Weekend Observations

Did you have a nice weekend? It always go by so quickly, doesn't it? Sigh.

A little bit of my weekend....

Working on the images from the Butter cookbook shoot. 

I scouted this fun home recently. Keep you posted on where the entire story ends up!

 "Love" print by Jen Ramos of MadeByGirl. Merci, Jen!

What did you get up to this weekend? Fill me in!

Back soon.

Janis

Weekend Mode

It's Victoria Day in Canada, so the weekend is still on. Love holiday Mondays. Happy Birthday Queen Victoria!

My niece is currently sitting beside me, working on her writing project, asking me about Terry Fox and how to spell "institute". I hope I've spelled it correctly ;)

This is a bit of what's gone on this weekend....

 

By the way, I don't believe in ironing pillow cases.  Way too much work.

 

 

Frames found at Stepback. My husband painted the woman enjoying a mai tai. Not sure if it was a mai tai, but I like to think it was.

What did you get up to this weekend? Still enjoying the weekend?

Have a good day! Back soon.

Janis

Baked

How's your week, so far? Hope it's going by smoothly.

I fell completely off the non-wheat wagon with this one. It makes me happy, to be honest. ;) I've packaged them up because I do plan on sharing, and why not package them up?  

Raspberry Oat Bars - makes one 9x13 inch pan

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup pecans
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cold and chopped
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
zest of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups of raspberry jam
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Place the flour, oats, pecans, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add chopped butter and and egg. Mix until combined. Don't over mix. Press about half the mixture into the pan. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until a light golden colour. Allow to cool on wire rack.

In a small bowl, mix together the jam, lemon zest and cinnamon. Fold in the raspberries. Spread over top of  bottom layer/crust. Sprinkle the remainder of the flour and oat mixture over top. Bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown on top. Voila!

Enjoy your day! Back soon.
Janis

Sunday Observations

Having a nice Sunday? What did you get up to today? If you're in Canada, you just may be eating turkey and stuffing ;)

I just got back from a meeting of fellow business owners on Union Street, in Chinatown/Strathcona. If you haven't been to the area in awhile, you have to visit soon. We're so excited to be part of this strip of Union Street (located on the same strip as the Jimi Hendrix shrine! Did you know he had a "shrine" here?) 

Click here, to check out their online shop!

For more, click here.

Website is up and at 'em. More info to come!

My giant family Thanksgiving dinner is tomorrow, but we are heading to a friend's for their Thanksgiving tonight so I made this....

(if you'd like the recipe, just ask me!)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

Back soon.

Janis

Sunday Observations

I hope you've all had nice weekends, where ever you may be!  We had a lovely day, and I wish it was Sunday again tomorrow. Here are a few things I observed today...

This happy tin camper of happiness, happens to be sitting beside our house right now. I read about "Tin Can Studio" in issue 6 of Uppercase magazine (a fabulous Canadian publication). Recently Tin Can hosted a fantastic dinner, serving local organic foods harvested just hours before. Must check it out next time! Such a great idea. For more info click here. 

Pronto is a new restaurant located in my neighbourhood, near city hall. If you find yourself in the area, you should definitely check it out. One of those places that I could live in! Love the wood panelling, mosaic tile, and the soft green paint colours. Food is great, staff is lovely, and they're licensed too. ;) While you're on Cambie Street, be sure to check out Walrus, Shop Cocoon and Benton Brothers Fine Cheese as well!

I picked up a perfect prop from Land, here in Vancouver. Looking forward to using it, along with the tablecloth/blanket, from Birch and Bird, for a shoot with Gallant & Jones tomorrow!

That's what I got up to today. What did you do? I always love to know!

Back soon.

janis

Baked

Did you have a good weekend? Hope so! If you are in the Vancouver area, did you thoroughly enjoy our little blip of summer? I'm sure there is more to come ;)

I baked some healthy muffins over the weekend. I just call them "Morning Muffins", as I don't want to call them Raspberry, Brown Rice, Almond, and Orange muffins. When I first tried these out, I thought they might have a have real rice flavour, which I didn't want, but they don't. The orange flavour comes through the most - they're really delicious, especially warm.

Morning Muffins - makes one dozen

1 cup cake and pastry flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup toasted, finely ground almonds
1 cup short grain brown rice
1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
1 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375f.
Whisk together the ground almonds, flours, baking powder, baking soda, rice, salt and orange zest. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, butter, sugar and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir just to combine. Do not over mix. Fold in raspberries.

Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with paper cups, and fill to 3/4 full with batter. Bake in centre of oven for 15-18 minutes, or until golden on top and a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.
Transfer muffins to a wire rack and serve warm.

Baked

First let me say, that game last night almost polished me off. I love the Canucks, but why do they insist on torturing us? Game 7 is tomorrow, and the Stanley Cup will be given to the winner. Please let that be the Vancouver Canucks.

Back from a few days in Victoria, and now just doing some post production and a little baking. I have to keep up my energy for this. ;) Hope your week is off to a good start! Did you all have a good weekend?

I originally found this recipe via Alton Brown, but then a lovely woman I worked with once, suggested I add some baking soda to the mix. I also added a sprinkle of corn meal. Worked out well, so I thought I'd share it with you guys. These are not, technically, "baked", they're similar in cooking method to crumpets.

English Muffins - makes one dozen

1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
1 cup hot water
1 packet of dry yeast
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
A little cornmeal for sprinkling
(This recipe suggests using an electric griddle, but I don't have one, so I used a large cast iron pan.)

Combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening and hot water, in a bowl and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Let cool. In another bowl combine the yeast, 1/8 teaspoon of sugar and 1/3 cup warm water and let sit until the yeast starts to foam. Add the yeast mixture to the dry milk mixture, then add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot.

If you have an electric griddle, preheat to 300f. I set my cast iron pan on the stove on medium low heat.
Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of baking soda to the dough and mix again, with wooden spoon, thoroughly. Lightly coat the metal rings with vegetable oil and place on griddle/pan. Spoon dough into rings, filling only 1/2 way. Sprinkle a little corn meal on top of each. Sit a cookie sheet, or in my case, a small cake pan, on top of rings and cook for about 5-6 minutes.

Remove lid and flip rings using tongs or a spatula. Cover with lid again, and cook for another 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack, then enjoy any which way you want!

I like mine with a hard boiled egg, basil and cheese. My husband goes for Vegemite. 

Have a great day! Back soon.
janis

Baked

It's Monday, so it must be game 3 of the Canuck's run to the cup! Ok, that's out of my system. Won't mention it again today.

I baked these over the weekend, and I didn't feel half as bad eating almost a dozen since. They're made with white bean puree instead of heaps of butter. Believe it or not, they're not dry and you don't taste bean either!

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Walnut Cookies - makes about 36-40

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup ground quick oats
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup drained white beans (save liquid) - any white bean will do. I used white kidney.
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor, or blender, grind oats until finely ground but not "dusty".

Mix oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Puree the beans with 2 tablespoons of the saved liquid, until smooth. Combine puree, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a separate bowl and beat well. On low speed, mix in the oat and flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts by hand. Drop batter by the tablespoons, on the parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Bake for about 13-15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool on wire racks. Enjoy!

These are really tasty. Hope you give them a go! 

If you haven't already click here, to enter my little give-away. I'll make the draw on Wednesday. 

Back soon!

Janis

Baked

Hi everyone! For those of you enjoying a long weekend, I hope you've had a good one. To everyone else, just a big, old fashioned, happy Monday!

I made some really crispy, and pretty tasty, crackers. They are actually good for you too. Super easy to make but, the rolling out, I must admit, is pretty labourious. It's hard work rolling out to 1/8 inch! Keep in mind, it's good for the arms ;)

Walnut, Fig and Flax Crackers - makes about 48 2"x2" crackers

1/4 cup finely ground flaxseed (either grind your own, or buy flaxseed meal from a grocery shop)
1/4 cup whole flaxseed
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 chopped dried mission figs (any fig would work)
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325F/160c. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, flaxseed, salt and sugar. Add the butter and mix at medium speed with an electric mixer until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs (you could also use a food processor).
Fold in the walnuts, figs, and milk and mix until you have a smooth dough. I use my hands for this part.
Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Spilt dough in two, and roll out to 1/8 inch on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a pastry cutter, or knife, into squares. You can use cookie cutters to create any shape you like, really. Transfer shapes, using a thin spatula, to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Bake crackers until golden brown, about 20-25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

I hope you try these crackers out. Again, they're super easy and, if I can make them anyone can!
Have a good day. Back soon!
janis

Baked

Hello Monday! Still lounging around for the long weekend. Love it.

I made some olive biscuits, as a snack to go with cocktails,  and they're both salty and sweet. I found this recipe via the internet a few years ago (I believe it was created by Jean-Pierre Autrand). Must admit, they are a bit different so I think it may be either a love or hate thing for most people. I happen to love them. If you try them out, let me know what you think!

Sweet & Salty Olive Biscuits - makes about 36 tiny biscuits/cookies

9 tablespoons of unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup icing sugar (I used only 1/2 cup to make them a little more salty than sweet!)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup cured olives pitted and coarsely chopped (I used Kalamata olives, though the original recipe called for olives from Nyons. Didn't have those.)

With an electric mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar until blended, then drizzle in the olive oil and mix until combined. Add the flour and stir through until the dough is smooth. Add the olives and stir in until completely incorporated into the dough.

Place the dough on a piece of waxed or parchment paper, in the centre. Cover with another piece and then roll out the dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick.  The dough is very sticky, so using paper will make it possible to roll out. Refrigerate dough for at least 3o minutes up to over night.

You can use what ever biscuit/cookie cutter you like, but I used a tiny, round, crimped cutter. Cut out shapes and place on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle a little course sea salt on tops. If you have dough left, roll flat again and place in refrigerator until ready to bake.

Bake in a 350F/180c oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

These mini, paper thin, wood boats make a perfect size serving dish for these biscuits.  I picked up mine at Vancouver Special.

Again, if you make these let me know what you thought of them. I'd love to know!

Have a great day. Back soon.
janis