First, and most obvious, I know I will personally feel a lot more sexy once I take off these 10 pounds of winter/holiday weight I somehow mysteriously put on. Jeans that are snug to cup the booty are one thing, but jeans that are too snug because you gained weight are quite another. So there’s that, but there’s also this…when I’m on a serious diet I actually eat well. It sounds very strange but it’s true. When I’m not on a diet, I don’t take care of myself. I’ll eat last night’s dinner leftovers of spicy fried Chinese dumplings for breakfast while I’m checking my emails. For lunch I’ve been known to eat a handful of nuts, also while at the computer working. But when I’m consciously on a diet trying to lose weight, I eat like a princess. I food shop. I cook. I sit at a table. I plan menus. I make homemade soup and eat green salads with tasty and creative homemade dressings. Total turnaround.

Yes, being on a diet is a lot more work, and more money, and more time, with shopping for the fresh ingredients rather than scouring the old cans in the closet looking for whatever is the least amount of work. But eating right, and on a plate at a table, almost makes me feel like I’m out at a restaurant, out on a date.

That’s why I’m not too worried that as of March 1st, I am part of Romance Biggest Winners 2. It’s a weight loss competition comprised of romance readers and authors placed on teams to support each other to lose whatever amount of weight they want/need to over the next 6 months. Some of the girls are blogging their experience and I thought I might pop in here with an update or a recipe once in awhile. It’s a nice concept to have us band together in teams, since both reading and writing can be very solitary occupations.

Today, I’d thought I’d include the instructions for my new favorite quick healthy food, Arugula Salad. When I used to try to eat Arugula as if it was regular lettuce, I hated it. It tasted a bit like grass clippings when I tried to use it instead of Romaine Hearts in a salad with dressing. Then I saw a recipe on ABC’s The Chew for Arugula and tried it, and it made all the difference in the world.

Maybe the strong flavor of the Arugula needs the tartness and the acidity of the lemons. I don’t know, but my mouth waters just thinking about this salad. Give it a try. It’s so green and fresh tasting, I feel healthier just from eating it.

ARUGULA SALAD

Put a generous couple of handfuls of fresh Arugula in a bowl. Drizzle with about 2 tablespoons good quality Olive Oil. Squeeze in the fresh juice of one half a lemon. Sprinkle with coarse salt (Kosher or Sea Salt, I hate using fine salt on food) and fresh ground pepper. If I have grape tomatoes I’ll add a handful of those. That’s it. Perfect with a steak, or a crab cake for a light lunch or dinner.

Enjoy!

Cat

Necessity is the mother of invention as they say. I wanted that tasty-looking peppermint coffee and I wanted it NOW! So I made one. I’d bought a box of candy canes a week or two ago to spruce up my kitchen Christmas decor and I happened to have a can of ready whip in the fridge. I had coffee, and the fixings I enjoy daily (Splenda and Cremora–I know, don’t judge, that’s how I like it). So I stuck a candy cane in my morning coffee, I shot it with a squirt of whipped cream (just for the visual of course…) and VIOLA! I was a happy girl sipping my peppermint coffee for no more money, and not many more calories than my usually morning brew cost me, and, this is key, I didn’t have to even go out in the cold to get it! My pajama-covered ass went no farther than my own kitchen with the heated tile floor so toasty on my happy feet.

Since I have a new book release I’m promoting, another novel for my series I’m writing, and two other stories I’m plotting, coffee and not having to leave the house are both key components of my writer’s day, but I figure everyone can use this recipe. I’m picturing a holiday party, New Year’s Eve in particular, where the hostess can set up a large coffee urn, cups, sugar and cream, all as normal BUT add a bunch of candy canes, and a bunch of cinnamon sticks as stirrers, with some whipped cream guests can make their own special gourmet coffees.

Enjoy!

Cat

I read my iPad app FLIPBOARD for food inspiration, and I get inspiration from Eat Something Sexy’s very own Amy Reiley (who FYI has a new cookbook release coming out next month!).

Anyway, I’ve recently made Spiced Rosemary Nuts (William-Sonoma), so easy and so impressive and tasty. I brought them to both a Friday Night Dinner with Friends as well as to a holiday party housewarming and they were a hit both places. I’m going to try Amy’s Hot Honey Nuts recipe from the monthly aphrodisiac newsletter that just came out a few days ago for tonight’s Friday Night Dinner with Friends.

The other night I made Roasted Carrot Soup (Food 52). It came out really tasty but more importantly I’m thinking something that colorful HAS to be good for you too. And yesterday, while watching that new foodie show on ABC, The Chew, I was inspired to–this is big so get ready–change out of my pajamas, go to the food store, and buy the ingredients for the Swiss Steak with Arugula Salad they made on the show. Anyone who knows me at all knows how huge it is. I rarely leave the house (or change out of PJs) unless it’s absolutely necessary, such as the horse is totally out of feed and is threatening to break out of the paddock and storm the house.

So yeah, I’m procrastinating writing right now (I even vacuumed in an effort to kill time) but I’ll get back to it, one word at a time. And in the meantime, I’ll keep my eye on the inspirational blogs of Food 52, William Sonoma, and our own Eat Something Sexy and hope the creativity spills over from the kitchen to the laptop.

Cat

Perhaps it’s the $4.05 a gallon gas price I saw posted today that is making me nostaligic for simpler times but I think, after 20 1/2 years of marriage and 21 years of home ownership, I am going to buy my first bundt cake pan.

What brought this on? Well I was watching ABC World News with Diane Sawyer tonight (while checking Twitter and Facebook, investigating the rumor that my library has eBooks for loan, cleaning up some files on my computer and talking on the phone) and one story actually broke through my multi-tasking and caught my attention and I actually stopped all else and watched it.

It was a piece for an apparently recurring feature (that I’ve never noticed before) called the “Made in America: All Stars” series. Maybe I noticed it now because recently I saw a segment on another show where they went into a typical American household and removed everything that wasn’t made in America. There was nothing left. Not even the daughter’s American Girl Doll (which fyi is made in China). The show replaced nearly everything in the house with American-made products, but it wasn’t easy locating some items and I believe they couldn’t find baseballs made in this country–ironic, huh?

So perhaps that’s why this news story about Nordic Ware, a 65-year old, family-owned company in Minneapolis who has been making bundt pans since grandma and grandpa began in 1946, caught my ear. They didn’t  turn a profit for 10 years but they kept at it and the reporter said business has never been better than it is right now (sales are up 30% from last year). They attribute it to the poor economy. People can’t afford to go out so they are staying home and baking bundts? Perhaps. But I venture to say that maybe we’re all just looking to recapture what we perceive were simpler times.

They do say it takes 3 times hearing something for it to stick. So maybe between the Kiss My Bundt cookbook I’ve seen right here on the Eat Something Sexy site, and the poor family with the house emptied of all non-American products, now this Made in America bundt pan company was a case of “third times a charm”. Or maybe I just like cake. Who knows?

Cat

As I mentioned last post my friends and I, who gather weekly to share a meal, decided to add some flair to the get-togethers by creating a themed menu around periods in history. Though I hope we can skip out of order later and do a Colonial meal, as well as a Southern Civil War Era one, we began with the first decade of the 1900s. The menu choices were to be inspired by our personal heritages since that period in US history was the age of immigration and we chose Ellis Island as our theme.

So we had German, Irish, Italian, Jewish and Polish all represented in various mixes among us and here is the menu we served; once you read it you will see what I mean about the too many cooks because there was much too much food and way too many carbs, but perhaps that is my 21st Century sensibilities talking.

Drinks: German Beer, Italian Wine

Appetizers: Polish Kielbassa & German Knockwurst served with German Pretzels in a honey mustard dipping sauce. Italian Pizza Rustica, Irish Dubliner Cheese with crackers, Italian Olives

First Course: Jewish Matzoh Ball Soup

Main Course: Irish Shepards Pie, Tossed Green Salad w/ Italian Vinaigrette

Desserts: Jewish Chocolate & Raspberry-filled Rugalah, German Almond Pastry Puffs, Apple Kugel, and Raspberry Tart, and 2 boxes of assorted purchased Italian bakery cookies.

That doesn’t include the hot wings and fried chicken cutlets we also served to the children because they turned their noses up at our fare. So you can imagine the kitchen, every square inch covered in food. If you were one of the 3 people who actually logged in to our live streaming web broadcast you don’t have to imagine!

Anyway, we are going to do this again in spite of the “are you insane?” look I got from my husband last week when he heard it was a “themed dinner”. It will probably be in 2 weeks we’ll do the second decade of the 19th century, the theme being World War I. This time I am hoping we plan a tighter, more contained and less random menu. I have some of my cookbooks and old magazines out looking for popular drinks of the period and researching what foods were rationed because of the war. A book I discovered on my shelves, Vintage Cocktails: Authentic Recipes and Illustrations from 1920-1960,says that in 1914 “As World War I rages, the Martini is America’s number-one cocktail, known throughout the world as the symbol of all things civilized.”

So there you go. Perhaps I’ll pack an overnight bag for this one since we might be drinking martinis. You may want to tune in to the live streaming broadcast.

What is this of which I speak? They decided to each week choose a different decade and plan a meal around the food popular during that time period, and somehow it morphed to also include the drinks of the period and the clothing. I personally think our friend Grace simply wanted an excuse to dress up, but whatever, it’s happening.

Tomorrow we begin with the turn of the century. The age of immigration in this great country of ours when the huddled masses poured through Ellis Island carrying with them their meager belongings, whatever name the overworked immigration official bestowed upon them, and the foods native to their homeland.

This project has taken on a life of its own and tomorrow I’ll be cooking and I suppose looking for some sort of babushka to wear. We’re hoping to get a live cam up and running in the coming weeks so fans can join us for our weekly culinary travels through time. Hell, if nothing else, it should be entertaining!

The clams are barely an hour old when we’d bring them back to the house and throw them in the closed shells on a hot BBQ grill rack. They cook only until they open up, then you take them in hand, shoot just a dash of hot sauce and eat them, all hot and tasty good, right out of the shells. No utensils, no plates. Add an icy cold beer to cool the fire of the hot sauce and you’ve got all you need.

Of course, for the catching this year, since clamming began at low tide which was 8 in the morning, we indulged in Mimosas made right on the boat out of Prosecco and orange juice.

This year we did something a little different. Since we had a professional chef with us, he insisted we not use the bounty up for our little grilling/drinking party. Instead, he brought the clams back to our rental’s kitchen and turned them into incredible home made chowder on the first night, so light and tasty people went back for third helpings. Then on the next night, the rest were made into Linguini and Clam Sauce, with tons of garlic, good olive oil and fresh parsley.

Another summer’s Rhode Island vacation has come and gone, but the memories will last forever and next year we’ll be back. Clams, look out!

Yes, I’ve been to the farm stands that line Long Island’s Rt. 27 on the drive out to Montauk. But somehow a farm stand and a farmers market are different. I learned that last Thursday when I met my friend at the one in her town. She’s lived there close to 15 years and this is the first I’ve heard of a farmers market taking over the library parking lot in the middle of Armonk, NY supposedly every Thursday of the summer from 3-5 PM. Is it new? Somehow I doubt it. I think it just hit our radar finally now that she is a health nut and is eating all things natural, or organic, or pesticide-free, or whatever you want to call it.

I have to say this, it was an experience and I feel healthier for simply having been there. There was pretty much anything you could want, from fresh fruit and vegetables, to fresh-baked sweets, local wine, honey and even products made from fresh herbs such as lavender sachets. Every booth offered not only nature’s bounties, but also some pretty nice looking, strapping young farm hands peddling their wares–that was a pleasant surprise, I can tell you.

We walked out with the largest head of cauliflower either one of us had ever seen. It must have been the size of a basketball, but after roasting it with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper in the oven, we devoured almost every last ounce. The sunflower sprouts purchased dressed up the garden’s yield of arugula nicely. And the olive and sun-dried tomato tapenade made an excellent appetizer when served with Brie cheese and crackers. For dessert we had ginger cookies sold by Big Girl Baked Goods. Good cookies but worth buying just for the name alone.

All in all I would say a successful trip and one I will happily repeat. Donna now hits a few different farmers markets a week in our area since apparently they travel and set up in different towns each day of the week. With our reusable shopping bag, buying locally grown produce from small farmers rather than supporting the big chain stores with imported goods that travel thousands of miles in big, gas-guzzling, carbon-emitting trucks, I really felt like I was doing something good, on top of getting the freshest possible produce, grown without hormones or chemicals. They also freely and happily give out samples of the food.

So find a farmers market near you, grab a nice rattan or canvas bag and some cash and make an event of it.  The one we went to even had live music–a singer on guitar. And the hot farmers were pretty nice too.

Until next time, happy marketing.

Cat

I recently stumbled upon something very exciting. Kind of the oil version of a Jack-of-all-trades that is not only good for all of your body, inside and out, but is environmentally friendly and helps support working mothers in the aforementioned exotic land.

What is this of which I speak? Argan Oil.

About now you  are thinking, what the hell am I talking about and why is a romance writer blogging about imported oil? Well, as I’ve confessed before here on the blog, I am a big old procrastinator who will research pretty much anything online to avoid doing what I am supposed to be doing, and I am making a real effort to be healthier and more environmental by finding more natural products to use. So there!

Anyway…Argan Oil. Here is a brief history but a more comprehensive article can be found at Wikipedia.

For centuries before modern times, the indigenous people of Morocco would collect and use the Argan kernels for oil used in cooking and cosmetics. The Argania spinosa tree is a relic of the Earth’s Tertiary Period, which ended about 1.6 million years ago, and it grows in only a few other places in the world. It is tenacious, withering and fruitless during extended droughts, and it lives as long as 200 years. Recently, however, the tree was in danger of extinction thanks to overgrazing of goats and the local population harvesting it for wood.

The tree is now under the protection of UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), an organization which dedicated 25,900-square-kilometer of land to preserve the trees and who also created world-wide distribution and new consumer demand for products made from the reputedly anti-aging argan oil.

All argan sold today through the organization is produced by a women’s cooperative that shares the profits among the local women of the Berber tribe. The cooperative has established an ecosystem reforestation project so that the supply of argan oil will not run out and the income that is currently supporting the women will not disappear. The money is providing healthcare and education to the local women, and supporting the entire community as a whole.

Cosmetically the Vitamin E-rich oil can be used for hair, skin and nails, and even for the relief of psoriasis. The argan kernels also yield oil that can be used on salads or for dipping bread. Argan oil remains one of the rarest oils in the world.

So, there you go. I have yet to find the roasted argan oil for cooking but I am hoping to do so. Meanwhile, I am currently using Virgin 100% Pure Argan Oil (from Slice of Nature) instead of my usual face cream for both day and night use. I am using One ‘n Only’s Argan Oil (made from Moroccan argan oil mixed with Dimethicone) on my hair exclusively. This one product has replaced the three hair products I used to use (leave-in conditioner, straightening serum, and shine spray) and my hair has never looked or felt better.

A few words of caution.

1) Use these products sparingly. A little goes a very long way and too much will leave you a greasy mess. It is oil, after all. One squirt covers both my face and neck. A quarter-sized amount worked into my wet, shampooed hair is plenty for me. (I have a LOT of very thick hair. Most people should start with a dime-sized amount.)

2) Beware of imitations. I had originally searched online for “Moroccan Oil TM” a hair product a salon used on me that sells for about $40 a bottle. I learned through research that unless you purchase this product from an authorized salon, you are likely getting a fake made from other kinds of oils and product performance is not guaranteed. Since there was no authorized salon within 50 miles of my house, I found One ‘n Only’s $9 Argan Oil hair product online and have been very happy. I figured if I was going to experiment with new products, a $9 experiment made more sense than a $40 one.

I truly believe that our ancestors knew better than we do about quite a few things. Yeah, we have computers and can land a man on the Moon, but my nails are stronger than ever, my skin looks fabulous and my hair has never looked better–all thanks to the ancient species of Argania spinosa and the women of the Berber tribe. Go figure.

I’ve gone through life very happily with my eyes closed, simply selecting something off the grocery store shelf that promised tasty goodness on my tongue without much thought past the pretty picture on the package. I am of the Red Dye #2 generation, where we children saw the complete disappearance of red M&Ms for years because someone, somewhere had decided they would give us cancer. I didn’t much care–the green ones were my favorite anyway.

Yet there I was this morning, whipping up a bowl of 1% milk with the powdered contents of a package of sugar free, instant, artificially-flavored pistachio pudding and as the powder hit the milk, and my whisk hit the powder, it all turned into what looked like an unappetizing bowl full of leprechaun semen. I immediately looked to the packaging and, ridiculously so I know, was shocked to see right on the front the words “artificially flavored”. No kidding! How about “artificially colored”?

I’ve made this name brand dessert many times over the years and I’ve never thought twice about it, but as I’ve said, I’ve been ruined by my friend who is on a new health kick and has forced us all to re-examine our eating habits. Some changes I’ve found easy. Things like using my stainless steel water bottle instead of plastic bottles, or microwaving leftovers only in glass rather than in used, plastic, chinese take-out containers. Other changes I am finding incredibly difficult. I haven’t enjoyed a cup of coffee since she convinced me to give up my artificial sweetener and powdered creamer. I’ve tried half and half, heated and frothed milk, soy milk, sugar, agave, and all combinations in between and I’m still not happy. The worst part is, when I gave up and tried to go back to my old ways, that now tastes funny to me too. Maybe I need to switch to tea…

Anyway, I have no answers for you, only whining. Sorry, my only excuse is that it is early in the morning, my coffee tastes like crap and I have leprechaun sperm in my fridge. Maybe it’s time to get back to the past. The days when my father would harvest his homegrown vegetables (fertilized only with manure and compost) and my mother would preserve them in Ball jars for the winter. When we had our own chickens who roamed the yard eating bugs and laying fresh eggs. I’m not talking Colonial times (I’m only 43 years old after all). This was a decade or two ago. How have things changed so quickly? Maybe it’s time we considered changing back.

Cat