Nostalgic Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - Toast Topper #92

Can you capture nostalgia in a jar? This Strawberry Rhubarb Jam tastes exactly how I remember my grandma's to be - and it should since its only 3 ingredients, time and heat! Simple is often the best!

 

For once, our rhubarb and the local strawberries managed to peak at the same time! I love this time of year when everything is fresh and bright - and nothing reminds me more of one particular childhood summer than strawberry rhubarb jam. I'm sure my paternal grandmother made it more than once, but there is a definite memory of a summer when I was about 10 or so where we visited a community garden and farm stall prior to me helping her make dill pickles and strawberry rhubarb freezer jam. I used to swear I hated rhubarb too - what kid would like this sour / bitter vegetable of all things? But her jam convinced me that it was possible to make it taste good with enough sugar and strawberries added in!

I came across a recipe similar to my grandma's on Food52 and decided to give it a go with a few other tricks I had from an old church cookbook, namely freezing the strawberries, rhubarb and a tiny bit of sugar first before completing the maceration. I'm not entirely sure what this does to be honest, except draw out extra liquid and leaving the berries and rhubarb a bit more chunky. Whatever it did or didn't do, this recipe is a keeper - it's perfect for a small glut of strawberries or when you only have a few jam lovers in the house (shocker, I know).

Chocolate Chip Date Muffins

These muffins are the perfect example of an accident gone right! I totally forgot the sugar in my Chocolate Chip Date Muffins, but thankfully the @nakednutrition Naked Shake Peanut Butter Blueberry along with the chocolate and fruit more than made up for it! Not super sweet, they are a fantastic breakfast item (yes, chocolate is a breakfast food!)

 

One of my classic sayings as a teacher was always "I can't expect perfection because I am not perfect". It is a pretty good life lesson to live by, if I'm being honest! In the kitchen, I kind of pride myself in turning mistakes into (at least) tasty treats, if the mistake itself isn't to my satisfaction. Then again, sometimes I'll make an error (usually while distracted - I have an infamous "shiny" complex) and the result is exactly what I was going for!

 

This was definitely the case with these muffins - I had planned to make a batch of chocolate chip and date muffins for N to take home a few weeks ago, but in the mist of talking with him, watching clips of CSI on the TV and cleaning as I went, I wound up forgetting all the sugar listed in the original recipe until they were in the oven. As the time ticked by, I fretted - would they be bland? Hard as rocks? Worthy only as slingshot ammunition? Sugar, after all, doesn't only provide sweetness but a certain hygroscopic bonus that keeps baked goods moist. In the middle of my apologizing profusely, N reached over and grabbed a freshly cooled muffin, took a bite and went, "if you left out the sugar, do it again. These are good!" Okay then. Point taken! 

Thinking back, I figured it was the sweetness from the Naked Shake Peanut Butter Blueberry powder, the dates and the chocolate that gave the muffins enough of an edge to not be "bland". The oats do need a little bit of time to soak up the liquid so I noted that in the directions. If you don't have the specific shake powder, any vanilla protein shake powder or a peanut butter protein shake powder would work perfectly fine. Just don't use an unflavoured, unsweetened one!

Casino Cuisine: World’s Finest Casino Restaurants

In the past, casino dining most often meant all-you-can-eat buffets. Today, many casinos have partnered with world-famous chefs or have developed incredible dining experiences that become highly desired destinations on their own. And while online casinos are ever-increasingly popular, land-based establishments offer additional value through amenities like art collections, golf courses and fine restaurants. Despite the different advantages of an online casino such as Rizk, some people will always be drawn to luxurious casino resorts, considering how they also offer a significant social value.

Robuchon Au Dôme – Grand Lisboa Hotel, Macau

Robuchon au Dôme is located in the spectacular, multi-story glass dome on the 43rd Floor of the Grand Lisboa Hotel in Macau. In the center of the restaurant is a beautiful chandelier with over 131,000 pieces of Swarovski crystal. The panoramic views and the decor inside are simply stunning.

Boasting cuisine and a vast wine selection as spectacular as the setting, Robuchon au Dôme has been awarded three Michelin stars and the Wine Spectator’s Grand Award and is widely regarded as one of the finest restaurants in Asia. The restaurant features contemporary French cuisine, including the 7-course “Menu Aux Crustacés” and an 8-course seasonal menu, topped off with a trolley of desserts.

Waku Ghin – Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Waku Ghin is the creation of famed Australian Chef Tetsuya Wakuda. Featuring contemporary Japanese cuisine with fresh seasonal ingredients, the restaurant was awarded two Michelin stars in 2019. The daily menus are adjusted for the best ingredients available such as Botan shrimp with sea urchin, and Japanese Ohmi Wagyu beef.

A beautifully designed minimalist setting enhances the restaurant’s exclusive nature and keeps the focus on the food. Waku Ghin only serves 25 diners per seating, in private dining rooms and an intimate 10-person Chef’s table where you can watch the culinary artistry up close.

Aureole Las Vegas – Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas

Aureole was designed as an experience for all of your senses. The James Beard Award-winning Chef Charlie Palmer’s sleek restaurant is located in the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Its American Artisan cuisine is regularly described, by diners and food critics, as absolutely exquisite and features steak and seafood prominently.

The visual center of the dining room is the 10,000 bottle, four-story tall glass wine “cellar” rising up towards the ceiling. Sleekly dressed “Wine Angels” use a system of harnesses and ropes to scale the tower to retrieve your bottle of choice.

Restaurant Guy Savoy – Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Famed French Chef Guy Savoy (who trained Gordon Ramsay) has been awarded three Michelin stars for his restaurant in Paris every year since 2002. His only fine-dining restaurant outside of France is at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The dining room is exquisitely romantic and even has a view of the Eiffel Tower (although it’s the one located at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel!). Signature dishes include the famous artichoke and black truffle soup, served with a toasted mushroom brioche and truffle butter.

Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse a l’Hotel de Paris, Monaco

Just steps away from the elegant casino in Monte Carlo (think James Bond-level sophistication) is one of the finest restaurants in the world. This opulent, classically European establishment has been awarded three Michelin stars every year since 1989. Chef Alain Ducasse is considered by many to be the Godfather of contemporary French cuisine and has trained a number of the top chefs in the world.

It is no surprise that a meal here, then, is considered to be the experience of a lifetime. Diners routinely describe the elaborate multi-course menus as flawlessly prepared and served by superbly attentive staff. The cuisine includes the freshest Mediterranean-influenced seafood and elaborate desserts, as well as a 400,000 bottle wine cellar.

Better-for-You Deep Chocolate Brownies

You never need an excuse for brownies, and these ones are no exception! Dense, fudgy and perfectly sweet, they are also packed with protein, calcium and whole grains - all for under 150 calories a piece!

One of the many casualties of the pandemic - at least near me - was a low fat brownie mix that was an absolute lifesaver when I was losing weight in my teens and later as a poor college student. It was great - just add water and bake - and was rich enough to kill off a craving without resorting to added frosting or ice cream. Now that my sister (who is a chocoholic like me) is back at work and looking for healthier snack options that would also keep her going, I started looking around to see if there was a way to make brownies that were a bit better nutritionally than the usual bakery kind. After a bit of research and modifications, including adding Naked Collagen and a vegan chocolate protein powder to the dry mixture, I had a working formula.

Needless to say, these were an absolute hit for the fudgy / chewy crowd here. The use of honey keeps these moist and dense for days (and not to negate their health but they make excellent "sandwich cookies" for ice cream) while the Greek yogurt adds just a touch of tang. To top it off, just enough chocolate chips stud the batter and crust of these beauties to accent the rich cocoa flavour and the tiniest hint of coffee. The brownies also happen to be gluten free thanks to the oat flour, but since sis doesn't need to keep GF I'd easily swap in whole wheat pastry flour in the future. The worst part is waiting for them to cool and chill - but I promise the payoff is worth it! 

Simple Rhubarb Pie

 The simplicity of a rhubarb pie is the epitome of late spring and early summer.

Happy blog-day to me! It is crazy to think this little hobby project of mine has been around for 14 years - and in that amount of time I've gone through more rounds of school than I can count, began and ended a career as a Home Economics teacher and definitely improved my cooking, baking and photography skills. Thanks to those of you who have come along for the ride, and to those of you that are just dropping in! 

Now, in the spirit of my off-and-on tradition of presenting a Canada Day / blog anniversary pie, I bring you a quintessentially local one, made with only rhubarb from my backyard. Normally, you'll see rhubarb blends in pies - strawberry, blueberry, and my favourite: cherry. But my mentor and colleague specifically asked for a rhubarb pie this year, as as I was leaving my position at the school I made it my mission to present her with one as my going-away gift. 

Now, for the uninitiated, rhubarb is a stalky vegetable that (at least around here) grows like weeds, is tart and slightly two-faced as the leaves are toxic. It is incredibly versatile, making it's way into sweet and savoury applications throughout the year. To stand alone in pie, though, it needed a decent dose of sugar - making it unlike our standard apple pies where its fruit + pastry without anything else. However, the key is to add only enough sugar to take away the tannic sourness without completely obscuring the flavour! Because this was a special occasion pie, I upped the ante with a sprinkle of coarse sugar on the lattice as well.

You absolutely need to bake this pie on a tray though - the rhubarb has a lot of moisture and it will bubble over! Once it's cooled and chilled though, it slices beautifully and is the perfect foil for a scoop of ice cream.