WIAW #39: Lots of Eats, Birthday, and Giveaway Winner

I’ve had a busy week of eats since last Wednesday and I’ll do my best to share a “taste” of it with you.

*update* I was so tired last night when I posted this not only did I post the preview link to the lovely Jenn's site on accident, I also misspelled Birthday. To solve this issue I now vow never to clean my apartment again, the source of my exhaustion and confusion. Enjoy the updated version of this post!


As August is coming to an end what better Summer Staple than street fairs!

On Thursday, Aaron, my best friend Nichole and I went to the Philly Night Market in the neighborhood of Mt. Airy. We first went to the Night Market in May when it was close to my sister but missed the June one and there wasn’t one in July. I loved the varieties of vendors and the crowd. The Market goers were mostly families versus the last one we went to which was 95 percent hipster. Change of neighborhood, change of clientele.

Our first stop on the Night Market Drag was the Lil’ Pop Shop homemade popsicle cart! I was so excited to try these and I was definitely not disappointed. I had the “Drunken Plum,” fresh plums and German beer. Best popsicle of my life! Nichole had the Vietnamese Iced Coffee. We went back at the end of the night and I got the Earl Gray Black Pepper but the plum was absolutely my favorite.

I also got a bottomless cup from the New Hope Premium Fountain Soda- homemade all-natural/conscious soda making. Awesome. I had the Ginger and the Orange Mango.

We then all split some macaroons from Sweet Philly Truck. I had the Pecan Sandy and it was delicious.

I also had a lovely chicken sausage sandwich with buttermilk dressing, slaw and a spicy sauce. Really Good.

I love the Night Market!


On Saturday (my birthday) my mother came down and we spent the day at a few Bucks County wineries, had a wonderful tasting and did a little bit of shopping. Great day.

We had my birthday dinner at Chifa, a Joses Garces restaurant in Philadelphia based on the cuisine of Cantonese immigrants to Peru who created the “Chifa” cuisine. Very pricey but very good. We did the chef’s tasting menu and we all felt stuffed to death afterwards.

Here’s the only good picture of the food I got. Oysters.

On Sunday Aaron’s mom, Lisa took us out again for my birthday near here at the Four Dogs Café.

THIS PLACE HAS STICKEY TOFFEE PUDDING! And it is really good! I might have to go back just for that!

Here’s our eats from there:

See that? That's what stickey toffee pudding should look and taste like.

Not to mention some of the meals I had this week....
 

I'm experimenting with breakfast bowls and the extremely inexpensive bag of chia seeds I found at Trader Joe's.

 

Homemade Coronation Chicken Salad

 

 

Homemade Chicken Rice Stew: both products of the same chicken I've gotten four meals, gravy and a nice stock to make ice cubes out of too.

 

 

Same chicken in a pita wrap

 

Same chicken on a pizza

Tea Time! Including one of the amazing chocolates I'll be giving away soon! Well, not this one, this one is mine.

And a few of the incredibly thoughtful gifts from my family I was able to photograph:

Bone China tea set from my mother (we've got this baby and 6 cups for a steal in Peddler's Village, Bucks County, PA)
 

 

Wool Royal crown tea cozy from my sister! Yep, she made this! (Her own design, jealous?)
 

Fresh basil and flowers from the garden

My sister's homemade lavendar shortbread tea biscuits, so good!

A tea kettle from Jon (and Mackenzie.) Needed one!


And many other amazingly thoughtful gifts! Thank you family!


This week I will have to share with you my recipe for traditional Basil Pesto. One of my favorite summer staples!

Because of my busy week, crazy apartment cleaning, etc. I’m exhausted! What did you do this week?


But now to the winner of my giveaway:

Congratulations to Meredith M. who won my giveaway for the new Vegan Conscious Box! I will contact you to get your free box sent out! Thanks to everyone who entered!

Look out for my two amazing upcoming giveaways starting next Tuesday for “Back to School!”

Enjoy!

Love,

The College Cuisiner

Baked Mini-Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Happy Monday everyone! What are you looking forward to this week?

Because it is Monday (that night of the week you don't feel like cooking) I thought today would be the perfect time to share with you my mini-grilled cheese sandwiches.

What makes them so special you ask? Well, think all of the grilled cheese you love in bite sized easy to eat, easy to make form.

I made these babies with some classic tomato soup on the rare occasion I was all by myself but they would be perfect with homemade chicken soup or as pass around appetizers with creamy marinara sauce or even pesto!

I made mine with parmesan cheese, a little basil and fresh garlic but these babies would be so delicious filled with sharp cheddar and dill or grated swiss and rosemary. Make your own and your family will love it. These are perfect for play dates too! (College students’ study parties included)

Baked mini-Grilled Cheese Sandwiches:

makes 8 mini sandwiches

Ingredients:

About ½ one French baguette (white or multigrain), 16 slices
2/3 cup of parmesan, mixed Italian blend, or your favorite cheese
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil (1 tsp. dry)
1 tsp. sea salt
Fresh black pepper
1 tbsp. very softened butter, not melted


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl gently toss cheese, garlic, basil, salt, and a little cracked pepper together.

Lightly butter one side of the 16 slices of bread making sure the slices fit together.
On a baking sheet arrange 8 slices evenly, butter side down.  Spoon a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on top of each of the 8 slices. Top each with another buttered slice of baguette.

Carefully place mini sandwiches in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Flip each sandwich and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until each min-sandwich is golden brown and cheese is nicely melted.

Serve with your favorite soup, salad, or tapenade!

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway for the new vegan Conscious Box! If you’ve never tried Conscious Box, you will love the sample of all natural products, great coupons, and the best way to introduce you to some great companies from all over the US!

Keep checking back because...

I have two other reviews/giveaways coming up soon that you will not want to miss!

Next week, check out my “Back to School” giveaway from GoPicnic all-natural and super convenient ready-to-go meals.  These great meals are perfect for school lunches, the office, travel, and especially for the hungry college students on meal plans in your life! Not to mention their gluten-free, kosher, and vegan varities!

Don’t forget to come back soon for my giveaway from local Philadelphia-area chocolatier, Designs by Francine Artisan Chocolate! I'll be giving away a sample box of her amazing homemade tea-infused chocolates!

Fair trade, locally made, and all!


See you soon!

Love,

The College Cuisiner

It's my birthday!

If you didn't already realize from the title, today is my birthday! yay!

I always know it's my birthday when my mother calls or starts to tell me about her mucousplug breaking and the inevitable car ride and 18 hours of labour. Happy birthday!

Growing up birthdays were always a big deal. It always felt like once the 18th of August hit it was my brithday for the next week. I personally think I'm lucky to have a Summer birthday as there was never any chance I would have school on my birthday but at the same time I never got to bring in cupcakes and have my classmates sing to me. Eventually I became that kid who brought in cupcakes on my half birthday, February 18th and usually I made them myself. Are you surprised?

Usually I feel my birthday coming for days announcing my new age around June as if it has already come but today I finally feel strange about turning a new number. I've passed all the milestones and I can now drive, vote, and drink, so what's the benefit after that? I guess just the benefit of being alive and blessed. That's all anyone can ask for right?

So I started my birthday with several texts from friends and family and made myself some coffee in my French press in our still new apartment.

Where does the day lead? Well once my mother arrives in Philadelphia we will be going together to some Bucks County Wineries and a dinner with Aaron, my mom, and my sister at Chifa in the city.

Wish me luck!

My Birthday Playlist:

Wonderwall- Oasis
Green Eyes- Cold Play
Transatlanticism- Death Cab for Cutie
Neon Lights- Keane
Girls Just Want to Have Fun- Cyndy Lauper

Love,

The College Cuisiner

WIAW #38: Conscious Box Giveaway

Not only is it WIAW but I've also got a great giveaway from Conscious Box!

I was so excited when the great people from Conscious Box contacted me about doing a giveaway for their new 100% vegan Conscious box subscription. As you know I think a lot of Conscious Box and their company’s policies.

But first as it is Wednesday we need to talk about my eats this week. I haven't done many "staples" this week but I hope you like it anyway!

 

 

Mini grilled cheese and tomato soup

Tribe Cracked pepper hummus, carrots, mixed olives, crackers

Dark chocolate Digestive biscuits with tea and cream

Great Grain cranberry cereal with whole frozen cranberries, fat-free milk

Yesterday:

Lunch

Leftover Spanish rice mixed with chicken, corn, tomatoes, black beans
One Zestar apple with a little Justin’s honey almond butter
Iced water and cucumbers

Dinner

From Bake 425 in Bryn Mawr:
Margarita pizza on whole wheat crust, Southwest Salad, half a roll
 glass of red wine

Dessert

Homemade double chocolate brownie and fat-free milk

As Aaron and I have moved into our new apartment it is nice to finally settle down. As always, I was lucky to have some good eats.

 

But now back to Conscious Box!

I reviewed their eco-friendly box awhile ago and loved it! But now they have an all new vegan box!

Conscious Box has teamed up with Brendan Brazier, former pro Ironman triathlete, bestselling author of Thrive, and formulator of Vega. Brendan Brazier is known as a top authoritative source for the vegan, plant-based diet, and has used his experiences to help create one of the most incredible Conscious Box experiences yet!

This is what they have to say about this new box:

 

“It's packed full of an incredible assortment of vegan lifestyle goods, each hand-selected by Brendan.”

I can’t wait to try the new vegan box myself and I’m sure you are too! Want to try the first ever vegan Conscious Box?

Here’s your chance!

What's the Giveaway?

• ONE lucky reader will receive 1 (one) month's subscription for the new Vegan Conscious Box

Here's what you have to do:

• Like Conscious Box on Facebook.
• Once you've done that let me know and leave a comment telling me your favorite vegan or "conscious" product.
• Leave a way for me to contact you: email, google account, etc.
• Only open to readers from the US, sorry!

The giveaway starts August 15th and ends August 21st at 5:00pm. The winners will be announced on August 22nd and I will contact you!

Extra opportunities to enter:

(please comment separately for each extra entry and tell me what you did)

• Like The College Cuisiner on Facebook or Twitter
• Follow Conscious Box on Twitter
• Post this giveaway link on your blog, Facebook, Twitter!

Good Luck! And don't forget to tell your friends!

 
Love,

The College Cuisiner

Orange Pineapple Salsa

Over the weekend Aaron and I found ourselves alone for dinner and not too keen on going out to buy something. So I looked through the fridge and came up with an idea. We had oranges, we had a green bell pepper, and we had shrimp. I thought, would shrimp tacos with orange salsa be good?

I first cut open this minneola orange my mother had in the fridge. Never had one? Me neither and I must say, best. orange. ever. I looked it up and found out it is a cross between and tangerine and a grapefruit and in my opinion is the most flavorful, sweet tangy orange I've ever had. WOW.

But I needed something else in this salsa so in fact we did ended up running to the store but luckily only for three things.

I decided I needed to add more to this salsa. How about pineapple? Good idea! Definitely some cilantro and red onion. Perfect.

So after a bit of chopping and testing I came up with a really delicious salsa to put on top of the shrimp I learned from here. (except this time I did the shrimp in sriracha aioli with a little lime and cilantro.) Yum.

If you make these tacos, I recommend grilling or baking your tortillas with some garlic infused olive oil.

If you just make thing salsa, I recommend grabbing a fork or spoon and eating it plain. Seriously. But after we ate, my mother and Dave came home and had the brilliant idea to put this salsa on top of pulled pork. I don't eat pork but I was told it was pretty incredible. But I mean its pineapple, oranges, garlic, onion, and cilantro on top of pork...what wouldn't be delicious about that combination? So if you are thinking about doing a roast pork or grilling it instead, consider my orange pineapple salsa on top.

Orange Pineapple Salsa 

Makes about 4 cups of chunky salsa

Ingredients:

3 minneola or navel oranges
4 small rounds of fresh pineapple (about 1 cup)
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
Juice of 1/2 of a lime, add more if needed
2 tablespoon of orange zest
1/2 tsp. of lime zest
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro, finely chopped (add more if desired)
2 tablespoon chili infused olive oil
1 tsp. sriracha hot chili sauce
1/2 tsp at a time of white vinegar to taste
sea salt


Directions:

Peel rind of oranges and de-segment slices. Try to cut as much of the white flesh away and cut into large chunks. Cut pineapple rounds into the same size chunks.

In a medium bowl add zests, oil, pinch of salt, and garlic, and mix together.

Add cut oranges, pineapple, peppers, onion, and cilantro. Mix well. Taste salsa and add sriracha and vinegar to taste. Refrigerate salsa for 30 minutes. Adjust salt, cilantro, and lime juice if needed.

Serve on chips, pulled pork, shrimp tacos or just on a spoon headed towards your mouth!

Enjoy!

Love,

The College Cuisiner

Summer Trip to Knoebel's

Ever since I was a kid I loved going to Knoebel's Amusement Park in Elysburg, PA. If you've never been there it is one of the last "traditional" amusement parks left.

Nestled in the mountains this park is as family friendly as it can get especially in times like these. Because to this day Knoebel's does not charge admission, parking, and even allows you to bring you own food into the park. They have my favorite roller coaster of all time, the Phoenix. (In the background.) 

Instead all you have to do is buy a book of tickets that are good for any ride at anytime. They average around $1.50 a ride for anything from their wooden roller coasters to their famous carousel.

Plus, their food is pretty good too and cheap. No $10 pizza here like at the big PA amusement park: Hershey Park. Totally affordable for families and poor college students!

The carousel is top rated and one of the last remaining "Traditional" rides that still incorporates the brass rings into the ride. If you've never done this, you'll see that carousels can actually be fun!

There some really cute things about this park including the Miner’s museum, sky lift (think ski lift over a mountain, scary.)

I love this place. I was so excited to take Aaron and my old friend Brady and show them my favorite place as a kid. The park also has a campsite which costs all about $45 a night with showers and electricity. What a treat!

And there's a lemonade stand in the shape of a lemon. Quality people, quality.

There's even a pool only $5 an entry withvarious slides.

The Cobblestone Fudge House. It was extremely difficult to take this photo as everyone kept trying to get in to buy fudge! 

The teacups, one of my favorites.

This is where the puppet shows are held.

And of course there was an organ "festival" going on throughout the park. I didn't realize there were so many of these things!

Plenty of space for all occasions.

There is always something interesting at Knoebel’s…like this taxidermy black bear in someone's truck.

Or this wedding party taking photos all over the park!

 

And their mascot is a chipmunk…named…Kozmo.

 

They always have a "High School Musical" style band that performs. Difficult Summer job.

I love this park. It's hard to express all of the wonderful stuff here in one blog post. It'sthe perfect place for a young family to spend a whole day eating, playing, and spending time together for a honestly affordable price. There's even a fairy tale theather for kids! Not to mention the memories you'll always have to together. Some of my favorite memories of my family and my father are from Knoebel's. Everything from grilling bagels over the fire while camping to ridign the flume and making a huge splash.

I hope you'll check out this wonderful park in Elysburg, PA and see what I'm talking about.

Love,

The College Cuisiner