Dude. You can eat the bowl.

Geo had an idea.
Last night she was going to make biscuits to go with her chili...and decided to use the dough to make bowls.
How you ask?
Well, she made regular biscuit dough (2 c flour, 2 heaping t baking powder, salt, 1/4 c butter cut in with 3/4c milk), threw in some garlic and pepper and cornmeal and then turned a muffin tin upside down, greased it and divided the dough into 6, spreading the dough over top the mounded cups and then baked them at 450 for about 10 minutes.
Result?
Crispy yummy decadent biscuit bowls for her chili.

You have NO idea how good they were. It was biscuit heaven with yummy chili. Only one remains. It is mine for lunch.
Muahahah!

The coolness!

I stumbled upon this post about scientific themed cookies.
Then this one...

Consider me totally blown away and utterly inspired.
MAN I want to make me some lab cookies right now!!

mee hee...

Poh Tay Toes

My Mom used to make riced potatoes when I was little - they're my Dad's favourite. They are a bit of a fuss as her wrists are weak, but she would make them as a treat. She wouldn't add any milk or butter to mash them...just as is with a bit of butter.
Oh.
Yum.
I tend to wax on about how I love riced potatoes more often than I thought, apparently, as when my brother was away last weekend he saw a potato ricer in a store and picked me up one.
What a guy. I'm so excited...
You can guess what I'm making for supper tomorrow :)

Sweet Cuppin cakes

I just finished my first attempt at minicupcakes
Chocolate banana...yum.
The recipe makes 66...65...er...64...um...what's that over there?

Nom nom nom...

Cooking with Geo volume 1 zillion: Recipes I've snooched: English Toffee Cake

"I was told that there would be cake. The ratio of people to cake is too high..."

Today is a potluck at work. Because I bike or bus it to work, I always amuse my coworkers by assembling my desserts (which I am told I must bring or else) at work.
This morning was no exception. I had to assemble my English Toffee Cake for the potluck...a few of my friends arrived to see me in an apron with a hand mixer whipping cream, folding in lecure (I can't even pretend I can spell that word) and gelatin and sprinkling toffee bits. I've been thoroughly mocked...but they still want the cake. I like it too because I can futz around and make yummy dessert and have a piece and then not have a whole cake sitting around my house to eat.
This recipe is one of the few "public" recipes I'm allowed to share from the coffee shop Roca Jacks I was baker/night manager in in university. It was always devoured as soon as we put it out...I've no picture of the cake, but suffice it to say - it is easy and deeeeeeeeeeeelicious. People freak over it all the time.
As a little plug - you want kickass desserts and good (in house roasted) coffee and you're (for some reason) in Regina SK? Go to Roca Jacks. They'll hook you up.

It's just this simple: Take a good chocolate cake recipe (box, from scratch, whatever) that makes two 9 inch round cakes. Use it to make 3 cakes instead of 2 so you get 3 thinner layers of chocolate cake. You'll have to adjust the baking times a bit but you're big people...it'll work out. Trust me.

Ingredients: You need 3 thin chocolate cake layers, 1L whip cream, some icing sugar and vanilla, a package of Knox gelatin, some of your favourite lecure (Cream de Ccao is the best, but Kahlua will do) and 1c or so of chopped up skor bars or other kinds of toffee...That's all.

Let the cake layers cool COMPLETELY. You can't skip this. I made mine last night so they're good to go. Then take 1 litre of whipping cream and add 1 t vanilla and 2 T icing sugar and stir together in a clean, chilled bowl. Before you whip the cream take 1/3 cup of your favourite lecure (Cream de cacao, Baileys or Kahlua all work great) and heat in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Sprinkle 1 package of Knox gelatin over top of the lecur and let it sit (don't stir it yet).
Now, whip the cream until it is stiffly whipped. By the time this is done the lecure should be about room temperature. Stir it to dissolve as much gelatin as you can (some won't stir in, don't worry about it). Fold this into the whip cream and mix gently to get yummy whip. Layer cake + 1/3 the whip + plus 1/3 the toffee bits and repeat 2 times. There's enough whip that it makes thick yummy whippy layers. The gelatin isn't critical, but it helps the whip set and thickens the lecure so the cake will last a few days in the fridge if you don't eat it all right away (yeah right). Let it sit in the fridge an hour or so to set the cream and let the toffee sort of skooge together into yumminess.
Cut and eat and make groany noises.
I don't have a camera at work so I don't have a picture of this, but it's easy and yummy and looks amazing-I can't wait to eat at least one piece of it today at lunch.

Gotta go...much lab work to do to plan around lots of cake.
Later...:)

I like wagon fruit

We grabbed a dragon fruit this weekend for a family barbecue. It looked like something fun to try, along with some Guinness cheddar (which was heavenly) and watermelon while we waited for the barbecued beast to be done.
Man they're yummy...odd flavour. Like a kiwi and a pear mixed together. The family all tried it tentatively and thought it was OK...J and I loved them so I think they'll be a regular in-season nibble at our place.
It's a bonus that they look like some sort of crazy space fruit...like you'd get on an off planet expedition.
They've been renamed though - our niece declared she loved "wagon fruit"...and it stuck in my head that way.

Crazy space fruit for everyone :)

Muffin muffin muffin- oh- Muffin muffin hey

I love muffins. I could live on them...yesterday I made raspberry cornmeal muffins. I'm eating one of these muffins right now for breakfast...and they are delicious. I have to pass the recipe on so you can eat them too. I'd upload a photo but I should really get on with my morning and get ready for work...I'm just nibbling on a muffin and checking the news...and got distracted.
ANYways. Where was I?
Oh yeah. This yummy muffin here in my hand.
You can swap out low fat sour cream and a bit of applesauce (so I've been told by my Mum) in these for margarine and they're a bit healthier for you, but these are...delicious the way they are. They do not last more than a day or two in our house even when I make a bunch...too good.

RASPBERRY CORNMEAL MUFFINS

2 c flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

2 eggs
1/2 c melted margarine
1 c milk mixed with 1 t vinegar (or buttermilk - I never bother as it doesn't make a difference in this recipe and healthier)
2/3 c brown sugar
1 t vanilla

1 c frozen raspberries

Mix dry together and wet together and then stir *them* together until nearly mixed. Add fruit and mix until just mixed-don't overmix. Put in greased muffin tin (with papers) and bake at 375 for ~17-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean or you tap on the top of them gently and they "just" bounce back. They'll just be starting to brown on the edges. Do not overbake and they will be the moistest muffins in the world. Add 1/3 c pine nuts to this for absolute decadence. Actually, with this recipe, take out the cornmeal and add any variation of fruits and nuts or even 1/2 c oatmeal (soaked in 1/4 c milk a bit first) and you have a totally versatile, any-muffin-will-do mix. A bit of nutmeg, cinnamon or cardamom is never a bad idea to toss into other fruit muffins with this too...I mutate this into whatever we want at the time. Trial and error to the perfect muffins...
And right now I want another muffin.
Gotta go, it's rude to type with my mouth full.

Cooking with Geo Vol. 5: Beer makes everything better

After some banter with my good friend Magnus about how amazing Guinness gingerbread would be, I wasn't able to stop thinking about it, so i went hunting and tracked down a great recipe for it. At work, any excuse for a cake is a good one, and little Lily coming to be with us was a perfect reason to make a cake and test it out on my guinea pigs, er, I mean coworkers. It was a bit time consuming make with the waiting to cool part in the middle, but in the end was spicy, moist, cakey deliciousness. I had no Guinness (a tragedy I know) but I used a bottle of espresso oatmeal stout (which tastes very similar) and it worked very well. You even get about 1/2 c of beer left to sip while baking, which to me is like cooking with wine...cooking and sipping makes it taste even better :)
I served it with whipped cream and I will definitely be making it again. It was devoured by my coworkers before I thought to get a photo, so you'll just have to imagine the deliciousness. Lily's Mum also gives it two large and two tiny thumbs up. I thought if I was asked to share the recipe with all them I should probably post it here too so you can all go home and make it this weekend. It's seriously some of the best cake I've ever had...and in my life, I've had me a lot of cake!

Gramercy Tavern Guinness Gingerbread

Ingredients
1 cup oatmeal stout or Guinness Stout
1 cup dark molasses (not blackstrap)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground cardamom
3 large eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Special equipment: a 10-inch (10- to 12-cup) bundt pan

Experimental Protocol
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Generously butter bundt pan and dust with flour, knocking out excess. Make a few sniggering remarks about bundt pans. Then move on...
Bring stout and molasses to a boil in a large saucepan, stirring often, and remove from heat. Whisk in baking soda, then cool to room temperature. (when you add the soda it really foams up a lot...don't freak out :) You really need a large saucepan)
Sift together flour, baking powder, and spices in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs and sugars in another bowl. Whisk in oil, then molasses mixture. Add to flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Pour batter into bundt pan and rap pan sharply on counter to eliminate air bubbles. Bake in middle of oven until a tester comes out with just a few moist crumbs adhering, about 45-50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack 5 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely.

Serve cake, dusted with confectioners sugar, with whipped cream
Apparently it's best if you serve it the day after it's made. I did and it was freakishly good, so I can't argue...
Go have some cake...and a good weekend.
Bye :)

Junk. I haz it.

I have learned just how much crap can accumulate in a room of misc craft stuff over 4 years - 4 full garbage bags. That doesn't even count the huge pile of stuff I have to sort and fold for good will that is in the spare room.
Sheesh. Some of the stuff I looked at and thought "what the hell do I have *this* for?"...like 52 ADT signs, movies stubs, bits from broken tools (??), dried up paints and glue and tonnes of printed off recipes and things that seemed neat at the time but I have never even looked at since I brought them home. This room was the depository of all things with no home for the past few years and it showed...I'm glad to have cleared it out finally. It was really out of hand, and rather depresssing to do work in. Now we can move the computer up there and not lose it amongst piles of junk. And my mad scientist closet is somewhat set up and ready to go. I just need a few shelves for some random things and iPod speakers and I'll be good to go.

Now I should say that not every old recipe from upstairs was wasted. After finishign up with the upstairs room I made up a few loaves of bread from a recipe I found in there. I'd bought a butternut squash months ago and it was about to go bad. I kept staring at it wondering what to do with it (never thought of that when I bought it - it just looked cool). So I had it mashed up and decided to make somethig tasty with it on Sunday.
Holy freaking cow...did you know that butternut squash bread is absolutely fantastic? Seriously. Slightly sweet nutty soft and light bread baked to golden yumminess. I think the trick was I let the second raise go on for a while longer than it said (kitchen was cold and I was distracted). It was so very yummy...we practically ate a whole loaf of it in one day. Cold weather = baking in my life and I think from now on I'll make a point of watching a movie when I make bread for it to rise, because that was the trick in my chilly house. I'm officially calling this Crusade Bread from now on, as thanks to Indiana Jones and his Dad, it turned out amazing. I have some and some nice yummy stew for lunch. Mmmmmm.

Other than that...not much going on here. It's retardedly cold out and has been for days. It just won't let off. We went out for chinese new year on friday and ate an 8 course traditional meal. I ate *way* too much, but it was a lot of fun...there were even dragon dancers. In the hopes of advancing science, I put on my investigating hat to find that most Chinese beer tastes a lot like Heineken. J even won a door prize, so we got the whole experience.
I'm waiting for the year of the Ox to come next year (a Yin Earth year) so I can have my year. I find the Chinese horoscopes interesting, in my brief snoops into it the past few days. It seems all horoscopes from different cultures have around 12 categories, with cycles of multiples of 12, but unlike other horoscopes my description and J's (he's a tiger) tend to match us rather well in this one. As a bonus, mine said "beware the sheep" which still cracks me up. According to the horoscope I am: Dependable, calm, methodical, patient, hardworking, ambitious, conventional, steady, modest, logical, resolute, tenacious. I can be stubborn, narrow-minded, materialistic, rigid, demanding. I conquer life through endurance, application, and slow accumulation of energy (this is *very* true). I am genius in the art of meticulous planning, hardworking, discreet, modest, industrious, charitable, loyal, punctual, philosophical, patient, and good-hearted individual with high moral standards. On the downside, I can be self-righteous, vain, critical, judgmental, myopic, narrow-minded, petty, and pessimistic.
What can I say? When it's cold out and you have cabin fever, you read up on things :)
Gotta go be useful.
Later :)

TNT for the brain

Well...I've been baking again.
At the Alzheimer's Walk, they gave out a few "brain" happy recipes, and I thought I'd try one out last night. Baking stuff when it's really cold out side (and I have PMS/eat the whole pantry cravings...*ahem*) cheers me up. I love muffins...they're one of my favourite things...and favourite things to *make*. I make damn fine muffins, if'n I do say so myself...working as a baker in university taught me the muffiny secrets of the gods.
Now, of course I did doctor the original recipe a bit, as I had no buttermilk and put raspberries in them instead of the dried cranberries called for (J doesn't like cranberries...don't even *think* about raisins...foul little things...).
So ANYways, I present to you, my recipe for:

Raspberry Flax Brain muffins
(see what I did there? Brain, instead of bran? Eh? Eh? Yes hold your applause...)

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar (packed)
1 + 1/4 c milk
~1/4 c melted butter (~2-3 T)
1/3 c oil

1 c whole wheat flour
1 c white flour
3/4 c bran
3/4 c ground flax
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1T baking powder
1/2 t salt

1 c raspberrires

Whisk together the wet. Mix together the dry in a separate bowl and then stir together with wet until just mixed. Stir in fruit. Place in greased muffin tins (fills cups rather full) and bake @ 375 for ~20 minutes. Try not to overbake - check with a toothpick @ about 19 minutes...cool on rack. Once cooled, store in air tight container. It makes 12 yummy muffins.


For flax flour, you can buy whole flax and grind it up in a food processor, but our local grocer sells ground flax, so I used that. The recipe said 1 1/2 c buttermilk, but I forgot to buy some and wasn't about to walk 15 minutes in the freezing cold to get some - they still tasted very nice with my lazy replacing. I suppose you could put in 1 c milk and 1/2 c fat free sour cream and it would also be good...I ususally can't be bothered with buttermilk. You can't buy a 500 mL container of it where I am, and I never seem to use it all before it goes bad, so I just work around it. It always tastes better when you actually use it, I know, I know...but I'm trying to find healthier recipes. I'll probably do the fat free sour cream thing next time instead of butter.

I have to say I'm impressed with these...they're not too bad fat wise, and are very good for you ,what with the flax and bran. I'm having one right now the next day at coffee break and they're still moist and tasty. They aren't too dense or heavy...so I give them 4 1/2 out of 5 golden brains. I will definitely make them again, probably with blueberries next time.

And my brain never felt better...

So it begins...

Ah ha ha HA!
I was at the grocers today and what did I find?
Nothing less than seasonal nectar of the gods....egg nog.
Yum.
And so I have begun my seasonal holiday breakfast indulgence....eggnog pancakes.

Oh yeah. Sooooo good...

I was so happy with breakfast I must pass on the secret formula (with years of tweaking by yours truly) so you all could have some too...

SWEET NOGGIN' CAKES

1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 T melted butter
2 T sugar
1 egg blended
1 1/2 c eggnog
dash nutmeg

Mix dry together and mix wet together...then mix them BOTH together...but don't overmix. Use ~ 1/3 c batter and fry in a bit of oil on med/low heat, flipping when golden brown and bubbled. Serve with bacon and syrup.
These are guaranteed to get you a kiss or two of gratitude.
Seriously...works for me every time.

But now...I must dash. We've spent a great day out walking in the woods and have been to the Mendel gallery to check out the display of automitons and animated exhibits (cool...) and we're off to a charity shindig to hear a good breaks DJ from calgary Peter Wilde spin a bit. I plan on shaking my posterier faster than the speed of light -for charity no less. It will be nice to leave my troubles far behind for a while. Great end to a great day.

Let the monkeydancing begin!

Dining out With Geo: Vol.3 - Fresh Bistro on Early Dr.

Although we were originally headed out to another place, it was closed for holidays and so my husband took me out for a birthday supper to his alternate choice - Fresh Bistro on Early Drive.

I'm so very glad he did. Fresh Bistro is a cozy little place tucked away in a less busy part of town, run by a husband and wife chef team. It was nice, but not too formal, and as it was a Tuesday night with a political debate on the tele, we had the place to ourselves - nice and romantic. My husband knows the chef a bit and he and the server chatted with us a bit as we ate, and we enjoyed a nice bottle of Australian chardonnay (on their recommendation) along with a fabulous meal.
Now, I have to say I'm a fussy customer. We don't eat out a lot, as I am (if I may be so bold) a fairly formidable cook, and so when we eat out, I like to go somewhere we can sit and savour our food - where the meal is an experience.
I was not disappointed. We had "mushroom toasties" while we waited for our main course - fresh mushrooms sauteed in butter, a dash of cream and fresh garlic andherbs, served on fresh toasted french bread, baked with a hint of parmesan and shallots. OH MY. I'm now on a quest to figure out how to make these...I would have been content having just them for supper, but the main course came and I was impressed even further: I had angel hair pasta tossed with marinated tomatoes, fresh basil pesto, lemon, parmesan and grilled prawns. J had homemade Italian sausage and asagio ravioli with tomato basil sauce and some foccacia bread. We ate slowly , savouring every bite. I really was impressed...everything was done to perfection...even the texture of the hommade pasta was...well...I wouldn't have changed a thing. Subtle blended flavours that were a true dining experience. And for dessert? We shared a delicious slice of lemon meringue cake...mmmmm. Lovely "cakey" cake, with layers of meringue, lemon curd and whip cream. Yum.
So if you want a fabulous meal, in a casual, but elegant restaurant, with excellent service and at a very reasonable cost- look no further than Fresh Bistro at on Early Drive. You won't regret it! I know we'll definitely be back again...there weremany other yummy looking things on the menu I'm dying to try...

You could be an alchemist and turn your pain into gold...golden pie.

A girl I work with is super healthy, and not in an annoying way. She looks about 15 years younger than she is, is happy and confident, runs a lot and (where am I going with this?) she drinks this yummy "health drink" she makes herself all the time. I've decided it's the elixer of life, and being the eternal alchemist, er, I mean, biochemist, I managed to convince her to tell me how to make it for myself...

Apparently you take 2c of cranberries and 2 grean tea bags (or leafy equivalents in a tea ball) and bring them to a boil in ~8 L water until the cranberries pop out of their skins. Then you take the tea bags out and let it cool, skim off the skins and puree it all in a blender and cool it, then drink it. Looking things up on my sciency network of intelligence there should be lots of nutrients and antioxidents in this tasty stuff...and a bit of caffeine too to boot. Sounded good to me, so I made some last night. It makes enough for a waterbottle-ful a day and I'm drinking it right now as I type. It's not bad. I like cranberry juice and I like green tea, and it's like an odd mix of both, but not too tart. I might add a bit of honey to it to take the tartness off, but I think I'm hooked *and* well on my way to living forever.

Seeing as they won't let me drain podlings for their essence anymore, this will do in a pinch.
Cheers!

Best Fish Ever

Had supper and movies with friends Heather & Lisa last night. We made the following, which was, as my friend Heather put it, "f*cking brilliant". So, hold your applause - just go make some...and yes, it really was that good.

Lemon Baked Pickerel

4 fillets of pickerel (~ 1 to 1 1/2 Lb worth), cut in half/deboned
~ 4 T butter
~2 T Mrs. Dash Lemon Pepper Mix (no salt) (or more if ya like)
~2 T dill (ditto)
1 large lemon, sliced thinly
1 small red onion, sliced thinly into rings
olive oil
6 cloves garlic, diced
1 small yellow pepper sliced thinly
tin foil

Tear off four 12" pieces of foil, layering 2 together, brushing olive oil onto one side.
On the 2 foil bits, fold in half, to know where the "pouch" will end. On 1/2 of each pouch, lay out the onion slices flat on the foil, together with the yellow pepper slices (jumble together to make 1 thin layer) and dot with 1/2 of butter. Put 2 fish fillets on top of each pouchy oniony layer and sprinkle spices on top. Scatter garlic on top and dabs of the rest of the butter. Layer the lemon slices on top of the fish. Fold up the foil pouches on the three sides to seal them up and place them on a baking sheet. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.
Remove lemon slices and enjoy yummily with some wild rice, raspberry salad and white wine.
Yum.
Well off you go then...:)

I'm dead classy, me...what? No? Oh...

After a few days of recouping after Motion Notion it's back to life I'm afraid.

But- to help us out with the transition, there was a pleasant introduction last night. A great Canadian band The Tragically Hip were in town last night, playing in the gardens of our local poshy CPR hotel the Besborough. And, J being a press type bloke, was given some passes by a coworker to watch the concert at a viewing from the garden terrace. Ooh lala.
Now I've always only worked as serve staff for these sorts of things, so it was lovely to be dressed in a skirt and heels sipping champagne and other tasty complimentary cocktails (there were waiters with trays and everything) while munching on incredible nibbly food...there were escargot on puffs, all manner of fruit, a chocolate fountain (I spent some time there yes...), cheeses, lamb, sushi, creme brule and even frogs legs (which taste like an odd morphing of tuna and chicken...still not sure if I liked them or not but I had to try them).
A coworker of Jay's was leaving work for a new job as of today, so it was a final night out with coworkers as well as a bit of relaxing for J with other people he works with. I had a fantastic time - J works with some great people. Jackie was sent off with a thoroughly fun evening of great music and food and we even got her tipsy enough to walk about in the memorial fountain in the park a bit afterwards before we sent her home, complete with a pilfered champagne ice bucket as a souvineer.
It was a lovely evening.
I may, however, never be able to eat again. I'm still full :)