Hello Readers and a Happy Monday to you all! Firstly, I want to apologize for not posting in a while. The reason for this was a combination of traveling, family in town, and laziness…for the latter, I am sorry. So! Now that that’s out of the way, onto the post! While I am a native New Yorker always and forever (shout out to my homies back east) I have developed quite a love for my new city of Los Angeles. Next month will mark my 3 years as a resident of California (even though my driver’s licnese says otherwise…oops). With this milestone just around the corner, I thought I’d take this time/post to express the things I love about LA:
1) The weather- in spite of my initial cynical New Yorker attitude “I’m going to miss the seasons! How can it be sunny ALL THE TIME?!” - that went away real fast
2) Driving - which may be as surprising as finding out I started this food blog- but, it’s become valuable “me” time (listening to new music/audio books, catching up with friends and family over the phone, singing really loudly to anything Broadway- or “Smash” or “Glee”)…and it’s much better than starting out your morning looking super fly only to have to walk/take the subway in suffocating heat -  and show up to work looking like a wet dog-sorry east coasters.
* Side note- when stuck in horrible traffic, with somewhere to be,  all of this goes right out the window- and my feelings towards this city quickly change to: F*&*#& YOU LA! YOU ARE THE WORST CITY EVER!
3) Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA”…’cause who didn’t hop off a flight at LAX with a dream and a cardigan? 
4) My spacious apartment/the ability to BBQ in the backyard and…
5) The Farmer’s Markets/Fresh Food available in LA…which brings me to the relevant food post! 

Every time I make it to a Sunday farmer’s market, I fall more and more in love with this city. Walking around the market- stopping at different booths to taste the weekend’s freshest fruits, the deliciously flavored balsamic vinegars, and the array of savory tapenades might be one of my favorite things to do. Whether it’s a morning trip I take by myself or with friends, it always manages to put me in a good mood.  A few weekends ago, Lloyd’s family came to visit. After some delicious dinners around town, we decided to stay in and cook/bbq for Sunday’s meal. While I may be the one with the food blog, Lloyd, his mom Janie and his two sisters Ann and Laura are the mighty fierce ones in the kitchen. They produced an exquisite feast for the evening- with such amazing items as grilled corn, steak, pasta salad and chicken.  But! Nonetheless, I successfully contributed quite the delicious peach, tomato, basil and mozzarella salad. It was a simple salad to create, but the farmer’s market fresh ingredients kept it up to par with the other’s dishes. So, what’s the lesson learned here today readers? Any dish - no matter how simple or complex it is to make- is an accomplishment…as long it tastes good. See below for photos, ingredients and the Farmer’s Market Peach, Basil, Tomato & Mozz Salad recipe!

FARMER’S MARKET PEACH, BASIL, TOMATO & MOZZ SALAD

Ingredients:

2 large heirloom tomatos 
3 white peaches (or any peach of your preference)
A bundle of basil (that may not be the right term, but you get it)
1 block of mozzarella (try to get a kind that’s a little firmer- pause for inappropriate giggle- easier to chop) 
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Lemon

Recipe:

Simple…chop it all up and put into a bowl! 
Squeeze a quarter of a lemon into the bowl of ingredients
Add salt and pepper
Add desired amount of balsamic and olive oil
Mix (I like to use my hands- but you can use salad tongs if you’re afraid of getting your hands dirty)
And you’re ready to serve and enjoy! 

Good morning - or to my east coasters- good afternoon (is it weird I had an initial desire to write- “or to my east coasters- HOLLA! IT’S THE MOTHA FU**ING WEEKEND)…But we’ll just keep it clean and stick with good morning/afternoon… ANYWAY, I thought it was about time for WWKD’s first “sweet” post. Anyone a fan of banana bread? How ‘bout chocolate chip banana bread? Well, hopefully you are, because that’s what’s on the menu for today’s post.

Now, you may be wondering, “There are so many different sweet treats, why chocolate chip banana bread Carly?” Even if you’re not wondering that, I’ll tell you anyway. A few weeks back, Lloyd and I attended the Summerland 2012 Festival. The lineup for this concert included such epic bands as Everclear, Gin Blossoms and Sugar Ray. Yeah, you read right. Ohhh the 90’s. For one night at the Greek Theater in LA, Lloyd and I got to take a trip down memory lane and re-experience such hits as “Hey Jealousy”, “Fly” and “What It’s Like”. Once my tears stopped ( I mean I wasn’t crying, what?) and the buzz wore off- I was struck with an idea: These feelings of nostalgia I had just experienced would serve as great inspiration for my next food post! 

So where does the banana bread come in? Well, it’s my mother’s recipe of course! I’ll break it down: Mom’s recipe= my childhood= remembering a simpler time= my youth. This baked good was a staple in our household. Therefore I felt it was a perfect choice for my “Sweet Nostalgia” post. (But first, here’s a little nostalgic photo treat- in honor of our gold medal Olympians):
 

Well, the banana bread was a great success! This was my first time baking EVER. Yup. Ever. And guess what? Nailed it. Beginner’s luck? Perhaps. Either way, it was another exciting cooking…or rather baking experience I was happy to share with you guys! So, without further or do, I present to you photos and the recipe of Mama Kuhns’ Chocolate Chip Banana Bread! 
 

Mama’s Chocolate Chip Banana bread

INGREDIENTS 
1-2 Bananas (that have browned- seem like they should be thrown out, but perfect for this recipe! Side note- do people even make banana bread with ripe bananas?)
Baking soda
Baking powder
Vanilla
Sour cream
Eggs
Sugar
Butter
Salt
Mini chocolate chips  

RECIPE

Set oven to 350 degrees
Soften ¼ cup butter in micro wave (or if you don’t have one- I don’t- you can melt a little on a tiny pan on the stove)
Measure out 1 cup sugar
Cream together (pause for immature thought here)

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed banana (or however many bananas you have on hand)
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 cups sifted flour (sifting flour is the trick to the recipe- and a sifter is apparently hard to find but I found mine at Ralph’s!)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Pinch salt (optional)
• Mini chocolate chips 

Combine dry ingredients
Combine wet ingredients
Fold into each other
Pour ingredients into baking loaf pan
Place into oven for about 35-45 minutes 
When ready- stick knife into center- it should come out fairly clean
Let rest before cutting..and voila!
Slice and eat. 

For some reason, cooking chicken was the most intimidating food for me to learn. Maybe it’s because, if not cooked properly you could literally poison yourself or your friends who eat said chicken. Yeah, I’m talking about salmonella poisoning people. It’s real. And yeah, it may be bad that I’ve now said the word “salmonella” on a food blog twice, but I’m not about sugar coating things (**unintentional food pun). Disclaimer- My cooking has not yet poisoned anyone…thus far. Fingers crossed. 

Anyways, back to a relevant point…Cooking chicken (or really any dish) for the first time is like conquering a fear: once you tackle it, you think “why was I ever intimidated by that in the first place?”. Ok, while my metaphor may be less than brilliant, the chicken dinner I cooked the other night was, well not brilliant, but pretty darn delicious. Since I had now made chicken about 3 times prior to this dish, I was feeling pretty confident in my chicken-cooking abilities. Therefore, I decided I would make a side dish as well- a kale recipe my friend Brandy had suggested. Well readers, I’ll confess- I got a bit too cocky. While the dish did turn out mighty scrumptious in the end, the process was less than perfect. I ended up using all 4 stove tops- yes, that means I used 4 different pans simultaneously. This may be a normal thing for a seasoned (**unintentional food pun) cook, but as a newbie- I was in over my head. Initially, I felt like a true professional- flipping things and sautéing other things. I even imagined I was in some beautiful Woody Allen movie called something like “A Venice Love Affair” while the song “That’s Amore” played in the background (even though I was not cooking Italian food). However, this feeling was quickly stunted the second Lloyd got home, reality set in and he saw how sweaty I was and how smokey the kitchen had gotten and simply asked “Are you ok?”. I don’t know how else to explain the feeling I had in that moment- or how my face probably looked-so this photo should pretty much sum it all up for you:  

 
While my chicken dinner and kale side dish may have been achieved in a manic sort of style, what’s important is that it turned out edible and more importantly, good. So what did I learn from today’s post? I learned that the cooking process may be a less than glamorous one, but as long as the food tastes good in the end, you can give yourself a nice pat on the back and chalk it up to another success. Now, enjoy the recipe and some photo proof of the chicken and kale below. Happy Tuesday!

Seasoned Grilled Chicken & Sautéed Kale (w/ chopped onions & mushrooms)  

INGREDIENTS

CHICKEN-

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
Sea salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Onion salt
Brown sugar 
Coconut oil  (a healthier option than olive oil!)

SAUTEED KALE-

Kale
Half an onion
Mushrooms
Lemon
Red chili flakes
Olive oil
 
RECIPE

CHICKEN: Turn oven on to 350 degrees
Place the two pieces of chicken onto a plate/cutting board
Season one side of the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, chili powder, onion salt, brown sugar- don’t be afraid to use your hands to even out all the seasoning onto the chicken breasts  
Turn stove on high heat- put a spoonful of the coconut oil onto the pan (use a pan with a metal handle- not a rubber one- as you will put directly into the oven later)
Spread the coconut oil so it melts out evenly onto the pan
After about 1-2 minutes (depending on how strong your stove is)- place the half seasoned chicken onto the pan ( the seasoned side facing down)
Season other sides of the 2 chicken breasts the same way you did the first time 
After about 3-5 minutes (depending on how thick your chicken is) flip over pieces using tongs
Then flip again on the other side after around 3-5 minutes (chicken should be slightly browned)
Place the pan directly into the oven for about 5 minutes (if the chicken breasts you buy are really thin- you may not even need to put into the oven)
If it seems overly soft at the top (to the touch) you may need to cook a few minutes more- worst case scenario- you can slice it to see if the middle is all white (which means it’s ready!)
Let stand for a few minutes and then it’s ready to serve/eat!

SAUTEED KALE

Chop up about a half an onion and mushrooms
Put a non-stick pan onto stove and let heat medium to high
Once the pan seems hot- cover the pan with olive oil
Place chopped onions and chopped mushrooms onto pan
Once they appear slightly browned and softened- place the kale directly on top
Let the kale, mushrooms and onions cook for a few minutes until the kale has softened 
Squeeze lemon juice onto the kale while everything cooks on the stove
Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes (if you want the kick)
Turn off heat, and let stand for a minute to cool
Plate and serve/eat!  

Hello hello WWKD readers! I hope everyone enjoyed their July 4th holiday last week! I know I sure did in a big way. I am fortunate enough to have a job where hiatuses exist…most recently, two weeks off. The first week was spent getting into bikini body shape..hahahahahahaha. Really Carly!? NO. It was spent, as mentioned in my previous post, watching A LOT of..scratch that- ALL of season 1 of “Revenge”.  Bravaa to me. 

The second week- week of the 4th- was spent back east with Lloyd’s (first half)  and my (second half) family where I spent the entire time showcasing my new cooking abilities, making new dishes every night. Really Carly!? Aw, that’s so sweet and amazing! hahahaaha. Again, NO. But, while I may have weaseled my way out of cooking for the half spent with my family,  I did successfully cook up some yummy party treats for Lloyd’s family BBQ on the 4th.

I don’t really have an official name for the appetizer since I kinda/sorta made them up, but for the moment, I’m coining them Carly’s Savory/Sweet Crostini’s. Seeing as I only recently became a semi-quasi chef extraordinaire,  I knew I wanted to make something easy… that could end up looking super professional (you know, trick my consumers into believing I am very talented). And these fun party poppers ended up being just the right thing. So, enjoy the photos below along with a recipe so you too can try this at home! Bon appetite!

INGREDIENTS 

Fresh baguette  (I used 2- which was plenty for a small sized BBQ party)
Goat Cheese (soft enough for it to be spreadable- and I used reduced fat)
Strawberry Jam
Prosciutto
Basil
Figs (make sure they are soft and tender to the touch! If too firm they won’t be sweet enough!)
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Put the oven on broil (*caution- oven gets very hot on broil VERY fast!)
Cut the baguette into about 1/4-inch slices 
Place sliced pieces onto a baking sheet (if you don’t have PAM to spray the baking sheet you can also use parchment paper for a stick free cooking experience)  
Once arranged- drizzle (or if you’re fancy “brush”) olive oil onto the baguette pieces
Sprinkle a little salt onto the baguette pieces 
Place baking sheet of baguette pieces into the oven
As soon as the bread is in the oven (on broil) make sure to check for toasting brown/golden color EVERY MINUTE- the oven on broil cooks those suckers FAST! 
While your baguette slices are toasting- prep the rest of the ingredients: unwrap the goat cheese, open the jam, open the prosciutto (those packages are freakin’ difficult!) and slice up your figs into small pieces.
Once the baguette slices look ready, take them out and let cool off 
Once cool enough- spread the goat cheese onto the crostini’s (we can now go from calling them baguette pieces to crostini’s since they’ve been fancified with olive-oil, salt and been toasted)
Next spread the strawberry jam
Then place small pieces of basil onto each crostini
Next take small pieces of prosciutto and wrap around the pieces of figs
Place a prosciutto wrapped fig on top of the basil on each the crostini’s 
Lastly, drizzle the balsamic vinegar onto the crostini pieces that you have built!
So the order of layered ingredients should be as follows: crostini, goat cheese, strawberry jam, basil, prosciutto wrapped fig, balsamic vinegar
AND VOILA! Your Carly’s Savory/Sweet Crostini’s are ready to be served!!
**And for your vegetarian friends- don’t use prosciutto! Simply place the figs on top of the basil and then add the balsamic!  

As I mentioned in my last post, Lloyd and I had a double date at another couple’s apartment last night. My initial plan was to make some simple caprese salad kabobs. I chose this dish for a few reasons: A) They looked delicious B) No cooking involved- preparation simply involved assembling the ingredients of cherry tomatoes, basil and mozzarella onto a skewer- which was key since I would be coming home from work and going straight to the apt and C) Who doesn’t love a caprese salad presented in an adorable fashion?. Well, turns out some people don’t. Reason “C” was where things went slightly wrong.

I had purchased all the caprese ingredients and was truly enjoying my stroll through the farmers’ market (see image above :) ) when a lightbulb- not the good kind- went off in my head. “I’m pretty sure Jess (the girl who’s house I was going to) doesn’t eat cheese. Well, my thoughts were confirmed. She doesn’t, and neither does her boyfriend. So alas, another lesson was learned: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE…and do your “research”. On the bright side- I got to enjoy a few of these babies on my own Sunday night, and I ain’t ashamed to say, I didn’t hate it.

Post Script: Fortunately, Lloyd, unlike myself, is an experienced cook. So he was able to concoct some extremely yummy pommes anna potatoes for our double daters. Thank you Lloyd.

Last night’s 2nd attempt at my 1st dish for the blog was a success!

After work, I headed straight to Trader Joe’s. The missing bread crumbs I had failed to purchase the night before were finally in my possession- and lemons- turns out I had forgotten to purchase those as well…oops (I also got myself a yummy cheap bottle of chardonnay…since I was already there, why not?). Once I got home, it was Go Time. My boyfriend Lloyd (who I should mention I do cohabitate with in our apartment) was out for the evening, so the whole place was mine for the next few hours…and I intended to get really messy. All the ingredients were in place. I lit an extremely delicious Anthropologie candle, poured myself a nice sized glass of the white wine, turned on “House of Bamboo” and strapped on my apron. One thing led to another, and a meal was made! The night was wonderful. Inspiring really. And added bonus: Lloyd got home,tried my Brussels Sprout Fritters and damn well loved them! So, the blog lives on! Can’t wait to share my next cooking experience. 

(SIDENOTE/POST SCRIPT: I will be posting video documentation from this night in the near future. Also, to get Raquel’s full recipe I used for these Brussels Sprout Fitters, click on the “Read More” button below the photos)

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