just visiting

Here and There


Been looking for me lately?

Aside from my love for Twitter - oh how it fuels inanity - I've been out and about. Here are a couple of places where you can find recipes, cooking school features, and articles from me.

Profiling part of the goat industry here in Alberta.
* Coincidentally, you could also participate in Goaterie as a great way to get your goat on.

Take advantage of that back alley rhubarb in these refreshing cocktails and summer drinks. I am truly addicted and still scoping out unharvested rhubarb plants in the neighbourhood.

Both of these articles were written for the Taste Alberta series. I've got to admit, although I've been published in magazines, it was kind of special to see a byline in the newspaper I grew up reading, The Edmonton Journal. It was also neat to get the notices that the articles were picked up across the country.

You can also read weekly posts from me at What's Up Families. I especially like these cooking school posts I've been doing. Once a month I've been sharing info and cooking tips on a specific ingredient. In time for summer there is a post all about ice cream and one on taking advantage of summer greens.

Finally, I've also been writing for Delish Mag. This great lifestyle, on-line magazine gives me the chance to write about some fun topics. In this issue alone I was able to interview a great fabric designer and artist as well as talk about visiting farms! In the last issue I write about turning into my Baba and interviewed another designer.

Other places you will find me? Trying to tame both my overgrown tomato plants and my overblown children.

Introductions


A photo essay on my first conscious gluten free baking experience. Lauren from Celiac Teen came over this morning, a date arranged shortly after we realized we only lived blocks from each other. Through a rainy walk she brought with her a backpack full of flours. We were going to make pie. 

The girls took to her immediately, probably assuming she was some fantastic creature known as the babysitter. Their excitement was no less once they realized we were all going to bake together. We donned aprons, we measured flour, we drank tea while our pastry chilled. Then we cut up peaches and plums to mix with blackberries and tonka bean. And while our galettes baked the little ones chased us around the house. It was comfort and chaos all at once. Welcome to our home, Lauren.

And the pastry? Fantastic. It tasted great raw, and even better cooked. It was a tender dough to work with, so I worried that it wouldn't be very flaky. I was wrong. To be honest, you would be hard pressed to pick out out from a conventional pate brisee.

We filled it with our fruit, a touch of sugar and millet flour and a whole tonka bean grated in. The crust we brushed with cream. The galettes baked for 30 minutes. And after our conversations we sat silently with our tonka bean sweetened cream on top of our galettes. Silent only as the four of us devoured an entire galette for lunch.












Cookies, Cookies, and More Cookies



You might not consider it a downfall, but one of the downfalls of freelance food writing is developing stories totally out of season. Today I made a spider cake for Halloween, sugar cookies, meringue cookies, and hot cocoa with marshmallows. On at +25C day. Good times.

In truth, dinner was a plain old cheese quesadilla and a handful for cherry tomatoes to soak up the sugar. Despite all those cookies though, I reserved a few of these for a post-the-girls-finally-fell-asleep-and-I'm-exhausted-after-two-weeks-of-single-parenting chocolate chip cookie snack.

These are the first things I ever learned how to make. I may have been about 9. My mom worked fulltime and we three kids were competitive swimmers. Food was about fuel - how much could we get in at any one point, how much could mom buy and cook to hopefully get us through the week. Fed up with purchased cookies I asked if I could make cookies myself. No clue who found the recipe or where it came from. But I was left alone in the kitchen.

I found the entire experience both comforting and empowering. Woohoo, I was in the kitchen and left to my devices! There was butter and chocolate involved. It was the start of something great.

From that point on these were my go-to cookies. My go-to sleepover cookies. My go-to watch TV in the rumpus room cookies. My go-to console a friend whose boyfriend dumped her cookies. My go-to chick-flick cookies. My go-to rainy day and single parenting cookies.

At 35 I have to find people to share these with - I do not need a cup of butter to myself. Thank goodness my kids are happy to help me with that. Now they've become my go-to get in the kitchen and bake with the girls cookies.


Chocolate Chip Slab Cookies
Makes 1 9 x 13 pan

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.
2. Cream butter and sugar. Add vanilla. Stir in flour and chocolate chips. Press dough in pan.
3. Bake 2-25 minutes until lightly browned. Cool slightly, but cut when still a bit warm. Cool some more before you dig in.

(This post is also a part of Gluten Free Girl's round-up on the first foods we learned how to make.)

Interweb Adventures


Today I'm taking you on a little tour of self-promotion. Busy little me has been flying around the interwebs visiting, writing, sharing. This week I am off at a major quilt event, so I thought I would share my internet adventures with you.

Not too long ago I discovered a website that appeals to my heart, especially. Michelle at What's Cooking is working hard to spread a love for cooking to kids, and families. This week she featured my post on making Babka with the girls in a What's Cooking feature on Cooking With Kids.

For Earth Day this week I discussed the joys of visiting farms with your kids. I shared this over at Simple Bites. Making that connection with food starts with knowing where it comes from and who it comes from. As Wade always says, eating local is about eating food you know from people you know.

I also started a new venture guest blogging with Food Network Canada. It's spring, despite the snow storm that hit Calgary last weekend, so I am over there talking asparagus.

Speaking of asparagus, that Simple Bites piece includes a recipe for Asparagus and Feta pizza. Don't forget to check that out!

Now, if only I was actually home to cook this week.

Things That Make Me Tired and Happy

This blog was only meant to be a hobby. A few recipes snuck in on my quilting blog, but I wasn't really thinking of going back to the food world in any way other than as a dedicated home cook and mother. And what was I thinking, a working mom maintaining two blogs in my copious amounts of free time? Apparently, I was thinking of the future without even knowing it.

After a year or so I started to think about writing, especially food writing, as a career option. Despite working in catering kitchens, running my own muffin company, and dropping out of journalism school it wasn't something I considered before. But the more I wrote here the more I wanted to write.

Insert some amazing mentors, loads of inspiration, and a serious lack of sleep and I am now a two job lady. A tired, but happy two job lady. I am now writing as Food Editor for What's Up and doing a little freelancing and teaching on the side. The day job stays, and I'll always be a mom, but my little hobby is turning into something exciting. And I couldn't be happier.

And when I'm happy (or sad or mad or glad) I like to bake. That's why I'm sharing this cookie recipe for you. The combo of chocolate and dried cherries is better than any chocolate box cherry, and guaranteed to fix any emotion you've got. (This recipe actually appears in the Spring issue of What's Up, along with more on Litterless Lunches.) So come on, celebrate with me!

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies with Cherries
Makes 2 1/2 -3 dozen, depending on the size of the cookie

3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1/4 cup cocoa, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried cherries

1. Preheat your oven 350 degrees F. Grease your cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper.
2. Cream together butter and sugar for a few minutes. Add egg and vanilla, mix well.
3. Stir in the flour, cocoa, oats, baking soda, and salt. When it is all together as a dough add in the chocolate chips and cherries. 
4. Drop by teaspoonfuls on a prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly firm around the edges. Let cool a few minutes on the cookie sheet, transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely.

Does it count?

Back when I was full of energy and vigor and swiss chard I entered my Frico recipe in the Safeway Cheese Champions contest. To be honest, I saw the ad on Facebook and was bored.  Yup, I actually noticed the ad, that's how bored I was. 

So I entered and found out recently that I won something.  Sadly, it was not the grand prize.  That means no Mama/Daddy time in Lake Louise for free.  But I did get a grocery gift card and it will buy our dairy for a couple of weeks. No complaints there.

And, if you are in a Safeway in the coming weeks, probably only in Western Canada, pick up the Safeway Cheese Champions book.  You will find my recipe and more in there. Oh, and a teeny tiny picture of me and The Monster. 

Pears, Pears, and More Pears

While I'm not sure if any food makes me as happy as a warm strawberry plucked right off the plant I must admit that this pear comes deliriously close. It isn't quite right off the tree, but you don't want that anyway. Rather, a pear does better with a few days on the kitchen counter to mellow into its juicy, sexy sweetness. In the case of this pear it excelled with a couple of days in the Mission Hill Family Estate kitchen, a 7 hour drive in the backseat, and a few more sultry days on our kitchen counter.  Then it turned into a TV star.

Before we ventured to the Okanagan last week I booked my first TV appearance on Breakfast Television. The timing was perfect and I spent some of our time at the Penticton Farmers' Market searching for the perfect pears to bring home. The pears at the market were perfect, if I wanted to eat them that day.  Our guide, Matt Batey, heard my lament and offered up some Mission Hill pears.  They'd been picked the day before and would I like to stop by the Estate and pick them up when we were on our way home?

What a no brainer.  Of course, it meant that we didn't get home in time for the girls' bedtime. Ah, they'd hardly noticed we were gone anyway.


After days of touring around the Naramata Bench and visiting people in their homes, garages, and vineyards it was quite a shock to our senses to arrive at the Mission Hill Family Estates sprawling grounds.  From the second you pass through the gates at the end of a residential drive the entire experience is choreographed. You pass through the keystone (above) and enter the grounds.  Your view is filled with the sky, lake, and mountains behind, all framed by the Terrace restaurant, Bell Tower, Visitor Center, and the overwhelming feeling of luxury.

Then Matt greeted us in his chef whites and brought us back to reality with a tour of the gardens, kitchen, and food experience of Mission Hill.  The place may be all about the wine, with gardens and menus built to frame that wine, but the passion in the food and in Matt was evident.  I am dying to go back and try a winemaker dinner or culinary workshop. Another trip...

Here is Matt in the garden.  One of the fascinating things about the gardens here was that they are planted by grape varietal. It was like food and wine pairing for idiot cooks.  Well, probably a bit fancier than that. But in case you didn't know, Chardonnay works with cilantro, lily, corn, beans, squash, mint, and yes, pears.

Then there were the pears.  After pulling out a few crates Matt and I packed out one full crate of Bartletts, Bosc, and Asian pears to take home. Thank-you Matt, you're just lucky that they survived the drive home. He and Hubby seem to share a certain propensity for big, bad cars and heavy feet.


Yes, that is the seatbelt getting good use on the Old Okanagan Highway. No carseats on this trip, but safety always comes first!

So my precious beauties arrived home safely.  They were the perfect inspiration for the some lovely dishes. Hubby watched the girls last night and I baked, kneaded, and chopped to prep for this morning's BT appearance. I made Pear, Gorgonzola, and Carmelized Onion Pizza, Asian Pear Slaw, Upside Down Pear Gingerbread Cake, and Cardamon Hand Pies. The Monster helped me with the ultimate recipe, the Honey Pear Cheesecake.  It was a good thing she helped me last night because apparently she had a fit this morning watching me on TV.  "I want to bake a cake with Mama on TV!"  Maybe next time, Sweetie.

Honey Pear Vanilla Cheesecake
(Serves 10-12)

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (or crushed Nilla wafers, gingersnaps, or plain biscotti)

¼ cup butter, melted

2 tbsp sugar

3 (8 ounce) blocks of cream cheese, room temperature

½ cup honey

3 large eggs

1 vanilla bean

¾ cup pear puree or ½ cup pear nectar

½ cup flour

1 pear, peeled and finely diced

1 cup sour cream (optional)

¼ cup honey (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Boil a full kettle of water.

2. Mix together the cookie/cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter until the consistency of wet sand. Press into a 9 inch springform pan, across the bottom and coming up the sides slightly.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Cool slightly and wrap the bottom of pan in two overlapping layers of aluminum foil.

3. Combine cream cheese and honey and beat until smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating after each addition. Slice the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and using the back of a small paring knife scrape the seeds from the bean.  Add the seeds to the cream cheese mixture along with the pear puree or nectar and the flour.  Mix until smooth. Finally, stir in the diced pear.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared crust and place in the springform pan in a larger pan. Transfer to the oven.  Before closing the oven door pour water from the boiled kettle into the larger pan until it comes about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

5. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until the cheesecake seems firm but still slightly wiggles in the center.  Turn off the oven and close the oven door.  Keep in the oven for another 60 minutes. Remove and cool completely in the fridge.

6. Optional topping: Before serving mix together the sour cream and ¼ cup honey.  Pour over the cheesecake. (A nice touch or a way to disguise surface cracks.)


(Doesn't Dave Kelly look so enraptured by something?  Probably not me or my pears  - although I did manage to call them sexy on morning TV - but the segment went well.)

A Perfect First Date

Do you remember when you were 16 and you finally got that guy you loved FOREVER to notice you and suddenly you were agreeing to go to the movies, without either of your parents driving you?  The excitement, the knots in your stomach, the agony over what exactly to wear?  And then a zit that appeared on your face the night before.

Or what about the first time your mother-in-law came over for dinner?  The fretting over the right menu, timing your dishes so that nothing was cold, and obsessing over whether the house was just clean enough? And then the dog upturns a plant and you have dirt everywhere.

Now, imagine that you've invited over two major foodies and fantastic writers. Oh yeah, and they're bloggers too and you know that they're going to write about and photograph what you made for dinner. Nope, no pressure there.Friday night we hosted Julie and her gang from Dinner with from Dinner with Julie and Aimée and her family from Under the High Chair. Seriously, no pressure whatsoever.

The Menu:
Watermelon and Jicama Sticks with Chili Salt
Hubby' Famous Arkison Burgers
Buffalo Hot Dogs
Grilled Peaches with Sour Cream Ice Cream
Cherry Hand Pies

It seemed like a pretty stress free menu. Or so I thought.

Since Julie did such a good job of summarizing our evening together - although she forgot the part where Danny, Aimée's husband took out Willem, Julie and Mike's son - I thought I would highlight the prep.  The nerve-wracking everything going wrong prep for when two major foodie bloggers stop by for Friday night dinner.

Let's start with dessert, because that's what I worked on first.  I lucked into some sour cherries at the market last week, so pie was definitely called for.  The Monster and I tucked into pitting the cherries while Smilosaurus had her last official morning nap. Sour cherries are ridiculously easy to pit, no tool required.  We just put our thumbs on either side of the pit and pulled the cherry apart.  Well, that's what I did.  The Monster apparently would start by biting off half the cherry, then picking out the pit.  And, ever helpful, she would put both halves of the cherry in the bowl.  So, in case I forgot to mention it on Friday night, the cherry pie had a little something extra in it.

Then there was the ice cream.  Sour Cream Ice Cream. I was brave and the three of us girls went off to get our groceries.  Sour cream? Check.  Half and half? Check. Heavy cream? Check. Frozen ice cream canister? Check. Blender? Check?

Coordination and space in the fridge?  Uh, no. I dropped the blender on the floor as I was trying to fit it in between a case of beers and some herbs.  It went everywhere! In fact, looking at that picture I realize that I still need to clean the sideboard.

The dogs had a field day cleaning the floor and The Monster cried for a half hour straight. Nothing but tears, nay, wailing, over spilled ice cream.  Thankfully Hubby came home in the middle of her crying so I could run out and buy more sour cream while she cried herself to sleep.
I also ran out to the market while the girls slept to pick up the corn, avocado, lettuce, beef, and the rest of our groceries for the week.  While unpacking I realized that of everything I picked up I forgot to buy peaches.  So, no grilled peaches for dessert. Sigh.

Instead I set to making the pies and getting everything else ready.  I had my pate brisee cold in the fridge. It rolled out wonderfully and I made my pies.  Then I went outside to get the yard a little bit in order.  And promptly forgot about the first tray of pies. I saved them from complete destruction.  And Julie even said she loved the idea of the juices oozing out of their pastry hold. I still scolded her for taking a picture of it. We just picked the really crispy bits off the edges.

Finally, and this was by no means a disaster, I ran out of ketchup. No ketchup is not cause for alarm, but I am firmly in the camp that burgers need ketchup. I was also anticipating toddler meltdown if their was no ketchup for the hot dogs. Just as I prepared to call my neighbour who is stocked for the war (I call her my emergency pantry) I remembered a bottle of homemade ketchup in the cold storage. And the reviews were so positive - except from my kid - that I might consider the effort again.

All was not horrible.  Indeed, some things went ridiculously well.  I made the chili salt for the watermelon and jicama sticks with my secret stash of dried chili from Baja.  I simple threw a handful of chili in a non-reactive frying pan with a clove of garlic.  Let it heat up until I could really smell the chili heat.  Then I blitzed the whole thing in a food processor with a little less than a cup of kosher salt. I think we all preferred it with the watermelon, and I'm pretty sure it would be good on mango too. Hubby and I thought that maybe the leftover salt would be good on some grilled chicken, but not too much.

Then there were the burgers.  Oh, the burgers.  These are the spec-i-al-ity of my Hubby, Morgan. I once made the mistake of raving over a burger in a seaside shack in Digby, Nova Scotia as the best burger I ever had.  I swear that if I hadn't recanted the statement right then and there we never would have married.

There's nothing special to the burgers.  Just good quality ground beef, lean ground beef.  Don't try to be healthy and by extra lean, your burgers will be dry. Lately we've been making them from Hoven Farms beef.  Very flavourful.  So take your beef and form it into a patty, preferably a large patty. Do not season the beef, don't add eggs or bread crumbs.  This is pure beef. Now you know why I only served a green salad on the side.

After a liberal dosing in CattleBoyz BBQ Sauce he cooks them slowly on the grill.  They stay juicy, they get a great crust, and they are perfection. Meaty, so juicy they drip off your wrists perfection.

So the floor was still sticky, the lawn never got mowed, and I highly doubt I made The Monster's bed after her nap.  Oh, and I did indeed have a brand new zit to greet our guests. None of that really matters if everyone is well fed and the company good.

The night was really as good as it gets when you've got 6 tired adults (long drives, gout, sleepless nights, and working too much) and 5 kids under the age of 4 to keep track of.  Note to self: build gates for the fence. We photographed our food more than our kids, we chatted and gossiped about other sites we visit, compared horrible neighbours, and we lubricated everything with Prosecco, Moscato, and beer.  It would have been lovely to sit leisurely around the firepit and actually have some girl talk among us bloggers, but sadly the Hubby's wanted our help with the kids. I think Julie and I might have to plan a weekend in Montreal, sans kids, to get that!

Make sure you check our Julie's review of the evening (including the recipe for the sour cream ice cream, and keep an eye on Under the High Chair for all of Aimée's vacation reports. And stay tuned here this week, I will actually share with you the recipe for Cherry Hand Pies.