Hey there,

Jay and I have been snackplating for a long time and we finally decided to have a full-on plate off.  Tonight’s subject: the Rice Crispy Square. Here’s how it went down.

For the Knuckle Sandwich, Jay sandwiched a  layer of peanut butter and Spanish peanuts between two thin layers of rice crispy squares. He topped it with melted semi-sweet Callebaut chocolate. (Sidenote: I was under the impression that peanut butter was verboten on account of our Madelaine’s peanut allergy. Ahem.) The Campfire Crispy used 40 jumbo burnt marshmallows instead of the regulars. I melted bittersweet chocolate and then stirred in some whipping cream to keep it soft and ganache-y. I topped it with a bit of brown sugar and sea salt.

The bourbon’s Woodford Reserve. I got the espresso, he got the latte.

I leave you with Sweet Brown who just hasn’t got time for bronchitis.  Happy Thursday!

Adios.

Lisa

Sweet Brown

Hey there,

I wore sponge curlers in my hair every school night from Senior Kindergarten through to grade 3. Why? Because my mother absolutely loves, even pines for, curly hair. That’s why.

My mother has incredibly thick, straight hair. While her sister had thick hair with beautiful waves. so of course, to my mother, wavy’s better.

You see, I come from a family of five sisters and three brothers. My brothers had curly, wavy hair. The sisters did not. My mom “helped the girls” by insisting we coil our hair around tubes of pink foam every night.  We held them in place with underwear. Nothing unusual about that, right?

For me, the turning point was a rainy spring day in grade 3. I was heading to school with my incredibly bouncy curls. But, with no umbrella, my ‘do would be wrecked. My mom improvised a hair kerchief out of a plastic bread bag. Nothing unusual about that, right?

I screamed. She insisted. Then I stormed out of the house with a bag on my head. Of course, I took it off the moment I was sure she couldn’t see me. But still my hair was covered in bread crumbs.

In grade 4,  I got my friend’s babysitter to cut my hair really short. ..Too short for curlers. Phew.

Adios,

Lisa

Hey There,

I guess you could say I was a pretty big deal in high school. For five years, I was a member of the “Better Half Club” which naturally meant I sold doughnuts at break. Not only did it build my business and sales acumen, but it gave me first crack at all the best doughnuts.

There were six kinds of doughnuts in weekly rotation: jam filled, lemon filled, chocolate dipped, honey glazed, plain, and the best: chocolate topped and pumped with a weird icing/whipped cream topping. I call them, “Dirty Doughnuts.” Because they are.

Today I was shopping at No Frills (discount supermarket) for our daughter Madelaine’s sleepover birthday and I stumbled upon my old friends. I know they’re bad and disgusting. There’s just something about the fake cream and weird greasy dough that works for me. They’re also kind of hard to find, so when I stumble upon them, I gots to have me some.

My niece, Emily mentioned something about pretzels and Bits ‘N Bites on Facebook. I think they’re a nice complement.

Enjoy your Thursday. It’s almost Friday.

Adios,

Hey there,

As promised, here’s the recipe for Quinoa Pudding. It’s easy and has lots of options for variations. I got this recipe from Karen Soper, a parent I met at my kids pre-school. She’s got a real thing for healthy eating.

1/2 Cup organic sugar of maple sugar
2 Tablespoons of soft butter, plus extra for greasing the pan
2 eggs
1 Cup milk (You could substitute rice milk, almond milk, soy milk. I don’t know about coconut milk, but I’d like to try it.)
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 Teaspoon cinamon
pinch of sea salt
2 cups cooked quinoa
1/2 cup of chopped nuts (optional)
1/2 cup currants (You could substitute dried cherries, raisins, dates, chopped prunes or dried apricots.)
Freshly grated nutmeg

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, milk, vanilla, cinamon and salt until blended. Fold in quinoa, hazlenuts and currants and mix thoroughly.

Butter a 1 1/2 quart casserole or souffle dish. You could also pour into 6 ramekins. Pour the custard mixture into the casserole (or ramekins) and grate a little nutmeg on top of it. Bake for 40 minutes or until just set.

Enjoy!

Adios,

Lisa

PS: To cook two cups of quinoa, put one cup of dry quinoa into a pot and cover with water. Let it boil for a few minutes. When the little kernels burst, they’re ready. Just drain the excess water and it’s ready for pudding.