I’ve eyed Food52 for awhile now – drooling over their recipes, fawning over their contests, so this week I figured what the hell, I’m going to go for it!

So this week the contest was Your Best Walnuts & Sage recipe. “Holidays behind us, we’re ready to return to the pure, clean flavors of winter. We want recipes highlighting the earthiness and muted hues of walnuts and sage – bonus points for thinking beyond pestos.”

Okay. I think I can do that!

Keeping pure, clean flavors of winter in mind, I opted to make one of my favorite healthy desserts – a yogurt panna cotta.  I used brown sugar for a bolder flavor to round out the strong perfumes of sage and used soy and 2% greek yogurt as my base.

To add an element of surprise I made Spiced Candied Walnuts for a nice crunch and playful bite at the end, how else are we supposed to keep warm during these cold winter months?

So there you have it – Enjoy this Brown Sugar Sage Panna Cotta with Spiced Candied Walnuts. This playful wintry dessert will leave you wishing for more.  Feel free to add honey comb and garnish with a fresh sage leaf for an extra touch of elegance.

You can make these a day ahead of time and they can stay stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. To assemble the dish as I have, make sure you layer the candied walnuts under the panna cotta as it serves as a nice crust to the dessert!

17 days in Europe. 45 miles hiked with 60 lb backpacks. 1 (bad bad) case of food poisoning. 7 pounds lost, each. Endless laughter with friends on first week.  Beautiful sunsets and snuggles with my love for the rest.  Exploring small towns, big cities, and eating all the pasta and pizza to our hearts’ desire — may we always take these wonderful adventures together.

It’s good to be home.  We came back to our sweet Layla, a flourishing blooming garden and of course the warmth and comfort of family and friends.  Even better, Xiaolu from 6 Bittersweets agreed to prepare a guest post for my birthday today.  Imagine the happiness I felt when I found this in my inbox this morning   I met Xiaolu through the lovely world of food blogging and we instantly connected.  With her inspiring photography, elegant recipes, and most importantly her genuine personality we clicked immediately. Thank you Xiaolu for making my birthday special this year, it was one of the best surprises I’ve ever gotten.  Turning 26 will be extra sweet this year, Feast your eyes on these bad boys!

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When Joy emailed me some time ago to introduce herself and ask me to prepare aguest post for her birthday, I was beyond honored to accept her invitation. First, because she’s an incredibly talented food photographer who’s made her passion into a living — now that’s something to admire! Second, because I had just discovered and fallen in love with her blog! Joy posts the type of food that I crave…recipes as fresh and healthy for you as they are delicious and pleasing to the eye. Now months later, I’m proud to know Joy as a genuine sweetheart and dear friend. Thank you all for having me here today, and please join me in celebrating our birthday girl and gorgeous new bride with something sweet =D!

Although Joy was generous in giving me free reign over her birthday treat, I begged her for a few hints for finding the keys to her tastebuds. What she revealed was this: she adores pastry cream (could “eat it for days”) and you’d rarely find her turning down a good rum-soaked cake. With these promising leads, I set out to tailor-fit a special cupcake to suit her tastes. Luckily it appeared Joy and I share not only a Chinese heritage, American upbringing, and passion for food, but also similar taste in sweets. But despite my love of both pastry cream and rum cake, I could tell something was missing. Something fresh, light, and juicy. Something like a berry?
Once raspberry was identified as the missing piece, the rest of the recipe came together quickly: my favorite egg-less vanilla cupcake with an egg yolk added back in for richness (yes, I’m crazy like that ;p), a sweet n’ buttery rum glaze, pastry cream with mashed raspberries for a refreshing lift, and topping it all off…my favorite subtly sweet and tangy cream cheese frosting. Considering the two big occasions being celebrated, I couldn’t leave these cupcakes Plane Jane no matter how delicious they were inside! Joy let slip that she loved the color yellow, and I found it perfect that someone as vibrant and fun as her would be drawn to a color much the same. I couldn’t resist baking these sweets in yellow wrappers and topping them with festive homemade flag and pompom toppers (tutorial to come on my blog). The only thing missing was the birthday girl herself!
Dearest Joy, congratulations on the wonderful life you have already built and best of luck on all the exciting adventures that you and Mr. Joylicious are sure to embark on in the many years to come!

Rum N’ Raspberry Custard Cupcakes [Printable Recipe]
Adapted from VCTOTW, Always Order Dessert, and Gourmet
Makes 12 cupcakes
XIAOLU’S NOTES: I bought the printable images for these flag cupcake toppers from the Etsy store ReadyGo for $6 and added the text electronically in Photoshop. Then I simply printed them out on white card stock, cut out the shapes, and attached them to lollipop sticks using tape. The price for the printables is not bad at all considering you get up to 4 colors, but I’m sure it wouldn’t be that hard to draw your own designs in Photoshop or a similar program either.
For the cupcakes

• 1 cup MINUS 1 Tbsp milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp pure almond extract
• 1 1/2 tsp dark rum
• For the rum syrup
• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp water
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 Tbsp dark rum

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease tops of a 12-cup standard muffin pan, then line with baking liners. Whisk the milk and vinegar together in a measuring cup and set aside for 5 to 10 minutes to curdle.
Sift the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a large bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the milk mixture, oil, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla, almond extract, and rum, and mix together thoroughly. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until no large lumps remain [small ones are okay].
Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full and bake cupcakes for 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack, and let cool completely.
While the cupcakes cool, prepare the rum syrup. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, water, and sugar. Cook over medium heat until the butter completely melts and the sugar dissolves. Let reduce slightly, keeping an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum (it may bubble). Let cool for 5 minutes.
Cut a cone out of the top of each cooled cupcake and set it to the side. Using a spoon or pastry brush, coat the sides and bottom of the opening with rum syrup, about 2 teaspoons per cupcake. Fill each opening with about 2 teaspoons of pastry cream, place the cut-out cone back on the cupcake, and press down slightly to secure. Finally spread or pipe cream cheese frosting onto each cupcake!
Raspberry Pastry Cream
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

• 3/4 cup milk [not skim]
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup fresh raspberries, coarsely mashed

Heat milk in a small saucepan over moderate heat until hot but not boiling. While milk heats, whisk together yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a heatproof bowl until smooth.
Add 1/4 cup of hot milk to yolk mixture in a stream, whisking, then add remaining milk, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and comes to a boil, 5 to 10 minutes.
Immediately force custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in butter and vanilla. Chill custard, its surface covered with wax paper, until cold and thickened, at least 3 hours. Stir in mashed raspberries just before use.

Pipeable Cream Cheese Frosting

• 3/4 to 1 cup (1 1/2 to 2 sticks) trans fat-free margarine or butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 to 3 cups (6.5 to 13.25 oz.) powdered sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 8 oz. (1 block) vegan or full-fat dairy cream cheese, cold and cut into large chunks

Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl. In a larger mixing bowl, cream the butter, 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar, and vanilla until thoroughly blended and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, a chunk at a time, beating after each addition (just enough to work it in until it’s smooth). Taste the frosting, adding and beating in more sugar as needed. Be careful to avoid overbeating or the cream cheese may start to break down and become gloppy. If not using immediately, chill until needed, then beat again until smooth just before using.

Our European honeymoon has been a great success — Wells and I have bounced around Europe: Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Munich, Basel, Gimmelwald, Milan and Florence.  We’re finally winding down towards the end of our trip and finishing it off with the Amalfi Coast and Rome.  Just because I’m half-way around the world, you didn’t think I’d be able to stay away too long did you?  Good thing I have beautifully talented friends to cover for me while I’m gone.

Today I’d like to introduce a new friend, Linda Wagner.  Linda is an experienced and skilled Nutrition and Lifestyle Coach who utilizes a holistic methodology to invigorate the mind, body, and spirit.  It is her passion to assist others in achieving their true, unlimited potential.  I was initially drawn to Linda by her peaceful and happy spirit and her blog is filled with great information and mantras to live by to lead a healthy, blissful and fulfilling life.  So without further ado, I introduce to you the lovely Linda with her Sake Champagne Mojito.

That’s right, I said Sake Champagne Mojito and you’re gonna love it!! This is an absolutely smooth and delicious cocktail adapted from Pure Food & Wine in NYC.  It is THE PERFECT summer cocktail and a guaranteed hit when entertaining!  You may want to make this gorgeous cocktail for your mama this Sunday, what a lovely Mother’s Day treat!!

You know me, I always modify my recipes to make them as healthy as possible so this recipe is sugar free. I’ve also provided an alcohol free version for the kiddos and anyone looking for a fun cocktail without the hooch!

You’ll need:

• 1 bottle Sake
• 1 bottle Extra Dry Champagne
• 1 large bunch mint leaves
• juice of 3-4 limes
• 6-10 droppers full of Liquid Stevia (more or less to taste)

First, tear the mint leaves off the stem. In a large pitcher, use the back of a wooden spoon to muddle the mint leaves, stevia, and lime juice. Then add the entire bottle of Sake and entire bottle of Champagne. Stir the mixture and serve over lots of ice in rocks glasses or mason jars.

If you’re not drinking, go for an alcohol free version by simply substituting sparkling mineral water for the sake and champagne.  It’s absolutely delicious and will make you feel like a million bucks every time you take a sip!

Even if you don’t give a hoot about health, you and your friends will still enjoy this delicious drink. This is my “go to” cocktail for parties. It’s a summer classic with an exotic and healthy twist!

I say this all the time but so many people tell me they don’t like Stevia. I didn’t like Stevia either but that’s because I wasn’t using the right kind!! If you’re looking for a great tasting Stevia that actually tastes like sugar and not like aspartame, NuNaturals is a MUST!! I always order my mine through iherb.com they have NuNaturals stevia in liquid, powder, packets and an assortment of flavors along with a wide variety of other health & beauty products and supplements. Feel free to use my discount code WAG472 to get $5 off your first order 

If you enjoy easy recipes and are interested in learning more, please subscribe to this blog, follow me on twitter, LOVE me on facebook, or shoot me an email!

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If you’ve been keeping up with my artizone posts, the site will launch next month!  Which means, you have only about two more weeks until you’ll be able to have the best artisan products in the city delivered to your front door.  This week I am featuring Flavors from Afar and FM 1410 — two well known names in Dallas.

At Flavors from Afar, the adventuresome duo Nancy and Gary  carries the best  artisan products imported from Italy.  You are able to taste a little part of Italy through the culinary gems that Flavors from Afar has to offer — like the fragrant olive oils of Tuscany or the bold and fruity balsamic vinegars from Modena. Flavors From Afar offers products that makes entertaining elegant and simple – as the Italians would say: Buon Appetito!!

The top chefs of Dallas know Tom well for his fresh herbs and produce.  With a beautiful garden tucked away in the middle of downtown, the treasures from Tom’s garden will redefine anyone’s definition of “fresh”. At FM 1410 it truly is a farm to table experience — full of flavor, life and most importantly, love.

With the combination of these artisan powers I created these wonderful mini pizzettes — Bacon & Caramelized Onion with Arugula, Basil and Almond Pesto with Red Pepper and Thyme Lobster Mushroom drizzled with Balsamic.  These pizzettes would make a great appetizer or a wonderful afternoon snack.  Not to mention they are also quite healthy (except for the bacon..O_o) and dairy-free!

Ingredients for Mini Pizzettes: (serves 8-10)

• 12 ounces pizza dough (You can find my pizza dough recipe here or buy storebought dough)

Preheat the oven to 475 F.  Roll out the pizza dough into a 1/4-inch-thick round.  Using a 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inch diameter cookie cutter, cut out 30 dough circles.  Arrange the circles on 2 large heavy baking sheets (make sure you put semolina on the bottom of the pan to keep the dough from sticking).

Basil Pesto

• 3 cups Basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup toasted almonds
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup high quality Olive Oil (I used Ariston from Flavors from Afar)
• 1/2 tsp of salt

Process the garlic, basil and almonds in a food processor.  Pulse until all ingredients are thoroughly chopped, scrapping down the sides as neccessary.  While running the processor, slowly pour in the 1/2 cup olive oil until it reaches the right consistency, you can add more olive oil as needed.  Set aside.

Thyme Lobster Mushroom

• 8 oz Lobster Mushroom, thinly sliced (you can find these at FM 1410)
• 1 Tb butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 2 oz Madeira or a sweet cooking wine
• 2 oz fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 oz high quality Balsamic vinegar (you can find these at Flavors from Afar)
• salt pepper to taste

Heat a large saucepan on medium high heat and melt the butter til it’s bubbling.  Add in the garlic, shallot and sliced mushrooms and sautee until softened, about 3-4 minutes.  Add in the wine and thyme and cook until liquid is soaked up, taste with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Carmelized Onion & Bacon

• 6 oz bacon, chopped
• 1/2 white onion, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp honey
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup fresh arugula
• salt pepper to taste

Heat a large pan on medium high heat add the bacon and cook for 1 minute.  Add the sliced onions and reduce heat to medium.  Caramelize the onions with the bacon, about 8 minutes.   Add the honey and apple cider vinegar and cook until liquid is reduced, add salt pepper to taste.  Set aside

To assemble pizzas

Using the three toppings you’ve made, place them on the pizza dough rounds (about 1 tsp for each).  Bake until the pizzettes are golden brown, about 10 minutes.  Drizzle the pizzettes with olive oil.  For the Bacon Onion and Arugula, simply add some fresh arugula on top and serve.  For the Thyme Lobster Mushroom, drizzle some balsamic vinegar on top and serve.  For the Basil Almond Pesto, add the sliced red pepper and fresh basil leaves for garnish and serve.

I apologize for the lack of entries lately — I’ve been completely invested in spending most of my time with my mom, because she’s my favorite.  It’s hard to believe that her visit is soon coming to an end, a week to be exact.  The entire situation still seems surreal to me.  I’m hoping that the day of, I don’t have a complete mental meltdown and cling to my mother’s leg screaming “NO DON’T LEAVE DONT DO IT!” as she’s trying to get out of the car to catch her plane, but I’m not making any promises.  ^_^

It’s been a blast though — we’ve been sharing recipes, she’ll cook her Chinese dishes and I’ll cook her some French American dishes — one of her favorites discoveries has been the creme brulee.  She kept Ooooing and AAAaaahing over this recipe so I figure I’d share it with yall, it’s pretty epic not gonna lie.  Aside from that she’s been feeding me traditional Chinese medicines that make my stomach churn but I take it anyways because apparently it’s good for me (or so she claims). It’s just unfortunate that most of the concoctions she makes taste like feet…   just kidding mom, you’re the best! But seriously, I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out her secret of staying forever young.  I’ll share pictures soon, you’ll see what I mean…

One of the first desserts I learned working in at a French restaurant was the Creme Brulee and Souffle.  Souffle is definitely the more temperamental dessert and the failure rate is much higher than creme brulee – so we’ll warm up to that recipe later.  I love this creme brulee recipe because of its soft delicate texture and of course everyone’s favorite part: the crunchy burnt sugar on top, hence it’s latter name — burnt cream.   Plus it always adds a dash of sophistication and excitement to any dinner party when you bust out the torch!  I mean seriously guys, who doesn’t like a little fire show?

Ingredients for Citrus Cardamom Creme Brulee:

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 star anise
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest
• 4 tablespoons raw sugar

Preheat oven to 260 degrees F (150 degrees C) and line the bottom of a large baking pan with water.  Bring a large pot of water to boil. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, cardamom, citrus zest and 1/4 cup sugar and salt stirring occasionally 4 to 5 minutes, until steam rises. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and vanilla until smooth. Pour hot cream into yolks, a little at a time, stirring constantly, until all cream is incorporated. Pour mixture into four 6 oz. ramekins.

Place ramekins in the baking dish with water and cover the whole pan loosely with foil.  , and place dish on oven rack. Pour boiling water into dish to halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover whole pan loosely with foil. Bake 60 to 75 minutes in the preheated oven, until custard is just set. Chill ramekins in refrigerator 4 to 6 hours.  Before serving, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of raw sugar over each custard. Use a kitchen torch or oven broiler to brown top, 2 to 3 minutes.

There’s something special about this place you see, it makes you feel important.  After meeting Greg only one time, the next time I came in he greeted me with a huge smile and a “Hey Joy how are you doing?” How did he remember my name?? But that’s the cool thing about Greg, he remembers everyone’s name — “I have the best customers in the whole world.” he’d tell me and since I am now one of them, I say I’d have to agree!

Okay with jokes aside, I’ve found that butcher shoppes in America are quickly dwindling down to extinction.  With large chain stores mass producing our meats at a cheaper cost, quality is always the first thing that goes out the window.  Aside from the unsanitary conditions the animals are raised in, many meat producers now pump CO2 gas and Nitrogen to keep their meats nice and pink  for up to 6 weeks.  Ever buy a pack of those steaks that looks nice and rosy on the outside but once you cut into it, it’s a dull and lifeless brown?  That’s why.  You’re buying rotten meat.

That probably makes your stomach churn, because let’s be honest we’ve all seen it and I’m sure most of us probably have eaten it whether you know it or not.  Save yourself.  Find your local butcher.  Strive to find quality products when you cook.  Yes it makes all the difference in the world.  Turning a blind eye to the unsanitary and unethical practicies of mass meat production facilities does not fix the problem — go ahead, explore! If your city does not have a local butcher, buy your meats direct from a livestock farmer.

For this recipe, I originally wanted to make a polenta cake to go along with it — unfortunately I recently transferred a bunch of flours into large UNLABELED containers and instead of using coarse corn meal I believe I used chickpea flour.  Poop. HOWEVER, the ribs were tender and rich and paired perfectly with the lemon thyme corn and vegetable ragout.  A good sign that you’ve made an amazing meal?  All plates are returned polished clean . I adapted this short rib recipe from Epicurious, it was apparently Daniel Boulud’s recipe which explains the excellent results.  Bon Apetit folks and have a great weekend!

Ingredients for Braised Short Ribs: (serves 4)



As I’ve mentioned before, my mother will be moving back to Shanghai this year — September 14th to be exact.  I’m picking her up from Houston this weekend where she will come to stay with me and Collin in Dallas before she goes home.

A bittersweet feeling for sure, the child in me screams “DON’T LEAVE! WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT YOU?” but I know it’s for the best.  For years my mother has sacrificed her own personal happiness for mine, I could tell she always missed China.  Her food always evoked her longing — I remember as a child I’d always complain “AW MAN MA, CHINESE AGAIN??” But now I realize it was one of the few connections she had to home.

Week after week it was always something different — braised pork belly, sauteed peat shoots, tea smoked duck, herbal chicken soup — I lived like a king when it came to food, I knew I had it good.  Now that she’s leaving, I wanted to keep my mother behind with me, through her recipes.

I really look forward to learning traditional Chinese cuisine and at the same time exposing my mother to the different types of cuisines I make at home.  A month’s worth of cooking adventures with my mother in my new kitchen, can life be any better?  I can’t wait for everyone to meet her, she is truly the sweetest, cutest and the most talented lady I know.  You’ll see

I made this healthy breakfast over the weekend — I love poaching eggs because it’s a great alternative to frying and you still get the same delicate texture and of course the best part, the runny yolk.  I got my recipe from Epicurious and made a few minor changes — I used less oil and used Smoked Provolone.  I really enjoyed the addition of the Pistou, very bold in flavors but light in textures — a great breakfast for the summer.

Ingredients for Poached Eggs with Pistou: (serves 2)

• 1/3 cup (packed) fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 small garlic clove
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 1/2-inch-thick slices french bread, toasted
• Smoked Provolone cheese shavings

Puree basil, garlic, and oil in mini processor until very smooth. Season pistou to taste with salt and pepper.

Add enough water to medium skillet to measure 1 1/4 inches. Sprinkle salt generously into water. Bring water to simmer over medium heat. Crack eggs 1 at a time and gently slip into water. Cook until egg whites are just set and egg yolks are still runny, about 3 minutes.

Place hot toasts on plates. Top each with Parmesan. Using slotted spoon, transfer 2 eggs, well drained, to each piece of brioche. Sprinkle eggs with salt and pepper. Drizzle with some of pistou and serve.

There are many things in life that are unpredictable — but there’s one thing I’ve always believed every person is able to control and that is his/her health.  Sure we are inclined to certain genetic factors, however by maintaining a healthy diet, exercise regimen and an overall spiritual well-being we can insure ourselves a better life.  Too often I will see friends and family eating foods that clearly are not beneficial to them, whether it be processed foods like microwavable meals, mystery meats or foods high in sugars and sodium found in candies and snacks to high saturated fats in meats, cheeses and fried foods.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no saint myself. There will be times where there are no other options but the bad, but what can you do? Socially ostracize yourself and only eat at home?  Subjecting yourself to a life of healthy eating but suffer the consequences of lonely solitude?  No not necessarily.  But being conscious of what we put into our bodies is better than living in ignorance, which in this case will not bring you bliss but a myriad of health problems — high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes just to name a few.

Maybe next time when you go out to eat with friends, opt out for the vegetarian option or maybe a salad (with no dressing). With most lessons in life, prevention is key, the whole “better safe than sorry” shpeal makes a lot more sense now that I’m older.  How can you even imagine enjoying your retirement when you can barely climb up a flight of stairs?  Or not be able to travel on a plane or even a train because of your heart condition?  How can your mind possibly be in a good mood when everything inside your body constantly hurts?  These are all important things we need to think about at an early age, and for those that are older, it is never too late to change.

I received this e-mail this week from Mommy Wells about causes of cancer along with cancer prevention techniques and really wanted to share it with you guys.  The following information was obtained from John Hopkins Research –

• Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer
  cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
  multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
  that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
  treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
  cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
  size.
• Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a
  person’s lifetime.
• When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer
  cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
  forming tumors.
• When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
  nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
  but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
• To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
  diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day and by including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
• An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
  cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply. 

Cancer Cells Feed On:

• Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

• Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.
• Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other meat, like chicken. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

• A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)

• Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

• Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

• Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
cells.

1. No plastic in microwaves.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don’t freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn’t bad but you don’t know what is in the paper. It’s just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper The dioxin problem is one of the reasons. Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

What better way to share healthy information than to pair it with a healthy (yummy) recipe? I discovered Dover Sole while working at a French restaurant, since then it has become one of my favorite fish.  The meat is very delicate and moist, but because it is very thin it cooks very quickly.  Therefore, when cooking your dover be sure not to over cook the fish or it will taste dry.

I paired the dover with a raw summer couscous that I found in Raw, a cookbook written by Charlie Trotter and Roxanne Klein.  I found it interesting that they put red grapes with the cauliflower.  I was quite hesitant about it at first but it really put the finishing touches on the couscous itself, providing a very nice sweetness and playfulness to this dish both in flavors and textures.

Ingredients for Raw Summer Couscous:

• 1 cup cauliflower, finely chopped
• 1/8 cup red bell pepper, small diced
• 1/8 cup yellow bell pepper, small diced
• 1/8 cup parsley, minced
• 1 cup grapes, washed and halved
• 1/2 cup radish, small diced
• 1/8 cup raw honey
• 1/2 lemon squeezed
• salt pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice and honey together.  Place the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix with honey lemon mixture.  Taste with salt and pepper.  Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and serve with dover sole.

Ingredients for Dover Sole: (serves 2)

• 2 x 6oz dover sole fillets
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon shallot, minced
  
• salt pepper to taste

In a large sauce pan melt the butter over medium heat (about 4-6) and once it is bubbling add the minced garlic and saute for about a minute.  Season the fillets lightly with salt and pepper and fry 3 minutes on each side (depending on the thickness of the fillets it may take longer, but remember that the fish will also continue to cook once it is taken off the pan so plan accordingly!). You can check the “doneness” of the fish by using the tip of the knife or fork — if it pierces through the flesh easily, it is done, if it still feels rubbery it needs more cooking time. Serve immediately with couscous.

To Plate:

I topped my plate off with some orange segments — I always love a little citrus with my fish.  Feel free to leave it off.  Using a hollowed out can or cookie ring cutter (I used a 4″ ring), fill the mold with the couscous mixture.  Immediately plated the fish once it has finished cooking and garnish with orange segments.  This dish would go well with a glass of Pinot Grigio or a Sauvignon Blanc.

I think dishes like these are perfect for the summer.  The contrast in textures, the whimsical bright colors and flavors — all it takes is a little creativity to make eating healthy…fun! Bon appetit and hope everyone is having a fabulous summer .

You guys will not believe the weather we are having in Dallas.  For the 17 years I’ve lived in Texas I have never seen this much snow, a record breaking 12.5 inches of snow in a 24 hour period.  INSANE!!  We had a transformer blow out last night and the power went dead, thankfully we were able to seek shelther at Collin’s parents.  Thank goodness for family

We woke up early this morning and built an 8 foot snow man!  Actually it was more Collin who built the entire 8 foot body and I sculpted the face .  I was off taking pictures and I turned around and what do I see?  Collin rolling a gigantic snow ball around the front yard that sat almost as tall as my shoulders… I was concerned as how he was going to get the midsection on there, which weighed at least 200 lbs.  Thankfully with a family full of big Polacks (sp?), Collin and his dad moved it on there just fine.

It’s been years since I’ve built a snow man, and never one of such massive proportions (Which I have my intense fiance to thank for that)! On our way back to our house this morning we saw streets decorated with all different types of snowmen of all shapes and sizes, it was truly adorable.

With weather like this I felt nothing could be better than warm bread and soup.  This classic cream of potato soup recipe can be dressed up in several different ways.  You can add bacon or sour cream, or perhaps some smoked chicken and cheddar cheese?  I decided to add some heat and drizzled it with some Jalapeno oil to give the soup an extra kick!

The popovers are to die for.  I had my first popover experience when Collin’s father took us out for dinner over the holidays and the restaurant had served them as starters.  They were warm and had a crunchy outside but a warm and chewy inside.  The recipe I am using is Neiman Marcus’, they suggest using a their popover pan, which I recommend using if you have it, but if not you can use a muffin pan.

Ingredients for Cream of Potato Soup with Jalapeno Oil:

(serves 4)

• 8 medium sized potatoes, cleaned peeled and cut into 1 1/2″ pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 jalapeno, top discarded and thinly sliced
  
• 2 small leeks, white part only, washed and finely chopped
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, washed, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 celery washed and finely chopped
• 4 cups of chicken broth or water
  
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
  
• salt pepper to taste
  

Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until the butter starts to foam.  Add the leeks, celery, carrots, onion and shallots along with some salt and cook over gently heat for 5-6 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.  Add the stock and potatoes, bring back to the boil, then lower the temperature to a simmer and cook slowly for 10 minutes.  Puree the soup in batches in a blender.  If you’d like you can pour the soup through a metal sieve.  Heat the pureed mixture and cream in a pan, check for seasoning and taste with salt and pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat until oil slightly smokes.  Add the sliced jalapeno and allow to sautee until oil is fragrant and jalapenos are softened, about 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat and pour oil mixture through sieve.  Set jalapenos aside for garnish.Divide the soup among four bowls and add a generous dash of black pepper.  Drizzle with jalapeno oil and add jalapeno slices.  You can also serve this soup with some crostinis as I have.  You simply slice a baguette into 1″ pieces and brush with a butter mixture.

Ingredients for Crostini Butter mixture:

(for about 12 crostinis)

• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon parsley, minced

Mix ingredients together in bowl and brush onto sliced crostinis.  Bake at 350F for 10 minutes or until bread is golden brown.

“The key to making great popovers is having the eggs and milk warm before mixing.  It is also important to let the batter sit for an hour before baking it.  Popovers do not freeze well, and pre-made batter has a tendency not to work properly the next day.”

Ingredients for Neiman Marcus Popovers:

(about 2 dozen popovers)

• 3 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 5 large eggs, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Place the milk in a bowl and microwave on high for 2 minutes, or until warm to the touch.  Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.  Crack the eggs into the work bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk and beat on medium speed for about 3 minutes, until foamy and pale in color.  Turn down the mixer to low and add the warm milk.  Gradually add the flour mixture and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes.  Turn the machine off and let the batter rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Spray a popover tin or muffin pan generously with nonstick spray.  Fill the popover cups almost to the top with the batter and place the popover tin on a cookie sheet.  (If you are using a muffin pan, fill every other hole because the bread will puff up when baking).  Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn down the oven temperature to 375F and bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer, until the popovers are a deep golden brown on the outside and airy on the inside.  Turn out the popovers and serve hot with strawberry butter.

For Neiman Marcus’ recipe they used strawberry preserves, I actually used fresh strawberries and 1 tablespoon of agave syrup.  I have cut down the quantity of butter so the following recipe makes about 1/4 cup of strawberry butter.

Ingredients for Fresh Strawberry Butter:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 cup good-quality strawberry preserves (I used 1/2 cup fresh strawberries, chopped)
• 1 tablespoon of agave syrup (I added this)
  

Place the butter in a bowl with minced strawberries and syrup.  Beat on high until lught and fluffy.  To serve, spoon or pipe the flavored butter into a plate or bowl.

If you have leftover strawberry butter it goes great on toast or any type of bread you may have lying around.  It am sure it is great with preserves, but the butter is SO fragrant when I made it with fresh strawberries, I recommend that everyone tries this recipe.  It is so ADDICTING!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I am off to ice a cake for a special someones birthday that is coming up!    Stay tune on Monday for a very special birthday dedication post for a very special lady!  In the meantime, everyone stay warm eat lots and be merry!!!

p.s.

Our 8 foot snowman

I made these rolls as an appetizer for dinner last night, again using leftovers in my fridge and they were yum-o!  Definitely a recipe that I will use for future dinner parties — they are not only simple to do but very healthy as well.  I think the perfect appetizer is light, not too heavy and contains flavors that will excite the palate, preparing it for the main course.  I used nori to wrap all of my ingredients and then finishing by rolling the rolls with steamed napa cabbage leaves.  The bright flavors of the mango packs a surprise in each bite, pairing well with the ginger soy dipping sauce.

If eating healthy always tasted this good, I think people would definitely do it more often.  The whole concept of “healthy” eating immediately places scary images into people’s heads – greenish brown smoothies, cardboard tasting rice cakes, strange healthy food trends…I get it.  I really do, but there are other ways, BETTER WAYS, where you actually enjoy eating healthy.

I think the key to eating good tasting healthy foods is good quality produce, the right combinations and a variety of cooking methods.  I mean honestly, would I eat healthy if it tasted bad?  No way Jose.

Ingredients for Napa Cabbage Rolls:

(serves 4)

• 8 napa cabbage leaves, steamed or boiled
• 1 package of enoki mushrooms, blanched
  
• 1 mango, thinly sliced
• 2 radish, thinly sliced
  
• 1/2 cup cooked chicken, shredded
• 3 green onion, thinly sliced
• 4 sheets nori (seaweed)
  
• Sesame seeds
  
• Sriracha sauce
• Japanese mayo

After steaming the napa cabbage leaves, lay them on a napkin and dry them so they do not make your rolls soggy.

To roll your napa cabbage rolls, it is best that you have a sushi rolling mat.  If you do not own one, you may use your hands to do so.  Place the nori sheet down (you may toast them if you’d like) and then put two slices of mango, widthwise, next to each other.  Next place the shredded chicken ontop and the enoki mushrooms above it.  Take your radish and assemble them across the ingredients as pictured above.  Add your sriracha, mayo and sesame seeds and place the green onion towards the end of the roll, with the green onion sticking an inch past the nori sheet on each side.

Rolling is the trickiest part, it’s very similar to that of wrapping a burrito but you won’t be folding in the ends.  Wrap your ingredients snugly (not too tight or the nori will tear but just tight enough to where all the ingredients will stay in tact when cut)  and once you reach the end, dab a little bit of water to help the end of the nori stick to the roll.  Once you have rolled your ingredients, take your napa leaves and wrap the outside of the nori rolls.  Depending on the size of the leaves you can wrap them either widthwise or lengthwise, as long as the leaves cover most of the roll. You can then cut the rolls either at a diagonal or in circular pieces, whichever you prefer.

You can choose to dip these in a simple soysauce sesame oil mixture, or eat them plain.  These rolls make the perfect appetizer — light and refreshing and very easy to make.  They are also very visually appealing don’t you think?

I used a nice honey ginger soy dipping sauce which you can use as well!

Ingredients for Honey Ginger Soy dipping sauce:

• 1 tablespoon honey
  
• 1 teaspoon ginger, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/8 cup water
  

Place all ingredients in medium sized bowl and whisk together.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

I also wanted to share with you a few pictures of some projects I’ve been working on for work…

These are some fresh raspberry tarts with vanilla pastry cream — very very yummy, the tart raspberries pear with with the rich creamy pastry cream.

Chef called this dessert “The Road to Heaven” and I must agree with him on this one — I made a brandy chocolate sauce, which you see is brushed at the base of the plate.  Then from the smallest bite to the biggest — a miniature smore (the marshmallow is toasted of course!), an espresso creme brulee and ending with a fresh raspberry tart.  Boy oh boy it can’t get any better than that does it?

MMMMhmmm!  If any of you guys would like these recipes, send me an e mail and I can send it to you In the meantime, have a good weekend and HAPPY FRIDAY FOLKS!