Macarons

My brother got married a couple weekends ago. We flew to Seattle WA, rented a car and drove the rest of the way to the suburbs of Vancouver BC.

As one of the bridesmaids, the morning of the wedding, I got to enjoy and amazing breakfast at The Little White House in Langley BC. They had and amazing platter set out for us that included some French Macarons. Very few of the others there had heard of them but my mouth was watering as I raced through the other goodies in anticipation of trying one. They were fabulous!

I went back a couple days later and bought several more. I've been debating trying to make them myself for a while now and those few that I had solidified my resolve.

For my first attempt I decided to use just the most basic recipe from Not So Humble Pie. They turned out great! To fill them I made a simple buttercream icing and added flavor with some honey-butterscotch sauce I had left over from making ice cream the other day.

I can't wait to try other flavor variations!

Lemon Blueberry Loaf

I love browsing Pinterest. It's my latest addiction. My husband chides me for looking at so much food porn. But honestly it's motivated me to try a ton more recipes in a way that my cookbooks never have. (The only exception here is my Bon Appetit subscription. I love making stuff from those!)

Recently I came across this gem. Since I'm trying to make an effort to reduce my sugar intake this week I was hesitant about making it exactly as is.

So I cut out the syrup and glaze and halved the sugar. I made a few other small changes as well. I added extra vanilla and reduced the lemon zest.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf, adapted from here


1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
10 oz blueberries frozen

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.

Vanilla-Almond-Cherry Granola

I love granola. Its one of those staples that's so easy to make! Customizing it is a great way to mix things up for breakfast.
Since I had a lot more of the vanilla syrup than I could conceivably use in coffee (as only an occasional coffee drinker) I knew I wanted to use it in some homemade granola.

Vanilla - Almond - Cherry Granola

Ingredients
3 cups old fashions oats
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds (slivered would work too)
1/2 cup cherries
1/2 cup vanilla syrup (or honey)

Preheat oven to 300F Mix the oats, coconut and almonds in a large bowl. Add syrup and toss to coat. (Or stir with a spoon) spread on a cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes to ensure an even toast. Mix in cherries and allow to cool before packaging in an air tight container.

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Cinnamon Buns

Unfortunately there was bad news this morning too.

But I guess that's the problem with being expatriated.