I hope you all enjoyed reading it as I did writing it.

I numbered all the entries and used a random number generator to choose a winner.

The winner of the Kitchen Aid Food Processor is Tracy Lee of Toronto. Congratulations Tracy and hope this helps with your holiday chopping!

 Thanks to Kitchen Aid Canada for sponsoring this great giveaway

Cheers

Carrie

My godmother (and aunt) gave me this recipe in a great little book put together by her daughter (and my maid of honour) for my wedding shower. It was a super thoughtful spin on a guestbook for my shower as all the guests were invited to contribute a recipe to the book. My aunt added fun little comments about the recipe and how well-loved it is in her family, including how my one cousin can’t get enough of the icing.

The recipe originally comes from my grandmother, who passed it down to my aunt and who has now passed it down to me.

This is a banana cake, a larger recipe than a standard loaf and can be baked in either a sheet or two rounds.  It is rich and decadent and the perfect end to a family meal.

I shared it tonight with my son and seems yet another generation will enjoy this family tradition.

Yummy Banana Cake

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar, 2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 ¾ cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

4 tbsp sour milk (stir one tsp of vinegar in with the milk)

3 large bananas, mashed.

Cream butter with an electric mixer, add in eggs and beat. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl stir flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

(Optional, stir in a ½ tsp of cinnamon and a ¼ tsp nutmeg.)

Stir mashed bananas and sour milk together.

Add  1/3 flour mixture to creamed butter mixture. Stir in 1/3 of bananas and milk. Repeat until fully blended.

In a well greased 13x9 “ pan, pour cake batter and bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes until the edges are brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Cream cheese icing

250 g of cream cheese

¼ cup butter

½ tsp vanilla

2-3 cups of icing sugar (depending on desired consistency)

Cream together cream cheese, butter and vanilla. Sift in icing sugar one cup at a time and beat until well combined.

Spread on cooled cake.

Optional top with toasted walnuts (or for an even more decadent treat, macadamia nuts)

Another variation: stir in one cup of chocolate chips to cake batter before baking.

So here are the rules for entering the giveaway for a Kitchen Aid Food Processor (retail value $399):

Leave a comment on the blog, or any other blog entry this week during my Five Days of Festive Fun! (That’s all you need to do for your first entry!) One comment per blog post, per person please!

This giveaway is for Canadian readers only, unfortunately, so you must live in Canada.

Since this post was a little late getting up, I'll extend the entries until noon Dec. 10.

For extra entries you can:

Find me on Facebook and like my page (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Find me on Twitter @Wifewithknives and follow me. (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Full disclosure: KitchenAid Canada is providing the winner of my giveaway with a food processor. I am not being compensated financially or in any other way through this giveaway. I have not received an appliance myself for review. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own.

Since becoming a mom, I’ll admit to taking some shortcuts in the kitchen here and there.

Yeah, I haven’t made my own mayo in months, and I think the last time I made my own pasta, I was two months pregnant with my first child (now five months pregnant with my second!)

So this next recipe is one that my family has used forever. It’s an easy-peasy fudge recipe that you can whip up in minutes and be good to go for a dessert tray add-on that everyone will love.

It’s three ingredients (more or less) unless you want to add more, and the part where you’re using heat (which I try to limit with a toddler in the house) is minimal.

Quick Chocolate Fudge

18 oz of dark chocolate

1 300 ml can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Melt chocolate and condensed milk, stirring constantly over low heat.

Once completely melted, remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pour into an 8x8 parchment lined baking pan.

That’s it! Let cool and cut into 1 inch squares.

Optional add ins:

Traditional: 2/3 cup of toasted chopped walnuts

Festive: 2/3 cups of chopped candy canes

Please sir, may I have s’more: 1/3 cup crumbled graham crackers, 1/3 cup mini marshmallows

Cherry Pop: a pinch of cayenne pepper and 1/3 cup of chopped dried cherries

What are your favourite festive treats?

 So here are the details for the giveway to win yourself a brand new Kitchen Aid Food Processor (retail value $399):

Leave a comment on the blog, or any other blog entry this week during my Five Days of Festive Fun! (That’s all you need to do for your first entry!) One comment per blog post, per person please!

This giveaway is for Canadian readers only, unfortunately, so you must live in Canada.

For extra entries you can:

Find me on Facebook and like my page (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Find me on Twitter @Wifewithknives and follow me. (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Full disclosure: KitchenAid Canada is providing the winner of my giveaway with a food processor. I am not being compensated financially or in any other way through this giveaway. I have not received an appliance myself for review. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own.

It fills the house with wonderful smells of warm winter spices and makes you wanna cozy up by the fireplace. Did I mention that it’s day three of my Five Days of Festive Fun? Make sure you see the end of this post and comment for you chance to win a Kitchen Aid Food Processor!

The following recipe is one of my all-time favourite holiday recipes. Great to bring to a potluck to serve for brunch or at the end of a meal.

It is elegant and rich, but has the added bonus of fruit.  It’s always a big hit at gatherings, and it’s easy to make to boot. Not to mention, it’s an upside-down cake. I love this style of baking, I think it’s one of the best ways to highlight fruit in a dish, without the labour-intensive business of pie.

I used Forelle Pears in this recipe, which are small and sweet, and the perfect firm texture for this type of cake.  You’ll need a 10-inch cast-iron skillet for this recipe

Upside-Down Pear GingerBread Cake

Topping

6-8 forelle pears, peeled and quartered

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter

(You can add a couple of tablespoons of brandy if you like too)

2 ½ cups of all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp salt

1 egg

½ cup unsalted butter

½ cup brown sugar

1 cup of molasses

1 cup of boiling water

Melt sugar and butter for topping over low heat in the cast iron skillet. Once sugar is completely dissolved add pears and let simmer slowly until pears soften a little (if adding brandy, add now).

Set aside.

Sift together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

In a large bowl cream together butter and brown sugar with an electric beater. Once well combined, beat in egg until smooth.

In a two cup measuring cup, measure out 1 cup of molasses and top with one cup of boiling water. Stir to combine.

Add 1/3 of flour mixture to egg, butter and sugar mixture, stir. Add 1/3 of molasses and water mixture and combine. Keep adding thirds of each mixture until batter is fully combined.

Remove pears from the cast pan and arrange in pleasing circular fashion.

Top with cake batter and bake for 40 to 50 min. at 350F.

The edges of the cake will be crisp.

Let cool 15 to 20 minutes. Invert onto a large plate.

 Adapted from this recipe on epicurious.com

What are your favourite flavours and scents of the season?

So here are the rules for entering the giveaway of a Kitchen Aid Food Processor:

Leave a comment on the blog, or any other blog entry this week during my Five Days of Festive Fun! (That’s all you need to do for your first entry!) One comment per blog post, per person please!

This giveaway is for Canadian readers only, unfortunately, so you must live in Canada.

For extra entries you can:

Find me on Facebook and like my page (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Find me on Twitter @Wifewithknives and follow me. (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Full disclosure: KitchenAid Canada is providing the winner of my giveaway with a food processor. I am not being compensated financially or in any other way through this giveaway. I have not received an appliance myself for review. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own.

Remember to read through to the end to leave a comment for today’s entry for the KitchenAid food processor giveaway.

Yesterday I gave you a quick and easy recipe for an appetizer that you could whip up on a moments notice (if you happen to have artichokes in your cupboard).

Today, I’m will give a recipe for an elegant appetizer that is a little more complicated.

There is no reason to use a food processor for this one, but I’ll throw in an extra recipe that KitchenAid sent to me at the end that you could definitely use

These tasty little cups are a burst of flavour. And they look like you’ve slaved forever making them. But thanks to some frozen filo dough and some premade pesto, you’ll pull these together in half an hour (minus the baking time).

You’ll need a mini-muffin tray to make these into bite-sized morsels.

Mediterranean vegetable filo cups

¼ cup butter melted

6 sheets of filo dough (thawed)

4 plum tomatoes

2 small zucchinis

1 -300g pkg of goat cheese

about 2-3 tbsps of prepared pesto

½ ounce of parmesan cheese, grated

2 vegetable crackers crushed 

Seed and dice tomatoes into a very small dice and place in a bowl with crackers and cheese, and season with salt and pepper.

Dice zucchinis in an equally small dice and place in a separate bowl. Salt generously and let sit. (the zucchinis will shed a lot of water this way, and prevent you from having soggy filo cups.

Take your first sheet of filo and place on a flat working surface.

Brush with melted butter and top with another filo sheet.

Continue until all six sheets are stacked one on top of the other, brush melted butter on top layer.

Cut the sheet into two inch squares.

Take one square and press buttered-side down a mini muffin cup. Do this with all of the cups (This should make about 36).

Drain zucchini and squeeze dry.

With the back of a spoon, spread a tiny bit of pesto in each cup. Follow with a small piece of goat cheese, a few pieces of zucchini and top with a bit of the tomato mixture. Cups should be full to capacity.

Bake in a 350F oven for about 20 minutes or until the edges of cups are brown and crisps

Serve warm or at room temperature!

Enjoy :)

And as promised here's a recipe made easy with the use of a food processor, provided by Kitchen Aid.

I haven't tried this recipe, so I cannot yet vouch for it.

Holiday Slaw

1⁄2 large green cabbage, cored

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed

8 large red radishes, trimmed

6 green onions, trimmed

1 green pepper, cored

1 cup (250 mL) dried cranberries

1⁄2 cup (125 mL) white wine vinegar
1/3 cup (75 mL) each oil and maple syrup

2 tbsp (30 mL) lemon juice

1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard

3⁄4 tsp (4 mL) salt

1.Cut the cabbage into 5 or 6 wedges. Position the adjustable slicing disc in the work bowl and, using the thin setting on High speed, push the wedges through the feeding tube. Transfer to a large bowl. Switch to the coarse side of the reversible shredding disc. Cut the fennel into quarters. Push the fennel and radishes through the feed- ing tube; add to the large bowl.
2. Cut the green onion and green pepper into chunks. Use the multi- purpose metal blade to chop finely. Add to the cabbage mixture. Combine the cranberries, vinegar, oil, maple syrup, lemon juice, mustard and salt in a small saucepan set over medium heat; bring to a boil. Pour over the cabbage mixture and toss to coat. Chill for at least 1 hour or up to 4 days. Makes about 12 cups (3 L).

Do you serve warm appetizers over the holidays? What are your favourite combos?

So here are the rules for entering the giveaway:

Leave a comment on the blog, or any other blog entry this week during my Five Days of Festive Fun! (That’s all you need to do for your first entry!) One comment per blog post, per person please!

This giveaway is for Canadian readers only, unfortunately, so you must live in Canada. Comments close at Midnight on Dec. 9. A winner will be announced Dec. 11.

For extra entries you can:

Find me on Facebook and like my page (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Find me on Twitter @Wifewithknives and follow me. (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Full disclosure: KitchenAid Canada is providing the winner of my giveaway with a food processor. I am not being compensated financially or in any other way through this giveaway. I have not received an appliance myself for review. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own.

Adding to the insanity is my new venture as a photographer, specializing in bellies, birth and babies, as I didn’t return to my old job as news editor when my maternity leave ended.

One of the things that have been put on the backburner that I miss most, though, is this blog. I miss my readers, I miss writing about food, heck I miss cooking, because between an energetic toddler and bouts of morning sickness I haven’t really had it in me lately. I miss getting out to great food events, and all the great foodie people I meet when I do. I miss all of it, and despite other fulfilling areas in my life, without this important part, it feels like something is missing.

So I’m super excited to get back into this with an awesome giveaway during what I’m gonna call Five Days of Festive Fun.

KitchenAid Canada wants to give one of my lucky readers a food processor! Yep, that’s right, a shiny new appliance gets to go to one of your homes before Christmas. Some of the features of their newest processor include:

• New external adjustable, stainless steel slicing disc provides ultimate versatility
• Dual shredding disc easily flips the disc from 2mm to 4mm to achieve ideal slicing thickness
• Large 13-cup (2.75L) leak-proof work bowl, plus chef’s bowl and mini bowl to efficiently
• Ultra Wide Mouth Feed TubeTM adjusts to 3 different sizes to accommodate foods of varying sizes, including whole potatoes and cucumbers
• 17 precise food processing options for speed-controlled slice, shred, chop & puree functions plus three maximized slice, shred and puree/chop blades and bonus dough, egg whip & Julienne blades
• 4 speed-controlled functions
• Comfort design side handle allows easy viewing while the food processor is in use

The new model!

I love KitchenAid, and have one of their heavy duty mixers on my counter at home. I don’t personally own a KitchenAid food processor, but I do have another brand that I got as a Christmas gift one year, and I do find it a very useful appliance when I break it out.

I mainly use it when I’m making big batches of pie crust. It puts a serious dent in the time it takes to cut the fat into the flour (I usually use butter, because I feel like if you’re gonna use fat, make it good tasting fat!).

I will admit I’m not a big fan of using it for small jobs, that an otherwise well-sharpened kitchen knife can handle, because I hate doing dishes.

However when I had a bunch of carrots that were pushing the limit of their shelf life, I pulled out my handy processor to grate them all up and freeze them in small batches ready to make muffins or loafs whenever I need them.

My mom has always had a processor and used for everything from cheese to grounding up sausage for pizza. No job was too small for her processor. And she put her machine through its paces.

This next recipe could use a processor, if you wanted a smooth end product. I personally prefer the chunky texture of the artichoke hearts.  I love using yogurt in this dish instead of sour cream. It gives it a fun tang and makes it seem a wee bit healthier

Easy Artichoke and Parmesan dipArtichoke and Parmesan Dip

1 398 ml can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

½ cup plain greek style yogurt

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 oz of parmesan cheese, coarsely grated

1 clove of garlic, minced

a pinch of cayenne pepper

some freshly ground cumin and coriander seeds (about ¼ teaspoon of each)

Couple of sprigs of fresh parsley chopped coarsely

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl (reserving some of the parsley for garnish) and let sit for at least an hour before serving. Sprinkle with reserved parsley and serve with crudité and/or crackers.

Inspired by the LCBO Food and Drink Magazine, 2011 Holiday edition recipe

What do you think? Do you prefer the ease of the “pulse” button to do your chopping, or are you a “sharp knife” kinda cook?

So here are the rules for entering the giveaway:

Leave a comment on the blog, or any other blog entry this week during my Five Days of Festive Fun! (That’s all you need to do for your first entry!) One comment per blog post, per person please!

This giveaway is for Canadian readers only, unfortunately, so you must live in Canada. Comments will close at midnight EST on Dec. 9. All comments received before then will be counted.

For extra entries you can:

Find me on Facebook and like my page (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Find me on Twitter @Wifewithknives and follow me. (come back to the blog and let me know you did this to complete this entry)

Full disclosure: KitchenAid Canada is providing the winner of my giveaway with a food processor. I am not being compensated financially or in any other way through this giveaway. I have not received an appliance myself for review. The opinions expressed on this blog are my own.

This weekend at the farmer’s market, Hubby and I grabbed some zucchini and summer squash. When we got home, I contemplated their fate, and grilling seemed like the only reasonable option.

A couple of bell peppers and some asparagus got tossed into the mix for colour and texture and then to round out the salad and make it really meal worthy, I threw in a can of chickpeas and some chèvre. I had to make a quick run down the street for some lemon which brightened up the charred goodness from the grill and it was a meal that my son was so anxious to eat, I hardly had time to get a decent photo of it.

This salad is a meal in itself and a great way to use up some roasted vegetables. 

Roasted vegetable and chickpea salad

2 summer squash

2 zucchini

2 red bell peppers

1 green onion

½ bunch of asparagus

a couple sprigs of lemon thyme

1 lemon

1 can chickpeas

a couple sprigs of fresh parsley

salt

Olive oil

100 grams chèvre

Cut the summer squash and zucchini into ¼ inch thick pieces. Cut pepper into 1 inch wide wedges, toss in some olive oil and salt.

Break off woody ends of asparagus, toss in olive oil and salt and place in a vegetable grill pan for the barbecue.

Place pepper, squash and zucchini slices directly on a hot grill, at medium heat.

Let cook until vegetables are soft and have nice char marks on both sides.

Cook asparagus in grill pan until lightly browned and remove from heat.

Let vegetables cool until they can be handled.

Chop all veggies, including the green onion, into a small dice, similar in size to a chickpea.

Toss all vegetables and chickpeas together in a large bowl. Add in the juice of one lemon, and chop the thyme and parsley before adding it to salad mixture.

Top with crumbled chevre.

Serve immediately.

We had a bunch of one (or almost one) year-olds toddling or crawling around in the yard, and a couple of slightly older kids who Xander adored watching and chasing around.

As with all barbecues, salads are a crucial component. With all the meat that we’re grilling up, you need a little kind-to-the-tummy food in there too to balance things out. I made a German-style potato salad, a Greek salad and a Quinoa salad.

The surprise hit of the day, the Quinoa salad made use of some fresh summer ingredients like asparagus, and strawberries. Tossed together in a balsamic dressing and topped with some crunchy walnuts, it was great blend of tastes and textures that had people coming back for seconds.

I recreated the salad this week as I needed to get some proportions down for the recipe, and I needed to take a photo, since it got gobbled up so quickly.

I grilled the asparagus specifically for this recipe, but I venture it would be a good way to use up leftovers if you ever have any, which we never do!

Dressing:

1 tbsp pommery (grainy) mustard

1 ½ tbsp. balsamic vinegar

½ tbsp maple syrup

3 tbsp  olive oil

pinch of salt

1 cup dry quinoa, well rinsed

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup stemmed, chopped strawberries

10-12 spears of asparagus

2 green onions, chopped finely

½ cup toasted walnuts coarsely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

Cook quinoa over medium heat in chicken stock uncovered until liquid is absorbed. Cover and let sit for a few minutes then fluff with a fork the way you would couscous.

Brush asparagus with olive oil and grill either in a vegetable tray for the barbecue or under the broiler until tender crisp about 10 minutes.

Chop into 1-inch pieces.

Toss the quinoa with the dressing and gently add in the green onions, asparagus and strawberries. Top with the toasted walnuts. Serve at room temperature.

Bloom Restaurant brought in chef Pedro Quintanilla and introduced some Cuban-influenced dishes to their menu full of bright citrus flavours and subtle heart-warming heat.

Owner Franca Iuele admits she was a little skeptical about how the Bloor West neighbourhood would receive the latin-inspired menu. To her surprise,the reception has been muy caliente.

They’ve ramped things up for their spring menu to include South American favourites like Ceviche, the chilled seafood concoction cured in citrus, and churros the latin answer to donuts.

We start off the night with Cassava frites. Cassava is a root vegetable, but a lot less starchy than potatoes. Two large wedges are served up with an amazing Mojo dipping sauce, an aioli like concotion with a fresh hit of cilantro and citrus.

I can't pass up Ceviche, so when the choice of starters was that or a terrine of Foie Gras with fresh asparagus, I have an easy choice. Ceviche

The ceviche, comes served on a perfectly tender round of yam. It warms the back of my throat as the Habaneros send a warm Cuban breeze my way and the citrus beckons summer. The shrimp and halibut are cured to tender ideal. A perfect balance of savoury and citrusy, the ceviche reminds me why I love this latin-American staple so much.

Next up is a perfectly cooked piece of Tuna crusted in sesame seeds with a tofu-wasabi dressing. What I loved about this dish was again the foil of the bright citrus against the heat of the wasabi. The wasabi peas added texture to the dish, although, I could have done without them. However the combination of the citrus and the wasabi won me over all the same. The tender roasted mixed vegetables were cooked to perfection.

Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna with Wasabi

When I saw the Cuban flan with Dulce de Leche and Thyme come out for my table mates, I almost second-guessed my dessert choice, the Churros with Warm Chocolate Sauce. Both looked incredible, but one bite of the Churros and all doubt vanished from my mind. The chocolate sauce laced with brandy and hit of cayenne for heat, had me scraping every last bit off my plate and wishing I was in a dark room alone, where I could lick it clean. I could go back every night and just order more churros.

Chef Pedro promises the summer will be filled with regular latin-inspired specials. His early years as a chef in Cuba's French Embassy shows as the dishes all have the finesse of fine French cuisine, yet the flair of warmer climes.

Pull up a chair and grab a Mojito at Bloom, it's gonna be a hot summer.

Churros

Enjoying some chickpeas

I decided to make this salad on a whim, as I'm trying to make sure he gets enough protein, without introducing too much saturated fat or mercury (from fish). He gobbled it up, and I was glad to eat it too.

The pumpkin seeds give the salad that extra hearty taste that ensures you won't even miss the meat in this one-dish meal. Now, if you have a little one like me, you can add the crunch ingredients while the quinoa is still hot and cover it, to let it steam. This will soften the apple and bell pepper enough that they can chew it. Also, omit the pumpkin seeds for their portion.

Quinoa salad with red peppers, apple and cranberry

3/4 cup red quinoa

1/4 cup white quinoa

1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if making vegetarian version)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 red bell pepper

3/4  an eating apple (I used cortland)

2 green onions

2 tsp of cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

couple sprigs cilantro

freshly grated ginger (about a 1/2 inch piece)

squeeze of lemon

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted

Place cranberries in a cup of hot water to reconstitute and plump up.

Rinse quinoa well in a fine-meshed sieve, and place into a saucepan, add stock and let simmer uncovered until quinoa is cooked through and stock is evaporated. (If liquid evaporates before quinoa is finished cooking, add more stock or water).

Finely dice apple and pepper. Remove cranberries from water and give a coarse chop (especially important if feeding to baby). Chop up green onion and cilantro finely, and grate fresh ginger to taste into cooked quinoa.

Stir all ingredients together, including the lemon juice, cider vinegar and olive oil, and top with toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve hot or cold.

*chef tip: If you're fresh ginger always dries up before you use it all, here's a solution. Peel and freeze your pieces of ginger. Not only will you always have some on hand when you need it, but it makes the ginger super easy to grate with that handy Microplane of yours.