I have just returned from a work trip to Newfoundland. Newfoundland is a wonderful place... that I do not want to ever permanently inhabit. Beautiful, expansive, sparse, rugged and ceaselessly windy - it's no wonder the people are so wonderful. When I say wonderful I really do mean wonderful. Warm, open and friendly to a fault. So much so that I almost got tired of saying hello or good day to passersby. Fortunately, I didn't have much time to interact with locals due to the fact that I was in St John's with about 140 of my favourite students - singing in St John's and many more remote locales on the island.

Some of my favourites

Some more of my favourites

Lighthouse at the eastern edge of north america

Beautiful window

My brain is still in the tour bubble a little - such a hard thing to describe. Let's just say that going home after a long day at work seems like a faraway luxury when you are on tour. Going back to a room that is not your home, taping kids in each night, getting woken up by a sick kid (homesick or otherwise), waking them all up the next morning, dealing with spats and drama, organizing rehearsals and concerts, getting back on the bus... again and getting left behind, soaking wet, when the ferry rolls out... is all nothing like going home after a hard, long day at work (please don't feel for one second that I am minimizing a long, hard day at work) It was wonderful and terrible and I am happy I was there and so happy that it's over.

Basilica of St John the Baptist

Gotta get some 5 pin bowling in... cause bowling

Signal Hill - cause you have to do Signal Hill

Here are a few of the 400 kids assembled for one of our concert rehearsals

Who doesn't love a selfie - some of the fantastic kids that we performed with in St John's

Soaking wet and left behind - we were obviously the best chaperones.

I'm back in Toronto now where it's relatively warm and essentially gust free (my hair is thankful). My kids are thankful and we've fallen immediately back into our routine. Even though it's in desperate need of a cleaning (aren't we all really?) I love my couch to bits. I love being able to drink a beer on that same couch and I love being in contact with the actual skin of another human being.
I made this cake before I left to mediocre fanfare. I'm not sure what to feed everyone at home anymore. D is not a big sweets person outside of ice cream. I have perfected my chocolate ice cream recipe just for him but now he seems to be getting more and more lactose intolerant - lactaid to the rescue I guess. Kids seem to be favouring anything that is either all chocolate - entirely 120% chocolate, all nutella (isn't that really just chocolate?) or not made by me. I think that microwave popcorn is at the top of the most-eaten list these days.
I want to care but really don't.
That said, this cake had a lovely crumb and both of my parents enjoyed it - at least that's what they said but it's possible they were just being nice cause they knew I made it.



Sour cream coffee cake with chocolate adapted from food52

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp (heaping) sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
3/4 cup (approx) walnuts, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 egg whites or two lg eggs

1 cup sour cream
1 cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375°F
Butter and flour a bundt or angel food cake pan and set aside.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside.
Combine the 2 tbsp sugar, cinnamon and nuts together. Mix and set aside.
Combine the 1 1/2 cups sugar and butter. Beat together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and continue to beat until fluffy and/or frothy and liquid.
Add the flour and sour cream alternately in three additions - begin and end with the flour. The batter should be smooth and easy to stir.
Sprinkle half of the walnut mixture into the bottom of the baking pan. Add half of the cake batter to the pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the rest of the walnut mixture over the batter. Sprinkle all of the chocolate evenly over the batter. Add the remaining cake batter to the pan and spread evenly.
Bake for about 40 min. or until the cake is golden on top and pulling away from the sides of the pan.
Cool for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a serving dish.

It's really quite ridiculous that I'm even posting a recipe like this.  I bet you have thought of making this in some incarnation or another about a million times.  You've probably  gone through with it and actually prepared the thing maybe about a thousand times.  It's so easy and basic that I feel kinda silly but the truth is that it's all I've got.  Another truth is that I really need to break the ice, break the silence, break the break and pump something out.
Our house being in total chaos - and the large part of that chaos being the kitchen - for the entire summer has just derailed me.  My summer was sanding and staining and taping and painting and trying to find some sanity while not being able to make a morning coffee.  The good news is that the kitchen is done.  I can now make my morning coffee.  I only make it on the weekends though because I truly believe that morning coffee is a ritual that is sacred enough not to be rushed.  Rushed is the only way that morning coffee will happen throughout the workweek.

Is there anyone out there without a potato somewhere in their kitchen?

This recipe is easy enough that you can use whatever veggies you have in your house, you will pretty much be guaranteed to have the other ingredients just about all of the time and lastly, you really have to try hard to screw it up.  Even though I'm back in my kitchen it doesn't feel like my kitchen quite yet - although I'm getting there. Generally, I'm going with some easy, quick and comfortable recipes.  When I'm not making this kind of thing, I'm pretty much either snacking on toast, chips or going out for something.
And this brings me to the story portion of this post.  Last week, on labour day monday to be exact, I took the kids out in a fit of starving, exhausted, desperation.  We went to The Wren (a fantastic little spot about 10 min's walk from my front door with great food and a fantastic craft beer selection).  I happen to read this blog on a regular basis and the blogger also frequents The Wren so every time I'm there I always kinda scan the place just out of interest to see if she might be there.  So I'm sitting with my two kids trying to be sane and sip my beer when who sits down at the large table right beside me but the Yum Yum Factor Lady (at least that what I call her in my head).  I tell the kids while trying to be inconspicuous.  Kid #2 is 8 and hungry and couldn't give a rip and probably didn't even hear what I was going on about.  Kid #1 is riveted and tells me I should say something.  She also tells me that if she can text Misha Collins (?) and some other actor guy that is super important to her about something or other.... well then I can certainly walk up to someone (now I did make the point here that in person and on line are two very different things) and tell them that I like their work.  Truthfully, I felt weird about it but I thought about how I would feel if someone walked up to me and told me that they really liked my blog.  I would be thrilled (I think) and flattered (definitely) and not weirded out at all (unless they proceeded to do something weird or confusing).  So I strategized with kid #1.  She took kid #2 outside once we were done and I - very naturally, politely and casually - interrupted the Yum Yum Factor Lady's meal by telling her how much I loved her blog.  I think that she was happy and asked to take a picture with me.  Kids #1 and #2 stared very conspicuously through the front window.  If you want to see the picture go here (she looks sassy and cool in the hat - I'm the other one)
The moral of this story:
1. Tell people when you like them, their work or their hat.
2. Post more shit on the blog so that maybe someday someone out there will feel inspired enough to introduce themselves to me if they see me somewhere.
3. Go to The Wren.

Still playing with (ie. screwing up) a 35mm camera lens which was an Awesome Gift from D.  My pictures are not happy.

Fridge Frittata
serves 4

3 - 4 med potatoes, washed and cut into 1/2 inch thick slices (very approximate)
1 red or yellow pepper, coarsely diced
1/2 cup onion, coarsely diced
2 lg cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups milk
4 egg whites (you can simply add 3 extra eggs if you don't have egg whites from ice cream hanging around)
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp each - dried basil, marjoram and parsley
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp pepper sauce (optional)
1 1/2 cups cheddar, shredded
1 med tomato, sliced into 1/3 inch slices

Preheat oven to 375°F
Boil potatoes for about 6 minutes, drain and set aside
Heat a large caste iron (i.e. something big that can go straight to the oven) skillet over medium heat.
Add some oil or fat.
Throw in the pepper, onion and garlic.  Cool for about 4 minutes and turn the heat off.
In a large bowl combine the milk, egg whites, egg, salt, herbs, worcestershire, soy sauce and pepper sauce.  Whisk until fully combined and set aside.
Mix the drained potatoes with the cooked vegetables until they are mixed up well.
Sprinkle the cheese over it all.
Pour the milk mixture over that (it should cover everything)
Place the tomato slices on top and push them down just a little.
Bake for about 40 - 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.  The middle should not be liquid.
Cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

Summer updates:

This daisy is in my back yard.  It is beautiful.  There are bugs.


This is pretty much what life is looking like here.  Worst part - no breakfast.  I can deal with no food pretty much any other time of day except breakfast.  Day two of finding breakfast elsewhere and I'm a bear... a bear in March.  Kids think that muffins and hot chocolate for breakfast is cool.  They are not having any trouble adjusting.

It's our 'Renovate all the things' project.

Kitchen edition:



Front Hall edition:


Deck and Balcony edition:  No picture available yet because it doesn't start until next week.

Kid #1 is going into high school in approximately 1 1/2 months.  I see her for probably no more than 20 minutes a day between her friends and her bedroom (and what I can only assume is copious amounts of netflix and tumblr)

We have no vacation plans... none... not even one plan.

I have decided to try my hand at making my own pepper sauce.  The bones seem easy but I imagine that it will take a little tweaking to get the recipe to my taste.  At least the basic ingredients are cheap so I won't waste a lot of money if it blows chunks.

Kid #2 has finally mastered biking on two-wheeler.  He hasn't yet mastered the starting and stopping of biking.  He went 'biking' with a friend yesterday.  I stood and watched them.  I became that Mom - the one that stands there and gets super edgy and uptight that her kid is going to fall or get run into or slam into a tree or something.  That Mom.  I had to close my eyes.

I really wish I were posting my rhubarb curd ice cream with white chocolate but can't because I haven't made it yet.  It sounds finicky but the idea occurred while I was trying to sleep and it made sense at the time.  I'm going to try it because I've decided that I need to work harder on my follow through.


I have some lovely little things happening in the garden this year.  Unfortunately, the raspberries have completely taken over the rhubarb and the poppies.  It turns out that tomato plants don't really like me that much and have decided to boycott growing in protest.  Pleasant surprise: I have dill where I planted none.  Nobody here likes dill.

Reasons that you can thank me for not posting recently:

1.  You have been spared the 'My best posts of 2013' blog post.

2.  And also the 'My favourite posts of 2013' blog post.

3. As well as the 'Winter is so depressing that I'm having trouble functioning let alone writing a blog post' blog post.

4.  And don't forget the sucky 'Winter Cleanse because that's what we all need to do in January' blog post.

5.  Then there's the 'Here are some awesome pictures of snow because I have nothing else for you' blog post.

That's as much as I'm going to say about it... and we move on.

Audition season has begun with gusto.  Kid #2 has completed one of her two auditions for grade 9 (I could write a whole paragraph on how it's a travesty that I'm a parent of a thirteen year old and how you would probably never guess that I was the parent of a teenager as long as you didn't see her standing beside me... but I won't)  Kid #2 has completed his vocal audition (with flying colours - huge sigh of relief) and has moved on to academic testing (cue more internal hand wringing).  I have also been helping a handful of other hopefuls prepare for their auditions.  This has made January not quite a slow as I had hoped.
This means that the bananas have gone straight to the freezer once overripe and not into a cake or cookie or pancake or the like.  It also means that I've cued a bunch of things but haven't moved beyond the cue.  The good news is that I have a cue... right?  The freezer is starting to feel a little over crowded with all of the bananas getting stuffed in there.  I've been thinking that I've got to get serious about working down the numbers.


This recipe worked perfectly for me because:
 - it used up 2 bananas
 - it made enough waffles to make two kids happy on a Sunday afternoon and gave them breakfast the next day
 - it used buckwheat flour
 - it could have worked beautifully as a dessert with just a dollop of vanilla ice cream and a little bit of maple syrup

I will, of course, also make some kind of obligatory banana cake but I'm thinking something cocoa'y'.  After that though, I'm all out of ideas and it's back to the drawing board.  I think that I'll work on borrowing my way through January first though.


Banana Brown Butter Waffles adapted from 'Two Peas and their Pod'
makes 8 - 9 waffles

2/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2/3 cup buckwheat or whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup milk or buttermilk
2 eggs separated
2 medium sized overripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla

Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan over med heat.  Add in the butter and turn the heat down to low.  Let the butter brown for a few minutes (and some water will cook out too).  Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
Combine the flours together along with the brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.
Combine the milk, egg yolks, mashed banana and vanilla.  Mix well.

Start preheating the waffle iron.

Whisk or beat the egg whites until peaked and stiff but not dry.  Set aside.
Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix to combine.  Add the browned butter and combine well.  Fold in the egg whites just until combined.

Spoon about 1/3 cup of the batter onto the heated waffle iron and heat to specifications until you use up all of the batter.

I'm totally distracted by lots and lots of things in my life.  At the moment my big distraction is that I have no one to go to a concert with me.  I'm gutted.  I desperately want to go and see Kate Nash who is in town next week.  I sent a call out to my cyberworld friends and sadly, have gotten no response.  D is not into K enough to go to the show although, to be fair, we haven't talked about it yet.  Kate is definitely just weird enough to be just a smidge inaccessible to most pop-loving north americans but not weird enough to make it into the super fringe crowd.  Her music speaks to me.  She seems unafraid to be a 'hysterical' female.  I'm itching to go and it's my March Break week... do I go by myself... it's pretty late in the night... I'd feel weird standing there alone...
Then I thought about how far the tables have turned... and in the weirdest way.  When I was in university I was the girl that didn't go out.  I stayed home.  I put my favourite CD in the disk player and plugged in the headphones.  I would lie on the couch and get lost in the sound.  I would read.  I would go to church.  I would grab the local and free newspaper and read about what was going on... I would never do it.  My friends would ask me to do stuff... I wouldn't.  Sometimes I would go to a movie - usually either while I was supposed to be in class (ie. during the day) or at midnight (I wasn't afraid of the movie theatre... just of some movies).  Mostly I went to friends places for dinner if I did anything at all.  Once.  ONCE!  My friend dragged me kicking and screaming (and terrified on the inside) to a Bare Naked Ladies concert.  It was fun but I felt lost, I didn't know what to do.
It's taken me many years to be okay with not knowing what to do, to stop worrying about whether I looked the part and to actually let myself want to do something.  I am now at the stage of life when most of us slow down - kids, work, home - and yet now I feel finally ready to get out there and do somethings.  Let me be clear, I still don't want to do a lot.  I'm not and probably never will be much of a party person.  But there are some things that I just want to do.


It's weird how life does that to you.  Just when you feel good about yourself and you're ready to put it out there you discover that your boat just set off from dock and you're scrambling to find another solution.  I don't know if you've ever found yourself in that situation.  Wondering how it is in your circle of friends or in your family that you are the only one who's giving a crap about some special thing or whatever.  Thing is, I'm one week away from a great show and I've got no date.  Should I consider hiring someone?  Do I ask someone to go who doesn't know KN at all - then I have to explain her or feel all apologetic when she's not what they expected.  Do I just not go?  I can get her music online after all... it's not the end of the world right?
While contemplating my dilemma I made these muffins.  Muffins are still weird for me because I feel like they are cupcake's boring cousin except... they're not.  Aside from not rising as much as I might have preferred in a perfect muffin world, these were great.  I sat with a cup of coffee (which I'm drinking again for those with an interest) and let the carrot muffin pieces in my mouth lull my into a false sense of 'ok'.


Whole Grain Carrot Muffins adapted from Good to the Grain
makes about 8 - 10 medium sized muffins

Streusel: (I only used about half of this for the muffins - the other half can go in the freezer for next time)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp spelt flour
2 tbsp oat bran (I used quick oats instead)
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp (or so) cold, unsalted butter, cubed

Muffins:

1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup oat bran (I used a mixture of bran and quick oats 'cause that's what I had)

1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups carrots, shredded
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 egg

Combine the streusel ingredients in a bowl and using your fingers, pinch together the ingredients until they form a crumbly texture.  Do this quickly and then set aside in the fridge until needed.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Line a muffin tin with about 10 liners and set aside.
Combine the flours, oat bran, both sugars, allspice, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg together.  Mix just until combined.  Add the shredded carrots and mix until the carrots are mixed and coated with the dry ingredients.
In another bowl combine the buttermilk, melted butter and egg together and whisk until the ingredients are combined and just a little frothy.  Add to the flour mixture and stir together just until everything has incorporated to form a wet batter.
Fill each muffin cup just to the brim with the batter.  Sprinkle a generous amount of streusel on top of each muffin (about 2 tbsp or so, if you can manage it).
Bake for about 32 - 35 minutes, turning half way through baking.
Cool slightly before removing from the pan.
Keeps for about 2 days.

It's amazing how quickly we can forget things that we knew very well.
When it's summer I forget what it feels like to be cold.  When it's winter I forget what it feels like to be warm.
I can forget where I've put my keys or glasses in a matter of seconds.
I can forget what my favourite blogs are over the course of one week - less time if it's been a busy week.
I often forget to bring strategic articles of clothing to work with me (I ride my bike most of the time and prefer to change my clothes rather than get my good work clothes dirty and/or wrecked) and have had to resort to keep these strategic pieces in my bag at all times.  That's how many times I've forgotten.
There have been times when I've forgotten to eat.

Collectively, we forget almost everything.
We forget public policy.
We forget leaders both good and bad.
We forget history (a dangerous, dangerous way to exist) both the good and the bad - unless it's documented clearly for us in movie form of course.


Recently, I realised that I'd forgotten about something very important.
My waffle maker.
I know that you were expecting me to come out with something a little more... weighty, serious.  I might counter that two extremely happy, contented kids who think that their Mom is THE BEST can be a pretty weighty and serious matter.  However, I will concede that it's a little trivial and self centred.  However, if there is ever a time when you can allow yourself a little bit of the trivial and self centred, it's the weekend.  Am I right?
I've been experimenting with grain flours over the past couple of months and have discovered that my organic food box will deliver locally grown and milled flour as well as it being available from 'Fresh from the Farm'.  I've been taking full advantage of both offerings.  These waffles turned out beautifully.  No one suspected that they were 'whole wheat' either by taste or texture.


Multigrain Waffles adapted from King Arthur Flour
makes between 10 and 12 med sized round waffles

1/2 cup whole wheat

Baking requires something of you.  Yeah sure, it's soothing, it's not difficult, it's rewarding, for some it's demeaning but it's nothing if not demanding.  You can't serve two masters while you are baking unless you are willing to risk disaster.  There are those times when all the best laid plans and the most intense focus still don't yield something up to expectation.  Today was one of those days.
I intended to be showing you pictures of pumpkin bread today because it's been on my mind for a long time.  I've been delving into my new cookbook to get some further inspiration and I was seriously ready to go.  I'd cleared my time.  I'd prepared the squash ahead of time - roasted and mashed.  My baking tin was prepped.  The ingredients were ready.  This was going to be the thing.  The thing that my eyes and my taste buds have been waiting for.  I started.  Sure, I was adapting things but nothing drastic.  The muffin recipe was being adapted into a loaf recipe.  The changes were right there on the page.  Everything was primed to be perfect...
And then I turned on that Bollywood movie I'd started the day before.
Oh it was fantastic.  It was everything we've all come to expect from our favourite Bollywood offerings.  Extremely well built male whose shirt seems ready to slip off at the slightest breeze or splash of water.  Beautiful, innocent and yet absolutely alluring woman with straight dark hair and enticing eyes.  They dance.  There are costume changes.  Though they are drawn to each other there is so much keeping them apart.  Their love is sacred.  Through the many costume changes and flirtatious glances there's a love story that takes on religious zeal and often spans decades.  It's wonderful, magical, epic and mythical.  And it's not the best thing to have running when you are trying a new recipes that requires adapting and tweaking.  My bread went into the oven and the timer was set.  The timer went off and I even gave it more time.  I even used a cake tester to check that it was done but when I came back to the loaf about 10 minutes later to slice it and take some pictures I found that it had sunk quite drastically.  'I'm sure it's fine' I think getting distracted that once again some beautiful abs and biceps have escaped from the shirt they were hidden under on my tv screen.  I slice my loaf and immediately realize that what I expected to be a perfectly cooled loaf is really cooled pudding.  Complete goo.  It seems that the giggling and dancing, wire fighting (yes - there was that too), garden walks and attempted kidnapping all helped me completely forget that muffin baking time and loaf baking time might be a tad different from each other.


Fortunately one of the positive side effects of such a pleasant distraction is that you bounce back quite quickly.  I was truly none the worse for wear.  'Oh well, these things happen' I say to myself.  Off it went to compost and out came the bananas.  Whole wheat flour and some streusel, a few chocolate chips and the universe was once again in balance... and the happy couple were hugging finally after two hours on screen and 7 movie years of waiting for each other.  Hugging.


I've not given up on my pumpkin bread.  I've still got the ideal in my head.  It's going to look just so and taste wonderful.  The crumb will be perfect and the topping will be the icing on the cake so to speak.  It just won't be happening today.


Red Fife Banana Muffins adapted from 'Baking Bites'
8 - 10 muffins

1 1/2 cup red fife or whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 or 3 ripe bananas (about 1 - 1 1/4 cups), peeled and mashed
3 tbsp melted butter

Toppings or additions:
Few handfuls of chocolate chips (additions)
Streusel (topping) - see recipe below
chopped nuts (addition or topping or both)
chopped candied nuts (topping I think)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a muffin tin with paper or silicon liners and set aside.
Combine the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.  Mix until incorporated and set aside.
Combine the milk, egg and brown sugar together.  Mix well.  Add in the mashed banana and mix again.  Add in the melted butter and mix well.
Add the flour mixture to the banana mixture.  Mix only until the flour is completely mixed in.  Add any additions that you would like ... or none at all.
Fill the muffin cups so that the filling just reaches the top.  Sprinkle with nuts or streusel if you would like.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin.

Streusel - adapted from 'Good to the Grain'

1/8 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1/8 cup unbleached, all purpose flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
dash of salt and cinnamon
3 tbsp unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Combine all ingredients and work it with your fingers, pinching gently until the butter mixes to form a crumbly texture.

Even though it feels like spring here in Toronto it really is just a few days away from Christmas and only a couple of days from the winter solstice aka the end of the world as we know it.  Cool.  I'm biking to and from work consistently and I'm contemplating planting the garlic cloves that I forgot about earlier in the fall.  It's that warm.
Still, it's the holiday season.  I know that because I feel like I haven't come up for air in a very long time.  I've lost what feels like days and days inside of concert halls.  Concert halls are weird places.  You lose track of everything in concert halls.  There are usually very few if any windows.  Most have none.  It's like time stands still in those places.  It's like a time vacuum.  It's weird.  I know it's the holidays because The Mall near my work is oozing with people carrying bag after bag.  I know it's nearing Christmas because there are little presents sitting on my desk each day at work from one of the boys that I teach.  I know it's the holidays because I'm going to pick up my christmas ham in a couple of days.
Up to a couple of days ago I hadn't baked anything Christmas like at all.  Nothing.  No white chocolate (a near abomination at any time of year anyway).  No cranberries.  No red or green sprinkles. (which are surprisingly hard to find BTW) However, I had a couple of spare hours in between sleeping and concerts so I decided to get creative.


This recipe didn't quite turn out the way I had imagined.  It's a little more brown than I might have liked but that's due to the whole wheat flour.  It's a little less sweet than I might have liked but that's due to the fact that I halved the sugar content - you could change that if you feel so inclined.  It's got no lemon juice in it due to the fact that I had no lemons only some zest that I had frozen a little while ago.  It has no topping, no glaze, no streusel.  I did mention earlier that I only had a couple of spare hours and the topping was the first thing to go.  So given the fact that the whole thing turned out so differently than expected I'm happy with it.  It's a brown, not too sweet way to add some cranberry to your christmas diet.  If you don't have cranberry and would prefer to use jam instead then go for it.  If jam is not your thing than throw in some frozen blueberries or even dried cranberries.  That would be fine.  Toasted nuts of some kind or even candied nuts.  Yup.  That would be fine too.  I would stay away from the white chocolate on this one.  That would not be fine at all.


Cranberry Swirl Bread generously adapted from 'In Praise of Leftovers'
makes 1 large loaf

Swirl:
2 cups cranberries, quartered
1/4 cup + 2 heaping tbsp sugar
3 tbsp water
dash of salt
1/2 inch piece of cinnamon
1 star anise
1 clove
1 tsp lemon zest

Combine all ingredients and simmer down for about 15 minutes or until the mixture is quite thick but still spreadable/pourable.  Set aside to cool slightly.

Loaf:

1 cup whole wheat flour or red fife
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs (use 3 eggs if you are skipping the egg white option)
2 tbsp lemon zest
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour a large loaf pan (don't use a smallish/med one like I did and then have a bunch spill over into your oven) and set aside.
Combine the whole wheat and all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Mix together and set aside.
Combine the melted butter, eggs, lemon zest, honey, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla.  Whisk together until thoroughly combined and set aside.
Whip the egg whites (I used a hand mixer) until fairly stiff and can hold a peak.  Set aside.
Add the butter and egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk together until they're fully incorporated.  Add in the egg whites and continue to whisk gently until they're fully incorporated into the batter.
Pour a third of the batter into the prepared tin.
Add about 6 tbsp of the cranberry jam on top.  Gently spread it evenly.  Pour another third of the batter on top and then another 6 tbsp of the jam spread evenly over that.  Finally pour the last bit of batter over the jam.  Take a chop stick or knife and stick it into the batter top to bottom and run it end to end once.
Bake for about 50 - 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes and then finish cooling on a rack.

It has come to my attention that there are a few of you out there who actually suspend your lives for a few minutes to look at my blog.  This is awesome and I love and appreciate you.
I have learned recently that there are others from this same group who not only stop on this blog for a few minutes to scroll through the pictures and see if sugar and chocolate are involved in the recipe but who take the time to read what I spew out in these paragraphs.  Just knowing this scares me.  You are the people who send shivers down my spine.
You see, I don't think about who is going to read any of this while I'm typing.  I'm not typing to a demographic.  I'm not typing in response to an expectation.  The way it usually works is that I think something and then start writing not.  I'm not even joking.  This post is a great example of my lack of planning.  I didn't even know what I was going to write literally as I started typing.  The first sentance just sounded good to me and I went with it.
I'm sure that this knowledge explains a lot about my writing to you.  It might explain the typo's (maybe - that's just not re-reading though).  It might explain the rambling.  It might help you understand why my paragraphs are so bloody short.  It doesn't, however,  explain why I keep doing it and this is the embarrassing part for me. I don't even know why I keep doing it.  Why does anyone keep doing something that they don't really want to do and think is lame?  Why do I keep telling myself that I can book that night out with a friend and then have to cancel every single time?  Why do I tell myself that I'll totally get to folding the laundry that's hanging on my hall railing this week and it still hangs there until Thursday or Friday... every single week.  Why do I keep ordering apples, telling myself that this week I will take them for lunch,  when I know that none of us really really like eating them and that they will probably go soft before we remember that they are there.
And that my friends is the real point of this post.
Apples.


I know it took a while and I bet your head is still spinning a little.  Don't try to figure it out just accept it.   Don't sit back and wonder why I wrote 4 paragraphs just to get to apples.  It's fruitless.  I couldn't give you a decent reason but either way apples were the point all along.  I buy them and them we both look at each other and think 'later'.  And then they're soft.  So last week I made apple crisp with honey and I felt so awesome for being all 'whole wheat and honey'.  This week I've added egg whites because when you make your own ice cream (and yeah, apple crisp  absolutely does NEED vanilla ice cream) you have a lot of egg whites slowly getting freezer burn.  So it's begun.  The mission to empty my freezer of egg whites and to use up this week's apples.
Just for the record, apples are coming with my food box again tomorrow.


Apple Spice Bread with Egg Whites adapted from 'Great Good Food' by Julee Rosso
makes 1 lg sized loaf

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp nutmeg, cardamom
zest of 1 small lemon
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp plain yogurt or sour cream
juice half a small lemon (probably about 1 tbsp)
1 egg
2 - 3 egg whites
1 1/2 cups apples coarsely chopped but not necessarily peeled

Preheat oven to 350°
Grease and flour a loaf pan (I used a smaller one but should have used a large one) and set aside.
Combine both flours, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom and lemon zest together.  Mix and set aside.
Combine the buttermilk, yogurt and lemon juice together and set aside.
In a large bowl whisk or beat the brown sugar together with the melted butter until there are no lumps and the butter is completely incorporated into the sugar.  Add in the egg and the egg whites.  Beat at a slightly higher speed until the mixture has increased in volume just a little.  It should feel like one big combined light paste.  Add in a bit of the flour and continue beating or whisking until it's all mixed in.  Add a little of the buttermilk mixture and beat until it's all mixed in.  Continue to alternate the two until everything is used up.  Try to end with the flour mixture.
Gently fold in the apple pieces and stir until they are well mixed into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool completely before cutting - although I couldn't quite accomplish this... Kid #1 and I shared a piece quite a bit sooner than 20 minutes... totally worth it.