Blueberry Flax Muffins (Bethany Mavis)

Ingredients

• 1½ cups whole-wheat flour
• ¾ cup ground flaxseed
• ¾ cup oat bran
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and grated
• 2 cups frozen blueberries
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 bananas
• ¾ cup almond milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour muffin pans or use cupcake liners. Place raisins in a small bowl. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil and pour over the raisins. Let sit for 5 minutes, then drain. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine flour, flax, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Stir in grated apple, blueberries, drained raisins and walnuts. In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Add almond milk, eggs and vanilla; stir to combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir just until all ingredients are moistened. Fill muffin cups ¾ full and bake 15–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Yields 18 muffins.

The Setai Fifth Avenue Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar
• 1 1/2 Cups Brown Sugar
• 1 lb Butter
• 4 Eggs
• 3 1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 3 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Baking Soda
• 2 Cups Chocolate Chips

Directions

1. Combine both sugars and butter in bowl.  Cream together until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, scrapping down the bowl after each addition.  Add the vanilla extract.
3. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda into a separate bowl and then add to sugar mixture, just to combine.  Mix in chocolate chips.
4. Place rounded tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet and back cookies at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 to 7 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Remove tray from oven, allow cookies to cool for 2 minutes before removing them.
6. Eat and enjoy!

Grade Pending

I recently have switched from a Blackberry to an iPhone for my personal phone.  I do, however, still prefer Blackberry for corporate use.  Since my introduction to iPhone, I have been paying a lot more attention to mobile apps and how they can help us get through our every day life.

Several years ago NYC decided to grade restaurants based on sanitation.  My ex-coworker has come up with an iPhone app that allows you to figure out the grade of a restaurant even if the sign says "grade pending".  This is yet another example of a useful piece of technology.

Download Dan's app here.

The database that this app runs off of from the NYC Department of Sanitation might be a good database for FoodNOW to start with?

Livehoods

I came across this article about a Carnegie Mellon Mobile Research Project called Livehoods.  Livehoods is a new way to understand what "local" means using social media.  This is a fascinating way to understand the world in which we live.  Read about livehoods at livehoods.org.