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Meet the Charles Wright Community
Charles Wright Community
Learning is all about people. It's about the relationships a student forms with peers and teachers. It's about the support parents and school leaders provide. We want you to get to know our students, parents, faculty, and alumni.
As you'll see, our students and alumni represent a broad range of academic, artistic and athletic aptitudes and abilities. The common attributes they share are a motivation to learn, desire to work hard and persist in the face of challenges, willingness to cooperate and engage fully in the life of the community, and a generally trusting and respectful attitude towards teachers and classmates.
For a closer look at the Charles Wright Academy faculty's dedication to our students, learn more about the 11 Commitments they have adopted and incorporated into every facet of the school culture:
Explore the bios and testimonials here on our website, then come to campus and get to know these people yourself!


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Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images Los Angeles Clippers
Tag Archive: DeAndre Jordan
Jan 06
Preview: Orlando Magic at Los Angeles Clippers
Essentials Teams: Orlando Magic at Los Angeles Clippers Date: January 6, 2014 Time: 10:30 p.m. Television: Fox Sports Florida Arena: Staples Center Records Magic: 10-23 Clippers: 23-13 Probable starters Magic: Jameer Nelson Arron Afflalo Tobias Harris Andrew Nicholson Glen Davis Clippers: Darren Collison Jamal Crawford Jared Dudley Blake Griffin DeAndre Jordan Advanced stats Magic: Pace: …
Nov 07
Thursday's Magic Word
Nights like Nikola Vucevic's 30-20 game reinforce the fact that the Dwight Howard trade worked out just fine for the Orlando Magic. Vucevic earned an A for his performance against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. DeAndre Jordan got thoroughly outplayed by Vucevic. Head coach Doc Rivers talks about Glen Davis' tenure with the Boston …
Nov 06
Preview: Los Angeles Clippers at Orlando Magic
Essentials Teams: Los Angeles Clippers at Orlando Magic Date: November 6, 2013 Time: 7:00 p.m. Television: Fox Sports Florida Arena: Amway Center Records Clippers: 3-1 Magic: 2-2 Probable starters Clippers: Chris Paul J.J. Redick Jared Dudley Blake Griffin DeAndre Jordan Magic: Jameer Nelson Arron Afflalo Maurice Harkless Jason Maxiell Nikola Vuvevic Advanced stats Clippers: Pace: …
Mar 07
Nikola Vucevic: the Magic's big bargain
Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images When Bill Simmons wrote at Grantland last week that Nikola Vucevic has the 11th-best bargain contract in the NBA, he was not just whistling Dixie. Not only is Vucevic averaging a double-double (12.3 ppg and 11.4 rpg), he's also shown the capacity to put up huge numbers (just …

subset: commoncrawl


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My husband carries a zip-loc bag for his personal belongings. This is a great "man bag" Not too big. He is enjoying using it and the world not seeing everything he carries. This product is well-put-together and sturdy.
This little bad is perfect when taking a walk & you need to carry your phone, small wallet & keys. I really like the shoulder strap as it is wide enough so that it doesn't cut into your shoulder. I am using the bag more on a daily basis not just on my walks; I find that it is convenient to use as an all around bag.
My teen son was going on a plane trip. He need to carry a small water bottle, a book, his wallet and phone and papers. This fit the bill. We "decorated" it with a Williamsburg patch and a little fob of a turtle.
I bought this to replace an older version which I've used as a light day pack while traveling or out and about with room to carry my phone, camera, a book, maps, and the other small items needed for a day. Unfortunately this version is too smsll, has less pockets and is less functional.
Usually leaves our warehouse in 1 business day. *
Items must be returned in new or unused condition and contain all original materials included with the shipment. More details
FINAL SALE EXCLUSION: Items marked as FINAL SALE are not returnable unless the problem you experience is the result of our error.
Our standard shipping method is ground shipping. We also offer expedited shipping for most items. Your final shipping cost and estimated delivery timeframe will be available at checkout.
Standard shipping details
Expedited shipping details
* For your safety, some orders go through our loss prevention department. If we select your order for this process, we will immediately notify you that there may be up to a 3-day delay on your order.
** Most Oversize orders are delivered within 1-4 weeks. Some orders may take 6 weeks to be delivered.


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Number of Total Traffic Crashes
- Analysis of Performance
- Metric Definition
- Why Is This Important?
- City Organization Impact on Performance
- Benchmark Information
Analysis of Performance
The 904 crashes in the second quarter of 2014 was above the previous five-year average (858), but within the normal range of variation seen over the past five years and less than occurred (930) in the second quarter of 2013. Of the 904 total crashes in Q2 only 11 were severe injury crashes which is below average (13) and was less than what occurred (19) in the second quarter of 2013.
Metric Definition
Total crashes is the number of reported public street crashes involving motor vehicles, bicyclists or pedestrians. These crashes can be injury crashes or property damage only crashes.
Why Is This Important?
Safe travel in Fort Collins is important for the quality of life for residents and visitors. In order to improve traffic safety, data must be used to determine specific problems than can be targeted.
City Organization Impact on Performance
Medium - Traffic crashes tend to have contributing factors from three areas: human factors, vehicle design/maintenance, and roadway/environment. The City uses a 3 E's approach to traffic safety. That is, Engineering, Enforcement and Education. We can target the human element and the roadway element using this approach. While we can't prevent all crashes, these efforts have some impact.
Benchmark Information
This metric contains no benchmark data due to a lack of comparable data. Reporting thresholds and the definition of injury crashes vary significantly between cities making comparisons of total crashes and/or injury crashes very difficult. Although there are consistent reporting requirements for fatal crashes, there are so few fatal crashes that they are of limited value for comparison purposes.


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tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25039949946754082482014-10-28T17:45:28.277-07:00The Food LibrarianThe Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-34029170839810873802014-10-28T07:08:00.001-07:002014-10-28T07:08:19.583-07:00Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh, Pumpkin. The best time of the year.
Well, until Peppermint season comes around.
So, let's enjoy pumpkin season with these "Pumpkin Snack Cake baked in Cupcake cups and topped with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting." Kinda a long name, but that's what this is. It's not a true cupcake (which I feel should be lighter) - it's has a denser consistency. Not that that's bad! I love snack cakes...thus, with the muffin/snack cake texture, this is perfect 24 hours/day - including breakfast!

This cake uses a whole can of pumpkin - very pumpkin-y flavor. I've made it as a snack cake, but the cupcakes are easy to bake and serve. And they look all pretty!

The recipe is adapted from Everyday Food from the Martha Stewart empire (I really miss this cooking magazine) and it was baked on the PBS Everyday Food show back in the day.

The consistency is more snack cake/muffin. I like that in a pumpkin cake - you should taste and feel the pumpkin!

I made a Maple Syrup Cream Cheese Frosting. The original recipe had honey but I used maple syrup instead and added some powdered sugar to stiffen it so it was "pipeable" (that's totally a word, right?)

A lot of non-bakers don't believe me, but it is so much faster to pipe frosting with a big tip than spread it with a butter knife or offset spatula. I use disposable plastic piping bags and that makes it super easier.

As you can see, I'm kinda crazy about pumpkin and Trader Joe's is too! Have you tried the Pumpkin O's? I'm addicted. And that Pumpkin Brittle? OMG. So good. To tell the you truth, I was going to break off pieces of the brittle and put it on the frosting...but I didn't want to use all the brittle! (sorry co-workers). I love the Pop-Tarts and Pumpkin Butter every year. Oh, and the Pumpkin Mochi Ice Cream? YUM. The Pita Crisps aren't life changing - I'm going to skip them next time. I haven't tried the soup yet.

Celebrate Pumpkin Season by making these pumpkin treats!

Pumpkin Cupcake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from: Everyday Food Pumpkin Spice Cake with Honey Frosting

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice (I used Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pie Spice). The original recipe says you can also use: 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon ginger, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/8 teaspoon each allspice and cloves)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin puree (I used Trader Joe's organic pumpkin puree)

Frosting
1 stick (4 ounces or 1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 block (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 Tablespoons maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep muffin tin with liners. I got 17 muffins from this recipe. (Original recipe bakes in a 9-inch square pan).
2. In a large, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices.
3. In a medium, whisk together eggs, sugar, butter, and pumpkin puree until combined.
4. Fold together the wet and dry ingredients until combined. Don't overmix.
5. Fill muffin cups. I use an ice cream scoop.
6. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. 25-30 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Frosting
1. In a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and cream cheese together until well blended.
2. Add maple syrup and powdered sugar and blend until smooth.
3. Pipe or spread on the cupcakes.The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/10/pumpkin-cupcake-with-maple-cream-cheese.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-65399168380416182742014-10-21T05:50:00.000-07:002014-10-22T13:48:31.532-07:00Make your own Frozen Steel Cut Oatmeal

Steel Cut Oatmeal

Everyone knows that eating oatmeal is a great, healthy way to start your day. I really like steel cut oatmeal but it takes a long time to make (about 20-30 minutes I don't have in the morning). So, when I saw Trader Joe's frozen steel cut oatmeal package in the freezer section, I had to give it a try. It's very convenient but the portion size is a little too much for me. The package is under $2 for two, but I knew I could make it for a lot less money - oatmeal is one of the most inexpensive (but good for you) foods!

So, off to make the frozen oatmeal!
And I did make it. (And make it regularly)
And I planned to blog about it.

That was over 2 years ago.

I forgot I took these pictures of the process and never posted it! So, here is a blog post two years in the making. I recently took more photos of the process so this is a combo of two sessions.

Trader Joe's sells these two packs of frozen Steel Cut Oatmeal for under $2.00 Not bad, but I knew I could make them cheaper and smaller (I can't eat this much oatmeal as I also eat fruit and yogurt in the morning). It's lightly sweetened with maple syrup and brown sugar. By making it yourself, you can control the sweetness and add other stuff like agave syrup or whatever else you want.

Trader Joe's also has one that combines oatmeal with quinoa...you can always make that too!

The process is simple - just make more oatmeal than you would normally eat in one sitting and freeze the rest in portions.

I used Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats. (As you can see, I've had this photo for a long time...don't worry, the oats weren't expired). The ratio is 1 cup of oats to 3 cups of water. Cook to taste and preferred consistency: 10 - 20 minutes. You need to make sure you are stirring the simmering bowl frequently. I add some maple syrup at the end of the cooking process. You can also add brown sugar, agave or honey too - or leave out all sweeteners and add it when you eat it later.

Lately, I've been purchasing the Steel Cut Oats from the bulk bin at Sprouts market - only 99 cents per pound (gives you over a cup of oats). Can't beat that price!

When the oatmeal is ready, I ladle it into a greased muffin tin. The photo above has a jumbo muffin tin, but I also use a regular muffin tin. Depends on your appetite! If I'm super hungry, I'll nuke two of the "regular muffin tin" pucks. Again, you know what portion you like. Whether you use the jumbo or regular, it WILL have a smaller volume than the Trader Joe's frozen oatmeal. You definitely get enough fiber with the Trader Joe's size oatmeal!

After a chill in the refrig, scoop out the solid masses of oatmeal and individually wrap in plastic wrap. (This is a regular muffin tin batch).

Once they are wrapped, I put them in the freezer. After they are frozen solid (overnight), I take the pucks and put them in a freezer bag. Grab one in the morning, nuke it and boom! Breakfast!

In the first photo, the Steel Cut Oatmeal is topped with Pumpkin Butter and nuts. This one has a bit of maple syrup and diced apple.

On the left: Homemade frozen oatmeal. (Smaller portions, nuke one or two in the morning)
On the right: Trader Joe's vacuumed packed steel cut oatmeal "puck".

I love, love these toppings for the oatmeal. Trader Joe's cinnamon sugar grinder, Mango butter and the best...Pumpkin Butter!

I hope you give making homemade Steel Cut Oatmeal a try! It's super delicious on cold mornings.

Recipe:

Frozen Steel Cut Oatmeal

1. Cook steel cut oatmeal according to the directions on the package. Or bring 3 cups of water to boil, add 1 cup uncooked oats and stir. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. Cook for 10-20 minutes - until desired texture. Add sweeteners if you want.
2. Scoop hot oatmeal into greased muffin tin and allow to cool. Refrigerate until cold.
3. Remove pucks from tin and wrap in plastic wrap. Freeze solid in freezer.
4. When you are ready for oatmeal, unwrap one or two pucks and microwave (time depends on how many packets you are heating - I usually start with 1 minute, then stir and nuke again until hot). Depending on how water you cooked out of the oatmeal, you may need to add a few drops of water to the puck when microwaving.
5. Top with fruit, fruit butters, maple syrup, nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg or anything else you fancy!
6. Get dressed, grab your lunch and head off to work or school! :)

The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/10/make-your-own-frozen-steel-cut-oatmeal.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-73694061484486162892014-10-15T06:36:00.001-07:002014-10-15T06:36:40.545-07:00Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere by Dorie Greenspan - Coming Soon!!!

I'm so excited!

You can pre-order Dorie Greenspan's book: Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere.

OMG! I can't wait!

Dorie Greenspan pretty much changed my life...got me into baking, blogging and I met great people on these interwebs because of Dorie.

On September 7, 2008, I opened my email and read this...

Hi,
My name is Mary and I am in the TWD [Tuesdays with Dorie] baking group with you. I saw that you commented on my blog (thanks, I just started blogging a few weeks ago and it is fun to get feedback) so I checked on your profile. I saw that you live in Los Angeles. I am coming to LA this weekend with my husband to attend a good friend's wedding. I always like to check out local food places. Do you have any favorites you could email to me so I can check them out?

I can't believe that was 2008. Six years ago. This email started a correspondence and friendship with Mary (we call each other "East Coast Mary" and "West Coast Mary" since we are both blessed with the best name ever :)

(By the way, East Coast Mary went to Father's Office, Pinkberry (hey, it was 2008 and Yogurtland wasn't around yet), and Loteria in the Farmer's Market on Fairfax based on my food recommendations)

Anyway, since that email in 2008, we've been friends. I stayed with her family when I went to the East Coast and when Mary visited Los Angeles last year, her family came to my family's mochi making day!

And this was all thanks to Dorie and the awesome folks who put together Tuesdays with Dorie! Not only did Dorie bless us with delicious recipes (and so many good Bundt recipes!), but friendships were made. Many twitter and Instagram friends came via Dorie as well. Back in 2008, food blogging was a bit different. Less photo staging and more "I can't believe I made a pie with homemade pie crust - yay me!" (Not that there is anything wrong with food blogging today...it was just different with our little Tuesday with Dorie group of bakers).

Speaking of Tuesdays with Dorie, they are at it again! If you wish to bake your way through Dorie's new book, sign up today! I haven't been blogging as much the past couple of years, but I'm tempted to try my hand at baking my way through Dorie's book again...

I made all this and more when Tuesdays with Dorie baked through Dorie's Baking: From My Home to Yours book! If you don't have this one, you really need to add it to your collection as well.

Whenever I bake from Dorie's books, I know I'm in good hands. The recipes are tested and tweaked until they are perfected for the home cook. It's more than a cookbook - the headnotes read like a biography, travel diary, and letter from a best friend. And there are so many recipes! You are getting an encyclopedia's worth of recipe in each book.

Did I mention? BUY HER NEW BOOK! It's 496 pages of goodness. Pre-order it today! Baking Chez Moi: Recipes from My Paris Home to Your Home Anywhere

And Dorie? Love you! Thanks so much for filling my life with deliciousness and friendship! Can't wait to see the new book!

Love,
West Coast Mary

P.S. Here are some of my Tuesdays with Dorie blog posts.
P.S.S. Full disclosure: If you click the Amazon link and buy something, I'm in the Amazon Affiliate program so I get a few cents (so I can buy more cookbooks...ahhh, the cycle of life).

The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/10/baking-chez-moi-recipes-from-my-paris.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-47128516951784866332014-10-06T05:59:00.001-07:002014-10-06T16:32:34.786-07:00Brownie Batter Cookies - Trisha Yearwood recipe

Brownie Batter Cookies

Every Sunday, I go to my parent's house so I can hang out with my dad while my mom goes to church. I make Dad breakfast, push him in his wheelchair around the block with Cidney the Girl Dog and currently, watch some football or baseball.

Since the games don't begin til 10 am, we watch the Food Network in the morning. 9 am is The Pioneer Woman and 9:30 am is Trisha Yearwood. On a recent show, she made these Brownie Batter Cookies along with her college girlfriends. It was a sweet show and reminds me of my longtime college friends. Note to self: Need to get together with them and make them cookies!

Whether you are getting together with college friends or hanging out with the family, you can make these brownie cookies! They bake faster than brownies and everyone can have a few.

I made half the recipe and scooped smaller cookies (because I got 2 dozen cookies when it should have only made 1 dozen). Here are my measurements and instructions; you can find the original recipe from The Food Network here.

Brownie Batter Cookies
Adapted from Trisha Yearwood's recipe

Makes 24 small cookies (I mostly halved Trisha Yearwood's recipe)

1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons (125 grams) granulated sugar
1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons (75 grams) dark brown sugar
1/2 ounce unsweetened baking chocolate
1 egg, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used Nestle)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat.
2. Melt the unsweetened baking chocolate bar in the microwave and let cool slightly. Or melt over a double boiler (it isn't much so the microwave is easier).
3. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a bowl or piece of parchment and set aside.
4. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and melted chocolate until smooth.
5. Add egg and mix until fully combined.
6. Add the flour mixture slowly until just mixed. Then add the vanilla extract.
7. Use a spatula and fold in the chocolate chips to the batter. Batter will be thick.
8. Drop cookies onto sheet and bake for 13-16 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of your cookies.
See the original recipe on the Food Network's website here.The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/10/brownie-batter-cookies-trisha-yearwood.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-85173957882583426292014-09-26T12:43:00.000-07:002014-09-26T12:43:50.008-07:00Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you looked at a calendar lately? Can you believe it is almost October? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

Luckily for me, my work has a calendar that extends September. "What?" you ask? Look for yourselves below...

You had one job. How many days in September?

The making of the cookies. These are not very sweet, but nicely spiced and pumpkin-y.

When I heard Starbucks brought back the Pumpkin Spice Latte a little early this year, Los Angeles was in a heat wave...we ended up with the hottest summer EVER. Like...we were inches from the sun hot. But I turned to my co-workers and said, "You guys okay with me starting the pumpkin stuff now?" They said yes (big shock there ;). But then I even couldn't bake with pumpkin because it was too hot in the kitchen. So finally, I baked these at 4 am with the fan going so I didn't melt along with the butter.

Recipe: Soft Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups (350 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (150 grams) light or dark brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) - I used Libby's Pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line trays with parchment paper or Silpat.
1. Combine flour, baking soda & powder, spice, and salt in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
2. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
3. Add the pumpkin, egg and vanilla and mix until well blended. If it looks a bit curdled, that's fine.
4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture and beat until just about all blended.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Drop cookies onto baking trays and bake for 15-18 minutes (depending on the size of your cookies and your oven) until the edges are firm and bottom is golden. I scooped 12 cookies onto a half-sheet tray.
7. Let sit on tray for a couple minutes and then move to a cooling rack. Enjoy these soft pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/09/soft-pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-24802227984049912052014-08-15T12:03:00.000-07:002014-08-15T12:03:06.300-07:00Heirloom Bakery's Sour Cream Coffee Cake - Los Angeles Times Culinary SOS

Heirloom Bakery's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This is really, really, really good. Sometimes, I make something and say, "Well, that was a good experience...and I'll probably never make that again." This coffee cake? Totally going to make this again.

This recipe comes from Heirloom Bakery and Cafe in South Pasadena and it's via the Los Angeles Times Food Section. They have a column called Culinary S.O.S. and readers send in requests for recipes from restaurants...and the LA Times begs them for it. The LA Times test kitchen always does a great job of testing and writing easy to follow directions.

This cake starts with a topping of melted butter, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, cinnamon, pecans and brown sugar. This is spread in two layers on the cake - so each slice had some on top and in the middle. Delicious!

Be sure you have an offset spatula to smooth out the layers!

I haven't been to the Heirloom Bakery and Cafe yet, but can't wait to visit. If you are in Los Angeles, they can be found in South Pasadena.

Recipe: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Adapted from Los Angeles Times's Culinary SOS (June 24, 2010) of Heirloom Bakery and Cafe in South Pasadena.

Topping:
1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa (I used Callebaut Dutch-Processed cocoa)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe's Chocolate Chunks)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, stir the brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, chocolate chips, pecans and butter together. Set aside.

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream (I used full fat)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9-inch square pan by butter and flouring and/or line it with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. If your kosher salt doesn't go through the sieve, add that at the end and whisk to blend the dry ingredients. Set this bowl aside.
3. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until fully incorporated.
5. Add sour cream and vanilla and blend together.
6. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Don't overmix - stop the mixer before it is completely mixed and finish folding with a spatula until no big lumps remain. You can also fold all the dry ingredients into the batter.
7. Spoon half the batter into the 9-inch square baking pan and smooth out with an offset spatula. Top with half the topping. Add the remaining batter and smooth out. Finally, top with the remaining topping.
8. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes.

The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/08/heirloom-bakerys-sour-cream-coffee-cake.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-18901204907400353802014-08-02T19:47:00.001-07:002014-08-02T19:47:23.577-07:00Cherry Blueberry Cake

Cherry Blueberry Cake

Cherries are no longer available in my farmer's market but I saw them at Trader Joe's. If you are lucky, grab some cherries and make this simple, simple cake. So easy. No Kitchen Aid. Just a bowl and a whisk. And you don't even need dairy products. Did I mention that this is way easy?

Cake and Fruit. Dude, two of the best combos ever. I brought this into work and we demolished it. Make it for your next meeting!

One bowl.
Can I tell you how nice that is? You don't even need to bust out the Kitchen Aid. Just grab a whisk.
This would be a good cake for the kids to make too.

My friend sent me a can of Bak-Klene ZT no stick spray. IT IS SO AWESOME. It will be great during Bundt season! (It's not cheap like Pam Spray, but I've not been happy with Pam's new formula. Bak-Klene works much better. You can also get it at Williams Sonoma).

This is my Instagram picture.

Dorie Greenspan (yes, THE Dorie Greenspan) commented on the post and I freaked out. Love how my friends on Instagram used the emoji to express their delight too! :)

Simple to make and the baking really brings out the best in the fresh fruit.

Topped with Sugar in the Raw (turbinado)!

Recipe:

Cherry Blueberry Cake
1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup cherries, pitted, cut in half
2 Tablespoon raw sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 8 or 9-inch cake pan (butter & flour or spray with baking spray) I use this great Bak-Klene ZT spray...it's rad.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and sugar.
3. Add eggs, vanilla and oil to the bowl and whisk until just combined. The batter will be a little thick.
4. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Smooth out top with an offset spatula.
5. Spread the fresh fruit on top of the batter.
6. Sprinkle raw sugar all over the fruit.
7. Start checking the cake at 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Can take 45-60 minutes to bake, depending on your size of pan and the type of fruit used.

You can also use other soft fruits such as strawberries or stone fruit such as peeled peaches or apricots.The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/08/cherry-blueberry-cake.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-6498003787613562042014-07-24T20:40:00.001-07:002014-07-24T20:40:16.996-07:00Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins

You know those bananas in the back of the refrig? The ones you brought home perfectly yellow, but then you forgot to eat them, and then it's so hot in the house that they ripen in a flash, so you put them in the refrig, and they turn brown, and they sit and sit?

Those bananas - get them and make these muffins!

On Monday, I woke up, remembered we had a meeting at work, threw these together, popped 'em in the oven while listening to NPR, jumped in the shower, dressed, took them out of the oven and threw them in the car for my commute. Whew! It's was a busy Monday.

Hope you are enjoying your summer! Are you participating in your library's Summer Reading Program (some have adult programs!)? I hope you are...it's a good way to stay motivated to read and relax a bit this summer. Read anything good lately? The last book I really enjoyed was The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.

Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins
Adapted from Food & Wine (The original recipe is for 24 muffins. I cut the recipe in half except for the chocolate - the original uses mini chocolate chips)

3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
3/4 stick butter, melted
1 cup mashed overripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
1 1/2 eggs (To get 1/2 an egg, break one, lightly beat and use half)
1 1/4 cups plus 2 (192 grams) Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks (I used Trader Joe's chocolate chunks)

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prep 12 muffin tins.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, bananas and eggs.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together just until the batter is moistened - don't overmix. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
5. Scoop batter into muffin tin. Bake for 24-28 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.
6. Remove from oven and let sit 10 minutes before removing to cool.The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/07/banana-chocolate-chunk-muffins.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-45471811268604142812014-07-05T09:37:00.000-07:002014-07-05T09:37:38.552-07:00Mini M&M Chocolate Cookies

Mini M&M Chocolate Cookies

At work, we hit a milestone in a crazy big project so we had to celebrate. We had an ice cream social for the team and one of the ice cream toppings included mini M&Ms. By the way, I was trying to figure out how to transport the sprinkles and toppings from home to work and I used my cupcake tin! Worked perfectly.

Since we had a lot of mini M&Ms leftover, I made these chocolate cookies - the recipe was easy to find...it's on the back of the package!

Mini M&M Chocolate Cookies
Adapted from the recipe on the back of the 12 ounce package

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
3/4 cup (150 grams) light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 (315 grams) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder (I used 28 grams of Callebaut dutch processed cocoa powder)
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of kosher salt
1 cup M&M minis (The recipe calls for 1 3/4 cup M&Ms but since I was using leftovers, I only had a little over 1 cup)

Note: You need to chill the dough for an hour or overnight.

1. Cream butter and sugars together in a mixer with paddle attachment.
2. Add eggs and vanilla and blend until combined.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture and blend together just until combined.
5. Fold in the mini M&Ms.
6. Chill for an hour or overnight.
7. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8. Scoop out tablespoons of dough and place on cookie sheet. I like to top each cookie with a few M&Ms so I'm guaranteed some m&m on the top. If you use the full amount of M&Ms, you might not need to do this because you'll have enough M&Ms in the batter.
9. Bake 10-13 minutes. (Their instructions say 7-9 minutes for chewy cookies and 10-12 minutes for crispy, but mine were totally not done at 7 minutes)The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/07/mini-m-chocolate-cookies.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-66852367498544808942014-06-13T11:09:00.000-07:002014-06-13T11:09:24.862-07:00Peach Streusel Coffee Cake

Peach Streusel Coffee Cake

It's stone fruit season. I'm in love.

And I had a presentation to give at a meeting so I brought these. Know your audience :)

It's World Cup time! Looking forward to seeing all the games, the excitement of countries staying up to watch and cheer, lots of passionate tweets, and Cristiano Ronaldo. At work, we've been "researching" restaurants with the best TV placement for our lunches (looks like I'll be eating out for the next few weeks)!

I made this once before with nectarines. This time, I added more vanilla, used peaches (the original is for peaches) and still didn't get the consistency of the liquid ingredients that the recipe calls for - oh well, it all came together.

I love coffee cakes. Not very sweet, lovely topping and, in this case, a fruit surprise.

I used two yellow peaches in the cake (sliced thin) but you can use other stone fruit. I'd like to try some cherries and apricots!

I also used Vanilla Bean Paste because it is awesome. Have you used it? It gives you all the flecks of vanilla but it is less expensive than whole vanilla beans.

When I have a meeting at work, I either bring a half-sheet or quarter-sheet pan. I bought plastic covers for them at my local restaurant supply house (similar to these) and they are pretty awesome. My covers are low profile so you can stack about three of them in the refrigerator.

Enjoy the World Cup! Between matches, make this cake! :)

Recipe:
Nectarine Streusel Coffee Cake
Adapted from Williams Sonoma's Peach Streusel Coffee Cake and they adapted it from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Muffins, by Beth Hensperger (2003).

Streusel:
3/4 cup (105 grams) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (65 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Cake:
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, at room temperature
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup milk (I used whole milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla paste or vanilla extract
Original recipe has 1 tsp. almond extract, but I did not include it
2 firm, ripe nectarines or peaches peeled, pitted and sliced 1/2 inch thick

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 9 baking pan with parchment paper. (The original recipe calls for a 9-inch round springform pan.)

2. Make the streusel: In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, brown and granulated sugars and cinnamon. Add the butter and, using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut or rub in the butter until coarse crumbs form. Place in refrigerator or freezer while assembling the rest of the cake.

3. Prepare the fruit: Peel the peaches (blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, then remove), pit and slice the fruit. I used two yellow peaches, but other stone fruits can be used.

4. Make the cake: Mix together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt and set aside. In another bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed or a wire whisk, beat the egg, melted butter, milk, vanilla and (almond extract, if using) until creamy, about 1 minute. (The recipe calls for "until creamy" but I beat the heck out of the mixture with a wire whisk and never got a "creamy" consistency - see above.) Add to the flour mixture and beat just until evenly moistened. There should be no lumps or dry spots. Do not overmix.

5. Spread batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly using an offset spatula. If using a springform pan, arrange the peach slices in concentric circles from the pan sides to the center. If using a square pan, arrange the slices in rows. Gently press the slices into the batter. Sprinkle evenly with the streusel.

6. Bake until the topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 20 minutes. Can be served warm or at room temperature.The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/06/peach-streusel-coffee-cake.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-5621065501288749762014-06-11T05:40:00.000-07:002014-06-11T05:41:08.459-07:00How to Read & Watch your iPad or Tablet While Lying in Bed - LEVO Deluxe iPad Floor Stand!

My New Crazy Awesome iPad Stand

LEVO Deluxe iPad Floor Stand for all iPads Galaxy Nexus Xoom Surface Miix Nook Fire and Other Tablets and eReaders (yeah, that's the name of this in Amazon)

This post has a ridiculous title: How to Read & Watch your iPad or Tablet While Lying in Bed - LEVO Deluxe iPad Floor Stand!

But this thing I bought is the freaking answer.

First, this is not a sponsored post. I paid money for this thing and just love it. I know there are others who might want something like this too so I'm blogging about it. In fact, I already told a co-worker about it and she bought one for her husband who LOVES it!

However, I need to disclose that I'm part of Amazon Affiliates so if you click on the link and buy one, I get a itty bitty percent of the purchase (you aren't charged anything extra and I'll never know who bought it - but if you do click on the link and buy anything on Amazon, I appreciate it! It helps me buy Bundt pans and iPad Stands!)

Okay, last year I bought the iPad Air and LOVE IT. Seriously the best one they've made (I've used the older editions). Screen is awesome and the speakers are so much better than previous iPads (you can't DJ a wedding with the speakers, but they are totally fine to watch a movie, YouTube videos and listen to NPR in bed when you should be doing other stuff...)

But I was always kinda annoyed because it wasn't easy to read in bed. My arms would get tired if I was on my back holding up the iPad. Although it's the iPad Air and totally light, I have it in a case and that added weight. Sometimes I would prop it up with a pillow and lie on my side to read. Anyway, it wasn't the best solution.

After a bunch of searching and reading too many reviews, I decided to try the LEVO iPad & Tablet Stand, Deluxe Edition.

Oh my goodness.
Changed my life.
This is awesome.

My iPad Air (excuse the dust) is attached with the bungee-type cords, and you can angle it upside down

The unit is adjustable in height and the arm is adjustable at two points. The pad that holds the tablet or iPad can adjust 180 degrees (you can make it go completely flat or tilted up - so you can lie flat on your back and look up at the screen, or sit up and tilt it to the best angle. See the photos on Amazon for more positions)

It's versatile because you get four cords that hold in your device - so you can put an eReader in it, tablet or iPad.

The base is stable because it is so heavy. When the package comes from Amazon, it was in a big box. Then you tried to lift it and thought, "What's in this box? Weights?" Well, turns out there are weights in it! The base has a heavy weight so the thing doesn't tip over on you. Yeah, that's a good thing. (It could leave those furniture indentations on carpet because it's heavy so I move mine around every couple of days)

I think the unit is well made. It comes on four wheels so you can wheel is out of the room when you have a special guest (wink, wink) or you can move it in front of a chair or table too. You can wheel it into the kitchen and use it to "hold" your recipes on the iPad. Haven't done that yet...but I just might!

Photo from Amazon - not me and my dog

My unit cost $189.99 and I bought it in May 2014. It has free shipping on Amazon but it isn't Prime so you have to wait a few days for it (Prime people know what I'm talking about...that long, long wait for things that don't come in 1 or 2 days!) There are only a few pieces to assemble, but the box is heavy because of the base. Also, this is the DELUXE version. The reviewers say it is better than the original. Having never seen the original, I spent a couple more bucks because the reviewers made it sound much improved. I believe Brookstone sells this in-store if you want to try it out...I just pressed "buy now" on Amazon and crossed my fingers that I like it. :)

Gotta go. I have to a couple books to read and YouTube videos to watch! (Oh dear, that's another post where I admit that I'm 43 but have the YouTube viewing preferences of a 14-17 year old teenage girl who watches Tyler Oakley videos. And Sup3rfruit - but they are really hella funny. Really, I tried to watch TED Talks and the like but... ;)

The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/06/how-to-read-watch-your-ipad-or-tablet.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-36516010357851700602014-06-01T15:19:00.001-07:002014-06-01T15:19:26.673-07:00Lemon Scones

Lemon Scones

I made these scones in January and am finally getting around to posting them. I can't believe today is the first day of June! What happened to 2014?!

This is a super easy recipe. It uses buttermilk instead of heavy cream so I think it has a bit fewer calories (but don't worry, it has a stick of butter so it's plenty rich). The lemon flavor is delicate as zest is the only lemon flavor used in the recipe.

Remember, when making scones, you should be able to see little bits of butter. When heated, the water in the butter will create steam and cause the dough to puff up.

The original recipe from Taste of Home says you should make one large circle and cut it into 10-12 scones. However, I made two circles and made 12 scones from the two circles.

These are perfect with a cup of tea or coffee...perhaps some lemon curd or jam too.

Lemon Scones
Adapted from: Taste of Home

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar plus additional sugar for top
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into cubes
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (original called for 1 1/2 teaspoons)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry cutter, two knives or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture resembles crumbs. Stir in the lemon peel. Pour the buttermilk over the mixture and stir until just mixed.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead a couple times and shape into two balls (or one big one). Place the ball on a parchment paper covered baking pan, and pat into a 1/2" to 3/4" thick circle. Using a knife, cut circle into wedges but don't go all the way through the dough - you are just scoring the dough. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown on the bottom and edges. Enjoy! These are good on their own, and can be served with butter, jam, or lemon curd.The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/06/lemon-scones.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-75137784487448709922014-05-27T20:55:00.000-07:002014-05-27T20:55:35.828-07:00Spiced Nectarine Cake from Bon Appetit

Spiced Nectarine Cake

It's a delicious time of the year. Stone fruits. Cherries. Strawberries galore.
Awesome.

Make this cake.
Serious.
Go to the Farmer's Market, buy stone fruit and make it. You probably have all the base ingredients in the house right now!

It doesn't make much batter (only 1 1/4 cup flour) so the fruit really shines. The batter is simply a delivery device for warm fruit. :)

The original recipe from Bon Appetit has lemon juice and zest. Um, I totally forgot to add them, but I did take the suggestion of the reviewers and added some vanilla extract. I also baked it in this glass pie plate - the recipe calls for a 9" springform pan.

You can serve it on a plate with some coffee, tea or even a scoop of ice cream. Or, you can be like my co-workers, cut a slide and use your hand eat it like a pizza during the meeting.

Wow. Two blog posts in two days. And I served this cake this morning, and I'm posting it tonight. Finding my camera again has given me lots of inspiration!

Take care, Mary the Food Librarian

P.S. Make this cake!!!

Spiced Nectarine Cake
Adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2005

Difference from the Original Recipe on Epicurious:
1. Totally skipped the lemon juice and zest. Totally skipped it because I totally forgot to add it.
2. Added vanilla extract.
3. Did not have self-rising flour, used a mixture of flour, baking powder and salt
4. Only needed 3 nectarines - recipe calls for 5.
5. Baked mine in a glass pie tray (because my springform pan was in use).
6. Forgot to sprinkle the topping on the cake before placing in oven...pulled it out after 15 minutes of baking and sprinkled on top. Yes, I was a bit tired when I made this!
7. You can substitute peaches, apricots or plums.

Cake Batter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (175 g) all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 medium nectarines, sliced, not peeled

Topping:
3 Tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9" springform pan or pie tin.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Whisk in the salt.
3. Using a paddle attachment, cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until blended. Add the vanilla.
5. On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Don't overmix.
6. Spread into the pan.
7. Arrange a layer of nectarine slices.
8. Mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle over the cake.
9. Bake until cake is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.
10. Serve at room temp or warm from the oven.The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/05/spiced-nectarine-cake-from-bon-appetit.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-68902975355754360472014-05-26T16:46:00.001-07:002014-05-26T16:46:26.570-07:00Banana Nutella Swirl Muffins

Banana Nutella Swirl Muffins

Bananas.
Nutella.
All in a muffin.

Let's do it. I found this recipe on The Novice Chef's blog. I had some very sad looking bananas in the fridge and wanted to use them up...and I had a new jar of Nutella. Match made in heaven!

The recipe is easy to make. Normal muffin blending with a dollop of Nutella on top. I ran about 1/3 cup of Nutella through the microwave for about 15 seconds. That made it easier to scoop and swirl. I also did not include the chopped pecans in the original recipe.

By the way, I found my camera! It's been "misplaced" for several months now...and I almost gave up hope. You know when you place something in a super SECRET place...so secret that you forget where you put it? That's me.

I could blame the fumes from the floor refinishing or paint, but I was trying to be clever...and so failed. The camera was put in a bin of kitchen equipment, with other stuff on top. I've lifted the lid on every box in the house and missed it. Yesterday, when I was putting away loaf pans in that box, I found the camera! Whoo hoo!

Note to my family and friends: Because I seem to forget this kind of stuff, I don't "hide" money around the house. Don't bother opening every book in the house looking for money when I'm gone... :)

All the muffins are unique based on your swirl pattern. Because of the Nutella, the top can get a little messy. You might want to serve them with a napkin (or you can just lick off the Nutella from your fingers!)

RECIPE:
Find full recipe on the Novice Chef's Blog here: http://www.thenovicechefblog.com/2013/01/nutella-banana-swirl-muffins/
My changes: Did not include pecans.The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/05/banana-nutella-swirl-muffins.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-76394700262272852222014-05-21T20:48:00.001-07:002014-05-21T20:50:25.030-07:00Chocolate Scones with White Chocolate Chips

Chocolate Scones with White Chocolate Chips

I was going through my chocolate stash and found some white chocolate chips that I forgot about. Thus, chocolate scones with white chocolate chips!

I'm such a fan of scones. They are easy to make in the morning and are perfect for a morning meeting. My department has a standing weekly morning meeting, and I bought these to share.

After the meeting, I placed the "leftover" scones on a table for other staff to eat. I ran into a colleague later that morning holding one of the scones. As she walked by, she said, "I'll eat anything you bake. You can make mud pies and I'll eat 'em." Hee hee.

The dough comes together very quickly. Remember - don't overmix scones. I like to make smaller scones (more to share) so I made two circles and cut each into 8 pieces. Brush some cream on top and finish with a sprinkle of sanding sugar. (I totally use sanding sugar on everything...well, except a chicken dinner, but pretty much all baked goods!)

See you soon - I'm going to try and blog more...life has been really busy! Also, my nice camera is still MIA so these photos are from my Samsung phone.

I hope you make these scones someday. They make people happy. - mary

Chocolate Scones with White Chocolate Chips
2/3 cup of heavy cream (plus a little more to brush on the scones)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (25 grams) Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Callebaut)
1/2 cup (100 grams) sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6 Tablespoons (75% of one stick of butter) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
Sanding sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix together in the measuring cup or a small bowl the cream, egg and vanilla.
3. In a large bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt.
4. Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a pastry blender, two knives or your fingers until the butter is pea-size.
5. Add the white chocolate chips to the mix and stir to blend.
6. Pour the cream mixture over the batter and mix until just blended together. Don't overmix and it's okay if you don't get it all incorporated because you'll knead it a bit in the next step.
7. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead to pull everything together but try to handle the dough as little as possible.
8. For mini scones: I split the dough in half and made two circles and cut each into 8 wedges. If you want larger scones, you can press it into one circle and cut into 8 wedges.
9. Place the scones on a baking sheet (I use parchment paper for easy clean up) and brush the top with a little cream or milk. Sprinkle sanding sugar on top.
10. Bake for 17-20 minutes (depending on the size of the scones and your oven) until they are firm around the edges.
11. Cool on wire rack and enjoy!The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/05/chocolate-scones-with-white-chocolate.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-8506575411937618362014-04-30T21:27:00.000-07:002014-04-30T21:27:41.373-07:00Smitten Kitchen's Strawberry & Cream Biscuits

Strawberry & Cream Biscuits

It's hot in Los Angeles.
Like 91 F hot.
And our poor Dodgers get rained/snowed out in Minneapolis.
I wish I could send Minneapolis some of our heat. And they give us some of their snow pack for our drought!
(Don't get me started on the whole Clippers fiasco. I hope Oprah buys the team.)

These are like scones/biscuits. Cut up strawberries and fold in with the flour/butter mix. Be sure to coat the strawberries in flour before adding the cream.

I cut them into rounds. Next time, I would have thicker biscuits. I think these are a little too thin.

Nothing like a light biscuit filled with strawberries!

It's strawberry season in California now (well, we grow strawberries all year, but now they are crazy sweet good). Like "get 1/2 flat of strawberries (6 green plastic containers) for $9-11 at the Farmer's Market" strawberry season. Deliciousness.

When you get some strawberries (hopefully California grown!), make these Strawberry & Cream Biscuits from Smitten Kitchen.

RECIPE: Click here to go to Smitten Kitchen's blog and recipeThe Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/04/smitten-kitchens-strawberry-cream.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-55840534648023519062014-04-16T05:51:00.000-07:002014-04-16T05:51:17.834-07:00Fava Beans with Meyer Lemon, The Vegetable Diva

Fava Beans with Meyer Lemons

It's Fava Bean season! It's a bit early (the farmer's market vendor says it has been so hot in Central California that things are burning up and coming up early). The season is pretty short so get them when you see them.

And get them when you are full of peaceful zen and patience.

To me, Fava Beans are vegetable divas. They require TWO peelings. But there is a reason why Mother Nature gave it so much padding - to protect it's yummy center.

Russ Parson's of the Los Angeles Times recommends buying a POUND of fava beans PER PERSON. Serious. There is a lot of organic compostable waste in fava beans.

First, you remove the pods from the bean.

Then, blanch the pods in boiling water for a minute or so.

The pods look milky white. But you aren't done. You need to remove that white layer to grab the beautiful green fava bean.

To get the bean out, I split the white layer with my nail. You can't just pop it out. You need to peel/slit the outer cover. Dude, I warned you. DIVA VEGETABLE.

Finally, after getting to the fava, you might be exhausted. So go simple and saute the beans with some olive oil and Meyer lemon zest. Finish with some good sea salt and cracked pepper.

Here are some other pretty things I found at the Farmer's Market. I'll post something I made with these strawberries this week!

Recipe:
Fava Beans with Meyer Lemon

1. Listen to an audiobook and get the fava beans out of the pods.
2. Blanch beans for a minute or so.
3. Remove the outer milky layer to reveal a bright green bean.
4. Saute beans in olive oil.
5. Zest a lemon into the pan, to taste.
6. Top with sea salt and cracked pepper. Serve immediately (well, after you take a photo! :)

Here's some other recipes:
LA Times: 6 Recipes for Fava Beans
The Kitchn: 5 Ways to Cook Fava BeansThe Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/04/fava-beans-with-meyer-lemon-vegetable.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-27024911568161181782014-04-08T21:46:00.001-07:002014-04-08T21:46:43.257-07:00red | seven restaurant - Wolfgang Puck - West Hollywood

red | seven by wolfgang puck

west hollywood

The other day, I enjoyed lunch at red | seven restaurant in West Hollywood. Located in the Pacific Design Center (blue building), it's one of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants.

I have so many memories of the Pacific Design Center. Oh no. Not what you think... I was definitely not shopping there with an interior designer (non-profit salary = garage sales & Ikea). But my former workplace, Project Angel Food held an annual fundraiser called Divine Design in the PDC (they still have it every December, but the location has changed). We received donated fashion and furnishings and sold it at discounted prices. My co-workers and I (you know who you are Safe Cozy and Zipper Friend) were in the PDC for days on end - setting up for the special event, training volunteers, selling merchandise and carrying walkie talkies all day (this was 17-18 years ago and no one had cell phones). Before that, I was in the PDC volunteering for The NAMES Project: AIDS Memorial Quilt exhibit. Sorry to go take you on a stroll down memory lane when all you really want to hear about is my lunch...but the PDC holds very different memories than most, and they don't involve $10,000 foot stools.

Anyway, back to lunch! It was my first time at red seven and I really enjoyed it. It's only open for lunch M-F.

There were several people at lunch and they indulged me in taking photos with my cell phone and the VSCO Camera app for Android. I've trained my friends and family well. :)

Here is what we had:

The balsamic reduction is delicious in this rich olive oil.

Miso Salmon

rice gnocchi, stir fry vegetables, miso aioli (i scratched the aioli) $16

This was my meal and it was very good. The menu had "rice gnocchi" and I didn't know what that was...turns out it is mochi or rice cake slices (you can find them in Chinese and Korean cuisine). What? A combo of salmon, miso and my favorite mochi? Deliciousness.

red | seven Burger

cheddar cheese, pickles, bacon, remoulade, brioche bun, with fries $16

Two of the guys got this. They said it was tasty but the "medium" they ordered was more on the "medium rare" side. The choice of sides include fries, sweet potato fries, or a mix. I'd like to try the sweet potato fries one day. I'm a sucker for them. The bun is brioche and I told them about making brioche - and discovering it's just a butter delivery device. But don't worry, one of the guys ran a 5K obstacle course over the weekend so he already worked it off. :) (And that was a completely random "review" of the burger)

Turkey Cobb Salad

with avocado, egg, bacon, tomato, blue cheese, balsamic $12

Lovely presentation on the cobb salad and a perfect portion for lunch.

Quinoa and Beet Salad

goat cheese, orange, arugula, pistachio, citrus dressing $15

Tuna Salad Sandwich

avocado, smoked bacon, rustic roll, with fries $14

The restaurant wasn't crowded on a Monday for lunch, and the decor is subtle and relaxing. The wait staff was super friendly too.

If you are in West Hollywood, try the red seven restaurant. It's in the PDC, which is across the street from the beautiful new West Hollywood Library - you should definitely go to the second floor and see a great view of the Hollywood Hills. (My plug for libraries of the day - Done.)

red | seven restaurant

Pacific Design Center

West Hollywood, California

Monday-Friday for Lunch

Yelp

The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/04/red-seven-restaurant-wolfgang-puck-west.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-53363402701036888672014-03-30T06:00:00.000-07:002014-03-30T06:00:00.045-07:00Nigella's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

I can't find my digital scale. Eeck.

Due to some home improvements, things were moved around and crammed in other areas of the house and the garage. And I don't know where the digital scale went! Eeck. I use it all the time and feel like my arm is cut off when baking without it. Oh, and I can't find my camera too. It's kinda a disaster in the making. I'm lucky to have gotten these muffins out the door. I'll keep you posted on the lost and found that is the house.

These are Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. They have some cocoa powder and chocolate chips. I switched regular chocolate chips for mini chips because mini chips are cuter.

I really liked this recipe. Super easy to make and the texture was very good. I made them two days in a row and will definitely make them again in the future!

Let's hope my scale and camera show up soon!
(These photos were taken on my Samsung 4S phone with the VSCOcam app)

I slightly adapted Nigella's recipe from the Food Network

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons good quality cocoa powder (I used Callebaut dutch chocolate)
3/4 cup superfine sugar (one time, I used granulated sugar and it turned out fine)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling on top (1 cup total chips - I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips)
1 cup milk (I used whole milk)
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Line a muffin tin with liners.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips.
4. In a measuring cup, mix together the oil, milk, egg and vanilla together.
5. Pour the liquids over the dry ingredients and mix together. Don't overmix - it's fine if it's lumpy.
6. Scoop into muffin tin.
7. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of chocolate chips on top.
8. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Makes 12 muffins.The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/03/nigellas-chocolate-chocolate-chip.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-79175446806331666052014-03-25T20:20:00.000-07:002014-03-26T06:31:16.461-07:00Sour Cream Bisquick Biscuits

Sour Cream Bisquick Biscuits

This is total comfort food.

Bisquick.

Sour Cream.

Old school recipe.

After all that happened this month so far, I needed comfort food and these are the ticket.

My mom used to make these biscuits when I was little. My cousin makes them small and I think they are better that way (and you can eat more).

My cousin has an index card written by her mom. I'm sure you can make this all from scratch, but Bisquick has a special place in my memory and it's foolproof.

On Sunday, I went to my parent's house and made some little ham and egg biscuits.

This is super easy to make. Just some Bisquick, sour cream, a bit of sugar, baking soda and an egg.

I made mini biscuits with a one-inch (or so) circle because they are cute and you can eat a bunch. Sure, if you count the calories, it's all the same, but I'm always more satisfied if I can eat four small ones instead of only one big one.:)

By the way, I only had my cell phone camera to take these photos. Sorry about the quality. But the quality of the biscuits? Yummmmmmy.

Sour Cream Bisquick Biscuits

Mix together in one bowl:

2 1/2 cups Bisquick

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix together in a small bowl:

1 cup sour cream

1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Pour the wet mixture onto the Bisquick bowl.

3. Stir until just combined. Don't overmix.

4. Knead dough 5-7 times on a flour or Bisquick covered surface.

5. Pat or roll out and cut into desired shape.

6. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown on top and bottom (depends on how big you make them - around 12-20 minutes)
The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/03/sour-cream-bisquick-biscuits.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-24299582441447977112014-03-25T05:07:00.000-07:002014-03-25T05:07:32.743-07:00My March Madness: Hospitals, Family and Comfort Food

Hello Spring! My last post was about winter...and now we are in spring. Where have I been? (Thanks to the readers who checked in with me during my absence!)

Here's a short rundown of my March so far:

81-year old father falls.
Fractures ribs.
Trip to the ER.
Passes out at home.
911.
Ambulance to the hospital.
"Well, there is fluid by the lungs...Let's figure that out."
Blood cell count very low.
Blood transfusion.
"Turns out that fluid is blood. Let's stick a massive needle in and drain it." (For future reference: You should never watch this like I did. Just saying.)
Three nights in Kaiser with my mom and dad. Great doctors and nurses, not so great cafeteria.
So many more trips to doctors (internist, lung specialist, neurologist, physical medicine).
Dad gets a Parkinson's diagnosis and new medications.
Stay in my old room at my parent's house helping out.
Hire a home health aide to help my mom.
Fill out FMLA paperwork at the office.
My friends, family, parent's neighbors were awesome! We've received food, care packages, cards, visits and my friend brought be best give ever to the hospital: Tall Decaf Soy No Foam Latte.
And... I've talked, texted and saw my brother more than I've ever seen him in my life!

Whew. That's the basic family stuff.

The other reason I've been off the blog? My cousin is doing some home improvements and we had to empty areas of the house for painting and wood floor refinishing. No kitchen = No baking.

But I'm starting to move some items back into the kitchen (when I'm here and not at my parent's house) so I have a little something to post. Coming up next - total comfort food. Sour Cream Bisquick Biscuits.

To those who follow me on Instagram and Twitter and followed my dad's tale, thank you for the support! My parent's don't get that strangers were sending them prayers and love when I read them the messages. But it worked! :)

Hope to come back to the blog soon! Thanks, Mary the Food Librarian

Left: My parents after they got home from the hospital.
Right: My dad's appetite isn't great, but he can sure eat cake! :)

P.S. Go UCLA Bruins! Sweet Sixteen! That's the much better March Madness.

The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/03/my-march-madness-hospitals-family-and.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-14270587004692365392014-02-08T13:29:00.001-08:002014-02-08T14:05:04.814-08:00My Winter Vortex

Hi.
I can't believe it's February.
And February 8th.
What happened?

Anyway, I tried a recipe for double chocolate muffins. See above. Pretty, huh? Well, they were dry. I thought it was me so I made them again. Dry again. So...that recipe needs some alterations, or I'll try another cookbook.

So, instead of a recipe, I'm leaving you with photos of our Los Angeles winter. We finally had some rain earlier this week (we so need rain as we are in a MEGA drought), and it cleared everything up. The Farmer's Market was packed and the beach was full of volleyball players, runners, bikers, and sailboats in the ocean.

I'll probably never be able to afford the real estate here, but I can't imagine living anywhere else. If you are in a cold place, I hope it's not too bad...and come out to visit us in Los Angeles when you get a chance. :)

Go Olympics! I support the athletes and respect their hard work and dedication, but Putin...so wrong.

- mary

         The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/02/my-winter-vortex.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-91090950412511860192014-01-27T05:45:00.003-08:002014-01-27T05:45:09.478-08:00Spreads Cookies by Pioneer Woman

Spreads by The Pioneer Woman

On Saturday morning, I turned on the DVR and found a new episode of Ree Drummond in The Pioneer Woman Food Network show. It was all about football camp with her making 120 sandwiches and these "Spreads" cookies for the football camp boys.

Spreads are the often requested treat of Ree's older brother and it's basically a cookie dough topped with melted chocolate chips. In her 2009 post on her blog, she doesn't top it with extra stuff, but on the show, she went crazy and filled it with toppings.

On this spread, I topped it with two types of candy sprinkles.

This was topped with Heath English Toffee Bits. I just love these. They go great in scones too (see this recipe)

The dough is very close to a cookie dough and you simply spread it on a baking sheet. After it bakes for 15-20 minutes, you take it out and place chocolate chips on top. Then it goes back in the oven for 1 more minute (just long enough to soften the chips) and then you spread them out with your offset spatula. Seriously easy peasy.

After they chill out, you can cut the spreads into any size pieces. I found it helpful to refrigerate them for 15 minutes before cutting.

I made one batch and split it between two quarter-sheet pans. You can make one big spread, or smaller individual ones too. On the show, she topped one with this crazy s'mores gone wild: crushed graham crackers, mini marshmallows, M&Ms and caramel sauce.

Cidney the Girl Dog was hanging out on her Costco doggie bed (the cover was in the wash) while I made the Spreads. I'm not sure she liked me interrupting her rest. :)

Spreads by The Pioneer Woman
See her original recipe (2009) and from the Food Network

1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 large egg
2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (I added this, not in the original recipe)
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 - 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used 8 ounces, but I think 6 ounces would be fine)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place parchment paper on a half-sheet or quarter-sheet pan. The Pioneer Woman does not use parchment, but I find the clean up easier with parchment.
3a. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.
3b. With an electric mixer and paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg and blend together, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
5. Add the vanilla and blend.
6. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour and salt and blend until just combined.
7. With an offset spatula, spread dough on the baking pan to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Don't spread it the edges of the pan.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown on the edges.
9. Pull out of the oven (leave the oven on) and sprinkle the chocolate chips on the cookie.
10. Return to the oven and for 1 minute. Remove and spread the chips over the top with the offset spatula.
11. Spread your selected toppings on top.
12. Let cool before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

From @instagram - My account is @foodlibrarian - follow along! (it's 85% food, 10% dog and 5% more ridiculousness).The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/01/spreads-cookies-by-pioneer-woman.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-47155920996878655342014-01-21T21:16:00.000-08:002014-01-21T21:16:03.879-08:00Meyer Lemon Glazed Cookies

Meyer Lemon Glazed Cookies

Our coasts in the US are polar opposites right now. Los Angeles has been going through another heatwave...we've been in the 80's. And the East Coast is getting hit by a snow storm. What to do?

Make cookies. That's the answer for everything.

My parent's have a great Meyer Lemon tree and come winter, it's bursting with lemons. Meyer Lemons are very fragrant and sweeter than your regular lemon. They've gotten super popular in recent years and they deserve the attention! I hope you are able to find some...and I hope they are from California.

This is a simple cookie to make. I made it while watching Sherlock. Oh, I love that show. Don't you? I tried really, really hard to stay up to watch it after Downton, but didn't make it so I watched it the next day while baking these cookies.

I made smaller cookies - the original recipe from Martha Stewart has about double the yield.

Both the cookie batter and the glaze include lemon zest.

Fresh from the oven. Let them cool completely before glazing the cookies.

After glazing the cookies, let the cookies rest for an hour so the glaze sets up.

Recipe: Meyer Lemon Glazed Cookies
Adapted from: Everyday Food/Martha Stewart Glazed Lemon Cookies

2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda (original recipe was 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely grated meyer lemon zest (I used two meyer lemons)
2 tablespoons fresh meyer lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze
2 cups confectioners'/powdered sugar
zest of 1 meyer lemon (about 1 Tablespoon)
1/4 to 1/3 cup fresh meyer lemon juice

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a small bowl, mix the sugar with the lemon zest until damp and fragrant. This will release the lovely meyer lemon flavor.
3. In an electric mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter with the lemon zesty sugar until light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down the sides. Add egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until combined. It may look curdled but that's okay.
4. With mixer on low, beat in flour mixture until just combined.
5. Drop dough onto cookie sheets (I line my half-sheet pans with parchment paper). I used a small cookie scoop and got 42 cookies. The originally recipe uses one heaping tablespoon and yields 24 cookies.
6. Bake until edges are golden, 12-15 minutes for small cookies or 15-20 minutes for larger cookies, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool 2 minutes on cookie sheets, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. To make the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest until pourable. Spread glaze on the cooled cookies and let sit for an hour until the topping is set.The Food Librarianhttp://firstname.lastname@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/01/meyer-lemon-glazed-cookies.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2503994994675408248.post-41164111836424605262014-01-19T09:52:00.000-08:002014-01-20T16:15:25.651-08:00Amazon Fresh Review - Home Delivered Groceries

Amazon Fresh Los Angeles Home Delivered Groceries Experience

I'm in the midst of a 30-day free trial for Amazon Fresh, and a couple people asked about it so I thought I'd post my experience so far.

Amazon Fresh is home delivered groceries. Yes, order in your pajamas, and have groceries on your front porch. They started in their hometown of Seattle and have expanded to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Okay, stuff up front. I'm not paid by Amazon for this review, and anyone in the service area can get this free 30-day trial. I am, however, in the Amazon Affiliate program so if you buy books, subscriptions to Amazon Prime, and stuff via my Amazon link, I get a few cents. I'm on the fence about continuing the Amazon Fresh due to the price...but more on that later.

My neighbor and I were chatting after the holidays about Amazon Fresh. It's so darn tempting! There are a bunch of people who have Amazon Prime and the OnTrac, UPS, FedEx and USPS trucks almost caused a traffic jam on the street during the holidays. We shop via computer. A lot. So, I thought I would give it a 30-day try!

Amazon Fresh Basics: Your Amazon Prime membership goes from $79/year to $299/year. Grocery minimum is $35 per order. I can't live without Amazon Prime and sometimes I feel like I abuse it..."Oh, that $7 cable? Just order it on Prime and get it with free two-day shipping (often getting it in ONE day)." Anyway, the price difference is big and it's my biggest concern.

First order: It was quite exciting to open the door around 5:30 am and see your groceries on the porch. Sure, it's totally lazy, but just let me have my moments in the morning.

You get these large Amazon Fresh green bags with your order. The next time you order, you leave the bags out for the driver to pick up.

When you order refrigerated items, they place them in a collapsible Styrofoam container with four frozen water bottles. This is ingenious! Amazon has a note saying the water is fresh and fine to drink later. The bag on the right has two Stryfoam containers broken down inside.

Order #1 - December 2013:
4 packages of Science Diet dog food for Cidney ($18.99) each package
Bananas (they come in packs of five), ripe $1.49
Fage Yogurt, flavored, 5.3 oz $1.00 each
Organic heavy cream, 1 pint $2.19
3 bottles of Martinelli (for Christmas with the family)
The order was about $100.

When you are ready to check out online, you get a grid of delivery options. You can choose "unattended" (leave on porch) or "attended" delivery (must be home to sign - alcohol purchases need attended delivery). You get to pick the time! (unattended has 3 hours spans but attended delivery has one hour spaces). The times range from "pre-dawn - before 7 am" to 10 pm. Pretty convenient!

Also, the grid will tell you if you can't get a delivery time because one or more items isn't available. For instance, I wanted pre-dawn delivery and a lip balm was holding up the order. I could either remove the lip balm and get the time I wanted, or keep it in and pick a later time in the day. You can also leave the driver a tip. They suggest $4 and it's charged a few days after the delivery so you can adjust it if you wish. I went with the default $4 (the delivery guy wasn't hiking up stairs or anything difficult).

Order #1 Issue - The Bananas. You can order bananas in two ways - ripe or green. I ordered ripe. They were placed in the large green back with a 12-pack of canned dog food (on the bottom). Also, there were three glass Martinelli apple cider bottles. And the bananas. So, in the packing, delivery and overall move to my house, the bottles fell on my bananas. They were a bit bruised. I ate them no problem, but I let Amazon know that I didn't think it was the wisest move to pack bottles with bananas. Within hours, they sent me an email saying they credited my account for the bananas and gave me a $30 credit for AmazonFresh (I didn't ask for that). I've ALWAYS had really good dealings with Amazon customer support and this was no different.

Order #2 (December 2013) General Stuff - This time, I ordered things like lettuce, carrots, more yogurt, hummus, sugar, flour, and more bananas (I love bananas, okay?)

This time, I tested buying something frozen (Kashi frozen meal) and it came in the collapsible Styrofoam container with packets of dry ice. If you wanted to get a fog machine going, you could have fun with this. :) But there is a warning notice, so if you have children, watch out for the dry ice because improper handling can burn.

Cold stuff - refrigerated stuff comes with four (free) frozen water bottles.

Order #3 (January 2014) This time I ordered a bunch of yogurt, laundry detergent, bread, turkey sandwich meal, cereal and buttermilk. This is the dry stuff. They wrapped the laundry detergent in a plastic bag.

Ripe bananas (left) and Green bananas (right) (sold in packs of 5 bananas). These bananas were perfect with no bruises!

Refrigerated good from Order #3. Yes, I like Fage and Siggi's yogurt!

Order #3 Issue - Expiring buttermilk. I placed the order on January 9th, got it delivered on January 10th and the buttermilk had an expiration date of January 12th. If I were in the store, I wouldn't put this in my cart. I gave Amazon feedback about this (really, usually I'm not a big complainer, but since they are piloting this program...I thought they should know) and they credited back my buttermilk purchase and said they would contact the fulfillment center and have them check the expiration dates on the dairy products (the rest of the dairy (yogurt and cream) had fine expiration dates). And they gave me a $30 credit again (I told them they didn't need to do that, but I guess it's almost automatic since the wording was the same as the last email).

So, there are many pros and cons of Amazon Fresh.
Advantages:
1. Convenience!
Shopping in your pajamas? Yes, please. Also, if you have children, you don't need to take them grocery shopping with you...and have them ask for stuff you didn't plan on buying! I think the money and time saved on this might be a factor in a family decision :)
2. Delivery Times
If you order before 10 am, you can get delivery that night. Order by 10 pm and get it the next day. Awesome sauce.
3. Carrying heavy stuff
If you have mobility issues, this might save you a few steps of lugging stuff. If you live in an apartment on the 5th floor with no elevator, this would be great. No car? No problem with Amazon Fresh. Also, it seems you can have the groceries delivered to another address (in their service area) - this would be great if you want to buy groceries for your parents, relative or sick friend.
4. Los Angeles Spotlight
Although I didn't take advantage of this, Amazon works with local merchants to offer their products. Angelenos will know Fugetsu-do mochi, Border Grill, Intelligentsia Coffee, Santa Monica Seafood and Valerie Confections.
5. Good customer services from Amazon
My two interactions were met with prompt replies.

Disadvantages:
1. Price
Going from $79/year to $299/year is a large jump.
The price of food was pretty close to the grocery store. Some a little more, some a few cents less (you can go online and see the products yourself and compare). You can't use manufacturers coupons so if you are an extreme coupon contestant, this probably isn't the program for you (they do have some "online" coupons you can click on and use).
2. It's not Trader Joe's or your local Farmer's Market
I'm still going to Trader Joe's and I go to my local Farmer's Market on Saturday or Sunday. They have some organic produce, but they'll never match the freshness of a Farmer's Market - plus I like getting out, saying hi to the vendors, and getting a homemade pupusa along with some kettle corn too.

Overall, I really like Amazon Fresh and I can see it working for a super busy family, people without a car (looking at you San Francisco friends), and many of my fellow Angelenos. I'm still deciding if I want to continue it for the additional fee. Of course, I'll continue regular Amazon Prime (I often wonder how people live without Amazon Prime), but we'll see if I continue the Fresh side of things...I have a few more days before my 30 day trial is over! Have you tried it?

Updated 1/20/2014: I received a couple questions via the comments and email...
- There is no limit on the number of orders you can place per month with Amazon PrimeFresh. However, there is a $35 minimum grocery order on Amazon Fresh. (There isn't a limit on the number of packages you can order on Amazon Prime - geez, I totally take advantage of that when I order from Amazon way too frequently).
- I didn't order many "fresh" items such as meat, seafood, or fruits and veggies.
There are a couple reasons for that: 1) I don't cook much. I bake, but I don't cook much. Did you see all that yogurt I bought? The boxed Mac & Cheese? In my defense, I do fancy it up with some cold cuts or leftover chicken teriyaki and frozen corn - hey, it's practically gourmet. Most of my lunches are eaten out, and I sometimes find myself eating a sweet potato and fruit for dinner. Thus, I didn't buy the meats of a more typical family so I can't judge the quality of the meats from Amazon Fresh. 2) Farmer's Market & Trader Joe's - I usually hit TJ every other week, and go to the Farmer's Market once a week to pick up loads of fruits and veggies.
- There is an App for Amazon Fresh so you can order on the go. I downloaded it for iPad and it was super easy to place the order. You can also build a cart anytime (say, as you run out of stuff) and then place the order when your cart is full, or you hit the $35 minimum.

Hope this helps! Thanks for the comments about this post. It ran really long, but it sounds like it might be helpful for those in the Amazon Fresh delivery zone. I say - sign up for the free trial and see how you like it. And order heavy food and be all happy when it arrives on your doorstep. :)

- mary
The Food Librarianhttp://email@example.com://www.foodlibrarian.com/2014/01/amazon-fresh-review-home-delivered.html


text:
Fast Eddie:
Cause, ya see, twice, Sarah... once at Ames with Minnesota Fats and then again at Arthur's, in that cheap, crummy pool room, now why'd I do it, Sarah? Why'd I do it? I coulda beat that guy, coulda beat 'im cold, he never woulda known. But I just hadda show 'im. Just hadda show those creeps and those punks what the game is like when it's great, when it's REALLY great. You know, like anything can be great, anything can be great. I don't care, BRICKLAYING can be great, if a guy knows. If he knows what he's doing and why and if he can make it come off. When I'm goin', I mean, when I'm REALLY goin' I feel like a... like a jockey must feel. He's sittin' on his horse, he's got all that speed and that power underneath him... he's comin' into the stretch, the pressure's on 'im, and he KNOWS... just feels... when to let it go and how much. Cause he's got everything workin' for 'im, timing touch... it's a great feeling, boy, it's a real great feeling when you're right and you KNOW you're right. It's like all of a sudden I got oil in my arm. The pool cue's part of me. You know, it's uh - pool cue, it's got nerves in it. It's a piece of wood, it's got nerves in it. Feel the roll of those balls, you don't have to look, you just KNOW. You make shots that nobody's ever made before. I can play that game the way... NOBODY'S ever played it before.
Sarah Packard:
You're not a loser, Eddie, you're a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything.
Bert Gordon:
You've the best excuse in the world for losing; no trouble losing when you got a good excuse. Winning. That can be heavy on your back too, like a monkey. You'll drop that load too when you got an excuse. All you gotta do is learn to feel sorry for yourself. One of the best indoor sports, feeling sorry for yourself. A sport enjoyed by all, especially the born losers.
Fast Eddie:
You know, I got a hunch, fat man. I got a hunch that it's me from here on in. One ball, corner pocket. I mean, that ever happen to you? You know, all of a sudden you feel like you just can't miss? 'Cause I dreamed about this game, fat man. I dreamed about it every night on the road. Five ball. You know, this is my table, man. I own it.
Share your thoughts on Hustler's quotes with the community:
Use the citation below to add this movie page to your bibliography:
"Hustler Quotes." Quotes.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. <http://www.quotes.net/movies/Hustler>.


text:
It was great taking with those of you who called our live phone # today. I hope to be able to do that more often on "slow" days. Stay tuned for more including a possible daily show.
Last night's episode of iMPACT! Wrestling garnered a 1.19 (1.2) cable rating, with 1.58 million viewers, up from last week's year-low 1.06 and 1.51 million viewers. The episode was the second-highest rated iMPACT! of the year.


text:
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Dear Members,
In order to show respect towards someones wishes, regarding if they want to get surprised by the new issue of the manga, please place the proper "Spoiler" prefix on your thread, whenever you create one that contains any spoilers. If you do decide to post any spoiler at all, while creating the thread, in the drop-down box before the thread title, again, please make sure you selected "Spoiler" as the thread prefix.
Thank you, NarutoBase Staff
The title says it all so would he forgive sasuke or go obito-style ?
EDIT: added poll
Last edited by Noki; 10-04-2012 at 08:12 PM.
I have a feeling that might happin haha and that's how naruto get over his bond with sasuke
No, not really...
He would bite Sasuke's Penis off.
he might not forgive him but he wont go crazy naruto got rid of all of his hate and he is in control of kurama
Originally Posted by orangenucklehead
he might not forgive him but he wont go crazy naruto got rid of all of his hate and he is in control of kurama
Naruto: Sasuke you bastard!
Sasuke: Oh like i was only one thinking it
Kakashi: ya she was useless
Naruto: ya and flat chested
Sai: and rather annoying
Sasuke: I know right
Naruto: hey let's all go out for some ramen!
Kakashi: my treat!
Sai: so Naruto how are things with Hinata?
i would imagine something like that
if sasuke kill sakura, He will no longer be hated
Originally Posted by Yie
if sasuke kill sakura, He will no longer be hated
No one cares about Sakura. She's just there so someone cries after Sasuke.
Gosh, I hate them both. :D
But back to topic, yes he would forgive him. It's Naruto after all.
I kinda like Sakura, but my dislike for her is still more than my like for her. I disliked how she always viewed Naruto as annoying in part 1 and ignored him completely until the end. In part 2 she starts liking Naruto more but she's still obsessed with Sasuke and ignoring Naruto's love for her. I don't think Naruto will ever forgive Sakura if she ever killed Sasuke because Naruto treasures his bond with Sasuke so much more than his bond with Sakura. He would be furious at her because he promised Itachi he would save Sasuke, and that would fail if Sakura did kill Sasuke.
yeah he forgave nagato for killing jiraiya who is much more important to him than sakura
Originally Posted by gas83091
yeah he forgave nagato for killing jiraiya who is much more important to him than sakura
Good point +rep you for that... But if you put it that way nagato was alredy defeated so killing him wouldnt do anygood ... now if sasuke killed sakura in pure cold blood i dont think naruto would just say "oh cool i still want you to come back" so yea it would be a realy tricky situation.
I think this is EXACTLY what is going to happen in the manga.
Sasuke will be going for the kill on Naruto but maybe Sakura intervenes and gets killed herself.
This will either change Sasuke and make him realize what he's doing is wrong or he won't care.
But either way it'll make Naruto go nuts and nearly kill Sasuke.
I seriously do not see Sakura staying alive by the end of this manga.
But then again the whole point of Naruto's new view ever since Pain is forgiveness instead of hate.
Lmao he'd be over it in a few days, check my thread about this ;D
The better question is, if Sakura killed Sasuke, would Naruto forgive her?
No no no, you're asking the wrong question here.
Ask "if Sasuke killed Hinata, would Naruto ever forgive him?"
Much more interesting that way
Originally Posted by gas83091
yeah he forgave nagato for killing jiraiya who is much more important to him than sakura
Not really, hes in love with her.
Originally Posted by Xaviour
No no no, you're asking the wrong question here.
Ask "if Sasuke killed Hinata, would Naruto ever forgive him?"
Much more interesting that way
Why Hinata? Sakura is much more important for him.
As for the thread, obviously no.
Last edited by Turson; 10-05-2012 at 07:52 PM.
No Naruto would never forgive him for killing Sakura come on already. I know Naruto is all into this peace and forgiving mode as of late but if Sasuke stuck his hand through Sakuras heart Naruto would freak out.
For once, a decent question asked. Personally I believe the story needs to do something like this; kinda like an ultimate test for Naruto's resolve to bring peace. In the end, yes, I think he forgives Sauske, but only as Sauske lays dying at someone's feet, finally realizing the mistakes he has made.
Hey guys I am sorry if someone had posted this before but I was wondering were is the Madara that was with obito at the cave because we never had of his death are they two madaras? kishi didn't say what happened to the madara at the cave so what did you think.
No, like how obito cant forgive kakashi for rins death.
Obito = Naruto
Kakashi = Sasuke
Rin= Sakura
naruto thinks sasuke is being controlled by force at the moment, so i think he would see it as like its not really sasuke's fault and more the darkness behind it from madara.
But I really think this is needed, naruto can focus more on madara and less on sasuke.
This is the exact same as a post that I made before, except replace "Sakura" with "Hinata"
And as I said there, he'd probably go something like this
I think since Naruto has learned to confront his hatred he will not exactly try to kill sasuke but maybe try to reason with him and it will turn out to be another long talk. Or Naruto might say 'Finally, we can be together, Sasuke' which is not gonna happen though
Interesting thoughts
Originally Posted by Blondephile1
I think he might turn into another obito,
but naruto doesn't care for sakura anymore so it doesnt matter.
no my friend naruto will always care for sakura it has turned like a brother sister reletionship as much as i see it
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This can indeed be used for all sorts of things. There are special issues, though, when used with application data for apps that are used all the time and write lots of data to the folder, like Camino.
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Symlink of bookmark.plist file only is overwritten when Camino quit.
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Every devoted reader of Sherock Holmes Stories must know Jeremy Brett, a skilful English actor. He was born in 1933, and passed away in 1995. Although he appeared in many different roles during his 40-year career, he is best remembered for his performance as Sherlock Holmes on Granada Television. He has stared 41 stories of Holmes in all, and I like the Hound of baskervilles best. They show respect to the original work in many aspects. And the Holmes is nimble, calm at work, but also talkative when he chose. I fell in love with his great charisma immediately.
I don't know whether there're fans of the Holmes acted by him on tumblr, but however I love him with the same enthusiasm as to BBC Sherlock. He's the eternal Holmes to me.
It is a shame Brett doesn't get his due from many modern fans.