We are having this amazing tropical weather the last couple of days.. In the mid 30′s! It really makes packing a chore, a bore and I really  don’t feel like doing it anymore.

But with one of my handy dandy homemade Popsicles you can accomplish any task!

-1-Popsicle mold

-Your favorite juice, apple sauce, pear sauce or fruit puree.

- Thick juices like apricot or pear make for a creamy Popsicle!

-Adding some berries into the mold and filling with a vanilla soy or rice milk also makes a tasty treat.

- Try chocolate rice milk too…

-Freeze overnight and enjoy!

Kanten- by Aveline Kushi

2 Cups spring or filtered water

2 Cups apple juice

Pinch of sea salt

1 Bar or 6 tbsp agar-agar (follow package instructions)

3 Medium-sized apples, sliced and cored

In a pot bring liquids to a boil, gradually stirring in the agar-agar until it dissolves. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add apple slices the last 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour mixture into a large dish or into several small molds; refrigerate until jelled. Kanten is usually ready to serve in 45-60 minutes.

Variation: Instead of apple juice, water may be used with about 1/2 cup raisins added to the apples for sweetness. do not cook melons; just let the hot liquid cook and cool about halfway, then pour over the melon pieces and refrigerate. When using azuki beans and raisins, cook them together about 11/2 hours before adding to other ingredients.

Fruit Salad-by Aveline kushi

Lettuce leaves

1/2 Cup cubed honeydew melon

1/2 Cup cubed cantaloupe

1/2 Cup seeded watermelon shaped into balls with a scoop

1/2 Cup sliced unpeeled apples

Pinch of sea salt

Put a few fresh leaves in the bottom of a serving bowl. In a separate bowl mix the fruit with the salt. Then arrange it in the bowl on top of the lettuce leaves. Allow to sit about 15 minutes before serving.

The cranberry. Great for your bladder and kidneys, high in vitamin c and helps with digestion and prevention of ulcers. Also a delicious tart festive treat!

Cranberry sauce

1 cup raw cranberries

3/4 cup apple juice or water

3 tbsp rice syrup

zest of 2 lg organic oranges

1/4 cup of raisins (optional)

pinch of sea salt

1 tbsp kudzu

Bring juice cranberries, zest ,syrup, sea salt and raisins to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Dilute kudzu in a little water and add to the pot, stir until sauce is thickened. Pour into a bowl or mold  and allow to sit for at least an hour . Serve.

Here is a great recipe from Meredith McCarty, I made this pie for thanksgiving to everyone’s delight.

Cranberry-currant Tart

1 single crust pie shell

1/2 cup currants

11/2 cups apple juice

3 tbsp agar flakes

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 cups fresh cranberries

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

water

In a large pot, bring currants, juice,agar and salt to a boil. Simmer until agar is completely dissolved, 3-5 min.

Sort through cranberries to discard soft ones along with any stems. Rinse,drain and add cranberries to pot. Cook until tender but not mushy, 2-5 minutes more. Stir arrowroot in a little water to completely dissolve and add to the pot. Stir gently until mixture thickens slightly. Transfer filling to pie crust. Allow filling to gel before serving.

 The Fruits of fall

We spent many afternoons so far this fall at U-pick farms,where we picked berries, apples, pears, peaches and more. Such a great outdoor activity!  A day in the sun,fresh air and delicious fruit.

Raspberries 

Raspberry kanten

1 1/2 Cups water

1 1/2 Cups apple juice

4 tbsp agar-agar flakes

1 – 1 1/2 Cup fresh raspberries

pinch of sea salt

In a medium pot bring water and juice to a boil,add the pinch of sea salt, slowly stir in agar- agar until it dissolves. Turn heat down to low and simmer for about 15 min.  Place raspberries into a small glass pan (casserole  style). Pour mixture  over raspberries. Refrigerate until set. About 1 hour.

Freezing Raspberries

wash, and place raspberries in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Put in freezer. When frozen transfer raspberries into freezer bags.

Peaches

Peach Crisp

5-6 peaches, remove pits and slice thinly

2 Tbsp arrowroot flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup rice syrup

—

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3 tbsp sesame or corn oil

1/2 cup roasted walnuts

2 tbsp sesame seeds

1 Cup rolled oats

2 tbsp rice syrup

Heat oven to 375′

In a large pan, add peaches,arrowroot, sea salt ,1/2 cup rice syrup and cinnamon. Place in stove and cook slowly on low heat until peaches become soft, adding water if they stick. About 10 min. Pour peach mixture into a large baking dish.

For the topping mix all dry ingredients and  roast in a cast iron pan for 2-3 min , place in a bowl and add wet ingredients. Crumble  mixture with your hands over the peaches. Bake in oven for 20-30 min until top is crisp and fruit is bubbly.

Freezing peaches

Fill a large pot to the brim with sliced peaches ,a pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of rice syrup. Bring to a boil on low heat and stir until peaches are soft. Cool and place in containers. Freeze.

Apples

Applesauce

 This recipe is for those who do not have a foley food mill.

5 lbs apples, peeled, cored and sliced

1- 1 1/2 Cups water

1/4 tsp sea salt

Add all ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for 25-30 min. Make sure to stir every few min.  Turn off heat and mash any lumps with a potato masher. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Chestnuts

- Prick chestnuts with a fork and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 20-30 min. The skin should be splitting and the inside a golden brown colour . Do not roast  them for too long. They can EXPLODE!

- Boil chestnuts with fennel seed in a small amount of water for 15-20 min till you can pierce easily with a fork.

-After chestnuts are cooked, peel while still warm and blend until smooth with water and a pinch of sea salt to make a puree. You can add sweetener if you like, but I find chestnuts are nice and sweet on their own.

We had a great Easter weekend! The kids had yoga, went to the park, watched a bike race, walked downtown, baked egg shaped cookies and best of all had their  Lala (grandmother) here from Canada for a visit!

Easter weekend yummyness..

leek and corn soup and Pesto pasta!, Udon and Sushi galore!, Polenta and roasted veggies!, walnut cake! and Easter cookies!

Easter Cookies

11/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp grated organic orange rind

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1/3 cup rice syrup

1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350′

With a whisk, mix dry ingredients in a big bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix together  until smooth.

Form into a ball and roll dough flat and thin on a floured surface or between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Cut out oval shapes with a cookie cutter (or squeeze a small round plastic container and press out oval shapes). Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8 min or until golden.

makes about 2 dozen.

Topping

Heat 1/2 cup rice syrup in a pan on low heat until bubbling,turn off heat and spoon 1/2 tsp onto each cookie, smoothing over surface. Press decorations into hot rice syrup. let cool and enjoy.

Decorations..

sesame seeds

poppies seeds

coconut

pumpkin seeds

raisins, currants, dried cranberries

walnuts, almonds, peanuts

grain sweetened chocolate chips

Gnocchi

2lbs organic russet potatoes
11/2 cups unbleached white or whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 lg egg or 1tbsp of arrowroot flour mixed with 1tbsp cold water

     Put potatoes in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil , turn heat down and let simmer for 30 min. Drain and set potatoes aside to cool. Once cooled enough to handle , peel skins and mash until smooth.
    Mix flour with salt add egg and potato. Mix with your hands until dough starts to clump together. Press the dough against the bottom of the bowl until you have a uniform mass. Place dough onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth about 1 min.  Tear off a piece of dough that is about the size of an orange. With the palms of your hands roll dough into a long snake about 1 inch in diameter.  With a knife cut the snake into 3/4 inch pieces. Continue the same way for the rest of the dough. Separate finished gnocchi into 4 batches(at this point the gnocchi can be frozen for later use)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil add one batch of the fresh gnocchi and gently stir after about 1-2 min gnocchi will float to the surface, skim off the gnocchi and drain.

Serve with your favorite sauce.

Parsley Sauce For Gnocchi

I lg Bunch flat leafed parsley, washed and minced

1 clove of garlic,minced (optional)

sea salt

1 tbsp olive or light sesame oil

                   Heat oil in a frying pan add parsley garlic and a pinch of salt. Saute until parley becomes bright green 2-5 min . Stir into Gnocchi. 

Grilled Radicchio

3heads of Radicchio

2-tbsp of olive oil

sea salt 

                  Slice radicchio into quarters, lightly brush with oil and sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over top. Place on a cookie sheet and place under broiler for 8 min Turning twice. The same goes for a grill.

Marinated Portobello Salad

1/2 cup Organic walnuts (roasted and caramelized)

1/2  Cucumber,cubed

1/2 Small onion, sliced into half moons

2 Tbsp  Tofu cheese , crumbled

6 lg Basil leaves shredded

1/2 red pepper, sliced thin(optional)

3 Portobello mushrooms, grilled

Vinaigrette

1 Lemon

1tbsp olive or light sesame oil

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp rice syrup

                 Mix together vinaigrette and set aside . In a medium size bowl stir together onion,cucumber and walnuts. Slice the mushrooms into medium thick slices and add to the bowl along with the basil and tofu cheese. Pour vinaigrette over top and set aside for at least 1/2 hour.  

Roasting the walnuts

    In a lg  cast iron skillet, pushing slowly back and forth with a wooden spoon roast walnuts for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Pour over 1 tbsp rice or maple syrup stir walnuts till syrup foams about 2 min. Spoon out of the pan and set aside.

Grilling the portobello

   De-stem and clean the mushrooms and lightly bush with oil on both sides(olive or light sesame oil) Place on a cookie sheet top side up. Place under a broiler for 10 min turning once.

Stewed Peaches With Brandy

 I had Picked Fresh organic peaches this fall and had frozen them, For this recipe I used about 2 cups. 

Slice and de-pit peaches cook in a small pan on low heat with a pinch of sea salt. If peaches are not quite ripe add a tsp of rice syrup to sweeten. Stirring a few times. Cook until juices come out and peach is nice and soft 15-20 min. Turn heat off and stir in two capfuls of brandy or serve brandy on the side. This is nice with some chopped roasted almonds on top.

It can be really easy to get stressed out over birthday parties! Whether it’s for you, your husband, sibling, friends or children! The easiest is to do something outside if possible. Less mess, less clean up and less hectic energy if you invited lots of people!  My daughter is turning 10 on Feb 23rd. This year she wants to have a sleepover….I’m undecided still on that one! In years past we have had her party in the community room where we live. With themes such as Flowers or Purple ( I even made a purple cake with grapes all over it!) We have done crafts, played musical chairs and hot potato. I provided snacks and a birthday cake and we invited a bunch of kids and they ran around for 2 hours! I like to invite the same amount of children as how old my child is turning.  It seems to work out best.

last year for Lucy’s Birthday we had a quiet dinner with just family. Then on the following weekend she invited 3 friends over for pizza

and we all went out to a movie! that was also fun. For Ingrid who has a spring birthday it’s always outside! She likes to go on birthday walks/hikes

and have balloon games in our yard and play dress up! One year she had a Royal party, only royalty invited! I dressed up as snow white and we had a lot of kings and queens and princesses around! Fun thing about outside parties is that the kids usually play on the grass or jungle gym and watermelon is a great snack! and you can invite twice as many people!

Felix’s birthday is in the summertime . We tend to be back up in Canada, so there is lots of family! Sometimes he gets 2 parties! one at our house and one at a grandparents house. The theme over the last many years is usually cars/trucks/dirt! At the beach or at our farm. We had a truck party last year. Invited kids who liked to play in the dirt and race dinky cars. He even had dinky cars driving across his cake!!

My brother in law likes to make up outdoor games like follow the trail he cuts in the grass with the lawnmower all around our large property. He also does an amazing scavenger hunt with handmade cards with clues that take you all over the yard, garden and woods in search of hidden treasures!

Some fun snacks for  birthdays  :

Veggie wraps- Saute tofu, greens and Hommous wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla!

Dips and spreads

fresh fruit like watermelon or fruit kabobs

a homemade cake is always fun and of course if the kids get involved in the snack making they always end up eating more!

Pan’s Birthday cake With help from Christina Pirello’s Cooking the Whole foods way on this one!!!

4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup shredded coconut– unsweetened
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup olive oil
1 cup brown rice syrup
2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar
2 cups vanilla soy milk
frosting
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 cup amasake
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
1 pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons kuzu
2 cups non-dairy chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut — unsweetened
1 cup pecan pieces — toasted

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil and flour two,
9 in. round cake pans. Use cocoa powder and place of flour to
avoid white deposits on your cakes. Whisk together dry ingredients.
Stir in oil, rice syrup and brown rice vinegar. Slowly add soymilk
to create a smooth spoonable cake batter.

Divide the batter evenly between pans and bake until the center of
the cake springs back to attach or a toothpick comes out clean,
35 to 40 minutes. Cool ten minutes before removing from pan, transfer
to a wire rack and cool completely.

Prepare the frosting by combining even bland, amasake, rice syrup,
salt and vanilla in a saucepan and place over medium heat. When the
liquid is warmed through, stirring the dissolved kuzu, stirring until the
mixture thickens about three minutes. Stir in chocolate chips, stirring
until the mixture thickens and turns smooth. Fold in coconut.

Transfer to he resisted bowl and cover. Set aside until firm, about 15
minutes. To assemble the cake, using a serrated knife, slice off the top
of what it takes to create a flat surface and place on a platter. Spoon a
generous layer frosting over cake. Press the cake into the frosting.
Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Press over tops and sides
if you have any left over.