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Kids Cooking Class: Festive Treats

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eabb56f7-4b6d-4fc7-8767-2ef78e81d1deOne of my favourite parts of the holidays is baking! I like to use tried-and-true family recipes AND also get creative by trying new concepts and ideas.

The only way to make baking more fun, is to have enthusiastic helpers, so I put together a Festive Treats Cooking Class for 5 to 10 year olds and it was a cosy good time! We made:

  • Eggnog Pudding
  • Candy Cane Brownies (Gluten Free)
  • Gingerbread Spice Cookies
  • Cranapple Fruit Dip

While the young chefs made the sweet snacks, they learned about following recipes, adapting recipes, kitchen safety and the importance of trying new flavours BEFORE deciding if you like it.

I’ll be sharing the recipes (links will be added above), but would love to bring a class to YOUR kitchen and cook with your kids and their friends so they can measure, mix and make it themselves! Enter your name, email and time options below to find out more:

What is your favourite festive treat?

 

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Kitchen Hack: Toast your dried herbs and spices

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img_4761A few minutes in a hot dry pan can waken up ground spices and dried herbs to give any dish a more robust flavour. Be careful to stir the spices, so they don’t burn, and give them 2 or 3 minutes in the pan. When the fragrance has intensified to a pleasant level, add the rest of the ingredients. In this case, can of organic diced tomatoes with no salt added to make spaghetti and meatballs.

Ravishing Roasted Carrot Soup

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Roasted Carrot Soup

Roasted Carrot Soup

I buy big bags of carrots. Many of these carrots get juiced, grated, peeled, baked, salad-ed and snacked upon, but sometimes we don’t quite make it through the bag before they start to get bendy. I had just such a dwindling bag of carrots taking up valuable real estate in my fridge the day before New Year’s Eve, and so my brain began to whir…

Knowing that I was having family over for a simple dinner to ring in the New Year, I started thinking of what else I had and what I could do with these extra carrots. I knew I had lots of onions and lemons, a bit of feta cheese and some Kalamata olives, this had me thinking Greek. Recalling that I had Epicure’s Souvlaki seasoning and El Greco Secret Sauce, a plan came together.

While this was a simple dish to throw together, I actually prepped it the night before so I could have more time to relax and reminisce about the year that was ending, the soup was greeted with rave reviews and encores of second and third helpings!

Ravishing Roasted Carrot Soup Ingredients

Ravishing Roasted Carrot Soup Ingredients

I knew I had to share this recipe when my Instagram post was shared by Epicure on their Facebook page as part of their weekly round-up of images shared on Social Networks featuring their products.

Recipe for Roasted Carrot Soup

makes 8 servings

Soup Ingredients:

8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into finger size pieces

2 medium purple onions, sliced in finger width sections

1 head garlic, peeled and hard bottom bits cut off

2 TBS Epicure Souvlaki Seasoning

2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 cups dried red lentils

6 cups water

juice of 1 lemon

Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish Ingredients:

1 TBS Epicure El Greco Secret Sauce

2 TBS water

1 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Feta Cheese

Kalamata Olives

Method:

1. Pre-Heat oven to 400

2. Spread carrots, onions and garlic on baking sheet, sprinkle Souvlaki seasoning and Olive Oil and toss to coat

3. Roast vegetables in oven until golden brown on the edges (approximately 30 minutes)

4. For garnish: Mix El Greco Secret Sauce and water, let stand for 5 minutes and then add Olive Oil, cube feta and slice olives

5. Remove vegetables from oven and allow to cool while placing a soup pot with the red lentils and 6 cups of water on high

6. Once water is boiling, add vegetables turn heat down to medium and cook until lentils are soft (approximately 10 minutes)

7. Add the lemon juice and puree with an immersion blender

8. Add water, salt and pepper to achieve desired consistency and flavour

9. Serve soup in bowls and garnish with tiny cubes of feta, sliced Kalamata Olives and a smattering of prepared El Greco Secret Sauce from Epicure

I also served a simple salad of thinly sliced bell peppers and cucumber (using my Epicure Ceramic Slicer) dressed with Epicure’s Greek Dressing seasoning mixed with red wine vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

If you would like to purchase Epicure seasonings or cookware, please visit my online store: www.juliaustine.myepicure.com or contact me for samples.

What is your favourite way to use up a carrot surplus?

Happy Pi Day!

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The Perils of Peach Pie

The Perils of Peach Pie

March 14th is Pi day (3.14), I hope you are celebrating with real pie, I’m just sticking with pictures of pie. Up top is my Perfect Peach Pie and below is Not So Sour Cherry Pie. Enjoy!

Cherry Pie Serenade

Kitchenette’s Kitchen

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View from a fridge

View from a fridge

While pieces of my kitchen have appeared in the background of pictures of food, I thought it was time to put the work space front and centre. We redid the kitchen JUST in time to host our families for Christmas 2011. I wouldn’t recommend cutting it as close as we did, wee bit stressful. We replaced the stove and fridge, added a dishwasher, recovered the existing cabinets and added more counter space and open shelves.

The reno is sinking in

The reno is sinking in

We kept the sink and counters, as we were trying to keep the budget down. The faucet is new can be pulled out to fill large pots. By leaving the counter we saved a bundle and figured it would be easy to do later if we changed our minds.

Our sexy stove

Our sleek stove

We were going to get a glass top stove, but the sales rep basically talked us out of it. Our dream stove would be gas, but this isn’t our forever house so we kept it electric.

The cosy fridge nook

The cosy fridge nook

The fridge was the fanciest upgrade in the kitchen, with side by side compartments, ice machine and filtered water. It was larger than our previous refrigerator, but just by removing a bit of moulding and a dusty shelf it fit like it was custom-made.

Let there be light and a light breeze

Let there be light and a light breeze

The light fixture with fan is the priciest light fixture in our house, with all the rest coming from Home Depot, but it’s also the prettiest! Combined with the new hood any smells and smoke are whisked away in a quiet gust.

Stove top with pretty pots

Stove top with pretty pots

We added some butcher block counter top to the right of the stove to give us a larger work space. It was really a one person kitchen before, now it’s a 2 adult and a growing chef space.

Dishwasher that replaced me

Dishwasher that replaced me

The butcher block is in an L shape and covers the dishwasher and some open shelves for small appliances and bakeware. The Pacojet has since found a new home, where it will be used more than once a month.

Dry goods shelves and produce corner

Dry goods shelves & produce

My husband, Exec Chef designed these floating shelves that hold my spice jars, grains, beans and other dry goods. We always have a fruit bowl on the counter for quick snacks and garlic and onions out for easy access since we use them daily.

Shelves next to the stove

Shelves next to the stove

We also added two small floating shelves, of the same design, to the right of the stove. The lower shelf holds our kosher salt-cellar, pepper grinder and butter bell. On the upper shelf, I displayed some orange themed implements.

KitchenAid in the Corner

KitchenAid in the Corner

To the left of the sink, we have our knife block (away from little visiting hands) and my beautiful KitchenAid mixer, which I may not use everyday but it does make me smile.

Breakfast Central

Breakfast Central

To the right of the sink, we have our DJ station, bread box, toaster and blender. Which covers breakfast in our house on many mornings! The bottle matches my spice jars and is full of fantastic olive oil.

Thanks for taking a virtual tour of my shiny kitchen, it will never look this tidy again!

What is the one thing you wish you could most change about your kitchen?

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