crunchy honey almond butter

Read the back of a Skippy jar. I'll bet you at least three words in the ingredients list you cannot pronounce. If you can't even sound out what your eating, why are you spreading it on your breakfast toast (some of us for lunch as well). While today's intro comes from the platitudinously uninspired section of my vernacular, the message still rings true. Whether you're a parent with young children or an old fart who likes reading about mushy foods (usually I can get away with insulting the elderly because most of them haven't figured out how to use the "box"), you've arrived at the right place. Even though Homemade Almond Butter falls into the dreaded category of raw, healthy, and organic, it fortunately doubles as a delicious and satisfying alternative to practically anything spreadable. Homemade is not only healthier than Store-bought, it's actually easier to make than having to go to the store. Come along as we discover the one-ingredient fix (and the fixings you could add) to end all pantry guilty pleasures. 

coming soon // crunchy honey almond butter

Almond butter. Anyone can make it. It's just almonds pureed in a blender. But, crunchy honey almond butter. C'mon. You got to know the secret. And, the secret is gonna be out soon. Stay tuned. 

frozen mango sabayon shortbread

The first thing people ask me when I tell them I write a food blog is, "What's the best thing you've ever made?" Gosh I hate that question. I've never had a good answer. Some days it's been strawberry cheesecake parfaits, other days thyme and black pepper cheez-its. But today, I've finally found an answer, an answer that—without a doubt—trounces the precedents. Frozen Mango Sabayon Shortbread. This elegant spring dessert is wonderfully light and refreshing—tropical cubes of mango suspend in creamy sabayon atop crunchy shortbread. Whatever is bothering you, this will surely make the world good again. Cut into wedges and share with only your most worthy of friends...or not, you probably deserve it more. 

coming soon // frozen mango sabayon shortbread

In a world where negative interest rates and imminent defaults (Venezuela and Puerto Rico in mind), everyone needs a little piece of Mango Sabayon Shortbread. Recipe coming out soon!

chinese double almond cookies

By the time this post is on the interweb, most of you will have already rid yourselves of the Lunar New Year festivities, and a smaller—albeit still substantial—subset of you will have taken out the upside-down-top-hat-frosted drinking mugs and "Honest Abe" wall stickers (February 12 is Lincoln's birthday if my sarcasm was too subtle). Still, in my experience there has never been a bad occasion to serve a really good cookie, notwithstanding a really, really good cookie. I can assure you that if Lincoln were to try these cookies, he would soon have the figure of Mary Todd Lincoln (and she seems wont to the occasional cookie if you know what I mean). Whether you serve these cookies alongside a pot of tea or an upside-down-top-hat-frosted drinking mug, your guests will be throbbing at your feet in blissful insanity after their first bite. The beginning to an unhealthy addiction to almond cookies will have begun, and you will have successful stolen that person's every future dream and aspiration. We will recruit these cookie zombies to disburse the cookie curse and in a month we will rule North America! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Let's get started. 

coming soon // chinese double almond cookies

Happy almost Chinese New Year everybody. Learn how to impress your guests with these scrumpdiliumptuous almond cookies! The recipe coming in less than one day. 

rosemary roasted garlic focaccia

In these early weeks of the new year, blog posts webwide begin by paying homage to the New Year, or New Year’s resolutions, or some variation along those lines. So—in being unique—I won’t mention the New Year at all. Here at Chow Creations, we pride ourselves in being independent…wait a second. By acknowledging that other food bloggers acknowledge the New Year, haven’t I inadvertently began this post with an homage to the New Year. This column is beginning to sound a lot like the subpar metaphysical food blogging I confused readers with last year. AH HA! You fell for another one of my traps. I wanted you to think I didn’t want to begin this post by mentioning the New Year, when in fact I've been in control of this rambling the entire time. So how exactly does this all relate to focaccia? The receptionist at my asylum hands me focaccia to get me to stop talking to her. Ohhhhh Margaret...my New Year’s resolution is to see a psychiatrist. 

Despite the exotic-sounding name, focaccia is deceptively simply to make. You won't even need a stand mixer to make this recipe. Although I've written the directions for the do-it-by-hand gal, if you’re not as strong as I am (cue the picture of my saggy biceps), follow along with the stand mixer’s specifications. Focaccia gets most of its flavor from the taste and quality of the olive oil you use. In addition to using the finest olive oil allowance-money can buy, I fry the rosemary and garlic in the olive oil (a quick and dirty trick to getting the most out of your most pungent ingredients) to amp up the flavornoids in focaccia flavor town. The result is a soft and crispy bread, packed with warm flavors of roasted rosemary and garlic. Beginning and advanced bread bakers will be delighted at this wonderfully easy and delicious treat!

coming soon // rosemary roasted garlic focaccia

My everything is focaccia. Without focaccia, everybody stay in cause Aaron be crazy. If you see a berserk Aaron lumbering towards you in the streets with crumbs on his lips and oily fingers, make a batch of focaccia right away. It's the only way to save yourself. Antidote coming soon. 

peanut butter raisin oat cookies

Peanut Butter Cookie fans and Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Fans rejoice, for tonight we settle our differences and come together for the holidays. I know, lately tensions have been running high between our cults, but if anything can bring peace to our warring sides it is this cookie. 

Creamy peanut buttery, chewy raisin oatliciousness, this cookie is not only flavor packed, but texturally symphonetical—made up a whole bushel of words in that sentence. But miracles happen when cookies like this enter our hearts. Enough dawdling, let's get on with the recipe. 

coming soon - peanut butter raisin oat cookies

If there were some contest to see what the ultimate holiday cookie was, this cookie would win it. If you're a peanut butter fan, this is your cookie. If you're an oatmeal raisin fan, this is also your cookie. If you don't like either, well sucks for you cause the rest of use love Peanut Butter Raisin Oat Cookies. The recipe is coming soon!

thanksgiving sour cream biscuits

If you're reading this post, you're one of two people: (1) Thanksgiving just passed and you're trying to see how long you can last before the food coma takes you too, or (2) you're panicking because Thanksgiving is tomorrow and you just remembered that mother-in-law Margaret only comes to Thanksgiving dinner for the biscuits! Whether you're the former or the latter, these super easy biscuits can solve your problems. Did I mention they only take 5 minutes (of effort) to make!

Take a quick look at the picture of me in the left sidebar. No matter how strong your astigmatism is, I am definitely not the face of an expert biscuit maker. Nor do my parents look like expert biscuit makers (picture me...thirty years older). The fact is, Chinese people are not expert biscuit makers, nor are they even that fond of eating biscuits. If any person was as unqualified as I was to show you how to make a biscuit, it would be a babbling two-year old. Nevertheless, there in that statements lies my point. If I can make these damn good lookin' biscuits, you can definitely make them...and they'll probably turn out even better than mine. 

coming soon // thanksgiving sour cream biscuits

Everyone has leftover sour cream. Everyone likes sour cream biscuits. Make 'em in less than 5 minutes (of effort) and serve before the big thanksgiving meal!

pomelo curd crème brûlée

Is it "un-American" to not hand out candy during Halloween? My parents and I wrestled with the idea for a solid 3 minutes before deciding that it wasn't and went to our favorite celebratory restaurant far away from home (just in case the trick-or-treaters followed us). If karma is a thing, it sure hasn't hit me yet because I'm sitting here at my desk with a smile and cup of crème brûlée that I smuggled from the buffet line. You know when a crème brûlée is good when it is felony-worthy good. 

And while the crème brûlée I had at the restaurant was the inspiration for this recipe, I didn't want to just copy it. I wanted to make an elevated crème brûlée, one that after your first bite you can't stop eating until all the cows and chickens say enough is enough. The resulting concoction, the convergence of a pumelo sale at the store, my experience at the restaurant, and the all-important cow-chicken factor, was this Pumelo Curd Creme Brulee. No need to thank me. Just enjoy. 

coming soon - pumelo curd crème brûlée

Halloween just passed, and instead of feeding the bed sheet ghouls diabetes, I swam in a bath of crème brûlée and pumelo curd. The recipe and pictures will be out soon.