Caramelized Pearl Drops

Finally I have a new listing in my Etsy shop, it has been a while.

Pretty little caramel brown pearls paired with gorgeous copper ear wires with a firescale patina! Very simple!

caramelized pearl drops

Kinoje and Miss Bean

Our two Canadian Inuit dogs.

Kinoje

Miss Bean giving Mark a kiss!

Mocha Walnut Torte

This is my moms birthday cake, not the nicest photo. I should have cleaned the plate up a little before I took the photo. It is however a delicious cake, yum!

mocha pecan torte

The recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts, however I made a couple of changes to the recipe today for this cake. The recipe in the book is Mocha Walnut Torte. I substituted pecans for the walnuts, and I doubled the frosting recipe, and split the layers and   made a 4 layer cake. I will give you the recipe for the Mocha Walnut Torte. 

Mocha Walnut Torte

Cake:

1 1/2 cups walnuts

6 eggs, separated

1 1/3 cups sugar

2 tbsp. instant coffee granules

1/4 cup very hot water

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cornstarch

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1/3 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the bottom of two 9" pans with 9" parchment circles. Butter and flour the bottoms and sides of the lined pans.

In a food processor or in a small batches in the blender, whirl the walnuts until ground or finely chopped but not a paste. Set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks for 3 to 4 minutes, until light in colour. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. dissolve the coffee in the hot water. With the mixer on medium speed, resume beating the egg yolks and add the coffee in a slow steady stream. Sift the flour, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa into the batter and stir until well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/3 of the whites into the batter and then gently fold in the rest in two equal batches. Fold in ground nuts.

Carefully pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 35 minutes, until the cakes are firm and pull away form the sides of the pans. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes before inverting onto a rack and removing from the pans.

When the cake shave cooled, prepare the frosting. With a whisk or electric mixer, beat the cream until frothy and beginning to thicken. Add the vanilla and sift in the icing sugar. Continue to beat until soft peaks form. Frost the cake and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. the frosted torte will keep for 3 or 4 days, Chill any leftovers.

Serves 12. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Mom!!

Today is my moms birthday!!

Whoohoo Ruth!! Happy Birthday to you!!

Ruth, the birthday girl!

I made her a mocha pecan cake, and we are having a beef pot roast, with garlic mashed potatoes, turnip and swiss chard for dinner. Her choice! Yum!

Samosa Recipe

 Thomas gave me a copy of Whitewater Cooks

for Christmas! It is a wonderful cookbook and I have already made several recipes from it. Yesterday I made the samosa recipe from it, they are delicious! I will share the recipe with you. It was the first time I made samosas.

cutting out the dough circles with a yogurt container

filling the dough circles

Samosas

Ingredients:

Dough:

3 cups flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1/4 tsp. paprika

2/3 cup cold butter, cubed

2/3 cup cold water

Place flour, salt, baking powder, turmeric and paprika into food processor. Add butter and process until sand-like, approximately 10 seconds. Add water and pulse until mixture just comes together. Wrap dough in saran wrap and allow it to rest in fridge for at least an hour.

Filling:

1 tbsp. oil

1 cup onions, diced

1 tbsp. ginger, minced

1 tbsp. garlic, minced

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. curry powder

1 1/2 tsp. coriander

1 tsp. turmeric

2 tsp. chili sauce

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

5 cups potatoes, cubed in 1/2" pieces

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped into small pieces

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

2 tsp. salt

Boil potato and cauliflower pieces together until tender. In a large skillet, saute onion, ginger and garlic until tender. Add spices and cook one minute. Over medium heat add remaining filling ingredients except for peas and cook for about 4 to 5 minutes until mixture is well combined. Fold in peas and adjust seasoning. Let filling cool. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough and use a sour cream or yogurt type lid (5 inches in diameter) to cut shape. Place approximately 1/4 cup of filling on half of the circle of dough. Fold the dough over to make a half moon. Seal the edges well by pinching the dough together. Place samosas on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Brush with an egg wash. Bake in a 350° F oven for approximately 30 minutes, or shallow fry them in 1 1/2" - 2" of vegetable oil until golden brown.

Makes approximately 12 - 16. Serve with mango chutney and enjoy!

Long Shadows of Winter

love those long shadows of winter

me 

A Late Happy New Year!

Hard to believe I have not posted for days, New Years eve came and went. Megan is back in London. We have all been very sick... I made a joke about catching the man cold, I wasn't really joking, it came back to bite me in the butt. Or should I say nose, throat and chest, oh and infected sinus passages, nice stuff. Nasty bug, or bugs. I have the  energy of a limp noodle. Blah....

It is snowing heavy today, yet again. I went out this morning to try to take photos of Thomas snowboarding on the drop, but my camera is too slow and has a huge delay. I took one photo and he was already gone down the drop.

the snowy season, view from the top of the drop

long walk back to the top