Winter and salads don’t usually invoke a shared memory. When I think back to foods we used to eat in winter during my childhood, there were mostly big dishes filled with hearty stews, soups, casseroles and meat with grains. There was Salisbury steak, pork chops cooked in rice in a dutch oven with green peppers (don’t even get me started on that one), lasagna, beef dips from leftover roasts, chicken legs, pork chops in breading and cooked in swimming pools of oil over an ancient electric frying pan. These were comfort foods of the highest order. My mother, sister and I and our love of comfort foods goes back so far it can’t be traced. My mother brought it to us and her mother to her and so it goes, back through time. (...)
Read the rest of Endive, Fennel and Barley Salad (673 words)

© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2012. | Permalink | 28 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: avocado, barley, deer creek heights ranch, Dinner, Endive, fennel, goat cheese, Healthy, healthy dressings, how to cook barley, meyer lemon, Orange, poppy seed dressing, winter ciruts, Winter salads

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It’s funny how when the weather turns crummy, most people turn to heavy stews soups and casseroles. They bust out the slow cooker and cook up a big old hunk of beef with a side of potatoes and gravy. But for me, when winter comes, I long for the easy food. Quickly tossed together salads with winter citrus based dressing so I can get back under the blanket on the couch with my lover and our little ones.  There’s nothing in this world of food I love more than a big, juicy, crispy salad covered in vegetables, cheese and avocado. Add in some seriously addictive candied nuts and I am in food heaven.

Have I ever mentioned that I lived on salads for practically five years. From high school to marriage I ate nothing but salads. Salads were my comfort food for I had exhausted my allowance of real comfort foods during the first 18 years of my life. Here I was, 20 years old, single, having lost 65 pounds and I was determined to never see that side of the scale again. So salads were my friend. I learned to make a million different salads. I became known for them. Elaine’s “Big Salad” from Seinfeld? She ain’t got nothing on me and my notorious salads.(...)
Read the rest of Roasted Beet and Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Walnuts (605 words)

© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2012. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: avocado, Candied Walnuts, cinnamon, Dinner, Dressings, goat cheese, Healthy, maple syrup, meyer lemons, Paprika, roasted beets, Salad, simple, Vegetarian

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It all starts with a plan. At first, it’s in your head and you only catch glimpses of it as you sleepily roll around in your warm bed. But then you catch it by tail the with the tips of your fingers, and it begins to come to life. You grasp that idea with the strength of 900 lb. gorilla and you don’t let it go for any reason. You think about it constantly, you eat it, breathe it, dream it. You get up in the middle of the night, keep pads of paper with you wherever you go, manically type on your iPhone in the middle of the aisles of your favourite grocery store. It takes you over from the inside and then finally, it begins to take shape. Physical plans and blueprints get printed, rolled tightly to unfurl at the job site. Contractors are hired, fired, yelled at, throttled, threatened and ultimately become a piece of the background as the maddening pace of a restaurant’s construction takes foot.

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Read the rest of Smoken Bones Cookshack: The Rebirth of a Restaurant (1,675 words)

© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2012. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: BBQ, BC, beer, cocktails, design, How to start a restaurant, Ken Hueston, renovation, Restaurant, Ribs, Smoken Bones Cookshack: The Birth of a Restaurant, The Hudson, Victoria, Where to eat in Victoria

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When Elizabeth suggested that I do a round up of my top 10 brews of 2011, I was actually really nervous. I’ve been a beer guy for years, but a lot of people claim the same thing and well, their idea of a great brew is Bud. Sorry, but  I wholeheartedly disagree.

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Read the rest of Adrian’s Top 10 Brews of 2011 (873 words)

© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2012. | Permalink | 27 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Allagash Black, beer, Brooklyn Local 1, Chimay, Craft brew, Dead Frog, Fat Tug IPA, Granville Island Imperial Chocolate Stout, Howe Sound Winter Ale, Phillips Brewery, Rogue Brewing, Trainwreck Barley Wine, Unibroue

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It’s January.

For some of us Canadians, that means we are just heading into the depths of winter and all it’s depressing greyness, cold and damp dark days. Fortunately for me, my parents happened to settle on the west coast, particularly, Vancouver Island. Even better than that, I had the fortuitous idea to move to the capitol after high school and settle in the warmest climate in Canada. My garden is budding already, there are flowers shooting up from under all the trees and the house sparrows have returned to the birdhouse outside my kitchen window to create their nest and have 16,986 chicks before the next winter settles in.

January also means that people are into their annual health kicks. Gym passes, yoga mats, weight sets and ab machines have been bought, grocery lists have been decluttered of “chips, chocolate bars, cheezies and instant noodles”. Deals and pacts have been made with ourselves to be different this year.(...)
Read the rest of Roasted Cauliflower Salad (1,079 words)

© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2012. | Permalink | 22 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: blue cheese, brown rice, chick peas, dressing from scratch, greek yogurt, how to cook brown rice perfectly, kate moss, meyer lemon, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels, Roasted cauliflower, Salad, Truffle oil, Vegetarian, white balsamic vinegar

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Starting out the year right is part of everyone’s resolutions right? Lose weight, get organized, clean the closet, stop procrastinating, be a better wife/husband/sister/brother/friend. We’ve all made the promises to ourselves. Well, some of us. I don’t make resolutions anymore. My whole life is a resolution. I have a billion and one pop up reminders on my iPhone reminding me to be a better mom, stop yelling, sweep the kitchen, play with the kids. I have serious concrete plans to get a tattoo on my left wrist that simply says “breathe.” I live my resolutions year-round.(...)
Read the rest of Pear and Ginger Smoothie (441 words)

© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2012. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Breakfast, cold remedy, Fruit, ginger, health fads, Healthy, liquid diet, lunch, new years resolutions, Pear, smoothie, snack

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Happy New Year everybody! It’s that time of year again…time to start anew. Time to put away the last of last year’s clutter and start with a clean slate. Around here, the first day of the year is reserved solely for recovery. Both for the house and for ourselves. Although this year, with the crazy stomach flu we’ve had, we didn’t get up to too much craziness on NYE.

The beginning of the year also marks a turn of the seasons, yes we are just (technically) heading into  winter, but we are also seeing every day get longer. Before we know it, spring will be here again! But before I get carried away, let’e talk Winter Brews. As the seasons change, these popular brews will soon be unavailable again for another long year. Okay, so maybe it’s not the last chance but the stocks of the great winter brews will be dwindling quickly. So why not indulge in yet another big boisterous brew during the waning holiday season?(...)
Read the rest of Tipple Tuesdays – Winter Brews and Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle Cake (934 words)

© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2012. | Permalink | 21 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Baking, chantilly cream, Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Dessert, Donna Hay, Eggs, flourless cake, Frangelico, ground almonds, Hazelnut torte, truffle cake

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As Christmas rapidly steams full speed right at me, my thoughts naturally turn to the food. What’s for dinner? What snacks are we going to be munching on all day? Did I hide the bathroom scale for the rest of the year? Do we have enough eggnog? Do we have the basics so I don’t have to leave the house again until January? What are we going to bake for Santa?

These are the thoughts that run through my mind late at night when I’m just falling asleep. They slip through my subconcious and are forgotten again until the very last second. This year marks a milestone in our kids lives. They are both old enough to enjoy the whole spirit of the season and my son is very involved in the gifts and decorating. It was only par for the course that I get him involved in baking the cookies we shall be leaving out for Santa.

And what cookie is easier than a classic flourless peanut butter cookie? Nothing. These babies literally take 10 minutes to scrape together, then simply flatten them, pop them in the oven, bake, remove and let cool. Place them on your fanciest plate with a big mug of nog for Santa (maybe some carrots for the reindeer) and your all set to go.

Now our only struggle is whether to let an almost four year old stay up to wait for Santa….

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!

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Read the rest of Cookies for Santa: Classic Peanut Butter (324 words)

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© Elizabeth for Guilty Kitchen, 2011. | Permalink | 14 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: classic, cookies for santa, Easy, flourless, Gluten Free, kid friendly, kosher salt, no flour, Peanut Butter cookies, roasted nuts, salt covered cookie, simple recipes, what to bake at Christmas

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