Sriracha. The New Pumpkin.

December 11, 2013 By Laura

I’m ahead of the “trendy” curve.

This is a first.

According to this article, sriracha may be the new pumpkin. Many of you saw the chips. They have now gone so far as to turn it into a vodka flavor.

Why does EVERYTHING good need to be turned into vodka? I like a good drink, and I admit that a sriracha Bloody Mary sounds good… but PB&J? Really?

The point was going to be that I like sriracha before it was cool. Before the pumpkin obsession. Before even the bacon obsession. So there. ~~Pass me a pumpkin-bacon-sriracha martini.~~

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This WIAW felt like it was going to be “meh” after a rushed food prep. Looking back it didn’t turn out too badly. I’m pressed for time, but having quick proteins has helped – on busy weeks I rely on no-salt deli turkey and rotisserie chicken. With a few simple flavor adds, semi-homemade tastes pretty good! Read on for my eats, and then check out Jenn’s blog for everyone else delicious creations!…

Portland is Delicious

December 9, 2013 By Laura

Portland, it’s a good think you’re tasty.

And sunny. Yes, I said sunny.

A belly full of warm food and a sunny, blue sky is the only way I survived this arctic weekend. My little sister, Alli, moved to Portland a few years ago and I hadn’t had the occasion to visit. Apparently they hit record lows the couple of days I finally decided to pop in. It was so cold my teeth hurt.

This was my view coming in:

The snow did melt, and the sun came out to stay! The first order of business was to eat. Alli collected me from the airport and we went right to Tasty ‘n Sons where we ordered everything #yolkporn we could find….

Strange But Good: Whiskey Bacon Brownies

December 6, 2013 By Laura

Strange is the new normal.

It is with my dessert-making, anyway.

For some reason I can’t get enough whiskey and bacon in my desserts this season. If you choose a spirit laced with notes of caramel and vanilla, it perfectly compliments a sweet dish. It also is strangely good with bacon. Sweet and salty, ftw!

These brownies are of the fudgy variety. I do love a cake-like brownie, but the richness of my add-ins called for a decadent dense chocolate background.

Even if you don’t do bacon or booze, these would be an incredible dessert. The cocoa powder gives them a deep flavor, and makes them no quite as tooth-achingly sweet as morsels would. Each bite is thick, rich experience. ~~Just how I like my dates.~~

Bonus: If you make extra bacon and reserve the fat when cooking, you’re well on your way to making a Whiskey-bacon Apple Pie.

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Whiskey Bacon Brownies

1 stick (1/2 C) salted butter
1/4 C unsweetened applesauce
1 C (200g) sugar
1/2 C (100g) light brown sugar, packed
1½ tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs, room temperature
1/2 C plus 2 T (60g) unsweetened cocoa powder
1 C (120g) all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 C + 1 T good-quality whiskey (I used Balcones Baby Blue)
1/2 lb sliced bacon

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Prepare a 9 x 13” pan.

In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Whisk in the sugars and apple sauce, stirring until fully incorporated. Remove the pot from the heat, then quickly whisk in the eggs (work fast so they don’t become scrambled egg brownies). Whisk in vanilla.

In a medium bowl, sift together cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring just until incorporated.

Stir in 1/4 C of the whiskey then pour the batter into baking pan. Bang the pan on the counter a couple of times to release some of the air bubbles.

Bake for 20-25 mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of your brownies comes out clean. Brush the top with remaining 1T of whiskey (this is optional, but really brings out the whiskey flavor).

Allow the brownies to cool slightly before cutting.

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How have you enjoyed making co-workers, friends, or family stare with strange but good creations this week? The link up rules can be found here or by clicking on “Strange But Good” in the menu bar above. In short, I want to see what concoctions have earned you weird looks from co-workers, family and friends! Post your Strange But Good creations, grab the logo below for your blog, and link up here.

Remember to use #strangebutgood in any Tweets and Instagrams of your creations.

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A word of advice: make these fresh and get them out of the house ASAP. I couldn’t be trusted with them alone!

Do you bake with booze? How about bacon?

What’s your favorite #strangebutgood baking add-in?

Blogging Business 101: Protect Yourself

December 5, 2013 By Laura

Do you use protection?

That’s not quiiiite the topic today…

Kat and I went to dinner a couple of weeks ago and she started asking me questions about blogging, and if I had taken steps to protect my name and my content. I stared at her blankly. I had NO idea I should be doing a few simple things to make sure there’s not a zombie attack on my blog!

I know a lot of you are bloggers, so I asked Kat to focus a guest post on the topic. I hope this is as enlightening for you as it was for me!

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Blogging Business 101:

Protecting Your Name and Your Content – Why would a blogger need to talk to a lawyer?

By: Kat

You invest so much time and energy into your blog that it’s practically a business or a second job (Editor’s note: and third… and fourth…). Perhaps it is your business or related to your business. If you don’t protect your name and content, you can lose your investment and be forced to change or abandon your creative works. Why not invest a little more to ensure you and your blog are protected?

Today I’m sharing a couple of things you need to know.

If you love your creative expression, it’s up to you to protect it.

Trademarks – 101

Surprise! You can trademark your blog’s name and logo! Why would you want to do this? There are several reasons. You are providing an educational service to others through your blog, and you have invested a TON of time in marketing, advertising, connecting with other bloggers that will support you, and creating content to share on your blog.

Now imagine that someone else out there decides they really like the name of your blog or your logo, and they decide to federally register the name and/or logo as trademark. (Perhaps they came up with it on their own, or perhaps they copied it from you.) They would then own all the rights to that name and/or logo, and could potentially serve you a cease and desist letter telling you that you can no longer use the name in your blog, and you need to take down all the content using the name or logo, rebrand, perhaps even costing you more time and money.

This situation happens frequently, and it is disheartening for those who have invested time, perhaps even years, in creating content for their blog using their name and logo. Your blog is your brand.

Federally registering your blog name and logo as a trademark will give you a legal remedy if someone tries to copy or misuse your blog name. Not all blog names can be trademarked; they have to be distinct and non-generic. In order to determine whether your blog name may be trademarked, it is a good idea to consult an attorney and invest in legal research. Contact me if you would like more information about whether your blog name is protectable.

You may also go to Counsel to Creativity for a free trademark crash course, available on the homepage. If you would like a free 30 minute consultation with me for more information about whether your blog name and/or logo are protectable, contact me (kat at counseltocreativity dot com), or use the coupon code “KAT30” in the contact form on the website.

Copyright – 101

While many bloggers may not realize it, every time you post original content to your blog, whether it’s a post with a story, a method, or a recipe, you are creating legally protectable content. For many of you, this will primarily come up with respect to your recipes and photos. How many times have you posted a recipe or a picture that was reposted by someone else, (Editor’s note: Wayyyyy to often, no?) hardly modified at all, and they took credit for it? This could be copyright infringement.

If you are the author of your picture, recipe, or other content, you have the right to protect it against someone else’s infringing use, if their use is substantially similar. Becoming angry, or commenting on their blog demanding they take down your content is frustrating and often fruitless.

So, what do you do? In many cases, an infringer will take down their infringing content upon a demand letter from an attorney, but there are other ways to handle the situation as well. If you want legal advice about what you can protect, why it is protectable, or why you should protect it, email me (kat at counseltocreativity dot com).

You don’t want to have to P.U.S.H. – pray you are protected until something happens that unhinges your investment.

If you get legal advice and protection before a dispute pops up, you can maintain significantly more control over your protectable content.

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I’m still shocked this happens – I’d only thought about the risk of letting your domain name lapse!

What was your biggest take-away about protecting your creative content?

What intellectual property from your blog is most important to you? Your name? Logo? Recipes? Photos?

Insta-Mallow + WIAW

December 4, 2013 By Laura

Instagram is everywhere.

No judgment – I’m 100% addicted.

There is a printing company in the UK, Boomf, that has developed an app allowing Instragrammers to print their images onto marshmallows.

So you can take a picture of your food, print it onto another food, and eat it. Would that be considered leftovers?

The service isn’t available in the U.S. yet. They’re trying to work out how to get it through customs.

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I didn’t eat any marshmallows for WIAW, but still managed some good stuff. I’m out of town the rest of the week, so this is one of those “eat everything in the fridge” days. Read on for my eats, and then check out Jenn’s blog for everyone else delicious creations!

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Breakfast:

As always, the day began with my apple cider morning cocktail. Still searching for a new amino powder I like…

Breakfast was a little random. A delicious banana-peanut butter fluff wrap, heated in the microwave. The peanut butter fluff was a mix of peanut flour (from iHerb – use discount code USO924 for $5-10 off your order!), vanilla protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla, and Stevia. With a side of turkey because it was going to go bad.

Mid-Morning Snack:

I am oddly addicted to this Matcha bar found at Whole Foods. It’s almost buttery with its healthy fats! Really good pre-workout fuel with a side of almonds.

Lunch:

Shredded rotisserie chicken (naked from Whole Paycheck) mixed with kale and a really random “dressing.” It was the end of a cottage cheese container, mashed avocado, nutritional yeast, apple cider vinegar, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic power, and pepper. I mixed it up the night before and used half here and half in the next snack.

I discovered the toaster at work, so I’ve been loving hot Ezekial sesame toast. Today’s was slathered my favorite Roots spinach hummus (also a Whole Foods find).

Mid-Afternoon Snack:

The other half of the afore-mentioned cottage cheese mix was used in a turkey salad with broccoli slaw. I’m pretty surprised and how good the cottage cheese mix was, now that I think about it. I wish we had a toaster oven at work so I could crisp it up…

And then I had a pity party. I’m getting a cold. Extra water, green tea… and a Snickers should fix it, right?

Dinner:

Dinner was rotisserie chicken tossed with BBQ sauce, with a side of roasted mushrooms and crisped kale.

I turned my roasted buttercup squash into dessert, tossing it in a sauce of peanut flour, cinnamon, Stevia, and almond milk. And chocolate chips.

Dessert:

Pumpkin-Zucchini Bread Batter was my midnight snack. It was another “use all the foods” creation that turned out better than expected! I love using protein powder in these – it really lends to the batter consistency.

Pumpkin Zucchini Bread Batter

1/2 C shredded zucchini
1/2 C Greek yogurt
1/4 C Pumpkin purée
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (I use Growing Naturals rice protein)

Mix everything together and top as desired. I went with a cocoa powder sauce, popcorn, and cacao nibs.

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I’m headed to San Francisco for work, and then to Portland to see my sister for the weekend. Any good Portland restaurant recs?

What would you like to print your Instagram pics on? I want Insta-bacon!

What is the strangest clean-out-the-fridge dish you’ve ever made?

Accidental Long Runs + Mizuno Wave Rider 17 Review

December 3, 2013 By Laura

Cardio hasn’t been fun recently.

The following post is sponsored by Fitfluential LLC on behalf of Mizuno. All opinions are my own.

I like cardio when it’s MY idea. Having it as a mandatory daily activity during competition prep makes it a chore. That’s a thing of the past (for now), and I have gotten the itch to run more. The added motivation of new shoes doesn’t hurt. Does anyone else get oddly motivated by new workout gear?!

I’ve never had the chance to try out a Mizuno running shoe. When I got the opportunity to try the new Wave Rider 17, I jumped at it! It’s a neutral running shoe with a good amount of support.

After all of the Thanksgiving festivities and football disappointments, I was itching for a run. Sunday I headed out to tackle Atlanta’s hilly streets in my new Wave Riders.

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Thanks for Bacon + Easy Cranberry Kale Salad

December 1, 2013 By Laura

I spoke too soon.

I’ve often said I need a 5 second delay on my mouth.

This Thanksgiving I ate turkey, and I liked it. My uncle brought the most deliciously moist (yeah, I said it) smoked turkey. So partially I take back what I said about not liking Thanksgiving food. I still passed on the green bean casserole and the stuffing.

First let’s back up. I headed to my mom’s house on Thanksgiving morning to drive the family to my grandparents house in north GA for the festivities. They said they were ready to go, but when I got there only the dog, Honey, was ready.

We finally did get on the road and made it the party without incident (I did have to swerve to miss a kitten in the middle of the road).

The good thing about being late everywhere is that everything is ready when you arrive. We had quite the spread! The turkey didn’t fit on the counter so it’s off to the side, along with a table this size filled with desserts. I’m lucky my whole family likes food as much as I do!

After pre-gaming with cheese crackers, I stacked round 1 with my kale salad, turkey, mac ‘n cheese, sweet potato souffle, pumpkin beer bread (recipe coming!), and had a side of my grandmother’s turnips and ham and a glass of rosé wine I brought back from Napa.

Round 2 looked about the same, but with a deviled egg someone had forgotten in the fridge.

There was PLENTY of dessert too… I brought 4 different desserts, so I’m going to be sharing some fun sweet recipes just in time for Christmas. Yes, I use Thanksgiving to test desserts for Christmas parties.

Today’s sweet treat is from Gabby’s recipe for a gluten-free Apple-Bacon Crisp. I followed her recipe, but added a twist… where she sautes the apples in the bacon pan, I also added 2 tablespoons of whiskey.

The whiskey I used, Balcones Baby Blue, was a smooth addition. The blue corn whiskey from Texas is one of my favorites with its slightly sweet vanilla-caramel taste and notes of candied citrus and baking spices. My other modification was to use hazelnuts in the topping. The rich taste played well with the coconut flour.

It. Was. Awesome. I am thankful for Gabby and her #strangebutgood bacon idea. I scooped it on to my dessert plate with glee.

The leftover whiskey was great to have on hand for the weekend, too. I went to the Tech–UGA game with my cousin and friends Kathleen and Matt. We were all smiles at the tailgate and the first half of the game.

Then the second half happened, and we realized Tech is as bad at football as we feared. ~~It’s a good thing they’re smart.~~

Kathleen and I, pre-loss

Whiskey is a good wound heal-er.

If you’re like me, you need a ~~very short~~ break from the heavy food, so today I’m also sharing the easiest kale salad you’ll ever have. It’s simply dressed, and you can make it the night before. It’s pretty marvelous.

This was my healthy contribution to Thanksgiving, but kale salads are also one of my favorite things to make during my weekly food prep. Their hearty leaves only get more delicious as they soften in the dressing and the flavor soaks in.

This dressing is light, but doesn’t lack in flavor. It is zesty and garlicky with a little heat on the end. If you really like it hot, add red pepper flakes to the top. I did.

Cranberry Kale Salad

2 medium bunches destemmed kale, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves
Juice from 1 lemon
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1-2 handfuls dried sweetened cranberries, for garnish
Parmigiano Reggiano, to taste (omit if dairy-free)

In a mini food processor, process the garlic, lemon, oil, marjoram, pepper, and cayenne until smooth. Taste and adjust flavors, if needed.

Pour the dressing onto the kale and massage it into the kale with your hands. Allow to soften in fridge at least 30 mins, or overnight.

Just before serving, top with cranberries and cheese.

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I’ve been craving greens after the brown fest that is Thanksgiving!

What was the best dish from your weekend?

Are you punctual, or are you the last to arrive? I’m trying to get better… but it hasn’t taken yet.

Raw Brussels Slaw with Apple and Butternut

November 27, 2013 By Laura

Thanksgiving sides can get heavy and repetitive.

Stuffing, cranberry molds, green bean casseroles…

Truth be told, I don’t even like most of the traditional Thanksgiving food. This year, I decided to get creative with the seasonal veggies and create a light and easy raw salad.

Coleslaw is thought of as a summertime picnic food. I switched it up by using brussels sprouts rather than cabbage, and mixing it with a blend of sweet and tart apples and butternut squash. Butternut squash is soft enough to be eaten raw, and it makes a great color addition!

The shallot and ginger add more dimension, and the light lemon-yogurt dressing doesn’t weigh this salad down. Recipe at the bottom!

I STILL haven’t done a real grocery store run… it’s been hard to do with my workload, catching up on life outside of competition, and holiday events. That hasn’t stopped me from doing lot of baking and having FUN with food.

Read on for my eats, and then check out Jenn’s blog for everyone else delicious creations!