All Heated Up For Cinco de Mayo!

I've posted about Che's Burrito Lounge in Hamilton's Hess Village before but in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo I'm adding some new pics. If you still haven't been I'm telling you you're missing out on some super fresh, made from scratch, full of flavour eats. And if you'd like to heat it up habanero style be sure to ask for the Super Hot Sauce; it's made with love!

  

Love.. The secret ingredient in the Super Hot Sauce Saney made for me :)

'Sew Hungry' ~Ottawa Street May 3rd 2013

I'm a believer in supporting the little guys, the independent business in our community but when thirty-nine Food Trucks from Hamilton and our surrounding area line up along Ottawa Street it makes it really difficult to choose just who you're gonna buy from. I'm drawn to The Portobello Burger in particular as they offer all Vegetarian/Vegan grub but so many of the other guys have Veggie Tacos, Gourmet Grilled Cheese and Veggie Sandwiches that cater to vegheads like me as well as a ton of deserts to choose from various trucks. Here you'll see my Eggplant Parm and Kale Salad. I left there feeling 'Sew' full that I couldn't manage to fit in that cupcake I had my heart set on devouring from Sweetness Bakery; maybe because I had stuffed my face with Tiny Toms Donuts after hoovering back my lunch! To read more about the event see The Spec's article with a description of each vendor and if you're from the local area and didn't get out to this one you might want to check it out next time!

Kale Salad and Eggplant Parm from The Portobello Burger

Tiny Tom's Donuts

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup natural peanut butter (it's saltier than some of the commercial brands)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips (you can use semi-sweet but the milk just tastes better with the saltiness)
• 1 pinch of love, the deepest kind you've got

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Cream butter or margarine with brown sugar and white sugar. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in peanut butter, baking soda, and salt. Make sure it is well blended. Add flour, chocolate chips and love.
3. Drop teaspoons of cookie dough then flatten with fork slightly on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 6-7 minutes or until just showing a hint of brown on edges. Don't overcook. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 -10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack. My father-in-law makes these for us and although this is pretty much the recipe he gave me to use (minus the love ingredient, I added that in but I'm pretty sure he secretly uses it too) I just can't seem to make them quite like he does.

Starbucks, This 'Bugs' Me

I've heard of companies using cochineal beetles before and I know to look for it on the ingredients of what I buy in the grocery store but I wouldn't think to look for it in a Starbucks drink. The beetles are used as an alternative to artificial flavourings but it's not a good alternative! Seventy thousand beetles are killed to produce just one pound of the red dye. Here's my idea.. for a cool drink on a hot day, drink REAL drinks like Water and Lemonade made with real lemons. I do love a Starbucks Coffee once in awhile and appreciate the company's interest in providing products that are Fair Trade. This one ingredient probably won't make me stop going there but it does make me want to spread the word to fellow Vegetarians. A drink that was once Vegan is no longer and of course I know now to never order these items. Most people freak out at the sight of an insect, ..now imagine drinking up the crushed bugs AND paying $7 for it. Regardless if you live an ethical lifestyle or not, it's just gross! Read this article I saw today on Yahoo Shine about the Starbucks Strawberry Cream Frappuccino and Strawberry Smoothies.

I'm posting this waaaaaay out of season, but The North Pole is cool link if you have kids or are looking for new recipes.

Low Fat Brownies

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch Process Cocoa
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 4 ounces unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 egg whites

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch by 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, sugar and salt in a small bowl. In a medium bowl, combine oil, applesauce, vanilla, egg and egg whites. Gradually stir in dry ingredients to wet ingredients until well combined. Pour into baking pan and bake for 20 minutes, until sides pull away from edge of pan. Cool in pan and cut into 16 squares.

Apple Dip

2 cups of plain cream cheese

1 cup of brown sugar

1 tsp of vanilla

(Beat these ingredients together)

Place in a serving dish and top with caramel sauce and Skor

(I use Smuckers Caramel Topping and Skor bits, sold in the aisle where the chocolate chips are. Alternatively, smash up 4 Skor bars and use those)

Serve with sliced green apples. Yuuuuuuummmmmy!

Banana Muffins

3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup oil or melted margarine
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts (or raisons or chocolate chips)

Mash bananas (overripe bananas are best!) Add oil/margarine and sugar. Mix well.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together and add to the banana mixture. Mix until the flour is well blended (do not beat).

Pour into muffin pans or a bread pan and bake at 360°F until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 1 Dozen Muffins

Fruit Kabobs

Get creative with your choices here. For Valentine's Day or Canada Day you could use all red coloured fruits.... strawberries, raspberries, red grapes, watermelon.

There is no need for a lot of instruction for this one... Basically, decide what fruits you want to use, interchange them on the skewers to look colourful and pretty and put them on a long platter to serve. You can serve them with a fruit dip or fruit yogurt as well.

Ice Cream Pie

• Start with store-bought pie crust, graham cracker style or cookie is always good
• Scoop the ice cream into the crust (hint.... if you choose a chocolate cookie crust, try cookies & cream ice cream!)
  
• Top with store-bought whip cream.

How easy is that?!!

Pound Cake with Honey & Rosemary

1 Pound Cake from the local grocery store

4 oranges with the pith removed

Combine the orange segments with 2 tablespoons honey

Spoon the oranges over the pound cake slices