Diet, Dessert and Dogs

[In a bit of unrelated news, I'll be doing a guest post on Amy's blog tomorrow.  Hope you can drop by and check it out!]

[Looks pretty decadent, doesn't it?  Tastes that way, too.]

Okay, so who WAS that woman who wrote my last post?! I do apologize if I alarmed any of you (though I don’t think I went so far as to frighten the horses ). I guess something about that particular topic hit a nerve for me.  But wow, did that post ever spike my blog’s traffic!  My Google Analytics stats shot through the roof!  And man, look at all those comments!  Well, I guess we all know how I’ll be choosing my blog topics from now on, hmmmnn?  Ahem.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for your insights, reactions, commentary!  I am really loving the exchange of opinions and all the differing perspectives on the topic.  I think peeking in on the IFBC sparked for me a renewed interest in ideas for ideas’ sake –it felt sort of like what grad school was supposed to be.  So, once again, thanks. And it’s not too late to contribute your own ideas about why and how we blog–join the conversation here.

But now. . . it’s time for us to head back from summer holidays and dive back into the daily routines once again–which means (for me, and for many of you)–back to school.

When I was a kid, the beginning of September was always a bittersweet time.  After two whole months of sleeping until I awoke; throwing on shorts and sneakers and a T-shirt before wandering outside to meet up with friends; reading books while lounging on the grass in our backyard or writing furiously in my journal, the sun warming the sheets of paper as I wrote; ice cream on demand; or simply soaking in the freedom of “no fixed schedule”–the end of August marked the shift to autumn and a return to predictability.

I didn’t particularly look forward to the the stuffy classrooms, the mercilessly rigid desk chairs, the overloaded backpack, the trek home at lunch or long afternoon hunched over my textbook, pencil in hand, reading from a book that (more often than not) didn’t interest me. 

On the other hand, there were some high points in returning to the classroom.  September also felt like a fresh start, that moment when you’ve just stepped out of the shower, scrubbed and still glistening before you decide what to wear that day. It was an invitation for self-renewal and embracing new identities, a chance to rectify personal slights or last year’s mistakes. New shoes, a new haircut and (my favorite part) fresh, pristine pages of new notebooks–those were the beckoning aspects of returning to school. 

Perhaps because  I work in academia, September still feels like the beginning of the year to me.  Yet it’s also a tacit “start date” in many other contexts as well: television shows (Hey, Ellen!  How about that guest spot this year?); arts and cultural events (you wouldn’t believe how many TSO,  TIFF or AGO brochures have landed on our doorstep lately–and, just an aside, does EVERY Toronto-area event use a three-letter acronym?), and even religious holidays (Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, usually occurs around September).

I mentioned in a previous post that I had a few exciting giveaways up my figurative sleeve–and now that we’re on the threshold of back-to-school, what better time to hold them? During the past couple of months, I’ve had the pleasure of sampling and experimenting with an array of new ingredients and products, some of which were truly exceptional. 

So now, I’ve chosen the best of the lot–the ones I liked most and think you will, too–and will be giving away one at a time over the next few weeks.

See?  Back to school can be fun! 

For a great ACD-friendly Fudge Recipe and to enter the first in the “Back to School Swag” series of giveaways, click here!

[You won't believe what's in this fudge. . . or how easy it is to make!]

Last Year at this Time: A Nice Chianti and Some Fava Beans? No. Muhammara? Thumbs Off–Er, Up.

Two Years Ago: Freeform Tomato Tart with “Goat Cheese” and Basil

© 2010 Diet, Dessert and Dogs

* that’s “bites” in the sense of, “little tidbits that can be eaten in one mouthful,” rather than the sense of, “really sucks” (as in, “reality bites”) or even “little nibbles on the flesh of the one you love” (though, to paraphrase our most famous Prime Minister, DDD has no business in the kitchens of the nation–go ahead and nibble your sweetie, if you so please!).

[Two ACD-friendly confections: chocolate fudge on the left, carob-speckled halvah on the right (halvah recipe adapted from the one in Sweet Freedom)]

Well, it’s almost V-Day again.  So, got any plans? 

Over here in the DDD household, the HH and I long ago abandoned romance.  Or perhaps I should rephrase that:  the HH abandoned romance.  I, on the other hand (nerd alert! nerd alert!) am the kind of gal who would swim in a river of romance if I could find one.  I’d eat a triple-decker Banana Split of romance.  I’d paint a billboard of romance. I’d crochet a three-piece suit of romance. I’d sleep on a duvet of romance.  (“Mum, we’d sleep on a duvet of romance, too, you know.  Except you won’t let us on the furniture.”)

I’d–well, you get the idea. Basically, I’m just a big blob of schmaltz (in the figurative sense, that is.  I’m only a half blob of schmaltz in the literal sense, what will all that weight loss and everything). 

In our house, my approach to Valentine’s Day goes something like this:

February 17, 2009: start thinking about ideas for next year’s V-Day.

July 12, 2009:  while enjoying the outdoor jazz festival at the Beaches, surreptitiously write down all the HH’s favorite musicians so I can buy CDs for Valentine’s Day.

November 4, 2009:  Stop at craft store to select yarn to knit a romantic scarf for the HH for V-Day. If I start knitting now, I’ll have it for Feb 14th. 

January 15, 2010: So many cards for Valentine’s Day–which should I buy?  Can’t decide.  Buy two.

January 28, 2010: Browse through a plethora of blogs and magazines to find the perfect, romantic meal to cook up for Valentine’s Day. Consult existing list (alphabetized by course) to see which dishes would work best for the Big Feb One-Four.

February 2, 2010:  Forget the groundhog! Must choose the perfect ribbon to wrap the HH’s Valentine’s Day gift!

February 9, 2010: Consider how best to deliver the HH’s gifts for the Day of Hearts–only five days away!  Should I wrap each one separately, and hide them throughout the house in a kind of scavenger hunt?  Should I put them all in the same box, and wrap it as one gift?  Such decisions!

February 11, 2010: Pretend I’m baking for a TV spot when I am really secretly cooking up various kinds of chocolate truffles to include in my gift for the HH.

February 14, 2010:  Fill a shoebox with mini teddy bear, hand-knit scarf, bag of cinnamon hearts, boxes of homemade truffles, key chain with “I heart You” on it, Miles Davis CD and Card #1 (the sappy one).  Spend a couple of hours painstakingly drawing hearts and flowers plus line drawings of Ricki and the HH, in various shades of pink and red, on the outside of the shoebox, then wrapping with blue satin ribbon; stick Card #2 (the funny one) on the outside of the box. Set table with best linens (well, polyester made to look like linen, anyway), china, wine glasses and candlelight.  Play something soft and romantic like Satie’s Petite Overture a Danser, and wait for the romance to unfold.

The HH’s approach? Goes something like this:

February 14, 2010:  “So, is today one of those holidays where I have to get you a card or you get mad at me?”

Okay, I exaggerate.  He usually asks me that question on February thirteenth.

Well, for anyone with similar romantic aspirations to mine, I present you with little bites of chocolate fudge–ACD friendly.  These are an adaptation of the super-successful Fudge Two Ways I made a couple of years ago (and feel free to use that recipe if you can consume other sweeteners).  The communion of unsweetened chocolate, yacon syrup and stevia creates an irresistible flavor, a bittersweet blend of cacao underscored with subtle hints of molasses. 

Whether or not you’re hoping for romance this V-Day, these little bites will definitely bring some alluring chocolate into your life.  In fact, you may just fall in love.

I’ve also submitted this recipe to Ellen’s “I Am Gluten Free” list of treats (both sweet and savory) for Valentine’s Day--hop over to take a look.

Love Bites (ACD-Friendly Chocolate Fudge–suitable for Phase I or II)

[Little white dots of cashew and macadamia nut are visible throughout, a result of my home-ground nut butters; the storebought kind won't have these same speckles.]

3/4 cup (130 g) chopped good-quality unsweetened chocolate (I used Cocoa Camino); or use unsweetened carob chips for ACD Phase I

1 Tbsp (15 ml) coconut oil, preferably organic (USE ONLY with carob option)

1/4 cup (60 ml) natural smooth cashew-macadamia butter (I just mixed together half cashew, half macadamia nut butter); or use all-macadamia for ACD Phase I

1/8 tsp fine sea salt

2 Tbsp (30 ml) yacon syrup, vegetable glycerin, or a combination

10-20 drops plain, vanilla, or chocolate stevia liquid, depending on the brand and your desired sweetness level

1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste

1/4 cup (30 g) coarsely chopped walnuts, if desired

Lightly grease a 6 inch (15 cm) loaf pan, or line with plastic wrap.

In a large glass or metal bowl set over a smaller pot of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water), stir the chocolate (or chips and coconut oil, if using carob chips) until melted and completely smooth.  Add the nut butter and salt and stir again until combined. Remove from the heat.

Add the yacon syrup, stevia, vanilla and nuts and stir well.  Turn the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top. 

Chill until set, about an hour; then cover with more plastic wrap and chill until very firm, 2 hours to overnight.  Turn out onto a cutting board, peel away the plastic wrap, and cut into small squares.  Makes 12-20 love bites.  Will keep, wrapped in the refrigerator, up to 2 weeks. May be frozen.

Last Year at this Time: Featured in Clean Eating!

Two Years Ago: My Mother’s Potato-Corn Chowder

© 2010 Diet, Dessert and Dogs

[There's just nothing like a homemade gift for the holidays.  This year, with the purse strings a little tighter than usual, I'm determined to make at least a few in my kitchen--and thought I'd share my ideas in case you'd like to partake, too.  ]

Back in the day (haven’t you always wondered about that expression?  I mean, which day?), I used to bake entirely conventional, non-vegan, sweets and treats. As a graduate student with a job as a Teaching Assistant as well as a scholarship, I was lucky enough to have both a flexible schedule and sufficient finances to indulge my love of culinary invention.  My favorites at the time were cheesecakes, light and fluffy (and, in particular, a chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake–yep, studded with globs of raw chocolate-chip cookie dough), whipped cream-topped layer cakes or pavlovas, and thick, dense, decadent brownies of all spots and stripes (top contender there was an intensely dark chocolate brownie with hidden pockets of Caramilk chocolate bar strewn throughout–cut the brownie and be treated to surprising little bursts of oozy, gooey caramel, enveloped in creamy milk chocolate. . . there must be a way to do this in a [semi?] NAG-friendly version!).

In any case, what I really loved was baking for the holidays.  Between studying for finals, I’d take breaks by whipping up assorted cookies and bars, and filling dainty, decorative tins with dozens of them as Christmas gifts for my friends and colleagues. It was a fun challenge to find 12-15 recipes for cookies in differing flavors, textures, shapes or colors, so that the varying hues and contours complemented each other visually when placed together like pieces of a mosaic in the tins.   Most years, I went so far as to draw a legend on a circle of paper (placed atop the cookies before closing the tin), like the kind you get in boxes of mixed chocolates, illustrating each different flavor and shape so people would know in advance what they chose (can you say, “anal”?).

Even though my schedule isn’t nearly as flexible any more (not to mention my hip joints), I decided that this year, I really wanted to resurrect that tradition for the holidays.  And while cookies are still on the list, I’m going to focus more on slightly less perishable items, so that I (and you) can send these goodies to loved ones far away, or as parting gifts with visitors who pop in over the next few weeks. 

One thing I’ve never made as a gift, though, is fudge.  When the HH and I were first together, we once took a weekend junket to Niagara-on-the-Lake (not far from the Canadian side of Niagra Falls) to trundle around and see a play at the Shaw Festival.  Well, I said I was going for the play, anyway.  What I really looked forward to was a visit to a little candy shop that’s become semi-famous for its fudge.  Have you ever tried fresh, satiny homemade fudge, like, 30 seconds after it’s set? 

Oh.

MY.

They say chocolate is better than sex, but really, chocolate fudge is even better than chocolate.

Still, I’m aware that no self-respecting holistic nutritionist or health-conscious foodie would foist fudge on friends (and no self-respecting writer would pen such an obviously hokey alliteration!)  Craving all that is chocolate, smooth, and fondant-like, I sought out a healthier version–but one that would still embody the same indulgent, creamy, and, most importantly, chocolate–qualities of “real” fudge.

Well, I’ve found it!  Today’s recipes are both based on a Carob Fudge I saw ages ago on Deb’s blog.  I’ve been waiting to try it since then, and this seemed the perfect occasion.  Of course, since I can’t even imagine a non-chocolate variety, I played with the recipes somewhat and created not one, but two cacao-flavored versions.  The first is orange-scented, studded with tangy bits of chopped dried apricot, while the other is draped over clusters of mixed nuts and dropped into little truffle cups to serve as individual candies.  I have no doubt that whomever you choose to bestow these upon, they will devour them most gratefully.  Perhaps best of all, this is incredibly quick to make!

“Mum, we love the idea of food-based gifts for the holidays!  But why did you take out the carob–now we can’t have any. . . ”

I’d also love to hear what you’re whipping up this year as gifts.  Do you have any old favorites, or perhaps some newfound treasures?  Leave a comment (or a link to a recipe) so we can all increase our gift-giving repertoire!

I also thought this would be the perfect submission to the Monthly Mingle:  Low-Sugar Sweet Treats, this month hosted by Dee at The Daily Tiffin and originated by Meeta at What’s for Lunch, Honey?.  This month, they’re requesting desserts low sugar. 

Chocolate-Orange Fudge with Apricots

adapted from Altered Plates

Smooth, rich and as dense as cream-based fudge, these squares are a perfect post-prandial sweet to help settle a meal (or, in my case, the final course of the meal itself).

1-1/2 cups (255 g.) dark chocolate chips (the barley-sweetened type work well here, too)

1/2 cup (120 ml.) all-natural cashew-macadamia nut butter (I just mixed half of each type together in a bowl)

1/3-1/2 cup (80-120 ml.) agave nectar, depending on desired level of sweetness (I used 1/2 cup)

1 tsp. (5 ml.) pure vanilla extract

grated zest of one orange

1/2 cup ( g.) finely chopped dried apricots

Lightly grease a 9 x9 inch (20 cm.) square pan, or line with parchment paper.

In a glass or metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate chips.  Mix in the nut butter until smooth; remove from heat. Add the agave, vanilla and orange zest, and stir until combined.  The mixture should thicken up a bit as you stir.

Spread in prepared pan and smooth the top.  Chill until set (2-3 hours), then cut into squares.  Wrap in plastic before packaging as gifts.  Makes 12-25 squares, depending on how small you cut them.  Bonus:  this may be frozen! Defrost in fridge overnight.

Fudge Nut Clusters (variation)

These little confections are perfect to serve at tea or on a dessert tray for a buffet celebration.

Line about 15-20 mini-muffin tins with foil liners. 

Prepare chocolate fudge as above, omitting the apricots and orange zest.  Place a small spoonful of mixed nuts (I used chopped almonds, hazelnuts, pecans and walnuts) in the bottom of each cup; drop spoonfuls of still-warm fudge mixture over each, and allow the fudge to sink down to the bottom of the cup to create a mound of nutty fudge candy.  Top with extra fudge mixture if necessary to fill the cups and cover the nuts.

Other Gastronomic Gifts:

Gastronomic Gifts II:  Brandied Apricot-Ginger Spread

Gastronomic Gifts III: Marzipan-Topped Shortbread **Note: the original recipe was somehow transcribed incorrectly–please use the current version with the correct amount of flour!!

Gastronomic Gifts IV: Jam-Filled Turnovers

Gastronomic Gifts V: Tutti Fruiti Christmas Cookies

Gastronomic Gifts VI:  Pumpkin Butter

Gastronomic Gifts: VII: Chocolate Macroons in a Flash

Last Year at this Time: Frosted Banana-Oat Bars