Fall Colours

I love this time of year. Although cooler, it's still bright and full of unique colours everywhere you look. Nature has such an amazing way of putting colours together that you may not think really go together and making it work.

This is the inspiration behind our "Oaks and Acorns" design. The purple and green colour scheme pops on the light natural apron but still remains soft and pretty. 

Our friend Sarah, the gourmet goddess

We hope this apron encourages the "gourmet goddess" in you to do some cooking with the rich and vibrant root vegetables that are in season.

Or, if you prefer the sweeter side and are more of a "baking beauty", go apple picking and try out this apple yogurt cake with a cinnamon sugar streak from The Kitchn. I made it last week...it lasted for 3 days...Yikes!

Enjoy.
xo

Instant Status Upgrade

Are you always labelled a Microwave Maven rather than a Gourmet Goddess? There's nothing wrong with being a little challenged in the kitchen you know. Many a tasty birthday cake has been created from store bought cake mixes. All it takes is a little creativity and presentation to make something not quite from scratch special. No need to hang your head, dear Microwave Mavens, hold your heads high and rejoice in your other gifts!

If, however, you still dream of hearing people exclaiming over your kitchen prowess I have the solution. Go to Kitchen Stuff Plus and get yourself a kitchen blow torch and make creme brulee. I finally bought a blow torch and made this recipe from Canadian Living and it was a show stopper! I had no idea creme brulee was so simple, nor did I know that torching something could be so much fun! You can hang up your Microwave Maven aprons and graduate to Baking Beauty in an instant.

I can't wait to find more recipes that involve torching!

Perfect Birthday Cake

If ever there is a time that one should be allowed to eat cake for breakfast it would be on one's birthday, right? I think I have found my perfect birthday cake. Leave it to my girl crush Joy the Baker to have a chocolate beet cake. With beet cream cheese icing no less. I love beets. Really really love them. They're vibrant, earthy, sweet and rich, what's not to love? Luckily I have decided to celebrate my birthday well into the weekend so there will be plenty of time for someone to bake me this cake. I'll wait....

(photo: Joy the Baker)

Zucchini Lunch

There comes a time in the summer when everyone with a vegetable garden gets overwhelmed with an overload of zucchini. There are only so many loaves of zucchini bread a person can bake. I am lucky enough to have great neighbours and friends with veggie gardens who pass me their bounty and I am extremely grateful. Nevertheless, I cringe when I receive yet another zucchini.Well I won't be cringing anymore! I saw this recipe for Roquefort zucchini and now I can't wait for some zucchini deliveries. In fact I don't think I can wait that long. I need to get some zucchinis pronto. The strong cheese with the mild zucchini seems like a dreamy combo. Add some crusty bread on the side and a glass of crisp white wine and you have a heavenly summer lunch.

(Photo: Poppytalk)

Not Your Typical Salad

I had an urge for something light and crunchy. It felt like a salad kind of day. I didn't feel like a run of the mill, head of romaine kind of salad, however. I was looking for something a little more inspiring. I saw a recipe for Martha Stewart's fennel, red onion and parsley salad and was intrigued. That didn't sound run of the mill at all and it certainly promised some crunch.

I was a little suspicious of the raw red onion. The recipe promised that if I soaked everything in an ice bath for 10 minutes it would calm down the onion and give it less of a bite. Martha didn't lie. The onion was mild and the salad was fresh and clean tasting. Just what I needed before I head off to eat popcorn while I watch a film at Doc Soup tonight.

Popovers With Braised Leeks

I'm not exactly sure of what a Yorkshire pudding is. All I know is that it seems to be something that British people eat on Sundays with roast beef. It doesn't look like a pudding but I've always been intrigued. They look like they would be the perfect nibble on a January day when you want something to stick to your ribs. I saw a recipe for popovers with braised leeks and knew this was going to be my vegetarian answer to a Sunday Yorkshire pudding dinner. They were delightful! I love how they puffed up like little doughy mounds. They were smothered with sweet and savoury leeks and veggie bacon and made me feel like I was having a fancy Sunday dinner, no roast beef required.

A Good Soup Day

It has been a blustery and wet weekend. After being spoiled by near summer-like weather, it feels like a bit of a mean contrast. There was no easy transition into fall, it is full on grey and nasty. Oh well, if you can't beat it embrace it. If it is cold and dreary outside the best thing to do is get warm and cozy inside. With that in mind I put on woolly socks, looked at knitting projects and put on a pot of soup. Split pea soup seemed like the perfect choice. It is a stick to your ribs kind of soup, the kind that feels hearty and soothing and the perfect foil for a chilly evening. Suddenly a blustery, wet weekend feels just right.

I used this recipe from my fave go-to soup goddess, Deborah Madison. It is from her bookVegetable Soups From Deborah Madison's Kitchen:

Cream of Split Pea and Fresh Pea Soup

• Soak 1 cup green split peas for at least 1 hour.
• Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a soup pot and cook 1 large diced onion, 2 diced carrots, 1 diced celery stalk, 1 tbsp chopped rosemary, 2 tbsp chopped parsley and 2 bay leaves for around 15 minutes. Add 2 chopped garlic cloves, 11/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp smoked paprika and cook for a few more minutes.
• Add the soaked split peas and 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer for about an hour until the peas have broken down.
• Add 2 cups frozen peas and cook for another couple of minutes.
• Puree the soup with 1 cup of milk (she calls for half and half or light cream but I find milk is fine).
• Add some fresh chopped rosemary, the zest and juice of 1 lemon (which brightens everything and makes it so fresh and heavenly) and more salt and pepper if needed.

She suggests topping it with homemade croutons fried with a little butter, rosemary and an extra squeeze of lemon which would be delightful I'm sure. I opted for thick slices of hot buttery toast which fit the bill just fine, thank you very much. I put up my woolly socked feet, listened to the wind and felt perfectly warm and fortified.

Belated Thanksgiving Stuffing

The weekend was crazy busy with Thanksgiving festivities. I managed to plow through two dinners and am now trying to atone with yoga. Even though the festivities had come and gone I still felt like I wanted more so I made a wild rice stuffing last night and stuffed it in a red pepper. It was delicious and autumnal and it felt like I was preparing something celebratory. When things get super hectic it is time to take a deep breath, pause and eat something special.

Belated Thanksgiving Stuffing - adapted from a recipe I tore out from Vegetarian Times magazine in 1999 (an oldie but a goodie)

• Cook 11/2 cups rice in 3 cups vegetable broth ( I used 1/2 cup each of orzo, brown rice and wild rice) for about an hour.
• While the rice is cooking heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a pan and cook a chopped onion. Add 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp each of paprika, thyme and oregano with a dash of cayenne. Add 6 minced cloves of garlic, 2 stalks of chopped celery and a chopped pepper to the mix and sautee for around 10 minutes. Stir in a cup of raisins, 11/2 cups of diced apple, 1/2 cup chopped parsley and 1 tbsp each of fresh sage and rosemary. 
• Mix vegetable mixture with the rice and 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts or pecans.
• Mix in 2 tbsp rice vinegar (the original recipe called for umeboshi vinegar but I have no idea what that is and knew for certain that it wasn't in my pantry), 2 tsp balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp soy sauce.
• Serve it as is or stuff it into a vegetable and bake it.

Frenzied Salad Day

It's one of those days where I feel like I am juggling a lot of plates and have too many fingers in too many pies, that kind of day. I have been feeling a little overwhelmed lately trying to prepare for upcoming shows and prepping new product, and although it is all positive, exciting stuff, sometimes it can leave a girl feeling a little frenzied. A frenzied girl still has to eat, however, and when things get extra crazy it is the time to eat extra well.

I made a salad from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, one of the best vegetarian tomes ever. It was just what the doctor ordered: sweet roasted red peppers, salty capers, hearty chickpeas, fresh lemon and parsley. It's a perfect salad for sitting back, taking a time out and having a calm moment.

Roasted Pepper and Chickpea Salad:
Roast two red peppers and slice into strips. Add a can of drained chickpeas to the peppers. Throw in 3 tbsp rinsed capers,1/4 cup chopped parsely, 2 tbsp chopped mint . Mix with a dressing made of 2 cloves chopped garlic, 2 tbsp lemon juice and 4 tbsp olive oil.

Eat and enjoy a wee bit of nourishment during a frantic day.

Lemon Quinoa Salad

I have found the answer to my hunger pangs when selling aprons at shows this summer. Trying to pack enough provisions is always a challenge when I am at craft shows. I am a nibbler and a grazer, so I need a steady supply of snacks. I found this perfect salad and it is delicious. The ingredients are beyond healthy: quinoa, the wonder grain that is full of protein, chickpeas, bright zesty lemon and tasty tahini dressing. I could gobble buckets of this.

It is perfect for craft shows because I don't have to worry about anything spoiling in the sun, which makes it perfect for picnics as well ( I have picnics on the brain...). This may be the perfect summer salad.

Found: here

Perfect Pairs

It was a run of the mill kind of day. I came home ready to settle on the couch and watch TV when my friend down the hall called me, breathless, dying to show me the new pair of booties she had just bought. Could she come over?

I'd made a mushroom curry the night before, an old standby from The Moosewood Cookbook, so comforting and delicious over rice and even better the next day. I set out two plates at the table, put on some tunes and told my friend to bring herself and her new boots over for dinner.

The boots were perfection: open toe, studded, a delicious greyish colour and ridiculously reduced. I warned her I might have to be her twin and get a pair as well. Dear friend that she is, she gave me permission, so long as she gets first dibs to wear them if we go anywhere together.

Sometimes random moments make for the perfect pairing. We had our dinner with fresh crisp wine that seemed to complement it perfectly, applauded her bargain booties and had a wonderful night. Spontaneous dinner parties to honour a great shoe make for a great mid-week pick me up.