the end of my hiatus

I often struggle with how much information I'm actually willing to share about myself here, especially considering I don't control who reads this blog.  It has been quite a few months, and this is really the first time I've even considered coming out of hiding, so that at least is a start.  In the meantime, while I decide what I'm going to say and how I'm going to say it, I'm going to go bake cake.  When all else fails, put your love into a cake, and you will be rewarded with the most delicious tasting slice of heaven. 

When all else fails, just bake.

happy anniversary and cake one year later

 

Photos courtesy of fresh images

Josh and I recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary.  I still can't believe we've been married a year, and yet at the same time I can't believe it's only been a year.  What a whirlwind it's been, and truly it's the most amazingly blessed year of my life.  

As is tradition we decided to keep the top tier of our wedding cake to eat on this one year occasion.  Part of me was skeptical as to how it would actually hold up a year later, but that was before the cake got moved from St. Catharines to Fergus and then to Guelph.  I really wasn't expecting much but I have to say I was beyond pleasantly surprised.  It seriously was fantastic.  So fantastic you NEVER would have known it spent a year in 3 different freezers.

Thank you so much Sharlene from Sweet Celebrations

for the most delicious wedding cake a girl could ask for. (Even a year later.)

So looking forward to what the next year will bring us.  Whatever it is, I'm sure there will be more cake... lots more cake.

 Photo courtesy of fresh images

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

 

Have a safe and happy halloween!

pumpkin... in a lot of forms

Fall and pumpkins are synonymous in my life and this fall has not failed me.  Pumpkin pie, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin granola and pumpkin smoothies so far have topped my list.

This pumpkin pie is delicious and not too sweet.  Thank you Martha Stewart, you continue to exceed my expectations! The only thing I did was add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.  The pie tasted even better the next day.

 

I found this pumpkin doughnut recipe on pinterest.  As a side note, I'm kind of obsessed with pinterest.  It can get bad.  I feel like I turn into this drone who can only scroll down and say things in my head like "just one more picture..." On the bright side, I do find things inspiring enough to pull away from the screen for a little while.  These doughnuts were one of those things, and a hit in my house.  

Another pinterest find, this pumpkin granola was really good.  I've since decided I like my granola much plainer but for what it was it really was delicious.  

Josh makes fun of my love affair with chocolate chips.  I eat them with a lot. Popcorn, cereal, almonds, chips, alone... I seriously think if there is one thing I couldn't live without it would be chocolate chips.  And coffee but definitely chocolate chips. 

 

The pumpkin smoothie I made up after seeing a bunch of other recipes.  It was super easy, fast, delicious and nutritious.

 

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

from back to basics

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 frozen banana

1 Tbs whey protein

1 Tbs maple syrup

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

In a blender (or magic bullet in my case) blend all ingredients and then enjoy!

I love everything about the fall.  

We'll see what other goodies I can come up with in the next little while.  I'm thinking apple picking and apple sauce. Whatever it is I know my kitchen will smell delicious!

vegan chocolate cupcakes

My last post was all about the lemon cake I made Margie for her birthday.  Along with that cake I also wanted to make something special for our wonderful friend Ashley, who also happens to be a vegan. 

I've never made anything vegan, or at least anything baking wise that's vegan.  As far as daily meals go I can sometimes get a little lazy and a lot of the things I eat end up begin vegan without my even trying, but that's not what this post is about.  

I found a recipe for vegan chocolate cupcakes in a book I downloaded for free on amazon for my kindle app.  It's from a book called Cupcake Recipes To Impress Your Loved Ones by Chris Cooker.

I must say I was very intrigued by the idea of vegan cupcakes, but while these look delicious, the actual cake came out so dense I had a hard time really enjoying them because of their texture.  The buttercream on the other hand was delicious!  

Despite the fact that I would probably not make this recipe again, I'm really interested in trying the whole vegan thing again.  Hopefully round two turns out delicious tasting as well as delicious looking.

Fingers crossed.

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

from Chris Cooker

1 1/2 c flour

1 c brown sugar

1/3 c cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c water

1/4 c almond milk

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup oil

1 tbs vinegar

2 tsp vanilla 

Preheat oven to 375

Line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside.

Combine wet ingredients and add to dry until batter comes together.

Fill muffin tin evenly with batter and bake for 20 mins

Let cool before frosting.

Vegan Chocolate Buttercream

 from Chris Cooker 

1/2 c vegetable shortning

1/2 c vegan butter or margarine

4 c powdered sugar, sifted

1 c cocoa powder, sifted

1 tsp vanilla

3-6 tbs almond milk

Cream together shortening and butter with either hand or stand mixer.  Add sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder, vanilla and slowly add the almond milk as needed.

lemon lemon lemon cake

 

I love my sisters.  They're kind of fantastic, all of them.  Yesterday was Margie's birthday, and last night I had the enormous privledge of not only spending the evening with her and some of her wonderful friends, but I got to bring the cake!

 

It was a couple months ago when Margie asked me if I could replicate a cake she found on pinterest and fell in love with.  Of course I said yes!  Her only request was that it was very lemony with a tart lemon filling.  I was trying to find a recipe that met the criteria and I came across one from fine cooking.  It was super fun to make!  

The cake called for the lemon zest to be put in a blender with 1/4 cup of the sugar, something I'd never done before.  It added such a deliciously light lemon flavour to the finished cake.  The lemon curd filling, also from fine cooking, is honestly the best lemon curd I've ever made.  Ever other recipe I've made uses corn starch as the thickener but this recipe just used egg yolks.  6 of them.  It was so rich and delicious it took everything I had not to just start eating it with a spoon.

Now enough with the amazing cake and filling because the buttercream was kind of a bust... a soupy mess that just wouldn't set.  I attempted Italian meringue buttercream for the first time.  I decided against swiss meringue buttercream because I've done it enough times that I wanted to try something new.  In retrospect I should have just gone with what I knew but I leaned so atleast there is that.  

Note to self: Next time don't over beat the egg whites and under cook the sugar.  Just sayin.  Anyway, as long as I kept the cake refridgerated nothing melted and realiztically it still tasted fantastic.  

The outside of the cake was decorated with pink crushed meringue.  All in all, exactly what Margie wanted.  Or at least that's what she's telling me.

Love you Mugs, like a lot.  Can't wait to see what you request next year!

Photos taken by Margie at fresh images

nothing says summer quite like a barbeque... and strawberry rhubarb crisp

I don't have words enough to express how happy I am to be back in Guelph.  I'm not even sure I really have a super awesome reason other than it's just home. 

On Saturday morning Josh Kyleigh and I went to the Guelph Farmers Market to get some produce for the salads and dessert I made for our little family barbeque.

 

I made a cucumber salad with peppers parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing.  There really isn't a recipe for this one, just as much or as little of each thing as you want and mix.

Broccoli salad with an entire pound of bacon.  You can't go wrong with an entire pound of bacon. 

Broccoli Salad

from the big red book

  

1 big head of broccoli, cut into tiny florets
1 lb really well cooked bacon, crumbled
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Dressing

 1 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellmann's and not Miracle whip for this one)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar

Mix the dressing well.  Pour it over the salad stuff and let it sit for an hour or so till you're ready to serve it.

 

Margie was wonderful enough to make her super awesome and delicious corn salsa.  

The burgers and hot dogs are pretty self explanatory.

And to top it all off, a strawberry rhubarb crisp made with local strawberries and rhubarb.  Is there a better combination than strawberries and rhubarb?

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

from back to basics

2 lbs of fresh strawberries and rhubarb

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all purpose flour 

Topping

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar 

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, combine strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, and 1/4 cup flour.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup flour and the butter.  You can use a food processor or a stand mixer, but  I find it so much easier to just get my hands dirty.  Add brown sugar and oats and mix until combined.  Sprinkle over strawberries and rhubarb.

Bake until strawberries and rhubarb are tender and topping is golden, 35 to 45 minutes.

It was such a wonderful night, and Kyleigh had the enormous privileged of being surrounded by so many people who love her.  If this barbeque was any indication of how amazing this summer is going to be, I'm not sure I'll be able to contain my excitement, or my need to celebrate with dessert.  Life is just sweeter with dessert isn't it? 

Oh how sweet it is.