Nanaimo Bars

Nanaimo Bars
Adapted from Joyce Hardcastle

Bottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg, beaten
1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
½ cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup coconut
Combine the butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a double boiler and heat until melted. Slowly drizzle the hot mixture into the beaten egg, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs, almonds, and coconut. Press the mixture firmly into an ungreased 8″ x 8″ baking pan.

Middle Layer
½ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 tbsp whipping cream
2 tbsp vanilla pudding powder
2 cups icing sugar
Cream together the butter, cream, vanilla pudding powder and icing sugar until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Top Layer
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler over low heat. Once cool but still liquid, pour over middle layer and chill in refrigerator until set, about an hour.
Cut into squares using a knife dipped in hot water. For easier (and neater!) pieces, dip the pan very briefly in hot water and then turn out onto a plate. Flip over using a second plate and cut into squares.

Little Nest

Little nest is a cute cafe off of commercial drive. The cafe is designed for families with little ones to come and enjoy their meal in an accepting and baby-friendly environment. If you don't mind a bit of screaming in the background while you eat, then I would definitely recommend trying this place out!

The food is here is wonderful. All of the items on the menu sound intriguing and their baked goods - muffins and cakes and brownies - look divine!

My mom and I went here for breakfast last weekend. The atmosphere is very dainty - almost like your great aunt's tearoom or something along those lines.

My mom opted for their brioche french toast - french toast with toasted pecans, bananas, cinnamon whipped mascarpone and butterscotch syrup.

I had the scrambled eggs with toasted multigrain baguette soldiers. The eggs here were delicious - full of butter and cream!

 

Check out their website here: http://www.littlenest.ca/littlenest.html

New York + Montreal + Quebec City

This September I travelled to NYC, Montreal and Quebec City and dabbled in some of the East Coast's finest cuisine.

Here are the highlights:

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies from Levain Bakery in NYC. They make the best cookies in the whole world! Check out their website here: http://www.levainbakery.com/

Marche Jean Talon in Montreal.

 

Fairmount Bagels in Montreal - These bagels are soft, chewy and crisp all at the same time!

Chez Temporal in Quebec City - this cafe was lovely and quaint and made me feel like I was back in Paris.

La Boheme Creperie

La Boheme Creperie is a cute little crepe shop served out of a bright pink hippie van. Every week at the summer Trout Lake Farmer's Market, this place would have a line up encompassing about one third of the market place.

I opted for the "La Provencale" - red pepper spread, ratatouille (sauteed eggplant, zucchini, tomato, onion, garlic), goat feta, black olives, greens and vinaigrette.

Needless to say it was delicious and well worth the long wait in the scorching sunshine!

Sunny Snacks - a few months late.

Due to the lack of an internet connection at my house, I haven't been able to write posts lately. My apologies!

These pictures are some of the delicious bites I made this summer. I was fortunate enough to volunteer at the Trout Lake Farmer's Market every Saturday and take home local fresh, nutritious and delicious produce each week.

Peach and Blueberry Pie! 

Homemade Summer Vegetable Pizza!

Veggie Burgers with Roasted Beets and Yam Fries