Our second review...from Cakespy!!!

Check out our second published review from Cakespy!
This is HUGE!!!!

http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2010/5/26/small-but-mighty-vegan-truffles-by-the-smallest-bite.html



XO

The Smallest Bite Gets Press!

Hello Friends!


We are proud to tell you all that The Smallest Bite had its' first published review this week.

http://www.golocalprov.com/index.php/lifestyle/local-food-find-the-smallest-bite-truffles/


It was a great write up from GoLocalProv.com and we couldn't be happier with its result! Thanks so much for reading and sharing and nibbling with The Smallest Bite...good things are a-happening!

Stay tuned!

www.thesmallestbite.com-The Store!!!

Hello Friends,

I am pleased to announce the launch of The Smallest Bite's new website!

www.thesmallestbite.com

Now you can order our tasty chocolate truffles on-line and have them delivered to your door! There are currently 3 different flavors to try, each of them sweetened with all natural and organic ingredients. We suggest you try them all! Please check out the site when you have a few moments!

P.S. Special thanks to my wonderful husband and fantastic sister for designing the The Smallest Bite's logo and website respectively...I couldn't have done this with out them!!! XOXOXOXO

Tell Us What You Think!

Dear Friends, The Smallest Bite needs your feedback! I am trying to compile some sampler/customer testimonials to use for TSB's upcoming website. Your opinion could be famously published on our site (with your permission, of course)! If you have tried our chocolate truffles, please tell us what you think here:

The Smallest Bite at Hope for the Earth!

Date:	Sunday, April 25, 2010
Time:	12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location:	Hope Street-Between Rochambeau & 5th Street-East Side of Providence

The Smallest Bite will be celebrating Earth Day on Hope Street on the East Side of Providence!

A new delicious batch of organic, free trade, dairy-free chocolate truffles will be there to sample and purchase!

Take a walk, ride your bike or skateboard!
Bring your kids, bring your friends, bring yourself!
Enjoy live music, circus performers, craft workshops, sidewalk sales, chocolate truffles and MORE!!!
See you there!

P.S. The rain date for this event is May 2nd!

The Smallest Bite Goes Live (ish)!!!!

www.thesmallestbite.com

Good day Folks! We have a webpage! It is soon to be filled with delicious morsels! Stay tuned!

The Officially Licensed Endorsed Product Logo for The Smallest BIte!

It's official friends. The Smallest Bite is now a logo. Don't worry, it shall also remain a blog about food and love and memories. And soon, The Smallest Bite shall become something more, something delicious, something everyone can enjoy. Please keep reading and telling your friends and family about The Smallest Bite. You will be rewarded with good karma and perhaps...chocolate?

Ladies and Gents...we have a winner!!!

The Smallest Bite's Recipe Contest ended this past Monday and it's time to reveal the big winners! Remember that there is a Delicious Prize for every winner that they are sure to enjoy as much as I enjoyed seeing the photographs of my recipes! Thanks to all of the viewers who submitted photos! And now....the winners!








1st Prize
Maren Oslund








2nd Prize
Maren Oslund









3rd Prize
Maren Oslund

Congratulations to my new friend, Maren Oslund, for winning the first contest from The Smallest Bite! Maren's photos were great and she and her family liked the recipes she cooked! Now, it may seem a bit strange that Maren won all three prizes, but rules are rules! She had the first 3 submissions to the contest, so I felt it fair to award her all 3 prizes for her hard work! Let's hope Maren likes Delicious Prizes times three!

Hot Dog Cheesies 2.0

The Blue Plate Special above features an updated version of another childhood favorite from the 1971 published "Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library" under the category "Recipes Children Can Make"...These recipes weren't difficult and were relatively safe for kids to make under adult supervision. Eating the products of these recipes however, was a different story....Now I realize that "things" were different in the 70's, but someone, somewhere HAD to know how unhealthy is was to eat a hot dog, melted butter, processed American cheese and white bread ALL in ONE bite. But again, nostalgia takes me over and I feel the need to unearth this tasty dish from it's artificially colored grave and give it life once more. It's a quick recipe and goes very well with another favorite, tater tots. Yum!

Hot Dog Cheesies 2.0

*makes 8 servings (adults can eat 2 of these...easy.)
Preheat oven to Broil-Low or 550 degrees

8 Tofu Pups (or Hot Dogs/Franks for you purists..but for goodness sake, at least buy Kosher or All Natural Dogs)
8 Slices of Seven Stars Country White Bread (or another whole grain sandwich bread)
1/4 cup butter-melted
Yellow Mustard
White Cheddar Cheese-sliced
Toothpicks

Boil your Pups/Dogs in water for 4-6 minutes. While they are in the hot tub, lay out the bread slices on a baking sheet and spread one side with mustard. When the dogs are done, drain them of water and place them diagonally on each slice of bread. Cover each dog with a slice of cheese and fold over the bread into a triangular shape. Fasten with a tooth pick (try to get the toothpick through both sides of the crust, it won't slip through that way) and brush the bundle of goodness with melted butter. Broil until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Serve with tots!

A Gratin to Remember...

While we are nearing the end of the winter season, some regions in the U.S. are still coping with the impending bad weather, Snowpocalypse and Slushfest 2010. All of these low temperatures and precipitation provide us with the best excuse ever to stay home, hunker down and bake up a mean casserole that'll stick to your ribs and tastes great with a good IPA (I prefer Dogfish 60 Minute). Pour yourself a beer and prepare yourself for hearty deliciousness!

Butternut Squash and Mushroom Gratin Bake

1 Medium Sized Butternut squash-peeled and diced into 1 inchish cubes
3 whole Portabella mushroom caps-diced into 1 inchish pieces
2 cups cooked brown rice-well drained
1 1/2 cups milk (preferably whole or 2%)
2 cloves garlic-mashed with the flat end of your chopping knife (or chopped/diced just enough to open the clove and let the flavors loose)
3/4 tsp dried thyme leaves
A pinch of ground nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup grated Asiago cheese
1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375

-First, steam the diced squash in a small amount of water until you can easily put a fork into the center of the squash. Drain the water and set aside.
-Heat the milk, garlic, nutmeg, thyme and black pepper until slightly bubbling, NOT boiling. Strain the mixture and reserve the flavored milk in a bowl for pouring later.
-Grease or spray a glass baking dish. Add cooked rice, steamed squash and diced mushrooms. Mix vegetables and rice gently, so as to not break up the squash too much. Pour flavored milk over the mixture. Evenly distribute the bread crumbs over the mixture. Repeat with the asiago cheese.
-Bake at 375 for 12 minutes
-Broil on low for 5 minutes to brown the cheese and bread crumbs to perfection

*Pour yourself another beer and eat a big bowl of this stuff. A game of Scrabble makes for an excellent dessert substitute afterward...let's make some memories people!

You are the wind beneath my wings

It tickles me so to announce that the smallest bite is growing in readership thanks to the support of my friends and family. To show my appreciation to them, I've decided to have a delicious giveaway contest!

The first 3 readers to prepare a recipe from the blog and send me a photograph of the finished product will receive a batch of chocolately treats lovingly prepared by yours truly. This prize in food form, is a preview of things to come from the smallest bite which I am so proud to share with my fellow foodies.

Please post your entries in the comment box under this special post by Friday, February 19 2010! If you have any complications, please feel free to email me: season_j@hotmail.com. Good Luck Lovelies!

Nacho Average Lasagna

And this is Nacho Average Fire Hydrant! On a recent trip to Brooklyn, to re live my culinary childhood, my husband and I spotted this proudly painted hydrant in the Bay Ridge section of the city. It was clear that we had landed in an Italian neighborhood, and it's occupants were proud of it! While we were in my hometown, we ate hamburgers at two, yes two, different locations (The Vegas Diner and Skinflints), lemon Italian ices and pastries from the West End Bakery. All of this eating took place in a 3 hour period and though I could hardly eat another bite, I wondered why, while in one of the Italian food capitals of the Northeast, hadn't we stopped for some baked ziti or some other Italian-American specialty?
Well, the truth is, while I am very proud of my heritage and its impact on the world of food, I'm kinda sick of eating it. And cooking it, for the most part, involves hours of meat braising and pounds of mozzarella and ricotta cheese, which can grow tiresome...I wondered how I could combine tested versions of beloved Italian recipes with other culinary cultures that I love? The result of this question is...

Nacho Average Lasagna

1/2 Yellow Onion -diced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
2 cups Hot Salsa
2 cups cooked Brown Rice
1 can Black Beans-drained of liquid
1 whole ripe Avocado-Removed from skin, de-pitted and sliced
2 cups Mexican Blend Shredded Cheese
8 flour or corn tortillas
2 Tbsp Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

-Saute diced onion in olive oil until translucent. Add cumin, oregano, black beans, brown rice and 1/2 cup of salsa. Cook on low heat for approx. 5 minutes.
-While rice mixture is cooking , melt the 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet on medium heat, brown both sides of tortillas in butter
-Remove rice mixture from heat after 5 minutes, add salt and pepper to taste
-In a 13 x 9 greased/sprayed baking pan, layer the browned tortillas, rice mixture, salsa, sliced avocado and cheese and repeat until all ingredients are used. Because the pan is rectangular and the tortillas are round, it is best to lay them in the pan like a Venn diagram. (That is that there will be overlapping circles of deliciousness in the center!) Top the layers with cheese and bake in heated oven until cheese is melted and browned.
Ole!

The Ghost of Cookies Past

Pictured lovingly above is my favorite childhood cookie that has been out of production since the 90's. Since then, I have been inconsolable...seriously. Like most adults, I have memories of simpler and happier times in life that are stirred by the memory of certain scents, songs or flavors. And though I cannot remember when exactly it was that I had eaten them last, I can assure you that was a very enjoyable half hour of pure munching bliss.

In this small box, just the perfect size and dimension for little hands to grasp, was a wax paper bag filled with about 10 or 12 discs of chocolate goodness that were each no bigger in circumference than a golf ball. They were flavorful, crunchy and tasted better with each bite. Nabisco's Chocolate Snaps had no gimmicks. Nothing sparkled or tattooed your tongue with artificial flavors. Aside from the adorable bear drawn on the cookie on the box, they had no flashy mascot. They were simple and probably full of lard but they were mine.

And so it goes without saying, that one never knows what one has until its gone. I solemnly vow to keep trying recipes to bring back that taste and those memories. If I had known then that they would be discontinued, I would've put a box in my time capsule.

Chocolate Snaps Part Duex


3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 1/2 cup vegetable shortening ( I prefer Spectrum Naturals Organic-it's vegan, kosher and gluten free)
1/3 cup of unsweetened finely shredded coconut
1 cup baking cocoa
1 ounce semi sweet chocolate-melted
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
2/3-1/2 cup milk (or soy, rice, lactose free milk)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

In a large bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients together with a hand mixer or stand mixer Make sure there are no chunks of brown sugar left whole in the bowl . Then add cocoa, melted chocolate, salt, baking soda and powder. At this point, the mixture should look dry, but you should be able to pinch it and it will form small lumps. Add both eggs and then slowly add milk as you mix. The dough should start to come away from the sides of the bowl and should be moldable. By hand, start to pull the dough into a ball in the center of the bowl until any loose mixture is incorporated into the dough. If the dough still feels dry, slowly add small amounts of milk and hand mix until the dough just sticks to your fingers. Remove dough from bowl and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Remove dough from the fridge and roll small 1" balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make as many as you'd like! You will have ALOT of dough, please wrap some up tight and freeze some for the future!

Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes. Cool on rack and taste the memories.

Eggrolls for Special Moments

Recently, I had the pleasure of hosting a Ladies Only Sleepover Party at my home. Sixteen of my favorite ladies and I had an awesome evening of conversation, wine, punch, dancing, music, laughter and food. For such a special occasion, I thought it best to debut my latest creation:

Eggrolls for Special Moments

Makes approx. 12-14 servings

Vegetable oil for frying
1 pkg won ton wrappers (at room temperature, since they are more pliable and less likely to tear when rolling)
1 can black beans (undrained)
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce -chopped(or 2 if you like the smokey flavor)
3 tbsp chopped green chiles
2 small avocados-halves, pitted and sliced in 1/2" slices
3/4 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Salsa for dipping/saute liquid

In a small saucepan,on low heat,combine the brown rice, black beans, chipotle pepper and green chiles. Stir until mixed. Let the flavors combine in the saucepan for approx 2-3 minutes...be sure to add some salsa to the rice mixture if it starts to get dry. Add cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes.

While your rice mixture is cooking, fill a frying pan with vegetable oil until the surface of the oil is about 1/2" high. It seems like a lot of oil, but that amount will ensure that your eggrolls are cooked evenly when you flip them over. Heat the pan on medium for about 4-5 minutes. On a dry and clean work surface (no need to flour), start to lay out your won ton wrappers. They should lay flat on the diamond bias, not the square bias, so you can fold them like an envelope.

When your mixture is thoroughly heated, spoon approx 1 1/2-2 tbsp of the rice onto the center of your won ton wrapper. Top with a slice of avocado and wrap the won ton (there should be instructions on the won ton package). After all of your wont ons are filled and wrapped, carefully place them in the heated vegetable oil with the open flap side down. Fry until golden brown and then flip, fry other side until brown.

Repeat the process until all of your won tons are crisp and delicious...Drain on paper towels or on a clean brown paper bag. Serve with salsa for dipping!

_______________

Thanks to Libby for bringing Girl Talk to the sleepover and thanks to Erin for having the good sense to buy it for Libby as a gift last year! We were too busy dancing and eating to play it...but my crystal ball forsees future sleepovers....

the newest addition to the household

Our brand new oven with a 6 burner range! That's right, I said 6 burners! First things first, I'm going to attempt for the second time this recipe that I found online.

CHOCOLATE SNAPS (using cocoa)
Makes 7 dozen

1 1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup cocoa
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. soda
4 cups flour

Cream shortening and sugars. Add eggs and beat; add cocoa, milk, and vanilla and beat. Add remaining ingredients and chill.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Form in balls size of walnut and place about 2-inches apart on cookie sheet.
Bake 12 minutes.
_______________________________________

There is some claim that it's an original recipe from Nabisco for Chocolate Snaps. ....It's not. The first time I made these, they came out too soft and chewy and they seriously lacked the chocolatey flavor that I have been craving since Nabisco stopped making these cookies in the late 90's.

I would ask for these cookies if I had a last meal request. Seriously.
I know that the taste of these cookies are very similar to another cookie that Nabisco still makes called "Famous Wafers" and the list of ingredients is pretty much the same...But there's a difference in texture, thickness and crunch. I am going to try to re capture all of these necessary elements by modifying this recipe.. Wish me luck and stay tuned!

Shedding Some Light

I'm shedding some light on an affliction known to its' sufferers as "Refrigerator Blindness". This condition refers to the act in which one stands before an open refrigeration unit searching endlessly for something to eat. Often times, the unit is full of options waiting to be enjoyed, though the sufferer doesn't seem to recognize these options , hence the "blindness". Sometimes, there simply isn't much to work with and the afflicted must make do with very little.And so...

A Feast of 4 Ingredients

*This recipe serves one hungry person but can be multiplied to any amount...the sky's the limit, folks!

2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic-minced
1 cup steamed kale, spinach or collard greens (you may substitute frozen greens, just be sure to drain them of all liquids first)
1 link vegetarian Italian style sausage (my favorite are Smart Sausages from the Lightlife brand)
1 medium/large sized Baked Russet Potato
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste


Heat olive oil on medium-low in a skillet, add sausage link and brown until cooked through. Remove sausage from pan and lower heat. Add minced garlic and saute until cooked (but not burnt!) about 2 minutes. While garlic is cooking, chop sausage into bite sized pieces. Return the chopped sausage to skillet, then add greens. Season with a pinch of kosher salt and lots of black pepper. Mix well and cook through until heated. Cut open baked potato and fill with sausage and greens mixture. . Enjoy!

P.S. The above recipe is a variation on a dish that my mother used to make called "Pork Butt". It had a terrible name but it tasted delicious! It was a wonderfully low cost, but filling meal that was perfect for a cold, snowy night.

The Beginning

It is always best to start at the beginning.

This is me, aged roughly at 2 1/2 years old, enjoying a classic meal of hot dogs and yellow corn. . Please note the decorative woven paper plate holder and 70's wall decor. Also apparent in this moment is the intense interest that I have in devouring this bounty of boiled franks and nutrition-less canned vegetables. . I can still remember how this food tasted and the joy I felt of having it prepared for me...lovingly cut into toddler bite sized pieces by my mother, no doubt.. This was no gourmet meal, but one for the frugal and practical. It was a meal that most of us have eaten and a meal that most of us have probably tried to forget that we've eaten. These are the moments that start it all, an interest, a spark, a passion. The frozen memories that we have run hand in hand with the sights, tastes and smells of our favorite foods. And our new experiences mark occasions like calendar days of our lives. I can't recall what birthday gifts I received on my 30th, but I can tell you what I had for dinner. It was a grilled chicken salad from Cuban Revolution and I enjoyed it with my sister and brother in law. I remember it like it was yesterday....