I picked the *right* month...

...to ditch the ATM card in favor of cash.

I shop at the Danville Lunardi's not Los Gatos, the culprits only tapped a single register's ATM, and the store and its owners have been wonderful with the affected customers, but it's good to know no one's wandering around Southern California partying with access to MY checking account...

From the archives...
In 2006 I went through the first of what's now four blog remodels. If you like my new look, go check out Shauna's other amazing work.

Please pardon the interruption in our programming...

...but your heroine's laptop appears to have to have the stomach flu. So the only time she has access to the internets is from work. My version of Bill's Big Carrot Cake (and a handful of other goodies) will appear as quickly as possible... but probably without pictures, at least to start.

Skeevy. The new Skanky.

As I hurtle headlong into a decade that begins with a 4, allow me a moment to indulge my inner teenager.

In 1986, skanky was the adjective we used to describe something... well... skanky. Undesirable. Icky. Gross. Apparently in 2008, the new word is skeevy. At least according to Annie of Forest Street Kitchen, and the dictionary of all things 21st century seems to agree. As Annie did in December, today I share my personal collection of skeevy foods... kind of the antithesis of last week's guilty pleasures.

1. High Fructose Corn Syrup - the more I read about it, the less I like it. It dupes your digestive system into eating more. It's hell on your kidneys. It tastes chemical...not a surprise when you study the chemistry involved in producing it. And it's in *everything*.

2. Tongue - I'm with Annie. Gross gross GROSS.

3. Liver - See tongue. To quote Ondrya Wolfson, barf out! Grody to the max!

4. Beets - Yeah, I know they're the in thing right now. But I can't get past the canned slices on top of cafeteria salads. Yuck-o.

5. Soy Sausage. Non-Dairy Creamer. Cool Whip - Sausage is made of pork, not plants. Cream IS a dairy product. My grandparents knew this. Why are we making fake forms of real foods that don't begin to live up to the originals?!?

I could go on, but that's my short list. What about you? What foods ick you out?

From the archives...
In 2006, I found Flat Out. Which doesn't contain HFCS.

Technorati Tags: Food

While the rest of you were making caramel tarts...

...John and I spent the weekend battling what the friendly folks at Orkin affectionately call "pantry pests" -- little bugs that found their way into my kitchen in a bag of pastry flour or a package of pasta -- and have made themselves quite a happy home. Four rolls of paper towels, two sponges, two bottles of 409 and a half gallon of bleach later, the shelves and drawers are clean and ready for their Monday appointment with the Orkin man, the island is a mountain of salvaged foodstuffs, and the dishwasher is poised for a week of overdrive as all of the dishes will need to be re-washed before I can put them away when the fumigation is complete. That'll teach ME to re-wrap dry goods before putting them in the pantry.

Stay tuned... my blogging by mail bounty, the chocolate caramel tart and a feature on 21st century fair food are on the 'back burner' while we banish the bugs...

Muffin therapy...

You know it's time for a break when you start speaking in problem statements, looking at your world as a series of visio diagrams and harvey balls.

The problem:

1. A general frustration with office politics, stalled projects, and mundane tasks, and a desire to escape to a desert island.
2. A bunch of bananas browning on the counter top.
3. A propensity to choose highly processed, nutritionally deficient meals-at-my-desk during the busiest days of the quarter at work.

The solution: 15 minutes with Google and and evening at the *kitchen* island, making these sensational Banana Crumb Muffins.

Like several of the bakers that took the time to leave a review of the recipe, I chose to give the muffins a nutritional boost by replacing 1/2 cup of the white flour with whole wheat and using canola oil instead of butter. I toasted a quarter cup of hazelnuts, pulsed them in the food processor to beget a "finely chopped" product, and added them to the crumb topping for a bit of additional texture.

They turned out perfectly -- moist and full of banana flavor without being overly sweet. A single muffin paired with a cup of goat milk yogurt made a satisfying breakfast. And they proved more popular than the bakery bagels and the Krispy Kreme donuts on the breakfast buffet at work.

Technorati Tags: Recipe | Muffin | Breakfast | Banana

Coming back up for air...

What is it with this winter cold/flu that just won't let up? I've been sick so long, I'd forgotten what 'well' felt like! The irony that I started this coughing-sneezing-stuffy head journey three days after I got my flu shot is not lost on me.

But enough with the whining. Hang in there, my friends. I'm on the road to recovery and I'll be back soon with tales of recipes and restaurants and a fabulous field trip to San Francisco's Fancy Food Fair...

Sick, again.

After a week and a half of the "coughing, sneezing, aching, stuffy-head-fever-so-I-can-rest-medicine" I've had it. Move over Nyquil. Step aside, Sudafed. I'm bringing in the heavy artillery of home remedies. In my household, that's a shot of bourbon and two tablespoons of honey in a glass of warm orange juice.

What about you? What's *your* tried and true cure for the common cold? Let me know in the comments -- I'm getting desperate here!