Simple Bites

by Aimee on May 3, 2013 • Giveaways

Bite this Book: Absolutely Avocados (giveway)

Welcome to Bite This Book! Each month, I feature a cookbook of my choosing, host a Q & A with the author, and then give you a chance to win a copy or two. It’s Bite This Book, good reads on Simple Bites.

If I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic for a weekend Cinco de Mayo celebration, I am now! I’m holding Gaby Dalkin’s beautiful new cookbook, Absolutely Avocados, and each recipe is a nudge to invite some friends over and get cooking.

Gaby’s love of fresh ingredients and California cooking style comes through loud and clear with dishes like her Sweet Potato and Avocado Burgers, and the Cumin-Dusted Mahi-Mahi Tacos. I love that many recipes are healthier versions than their counterparts such as the Avocado Lobster Roll and the – yep, that’s right – Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Oh, and did I mention the entire chapter dedicated to guacamole? I’m working my way through that one first.

Read on for a super fun interview with Gaby and a chance to win a copy of Absolutely Avocados.

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Avoiding Monosodium Glutamate: One Family's Story on SimpleBites.net

by Shaina on May 1, 2013 • 41 Comments Nourishment

Avoiding Monosodium Glutamate: One Family’s Story

Three years ago after a day spent with the in-laws, I tucked my son into bed. Minutes after walking out of the room, he stumbled in the dark, unable to stand. From there he spiraled to losing his vision, and we headed to the emergency room, rushed through the double doors, a barely breathing shell of my child delivered to doctors.

In the next 18 months we would visit the hospital three times. Each time started the same and ended with an emergency room visit, intubation, drug-induced comas, and a stay in the pediatric intensive care unit.

For the past 17 months, however, we have stayed clear of all of those things.

The answer for us, temporary as it may be, came after a long drive and a visit to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. While looking for answers and getting a “probable” diagnosis, I noticed that some research showed sensitivities to glutamates could be a cause of migraines. While not a cure, the doctor did agree that removing all instances of monosodium glutamate from his diet could help to decrease the frequency of the hemiplegic migraine episodes we were experiencing.

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by Aimee on April 29, 2013 • 31 Comments Dinner

Butter Roasted Mushrooms & Ramps with Lemon

Did you get out in the beautiful spring sunshine yesterday? I tell you what, after the excitement that was last week, I enjoyed a quieter weekend outdoors, puttering in the garden and searching for wildflowers in the forest with the children.

Today there’s an ache in my shoulders I haven’t felt in a while, the result of turning the soil in the raised beds with a spade, and raking the last of the old leaves. It feels good.

With the arrival of warmer evenings, no doubt you are as excited as I am to move away from the kitchen stove and stand over the grill for a change. We scrubbed off the patio table and dined al fresco twice on the weekend, keeping thing simple with steaks and sausages – and a side of buttered mushrooms with ramps.

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by Aimee on April 27, 2013 • 19 Comments Link Love

Weekend links and Phase 1 of our redesign!

On Friday I roasted a chicken on a bed of lentils with a few wedges of lemon for a simple and satisfying supper. Then Danny made us two coffees and we settled in for a long night of work on this blog.

Have you noticed? We’ve spruced things up just in time for spring! There is still lots to do (including a brand new, easy to navigate recipe index), but in the meantime, you can browse my new FAQ page or reacquaint yourself with what we are all about.

And if this is your very first time to visit Simple Bites, welcome! We have a page for you too, and I share some of my favorite posts from the archives, too. A big thank you to Brian and Rafal from Copyblogger, and to Tsh, for all the behind-the-scenes work.

Now, that’s it for housekeeping today. Here’s what caught my eye around the web this week.

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by Aimee on April 26, 2013 • 73 Comments Entertaining & Holidays

A sentimental Saveur award to share with you

In the spring of 1999 I found myself washed up in the city of Montreal after drifting around the world for months with just a backpack, a journal and my appetite. I had no job, no prospects, save a flicker of romance with a 20-year-old engineering student.

I knew that I loved food, and wanted to work with it in some capacity, and I knew I needed to stay in Montreal.

Money was tight, and I enjoyed as many dinners as I could at my future mother-in-laws’ table without wearing out my welcome. Still I always splurged (such as it was, back then) on the latest Saveur magazine.

Saveur understood my appetite for stories and recipes of food in all its contexts. It was a read that celebrated food culture and cuisine all around the world, and one that I cherished.

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