My apologies for making you drool.

Stuffed Grain-Free Poblanos w/Green Chili Cashew Queso

2 cups unsweetened almond milk 

1 cup cashew pieces, soaked in water for at least 4 hours or overnight

1 can diced hot green chilis

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 clove garlic

2 teaspoons arrowroot powder

6 poblano peppers, seeded and hollowed into halves

1 lb grass fed ground beef (i like 80/20)

 1 small sweet potato, diced small

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomato paste

1 tbsp chili powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

salt and pepper

1-2 tbsp olive oil (if needed)


1. Add almond milk to a small saucepan and turn on medium to gently heat through.

2. Drain the cashews and add them to your food processor, or super powerful blender if you’re lucky enough to have one.  Add in remaining ingredients and turn on high while carefully pouring in warmed almond milk.  Blend until smooth, this could take up to 10 minutes, depending on the power of your device and the texture of your cashews.  When at your desired consistency, add back into saucepan and heat on simmer, whisking often.

3. Preheat oven to 375.

4. Add poblanos to baking dishes or lined baking sheet.  I like to use shallow dishes with a little tomato sauce or salsa at the bottom to keep for a moist/steamy environment.  

5. Saute beef on medium high in a large cast iron skillet until browned and a good amount of fat is rendered.  Remove beef from pan, keeping about two tbsp of fat.  This is where you’ll use the extra olive oil, if using lean meat or your rendered fat just needs a boost.

6. Add to the pan your sweet potatoes and sauté for 5-8 minutes.  Follow with onions and garlic, and sauté an additional 10 minutes until everything is soft and fragrant.  Add in tomato paste and spices, mix to combine.  

7. Fill peppers with beef mixture and top each with a good layer of the queso.  Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until peppers are soft and sauce is bubbly.  Garnish with some healthy dashes of cholula and cilantro if you got it.

These may not be the prettiest little ladies but they are tasty as hayyyll.  But, really, I dare you to bake anything smothered in a cashew cream sauce and not be obsessed with it all week.  

For a good poop, click here

Recently, my boss asked me how I made her kale taste so much better than ever before.  I was a little shocked and of course flattered, so I thought I’d divulge a little secret:  infuse your fat!  

Yeah, that’s it.  I mean there are other things, like if you are leaving the stems on to braise it a little longer, maybe add some acidity with a little lemon, use raisins to add sweetness if it’s bitter or sprinkle some kind of smokey spice here and there.  But, really, an extra 10-15 of letting your garlic and spice really steep in there and everything is suddenly so much yummier.

K, follow with me, guys:

Fridge Pickles

Yes, I pickle.  I know this sounds like some far out, super domestic diva kind of garbage but, trust me, this was born purely out of a burning love of brine and a lack of money to fund it.

Dude, pickles are like $5 a jar.  GOOD pickles are like $9 a jar.  When you have a habit like mine you gotta get creative.  I have tons of jars from making gift baskets around the house, I have a whole lot of delicious summer veggies growing in my garden and at the farm market every weekend.  Why not do this up right?  And by right, I of course mean lazy.  The idea of boiling jars and buying special equipment, ugh, in the words of the illustrious sweet brown, ain't nobody got time for that!

So, a couple googles later I'm in business.  My favorite pickles are a little spicy, a little sweet and very briny.  So, these are a kind of south east asian-y deal.  I've done it with different vinegars and different spices, you can't really mess it up.  Meaning, it can't ever be TOO flavorful.  Just make sure you don't wimp out and put enough salt and flavors, nothing is worse than a boring pickle.


Quick Spicy/Tangy/Sweet Dream Pickles

About 2 lbs vegetables, cut into finger friendly shapes
3 cups rice vinegar (may be more or less depending on how you packed your jars)
2 tablespoons salt (divided into two teaspoons, three ways)
2 tablespoons sugar " "
6 dried red chilis, whole
9 cloves garlic
6 "chunks" (bout the same size as garlic) ginger, peeled

1. So, you're going for 3 pint jars here, use the wide mouth ones, you'll thank me later.  Add to each jar the two teaspoons each of salt and sugar, two chilis, 3 garlic cloves and two ginger chunks. 

2.Add in the sliced veggies, I like persian or kirby cucumbers and carrots and this also tastes fantastic with cabbage like a super tangy cole slaw. 

3.Pour the vinegar 3/4 way up to the top of each jar and top off with about 1/4 hot water from the tap or kettle. 

4. When cooled, lid them, shake them, fridge them.  Wait at least a day to eat, 48 hours if you can stand it, 72 if you have iron will.

I'm suuuure it's not totally kosher to keep refilling this jar with more vegetables.  But, I may be doing that.  Because I tend to eat the entire thing in one sitting.  I'll stop once it looks totally funky.  But I never told you that.

Grilled everything

Oh, man, I am stoked.  I've been waiting to make this suburban house a home for so long.  What do I mean by that?  Yes, I mean waiting to buy a grill.  I finally feel like a full-fledged suburbanite with my giant tongs and apron slapping off mosquitos in the back yard while my dinner sizzles and my neighbors tell me how good it smells.  

I like how basically every food tastes better on the grill.  Especially vegetables.  Tonight we had some spring veggies in the fridge and I just dressed them with some oil, salt and pepper then slathered the ponzu sauce on with a mop while they were grilling.  When they were tender I just dumped the rest on top and we dug in.  The next time I ventured into the back yard it was grilling everything with just oil and lots of salt + pepper followed by a dousing of creamy peanut sauce when it came to the table.  These platters make a huge impression but really, it's just the tastiest offerings of the season and a fancy little hat you whipped up with whatever was hiding in the pantry.

Another option is creating a tasty marinade for your veggies to work its magic while you're at work or the gym or just sunning yourself in the baby pool.  The best part about marinated veggies is you can just use the run off sauce and leftovers to re-slather your meal without worrying about cross-contamination.  Take that, chicken!

Spicy Lime-Chili Ponzu

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons mirin

3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons oil 

1 tablespoon fresh, grated ginger

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 tablesoon chili sauce

1. Combine all together and use to slather anything from fish to french fries.  Maybe not french fries, but I won't judge.

Thai Peanut Sauce

1 tablespoon (about 1-1 1/2" piece, peeled) fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tablespoon lime juice
2 teaspoons (you can use less) chili sauce
1/2 cup light coconut milk (keep more on hand as consistency varies)

1.Add all in ingredients except coconut milk to blender or food processor, turn it on as you stream in the coconut milk, thinning out to smooth consistency.

Coconut milk marinade

1 can coconut milk

1 tablespoon chili sauce (you can decrease this or just use chili flake)

Zest + Juice of 2 limes 

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon fresh, grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, minced

1. This you can use on your heartier veggies and let them really soak.  The idea was for whole kale leaves to sit in it all day and then make their way to the grill for some crispiness about a minute per side.  I ended up liking the sauce so much that the kale had been napping in all day I just poured it over all the veggies and enjoyed.  

This might not be about gardening.

My first (all by myself grown up big girl) garden was a success this year!  Not because I was stuffed with a bounty of homegrown goodies and overwhelmed by delicious, healthy vegetables every week.  But because it was one of my goals for this summer and I nailed it!  Allow me to celebrate myself.

I planted tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, beans and a starter herb garden.  My basil died (damn brown beetles!), my zucchini flowered but never grew fruit, blueberries bloomed a handful, my cucumbers were mini at best, my beans didn't get enough support and rotted on the ground... but my TOMATOES!  They basically took over the garden, grew to outrageous heights and gave me the yummiest, ugliest little beauties i can remember tasting since my grandmother's garden of my youth.  Lesson learned: next year the tomatoes stay in pots, the beans get a trellis and the basil comes inside at night.

Are you catching my drift?  Celebrate your tomatoes, dudes.  Don't sweat the squash.

Hang on, summer.

Oh, you know I will milk this season for all its worth. I'm still tomato-ing, I'm still zucchini-ing, I'm still corn-ing.

Being a corn enthusiast (no shame!), I'm way into just it's simplicity, laying them on the grill and turning them around until they're sugary and blistered. Steaming them on the stove, dousing them in an herb butter and salt. My favorite, since moving out here, is driving to the corn farms on the east end of the island and getting them fresh picked, roasted in the field and dunked in butter/sprinkled with old bay. It's the most magical after-beach treat. My favorite corn on the island comes from Harbes Farm in Mattituck. Somehow, the kernels are consistently plump, bright yellow and juicy.

Ready for a new flavor adventure, I served them up in a salad last night. Meaty, toasted coconut, creamy, starchy corn kernels and some lemony thyme from the garden. We ate this room temperature, verging on warm, but honestly it was even better cold, straight from the fridge this morning!



Coconut Corn Salad (adapted from 101 cookbooks)

2 tablespoons vegan butter
1 large shallot
3 ears of corn, shucked (keep that milky gold to add in there)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme plus a couple sprigs
1/2 cup toasted coconut flakes
juice of one lime
salt + fresh pepper

Melt butter in cast iron skillet on stove, add in shallot and corn.  Saute for about 5-10 minutes, until corn gets a little carmel-y and sweet.  Remove from heat, add in coconut, thyme and season.  Squeeze lime, toss, garnish with extra sprigs.

Don't go.

This summer has flown by so quickly.  If you've been following my adventures for a while you know I like to end every summer with a family trip to Cape May, NJ.

This year was such a reflection of how fast and intensely things can change in a year.  My little sister brought along her boyfriend, which in itself is frightening and intense (she's 15 somehow?!), my older sister brought along her fiance, who she will be marrying in a couple months!  With intense change, i'm comforted by the fact that I can also share this vacation with one of my oldest friends, who is so close to us my mother doesn't see as anything short of another child.  We all sit on the beach until sundown, play cards on the deck after dinner and go for long bike rides around town.  I can't help but wish life was like this every day, but then maybe vacation wouldn't be so damn special.

beet the heat

Guys, I'm having the best summer ever, maybe.  I'm studying and learning and test-acing (whaaa?) plus working my butt off, literally, in the gym every day, plus RUNNING which is something I never thought my body could accomplish.  I'm picking and GROWING! fresh produce from my new locale and we're all enjoying the delicious fruits of summer every night.



This weekend was intensely happy. We visited a wildlife sanctuary out east where I touched and hand fed wild creatures (dreams coming true), we ate lobster on the water, drove around gawking at richy rich hamptons estates and came home with just-picked beets, peas and radishes, fresh from the farm sheep's milk feta and vegan pizza leftovers.  80/20, right?

For those beets:

1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Toss peeled and cut (keep em' around 3/4") beets with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, some fresh sprigs of thyme and a heavy hand of kosher salt onto a foil-lined baking sheet.
3. Roast for about 15/20 minutes until barely tender.
4. Preheat broiler; lay some of that fresh feta over the beets and lay it under the flame until just browned and crispy.
5. Drizzle a bit more olive oil on top with some fresh cracked pepper.

strawberry feels

Unnnnngh, strawberries, amiright?  Maybe I'm just a loser, but every time I'm in the supermarket and I stroll by the berry section lately that smells makes me crazy.  So sweet, so juicy my mouth just waters.  What's even better than those stacked plastic containers of big-boned californian ladies?  Their teeny tiny, dark red, juicy locally grown NY counterparts.  I'll save you from my waxing poetic about the joys of picking your own little beauties from the vine and carrying them home, cause that ain't me.  I absolutely want you to pick them for me, place them into quarts and pay the extra dollar.  Yeah, I'm at that point in my life.  Save the romance of bending over in the mid day sun for hours getting weird fly bites all over my ankles, i just wanna eat!

So, last week I had my first big party at our new apartment.  It was what I've always dreamed about.  You know, except for the rain (but we already had that discussion) and cramming 30 people into my livingroom and having to use the broiler instead of the grill.  For dessert, I wanted to do something seasonal and light, because we had a TON of food.  It was husband's birthday, so I also wanted something not too sweet.  I took my tiny little sugary blessings from the farm and mixed them with their good friend, rhubarb, who always lends that sour note, perfectly balancing the tastes in your mouth.  On top, instead of a traditional brownsugar/oat jam, I wanted to use my favorite vegan drop biscuit recipe, subbing in my favorite coarse ground cornmeal from Wild Hive (go get this stuff, seriously!).  The cornmeal added a savory twist on its own and I added in some fresh basil to the batter for a hint of greeny freshness.  It was a hit!  And I'm an idiot because I took zero pictures of the finished product.  So... imagine in this blank space... a bubbly, crumbly sweet early summer bowl of deliciousness.  And just make it yourself, okay?

Vegan Strawberry-Rhubarb Cobbler

Filling:

1 quart (plus a little extra) strawberries, preferably local, stemmed and halved
5 stalks rhubarb, cut into similar sized bits
3 tablespoons honey (or agave or sugar, whatever you got)
1/4 cup cornstarch
zest and juice of one lemon
pinch of salt

Topping:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons vegan margarine (or coconut oil, butter, etc)
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Combine all filling ingredients into shallow baking dish until well incorporated and starch is absorbed.
3. For topping, whisk together first five ingredients and then cut in (or pinch with your fingers) the butter to the flour mixture until crumbly.  Add in milk and basil and just stir to combine.
4. Drop onto fruit mixture in serving sized lumps or just spread it out if you want.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes until fruit is bubbly and biscuits are browned.  Let it cool and probably don't use trick candles if you don't want your husband to spit all over it before you get to eat some (whoops).

Finally!

My favorite seasonal friends, asparagus showed up a little later this year. Well worth the wait, I say. There is nothing quite like locally plucked-from-the-earth veggies and fruits. Here in long island, we're lucky enough to be close enough to quite a few sprawling farms who actually grow and pluck all that goodness ready to eat. If you're not as lucky, try to seek out your local farmer's market and taste the difference.

My favorite way to eat these gems? Until we get our grill I'll be broiling these pretty ladies.





Preheat your broiler while you line your rimmed sheet pan with some foil.
Snap off the woody ends of the stalks and drizzle with olive oil.
Salt them intensely, lay em' under that flame for about 10 minutes. You'll know they're good when they're just a little burny and you can smell their yummy green-y flavor in your kitchen.
Once out, crack fresh pepper over top (i find it gets a little bitter under the flame) and squirt some lemon. 

Happy (late) spring!
 

Fruits of Early Fall

Well, I fooled you with that other post about my sadness over summer's finale, because we all know September is the goldmine of months for delicious earth foods. Tomatoes! Especially the cheap ones. The markets on the north fork can't seem to get rid of them fast enough. And the giant, let's face it, somewhat tasteless summer squashes ripping down the vines and being used more as a cheap grab at a laugh by tourists (you know who you are, guys) than in the kitchen. But we're all coming back to reality. The days are somewhat shorter, the sleeves are somewhat longer. Suntan's faded (womp womp).

And really, who doesn't love cheap groceries?

This recipe is super changeable and adaptable to various proteins and toppings. For this version, I used homemade crumbled seitan sausage and some gluten free breadcrumbs. I've made it a million times, you probably have to, especially if you have one of the previously mentioned overflowing nightshade gardens. The star of this recipe is really the fresh, bright homemade tomato sauce. If you don't feel like whipping that up (although it's a great thing to make all at once and keep on hand) by all means, use a jar… but one with less than 5 ingredients, please?

Stuffed Gigantic Summer Squash

Fresh Tomato Sauce (see recipe below)
2 obnoxious summer squash, I used zucchini
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup of your choice protein (soy protein, tempeh, mushrooms, lentils, ground meat)
fresh herbs (rosemary, basil, oregano)
1/4 cup white wine
3/4 cup crunchy topping of your choice (breadcrumbs, grated cheese, nuts)
salt + fresh pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375. Slice each of those behemoths in half length wise and hollow them out a good deal. Place them in your baking vessel atop a lovely bed of that tomato sauce you made (or opened). Drizzle with 1tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt + pep. Now, depending on your gargantuan these things are, you may want to preface them a tidbit. I did for about 10 minutes, because they were, like i said, obnoxious.
2. Saute onions and garlic in remaining oil on medium heat for about 10 minutes, add in protein (if using meat, use two pans or saute meat first, then remove and add vegetables to pan) to crisp it up for about 10 additional minutes. Deglaze pan with wine and add in herbs. Remove from heat.
3. Load up your veggie vessels with the filling, top with a little more tomato sauce and crunchy topping. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending how large your squash are. Poke them with a fork, if they give they're good to go.

Fresh Tomato Sauce 

8-10 large ripe tomatoes (heirloom, beefsteak, if roma double that number!)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
salt to taste (a lot, guys)
tear of fresh basil at finish

1. Get a big pot of water boiling. Score your tomatoes on the bottom in an X pattern. When the waters a-rollin', drop those suckers in (carefully!) and take em' right back out. Let them cool. Peel. Chop.
2. Heat oil in heavy bottomed pot. Add in onions and garlic and turn the heat down to medium low, until vegetables are caramelized and sweet smelling.
 3. Add in tomatoes, bring up heat until sauce begins to bubble. Salt to taste, turn back to simmer and let it cook for about 1-2 hours on lowest setting. This can go on longer or shorter, depending on how rich you like the taste, or how fresh or just how hungry and impatient you are. Geez, don't rush it.
4. Add in basil when heat is off.

*as you can see, breadcrumbs don't ideally brown as much as cheese so be sure to add some additional olive oil for that crunchy brown top you so crave. My bad.

Leftovers!

So, you had a whole ton of those tomatoes leftover, right? You put them on sandwiches? You ate them in salads? Okay dudes, hurry, before they spoil, stick them all in the food processor and hit the ON button. Go!

Baked Shrimp in Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce

Guys, I did this in my toaster oven. So, if you don't have a giant turbo one like me, I'd say preheat your OG to about 375. Take leftover tomatoes, a handful of roasted walnuts or almonds, a glug of olive oil, a splash of vinegar and some fresh herbs and blend it up. Toss with raw, cleaned, seasoned shrimp and lay in a single layer in a baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until shrimp are firm to touch.

We had this with some sauteed greens for a late, light dinner. A vegetarian option would be to blend the same, up the vinegar and oil and create a super flavorful vinaigrette for a big salad or mix sauce with some vegenaise for a yummy spread or blend into some hummus for a tasty last minute party win.

Use up your food!!

Late, Great

Forgive me, the summer seems to be flying by.  When you have beaches to laze about on, farms to meander in and a spunky little dog that loves to frolic, things like blogging and, let's be honest, grocery shopping, just don't make the cut.

So we're getting to that territory where tomatoes are flooding the gardens and farmers markets and are, in my opinion, best enjoyed raw with sprinkles of salt or sandwiched between slices of nutty, whole grain bread and kissed with mayo or avocado.  But, when you're up to your ears in them and you've made sauces and tarts and salads something has to be done.  (Why not can you say?  When you're working in a holding cell of a kitchen in NYC in August you can answer that question yourself.)

Enter, slow roasted tomatoes.  Sweet, melty, versatile.  This is a Saveur recipe, which calls for grape or cherry tomatoes.  I used romas and they came out delicious.  I recommend if you have an older gas oven (or any gas oven, really) to invest in an oven thermometer, especially if you're aiming to keep one temp for a long period of time.  I've realized my oven can climb from 250-500 very easily if I'm not constantly readjusting.  Awesome!

You can use these tomatoes on anything; sandwiches, pizzas, antipastos, or just straight up.  For this meal, I brought to boil 2 cups of chicken stock plus 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk in a pot.  After adding a teaspoon of salt, I whisked in one cup of coarse ground polenta (from wild hive farm, my favorite!) and let it simmer on low for about 30 minutes. In a separate, cast iron pan, I just sauteed four ears fresh corn off the cob in butter for about 10 minutes until it caramelized and then folded in about 1lb of fresh gulf shrimp until they were just pink.  At the finish of the polenta I added in some butter, lots of fresh ground pepper and some chopped herbs.  Combine everything, garnish with the tomatoes and some of the juice.  Summer perfection!

Candy minus cavity

Is this happening where you are?  Summer is filled with some of the most exciting harvests of fruits and veggies.  One of my absolute favorites is the first, tiny candy-sweet strawberries in June.  These little treasures are from Harbes Farm in eastern Long Island. We made the trek specifically for the sweet little treats and even after loading up 2 quarts we had them just about finished at the end of our drive back to the city!  I hope you're all basking in the yummy seasonal treats coming our way, who knows, maybe I'll have a recipe or two for you if I can manage to stop eating the ingredients.  (Don't get your hopes up.)

Idgie Threadgoode, you ol' beecharmer, you!

yes, i bit one.  so?

 oh, those tomatoes?  here you go.



get yourself some hard green unripe tomatoes.  slice them into about  1/2" slices.  now, get together three separate bowls...
one like this:
all purpose flour

one like this :
3 tablespoons vegenaise
2 tsp unsweetened almond milk

one like this:
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste

&that's the order you'll be dipping your slices in.  now you're gonna put a wire cooling rack on top of a sheet pan to create a happy convection-y environment in your oven.  once you dip your slices into the flour, wet ingredients and dry ingredients you'll drop them on the rack and slide them into the fridge to set up, about 30 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 400, bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.  I served these on top of my veggie burger, but really, i would be all about these on a crusty roll with a schmear and a buttery lettuce.

nope, that's a veggie burger.

 i have so many issues with veggie burgers. 

firstly, i feel like everyone who's been vegetarian (my longest stretch was about 13 years) or just on a health kick has OD'd on the frozen kind.  second, making them at home is always a big deal… do i fry? do i bake? will they stay together if i don't use an egg?  i've made probably over 20 variations and they always either fall apart completely or don't taste cooked all the way through.  i can say, with confidence, these weird, random concoctions are they best i've ever tasted.

it just so happens, they were born out of leftovers.  so, if you're making this just for the burgers, it's a lot of work, and really i wouldn't recommend it mostly because my precooked lentils were pretty flavorful, as were my mushrooms.  but if you have leftover roasted veg or lentils or both, give these a shot.  they are the meatiest un-meaty burgers i've ever tasted.

i topped them with some ovenfried green tomatoes and had a tasty purple potato/green bean salad on the side with a quick dijon vinaigrette.  of course, i added in a smokey chipotle vegenaise, too.

2 portabello mushrooms, roasted (leftover)
1/4 red onion
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 cup spinach/kale/dark green of your choice
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chile powder
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup cooked lentils
1 cup cooked black beans
1/2 cup brown rice (or whatever leftover grain you have)
1/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumb
2 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper

1. Add all your ingredients into the food processor, blend!  Also note, as i said before, my mushrooms were pre-cooked from the night before, in a balsamic marinade and my lentils were also leftover, i usually cook them in vegetable stock with carrots, onions, and plenty of salt.  So, if you're making this all at once, you may need to adjust (add IN!) seasoning to make up for the lack in raw ingredients.

2. Create 4-5 patties, depending on how big you like them, and wrap each individually in plastic.  Place in the coldest part of your fridge overnight.  i'm pretty sure this is the step i've been missing and why my burgers always fall apart.  i will never not make a burger this way again!

3. Preheat oven to 375 and prepare a sheet pan with a rack on top.  Unless you have a convection and don't need to ghetto rig your oven to be one like i do.

4.  Heat a small amount of olive oil in your biggest skillet and sear each burger about 4-5 minutes per side.  Transfer to wire rack.

5. Bake for additional 15-20 minutes, again depending on the thickness you have.  Mine were big guys, they took about 20.

Take a bite.  Get it all over your face.  Imagine you &yours with a big back yard and a grill and not a tiny apartment in harlem eating on ikea furniture.  Mmmmm...