Over the years working as a caterer I have had lots of clients with dietary restrictions. I was once asked to make two desserts in honour of someone who was a gluten free vegan with a nut allergy. Wow, talk about a tough case.

It can be tough to cook for folks with dietary restrictions but I love a challenge.  In fact, I always strive to find dishes that can be enjoyed by everyone. I feel badly for folks who show up at a party and all they can eat are the rice crackers and raw veggies, without the dip. These days there are a variety of gluten free and vegan products available at your local grocer. 

Over the years I have found some amazing recipes that I likely would have never tried without it being necessary. Here’s one example. My favourite chocolate dessert that I first made for a gluten-free friend is now a regular in my repertoire. 

Flourless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache 

For the cake:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

For the chocolate ganache:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease an 8-Inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of the pan. Place it in the bottom of the pan and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. 

To make the cake, put the chocolate and butter in a large microwave-safe bowl, and heat until the butter is melted and the chips are soft, about one minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. If you need to reheat, do for 10 seconds at a time and stir. 

Add the sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and stir to combine. 

Add the eggs and stir until smooth. Add the cocoa powder and stir until just combined. Don’t over mix. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake the cake for 25 minutes or until the cake has a thin crust on the top and the center registers 200°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Let the cake cool on a wire cooling rack for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges of the pan with a butter knife and carefully turn it upside down onto a cake plate or serving plate. The bottom of the cake will now be the top of the cake. Let the cake cool completely. 

While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate ganache. Combine the chocolate and cream in a medium microwave-safe bowl, and heat until the cream is very hot so it will melt the chocolate. I always start with 30 seconds and check it. It might take longer, it just depends on your microwave. Remove from the microwave, and stir until the the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. 

Spread the chocolate ganache glaze evenly over the cooled cake. Let the glaze set up for a few hours before cutting and serving the cake. I always put it in the refrigerator to speed up the process. 

Cut the cake into slices and serve with powdered sugar and raspberries, if desired. This cake is also great with whipped cream or ice cream.

Kath’s quote: I like to serve choclate cake, because it doesn’t show the dirt.” Phyllis Diller

Love never fails.

We finally awoke to a sunny day! I had coffee on the balcony and soaked it up.

Our gorgeous Home Exchange Apartment was even more so, in the sunshine. Every morning, especially in the rain, I was hesitant to leave this wonderful space.

We took a bus to Brooklyn Heights, where many gather to get a view of the Manhattan skyline.

I love NY brownstones. I always thought the most beautiful ones were in the Gramercy Park area where we often stay. But Brooklyn brownhouses had an elegance all their own. This window box was planted with colourful lettuce! Brilliant.

The leaves had just started their yearly turning to yellow and red.

It was the Sunday of the Canadian Thanksgiving and we were in search of a church to give thanks. We arrived a bit early for the service in this 1878 beauty.

We found ourselves at Montague Bagel where we grabbed coffee and tea. Across the street from us was this line up to get into a bakery. Wish we had the time to scope it out.

If you recall, on the Saturday of that weekend, the Israelis had been attacked by Hamas. We wanted a reverent place to pray for peace.

The stain glass windows were exceptionally beautiful. I am always drawn to angels but especially in threes. I imagine that they are Sisters #1, #2 and #3!

I was also attracted by this window. The beautiful woman to the right wore the colours of the Caribbean. My favourite sight in the world.

We spoke to a parishioner who had attended the church through its restoration. When she told me that the ceiling was wall papered, I liked it a wee bit less.

To be honest, when I knew that we were staying in Brooklyn, this is how I imagined it. Although our apartment was conveniently located, my eyes were always in search of a glimpse of Manhattan.

The waters edge had been made into beautiful docks and walking areas, complete with a merry-go-round and lots of great restaurants.

Speaking of restaurants, there were line ups at two in this area, both featuring Manhattan Pizza. D and I shared a pie. Lucky for me you could order it half red and half white.

With a spicy Italian sausage and ribbons of fresh basil, it was divine.

Before we headed back into Manhattan, I spotted this dichotomy of old and new NYC.

Doug was intent on visiting FAO Schwartz at their new location in Rockefeller Plaza to buy toys for our Wee Ones.

D decided that I find a restaurant for dinner and to relax in, while he scooted around Time Square to find the last of his souvenirs. The Brooklyn Diner did the trick. I was still too full from lunch so I had this for my supper.

D decided that he just had to have a diner burger and he was very happy with his choice.

This is my guy. It struck me anew as I posted this picture, that D is THE perfect person to travel with. He figures out all the logistic in advance, so we never (okay-rarely) get lost and we always take the most affordable and efficient mode of transport available. And….I think that he is very easy on the eyes! Married almost 40 year and the sight of him still makes my heart skip.

Kath’s quote: “Life is short, eat desert first“!-Authour unknown

Love never fails.

In 1998 I decided to give up apartment living and buy a house. My mom was helping me look and we hadn’t seen many places when we came across my house. On a lovely tree lined street in little Italy, its location was perfect.  I had lived most of my adult life in Osborne Village and wanted to stay central but also wanted a less transient neighbourhood with some history.

The house had good bones. Built in 1904 it had a solid foundation, level floors, and straight walls. But I had to look beyond the surface appearance to discover what the house truly had to offer. The fellow who lived in my house was a slob. The place was a mess. It had been on the market a while and he had obviously grown tired of putting in any effort in preparation for showings. The place reeked of cigarettes and cat pee. His furniture was sparse, tattered and covered in cat hair. Besides being dirty, the house was painted stark white and lacked decoration, so had absolutely no personality.

Worst of all there had an alter of plywood and cinder blocks in the upstairs box room, covered in items that indicated the owner was worshiping something that I would never invite into my house. I remember the look on my real estate agent’s face when we entered that room. I’m sure he thought he wasn’t making a sale that day.

But there was something about the place that showed me it was going to be my home. The pitch of the 3/4 story second floor ceilings felt like a cozy hug, the high fluted baseboards and door jams with their corner carved medallions showed that this house was built with love and pride of ownership. The large windows filled the place with so much light. I knew she had potential. So I put in an offer and got a great deal on the place.  

The day I took possession my friend and pastor, Merv met me at the house in order to walk from room to room, blessing it and ridding it if any spirits that may have been left behind. The owner hadn’t bothered to move most of his things out of the house, including his make shift alter.  Merv tore it all apart and hauled it to the garbage, cleansing my house so I could start to rebuild it on a new spiritual foundation, fill it with colour, and beautiful things, and restore its personality. 

Recently I hosted a dinner party and invited Pastor Merv, his wife Susan and another couple of our friends to my home for dinner. I wanted to celebrate 25 years in my home. I love my little house and all the memories she holds. All the celebrations, and sleepovers, all the deck visits over cups of tea. That night we had a lovely time reminiscing about my first day in the house.

Anyway, this is a food blog so here’s the recipe for the soup I served as my first course for our dinner party. Hope you enjoy. 

Butternut squash soup 

Makes two litres 

1 large butternut squash cubed approx. 8 cups

1 yellow onion cut into medium dice

2 large carrots peeled and cut into large dice

2 garlic cloves peeled

3 Tablespoons butter melted

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon curry powder

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ cup apple juice

3 ½ cups vegetable stock

6 oz cream

½ cup pumpkin puree

2 Tablespoons freshly grated ginger pulp 

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Place butternut squash, onion, carrots, and garlic on a parchment lined sheet pan. Combine melted butter, olive oil, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, curry powder, kosher salt and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle it over the butternut squash mixture and toss until everything is coated. Roast at 425 degrees for 25 minutes.

Once cooked and cooled, spoon vegetables in batches into blender with enough apple juice and broth to process. 

Pour into large saucepan on medium heat. Add ½ cup pumpkin puree, any remaining juice or broth, ginger pulp and cream. Stir until well combined and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Serve and enjoy.

Kath’s quote: “Our house is a very, very, very fine house. With two cats in the yard. Life used to be so hard.
Now everything is easy ’cause of you.”-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Love never fails.

The seasons had noticeably changed upon our arrival at Aaron’s on the Lake Bed and Breakfast. As we made the short drive up from the city, both D and I commented that it was like going home. We have many homes, not because we are wealthy (that’s an understatement!) but because we are flexible. We also decided at the beginning of the pandemic, that D and I were at “home” if we were together (hokey but true).

Bed and Breakfast owners Eleanore and Randy had made a couple of changes since we last visited them. This cozy corner was where I spent any moment of the weekend that wasn’t focused on their guests. D helped Randy with check ins and the couple left for Winnipeg soon after. Upon close examination of this picture, I must have poured a glass of wine, soon after. This was our solo flight at the Bed and Breakfast and we were pretty excited!

We had stopped on our way out of the city, for bowls of chicken, wonton soup. After reheating them, we pulled up stools to the kitchen island.

Imagine purchasing a historic property for a Bed and Breakfast and finding out you have your very own pear tree outside the kitchen window! I had previously been sent home with a number of green baby pears, which I made into a crisp upon ripening.

From the kitchen window, I spied a beautiful sunset through the trees. My soup slurping was interrupted so that I could get a picture from their road. I never miss a sunset (or sunrise for that matter), if I am able. Dawn and dusk, ground me and fill me with gratitude-the perfect way to start and end my days.

Case in point, the next pic on my phone was of the sun on the horizon the next morning.

D and I were on our first solo breakfast duty! I was in charge of everything which wasn’t the main entree: setting the dining room, making coffee and putting out a tea selection, milk & cream, juices, condiments and lastly preparing the first course. On this day it was bowls of tropical fruits.

D’s tasks were roasting sausages, making buckwheat pancakes as well as a blueberry and Gran Marnier compote. I served, cleared and chatted with the guests. Luckily I had just been on a Gimli shopping spree so when one of the female guests asked for shopping ideas, I was ready with a comprehensive list.

After breakfast clean up, we didn’t really have any other chores except for snuggling up with Jake.

I loved this capture from Eleanore and Randy’s desk. I don’t know how much writing I would get done from there.

The house is full of pretty little touches like these stained glass bluebirds in the office/billiards room.

Next morning’s sunrise was a rainbow streak beneath the crowds and beautiful in its own way.

When I looked closely at my own picture, I realized that I could see the other side of the lake! Where we are at Lester Beach, is almost directly across from Gimli. Since Ponemah is south of Gimli, I expect that one of the little shorelines south of Grand Beach is directly across. Perhaps Beaconia?

I was on first course duty again so I prepared yogurt, granola, pineapple and kiwi. It was delicious- if I do say so myself.

D, a trained cook was on omelets that morning. Here is his mise en place.

D is well equipped to cook eggs for breakfast. When he was a teenage cook on the train from Winnipeg to Vancouver, he was harnessed to the stove, so that he would have both hands to flip the eggs.

Every omelet is a unique creation, D’s contained crispy bacon bits that the guests appreciated.

After breakfast clean up and guest check outs, we had the afternoon to ourselves which was welcome. We couldn’t do our regular work, chores around the yard, house or lakehouse, so we had enforced leisure. Ahh. A lovely way to celebrate our first solo weekend!

Kath’s quotes: “Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” -Author unknown

Love never fails.

With this trip being our first time staying in Brooklyn (our previous locales were Gramercy Park, The Piers, Central Park, Garment District, Madison Square Gardens, Jersey City and Queens), we set out to explore DUMBO (aka Down Under the Metropolitan Bridge Overpass).

I imagine that travelers ordinally gravitated to the area to see the Manhattan skyline, but as you can see the fog had rolled in with the persistent rain.

Many people chose this street to get their selfies in front of the bridge (us included-please ignore my rained on hair). We did some browsing at the weekend flea market but were soon looking for sustenance. It turned out that resulting lunch, was my favourite meal of the entire trip!

D had discovered it just around the corner from the flea market. It was an inauspicious little place but as soon as the aroma wafted from the open door, we knew that we were in for a treat.

This magazine feature taped to the wall by our stools indicated the success that was had when Jeremy Dean flipped his vegan bodega into a noodle house!

This decadent starter was assembled from mixed mushrooms, black garlic and yu choy dumplings. Absolutely stellar!

This noodle dish was named after the restaurant and were the silkiest, I have ever eaten.

We also tucked into a fried rice dish in a cardboard take out container, just because we wanted to eat with chopsticks right out of the carton like everyone does in shows and movies about NYC!

We had a lengthy subway ride back to the Theatre District for a matinee that we had gotten tix for in the Broadway lottery, but we were too early for curtain. So we spent some time in our favourite Bryant Park, our destination with every trip to the Big Apple.

Here is a reflection of the Empire State Building. One of many lovely aspects of this trip was because we had already done all the touirsty things on previous trips, so we could relax and return to our favourite spots.

There is always a point when I have been in New York, that I crave home-not my city house so much as our lake house. This is why.

The best thing about the Broadway play that we saw, were our great seats. Otherwise, I won’t even mention it.

We had dinner reservations at a place called Becco on Restaurant Row which was close to the Theatre District, so we first enjoyed a tea and pastry in the hood and then happy hour beverages, when we were still too early. D would say that Becco was well worth the trouble.

Lidia Bastianich and her son Joe, both of Food Network fame, are collaborators of the restaurant, so my sights were pretty high. D said that his choice of Cesar salad was the best he had ever tasted.

I very much enjoyed the anti-pasto, sharing the nibbles with D. My favourite taste prior to dinner was skinny little breadsticks rolled in course salt.

I am guessing that the proximity to the theatre district must have created their pasta tasting menu. Piping hot selections were served from skillet pans delivered by wandering chefs/servers. One was of el dente broccoli in a light sauce and the above was torn sheets of pasta in a seafood sauce with little morsels of more seafood peppering the dish. D loved both and had to decide which dish to have seconds of because the pasta came around and around until you yelled “Uncle!”

I loved the mushroom stuffed ravioli in an equally decadent mushroom cream sauce. We passed on desert and decided that a stroll through Times Square would be a great idea. D was doing some souvenir shopping for the kids and grandkids at home. He didn’t have the correct change for a t-shirt vendor, so the kind gentlemen said “Take the shirt and come back and pay me after you find an ATM”! We were so touched by his kindness.

Kath’s quote: “One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it in five minutes as equally as five years.“-Tom Wolfe

Love never fails.