Ode To Cruise Food, Part I

It would appear that my brain has been on holiday for the past few weeks since returning from the cruise... Goodness gravy!

The friends I traveled with knew that I keep up a food blog, and would often say right after being served, "Here, Sarah, take a picture!"

Ergo, here is the first set of cruise food samplings and a tour around the ship and port towns where we stopped.  Try not to drool on your keyboard...

Appetiser - Chilled Strawberry and Watermelon Smoothie!  These were always available with new flavours on the menu, and quickly became a nightly favourite.

Dessert - Someone's Apple Turnover with Vanilla ice cream

Dessert - Foreground: Vanilla Gelato with Raspberry Sauce and Peaches

Background: Pistachio ice cream, Crème Brûlée

Dessert - Positively the most incredible, rich Rocky Road Gelato I have ever had in my LIFE.  Rocky Road generally isn't the first flavour I would pick in the grocery store, but make it gelato with chocolate chips, and I'd reach for that dangerous combination any day...

Fudge shoppe in rainy Juneau, Alaska.

Per recommendation from Juneau locals, we lunched at The Twisted Fish (Halibut Fish 'N Chips, Caesar salad, Alaska Brewing Company beer...).

Eggplant Parmesan

Appetiser - Shrimp and Mushrooms in a Chive and Butter Sauce

Main Course - Fresh Halibut and trimmings

Me with my favourite junior waiter of all time (hamming it up here, as you can see), on Italian-themed night.  Three cheers for Chiradet from Thailand!

Apertif - Limoncello

Dessert - Peach Gelato, from the looks of it...

 Dessert - Tiramisu with coffee (Italian-themed night)

This is the Atrium on the 5th floor, in the centre of the ship (where the dining halls, shoppes, and various events happen).

Traviata Formal Dining Room

Serenaded by live music every night -- what a treat!

Well, that is all for now.  Stay tuned for the next installment!

Valentine's Day decadence

Here is an easily-put together dessert that is as healthy as it is supremely satisfying.  Best of both worlds, don't you think?

Oh, and I neglected to add a final optional step!  If you're feeling extra fancy, melt a tad more chocolate (say, a darker brown or white) to drizzle over the tops of the chilled/already-dipped strawberries.  They will look like this (don't click unless you can handle all the chocolate-y goodness -- I'm on overload right now!).

Now, I am a devoted brown chocolate lover (the darker, the better, in my book), but if white chocolate's your thing...

For similar Valentine's-themed recipes, have a look at these for inspiration:

♥ Bon Appétit's Valentine's Featurette

♥ Epicurious' Valentine's Menu

♥ Food Network's Valentine's Featurette

♥ How adorable are Jamie Oliver and his wife, Jools?

(GF scrumptiousness below, but check these out even if you're not avoiding gluten)

♥  Elana's Pantry Gluten Free Valentine's Day Desserts 

♥  Ginger Lemon Girl's Gluten Free Valentine's Day Recipes 

♥ Gluten Freeda's Valentine's Desserts 

In other news (though it ties in with the recipe above), I recently concocted a Mexican hot chocolate drink (which undoubtedly needs perfecting, so if you have any tips or happen to be from down South...).  Can you imagine my delight when I came across Sippity Sup's Chile Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries?  That's right, amigos... CHILES.  This spicy twist just may have awakened a dangerous trend in my kitchen (and my heart)...

Sweet treat

Goodness, far too much of this month has been spent battling illness!  It's time to be done with all of that, really now...
My remark to my mum the other day was that I should start investing in whole sale tea companies and buying the boxes in bulk (due to the vast amount I go through each Autumn-Winter; but honestly, it's the entire year).  Tea is marvelous stuff... How can you not fancy a proper cuppa'?

In case you'd like something tasty to accompany your afternoon tea, here is a simple go-to dessert/sugary treat of mine from childhood.  It is incredibly easy to put together, and only requires a cool place to set up!

No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies (Gluten-Free too!)

 Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter or margarine
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 T. cocoa
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (or chunky)
• 3-3 1/2 cups dry oats (Bob's Red Mill has certified GF oats, if you like)
• 2 tsp. vanilla

My Add-ins:

• Sometimes, I like to add in 1-2 T. raw coconut oil to the chocolate-y mix, for an extra coconut flavour
• 1/8 or 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• Shredded coconut (unsweetened, as the cookies are already quite sweet on their own), for topping the cookies on the cookie sheet, before leaving them to set up

Directions:

1. Add the first four ingredients into a 4-quart sauce pan.
2. Bring to a rolling boil and hold for 1 minute.
3. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in the next 3 ingredients and drop by tablespoons onto wax paper (placed on a cookie sheet or similarly transportable hard surface).
5. Let cookies cool until set (if you pop the cookie sheets in the refrigerator, they'll harden faster; give them an hour or two until being ready to serve).

Now then, I'm off to go brew a fresh pot of tea.

There is no problem so complicated that...

A melt-in-your-mouth cookie can't help solve!  OK, so, of course there is, but the recipe below just might make your day a little brighter.

Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients: 1 & 2/3 cups Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda 1 tsp. Xanthan Gum (unflavoured Gelatin also works perfectly fine, and is cheaper) 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt 1/4 cup Butter 3/4 cup packed Brown Sugar 1/3 cup Sugar 2 tsp. Vanilla 1 large Egg 1 cup Chocolate Chips (&/or Carob Chips) 1/4 cup chopped Walnuts-Baker's Pieces (completely optional, since I personally do not generally fancy nuts in my baked goods) MY ADD-INS/NOTES: While on the subject of "optional" ingredients, there are a lot of different additions or substitutions you can make, including regular sugar substitutes (e.g. honey or agave nectar [the latter of which is debatable health-wise]), butter substitutes (Earth Balance's line of yummy non-dairy, non-soy butters), adding coconut shavings &/or oil, cinnamon (mmmm!), etc. Some GF cookies come out dry and hard-as-a-rock inedible, but these were very gooey and delectable!  The texture actually reminded me a lot of a soft store-bought cookie (think of Chips Ahoy, except a million times better ;)), without all of the preservatives.  What I've realised after baking GF so far, is that after considering the chemistry of the ingredients used (whether or not they'll 'mesh'), the oven and cooling times really play a large part in how they're going to turn out. Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a large cookie sheet or line with parchment paper; set aside. 2. Stir together the GF baking flour, baking soda, xanthan gum and salt; set aside. 3. In a large mixer bowl, beat butter (room temperature, not melted) with granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and egg; scrape sides of bowl frequently. Beat in flour mixture on low speed, mixing thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. 4. Shape dough into flat disk, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours. Drop by tablespoonfuls 2" apart on baking sheet, or roll into balls if dough is hard to work with.  Bake 10-12 minutes on center rack of oven or until lightly browned. Cool 2-3 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Makes 24 cookies. Nutritional facts: Serving Size: 1 Cookie Calories 130, Calories from Fat 50, Total Fat 5g, Saturated Fat 2.5g, Cholesterol 15mg, Sodium 35mg, Total Carbohydrates 20g, Dietary Fiber 1g, Sugars 14g, Protein 2g.
Another chocolate chip cookie recipe I've played around with is from Elana's Pantry. Craving yet?  Bake a batch of these, and invite someone over to share them with (but be sure to save a few as hard-earned reward for your "labour")!