2-Minute Blueberry Sorbet

Wandering around the market, it's easy to find great deals on frozen or bulk foods. For example, this week we found a stand that sold giant 5 lb boxes of frozen blueberries... for 20$. How could we say no to enough blueberries to keep us going until they're ready to picked fresh again next season for such a good price? Naturally, we were all over that. When I got back to the apartment, I was in need of some refreshing from the uphill walk home in the humidity, so I decided to make some sorbet to cool myself down.

What you need:

2 cups of frozen blueberries

1/2 cup honey

Here's how I did it:

Basically, just throw everything in the blender and blend. It takes all of 30 seconds and it's SO tasty and refreshing. You can also add in other frozen fruit, berries or even vegetables, and with a little yogurt or whole milk you have yourself a smoothie. Om nom nom.

Pink Brie Scramble

A few weeks ago at the market, Stu and I came across a man who sold not only whole chickens and turkeys, but also chicken and turkey eggs. He showed us the oversized freckled eggs (being sold at the same price as the chicken eggs) so we had to buy some to see what they were like. Apart from being fairly hard to crack and huge, they were very like chicken eggs, but with a faint turkey taste. This discovery of turkey eggs got us on such an egg kick that we ended up having eggs every day, making elaborate breakfast dishes revolving around eggs. I am a huge fan of omelettes, but sometimes they are hard to flip if they have lots of ingredients in them, so a lot of the time I just end up making a scrambled egg with lots of tasty ingredients to make things more interesting. This week, we had a lot of fresh beet greens left over by Friday, as well as some nice local brie, so I decided to throw them into the mix. To my delight, this resulted in a gooey, creamy, pink omelette with lots of flavour and definitely an interesting look

What you need:

4 eggs (turkey or chicken, but you could even use ostrich eggs if that floats your boat)

A large handful of beet greens

As much brie as you want (can there ever be too much brie?)

Olive oil

Sprig of rosemary

How I did it:

Start by washing and trimming the roots off the beet greens. Chop them into bite-length pieces. Heat a little oil on medium in a pan, and throw the greens in, stirring frequently. When the leaves are wilted and they start giving off a pink juice, add the brie in, in small chunks. Melt the brie in with the leaves and watch it all turn pink. Put your eggs in and cook as dry as you like, stirring often until it's all cooked. You should have a lovely pink scramble, that you can top with chopped rosemary. Om nom nom.

Herbs!

Oh my gosh, I cannot get enough of herbs. Recently, Stu and I planted some herb seeds in pots (as we have a tiny apartment and no garden) and we're really excited to start seeing some shoots! We bought sweet basil, tarragon and rosemary plants, as well as curly parsley and chives. We decided to get them so that we could have a choice of the freshest herbs freshly picked from our own balcony when we're cooking. There have been a few problems copping up though, and we're trying to work through them. For example, our plants were attracting little fruit flies so we decided to put them outside, where they started wilting from the cold. Any advice on indoor herb gardening/ outdoor herb upkeep?

Multipurpose Applesauce!

Hello! I just want to say that applesauce is one of my favourite foods in the whole world. There are many reasons I love it so much, but my top reason is because of its versatility. It's great as a condiment, as a substitute for butter (for all the vegans and lactose-intolerant people out there) and just as a snack on its own. Luckily, living in Halifax provides me with plenty of opportunities and lots of choice in terms of local apple supply, so I make applesauce all the time and use it in everything I bake. Here's my recipe, so you can also get your applesauce fix.

Prep time: 10 min. Cook time: about 20 min.

What you need:
5 pounds of apples (Cortland have yielded the best results so far. Try for an apple that doesn't brown quickly)
1 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Cinnamon to taste

How to make it:
Peel, core and roughly chop all the apples. I recommend doing this with a friend because it's pretty tedious on your own. Put enough water in a large pot so that all the apple pieces boil. Pour the apple chunks into the water and bring to a boil. Try to resist munching on the apples. Sprinkle your pinch of salt and the sugar over the chunks. Cover your pot partially and let it boil until the apples are soft enough to mush with a potato masher. Check frequently, stir every once in a while. Once the apple chunks are nice and soft, pour your cinnamon in the pot and start mushing. If you're short on time, you can use a food processor, but the manual mushing has always been my favourite part. Let it cool a little and enjoy! Om nom nom.