Beauty Without Cruelty

The holiday shopping season in full effect many of you will be  buying gifts of perfume, creams, lotions and potions for the ones you love. I love me some beauty products. At one point last year I felt like I was a little out of control and wanted to pare back the products I used and make some good choices doing that. 

I did some research online to see how I could know which products would meet my new criteria - companies that cared for the world, not tested on animals and free of chemicals. The resource I found was The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics.

"The Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics’ (CCIC) Leaping Bunny Program administers a cruelty-free standard and the internationally recognized Leaping Bunny Logo for companies producing cosmetic, personal care, and household products. The Leaping Bunny Program provides the best assurance that no new animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers. "

They have a great guide on their website that lists all of the companies that are not testing on animals. You can even order a small printed version of this guide to keep in your bag for your shopping trips. They also have a Cruelty Free ap for your phone.

Many companies that are a part of the CCIC use the leaping bunny symbol on their products. Making it easy for your to identifiy that they are cruelty free. 

It took some time but as I finished one particular product I looked for an alternative that met this criteria. Some of the choices I made were not the best product for me, I had to exchange some products. But I have found some really great products I can feel good about that work just as well for me as their "tested on animals" versions. 

I hope you will take a look at this list when making personal choices and giving gifts. 

Slab Apple Pie

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I had planned on a week of great posts on making stock, prime rib, stuffing etc. Instead I took orders from friends for pies and desserts and have been baking my week away. While this baking makes me happy and helps me have some holiday money it also makes me sad I can't squeeze more hours into a day to share all sorts of wonderful things with you. Ahhh life!

I am continuing my love affair with apples - especially apple pie. With Thanksgiving you might be feeding a huge crowd. If so this easy and differant approach to an apple pie might be right up your alley. Slab Apple Pie - sounds like a tasty dessert that resembles concrete. But wait - this slab is flakey, buttery and filled with the pure goodness of apples. There are many variations of slab pie - 2 crust pie, frosted crust pie and this version - the crumb top pie. 

Apple Slab Pie with Crumb Topping

Crust

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup cold butter - cut into small pieces
• 8 – 10 tablespoons cold water

Apple Filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 1/2 pounds Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced 

Crumb Topping

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cold butter - cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup pecans - chopped

Crust

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers work butter through flour until the butter is in pea sized amounts and mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or cut in with a pastry blender). Sprinkle water over flour mixture 1 tablespoons at a time; folding and pressing with a spatula until all of the flour mixture is moistened and combined. Press into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours or overnight. 

Roll out the dough to approximately a 17×12 inch rectangle, on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper. Transfer to a 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Roll edges under and press down onto the rim of the baking sheet. Trim off excess parchment paper. Chill in refrigerator while you prepare filling.

Apple Filling 

Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl until apples are evenly coated. Pour into dough-lined pan, spreading evenly. Refrigerate while you make the crumb topping.

Crumb Topping 

Stir together oats, brown sugar, and flour until well combined. Using your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in chopped pecans. Sprinkle evenly over apple filling.

Bake at 375ºF for 45-60 minutes, until filling is bubbly near the centre and crust is browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Keep at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate for up to 3 days. 

Makes: 20-25 servings

Apple Cake Crisp

Fall is magical - the weather gets cooler and a crisp feeling is in the air. You begin to bundle up and walk in the neighborhood to watch green turn to gold to orange and red and then fall from the trees. This is a time of change and wonderment. I love fall. Along with the beautiful nature I love the flavors that accompany fall - squash, apples, pears, sweet potatoes and nuts. These ingredients are at the best and are begging to be roasted, baked and turned into soup and hearty casseroles. 

Apples are what we celebrate here in the PNW come fall. I know just how to turn their tart flesh into a carmelly, spicey masterpeice. I love pie and crisps so I tried something new and ended up with this apple dessert that is not quite a cake, not quite a pie and not quite a crisp. But it is marvelous. 

Apple Cake Crisp

Filling

• 4 pounds Granny Smith Apples - peeled, cored and sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar

Place apples, lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and toss to combine. Place mixture into a colander and set over a bowl to catch juices from mixture. Let drain 30 minutes. 

Crust

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 sticks cold butter cut into small pieces

Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and work into flour with hands or a pastry cutter until the butter is no larger than peas and is incorporated into the flour mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Press 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom and half up the sides of a 9 inch spring form pan. Fill the crust with the apple mixture. Scatter the remaining crust mixture over the top of the apples. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes then loosen edge of pan with a knife to remove spring form ring. 

Ba Bar Breakfast

Breakfast in Seattle is a curious thing. Great breakfasts are few and far between. The places that are really great have 2 hour waits and are always clear across town. With my schedule it makes it hard for that scenario to work. 

There is a restaurant near us that has good food and even better pastries. What they were missing was breakfast. Not any more!! Their pastry chef invited me and Mr. Ramon to a friends and family breakfast to try out the new menu and offer feedback. Yes please!

Ba Bar is the creation of Sophie and Eric Banh. They grew up together eating street food in Saigon and that inspired Ba Bar. Their lunch and dinner menu are full of soups, noodles and delicious small plates. Karen their pastry chef makes a mean almond croissant! 

We showed up for breakfast with open minds and empty stomaches. Mr. Ramon had the - Eggs Benedict with Black Forest ham, housemade brioche, caramelized onion, hollandaise.

I could not resist the temptation of biscuits and gravy with poached eggs. 

I was really overwhelmed with the flavors of this meal. I can say it was probably one of my top 5 breakfasts of all time. So well seasoned with a depth that was unexpected. Love! 

The rest of the menu looks just as good. From omelette and granola to steak and eggs. I can't say enough how much I enjoyed my breakfast. I hope you get a chance to check it out soon!

I can see!!

I have been wearing glasses since I was 14. Since then my sight has gotten worse and I cannot go without my glasses or contacts. I have considered corrective surgery occasionally but doubt if I will ever go through with it. I really love glasses. I used to sneak my moms old glasses from the 60's out and wear them to school - her prescription making me dizzy as I walked the halls. But I thought I looked cool and that's all that mattered. Since then I have always had glasses that show off my individual style. 

Recently I was contacted by Firmoo, an online glass company that specializes in inexpensive, fashionable eye wear. They wanted to send me a pair of glasses and see what I thought about their glasses and the customer experience I received. Now we all know glasses are expensive. My last pair were about $500 with lenses. I wear contacts most of the time, so having more than one pair of glasses is an extravagance to me. So this proposal was perfect for me. 

Firmoo, offers over 300 styles of frames. For the price of one pair of glasses at a regular optical store you could get 8 pairs on Firmoo. I thought it was going to be really hard to decide what glasses I liked since I could not try them on in person. But they have this cool virtual try on system that allows you to upload a pictures of yourself and try the glasses you like on your face. I wanted some big glasses so it was great that they offer all of the dimensions of their glasses. 

It took me about a week to decide. I had Mr. Ramon help me and finally settled on these lovely frames in a black matte finish. It was easy to order them - all I needed was my prescription from my eye doctor. The customer service team was super responsive to me when I placed my order and when it shippped to me. 

It took about a week and I had some awesome new glasses. They fit my face well and I am very happy. In fact I am considering another pair. 

Curious? Well you can get your first pair free by going to their website here. You just pay the shipping charges.