What to say, what to say, on this the last day of a very long yet very short, and slightly tumultuous, year... There will be no 2014 trend predictions or big wrap up posts today. No tomes or photo montages dedicated to the most popular recipes this year (Raw Banana Cream Pie, Gluten Free Almond Pie Crust and French Butter Pastry battled it out with Mushroom & Lentil Burgers, Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde and that good old Spicy Carrot, Tomato and Lentil Soup standby if you really want to … [Read more...]
Gingerbread Syrup
It's always the unexpected things that get a reaction. A random burger, a stunningly odd pie crust, a unique ice cream recipe, and in this case a completely last minute extra Secret Santa Gift. I had made Gingerbread Biscotti for my Foodie Secret Santa recipients and it could have been enough, but then Gingerbread Syrup popped into my head and simply wouldn't budge. I made it, not knowing what to expect, figuring that if it was awful the cookies would have to suffice. I threw … [Read more...]
Christmas Pudding Mince Pie Ice Cream Bombe
Tradition is a funny thing. It can be as old as time itself -- steeped in mystery and history with little known about how it started, or it can be shiny and new -- just starting to form. Eventually the traditions all mingle, some fading away, some becoming stronger, depending on the situation and people involved. Christmas tradition for my family always started with a long Christmas Eve-day drive as we headed over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house. Yes, seriously. Santa … [Read more...]
Gingerbread Biscotti – Coconut Caramel Gingerbread Biscotti to be exact
The coconut caramel wasn't burnt, per say, but it was well past the colour it needed to be to make light tan kaya jam, and it had to be light tan. So into a jar it went and into the refrigerator to be worried about another day. A new batch of caramel was made for the kaya, which in turn was made into bread pudding for photos, and all was well with the world. But that jar of caramel kept staring at me each time I opened the fridge. It knew darn well that it was only moments away from the bin, … [Read more...]
Salted Caramel Truffles – Raw, vegan and impossibly good.
I had no idea when I chose 'Heavenly Holiday Truffles' as the theme of the December Sweet Adventures Blog Hop that I would become obsessed with turning EVERY FLAVOUR EVER into a truffle. Seriously. A google-machine search on 'truffle' renders the expected chocolate versions, but the same search on Pinterest reveals the most stunning variations you could ever imagine and sends the imagination into overdrive. No doubt the purists will shout and stamp their feet, insisting that … [Read more...]
Peanut Butter, Banana & Chocolate Bites – aka Skinny Fat-Elvis Truffles
Roughly a year or so ago I shared a pic of this lovely little treat, but it was only this morning I got around to making it again and taking decent pics. Why now? Well I'm hosting Sweet Adventures Blog Hop once again this month and rather than just tell you the theme I figured I'd kick off with a recipe too! December SABH is about celebration and versatility, all wrapped up in the perfect bite-size dessert -- Heavenly Holiday Truffles! The details: Theme: ‘Heavenly Holiday … [Read more...]
Rhubarb & Apple Spread. Or it is curd… or perhaps jam. No probably not jam, not really curd either…
One bunch of rhubarb well past its prime languished in my crisper. A few unsightly end of season apples picked up from the organic food store sat forlornly on the bench top. Cooking them down was the only option I could see. I haven't had much luck baking with rhubarb in the past. As a compote it works just fine but baked into anything it just never has any taste to me. Once I used it with with coconut and pear and produced a cake loaf that was so awful even toasting couldn't save … [Read more...]
