Baking and Dogs

A Salad - For Dinner!

2010-05-31T12:18:00.004-04:00

Even though it's only the last day of May, we are already into summer weather. The lilacs are done, the lavender is close to blooming and the humidity has already begun. Ugh, the humidity! Some people love the hot sticky, I do not. I get stupid and slow like molasses. Oh yeah, and cranky too, just ask Mr. Sweet Kitchen. Some people can't eat when it's really hot, I can. I only wish I wouldn't get hungry, but I do. Sigh, my appetite knows no limits. But who wants to turn the oven on - certainly not me - but I'm hungry. Enter the dinner salad. Thinking of this salad makes my mouth water I love it so much. The recipe is based on the "Louisiana Black-eyed Pea Salad" from the Moosewood Daily Specials cookbook and it rocks, well now it rocks with all the changes we've made.

Louisiana Black-eyed Pea Salad

serves 4 - 6

1 19oz can black eyed peas
5 oz dry whole wheat macaroni

Dressing
3 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 t Tabasco, or more to taste
1 T sugar
1/4 t liquid smoke
1 T pureed chipotle in adobo sauce
1 T Tabasco Chipotle sauce
1/4 to 1/2 t ground cloves
1 t salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1/2 C olive oil
1/4 C BBQ sauce (any of the Diana's brand are good and they are preservative free)

1 C small dice celery
1 C small dice red pepper
1/2 C small dice red onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oz aged Cheddar small dice
salt and pepper to taste

Cook macaroni to al dente stage. Please don't cook it until it's soft because it won't hold it's shape when you start mixing it all together and the texture of soft pasta is just awful, so don't do it. Drain and cool in fridge. Drain canned peas and tip into large bowl. Whisk all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and taste, adjust seasonings if need be and set dressing aside. In my opinion a small dice on the veggies is what gives this salad it's appeal. You get bursts of flavour and a bit of crunch and it all works so well together. Go ahead and dice the veggies, garlic and cheese and add to the peas in the large bowl. Add the cooled macaroni and now add the dressing. Toss to mix well, adjust seasoning and let sit for about 15 minutes before serving.
This salad is flexible - feel free to add cherry tomatoes, or use all beans and skip the macaroni, or use smoked Gouda instead of the cheddar - it's all good!
If you have a side burner on your BBQ, use it to cook your macaroni instead of your stove to keep the kitchen cooler.
Enjoy!

I am a bad, bad blogger!

2010-05-23T22:28:00.008-04:00

So it's been almost a year since my last post. Holy crap, that's not good, but you probably know that already. I had started this blog for me and my dogs, Tessa and Maizie. Then they both died 9 days apart and I had a hard time returning here. It didn't feel right to me. 2009 was a hard, hard year in terms of loss. We lost our beloved girls, but we also lost our two ancient cats too. Pippit and Moses left us after 18 years on this mortal coil and compounded with losing our two girls, it was a lot to get through. Blogging took a back seat to drowning in work and working through grief. It's funny the decisions you make in grief. For some it is unthinkable to get new pets because, somehow, it doesn't respect the memory of the departed. For others, the need to love is so strong and the hole so big, it must be filled and as soon as possible. I am in the latter group. When I last left you, we had welcomed Bella into our home. We hadn't chosen Bella for us, no, no, we had chosen her for Maizie. Maizie had been inconsolable after Tessa'a death and had wandered the house looking for her, crying, waiting for her, completely lost without her. We chose Bella for Maizie, to help her through this rough time, not realizing that Maizie had decided life was not worth living without Tessa. Maizie died the night we brought Bella home. Sometimes life kicks you in the teeth...
So then we had Bella. A dog who had come from a home with so many other dogs, we knew she must be missing them. She was sad. We were sad.
Bella was being retired from the breeding programme at the breeders place and

Jethro was one of the pups from her last litter.

And then there was a photo of Jethro.

How could you look at this picture and not open your home to this face? And so Jethro joined our family.

We've never had a puppy. We've never had a high energy puppy. We were completely unprepared. WOW! Jethro! When we went to pick him up, Bella sat in the back seat opposite to me so she could stare daggers at me the whole way home. She was not happy, to say the least. She had gotten used to having two people all to herself and she kind of liked it, now she had this puppy she thought she had said goodbye to 3 weeks before and here he was again. W T F ????

Jethro's favourite thing to do was hang off Bella's neck. He was part lamprey, I'm sure. But on walks, Bella got her revenge...we literally thought she was going to kill him. She would just fly at him, biting low on the legs, pushing him in the grass, flattening him, barking at him. She was lightening around him. He was the eye of the storm and she the tornado. A few frantic emails to the breeder reassured us that Bella was tough with her kids but she wouldn't go to the point of hurting them, it just looked that way. And through it all Jethro would beg for more. No hard feelings, Mom, lets go again! We couldn't believe it.

Jethro loves everyone and Bella mostly loves everyone. Bella is a little more guarded of the two, but it doesn't take much convincing for her to warm up to you. These two dogs have been a lifeline for me. When I could've stayed in bed forever after losing our girls, they had to be walked. They brought us back to the world and made us hold on when sometimes we didn't want to. They have made us laugh.

They have made it easy to love them because of who they are.

They're not Maizee and Tessa,

they're Bella and Jethro and that's a good thing.

Bella

2009-07-17T13:03:00.003-04:00

I would like to thank everyone for the condolences for Tessa, Maizee and my Mom. I've come to realize just how special my friends are, but also how truly compassionate people you don't even "know" are. I am so very lucky to have these connections in my life and thank everyone for making the world a much smaller place!

So it is with some excitement that I present Bella:

We had decided to get Bella, to help Maizee through Tessa's death, but sadly Maizee died the night we brought Bella home. I think they would've been terrific friends, but for Maizee there was no replacement for Tessa. I think she left once she knew Bella was here to look after us.

Honestly, if we hadn't brought Bella home, and Maizee had died anyway, I think I'd still be in bed mourning for my girls. She has given me a reason to get up and on with the day and see our surroundings through new eyes. Bella is a bouncing bean and very, very busy - exactly what we need right now.

Her birthday was this week and Bella is now 7 years old, but most people we meet seem to think she's still a puppy. She is silly, pretty, athletic, friendly and just soooo lovely. Yes, I'm love and so is Doug. We're so lucky to have this lady in our house and I think we all realize it. Welcome Bella - let's have many, many years together....

Loss

2009-07-13T22:21:00.003-04:00

How many times have I started to write this? A few.

I have been negligent in writing what must be written, but I guess here it goes.

I officially hate the month of June. My Mom died the 26th of June in 07. Breast cancer. Way too soon, as it is with most of our parents. She had so much left to do and so much more to contribute, but it wasn't going to be. Mom was a going concern with a full social calender that I know I could never see happen in my life. Her death left many spaces at many tables including her bridge club, her quilting guild, her nursing alumni, her occupational health group, her friends, and most importantly, her space at the family table. I miss her terribly and think of her daily.

June is now even sadder, as we lost both of our girls one week apart, at the end of June and Doug and I were devastated.

Tessa had a fibrosarcoma in her mouth which was originally diagnosed June 20, 07 and was given 3-7 months to live. We thankfully had her for 2 more years. Those were a great 2 years, where we did all the things she loved and just spent really good time with her appreciating all she brought to our lives.

Maizee was diagnosed with hemangiopericytoma 5 months after Tessa, but it wasn't horrible news. It was a slow growing tumor in her front leg that could be removed. It was removed, but it grew back and we had made the decision to remove the leg this July. It was not to be.

As Tessa got sicker, we made the plans to have a home euthanasia, but she went downhill very quickly and we had to have it done at the vet's office. Even though we knew it was coming, it was still so hard to let her go. It was the right thing to do - she wasn't ever going to improve - intellectually making the decision to end her suffering, but emotionally just shattering.

One of the reasons we wanted her to go at home was because I wanted Maizee to be able to spend time with Tessa's body and know that she was gone. Maizee looked to Tessa for her social cues and depended on her completely. I knew she would have a hard time of it. Maizee spent the week after Tessa died, roaming and circling the house crying, whimpering and barking for Tessa. It was agony to see her miss her friend so much. Tessa's breeder offered one of her retiring girls to us to try to help ease our pain and we said yes. I picked up Bella on the Sunday morning, brought her home Sunday afternoon and by 8:15, Maizee was dead. The vet feels Maizee died of a hemangiosarcoma. This particular cancer is blood based, extremely virulent and kills within months of forming. They can develop in the spleen or liver and show no symptoms until they burst and like in Maizee's case, bleed internally and kill quickly.

I cannot express the depth of our pain, because nothing is adequate. I closed the business for 2 days and just tried to deal with the scope of our loss. I have come to find that with every death, brings the deaths that have gone before. I mourn all those who are gone from my life, but also to try to appreciate what they have brought to my life, what they have taught me, how they have contributed to who I am today and think how much richer my life has been for having shared time with them. I cry for the loss, but try not to dwell in the negative, it serves no purpose. Life is for celebrating. Life is fleeting. Death is inevitable - it's what makes life precious. Love remains to remind us of the wonderful memories we have of those who are no longer with us. Love sustains us and comforts us. Love deeply and with abandon and it will take you to some really special places. Give someone you love a hug. Appreciate them now 'cause you never know....

Fun Cakes

2009-05-31T18:12:00.004-04:00

So, life kind of took over for the month of May and I didn't get a chance to blog anything. Holy crap, sorry for that.

I've been working hard and have had a lot of cake requests that have taken up a lot of time, but it's been really fun too.

Our dog, Tessa, has been taking up a lot of our energy too and I'll write about that separately, soon, when I have a bit more strength to deal with it.

Anywhooo, this past week was just an avalanche of work and I had a few 7:30am to 2am days, so didn't have much time for anything other than working, eating and sleeping. There are some very exciting things happening in The Sweet Kitchen that are going to keep me chained to the ovens very soon, but it's going to be fantastic. Again, I will blog about that soon too, but I may start a different blog just for the business side of things. I just need to find the right blog designer and find the time to blog on it...

A good friend had a birthday this week and her husband requested a birthday cake with their dog's face on it. It turned out really well, but didn't get a pic as they showed up to pick it up just as I was icing it and I didn't feel I could ask them to wait some more while I set up a photo shoot. They promised to take pics and will bring them over when they can. I can't wait.

But THE BEST cake request came for a retiring biology prof at Trent U. The prof that ordered the cake asked if it would be possible to include some of the animals from the invitation to be included on the cake. Absolutely, no problem, I said and waited for the emailed images to arrive. I'm thinking a maybe something cool like wolves, bears etc. and was getting quite ahead of myself in what it was going to look like, when the email arrived. Umm, are you sure this is what you want on the cake?????? Let's just think a little smaller in terms of animals. How about a cod? How about a frog? Maybe a crayfish? And lastly, wait for it, a SEA CUCUMBER! I swear to God, I'm not going to do anymore cakes for men. It's all sports and slimy animals. How am I going to make this look good? So I put it off and I put it off and the day got closer and closer and I panicked more and more...and then inspiration hit and I started to think this was going to be really fun. And it was.

I decided to put a bit of a marsh scene with the frog, bull rushes, lily pad and water lily.

I had watched a few videos on sea cucumbers and they're not a nice looking creature, so I decided mine would be a burrowing sea cucumber and that took care of about 80% of it. He was going to be in the process of burrowing into the cake, which is kind of gross, but I figured the biologists could handle it.

Then, I decided to place the crayfish on the corner just curled over the edge of the cake.

The cod? Didn't make it. I just couldn't find a way to include it, but I think I did OK otherwise.

Then I had a request for a nice girly cake which brought everything back to normal again, YAY!

Market 2009 Begins

2009-05-03T10:55:00.005-04:00

YYYYAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!! The Farmer's Market is open, the Farmer's Market is OPENNNN!!! After a long winter the Lindsay Farmer's Market is open for the 2009 season (until the last weekend in October) and it was a great day.

The sun was shining, for the most part, and the turn out was solid.

Our day was a disaster from the get go. The van refused to start. At least Doug tried it before it was all loaded up, so that was the silver lining. We started loading the Echo, drove down at 5:30, unloaded and Doug left me to start setting up. An hour later the second load arrives and we maniacally throw everything together and were almost ready for 7am opening.

In our haste, Doug was unloading a container of tea in glass jars and guess what - the bottom fell out - tea, broken glass EVERYWHERE. Ugh, so let's stop and clean that up shall we?

Start to brew the coffee, nothing to open the bags with. Borrow scissors from Shirley next door and we're in business. Shirley, by the way, makes THE BEST roti and curry, flavourful hot sauces, breads (both sweet and savoury) and is a wonderful, fun person to boot! We love Shirley! Oh and she's Doug's Aunt, so I'm not just saying it because she's family, I'm saying it because it's true!

Everything's brewed, hot water ready for tea, get 1st tea order, no teabags. Now I have to make a 3rd trip home for all the other things we forgot. It was like we had never done this before - a sign of age when you can't retain information for 6 months - sad really. I could not for the life of me remember if it was 80 or 90 grams of beans per pot of coffee, so I went with 90, but I should have gone with 80 - oh well, it was early and I think extra caffeine never goes amiss.

Things settled into a familiar routine, once the day got going and it was so great to see all our "regulars" again. Lindsay really supports it's Farmer's Market, rain or shine, and we are so happy to be a part of it. The start of the market is always so full of possibilities and such a welcome sign of spring that it's hard not to be happy.(shadows of the disastrous morning faded quickly, and all was good again)

Here are some photos of some of the very best vendors you will ever encounter, and we'll give you updates as the season goes along.

These are the Van der Veens, who grow amazing potatoes and Pat makes wonderful jams, jellies and preserved veggies. Her daughter Emilee makes jewellery that helps finance her higher education - isn't that great? Helping to fund a young adults' education is a noble thing and you'll look prettier with the added bling - so do it!

This is Franklin Farm Herbals and Jill, who makes fabulous soaps and also supply The Sweet Kitchen with honey for their tea and coffee!

King's Wharf has beautiful perennials and will have native plants as the season goes on. It's a good thing to have native plants and owner Bev - is a master gardener and always willing to answer a few questions about gardening woes.

This is Doug, tending The Sweet Kitchen, while I wander around taking photos. Isn't he cute?

Sam makes great soap that'll make you not only clean, but you'll smell good too and that's always appreciated by everyone.

Since this baking and dogs, we have to add a picture of one of The Sweet Kitchen's favourite dogs - Bronson.

Isn't he awesome? He is part of the Jim and Nancy (favourite regulars of The Sweet Kitchen) family and is a Cairn Terrier mix that just overflows with personality and sweetness - until he sees a big dog and Bronson starts with the "trash talk - yo' mamma bit". Too funny!

So we look forward to seeing you this year and who knows - you may end up on the blog. If you don't live anywhere near here, find your own local Farmer's Market and support it - it's worth it - you'll meet the people who grow your food and help support your local economy which is VITAL given the current economic climate. You'll feel good about your choices and you'll meet some pretty terrific people who are passionate about what they do.

Daring Bakers April Challenge

2009-04-27T10:11:00.005-04:00

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Oh cheesecake, how I adore you! I love your versatility, your softness, the crunch of your sweet crust, the comfort you offer without reserve, your stunning good looks, your - hey wait a second, maybe I should have married a cheesecake instead. No that's just stupid - or is it... no it's stupid.

So the Daring Bakers have been around for a while, but they've just put together their own website called, The Daring Kitchen that is fabulous and you should check out. Someone in the group chooses a recipe for the monthly challenge, which the members make, put their own spin on it then present it on reveal day. Up until then, the topic is kept secret (except for those involved). This is my first challenge - and I couldn't be happier.

I love cheesecake - in case you missed it - but the Husband does not. When we were first dating and it came time for his birthday, I decided to surprise him with a cheesecake birthday cake. I did a vanilla cheesecake with chocolate swirls and swirled his name into the top of the cake. I was quite proud of the results. In those days, I didn't have a stand mixer, but a trusty Braun stick mixer. I burned out the motor creaming the cheese and sugar, but it was worth it - the results were lovely. Doug was touched and said he loved it, even ate a piece, then declared it was delicious - for cheesecake. I deflated instantly - I had wanted everything to be perfect for him, and I had made him the only dessert (except for anything lemon) that he hates. Ah, young love, so fragile. But then I quickly recovered, realizing that now I had the whole cake to myself. BOO YAH! Little Jenny Foo Foo scores a big one. Life was good again. Needless to say, I don't get to make cheesecake at home for my consumption very often, so I was so grateful to Jenny for her choice.

I didn't change anything about the recipe except for not doing a crust for them because I wanted to add that later to play around with some different bases. I love different sauces with cheesecake so I played with that too.

I used my silicone pans to make individual cheesecakes, so I could freeze them, and not eat them in one sitting - or so the planning goes anyway.

So here they are.

How about frozen cheesecake sandwiches. It's all about the crunch with this one. I used a raspberry, white chocolate cookie and painted the chocolate/raspberry vodka ganache on with a pastry brush. You could also do a pool of ganache for dipping...just sayin'.

Just in time for spring, a rhubarb/Grand Marnier compote with fresh strawberries. This was definitely my favourite, but not as pretty to look at.

Last but not least, the ganache topped, a chocolate biscotto on the side. A wonderful mix of textures that I had to add a bit of colour in the strawberry on top.

This was a fun challenge that could literally go on forever with the changes and permutations of the adornments, not to mention the cheesecake itself. I would make this again and who knows what I would do to it with all the summer fruit ahead of us - ginger and lemon, lavender, praline, peaches - oh my god peaches - , raspberries, ...

Pancakes

2009-04-19T11:12:00.008-04:00

I have a small confession - I don't really like pancakes. I prefer waffles. I love the way the little squares cradle the maple syrup. I love that they're crispy. I love that they can be a breakfast food, or a dessert basis with a beautiful scoop of homemade ice cream on top and bathed in a mixed berry compote. Ahhh waffles... So why am I making pancakes? My husband. He loves them. I want to love them, but to me they're just the ugly stepchild of the waffle. I just don't get them, they're usually tasteless, doughy, soggy blah, blah, blah.

I love the possibility of a relaxed weekend morning reading the paper, having a delicious breakfast together and maybe a good conversation - then I get all deflated when Doug suggests pancakes. Umm, OK. (I guess I don't hate them too much, because somehow I manage to eat them, but they're NOT WAFFLES.)

This morning was different - I suggested pancakes because I had spied a recipe in the May issue of Everyday Food (Martha Stewart) for oatmeal and cinnamon pancakes that sounded like I might like them. I am constantly on the lookout for THE pancake recipe that I would crave, that I would be totally happy with instead of my true favourite.

Did I find it today?

Let's find out.

You process the dry ingredients.

Whisk the wet.

Combine the dry into the wet.

Portion onto a hot griddle

Throw on some blueberries. (not called for in original recipe, but I think they need something)

Flip.

Serve with maple syrup and butter.

AND???

Well they're good! VERY hearty and substantial. They have a nice toothsome bite to them and are by no means wimpy.

What I would change: I would make a blueberry sauce for them rather than just sprinkling on the one side, or mix more blueberries into the batter itself. I would have made smaller pancakes because they are very filling. I would have added more cinnamon, or maybe make the fruit sauce with some cinnamon and nutmeg. Sauteed apples would be delicious too.

Would I make these again? Yes.

Is this THE recipe? Maybe - I'll have to try all my suggestions and see - but it's pretty close.

Process:
2 C flour
1/4 C brown sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1 c old fashioned oats

Whisk together:
2eggs
2 C milk
1/4 C oil

add dry to wet ingredients and also add 1 C more of old fashioned oats.
Stir just until everything is moistened, then portion (2-3 T) onto hot griddle or fry pan. Cook until a few bubbles have burst then flip over and cook until browned on the underside.

The magazine suggests you cook all of the batter and freeze the pancakes you don't eat in a plastic bag for later. You can then heat the pancakes up in the toaster and voila a quick pancake breakfast.

Check out Magazine Mondays at Ivonne's beautiful blog - you'll be glad you did!

Bug Party!

2009-04-15T23:50:00.005-04:00

Here are some fun spring-time bugs for a 2 year old girl's (Gretel, isn't that a great name, so feminine and pretty) birthday party this weekend.

Chocolate cookies with royal icing decorations were a lot of fun to do...

The cookie is just a basic rolled chocolate sugar cookie, that is a dream to put together and roll out - no chill time which was great.

Recipe:

Oven to 350

Cream:
230 g (1C) butter
150 g (2/3 C) white sugar
75g (1/3 C) brown sugar

Add:
1 egg

Add:
1 T brewed espresso or 1 T chocolate liqueur

Sift together the following dry ingredients, then add to above in 3 stages, doing the 3rd addition by hand, rather than using the mixer, to keep the texture softer:
35 g (1/3C cocoa powder, Dutch processed)
336 g (3 C) all purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

When you've mixed the dough, divide into 2 balls, cover one with plastic while working with the other.

Lightly flour your rolling out surface and roll the dough to approx. 1/8" thick. Run a metal spatula under dough to make sure it isn't stuck and proceed to cut out desired shapes.

Place shapes on sheet pan lined with parchment or silpat and bake for approx. 6-8 min. Because the dough is dark it is easy to over bake it, so put the minimum timer on and check closely after it goes off until they are done. The cookies will have lost their shine and if you gently touch them they will feel set in the middle. let cookies cool on sheet.

dough will last up to 2 weeks in fridge, or can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Here's a "guy" cake I did last weekend - my choices were either hockey or golf themes and I loathe hockey only slightly less than golf, so hockey it was....

Chocolate Cherry Hot Cross Buns

2009-04-05T10:42:00.005-04:00

There's a reason why I don't usually make yeast products at home - they usually don't work out for me. When I worked at the hotel (Westin, Ottawa), I could help produce 4,000 croissants and danish no problem, but I always have trouble making something smaller. I don't know why but the dough never works out, the yeast doesn't work, there's not enough moisture to feed the yeast, there's too much flour, there's not enough flour to provide structure, for whatever reason, it doesn't work out. This makes me sad and frustrated as I love the IDEA of me making home made bread, but the reality is that I don't. I pre-jinx myself and psych myself out of doing it...until today. I am leafing through this spring's Food and Drink (the magazine put out by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, to help you pair food and booze - awesome!) and what do I spy, but chocolate cranberry hot cross buns. WOW! I think I have to make these, but sub in sour cherries for the cranberries and off I go.

The instructions say the dough is wet and sticky, and they're not kidding. There was no way I could form these into rolls without using copious amounts of flour, so I settled for vague rounds.

When I re-read the instructions, they do say to shape it into a round, but give you no tips on how to do it, so I assume you don't have to make a bun, just a roundish shape of dough.

I just checked on them in the oven and the appear to be rising - YAY! This could be the recipe that gives me confidence to make home made bread - let's see.
They made it and they rose and they're done. They smell fantastic and now we have to wait until they're cool enough to decorate and eat.

I know the recipe calls for a chocolate glaze, but I prefer the contrast of white on chocolate, so didn't use the cocoa.

The dough for the buns isn't too sweet, so the chocolate chips make up for it and the luscious sour cherries are wonderful to bite into. I would definitely make these again.
Recipe from Spring 2009 Food and Drink magazine.

MAKE SURE ALL INGREDIENTS ARE ROOM TEMPERATURE BEFORE STARTING.

Mix all of the following together and set aside. This is your starter:

3/4 C 2% milk

2 T sugar

1 T dry instant yeast

1/4 C regular cocoa powder (NOT Dutch process)

1/4 C all-purpose flour

In a medium bowl sift together the following and set aside:

4 C (520g) all purpose flour

1/3 C (30g) regular cocoa powder (NOT Dutch process)

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon

In a stand mixer:

3/4 C (170g) unsalted butter

1/2 C (100g) sugar
Cream together until light and fluffy.

3 large eggs
Add one at a time, scraping bowl after each egg.

2t vanilla
Add vanilla to egg and butter mixture.

Alternate adding your flour mixture from above and

1 1/2C buttermilk (room temperature)

to the butter/egg mixture beginning and ending with the flour. 1/3 of flour mix. then 1/2 of the buttermilk, 1/3 of flour mix, then rest of buttermilk then the rest of the flour - scraping bowl after each addition.

Add the starter now.

Add
1 C chocolate chips
1 C dried sour cherries, or dried cranberries

dough will be wet and sticky.

Place dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the fridge overnight.

On a lightly floured surface, turn out and divide into 8 pieces. Shape each into a round and place 4 into each of 2 greased 9-inch cake pans. Cover lightly and let rise 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350F (180C)

Brush buns with:

1 egg mixed with 2 T water

and bake for 50 minutes.

Let cool completely in the pan.

Mix

10T icing sugar, sifted
2 T cocoa
1 T water

mix until thick then pipe a cross over each bun.

Makes 8 large buns.

Small Town Reuben

2009-03-24T12:21:00.004-04:00

This will be my first savoury post and hopefully not the only one....

So living in a small town, with less than spectacular restaurants, it's a good thing my husband and I can cook up the things we crave with pretty good results.

Lately, I've been craving my most favourite sandwich in the world - The Reuben! Dark rye bread, with smoked meat, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and delicious Russian dressing all toasty and melty. I've had a few Reubens in town, and they've been greasy disappointments and so have had to make my own and since they're easy, peasy it's not such a hardship.

First, you gather the ingredients, but can't get the authentic ingredients because you live in a small town:

so you modify them to what you can find:

light rye instead of dark

pastrami instead of smoked meat

and Kraft Thousand Island instead of Russian, but to be honest, we should have made our own to be more authentic...

Then you pull out your panini press so you avoid the afore mentioned greasiness.

Build your sandwich. In my opinion, you NEED one slice of cheese for each piece of bread because it holds everything together.

Grill til melted.

Cut in half - exposing delicious melted cheese.

EAT HEARTILY.

We had these sandwiches 2 weeks ago, but as I was uploading the pics yesterday, I got my craving all over again and we had them for dinner again last night. All hail the power of the Reuben!!!!

Flourless Honey Almond cake

2009-03-22T12:00:00.007-04:00

So now that Maizee seems to have made a full recovery, life is returning to "normal" and I have some baking to share.

We had a very special guest over for dinner last night. Lynn is who we got Maizee from and we are forever in her debt as far as I'm concerned. Lynn went to school with Doug and is the only friend he maintains contact with because she's so great. I wish Lynn lived closer, but she lives in Oshawa, which isn't so far, but an hour to come for dinner is a bit of a haul. We all still seem willing to travel to maintain our friendship, so it's all good!

I love having Lynn over not only for her company, but because she challenges me in the food making department. You see, Lynn is Celiac, which means she cannot tolerate wheat gluten in any way shape or form. All that label reading that doesn't get done when you don't have to, is now vitally important when someone's health is at risk. Did you know that there is wheat in soy sauce, malt vinegar and tucked into God knows what else? It is a difficult condition to have because it's hard to cut out the gluten that is hidden in so many prepared foods. So part of the answer is to cut out prepared foods, but when you're a single homeowner getting no help making your dinner, sometimes prepared food would come in handy, but for the most part it's off limits.

When Lynn comes, I try to make something fabulous and include a great dessert, because she has a bit of a sweet tooth (don't we all?). Secretly though I want her to ask for the recipe, because then I know it was a true hit. Lynn is a very talented baker and cook in her own right, so I love it when I can make her happy.

For the main course, we had T-bones on the grill with garlic roasted potatoes and carrots and roasted asparagus. Sorry, no pictures, we were hungry and it all went too quickly.

For dessert we had a flourless honey almond cake from this months' Eating Well magazine. I know I kind of ruined the spirit of the recipe, by serving it with home made ice cream, but since I was coming at it from a gluten-free perspective, I figured it was OK. Seriously, I can rationalize just about anything....

Recipe adapted from Eating Well, April 2009 magazine:

1 3/4 cups toasted ground almonds
4 large eggs, room temp., separated
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Oven 350 F, coat a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray. ( I baked mine in silicone molds, for individual presentation, the baking time was only slightly less than baking it in a large round)

Whisk together 4 yolks, 1/2 cup honey, vanilla, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl, until well combined. Stir in the toasted ground almonds until combined.

On a stand mixer, or using a hand held mixer, beat the 4 egg whites on medium speed until very foamy, doubled in volume but not stiff enough to hold peaks. 1-2 minutes depending on which kind of mixer you're using.

Fold 1/3 of the whites into the yolk/almond mixture to lighten, then gently fold in the rest of the whites, until just combined.

Scrape into pan.

Bake until golden brown and skewer inserted comes out clean - about 28 minutes. Let cool in pan 10 min, then run a knife around the edge of the pan and gently remove the side ring. Cool completely.

Vanilla Ice Cream - Philadelphia style (taken from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop)

3 C 35% cream
3/4 C sugar
pinch of salt
1T vanilla bean paste

Take 1C cream and all the sugar and the salt into a small sauce pan. Heat and stir constantly only until sugar melts. Take off the heat and add to the 2 C of cold cream. Add the vanilla bean paste and set in fridge to cool down completely. When cold, add to ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

To serve the cakes, I melted about 2T ice cream on the plates, then place the cake on top, added a small scoop of ice cream and berries and you're done! The honey cake adds texture to the dessert, not only with the cakey feel, but also the almonds add a bit of a granular dimension to the softness of the ice cream. It would also be delicious with a sorbet, because the cake is kind of neutral and could go with many different accents.

The Face of Trigeminal Neuritis

2009-03-11T18:55:00.003-04:00

Ummm, yeah - saliva is a bit of a problem.......

We have a diagnosis and I was right, it is Trigeminal Neuritis, or drop jaw. I posted a link on yesterday's update for a more in depth article, but it's basically a neurological disorder that can come out of the blue, or can result from injury or trauma. In Maizee's case it's out of the blue. It's a wait and see type thing and should go away in anywhere from two to 4 weeks. YAY! There's a slight chance it could be permanent, but it tends to be rare - so now we wait and see. Thankfully our vet is open to suggestion and wasn't at all bothered that I had shared the info I found with him - he wanted to check further and got back to me today and agreed that this is what we're dealing with.

So with my new found diagnostic capabilities I'm sure he'll be offering me a job in the clinic sometime soon.....Kidding, just kidding.

Thanks for all of you who got back to me with suggestions, and special thanks to Susan, who found the same article and called just when I was posting yesterday. I counted her as a second opinion, and she'll be joining me at the clinic too....God I kill myself - so damn funny.

The drama ends for another day and now it's off to watch Coronation Street - yeah, that's right Corrie.

UPDATE:

Today is November 3, 2009 and I thought I would update this entry. I thank everyone for their comments and hope everyone's dog has made a complete recovery.

Maizee's TN lasted about 3 weeks until she was able to begin eating on her own. I found there were residual effects in terms of her energy and zest for life - that just took longer (about a month), to get back to her "old self". I will never know what triggered the problem, but given what happened next, I am wondering if her system was just so compromised that it made the TN possible. Maizee had a few diagnosed health issues, Pannus and a Hemangiopericytoma on her left front leg. We had made the decision to amputate her leg this July as she would be cancer free without it. Hemangiopericytoma is a soft tissue, non life threatening, slow growing cancer that tends to return after removal, but tends not to spread, and usually affects the limbs, so amputation tends to be the answer when it comes to getting rid of it. Because she was part whippet/greyhound and continued to love to run, we chose to manage it with homeopathy, Rife treatments, supplements, a raw diet and keeping in constant contact with our holistic vet (Dr. Sharon Kopinak - the best vet in the world, in my estimation).

What we didn't know however, was that Maizee had a secondary cancer brewing on her spleen. It was a hemangiosarcoma. This is an insidious, fast growing/spreading cancer that usually kills within 2-4 months of starting. It was on Saturday, June 27th, we had brought Maizee with us to do grocery shopping. Leaving her in the car with windows rolled down and in the shade, it was no warmer than 17C and we were gone for 10 minutes. When we came back she seemed not quite right. My first thought was that someone had fed her something through the window, but we went home had supper, which she ate with her usual gusto, but still not very spry. Maizee had rallied by morning and we had a great walk, breakfast, then she laid down and spent most of the day sleeping. By evening she didn't want dinner, wasn't drinking and was lethargic. We called the vet and met him at the clinic. Maizee's belly was full of blood and we made the agonizing decision to help her cross over. Our in town vet, Dr. Morris (also a fabulous vet), figured it was an hemangiosarcoma that had probably burst resulting in the internal bleeding. He said that most of the cases he is seeing are at this stage, when it's too late. He has caught this earlier, been able to remove the tumor and spleen, had a look at the liver which was perfect, closed the dog up, but within a month the dog had died. When he has done the autopsy, the liver was covered in tumors - just shocking. We spoke to another vet and he had said basically the same thing, he had removed the original tumor, brought the dog in on a Tuesday to remove the surgical staples, but by Friday he had to euthanize the dog because it had spread so rapidly.

I don't know what role TN had in Maizee's life. We just took the illness on it's own and got through it, but was it a flag that something else was going on? Who knows? Had we caught the other cancer, by other accounts, we couldn't have prolonged her life for much longer anyway. I guess I could go on and on beating myself up and second guessing everything, but what it comes down to is, it was her time to go. I miss Maizee everyday and continue on the long path of grief, missing all 4 of the animals we lost this summer - Moses, Tessa, Maizee and Pippitt. I thought things were supposed to happen in 3's what the hell happened???? They must be having one heck of a party somewhere - I hope...

Update

2009-03-10T17:21:00.003-04:00

Hey All - we got the blood test results and Maizee is one healthy pooch that can't close her mouth. Our vet went ahead and ordered the thyroid panel and we'll wait 'til Thursday to get the results. In the meantime I found something on the net that seems to fit Maizee's symptoms here.

The other theory I have is that since her tumor has grown back, is it possible that it's grown around a nerve that reaches up to Maizee's head?

I don't know, but I passed this on to my vet and hopefully he won't be too insulted that I'm telling him what to do....

Help Us, Help Maizee

2009-03-09T17:37:00.008-04:00

Hey guys and gals, I really, really need your help right now.

Our girl, Maizee, has an unusual problem that her vet has no idea what's going on and I was wondering if any of you have any ideas or experience with this problem.

A Bit of History

About a week ago, Maizee seemed off. Nothing I could put my finger on, she seemed to be a little lethargic, but appetite was good, just not her usual bright spark of a girl. She went on walks all week, but stayed close to us and didn't run around at top speed like she usually does. I was thinking it was her cancer bothering her as the tumor is back and bigger than it was initially. When I touched it lightly, she winced a bit, but she isn't limping or anything. (for the record, she has a hemangiopericytoma that was removed a year ago. It's a slow-growing, non-metastatic type of cancer and leg removal will cure it. no doubt it will, but we chose to keep her leg until it returns, and now it has, so now we have to revisit that decision...at a later time). For the time being, I'm pretty sure this isn't cancer related.

On to the problem at hand: Maizee can't seem to close her mouth. This started Friday night, with her just holding her mouth a little ajar, like she was sniffing something. By Sunday, her mouth was about an inch open. She is able to close it if she's resting her chin on something, but otherwise her mouth is open. If she's sleeping on her side, her mouth is open. Eating is becoming a problem as she has difficulty keeping the food in, even if we hand feed her small amounts. (she is on a raw diet, so not a lot of crunch there) Drinking water is becoming more of a problem because the water just runs out before she swallows. I've been holding the dish right under her mouth and I think she gets some, but don't really know how much.

We had a vet appointment today and he's stumped. He spent a half hour manipulating her jaw, palpating, poking and Maizee took it all without protest. She doesn't seem to be in pain...

Her jaw has good mobility, so it's not dislocated. There doesn't seem to be anything in her mouth or jaw that's preventing her from closing, because she can close it, just not on her own. It doesn't seem to hurt if it's opened, or closed by the vet, but she just can't hold it closed. We even turned her on her back to see if gravity could close it, which it did and it can remain shut, but as we righted her, it opened again.

There doesn't seem to be any obvious trauma that's causing it.

What the vet did find though is a certain amount of atrophy of the main muscle that runs from the top of her head to her jaw. He found this surprising and could not think of why it would be happening. Atrophy suggests something happening over time, so what could it be? He drew some blood and we'll have the results tomorrow morning. He was thinking Addison's, or some type of thyroid problem perhaps, but it's really quite a mystery. Her temp was the low end of normal, but her heart rate was slow - unusual for her as she is quite the athlete and has always had a good strong heartbeat.

I am hoping to get this post out to as many people as I know in the hope that someone might have and idea or opinion on what might be going on with Maizee. Please feel free to post this link to as many people as you can think of who might be able to help.
(Here's Maizee with her favourite bone a few months ago, so she's used to working her jaw muscles quite a bit as we always have large bones for the girls to chew on...)

Our girl is a 9 year old, spayed, Greyhound/English Pointer cross. She was hit by a car about a year and a half before we got her (we've had her coming up on 4 years this fall) and so far that accident hasn't had an impact on her health. Maizee also has Pannus, a condition of the eyes where for some reason, usually an injury, the body starts rejecting the corneas and begins to grow capillaries across it, eventually causing blindness.

I'm wondering if this jaw thing is some form of a Bell's palsy type thing, or something like it, where you get a weird neurological thing that comes out of the blue, runs it's course, and moves on???

Really - any thoughts would be appreciated.

You can leave a comment here or email me - bakinganddogs@gmail.com
or
facebook me - Jen Arnold

Thanks
Jen

Rebel, rebel

2009-03-08T23:45:00.006-04:00

Thank you to anyone and everyone who voted for me and my cupcake -I really appreciate it. I didn't win any prizes, but it was fun anyway. March's creation has to involve nuts and or seeds, so I'm thinking of lots of possibilities....

So it's Sunday afternoon and I'm getting ready to prepare my Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, when I decide to check the site and see what suggestions are coming from those who have already made the custard chosen for this week. When lo and behold -I'VE BEEN KICKED OUT OF THE GROUP!

I didn't post last week, which makes 2 weeks in a row, which makes me a Dorie loser, and gets me kicked out of the group. HA HA HA. The shame! Oh the terrible shame!
Oh well I'm over it and soon I'll find a group, a better group, a more forgiving group that realizes that sometimes life gets in the way of preparing a freakin' dessert.... So long Tuesdays with Dorie - nice knowing you.

(Some chocolate cakes I've made recently.)

VOTE!

2009-03-01T23:19:00.004-05:00

Hey everyone - the polls are now open for the Feb. Iron Cupcake challenge until Friday, March 6th, so please, please,please vote for my entry here.

All of this month's competitors are listed, with pictures and descriptions. There are some fabulous looking cuppies and fierce competition, but you get to pick 3, so vote often and please include my cuppie in your top 3.

Just put a check in the box beside Baking and Dogs - which is the 2nd entry from the top of the list.

Thanks!
Jen

TWD - Caramel crunch bars

2009-02-24T01:07:00.002-05:00

Today's TWD recipe was chosen by Whitney from What's Left on the Table

Whitney chose the Caramel Crunch Bars and they're fabulous!

As in fabulously easy,

fabulously quick,

and fabulously delicious.

There is touch of coffee and cinnamon in the shortbread crust together with Dorie's beloved touch of salt, to cut the sweetness.

Chocolate chips are melted on top the smothered in skor bits. Did I mention they were delicious?

Just perfect with my beloved vanilla soy latte.

Or just on their own. . . or with an ice cold glass of milk...or as dessert...or with a banana...or for breakfast...or...or...or........

Thank you Miss Dorie!

Iron Cupcake - Coffee

2009-02-23T22:37:00.005-05:00

WEEEE!!!! It's the first Iron Cupcake challenge I'm participating in and the ingredient chosen for this month is COFFEE!

This is a worldwide competition where bakers come up with original cupcakes and compete for the fabulous prizes listed at the end of this post.

I came up with a Mocha Cappuccino White Chocolate cupcake. The cupcake is a chocolate mocha cake with a white chocolate espresso ganache filling with a chocolate covered espresso bean in the centre. The cupcake is iced with a Swiss Meringue buttercream with some of the ganache whipped into it and a shot of coffee liqueur for good measure. It's then topped with chocolate "steam" curls.

TAA DAAA!

Here is a cross section showing the ganache centre with the chocolate covered espresso bean:

Voting is open from Sunday, March 1 at 8pm to Friday, March 6, at 12:00 noon.

Please vote for my little cupcake here: http://www.mkecupcakequeen.blogspot.com

Our February ETSY PRIZE-PACK is from artists:

DIANAEVANS - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5599270
as well as a pair of cupcake earrings from LOTS OF SPRINKLES at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6057281.
PLUS, IronCupcake:Earth can not forget our good friend, CAKESPY, http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5243382, who is now going to be doing a piece for our winner each month until further notice - sweet!

As an added bonus for February, SWEET CUPPIN CAKES BAKERY AND CUPCAKERY SUPPLY will be tossing in a variety of cupcaking supplies, http://www.acupcakery.com/index.html.

Last and certainly not least, don’t forget our corporate prize providers: HEAD CHEFS by FIESTA PRODUCTS, http://www.fiestaproducts.com, HELLO CUPCAKE by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, http://blog.hellocupcakebook.com, JESSIE STEELE APRONS http://www.jessiesteele.com; TASTE OF HOME books, http://www.tasteofhome.com; a t-shirt from UPWITHCUPCAKES.COM http://www.upwithcupcakes.com/. Iron Cupcake:Earth is sponsored in part by 1-800-Flowers, http://www.1800flowers.com .

My apologies

2009-02-17T23:41:00.005-05:00

Dear Tuesdays With Dorie bakers - this is two weeks in a row without something from the book and I am extending my deepest apologies. I will be back next week, I promise.

This past week's schedule was a bit of a mess and scrunched up because I AM ATTENDING MY FIRST CONVENTION EVER!!!!!

I am posting this from my lovely, by-the-eight-lane-highway-so-you'll-get-a-restful-sleep--not hotel. It is FABULOUS!
This is my pretty view at night.

WARNING: This post has a bit of cussin' 'cause, I WAS PISSSSSED - but now I'm good....

It was a nightmare of a drive - and the weather was good - so it was just the assholes on the road (oh yeah, and the completely incorrect instructions from the hotel) that screwed it up for me.

I was cut off not once, not twice, but three times by transport trailers!!!! Our next car is going to be a Hummer, I swear to God! (But seriously, I do love my Echo to bits and would never, ever trade her for another car...unless...they make a hybrid Hummer for $15,000 that gets 100k to the litre, there, I said it and I mean it)

By the way my trip was supposed to take approx. 2 1/2 - 3 hours from my place to St. Catharines - near Niagara Falls in Ontario Canada.

SOOOO - anywhooo- 4 1/2 hours and two stops for directions later, I get here, it's dark outside and as I turn onto the road where my hotel is supposed to be, I pull into a completely blacked out Comfort Inn. 'Cause I'm not stressed out enough - WTF????? I'm staying in the haunted Comfort Inn of St. Catharines???? Sweet Jesus, could this day get any worse? Yes my friends, it does....

The woman at the spooky check-in with a flashlight tells me because I booked my room over the net - there's no real correlation between what I booked and what I get. I had asked for a room with a fridge and microwave, so I could just grab a couple of frozen dinners and eat in the room. Ummm, sorry, no.

Fine.

Here are your keys (cards really, but we still call them keys - how charming), more directions and off I go. But guess what - there's no fuckin' electricity - so you can't really get into your room! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Directly across the 8-lane highway- I spy a CHAPTERS!!! I love Chapters and nothing bad ever happens there...so off I go.

Call the husband, who isn't home from work yet, use the facilities, call the husband, who isn't home from work yet and start some angry and upset browsing. Can't...... find...... anything.....why....are.....all.....Chapters........set......up.....differently????????

Then when I finally find MY SECTION (baking, surprise, surprise)....there's a freakin' party going on. Two chicks camping out on the floor with their mondo grande no whip haf calf chocolate sprinkled energy drinks, and one other woman in MMMMYYYYYYY SSSSEEEEECCCCCTTTTIIIIOOOONNNNN!!!!!!! Now I'm going to cry. I just want the familiar, the comfort of my baking books and I can't get near them. All right, I tell myself, no one has to get hurt. If I can just get to one book - I'll be fine...So I excuse myself, stepping over the younguns, grab a book, pass the next woman and make it to the end of the row. I did it.

Ahhhh, comfort as I open to gaze upon pure chocolate Obsessions - my porn, at last. Now I can breathe.

Then I start evesdropping on the younguns - they're pastry students....and I love them.

Because they seem to love baking as much as I do, I have to butt in.

We talk for over an hour and I am soooo happy. Having worked in this industry for most of my adult life, it's so wonderful when you meet passionate people who care about what they do - and when they're so young, it just makes me that much happier. We talked industry stuff, what they want to do and where they want to go - it was just awesome. We exchanged email addresses and they offered to give me good directions for the city while I'm here - lovely, lovely girls. My whole day changed thanks to them. We said our good-byes, I finally get in touch with Doug, drive back to my now lit hotel and life is truly good again.

So what is my convention for you might ask? Why, it's the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Convention! Huzzah and hurrah!! Actually it's the Ontario Farmer's Market Fruit and Vegetable Convention. I am pretty excited, let me tell you! Really I am! It's like I'm all grown up - and yet not so much.....

I should really get to bed -I just want to show you the essentials I brought, to make my stay complete...

That's right, my espresso machine and grinder and since I don't have a fridge (like I'm supposed to), I've taken all the ice from the machine opposite my door, and am chilling my vanilla soy milk, for my morning latte, bitches....cause that's how I roll!!!
I'll report on the day one activities tomorrow.

Good night!

Cupcake decorating class

2009-02-13T23:47:00.006-05:00

Things at The Sweet Kitchen have been surprisingly busy for the beginning of the year. A few of my Farmer's Market regulars asked if I would be interested in teaching them something, anything...and I said yes.

Last Thursday evening I hosted 3 lovely ladies for a cupcake icing and decorating class. It was the first class (besides swimming) I have ever taught and I think it went well.

I pre-made the cupcakes, but we covered ganache (the miracle worker) and Swiss Meringue Buttercream, basic piping skills, paper cones and a bit of chocolate work.

A good time was had by all and the girls left with a dozen cupcakes each.

They did beautiful work and I don't think by looking at their cupcakes, anyone would guess that they had no previous piping experience. Talented ladies indeed!

Things almost got ugly when Janet's apron was still sparkling white, while Barb's and Helene's had some chocolate smudges. But Janet's quick talking averted a crisis and everyone was friends again!

Things I learned were: follow the plan you made, narrow your subject matter down, but keep it interesting and stick to a time limit. I was way too ambitious in what I thought we would get to and forgot some of the basic things I should have covered, but all in all I think we did well.

For the next class - I think we'll do a chocolate tasting. Anyone interested????

TWD - World Peace Cookies - A Story

2009-02-03T01:12:00.010-05:00

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a horrible band of PIRATES! Their sole purpose was wreck havoc upon those less fortunate.

They would roam the seas, looking for thinks to steal and people to enslave.

One day they happened upon an island where gentle, industrious folk were going about their business. The pirates were intrigued and came ashore, looking to take over...

The island folk were terrified and hid together in the shelter of what they produced...cookies. These folk had been making these cookies for centuries without any influence from the outside world. These cookies made them happy and peaceful and they called them, peace cookies.

The pirates figured they could make a fortune selling these cookies and made plans to make the island folk their slaves, producing these cookies. The pirates could then sell them to countries worldwide, who would then become peaceful. As the countries were lulled into a false sense of security, the pirates could swoop in and loot every country in the world!!!! Muahhaaa, muahhhaaa, muahaaaa!

Their dastardly plot was flawless....until. they. ate. a. cookie...

Suddenly, they were overcome with feelings they had never had before...what the $%#@? They felt calm and suddenly no one could remember the evil plot. These cookies were THAT GOOD!!!

But pirates, being pirates, suggested a few small changes...perhaps, just perhaps, we could add Amaretto instead of vanilla? "We don't see why not" said the island folk.

"And perhaps, we could add some milk chocolate chips too?" Why not? replied the island folk. And so it came to pass.

Peace was restored to the island once again.

The pirates decided to sail the world looking for countries in need of peace, with the now renamed - World Peace Cookies and they really didn't have to go too far. Instead of selling them - they just gave them - in the spirit of world peace. They expected nothing in return except some peace and happiness and maybe, just maybe a little less conflict in the world.

THE END

Please try baking your own World Peace Cookies -You can find this recipe here on Jessica's blog "cookbook habit".

Maizee Nesta Marley

2009-01-31T14:32:00.005-05:00

Look it's Maizee getting her Rastafari on! My poor, long suffering Maizee puts up with so much, like wearing my hat and keeping it on until we take pictures of her....I think she looks adorable...Maizee, not so much! Thanks Lorri for the photo - I was too far away, and laughing too hard to get the nice detail you did.

Tuesdays With Dorie

2009-01-26T23:57:00.012-05:00

Today marks my debut with the Tuesdays With Dorie group. For those of you who are not familiar with the "Dorie" in question - it's Dorie Greenspan - pastry chef/cookbook author extrodinaire. Dorie is an American gal living half the year in the US and the other half in Paris. Dorie came out with a baking book a few years ago called "Baking From My Home to Yours" and what a book it is. It is chock full of over 300 recipes with lots of colour photos , clear instructions and lots of personal stories that make the reader feel like they're having a good friend over for some coffee and baking. A few women got together on the net and decided to work through the book, recipe by recipe and discuss their results. It's a fun group and the different interpretations of one recipe are seemingly endless. Dorie herself has made herself available for questions, checks in the progress and has made some helpful tips. Which I think is really neat. I have loved Dorie's cookbooks since she wrote "Baking With Julia" with none other than the late, great, Julia Child. She has worked with the phenomenal Pierre Herme on 2 of his brilliant cookbooks available in English and has authored other books, articles etc. etc...She is a very busy, in demand woman - but can still find time to help Jane average with her baking. Amazing Indeed!

Anywho - this weeks' recipe is for the chocolate gingerbread cake. (As a group policy we don't print the recipe since we're going through the whole book and you wouldn't have to buy it because it would be provided free to you online which is not a really great way to thank an author. So I would suggest you buy the book - there are really an amazing array of recipes and I can assure it's money well-spent.)

The recipe is very simple and easy to put together. Dorie suggests a 9x9 inch square pan to fit the whole recipe in and you'd think that with the 4 million pans I own, I would have such a thing - but NO. So I used my favourite silicone Le Cruset pans:

I got over 18 little cakes and I think they are a nice size. One is a perfect serving, and when you scarf your second, it doesn't seem too bad, but by the 3rd, well, maybe you're pushing it. But if you spread it out over a day....

Bake the cakes and let them cool.

Make a super shiny, not too sweet chocolate glaze - that's got a bit of coffee, some butter and confectioner's sugar dip them in.

Put on a pretty plate and devour!

I love ginger and chocolate together, especially when there is fresh, ground and candied in the recipe. It was an exceptionally easy, quick recipe to throw together and had a nice depth of flavour. I would make it again.

PS: I'm an idiot - the person who chooses the recipe for the week, posts that recipe on their website. You can find this recipe on here: http://sherrytrifle-lovelycats.blogspot.com/ from Heather, at Sherry Trifle.

Baking for Dogs

2009-01-22T23:53:00.022-05:00

This is a blog about my two biggest passions - baking and dogs, hence the name. Occasionally I get to combine the two - NO I DON'T MEAN BAKING DOGS!!! I get to bake FOR dogs. Dog treats, wheat free, decorated dog treats. YAY!

People enjoy my baking, some may even say they love it, but no one ever shamelessly drools as they're looking at the cakes and tarts.

No human ever starts sighing loudly...adding a soft nose whistle...building into off key singing... then outright barking...when they look at my baking...unless they're a dog...Maizee...to be exact.

I guess if humans did that, I'd probably be kind of scared and more than a little uncomfortable, but when dogs do it it makes my spirit soar. They like me, they really like me - or at least my dog treats....

I have the good fortune to supply All Creatures Great and Small stores in Peterborough and Cobourg, with their "dog bakery" items and it's awesome. I get to make products that people are buying for their best friends, to show them how much they love them. What could be better?

I started last fall just before xmas and had NO IDEA how many they would order for xmas. People, I got tendonitis from all the rolling and the cutting and the decorating. I was at them for a week solid - I had to cancel other engagements - because I was doing Doooooog Treatsssssss! I was making them in my sleep and maybe not feeling so much of the love...but now I know the time involved and: Note to self - this year prepare more ahead of time - for the love of gawd!

Any way - they were a hit and I recently got to do some Valentine treats. I was really pleased with the results and would like to share them with you.

I make them wheat free because wheat can be awfully hard on your dog's digestive system and can exacerbate inflammation, just like in humans. ie. if you or your dog has arthritis, wheat may make it worse - so it's probably good to reduce your and your pet's consumption of it. So in the spirit of health, I make these wheat free and sometimes grain free treats and ruin all that goodness by coating them in a sweetened yogurt or peanut butter coating. Ah well they are treats, and like us, treats are only an occasional thing...right????

This is 6 year old Shak - isn't he handsome? He belongs to my friend Crystal and her family in Alberta. Crystal took home some dog treats at xmas for her boy, who is an extremely picky eater. Apparently he loved the treats and Crystal's mom wanted the recipe - "only if you send me a picture of Shak" - and she did and so here he is and the recipes too. Enjoy your treats handsome!Gingerbread Dog Treats

1 C molasses
1/4 C honey
1 C water
1/2 C canola oil

6 C brown rice flour or oat flour or barley flour (the latter two are easier to work with)
2t baking soda
1t cinnamon
1t cloves
1t ginger

Combine the wet ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the wet to the dry and mix to form a dough. It will be a softer dough. Divide into 4. Wrap in plastic wrap and set sit for 3-5 hours.
Roll out on a floured surface to desired thickness, cut out shapes place on parchment lines cookie sheets and bake at 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. If they are soft to the touch, turn the heat down to 325 and let go for another 10 minutes. You don't need to bake them until they are hard - they will firm up once they cool - but you do want them to be dried out somewhat.

Apple Cinnamon Dough

1C unsweetened applesauce
1C water
1/2C canola oil
2 large eggs

5C oat flour
1\2C powdered milk
1t cinnamon
1t ginger

Combine wet ingredients. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the wet to the dry. Mix to form a dough. Roll out on a floured surface, cut and place on parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Directions from above apply here too about length of time in oven.

You don't want to roll these cookies too thickly, or it will take forever for them to be dry enough to decorate, but if they're too thin, they'll break when you are trying to dip them. 1/4 inch or slightly thicker will work well.
The fun thing about baking for dogs and these recipes is that you can really mix things up. For the second recipe - you could switch the applesauce, for canned pumpkin (NOT pie filling) and the cinnamon and ginger for garlic and parsley to make a savoury treat. Then you wouldn't have to decorate them, unless you threw a little cheese on them for the last 5 minutes - that would be cool...Your dog isn't going to complain - s/he will just love you more for making the effort and taking the time to bake for him/her. Experimenting is fun and you can customize something just for your pooch!

I use a yogurt coating coloured with natural dyes from India Tree to decorate these, but I think Merkins (sold at bulk stores) are probably easier to find. Of course they'd be healthier without the icing, but once in a while treats are OK as long as they're once in a while.

Have fun, be creative and get baking!!!!

A Sad Day

2009-01-15T00:36:00.008-05:00

It is with sadness that we decided to have Moses, our 18 year old Siamese, put down. Like everyone else here, he was a rescue....
Around this time 7 years ago, we were living in Ottawa and Doug was the chef at Lapointe Fish in Hull, PQ. He was biking home, took a short cut that he usually didn't take, and lo and behold, as he was going through a field, he spied what looked like a garbage bag. As he got closer, he realized it was a coat with a cat on it. He stopped to investigate and found the cat to be pregnant. Who the hell leaves a cat on a coat in subzero weather in the middle of a field at midnight???? Assholes, that's who! Doug scooped up the cat and coat and tried to bike home. Since the cat was so big, he couldn't get his balance on the bike, so he locked it up and walked 20 minutes home, told me we had a visitor and walked back to get his bike and biked home.
This cat reeked of cigaratte smoke and was HUGE. He was also a he - not pregnant at all. There was a wear mark around his neck where his collar had been removed - I guess so he couldn't be traced, but I could feel a microchip. Bonus - maybe we could find his owners after all. On closer inspection he had been declawed front AND BACK. Who the hell declaws a cat front and back? Assholes, that's who.
We got him scanned at the vet the next day and turns out he was from Cambridge ( a good 5-6 hours away). His original owner didn't remember who she had sold him to and no, she didn't want him back, thanks anyway. So we now had a new/old cat to add to the 2 we already had.
We had also found out his original name was Spike - now highly inappropriate if you ask me. We renamed him Moses and he was all ours - all 21 pounds of him.
It was clear he had been overweight all, or most of his life, as his body had deformed to accommodate the weight - shoulder blades almost 5 inches apart, his back legs severely bowed, two bald patches on his tummy where it dragged on the ground...and the list went on. First thing, put Moses on a diet. Oh he lost weight all right, which made him more agile, so he could eat everyone's food and what good food it was/is. (we do raw food for our pets, but that's a whole other post or two) and so the weight came back - in spite of careful measuring and doing a separate dish for each cat...
There were more health problems and we tried that Prescription crap the vet sells and we got into horrible bowel and urinary tract problems, so back to home made for our boy. He never took off the weight, but he didn't gain any either. As the years have gone by, Moses has become less and less active, so he's only ever had his alloted food for the last 4-5 years and still hasn't managed to lose anything, so we've just kept up with vet check-ups and really didn't expect him to last as long as he has. He was supposed to have a benign bump removed from his nose 6 years ago but the vet said he wouldn't survive the surgery because his kidney values were terrible and indicated the beginnings of failure...little did she know he was planning many more years of eating ahead of him and he wasn't ready to give that up just yet. Yes, Moses was steadfast in his objective to eat and enjoy eating until the end. Which is how we knew it was time to help him pass...he wasn't eating anymore...
Our 7 years with Moses have been uneventful for the most part - he was a gentle soul who loved the very basics of life - food, water, sun and lots of love. He was not overly curious, playful or bold, but just a lovely quiet, wise and beautiful soul. He welcomed newcomers (we've added 3 more cats since moving here) with generous loving baths - filling in for the mothers our new kittens were missing, someone to snuggle up to and gentle guidance on how to be a good boy. Moses has repaid us with constant companionship, few demands, a lovely singing voice and a deep, deep purr. His health has been quite frail lately and I think it was the kindest thing to do for him - we didn't want him to suffer and so we have said goodbye to the wonderful cat that was Moses. Rest well my good friend, I love you.

Baby Shower Cupcakes

2009-01-12T15:39:00.011-05:00

I was asked recently to provide the "cupcake tree" for a baby shower dinner at a local restaurant, for about 30 women, and of course I said yes. It's so much fun to have a bit of freedom to create around a theme and so I decided to top the cupcakes with rolled fondant decorations.
The cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla with a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream tinted in either blue or pink. While the decorations were pink, blue, yellow and green. The technique for the decorations is quite simple. You can buy pre-made rolling fondant at cake supply stores, bulk stores and online, or you can make your own. I had some pre made white on hand, so I used that. Colour it with a paste colour of your choice and roll it out about 1/4" thick. You could just use mini cutters and do only shapes, or you could make a pattern with stamps that you can get at Michael's or craft stores, then cut into desired shapes, which is what I did. Let the fondant shapes dry at least overnight then on to the next step.

Once dry, I added luster dust to the stamped shapes to give them definition and help them stand out more.

I then had some coloured dragees that I scattered around the fondant piece and voila the cupcake is done.

I have to apologize for the final tree picture (and now that I look at them - all of the pictures seem a bit dark, sorry) - I took my point and shoot, but the room was too dark, so the lighting is5 not the best and the details kind of get washed out...but it was cute nonetheless.

Winter Walk at Ken Reid

2009-01-11T13:54:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Missed Opportunites

2009-01-09T18:00:00.004-05:00

So on the coldest day of the year so far, we went for our afternoon walk - everyone, even Maizee the sissy pants. A few friends in the neighbourhood and I tend to go around 4pm daily which gives the people a chance to talk about their days and gives the dogs a chance to catch up on sniffing butts and some good natured wrassling. Today, however, was the walk to end all walks - 13 dogs and 7 people and nary a camera in sight. Kristie and I had both glanced at our cameras on the way out the door and thought, "Naw it's too cold, nothing interesting ever happens when it's this cold." We had a Golden Retriever, Miniature Schnauzers, Corgis, Labrador Retrievers, Australian Shepherds and a few rare breeds (dogs of inter-racial descent). What a great time we all had, until we realized it's really freakin' cold out here - dogs started holding paws up and humans started losing feeling in various body parts. The decision was made to come home and so we did. The moral : take your damn camera with you, then you won't be looking through the archives for filler pictures (even though the subject matter is quite pretty)!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2009-01-01T13:12:00.003-05:00

It's 2009 already? Holy crap - what happened to 2008?

After a few days at the in-laws (I had a GREAT time, thank you very much!), we just had a quiet night in with a few margaritas and chicken wings. Yes, we sure do know how to live.
My first wish for everyone is a happy, healthy and a year full of love and fulfillment. Do the things that make you happy and maybe try something you've been putting off because you were afraid to try it. See where it takes you - you never know until you try and you can only put things off for so long, then it's too late, so do it now.

So we were in the Ottawa area at my sister-in-law's home for a few days and we all went to see Marley and Me. Not a movie I had any great desire to see - I've read the book and loved it, knowing the outcome (spoiler alert Marley dies) didn't make me want to see it in a public place. I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. It wasn't sappy or over the top, but just really well done. I am recommending it to all of you - although you may want to wait to see it at home so you can have a really rip-snorting, wail of a good cry at the end. After the movie, all 9 of us trudged red eyed and snotty into McDonald's for lunch - Let's just say the lighting in there is less than flattering...

So what's on tap now? I will be ripping my bakery apart for it's annual down to the bare bones cleaning, re-organization and purging of all the excess crap I don't need. Come to think of it - that's what's in store for the rest of the house too!

Here is what my basement bakery looks like:

Cheers to 2009!

introduction

2008-12-28T15:26:00.000-05:00

This is my beautiful girl, Tessa. She is a rescued 10 year old blue merle Australian shepherd. Tessa is as sweet as she looks and I love her big time. She came to live with us 5 years ago after being removed from a puppy-mill-like situation a year before that. Tessa loves peace and quiet and finds there's no place like home - even going to the neighbours backyard for a play date is too far, so home we go and all is right in Tessa's world again.

This is Maizee our 9 year old Greyhound/English Pointer mix. She too is a rescue - she was surrendered to the Toronto Humane Society immediately after being hit by a car. Her owner couldn't afford the vet bills and so took her directly to the shelter, which sounds crappy, but she wouldn't be with us otherwise, so thank you heartless dog caretaker, thank you. Maizee has been with us for 3 years and she is one funny, funny dog. Her main thing is goosing - yeah that's right - sticking her nose in your bum when you least expect it and she's willing to goose total strangers on our walks. We usually call her Maizee-poop-a-loops and you can too!
So those are the girls, I will write about the cats (6) soon and some baking too!