Hollandaise Sauce

So creamy, without any milk and oh so yummy! I use "Challenge" butter for this recipe, and my dairy-allergic boyfriend is able to enjoy it symptom free.

Ingredients
3 egg yolks
1/2 tblsp fresh lemon juice
4 tblsp unsalted butter, chilled
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
salt to taste
1/2 tsp ground white pepper

1. Add egg yolks to small sauce pan; whisk til lemon yellow and slightly thick, about 1 min. whisk in lemon juice.

2. Add 2 tblsp cold butter and place over very low heat. Whisk constantly while butter is melting until thick. Remove pan from heat and beat in 1 tblsp cold butter. Repeat. Whisk in melted butter a little bit at a time. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

Bon apetit!

Health and Allergies

I had a conversation with some friends recently about how none of us knew one person who was completely healthy. And by healthy we meant illness or allergies. Everyone has something. What has this world come to? Within my circle of friends alone is a dairy allergy, gluten allergy, lupus, tomato and pea allergy, and countless numbers of deficiencies. I even attended a funeral of a close family friend this weekend; she was 25 years old. And at the buffet were endless dishes with tomato bases, dairy bases, or peas mixed in. I couldn't help but laugh out of sheer lack of knowing what else to do. I guess there's nothing to do but learn to live with it all. And even that is hard enough. Health...we don't even have that anymore.

Soy

Seeing as my Mikey has an allergy to whey, or milk, we drink nothing but soy milk in the house. Tastes pretty similar to me plus I don't want to ever make the mistake of reaching for whole milk while cooking his dinner. But, recently I ordered a pizza with soy cheese thinking it was o.k. Apparently not. We bought some soy cheese from Whole Foods and the ingredients listed that there is added milk fat or casein. Why would they do this? Apparently all soy cheeses have added milk by-products. I thought soy was supposed to be a good alternative to milk for those who are allergic. Beware! Just because it says "soy," doesn't mean its safe.