Bait and Switch

 Hi everybody! The Fresh Pioneer is back and I have something tasty on the menu.

 But first, I'll show you what I was going to do...

 

 Someone told me about raspberry white chocolate ganache. Now, I'd heard of ganache and it's usually glossy or piped or whipped... Like so.

 

 So, I started by mixing of the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla in a sauce pan. Getting it to a nice boil. I'll leave out the details, since that's not really where we're going with this. ("Why? WHY???", you ask.) But this is where I got the glazed version...

We tried covering a few cupcakes like this, but it just wasn't firm enough. So then I started adding powdered sugar...

Until I had a giant bowl of frosting that was basically fudge. You know the stuff you add walnuts to and cut into small squares at Christmastime? Huh. So as I'm contemplating this huge bowl of 'frosting', Edna is uncharacteristically quiet.

  "Edna, dearest, do you feel well?"

 And her beaters whirred a bit and went quiet. What on earth could be the matter? We'd made lemon meringue pie, lemon cake with baked topping (another post), butternut squash mini cakes with maple whipped topping (another post) and cookies in just the last few days. I was enjoying the creative process. Apparently Edna was feeling... off.

 

(Here are some office people feeling lousy.)

  I took a good look around the kitchen. Lots of sugar. We all love sugar! (Yes, yes we do!) But maybe there was such a thing as too much sugary goodness.

After a quick trip to my local store I came back and showed Edna what I'd found.

She beamed. Which is how a Sunshine Mixmaster should look.

Crimini mushrooms. FRESH. Someone told me that even if I didn't really like mushrooms, I would love these. I thought they'd be expensive, but they were actually the same price as the old button white mushrooms.

100 calorie, 8 grams of whole grains, Italian herb pita pockets with fiber and low carbs. She was starting to see where I was going with this.

Turkey bacon. I know, what a wimp. But I just can't do real bacon without feeling guilty. Wish that carried over to cupcakes, but it doesn't.  1.5 g of fat, 6 grams of protein and 1 carb.

So, I threw the turkey bacon in a pan, started scrambling eggs with the crimini mushrooms, and pretty much the entire family crammed into our little kitchen. Something smelled good and they wanted to EAT IT NOW.

A taste tester testing turkey tibdits. Say that five times fast.

(Check out the expression. Bacon love.)

Finished product, with some fresh veggies to the side and some low fat cheddar and mozzarella in the pita with the bacon, eggs, and mushrooms.  As for the crimini mushrooms, they were VERY tasty. I think I'll buy some more. Nice flavor that didn't even have that weird fungi aftertaste. Bonus.

 So, I asked Edna how she was feeling now that she'd smelled some wonderful new and fresh smells.

 

That was about what she said, right there.

 AS for the frosting, it stayed in the fridge for a while, got a lot of little finger marks, went on a few graham crackers, and the rest got a little crusty and dry so I threw it out. Hate to waste the chocolate, the heavy cream, and the sugar. But on the other hand... I let it go.

 As for the title, you thought this was going to be all about CUPCAKES, and then we threw some bacon and pita bread and crimini mushrooms in there.

 

  But sometimes, change is good. not good enough to make me give up all my sugar, but definitely time to hit the protein and cut the carbs. Especially going into winter, when all I want to do is eat, eat, eat.

 

  Which is great on a food blog but not so good for getting your pants to zip.

  So, until next time, my sweets! Wait... we're cutting back on the sugar.

Until, next time mons petits chous? (French endearment, means 'little cabbage'... not! It really means my sweet. So, that didn't help us any.)

 Uhhh, how about Polish 'mushki'? That's 'little flies'.  Ew. No.

 

  Edna suggested 'le mie passerottas', which is Italian for 'my little sparrows'. (Assuming everyone reading this is a girl, or we'd change the form.)  I love it! Light, bright, full of energy, zip and verve!

 Especially the way she said it, just like a native. Hmmm. There's a story there. I wonder if she'll ever tell me...