Lovely Lavender Lemonade

I LOVE lavender. This one time I frolicked in a British lavender field and had the time of my life.

Since then, I've been on the hunt for lavender fields in Canada and thankfully Krystal of Dine and Fash has created this handy dandy guide to lavender fields of Ontario. The lavender season is currently in bloom and I hope to be able to make it out to one of these fields this summer. (Oh so many things on that summer bucket list!)

With lavender on the brain I decided to attempt some lavender lemonade. I first had some at Mayfield Lavender and have had a yenning for it ever since.

Dude, that was three years ago! That's a heck of a long time for a yen.

Making lemonade is dead easy and honestly you can't get more summer in a cup than with freshly squeezed lemons and sprigs of lavender. Go on, give it a go.

Needed:

Fresh lemon juice from about 10-12 lemons (2 cups)
Fresh lime juice from about 3-4 limes (1/2 cup)
15 1/2 cups water
2 cups sugar
7-10 sprigs of lavender (stems and all)
(garnish optional) lemon slices, additional lavender sprigs

Directions:

• In a large pot bring to a boil water and sugar
• Once boiled and sugar well dissolved, add lemon and lime juices and lavender
• Set to cool to room temperature
• Strain, transfer to a large jug and move to the fridge
• Serve over ice and garnish with lemon slices and lavender sprig

If you don't have a big enough container for it, you can fill up a couple ice cube trays and freeze. Add to water for a bit of flavour or add back to the lemonade to keep your drink cool and not watered down.

Recipe adapted from exPress-o

What do you like to drink in the summer?

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social

Christmas Eggnog

Each Christmas my mum and I have a tradition. We pull out all the decorations and prepare for an evening of filling the house with Christmas cheer. Then on a night when we can devote full attention to the task with put on some of our most favourite Christmas songs and whip up a batch of eggnog before going at the tree with lights and tinsel.

My mum doesn't like the store bought variety because she finds it too rich and that's exactly why I love it and can drink the whole carton myself in an evening. Making it ourselves means we can control the amounts and how rich it will be. We've found a good compromise. Plus we add copious a dash of rum to make this drink more adult and everyone is happy.

Could serve 4 (but we usually go back for seconds, so I wouldn't really know)
Ingredients:
4-6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 Tbs sugar
1 cap full vanilla extract
dash of nutmeg
rum (optional, but really)

Instructions:
Throw all the ingredients into a blender, save the nutmeg, and blend til frothy.
Taste and adjust as needed. More egg will make it richer, more milk will make it less rich and add volume, more sugar will make it sweeter etc.
Serve in a fun glass (we often use a crystal tumbler cause we fancy like that) and top with a dash of nutmeg.

YUM!

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social

Salted Caramel Apple Cake

Last weekend, my mum and I visited Andrew's Scenic Acers, which was beautiful and very autumnal with it being pumpkin season (watch for a post to come). After taking some pictures of the photogenic pumpkin patches, we headed over to the apple trees and did some Pick-Your-Own apple picking.

I'm not a huge fan of apple pie, but love apples. And cake. Solution! Apple cake. And what's even better than apple cake? Salted Caramel Apple Cake, that's what.

I adapted this recipe from The Reluctant Entertainer

15 minute prep/1 hour cook/yields 12 pieces Ingredients: 

6 Tbsp butter (divided) 
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar (divided) 
1 tsp sea salt 
4-5 apples, cored and peeled 
1 1/2 flour (I used whole wheat) 
1 tsp each of nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice (or use 1 Tbsp apple pie spice) 
2 tsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp salt 
1/2 cup butter, softened (divided) 
2 eggs 
1 tsp vanilla 
1/2 cup whipping cream 

Instructions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter bottom of a 9-10 inch round cake pan with butter, then sprinkle 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and sea salt onto the bottom of the pan. 

2. Heat 2 Tbsp butter in a pan on medium high heat. Sautee the peeled, cut apples until soft. Stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't burn. 

3. Mix together flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, baking powder, and salt. Add the butter from the apple pan, remaining brown sugar, eggs, whipping cream, and vanilla. Mix together until smooth. 

4. Place cooked apple in cake pan over sugar. Spread batter (it will be thick) over apples. Bake for 40-45 minutes. 

5. Run a knife around the edge of the pan to unstick the cake. Place a plate on top of the pan and flip over to transfer the cake to the plate with the apples on top. Serve at room temperature with some whipped cream on top (optional). 

Share with me in the comments below if you try making this delicious cake yourself or have your own favourite apple recipe!

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social

Seriously Easy Cinnamon Buns

I woke up one morning with a serious craving for cinnamon buns. What's a girl to do? After a brief search of Pinterest and several recipes that claimed to be simple but required much time (I mean, who can tell the night before that they will have an intense desire for the heavenly, gooey doughs of perfection?) and too many ingredients (ugh, who has yeast on hand at all times?).

What I liked most about this recipe was that it is small batch (only making four buns, the second time I made it, I doubled it to serve four people), the second best part of it is no yeast needed. No time waiting for it to raise. Third best  thing is I usually have all the ingredients in my cupboards waiting to be mixed together and created into loveliness. 

Seriously Easy Cinnamon Buns! adapted from Dessert for Two

30 minutes prep/15 minutes cook/yields 4 buns

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp sugar, divided

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

5 Tbsp milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

4 Tbsp butter, melted and divided

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

For glaze:

1/2 cup icing sugar

splash of milk

Instructions 

 1. Preheat oven to 375F. Grease muffin tin as many as needed. 

2. Combine flour, 1 Tbsp of the sugar, baking soda, baking powder,  and salt.

3. In a separate bowl combine milk, vinegar, and 2 Tbsp of melted butter.

4. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir until a soft dough forms.

5. Spread dough onto floured work surface, shape into a rectangle.

6. Pour the remaining butter over the spread dough.

7. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and remaining white sugar, sprinkle over dough and press in. Then roll up the dough starting with the long side and pinch together along the end seam.

8. Cut dough into equal pieces and place in tin. Cook for 12-15 minutes. 

9. While it cooks, mix together icing sugar and milk until there are no lumps.

10. Let buns cool slightly before pouring icing over them. (Or you could let them cool completely so the icing part is less messy, but no fun there).

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social

Spilling the Beans on Grandma's Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

There's nothing like the nostalgia of enjoying food items from your childhood. As my grandmother grew older, her 'famous' treats she made for when her far flung family visited became less frequent. In the last few years of her life they stopped completely as she had lost the joy of waking each morning and didn't have the energy (or eyesight) to continue providing these items when people visited. This really didn't matter much, as we were more interested in seeing and spending time with her rather than her back as she shuffled into the kitchen to grab yet another plate of peanut butter fudge, or oyster crackers, or whatever it was on offer even though you've told her countless times you couldn't eat anything more and didn't really want anything. Not a thing. And then the plate would arrive laden with biscuits and crackers and sweets that you found yourself eating despite your earlier protests. Partly out of politeness and partly out of, well look at it! It looks so good, how could you not?

On one of these visits I had asked my grandmother for the recipe for her strawberry jam, she pulled out a small box overstuffed with bits of papers; stained, folded and crammed together to fit in the limited space, and I found myself face to face with her acclaimed stash. I have added many of these items to my own recipe book and occasionally when I'm needing a hug like only a grandma can give, I make one of her meals and I'm thrown back to sitting in her house on a warm summer day with only the cross breeze and small fan set up in the threshold to the living room to cool us, refusing the treats on offer and eating them anyway when they appear with a knowing smile on grandma's face.

Ingredients:

4 cups white sugar
5 cups rhubarb
1 can crushed pineapple
2 packages strawberry jello

Add all ingredients in a large pot expect for the jello packets. Let sit for 30 minutes or more.

Boil for 12 minutes or until rhubarb is cooked. 

Remove from heat and add the 2 packages of jello. Mix well.

Fill your sterilized jars  to 1/4 inch to the top (I usually fill about 6 8-oz. sized jars). 

As you can see, this is a very sweet recipe. I have yet to attempt to tamper with it to reduce the sugar, but I'm sure it can be done.
Let me know in the comments if you endeavor to make this yourself.

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social

Easy 3 Ingredient Cranberry Sauce

Last thanksgiving we discovered a most terrible thing. The canned cranberry sauce was some how missed on the last grocery shop before the holiday and if your anything like my family, thanksgiving dinner is ruined without the cranberries. 

Discovering half a bag of frozen whole cranberries, leftover from these amazing scones I had made, sent me to the Pinterest to figure out a way to make our own sauce.

Being a family of 3 and just having half the called for cranberries on the outset, I have only ever made half the recipe. And trust me, it's a good one.

Ingredients:
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup orange juice (you can use water, but I love me some OJ)
1/2 white sugar

Directions:
Put everything into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the cranberries start splitting open and the liquid thickens. 

Cool completely before serving--meaning you can make it the day before and store in the fridge. 

Next time you are in need of cranberry sauce, I highly recommend making your own. It's super simple, super delicious, and you can even get that fun out of the can shape if you store it in an old tin can.

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social

The Time of Year to Make Things

This is the time of year that I just love to try out new recipes or crack on with an old favourite. It's an excuse to bake and cook to my hearts content and give it all away to friends as gifts, at holiday parties, or just feed to my dad, cause he'll eat anything. Here are a few recipes I've tried in the past.

Last year I tried my hand at pâté and it turned out pretty darned good. There was some finessing with the recipe at the end, but it was relatively easy to do. It helped that my mum was a willing guinea pig at every stage of the game.

I also attempted making baklava. I might have to do this one again soon. The gooey-ness and the loveliness and the flakiness of it all was the best. 
Seriously. The. Best.

I would never forget about my furry friend, Betty and made her some Peanut Butter Dog Treats.  She was a fan.

Don't miss a post! 

Sign up for email posts (found on the sidebar), like my facebook page, or follow me on bloglovin'. You can also keep up with my instagram feed and I occasionally tweet.

Let's get social

Homemade Pâté, Who Knew it Could be Done?!

This Christmas, my extended family decided to do a Secret Santa rather than purchasing gifts for everyone. We secretly drew names and our tasks for getting a gift for that specific person was set. 

I drew my Uncle and I immediately was stumped as to what I could get him. After a bit of thought and inspiration from Lorraine's Last Minute Christmas special on tv, I decided to make him some of his favourite food: pâté.

It wouldn't have occurred to me that this would actually be a very easy thing to make, but it really, really was. I generally followed Lorraine's Chicken Liver with Garlic and Brandy method, but I adjusted it slightly to my taste.

Ingredients:
500g chicken liver
2 cloves garlic
1 green onion
1 Tbs + 1/2 tps thyme
3 Ttbs Brandy/Cognac
5 Tbs heavy cream/whipping cream
1/3 tps salt
pepper
1/3 tps all spice
1/2 tps ground ginger
Butter for seal (optional)

Heat some butter in a large pan. Cook onion, thyme, and garlic until it's soft. Take of heat and put into food processor.

Add more butter to pan and cook the livers until brown on outside but still slightly pink inside (not uncooked pink, just light pink. This part made me nervous as I was reading about the dangers of food poisoning with this, and who wants to give that as a gift? Don't worry, my mum was a willing guinea pig and she didn't get sick.)
Then add to the food processor.

Add remaining spices and cream to processor and blend. 

Heat brandy/cognac in pan (it will reduce as the alcohol evaporates), add to processor and adjust spices to taste.

Spoon or pour into tight seal jars. If you are making a butter seal, melt the butter in the microwave and pour on top of pâté. Let cool completely and store in the fridge.

If you do try making the pate yourself  do leave me a comment below and tell me how it went! I'd love to hear.

Baklava: How Hard Could it be to Make?

Normally for me, the quickest way to ruin a lovely dessert is by adding nuts. That was until I first tried Baklava. I don't remember my first time, but that gooey, sticky, sweet, only slightly nutty flavour had me hooked from the beginning.  While living in London, I may have indulged a couple times (or many times), as a roommate with a sweet tooth had just discovered it for himself and was kind enough to share. Every. Time. 

It's been 5 months since my last indulgence, so I thought why not try making it myself?  How hard could it be? Turns out, not hard at all! Just look at this lovely syrupy delight.

If you have an hour to kill and a ridiculous amount of honey to use, you can make some too. I really suggest you do!

I followed The Pioneer Woman recipe for the most part. She called for 2 cups of honey (!) which I would have done but I only had 1cup and damn honey is expensive! So after a quick search of other recipes, I figured cutting this in half would be fine.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Phyllo Dough
• 4 cups Chopped Walnuts Or Pecans (I used a blend of walnuts and pistachios. I would even be tempted to use almonds)
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1-1/2 stick Butter, Melted
• 2 cups Honey (I used 1cup)
• 1/2 cup Water
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

If the phyllo is frozen thaw in the fridge for 24 hours before using, then remove 1 hour prior to use, to bring to room temp. 

(TPW tip--but I didn't follow it--When working with the phyllo dough, only remove the sheets you immediately need, keeping the other sheets covered in plastic wrap, then a damp cloth.) 

In a bowl mix together the chopped nuts with cinnamon and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly butter a rectangular baking pan. Cut the phyllo to fit the pan you are using, a little bigger is okay.

Butter the top sheet of phyllo, then place the buttered sheet and the unbuttered sheet just below into the pan, buttered sheet face down. Press lightly into the pan. Repeat this so that you have six sheets of phyllo in the pan, three of the sheets buttered.

Sprinkle on a single layer of nuts. Place 2 sheets of phyllo on top and butter the top layer. Add more nuts, and repeat this a couple more times, or until you're out of nuts. Finish with 6 more phyllo sheets, ending with a buttered top. Cut a diagonal diamond pattern in the baklava using a very sharp knife.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until the baklava is very golden brown. 

While the baklava is baking, combine 1 stick of the butter, honey, water, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. 

When you remove the baklava from the oven, drizzle half the saucepan evenly all over the top. Allow it to sit and absorb for a minute, then drizzle on a little more until you think it's thoroughly moistened. I used it all, but as I said I didn't used the full 2 cups of honey.

Allow the baklava to cool, uncovered, for several hours. It will be sticky, and gooey, and sweet and gorgeous! 

If you do try making baklava yourself  do leave me a comment below and tell me how it went! I'd love to hear.

Leftover Turkey Soup

The first time I ever tried to make Turkey Soup following my first-ever-all-made-by-me Thanksgiving dinner I realized too late that I needed the carcass as the key ingredient for it. Big oops. Won't make that mistake again.

With some trial and error (and tips from my wise mother) here is a very simple recipe I use for making Leftover Turkey Soup.

Needed:

Turkey carcass

celery

carrots (optional)

onion

salt and pepper

celery seed (optional)

chicken broth (to taste)

soy sauce (optional)

1. Combine first 6 ingredients into a large pot and boil on medium heat for a few hours or until the meat starts falling off the bone. 
2. remove bones and manually remove remaining meat from bone and add back into the stock. 

3. Taste and stock and add bouillon and or soy sauce if more flavour is needed. 
4. Continue simmering for a couple of hours. (Add more water if too much has evaporated. If you do, definitely use a bouillon cube)


(These are old pictures from an earlier blog I once had. But it doesn't make this soup any less delicious)


If you do try making Leftover Turkey Soup yourself  do leave me a comment below and tell me how it went! I'd love to hear.

The Turkey Comedown: Turkey Pot Pie

I like recipes, and cooking, and eating, don't you? Since I've been back in Canada, I've had more opportunities to bake. Although I'm not the greatest baker, I have been deprived of doing anything of the sort for 2 years,  which means now I just can't stop myself. I haven't heard any complaints though. 

All that to say, I want to start posting recipes of things I make (on a semi regular basis) onto my blog. Since it is MY blog, I can do what ever I like, but I do hope you'll like this addition.

I love sharing, so if you are ever in the sharing mood do drop me a line with a recipe of yours, I'd love to try it out.

Turkey Pot Pie

When I get tired of turkey leftovers this is my favourite thing to have after Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey Pot Pie. Nom nom.

Needed:

Pie crust (I used a deep dish kind and it was a 2 pack so the other bottom became a top).
4 tbs butter divided
1 small onion, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 tbs dried parsley
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
2 cubes chicken bouillon
2 cups water
3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 1/2 cups cubed turkey
3 tbs all purpose flour
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 F and melt the crust (easier to mold together)

2. Melt 2 tbs butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the onion, celery, carrots, parsley, oregano, and salt and pepper. Cook and stir until the veggies are soft. Stir in the bouillon and water. Bring mixture to a boil. Stir in potatoes and cook until they are tender but still firm.

3. In a medium sauce pan melt remaining 2 tbs butter. Stir in the turkey and flour. Add the milk, and heat through. Stir the turkey mixture into the veggie mixture and cook until thickened. Cool slightly and pour into the shell. Put top crust on. Make 4 slits in top to allow steam to escape.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 min Reduce oven to 350F and continue baking for 20 min or until golden brown.

5. Let cool a bit before serving

I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Just too darned excited to eat it up.

(these are old pictures as this is a post from another blog I used to do. No need to worry about that, just stick some of this in your pie hole and enjoy it).

If you do try making turkey potpie yourself  do leave me a comment below and tell me how it went! I'd love to hear.