Honeycrisp Surprise

I bought Honeycrisp apples this week instead of my usual Granny Smiths, mostly because (I admit) I like the name. It's cute.

I'm generally wary of produce with names like this, but I decided to take a chance on these (because, you know, the name is cute).

Endives Fresh from the French Ground

Taken last winter in farmers market in Lyon, France.


Freshness.

Chocolate and Summer

...don't go well together. My poor tin of chocolate wedges:


Trader Joe's used to sell Traveler's Chocolates, but like so many products, TJ began producing and selling its own version in its own packaging. Personally, I don't think they are quite as good as the original, but they're much better than Hershey's for the serious chocoholic.

Overnight Fluffy Pancake Batter

Yeast. 

The pancake to the left was made as a pre-work breakfast. Pancakes aren't generally a for-one meal to make-- why go through the trouble of mixing up a batch of batter from scratch when you're only feeding yourself?

Because pancakes, cooked in butter, spread with more butter, and sweetened with a dollop of jam are wonderful. And wonderful is a good thing to have before going to work in the morning.

Yes, I did have to crack some eggs, pour some milk, melt some butter, measure out flour, but not in the morning. I made this batter the night before and by using yeast instead of baking powder, it was perfectly ready to be cooked the next morning. Wonderful. Easy. 

Also, I hadn't had much success getting fluffy pancakes using baking powder. I'm sure it was due, at least in part, to some lacking in my technique or the quality of the baking powder I used, but this batter, even with my haphazard technique of adding an amount of yeast that "looks about right," creates a pancake with a more than adequate fluff-factor. 

The best part is that it keeps well, so there may be multiple wonderful mornings, depending on how much batter you make and how large you make your cakes.  

To be honest, I often treated myself to post-work "wonderful" as well. 

Snack Attack: Marcona Almonds

I was first introduced to these Spanish Marcona Almonds a last by a friend who included them in a gorgeous cheese platter. They are addictive, amazing, and expensive. I had to ration out the eight ounce, six-dollar package to avoid eating them all in a single sitting.

These came from Whole Foods toasted and lightly salted-- I usually try to avoid pre-salted nuts, but these were just irresistible. They were too good to even use for a recipe. I eat them one at a time, savoring the snappy crunch that other almonds do not have. These flat, nearly-unrecognizable-as-almonds almonds are worth the indulgence if you're able.

As I am currently gravely underemployed, I've not indulged yet this year though memories of my past Marcona almond experiences fill me with longing. Now that I've written this, though, it may not be long before I crack.