Cold and Creamy, Pumpkiny Dreamy

If you haven't tried pumpkin frozen yogurt or ice cream, put it on your to-do list for this fall. What a luxurious blend: cold, creamy ice cream paired with the autumnal, spicy flavors of pumpkin pie, all combined in orange-y perfection.

Many local frozen yogurt shops now offer pumpkin varieties as a seasonal flavor including Fraiche, Pinkberry, and Mix. I love them all, and they're flavorful enough to enjoy without any toppings. But if you're in the mood, any kind of chocolate topping adds a sweet touch.

Jamba Juice also makes its refreshing Pumpkin Smash smoothie this time of year, which I especially enjoy after a workout. It's got yogurt, pumpkin spice, soy milk and ice, and I add their immunity boost vitamins for extra nourishment.

For a richer dessert, try pumpkin ice cream. Both locally based and family-run, Rick's Rather Rich and Treat make wonderful pumpkin ice creams. They can be enjoyed along with Thanksgiving pies, or scoop and spread them into a graham cracker pie crust for a twist on the traditional.

For mass market pumpkin ice cream, both Trader Joe's and Dreyer's (headquartered in Oakland) are sold widely.

If you'd like to create your own pumpkin ice cream at home, here's an easy way to do it. This is one of those halfway recipes with no ice cream maker required.

Easy Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream 

(adapted from Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Cookbook recipe for from-scratch recipe)

1 quart of vanilla ice cream (less dense varieties will be easier to use, such as Dreyer's vanilla bean ice cream)

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Let vanilla ice cream soften by thawing for about 30-45 minutes.

2. Scoop ice cream into a blender. Add the pumpkin, nutmeg, and cinnamon, and blend until combined.

3. Transfer ice cream into your preferred freezer-safe container and freeze to desired consistency.

Makes a generous 1 quart of pumpkin ice cream. Enjoy!

Trader Joe's: Another Stanford Startup Success

Stanford University is widely known as the birthplace of many entrepreneurial minds and businesses, especially in the high-tech industry. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Intuit, and Google all sprung from Stanford alumni. But what many people do not realize is that the low-tech, high-touch Trader Joe's grocery store was also started by a Stanford alum, a business school graduate named Joe Coulombe. 

Coulombe stated that he created the store in 1958 "for people who were overeducated and underpaid, so they could have a certain richness on the table they otherwise could not--like brie, olive oil, French mustard, wild rice, and wine. The customers I had in mind were the Fulbright scholar who returns with no money; schoolteachers, above all; plus young lawyers, museum curators, and classical musicians." (Sunset magazine, July 2011) That goal translated to inexpensive, high quality, and unusual items for sale. He added a friendly touch by creating a Hawaiian-like atmosphere in the store with employees' Hawaiian shirts and Polynesian decor. By offering fewer items in a smaller space than the typical grocery store, TJ's also makes it easier and quicker to shop.

One of the elements customers love about TJ's is the sense of discovering new items while stocking up on old favorites. We love:

- dried mango (my go-to sweet and healthy snack)

- mochi ice cream (green tea, mango, strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate flavors)

- orange chicken (savory and sweet)

- fruit tarts (lemon, raspberry, blueberry pear- so easy and good)

- Joe-Joe's cookies (in different varieties, a sometimes splurge)

- pre-packaged nuts and trail mixes (great for quick snacks on-the-go)

- sweet & spicy pecans (great combo of flavors)

- ice cream bon bons (small, sweet, and creamy)

- chana masala and naan (easy and quick way to get an Indian food fix)

- chicken potstickers (good over ramen)

- chocolate croissants (they rise so high and smell so good coming out of the oven)

- vegetable samosas (easy and yummy way to get your vegetables)

- hummus (we like the 4-flavor package)

- peanut butter filled pretzels (great for kids who exercise a lot, including the salt)

- turkey jerkey (chewy and tasty)

- fresh pizza dough (for making marguerite pizza)

TJ's is so popular that it's spawned cookbooks with recipes based on items you can find at the store. On the website Cooking with Trader Joe's: Where Mere Mortals Cook Like Chefs, you can find many recipes to try. Pictured above is a sweet chocolatey dessert that my 11-year-old daughter Amanda helped me make, the Chocolate Truffle Pie with Joe-Joe's Crust. It's so simple with only four ingredients, plus it's vegan. While its taste is different than the usual chocolate pie due to the hidden coconut milk, and not for everyone, it's something we enjoyed trying. I love the idea of simplifying recipes by using tested items easily available at TJ's. And as someone who sometimes feels overeducated and underpaid, I appreciate the tasty and fun items I can find there for a great price.  We love TJ's, and its Stanford connection just makes it that much sweeter.

Mrs. Fields' Halloween Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Long before Sprinkles cupcakes, lavender flavored macarons, and organic frozen yogurt, we've been eating Mrs. Fields' cookies. Super-sized, thick, soft, and chewy, packed with large chocolate chips, walnuts, macadamia nuts and more, these cookies make it easy to fall in love at first bite.

So what does the queen of cookies have to do with Silicon Valley? Surprisingly, the first Mrs. Fields' Chocolate Chippery cookie store opened in downtown Palo Alto in 1977 about a mile from the Stanford campus. With this humble start at the tender age of twenty, Debbi Fields pioneered an entire business built around freshly made cookies, and led the way for other gourmet dessert companies to follow.

Once autumn arrives I get in the mood to bake pumpkin treats. Mrs. Fields' pumpkin cookies offer a fresh way to achieve pumpkin nirvana. The recipe is simple and flexible enough that you can add whatever you like to the batter. We like to use Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips, pecans, and crystallized ginger. They're also delicious with walnuts, butterscotch chips, and dried cranberries. The texture is soft and cake-like, not as dense (or intense) as her chocolate chip cookies.

Whip up a batch when you're in the mood for a pumpkin treat. And while you're enjoying them, remember Mrs. Fields' motto that fueled her entrepreneurial determination: Good Enough Never Is.

Halloween Pumpkin Cookies
(adapted from a Mrs. Fields recipe)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 can pumpkin (15 oz.)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips
pecan halves
chopped crystallized ginger

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars together with an electric mixer. (This is easiest with a KitchenAid stand mixer.)
3. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until smooth.
4. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, mixing at medium speed for about one minute. Slowly add in flour until a thick batter forms.
5. Place rounded spoonfuls of dough onto a prepared cookie sheet (sprayed with Pam). Smooth the top with a spoon or spatula, then place chocolate chips on top to form a face. Be sure to push the chocolate chips into the dough as they will pop out a little during baking. Or add in other preferred ingredients like pecans, chopped crystallized ginger, walnuts, or dried cranberries to taste.
6. Bake for 12 minutes, or until bottom edges are golden brown. (We needed longer since we baked two cookie sheets at a time. Rotate sheets between top and bottom racks halfway through, or just bake one cookie sheet at a time.) Cool and serve.

Edgewood Eats: A Habit Worth Having

Chances are you've heard of the gourmet food truck craze. If you live or work close to Palo Alto, take a chance at the Edgewood Eats food truck fiesta. You won't regret it.

It took me a while to make it there, but once I started I haven't stopped. It's easy to become obsessed knowing those food trucks are lined up, their sweet and savory scents wafting from kitchens on wheels to hungry hordes waiting with anticipation.

Not only is the food delicious and different, it's also just plain fun. Each person in your group can pick what to eat from a variety of trucks. There's a lot to choose from, so the dilemma is what to have that night, with hopes of trying other trucks in the future.

Now running every Monday from 5-8:30 PM, the schedule shifts to the first Tuesday of every month from October to February and then turns weekly again in March when the weather warms up. It's located at Edgewood Plaza, 1161 Embarcadero Rd. between St. Francis Dr., Channing Avenue, and West Bayshore Rd. If you're coming down Embarcadero Rd. toward 101, turn left on Bayshore Rd. right after the Shell gas station. Bring cash.

Some of our favorite Edgewood eats:

Butterscotch-on-the-Go: Where else would a retired police chief and his wife refurbish a Red Cross disaster relief truck and turn it into a gourmet food truck business? Their specialty is luscious butterscotch pudding topped with toffee almond brittle, the kind of dessert that makes you go WOW when you take the first bite. Full of rich, creamy, buttery flavor with a crunchy, chocolatey topping and whipped cream to gild the lily. It's a crazy-good mixture of textures and flavors. Their triple vanilla pound cake with sweet vanilla cream and strawberry chunk puree is another swoon-worthy summer dessert, a magical combination. Also amazingly good: rich butterscotch sugar cookies, big and crinkly with a wonderful flavor. All their desserts are really, really, really good.

BBQ Kalbi Korean fusion: Kimchi quesadilla? Bibimbhap burrito? Each dish we tried was delicious, different, and immediately loved, familiar ingredients put together in a new way. Isn't that the definition of innovation? See Korean ingredients with new eyes and newfound appreciation. We tried the kalbi beef burrito, teriyaki chicken burrito, and kalbi cheese steak sandwich with no regrets.

An the Go: Garlic noodles- soft, fragrant, simple and oh-so good, especially nice topped with a skewer. We tried and enjoy beef, lemongrass chicken, and shrimp skewers. The smell will linger in your car for a few days.

Chairman Bao:  Asian steamed and baked buns made fresh and delicious. I loved the pork belly with daikon radish on both steamed and baked buns. The white steamed bun is small, like a little taco, full of flavor and very satisfying. The baked bun is sweet and soft, similar to King's Hawaiian bread. This truck consistently boasts the longest lines, about thirty people at one count, and for good reason. It's worth it.

Treatbot, the Karaoke Ice Cream Truck: Yes, you read that right--a gourmet ice cream truck with a karaoke machine. I thoroughly enjoyed my raspberry sorbet on a sugar cone, and my daughter loved the old school vanilla.

Shack Mobile: Lobster Shack on wheels! I've sometimes lusted for their award-winning lobster roll with chips and coleslaw. I've already publicly declared my undying devotion to this perfect sandwich.

Mayo & Mustard Sandwich Truck: Great sandwiches made to order. Pick your meat, bread, cheese, condiments, toppings and size (4", 6" or 8"). Really good, really reliable, especially if you aren't feeling adventurous enough to try the more creative combinations on other food trucks.

Armadillo Willy's:  We've always enjoyed the BBQ fare at this restaurant, and their truck offerings live up to their spicy standards. What a great deal to get BBQ brisket or pulled pork sliders for only $3 each. Their yummy BBQ sauce in regular and jalapeno versions made a delicious finishing touch, and the Texas corn salad with red onion, jalapeno, ciltrano and pepper add a nice kick for a side dish.

Sancho's Taqueria: Basic bean & cheese burritos, and fabulous fish tacos. Their little restaurant is on Lytton Avenue in Palo Alto.

If you haven't been to Edgewood Eats, try it soon. You'll see why it's habit-forming.

Chez Pim Artisan Jams: Taking Fruit to the Next Level

Pim Techamuanvivit started food blogging around ten years ago, which makes her one of the first. Besides writing about food, Pim holds cooking classes and sells artisan jams made from sustainable Northern Californian ingredients. After she recently tweeted @chezpim about her artisan jams and marmalade for sale on Etsy, I decided to try some for myself.

I ordered three flavors from her 2011 summer collection, with her descriptions and my reactions below:

"Berry Figgy Jam: This jam is indeed berry, berry figgy. It's a blend of olallieberries, raspberries, and my own Desert King figs. Olallieberries, pronounced oh-la-lie berries (or oh-la-la berries if you're saying it quickly), are very special Northern California treats. It's a hybrid of blackberries, raspberries, and loganberries. The flavor is quite similar to blackberries, but brighter and a lot more delicious!"

I found this jam an extremely yummy concoction, pleasing to the eye and palate. Purply-red goodness, with chunks of flavorful berries and little seeds. I couldn't taste the fig at first but then its flavor emerged as the aftertaste (and its little seeds to nibble on). What an interesting combination, with berry as the top note and the fig revealing itself later as the lingering base note. Hmm, fruit jams designed like perfume? Makes sense (pun intended).

"Clementine-Ginger Marmalade: Made from delicious Corsican clementine from Gene Lester's farm in Watsonville, this tangy sweet marmalade got a little lift from julienne of young ginger."

This one took me longer to figure out, like a puzzle to unravel. Its consistency was quite thick, almost viscous like honey but not as sticky. The flavor came through more subtly and less spicily than I'd imagined. The chewy clementine rind had a sharp, bitter citrusy taste, with hints of ginger. I would have preferred more of a ginger kick, perhaps with small bits of candied ginger. Instead of tangy-sweet, I would have liked it tangy-spicy. It does give me the idea of adding some candied clementine peel to a nice gingerbread or ginger cake recipe...that could be divine. Also it started to grow on me over time, especially when I slathered it on a bite of butterscotch sugar cookie from Butterscotch-on-the Go. Yum.

"Strawberry Rose: This is a whole berry conserve or compote. Big, juicy, whole strawberries preserved in their own syrup, infused with rose geraniums. That is all."

I actually didn't get what I ordered but in no way, shape or form can I complain, because the strawberry jam I got instead was the best I've ever had. I was surprised by how sweetly delicious it was. Spooned into Greek yogurt, this fruity puree tasted like sweet summer in a spoon, a velvety version of strawberries and cream, an improvement on the original fruit with its full flavor shining through with the additions of sugar, lemon juice, and TLC. If strawberries could only taste this way all the time I'd be a very happy camper but for now I will carefully guard my precious jar while it lasts.

Bottom line: Chez Pim artisan jams are pricey, exquisite, and worth it for a splurge. Total cost was $54 for three jars including shipping. My favorite way to eat them is swirled into Greek yogurt or slathered on buttered toast. The textures are entirely different than the usual jelled consistency of store-bought jams. These are fresher, more natural, tasting of intense, pure fruit essence and goodness. Eating these concoctions elevates an ordinary breakfast. The wonderful flavors demand the taste buds to wake up and pay attention. Delicious. That is all.

BlogHer '11 Top 10 Alliteration List

10. Virgin Virgin. I'd never flown Virgin America before. Loved the design, service, and comfort. Its newish terminal at SFO has all the perks: Tyler Florence food (swooned over breakfast pizza with eggs, cheese, and bacon), Toto toilets, and free Google Chrome net books to use on the flight.

9. Silly Sculptures. Saw a 5' Statue of Liberty made from Twizzlers, a 6' high heel shoe made from Pepsi cans, and a 3' wide Ivory soap bar carved with the BlogHer logo.

8. Female Fun. Since the conference was designed by and for women, we had plenty of chocolate, pampering, parties, and celebs like Brandi Chastain. BlogHer creates an entirely different mood from the typical business conference. 

7. Sunny San Diego. Great location choice with our comfy Marriott room overlooking the marina, bay, and ocean, adjacent to the convention center meetings and an easy walk to downtown and Seaport Village.

6. Fab Food. Sponsors pulled through with Dove bars, Skinny Cow treats, King's Hawaiian bread sandwiches, Stacey's pita chips with Sabra hummus, and Shari's Berries cake pops.  I'd never had cake pops before but now intend to make them. 

5. Swell Swag. Best freebies ever: Tempurpedic pillow. Snapfish photo album. philosophy facial products. Nuance by Salma Hayek makeup. Knorr apron and flash drive recipes. Google+ shirt.

4. Excellent Energy. Everyone exuded creative passion and drive. What a great place to meet bloggers, network, brainstorm, and soak in all the innovative vibes.

3. Lots of Learning. Great panels on writing, ideation, product reviews, video blogging, proposals, food photography, and social media marketing. I love it when I attend talks and take lots of notes; it means I want to remember and use the info later.

2. Cooking Class. Knorr sponsored an asparagus parmesan risotto cooking class led by Master Chef Marco Pierre White. I'm glad I didn't know of his bad boy reputation beforehand since I would have been nervous. Met some lovely food bloggers like Kim and Amanda, and made a wonderfully creamy, flavorful risotto. Chef Marco led us expertly through the process, generously signed cookbooks and gave us lots of useful tips. What a treat to take a class from a 3-star Michelin chef!

1. Darling Daughter. I took my teenage daughter Valerie with me and immensely enjoyed experiencing everything with her. She was probably the youngest of 4000 or so attendees. BlogHer was our first mother-daughter getaway, but won't be our last.

Carmel Favorites

A favorite Bay Area getaway with beautiful beaches, rolling valleys, and plenty of great food, Carmel has it all. Known for its dog-friendly downtown, former movie star mayor Clint Eastwood, and its California Mission, Carmel has earned its reputation for fine dining as well.

My husband and I recently enjoyed a weekend getaway in Carmel and ate some great food. With so many restaurants to choose from, it's a good idea to check out websites with lists of options, ask friends for ideas, and check out Yelp reviews. On this occasion we tried some new places and returned to some old favorites.

Casanova Italian restaurant has never disappointed. Located near downtown in a converted cottage house, Casanova has a cozy feel, tasty food and attentive service. Only big enough to seat 30, it has a Zagat rating of 23/30 for food, 24 for decor, and 22 for service. We enjoyed:

- bread sticks with sun dried tomato dip (yum)
- antipasti: goat cheese with roasted eggplant, squash, and red pepper spread
- spinach gnocchi w/ parmesan cream sauce (a must)
- eggplant vegetable stack with mushrooms and tomatoes (Brad had pasta carbonara and slurped it right down)
- apple dessert w/ cinnamon ice cream

We found another dinner just as enjoyable at the Flying Fish Grill restaurant in the Carmel Plaza shopping center. Recommended by my sister-in-law, Flying Fish offers Japanese comfort food in a cozy setting. It feels even smaller than its seating capacity of 45 with private table nooks. Its Zagat ratings are 24/30 for food, 19 for decor, and 23 for service. My husband and I shared a shabu-shabu dinner, a very nourishing comfort meal cooked at a built-in stove at our table. The entire meal satisfied:

- fried won ton chips w/ ginger salsa (addictive)
- beef sabu sabu clay pot with mushrooms, bok choy, rice noodles, and tofu (oh yeah)
- 2 very different and flavorful sauces: ginger miso and aioli w/ mayo, ginger, and sesame oil
- creme brulee with strawberries, raspberries, and orange slices

When in town we always visit the Cottage of Sweets candy shop on Ocen Avenue, a small sweet shop jam-packed with all kinds of confections. Brad got some of his favorites--caramel pecan turtles and Australian kookaburra black licorice--while I went with my tried and true gourmet malted milk balls with a thick dark chocolate shell. We also picked up some realistic-looking chocolate rocks for the kids. Cottage of Sweets has been serving up its candies for fifty years, and offers a nice collection of handmade, classic, and foreign candies. There's something for everyone.

Lastly, we happily discovered a new breakfast favorite called the Little Swiss Cafe, a great spot to wake up with eggs benedict, buttermilk pancakes, omelets, and blintzes. Come early to avoid the wait, wake up with their good coffee and satisfying food, and bring enough cash to cover the bill. I really enjoyed the thin buttermilk pancakes with pure maple syrup. Since they were so thin, then didn't make me feel too full afterward. Brad gobbled up his Denver omelet with hash browns crisped up just right. The restaurant is decorated like a little Swiss cottage with a wonderful oil painting of the nearby coastal views on one wall. Service is friendly and efficient, and it's a solid way to start the day.

Carmel offers so many other splurge-worthy restaurants we've tried over the years: Fresh Cream (moved from Monterey), Marinus at the Bernardus Lodge, and the Rio Grill just to name a few that we will return to someday. Along with the natural beauty and proximity to the Bay Area, Carmel's delicious food options make the town an alluring getaway any time of year.