baking berry stella

It was because of the leftover oatmeal.

Wait, let me try that again. I wasn't inspired to bake a version of Starbucks Baked Berry Stella because of leftover oatmeal. But leftover oatmeal certainly pushed me in the right direction of creating a recipe that came very close to the taste of the original.

I was inspired because of my love of all things baked, and because I was less than overwhelmed by the taste of the original Stella, despite its cool name and shape (I tried one three times--sorry Stella fans!). And then there was the challenge laid out for me.

one little stella all alone...

I love a good baking challenge. But I have so little time these days, especially now that the Boo is walking (or rather, running!). And then of course, I had to enjoy the warm, sunny summer weather. But when 50% of your visitors come to your blog because of search terms like baked+berry+stella+recipe, you have to answer the challenge.

To do that, I needed a little help. I love to bake, but I'm certainly not good enough to be able to invent something off the top of my head. Like many a baker, I've learned that correct proportions are very important when it comes to baking. You can overdo oregano or basil in an entree, but mess up the delicate balance between flour, eggs, baking soda and sugar and you may have a soggy mess, or a hockey puck on your hands. I've baked at least one chewy birthday cake in my time...but I digress.

calls for some others, on the phone...*

I blame fate for making me cook too much oatmeal. I mean, I've been making oatmeal for myself since I was a girl, and it's become one of the favorite breakfasts in our house, summer or winter. So my instincts for the right amount of water and oatmeal are good. Darned good. Except for a few weeks ago, when I made such an outlandishly large amount of oatmeal there was no way that the four of us could possibly consume it all.

But I couldn't throw it away. Something in the back of my head was telling me I could use it for something else, so I froze it (works well, by the way).

When I had a chance to search google for a recipe, I found one for an oatmeal chocolate chip cake. See, I wasn't even thinking about berry stellas.

But I bookmarked it. And then the wheels in my brain started turning, and the challenge popped back into my head. I compared the ingredients of the cake with the ingredients for the baked berry stella and--low and behold-- they were pretty close. Then I went back to the list of ingredients for the stella and made a few adjustments to the recipe I had found. And then, one evening, I got a few hours to myself to bake it.

It looked good. It smelled great. But I wanted objectivity. I needed taste testers. So I called on my usual suspects: BIL, GIL, my husband, the Bean and the Boo. GIL's dad even joined in on the fun. It wasn't entirely objective, but we tried. We bought two Stellas and cut everything into pieces. I told everyone I wanted a completely honest truth. This was for the blog, after all...

Here's what they told me: the Starbucks Stellas had a cool shape and more berries, but they were chewy, gooey and tasted undercooked. My version was lighter, fluffier and tasted more like a cake (which is exactly what I was going for since I found the Starbucks version was too chewy and dense as well). Of the six testers, only one person preferred the original Stella (and that would be my three-year-old Bean. Total honesty as always ;-))

So now, I'm passing this recipe onto all of you. It wasn't about matching the ingredients and their proportions exactly ( who needs invert syrup with all the other sweeteners in the recipe?). It was about having fun.

Baked Berry Stella, foodonthebrain style

I don't profess this to be the recipe to end all recipes. I'm sure there are a number of modifications that can be made to suit your tastes. I've suggested substitutions at the end and you can come up with your own. Your tastebuds will thank you.

[My thanks again to the publisher of the What's Cooking? blog for the basis for this recipe]

2 cups cooked oats (oatmeal)

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup of applesauce (or any fruit puree - I used apple/blueberry)

1 egg

1/4 cup alfalfa honey

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 tbsp cinnamon

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 cup blueberries

1 cup raspberries (or any other favourite berry)

1/4 cup raw oats

optional: a dash of flaxseed

Preparation

Melt the butter and mix it in with the cooked oatmeal. If it seems to get lighter and fluffier, that's a good thing. Add the applesauce.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg and honey. Add it to the other wet ingredients.

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a third bowl. Add the flaxseed at this point if you wish. Mix well and then add to the wet ingredients. Stir until all traces of the dry ingredients are gone (do not overmix).

Pour into loaf tin, or spoon into muffin tins (2/3-3/4 full). I was able to make 12 mini muffins and fill a 8x10 pan. I suspect this would make 12 regular sized muffins.

Top with berries and raw oats. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.

Possible substitutions:

• Try 1 cup diced fresh peaches or nectarines instead of raspberries
• Reduce the amount of sugar by 1/2 cup
• If you choose to omit the honey, make sure to add one egg and also omit the baking powder (one egg=1/4 cup of liquid + 1/2 tsp baking powder)
• mix up the flours a little - I used 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour and 1 1/4 cups of wholewheat flour

*with apologies to Sandra Boynton, and any other hippos I may have offended...

The meals of Hollyhock

As promised - a visual sampling of the meals that I ate while at Hollyhock (Friday, August 15-Sunday, August 17). A grand total of two dinners, two breakfasts, and one lunch. All the meals were prepared with fresh ingredients, and many of the ingredients came from the large garden that sits in between the reception/registration hall and the kitchen/dining hall.

I still have a real shyness when it comes to taking pictures of food in public places, as well as asking too many questions about the food. So I apologize to those of you reading, because I know that would provide an additional dimension to the stories of my visit.

Here's a photo of the board that lists all the ingredients that are used in their dishes on a daily basis.

We arrived in time for dinner on Friday night, after having left Vancouver first thing Friday morning. Travelling by car/ferry to Cortes Island is an all-day event. It took us a grand total of three ferries to get to the island, and at least 4 hours of driving up Vancouver Island and across Quadra and Cortes Islands to finally arrive at Hollyhock.

The scenery, however, is breathtaking. Cruising alongside the sights and smells of the Pacific Ocean on Highway 19A from Nanaimo to Campbell River brought back many childhood memories of summers spent on the beach, digging for clams and building sandcastles.

We were also fortunate enough to gain the company of a lovely woman from Calgary (who I will call the PR lady) who had taken the bus to Campbell River to catch the ferries to Hollyhock.

We'd like to thank the "Ferry Godfather" (the BC Ferries employee in the tollbooth) who sized us up and deemed us suitable travelling companions for the PR lady. This seemed to us to be a common occurance at the Campbell River ferry terminal. In our case, my friend the doctor and I found that we had many common bonds with her beyond our shared destination, which made for some lively conversations and a feeling of true kinship.

Friday August 15: DINNER

As mentioned, the food is all freshly prepared with many ingredients coming right from the Hollyhock garden. It's not super fancy or gourmet, but it certainly was delicious.

Because of the sheer amount of people who attend (during our stay, there were 3 courses running and an assortment of people like us who were just there for a break), meals are served buffet style.


Feeling the effects of the three hour timezone difference, I went to sleep very soon after dinner.



Our dorm, the Carousel, was nestled in the trees, just up the pathway from the dining hall. There are also private cottages available for individuals and couple who want more privacy. All the accomodations at Hollyhock are simple, clean and rustic.

Saturday, August 16 : BREAKFAST

I really enjoyed the meals when there were cheery messages on the board. This was the menu that greeted us on Saturday morning. The eggs were a real success with everyone -- every time I went to serve myself, or try and get a picture, they were almost all gone.

Saturday, August 16: LUNCH

The salmon polenta casserole and sesame home fries were the only dishes I recognized from the cookbook I own. I was pleased to discover that it tasted just like when I made it. It speaks highly of the cookbook in two ways: one: the recipes have been well tested, and two: they are easy enough for someone else to make them at home. I have since discovered the recipes for the granola, the wheat bread and the ginger iced tea in my cookbook - so I will be able to make them myself the next time I feel homesick for the Hollyhock experience.

The whole wheat bread was very hearty and tasted great with the peanut butter they offered. The ginger tea was mild enough that I was able to recommend it to a mother who was trying to find something for her young child to drink with dinner. Both of these items were part of their 24-hour self serve bar.

That was another great thing I loved about Hollyhock. I went on my own without the Bean and the Boo, but many people brought their children with them. One parent would take the course, while the other could take the kids off for a walk in the woods, or down to the beach to play.

Saturday, August 16: DINNER

I had never heard of red quinoa before, so this was an exciting discovery. It also gave me an idea of something I could do with some Adzuki beans I have in my kitchen. Taratour sauce is a middle Eastern sauce served with falafels or shwarma that is like hummus, but without the chickpeas. Basic ingredients include tahini, water, garlic and lemon juice. Other recipes I found online include olive oil, cumin and parsley as other ingredients. Although I did not ask for the recipe, my sense is they stayed with the simple basics.

Saturday night we signed up for a Bioluminesence paddle. Imagine the beauty of kayaking into the direction of a brilliantly-setting sun, and in behind, the light the full moon. Bioluminesence refers to the phtyoplankton that were in the water. When we moved our hands back and forth, or dipped the kayak paddle in, they would light up like fireflies, giving the impression of sparkles in the water.

Sunday, August 17: BREAKFAST

My last meal at Hollyhock, and one of the simplest announcements of what would be served for that meal at Hollyhock. I missed out on the Blueberry muffins (shocking, I know, since they had chocolate in them), but today was the day to try the famous Hollyhock granola.

mmmmmmm....wholesome, hearty granola.

The essence of my visit: it was hard to leave such a peaceful, secluded and natural surrounding. Hollyhock is a great place to get away from the stuff of life and find areas of peace and quiet. I found a place where I could swim, hike, and kayak, but return to a sense of luxury (massages!), healthy, substantial meals and conversations with a wide variety of very interesting people.

Leafing through their catalogue, I discovered that they offer a 5 day course in their kitchen. Anyone interested in signing up with me? ;-)

The Omnivore's One Hundred

I'm back, but still digesting recovering from my whirlwind trip west. In a word, the trip was captivating.

The meals, the scenery, the people I met -- all met and exceeded my expectations.

But I'm saving the details for another post.

I found this list while checking out some different food blogs tonight. I like the original creator's definition of omnivore, and had to test myself to see just how brave I really am when it comes to being experimental with food. As per the instructions, I've bolded the things I've tried, and crossed out the things I never would. I counted 41 things I have tried, with only 6 things that I never would.

I'm feeling pretty good about my onimvorousness right now.

If you copy this list to your blog, here's what you need to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/ linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat - as long as the hair has all been removed
42. Whole insects - they serve them covered in chocolate, right?
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi - in the form of paste
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky - Green Tea is the best!
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam - one word: why?
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

headed to Hollyhock

I'm breaking free of being a "mom" for a while to spend a few days in total rest and relaxation on Cortes Island, BC. The Hollyhock retreat, to be exact. I've never been, but I am meeting a friend of mine (and photographer of the above picture) who makes a point of going at least once a year when she's had enough of the hustle and bustle of her life as a family doc.

If you have read any of my previous postings, you know that I am a big fan of their cookbook: Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Mind, Body and Soil. You can only imagine how excited I am that I will be able to try their food as they prepare it!

Will they let me bring a camera into the dining room? Will I get over the nerdy feeling I get every time I take a picture of food in front of anyone but my family? (Thankfully, they have finally grown accustomed to waiting for me to finish taking pictures before we sit down to eat anything).

My sister thinks I should bring the recipe book and ask for autographs (and she thinks I'm odd).
I'll be gone for five days. In addition to eating what I think will be delicious food, I'll get a chance to kayak and have a massage. My idea of bliss...

And when I come back, I promise I will post the results of my quest to make Baked Berry Stellas.

edamame with salmon

Only days after posting my tribute to Sher of What did You Eat, I was inspired to try her suggested variation on Edamame and Scallops using salmon.

This time I used black sesame seeds, orange sweet pepper and a little bit of wasabi in the salad.

I also simplified my standard salmon glaze. I used the honey and mustard as a base, and then added a little bit of lime juice. I omitted the sesame and cumin seeds so that it would not detract from the salad and puree. Preparation of the salmon filets remains the same.

The result? Absolutely fresh and deliciously light-tasting. The boys polished off all their salmon and my husband went for seconds on the puree.

I wish I had made this for my foodie sisters-in-law....there's always next year!

Salmon Ingredients and Preparation

4 8 oz salmon filets
2 tbsp mustard a l'ancienne (has the seeds in it)
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lime juice

If the glaze seems too runny, you can add a bit more mustard or honey, depending on your preferences.

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Lay a piece of foil on a cookie sheet. Lay the salmon filets on the sheet skin side down. In a small bowl, mix the mustard, honey and lime juice together. Brush onto the salmon. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through. It's done when you can slide a lifter underneath the meat and lift it off the foil while the skin stays.

eating raw oysters: a do-it-yourself experience

Things I love about our annual beach vacation:

We found the sweetest little cottage.
It's 500 meters from the beach.
We go at the same time as my husband's other siblings.
When we get together, it's usually over food.
We eat a lot of seafood.
My sisters-in-law appreciate good food as much as I do.
We always have bonfires at night.
Did I mention we spend a lot of time at the beach?

My husband comes from a family of four kids. His parents and sister (I'll call her SIL) still live in the area, but my husband and his two brothers (BIL and the other, older brother I'll call Big BIL) have moved away. Every summer, we all try to get to the same part of the New Brunswick coast at the same time for a couple of weeks of rest and relaxation.

You know you're on vacation when the toughest decisions you have every day are "Should we go to the beach?" and "What should we eat?". Unless it was raining, the answer to the former question for us was "Yes." And the latter? "Seafood."

We treated ourselves and our families to a procession of shrimp, scallops, steak, chicken, (my sicilian) meatballs , salmon, mussels, lobster, crab, scallops and...oysters.

Ours were of the Richibucto, shuck-it-yourself variety. In my opinion, serving oysters as an appetizer makes any dinner, even the most simple one, seem that much fancier.



Big BIL was an oyster virigin who was quickly converted. My own husband became a master at shucking. We bought them by the case ( 30 oysters each) and went through 3 cases in 3 days between 6 adults. Some of the older kids tried them, but for the most part, it was an indulgence for the grownups.


We bought a special oyster-shucking tool (pictured above) , and Youtube provided a great tutorial on the intricacies of shucking oysters properly.

There weren't too many suggestions on the Internet on what to serve with raw oysters. In the end, we settled on three sauces to sprinkle directly on the oyster: lemon juice, and two kinds of hot sauce: Frank's Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce and Frank's RedHot Chili 'n Lime. I think most of us preferred the hot sauces to the lemon juice, and Frank's Original won out over the Chili n' Lime (my personal favorite).

This was just one of the food-related moments that helped define vacation for me this year. I have lots more to share.. so I hope you'll come back.

Edamame for Sher

While on vacation, we would go into town every once in a while to visit with my husband's parents or his sister. I would sometimes take advantage of these opportunities to check my email and peruse a few of my favorite blogs.

It was on one of these visits that I stumbled across news of Sher--the creator of What Did You Eat?-- and her unexpected death from heart attack.

This news affected me in a way I would not have expected. Although, I have never met her, never corresponded with her, I was saddened because her blog has had a big impact on the recipes I cook, and my blog.

I found Sher's blog by fluke. I was searching for creative ways to use edamame and came across a recipe for Scallops with Edamame that Sher had posted only a few weeks earlier. Not only did Sher's recipe sound delicious, her photographs were mouthwatering as well. This was the first recipe from someone's blog that I ever cooked.

Inspired and impressed, I bookmarked her blog. I checked back regularly to see what else she was cooking. It was also one of the first blogs I added to my blog roll, under the heading "blogs that inspire me".

Following Sher's blog opened my eyes to the wider food blogging community that exists online. I joined the Presto Pasta Nights roundup after finding it through her posts. In addition to crediting her for my membership in the roundup, I always looked forward to Sher's contributions to PPN. I will feel like something is missing in future roundups.

Sher passed away on July 20, and a special tribute to her influence on the food blog community was organized for July 27. There are many eloquent tributes from people who knew her a lot better than I did. I wanted to write something as well because she had such a strong influence on my blog.

Sher, thank you for all the ways you have inspired me, and many others who knew you and followed your blog. You will be missed.

Sher's recipe for Scallops with Edamame Salad and Puree
(originally from Martha Stewart Living)

Serves 4

Start with a 16 ounce bag of frozen shelled edamame and divide according to below to make the salad and puree:

Salad
1/2 cup shelled edamame, cooked according to package instructions
1/2 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon white or black sesame seed
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1/2 Asian chili paste
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
Combine all the ingredients and set aside.

Puree
2-1/2 cups of the cooked edamame, (The rest of the package)
1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint
1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
1/4 teaspoon saltground pepper

If the soy beans are warm when you make this, the puree will be ready to use. If you make it in advance, reheat it in a small skillet or the microwave.

Process all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.

Making the dish
12 sea scallops
1 teaspoon saltpepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Season both sides of the scallops with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet until very hot, but not smoking. Cook the scallops until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side. Don't over cook! The scallops should still show some translucent flesh.

Divide the warm puree among serving plates, top with scallops and the salad.

gone fishing

We're off on vacation for the next couple of weeks, with no Internet access. So I've asked BIL and GIL to guest-post for me while I am gone. I haven't given them any guidance except to say that it has to be about food. Being the foodies that they are, I am sure that whatever they come up with will be interesting, so please check back.

In the meantime, I am leaving you with some photos to give you an idea of what we will be doing while we're away...most of these are from last year's vacation.

A little of this....




A little of this...

A LOT of this!!

Be back soon....

keep your fork, there's saskatoon berry pie

The saskatoon berry. From this...

I’m a prairie girl by birth, and saskatoon berries grow in a lot of places in and around the city where I grew up.

Growing up, saskatoon berry picking in our family was a ritual that was synonymous with summer. I have vivd memories of clambering around in bushes, picking the small but firm berries off the bushes and hearing the soft hollow thunk as they landed in the empty plastic ice cream pails we used.

I'm not sure how my parents found the locations we picked berries from, but I suspect that the fact that they took their young daughters along probably limited the time they had to travel and pick. Both places were within the city, and both were within a 15 minute drive from our house. One of the places is now the site of a mega mall, near a trailer park. The other was also in the city itself, in the depths of the bushes of one of the large local parks. The season was short, so every year my family and I would hurry out and pick pailfuls. My mom would take all the berries we picked (usually 16-20 cups worth, minus whatever my sister and I "taste-tested") and make a batch of saskatoon berry pies. This tradition repeated itself every year, for as long as I can remember, and we always enjoyed the results. I guess this is why saskatoon berry pie is such a comfort food for me.

I left the prairies almost nine years ago. My family followed me east. Saskatoon berries, and saskatoon berry pie became something of a whispered legend, as in " I Remember back when....". I never thought I'd see them ever again.

And then last week, I found them at our local farmer’s market (and this one is as local as they get these days.) . I bought them for my mother, hoping she would make us a pie. Being the wonderful person that she is, she didn't disappoint.

To this...

To this....

For those of you who may not be familiar with the saskatoon berry, here are some interesting points:

• Saskatoons look a little like wild blueberries and taste a little nutty, like almonds.
• They are denser than a blueberry.
• They grow on bushes.
• You don't have to be from Saskatoon to eat saskatoon berries.
• You don't have to live in Saskatoon to grow saskatoon berries.
• You can make pies, syrups, jams and more from saskatoon berries.
• I have never found a fresh or canned saskatoon berry at the grocery store.
• Not only are they tasty, saskatoon berries are highly nutritious. (according to this site, saskatoon berries are higher in protein, fat, fiber, calcium, magnesium, manganese, barium, and aluminum then the blueberry, and are lower in phosphorus and sulfur and are also a source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.)
• It took my husband and I only 24 hours to completely devour the pie after my mom took the one piece she wanted.

All gone...for now.

[Update 08/08: I was very excited to learn that my mom has bought a saskatoon berry bush to plant in her yard. This means that in a couple of years, we will be able to resume picking berries ourselves in order to make pies. I also learned that the place where she bought it also sold serviceberry bushes, which are an entirely different type of plant according to them.]

My Mom's Saskatoon Berry Pie Recipe
8 slices

This post has been submitted to Sugar High Fridays, hosted this month by FoodBlogga and created by Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess. I am really looking forward to seeing what else people will come up with! I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as I do.

Mom, thanks for making us the pie and sharing your recipe!

Filling

4 cups saskatoon berries
2/3 cup -3/4 cup of sugar
(my husband likes it sweet, I like it tart. The pie my mom made used half a cup, so we think 2/3 should do it)
2 1/2 tbsp of instant tapioca (thickener)
1/2 tbsp of hard butter, quartered and dolloped on the berries

Crust
This basic whole wheat crust recipe is from Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Mind, Body and Soil, my favorite recipe book for the moment.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached white flour
2 tbsp organic cane sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup soft butter
1 egg
1 tbsp white vinegar


Mix all the ingredients for the filling together in a bowl and set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients for the crust together in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter, or two knives, cut in the butter. Keep working the mixture. Crumbly, pea-sized bits will appear. Important: avoid handling the dough with your hands. When Moreka Jolar says the key to good pastry is to handle it as little as possible, she's right. The less you work it, the flakier it will turn out.

In a measuring cup, mix the egg and the vinegar together. Add enough cold water to make half a cup. Pour this gently over the dry crust mixture. Do not knead it. Mix only enough to form 2 equal sized firm balls. Wrap each ball in plastic and chill before rolling them out (an hour recommended).

To create the pie

Roll the first ball out to fit a 9-inch pie plate. Carefully push the dough into the sides of the pie dish and around the edges. Spread the filling out evenly into the pie dish. Roll out the second ball of dough and place it on top of the berries. Pinch the edges carefully together to seal the pie.

Make some vent holes in the top. (My mom does a V pattern across the diameter of the pie) . Brush with a little bit of milk (1-2 tbsp) and sprinkle some sugar to make it glisten (according to my mom white is best - I made her use cane sugar and she noticed the difference).

Bake at 375 F for 50-60 minutes or until it is browned and the berries bubble through.

vivanno?

I'm a Starbucks girl, I admit it.

It started with the iced Tazo Chai Lattes in the late 1990's and has progressed from there. When I was running with the Strollercize ladies after the birth of the Bean, I was in our local Starbucks at least 3 times a week. I've managed to cut down since then, but it's still my little luxury...

While out running errands today, I stopped in to discover they had just launched (today! this morning!) Vivanno Nourishing Blends. As far as I can tell (even before I saw this Business Week article), it's Starbucks' entry into the healthier, smoothie-type drinks (which, as the signs note in small lettering, still go good with espresso or green matcha tea). The two choices were Orange Mango Banana and Banana Chocolate.

I decided to try the Banana Chocolate. One whole banana, a proprietary whey protein and fiber powder (whatever that means), milk, ice and cocoa all blended together and served in a cup that uses 15% less plastic than their other ones (I'd like to see Starbucks recycle their cups, but that's another story).

My verdict? I am going to stick with what I think Starbucks does best: coffee (and Chai tea lattes). I found the BCV tasted most like chocolate milk, with a little bit of banana thrown in. The cocoa made the drink gritty. I'm also thinking that the whey and protein powders (which were also not blended in very well) don't exactly sit well with me either...judging from the way my stomach feels (not ill, but certainly not happy).

It will be interesting to see if these take off, or fall flat like their espresso-sized cups of Chantico did a few years ago (I had to look up the name on that one - how bad is that?).

What did catch my eye --and I will order this next time I go -- Baked Berry Stella.

[update August 31: I've posted my own version of the recipe for baked berry stella here...]

the cast of characters in this blog

I use acronyms and nicknames in this blog to refer to people who show up - mostly to protect our privacy, and sometimes to protect the not-so-innocent ;-)

Here is the quick and dirty reference to all the names so far:

The Bean: my 3 year old son. A boy with definite opinions on how he likes his berries and a real charmer to boot.
The Boo: my 1 year old son
My husband: self-explanatory - the father of Bean and Boo
BIL: my youngest brother-in-law
GIL: his girlfriend
The Flower Lady: one of our neighbours down the street
Big BIL: my husband's oldest brother
SIL: my husband's sister

Did I miss anyone??

double the pasta, double the fun

I love cookbooks. While I certainly use the Internet for a lot of my recipes (especially since we put the computer in the kitchen), there is something about being able to directly document the changes I make and the reactions to recipes that I enjoy. I also enjoy finding those notations later.

This recipe for conchiglie stuffed with roast pumpkin and ricotta is a perfect example of that. I made it for the first time in April this year, only a few weeks after receiving this cookbook.

One word is handwritten on the page after the date: Yum!

After making it again, I have to say that comment still holds. Maybe it's the creamy combination of the pumpkin and the ricotta. More likely it's the richness of the 10 cloves of garlic roasted and then baked in. Or, possibly, it could be the combination of the tomato sauce and white wine which adds just the right finishing touch.

If you make this recipe yourself, please be sure and let me know what you think, okay?

The orginal recipe comes from Quick & Easy BBQ's and Grills (Do Australians really count pasta as barbeque or grill food?). If you know anything about cooking at our house, then you know we love barbeque. Butternut pumpkin squash is the ingredient called for in the book. The first time I made the recipe I used actual chunks of pumpkin I had leftover in the freezer from Hallowe'en. This past week I used an acorn squash, and I even mixed in some grilled eggplant I had remaining from a previous night's dinner. I think it would work equally well with just about any squash.

You'll also see spinach linguini in the photo. That's because I grossly underestimated the amount of conchiglie I had in the house to serve to 3 adults, a toddler and one hungry 13-month old. (No, wait, it was for additional colour...right?)

This is my latest submission to Presto Pasta Nights, started by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast and hosted this week by Gay of A Scientist in the Kitchen. Be sure to stop by and take a look. I'm excited this week because a member of my extended family has told me she would be submitting a recipe. I'll link to it here when I see it!

Conchiglie stuffed with roast pumpkin and ricotta
adapted from Quick & Easy BBQ's and Grills
serves 4

1 regular sized squash, cut into wedges
Olive oil to drizzle
10 unpeeled garlic cloves (or less, if you are not a big fan of garlic)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup fresh, shredded basil
3 cups of pomodoro sauce
1/2 cup dry white wine
24-32 conchiglie (sold as giant jumbo shells where I shop)
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).
2. Place squash in a baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Add the garlic cloves and bake for 45 minutes or until everything is tender and mashable. While this is cooking, boil water for the conchiglie. Cook the pasta until it is al dente. Drain the pasta.
3. Remove the squash from the oven, but leave the oven on, because you'll bake the shells at the same temperature. Let the squash cool, peel it and mash it. Mix with the ricotta and half of the basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Put the pasta sauce and wine in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 more minutes, or until it has slightly thickened.
5. Fill the shells with the pumpkin/cheese/basil mixture and then spread any remainder in a large ovenproof dish. Top with shells, and then pour the sauce over all. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and the rest of the basil and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Serve with garlic bread (or spinach linguini ;-))

perfect summers

The weather here has been spectacular. Hot, but not too humid. It makes it hard to want to sit at the computer. That, plus I'm spending the entire week, 24x7, with the kids (the caregiver is on a well-earned vacation).

The wading pools are our best friends. The squeals of delight coming from my 13-month old as he discovers the wading pool for the first time are priceless. Watching the Bean splash and float around on his belly after disastrous swimming lessons made me smile. _This_ is why I took the summer off from work.

With all the sand coming in from the playground, I've moved into cottage mode. (laundry? dishes? Only when absolutely, down-to-the-last-pair/dish necessary.)

In weather like this, the only way to cook is to use the barbecue. Because I'm short on time, but still taking pictures, I'm posting some photos of the food that we my husband grilled. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Honey Lime Chicken with Grilled Parsnips
Tired of the same old chicken marinade, I went to the web and found this recipe. Grilling the parsnips was my own idea, since we had them in the fridge.

Caribbean Rum Shrimp
rum, cilantro and allspice combine beautifully in this marinade, which comes from License to Grill. Our neighbour asked my husband to make this for his latest neighbourhood block party. They disappeared within the first 30 minutes of being served.

Grilled lamb kebabs
The recipe that made me reconsider my opinion of Jamie Oliver. My husband bought jamie at home for me for my birthday. This was the first recipe I tried. I served this for my mom and her friends when they arrived for dinner, straight off the plane.

What the kebabs looked like on the plate as I served them.

Honey Lime Chicken Kebabs
The first time was so good, we did it again as kebabs, using honeydew melon and grape tomatos as vegetables/fruit)

the essence of a (foodie) list

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been in love with making lists.

The lists I made were pretty mundane as far as entertainment value go --the usual "My favorite things" (not surprisingly, chocolate is on the list), "Things I want to do before I die" (#34: go work on Fashion Television) and the top 100 songs for the years 1983, 1984, and 1985, (as copied carefully during the special New Year's Eve and Day broadcast from the local pop music radio station.)

I realize the common thread between them and others (aside from the ones generated by the radio station), was that I had put down on paper lists of things that were important to me at that moment in time.

Today my lists are pretty boring, but necessary: if I don't make a list of the groceries I need, or a list of things I need to get done around the house or at work, I feel hopelessly lost. There is a certain sense of satisfaction to being able to cross something off a list. (pay bills? check. send mail? check. finish blog post? ummmm...check?). For me it's "thank god I remembered it and managed to fit it in between playground, lunch, naps and diaper changes".

Ever since I started reading food blogs, a new list has been forming in my head. Since they are all food-related, I decided to share them here. I plan on updating this list on an ongoing basis as I come up with new things, and cross items off.

1. Try baking a Red Velvet Cake.
2. Go to the French Laundry, or maybe just check out the blog.
3. Go to Chez Panisse.
4. Meet some food bloggers in person (preferably over food!)
5. Take a food tour.
6. Learn how to make my mother's croquembouche.
7. Learn how to make my mother's pralines.
8. Take a cooking class.
9. Sign my kids up for Rising Chefs.
10. Read Omnivore's Dilemma.
11. Read In Defense of Food.

More to come.....

red wine, pasta and pictures

squid with pasta and tomato sauce

My son, the Bean, has taken a keen interest in taking pictures with our camera (a Sony Cybershot 10.1 MP). Some of his photos are very good (as good as an adult might take). Most are blurry, since he tends to move to the next shot as soon as his finger is off the button. All of them are fascinating because they really give a good idea of how a three year old views our world.

Along with taking photos of his family members, the Bean's photos have three main themes: "Looking Up", "The Toy Series" and "Textures and Patterns". He even knows to put the strap on his wrist before he takes pictures, and when he reviews them. ( I love our camera, and really don't want to have to replace it for a while!). It's further proof to me that he watches what I do - and what parent doesn't like it when their child wants to be just like them?

Tonight was our turn to cook for the weekly dinner with BIL and GIL. While the Bean snapped photo after photo, I cooked up a dish I had been dreaming about. Two kinds of pasta, a package of squid, some leftover onions, parsley, garlic, red wine and tomato sauce and voilà! To help me along, I used a combination of a recipe from Bon Appétit for squid in red wine and tomato sauce, and one from a Greek cookbook my dad used to own.

At dinner it was BIL's turn to spill the wine. "Too much time spent with this one," was his explanation, pointing to GIL.

We all agreed the Bean had talent, and should get his own camera.

Squid in Red Wine and Tomato Sauce, Nikos Style
serves 4
(recipe sources: epicurious.com and Greek with Gusto!)

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound cleaned squid, tentacles left whole, bodies cut crosswise into 1/2-inch rings *
1 28 oz can of tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried and crushed oregano or 2 tablespoons fresh
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
equal portions of whole wheat and spinach fettuccini

* I used a package of pre-cut frozen squid pieces, It worked fine.

Preparation

Put a pot of water on to boil. When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook to al dente. While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until golden, about 7 minutes. Add squid and sauté 1 minute. Add tomatoes, garlic, wine, parsley, oregano, tomato paste, and crushed red pepper. Simmer until squid is tender and sauce thickens slightly, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the sauce from heat. Serve the pasta in bowls and spoon the sauce overtop. Serve immediately.

This recipe has been submitted to Presto Pasta Nights, started (and hosted this week) by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast. You, too, can take your turn hosting Presto Pasta Nights. Check out the Presto Pasta Nights website for more details, and other great pasta trivia.

199 more words on milk..

I found this article from the Toronto Star that highlights some differences between organic milk and conventional milk. It substantiates a lot of what I wrote, misses some information and adds some new information.

It is interesting to note that pesticides are not covered in this article either.

I've copied their summary chart verbatim, below. But do check out the original article.

CONVENTIONAL MILK

• no growth hormones (rbST)
• other hormones for lactation timing and/or breeding purposes may be used
• medicated feed (feed with low-level antibiotics) not allowed
• antibiotics to treat sick animals allowed
• feed additives such as Rumensin, to increase growth, may be present
• animal by-products from poultry/pig may be used **
• no mandatory outdoor access (but most have access)
• cows may be tied in a "tie stall"or freer to move in "free stall"

ORGANIC MILK

• no hormones of any sort
• no medicated feed
• no antibiotics unless animal's life in danger; taken out of system for at least two weeks
• no feed additives
• no animal by-products in feed
• mandatory outdoor access (weather permitting)
• cows may be penned in a tie stall or free stall

two thousand words on milk

A while ago I wrote about a big debate that was raging in our house about whether or not we should be buying organic milk.

Like a lot of my neighbors and friends, I had the perception that organic milk was better than “regular” milk because it didn’t include hormones, antibiotics or pesticides (three items on my list of things I would rather my kids didn’t ingest). And as I wrote previously, we drink A LOT of milk in this house. Four litres every two or three days to be exact.

Here in Ontario (and presumably in a lot of other places) organic milk is twice the price of regular milk. While I value my children's health and well-being and would pay if there were serious issues, I needed to learn more about the benefits of organic milk.

I relied on the web to do a little research. There are a lot of sites that have opinions on organic milk. I tried to keep to credible sources. I also tried to narrow my search as much as possible to Canadian and Ontario milk.

The answers I found were surprising, and also raised more questions.

Interested? Read on.

The Business of Milk

According to the Dairy Farmers of Ontario, "milk is the most heavily safety-tested food in the Canadian food supply system. Ontario dairy farms are inspected regularly under Dairy Farmers of Ontario Raw Milk Quality Program to ensure that Ontario milk meets provincial standards. Inspectors ensure that all surfaces and equipment are clean and that milk is cooled efficiently. Inspectors also look for Grade A management practices such as good cow housing, sufficient pasture area and exclusion of milk from cows that are being treated for illness with drugs or antibiotics. "

Agriculture Canada says that "dairy production generates $4.84 billion in total farm cash receipts and $11.5 billion in manufacturing sales. The dairy industry ranks fourth in the Canadian agricultural sector following grains, red meats and horticulture...[and is] also renowned for the superior quality of its cattle herd. Canada exports genetic material to 84 different countries."

Milk is seriously big business.

Antibiotic-free?

The Canada Food Inspection Agency says this:

Milk shall not be sold that …[among other things] is contaminated by chemical, veterinary drug residue, inhibitory substance residue or any other foreign substance.

Natrel, a large milk producer (so take this for what it's worth), has interpreted the Dairy Farmers of Ontario and the Dairy Products Regulations Canada (Canada Agriculture Products Act) source information to come up with this:

Whether organic or non-organic, milk from a cow given antibiotics is discarded for a minimum of 2 days after the cow has finished its treatment. The amount of time a cow is taken out of the system, and the amount of antibiotic it is given is determined by a veterinarian, whether at an organic or non organic farm.

I'm going to assume that everyone follows these regulations. Which means that there are no antibiotic residues in our milk - either organic or regular.

Score one for regular milk.

rBGH free!

This section is for all my friends who don't want to give their kids regular milk because of fear of hormones.

The hormone that freaks everyone out has a name: recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (or rBGH for short). It’s also known as rbST. It's a big debate in the US because it's permitted there, and a lot of milk sold in the US has traces of rBGH. In Canada, however, this hormone was banned by the Canadian government in 1999.

The original press release appears to no longer be available, but I found references to the decision in a variety of places - two of which are Scientific American and here.

And again, Natrel is pretty emphatic in their FAQ:

The growth and lactation hormones (RBST, BST, RGBH or any other growth or lactation hormone) are illegal in Canada. ….No cow in Canada is allowed to be given these growth or lactation hormones and so no milk [organic or regular] in Canada contains any of these hormones*. The Canadian Dairy Farmers are one of the main lobbyists against allowing the use of growth or lactation hormones in Canada.

*emphasis is mine

I did discover, however, there are six hormones that are allowed in beef in Canada. Three are natural (progesterone, testosterone and estradiol-17ß; ) and three are synthetic (trenbolone acetate (TBA), zeranol and melengestrol acetate (MGA). Supposedly the synthetic ones are more stable analogs of the three natural ones, according to a report by the Center for Global Food Issues, which provides an interesting US perspective on the allowable hormones.

I’m choosing to believe that the actual danger of these hormones is minimal (especially the natural ones), thanks to an article written for Nursing BC around the time that rBGH was banned in Canada.

Score two for regular milk.

What about pesticides?

I will admit that the data for this section has so far been tough to find, and most of the conclusions are drawn from verbal sources. By using the terms [pesticide residue in milk Canada] I got a lot of links to pesticides in breast milk, plus a link to the Total Diet Studies carried out by Health Canada. They list the amount of pesticides detected in a number of foods for various regions, but did not list pesticides in milk specifically.

I have been told that cows who produce organic milk are either grass-fed or fed pesticide-free grain, whereas cows that produce non-organic milk may not be. I say "may not" because I know from speaking with my cousin in Alberta (who grows feed barley) that they do not use pesticides. I need to learn more about pesticide use in Ontario. Could it be, as she says, that "[p]esticides control nasty bugs, which thanks to our winters, Canada doesn't have much of...". That would be ideal.

I found this information about pesticides in grass and soil:

According to the Organic Center : about 95 percent of the residues found [in a 2004 test of milk] were DDE, a breakdown product of the well-known chlorinated hydrocarbon insecticide DDT, which was banned from agricultural use in the early 1970s. If the Organic Center report is to believed, both conventional and organic farmers can do little to avoid the DDE residues in milk since it is crops AND grasses and can be found in the fat of virtually all people and dairy cattle around the world..Moreover, according to their study, the bigger pesticide health risk is in vegetables and fruits, as the levels of pesticide residue were higher in those items than in milk.

On a Canadian site I found this quote:

If the same levels of DDT found in human breast milk were found in cow's milk today, the product would be banned. -- Plan B Organic Farms, Hamilton “What’s the Deal with Pesticides?”)

I’m still waiting for an e-mail response to a question about the original source.

Until I can get better data, I think my conclusion here is this: it seems like whether you buy organic or non-organic milk, there are pesticides. I guess the question is “in what quantity?


In the End

My search (as sleep deprived and limited by the web as it might be) has helped me decide that the key differences I thought existed between organic and regular milk just are not there.

I won't argue that organic milk has nutritional benefits. However, my kids have a pretty balanced diet filled with fruits vegetables and other meats, so the additional health benefits of organic milk are less appealing to me.

For now, unless someone can convince me otherwise, my decision is to stick to regular milk (in recyclable containers) as often as possible, and save the money I would spend on organic milk for other things.

If anyone has any other constructive thoughts, I'd love to hear them....

FINAL DISCLAIMER: I do not profess to be a milk expert, or an organics expert, or a nutrition expert. I was just interested in seeing what information I could find about the differences between organic milk and regular, or conventional milk. Other people have found and may find additional information. I just had to stop researching and start writing at some point)

weekend hollyhock pestos

I love our neighbourhood for a number of reasons. One, it's within walking distance of downtown, and a growing farmer's market. Two, it's close to bike paths that run for kilometers along a canal and a river, and in late April/early May, these pathways are abloom with all colors of tulips. Three, we have one of the best playgrounds in the city within four blocks of our house (and that's not just my opinion). It too is surrounded by lots of green space. And finally, living here, I feel a real sense of community. I know more of my neighbours in this area than I ever did living for 17 years in the house I grew up in. Maybe having two little kids and a very social cat helps people get to know us - but still, there is something special about being able to walk down the street on a regular basis and stop and talk to one, two or more of your neighbours as you walk by. And I love the diversity of the people who live in the community too.

This weekend, our neighbour down the street (I'll call her the Flower Lady) hosted a block party and asked everyone to bring a little something. The Flower Lady is one of the special people in our lives who can completely engage the Bean in long discussions (long for a three year old)-usually about bugs and flowers. Her smiles are genuine and her laugh is infectious. The Bean likes her a lot and so do we.

Just that week, I'd had a wonderful sundried tomato pesto made with sunflower seeds at my sister's house. She served it as a spread with a baguette, some cream cheese and baby spinach. It was decadent, earthy rich and meaty, and easy, so I knew I had to make it again for the party. I also chose a pesto made with cilantro, lime and sesame seeds to use up the last of our fresh cilantro. Both of these pestos come from Hollyhock Cooks: Food to Nourish Mind, Body and Soil, a book I can't say enough about since the recipes use fresh, easy to find ingredients, are easy to make and--most importantly--very very good.

Because it was light and refreshing, the cilantro pesto disappeared especially quickly. I'm sharing both recipes here so I can spread the gospel of Hollyhock goodness.

PS Although I served these as spreads with crackers, they are also suitable to mix in with pasta (soba noodles and sesame cilantro pesto anyone?). Since I didn't get a chance to make a pasta dish this week for dinner, I am going to cheat a little and make this my submission to Presto Pasta Nights. Hopefully Ruth, the gracious host and founder of PPN, won't mind.

Sundried Tomato Pesto with Sunflower Seeds
makes 4 cups

Note: the original recipe calls for walnuts in place of the seeds, but I was told by my sister that using sunflower seeds makes it nut-free. You can also use sundried tomatoes that are not oil-packed, but they need to be soaked for 20 minutes in water before using them.

Ingredients
1 240 mL jar (about 4 oz) of oil-packed sundried tomatoes
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp lemon zest
2 tsp crushed garlic (I used 2 medium sized cloves)
1 tsp black pepper
a dash of hot pepper sauce
3/4 cup water (if you soak your sun dried tomatoes, use that water)
1 1/2 cups of toasted sunflower seeds

Preparation
Put all of the ingredients except for the seeds in a food processor or blender and process until it becomes a thick paste. Add the seeds and process until you get the texture you like. Thin the pesto with additional water if needed.

Cilantro Pesto with Sesame and Lime
makes 2 cups

(I omitted the 1/2 a seeded and minced jalapeno. The cookbook also includes a couple of variations, but I prefer the sesame seeds.

Ingredients
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup, packed fresh cilantro
2 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced garlic (I used 3 good sized cloves)
3/4 cup toasted and ground sesame seeds

juice of two limes
salt to taste

Preparation
In a food processor, pulse the olive oil, cilantro, ginger, garlic until blended. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the sesame seeds, lime juice and salt. Serve immediately.