Holiday happiness

Happiness is......baking for the holidays and sharing with friends and family. I made some delicious and healthy Cranberry scones, with spelt four and less than a tablespoon of sweet stuff. These were shared with friends in the county, new and old. On the less healthy side of the spectrum, I couldn't let the season evolve without making Gt. Grandma's shortbread cookies. There is something so therapeutic that comes with the meditation-like never-ending kneading...the memories and the peace. And of course since they are made with so much love from family and Christmas' past, they can't help but taste delicious. These too have been shared with good friends already and there is a big tin yet to be shared with my kids and more friends. I made a new carrot cake recipe that is decadent and somewhat healthy, but just plain 'worth every calorie and sugar high', complete with cream cheese icing. This I made with a friend in mind and it was only with her 'vote' that the icing got made and applied....smiles and happy memories. Merry Christmas everyone.

October...moving on

I am sitting here surrounded by boxes and somewhere in my midst is my camera, however its exact location eludes me so I cannot post a picture of the swiss chard wraps with bulgur or 'greens' soup....both delicious and nutricious. (Note that I did find the camera and post the chard pic by Hallowe'en) As for where I found (and in the case of the soup adapted) the recipes I cannot remember, so once I move I intend to find both the pictures and the recipes, especially because I will make them both again! I had fun with the swiss chard wraps, enjoying a glass of wine and once again listening to the radio. These things tend to be a bit fiddly and make a mountain of dishes, so that glass of wine is important lol! The spices in the wrap included some nutmeg as well as cumin I think which makes a nice contrast. The soup was simple and different. It called for spinach greens, but I had mixed salad greens that needed eating, so that is what I used. The broth and seasonings were simple, but had an egg, flour and parmesan cheese mixture which gave it a nice texture and flavour. It was lovely with fresh bread....

I have made a couple of batches of granola and shared with friends, who agree with me that Penny's Pantry granola is absolutely the best they have ever eaten...and yes it is very healthy! Thanks again sis Barb for this recipe. It is well on the road to being my focal sales point....

Cookies in September

Hi there....it has been a really busy August and September, getting things in order to move in October. I have continued to eat, however have not been doing very much creative cooking or baking. This past week I spent Saturday morning doing one of the things I love the most- baking cookies and listening to CBC radio. I made some yummy, fall apart coconut cookies (the healthy part was the coconut, organic sugar and flour) as well as some old fashioned thimble cookies (pictured here in case they remind you of your childhood too!) These have butter and eggs in them....next time I will substitute coconut oil and see how they turn out as well as one of the egg substitutes as I venture into vegan baking....I went to the Vegetarian Food Festival at harbourfront on the weekend, learning and networking.
All the best in Love and Life!

a glorious summer

Well, as this summer is evolving as one of the best ever, especially as far as the weather is concerned, my thoughts are turning once more to cooking up a storm. I made a yummy quinoa and kale salad, filled with delicious seeds...next time i think I'll add some feta cheese for more protein and shred the kale to make it easier to eat for some folks (the large pieces are a bit hard to negotiate to get some quinoa on your fork lol, and also I think most folks would like the kale better if it was mixed in a bit more)....one of the recipes to share with Lily's cafe in Picton. Yes, things are moving forward on that front. I have bought a house and could move as early as Oct. After a couple of business related meetings this coming week I should have a better idea. I have put my condo on the market and hope to make enough profit to hold me for a bit....

July healthies and yummies

I am continuing to make my sister's delicious recipe for granola with my favourite combination being pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and pecans. I've also been spending time and energy researching the relative nutritional values of a few baking items, looking into the whys and whats of gluten free diets (interesting issue and trend).... I made some 'healthier' oatmeal cookies last weekend with decadent chocolate bits and a bit too much wheat germ, which resulted in a pretty crumbly cookie. I laughed with a friend that while they tasted good, they would make a better fruit crumble bottom than a cookie. I may be doing some baking this weekend for someone a met in a medical office....hmmm, I will stick to a more basic recipe for selling, for now at least. Big changes are in the works for me as I build this passion for promoting healthy baking as part of a healthier lifestyle.

On another yummy and not as healthy treat note, the ice cream store Slickers in Bloomfield (Prince Edward County) sells homemade ice cream that is worth every bit of fat and calories. Enjoy the summer everyone!

veg on...

Since I have been back from the Canyon I have mostly been out and about and not spending too much time cooking or baking. However I am working on learning how to cook tofu to make it really tasty (it is definitely a work in progress :)) ...after viewing a video on factory farming and also reading 2 wonderful books by Sy Montgomery, The Good Pig and Birdology I have found it increasingly difficult to buy, cook and eat meat. So I am making more vegetarian dishes,like a delicious Morrocan salad, a variety of tofu dishes such as tofu eggless sandwich filling and the dish of tonight, a red curry cauliflower dish. It has coconut milk which I love and it is very tasty on brown rice. yum! I have also started to eat hemp hearts which are very high in complete protein. I overdid the exercise about 4 weeks ago and have had to forgo cycling (I did do 30 km in the ride for Heart) as well as rowing for a bit....hope the physiotherapist is able to help me get back into these things soon. In the meantime, I am not gaining weight, due mostly to eating veggie most of the time (my thought anyway!)....happy cooking....more soon

Grand Canyon adventure

I find it interesting, that while life and of necessity both making and eating food continue, writing about this may not. At the end of April I was gifted with a 6 day hike in the Grand Canyon. My best friend and I decided last fall to do this trip together and it not surprisingly was our 'best trip ever'. We hiked long and hard and were gifted with being part of this amazing piece of our world. We of course ate many energy bars and trail mix as well as meals prepared by the lodges and hotels. My favourite meals were prepared by our 2 guides, Travis and Marc, Travis being a foodie extraordinaire. A banquet 'fit for royalty' was prepared at the bottom of Havasu Canyon on a small BBQ. (..and yes, our guides carried all ingredients all of the way down in their packs) It started with grilled Brie with blueberries (see photo)on French bread; grilled fresh salmon served with home-made pepper, onion, cilantro, pineapple salsa (see photo) and chicken grilled in balsalmic vinegar and olive oil; grilled portabello mushrooms and couscous with grilled zucchini and asparagus....since I have been back, I have made a conscientious decision to become vegetarian. Knowing more about factory farming as well as reading the amazing book "Birdology" by Sy Montgomery has opened my eyes and heart to the creatures who have graced my table with their flesh. So....I am experimenting with tofu, have started to include 3 Tbsp of hemp hearts in my breakfast porridge and have opened a new chapter in my life and love of food. In actual fact, I think that I am just picking up the pieces of my initial venture into being a veg that started about 25 years ago and just fell by the wayside over the years. Stay tuned for more recipes and learnings.....Love to all