How did I survive without you?

Oh Immersion Blender, how did I ever make soup without you? Why did I think that blending in batches in a blender was a solid way to go. How silly I was. Now that you are with me I am a one pot soup maker. Because of you I blended that pot of soup in 2 minutes flat. Let us never part again.

Sincerely,

Veronica

P.S. My sweet potato soup is delicious. ;)

So lazy...

I have been inexcusably lazy lately. June, that was the last time I posted and we are well into August now. My only reason is that life is happening. The 9-5, the restaurant blog I write, travelling, and general debauchery have kept cooking projects at bay. And yet I have been sitting on this blog post for awhile. Back in July, 4th of July weekend to be exact, I had bought an exorbitant amount of cherries because they are delicious and were on sale. You can't really beat that combination.

I am serious when I say that the amount of cherries in my fridge that weekend was beyond ridiculous for one person. A snack for the fireworks show is why I had bought them, and we definitely did some some damage, but there was still a lot of left overs. Knowing I could not destroy these cherries by straight snacking alone, I knew I had an opportunity to try some recipes out.

First up was Cherry Brown Butter Bars that Smitten Kitchen had tried out back in 2009 from a Bon Appetit recipe. The hardest part of this recipe was removing the pits manually as I am without a fancy pit remover device. My suggestion is to just turn on the tunes and just get your groove on while you do a bit of mundane work. But it is so worth the effort, because this recipe is delicious. It is also a relatively simple recipe to make. I could have browned the butter a bit more to bring a bit more nutty flavor into the bar, but I was so worried about burning it that I may have stopped just a minute short. No matter, because the results were amazing. I know that my co-workers agreed as I brought my baking efforts into work and they cleared the pan in no time flat.

With one baking success under my belt I decided to continue on this baking kick. This time I took a look at the member recipe site Tasty Kitchen that has been put together by Ree, The Pioneer Woman. This is a great site to find a multitude of different kind of recipes that are thought up by cooking enthusiasts. I also like that you can search the site by ingredient, so when I entered "Cherry" a multitude of ideas were presented to me. Wanting to pick something I could again bring to the office I decided another bar recipe would be ideal, and the Cherry & Crystallized Ginger Crumb Bar, by cookincanuk, immediately caught my eye.

Another clear success. The ginger in the title is no joke. Where a lot of ginger treats leave you with just subtle note, this is a very strong and prominent ginger flavor. This is definitely a recipe for ginger lovers. I ended up passing on the recipe to a few of my co-workers as they really loved it, and now I am spreading the word to you as well.

So for now that is it, but I do have a couple more posts in the works. A little synopsis of Montreal and a break down of my first bread making experience. Until then have a great weekend.

How quickly I am reduced to eating frozen meals

I went from Sunday eating at feast at Poste and now it is Tuesday and I am eating random things I dig out of the freezer.  

I went from succulent spit roasted goat and cheesy polenta to Amy's frozen Indian Meals and Green Giant steam in the bag corn.

From a crowded table with family and friends to sitting around in my pajamas being a typical couch potato.

And who doesn't love the extravagance found in a gorgeous restaurant with a meal you will talk about for days.  Yet I am completely satisfied in this moment of comfortable laziness.

Thank you Poste for a beautiful and amazing meal.  And thank you Amy's frozen meals for making a delicious Indian meal that made me so happy tonight.

Pictures from last Sunday's Goat Roast!