We are nearing the end of a month spent in Austin, TX. I have loved it, though working in someone else’s kitchen has definitely been an experiment. My kitchen at home is almost as small as you can get- but it is fully stocked with just about every kitchen gadget as well as a pretty full pantry. I both feared and looked forward to leaving it behind.

When we arrived in our temporary apartment (acquired on airbnb.com), we quickly headed over to inspect the kitchen. There were about 4 spices: curry powder, red pepper flake, cumin and cinnamon (some of my faves) and some pretty sad looking pans. There was a collection of wooden spoons and a spatula, but no whisk and no hand mixer.

No need to panic – I’ll just have bitchin’ forearms from all the manual mixing by the end of this trip, right? Perhaps I’ll realize my new career as an arm-wrestling champ. Yes!

Or maybe I’ll just eat some real tasty pancakes… that’d be swell too.

Aside from the oven smoking the first time we used it (clearly it’s not a frequently used device), we’ve done pretty well. There’s no toaster oven or microwave but there is a blessed dishwasher – something I don’t have at home. The only things we cracked and purchased were a coffee grinder, a milk frother (hey, I love my latte’s), a good chef’s knife and a knife sharpener. We’ve cooked anywhere between 1 and 3 meals a day, making everything from casseroles to soups to cookies to potatoes au gratin. It was interesting to learn what I could and couldn’t live without. It was also interesting to learn that one of said sad looking pans cooks pancakes *perfectly*- something that I always have trouble with using my nice shiny new pans at home. Is it the electric burners they have here providing a more even heat? The heavy weight of the pan? Whatever the case, I was happy.

Another plus to cooking in Austin is that it’s the home of the world’s first Whole Foods, which means of course that the one here is a food nerd’s dream. At the start of the month we stocked up with lots of organic supplies – something I don’t always treat myself to. To my surprise, we went through the flour really slowly. I quickly made up for it by making a few batches of pancakes.

The first time I served these oatmeal pancakes, I topped them with stewed apples because the pancakes are thick, filling and beg for a fun topping. Wanting to switch it up the second time around, I made a peanut butter maple sauce and chocolate butter, and topped them with chopped bananas.

This trip has also been a lesson in how to make a variety of stuff with a limited pantry, which translates to: how many different ways can I use the same peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut sauce I brought with me? The answer: many! And all of them delicious.

But now that the trip is almost over, the real question is: can this much peanut butter sustain us for 2 1/2 days?

Eep.

Recipe after the break!

Austin, TX is *full* of fun food trucks and food trailer parks. Did you know that? I didn’t. They are everywhere and it’s awesome.

We had plenty of reasons to spend the month of January away from the northeastern chill of NYC, soaking up the warmth of Austin, but soon found out that the food there was an extra bonus. Quite a few trucks were on my “Must Eat” list and Holy Cacao was one of them. They sell cake pops. Cake pops seem to be everywhere these days and yet I had never really tried one.

We picked up three at Holy Cacao – Brass Cake Balls (chocolate peanut butter), Wedding Cake (vanilla) and Velvet.

These cake pops are the mullet of dessert. Why?

They’re business on the top…

and a party on the bottom.

They’re much tastier than a mullet, though. At least I imagine, since I’ve never actually tasted mullet. Ew.

Hey look, a cross-section shot. Neat.

I loved them all. The chocolate coating was firm but thin enough that it cracked easily as you bite into it. The vanilla cake was very sweet and the sprinkles on the bottom added just enough texture to balance the soft filling nicely. The red velvet was well-balanced all around. It didn’t taste too strongly of cream cheese or food coloring – it was just perfectly sweet, cocoa-flavored, moist and tasty. Our favorite of course, was the chocolate peanut butter, which was made with good peanut butter and also perfectly sweetened.

I thought that this was the perfect truck food – easily transportable, kitschy, fun and delicious. If you find yourself in Austin, stop by Holy Cacao.

The Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread Gallery was just too long a name, but make no mistake – we love banana bread. I make it a lot but as delicious as it is, even I get a little tired with the same old presentation: brick of bread on a plate.

Lately I’ve been making fancier breakfasts than usual, so brick on a plate doesn’t quite hold up to my standards. Unless you have enough bricks to build some kind of fort. That’d be cool.

What? I didn’t say I had mature standards.

Without enough bricks to build a fort (drat), I did the next best thing and covered the bread I had left in peanut butter frosting and chocolate hazelnut frosting.

These are easy to make, they look fancy and you can eat em with your hands. They are great for kids to assemble and eat as well, especially if you cover em in rainbow sprinkles. It is the weekend after all, so have a little fun with your food. Go bananas!

Exhibit A: Peanut Butter Banana Bread Petit Four

And Exhibit B: Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread Petit Four

Recipe after the break.

The peanut butter and chocolate hazelnut spreads I had were too thick to spread on the banana bread without making a mess of them, so I thinned em out a little to make a frosting. They are sweeter and better this way anyway. :-) Enjoy!

Banana Bread Petit Fours
Yields 2 servings

1/3 loaf of your favorite banana bread, cut into large cubes
1-2 bananas, sliced 1/2 inch thick, at an angle

To make the peanut butter frosting, whisk together:
2 Tbsp natural roasted peanut butter (I used Justin’s)
1 Tbsp 2% or soymilk
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp honey
generous sprinkle of cinnamon

To make the chocolate hazelnut frosting whisk together:
2 Tbsp Askinosie Chocolate Hazelnut Spread*
2 Tbsp 2% or soymilk
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
sprinkle cinnamon
*If using Nutella, omit the sugar and use less milk. The Askinosie Spread is far superior though, so I recommend you pick up a jar!

To assemble:
Coat one side of each banana bread cube in the frosting of your choice and top with a slice of banana bread. Serve immediately- in a fort, if possible. :-P

This is an easy recipe with an amazing yummy taste. You can easily gift them to someone or simply refrigerate them for your family. What really makes them special is the creamy peanut butter filling inside the dark chocolate coating.

Remember before buying the ingredients that you have to choose a top quality chocolate to get that perfect taste for your peanut butter balls. The better the chocolate, the better their taste will be.

Making peanut butter balls is a little bit of a time consuming process, however very simple. You can take a look at the recipe after the break.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Balls
by Ellen Spencer

Ingredients for peanut butter balls
2 cups (480 ml) creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup (57 g) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (250 g) confectioner’s or icing sugar

Ingredients for chocolate coating
9 oz (260 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1 Tbsp (15 g) shortening

Garnish
finely chopped peanuts (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare baking sheets: Line two baking sheets with wax paper. Keep them ready so that once the peanut butter balls are ready, you can simply place them on the baking sheets.

2. Make the peanut butter balls: In a baking bowl, combine the peanut butter, unsalted butter and salt. Microwave the ingredients for about a minute. You will have to make sure that the mixture is only soft and not liquid, so after every 20 to 30 seconds, stir it. Add the vanilla and the confectioner’s sugar. Stir the mixture until a firm dough is formed.

3. Roll the peanut butter balls: Roll the dough into 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls. Place the balls on the prepared wax paper-lined sheets and refrigerate them for about an hour.

4. Melt the chocolate for coating: Chop the chocolate and add it to a double boiler set over barely simmering water. Add shortening. Heat gently, stirring until the mixture has melted.

5. Coat the peanut butter balls: Dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate with the help of a toothpick or a fork. When you remove the peanut butter ball from the chocolate, allow all the excess chocolate to drip off. Place the chocolate-covered balls back onto the baking sheet.

6. Garnish the dipped peanut butter balls: After placing the peanut butter balls on the baking sheet, you can sprinkle finely chopped peanuts on top of them. Or you can simply roll the entire peanut butter ball on crushed peanuts.

7. How to store: You can to refrigerate them for about a couple of weeks.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Balls are very easy to make and are a perfect gift for many occasions. You will just have to spare some time to dip the peanut butter balls into the melted chocolate, as this is the only process that consumes time.

About the author: Ellen Spencer is a blogger and writer. She is a health freak and very environmentally aware. Her writing covers a variety of topics and these days she is busy writing an article on postpartum depression. She has a baby sling of her own in her house.

One of my favorite things about going to cafés is seeing what interesting and unusual latte flavors they offer, as well as the goofy names baristas like to give them. But since I now work from home and no longer pass a dozen coffee shops on my commute, I started making them myself.

This latte contains some of my favorite things: chocolate hazelnut spread, peanut butter, honey and soymilk. I call it the Honey Bear. Maybe because I love it so much, it deserved a pet name? Or maybe because chocolate and peanut butter are brown like bears? …who eat honey? I don’t know what I’m saying anymore, but there’s lots of greatness to this drink:

• It packs some protein from soymilk, peanut butter and hazelnuts.
• It’s sweetened naturally with honey, a great match for pb.
• It’s not too heavy, satisfying your sweet tooth without weighing you down.
• It will keep you going with extra espresso and filling protein.

I have been trying to perfect fancy latte drinks for a little while now. My favorite drink changes regularly, but this is the flavor of the week. Recipe after the break. Enjoy!

Honey Bear Latte
Yields 1, just for you!
Special equipment: espresso-maker and milk frother*

Ingredients
2 shots of espresso (prepared via aeropress but I assume any method would work)
1 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 tsp Justin’s Classic Peanut Butter
1 1/2 tsp Askinosie Chocolate Hazelnut Spread**
1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk, steamed (not boiled)

Directions
1. In your mug, combine espresso, honey, peanut butter and chocolate spread. Froth (or whisk) until thoroughly blended.

2. Froth your steamed soymilk and pour over top. Enjoy while warm.

*If you are a coffee drinker and don’t currently own a frother, I highly recommend you nab one. Being able to make café-style drinks in your home is a great treat, and frothers are not expensive. Since we are traveling this month, I purchased this handy compact aerolatte which even has it’s own travel case. Neat!

**Askinosie Chocolate Hazelnut Spread is very dark and bittersweet. If you are replacing it with something sweeter like Nutella, omit or go easy on the honey.

I was starting to get tired of the “bacon in everything” trend (no offense, Elvis) but never thought I’d be one to call myself a full-blown vegetarian. I still don’t totally believe it. It’s something I’ve long thought about doing, but never thought I could do. Turns out, it’s pretty easy!

Why?!?
This change was somewhat goofy given a recent conversation with my husband. A few months ago, he asked that I cook only vegetarian meals at home because he felt like he was overdoing it with meat. At the time I resisted, calling him a crazy foo. Meat just seemed so much easier to make after a long day of work; slap a rub on it, fire it up and a few minutes later you’re done. Vegetarian meals – good ones, anyway – seem to require more ingredients, seasonable consideration, additional chopping and time. I didn’t actually call him crazy, but I politely vetoed the request. “Hubby, I love you… but no. Now eat your pork chop and shut your hole.”

Okay, I’m kidding… he was eating beef. Duh do chhh!

Then one day, feeling like I needed a change myself, I flipped a switch and decided to try vegetarianism.

Not Mom-Approved
Shortly after making the change, I had a dream that I gently broke the news to my arguably set-in-her-ways traditional Italian mom after she caught me neglecting her meatballs over Sunday night dinner. She was instantly outraged and yelled at me. “Vegetarian??? What are you going to eat?!? Fuggeddabouttit!!!” I actually woke up sweating and the dream scared me so bad that in reality, I waited 3 months to tell her. Suffice it to say, her real-life reaction made me feel a bit clairvoyant. Heh.

A Veg-Friendly Zone… in the South?
More recently, my husband and I decided to spend a month working remotely from Austin, TX. I feared the imposition of constantly being bombarded with BBQ and being forced to live off a diet of cornbread and beans, but that goes to show how little I knew about Austin. Turns out it’s a super special diet-friendly town. Sure there’s plenty of meat to go around, but there’s also plenty of vegetarian, vegan and even gluten-free options. I feel right at home.

Where do you stand?
Do you eat a lot of meat? Have you ever considered a change? Would you? I’ve noticed that most people don’t think much about their seemingly normal ways until someone shines a light on them. I certainly hadn’t acknowledged my meat-heavy diet until Taste Tester brought it up. I hadn’t previously had the motivation to change, but there’s plenty of reasons to. Now that I have, it feels great!

More Scientific Reasons for Going Vegetarian
If you’re curious about the benefits of vegetarianism, check out The PB&J Campaign. It’s an interesting site and just might make you consider changing a little, whether it’s with one single meal or many.

Don’t Be Scared
Just a heads up that if you do it, people will look at you like you’re crazy when you tell them you’re going vegetarian. I’ve gotten plenty of quizzical looks and heard, “Why?!?” a lot, but those moments are mostly entertaining. Give it a whirl. And when they inevitably ask “Why?!?”, ask them, “Why not?!?”.

And when they respond, “because meat is delicious”, you can retort, “so is peanut butter.” :-)

Chocolate and peanut butter are two of my favorite foods, but there’s no denying that they can be messy and not always easily transportable. So it’s easy to understand why I really love them in “on-the-go” form that you can eat anywhere, anytime!

The travel-friendly new Kashi Peanutty Dark Chocolate Bar fulfills *The CPB Gallery’s Official Granola Bar Criteria!*. Woo! See below:

1) It sticks together. Seems like a basic enough requirement for a granola bar, right? That is until you find yourself crying over spilled granola, which is just plain sad. Unlike those other more crumbly bars, this bar sticks together well no matter how ferociously you attack it with your chompers. Rawr!

(If I had a bigger budget, this is the part where I’d show you some black and white footage of some comically inept people weeping uncontrollably as they bite into overwhelmingly messy granola bars. You can pretend right? “Oh, the horror!”)

2) It doesn’t make a monstrous crunch. Crunchy granola bars that can echo in a quiet room = not good, and if you work in a super quiet office as I once did, you may find yourself having to avoid certain brands. Because getting fired from your job over “Freakishly Loud Chewing” would be well, rather embarrassing.

3) It fulfills the craving. If you’re hitting up your on-the-go stash, it’s possible that you’re out somewhere hungry and/or craving something sweet. Fear not – the whole grains make this bar filling and the thick dark chocolate coating and peanut buttery flavor will surely make your sweet tooth happy. It leans more on the chocolate end for sure, but I’m never one to complain about extra chocolate.

Yup, these pass the test. Go Kashi.

On top of sending me these super tasty bars, I received this way cool pack of Kashi swag. I especially loved the tote with all the healthy suggestions all over it. Lots of good advice.

Thanks to Kashi for making my day with a seriously tasty stash of goodies. Have you tried these bars yet? They’d be a fun way to help you keep that “eat healthy in 2012″ resolution. Get em from Kashi!

If peanut butter is your drug of choice, here’s what you simply must eat in NYC:

Momofoku Milk Bar: Candy Bar Pie
You know it’s good when I can’t be bothered to take the extra 3 seconds to whip out the good camera. Sorry for the crummy shot, but never you mind- go eat this right now. This pie boasts a deep dark chocolatey crust, salty notes from the peanut butter and pretzel, sweet notes from the caramel and chocolate coating and something that all of Momofoku’s stellar treats have: lots of butter. When you take your first bite of it, you have to fight your eyes from rolling in the back of your head in overwhelmed delight. Reviewed in greater detail here.

Peanut Butter & Co: Everything
It’s really hard for me to pick anything specific here for you to try because everything on their menu is made with peanut butter and everything’s delicious. Some of my favorites over the years have been The Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Sandwich and the Fluffernutter Milkshake, but it’s also fun just to swing by their adorable shop, hang out for a bit and stock up your pantry with their tasty flavored peanut butters. Taking out-of-towners to restaurants like this one (super-specialized single ingredient-focused joints) is one of my favorite activities because they are rare in other cities and seem extra magical and delicious because of it. And everyone loves peanut butter!

Molly’s Cupcakes: The Ron Bennington & Peanut Butter Nutella Cupcakes
We literally squealed with glee when our favorite Chicago cupcakery made its way to NYC. I *love* this place. You really can’t go wrong with a cupcake at Molly’s but if it’s peanut butter you seek, you simply must get both of the above flavors. Yes, not one – both. Both are super rich with lots of peanut butter and chocolate goodness. The combo of Nutella and peanut butter in the latter haunts my dreams but Taste Testers favorite, the crazy good Bennington is below. Did I mention that their shop has swings?

We look excited – but you’d look excited if you were swinging toward this cupcake, wouldn’t you? The Ron Bennington is chocolate cake, peanut butter filling and chocolate ganache with a crushed butterscotch topping. Reviewed in greater detail here.

Bouchon Bakery: Nutter Butter
This choice is just a straight-up “duh” for this list. This cookie (the one in the pic below, on the top right) is huge, insanely delicious, buttery, packed with peanut butter flavor and just plain makes me want to do a dance. It’s the standard-issue store-bought Nutter Butter on steroids. Delicious, delicious steroids. But you can’t go wrong at Bouchon either – everything else in this shot is amazing as well.

Sweet Revenge: The Sweet Revenge Cupcake
I’ve always loved Sweet Revenge’s wine bar / dessert bar concept because when my friends want drinks and I want desserts, we need not argue. Everyone can get their fix in the same place: here! The last time we went, Taste Tester was sincerely disturbed that there was no chocolate ganache filling in his cupcake, so I don’t know if they’ve changed the recipe, but the ganache is key. This cupcake is on the dry side, but the combo of dry peanut butter cupcake with luscious peanut butter frosting and rich ganache filling make for a true winner.

Sigmund Pretzelshop: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Pretzel Chunk Cookie
This one (on the left, below) makes the list more for originality than anything else. I just really enjoyed the combo of soft pretzel, peanut butter and chocolate. It’s a winner in my book. Now only if they sold it on every street corner like all the other soft pretzels of NYC.

Magnolia Bakery: Peanut Butter Heath Bar Blondie
Are you a Charlotte or a Samantha? That depends: which one of them loved peanut butter? Magnolia may be famous for it’s Sex and the City scene and some very sweet cupcakes, but they also feature a dense, delicious and sincerely overlooked peanut butter blondie. Reviewed in greater detail here.

The Treats Truck: Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookie
It’s the perfect texture and full of peanut butter flavor. Plus, since it’s called a “sandwich” it can technically pass for a meal… right? Reviewed in greater detail here.

Okay, now that we’re done with the list, what do you say less talk, more eating?! Go get em!

Generally speaking, I feel like a healthy person. Sure, my blog revolves mostly around dessert, but considering the diva-like demands of my sweet tooth, I do alright.

Or so I tend to think, until I hang out with actual healthy people and it occurs to me that I could stand to be healthier. Ack.

Recently, Taste Tester’s cousin was in town visiting from Telluride, CO. As nice as it was to have him around, I was a little bit jealous of how much energy he has. As an active outdoorsy person and a healthy eater, he seemed to have double the energy I do, but he also likes and appreciates good eats. So when he recommended a new energy bar to me, I figured it might be a combination of the two (healthy and good) and decided to hunt it down.

The variety of Kate’s Real Food Bars that I picked up (there are only 3 in the pic above, but I bought 5) were all pretty different and boasted a range of textures and flavors. Some were thicker and densely packed with nuts, seeds and hunks of dried fruits (yum!). Others were thinner and quite airy, with a texture similar to a rice krispie treat.

The Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate w/flax and hemp had an extra boost of texture and rich flavor from the seeds. The only other bar I can think of that looks similar to it in texture is ProBar, but I remember those being overly-seedy and didn’t particularly care for them.

I really liked the combo of dried apricots, bananas and raisins in the thicker bars like the PB&H Milk Chocolate. That one was on the edge of too sweet but it was still really good.

What’s that? Close-up, you say? Why here you go:

The one bar that I was on the fence about was the Dark Chocolate Coconut Spice. The indian-inspired spices are *very* strong and definitely took me off guard. It was a little whoa at first but grew on me.

Overall though, the winner was the PB Dark Chocolate w/flax and hemp. I told it’s wrapper so, but it just sat there. Oh, well.

The only thing that irked me about my tasty energy bar purchase was the “&H” that appeared on some of the flavor descriptions (like “PB&H Dark Chocolate”). Does anyone know what that might mean? I am lucky not to suffer any food allergies but as someone who is conscious of ingredients for loved ones who are, I didn’t like how unclear this abbreviation was. And even after looking on the back of the bar and their site for a bit, I’m still not sure. “& Honey”? “& Hemp?” “& Happiness?” WHAT DOES IT MEAN?! (It looks like they might have maybe ditched this on their new packaging, but the curiosity remains).

I’ll counter that with a good point though: while doing research on the “&H”, I found that their site recommends that you can freeze the bars if you buy a large stash. I never would have considered freezing an energy bar and now I’m curious how well it stands up. Interesting point, website!

(Note to self: stop talking at inanimate objects – they can’t hear you. Isn’t that right, desk?)

Now before you call me a total health dummy, I am aware that eating healthy snack bars will not give me a permanent energy boost and instant six pack. So last week I got back on the horse and started working out again, for the first time since early September. I’m admittedly much lazier in the colder months, since I don’t have to wear a bathing suit and no one can see the evidence of my laziness through my winter coat. But another healthy friend (hi, John!) reminded me that you do feel a lot better when you work out. And he’s right.

If you’re in the mood for a tasty and healthy snack that can fit in your pocket but still fill you up, pick up some of Kate’s Real Food Bars. And if you’ve fallen off, get back on the horse with me.

Okay, so… I found a smooth, creamy peanut butter I like that isn’t called Jif and Taste Tester ate a PB&J with something other than grape jelly. Hm. Am I in The Twilight Zone?

It all started this past weekend, when I took my first ever trip to a Wegman’s. While perusing the peanut butter aisle, I remembered getting a solid recommendation of their peanut butter from Peanut Butter Boy. He seems more a fan of the natural, but I picked up a good ol’ fashioned jar of the regular stuff. And boy, is it good! It’s not necessarily a far cry from Jif (my childhood standby) as far as flavor, but it’s amazingly smooth. Like so smooth, it makes Jif’s creamy feel coarse. I’m perhaps a bit taken off-guard by how much I like it, but a fan nonetheless!

Prior to swinging by Wegman’s in Buffalo, we made a trip to food nerd mecca Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We had been there once before, but I was just as excited to return for a second visit. Roaming around the store were some very friendly employees giving out sample spoonfuls of Farrell Fruit’s Raspberry Jam. They bragged of it’s freshness and they weren’t kidding – it tasted like someone had picked the berries and mashed it up minutes before we tasted it. Without hesitation we grabbed a jar to take home. Seeing Taste Tester happily gobble a pb & raspberry instead of his preferred pb & grape was somewhat mind-bending after all these years, but I wasn’t complaining!

Deciding to put another Zingerman’s purchase to use (and figuring we’d been lucky with the change-ups thus far), I made a pb&j with the cornbread I bought at their bakeshop instead of using regular bread. Sound strange? Maybe, but raspberry jam is a good pairing for cornbread and since the cornbread was pretty mild, I figured the peanut butter couldn’t hurt. It was quite tasty, though a bit more of a sugar rush than your standard pb&j, so it might serve better as a sweet afternoon snack than a lunch.

Cornbread Peanut Butter & Jam… consider it a southern-style pb&j, y’all!

(Sometimes I wish I was a southerner – I have a bad case of dialect-envy)

Now get off yer keister and get yourself some rootin’ tootin’ fresh n’ fruity jam by Farrell Fruit, some honkey tonkey cornbread from Zingerman’s and some smooth as a baby’s bottom Creamy Peanut Butter from Wegman’s.

(Do do do do, do do do do…)