Raspberry sauce with white chocolate liquer

I am nursing a sore head today from lack of sleep and a few too many wine spritzers from last night, after a much needed ladies night to celebrate my friend Lyndsay's birthday.

There really is nothing better than hanging out with friends, chowing down on good food with a side of good conversation and giggles, especially now as the kids are on summer break and consuming every waking moment of my existence.

To celebrate I made a quick angel food cake and served it with a smorgasbord of toppings to choose from. My new Raspberry sauce, fresh raspberries, melted chocolate, whipped cream ( or in this case cool whip), and some passionfruit pulp from my secret stash of imported goodies from Australia.

Recipe:

2 cups of frozen raspberries
6 tablespoons of white chocolate liqueur
4 tablespoons blue agave sweetener ( you can use regular sugar, to taste)

Put everything in a saucepan, stirring over medium heat until bubbly. Thicken with cornstarch or, if you're not in a hurry, just let it slowly reduce until you get it to the consistency you like.

Today, even with a hangover I managed to can some mango passion fruit sauce for eating with ice cream mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

And, after many requests I have also pumped out a few batches of red onion jelly.

If you're in my neck of the woods, I'm thinking of selling at the farmer's market, let me know if anyone wants any home made preserves.

Thinking about the lovely sand in Sicamous and sunbaking all weekend, time to get packing!!

For all the new mom's out there.

You just have to check out this blog for a giggle. This new mom on maternity leave has found a creative way to preserve some precious memories of her sleeping baby.

I love the Internet.......now all I need is a time machine to go back to the year 2000 so I can do this with my munchkins.

Fresh air cinema

Just the other night I got to take my little ones and a friend to a free ( well, by donation to the Boys and Girls club) outdoor movie at Polson Park in Vernon. We took our camping chairs, snacks and blankies. Parked our butts on the grass and watched our movie on the inflatable movie screen.

What a fantastic idea!! It was a little on the late side, I believe the movie started just after 9pm, my 4 year old didn't make it to the end but she had a fabulous time none the less.
The movie screen was rented from a company called Fresh air cinema, they are currently cruising around BC offering free to the public, outdoor movies. If you follow them on facebook you can keep up with which movies are being shown where.
Tomorrow night they are showing Avatar at the Predator Ridge driving range. I highly recommend it for the above 8 crowd, as long as the movie of choice is cleared by the parents.
I love where we live and that there is always something going on for kids and families, check your local paper and you are guaranteed to find something for every age group. There is no excuse for boredom in a place like this!!!!

Summer so far.....

Zoe's summer fun list.......

Surprise birthday parties with the yummiest food ever.....

Water slides with the tribe...

Summer night's with fun activities....

Fantastic friends with adorable children.....

Beautiful, ever changing summer skies...

It's all a little too much for some folks.

Raspberry Sorbet

It's here...the most delicious time of the year....raspberry season. Some people think that growing raspberries is a bad idea, that the suckers will take over and start growing everywhere. They would be right about the latter, but since when is that a bad thing? We love raspberries and from our three humble rows we grow enough to fill our freezer with goodies for the winter, make jam and still be able to share with our friends.
So before I fill my freezer with this years harvest I though I had better use up my last bag from the summer before.

My pal Kerry recently dropped off some magazines and in a Martha magazine I found this little gem. The reason I love is so much is because it uses frozen fruit, which means the sorbet is already partially frozen when you start and is ready in a shorter time. Perfect for an impromptu dinner. The color alone makes this dessert worthwhile.

Raspberry Sorbet with fresh whipped cream. ( I did not do the cream part).

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar

# cups frozen raspberries

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Stir together water and 1/4 cup sugar until sugar dissolves.

2. Pulse berries in food processor until coarsely chopped. With machine running, pour in sugar water; pulse until mixture is smooth. Transfer to an air tight container, and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

3. Whisk cream and remaining sugar until soft forms peak.

4. Scoop sorbet into 4 glasses and top with whipped cream.

TAKE 2

 I made a double batch with this recipe and substituted the sugar water mixture for lychee juice. Just enough for the sorbet to blend nicely. It did take a little longer to freeze but boy oh boy was it good.

This recipe is a keeper.

How does my garden grow...........

...with pretty lilies.....

and prickly sea holly....

...and raspberry bushes all in a row!

Accidental vegetarian portabello pizza

After a long day in Kelowna, I wanted a quick and easy dinner for myself and my munchkins. They wanted pasta- done. I am not partaking in carb consumption at the moment so I tried my hand at a recipe idea I had seen online somewhere. Portabello pizza, no, it is not pizza with mushrooms...it is a mushroom masquerading AS pizza.
I forgot to take pics during prep so here's the after.....

.....bubbly, cheesy yumminess. I was quite pleasantly surprised that I didn't feel like I was getting ripped off by not having a yeasty doughy base.

So, if you're feeling brave:

Accidental Vegetarian Portabello pizza.

2 Portabello mushroom tops

1-2 tablespoon of passata DI pomodoro ( strained tomato's)

any veg you like, I used yellow peppers, red onion, jalapeno peppers.

any cheese you like.

Flip your mushroom upside down and remove the stem. Place on baking sheet upside down and spoon on your passata.

Add any topping of choice, followed by cheese.

Bake in 350C over until cheese is bubbly and mushroom is beginning to release some liquid. You want to make sure your mushroom is cooked through otherwise I imagine it could be quite chewy. icky!!

I think I cooked mine for about 15 minutes...not much longer than a cheap frozen pizza!!!!!

You could use this basic recipe and try many other variations, like pesto, a garlicky cream sauce and , of course, MEAT. The possibilities are endless.

Let me know if any of you try it, I would love to hear of some new flavour combinations!

Tootles,

kj