Eating In Winnipeg

Moving My Blog

2011-06-01T11:20:00.000-05:00

Hey all!
I've decided to rename my blog so I'm letting you know that I'm moving!!

As of today please update your google reader/blogger to my new home:

The Sweet Details!!!

I'm pretty excited about it because when I first started I just wanted to get going so bad that I picked a "whatever" name but I really wasn't happy with it, but I took a little time now and found something I liked and decided to switch over.

I hope I don't lose any of you in the move!!

(apologizes for the blog not being as pretty as this one is right now but give me a couple of day and it will be great :)

Breakfast

2011-06-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Buttered toast with a perfectly sunny side up egg. It was the perfect breaky

Baking Goal: Butterfinger Cake

2011-05-31T08:43:00.000-05:00

Doesn't this cake look wonderful? It's made it to the list of recipes to try when I'm doing baking my way through my Pillsbury cookbook!

Check out the recipe at Val So Cal!

Baking My Way: Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-05-30T16:30:00.003-05:00

These cookies are wonderful! They are so soft and chewy and just such a great chocolate chip cookie; perfect for a chocolate chip cookie sundae! Next time I wouldn't make them with the sunflower seeds but I had to follow the recipe to truly bake through this book!

With this recipe there are 4 variations so look out for posts on that too! It's going to be all chocolate for a little while!

Ingredients
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 shortening
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chip
1/2 chopped nuts or sunflower seeds

Directions
Heat oven to 375

In a bowl combine sugars, shortening and butter, beat until light and fluffy.

Add vanilla and eggs; beat well.

Add flour, baking soda and salt; mix well.

Stir in chocolate chips and nuts/seeds.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool 1 minute, remove from cookie sheets.

I've shared this recipe at:

Joy of Desserts

Mangia Mondays

Made by you Mondays

Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays

A Marvelous Mess Monday

The More The Merrier Mondays
Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Tasty Tuesdays
Tutorial Tuesdays
Show me what ya got
Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesday
Take A Look Tuesdays
Tuesdays at the Table
Hand Made Features
Anything Related
Two Maids A Baking
Show & Tell Wednesdays
Idea Sharing Wednesday
Whatever Goes Wednesdays
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
What's Cooking Wednesday
Whatcha Makin' Wednesdays
What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Whisking Wednesdays

Health Tip: Preventing & Getting Rid of Slip Ends

2011-05-30T09:59:00.002-05:00

I had really long; half way down my back hair a couple of months ago but cut it off into a cute little bob. Although I love it part of the reason I cut it was because I had constant problems with split ends. I got haircuts regularly but I guess somewhere in there I still wasn’t taking care of my hair enough (I think some of it had to do with the water in our apartment but that’s another story). I read in a book (Baby Proof) the other day about doing a sort of test of beauty on women. You take a woman that’s pretty but then imagine she has horrible, puffy, out of control hair and then ask the question “Is she still pretty?” The argument was that hair is a huge contributing factor to a woman’s beauty so it’s not really a fair test. Anyways, what I’m getting at is that we all love having wonderfully beautiful hair so here are some steps to take to give your hair a fighting chance to show off and to help you really take care of it well.

To reduce tangles and get rid of split ends, brush your hair before you take a shower. While you’re in the shower, try not to bunch up your hair while you’re washing it. Make sure your hair hangs straight down, apply shampoo near the top of your scalp, and work the lather downward by gently working your fingers in a zigzag motion down the length of your hair. This will prevent tangles that encourage breakage when you brush after your shower.

To get rid of split ends, use plenty of conditioner during and after a shower. Some conditioners are good for your hair, and others aren’t. Generally speaking, those conditioners that are more expensive or found in reputable hair salons are the better conditioners. Conditioner will not only help keep your hair feeling luxuriously smooth, but it will also help prevent breakage and the resulting split ends by lubricating your hair. The problem here is that conditioners that make your hair easy to brush tend to leave more residues.

As a rule, hair specialists tell you not to brush your hair while it’s wet if you want to get rid of split ends. This is where the last two steps come into play. Let’s be honest with ourselves, and admit that we need to brush our hair while it’s wet because we don’t have a lot of time in the morning. If you did the first two steps above properly, and you didn’t bunch your hair up with your towel, you should be able to brush your hair quite easily when it’s still wet.

Don’t use hair dryers, curling irons, or hair straightening devices if you’re serious about getting rid of split ends. Anything that uses heat to treat your hair, barring “thermal hair treatments,” is bad for your hair. Instead of frying your hair on a daily basis, why not do what I do and take a little more time in the morning to allow your hair to dry without a hair dryer. Make sure to brush your hair in such a way as to spread it across yourself, exposing more surface area and thus reducing the time it takes to dry.

If you have split ends already and you want to get rid of those split ends, make sure to cut at least 1 and ½ inch up the hair to prevent further splitting. Split ends do have a tendency to keep splitting if you give them the chance. If you have time during the day, or in the evening, check your hair occasionally for split ends and simply cut about one to one and a half inches above the split end, and apply a conditioning treatment (pomade?) to the recently split end to ensure not more splitting.

For more info click here

Savory Sunday

2011-05-29T09:22:00.001-05:00

Hey all!
Hope you had a great long weekend! (I think you readers in the states have your long weekend this weekend, us Canadians has our last weekend).

A little change to Savory Sundays: I decided to leave the party open all week; letting more people have a chance to link up, and then post my picks on the next Sunday's party (instead of just the next day on Monday). I've got a lot of exciting things for the blog that I want to do so I thought this just made a little more sense.

But for today I'll leave you with this video that always puts a smile on my face. It makes me feel like a kid again.

Here's how it will work:

1) Link up to the link below (link as many as you want but try to link something savory if you can)
2) Grab the Savory Sunday button and put it in the post you are sharing
3) Leave a comment after you post
4) I'd love for you to become a follower if you're not but it's not a requirement :)

Guest Writer: Kait, from Kait Souch Online

2011-05-28T08:36:00.001-05:00

URL: Miss Kait Online

Location: Toronto area, Ontario

Favourite Recipe: Homemade sushi!

Favorite kitchen tool: Not really a tool, but I can't live without cheese, bacon bits & green onion. They can make any dish better instantly! If I had to pick a tool, I'd say my frying pan.

About me & my blog: I'm a girl from the Toronto area, who loves everything vintage, hand-made, fashion, photography, tea, design, gluten free, new recipes, tea and eco-friendly things. Also is a firm believer that sandwiches always taste better when cut diagonally. Blogs about all of the above… yes even diagonal sandwiches.

What do I live by: See above.. sandwiches cut diagonally ;).

My favourite quote though is "choose a job you love, and never work a day in your life" - Oscar Wilde

Mozzarella Cheese Sticks! (Gluten Free version as well)

Hi everyone! I'm Kait from Miss Kait Online! Recently I found out I had to go on a gluten free diet. Wasn’t a huge deal.. until I couldn’t find any mozzarella cheese sticks that were gluten free! So I learned how to make my own! For all you kiddies out there who can eat gluten, just switch out the gluten free substitutes for the normal stuff. It’s a fairly simple recipe, but be warned: it is messy and time consuming when making it by yourself. Lets get cracking! Here's what you'll need:

Rice (or bread) crumbs

Milk

Dried parsley

Mozzarella cheese strings

2 eggs

Rice (or regular) flour.

Put the following ingredients in bowls like so:

Cut the mozzarella sticks in half. Take them one by one and roll them first in the flour, than the eggs & milk, then the crumbs. Repeat this process until you have the desired coverage of your cheese. (I do this about 2 or three times)

Once they’re all done, place them on a tray and flash freeze them for about 20 minutes. This will make it easier to fry them without the cheese fully melting inside and creating a mess before they’re cooked. While they’re freezing, I like to take this time to prepare the sauce.

For the sauce you’ll need a can of tomato paste, finely chopped onions, 1 clove minced garlic, oregano, basil, salt & pepper, sugar, ¼ water, 1tbsp olive oil and garlic salt. Combine all the ingredients in a pot and warm. The sugar is to take out the acidity of the tomato paste, generally 2 pinches does the trick.

Once the sticks are nice and cold, its time to fry them up! Fry them in some sunflower oil (canola or olive oil works as well) until they are golden brown. I typically refreeze some of them after they’re cooked. I reheat them in the oven at 350F for about 10 minutes for a quick snack. You can eat them when they are right off the pan as well!

How good do these look?! You can use this method on so many different things, veggies (its great for onion rings), fish, whatever you can think of! As someone who can’t eat gluten it’s a really handy recipe to have. And of course, like everything else in life they taste great with a martini ;). Enjoy!

Kait.

Interested in being a guest writer? I'd love to have you! Click here for all the info!! The more the merrier!

I'm a guest writer!

2011-05-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

Hi lovely followers!

I just thought I would let you know that I did a little guest post at Porcelain Heat, Ivory Tooth and I wanted to tell you about it!

It's called Styles Files, and as you guested it it's all about ones personal style!

I'd love it if you all went over and showed her (and I) a little support. It's my first time doing a post like it and it was a lot of fun!!

I'm also looking for guest writers for my Beautiful and Unique posts (on my other blog) so if you are interested check out the info here! I'd love to have any of your wonderful lady do a post (sorry boys, only the ladies for this one!)

Shirl's Birthday

2011-05-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

It was coming up to my mother-in-laws birthday and of course that means party, and because of the time of the year that means bbq!

This is the Pina Colada Cheesecake I made. It turned out great!

Marshall, looking good as always.

Doug, being a goof, as usual.

Marshall and Ashley, very excited about the pasta salad.

Marshall, taking 20 pictures of me convinced if he just keeps shooting he'll get at least one that I like (I have a little disproving smirk on my face) he's still learning how to use our new camera

Justin with his two burgers.

One of the items on her wish list at the store.

The brothers enjoying some wine and the sun.

Happy Birthday Shirl!

Baking My Way: Frosted Cashew Cookies

2011-05-25T08:00:00.004-05:00

I forgot I bought cashews when I was cleaning out the cupboards and found them. I was wanting to do some baking anyways so I went through the book and found this recipe.

The cookies were really simple and turned out great. Marshall says that they have made it to his favorite baking list (along side Snickerdoodles, Pecan Blonde, Mint Surprise Cookies and, Rocky Road Fudge Bars) so they are definitely worth posting about!

Cookies
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon each baking powder, baking soda and salt
1-3/4 cups salted cashew halves

 Frosting
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons half-and-half cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar
Additional cashew halves, optional

Directions

In a bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Beat in egg, sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in the cashews.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
For the frosting, lightly brown butter in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat; add cream and vanilla. Beat in confectioners' sugar until smooth and thick. Frost cookies. Top each with a cashew half if desired. Yield: about 3 dozen.

(I dipped the cookies right in the icing to give it a nice fully coated look and a wonderfully sweet taste)

I've shared this recipe at:

Joy of Desserts

Mangia Mondays

Made by you Mondays

Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays

A Marvelous Mess Monday

Made it on Monday

Made from Scratch Tuesday

Tuesday Time Out
Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Tasty Tuesdays
Tutorial Tuesdays
Show me what ya got
Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesday
Tuesdays at the Table
Hand Made Features
Make it Yours Day
Anything Related
Two Maids A Baking
Show & Tell Wednesdays
Idea Sharing Wednesday
Whatever Goes Wednesdays
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
What's Cooking Wednesday
Wandering Wednesdays
Making It with Allie
Thrilling Thursday
Strut Your Stuff Thursday
Creative Juice Thursday
Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday
Recipe Swap Thursdays
It's a Keeper Thursday
Full Plate Thursday
Sweet Tooth Friday

Friday Potluck

Creation Corner Friday Link Party
Frugal Friday
Foodie Friday
Fantabulous Friday
Creative Girl's Blog Hop
Sweets for a Saturday
Check Me Out Saturday
Whatcha Got Weekend

Baking Goal: Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake

2011-05-25T07:25:00.000-05:00

Doesn't this look great? I posted about the Lilac Bakery a few weeks ago and this cake looks almost exactly the same and I just can't wait to try it!

Check out the recipe at Our Best Bites

Savory Sunday Picks of the Week!

2011-05-24T11:04:00.000-05:00

I started picking the recipes I wanted to feature this week from the submissions at Savory Sunday and before I knew it I had a Mexican theme! Not intentional but I guess I'm craving it and I don't even know it! Hope you all had a great long weekend! And thanks again for stopping by and sharing a recipe!!

I'm looking for guest writers so if you're interested check out the info here!! The more the merrier!

Creamy Chicken Taquitos from Meals For Real

Sun Dried Tomato Salsa from Gluten Free From A-Z

Creamy Tortilla Soup with Chicken & Chips from Girlichef

Nutty Rice from Bizzy B. Bakes

Nutty Sweet Potato Soup from My Sweet & Savory

And of course a sweet choice too: Cookie Dough Brownie from Pinch of This, That & The Other

Mother's Day Fun

2011-05-23T10:21:00.002-05:00

I know I'm a little late on this but we love our mom's all year long so...well I don't have much of a reason for being late, just had forgotten to load the photos!

So we had a BBQ for Mother's Day and had both mom's (and family) over for the day.

It stayed nice outside long enough for us to sit and enjoy a meal on the patio.

These are Honey-Roasted Peanut Cookies, and they are addictive! They're part of my Baking My Way Through challenge.

The men in the back lane checking out how they are going to make a better parking space back there. You know, doing a little man stuff.

The mom's opening their gifts. I made them up some little samplers of different loose leaf teas and they each got a little tea pot or mug.

This is the Vanilla Bean Cheese Cake I made. It turned out so well, I am really happy about that because the last time I made a cheese cake was for Marshall's birthday (a year ago) and before that it hadn't been for years!

I'm not sure if you can see this but there are three different layers: cheese cake, sour cream layer and then Vanilla Bean Butter Cream! It was really tasty! I still have a slice in the freezer. I'm saving it for when I'm really craving it!

In the evening we ordered pizza from Clubhouse, on so good and oh so cheap, two things I love!

Baking Goal: Protein Bars!!

2011-05-22T10:28:00.000-05:00

Don't these look amazing?! I was just thinking the other day that I wanted to learn how to make my own and then while doing some blog surfing today I found these! I really can't wait to try the almond one! Yum!

Check out the recipes over at Moore Minutes!

Savory Sundays!

2011-05-21T11:44:00.000-05:00

Hello again! Here's another weeks Savory Sundays! Sorry I'm a little late on starting it this morning, I totally forgot with all the gardening I've been doing. Speaking of that I thought I'd show you a few photos of my on going project! I'm working on a garden space and this is where we're at so far!

After the big sort out last summer and just getting the yard out of it's jungle state we decided we wanted to do a few more things.

First on the list was for me to get some garden planters. Marshall being the handy man that he is made me some. We started off with 3 and soon realized we'd need a lot more! I now have a total of 7 and am still wondering how I am going to plant everything I want to.

So far I have: Blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and I'm going to plant tomatoes, carrots, zucchini and lettuce. This will be my first go at veggies (since I was little and did it with my mom) so I'm really excited about it!

You'll see from my last post (over at Captive Creativity) about our backyard work that this area was totally covered in red cedar chips. It wasn't horrible- well I thought it was horrible- but they did a bad job at it and put black gardening mesh down that didn't let water through so this area was not only ugly but a giant puddle every time it rained. It was totally wasted space and you could tell they just didn't know what to do with it. I decided that this would be the best space for my garden so I started the huge task of taking all the chips, roots, rocks and junk out of the space.

I have no idea what they were thinking with what and where they planted but it made no sense. Marshall and I spent hours out there working on the space and now we're at the point of seeding which is so exciting!!

I bought this Bleeding Heart plant because it's a perennial and I'm trying to stick to those and because it was my great grandma's favorite flower and although I've never met her I'd like to stay connected to my family and my roots.

I have no idea what this is. As I was digging everything out I found it and thought I'd let it grow and see what it turns into.

Our new sour cherry tree! I can't wait until it starts to product those pretty flowers as it blossoms!

(Putting the news paper down stops what was once there from growing back. You have to do your best of course to get all the roots out before you do this, but this is a more natural way to start new in a space and now have that old plant come back)

Check out more gardening stuff and how my yard is coming over at my other blog Captive Creativity!

Here's how Savory Sundays works:

1) Link up to the link below (link as many as you want but try to link something savory if you can)
2) Grab the Savory Sunday button and put it in the post you are sharing
3) Leave a comment after you post
4) I'd love for you to become a follower if you're not but it's not a requirement :)

Cooking Goal: Feta Herbed Orzo

2011-05-20T08:13:00.002-05:00

Doesn't this look wonderful? I have a bit of the problem though; some how the link to the original recipe was lost! I know it was from one of the blogs I follow but I don't know which one. SO if you posted this PLEASE let me know so that I can link back to that post AND try this recipe!!

Update!! It was done by From Which Things Grow! If you don't know their blog go and check it out now! Here's the link to the original post!

Restaurant Review: Don Pedro’s

2011-05-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

We had tried a while ago to make a reservation but the reservation manager never called us back (after a few tries) so we weren’t too happy with that, but a couple weeks later we went anyways. Our server was great, and the food was even better and it came out super fast.

Just this last Friday we had Marshall’s 25th birthday party there. We had 10-15 people coming so we needed a reservation. I called left a message (you never talk to someone live there). I waited two days, heard nothing back. I called again, left another message but stated very clearly I was trying to plan an event, I had waited for a call back but if I wasn’t going to get one I would go somewhere else (I don’t like slow server and when I’m not being taken seriously). I got a call back within two hours. The reservation manager didn’t seem very organized but we got our reservation. She called me back within 10 minutes asking for someone else. I recognized her voice and explained to her she just called me about my reservation and was calling the wrong number for that other person. I know, just a simple mistake, but it didn’t make the restaurant look very good, and it didn’t make me very confident that I would have a table when I got there on Friday.

We got there and all was well. Our server was great, again the food was great (although it took a while to come) and the atmosphere in there is so fun that it makes you forget about the hiccups for a while.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “6- Slightly above average, but would go back.”

My Second Blog Award!

2011-05-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

How exciting, I got another award!! This time from Joy of Desserts. Thanks so much for the award, I love your blog and am always getting lots of great ideas from it so this is totally an honor! If you haven't been to her site yet go!!

Rules for accepting the award:
1. Post linking back to the person that gave you the award
2. Share 7 random things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered blogs
4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.

- I have a balloon phobia. They're fine, I have no issue, as long as there's no threat of them popping, then I get skiddish
- My dog has a bit of a barking problem and I'm being really suborn and don't want to pay someone to train him, thinking that I will figure it out myself (I'm very open to ideas)
- My eyes are green, most of the time, but they change with the weather (between blue and green)
- I am addicted to plants. I have at least 20 indoor plants and that's a lot of 900sqf!
- I have been married for about a year and a half and I love it!
- I used to wear glasses but I got Lazic and it's great
- I'm 5'4 1/2 but I've always wanted to be 5'7'' but I made up for that when I married; my husband is 6'5''

I just posted about my first award so I'm not sure that I know of a lot of new bloggers so I thought I would do something a little different: I want you to tell me who is new, who I should give this award to and who's blog you just love! You can nominate yourself if you want!! I'm going to change the rules a little and say you don't have to be a new blogger!

So far the award goes to:

From Which Things Grow
From Mess Hall to Bistro
Crazy for Crust

My first award!

2011-05-17T11:31:00.000-05:00

I got this award (from The Better Baker) a couple of weeks ago and I totally forgot about it until I got another award today (I'll write about that one later).

I figured I better get on this and give my "acceptance speech" ha ha.

Here are the RULES that come with accepting this award:

#1 You Thank the person who awarded it to You and list a link back to them.

#2 Tell (7) things about yourself.

#3 Pay it forward by awarding it to (15) recently found new blogger.

#4 Contact the Blogger you have awarded & make them aware.

1) Thank you so much for the award!! It feels really great to get an award after just 2 weeks of blogging! Check out The Better Bakers site, she's got a lot of really great recipes!

2)
- I love my dog so much, he's a part of the family because I'm not a huge kid person's he's the child until we decide to have kids (around 5 yearsish)
- I am married to the man of my dreams and he's just so wonderful (I'll write more about him sometime!)
- I love to garden and am trying my hard and fruits and veggies this year (now that we have a house/yard!)
- I'm 25
- I love to travel more then, well almost anything else (Other then my family, my hubs, my dog, and God)
- I'm trying to grow my hair out and it's taking forever!
- We live in Winnipeg, if you didn't guess and we always wonder why we stay because it gets so stupidly cold in the winter but it really is a pretty great place to live

3) Now being only a month into food blogging (I have another blog that's almost 2!! Captive Creativity you should come over and take a look!) I don't know a lot of new vs. old bloggers so I might be a little off here but who cares right? You get an award either way! Pretty good deal!!

Comfy in The Kitchen
My Baking Addiction
Talking Dollars and Cents
A Well Seasoned Life
Baking With Em & M
Beyer Beware
Bacon Coffee
Cooking With K
Crazy for Crust
Won in the Oven
Zoe's Blog
The Shabby Nest
The South Padre Island Flip Flop Foodie
Thou Must Live & Eat
Treat & Trick

Award Winners: I'd love if it any (or all!!) of you would do a guest post and share a recipe here at Eating in Winnipeg. Let me know if you're interested!!

Baking My Way: Rocky Road Fudge Bar

2011-05-17T09:00:00.009-05:00

I don't normally like recipes that have so many steps because when I bake I usually don't have a lot of time or patience but that's another thing I'm trying to work on with this project- take my time, and follow the steps exactly and just relax and bake. It's working out pretty well so far and I enjoyed making this. And wow, do these taste good! I've had rocky road ice cream before and didn't like it but I think that's because it wasn't pieces of the bar in chocolate ice cream (which I'm going to do because I now have an ice cream maker!!!) and I've had other people's rocky road and wasn't a huge fan but I LOVE this recipe and will most defiantly be baking this again!!

This bar gets a 5 out of 5 from me! It's now one of my favorites!

INGREDIENTS

Base

1/2 cup margarine or butter

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup Flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 cup chopped nuts

Filling

1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened, reserving 2 oz. for frosting

1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons Pillsbury BEST® All Purpose or Unbleached Flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/4 cup chopped nuts

1 (6-oz.) pkg. (1 cup) semisweet chocolate chips

2 cups miniature marshmallows

Frosting

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1/4 cup milk

1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, cut up

Reserved cream cheese

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 13x9-inch pan. In large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup margarine and 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Stir in 1 cup flour and all remaining base ingredients; mix well. Spread in greased and floured pan.
In small bowl, combine 6 oz. of the cream cheese, 1/4 cup margarine, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 egg; beat 1 minute at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Stir in 1/4 cup nuts. Spread over chocolate mixture; sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips.
Bake at 350°F. for 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; immediately sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven; bake an additional 2 minutes.
While marshmallows are baking, in large saucepan, combine 1/4 cup margarine, milk, 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate and reserved 2 oz. cream cheese. Cook over low heat, stirring until well blended. Remove from heat; stir in powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Immediately pour frosting over puffed marshmallows and lightly swirl with knife to marble. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Recipe Source

I shared this recipe at:

Made from Scratch Tuesday

Tuesday Time Out
Tempt my Tummy Tuesdays
Slightly Indulgent Tuesday
Tasty Tuesdays
Tutorial Tuesdays
Show me what ya got
Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesday
Take A Look Tuesdays
Tuesdays at the Table
Hand Made Features
Two Maids A Baking
Whatever Goes Wednesdays
Whisking Wednesdays
Sweets for a Saturday
Check Me Out Saturday
Whatcha Got Weekend
Sweet Indulgences Sunday
Savory Sunday
Sundae Scoop
A Themed Baker Sundays
Bake with Bizzy
Not so Baaad Sundays

Savory Sunday Picks of the Week!

2011-05-16T10:54:00.000-05:00

First of all I have to say how hard it was to pick this week! There were 61 wonderful recipes to choose from!!

Thank you so much to all of you who joined in, linked up, and left comments! And welcome to my 8 new followers! It's great to have you hear!

Without further ado here are the feature recipes this week!

Spaghetti Fritter from Girlichef

Sandwich from Heaven from From Which Things Grow

Stromboni from In Katrina's Kitchen

Pesto Shrimp Pasta from Loulou Sucre

Better-Then-Crack Brownies from Baking with Em&M

Blueberry Scones from Kuzak's Closet

Don't these all look wonderful?? I can't wait to try them all!! Come back next week for another Savory Sunday and link up your recipes!!

Savory Sundays

2011-05-15T09:26:00.001-05:00

Hello, and happy Sunday! I was wondering what little bit of fun I would add to this weeks Savory Sunday and I thought "Why not some pictures of my favorite memories?"

These are photos from our Honeymoon that I posted on my other blog; Captive Creativity (If you love this blog you'd LOVE that would, please go check it out!)

A warm fall day in Paris

A walk along the water in Venice

Biking in Rome

Sitting on the grass in a square in Berlin

Going on a scooter ride through out Santorini

Savory Sunday....Here's how it will work:

1) Link up to the link below (link as many as you want but try to link something savory if you can)
2) Grab the Savory Sunday button and put it in the post you are sharing
3) Leave a comment after you post
4) I'd love for you to become a follower if you're not but it's not a requirement :)

Come back Monday to see which recipes I've picked to feature!

Baking Goal: Peanut Butter Snickers Brownies

2011-05-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

Doesn't this look great? I just love brownies! I think I could eat them all night!

Check out the recipe at Brandy's Baking

Cooking Goal: Japanese Zucchini and Onions

2011-05-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

Doesn't this look yummy? If you were making an Asian themed meal this would be a great and easy dish to include.

Check out the recipe at Comfy Cook's Kosher Kitchen

Supper: Salmon Alfredo with Capers & Irish Soda Bread

2011-05-13T09:00:00.000-05:00

Chocolate Indulge: High Tea Bakery

2011-05-11T08:20:00.015-05:00

I'll be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with this one. I had never been to High Tea Bakery before and I had heard really good things and had had a couple of cookies and tried wedding cakes from there, so I expected their choice for this event would be great..none. Out of the 8 that I have tried so far this was the most disappointing. It was not a lot of bang for your buck and I've made a lot better brownies myself, at home.

I like that most places give you the little Easter bunny though (from Morden's Chocolates) that made it a little better.

If you're looking for some good chocolate recipes here are a couple to choose from:
Black Forest Trifle, Twix Bar, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Mint Chocolate Surprise Cookies

I've shared this on:
Show & Tell Wednesdays
Idea Sharing Wednesday
Whatever Goes Wednesdays
What's Cooking Wednesday
Whatcha Makin' Wednesdays
What's Cookin' Wednesday
What I Whipped Up Wednesday
Recipes I can't Wait To Try

Baking My Way: Honey-roasted Peanut Cookies

2011-05-10T10:07:00.002-05:00

I wasn't too sure if I would like these cookies because I'm not a huge fan of roasted peanuts but I love peanut butter (I know, that's sort of weird). But I ended up really liking these cookies. I cooked them for 10 minutes and they looked a little too cooked around the edged but they were just the right softness in the middle.

I give these cookies a 4 out of 5. I think they didn't make it to a five simply because it's a bit of a process and I like simple.

Cookies:
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 honey
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
3 3/4 cups flour (I used all whole week and took about 1/4 off the total)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Glaze:
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup hot water
1 1/4-1 1/2 cup icing sugar
1 cup chopped honey-roasted peanuts (I ended up using at least 2 cups)

Cookies:

1.	Heat oven to 350. Combine brown sugar, sugar and butter; beat until light and fluffy.
2.	Add peanut butter, honey, vanilla, and eggs; beat well.
3.	Add flour, baking soda, and salt; beat well.
4.	Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart (At this part it says to flatten the cookies with a fork and crisscross pattern but that's really not necessary because they flatten out well on their own)
5.	Bake for 9-12 minutes. Cool completely before adding glaze/peanuts

Glaze:

1. Combine peanut butter, honey and hot water; beat well. Blend in enough icing sugar to get desired drizzling consistency.

2. Drizzle glaze over cookies (I made it a little thicker and iced the cookies)

3. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of crushed peanuts over each cookie (I dipped the cookies in the nuts, so I used more)

4. Let stand until set.

(I know you can likely tell by how much of everything is called for in this recipe but it makes a lot of cookies!!)

I shared this recipe at:

Made from Scratch Tuesday

Savory Sunday Picks of the Week!

2011-05-09T09:46:00.001-05:00

Here are my picks! It was a little hard because there weren't too many savory dishes this time around (I should change the requirements a little bit..my mistake for not mentioning it more!) but the ones that were linked looked fantastic! I also, of course, loved all the the sweet ones (that's my weakness) but the point is to get me cooking more by finding all your wonderful recipes you share!!

I just wanted to say thank you again this week for all the linking up and thank you and hello to the new followers!! I really appreciate it!

Hot n' Cheesy Broccoli Dip from I Can't Stop Crafting

Baked Brie with Rigatoni and Spinach from Girlichef

Slow Cooker Mex-i-talian Chicken from Seaside Simplicity

Strawberry Lime Icebox Pie from Hipstir Fresh Cooking

Hope to see you all back next week! Have a great week!

Restaurant Review: La Petite France

2011-05-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Three girlfriends and myself have formed a dinner club and this was our first pick. I had never been but had heard nothing but good things and I was not disappointed.

It isn’t much for modern decor, or atmosphere, but is cute and well worth the compromise for the quality of food you get.

I ordered a steak sandwich and it was the best I had ever had. It came with a salad and I was more than full before I was even half way through the meal.

We shared desserts at the end and they were all amazing (I especially liked the Crème Brulee!!)

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “9- Great all around, I would go back (After I’ve been to the other place I want to go!)”

Savory Sundays!

2011-05-08T10:57:00.000-05:00

Hey all! Happy Mother's Day! I know this is Savory Sundays but I thought seeing as it's Mother's Day I'd through in a couple of really fun dessert recipes I found! They are great Mother's Day ideas and are super easy for the last minute cooker/baker! Click on the photo to get to the recipe.

Here's how Savory Sunday works:

1) Link up to the link below (as many as you want)
2) Grab the Savory Sunday button and put it in the post/posts you are sharing
3) Leave a comment after you post
4) I'd love it if you became a follower but that's not mandatory :)

Free Day!!

2011-05-07T12:53:00.002-05:00

Hi All!
I just wanted to write a little post about the up coming free day!

If you live in Winnipeg or around here you need to check it out! I do it both in spring and fall and always find all sorts of great stuff!! It's great because we're just "starting out" (new house) and it helps out a lot without having to buy all sorts of things.

The way it works is people, starting Saturday morning (May 14th) put stuff out on the curb that they no longer want and anyone came just come by and pick it up. It runs through till Sunday night but I find that most of the good stuff is Saturday morning into early afternoon.

I've gotten a lot of garden stuff, some clothes, lots of kitchen things (including a blender, salt stone lamb, ipod dock, bowls, plants, utensils and a set of hand blown ice cream bowls) and lots of books!

It's a good time! You should at least go for a walk around your area and see what people are putting out!

(The fall one is usually around September 10th or 11th FYI :)

Chocolate Indulge: Caramel Crepe & Fergie's Fish n' Chips

2011-05-07T10:00:00.000-05:00

The crepe was pretty good. Nothing outstanding. The Grand Marnier sause was pretty intense, but it added a little something different to the crepe.

I can't say that I'll ever try the deep fried Mars Bar again but it was interesting. I think it just sort of weirded me out a bit because well, I don't care that much for Mars Bars on a good day and then it had that salty deep fried taste..It went well with a bit of it and a bit of the crepe.

The three of us shared the 2 desserts.

Baking My Way: Caramel Frosted Banana Drops

2011-05-06T09:00:00.008-05:00

I LOVE THESE COOKIES!

They are most deafeningly a 5 and are now one of my favorites! The icing is pretty much the Sucre a Creme I posted about a little while ago and wow, so good!! I could just keep bragging on how much I like these cookies but I'll just get to the recipe and you can try them for yourself.

Cookies:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup mashed banana
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/3 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Frosting:
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 3 tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 350.

Cookies:
Combine brown sugar, butter; beat until light and fluffy. Add bananas and vanilla; blend well. Add flour and salt; mix well. Stir in nuts.

Drop dough by round tablespoon fulls about 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet.

Bake for 9-14 minutes.

Frosting:
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan combine brown sugar and butter. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring constantly. Cool slightly. Stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and enough milk for desired spreading constancy. Frost cooled cookies.

Note: These cookies freeze really well.

I've shared this recipe at:

Sweet Tooth Friday

Friday Potluck

Feature Yourself Friday
Creation Corner Friday Link Party
Frugal Friday
Foodie Friday
Fantabulous Friday
Creative Girl's Blog Hop
Recipe Linky @ Big K, little a
Feasting in Fellowship Friday

Made from Scratch Tuesday

Mother's Day Baking Take Two: Pina Colada Cheesecake

2011-05-05T08:00:00.004-05:00

I decided I would do two different smaller cheese cakes instead of one big one to add a little more summer and a little more variety into the day.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cups graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup cream of coconut
1/2 cup sour cream
5 tablespoons light rum
2 teaspoons coconut extract

Glaze:

Whip cream and toasted coconut

Preparation

Stir together first 4 ingredients, and press into bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a lightly greased 10-inch springform pan.
Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add pineapple and next 4 ingredients, beating until blended. Pour mixture into crust.
Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack. Spread Glaze over top of cheesecake. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Garnish, if desired.

Recipe adapted from My Recipes

I think I might do an addition glaze like this (before the whip cream and toasted coconut):

Pineapple Glaze:
1 cups crushed pineapple, fresh or canned
1/4 cup pineapple juice and/or rum
1/8 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch

When both the cake and the glaze are only slightly warm, pour the glaze over the cake and smooth the top.

If you're looking for some Pina Colada Cupcakes check out a great recipe for them over at Kimmy's Kitchen!!

I've shared these recipes at:
Making It with Allie
Thrilling Thursday
Strut Your Stuff Thursday
Creative Juice Thursday
Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths
Show Off Your Stuff Party
Delightfully Inspiring Thursday
Recipe Swap Thursdays
It's a Keeper Thursday
Full Plate Thursday

I've been nominated for an award!

2011-05-04T21:10:00.000-05:00

This is pretty exciting for me especially seeing as I haven't even had my food blog for a month! I'd love it if you came on over and voted for me! Click on the photo to get to Lamb Around and the award post!

Ice Cream Maker Lust

2011-05-04T09:35:00.000-05:00

I've gone to a couple of dinner parties in the last month and both hostesses made ice cream. It seems so easy and now I want an ice cream maker! I've always thought it was really complicated but it sure doesn't look or sound like it from these ladies. Right now I have my eyes on this pretty; The Hamilton Beach Half Pint Soft Serve Ice Cream Maker.

It says it's just a soft serve maker but I wonder if you could make hard ice cream too? Just put it in the freezer for a while? I'm new to all this and I'm not too sure how it all works.

If anyone has any suggestions on recipes on a better machine I'm all ears!

Mother's Day Dessert: Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

2011-05-04T09:00:00.007-05:00

I've decided I'm going to make this for Mother's Day this year. We're going to have a BBQ and well, it's not exactly the dessert you'd have at a BBQ but this is my Mother-in-laws favorite dessert and I know my mom will love it so I'm going to give it a go! I'll be sure to post all about it and all the other great food we have!

Ingredients (Recipe adapted from All Recipes)

1/2 (18 ounce) package vanilla sandwich cookies
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
1/8 cup butter, melted
1 pounds cream cheese, softened
3/4 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 vanilla beans, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
1/2 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and lightly butter a 6 inch spring-form pan.
Place the sandwich cookies into a plastic bag, and crush with a rolling pin. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, and mix with the scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean. Drizzle the crumbs with melted butter and stir to combine. Press the crumb mixture firmly into the bottom and up the sides of the spring-form pan, and set aside.
Place the softened cream cheese and sugar into the work bowl of an electric mixer, and beat for about 3 minutes on Medium speed, until the mixture is smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, incorporating each egg before adding the next one. Add the scraped seeds of 2 vanilla beans, the vanilla extract, sour cream, and heavy cream, and beat on Medium-High speed for about 1 minute, until the mixture is blended and smooth.
Pour the mixture into the cookie crumb crust, leaving about 2 inches of space from the top of the pan for the cake to expand as it bakes.
Place a baking dish onto the bottom rack of the preheated oven, and fill it halfway with boiling water. Place the cheesecake onto the middle rack, above the pan of boiling water, and bake until a small knife inserted into the middle of the cheesecake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake cool down inside the oven for 1 hour. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

I think I might try this crust and add this topping to it:

Topping:

2 cups sour cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean For topping: in a small bowl, combine sour cream and sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add to the bowl, stirring well.

I think I might also make a Vanilla Bean Butter Cream Icing, you know add a little more decadence to this cake!

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened (helpful hint: one stick of butter is 1/2 cup)
1/2 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar (5 ounces)
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoons heavy cream

1. In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Using a paring knife, scrape seeds from vanilla bean into butter and beat mixture at medium-high speed to combine, about 15 seconds.

2. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 1 minute. Scrape down the bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully incorporated, about 30 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 20 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.

(Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker)

I shared this recipe at:
Show & Tell Wednesdays
Whatever Goes Wednesdays
Recipes I Can't Wait to Try
What's Cooking Wednesday
Wandering Wednesdays
Whatcha Makin' Wednesdays
Swing Into Spring

Joy of Desserts
Mangia Mondays
Made by you Mondays
Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays
A Marvelous Mess Monday

For Next Easter: Cadbury Cream Egg Cupcakes

2011-05-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

Don't these look wonderful? I know Easter is long past now but I keep finding all these wonderful recipe I want to try next year!

Check out the recipe at My Baking Addiction

Doug's Birthday with a Black Forest Trifle

2011-05-03T08:00:00.004-05:00

Doug (above) is my father-in-law and we had a little birthday party for him. As usual I made the dessert (as I do for a lot of the family things because I love doing it). I asked him what his favorites were and this was tops on the list. Everyone else brought snacks and we just relaxed and enjoyed each others company.

I didn't use a recipe with this so my measurements are exact but it's a trifle; you can't go that wrong!

Black Forest Trifle:
- 1 9x3 pan of brownies (I just used a box mix but I added chocolate chips)
- 1-2 loafs of chocolate cake (again a box mix)
- 1 tub of whip cream
- 1 box of chocolate pudding
- 1 can of cherry pie filling (I thought I grabbed that but I grabbed strawberry pie filling and to be honest I liked it better!)

Bake the brownie and the chocolate cake and let cool.

Make the pudding and let set

Then start layering to your hearts content!

Note: It would be good to add some chocolate shavings on the top but I didn't have any so brownie pieced played the part

My mother-in-law trying out Marshall's home made wine. It's getting better with each bottle we open! (We've waited about a month between each bottle to test it out)

I finally finished the wine I brought back from Hawaii, yum, I love a good sweet wine!

I'm dishing it all up. Wow, it was tasty, if I didn't have any self control I would have just kept eating it and eating it!

I've shared this recipe at:

Joy of Desserts
Mangia Mondays
Made by you Mondays
Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays
A Marvelous Mess Monday

Raisin Bran Flaxseed Muffins

2011-05-02T08:00:00.006-05:00

For some reason I have a lot of trouble with my digestion. I tried so many different things and it didn`t seem to get much better (unless I was taking so many vitamins that I didn`t have enough money to get groceries!) One of my good friends Sara told me I needed a lot more bran and flaxseed (she’s very smart with that sort of stuff! She gives great health advice). I searched for a good recipe that really gave me what I needed and ended up modifying one that I found and wow, does it work! They muffins are full of fiber and super healthy for you! I have one every morning for breakfast and they take me (energy wise) all the way till lunch!

1/2 cup Quick Oatmeal
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 cup Oat Bran Flakes (you can find these in the baking section)
1/2 cup Honey
1 Egg
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 cup Flax Seeds
1 tsp. Baking Soda (dissolved in milk)
1 cup Milk
1 cup Raisins
1 cup Water

Boil raisins in water with honey for approximately 5 minutes; mix all other ingredients together. Add raisins and water to mixture, stir well and pour into greased muffin tin bake for 30 minutes at 350°F.
Makes 12 muffins.

Have any good ideas, or substitutes for this....share them, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!!

I Shared this recipe at:

Savory Sunday Picks of the Week!

2011-05-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

I got my husband involved on this and got him to pick a couple of favorites so there's four instead of three this time around but wow either way it was really hard to pick, you all submitted great recipes! Thanks so much to all of you for sharing!

Sesame Corn Saute from A Well Seasoned Life

Italian Ham & Olive Sandwich from Art Teacher By Day Foodie By Night

Inside Out Peanut Butter Cup by Flour Me with Love

(My husband was drooling over this one and said it had to be in the post)

Coconut Shrimp with Orange Rum Sauce from From Which Things Grow

PAMPERED CHEF GIVEAWAY at HIS WAY OR HER WAY!!

2011-05-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

Hi Guys!
Just wanted to tell you first about a great blog: His Way or Her Way and that they are doing a give away!!

Check out the goodies you would get!!

Here's the link to their site if you want to enter or just simply check out what they do!

Cheers

Savory Sunday

2011-05-01T08:58:00.002-05:00

Hi all!
It's time for another Savory Sunday! Thanks so much for all the support in me starting it up last week, that was great, and super encouraging! Here's are the rules again, if you need:

1) Link up to the link below
2) Grab the Savory Sunday button and put it in the post you are sharing
3) Leave a comment after you post
4) I'd love it if you also became a follower but that's not mandatory for joining in :)

And don't forget, on Mondays I post my three favorite recipes shared!

Baking Goal: Homemade Twix Bar

2011-05-01T08:00:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine had a going away party (they were going on a bike tour around Europe) and someone brought these. If I could have eaten the whole plate without looking selfish I would have! Wow are they good! I got there recipe from the baker and I'm sharing it here! I know there are a few variations to this online but I know this one is great! I can't wait to be doing my baking challenge and get to try this!

Base:1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter

Filling1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp Corn Syrup
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup brown sugar

topping1-100g cadbury milk chocolate

mix together base till crumbly . 9x9 glass pan 325 degrees for 20 minutes.
combine filling in pot or saucepan stir constantly till boil. reduce heat stir 5 minutes . Pour over hot base . Melt chocolate and pour over filling. cool and let set before cutting...

***After i put the filling in I usually put it in the fridge for about an hour and then I melt the chocolate and pour it over the cake. Then I still let it sit for about an hour for the chocolate to set and then I cut it. ******

I've shared this recipe at:

Whisking Wednesdays

Lucky Koi...Not so lucky us

2011-04-30T08:31:00.003-05:00

We had my dad and his wife over for Easter and ordered from Lucky Koi Express.

All the food looked pretty good but to be honest all the main dishes tasted the same. They didn't have a lot of flavor to make them distinctly anything in anyway. The ginger beef didn't even really have much of a flavor of ginger. I think if I didn't know it was ginger beef I wouldn't have guested it.

The spring rolls and the wanton soup was good but other then that I didn't like any of the rest of it and I will not be ordering from there again.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it a 2- I would have been better of eating at home.

For Next Easter: Homemade Cadbury Eggs

2011-04-29T09:06:00.000-05:00

Don't these look wonderful! I've put them on my list of things to try next Easter!

Check out the recipe at Not Without Salt

Sucre a crème (Caramel Sauce)

2011-04-29T07:00:00.006-05:00

My good friends Roxy and Jazzy make this sauce when we do crêpes and it is by far one of my favorite things ever! They are French and have introduced me to this and many other wonderful French things, but this is still one of my favs.

1 cup 35% Whipping Cream
2 cups Brown Sugar (gently packed)

Mix together in a pot and bring to a bowl; stir constantly. Continue to boil for 10-20 minutes (the longer your sauce boils the thicker it will be once it sets).

Remove from heat and keep stir for a little while so it doesn`t burn. Let it cool and use it for crepes, waffles, with fruit and yogurt, over ice cream or a cake OR as part of a fruit dip which I will be post the recipe for soon!

Enjoy!

Have any good ideas, suggestions or experiences....share them, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!!

I've shared this recipe at:

Sweet Tooth Friday, Friday Link Party, Frugal Friday, Simply Link Party,
Feasting in Fellowship Friday , Joy of Desserts , Mangia Mondays , Made by you Mondays

Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays , A Marvelous Mess Monday

And just a side note my last recipe entered on Feasting in Fellowship was featured! Check it out here!

Baking My Way: Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Yogurt Cookies

2011-04-28T08:00:00.004-05:00

I LOVE these cookies! If you don't oven cook them they are the softest sweetest, melt in your mouth goodness! You might think you'd taste the yogurt and that would turn you off from these cookies but you don't notice it at all. It just adds to the softness of the cookie which is alright by me! I think these are a must try! I think they would also be good with chocolate covered raisins.

I give these a 5! They are some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made! (1 being "I'll never bake them again" and 5 being "They are now one of my favorites")

Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup shortening (I used butter)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (I used vanilla)
1/2 c mini choc chips (I just large ones, I like them better!)

Directions
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, and shortening; beat until light and fluffy.

Add yogurt and vanilla; blend well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls 2" apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-12 min or until light golden brown.

I've shared this recipe at:

Easter Hunt

2011-04-27T18:25:00.002-05:00

I decided it would be fun to do a little scavenger hunt in our new house. I love to do fun little things like this and who says you have to have kids to do them? I got some bunny ears, hid all the candy and waited for Marshall to get home. He was surprised (and being a candy/chocolate lover) and excited.

I did the usual "Hot....Cold....Warmer..." and it was a lot of fun. I thought he found everything then I remembered about the mini eggs. I saw where he had all checked and I was certain I had hidden it behind a pillow. We searched for another 10 minutes and finally I checked a place I had seen him check and they were there. I guess he just didn't look hard enough? Just glad to know there's no chocolate hiding somewhere waiting for Ollie to find it, that would be bad.

And the score in the end.

Chocolate Indulge: Sweet Impressions & Chocolate Zen

2011-04-27T09:00:00.000-05:00

We had a double date on Tuesday and I had some time so I decided to bike with Ollie get some desserts. I had a couple more places on my list that I wanted to try so I went there. If you don't know Winnipeg to make it simple for you in total it was around a 10km bike ride. Ollie is a year old and full of energy. He pulled the whole way there (which helped, it was pretty windy!) and he only started to get tiered on the way back (his tiered is not dragging behind but rather simply just not pulling anymore).

The first stop was Sweet Impressions (on Tache). I was impressed but there cute little store front and the fact that they are a nut free bakery. That's not a problem for me but I'm sure the people our there with allergies really appreciate it.

The second stop was Chocolate Zen (on Osborne). It was also a pretty cute place, but I can't say I'm that impressed in comparison to the other bakeries in the city. It's a cute shop, don't get me wrong, but not my style I guess. They did have a couple things in their display I wouldn't mind trying, but that's sort of the case everywhere I go!

I picked up the chocolate option from each place so we (each couple) got a plate to share. The cupcakes didn't really make it (they smoshed on the way home) but wow, where they good! I could have eaten a lot more of them so it was a good thing there was only one! The chocolate macaroon was also really good but I didn't love the chocolate zen (moose).

Mini Cheese Scones

2011-04-26T09:30:00.005-05:00

We were having fish and mash the other night and I just had the urge to make it even more English so I made scones!(I’m not sure if it’s more an English thing or Scottish, but either way, really good!) I learn this recipe in high school, and I don’t think I had used it again since, but wow, I forgot how good they really were! (they are sort of like the ones the Red Lobster used to serve but I’m sure less fattening!)

3 ½ Cups Sifted Flour
2 Tbsp Baking Powder
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tsp Salt
¾ Cup Butter
2 Cups Shredded cheese
2 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1 Cup Milk

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt. Cut in butter, mix until dough in fine clumps. Stir in cheese. In another bowl whisk together milk and the egg. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, holding back one tablespoon to spread on top of scones before putting in the oven. Mix until dough forms a ball. Kneed for 3 minutes. Roll out on floured surface (one inch thick). Cut in to 2’’ x 2’’ squares. Brush remaining milk and egg mix on top. Put on greased or flowered baking sheet. Cook for 12-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

I shared this recipe at:

Breakfast

2011-04-26T09:00:00.001-05:00

Crepe with eggs, cheddar cheese and pesto. Thank you Marshall!

Savory Sunday Picks of the Week!

2011-04-25T11:48:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I promised that on Mondays I'd post my favorate recipes from Savory Sundays the day before and here are the recipes!

Fiesta Chowder- from Darn Near Domestic

MEATBALL SOUP (aka Italian Wedding Soup) from The South Padre Island Flip Flop Foodie

And True Veggie Lover's Pizza- from Yum! Yum! Yum!

Come on back next Sunday to join in on Savory Sunday!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies All The Way From Oz

2011-04-25T11:00:00.005-05:00

When I lived in Australia a friend of mine there gave me this recipe. I don’t know why but I’ve always had a hard time getting the basic chocolate chip cookie right- not to soft, not too hard, but oh so good.

With this recipe I never have trouble and I end up with some soft (if I want them that way) oh so tasty cookies!

1 cup Butter
¾ cup Sugar
¾ cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Baking Soda (dissolved in 1 tsp Hot Water)
1 tsp Salt
Vanilla
1 cup Oats
2 ½ cup Flour
1 cup Chocolate Chips

Heat oven to 350. Cream together butter and both sugars. Add eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Add the flour, mix until smooth. Add the oat and chocolate chips.

Tip: I usually add cinnamon to my cookie mix; it adds a nice subtle flavour.

Have any good ideas, or substitutes for this....share them, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!!

This recipe has been shared at:

Baking My Way: Rasberry-Filled White Chocolate Bar

2011-04-24T09:00:00.004-05:00

I'll be honest, I really didn't like this one at all. It turned out pretty close to how it was supposed to (I put too much filling in) and I don't know what it is but I just didn't like the flavor. I thought I used a really good quality white chocolate but it still had that sort of weird taste that cheap white chocolate has.

I can't say I'll be trying this one again any time soon. (Note: This recipe doesn't work to substitute oil for the butter)

I rate this one a 1 (1 being "I'll never bake them again" and 5 being "They are now one of my favorites")

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup butter

2 cups white vanilla chips or 2 (6-oz.) white chocolate baking bars, chopped

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon amaretto or almond extract

1/2 cup raspberry spreadable fruit or jam

1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour 9-inch square pan or 8-inch square (2-quart) glass baking dish. Melt margarine in small saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat. Add 1 cup of the white vanilla chips (or 1 chopped white chocolate baking bar). LET STAND; DO NOT STIR.
Beat eggs in large bowl until foamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at high speed until lemon-colored. Stir in white vanilla chip mixture. Add flour, salt and amaretto; mix at low speed just until combined. Spread half of batter (about 1 cup) in greased and floured pan. Set remaining batter aside.
Bake at 325°F. for 15 to 20 minutes or until light golden brown.
Meanwhile, stir remaining 1 cup white vanilla chips (or 1 chopped white chocolate baking bar) into remaining half of batter; set aside. Melt spreadable fruit in small saucepan over low heat.
Remove pan from oven. Spread melted fruit evenly over warm base. Gently spoon teaspoonfuls of remaining batter over fruit. (Some fruit may show through batter.) Sprinkle with almonds.
Return to oven; bake an additional 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Cut into bars.

Recipe Source

I've shared this recipe at:

Sister Sister Sunday

Easter Baking Goals

2011-04-23T14:08:00.001-05:00

I decided that with all the baking I am doing through my Baking My Way Through project I wouldn't do any Easter baking. So I thought I would do a post instead of all the fun stuff I see out there. Maybe next year I'll try one or two of them. If you like any of these ideas click on the photo to get to the recipe.

Marshmallow Peanut Butter Square

2011-04-23T12:36:00.002-05:00

I couldn't find this recipe in any of my books, or online under any name I tried. Finally I in listed facebook, asked on my “What’s on your mind?” area and sure enough 4 of my friends knew a recipe! (I love facebook for that; if I don’t know something all I have to do is ask and someone out there can help me, it’s great!) So in case you were in the same spot I was and couldn’t find a recipe, or you’ve never tried it before (you have to now, it’s amazing!) here you go! Enjoy!

2 pkg. butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter or margarine
4 cups miniature marshmallows (the colored ones are the best)

Place the first 3 ingredients into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1-1/2 minutes, then stir. Microwave for an additional 1-1/2 minutes. Continue at 30 second intervals until melted. Stirring in between each setting. Let cool a couple of minutes and add 4 cups marshmallows and stir well. Pour into a 9 x 13 inch pan and spread evenly. Let cool completely, then cut into squares.

Option: you could also do the melting in a double boiler, or just a pot if you don’t like doing things in a microwave

I shared this recipe at:

A Thank You Hamburger

2011-04-23T10:00:00.006-05:00

We made a deal with our friend Joey for taking our One Year photos that we would make him dinner in return. Well that was in September and it's taken us this long to actually have him over but I would say that it was worth it because the dinner was great! I hope we can get him to do some year two photos.

I made these fries just by cutting them (in almost wedge size) pieces and deep frying them. I don't have a deep frier so I just use a pan and oil on high.

I made these onion rings with the left over beer batter I had from when I made beer battered fish. I had put it in the freezer not wanting to waste it and thought this might work out well and it did! The boys loved it! A great add to an already huge burger.

I've shared this recipe at:

Savory Sundays!

2011-04-23T10:00:00.004-05:00

Hey all!
I know I'm pretty new to the food blogging world (I've been blogging for a while on my other site- Captive Creativity) but I thought I would start my own blog hop! I am always looking for new recipes and I tend to just go for the sweet ones and trying those so I thought this would be a great way to see what else is out there!

Here's how it will work:

1) Link up to the link below (please use the URL to the post you are sharing, not your home page)
2) Grab the Savory Sunday button and put it in the post you are sharing
3) Leave a comment after you post
4) I would also love it if you became a follower of my blog! (not mandatory to join in though!)

Lunch

2011-04-22T12:17:00.000-05:00

Easy Alfredo Sauce

2011-04-22T10:30:00.003-05:00

There aren’t a lot of options in the grocery store for Alfredo sauce, and the options that are out there are super expensive (to me at least). I’ve never really been good at sauces so I started to give up when I got a few wrong, but I had a lot of confidence I couldn’t screw this one up so I tried it the other night. It turned out great! It’s really easy, and sort of fun, and you can add whatever sort of spices you want and it seems to just make it better (sort of like a blank canvas for sauces). So give it a try and see if you like it!

1/2 cup Cream Cheese (or sour cream)
1 cup Milk 0-2 %
3 tbsp. Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Clove Garlic
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Pepper
3 tbsp. Dry Parsley or 1/2 cup fresh

The best way to make this consistent is to use a blender. Put cream cheese, milk, Parmesan cheese, garlic, salt and pepper in blender. Blend until there are no clumps, pour into saucepan on medium heat, cook for about 10 minutes (or longer to make the flavour really take!). While cooking add parsley (if fresh chop finely) and save some for garnish.

Have any good ideas, or substitutes for this....share them, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!!

I shared this recipe at:

Baking my Way: Starlight Mint Surprise Cookies

2011-04-21T21:30:00.008-05:00

These cookies didn't look to exciting to me in the book but I bought the mint wafers so I thought I would make them and let me tell you I'm glad I did! They turned out so good! I didn't use the walnuts and I made my cookies a lot bigger (not sure how they got that little amount of dough around each wafer...I doubled the amount for each cookie). I also used vegetable oil instead of butter.

I give these cookies a 4, not a 5 only because mint chocolate isn't my fav, but if I ever want a mint chocolate cookie this will be my first pick! (1 being "I'll never bake them again" and 5 being "They are now one of my favorites")

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup softened butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
60 walnut halves
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoon water
2 eggs
1 teaspoons baking soda
2 (6 oz.) solid chocolate mint candy wafers

In large bowl blend well sugars, butter, water, vanilla and eggs. In small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and mix with large bowl ingredients. Blend well. Cover with plastic wrap, chill 2 hours. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Press 1 tablespoon dough around candy to cover completely. Place 2" apart on cookie sheet. Top each with walnut. Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 5 dozen.

I shared this recipe at:

Joy of Desserts
Mangia Mondays
Made by you Mondays
Make a Food-e-Friend Mondays
A Marvelous Mess Monday

Roxy's Birthday Dinner

2011-04-21T10:15:00.000-05:00

My friend Roxy owns a restaurant and loves to cook. For her birthday she wanted to cook all her friends dinner. If that's what she wanted we weren't going to say no! She's a wonderful cook and the food was wonderful! It was great to be able to sit around and eat and drink together. We don't have dinner parties among our friends very often so this was a really nice treat.

He's really happy, as you can see!

This is Roxy, busy in the kitchen

Oreo ice cream cake with homemade sesame seed ice cream which was fantastic!

Baking My Way: Chocolate Raisin Smile Cookies

2011-04-21T10:00:00.004-05:00

I really wasn't too sure what these cookies would be like. When I read the recipe they sounded pretty weird and well they turned out sort of weird. Not as in weird they didn't rise they taste weird, it's just a very strange combination. I'm not too sure why you would want to put icing on these cookies and if icing why isn't it chocolate icing?

I give these cookies a 1 (1 being "I'll never bake them again" and 5 being "They are now one of my favorites")

Ingredients

Cookies

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups margarine or butter, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs
3 cups All Purpose or Unbleached Flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups raisins

Frosting

1 cup powdered sugar
1 drop red food color
2 drops yellow food color
2 to 4 teaspoons milk

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat sugar, brown sugar and margarine until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs; blend well. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in raisins. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 14 minutes or until slightly set. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets.
In medium bowl, combine all frosting ingredients, adding enough milk for desired decorating consistency. Using decorating bag, decorating bottle, plastic bag or small spoon, make smiling faces on cookies.

Variation: Use 1/4 cup of cookie dough per cookie to make giant smile cookies (above)

Lunch

2011-04-20T12:50:00.001-05:00

My New Popcorn Popper!

2011-04-20T11:49:00.002-05:00

So for Christmas a couple of years ago my brother-in-law got me a popcorn popper. Just this fall it stopped working. He couldn't find the receipt, long story short the store (Sears) wouldn't do anything for me without it (even though it was still under warranty). So I told him that I wanted another one this year, but with a gift receipt!

I haven't gotten the receipt yet but I got this beauty and so far it's amazing! It's nice not having to pick up all the pieces of popcorn that the air popper fired out and bounced out of the bowl!

So in all my joy of my new machine I thought I would give you a couple of popcorn recipes as well!

Happy popping!

Carmel Popcorn

1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 quarts popped popcorn

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (95 degrees C). Place popcorn in a very large bowl.
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil without stirring 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in soda and vanilla. Pour in a thin stream over popcorn, stirring to coat.
Place in two large shallow baking dishes and bake in preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

Chocolate Popcorn

2 quarts popped popcorn
1 cup peanuts (optional)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Oil a 10x15 inch baking pan with sides.
Place popcorn and peanuts into a large, metal bowl, and set aside. Stir together the sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder, and butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, then pour over the popcorn. Stir until the popcorn is well coated. Spread the popcorn into the prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, stirring several times.
Remove from the oven, and allow to cool to room temperature. Break into small clumps, and store in an airtight container.

Candy Cane Popcorn

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn
4 ounces vanilla-flavored confectioners' coating, or as needed
6 peppermint candy canes, crushed

Using an air popper, pop the popcorn, place into a large bowl, and discard unpopped kernels. Melt the confectioners' coating according to the package directions.
Pour the melted coating over the popcorn, and sprinkle the crushed candy canes over the mixture. Using your hands, work the candy coating and crushed candy canes all through the popcorn. Let the mixture cool, and break apart into bite-size pieces.

Italian Popcorn

5 cups popped popcorn
4 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

Place the popcorn in a bowl. Combine the butter, Italian seasoning and garlic salt; pour over popcorn and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese; toss to coat.

Nacho Popcorn

10 cups popped popcorn
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Place popcorn in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine butter, paprika, cumin and red pepper flakes. Pour over popcorn and toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and toss again.

Cooking Tip: Yeast Substitution

2011-04-20T11:42:00.002-05:00

I was baking and was sure I had yeast but none, I didn't. I was already too far into it to go back so I was very happy when I found a substitute and that it worked

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 2 minutes

Ingredients:
Baking soda
Lemon juice

Preparation:
Add all ingredients according to the recipe

Then, add in equal parts baking soda and lemon juice to equal the amount of yeast called for in the recipe

Source

Waffles

2011-04-20T07:30:00.001-05:00

When Marshall and I were in Europe they had the most amazing waffles! They were smaller then what we usually see out here, but rectangular and usually served with whip cream and Galati! We had them when ever we had the chance and wow I want one right now! (The best city for them was Florence right by the gold smith area of town, neat the main cannel)

Since we’ve been home I’ve tried as few times to replicate them but I haven’t done it yet. I’ve gotten close but not perfected it yet! If I do get to the perfect European waffle I’ll post again about it, but for now here’s a really great recipe for waffles.

1 ¾ cup Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Sugar
½ tsp Salt
3 (large) Eggs
¼ cup Butter
1 ½ Milk

Whisk together milk, butter, and eggs. Put all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together with a fork. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add milk mix; beat together.

Tip: Take out some of the wet ingredients to make a thicker mix: easier to work with and it often tastes a little better too.

Tip: When you’ve completed the mix add some chunks of brown sugar and mix throughout. When you cook the waffles they melt into a nice sugary glaze.

Have any good ideas, or substitutes for this....share them, leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you!!

I shared this recipe at:

Chocolate Indulge & A Restaurant Review: The Ground Floor

2011-04-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

We had a triple date on Friday and we were going to go to Champa Bistro, we get there and they are closed. The number is disconnected, no message or anything, the website is still totally active but it's closed. I'm not too sure if it's a temporary thing or not but either way we had to find somewhere else. We talked for a bit, tried calling a couple of places to get reservations but we ended up trying The Ground Floor. It's downtown, and well, not that nice on the inside. It looks they are tried to redo it without gutting the whole place which can sometimes work but I feel in this case it still looks pretty traditional (when I think they might have been going for modern).

As far as I know you can't smoke indoors anywhere in the city (restaurants I mean) but I kept smelling smoke.

Our waiter was fun and the food came pretty quick. I had the club house which was great. Marshall had the ribs which, well I've made better at home. Everyone else seemed to be pretty content with their meals but I can't say anyone would say "You have to check out The Ground Floor".

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! and 10- Amazing, would go back again and again) I give it a 5- Average, I wouldn’t go back, but at least I tried it!

This was the Chocolate Indulge dessert. I don't know if you can tell how big it is here but it was huge!! We didn't get through a lot of it (and that was me and Marshall sharing) and to be honest it wasn't that great. It was my least favorite one so far that I have tried. It was pretty dry, I don't know if that's because it was flour-less but it just wasn't that great. Quantity didn't make up for quality in this case.

Baking My Way: Pillsbury Whole Wheat Zucchini Cookies

2011-04-19T10:19:00.004-05:00

I had a zucchini in the fridge that needed to be used, it was on it's last day so I looked up a recipe with zucchini (surprised that there even was on in the book!) and got to work.

I wasn't too sure how they would turn out but they taste amazing! They are super moist, and not too whole wheaty, which is was good. I wanted healthy but I still wanted them to taste like a dessert. It's a nice change from the usual chocolate chip cookie!

I give these a 4 (1 being "I'll never bake them again" and 5 being "They are now one of my favorites")

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup margarine or butter, softened
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 cups shredded zucchini, drained
1(12-oz.) pkg. (2 cups) miniature chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheets. In large bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add lemon peel, vanilla and eggs; blend well. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 350°F. for 9 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets. Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled.

Source

I shared this recipe at:

Restaurant Review: Chop

2011-04-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

Originally my first time to Chop was supposed to be for my birthday but long story short it ended up being just me and my husband.

We went there for dinner, the lights were down, the mood music was on, and the atmosphere was relaxing and calm, just the way I like it!

We got a table in the corner which made it more intimate and personal, which I also love when I go out for dinner.

I had a cerser salad and my husband had a steak. It was the best salad I had had in a long time, and the steak was pretty great too! (and I’m really picky with my steaks).

They didn’t have the drink I wanted on the menu so I explained it to them and they made it for me perfectly (but it did cost me $7 to have my special drink. I think that was a dollar less them my salad!)

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “8- Good Service, good food, good pricing, I’d go back if someone really wanted to”

Substitute for butter in baking

2011-04-18T14:46:00.000-05:00

I went to bake and I realized I didn't have any butter. I heard that oil (any cooking/baking oil) would work but I never really looked into it. I did a little searching and I found this great and helpful chart so I thought I would share it with you!

Butter	Olive Oil	Butter	Olive Oil
1 teaspoon	¾ teaspoon	5 mls	3 mls
2 teaspoons	1 ½ teaspoons	10 mls	7.5 mls
1 tablespoons	2 ½ teaspoons	15 mls	12.5 mls
2 tablespoons	1 ½ tablespoons	30 mls	22.5 mls
¼ cup	3 tablespoons	60 mls	45 mls
⅓ cup	¼ cup	80 mls	60 mls
½ cup	¼ cup + 2 tablespoons	125 mls	90 mls
⅔ cup	½ cup	160 mls	125 mls
¾ cup	½ cup + 1 tablespoon	185 mls	140 mls
1 cup	¾ cup	250 mls	175 mls
2 cups	1 ½ cups	500 mls	375 mls

Source

Chocolate Indulge: Lilac Bakery Ltd.

2011-04-18T10:27:00.001-05:00

(One of my girlfriends) Katie and I went on a little date (with my dog Ollie) to Lilac Bakery. We biked there and were so ready for cake when we go there. The store is a cute little shop with two glass displays of all the great desserts they have for sale. You can smell all the great things they are baking up in the bake as well. My favorite part? That they bake with butter. I think it was the owner (or one of them?) that was serving us and he said "If you're going to do it go all the way" and went on to say how they only use the best ingredients etc. I don't know about you but I can usually taste the quality difference when there was butter instead of margarine used and you can definitely taste it in this cake. It is one of my favorites on this chocolate fest!

Doesn't this icing look a lot like the icing on Our Best Bites? I'm going to try it sometime and see if it's the same, if so it's in my favorite books for life!

Sitting outside in the wonderful sun enjoying the cake. Wow, I think it was the best chocolate cake I have ever had. The icing was just fantastic!

Make Your Own Marshmallow Peeps!

2011-04-18T09:40:00.000-05:00

I sort of thought that marshmallows where just one of those things that you don't really make yourself. Well I was wrong! Check out the recipe at From Which Things Grow!

Snack

2011-04-17T14:57:00.000-05:00

Restaurant Review: Pembina Village Restaurant

2011-04-16T10:52:00.001-05:00

My husband took me here for Valentine’s Day. You may not think it’s a great place for Valentine’s Day, it’s not really romantic, and you’re right, it’s not, but that’s if you’re going for the typical on V-day (which we weren’t; we wanted to go somewhere we hadn’t been before).

It’s a nice enough place, well laid out, enough servers, fast service, and friendly help. The only things that weren’t satisfying was the food and the fact that the cold was coming in the windows and door to our right and left (bad seals I guess?). And seeing as I get cold naturally as I eat this was a bit of a problem. I wore my down filled coat almost the whole time, which was unfortunate because I wore something especially nice for the evening out and I didn’t get to show it off (I am a woman after all!).

They say their souvlaki is the best in the city. They’re wrong. It wasn’t very good at all, I’ve had better at the food court to be honest. But the Greek salad I had was great, and I could have just had that. You get a lot of food for your money, which is the upside, but the flavor and quality is lacking which is the down side.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “5- Average, I wouldn’t go back, but at least I tried it!”

Restaurant Review: Wasabi Broadway

2011-04-16T10:35:00.001-05:00

I went with my friends Carrie and Mike and I have to say that I was really happy that it was his treat because it was an expensive place when it comes to sushi.

I guess when we have celebrities in town they seem to go there if they want sushi, so I think that’s why the prices are a little higher because I can’t see the reason being the quality of the sushi.

Out of the three rolls I tried only one of them (I think it was called the pizza roll) was unique or different then something I could get any other sushi place (and for cheaper).

The atmosphere was really nice, and I loved the low lighting, and the pear tea, but other than that, and my company it wasn’t worth going, or going again.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “5- Average, I wouldn’t go back, but at least I tried it"

Restaurant Review: Wako Sushi

2011-04-16T10:29:00.003-05:00

My girlfriend Sara and I were looking for a new place to try sushi and at the time Wako was still pretty new (Coco Pod used to be in there). We walked all the way there (I lived on the other end of Corydon), ordered and sat and waited.

There are a couple places to sit in but it’s mainly a takeout place and when I went (not sure if it’s still the same) the pricing was surprisingly low. I got a dynamite roll for $4.50 and another roll for $5.

It took a bit to get our order but that was ok because watching them make it was entertaining.

I can’t say the sushi was the best I ever had but it was definitely worth what I paid which I can’t say often (I usually feel sushi is over prices).

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “8- Good Service, good food, good pricing, I’d go back if someone really wanted to.”

Chocolate Goal...

2011-04-15T14:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I thought seeing as Ciao is doing the Indulge thing this month I am going to try to go to as many of the places that I haven't been to before as I can. Of course I'm not going to go to the places that the desserts sound boring (and there are a few!) but here's the list of places I want to try and hit up!

Chocolate Zen- Dark Chocolate Coconut Macaroons
Joe Black Coffee Bar- Chocolate Mousse
De Luca's Bakery- Dulce De Leche Slice
High Tea Bakery- Brownie Duo
Lilac Bakery- Chocolate Cake
Steve's Bistro - Mud Pie
Sweet Impressions- Cupcakes & Cookies

I know, it's a but of a list to fit in all in April but I love trying new places and we have a few double dates so I'm hoping I'll have some other people wanting to try these places with me! (And considering that there's 30 different places I think I narrowed it down pretty good!)

If you haven't checked out the site yet here's the link again!

Baking my way through

2011-04-15T14:17:00.001-05:00

I'm a little boring with my baking. I tend to go for what catches my eye, and more often then not what's easy. If I like the picture but then I read the instructions and it doesn't seem easy I don't give the recipe another thought. Then when I go to parties I always try these great deserts and wonder why I don't do that myself. I stick to what I know I like...So I've decided that I am going to bake my way through my favorite cook book. This book has over 175 recipes so it's going to take me a while but I'm excited!

I've done a few of the recipes already:

Snickerdoodles
Two-in-One Holiday Bar
Yuletide Slice
Ginger Snaps
Split Seconds
Peanut Butter Crunch Bars
Peanut Butter Balls
Peanut Blossoms
Orange Cappuccino Drops
Linzar Stars
Caramel Sandwich Cookies
Mint Brownies
Cranberry and Vanilla Chip Cookies

So at least I have a start, but like I said, there's over 175 recipes, so this might take a really long time! Either way it's going to be interesting to see all the different things I now try and to finally get through a whole cook book. I hate having so many cook books but only using a few recipes from each, I feel like that's such a waste!

So here goes! Look forward to a lot of baking!!

Baking My Way: Pillsbury Coconut Macaroons

2011-04-15T14:09:00.004-05:00

This was my first go at macaroons of any kind and I think they turned out great! They're not too sweet but very coconuty which I love! They also have a Festive Coconut Macaroon recipe that is the same but with candied cherries which sounds good.

INGREDIENTS

2 egg whites

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Dash salt

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups coconut

DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 325°F. Grease and lightly flour cookie sheets. In large bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Beat in sugar, flour, salt and almond extract until well blended.

Stir in coconut and candied cherries. Drop dough by scant tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.

Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until set and lightly browned. Immediately remove from cookie sheets.

I'm sharing this recipe at: Foodie Friday

Dine About Winnipeg: Chocolate!!!

2011-04-15T14:04:00.003-05:00

I can't wait to try some of these! I hope I get to go to a few! Check out the Ciao website for more details.

Breakfast

2011-04-15T14:01:00.001-05:00

Ezekiel bread, peanut butter and organic cranberry honey.

Restaurant Review: Lovey’s BBQ

2011-04-15T13:16:00.000-05:00

I’ve been to Lovey’s twice. The reason we went the second time was because it was so good the first time. But I’m glad I didn’t write my review until the now.

The first time we went it was full and busy with action. The girls were bustling around clearing tables and getting things done. We ordered our food and stood and waited by the door for a table. We knew it would be like that so it wasn’t a big deal.

Once we got our table it wasn’t long until we got our food. We dug right in and it was amazing. The ribs were so tender and the beans were great. Marshall is a big eater and even he had left over’s.

It’s a really cool set up in there too with photos all over the walls and TVs up (and they have them on good channels too not just sports!).

That brings me to the second experience. We get there right when it opens and get a table no problem. We all pick (we took my dad there) what we want and I go and order. The food comes in good time, no problem. Problem? The actual food. The ribs were over cooked, the beef was tuff to chew, the pulled pork was tuff and dry and the chicken was also dry. One thing that was consistent was the beans; they were still great.

And to add to this the owner (or at least I think he was the owner) kept walking around the restaurant sort of hovering and telling the girls what to do. I get that, if you have a crew of waitresses that are new, sure you need to be there, but they had it totally under control and you could tell they felt smothered. I could feel the tension in the air. He was just giving off that vibe of “I want you out of here quick so I can get more people in here”. I’m sure he means well and just wants to be successful but it was not making the experience great.

We had a lot of left over’s but our bill for three people was $65 and all we had was a bunch of meat to take home that was worse than old gum to crew.

On a scale of 1-10 (1- Horrible, it should be closed down!! 10- Amazing, would go back again and again!) I give it “2- I would have been better off eating at home”

Smoke's Poutinerie

2011-04-15T13:14:00.001-05:00

I just have to say I am super excited about this place opening! I love poutine, and I love the exchange so this is great! And what better then a restaurant dedicated to just poutine right?