{a breath} bake sale success + {a recipe} gluten free pumpkin peanut butter dog biscuits

I want to thank everyone who supported this year's San Diego Food Blogger's Bake Sale. The sale is over and we're awaiting the final tally but so far, it looks like we surpassed last year's efforts in raising money for Share Our Strength/No Kid Hungry. Whoo-hoo! 

My tall display was actually a shower caddy I happened by while shopping at Ross. It was perfect! Besides having a small footprint, it's height made it stand out. I got a lot of compliments on it and considering that I paid $7 for it, it was a steal compared with the wire baked goods displays so many of the gals had.

Personally, I did much better than last year as this year, I sold out of all my goodies halfway through the sale. Yay and thank you! I think my choices this year were much better. Last year's cupcakes didn't sell much (I made MY favorite red velvet which weren't as popular as the competition's chocolate/chai/mocha/green tea flavors...). Ditto the double chocolate chip cookies or peanut butter cookies. I came home with a good 1/3 of my baked treats. They all went in to work with me that following Monday much to the delight of co-workers.

My biggest hit this year was definitely the doggie biscuits. A good thing since they made up nearly half of my inventory. They were the first item to sell – pretty much selling themselves. The first thing to sell out was the Mexican Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti. I will be making more soon as I didn't even get to enjoy one with my coffee this time around! 

Again this year, Auntie helped with the packaging. I loved my packaging this year as I was able to keep it consistent with my blog branding and because I was on vacation, I even had time to finally make matching business cards on beautiful 100% recycled paper (thanks Moo!).

Our fearless leader for the San Diego Food Blogger group, Marie of Meandering Eats, will be leaving San Diego this summer as she heads to the midwest for med school. We'll miss her organizational skills and her upbeat motivational emails leading up to the sale. Thanks for all you've done to make the event successful and enjoyable for all of us who participate, Marie! You'll be missed!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

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Pumpkin is great for digestion. The garbanzo bean flour as well as being gluten free, is also a good source of protein. Keep these treats as healthy as possible by using natural peanut butter so you're not adding processed sugar to your dog's diet.

Yield varies according to cutter; I got 24 biscuits

2 1/2 cups oat flour plus more for rolling

1 cup garbanzo bean flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup pumpkin puree (important if buying a can: NOT pumpkin pie filling)

1/3 cup natural peanut butter (just peanuts; no sweetener - I bought mine freshly ground at my local health food store)

2 eggs

1. Place two oven racks on the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the flours and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. 
4. Place the pumpkin, peanut butter and eggs in a second bowl and use a wooden spoon to mix vigorously, combining well.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to incorporate well. 
6. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead to form a ball. Divide the dough in half and form two balls of dough. Flour your rolling pin and roll ball of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. If dough is still a little sticky, you might need to flour your pin often to keep dough from sticking to pin.
7. Dip your cookie cutter in some of the oat flour, shaking off excess. Firmly press cutter into dough. If the dough gets caught in the cutter when you lift, gently pry it out from the cutter and place on your baking sheet. Repeat until all dough is rolled, cut and on the sheets. Depending on the size of your cutter, you should be able to get twelve cookies onto each baking sheet with the cookies placed 1/4 inch apart.
8. Dip a fork in some oat flour and prick once in the center of your cutout cookies. This will ensure that the cookie stays flat while baking. Plus, I think it adds a decorative touch. 
9. For a semi-soft cookie, bake for 25 minutes. For a harder biscuit, bake for an additional 10 minutes. 

Storage: Softer cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days depending on warmth of your home. Store cookies that won't be eaten right away in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Freeze for up to 3 months. Harder cookies can stay at room temperature for 2 weeks, in the refrigerator for a month and in the freezer for 6 months. If freezing, be sure to thaw completely before feeding to Fido.

Until next time…

Ani

{the perfect bite} an easy tasty treat for mother's day: cheesecake stuffed strawberries

"They aren't the same."

"Yes they are."

"No, they aren't."

"They are."

"They aren't."

And round and round we've gone, my Auntie and I, when we've chatted about the strawberries at our local farmers' market that say they are from the Carlsbad strawberry fields. I say they're the same. She says no. To get genuine Carlsbad strawberries, argues my Auntie, one must drive up to the fields and buy them at the U Pick field in order to guarantee that they are indeed the luscious berries of Carlsbad.

So we headed up to Carlsbad on a recent Sunday morning. 

First up, a search for a doggy-friendly place to eat as we had Starbuck with us. Doggy-friendly eateries aren't as easy to come by as one would hope. If you know of any in San Diego, feel free to leave a comment! 

Anyway, we came upon Al's Cafe in the Village that looks like it's been around for quite a while.

They had a few tables out on the sidewalk so we parked and made ourselves comfortable. 

Al himself welcomed us with menus. Service was fast and friendly and the food was tasty, pretty much what you would expect from an old established neighborhood diner. 

The interior, which we didn't bother to check out until I was looking to pay the check, was a mess. Tables were dirty and their was food on the floor. Granted, while we were eating I had seen a family with two rowdy kids eating at the table but they had been gone for at least a half hour when I went inside looking to pay our check and the mess was still there. The interior definitely looked like it had seen better days but the place was filled with regulars which to me, usually outweighs most if not all the decor missteps.

After our hunger was satiated, we headed to Carlsbad Strawberry Company on Cannon Road. 

The place was hopping with cars coming in and out of the dirt parking lot and kids of all ages, buckets in hand, heading towards the U Pick area.

The stand sells mostly strawberries but had a selection of other fruit and lots of flowers. 

Auntie doesn't pick. She buys a large flat of strawberries freshly picked by the company's employees at the start of business every day. 

These are what she "picked." Aren't they luscious looking?

Even though we didn't hand pick our strawberries ourselves, I rather enjoyed watching the kids filling their buckets. 

The U-Pick fields are open during strawberry season daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. It's still a little early in the season, so the berries are bigger though not as sweet as they will be later in the season (come July, the end of the season, they'll be much smaller but also much sweeter). 



We had several in our flat that were large and extremely juicy and sweet but just as many that were a tad on the tart side. In another couple of weeks they should reach a good balance between size and sweetness at which time I'll be ready for a return trip!

I didn't personally taste the difference between the strawberries marked Carlsbad that I've bought at the farmers' market and the ones we picked up at the stand but I admit that these berries were definitely juicy and delicious. 

As for these yummy little treats, I can't take credit for the idea behind these "cheesecake" strawberries. I stumbled upon a blog post somewhere years ago and filed the idea away in my head for future but then proceed to forget about it. 

Once home and looking at all these berries on the dining room table, I mentally went through ideas on what to do with them and this image of cheese stuffed berries popped into my head again. So I made them, shot them then before posting this, went in search of that original blog post so I can credit them. My recipe is different enough but I still believe in giving credit where credit is due. 

These little gems are the perfect little bite: sweet, tart and tangy all at once. I think they'll make a great little treat for mom on Mother's Day. Give 'em a whirl and let me know what you think.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites

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inspired by Indigo's Sugar Spectrum

serves 8

24 strawberries

4 graham cracker squares

3 tablespoons mascarpone

3 tablespoons soft cream cheese

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 packet artificial sweetener (or your favorite sweetener)

1/3 cup whipped cream (the real stuff, not the "topping")

1. Wash and hull the strawberries. Gently pat them dry and set aside.
2. Place the graham crackers into a resealable sandwich bag and use your fingers to break up the crackers. Use a rolling pin (or the bottom of a mug like I did because I was too lazy to go fetch my rolling pin) to crush the crackers into finer crumbs. Place the crumbs into a small plate or shallow bowl.
3. Combine the mascarpone and cream cheese in another small bowl and stir well to combine.
4. Add the vanilla and sweetener. Stir to incorporate well.
5. Gently fold in the whipped cream.
6. Take a resealable sandwich bag and fit it over a mug. Spoon in the cheese mixture. Remove the bag from the mug and squeeze all of the cheese into one corner of the bag. Twist the top and snip off the very tip of the corner. Fill each strawberry with the cheese mixture careful not to overfill. 
7. Dip the cheese end of the strawberries into the graham crackers and set on a serving dish. Chill until ready to serve. Can be made a day ahead. 

Until next time …

Happy eats!

Ani

{link love} check it out: my guacamole recipe is UTSan Diego's Food section centerpiece today

I'm super stoked to share with you that today, a story I wrote about my yummy basic guacamole recipe published in the Food section of U-T San Diego. It's rare that I get to write AND photograph a freelance story for the newspaper. It's a real treat for me that I got to share this family recipe as the newspaper's Cinco de Mayo centerpiece feature.

For the recipe and some advice on how to pick a ripe avocado, head on over to the online version of the story at utsandiego.com.

Happy Wednesday!

Until next time, 

Ani

Happening this Saturday: The San Diego Food Bloggers Bake Sale to benefit Share Our Strength | No Kid Hungry

There's an epidemic threatening America's future. No, it isn't the flu. But it is preventable. 

The No Kid Hungry® campaign is working towards ending it. They aim to connect children with food while teaching their parents how to cook healthy, affordable meals.



For the second year in a row, I'll be contributing baked treats for both humans and their pups during the San Diego Food Blogger's Bake Sale. It's an extension of the Great American Bake Sale taking place across the country. All proceeds will be donated to the No Kid Hungry® Share Our Strength campaign.

The deets:

I'll be making these yummy Mexican Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti:

And these oh-so-buttery Lavender Shortbread Cookies:

And for the first time, I'll be making some treats for Fido as well. Because even our fur babies deserve a treat once in a while.

C'mon out Saturday, support a great cause and pick up some tasty treats from a whole lotta San Diego food bloggers. We have 30 bakers and counting participating and the treats  range from cake in a jar to brownies, to mini olive oil cakes and a huge selection of cookies to choose from. 

Don't live in San Diego? Can't make it Saturday? Consider helping us reach our goal of raising $3000 for No Kid Hungry® by donating directly to our campaign page. Find it by clicking here. 

See you Saturday!

~Ani