just thank Martha

After long days my remedy for destressing is baking and as much as I try to curb my carb cravings I always seem to day dream of baking something devilish!   So when I got home today after a busy day at work I knew exactly was I was going to make, Martha Stewarts Pineapple Coconut muffins!  She makes a loaf but I love lil muffins so i can give them away and this way it lessen the chances of me having an entire loaf of this scrumptious treat!   Here is the original recipe but I made a couple alterations to make it a little less sinful.  

ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar (I used agave syrup!)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream  (I did fat free yogurt)
• 1 can (20 ounces) pineapple chunks in juice, drained well

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread coconut on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until lightly toasted, tossing occasionally, 6 to 10 minutes; set aside. Butter and flour a 9-by-5-inch (8-cup) loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce speed to low, and alternately add flour mixture in three parts and sour cream in two, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix just until combined (do not overmix).
3. Using a rubber spatula, fold pineapple and 1 cup coconut into batter. Spoon into prepared pan, and smooth top; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup coconut. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 65 to 70 minutes (cover pan with foil halfway through). Let cake cool in pan 15 minutes. Remove from pan, and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

I want to make my morning fruit salad look like this!  

cheers

I am searching for cocktail recipies and came across this lovely post from Poppies and Posies.  How great does that sound?  Yum! 

Mango Madness!

Don't you just love those produce boys in your local wholefoods that put aside the best stuff for you.  We'll I am a lucky gal and have one who placed a whole box of mangos aside for moi!  After eating two in a row... I began to think... what will I do with the other 10 mangos!   I'm about to get iron chef up in here with some mangos!  Stay tuned

Alright the chocolate craving has hit me again!  I go for months with no urge and then like a lightning bullet it hits me and I need a bite of a 70% dark of goodness!  I've gotten to know myself pretty well by this point and so I know to stock up incase this happens... but this time my mind slipped and nowhere in the house was choclate not even a chip to be found! (we used them for poker night last week).   So 30mins later I found myself down aisle 3 in Wholefoods glazed over in from of a wall of Chocolate.   Somehow the one chocolate bar I came in for turned into 4 marvellous crafted bars of bliss!  I'm a sucker for really good quality chocolate it's one of the things I splurge on.  And with Valentines day approaching I'm sending out a little hint that anyone can win me over with Valrhona!

Chambar

Last night I went to one of my favourite restaurants in the city called Chambar.  And as always the service and meal was superb.   At the moment Vancouver is in the midst of dine-out and so I was a bit nervous about getting a table but lucky for us they opened Cafe Medina next door to accommodate (this is my second fav spot for brunch).  I went with my foodie friend from new york who I knew would love it.  Something about the atmosphere in the space with the lights and candles always makes the Chambar dining experience just that much better then other spots in Vancouver.  But back to the food.  For starters I love beets so I ordered the beet and fennel with pomegranate and sheeps feta salad and Korey had the roasted celeriac and morel soup which was presented in a beautiful fashion with the server pouring the soup at the table over a bowl of apples, watercress and lingonberries. Next up... Mussels (the main reason I am so in love with Chambar) with tomato and coconut YUM! And if I am correct the other dish was Arctic Char.  For desert I went right for the ice-cream and Chocolate Salted chocolate caramel bar and when it was presented the icecream was quickly melting so I did what any sain person would do and quickly ate it up!  The other desert was  Lemon curd, toasted meringue, and thyme scented shortbread.   A perfect meal yet again at Chambar!  Muah!

bake sale

Check out Bake Sale catering and delivery in Austin!  Yum those treats sure do look to good to be true.  How cute are the mini oreas and caramel popcorn macaroons!  Mercy! Andrea has made a successful business out of the simple guilty pleasures that people like me live for!  Look at the special evens menu here

From across the pond

Three of Tarts is switching it up a bit.  Maxine has moved to England and so we are going to trade food tales from both Vancouver and London!   Dining spots, farmers markets and dinner parties are soon to fallow.

You are what you eat

Great type face, wonderful simplicity and mason jars.. I love this nut butter!  I kinda wonna create my own nut butter blends.... sunflower walnut peanut butter! Yum!