Stacked Up

Jugalbandi is hosting a photo contest and I thought it would be fun to enter. The theme of the contest is stacks, it could be food, utensils, cookware, anything as long as it is culinary related.

I found these bowls at a food market in Versailes and were drawn to their color. Their haphazard placement on the table and lines probably drew me in also. The contest ends today-so head over to their site to see more stacks.

Caprese Salad

Tomatoes! I just cannot get enough of them in the summertime. They speak to me in Italian, mangiare (eat), freschi (fresh) deliziosi (delicious). Why Italian, I do not know, but for me this is the language of tomatoes. I think tomatoes and I am treated to visions of Capri.

I notice that I am not the only one with these thoughts. La Bottega, has a plump ripe tomato popping out of it's window with rows of tomato sauce stacked up behind. They want you to think about tomatoes and that is exactly what happened when I walked past their store. La Bottega is a fixture in downtown Ottawa, (I will tell you more about them later in the week).

I was downtown with my family walking past the store. I saw those cans of tomatoes and suddenly wanted to have a caprese salad for lunch. My Mediterranean mother, was not sharing my appetite for a caprese salad. Apparently she has had one tomato too many and wanted a hamburger. I was most disappointed. The sun was shining, it was a beautiful summer day. All that was missing was my Vespa and the Amalfi Coast. Big requests, but a caprese salad would quell those thoughts. My husband reminded me that the visit home was for my mum, we would now be finding a hamburger joint. I could not get the images of a caprese salad out of my head. I threatened to return to La Bottega, and sit down at the hamburger joint with my salad.

That salad would have to wait until I was home. The beauty of waiting until I returned home, was picking the basil fresh from my garden for the salad. It was well worth the wait.

Caprese Salad

2 fresh ripe tomatoes
mozzarella balls ( I get mine from Trader Joes)
fresh basil
olive oil for drizzling if you like
pepper

Slice your tomatoes and layer them on a plate. Cut the mozzarella balls and place two little balls on each tomato slice. Garnish with fresh basil. I like to top it off with fresh ground pepper. You may also drizzle some olive oil.

Enjoy!

I Loved I Lost I Made Spaghetti Giveaway and Review

From failure to fusilli, this deliciously hilarious read tells the story of Giulia Melucci’s fizzled romances and the mouth-watering recipes she used to seduce her men, smooth over the lumps, and console herself when the relationships flamed out.

From an affectionate alcoholic, to the classic New York City commitment-phobe, to a hipster aged past his sell date, and not one, but two novelists with Peter Pan complexes, Giulia has cooked for them all. She suffers each disappointment with resolute cheer (after a few tears) and a bowl of pastina (recipe included) and has lived to tell the tale so that other women may go out, hopefully with greater success, and if that’s not possible, at least have something good to eat.

Peppered throughout Giulia’s delightful and often poignant remembrances are fond recollections of her mother’s cooking, the recipes she learned from her, and many she invented on her own inspired by the men in her life. Readers will howl at Giulia’s boyfriend-littered past and swoon over her irresistible culinary creations.
From the Author's Website.

I loved, I lost, I made Spaghetti chronicles, Melucci's successful love affair with food along with her not so successful attempts at finding romance. One cannot help falling in love with Melucci and wanting her to find true love as she describes her various relationships.

Raised in an Italian family, Melucci has a true appreciation for food. She loves to cook and equates good food and cooking with dating. Melucci's men do not all share her appreciation for her. One lover a Rhode Island WASP never ate when they went out. His reason being "I like to keep my edge". Not sure if this is true or he was just cheap.

To add a little spice to the book, Melucci has a collection of recipes, some from her family, others that she has made up or adapted. Her recipes seem to reflect her mood, with titles such as First-Date Butterflies and Pear Cake for Friends with Benefits.

This is a wonderful read, with lots of love and a dash of sarcasm. For a sneak peek into Melucci's apartment head over to an article written by the NY Times.



Hachette Book Publishing has been kind enough to provide me with 5 copies of the book to giveaway to my readers.

To enter: MANDATORY: Leave me a comment on what your favorite Italian food is. Do not forget to leave your email or a way for me to contact you.


For extra entries

2. Post a link to the giveaway on your blog and post it here with the link.
3. Become a follower and leave a comment here (or "remind" me you are already a follower so I know you want to be included in this giveaway.
4. Tweet about I loved, I lost, I Made Spaghetti.

Contest will run through July 15.

Contest is open to shipping addresses only in the US or Canada given the book is being sent directly from the publisher. Sorry no P.O. Boxes.

Quinoa Stuffed Eggplant

Summertime to me means grilling fresh vegetables. Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and eggplant are some of my favorite vegetables to throw on the grill.

Tonight I wanted to try something different with the eggplant. After being on vacation for the past week and eating out constantly I wanted to have something healthy for dinner. As much as I love going away I miss eating at home. Quinoa was my answer to a healthy return home.

This is one of my favorite ways to cook-just pull out a few ingredients and see where they lead me. Initially I was going to stuff the eggplant with quinoa. I sauteed the eggplant that I had from hollowing out the vegetable and sauteed it with 5 Chinese Spice. I am not sure where that spice idea came from, but it seemed liked an interesting choice.

To healthy eating and summertime grilling my end result was a great welcome home.

GRILLED EGGPLANT STUFFED WITH QUINOA

2 eggplants hollowed out, save the flesh
3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
6 tablespoons parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp 5 Chinese Spice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup quinoa cooked according to instructions

Hollow out eggplant and set them aside. Take flesh from eggplant and saute it with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 5 Chinese spoon until soft. Mix eggplant with pine nuts and quinoa. Fill the hollowed out eggplant with the mixture. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Grill eggplant on bar-b-que for 15 minutes.

The Night Gardener Giveaway

Summer time seems to be the season of relaxation. There is nothing more enjoyable than a day at the beach reading a great book and snacking away. To make your summer more enjoyable Hachette Book Publishing has kindly offered me 5 copies of The Night Gardner to giveaway.

George Pelecanos’ biggest novel ever: the haunting story of three cops—one good, one bad, one broken—and the murder that reunites them in a showdown decades in the making.

Gus Ramone is “good police,” a former Internal Affairs investigator now working homicide for the city’s Violent Crime branch. His new case involves the death of a local teenager named Asa, whose body has been found in a local community garden.

The murder unearths intense memories of a case Ramone worked as a patrol cop twenty years earlier, when he and his partner, Dan “Doc” Holiday, assisted a legendary detective named T. C. Cook. The series of murders, all involving local teenage victims, was never solved. In the years since, Holiday has left the force under a cloud of morals charges, and now finds work as a bodyguard and driver. Cook has retired, but he has never stopped agonizing about the “Night Gardener” killings.

The new case draws the three men together on a grim mission to finish the work that has haunted them for years. All the love, regret, and anger that once burned between them comes rushing back, and old ghosts walk once more as the men try to lay to rest the monster who has stalked their dreams. Bigger and even more unstoppable than his previous thrillers, George Pelecanos achieves in The Night Gardener what his brilliant career has been building toward: a novel that is a perfect union of suspense, character, and unstoppable fate. - FROM THE AUTHOR WEBSITE

To enter: Leave me a comment on what your favorite summer time snacking food is with your email address.

For extra entries

2. Post a link to the giveaway on your blog and post it here with the link.
3. Become a follower and leave a comment here (or "remind" me you are already a follower so I know you want to be included in this giveaway.
4. Tweet about The Night Gardener

Contest will run through July 13.

Contest is open to shipping addresses only in the US or Canada given the book is being sent directly from the publisher. Sorry no P.O. Boxes.

April Showers Brings Custom Signatures

April Showers has kindly offered to give fellow bloggers and free signature of blog button for their blog. She is quite talented in her work and this is an unbelievably generous offer from her.

This giveaway is available through this weekend only. So head on over to April Showers if you would like a button or signature for your blog.

Spreading Jam: Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

June gloom is slowly lifting and the sun is starting to show its face again. The mornings are still cool enough to sit outside and enjoy breakfast. This morning I am going to serve you a hot cup of tea and a baguette with fresh strawberry rhubarb jam. Grab a big cup. so you can relax and enjoy the morning.















The strawberries were picked yesterday. As a child this was one of my favorite activites, getting up early on a summer morning and visiting the strawberry fields to pick berries. Oftentimes I thought they should have weighed us instead of our baskets as we would pop so many of the berries into our mouths.


If you are not fond of strawberry rhubarb jam, choose another fruit from the baskets. This is the perfect time of the year for making jam. The markets have a potpourri of fruit, all beckoning to be chosen.















Afterwards hop on your bicycle.Let's see where your legs will take you.




When is the last time you rode the merry-go-round?





Maybe you want to bring along a book, or a friend and find a quiet spot to enjoy the day.



Enjoy the days, these days that we remember do not come along often.

RECIPE FOR STRAWBERRY RHUBARB JAM (adapted from Christine Ferber, Mes Confitures)

2 3/4 pounds rhubarb
2 1/2 pounds strawberries
3 3/4 cups granulated sugar plus 3/4 cups sugar ( I eliminated 1 1/2 cups sugar)
juice of 2 small lemons

Rinse the strawberries under cold water. Let them macerate with 3 cups sugar and juice of 1 lemon overnight in a ceramic bowl covered with a piece of parchment paper.

Next day, pour this preparation into a sieve. Pour the juice into a preserving pan, bring it to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Pour the cooked juice onto the strawberries, cover with a piece of parchment paper and allow to macerate again overnight.

The third day, bring this mixuture to a boil 5 times. Do this sequence again four times at 8 hour intervals. Add the cooked strawberries. ( I pureed the berries) Return to a boil, stirring gently. Skim carefully.

Meanwhile prepare a jam with the rhubarb, 3 cups sugar (she uses 3 3/4 cups) and the juice of 1 lemon. Rinse the rhubarb in cold water cut the stems in two, lenghtwise and then in samall dice. Macerated the rhubarb, sugar, and lemon juice overnight in a ceramic bowl covered with a piece of parchment paper.

Next day, pour this preparation into a sieve. Bring the collected juice to a boil in a preserving pan. Skim and continue cooking on high heat. The syrup will be suffieciently concentrated. Add the diced rhubarb. Return to a boil, mixing gently.

The rhubarb jam should be started at the same time as the strawberry preparation because the rhubarb needs to sit overnight and the two batches of jam need to be finished at the same time.

When the two batches of jam hae been skimmed , mix them in one pan. Boil for 3 minutes. I like my jam thick so I did not add all the juice. I played with it and saved the remainder of the juice to add to a cake or other dessert. You will know the jam is ready, by putting it on a plate and seeing the consistency. Put the jam into jars and seal

Obama's Blackberry Book Giveaway

We all know how the story played out when Obama announced that he would not be giving up his Blackberry.

Called into a meeting with some MIB, aka The Secret Service, they told the new President, "Mr. President we are going to have to confiscate your Blackberry". America's hippest President, let the Secret Service have a few concessions with his device and was able to continue texting and emailing his friends from the Oval office. Wouldn't you love to read Obama's messages?

Thanks to San Francisco based comedy team Kasper Hauser you can be privy to a book of speculative Obama's text messages and e-mails. Obama's Blackberry is a creative work of political satirical texts between Obama, his wife, former presidents and heads of states. The book reads like the screen of a Blackberry, complete with the Presidential Seal and a Michelle icon at the bottom of the screen. Each page is a series of text messages and e-mails commenting on current domestic and foreign events and the whimsy of heads of states. Is anyone interesting in purchasing Iceland or owning a pair of elf shoes? How do you think Obama responded to an Evite invitation to the birthday party for the president of Iran.











Throughout the book, Wild Bill, tries to persude Obama to send Hillary on a foreign trip.

Text Message from Bill Clinton

Wild Bill: did u c the news?

BarackO: ?

WildBill: things heating up in Syria

BarackO: i'm not sending Hillary

WildBill: shez driving me nutz-I have 2 party

BarackO: not my prob


Even if you are not familiar with current events this book will have you laughing out loud. I enjoyed this book so much, that I felt compelled to read the entire book out loud to my husband.

Each page is the screen of a Blackberry, complete with the Presidential Seal and a Michelle icon.

Anna at Hachette Book Group has been generously allowed me to giveaway 5 copies of the books to my readers.

You have 4 ways to enter:

For a mandatory entry leave an e-mail or text message for the President and do not forget to put down your e-mail-if it is not visible on your site.

For extra entries:


2. Tell me the name of a dish you would serve the President if he came to your house including your email.
3. Post a link to the giveaway on your blog and post it here with the link.
4. Become a follower and leave a comment here (or "remind" me you are already a follower so I know you want to be included in this giveaway.

In keeping with the spirit of democracy the contest will end July 4th. Winners: I will send you each an email, you will need to reply with your address so I can forward it to the publisher or send the book directly to you. In the event that a winner does not respond, I will go to the next name in the drawing and notify them.

This giveaway is open to residents within the United States and Canada, but books will NOT be shipped to PO Boxes given the books are coming directly from the Publisher.


Text away and remember that this book is not endorsed, sponsored, or otherwise authorized by RIM LTD., the owner of the Blackberry trademark. Do not laugh, the Iranian media was duped into believing a hoax story that National Security had been breached and Obama's emails had been released.

Something to Savour

My favorite item to find in my mailbox is a present. Rachel at Crispy Cook had a giveaway, and I was the lucky recipient of "Something to Savour: Food for Thought From Women Writers"

Something to Savour is a collection of over 50 recipes from known and (unknown to me) female writers. Maeve Binchy, Alice Munro and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to name a few share recipes from their families and the reasons why they chose to share the recipe they did.

I must confess, I am not familiar with Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a Ugandan British journalist. Love Bites (aka Spicy Prawns) is her contribution to the book. Who can resist a recipe called Love Bites.

Eating my way through this book will be a fun way to discover new authors and recipes. Rachel is a fellow cook and book lover herself. In addition to Crispy Cooks, she has another blog Book Trout and runs a bookstore "Old Saratoga Books" with her husband in upper New York State.

Girls in Trucks Winner

Congratulations to Heather from Vintage Fabulous. She is the winner of Girls in Trucks. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Okra and fried chicken seem to be the two favorite Southern dishes. Heather suggested mac and cheese which is always a winner. I will be posting one of my favorite recipes for fried chicken later this week. If you want a healthy alternative to fried chicken, this recipe is great as it is oven cooked, but tastes just like fried chicken.

Nicole, suggested Bananas Foster as a dessert. I had never heard of this dish before, so curiosity took over. Think flambe bananas with lots of sugar, liqueur and ice cream.

Coconut Ice Cream

When I was in law school, my weekly excitement was to hop in the car with my friends head over to Costco for a fun afternoon of shopping. A little sampling, a little purchasing. We would come home with all sorts of finds. Pretty tragic, I will admit. What do you really expect, no-one ever said law students were that much fun.

My best purchase ever was an ice cream maker. This was the old fashioned type, a wooden bucket, with a steel container. You put the mixture in the steel container and layer the outside with salt and ice. While the sound of it churning can drive you nuts, my ice cream maker never failed me. My Dolly Madison ice cream maker still sits in my garage today. Given I graduated law school in 1990, it is probably my oldest kitchen appliance. I never realized how many addresses my Dolly Madison has had.

Years later when I got married, a Cuisanart ice cream maker was on my registry. The first time I pulled it out to make ice cream, I needed to resort to the old fashioned one. Oops. I had not read the instructions. While I love my modern ice cream maker, it requires advance planning as you need to freeze the container for about 48 hours.

Usually I make strawberry ice-cream. Given my recent introduction to coconut cake I decided to try coconut ice-cream. This ice-cream is scrumptious. SCRUMPTIOUS and DELICIOUS.

For me, ice cream is a summer time treat. Sometimes my husband and I will have a craving for it. Our household rule is no ice-cream in the house. It is too easy to open up the freezer and enjoy a scoop. If we want ice-cream, a little effort needs to be put forth, by going to the store for it. Then you truly know you want it.

Having this coconut ice cream so close is scary. Yikes it is too close. If you like coconut you will surely enjoy this one.

For more ice-cream fun head over to Joalene's Culinary Adventures. She is hosting an ice-cream party and will be posting the creamy creations sometime after June 30th.


COCONUT ICE CREAM (from the Ultimate Ice Cream Book)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shredded sweetened coconut (I used closer to 1 cup shredded coconut)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt ( I did not add any salt)
1 cup half-and-half
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread the coconut on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Place in the hot oven for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the coconut turns a light brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs with a hand held mixer until thickened and pale yellow. Beat in the cornstarch and salt. Set aside.

Combine the half-and-half with the coconut milk in a heavy medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat and slowly beat the hot liquid into the eggs and sugar. Briefly rinse your saucepan and rub dry with paper towel or cloth. Pour the eggs, sugar, etc mixture back into the saucepan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon until the custard thickens slightly. Be careful not to let the mixture boil or the eggs will scramble. Remove from the heat and pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly, about five minutes, then stir in the toasted coconut, heavy cream and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cold (about 5 hours) or overnight.

Stir the chilled custard, then freeze in 1 or 2 batches in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When finished, the ice cream will be soft but ready to eat.

For firmer ice cream, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 3 hours.

Raspberry Scones

For all of us that enjoy something sweet, but do not want to be eating lots of sugar I have stumbled across a new cookbook, "babycakes", from babycakes bakery in New York City. The cookbook promotes it's recipes as Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free. The idea of baking sugar free had a certain appeal to me.

For my first recipe out of the book, I chose the raspberry scones. There was something appealing about waking up in the morning and making fresh scones. The morning I made them was the perfect weekend morning. Three day weekends are always great. Monday morning, I started off with an early morning walk by the ocean and then rushed home to bake the scones. These are the best scones I have ever had. All my neighbours beg for them every time I make them.

An hour after arriving home, I was enjoying warm scones fresh from the oven. Umm. I rushed over to my neighbors house with them. With a little butter, they were quickly devoured.

Given that the bakery promotes itself as vegan and gluten-free the recipe called for some ingredients I had never baked with before, calling for coconut oil and spelt flour. I must confess, I did not use coconut oil or spelt flour (as I was not able to find either). If you need to avoid gluten, spelt flour may not be for you as it actually does contain gluten. The sugar substitute is agave.

I chose to use olive oil and whole wheat flour. The whole wheat flour, gave me huge fluffy scones. Scones typically are crumbly, mine were really really fluffy. Tasty, yet fluffy. I am going to try these again, once I can find spelt flour. (I have started making these now with spelt flour-I must make these scones weekly-they are incedible)

Coconut oil, is rather interesting. It is almost a solid. Watch out what type of coconut oil you use. You can find it at Indian stores and health food shops. I purchased one brand that had a smoky taste to it and found it overpowered the scones.

After baking the scones, I am up for trying the other recipes in the book. The book is divided into muffins, biscuits and scones, teacakes, cookies and brownies, cupcakes and frostings, cakes and crumbles, pies and cobblers and drinks. My next baking may be the sweet paradise cake. Who can resist a cake called sweet paradise.

RASPBERRY SCONES (from babycakes)

2 cups whole spelt flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup agave nectar plus more for brushing
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup hot water
1 cup fresh raspberries

(I also threw in 1/2 cup toasted pecans)

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder (I would be interested to try this using spelt flour-with whole wheat flour 1 tablespoon was too much and I occasionally could taste the baking powder). Add the oil, agave nectar and vanilla and and stir together until a thick, slightly dry batter is formed. Pour the hot water into the batter and mix. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the raspberries just until they are marbled throughout the batter.

For each scone, scoop 1/3 cup batter onto the prepared baking sheet. Space the scoops 1 inch apart to allow them to spread. Lightly brush the tops with the oil. Bake the scones on the center rack for 14 minutes, rotating the sheet 180 degrees after 7 minutes. The finished scones will be golden and slightly firm. Remove from the oven and brush with agave nectar.

Let the scones stand on the sheet for 15 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool. Store the scones in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.