Category Food

MUSHROOM coffee, oh yeah!

brilliantviewpoint 14 Comments

Just when I thought we couldn’t get any healthier. My daughter introduces me to Mushroom Coffee. Yes, you heard that right – M U S H R O O M – coffee. I immediately thought of magic mushrooms, isn’t that a drug that is illegal. I got on Google.

The Four Sigmatic site says none of the mushrooms they use are illegal. Mushroom coffee will not make you hallucinate. Phew! It’s a combination of normal coffee and mushroom powder. You’d have to go to the site to learn more specifics.

How did it taste? Light, earthy (not like mushrooms) coffee taste. Not strong, mild. Definitely did not feel like I had a caffeine buzz of any sort. Light on the stomach, not acidic.

Would I drink it again. YES, but it’s expensive for every day drinking. Still need to learn more about it. Good to try something new. I cannot drink normal coffee anymore, too acidic, gives me stomach pains. So, trying to find that NEW favorite drink… lemon water seems BORING.

If you have tried it, share your thoughts.

IKEA – New Cookbook -> The ScrapsBook; Recipes using scraps / leftovers…

brilliantviewpoint 1 Comment

The weekend is coming, maybe you have some leftovers from the week and don’t know what to do with them. I think you’ll enjoy this new cookbook from IKEA, The ScrapsBook. Different Chefs from North America create recipes out of kitchen scraps and leftovers. Enjoyed seeing some fresh recipe ideas.

They actually fry banana peels, they look like bacon. Trying to wrap my head around whether they would be tasty, they say they are. There are some interesting recipes in this e-book.

Oh, I loved the veggie pancakes they made with leftover stems from different vegetables.

HAPPY COOKING!

Quinoa Macaroni – really good!

brilliantviewpoint 9 Comments

I came across these quinoa noodles and thought I would try them. I like quinoa, so in a noodle form they should be good, right. I made a mistake though. I didn’t read the cooking instructions. Thinking they were like normal pasta, I let them cook for over 6 minutes.

BIG MISTAKE! They went from al dente to super inflated and mushy. I looked at directions – 4 minutes for al dente. WOW – that’s fast cooking time, but it made sense, because normal quinoa cooks in 5 minutes. I would not have known they were quinoa noodles, very good.

They are really healthy, free of eggs, nuts, gluten, dairy, soy, peanuts and GMO. The GoGo Quinoa brand is Canadian. On their website they have other quinoa products.

On a side note, I also found Banza chickpea pasta. Have not tried them yet. One new pasta at a time. If my Italian grandmother was alive, I wonder if she would embrace these new pastas.

Pizza in a MUG? Breakfast Burrito in a MUG? Cooking just got easier.

brilliantviewpoint 17 Comments

Recently, I was doing a search for mug cakes. I found this site by Irish Chef & Baker Gemma Stafford, Bigger Bolder Baking, that had a pizza in a mug recipe. I watched the video of her making the mug pizza, it sure was quick and easy. I admit, I would never have thought of that. In fact, she has 100 different mug recipes. So many creative ideas.

She had one video where she was making pancakes with her husband. He was doing the video taping. She’s definitely a perfectionist and was bossing him around, that was funny. The pancakes looked yummy too.

So, if you are still stuck at home and need some fresh cooking/baking ideas, mosey on over to Bigger Bolder Baking. Chef Gemma will dazzle you with healthy exciting spins on old recipes. Also, she just started a Knead to Know podcast. When I go walking, I’ll listen to that.

Happy cooking! (Isn’t that what Chef Pepin says. He has good videos too.)

Baking/cooking – BEST mixing bowls

brilliantviewpoint 17 Comments

Years ago, I had white mixing bowls like these in the photo. They were wonderful. They came in three sizes and were very durable. Having small children, I didn’t have to worry that the bowls would break. I mixed everything in these bowls from pancake/cake/ brownie/cookie batter to meat balls, mac ‘n cheese to… you get the idea. These were my “go to” mixing bowls.

Tragedy struck. I lost my bowls. One day I went to get a bowl and couldn’t find them. I searched HIGH and LOW, they were no where to be found. I felt like a little kid who had lost the favorite pair of shoes. So, I thought — HOW could this have happened. Then I remembered, I had moved. Somehow in the move, bowls were gone.

Those bowls had been old, true, but they still worked. Now, I was forced to use other bowls. I tried using glass bowls, metal bowls, ceramic bowls… ahh, it just wasn’t the same. I longed for my white bowls. When shopping, I looked for these plastic bowls, they weren’t the same.

UNTIL, I walked into Crate & Barrel the other day, looking for a loaf pan.

Suddenly, my eye caught this pretty green moss color. Walking over I couldn’t believe it!  MY bowls — my bowls — I found them! Prettier in pale green, shinnier than my old worn out bowls.

My gosh, COVID worked a miracle! Without COVID I would not have shopped for a loaf pan, which brought me to my mixing bowls.

MORE GOOD NEWS!

83DFD0C6-B190-41DC-8340-69BB5C6A40C6

The reason I liked these bowls so much was because they were named after Danish Princess Margrethe. Now, I understood why I felt like a Princess using these bowls all these years…

SURPRISES — MIRACLES — THEY DO HAPPEN!

Are you a Mentos fan? Make a friend, share an “emoticon” Mentos

brilliantviewpoint 3 Comments

492DE216-BC7D-426D-AC09-8FE61A3F4392Gee, I guess I haven’t had Mentos in a while. I got a pack and was eating them on the plane. Since the lights were low, I wasn’t paying attention and dropped one into my lap. Unfortunately, I had to turn my light on to find the darn thing. When I did, I looked at it TWICE wondering if that was indeed my Mentos. On a plane, who knows what you can find.

7D0FDB36-D606-46C2-98BB-785DD0AAADD7Sure enough, it was my Mentos, but it had a funny smiley face on it. I found that weird, so I took ALL the Mentos out of the package to assess the situation. Turns out they ALL had some sort of a smiley face or “emoticon” on them. Next, I looked at the outside of the packaging… aha, some “Say Hello” campaign going on.

So, while I didn’t share a Mentos sweet treat in person with someone, I am sharing this message with you, so you see what they look like. They are cute and funny.

It’s “almost” like sharing the real treat, right?!

Feeling hungry, look for the CUPCAKE truck in Chicago

brilliantviewpoint 3 Comments

905F0F75-5893-4FB3-930D-252D005604A2Look what I found at lunch recently. “A.Sweets Girl,” cupcake truck. I asked the lady if I could take her picture, she was cute and smiled beautifully as you can see. Turns out the University had hired the cupcake truck to come at lunchtime and give FREE cupcakes to their post doctorate researchers as a “thank you” for hard work.

EAD00C2E-FD2D-46D3-9696-CA8CB6B8A2F4So, passerby’s got good photos, while researchers got their choice of cupcakes!  LOL

Anna Wu, founder and creator of “A.Sweets Girl,” is an experienced pastry chef who decided to bring her cupcakes to the streets of Chicago. Her truck is beautiful and easy to spot. She can be hired for events and supports a lot of community causes.

I’ll be on the lookout for her, so I can try one of her cupcakes. If you see me chasing after the truck, you’ll know it’s “Brilliant Viewpoint,” trying to get a cupcake, so I can do a follow up review!

Florence, Italy – The Negroni cocktail!

brilliantviewpoint 3 Comments

Negroni cocktailI was reading “Girl in Florence,” blog post “A Love Letter to the Negroni Cocktail: Celebrating 100 Years of this Iconic Italian Cocktail,” and I smiled at a few points she made.

First, that this drink might look nice, but it is extremely bitter. It is an acquired taste, like drinking coffee. Second, I found her comment on friends ordering a beer and sipping it like it was a cognac amusing. I fall in that category.

In fact, last year I was visiting Italian relatives outside of Florence. We had a Sunday luncheon with aunts, uncles, cousins and their children, so there were about 20 of us. They had “one” bottle of wine on the table for all of us. I was surprised. In America the wine would be flowing — DRINK, DRINK and drink some more.

In Italy, NO, the objective of a nice dinner was not to get tipsy and drunk, but to have a little wine, while focusing on the food and good family conversation. Some children were given a few drops of wine added to their water glass.

I did not try the Negroni cocktail until a few years ago. When I went to Florence, I always stayed with my grandmother at her house. We did not go out for meals, we ate at home, no cocktails.

However, a few years ago, some American friends came to Florence, so we went out for apertivo. I saw someone having this refreshing reddish/orangey drink, given it was hot weather, I ordered the same. What a mistake! The drink was not refreshing, it was so bitter. It’s an acquired taste, I’ve ordered it over the years ALWAYS hoping for a spritz kind of taste and always disappointed. I KNOW, you’d think I would have learned my lesson, but it is a famous Italian drink; I’m Italian, I must learn to like it, right!

So, as our temperatures soar to 90 degrees today, the negroni post came as a pleasant surprise to my inbox. I am actually longing for the negroni drink a “tiny bit,” because it brings memories of Florence and I am due for a visit soon.

Ah… the Negroni!

I miss you Florence!

Coffee… Breakfast…Tradition… making blueberry scones at home

brilliantviewpoint 2 Comments

CB353366-48C2-4D65-9550-E232D8E8D880Have you noticed that going out for a coffee and a danish, which used to be a “treat,” has become so expensive that it is not enjoyable anymore?

When I was young, because we had four children in the family, we rarely went out to eat; it was too expensive. In those days, if we did go out, it was for pizza, once a quarter. When the waitress came to take our order, she would ask what the “children” were drinking. My father in a loud bellowing voice would say, “WATER for them, a beer for me.”

My mother did not believe in soda. Growing up in Italy, they did not drink soft drinks or fruit juices. As a treat, on Sunday, they went to the park and had a gelato she would say.

This will make you smile… when I started dating, and the waitress came to take our order, I was too afraid to order ice tea or a soda, I was conditioned to order water. It wasn’t until one date asked, “WHY are you only having water? You can order a drink. Please, have a soda or ice tea, whatever you’d like.”

FUNNY, I thought to myself, “Yeah, I’m on my own now, why am I still drinking water?!”

This past weekend I was in the mood for scones. A friend of mine sent me a recipe and it was time to try it out. Scones are usually triangular, I made hearts, see photo.

My goal was to entice my daughters, so they would say, “Mama, those are adorable, we want some!”

seattle tea potGood news — my hearts were a BIG HIT.  Just need to add tea.

HEART SCONES on Sunday.  A new tradition!

Once children grow up, we need to entice the “little birdies” back to the nest.