Life Without Lemons

LIFE LATELY: BACK TO BUSINESS

It's only 4 days till my boys head back to school and I have 40 pencils to sharpen so this is just a quick stop over on my blog to say that things will be back to normal soon- yeah!

We arrived back home from a quick trip to Disneyland and Universal Studios yesterday- truly a fabulous trip and the perfect way to end a great summer of fun!

I have 4 bread catch-ups coming soon and lots of yummy treats I will be baking for school lunches.

Hope you are enjoying the last of the summer, it really has been a blast!

1 comments

, by Elyse Chatterton

Life Lately

LIFE LATELY

Where did the summer holidays go? It's been a crazy whirlwind of parks, swimming and eating tasty pizza in our pizza oven.

Alfie your smile is infectious and you are very cheeky, but I wouldn't have you any other way.

Harry catching spiders in jars- boys are weird you know!

Mint and courgettes (zucchini to my Canadian friends). Green things that are bursting with tasty delight in my garden make us all very happy.

My Thursday nights are still all about the 124 Grand Market and my chance to eat at a different food truck each week. Last week I tried the Vegan Coconut Bacon BLT Wrap from the Salin On Truck. It's a flour tortilla, coconut bacon, home made roasted garlic mayo, fresh lettuce, tomato and shredded carrot- it's totally delicious and the coconut bacon is clever if not a little sneaky- it is vegan so there is no bacon about it! Even butchers eat Vegan food every now and again you know. If you see them out and about in Edmonton, I suggest you try this, even if you are a hardened meat eater.

I will be at the 124 Grand Market tonight selling delicious meaty treats with the Sangudo Growers and picking another tasty treat from another food truck- Thursdays rock you know!

2 comments

, by Elyse Chatterton

Nut Free

ROCKY ROAD

Going out to a friends house and need a gift to take but don't have the time or enthusiasm to switch on the oven- Rocky Road is your answer.

It has all the charm of an oven baked treat with only a little melting and stirring to contend with. The original recipes for Rocky Road contain nuts, and feel free to reduce the quantity of marshmallows and add your nut of choice- chopped brazils work really well.

ROCKY ROAD

INGREDIENTS

250g dark chocolate
150g milk chocolate
175g soft butter
4 tablespoons golden syrup (or table syrup if you cannot find golden syrup)
250g graham crackers (or digestive biscuits )
200g mini marshmallows
1 tablespoon icing sugar

METHOD

Chop both sorts of chocolate small, or use chocolate buttons made for melting, and then put into a heavy-based pan to melt with the butter and syrup over a gentle heat.
Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and bash them with a rolling pin to get big- and little-sized crumbs; you want some pieces to crunch and some sandy rubble.
Take the pan off the heat, and add the crushed biscuits and mini-marshmallows. Turn carefully to coat everything with syrupy chocolate.
Tip into a foil tray or silicone tray ( 236mm x 296mm / 9¼ x 12 inches), smoothing the top as best you can- it will look bumpy, don't panic, that's your rocky road!
Refrigerate until firm enough to cut, which will take about 1 1/2–2 hours. Then take the set block of rocky road out of the foil tray ready to cut.
Push the icing sugar through a small sieve to dust the top of the Rocky Road.
Cut into the desired number of pieces- smaller works better and leaves people reaching for a 2nd, 3rd....4th piece!

No comments

, by Elyse Chatterton

Edmonton

SNEAK PEEK TASTING AT PLOW & HARVEST

In the loosest sense of the word, I am a food blogger. I take pictures of the food I make and I share the recipes on this little blog. I am not, however a food critic or reviewer. I have always maintained that I love food too much and am just happy that somebody else cooked it for me, and therefore, find it hard to find fault!

However, I was lucky enough to win tickets to a sneak peek tasting night at a brand new restaurant in Edmonton called, Plow & Harvest. So here is my review- it may not be the most informed and experienced review, but I am willing to give it a go......................

First impressions of the restaurant are great! You are welcomed by a vintage Case tractor sat behind a white picket fence in the middle of the restaurant. The room is spacious, light, bright and modern.

The service was incredibly slow to start off with. We waited for well over 30 minutes before anyone came to say hello, or offer us a drink- I ended up finding someone to come over to us in the end! This is not a criticism though. I have been a server, and I know that nights like this are exactly for ironing out the kinks in service and getting a team up to speed on how it operates with a busy restaurant. Once they got going the staff were knowledgeable about the menu and where items were sourced from.

The food came in sample sizes, using small jars. We tasted; Mac-N-Cheese with bacon breadcrumbs, Roasted Tomato Soup with herb parmesan crouton, Not So Sloppy Joe, Hand Cut Plank Fries and Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwich.

My favourite was the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich- crunchy, moist and tasty! We also sampled a cocktail that contained lime and Jack Daniels, but I forgot its name!

Plow & Harvest boasts of using locally sourced ingredients and supporting the community. I was happy to hear that the bread is from a bakery just down the road but other menu items, whilst being from Alberta, sound like they are from much more large scale producers. I had hoped that the menu would be changeable based on what was available from smaller producers in Edmonton- similar to how food trucks operate, using what is fresh, ready and local.

Perhaps this is too much to ask with a restaurant seating so many and with a fixed menu?

I will certainly go back to Plow and Harvest. The menu is simple and tasty without being complicated. The prices are very reasonable and I will be happy to bring my family along next time I visit- the kids will love the tractor, but I am not sure how I will be able to stop them from wanted to have a drive on it!

A huge thank you to Baconhound for the tickets- visit his blog here- he is a proper food reviewer

A big thank you to Plow & Harvest- any excuse to put on some heels, eat tasty food and get out of the bedtime routine is a win in my book!

Plow & Harvest
10041 170 Street
Edmonton
Alberta
T5P 4R5
780 6697500
Website