...Surviving the Holidays- #Goals

Instead of New Year's resolutions this year, I'm working on a few goals to make this years holiday season the best possible.  In previous years, the anticipation of Christmas and feel good vibes peaks around the end of November and gradually decreases until by the time the end of January, I'm ready to vomit when I see another left over Christmas cookie.  All kidding aside, here are the three simple goals I'm sharing with you in hopes to keep myself accountable.  I've sprinkled in a few links to recipes just in case you're reading this and were hoping for a food related post ;-)

1.  No room for negativity.  Whether it be a person, thing or situation- keep in mind you are in charge of your own happiness.  Enter every situation with good intentions and positivity.  Realize when someone is not respecting your 'bubble of positivity', they are only projecting their insecurities.  The happiest people are the most secure people.  Realize when something goes wrong, it's a chance to learn or turn things around.

The "No Beef with Nobody" Holiday Prime Rib

2.  Digital detox.  It's easy to get caught up in the lives of others, the constant reminders of what you should be doing, the incessant chatter of what how you should think, feel, want or need.  At my core, I despise social media but appreciate its potential and uses.  I'm limiting myself to text/phone calls only for the 5 days leading up to Christmas.  No web surfing or social media.  The people who are the closest to you, who are truly present in your life are the ones who matter.  They will want to know how you are, what you're up to regardless of whether you've updated your status, tweeted or posted a picture on your Instagram in the last 24 hours.  The key to surviving a digital detox is to plan ahead.  Plan to be busy doing fun things, even better- fun things with people, rather than being busy glued to your device.  By the time you're done doing these fun things, hopefully you'll be so exhausted you will be able to fight the urge to check your phone before bed.

The "I'm Having Too Much Fun Decorating Gingerbread Cookies to 

Check My Phone!" Gingerbread Cookies

3. Gratitude.  Be thankful and gracious.  Count your blessings and they will multiply.  Truth is, I used to think this was horrible advice.  I would try it and wouldn't immediately feel 'better'.  I've realized that gratitude is a way of life.  Give yourself permission to be upset, sad or angry and then move on.  Be thankful for the time spent with friends and family, everyday.

The "Gratitude is My Attitude" Coconut Tarts

Blogging is a digital journal so please take this post as such.  These are my own personal goals and my hope is if you internalize any of these, that you won't let stress get in the way of your enjoyment of the holidays.  Are the holidays a stressful time for you?

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...Pumpkin Cheesecake

Although Canadian Thanksgiving has passed, with Halloween around the corner, I thought this pumpkin cheesecake might still be relevant to some of you looking for a pumpkin related dessert.  This recipe was taken from Nigella Lawson's "Feast" and it was very simple to follow and turned out great.  I didn't bother to dress it up or worry too much about the crack down the centre after it baked- sometimes all that matters is how it tastes!  This version, Nigella claims to be "fluffier and subtler" than a regular cheesecake and I would have to agree.  Nice one, Nigella!

As you may know, UK recipes use mass rather than volume so if you have a digital scale this will be a piece of cake (haha), if not, just look up the conversions.  Also, just as a warning, this recipe recommends cooling the cake in the fridge overnight before consuming so plan ahead.

Ingredients: (Serves 8-12)
For the base:
-250 g digestive biscuits
-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-125 g soft butter

For the filling:
-1 x 425g can pumpkin puree (or process your own)
-750g cream cheese
-200g sugar (I used 180 g since I like it less sweet but it's your call)
-6 eggs
-Juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:

1. In a processor, blend the biscuits and cinnamon until you have a fine crumble.  Then add the butter a bit at a time and blend until the mixture clumps together.

2.  Press the mixture evenly into a round 23cm springform pan to form the base.  Put this into the fridge whilst making the filling.  Preheat the oven to 170 C (which is 340 F).

3.  Blend the pumpkin puree and cream cheese until thoroughly combined.  Then add the sugar.  Then add one egg at a time.  Be sure to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl to get everything mixed in.  Add the lemon juice and blend for a further 10 seconds.

4.  Wrap the outside of the springform pan with a double/triple layer of plastic wrap to ensure it is waterproof.  Then wrap it again with a large piece of tinfoil so that the foil is up around the edges of the pan.  Sit this foil covered pan in a roasting pan.

5.  Put the cheesecake filling into the springform pan and pour hot water into the roasting pan so that the water level is halfway up the cake pan.

6.  Bake for about 1.75 hours or until the filling has set (Nigella says "only a small amount of wobble left at it's centre" ?!?!?).  Cool and then put into the fridge overnight before removing from the springform to slice and eat.

Enjoy!

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5 Thanksgiving Recipes That Are Not Turkey

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we've already started thinking about what to cook for the holiday season.  If you're looking for an alternative to turkey or a side dish to complement your bird, here are five tried and true recipes from our blog: 

Thanksgiving Ham with Apple Bacon Chutney

This recipe elevates the Thanksgiving ham with a delicious apple bacon chutney.  Both sweet and savoury, the chutney both compliments and adds another dimension to each bite of ham.  Recipe here.

Bacon and Mushroom Thanksgiving Strata

This Italian 'strata' is essentially a savoury bread pudding flavoured with cheese, bacon, mushrooms and caramelized onions. Although not a traditional stuffing, this side more than makes up for it with the perfect blend of earthiness from the mushrooms, caramelized onions and richness of the cream and smoky bacon. Recipe here.

Cornbread and Sausage Stuffing

This recipe uses cornbread which gives the stuffing a wonderful texture and sweetness to balance the savouriness of the bacon and sausage.  The cornbread is also amazing for soaking up that puddle of gravy on your plate so you're guaranteed every bit of gravy goodness gets in your belly.  Recipe here.

Roasted Beef Tenderloin and Carmelized Onion Gravy

If you're sick of the traditional turkey, here's a beef alternative.  This recipe is equally as satisfying as a turkey with the caramelized onion gravy and makes for fantastic left overs.

Recipe here.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

If you're not a huge pumpkin fan, here's a different dessert to try.  I discovered a fantastic recipe for sticky toffee pudding last year and made it for Thanksgiving.  The cake is moist from the dates and the toffee sauce rich and decadent; needless to say, it was a hit.  Also, I feel like baking anything in a bundt pan makes your creation ten times more impressive.  Recipe here.

We hope these recipes were useful and at the very least gave you some inspiration for Thanksgiving this year!

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...Hog Island Oyster Co. - San Francisco Oyster Bar

Overall - 9/10
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Food - 9/10
Service - 9/10
Ambiance - 9/10

Our week spent in San Francisco back in May seems like ages ago. The standout meal that we remember very fondly to this day was our lunch at the Hog Island Oyster Company located in the historic Ferry Building. It must have been the amazingly fresh seafood served next to the beautiful views of San Francisco Bay that make us think back to this meal so often. This casual eatery is popular amongst visitors and locals alike and does not take reservations.  We were very excited for this meal, so we milled about the entrance an hour prior to the opening at 11am to ensure we got a table especially since we had Baby S in tow. Our over eagerness paid off and we found ourselves at the head of a line that wound itself down the boardwalk 30 minutes before the doors even opened.

We started our lunch off with a half dozen of the freshest pacific and atlantic oysters we've ever had. They were served perfectly chilled with a shallot mignonette and lemons. The bread served alongside was sourced from the Acme Bakery next door and was your quintessential crusty sourdough loaf.

One of the specials that day was a marinated razor clam dish served with kumquats and fried crispy shallots. Razor clams are much more tender then their round shelled cousins but no less flavourful. This was our first time having a dish with kumquats as an ingredient but the sweet fruit and slightly bitter rind added a great complexity of flavour to each mouthful.

Next up was a bowl of steamed Quahaug clams with sausage. As expected, the clams were tender and fresh while the broth was rich and warming. Our attentive server was quite generous with the sour dough bread and ensured we had more than enough to mop up the delicious broth.

Our main dishes were the delicious seared piece of wild Alaskan salmon served with a sweet pea relish and crispy fried potatoes and a rustic seafood stew. These two dishes summed up what Hog Island Oyster Bar is all about; perfectly cooked fresh seafood and delicious but unpretentious flavours. The seared piece of salmon in particular was the most memorable due to how fresh and intensely flavoured the fish was without any hint of fishiness.

Hog Island Oyster Bar definitely has set the bar to which we now compare our future oyster bar/ casual seafood experiences. Stay tuned for our opinion on how our local Rodney's Oyster Bar stacks up!

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...San Francisco Foodie Travels

We ♥ SF

Hog Island Oyster Co. aka Seafood Mecca

It's been rather quiet lately here on the blog, reason being we took a 10 day vacation to San Francisco.  We went mainly to see the sights, indulge in the food and meet up with some family who currently reside in California.  The weather was rather chilly, cooler than Calgary at the time, but we managed to have an amazing time even with baby in tow.  Most of the time Baby S resided in her stroller without too much fuss while we pushed her up and down the infamous hilly streets.  We did a lot of walking but it felt great and we didn't have to feel guilty about the extra calories that were ingested in the holiday spirit.  If you are ever thinking about staying at the Ritz Carlton in Union Square, we would definitely recommend it.  Our suite was newly renovated, the staff extremely attentive and they give you a ride back to the airport in one of their spacious Suburbans for which they charge a flat rate, equivalent to riding a taxi. Baby S had the free children's breakfast, (which could pass for an adult breakfast) and was given a cute lunch bag with a bib, bath essentials and a teddy bear.  All the extras and service made up for the cost of staying at the Ritz; it was definitely a highlight of our trip.

In-room dining at the Ritz- salmon and polenta

Some other highlights include our side trip to Half Moon Bay, Alcatraz, shopping Union Square and of course the amazing fresh food.  Despite having to limit our options to family friendly restaurants, we could not find fault in any of the food we had in San Francisco- even the Asian Box we had in the basement of Macy's was more than decent.  We will be posting several reviews on our food experiences so stay tuned for those.

Farm Table- Daily Toast

Asian Box (Macy's)

Buena Vista Cafe- Crab Legs

Hog Island Oyster Co. - Seafood Soup

PPQ Dungeness Isalnd- Vietnamese Crab

Pressed Juicery- Green juice

Sotto Mare- Sand dabs

Yin Du Wonton Noodle- Wonton noodles

Half Moon Bay- chilly but beautiful

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...Slow Roasted Wild Mushroom Crusted Prime Rib

With a prime rib roast being one of the most expensive cuts of meat available you want to make sure that you cook it right. By "right" I mean that the exterior is perfectly brown and roasted while the interior is a uniform medium rare. We have tried our hand at a number of different methods here and here, but as they say, third time's the charm. This recipe cooks the roast at the lowest temperature most ovens can sustain (200 F) for 50-55 minutes per pound (internal temperature of 135 F) for a bone in roast. We crusted the roast with ground wild mushrooms to make the crust extra savoury. The results were fantastic!

 

Ingredients:

- 1 bone in prime rib roast

- 1/3 cup of dried wild mushrooms (blended in a coffee blender to a powder)

- Dijon mustard

- 1 onion sliced

- Olive oil

- Salt and pepper

Mushroom powder

Method:

1. Let the rib roast sit at room temperature for at least 1 hour then season generously with salt and pepper.

2. Rub the exterior of the roast with a thick layer of dijon mustard then liberally sprinkle over the blended dried wild mushrooms.

3. Preheat your oven to 200 F, drizzle the roast with olive oil and roast for 50-55 minutes a pound or until the internal temperature reaches 135 F.

4. Remove the roast and turn the oven to broil. Place the roast under the broiler until the surface is browned (3-4 minutes max).

5. Let the roast rest under tin foil for at least half the total cooking time to ensure a juicy and moist roast

Enjoy!

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...Sticky Toffee Pudding

Sticky toffee pudding is my all-time favourite dessert.  We've had our fair share of sticky toffee puddings over the years and I was thrilled to find a recipe for it in Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook, Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food.  I decided to give it a try and see how it would turn out and was impressed with the results.  The soft cake once drizzled with the decadent toffee sauce, gives it the perfect pudding texture.  This recipe is definitely for a special occasion or the holiday season as it doesn't skimp on the ingredients that make it so delicious.

(Recipe adapted from Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food)

Ingredients:

Cake:

-4 Earl Grey tea bags

-1 lb fresh Medjool dates

-1 tsp cinnamon

-1 tsp nutmeg

-3/4 cup unsalted butter

-2 1/2 cups flour

-3 tsp baking powder

-1 tsp salt

-3/4 sugar

-1 cup dark brown sugar (I used regular brown sugar which turned out just fine)

-4 large eggs

-Sea salt

Toffee/Caramel Sauce:
-1 cup butter
-2/3 cup dark brown sugar (I used regular here too)
-1/2 cup sugar (Jamie calls for 3/4 cup; add more if you like it sweeter)
-3 tbsp dark rum
-1 1/4 cup heavy cream

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.  Steep tea bags for 3.5 minutes in 1 1/4 boiling water.

2.  Pit the dates and put in a food processor with cinnamon, nutmeg and steeped tea.  Push the dates to submerge them in the tea and leave them to soak for at least 10 minutes.

3.  While you are waiting for the dates to soften, butter and flour a bundt pan.  In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar together using a wooden spoon.  My method is to use a downward chopping motion until the butter is incorporated.  Puree the dates.

Creamed butter and sugar

Pureed dates

4.  Beat in the eggs one by one and stir in the flour, baking powder and salt. Then fold in the pureed dates until the batter is smooth.

5.  Pour the batter into the bundt pan.  Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

6.  While you are waiting, start making the toffee.  Melt the butter, dark brown sugar and regular sugar on low heat in a small saucepan.  Once the butter is melted, add the rum and heavy cream.  Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil.  Then let it simmer for 5 minutes until the toffee is a golden colour.

7.  Flip out the cake when it is ready and brush over or drizzle a third of the toffee while it is still hot. This creates a nice crisp surface when the pudding cools.  Sprinkle over a bit of sea salt.

8.  Serve each slice with a bit more of warm toffee.  If you like, ice cream also goes well on the side.

Enjoy!

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...Brasserie du Grand Café de L'Opera (Toulouse, France)

Overall - 7.5/10
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Food - 7/10
Service - 8/10
Ambiance - 8/10

A year ago, we were lucky enough to have spent a month in France.  This summer we won't be travelling so we thought we would post on a few of our memorable experiences from our trip as a way to reminisce.  We hope you find these posts helpful if you plan on stopping by a few of the same locations or at the very least, enjoyable to read.  Toulouse is a beautiful city to visit.  We happened to be in Toulouse for Bastille Day and it was a fantastic experience.

Our luck with trains this trip seems to have run out and we have been been hit with multiple delays and cancellations. The trip from Tours to Toulouse was particularly bad. Right off the bat we were delayed three hours at the train station. Then just as we got underway we were told that our train would no longer be making the full journey to Toulouse. Instead we had to spend the night in a sketchy motel until the next train in the morning (we have to note that the train driver was very kind in making sure we had a place to sleep instead of waiting at the station in the middle of the night for 4 hours).

When we finally did arrive in Toulouse we thought a celebratory dinner was in order. We chose the Brasserie du Café de L'Opera which was located conviently around the corner from our hotel. Maybe it was the previous day spent eating pre-packaged sandwiches in train stations but we felt very lucky to be sitting down to a nice dinner even if we weren't necessarily wowed by the food.

Caramelized onions and cheese on bread 

We started our meal off with the beef carpaccio and the tomato salad.  The beef was sliced finely and quite fresh but nothing special. 

The tomato salad however was excellent. The tomatoes were perfectly ripe and bursting with flavour while the accompaniments of buffalo mozzarella, basil pesto and Parmesan cheese were very well chosen.

Or mains included a grilled red snapper dish with peppers and steak with caramelized shallots. 

The fish was well cooked, moist but somewhat bland. The steak tasted really good with the sweet caramelized shallots and is a combination that we'll be trying at home.

For dessert we chose an apple tart and the crème caramel. Both were well done and not too sweet. Again nothing particularly special but after the ordeal of the day before just being able to sit at a table with wine and enjoy our dinner made for a special evening!

Apple Tart

Crème caramel

Looking back at the pictures we are now wondering why we thought the food was just average, because it all looks pretty dang good a year later.  I think we were completely spoiled on this trip with the all-around fantastic food in France.  You don't have to pay much to get a good meal so when we came here, a fine dining restaurant, where the flavours were just as good as what you could get at a lower priced restaurant we felt slightly underwhelmed.  However, we definitely recommend L'Opera for the ambience and service. 

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