Sometimes I just don't understand this world that we live in.
A few years ago, late at night, I was at my local megamart picking up supplies for the next morning's road trip. While I was looking around, I saw a some bottles of peach soda. I thought it looked pretty good, so I grabbed a case. Tired as I was, it didn't immediately register in my mind when the checker asked to see some I.D. I showed her my drivers license, which satisfied her and she went on. A moment later I realized that I had just been carded for buying peach soda. I said to her, "you know, it's not beer, it's just peach soda." She was truly and utterly embarrassed, and even more so when I told her that now we had a funny story to tell.
Today I stopped by the store on the way home from work to buy some pineapples and some bananas. While I was there, I decided to get a six pack of ginger ale in bottles. At the register, the checker rang up my fruit, then my soda, and then asked for my birthday. I gave him an odd look and said, "for ginger ale?" He told me that the computer was asking for my birthday. Thinking it was odd, I gave it to him, grabbed my stuff (I had to tell him that the ginger ale, which had a built-in handle, did not need a bag) and headed out to the car, wondering about the birthday thing. As I drove home, I realized a couple of things. First of all, it was the computer that seemed to be interested in my age, not the checker. Odd that a computer would confuse ginger ale and real ale. Then I realized that the checker hadn't asked for my ID. Just my birthday. And he made a point of telling me that he believed me.
I can only think of a couple of explanations. First, I had paid with my credit card. Could it have been a security check? If it was, it was a new one, because I've used my card there several times before, including last night, and never been asked for my birthday. So the other explanation might be that whoever put the ginger ale in the computer was in fact a complete idiot that thinks that ginger ale is a real beer, with real alcohol, and therefore should raise a flag to the cashier to do the age check. Thanks to my seriously cool beard (which is actually only about half as thick as it was when I was 17), the checker decided that I was obviously old enough. You know, I actually had a couple of 20 year olds ask me to buy them beer when I was only 19 or 20 myself. It's kind of fun to tweak with people's brains, even if it is unintentional.
Tell you what. Those of you that have a Harmon's near by, why don't you head on down and see what other kinds of silly things have made it into the system. They've already got two strikes, with the baggers and the ginger ale. What else is going on there? Don't get me wrong, I love Harmon's. I actually have 5 other grocery stores nearer to my home (Smith's, Albertson's, Macey's, Super Target and Super Walmart) and I still prefer to drive from south Orem to north Orem to buy groceries. But guys, c'mon, get your act together! Don't make me change my mind about where I shop!
Update (6/28/2006 7am): I bought a different soda and a couple of bags of ciabatta rolls this morning with the same credit card, and they didn't ask for my birthday. So unless they're suddenly requiring age checks on bananas or pineapples, they carded me for ginger ale. I did get a lot of glares from people there, though. Almost every person in the store, in fact. It wasn't until I left that I remembered that I was wearing my University of Utah t-shirt in BYU territory.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Fruit Fudge: Part 3
Before I do anything else, I would like to dedicate this post to the lovely Ruth, who very kindly told me that what I was trying to accomplish could not be done. Ruth, I hate to tell you this, but I just did it. Third time's a charm, right?
Last night I took another stab at fresh fruit fudge. Those of you who missed my previous forays may want to check out this and this. I was out of strawberries, but I still have a pretty serious supply of peaches, so I went with that. I've been studying all sorts of fudge recipes since my last two attempts, and I've come to a conclusion: my theories about the basis of fudge were all wrong. You see, I, like most people, tend to associate the word fudge with chocolate. And because of this, I assumed that the physics of fudge were based on chocolate. I mean, why not? The physics of truffles are based on chocolate.
As it turns out, the physics of fudge are based on sugar. Having watch the Fudge Factor episode of Good Eats time and time again, you'd think I would have figured this out, especially since the episode is almost entirely about crystals. But sugar crystals aren't the only factor, of course. As it turns out, the fat content has a lot to do with it as well. And, as you might have guessed, so does the moisture content. In fact, these are the only three factors present: crystals, fat and moisture.
This time, I replaced all of the milk and half & half with a mashed up large peach, minus the skin and pit. It had a lot of liquid. All in all, it was probably close to a cup, including pulp and liquid. I was confident that this amount of moisture, being less than usual, would have time to evaporate without picking up that "cooked flavor". I added 2 3/4 cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of corn syrup and the juice of a lime to the peach. I stirred occassionally while bringing to a boil, and the slapped the lid on for 3 minutes to allow for the condensation to wash down the sides. I removed the lid, slapped on the candy thermometer and brought it to 229F (keeping in mind my high altitude, at sea level it would be 236F). I pulled it off the heat, put 2 more tablespoons of butter on top to melt in, and moved the pan to an ice water bath. When it reached 115F, I pulled it out of the bath and stirred vigorously with a wooden spoon. It started out looking pretty clear, but eventually it started to lighten up and pick up a little opacity. When it got gloopy and my arm felt like it was going to fall off, I poured it into an 8x8 pan lined with parchment and let it sit overnight.
It set up! It actually set up! I cut it into squares this morning and tried one out. Oh man! This stuff is intense. I think that the peach might actually make it seem sweeter than it really is. A couple of notes: I meant to stir in a little vanilla as a flavor enhancer just before stirring. I also meant to add a pinch of salt to the sugar before bringing it to a boil. This recipe still needs some tweaking to keep it from being too sweet, but at least it did set up, and can now properly be called fudge.
Last night I took another stab at fresh fruit fudge. Those of you who missed my previous forays may want to check out this and this. I was out of strawberries, but I still have a pretty serious supply of peaches, so I went with that. I've been studying all sorts of fudge recipes since my last two attempts, and I've come to a conclusion: my theories about the basis of fudge were all wrong. You see, I, like most people, tend to associate the word fudge with chocolate. And because of this, I assumed that the physics of fudge were based on chocolate. I mean, why not? The physics of truffles are based on chocolate.
As it turns out, the physics of fudge are based on sugar. Having watch the Fudge Factor episode of Good Eats time and time again, you'd think I would have figured this out, especially since the episode is almost entirely about crystals. But sugar crystals aren't the only factor, of course. As it turns out, the fat content has a lot to do with it as well. And, as you might have guessed, so does the moisture content. In fact, these are the only three factors present: crystals, fat and moisture.
This time, I replaced all of the milk and half & half with a mashed up large peach, minus the skin and pit. It had a lot of liquid. All in all, it was probably close to a cup, including pulp and liquid. I was confident that this amount of moisture, being less than usual, would have time to evaporate without picking up that "cooked flavor". I added 2 3/4 cups of sugar, 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of corn syrup and the juice of a lime to the peach. I stirred occassionally while bringing to a boil, and the slapped the lid on for 3 minutes to allow for the condensation to wash down the sides. I removed the lid, slapped on the candy thermometer and brought it to 229F (keeping in mind my high altitude, at sea level it would be 236F). I pulled it off the heat, put 2 more tablespoons of butter on top to melt in, and moved the pan to an ice water bath. When it reached 115F, I pulled it out of the bath and stirred vigorously with a wooden spoon. It started out looking pretty clear, but eventually it started to lighten up and pick up a little opacity. When it got gloopy and my arm felt like it was going to fall off, I poured it into an 8x8 pan lined with parchment and let it sit overnight.
It set up! It actually set up! I cut it into squares this morning and tried one out. Oh man! This stuff is intense. I think that the peach might actually make it seem sweeter than it really is. A couple of notes: I meant to stir in a little vanilla as a flavor enhancer just before stirring. I also meant to add a pinch of salt to the sugar before bringing it to a boil. This recipe still needs some tweaking to keep it from being too sweet, but at least it did set up, and can now properly be called fudge.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Peach BBQ Sauce
What does one do when one sees a flat of fresh peaches at CostCo for super cheap? One suddenly has a need for peach recipes. Fortunately, I already had plans in mind from the moment I saw those ripe beauties.
Peach BBQ Sauce
4 peaches
2 jalapenos
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp olive oil
pinch salt
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp worcestershire
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
juice of a lime
Peel the peaches and remove the pits. Mash 'em a little with a potato masher and set them aside. Put a large saute pan on medium-low heat. Mince up the garlic and the jalapenos. When the pan is hot, add the oil, along with the garlic, jalapenos and a pinch of salt. Sweat for a moment, and then add the peaches and everything else. Bring the heat up to medium-high, and let simmer for a few minutes, stirring occassionally. Pull out your trusty immersion blender and puree. Yes, while it's on the heat. Don't worry, you'll be fine. If you don't have a stick blender, well, let it cook a few more minute just to tighten up a little, and toss it in a stand blender to puree it. Just remember, it will thicken a little as it cools, so it's okay for it to be a little loose while it's hot.
What does one use this stuff for? A better question might be, what doesn't one use it for? Pulled pork or beef would be perfect. You could use it to make baked beans. Or if you're like me, you might season a piece of salmon with a little salt and chile powder, give it a good sear on both sides, and then add some of the peach sauce to the pan. Turn the salmon over in the sauce and serve with a little more peach sauce on the side, and some Hawaiian rice.
Peach BBQ Sauce
4 peaches
2 jalapenos
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp olive oil
pinch salt
1 Tbsp molasses
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp worcestershire
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
juice of a lime
Peel the peaches and remove the pits. Mash 'em a little with a potato masher and set them aside. Put a large saute pan on medium-low heat. Mince up the garlic and the jalapenos. When the pan is hot, add the oil, along with the garlic, jalapenos and a pinch of salt. Sweat for a moment, and then add the peaches and everything else. Bring the heat up to medium-high, and let simmer for a few minutes, stirring occassionally. Pull out your trusty immersion blender and puree. Yes, while it's on the heat. Don't worry, you'll be fine. If you don't have a stick blender, well, let it cook a few more minute just to tighten up a little, and toss it in a stand blender to puree it. Just remember, it will thicken a little as it cools, so it's okay for it to be a little loose while it's hot.
What does one use this stuff for? A better question might be, what doesn't one use it for? Pulled pork or beef would be perfect. You could use it to make baked beans. Or if you're like me, you might season a piece of salmon with a little salt and chile powder, give it a good sear on both sides, and then add some of the peach sauce to the pan. Turn the salmon over in the sauce and serve with a little more peach sauce on the side, and some Hawaiian rice.
For Ali: Gluten-Free Focaccia
A week or two ago, my good friend Ali asked a favor of me. You see, she's allergic to a lot of things, primarily gluten. No, she doesn't have celiac disease. But anything wheat-based is out. From what I understand, the biggest thing that people forced to go gluten free miss is bread, and I can't say I blame them. I used to be a baker, you know. I love the stuff. I'm a bit of a snob, too. I couldn't even tell you the last time I bought white bread. It's not the fact that white bread is almost completely devoid of any nutritional value, it's just plain boring. Unfortunately, Ali can't have any of my beloved whole-wheat or sourdough bread. What she wanted was a wheat-free bread that wasn't hard as a rock and dense as a brick.
So I started to do some research. See, baking is largely based on wheat flour, specifically because of its gluten content. As I understand it, there is nothing else in the world that contains gluten, or the necessary proteins to make gluten. So when one learns to bake gluten free, one must forget just about anything they know about baking and essentially start from scratch. I looked at several celiac websites, trying to get a few ideas. I even picked up a copy of The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, as it seemed to be the best book my local bookstore has on gluten. As it turns out, if all you want to do is bake bread, this recipe collection doesn't seem to be bad. If you actually want to understand the physics behind gluten-free baking, it pretty well sucks.
In my research, I did discover a few tricks. You see, gluten is important in bread baking because as it develops, it becomes stretchy and elastic. When yeast is in the dough, it starts to feed on sugars and starches around it. As this happens it produces gas, which begins to expand into little air pockets. These air pockets are held together by the elasticity of the gluten, and so the bread rises, becoming light and fluffy. Without gluten, these air pockets have little to hold them together. But as it turns out, xanthan gum is powder that when it gets wet, it holds onto molecules around it, and acts as a somewhat elastic binder. This substance has been the saving grace of celiacs everywhere.
As I pondered a couple more ways to simulate gluten, I realized that gelatin is another binder, of sorts. It's certainly nowhere near as strong, but it could come in handy. I wasn't surprised when many of the gluten-free recipes that I came across included gelatin. Eventually I combined a few recipes together and came up with a version of focaccia that I thought might work.
Gluten-Free Focaccia #1
1 Tbsp yeast
2/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp dry marjoram
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 400F. Mix together the yeast, water and sugar, and set aside. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Add the wet ingredients, plus the yeast mixture, and stir to form a sticky dough. Don't worry about overmixing, that's only a concern when gluten is present. Spread out on a cookie sheet, brush with more olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about half an hour. Remove the plastic wrap and bake in a 400F oven for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, before moving the bread from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.
Now, focaccia is my all-time favorite bread. I love it even more than ciabatta, and I was huge on ciabatta way before it got popular. This stuff... well, it won't be replacing wheat-based focaccia anytime soon. It may look exactly the same, but the texture is definitely different. Not in a bad way, but stuff different. It's light and fluffy, and perfect for sandwiches, or to just eat with oil and vinegar, or even by itself. Ali, I hope you like this one.
Update (6/28/2006): Ali liked it! She posted a tidbit on her blog about it.
So I started to do some research. See, baking is largely based on wheat flour, specifically because of its gluten content. As I understand it, there is nothing else in the world that contains gluten, or the necessary proteins to make gluten. So when one learns to bake gluten free, one must forget just about anything they know about baking and essentially start from scratch. I looked at several celiac websites, trying to get a few ideas. I even picked up a copy of The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, as it seemed to be the best book my local bookstore has on gluten. As it turns out, if all you want to do is bake bread, this recipe collection doesn't seem to be bad. If you actually want to understand the physics behind gluten-free baking, it pretty well sucks.
In my research, I did discover a few tricks. You see, gluten is important in bread baking because as it develops, it becomes stretchy and elastic. When yeast is in the dough, it starts to feed on sugars and starches around it. As this happens it produces gas, which begins to expand into little air pockets. These air pockets are held together by the elasticity of the gluten, and so the bread rises, becoming light and fluffy. Without gluten, these air pockets have little to hold them together. But as it turns out, xanthan gum is powder that when it gets wet, it holds onto molecules around it, and acts as a somewhat elastic binder. This substance has been the saving grace of celiacs everywhere.
As I pondered a couple more ways to simulate gluten, I realized that gelatin is another binder, of sorts. It's certainly nowhere near as strong, but it could come in handy. I wasn't surprised when many of the gluten-free recipes that I came across included gelatin. Eventually I combined a few recipes together and came up with a version of focaccia that I thought might work.
Gluten-Free Focaccia #1
1 Tbsp yeast
2/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 1/2 tsp xanthan
1 tsp gelatin powder
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp dry marjoram
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp sea salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp cider vinegar
Preheat oven to 400F. Mix together the yeast, water and sugar, and set aside. Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk until thoroughly mixed. Add the wet ingredients, plus the yeast mixture, and stir to form a sticky dough. Don't worry about overmixing, that's only a concern when gluten is present. Spread out on a cookie sheet, brush with more olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and Parmesan cheese. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about half an hour. Remove the plastic wrap and bake in a 400F oven for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 to 10 minutes, before moving the bread from the baking sheet to a cooling rack.
Now, focaccia is my all-time favorite bread. I love it even more than ciabatta, and I was huge on ciabatta way before it got popular. This stuff... well, it won't be replacing wheat-based focaccia anytime soon. It may look exactly the same, but the texture is definitely different. Not in a bad way, but stuff different. It's light and fluffy, and perfect for sandwiches, or to just eat with oil and vinegar, or even by itself. Ali, I hope you like this one.
Update (6/28/2006): Ali liked it! She posted a tidbit on her blog about it.
Friday, June 23, 2006
New Site Design
I'm so excited! I liked the old design that I picked from Blogger's selections, but I needed something a little different. Sometime that let me do more. Something that let me use my new logo. You like it? For those non-geeks out there that don't get it, look at the power button on your computer. I wanted something that adequately described both me as a geek, and me as a cook.
Now, aside from the logo and the header image, I didn't do this site design either. One of the nice things about Open Source is that when my own abilities aren't enough (as is usually the case), somebody else has usually stepped up to the bat to do what I need anyway, and they're more than willing to share. In this case, I found my design on the Open Source Web Design site.
I also added Amazon to my list of advertising options. Hopefully I've managed to stay unobtrusive. I've always thought it was cool when each month Wired would publish their list of music that they were listening to. This was way before iPod celebrity playlists. As much as I love music, books are probably really more along my lines. So I decided to post a list of books that I'm currently working on. Hopefully somebody will find them useful.
Now, aside from the logo and the header image, I didn't do this site design either. One of the nice things about Open Source is that when my own abilities aren't enough (as is usually the case), somebody else has usually stepped up to the bat to do what I need anyway, and they're more than willing to share. In this case, I found my design on the Open Source Web Design site.
I also added Amazon to my list of advertising options. Hopefully I've managed to stay unobtrusive. I've always thought it was cool when each month Wired would publish their list of music that they were listening to. This was way before iPod celebrity playlists. As much as I love music, books are probably really more along my lines. So I decided to post a list of books that I'm currently working on. Hopefully somebody will find them useful.
Nitpicky
Am I just nitpicky? Okay, so I know I am about a lot of things. But this was kind of obnoxious. Just a little. I went to the store down the street for lunch. I needed to get out for a few minutes, and I like their turkey sandwiches. While I was there, I saw some chips that looked good (Lays Sensations Sweet Chili & Sour Cream, they were okay, but I probably won't buy them again). I also decided to buy a bottle of Jones Soda (I love that stuff).
Now, the sandwiches there are made fresh every morning, and then shrinkwrapped. The bag of chips, as with most bags of chips, was puffed up with nitrogen. Neither one is likely to take a lot of damage from each other, nor from a tiny, 12oz bottle of Fufu Berry Soda. My attention is focused on the cashier as she tries to ring up my sandwich, which has a screwy label. As I turn to the bagger, I note that he has put my bottle of soda by itself in a bag, placed that bag aside, and then put the bag of chips in a seperate bag, with room for the sandwich.
Why? Why do these kids think that one bag cannot possibly hold more than 2 or 3 items? I'm in shock whenever I get home and start unpacking groceries, to discover that the cashier has decided that a loaf of bread is too heavy to put on top of a carton of eggs. I do appreciate that they did not put a gallon of cranberry juice on top of the eggs, but seriously! Just because it's whole wheat doesn't mean it's so heavy that it will crush a carton of eggs! It's absolutely ridiculous to purchase 10 items, which have shared the space in that hand basket just fine up until now, and to find that the bagger has decided that 8 bags is appropriate!
I don't remember which store it was, but a few months ago a local megamart was actually using bags that said something like "Strive For Five Items Per Bag". Not once during that campaign did a bagger ever put more than 3 items in any one bag, unless I told them to. In today's shopping experience, I made an effort to take the bottle of soda out of its single bag and put it in the bag with the chips and the sandwich, with the hopes that my example would encourage the bagger to think about his wastefulness, and to use the bag more wisely. As I turned to sign the credit card receipt, I watched out of the corner of my eye as he took the now empty bag, and threw it away.
This is one of the reasons why I'm starting to love the supermarkets with the self-checkout stands. I buy 10 items and use 1, maybe 2 bags. Sometimes I don't even use a bag. I've been to places before where they checker or bagger has actually asked things like, "do you want your cold drink/candy bar/other snack left out?" What a thought! Asking the consumer what they want? Brilliant! In even rarer circumstances, I've had them ask if I'd rather use just one bag or two for my purchase, because they weren't sure. But for the most part, even if I'm only buying a single magazine, I still have to tell them that "I don't need a bag for that."
Now, the sandwiches there are made fresh every morning, and then shrinkwrapped. The bag of chips, as with most bags of chips, was puffed up with nitrogen. Neither one is likely to take a lot of damage from each other, nor from a tiny, 12oz bottle of Fufu Berry Soda. My attention is focused on the cashier as she tries to ring up my sandwich, which has a screwy label. As I turn to the bagger, I note that he has put my bottle of soda by itself in a bag, placed that bag aside, and then put the bag of chips in a seperate bag, with room for the sandwich.
Why? Why do these kids think that one bag cannot possibly hold more than 2 or 3 items? I'm in shock whenever I get home and start unpacking groceries, to discover that the cashier has decided that a loaf of bread is too heavy to put on top of a carton of eggs. I do appreciate that they did not put a gallon of cranberry juice on top of the eggs, but seriously! Just because it's whole wheat doesn't mean it's so heavy that it will crush a carton of eggs! It's absolutely ridiculous to purchase 10 items, which have shared the space in that hand basket just fine up until now, and to find that the bagger has decided that 8 bags is appropriate!
I don't remember which store it was, but a few months ago a local megamart was actually using bags that said something like "Strive For Five Items Per Bag". Not once during that campaign did a bagger ever put more than 3 items in any one bag, unless I told them to. In today's shopping experience, I made an effort to take the bottle of soda out of its single bag and put it in the bag with the chips and the sandwich, with the hopes that my example would encourage the bagger to think about his wastefulness, and to use the bag more wisely. As I turned to sign the credit card receipt, I watched out of the corner of my eye as he took the now empty bag, and threw it away.
This is one of the reasons why I'm starting to love the supermarkets with the self-checkout stands. I buy 10 items and use 1, maybe 2 bags. Sometimes I don't even use a bag. I've been to places before where they checker or bagger has actually asked things like, "do you want your cold drink/candy bar/other snack left out?" What a thought! Asking the consumer what they want? Brilliant! In even rarer circumstances, I've had them ask if I'd rather use just one bag or two for my purchase, because they weren't sure. But for the most part, even if I'm only buying a single magazine, I still have to tell them that "I don't need a bag for that."
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Trail Mix
There are a few foods that I just don't like: popcorn, avocados, Americanized Asian food, ranch dressing, anything served at the golden arches (you know the place, and their McEvil) and, of course, almonds. Granted, there are exceptions to almost every rule, including the aforementioned. For instance, McEvil serves Coca Cola, of which I am a long-time fan. And I frequently use crushed and/or ground almonds in baked goods. But whole almonds, that's just gross.
Among the much longer list of foods that I do love is trail mix. Like some molés, it's one of the few foods that you can put chocolate in and still pass off as healthful. I usually have a jar or bag of the stuff at my desk at work, and it usually keeps me from buying candy bars when I get snacky. But have you ever tried to find a trail mix without almonds? It's near impossible! And if that weren't enough, it's almost as if some manufacturers like to find anything else good in there and tweak with it just to screw it up. I mean, I love pineapple. Dried pineapple can even be good, but when everything in the mix is about the size of an almond except for the half rings of dried pineapple, or the massive chunk of dried mangoes, well, that's just a good way to screw up a good trail mix. So I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Joseph's Standard Trail Mix
2 cups cashews
1 cup dried banana slices
1 cup cubed mango/pineapple mix
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup peanut M&Ms
Mix 'em together and you're good to go. Just a couple of notes. First, my local market happens to have a mix of cubed dried mangoes and pineapple. The cubes are small, maybe 1/4-inch each or so. They're perfect. Dried apricots are rarely perfect, because they're usually the big hunks that I dislike so much. I just use my kitchen shears to cut them into smaller pieces. Don't try using a knife, things will get really sticky and you'll end up pretty unhappy. Also, because the macadamia nuts were already salted, I just bought raw cashews and roasted them myself without any salt. I need to be careful, you know. And as it turns out, I'm not a really huge fan of just peanuts. But they are good for you. And as it turns out, the addition of peanut M&Ms is a perfect way to include them anyway, and sneak in a little chocolate while you're at it.
Of course, this is just my trail mix, formulated for me. It's probably just a touch more expensive than commercial trail mixes, but at least I don't have to go through picking out almonds. And if I get tired of something else, I can just leave it out next time. If I find something new, I can just add it in. I don't think I even used golden raisins last time I made this, but I had some in the cupboard, so I used 'em. It's just like the pasta salad, do what you want to do. You have the chance to do something that nobody else can really do: make something that's perfect for you.
Among the much longer list of foods that I do love is trail mix. Like some molés, it's one of the few foods that you can put chocolate in and still pass off as healthful. I usually have a jar or bag of the stuff at my desk at work, and it usually keeps me from buying candy bars when I get snacky. But have you ever tried to find a trail mix without almonds? It's near impossible! And if that weren't enough, it's almost as if some manufacturers like to find anything else good in there and tweak with it just to screw it up. I mean, I love pineapple. Dried pineapple can even be good, but when everything in the mix is about the size of an almond except for the half rings of dried pineapple, or the massive chunk of dried mangoes, well, that's just a good way to screw up a good trail mix. So I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Joseph's Standard Trail Mix
2 cups cashews
1 cup dried banana slices
1 cup cubed mango/pineapple mix
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1 cup peanut M&Ms
Mix 'em together and you're good to go. Just a couple of notes. First, my local market happens to have a mix of cubed dried mangoes and pineapple. The cubes are small, maybe 1/4-inch each or so. They're perfect. Dried apricots are rarely perfect, because they're usually the big hunks that I dislike so much. I just use my kitchen shears to cut them into smaller pieces. Don't try using a knife, things will get really sticky and you'll end up pretty unhappy. Also, because the macadamia nuts were already salted, I just bought raw cashews and roasted them myself without any salt. I need to be careful, you know. And as it turns out, I'm not a really huge fan of just peanuts. But they are good for you. And as it turns out, the addition of peanut M&Ms is a perfect way to include them anyway, and sneak in a little chocolate while you're at it.
Of course, this is just my trail mix, formulated for me. It's probably just a touch more expensive than commercial trail mixes, but at least I don't have to go through picking out almonds. And if I get tired of something else, I can just leave it out next time. If I find something new, I can just add it in. I don't think I even used golden raisins last time I made this, but I had some in the cupboard, so I used 'em. It's just like the pasta salad, do what you want to do. You have the chance to do something that nobody else can really do: make something that's perfect for you.
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