5 Days and Counting

I have been able to go on a walk for the past five days in a row. And not just any walk, a pleasant walk. The temps have been -5°C (23°F) or higher, and the air is nice and doesn't burn your face. I can stand being outdoors for longer than 7 minutes at time - it's amazing. Who knew I would come to treasure and be excited for a -5°C forecast? It's definitely been a crazy winter. Today is supposed to get up to a high of 5°C (41°F) so I can keep this walking trend going. I have really missed enjoying the outdoors.

Also awesome: I wore my running shoes to the grocery store on the weekend. I had to dodge snow and puddles in the parking lot, but it was so worth it and felt so good. I miss walking in runners. I will still have to wear my boots on my walks for a while yet, as the sides of the road are very wet and slushy. All the sun we've been getting has melted the top layer of the massive snowbanks. There's still a good two or three feet left to melt, but it's a start.

Turkey Club Sandwhich #FoodPicFriday

We got some take out from the Kozy Kitchen in Elmvale a little while back. I'm a fan of their turkey dinner, but John really enjoys the club sandwich. He orders it every time we go there so it must be good. We are going to be making our own club sandwhiches this weekend as I have a turkey set to go in the oven tomorrow. We are celebrating the 1st of March and the hope that is now returning to all us wintered-out folks. Spring is coming!

Easy Gingerbread Cookies

These are big, soft, fabulous gingerbread cookies. I realize I don't actually own any cookie cutters, so round cookies are the way that I roll.  This recipe makes about 15 large-ish cookies, which is the perfect number to have around our house. When I make these for a gathering or for gifting at Christmas, I double the recipe.

Recipe is slightly adapted from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour

Method:
1. In a large bowl, add the sugar, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda. Stir to combine.

2. Add the melted margarine, molasses, milk, and vanilla, stirring to mix.

3. Add flour one cup at a time, stirring well to ensure it is incorporated. Chill completed dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

4. Knead the dough a few times on a well-floured surface. Make into balls and flatten, then place on cookie sheet. My flattened dough balls are about 3 inches across.

5. Bake in 375°F oven for 10-12 minutes. Be sure to check them, as the bottoms can turn on you and brown/burn really fast.

6. Cool on wire rack and ice with your favourite icing. I use a simple icing sugar and water (or milk) mixture that just adds a nice amount of sweet to the top of the cookie. Super yum!

Here We Come a-Waffling

So I've been reading all about delicious homemade waffles over at the Happy Whisk and I got a major craving on for waffles. I don't have a waffle maker and I've never actually made them at home, but I do have a strong appreciation for store bought ones and got myself a box of them.

These always remind me of living in university residence. I ate a lot of cheap and barely nutritious food while at school, and I count boxed waffles as a sure favourite. I love the way the butter and the syrup pool in the little squares. Such a joy to experience.

Waffles also make me think of A Claymation Christmas, which my bros and I watched a million times as kids. "Here we come a-waffling" is still pretty great.

Raspberry Pie

There was a super deal on frozen berries a few weeks ago, and we ended up buying 8 bags of them (we are daily smoothie drinkers). Having all the berries in the freezer got me thinking beyond smoothies and I honed my thoughts in on raspberry pie.

If I had to pick, raspberries are my absolute favourite berry, so it was only a matter of time before they ended up in a homemade dessert. I absolutely love this pie and am really happy I tried it. The filling has the kind of tartness that makes you think about it longingly days later. The sour of this pie is perfectly evened out with just a bit of whipped cream. So so good.

Using a homemade pie crust, I slightly adapted this recipe from recipes found at The Messy Baker and Canadian Living.

Ingredients:
double pie crust from your favourite recipe
4.5 cups frozen raspberries (a little less than a 600g bag)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp butter
cream
sprinkle of sugar

Method:

1. Mix frozen raspberries, sugar, and flour in a bowl and gently toss to coat.

 2. Pour berries and sugar mixture into pie crust. I had an 8" pie plate with a homemade crust and it seemed to fit pretty well. Sprinkle lemon juice over berries and dot with butter.

 3. I was feeling bold, so I rolled a second pie dough and cut it into strips for a lattice top. I watched a few videos on how to make the lattice and went for it. I brushed the lattice with cream and sprinkled it with sugar.

4. Bake in 425°F oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350°F and continue baking for an additional 45-60 minutes. I actually baked mine for an additional 70 minutes as the bottom didn't seem brown enough at 60 minutes. The raspberry filling was bubbling and the pie was golden brown when it came out of the oven.

This pie was really, really lovely. It's definitely on my list of desserts that I will make again and again.