Passing Judgment - Charlie Chang's Ping

Recently Charlie Chang's started delivering to my neighborhood. So I decided to order it for dinner the other night. I have had sushi at the restaurant and it was fine, so I ordered the sushi. Judgment - The california rolls were fine, the Salmon Nagiri was fine, the "special" soft shell crab roll was disgusting. I don't say that too often.

Easter Brunch or How I Ate a Loaf a Butter Covered Bread

For Easter brunch I made two dishes found on Pinterest (of course). 

1. A crock pot egg bake.  This would have been easy to make, if I had been better about my timing.  This dish needs to bake for 8-10 hours on low. I needed it for brunch at noon, so if you are somewhat good at math (I'm not, I had to ask my husband) you can figure out that I needed to wake-up at 2am to start the egg bake.  The good news is that I put everything together in the stoneware that night before going to bed, stuck it in the fridge, and then at 2am I just woke up and stuck it in the heating device (I don't know what that part is called).  This was easy for me because my 8-month-old and husband both woke up at 1am. 

So I'm not going to write out the recipe for you, because another blogger already has. Check out the recipe here at A Latte' with Ott A.

Here is the judgment - This is great if you plan to have breakfast 8-10 hours after you go to bed.  The flavor was really good and it was a hit with my guests.  It's also really easy and if you use low-fat cheese and lean bacon, it wouldn't be that too bad for you.

2. The other dish was a lemon monkey bread.  This is where I ate a loaf of bread covered with butter and sugar - literally.  This was really, really easy to make. Just take pre-made buttermilk biscuits - you know, the kind in a can that you pop. Then you cut them up and coat them with sugar.  You put them in a bread pan and cover with a melted butter, sugar mixture.  Finally, you bake.  JUDGED - one of the best things I ever ate and probably one of the most unhealthy things I ever made.



Here is the recipe:

1 can of buttermilk biscuits
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar


Glaze:
1 stick of butter
4 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup sugar

1. Cut biscuits in quarters and place in a greased pan.
2. Mix lemon zest and sugar together in a bowl, throw in the biscuits and coat with the sugar.
3. Melt the butter together with the lemon juice and sugar
4. Pour butter over biscuits, this will look like it's too much, but it's okay.
5. Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes, remove from pan.
TRY NOT TO EAT THE WHOLE THING YOURSELF - I'M SERIOUS

I'm Pinteresting

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog and yeah, I judged myself for that.  I left my blog high and dry and thought of myself as one of those people - the people that think writing a blog is a great idea and then don't follow through.

Then one magical day Pinterest came along and as I started collected recipes and trying them. Suddenly, I had gone back to my roots - judgy. I started collecting recipes, trying the recipes (not everyone does this on Pinterest, some are just collectors - yeah, you're judged) and then providing my opinion.  AND people liked what I pinned, what I had to say and then *here's the magic* they started following me.  So, I thought, "it's time, time to start writing my judgmental thoughts again." 

So here we go. Thank you Pinterest.  My husband is going to be so excited, he really loved it when I took pictures of our food when we went out to eat.

Judging My Fellow Riders

 by David Fetti

I normally judge food, but today I want to take a moment to judge my fellow riders on the DC Metro.

As we know from my last post, I am pregnant, and now being seven months along and not covered by bulky sweaters or coats, it is very obvious that I am pregnant.  This is where my new insight and judgment come in.

I ride at "Peak of the Peak," the busiest time of rush hour, both in the morning and the afternoon and there is rarely an open seat. This is "zombie" time where people try not to look up from their phone/paper/book/whatever because they are trying desperately to be in their own world. Over the past few months I have become more aware of an issue I have with my fellow riders; in general, people who are of good health and perfectly able to stand do not get up and offer their seat to those who may need one more than them.

A woman who is pregnant should be offered a seat by an able bodied individual upon entering a train car.  I judge those individuals who do not offer a seat as rude and inconsiderate; being a "zombie" and not paying attention is not an excuse. While I should not have to provide an explanation as to why a pregnant woman should be offered a seat, here are a few for my fellow riders: pregnant women do not have the same abdominal strength to hold securely to a pole or rail while standing on a moving train, they are often over heated and physically uncomfortable from carrying extra weight, and it is dangerous to both the mother and the baby if she were to fall.

I know the "zombie" world, I usually am one of the "zombies." But I think we need to take a break from being a "zombie" as the doors open at each stop and observe the riders entering, there are people with disabilities, elderly individuals, people with small children, and those who are pregnant, they should all be offered a seat.  Treat others as you wish to be treated or as you hope your wife, sister, or mother will be treated. DC is known as one of the rudest cities in the country and right now I can clearly see why.

I Apologize

I am aware that I do not have many, if any followers.  So no one was extremely disappointed when I stopped posting.  The timing of my abrupt departure had to do with a major change in my life, which I happily discovered the day after Thanksgiving.  As you will notice, Thanksgiving was my last post.


The day after Thanksgiving I found out I was pregnant!  While thrilled with this happy news, it also began a three month period of food aversion.  I didn't even want to think about food, let alone blog about it.  There were no new recipes or eating out.  The only thing I could manage to eat was orange popsicle and if it was a good day, maybe a strawberry popsicle.

My eating has not been great over the second trimester and I expect it will be even more "here and there" during the third.  I will try to post from time-to-time over the next few months, but I have a feeling I will have other things on my plate (hehe).

My hope is that I will turn into one of those super cool blogging moms and adjust my blog for cooking and dining out for moms/parents.  However, as my husband says, I'm not great at sticking to projects, so we'll see how this goes.

Happy Thanksgiving

Healthy Pumpkin Souffle: A Great Pumpkin Cheesecake Alternative

Souffles are hard to make, as many of us have seen from the number of chefs who have been kicked off Top Chef because of an ill fated souffle. However, if you follow my directions you will make a wonderful, healthy pumpkin souffle for all to enjoy this holiday season.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp sugar   
14 oz canned pumpkin, puree   
1 Tbsp cornstarch   
1/4 cup fat-free evaporated milk   
4 oz Neufchatel cheese, softened   
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice   
1 tsp ground ginger   
3 large egg(s), separated   
1 large egg white(s)   
1/3 cup(s) sugar   

Instructions

Heat oven to 350ºF. 

Coat a 2 1/2-quart soufflé dish with cooking spray, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. 

Over medium heat, cook pumpkin until no longer steaming, about 8 minutes, it may still be steaming, but not as much.  We're just trying to get out the extra moisture.

Mix together cornstarch and evaporated milk, whisk into pumpkin. 

Allow mixture it to start bubbling and then remove it from heat and cool. Note - Cooling is very important, you have to do this so you do not scramble the eggs later.  If you are short on time, stick it in the freezer or fridge. 

with a mixer beat softened Neufchatel cheese with pumpkin pie spice and ginger

Beat in yolks to combine. 

Beat in cooled pumpkin mixture. 

With a whisk attachment on your mixer beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
Beating Egg Whites - to see how to do this watch this video, starting at minute 1:05.

Add remaining 1/3 cup sugar one tablespoon at a time until stiff. Note - it is important to do this slowly so you do not deflate your egg whites.

In three additions, fold whites into pumpkin mixture.
Folding - to see how to do this, watch this video (same as above) starting at minute 1:17.

Pour into prepared dish. 

Bake until puffed and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. 

Enjoy this yummy souffle without any guilt!