I Love Food

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well."
- Virginia Woolf

Strawberry Jelly

 This recipe is easy, and how great would it be to have jelly in the fridge that you made instead of some jar filled with high fructose corn syrup ( don't get me started on those ridiculous hfcs commercials that the government is funding) among the other crappy ingredients they shove in there, with fruit being one of the last ingredients. Sorry was I ranting? Lets get back to the jelly. The hardest part of this recipe is chopping up your chosen fruit (strawberry is the fellas favorite), throw it in a pot with sugar and water enjoy the latest episode of the Jersey Shore or any other guilty pleasure you chose to immerse yourself in for 45 minutes to an hour. Lets keep in mind here that I am not canning. This jelly is meant to be used up right away.

Happy St. Patty's Day

I'm only into St. Patricks Day for the food. The only time I went out to celebrate was with one of my wonderful friends, as I call her Jonnah Millah. We went bar hopping through Boston and got caught in the midst of a fight in a a bar the size of a shoe box. I will no longer celebrate this day, other than eating the traditional fare. Being tossed amongst over-weight drunken fellas is not my idea of a good time.

Homemade Ricotta Cheese......Finally

Sorry for the delay in delivering the word about the ricotta cheese.I'm sure you all were waiting on the edge of your seats. Unfortunately, I tend to procrastinate sometimes its a horrible quality that I would love to shake. Anyway, the cheese was awesome, so fresh creamy and delicious. I slathered my first taste on a crusty piece of bread and then I used the rest of it added with parsley to my lasagna. This is so easy. Totally simple, there is no reason not to try this! Unless, of course you don't really care for ricotta cheese, in which case you should try it anyway. Because, it is so much better than anything you buy out of a tub from your local grocer.

This is all you need to make your own cheese.  11/2 cups of milk and 1/2 a cup of heavy cream.  The juice of 2 lemons and the zest also if you would like. I left it out this go round. 1/4 tsp salt and sugar. 

While you bring the milk up to just a simmer juice and zest your lemons.  I don't have photos of the milk simmering cause the stove shots always seem to be awful so we'll skip that shot.  

Line a strainer with cheese cloth and put it in a bowl. 

When your milk and cream are just beginning to simmer, not boil! add your lemon juice , salt, and sugar. and give a  stir then pour into the cheese cloth lined strainer. 

Let is sit for at least 2 hours if you make a bigger batch I would let it sit over night. Otherwise I think about 2 hours does the trick. 

All the moisture will sink into the bowl and leave you with this!  

Its so beautiful!  Peel it away from the cheese cloth and revel in the magic you have just created. I think its best to enjoy it in its simplest form. Spread it on some bread or stir it into some hot pasta with a splash of pasta water.  The lemons give the cheese a hint of lemony tartness and makes it taste so fresh. You could also use white wine vinegar and get the same results I would use about 3 tablespoons if you go the vinegar route. You have got to try this!

I Love Food

"One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating." 
-Luciano Pavarotti

Incredible Fast Food

This place is a revolution in fast food. Delicious, healthful, fresh food- fast! Steve Ells, the guy who started this chain of awesome, deliciousness runs his restaurants based on the philosophy, Food With Integrity. I will quote his actual statement which is printed on every menu. Its just too important not to read. "Chipotle is a pioneer in changing the way people think about and eat fast food. Armed with our philosophy of Food With Integrity, we take pride in sourcing as many of our high quality ingredients as we can from local and family farmers who are committed to sustainably raising antibiotic and hormone-free meats and organic vegetables. Food With Integrity is not merely a marketing slogan or a philosophy. It is an active process of working back along the food chain. It is a deeper level of thinking, consideration, and comprehension than just the word"fresh." It means going beyond distributors to discover how our vegetables are grown, and being cognizant of how our pigs, cows, and chickens are raised. It is a philosophy solidly based on a foundation of not exploiting animals, the environment, or people."  How simple and wonderful. This is something we all should be doing! Someone please tell me why McDonald's can't live by this philosophy??? I think greed is the answer. People always say that eating organically is too expensive. Well, the most expensive thing on the Chipotle menu is $6.50. Which is about the same price of any large value meal on McDonald's menu. We had to drive 70 miles to eat here, but if you happen to  live near a Chipotle give it a try you will not be disappointed. 

Look! They are actually making food!

Here is my food, I ordered the tacos and they actually make them when you order them. 

The finished product, that was quickly devoured. Two tacos with black beans and carnitas the naturally raised pork. One taco with pinto beans and barbacoa, naturally raised beef braised then shredded mmmmmm. 

Our order of chips and guacamole so good! Your chips come in a bag but the fella made a nice presentation of our order. 

Heaven wrapped in a flour tortilla! 

All the menus are printed on recycled paper. This guy walks the walk.  Changing the world one taco at a time!

The fella ordered a burrito with the barbacoa ( shredded braised beef) without beans. I don't know why he doesn't like them, but I'm not complaining. He ate a burrito and guacamole!