Home Made Almond Butter

There is nothing like home made almond butter. Rich, creamy and preservative free this butter is packed with protein and dietary goodness so when the little red house posted a how to on her blog I just had to share. Click here for full recipe. 

Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables

Photo by Patrice de Villiers

The French grocery chain called "Intermarché" has come out with a solution to ugly vegetables and fruit which are usually thrown away. In order to avoid waste the grocery chain has launched a campaign called "Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables" whereupon they sell these ugly fruit and vegetables for 30% less than their pretty counterparts. They also set up a booth selling products made from these ugly ducklings to entice people to buy them. So far it has been a great success and I am hoping that this campaign will soon be brought to Montreal. 

I think that this idea is an amazing way of reducing waste and educating people that just because a fruit or vegetable isn't perfect, it doesn't mean that it isn't good. Check out this video to meet the five ugly stars of the campaign.

Edible Flower Fairy Cakes

I have a sweet tooth. I admit it. And my favorite sweet is a little cake called a "petit four". The cake is pretty plain but the fondant that covers the cake is what makes it awesome. You can't have more than one without feeling like a 4 year old on a sugar high but they are my favorite cakes to have with a cup of tea. They are also very pretty to look at. 

These almond fairy cakes are very similar to my lovely "petit fours" but I would assume, a little less sweet given that the fondant doesn't cover the entire cake. I can appreciate that. I can also appreciate the candied edible borage flowers that Lindsay has put on top. I'm a big fan of using edible flowers on cakes and in salads so finding a simpler version of my favorite cake decorated with an edible flower made me very happy. Please visit love and olive oil for the complete recipe and many more lovely photos. 

Fresh Herbs + Rosemary infused Olive oil

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I love fresh herbs. They add so much flavor to your food and they smell wonderful. They also make a great gift when simply packaged in brown paper. The next time you're invited to someone's home for supper why not give a gift of some home made rosemary infused olive oil and some fresh rosemary. I know I would love to receive some!

Here's a simple recipe for rosemary infused olive oil by eCurry.

Enjoy!!

xo Tracey

Mango Salsa

I've really been into mango's lately and I have been pouring over the internet and Pinterest for some interesting recipes. I found this easy mango salsa on A Cup of Jo and thought I'd give it a try. 

Doesn't this look yummy!!"

For those of you who have trouble cutting mangoes here is an easy how to cut a mango" video for you. 

Ice Cream Vending Machine

Isn't this amazing? 

Soft ice cream in a vending machine in Japan. 

Flavors like rose, lavender, sweet potato, green tea and brown rice to name a few. 

So cool! 

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Share the Love with some Chocolate Heart pops

Aren't these chocolate heart pops cute! What better way to share some love with those around you! Click here for recipe.

DIY: Sugar Hearts

Valentine's day is coming up so naturally Pinterest is filled with hearts and heart recipes and this particular one caught my eye (must be all the pink!). Since I like to use raw sugar cubes when guests come over, I thought that these would be a nice alternative. However, raw sugar is brown so I don't think the colors would turn out which means that I would have to use plain white granulated sugar instead (egads!) but I think it would be worth it for the visual. Plus sugar hearts would work anytime of the year not only on Valentine's day. You could easily serve them alongside some hot cocoa when you're entertaining or put two on a saucer with a cappuccino for your special someone. Click here for tutorial. 

The Colors of Food

Aubergine 

Pink

Spiced Orange

Isn't it remarkable how food can be colored so brilliantly. Oftentimes we don't realize how color affects our desire for a particular food. Spiced orange is one of my favorite colors so if I see many soups lined up in a row and one of them is spiced orange, I'm going to choose that one (unless it's made of something horrid lol!). Through my studies on decor and Alzheimer's I also learned that Alzheimer patients are more apt to eat their food if it has bright colors such as orange, green, red as this appealed to them more. 

Peppermint Marshmallows

The idea of peppermint marshmallows may seem strange at first but doesn't that sound totally yummy? I think so. Talk about your perfect accompaniment to Christmas. Forget the standard offering of candy canes and whip up a batch of these to get your friends talking! Go on over to A Beautiful Mess for the recipe.

Christmas Cookies

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is baking cookies. I dig out my mothers old recipes, put on some Christmas music and bake until I run out of butter. Another favorite Christmas tradition of mine is eating those same cookies. I mean who can resist right? Last year a few of my friends got together to bake cookies and made gifts out of them. Each friend baked a different kind of cookie and then they were all put together in a gift box. Let me tell you I was one happy camper when I got one of these cookie laden gift boxes as a present. What an awesome gift! Cookies can also be used as decorations. Check out this Christmas cookie wreath......sorry I got distracted, those tarts are calling my name!

Photos via my Christmas Pinterest Board.

The Brown Bag Microwave Popcorn Trick

In order to celebrate the weekend - aka movie time for me - I decided to share this little trick from the women over at Supermoms. Add 1/3 cup popcorn kernels to a brown paper bag. Fold the bag over twice and then heat in a microwave, folded side down, for 2 minutes. And voilà! Fresh popped popcorn without any additives or fake butter. Dress it up as you wish (in my case with lots of freshly melted butter) and enjoy! 

It's All Good - Gwyneth Paltrow's New Cookbook

Generally I follow an Ayurvedic diet but I was intrigued by this cookbook after I saw Ellen interview Gwyneth on her show. I love vegetarian and vegan cooking even though I'm what you'd call a Flexitarian (someone who eats some sort of meat, chicken or turkey in my case, twice a week) so I finally decided to pick it up and I must say that I'm quite happy that I did. There are many recipes that I am looking forward to making - which says a lot about the cookbook because I'm a most reluctant chef - and I also liked the fact that each recipe corresponds to an index - elimination diet, vegan, protein-packed. Gwyneth also has menus at the back of her book which correspond to various diets such as "Family Friendly", "Body builder", "Vegan", "Detox" and "Healthy Every Day Eating" which have recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I like this part a lot as it does the planning aspect for me which saves me time. Not to say that I won't deviate but it's a good starting point. So I'm going to try out some recipes this week so I'll keep you posted.

xo Tracey

It's all about Rosemary

I love cooking with fresh herbs and one of my favorite herbs is rosemary. Since I'm having some friends over for supper this weekend I thought I'd add a couple of rosemary accompaniments to our menu. The first one I'm going to make is Rosemary infused olive oil, which goes so nicely with crusty bread (my fave) as well as over roasted vegetables, and the second is Rosemary Butter Cookies. Both these recipes are fairly easy and not too time consuming - perfect for adding some extra pizzazz to the evening without spending all day in the kitchen. 

The colors of nature: Green

 

The color of food never ceases to amaze me. The intensity of the hues are just phenomenal. Here are a few examples of the color green.

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Edible Flowers

Some flowers are not only beautiful to look at but great to eat as well! My first experience with edible flowers was when my brother popped some garden greens into the middle of a white plate, drizzled on some dressing and then surrounded them with some beautiful nasturtiums. Needless to say the salad was not only beautiful to look at but incredibly good. Every time I see nasturtiums I see that salad. However, not all flowers are edible so you have to be careful. The Gardenista did a wonderful post on edible flowers which you can read here.   

  

All photos via

Edible Flowers

Some flowers are not only beautiful to look at but great to eat as well! My first experience with edible flowers was when my brother popped some garden greens into the middle of a white plate, drizzled on some dressing and then surrounded them with some beautiful nasturtiums. Needless to say the salad was not only beautiful to look at but incredibly good. Every time I see nasturtiums I see that salad. However, not all flowers are edible so you have to be careful. The Gardenista did a wonderful post on edible flowers which you can read here.   

  

All photos via

Chocolate Cherry Cream Scones

Scones...the ultimate companion to tea or coffee. I found this recipe on poppytalk and it looks so yummie that I thought I'd post the link for the recipe here. They also have a Nanaimo bar recipe that looks fabulous so be sure to check it out!

Chocolate Cherry Cream Scones

Scones...the ultimate companion to tea or coffee. I found this recipe on poppytalk and it looks so yummie that I thought I'd post the link for the recipe here. They also have a Nanaimo bar recipe that looks fabulous so be sure to check it out!

Click and Grow Basil

Now THIS is a great idea! I love adding basil to many of my dishes but it never seems to survive in my kitchen for longer than a couple of weeks. In comes the Click & Grow starter kit which includes the electronic smartpot complete with basil seed plant cartridge, water and fertilizing system, and software that measures and provides exactly what your little plant needs at all times. Your job is to install the batteries, fill the tank up with water and place in a sunny location and Presto - instant Basil! What a great invention!