Grimes – Genesis

Popsicles made with Fresh Fruit and Lemon Greek Yogurt

Recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

2 cups approx. of Raspberries or Strawberries (hulled and chopped)

2 cups approx. of Blueberries

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 cups approx. of Lemon Greek Yogurt – found at most grocery stores

You can use more or less of the fruit and yogurt, it really doesn’t matter.  Each mould is different and some might require more.  My fun popsicle moulds are from Crate & Barrel.

1. In a food processor puree the raspberries or strawberries, add 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Set aside strawberry or raspberry puree in bowl.

2. Next puree the blueberries in food processor, adding remaining tablespoon of blueberries.  Set aside blueberry puree in bowl.

3.  Add puree in popsicle moulds, alternating between strawberries, blueberries and lemon yogurt.  You can either make nice layers, or add flavours randomly and swirl with a skewer for a swirl look and taste.  The lemon yogurt goes excellent with the berries, no extra sugar needed.

I used raspberries and strawberries and I also layered and swirled.  Delicious for the heat we have been having here.

I tried a different recipe where after you pureed the fruit, your strained the juices and threw out the seeds and chunks, then adding the juice to yogurt.  I did not enjoy these as much, I find them much better using all of the puree and yogurt as a separate layer.  Enjoy !

Pop Tarts !

There are lot’s of recipes for pop tarts and I would definitely be into trying a different recipe next time, but for my first time making pop tarts we used a recipe from Alton Brown’s blog.  We LOVE Alton Brown!  The leftovers were perfect to take to work for breakfast throughout the week.

I used Strawberry, Raspberry, 3-Berry jam and Lemon Curd for our fillings.  We definitely made frosting for them as well, and I topped a few of them with sprinkles.

One thing I would do differently next time is I would roll the dough out a bit thinner.  I went a bit too thick, still delicious though.

DIY Library Table – From An Old Spool

This fantastic idea is from Country Living, and you can read their tutorial here.  I made mine a bit different, which I will explain here.  I worked on it over a weekend and am so happy with the results.  I absolutely adore this!!

First you need to get your hands on an old wooden spool.  Now you may see nicer ones around construction sites or work yards, but I learned that someone has put an expensive deposit on these.  $180.00 so they can be re-used when you take them back for more wire.  Yikes!  Luckily you can probably find older ones that are not in perfect shape that people are willing to get rid of.  When I told my friend Chris about my project he remembered that in the yard where we used to work up until a few months ago, there was a whole bunch in the back that had been sitting there for years.  So we took a drive over and I snagged 2.  THANKS CHRIS!

A few tools that I found helpful

• Electric sander with sand paper
• Cordless drill with longer screws (2 ½″)
• Saw
• Hammer

What you need

• 12 Dowels from Home Depot or somewhere similar.  Or less if you like, it’s really up to you.  I used 4 larger dowels, 1.5″ and 8 smaller dowels,¾″.
• 3-4 rotating castor wheels.  Also from Home Depot or somewhere like Ikea.  I used 4 because my spool is quite large
• Paint. 1 quart. I used white.  You want a paint that you can wipe down.  A stain might be nice too.
• Paint Brush
• Rust Protective Spray (optional)

1. First I sanded down my spool to get out any rough spots, dirt, and to make it nice and smooth for painting.  I did this outside.
2. Next I used a white protective spray on any staples, screws or hardware to prevent them from rusting in the future.
3. Now you want to add in your dowels.  I measured the distance between the top and the bottom, inside to inside.  16″.  The dowels are sold 48″ long, so for my larger ones I had them cut them at home depot, a tad bit longer than 16″ though.  2 of them ended up being perfect, and the third piece was a bit short due to the fact that I wentlonger than 16.  I used a saw at home to cut the smaller dowel to 16 and ¼″, with a few left over.  I then arranged them around the spool as desired, I just eye balled it, no tape measure used.  I tried to space them out evenly. Since the dowels were longer than distance in between, I used a hammer to move them around and they were snug between the top and bottom.  I used the hammer to move them around if necessary.  I had some that were a little short or loose, and obviously would not stay.  That is when I used my cordless drill and screws to secure them more, drilling into the top and bottom and into the dowel. Worked out great.  Does that make sense?
4. Flipped the table over and screwed on 4 castors.
5. Now time to paint. I definitely recommend 2 coats, leaving the first to dry over night.

Momofuku Corn Cookies

 While visiting New York last summer my friend Justin took us to Momofuku noodle bar and Momofuku milk bar.  I don’t remember what I ate at the noodle bar, but I remember it being delicious and despite showing up before the restaurant opened, we barely got a seat.  Justin wanted to go to the milk bar as well for their Corn Cookies.  I was a little skeptical at first, but after trying them I had at least 3.  A few months ago Kati (who was with Justin and I in NY) linked me to the Momufuku Milk Bar cook book by Christina Tosi on Amazon, which I quickly purchased.  I finally got to make these cookies last night and they were sooooo good (I had to order an ingredient online).  I’m excited to try more recipes and hopefully someday soon I can visit Momofuku again.

Momofuku Corn Cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar

Ingredients

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 egg, room temperature or cold
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1/4 cup corn flour (I found corn flour at Bulk Barn)
• 2/3 cup freeze-dried corn powder (I purchased this online)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Directions

1. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 -3 minutes.  Scrap down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat for 7-8 minutes.  It is very important to make sure you cream together for 7-8 minutes!!!
2. Reduce the speed to low and add flour, corn flour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix until the dough comes together, about 1 minute.  
   
3. Using an ice cream scoop, portion out the dough onto a cookie sheet lines with parchment paper and pat the top of the cookie dough domes flat.  Wrap the sheet tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.  Do not make your cookies at room temperature!
   
4. Preheat over to 400ºF
   
5. Line more baking sheets with parchment paper (I used 3 in total) and arrange chilled dough 4 inches apart (I did 2 inches, worked out great).  Bake for 18 minutes, they should be faintly browned on the edges and bright yellow in the center.  
6. Let the cookies cool completely on the sheets before transferring them to an airtight container.

Life Lately

I realize I haven’t posted much in a while.  A lot has been going on with work and life but I finally feel motivated to blog more.  In the last few months my little sister had the cutest baby boy, my grandma got very sick but is now recovering (thank goodness), a lot spring cleaning around the house and getting ready for the summer and friends getting closer to getting married.

 

Recipes I have enjoyed

Thousand-Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Sarah Copeland

This is another favorite recipe from The Newlywed Cookbook.  These cookies were amazing and so much fun to make!  Layering dough and shards of chocolate together is genius.  I have honestly been trying different chocolate chip cookie recipes for what feels like forever and I have found my new ‘go to’ cookie.  I also took some to work and they were a hit!  This recipe can be found here on Martha Stewart’s website along with a video! Also check out Sarah’s lovely blog.

Meringue Swirls from Martha Stewart

Speaking of Martha Stewart, I have the Martha Stewart Living app on my ipad and i love it.  I tried these Meringues and they were delicious.  Vanilla bean and orange zest added a nice kick to them.  Recipe found here.

Earl Grey Dark Chocolate Cupcakes from Desserts for Breakfast

A recipe from the first issue of Sated Magazine, a quarterly publication and each issue they focus on a single food subject.  These cupcakes were so tasty and the ingredients were different from any cupcakes i’ve made before.  Find out more on Stephanie’s blog about the magazine, recipe, and see her lovely photos.

Please share any recipes that you have been enjoying!

Homemade Jammie Dodgers

This recipe is from my newest cookbook, Homemade by Clodagh Mckenna.  Purchased here.  These cookies are delicious, however I found them difficult to make.  I’m not sure where I went wrong, the recipe is very simple and straight forward.  Confused still.    I followed the recipe and could not get the dough to form, it was all crumbly.  I fixed that easily by adding more butter, 2 extra tablespoons.  I left the dough over night, and had problems trying to roll it out.  It was all crumbly again so I ended up pounding small pieces to make one cut-out at a time.  It worked though.

Ingredients:

• 2 + 1/4 sticks unsalted butter; softened
• 2 + 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
• pinch of sea salt
• 2/3 cup strawberry or raspberry jam

Beat the butter until it is light and fluffy. Add the flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt.  Combine all the ingredients until you have a nice dough.  Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

After chilling, preheat the oven to 350° F.  Split the dough into two separate parts. For the first half, roll out the dough and cut into rounds with a circular-shaped cookie cutter.  I think mine was 3 inches.  Place cookies on a sheet with parchment paper.  For the remainder of the dough, make the same cut outs but also use a heart shaped cutter n the centre and place on another baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake both sets of cookies in the oven for 6-8 minutes.  Let cool.  Spread half of the cookies with jam and cover with the cutout heart cookies. Enjoy!

Recipe from Homemade by Clodagh Mckenna

Robot & Tesla

 

 

Oatmeal-Yogurt Pancakes with Blackberry Crush

These pancakes were pretty darn delicious.  If you are willing to spend some extra time making these, its well worth it.  They have oats and greek yogurt in them!  I wouldn’t call these healthy….  but different!  This recipe is from the lovely cookbook, The Newlywed Cookbook by Sarah Copeland.  You can find it here .  Also check out Sarah’s amazing blog here! 

From The Newlywed Cookbook

Blackberry Crush

• 2 cups of fresh blackberries
• 1/4 cup raw sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Pancakes

• 1 + 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 + 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 heaping tsp baking soda
• 1/4 sea salt
• 1 cup greek yogurt, plus more for garnish
• 1 cup milk (I used 1%)
• 4 tbs unsalted buter, melted, plus more for the griddle/pan
• 2 large eggs

To Make The Blackberry Crush Topping:

In a large enough bowl, combine the berries and sugar and crush them together with a fork.  Strain the juice into a small pot and set aside the berries. Heat the juice over medium heat and simmer, until it is thick and syrupy, about 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the maple syrup.  Let it cool slightly, then pour over the blackberries and mix together.  Set aside for now.

To Make the Pancakes:

Whisk together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, milk, melted butter, and eggs.  Make a well in the dry ingredients and whisk in the wet ingredients until well combined.  The batter should be thick with bubbles on the surface.  I don’t think I need to explain the rest, everyone knows how to make pancakes right?  I used my griddle which is amazing, no more trying to flip them in a pan.  Once your pancakes are ready, stack em up and add some more yogurt if you like, or just pour on some blackberry/syrup topping.  Enjoy!

From the Newlywed Cookbook

From the Newlywed Cookbook

The Newlywed Cookbook by Sarah Copeland