Archive for 2013

Cheers to a wonderful 2013!

Purple Workbench has been alive and afloat for over 6 months now and it feels good to have shared some creative experiences with you!

Maybe you baked yourself a pound cake?

Maybe you made yourself an ornament for the tree?



Maybe you were one of the 7 ladies who joined me at a farmhouse retreat to relax, feast, and craft together!



The new year brings new opportunities to be crafty and creative, and I'm excited to announce the next Purple Workbench event!

Purple Workbench presents:


Join the Purple Workbench for a weekend to escape the snowy citylife and make time to relax and create. The 5 bedroom luxury cottage is nestled in peaceful forestry adjacent to the Nottawasaga river, just outside of Orangeville.

Like the previous farmhouse retreat, this is your chance to bring any creative project to work on and have all your culinary needs provided for. I'll have optional sewing workshops available if you are looking to brush up on your sewing skills, but any crafty endeavour is welcome! (I'm thinking of bringing my laptop to finish up some digital photobooks...)

On the menu will be heartwarming meals aimed to comfort and soothe away any winter blues, and there will always be plenty of delicious treats and beverages to fill the weekend.

For more information on the event, including registration, please send an email to contact@purpleworkbench.com. Cost is $300 for a private room plus all meals and snacks.

Wishing you all a fantastic end to your year and creative plans for the future ahead!

Living in a big city can be financially difficult. Things just cost more. But you don't want to sacrifice life too much just to save a couple bucks. There's a fine balance between saving for your future and enjoying life before it's gone.

The lovely writers at Urban Departures are giving a great account of their journey to Financial Freedom without missing out on life's treasures.

They support travelling, good food, buying what you love, athletic luxuries, and a fave at the Purple Workbench: crafty hobbies. All while keeping their financial goals in check.

Where do they splurge? How do they try to save? It's great fun reading about regular (and chic) modern urbanites as they learn about the financial basics and more.

Their latest post is a Purple Workbench post for a DIY Christmas ornament that doubles as an inexpensive gift. Go check out my step by step tutorial on the Zipper Christmas Tree Ornament!

It has been almost two months since the Farmhouse Retreat.

I'm starting to think about my next weekend retreat and I can't help but miss the Farmhouse and the retreat-ladies deeply.

I miss the cloud of creativity where we completely lost track of time.

I was wowed by racerback tank tops, zippered pouches, a gorgeous digital wedding album, cookbook organizers, infinity scarves, pinwheel quilts, the list goes on.

My best friend, Priscilla, travelled all the way from Montreal to resurrect her high-school sewing skills and whip out a custom fit racerback tank top. We had a little snag at the end trying to learn how to use the fancy Bernina rolled hem foot, but the end result was fantastic.




The weekend peaked with an Ontario surf and turf dinner: sausages from Sanagan's Meat Locker with apple braised purple cabbage, salt baked trout with wilted fennel salad, an apple cake with Ontario honeycrisp apples.



How I miss the Autumn.

Winter will be almost as good.

A new location, a new season of frosty beauty; the next retreat will be planned soon. I promise.

Wilted Fennel Salad

I'm not even sure you can call this a salad, but it is truly one of my favourite things to eat. I have entranced many fennel virgins with this side dish. It makes a great accompaniment to most anything, especially dishes needing a little crunch or acid, like a perfectly baked rainbow trout.

1 fennel bulb
salt
olive oil
lemon (optional)

Trim the fennel tops and cut about 1cm off the bottom to peel off the outer layer or two. You could be less wasteful and use the outer leaves, but I find them a little too tough when eating the fennel raw.

Cut the fennel bulb in half and cut out the core with a little V-cut.

Using a mandolin or a sharp knife (my sontoku knife is perfect for this job) very finely slice the fennel lengthwise (vertically). If you missed part of the core then the layers may be stuck together. If it bothers you, cut them loose.

Mix the fennel in a bowl with pepper, 1/2 tsp of salt, a good drizzle of olive oil.

Let rest for 5 minutes. The salt will wilt the fennel and release some of the stronger licorice juices.

Toss and taste; add more salt if needed. Squeeze a little lemon at the end if you want a more acidic salad.

I went to three weddings this month. I love weddings. I've been accused of befriending people just as they get engaged just so I can watch them marry.

I really do love the weddings because of the marriage. The music, the vows, the embrace, the crying, the smiles, the pride. It gets me all tingly inside.

But a nice little bonus to the celebration is enjoying the food. I usually focus on the entree, maybe the pasta course or antipasti buffet. By the time the music starts, I probably look around for a guy holding the coffee so I can enjoy it with a couple bites of dessert before I hit the dance floor.  And then any sweet table following that is usually wasted on me.

Except for the wedding I attended this past weekend.

The cupcakes were made by my incredibly talented cousin, Emily. Maybe she put some extra love into the cupcakes (and jumbo cupcake for the bride and groom to cut) since this was a family wedding, but I ate three of them they were so good. They're big. With an almost 1:1 cake to icing ratio. And oh so moist. Actually, I'm pretty sure I ate four.

Dustin and I have been dreaming about them for days. Look: I'm even writing about them. And since I still hadn't baked a cake to celebrate our 6th year anniversary, I decided to try and bake a cake that was almost as tasty to remind me of those oh-so-good wedding cupcakes. Something moist and so rich you need milk or coffee to help you out, but you always go back for more.

It's been years since I've baked Ina's "Beatty's Chocolate Cake" found in her pink cookbook (my fave). I remembered it to be the best chocolate cake I had baked. I remembered the buttercream icing to be pretty darn good. I remembered that I had some buttermilk in the fridge that needed to be used.

The batter for the cake is surprisingly thin. Maybe that's what good chocolate cake batter should be like? No matter, it turned out so incredibly moist. It still didn't have that creaminess that Emily's cake had after it warmed up in your mouth, and the icing wasn't as delicious (she had a coconut icing and a caramel icing on her cupcakes) but it was good enough for me to eat two slices today.

I'm ordering a batch of cupcakes from Emily for my freezer. Until then, this chocolate cake with autumnal sprinkles is satisfying the void.

Beatty's Chocolate Cake 

by Ina Garten (with slight changes to the icing)

Ingredients

Butter, for greasing the pans
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
2 cups sugar
3/4 cups good cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee
Chocolate Buttercream, recipe follows

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 8-inch x 2-inch round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Chocolate Frosting:
6 ounces good semisweet chocolate
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 extra-large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tsp instant coffee powder

Chop the chocolate and place it in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir until just melted and set aside until cooled to room temperature.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until light yellow and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and continue beating for 3 minutes. Turn the mixer to low, gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat at medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary, until smooth and creamy. Dissolve the coffee powder in 2 teaspoons of the hottest tap water. On low speed, add the chocolate and coffee to the butter mixture and mix until blended. Don't whip! Spread immediately on the cooled cake.

The first day I woke up at the farmhouse was quite wonderful, although strangely quiet.

The combination of excitement, anticipation, and habitual early wake-ups led to a 5:30am start to the day.

Mackenzie and I explored the dewy fields and watched the fog slowly lift away. The horses were there to welcome us on our first day at the farm. We even heard a distant cockadoodle-doo.

I knew I had a whole day of preparation ahead of me, but it was an awful shame not to run out into the field, arms stretched out, my head cocked to the sky, proclaiming to the world that the hills were alive with the sound of music.

My to-do list could wait. This was some rare time to myself in I-don't-know-how-many acres of quiet farmland.

After the outdoor exploring, my early morning was spent sitting in all the various spots around the farmhouse enjoying my Moonbean coffee and My Berlin Kitchen. In the open family room there were a pair of wonderfully comfortable couches that gently hugged you as if to say "thank you" for choosing this seat. There were also two nailhead-trimmed, leather chairs by the sunny patio door.  There was another living room near the front of the house, a little creakier and cozier, with an equally welcoming couch and armchair. The back deck had patio seating; the front porch had a bench and some Muskoka chairs.


I probably could have played musical chairs all day, changing seats with every couple pages. But there was work to be done.

I baked my favourite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for weekend snacking, I made two batches of pie crust ready for the quiches planned for lunch on Sunday, and I prepped a rainbow of peppers and zucchini for grilling -- to round out the charcuterie and cheese "light dinner" planned for that evening when retreaters arrived.


The dinner spread was nothing short of spectacular. All the charcuterie was from Sanagan's Meat Locker in Kensington Market, where they support the small-farms in the nearby Ontario area. The cheese was a spread of Ontario cheddar, Ontario honeyed goat cheese, Quebec Brie, and a not-so-closeby smoked gouda (I can't get over my love for smoked gouda). And then I went nuts with the pickles. Taking the advice of many wise friends, I forwent the homemade route and just purchased a variety of deliciously tangy pickled vegetables. Local choices included spicy pickled cauliflower, giant green olives stuffed with garlic, and Matt and Steve's spicy beans. Not so local choices were some Italian pickled baby onions and the famous Maille cornichons. But I think the unexpected dark horse of the night were the grilled vegetables, in particular, the zucchini.

I dare not say that a humble grilled zucchini was the star of the night. It was simply the surprise contender. One of the most satisfying things in life is convincing someone that a food that they barely tolerated is, in fact, delicious.  Zucchini is one of those foods that can be unmemorable or downright mushy, but when cooked properly, it can be one of the tastiest. The secret is high heat, simple seasoning, short cooktime. It's surprising how soon the zucchini is ready to be taken off the heat.

Whenever I cook zucchini, I make too much. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes because I'm Chinese and too-much is just-enough. The leftovers taste great reheated, or cold in a salad. At the retreat, I actually used the leftovers to make a grilled vegetable quiche.

"Grilled" Zucchini

I put "grilled" in quotations because at the retreat, and often at home, I pan-fried my zucchini. You can fire up your grill and cook the same way, I find they both taste great but the stovetop is easier to control your heat.

2 zucchinis
2 tablespoons of good olive oil
1 tsp of kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Wash and trim your zucchini. On an angle, slice your zucchini into ovals, about 1cm or 1.5 cm thick. If you cut them thinner, they may cook too quickly.

In a large bowl -- I like to use a stainless steel prep bowl because it is lighter than glass -- toss your zucchini with olive oil, salt, and pepper. You can adjust the amount of oil to your liking. Excess can be left behind during "grilling" or you can likely use less oil if using a good non-stick pan.

Fire up your grill, or heat a frypan on the stove on high heat.

When the grill or pan is hot, add your zucchini in a single layer. You will likely need to do a couple batches. When it starts to brown, after about 2 minutes, flip and cook for another minute or two. Although they may look a little firm and you think they need longer cook time, they are actually perfectly ready.

Serves 4 sides, depending on the size of your zucchini.

Passion is a funny thing.

I like to think that I'm a passionate person. Most things I do, I take to heart and then go for gold.

Some days you run out of steam. Life throws you hurdles and you spend extra energy leaping over them. And then, you start to graze the top of those hurdles, and then eventually you just give up and break the rules and push them over entirely just so they're out of your way. But at least you're still making it to the finish line. We'll worry about the DQ later. (Mmmm. DQ.)

That's what passion does to a person. You just keep going for what you love.

I started breaking the rules around September. I landed myself in the hospital in August (I'm fine now, and will save that story for another day.) and then felt like I just couldn't get myself up to speed.

My Farmhouse Retreat was fast approaching and I started pushing the hurtles over. Dishes? Bah! A meal plan with well balanced meals? Double bah! Laundry? Well, I haven't done that in months anyway.

I hobbled to the finish line and completed my first Purple Workbench event at the Farmhouse.

It has been over a week since the event ended and I am only now picking myself up to say hi. And thank you, to all the people that supported me in the event: everyone that talked to me about it (what? you read my blog?! You follow me on twitter? You liked the Purple Workbench Facebook page?!), the truly inspirational ladies who attended the retreat (like this one, this one, and this one, just to name a few), and to the owner of Cobblestone Farm who could not have been more welcoming a host.

But the person that really had to pick the hurdles up, glue the pieces back together, and talk to the ref about keeping me in the race, was my darling husband of 6 years today: Happy Anniversary. Even though neither one of us remembered until 9am when we were 3 hours into our day.

That's what passion does to a person. You keep going for the one you love.

And you bake him his favourite cake. Tomorrow.

I'm the world's slowest eater. I like to take small bites, chew lots, and chat. It's excruciating to watch, I'm sure. The one exception is when Lily's crying. There's a mix of urgency and indigestion that forces me to either eat quickly, or not at all.

Many would argue that eating slowly is the healthier way to do it. Your brain has more time to process things, you tend not to overeat (I may have to debate that point) and you really get the chance to enjoy your food.

I have recently learned about Slow Food, and subsequently, Slow Fishing. It's one of the many initiatives that's teaching the world to step back, slow down, and take a look at how we get the food to our plate. Slow Food breaks the concept down into good, clean, and fair. The good food means tasty, seasonal, local. Clean refers to respecting the environment, our health, and the product. And being fair applies to both pricing for the consumer, and pay/conditions for the workers.

Hooked is one of many fish mongers in Kensington market, but the only one (that I'm aware of) that has partnered with Slow Fish, Oceanwise, and other sustainable-fishing focussed organizations.

I popped in after work last week to talk about fish options for my Farmhouse Retreat, and I walked away with a beautiful, super-fresh rainbow trout caught just a day earlier from a local, fair, and clean source.

My go-to method of cooking fish is always steamed, chinese-style. But for the Farmhouse Retreat, I wanted a less ethnic flavour. I've always been skeptical of salt-baked fish but have heard over and over that although it might be a bit wasteful, and it's not a magical flavour that you can't get any other way, it is incredibly forgiving. This sounded perfect for my retreat, where I will likely be overwhelmed with things to do since I tend to be overambitious with my plans whenever food in involved.

I didn't do anything fancy to the salt. Just added 1/2 cup of water to 1kg of sea salt, which was just barely enough to cover my 2lb fish.



I stuffed the trout with a bunch of thyme and slices of lemons (they pop one in the bag for you at Hooked! How nice.) The trout was gutted and scaled, but I left everything else intact: skin head, fins.

It really is as simple as laying some of the salt on a sheet pan, placing the fish on top, and then covering the fish.

Into a 350F degree oven. 25 mins later (my trout was about 2 lbs) I took it out of the oven and I wasn't ready to deal with it for another 15 minutes because I forgot that Brussels sprouts always take longer than you think.

Removing the salt is easier than I thought. I was a little too eager and did the good ol' Larry Trick (Larry is the guy in a safety video we watch at work every year about "Winter Driving" and instead of scraping his entire windshield of his car, he only scrapes a tiny hole and ends up in an accident. Silly Larry.) so I exposed a small section of the fish, peeled back the skin, stole a piece, decided it was delicious and then went back to taking the salt off the other parts. Mistake. the exposed part of the trout was covered in a dusting of salt. So just like Larry, I learned from my mistake and resisted the temptation to remove the skin before all of the salt was pushed away.


I really do feel bad about the wasted salt. I even googled to see if someone had devised a plan for reusing the salt in some way, but no forum exists for "uses for leftover salt crust".

I've decided that if you don't have the attentiveness to bake a piece of fish perfectly, removing it from the oven at the right time, and serving immediately, then this is worth the salty waste. Think of it as a biodegradable, disposable cooking vessel.

I reused the lemon wedges to squeeze on top. No additional sauce added. I served the fish with a simple side of bacon sauteed Brussels sprouts.

And then I ate it really slowly. Mmm.

Salt Crusted Rainbow Trout

1 2lb rainbow trout
1kg salt
1/2 cup water
1 lemon, sliced
1 bunch thyme

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, mix the salt with the water and mix. It should look like slushy snow.

Spread a thin layer, about 1cm thick on the bottom of a sheet pan, just bigger than the size of the fish. Set aside.

Wash the fish and pat dry. Fill the cavity with the slices of lemon and the thyme. Place on the salted sheet pan.

Using the rest of the salt, completely cover the fish.

Bake in the oven for 25 mins. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before completely removing the salt crust. Squeeze the baked lemon wedges over the fish and serve the fish in large chunks, or scoop the entire fish onto a platter and serve family style.

My commute to work these days has been depressing. There is excessive construction on my usual bus route so I now walk the 1.5 km to the subway station instead of catching what used to be a quick 5 minute bus. The subway has also been unusually packed including multiple delays in all directions. I can only assume this is all due to the start of the new school year.

When I need a pick-me-up, I usually switch my iPod to play broadway musicals. I think God has fun with me and my choice of music sometimes because I was listening to "Class" from "Chicago" when I witnessed an truly unclassy scene.

The lyrics are jazzing away in my earphones: "Whatever happened to Please may I? And Yes Thank you?" and then three teenagers rush onto the subway. The girl that got on first cuts off an old man and sits down in the middle of three empty seats. She then holds her hands out to reserve the seats so her friends could catch up and sit next to her. I don't mean a nonchalant stretching of her arms; it was a full blown wing span stretch. The old man is stunned. I think I tried to make stink eye with any of the three punks. They never looked up. They didn't even talk to each other. They took out their various electronic devices and emailed, ninja'ed fruit, or knocked down some green pigs. "Nobody's got no class!"

You know what's classy? A really big scarf. Here are two more that I finished, including the original yellow polka dot flannel. The other two didn't turn out as big because they were made with a knit side rather than a flannel side, but they're just as cozy, and just as classy.

The tutorial I used as a guideline was from Anna Maria Horner. If you're looking for fabric measurements, 1 meter of each fabric (front and back) is plenty. If you're using 60" wide fabric (as with most knit fabrics) you may only need 1/2 meter because I ended up shortening my scarf to 60" long. I highly recommend testing out the length before you finish sewing the scarf.

Too much math? Maybe I'll make a tutorial when we make them at the Farmhouse Retreat.

For those attending the retreat and are still deciding whether or not to join me for the workshop, check out these beauties!

I know that some sort of quiche will be on the menu at the Farmhouse Retreat. That is a must. Being September, I feel like everything besides asparagus and rhubarb is in season.

I've posted about quiches before on done-well, so nothing new to share. I'm not even sure I'll practice before the retreat. But I have been keeping an eye out for interesting salads to accompany the quiche.

Although my recipe for a quiche is relatively light, (I prefer milk to cream, and don't like a lot of cheese in the filling,) it is still a plateful of deliciously flaky, buttery pie crust. So I always find the side salad needs to be light, acidic, and colourful.

My go-to salad with a quiche is arugula. Arugula plus whatever I have in the fridge. Oh, I have nothing else in the fridge? Then plain arugula with salt, pepper, vinegar and olive oil. Yum.

But that's no fun for a retreat of crafty ladies.

The Mexican quinoa salad that I made at my birthday picnic is an obvious choice.  It's tangy and colourful, light and healthy. A great make-ahead. It's even good spicy.



But I'm reminded of another quinoa salad I tried recently from la prep, a Montreal based fresh and healthy mini-restaurant. The salad had deliciously tangy marinated hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, chickpeas and parsley, all surrounded by crunchy al dente quinoa.

With a couple revisions to accommodate my pantry, this white bean quinoa salad is still light and refreshing, but filled with healthful ingredients.



Two vastly different quinoa salads. Both equally tasty. Go make them both and tell me which you like better. And then imagine it alongside a fluffy cauliflower and roasted red pepper quiche. Ooo, or maybe a caramelized fennel and onion quiche. Or! a spinach and wild mushroom quiche! Man, oh man, I'm excited for lunch at the retreat...

Mexican Quinoa Salad

Tangy White Bean and Quinoa Salad

My neck is always cold. Girls say that all the time. Maybe not Paula, but even she would sport a really big scarf because she's trendy like that.

This is a big one. And I made it myself. And if you're coming to the Farmhouse Retreat, you should make one with me.

Along with the Racerback Tank Top, my second optional sewing workshop being held at the retreat is an infinity scarf.

There are several tutorials online for sewing these scarves, also called figure 8 scarves or circle scarves, but besides the simplicity, there are so many other reasons for making one at the retreat: perfect for the upcoming chilly Autumn weather, and finding the perfect pair of fabrics.

I love that simple projects mean you can focus on the fabric, and with an infinity scarf, you get to choose two coordinating patterns: matching, contrasting, themed, or completely random. The choice is yours!

I've had a mustard yellow polka dot flannel sitting in my stash for a while now, I think it was going to be potential bedding for Lily's crib, but decided it would be a perfect colour for the summer/fall transition.



I found a nice large graphic print fabric from the workroom in grey and cream to balance the bright mustard yellow.

I made the scarf a little shorter than most because I wanted a closer fit to my neck. I find some scarves are more necklaces than actual scarves and I wanted to use this one to stay warm. Maybe I'll make the next one a tiny bit longer.



While at the workroom, I picked up a few more fabrics that paired with other flannel or jersey that I had at home. I don't know what I'm going to do with so many scarves, and I feel like the style is so uniquely me (whimsy-ridiculous?) that I wouldn't even know who to gift it to! Maybe I'll hold an auction for charity one day.

This is a perfect beginner project, lazy afternoon project, or just one of those really useful "I need a scarf" projects. It can be done in less than an hour, and I always like to finish it off by hand so I can relax on the couch, chat with a fellow crafter, and maybe watch an episode of The Chew on my laptop.

Giant sailboats paired with an ocean blue floral print

Big pink pom poms with a ruby red jersey

Whimsy back-to-school print paired with a navy blue knit

I'm starting to narrow down my brainstorm of delicious food options for my Farmhouse retreat. I have more ideas than I can fit into a weekend. Where to start, where to start. Breakfast?

Time to take out the waffle iron!

Have I told you the story of this waffle iron? I'm a little ashamed. And a little proud. The story involves persistence, ingenuity, loss, and trickery. It ends with a brand new Cuisinart Waffle Maker. The story is likely more boring than I think, so you can ask me about if we ever meet and struggle to make small talk.

I've since made dozens of waffles, and although they were delicious, I had never branched out from the standard recipes found in the Cuisinart booklet that came in the box.

This morning, I decided I needed something warm and comforting and did a quick search for waffle recipes. Deb, Joy, and Molly are my trio of go-to ladies whenever I need a recipe. Deb was a big advocate of yeasted waffles but that requires an overnight batter -- another time. Joy is in no short supply of unique waffle combinations: lemon ricotta, whole wheat + other amazing healthy things, brown sugar bacon, cornmeal + chives.

Molly wrote a great post on waffles and mentions the yeasted waffle as well, declaring it a capital-W Winner. But she accepts that we don't all manage to plan ahead, so her second recipe from the same post is what I decided to make this morning. Apparently a quite well known phenomenon, Waffles of Insane Greatness was her batter of choice when you wake up in the morning in desperate need of a quick and perfect waffle.

To no one's surprise, the waffles were a million times better than my previous waffles from "the booklet that came inside the box". These waffles had crispy edges and light fluffy centres, I think I will confidently throw that Cuisinart booklet away.

I topped them with Ontario blueberries and cherries and easily downed two whole waffles because they were so light, fluffly, and delicious. All while still in my pyjamas.

These are definitely on the menu for the Farmhouse retreat.

Waffle of Insane Greatness

found on foodnetwork.com

For my 4-waffle Cuisinart iron, this recipe is perfect for one batch of 4 waffles. Double or triple the recipe as desired.

¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
¾ tsp. vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.

Make a well in the middle and pour in the buttermilk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla.

Whisking the liquids first so the egg breaks down a bit, slowly incorporate the dry ingredients to make a smooth batter.

Let rest minimum of 10 minutes before pouring the batter into your waffle maker. Waffle makers vary in size, so experiment with the first batch to see how much batter best fits your machine. Some may require some cooking spray or oil to ensure the waffles don't stick to the iron.

I once asked my coworker what his favourite cake was. He told me it was pound cake. I think I may have scoffed at his answer. "Pound cake? Really. A dense, crumby, old-lady cake?"

I think I've always dismissed pound cake because I remembered it as a dry, dense cake, usually lacking in flavour.

But I went ahead and made it anyway. And then made another for my parents. And then made it again for my birthday picnic.

I've changed my mind. Pound cake is my favourite, too. I'm addicted.

Chocolate pecan pound cake

I think it's a sign of growing up. I don't need my cake to be covered in icing. I don't need it to be fluffy to be moist. I love a cake that can stand up to coffee. And I love a cake that is so simple to make, you can play around with the flavours and have it turn out perfectly every time.

Now, if only it could be healthier... I did commit to more healthful options at the Farmhouse Retreat, but this pound cake may have to sneak into the weekend feast.

Strawberry jam marbled pound cake

A new jar of jam and a crunchy crust on the loaf

Variations on a Basic Poundcake

Adapted from Molly Wizenberg's recipe

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 small loaf pans with parchment paper. I always prefer to make 2 loaves from one recipe. You can always use one larger loaf pan and bake the cake for about 15 minutes longer.

Beat the butter in an electric mixer on medium speed; add sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 5 mins. In the meantime, mix together flour, salt, and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

To the butter sugar mixture, add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg.

Scrape the sides of the bowl and add the flour mixture all at once. Mix on low until just incorporated. Give it one final scrape with the spatula to make sure everything's well blended. (Check that bottom tricky spot on the bottom of the kitchen aid mixer.)

Fill loaf pans and bake for 50 mins or until a poked skewer comes out clean.

Variation 1) Citrus

I've tried lime (2-3), lemons (1-2), and grapefruit (1/2). Anything goes!

For a vibrant citrus flavour, grate the zest of the citrus fruit and add to the sugar butter mixture at the beginning. Add the juice of the fruit (about 1/4 cup) after the addition of eggs. Don't worry if it appears a little curdled. Continue with above directions. I usually omit the vanilla if I'm adding citrus.

Variation 2) Nuts or chocolate

When adding nuts or chocolate, add them at the end. Just before all the flour is incorporated, add about 1 cup to 1.5 cups of chocolate chips or nuts. You can also crumble nuts on top of the cake, but you might want to bake at 325 to prevent any charring of the nuts. At 325, you will likely need an extra 10 to 15 minutes of bake time. Always test with a skewer.

Variation 3) Marbled Jam

You can swirl your choice of jam into the batter after filling the loaf pans. It's up to you how much you want to mix it in. I've used homemade strawberry jam (a little runnier and less sweet) and swirled in about 1/4 cup to each loaf pan.

If you try any other variations, please share! I'm always looking for new ideas!

Check out this amazing picnic!

No, this was not my birthday picnic. This was Brandi Henderson's wedding! Brandi is the founder of The Pantry, an amazing Seattle community kitchen and cooking school.

Here's my more humble birthday picnic. I regret not taking the time to whip out the camera, back up, and take a big picture of my amazing friends who came out to celebrate with me.

My crafty friends and me, scheming about our upcoming Farmhouse Retreat!

It has always been a dream of mine to host a big picnic party, and living in Toronto, what better setting than beautiful, urban High Park?

After failing to book a picnic site last year because I only called one month in advance (yes, every single picnic area was booked for the month of July when I called in May/June) I decided to book the event in March -- a whole 4 months in advance.

That gave me 4 months to dream up my ideal picnic menu. Maybe some ideas for my farmhouse retreat in September??

It was a group of about 60 people, so I wanted to keep the food simple.

Starting with snacks, I pulled out all my favourites: cheetos, ringolos, skittles, m&ms, and your classic brown paper lunch bag to fill and bring back to your picnic blanket.

I set up a sandwich station with a variety of deli meats and delicious cheeses, homemade pickled peppers, arugula, fluffy buns. We also offered a grilling station to warm your sandwich if desired. To keep ingredients cool in the summer heat, I used double foil pans and filled the bottom pan with ice. A perfect trick that kept the meat and cheese cool for several hours.

I avoided the typical mayonnaise filled salads (despite my love for them) and opted for a healthy mexican quinoa salad. This salad deserves a post on its own, but suffice to say it was packed with flavour. Corn, red onion, tomatoes, cilantro, limes: heaven.


A summer picnic event would not be complete without watermelon or corn on the cob. I read a great tip on how to cook corn on the cob for a large group and it turned out beautifully. I put my cleaned cobs of corn into a cooler (also scrubbed clean) and added a large pot of boiling water. Close the lid. The corn's ready to eat in 20 mins, and it stays ready to eat for hours.

My dessert had to be birthday cake, but something that would stand up to the heat. I didn't want to have to pull out the forks and deal with messy icing, so I settled on my favourite pound cake recipe and created three different flavours: grapefruit, strawberry jam, and chocolate vanilla.

Pound cake freezes beautifully, so when my friends asked how I had time to bake 6 pound cakes, I explained that I just did it throughout the week and froze them. The perfect cake to eat by hand.

The weather for my birthday picnic was surprisingly perfect. Little humidity, full sun, not too hot. It was probably the best Toronto weather all month.

I hope you're all enjoying your summer and making time for good food and good friends!

Following several requests (always so flattering), recipes for the pound cake and quinoa salad will be posted soon!

Photo credits to Em and Dan.