Harriet the Hedgehog

My first attempt at a more elaborate cake design. Miss Harriet Hedgehog is made of chocolate cake with raspberry filling.

Sadly, Miss Hedgehog has taken ill and literally fell apart at the seems. May we all cherish her personality and friendship.

May she rest in peace

Spring time = Salad time

I've been having fun making salads and salad dressings lately. Pumpkin seeds are very good for you, so I've been adding them to salads, along with raisins, cranberries, fruit and anything else that I find. I love homemade salad dressings. I made a strawberry vinagrette that was bright pink and so yummy!

Tonight I made a Southwestern Dressing.... 1/2 cup minced cilantro, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1/2 cup lime juice, 1/2 cup oil...the recipe said to just blend it with a whisk, but I stuck it in the blender so that the cilantro was chopped up more.

I think so far this is my favourite salad dressing I've made. Shalom liked it too!

A sign of dire times....

Some may wonder at the lack of updates and pictures. I could take pictures of the perfect grilled cheese I made the other day in my new frying pan. Or the cheese sandwhich that i stuck in the microwave to melt because I was too lazy to make anything else. Or the bagel and cream cheese which was masterfully prepared by the chef at Tim Hortons. Or the grilled cheese sandwhich I made tonight.

But I thought I'd spare you those details.

Alas, times are about to change. I went grocery shopping tonight with some good friends and stocked up on ingredients needed for some new recipes that I want to make. Spring is in the air and so I'm looking forward to experimenting with new salads, new salad dressings (first up is a homemade strawberry vinagrette!) and new fruits and vegetables.

the war on pancakes

Pancakes and I typically have not gotten along in the past. I have had half cooked/half burnt pancakes, soggy pancakes, pancakes that resemble scrambled eggs. Tonight, I waged war against the pancake and won! Made a strawberry sauce to boot!

Discovering Sri Lankan food

Yesterday, I was determined to cook after being away for a few weeks. Due to the pouring rain and the lack of groceries and fresh produce, I began a search for a recipe that used up ingredients from my cupboard. In addition, I wanted to try a recipe that I had not done previously. I thought this to be an almost impossible task. I almost admitted defeat and pulled out the pasta and tomato sauce when I discovered a Sri Lankan dish called "Cadju curry" (Cashew nut curry). Lo and behold it was precisely what I had been looking for and I had all the ingredients sitting in my cupboard just wishing to be mixed together to make this yummy curry.

One of the things I love about international cooking is how they combine so many different spices, and often spices I would never consider putting together. The final flavour is unique - you cannot pick out any one particular spice. This dish contains the following spices: cinnamon stick, ground cloves, cardamon pod, curry powder, fenugreek, ground coriander, ground cumin, chili powder and turmeric. The main ingredient, cashews, is cooked with onion and garlic and then simmered with coconut milk and served on rice.

Yum!