Israeli Couscous with Vegetables

I love it when I throw things together and it comes out delicious! It makes me fill very accomplished. Of course, this doesn't happen everytime, or even the majority of the time. Oh, if it only would...

This started with Israeli toasted couscous, which is bigger than the standard variety, and has a lovely soft texture. I poured it in a bowl, covered it with frozen lima beans, salt, pepper, and raisins,and covered with boiling water. After the beans were warm and the couscous was ready, I added coconut flakes and almond pieces. For the first bowl, I drizzled it with virgin olive oil, but found I really didn't need it and actually preferred it plain.

twd ~ Coconut Vanilla Rum Cakes

Back in 2002, I went on a cruise. I was fresh out of undergrad and looking for a little vaca with my then-boyfriend. Oh yes, slightly scandalous, at least to my mom with whom I was living at the time. I was one of those, graduate and go back home until grad school. But my wonderful mom welcomed me home, and we had a lovely cruise to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

It was a great trip. The towel animals were cute, the casino was fun, the island trips were cool, and the Jamaican rum cakes...omg. Out of this world! I think we bought a dozen just to eat on the boat. I'm sure I ate one whole cake in one sitting at least once. I loved them!

When I saw Wendy of Pink Stripes pick for this week, my first reaction was...oh, sounds fussy. Then I read the recipe. Oh, it's like the Jamaican rum cakes! My favorite was the coconut, so I decided to try to recreate it.

I subbed coconut rum for regular, quartered the recipe, and used coconut cream instead of regular cream. I tried a little of the pound cake pre-soaking with the rum syrup, and it was delicious. Soaked, omg, it was magical and took me back to a warm, sunny afternoon, on the rocky beaches of Montego Bay.

twd ~ Raisin Swirl Bread

I don't like to admit defeat in the kitchen. Each challenging recipe makes me feel like an Iron Chef contestant. But this week, for Tuesdays with Dorie, the Raisin Swirl Bread kicked my behind all across the kitchen floor and into next week's recipe.

This was my first yeast bread so I'd like to cut myself some slack. But really, I should have seen it coming. I think the first error was too little flour. I had a sticky dough, too sticky to form, too sticky to roll. So it ended up growing flat and sideways and being one slice thick period. Oh brother.



My saving grace was going to be the taste. I love raisin bread! I thought the orange zest annd cocoa would be great additions. Until I tried it. Dry, and tasteless except for the occassional raisin. This one totally got the better of me. But I will try again!

Oh Wow Raw Oatmeal

I've been trying to watch what I eat lately, trying to get my waistline back in shape. A couple of years ago, I did the raw food diet for a couple of months and lost some poundage. So I pulled out Ani Phyo's Raw Food Kitchen. Some of her breakfast recipes use oat groats. I found oat groats in the bulk section of Whole Foods. I got about 2 cups and rinsed and soaked them overnight. The groats then go into a food processor with add-ins. I plopped in almonds, wheat germ, cinnamon, ginger, and agave. Whirl and add water or milk to desired consistency. If you use regular milk like I did, it's not raw anymore. There are plenty of milk subs or water will work.

twd ~ Tender Shortcakes

Cathy of The Tortefeasor chose Tender Shortcakes for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.



Monday was a day from the devil. One of those days that will either make you cry or fight...forget the whole fight or flight. That theory was probably made up by a man who needed to be more in touch with his emotions.

Anyway...I found some lovely, ripe berries at the farmers' market perfect to top the Tender Shortcakes. I whisked the dry ingredients and cut the butter into it with the music up. Then I poured in the milk and stirred the batter. Batter? Not dough! Immediately I realized that I was quartering the recipe; everything but the milk. The batter tasted good so, refusing to be defeated but not wanting to start over, I pulled out a cupcake pan and made six sweet, biscuit muffin shortcakes. The little babies are sweet and doughy. Can't wait to make the real things!

Atlanta Cupcake Scene: Take One ~ Atlanta Cupcake Factory

I've searched a few times for bakeries close to me, usually when I'm out and needing a treat & the day seems more special than Starbucks. Usually the bakeries are closed, sadly operating on a skewed early day schedule. On the Saturday before Mother's day, my mom was picking me up on the way up to my grandmother's. Treats are always good when traveling so I did another Google search and out popped....Atlanta Cupcake Factory!



Just reading the flavor combinations on their website sold me! The plan was to get two and split with my mom, but standing in front of the display case, all the pretty choices melted any willpower. Plus, the cupcakes were on the smaller side so four didn't seem like too many. (Ha!) The final choices were strawberry, coconut-almond (the fave of the lady filling my box), sugar cookie with salted caramel icing (best seller), and chocolate peanut butter. Would you be surprised if I said all of them were delicious? They were. The strawberry should be a summer hit - real strawberries folks. I will definitely be back to try the others.

twd ~ White Chocolate Brownies...with Blueberries

I think this one is a little bit of a misnomer. You say brownies and I think dense little squares, or dense big rectangles, of chewy chocolate, be it dark, milk, or white. But this, this is a nice little to-do, similar to a yogurt cake.

It has ground almonds and blueberries. The original recipe calls for raspberries and meringue. I can't stand meringue and I love blueberries. And I wasn't the only one. My mom, whom I was visiting for the long weekend, felt the same way, so we made the appropriate changes.

This was a nice ending to all the heavy Memorial Day cook-out food. After snithcing on it around midnight, I was too tired to properly store it, so I left it in the pan and popped it in the microwave for safe keeping. And there it stayed. I was in the car halfway back to Atlanta when I remembered. My sweet mom took pictures and texted them to me. Of course, I can't figure out how to upload them so the pictures will have to wait a little while. But at least my mom will get to enjoy the rest of the brownies for her trouble. Thanks Mom!

And also, a big thanks to Marthe of Culinary Delights for picking this week.