Vancouver 2010 and Butternut Squash Soup

Hi Haley,

Top Memories from the Vancouver 2010 ReemsEats Conference (Readers: Haley and I met in Vancouver to attend a Stollen and Panettone Baking Class on Granville Island)

1. Cold weather, snow fall, and the sunlight hitting the mountains, which provided a backdrop to Granville Island
2. Receiving a complementary facial at the noodle bar due to massive amounts of steam generated by boiling pots of noodles, pork, and broth.
3. Using an electric scale
4. Buying an electric scale
5. Laughing a bit too enthusiastically at the German Baking Instructor's 'stolen' jokes
6. "More butter is better"
7. Min panettone over two-for-one Starbucks
8. St. Sinclare
9. Scott removing her pants at Numbu (or whatever it's called)
10. Haley always laughing

Things I learned at the 2010 ReemsEats Conference

1. Never let Haley out of your sight or she might shame the entire ReemsEats corporation by lining her baking sheet with nearly ten pieces of parchment paper.
2. More butter is better (Don't worry, Joan, I haven't taken this adage to heart)
3. Using a kitchen scale is more accurate and faster than volume measurement.
4. Add baking powder to sweet yeasted dough for a shorter dough.
5. Take the time to go to Vancouver to hangout with Haley. The rewards are infinite.

Now, I know I was to post a Stollen recipe as a companion to this post BUT I have a better idea. Remember, on the way to the ferry, when we stopped on Granville, slipped into Williams and Sonoma and sampled apple cider and that amazing butternut squash soup?

Yes?

I made the soup. The recipe is online and you don't need to buy W.and S.'s bottled pureed squash, at the exorbitant price of thirty dollars a pop. Here is the recipe (the link is not showing up--but click on 'recipe'). It is hands down the best B.S. soup I have made. Be sure to use stock, not water.

(I'm very excited about our siblings Christmas dinner--look up Zambri's and tell me what you think. Too pricey?)

love, R.

Kitchen Mischief

Rach-

Sorry, another post of your adorable niece and nephew - though it is kitchen related. I just wanted to send you some pics to let you know that Coby has stepped it up in the little monkey department. And Finn? He's becoming more helpful by the day. Now, if we could just work on his laundry folding skills..

Note to readers: Rachel's computer is down. I'm posting this tidbit of information to try and spur her and Caleb to their local Future Shop to meet their new laptop. Hurry please, there is way too much responsibility being the lone blogger..

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Rach-

Here it is- Reems Nostalgia Post #1. I know that I've romanticized the Reems banana chocolate chip muffin several times in the past, but humour me one more time. This muffin was a staple in the Reems snack cupboard, right up there with the chocolate chip square. My friend Suzanne still remembers the Reems bananana chocolate chip muffin - she recently reminisced about the pangs of jealousy she felt at the sight of me biting into a still warm, fresh-from-the-oven muffin each morning at school. Now, while I can definitely corroborate that I did eat a daily muffin, Suzanne's memory of a warm muffin, is proof that I am not the only one that has romanticized Reems muffin memories.

No, in the mid-90s, for a warm muffin you had to be at the Reems house around 10am on a Saturday morning. The coffee would be made, the muffins ready for sampling (though only one per child/adult, the rest would be cooling for recess consumption that week). Joan would have already buzzed the intercom multiple times to my room that morning, to ensure that I had cleaned the bathroom, and that I was cleaning my room. I would have assured her, multiple times, that yes I was working on it, and then would have returned to my novel. The only thing that would have torn me from my clothes-strewn lair would have been the smell of muffins and the promise of snack time.

This is one of the original Reems recipes I had copied down - the original recipe called for 1/2 cup butter, but I don't think that Joan, even in her pre-low fat days would have done the full 1/2 cup. I compromised and used 1/3. Now, in true Reems-fashion you should double the recipe and individually saran wrap most of them to freeze them for future lunches.

Banana Chocolate Muffins

Cream together:
1/3 cup soft butter (can sub canola oil)
1/2 cup sugar

Beat in:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed banana (2 large, 3 regular)

Add dry ingredients:
2 cups flour (can do part whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (can half this)
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min. Makes 12 muffins. Double for the Reems quantity of choice, 24.

Rach- I know that you'll empathize with my struggle with Mondays - it's hard to go from weekend fun to hitting the grind. And there's never anything fun foodwise associated with Mondays - after work on Mondays, dinner preparation is a chore. I think it's time to change this; next Monday I am going to try to get something exciting happening in my kitchen.

To top my Monday off, with Mike at parent-teacher interviews and the couch my biggest plan- Finn napped at daycare today, resulting in a not-so-smooth-bedtime.

This was Coming out #6 or 7:

Finn: Mommy?
Me: Finn, why aren't you sleeping?
Finn: I just want to talk to you.
Me: Oh?
Finn: ACTUALLY, I forgot to have candy before I went to bed.
Me: Oh?
Finn: AND I wanted to ask you if you like to eat lollipops before you go to bed.
Me: Bed. Now.

All is quiet and Monday and I are now reconciling. I've settled for the next best thing to lollipops: leftover chocolate ganache, directly from the bowl.

Ghostly Cupcakes

Hi Haley,

I think you could play pranks on Mike with those bloody fingers from your last post. Try leaving one beside his razor or curling another over the edge of his comforter. Hmmm. Reminds me of when Crach and I short sheeted your bed. Or when we thought it would be hilarious to fill Mom and Dad's bed with Rice Crispies. We were wrong.

On Friday I had the opportunity to cook dinner for over one hundred people down at Street Cafe, a ministry operated by the Mustard Seed Church. The dinner is for those down on their luck or living on the street. The food is served restaurant style: lights are dimmed, candles are lit, and live music is featured. Guests are offered the choice of two entrees. On Friday, we prepared hash brown casserole and teriyaki chicken. When seven o'clock rolled around, Tina and I swapped our cook's aprons for waitress's aprons and attended the tables. We had more than a little fun storming into the kitchen hollering, "I need a chick and two hash." Restaurant lingo is truly addicting.

I brought a few desserts to serve with dinner. These chocolate ghost cupcakes were made in the spirit of Halloween. The recipe is from Nick Malgieri's book, Perfect Light Desserts. The cupcakes are my very favourite chocolate cupcakes and are extremely good topped with a mocha whipped-cream (1 cup whipping cream plus 1 tsp instant coffee, 2 tsp cocoa, 1/4 cup sugar combined and then beaten). In the future I will try topping them with a chocolate sour-cream frosting or a white-chocolate butter cream.

Chocolate Ghost Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate coarsely chopped

1 cup boiling water or very hot coffee

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream (low fat is fine) or thick, Greek-style yogurt

Preheat your oven to 350 with a rack positioned in the center.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Measure and mix the sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda in one bowl.

Put the chocolate in a large bowl and pour the hot water or coffee over it. Let the chocolate stand for 2 to four minutes to let it melt, then whisk it into the liquid. Beating well after each addition, add the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sour cream one at a time. Be sure to whisk smooth after each ingredient.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing until the batter is just smooth.

Pour the batter into your lined muffin tin and bake for 20 to 25 min until the muffins are just done. An inserted tester should come out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool in the tins for 5 to 8 minutes then remove them to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the boiled icing

2 large egg whites

a pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

2 tsp vanilla

Fill half a saucepan with water and bring it to boil. Reduce the water to a simmer.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk smooth.

Place the bowl over the water and whisk gently until the egg whites are hot (140 degrees_ and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat. Beat with an electric beater until the icing is cooled, has increased in volume, and will hold soft peaks.

Use the icing immediately.

Store the cupcakes in the fridge. They can remain out for a few hours, any longer and the icing will harden (which some people prefer).

Bloody Fingers

Rach-

I'm in! Thanks for the wander down memory lane. I spent some time daydreaming about piggies in the blanket and various childhood treats. Here are some of my Reems food memories to add to the list:

Fluff - likely a Reems-only dessert, I certainly have never encountered the combo of yogurt and jello anywhere else.

Oh Henry bars - an oatmeal base and a chocolate peanut butter frosting. Yum.

Vinegar cookies - A white cookie, kind of like a sugar cookie. Granted, not the best name, but they did taste good.

Ooblis - Made by Grandma, mypersonal favourite - these were a popular birthday treat when I was in primary school. They were a Maria cookie kind of base with a mocha cream filling and dipped in chocolate.

Besasup - I have no clue how to spell this and am too lazy to google. This is another Grandma special, a Dutch raspberry sauce served over vanilla pudding.

I will be adding to this list. I can't wait to dive in. Now onto bloody fingers-

A few weeks back I spotted a recipe for Witches' Fingers in a Canadian Living cookbook. I ear-tagged them for haloween and Finn and I made them yesterday. Now, while they turned out nicely, or should I say bloody, it came to me as we were taking our first batch out of the oven , that maybe as a mother of a 3-year-old, I should have stuck to happy pumpkin faces. Oh well, Finn hasn't made the jam-blood connection yet, but maybe next year we'll work on those pumpkins.

Witches' Fingers - Adapted from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book

(Canadian Living adheres the almonds to the fingers with decorators red icing after the cookies come out of the oven).

Beat together:
1 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla

In separate bowl mix:
2 3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Shape spoonfuls of dough into finger-like shapes, use a knife to make 3 scores for the knuckle. Place a dab of jam on one end and then press an almond fingernail on top of the jam. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remember Jello?

Hi Halzey,

Remember Jello-jigglers? Is this a custom mothers still practice? There was a birthday-party game involving these precious cutouts of slime and a blindfold. Shudder.

Piggy's in a blanket? (Think hot dog wiener meets pastry) Macaroni Goulash? (I'm not even sure how to spell that--along with many other words, you're likely thinking) Rice de Bri? (Dutch for rice pudding).

I suppose our family, like most, had it's quirky traditions and favourites. Like hamburger Friday--VERY exciting--and Sunday-night ice-cream, which had to be scooped into a glass dessert bowl NOT a correlle cereal bowl. (Mom's method of portion-size control).

Then there are those treats and dishes that were beloved and are now missed, like Joan's chocolate-chip squares; Grandma's no-bake cheese cake with a graham-cracker crust, topped with cherry-pie filling; cornflake chicken; or coffee cake with the full-streusel topping (slowly over the years the volume of streusel sitting atop the cake depleted until only a thin dusting of cinnamon remained. Chalk it up to the nineties health-kick).

J and I took a walk on Dallas last week. (For non-Victorians: the road that runs parallel to the Pacific with a view of the snow-capped Olympic mountains. Yes, I'm bragging). It was then she suggested that our tastes might be linked to emotion and governed by our memories of past experiences. She recalled Sunday doughnut stops with her family and admitted she still adores Tim Hortons. I recalled C's infatuation with the doughnut and his love of Seattle's Top Pot.

I have my own fond memories of doughnuts: after the yearly Christmas concert Mom would have a box waiting downstairs in the cool laundry room. Carmen and I would run down to get it, first peeking beneath the lid at the snug rows of shiny doughnuts.

This wander down memory lane is leading toward a proposition: that we revisit our childhood foods by compiling a list of favourites foods and a list of strange foods we enjoyed in our past. We will then recreate the dishes either by following the original recipe, if it still exists, or re-interpreting the original for an up-to-date take.

Send me some of your fav.'s

Lovingly,
R.