Eat Palm Beach County

Carnie Wilson - Unstapled

Why do I do it to myself? I Tivo these reality shows to watch mindlessly whilst I have my 4pm tea break and before you know it I get sucked in to the tawdry tales and celebrity circus.  The latest desperado to air her grubby laundry in public is that famous pie fan, Carnie Wilson.  This barrel scraping half hour slot features her latest battle to shed the 'baby weight', launch a 'baking business' and plug her presenting skills on the 'Newlywed Game'.  The cast of characters are suitably predictable.  Her very sweet husband Rob, her children, her 'wacky' aunt / assistant (for wacky read 'wears her hat backwards') and assorted other stereotypes.

  Carnie, running all the way to the bank!

Cinderella & June Cleaver Cupcakes

After a LONG week of not only Mum stuff but endlessly testing cupcake recipes, I've turned my attention to fine tuning the frosting varietals.  I use the wine terminology purely because I've been trying to diet all week and have actually been tasting, swirling & spitting the cupcakes (sorry) but true. What's the alternative? Chow down a dozen a day and re-name my business? 'Corpulent Cupcakes'? 'Fatty's Frosting'? 'Massive Muffin Tops'? I think not..... 

Here is a little taster of two of the offerings from 'Truly Scrumptious Cupcakes', the Cinderella which is a seasonal special, a pumpkin (natch), spice sponge with a maple frosting and the June Cleaver which is vanilla / vanilla, very pure and unsullied!  Dr. Dave wasn't entirely sure about the cream cheese frosting as he declared it, 'cream cheesy'.  I suggested that it was because it was made from scratch with pure ingredients rather than slopped on from a tub with a blue lid and list of indecipherable contents!  However, I'll work on it for him, perhaps I'll get his approval before my next Bake Sale on Friday!

Cinderella, Organic Pumpkin n all...

The June Cleaver

Battle of the Boules...

Zut Alors!  This long, holiday, weekend morning I decided to play the model French housewife. No! I haven't taken to wearing $200 thongs or sleeping with my friend's husbands; I just thought I'd do a little boule baking and consider the prospect that a homebaked bread breakfast would have Dr. Dave heading for the nearest Chanel Boutique stuffed full of gratitude.

'Delicious' Boule'

Where do I get it from?

 

My Dad is a very enthusiastic golfer.  He'll watch any sport from Snooker to Synchronized Swimming but golf is probably top of his list alongside football (the proper sort, aka soccer).  Lucky for him he lives within a reasonable drive to Wentworth Golf club where the PGA Championship is being played so he enjoyed the chance to go and see some big names in action.  I asked him if he had a good time and the reply came thus:, "Fantastic, we followed Cabrera & Montgomerie; Brie & Tomato Ciabatta five quid, cup of tea three quid, ice cream three quid".  A good day out by any standards.

Genius Gelato...

In the name of all that's holy in the Gelatosphere I took it upon myself to taste test the 'New Item' at Publix.

Publix Shoppers need Eagle Eyes

and I'll tell you for why:  Yesterday I had some on sale strawberries in my cart (good choice I thought, seasonal, good price, local etc.,) when I get to the checkout; upon closer inspection; they're covered in MOLD!!! ugh... Ok whatever, I ditched 'em, I then handed over my yoghurt and, get this, its out of date... by 3 days.  Oh give me strength!!! This a quiet-ish store, Sea Plum Plaza off Military, and herein lies your problem.  When the produce isn't turned over so readily, the stuff sits longer.  I love this store because its local, I can park with ease, I don't have to deal with cart rage and humungous deli lines BUT I DO have to be on the ball and with two girls I'm not always checking every single item I throw in my cart.  Like most Moms I make a Publix run as quick as possible, I'm not always checking every single item for quality AND I don't feel I should have to.  Its not a market stall, its a supermarket chain.  Quality should be a given.  Publix at SeaPlum Plaza, please make sure it IS!

Organic is Better. Discuss....

We're continually being fed the message that organic food is 'better'.  Be it meat, fruit or vegetables, even clothing, sheets & cleaning products.  How do you cut the wholewheat from the chaff and strike a balance between fact, scare mongering and downright marketing madness?

Bad Butchery is NO Bargain!

Publix has butchered its way into my bad books.  There I was smugly patting myself on the back for bagging such amazing bargains for my freezer, namely, the 'boneless, skinless chicken breast @ $1.99lb'.  I was full of good ideas for the many diverse recipes I could conjure up for this lean protein and how quickly I could pull decent, healthy family dinners together.   Unfortunately I wasn't expecting what lie beneath these innocent looking breasts!

Passover Collation

Cooking in a new kitchen in a house that we haven't yet moved into definitely presented its challenges.  Firstly, every time I went for a utensil, it wasn't there, then when I remembered where it was it was at the other house!  However, I think that under the circumstances a decent nosebag was enjoyed by all ten Rubins.

A Perfect Pantry

I happen to think I'm a fairly low maintenance individual.  As some of you know we've just acquired a new/old house and I've barely requested a thing in the way of interior design features.  High on my wishlist is a generous bookcase for my burgeoning cookbook stash, a vast sofa to recline on whilst leafing through my books, a wine fridge to chill my Kendall Jackson to drink whilst reading cookbooks.  You get the picture.  This said, one thing I really wanted from our new/old house was a pantry.  A proper, posh closet for food.  The former owners of our house, however, had seen fit to remove the existing pantry and replace it with two cheap cabinets and a piece of Corian balanced atop to serve as a 'desk'.  A trip to Lowes, Ikea & several hours labor on the part of Dr. Dave and the pantry was born.