Month: August 2012

Desserts

Imperial Cookies (AKA: Empire Cookies)

The first time I had an Imperial Cookie (or Empire Cookie as they are also called) was when I worked for Starbucks while I was in university. We had an amazing local bakery supply all our pastries and it didn’t take much for me to fall in love with their Imperial Cookies. It has been a number of years since I worked for Starbucks, so I figured I would try to replicate one of my favourite cookies for the blog. This recipe is a hybrid between Canadian Living’s Classic Empire Cookie recipe and the amazing Anna Olson’s Empire Cookie recipe. I could not have been happier with the results. The cookies were soft, delicate and delicious. I also had the opportunity to use some of our newly made Raspberry Jam, which made these cookies even more delectable. Feel free to use homemade or your favourite store bought jam.

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Dinner, Events

Happy Anniversary Half Pints!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending an event which celebrated the 6th anniversary of a fantastic local business. Half Pints Brewing Co. is a Winnipeg-based, independently-owned craft brewery. Its motto: Quality, not quantity.

In true style, the anniversary party was held at yet another terrific local business, Elements Restaurant. Each course in the 5-course meal was paired with a delicious Half Pints brew. We even had the opportunity to taste the rare Humulus Ludicrous, which is an intensely hoppy ale, and the brand new Noche De Los Alebrijes, a malty, chocolaty Oaxacan dark lager, which I surprisingly adored (I’m more of a wheat beer fan). Below are some of the food and beer pairings from the event:

Course #3 – Duck breast with Half Pints glaze, green beans, carrots, wild rice and a poached egg. It was paired with the delicious Humulus Ludicrous.

Course #4 – Lamb chop with grilled veggies, tomato and white beans. It was paired perfectly with the Noche De Los Alebrijes.

Course #5 – Almond Joy. It was made with a salted almond crust with decadent dark chocolate, topped with toasted coconut. It was paired with the robust Stir Stick Stout.

A huge congratulations to Half Pints on a successful event, and even more important, a successful 6 years!

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Desserts

Rolo Brownie Trifles

I love TV night. I celebrate my favourite guilty pleasure shows with 3 lovely ladies practically every week. It’s a fun time where we laugh, catch up on the week’s drama and, of course, eat. This week I volunteered to do the dessert because baking is clearly what I am most comfortable with. I scoured the Internet to find something a little more special than the average brownie recipe. That’s when I came across Bakingdom’s adorable website with this gem. My pictures do not do this dessert justice. This individual trifle recipe is decadent and rich – a perfect guilty pleasure treat. You simply can’t go wrong with Rolo candies, brownie, gooey salted caramel, and chocolate whipped cream! Everything in this recipe is made from scratch. You could easily make this with a box brownie recipe, store bought whipped cream and caramel sauce. It would probably taste pretty good, but not as good as this.

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Side Dish

Raspberry Jam

I had the opportunity to spend some time at our family house in Saskatchewan this past long weekend. Since Claudia is newly retired, she has been out there for almost a month and has left me fending for myself when it comes to blog recipes. When she greeted me at the door with a pail of freshly picked raspberries I knew we could easily make up for lost blog time.

Although I prefer Claudia’s Strawberry Freezer Jam, I still have a craving every now and then for raspberry jam. Again, this recipe is from the Certo box! Besides being raspberry, the main difference is that this jam is cooked. But don’t let that intimidate you. It’s actually very easy. Plus, the great thing about cooked jam is that it can be stored up to a year on the shelf unopened.

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