Midweek Marvels- Mamma Chia Vitality Beverage

I am beyond traumatized. I consider myself to be a bit of a dabbler into the hippy food world, so I had I thought, read enough about chia seeds in the past so that I wouldn't be surprised at all. I've used flaxseed in recipes before, so that fact that chia seeds are high in fiber and have a tendency to 'gel' liquids didn't seem that weird to me. When I saw this drink on the shelf, I assumed that while it included the gelling power of chia seeds that it must still count as a drink, just a very thick one. You know, like a smoothie or a milkshake with just a touch of that seedy crunch like you get from raspberry jam. This was a fatal mistake, expecting this item to go down in any way resembling a drink is partially what lead to a total system crash when the strange brew crossed my lips. Chia seeds don't just gel in one large mass, the seeds gel liquid individually around them so when I went to take a sip my mind JUST COULDN'T DEAL. I got a mouth full of little crunchy beads surrounded in an orb of liquid, like caviar, or super soggy pomegranate arils, only the juice they were encircled in wasn't a highly flavored bite of pomegranate juice, I was a sort of dull faint taste, like a sugar free jello.

After my second sip, I had to take a moment. I needed to wrap my mind around what this experience was supposed to be like and stop being creeped out by new and strange sensory experience. So I sat down, closed my eyes and took a slow sip, trying to take in this chia seed mess without preconceptions.
And yet... NOPE!

My final conclusion is that while it might take me a few more tries to wrap my mind around this oddball chia thing, the drink itself didn't have enough taste on its own,( it was supposed to have a cherry limeade base) to act as sturdy enough training wheels for a chia seed noob like me. Maybe a home brew would work out better? If you've had a good experience with a chia seed drink or recipe, please let me know in the comments. Chia seeds have a long list of health benefits so I would love to make friends if I could just find a little direction.


P.S. If you have any suggestions of new or strange foods I should try, shoot me an email at desireelitchford[at]gmail[DOT]com.

Midweek Marvels - McVitie's HobNobs

I'm going to go ahead and confess that I have a problem with fetishizing European things. Maybe it's because I'm from Tennessee, that the UK seems so charming to me but it's a sickness I've learned to accept about myself. I love the slang, I love the television ( Mighty Boosh? Doctor Who?! Graham Norton!!!), I'm even getting pretty good at matching the lovely accents to the locations. So when I saw the teeny Union Jack on the top of this cookie box in the international aisle I couldn't resist. Plus, I mean, let's not even talk about the name. HobNobs?! What?!

Chocolate and oats seem like a combination that couldn't possibly conflict. Well really, if you put chocolate on most things you're pretty much sure to please, so even though this was a bit of a gamble it didn't seem too out there. Sadly though, I didn't love them. They tasted like a cross between a graham cracker and a Nature Valley Oats and Honey bar, except in place of the sweetness of either of those things was a strong sort of overly wholesome flavor, reminiscent of bran flakes, or even...hay. Call it my oversexed American sugar gauge but even the bit that was half dipped in chocolate wasn't sweet enough to compensate for a taste you would expect to find inside of box of something touting its colon health benefits.

In closing, I'd like to say a few things in defense of this little cookie;

1) My hopes were outrageously high with this one (see Fetishizing of the UK)
2) There's a possibility that this box was just a little bit stale (I mean, you never really know with large chain international aisles)
3) It does say 'Digestive Biscuit' on the top, which I could take as a little bit of bragging about colon health (even though the google says the term originated from the old-timey belief that the baking soda including provided antacid qualities.)

4) Although they weren't to my taste (or possibly just my expectations), McVitie's HobNobs did seem like they would go down marvelously well with a drink of something sweet and warm (should I go there and say tea?), if anyone has tested this out please let me know.

 Also the boyfriend liked them well enough to steal them away one by one in the dark of night so there's at least one glowing review out of two here. Let me know your opinion. Have you tried McVitie's HobNobs? (why did that sound dirty?) Did I simply get a not so good box? Enrich my mind grapes!

Also, on the P.S., if you know of any weird foods I should try, send your suggestions to desireelitchford[at]gmail[dot]com. Let's let this madness continue.

Sunday Kind Of Love - When I Heard The Learn'd Astronomer by Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn'd astronomer;

When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;

When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and

        measure them;

When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much

        applause in the lecture-room,

How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;

Till rising and gliding out, I wander'd off by myself,

  In the mystical moist night -air,

and from time to time,

Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars.

Brown Sugar Maple Picard Cookies

modified slightly from this recipe in Bon Appetit December 2000

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup  real maple syrup, ( the good stuff)

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups AP flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Royal icing for awkward, untrained decoration (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Then whisk in the maple syrup, the egg, and the vanilla extract until combined. Whisk in the baking powder and the salt, then add the flour and mix until it comes together to form a dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (and hour is better).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll out the dough to about 1/3 inch thickness and cut out the cookies with the cutter. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes depending on how crispy you like your cookies. Enjoy straight from the oven or cooled and decorated. 

Yeild 25 Picards

You can find the Facepalming Picard  cookie cutter here.

Midweek Marvels - Peanut Butter Jam Session

So I realize that this is probably cheating but... I found a new Ben and Jerry's flavor that I just have to share with you. It's called Peanut Butter Jam Session, and it's a deceivingly simple combination of flavors in a simply gorgeous way. Peanut Butter Jam Session combines Ben and Jerry's already wonderful peanut butter ice cream with swirls of crunchy peanut butter and an intensely flavored raspberry jam. This combination ordinarily wouldn't spark my interest, (What's so exciting about peanut butter and jam, right?) but it's executed in such an elegant way that the flavors hum together with the harmony of an old standard.
It's hard to pin down exactly what it is about this flavor that makes it such a hit,( is it the just right level of tart-sweet from the raspberry jam? Is it the perfect bite of salty crunch from the chunky peanut butter? Is it the possibility of secretly added narcotics?) but something in the combination is sooo satisfying.

I was really surprised by how much I loved this flavor, I typically rate fruity desserts lower just based on personal preference, but here... I'll even be so bold as to add it to my top 10 favorites. (What? Wut?!) I may be 77 flavors in, but I'm happy to find that every once and a while Ben and Jerry's can still produce a flavor that will dazzle and delight even the oldest of fans. Give it a try!

August Instagram - Food Truck Life

I got an instagram account last month with an on the road photo blogging project in mind.  Now I don't quite have the iphone situation all figured out yet, but here's a look at life so far.

The first two weeks of August were pretty slow, the truck was off the road while my bosses took a way overdue vacation, so I had more time on my hands for the finer things in life.

Outside things were pretty exciting. We got a new Doctor!

I was freaking out! Were you freaking out?!

 And there was a blue moon. Also exciting - though of course it looked just the same.

My boyfriend and I started watching/binge watched/completely caught up on Breaking Bad, and in the madness I found myself suspicious of every chicken place ever...

(Wait, we don't count, right? I'm gonna say we don't count...)

Then of course came Tomato Art Fest.

By mid August it was time to work again.

 5am - time to make the biscuits. I made 400 that day.

Using the street art to remind me where I parked downtown!

All lined up at Live On The Green

 At Riff's Food Truck Jam. It's every Friday night and sooo much fun! There's beer, and bands, and free parking; it's Nashville's best kept secret!

Chef Karl's (super secret off menu) fried okra. It will blow your mind!

Perks of the business; you get to try food from all the other food trucks! Smoked pork tacos, yes yes YES!

And that was the month of August!

You can find me on instagram at Madame_magar