Hands Off My Cheese, Gromit!

This week had a bit of a theme to it; cheese!! Last night I met some of the girls at Bistro 7 1/4 for an evening out. (LOVE that place).  This is a night out we need to book way more often then we actually do. This is a group of girls that date back to the good old days.  In fact, Lisa's parents still live across the street from my dad on the street were we grew up! Many of the others in the group are friends from high school. We have seen each other through so much. From weddings, to children, to funeral these ladies have always been there for each other. You WANT these ladies on your side. These are the friends who you may not talk to as often as you should but are the first ones you call or text with news, whether it is happy news, or you are in tears, you call them. Unfortunately we had a few cancellations and only 3 of use met. But hey, life happens and we will have to plan another one soon to make up for it!

 Trina and I shared a cheese plate and it was cheese heaven. Lisa had the roasted beet salad, which is always a great choice. I then had the mac n cheese and a nice glass of red wine which helped round out all that cheese. Lisa and Trina both had the moules et frites.....mussels and fries. They reported tastiness all around! It is safe to say I nearly went into a cheese coma, which isn't necessarily a bad thing!

Earlier in the week, Tuesday evening to be exact, I had a wonderful night out with a couple of newer blogger friends. (newer friends, not newer bloggers! We are getting to know each other and I'm sure we'll be friends for a long time!) We participated in a cheese making class at the Food Studio on Roblin. The class was taught by Louise May from Aurora Farms. She's got her own little farm in St Norbert, just South of Winnipeg. We learned a wealth of information about goats' milk, the process of making soft cheeses at home, and had some fun too.  It was nice to get out and learn some new things, even though I probably won't have time to make cheese until I am on winter holidays, I took extensive notes and I have Hadass and Anna to ask questions. (Thank goodness!) 

It was fabulous cheese and friend filled week!!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Barley's Angels: Beer and Desserts, Together At Last

First of all, a quick update.  The Boy has received his luggage finally and they have started working on the floor of a library for the Salabwek Primary School in Kenya.  From the sounds of the last email, they are being kept busy!  I am dealing better now with the empty nest thing, especially now that I know the Boy has his luggage.  Hubby and I have painted the bathroom, the living room, and the front entry way.....my arms are tired.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...as much as this blog is scheduled...

Last night I had the fabulous opportunity to head out to Bistro 7 1/4 for a Barley's Angels outing.  Barley's Angels you ask? The Barley's Angels are a group of women looking for learn more about beer. Last night they held a beer and dessert pairing evening....WOW!
We were completely spoiled rotten with four beers and four full size desserts...seriously. We were expecting mini desserts....I went to the gym today!

Now let me remind you, that I do not know a lot about beer or pairing it with food I am learning so I have included the links to the beers to give you a more accurate description of each one.

First we started with a vanilla creme brulee and the Innis & Gunn Original.
The Innis & Gunn Original definitely had a strong malt flavour and bitterness that cut through the sweetness of the creme brulee.  The creme brulee was almost mousse like and wasn't very dense. It did taste absolutely heavenly although I would have liked more vanilla in the dessert.

Second, they brought out chocolate banana bread pudding with caramel sauce.  This was paired with Half Pints' Bulldog Amber Ale. Bulldog Amber Ale has a softer bitterness to it and wasn't as big a contrast to the dessert as the first pairing was.  It was a tasty combo.  The bread pudding was everything a bread pudding should be and that caramel sauce...well, I wish I had a glass of caramel sauce to drink too...

The third dessert was a wonderful goat cheese cheesecake with fig compote paired with the Innis & Gunn Highland Cask. This beer had a smoother finish than the original and I preferred this beer over the original but it really evened out  the sweetness from the fig compote.  I was expecting a sharper tasting cheesecake with the goat cheese in it but it was all sweet and all delish!

Last but not least, we had a dark chocolate espresso cake with Kaluha ganache and the coveted Half Pints Black Galaxy Beer. This beer is a dark IPA.  When you look at it, you think stout, but when you drink it, you think India Pale Ale.  This went so well with the dense chocolate cake.  The bitterness of the beer and the overt sweetness of the cake (and the ganache) made this a great way to close the evening.  It is only too bad I was too full to finish the dessert!

A fabulous night out with great food, drinks, and company! I look forward to the next Barley's Angels outing.

Until next time, stay warm and eat well.

A Night Out With Manitoba Food Bloggers

Exciting things are happening around Winnipeg.  The Manitoba Food Bloggers have had their first gathering and are planning more.  Now please excuse the lateness of this post.  We actually had our night out February 29th  at Elements.  It was a fabulous night of food, drink, a seminar on photography with the fabulous Ian Mcausland,  and friendship. Many of us met for the first time in person.  Our name tags also had our twitter handles and out website names on them. It was so neat to see these and say "Oh hi! I read your blog all the time!".  There were door prizes, goody bags, and donations to Siloam Mission.

It was such a fantastic opportunity to chat with others who have similar interests.....FOOD!  There wasn't just bloggers there. We had restaurateurs and business owners, representatives from different producer groups, Half Pints Brewery was there with free samples, as was the Tipsy Thief. 

I had my camera with me but I didn't take too many photos. I wanted to enjoy the evening and not worry about photos.  I did manage to click a couple of pics but I spent the evening enjoying the company and learning to not rely so much on my flash!

I am looking forward to the next Manitoba Food Bloggers event and can't wait for future plans with this fabulous group of people!  A huge thank you to everyone involved in making this event happen!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

Drink Your Cocktails, Cupcake

Did you know it is very easy to add booze to your cupcakes?  It is as simple as brushing on some rum or tequila, or whatever on to cupcakes when they come out of the oven, again before icing, and heck, put some in the frosting as well!

Strawberry rhubarb daiquiri

Remember those amazing strawberry rhubarb cupcakes?? Well, I brushed a batch of these little beauties with rum, twice...then I added rum to the the strawberry meringue butter cream....Yum!! You heard me correctly....just add some liquor to a Swiss meringue butter cream after it is finished and you are set!!

Mango lime margarita

Then there was the wonderful mango lime cupcakes?  Those were brushed with tequila, twice then were topped with a tequila lime icing!!  Tequila lime icing is as easy as switching out the water or other liquid for lime juice and tequila.  A little lime zest never hurts either!!

I took these little gems over to a friend's house to help celebrate her birthday.  I must admit I enjoyed hearing the rave reviews!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!!

May The Weekend Be Long: Little Cabin in the Woods

"And just where have you been young lady?"

" Out"

"What kind of answer is that?"

"Ummmmm....well...."

"Well? What to you have to say for yourself?"

Okay, okay, I am so sorry I have been somewhat MIA lately.  Baseball season has officially started and it keeps us busy. I have been cooking and baking but just no time to write. When I am at the cabin I still like to cook and bake but with no Internet (just the data on my blackberry), I don't post while out in the woods.  Now add the demon cold from hell on the top of the pile and well, I am sick so I needed to sleep more.  Without further ado, I give  you:

Little Cabin in The Woods Part I: May Long Weekend

We just had a glorious long weekend here yet I am not posting anything until Thursday...I developed one heck of a  demon cold while at the cabin this weekend.  This cold has completely knocked me on my butt....but enough about the cold and back to the long weekend.  We decided last minute to make the trek out to the cabin.  The weather wasn't supposed to be all that nice and our thought on the matter was that we would rather be rained in at the cabin than rained in in the city worrying about the yard work we weren't doing.

We packed up and left Friday after work, that way we were there already in the morning when we woke up! 

Friday night, I made popcorn the old fashioned way, on the stop top! We watched a movie and chillaxed.

To make popcorn on the stove:

Heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pot...make sure to heat it first!  Now add enough kernels of popping corn  to cover the bottom.  Once it starts popping, slam a lid on and start shaking the pot around.  Shaking the pot around keeps the kernels moving so they don't burn.

You can add melted butter if you wish but with oil from the popping, you may find you just want to add some salt





Yes, it did rain on Saturday but that left me with plenty of time to start reading Cleo Coyle's "The Decaffeinated Corpse".  The boys played card games, read and even went for their run in the rain.
Hubby and I drove into a small town not too far away to pick up groceries.   Despite the higher cost I think it was worth it for our sanity to do this.  I wouldn't want to stop at the Superstore on the Friday before the long weekend, that would have been nuts!

Our first official cabin supper on Saturday was burgers and dogs with salad, corn on the cob, and potatoes. It really was a meal fit for everyone!

The spread!

Yes, R2-D2 travels with us...he carries the pepper!

The roasted beets! Peel, wrap in foil with some oil, salt, pepper, toss of grill until done!!

Sunday the weather warmed up and the sun came out. We put the dock back in the water, went for a short hike to see the petroforms, and sat on the dock and read our books. (The Boy also fished off the dock for a while).

The boy dons the chest waders with his Mets shirt!

The frame is in and the water is COLD!!

Getting the frame attached to the platform

Apparently I don't take enough photos of the Boy!

Weighing down the frame so it matches the end piece for easy attaching!

Ahhhh....an nice evening shot...reading chairs still in place!

It really was a relaxing weekend, even with the demon cold from hell.

A quick hike at the Bannock Point Petroforms proved interesting. It is always neat to go see the ancient rock formations, the cloth offerings, and the scenery is nice as well.

Turtle formation

 It really was our lucky day...we spotted this guy walking around and then sitting in the woods as tough he was keeping an eye on these ancient grounds!

Hello Mr. Fox, so glad to came by to say hi!

Sunday evening I baked some brownies....S'mores brownies to be exact. I took them over next door as it was Kerri's (from Kerri on the Prairies birthday on Saturday...a bit late but better late than never!

Happy birthday Kerri!

 The neat thing about baking at the cabin is that either I have to improvise or I get to use tools I don't have at home!

S'mores Brownies

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees F.


Butter a 9inch square baking pan.  Line with parchment.  (The parchment helps for easy removal to cut the brownies later.) At the cabin I had no parchment so I made sure to oil up the cast iron skillet I used!

Line the pan with graham crackers, breaking them up as you go to make sure they fit.

In a pot (or in a bowl in the microwave) melt:

• 1/2 cup butter and stir until smooth with;
• 1/4 cup of your very best cocoa powder

See?  I only use this beater at the cabin!!

Put this mixture aside to cool slightly

In a bowl beat:

• 2 eggs until frothy

Add to the bowl, but do not mix yet:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• a pinch of salt

Pour the butter/cocoa mixture into the bowl and mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

• add a teaspoon or so of vanilla

Pour the batter, scraping out the bowl into the prepared pan.

Shake the pan or use a knife to even the batter out in the pan.

Slice large mallows in half and chop up the chocolate!

Allow the brownies to cool slightly before arranging some halved marshmallows and a chopped up chocolate bar on top.

Place under the broiler until the marshmallows have puffed up and are golden brown....remember to watch closely!!

You really do have to wait and allow these to cool completely before cutting.  Otherwise they will be an ooey, gooey mess and will not cut smoothly at all!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well...and kick any demon colds that may have come your way out the door!

Play With Your Food!

Mom always told me to not play with my food, but I just can't stop myself. Especially when other people join in! One of the great things about having vacation time is not only spending time with family but spending time with friends as well.  Today the girls and I got to play with our food!  We all share a passion for baking and cooking so at the bake exchange a couple of weeks back we decided we needed to get together for a day of baking, creating, and chatting!  We had a great day today.  Susie, Trina, and I gathered in Trina's kitchen with our cupcakes and accessories in hand.  Trina is really the group expert on all things cake so she was quite able to help Susie and I with a couple of things.

Trina's Bassets wanted in on the fun as well!  Sorry Buster and Baxter!

We made homemade fondant, which turns out is super easy to make and tastes BETTER than the store bought kind.  (I will have to ask Trina for a copy of the picture she took of this as I did make a bit of a mess in her kitchen!)



We also made some homemade gumpaste.  None of us has really worked with gumpaste before but all in all we think it turned out well.

The beginnings of a swiss meringue buttercream!!

Trina also showed us how to make swiss meringue buttercream (oh so tasty and creamy!).






Trina and I were both lucky recipients of the Cricut cake cutting machine!!  (EEEEEE!!!)  We ran dualing Cricuts today! 

What a lovely sight!!

Since we made fondant today, I felt the need to bring cake.  I made my Devil's food chocolate cupcakes last night and since this recipe makes so many, I was able to make a small cake (and a couple of Nomskulls as well).  Once the fondant was made and rested for a while, I was able to get the cake together.  I had to plan a little but once Trina and I figured out the machines...we were giggling all the way to the cake decorations!

We did take turns taking photos but with more than one camera working, I only got some of the photos.  No problemo, we really did get into the fun of the day and didn't take photos of everything.

 

Susie and I intently watching the machine at work!

 

 Susie was itching to practice some of her piping skills on some cupcakes so we let her go crazy.

Susie working on her piping using swiss meringue buttercream and her Eggnog cupcakes!

Trina working with the gumpaste she made

Trina and Susie starting the swiss meringue buttercream

Trina made some gumpaste birds with her Cricut!

A collaborative piece!  Devil's food chocolate cupcakes, swiss meringue buttercream, and gumpaste birdies!

My mini bird cake!  I had so much trouble deciding which border to pick, what to put on top...it really is amazing that i got this cake finished at all!












Ta-Da!

Box O cupcakes!