The Tarte Tatin That Wasn't

I have been all kinds of inspired lately. And a lot of it has to do with browsing Pinterest and reading. I've been discovering the library again, requesting all sorts of books and working my way through them as I have time. Trying to open a book just as often, if not more, then having screen time. 

My latest delicious read was David Lebovitz's The Sweet Life in Paris. At the end of every chapter, he includes a recipe or two.  And after reading about tarte tatin, I decided that I really, really should start knocking off those food items on my 'to make' list. 

Tarte Tatin has long been on my list to make. And so this weekend, I did. Sort of. I don't have a cast iron pan, yet, so the key element of making the tart was not really there. So I just made up my own version based on David's recipe. And it was good. Very good. 

I used David's pastry recipe but really you could use your favorite recipe and it would be great!

The apples were picked last fall and then frozen, I've been slowly working my way through all the bounty in my freezer and the apples turned out really well. Because you caramelize them, it's okay that they get a little soft. 

If you have any leftover apple filling, it would make a wonderful topping to pancakes or oatmeal. It also makes a lovely snack while waiting for your husband to get home from his rehearsal, not that I would know or anything. 

Free-form Apple Tart
(inspired by David Lebovitz's Caramelized Apple Tart)

For the dough:

3/4 c flour
1/4 t coarse salt
1 1/2 t granulated sugar
2 T unsalted butter
3 T ice-cold water

Combine the flour, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Cut the butter in and mix until the butter is in pea-sized chunks. Stir in the water and mix just until the dough holds together. Shape into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Store in fridge until ready to use (up to 3 days).

For the apples:
8 cups, sliced apples, (I used frozen Jonagold apples)
1 T lemon juice, to toss with fresh apples, if using fresh
1 T butter
1/2 c packed brown sugar

Melt butter. Stir in brown sugar and apples. Cook on low to medium heat for 20 minutes (or so), stirring to coat apples with butter mixture.

Roll out dough on flour dusted counter into a 12 inch (or so) circle, you may need to sprinkle dough with flour several times to keep it from sticking to your rolling pin and so that it lifts off the counter smoothly. Place pastry in pie pan or on a baking sheet. Fill the centre with the apples, leaving a couple inches to fold back towards the centre.
Brush the pastry with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden.

The tart is best served warm with a dollop of whipped cream and piping hot cup of tea.

Do you have a list of foods that you want to make? 

Project 365- Week 6

March 10 -17

This was the week of prep for Weekend in the Word. A busy, crazy, adventurous week! 

1. Kilmo chowing down breakfast on the road. The scones that I had baked for the trip down got put on the roof of the van and so I just ordered some muffins with my morning coffee from Starbucks and we were both happy. 

2. Khaira is picking things up now and showing lots of expression and emotion in her play. It is so fun to sit back and observe her! 

3. A little reading in the Saturday afternoon sunlight, I am loving utilizing the library again and finding all sorts of lovely books to read. 

4. One of Kilmeny's favorite parts about visiting Papa and Nana: the cows! I love this picture of her, so innocent and iconic of her right now. 

5. Khaira was my little accompanist in all the shopping errands we did for Weekend in the Word. This is her first time in a shopping buggy and she loved it! 

6. Mr. and Mrs. Kembel were also staying at Mom and Dad's during WitW which made me happy. They were playing with Khaira, reading her stories and making her laugh with their antics. I just love them. The whole family is very special to me. 

7. The one and only picture I have of any of the food that I did at WitW. Friday night snacks. I took it to show Jared since he was driving down that night after work, and I was missing him. A lot. 

Peaches and Cream and Enjoying the Simple Things

Sometimes when we go away it's all about the food. We take ingredients to make some of our favorite special meals, we plan out menus complete with appetizers and desserts. We make time to create delicious food and memories together. And then sometimes we don't. We eat simply, we nibble throughout the day, and we make do with what we have. 

On our recent trip to the mountains, it was all about simplicity. Even the kitchen was simple, outfitted with the very basic of dishes and utensils. There was a kettle and pretty plates and two mugs, the perfect shape for wrapping our hands around after a brisk walk. 

Time was our friend and so we decided to have a leisurely brunch of pancakes, freshly whipped cream, peaches and eggs. And coffee, of course. 

 The pancakes came together quickly with the homemade mix.

The peaches came from a jar, sealed in the heat of summer and tasting of the sunshine that we will see again, soon, I hope. 

And the cream, it was whipped by hand by my awesome husband. He's the kind of guy who believes that there is a solution to every problem. You just might have to work a little harder and dig a little deeper but the answer is always there. I flipped pancakes, set the table, and ground coffee while he whipped cream. It was worth it. Totally worth it. 

Tips for  creating your own special breakfast:

Work with what you have- use a big pot to mix up pancake batter if there's only one bowl.

Make it a good experience  for everyone- let the toddler nibble on pancake while you bustle around making everything else. Especially when she's already been awake for several hours.
 

Enjoy the details- fresh coffee in mismatched mugs, tiny table crowded with good food, sunlight streaming in through windows that give an incredible view of the mountains.

Make it pretty- take a few extra minutes to plate the food or sprinkle cinnamon on your coffee.

 A simple breakfast but made so much more enjoyable but slowing down, enjoying the whole process and savoring each bit.

What do you do to make meal time special?

Orange Cranberry Muffins: A Recipe for Wintry Days

 Oranges and cranberries. They're a favorite pairing right now. Right along with sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. It may have something to do with the fact that it's the middle of winter and garden fresh vegetables robust with flavor are still months away. Oranges are in season right now along with all their relatives in their citrus family. My new favorite orange variety is the blood orange. The flesh is a deep red color, the flavor sweet and tangy. I feel all gourmet when I slice them up for an afternoon snack.

 Here in Northern Alberta, we have (to the best of my knowledge) two opportunities to stock up on fresh cranberries. Thanksgiving and Christmas. I missed the very small window in October and made sure I stocked up in December. I freeze the bags of tart, red berries until I want them. They make a lovely addition to scones, biscotti, or muffins.

I've tried a couple different orange cranberry muffins but I've never quite been satisfied with the end result. I want to taste the zing of the cranberry and the zip of the orange. And so I made modifications after modifications until the results tasted like what I had been trying to create. Kilmeny and I made these one morning during Khaira's nap. Kilmeny is just getting to the age where with a lot of patience (on my part!) she can actually be a help to me as I bustle in the kitchen. She can crack eggs with great proficiency, zest oranges, counts along with me as I measure, and is a top-notch dumper of full measuring cups. And she makes a great taste-tester!

                                                        
                                                           Orange Cranberry Muffins

 (a vintage box creation)

2 c flour (I used a mixture of spelt, hard red and soft white wheat flours)
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c cranberry sauce
3/4 c sugar
1/2  c unsweetened applesauce (if sweetened, lessen sugar amount)
1 orange, peeled and minced
4 T orange zest or peel of an orange
 1 1/2 c cranberries (fresh or frozen)


Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together. Combine and add fruit, stir until moistened. Spoon batter (will be lumpy) into greased muffin tins. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 or until they test done. These are best served warm but they also freeze well, perfect for a little something with a cup of steaming tea!

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake

Your family will love you. Your guests will be impressed. You may not want to share. 

But you will. Because you can't keep all the warm, blueberry goodness to yourself.

My husband made this for our Saturday breakfast the other weekend. He also took all these pictures. He's rather amazing like that. 

Scramble up some eggs or make a frittata while you wait for it to bake. Or serve it up by itself, accompanied with some freshly ground, freshly pressed coffee.
We made it with whole wheat flour for extra nutrients, it was also the only flour we had in the house. It still tasted fantastic. You could even swap out the blueberries for some cranberries or raspberries or even strawberries to make a festive breakfast treat for Valentine's Day.  

She liked it. We all liked it. The last piece was split between all of us.

Find the original blog post for the cake here, it's not mine but it'll be made again and again in our home.

Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake (from alexandracooks.com)

Serves 6-8
½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk
* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.

4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.


What's a favorite breakfast you've had lately?

Black Forest Trifle: A Winter Dessert

My Nana is the queen of chocolate cake makers. Seriously. Her cake has the right amount of chocolate, sweetness, and moistness. That may be due to the fact of the coffee which gives a hint of its flavor in each bite. This was probably the first cake I ever made. It has been made for all kinds of occasions and situations. It is perfect. 

 And so when I needed a cake for my black forest trifle I knew exactly which recipe to use.

It is a generous recipe. It makes enough cake for a trifle for a dinner party, two individual trifles, and random snitching which may or may not have been a family affair. 

Nana's Chocolate Cake

1 3/4 c flour 
2 c sugar
3/4 c cocoa 
2 t baking soda
1 t baking powder 
1 t salt 

2 eggs 
1 c coffee
1 c sour milk
1/2 c oil
1 t vanilla 

Combine dry ingredients. Add rest and beat 2 minutes at medium speed. Pour into greased and floured pan. Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes. 

And then for the trifle. A delightful and very forgiving dessert. It's best if you make the cake a day ahead of time and let it sit uncovered on the counter. Trifles are traditionally made with stale cake. 
This is a great fall or winter dessert as the cherries can be canned or frozen during the summer, please, promise me you'll do that next summer. You won't regret it. I'm already wishing I had done more. To taste summer and sunshine in the winter is a delightful sensation.


If you're like me, then the first step will be to empty your trifle bowl of the pine cones it held over the Christmas season and  wash it out thoroughly. If you don't have a trifle bowl, any large glass bowl will work just as well. Punch bowls or little jars for individual servings also work well. 

Black Forest Trifle (inspired by this) 


1 chocolate cake, torn into bite sized pieces
3-4 cups canned dark cherries in syrup, I pulled a couple bags of cherry pie filling from my freezer to put this together.
4 cups whipped cream 


Layer the cake, cherries and cream in your bowl of choice. Top with cherries and shaved chocolate for garnish. Chill in fridge until ready to serve. 

Enjoy with coffee and stimulating conversation! 

 P.S. Thank-you all for your comments about my new adventure, you have no idea how encouraging it is to read how you are cheering me on. So grateful for each of you! 

Food: The New Adventure

I am kinda obsessed with food right now. I am pinning food pins all the time on my Pinterest boards.  I am thinking up food combinations all the time. And this is one area that I can overspend very quickly and very easily. 

Words like prosciutto, risotto, Gorgonzola excite me. And I love shopping at our local Italian Centre. I just need to brush up on the whole shopping with heels and looking glamorous with two kidlets thing. 

There's this scene on Julie and Julia where Julia Child says to her husband (as she's trying to figure out what she will be doing in France), " I just love food." The first time I watched it, I teared up. I could so identify with her at that moment- my life seemed to be full of huge question marks, nothing was for certain, and the one thing I did know was that food made me happy. Not the eating of it but the preparing of it. The thinking about it, the creating art with it. The satisfying feeling of having people eat what I've made and say 'mmm, this is good'. 

My life isn't so unknown as it was last January.

But I still love food. 

And it looks like I'm going to have an excuse to push myself into my food goals even more this year. A couple weeks before Christmas, a co-worker of my husband's inquired if he knew of anyone who would cook dinner for her once or twice a week. Um, hello, play with food and get paid for it? Yeah! And so has begun this little adventure of mine. It's not been all sunshine and roses, preparing food for other people is a little different then your own family. And there's this little thing called balancing all the roles in my life.

But so far, it's been working out well and I'm catering my first dinner party on the weekend! I'm slightly nervous and excited.

I've always wanted to open my own cafe and now it looks like the door is opening a lot sooner then I ever dreamed and it's looking a little different as dreams tend to when they come in contact with reality. I was going to open the little cafe with my sister but we live in different provinces so I text her a lot about my ideas and she gives me the feedback and encouragement that I need. 

I can cook but I feel super shy talking about my food with other people, especially trying to sell it to them. But I have a husband who excels at marketing and talking to people. Plus he crunches all the numbers for me which he loves doing and I hate doing that. We make a great team. He is also my biggest fan and has (almost) always thought my cooking was great. Let's keep it real, there have been some epic failures. ;-)

And the other members of my team, well, one of them can stir a bowl of whatever really well and she makes a great taste-tester. And the other one provides lots of cute inspiration and her giggles are an important part of my kitchen. 

I'm a little nervous about this new venture, I'm not one to jump in and embrace something new right away. I tend to test the waters a little at a time, and then give it my all. But I'm all about learning and being pushed and growing.

What new area are you delving into this year?

all photos credit to my husband, the camera and I are having a little hiccup in our relationship and besides he takes WAY better food pictures then I do. =) 

 

5 easy (and somewhat healthy) lunches

It's a common dilemma. Mealtime is fast approaching and you're trying to figure out what to make for lunch while keeping the toddler out of mischief as well as interacting with the baby. The dishes are still piled from breakfast and after cutting, coring and simmering apples all morning, you don't feel all that creative or motivated to make lunch. 

Or maybe that's just me.

We had leftovers for lunch. It was quick, healthy and simple to prepare. 

I try to have to a menu plan for suppers and a general plan for breakfast but lunches often escape me. 

Here's my list of ten lunches that work well if you're feeding a toddler, yourself or anyone else. 

Hummus and corn chips. 

This is the best recipe I have come across and it's super easy. My Kilmo-girl loves it and it's one of the few meals that she can eat completely with her hands. Add some carrot sticks or cucumber slices for further dipping and eating fun. Buy red, blue or white corn chips. Que Pasa is the brand I always buy and love because the corn is not genetically modified and the oil is cold-pressed. I feel great about feeding it to my family as well as making the conscious choice with my food. 

Whole wheat pancakes with homemade fruit compote

Pancake batter lasts for awhile in the fridge so you can make up a batch and serve it up several times. The whole wheat flour gives a nutty flavor to the pancakes as well as having fiber so you are full and have energy for the rest of the day. I love to top the pancakes with a fruit compote, the natural sugars of the fruit really shine and give a sweet taste without having too much sugar. Compotes keep in the fridge really well and can also be used to flavor yoghurt or top oatmeal.

  Soup

I love soup. It is one of my favorite meals to prepare and eat during the autumn and winter months. Minestone, chicken noodle, clam chowder and hamburger vegetable are a few of my favorites. They all freeze well and can be warmed up for lunch after a busy morning. 

Boiled eggs and muffins
 Making a big batch of muffins along with a pot of soup has been added to my weekly routine. I love the flexibility muffins offer, they can be served up for breakfast, lunch, supper or snacks. I make mine with whole wheat flour and skimp on the sugar so they're more of a whole food then a dessert. This time of year I love pumpkin and apple muffins. Kilmeny loves this kind of lunch since it is eaten with her hands and whatever she doesn't eat at lunch gets served up for a snack. 

Bean and rice dip with corn chips

This is one of those meals that just came together on a whim and I've continued making it. Each time it's a little different and that's part of the beauty of cooking. Basically it's equal parts cooked kidney or black (or both) beans (I cook the beans  until they are quite soft and start to get mushy) and rice, enough salsa to give it a good dipping consistency, fresh cilantro (this is what makes it pop), and some cheese. I've used both cheddar and feta with great taste results. It's also yummy without the cheese making it a good non-dairy lunch. Add some sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Serve with corn chips. This also freezes well and thaws quickly making it a great quick meal or snack or oh-my-goodness-I-forgot-to-make-you-a-lunch option for your husband.  Who, me? 

Leftovers

 And my favorite option. Quick and simple. We often have little bits left over from the night before that satisfy both Kilmeny and I and my fridge doesn't have (too) many containers of random food.  


What would you add to the list?

CSA: take 3

 Each week I am more and more delighted with our CSA experience. The amount of vegetables is incredible and I love being challenged by the variety. I haven't done a lot of cooking with different greens and they have been plentiful. I did wonder at the start of the season when it seemed like forever before the deliveries started if it was worth the investment but now it definitely seems worth it. Each week we feast on fresh garden produce and I freeze the excess to enjoy during the winter months. 

Tonight's supper featured a garden salad made with swiss chard, beet greens, leaf lettuce and the radishes, carrots and cucumber. 

 My plans for the rest of the week include this kale confetti, kale and potato soup, stir fry with the different greens and veggies, and frittata with steamed swiss chard. And lots of salad to fill in any gaps. 

My biggest challenge this week is the radishes. There's surely got to be something more you can do with them then just serving them raw or carving them up into roses for a garnish. But I have no idea what else to do with them. I could practice my radish roses, something else I've never done.

 

 

What new food experiences are you enjoying?

CSA: take 2

I confess.

I gave a little squeal of delight when I went to pick up our CSA 

order on a damp Tuesday afternoon. There were lots of bins filled with the beautiful produce. The lettuce leaves glistened in the light, the heads all covered with little droplets of water. The carrots practically begged to be eaten right then and there. You can taste all that went into them- the soil, the rain, the sunshine, the hard work of keeping a garden. 

Oh yum. 

I looked through the bin of swiss chard, choosing a bunch with red stalks over the yellow stalks simply because it looked pretty.

And then there were the strawberries and the potatoes and the beet greens and the radishes. I felt rich as I put all that goodness into my bag and then unloaded it into the fridge. 

I love opening the fridge and seeing all the fresh greens practically popping off the shelves. 

 

I'm not sure yet how I will use everything. I still have some greens that I purchased from the store before I got the greens from the CSA. Yes, I was impatient. Organic spring greens somewhat satisfied my craving for freshness but I now feel fully satisfied by my lovely heads of butter and leaf lettuce. 

I think I might try out this recipe for lettuce soup. It looks interesting and is a creative way to use the lettuce rather then all in a salad. 

I will definitely be making some salads with all the different greens and dressing them with a simple vinaigrette so that the flavors and textures shine through. 

But that's as far as I've gotten with my ideas. I would love to have some new thoughts on what to do with the swiss chard and beet greens. 

Do you have any recommendations for this bounty?

if you want to make some cookies...

....you need to start with a bowl.

You need to blend the sugars, eggs, vanilla and butter together;

if the whisk doesn't work, you'll have to use your hands. 

To make them really yummy, you should add some chocolate and some cashews. Chop them up so the chocolately goodness permeates throughout the cookie dough. 

Then you need to add the flour, salt and baking soda. You can add the chocolate and cashews now. 

Mix it all together. Try not to eat too much. Form the dough into little balls. 

Bake at 350. It's just a little before 400 on the oven dial. 

Bake them for 8 minutes, just long enough for the chocolate to get gooey. 

Then make some tea. Find a friend. And eat cookies together. 

the end.

Blessed

I realized just how blessed I am today. I made a batch of granola, from scratch, without even really thinking about. Pour oats into a bowl, chop almonds, add some sunflower seeds, make a coating, stir, and bake. Simple. I've been making granola since I was at least 10. And before that I was helping my Mom. 

After the granola was finished, I made dinner. I had fresh ciabatta buns from our local bakery, some chicken, a fridge full of veggies, and some feta cheese. I got creative and enjoyed every minute of making dinner. We had Greek Chicken Ciabattas, organic blue corn chips with guacamole and lemonade slush.

Can I say yum?!

I didn't really think twice about any of the meal preparations I did today. I just, did them. I was so blessed to grow up in a house where my Mom made all the meals and she trained my sisters and I as she cooked. Because of that she hasn't needed to cook for a number of years. She was always there to help us as we learned how to separate eggs, how to tell when the cream is whipped enough, how to make gravy. 

I've been realizing that not every girl has this advantage. The place that we are living in right now is a furnished apartment but it has only the very basics in the kitchen. I used an egg poacher to measure tonight, it worked. She obviously isn't one who spends a lot of time in the kitchen. Whether that's because of her lack of training or busyness or lack of confidence, I don't know but it was an eye-opener to me. I take a lot of things for granted because that's what is familiar to me and it seems like basic life knowledge. 

I started feeling a little sorry for the people who didn't learn to cook at home. My mind jumped to possibilities, I could hold cooking classes and make a fortune and invest in all those people's lives....yes, I do have a tendency to a 'Mother Theresa' response sometimes. I think it's a girl thing. 

I used to want to own a cute little cafe where people could come, sip some coffee or tea or something else, much on something yummy, savor something sweet and be refreshed. I got distracted in how I was going to decorate it more then how I was going to outfit the kitchen. That's when I realized I could do the same at home, without the overhead. 

I'll start with having people over. Like tomorrow night. With some friends of Jared's from back home that are also out here. I think I'll serve them pizza with a fresh greek salad and ice- cream cake. Do you think they will like it?