Interactive Mondays @ Casel Marché

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

I often drive by Casel, the months-old condo development towering over 17th Ave and 24 St, on my way to work. I'd heard fantastic things about Cassis Bistro, the restaurant that is part of the bigger Casel Marché on the main floor of the building, which includes Market 17, Vie Café and J. Webb Wine Merchant.

Despite all the buzz and me not living too far away, I had never been to Casel Marché, so I was really excited when I heard that I'd won two spots to their first ever Interactive Monday night.

The 10 of us lucky folks met at J. Webb Wine Merchant, where owner Janet Webb kicked off the evening with a round of Val d'Oca Punta Rosa ($19.95), which was light and bubbly with a hint of fruity sweetness. We were then introduced to our host for the evening - Joel Goralski, president of Niklas Group, the developers behind Casel. Joel spoke briefly about being inspired by the pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods in Europe for the Casel Marché concept, and noted that he hoped to bring similar principles to his future developments. Since Cassis Bistro is closed on Mondays, Joel and his wife Jillian, also of Niklas Group, were our chefs for the evening, whipping up a few quick and simple weeknight dishes. Janet took the task of pairing the dishes with some affordable Italian wines from her store.

We familiarized ourselves with Market 17 by "shopping" for the recipe's ingredients. Because of the small space, Market 17 manager Alan has to be really choosy with what goes on the shelves, which are dominated by organic and gourmet products, mainly from smaller producers. After our brief "tour", we sat down to our meal, where the table was already set with baskets of Aviv Fried's Sidewalk Citizen bread, cubes of Old Amsterdam and Manchego (?) cheese and ramekins of olives.


Despite being so well known across the city, I had yet to try Aviv's bread, so it was a definite treat - the crisp crust gave way to a moist, chewy centre, and I ate slice after slice. I enjoyed the choice of cheeses as well; although they were hard cheeses, there was a bit of a creaminess to them, with a hint of nutty flavour. Of course, I didn't touch the olives.

Our first course was a salad of sliced tomato with chopped basil and chunks of buffalo mozzarella, dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.


I loved the creamy and mild buffalo mozzarella paired with the sweet-tart tomatoes, peppery olive oil and aromatic basil. This simple dish definitely whet my appetite for more.

Our second appetizer was a small plate of Rising Moon Organics Wild Chanterelle Mushroom Ravioli with shaved parmesan and a drizzle of truffle oil on top. Janet paired this with Librandi Cirò Rosato, which at $16.95 per bottle is a total steal.


The ravioli was really good. Despite being frozen, it still had an al dente texture, and the truffle oil really brought out the mushroom flavour. A few of us hadn't tried truffle oil before, so Joel was kind enough to pass the bottle of it around for us to see and taste a bit by itself - a little goes a long way! The Cirò Rosato was a great wine - it was deceptively fruity and berry on the nose, but turned out to be very full-bodied for a rosé.

Our main course was rotini served with a sauce made with Simply Natural Organics Vodka Cream Sauce and Sunworks Farm chicken chorizo. This was served with a Red Leaf Lettuce & Cucumber Salad dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Janet paired this with Taurino Salice Salentino ($17.95), a dry but flowery red wine that went well with the chicken and tomato.


I really liked this hearty pasta dish - again, the pasta was cooked just al dente, and I liked the spiciness that the chicken chorizo added to the sauce.

For dessert, we were served a couple of chocolatey treats from Urban Baker, available at Casel Marché's Vie Café - Peanut Butter Nanaimo Bars and Chocolate Bombs. This was served with Marcarini Moscato d'Asti, a very light (only 5% alcohol!) dessert wine.

  
Both were super-decadent and delicious - the creamy, savoury peanut butter married well with the sweet, chewy nanaimo bar in the former, and the chocolate bomb was so rich and chocolatey; we were lucky that it had been pre-cut into pieces for us! A whole one is only $6 at Vie Café... The wine tasted like a slightly drier sparkling grape juice, making it very easy to drink, and really brought out the creaminess and sweetness of the chocolate desserts.

As a mostly from-scratch cook myself, I was impressed that a meal made mostly with pre-prepared ingredients could taste almost gourmet. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't an "instructed cooking class" as advertised, but who can complain about a free meal? My favourite part was how the entire meal was served family-style - it really encouraged everyone to chat, especially about the things that Casel Marché prides itself upon - food, wine and building communities and neighbourhoods.

If you are interested in participating in a future Interactive Monday at Casel Marché, entry forms are available at J. Webb Wines and Market 17 at Casel Marché, or you can follow Casel Marché on Twitter.

Casel Marché
2505 17 Ave SW
Calgary AB T3E 7V3
(403) 770-4770
Market 17 open Mon-Sat 9 AM-8 PM; Sun 10 AM-6 PM. J. Webb Wine Merchant open Mon-Fri 10 AM-8 PM; Sat 10 AM-6 PM; Sun 10 AM-5 PM. Vie Café open daily 8 AM-5 PM. Cassis Bistro open Tues-Sun 11:30 AM-2 PM; 5-10 PM. Closed Mondays. Underground parking available, ample street parking on 24 & 24A Sts and 17 Ave.

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A #yycMNSC Thanksgiving & Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Maple Spiced Pecans

Holiday Monday = No kickboxing class = #yycMNSC Thanksgiving Potluck!

  
I had read many of the delicious goings-on on Dan's blog of previous Monday Night Supper Clubs, and was looking forward to my second #yycMNSC (and my first-ever Monday Night Supper Club potluck!)

Of course, the spread did not disappoint - Dan made the centrepiece, a turducken that Co-Op gave him for his birthday (cooked in a slow cooker as per Julie!), as well as an acorn squash salad with a matching squash-based salad dressing. There were green beans (but no Brussels sprouts - boo!), a cheesy and gooey onion casserole, a rich pumpkin risotto and some *killer* stuffing courtesy of Sarah.

Chelsea brought tofurkey! It was surprisingly delicious.


While my two previous Thanksgiving dinners that weekend (yes, I had three Thanksgiving dinners!) only had one dessert each (though B.'s cousin's fiancé's decadent Oreo Cheesecake is probably worth 5 million), I satisfied my sweet tooth with THREE pies at Dan's. Ksenia brought a delightfully messy bumbleberry pie, while Jacinthe made the other two pies. One was a pumpkin pie made entirely from scratch (including steaming the pumpkins) while the other was a sweet-tart pear cranberry pie. She also brought some of her pickles she had canned earlier this year for the cheese plate - they were good, and this is coming from a non-pickle person!

  
Please excuse the POS cellphone pics
For my contribution, there were GIANT (literally 2 lb each) sweet potatoes on sale at Superstore, so I bought a few for my Thanksgiving dinner (there is still a big bowl of leftover mashed sweet potatoes in the fridge because I forgot Mama T doesn't like cinnamon! Worst daughter ever), for B.'s family's Thanksgiving dinner (which were ultimately unused because we were told not to bring anything - I felt so guilty! But there ended up being way too much food anyway) and for the potluck. I thought mashed sweet potatoes would be too run-of-the-mill, and as I tried to dream up a dish, I thought of the nuts that I sometimes sprinkle on top of my mashed sweet potatoes...

The result: Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Maple Spiced Pecans.


I stole the recipe for the pecans from Julie (of course). I would recommend making extra because I couldn't stop picking at them! If B.'s mom didn't make her own spiced candied pecans during the holidays, this would've been what everyone would be getting from me this Christmas.




Then I just roasted the sweet potatoes by themselves and mixed everything together. It was a hit, if I do say so myself.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Maple Spiced Pecans
Partially adapted from Dinner with Julie
Makes 16+ servings (I would assume this recipe scales down easily, especially with normal-sized sweet potatoes)

• 1 lb (454 g) pecan halves, about 4 cups
• ½ cup (125 mL) maple syrup
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) sugar
• 1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
• ½ tsp (2 mL) ginger
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) cloves
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) nutmeg
• ¼ tsp (1 mL) allspice
• 4 lb (1.8 kg) sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C). If you have a Silpat, this would be a good time to use it.
2. Spread pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet (or two if needed). Toast in the oven for 7-8 minutes, until fragrant. Drizzle with maple syrup and toss to coat; continue baking for another 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the nuts absorb most (but not all) of the syrup.
3. While the pecans are baking, in a small bowl, stir together sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. When the nuts are ready, sprinkle your spice mixture over them and toss to coat. Don't worry if not all of it sticks to the nuts (it will stick to the sweet potatoes later). Move your baking sheet to a cool place (i.e. not on top of your stove) to allow the pecans to cool a little bit.
4. Crank your oven up to 400˚F (205˚C). On another large baking sheet (or two if needed), spread sweet potatoes in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Roast for about 30 minutes, until the largest chunks are pierced easily with a fork, stirring occasionally to ensure that the sweet potato is evenly browned.
5. Toss together roasted sweet potatoes and pecans along with any leftover spice mix in a large baking dish or serving bowl. Serve warm.

Nutrition Info (per serving): 337 calories, 21 g fat (2 g saturated, 0 g trans), 0 mg cholesterol, 34 g carbohydrate (6 g fibre, 13 g sugar), 4 g protein, 63 mg sodium. An excellent source of vitamin A, potassium, copper and manganese. A good source of thiamine (vitamin B₁), pantothenic acid (vitamin B₅), vitamin B₆ and zinc.

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Pub-Grub Veggie Burgers

I made these burgers over the summer for the July newsletter at work. (Yes, this is the part of the blog where I slowly slog through the backlog of recipes I've accumulated!) I was writing about whether barbecuing causes cancer and I essentially concluded that grilling vegetables minimizes the production of the carcinogenic compounds often associated with BBQ.

I was warned that homemade veggie burgers often lack integrity for grilling, so I perused Lukas Volger's Veggie Madness (he did write Veggie Burgers Every Which Way, after all) and chose the one that I thought would most likely survive grilling. Lukas's Pub-Grub Veggie Burgers are made of a purée of black beans and chickpeas (as opposed to grated vegetables), held together by a matrix of eggs and cheese.


Don't try this at home
Alas, homemade veggie burgers and barbecues are not meant to be - these guys got stuck on the grill as I cooked them and I had to take the whole thing off and clean it so that B. wouldn't get mad at me :S

So unfortunately, when it comes to homemade veggie burgers, they will have to be cooked either on the stovetop, on an electric grill, or in the oven. If you want to slap them on the grill, they can be parcooked then frozen before being reheated on the barbecue. Fortunately, this recipe makes 10 patties at a time and is very easy to put together -

As I mentioned, first you whirr together black beans and chickpeas, along with eggs, onion and chili powder in the food processor.

  

For you nutrition nerds - between the eggs and beans, these veggie burgers pack in a lot of protein. The beans also offer fibre, phosphorus, potassium, iron and folate. I like the use of chili powder in this because it lends a smoky flavour, and in a way it's customizable - if you have a brand you like, great, if you have a homemade blend that you use, even better!

Anyway, then you mix in grated cheese (I used monterey jack), chopped parsley and panko. Regular breadcrumbs will work too - in fact, one of our newsletter subscribers tried the recipe with oats, and it worked great!


Serve on a whole grain bun with your favourite compliments - some crisp romaine lettuce, fresh tomato (ok, maybe not anymore), thin slivers of onion and a dash of mustard might be a good start!


Since I find 19 oz cans of beans are much more common here, I scaled up the recipe - if you do have 14 oz cans, please refer to the original recipe for measurements.

Pub-Grub Veggie Burgers
Adapted from Lukas Volger's Veggie Madness
Makes 10 patties

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 large eggs
• 1 × 19 oz (540 mL) can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked)
• 1 × 19 oz (540 mL) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked)
• 1½ tsp (7 mL) chili powder
• ⅓ cup (85 mL) parsley, chopped
• 2 cups (500 mL) panko, bread crumbs or oats
• 1 cup grated melting cheese, i.e. monterey jack, muenster, mozzarella or fontina

1. If baking patties (as opposed to pan-frying), preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
2. Combine the onion, eggs, beans and chili powder in a food processor and pulse until combined. Turn the bean mixture into a mixing bowl and fold in the parsley, panko, and cheese. Shape into 10 patties.
3. Bake patties on prepared cookie sheet for 15 minutes or pan-fry in oil over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes per side.

Make Ahead Tip: Let cool before wrapping and freezing individually for several months. When ready to eat, cook on a well-oiled grill on medium-high for 5-7 minutes per side, or until heated through. You can also reheat in the oven or toaster oven at 325˚F until heated through.

 

Nutrition Information (per patty): 262 calories, 7 g fat (3 g saturated, 0 g trans), 84 mg cholesterol, 35 g carbohydrate (7 g fibre, 4 g sugar), 14 g protein, 416 mg sodium. An excellent source of thiamine (vitamin B₁), folate (vitamin B₄), vitamin K, iron, manganese and selenium. A good source of riboflavin (vitamin B₂), vitamin B₁₂, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and zinc.

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A Brunch Potluck & Maple Blueberry Deep Dish French Toast

I think my friend Julie simply likes hosting parties and potlucks, because not long after her Pie Party she invited a bunch of food bloggers over to her house to meet Charmian, a food writer and blogger from just outside Toronto. (Guelph? St. Catharines? I'm only embarrassing myself...)

It was great getting to meet and chat with Charmian, who is as funny and charming in person as she is on the blog! It was also nice to catch up with some of my fellow food blogger friends, and meet Wendy from Yelp!

The spread was delicious - our gracious hostess Julie made bite-sized scones served with Devonshire cream and homemade berry jam. She also made coffee to order with her new Aeropress, cracked open a few bottles of bubbly and let us raid her tea stash.

Dan made a delicious quiche with topped with roasted cherry tomatoes (cut off in the photo - sorry!), which was made all the more impressive by the fact that he had just moved the night before and shopped for all the ingredients and made it the morning of.

Pierre and his girlfriend Candace made a yummy, gooey Welsh rarebit (served with the lesson that pewter can't go in the oven - eek!) and a refreshing jelly mold flavoured with lemon verbena and studded with berries.

Gwendolyn brought a simple, but delicious glazed applesauce cake while Wendy brought a hearty oatmeal bake filled with saskatoon berries.

Cheryl and Fareen each brought one savoury and one sweet item - Cheryl made a tomato crisp and a basket of pear, chocolate and tonka bean scones, while Fareen brought some mini crustless quiches and took the opportunity to show off some treats from her new business - Sweet Somethings by Foodmamma Her chocolate cake pops rolled in coconut where a perfect, decadent bite.

  
In keeping with my New Year's Resolutions, I decided to browse through my cookbooks to see if there was a breakfast item that I wanted to make. Aimée's Maple Blueberry Deep Dish French Toast, which was printed in Blog Aid, seemed perfect - most of the prep was done the day/night before, and it was easily portable for the short drive down to Julie's.


This dish is definitely a special occasion food - it's cream cheese mixed with maple syrup, then layered with cream and egg! The only saving graces are the blueberries and I also bought some multigrain Italian bread (hehe). I was surprised that the nutritional info isn't worse than it is, though I did make the portions small...


The dish is rich and decadent and a little reminiscent of bread pudding. I love the mix of the gooey, doughy bread on the bottom, and the toastier pieces of bread towards the top. My friend Janine says it might be a good Christmas brunch item, which I think is a great idea - perhaps with some cranberries instead of blueberries?

Maple Blueberry Deep Dish French Toast
Adapted from Aimée Wimbush-Borque's recipe in Blog Aid
Makes 4-6 servings

• 4 oz (225 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter, at room temperature
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) maple syrup, or maple butter
• ¼ teaspoon (1 mL) cinnamon
• 8 slices Italian bread, about ½ inch thick, from middle of loaf
• 1 cup (250 mL) blueberries
• 1 cup (250 mL) light cream
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup
• 1 pinch salt

1. Grease a 1-2 L capacity stoneware baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter and maple syrup until it is creamy and glossy like frosting. Add cinnamon and mix well.
3. Lay out the slices of bread on your workspace and divide the cream cheese mixture among four of the slices. Spread it around evenly and top with the four remaining slices of bread.
4. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the sandwiches into three ‘fingers’, and each one of those fingers into three. You should have roughly nine bite-sized chunks per sandwich. Don’t worry if everything seems to squish out.
5. Transfer all the bread to the baking dish and spread out evenly. Top with blueberries, tucking them in here and there, and pressing them down between the cubes of bread.
6. Using the same bowl as your former cream cheese mixture, crack the eggs and beat slightly. Add cream, maple syrup and salt; mix well.
7. Pour egg mixture over bread. Using a well-washed hand, place your palm in the center of the dish and gently press all the bread down until the egg mixture seeps up through the cracks. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
8. In the morning, preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Cook for 35-45 minutes until puffy and golden. Cover with foil if bread is browning before eggs are set. Serve warm, with more maple syrup and fresh blueberries, if desired.

Nutrition Info (per 1/6 recipe): 353 calories, 20 g fat (12 g saturated), 181 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrate (1 g fibre, 14 g sugar), 9 g protein, 363 mg sodium. An excellent source of riboflavin (vitamin B₂)*, folate (vitamin B₄)*, manganese and selenium. A good source of vitamin A** and vitamin B₁₂.

 

*From fortification of bread

**From fortification of cream

Check out Charmian and Fareen's takes on the brunch!

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Blue Star Diner

Cross-posted from Calgary is Awesome.

I had always heard fantastic things about Dairy Lane Café, but could never bring myself to go.

Back story: I attended Mayor Nenshi's alma mater, Queen Elizabeth High School, from 1998-2004 (because it's a junior/senior high, not because I'm some sort of academic failure - honest!) and I have fond memories of crossing through the back alley onto 19 St many a lunch hour. Back then, the tiny space was always hazy with cigarette smoke and grease as Judy and Dennis (?) made burgers and milkshakes to order, and cut each potato by hand with a wall-mounted french fry-cutter for greasy takeout boxfuls of shoestring fries that we doused with ketchup, salt, pepper and vinegar. When the smoking ban first came into effect, Judy would tell us in hushed tones to tell anyone who asked that we were 18 - and we were in junior high!

When the Highbanks Society and then the current owners took it over not long before I graduated, cleaned it up and transformed it into the successful, eco-friendly diner it is today, I couldn't bring myself to go there - Dairy Lane will always be the dingy but oddly comforting Judy's Kitchen in my heart.

Fortunately, the owners of Dairy Lane have recently taken over the space previously occupied by Artisan Bistro and turned it into Blue Star Diner! Now I can finally taste what the buzz was all about, and it is only steps away from B.'s house to boot!

B. and I were up "early" one weekend to take his car to the shop, so we arrived at around 10:30 to find a line already starting to snake out the door. We managed to squeeze into two seats by the window, hoping for the chance to people-watch (but quickly learned that it was more like hungry people watching us eat!) The menu is only a legal-sized, two-sided (one for breakfast, one for lunch) sheet, but there was still so much to choose from that it was very difficult to decide what to order. I was also impressed by all the local producers that were featured on the menu, as well as the gluten-free and vegetarian choices that were available.

I was tempted by Uncle Elenko's plate - two eggs served with local sausage, perogies, sauerkraut, baked beans, hash browns and toast for $14.50, but ultimately decided on the Huevos Rancheros ($12.75) with the eggs scrambled instead of sunny-side up.


I loved the bright flavours in this dish, particularly the black bean cilantro salsa and the creamy avocado. The corn tostadas were nice and crisp, but obviously it was sometimes difficult to eat this with a knife and fork!

B. ordered the Blue Star Veggie Burger ($14) from the lunch menu, with yam fries ($1).

Photo by B.

The veggie burger was moist, with a variety of textures and flavours from the different grains and veggies. We loved the garlicky tzatziki sauce as a condiment - very creative for a burger! Of course, the yam fries were delicious!

Of course, I can't review a new brunch place without my Perennial Brunchmate Tiffany! We headed down a couple weeks later at our usual brunchtime of 10 AM, and it was still PACKED. I started with an Organic Loose Leaf Indian Chai ($2.25), served in a Bodum, which the waitress always came by to refill the second it was emptied, while Tiffany had the Guatemalan coffee ($2.95).

I bypassed Uncle Elenko's plate again in favour of the Bridgeland Breakfast Sammy ($12.75).


This was so good - I loved the buttery pesto mayo and scrambled eggs with the fresh, crisp vegetables and smoky bacon. The use of basil instead of lettuce gave a nice, herbal twist. I ate everything really quickly.

Tiffany had the Blueberry Banana Pancakes ($12), which came as a stack of three large, thick, fluffy pancakes studded with real fruit.

Tiffany enjoyed them, but was sad to report that her stomach felt a little upset afterward. When I asked why, she said it was partly carb overload and partly something else...?

Obviously there are still lots of items on the menu I haven't tried, and I'm happy that there's yet another delicious brunch place near B.'s house! Welcome to Bridgeland, Blue Star Diner!

Photo by B.

Blue Star Diner
809 1 Ave NE
Calgary AB T2E 0C1
(403) 261-9998
Open Mon-Fri 7 AM-3 PM; Sat-Sun 8 AM-3 PM. Dinner service hopefully available in the future. Free street parking available on side streets (1 Ave is ParkPlus)

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A Pie Party & Frozen Choconut Pie (Vegan & Gluten-Free!)

Last month, my friend Julie had a Pie Party. It was a gorgeous, Indian summer day and it was so much fun! I tried 11(!) kinds of pie, including a couple tarts, galettes and Pie Fries. I also met lots of new friends (Hi, Jenna, Catherine, Carol and Jaya!) and caught up with old ones (Hi, Lauren and Gwendolyn!)

  

I think having a pie party comes with the unspoken expectation that rolling out some pastry will be involved, but as I was searching for pie recipes on my Google Reader, I kept coming back to this Frozen Samoa Pie from The Professional Palate.


She did a better job of drizzling melted chocolate, but you get the point.
Samoas (now called Caramel deLites) are a type of Girl Scout cookie sold in the States that are coated in creamy caramel, topped with toasted coconut and drizzled with chocolate. Apparently they're very popular. But because we don't have Samoas here in Canada (Why not?!), I decided to rename this to Frozen Choconut Pie for our audience.


Hanging out with Carol's Virgin Foxy Ladies, inspired by Gwendolyn
But how is it possible that this creamy pie could be vegan? The secret ingredient (which no one even suspected, despite the fact that my Magic Bullet was not the appropriate tool for this creation) was...

AVOCADO!

The original recipe was already very close to being vegan, with its coconut-and-coconut oil-based crust that I just took it a step further and swapped out the honey for agave nectar (how trendy of me!) I was actually more worried about making sure it was gluten-free, especially knowing that Lauren would be there - while I would usually buy coconut and chocolate chips from the bulk bins, I remembered to buy the packaged stuff and read all the ingredients. I also gave everything a good scrub and used a disposable pie tin.


The original recipe calls for coconut flour, which the store was unfortunately out of, so I bought a bag of quinoa flour instead and it worked great. Combined with the toasted coconut and coconut oil, the crust took on a distinctive nutty flavour.


I must admit I wasn't completely smitten with the pie at the party. Something about it seemed a little off, like it wasn't sweet enough or that there was a lingering avocado aftertaste. But I had some leftovers the next day and I finally understood where the compliments were coming from - the chocolate was smooth and creamy, but not too heavy, pairing well with the nutty flavour and cookie-like texture of the crust.


A note about coconut: I know a lot of people will balk at the fat content of this pie, especially because coconut is high in saturated fat. However, not all saturated fat is the same and the saturated fat that coconut oil is predominantly made of, called lauric acid, has been shown to raise cholesterol, but mainly HDL ("healthy") cholesterol (all fats are a mix of different types of fatty acids). Lauric acid is also considered a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) because it is only made up of 12 carbons, while most of the other saturated fats we find in our diet are made up of 16 or 18 carbons. MCTs do not require bile salts for digestion and do not require modification in the way that long-chain fatty acids do, so the hypothesis is their effects on our body and cardiovascular health may be different. While I don't buy some of the claims that coconut is some sort of miracle fruit that can burn fat and shed pounds, I do think that a pound of coconut oil is not the same as a pound of butter or lard! But of course, pie is pie and so this is still very much a "sometimes/special occasion" food!

Frozen Choconut Pie
Adapted from The Professional Palate
Makes 1 pie (8" or 9")

• 2 cups (500 mL) unsweetened shredded coconut
• ¼ cup (65 mL) coconut oil, melted
• ½ cup (125 mL) coconut flour, or quinoa flour
• 6 tablespoons (90 mL) agave nectar, divided
• 2 avocados
• ¼ cup (65 mL) dark cocoa
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) Kahlua or strong brewed coffee (I just used instant coffee)
• 2 tablespoons (30 mL) coconut milk
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• Optional: Melted chocolate chips (I used President's Choice The Decadent)

1. Toast coconut in a large skillet over medium heat 5 minutes or until golden; reserve ½ cup and set aside.
2. Combine 1½ cups toasted coconut, melted coconut oil, flour and 1 tablespoon agave nectar in a large bowl; press into and up sides of pie plate. Set aside.
3. Add avocado, remaining agave nectar, cocoa, Kahlua or coffee, coconut milk and salt to bowl of a food processor (not a Magic Bullet or blender!) Process until completely smooth. Spoon into pie shell and sprinkle with reserved toasted coconut. Freeze at least 4 hours or until firm. Just before serving, drizzle with melted chocolate, if desired.

Nutrition Info (per ⅛ pie): 387 calories, 30 g fat (22 g saturated, 0 g trans), 0 mg cholesterol, 28 g carbohydrate (11 g fibre, 16 g sugar), 4 g protein, 64 mg sodium. An excellent source of manganese. A good source of folate (vitamin B₄), magnesium, potassium and copper.

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2011 Goals Check-Up: August/September

I hiked Black Prince Cirque in Kananaskis in August.

I went to the Club Club Community Cookbook Launch in September.

Can't believe it's October already! Here is my "monthly" check-up of the goals I should be working on:

7.5 hours of sleep per night - Not doing this AT ALL! While I was staying with B., I did average 6.5-7 hrs of sleep per night (August), but now that I'm at home playing "legal guardian" to my underaged sister while our parents are away, I've been averaging ≤ 6 - YIKES!

Drink at least 1 L (one water bottle) of water per day - I am doing pretty good with this; sometimes more, sometimes less. Definitely less on weekends though, so I think I'm going to shift my goal to focus on them.

Read at least 12 books this year - I finished reading A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Oneand am now working on The Power of Social Networking: Using the Whuffie Factor to Build Your Business. It is taking longer than I'd like because I am taking notes so that I can get continuing education credits, so instead of just reading a couple pages before bed, I have to have the full setup of book, notebook, pen...

Win a kickboxing/Muay Thai fight - Despite scaling back on my training this summer, I participated in a "continuous tournament" two weekends ago. A continuous tournament is a very casual (almost disorganized) event that's geared toward novices - the weight classes are huge (20 lb range), but no one fights full power because the focus is on technique and how aggressive you are, and KOs are not allowed. I lost, but got lots of positive feedback from my trainers and am excited to get back into it again! However, I must admit the time commitment is pretty daunting. One of my friends who recently won a ring fight said that she took time off work to do additional training, which is something that is not realistic for me right now. I've put my name in to fight in December, so we'll see!

Cook at least one recipe from every cookbook I own - In August I made a berry crisp (or "Fieldberry Croustade") from Cooking with Foods That Fight Cancerand I recently made Aimée Wimbush-Borque's (from Under the High Chair/Simple Bites fame) Maple Blueberry Deep-Dish French Toast for a potluck brunch! Will blog soon eventually.
  
Pics to show it did happen

Put my savings/RRSP somewhere where I can make more money - Ack! We're now in October and I haven't moved my money yet. It's getting down to the wire! I think given the current state of the economy I'm just going to throw as much as I can into my RRSP and TFSA accounts for now and then move it again if I have to once I finally set up a meeting with a financial advisor.

Set aside one weekend every month with no commitments - I sort of did this for September long weekend; B. was away visiting family, so I had his place all to myself, and I was on-call so couldn't wander very far away. I did go for brunch with Tiffany at Blue Star Diner (again, will blog eventually), and went to the Club Club Cookbook Launch & Epic Potluck, but neither felt like they sucked a lot of my time. Read a good chunk of my book that weekend, it was nice! I'm hoping to have a similar weekend for Thanksgiving long - Mama T is just coming back from HK, so I don't think we will be doing Thanksgiving dinner due to her jet lag. Hoping to tie up all the loose ends at work and just commit to blogging, reading and eating! Wish me luck!

Rewards
The only reward I want at this point is time to myself so I can do the things I want! I do have too much on my plate and am looking for opportunities to unload :S We are going on a trip for my birthday in November. We ultimately decided New York because New Orleans was too expensive - although we did miss a bunch of sales and our flights to NYC were very expensive anyway... but I think it will be worth it!

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