Question – if you were stuck on a deserted island and only given one dessert to eat for the rest of your life, what would it be? Mine, hands down, would be ice cream. (more…)
Lemon Blueberry Buttercream Cupcakes
To me, blueberries are the epitome of summer. I know it’s finally summer in Canada when blueberries are being sold by the truckload at the local grocery store and don’t cost an arm and a leg (like they do during the winter season). (more…)
Carrot Cake
I love cream cheese. I don’t understand anyone who doesn’t love it. I know, there are people out there who could care less about it. But when paired with a moist, dense carrot cake, you simply cannot pass it up. This cake is probably the best carrot cake I have ever had. The winning factor – it’s melt in your mouth moist. Unbelievable.
Rhubarb Crumble Pie
There is nothing better than a good crumble. Especially if rhubarb is involved. When you throw in a pie shell – I’m in heaven. Claudia just came back from a 2-week stint in Saskatchewan and brought back some delicious garden rhubarb.
Wookiee Cookies
I love Star Wars. Some people may say it borders on infatuation. Therefore, when I learned that this past weekend was the 35th anniversary of the first Star Wars movie (Episode IV), I thought what better recipe to feature than Wookiee Cookies.
I grew up on Star Wars. Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around me and my brother spending our summer vacations watching our VHS tapes of the 3 movies which my parents taped off of TV. One of my earliest memories is actually of when my parents took me to the theatre see Return of the Jedi – where I was too embarrassed to tell Claudia that I was scared of the lightsaber battle happening between Luke and Darth Vadar (see, I’m quite the Star Wars nerd), that I instead insisted she take me to the bathroom. I didn’t have to go. I was like 4 years old, don’t hold it against me!
Even today, when I see Star Wars playing on television, I have to watch. I have all the movies on DVD, but I still have this need to stop what I’m doing and watch. It was this action that made my boyfriend purchase the Star Wars cookbook for me for my birthday a few years ago. It was then where I discovered these delicious treats. Wookiee Cookies encompass all the comfort and deliciousness of chocolate chip cookies but with a hint of cinnamon. The cinnamon really does make these cookies amazing.
As previously mentioned, this recipe is adapted from The Star Wars Cookbook: Wookiee Cookies and Other Galactic Recipes by Robin Davis.
S’mores Brownies
Today in Canada is what is known as “May Long Weekend”, or technically, Victoria Day. To many people, May Long Weekend is the unofficial kick-off to summer. It’s the first weekend of the year people open their cabins, head to the lake, and go camping. Our family never did any camping on May Long Weekend. My parents would instead save all their holidays (3 weeks) for August and take us to the middle of nowhere Manitoba and camp with zero electricity, flushing toilets or running water. Sure, we had a pop-up tent trailer. That was great until it would rain and the canvas would leak water into my bed. Or that since there was no showers at the campground where we would religiously park ourselves at for 3 weeks, I would have to get used to showering once a week, with the remainder of the time “bathing” in the lake.
Contrary to popular belief (especially from me and my brother), my parents were not hippies. They were just minimalists who enjoyed being out in nature building campfires and fishing with their kids. My brother and I were so used to spending each summer like this since we were born, that we truly didn’t know any different. We were always super excited when August rolled around. My favourite part of camping with my parents (besides fishing and swimming) was making S’mores and toast on the campfire with Claudia. I love S’mores, They are this delicious camping comfort food that everyone can relate to. These S’mores Brownies incorporate everything in traditional S’mores – chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker. They are a great way to relive your camping days while not actually being out in the middle of the woods with no to shower. They are chocolatey, gooey and best served with vanilla ice cream. This recipe was adapted from the wonderful Joy the Baker.
Manitoba Food Blogger Bake Sale
A few months ago, I joined an amazing community here in my home town called the Manitoba Food Bloggers. It started as a group on Facebook and within a few short weeks of joining, I was attending their very first event. And what an event it was. I met so many amazing and smart people with similar interests as me – such as blogging, food, photography and networking. Claudia is actually excited to attend their next event with me!
After a couple events the group decided it was time to put our talents to work and host a bake sale to raise money for Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Day, which is a fantastic foundation that focuses on delivering educational awareness of food culture and healthy living in schools.
I couldn’t be more excited to be participating in the bake sale. Not to mention, purchasing some delicious treats from my fellow talented food bloggers! I am planning on contributing a few dozen of our Monster Cookies, Cadbury Mini Egg Cookies, as well as our Chocolate Zucchini Cake! Here are the details of the event:
Get Your Goodies Bake Sale
Friday, May 18, 2012
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Aqua Books (274 Garry Street in Winnipeg)
If you are in the area, please stop by and support a great cause and our local food blogging community!
Crunchy Nutella Brownies
Oh Nutella, you sweet temptress. The rich hazelnut and chocolate flavour is beyond addicting. I vowed to only buy one jar to dabble in some dessert recipes. Unfortunately, I found myself putting this delicious spread on toast quite often, which went against my baking vow. I had to do something drastic. I needed to get rid of the remaining Nutella before I ingested it all on my own. I scoured the internet and found this unbelievable recipe from La Casa de Sweets. I shared these crunchy, rich brownies with some of my girlfriends and they agreed that this recipe was indeed blog worthy.
Sugar Cookie Bars
Your favourite cookie, but in bar form. That is basically what this recipe is all about. During Christmas, we featured Claudia’s fantastic Sugar Cookie recipe. Chewy, moist sugar cookies are one of my all-time favourite kind of dessert. When I came across this Sugar Cookie Bar recipe, I knew immediately that I needed to try it. I also received a request by a friend to make these, as she also though the recipe and concept sounded amazing. I’m glad I did. This recipe is adapted by the blog The Curvy Carrot. It is super simple and delicious. Make these once and I am confident you will continue to get requests to make them again and again.
Salted Caramel & Nutella Rice Krispie Squares
I waited for as long as I could. I tried my best to avoid walking down the aisle where I knew it would be. Alas, the temptation was too strong. I broke down and finally bought that tub of Nutella. Oh Nutella, you sultry chocolatey temptress. I didn’t grow up on Nutella. I grew up on old fashioned peanut butter and Cheez Whiz. Yes, I said Cheez Whiz. Claudia constantly reminds me that I was quite the picky eater growing up. I refused to eat any kind of sandwich that she made for lunch that wasn’t Cheez Whiz. Let’s just say I am happy my palate has evolved and I can appreciate the better things in life – like Nutella.
Like most Mom’s, Claudia made a lot of Rice Krispie treats for us kids growing up. I figured I would take this classic dessert and put more of an adult twist by topping it with chocolate and my latest obsession – salted caramel. I adapted this recipe from Mini Baker. It’s so simple and positively delicious. If these were available back in the ’80s, the 8-year old me would have put down the Cheez Whiz and picked up the Nutella.