Whenever we have an office potluck I bake something. And whenever I bake something the “moms” in the office always tell me I’m bonne a marrier (good to marry). They all seem to believe the idea that a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. There is a catch to that though; for it to work I would have to actually feed someone, and I generally don’t walk around with baked goods at the ready in case I see a cute guy.

When the people at Gojee asked if I wanted to participate in a virtual potluck I first planned to make a quinoa salad, but then I realized this is my chance to serve up some baked goods on a much larger pot luck scale. The blueberries in my fridge made my decision on what to make real simple: blueberry boy bait.

This is a combination of a Smitten Kitchen recipe and one of my moms. Blueberry Boy Bait is actually a really simple cake to make, it’s basically a coffee cake like batter with a ton blueberries on top. It kind of reminds me of an upside down cake, without the upside down-ness, if that makes any sense. The original calls for a cinnamon sugar crust on the berries, but I like a streusel topping. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries, though I prefer the texture of fresh.

Starting on Thursday, January 26, check out other potluck dishes fellow gojee contributors shared. Go to gojee.com and enter “gojeepotluck” into I Crave.  You can also follow #gojeepotluck on Twitter.

Enjoy!

One of the great pleasures of winter, for me at least, is that it’s an opportunity to curl up on the couch and catch up on some TV/movie watching and general laziness. This weekend has been particularly cold, with windchills bringing the temperature down to minus 25 Celcius (around minus 8 F). Yesterday I braved the cold and got some errands done, my teeth chattering the whole way through. My bravery was rewarded with a great find at a thrift shop; for $40 I picked up a solid wood dresser that with a little love is destined to become a TV stand in my new place (I was channeling my inner Sarah Richardson).

So today I feel zero guilt in my plan to watch super hero movies all day, starting with Thor (how hot is Chris Hemsworth in that movie?) followed by Batman Begins and the Dark Knight.  The fireplace is roaring, and my super cozy wool blanket is waiting for me. As I get carried away into these fantastical worlds where the good guys always win, I will be munching on this Spiced Kettle Corn. Stove top popcorn is really easy to make, and doesn’t take much more time or effort than microwave popcorn. There is also the added bonus of controlling the ingredients that go into your popcorn and knowing there are no random chemicals leaching into your food. In this recipe I added a touch of cayenne and garlic powder to give the popcorn a spicy/savoury kick. I was a little worried about the garlic and sugar together, but in the end I found the flavours really worked together. You can substitute any spices you like in this recipe.

Spiced Kettle Corn

• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup unpopped popcorn kernels
• salt to taste

1. Mix the sugar, garlic powder and cayenne together. Set aside.
2. In a large heave bottomed pot that has a lid, heat the vegetable oil over medium heat. Add the popcorn and cover. When you hear the oil start to sizzle, stir in the sugar mixture then cover again. Shake the pot constantly to keep the sugar from burning. When the pops slow to once every two to three seconds remove the pot from the heat, keep shaking until the popping stops completely.
3. Pour the popcorn into a serving bowl and season with salt.

Enjoy!

I’m sure many of your diets have switched away from rich holiday meals and desserts to something a little more reasonable for every day life. I’ve been trying to do the same, but my mind keeps wandering back to sugary treats. I think I may have an addiction. I have a hard time going more than a day without something sweet to calm the cravings. It’s hard to believe that not too long ago I cut sugar and gluten completely from my diet.

One of the sweet visions that I go back to regularly are these Chocolate Marshmallows I made in December. There is nothing quite like a homemade marshmallow. Although you can see the resemblance to store bought, looks are really all they have in common. Homemade are much more flavourful, their texture light and fluffy. Unlike store bought, I could eat them as is, no need for anything else.

It was quite the adventure making these, not that the recipe is difficult, I was just having a particularly klutzy weekend. I made a batch and was about to unmold it when somehow I dropped the whole pan on the kitchen floor, sticky side down (of course). There is no 5 second rule when it comes to sticky marshmallow, I had to scoop it up in chunks with my hands, the whole thing ruined.

I still wanted marshmallows, so I made another batch. This time the entire marshmallow making process went off without a hitch.

Unfortunately the photo session didn’t turn out so well. I took a few shots like the one above then started to take photos of the marshmallows in a mug of hot chocolate. It was a gloomy day out, so I had a whiteboard set up to bounce some light onto the mug. I have no idea exactly what happened, but while I was shooting, the white board fell over onto the mug, causing it to topple over and the hot chocolate to spill. There was hot chocolate everywhere; on the table, the carpet, even on my parents upholstered dining room chairs. Disaster. After scrambling to clean it all up I decided there was only one thing to do: sit down and eat marshmallows.

Marshmallows make everything better.

Chocolate Marshmallows

(makes approx 36 marshmallows)

• 2 tsp gelatin
• 2/3 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup clear corn syrup
• 4 oz dark chocolate, melted
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

1. Line an 8 by 8 inch pan with plastic wrap and lightly grease the plastic.
2. In a small sauce pan, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let the gelatin expand. Add the sugar to the pan and gently heat while stirring until the sugar has dissolved completely.
3. Pour the sugar and gelatin mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the corn syrup and then beat for 10 to 12 minutes until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Stir in the chocolate using a spatula to mix.
4. Pour into the prepared pan spreading with a greased spatula. Refrigerate for about 1 hour until well set.
5. Cover a work area with half the cocoa powder. Unmold the marshmallow onto the cocoa powder, then cut into squares using scissors or a pizza cutter. Cover each square with the remaining cocoa powder.
6. Keep in a well sealed container at room temperature for 3-4 days. (if they make it that long)

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

I’m not big on new years resolutions. I see no reason to hold off on doing something you truly want to do, so waiting till January 1st doesn’t work for me.  I’m sure the reason most resolutions are not kept past January 3rd is that they tend to be things people don’t want to do.

That’s not to say I don’t see an advantage to the new year. It’s a time to reflect, look back on what was and move forward. If your year was good, you can build on it. If your year was crappy, well then you get begin all over again. A new year gives us a chance to clean the slate and start fresh.

Personally I found 2011 to be kind of meh. It was  year I spent waiting, and because of that I feel almost that it was a lost year. It had ups and downs along the way, but  looking back the downs outweighed the ups. So I’m looking forward to 2012 and all of the opportunities it has to offer.

I’m starting the year off with this fresh start drink, a rosemary scented grapefruit cocktail. The fresh squeezed grapefruit is a nod to the healthy living many have promised to adhere to this month. And the rosemary sugar syrup and booze are there to throw resolutions out the window. Feel free to use store bought grapefruit juice, but keep in mind that they are often sweetened so you may have to cut back on the sugar in the syrup. Also, if you are on medication that doesn’t play well with grapefruit .. drink something else please.

Rosemary Scented Grapefruit Cocktail

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2-3 long sprigs of rosemary
• 4 cups fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
• 3 oz vodka
• 2 oz Triple Sec

1. Make the rosemary syrup: In a small saucepan heat the sugar and water until the sugar has completely dissolved. Add the rosemary and simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. In a pitcher, mix the rosemary syrup with the grapefruit juice, vodka and Triple Sec.
3. Serve over ice with a rosemary “stirrer”.

Enjoy!

Tonight, I was crucial to the success of a rescue operation.

It has been bitterly cold in Montreal this week, with today’s high around minus 15 degrees. My plan was to avoid the cold by sitting at home by the fire and napping/watching TV all day. Midway through Jeopardy the call came; my brother needed help. He had parked his car outside a metro all day and it wouldn’t start. Normally I would let my dad handle this type of situation, but this time it was decided we both would go. We donned our snow gear, grabbed the jumper cables and headed out.

When we arrived at the scene my brother looked half frozen, but he refused to put on a hat. The plan was to push my brothers car out of it’s parking space so that we could boost it. The men attempted to push the car while I got the cables.

But the car wasn’t moving.

So I headed over to help. And with my measly little pipe-cleaner arms I succeeded in getting the car moving.

I don’t know what they would have done without me. We got the car out of the spot, boosted it and everyone headed home, safe and sound.

Once home, I felt it was time to reward myself with a hot chocolate and a couple of these Chocolate Hazelnut Snowball cookies.The recipe was adapted from this one in the December Food and Wine. These were the last of the Christmas cookies I made this year. The texture is kind of similar to biscotti, a great cookie to have with a cup of tea or coffee.    I used hazelnuts instead the pecans called for in the recipe because of an allergy. I also cut the quantity of nuts used by half a cup, because I felt that the hazelnuts would overwhelm the cookie.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Snowballs

Makes 30-36 cookies

• 1 1/2 cups hazelnuts, finely chopped
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp instant espresso powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Icing sugar for coating

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast them for 5 to 10 minutes until lightly toasted.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla together until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and salt together. Stir the flour into the butter mixture until well combined. Stir in the hazelnuts. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Roll the dough in to tablespoon sized balls and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. The cookies will be slightly firm to the touch when done. Let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then cool completely on a rack.

Enjoy!

I had this post all done last night. It was quite possibly the best thing I had ever written. The words just flowed from my fingertips and onto my screen. I even spell checked and edited, something I rarely remember to do. I tagged and categorised the post and finally hit publish. At that point a message I had never seen but often wished for appeared. It said “Are you sure?” My spidey senses started tingling at this point, because even though there have been times when I needed an “are you sure” option, I knew this would not turn out well. I clicked yes, but the same screen reappeared. I clicked no and was returned to my edit post screen, except all of the words that had so magically flowed from my fingertips were now gone. I searched for an auto save version, but there were none. The post had just disappeared into the interweb.

Thankfully I still had some of these mini Pain D’épices to console myself with. I had made them after a long day of Christmas shopping and tree decorating to keep my holiday spirit up. The honey and spices are perfectly Christmas-ey. The flavours intensify and meld over time, so this is one of those recipes best made in advance. French spice loaves are generally very dense, and this one is no exception. I followed Laura Calder’s recipe and made very few modifications. I baked it in mini loaf molds rather than a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan, I infused the milk with anise seed instead of grinding the seeds, and I sugared the molds instead of flouring them to create a sugar crust on the sides of the loaves. The recipe is quite easy to follow, and doesn’t require any special equipment. The loaves would pair well with a cream cheese icing, but I decided to eat them as is.

Pain D’épices

Recipe by Laura Calder

• 2/3 cup dark honey
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup butter
• 3-4 anise seeds
• Zest of 1 orange
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp cardamom
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ground clove
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ¼ cup sugar and 1 tbsp butter for the mold

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a mini loaf pan with the butter and pour a little sugar into each mold. Tap the pan to spread the sugar around each mold then discard any excess.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring the honey, sugar, milk, butter, anise seeds and orange zest to a boil. Set aside to cool as the rest of the ingredients are prepared.
3. Sift the flour, spices and salt into a large bowl. Dig a well into the center of the flour mixture and pour the egg into the well.
4. Discard the anise seed from the milk mixture, and then pour the milk into the well. Whisk the milk into the flour until combined.
5. Pour an equal amount of batter into each mold. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean. If using a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan bake for about 50 minutes.
6. Let the loaves cool for 5 minutes in the pan then turn out onto a cooling rack and let cool completely. Cover in plastic wrap let the flavours blend together for about 24 hours.

Enjoy!

First up are Averie of Love Veggies and Yoga’s Baked Eggnog and Vanilla Donuts. The name just says it all, really. I can just imagine waking up to these first thing Christmas morning to these beauties.

Next on my list of things to make is this Bourbon Spice Cake from Russell at Chasing Delicious. I’m a big fan of Russell’s blog, everything he makes looks delicious and comforting, and this cake is no exception.

Ken over at Hungry Rabbit made these Ginger Snowdrops for the 2nd annual NYC Cookie swap, and I can tell you I seriously wish I lived in New York. The cookies look perfect, with crystalized, fresh and ground ginger to make sure you’ve had your ginger fix.

If you’re looking for a drink look no further than Carolyn of All Day I Dream Food’s Cranberry Ginger Mulled Wine. It’s got warm holiday flavours and it’s low carb (Carolyn’s specialty).

For something on the spicy side, this Cranberry Pepper Jelly from Janice at Kitchen Heals Soul sounds perfect. I think a jar of this would make an awesome gift. Hint, hint, Janice. Just kidding. Kinda.

Thin Mints from In Katrina’s Kitchen have been on my mind since she posted them a few months back. I’ve never had the real deal, but chocolate with mint is one of my faovurite flavour combinations, so I’m pretty sure these would be awesome.

Adam and Joanne of Inspired Taste’s Salted Caramel look perfect.

Chocolate Fudge S’mores Thumbprints from How Sweet It Is would satisfy any s’more craving you might have.

These Mini Anise Cakes from Just a Little Bite look adorable, and the I love the use of anise in a cake. (Recipe in Spanish)

Created By Diane’s Ginger Cheesecake Bites would be great for a cookie swap.

Can’t decide between chocolate or caramel? These Chocolate Salted Caramel Cookies from Melissa at Eyes Bigger than My Stomach mean you don’t have to choose.

Enjoy!

First of all, I’d like to thank everyone who left a comment on my last post. My family has gone through a tough time lately, and although I’d prefer not to get into the details here, the virtual hugs are very much appreciated.

Secondly, I’d like to apologize to all my subscribers and followers for hitting “publish” instead of “preview” earlier today. This was the second time I’ve made that mistake, and I’m hoping I’ll never do it again. I hope having a broken link in your reader wasn’t too much of an annoyance.

Now onto the cookies. I was heading to a friends for coffee this weekend and didn’t want to show up empty handed. Cookies were the obvious choice; they’re quick, easy, and very transportable. I had a lot ideas about what to make but, as my mom pointed out, few ingredients. I took a look in the pantry and spotted a few containers of Mighty Leaf Tea. Tea in a cookie is something I’ve been meaning to try for awhile. I did a quick Google search and found a Martha Stewart recipe that sounded perfect. Then I had to make a tough decision; should I make the cookies as written, or should I make them with Jasmine Green Tea? In the end I chose to make them as written, but I will definitely be trying them with the green tea as well.

The cookies were perfectly crisp and very lightly flavoured with Earl Grey. Next time I make them I think I’ll omit the orange zest, because although Earl Grey is a citrus based tea, it’s flavour is too light to stand up to the orange. Despite that I really enjoyed these cookies, and I think I’ll be adding them to the Christmas baking rotation. I think they’d make a great gift along with some fancy teas.

Earl Grey Tea Cookies

Makes about 60 cookies

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp finely ground tea (tea can be ground in a spice grinder or mini food processor, use the best quality you can afford as cheaper teas have less flavour)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp finely grated orange zest (optional)

1. In a small bowl mix the flour, tea and salt together. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter, powdered sugar and orange zest together with an electric mixer until the butter is light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add the flour, mixing until well combined.
3. Split the dough in half and create two round logs, 1 1/4 inches in diameter, wrap them with parchment paper and refrigerate for 1 hour. To keep the bottoms of the logs from flattening out you can slide the logs into paper towel tubes before refrigerating.
4. Preheat the oven to 350. Line two cookie sheets with parchment, set aside.
5. Cut the logs into 1/4 inch slices, place the slices on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake for 13 to 16 minutes until the bottoms are just golden. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack before serving.

Enjoy!

When tragedy strikes we feel the need to do something, anything, to make it better. Sometimes there are no actions that can be taken. All we can do is be there to comfort each other. The only thing that can make things better is time.

Comfort can come in many forms; kind words, a hug, or even a cookie (or two) with a tall glass of milk. These cookies were adapted from Martha Stewart’s Pumpkin cookies. I substituted unsweetened apple sauce for the pumpkin puree. Since apple sauce is much thinner than pumpkin puree, I strained the sauce with a coffee filter to get a thicker consistency. You could also try cooking the sauce down.

The cookies have a very cake like texture. The apple flavour came through very well, and was wonderfully complemented by the brown butter icing. One note on the icing, make sure to whip it well otherwise the butter will separate.

Apple Cinnamon Cookies with Brown Butter Icing

Makes approx. 48 cookies

• 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/4 tsp ginger
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened apple sauce, strained
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes with an electric mixer). Mix in the eggs, followed by the apple sauce, evaporated milk, and vanilla. Add the flour, mixing till well combined. The batter will be quite thin.
4. Spoon the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, making cookies approximately 1 inch rounds, spaced 1 inch apart.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned and the tops spring back when pressed. Let cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Brown Butter Icing

• 4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 10 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 2 tsp vanilla

1. Put the powdered sugar in a mixing bowl, set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the butter becomes golden brown and smells nutty. Pour the melted butter over the powdered sugar, making sure to scrape the brown butter bits in as well. Add the evaporated milk and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Use to ice cooled cookies.

Enjoy!

When I think about what I want to do I draw a complete blank. The question seems so huge I can’t manage it. So I’m trying to frame the question differently; what makes me happy? The answer to that question tends to be little things.  A Tuesday night with friends and wine.. my yellow rubber boots.. singing at the top of my lungs in the car. And a great meal with family. The kind where everyone is there, my cousins telling the most ridiculous stories, and all of us feeling stuffed beyond belief. A staple at these meals has always been lamb, one of my favourite things to eat. This doesn’t really solve my career issues, but having lamb for dinner Sunday night did make me feel a little better. The little things will always be there, no matter what goes on in the office.

My dad usually handles the lamb, but since I planned on blogging the recipe I decided to make it myself. I did go to him for guidance though, like should it be roasted with the fatty side up or down and how will I know when it’s done? The fatty side should be up, and there’s a pretty neat trick to figuring out if it’s done if you don’t have a meat thermometer. Press the thumb and index finger of your left hand together, now with your right hand poke the fleshy part of your thumb. That amount a give is what you would feel if you poked a piece of lamb that’s cooked rare. Press your thumb to your middle finger, and that amount of give is what you would feel from medium. The next finger over is well done. Or you could just use a thermometer.

Panko Crusted Rack of Lamb

(serves 4)

(Adapted from Laura Calder and Gourmet)

•  1/2 cups panko
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1  tsp salt
• 1  tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 frenched rack of lamb (8 cutlets) at room temperature
• 4 tbsp Dijon mustard