The Swans Are Swimming

According to my beloved Wikipedia, an ear worm is the term for a portion of a song or other musical material that becomes stuck in a person's head or repeats against one's will. A synonym that is sometimes used for an ear worm is Last Song Syndrome, as in whatever song you heard last is the one that will be stuck in your head. This is particularly problematic if you live above someone who plays the guitar and blasts music at all hours of the day and night or if you work with people who like to sing/whistle/hum. When I lived above Ozzy, I could usually count on having either Pat Benatar’s Love is a Battlefield or Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ embedded in my mind for days at a time. Even though I’m free of Ozzy, Journey still works its way into my psyche on a disturbingly regular basis. I think it’s that damn piano riff at the beginning that sucks me in and then I’m hooked and find myself belting out lyrics about taking the midnight train going an-y-where!



At my new workplace I seem to have stepped into a world of wannabe karaoke superstars… Actually, sometimes I don’t even think they’re aware they’re doing it. I am though because the songs they’re singing, humming, whistling or tapping out the tune to become lodged in my brain and I then I start singing them too. Or at least I do in my head. I am not a singer and with good reason.

I only worked with one of the guys for two weeks but he’s managed to stick with me for a month after leaving because he used to give a nightly serenade of Drive by The Cars. This was partly for practical reasons, as he’d use the song to ask who was going to give him a ride home at close and partly because it’s a wretched ear worm that demands to be repeated. You see, the lyrics ask “who’s gonna drive you home, tonight?” and he would simply change them to “who’s gonna drive me home, tonight?” I think those were the only lyrics he actually knew, although he would randomly throw in some other ones that may or may not have been made up, if he felt so inclined.



I’ve saved the best ear worm for last though. It’s an obnoxiously catchy song that has been permeating my workplace in the past week. As soon as one person starts it, it circulates at an alarming rate. And curse it though you may, (and you will definitely curse it) you’ll inevitably end up joining in. Just so that you’re not out of the loop, I’ve provided the lyrics for the chorus so you can sing along while you watch the video. Don’t say I didn’t warn you though, this song will be stuck in your head until an equally annoying one pushes it out. Without further ado, I give you Flo Rida with the song Ayer.

Oh hot damn, this is my jam

Keep me partying til the a.m.
Y’all don’t understand
Make me throw my hands in the ayer
In the ayer, ay-ayer, ayer, ay-ayer

Perhaps you’ve noticed that cream puff swans seem suspiciously out of place in a post about ear worms. Here’s the link: I was allowed to play around at work the other day and I made these swans while trying not to hum along to Flo Rida or Christmas tunes, (which also seem to be popular lately). Everything comes full circle.

Mom's Zucchini Relish

Whenever I leave home there are some kitchen staples that I always have to take with me: maple syrup from the sugar bush down the street, Chatsworth Honey and Mom’s zucchini relish. The third item is what we’re going to focus on today. Mom’s zucchini relish is pretty much the only reason I eat hotdogs, (and even then, only if they’re bbq’d, don’t get me started on the disgustingness that is boiled hotdogs). I load up hotdogs with so much relish that they’re unrecognizable. Delicious.

I don’t eat hotdogs for just any relish though, it has to by my Mom’s. I try to make sure that I always have a back up jar in the cupboard because it’s a sad day when I go to retrieve the relish from the fridge and find that the jar has been scraped bare. If I’m at home I need only run downstairs to the fruit cellar where there’s usually a glorious stack of relish jars, begging to be popped open. If I’m away, I try to hold back the tears. A sad day indeed.

Quite frankly just seeing Mom’s relish in the fridge reminds me of home. Who would have thought a jar of relish could be comforting? It’s something I’ve grown up with though and I think most people have strong ties to items from their childhood. Sensory memories such as those associated with taste are particularly strong. Fortunately for me, I get to relive a little bit of my childhood on a regular basis as Mom’s zucchini relish can be made every year so I’ve got a constant supply. If you’d like a taste of my childhood, give this recipe a try. As with most canning recipes, this makes a big batch, but as it’s made with veggies fresh from the garden it’s got to be big to see you through to next year. Mom's recipe is handwritten in an old recipe book which is pretty to look at for its nostalgic value, but not so easy to read so I've copied it for you here.

Mom’s Zucchini Relish

5 zucchini

3 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded

8 green tomatoes, peeled and seeded

6 onions

3 sweet red peppers, seeded

3 apples and/or peaches, peeled and cored

1 small cabbage, cored

¼ cup pickling salt

6 cups cider vinegar

8 cups white sugar

2 T mustard seeds

1 T dry mustard

2 T celery seed

1 T turmeric

¾ cup flour with enough additional vinegar to make a smooth paste

Put first 7 ingredients into a food processor fitted with a shredding blade to grate. You’ll have to do this in stages and have a big bowl to put everything into.

Combine with pickling salt and allow to sit overnight. Drain well.

In a large pot combine the drained veg with the rest of the ingredients except for the flour and extra vinegar. Bring to a boil and then simmer 20-25 minutes.

Add the flour paste and boil for 5 minutes, until thick, stirring constantly.

While hot, pour into sterilized jars and seal.

Makes 8-9 pints.

The Kids Are Alright

My friend Pete is a News Editor for The Homer Index, a newspaper serving the Homer and Litchfield areas of Michigan. (If this sounds familiar, I’ve previously mentioned Pete in this post about roasting chicken). Every week I have the pleasure of opening my inbox to find a copy of Pete’s most recent Word on the Street column. This week Pete wrote about Ryan Michaels, an award-winning journalist who does movie reviews for Heritage Newspapers, Inc. What’s the big deal about an award-winning journalist? This one happens to be 11 years old and he received an honourable mention in the Michigan Press Association’s 2008 Better Newspaper Contest in the category of Local Columnist for a weekly paper with a circulation under 4,000. My friend Pete did not. Of course his initial reaction was to be depressed, and really, who could blame him? Being beat by an 11 year is almost as bad as that time he was beat by a 15 year old girl in a foot race…

But I digress… I could feel Pete’s pain because earlier in the day I had listened to a CBC radio interview with Luke Hayes-Alexander, (you can listen to the podcast in the archives under Eating and Dining Locally). Who? That would be 17 year old Executive Chef Luke Hayes-Alexander who plans the menu and cooks using locally sourced ingredients at his restaurant Luke’s! in Kingston, Ontario. He’s only 17 and he's a phenomenally good chef. What's more is that he's articulate and humble about that whole thing too. He became obsessed with food at age 11 and took off from there. And what am I doing with my life? Certainly not running things like Luke.

After initially hearing the interview I had the same reaction as Pete, depression. But after thinking about it for a while I came to another conclusion; that this might actually be a good sign. Maybe the kids are alright after all. Given all the horror stories told on the news involving the youth of today it’s kinda nice to hear that they’re not all bad. An optimist could even go so far as to hope that these youngsters are starting to become the rule as opposed to the exception. I can’t say that I’m not jealous of their success, but I’m happy they’re having it nonetheless. Pete also eventually admits that although he may have lost out on the award, he’s fallen to a worthy foe. Yes, the kids are alright. You should check out Pete’s website to read more of his articles which are always entertaining, informative and written with a sense of humour that I just can’t get enough of, (case in point: this article about Pete’s ongoing fight with Canada which began a few years ago when he, an American, voted in a Canadian Federal Election).

But back to the food… In honour of the little ones, I’m going against my ‘Go Big or Go Home’ slogan and posting a series of mini pies. They’re all made with Dorie’s Good for Almost Everything Pie Dough and were created to use up leftover dough or ingredients from other projects. None of them have recipes to go with them, other than the star pie which is actually Dorie’s Thanksgiving Twofer Pie, (pumpkin and pecan in one). I made a large version of that for Canadian Thanksgiving, which was this past weekend. The trio of pies are apple with maple caramel inside because I had leftover maple caramel and decided pie was the place for it to go. And the other pie is actually more of a pear crisp set on a pie shell, with sugar dusted pie dough scraps as garnish. I called it Pear Pie for One and was inspired to make it after watching Flight of the Conchords one night and hearing Bret sing about making a Lasagna for One. So there you have it, mini pies to salute the kids. I know I can’t beat them, I can only keep doing what I do and hope that the young ones will continue to flourish and subsequently support me when I get old. Or better yet, maybe I should consider becoming a cougar so I can snag one of those go-getters for myself… Hello Life Sponsor!

A Story for Every Flavour

You know how much I love ice cream, right? So it should be of no surprise that I don't care what the weather is like outside, I'm going to keep on making ice cream. If you're one of those people who only eats ice cream when it's hot outside, I have this to say: It's always hot somewhere so if you're in the Northern hemisphere and preparing for cold weather, I can recommend lovely Australia as the place to go for sunshine and eternal enjoyment of ice cream. So without further ado here are a sampling of a few of the ice creams I've recently made. You can find all of these recipes in David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop. A book every ice cream enthusiast should own.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream: The first time I had chocolate peanut butter ice cream was to impress a boy. It was his favourite flavour but I had never had it before and ordered it just to show him I had good taste. He also introduced me to cherry flavoured candy canes and although I like them both to this day, the boy is long gone. Lobovitz’s Chocolate-Peanut Butter Ice Cream wasn’t quite the same as the first cone I had but it’s awfully good when sandwiched between cookies.

Rich Vanilla Frozen Yogurt: This one is made by first straining regular yogurt, (or using Greek yogurt if you have access to it) until it’s thick and the results are phenomenal. I was hooked on this for a while and made batch after batch. That’s saying a lot for the girl who doesn’t like to make anything twice. It’s the perfect base for any add in of your choice but I liked it best with fresh fruit on top. I even ate it for breakfast with fruit and granola. What? It’s yogurt, it’s practically health food.

Fresh Mint Ice Cream with Fudge Ripple: I am a big fan of chocolate mint combos, especially if they come in the form of Girl Guide cookies. I was a Girl Guide for exactly one year and it may have been just so that I could eat a ridiculous amount of thin mint cookies. I haven’t laid my hands on a box of those in ages but I know if I did they would disappear in seconds. This Fresh Min Ice Cream was good on its own, but better with the Fudge Ripple.

Peach Ice Cream with Blueberry Sauce: I’ve struggled with peach ice cream this year. I’ve made it a few times and a few different ways and I’ve been somewhat disappointed each time. I don’t think the ice cream recipes have been the problem, I think it’s the quality of the peaches. Good peaches have been hard to find this year, they haven’t been sweet enough and consequently my ice creams have suffered. Coating the ice cream with blueberry sauce definitely helped make it better though.

Guinness-Milk Chocolate Ice Cream: I wanted to love this ice cream, I really did. I adored the intro story that David told, (he essentially described it as boy-bait) and I wanted to make it right away. Sadly I didn’t love the results, but once again, this is not the fault of the recipe. I decided that I don’t actually like Guinness and therefore didn’t like the ice cream. I kept eating it though because when you first take a bite all you taste is chocolate but the aftertaste is definitively Guinness. The Guinness makes the ice cream incredibly creamy though and I’m certain that this ice cream would win over many people but sadly I was not one of them.

Olive Oil Ice Cream with Lemon: Most people wrinkled their noses at me when I told them I made olive oil ice cream, and if your nose is currently wrinkled, unwrinkle it! The ice cream doesn’t taste overwhelmingly of olive oil, it’s just unbelievably creamy. I used a fruity olive oil from New Zealand and took David’s suggestion of infusing the olive oil with lemon zest. I’d be interested in trying it with orange and lime zest as well. I sneak citrus zest into a lot of things, I love the flavour it lends and zest is a fun word to say.

Fresh Ginger Ice Cream: I like ginger. I like it pickled with sushi, ground in desserts, grated in stir fries, candied and dipped in chocolate. I like it lots of ways. I like it in ice cream and especially when served over a Dorie Apple-Cranberry Crisp. Perfect for fall. Perfect for anytime.

Aztec “Hot” Chocolate Ice Cream: This one was definitely spicy. I like it that way though. It’s a confusing sort of ice cream as the temperature of the ice cream is obviously cold but after swallowing it your mouth is curiously on fire. I tried to dress up the ice cream by torching a marshmallow on top but stupid me forgot that ice cream + fire = ice cream soup. Only the top layer turned to liquid, it was still solid underneath and I love toasted marshmallows so I guess it was worth it. That reminds me, I want to make a toasted marshmallow ice cream…

I’ve also made David’s Super Lemon Ice Cream but the pictures are still in my camera and I have plans to make his Chocolate Raspberry Ice Cream next. Stories for another day.

Baking and Lists

Dorie has been writing a 3 part series for Bon Appetit teaching us all how to be better bakers. In the first installment, (October’s issue) Dorie gave us a recipe for a savoury quick bread that includes one of my favourite ingredients, bacon. The loaf, (pictured here with a beautiful dahlia from the garden) is great on its own as it also includes cheddar, dried pears, walnuts and sage, but I like it toasted with a little honey on top.

Dorie’s second baking article appears in the November issue of Bon Appetit and as I read it I found myself nodding along in agreement. Dorie mentions unearthling a scrap of paper that says “Exercise more; take a drawing class; learn Spanish; tackle War and Peace.”

Although War and Peace has never quite made it onto on of my many to-do lists, exercise is always there and take a drawing class and learn Spanish have also made appearances. Last year I actually took the drawing class although I can’t say I’ve drawn a single thing since it ended. I also made a half-assed attempt at learning Spanish by downloading conversational Spanish lessons to my iPod and listening to them repeatedly. I eventually got bored of those and didn’t learn Spanish, unless you count being able to greet someone and give directions on how to take the bus to the supermarket.

One of my never ending lists is a “Stuff to Post” list where I have a wealth of my cooking and baking exploits. Today I’m able to remove part of the Dorie section as I share with you Pecan Brown Sugar Shortbread, Bill’s Big Carrot Cake, Alsatian Apple Tart, Cream Scones, (with raspberries) Cornmeal Shortbread Cookies, (with lemon zest) and Fresh Ginger Chocolate Gingerbread, (with lime cream cheese icing) all from Baking From My Home to Yours. Anything listed in brackets was my own additional to the already superb recipes. I enjoy an opportunity to add cream cheese icing to anything and it pairs wonderfully with chocolate gingerbread cake.

Sometimes the things that make my non cooking related lists are pretty unattainable, like ‘acquire a life sponsor’. Other times I write down simple things like ‘do laundry’ just so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off the list. I’m currently accepting suggestions for things to add to my list, I’m feeling the urge to try something new, so send your ideas my way. I’d also be happy to hear some of the things on your lists and if they ever actually get done.

Bacon Cheddar Quick Bread with Dried Pears, (from Dorie Greenspan via the October, 2008 issue of Bon Appetit)

5 bacon slices, chopped

1 cup coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese plus 1/2 cup 1/4-inch cubes extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces total)

1 cup finely chopped moist dried pears (about 3 1/2 ounces)

1/3 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh sage

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 large eggs

1/3 cup whole milk

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Generously butter 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2-inch metal loaf pan. Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Transfer bacon to paper towels to drain.

Combine bacon, all cheese, dried pears, walnuts, and sage in medium bowl. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper in large bowl to blend. Whisk eggs, milk, and olive oil in another medium bowl to blend. Pour egg mixture over flour mixture and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Add bacon-cheese mixture and stir until incorporated (dough will be very sticky). Transfer dough to prepared loaf pan; spread evenly.

Bake bread until golden on top and slender knife inserted into center of bread comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool bread in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack and cool completely. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap in plastic, then foil, and store at room temperature.

Black Forest Cake

“I wanted to buy a candle holder, but the store didn't have one. So I got a cake.” That’s a Mitch Hedberg quote and he makes me laugh. He’s also a good source of inspiration for blog posts because he has a lot of one liners about food. This post is kinda like that Mitch quote. I wanted to write a blog post, but my brain didn’t have one. So I posted a cake. I actually made this cake in July for Mom’s birthday. As always, it had to be a black forest cake but I refused to make it the ordinary way and instead roasted the cherries for the filling in balsamic vinegar for a bit of a change. That was an excellent substitution. It was around that time that I first made balsamic roasted strawberry ice cream and fell in love with it so it was only natural that I gave cherries the same treatment. I’ve been meaning to do the same thing with peaches and I think it might happen yet. Possibly in ice cream form… Definitely in ice cream form.

There’s no specific recipe for this cake, it was cobbled together from a few different sources. The cake is the chocolate cake recipe from the cover of Dorie’s book. The filling is my own. And the frosting is simply a kirsch scented, lightly sweetened whipped cream. I wish I had more occasions to make layer cakes. I also wish that Mitch Hedberg wasn’t dead so he could come up with more great lines like “My friend was walking down the street and he said, "I hear music." As if there is any other way of taking it in. I tried to taste it, but it did not work.”

Dearly Devoted to Darkly Dreaming Dexter

Sunday night is the season 3 premiere of Dexter and what better way to celebrate everyone’s favourite serial killer than with ribs?! For those unfortunate souls out there who are not familiar with the TV show Dexter, it’s based on books by Jeff Lindsay and stars Michael C. Hall as a blood spatter analyst who works for the Miami Metro Police Department by day but is a serial killer by night. An awkwardly charming and wonderful serial killer though, who only kills other serial killers. You may be skeptical upon hearing the premise of the show, but please trust me on this one, it’s amazing. I rarely get hooked on TV shows but I’m hopelessly addicted to Dexter. The writing is smart and funny and the show is perfectly cast.

Of course, like many things, I never would have found it on my own and for the first two seasons I had to rely on the kindness of others to let me watch Dexter at their house with cable or endure the wait time and lackluster quality of downloaded Dexter. This season is going to be different though because I’ve finally got the proper channel to watch Dexter on the big screen and it’s going to be glorious. I need to recruit others to watch with me though because it’s as great as Dexter is, the show is even better with friends who love it as much as I do. Because at least then they’ll understand when I say things like “Surprise motherf***er!”

Coca-Cola BBQ Sauce

½ can coke

¾ cups ketchup

1 small onion, finely chopped

1/8 cup cider vinegar

1/8 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon mustard powder

1 teaspoon salt

A few shakes of hot sauce

In a medium saucepan, combine all the ingredients. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer, stirring occasionally until the sauce has thickened. Strain if desired. Makes enough for 2 racks of ribs, which I rubbed with whatever spices were in my cupboard, smoked and then bbq’d for 5 hours. During the last hour I basted the ribs with the BBQ sauce every 15 minutes.

Firecracker Shrimp

Do you ever get stuck on certain phrases, expressions or words? I know I’m guilty of this in my writing. There are some words that I use far too often and I have to make an active effort to avoid them. I’m not going to tell you what they are either because I know as soon as I do, if you didn’t notice them before, you’ll notice them constantly now. In high school I had a teacher who used to end almost every sentence with “ok.” Sometimes he’d throw in “alright guys, ok.” Or an “ok, alright, ok.” But you could count on him to pepper each of his sentences with “ok”, used almost always as a closing and frequently at the beginning or middle as well. It got to the point where that’s all I heard every time he spoke. On a few occasions we actually kept a running tally of the number of times he said “ok” throughout one class. The numbers were anywhere from 300-500. That teacher was consistent though, he never wavered from his “ok’s”, never thought to change to a different word.

Other people get stuck on a catch phrase and use it to death for a few weeks before they latch onto something else. They will use this expression in relation to everything, regardless of whether or not it makes any sense. An example of that is the ubiquitous “that’s what she said!” And yes, you can actually make that work in a surprising number of situations, but not EVERY situation. I’m currently dealing with someone who overuses a certain phrase that is basically the equivalent of “that’s what she said.” Sometimes I want to just look at them and say “What are you even talking about? You don’t even know!” Said person has also managed to work their expression into song, which they randomly burst into. I think they just like to hear the sound of their voice. The problem with expressions, as opposed to my high school teacher’s obsession with “ok,” is that expressions get picked up by the people around you too. So what will start as one person saying something, will quickly snowball until that’s all you hear. The virus spreads throughout the group, infecting everyone until you either give in and start saying it too or die a lonely, (and insane) death.

I’m sure what you’re all dying to know is where this recipe came from and I’m happy to say it’s time for another round of Jumbo & Jaden! These awesome Firecracker Shrimp are brought to you courtesy of one Steamy Kitchen. I could easily be content making nothing other than recipes stolen from Jaden’s site for the rest of my blogging career but the only problem is that my pictures don’t do the food justice like hers do. She also includes step by step photos which I never manage to do without thoroughly coating my camera in oil and various other edibles, so I don’t do it. I would definitely recommend having a look at Jaden’s tutorial before beginning this recipe which is perfect for any shrimp lover, especially one who likes sweet chili dipping sauce.

Firecracker Shrimp, (From Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen)

25 large tail-on shrimp, deveined and nicked
15 eggroll/springroll wrappers, cut in half diagonally (2 triangles)
oil for frying

Marinade
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp grated ginger (using rasp grater)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sweet chili sauce
1 tsp cornstarch

Cornstarch “paste” (mix well to form paste)
1 Tb cornstarch
1/4 cup water

1. Combine marinade ingredients in bowl, marinate shrimp for 20 minutes.

2. Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. Wrap each shrimp in a eggroll/springroll wrapper half. Seal with cornstarch paste.

3. Fry in hot oil (375) for 3 minutes, until golden brown and shrimp is cooked through. Serve with sweet chili sauce for dipping.

I Miss You Cupcake

I’ve previously extolled the virtues of real vanilla beans in posts about Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Vanilla Cashew Sorbet and Vanilla Bean Hot Chocolate. If you’ve never used real vanilla beans and have instead relied on artificial extract you really don’t know what you’re missing. The flavour is completely different. The only problem is that once you get a taste of what real vanilla beans add to desserts you’ll never want to live without them. Like with these cupcakes, once they’re gone, you’ll miss them.

Amy Sedaris’ Vanilla Cupcakes**

1½ sticks unsalted butter
1¾ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 vanilla bean

½ teaspoon salt
2½ teaspoons baking powder
2½ cups flour
1¼ cups milk

Put a pot on medium heat and pour in the milk. Cut open your vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the pot and add the beans. Bring milk to a boil, remove from heat, cover and let stand for one hour. Remove the vanilla stalks and save them for another use, (like making vanilla sugar).

Preheat over to 375 degrees. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Line standard muffin tin with paper or foil liners.

In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, salt and baking powder. Add flour in 3 batches, alternating with milk. Beat at low speed for 30 seconds or until mixture is smooth and satiny.

Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until tops are pale gold and toothpick or skewer inserted into center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 45 minutes or until at room temperature.

Makes 1 dozen large cupcakes.

**I modified the recipe to be made with a real vanilla bean instead of extract. If you want to use extract, just add 2 tsp vanilla extract to the batter after the eggs and ignore the part about heating the milk. I opted to use a simple vanilla buttercream icing, (the recipe for which I cannot currently locate…) to top the cupcakes, but feel free to use whatever you like.

As luck would have it, this month's Sugar High Friday theme is also cupcakes. Fanny of Foodbeam is on a quest to prove that cupcakes can be as tasty as they look. These cupcakes are certainly proof of that. If you're missing cupcakes too and want to see a whole lot more of them, just hop on over to Fanny's site around the end of the month.

Tiger Cake and Stories in Disguise

A few people have recently asked me, both on the blog and in person, if I won’t miss Ozzy and The Landlord, maybe just a little bit? The answer is a resounding NO! I will not miss either of them showing up at my door reeking of cheap alcohol and crazy old man, respectively. I will, however, miss the stories they provided me with. Friends often asked me what they were up to and even went so far as to hope we’d run into them when they came over for a visit, just so they could witness the insanity for themselves. I’m sure I would have found the situation even funnier if it wasn’t happening to me, like when someone falls and I laugh. But the fact of the matter is that it was happening to me and I’m glad to be rid of it and the heebie jeebies I got every time I saw one of those two. With the move though, comes a whole new set of people and a whole new set of potential crazies.

I always debate how much I can actually share on the blog though because if I spend any amount of time with someone they inevitably find out I have a blog, (usually when I whip out my camera to take a picture of food like a weirdo) and that means that I have to watch what I say here. Not to worry though this won’t stop be from blogging about my experiences, it just means I’ll have to find a creative way of telling you about the new people in my life which won’t incriminate me. Nicknames and fairy tales will definitely be put to good use.

But before I say too much, hey look, cake! Lisa of Pittsburgh Needs Eated made this Tiger Cake
way back in April and I knew I wanted to make it as soon as I saw it. (I especially loved her square tube pan, and am jealous that she found it at a thrift store for cheap). After reading through the recipe though I decided I needed to changed it ever so slightly to make it live up to its name of Tiger Cake. It already has the stripes, but when I think of a tiger I think of orange and black and even though the stripes are decidedly vanilla and chocolate, I decided I wanted orange. So, using a technique I learned from Dorie Greenspan, I rubbed orange zest into the sugar to flavour my Tiger Cake with orange as well as chocolate. And I’m telling you, once you try this technique you’ll want to use it every time a recipe calls for sugar and zest.


Tiger Cake (adapted from Lisa of Pittsburgh Need Eated who adapted it from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet)

1/2 cup natural process cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1 cup flavorful extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp finely ground white pepper
5 cold large eggs
1 cup cold milk

A 10-12 cup tube or bundt pan, or two 6 cup loaf pans.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour the cake pan or line the loaf pans with parchment.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, and water until well blended.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt thoroughly and sift together onto a piece of paper. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl (preferably fitted with the whisk attachment) rub together the sugar and orange zest with yours fingertips, then beat in the oil, vanilla, and pepper until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue to beat until the mixture is thick and pale, 3-5 minutes. Stop the mixer and add 1/3 of the flour mixture*. Beat on low speed until just blended. Stop the mixer and add half the milk. Beat just until it is blended. Repeat with another third of the flour, the remaining milk, and then the remaining flour.

Pour 3 cups of batter into another bowl and stir in the cocoa mixture. Pour 1/3 of the plain batter into the prepared tube pan (or divide it between the loaf pans) and top with 1/3 of the chocolate batter. Repeat with the remaining batters. Don't worry about marbling the batters- that happens during the baking.

Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 1 hour and 10 minutes for either the tube or loaf pans. Cool the cake in the pan(s) on a rack for about 15 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the sides of the pan(s) to release the cake. Invert the pan(s) and invert again, setting the cake right side up on a rack to cool completely.

***I adapted this recipe from Lisa who adapted it from Alice Medrich's Bittersweet. You might want to check out either of those originals for something similar but different. The addition of orange zest was mine.

Elephant Ears

The move is now complete and much to my surprise was not as difficult as it could have been. The forecast was for rain on the day I moved and with an open trailer transporting most of my stuff, this was not a good thing. But the sun came out in full force and it was 31°C and humid while everything was packed into the car and trailer. This wasn’t exactly pleasant weather to be moving heavy boxes around in, (cookbooks weigh a ton) but it was better than the torrent of rain that arrived later that afternoon. The best part of the move though was that I managed to sneak away from my apartment without running into The Landlord or Ozzy. Considering the two of them were making daily unannounced visits to my place in the week leading up to my move, this was surprising indeed. I’m free of them forever! Almost. Ozzy’s last serenade, (a 4am special performance that was played on repeat with him accompanying the music on both guitar and vocals) has somehow stuck in my head. If you’re into Journey, the late 1970’s to early 80’s and power ballads, you should recognize these lyrics, which are somehow oddly appropriate:

Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world

She took the midnight train going anywhere.

Because of the move and packing and unpacking I’m late to the party but I’m hoping Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy will still let me in to her Blogiversary Bash, especially if I bring these cinnamon palmiers. With only three ingredients these are ridiculously easy to make, look fantastic, make your house smell like cinnabons when you bake them and will have people begging for more if you serve them at a party. And if you don’t like calling them palmiers, they’re also called Elephant Ears which I think is the most adorable name ever and in my opinion makes them exponentially better.

Cinnamon Palmiers, (or Elephant Ears!)

Puff pastry, (which you can make yourself if you’re feeling intrepid, but it’s perfectly ok to buy it too)

Sugar

Cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Roll out the puff pastry and spread with cinnamon and sugar, as much or as little as you like. Beginning at one end roll up the puff pastry until you reach the half way point. Then, start rolling up the other end until the two rolls meet in the middle. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to make it easier to cut. Remove from the freezer and slice the roll into half inch pieces and dip one side in more cinnamon sugar and place on baking tray. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden, let cool on tray.

Procrastination: Lemon Pepper Shrimp

I am a known procrastinator. If there’s something to be done it’s highly unlikely I will do it early. I will find anything I can to pass the time to avoid doing what I should be. Today I should be packing. Instead I just made a big bowl of lemon pepper shrimp. In my defense, I’m also trying to clear everything out of my fridge and freezer because I hate the thought of throwing out food. So really, I could argue that making lemon pepper shrimp was productive because I used up the last of the shrimp and a lemon. It was practically a form of packing. The shrimp was packed away into my stomach for safe keeping.

Procrastination Lemon Pepper Shrimp

~Half a pound of shrimp, (or whatever’s left in the bag)

A knob of butter

~A tsp minced garlic

1 lemon

Salt

Pepper

Smoky paprika

Peel and devein shrimp. Pat dry and season with salt, pepper and smoky paprika. Heat a saucepan over med-high heat and add butter. Once it becomes frothy add the garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook about 1 minutes, flip them over and cook another minute. Squeeze in the lemon juice and grind in some more pepper. Cook just until shrimp are pink throughout.

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Lemon + Pepper + Shrimp

I Can Make Crepes

Big things are happening in the Jumbo Empanadas kitchen right now. One of those things is relocating kitchens entirely. I am finally getting out of my awful apartment, which is something I’ve been meaning to do for the past 9 months, (since the day I moved in actually). I’m not just changing apartments though, I’m leaving the city completely. This has been a difficult decision for me to make because I really do like Toronto. I like my friends here and the markets and the restaurants and the variety of things to do for entertainment, heck I even kinda like my jobs, (cause my coworkers eat my baked goods and say nice things about them, flattery will get you everywhere). I like all of those things and I will miss them dearly so why on earth am I moving, and hours away at that? It’s a question I’ve been asking myself daily, but hopefully the end will justify the means and the move will turn out to be a good thing.

As much as I will miss Toronto, there are a few things that I will be happy to be rid of and even happier never to see again. I will not miss Ozzy, (who invited me to come over for a nightcap of wine cooler from a 2L plastic jug) or The Landlord, (who doesn’t know the meaning of the phrase ‘illegal entry to a residence’) or my crappy apartment, (that has no windows in the kitchen, thus leaving it in eternal darkness). I will not miss being woken up at 4am by Ozzy as he sings along to Journey or Pat Benetar being played at full blast. I will not miss The Landlord’s junk collection that clutters the common hallways, walls and backyard of my apartment and includes things like Jesus statues, teddy bears and 3 legged chairs. And I will not miss an apartment that has a front door that opens into the bathroom, frosted windows with bars on them and fuses that blow if more than 2 appliances are running at once.

What does all of this have to do with crepes? Nothing, but I just thought I’d let you know I can make them and they’re especially good with whipped cream, strawberries and nutella.

Easy Crepes (From Bon Appetit, June 1998)

1 1/3 cups whole milk, room temperature
1 cup all purpose flour
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

Mix first 6 ingredients in blender just until smooth. Cover batter and chill at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day.

Spray 7-inch-diameter nonstick skillet with vegetable oil spray and heat over medium heat. Pour 2 tablespoons batter into pan and swirl to coat bottom. Cook until edge of crepe is light brown, about 1 minute. Loosen edges gently with spatula. Carefully turn crepe over. Cook until bottom begins to brown in spots, about 30 seconds. Transfer to plate. Cover with paper towel. Repeat with remaining batter, spraying pan with oil spray as needed and covering each crepe with paper towel. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

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Crepes