Hello, long weekend.

If you're in Canada, enjoy your long one. Happy Birthday to Canada on Sunday!

Baked

Ah, we're inching closer to the Canada Day long weekend. Can't wait. How's your week going? Hope it's been smooth sailing.

I baked a batch of Blueberry Almond Quinoa cookies...and they're not too bad for you. I've had two this morning already.  Good start ;)

Blueberry Almond Quinoa Cookies - makes about 20

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup dried blueberries
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together, flour, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and apple sauce for a couple of minutes. Beat in the egg whites and almond extract for another couple of minutes. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon, to combine. Fold in the quinoa, oats, blueberries and almonds.

Spoon large spoonfuls of dough onto prepared baking sheet, spacing about an inch apart. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until golden in colour. Place on a wire rack to cool...or eat immediately. Enjoy!

By the way, I'm over at Poppytalk today as well. It's a "Made in Vancouver" story about a couple of my favourite furniture designers from Bombast.

Have a good day! Back soon.
Janis

Weekend Observations

I can't tell you how happy I am that the sun is shining today. Ahh, I love it. Hope you all had a good weekend.

This post is a little about "baby steps", it seems. Baby steps with the weather inching towards being summery, getting organized, working on my sewing "skills" (ha!), and eating frozen yogurt pops instead of ice cream.....

My husband helped with finding a rod and hooks that would work with this cabinet. Merci, Rob. 

That was a bit of my weekend. What did you get up to? 

Back soon!

janis

Pretending It's Summer

Happy Friday! Did you have a good week? Plans for the weekend?

Thought I'd play a game and pretend that it's warm and sunshiny.  The rain has been pretty relentless (I still love you Vancouver).  Here are summers past in Melbourne, Hawaii, Naramata BC and, yes, even Vancouver....

Baked

How was your weekend? Were you celebrating Father's Day?

I baked some apple cheddar buns over the weekend. I love full on white bread anything....I've missed that, since I've been trying out gluten-free baking.  A few ingredients put together to make something so simple and delicious - the humble bun.

Apple Cheddar Buns - makes about 9

1 cup warm milk (about 105f)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 packet (8g) active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium gala or granny smith apple, chopped
1/2 cup aged cheddar, grated

Preheat oven to 320f/160c. In a small bowl, mix together the milk, yeast and sugar. Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, or until it becomes foamy on top. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, oil and yeast mixture until a dough forms.

 Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead in chopped apples and cheese. Add more flour if dough is too sticky. Knead for about 5 minutes, until dough becomes smooth and elastic.

 

 

Roll dough out to about 1 inch thick and cut out shapes with a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Place in a greased 7"x7" baking tin. Cover with a towel and set aside in a warm spot, for about one hour, or until doubled in size. Brush tops with a little milk, and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. These are great for "bunwiches", or with just a little butter.

That's it for today! Back soon.
janis

Hello Weekend

This week turned out a little hairier than anticipated. How was your week? Hope it was smooth sailing. I'll be back in action next week!

janis

Back Soon!