Autumn

SweeTango Apple, Chèvre and Cardamom Tart (refined sugar free)

October 2, 2018 By stemsandforks 1 Comment

This is a sponsored post in collaboration with SweeTango. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Apples are the most cultivated and universally recognized fruit and perhaps one of the oldest that has existed on earth. It’s also arguably the most written about fruit in fables, religion and myths. It has been symbolized as both good and evil.

In the western world, we know the story of Adam and Eve in the Old Testament, where the serpent tempts man to eat the forbidden fruit thereby starting the fall of man and the Christian definition of sin. Irish folklore has it that if a woman peels the skin of the apple in one continuous ribbon and tosses it over her shoulder then the initials of her future husband will appear. And the Trojan War? Well, the idea of Troy tossing the golden apple to the chosen goddess soon evolved to an ancient Greek tradition of throwing an apple to the one you love.

SweeTango apples available early October to mid November. See SweeTango.com for a retailer near you

It’s no wonder this beloved fruit has been developed and bred into such amazing varieties. One favourite variety of mine is SweeTango. Grown in Canada exclusively for the Canadian market, SweetTango is a premium apple variety famed for its crisp, sweet, tangy and juicy bite. SweeTango also holds the Guinness World Record for “Loudest Crunch of an Apple” (March 2016) The bite registered at an impressive 79.1 decibels. To put things in perspective, a normal conversation clocks in at 60 decibels and a vacuum or kitchen blender 70-80 decibels (according to American Speech-Language Hearing Association)

…

King Georges’ Granola Bars

November 17, 2017 By stemsandforks 4 Comments

I fully admit I spoil my kids rotten when it comes to food. I’m often caught making fresh cut fries an hour before bedtime or whipping up cupcakes for breakfast. My husband and I always joke that we are our kids slaves. In a sense I suppose we are. Google’s definition of slave; “a person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them” and “work excessively hard”. I’d have to say we are definitely slaves to our kids in that case.

…

Pumpkin Spice Macarons

October 23, 2017 By stemsandforks 3 Comments

I only started baking macarons this year. I confess I was a bit late on the trend of eating and baking macarons. I felt I needed to master basic things such as pie crust and pâte à choux first before tackling macarons. If you’ve been following my baking journey, you’ll know I’m a self taught baker. No grandma or mum with old traditional baking recipes passed down. Kimchi, jigae, marinated meats and other korean scrummy dishes yes. So my food memories are a bit different from those caucasian friends around me. They involved spices and smells that that could awaken any hibernating bear in the dead of winter and have them running for cover.

…

Pumpkin and Walnut Bundt Cake

October 3, 2017 By stemsandforks 7 Comments

We are definitely not a turkey family. Well, I personally enjoy a fresh roasted turkey but my husband and kids don’t. Pumpkin however is always a hit with all the Binons.

This thanksgiving (Canadian) pumpkin is definitely on the menu. I’m thinking of some creative ways of using this wonderful squash asides from a cake or pie. Dumplings…soup…maybe even pumpkin steak? Ha! I’m just thinking out loud right now. Of course if you have any ideas…do let me know. As my daughter always points out…I like “weird” recipes.

…

Orange Cardamom Cake with Blackberry Curd

September 27, 2017 By stemsandforks 6 Comments

Its that time of year. Winter is coming, for those in the north. Being Canadian, I can completely relate to House Stark of Game of Thrones. We Canadians often joke that we have two seasons. Winter and Summer. Here, at least in the Greater Toronto Area, winter unofficially starts around Remembrance Day (mid November) and can easily continue well into April. Each year around April, without any gentle segway, a blast of beautiful mild weather emerges from our long cold winters. A sort of tortuous teaser that lasts about two days. Then without any warning, a massive deposit of snow. So when autumn rolls in, we embrace and covet the short time she is here.

…

Apple Raspberry Pie With Pistachio Crust

February 6, 2017 By stemsandforks Leave a Comment

Learning how to bake for me was not always so idyllic. You’ll quickly catch on to this if you read my first blog. I learned the hard way – by myself, through trial and error.

The first time I made a pie, it was like a mammoth pimple with an ungodly slime (which was the sorry excuse for the filling), that oozed out from every crevice of the crust. It was impossible to cut through with a fork and too leathery to chew. Epic failure. The second time it looked better but the scalloped crust had shrunk and the filling ended up all over the bottom of the oven. There was also an inch-high pool of juice in my pie pan after I cut a slice. Consecutive attempts continued to render fails. At times, the pie would look like a fruit geyser, or the dough would fall apart in my hands while crimping the edge. But without fail, the crust was always tough and leathery when chewing. I didn’t get it. I could bake so many other things with such ease and success. Why was pie so hard to make?

…