Not My Best Side...

Not My Best Side (U. A. Fanthorpe)

Not my best side, I'm afraid.
The artist didn't give me a chance to
Pose properly, and as you can see,
Poor chap, he had this obsession with
Triangles, so he left off two of my
Feet. I didn't comment at the time
(What, after all, are two feet
To a monster?) but afterwards
I was sorry for the bad publicity.
Why, I said to myself, should my conqueror
Be so ostentatiously beardless, and ride
A horse with a deformed neck and square hoofs?
Why should my victim be so
Unattractive as to be inedible,
And why should she have me literally
On a string? I don't mind dying
Ritually, since I always rise again,
But I should have liked a little more blood
To show they were taking me seriously.

***

It's hard for a girl to be sure if
She wants to be rescued. I mean, I quite
Took to the dragon. It's nice to be
Liked, if you know what I mean. He was
So nicely physical, with his claws
And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail,
And the way he looked at me,
He made me feel he was all ready to
Eat me. And any girl enjoys that.
So when this boy turned up, wearing machinery,
On a really dangerous horse, to be honest
I didn't much fancy him. I mean,
What was he like underneath the hardware?
He might have acne, blackheads or even
Bad breath for all I could tell, but the dragon--
Well, you could see all his equipment
At a glance. Still, what could I do?
The dragon got himself beaten by the boy,

And a girl's got to think of her future.

Look at the BABIES!!!

I'm such a proud mommy - and I've got lots of babies on their way! ...though of course, by babies I mean wee ones from the garden, not me! Take a gander at the 10 or so tiny fuzzballs (AKA peaches) on our backyard tree, and the itty bitty cherries too! Unfortunately, the cherries must have been amazing, since about a day after I took this shot (last week) they were gone, downed by our resident flock of sparrows. I guess there will be no sweet gems of cherry goodness this year. But LOOK at the peaches! I couldn't be happer, I swear! Hey, some people have real babies, some have furbabies, I have fuzzbabies. What can I say? With luck I'll be able to get my hands on some of the ripe peaches when they mature in August (or so), I'd LOVE to make and show off a peach tart to you all!

For now, I'm still in chocolatey, rich sweet mode. In preparation for making Andrew's birthday cake tomorrow afternoon (I can't wait!!) I got my chocolate gear on by making a recipe I'd had in my Favourites folder for a while: Brownie Roll-Out Cookies from Smitten Kitchen. They looked so good - dark, rich and soft, begging for an ice cream middle (sorry, Deb! I know you couldn't bring yourself to reccomend it ;-) so I did it for you!). The idea behind these cookies is simple: unadulterated chocolate goodness. No bits or bobs, spices or extracts (other than vanilla, of course), nibs or chips. Cocoa powder, flour, butter, eggs, period.

Umm, yeah. This leads me to where I got a bit, er, creative if you will. I don't use eggs in my baking, I can't stand the thought of only white-flour baking anymore (tomorrow's cake is going to smart!) and we had no butter ($5 a pound? Sheesh!) so unfortunately in terms of ingredients, they aren't true to Deb's mom's original. I did resist the urge to add anything else besides the necessary substitutes though... nothing fancy, just pure vegan substitutions (margarine for butter, silken tofu for eggs) and a touch of barley flour for a hint of "je ne sais quois" without a "hello, I am Mr. Whole Grain" message coming through. I call these a success, because if nothing else, my sister ate one and liked it! Try that on for size, cause it's not easy to do!

Thank you Deb, for the great recipe. And thank you, Ruth, for giving me an event to show off my wares! Check out her roundup of Bookmarked Recipes every week for more inspiration!

Vegan Brownie Roll - Out Cookies
Makes 48 small cookies
5 oz silken, low-fat tofu
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 cup barley flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted
1/2 tsp fine salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup margarine, softened
1 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment.
2. Puree tofu and vanilla in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.
3. Whisk flours, cocoa, salt, and baking powder in bowl.
4. Cream margarine and sugar until fluffy.
5. Beat in tofu mixture until smooth.
6. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Wrap in plastic and chill one hour.
7. Roll out on a floured counter about 1/4" thick, and cut into shapes.
8. Bake 10-11 minutes, or until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.
9. Cool 3 minutes on sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 81.8
Total Fat: 4.0 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 48.0 mg
Total Carbs: 10.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.0 g
Protein: 1.3 g
WW Points: 1.5

As well, a huge thanks out to Sophie from the blog Flour Arrangements! She has given my Healthy Baker blog the Arte y Pico award! I'm very honoured to recieve it, and since that blog is only a reference piece for my seminars now and I no longer update it, I'll pass it on to 5 of my favourite bloggers from here.

So for this award, I'd like to nominate:

Carrots and Cake - Aside from being a wonderful blogger, Tina's getting married in 10 days! Congrats!
The Food Allergy Queen - Though different from mine, her allergies are just as varied and difficult to deal with. Her blog is an inspiration!
Superspark - I'm still drooling over these.
Shortcut to Mushrooms: A Vegetarian Foodblog - Great photos, and equally delicious meals!
Veggie Delight - Only 16 and well on her way to becoming the next foodie star!

Congrats to all of you!

Marking a Blogday!

Happy first blogiversary to me (and thanks to everyone who made comments on the last post before I could get this one out there!)! I can't believe I've been writing this thing for a year - so many things have happened since I made that giant pot of vegan chili for Andrew a year ago. I started and finished a baking class at George Brown, kept the bakery going, became a featured publisher for FoodBuzz, wrote a ton of book reviews (with another one coming soon, promise!), watched my mom get married, played with gluten free flours, kept tradtions alive and started my very own sourdough starter (which so far has produced 3 stellar, 2 1/2 lb loaves of bread!). I wanted to say thanks to everyone who reads this blog and especially those who comment for giving me a reason to keep writing. With people like you around the blogging universe, I'll be at this for years to come!

Today's a special day for everyone in Canada, too! Our country marked it's 141st birthday, and cities all over the nation are celebrating with a variety of events - I know my (new) home city of Oshawa has a festival at the lakefront, Ajax has their BBQ, and of course all the fireworks that sent sales through the roof this past week will be put to good use tonight! So happy Canada Day to all who are celebrating today, and happy Tuesday to everyone else!

One of the things I thoroughly enjoyed on special days (in the summer or any time) was the Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake from Loblaws. It was my brunch meal when I was in summer school in grade 11 (advancing, not remedial!), which I'm sure was nowhere near a balanced diet. Mind you, I didn't start paying much attention to what I ate or any sort of nutritional information until after I started this blog either - talk about happy circumstances! These muffins have a similar flavour and light, cakey texture to my favourite childhood snack, all right - but where was the streusel?

Well, apparently I failed to take into account the weight of the streusel mixture when making these muffins, and as a result it disappeared into the cake part, adding a sweet, buttery hit to every other bite. I don't know if I'll make these again (at least this way), but for now, it's a summertime memory I'll share with you!

Disappearing Streusel Cinnamon Muffins
Makes 6 jumbo muffins
Topping

2 tbsp light margarine
1 tbsp flour
1/2 tbsp fat free plain soymilk
3 tbsp brown sugar

Muffin
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup unfed sourdough starter
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375F, grease 6 jumbo muffin cups.
2. Melt margarine, stir in flour, soymilk and sugar until thick and caramel coloured. Set aside.
3. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl.
4. Seperately, mix the starter, vanilla and apple sauce.
5. Gently mix the wet ingredients into the dry, just until mixed.
6. Spoon into tins, top with the margarine mixture.
7. Bake 30-35 minutes.
8. Cool 3-5 minutes in tins, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 210.8
Total Fat: 2.3 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 33.4 mg
Total Carbs: 45.5 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.2 g
Protein: 4.5 g

And in the Mornin'...

I made waffles! But unfortunately no photos - between whipped egg whites, flour, hot pans and ladles of waffle batter everywhere, not to mention the fact that my sister gives me the strangest looks whenever I take food photos (and it was her breakfast), it just didn't go down like it should have. Ah well. I still have the recipes!

The first one I'm passing onto you is the type of waffle that I like to eat - low-fat, high-fibre, vegan and protein rich too!

Low - Fat Vegan Wholegrain Waffles
Serves 4
½ cup whole wheat pastry flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
½ tbsp baking powder
6 oz (about 1/2 a block) low-fat silken tofu
1 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 ¾ cups water

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Mix flours and baking powder in large bowl.
3. Combine tofu, applesauce, vinegar and water in blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
4. Pour into the flour mixture and mix smooth.
5. Add extra water if needed, batter should be pourable.
6. Spray waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray.
7. Spread batter fully over grid and close.
8. Cook waffle according to your iron’s directions. Repeat till batter is gone. Serve warm.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 122.4
Total Fat: 1.1 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 35.8 mg
Total Carbs: 23.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 4.0 g
Protein: 6.2 g

Here are my sister's favourite waffles - she always eyes me suspiciously when I make them, asking me if they'll "taste like mom's". The verdict this morning?? They do, oh yes, they do!

Toastmaster's Waffles
Serves 4
2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups lowfat milk (1% is what we use)
2 tbsp melted butter
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry. Set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, salt and sugar until lemony and light.
4. Combine milk and butter, beat into yolk mixture.
5. Combine the dry ingredients and beat into the yolk mixture until smooth.
6. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
7. Cook in your waffle iron according to the manufacturer's directions.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 378.5
Total Fat: 9.8 g
Cholesterol: 126.1 mg
Sodium: 113.9 mg
Total Carbs: 58.9 g
Dietary Fiber: 1.7 g
Protein: 12.7 g

Ta da!!

By the way, if you have leftovers that you just can't put away, pop them into freezer bags for home made eggos later on in the week! A stay in the toaster = crisp, hot Sunday mornings, whenever!

How Do You Like YOUR Canada?

This weekend, for many Canadians, is one we look forward to all Spring. For most of us lucky ones, the Canada Day weekend means time to relax and take part in one of the gazillion events, fairs and festivals around the country. For the unlucky ones who have to work on July 1st, take solace in the fact that you get time-and-a-half pay, and that Timmy's is open!

For me, Canada Day always involved a trip to one of the municipal events, most often my hometown of Ajax's lakefront festival. From about 11AM until the fireworks at 9PM, the waterfront was full of bustling activity for all ages - magic shows and musicians (both for the childhood and adult crowds), petting zoos, jumping castles, a BBQ and in most recent years free henna tattoos by local artists. It was a great excuse to go out for an afternoon of free fun outside, and as long as we remembered the sunscreen it always ended with some very happy, exhausted kids, teens and adults cuddled up on lawn chairs and blankets watching the (usually disappointing) fireworks show. Unless, of course, you happened to be me - I HATE the sound of exploding close-range fireworks, though I love sparklers and the burning schoolhouse (but I think that's a favourite of all kids!). I would hide in the comfort of the car or house and watch through the window, or spend the entire show plugging my ears against the bangs of the explosives. I still do that to this day, no matter where I am - even when watching Fantasmic or EPCOT's light shows at Walt Disney World!

One of the other main highlights of Canada Day festivities was always the "birthday cake". Usually it was a very large Canadian flag made out of several vanilla slab cakes, though last year (and possibly the year before) the delicious and (to me) better tasting Rice Krispie squares took the place of the cake mix. The kick of sugar was what all the kids lined up for - sometimes for hours - while their parents tried to brace themselves for the ensuing sugar high. It was this memory of the crispy, gooey squares that I wanted to preserve in blogging memory during Jennifer (The Canadian Domestic Goddess)' special roundup of Sugar High Fridays, aptly entitled Mmm... Canada!.

Unfortunately, as with many things in this fickle foodie world, my luck would have it that there would be nobody around to share the pan of gooey sugar attack goodness with me if I made them. There was NO way I could eat a whole tray by myself, and the deal was severed completely when a pantry search revealed no marshmallows. Sigh.

As luck would have it though, we DID have a source of Canadiana in our pantry, in a few forms! Between my (irrational, since I can't have it) jonesing for a cup of Tim Hortons coffee and my discovery of some very patriotic Coffee Crisp snack-size bars, a brand new source of Canadian memorabilia was created in a matter of 45 minutes or so in my kitchen. While the rain poured and pounded outside (scaring the dog half to death and making me worry our power would go out) I mixed up a heavily caffeinated basic brownie batter and threw in a bunch of chopped up candy bars. Right out of the oven, I knew we had a winner. Rich, deep coffee and chocolate cake studded with bits of wafer cookie... nothin' better for this Canuck! I'm taking them into my mom's work tomorrow as a thank you to the ladies - they're taking me out to lunch at the St. Lawrence Market in the afternoon and deserve a treat!

So, for all you Canadians, ex-pats and wannabe's out there, take a bit of my culinary culture with you and enjoy your weekend!

Coffee Crisp Bars
Serves 12
1/4 cup "light" margarine (I use Becel)
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup non-fat milk (I used potato milk, but soy or rice would work too)
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
7 "snack size" Coffee Crisp bars (16g each), chopped

1. Lightly coat the bottom only of a 9' pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Melt margarine in a large bowl.
3. Beat in sugar and milk.
4. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder and baking powder, mixing until just combined.
5. Fold in candy pieces.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.

Amount Per Serving
Calories: 153.4
Total Fat: 4.3 g
Cholesterol: 0.2 mg
Sodium: 47.9 mg
Total Carbs: 27.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.9 g
Protein: 2.4 g