Eat Like a Rabbit

Peacefood Cafe was recommended to us by Leigh at Marvelous Kiddo. She certainly has good taste! We loved our experience at the restaurant. It was amazing that there was always a line for a table during our entire lunch. Maybe that doesn't mean much in crowded New York City. Still, I've always maintained the belief that people being willing to wait for a table is a good thing. The staff was very friendly, and I think the serving time for our meals was acceptable.

The restaurant has a nice selection of fancy teas, etc., but we were there for the food. Of course, a pregnant woman is always there for the food! And even more of course, everything on the menu sounded amazing. It was very hard to come to a decision. I finally settled on a sandwich with lots of fresh vegetables--including my favorite, sprouts! It came with some marinated vegetable sticks on the side. That just might have actually been my most favorite part on the plate. I was pretty sure it was jicama, but the server said it was yuca. Shrug. It really doesn't matter. It was yummy just the same.

Well, this isn't necessarily about cooking, but it is vegetarian. This happens to be an idea for a rainy day (ironically, it is raining in Orlando right now) that I want to store for future reference. I will try not to bore you with many like this, but you will learn quickly that I want our new daughter very involved in the kitchen. I want her to see what fun it is.

The source for this idea is Kiwi Magazine, a parenting periodical focused on natural products and activities. It is quickly becoming one of my favorite of the five free parenting magazine subscriptions I've acquired in the last 6 months.

If someone gets around to making this before I do, please let me know if it really is edible to the taste buds, if it's easier to use and clean up than regular Play-Dough, and how long the fun lasts.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Playdough

Mix 1 cup natural peanut butter (You know, the kind with the layer of oil on the top that you have to stir before using.) with 3/4-1 cup dry powdered milk. The recipe isn't specific, but I would recommend the creamy variety of PB. Put on wax paper to keep the stickiness confined. I've also heard of using jelly roll pans to protect play areas. To stay within the kitchen theme, allow cookie cutters, spoons, and forks to help shape designs.

This cake was such a hit, people have been nagging me for the recipe. Therefore, I've skipped my desired schedule of posting and bumped this one up in the list.

My dilemma for this cake was the fact that it was for a bridal shower at which the guest of honor, the bride, is allergic to a certain aspect of dairy. The Duncan Hines Cake Mix fits into her diet. Also, there are some icings that are acceptable, but instead of taking my chances, I chose a dairy-free cake option.

Those who are familiar with us know that our wedding was built around our incredible wedding cake made by That Special Touch in Pearl, Mississippi. We actually "imported" 10 jars of Publix Creamy Natural Peanut Butter from Florida for the filling, splattered cream cheese icing around the layers, and topped it with dripping fresh raspberries. It was beautiful, photographed well, but most importantly tasted amazing. I chose to duplicate that cake in this setting eliminating the cream cheese icing, and opting for a raspberry glaze as fresh berries are out of season.

Recipe for Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Glaze

For the cake, cook according to package directions and pour batter evenly into two 8- or 9-inch cake plans for baking. Once completely cool, put one cake on the serving platter. Spread 1/4 jar of creamy peanut butter onto cake (We only use natural with nothing but peanuts and salt.) with a miniature spatula. Top with the second cake. Cover tightly with saran wrap to refrigerate. I actually made the cake a night in advance and let it warm to room temp about 1 hour before serving.

Raspberry Glaze

• 8-10 oz. frozen raspberries, pulsed slightly in food processor
• 1 Tablespoon and 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 1/3-1/2 cup brown sugar

Pour berries into small saucepan over medium heat and stir until berries defrost. Mix sugar and corn starch in the measuring cup and pour over berries. Stir fairly consistently until the glaze thickens and is clearer in color. Cool glaze and remove to glass storage if not topping cake immediately. Pour glaze over cake just before serving.

Here's a few fun comments to share that are in no particular order and have no other purpose, but to make you smile as they did us.

Paul had a birthday in July, and our dear friend, Garrett Nudd, still provided him with a birthday present even though he's about to lose his room to Baby Rabbit. The card and gift were perfect as Paul's most favorite food in the world is Peanut Butter (well, maybe on par with bananas). The card (See photo.)said "Happy Birthday from the Peanut Gallery."

Our anniversary passed yesterday. We didn't even celebrate with dinner. After our long weekend at the beach (stories and pictures to follow), we were lucky to make it home from work and make a couple sandwiches Monday night. Thanks for all the emails we've received in honor of our day.

Speaking of which, Happy Anniversary to Garalynne and Trevor who share our wedding date almost to the very hour. We still miss those smoothie and popcorn nights!

Fiber has five key health purposes if I recall correctly from my nutrition course: 1) Prevents constipation, 2) Prevents colon cancer, 3) Lowers bad cholesterol, 4) Helps control weight, 5) Wards off diabetes. And the day I wrote the post about counting my daily grams of protein, it occurred to me when people learn I'm a vegetarian and ask if I get enough protein, I should be asking them "Do you get enough fiber?" Being from south Louisiana, my experience has generally been that people will down meat before they pick up a fork and down salad. In fact, many people I know would vote meat and potatoes over quality fruits and vegetables. Anyway, as long as I was counting and am not so interested in counting calories because I am not trying to lose weight, I thought I'd better check our fiber intake along with our protein intake. Sadly, this takes a good bit of time; so I'm a week later typing this than the words been mulling around in my brain.

Last week we were talking about my being a vegetarian, and a patient asked me how I got my protein for the day. I told her it was rather easy. I've decided to prove it by keeping track of what I ate in a 24 hour period. I don't doubt that I meet my protein needs. Most people need an average of about 50g of protein, but being only 5'3" tall, I can survive with at least 10g less.

For my birthday, Paul bought me a "deck" of soup and stew cards from the Moosewood Restaurant collection. It was such a clever idea, and luckily, it was cold enough to take advantage of them before we left for Paris when my kitchen was nearly empty of food.

Eat Like a Rabbit is home from a fabulous field trip to study food across the Atlantic. The experience was incredible, and I invite you to stay tuned to the entire story of the trip with specific reviews of restaurants. Unfortunately, we are suffering from jet lag and are trying to get back into the swing of things both at home and at work. ELAR prides itself on sharing pictures of food and other experiences and therefore will delay in posting stories about the trip until the photos and/or videos have been edited. Please forgive the delay.

We brown-bag our lunch. It's an incredible savings when you think about how much lunch out costs. And you can't eat the cheapest Taco Bell every day no matter how much you like it! Paul gets a great discount at the hospital, but I'm stuck on my own. If I forget my lunch, I don't get any. That also has to do with the fact that my schedule at work doesn't allow for the time to go out and buy something.

This is a great snack or dessert option. On occasion, Paul and I will have a breakfast item for dinner, especially if we had rich lunches and were still a bit full from a late lunch. This night, we had small smoothies with peanut butter toast. Certainly, if I can get a concoction that I really like and can remember, I won't want to make so many trips to Planet Smoothie. This recipe makes 16 ounces of smoothie, which is perfect for us. Sometimes, if I make more than that, it goes to waste.

Recipe for Smoothie

• 8 frozen strawberries
• 2 bananas
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2-3 Tablespoons peanut butter

Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Being big fans of Italy, we have been interested in trying this dessert "shack," Jeremiah's Italian Ice, a stand-alone walk-up-to-the-counter building in front of a strip mall. I could not believe the number of patrons. There were three teenage girls working in the stand, and they were all kept busy. They were polite and worked hard. We had heard from friends that it was good. We just were rarely on that side of town. We just happened to be there around dinner time that day. Perfect dessert stop.

I created a cookie bar for a Sunday afternoon party I was hosting. Basically, it's a tray of simple cookies with a variety of icing or toppings. The idea may sound juvenile, but it has an air of maturity because of the toppings of choice. Obviously, there are options that can make it a fun, albeit messier, dish to serve at a children's party, too.