Tuesday, January 1, 2008

I found one!

You probably thought I would have used "Happy New Year" as the title of this post, but I decided to set myself apart from the pack and type these three words instead.

What did I find? A cherry, of course, in one of my macaroons. I had a little treasure hunt last night with them (some had cherries, while others did not), and I found one on the first bite, as you can see in the pic :-)

Please excuse my crazy pinkie finger, which happens to bend in unnatural ways. When I was little, I used to say it looked like a poor little French fry. With that attached to my hand, can you believe that I once did a little hand modeling? (check me out Raw Model, ha ha)

When I worked in Ritz Camera/Boater's World's advertising department, there were pictures of my hands on the lens pen packaging and holding a cheesy boat phone in the catalog. I don't know if you can still find the pics, but my hands were the ones photographed at the time.

But back to the macaroons. Matthew (my husband) did not try them as promised since he claims to hate coconut. However, it looks like I pulled a fast one on him, when I fed him the raw chocolates and brownies.

The cream inside both contains coconut (but don't tell him). He was hesitant to try the chocolates (he is not a fan of cream-filled bon bon like candies), but was surprised to find that he actually liked them.

To top it all off, after trying a piece of my raw mint chocolate brownie, he ate a whole one himself. He even said he would have more if I made them again. I ate two, as well.

Of course, we both ate the cherries (I had more than what was pictured on the plate) and took turns feeding them to one another. Although simple in their natural state, they are raw treats, too (they were my biggest craving when I was pregnant with my son; I bought $40 worth of them one day and ate them all in one sitting).

Now, I already warned you that he would not sample the chili (maybe someday he'll have a change of heart, or in this case, taste-buds), but he did eat one of the warm corn cakes. He had mixed reviews, due to the fact that he was not having them with the chili (he was eating pizza). He thought he would have enjoyed them more if he was eating Mexican instead of Italian.

My husband also did not take a sip of the Teeccino (which is not raw anyway), but that was to be expected; he never was a coffee drinker. Now if I can only get him to stop drinking sodas ...

Overall, the raw menu was a hit. My husband has warmed up to the idea of a raw meal once in a while, if he gets to help pick the dishes. It seems like we'll be having dessert for dinner to start (which isn't so unhealthy when your raw). We're taking baby steps.

After all that heavy food, I'm back to my usual routine. I woke up early (What else is new? Does anyone else notice that they sleep less after becoming raw?), drank a ton of water, took some MSM and worked out (I didn't have to make that a resolution, since I have consistently 6 days a week for years; I even did Tae Bo the night before I gave birth). I'll probably have a green smoothie or two (already increasing my consumption) and my leftover chili. Yum!

But for those of you who still want something more substantial, they made mini quiches today on Good Morning America. The ones on the show were not appealing to me, but these recipes are: Christmas Quiche (its not too late) from Raw Goddess Healthy, inspired by Russell James's Spinach and Wild Mushroom Quiche, Almond Mushroom Quiche (by the goddess's fellow uncook and friend, Carmella) and Spinach and Mushroom Quiche in a Kale Crust (yet another version of Russell's popular dish).

Happy New Year, everyone!

13 comments:

Jenny said...

what a great photo of the yummy cherry inside!!
it looks so incredible that way :)
i pictured you savoring sweet cherries and in complete cacao bliss. . .
another inspiring and authentically honest quote- i think we all can relate to the interactions between raw and non-raw, especially when you're partners. . .
xo Jenny

RawBin said...

mmm... I wonder if there are any leftovers...

Keely said...

Okay... I need that brownie recipe!!! I found your link to the original, but I want your raw version! Please... pretty please. Don't make me get down on my knees and beg!!! [grin]

shannonmarie said...

Oh, I had to take a picture of the cherry. I figured people need to see it to believe it. Thanks Jenny, for the idea.

Rawbin, glad you enjoyed the brownie. Do you really think it was worth a million dollars? :-)

Keely, you're making it hard to say no to you. My husband would like me to start holding back recipes for a book, but lucky for you, I'm a little bit more generous. I'll try to post it soon. Hopefully, it will be worth the wait.

RawBin said...

That was the best fudge brownie EVER!!! My first bite, I had to quick wrap it and save it for later. I really wanted to take it home and give my D.H. a bite, but I kept going back to the freezer for another nibble...
and then it was gone...

Heather Pace said...

Oooooh me too!!! Is there any way you would consider sharing that brownie recipe shannon? :D

shannonmarie said...

I hope to post it tomorrow, when I have more time. Now, I have to go to work.

Runnergirl said...

I just found your site yesterday and I am so encouraged. I love being a creative RAW cehf too! I went home and made Fetticini Veggies and Cocoa Crispies! Thos brownies look sooo good! I can't wait to try those! I have been made chocolate truffles recently and can't seem to get enough chocolate these days!

So you got all the recipes for the Malomars out of Pure Wine and Food's book?

Blessings,
Holly

shannonmarie said...

Cocoa Crispies, yum! I just made Trix in my latest post. I'm glad you like my site, and I hope you enjoy the brownies. I was on a chocolate kick at the time, too.

The mallomars are made out of a variation of a crust recipe in the book, the vanilla creme recipe and the chocolate ganache. Let me know if you need more info.

Runnergirl said...

If you could share your exact recipes for the Malomars... that would be yummy nice of you! :)

shannonmarie said...

Since they are posted in the book, I'm hesitant to put them all on my blog. But, if you join Give It To Me Raw, I can shoot you a private message there with all 3 recipes.

Runnergirl said...

Where do I join that?

shannonmarie said...

Go to www.giveittomeraw.com and click on the sign up button in the upper right corner. Once you've signed up, you can search for me in the members section (tag along the top). I go by "shannonmarie" on the site.

It is a great place to meet other raw foodists, participate in discussions or even start your own blog. You really should consider joining. I think you'd like it a lot.