Beer, Smoked Gouda, and Red Pepper Soup

For Kelly! This was the best I could do at re-creating my steps...

Okay, so I started with this pre-chopped mirepoix mix (celery, carrots, and onions) from Trader Joe's. I am lazy and have no knife skills to speak of. What can I say?


I did not measure anything, but I used roughly a third of the container. I sauteed this in a pan over medium/high heat with...eh...two tablespoons (?) of butter until the onions were starting to get translucent; then I added in about 5 cloves of chopped (by my husband, due to the aforementioned lack of knife skills) garlic and a bit more butter. Sautee until your entire house smells of awesomeness.


Once everything smelled awesome, added a small amount (maybe 1/4 cup?) of white wine to loosen everything up in the pan. Then I added in a few tablespoons of this business. This stuff is my jam. Turn the heat down on your pan and stir some of this stuff up in there.


...I wound up using most of this jar by the time I was done, but I started out with maybe half of it in the saute pan and added the rest to the crockpot as it cooked over the course of the next several hours. I suppose you could just put it all in there at this stage, but I'd recommend holding out--the beer I used was quite bitter and needed the sweetness of the pepper to chill it out; you might not feel the need for so much of it if your beer is less bitter (or if you like that really bitter flavor).


Anywho, back to the saute pan. I added about half of one of these bad boys in there as well, reduced it to a simmer, and then let it bubble for a maybe 10 minutes or so. You could use chicken broth, too, but I was feeding my soup to some vegetarians.

















At this stage, I turned the heat off, let it cool down a little, and transferred everything to a blender. I pureed it until the chunks of celery, carrots, and onions from the mirepoix were but a memory. Then I poured it into my crock pot (high heat) and added this ginormous bottle of face-puckering IPA. This is one of those bottle-and-a-half size beers; you might be fine with a normal sized bottle. I think the bitterness of the IPA is great for the soup, but I also think I maybe had too much beer in mine (see needing the entire jar of red peppers to counteract the bitterness, above).



Stir a pint of heavy cream in there while you're at it. In case you were wondering, this soup is not healthy at all.


There you are, cheese! I bought two of these and only used one. I just noticed that this one says "reduced fat"; that was not on purpose and I don't *think* the one I used was reduced fat, but it may have been. Oh well. This is 0.68 lbs of cheese; I shredded an entire chunk and put that in the crock pot. I also shredded some cheddar/gruyere blend (~the same amount) and added that.

I let this all cook on high, stirring occasionally, for about an hour then turned it down to warm and cooked it for another 7 hours. Periodically I would stir and taste, adding things here and there to adjust the flavor. In addition to the rest of the jar of peppers, I added some of this...


...and also some pepper, salt, and garlic powder. This was all "to taste"; I honestly couldn't tell  you how much I put in there.


I thought the cheese would fully melt down, but it didn't--there were still some bits of cheese unmelted in there after several hours of simmering. I could have left well enough alone (I mean, it's not like lumps of melty cheese in your soup are a terrible thing), but instead I put about half the soup in the blender and then added it back in. If you do this, LET THE SOUP IN THE BLENDER COOL. I knew that I was supposed to do that, but I was all "I'll just hold the lid on, no probs." Wrong. Probs. Hot soup everywhere. But it still turned out delicious.

I cooked up some bacon and chopped that up in addition to some green onions as a garnish. I know this is a ridiculously not-precise recipe, but that's how I roll. If you give this soup a go (or some version thereof), let me know how it turns out!

So here’s the deal. I’m not going to apologize, I’m not going to make excuses, I’m just going to put it out there:
I love this dude.

I KNOW. Let’s be real: this is one seriously bad ass moose. Not to detract from the coolness of all of the other items in the WhiteFauxTaxidermy Etsy shop—this guy just caught my eye. I feel like my husband is generally kind of “whatevs” about my decorating choices, but this may be one instance where he would exercise his veto option. I don’t know, though…maybe if I just sneak him in and hang him and then don’t say anything…he might not notice? Right. Probably not. Might be worth a shot, though. I’ll keep you posted ;)

Adventures in Healthfulness

Untitled, a photo by kristaleigh on Flickr.

I am a HUGE peanut butter fan. Seriously. Ask any runner, and they will tell you that peanut butter is sort of a superfood--wheat toast with peanut butter is many a a runner's breakfast of champions. BUT--as with all things, peanut butter is only good in moderation. While high in protein, it's also pretty darn high in fat. So I decided to try out this "Better'n Peanut Butter" that I found at Trader Joe's.

In terms of straight numbers, this stuff is, indeed, better than peanut butter. It has far less fat per comparable 2 tablespoon serving (2g vs ~18g), and less calories, too (100 vs ~190-200). But I have to tell you--while this is a peanut-based product, it does not taste like peanut butter. I might even venture to say that if you're going into this expecting peanut butter, you will probably not like it. It's sweeter than your standard PB, and just has an overall different flavor. However, it's not bad--and if you can treat this less has a peanut butter cover band and more as a peanut butter tribute band, I think you'll be pleased. Overall, I would buy this again--but it's definitely worth noting that (at least in Arizona), this stuff is not comparable to PB when it comes down to the dollahs (and really, doesn't it always?). My standard jar of generic Kroger PB runs around or under $2 depending on sales; the Better'n Peanut Butter was $4.99 at Trader Joe's (for reference, TJ's standard peanut butter offering runs ~$2.50).

What are your favorite healthy food substitutes?

If there were some sort of "sustained intermittent blogging" award, I think I would win it. Who half-ass commits to something for ten years? ME, that's who!

Thank goodness for running buddies...I left the house just before 6 am (in the dark), didn't get home from work until almost 6:30 pm (in the dark), came home to a lovely assortment of dog poo artistically displayed across the kitchen floor, and did not feel like getting a run in AT ALL. But you can't bail on a running buddy, so I laced 'em up and felt worlds better a few miles later. Feeling pretty good about the upcoming half marathon; a little bummed that we're not doing the full (which we did last year), but we just didn't start training early enough. Oh well. Might do one later in the spring.

Christmas is coming on like a freight train this year, and is going to be gone just as fast. This will only be our second time as a couple staying in AZ for Christmas. We're having our annual Christmas bash this Saturday, then leave Sunday for a few days in Sedona. Not sure what our plans for the rest of the week will be. I'm on pins and needles right now waiting for Erika to have her baby--I'm going to be a (biological!) Aunt, and I am SO. EXCITED. to meet Ms. Madigan! She's due on Monday, so send good vibes! We'll head to CT to meet her just after Christmas.

For tonight: wine, Christmas movies on basic cable, and homemade sugar cookies. Cheers!

Things making me feel like it's all Christmas up in here:

Giving smarter gifts...

Seeing a Christmas classic live and in person...

Boozy hot chocolate...

A sweet remixed version of "Baby It's Cold Outside":

Look, I'm not proud, but here it is: I am seriously fighting the urge to start playing Christmas music.

I KNOW.

You can still get away with wearing shorts and a t-shirt this time of year in Arizona. It's only mid-November. We just wrangled all of our Halloween decorations into the garage, ferchissakes. But as I scroll through my iPod playlists, it takes serious effort to not stop on the one labeled "Christmas Songs". Oh, who am I kidding? I have, like, 5 different Christmas song playlists on my iPod. Whatever. I don't make fun of your Taylor Swift songs, so shut up already. Besides, I noticed this morning that my neighbor has poinsettias on her porch, so IT IS ON.

Arizona is on fire. As of two hours ago, the reports were that 311,481 acres have burned so far, and the Wallow Fire (named after its origin site, Bear Wallow) was still 0% contained.

Truly and without exaggeration, this is some of the most beautiful land in Arizona. I know the ecological importance of fire and I know that the land will recover, but this is so devastating and heartbreaking. In terms of water quality impacts, over 300 miles of perennial stream have been impacted so far, including several Outstanding Arizona Waters. Arizona's largest fire to date (the 2002 Rodeo Chediski at 468,630 acres) impacted just 50 in it's entire 29 day run. The Wallow fire is only on day 10.

My thoughts are with those in the evacuated and pre-evacuated communities. Cross your fingers for an early monsoon season, because I just don't see how else this fire is going to be brought under control...

Additional Links:
Evacuation Update
Residents Told to Flee as Arizona Fire Spreads to New Mexico
KML downloads for viewing fire data in Google Earth

[image from here]

Unless you have, as I do, a lemon tree. Then you bag those buggers up and give them away. (Because, hey, who doesn't want free lemons?).

[image from here]

Peanut Butter Banana Blondies with Peanut Maple Glaze

(No pictures...they all got eaten before I had a chance. I know, I know...but they were pretty, I swear...)

I Frankenstein-ed these bad boys at about 7 am Sunday on a morning. Far too early to be thinking about dessert, but with lots of healthy (okay, healthier--it's all relative, folks) substitutions for the standard ingredients, I only felt a teensy weensy bit guilty taste-testing one with my coffee. Full disclosure, though: these are not "healthy". What they do have going for them: seriously slashed fat and refined carbs and a big boost of protein. Here's how to get them in your very own belly (which is where you want them, trust me).

The blondies...
~4 tbs unsalted butter
~1 medium banana, mashed (*instead of the other 6 tbs of butter called for in the original recipe)
~1 c dark brown sugar
~1 c maple syrup (*instead of a second cup of brown sugar)
~1 c peanut butter (I used crunchy, but do your thang here)
~2 eggs
~2 tsp bourbon vanilla extract
~1/2 tsp salt
~1/2 c whole wheat flour
~1/2 c unbleached all-purpose flour
~1 c vanilla protein powder (*original recipe called for 2 c all purpose flour, I broke it into wheat/all-purpose/protein. You could also try different combinations of alternate flours--almond or oat, for example)
~1 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9X13 baking dish.

Melt the butter and allow to cool. Then whisk together the butter, banana, sugar, syrup, and peanut butter; then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet by hand until just combined. Pour into baking dish and bake for ~25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

For the glaze...
~1 1/2 c Splenda (*FYI, powdered sugar will give you a more frosting-y finished product than Splenda will)
~2 tsp vanilla extract
~1/2 c maple syrup
~1/2 c heavy cream
~1/2 c peanut butter
~(2 tbs cornstarch)

Combine Splenda, vanilla, and maple syrup in a mixer and beat at med/high speed (starting on low and working up so you don't splatter). Turn speed back to low and slowly add in the heavy cream and peanut butter until combined, then whip at med/high speed until it begins to thicken. You may want to add in the cornstarch slowly at this point to make it a bit thicker; it's up to you. Set aside until blondies have fully cooled.

Once the blondies have cooled, use a skewer or chopstick to poke holes into them (try to keep it fairly uniform). Pour the glaze evenly over the blondies, and allow to set for about 15 minutes so the glaze can soak in.

Maybe we've met, you and I. If so, it is not a particularly big surprise to you that I love me some Eddie Vedder. Two other loves? Gorgeous song lyrics, and simple but well-thought design. Which leads me to telling you about Music Philosphy.




Music Philosophy showcases simple, lovely lyrics as understated yet look-at-me-eye-catching graphics, and draws from influences as varied as Pink Floyd, Belle and Sebastian, and the Moldy Peaches. Love them? You're in luck...they recently opened a poster shop. Last one to wallpaper their house is a rotten egg...

One Bowl Banana Pecan Chocolate Chunk Cookies


One bowl because I am feeling lazy. Banana and pecan and chocolate because also, I am feeling decadent. Chocolate chunks because that is what my husband always chooses when given free reign in the baking ingredients aisle. You can use regular chips. I won't tell. Apologies for the lousy camera phone picture...I wasn't kidding about the lazy part.

Ingredients
1 c butter, room temp
1 3/4 c granulated sugar
2 tbs molasses*
2 ripe medium bananas, smashed
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 c non-bleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 oz chocolate chunks
1 1/2 c roughly chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and molasses together in a mixing bowl. Add bananas, egg, and vanilla until well mixed. Slowly add in flour, baking soda, and salt until thoroughly mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks and pecans (you can add less of these if you like; I like my cookies choc full of goodness). Bake for ~ 10 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. They may be a little sticky coming off the cookie sheets, but it's okay. They will still be delicious. Promise.

*This is because I was out of brown sugar. If you are not out of brown sugar, you can eliminate the molasses and replace the 1 3/4 c granulated sugar with 1 c packed light brown sugar and 1 1/2 c granulated sugar. Or not. These came out pretty darn tasty as written.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins



I've been drawn more and more lately to tweaking my baking recipes so that they are more healthy. For years, this has meant experimenting with alternative moisture components (applesauce, yogurt, canned pumpkin, etc. in lieu of oil or butter) and sweeteners (honey, agave nectar, maple syrup). Once, when Splenda first hit the market, I attempted baking with it as a sugar substitute. This was before the special "Splenda for baking" was released, and the results were catastrophic. My cake never rose completely, and had an acrid, chemically taste. After that, I abandoned Splenda and all sugar substitutes of its ilk.

Lately, though, I've been researching healthy recipes more and more, and I keep coming across Splenda being used in cakes, muffins, and other sweet treats. So I decided to give the new formulation another try with these Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins. I think I can now safely say that I am a convert--I subbed in Splenda and molasses for this recipe (which originally called for brown sugar), and I am so pleased with the results! These muffins are subtly sweet and super moist, with a dense, oatmeal-y texture and great pops of extra sweetness from the raisins. I baked these with some wonky, odd-shaped muffin liners from Ikea and the batter portioned out into 15 cups--I know this is an odd number of muffins to bake, and I suspect that using regular-sized tins this would portion well into 12 regular or 6 large muffin cups. Note, though, that the nutrition information below is based on the batter making 15 muffins. You can always back calculate (multiply by 15 then re-divide by the number of muffins) to get the values on a different number.

Ingredients:
1 c quick-cook oats
1/2 c skim milk
1 egg
1/2 c low fat plain yogurt
3/4 c Splenda (granulated for baking)
1 tbs unsulphered molasses
1 c sifted unbleached whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Trader Joe's Sugar Free Chai Spice
1/4 tsp ground clove
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 c raisins

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400F. Set 15 muffin liners into two regular sized muffin tins.
In a large bowl, combine oats, milk, egg, yogurt, Splenda, and molasses. Mix well, and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir in applesauce and vanilla until well blended.
Combine dry ingredient bowl into oat ingredient bowl, stirring until well combined. Stir in raisins.
Separate batter equally into the 15 muffin cups. Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring muffins to a rack to cool completely.

Nutritional Info:
Serving size: 1 muffin
106 calories, 2 g fat, 24 g carbs

A very sweet sentiment...and a reminder that no matter how stressful things get, sometimes the simplest things are what make you happiest. Get yourself a print at dazeychic's shop on Etsy.

In case you hadn't heard...on May 9th, Dana and I got married in Wickham Park in Manchester, Connecticut. More photos and details to come; for now, you can view some of our guest's photos at http://danaandkrista.shutterfly.com/.
Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make it the perfect day that it was!

-Krista Osterberg Parmelee :)

Well, hopefully not bridezilla--I just thought the little monster was cute. But yes: me, Dana, married, 10 days. I can't wait! Also, I can't believe how fast the past year and a half has flown by!

Friday Song Picks...on Saturday!

A day late, but I've decided to try and keep up with the Friday Song Picks (for April, at least!). So here's a few more songs worth checking out:

Meiko, "Under My Bed"

Also check out Boys With Girlfriends, if you haven't heard it already...it's a bit more pop-y and bouncy.

Josh Ritter, "Kathleen"

"All the other girls here are stars, you are the northern lights"...gorgeous. A beautiful song all around.

The Weakerthans, "Left and Leaving"

One of my favorite bands and songs ever, full stop. This is a live version of the song; click here for the studio version (ignore the weird wolf video...).

I have a girl crush on Zooey Deschanel (by which I mean I think she is pretty and funny and cool and should be my friend). I don't think I'd be missing the mark to say that a lot of women do. So I'm pretty jazzed to see her new movie "500 Days of Summer". Plus if there's a lot of the Smiths on the soundtrack, I can drag Dana with me and watch him do his Morrissey impersonation. It's pretty classic.

Any upcoming movies on your must-see list?

Friday Song Picks

A few of the songs that are in heavy rotation on my iPod lately...

Okkervil River, "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"

This video takes a few seconds to load, but is worth it. You can also check them out at okkervilriver.com. Check out the "Band" tab for one of the longest but best band bios I think I've ever read...

St. Vincent, "Now Now"

I couldn't find any good video clips for this one (the one above is just the song playing over a still photo), but check her out at ilovestvincent.com. There's a link in the left sidebar to listen to this song, as well as "Paris is Burning" and "Marry Me" (in which there is some fabulous strategic hand-clapping).

Sufjan Stevens, "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!"

I feel like there's a joke in here somewhere pertaining to my deathly, paralyzing fear of wasps, bees, hornets, and all bugs of that ilk. But phobias aside, Sufjan Stevens is an amazing story teller, lyricist, and songwriter. This is just one of many, many examples. See more of him here.

That's all for today, kids. Have you got any song recommendations for me?

I know it's a little bit late to be buying a 2009 calendar, but if by chance you still need one I'd highly recommend checking out these adorable options from Etsy seller little brown pen. They're a witty twist on the British WWII Keep Calm and Carry On poster.



There's a women's and a men's version of the calendar (February for women: "Bat Lashes and Pound Chocolate"...for men, "Strum Guitar and Look Sensitive").