The Great American Dessert Bonanza
[ 16 June 2009, 12:40 ]
This was written by my friend Jess of Sugadeaux. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Jess is a true connoisseur of all things sweet & sugary, & her recent travels around the USA have been a never-ending test of her taste buds. We thought it was time for her to share her discoveries with the world. Here they are.
Having spent the last 2 months in the United States (including a guest baking stint in Austin), I now consider myself somewhat of a dessert aficionado. Often, tourists tend to be better experts than locals – it’s not exactly sustainable to visit a different bakery every day in the city where you actually live!
I started on the West Coast and ate my way to the East and back again. I sat at tables with friends, a pile of cupcakes before us, critiquing the flavour, texture, moisture, adjudicating with all the seriousness of a professional wine critic.
Chatting to Gala about my sweet, gooey discoveries, it occurred to us both that it would be cruel to withhold this information from her nonpareils. So I put in the eating time, and now present to you my top 5 sweet experiences from across America (in no particular order):
Cherry Pie Bars at Sugar Mamas Bakeshop in Austin
Wow. Just when I thought I couldn’t cram any more sugary sweets into my friends’ mouths in Austin, my house-mate became addicted to these bars. It didn’t matter how much or what he had eaten prior –- he would not agree to pick me up from the bakery unless I could guarantee him at least two bars. The bars feature a gorgeous sweet crust base, glistening bright red cherries that easily qualify as food porn, criss-crosses of white glaze and crumbled streusel as a topping. They’re a super fun take on an old school pie, and obscenely good. And only $2.25 each. Ridiculous.
Red Velvet cupcakes at Buttercake Bakery in Los Angeles
I’m not kidding –- I ate more red velvet this trip than you will possibly believe. And I cannot believe how many places screw it up. Usually it’s either just red vanilla cake, or the texture is wrong. And please East Coast bakeries, red velvet cake is SUPPOSED to have cream cheese frosting. Don’t try to reinvent a classic. I was thrilled when I bit into the red velvet cupcakes at Buttercake. Creamy frosting, dense moist cake and it actually tasted like red velvet! For the uninitiated, red velvet should have a hint of buttermilk/vinegar to cut sweetness and a light cocoa flavour. If it tastes like nothing, it’s not real red velvet!
Ben & Jerry’s Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream ice cream in New York
Firstly, I’m sorry NYC. I tried a bunch of cupcakes. Some I didn’t like, most were fine. But none shook my world enough to make the list. However, in the Wholefoods I did pick up a pint of the aforementioned B&J ice cream, and couldn’t stop asking others if they had tried it. Classic vanilla ice cream swirled with caramel and dotted with chocolate covered waffle cone pieces. Plus you get Stephen Colbert on the packaging. Pundit-sexy. The bonus of this entry is that hopefully most of you will have the chance to try this one for yourselves.
Crème Brûlée at Jacques-Imos in New Orleans
Most people go to Jacques-Imos for the shrimp and alligator cheesecake (not a dessert!). And lord knows, I certainly ate my fair share of regular food here (I do recommend you check out their website and freak the hell out on their unusual creole/Cajun menu choices). Serendipitously, though I was beyond stuffed, the kitchen sent our table out a complimentary ramekin of awesomeness, including the best brûlée I have ever tasted. The bottom of the plate was practically black with vanilla bean flecks. The custard was silky, the sugary crust cracked perfectly under my spoon. Get there at 5.30pm to guarantee a seat, and do not eat anything the night before unless you want to be rolled out.
Salted Caramel Macarons at Paulette in Los Angeles
Okay, I’ve had macarons. I’ve made macarons. They’re really cute, but sometimes I feel a little “take it or leave it” about the actual flavour. Paulette’s macarons made me see the light. Rich, semi-chewy macarons which bite perfectly and don’t crumble in your hands. The caramel is luscious, thick and gooey, dangerously dark with a hint of salt to excite the palate. They also have flavours such as green tea, rose water, passionfruit and well I could go on. You can pretty much never bother to try a macaron unless you’re offered one from here (or Paris).
Bon appetit!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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Tempt: A Haiku Cupcake Review
[ 25 August 2008, 20:39 ]
All cuteness aside,
This cupcake defeated me.
I ate just two bites.
Super-rich mud cake
Does not a good cupcake make.
A very sad truth.
For six dollars fifty, you
would be forgiven if you
expected more.
Dark chocolate & raspberry cupcake – $6.50 – Tempt, Wellington.
Love letters & feather headdresses,
Comment [52] Tags: consumption,
yum Add Gala on Twitter!The Raw Girl's Travel Guide
[ 9 June 2008, 12:32 ]
The essentials. Yes, fabulous shoes are an essential!
Going away on holiday is fabulous. There are hundreds of things to see, great food to eat, intense shop-a-thons, amazing parties, delicious food, mind-blowing art galleries, little streets to explore, fabulous food…
Yes. Like it or lump it, eating is a huge part of the travelling experience. We all need food to live, but we’re never so aware of this fact as when we’re on holiday. Usually you just eat at your desk or make some toast & watch television, & don’t give it a lot of thought. But when we’re trawling the streets for treasures, walking miles a day & staying in a hotel room, it seems like we need constant nourishment. Stopping off at every pizza joint, bakery, ice-cream shop & hot dog stand in your destination is expensive, not to mention unhealthy.
So what about those of us who have experienced the glee of raw food? How are we supposed to eat while we travel? What can we do to make our travels less of a trip to the bloat buffet & more energising, fulfilling & fun?
I hate to say this, but a lot of it comes down to your level of self-control & how you view food. Do you see it as the enemy, or just something your body requires? For me, if I see a cupcake, I’ll buy it & eat it. I don’t believe in dieting, & I had such a restricted view of food for years that these days, I’m pretty chilled out about what I eat. I don’t do guilt over cupcakes, ice-cream, cookies, whatever. I think that if you want it, you should eat it. Being on holiday is pretty much the extreme end of the scale, presenting thoughts such as, ‘Oooh, world famous cake? I better have a slice, since I might never come back…’
However, I also know that if I gorge myself on pizza, bread, pasta, whatever, I don’t feel very good afterwards. My energy slumps. I feel sluggish. My skin performs its own ugly little dance. I get grouchy & I think, “Ugh, I need to eat more raw food”.
Because being on holiday (or “vacation” as you Americans call it!) is so taxing, & because there’s always so much to do at any given moment, the key is to making eating raw as easy as possible. It needs to be even more easy than at home, because odds are good that you’re not going to have your usual things with you. The items in my kitchen that I took for granted, like balsamic vinegar, a blender, salad bowls & sunflower seeds, are going to be in short supply in a hotel room or a sublet apartment. (My kitchen in New York has tools but nothing else.)
Juice
The first & best thing you can do is to hunt out a juice bar in your local area. Use Google, ask locals or if you’re in the United States, utilise the power of Yelp! (I love Yelp.) Don’t be tempted to order juice from the hotel — it will be something like $6 for orange juice. Not very economical & you can get one that’s much larger & better for you for about the same price. Find the juice place, & decide to make it your morning routine. When you wake up, maybe even before you do anything else, chuck on some clothes (& dark sunglasses if you don’t look too fabulous first thing in the morning), make your way down there & order yourself a mammoth green juice. It doesn’t need to be all greens but at least ask them to throw some spinach in there. You can’t taste it, it will give you a huge energy kick & your body will soak it up lovingly.
if you have a big ol’ juice in the morning, you’ll find that it will keep you going for quite a long time. Most raw foodists who have been “in the game” for a while find that a decent green juice in the morning means they don’t even think about eating again until late in the afternoon — somewhere around 3 or 4 o’ clock. Though of course, your body may work differently, & you should always eat if you’re hungry!
Vitamins
The second thing I would recommend is hitting up your closest health food store for some vitamins. If you don’t normally take them, now might be a good time to start. Holidays, while typically considered relaxing, can be anything but. People to meet, places to go, lots of walking to get there… it can be exhausting! Couple that with the fact that it may be warmer or cooler than you’re used to, you’re probably drinking less water than usual, & your eating habits are a bit unsettled, & it’s a recipe for feeling run-down. A lot of raw foodists believe that if you’re eating raw you don’t need any supplements, but I’m not sure I agree. I have been taking a women’s multi-vitamin & three Omega 3 tablets every day for a couple of years now, & it has made a huge difference to how I feel day-to-day. I often feel like my brain doesn’t operate at full power until I’ve had my Omega 3 capsules.
Omega 3 capsules don’t need to be fish oil. They can be, if you really really want, but it’s not compulsory. I buy flaxseed oil ones & they work just as well. You may not be able to buy your regular multi-vitamin brand, but speak to someone in the shop & see what they recommend. The other day I bought vitamins that are made wholly from raw food, which is amazing to me, & they’re great.
While you’re in the health food store, you might like to pick up any superfoods or other supplements that you like to have on hand. Then you can just throw them in your juice or whatever works for you. I recommend buying it all when you arrive, not before. Trying to import food into a foreign country can be a nightmare, & if you’re trying to get it into somewhere like Australia or New Zealand, you’re going to be upset when they biff it all in the bin.
Snacks
I am a huge snack lover & I much prefer to snack on small things throughout the day than have occasional big meals. You’ll make things much easier on yourself if you have bits & pieces scattered throughout your room/apartment/suitcase to eat. As well as saving time — I mean, going out in hunt of breakfast every morning? What a time-suck! — you’ll be less inclined to buy a slice of the incredibly tasty & tempting pizza next door.
What makes a good snack? Well, fruit is the best thing. It’s small, cheap, portable & easy to get your hands on. Pre-chopped vegetables are great too — you can buy them in the fresh section of any supermarket, & they’re trivial to throw in your purse & eat during the day. Other than that, you’ll be surprised by what your nearest health food store carries. I have been amazed to find all manner of packaged raw food snacks, like chocolate/coconut/almond bites, chocolate, crackers & nuts. Even more incredibly, a lot of those things I discovered in a supermarket in Gainesville, Florida — so it can be done!
Stock up. Keep a bag of raw nuts on you at all times. They’re good for you & will help tide you over when you get peckish.
Water
Remember to make an effort to drink lots of water. It keeps you feeling energised & fresh, & helps your brain stay alert. It can be easy to forget to drink water, especially when you’re walking for miles & miles & don’t want to lug a huge bottle around with you. Unfortunately, if you leave it at home, by the time you return at the end of the day, you’ll probably be grumpy & dehydrated with a headache. Not the most fun thing!
Buy yourself a water bottle & start toting it around with you. Glass bottles are the best, though they also tend to be the heaviest & have the highest pain-in-the-ass factor, since they can break quite easily. Stainless steel bottles are probably the next best thing, & companies like Sigg make really cool ones that come in a multitude of sizes & patterns. After that would be plastic, which is best avoided.
Meals
Find some places that serve the kind of nosh you’re into. Soystache has a list of raw food restaurants around the world, but We Like It Raw trumps all with a Google map of raw food restaurants in America, a New York-specific map, & a raw food restaurants section on their site with constant updates on new joints to check out worldwide. Woo!
Decide to eat a real raw meal out at one of these places two or three times a week. You will have some incredible meals this way. There will be some misses, too, but it’s all part of the experience. Sit down, savour the food, enjoy yourself. Sometimes raw food restaurants are expensive, that’s true. But honestly, you’re on holiday, food is pretty much always going to be one of your biggest expenses, & you might as well spend the dough on food that is going to make you feel GOOD rather than awful. Make the right choice for your body!
When you’re not out wining & dining, assess your neighbourhood to see what you can use to make yourself meals. If there’s a greengrocer, you might like to start making yourself salads. This can be a little labour intensive though, & there’s nothing to say you shouldn’t just eat a cucumber & a bunch of grapes. You may also choose to up your juice intake & just have one solid meal a day.
Being prepared & flexible
It’s really up to you, but I think the key is to be prepared. Imagine yourself as a girl or boy scout, & think ahead of time. If you only ever leave your house to buy a meal, eat it & then go back home, next time you’re hungry you’re going to be in the exact same situation. Do some shopping, stock up on things you like & know you can eat, & then you’ll never be in that desperate, frenzied, slightly rabid stage of hunger where you could eat anything as long as it might fill the gap!
It might also help to regard your holiday as just that — a holiday. Not an opportunity to prove yourself to the Raw Police! Of course, when you find something that works for you, it makes sense to stick to it, but if you’re stressing out about finding bee pollen when you could be meeting new people, dancing & swooning over architecture, then you might as well have just stayed at home. Allow yourself exceptions. My exception will always & forever be cupcakes. I just love them. This is not to mention the times that you’ll go out to dinner or lunch with a friend & the only thing that looks slightly raw is a salad that consists of some limp lettuce leaves, two pieces of tomato, an olive, an enormous pile of cheese & a litre of creamy dressing. Eep!
Just chill out. Having a sandwich won’t kill you. I always feel like if raw isn’t on the menu, something vegan is my next best bet, followed by something vegetarian, & then ye olde normal food. But hey, you don’t have to be a saint, & you don’t have to prove yourself. I say, if you want to eat something, eat it. Pepperoni pizza, a chicken sandwich, macaroni & cheese… what the hell, why not? Life’s too short to give yourself an ulcer over what you’re eating. Just enjoy it, & remember to focus on the brilliance of what’s really happening: you’re travelling!
Note: Obviously, if you’re staying in a rural area, you might need to cover your bases early. You’ll probably need to be more self-sufficient, & stock up before you go! Really though, just remember to be flexible. When I was in Norway a couple of years ago, I stayed in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with someone else’s family. They served whale for dinner. 
I really didn’t want to eat it, but I also didn’t want to be rude & there was no other food in the house, so my options were pretty limited. I ate some of it, fought off the impulse to gag, devoured the vegetables they served alongside it, & tried to fill up on soft drink. Situations like this are going to present themselves sometimes, & we just have to do our best.
Extra For Experts:
Raw On The Road by raw model, Anthony.
How To Travel In The Raw, a check-list.
Juicing On The Road — tips from the Juice Feasting Prince!
Airport Musing From Sarma, the owner of Pure Food & Wine in NYC.
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Raw Hot Chocolate
[ 1 May 2008, 22:14 ]
Cold temperatures are rife across the world at the moment, so here’s a raw hot chocolate recipe from Emrys Tetu, our official iCiNG Transformation Challenge sponsor!
For a rich raw chocolate treat you can enjoy any time, and especially for warming up on a cool day, try this deliciously easy hot chocolate recipe:
1/2 cup hot water (just heated to hottest comfortable drinking temperature, not boiled)
1 tablespoon raw coconut butter or oil
1 tablespoon raw wild honey, preferably local
1-2 tablespoons raw almond butter
3 heaping tablespoons raw cacao powder
1/2 teaspoon raw vanilla powder or 1 teaspoon other form of vanilla
Pinch whole sea salt
In a blender, combine the above ingredients until smooth, adjusting all to your palette’s preference. This makes a concentrated chocolate sauce, which you may then dilute and enjoy with others (it would be quite a lot for one person all at once!) or save in the refrigerator for use as desired. Before serving, thin the sauce by at least half with more hot water. I usually drink this at about 1 part the above recipe to 3 or 4 parts additional hot water.
By only heating the water to hottest comfortable drinking temperature the recipe remains raw, but is still satisfyingly hot chocolatey. Enjoy this healthy treat with my best wishes for your health and happiness!
Love,
Emrys
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Deciphering Your Cravings
[ 27 April 2008, 23:07 ]
This is a guest post from the official sponsor of the iCiNG Transformation Challenge, Emrys Tetu! (Applause!) She is a holistic health counsellor & wellness coach based out of Connecticut, & she makes my heart sing! I hope you enjoy this offering from her.
Hello, nonpareils!
Here is some extra love and support for each of you as you journey through this intense month of personal transformation! Whether your commitments to yourself during the iTC are focused around food or exercise or relationships or career or attitude and spirituality, here are a few reflections that may help you as you stretch and grow and discover new edges of yourself.
There’s nothing healthy about being miserable.
For many of us, this is so easy to forget. And it’s a wonderful test to use as you try new things. You can ask yourself, “Is this making me miserable?” If you find that it is, you’ll know that it can’t be quite right for you. This approach is excellent because it’s usually accompanied by an impulse to do something else. Instead of immediately dismissing this other impulse, explore it.
Often that which seems silly at the outset is exactly what’s required. So, for example, you may feel that…
You really don’t want to eat more salad, you want to eat more chocolate.
Although many of us would think that we should “make ourselves” eat the salad, there are probably good reasons you really want the chocolate. So, don’t dismiss those nice dark leafy greens completely, but do delve into what the chocolate craving is about!
Chocolate is the number one food source of magnesium, a mineral in which most people are deficient. Magnesium is crucial for brain, heart, and reproductive health. It helps strengthen bones and relieve muscle cramping. Chocolate is also an excellent source of antioxidants (again, highest natural food source), and many chemicals that react with the brain to improve mood, including theobromine, seratonin and dopamine. So it may be that your chocolate cravings are about a need to re-balance any of the above. (Chocolate quality varies wildly; any inclusion of refined sugar or dairy dramatically reduces its health benefits… my absolute favorite recommendation for highest quality, amazingly delicious, fully healthful chocolate that does not create insulin spikes and crashes is Gnosis Chocolate.)
A craving for chocolate may also be an indication that you aren’t getting enough rest and are looking for a pick up from a food instead of nourishing yourself with quiet time and sleep. It could be a craving based on a desire to regulate your mood, either because it is a comfort food for you or because of the way it alters your brain chemistry. Chocolate can also offer a bridge away from more intense chemicals like coffee, especially because it also offers deep flavors and a lift in energy.
I like to share this example, because people like chocolate, but we often think we shouldn’t. And when we realize that we’re allowed to like the things we like…
Sometimes the best things happen! This lesson transfers over to many other areas of life. Our cravings have so much to teach us!
Behind the surface of any craving is a complex network of memories, issues with self-acceptance and denial, and physical situations such as dehydration, low blood sugar, an excess of concentrated vitamins, and any of a number of other forms of imbalance. It takes time and attention to Lovingly unpack all that makes up a craving. Please be gentle here. The common approach of ignoring it is the least successful! Willpower doesn’t work, but working with lots of modalities together and having patience with yourself does. A support system is crucial, through a community group or a friend or a professional. Many have had success with wellness coaches such as Gala’s raw food coach, Karen Knowler, or myself (here’s what some of my clients say).
So, during this week of the iTC, get ready to enjoy your healthier, happier life! One bite of chocolate (or whatever juicy thing you allow yourself to explore) at a time! Celebrate this, your Best Life Ever…
Love, Kisses, and so much Encouragement,
Emrys
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Raw Coaching With Karen Knowler
[ 21 March 2008, 16:58 ]
Karen Knowler coaches Gala Darling (MP3)
On Thursday evening I had a raw coaching call with The Raw Food Coach, Karen Knowler.
I was introduced to her by the dazzlingly wonderful Dhrumil of We Like It Raw & Give It To Me Raw fame, & I can’t say thank you enough times! Mwah!
Our phone-call went for an hour & in it we discussed some problems I was having with the raw food transition. Mostly my issues were that I had cravings for old, familiar “cooked” foods that I found hard to shake, & I felt a bit stuck for variety in food (as I’m quite a picky eater).
I expected her to be useful but not THIS useful! The phone-call was a revelation — it was absolutely amazing. Sometimes when you’re having trouble with something, having someone else there to ask the right questions is all you need, & all of a sudden your problem starts to unravel & you realise the root cause of it. Well, Karen asked me some totally brilliant questions — & I came away from the phone-call with all of my problems solved!
It was one of the most interesting phone-calls I’ve ever had, for sure. I just love getting to the bottom of a problem & gaining a deeper understanding of why I do what I do! I think anyone interested in going raw (or who is currently making alterations to their diet) will find this a really useful thing to listen to, because many of the questions she asks me you will be able to ask yourself.
We’re going to do a follow-up call in about 3 weeks time, to chart my progress & see how I’ve applied the new information! That will also be made available for you to listen to.
So, I hope you enjoy the MP3 — let me know what you think!
Oh, & for those of you who are interested, Karen sends out a weekly newsletter on Fridays called Successfully Raw, with recipes & tips for staying raw. You also get 10 raw recipes free when you sign up. Woo! Just in time for Easter Sunday! :D
I’ll be writing more about my progress over the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Un Petit Raw Update
[ 5 March 2008, 04:41 ]
“In any case, other than my desire to hear more about your adventures in raw foodism, the real question here is this: how do you balance a raw food diet with cupcakes? Can I make this a positive change without abandoning the classic cheese and cracker combo, chocolate and cupcakes on valentines day, and even, once and awhile, a sandwich? Please let a girl know!”
I have had lots of requests for information about what I’m eating, how I’m feeling & my thoughts on the rawification process in general, so I am bowing to the pressure! Here’s a mini-update. I am going to embark on some raw coaching soon with the fabulous Karen Knowler (otherwise known as the world’s premier raw food coach!), but not for a couple of weeks… so here’s what I can tell you at this stage.
The first major thing I’ve noticed is the impact of eating raw on my skin. I have never been plagued by spots or anything like that, but do get the occasional blemish. I always figured it was just because I’m in my early 20’s & that’s what happens — oh, & I always kind of thought, at the back of my mind, that maybe if I had the perfect skincare routine, it would be better.
NEWSFLASH. If you’re eating lots of raw fruit & vegetables & drinking heaps of water, you could slather your skin in motor oil & it won’t make an inch of difference. I swear, & I know this sounds totally obnoxious, but my skin has been amazing. I took some photos of Simon & I at the NGV the other night & I was incredulous at how clear our skin looked. I’m only getting spots if — shock horror — I eat cupcakes, cheese, or cooked stuff (bread, pasta, etc.). But if I don’t eat that stuff, my skin is as pristine as I’ve ever seen. It’s incredible to me, because I always thought that whole “eating junk is bad for your skin” stuff was only partially true, but never put a lot of stock in it. Now that I’m making an effort to eat things that are good for me, I’m really noticing the difference. I am a believer!
Eating raw can be a pain in the butt sometimes but if it guarantees me great skin, I am sold.
I also usually get hormonal break-outs, & I have about a week a month where my skin is hugely dissatisfying. Well, this month, my skin was more well-behaved than I’ve ever seen it. It’s a blessing from the skies! I also found I was in much less pain & had practically no cramping. Rock.
I have more energy too. I used to be big on napping, & at least one nap a day was normal for me. Well, that has been drastically reduced. I’m just not interested in sleeping in the day any more! I have energy to burn. Sometimes I’ll have a lie down but that’s only if it’s been a draining day or I didn’t get much sleep, & this is happening less & less. Another thing I’m finding is that if I make an effort to drink a lot of water, I can work & work & work & not need (or want) a break. This is great news because I love iCiNG & everything around it, so the more love I can throw at it, the better!
Having said all that… this past week or so I’ve been a bit iffy on the raw thing. I think mostly because I am a very picky eater & so there are a lot of vegetables & fruit that I just don’t like. (I am working on tapping out all of my food issues, because it’s really limiting me & stressing me out.) Of course, only liking about 5 of 1000 vegetables makes eating really difficult, so I have been reverting to familiar (cooked) food & paying the price (basically, I feel terrible).
I’ve noticed that when I’m not eating a lot of fruit or vegetables, as has been the case recently, I have been forgetting things a lot. The other morning I had about five separate thoughts which involved doing something — & as soon as I went to do it, I forgot what it was. They weren’t difficult things to remember either: check cellphone, check weather forecast, etc. That scares me, actually. I always used to think I was “forgetful” but could it be that eating too much processed food was turning my brain to mush?!
I’ve also found that the things I used to love (garlic pizza bread, soup, etc.) really don’t have any flavour any more. They mostly taste like lard or salt. Sometimes they just taste like cardboard — so my taste buds are definitely changing. I ate a pain au chocolat the other day & all I could taste were hydrogenated oils. Blech!
I have also been VERY emotional, moody, apathetic & anti-social. While some of this is just due to stuff I am processing at the moment, I have absolutely no doubt that the reason it is so huge in my mind is because I’m not eating good food. Oh, & my skin looks terrible! Boooooo!
It’s been really interesting to go from normal food to raw & back again, because I can see how differently my body operates depending on what I’m eating. I have always just viewed food as fuel, but now I am highly aware of how the quality of the fuel affects us.
Tomorrow we’re going to go to the market & stock up on vegetables & fruit. We’re pretty low on stuff at the moment. I’ve decided I need to stop viewing unfamiliar food as an enemy & instead embrace it & be open to experimentation. This has historically been quite hard for me but with the power of tapping I know I will prevail!
To answer the original question, yes, you can definitely make a positive change & still eat your favourite old foods. Just don’t be surprised if they start to seriously lose appeal!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Sarma's Strawberry Tarts
[ 9 February 2008, 17:56 ]
Today we went to a raw food picnic. It was so exciting & everyone we met was super-friendly, happy, positive & interesting. There were also two other people who had been to Burning Man, which was funny to say the least!
We decided to make something tasty to take along, & I settled on this recipe from Carol Alt‘s book The Raw 50. While it was frustrating to get 4 cups of coconut meat, the tarts were really delicious & were quickly eaten up. (That’s why there’s only four left in the photo!)
If you want to make it yourself, it’s very easy & doesn’t require a dehydrator or any crazy equipment — just a blender & some fridge space. Ours don’t look mind-blowing or anything, but I think we did pretty well for raw amateurs!
The recipe makes 12 to 14 3-inch tarts, & we have none left!
Tart crust
4 cups whole raw almonds
1/4 cup raw agave nectar (we used honey)
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed to room temperature
1/4 teaspoon fine Himalayan salt
Vanilla cream
4 cups fresh coconut meat
1/2 cup light raw agave nectar (again, we used honey)
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
1/2 teaspoon fine Himalayan salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid
Strawberries
1 quart strawberries
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
How to do it!
To make the crust, grind the almonds in a food processor or blender until fine, but stop before they become too oily. We chopped ours pretty small on a board & then put them in the blender. Transfer the ground nuts to a bowl & add the nectar, coconut oil & salt.
Line little tart pans or a muffin tray (what I did) with tinfoil. Tuck it into the holes, & leave it loose off the sides so that you can pull it out again easily later on.
Put a couple of tablespoons of dough into each pan, & press it down so that forms a crust. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.
Combine all the vanilla cream ingredients (except the coconut oil) in a blender & whizz it until it’s smooth. Add the coconut oil in & continue blending until it’s all mixed well. Chill in the fridge for an hour.
To make the tarts, fill the crusts with a couple of tablespoons of the coconut cream. Slice strawberries & lay them out nicely on the top of each tart. Drizzle with agave nectar, chill for a while, then eat!
Yum!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Cupcakes, Gala Style!
[ 22 January 2008, 17:47 ]
Chocolate cupcakes with lavender-flavoured buttercream icing!
I am not a master cupcake baker, but I do enjoy it — the baking process as well as the eating part! It feels good to make something tangible, something that can be photographed & enjoyed & admired.
Obviously, these cupcakes are not raw, & they weren’t vegan originally either, but it’s way easier to vegan-ify cupcakes than you might first think! I also think that the vegan version of these cupcakes tastes better — the cake stays moist for longer & the icing doesn’t go hard, it stays soft & creamy for days.
The basic recipe is actually one from the Australian Woman’s Weekly kid’s birthday cake cookbook! I just add whatever I want into it to make it taste different. It is a great base to work from — easy to make & again, very moist.
Le Cake!
125g butter, softened (margarine for vegans)
3/4 cup (165g) caster sugar (or sugar replacement, like stevia, agave syrup, dark raw cane sugar etc. If you’re using a syrup or liquid form, you may need to use more flour to balance it out.)
2 eggs (egg replacement for vegans)
1 1/2 cups (225g) self-raising flour
1/2 cup (125ml) milk (soy or almond or rice or what-have-you for vegans)
Preheat oven to “moderate”, whatever that means! Chuck your cupcake cases into a muffin tin.
Beat butter & sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer (or, if you’re me, an egg beater) until light & fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined. Stir in flour & milk, in two batches.
Now you can add in whatever you like — I usually add baking cocoa, but you could put in raw cacao, rosewater essence, coffee flavouring, or whatever. Beat until combined.
Spoon into cupcake cases. Bake until cake is cooked — this means you stick a knife into one of your cupcakes, & if it comes out clean, they’re done. Take them out of the oven & allow them to cool. Do not frost them until they are completely cool!
L’iCiNG!
125g butter, softened (or margarine etc.)
A big bag of icing sugar
1 tablespoon of milk (soy, almond, etc.)
Combine the butter, milk & icing sugar until it is thick enough that it won’t drizzle out of the end of your icing nozzle. It needs to be thick. I don’t know how much icing sugar I use, all I know is that it is a lot. I think I went through a massive bag of icing sugar by making two batches of icing. FEAR! Anyway, stir it up, mix it through well. Add food colouring & flavour. My favourite things to add are either rosewater essence or lavender essential oil, but of course you can really make it taste like anything you want.
Spoon your icing into an icing bag, or if you don’t have one, spoon it into the corner of a (clean) plastic bag & snip off a bottom corner. Ice, ice baby! Frost your cupcakes with gay abandon. I tend to do mine in a circular motion, & then splatter fun things on top, like edible glitter, nonpareils, etc.
If you can find a specialty cake decoration or baking shop, your cupcakes will look much better & be about a million times more exciting! My favourite in Melbourne is Cake Deco down by Flinders Street — it makes me so happy to navigate their tiny aisles! They are always very knowledgeable too, & can help you modify recipes to suit dietary requirements & whatnot.
Experimenting with this simple recipe has been the basis of all my cupcake exploration so far. I hope to try some other delicious variations soon! What’s your best cupcake recipe?
Love letters & feather headdresses,
Comment [64] Tags: how to,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!My Raw Adventure!
[ 21 January 2008, 13:29 ]
Okay, I have received a lot of comments & emails asking me more about my adventures into the world of raw veganism! I wish I had started a “raw journal” like Steve Pavlina did — I decided not to because I’m not eating 100% raw, so it didn’t seem worthwhile. But the changes in my body & attitude have been really pronounced, so I’m kind of kicking myself over that!
Here is an average day of food:
Breakfast: Smoothie — typically chocolate protein powder, soy milk, frozen mixed berries, dark chocolate, ground linseeds & spinach. The best thing is that you can’t taste the spinach, it just makes it green & gives you a major energy boost! But I change my smoothies around a bit, sometimes I will squirt some honey in there or use soy ice-cream or something too.
Lunch: Guacamole (avocado, lime, onion, garlic, tomato, salt, pepper, chilli powder) & corn chips, or avocado & hummus on toast, or a whole lot of dark chocolate. Eeee!
Dinner: Salad. My salads aren’t very adventurous yet, mostly lettuce, tomato, cucumber, celery, croutons & balsamic vinegar, but I’ll get there!
After-dinner snack: Um… dark chocolate? Or cupcakes?!
I know that sounds kind of boring, but actually, I’m really enjoying it. Everything I eat tastes so good, it’s so fresh & makes me feel amazing. I would like a little bit more variety in terms of getting a bit of different crunch, etc., but I kind of need to get my hands on a raw (un)cookbook, & some crazy ingredients which are proving hard to find…
I have been detoxing since I started, & I’ve had lots of weird symptoms. Headaches at night (not drinking enough water during the day, naughty — when they occur I slug back about a litre of water & they disappear), tiredness (more naps during the day than usual, though that seems to have subsided now), constant hunger (which I am now learning is either not actual hunger or just because I need more fibre/fat in my diet), restlessness (I think from getting so much energy from my food). I’ve also noticed that when I go to bed, I fall asleep in seconds — this is wonderful because it usually takes at least five minutes for my mind to settle down & allow me to sleep. I also feel that the sleep I’m getting is very deep & very serene, & I wake up feeling pretty good. I have heard a lot about people eating raw who require a couple less hours of sleep than they used to, which I am totally looking forward to!
In general, things have been very mercurial. Moods are up & down, so is energy, though I have had some amazing moments (funnily enough, mostly on the days where I eat all raw) where I am TOTALLY blissed out, for hours at a time. It is absolutely incredible, indescribable. I have had times where I am basically a bundle of energy — in fact, I had so much energy the other day that I went & did a second work-out, just to burn it off. That has never ever happened before. Also, the more raw food I eat, the clearer my skin gets. I’m noticing that the things that seem like they might turn into spots have just been disappearing. Très cool!
My boyfriend & I have both noticed that our bodies are looking more toned & defined, & we’re not doing any extra exercise. We seem to be dropping that extra fat that covers up our muscles, which is SO AWESOME! It is more pronounced on him than it is on me, because he is eating way more raw food than I am. I am not doing this to lose weight, but I am all for looking toned-up!
Really, when you look at it logically, it makes sense. How could it possibly be bad for your body to subsist on lots of fresh, healthy produce from the earth?
At the moment we need to go food shopping. We usually go to Queen Victoria Market for fruit & vegetables, it’s the largest open-air market in the southern hemisphere & really close to our house! Because we haven’t had a lot here, we’ve been going out & getting food elsewhere. I have also been having insane carb cravings recently. Yesterday & the day before I ate almost all cooked stuff (pasta, pizza, baked beans on toast, porridge) & it made me feel BAD. It was really unusual — usually I am one of those people who is cold all the time, but I think eating raw has warmed me up. All the cooked meals made me sweat; I actually had to stop eating to take a breath, as if I was eating a curry. It was really hard work to eat something that was so warm, & it also made me grouchy & sleepy. It also made my stomach hurt, & it made weird gurgling noises which are absent when I’ve been eating all raw.
This morning my boyfriend said I looked like I had been sweating all through the night, which I never usually do. On top of this, I had terrible dreams & woke up with a sore throat & aching body. Weird!
I am getting really sick of soy. I am actually starting to loathe the flavour of it, which is why I have stopped using soy ice-cream in my smoothies. It just tastes nasty. It’s crazy, I don’t know why that’s happening, but I guess I am going to have to start using rice milk (or something?) in my smoothies instead.
When I first went vegan (years ago) & told my parents, they laughed at me! They said, between hilarious gasps, “But you… (guffaw) don’t like… (wheeze) vegetables! (titter)” They thought they were so funny. HA! Anyway, they were right — when I first went vegan, I didn’t like vegetables. But I learned to appreciate them, & now I enjoy them. My aims with raw are to start liking fruit & working more nuts into my diet. I think the main reason I don’t like fruit is because it’s so messy, all those juices, argh! I am too much of a princess for my own good! I want to up my rawness too — the more raw I eat, the better I feel, so it makes sense to do it as much as I can.
I also found some sprouted bread in the supermarket, which states on the package that is “slowly & gently” baked, so I think we’ll buy that if ever we feel we need some bread yumminess.
I had a girl write to me recently & ask what I was doing when I went out to eat at restaurants. We haven’t done a lot of that yet, since we are doing our best to prepare everything here ourselves, but I think basically if I was picking off a menu, raw food would be my first choice, then vegan food, then vegetarian food, & if not that, then I’d just eat whatever was on offer. I don’t think being militant about it is particularly useful, & the last time I was vegan, there were about 2 places in Auckland that I could go to eat — quelle drag.
Most of the raw foodists that I’ve spoken to seem to believe that going raw isn’t about being hardcore & mental about it, but just doing the best you can every day. If you slip up & eat a hot dog or feel like you’re craving a steak, then it’s no big deal. Every day is a new day, & there’s no sense in beating yourself up over it. I love this approach. It removes that whole “being set up to fail” thing. I tend to think that the reality of this society is that it’s almost impossible to eat raw 100% of the time, unless you just stay in your house or are super-organised. I am not really interested in structuring my life around what I eat, so I choose to be more lenient & forgiving of myself.
So, I guess that’s where I’m at right now. I hope you found it interesting. Do you have any questions for me? Also, do you want me to start giving weekly updates on my rawness? I could start keeping a food journal if you’re interested… ?
Extra For Experts:
Give It To Me Raw is an awesome community which I’m finding super-helpful
“I’m Still Hungry” on the Give It To Me Raw forums.
Getting Raw: Ten Steps To The Raw Food Lifestyle
Authors@Google: Matt Amsden & David Wolfe — I find David Wolfe mad creepy but he is kind of an interesting speaker.
Love letters & feather headdresses,
Comment [93] Tags: gala,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Cupcake Showdown!
[ 5 December 2007, 17:00 ]
As we start ramping up towards Christmas, it seems inevitable that our sweet tooths start begging for attention, too. As you may know by now, my sugary treat of choice is a cupcake. Big, little, lashed with icing, dusted with sugar — I love them all. In Melbourne, it seems as if there are charming little cupcake bakeries opening up all over the place. It’s like a plague of loveliness. I’m not complaining!
From what I’ve seen, there are three major contenders on the Melbourne cupcake scene, though I know there are a multitude of options for the really cupcake-obsessed. The first is the long-standing, original trail-blazer, Crabapple Cupcake Bakery. The second is Little Cupcakes, which opened a couple of months ago in the city. & last but not least is Sugadeaux, another newcomer with great promise.
But all this choice does, of course, leave you with a few questions. Those questions are: Which outlet should you patronise? What flavour is the tastiest? Where do you get the most bang for your buck? Who does the chocolatiest smack in the kisser? Where are the best exotic flavours? & how many should you order for Christmas?
Pictured: “Willy Wonka”, vanilla cream, cappucino cream, “girlish”, strawberry mudcake, peppermint chocolate-chip.
Location: Shop 6, Prahran Market, 163 Commercial Road, Prahran. Also available at Switchboard, Shop 11-12 Manchester Unity Arcade, 220 Collins St.
Flavours: White chocolate mud; jaffa; strawberry mudcake; hummingbird; orange & almond; orange blossom; lavender blossom; passionfruit; chocolate fudge; cappuccino; carrot & cream cheese (& the list goes on…).
Price: From $4 depending on flavour. (Discounts available for bulk orders.)
Review: Crabapple Cupcakes are the original monolithic cupcake in Melbourne. They are big & sweet & beautiful. Opening in 2001, its founder Jennifer Graham actually started off selling cake stands at markets. She would bake cupcakes just to fill up the stands as a demonstration, but soon she realised that cupcakes were what people really wanted. Her whole family got involved — her husband quit his job & her three daughters started experimenting with different decoration styles. Years later, in Melbourne, the word “Crabapple” is synonymous with cupcakes.
I have eaten more Crabapple Cupcakes than I would like to keep count of. 20 is probably a conservative estimate. (Eep!) Some of my favourites are lavender blossom, carrot & cream cheese, peppermint chocolate-chip & strawberry mudcake. The flavours are rich & tantalising, the size is perfectly satisfying & the icing… Oh, the icing. It is pure magnificence. It is so thick & generous that you can skim some off the top with your fingers & have plenty left to spare. It is light & fluffy & drool-inducing. It swirls around the top of the cupcake like a crown & melts on your tongue. It is sticky & fabulous.
I think Crabapple have the sweetest cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. This is marvellous if you are a raging sugar-fiend, but I know that not everyone is! I also believe that they have the monopoly on most incredible flavours — I think that the fact that they’ve been doing this for 6 years probably helps them out there. Crabapple make the best-looking cupcakes, too. They use a lot of food colouring, as well as decorating with sugar flowers & other accents. Crabapple Cupcake Bakery is an excellent choice for anyone wanting a pretty little cake.
Pictured: creamcheese chocolate.
Location: #7, 250 Flinders Street, Melbourne. (That’s their official address but they’re actually in Degraves Street.)
Flavours: Red velvet; banana; mint; creamy coconut; dark chocolate; creamcheese chocolate; strawberry; white chocolate.
Price: $3.70 standard, $2.50 miniature. (Discounts available for bulk orders.)
Review: Little Cupcakes’ offerings are on the expensive end of the scale, so you would expect a really supreme flavour sensation. Unfortunately, you are left with very little bang for your buck. Of course, Little Cupcakes are situated in the city & therefore subject to premium rental, but you just don’t get what you pay for. On the plus side, the shop is very cute, with a high table in the middle, & they have a range of tea which is presented in good-lookin’ teapots on wooden trays. It would be a nice place to stop in at the end of a day’s shopping.
I have tried their creamy coconut, creamcheese chocolate & strawberry flavours, all with varying degrees of success. Any of the chocolate-flavoured cakes are just that — flavoured. From the taste, I don’t think they use real chocolate in their mix. It’s more like cocoa, very rich & not very sweet.
However, the icing on their creamcheese chocolate cupcake is totally yummy — vanilla-flavoured & very sweet & thick, sprinkled with chocolate hail. If the actual cake was of a better calibre, this would be a great cupcake. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I think I make better cake than this. The strawberry cupcake is pretty good, it tastes quite genuine (rather than that insanely overly-sweet faux-strawberry flavour that you sometimes get), but doesn’t turn my crank too much. I actually got bored halfway through my creamy coconut cupcake (sacrilege!), & didn’t finish it.
Little Cupcakes gives you the least icing of any of the three bakeries, which is sad. The icing is the best bit! I really get the impression that the founder of Little Cupcakes is just trying to capitalise on the cupcake trend, as opposed to doing it based on passion or excitement. That’s just the feeling I get from walking into their shop, though I could be mistaken. Usually, when someone does something because they love it, you can feel that radiating from every corner. That’s not the case here. Everything about it is just okay — there is nothing groundbreaking about their business. Boo!
Pictured: mocha (back) & peanut butter choc (front).
Location: Retail location TBA; pick-up from South Yarra or available by delivery.
Flavours: Cinnamon sugar; passionfruit; chocolate; key lime pie; coconut; chai latte; sweet vanilla; caramel toffee; orange poppy; baci; mint slice; peanut butter choc; cookies & creme; cherry vanilla; white choc pistachio; raspberry white choc; mocha; cosmopolitan. (Other flavours available by special request.)
Price: $3.00 standard, $1.70 miniature. (Minimum order of 12 regular or 24 miniature.)
Review: Sugadeaux is owned by a woman called Jess whose acquaintance I made recently. She is a super-cool & vivacious girl whose passion for cupcakes has lead her to start her own bakery. She is constantly thinking up new flavours & trying different things, which is fantastic & really proves her enthusiasm.
I have personally sampled the mocha & peanut butter choc flavours, as well as a Turkish delight cupcake prototype! When I spoke to Jess, she warned me that her chocolate flavours were intense. “I’m throwing down the chocolatey creamy goodness gauntlet!”, she said. I was happy to take on the challenge, but she wasn’t kidding. The mocha & peanut butter choc cupcakes are a chocolate lover’s dream. They are both rich, moist, dense & fabulous — not to mention incredibly filling. The peanut butter choc cupcakes are my favourite, with a big gooey whorl of sweet peanut butter in the centre. So tasty. Painfully tasty!
Some cupcakes are like an aperitif, while Sugadeaux’s offerings are like a main course. If you can eat more than one in a single sitting, I will shake your hand. You will need to use a plate — they are quite crumbly but it all adds to the experience, you know?! The Turkish delight cupcakes are smaller & hold themselves together better than the others. They are delightfully (ha!) rose-flavoured, the cake is marbled pink & white, & they are sprinkled with edible pink glitter. Swoon!
Sugadeaux’s cupcakes get my strong seal of approval. I love them. When it comes to appearance, they are more modern-looking & less frilly than Crabapple’s offerings, but when it comes down to taste, they are both really excellent & it’s hard to say one is better than the other. You can actually taste the quality of Sugadeaux’s ingredients, while I think Crabapple tends to use so much sugar that you can’t as much. Sugadeaux cupcakes also last for an exceptionally long time. They probably shouldn’t be kept for as long as we had them — which ended up being about a week — but, incredibly, after all this time, they were still deliciously moist & soft. I don’t know how she does it, but wow!
Love letters & feather headdresses,
Comment [53] Tags: consumption,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!Delicious Cocktails
[ 28 January 2007, 08:34 ]
This article was suggested to me by the inimitable Mary Bee, who I met in San Francisco (after many missed encounters at Burning Man) & then proceeded to sit with her in the sun & drink pomegranate cocktails.
I have never been a big drinker, which always perplexes people. I drink for the taste & that is about it — if I get dizzy & take my shoes off & start crawling on people, well, that is just a pleasant (?) side effect. The point is, I don’t really like beer (except for Belle Vue Kriek, which is cherry-flavoured), I don’t really like wine (unless it is extremely sweet, with a noble rot & in a small bottle), & I have never enjoyed things like rum & coke.
I am difficult, yes. But I do enjoy a good tipple. I like to make drinking an occasion. I remember once, a photographer friend of mine (we will call him Mr. Custard) arranged to meet me on a bridge by the sea. It was winter, we were both wearing heavy coats, hats & scarves, & from within his coat-pocket he produced a hipflask. We stood there, sipping & smoking as we caught up with one another’s lives.
My favourites:
Canadian Club & ginger-ale
This is one of two things I will drink if I am somewhere that doesn’t do cocktails. It was trendy for a while, I don’t know why, but that has passed, & now it is assured you will be desperately uncool if you order it. Which suits me just fine, since it tastes delicious.
Jameson & lemonade
I was introduced to this incredible combination by my friend, Mr. Daunt. We spent an evening drinking it & singing along to Elliott Smith in a dark room. It was great. If you have a sweet tooth, this is a fantastic drink for you, as even the smallest quantity of lemonade manages to almost entirely kill the taste of the whiskey.
Cosmopolitan
The Cosmopolitan was popularised (at least in part) by Sex & The City & while it has probably had its hey day, it’s still a very good-looking & tasting drink. A Cosmopolitan typically consists of vodka, Triple Sec, cranberry juice & freshly-squeezed lime. It is also a beautiful pink colour.
Amaretto Sour
I really enjoy a good Amaretto Sour. The flavour is almost indescribable. It is made with Amaretto liqueur & the juice from half a lemon, shaken over ice & served with a maraschino cherry. In New Zealand & Australia there’s usually an egg white in the mix, which makes a foam on the top. (I prefer it without the egg white, since I can smell it while I drink it & that is not something I appreciate.)
Caipiroska
This is a very simple drink but if you get a crappy bartender, they probably won’t know what you’re talking about. The first time I tried one of these was in London, with (again) Mr. Daunt. A caipiroska is vodka, lime & sugar muddled together. They are absolutely delicious, I could drink them forever.
The Bastille Bomb
I have no idea what this tastes like, but it’s great looking. It’s a shot which is red on the bottom, blue in the middle & clear at the top. (Blue curacao, cointreau & grenadine.)
Absolut Amore
Featuring my favourite liqueur, Parfait Amour. Parfait Amour is a violet-flavoured liqueur with hints of rose petals, orange & vanilla. So delicious. An Absolut Amore has Parfait Amore, Absolut Citron, cranberry juice & squeezed lemon juice. It’s also purple. Whee!
The Corner Bar, Auckland.
If you want good drinks, it’s best to go somewhere that specialises in cocktails & has exceptional bartenders. Usually if you do a bit of googling on bar awards in your area, you will get an idea of where to go. When I was living in Auckland, my absolute favourite bar was The Corner Bar, on the corner of Shortland & High Streets. It’s quite small inside, but the guys behind the bar are exceptionally cool & amazing bartenders. They were in the running for best bar in New Zealand last year, but I went travelling before the final announcements were made, so I don’t know what happened. To give you an example of how good they are, you can just tell them what you feel like drinking & they will make it for you. I once asked for something that tasted like Dali — seriously. “Desert sands, roses, elephants & melting clocks” was my description & the drink I got was absolutely incredible. They use fresh fruit & real chocolate for their drinks; they are amazing. If you’re ever in Auckland, you should go there.
Extra For Experts:
When looking at drink recipes online, remember that 1oz = 29.5ml
If you want a book on drinks for making at home, Cool Cocktails by Ben Reed looks like a good guide.
“Choctail” recipes. They sound good but there’s a lot of milk in them & the article came from the Dairy Farmers of Washington, which kind of gives me the creeps. I am not a big milk fan. Anyone keen to try ‘em with soy or rice milk as a substitute?
Old Fashioned Cocktails from drinkboy.com.
Absolut.com has a whole lot of recipes, as you would imagine.
Candy Cocktails from candyaddict.com — for when you want a sugar spike as well as a lack of coordination.
SKYY Candy Cane sounds gooooood.
Love letters & feather headdresses,
Comment [7] Tags: advice,
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yum Add Gala on Twitter!
