberry puree in tbsp sized allotments between batches of powdered sugar.  The trick is to keep the mixture thick (like gelato) but moist.  Do not overmix.  A rubber spatula is useful for incorporating powdered sugar that sticks to the sides of the bowl.

::: Elegant Eggs

Several weekends ago, I dreamed up an easy, breezy breakfast concoction.  Add some salsa to a pot of quinoa, top with a fried egg, and drizzle with cilantro oil.  It is simple enough to serve on a weekday, but even better on a slow Sunday morning with a bit of whole wheat toast and a glass of your favorite fresh squeezed juice.  (Ok, maybe not fresh squeezed.  That just sounded idyllic.  The truth is, I've never squeezed my own juice and I probably never will...)

While I associate eggs for breakfast, the truth is, this would make a light lunch or an easy dinner.  Buy farmers market fare (my Petaluma eggs, Swank Farm's salsa, and organic cilantro were all purchased at the Fort Mason Farmers Market) and turn simple ingredients into an elegant, protein-packed meal.

Fried Egg Quinoa with Salsa and Cilantro Oil

1.  Cooked quinoa, about a 1 c. serving
2.  1 cage-free organic egg, fried (optional: garnish with salt, pepper)
3.  2 tsp. salsa
4.  Handful of cilantro
5.  1 tbsp. olive oil
6.  Lemon zest, as desired
7.  Salt 

Combine quinoa with salsa in the bottom of a bowl.  Add the fried egg on top, allowing the yolk to run over the warm quinoa in the bowl.  Make cilantro oil by gently pulsing cilantro, olive oil, and a pinch of salt, and a bit of lemon zest.  Drizzle over the fried egg.  Enjoy!  Serves 1.

::: Gala Dinner with Ty Flo

I made damn sure that I was close to the door.

I wanted to be right up front to watch *the* Tyler Florence prepare a seasonal meal on the Alexia demo stage.

When the doors were opened, I fought my way to a table, front and center.  For the next thirty minutes, Ty Flo made pan seared pork with a brown sugar-apple cider brine.  There was cabbage.  And spätzle.  All from scratch.  Prepared with beautiful California produce by a Food Network superstar.  Right in front of me!  So close, in fact, that I could smell the pork beginning to carmelize in the pan.

While he cooked, we took photos.  We took notes.  We drank wine.  It was a very good night.  Our three course dinner was good, but I found it odd that we weren't eating what Ty Flo was cooking.  (It was an opportunity for Chef Florence to plug his San Francisco restaurant, Wayfare Tavern, where the dish is on the menu...)

Here are our eats...

What a fun event!

Here's the finished product...

Already looking forward to Foodbuzz Festival 2012!

::: happy taste buds

This has got to be the best Saturday afternoon of the year.  For three hours, vendors from across the country converge atop of Metreon in a gorgeous event space called "City View."  And for three hours, Foodbuzz Featured Publishers and their friends get to taste everything from goat yogurt to chocolate stout.

Vivian brought her A-game appetite and together we made it our #1 priority eat our way through the afternoon...

Our first stop was for Kikkoman's mango ponzu salsa.  Next on the to-do list was cocktails!  Skyy had a trio of unique flavor combinations.  Vivian fell in love with her witch hazel from the first chocolatey-almond sip.  I enjoyed the sicilian sunset, a bubbly-blood orange delight.  We hit the Sabra station next, picking up pinwheels, hummus cups, and salsa to go!

I lost track after the hummus.  It might have been the Biscotti Bari or the beautifully bottled Bloom Gin libations mixed by the DIY cocktails guys.  There were the California endives (grown in the dark and served with a blue cheese, walnut, honey spread) and the grass-fed beef bites.  

Between the sustainable seafood trifecta, the walnut bruschetta, and endless dips, I saved room for Three Twins ice cream and Mission Minis cupcakes.  There was Jarlsberg cheese, Sargento cheese, Redwood Hill farm goat cheese, and Bellwether farms sheeps milk cheese.  I had a Dry Creek zinfandel flight to balance the cheese, but I also had Bison Brewery beer, Fentiman's natural soda, Honeydrop tea, and Vignette Wine Country Soda (a non-alcoholic favorite!).

I was honored to meet Emily from Foodzie, who kindly invited me to their upcoming tasting room party!  I loved their featured vendors and I was particularly delighted by the sweet and savory chutneys and confits from Sonoma restaurant The Girl and the Fig.  

It was fun to see Tiny Urban Kitchen and take what has become an annual photograph!  Between pictures with friends and pictures of food, I nibbled on toffee, salsa, BBQ meatballs, BBQ beef, fudge, and Godiva truffles.  It sounds weird when I list them in that order.  And yes, after a couple of hours, I eventually started to feel full.  I think the TCHO chocolate tasting sort of put me over the edge! 

At home, I assessed my "haul."  Kids might get trick-or-treating on October 31st, but grown ups get Foodbuzz Taste Pavilion's the first Saturday afternoon of every November.  Look at the loot!  I swooped plenty of 18 Rabbits goodies, Ticings, black truffle 479 popcorn, a four-pack of Cascal's fermented soda, and an awesome OXO hand mixer (which will come in handy when I get around to trying that new triple chocolate cake mix)!  Thanks to the awesome sponsors that make dreams like this come true...