Announcing Simple Bites

With a heck of a lot of excitement and as much fanfare as we can get through Twitter, Facebook, and blogs, I am happy to announce the launch of Simple Bites. part of the Simple Living Media Network Simple Bites is under the care and inspiration of Aimee from Under the High Chair. And I am proud to be among the regular contributors to this site about Real Food for the Family Table.

My company includes Lynn from Cookie Baker Lynn, Cheri from Kitchen Simplicity, Elizabeth at Guilty Kitchen, Shaina from Food For My Family, and Shannon at Nourishing Days. We come from across the world, in both urban and rural settings, and with children of all ages - from babes to grandbabes.

As contributors to Simple Bites I hope we can all share our daily successes, and struggles, with putting good food on the table for our families. You aren't going to find a lot of boxes in our kitchens and if you look close we probably all have a fair amount of dirt under our fingernails. But our families are nourished, inspired by, and even entertained by our efforts in the kitchen, garden, and farm. We hope you will be as well.

Make sure to check out Simple Bites today, there is a fantastic giveaway! I can't make any promises on your chances of winning, but if I can give our editor a nudge then I only ask for a bit of vanilla in return!

Life in Perspective - Blog Aid:Haiti

There are moments in life when the notion of perspective isn't just something you get, it is something that comes right up and smacks you on the face like that scene in Airplane. There I was whining and moaning about my crap knees, the next thing I know EMS is at the house because Smilosaurus choked on some granola and it just won't come out.

This was the granola that I asked my mother-in-law, Susan, make for me while I sat with ice on my knees. The granola that needed to be photographed for inclusion in the Blog Aid: Haiti cookbook. And two days later my little one was happily eating handfuls of the Chai-Spice Granola with Pistachios when a little bit went down the wrong way.  She wasn't in grave danger, but she was definitely having a bit of trouble. But Hubby was at his own physio appointment (with the car seats) and the nanny and I were left with the girls and no car to go anywhere.  Not that I could drive.

Thankfully a good coughing fit just as the ambulance drove up and she was back to her normal roles -Death Wish and Howler Monkey.

Later that afternoon I submitted my recipes for inclusion in the stunning cookbook she was putting together. One of my mentors and friends, Julie Van Rosendaal sent out an email three weeks back.  She was motivated to take action in response to the earthquake in Haiti. So she asked some fellow writers and bloggers to contribute to a cookbook project.  She led the charge on the newest version of the community cookbook.  Blog Aid: Haiti is a collection of recipes from 27 writers around the interwebs.  The recipes range from my own Chai-Spiced Granola with Pistachios (only available in the book) to the ultimate Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie, from Blueberry Galette to Bulgogi, and from Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream to Concord Grape Sorbet.  

All Recipes, photographs, design, and editing were freely given.  The artwork gracing the cover is by the lovely artist Beth Snyder. And the publishing houses, West Canadian and Blurb.com are matching the proceeds realized.  So that triples your donation when you purchase a book. Buy before February 12 in Canada and all donations will also be matched by the federal government. So in addition to a very leveraged donation you will also get a rather stunning cookbook.

All proceeds will go directly to The Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders to help with relief efforts in Haiti. The last few weeks we've used our Canadian medical system quite a bit and I am extremely thankful for the care we get and the low/no cost of it all. Doing a project like Blog Aid:Haiti just highlights how damn lucky we are here, and how important it is to support those that don't have that sort of access. That sound? That's perspective slapping me across the face.

Back to the book. Did I mention that each recipe has a photograph? And that contributions are coming from folks like The Gluten Free Girl and Chef, Seven Spoons, Tartelette, Under the High Chair, andChristie's Corner? Seriously, stunning is an understatement.

The book is available for US $25 in softcover and US$50 in hardcover.  You can buy it here, or click on the button there in the sidebar.  It is available on a print on demand system, so you should get it about 8 days after ordering.

For more information on the book, the project, and all the contributors, visit the official Blog Aid website.

And from now on, we're sticking to granola in yoghurt, perhaps with a bit of pomegranate syrup drizzled on top.

Tuesday Quiz

Do you know what all these people have in common?

Blue Jean Gourmet

Celiac Teen 

Chef Michael Smith 

Christie's Corner 

Dana McCauley 

Dinner with Julie 

Emily Richards Cooks 

Everybody Likes Sandwiches 

Food for my Family 

Food in Jars

Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef 

Healthy. Delicious. 

Kitchen Scraps 

Lottie and Doof 

My Baking Addiction

Recipe Girl 

Savory Sweet Life 

Seven Spoons 

Sweet Amandine 

Tartelette 

Tea & Cookies 

The Pink Peppercorn 

The Traveler's Lunchbox 

Tongue-n-Cheeky 

Under the High Chair

Weelicious 

Coming soon, very soon...

My Days and Nights

Like a starving man with irrational and obsessive fantasies about food, I'm losing my mind and killing myself over recipes I can't cook. I'm even dreaming about food and famous foodies.

The other night I went to Pangaea, a restaurant I've only ever heard about through fellow writer, Dana McCauley.  Her husband, Martin Kouprie, owns the place. Now I've never met either of these people in person, but I had a very elaborate dream where Martin took me on a tour of the place and gave me a cooking lesson. So now I am obsessed with trying something we experimented with in the dream - hot chocolate ice cream. We made ice milk, then poured over a cocoa sauce. Cocoa sauce? Not chocolate sauce? It was a dream after all.

Then last night I had a fantastic dream with Matt Armendariz. Nothing either of our husbands have to worry about, so stop right there. If Matt ever opens the bar I dreamt about he will be a very popular man.  Well, popular with everyone but my dad. Inexplicably my grumpy old dad came with me to the movie screening at Matt's bar. The rest of the crowd, full of old friends from university and what my unconscious can only guess are a mess of Matt's friends, enjoyed candy, chocolate, and pastry made by Matt. I can't tell you what movie we watched, but I can still taste the butter and flake of Matt's perfect pastry.

And I thought it was bad spending my days reading magazines and blogs, torturing myself with food I cannot make until I can stand for more than 5 minutes unassisted. Now my nights are haunted by crazy good food and better company that the ladies on The View.

When Hubby is in Charge of Cooking

My mom just left after a weekend of cooking, giggles, and laundry. She came down to help us after I blew out both my knees skiing last weekend. Hubby still isn't fully healed after his broken collarbone so taking care of the three of us girls is a bit much on top of working as well. So mom came down, fixed us up with some great dinners, and put some soup and pyrohy in the freezer.

But before she came down Hubby spent the week cooking.  One night I walked him through a leftover change-up, we enjoyed some meals from the freezer and from friends, and one night Hubby made wiener wraps. Hot dogs, plastic cheese, and the packaged dough in a can. He was in heaven, the girls loved them, and even I ate two. But I did eat most of the carrot sticks I convinced Hubby to prepare. I can't wait to cook again.

Kijiji Rocks!

Or how The Okanagan Food and Wine Writers' Workshop got Charmian Christie a new stove.

Back in September we had a private tour of the Mission Hill Winery kitchen.  Matt Batey, the executive chef, was out guide in a market tour as part of the agenda of the OFWWW. Aside from picking up our pears and touring the gardens we spent a lot of time standing around their custom built sove.

For more than a few years Hubby and I have been engaged in a fantasy renovation of our kitchen. Unfortunately for me, a new kitchen is far behind windows, a new roof, and a finished basement on the reno list. But in my fantasy world I have an induction cooktop in an eat-in kitchen. So as soon as I saw the gleaming equipment in the Mission Jill kitchen I knew I'd found a small piece of kitchen heaven. Hubby, being an equipment nerd, was suddenly interested in my former abstract concept of an induction cooktop.

Guys being guys and having already bonded over a love for powerful cars, Matt was pleased to demonstrate  to Hubby just how cool induction is - near instant hot and cold with quick temperature responsiveness in addition to safety and cool pots.  Drape Brad Pitt on top of the stove and all my fantasies come true.

A few days later I was prepping for my first BT experience, with a focus on the pears that Matt shared with us. While my cheesecake baked I left the plastic crate of pears on top of the stove. It should be clear that I don't have an induction stove.  Just a plain, old electric range courtesy of an 80s reno on a 50s kitchen. I completely forgot about the vent that comes from the top of the stove.  Eventually, part of the plastic crate melted to the front burner of my stove like a nasty, burnt caramel.

Rather than drive around town looking for a replacement burner for a stove I was close to sledgehammering on many an occasion, Hubby suggested we investigate the possibility of a slide-in induction. Damn, I'd successfully converted the guy and he already had abs! My fantasy come to life.

It all came to a screeching halt at the price tag of $8000, on sale.

My alternate suggestion was to buy a basic electric stove - regardless, it was going to be superior to what we had - and use it until the kitchen reno came to fruition.  At that point we could sell it on Kijiji. Hubby's brilliant idea was to go straight to the web ourselves. Two days and $150 later we had a three year old range, as opposed to a 30 year old one.  Oh the options - cookies that didn't burn, properly cooked roasts, and self cleaning!

How did this get Charmian a new stove? A few weeks back she posted about her broken oven and the long wait for a reno to buy a new one. I shared our story with her and for less than she paid for her ice cream maker she too has a new to her oven.

And what was the first meal I made in my new oven? Well, we had a proliferation of Okanagan tomatoes, so we slow roasted them.

While I consider slow roasted tomatoes akin to candy, right now I could sure use the cupcakes Charmian made in my honour. I'm currently laid up, literally, with two wrecked knees from a ski accident.  A freakish, lame ski accident.  Oh, how cupcakes would make my day better.  Then again, scotch, ice cream, and chocolate would also do that.

Soup Kind of Days

Nothing particularly bad has happened in our little house lately - unless you count completely forgetting to give my mother-in-law her Christmas present. Thankfully she's forgiven us and we've promised her a CSA membership.  And just in time because she offered us a weekend sans kids for skiing and relaxing as our Christmas present.  Hubby and I are escaping to Banff this weekend while Grandma and her girls have some serious bonding time.

Sadly, she won't be serving soup.  Well, she can grab some but good luck trying to get the girls to eat it.  No Borscht, no Chicken Noodle, not even Mama's Tomatoe Soup.  I have no idea what their issue is with soup.  From 9 months on they've insisted on feeding themselves and even The Monster hasn't mastered her knife or spoon skills. That might be it, but heaven forbid you try to feed them!

Soup is my go-to meal for a bad day, for providing a meal to a sad friend or new mom, for bread day from Aviv, and for the days that I feel fat or cold.  Maybe because toddlers and preschoolers don't have days like those that's why they don't like soup.

Tomatoe, Bacon, and Blue Soup

Makes 7-8 cups

4 slices bacon (not maple flavoured)

1 small onion

1 garlic clove

2 28 ounce cans whole tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)

2 cups water or stock

1 bay leaf

3 ounces blue cheese

1/4 cup heavy cream or whole milk

1. Chop bacon cross-wise.  Saute in pan on medium-high heat until just starting to crisp up.  Remove 2 tablespoons cooked bacon and reserve for garnish.  Pour off almost all the grease left in the pan.

2. While bacon is cooking finely chop onion and garlic. When bacon is cooked add the onion and garlic to the pan.  Saute until the onions are soft.

3. Add tomatoes with liquid.  Stir in water or stock and bay leaf.  Turn heat down to medium and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

4. Puree with an immersion blender, food processor, or in a blender. Be careful when blending hot liquids.

5. Stir in blue cheese and cream/milk.  Season well.

6. Garnish with reserved bacon and crumbled blue cheese, if desired.