Food Mamma

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celebrations

happy six year anniversary!

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Today hubby and I are celebrating our six year anniversary!  It seems like just yesterday that we were planning and organizing our big event.  The years have just flown by.  For our honeymoon, we took a Caribbean cruise.  While docked in St. Thomas, hubby and I did an underwater scooter adventure – the BOB (Breathing Observation Bubble).  Basically you ride a scooter under the water and only your head is covered in a bubble.  Being somewhat of a chicken, it was something I never ever imagined myself doing.  We had such a great time and we purchased an underwater camera just to capture these moments riding with the fish.  We returned from our trip and completely forgot about the camera with the precious pictures.  This past week, I found the camera!  I rushed to get it developed hoping that the film didn’t get damaged after six years.  Even though they were a little fuzzy, I was thrilled to see the pictures were still there!

Happy Anniversary love!  Looking forward to many more adventures with you.

food mamma is two! celebrating with le creuset and a giveaway!

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March is full of birthdays including my blog’s.  Food Mamma is TWO!  Hard to believe that two years have gone by since that first post. This blog has been so much fun and even more so with the help of my 3 year old.  In fact, to commemorate two years, Q decorated this mini-cake.   Even he knows you can’t celebrate a birthday without cake!

A fabulous gift completes a fabulous birthday.  I am happy to announce that Le Creuset is helping celebrate!  One Food Mamma reader will win the  Le Creuset whistling kettle in Marseille, the newly launched colour for 2012.

Performance-focused design, hand crafted in France since 1925, Le Creuset is consistently chosen by leading chefs, restauranteurs and those who refuse to compromise when it comes to cooking.

Colour is synonymous with Le Creuset; a vibrant palette of innovative, contemporary and classic colour schemes allows users to match cookware to their environment, preferences and seasonal celebrations. I’m loving their newest colour, Marseille, a beautiful vibrant blue.

This contest has now closed.  Congratulations to Angee for winning the beautiful tea kettle!

Here’s how to win.

1. COMMENT on this post, answering this question: What is your favourite cake flavour?

2.  For an extra entry, FOLLOW both Fareen (@fareenjj) and Le Creuset (@LeCreuset) on Twitter, and tweet about this giveaway: “Food Mamma (@fareenjj) is 2! I just entered to win a whistling tea kettle from @LeCreuset and you can too! http://bit.ly/H1VgAH“.  Be sure to leave a comment saying that you’ve done so.

3.  For another entry, LIKE Food Mamma and Le Creuset on Facebook. Be sure to leave a comment saying that you’ve done so.

Contest closes on April 5th at 11:59pm MST.  Open to residents of Canada.  Winner will be chosen via random.org.

an arabian afternoon for hubby’s birthday

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It was hubby’s birthday last Saturday.  With his birthday being so close to Halloween, we usually have a costume party.  This year was no different, except that it was themed – Arabian!  An afternoon party was planned to make it easy for the folks with children and early bedtimes.


Our friends obliged with costumes dressing as gypsies, Arabian princesses and sheiks.  Red and gold duvets (thanks to my MIL) covered the floors along with pillows galore. 

Floors and tables were decorated with amazing lanterns from a friend who had used them at her July wedding as centrepieces (thanks A!).  Food was served in copper serving dishes, water from a copper pitcher (thanks S!).

Food was plentiful, inspired by Middle Eastern and Moroccan specialties. Little copper bowls were filled with olives, figs and sweet peppers stuffed with feta. 

Bowls of baked pita chips waiting to be dipped in creamy hummus and chunky baba ghaouj.

Mini falafel balls ready to be loaded into mini pitas.

Tabouli with parsley, bulgar and veggies made a tasty side.

Refreshing shot glasses of chilled carrot and cauliflower soup were topped with a dollop of yogurt and were a hit with even the kidlets.

The main course consisted of a chicken tagine and marinated beef skewers topped with onions and red peppers.  Pea and mint couscous was the perfect starch to absorb the flavourful sauce from the tagine.

We had cupcakes to celebrate, mini coconut ones with a buttercream frosting.  These were topped with gold chocolate coins, making them little treasures for everyone to devour.  The idea for these came from an old friend on Twitter.  Thanks N!

Hubby had a request for my mom’s creme caramel and she happily obliged.  It’s one of her specialties and it was delicious as always. 

Mom also brought a platter of homemade baklava.  The flaky layers of phyllo were filled with almonds, pistachios and cashews and covered in a sweet rose glaze.  Luckily she made lots and I’m still snacking on them.

Thanks for everyone’s help in making hubby’s birthday special!

coconut cake

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We celebrated another anniversary this month – my in-laws.   We had a Mexican feast to celebrate their 36 years of marriage.

I had a cake in mind that I wanted to try and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to make it.  I had seen Ina’s famous coconut cake many times on her show Barefoot Contessa.  It was also recently showcased on Next Food Network Star so I knew I just had to try it out.

 I gathered the ingredients together and when I went to preheat the oven, I found that my oven had completely stopped working!  I was not going to let that stop me from making this cake, so I loaded up my car and finished the cake off at my parents.

I made a few changes to up the coconut factor and of course I had to add some chocolate.  I made one layer rather than two and found that it was the perfect amount.  This cake was a hit!  I even saw my father-in-law have seconds – unusual for someone who doesn’t eat sugar.  I will definitely be making this cake again and again (once I get my oven fixed).

Coconut Cake

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp coconut extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

nutella
cream cheese frosting (below)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease one 9-inch round cake pan.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light yellow and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time.  Add the extracts and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the batter in 3 parts, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until just combined and then fold in the coconut. 

Bake in the center of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes before frosting.

Cover the top of the cake with nutella.  Wait 5 minutes before icing the entire cake with the cream cheese frosting and covering it with coconut.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package cream cheese
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp coconut extract
1/2 pound icing sugar
3 ounces sweetened shredded coconut

Combine the cream cheese, butter, and extracts on low speed. Add the icing sugar and mix. 

celebrating 37 years with a turtle cheesecake

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My parents just celebrated their 37th anniversary!  This definitely called for a celebration, and every celebration calls for cake.  Tired of making the usual though, I wanted to do something different.  I decided to do a cheesecake, a dessert that my dad loves.

I knew this cheesecake needed nuts, chocolate and caramel and after doing a search, this recipe was found on the Kraft website.  The layers of caramel and pecans are divine.  As good as it tastes when you first make it, it tastes even better the next day, if there’s any left!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!  Love you lots!

 

Ultimate Turtle Cheesecake

2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
6 Tbsp.  butter or margarine, melted
1 pkg. caramels
1/2 cup  milk
1 cup chopped pecans
3 pkg. cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 eggs
2 squares chocolate, melted

Heat oven to 325°F.

Mix crumbs and butter; press onto bottom and 2 inches up side of 9-inch springform pan.

Microwave caramels and milk in small microwaveable bowl on high 3 min. or until caramels are completely melted, stirring after each minute. Stir in nuts; pour half into crust. Refrigerate 10 min. Refrigerate remaining caramel mixture for later use.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over caramel layer in crust.

Bake 1 hour 5 min. to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

Microwave reserved caramel mixture 1 min.; stir. Pour over cheesecake. Melt chocolate and drizzle over cheesecake.

father’s day and passion fruit ice cream

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This year, we celebrated Father’s Day with a Mexican Fiesta!  Fried fish, tortilla chips with fresh salsa and guacamole started out our meal alongside some margaritas.  Our main was fajitas with shredded, barbecued chicken with grilled peppers and onions.  It was a simple menu but packed a lot of flavour and our families were full and satisfied.

For dessert, we cooled our palates with homemade ice cream.  I’m a bit addicted to my dad’s ice cream machine.  It was supposed to be a weekend loan but I’m having too much fun, I haven’t given it back.  This time, I experimented with passion fruit!  Using only one passion fruit gave the ice cream a subtle flavour.  It was a hit and this recipe is definitely a keeper.  Hope all the fathers had a great day being spoiled by loved ones!

Passion Fruit Ice Cream

1 cup whipping cream
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
1 – 2 passion fruit (pulp and seeds)

Mix the above ingredients together and follow the instructions of your ice cream machine.

chocolate cupcakes for graduation

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It’s convocation day!!  Hubby is getting his Masters today! S has worked hard for this degree.  It took a few years, with him squeezing it in while working many hours at a demanding job.  He also had a baby at home wanting to play and a wife wanting some attention too.  It was hard work, with sleepless nights, so this calls for some celebration.  As with any milestone, cake is definitely in order!   

I think this might be my new favorite cupcake recipe.  It’s Martha Stewart’s One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes.  No need to separate the dry ingredients from the wet and they were ready in 20 minutes!  I didn’t have buttermilk so I substituted that with yogurt mixed with some water and I used canola oil rather than safflower.

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons safflower oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
  
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

anniversary dinner at teatro

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Hubby and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary last month. We never got around to going out for dinner though.  It had been a busy few weeks and weekends never seemed to be working out.  We had planned this dinner so many times but something always came up.

Maybe not planning dinner in advance is the way to go.  We decided in the afternoon that it would be the perfect evening for date night and our belated anniversary dinner.  We had a voucher (yes, I love my deals) for Teatro and I had been itching to use it for a while.  I had been to Teatro once before but it had been so long since I had been there, I was looking forward to going back.

Our wonderful server Mitch started our evening off with an amuse-bouche, tuna tartare.  The tiny morsel tasted fresh and left us wanting more.  We were also served little chewy focaccia buns that we devoured with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

We chose to go with the Alberta Bison Tartare for our appetizer.  Topped with a quail egg, this was served with a tiny crostini with triple creme brie as well as a small arugula salad.  The flavours of the bison were incredible, especially paired with the arugula.  Our only complaint was there wasn’t enough of the crostini to eat up all the tartare with.  Mitch happily brought us some focaccia bread which was a great accompaniment.

Our next course was also a sharable – the Pappardelle.  Noodles coated with a green curry mayo, tossed with avocado and topped with grilled lobster.  This was an amazing dish but very spicy.  Even hubby who can actually eat spice found it quite spicy.  The taste was amazing though and it would be a dish I would have again.

By this point, we still had our main course to eat, but we were completely stuffed.  For my main, I went with the Honey-Rosemary Seared Duck Magret.  This was served with polenta verde, caramelized cippolini, and fig fricassée.  There was also supposed to be some pancetta which they happily left out for me.  This dish was so delicious!  The duck was moist and the flavours were incredible.  The pesto in the polenta went really well with the duck.  I was very happy with my choice.

Hubby went with the Milk Fed Veal Striploin alla Milanese.  This was served with creamy spaetzle, green olive, spicy rapini, and fried capers.  The meat was moist and the tasted amazing.  We found that this tasted even better the next day.  Of course, there were leftovers!

Despite the fact that we were full, we couldn’t leave without having dessert.  Tempted by the creme brulee, we decided on chocolate instead and shared the Chocolate Varieta.  This dish had chocolate three ways with chocolate marquis, milk chocolate semifreddo, and a cocoa ginger madeleine.  You have to love chocolate to enjoy this dish.  It was a great way to end a fantastic meal!

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