Vegan Peanut Brittle

A Scrumptious Holiday Gift

No, I am not a vegan. I love the idea of being 'vegan' but the sick part of me thinks of it as a dirty word.

…That sounds even more f*cked as I read it and yet I can't force myself to erase it because I actually think that! And not because we are humans and have the power to kill, take, milk, cook, and eat..blah, blah, blah. I think I feel that way because I can't possibly fathom my life without knowing the pleasure of butter, eggs, milk, cheese, and bacon. In fact, I am grateful to all the animals who give me the joys of non-vegan consumption. Thank you Animals! You make my life so much more exquisite.

That all being said my family has a habit of thinking that not eating such products makes you healthier. And in someways I know it's true but in many other ways its just crap. I mean come on! These are all natural products that have been consumed for hundreds of thousands of years! These crazy mother truckers have a different 'food allergy' every holiday...No Gluten, No Dairy, No Sugar, No Nuts, No Chicken, No Legumes. They really take the joy out of cooking/eating don't they?!

But because we come from the same gene pool and I love them terribly, I appease them and there silly food phobia of the month, as best I can. Thus, Vegan Peanut Brittle for the holiday season. And I promise you really won't give two hoots that there is no butter or milk in this brittle at all…..but it would be amazing with some bacon in there...Oh, someone please try that! For my sake!

Vegan Peanut Brittle

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup coconut milk

½ cup water

1 cup brown rice syrup

3 tablespoons Earth Balance

1 lb shelled unroasted peanuts

1 tsp salt (Optional)

Butter 2 cookie sheets, 15 1/2 x 12 inches

Mix baking soda, 1 tsp water and the vanilla and put it to the side. 

In a sauce pan mix sugar, 1 cup water and the corn syrup together. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, to 240 degrees F on candy thermometer. Once it reaches the correct temp stir in margarine and peanuts. Cook, stirring constantly to 300 degrees F. This can take a while but don't let it burn because your heart will break and that's not good. Once it hits 300 degrees F pull it from the heat and stir in baking soda. 

Divid the candy mixture between the two sheet and spread until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Do this step fast because it will cool quick. Sprinkle with salt or don't but you should cause it AMAZING. Cool and break into pieces. 

Wrap it up all pretty and give it all away. Or be a fat-ass like me and keep it all for yourself. Either way. 

Cody's Review San Diego

Breakfast is amazing. You can have something sweet or savory. You can have something big or little. You can have something hot or cold. And you can mix up that sh*t! You can have Eggs Benedict and Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes! Hell Yeah!

And to me, what brunch is the breakfast world is what the orgasm is to sex. Sure it's good like it is but wouldn't you rather have them both…together? It's like taking the good breakfast and amping it up... adding lunch to the menu and making….BRUNCH! And Booze! 'I'll have what she's having'.

We recently went to Cody's in La Jolla, CA.  What a treat. The wait is crazy but the view and food is delicious and who gives a flying pancake if you have to take a walk around La Jolla Cove while you wait. Get that ass moving before you consume calories galore.

Breakfast Salad, sub for goat cheese

Awesome French Toast

Only in San Diego
Tis the Season

PhotoShop Fun

When you live in the desert and you finish all your work for the day. You get to play. And some of the time, from the hours of 11-4, that means indoors. So I played with Photoshop. Here are some of my first attempts from my summer trip to Europe. 

Croissants for Breakfast (Rome)

A local cheese and meat shop that served all local products (Rome)

Local and hand made charcuterie (Rome)

Custard Dessert (Vienna)

Free Museum Entree (Barcelona)

Jamón serrano (Madrid)

Tapas (Madrid)

Final Night Snack (Barcelona) 

Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Rome)

A Vision of Love (Rome)

Espresso outside the Vatican walls (Rome)

Flowers (Vienna)

Beer & Wine Festival (Vienna)

Amuse Bouche (Budapest)

Wall (Budapest)

Starter of homemade bread & local olive oil (Budapest)

Sleeping grape vine (Umbria)

F*uck Yeah Ice Cream

There are three things in life that I have started to dig since 'growing up'.

1. Chips: I was always been more or a candy kid but now Salt, Crunch, and Grease get me going.
2. Olives: What was once a pit-less black shell of a 'food' is now a multi-colored depth of briny pop flavor pop. 
3. Ice Cream: Simple Magic.

There has always been magic in food. The way bread rises and fills the world with the smell of yeast. How flour and fat can make a pool of steaming gravy. The way the world wonderously gives us food; trees, bushes, and yes animals of all shapes and sizes. 

What wizardry is food!

And Ice Cream is true sorcery. Take a liquid and make it a solid. Creations like Guinness and Gingerbread from Humphry Slocombe (San Fransisco) or Pear and Blue Cheese from Salt & Straw (Portland)  or Grape-nut Raisin from Toscanini's  (Boston). If you don't look at those names and think 'magical' that I encourage you to go to a park and play, right now! And then go get some amazing local ice cream because life is too short and too plain without it. 

So…...I got my very own ice cream maker. Sure she isn't much to look at but she'll do. 

Peanut Butter F*ck Yeah Ice Cream

with mini PB cups and Oreo Cookie chunks 

1 cup Peanut Butter 

2/3 cup Sugar

1 1/2 cups Whole Fat Milk

1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream

1 tsp Vanilla

Peanut Butter Cups - as many as you'd like and chunked into all shapes and sizes

Oreo Cookies- as many as you'd like and chucked up too!

In a sauce pan heat up your milk, heavy cream, and sugar. Heat and mix until the sugar is all melted. Off the burner add your vanilla and plop into another bowl to cool in the fridge for 2-4 hours. It has to be real cool, don't rush it guys! Yeah, I'm looking at you guy with mustache who thinks he is too to shave or shower before noon or let things cool before freezing them. Chill. 

Then put it in your ice cream maker and follow the directions given. Once it's almost done load in the peanut butter cups and Oreos. Put in another container and freeze for another 2 hours or so.  And then eat.

Food, Fun, and a Moose in Montana

So Montana is awesome!

When the hubbers got home from deployment we took ourselves on a little vacation to Glacier National Park in Montana. I freaking loved it there! The people are sensational and the food is simple and fresh. I loved every moment and almost every bite. Here is a little pictorial of all the good (and not so good) stuff we ate & saw on our trip.

After a 12 mile hike to a GLACiER we treated ourself to a beautiful (and overpriced) meal at the Main Lodge in Many Glacier. We got the 'local' treats; bison with mashed taters and veg and Montana trout with quinoa and more veg. Although, the food was uninspired and slightly bland it tasted Dee after a freaking 12 MILE HIKE! But then again a hot dog would have been bom too…so...

Key Lime Cheesecake with Huckleberry sauce from Loula's Breakfast joint. When we asked the waitress if we should get pie (which they have a huge selection of) she kind of shrugged but the tides turned when we said we were thinking go the Key Lime. Her eyes lite up. We placed our order. Looking back I can saw with out any hesitation of a doubt that that shit right there was the best thing we ate.

A beautiful night.

A sample of beer from The Great Northern Brewing Company. Get the Wild Huckleberry Wheat Lager! I know it's kinda dorky and lame to get huckleberry at every place possible but I don't give a shit. I LOVE huckleberry! I love the way it tastes, smells…I love the way the word sounds! HUCK...LE…..BERRY!

Ice cream from Sweet Peaks. Husband= Mint Chip (typical) Wife = Chocolate & Something with Peanut Butter (also typcial). To be honest I love the whole idea/look/feel of this place. It's clean and funky. There was one adorable gal working (and reading cause it was a quite night) and she herself was eating their ice cream when we walked in. That is so lovely! An ice cream place where the people love the product they are serving!

However, I felt the ice-cream wasn't as good as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong…go there! Go there because heartfelt and small companies let alone ice cream joints like this are few and far between. Go and relish the beautiful of a small and local place that makes something well.

And finally our favorite find. A whiskey distillery that is making some most amazing whiskey; Glacier Distilling Company. We are not big drinkers nor do we have refined whiskey tastebuds but this place, no matter if you drink of not, was cool as frick!

 Sometimes I think if every day started with or ended with a Bloody Mary the world would be a much better place, albeit a much drunker place.