In the Bag: Sometimes You Just Need A Coffee To Go -- Steeped Coffee Single-Serve Brews

Steeped Coffee individual brew bag in action 

Just a quick shout out to Steeped Coffee (which provided free samples) for their real coffee in single-serving brew bags (like large tea bags). I used several on a recent camping trip in the United Kingdom and found it convenient and flavorful, much better than instant. My favorites were the darker roasts, but I appreciated the decaf bags since many places we visited did not offer brewed decaf.

One tip, cover the top of your cup with a plate or napkin while the bag is steeping to keep the drink hotter.

A shout out, too, to Spaceships UK, the company we rented our compact camper minivan from (no freebies, there, we paid). Great equipment and great service.

Photo taken at a private campground in the Lake District in England.

How Green Was My Cream Cheese -- Lactose Free and Organic (Plus a Green Valley Wasabi Dip Recipe)

Editor's Note: Samples of the below mentioned product were provided by the manufacturer.  No other compensation was provided.

Green Valley Wasabi Dip

Green Valley  Organics is introducing it's lactose free cream cheese this week and I was given six tubs of the stuff to try out in advance.

I personally don't have an issue with lactose intolerance but I do know several folks for who this is a problem, so I thought I would see what the Green Valley Organics Lactose Free Cream Cheese was all about.  For more about the product and company, click here.

It's a soft cream cheese sold in 8-ounce tubs. The taste is somewhat milder than other cream cheeses I've tried but it is very acceptable.  A few of the samples I received had some liquid separation, but it was easily mixed back in to the cheese. The texture was creamy and rich, and I liked that it was made in a solar-powered creamy in nearby Sonoma County and that it is certified kosher and gluten-free.  I also liked that there are no stabilizers, gums, fillers or other additives (hence perhaps some of the separation I experienced).  This is a cream cheese that almost everyone can enjoy.

Where GVO shined was in cooking.  At room temperature, it mixed completely smooth very quickly and then worked well in a variety of recipes baked and frozen.  For recipes using cream cheese (which were tested with the GVO product), see my post featuring Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream and Apple Caramel Cheese Flan.

In honor of the cream cheese's introduction to the U.S. market, I've adapted a recipe I recently learned from our cousin Debby from Brazil.  She says she and her friends in Sao Paulo heat cream cheese and mix in some wasabi paste and serve warm, room temperature or chilled.  I tried it and liked it.  Use a green-tinted wasabi paste, which gives a very light green color (add a drop of food color for a little more color if desired). I used the kind from a tube. The condiment varies in heat (especially if you are mixing it from a powder yourself) so you may want to add in increments until you get the desired level of heat.  Remember if you plan to serve the dip chilled you'll need to add more since cold dampens the heat.

I used the Green Valley product below, but you can use any soft tub (not whipped or brick) cream cheese, lactose free or not.

Green Valley Wasabi Dip
Serves 4-8

1-8 oz. tub soft cream cheese
3/4 to 1 Tbs. wasabi paste, or more or less to taste

Heat cream cheese in small pan over low heat, stirring until smooth and cheese is warmed throughout.  Remove from heat, stir in wasabi paste until smooth.  Serve warm, room temperature or chilled with chips or dipping vegetables.

There Is No Place Like Roam (for Burgers, Sodas and Fries)

A Roam beef burger with all the trimmings (Photo courtesy Roam)

It's tough being the parents of hip, young adults.
You want to impress them with your street cred and insight into new places.
You are anxious to find experiences you can share that you'll all enjoy.

Just when I told my two sons I found a great burger place I thought they'd like and offered to take them, I found out not only did they know about the small Bay area regional chain I had newly experienced and become enamored of, that they had eaten at one of its two San Francisco locations often.

Oh well, at least they agreed that the burgers, fries and house-made sodas at Roam Artisan Burgers are exceptional which did help my street cred with them a bit.

It also impressed them somewhat that I had been invited to one of the opening parties for Roam's new Lafayette, CA, location and got pretty much unlimited free food.  (Although, I'm not sure if it is the honor of being invited or the free part that impressed them the most.)

I was impressed enough myself with Roam that I would go there regularly and pay for their delicious beef, turkey and vegetarian burgers (they also serve burgers made from bison as well as elk, but I did not get a chance to try them).  Not to mention their fries, sweet potato fries and a transcendent dish of filament-thin fried sweet onions and zucchini. Oh and the fizzed-just-for-you fruit sodas -- I may never drink Coke again.

It's attention to details that really makes these burgers shine -- Roam uses top quality meat, creative, fresh toppings, and great buns. It's cooks treat griddling burgers like they were cooking filet mignon -- carefully and lovingly.  As a result the burgers look and taste great. 

While the beef patty flavor was rich and satisfying, it was the turkey burger that amazed me.  It was the best turkey burger I've ever eaten. It was moist, flavorful and worked well with toppings.  I've also been raving about the beet and black bean based vegetarian burger.  It doesn't try to fool you with pretending to be something it's not -- it just has good heft, texture and taste. It, too, is sturdy enough in flavor and substance to stand up to Roam's range of creative toppings.

You can see the menu here including a list of the toppings and combinations they offer.  Pick one of their combos or choose your toppings ranging from ketchup to truffle parmesan fries (yes on your burger).  That pickle on your sandwich was made in house. Bun choices include sesame seed, whole grain and gluten free or you can opt to go bunless and have your burger in a lettuce wrap.

Pineapple and blood orange sodas

Roam makes it's own soda syrups and adds them to carbonated water when you order.  The flavors are sweetened but not overly so and are concentrated and intense.  I got to try the caramelized pineapple (the favorite of the ones I tried), blood orange (a seasonal offering) and ginger-lime.  

There are salads, milkshakes and other items on the menu, but I didn't get a chance to try those so I'm just assuming they are as thoughtfully prepared and delicious as the food I was able to taste.

I thought it would be helpful to get some burger making tips from Roam. Below is some advice from Roam's owners, Josh Spiegelman and Lynn Gorfinkle:

Honestly, a New Feature on Product Testing

To be honest, Blog Appetit gets a fair number of samples and I may share my thoughts on social media and with friends, or incorporate the products in recipes, but I haven't really taken the time to spell out the good (and bad) of the samples I receive as well as the new-to-me products I buy.

Right now, I'm still working out the mental kinks on a savory tea and contemplating what to say about a new chia seed pasta.  Watch for those posts relatively soon.  There will be more posts periodically reviewing food and cooking products, sometimes in length and sometimes very briefly, but always very honestly.

So look for these posts or search them out via the labels/categories on the right hand column called "Honestly - Product Reviews."

To kick off this feature, I want to give a shout out to Satori Cheese, who sent me a great gift pack of the company's BellaVitano cheeses awhile ago. I nibbled a few and found them very tasty (especially the ones rubbed with merlot and espresso powder -- that's two different cheeses by the way).  I had turned pretty much vegan by then, however, and didn't use them recipes.  Everyone I served them to seemed to like the basic cheese and some enjoying the flavored rubs.  My husband liked the plain (non rubbed) one best.  The red wine won honors as top flavored cheese.  Those who tried the espresso rub either loved or hated it.

Satori has some flavors that I've been unwilling to sample (the limited edition pink peppermint cheese, for example), but the wine and espresso were hits for me. 

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Photo credit:  Agence de presse Meurisse‏ [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Disclosure:  Satori Cheese samples were provided free of charge