Boxes of Baking

Since arriving home from San Fransisco last week, I have been overwhelmed by school work, loads of festival photos, and a strong desire to cook and bake (with little time to do it).  I didn't snap photos of all my food last week as I had too many photos to go through as it was.  The highlights of my eats last week included lots of fruit and veggies, as well as:

Spinach Lasagna from Costco

Chicken Curry

Tortilla Soup

We got plenty of snow last week, and it made me crave seasonal flavours.  I made Angela's Gingerbread Pumpkin Vegan Overnight Oat Parfait.  Find the recipe here.

I gobbled it all up.  I made the hubby some too, and he was impressed.

On Thursday evening I went on a baking extravaganza!  

I was inspired by the goodies at the Food Buzz festival, and had been itching to try some recipes from some of my favourite blogs.  Also, I will be honest, I was totally avoiding my homework. I decided to put together little goodie boxes for the dinner party guests that I would be having over on Friday evening.

I made some spiced nuts.

I made Melissa's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream.

And Emily's Oreo Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies.
(There is an entire Oreo cookie inside!)

I also made Angela's pumpkin pie 'brownie' cupcakes.

 

I was in dessert heaven.  There are no words. 

I ate 1/2 of a cupcake, and 1/2 a cookie to test for quality control :-)  My sweet tooth couldn't handle more than that. I also may or may not have licked a few spatulas before throwing them in the sink.

If that wasn't enough, I also made another one of Angela's dessert recipes, and one of my own the next morning while I prepared for the dinner party ... but that will have to wait for another post!

Have you ever had a baking extravaganza?  How do you procrastinate?

A San Fransisco Sunday

The farewell brunch at the Foodbuzz Festival was put on by Nature's Pride.

I tried a little of everything and then took off to my room to rest my sore foot (I hurt it the day before from wearing crappy shoes and walking too much in them).  I was in a lot of pain, but it is starting to get better.

Later on in the morning I hobbled around Union Square to find a drug store and an anti-inflammatory for my foot.  I picked up lunch and then headed back to my room to eat pad Thai and have a nap.  

After my nap I dug into my swag bag and tried chirardelli chocolate for the first time.  It was mediocre.

In the evening I went to Cafe Gratitude for dinner with some other bloggers.  

I had a rice and veggie bowl.

Picture borrowed from Raya.

The next morning I said goodbye to the Sir Francis Drake Hotel (a gorgeous hotel), and goodbye to San Fransisco.

This trip was full of firsts for me.  It was my first time traveling alone (I had never even traveled out of my city alone, let alone out of the country), and my first time meeting other food bloggers.

Tomorrow the hubby and I are having some friends over for a dinner party!!!  

What do you have planned for this weekend?

FoodBuzz Festival - Day 2 Part 2

On Saturday evening Eden, Astrid and I walked to the Ferry building for the Gala Dinner.  We switched from flip flops to heels when we arrived, and got our glam on as we sipped wine and tasted the hors d'oeuvres that were being passed around outside.  The hors d'oeuvres included:

- hoisin beef and scallion rolls

- zucchini and parmesan madeleines with cured salmon and lemon pepper creme

- herb polenta cups with chevre and vegetables

- potato crusted organic chicken croquette with truffled honey

- cheese gougere with gruyere fondue

I had at least 1 of each (some I had 2 of).

We were greeted inside by lovely decor, and tables full of glasses - I grinned knowing that each course would have its own wine pairing.

The first course was a golden beet tart topped with crimson beet, feta, currents, wild arugula and basil puree.  The ingredients were all local and fresh.  The arugula stood out in this dish, as it tasted like it was just picked minutes before landing on my plate.

As you can see above, I hated it.

Along with the wine pairings, each course was served with fresh, chewy bread.

The second course was seared scallops with champagne beurre blanc, served with braised fennel and garnished with fried fennel fonds.  There are really no perfect words for how good this dish was.  Best scallops I have ever encountered, hands down.  The fennel was married to the scallops in a harmony unmatched in my repertoire of taste memories.

The scallops were HUGE - each practically the size of a filet mignon

 The chefs were even so creative as to create tofu "scallops" for the vegetarians, that looked like exact replicas of the real thing.  Even their entree was a replica in tofu form.

The entree was rosemary and garlic infused loin of lamb with wild local mushrooms, pinot noir sauce and butternut squash puree.

Sophia and Mimi made me laugh during dinner.

 

Dessert was a tarta de almendras with oranges.

No detail was spared at this dinner.  Even the water was of exceptional quality.

By the end of this meal I was stuffed, happy and exhausted.  I headed back to the hotel and crashed.

What is the most formal meal you have ever had?  Where was it?  What did you eat?