Halloween Pt 1

So yesterday evening commenced the beginning of what promises to be a crazy Halloween weekend!  Last night I hollowed out my pumpkin in preparation for the Vancity HR Pumpkin Carving contest - an annual event of which Compensation has won the title several years in a row.

I love hallowing out pumpkins!

This year the Comp team chickened out, but luckily the Systems team still loves me and allowed me to carve with them.  Check out our amazing creations!

Bert & Ernie say Boo!

Hopefully we win!  The other teams did a great job of carving their pumpkins too.

The ER Good Money Pumpkin and the R&WFP Hedgehog

BDBR's Bad Money

Along with the pumpkin carving contest we had a huge feast with lots of yummy goodness!  My contribution was Caramel Corn made from scratch.  Here is the recipe courtesy of the Sing for your Supper and You'll Get Your Breakfast Blog.  This is a blog written by an opera singer from Dallas, Texas.  The recipe seemed to be a big hit!

Caramel Corn - Yum Yum!

Caramel Corn
6 quarts popped corn (I used about a cup and a half of un-popped popcorn) 
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Cook brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda and vanilla. Pour over popcorn and stir to coat. Place popcorn in a large roasting pan or spread out over two baking sheets lined with greased foil. Bake, stirring every 15 minutes for about 45 minutes. Caramel corn will be crunchy (with no sogginess) when done. Let cool and break into pieces. Makes enough to serve a large crowd- approximately 10-12 people.

Friends not Food

Tonight is a night worthy of a blog post, one that is not about food, but about friends.  Yesterday I attended an EAP session at work entitled "Maintaining Your Positive Outlook".  What I took away from it is to be grateful for every little good thing in your life.  So - in the spirit of self wellness here is my list of 10 things that I am grateful for.

1) Mel G and the Specialists - who "imagined all the people living life in peace" while recording their first album which is destined for diamond status!  I always knew we were Rockstar's now we actually even have our own cd!

This photo is missing Whitney but it includes Mel G - our fearless lead vocalist, Harjit Pierce and Gail

2) The health and safety of L&B - luv you guys!
3) Sista K who rocked it tonight both in the studio and on the dance floor!

4) My family - all of you, the Williams', Quans, Cabalzar's and Reyer's, the Smiley's/Liddell's/Skelton's, the Hooper's (and Bill), JB, KP and Mamma Parusel and the Calder/Thomson clan
5) My iPhone which is surgically attached to my hand and is really a living breathing thing...ok that might have sounded slightly crazy ;-)
6) A brilliant place to work with incredible people who support me

7) Scotar Jackmun and Greg who drive me crazy like family sometimes but are always there when I need them!

We missed the Mun of the Scotar Jackmun!

8) Chocolate!  Let's be honest here does chocolate really need an explanation?
9) The ability to record a cd with Sam P and the Jets - I watched the video!  It is amazing!

Sam P and the Jets

10) My runners and my healthy knee!

Banana Baking and Pumpkinfest!

We have a lot of extra ripe bananas so Kim did some baking this weekend!

PB&J Muffins with Bananas and Chocolate Chips

From the Blog Confessions of a Bright Eyed Baker

1 - 5/6 cup whole wheat flour (5/6 = 1/2 + 1/3)

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup pureed banana

1/2 cup jelly/jam (or 2 teaspoons per muffin)

Oven Temperature: 375 F

1. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl. Add the brown sugar and whisk lightly to combine.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the milk, eggs, peanut butter, and pureed banana. Add the flour mixture to this mixture and stir at lowest speed until just incorporated.

3. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and divide half of the batter among the muffin cups. If in doubt, do less than half rather than more. Add 2 teaspoons of jelly or jam to each cup, and then top with the remaining batter.

4. Bake muffins in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, making sure that a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean. Allow to cool for at least ten minutes before removing from the muffin tin to cool completely.

Pumpkinfest

Kim and I are Sunflowers!

Kim worked at the Pumpkinfest at the West Vancouver Community Centre today serving food from Mangia E Bevi.  After she was finished her shift we   looked around.  They had a make your own scarecrow competition

Icabod Crow

Harry Potter Scarecrow

PumpkinFest Olympic Volunteering

A pumpkin carving contest done by local vendors

I didn't see who had made this pumpkin but it looked great!

La Regalade Pumpkin

Knit and Stitch Shop

A bee demonstration including a massive beehive

Beehive

A "Grow the Largest Pumpkin" competition

Mom contemplates the size of the pumpkins

A guess the size of the weight of the pumpkin contest

Kim, the scarecrow and the pumpkin

All in all it seemed like a really successful event!

Thanksgiving = Food Glorious Food!

It's weekends like this that I am so glad that I am not Oliver Twist with the limited food supply of gruel!  Like many of you I spent the weekend feasting in so many glorious ways!  I am thankful to be able to enjoy such decadent and wonderful food and in the words of Grade 7 outdoor school "be a Big Munchie" without wasting any of the food of course!


Friday - Payday and a Gastronomic Adventure
As part of my celebration of surviving my first wee back to work Kristina and I decided to venture to Meat and Bread.  This wonderful restaurant, which I visited for the first time while on holidays, did not disappoint!


Kristina and I both enjoyed the turkey dinner sandwiches which included turkey of course, cabbage, and a bunch of other fixings. Absolutely delicious!

Saturday Morning - Breakfast for Mel

It was my brother's girlfriend's birthday on Saturday and since she has been enjoying my baking lately I made her muffins.  This Saturday's muffin recipe was inspired by a recipe from "Honest Cooking" an online food magazine posted by Natalie McLaury.  She modified a recipe from Cooking Light with great muffins for under 200 calories each!

Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

adapted from Cooking Light August 2010

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 (150 g) cups old-fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup (3 oz) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (2.33 oz) whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup(135 g) brown sugar
• 2 tsp (10 ml) ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder
• 1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
• 3/4 (3.75 ml) tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) low-fat buttermilk
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 cup fresh cranberries (the original recipe called for frozen cranberries chopped)
• 1 cup apples, chopped (this was not included in Natalie's original recipe)
• oil or cooking spray to grease muffin pan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Coat 16 muffin cups (or 12 regular sized and 12 mini sized) with oil or cooking spray.

2. Stir oats, flours, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk with oil, lemon rind, and eggs. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

4. Gently fold cranberries, apples, and lemon juice into the batter and spoon evenly into prepared muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes (large muffins) and 12-15 minutes (mini muffins) until muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center. Remove from muffin cups immediately and place on a wire rack to cool.

Sunday - The First Feast

I am very lucky to have more than one family and on Sunday I joined the Calder/Thomson clan to enjoy a delicious Sunday night Thanksgiving feast!  My contribution to the meal was my mom's Chinese Rice Stuffing.

Mom's Chinese Rice Stuffing

2 cups long grain rice

3 cups brown rice

approximately 5 cups water

1/4 cup chicken broth

5 large dried shitake mushrooms, re-hydrated in warm water, chopped

4 links lop cheung (Chinese Sausage), steamed and then chopped

1/4 cup white onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1) Wash and cook the rice in a rice cooker.

2) Saute the shitake mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender.  Add chicken broth and turn off the heat.

3) Steam the Chinese sausage and then chop into small pieces

4) Spoon rice into a large bowl.  Add the mushroom, onion mixture and stir until chicken broth is evenly distributed.  Add Chinese sausage.

The Second Feast - The Williams Family

Our Thanksgiving Table

Today we had our Thanksgiving feast!  It was delicious! We even ate early - at around 5:00!  I know it's shocking!  Here is a sampling of what we served

Honey and Rosemary Brined Turkey -
the black sections were actually golden  it just didn't come out in the picture

Honey and Rosemary Brined Turkey

courtesy of Whole Foods Recipes

Ingredients

For the Brine 
4 cups water 
3/4 cup kosher salt 
1/2 cup honey 
32 ounces low-sodium chicken broth 
1 tablespoon black peppercorns 
6 to 8 sprigs fresh rosemary 
1 (12- to 14-pound) fresh turkey, neck and giblets removed and reserved (discard liver) 

Method

For the brine, bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add salt, honey, broth, peppercorns and rosemary in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve salt. Cool at room temperature, then refrigerate until needed. 


About 6 to 8 hours before you plan to roast your turkey, place brine mixture in a large clean bucket, stock pot or cooler and stir in 1 gallon of ice water. Place turkey in the bucket, breast side down, cover and refrigerate 6 to 8 hours or overnight. Make sure the turkey is fully submerged, adding more ice water if necessary. 


To roast the turkey, preheat oven to 450°F. Remove turkey from brine and rinse thoroughly, inside and out, with cool water; pat dry. Discard brine solution. Add stuffing (we stuffed the turkey with Mom's Chinese Rice Stuffing - recipe above). Place on a roasting rack set inside a large roasting pan and tuck the wings back.  


Cover breast portion with foil and place turkey on lowest rack in oven and roast 30 minutes, then turn heat down to 350°F and roast 2 to 2 1/2 hours longer, until a thermometer reads 165°F when inserted between the breast and thigh without touching the bone. Remove foil from breast about 45 minutes before the turkey is done. Remove turkey from pan, place on a platter and tent with foil. Let the turkey rest 20 minutes before carving. 

Pumpkin Cheesecake and Ginger Pecan Crust with Maple Caramel Sauce

Courtesy of "Let them Eat Cake" Blog

Ingredients

Crust
1 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup pecans, ground fine in a food processor or coffee grinder
5 tbsp butter, very soft or melted.

Cheesecake
2 - 250 g (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Sauce 
1/2 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom of a 9" springform pan, then wrap the pan with a double layer of aluminum foil. 
2. Mix crust ingredients in a bowl, and press into the bottom of the springform pan. Use a spatula to make it nice and flat and neaten the edges. Bake crust in the oven for 8-10 minutes, then remove from oven and set aside to cool. Turn the oven temperature down to 275°F. 
3. For the filling, beat the cream cheese and brown sugar together until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition; then beat for 2 minutes (use a timer). 
4. Add pumpkin, spices and vanilla and beat for another 2 minutes. 
5. Pour filling into cooled crust. Place foil-wrapped pan on a baking sheet and fill with 1/2 inch of water. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes. Sides of filling should look puffy and centre should still jiggle and look slightly wet. Leave the cheesecake to cool for an hour. (The recipe calls for leaving it in the oven however we couldn't because we had to put the turkey in.) 
6. Remove cheesecake from oven, lift out of water bath and chill cheesecake in the fridge. (The recipe calls for chilling overnight, however we didn't have time and chilled for approximately 6 hours)

To prepare sauce 

1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter and sugar, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to medium and keep stirring for another 2 minutes. 
2. Add maple syrup & salt and stir for another 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened. 
3. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Mixture will bubble up a bit so keep stirring! 
4. Drizzle a little slightly cooled sauce over cheesecake. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, and drizzle more sauce over the top, saving some sauce to serve with the cheesecake. The sauce can be made ahead of time; simply re-heat over low heat or in the microwave and stir until smooth.

E.D.SMITH®’s Traditional Pumpkin Pie

INGREDIENTS:
2 eggs
1/2 can (28 oz/796 mL) E.D.SMITH® PURE PUMPKIN
1 cup (250 mL) packed brown sugar
1 tsp (5 mL) ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground ginger
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) evaporated milk
1 (9-inch/23 cm) unbaked home-made or frozen deep dish pie shell

PREPARATION:
1. Beat eggs lightly in medium bowl. Add E.D.SMITH® PURE PUMPKIN, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt - stir until well combined. Blend in milk. Pour filling in pie shell. Bake at 425ºF (220ºC) 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF (180ºC) and continue baking 30-35 minutes longer or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool.
2. Prep Time: 35 minutes, Cooking Time: 45 to 50 minutes, Yield: 1 pie

Last day of vacation - procrastination?

Yesterday was the last day of my month of Chillin'!  I can't believe it - I managed to waste a whole month and actually find a magical blissful state called rested!  To make the most of yesterday I didn't finish my bucket list of chores or studying.  I baked and cooked instead.

Baking Adventure

When my sister Kim went to school today she recommended very strongly that I make something with cream cheese - TODAY - as it could not wait!  So in search of a cream cheese recipe I went to my favourite place - Foodgawker!

The recipe I used was courtesy of The Baker Chick's blog - the blog of a New York Actress which she slightly adapted from Natalie's Killer Cuisine another great food blog!

WARNING:  I am not responsible for any addictions that may arise out of consuming these brownies!

Coconut Cream Cheese Brownies

Print this Recipe

Coconut Cream Cheese Brownies

Ingredients:

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup Sugar

1 Egg Yolk

3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract

1/2 cup Shredded Coconut

2/3 cup All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 cup butter (she used Coconut Oil) 

4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (recipe calls for dark chocolate but I didn't have any and didn't feel like going to the store)

1 cup Sugar (recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup but as I used semi-sweet chocolate instead of dark chocolate I cut back on the amount of sugar in the recipe)

3 Eggs

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease an 8×8 baking pan

Filling:

1. In a medium sized bowl combine the softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup of sugar, egg yolk, vanilla and coconut. Mix together using an electric mixer until well combined. Set aside and make the brownie batter.

Batter:

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a smal bowl. Set aside.

2. In a metal or glass bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water combine chocolate and oil. Stir until chocolate is melted.  Let mixture cool slightly. Add 1 1/4 cup of sugar, eggs, vanilla and whisk until smooth and lump free.

3. Combine the flour mixture with the chocolate mixture and stir until combined.

4. Pour half of the brownie batter into a prepared baking pan. Add the coconut filling in even spoonfulls and gently spread across the batter, and top with the rest of the brownie batter. *

5. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Let cool at least 30 minutes before cutting.

*Note: The brownie batter is much thinner/lighter than the coconut mixture. Because of this, layering evenly is difficult. Don't worry too much if you can't perfectly spread the coconut mixture over the first layer of brownie. Even if that bottom layer doesn't stay too thick they will be amazing!

Suzie HomeMaker Stays Home and Makes Dinner For Her Hard Working Man

For any of you who know me quite well although it is one of my life goals to be Martha Stewart I am not the type of person who could ever sit at home and wait for my husband to come home for work with an apron on and a smile on my face after sitting at the kitchen table doing absolutely nothing!  If I could build a small empire of housewives and take over the local PTA that may be a different story, however, I digress.

Last night, while Cam was working hard to bring home the bacon (ok not entirely true because technically I was paid for yesterday as well), I did some grocery shopping and then made Quinoa Loaf for dinner.  I found this recipe on the Whole Foods app and had made it a little while back and wanted to try it out again with a couple of tweaks.  

Quinoa Loaf with Mushrooms and Peas

Source: Whole Foods Recipes

Quinoa Loaf with Mushrooms and Peas

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for greasing 
8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced 
Salt and ground black pepper to taste 
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt-added garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained 
3/4 cup rolled oats (I used quick oats - this is what I use in oatmeal too so I figured it would work out alright)
2 cups cooked quinoa ( Learn to Cook: Quinoa) 
1 cup frozen green peas 
2 tsp dried thyme  (the recipe calls for 1 TBSP fresh thyme and/or 1/2 c of fresh parsley.  I substituted dried thyme as I didn't have any fresh thyme and left out the parsley completely)
1 cup (about 1 onion) chopped walla walla onion (the recipe calls for red onion but I still have lots of Walla Wallas from the Farmers Market so I used them instead)

*The recipe also calls for 10 sundried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped but Cam didn't like them last time so I left them out.

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch loaf pan with oil; set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. 

Meanwhile, put beans, oats and 1/2 cup water into a food processor and pulse until almost smooth. In a large bowl, combine mushrooms, bean mixture, quinoa, peas, parsley, tomatoes, onion, salt and pepper. Transfer mixture to prepared loaf pan, gently pressing down and mounding it in the middle*. Bake until firm and golden brown, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Set aside to let rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

*I had more than enough for my loaf pan so I put the remaining amount into a greased muffin pan.  These were delicious!  Cam and I both agree that I should make them in muffin sized amounts instead of in the loaf pan as it is much crispier and delicious!

Saturday Morning Baking

Today's baking adventure - or perhaps we should call it today's procrastination adventure - included baking Whole Grain Morning Glory muffins and Oatmeal, Pecan, and Date Sticky Biscuits.

Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffins

This recipe was courtesy of Whole Foods.

These muffins were a bit crumbly but delicious!  They didn't rise as much as I had expected and next time I make them I would double the recipe for my family as it only made 16  somewhat small muffins.

Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour 
1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 cup packed natural brown sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
2 eggs 
2/3 cup canola oil 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 Macintosh apple, cored, peeled and diced (the recipe called for a Fuji Apple, but I substituted Cam's favourite instead)
1/2 cup seedless raisins 
1/2 cup grated carrots 
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped (recipe called for walnuts but I didn't have any) 
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dried flaked unsweetened coconut, divided 

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; break up any brown sugar lumps with your fingers or a wooden spoon. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil and vanilla, then add to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Add apples, raisins, carrots, walnuts and 1/4 cup of the coconut and stir gently until well combined. 

Spoon batter into 16 paper-lined muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full. Top evenly with remaining 4 teaspoons coconut and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through.

Oatmeal, Pecan, and Date Sticky Biscuits

Courtesy of Epicurious

Oatmeal, Pecan and Date Sticky Biscuits

Topping:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
• 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
• 1/2 cup diced pitted Medjool dates
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Biscuits:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 21/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced, plus 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, divided
• 3/4 cup (or more) buttermilk

preparation

For topping and filling:
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until sugar dissolves and syrup is bubbling at edges, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla.

Spread syrup evenly in prepared pan. Arrange pecans, rounded side down, in concentric circles in syrup. Mix 1/3 cup sugar, dates, and cinnamon in small bowl.

For biscuits:
Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Add diced butter. Rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and toss, using fork, until moist clumps form, adding more buttermilk by tablespoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into rectangle.

Roll dough out on floured parchment paper to 16x8-inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with date mixture; press to adhere. Starting at 1 long side and using parchment as aid, roll up jelly-roll style. Cut dough log crosswise into 8 equal pieces. Place 1 piece, cut side down, in center of pan; arrange remaining 7 pieces around center. Press each to flatten slightly. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Bake biscuits until tester inserted into dough comes out clean and syrup is bubbling thickly, about 35 minutes. Remove biscuits from oven and let stand 1 minute. Place platter over pan. Using oven mitts, hold pan and platter together and invert. Lift off pan; scrape syrup left in pan over biscuits. Cool at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.