Hot almond milk sponge cake

I have made this sponge cake all my life thanks to my Mom,  Eileen Little.

My Mom, Eileen who is now 92 years young

 This was her go-to easy

grease and flour each pan

cake when company was coming or for a Sunday dinner. I have adapted the recipe slightly as I add almond milk instead of dairy. Either way works well.

yield:  2 round sponge cakes

4 large eggs or 5 small eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup almond milk (slightly heated on the stove)  if almond milk is not available use dairy
60ml butter ( heat up with the almond milk until it slightly melts) (4 tbsp.)
2 cups white all purpose flower
2 tsp. baking powder

Beat eggs until light and fluffy. I use either a stand mixture or a hand mixer.
Add sugar and beat again until both are light and fluffy. Add vanilla.
Measure out flour, sift if possible and also sift baking powder into the flour.
Add flour mixture into the sugar mixture and mix well.
Add heated mix and melted butter mixture. Mix again until well mixed.
Grease and flour 2 round cake pans or 1 large rectangular cake pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35  minutes. To test for doneness insert a toothpick in the middle of the cake.  If it comes out dry your cake is done.
Allow cakes to cool and then invert on a cooking rack.

My favorite way to serve this light and fluffy cake is with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.
Thanks Mom!

Chris’s mango meatballs

1/2 kg lean ground beef
1/2 kg ground pork
1/4 cup diced fresh mango
1/4 cup small diced onion
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup worchestershire sauce
1 egg

Salt/pepper


Mix well by hand.
Form into palm sized meatballs. (1 inch size)
Cook on medium low heat to brown. Turn occasionally until all surfaces are brown.
These will cook fully in an instapot  or slow cooker.
Cook to the correct internal temp of 73 degrees.

Chris Mitchell lives in Okotoks, Alberta and this is his go-to meatball and burger recipe. He says that adding mango gives the burgers moisture and flavour. Also, Chris doesn’t peel the mango.

Bison meatballs

Ingredients:

1/2 Kg. bison ground meat
1/2 white onion - diced small
1 green onion - diced small
1 egg
salt & pepper to taste

Dice the onions and add all the above ingredients in to a bowl. Mix so that all the ingredients are well mixed.
Form meat mixture into 11-12 meatballs.
Heat up a frying pan and fry meatballs on a medium high heat until fully cooked.
These are absolutely delicious.

Delicious Meal Idea
A very nice treat in the spring time is steaming up some new potatoes. Add your favorite sauce to the meatballs while cooking. When cooked, serve the meatballs and sauce with the new potatoes and you have a delicious dinner.

*of course lean ground beef can be substituted for the bison meat

Almond Milk for Alexandra

Yield: 6 cups of almond milk

3 cups raw dry almonds
water  to soak - 10+ cups
water to blend - approximately 8+ depending on how thin you want your milk to be
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. honey


Soak almonds in cold water for no less than 24 hours.  I soaked my almonds for about 30 hours.
During this time rinse the almonds once and replace the cold water. Make sure that the almonds are completely covered with water. Store in the fridge if you are soaking longer than overnight.


Strain the water off the soaked almonds.  Scoop the almonds into the blender and add triple the amount of water.  If you are blending 3 cups of almonds use at least 8+ cups of fresh cold water.
Blend well.

Straining the almonds
There are a couple of ways to strain the blended almonds.
Method #1
Stain through a piece of clean cheesecloth.  This is a rather messy method but it does work.  Drape the cheesecloth (fold the cheesecloth in half for a double layer so start with a large piece of cheesecloth) over a large bowl and control the 4 corners so the cheesecloth does not collapse inward while you are pouring.  It is important to keep the pulp away from the milk.
Gather the 4 corners together and gently squeeze the milk out of the cheesecloth...careful not to burst the bag.

Method#2
Strain milk through a FINE wire mesh strainer. This method is a little less messy but it is important that the wire mesh is very fine so that the pulp does not seep through.

Add vanilla & honey according to your taste and store milk in a clean mason jar in the fridge.  It should last up to 5-6 days in the fridge.
Enjoy!

Perfect Pasta Dinner For 2

Yield:  2 servings
This is one of those recipes that you can whip up in a couple of minutes but it is so tasty and simple when one needs comfort food.  My pasta of choice is so delicious and is the brain-child of  InGrain Pastificio a North Vancouver company  http://ingrainpastificio.com/#a-cascadian-story
who specialize in slow-dried, super traditional pasta.  

2 cups of your favorite pasta ( I am using In- Grain's Durum Sprinners)
2 anchovie fillets
3 tblsp. olive oil
1/2 cup diced onions
serano peppers - this provides the heat...optional but yummy
2 garlic cloves, diced
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/2 cup bell red pepper
1 cup fresh tomato
3/4 cup pasta water
1/4 cup white wine
⁠

Cook the pasta in salted water until el dente.
Strain pasta saving 1 cup of the pasta water.  Set cooked pasta aside.

In a sauté pot cook the anchovies in the oil with garlic and onions. Continue on medium heat for 1 minute.
Add peppers, sun dried tomatoes & fresh tomatoes and continue to cook for a few minutes.
Add pasta water and wine and reduce the sauce for a few minutes.
Add cooked pasta to your tomato sauce and stir well. Salt & pepper to taste.
Serve immediately.

Easy Tomato Garlic Sauce

This recipe is so very easy that you can whip up the tomato sauce in 10 minutes and you leave it marinating in the fridge all day.  A real treat for the family and friends.  This is one of Alexandra's favourites and she is coming for dinner today. Thanks again Maggie for this delicious recipe.

 This is also a great way to use up those ripe or overripe tomatoes.

TOMATO GARLIC SAUCE

½ cup olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic – diced

5-6 ripe tomatoes - diced
1/2 cup white wine

Heat olive oil to a low simmer.  Add chopped garlic and watch as the oil and garlic starts to bubble slightly...DO NOT COOK at this stage.  Take the pot off the stove and add the chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and white wine.

Stir well and put a lid on the pot and store in the fridge.  During the day give this mixture a stir and it can sit for hours in the fridge and even over night.

1 hour before dinner time:

Add to tomatoes and garlic and stir in:

1 cup basil – fresh, diced chiffonade[i]
Chili flakes – optional ½ tsp.
Salt & pepper

2 lemons - juiced

2 cups washed arugula 

Put your pot back on the stove.  Turn on and watch at this point, just warm the sauce through...this takes seconds. Do this by brining the tomatoes up to the boil and then immediately turn off and remove from heat.

Stir again and add basil and arugula allow to marinate again with the greens mixed in.

Serve over pasta of choice.

Enjoy!

[i] Chiffonade is a knife technique in which herbs or leafy green vegetables (such as spinach and basil) are cut into long, thin strips. This is generally accomplished by stacking leaves, rolling them tightly, then cutting across the rolled leaves with a sharp knife, producing fine ribbons

Almond Milk Pumpkin Pies

It is pumpkin pie time again and this year I have added a little twist. Two of my kids are dairy sensitive so almond milk it is.  Yummy!

Almond Milk Pumpkin Filling:

yield:  filling for 2  X 10 in. pie shells

1 can pure pumpkin (796ml or 28 oz.) 
6 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 cups almond milk
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. nutmeg
½  tsp. salt

Procedure:

Heat almond milk until hot but not boiled.
In a large bowl or with a stand mixer whisk eggs and sugar until well blended. You can easily do this by hand....a mixer is not necessary.

Add pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling from the can) from the can, spices, and salt. Mix until well combined.
Add hot milk to the pumpkin & spice combination. Stir or whisk until combined.
Pour into unbaked pastry pie shells (recipe above) just up to the fluted edges (don’t
overfill).
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake pie on the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 40 minutes until the filling is baked and set. Usually the filling when set has a slight convex appearance to it.
Serve hot or cold.  Refrigerate unused pie after cooled to preserve the freshness.

Pastry for Pumpkin Pies

Ingredients :  full recipe  (can be cut in half if it is too much pastry at one time)

1 Lb. vegetable shortening - cold

5 Cups all- purpose Flour

1 Tsp. Baking powder

2 Tsp. Salt

1 Tbsp. Brown sugar

3 Tbsp. Vinegar  (white or apple cider - whichever you have in the cupboard at the time will do)

1 Egg 

Cold water (approx. 3/4 cup)

You will need a total of 1 1/4 cups of fluid so here is how we make up the fluid. Add one egg to a 2 cup measure. Beat with a fork. Add vinegar and whisk again. Then add the very cold water  and bring the combined fluid up to 1 1/4 cups.  You may not need all this liquid, but sometimes you do depending on the moisture content of the flour and shortening.

Prep: 

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt and brown sugar. Whisk together to remove the lumps.

Add shortening to the flour mixture and cut up shortening into the flour with a pastry cutter (see photo to the right).

Miriam's Time Saving Tip♥ I now realize after making pastry for so many years that the flakiness of your pastry is directly correlated with how well your shortening is cut into the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter helps with this process. The shortening should disappear into small chunks while keeping the flour powdery.

Prepare liquid and add 90% of the liquid to the flour mixture. Combine the liquid until it is incorporated and the pastry starts to come together into a ball. Do not over mix at this stage or your pastry will be tough. Continue to mix with your clean hands and if it is too dry add the rest of the liquid.

Roll dough up into a disc and wrap in parchment paper and then in a clean plastic bag and store in cooler until needed.

Miriam's Time Saving Tip♥ Making this pastry ahead is a great time saver. It keeps well for over a week in the fridge as long as it is wrapped well. After making pies. Freeze the leftover 

pastry for use later.

Foodsafe Tip: to ensure your leftover pies are safe to eat the next day, always refrigerate pies after dinner. Any harmful bacteria will be minimized by properly cooling and storing of your pies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEAlJG0w06U

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies for 'Deez Balls' - Gluten & Egg free

A summers night at the ball park with the kids is a perfect way to spend a Friday night.  Here's to all

the slowpitch teams on the North Shore.  I baked up a batch of these cookies for the game and 'Deez Balls' loved them.  FYI... look out teams...'Deez Balls' added a new pitcher...way to go Will!

This can be prepared by hand or with a mixer.  Start out with really soft butter and it is easier for you if mixing by hand.

Yield:  80 small cookies

Ingredients:

1/2  lb. Butter (1 cup)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar 
2 cup gluten free flour 
2 tbsp.  egg substitute ('enjoy life' brand)
1 tbsp. Vanilla
2 cup  large oat flakes (not instant) 
1 cup coconut flakes
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1  tsp. Salt
2 1/2 cup of chocolate chips - today i have used these 'enjoy life' chips which are dairy and nut free 

In a mixer or by hand cream room temperature butter and sugars together.
Add the egg substitute and vanilla and continue to mix.

1. Add all the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or mixer until it forms cookie dough
2. Add chocolate chips of choice.
3. Scoop to bake or roll in parchment paper to freeze for later use.
4. Bake cookies at 350° for 20 minutes