whole foods // whole grains

i have always wanted to go to whole foods. every time i'm in america, i drive by and want to go in so badly but for some reason it has never worked in my favour, until my last visit to our southern neighbour. when i got inside i felt giddy. it's funny how being in a grocery store can make you feel like that. i got two salads from the deli, some aged gouda cheese, some crusty bread and my guy got some pizza which turned out to the be the best pizza of our lives. we are planning a little weekend getaway for ourselves in mid febuary and i'm dreaming of walking those aisles again already.

lately i have been eating a lot of quinoa salad, my mom's recipe. it is so simple, tasty and healthy. sometimes i eat it by itself and others i put it on top of some mixed greens, either way, it's delicious.

quinoa salad

1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable/chicken broth

put the quinoa and broth in a pot, bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. turn off the heat and let it sit for five more minutes. cool.

2 bell peppers, any colour will do, chopped
1 or 2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 of a cucumber, chopped
feta cheese, as much as you like

put all of the chopped vegetables in a large bowl. when quinoa is cooled, mix all together with greek dressing.

dressing

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

shake all ingredients together in a mason jar. this will make more than enough for the salad.

yum!

hope your day is as chilly as mine, winter is finally here!

v. xo

sew

My grandma gave me her sewing machine tonight. I'm very excited to use it! Being done school (for now) means more time for nice things like actually cooking dinner, finally finishing that novel I started in September and now, thanks to my dear grandmother, sewing! Can't wait to go fabric shopping tomorrow! I think I'll be dreaming of lace, leather and floral tonight...

V xo.

classic currant scones

Today was such a lovely day. The weather in Winnipeg lately has been bananas, read: hot hot hot and rainless. Today, us fall/winter lovers got a much needed break from the heat. Now I don't usually like rain, but right now I would take whatever cooler weather brought with it, today it was drizzles and puddles. Fine by me.

With the breeze blowing through my home, I thought I would take the opportunity to use my oven. It has been untouched for quite some time now. After swimming and sauna-ing with my sister, I thought scone baking and tea drinking was in order. First, to bake the scones.

Classic Currant Scones
from Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin

makes 1 dozen

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar (i used raw sugar)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup currants
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
milk for glazing

Place oven rack in the top third of the oven. Preheat oven to 400. Lightly butter a baking sheet.

In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients and mix together thoroughly. Cut the butter into bits and toss them into the flour mixture. Rub the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until small pellets form. Stir in the currants.

Beat egg in a small bowl. Beat in the buttermilk. Pour into the flour mixture nad stir with a fork until the dough is evently moistened. Sprinkle a little flour on a work surface and drop the dough on it. Gather the dough into a ball and knead once or twice. Pat the dough into a 3/4-inch disk. Cut the disk into 12 triangles with a large knife. Brush the top of the scones with a little milk and place on the baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, or until lightly golden. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

The scone eating and tea drinking was just as enjoyable as the baking and was the perfect rainy day activity. They are going to taste extra delicious at the cabin tomorrow! It's supposed to be a cool day again. I can't wait.

Happy scone baking and eating.
V. xo

Kir Royale[s]

On Friday night we celebrated the birth of our dear friend/brother-in-law Nils. It was a lovely evening full of laughs, cheese, new faces and... Kir Royales. I am sure that I have found my summer drink! One glass of cava (Spanish sparkling white wine or champagne) with an ounce of Creme de Cassis (blackcurrent liquer). It is sweet, fruity, purple and bubbly! What more could a girl ask for?

Try it out, I may have just found your summer drink too.

V. xo

kitchen failure

Well, I guess it is bound to happen now and then. In a cookbook that I use religiously, called Simply in Season, there is a recipe that I have been eyeing up since fall. It is Maple Parsnip Soup. With newly purchased maple syrup from Montreal and parsnips being in season I thought it was the perfect combination! Well, it never happened, until tonight. It would have been to my advantage if I would have forgotten this dish and moved on with my life, but I did not. In short, I should have stuck with lentils. The combination was not suited for my palette nor my husband's. It was a good attempt, but alas, unsuccessful. With a dinner-less table I sat down for a cup of tea and then made chocolate chip banana muffins, much more successfully.

Tonight I have been dreaming of sewing pillow cases. I found a sewing machine online and made an offer, I hope they accept it. I have been checking my inbox every ten minutes! If so tomorrow will be an un-productive day on the homework front, but extremely successful in the fabric shopping and tutorial finding front. I suppose I should attempt to plough through the stack of books waiting for me tonight then. More tea it is.

xo.

day of love

Well I suppose Valentines has come and gone, but it is so very much fun to remember. This year I decided to start loving Valentines and I think that it'll stick. Valentines crafts and treats are so adorable and delicious!

I decided to make some Valentines for Landy for when he woke up in the morning.







I also made some for my nieces and nephew, I'm pretty sure they got ripped up pretty quickly though.



I guess Valentines Day is a funny thing to celebrate since it does appear to have a solely capitalist purpose, but when I'm not purchasing things, only making them, I think it's right to celebrate a day devoted to love. Goodness knows the world needs as much love as it can get.

Happy day of love tout le monde,

V. xo

Soft Gingersnap Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

Oh man - Christmas has come and gone and I have yet to post all the Christmas baking I did! Okay, it wasn't as much as I just made it sound. I have always been slightly envious of the ladies that have baking that they do every year which become staples in their home, their families look forward to it, etc. etc. An example of this would be my mother. SO many staples. SO many treats. I have always wanted to do my own Christmas baking, apart and aside from the baking that I help my mom with, and also treats that are not the same as what my mom makes. So this year I did it, mostly. I made two treats that are pretty much my all-time faves and really, really yummy, and then found two new things to add. A total of four treats. I think this constitutes my own Christmas baking and I couldn't be more proud of myself. Gloat gloat gloat. The treat that turned out the ugliest but was supposed to be the prettiest was the Red Velvet Cake Ball disaster/delight. The next recipe that I tried for the first time was equally as yummy but looked way better were these tasty treats! They were a huge hit, I found the recipe on Tastespotting.

Soft Gingersnap Cookies with White Chocolate Chips

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 large eggs
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1 cup granulated sugar-for coating cookie dough balls

1. Preheat oven to Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment papers or with a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.

3. Beat in the molasses, canola oil, vanilla, baking soda, salt, and spices. Mix until well combined.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until smooth. Slowly add in the flour. Next, stir in the white chocolate chips.

5. Scoop the dough into balls and roll in granulated sugar. Place on lined baking sheets, about two inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, the cookies will still be soft. Remove from oven and let cookies cool on the baking sheet for five minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Makes about 50 cookies



Enjoy! I hope your loved ones love these cookies as much as mine!

V. xo

Red Velvet Cake Balls

Ahhh, the sweet anticipation of Christmas - the holiday I hold closest to my heart. Besides the obvious traditions that bring out the best (and worst) in children and elderly alike, the tradition that this year I am choosing to be the most excited about is baking. In the last couple of years my interest in Christmas baking has been growing ever so slightly and this year I feel as though it is my duty and responsibility of a Mennonite wife to preheat my oven, put on my Christmas apron and melt some chocolate.

Last year my lovely sister Livy asked me to make a special Christmas treat with her but due to the pressures of end of term exams I was unable to take part in this event. She had wanted to make Red Velvet Cake Balls with me. Over the year, this idea stayed with me, and when my friend Tiffany left for the States, I put in a request for a box of Red Velvet cake mix which is unavailable in dear old Canada. Home safe and sound she presented to me my requested item and a few days (or weeks) later I submitted myself to the cake box on my counter. I won't say my first attempt was a complete success (see below), but they were delicious and quite a hit. I'm not sure what the trick is for the white chocolate but I will surely do better on attempt number 2 as these festive treats are now a staple in my Christmas baking repretoire.

Here is the link to the recipe and directions: http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/







Happy melting, sculpting and enjoying!

V. xo

Half and half

When I was little and growing up, my parents had, and still do have, a matryoshka doll. The hand-crafted and painted, wooden mother of five that squeaks the worst song when birthing one of those said daughters. She was lovely and I loved playing with her, just as my nieces love playing with her now. This lady is of mixed blood. She's no pure-bread that is for sure. By boat I'm sure, she was brought to me by either Ukrainia or Russia, they both claim her, but as for me and my house, we believe she is from Russia just like our dear grandmother.

When in Berlin with my handsome husband, we saw beautiful Matryoshka everywhere, on tables being sold by fur-clad Eastern European men, among other soviet souvenirs. Landen attempted to barter for this precious lady, offering multiples of two when the merchants wanted multiples of ten. After all, she is hand-made. So, after hours spent scouring these rickety tables for the most beautiful of them all, and attempting to do business with the least sketchy of the men, we found her, and paid a fair price for her.

Currently our dear Matryoshka, half Ukriania, half Russia, half Landen, half Vanessa, sits on our mantle with her baby ducks following closely behind.

Quite some time ago I decided I had had enough of our rust brick fire-less fireplace and painted it a wholesome grey.

Before:




... and after, the once freshly painted throne of our dear doll:

Peanut Free

Growing up in a household where one of my sisters was deathly allergic to nuts of any kind, I have grown accustom to being especially careful while handling legumes of that variety. My mom never cooked with pine nuts, or baked with almonds however, once in a while a tub of smooth peanut butter would make it's way into our house and evidently my sister's life would be on the line. I really have no idea how since peanuts were the most deadly, but whatever the reason, we had it from time to time and the 5 of us would enjoy every last bit. We would put it in ice cream, on apples, and obviously on toast, with it's cohort honey. Naturally, this brought chaos to our already chaotic, 4-daughtered family as honey toast was the breakfast of choice for the allergic sister Jen. We always tried our best to put the honey on first, and even use two different knives for each condiment, but somehow our memories failed us and time and time again Jen would find a tiny bit of peanut butter in the honey. This was a problem for two really good reasons. First and foremost the health of our beloved sister, but secondly, when teenage Jen got upset you did not want to be anywhere near it. This being said, over the years I have become extremely meticulous about my avoidance of any sort of peanuts for both of those especially dangerous reasons. Now, a married lady, with a husband in the same situation as my dear sister, I will dare to say he's lucky to have a wife who is so experienced in accomodating to this specific dietary restriction. He does take it a step further though, no legumes at all. No peas, no lentils and no chickpeas for this guy. Consequently, I've learned to avoid those few items when cooking for him, but for someone who doesn't like to eat a lot of meat it leaves few options for a filling dinner without those two prime alternatives. Navy beans have become a staple which leads me to a dip that my blender and I created this afternoon.

Navy Bean and Sweet Potato (faux) Hummus

1 can of navy beans (drained and rinsed)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into small chunks
1/3 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of water
4 cloves of garlic, diced
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the sweet potatoes, garlic, and a bit of the oil with the lid on for about 12 minutes or until soft stirring occasionally. Drain and rinse navy beans and put in the blender with oil, water, lemon juice and spices. Add sweet potatoes when they are done and blend it up!

I really like rosemary with sweet potatoes (and in general) so I bought rosemary and onion flatbread crackers from Superstore and they taste awesome with this dip.

Enjoy!

Love,
V. xo

A Pleasant Surprise

An odd tradition that seemingly all of North America practices, is that of wedding showers. Generosity, kindness and smiles flow freely at these events, as friends, neighbors, great aunts, and siblings alike gather together in the name of the bride and shower her for hours with gifts, love, words of advice and in this case, their favorite recipes. This particular recipe was given to me by the eldest of all my sisters, Olivia, whose cooking style, I must say, is one that I aspire to replicate. Or not, but at least use her recipes and hope to all goodness that they taste the same.

On the back of this dainty recipe card covered in flowers and shades of pastel green, yellow, blue and pink reads: "Nessy - I've made this soup for you before and you really liked it so I thought I'd give you the recipe. Happy wedding! xo Livy". In all honesty I can't remember any time in my life tasting this soup and enjoying it and for that matter, I can't remember tasting anything with lentils in it and enjoying it ever. Putting my judgements aside, I decided that tonight was the night that Livy's soup would be brought to the table. As previously mentioned, this soup was a pleasant surprise and, if I can be so bold, I think that it has rapidly been moved to the top of the list of... favorite soups. This is not an easy feat I might add, as I am a soup conoisseur. So for your tasting pleasure, I leave you with this recipe and lips to be licked. It will be a favorite, that is certain. I am also including my mom's recipe for a delicious (and comforting) bread/biscuit that goes famously with homemade soup, I served them together and they were quite the duo.

Lentil Soup

4 cups of stock
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 clove garclic, minced
2 cups diced tomato
1 cup dried green lentils
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
2 bay leaves
1 cup diced carrots
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Saute onion and garlic in 2 tbsp stock, adding more stock if necessary, until onion is soft (about 5 minutes).
Stir in remaining stock, tomatoes, lentils, oregano, basil and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add carrots, brown sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until carrots are tender-crisp.
Remove bay leaves.

Fergosa

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp butter
1 cup bisquick
1 1/2 cup grated medium or old cheese
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 425.
Saute onion and butter until onion is transparent.
Meanwhile, combine bisquick, 1/2 cup cheese and milk and mix until smooth.
With greased hands pat into 8" pie pan.
Combine 1 cup cheese and egg, spread on crust.
Top with onion mixture and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Eat well and be well,
V. xo

Made with Love

Growing up in a Mennonite household, a phrase used commonly by my dear mother was "homemade is best". In my 22 years of experience, I believe these words to be true and I'm at a time in my life where all things are a go to proceed using this small phrase to guide my steps. With freshly installed cupboards overflowing with the latest in kitchen essentials, my attempts at oven-using are becoming habitual and each day brings a new opportunity to express myself through the blending of various ingredients. Home-owning is new to me and as I go I'm discovering how even the tiniest bit of improvement affects la joie de vivre in the homestead and increases the overall love for this place we so aptly call home. Posts may be sparse as time is not typically on my side in regards to finishing projects and dinner alike, but you can be sure that all homemade goods and projects found here were surely made with love.

Sincerely,
Yours truly xo