Saving the Peels

Being the apple-loving, apple-picking, apple-baking pair that my mom and I are, we are always left with a plethora of peels after a pie-making spree. In the "old days" when our Lab was still around, it was never a problem - she was our living, breathing garbage disposal! Nowadays, the compost bin gets packed to the brim with strips of perfectly flavourful apple peel that, to my mom and stepdad at least, are undesirable in pies, squares and applesauce. While I never minded a bit of peel in my baked goods (I thrive on the texture, which is probably why I love whole grain breads and cakes so much), I have no power to change the minds of the family. So I came up with a technique to save the peelings that would have a practical use down the line - dry them, then grind them down with good ol' table sugar. The result - a lightly apple-scented powdered sugar perfect for using in cookies or glazes (I suppose you could use it in pie too, but really, when your apples are this good you don't need any sugar!). I really hesitate to post this as a "recipe" because it is just so dead simple, but it's delicious and versatile - I'm hoping someone finds it of use!


What I Called "Newton's Apple"

Stress-ipes

If you've seen my whining opining on Twitter this week, you'll know that our trusty (albeit ancient) fridge/freezer bit the dust last Sunday night, thawing out all the contents by the time I discovered it (since the stepdad is not one to open the fridge at all). Mom was away on business for the week (she conveniently left before it died!) and so, with a fridge full of food that would never all fit into our smaller backup fridge and deep freeze, I resorted to three other methods of saving what I could: I resorted to the garage as a cold storage unit (thank God for the small miracle of the fridge death being in a cold month!), I made pasta sauce with all the produce I could find (including the last of our tomatoes) and I baked away the apple butter, egg whites, almonds and pineapple juice that were in the freezer. We still don't have a fridge, since Mom only came home last night, but the garage and rather packed cold bellar in our basement is doing an ample job for now.

I jokingly termed the a la minute cooking and baking that I did as working out of "stress-essity". It's always been true that my main way of managing stress of any kind was to cook or bake something, and being able to actually have a purpose to expend my nervous energy was awesome. So these two that I made on Day 1 of the non-fridge (there are more to come!) were just more stress-ipes, if you will.

As long as we have a new one within the next few days, no Hell will break loose. Otherwise, fitting two frosted cakes and a batch of cupcakes (for the charity auction I'm donating to again this year) in a tiny fridge holding twice it's intended food already will be very interesting!

 

 

By the way, are you in Toronto and want a $40 dinner for two, free? Take a look at my giveaway to enter! You have only one week left to get in on your chance, draw closes November 4!

All Thumb(print)s

Are you in Toronto and want a $40 dinner for two, free? Take a look at my giveaway to enter!

What kind of kid were you when it came to school lunches? Were you a baloney and mayo, like my old best friend? A Thermos stuffed with lukewarm mac n' cheese or pizza pockets like my sister? Or maybe you were like me, who adored a good PB & J? Maybe you were even lucky enough to be able to break out the nut butters in your lunchroom - up till grade 9, where I went to school nuts (or legumes, in the case of peanuts) of any kind were ixnayed due to allergies, so if I wanted my favourite nosh it had to be on the weekends or during the holidays.

It wasn't all that bad for me, considering that while I could enjoy spoonfuls of Kraft creamy right out of the jar, one of my friends and classmates wasn't so lucky. He taught me what an Epi-Pen actually was (my 7 year old self thought it was a newfangled marker) and made me realize that allergies weren't just something "everyone" gets when Spring comes around. Thankfully I never witnessed one of his reactions, but I'm fairly sure that's what got me into a "find out everything I can about everything" mindset when it came to medical things. I schooled myself with everything I had (we still have medicine books of mine in the basement) and always wanted to know why. Why do people get allergies, diseases, freckles, red hair, sunburns?

Well, I still don't have the answers to everything, but I do know some methods to bring back the love of life, especially in the kitchen. I was playing around with a fairly popular peanut butter cookie recipe (trying to use the last of the almond butter we had) and decided to try out a version of my old favourite sandwich in cookie form. I went all out on the almond flavour, with the almond butter, almond milk, almond extract and tossing in some ground almonds for kicks. The dough turned into a gluten-free and vegan gem, but I wanted to make it a bit more... moreish. So I dug into some of my homemade grape jam and turned the criss-crosses into thumbprints. Rather violently thumbed thumbprints, mind you. I had to laugh at myself - it had been years since I had made the last batch and apparently my thumbs are a bit bigger!

 

AB & J Thumbprint Cookies
Makes 40
3 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 cup warmed almond milk
2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp agave nectar (or honey if not vegan)
1/2 tsp stevia extract powder
5 oz (2/3 cup) shortening
4 oz (2/3 cup) stirred almond butter
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/3 cup ground almonds
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup glutinous rice flour
1 tbsp tapoica starch
1/2 tsp guar gum
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup jam or preserves of your choice (I used homemade Concord grape)

1. Heat oven to 375 F and line baking sheets with parchment or silicone.
2. In a small dish, whisk together flaxseed and almond milk. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together brown sugar, agave, stevia, shortening and almond butter.
4. Add flax mixture and the extracts, beating well.
5. Whisk together ground almonds, flours, starch, guar gum, nutmeg, baking soda and salt.
6. Add to the creamed mixture and stir in well.
7. Shape into small balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Press your thumb or fingertip into the centre of each cookie and fill with jam
9. Bake 10 minutes, then cool 10-15minutes on the sheets before carefully transferring to a cooling rack.

Amount Per Serving

Calories: 118.4

Total Fat: 6.4 g
Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
Sodium: 4.7 mg
Total Carbs: 15.8 g

Dietary Fiber: 0.6 g

Protein: 1.5 g

 

 

A Melody (Bar) of Food - Free! (Giveaway!)

When was the last time you had a free meal? In this land of touch-and-go world economics, gas prices that make your head spin faster than the numbers on the pump and grocery bills that sometimes make me wonder if food is necessary at all, dining out is becoming a luxury quickly shunted to the back burner. A nice meal in a restaurant can drain your wallet, which for me kind of sucks the joy out of the whole experience, and when you're heading into the city for food it can be even worse.

But... what if I told you that you can have a delicious, eco-friendly, local producer-friendly dinner at one of Toronto's top-rated hotels, without the need to pick up the check? The folks at the Gladstone Hotel are kindly offering one of What Smells So Good's readers dinner for two (a $40 value), at their newly renovated Melody Bar!

The Gladstone, on the previously "divey" Queen West strip in the heart of the city, has come into it's own as a very artsy boutique hotel that has something for everyone. Along with 37 nifty-looking rooms and exhibits from local artists, the hotel boasts a Cafe with a varied menu - including vegan and gluten free options (and apparently one of the best brunches in the city) and of course the 122-year-old Melody Bar. Far from it's roots as a simple hangout and booze supplier, the Melody is open for dinner from 5-10, with a menu slightly smaller than the Cafe's but still just as inclusive and local. In fact, the vegetarian burger (a panko crusted, cheese stuffed portobello mushroom cap with lettuce, tomato & zucchini pickle) is one of their most popular offerings, and gluten-free bread is always available. Omnivores will appreciate the steak frites and the duck confit poutine, and everyone can dig into a luscious pecan-cherry crusted chocolate tart for dessert (which, enriched with buttery avocado, is pure vegan bliss).

So, how do you get in on this chance to win a $40 dinner for two at the Gladstone Hotel?? Here's what you need to do:

Be in Toronto within a month of the entry deadline of November 5, 2011 (when the voucher expires)
Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favourite thing about Toronto is!

For an extra entry:
follow me on Twitter and tweet about this contest (with a cc to me, @jo_jo_ba)

OR

Subscribe to my blog feed via e-mail or your reader and leave a separate comment saying you have done so

You can of course do both, but I'll only be counting one extra entry. Sorry!

I look forward to hearing about your Toronto gems! Good luck to you all!

Never Say Die!

I am a true child of my Scottish heritage - regardless of my financial situation at the time, I am incapable of buying anything at a "standard" (i.e. not sale) price. Even if the item is one I have coveted for ages, or that is already a rather good deal to my fellow shoppers, or is being bought for me by someone else, the part of my brain still stuck in the "you're a broke student" mode keeps me from biting the proverbial bullet and actually taking it home. Granted, my mentality is not completely unjustified - though no longer a student, I am still (for the next little while at least) broke. Busy with projects ("working to work" as I call it), but broke.

Don't get me wrong - we were never a poor family, and my sister and I always had more than enough food, warmth and clothing. The money we had was channeled into the tuition fees for Montessori school (and it's uniforms) or saved up for special family trips like driving to Canada's East coast. Sure, we kids wanted the high-end brand name clothes, or the then-trendy N64, or day passes to Canada's Wonderland. But we came to realize the value of a dollar (thank you, chore-mediated allowance!), especially once the "all powerful" debit cards came into play. I still remember the shock and embarassment I felt after my first "debit" shopping spree, where I drained my 11-year-old self's live savings (about $130) to under $25 in a single afternoon and had a purchase declined. After that, I began to appreciate what power money had, what it took to make, save and grow it, and what purchases were worth spending on (as I soon found out - not many).

It's not all doom and gloom though. This uber-frugal mindset I've fostered over the years, plus the genetic "cheapness" code I've inherited from my Mom's side of the family, has led to some wonderful "use up" concoctions around here. I learned to sew on scraps of fabric that my Mom had left over after making a Halloween or school play costume. I grew up on almost exclusively home-cooked meals, with lunches packed for me every day by my parents, and birthday cakes baked and decorated at home (albeit from a box, can and tube). I learned from an early age how to make a scrambled egg, pancakes, crepes, bread and cookies, how to grow raspberries and tomatoes so I could devour them right off the vine. My sister and I were able to have more fun at our local park with buckets and shovels, or at home with our library of Mom's old storybooks, Barbie dolls (with mansions made by my carpenter Grandpa, furnished by Grandma) or an old chalkboard than we would ever have with the most expensive plaything.

 

Today, my cheapness frugality plays out in the gardening realm. Like you've seen with some of my previous garden-centric posts, I can't let any of the produce that we worked so hard to grow, from April seedings to mid-June thinning and finally August fruition, go to waste. We've just had our first kiss of frost, and there's no way we're getting any more sweet, red tomatoes from the backyard plants - but there were tons of green fruits hanging off the withering vines and I couldn't let them head to the compost. I knew there were a multitude of different ways to use the unripe gems (not the least being broiled on my favourite pizza!), so I figured "what the heck, I'll pick them and see what comes".

Well, dear reader (...Reader? Are there any of you out there?) I wound up with a lot more than I thought. Those things seemed to multiply under my fingertips, and even after using some in today's recipe the bulk of them are now taking up our large mixing bowl and an entire table. So you might see more than a few recipes for the little green men (or women, I can't tell tomato gender) in the coming weeks.

The first thing that I knew I'd be making with them though was never even a question. I've been a bit latent in posting this year's version of my Dad's all-time favourite pie filling, but when I had such a beautiful array of tomatoes to use I couldn't pass up a variation on my 2008 mincemeat! A few notes from previous years (especially last year) made their way in as well, along with a dash (okay, a lot) of boozy goodness (I misread my recipe and doubled the booze. Shh!). I can't wait to get my pie on this year!