the nyummm! vlog

STEP ONE: finding the right macaroni #macncheese

Like any diligent foodie-based cook would, day one of my mac n cheese battle preparation involved trying out macaroni (and also thinking a lot about the damn battle, too). Unless you're already an absolute pro at pasta types - and by pro, I mean Pro - I believe the best way to choose the right macaroni is to test them all out, in the right frame of mind.
 
Today's macaroni type was the 3 minute kind. Yes, the Japanese version that comes packed in the exact proportion to feed no more and no less than one person, made to cook almost instantaneously by boiling water and adding some flavored powder... oh, the HORROR!
 
Don't knock it, though. As much as they are somewhat unorthodox and human-engineered, the texture is not too bad. However, they ARE designed to be enjoyed in a soup. And if overcooked (which could mean only a matter of seconds), they split apart. That's not the kind of quality to have in a thick cheesy sauce that already looks like mush.
 
Hmm... CONCLUSION: 3 minute macaroni is a NO GO.

chocolate avocado truffles

Photograph by Justine Monique Lecerf.
 
As promised, the recipe for the chocolate avocado truffles I made for PARKSALE at the end of June.
 
250ml cream (I used half and half)
275g dark chocolate (I used 300g minus a few pieces that I nibbled at, while cooking... it needs to be at least 70% cocoa, that kind of dark)
75g avocado butter (I used 1 fresh avocado and a drop of olive oil)
Cocoa powder for dusting
 
FIRST, make the avocado butter. Blend the avocado with the oil in a food processor until smooth. It's better to use avocado oil, but olive oil works too. I actually didn't have a blender either, so I had to chop up the avocado into teeny tiny pieces and then push them through a sieve. Oh, and the more ripe the avocado, the easier it is to make this. I had a bit of trouble with a barely rip one.
 
MELT the chocolate in a pot over boiling water that's in another pot. If you have one of those double boilers, even better! Otherwise, this make-shift technique works just as well.
 
SCORCH the cream and as soon as it bubbles and froths, gradually pour a little bit into the chocolate and stir the mixture.
 
You'll notice a significant texture change. THIS IS NORMAL. Keep pouring little bits of the hot cream into the chocolate and stir each time, until everything is mixed together.
 
MIX the avocado butter into the mixture.
 
At this point, the chocolate truffle mixture is ready to be cooled. Put the entire mixture into the fridge for an hour.
 
Once the mixture is in paste form (you can test this by trying to scoop a dollop out with a spoon), the truffles are ready to be shaped.
 
Scoop out the truffles one by one, drop them into a bowl of cocoa power and roll around until the entire truffle is covered.
 
KEEP IN A COOL DRY PLACE.

and then there was PARKSALE

         

Click here to download:

and_then_there_was_PARKSALE.zip (5991 KB)

Learning from indie-mart, we took our mini picnic baskets one step further, this time, and filled them with avocado onigiri. They looked oh-so-cute and somewhat Japanese, too. We also had a platter of freshly sliced avocado on ciabatta bread, dripped with lemon juice and seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to add to our table of treats. I say table, I actually mean a collection of vegetable packaging cardboard boxes we picked up from Safeway, draped with a large white sheet - the designer in me likes to call it "Ephemeral Architecture At Its Best".
 
In an arena full of other independent artists and designers, food was quite obviously our creative edge.
 
As a means to discover other foodies, the purpose of our spot at PARKSALE was, once again, to get people to associate our brand with food. But not just any food. Tasty food!
 
And if it's still not obvious yet: Yes, we've been busy working on an avocado study for our first copy. Hence the chocolate avocado truffles! Speaking of which, I will be uploading instructions on how to make those, soon. So keep an eye out.
 
Thanks to everyone who came by to talk to us, especially those who dared to try my chocolate avocado surprise (the truffles)! Chocolate and avocado certainly sounds like a weird combination, but I can assure you that every single person who tried them, loved them. If you don't believe me now, just try making them and you'll see for yourselves!
 
Fun times were had by all: Lika had a great time indulging in our various tasty treats, as you can see in the photos, while Justine busied herself with photo taking throughout the day.

And big thanks goes to Jeff, who not only hand-made the onigiri but also helped us spread the word "nyummm!" like wildfire throughout the PARKSALE grounds! He even attempted to perform a little juggling act with the avocado seeds, I guess to prove that we're THAT resourceful! I only wish I had caught it on video camera. It was funny.
 
Meanwhile, our avocado study continues...

one of our favorite youtube videos!

chocolate avocado truffles!

It's not that I'm vegan or that I don't like butter... I was simply sitting there one day trying to work out what flavors work with avocado and before you knew it, I found recipes for chocolate truffles! I have yet to try to make some chocolate avocado cake, but hey hey, let's just see how these go down! :)

       

Click here to download:

chocolate_avocado_truffles.zip (9595 KB)

what we did for indie-mart

           

Click here to download:

what_we_did_for_indie-mart.zip (1934 KB)

While we're busy gearing up for PARKSALE, tomorrow, we thought it would be fun to give a sneak peek into what we did last week for our show down in San Francisco!

With the help of Lana (who graciously provided us with a little spot beside her), Brian and Joe (for helping with transportation and generally being big cheerleaders), elfie represented the entire nyummm! team and pushed a bunch of mini picnic baskets out to the public in efforts to discover the foodie market, while allowing them to simultaneously find us right back!

These fanciful baskets, featuring hand-made silk-screened napkins (made by Lika!), contained home-made chocolate dipped strawberries and a slice of home-made flourless chocolate cake (made by elfie!) which posed as the main character for our "HOW MUCH OF A FOODIE ARE YOU?" challenge.

What was that challenge? Oh, simply to be able to work out, through nothing more than eating and tasting the cake, what ingredients were involved! The biggest tip: NO FLOUR!

Of all the contestants whom attempted to work out the exact ingredients in the cake, only one person got the answer right! We'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Nishanga for winning a one-year FREE subscription to our magazine! And we appreciate every single one of you who tried it out and gave it a shot. Thank you so much for your interest in what we're doing and for all your support. A special mention must go to Garth, too, for thinking way above and beyond the 4 simple ingredients used, which were:

Bittersweet chocolate
Butter
Sugar
Eggs

Remember, SIMPLE is KEY!

Meanwhile, we're getting busy putting our chocolate avocado rage together... SO LOOK OUT!!! Hope to see you at PARKSALE in about 17 hours!

come to PARKSALE tomorrow!

we've been meeting more and more awesome people! it just doesn't stop!

Scott in Calgary, Ari in San Francisco... wicked cool! We can't wait to get you guys on board. Thanks for coming to see us.

more foodies! YAY!

Luke, Ryan, Vishu, Maryann, Anh, thanks for coming in! Who knows what great adventures we might get into! :)

we met some awesome creatives today

Spencer, Jeff and Kenzie. Looking forward to potentially working together and moving forward with our foodie-ism-ness. :) Can't wait. Thanks for coming in, guys.