CHOCOLATE & CROISSANTS

Sweet Potato Pancakes

2012-01-24T20:20:00.000-08:00

Okay I will admit these may not be the most attractive potato pancakes but they were tasty. Tasty. The best part about them is that their recipe was one that you could easily adapt to your desires. I got the recipe from Ottolenghi's book Plenty. I had had my eye on Plenty for quite awhile. Browsing through it in the store I never realized that it was a vegetarian cookbook until I started reading it. The recipes are so amazing that I am fine with that. Vegetarian or not there are recipes here for everyone.

These potato cakes were meant to be fried on your stove top. In his photo, they are floating in oil. I more sauteed mine. Even sauteed they were just perfect. For me these are the ultimate comfort food. Ottolenghi was introduced to these cakes as a student in Tel Aviv.

Sweet potato cakes

Serves 4
2 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes cut into large chunks

Sauce

3 tbsp Greek yogurt
3 tbsp sour cream (I added another 3 tbsp Greek yogurt)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp soy sauce
3/4 cup all-purpose flour-(I used whole wheat flour)
1/2 tsp sugar
3 tbsp chopped green onion
1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh red chile or more if you want them hot

plenty of butter for frying

Steam the sweet potatoes until completely soft and then leave them in a colander for an hour to drain. I did not peel mine-they are easy to scoop out once they are steamed/

whisk together all the ingredients for the sauce. Once the potatoes have lost most of their liquid place them in a mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients except the butter. I would add the flour as needed. Your want the mixture to have a consistency so that you can form a flat cake. Do not over-mix them.

Melt some butter in a non-stick frying pan. For each cake, use a tablespoon to lift some mix into the pan and flatten with the back of the spoon to create a cake. Fry the cakes for about 8-8 minutes on each side or until they have a nice brown crust. Place between paper towels to soak up the excess butter. Serve with the sauce.

It's Monday What are You Reading?

2012-01-22T19:45:00.000-08:00

It's Monday What are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. I feel that this was a slow week of reading. I am slowly making my way through The Night Circus. I am liking it but not loving it. I think that I had very high expectations for it. I have also started reading French Bistro which was sent to me by the publisher. I could not resist cracking this one open and starting to leaf through it. Needless to say I was ecstatic upon seeing bistros that I had been to.

I also finished reading The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt which I loved.

I am almost finished listening to A Good Year in the car.

What have you been reading this week? Sometimes I think that I have reading ADD and spend more time surfing the web than I do reading. Do any of you have this problem?

Weekend Cat Blogging

2012-01-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

I am so cute. Show me this face anyday and the world is your oyster darling Penelope.
This is my entry for Weekend Cat Blogging hosted by Samantha Maverick and Clementine.

Tourtiere: A French Canadian Tradition

2012-01-17T19:28:00.000-08:00

This is what a beautiful Tourtiere pie should look like. No this is not my tourtiere, this one belongs to letouj courtesy of flickr. Mine is below. My crust is not as pretty but it was tasty. Tourtiere is the traditional Christmas Eve or reveillon fare served when the family returns from midnight mass. I am not sure if I had ever had one before however when I was home at Christmas the Globe and Mail featured tourtiere on Christmas eve. French Canadians celebrate Christmas on Christmas eve. Ever since I saw that delicious photo I was determined to make my own.

The only catch was I only brought the outer section of the newspaper-oops the recipe was on page four. Quite simply tourtiere is a ground pork pie with lots of warm spices. It is the perfect food for a cold winter night. My house smelled absolutely lovely. When do you get to make a meat pie with cinnamon and nutmeg? I added sweet potato pancakes and a spinach salad.

My husband had never heard of tourtiere before. I told him we were having a late Christmas Eve celebration. This is a dish that is sure to delight anyone sitting at your dinner table.

Traditional French Tourtiere (From Julian Armstrong's A Taste of Quebec)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds ground pork, ideally organic & local
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 bay leafs
1 teaspoon dried savory
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
Pastry for two double-crust, 9-inch pies
1 egg, beaten, for glaze

Directions:

1. In a large, heavy frying pan, combine pork with cold water and heat to boiling point. It should be slightly soupy.

2. Add onion, celery, pepper, bay leaf, savory, rosemary, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat for 1 1/4 hours; stir often. Add more water if mixture dries out.

3. Halfway through cooking time, season with salt to taste.

4. Stir in rolled oats and cook, stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove bay leaf and allow to cool.

5. Meanwhile, line two 9-inch pie plates with pastry. When meat mixture is lukewarm, divide it between two pie shells and spread it out evenly.

6. Brush around outer edge of pastry with the beaten egg. Place top crust on the tart and press gently around the edge to seal. Trim pastry, crimp edges and cut steam vents in top crust.

7. Bake in preheated 425°F oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375°F and bake another 25 minutes or until crust is golden.

Makes two 9-inch meat pies.

This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.

It's Monday What are You Reading?

2012-01-15T17:46:00.000-08:00

It's Monday What are you Reading-is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

First of all, my twitter account was hacked. Thank you to everyone who sent me a message and sorry to those that were DM. Yeah tomorrow is MLK day. A holiday from work. Yeah, Yeah Yeah. I have been in trial since after Christmas so the break is quite welcome. A little biking, a little reading, maybe some cooking, playing with the kitties and of course a reflection on what Martin Luther King had hopes of achieving.

This week I read More than Words Can Say. You can can catch my review. It was not my favourite book. I also finished off Day After Night by A. Diamant, the story of four young orphaned teenage Jewish women held in a British camp in Palestine and their rescue (excellant story) and A Train in Winter the story of 320 French women who were accused of being part of the Resistance and shipped off to Birkenau. As much as I love everything France, I am disgusted at how they rounded up the Jewish people and members of the Resistance, doing the Nazi's dirty work.

For Christmas I received Plenty by Ottolenghi, a Mediterranean vegetarian cookbook. Earlier in the week I made a tofu dish that was delicious. Tonight was a carrot salad. There was more than that for dinner.

I also pulled down Babycakes from my shelves and was rereading the recipes.

I have started reading Vaults of Power and listening to A Good Year by P. Maynard.

I also received Across Many Mountains which I cannot wait to start reading. I am really hoping to clear some books off of my shelves. So what is my plan. I will read library books as they come in on the hold shelf and alternate between reading my books and review copies I have agreed to read.

More than Words can Say Robert Barclay Review

2012-01-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

Synopsis: From the author of If Wishes Were Horses comes a novel of long-buried secrets and self-discovery, showing us that sometimes what goes unsaid is more powerful than words. . . .
Chelsea Enright never expected to inherit her grandmother's lakeside cottage deep in the Adirondacks—a serene getaway that had been mysteriously closed up decades ago. This is no simple bequest, however, because when Chelsea finds her grandmother's WWII diaries, she's stunned to discover that they hold secrets she never suspected . . . and they have the power to turn her own life upside down.
Even more surprising is the compelling presence of local doctor Brandon "Yale, and Chelsea soon finds her "short stay" has stretched into the entire summer. She cannot put this cottage and her family's past behind her easily—and the more she learns about the woman her grandmother truly was, the more Chelsea's own life begins to change . . . and nothing will ever be the same again.

My Review If I had not received an ARC from the publisher William Morrow I more than likely would not have finished reading this book. By the time I finished it, it was not as horrible an experience as I was dreading however there was a lot of skimming of the book. Why? The dialogue was painful. I am not sure if the author had a word quota to be met however he had the characters repeating themselves constantly with a matter of paragraphs. Does he not think that I would notice this. An example of this is when Chelsea's father showed up at the house. Her father is described as the rugged handsome type and then on the next page is another description of him, this time describing how his clothing reflected his good looks. Later in the book when Chelsea met Brandon twice within paragraphs he comments how he wished he met her grandmother.

The relationship between Brandon and Chelsea was also quite out there. Brooke, Chelsea's grandmother left her her cottage and sent her on a mission that she wanted her to do solo. Within hours of meeting Brandon she has him reading her grandmother's diary with her. Call me a cynic, yes love at first sight exists however these two were practically married within a few days of meeting each other. Okay I am slightly exaggerating however you understand my point.

On the positive Brooke would cook during her husband's absence during WW11. Her dishes were named after leaders of the time. She conceived up delightful recipes titled MacArthuroni and Cheese, Eisenhower's Eggs Benedict and Churchill's Cherry and Cream Pie. No there is no recipes for Hitler's Ham or Stalin's Stale Borscht. I thought the recipe idea was rather quaint.

Author Barclay had a good concept with the romance of the novel, unfortunately he was not able to deliver.

All the Flowers of Shanghai Duncan Jepson review

2012-01-10T05:36:00.000-08:00

Books about Asian women is one of my favourite genres. I am not sure if this is because I enjoy reading about the plight of women and books set in a different culture. Books about Chinese women always seem to involve a degree of suffering and All the Flowers in Shanghai is no exception.

Jepson who is Eurasian became interested in his mother's culture and noticed that there is often favouritism of sons over daughters and often eldest over youngest often times promoted by the mothers themselves. In the Chinese culture the practice does not end in favouritism and often manifests into discrimination and actual victimization and rejection. In writing All the Flowers of Shanghai Jepson wanted to explore the Chinese attitude toward motherhood, children and families.

For me, Jepson created an outstanding novel in exploring the above themes, narrating the book from a female experience and bringing to light the story of Feng.

Feng was the second daughter born into a Chinese household. She was never meant to marry. Her role was for her to take care of parent's in their old age. As a child she was subject to her sister's tirades and escaped through her time with her grandfather walking in the gardens.

An unpredictable event leads to her marrying a wealthy businessman who was selected by her parents. While her husband is kind to her she finds herself isolated and intimidated in the oppressive household of her husband. Feng's only companion is her mistress who attempts to guide her through her role of being a wife and producing a male heir.

Feng's anger at her family for giving her away overcomes her innocence provoking her to seek revenge and making a decision that she will live with for the rest of her life.

The book moves swiftly and is easy to read introducing the reader to the lives of the wealthy during the 30's in Shanghai to post revolution China.

For anyone who enjoy's novels set in China this one will not disappoint. Author Jepson has also given us a list of further reading. Thank you to William Morrow publishing for providing me with a copy of the book.

Rice Su Tong
My Life as Emperor S. Tong
Daughter of the River Hong Ying
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers Yiyun Li
Beijing Doll Chun Sue

Foodies Reading Challenge 2012

2012-01-10T04:50:00.000-08:00

Margot at Joyfully Retired is hosting the Foodies Reading Challenge.

January

1. Cutie Pies
2. More than Words Can Say

It's Monday What are You Reading?

2012-01-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

It's Monday What are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

This past week I read Cutie Pies-yumm yumm yumm, All the Flowers of Shanghai by D. Jepson-my review will be tomorrow and listened to The 10 Year Nap.

I am listening to Day After Night and loving it. I started reading Vaults of Power and just picked up a The Ciao book of Gelatto and A Train in Winter. I will be switching over to my library books as they were on hold for me with a wait list.

Cutie Pies:40 Sweet and Savory Pie Recipes

2012-01-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

Praised by Bon Appetit, DailyCandy, and Sunset magazine, the secrets behind Dani Cone's signature handmade, all-natural miniature pies are revealed for the first time inside Cutie Pies: 40 Sweet, Savory, and Adorable Recipes. Whether you're grabbing the perfectly portable Flipside on the way to work, enjoying a Piejar as a tasty afternoon treat, or looking for a fun and impressive dinner party dessert, Cutie Pies provides the perfect morsels to satisfy sweet and savory cravings alike.

Inside Cutie Pies, Cone presents 40 exclusive recipes inspired by the unique line of compact pastries she serves at her Seattle-based Fuel Coffee and High 5 Pie locations, which have received a Best of Seattle Weekly award. Sweet, one-of-a-kind treats like a Mango-Raspberry-Lemon Piepop mingle with savory recipes like Cone's Curry Veggie Piejar, all in a distinct and delightful design.

(My review) Cutie Pies is just plain cute. With 40 sweet and savory recipes who could resist this book?

I am a huge pie fan. My mum's crust was the best. I grew up with a mum that made apple, peach, nectarine and blueberry pies by the dozen. My mum would freeze them and in the winter we would be sent to the freezer to retrieve a fresh pie. I rarely eat store bought pies just because they are not my mum's (and I hate the cornstarch that is used to fill them up).

The book starts off with how to make pie crust and gives you a choice of 4 different crusts, a traditional one, gluten free, graham cracker crust and vegan crust. What makes the book so adorable are the different ways to serve your pie, traditional with an upper and lower crust, baked in a mason jar (Pie Jars), turnovers (Flip Sides) and pie pops on a stick. I am not sure how messy the pie pops would be.

There are plenty and plenty of berry pie recipes-which are my absolute favourite. Just think blueberry pie and razzle dazzle. Some of her more creative recipes include Caramel-Pecan and Mango Raspberry Lemon Piepops, Strawberry Rhubarb Ginger Flipsides, Campfire S'Mores Petit-5's, Peach Ricotta Honey Piejars, and Peanut Butter and Jelly Pie.

The savory recipes sound just as tasty. How about a Curry Veggie Piejar or broccoli cheese and onion pie or Potato, Cheese, and Bacon Flipsides. For those who want just an individual pie Cone tells us which recipes work best for that.

For me I am going to start off with the Pear, Gruyere, and Proscuitto, possibly followed by the Spiced walnut and plum one.

One could have a tea party with all the recipes in this book. There are a great variety of savory recipes. Just imagine little pies for popping in your mouth. Cone has put together quite the delightful pie book. There are plenty of photos to give you idea and her concepts are unique. I had never thought of making a pie in a mason jar until seeing her book.

This book is worthy of 4 freshly baked chocolate croissants from a bakery in Paris.

Cutie Pies is my contribution to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page.

Leaving The World by D. Kennedy

2012-01-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

Do you ever read a book by an author that you have read before and expect it to be similar? Initially you may be disappointed because it is not the same and then the book just grabs up. Having read one of Kennedy's other books I picked up Leaving the World with pre-conceived notions which is always dangerous when reading. I liked the way the novel started and then felt that I had been dating the book for too long and we were just going through the steps together without any excitement. Just as I was feeling comfortable I was walloped. The book took hold of me and I could not put it down. At the risk of sounding sexist, Leaving the World reads like it was written by a woman. But it was not. Author Kennedy has an amazing talent for writing in a woman's voice.

Leaving the World is not for everyone. If you are feeling the slightest bit sad or depressed I would not read this book. Some of the scenes are quite painful and gut wrenching.

The book opens up with "On the night of my thirteenth birthday, I made an announcement
"I am never getting married and I am never having children." The following day Jane's father walked out on his family after considering the dramatic statement made by his daughter. For Jane she would be the brunt of her mother's guilt and denial until the day she died.

The main character Jane does not really know how to experience happiness. Her life is marked by one tragedy after another. The book is divided into the different stages of her life. Happiness is an elusive concept of Jane.

I have been accused of liking sad books before. Maybe that is true as in the end I really enjoyed this one. Author Kennedy did a great job of having us walk in the shoes of Jane and feel her pain.

Thanks to Atria Books for providing me with a copy of this book for review

New Words

2012-01-02T16:05:00.000-08:00

This is a compilation of new words discovered while reading.

ululate to whine or howl
verdant-green with grass or vegetation
euphonious-pleasant sounding
profligacy-reckless/extravagant abundance

Where Are you Reading Challenge?

2012-01-02T12:46:00.000-08:00

Where Have I Been Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Massachuttes-Leaving the World
New Hampshire, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt
New York, 2 The Ten Year Nap, More than Words Can Say
Washington Cutie Pies

China, All the Flowers of Shanghai
France 2 A Train in Winter, The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, The Night Circus
Germany, A Train in Winter
Palestine Day After Night
London, The Night Circus

January

1. Leaving the World D. Kennedy Massachuttes and Canada, from the publisher 4 hearts
2. The 10 Year Nap M. Wolitzer New York, library audio 4 hearts
3. All the Flowers of Shanghai, D. Jepson, China, publisher 4 hearts
4. Cutie Pies D. Cones publisher 4 hearts
5. Day After Night, A. Diamant, audio, library 4 hearts, Palestine
6. A Train in Winter Carol Moorehead, library, 4 hearts, Germany and France.
7. More Than Words Can Say, R. Barclay, publisher 2 hearts, New York
8. The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, Caroline Preston, won, 4 hearts, New Hampshire and France
9. The Night Circus, E. Morgenstern, won 4 hearts, Paris, London, Massachuttes

So what is the point of this challenge? It is to try to read in each of the 50 States between January 1 2012 – December 31, 2012.
So how do you decide what state a book is categorized under?
1. In a fiction read it would be the State or Country that the book spends the most time in. (Ie. If your main character is from Wisconsin but the book is all about his/her time in college in California – the books should categorize under California….)
2. Non fiction reads categorize in whatever State or Country it is about (Ie…. a book about fly fishing in Colorado is a Colorado point, and a book about women in Afghanistan is an Afghanistan point.
3. If the book goes from one state to another… go with the state that most of the time is spent.
How to get started
Set up a map under Google Maps. It is easy to do! Every time you read a book in 2012, upload a cover picture to Picasa Web Albums (there may be other sites to use, feel free to use what works best for you).
Grab the challenge button here for your posts and sidebar:

Where Have I been with my reading?

2012-01-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Sheila at Book Journey hosted a Where Have I Been With My Reading Challenge. This is the only challenge that I participated in.

Here is where my reading took me. Given that I read over 75 books this is not comprehensive of how many times I visited certain location. I did include every country I visited.

England x 4, India-four times, Spain, China-2x, New Guinea, Bhutan, Afghanistan x 2, Belgium, Germany, 7 x France, Hong Kong, Morocco, Egypt, Rome, Italy, Switzerland, Congo, Guyana, Iran, Japan, Turkey, Nepal 20 countries

USA-New Jersey x 2, Wisconsin x 2, Illinois, Maryland, California four times, Ohio, Oregon, New York. Connecticut, Washington x 2, Kansas, Texas, Nevada, North Dakota, Massachusettes, Colorado, South Carolina x 3, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Rhode Island 21 states only

Extraordinary Cakes by Karen Krasne

2011-12-31T07:01:00.000-08:00

(from the publisher)
Extraordinary Cakes: Recipes for Bold and Sophisticated Desserts
Written by Karen Krasne and Tina Wright

Pub Date: October 4, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Category: Cooking - Cakes
Publisher: Rizzoli
Trim Size: 8-1/2 x 10
US Price: $37.50
CAN Price: $40.00
ISBN: 978-0-8478-5808-8
About This Book

How to make cakes that are as delicious to eat as they are beautiful to behold. Karen Krasne, the “Queen of Cakes” according to Gourmet magazine, brings a fresh and contemporary sensibility to special-occasion cakes. Instead of the conventional fondant and gum paste, she relies on natural frostings based on chocolate, cream, or butter (which are also easier to make). What makes these cakes showstoppers is their unexpected flavor combinations-take, for example, the Blood Orange Ricotta Torte, the Chocolate Tiramisu, or the Yuzu Tea Cake. These desserts take full advantage of layering-contrasting textures in each bite-as seen in the New York, New York (chocolate ganache, devil’s food cake, chocolate chantilly, and caramelized apples) or the Beau Soleil (mascarpone mousse, peaches, pralines, and honey-soaked pound cake). Krasne favors vibrant touches like fresh fruit and real flowers, which add flair without being fussy. The recipes include tips from her twenty years as a pastry chef, and a step-by-step introduction covers basic techniques. Extraordinary Cakes shows how to create amazing cakes that satisfy sophisticated palates-but are still achievable for the home baker.

Some of the luscious cakes included are Toasted Macadamia Caramel Cheesecake, Shangrila (Guava Mousse, White Chocolate Mousse, Fresh Strawberries, Pound Cake), Vallarta (Key Lime Cream, Whipped Cream, Tequla-Infused Genoise), Marco Polo (Vanilla Mousse, Blackberry Gelee, Tea-Infused Cake), Chocolate Nirvana (Chocolate Mousse, Chocolate Cream, Chocolate Cake), King Kamehameha (Coffee Mousse, Chocolate, Mocha Pralines, Chocolate Cake), Beau Soleil (Marscapone Mousse, Peaches, Caramelized Pralines, Honey, Pound Cake), Blood Orange Ricotta Torte, Carnaval (White Chocolate Banana Truffle, Chocolate Mousse, Rum), Caribe (Banana, Mango, Passion Fruit, Chocolate Cake), Tortamisu (Marscapone Cream, Espresso-and-Rum-Soaked Cake).

About the Author

Karen Krasne is the owner and executive chef of Extraordinary Desserts, San Diego’s number one destination restaurant for desserts for the last twenty years. Her cakes have graced the cover of Bon Appetit, and Forbes recognized her as one of the country’s ten best pastry chefs. She has been featured in The New York Times, Gourmet, Sunset, and The Los Angeles Times, among other publications. Tina Wright is a professional pastry chef and coauthor of two books. A graduate of the Institute for Culinary Education, she helped write the pastry curriculum for the French Culinary Institute in New York.

My review: I hope that you were not planning on starting a diet tomorrow. After reading this book your thoughts will be focused on the cakes. Even if creating an "extraordinary cake" is not in your future the recipes are too good not to try.

"Extraordinary Cakes" is all about getting dressed up and going out on New Years Eve-the black velvet, champagne and glistening diamonds. The photos are absolutely stunning. Who would not want one of these cakes on their table? You would not even need to diet as the cake would be too pretty to cut into. But maybe not. Each cakes seems to have an extraordinary filling full of seasonal flavours.

What I think makes this book unique is both the recipes ( I have not seen most of these recipes before) and the assembly of the cakes. The cakes are divided by season, emphasizing the tastes of each season. Summertime has you savouring a strawberry poppy seed cake, bora bora, a combination of vanilla joconde cake with coconut creme and beau soleil (beautiful sun) which is a hazelnut vanilla joconde with a mascarpone mousse and peach curd. For spring, you can enjoy Devika, rose flavored tortes with a raspberry gelee and rose whipped cream. Of course there is a lemon praline torte and Toute Fraises (everything strawberry) strawberry cupcakes. The Fall is offering you Blackberry cheesecakes and blood orange ricotta cake. For the winter you can enjoy Versailes (the cover cake) an almond joconde cake with a salted caramel mousse. Of course the winter offers you a Yule Log and rasberry white chocolate linzer torte. There are many variations of chocolate cake for each season.

All the recipes look straight-forward and easy to follow.

The author has detailed notes on assembling the cakes and includes an introduction regarding kitchen essentials and techniques.

This is one baking book I cannot wait to start trying out.

This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads.

2011

2011-12-30T05:52:00.000-08:00

As the year is coming to a close I am not sure how I reflect upon it. There were high points and low points. My kitties are healthy and Penelope's asthma is under control-very high point. Really all of us being healthy is the most important of all. The year had some struggles-my husband's mum was in the hospital-she is now healthy and doing well. I always make the same resolution each year-be more organized. Just give up on that resolution it is not going to happen. My kitchen counter is clear this morning. Nothing on it. Yeah, the family room has stuff everywhere.

January had me read 15 books. My favourites were The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton and Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas. Of course there was also the release of the controversial Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom. I do not remember anything remarkable in January.

February had my reading only 4 books. The Heretic's Wife , Brenda Rickman was my favorite from that month. Little Penelope got very angry with her brother in February. I was housesitting and came home smelling like the other cat. It set her off and her brother took the brunt. A frantic email to Ingrid at The Conscious Cat and she walked me through the steps of re-introduction and the world of Feliway. Ingrid was truly a god-send. A week later they were snuggling back up together. PS-this episode has repeated itself a few times and is quite common.

March had me reading 8 books and putting in an offer on a house. The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer was my favourite.

Apparently filing taxes did not have me slowing down in April. I finished off 9 books, with The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, Gayle Tesmach Lemmon standing out. I saw her speak at my bookstore and was quite impressed. The itch to return to Paris and deciding whether or not to go to BEA commenced.

May-we got the house, my husband's mum ended up in the hospital-for the price of New York I could return to Paris, I should not be going to Paris if I am buying a new house. Aghhh, I need to pack. How much stuff can there be in my house-we only lived here for 11 years. I accidently rode 86 miles in a day. Wow, that was impressive. 50 miles was my longest ride ever. PS-we went to a Greek festival that night-my husband was dehydrated and did not each much-I gobbled everything in site. Six books read and Breaking Night by E. Bard was my pick. Obviously neither Paris or BEA happened.

June-packing sucks, it outrights stinks. Yeah I found a catsitter that Penelope likes and she will let her give her the inhaler. What, we are moving and you need to go out of town for a week. Are you joking me? I cannot believe I own so many books, no I am not throwing them out, I know I have not read them. (Yes, some are still sitting in boxes in the garage from the move-my bookshelves are full). Honestly you cannot tell that I make a dent in my reading piles. Our new neighbours are really nice, that is a plus.
Did I tell you I love my new kitchen. Shocking I only read 4 books. The Rembrandt Affair from Daniel Silva was my favourite.

July, love the new house, the weather is getting warmer-warm enough for the beach, my husband bought me an amazing lemon cake for my birthday and I read 8 books. The Soldier's Wife by M. Leroy and Peas and thank you a vegetarian cookbook with a blog by the same name were huge hits. I made three things for dinner the night the book arrived.

In August we visited my family and spent a weekend in Solano Beach. Yeah, the little pumpkin did well with the cat sitter. I finished off 8 books and cannot believed I was rear-ended on the freeway again. Do drivers not pay attention to traffic slowing down. I hate being in a dead stop on the freeway, it unnerves me that the cars behind me will not stop in time. Four books were outstanding that month. The one that stands out for me is A Thoushand Lives, by J. Scheers, the story of Jim Jones and his cult.

Yeah, I am going to Paris and Burgundy. Holy cow-high 80's low 90's at the end of September, beginning of October in France. I did not pack for this weather. Okay so now I have to buy a whole new wardrobe. Works for me. I only read three books and I think I only saw my husband for 5 days in September. He was out of town for 2 weeks at the beginning of the month and then he returned and I left 2 days late. Tout Sweet by Karen Wheeler, was my pick.

I returned from my trip the first week of October, just exhausted. That first Saturday my husband and his friend did a century. I was still on European time and given I was up decided to join them for about 30 miles. Instead I rode 64 miles. I could not find where we parked the car and decided it would be easier to just ride home. I only read 4 books and they were all great, It would be hard for me to just pick one-so here they all are. 62. The Beauty Chorus, Kate Lord Brown, Mama's Homesick Pie, D. Bijan
In the Sea Where there are Crocodiles, Don't Sing at The Table, A. Trigiani.

November brought my stress level to a new high. Let's just forget about that. I read 6 books with Hotel on the Corner of BitterSweet by T. Ford being my favourite.

The year is almost over, the stress was still here until Christmas. Many tears where shed. I did not want to leave my house and fly. I am not afraid of flying I just wanted to sit still and not go anywhere. Only three books have been read-although I am reading three more and listening to an audio book. I am sick with a cold and need to go to work today for a few hours. I have been up since 5:00 a.m. I did go to bed around 8:30. I have my morning tea and the children are curled up next to me. I really enjoyed How to Be an American Housewife by M. Dilloway. I did spend a great time over Christmas with my nephews. The two year old is lots of fun.

I read 74 books this year. This does not include my cookbooks. I noticed that for some reason I did not include them on my list. Many of my books were set in France. If I was to pick the one country where most of my books are set it would be France. In fact I read more books set abroad than set in the US.

I rode 2800 miles this year. I did not make my 3000 mile goal which I thought I could finish this week. Good luck with this cold-I think it may be next week before I am on the bike. My goal is to ride 100 miles a week-which obviously I am not doing in the winter month. I ride after work in the dark with a light. One night I froze-it must have been about 44 degrees, I did not thaw for hours. Another night I saw an owl, which was amazing. My headlight illuminated him and I watched him for a bit before he left.

Now if I could just get the house organized.

Where are they??????

2011-12-29T06:21:00.000-08:00

I will admit I am stealing this from Sheila at Book Journey. Where are they? They being books-my house is a disaster. I just returned from Canada and things are upside down. Now it does not help that I have returned sounding like a witch. Or as my husband said when I answered the phone, a sex call center-okay he has strange ideas of what those women sound like. Or maybe not, I have never called one. I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe, and given I was already wheezing it was rather funny.

So let me recap my flying day home. Plane leaves at 6: 45 a.m. I miscalculate the time I need to get to the airport-it is a small airport and I hate getting up early. I am the last person to check in and almost did not make the flight. The airlines had to escort my through the security line. Well why stand in line for an hour when you can be escorted? I have never seen the airport that packed. Then the customs officer and I talked about living in California.

My first flight had to make an emergency landing-we were told not to worry if we saw fire trucks alongside the plane. The advantage of having a cold is I could only hear half the announcement. Seriously this stuff never worries me. I get worried about everything else in life but not flying. I figured I am sure they have had this problem many times, they have the experience.

Had about 15 minutes to get to my next terminal-just enough time for a bathroom stop. That flight was uneventful except for the young teenager who was still texting his girlfriend as we were taxiiing on the runway. He was polite when I said he would have to say goodbye for a couple of hours.

Next flight I misread my time and go running to the gate-hot sweaty and can barely talk, I do not care how many miles I cycle, one cold and too many cookies and your cardio training is non-existent. No this is not my flight, mine is the next one. Awesome. Well my next flight is over an hour late, apparently someone was ill on the flight before us and they had to clean the plane.

Well I did have my laptop and work with me (Geek I know), I had a box of See's that I finished (oink oink oink) and this really comfortable wrap, lounge house sweater that was packed in my carry on. Did I mention the 50 pound book in my carry on? I came back with three cookbooks and m luggage was way over-with a tearing zipper.

I am sitting here typing away in the silence of the morning with my kitties sitting next to me on the kitchen table and my cup of tea. Earl grey of course. Life does not get much better-except I need to work today.

So where are they, is where are books in your house that are not on the shelf?

where are they-coffee table 1
side table 3
luggage unpacked in hallway 4
a fake built in desk 3
front door as I opened enveloped from mail 4
bedside table 3
floor next to bedside table 4
fireplace in bedroom 2

Blog Giveaway

2011-12-28T17:32:00.000-08:00

Lori at Escape with Dollycass is having a Escape with Farmer's Market book Giveaway. Given I love food and Farmer's markets this would be a perfect book selection to add to my collection. Lori has also added A Discovery of Witches for a giveaway.

Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth

2011-12-25T04:24:00.000-08:00

Of course it would not be Christmas without chocolate. The kitties should be here too, but blogger is not allowing me to upload more photos.

A friend is in Vietnam and it is year of the cat. Here is the Christmas cake his guide gave them.

Book Blogger Holiday Swap

2011-12-24T06:46:00.001-08:00

I know that I have been absent for the last week. It has been a very busy week. Last Saturday I baked and baked and baked-from about 11 am until 11 pm. Then my husband made me laugh. He wanted to take my Christmas cake skiing with him. Not part of the cake, the entire cake. Yes, because I baked the cake just for him. I told him he could take half and the other half was mine. He is a funny man my husband. The rest of the cookies were for me to give my parents and give as presents.

I then went to see my parents. I always leave my husband home and go to Canada to visit my parents. Flying home at Christmas is always an adventure. When the luggage did not arrive and there were three of us staring at the empty carousel I told the man next to me it was time to face reality. Our luggage had not come in on our flight.

It is now Christmas eve and I am enjoying cheese and tea with my dad while watching Joyeaux Noel; a story about Christmas eve on the front during World War 1.

Earlier in the month I participated in the Book Blogger Holiday Swap. I must say I have always had fantastic partners. This year I was paired with Joanna from Lost in A Good Story. Joanna spent some time looking at my blog and learning about me. She got me two perfect books. Plenty I had asked for. I can hardly wait to start cooking from it. The recipes look scrumptious.

The other book is Chocolate and Zucchini. I have Clotilde's other book-An Edible Guide to Paris so this is just perfect. Of course I also received some CHristmas decorations.

Thank you very much Joanna. Merry Christmas and I hope you are spending your Christmas eve with those you love.

Cranberry Spice Bundt Cake

2011-12-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was our office party. They supplied the meal we had to bring dessert. What to bring, what to bring? That was the fun part as I started scouring my cook books. Earlier I had seen a recipe for this cake. I love cranberries. So any recipe that calls for cranberries is a hit for me. Cranberries and toasted almonds.

Some of the reviews on the internet were average saying the cake was dry. I strongly disagree. I thought everything was perfect. I will say that I changed the spices around a little and added 1 teaspoon almond extract. I sprinkled some powder sugar just for prettiness, however if this was just for home I would not do that. Why add more sugar.

This is a perfect cake for any holiday gathering.

Cranberry Spice Cake from Bon Appetite
Cake:

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup almond flour or almond meal* (about 2 1/2 ounces)
2 1/2 teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder** (I did not have Chinese five-spice powder so I mixed ground peppercorns, with cardamon, cinnamon and cloves)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar ( I only used 1/2 cup sugar)
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup plain reduced-fat (2%) Greek-style yogurt
1 cup chopped toasted almonds
1 cup halved fresh or frozen cranberries (do not thaw)
1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries

I also added 1 teaspoon almond extract.

For cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 12-cup Bundt pan. Whisk first 8 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add both sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating 1 minute after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract, then Greek-style yogurt. Add dry ingredients; beat just until blended. Fold in almonds and all cranberries. Transfer batter to prepared Bundt pan.

Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack and cool completely.

For icing:
Stir powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons orange juice in small bowl until sugar dissolves. Mix in more juice by 1/2 teaspoonfuls to reach consistency of heavy cream. Spoon icing over cake, allowing it to drip down sides. Let stand until icing sets, at least 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and store at room temperature.

* Sometimes labeled “ground almonds”; available at specialty foods stores and natural foods stores.

** A spice blend that usually contains ground fennel seeds, Szechuan peppercorns, cinnamon, star anise, and cloves; available in the spice section of most supermarkets and online at penzeys.com.

More info:
Greek-style yogurt is especially thick and rich, even the reduced-fat variety.

This is my contribution to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page. For more information, see the welcome post.

Christmas Thoughts

2011-12-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

May you have someone sweet to enjoy the Christmas season with.

This was the little Pumpkin's Christmas present.

This was the little Pumpkin the first Christmas we had her.

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011

2011-12-11T21:28:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago I saw sign ups for a Christmas blogger cookie exchange. This is so up my alley. I love cookies and especially cookie exchanges. I had thought of having a cookie exchange party at the house and just did not get around to getting organized to organizing it. So this was perfect.

I had a lot of fun participating in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, hosted by Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen. Lindsay and Julie matched me up with three groovy ladies, and we each received 3 dozen cookies (1 dozen from each person). I absolutely love receiving packages in the mail, so these cookies made my day each time a new package arrived.

You have to understand how the week went, poor Magellan needed a trip to the vet-his third in less than a month. Penelope does not like the scent of other cats. So ignoring the stress of the vet, he came home to a hissing sister. They needed to be separated from each other with a slow introduction. Poor Magellan just wanted to be with his sister, she wanted to hiss at him keeping him a distance. Friday I had a mammogram and the poor lady was asking me to relax. That is when I lost it, out came the crocodile tears. Relax. I have angry kitties, I am exhausted and I am supposed to relax while I am half naked with a stranger maneuvering my body part into a machine.

When these cookies came to my house, they were what I needed. I devoured these cookies. These cookies were delicious so I was devouring them stress or no stress. Yes there are a few of these cookies left.

I made chocolate ginger crinkle cookies. (from Gingerbread by J. Linder McGlinn)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup 1 stick butter at room temperature
7 1/2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
3/4 cup granulated sugar (I only used 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder ginger and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Combine the butter and 3 ounces of the chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about 1/1/2 inches of simmering water (do not let it touch)and stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter have melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Stir the granulated and brown sugars in the melted chocolate mixture, using a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula. Drop in the eggs, one a t time mixing briskly until smooth. Stir in the vanilla extract and gradually incorporate the flour mixture. Fold in the remaining 4 1/2 ounces of chocolate and the crystallized ginger. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Shape the chilled dough into walnut-size balls, roll in confectioner's sugar and arrange them about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies have spread the tops are cracked.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets set on wire racks for about 2 minutes before removing them to the racks to cool completely. Roll in confectioners sugar.

What did I receive.

From Stracciatellabella chocolate red velvet cookies. Look how pretty these are. This was the first package I received and I am proud to say I think there are four cookies left. Pretty, with some dipped chocolate, these cookies were just divine. Yes I did share them with my
husband.

Shannon from Double The Sugar sent me these amazing shortbread with caramel and chocolate with sea salt bars. These have been the demise of my week. Chocolate, shortbread and caramel. These are called Millionaire's Shortbread. The recipe is here.

From Jessica, at Chirky I received Norwegian delicacies. These cookies just melted in your mouth. Melted, so that you could say you were not really eating them. Look how pretty the box is. I almost did not want to eat these so that there would always be something in my box. Photo to follow, blogspot is not allowing me to upload the photo.

Book Challenges for 2012

2011-12-11T14:23:00.001-08:00

Margot at Joyfully Retired is hosting the Foodies Reading Challenge:
Guidelines:
The challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2012.
You don’t need a pre-selected list of books.
It’s okay to cross over with other challenges.
Any book format is allowed (print, audio, ebook)

Levels:
Short-Order Cook: 1 to 3 books
Pastry Chef: 4 to 8 books
Sous-Chef: 9 to 13 books
Chef de Cuisine: 14 to 18
Cordon-Bleu Chef: More than 19

Here’s how the challenge works:
1. Decide how many food books you want to read in 2012. Pick one of the reading levels below. Remember, this is a challenge, so try pushing yourself. Participants from last year, please notice I’ve pushed the numbers up a bit.

2. Grab the challenge button and write a post on your blog so we can spread the word. No blog? That’s okay. Sign up in the comments section.

3. After you read each book for the challenge, come back here and tell us about it. On January 1st I’ll provide pages so you can post links for your reviews. We’ll use the same categories as last year: Cookbooks, Memoirs/Biographies, Fiction, and Nonfiction. I’ll also include a page where you link up your Challenge Wrap-Up post.

I'm doing: Cordon Bleu Chef more than 19 books

Where are you Reading Challenge hosted by Sheila at Book Journey

So what is the point of this challenge? It is to try to read in each of the 50 States between January 1 2012 – December 31, 2012.
So how do you decide what state a book is categorized under?

1. In a fiction read it would be the State or Country that the book spends the most time in. (Ie. If your main character is from Wisconsin but the book is all about his/her time in college in California – the books should categorize under California….)

2. Non fiction reads categorize in whatever State or Country it is about (Ie…. a book about fly fishing in Colorado is a Colorado point, and a book about women in Afghanistan is an Afghanistan point.

3. If the book goes from one state to another… go with the state that most of the time is spent.
How to get started

Set up a map under Google Maps. It is easy to do! Every time you read a book in 2012, upload a cover picture to Picasa Web Albums (there may be other sites to use, feel free to use what works best for you).

Grab the challenge button here for your posts and sidebar:

I participated in this one this past year and found it interesting to see where I chose books from.

Chocolate Santas in Bruges

2011-12-10T08:57:00.000-08:00

Last Thanksgiving I spent some time in Bruges. About one hour from Brussells by train, Bruges is one of those towns that has everything a girl could ask for. Beautiful canals, fun shopping, good restaurants and over forty chocolate shops. Really what more could you ask for? I probably stepped into at least thirty of them. Did I sample from all? No, I must confess as much as I love chocolate there is a limit to how much sugar I can eat. Now I could buy all the chocolate I wanted to. And of course I regret not buying more.
Their chocolate is heavenly. This chocolate Santa looks divine. I wonder if one person bought it or if it was just broken up.

How did I end up in Bruges? From the movie In Bruges. Honestly, In Bruges is movie about two hit men who are holed up in Bruges after a job gone bad. My husband thought the movie was warped. It is a dry humour. What I took from the movie, was the scenery. I had not been familiar with the town of Bruges before the movie. With canals running through the town it is beautiful. Beautiful yet cold in the winter.

Canal on the outskirts of Bruges.

Hailing from Canada, there are many Flemish paintings in the National Gallery of Canada. I never appreciated the bleak grey landscapes until visiting the area in winter. One day I decided to rent a bicycle and cycle through the countryside. I am not sure what possessed me. I froze. Honestly my toes where blocks of ice. After a while I decided that I got it. Cold frozen land with the intermittent windmill. I decided that I could have as much fun on my bike riding through town and promptly turned around. One thing that I have learned about cycling is no matter how far you go, unless you are doing a circle you have to come back just as far.

Do not let the sun fool you. It was freezing on this boat ride. When I first arrived in Bruges I was wearing a cute little hat. Once I returned to my b and b I exchanged it for a ski toque I had brought along. That hat never left my head.

This was the look for most of the time. My jacket hood tied tightly around me. The cold justified all the chocolate I ate. I needed to stay warm somehow.

You knew there would also be a chocolate kitty.

This is my entry for Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads and Saturday Snapshots hosted by At Home with Books and Weekend Cat Blogging hosted at Sidewalk Shoes.