foodmamma

With most of my cousins in town last week following my sister’s wedding in Vancouver, we decided to do a quick get together, sans kids.

Someone suggested Gravity Espresso and Wine Bar and after hearing all the great things on twitter and food blogs, I was happy to go check it out.

Located in Inglewood, this is a cute little place.  We went on a Thursday and found it quiet, perfect for the eleven of us to be a little rowdy.  The art on the wall was great, and inspired conversation.

Not really in the mood for coffee, I tried out the hot chocolate, made with chocolate from Papa Chocolat.  It was a good hot chocolate, not too sweet and decorated beautifully.

The best part of the night was the flourless chocolate cake.  Decadent, rich and so satisfying, I would go back just for that!

Other desserts that they had were the carrot cake and cheesecake in jars.  I was really hoping to try the coconut cake but they didn’t have any that day.

I loved that the owner, Andy, came over to make sure we were doing okay.  That personal touch is always appreciated.  His attention to detail in creating ambiance for the restaurant was noted when the quiet place that we had walked into filled with music after he arrived.

That chocolate cake?  I think it will be calling me back!

One of our favourite pizza places is Famoso Pizzeria.  We frequent the location in Mission often so I was really excited to check out their newest location in McKenzie Towne.  Hubby, Q and I checked out the place before their launch on May 31st.  Upon being seated, appetizers of Roasted Kalamata Olives were brought to the table.  I’m not a fan of olives but hubby really enjoyed these.  The olives were topped with feta cheese and a spicy olive oil.

So that we could try out a few different pizzas, we ordered pizzettas, which were half the size of their regular 11″ pizzas.  We knew that Q would love the San Andreas since it was topped with avocados and we were right!  The pizza was topped with chili-lime chicken, tomatoes, onions and those creamy avocados.  The drizzle of sour cream was the perfect touch.

Hubby’s favourite was the Sweet BBQ Chicken, one we had tried previously.  The pizza was topped with tomatoes and red onions and had a really nice sweet and tangy bbq sauce. 

My new favourite pizza at Famoso’s is the Smoked Salmon. This, along with the San Andreas is part of their Spring / Summer feature.  It’s the perfect summer dish with the fresh tasting salmon and the dill sauce.

The meal was amazing and just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we had dessert.  We were all blown away by the Dolce and Banana.  The bananas were oven roasted and topped with caramel sauce, gelato and pecans.  Hubby doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth but he loved this dish and we polished it off.  Q loved his Fiasco Gelato, so much so that he didn’t want to share.  We also tried the nutella pizza – nutella in fresh pizza dough, so good!  We ended the meal with Affogato, a shot of espresso with a scoop of gelato.  I really enjoyed the contrast of the hot coffee with the cold gelato.

With all of the great offerings, I am sure that their newest location will be a hit!  Now if only I could get one closer to where I live…

After discovering last month Q’s love of cinnamon rolls at the mall, I knew it was something I wanted to try at home.  Q loves being in the kitchen and helping mamma so it was the perfect project for Mother’s Day.  I searched for a recipe similar to Cinnabon and discovered this recipe from Joshua Kennon.

There was some resting time required but it was a really simple recipe.  Q helped out with measuring ingredients, rolling out the dough and slathering on the butter.

This recipe made quite a few rolls – 12 large ones and then 12 mini ones from the scrap.  It was so fun watching the rolls rise into each other. 

The best part was the intoxicating smell as these rolls baked.  The smells competed with the gorgeous lilies I received for Mother’s Day.  Mmmmm….

While the buns were baking, I whipped up some of the cream cheese frosting I’ve used on muffins and it went great with the buns!  You just can’t beat fresh out of the oven cinnamon buns.

It was an awesome day!  Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there.  Hope your day was as great as mine!

Cinnamon Buns
Adapted from Joshua Kennon

1 cup warm milk
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, softened

Microwave the milk for 45 to 60 seconds. Then, dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour. Mix well. Allow the dough to come together with the dough hook of the mixer.

Put the ball of dough into a bowl that is sprayed with cooking spray.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for roughly 1 hour or until dough has doubled in size. 

Once the dough has risen, roll it out into a 16 x 21″ rectangle.  Spread the softened butter on the dough and then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll up the dough starting with the longer side and cut into 12 cinnamon rolls (or more smaller rolls, if you prefer). To even out the rectangle, I cut off all the edges and the scraps made an additional 12 mini rolls.

Place the cinnamon rolls in a lightly greased rectangular pan. Let the rolls rise another 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degree.  Once your cinnamon rolls have risen, bake them in the preheated oven until golden brown, approximately 18 to 20 minutes.

Eat warm as is or with some delicious cream cheese frosting.

Calgary’s newest burger joint is Smashburger.  The restaurant officially opened on May 2nd and I was excited to try out the burgers at a blogger preview the day before.  Tom Ryan, the founder, spent time with us explaining the chain while we enjoyed the menu.

Smashburger gets its name from how the burgers are prepared – smashed on the grill.  Fresh Angus beef meatballs are pressed with a smasher between a buttered grill and wax paper.  According to Tom, this allows the burger to cook up rather than out and locks in the juices.

The menu is quite extensive, featuring both beef burgers, chicken burgers, sides, salads, shakes and hot dogs.

I especially loved the tea bar.  This is perfect for people like hubby or my sister who just don’t like carbonated drinks.

The three of us at our table ordered 3 different burgers and sides and decided to share so we could get the full variety.

In regards to the sides, we tried the Smashfries and the Sweet Potato Smashfries, both of which were tossed with rosemary, olive oil and garlic.  I loved the sweet potato fries the best and found myself munching on these until the very end, even after I was stuffed.

Another great side were the fried pickes.  I have seen these on numerous menus and finally decided to give these a try.  The salty discs of pickles that were breaded and fried were really tasty.  Being a pickle fan, I know Q will really enjoy these!

We also had the veggie frites, sticks of carrots and beans that were flash fried. A great alternative for those avoiding carbs.

The first burger I tried was the Mushroom Swiss.  I think this was one of my favourites.  The patty itself was really moist! The burger was topped with garlic sauteed mushrooms, swiss cheese and mayo and was served on an egg bun.

We also ordered a spinach and goat cheese burger which was originally meant for chicken but we ordered it with beef.  This was a messy one but really good!  It had goat cheese, cucumbers, spinach, tomato, onion and a balsamic vinaigrette and was sandwiched between a multi-grain bun.  The tangy goat cheese was quite prominent, so if you’re not a fan, this is not the burger to order.

The chicken burger we tried was the avocado club, minus the bacon.  Creamy avocado in any sandwich is always a hit.  I was surprised by how moist the chicken was!

If you’re not a burger fan, Smashburger also has salads.  Tom made sure that we had one at our table and we were able to see how huge they were.

Don’t forget to try a milkshake when you’re there.  Milkshakes are made with local MacKay’s ice cream.  We sampled both the Vanilla and Saskatoon Berry but Vanilla was easily my favourite.  It went great with all those burgers.

Want to try out Smashburger for yourself?  If you’re in the Calgary area, leave a comment with your email address or send me a tweet (@fareenjj) by Thursday at midnight and I will make a draw for some gift certificates on Friday.