I really don't dislike vegetarians...

Taken from FailBlog

Funniest food blog...ever

After going through a few websites at the beginning of this year, I was led to a blog called Cake Wrecks. People described it as "hilarious" and "one of the funniest blogs they had ever read". I was quite skeptical, figuring there was no way to make cake funny. I'm not into obvious jokes, and thought this may be amusing but I wouldn't come back to read the blog again.

I was wrong. I spend an hour one morning perusing Cake Wrecks and laughing my ass off. It is now in my favourites list. Please take a look for yourself, be sure to check out the "Fan Favourites".

Food in the News

Oyster popularity is on the rise - Globe and Mail

Nougat? An in-depth look - Chowhound

Dealing with high-strung hosts - Chowhound

World's Most Expensive Tasting Menus - Forbes

Belushi's Won the Gold!

Creme Egg - unpimped.

After my previous post about the largest Cadbury Creme Egg I have ever seen, I have now come to find that the regular eggs are now smaller! Cadbury denies this and says that "You have just gotten bigger".

Unfortunately, B.J. Novak from The Office has evidence to prove otherwise.

Colbert On A Cone

Stephen Colbert has landed his own ice cream. Ben & Jerry's was able to create a flavour that is called "The sweet taste of Liberty in your mouth".

Colbert responded to the news of this new flavour by stating "I'm not afraid to say it. Dessert has a well-known liberal agenda. What I hope to do with this ice cream is bring some balance back to the freezer case."

Source: USA Today

"Let's hit up Magnolia and mack on some cupcakes!"

I am not a person who normally likes desserts. Hand me something salty or cheesy and I am in heaven. I do have one exception though - Magnolia Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Icing.

My mother-in-law made this dreamy dessert for my husband's birthday last year and I now "love those cupcakes like McAdams loves Gosling". I think I crammed 2 in my mouth before the evening was over. The rest of them did not last the week in our house. The creamy vanilla taste is amazing!



Magnolia's Vanilla Cupcakes

Recipe courtesy Allysa Torey, More From Magnolia: Recipes from the World-Famous Bakery and Allysa Torey's Home Kitchen, Simon and Schuster, 2004


Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Icing: Vanilla Buttercream, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 2 (1/2 cup-12 capacity) muffin tins with cupcake papers.

In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.


Vanilla Buttercream:

The vanilla buttercream we use at the bakery is technically not a buttercream but actually an old-fashioned confectioners' sugar and butter frosting. Be sure to beat the icing for the amount of time called for in the recipe to achieve the desired creamy texture.
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
6 to 8 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla.

On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar.

If desired, add a few drops of food coloring and mix thoroughly. (Use and store the icing at room temperature because icing will set if chilled.) Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Yield: enough for 2 dozen cupcakes

Play With Your Food

* Check out the amazing watermelon carvings at this website - http://haha.nu/creative/watermelon-carving-artwork/

Entertaining...

I adore entertaining - in all shapes and forms. It rarely stresses me out and I love being able to plan and prepare for something that I know will make people happy.

Over the holiday season this year I have not had as many parties as usual. I did have my teaching staff over for an end of 2006 party and I had my family over for brunch as well. I am hoping to have some of my girlfriends over in the next week for a relaxing evening of appetizers and cocktails - we'll see what happens though.

Here are some of my menus and recipes from the past week.

Mexican Buffet Dinner for 12

*Shredded Beef with Corn and Flour Tortillas
Gaucamole and Tomatillo Salsa with Nacho Chips
"Jicama" Coleslaw
*Spicy Chorizo and Onion Potatoes



Gift Exchange Brunch for 4

Gingerbread Latte
Prosecco Mimosa
Cranberry Apricot Yogurt Parfait
Cornmeal Waffles
Brown Sugar Glazed Bacon


Shredded Beef (For Tacos)

1/2 large can of whole tomatoes, chopped
1 bottle of beer
Juice of one lime
3 lb roast of beef (inexpensive cut)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 T cumin
1 t chili powder
S&P to taste

Combine all of the above ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours (or high for 5-6 hours). When the beef is cooked, carefully remove the roast from the pot and place on a cutting board. Using 2 forks, shred the beef into bitesized portions.

Pour the remaining liquid into a small pot and simmer on medium-low heat until the mixture is reduced by half. Stir the reduced liquid and beef together.

Eat with warm tortillas and your favourite toppings.

Spicy Chorizo and Onion Potatoes

10 red potatoes, cleaned and cut in half
4 large "hot" chorizo sausage, sliced into 1 inch pieces
1 large red onion, sliced thin
2 T + 4 T olive oil
1 T white wine vinegar
S&P, to taste

Boil potatoes in a large pot of water until they are fork tender. Drain potatoes and cut into bite sized pieces - return to pot.

Saute onion in a large pan with 2 T olive oil, until onion has softened. Add chorizo and saute 7 minutes more. Add vinegar and stir - take off heat.

Add sausage mixture to potatoes with remaining olive oil. Combine with S&P and serve warm.

You may want to avert your eyes.

On someone's reccomendation I recently came across this site which proudly discusses the Weight Watchers food plan from 1974. It is like a food horror film!!

My God, were they trying to scare people away from eating so that they would lost weight? Disgusting - just horrible. There is no reason, ever, that anyone should have to eat food like this.

And just what is Caucasian Sashlik??? (It looks much more appetizing in those pics.)

Catering

I have decided to start up my catering business again. I have given it the name of "Maple Syrup and Poutine Catering" - how original!

I haven't done a real catering job since I moved back from Burlington and I do miss it. It helped me to challenge my culinary skills as well as adding some extra moolah to my pocketbook.

On Thursday I will be putting out sample appetizers at a few workplaces, along with some pamphlets, in the hopes of attracting a few customers over the holidays.

Here is what is included in the pamphlet:

Spanakopita Triangles
These phyllo triangles are from a family recipe. They are stuffed with spinach, dill and feta and covered in crispy phyllo dough. Always a party favourite.


Shortbread Crackers
These savoury crackers come in two different flavours, please specify when ordering. Try both kinds: parmesan with pepper jelly or rosemary with blue cheese.

Gyoza
These Japanese dumplings make for a substantial appetizer at a cocktail party. They are filled with ground pork, cabbage and spices.

Satay
Both of these meat satays can come spiced to your liking. The tandoori chicken satay comes complete with a cucumber raita, while the jerk beef satay is served with chutney for dipping.

Phyllo Purses
These tasty purses come with one of two types of stuffing. Choose between tangy cranberry with brie or pear, blue cheese & walnuts.

I am still perfecting the shortbread, but I am having fun tasting all of my efforts! Hopefully I'll be able to do some extra cooking and help out a few busy people over the holidays.

Mixed message...

Lazy.

So I am feeling less than active today. Therefore there will be no "real" post this weekend. This week looks like a promising food week though.

Monday - "Wines of the New World" Class at the LCBO

Wednesday - Cooking Club at Dana's place (Theme: Black and Orange)

Friday - Team Party at my place

Recipes and reviews will be posted ASAP.

S&M Baking

Sweet, sweet potato pie.

The problem with having a coworker who is also a foodie? Ummmm, nothing!

Last night Dana and I got together to create some Sweet Potato Pies for Thanksgiving weekend. We went grocery shopping, opened a bottle of wine and got to cooking. Once again, those delicious fall spice smells filled up the kitchen.

We made too much of the filling - oops - so we made a pie sans crust just for a taste test. Yummers!

Our recipe is a combo of recipes from the Food Network, Epicurious, and Martha Stewart.

Dana & Danielle's Sweet Potato Pie

25 gingersnap cookies
4 T butter, melted + 3T melted & cooled
1 large sweet potato, peeled, cut in chunks and boiled until soft
2.5 T flour
0.5 t salt
1 t ground ginger
1 t cinnamon
0.5 t nutmeg
0.5 t allspice
1/4 c brown sugar
1 T vanilla
3 large eggs + 1 egg
1 c condensed milk
1/4 c corn syrup
1 c pecans


1. Heat oven to 325. Place cookies in food processor and pulse until fairly fine - should make about 1 c of crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and add 4 T of melted butter. Press mixture into the bottom of a deep pie dish. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until set. Do not overbake.

2. Turn up oven to 375. In a bowl, combine flour, salt and spices. Set aside.

3. Mash sweet potatoes. Add sugar, vanilla, eggs and condensed milk. Stir. Mix in remaining 3 T of melted butter. Add flour/spice mixture and stir. Pour filling into cooled crust.

4. Whisk together remaining egg and corn syrup in a bowl. Add pecans and stir to coat. Place pecans on top of pie. Drizzle pie with remaining egg/syrup mixture. Bake pie until filling is set and pecan topping is golden - 30-35 minutes.



P.S. A sweet potato is NOT A YAM!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't get me started, don't even get me started.
Some grocery stores need to get their act together.

What the hell?????

It is for this reason that I do not buy frozen prepared foods. Nasty!!!!!

To market, to market, to buy a fat duck.

I adore food markets. I try to find them when I am traveling and I have enjoyed the ones in cities where I have lived. The Windsor Market is not bad. I have not yet been able to enjoy their summer extension in the Armouries building but I have heard good things about that as well.

This morning started out fairly dreary and cool. That inspired me to want to create something comforting and warm for dinner so I headed out to the market. It was packed for noon on a Saturday. I figured all the hardcore shoppers would have been done by then. It is nice to see so many people supporting local farmers and shopping for great quality food.

Once I got there I did get a bit excited and decided to buy a duck. A freakin' big duck. This guy was about 8lbs. The butcher at the stand did a fantastic job cutting the bird into pieces so that I could use the breasts immediately and save the legs and what not for a later date.

Walking around the rest of the market I took a gander at the cheese (always a fave), fresh honey, tomatoes, and abundance of squash. I decided to pick up a butternut as a side dish for dinner. As I left I had to make a pit stop at the Lebanese place that makes the yummy spinach pizza. They didn't have any pizza ready but I was able to pick up rice with lentils and carmelized onion and a spinach pie.

The duck, squash and Lebanese treats hit the spot. See dinner recipes below.

Duck with Port Cherry Sauce

Squash Brulee

If you are truly Canadian...

Yes I am.

Another mealtime option...