A few weeks ago some friends and I got together for a nice dinner at Town, on Elgin Street. My first impression of the restaurant was that it was small in size but big in personality. I loved the decor and the staff. We were not rushed through our meal and had lots of time to share some appetizers, like their incredible meat balls and cheese, and chat.

I had the half chicken dinner, this was a very generous portion, with mashed potatoes, sprouts and squash. The pomegranate was a lovely touch.

Two people had the chicken and two had the pork chop. And one had the meatballs and salad as the main course. Again, everything was lovely and very generous portions.

The highlight of my meal was definitely the sundae which featured caramel popcorn on homemade icecream. I’ve never thought about this interesting combo but it really worked out. I LOVED it!

Most of us had the sundae for dessert but two people shared the tiramisu.

Overall, great experience, great food! I would definitely enjoy another night out at Town.

So I’ve been on a little break from blogging over Christmas but I’m back and hoping to do more artistic and creative stuff in 2012.

First cake of the year was a baby shower cake for my cousin. I had some technical issues decorating at my Nanny’s house but overall I was happy with the cake. It tasted good and I think it was whimsy and fun. The bottom was vanilla bean and the smaller cakes are my Nanny’s chocolate cake recipe.

Yesterday I wiped up a few “easy” white chocolate pecan pies, using a recipe from Chef Cat Cora, they definitely weren’t as easy as I thought they would be but I think they still look pretty darn good.

Part of our Christmas tradition is attending “A Very Ayler Christmas” which is an avant garde jazz show that take Christmas carols and introduces them into the music of Albert Ayler (google him – interesting bloke!)

They have two more concerts to go:

Saturday, December 17 at 9:30PM at L’Envers, Montreal

Sunday, December 18 at 7:00PM at the UMI Café, Ottawa

It’s really interesting music, Ottawa Jazz Scene is going to post some of the video from the concert if you are interested.

Here are a few photos of the band

These are all taken with my Lumix, no flash

So over the weekend I made up some batches of homemade chocolate turtles.

I like to give these out with my homemade gifts. I don’t think I made them last year but thought I would do them again this year.

They are easy to do and do not require any baking.

1. Bake pecans in the oven, watching them and stirring occasionally so they don’t burn

2. In a double boiler or microwave container, soften some caramel (I buy mine at Bulk Barn)

3. Arrange pecans on a piece of parchment paper on a tray or cookie sheet. I like 2 pecans together.

4. Carefully using a small spoon pour some caramel over the pecans.

5. In a double boiler or microwave container, melt some chocolate (milk or dark) and using a spoon carefully pour over the caramel and pecans.

6. Add some sprinkles or chopped nuts to top them off

7. Place in freezer or fridge to harden before placing in a container.

I like to keep mine in the fridge for storage until I put them into the containers for gifts.

So lately, I’ve not been doing a lot of photography but have been baking up a storm! With Christmas just around the corner a friend and I did some Christmas baking this weekend. I started with my candied nuts and homemade turtles.

Before this I made some chocolate red velvet cupcakes for a friend’s 40th, here were the results:

I used a fondant mold to make the cake toppers. The icing was a creamcheese with vanilla bean.

I added some shimmery edible luster dust.

Not everyone enjoys the taste of fondant so I did a few just with a small touch.

Due to the large number of sad bananas in my house I also made some banana bread this weekend.

So here is the first batch of candied nuts. I like to give these out as part of my homemade Christmas gifts.

This is sort of a long posting. I’m going to try and start doing regular postings again – hopefully this will get me back into more regular photography and other hobbies that have fallen to the side with all the baking.

Recently I did a baby shower cake for a family member expecting a boy! Our family is a lot of girls! So doing a cake for a boy was exciting. I took the design from the nursery design. I liked the lion and thought I would be able to create the design in fondant. Read the rest of this entry »

In my quest to master a bunch of gluten-free recipes I have been trying to find a good Meringue recipe. Meringue is gluten-free and great with ice cream and/or fruit.

This week I finally created a recipe based on one I found that worked well for me. Next time I want to make the Meringue into tiny bites like I’ve had in ice cream desserts in Austria.
Here is the recipe:

Meringue (based on http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/star-mint-meringues/)

3 large egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper; set aside. In a large bowl, combine egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until peaks start to form and the batter starts to look glossy. Gradually add sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, beating on high speed until stiff peaks form and batter looks super glossy.

2. Using a pastry bag and star tip, transfer meringue batter into prepared pastry bag. Pipe stars slightly apart onto prepared cookie sheet.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 80 minutes (check on them every 30 minutes and turn cookie sheet) or until meringues appear dry and are firm when lightly touched. Transfer cookies to a wire rack; let cool.

For Cupcake Friday last week I decided to make 2 differennt kinds of cupcakes. The first was a vanilla bean with cherry cream cheese frosting and the second was cocoa-chocolate with Manner chocolate glaze. I used silver ball and colored sprinkles to add a decorative touch.

I was very happy with both. I made them as minis and full size for a family birthday party on the weekend.

Celebrating my favorite place to visit in the world – Austria!