'choke on this.

Ribboned Asparagus Salad for lunch today, with my own...

winnerwinnertofudinner — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:28:00 -0400

Ribboned Asparagus Salad for lunch today, with my own modifications of course.

Treasure Map: With Design and Deliciousness as the Destination

winnerwinnertofudinner — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:44:40 -0500

An Atlas of Where Chefs Eat

In the style of the Phone Book provided by AT&T from the 50s, diners are tantalized with food from around the world… all for which chefs will vouch. This insider and expert guide serves to all the senses, especially making your stomach rumble.

Visual appetite satiated. Hungry for edible inspiration? My...

winnerwinnertofudinner — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:52:00 -0500

Visual appetite satiated. Hungry for edible inspiration? My collaboration with a great friend. Strengths are showcased!

Video

winnerwinnertofudinner — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 19:28:00 -0500

Waste not, want not. Waste art, want art.

winnerwinnertofudinner — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:19:00 -0400

Globalized food production is here and has made itself known to the world but what do we think? This conscious art project shows food waste. Food (waste) for thought. Deliciously depicts what may normally seem to be the opposite of mouth watering.

-maría maría

I thought I’d give you guys the highlights of my spring...

szamler — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:39:57 -0500

Bruschetta: Amalfi

Chocolate Torta: Amalfi

Truffled Tortelini: Assisi

Pizza: Roma

Sea Food Conquered: Amalfi

I thought I’d give you guys the highlights of my spring break travels through Italy—Food Style.

Miss you guys and hope you had/have the greatest of Spring Breaks!!!

Chipotle knows what’s up.

shammond115 — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 18:15:15 -0500

Chipotle knows what’s up.

ATTN: NEW FOOD SITE DISCOVERY. click-ity click click!

christineaiello — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 22:58:00 -0500

❀ http://www.affairsofliving.com/

Just a new find that I thought you all would appreciate- check it out, I guarantee you will love it. Great recipes, great photos, etc., etc. This site is now on my bookmark bar and it’s there to stay!

My list of things to try includes carrot coconut mash, apple parsnip mash, and just aboutEVERYTHING on her recipe list!

Thinking of you and missing you all more than ever… Craving a girls night with the best of the best.

-christine

Ever try roasting a pepper on an open flame? When I was in...

christineaiello — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 23:09:00 -0500

Ever try roasting a pepper on an open flame? When I was in Arizona this summer, the chef at our hotel did a demonstration, and I finally decided to do it on my own (half a year later). It’s a fun and quick alternative to oven roasting (but it’s a little hard to peel when hot, as my first attempt caught on camera will show…so let ‘em cool). Anyway, try it! Put the pepper on the stove, right on the flame. Turn occasionally with tongs, until the entire pepper is black. Let cool for a bit, then peel the black skin off and remove the seeds. Then, use the pepper for whatever you like… maybe a different take on Mariah’s red pepper jam… or cut up and add to other sauteed vegetables (I added them to sauteed zucchini and onion).

Enjoy some raw (or should I say roasted?) pepper-peeling footage and tunes!

-christine

concocktions 2

szamler — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:10:17 -0500

I am literally sitting right now eat my banana nutella “ice cream” i made earlier this week!! what a coincidence. Highly recommend trying nutella by the way

Concocktions

shammond115 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 03:10:00 -0500

I know exactly what you guys are thinking right now. “OMG she spelled concoction wrong. Freudian slip! Gets ya every time!” False. Tonight, in the DG kitchen, I created a “concocktion”. ‘Cock for short. What, might you ask, is a conCOCKtion? Allow me to elucidate.

A concocktion is simply a concoction made with phallic-shaped food items. And by phallic-shaped food items I mean bananas. I suppose hot dogs or popsicles or jumbo mozzarella cheese sticks could suffice, but tonight, I’m talkin’ nannerz.

Okay, time to get down to the nitty gritty. My sweet tooth would not take “no” for an answer tonight, so I was beyond excited when I found that the DG kitchen had ~~all of~~ the ONE ingredient needed for banana “ice cream”. I’m sure you guys have heard of or made banana “ice cream” before, but I still felt the need to share it with y’all because it’s SO easy and SO delicious and SO guilt-free.

Take 1 banana. Freeze it overnight. Pop it in the blender. Puree that bad boy til it’s nice and smooth.

Add whatever ingredients your heart desires to spice it up. My add-in of choice was peanut butter. Melt 1-2 tablespoons, stir it in, and voila. Guilt-free dessert!

Not my finest photography, but if you haven’t tried this before, I’m telling you it’s the perfect way to rid of your sweet tooth! And if you have tried this before, hopefully this post will remind you of what an awesome dessert banana “ice cream” is.

I’m already thinking about the next concocktion on my to-do list… I think there are some cukes lying around the kitchen. Can’t wait for them to be inside of me! Inside of my tummy… you sick freaks. Okay I’m having too much fun with this post. Smoochez from IL.

xoxo- sar ham

Inspiration

shammond115 — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:01:15 -0500

Hi there! I’m super busy with school this week (as I’m sure many of you are) so I haven’t had much time to dedicate to food. But I have taken a little bit of time out of my studying to gaze at food and think about future feasting :). Thanks to that procrastination, I have 2 wonderful blogs to share! I truly admire the creative posts and beautiful photography in these blogs, and I’m hoping they’ll inspire me to improve my blogging! Both blogs have posts that are about life in general, but food is life amirite? So when you need a minute to relax, kick back and do some browsing. I swear I could look at food blogs all day (here’s lookin at you Ang, you lucky girl), but for now it’s off to studying! Love you all and miss you more than you know.

xoxo-sar ham

http://www.thelondoner.me/

http://vkreesphotography.com/

(Sweet Red Pepper) Jam Jam Jam Jamboree

winnerwinnertofudinner — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 03:52:00 -0500

The title of this post is dedicated to Sarah Hamboree and should be sung to this tune.

Anyway, I’m back in West Bloomfield for the weekend and all morning I’ve be jammin’ out; Making jam and jammin’ to some R&B. Mmmmm

My host mom in Spain, Ana grande, made a red pepper jam quite often and served it with a cream cheese spread at dinner so I decided to make my own version. I compiled a couple recipes at and the advice of the chef at work. Here’s what it turned out like. I would change a couple things in the future, maybe I got carried away listening to this tune and didn’t make it perfect the first time around.

Ingredients:

4.5 pounds of Sweet Red Bell Peppers
2.2 pounds of Sour Apples (Granny Smith used here)
2 Tbs. dried red chili pepper flakes
1 1/2 Cups of Sugar
1 Tbs. Salt
1 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 packet powdered pectin (optional)

Yields about 6 cups.

Preheat the over to 430 degrees. Starting with the sweet red bell peppers, cutting them in half, getting rid of the stem and seeds. Place on a baking sheet with the skin side up. Bake them in the oven until the skin is black and blistered. Don’t burn them all the way through, just enough so the pepper is very soft and the skin comes off easily.

While the peppers are cooking, peel, core, and chop up the sour apples, granny smith is what I used. I also put them in a food processor quickly to get them pretty broken up and easier to cook. I wish I had made them a thinner texture than I did, next time I would grind them up a bit more. It makes it easier for cooking with the peppers.

After the peppers are done cooking, put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they steam in residual heat, making them easier to peel. I then put them in the food processor also to make them cook faster.

Put all of the ingredients (sugar, salt, red chili pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, and pectin if you choose) into large pan, adding just enough water to cover the peppers and the apple. Heat until it is boiling, then lower the temp way down so it is just simmering. Let it all simmer for an hour, stirring from the bottom occasionally. The moisture will boil down.

(I added the 2 tablespoons of red chili pepper flakes that the recipe called for but next time I would use less, the jam turned out a bit spicier than I wanted and intended. It doesn’t look like that much but a little goes a long way.)

The pectin is optional because the apples are full of pectin but I added about a third of a pack to make the jam thicker without adding extra sugar.

The jam will be super tasty with some fried goat cheese (documented adventures to come) and also as a spread on top of a spreadable cheese, I’ve used cream cheese and a laughing cow cheese, on a cracker or nice bread.

Also just in case you all wanted to know, while making jam I slightly burnt my hand and my eyelids, be careful kids. Don’t (or do) try this stuff at home.

-Mariah or María, whichever you prefer.

Editor’s Note: All linked songs appeared on my pandora station while jammin’ this morning.

Superfoods and "Man Bait"

christineaiello — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:42:00 -0500

Superfood salad you ask? Yes. That’s what I am calling it - everything in this salad is good for you: your brain, probably your heart, and most certainly your waistline (if that’s pleasing to you). Whoaaa-mega… omegas, and things like that. Trust me, it’s good for you. And, it kind of just happened on it’s own the other afternoon. I wanted to use up some leftover salmon on a salad, and this was the result. One thing led to the next and I would have been silly not to take a photo.

Simple salad, but satisfying, tasty, and super easy to prepare.

Handful of spinach, salmon (cold), a few slices of a v o c a d o, walnuts (they even LOOK like brains), some dried fruit (my mix had a combination of blueberries, cranberries, cherries, and golden raisins), and crumbles of goat cheese. Drizzle with a bit of good balsamic- and I mean good! It makes all the difference, seriously. Et voilà!

And as for the “Man Bait”…

A trip up north for MLK weekend and a stop in a favorite general store led to a lollipop find that I couldn’t resist! My roommate and I spotted these beauties at the checkout counter and threw them into our pile of goodies to buy. Maple and bacon lollipops, people. Maple and bacon… two things that I love, and that I must always have together. How could I not at least try? I had to. I love stuff like this.

(Warning: opinions below may be tainted by bacon-lover’s bias. Read anyway.)

We were too stuffed after a big lunch in town, so we stowed the pops in our pockets and tried them later, back at the cottage. And the general consensus? If you ever have the chance to try these Man Bait lollipops (and I hope you do), don’t shy away from the smell at first. They smell kind of meaty as soon as you open the wrapper - I won’t lie. Almost like a dog bone… (I’m not helping, am I?) They have bacon bits in them, after all. But, at first lick, there’s the maple, and oooooh is it good! We spent the first couple of minutes considering how the flavors worked together, and how they could possibly exist in the lollipop before our eyes. The next 50 licks or so were spent in happiness and excitement as we each savored our pop and realized… this lollipop was the most adventurous thing we had done all weekend! I finished off my pop wanting more- it was so, so tasty. Sweet maple and tiny, tiny bits of bacon - think gourmet-jerky-flecks, if possible. Sweet and savory. My mouth was h a p p y.

There’s not much more I can do to describe these things; maple and bacon in a lollipop- you either love it, or you don’t. But if you like sweet and savory and trying new things (and I know all of you girls do), try them. Check out Das Foods for more information on their other flavors - Katie Das, Das Foods creator, is onto something! And she’s based out of Chicago. She has flavored salts, caramels, etc. etc. Yum.

One more thing. Longing for another taste after I finished my “Man Bait” pop, I may have ordered a variety pack of Das Lolli pops online…… Amazon’s buy-now-with-1-click is not dangerous at all……

I strongly recommend ordering some for yourself at 45 cents a pop!

And hey, maybe if I start eating these in public, I’ll attract some good looking, bacon-eating men. Isn’t that what the name implies?? I’ll test that out and get back to you.

;)

Ciao, chow.

-C

I’ll be living two blocks from here (People’s Food Co-op of Ann Arbor) next year. Yes...

winnerwinnertofudinner — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:48:00 -0500

I’ll be living two blocks from here (People’s Food Co-op of Ann Arbor) next year. Yes yes, so excited! Only two blocks away from fresh locally grown produce. Mmmmm

Also, thinking about careers and futures and Culinary School has come to mind… if only there was a culinary management program that I could combine with some type of health education and local foods. If only, eh? I’m going to look into wwoofing this summerDo any of you know of anything like this? I know we’re all thinking of food careers, so let’s help each other, eh?

What exactly are you guys thinking for futures and summer job, etc.?

And something else we’ve all been waiting for since mid-June…. ANN ARBOR RESTAURANT WEEK! Our foodie chicas will be here in spirit.

Christine- We know you have the chestnuts bought, so we’re waiting to see fotos!

I’m going to try and bake something vegan this week.

-maría

would you CUPPOW! ??? i’m slackin’ i know. but...

christineaiello — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:53:55 -0500

would you CUPPOW! ???

i’m slackin’ i know. but i want to know, would you?

more food to come, someday…

thinking about roasting some chestnuts…

-C

livin' la vida locavore

winnerwinnertofudinner — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:16:00 -0500

As college students, and a couple of us out of state, this may be difficult to do but doesn’t mean we can’t share the knowledge and local farm love with our parents and others back home (although this company isn’t exclusive to Michigan!). I have seen these fliers around the yoga studio and found this on another blog this morning. The company Door to Door Organics fuses the mentalities of going natural with local farming and the American must have convenience. They deliver locally grown produce right to your door.

They’re all about that Good Food, capital G and F. Really can’t be beat with customizable options and options for those carnivores with some meat and fish available. Super interesting, seriously explore their website. I loved the fact that they are coming up with a great number of improvements each month. And they are going to be adding dairy, cheese, milk, and eggs, to their repertoire. They’ve also got some super cheesy jokes here n’ there on their website, so I’m now even more of a fan. Their food blog isn’t half bad either. Some authentic foodies!

I know I’ll be trying to convince my parents of making this step and what better time than for the new year?! Am I right? Am I right?

Maybe they need an intern this summer… I think I know a few foodie michigan girls, including myself who need an internship.

smoothies for the less wise.

winnerwinnertofudinner — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:37:00 -0500

After finally arriving home in the D, I have found myself as an overdue victim of a wisdom teeth extraction. So I began to try to whip up something edible but satisfying. And while I’m back in America I couldn’t wait to get my hands on some good ol’ peanut butter. While Europe isn’t a fan of our ‘merican pb, they do use Nutella quite a bit; So I blended my two lives in a cuisinart while added my own secret ingredient of pain meds. Whether or not you need the pain meds, (for whatever reason, I’m not judging) this can make anyone feel a little bit better.

Para empezar grab 2 large, ripe bananas, chop ‘em up any which way, throw ‘em in the blender.

Bananas aren’t in season here in Michigan now or ever but I’m still loving them.

I’m not strict on measurements, especially for a smoothie but this is what I used. Use more or less based on your preferences! 1 teaspoon honey (or not if you’re looking to stick to vegan), adding 3 1/2 tablespoons peanut butter, and finally 1 1/2 tablespoons Nutella, and to cream it all together and make it more smooth and drinkable adding 1/4 cup milk, preferably almond milk (that adds to taste yet also makes it all vegan), Sugar to taste, and top it all off with some ice, ice baby.

Toss it all into the blender and grind, blend, and fuse.

Ta-da!

And now to reapply ice to my (even more than usual) chipmunk cheeks, and find more pain meds.

- mar ve the artist formerly known as maría

p.s.- So excited to finally be able to make my own things and post on ‘choke without the limitations of my host family! Although my food adventures might not be as exciting while I’m back in the motherland.

p.p.s.- Hope all you ‘chokers can come over and see the (almost) finished product of the Van Ermen kitchen that made me mooch off y’all all summer.

Groovy hip sway required but not included. (Portuguese song...

winnerwinnertofudinner — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:16:34 -0500

Groovy hip sway required but not included.

(Portuguese song for which the translation is irrelevant, doesn’t mean anything way, but that Spain is lovin’.)

Holidays in Spain

winnerwinnertofudinner — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 07:54:00 -0500

I haven’t had class this past week because I skipped and went to Paris (yummm) and because of two religious holidays this week, there hasn’t been class. The first holiday being, Tuesday, December 6th, Día de la constitución, and the second, Thursday, December 8th, Día de la inmaculada concepción. So we have this cool thing they call “puentes”, which translates to “bridge.” This means that if there is a national holiday on a tuesday or thursday, then they bridge the weekend, so classes aren’t usually held on mondays and fridays in this circumstance. And lucky us we had two puentes this week, so classes were really only in session on Wednesday. And being the skipper I am, I didn’t go and skipped around Paris instead.

I returned from Paris Wednesday night to find out that my host mom would be having a great party the next day for the holiday!

All of Ana’s children and grandchildren were here in addition to a couple of her cousins, and her brother’s family. Quite the crowd in her little apartment. As sad as it may sound, it was the first day in which I felt like I was living a Spanish lifestyle. My roommate is on a long vacation and I was the only American in the room but felt nothing but love from my (host) family. I really got super lucky to be living with Ana. Although I didn’t take pictures during the party (I thought it might be weird if I took pictures like they were a spectacle or something), I snapped a couple before everyone got here.

Ana transformed her little Living Room, which is barely ever used and mostly for show, into a great dining room. Everyone gathered around. There was lots and lots of singing, so much laughing, and even more drinking. I even showed off my Sevilliana dance moves, mostly because they forced me to dance but I really enjoyed it! (Hopefully pictures to come on that one. I know Yolanda and Sonia were snapping some. I want to get copies. I’m pretty lucky the grandkids taught me a few moves a couple weeks ago.)

Ana’s “salon” that fit 27 people.

As one might expect, there wasn’t a full meal served but instead tapas were filling our bellies. Everyone had a plate and just kind of dug in to all of the tapas in front of us. There was so much food and it all just kept coming and coming and coming. Many bowls of olives and plates of Manchego cheese with picos.

Ana kept making sure I was eating enough. Because I’ve chosen to not eat red meat or pork here, she kept making I knew which things I could eat and which contained heartier meats. So cute! I’m known as “María” her “niña.”

This was some type of arroz (rice, maybe blood rice), salchicha (sausage), y cebollas cocinados (onions).

These are boiled potatoes soaked in olive oil with some parsley. We eat this one quite often. I always forget the spanish name of the dish, something like “Patatas de aceite de oliva…”

I’m so ready to come home but the only thing that makes me want to stay is the family I have made here. So much love for them. I can’t wait to share with you all the things I’ve learned from them and the Spanish mentality they boast about so often.

¡Salud! y bueno suerte en os examenes! Hasta muy muy pronto!

-MarVe aka María