hotboxhipster

wonderful world of Etsy

i have to say i am very excited about the recent opening of my Hotbox Hipster etsy shop- and i felt it was very necessary to share this information on my food blog! many of my blogging friends have varied interests, to say the least, and i happen to be one of them. not only do i enjoy cooking and baking, but i also enjoy knitting and sewing and writing and jogging and photography and entertaining and interior design and food styling, and the list goes on and on…. so i decided to share one of my variants with my food loving community. i have created an Etsy shop, with the Hotbox Hipster’s name, to market my unique gooderies to the general public. my goal is to create items/gifts that are hard to find in the big box stores… items made with love… peaceful love. i’m trying to create an even mix of children’s items, lady goods, and household lovelies. each item will be wrapped with colored paper from sustainably managed forests, and tied up with happy hemp twine. i will ship in a recycled brown grocer’s bag – meaning the whole packaging itself can be reused in it’s entirety. two percent of my total sales each year will go to a local green project in my community. giving back is important, and one of my favorite quotes says it best… “If you wait until you can do everything for everybody, instead of something for somebody, you’ll end up doing nothing for nobody.” check me out yo! http://www.hotboxhipster.etsy.com

(PS- i commissioned my artist friend, Julie Schuler, to design and create my avatar -aka logo- and she did an amazing job, capturing my varied interests… the go green tee, the food skewered onto knitting needles, the scarf in progress around my neck, the recycle symbols in the name, and my running shoes and shorts. she is truly an amazing artist- and her paintings are out of this world. click on her name above to fall into her world.)

02/21/2013 0

jacked up banana bread yo!

“If there’s no chocolate in Heaven, I’m not going.”
― Jane Seabrook, Furry Logic Laugh at Life

so i had totally planned on making my mom’s classic sour cream coffee cake this afternoon, but i got to clicking around on some food blogs… and it took about twenty seconds for me to decide to make this ‘jacked up banana bread’ recipe i came across. i was looking at a blog called Everybody likes Sandwiches… and she was talking about adapting this recipe she had enjoyed from Smitten Kitchen, another blog i enjoy. well, clicking further into recipes on the sandwiches blog, (which i often find myself doing) i discovered she has made three different banana-ish type of breads that left me drooling. i pulled up two of them, and clicked back and forth- yanking them around a bit and taking ingredients from each… tweaking as i went. the result was the most amazing banana bread i have ever repeat E-V-E-R had. best part, to hell with vanilla… we went Rogue and added Captain Morgan tattoo rum. a whole Tablespoon of it. i think you’re gonna dig it.

you will need:

3 brownish bananas (mashed)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter (semi melted)

1 egg (beaten)

1 T. captain morgan spiced rum

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1.5 cups flour

1 t. baking soda

1 T. cocoa powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Combine first 8 ingredients (through coconut) in a mixing bowl and combine on low until incorporated. in a separate bowl whisk together flour, bkg soda and cocoa powder. add slowly to mixer bowl- combine on low speed. add chocolate chips and finish mixing by hand. add to a greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 57 minutes. test with a toothpick- when comes out clean, it’s done! cool in pan for fifteen minutes, and then remove to a cooling rack or soft towel to cool completely on the counter. prepare to be blown away yo!

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.” ― Charles M. Schulz — “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
― Charles M. Schulz

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the 'Titanic' who waved off the dessert cart.” ― Erma Bombeck — “Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the ‘Titanic’ who waved off the dessert cart.”
― Erma Bombeck

“The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude.” ― Julia Child — “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
― Julia Child

02/19/2013 2

Maine pancakes

“Why, sometimes i’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

Lewis Carroll – Alice in Wonderland

Maine Pancakes

i remember writing this recipe down nearly 13 years ago, one lazy winter day at work thumbing through my employer’s many cook books in my days as a full time nanny. it sat in my recipe box… and it sat… until one day i made it- i think after i acquired three lovely cast iron skillets from an estate sale in the city for five bucks. after i made it, that was it, i was smitten. it was unbelievably basic, and i loved the way it puffed up in the oven… a real show off right off the bat- and perfect for impressing an overnight guest in the morning. who, in those days happened to be my husband (we began dating around that time) most weekends. you start this on the stove, just to melt the butter… and then once you pour in a bit of batter, into a hot oven it goes for ten minutes. the puffiness is short lived (extremely) so if you’re trying to wow them, be sure they are near their plate once you pull this out of the oven. have their fixings ready- i recommend fresh fruit, maple syrup or honey, and plenty of powdered sugar in a sifter to lend a nice sweetness to it’s simple flavor.

you need:

2 large eggs- lightly beaten

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup milk

pinch of salt and a pinch of nutmeg

T. of butter

powdered sugar for dusting

Heat oven to 425. Whisk together eggs, flour, milk, salt and nutmeg until well combined. May be a little lumpy. melt a T. of butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. pour batter into pan, enough to generously coat bottom (but not too much) – and transfer to oven. bake for 10-12 mins until pancake is golden brown and fluffy. Transfer to plate immediately and dust with powdered sugar. enjoy!

“We've only been sitting here forty minutes. I'm never at the morning table less than an hour and a half. I do some of my finest plotting over breakfast coffee and raisin brioche.” ― Dean Koontz, Forever Odd — “We’ve only been sitting here forty minutes. I’m never at the morning table less than an hour and a half. I do some of my finest plotting over breakfast coffee and raisin brioche.”
― Dean Koontz, Forever Odd

never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, EAT breakfast FIRST. -Josh Billings — never work before breakfast; if you have to work before breakfast, EAT breakfast FIRST.
-Josh Billings

02/18/2013 0

homefries. plain and simple.

the homefry. i’ve finally unlocked it. after using several different pans and skillets and oodles of cooking methods, i nailed it. the trick? a large enough cooking surface, plenty of olive oil, and a uniform cut. my favorite potato to use is the yukon gold, hands down. i find it to be the rockstar of all potatoes. it fries up like no other, maintaining its sliced shape all the while. not to mention the skin of the yukon is so paper thin, there’s never any reason in the world to remove it for a homefry. ever. simply wash, dry and slice. the size of your slice is a personal preference. i find a width of 1/4 inch and an overall size of about an inch and half to be ideal to work with. it’s a trial and error game, for sure.

here’s the gameplan: get the largest non stick cooking pan you own. coat bottom with olive oil. (swirl to coat- don’t prep a drowning pool) prepare your potato on cutting board, so that you’re ready when your pan is calling. crank on the heat. high first, and then just below high. add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes. once you see the flakes sweating and dancing, it’s go time. add your potatoes. rearrange them so each and every one has plenty of contact face down in the oil. see visual. now the hard part for us type A’ers… don’t mess with them. this allows the down side to take on a beauteous brown hue, and a heavenly crispness. this crisp side is critical to counteract the softness you’ll achieve at the end. a plate of mush is what you’re trying to avoid at all costs. salt the raw up side generously. check one after about 5 mins with a fork. if you like what you see, take your spatula and flip it upside down in your grip. this is the way you wanna free your lovelies from the skillet. you have to be fast, and apply a downward pressure toward the skillet surface at a 45 degree angle. make attempts to rearrange with brown side upward. dust lightly with garlic powder and a sprinkle of dried parsley or oregano. (no need for pepper, as the red pepper flakes you tricked out your oil with will provide all the heat you need here) obviously there are 50 ways you could flavor your potatoes. i’m giving you the most basic recipe, with flavorings most every reader would have in their kitchen. personally, i love mine with coriander powder, dried oregano, and even a pinch more salt. if it’s summer and i have lots of fresh parsley outside… i’ll chop a bit and rain it down over my plate to finish. ok, back to cooking… cook like this for a few more minutes, and then add a 1/4 cup of water to hot skillet- IMMEDIATELY applying lid to steam them for a bit. reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for 4 minutes or so. stir- check for doneness, cooking a bit longer uncovered if needed. enjoy with your favorite condiment. Heinz ketchup is a natural local partner for us Pittsburghers. -see visual.

perfection — perfect and simple anytime meal…

11/21/2012 1

a nice stand up dinner

so it’s thursday afternoon as i begin this draft chatter offering- i made a joke on my Facebook page earlier– tonight would be the kick off of ‘red wine drinking’ season for me… and the reasoning went something like this. Today is the 27th, and 2+7=9, and 9 goes into 27 three times… and everyone knows that 3 is the magic number. it’s logic like this that will have me up until 1am blogging about the pink satin jacket with turquoise cuffs i had as a small child… and how great terry cloth clothing felt. interpretation: there need not be logic for fabulous things. they just are. tonight will be filled with goodies in all elements, shapes and sizes- starting with the silver lining of being off of work until Monday afternoon. a long weekend is always a beautiful thing. i’m planning to bake up a few rustic pita pizzas for dinner, with the liquid to solid food ratio leaning toward the liquid and the lovely. we’ve been lucky enough to avoid a frost so far, allowing us plenty of freshly torn basil leaves for a topping. i love the end of the harvest when you are savoring sweet sliced tomatoes with every meal… and the crusts from pita pizzas make perfect sponges for the tomato juice on the cutting board. in my house, most meals are consumed while standing in the kitchen- my hubby and i, listening to some of our favorite tunes and watching the tiny tots be young, wild and free. it’s one of our favorite times of the day… and when it’s happening, it’s easy to see why. yes, we may only get through one Neil Young track and half of a Ray LaMontagne before the tots request Britney Spears… but it’s all part of the charm of our off center, stand up family dinner. i don’t imagine this part of the day would be half as fun if it weren’t for my love and passion for food. my son (3) used to ask me, “is it gonna be good mommy?” as i prepped a meal… but somewhere along our life path he stopped asking. now he knows. he prefers ‘linguini with red sauce’ over spaghettios if you get me. i’m creating a food conscious little fella – but some girl, somewhere will thank me one day. tonight there will be wine, and there will be flame in the fireplace, and the flame will be from that of the large red oak that fell on part of our house three years ago. funny how that whole event can be passed off in one sentence as i blog here, but at the time it consumed our lives to the point of exhaustion. time marches on, and if you’re too busy sitting on your dupa watching Honey boo boo, you’ll miss the beauty hidden in these stolen moments. sometimes i like to do a pre-blog… leading up to the evening events- and then follow up with a photog synopsis of the magic, and how it all went down. today is one of those days.

Hail the mighty red — Coppolla cab. red wine season’s first pour.

062 — Coppolla cab. red wine season’s first pour.

i feel like weekday dinners should be easy, but no less delicious than a weekend meal would be. anytime there’s sauce and melty fontina cheese involved, it’s bound to be fabulous. this is a meal the whole family can be a part of- kids love to spread their own sauce and sprinkle the cheese all over the top. these bake off at 375 in 7 minutes when placed directly on the rack. enjoy, we sure did!! see our evening gallery below!

09/27/2012 0

insanely healthy cookies… with great taste!

so these cookies are an adapted recipe from a nursing buddy of mine, who saw them on Dr. Oz – if i remember correctly. the most fantastic part is… there is literally, nothing awful for you in these cookies. nothing. the worst thing is a 1/3 cup of brown sugar… which is hardly contraband, considering it’s white, refined, processed partner in crime. i have added 3/4 cup of Dark chocolate chips (i used Hershey- i think their flavor is far superior to Nestle even on the semi-sweet option) – Dark chocolate is said not only to have antioxidant properties, but can help to lower both blood pressure and insulin resistance. it’s also been known to decrease our cravings for unhealthy foods, thus aiding in weight loss when added to a healthy diet. this recipe came together in minutes, and is not fussy at all. it bakes up in ten minutes per batch- and within thirty minutes, you have a batch of healthy cookies to be enjoyed for several days.

You will need:

2/3 cup of natural peanut butter

2 eggs

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup apple sauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp of baking soda

2 cups oats

3/4 cup ground flaxseed meal

1/4 tsp salt

4 scoops chocolate or vanilla soy protein powder

3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together PB, eggs, brown sugar, applesauce and vanilla. Once combined well, add all remaining ingredients. stir in chocolate chips last. Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto lined cookie sheet. Bake ten minutes. Remove to platter or wax paper to cool completely. Enjoy!!

presto — perfect with your morning coffee…

08/13/2012 0

for the love of BACON…

embrace the pace. bacon has taken a hot seat over the past year or two and is showing up in a multitude of products from high end chocolate to lip balm. it’s been dubbed “meat candy” by many… and it’s not hard to see why. i DDD you to eat just one piece!! Americans love their bacon, and pork is wildly popular in Italian cuisine as well. Bacon comes from the belly fat of our portly little buddy the pig. there are, however, healthier- less artery coating varieties- such as turkey bacon, chicken bacon, canadian bacon (still pork- but from the back of the pig), and our hippy buddy- soy bacon. that being said, this chick will always retain her affinity for good ol’ thick cut piggety pig BACON. this past weekend i had the pleasure of trying the Market District’s “smokehouse” variety. it was super thick, and cooked up perfectly in the oven. (which every foodie knows is the only way to cook bacon) i aim to convert all of you pan frying, mess making, bacon curlers out there today with this blog spill.

Start by placing your bacon onto a foil line baking sheet with sides. (jelly roll sheet) you cannot do it this way on a flat cookie sheet without some type of side, or your grease will run over the edge and cause a fire. NOT easy like sunday morning… it will be hell’s bell’s instead. ok, lay out your bacon. (see photo)

oven ready — arrange as many pieces as you can without overlapping

Next, place this tray into your cold oven, on a center rack. Yes, i meant to type COLD oven, as in… do not preheat. close oven door, turn on your oven to 400 degrees. set your timer for 20 minutes, and walk away. when you return you will have perfect bacon, ready for checking. usually it will be done right at 20, but this bacon was pretty thick, and took a few extra minutes in the hot box. i, of course, did not walk away- but got to preparing a mean french toast for myself and hubby of hipster… and well- even curly haired daughter of hipster devoured a piece come to think of it. see pics below. it was cinnamon raisin toast sliced thick, in a basic custard of two eggs, a generous drink of half and half, a heavy drop of vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and a pinch of salt. i sprinkled the finished piping hot slices with chocolate chips to allow some meltage… and then sliced some bananas and strawberries. syrup, of course without saying. the bacon felt very at home next to this richly indulgent breakfast, and seemed to almost nestle up alongside in a spooning fashion. it was love on a plate. see below. i’m hoping this blog and pics will convince many of you to put away your skillets and begin cooking bacon in the oven. next time, and forever there after. enjoy yo.

finished product — perfectly stiff and crispy... ready to grace any bacon recipe you get into

breakfast utopia — natural partners... topping the flavor charts

french toast stealing the show — focus shift... while drooling

04/09/2012 2

The Green Mango

this past saturday found us enjoying an incredibly flavorful Thai meal at the Green Mango in Regent Square. (a Pittsburgh suburb) i had done a bit of research on the place, and read some fantastic reviews… leaving me not a single reason as to why it shouldn’t move to the top of our short list for datenite. hotbox hipster and hubby of said hipster are the parents of two cutie patootie preschoolers, who happened to be spending the night at mimi and pappy’s for the night. begin datenite for two thirsty for fun thirty somethings. knowing that The Green Mango was a BYOB, (with no corkage fees, PS) we parked on South Braddock and headed to D’s six pack and dogs for some take out brew. we mix and matched a six pack of IPA’s for him and Belgian whites for her, and walked on over to the restaurant straight away with the ice cold treasures. There was a bit of outdoor seating, maybe six small tables in all, which were all occupied around 7pm when we rolled up. we easily secured a small table for 2 inside, and were attended to immediately with glasses for our beer and menus in our hands. waters came a minute later, and we were allowed to place our appetizer order shortly thereafter. the service was ultra attentive… even for clearing plates and empty bottles. We ordered both the Tofu summer rolls as well as some spring rolls… both were fabulous.

the dipping sauce had some crushed peanuts atop, and it lent a lovely sweetness to both. next up was the Tom Yum soup with chicken. my sinuses immediately kicked into gear and i felt amazingly alive while eating this spicy bit of genius. The broth was maybe some of the best i’ve tasted, ever. i am longing for a bowl of this soup right now, no joke.

i honestly could have stopped here and been utterly satisfied, but it’s just not my style. gluttony rocks, and how. placed before me shortly afterward was a steaming plate of drunken spicy noodles with chicken. it’s a plate of wide noodles that are ever so slightly oily, and both spicy and sweet all at the same time somehow… with bits of fresh basil, napa cabbage, tender and juicy chicken, and thai chili bits all throughout…. words fail to describe this masterpiece of a thai dish folks…. you need to order it.

501 — Spicy Drunken Noodles with chicken

word of wisdom, i ate maybe a fourth of it and took it home. day 2, saute a half of a small zucchini cut into small bite sized pieces for a minute or two, and then add your left over noodles. place lid atop, adjust heat to medium, and set timer for two minutes. plate your food and enjoy for the second day in a row. our beers tasted like heaven with the spicy food, and the atmosphere in this quaint little place was very relaxed. we will be back… oh yes sir, we will be back.

03/19/2012 0

embracing social media. period.

giddy up. i’ve discovered Tumblr. a place where i can unleash all of my food pictures without restraint. i went with the hotboxhipster title, and plan to link the two social media sites so they’re nearly seamless. you can jump into my blog from Tumblr, and vice versa. it’s also much easier to upload video clips there, so i’m planning to start some vlog snippets… just some ten second kitchen shenanigans… allowing the world to meet the real me. the dumb ass. the mad hatter. like when i’m deciding on chinese takeout, and i become a short asian man who is repeating the order… (begin funny voice) ‘ahh… Happy Family… excellent choice, uh huh uh huh….’ or when i have a mouth full of brownie and i start fake crying about how the world is against me and my only friend is the brownie. i love acting like an ass, it puts me in such a great mood. my favorite thing is when hubby breaks into full out yinzer mode and starts conversing very loudly with me. i crack up every time- and it makes any situation hysterical. i’m gonna get him on my page- for shiz. so yeah, Tumblr. it’s cool, i dig it. enjoy the pics yo. www.hotboxhipster.Tumblr.com

02/26/2012 0

Hotbox Hipster

a pittsburgh hippie chick's unbridled love for all things food related

Category

wonderful world of Etsy

jacked up banana bread yo!

Maine pancakes

homefries. plain and simple.

a nice stand up dinner

insanely healthy cookies… with great taste!

for the love of BACON…

The Green Mango

embracing social media. period.

looking for something specific? search here!

hotbox on facebook

hungry? follow along on our food journey.

Blogs I Follow

the hotbox hipster

hip visitors

Recent Posts

visit my etsy shop for some unique gifts and handmade goods!

if yinz wanna be all organizey n’at

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a pittsburgh hippie chick's unbridled love for all things food related

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hotboxhipster

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looking for something specific? search here!

hungry? follow along on our food journey.

Blogs I Follow

the hotbox hipster

hip visitors

Recent Posts

visit my etsy shop for some unique gifts and handmade goods!

if yinz wanna be all organizey n’at

Tags