Saludos!

We are off to Mexico for two weeks - tis the January ritual!  Stay warm friends and family.  Some great blogs on the horizon!

Easy, addictive and vegan - who knew?

I know I write this often, but I've found, yet again, my favorite cookie!  This time, it's different.  It's real and it's awesome!  First off, it combines chocolate, oatmeal and walnuts.  Need I continue?  Secondly, it's vegan, which mean it avoids the foods I know I am allergic to, so it's a pleasure to eat.  And thirdly - it's a pleasure to eat!  Try them.  The only "different" ingredient would be coconut oil, but I find most natural food stores carry coconut oil because of the currenthealth benefits" it provides. It's a bit expensive, but splurge - you are worth it!  And I'd love to hear your feedback :-)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vegan)

Ingredients

• 1 cup coconut oil
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup white sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• ⅓ cup boiling water
• 2 cups rolled oats
• ⅓ cup chopped walnuts
• ¾ cup chocolate chips (vegan)

Directions

1. Beat coconut oil until soft. Add sugars and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add flour and salt and mix well.
2. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water. Blend into mixture. Stir in the rolled oats, nuts and chocolate chips.
3. Drop 1 tablespoon amount on a lined baking sheet and separate about an inch apart.  You can also indent them with a fork. Bake at 350F for 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Done.

Happy New Year!

From me to you, a wish of health, happiness and continued growth for 2013!

The new year brings more than just your chosen new year's resolutions.  It's a time of hope, anticipation and excitement of the year ahead, a new slate, a clean start or lofty ambitions.  Whatever the season is for you, embrace it, celebrate it and try to take it with you over the following months.

Speaking of resolutions, I typically resist the urge to set my own.  This year, I set one in November, a bit off calendar, but it's set nonetheless.  I am focusing on my health this year, as I firmly believe everything comes from that and without it, well, everything else is pretty useless!  And to get the ball rolling above and beyond the regular check-ups, I discovered a new service at a local Pharmacy - the Hemocode test is now available here in Canada!  For us Edmontonians, that means a simple visit to your nearest Rexall Pharmacy, a finger prick for a blood sample and leave the store a lot lighter in the wallet!  What it buys you is a test for food allergies and intolerances of over 250 foods and additives, a guide to better health set out by a Naturopath, including a how to reset your body, vitamins designed to assist in repair and of course, recipes that avoid the food that doesn't work for you. 

The end result: awareness and better health, and if followed, some people finally shift those few pounds that were once impossible and the discomfort of food: bloating, sickness and a general feeling of constant unwellness, subsides.  For those of us with intolerances, and supposedly 3 -4 out of 10 people reside in that group, the knowledge and tools are priceless.  Now, I'm just waiting for those test results to roll in....

So a toast to your health for 2013!

Something French

Continuing with my heritage theme for Christmas cookie recipes, I thought it would be a nice idea to record a recipe for my daughter that represents her French background.  As a child, she was always taken with fudge, and particularly her Grandfather's Quebec classic: Sucre a la Creme.  I recently saw a Food network Christmas special that highlighted Quebec traditions and low and behold, there was the "fudge" she loved so much!  Jenna's version is plain, sometimes with walnuts or maple syrup, but this is a great jumping point for so many varieties!

So, here's hoping Jenna enjoys making this fudge as much as she does eating it!  And hopefully, she'll continue this tradition for many, many years!

Sucre a la Creme (with Maldon salt and pecans)

Ingredients

• Oil, for greasing pan
• 1 1/2 cups/375 ml brown sugar
• 1 cup/250 ml 35-percent cream
• 1/2 cup/125 ml sugar
• 1/2 cup/125 ml maple syrup

• 1 tablespoon/15 ml butter
• Pinch

salt

1/2 teaspoon/2 ml vanilla extract

1/2 cup/125 ml pecans, toasted and roughly chopped, for garnish

Maldon salt, for garnish

 

Directions

Line an 8-inch (20-cm) square pan with plastic wrap and lightly oil. In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cream, sugar, maple syrup, butter and salt and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Attach a candy thermometer in the center of the pan and simmer over medium heat without stirring until the thermometer reads 237 degrees F (114 degrees C). Add the vanilla extract without stirring. Place the pan in a cold water bath. Cool, without stirring, until the thermometer reads 113 degrees F (45 degrees C), about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the water bath. Using an electric mixer or a wooden spoon, stir vigorously until the mixture begins to lighten in color and become creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Please note that if you whip too much, the sugar and cream mixture will harden before you have time to pour it into the pan. Pour immediately into the prepared pan and smooth with a spatula. Garnish with crushed toasted pecans and Maldon salt. Cover with plastic wrap. Let cool for about 1 hour at room temperature or 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Remove from the pan and remove from the plastic wrap. Cut into squares. Store in an airtight container.

Looking back to Christmas

Every year, albeit usually a bit earlier than this, I always get in the mood to experiment with new cookies for the Christmas season.  Whether to have on hand for guests, the all-too-often time my daughter and I kick back with some hot chocolate, quick hostess gifts or whatever event comes up, cookies in the freezer are a good thing.

This year, I've been thinking alot about my grandmother, who could whip up a batch of cookies before her morning tea and single-handedly supply the local bakery with fresh bread before her second cup of tea.  I have fond memories of afternoons in her apartment being apart of this cooking frenzy.  But frenzy had nothing to do with it, it was a typical day which happened several times a week for her.  The best part was waiting for my Father to pick me up after work and see how pleased he was to leave with cookies, many loaves of bread and maybe a kid! :-)  These thoughts, of course, led to a search for these recipes and recreating them with my own daughter this Christmas.   (Unfortunately, my one regret was not collecting her recipes before she passed away.)  I still remember a simple drop cookie she made which was my absolute favorite - blonde in colour, raisins and I think, an assortment of spices.  For years I searched thousands of recipes, just to come up empty.

This year, with the power of Facebook, I came across a blog of Newfoundland recipes - NL Rock Recipes and low and behold, a plethora of old fashioned Newfoundland cookie recipes!  One of my Nan's favorites were snowballs - it was a mixture of marshmallows with a fudgy surround, rolled in a ball and through coconut.  However, I didn't realize until lately what battles arise across the province over what is a "snowball" cookie - some say it's just the fudgy chocolate base rolled in coconut, others say it's marshmallows.  Either works for us!

So I decided to start this brief series of Christmas cooking with a nod to my heritage, a fond look back at my childhood and remembering my dear Nan who accepted me so easily as her Sous Chef.  Thanks, Nan.  Jenna is going to love these cookies!

From www.nlrockrecipes.com

Snowballs

Key to the success of this recipe is the length of time that the base of the recipe is boiled. More precisely, it is the temperature that the mixture reaches when boiling that is critical. Much akin to making fudge, you are looking for the mixture to reach soft ball stage or near soft ball stage on a candy thermometer. Use one if you have it but if not, the five minutes gentle boiling as directed in the recipe is a pretty dependable guideline. It is also very important not to stir the mixture as it boils or you risk the sugar crystallizing and leaving you with a hard, crumbly finished product.

In a large saucepan, combine and boil together gently over medium high heat for 5 minutes or until mixture reaches about 230 degrees F on a candy thermometer:

3 cups sugar

3/4 cup melted butter

1 1/4 cups milk

Once mixture begins to boil it is very important not to stir it at all.

Mix together:

3 cups large rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened fine coconut

12 tbsp cocoa

Add the boiled mixture to the dry ingredients until well combined and chill well. until mixture is able to be shaped into 1 1/2 inch balls. Roll the balls in additional coconut. Makes about 4 dozen. These should be stored in the fridge. These freeze very well (my kids eat them frozen all the time, just like my siblings and I did as kids)

What's in your Houzz?

In the middle of my husband's first renovation at our house.  This renovation should not come as a surprise, as we've been avidly collecting power tools for him over the past year and a half, but the actual removal of our shower was, well let's say, a bit shocking.  For David, it's not his first renovation ever, but for many, many years and the first one with me.  For me - well, it's the first time I've seen something ripped off the wall and sawed into movable pieces.  Reason: Hubby wants a bigger shower, and gosh darn it, a nicer one.  Response: go for it!  There is only a few downsides: my inability to make up my mind and in a surge to make the most cost efficient decision, never seem to make the most satisfying choice, and two, the budget.  Thankfully, this is hubby's project, his sweat and full on launch into projects during retirement!  I am merely the designer and assistant.

So, currently, the shower is the focus - everything else remains intact until that is resolved.  Shower has been removed, shower is now enlarged and being tiled.  Shower heads and decision to go with travertine - done.  Frustration working with travertine - a real and present danger.  Shower doors to be ordered.  Kathryn comes across awesome website to help plan renovations and decorating - damn!  Why do these things happen out of sync for me?

www.houzz.com

Get on it!  A fantastic new website with oodles and oodles of pictures, descriptions, shopping tags, Q&As from designers and enthusiasts alike.  Similar to Pinterest, you can create labelled ideabooks and store all the photos that resonate with you, plus give descriptors of what it is about the visuals that inspire you.  Love the color paint, the vanity or want to know where you can get that fabulous rug?  Look no further: many of the designers have listed a product sheet or simply ask the question.  Genius.  Now, if only I had run across this website in September.  Oh well, I know where to go for the next renovation project!

Awesome brownies, anyone?

Not just brownies, but freakin' awesome ones.  In fact, I probably have about forty different brownie recipes - a conservative estimate - but after a few "not so perfect" choices, I prompt gave up, whipped up a batch of cookies and never really made it back to find that perfect brownie.  You know, the one that has a slightly flaky/crunchy top but almost fudge and all spectacular chocolate inside.  Yeah, that one.

That was until this past month.  My daughter was longing for a trip to the Duchess for her favorite brownie when the urge took us both over to just make the damn things and make them now.  We started searching the reliables: Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, Laura Calder and then the classics.  What we came up with was a selection of recipes that were marginally different, based on your own preferences: all chocolate, dark or milk chocolate, pecans, walnuts, chocolate chips?  We settled on our brownie primarily being the good old fashioned fudgy chocolate and a sprinkle of pecans for an extra crunch. 

Note: the biggest problem is waiting for the darn things to cool.  Jenna ate a 1/3 of the batch before the hour cooling was complete... Don't worry - it's a good thing :-)

Jenna's Fudgy Brownies

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, plus more for foil
8 oz. good quality, semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
3/4 cup flour
Optional:
nuts: 3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, milk, dark or white chocolate chunks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Line an 8-inch pan with foil (leaving overhang on two sides); butter or spray the foil.

Place the butter and chocolate in  a medium heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water.  Heat until the butter and chocolate are melted; stir.

Whisk sugar, then salt into the chocolate mixture; whisk in eggs and then gently whisk in flour just until the batter is combined.  Do not over mix.  Fold in any additions you might want.

Spread the batter into your foil-lined pan and bake for 45 minutes.  A toothpick should come out almost clean - just a few crumbs attached.  Remove from the heat and let the brownies cool completely.

Lift the foil (and brownies) out of the pan and peel the foil from the brownies.  Cut into pieces and enjoy!

Trunk Show = Desserts

Seems like a no-brainer.  Mix guests with Stella and Dot Trunk Show and what do you get?  Desserts.  Take it up a notch over the official holiday season and you get magical bling + friends = french desserts. I now remember why it's such a dangerous time of the year for my waistline, but alas, I carry on - there is no room for quitters in a kitchen.

Tonight is my first of two Holiday shows for my customers, as of course, one night does not fit every one's schedule, and to be honest, I couldn't possibly fit all these desserts I need to make into one night!  On the menu this evening is a simple but deadly lemon tart, walnut cake, some dipped strawberries and my interpretation to date of a hummingbird cake.  Now, I am still in the test kitchen figuring out the right measures, but the once indulged treat at Duchess proved to be a beautiful balance of banana bread with coconut and pineapple.  Stay tuned if I ever finish this recipe enough to blog it.  However, while you wait, I can share with you my fail proof recipe for Cream Cheese icing, which, happens to be the perfect topping for the fore mentioned hummingbird.

This is a recipe from Ina Garten, however, I tend to let the kitchen aid work at the final incorporation and slightly whip the icing - I'm a sucker for a lighter, meringue style topping...

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (1/2 pound)

Mix the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed until just combined. Don't whip! Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Yield: frosting for one 9-inch cake.

Holiday Time!

I know, the first week of November is a bit early to mention the upcoming season, but tonight, I have my first of two Holiday Trunk Shows and I am sooooo excited to share with everyone the great new look of Stella and Dot!  Not only can you assume some fabulous pieces of bling are in the mix, but with that, comes a collaboration with Alice Temperley - very popular British fashion designer, the launch into a scarf collection, beautiful candles and in addition to the purse line - wallets and tech wallets - a wallet just large enough for your iPhone, money and cards.  In one word: brilliant!

Here is a peek of some of the great items in store for all those Stella shoppers, new and old!

Great new retail gathering!

It's been awhile since I've been on Edmonton's infamous Whyte Avenue.  I can't remember the last time I visited a pub, restaurant or ambled down the blocks of local shopping boutiques and artsy cafes.  I miss that.  However, with the increase in popularity comes the expected: no parking, crowds and police.  I miss that less. 

A dear friend of mine recommended an acupuncturist/herbalist specialist to me a few months back, the only downside - located on Whyte Avenue.  However, my want to see this much talked about sanctuary and of course, receive great wellness care quickly overcome the glitch of nightmare traffic about two months ago.  I was impressed.  Located in a new building named Roots on Whyte, this community-based building, newly constructed on Whyte Avenue (with cheap underground parking) and even more to offer than a fantastic wellness retreat!  Located within three stories is a variety of local wellness businesses from chiropractor, dentist, yoga studio, therapist, hair salon to pilates studio.  On the main level, you'll find Blush Organic Market, deCapo Italian coffee bar and a quaint and quirky noshery Under the High Wheel - with beautiful plates of seasonal food lovingly prepared for you.

This is heaven.  Grab a coffee, get your shopping done, have a bite to eat and then off to the main event: Wellness on Whyte, for some loving care.  Add a pilates session in and that, my friend, is the definition of a morning well spent!

If you are seeking some loving care, I'd highly suggest Wellness on Whyte. (www.wellnessonwhyte.com ) The owner, Geha Gonthier, is a fabulous and knowledgeable professional who offers only the best in her sanctuary to help ease the mind, body and soul.  Geha is now, my acupuncturist, and I am all the more wiser for adding her Eastern medicine practises into my overall wellness routine.  Geha also has some other fantastic professionals on staff, including my daughter's new best friend - massage therapist, Leslie.  Leslie has both Jenna and me under her care and is a wonderfully caring individual with great technique and personality.  I hear Geha has also added a traditionally trained European facialist to the roster.  Hmmmmm...I sense another visit very shortly!

All in all, it's worth the traffic and drive to experience better well being through Wellness on Whyte as well as all the other fabulous storefronts at Roots on Whyte.  With ample parking and central location, this should be your next favorite place to spend an hour or three!