Number One Giant Cashew Cookie

Because everyone deserves to be told they're #1 in somebody's eyes! This giant cookie is made with cashew butter and dotted with mini chocolate chips. Using egg yolks keeps the cookie rich and chewy too - and did I mention its flourless?

I think that the "little guy" doesn't always get the credit and celebration he deserves. Yes, I agree that doctors, firefighters, police officers and the military have difficult jobs, and they deserve respect. However, the supporting staff behind the scenes keep towns and businesses running. I am not going to use this post to tout the lack of recognition that teachers get. Rather, I made this cookie to celebrate a milestone for N - 10 years as a security guard.

Now some people will roll their eyes at this. But the work is hard, boring and thankless - not to mention the strange and ever changing shifts they are subjected to. N has more tenure than the other 3 guards at his site combined, and seeing as he started as a fresh faced 21 year old that's saying something! While his work "gave" him a pin (left on top of a filing cabinet with papers for days before he went in for something unrelated), I wanted to celebrate with him and acknowledge his work... and what better way to say "hooray" than with a big, personalized cookie? To be fair, I also made him and I cake...because cake. The cookie is huge, richly flavoured and perfect to share should you be so inclined, or spread over many snack times with a glass of milk or coffee. It also has blissfully few ingredients and is vegan and gluten free (depending on the chocolate you use). The icing on the top makes the cookie a "special occasion" treat, but if I was making this for myself or kids to share after school I honestly wouldn't bother. 

Also, feel free to use any nut butter you desire - I had the dregs of a jar of cashew butter to use up, but the original used peanut butter and I am eyeing my jar of almond butter to try as well. Just make sure it's a "no-stir" variety to eliminate oil oozing out and making dry, ugly cookies. Not a fan of chocolate? Add sprinkles, nuts, raisins...whatever! It's your cookie!

Mashed Potato Quick Bread

The crumb of this Potato Quick Bread is so soft and moist you'd expect it to contain a pound of butter - but it has no added fat and it's vegan! Not to mention it can be on the table in under an hour.

There is honestly not one scrap of my being that doesn't miss biting into good, warm, homemade bread. While my days of eating loaves, rolls and cinnamon buns are over (thank you, autoimmune), I still enjoy making bread for my friends and family, and with the kids at work! When it comes to breadmaking in Home Economics class, speed and ease are key, as is thriftiness - hence the creation of this crackly-crusted, moist loaf. After my classes made chocolate potato truffles for what seems like the millionth time (they all love them, and I can't believe I haven't posted the recipe after 6 years of making them!) I found myself with a rather large amount of potatoes left over. Well, not one to waste food (or my school's money), I Googled and came up with a recipe for a quick, one bowl bread using mashed potatoes and blissfully few other ingredients. Mixing the dough was absolutely no work for me, and when I set my (older) kids free to follow their recipe while I was hands off they made equally excellent results that they were quite proud of! It is, I dare say, even easier than Irish Soda Bread, and tastier to boot!

This loaf, when warm from the oven, tastes exactly like the biscuits from Red Lobster. Even when there is no garlic, cheese, butter or herbs in sight, it is unmistakably similar in both flavour and texture. Even my sister had to agree, and if it passes her picky taste test I know it's got to be good!

If you are trying to get your kids (or yourself) into baking, I strongly recommend this loaf as a jumping-off point. Who knows, you may catch the bug like me! Also, for the simplest of simple recipes, use a digital scale. Consistent results every time and one less thing to wash!

Spiced Superfruit Jam - Toast Topper #85

This Spiced Superfruit Jam is a decadent mix of blackberries, raspberries, cherries and blueberries softly spiced with a hint of cinnamon and cloves. With less sugar than standard jams, its a Toast Topper you can feel great about enjoying!

It feels good to be back in the canning kitchen again! I took a bit of a break last Summer (life and school got in the way) and now that the new year is almost upon us I'll be wrapping up my slew of canned goodies (that you can see on IG) as well. This year was a shockingly good one for Ontario produce, and I'd be a fool not to preserve it for a long winter's worth of pancakes, waffles and toast!

Like with most things, I prefer my jams not to be cloyingly sweet and want the fruity taste to come through full force. I have found two low-sugar pectins (the stuff that makes jam gel, if you don't make jam usually) that I love and buy them en masse when they're on sale. The first (and cheapest outright) is Bernardin (which may only be available in Canada, I can't find it on Amazon, but I have used Ball as well), which churns out about 6 cups of jam per packet. The second is Pomona's, which allows the batch size of various jams to be customized based on the amount of fruit you have. I've made as little as one jar of jam with it and as much as 12!

I also really enjoy playing with the flavours of my jams. Even though the fruit is always first and foremost, adding complementary flavours is a great way to add interest and an aspect not available from storebought preserves. I pulled out my copy of The Flavor Bible to help me this year, resulting in the addition of cinnamon and cloves to accent the tart-sweet berry notes. A spoonful of this jam tastes like a less tannic mulled wine, and I have it on good authority that a dab of it on sharp Cheddar topping a cracker is pretty darn good!

Mediterranean Salad for One

Dinner tonight is this incredible Mediterranean Salad for one, packed with all the garden's produce (including dried oregano from last year, Egyptian onions and garlic scapes from N) and dressed simply with Alaea salt, black pepper and fresh lemon juice. Light yet filling for those Summer nights!

As much as I love living in Canada, one of the things I don't love is that our growing season starts late and ends early. Summer break being what it is (July / August), we don't really see much of the garden bringing forth their glory until at least halfway through, if not later. That said, late is better than never, and since the cukes and tomatoes arrived at the same time this year I figured what better way to enjoy them than in a simple, chunky salad?

I love Mediterranean flavours, and this salad is not lacking in them! In addition to the garden cucumbers and tomatoes, I tossed in dried oregano and dill (from last year), Egyptian onion bulbs (from the Sputnik-like plant out back) and garlic scapes from my fiance's garden that I roasted using this recipe (cutting the time to 15 minutes). For protein, I tossed in a handful of chickpeas (my favourite bean) and sprinkled on lemon juice, coarse pepper and a Hawaiian Alaea salt. If you had told me 15 years ago that I would be eating salads for dinner (and enjoying them!) I'd have called you crazy. But now, I don't want summer to ever end!

Major Grey's Chutney - Toast Topper #84

Major Grey's Chutney is full of spice with a delicate tropical undercurrent thanks to mango!

Chutney is definitely a go-to condiment in my household. Mom puts any incarnation of it in stir fries, with grilled meat and even steamed veggies and rice! I, on the other hand, enjoy it - just not to the extreme. In any case, we always have a jar or two on hand, and making up a batch is a great way to use up spices and various fruit and veggies laying about.

We had bought some mangoes on sale with the aim of making fruit trays for company, however (as always seems to happen) we overbought. Who could tell how many cubes one mango yielded? Anyways, I was given the remaining, almost-overripe mango to use in "whatever", and since I didn't have any pectin on hand, I knew jam was out. However, a quick perusal of the internet led me to Saveur, who had a recipe for one of the most famous chutneys out there - Major Grey's! I have no idea what the background of this condiment is other than it being an English - Indian hybrid served with aged cheese, but since it was full of ingredients we knew and liked I decided to give it a whirl.

One thing about making this - and any - chutney is that it is one of the most fragrant recipes you'll ever make. The heat blooms the spices, perfuming the kitchen for hours even after it's long been bottled. The vinegar is the first thing to make your eyes water, but the sweet, spicy and woodsy aromas soon rush in. The mango adds a subtle floral sweetness, but in the end it doesn't taste distinctly like the fruit - it is part of a greater whole. At any rate, this went exceptionally well in Mom's usual applications, as well as dolloped on crispbread over cream cheese and with Black Bread and old Cheddar. Next time mangoes go on sale, I may buy some extra just for this!