The Gouda Life

Oh me, oh my. Where do I begin? 

I suppose the beginning seems like the most logical place to begin. This past weekend I attended the very first Food Bloggers of Canada Conference. It was the first non-work-related conference I’ve attended and while it was a no-brainer for almost every other attendee, I went into it with much hesitation. 

I don’t talk about this often and I can’t recall if we’ve touched on this before, but I suffer from anxiety on an almost daily basis. Social, non-social, sometimes all-encompassing, sometimes little more than a dull ache coursing through my gut. If we’ve met, you might be surprised to hear this since I am typically pretty outgoing, loud & approachable, the first one to yack your ear off and the last to leave a party. But pretending that this is natural to me does not always come easy. It exhausts me from head to toe and leaves my brain feeling like a juiced lemon, void of any substance.

Willingly throwing myself into a room full of people I haven’t met (for a full weekend) sends me into a bit of a tailspin. I was very, very nervous to attend, almost enough to back out last minute. The combination of flying (another anxiety-inducer for me), being away from home and my security blanket (otherwise known as my boyfriend, close friends and family) and meeting new people had my stomach in such knots that I thought I might be sick as I touched down in Toronto on Friday morning. I told myself to be brave, to enter into this experience with an open mind and let what was going to happen, simply… happen. And so I did. 

As someone who is often on the outside of large social gatherings looking in, I live with a lot of regret for missing out on events, parties and conferences that I am too nervous to attend, too overwhelmed by the debilitating anxiety that I feel so often. I was not going to let it happen this time. After a turbulent flight to Toronto, some alone time wandering the culturally rich streets of the city and lunch with a close friend that calmed me slightly, I took a deep breath and walked into the lobby of the Renaissance Hotel on Friday afternoon to meet up with Renee, Jan and Julie so we could carpool to Hockley Valley Resort. I was greeted with warm smiles and hugs and we hopped into Jan’s van and took off for a weekend I won’t ever forget. One foot in front of the other, one deep breath at a time. 

Arriving at Hockley Valley Resort was overwhelming. So many people bustling about, trying to organize themselves before the onslaught of bodies took over the resort. To make matters slightly worse, the resort was handicapped by a power outage due to bad weather, but it just barely slowed them down (kudos to you, Hockley Valley Resort!). Slowly all the unknown faces that gathered around the lobby were named, as we said shy hellos and exchanged business cards and stories of our travels through inclement weather to get to FBC. I met my roommate, Andrea, and we quickly became acquainted. She was my first real friend of the weekend and it was a relief to be able to finally let the knots in my stomach loosen slightly. 

We shared a glass of wine at the bar with a few other friendly bloggers before it was time to attend the cocktail party followed by a 3 course dinner of impeccably prepared dishes, with wines to pair, provided by sponsors Canada Beef, Mushrooms Canada, Rosewood Estates Winery and Henry of Pelham. Our tables were assigned and I had the pleasure of speaking more intimately with Bridget Oland of Crosby’s Molasses, Jenny Jack from Brunette Baker, who is as bubbly as a freshly corked bottle of champagne, Alexa Clark, whom I’ve admired from a far for some time, and Melissa Hartfiel, co-organizer of FBC and someone I’ve been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get to know in person for as long as I’ve been a member of Food Bloggers of Canada. It was a real treat to get to know these ladies on a more intimate level and it left me feeling confident that I could do this. These people were “my” people and if I was brave enough to walk up to them and start a conversation, I would be rewarded by getting to know someone who was interested in what I was interested in, and who wanted to know me as much as I wanted to know them. This was one of my biggest lessons from the weekend. That first 10 seconds might have been uncomfortable (or flat-out unbearable if you’re like me), but after that, once the initial greeting was complete, I’d opened myself up to a new relationship that had the potential to grow into something more than acquaintances, which I was lucky enough to experience (more on that later).

I would love to regal you with tales of all the life-long lessons and tips from the pros that I absorbed over the course of the weekend but quite honestly, I have not yet wrapped my head around it all. It was difficult to try and take in all of that precious information. I did my best to lap it up as quickly as it came out (thank god for my notebook), but I still feel like I need a couple weeks before it all sinks in. I can tell you this, Food Bloggers of Canada brought in a caliber of speakers and panelists that you wouldn’t believe. Keynote speaker, David Leite of Leite’s Culinaria, had a crowd of energized, loquacious attendees silenced and enthralled by his honesty and openness to share with us what brought him to this place in life, what has made him successful and what he has learned in his years as a writer (not a food writer, but a writer who writes about food - that was specified) I felt lightheaded being in his presence, his self-awareness and refusal to apologize for being just who he is and doing only what he truly feels is right for him and his life really spoke to me. I even managed to, despite my stomachs booming call to run away and hide, nab 10 minutes of David’s time to chat with him one-on-one about my future and his thoughts on how to push forward when I feel like I’m stuck in a straight line. It was clear that this weekend would be a game changer from that point on. 

The next two days (or day and a half) were a blur. Seminar after seminar of awe-striking speakers and panelists provided moments of clarity that I thought I might never have, spoke on topics I’d never even thought were important to me but now realize affect my livelihood as a writer and recipe developer, and provided insight on items I had never quite understood fully. Again, to absorb all of this information was overwhelming but in a way that made me feel fired up rather than stressed out. A whole different kind of anxiousness that I hadn’t discovered yet. One that I can deal with. 

Something else happened over the weekend. When I first met Kathy and Kris, bloggers from Halifax and Toronto respectively, I didn’t feel that gut-wrenching anxiety that I’m typically faced with upon making a new connection. I felt at ease. Astonishingly so. I felt like I didn’t need to prove who I was or why I was there, I could just be easy in their presence, like we’d known each other all along and were just getting together for the umpteenth time in our friendship. I don’t feel this way often. I attribute this calmness to the fact that we are like-minded in so many ways (which makes sense given we were attending the same conference and were interested in the same things). I know that had I not been brave enough to attend FBC, I would have missed out on these two connections. I would have let them slip away like so many other things I have let pass me by because of the fear. It’s sad to think how many people I might have missed in my life because of this, but it makes my spirit soar to know that this time I didn’t let it happen. I can call these wonderfully talented, quirky and kind women my friends (in real life!). I don’t know when we will connect again, but I do know that I’ve made friends that I plan to keep in close touch with, to collaborate with, and to find comfort in knowing there are people out there who just “get” me (and I can be an acquired taste so they’re brave to take me on). I have FBC to thank for that and for so many other unforgettable moments from the weekend.

To Mardi, Melissa and Ethan, organizers of the conference, I don’t know what to say to you but thank you. For your undying devotion to all of us writers, photographers, stylists, authors, collaborators, eaters, drinkers and food-lovers in Canada. You forever hold my respect and admiration and I hope you realize you are superheroes in our eyes. You are the first people we can thank for any success we experience after the conference, and the people that brought us all together to relish in good food, impeccable company, and unforgettable learning experiences. 

This weekend stirred my soul and made me feel more alive than I have in some time. I said it throughout the conference and I meant it when I said it; after all the talks, all of the wisdom bestowed upon us and all of the connections and conversations… I am on fire. Thank you, from the very pit of my gut, to every single one of you I met, connected with and shared in this experience with. It was a dream. 

I love breakfast. Love it like I love a glass of wine at the end of a long day (and that says a lot) and can’t bear the thought of getting out of bed without knowing there is something scrumptious waiting for me when I do. The thought of waking to the same bowl of plain old oatmeal or natural peanut butter on whole wheat toast every day makes my heart sink. I’m not getting up for that – I refuse to! I want something that tastes good, something that tames my morning-lion-hunger and nourishes my body as it does. 

I’ve been in the bad habit of grabbing a bagel or croissant sandwich (from Bread and Sons in Ottawa. It’s a show-stopper. Go there immediately!) lately and it needs to end. So I decided to whip up a batch of breakfast muffins. Who says a muffin can’t be delicious as well as nutrient-packed, hunger-staving, and fibre-filled? Not me. I don’t say that, guys. It’s not true and I’m tired of hearing it. Muffins are not the bad guys – it’s the people who are loading them up with butter (tasty, tasty butter) and unrefined sugars who should bare the blame for their bad rap. If you trust me (I think we’ve been hanging out long enough to warrant a small to medium amount of trust between us, no?) then you’ll believe me when I tell you that these muffins are healthy (they have some brown sugar… but it’s brown so it’s ok…right?) and so full of flavour that you won’t even miss that whats-it-called muffin you’ve been spending your hard earned coins on each morning. Filled with wheat bran, flax seeds, toasted pecans and coconut, dried cherries and cinnamon and just enough brown sugar to keep things interesting, they are good enough to get me up in the morning and filling enough to tame that noisy beast that makes home in my gut from 7-8am each day. Don’t settle for saw-dusty bran muffins that taste like cardboard or butter-filled muffins that may as well be breakfast-hamburgers; these are better and will make your mornings bright and sun-shiny and happy (probably).  If you’re interested, I’ve calculated the nutritional information here. 

Coconut Red Quinoa Muffins with Sour Cherries and Pecans
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes 12 muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cooked red quinoa
1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/3 toasted pecans, crushed
1/4 cup flax, freshly ground
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cherries, rough-chopped
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup applesauce 
3/4 cup milk (I like 2% best)

Preheat oven to 350. 

In a dry skillet, toast the shredded coconut, wheat bran and crushed pecans over medium heat until golden and fragrant, 5 minutes. 

In a large bowl, mix the flour, cooked quinoa, toasted coconut/bran/pecans, cherries, ground flax, baking powder, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Stir to combine. 

In a smaller bowl, whisk the egg, applesauce and milk until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined. Divide among a lined-muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy! 

I keep coming here with the intention to write a big long spiel about stuff and things and life… and then I get here and just stare at the page, pick at my cuticles, sigh heavily, and walk away. 

I’m not sure if it’s a result of a busy few weeks or if I’m actually just getting really boring. I’m hoping it’s the former, because my cuticles are pretty ravaged. The thing about writers block is that it doesn’t just go away… at least not in my case. I tend to just write through it despite not having all that much to say. This isn’t always beneficial when you have readers who expect a certain caliber of writing… so I apologize in advance for the lack of intelligent thoughts, but I promise that block or no block, I’ll always share recipes that make up my shortcomings. 

So, like, you know… here are some falafel. They are really good. So good that I ate about 6 of them in one sitting, popping them into my mouth like they were grapes. The creamy, citrus-spiked buttermilk and avocado dressing, which has all the texture of a decadent dressing but is relatively healthy if you’re not afraid of good fat, was perfect with the earthy, herbed falafel. I dunked them into the dressing and enjoyed them as simply as that. But you can absolutely stuff them into a pita or a lettuce wrapped filled with your favourite produce, herbs and sauces. 

So make a batch this weekend. And have an intelligent conversation on my behalf, because I will probably be fumbling over my words for a few more days. 

Almond Mint & Arugula Falafel with Lemony Avocado Buttermilk
recipe adapted from Green Kitchen Stories
makes 1 dozen falafel

1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
2 cups loosely packed arugula leaves
1 cup toasted almonds
2 cups canned chickpeas
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ small red onion, diced
pinch red pepper flakes, optional
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp flour (whole wheat works!)
1 tsp baking powder
Creamy Buttermilk-Avocado Dressing, recipe follows
Lemon wedges, to serve

Place the herbs and almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until herbs and chopped and almonds are almost ground, a little texture is good. 

Add the chickpeas, garlic, red onion, red pepper flakes, olive oil, cumin, flour and baking powder to the bowl and blend until well combined. It’s ok to have some texture and chunks of herbs/chickpeas/onion etc. No need to be TOO picky. 

Preheat oven to 350. 
Roll about 1 1/2 tbsp scoops into an oval shaped ball and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cook for 15 minutes, turning every 5 minutes so they brown evenly on all sides. 

Serve on their own with the dressing, or stuff into pita or lettuce wraps with tomatoes, extra herbs, dressing and extra avocado. Serve with extra lemon wedges on the side. 

Creamy Buttermilk-Avocado Dressing
1/2 avocado
1-2 tbsp lemon juice, depending on taste
1/4-1/3 cup buttermilk
 salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to food processor and blend until smooth. Add a bit of water (or more buttermilk) to thin, if needed. Taste and add more salt or lemon, if needed. 

Spring may be inching closer, but that doesn’t mean the lingering chill in the air can’t be battled with a warm bowl of bright, fragrant soup. 

Today’s meatless Monday dish has spent many cold, winter nights wrapping my bones in a blanket of steaming hot, vibrant red soup made rich with the addition of savory caramelized fennel and roasted garlic. The splash of lemon at the end brightens the deep flavours and balances everything out. It’s a lick-the-bottom-of-the-bowl sort of soup and one that’s especially well-received when there is little in your fridge to make a meal out of, as seems to be my case lately. 

If your evenings are cool and you need something soothing, this soup will fit the bill wonderfully. 

Caramelized Fennel, Roasted Garlic and Tomato Soup with Lemon
serves 2 as main, 4 as sides

1 large bulb fennel (about 1 1/2 cups), diced
olive oil
1 head of garlic, roasted*
1 can (1/2 cup) tomato paste
4 cups chicken or veg stock
1 cup water
2-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice, depending on taste
salt and pepper to taste
fennel fronds, optional

Drizzle a pan over med-high heat with a few glugs of olive oil and let it get hot. Add the fennel and a few pinches of coarse salt and let it cook, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until deep brown and caramelized around the edges, 20-30 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and roasted garlic cloves and cook until the paste has deepened in colour and become very fragrant, 6-7 minutes. Add the stock and water, bring to a boil and stir, scraping the bottom of the pot to release all the flavourful bits of fennel and tomato paste. Turn down to a simmer and let it bubble away for 20 minutes. Puree if desired (I like it smooth, but there is nothing wrong with a chunky soup). Add lemon juice, 1 tbsp at a time and taste to see if you’d like to add more. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fennel fronds and a drizzle of olive oil. 

*Roast Garlic
cut top off garlic, drizzle with olive oil and salt, wrap in foil and roast at 400 until golden brown, 30-40 minutes. Let cool, squeeze cloves out into soup. 

Coffee and I have developed a fetching relationship over the years. 

No longer drowned in cream (“too much moo”, as my friend Melody used to say when this happened) and 2 heaping teaspoons of sugar as was customary for the first 18 years of my life. I wake thinking of that first sip. Will it be from my kitchen? Maybe from the little cafe I frequent on work days? Either way, I look forward to it. Whether in a strong latte or Americano if I’m buying, from the french press if I’m home, it’s a part of my day that I anxiously await. Especially when the coffee itself is really good. 

To speed along a story that inspires me constantly; A friend of mine, Tara, moved to Halifax from Ottawa a handful of years ago and started baking for herself and friends in her newly purchased home. From there, a passion for it grew and she began selling her expert croissants and wares at the Halifax Farmers Market. The public fell in love and she started selling out speedily each weekend. From then, a cafe was opened (much more enduring that it sounds, of course). Two if By Sea Cafe in Dartmouth had residents smitten from the get go with it’s excellent coffee brought in from Vancouver and ever-changing “Croissant of the Day” (which is typically something like: green olives, fresh oregano and provolone wrapped in their perfect flaky dough…. right? I know… I know) along with many more sweet and savory tidbits. But wouldn’t you know it? Tara and her business partner Zane weren’t done yet. In 2012, after entering a business plan for a Coffee Roastery in the BDC Young Entrepreneur Award that would eventually leave the pair with a $100,000 cash prize towards this endeavor, Anchored Coffee was born. 

Using a direct trade model for green bean purchases, Anchored works to build mutually beneficial and respectful relationships with individual farmers in coffee-producing countries. The coffee is purchased seasonally, from small farms, allowing them to provide wholesalers with an excellent bean. The store, decked out with a roaster from Germany, an espresso machine from the Netherlands, and a “lab” where wholesalers and customers can learn more about the beans and roasting, is a place that yearns to educate as much as please even the most finicky coffee connoisseurs. 

Tara shipped me a few bags of the coffee to try out, and I liked it so much (so, so much) that I asked if I might give away a bag of the coffee here so that you can join me in grinding yourself up a fresh pot of the smooth, slow roasted Guzman Estate variety from El Carmen, Huila, Colombia. Along with the coffee, Tara sent an Anchored Coffee t-shirt (S or L) and some buttons for the lucky winner. 

To enter: Leave a comment below telling me when you enjoy a cup of coffee the most; morning, noon or night.

For extra entries (OPTIONAL)
1. “Like” Anchored Coffee on Facebook and let me know you’ve done so in a separate comment. 
2. Follow Anchored Coffee on Twitter and let me know you’ve done so in a separate comment. 

I’ll announce the winner this coming Wednesday, April 3rd and will have your prize package shipped off Thursday. 

Best of luck to all participants! I’m rooting for you! 

{Please note: This is not a sponsored post. Because Tara is a friend and I truly think her product is in a league of it’s own, I asked if she would ship and giveaway a bag for free. I am not affiliated with Anchored in any way}

I’m not usually so bitter towards winter. 

We live in a city that inevitably gets 200cm (78”) or more of snowfall each season but come March, when we tend to get a day or two of teasing above zero weather, anger and frustration starts to set in after that warmth is quickly gusted away by yet another city-entombing snowfall. The boots, the shoveling, the digging and pushing and digging and pushing of a stuck car,  the dirty, snowy dog paws, and the stirring restlessness that happens after months of dusty heater-breezes where crisp, sun-drenched breezes used to hang. 

I want the sun badly. I want to feel my cheeks flush and toasty under it’s rays. I want to spend the weekend on the balcony, catching up on reading, my toes glowing in the late afternoon sun that only manages to hit one corner of the tiny wooden box. I want to muddle Farmer’s Market berries and herbs, drown them in soda water and gin, and invite friends over to gab late into the night, our conversation tangled with the sound of crickets and the swooping sounds of the bats we get in late summer. I want it all, but all there is is more snow. More ice. Heavy coats and sweaty toque-hair. 

I made these Thai-inspired margarita’s last week after feeling particularly run down by winter. They have a bright, spicy & aromatic flavour that muddles the spicy Thai ingredients that I’ve become so familiar with in the long winter months, with the bright, icy cold tartness I miss so dearly from the summer. If you’re missing summer, or heck, even if you’re in the midst of it (which I say with only the slightest bit of disdain), I hope you’ll enjoy one of these. Close your eyes and try to remember that it’s just around the corner; all that sun, the informal outdoor parties, bike rides and patios. 

Ginger-Cilantro Margaritas
serves 4 

I love cilantro in this margarita, but if you’re not one for cilantro (which is an absurd thought for me) you can use Thai basil (preferably) or regular basil. As well, I use a generous amount of ginger both in the syrup and the cocktail itself here. If you want it a touch less kicky, forgo adding the grated ginger into the cocktail. 

Ginger Simple Syrup
1/4 cup fresh ginger, cut into thin rounds
1/4 cup sugar, less if you prefer it tart
1 cup water

In a small sauce pot, add the three ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, pour into heatproof jar and cool. 

6 sprigs cilantro plus extra leaves for garnish
2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated fine
juice from 3 whole limes
4 oz white tequila
2 oz triple sec, optional
1 1/2 oz ginger syrup
2 cups still or sparkling water
ice cubes

In a cocktail shaker, add the cilantro and ginger and muddle a bit to bruise the cilantro leaves. Add the lime juice, tequila, triple sec (if using) 6 ice cubes and water. Taste and adjust any ingredients if needed (more syrup if it’s too tart, more lime if it’s too sweet) Shake and divide into glasses filled with ice and garnished with cilantro leaves. 

I always imagine what chef’s and other food writers eat when no one is looking, when their fridges are almost empty save for a bit of produce and pantry basics. In my mind, they use these few ingredients to whip up extravagant dishes, the way MacGyver might tunnel his way out of a sticky situation with nothing but a paperclip and coffee spoon. 

After interviewing a few chefs for other publications and learning that the meals they have once their aprons come off are less than gourmet, I realize that maybe I’m not alone in my pursuit for simple, but satisfying meals when the rare downtime happens. Eggs typically play a primary role in most of my quick meals, but while I was prepping to make lunch last week and realized the fridge was egg-less, I felt a little panic in the pit of my gut. What does one DO without eggs?! A thought I’m rarely faced with. I peered into the crisper and saw the bundle of broccoli rabe I’d purchased a few days ago and figured that, some greenhouse cherry tomatoes and a few leftover anchovies would have to suffice. What I didn’t realize was that this meal would become one of my favourites to date. The salty, rich anchovy butter, spicy-sweet tomato jam and bitter rabe make for a a mouth explosion I really wasn’t expecting. I’ve made it twice since and it’s still not let me down. This is one for the books and I hope you agree! 

Anchovy Butter Toast with Spicy Tomato Jam & Broccoli Rabe
serves 4 as an appetizer or snack

I used a white country loaf because I had it on hand, but Rye bread would be a nice substitution, too! 

4 thick slices of crusty country bread 
2 tbsp Anchovy Butter, recipe follows
4 tbsp Spicy Tomato Jam, recipe follows
1/2lb garlicky broccoli rabe, recipe follows
Fresh ground pepper
Parmesan cheese, shaved into big pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. 

Spread 1/2 tbsp anchovy butter on each slice of bread. Top with tomato jam. Place on a baking sheet and bake until bread is crisp and golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and top with rabe. 

Top with fresh ground pepper and Parmesan shreds. 

Anchovy Butter
3 anchovy filets (packed in oil), strained
1/2 cup butter, room temperature

In a food processor, add the anchovies and give it a couple whirls so they break down. Add the butter and blend until anchovy is well incorporated into the butter. Keep at room temperature until you’re done with this recipe, and then put it in the fridge for anytime you want a salty, savory bite. 

Spicy Tomato Jam
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups grape/cherry tomatoes
generous pinch red pepper flakes
salt, to taste
drizzle of honey

Add the olive oil and tomatoes to a heavy pot over med-high heat. Cook until tomatoes start releasing their juice and slumping down into a sauce-like consistency. Add the red pepper flakes, salt and a squeeze of honey and let cook until the sauces reduce and it’s slightly thickened., 10 minutes. Spoon into a sealable jar and set aside for toast. The rest will keep in the fridge for a week or two (and makes a great accompaniment for eggs - surprise, surprise!).

Garlicky Broccoli Rabe
1/2lb broccoli rabe (rapini, broccolini)
olive oil
1 clove garlic
salt, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Trim the thick ends of the rabe off and cut into small tree-like piece. Plunge them into the boiling water for 30 seconds, remove and drain. 

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds. Add the drained rabe and toss until fragrant and bright. 

I had the pleasure of working with Cookin’ Greens on a project recently. They are scheduled to air on Dragon’s Den, a show about aspiring entrepreneurs who pitch their ideas and businesses to five multi-millionaires, with the expertise and money to turn great ideas into incredible fortunes, and a few bloggers were asked to create some recipes that would showcase their healthy, always-ready greens to the audience prior to the air-date (March 24th at 8pm EST on CBC!). Since I already had a bag in my freezer, I couldn’t think of a reason why I wouldn’t want to take part.

So we’re on the same page, Cookin’ Greens are pre-washed, pre-chopped varieties of greens that you can pull out of the freezer and toss into any dish, or serve as a side dish quick and easily. No chopping, no mess, just easily accessible greens that go from from farm to freezer in 6 hours, locking in all those healthy, delicious vitamins and minerals. All you have to do is pour them from frozen into a pan and cook them up. I tend to add them to omelets, pasta dishes, smoothies (especially great since the greens are frozen and add some bulk to the smoothie), and sauteed in a little garlicky oil for dinner. 

Part of the task was being paired up with a Dragon that we would all base our recipes on. I was thrilled to be paired up with Arlene Dickinson, entrepreneur, communications mogul and sole owner of Venture Communications. Among many other ventures, Arlene is also the national spokesperson for Breakfast Clubs of Canada, which helps raise awareness of the importance of children having a nutritious start to the day. I wanted to focus on that when I created a breakfast recipe using the Designer Mix variety of Cookin Greens, which has spinach, collard greens, rapini, yellow beans and onion (and no added salt, sugar or fat) - a great mix of flavours that’s as good on it’s own as it is folded into eggs. You can download my recipe for Cookin’ Greens Breakfast Pizza on their Facebook page today. It’s simple, nutritious, and if I may say so, it’s pretty darn tasty, too! 

Cooking Greens wants to make sure everyone gets to try their products, and wanted to give away 1 cooler bag and a coupon for a free bag of Cookin’ Greens. All you have to do is comment below letting me know what recipe you’d make for Arlene Dickinson using Cookin Greens. If you “like” their Facebook page, let me know in a separate comment for an extra entry. 

Good luck to all who enter and don’t forget to tune in to see Cookin’ Greens battle the Dragons on March 24th at 8pm.

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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. Cookin Greens sponsored it and compensated me via a cash payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Regardless, I only recommend restaurants or products I use/enjoy personally and believe will be good for my readers. 

Disappointment is something I’ve never taken on with grace. It shrinks my insides and turns them black and jagged as shards of broken glass.  

I’m learning, as time passes, that taking on life’s disappointments, of which there will be many, I’m sure,  with grace and calm is not always easy, but makes finding the light on the other end a lot less foggy and grim.

This week brought a disappointment that hit me hard. A double blow to the heart and ego that left me raw and with a choice. To fold into myself and let the sadness take over, tightening around my insides like thorned vines, or  to dig deep and find the calm I know is in there, buried under tangled knots of anger. I’m trying to choose the calm, granting myself the allowance to feel the hurt but not so much that it nips at my ankles, holding me back from the happiness that tomorrow might bring. It’s not the easiest option, yelling and stomping and burying my face in a pillow would satisfy the darkness, but it’s not how I want to feel, not how I want the following days to play out. 

There are things that help release the calm. Chocolate cake, for one. Dense and strewn with dark cocoa and Maple Porter, rich and soul-satisfying, cascaded with tangy buttermilk and cocoa icing. It fills the evenings, when darkness tends to find a crack from which to seep in from, with something to look forward to, something to indulge and slip away into. Whether you’re getting over a disappointment, a heart break or just a hard-won day, this cake is for you. I can vouch for it’s calming abilities, and am certain you’ll agree. Eat it, and feel the calm that only chocolate can bring wash over you like buttermilk icing.  

Maple Porter & Chocolate Bundt Cake
adapted from 101 Cookbooks

A friend of mine, Justin, works for Nickle Brook Brewery in Burlington Ontario. When he mentioned they would soon be selling their Maple Porter at liquor stores, I knew instantly that I would make this cake with it (and then drink the remainder of the bottle… at 11am… that what’s darkness does). Nickle Brook uses pure, dark Canadian maple syrup in their robust porter, that’s added before fermentation so it becomes fully integrated in the beer. You can taste the essence of maple, but it’s not sweet or overpowering the way some flavoured porters tend to be. Whether you’re drinking it or cooking with it, it’s worth grabbing a bottle (especially now that it’s sold at the LCBO). 

2 cups Nickel Brook Maple Porter
8 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
1 cup  natural cocoa powder (dark if you can find it), plus more for pan
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2  cups muscovado or dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp fine sea salt
3 large eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups plain whole yogurt

Preheat oven to 350. 

Butter a large bundt pan and sprinkle about 2 tbsp of cocoa powder into the pan. shake it around until the cocoa coats the pan. Add more if necessary. This is the same as flouring the pan but it won’t turn your beautiful chocolate cake white around the edges. 

Bring the 2 cups of porter to a boil in a pot, lower to a simmer and cook until reduced to 1 cup. Remove from heat, add the butter and cocoa powder and set aside to cool. 

In a large bowl, mix the flours, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir until evenly combined. Set aside. 

In another bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk and yogurt until uniform in texture. Gradually add the cooled stout mixture, mixing constantly as you do. Pour in the dry ingredients and fold just until ingredients are combined and no streaks of flour remain. Scrape into the prepared bundt pan. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. 

Let the cake cool completely and pour the icing in a ring around the center of the cake. It will melt off beautifully and set gently while still being a little sticky so you can lick it from your fingers as you slice big hunks of the cake onto your plate.

Chocolate Buttermilk Icing:
3/4 -1 cup powdered sugar, depending on taste
1/3 cup natural cocoa powder
2 tablespoons buttermilk

While cake is baking, whisk ingredients together until smooth, at least 1 minute of good whisking. Add more sugar or cocoa if you’d like it thicker, add more buttermilk if you like it thinner. If it’s too sweet, add more cocoa. Not sweet enough? More icing sugar. 

Today is a quickie that I couldn’t resist sharing as immediately and urgently as possible. As I sat and sipped it a few evenings ago, spoon screeching against the side of the cup as I struggled to get every last bite into my waiting gob,  I realized that this is exactly the type of dessert I could get down with on the regular. Simple, sweet with a bitter counterpart and something sour to break through the richness, and combines your after dinner coffee AND dessert into one. I’m all about efficiency, you know. 

This recipe evolved from thinking “Vanilla….bourbon… mandarin… that works, right?!” and holy [expletive], does it EVER work! Especially when the sweetness and tang of the bourbon soaked mandarins is sodden with rich, bitter espresso. It’s got balance for days and the oaky, caramel-flavours of bourbon soaked into the mandarins is something I’m anxious to play with some more.  

Affogato, which translates to “drowned” in Italian, is traditionally made by placing a scoop of vanilla gelato in a cup, and drowning it in a shot of hot espresso. Often you’ll find a shot of amaretto in there, too. This version is slightly more complex, but simple as anything. It’s important you use good ingredients; the best vanilla bean ice cream (I used Pascale’s All Natural), an espresso and bourbon you would drink on their own, and ripe, firm mandarins (with as much of the pith removed as possible - in my opinion, that stuff ruins the smooth texture despite all the health benefits). 

Bourbon-Soaked Mandarin & Vanilla Affogato
serves 2

1 mandarin, peeled and portioned
1 oz bourbon
4 scoops French Vanilla ice cream
2 shots espresso

In a shallow bowl, mix the portioned mandarin slices and bourbon and let sit, tossing every few minutes, for 30 minutes. 

Place 2 scoops of ice cream in two cups or serving dishes. Scatter the soaked mandarin slices around the ice cream and pour a hot shot of espresso into each cup. Now sit back, grab your favourite spoon and DIG IN. 

It’s that simple! Enjoy!