Caroline Dines

…would you have snow, ice, rain and lightning all on the same day! I had high hopes for a real winter storm this morning but soon after it started snowing here in Boston, it changed over to a “wintry mix” and then to just plain old rain! I battled my way to the Haley House despite the poor conditions and was happy to walk into a warm storefront and fix myself a cup of Chai Tea. With my tea I enjoyed a Lemon Scone (made with half whole wheat flour!). I hadn’t been hungry this morning when I woke up so eating breakfast at 10 a.m. worked well.

Even though I wasn’t “hungry” I was super curious to try the newest pizza on offer. I made a quick sign to try and entice customers into buying!

I have never tasted such a pizza before and was completely won over. The base was of course whole wheat and from there the layering began with carmelized onions, then to sweet potato disks, and finally big globs of goat cheese! The pizza dough was also noticeably seasoned with fresh rosemary which added a lovely aroma and taste. I was surprised that I didn’t sell one piece. Even with these delicious looking samples sitting out (people did try the samples and said they liked it but then ordered a wrap or soup!) Maybe people are weirded out by goat cheese and sweet poatatoes. The whole time I was thinking if only I had some of my fellow foodies around, they would buy the whole pie!

I mean just look at this for a beautiful combination!

Despite the poor pizza sales, I had an awesome shift. I enjoyed myself by turning the radio station to Christmas music and taking in the scents of this Holiday Candle. It felt very cozy with “the weather outside so frightful”.

I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon which went well, I had my first ever “blood work” to check my cholesterol (I guess your supposed to start doing this every five years in your twenties?). I absolutely hate needles and was so proud of myself that I didn’t come up with an excuse as to why I couldn’t get it done today. I was brave and let them take two vials of blood from my arm! Yikes! Beforehand, the doctor asked me lots of questions (she is a new Primary) about my diet. She wanted to know what kind of food I eat, whether I drink soda, etc. I almost said, “Can I just show you my food blog?”. After the appointment I arrived home and promptly devoured an entire grapefruit. I have had some serious citrus fruit cravings lately and this was exactly the afternoon snack I had been waiting for.

I followed the fruit up with three slices of provolone cheese. Love it.

Dinner was inspired by The Broccoli Hut’s recipe for Peanut Butter BBQ Tofu. I had a block of tofu in the fridge and wanted to do something kind of different with it. Whenever I think of tofu I immediately think about The Broccoli Hut so off I went to search her recipes. I was so excited when I found this because I love BBQ sauce and any kind of nut butter! I used Cashew Butter instead of Peanut Butter and added a dash of the hot sauce I received from the farm this past summer. An utterly delightful combination of ingredients if I do say so myself. I baked the cubed tofu at 400 for a good long time (45 min?) and also baked some broccoli and carrots with a little dash of the sauce over the top, alongside the tofu.  The end result was a bowl of sweet, spicy and nutty heaven! Hey, even Darin ate it, and he doesn’t typically go for tofu!

The best pieces were the slightly crispy ones. Sometimes you would get a big chunk of cashew butter since it didn’t get mixed as thoroughly as it should have. Although I don’t really see this as a problem. Cashew Butter Chunks = Scrumptious!

And since all the gingerbread cookies are gone, I had a small candy cane for dessert. Not half bad.