Women in bars.

Somehow the liquor industry convinced us that bars are the primo places to find a mate. It makes sense I guess, given the ready access to mind-altering substances and resulting convivial atmosphere. Reducing inhibition is probably the best justification for drinking - in moderation please people. Sure, sure, we like the taste, but if the alcohol wasn't present, I doubt booze would be as popular. There's a reason non-alcoholic wine and beer sales are like a flea on the butt of Mr Ethanol Elephant.

Concerned mothers the world over tell their daughters they'll never find a good man at the bar. They're referring to the legal bar I imagine, since any sensible mother would break down in floods of tears knowing her Princess was dating the likes of a John Edwards. Contrastingly, drinking-type bars are the habitue of sexy and upright paragons of the community. Like me.

But not me lately. After years of unsatisfactory searching for the future Mrs Wombat in drinking establishments all over, the obvious has arrived and whacked me over the head. We don't need bars to find women; women are everywhere. I'm fully aware of how dopey this sounds. Really, truly stupid. There's no defence I can provide (where's a lawyer when I need one?) other than to say that some behaviours from one's early years can stick beyond their usefulness.

For a young man in Australia the progression is: out with mates -> drinking -> horny -> nothing to lose -> fear of failure overcome -> approach women -> hope for successful outcome.

Experience eliminates the need for the first two parts, meaning the whole world is my oyster. Why did it take so long?

Being Single Part 1, Being Single Part 2, Being Single Part 3.

Nature's Pride

I'm back with another Tastemaker opportunity from Foodbuzz! This time I received two loaves of Nature's Pride bread, Whole Wheat and 12 Grain. These were choc-full of goodness (5g protein and 3-4g fiber per slice) and devoid of artificial ingredients and high fructose corn syrup. While I liked both loaves (usually toasty), I think my preference was the Whole Wheat.



I also received an email tonight regarding Nature's Pride sponsorship of the upcoming 1st Annual Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco. In exchange for a winning recipe, Nature's Pride will sponsor six foodies as "Bread Ambassadors"!!!! So here's my recipe... i'm hoping it will be my golden ticket ;)

Savory Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Savory Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Recipe by Shannon
Serves 2



This recipe can easily be scaled up or baked in different sized dishes, just be sure to adjust the cooking time! If your bread is fresh, dry it out in the oven before proceeding. I used a fresh chorizo chicken sausage with chiptoles from a local meet shop, but I've also tried it with a mild sausage and a chipotle and adobo thrown in. Pre-cooked sausage (like trader joe's spicy jalapeno chicken sausage) can also be used, just dice and you can save yourself a step!

2 1/2c stale bread, cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2c pumpkin
1/2c sour cream (I used lite)
1/4c + 2T milk (I used Smart Balance Lactose Free Fat-Free)
1 egg
salt and fresh ground pepper
1/4c fresh grated cave-aged gruyere
1/4-1/3lb chipotle chicken sausage
1T chopped fresh sage
a few (5-6) whole sage leaves, for garnish, if desired
butter or oil for frying sage leaves

Preheat oven to 350deg. Whisk together pumpkin, sour cream, milk and egg. Stir in bread, salt and pepper. Let sit while browning the sausage. The pumpkin-bread mixture can be prepared ahead of time and kept in the fridge until you're ready to bake the bread pudding.

Heat skillet to med, then add sausage and break up as you're browning the meat. During the last minute of cooking, add sage and stir. Drain cooked sausage on paper towel. Add sausage, chopped sage and gruyere to bread and pumpkin mixture. Pour into a 4"sq baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 25min.

While the bread pudding is baking, prepare the crispy sage leaves. Melt butter (or oil) in a small skillet. When melted and bubbly, add sage leaves and cook a few minutes or so on each side, until crispy. Remove leaves and drain on a paper towel until plating.

After 25min in the oven, turn on your broiler and crisp up the top of the bread pudding (~5min or so). Let sit for a few minutes so you don't burn your mouth, then serve with crsipy sage leaves!


As there is some cheese in here (although gruyere instead of cheddar), I should submit this for the Cabot Giveaway over at Biggest Diabetic Loser! Mmm, cheese :)

Will I be single forever?

Imagination is the single person's closest friend. I don't know about you, but wandering through my brain's fantasy hallways keeps me occupied through traffic jams, business meetings, bathroom cleaning, beach walks and appalling lines at the post office.

I don't picture doing any of those specific activities with anyone else, thrilling as I'm sure the right lady would find the daily cat box emptying. It's more the contemplation of whether that woman in the 'Ethnic Foods' aisle at the supermarket would make any difference to my life. Or how come the teller chick at the bank (who looks to be approx. 19) already has a family and an address that's not a Postal Mart box? And am I a different species of male simply unable to communicate with the sex with the interesting body parts?

Imagining is fun - the Powerball this week is $153 million - but acts in the same way as the proverbial grain of sand in the oyster. No, not the one that you bite down on and break your crown - the one than gains layer after layer of something or other, and forms a pearl. Hour after hour of imagining creates a hard shell insulating me from the real world. I'm sure that's the answer. I'm living in a la-la land in my mind, neglecting to ask that woman in the ethnic aisle whether she knows where the hot sambals live.

That's the answer. Spit out the oyster's pearl of imagination and slurp down the salty meat. That's real life. I think.

Being Single Part 1, Being Single Part 2, Being Single Part 4.

Bread Custard with Raisins and Dried Cranberries

Don't waste food. That's what my grandmother always told me. I took that simple idea to heart.

When we go out to eat, I bring home what we don't eat. Especially the bread. Why let good bread get thrown away? And if you're in the grocery store, and you see a loaf of marked-down white bread, buy it and you'll be able to make a dessert that's as easy-to-make as it is elegant looking and delicious.

Bread Custard with Raisins and Dried Cranberries

Unlike traditional bread puddings, this dessert is designed to come out of the pan.

Yield 4-6 servings

Time 30 minutes preparation, 60 minutes baking

Ingredients

2 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
6 slices white bread
1 tablespoon dark raisins
1 tablespoon golden raisins
1 tablespoon dried cranberries
1 tablespoon whole raw almonds, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon sweet butter, melted

Method

Soak the raisins and cranberries in the cream for an hour or overnight.

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Toast the bread in the oven for 4-5 minutes on each side until lightly toasted. Set aside.

Heat 1 teaspoon of sugar in a nonstick skillet over a low flame. Add the chopped almonds. Stir frequently until sugar begins to melt. After the almonds have been coated with the melted sugar, remove from the pan and chop on a cutting board.

Make the custard-base by using a fork to beat together the eggs and sugar. Add the cream with the raisins and dried cranberries. Stir well.

Put water into a small bowl. Taking 2-3 slices of toasted bread at a time, dip the bread in the water for a few seconds. Carefully squeeze out the water and tear the bread into pieces and drop into the custard. Mix well.

Instead of using a standard baking pan, use a 9" round take-out container. Why? Because the thin, aluminum-sided take-out container is flexible and that makes removing the bread custard easy.

Paint the inside of the take-out container with melted butter. Pour in the custard-bread mixture. Put into a water bath (1" of water in a pan larger than the take-out container).

Bake for 30 minutes, remove from the oven. Sprinkle the caramelized chopped almonds on top of the custard. Loosely lay a piece of aluminum foil over the custard to prevent the top from burning before the custard is set

Return to the oven for another 15 - 30 minutes. The custard is done when you touch the top and it only slightly jiggles (shouldn't be "wet"). Then remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

When cooled, the custard will shrink slightly allowing for easy removal from the pan. Place one hand on top, flip it over, and carefully remove the cake from the pan. Place a plate on the bottom and flip it over.

Serve warm dusted with powdered sugar or topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

A Taste of Emeril

A crazy weekend in Philly that included 12hrs on the train left me with a nasty cold that is ever-so-slowly getting better. While I did some cooking, I couldn't taste it until this weekend :/ I've been meaning to give a shoutout to Foodbuzz's Tastemaker program, through which I recieved some Emeril goodies to try out. I used the organic Vegetable stock when I made Kalyn's Autumn Harvest Soup this past week. As I normally use chicken stock, I was very impressed with the flavor of the stock and would definitely use it again if the price was right! I don't know if it was my particular spices, but I felt like the soup could've used a bit more. That also might have been my taste buds ;) This was also a delight to eat texture-wise as it combined kale, butternut, and farro! Not quite chicken soup, I think it had enough nutritional goodness to help fight my cold ;)

Autumn Harvest Soup

Boston-area bloggers/readers/friends: Let me know if you're interested in an apple-picking adventure at Smolak Farms this Sunday morning!!

Anyone else have plans to do some apple picking this fall?? I may have to try my hand at making apple cider donuts...

Save me I'm single!

It would all be so much easier if:

~ we didn't need sex to reproduce

~ the urge to reproduce weren't as strong

~ we weren't as fascinated by the other sex

~ we weren't as fascinated by sex

~ we didn't think about relationships so much

~ we didn't think so much

We shall never solve all the problems of meeting the right person and sustaining a relationship with them. Humans are an imperfect animal, prone to changes of direction, and our relationship architecture reflects that. The search for fairy tale endings and happy ever after is, to me, a deliberate misread of you and us. Reality will find a way to disappoint you if it's perfection you seek.

Technology is wonderful, its benefits clear. In this particular field, I have my doubts. Two cases in particular encourage delusional thinking.

Exhibit A: Online dating. Argh! I know, people find each other every day via this medium. For every successful couple (relationship longevity unknown) there are thousands of men and women whose view of possible partners is skewed by having them presented as another shopping option. It's one giant People Mall out there, the very idea of which gives me the creeps.

Exhibit B: Reproduction outside the body aka: in vitro fertilization. What an example of amazing science and bioengineering. Unfortunately, it is a powerful option with uses for both good and not so good. For couples unable to become pregnant naturally, it is the most wonderful gift. For many other applications, I am dubious. More than anything, I worry that we see IVF as a justification for delaying child-bearing even longer than we do already. This is a subtle influence, allowing folks who might otherwise settle to have families of their own a few more years of self-indulgence.

In a way, we're the (single) victims of our inventiveness.

Being Single Part 1, Being Single Part 3, Being Single Part 4.

Why am I single?

Singlehood isn't a disease, nor is it a condition. It's not contagious, and I don't think one can inoculate against it. Being without a romantic partner is more than something for your grandmother to focus on at family reunions, but less than the fairy tale she'd hoped for.

Many folks are single and wondering, so it's time to find out.

That's this week at Kiss & Blog: Single, but why?

Why am I single Part 2, Why am I single Part 3, Why am I single Part 4.