small business saturday

hopefully you've all survived the hooplah of black friday & can make it out tomorrow to support local businesses on 'small business saturday!' black friday is stupid (yup i said it) and makes no sense in canada, it just encourages people to waste money at the giant big box stores and line the pockets of jerkface ceo's. small business saturday encourages people to keep their money local and make more unique & interesting purchases.

end rant.

i won't be at the market on sunday this week but hopefully everyone is able to pop by tomorrow. don't forget, when you come to the market, take a gander upstairs & in the pavilion - it's where most of the artists & craftspeople have ended up since the big shuffle. there's lots to offer if you're looking for great gift ideas.

ok, back to food.

i had a busy, busy week. the menu is very well rounded again :)

festive, chocolate-peppermint brownies are back!

they're gluten free & grain free!

in honour of american thanksgiving, turkey & dressing pies are back. they're a convenient way to enjoy all the flavours of a thanksgiving dinner in one bite.

small $10  large $20

i used all the white meat in the pies and all the dark meat in a big batch of turkey stew.

it also has turnips, parsnips, potatoes, carrots, peas, savoury & sage - hard core comfort food & perfect as we head in to cold & flu season.

this week i also made a whole whack of shepherd's pies. i bought 30 pounds of getaway farm beef so hopefully i have enough to last a couple of weeks. i made the regular version with cheddar-green onion mash & a paleo (& dairy free) version with sweet potato puree.

small $10  large $20

and continuing with orange food, i made a batch of carrot, apple, ginger soup. it's vegan, gluten free & paleo. there are lots of warm spices like star anise & cinnamon but it's not spicy like some of my other soups.

it's $7 per 500ml serving just like all my soups.

then i went out to the garden & picked some kale.

kale is the best - i can't believe it's still going strong & that i haven't used it all yet! it made its way in to two of the three salads this week.

vegan potato & kale

beet & kale (vegan & regular versions)

there's broccoli salad too but everyone know what that looks like by now.

ok just a few desserts to portion & i'm done for the night & it's a reasonable hour!!!

hope to see you at the market tomorrow :)

bring on the comfort food

i just checked the forecast for tomorrow...it's depressing.

if you plan on hibernating, swing by my table at the market first to stock up on food. my menu is back to normal & i have lots of classic comfort foods to get you through this first official cold snap.

i made three new main courses this week.

the first is the ultimate in comfort food - smokey mac & cheese. it's seriously cheesy with foxhill cheese curds, parmesan, mozzarella & aged cheddar. there's also double smoked bacon, roasted tomatoes, corn, scallions & a touch of chipotle to add extra smokiness.

small $9  large $18

then i made sweet & spicy pork meatballs using getaway farm's pastured pork. the sauce it nice & tangy and filled with bell peppers, pineapple, carrots, green onions, lime & cilantro. it's served with a side of basmati rice. it's both gluten & dairy free.

small $10  large $20

and lastly, i made moroccan beef meatballs using getaway farm's grassfed beef. they're served in a piquant tomato sauce with fennel seed, sumac, dates, olives, roasted peppers, zucchini & swiss chard. the side dish is harissa quinoa with toasted almonds, green onions & citrus. this is another gluten free, dairy free option.

small $10  large $20

the salads this week are exactly the same as last week: potato & kale, beet & wheatberry, broccoli & bacon.

i do have a couple of new sweet selections this week.

gingerbread cupcakes will be back for the holiday season.

gluten free, spicy chocolate brownies are back.

and i have a brand new treat!

i'm calling them snickerdoodle muffins. they're muffins that are rather reminiscent of cake doughnuts. i added a touch of lemon to make them a bit more interesting & then rolled them in cinnamon sugar to add to their doughnut qualities. i think that they'd be excellent with a cup of coffee for a market morning treat :)

ok time to rest up before another busy weekend...i'm not really relishing the thought of packing the car at 4:30 tomorrow morning in the freezing cold...stupid winter.

sleep well.

Operation Restock

this week i wasn't preoccupied with 37 cakes so i took the time to restock my freezers in a big way.

i started off the week replenishing soups. i made three flavours and they are all vegan, gluten free & paleo!

first up was beet, parsnip & pear:

the sweetness of the parsnips & pears really rounds out the beets. i add some fresh dill at the end just to liven things up a bit.

then it was curried butternut squash:

this batch is not nearly as spicy as i typically make it. there's lots of warm spices, a touch of heat, coconut milk, lime & cilantro.

and finally, i made chai spiced cauliflower soup:

this soup features fennel seed, cardamom & star anise. it's nice and creamy - without using any dairy - with a touch of citrus to brighten it up.

then it was on to meals.

i've had a ton of requests for brisket & blue & it's finally back on the menu this week.

it's red wine braised beef brisket from getaway farm with caramelized onions, turnips & whole grain mustard. it comes with a side of creamy, blue cheese gnocchi, roasted beets & kale. there is also a paleo version with glazed parsnips & carrots in place of the gnocchi.

then it was on to my absolute favourite dish - chile pork & cornbread.

it's big chunks of braised pork shoulder stirred in to a thick chili with blacks beans, bell peppers, corn, chipotle, lime & pickled jalapenos. then it's topped with cheddar cornbread crumbles & green onions. these are most of my favourite flavours combined in to one dish.

then it was time for chicken parmesan - another all time fave!

it's buttermilk marinated chicken breaded with panko & parmesan. it's served over a robust tomato sauce with roasted red peppers, basil & swiss chard and comes with buttered pasta & a generous helping of cheese.

there's also a paleo version with mushrooms, bell peppers and zucchini in place of the pasta & no panko on the chicken.

and with that, the freezers are full once more.

i have another big week planned for next week and then my menu should be completely back to normal...just in time for the cold weather to set in :(

i have 3 salads for the weekend too - broccoli, beet & potato. there are lots of vegan, gluten free & dairy free options for folks to choose from.

and of course i will have loads of sweets.

7 flavours of cupcakes

gluten free cupcakes

breakfast cookies

lemon shortbread bars

maple walnut bars

hello dollies

snickers brownies

goat milk fudge

and since it's friday night, of course i just made another cake:

it's been a pretty busy week in the kitchen. it's time for me to get some rest.

this will be the first weekend in a very long time that i will be at the market both days. word on the street is that sundays are getting slower & slower. i'm really hoping that heading in to the holiday season, things turn around a bit. i'm looking forward to seeing lots of familiar faces this weekend & getting back in to the swing of things.

a demain.

the 37 cake marathon

for those of you following along on my facebook, instagram & twitter feeds last week, you know i made a lot of cake... 37 cakes in fact. 

those who know me well, also know that i hate making cakes. 

this may come as quite a surprise. sure my cakes are pretty & they taste great, but they are a TON of work and super stressful. when i add a single cake to my weekly workload i have to work around it for days, so when i announced that i had accepted an order for 37 cakes for 1 event, people were shocked.

i wasn't even sure if i could do it, but it was a really cool idea for a really cool couple, so i accepted the challenge. adam & ariela got married on sunday. they had a giant wedding. they also wanted to limit the waste generated by their wedding, so they came up with the idea of edible centrepieces instead of a bunch of florals destined for the compost.

when they first came to me with the idea, i had horrible visions of tacky edible arrangements made of out-of-season fruit decked out in chocolate & yogurt. but when they explained they wanted one of my cakes for each table, i warmed up to the idea. it's actually quite flattering that they thought my cakes were pretty enough to stand in for flowers at their wedding.

i was essentially given carte blanche - any flavour, any colour scheme - which is always nice, so i got to play around with palettes & get creative. i've made my fair share of cakes over the past four years so i know which colours work best but i also wanted a nice variety and for the frosting to reflect the flavour hidden within.

there were many, many lists involved with this undertaking. from the # of cakes i wanted to have finished each day, to the pounds of butter i would need, to the delivery schedule, to the cake boards & boxes i would need to transport them to the hotel - there was a lot to consider.  it was rather daunting to think that i had to fill each of these boxes with an ornately frosted cake:

i cleared my schedule for the entire week leading up to their big day. i was quite the recluse just baking & making frosting, designing colour schemes & piping cakes, day in & day out. each cake was two layers with a hefty helping of frosting in between. never before have i gone through so much butter & sugar in a single week.

i was making frosting by the stockpot-ful. 

and thankfully it all came together, i finished slightly ahead of schedule & the cakes were a huge hit at their wedding. this may, in fact, become a new wedding trend - it really is a great idea.

i made 2 or 3 cakes in each of the colour schemes so they had a nice variety.

here they are:

carrot

pink grapefruit

pink grapefuit

vanilla

vanilla

vanilla

lemon-blueberry

lemon-blueberry

red velvet-raspberry

red velvet-raspberry

chocolate-mint

chocolate-mint

chocolate

chocolate

they also ordered 37 dozen mini cupcakes to go with it all!

when it was all said & done my hands ached, my eyeballs burned & i was exhausted, but it may have been the biggest sense of accomplishment i've ever had.

here they all are just before their big debut:

i'd been stressing about this for months & i'm so relieved that it all worked out.