Happy 200th Anniversary to the McIntosh Apple!

2011 is the 200th anniversary for the McIntosh apple. Did you know that the McIntosh apple is a true Ontario apple--it was discovered here and to this day Canada is known for this variety of apple.

Here are some other interesting facts about the McIntosh apple:

• The original McIntosh tree was discovered by John McIntosh in Dundela, Ontario in 1811.
• Many other apple varieties stem from the McIntosh including the Cortland, the Lobo, the Melba and the Macoun.
• The original tree was damaged by a house fire but continued to bear fruit on the unaffected side until it died in 1906.
• Every McIntosh tree and apple in the world is a descendent of the original McIntosh tree.
• The McIntosh apple represents approximately 25% of Ontario's total acreage.
• The McIntosh apple is grown in greater quantities than any other apple in Canada and the north-eastern United States combined.
• In recent years, the Ontario apple crop has averaged about 10 million bushels; that's about 12.5 pounds of apples for every Canadian.
• Half of Ontario's apples are sold fresh; the other half is used for processing.
• Ontario exports about 10 per cent of its apples.

On Monday, February 21st the Ontario Apple Growers (OAG) are hosting the Winter Apple Ball at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto, Ontario. The event is in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the McIntosh apple (and its descendants). Events at the ball include: apple treats, arts/crafts and face painting, trivia competitions, dancing, entertainment and birthday cake. There's also going to be an attempt at a Guiness World Record for the most kids bobbing for apples at one time. Free tickets are available online at www.onapples.com (1,000 tickets were made available).

In conjunction with the Ball the Ontario Apple Growers also put out a blogger challenge and I was contacted to participate. The challenge was to come up with the best candy apple recipe.

This is my submission for the contest -- the Ontario Raspberry-Flavored Caramel and Peanut Candy Apple.

To celebrate 'Ontario's' famous apple I thought it would be best to dress it up with other Ontario ingredients - Ontario honey from Clovermead Apiaries, Ontario peanuts from Picard Peanuts, Ontario cream, Ontario raspberries that I had in my freezer, and of course, McIntosh apples. The sprinkles and salt were the only non-Ontario ingredients in my recipe.

To start, bring 1 1/2 cups cream to a simmer with a small handful of frozen raspberries and 1/4 tsp of salt. When it begins to steam add 1 1/2 cups of honey and bring it to a boil. Once boiling, lower the temperature to medium and keep stirring the mixture until it a candy thermometer reads 240F (about 20-30 minutes).

Take the caramel off the heat and leave it to cool and thicken. Don't leave it too long though because it'll thicken too much. Once the caramel is at room temperature dip the apples into the caramel and then cover with chopped unsalted peanuts and candy sprinkles. Set the apples onto a platter with waxed paper and refrigerate for half an hour or so.

We cut up two of the apples tonight for dessert after dinner. So good!

Happy Birthday McIntosh!

Why Low Fat isn't the Right Choice

I came across a great article today.

Have you ever watched X-weighted on TV? I love this show. I love that they're real about weight loss and that they follow regular people within Canada who are trying to lose weight by cleaning up their meals and exercising. It's so much more realistic than some of the other shows on television.

Here's an article from Dr. Macklin who's the physician on the show: http://www.xweighted.ca/blog/dr-macklin-explains-the-problem-low-fat-packaged-food

In the article he talks about the fact that there are so many 'low-fat' and 'fat-free' alternatives out there that aren't doing anybody any favours. I agree! Most of these foods are actually worse than the original; mainly because of all the added sugars.

It's not just sugar though. Have you ever read the ingredients list on these foods?

Take potato chips for instance..

Regular Chips - 150 calories, 10g of fat, 15g carbs, and 0g of sugar. Ingredients include potatoes, sunflower oil/corn oil, and salt.

Baked 'low-fat' Chips - 120 calories, 2g of fat, 23g carbs and 2g of sugar. Ingredients include dehydrated potatoes, modified food starch, sugar, corn oil, salt, soy lecithin, leavening and dextrose.

Dr. Macklin is correct - low-fat version has sugar and more carbs than the regular version. It's so strange to see that sugar is actually higher on the ingredient list than salt. That means there's more sugar than salt in there. Blech!

I've seen this a lot. More often than not the 'low-fat' or 'fat-free' version of the food will have an ingredient list twice as long as the original.

I'm not saying that chips are real food and that you should go out and buy a bag; but I'm sure that you know what it is I'm trying to say. I can't say it enough - read your labels, check the ingredients, and most of all, eat 'real' food (geez,...make your own chips lol).

Butternut Squash Soup and Sweet Potato Brownies

I love cooking for my friends. That's especially true when my husband is travelling. It's nice to have a few more mouths to feed without ending up with so many leftovers.

Yesterday a friend of mine came over with her kids from Hamilton for lunch and then a visit to our local YMCA to let the kids burn off some energy. Our menu: butternut squash soup, pizza for the kids and some sweet potato brownies.

Butternut Squash Soup

I believe that I've posted a recipe for this soup before but it deserves to be revisited because I love making it so much - it's probably the easiest soup to make.

• 1 Ontario onion, chopped coarsely
• 3 celery ribs (from the U.S. I believe - one of the non-local ingredients I buy over the Winter because a soup is bland without it)
• 2 Ontario carrots, chopped
• 2 tbsp Ontario butter
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 large Ontario potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium Ontario butternut squash, peeled and chopped
• 1 litre chicken broth
• salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, to taste

In a soup pot, add the butter and oil and then the onion, celery and carrots. Sweat them out and then add the potato and squash as well as the broth. Simmer until potato and squash are softened. Pour the soup into a blender and puree until smooth. Add spices to your liking. Serve. It really is that simple! So yummy too!

It's so unfortunate that my kid just doesn't like soups. I can usually get her to take in a few spoonfuls but it's an ongoing battle. My friends' kids are picky eaters as well so while I was at the Western Fair Market I picked up a pizza from Uncle Dad's Pizza Palace. I like buying their pizzas. It's my version of the supermarket frozen pizza, but probably a lot better for you since they're all made homemade and made using fresh ingredients. We really enjoy the thin crust pizzas. The typical deal is 4 large or 6 small pizzas for $20.00. And they usually throw in a garlic loaf in too.

Both the soup and the pizza were a great hit.

For dessert,..

Sweet Potato Brownies

I've had this dessert on my list of recipes to try for a long time now. It always seemed that when I was looking to make dessert I'd never have any sweet potatoes on hand. I had all of the ingredients this time! This recipe is another one from my Clean Eating Magazine collection.

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup cooked Ontario sweet potato
• 1/2 cup agave nectar (I used Ontario maple syrup)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 egg whites

Frosting:

• 1/2 cup low-fat plain cream cheese
• 3 tbsp agave nectar (I used Ontario maple syrup)
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside. In a food processor, combine sweet potato, syrup, oil and vanilla. Puree until combined and smooth. Gradually mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients, until just combined (Note--I found this part to be very dry and had to add a tablespoon of milk to bring it together). In a separate bowl, whisk egg whites until fluffy. Then, gently fold the egg whites into the batter.

Poor batter into a prepared 9x9 inch baking pan. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes at 350F (Note -- I left mine in much longer than this - 35 minutes or so).

To make frosting, simply whisk ingredients together. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

This recipe was good, but not excellent. I had to make a few tweaks to it and there are still a couple of other adjustments that I could have made. The kids really enjoyed them though, which is what counts. At least they consumed some veggies with their dessert!

Local Greens in January? Yes, it's Possible!

More and more people are getting interested in the local food movement. As a result, more effort is being put out to lengthen the growing season.

For instance, strawberries aren't just available in the Spring anymore; some farms grow them well into October. It's not just strawberries either, raspberries are also available into November by covering them in hoop houses to protect them from early frosts.

Peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes are pretty well available year round at this point due to the popularity of greenhouses. That being said, there are a couple of farms who are now growing a wider variety of vegetables during the winter, like lettuce, spinach, carrots, etc..

Check out the video that was posted on the London Free Press website yesterday.


This excites me! You never know what else the future may bring!

Now,....to find out how I can get my hands on these...hmmmm...

Jerusalem Artichokes

I'm always looking for different foods to try, especially during the Winter months. One can quickly tire of carrots, rutabaga, beets, potatoes, squash, etc.. Yesterday I came across Jerusalem Artichokes.

'Soiled Reputation', a vendor at the Covent Garden Market, had a crate full of them. I told him that I didn't really know what to do with them so he gave me a great recipe to try.

Jerusalem Artichoke Soup

2 lbs Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup celery root, peeled and diced
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 L chicken stock
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a pot. Add the onions and celery root and cook on a low heat until softened. Add the Jerusalem artichokes, one litre of stock, and bring to a simmer. Simmer until soft. When the artichokes are tender, transfer to a blender or food processor and puree. If necessary, adjust the consistency with the remaining 1/2 L of stock.

The soup was delicious!

Until yesterday I had never used Jerusalem artichokes; actually I didn't know anything about them.. Nonetheless, after speaking to the vendor and doing some online research here is what I now know:

• It's not really an artichoke and it's not from Jerusalem
• the name actually refers to 'sunflower artichokes' (and also go by the name sunchoke, sunroot, earth apple)
• they are a member of the sunflower family and are native to North America
• It's grown wild within Ontario
• they contain inulin, a sugar easily digested by diabetics
• sometimes used as a substitute for potatoes
• a 1 cup serving has 650mg of potassium (a banana has only 450mg)
• they're high in iron
• they contain 10 - 12% of the daily requirements for fiber, niacin, thiamine, phosphorus and copper.

Sounds like a super-food to me. I'll buy them again foresure because we definitely need some variety in our fridge/pantry right now. I did see a recipe online for roasting them just like you would with potatoes. It's worth a try.

Now....what to do with the Daikon radish that I have in my fridge? Any suggestions?

Londonlicious - January 21 - February 6 2011

IT'S LONDONLICIOUS TIME AGAIN!

Check out this season's participating restaurants at http://www.londonlicious.ca/

This year, the long list of participating restaurants include:

• Tru Restaurant & Lounge
• Cello Supper Club
• Auberge du Petit Prince
• Waldo's on King
• Fellini Koolini's
• Crave
• Blackfriars
• Aroma
• Abruzzi
• Braise
• The Braywick Bistro
• Marienbad
• P-Za-Pie Neopolitan Pizza
• One Restaurant
• The Windermere Manor
• La Casa
• Kantina Cafe & Restaurant
• Michaels on the Thames
• Smoke N Bones
• Curry's
• Gigs Grill House
• Elm Hurst Inn & Country Club
• Blue Ginger
• The Raja Fine Indian Cuisine
• Brennan's Beer & Bistro
• Idlewyld Inn
• The Windjammer Inn
• Coates of Arms

Between January 21st and February 6th 2011 these restaurants will be offering a three-course meal (appetizer, entree, and dessert) at a cost of only $25.00. Make some reservations because it'll be busy!!

During last Summer's Londonlicious event my husband and I had visited Braise. Check out my review: Braise Londonlicious 2010 Review

I'm actually hoping to go there once more with some friends this time and also thinking about trying out Idlewyld Inn with my husband.

Has anyone visited any of the other restaurants on the list? Any recommendations?

Cake Disaster Averted...Sort of..

Ugh....

So to continue with my previous post (What's in Your Cupcake) I was going to blog about my daughter's birthday cake. Unfortunately there was no cake.

Look at the picture below....

Yup...that was probably the worst cake disaster I've had. I'm not sure why they got stuck though because these were silicone pans. That being said, my mom (who gave these to me for Christmas) told me that I was supposed to oil them a bit beforehand.

The pans she gave me are large cookie molds. I was going to make a large 'Oreo' cookie cake with a marshmallow icing in between the cake layers.

I was angry at first because our guests were due to arrive in a few hours. I was also upset because I had let my daughter down. She was looking forward to her 'Oreo' cookie cake. I ended up having to go out and buy her a cake. After wandering aimlessly around town for a bit I found myself at Wal-Mart and bought her a cake with Oreo cookies on it.

I was glad that I had found a suitable substitution for my daughter but totally felt as though I'd let myself down. Here's why:

1. I hate that due to a lack of preparation and time management I ended up taking the easy way out--when in doubt people go to Wal-Mart, right?
2. I don't even really like grocery store/Wal-Mart cakes--my daughter deserves more
3. It totally goes against everything that I said in my previous post and my values
4. I'm a planner and this wasn't in my plan for the day

Last but not least, I was upset because I had wasted food. I hate wasting food.

On my way home though I had some time to think a little and had an idea. I won't throw out the cake remains; I'll cut them in chunks and freeze them for future use. That's when I started to get a little excited actually. I would be able to use these cake pieces (which were delicious, by the way) in some ice cream or with a chocolate sauce/pudding drizzled over top. Yum!

Anyone else have any ideas for these cake bits?

Does anyone else beat themselves up like I do for taking the convenient/easy way out once in a while?

What's in your Cupcake?

Do you know what's in your cupcake? Do you buy a box and a jar of frosting from the supermarket to make your cakes? Do you buy them pre-made? Or do you make them from scratch?

It's my daughters birthday tomorrow (January 9th). She's turning 6!! To celebrate, she wanted to bring cupcakes to school on Friday to share with her friends. I told her that we'd make some together. After thinking about it she said that she wanted vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing (with sprinkles, of course).

Now, I could have just bought some cupcakes at the store or I could have bought a box and added water and eggs to the mix. I just couldn't do it though. Despite how crazy busy I've been lately I still wanted to make sure that we put aside the time to make the cupcakes ourselves. I'm so glad we did! Have you seen the ingredients in the store-bought boxed brands?

Store-bought vanilla (white) cake mix: sugar, enriched bleached wheat flour (flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), vegetable oil shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, propylene glycol mono - and diesters of fats, mono - and diglycerides, polyglycerol esters of fatty acids, soy lecithin), leavening (sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate, dicalcium phosphate, monocalcium phosphate), wheat starch, emulsifier (propylene glycol mono - and diesters of fats and fatty acids, mono - and diglycerides, soy lecithin, citric acid to protect flavour), salt, dextrose, corn starch, artificial flavours, butter acids and esters (milk), cellulose gum, and xanthan gum.

Did you notice that there isn't any vanilla included in that list? That must be part of the 'artificial flavours' (???)

Store-bought chocolate frosting: sugar, water, vegetable oil shortening (partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oils, mono - and diglycerides, polysorbate 60), cocoa powder processed with alkali, corn syrup, corn starch, salt, invert sugar, natural and artifical flavours, carmelized sugar (sugar, water), caramel color, acetic acid, preservatives (potassium sorbate), sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acide, sodium citrate.

These lists just tested my spelling abilities! I had to keep checking and re-checking to make sure I that I copied them correctly. Does anyone know what any of these ingredients actually are? I don't, which means that I probably shouldn't be eating them, much less giving them to my daughter's classmates.

Here's the recipe that I used to make our cupcakes (recipe from Eating Well magazine May/June 2010):

Cupcakes

• 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 can low-fat evaporated milk, divided

Whisk whole-wheat flour, cake flour, baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl. Beat sugar and oil in a mixing bowl until combined. Scrape the vanilla seeds out of the vanilla bean into the sugar mixture. Add applesauce, egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. With the mixer on low, alternately mix in the dry ingredients and 1/2 cup evaporated milk. Divide the batter among the muffin cups (I made 30 mini cupcakes).

Bake the cupcakes at 350F for 20 minutes.

Frosting

• 1/4 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk 2/3 cup of the remaining evaporated milk, flour and a pinch of salt in a small saucepan until no flour lumps remain. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until it looks like a thick, stiff paste. Remove from heat and continue whisking for about 30 seconds to cool slightly. Whisk in the chocolate until completely melted. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add icing sugar, cocoa powder and vanilla extract and beat until smoth and creamy. Refrigerate the frosting until thickened and cold, about 2 hours.

The cupcakes were a great hit. They tasted good and the icing was delicious. They weren't fancy looking but I felt better knowing that I was feeding these kids 'real' food and gave them cupcakes that actually had vanilla and chocolate in them.

Now....off to make a birthday cake in the morning. We've got 7 friends coming over for games and cake!

Foodland Ontario Calendar - January (Veggie Chips)

Did everyone pick up their 2011 Foodland Ontario calendar at the grocery store? I love mine--it's a great way to inspire people to buy seasonal vegetables and to try out some new recipes.

For the next twelve months I will be making each of the recipes profiled in the calendar. The first one for the month of January are the Crispy Vegetable Chips.

Crispy Vegetable Chips

• 2 peeled Ontario beets and carrots
• 1 small peeled Ontario sweet potato
• 1/2 small peeled Ontario rutabaga, cut in half
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• salt

Using a mandolin or vegetable slicer, thinly slice vegetables. Place beets in a separate bowl; toss with 1 1/2 tsp of oil. In another bowl, combine carrots, sweet potato and rutabaga; toss with remaining oil.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper; arrange half the vegetable slices in a single layer on the sheets. Bake in a 400F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 250F and bake for about 45 minutes. Sprinkle with salt to taste. Repeat with remaining vegetables.

The chips turned out nicely. I was, however, unimpressed with my mandolin. I ended up using my food processor's vegetable slicer attachment to get the thinner cuts that I was looking for.

I had also hoped to make the potato hummus dip that they suggested to use with this dish (see: http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/vegetables/potatoes/recipes/pota-hummus.html). Unfortunately I forgot to pick up the soybeans and didn't have any garlic. Bummer!

Next month: Parsnip, Apple & Brie Soup