I have a new breakfast favourite and recipe was a complete accident.

I had chopped granny smith apples and carrots for a salad yesterday but in a moment of distraction, I tossed them in when I was sautéing green onions and garlic today.

When I realized that it was not zucchini but granny smiths, I stopped sautéing. The onions were still translucent and not browned. I added cooked french lentils and kidney beans, brought it to a boil and purééd it all. Garnished it with powdered coriander, cumin and fresh coriander leaves and thinned it out with water and freshly-squeezed lemon juice.

And that's what I am having for breakfast - spiced and steamy lentil smoothie with carrots, apples and onions. It's delicious! :-)

Does anyone know what this mystery insect is?


It looks like a millipede but is waaay too fast and light. I see it sometimes scurrying on the walls of my flat.

We had a massive recruitment campaign yesterday and persuaded around 1000 people to donate their saliva to cancer research at Roswell. It's amazing how much dependent our quality of research is, on the type and number of people who decide to participate.

I have definite animal-hair related allergies. I found that out for sure over this weekend. I thought I had missed something growing up with a strict rule against having pets. Turns out, I just missed sneezing like a maniac and having the worst itchy nose ever.

What is interesting is the symptoms seem to have a latency period and kick in after having more than a few hours of contact with animal hair. Certainly feels like a delayed hypersensitivity reaction.

Also, being woken up at 3:45 in the night with a huge dog breathing and drooling on your face to be let out in the yard is not restful. I guess I will stick to the no-pet policy from now on.

Just got charged $5.76 for a grilled cheese sandwich with green peppers and onions - that was mediocre at best. The regular grilled cheese sandwich is $2.36. Grilled cheese sandwich with tomatoes is $2.69. Grilled cheese sandwich with bacon, tomato and lettuce is $3.39.

I don't like squabbling over charges at check out. I think it is just crazy that on the rare occasions that I do decide to get something from the place, I am overcharged without fail.

I am done with the Roswell Cafeteria. Once and for all.

Goodbye.

My Sunday was super fancy and delicious because I baked this:







Yes!! I can't believe it either. It is the MOST delicious and fancy looking thing I have ever baked. Thank you, Maura. m/ You rock! m/

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PS: More about the bread workshop later... (and possibly more photos, depending on whether I get them.)

PPS: Maura posted about the workshop on the fancy and delicious bakery blog:

I know this is a very unscientific way of going about things, but I am just very curious about what all of you eat. Take this poll if you dare:

Dairy:

1. How many gallons of milk do you drink per week? What kind?

2. How frequently do you eat any kind of cheese in a week?

3. How much half/half or creamer do you drink in a week?

Staples:

4. How much rice do you consume in a week?

5. How many loaves of bread do you eat in a week?

6. How many times do you eat any pasta in a week?

Meat:

7. How many times a week do you eat meat of any kind (including fish)?

8. How many times a week do you eat eggs?

The best cup of coffee:



- Brew Trader Joe's house blend in any coffee machine
- Add fat-free/1% milk in blender
- Add a heaped tablespoon of mascarpone to blender
- Blend and blend till foamy
- Heat 1/2 mug blended milk in microwave for a minute
- Fill rest of the mug with brewed coffee
- Stir vigorously
- Enjoy with homemade speculoos!

Ever wondered about the nutrient profile of the berry that promises to be the "one weird trick" and the "one ancient rule" to recurrent $80 dollar losses?

From: Schauss GA et al. Phytochemical and Nutrient Composition of the Freeze-Dried Amazonian Palm Berry, Euterpe oleraceae Mart. (Acai). Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 2006 54 (22), 8598-8603



None of the claims about Acai Berry have been scientifically proved. The berry doesn't taste exceptionally awesome either. It's a berry, just like any of the zillion other berries. The people in the Amazon eat it for subsistence just like the Irish eat potatoes. A look at the nutritional profile tells you why. Eating 100 g of this berry gives you nearly 534 calories - the amount you get from 5 100g small potatoes.

The people of Amazon live in tropical forestlands and don't drive cars all the time. They probably don't have 24 hour access to pizza delivery, fast-food, potato chips and all kinds of high-sugar snacks that were heaped in the cart during a recent grocery visit. They are not being force-fed high-fructose corn syrup through EVERY conceivable product on grocery shelves. They probably eat a lot of vegetables because they don't have as many staple-cereal farmlands.

But all that doesn't really matter, correct? We could totally have a million cakes in our pantry, eat a billion more, drink a zillion bottles of this "magic berry" and voila! - we will be magically moulded in the form of the lean and fit Amazonians. Sure, and we were all created from scratch in 7 days flat. It just wasn't enough time to give us a functional brain.