Food Archives ⋆ Brett Ryback

Put Down the Pumpkin Spice Latte!

It’s not your imagination – Starbucks continues to release their Pumpkin Spice Latte earlier and earlier. According to US Weekly, the news source of White Girls everywhere, “although [it] won’t officially make its way into stores until Sept. 8, some die-hard fans can get their hands around a steaming PSL early, beginning on Sept. 4.”

Soon we’ll be drinking them on July 4th weekend.

I love the Fall for many reasons – the change in the weather (yes, even here in LA), the change in the color of the leaves (not so much here in LA), and the flavors of vegetables at the farmer’s markets. Even the pumpkin.

But when it comes to Pumpkin Spice – I’d rather opt for something with a little less pumpkin and a little more spice. Cue the Pumpkin Cocktails! Continue reading Put Down the Pumpkin Spice Latte!

How to Hard Boil an Egg. (Seriously).

Who has time to cook at home these days??

Me. That’s who. (And you probably do, too – although you might think you don’t.)

Regardless – for those of us who know the joys of cooking at home (i.e. delicious-ness, financial-badass-ness), these 16 Kitchen Skills Every Home Chef Must Know is a great list of reminders and tips. Continue reading How to Hard Boil an Egg. (Seriously).

Oh, The Farmer’s Market and the CSA Can be Friends

(Ten points if you get the reference in the title…)

My fiancee and I recently bought a house in a new neighborhood. It’s been an exciting transition, but one of the things that we lost was easy access to a weekly farmer’s market.

I used to love going to the market every Sunday morning. It wasn’t a very big market, and so you were able to get to know the vendors and farmers on a personal level. It taught me to plan meals for the week, and buy accordingly. It was an amazing ritual. How could we give that up?? Continue reading Oh, The Farmer’s Market and the CSA Can be Friends

Eat It or Wear It

Anybody who knows me knows how much I love coffee.

So I was very excited to see this article tweeted by Alterra Coffee – one of my favorite coffee shops in Milwaukee, WI – about a coffee face mask.

What better way to enjoy something I love than by smearing it on my fucking face?

Seriously all it is is yogurt, ground coffee, cocoa powder, and honey.

And when you’re done with the face cream – voila! – You’ve got breakfast!

Now, anyone know of any wine masks?

Not Such a Crock

I love cooking, and I love eating. Thankfully the two go together well.

But when I cook, it’s difficult for me to do it small. I’m not a “heat it up in the micro” kinda guy. I chop, I prep, I marinade. I like fresh, I like whole, I like unprocessed.

In a time crunch – or while I’m in 6+ hours of rehearsal each day, such as now – when I get home, I don’t have the energy to do what I usually do.

Enter the slow cooker.
There was a time that slow cooking was for moms, aunts, grandmas – anyone who might embroider or stitch a sampler. But now – even HIPSTERS use crockpots!

There’s really nothing to not love. You chop your ingredients, you dump them in the pot, set the timer, and you’re set. And my biggest misconception was that slowcooking meant just soups and stews – which is a huge turn-off. However, this is not so! Last week I did ribs, I did carrots, I did beets. All of which was amazing.

I found a great recipe blog for crockpots here. I’ve done about 5 recipes and I’d give her 4 out of 5 stars.

This week’s recipe – sweet potato chili!