Archive for May, 2010

If you’ve never made ice cream at home before, you should try it! It’s really fun and especially if you’re adventurous in the kitchen.  So much fun to invent your own flavors and find out what your favorite may be.  So far I’ve made mint chocolate chip, candied bacon/chocolate chip, and peach ice cream.  The family is REALLY loving the peach, they said it is the best yet.  There are many ways you can make ice cream.  The traditional way is a custard based, meaning eggs mixed with sugar and half cream half milk mix. Since my husband and I are lactose intolerant to milk products I’ve had to be creative in this process.  Thai style ice cream is dairy free, made with coconut milk and that was the first ice cream I’ve ever made.  It was rich and creamy and we all loved it, however, not being able to find unsweetened coconut milk meant that every batch would have a coconutty taste of some sort.  For the peach ice cream I switched to using Lactaid whole milk.  It has the fat content I needed but no lactose which is what we need to avoid.  If you are not lactose intolerant I would recommend mixing heavy cream with whole milk.  I use all lactose free milk and our ice cream is very delicious, but would be even creamier if I could use heavy cream. 

If you don’t have an ice cream maker, they are easy to find, but a little expensive.  Since I have a Kitchen Aid mixer, I purchased the ice cream attachment bowl at Bed Bath and Beyond.  It retails for $80.00, but I always have 20% off coupons for BBB, so I saved $16.00 which was nice.  They have many great plug in models, and the best deal I’ve ever seen was a model at Costco that was about $50. The only thing you need to know, is that you cannot make ice cream right away…every ice cream maker has a bowl that has to be frozen in your freezer for at least 12 hours prior to making it.  My bowl stays in my freezer at all times, so I can pull it out whenever I feel like making some.  I’m really happy with my ice cream maker attachment for the Kitchen Aid.  It is easy to use and comes with lots of yummy ice cream recipes too.  Another thing you may be surprised to see is that this ice cream recipe uses A LOT of eggs!!  However, if you love ice cream, you’ve been eating essentially, raw eggs mixed with sugar and cream and frozen into ice cream your whole life.  This is just how it is made, you won’t get sick so don’t worry. The best and tastiest ice cream needs to have eggs. If you find a recipe that doesn’t use eggs, you’ll taste the difference, it won’t be as good.

Peach Ice Cream

Ingredients

8-10 peaches ( I only had 5 yesterday and it still turned out delicious!)

6 eggs

3 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups heavy cream

4 cups whole milk 

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp salt

whisk eggs, then add sugar to form a custard.  Skin and cut peaches away from pit, put peaches in blender or food processor until desired consistency.  I like chunks of peaches that I can taste in my ice cream so I don’t process it too much, but it does need to be blended a little to break the peach down to add the peach flavor into the ice cream.  Add milk and peach puree into custard.  Mix well, put into your ice cream maker and mix per manufacturers instructions.  Put in sealed container mark date and kind of ice cream and freeze.

Food Tramp Diaries started as a simple blog and url of my name (Erin Forney) because I wasn’t even sure what I was going to name the blog yet.  After a few cocktails, (I’m way more relaxed and creative under the influence) “Food Tramp Diaries” came to mind and I even came up with the tag line “Finding and spreading the food love where ever it may be” about five minutes later! Praise vodka for my fun blog, lol.

Fast forward to eight months later and I have been SO blessed with the outcome of my efforts.  I’ve been so lucky and honored to meet and become friends with some of the most amazing people in the industry here in Arizona and also California.  I’ve been getting great traffic and also tons of offers to give my readers great giveaways and fabulous foodie prizes.  This is not really a legit “career” for me yet, but I am passionate about what I do and I’m loving every minute of it!  I’m committed to make this blog better for myself and my readers every day.

However, this blog, these opportunities for myself and my readers would never be possible without the help of my friend Tim.  I met Tim through my best friend and I have had the pleasure of being his friend now for about four years.  When I wanted to do this blog he stepped up and offered his time and his help in whatever I needed and became my web administrator.  I know how to use wordpress, but I have no knowledge on what it takes to make my website look so awesome and how it does today.  That’s all Tim, the most knowledgeable computer guy I know PERIOD.  Also, one of the kindest, coolest guys there is.  Just wanted to give him a shout out for all to see, because if you’re reading this, my blog is what it is today not just by myself, but a lot of work from Tim.

I was going to do a giveaway today of a extraordinary new book by Paul Abercrombie called “Organic Shaken and Stirred” a great new cocktail book that features all organic drinks.  However, I decided to send it out to Tim, he totally deserves it!!  So, no more www.ErinForney.com , now all you have to do is remember “Food Tramp Diaries” is www.foodtrampdiaries.com

So cheers Tim!!! The readers and I thank you for all that you do so the Food Tramp can share her delicious restaurant finds, recipes, and giveaways and enjoy such a cool blog. YOU ROCK MY WORLD!!!

I just took a weekend jaunt to San Diego to visit my best  friend.  Since he’s not a real foodie, that meant I had pick of the eateries!!  Point Loma Seafoods was the first place I wanted to check out.  Fresh fishery, sushi, smoked fish, and awesome made to order lunch and dinner menuthat is not to miss!!  I’m talking fresh fried cod on homemade sourdough  milk bread that is to DIE FOR!  My shrimp plate was huge and they have the best tartar sauce I have tasted in a long time.  Also they make a tuna jerkey that is AMAZING, not to miss.

Kelly and Marie Christianson started Pt. Loma back in 1963 out of a small retail shop. Eventually with their children Jack and John to help, it has developed into what it is today. Point Loma is a fresh fish retail shop and a great place to get a hot, fresh, fish sandwich, among other things! Their small shop eventually got remodeled  into the beautiful building that sits right on the ocean by a marina.  They like to keep everything simple…use the freshest and best quality ingredients to make the best product.  You can totally taste it in every bite and see why their trademarked logo “The freshest thing in town” rings true!

What U lookin' at?

I think their signature item is the fish sandwich which is what my friend chose, he had been there one time before and knew how good it was.  I chose the shrimp plate because you can’t beat fresh fried shrimp in my book!  I love love love their tartar sauce, it does not suck at all! It is made with real mayonnaise and it contains dill, which is probably my favorite herb ever.  So, if you’re in San Diego and want to see the ocean anyways, you need to stop by Point Loma for lunch or early dinner.  Grab a plate, sit down under an umbrella table outside and enjoy the gorgeous view!!

mmm fish sammie w/homemade sourdough

shrimp plate w/onion rings

Just wanted to give my readers a heads up on next month, which is going to be the busiest month for me in a LONG time.  First of all, I’m super excited to say that my hot husband and I will be taking our toddlers to Disneyland for the first time in early June!! We are all so excited (okay, well maybe not the husband so much) I’ve been doing tons of planning and making them cute Disney shirts and other things for the trip.  It should be tons of fun!!

After I get back from that I have a couple weeks to get back into the swing of things, then I am off again for a weekend to Los Angeles for the Dole California Cook-Off . The amazing people at Dole have invited me, along with four other food bloggers,  including a fellow Phoenix food blogger JustinEats .  At this cook off there will be five finalists that will compete to have their recipe take first place and be placed on tons of Dole canned fruit or juice labels.  The winner will also take home $1000.00, not too shabby!   Each of us food bloggers will be paired off with a finalist and we will help them prepare thier winning recipe.  Then, hunky-hotty son of Harrison Ford, chef  Ben Ford, will judge the recipes and pick a winner!! Can’t say that i’m not a little excited to meet him and pick his foodie brain.

I’ve never been to L.A. before, besides the airport, so I am excited to go and since I’m broke, even more excited that Dole is hooking us up with everything we need…rental car, spending money in all!  I’m going to take lots of pics and bring back the dish on some great places to eat in L.A.  I have a feeling some Kogi BBQ truck and taco truck chasing may also be in order!

Who knew one could spend a relaxing afternoon sipping wine and enjoying little nibbles at a gourmet grocer?   I had never been to Oakville Grocery until just over a week ago.  Truth be told,  I never really had a reason to go…this stay at home mom’s budget goes solely to groceries for the family, Starbucks, dining out,  and my small vodka/wine budget.  Living in Fountain Hills I just don’t get to venture out to the AJ’s and Oakville’s due to lack of time among other things.  What a treat to be able to go alone on a Saturday, meet the staff, the purveyors, and see what they had to offer.  This is a place that I should have be frequenting for the wine alone, I needed to make time for Oakville!

Oakville is in the Scottsdale Quarter.  This specialty grocer originated in Napa Valley in 1881, next to the city’s post office as a place for the locals to stop and get their mercantiles and Levi’s.  It developed into what it is today thanks to the wine country that flourishes in Napa.  Now it is a gourmet market offering only the best wine,  cheese, charcuterie, deli, and local specialty groceries and items you can’t find everywhere.  Their olive bar and wall of olive oil and vinegars was enough to make me return again and again.  The food is a whole other topic!  Made to order flatbread pizzas, healthy salads, hand-pulled mozzarella, a cheese selection to die for…it’s all here, and it’s ALL good!! Experienced Sommelier and wine maker Dave Johnson will make you feel right at home in their wine section and pour you a red or white and even further educate you on what you are drinking if you are so inclined.  I tried his very own “Intaglio Bianco 2008″ white blend that he handcrafted in Trentino, Italy.  It was a delicious white blend and costs only $13.00 at Oakville. 

wine galore at Oakville

Next, Shannon Metcalf, their catering director gave me a sample plate of various tasty treats that Oakville has to offer in their salad case.  My favorite was chef Walter Sterling’s own hand pulled mozzarella.  It was light, very creamy and had the perfect saltiness.  He explained to me that he uses buffalo milk curd to make it,  and he says that makes all the difference.  Another favorite on my plate was the marinated mixed olives and also the Moroccan shrimp salad with capers.  If you have a sweet tooth, the vanilla poached pear drizzled with chocolate was really really delicious.

olive mix

assorted salad goodies at Oakville

pick your flavor

The cheese selection here is amazing.  From your aged blue cheese to a mild burrata, it’s all here.  If you enjoy fine cheeses with your wine, they will have it here and if not their cheese-monger will order it for you.  And OH, the olive bar…I could have stayed there all day. 

olive heaven

So, make sure when you’re in the Scottsdale Quarter to take the time and check out Oakville Grocery.  I promise, you won’t leave empty handed!