One of the first lessons I learned as a young eater was that, in general, healthy food and tasty food are opposites. Take a look at this scientific graph:

You may never have drawn a graph like this, but we all naturally understand this basic truth. There is an inverse relationship between health and taste. However, in rare cases, we encounter outliers (denoted by the "O" in the graph). These are healthy foods that taste great. They are very elusive indeed.

One such dish is Chicken & Black Bean Stew.

If my memory serves me right, I first tasted this meal almost a decade ago. Believe it or not, it was created by none other than yours truly. In the early days of our marriage, it wasn't yet established who had the talent to cook. I found this recipe in a cookbook and the picture looked mighty appealing, so I attempted it. There are nearly 20 ingredients. As a novice, I took the easy way out and used garlic powder and onion powder instead of chopping garlic and onions, but for the most part I followed the remainder of the recipe. For several years this dish was my masterpiece. I made it with pride every few months. One time I even put it in bread bowls.

And then it happened... one time I overcooked it and it was painfully dry. I wasn't too worried. There's a fine line between perfecting this dish and ruining it, because it's best when the chicken is a little burnt or singed. But the next time I overcooked it again. The third time was even more tragic: I destroyed Mrs. Noodle's wok. A recurring problem for me back when I was still allowed in the kitchen was that I got distracted by a baseball game, a conversation, or random thoughts. This time the distraction lasted a little too long and the burnt food stuck to the wok, causing irreparable damage. I'm not sure, but it might have been that very day that I was banned from the kitchen.

These days, Mrs. Noodle prepares the dish, only she does it well. She chops the garlic with gusto, she chops the onions with vigor... she includes not only the red peppers and green chilies but also yellow peppers to make it even more beautiful. But the wonder of this dish remains: it tastes incredible while being leaving the eater completely guiltless. Want a second helping? No problem. Third helping? Absolutely. Chicken, black beans, corn, carrots, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, green chilies, onions, spices, lemon juice, lime juice... all of it healthy, and yet it combines to create a hearty, tangy work of art for the eyes and stomach.

CHICKEN & BLACK BEAN STEW
YANKEE NOODLE RATING: 10.44 out of 10 mmmm's (as prepared by his wife; 8.3 out of 10 mmmm's when prepared by himself)

Last week, a friend of mine was so kind as to bring me a treat to work. I let the excitement build as she pulled it from her purse and was delightfully surprised when a Starbuck's bag appeared! I can't help it...I love Starbuck's products...what with all their buttery, sugary goodness...
Out came the cutest confectionary creation I had ever laid eyes on: a cake pop! What is a cake pop, you ask? Well, instead of candy on a stick, it's a ball of CAKE on a stick that is covered in chocolate and decorated. I was so lucky as to have been brought a chocolate raspberry cake pop that tasted absolutely and sinfully scrumptious. It's the perfect idea, really. I love dessert but find I spend way too much time enjoying the main course that it leaves hardly any room for sweets afterward (not that that stops me from having dessert still, mind you). A couple of bites and sadly...it's all over...but on the bright side, it's just enough to satisfy!


I couldn't stop thinking about that cake pop, so the next day I thought I'd pay it forward and bring one to another friend of mine (and also one for me). She loved it as much as I knew she would and I left thinking, "I could MAKE these MYSELF!!" I checked out a few how-to videos on youtube and was excited to learn how simple they (appeared to) look to make. With Valentine's Day around the corner, it would make a perfect theme. And so began the quest of the cake pops.

Together with my new cake-pop-obsessed friend, we set out to buy the necessary supplies: cake mix, icing, sprinkles, melting chocolate, and sticks. While perusing through the store, we stumbled upon an ENTIRE cake pop making section complete with scoops and fancy stands, but for nearly $10, we concluded that we could conjure up our own stands. In hindsight, we now fully understand the value of the pre-purchased cake pop stand (you'll see why).

Step #1: Bake a cake! We did cupcakes so they would cool faster.


Step #2: Allow cake to cool. The waiting was TORTUROUS!


Step #3: Crumble cake into tiny morsels.

Step #4: Mix cake crumbles with about 1/2 can of icing...until it becomes gooey and malleable.


Step #5: Form cake balls with hands (try not to eat it...I know...it's hard).

Step #6: Set cake balls in fridge for about 10 minutes.

Step #7: Melt some chocolate in the microwave, dip about an inch of a stick in the chocolate, and place the stick into the cake ball. The chocolate helps to adhere the stick to the cake ball.


Step #8: Again, place the cake pops in the fridge to set. My suggestion is to refrigerate these longer than you think necessary so they don't fall off the sticks (personal, tragic experience).


Step #9: Melt more chocolate...enough to coat all of your cake pops. My suggestion is to melt the chocolate in stages to avoid hardening of the chocolate. We tried a double boiler but our attempts to temper chocolate failed...quite miserably. I would melt enough chocolate to coat about 3-4 cake pops at a time.

Step#10: Dunk the cake pop into the chocolate and spin it until there are no drips (this is the time consuming part).

Step #11: Place the cake pop into the stand. Oh wait...we didn't buy the stand...so we put ours in drinking glasses. Bad idea. If you are going to make these, either cough up the $10 or find a piece of styrofoam to stick them into.


Step #12: Decorate as desired!


Our unfortunate...and ultimately hilarious mishaps were only amplified by the fact that it was nearing midnight and we all needed sleep. We ended up ditching the poorly melted chocolate and covering some just in icing instead. My words of wisdom are:
Add enough icing so the dough is quite sticky (or else they fall apart).
Don't make them too big (or else they fall off).
Don't melt an entire vat of chocolate at once (or else it will harden).
Don't do this when you are sleep deprived (or else your cake pops will turn out like ours...).


Exhibit A (below) shows a true travesty of cake pops gone wrong:

All in all, it was an extremely fun experience and the cake pops tasted INCREDIBLY yummy. So chocolatey...so gooey. I will attempt this, yet again, now that I have learned some valuable lessons, and master this cake pop until it is perfected.

Being the only sibling who lives close to Mom and Dad is very beneficial - more food for me! This picture is being posted for the sole purpose of luring my brothers back home...
BBQ chicken breasts, mashed potatoes with gravy, and succulent peaches n' cream corn. As nice as it is to have Mom's cooking to myself, it would be nicer to have my brothers living closer to me.

No time to write this week, but I came across this indescribably beautiful image in the Wall Street Journal this week:

What's left to be said?