The cruel facts of life are making themselves clearer with each passing month. We’re getting older and our nights out are fewer and farther between. When we do pull a late-nighter, the morning after is a little worse than it was in the days when we could just roll up to the caf for a meal plan-subsidized plate of tater tots and Belgian waffles.
Now, please don’t get me wrong—the egg and cheese deli sandwich remains the gold standard for all greasy breakfast sandwiches—but sometimes the recovery process needs to be aided by something a bit more jazzy.
Enter the peanut butter bacon honey sandwich. Two slices of white bread (thick Italian bread or challah is extra decadent), smeared with peanut butter, stuffed with two slices of applewood-smoked bacon, and drizzled with honey—simple, savory, sweet, protein-packed, and perfect for soaking up any excesses.
Time for a poll — what is your morning beverage routine? Coffee, tea, or something else?
Moto's coffee biscotti dessert, courtesy of Flickr user beuysgirl
Though I try to remain in denial, I’m fully aware there are some of you out there who can’t function each morning without a (gasp) Diet Coke. That seems to be an unholy alliance, but hey, I also like to eat cold spaghetti carbonara for breakfast, so I suppose no judgment should be passed. And I’ve been a flip-flopper on so many levels for so long that I want to hear about the strange and varied ways people use caffeine to start their day.
My personal saga with hot beverages started when my mom introduced me to Constant Comment and a strange concoction called Russian Tea made with Tang and instant tea powder. After a high school crush on Sheetz cappuccinos and Denny’s diner swill, I moved into a full-blown day-and-night coffee addiction from college (complete with an espresso machine in my freshman dorm room) through the next decade.
When I started getting stress-induced heart palpitations, the doctors told me to cool it on the java, so I went back to tea almost exclusively until this fall, when I finally realized it was the job—not the coffee—that was making me twitch and grind my teeth every weekday morning. The affair was back on. Coffee+Casey=True Love 4Eva.
I still switch my morning cuppa to tea every few days (and have discovered that Tazo’s Wild Sweet Orange simulates the citrus blast of Russian Tea without all the fake powder), but most days I’m a French roast in the French Press kind of girl. My sister is psyched to be using her Christmas present of a brand-new Bialetti, my stepmom always burr-grinds her beans fresh every morning, and my mom is still in love with Starbucks. Everyone’s got their own idiosyncrasy.
So, spill the beans—what’s yours and how did you end up with your choice?
Cold enough for you?! That statement is winter’s annoying equivalent of “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity,” and I heard it about 5 times this weekend. I bought a bunch of tangerines on Friday that let me muse on warmer times as well as provide my Vitamin C fix. I had momentary locavore guilt when I thought that I should be eating apples instead, but even the farmer’s market apples are pretty awful for anything but pie right now.
It’s hard to be without good, fresh fruit in the cold months and the best alternative I’ve found is frozen fruit, particularly berries. Your local grocery store or corner bodega will almost always have bags of blueberries, raspberries, peach slices, and cherries. If you live near a Trader Joe’s (or have the stamina to wait in line with the 15,000 NYU students at the Union Square store), then you’re in luck because I’ve always found their frozen fruit to be of the highest quality and the lowest price. Either way, frozen fruit is actually a bit of foodie coup as the fruit is usually picked in season, at peak, and then immediately frozen and packaged. The problem comes when you defrost it, and you have a puddle of juice surrounding your tasty, but deflated berries.
My solution is winter oatmeal. First, I stick a bowl of frozen raspberries (my favorite) in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until the berries are no longer covered in ice. I let it sit on the counter while I make a pot of steel cut oatmeal, the five minute kind on the stove top. Let the oats cook until they are nearly too dry and then pour it over the top of your berries waiting in their bowl. Mix in all that wonderful, warm berry juice and finish it off with a swirl of maple syrup. You could also add a twist of lemon, or some lemon oil if you don’t have a fresh one in your fridge. If you use frozen black cherries, add a drop of vanilla extract or vanilla sugar. (Vanilla sugar which was used before vanilla extract was invented is a simple mix of real vanilla beans and white sugar. I get mine from Penzey’s.) I like the peach slices with brown sugar, and blueberries go well with any of the above.
Today’s guest post comes from Sarah Richcreek, co-owner of The Hot Cookie, an Indianapolis-based all-natural cookie company. Sarah follows her passion for delectable sweets on a daily basis (the fruits of her labor can be purchased here, but is also a fan of the savory side of life too. Here she shares her story for comfort found in an unlikely place. Look for more of Sarah’s musings on baking here soon.
Groats, you ask? “What the devil is a groat,” I can hear you say. Listen and I will educate you about the wonderfulness of groats. But first I’m going to tell you a story…
Once upon a time, I was in Seattle, venturing out alone for the day. I started off on the wrong foot by locking myself out of my friend’s house and then missing the bus. I am not accustomed to city buses or bus schedules and such, being from a small town. So I sat on the curb and cried as it rained, like it does 80% of the time in Seattle. A little Asian man, who couldn’t speak a lick of English, stopped and spoke to me. I think he was saying comforting words, but after a minute, he went on his way. I decided to stop being a total wuss and walked to my destination: the Pike Place Market – a foodie’s playground.
Good: news, reviews, and tasty tidbits Food: demos, recipes, and things to try at home Stories: people, places, and moments that make being a good eater so much fun
kind of girl. My sister is psyched to be using her Christmas present of a brand-new 
, my stepmom always burr-grinds her beans fresh every morning, and my mom is still in love with Starbucks. Everyone’s got their own idiosyncrasy.
