A little birthday cake...

...Is totally fun and cute and thoughtful.  

If you just turned 30, this little cake may have been for you ;)

Happy Birthday!

I know it looks big but it was about 3 inches by 3 inches and about 4 inches tall.

It was sweet but not too sweet because of the glorious whipped cream between layers.

Mmmm... whipped cream!

 I had wanted to make one of Sweetapolita's cakes for two, particularly the blackberry one 

because I love blackberries, but a funny thing happened to me in the morning.

Normally before bed I take my watch off, but instead of leaving it off, 

I put it back on for some reason.  In the morning I woke up thinking I had really slept in.  

Not remembering I was wearing my watch I headed to the kitchen to check the time.  

There had been a power outage and the stove and microwave were blinking a digital uselessness, 

so that's when I actually looked at my wrist.  

My watch read 3pm, and I pretty much flew into panic mode at the speed of light; 

Company at 5pm and a cake to make before that, 

not to mention I need a shower!!!

About two minutes later I realized that if you put your watch on upside down, 

9:30 looks just like 3 o'clock... haha the joke was on me :)

Somehow I never seemed to get out of rush mode though 

and this little 5 layer treat was the outcome.

Cake: Martha Stewart Living, February 2013, slightly less than half the recipe.

Icing: Cocoa adaptaion to Sweetapolita's Vanilla version.  I made the whole recipe but ended up with twice as much as I required.  Then again it will get used and I never had the feeling I'd run out.

Filling: Whipping cream plus stabilizer for those of us without a charged gas dispenser!

A Nice Dinner

Part 1: To Begin

Fresh Warm Pretzels ...mmmm!

Dough:

2 1/4 tsp Yeast

1 1/4 cup Warm Water

2 1/2 cups Flour

2 tbsp Oil

1/2 tsp Salt

Preparation to Bake:

4 cups Water

2 tbsp Baking Soda

1 Egg

Stir yeast into water.  Let sit until it bubbles.  

Add flour, oil and salt, mixing until it holds together and kneed until elastic.  

Let sit an hour to rise.

Boil water.  Cut dough into 12 pieces, roll and twist into pretzel shape.  

Add baking soda to boiling water.  Boil pretzels in water for one minute, separately or a few at a time.  Grease cookie sheet, place pretzels on and brush with beaten egg.  

Sprinkle coarse salt over and bake at 350 degrees F for 12 minutes.  

Enjoy with butter.

I used half white and half whole wheat flour.

Part 2:  Main Course

Basil-Anchovy Butter Steak and Beet Greens

I was very happy about how this tasted, so happy in fact, I made it again last night!

Butter, 50 grams

Olive Oil, 1 tbsp

Basil, 1 tbsp

Anchovy Paste, 1 tsp

Salt and Pepper

1 Clove Roasted Garlic, mashed

One good sized steak

Bunch beets with nice leaves

Potatos (plus butter, cream & salt for mashed)

Boil potatos.  When done, mash.

Make Butter:  Mix first 6 ingredients together until smooth

Trim, Wash and Dry Beet Leaves

Cut Steak into strips

Heat frying pan to just below maximum, 

then add a generous amount of butter, stirring to cover pan.

Add the leaves, flipping to coat in the butter.  Cook until just soft.

(I use chopsticks to do this as I find them much more dexterious than tongs...)

Place leaves on each plate.

Add more butter to the pan, coating well.  Add the meat and cook to your liking.  

In my opinion, just place all the strips into the pan one by one 

and in the same order turn them over.  Now they're done!

Place potato and meat around the leaves.

Part 3:  Dessert

Chocolate Mousse from Scratch

Next time, when my pockets are feeling more flush, I will be making this with grand marnier... 

It is a perfect dessert for my mother, who doesn't eat gluten, 

and who loves chocolate and orange together... 

Or just for anyone who likes really delicious desserts, chiefly made of chocolate.  

Or if necessary a substitute for a Valentine on Valentine's day...

(Thank you Donna Hay, June/July 2011, for rescuing me!)

I used unsweetened pure chocolate which is not terribly sweet, but tasted glorious used here.

Ingredients: 

200 grams dark chocolate, chopped or broken up

3 eggs, separated

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 whipping cream

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler or gently in microwave.  Let cool somewhat.

Beat the egg whites with whisk attachment until soft peaks form.  Add sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form and the mixture is soft and glossy.

Whisk 1/4 cup of the cream, the yolks and chocolate until well combined.  

Gently, fold egg white mixture through the chocolate half at a time.  

Be rather gentle and use the folding motion (no stiring!) in order to achieve a very airy texture.

Whip remaining 1 cup cream until soft peaks form.  

Again gently, fold this through the egg-chocolate mixture.  

Spoon into cups... four is fine but five or six might gaurentee you can finish it in one sitting.  

Quite rich, just the way I like men... ahem... chocolate mousse.

Just for fun!

Recent and Notable Entertainment:

If you haven't seen a sweet, honest, romantic journey with a twist recently, I suggest you watch Moonrise Kingdom.  

You'll end up loving it, I'm sure, and want to have a dress just like Suzy's... 

I think I might have to invest in saddle shoes, too... 

"No, I said what kind of bird are you?",  will make sense to you, 

and really, who shouldn't have the following essentials: binoculars, woven bag, tam, lantern

Plus Love.  Love is necessary.

Lionel Richie is currently filling my home with a sultry, motown mood.

 "Love is just a word, until someone gives it meaning"

Valentine's Day Cards

Mmmmm...Love...Muuuuha

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Since when do large movie theaters play foreign films?  I thought in general they didn't.  But I'm always open to good surprises.  I think I'll be checking out Singh vs Kaur tonight!

Meat Pies

Perhaps I had London and England on my mind because I am reading "At Home", by Bill Bryson, which is about how many of the things that either make up our home or are in our homes today came by way of rather obscure and interesting histories... An compelling read for certain.

In any case, I chose to make some mini meat pies.  

The recipe is from Donna Hay June/July 2011, and somewhat tailored to what I felt like.  

She included ham and cooked her leek in butter, where as I did not and cooked 

with olive oil because I used only one quantity of hot water pastry for my pies 

and made the rest of the meat filling into gluten and dairy free 'sausages' in a mini muffin tin.

Mine aren't as perfectly rolled out and lovely as the picture in the magazine, 

which has something to do with skill of course, but I would, should I try these pies again, 

use the pastry immediately rather than storing in the fridge before using and 

I'd make sure my edges were sealed to keep the juices from escaping!

This made 8 muffin sized pies, plus 6 'sausages'.

 

Hot Water Pastry:

150 grams Butter

2/3 cup Water

2 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 tsp Salt

*Plus one Egg for the Egg wash

Meat Filling:

1 Leek, chopped

3 cloves minced Garlic

2 tbsp Tarragon

500 grams minced Chicken

500 grams minced Pork

Salt and Pepper

How I Did It:

Make the hot water pastry first as it needs some time to cool:  

Melt butter in water in a pot over the stove.  

When melted stir in flour and salt.  

Stir with wooden spoon until you can pick it up and transfer to counter. 

Kneed until smooth.  Set aside.  

Cook one chopped leek in a pan of oil or butter along with garlic and tarragon, until soft.  

Grind the meat and mix with leek mixture; season with salt and pepper.  

Roll and cut pastry to your liking and stuff pies with meat mixture.  

Give an egg wash to the tops.  

Bake about an hour at 350 degrees F.

I've heard stories about bakers of meat pies visiting mortuaries for ingredients... 

Rough times... perhaps? Or just moments of devious ingenuity!? 

“Why, there they are both, baked in that pie;
 Whereof their mother daintily hath fed,
Eating the flesh that she herself hath bred.”

(Titus Andronicus) 

Thanks for that Shakespeare!!! 

And while we're on the trivia topic, the book mentioned above, 

gives the history of recipes written in the format we know and love, 

which was created by one Eliza Acton in her book, 

"Modern Cookery for Private Families".  

Perhaps because she was originally a poet we have these verse like lists and instructions.  

Well I like to think so!  

Her originality was though, was exact measurements of ingredients

 and lengths of time for cooking or baking.  

We have been carefully measuring since 1845, thanks to Miss Eliza.

Kale, and Such

Kale, Kale, what to do with Kale

Success: Kale Pasta

I chose to make a pasta with a small raindrop shape pasta which is ideal for mixing with other chunky ingredients.

I used 1/2 cup pasta when dry, the whole bunch of kale cooked (see below), with three roasted red peppers and about 1/2 cup goat cheese crumbled.

Kale:
Bunch of Kale, Chopped (end of stem removed)
Roasted Head of Garlic, Mashed
Sea Salt, 1/4 tsp, or more to taste
Olive Oil
Water

Heat oil and garlic, then add kale and let cook for a minute or two.  Add water and mix kale around to coat, cover and let steam-cook until soft (but not too limp), stirring occasionally, about 7-10 minutes on a lower setting.

Olives and maybe anchovy would be nice, too.





Best Fruit Concoction Yet in the Magic Bullet

Half a Kiwi 

+

Pomegranate Arils 

+

1/2 cup Mango 

+ 

3-4 Strawberries

+

Water or juice - Fill to half way

Whiz these ingredients for 10-20 seconds.  

*

Sadly, seeds aren't 'magically' crushed.

Did you know that one pomegranate has between 200 and 1400 seeds?  

I didn't count how many I plucked from mine, 

but I did remove them all at once in one red-stained-fingers sitting.  

Going Japanese

Noodles + Sweet & Sour Peanut Sauce + Vegetables + Chicken = Yummy!

Fun with Biscuits!  

There are certain things that should only be made with white flour, and biscuits are one of them.  

So delectable warm from the oven!!!!  

Savory Stars

Sweet Hearts

Interestingly oatmeal cookies can be made with whole wheat flour 

and the flavour is no different than with white... 

That means I can eat as many as I want, right! 

Left Overs - Curried Chicken Salad... maybe I could have added grapes or raisins.  

                                                                            Next time.

Photo Preference

Does one look more appealing than the other?  I just want to know!  I'm trying to take better photos, as I said eons ago, but have been slacking off... Maybe you can help me?

 P.S.  These little glasses are for Chocolate Mousse!!!! Yahoo!

Red, Red Velvet

A Valentine's Experiment

Yet another cake from Sweetapolita!

I had dreams of a Valentine's cake on my mind ever since I saw pictures of this cake.  I wanted to make it but wasn't sure if I could achieve the deep red colour myself.  (Well the proof is in the pudding, or shall I say in the cake, ha ha ha!!!)  See Sweetapolita here.

I was particularly interested in the taste tester tidbit - if one man who eats little cake in general, was willing to give this cake a whole whopping two slices try, then could other not so sweetly inclined people also like it?  Maybe, but sadly it's really not my favourite.  What does red velvet taste like?  I don't know.  Maybe that's what stopped me.  I'm not saying it was bad, really I'm not! I mean I've now enjoyed a few more than two pieces, but other flavours just simply rank higher with my taste buds.  If the RV thing really floats your boat, however, the recipe makes a heavenly texture and the moisture factor is just right.  This cake does take three types of icing or frosting or whatever you want to call the sweet stuff sandwiched between layers and covering the outside.  That's a little intensive, but then again, totally fun.  It's also a pretty cake for sure - though my results are not quite so beautiful as those on her blog.  Red is a big favourite with me and the hue results were quite satisfying.  Nonetheless my mind will never forget how much food colouring is required... 

 It was a fun experiment, and like experiments insinuate, I shall be attempting more Valentine's confections.  Probably many more before I strike that, "Ah ha" moment.  That's just fine with me because playing with food is what it's all about!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Oh! I do LOVE red!

Sigh, And my kitchen!  I love my kitchen!

Isn't it nice to be in love with life?

And in love?

Of course it is!

On a side note:

I love the sunshine.  

Sunrises and sunsets.

Another reason I love my new place!!!

Sunset from the ramp at the airport in Medicine Hat

Sunshine can be disruptive to sleeping particularly if you must sleep in (or just want to) 

so when I was choosing which unit I wanted to live in I did take this into account... 

I wanted a view of the sunset and therefore face away from the sunrise.  

I just didn't know how good my choice was going to be.

On clear days I wake up on the shadow side looking at the mountains 

which are illuminated to perfection by the rising sun, 

and in the afternoon every room is full of light and warmth 

and the silhouette of the mountains is majestic beneath the often colourful sunset sky. 

And since the days are getting longer I'll soon be able to say the sunset is in the evening!

I'm just so happy about all the little and big things I love.

I feel glorious!

Healthy!

A few notes on HEALTHY topics, 

because....    you know...    healthy is good!!!!

Food & Drink 

In one word, or should I say one kitchen gadget: the Magic Bullet!

This little blender is not only fun and easy, but it chops, blends and liquefies smaller quantities than your blender can.

I asked a pharmacist about getting more fiber in my diet.  He said the best way is through the food you eat.  The plan is simple: Eat your oatmeal and drink 'blenderized' fresh fruits and vegetables.  I could not resist trying out the magic bullet after witnessing this man's enthusiasm and hearing his suggestions for delicious and nutritious personal sized fibrous fruit and vegetable drinks!

So far I have only experimented with the fruit mixes I made earlier this month with red bell peppers and kale.  Tastes good, but sip without smelling, please...  Adding liquid is a must to get a smoother and adequately thin drink.  I used a little orange juice, lemon juice and water.  Coconut and pomegranate are on my list to try next!  It also does an okay job of food processing items like onions and garlic, which I believe I will get more of a feel for as I progress.  Above is a kale and red pepper cheese pasta.

Fresh & Homemade are the BEST!!!... bread and muffins... Mmmm!

In the bread I use about two thirds whole wheat and one third white flour and add sunflower and flax seeds for texture and flavour.  Some people these days just seem to want to go all or nothing.  Well I personally am always going to be going for flavour.  If it tastes good I'll be happy and likely to continue to eat it, rather than go extreme healthy, only to be so very turned off and hungry that I careen off in the opposite direction.  Yo-yo not so my style.

The muffins were a pure experiment: Olive oil, brown sugar, eggs, sea salt, baking soda, cooked and pureed butternut squash, finely chopped apple, ground flax seed, oat flour and buckwheat flour, with yogurt chips, sliced dried apricots, pumpkin seeds and chopped walnuts and an oat streusel.  Flavour and texture were all pleasing.  Doesn't pack as well as flour muffins in lunches though... much more prone to squishing and getting soggy.


Fresh Air & Exercise

Even though its cold outside, if I'm dressed for the weather a short brisk walk really gets me going!

Falling snow is beautiful!
And I am slowly discovering my new neighbourhood.

Positivity, Happiness & Laughter
Friends & Family
Relaxation & Leisure 

That was the idea behind my little visit to Toronto 

last week during my work holidays.  

Laughter and quality conversation are so good for the soul! 

Friends who are like family.  

An open schedule to fill how I liked...  

I think I smiled four days straight!  

Returning and driving along the old familiar routes gave me an 

odd feeling that I still cannot quite place.  

Familiar it was, but detached and foreign also.  

...As if I were watching my life from the outside.  

But when I stepped inside Magda's door it felt overwhelmingly like home.

Time changes most things, but not everything - not the important parts :)

Self Image

Getting older means getting wiser, so I say wiser to preventing myself from looking older.  I need to take care of the skin I'm wrapped in!



Calgary is dry and my collection of various creams and lotions has also run dry, so I decided I should treat myself to some quality (and on sale) products:  Aveeno face care and a large bottle of coconut and orchid scented lotion for the rest of me.  The bar soap I normally use may also be parching my skin, so I've swapped for an oil based body wash.

I need to drink more water too!










Here in this little basket is where I keep my new, bright and cheerful collection.  I challenge myself to a face wash before bed every night and a few more glasses of water every day.  For all those nights I am away, I organized a little travel set to keep my skin feeling and smelling lovely.

I've noted that skin care products can be quite pricey, and they don't necessarily work well either.  Therefore I will be reporting back of the progressive search of the most superior products.





Of course I'll be returning to cakes, but I'd like to experiment with kale more as well...
A little Yin and a little Yang!

Happy New Year!!!!

Happy New Year!

2012 was certainly a good year and for me and it ended with a great December.  

So many people made it really nice, 

and a few especially important ones made it absolutely splendid!

Here's to a fabulous 2013!

I plan to:

 Take a small bike tour of the Danube, 

Make my condo snug as a rug, 

Finish knitting a sweater that has been politely waiting since summer, as well numerous new items, some of which to hopefully be created with my Christmas buttons and from stash yarn, 

Visit a few destinations to be determined based on flight loads,

Do things that just make me happy,

Dance,

Cook and bake up a few storms,

Become more acquainted with Calgary,

Get healthy and active,

And I'm sure a whole lot more...

It's going to be a fun one!

My final knitting project of the year was the Steve Zissou Toque: 

A vibrant orange, one by one ribbed, roll brimmed, pointed hat.

If you understand this unique undersea adventurer, or know someone who does, 

and would be willing to knit and or wear a toque in the same style 

- see me pictured below looking rather smurf-like - 

you can find the pattern on my Ravelry page here.

                                           Wrapping up my last project:

                                                                Cute packaging always makes me smile :)

A New Year, A New Me!

Not really, as we all know what happens to resolutions, however, 
right now is as good as any time of year to eat your fruits and vegetables!

Thinking healthy and getting prepared are my resolutions to feeding myself better and on time.

These colourful prepackaged bags all make smoothies fast, fresh, and enjoyable.  

Since I did this in mass production I was not only able to have a variety of fruit 

but I also saved time and money.  I am trying to incorporate more leafy greens into 

my diet in delicious and interesting ways as I did not nearly eat my quota in 2012, 

so stayed tuned for more tasty and motivating ideas to enjoy fresh produce... 

Winter often does not get me thinking fresh, but just think, it's summer somewhere!

P.S.  Do not worry about the spinach because you can't taste it at all.  

One smoothie = 2 servings fruits and 1 vegetables

1 cup fruit chunks (I used mango, pineapple, peach, strawberry, banana and grapes)
1/2 cup spinach
1/2 - 1 cup water
1/3 cup plain yogurt

Use blender to whip up until smooth and dreamy!