I can’t wait to get baking and cooking with the lil’ peanut. It’s something I plan on doing right away. Forget about a play kitchen; there’s an entire kitchen to play in! So few get any food education now with it all but gone from school curriculum and families being busier than ever. We put so much emphasis on math and science and reading that everything else seems to get cut. What ever happened to equipping future generations with the knowledge and skill to cook for themselves? Or the ability to decipher really food from fake? Wouldn’t this once have been mere survival? I guess that’s what drew me to the Jamie Oliver Food Revolution community in the first place. We’ve lost our connection with food and the effects are devastating. When 42 million children under the age of 5 are overweight or obese worldwide, it’s time for action. If I can do anything to spread the word about the importance of food education, then count me in. So – drumroll please – I’m pleased to announce that you’re looking at the new Food Revolution Ambassador for Dartmouth, NS. While you’ll see a lot more posts in the coming weeks (and some big changes), I’m also planning something for Food Revolution Day this May 15. I’m thinking a free community cooking class or even cooking with a local school. I’m open to suggestions if you have any. But first, this year Jamie Oliver is asking for your help to fight for food education. He has launched a change.org petition to make practical food education compulsory the world over. 600,000 signatures strong in less than two weeks, it’s clear we want change. Whether you have kids or not, we’re all in this together. Listen to the Bump. SIGN IT. SHARE IT! And let’s get cooking shall we?

How about starting with this crazy moist roasted squash dark chocolate loaf. Or is it bread? I’ve heard many folks say they suck at baking but I promise this one you can’t mess up. Mix dry. Mix wet. Combine. Simple. Plus this has super nutritious roasted squash in it. That’s pretty much like having vegetables for dessert. It was the perfect use of that sad little buttercup squash in need of some immediate love but if you have leftover squash purée, it’s even faster. A can of pumpkin purée will do the trick but squash is abundant and mad cheap right now. Roast up a big one and save the extra purée for soup, pasta, pancakes, muffins or dessert. I imagine this would also be a piece of cake (quite literally!) for the munchkins. Measuring, cracking eggs, stirring – these are all tasks suited for kids. You’ll be surprised how excited kids get about helping in the kitchen and how it even effects their willingness to try new foods.

Though this loaf is certainly dessert worthy, it also makes a rich breakfast or afternoon snack alongside a cup of tea or coffee. If you really want to take it over the top, smother it in some dark chocolate sauce and a big dollop of whipped cream. This lasted but a couple days over here so you might as well make two. 

“My wish is to create a strong sustainable movement to educate every child about food, inspire families to cook again and empower people everywhere to fight obesity.”

– Jamie Oliver 

The post DISH | roasted squash dark chocolate loaf + fighting for food education appeared first on eathalifax.

I think mother Nature is playing one sick joke on us this year. Before you get all like ‘ stop your complaining’, we were totally robbed on the Summer front. One month of Summer? I mean c’mon; that ain’t right.

Not that Fall isn’t great. Soon the leaves will enliven the Nova Scotia landscape and yes, the markets are overflowing with the season’s harvest. There was also that great sunshine this past weekend, bringing us back into the 20 degree weather we weren’t quite ready to give up. There’s just one thing; I’m not ready for socks okay. Or turning on the heat. Or giving up my Summer dresses. Or god damn pumpkin spice everything. 

At least a move to cooler temperatures means a return to hot breakfasts, the kind of breakfasts that stick to your ribs and warm you from the inside out.  Before jumping back on the oatmeal train, might as well ease into the season with a sweet, sticky plum crisp. Crisp in our house takes on different forms every time we make it. It’s one of those dishes you simply make with whatever you have: apples, blueberries, pears, cranberries, strawberries, cherries, apricots. I mean what isn’t delicious baked up with a crunchy oatmeal-brown sugar-butter topping?  This plum cardamom crisp with rye and hazelnuts was both sweet and sour with a crunchy, nutty crumble, perfect for breakfast or even dessert topped with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

 Alright first day of Fall, let’s do this. 

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Though I’m not truly ready to discuss the reasons behind the sadness, I do have light in my life. There’s a roof over my head, there’s food in the fridge, there’s friends close by. Most importantly, I have something that helps me get up in the morning. It gets me through even the roughest of days. It is my guiding light. My saviour. And that something is love. 

In case it wasn’t clear, Brent and I met tree planting which is essentially like speed dating. Months spent in a community of 75. 4 days on, one day off. The teeny town of Hornepayne, Ontario. Friendships form quickly, relationships even faster. Neither of us saw it coming but after spending that Summer together we simply couldn’t say goodbye. 

Now 9 years later, I’ve been grateful everyday to wake up next to the best person I know. He is my best friend, my drinking buddy, my biggest fan. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t laugh together or lay in each other’s arms. Sometimes the mere thought of losing him – because sometimes those horrifying thoughts creep in – brings me to tears. If there was but one thing I could have in this world, it wouldn’t be the fame of an award winning food blog or successful restaurant. It wouldn’t be millions of dollars. It would simply be him. When the pain seems too much to bear, I simply remember that single fact. As long as I have him, I have everything. I can honestly say he is the best thing that ever happened to me. 

He is true love. 

Though there is nothing I could make him to even come close to expressing my feelings, he does love carrot cake. I even made it for his birthday the first year we were together. He also happens to love carrot cake full of raisins. I, on the other hand, NEVER eat baked raisins. Not raisin bread, not bread pudding, not cookies, and certainly not cake. Not ever. So when I bake him a carrot cake packed with bourbon soaked raisins, it must be true love right? Add to that a bourbon cream cheese frosting and this is next level carrot cake, the kind of carrot cake he deserves. 

And despite the fact that this is simply and hastily decorated – hey at least I garnished it – and the photos are far from perfect, that’s not the point. I’m finally realizing it’s the story that matters. And our story is the best story I know. 

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I tell you, when food bloggers potluck, they really potluck. Despite not assigning courses or coordinating dishes, it all worked out beautifully. Gluten free chocolate cake, lemon white chocolate blondies, rhubarb apple crisp, walnut cake with lime curd, lentil salad, caramelized onion dip with fresh homemade bread, mac n’ cheese, spinach salad with avocado and bacon, Israeli couscous and olive salad, even these gin mussel shooters from the Food Wife. It was a veritable feast. Everything handmade with about as much love as you could possibly imagine. 

Initially I had a hard time deciding what to make for the potluck but opted to whip up some of my favourite Spring inspired crostini as an appetizer before all had arrived: pea puree, prosciutto and mint, roasted cherry tomatoes with ricotta, basil, and balsamic reduction, and thinly sliced radish on top of creamy ricotta. But in order to address the concept behind Food Revolution Day, I wanted something that would get us excited about cooking. That something was pie.  

There was a time when our grandmothers could simply make pie. Flour, water and most likely shortening came together by feel. The skill was passed down from mother to daughter, generation after generation. More intuition than skill, it was the same for bread, biscuits, even cakes. Not only have we lost the most basic of cooking skills – or perhaps the mere confidence to even start – but we’re losing these skills that were once so inherent. There were no cookbook shelves to confer, no internet to search. Cooking then was as important as farming or preserving. It was how you fed your family, how you survived.

It’s not that I personally have a special connection to pie eventhough that rolling pin was in fact my grandmother’s. I am certainly no pie connoisseur. I just wanted to make something that connected me to those who came before. Filled with seasonal fruit or, in times when the preserves were long used up during those cold Winter months, simply buttermilk. Even in times of poverty, there was pie. I happen to think that’s pretty special.

I decided if I was going to get my hands dirty making pie, so was everyone else. So was born the hand pie station.  

Though I wouldn’t normally invite guests over with the butcher’s block blanketed in flour, the hand pie station was a huge success. It was a way for us to get our hands dirty together, to connect with our food on a deeper level. As we mingled and ate, local Nova 7 wine in hand, one by one we’d make our way over to the butcher’s block to try our hands at our own customized pie. I could not have been happier. 

Will full bellies and happy hearts, the evening concluded with an honest discussion of our own culinary stories, food insecurity and our society’s over reliance on processed foods. I felt grateful to be part of a community so passionate about cooking from scratch and passing on our cooking skills through blogging. It reminded me how lucky I am to be surrounded by such inspiration. To all my fellow bloggers, thank you. 

It is exactly the kind of inspiration seen throughout the world this Food Revolution Day. Millions of people came together, united in the goal to “get cooking, share your love of food, and inspire others to get excited too.” Whether it was a potluck to help raise over $25 000 for the Children’s Aid Society’s Toward Independence Project, participation in Jamie Oliver’s live cooking demo or simply gathering your friends and family around the table, we showed the world that cooking is a skill we are no longer willing to give up. But it shouldn’t stop at one day a year; we need to make Food Revolution Day our every day. We must pass on our cooking skills to our family and friends. We must make real food the basis of all our meals. We must understand the effect highly processed food has on our health and well being. Together we can bring back cooking.

Though I can’t give a recipe for the hand pies as I prepped toppings aplenty, I will however share the spelt shortcrust pastry recipe. It was indeed another Jamie Oliver recipe from Jamie at Home though I decided to hit it with whole grains by using spelt flour instead. It is the perfect example of how healthy and delicious are not mutually exclusive. Our toppings included lightly sweetened cream cheese, rhubarb vanilla compote, strawberries and raspberries. If you’re planning on hand pies, you could even opt for whatever jam or preserve you have on hand. Get those hands in some pie crust and make your grandmother proud. 

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I could not be more excited to be teaming up with Sobey’s for Canada’s Biggest Potluck Challenge in support of the global day of action to keep cooking skills alive, Food Revolution Day. “Sobeys is on a mission to help Canadians eat better and feel better and we know cooking skills are an important element of that. It’s why we’ve partnered with Jamie Oliver who is so passionate about sharing his food knowledge and inspiring people of all ages to get cooking.”

How important are cooking skills? This past February Sobeys conducted over 1000 online interviews with a sample of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 80. The results are alarming.  

• There exists a large generational gap in those confident in the kitchen. Isn’t it a huge wake up call that two thirds of young adults lack the skills and confidence to cook for themselves?

• The majority of Canadians are not even cooking one meal a day but rather consuming a diet high in processed food. Considering the link between the elevated levels of sugar, salt and fat in processed food and obesity, this represents a huge public health crisis.  

• A love of cooking and the desire to share that love with others is born out of passing down cooking skills from generation to generation. 

• Those who love to cook know that delicious and healthy food can be both affordable and quickly prepared.

So, how do we change the numbers? We join in. 

As Jamie Oliver explains, “Food Revolution Day is all about cooking from scratch and sharing cooking skills and food knowledge. Sobeys’ research proves it – not enough Canadians have cooking skills to pass down. I’m excited to be working together to change that.” We must celebrate the joy of cooking. We must share our cooking skills with family and friends. We must understand the importance of cooking in leading happy and healthy lives. We must equip future generations with the knowledge and confidence they need to cook healthy food for themselves. We must get kids excited about food. 

It starts with us. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be hosting a potluck with friends and an entire group of bloggers passionate about food and cooking. You too can join in by hosting your own potluck anytime between now and Food Revolution Day on May 16th. It doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, those are my favourite potlucks. No theme, no designated courses, just real food and friends sharing in their collective love of cooking. 

But it gets better. For every photo with the hashtags #potluckchallenge and #FRD2014 posted to twitter and instagram from April 31 to May 16, Sobeys will donate $1 to the Cooking Toward Independence Project. The new initiative run by the Children’s Aid Foundation will provide cooking skills and create access to healthy food for youth leaving Canada’s child welfare system at age 18. Celebrating with friends around a spread of incredible food, helping share the love of real food and cooking AND helping youth gain valuable cooking skills as they start their lives as adults. That’s a win win right there. 

If you’re looking for tips on hosting your own potluck, look no further than Sobeys Potluck Inspiration. Can’t decide what to make? The official Food Revolution Day recipes are a great place to start. You could also find inspiration from your favourite cookbook. In deciding what to make for my potluck, I was reminded of this amazing dessert in one of my go-to cookbooks, Jamie at Home. It should be no surprise to any of you that I’m quite the Jamie Oliver fan. His approach to cooking – simple, affordable, from scratch, seasonal, where food looks like food – helped form the basis of my own cooking philosophy.

This was one of his recipes that quickly won me over. We’ve even made this planting. I can’t remember how many eggs we used that day but the thing was huge. Slathered with pears, chocolate, hazelnuts, whipped cream and orange zest, it was mesmerizing. It also just so happens to be a perfect potluck dish. An absolute stunner, it’s the kind of dessert you bring right to the table to blow everyone’s mind. I imagine it would also be magic to a child; the incredible transformation of four egg whites into a thick shiny meringue that bakes into a giant crunchy cake. Plus, how fun is decorating a meringue so freely with dollops of cream here and drizzles of chocolate there. That Jamie Oliver is on to something. 

Once you make one meringue, it’s a little hard to stop. It has everything going for it: it’s crazy economical, gluten free, and lighter than the typical cake while being every bit as decadent. It’s also super versatile. Meringue can become cookies, covered with a mountain of fresh fruit, sandwiched between layers of lemon curd or even – when it breaks apart as you’re taking it out of the oven – a beautiful eton mess. 

Looks like you already have a great idea for your dish, so when’s your potluck?

The post DISH | Canada’s Biggest Potluck + meringue with hazelnuts, dark chocolate & orange appeared first on eathalifax.

Now blogs are prolific, front and central in the world wide food scene. Whatever inspiration you’re looking for –  baking, paleo, raw – you can most certainly find it. I am constantly in awe of so many blogs that some days I feel almost defeated. I’m not sure when this became some competition in my head but I’ve suddenly become my own worst critic, judging dinner like it was goddamn episode of Chopped Canada.

Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of it all. It isn’t about the money or the fame. It’s not a perfectly styled photograph nor a dish with a long list of exotic ingredients. There’s no photography studio behind the scenes. There generally not even a tripod. Even after the blog redesign and hours spent defining the site, I still had it wrong.

What I failed to realize was that behind every review, every recipe, is simply me in my kitchen. This is my journal, my story. A story that starts in the woods of Northern Ontario. A story that takes me to Halifax where I jump head first into the burgeoning food scene. A story that increasingly connects me to my food with every day that passes. A story that I, for whatever reason, feel compelled to share. 

It’s a narrative of a return to real food, scratch cooking, and a fearlessness in the kitchen where bread is made with your hands and food comes from the land. It may not be the best story, but it’s mine.

Today’s main character: strawberry rhubarb spelt bars. A good dose of sugar and butter balanced with the whole grain sensibility of spelt. It was also the most perfect way to use up a jar of last season’s strawberry jam and some frozen rhubarb from last Spring. A wonderful balance of tart and sweet, these were exactly what I needed to propel myself back into the blog. Just simple, real and  and delicious. That’s what this story’s all about isn’t it?

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At least coming home to this spicy chocolate tart made it all melt away. This is decadence at it’s finest. A soft dark chocolate crust, a smooth chocolate mousse seasoned with just the right amount of cinnamon and spicy cayenne then drizzled with more dark chocolate and sea salt. Oh, and it’s vegan and gluten free. You’re expecting me to say April Fools aren’t you? 

While I know I post many recipes full of butter, refined flour and sugar, I also love experimenting with more healthful ingredients. I simply love baking. I’ve always been good at it. Wait, that’s a lie. There are tales of a certain chocolate chip cookie so hard it could kill you with one quick hit. I doubt I’ll ever live it down. But with years of practice baking for all those tree planters, I’d like to think I’ve become one with baking. I’m certainly at home with sugar and butter. In moderation of course.

When some folks here me say that, they contend that if you have to eat it in moderation, it can’t be good. On the contrary. I happen to believe eating real food is the key. Yes, to me bacon and butter are both real. So although I’m not going to label them unhealthy or bad, I certainly don’t eat them every meal. I think that such labels have even become part of the problem. Butter is bad but yet chemical laced, one step away from plastic is good? Take any packaged food that reads ‘ natural ‘ or  ‘a source of essential nutrients’. You know what’s natural and a source of essential vitamins and minerals? Surprise, surprise. Real food. 

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot more about health and have been turning to a whole array of ingredients. So instead of mixing up a butter laden, sugar filled chocolate tart, I challenged myself.  Honestly, it wasn’t that hard. I’ve been hip to the ways of the vegan desserts for some time now. Nuts and dates do make a simple crust baked or left raw. Silken tofu blended til smooth can become anything – a chocolate mousse, a creamy smoothie, even savoury dips and dressings. Real food, from bacon to tofu, is simply delicious. 

I’m not going to label this healthy but it does contain healthful fats, natural sugars, and protein. But c’mon a dessert is a dessert. It’s full of calories – though nutrient dense calories are better than the alternative – but I’ll be damned if I’m ever going to feel guilty for enjoying a piece of cake vegan or not. 

Have your cake and eat it too I say. Just make sure it’s the real deal and made with love. 

If you’re looking to expand your mind further, I had a little chat with the folks at enVie about veganism which you can find over at Eat North. You’ve all been cheering on Lauren Marshall in this season of Top Chef Canada right? She’s pretty much kicking ass and taking names not to mention challenging everyone’s misconceptions about vegan cuisine. I happen to think this tart will do the same. Go ahead, prove me wrong. 

Looking for more posts like this? Throw a vote my way and I’ll keep the good stuff coming. 

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Even with snow in the forecast this week, I am hanging on to the notion that Spring is here. That’s not to say I’m not still enjoying all the local produce available throughout the Winter. Roots are still front and central on our table. One of our favourites, year round in fact, are sweet potatoes. They replace potatoes in many a dish. They are right at home in chilli and soup. They make breakfast exciting. It’s no surprise they’d eventually show up in dessert. 

Is coffeecake breakfast or dessert? Either way, count me in. I’ve been making variations of coffee cakes for years now, starting of course in that kitchen bus I made my home all those years ago. Planters loved the stuff. I mean it’s goddamn cake for breakfast. Whether it was traditional cinnamon streusel or mocha or blueberry, there’d rarely be a crumb left. 

This Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake from White on Rice Couple caught my eye back in the Fall and I instantly knew coffee cake would make it’s reappearance someday soon. If you have yet to become acquainted with Todd Porter and Diane Cu, now’s the time to remedy that. They even recently released the cookbook Bountiful which is right at the top of my list of books to buy. All about bringing people together through food, it’s no surprise I’m a big fan.

My version replaces the pumpkin with sweet potatoes that I simply baked in the oven. Any leftover mashed sweet potato will do even if they’re already lightly spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla or orange. The topping though an extra step is totally worth it. I brown butter on the regular over here. Once you start, you can’t really stop. It lends a sort of nuttiness to the topping. Overall the crumble adds texture and a saltiness that brings it all to a whole new level. If salty isn’t your thing, you can substitute with unsalted butter. 

Whether this cake is bound for the breakfast table or meant for a refreshing change from chocolate cake for dessert, I can’t imagine, like those ravenous planters, that there’d be anyone turning down a slice. I know I won’t. In these last few days of Winter, cake for breakfast is exactly what I need. 

The post DISH | sweet potato coffee cake with brown butter crumble appeared first on eathalifax.

Adapted from a recipe for lemon polenta cake by Nigella Lawson, this blood orange version is moist as all hell, slightly crunchy, and stunning glazed in a brilliant blood orange syrup. Aren’t blood oranges just the coolest. So deep and crimson, truly living up to their name.

Perhaps better the second day, I can’t stop thinking about this cake. There’s just something about that moist, crunchy interior and sticky sweet crust.  I may just eat it for every meal today. I’m also beyond excited to make it with lemons or grapefruits or all the rest of the Winter citrus. 

Originally posted with weighted measures, I decided to roughly convert it to volume for all you non-weighers. I’d be lying if I said I was one of those precise bakers relying on my trusty kitchen scale. After years spent baking more than three times a day in the bush, I became a somewhat fearless baker, adapting recipes as I saw fit. While I don’t recommend that approach for the novice baker, this recipe turned out perfect. So, grab those cup measures and get baking. Just be prepared to eat cake for breakfast. Hey, at least there’s Vitamin C in there. 

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With a sold out display case on the regular, locals have embraced the buttery treats as if it was the last time they’d ever get their hands on one. Whether it’s the straight up plain, crunchy almond, pain au chocolate, salty prosciutto provolone or one of the crazy weekly concoctions, one thing’s for sure: size matters. The ridiculously large baked goods at TIBS have won us over. Suffice it to say, when Tara MacDonald, the genius behind the croissant empire, released a cookbook full of TIBS baking secrets, it was bound to be popular. The TIBS Guide to Desserts includes recipes for some of usual cafe line up as well as desserts inspired by TIBS Family Dinners though you won’t find croissants. Hey, if that was my wildly successful croissant recipe, I’d keep it locked up too. 

Starting with an introduction to both Tara and the man behind the coffee Zane, The TIBS Guide to Desserts butters you up with it’s personal approach. In fact, Tara’s personality is evident on every single page. Couple that with step by step photographs and this is one cookbook perfect to warm over even the weariest of bakers. “Be the Baker!”

Since I partake in TIBS baked goods more regular than I’d like to admit, no scone or cookie was going to entice me. It was the decadent flourless chocolate cake that caught my eye. After several times using other flourless chocolate cake recipes that involved beating the egg whites and yolks separately then carefully folding it all together, Tara’s simplified version was void of all that. This was my kind of recipe. 

Never one to follow the rules, especially in the kitchen, I went ahead and put my own stamp on it, doubling the chocolate and using semi-sweet in place of the milk chocolate. If you have a high quality chocolate like the Callebaut used exclusively at TIBS, then go ahead and stick with the original amount. But if you like your chocolate a bit more intense like this dark chocolate afficianado, go nuts. I say the more the better when it comes to chocolate. The recipe below is also doubled and I highly recommend you follow suit. I don’t know about you but I’ll take a thick fudgy chocoholics dream over a thin version any day. I also covered that bad boy in sweet, slightly tart pomegranate seeds. It pretty much blew our minds. 

Like Tara warns, don’t be alarmed if your cake drops after you cool it or even cracks like mine. It’s every bit as delicious as any perfect looking cake out there. It’s rustic, also known as real. For the original recipe and other decadent desserts, get your copy at one of a number of locations around the Maritimes. Better yet, make haste to TIBS for your copy because if there’s one thing this book will do, it’s bring on the sugar cravings. Hello chocolate croissant. Is it me you’re looking for?

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