The Food Box Chronicles

I have borrowed the idea for this post from one of my favourite bloggers, Carrie, over at Wee Two Three. If you are looking for meal inspiration, craft ideas or just some some adorable kids to admire, this is the place to go.

Several years ago (in another time and place), I had regular delivery of fruits and vegetables to my home. I found this a fantastic way to get more fruits and veggies in my diet, but never knew what to do with everything. I made a lot of salads and ate a lot of veggie sticks, but also threw a lot away. I discontinued this delivery when I moved and didn't really think of it again until I saw this post and was motivated to order a food box from Share Organics. I now use my food box as the inspiration for meals rather than a grocery top-up. This has worked out so well that I decided to chronicle some of my creations here.

The contents of my most recent box:

It contained lettuce, swiss chard, leeks, potatoes, satsumas, apples, pears, roasted hazelnuts, pea shoots and a pomegranate. Everything from Share is organic and most of it is local.

The first thing I made was Potato Leek Soup with the leeks and potatoes. I also made several salads with the lettuce and pea shoots and used the swiss chard to make Curried Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew:

I much preferred the Potato Leek Soup, but they were both good. After the soups, I used the apples and pears to make Apple Pear Sauce. Delish!

I used some of the sauce in my weekly "kitchen sink" muffins:

And last, but not least, I used the roasted hazelnuts and satsumas to make Chocolate Orange Hazelnut Biscotti (replacing the almond extract with orange extract and adding a couple of spoonfuls of grated satsuma rind). These turned out so fantastic that I even gave some away for Christmas gifts.

I am on a break from my food box while I am away over the holidays, but can't wait to see what the next box brings. Mmmm!

And so it begins . . .

SWAK and Unwrap

I have to admit, I've lost interest in the Daring Bakers. I love baking, but it is hard to bake on someone else's agenda. I don't really want to put a lot of effort into making food I don't really want! I haven't lost interest in cupcakes though. Here is my latest creation. I call them "SWAK Babycakes" as they remind me of Terry's Chocolate Oranges ("whack and unwrap"). These cupcakes have dense brownie bottoms and are topped with orange flavored buttercream. Delish!

PS I just checked out the Daring Bakers challenge for October and it was French Macarons . . . maybe I will have to try those out after all!

How do you like your beets?

Despite appearances, these are burgers are Botanical:

They are vegan, containing a whole variety of veggies along with rice and nuts. They are delicious and the recipe comes from the Rebar Cookbook.

Daring Bakers June Challenge - The Bakewell Tart

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

So, during this challenge I learned that so much butter can leech out of pie shell that you can (almost) start a grease fire! Who knew? Due to this somewhat unsettling fact, my tart was not fully cooked. Despite it all, I think it turned out pretty well.

Here is the (butter filled) shell:

With my homemade rhubarb jam filling:

And some (slightly gross looking) Frangipane:

Ahh! What happened?

Despite it all, my Rhubarb Bakewell Tart was pretty tasty. The proof is in the pudding:

Thankyou to Jasmine and Annemarie for hosting this challenge.

Daring Cooks June Challenge - Potstickers

This month’s Daring Cooks Challenge was Potstickers/Goyza and was brought to us by Jen. I am not a fan of pork or shrimp or cabbage (yes, I know, I am picky) so I developed my own vegetarian version and made several attempts.

First, I made a root vegetable mixture in whole wheat wrappers. The beets made everything purple and the whole wheat flour was too chewy.

I tried again with white flour. Much better, but the filling still wasn't my cup of tea so made a pesto and white bean filling. Mmmmm!

I loved this version although I found the mixture too wet for the water and flour based potsticker wrappers - they tended to leak a bit (see above). To compensate for this, I switched to a egg and flour based pasta. So, although it was not my intent, my vegetarian potstickers eventually morphed into lovely Pesto and White Bean Tortellini! Perfect! I forgot to take a picture of my final version, but maybe next time!

It's Strawberry Season!

Mmmm. I love berries. I think that raspberries are my favourite, but I was recently reminded of the bliss of a perfectly ripe strawberry when I bought some from a local orchard. I don't know when I last had a decent strawberry, but these berries reminded me of the "fake" strawberry flavour in lifesavers.

I just HAD to capture the strawberry goodness I discovered, so I made jam. Two batches. I made a batch of uncooked freezer jam and a batch of traditional pectin free jam. They are both delicious.

The traditional jam (front) tastes very much that: sweet, sticky, traditional jam. The non cooked freezer jam (back) tastes like perfectly ripe strawberries. I can't decide which one I like best. My cat, Ollie, was convinced that he also likes jam. I am not so sure how jam fits in with an "obligate carnivore" diet, but who am I to question good taste?

I also recently made my Strawberry Fields Forever Cupcakes. I make them with frozen strawberries, but I bet they'd be even better with local fresh berries. I might have to test that theory :)