The Annual Neighbourhood Gingerbread Build - This year...Harry Potter!

Each year my friend Dianne...lovely, brave, self-less Dianne....has a gingerbread party and invites a number of (ultra-competitive) women together to drink wine, eat yummy food and compete to see who can build the 'best' gingerbread house.  Well, there are no actual prizes...only self-proclaimed winners...but some incredible details that would blow your socks off.  Miniature lights, trees, skating rinks, Russian tea-house themes....you name it.  Each year these lovely women start drawing up blueprints around March and work, and re-work their masterpieces before coming in for the kill in December.  It's so much fun.  And lovely Dianne is the hostess above all hostesses....a beautiful lunch, ready-made gingerbread houses for everyone (you just have to bring your candy), icing tubes prepared, a beautiful smile and take home shortbread.  I LOVE being a guest, but it sounds like torture as a hostess!  Where's the fun in that?  She is obviously a better person than me...So cheers to Dianne and to my loveable neighbourhood competitors!

BBQ Beef Sandwiches for Grey Cup festivities!

The Grey Cup is the Canadian equivalent of the Super Bowl in the US....well, its smaller, much more modest cousin...but it celebrated it's 100th game this past weekend, and so it was a big deal for us canucks!  While we love our pulled pork sandwiches for tailgating, we latched on to this BBQ Beef sandwich recipe some years ago and it stuck.  And it is a bit of a healthier alternative (don't tell Z and K).  Some short prep, toss in the slow cooker and it's a snap to make!  Zach was my guest photographer for this entry...he had to get a shot of his double-decker sandwich garnished with dill pickle slices and red onion on an over-sized toasted garlic bun!

BBQ Beef Sandwiches (adapted from Cooking Light Magazine)

2 (1.5 lb) flank steaks

1/3 cup dark brown sugar, divided

3/4 tsp black pepper

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup ketchup

3 tbsp cider vinegar

2 tbsp molasses

2 tbsp worcestershire sauce (if you are not allergic!)

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp prepared mustard

1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry mustard

12 (2.5 oz) sandwich rollsred onion rings and dill pickle slices to garnish

Cut each steak in half crosswise. Combine 1 tbsp brown sugar ad pepper. Rub steaks with sugar mixture. Place remaining brown sugar, tomato paste and next 10 ingredients (through dry mustard) in a slow cooker, stir well. Add steak and turn to coat. Cover with lid, cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce to low and cook 6 - 7 hours until steak is tender. Remove steak from slow cooker (leaving sauce in cooker). Shred steak with 2 forks (don't do this until ready to serve or it will dry out). Return shredded steak to cooker, stir well to coat with sauce. Spoon onto buns and garnish. 375 cals.

Virtuous Apple Ginger Muffins

A favourite muffin inspired by a recipe by the lovely Sophie Dahl.  There is no sugar and the recipe uses spelt flour, oats and applesauce to keep it moist.  The result is a lighter-than-air treat that is moist, tasty and good for you....top that!  All this in an effort to increase my health efforts before Christmas...I even tried a very cool ballet-inspired fitness class this week...so between doing that and eating these muffins, I should be guilt-free by Christmas!  If only it were so easy.

What the heck...try the muffins...they are good.  'Nuff said.

Virtuous Apple Ginger Muffins

Sunflower oil (or paper cases)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or 1/8 tsp dry)

1 1/4 cup spelt flour (you can use whole wheat flour)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

4 egg whites, lightly beaten

1/2 cup greek or natural yogurt

3/4 cup agave syrup or honey

1 firm apple, peeled, cored and diced

3/4 cup of raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Grease a 12 hole muffin tin with sunflower oil or use paper cases.

Sift baking powder, soda, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl.  Stir in flour and oats.  Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add in all the wet ingredients, apple and raisins.  Stir very gently just until dry ingredients are folded into the batter.  Pour batter into muffin tins.  You can garnish each with a thin slice of apple, if you like.

Bake for 25 - 30 mins until tops are brown.  Serve warm with apple butter.

Sometimes it's the occasion over the recipe - Candy Apples for a brace-free smile

Sometimes, it is more about the occasion and the gesture than it is about the recipe.  FYI...that is huuuuge rationalization...but today I actually believe it!  Someone got her braces off today...over a year of no corn-on-the-cob, apples, chewy candy (or so the dentist said...), nuts or hard food...which makes this a perfect occasion for surprise candy apples!

I actually wanted to make caramel apples and roll them in an abundance of candy treats, but time was not on my side and the Bulk Barn only had a candy apple kit....some terrible sugary, red-dye concoction that is mixed with sugar and boiled to 150F....but it looks great and it's a tasty treat on a special occasion!

The (brace-free) smile, running hugs and secret photos for BBM were enough to make it all worthwhile.

Candy apples always take me back to the good ole days when Simpsons used to put on the Christmas windows.  I can play back those cold, snowy days, watching the magical windows light up with colourful animation and Christmas sparkle....and there would always be those lovely old men with their carts of popcorn, candy apples and roasting chestnuts waiting for us on the corner.  It wouldn't be the same without a candy apple and some hot chestnuts to complete the occasion.  What a warm and wonderful memory.

Although I don't have a recipe to share (it's on the back of the box)...I did take the liberty of rolling the warm candy apples in toffee bits and sprinkles.  A tip for next time....the toffee bits work the best and they taste better too!

Oh Yeah....Smothered Hot Chocolate Cookies!

So, it's getting dark earlier now...certainly not as early as I remember of my days in Britain....in November,  it would actually start getting dark at 3:30 pm.  Seriously.  But I digress....it is getting dark earlier...and cold...and I actually wore gloves today.  So these cookies are very appropriate....fudgey chocolate cookie, smothered in chocolate frosting with a lovely marshmallow surprise inside.  Uh huh!

Just like a warm hot chocolate in front of the fire...but better because it is sweeter and meltier and slathered in chocolate!  So, we welcome the cold.  We embrace the cold.  We mock the cold....Bring it!

Smothered Hot Chocolate Cookies

Cookies:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
About 9 large marshmallows, halved crosswise

Frosting:
3 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons (just under 1/2 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch processed)
1/2 cup milk
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Sift together flour, cocoa, soda and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Put butter and sugar into the bowl of a stand up or electric mixer, fitted with paddle attachment.  Mix on medium high speed until pale and fluffy (about 2 mins).  Reduce speed to medium low, mix in egg, milk and vanilla.  Mix in flour mixture all at once and stir until combined.  Dough will be slightly sticky.
4. Using a small ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart.  Bake cookies until firm (8 - 10 mins).  Immediately press half a marshmallow on top of each cookie and pop back into the oven for 2 mins.  Let cool completely on wire racks.  If the cookie is still warm when you try to ice it, it will be a slippery, gooey mess...

Frosting:
1. Put confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl.  Melt butter with cocoa in a saucepan or the microwave (for about 30 seconds).  Stir well.  Add butter mixture to the confectioners' sugar.  Whisk in milk and vanilla.
2. When cookies are cool (see above), spread about one teaspoon or so of frosting on top of each cookie to cover the marshmallow.  Not too much or a drippy cookie, you will have!  Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temp for a couple of days.

Start the log fire...and enjoy.

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

Have you heard of chia seeds?  Yes...the same chia as in CHIA PETS, but without the pet part...and definitely more edible.  Chia seeds are the new superfood...high in omega 3s and good for staving off hunger due to their expanding properties!  Read more about the health benefits of chia seeds and obtain more recipes at the following site....http://www.chiaseedrecipes.com.

I found this recipe while doing a detox.  No wheat, no dairy, red meat, no....air.  But this recipe was a keeper because it made me feel like I was cheating and it gave me a great little chocolate fix.  The texture takes some getting used to and you should not be expecting the same smooth chocolate pudding-type texture that we are all accustomed to.  So, while Z and K were not really interested in trying it (their loss!)...it helped me over the detox hump and I've made it many times since.  Guilt-free chocolate pudding...need I say more??

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

1 1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup chia seeds
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 - 2 tbsp agave nectar
chocolate chips for garnish (optional)

Whisk together all ingredients until cocoa lumps have dissolved.  Refrigerate until set (1 - 2 hours).  Garnish with a few sprinkled chocolate chips (but not if you are on detox or dairy-free).  Enjoy

Pumpkin Muffins - Fall has arrived!!

Ahhh...Autumn!  I love summer, but there is something so comforting about the arrival of fall.  Z says that September is really like New Years, since it is the time when school starts and everyone gets back 'at it' from the lazy summer months.  A renewal of sorts.  And I love pulling out the warm woolly sweaters and boots.   I had my first pumpkin spice latte of the season today.  It inspired thoughts of an old favourite recipe for pumpkin muffins from my university days.    Not really health-conscious per se....so I've added a couple of options to lighten them up in brackets.  Personally, the full recipe without modification is still the best.  Everything in moderation, right?  These are best fresh out of the oven, while still warm and crumbly....preferably with a hot tea on the deck with crunchy, coloured leaves underfoot.  

Pumpkin Muffins

4 eggs
1 cup sugar  (3/4 works okay too)
1 cup veg oil (or 1/2 cup veg oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce)
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
3 cups whole wheat flour (or 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup whole spelt flour)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp soda
2 tsp powder
1 tsp salt

Beat eggs, sugar, oil (and applesauce, if using) and pumpkin.  Mix well.  Sift together dry ingredients.  Add to egg mixture with raisins (or cranberries) and mix until just combined.  Bake at 400F for 15 mins.