Loaf

I invited myself over for coffee. She is a new friend I have only hung out with twice before. But there I was, Sunday afternoon, standing in her kitchen telling her I would come over for coffee on Wednesday.

Well, if I'm going to invite myself over, I may as well bring something along to share and eat. I did after all volunteer her to host me.

But what can I make? She cannot have wheat or diary, so creativity is required to make something.

Loaf. I can stir in nuts, seeds, and dried fruits along with spices to make something incredible.

RECIPE: Loaf

Ingredients

2 cups flour (or chickpea flour)
4 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
nutmeg
green cardamom
1 can coconut milk (or 1 1/3 cups milk)
5 large eggs
vanilla
nuts, seeds, dried fruit

Method

> mix the dry ingredients

> no, there are no quantities for the dry spices - use a bunch, like a teaspoon of each - or whatever you have that will be yummy with the nuts, seeds, and dried fruit (cinnamon, ginger, pumpkin pie spice, chai spiced tea, etc.)

> mix the wet into the dry (eggs, coconut milk, and vanilla or other extract)

> stir in half of the nuts, seeds, and chopped dried fruit you want in the loaf

> split the batter between two lined or buttered loaf pans

> sprinkle the remaining nuts, seeds, and fruit over the tops of the loaves

> bake at 190°C or 375°F for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out cleanly when poked in

Enjoy with butter, jam, or toasted with maple syrup!!

Diablo Cookies

WARNING: these will cause mixed emotions for you. Highly addictive in nature. You've been told.


Last September while travelling in BC, we visited a food truck in Tofino called TacoFino. They have a cookie called the "Diablo Cookie" that a friend said we had to try.

TacoFino Cantina in Tofino, BC

We tried it, and it was good. Amazing, in fact. Chris found the recipe online (I have no idea where).

When we arrived at my parents house a few days later, we had to whip up a batch.

My Mother likes food a certain way. She does not like sweets or chocolate, she does not like cookies and she hates, above all else, spicy food.

I wanted you to know all of that... and these are her favourite cookies.


RECIPE: Diablo Cookies
Pre-heat oven to 190ºC / 375ºF

Ingredients:
[the dry]
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sifted cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cayenne
1 cup milk chocolate chips or large milk chocolate chunks

[the wet]
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1tbsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp fresh minced ginger (or fresh squeezed ginger juice)
coarse sea salt (for garnish)

Method:
1. mix the dry (if using chunks, reserve to the side for now)
2. mix the wet
3. combine the dry and the wet

4. on a greased cookie sheet, press fist sized dough balls and sprinkle with rock salt (or sea salt or coarse salt of any kind) and sugar; if using large milk chocolate chunks, press two into the middle of the cookie before sprinkling salt & sugar on top

5. bake for approximately 11 minutes or until the cookies start to crack - they should be fudgey in the middle

6. leave on the sheet to cool for a few minutes before removing to a rack

Makes 12 large cookies. Don't eat them all in one sitting.

And as a note - I always try to lower the amount of sugar in EVERY recipe I make; in this one, the amount cannot be lessened with this quantity of cayenne; the sugar helps cut the heat. It should also be noted that the texture is compromised when the sugar is cut.

Makes an AMAZING compliment to a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

As consumed at several Friends Church lunches

Guatemalan Banana Bread

RECIPE: Guatemalan Banana Bread

(serves 6)

Ingredients:

5 cups flour

2 cups brown sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoons allspice

2.5 cups smashed bananas

0.5 cups milk

1/3 cups vegetable oil

2 eggs

zest of 1 lime

2 tbsp lime juice

Method:

> heat oven to 350ºF; grease bottom of the pan

> mix all ingredients; beat 30 seconds

> pour into pan

> bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean (30-45 minutes)

> cool before slicing

And when you bake one that is THIS huge, you bake it a little longer!!

To see a list of what else was made for the Guatemalan lunch, go here. 

Arroz con Leche / Rice Pudding

Arroz con Leche / Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of rice

- 2 cups water

- 20 beans coffee

- 2 cinnamon stick

- 10 cloves

- 2 cans of coconut milk

- 1 small lime, whole and washed

- 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Method:

> put the rice, water, coffee beans, cinnamon and cloves in a saucepan with a tight lid; bring to a boil, then simmer until the water is gone and the rice is cooked

> add the coconut milk and the lime (whole); cook over low heat until it reduces again

> remove the cinnamon stick, cloves, and lime

> add the sweetened condensed milk and stir over low heat until the mixture thickens

> decorate with a shake of cinnamon and a few raisins if you like

To see a full menu created for the Guatemalan lunch, go here. 

Where have you been?

It's a good question, really.

Honestly, I let it get out of hand this past Christmas and I said "Yes"; I helped, hand-made, and hosted; I cleaned, visited, baked, cooked, and did many other things I do not specifically remember. It was a wonderful holiday full of loved family and friends and I wouldn't change it.

Grandma's Tomato Juice Spice Cake

There is nothing like aroma to transport you to another time and place. A few weeks ago, I volunteered to make desert for a get-together with friends and family. But what could I make for a group of 22, including thirteen adults, one nine-year-old girl, and eight boys aged two to eight?! 

Two desserts were obviously needed: chocolate cookies and Grandma's Tomato Juice Spice Cake.

The cookies were made first and were a raging success - the boys thought we should just eat them and take only the cake for dessert that night. I decided lunch was a better idea, and fed them something healthy on top of the chocolate cookie they had each just consumed.

Then, the cake batter was made to my Grandmother's instructions and went into the oven. Upon taking it out of the oven, I was transported back to my Grandmother's little apartment and her tiny galley kitchen.

Grandma and my Mother at my wedding

Grandma's Chocolate Chip Cookies

WARNING:

Highly addictive chocolate chocolate chip cookie recipe follows. Use with extreme caution.

In combination with a tall glass of cold milk or a bowl of vanilla ice cream considered delicious and worthy of consumption until the cookies are all gone.

Consider yourself warned.

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Simple Crisp

It seemed like such a good idea at the time... chasing my 7-year-old home from school on a warm afternoon, fresh snowball in hand, ready for launching... and then all of a sudden, I was on the ground, sopping wet, and my left wrist hurt.

A few hours later, after seeing that my wrist was not broken and receiving a tetanus shot for the scrape on my hand (it had been 12 years since my last one), I was on my way home again. A week later, and I'm feeling much better!

For some reason, whenever I make an Apple Crisp, my five-year-old always calls it a 'Crusp'. His favourite part is obviously the 'crust' or 'crisp' on top.

Lazy Cookies

When I was little, my family bought packages of half-cup squares of Parkay Margarine. At one time, I'm ashamed to say, I used to eat it straight up, by the spoonful.

My parents have long since converted to buying actual butter and I thankfully no longer eat margarine (or butter) by the spoonful. My stand-by cookie recipe comes from that Parkay box and if I'm creating a new recipe for a cookie, it often originates here: