Frankenloaf!

Ever since I was a little girl, zucchini bread was by far my favourite way to eat my vegetables. Now that I'm on my own, it's still frequently being baked, but with new additions to the recipe each time. Most recently, there were so many new additions and alterations to the recipe that I could only call it Frankenloaf. Luckily, this monster of a zucchini loaf turned out to be much more lovable than Dr. Frankenstein's own creation. It was so lovable, in fact, that I thought I would share it with all of you. Enjoy!

What I used:

3 cups Speerville all-purpose unbleached flour
2 cups Noggin's Corner Farm zucchini (grated)
2 cups Millen's Farm frozen blueberries
1 cup multipurpose applesauce (see Sunday June 5th post)
3 eggs
1/2 cup Linda's Corner maple sugar
1/2 cup Cosman and Whidden Pure Nova Scotia honey
3 tablespoons Linda's Corner maple syrup
2 tablespoons homemade vanilla extract
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch salt

How I made it:
Preheat oven to 325 F and grease a bread pan. In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients, including the maple sugar. In a separate bowl, stir together eggs, applesauce, honey, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid mix into the dry mix, stirring slowly. Stir in the zucchini and blueberries, and try not to om nom all the dough. At this point, the mixture should still be fairly liquid, so that the loaf stays moist after baking. Bake for 40-60 minutes, or until your toothpick test comes clean. Let cool for 10 minutes after baking, then remove from pan and serve warm, with applesauce, jam or butter on top. Om nom nom.

Berry Lemonade!

It's finally summer in Halifax! The rain is gone, for the most part, the tourists are getting off the giant cruise ships and the mist is burnt off by mid-morning! I'm currently writing from my sun-drenched balcony, listening to OK GO and enjoying the sunshine, sipping on some fancy lemonade. Going to the market this weekend was a great treat, because of the great weather and the fresh berries in season! All this great weather and sunshine calls for a lemonade recipe to help keep yourself cool so I'll share with the you the recipe for the one I'm drinking at this very minute!

What I used:

Trinity Gold homemade lemonade concentrate

Millens Farm frozen blueberries

Noggins Corner Farm strawberries

How I did it:

Filled a pitcher with with one part Trinity Gold and four parts cold water. Thought about replacing the water with iced tea, for a tasty Arnold Palmer, then got too impatient to make iced tea. Poured the mixed lemonade into tall glasses, replacing ice cubes with frozen blueberries (an awesome trick I borrowed from my mom) and garnished with slit strawberries. Drank it in the sun with Stu and a sense of well-being and happiness. Om nom nom.

Fresh Start!

Welcome, and thanks for reading! I've just moved into my new apartment and decided that this would be a great time to start something new. So this week is my first week of eating strictly local, apart from what supplies I had left over (which, of course, I'm not going to waste) After combing various grocery stores in the area, I have a fairly decent stockpile of fresh and local produce that I can't wait to start playing with.  My first local meal was a delicious stir-fry, made completely of local ingredients!

Springtime in Halifax Stir-Fry:

A few handfuls of (leftover) chick peas
One whole onion, diced finely
Three leaves of ripped up baby bok choy
Few sprigs of parsley
A handful of (leftover) pasta
A spoonful of salted butter
Lots of medium aged gouda (flavoured with local herbs)

Cook chick peas until soft, if bought dry, and cook pasta al dente in a separate pot.  Drain and cool both when cooked. Heat up a pan to about medium heat (we don't want to burn the butter) and sweat the onion in the butter. When the onion has begun to caramelize, throw in the rest of the greens and cook them all down together, allowing the flavours to mix nicely. The best part about using baby bok choy with butter is that it absorbs the tasty butter flavour while still staying relatively crunchy, adding a nice texture as well as the pretty leafy look. Now, add in the pasta and chick peas to warm them. Ideally, the chick peas will lend a meaty texture to make the stir fry a little more satisfying. Toss the whole mix a few times, and serve in a bowl or large plate, with or without rice. I didn't use rice and it was perfectly filling. Generously grate in the gouda (or whatever salty cheese you have around) while the stir-fry is still hot and toss the whole thing a few more times. The cheese should be melty and delicious when you serve the stir-fry. Nom nom nom. Delicious.