strawberry (and cherry) cheesecake parfaits

Officially the summer months are coming to an end as companies reintroduce pumpkin spiced everything and Halloween décor to the masses. These transition times usually lend me to a certain shortsighted nostalgia. I think about all of the fun things that I’m going to miss as one season lay rest to a new. As summer ends and fall takes over, a part of me cannot let go of the sun soaked memories and meals that summer brought. If my wimpy frou frou nostalgia shpeal isn’t reason enough for you to try this recipe, let me remind you that you still have a 30 quart Ziploc bag full of strawberries in your freezer that you need to get to before freezer burn does. Let’s celebrate the beginning of autumn with this blast-from-recent past summer treat: Strawberry (and Black Cherry) Cheesecake Parfaits. 

coming soon - strawberry (and cherry) cheesecake parfaits

Homemade crumb topping adds nutty buttery texture to thick cheesecake filling and plump macerated summer berries. If you have frozen summer fruit in your freezer, you won't want to miss this recipe! I'll try to get it out on Tuesday. 

chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti

The other day I was walking through my local specialty shop and found that they were sampling "authentic" Italian biscotti. Naturally, I stopped by...multiple times, until the lady cutting the biscotti began to give me looks. By then I was already full. On my third or fourth visit, I caught  glance at the unit price for an "authentic" Italian biscotto (the singular for biscotti): $2.oo per biscotto. I'm all for quality, but at that price I might as well be eating gold bars speckled with diamonds! Then I had an epiphany. I could make a killing selling biscotti around my neighborhood. But because food bloggers are inherently exercise adverse (at least this one is), I set aside that idea for a good three weeks until today. Turns out, biscotti are much easier than the "authentic" Italians are leading them up to be. Follow these easy steps and you too can enjoy authentic biscotti without taking the equity out of your home to pay down biscotti loans. You might even become a millionaire selling them to your neighbors. As always, I hold a 30% royalty on all recipes you sell to your loved ones. ;-)

coming soon - chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti

Last night I sat in the corner of my living room curled in a ball with a fluffy blanket and my old stuffed animal rabbit that I dug out of the closet. I was sad. Sad because I let myself and you down. I told myself I would write a blog post at least every week. More than three weeks since my last post, I'm back, and back for good whether y'all like it or not. Tomorrow I'll have this chocolate peanut butter chip biscotti for y'all to munch on. Have a great day!

Chow!

food adventures in chicago // the girl and the goat

I'm not a restaurant critic, nor do I plan to make many restaurant reviews in the future; nevertheless, today I had to turn my inner fan girl loose. For the past week, we (the fam and I) have been in Chicago. On our trip, we sampled dishes from some of the most highly acclaimed restaurants in the Midwest. We at places like Mon Ami Gabi (My Friend Gabi in French), Deka, and the Tavern (previously called Tavern on the Town, my parents favorite place to socialize and eat when they lived in Chicago). I suppose, all food bloggers like to believe they're qualified to review restaurants; they like to believe they're part of an elitist super-race, one which sports highly discriminating taste buds that can pick apart dishes into their elemental components. I can't speak for my fellow foodies, but I am part of that super-race. Here is my review of my favorite restaurant we ate at in Chicago—The Girl and the Goat. 

carrot cauliflower corn slaw + honey mustard dressing

After a brief break from blogging, I'm back and punnier than ever. Since posting the chow creations' first ever video recipe a couple weeks ago, I've been purtey busy: I made a blue table, aced my sixth semester at college, and bought a fancy-shmancy strobe light, which only set me back $200. I'm still learning how to apply my newly found skills and equipment, so this post will be a test run on many fronts, especially the lighting. Forgive the lighting. 

You, like me, may be reading this with a mild case of the end-of-summer glooms. Well, gloom not my friends for this cauliflower slaw is the cure to all end-of summer ailments. In fact, this slaw is so easy and refreshing you'll be wondering why you waited this long to learn how to make it and why I waited so long to post it. The answer is simple. I'm a selfish lazy bastard. That's my problem, not yours. Rehashing the past is pointless. Going forward I promise I will be a good blogger, the type that posts every week with the reliability of heartburn after a jalapeno. 

coming soon // carrot cauliflower corn slaw + honey mustard dressing

After four long weeks from blogging (I had summer school), Aaron returns with a bright summer recipe to cheer up the end-of-summer glooms. This carrot cauliflower corn slaw is not only fun to say, but it's fun to eat (cut me some slack, my descriptions haven't warmed up yet). The recipe will be out in a day or two, so stay tuned. Hey that rhymed. Maybe I still have it. ;-)

our first video recipe // white peach galette

Check out Chow Creations' first video recipe above!!! My bro, Darren, did the filming and editing while I took the pictures. The full recipe is below with the ingredients and directions. We hope you find this new layout as awesome as we do. Please give us feedback in the comments and subscribe to the channel. :-) 

our first video coming soon // white peach galette

Can you feel the excitement guys?!?! Chow Creations' first video recipe is coming soon and we need you to spread the word. With my brother at the helm of the video editing process and me on the food front, this new era of Chow Creations is going to be nothing but exciting. The video is going to be out soon. Stay tuned!!!

grilled mac & cheese sandwiches

You...yeah you! Yes you! When you go to a restaurant do you have a compulsion to ask for the kid's menu even though you're kind of old and have no kids? Are you ashamed that you linger when the hostess asks you if you'll need any kids menus? Can you make a sandwich? If you answered yes to these three questions then venture no further. You can make this sandwich right now in the comfort of your own home without the glaring eyes of the world staring down on you. How do I know? I mean you can probably make this right now. Most people can. All you need is bread, cheese...what do you mean you don't have cheese. Everyone has cheese. I have at least five types of cheese in my fridge right now. What do you mean I'm crazy. You're the crazy one. Now you messed me up. I had a point. You get the point right? This sandwich is so easy to make that anyone, even you...yes you, can make it right now. Forget it about. I said FORGET ABOUT! You know what, you've just embarrassed me, yourself, and your family. What've you got to say for yourself...yes you! Who else would I be talking to? What did you say? WHERE CAN YOU BUY CHEESE?!?! (if you're confused keep reading)

This was a conversation I had with my neighbor's dog a couple mornings ago (see paragraph before). In all seriousness, this sandwich is probably the best sandwich you'll ever try in your entire life. It's impossible not to think of the good ol' days when you're sinking into crispy buttery bread through soft creamy mac & cheese and gooey cheddar. Classic mash-up comfort food at its finest. The best part is, it takes less than 20 minutes to make which means these are the perfect party favors...or midnight snack, depending on the type of person you are.

coming soon - grilled mac & cheese sandwich

C'mon. C'MON!!! I doubt you can fathom the awesomeness of just looking at a picture of this! It is not even close to how good you're picturing it in your head. The recipe is coming out in a bit!!! (mind you I'm sorry if i don't get the post out for awhile, i have a lot of summer homework. please check back often though.)

mango blueberry sherbert

People all over the world - except Australians and their backwards idiosyncrasies - are on the brink of summer; however they're ill prepared and I'm here to help. My suggestion? Go to Costco, buy a 24 family pack of sunblock, grab 6 industrial sized towels, and some summer fruits - provided that you left Costco otherwise you're gonna have to buy a lot of fruits (which is probably a problem only particular to the first world). After you finally leave Sampleworld with all of your beach day things run home and make this sherbert! It's so good, and surprisingly easy. 

When I was making this recipe I overestimated the capacity of my ice cream maker and when I measured the first batch I realized only an eighth of the mixture could fit in at one time. I practically have a toy ice cream maker. I concluded that the only sane thing to do was to make the sherbert by hand. So, every 30 minutes I took the sherberts out of the freezer and stirred them. That's probably why the blueberry one turned out kind of icy. Nevertheless I loved it even more because I literally made it myself. So the moral of the story is don't get your cooking equipment from Dave & Busters. 

coming soon - mango blueberry sherbert

If you didn't know, sherbert is a sorbet with cream. I make mine with plump fresh blueberries, tropical mango, and creamy coconut milk. Must I say more except coming soon.

virgin mango bellinis + basil

For the entire week I have procrastinated writing this post because I wondered whether it was really necessary to write down a recipe that has only 3 ingredients, and even less steps (and I was being lazy). Making these bellinis was so easy that I'm pondering whether I should change this blog to an only bellinis blog. I mean, the alliteration is right there. 

Truthfully, if there weren't any laws mandating that children under 21 can't drink, these bellinis would be totally non-virgin. But, laws and regulations and stuff. What can you do.