Let us gormandize on cupcakes and candy corn

I found this word, "gormandize," and it fits most of my closest friends and family and readers of this column:

Gormandize:

verb
1. to eat greedily or ravenously.

noun
1. unrestrained enjoyment of fine foods, wines, and the like

Hey, cupcake.

I was technically minding my own business in Rice Village when I passed Celebrity Cupcakes on University Boulevard and walked right up to an Italian Cream and headed to the outdoor tables. Pink flowers made a sweet setting for a sugary break.

Crazy for corn

Loose corn was a regular on my Lu Ann Platter when my family dined at Luby’s almost weekly.

When I began paying for my own meals, I rarely ordered corn because I figured a can of corn was so cheap I could have plenty at home.

I love corn, but so much so that I tend to go overboard, so now I don’t keep it at home.

I just went to a big city restaurant with my family that offered a few half ears of grilled corn for $14, so again, I skipped the corn.

But I’ve been thinking about it.

Fortunately, someone just offered me some candy corn. I didn’t even know you could get that this time of year.

Unfortunately, this kind of corn is also addictive for me.

darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Sam's serves big and coffee flour

                     Sam’s Southern Eatery is serving up “generous” portions of fried seafood and at 2401 Memorial             Boulevard and I’m ready for my second batch of oysters.
                        Abraham Khalil, manager, is constantly explaining the “very generous” portions. Some customers             double check to make sure all that food is for them.
            “   We want them to leave with a to-go box, Khalil said with a big smile.
                        The No. 28 order of three fish and three shrimp is  popular, and Khalil said the stuffed shrimp in             such demand it has been selling out.
                        “Get there early,” he advises for now, and added that he’s working on make sure there’s plenty to             satisfy his customers.
                        A turquoise seaside theme sets the restaurant’s tone for hamburgers and more at the  “home of the             jumbo shrimp.”  Big family orders are available for seafood lovers.
                     What’s Khalil’s pick? The No. 31.
                  What's that? You’ll have to go visit him and see for yourself.

                  Coffee flour pairs with chocolate

                      Been to a Sprouts Farmers Market? I hit them whenever I’m in the Houston area. They’ve launched an exclusive partnership with CoffeeFlour for a line of pastries, and the two companies share a “commitment to advancing the sustainability movement in food.”

                      I shared some bits of Everything Blondie Cheesecake Bar, Everything Cookie, Chocolate Chunk Cookie and Black-Bottom Muffin with friends and they noticed the hint of coffee flavor. Here’s how makers say it works:

                      “Every year billions of pounds of coffee fruit, a by­product of coffee production, are discarded or, to a lesser degree, composted into fertilizer. Rather than leaving these cherries to rot in heaps or be dumped into rivers, CoffeeFlour^™ converts them into flour for baking, cooking, crafting chocolate and making beverages. The result is an incredibly nutritious and distinctly flavorful cooking ingredient that is gluten-free, high in fiber, a good source of potassium, and depending on the serving size can also boost a product’s iron, protein, and antioxidant count.”

                      Dan Belliveau, former director of Technical Services at Starbucks, is now CEO of CoffeeFlour, which means to offset billions of tons of waste produced by the coffee industry.

              These pastries tasted good even before I heard their full story. I’m loving to ease this waste with delicious desserts.

Kosher travels inspire meals

                      Lentils are the “poor man’s meat,” I just read in a cookbook. I plan to say that, at least to myself, every single time I eat them from now on. I already say or think that avocado is the “poor man’s butter” every time I enjoy one.

                      This lentil news came from Susie Fishbein’s book “Kosher by Design Brings it Home: Picture Perfect Food Inspired by my Travels.” Even the raw food on the cover looks tempting, featuring measuring decorative measuring spoons full of spices with herbs, fruits and grains at the ready. The book was 15 years in the making, and I’m paused on the carrot salad recipe. A visit to France yields readers a recipe for strawberry mascarpone bread pudding the lentil and tuna salad, we are told, is a Tuscan picnic treat. Here’s how she handles the carrots:

                      Spicy Pickled Carrots

              4 carrots, peeled, cut on the diagonal into one-fourth inch slices

              1 cup apple cier vinegar

              two thirds cup of water

              one fourth cup plus two teaspoons of sugar

              two and one half tablespoons mustard seeds

              1 tablespoon dill seeds

              two dried bay leaves

              5 springs fresh dill

              1 clove garlic, sliced

                      Place the carrots into a one-quart container orjar. Heat the vinegar, water, sugar, mustard seeds, dill seeds and bay leaves in a small pot, stirring to dissolve the sugar; do not allow to boil. Remove from heat; cool.

                      Pour the vinegar mixture over the carrots. Add the dill and garlic. Chill, covered, in the refrigerator at least overnight. The carrots will keep in this container for up to three weeks.

              Sounds Good Books:

                      * Gelato in Italy and caviar in Russia? I’d share with my Plamobil friends. Richard Unglik compiled “Journey Around the World,” a child’s picture book with plenty of grown-up references. It’s a postcard/journal style batch of fun with 30 stops, based on those round-faced plastic figures that are probably somewhere in your home. Was my favorite the figurines in the style of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road? Yes, Paul was sans shoes. Or was it the Pope? What a fun way to learn about Van Gogh, Pre-Columbian civilization and bonsai.

                      * Customers first, product second. Sales reps should stick around after the ink dries on the contract. Once the pressure is off the salesperson and the sale is made, the pressure is on for the buyer for that product to deliver. Make your pitch and delivery better with 12 proven strategies for a customer-driven world, outlined in “Beyond the Sales Process” by Steve Andersen and Dave Stein.

              darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Galveston's Own Farmer's Market has reggae style

             

My daughter lives in Seabrook and got invited to Galveston’s Own Farmer’s Market. It’s a public thing, so the invite to 2608 Post Office, near The Strand, was more of an “encouragement.”

              Even before we reached the market, we became enthralled by Deborah’s Garden, a community space with chickens, goats and cats, even before we got to the market. Some bearded fellows offered us free seeds and we loved the way fabric was artistically tied into some sort of fiber scarecrow. It’s right across the street from the market.

Despite the threat of rain, vendors offered breads, raw cheese, tomatoes and fresh-cut flowers. A lone reggae artist performed with an open suitcase full of T-shirts for sale.

My sister bought us garlic bagels and they threw in cream cheese. We took our spread to the top of my car trunk and ate until a Fiat had to move.  

Buc-ee’s

And here’s my anecdote to show Buc-ee’s, with all its Texas bravado, jerky, gas and Texas souvenirs has become the new travel tradition mixing all sorts of restroom-seeking travelers together. This is my Baytown experience:

A young checker noted that I love the Beatles. How did she know? I realized the coat I grabbed had some Beatles pins on the collar. This band was popular before my time and she said she liked them, too. Paul, I said. John, she said, and we knew we were voicing our favorites. An older fellow behind me chimed in and said he got in his car that morning and the radio was playing “Hey Jude.” And that was his name!

This was a tiny bit of bonding and hundreds around us gathered for gas, souvenirs and Bohemian Style garlic Beef Jerky.

darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Take the lid off kitchen confidence

Take the lid off kitchen confidence
My sister spied the Indian As Apple Pie spice tiffin I’m about to set up. Her husband is from India and she has observed this spicy cooking style and has seen similar set ups in drawers of private kitchens. It’s so sleek it could boost your kitchen confidence.
A stainless steel round tin with a lid contains seven removable bowls with a half covering. Fill up a container with some colorful flavor such as turmeric, cumin or curry, then use that half-lid and enclosed measuring spoon to scrape off a level teaspoon. What a beautiful set up. Around here, those bowls could be filled with garlic powder, cayenne, Tex-Joy and Cajun blend.
Makers say you could keep your crafting beads or scrapbooking materials in them. To me, that’s a better option than the enclosed labels for “ice cream toppings.” Not going there.
Here’s to flavorful, styling cooking, from www.IndianAsApplePie.com.

Buc-ee’s
The cultural phenomenon in Baytown has been a stop for two batches of out-of-town guests.
Once as I drove across Texas I lamented the loss of smaller pit stops of my youth, but then thought how Buc-ee’s is the new tradition. My anecdote proves it.
A young checker noted that I love the Beatles. How did she know? I realized the coat I grabbed had some Beatles pins on the collar. This band was popular before my time and she said she liked them, too. Paul, I said. John, she said, and we knew we were voicing our favorites. An older fellow behind me chimed in and said he got in his car that morning and the radio was playing “Hey Jude.” And that was his name!
This was a tiny bit of bonding and hundreds around us gathered for gas, souvenirs and Bohemian Style garlic Beef Jerky.
darraghcastillo@icloud.com