well that was weird.

where did the week go and why did i only post twice in it?

maybe because i am still cleaning cat poop off of the everything?

i DO know it's not because i have the sadz.

even though i sense that a lot of people are sad lately.

myself included.

i try to keep sadness in perspective.

i revere sadness.

no one is happy all the time.

not one of us.

plus we grow from it.

also there is a super moon out there or something and weird things happen including sleeplessness, sad things, dumb things and weird things. and yes, i said that twice.

posting on a saturday is weird but i had some things to share.

many times i view this blog like a phone call to a friend.

this is one of those times.

it's like..."oh hey! did you hear about this stuff? it's awesome!!"

and... "ohmygod i am cleaning up so much cat poop off the floor lately!"

so here are my shares...friends:

when this stuff first came on the market i thought, here we go again, another gluten free flour that tastes like assfarts.

but then i heard about how it came to be.

thomas keller and his pastry chef at french laundry in yountville, CA created it.

this peaked my interest because according to a lot of people thomas keller is the best chef in the world.

but then i saw how much it was for a bag of flour ($19) and that it was nearly impossible to find in stores. so i forgot about it and continued to be a bake-less person.

well, i was in a little organic grocery store here in atlanta the other day and there it was, sitting on a nearly empty shelf.

i grabbed 2 bags and never looked back.

i took it home and commenced making banana bread with it because i had 3 brown bananas in the fridge.

i made this recipe.

i substituted chocolate chips for the blueberries because fuck blueberries, CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

i also made it with one regular-sized loaf pan instead of 4 mini's.

and just baked it a bit longer.

but OHMYGOD!

i am so not just saying this...

there is no trace of gluten free in this gluten free flour.

if you are gluten free and you haven't tried it you really have to.

i am going to make chocolate chip cookies next because all gluten free cookies suck.

i will let you know how they turn out.

you can buy it online here.

if you have used it please let me know! what's your favorite way to use it?

also- i recommend sifting the flour before using it for anything.

even if the recipe you're using doesn't call for it.

next...

vietnamese pork chops with watermelon salad

i made this last night and it is easy and delicious.

the pork chops are marinated in a soy, nam pla and sriracha sauce.

then grilled for a few minutes.

i marinated mine for about 4 hours.

and then they are served alongside an arugula and watermelon salad in a soy and rice wine dressing and topped with crispy, fried shallots.

the recipe calls for pickled watermelon rind which i didn't make because watermelon pickling takes 12 hours. i didn't have 12 hours but it honestly was delicious without it.

this was a ridiculously easy recipe to put together.

i made the marinade in 3 minutes, which i did at about 2 in the afternoon but you could easily do this in the morning or the night before you want to cook it.

and then all that's left is mixing the salad dressing, cutting the watermelon, frying up some shallots and then putting it all together when the pork chops are done.

fast and easy.

a note- i DID find the dressing for the salad to be too much for the amount of salad it said to serve with it.

just be careful not to use all of the dressing if you make the full amount.