Photo Friday: Landscape Photography from your Car

I love landscape photography but alas I am not an outdoor person. I much prefer to be "Miss Daisy" and snap pictures from the warm comforts of my car. And to boot, Hubby isn't interested in pulling over every time I see something of interest (which is often).

I often joke that I should do a book called "Landscape Photography from your Car".



What do you think? It would probably sell as a coffee book, no? Move over other New York Times bestsellers! haha.

(But seriously, if any publishers out there do think it's a great idea, shoot me an email, ok?)

:)

Have a great weekend!

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Author: Maki | at:12:08 PM | Category : weekly photos | 2 comments

Eating Out: Dishcrawl Edmonton, Old Strathcona

If you haven't heard of Dishcrawl yet, I'm certain you will soon enough. If you were lucky enough to be on twitter or know someone who tweets, then might have got the information in time and bought a ticket before DishcrawlYEG sold out.

Much like a pubcrawl, dishcrawl is a guided tour of 4 restaurants with a group of other foodies. Two days prior to the event, ticket-holders were told where to meet and then from there, the eating began, from one restaurant to the next. This particular dishcrawl was based in Old Strathcona.


We started at the The Sabzy, a family-operated resto, with all sorts of Persian eats. Quinoa tabbouleh salad, saffron rice with barberries, pita with hummus, skewered chicken.


We were then led to the infamous The King and I. (I was given 2 varieties of skewered meat as I could not have any shellfish). Panudulus chicken in a banana leaf, poppy shrimp and spring rolls.

Third stop was the newly opened Meze by Koutouki. Greek salad, saganaki cheese, pita & hummus to start.


And in true hospitable Greek style, one must EAT so we were given even more food! Keftedes, dolmades, spanakopita and sweet end with bougatsa.

At this point, we all rolled our full bellies back down whyte avenue to Accent Restarant and Lounge. Topped off the taste of caprese salad, Innis and Gunn beer-soaked baked oyster and chocolate avalanche cake.

I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I got to go to restaurants I have not been to before, met a bunch of new people and had a lot of fun! Until next time!

Read about the experience also at: The Edmonton Journal

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Author: Maki | at:4:34 PM | Category : eating out | 10 comments

Coconut Macaroons - low carb version

I've been low carb eating as of late. It's my version of a new year's resolution cleanse diet, though I'm looking to continue on with it.

If you have read or heard of Good Calories, Bad Calories, which I call my hubby's "bible", then you might know Gary Taubes has a new book called Why We Get Fat. He is a scientific writer and in the first book compiled all sorts of research showing "Obesity is caused... not by the quantity of calories you eat but by the quality." And in the followup novel writes that "...certain kinds of carbohydrates—not fats and not simply excess calories—have led to our current obesity epidemic." The second novel is an easier read, since the first one is compiled with a lot of research data. (Quotes from Gary Taubes website)



Whether you are interested in the low carbohydrate lifestyle or not, these are very good reads. I foraged into the low carb world very seriously at one time and I will tell you it worked for me. As I mentioned earlier, I am currently low carbing but with time will gradually return to a more modified version. I can't give up cake, cookies, fresh bread and other delicious carb-ful goodies but I can limit them and more importantly work on having the bulk of my meals contain little to no carbohydrates. Carb-filled foods will be my "sometimes" treat (hopefully!).

This is where my coconut macaroons come in. I wanted something sweet and this fit the bill. I broke down the nutritional values, based on the values input into the USDA library. If you are against using sweeteners, then this recipe is not for you.

Happy low-carb eating!

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Coconut Macaroons
makes 15 cookies

3 egg whites
1/3 cup splenda granulated sweetener
1/2 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups unsweetened medium shredded coconut

Whip the egg whites, on medium-high speed, until fluffy. Slowly add the splenda sweetener and continue to whip the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. (My test is if you can hold the bowl upside down without any egg whites moving and coming out, then you are good to go)

Add 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and the coconut to the bowl. Gently fold until incorporated.

Onto parchment-lined baking sheet, add spoonfuls for the coconut mix.

Bake for 12-14 minutes at 350F, until lightly golden on top. Remove from oven and cool.

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Author: Maki | at:9:39 AM | Category : dessert / sweet things | 0 comments

Photo Friday and some links

(another photo from my Vanilla bean ice cream blogpost.)

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Thought I'd offer my some food-related links from my twitter feed.

• For those of you working on health-related new year's resolutions, eaTracker is a great tool. It has been overhauled since I last saw it.

• Fork Fest Winter: 2012 is currently running and goes until Jan 26th.

• Fun shirt for foodies: Lettuce turnip the beet

• Did you know that it takes 1375 olives (5.5kg) to make 1 litre of Olive oil?

• Am I the last to know about the President's Choice Black Label? I must try the bacon marmalade and the chermoula bell pepper spread!

• Anyone going to Dishcrawl on Wednesday? I am! See you there!

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Author: Maki | at:8:46 AM | Category : Links and News, weekly photos | 2 comments

Dried Fruit & Nut Galette

(I'm standing on a chair taking this picture. Notice my fuzzy blue slippers in the picture? tee hee!)

I love having healthier snacks for the kids so I often have a large stash of dried fruits and nuts during the fall/winter months. But sometimes, I get ahead of myself and realize that the huge volume-packed bags I bought are not moving as fast as I like and I'm not a fan of rock-hard dried fruits or rancid nuts.

So I decided it's time for a pie. Well, a "galette", which is a free-form type of pie. It's actually my favorite type of pie to make since it's easy and doesn't require 2 layers of pie dough or cutting out fancy lattice designs on top. Rolling out and folding over the edges which is super easy to do.



This recipe is drier than your usual fruit-filled pies so don't forget the vanilla bean ice cream or a large dollop of whipping cream!

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Dried Fruit & Nut Galette
makes 1 large galette

crust:
1-3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup ground almonds
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup buttermilk

filling:
1.5 cup chopped dried figs
1.5 cup chopped dried dates
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup pistachios

2 eggs
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

I make my crust in a food processor but you may do it in a bowl and use a knives or a pastry blender to cut butter.

In a food processor, mix together flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt and butter. Pulse until you get large crumbs forming. Slowly add buttermilk and pulse until all blended. Do not overmix.

Remove from processor and shape into a ball. Place it in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic film, for about 30 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine fruits and nut ingredients. Mix together the eggs, brown sugar, butter and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Add to the fruits and nuts and mix. Set aside.

Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out onto floured surface to about a 15 inch diameter. Transfer to parchment paper and baking sheet. Spoon the filling onto the pastry, leaving about a 4 inch border on the ends. Fold over ends atop of filling.

(Optional: I have sometimes sprinkled brown sugar atop the edges to give a nice sweetness and look to the crust)

Bake at 425F for 10 minutes, then reduce to 350F for about 45 minutes. The crust will be golden. Let cool on wire rack for about 20 minutes. Serve.

Crust recipe adapted from: Almond Buttermilk Crust: Canadian Living Market Fresh Special Issue Magazine, Summer 2008.

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Author: Maki | at:4:27 PM | Category : dessert / sweet things | 1 comments