The cake I can't stop baking

Is there anything better than dedicating a day off to preparing delicious cuisine for fantastic friends? We recently had our lovely friends, Erin and Dustin, over for a casual dinner party.


I had a great time planning a menu inspired by the changing season. In addition to some delicious reds and whites, here's what we enjoyed:

Start
Beet & ginger dip with homemade pita chips



Spicy party pecans



Main
Pork tenderloin with fig chutney and wild rice


Finish
Gateau de mamy


It was upon perusing one of my favourite food blogs, Chocolate & Zucchini, that I came across this simple and delicious fruit-on-the-bottom cake recipe. Parisian blog author, Clotilde, says the recipe was passed down from her grandmother. This treat is simply superb. Buttery and moist, gently sweet and incredibly easy to make.

Part of me wants to keep this killer recipe to myself so I can impress you the next time you’re over, but recipes and food are better when shared. And the real credit goes to Clotilde’s grandma anyways. Visit C&Z for the recipe: Gateau de Mamy

The dry ingredients already reside in most pantries and you can interchange the fruit easily, so use what’s looking ripe in the fruit bowl. For our dinner fete I made the recipe with crisp apples. The cake was a hit, so the next day I made another but this time with peaches. Secret’s out, I made two cakes in one weekend. I think I'll try plums next...

Fall fashion hunting

Autumn has officially arrived and as much as I’m in denial, it’s time to retire my sundresses and sandals. A change in season is the perfect time to take an inventory of your closet, sort through what needs to go and what can stay, and decide what you want to add to your wardrobe for the new season.

My closet is a happy mix of classic investment basics and trendy less expensive pieces. If you go through clothes like I do, finding a good local consignment store is a must. I take my goods to Trends Fashions in Kensington. Whatever they don’t sell goes to charity. Whatever they do sell, I get a lovely check that goes back into my clothing fund.

I’m currently on the hunt for a few key Fall pieces:

Jewel tone coat


Skinny cargos


Chunky gold watch

Now that's my kind of hunting. What’s on your hit list for Fall?

Get your craft on

This morning I find myself fending off the rain and writing at our neighbourhood Starbucks. Fall has arrived in a flash and with the change in weather, brings change in the food I want to cook, the clothes I want to wear and the things I want to spend time doing.

I feel a season of crafting coming on and I’m excited. It’s always great to rediscover joys that you might not have entertained for a while. So to kick things off, I dug out my sewing machine, bought some plum coloured buttons and pretty cream fabric with black floral bunches.


A huge bouquet of dried lavender had been smelling up our laundry room and it was time to get creative with it. I got to cutting, pinning and sewing and made luscious lavender sachets. They are perfect gifts for the girls for their non-mentionables drawer, bedside table, bathroom or purse.









Crafts involving loads of lavender leave you mellow and sleepy, your place smelling like a spa, and your husband wondering how before you, he handled “hockey bag” as the house signature scent.

Jammin'

Embracing my inner Martha, I decided to take advantage of the fading summer fruit season and make jam. It turned out to be the perfect rainy day activity with my mother-in-law on a recent visit chez the in-laws. We had a lovely day cutting, stirring, canning and chatting. We tackled three different kinds: strawberry, blueberry and blueberry-peach with cinnamon.


Underestimating how far the fruit would go, we ended up with dozens of jars of fruity goodness. Homemade jam is the perfect hostess or housewarming gift, so make lot’s! It’s been fun to share with friends and enjoy late night snacks of toast and jam with my hubby.

A few things to remember when making jam:

Have plenty of sugar on hand. I could not believe how much we went through!



Wear a cute apron. The more floral the better. This also serves a functional purpose.


Give yourself a full day to enjoy jammin’. I overdid it on the fruit and we had to make a mid-day run to get more mason jars.



Explore recipes. We compared and combined recipes we found in cookbooks and online.

Making the jam is only half the fun. Next comes the decorating and labeling. I hit the fabric store, Michael’s and blogs for inspiration, and found a free label template on Eat, Drink, Chic.





My sister also sent along some photos from her recent Texas-peach jam adventures. Adorable.



As we washed up the last pot of the day and happily listened to our jars pop, my mother-in-law expressed that our day had inspired her to get back into canning and preserving- something she enjoys and hasn’t done in a while. It was the perfect ending to a long, fun and sticky day.

Parking pretty

I'm finally getting used to our new wheels. So my right-hand turns are a little wide and I still can't work the windshield wipers, but the real problemo is parking. The Pilot is big and parking spots seemed to have shrunk. I've seriously found myself crawling in through the passenger side door on more than one occasion.

Now, it's safe to say I haven't successfully parallel parked since my driving exam. Yes, I'd rather walk nine blocks in the dead of winter than struggle back and forth to park in an insanely tight, awkward spot while onlookers gawk at that 'chick in the big SUV who can't park'. I know, I know, I'm completely feeding the female stereotype here but truth is I have about as much interest in practicing parking as I do when Chris starts to explain how the TV remote works with the PVR works with the Blue Ray player works with the Xbox works with the...ugh.

My parking drama with the Pilot sparked my memory about my fifteen minutes of fame several summers ago. I was working for a PR agency and was meeting with a journalist from the Calgary Sun when in casual conversation I shared about some hilarious happenings from the previous night. Next thing I knew the story was in her column, Page Six, the next day...


Pick-up hiccup
Calgary Sun, August 2, 2007
by Kelly Doody

Today's Dating Dealbreaker has been pre-empted by something that happens long before one reaches that precarious first date.
We're talking about the dreaded disaster known as the pick-up line.
Page Six presents what is undoubtedly one of the most smooth, suave and sophisticated pick-up attempts this city has ever seen, involving two lovely, unsuspecting ladies who were innocuously trying to park their car on a packed 17 Ave. S.W. yesterday.
In a rare female moment of parallel-parking-gone-wrong, a valiant Don Juan across the street couldn't help but feel great concern for the two women, who in his eyes, were trapped for dear life in the car that wouldn't co-operate.
And, since it's no secret women are indeed helpless creatures, classy Casanova strode across the street to offer up his services.
Obligingly, and because we're nice like that, the women exited the car and indulged the insistent gentlemen in his offer to land the car safely against the curb.
But not, my friends, without first removing his shirt.
I repeat: REMOVING HIS SHIRT.
Then proceeding to hand over his wallet, keys and clothing to the stunned females, and sliding his shirtless body behind the wheel to work some tire-manoeuvring magic.
Now, far from leaving without making an equally as smooth exit, He-Man then proceeded to offer the girls a bar stool beside him just down the street, and - as all white knights do - the chance to meet his 'really hot friend'.
We can only sum up this horrifying encounter with a quick, friendly note to say: Get yourself and your jockstrap the heck out of my driver's seat. And for the sake of all womankind, we ask that you erase that move from your dazzling repertoire immediately.

Sunday chicken, Monday pasta, Tuesday pizza

I love to cook and I love to eat. But there are definitely times I’d rather just do the eating than the cooking. However, I’ve acquired a manly man who doesn’t consider cheese and crackers and yogurt a meal, so it was time to come up with a way to get organized in the kitchen. I’ve started weekly meal planning and so far it’s been a culinary success.

Planning our evening meals and making thorough shopping lists has been an easy way to save money. We don’t end up with the dreaded drawer full of soggy, unused veggies and we always have leftovers, which keeps us away from eating out on the fly at work.

Cooking with a plan has helped me start to make use of the dozens of cookbooks I have stored all over the house, whip up recipes emailed from friends and family and of course, cook from my favourite food blogs. Having dinner planned leaves more time during the week to eat together, relax and most importantly, watch Master Chef.

Here’s what a few days last week looked like at our house:

Sunday – Turkey Sloppy Joes on Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits


Monday – Grilled Chicken with homemade BBQ sauce, Corn on the Cob & Spicy Baby Potatoes


Tuesday – Apple-glazed Pork Chops on Quinoa


Wednesday – Three-Cheese Grilled Cheese & Spoon Fed’s Wild rice, mushroom and chicken soup


Meal planning is uncomplicated, fun and it’s kept us from killing each other over that uncontrollable après work hunger. I encourage you to search through those recipes you’ve been meaning try forever, see what The Pioneer Women or Julie's been up to lately and to simply make the most of your food and time this week.