Out and About & More School Pictures: Danish Coffee Cake with Hazelnut Filling

It's been beautiful outside lately. Every time I look out the window, I feel a pang of guilt for not being outside. So, I took my camera for a walk. I hope you don't mind if I post a couple of the pictures—they have nothing to do with food.

School Pictures: Carrot Muffins & Milk Bread

I brought home some more school work. I keep telling myself I won't bring any more home—I can't eat it, and my family doesn't really need it—but my dad specially requested these, and it's really hard to give up documenting my day's work. Besides, it's good practice, since I am still learning with my new camera.

Hummus

My full days of school and work have forced me back into packed lunches. It took my a while to settle on what I wanted, but hummus seems to have won out. It's easy to pack and I like being able to make a large batch on the weekend, and not have to worry for the rest of the week. Also, it allows me to use the vegetables from my garden.

School Pictures: Piping Shortbread Cookies & Lemon Meringue Pie

I really enjoyed this past week of school—we practiced piping, which is more difficult to master than I initially supposed, but I love it. Piping is so much fun. I love how hands on and creative baking can be.

The Fairest of the Seasons: Raspberry & Blueberry Jam

This summer, I really wanted to be more involved in my food. My garden was part of that, but I also tried to take advantage of the local fruit opportunities. Berries really became my focus, and I went picking every chance I had—strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

School Pictures: Sweet Dough Cinnamon Buns & Wafer Cookies

Here's what I made at school yesterday:

More cinnamon and sugar related dough making. These were yeast risen cinnamon buns. The recipe's sugar content is through the roof, so dad was happy. Mom says she prefers my less sweet version...let's assume she's not lying.

School Pictures: Meat Pie & Braided Bread

Soon I will get back to baking things I can eat. Until then, I need to practice with my camera, so here are some pictures of what I learned in school today:

How to make mini meat pies...not very useful for me, but still fun. At least dad is happy and I'm improving my dough rolling skills.

Excuses

Plenty has been going on since my last post. Here is a list of my excuses for infrequent blogging:

Eating Raw in Montreal: Crudessence

As I have previously mentioned, my favourite restaurant, WOW, blew me off a couple of months ago and left a hole in my heart. I have been trying to fill the void with homemade Almonds Burgers, Salad Dressings and Cashew Cheesecakes...but it isn't the same. I am lazy and not as talented as the fine people of WOW.

I don't think anything makes me quite as happy as eating raw food…especially when someone else makes it for me. This past week, I finally accepted my loss and started Googling for nearby raw food restaurants...which ended up being in Montreal. So, James and I drove to Montreal, under the guise of shopping and showing James the city, but, by dinner time, we had to admit we came just to eat at Crudessence.

Strawberry Jam

I still haven't dont any baking, but I'll continue to update you on my other food related adventures.

What's Up, What's Up...

Still not baking. There is a heat wave...it's so hot, especially in the kitchen. I have been up to other things though...

First of all, I found a job—I sell produce at a vegetable stand for a local farm, and occasionally pick beans. It might not be ideal employment for a university graduate, but I am more interested in learning about agriculture and preparing myself for the day I have my own farm, than having anything to do with English.

My employers are incredibly nice people and I get the opportunity to ask lots of questions and learn about plant varieties. However, my favourite part so far has been selling at a farmer's market in Ottawa...I have always dreamed of being on the other side of the table. I usually work 10 hour days plus an hours worth of travel, so forgive my neglectful and sloppy blogging—I have been up since 4 am.

Mmmm...Muesli

While I was in Europe, we stayed at a few hostels that served free breakfast...consisting mostly of strore bought bread with sugary spreads. I could never take advantage, and it sucked. However, in France, we stayed a couple of nights at a hostel that served something I could actually eat—muesli. They even included the list of ingredients—how thoughtful.

My Garden

I have yet to return to the kitchen for baking purposes. It's just too hot. And I'd rather be outside, while I can. So, I have been filling my time with other things.

Lemon Tahini Salad Dressing

As promised, here is the salad dressing I made for the Raw Food Dinner I had with James and friends. My goal was to mimic the salad dressing from WOW (as usual...).

I had a pretty decent start, since I asked my server once what was in their salad dressing. Unfortunately, the only ingredients he could remember were celery and olive oil, though I was pretty sure there was lemon in it too. To fill in the gaps, I searched one of my favourite food blogs, Rawmazing, and used her Maple Tahini Dressing as a base recipe.

Raw Food Night

Sorry for the delay, but I've been away, visiting my cottage, and overwhelmed with being home and trying to get organized. Anyways, as I was saying, from Williamstown, James and I headed to his family home in Swansea. One of the nights I was there, we had somewhat of a raw food dinner party. I finally got the raw food dinner I was longing for since my convocation...