A sweet goodbye

-Grandma, there you are!!!!!!!! Good morning grandma!!!!!!!

-Oh good morning my lovely bunch! Did you have sweet dreams????

-Yes grandma, sweet sweet dreams. What are you doing here staring out the window?

-Well, my darlings, I have been preparing myself for the trip ahead. The time has come for me, your parents, uncles and aunts to get on the road, and be useful for a dinner of friends and family. Something we were born to do.

-We don't get it... You are leaving us?

-*sigh* Oh I will miss you children! You see, we were all born for a reason, and one day, you will know what your purpose in life is. On that day, you will become the talk of the table. They will know that your legend is real. And you, just like me, will carry on our family tradition of great reputation.

-WOW!!!! Tell us more, grandma!!!

-You see, we are from a family of proud fruit tarts. We carry within us sweet luscious vanilla pastry cream. We display with extravagance, our arrays of colorful fresh fruit that come with each season of the year. Above it all, we never disappoint with our slightly sweet, buttery melt-in-their-mouth shells with the secret layer of dark chocolate.

-Awesome!!! You mean, we will get to do the same thing as you one day???

-Of course my sweets! You will be the adorable bites that they will "Oooh!" and "Aaaaw!" over at the potluck, or the work lunch gathering. You will see, the light will shine upon you, and you will know, that your name will live forever.

Tuna qui rit

The Laughing Cow Wedges was the only "cheese" at one point in Vietnam when I was a kid. I used to either just eat them right out of the wrapper one after another, or spread in "banh mi" for breakfast.

After moving to Canada, most probably due to the overload of varieties of other cheeses, I forgot about The Wedges. Then I eventually started dismissing the idea of "La Vache Qui Rit" being a "real" cheese, and always ignored that "spreadable cheese" section.

Fifteen years went by without a Wedge in my life, until recently "La Vache Qui Rit Light" commercials started to pop up on TV and they suddenly got me craving it. From that day on, I haven't stopped eating them. I actually had to start buying the big boxes because I inhale them so frigging fast.

I really prefer the light version. Simply spread onto toasts alone, or accompanied by a drizzle of honey, peanut butter or jam, and I am satisfied. But why stop there? They are so low in fat, I can replace them in other things....

There are loads of recipes on their website. But here is my interpretation:

Tuna Qui Rit

• 1 can of tuna
• 3 wedges of Laughing Cow Light
• 1 boiled egg, chopped
  
• about 10 black oloves, pitted and sliced
• 2 hearts of artichokes, chopped
• 2 hearts of palm, chopped

for garnish

• some roasted red pepper, chopped
• toasted pecan halves

Mix tuna and cheese together well until smooth with a fork. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Serve on toasts or crackers, garnish with roasted pepper & pecan halves. Add some freshly ground black pepper if desired.

A bowl of fall

As much as I hate raking the leaves in the backyard, the nasty when-will-it-end rain and the unsuspected change of temperature, fall for me also means more reasons to bake, lots of yummy veggies, heart-warming food, and the pretty colors all around in the trees (which of course, leads back to the leaves in the backyard... *sigh*)

I had an urge to make this duo color soup when I saw the colorful carrots at Jean Talon market, along with other colorful veggies that the farmers were selling. Although, I felt really bad for some of the fruits and veggies because it was already so cold out, and they seemed to have suffered. Sad, sad zucchini...

Beet soup

• a drizzle of olive oil
• a couple of cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 purple carrots, chopped
• 1 potato, chopped
• a pinch of salt
• 3 beets (boiled, skin peeled, chopped)
• chicken broth (about 500ml, depending on how thick you like the soup. You can always add more at the end)
• some grated ginger
• a pinch of chili powder
• a pinch of cayenne pepper

In a pot over medium heat, heat up oil, then toss in garlic, onions, carrots, potatoes, salt and cook with the lid on for about 5 minutes, stirring once in a while. The add beet and chicken broth. Turn heat up to maximum. Let come to a boil then lower heat & simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots & potatoes are tender. Use an immersion blender (or tranfer to a blender if you don't have one) and blitz soup until smooth. Add ginger, chili powder and cayenne pepper.

Add some freshly ground black pepper

Carrot & Roasted pepper soup

• a drizzle of olive oil
• a couple of cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 potato
• a pinch of salt
• chicken broth (about 500ml, depending on how thick you like the soup. You can always add more at the end)
• 2 yellow roasted bell peppers, skin peeled (roast them in the oven at 400F for about 40-45 minutes, turning once)
• a couple of pinches of turmeric powder
• a few pinched of curry powder
• Toasted pine nuts (optional)

Follow the same steps as the beets soup until the chicken broth, but adding the roasted pepper just when the soup starts to boil. Then blitz everything and add turmeric & curry powder.

To serve: carefully pt 2 ladles of beet soup into a bowl, then add one ladle of carrot & roasted pepper soup right in the middle of it. Add some freshly ground black pepper, or toasted pine nuts.

Toasted pine nuts add an extra kick!

There's a first time for everything

I did it! I played with fondant!!! It was so much fun and I think I will do it again *gasp* LOL!!!

The cake was for a friend's bridal shower/bachelorette party, and I wanted it to be different than the ones I've seen. As it was going to be the first time I experiment with fondant, I decided a ring-bearer pillow would be an easier choice for shape and so on...

(image from http://www.joyfulbrideonline.com/)


My so-called interpretation

As we arrived at the restaurant/lounge, the manager informed us that we were not allowed to bring a cake, even though when we called to reserve, they said it would not be a problem.

I hate it when that happens... We felt tricked! (Even with the purchase of a VERY expensive bottle of vodka for the table a couple of hours later, they still didn't budge. They did however, "kindly" let us put sparkles on the cake, showed it to the bride-to-be and then put it back in the box, LOL!!!! Pppfff... )

In the end, what really counts was my friend liking the cake very much.

It didn't turn out exactly as I wanted, due to many things... I tried to make the ring to place on top of the "pillow" but 1) it kept breaking 2) I somehow in a moment of A.D.D decided to dismiss buying the silver luster dust and stuck with the bronze one instead... the result was a pinkish shine, oh brother...

So, see as I'm partially satisfied with the result, I will have to invent a special occasion to make another fondant-covered cake soon... Any idea?

Cookies Choco-Nana Truffles

Ugh... Annoying never-ending rain... What a perfect drag to make Halloween night just a little more trick than treat. Good thing there will be lots of candy (and by candy I mean food, drinks, parties, fun) at the end of it all to compensate for all the effort.

So before venturing out into the night to join the zombies & vampires, I will be staring at these truffles during the day. I made them a while ago, back when the sun was still around. I remember trying to hurry up to take the pictures as the heat would have made these yummies melt. Oh... how I miss summer...

Don't get me wrong though, I'm all reminiscing about the weather by looking at these pics, but the truffles were very good too! LOL! Very easy to make. Fancy-looking and delicious. What else can you ask for?

Cookies ChocoNana Truffles
Makes about more than a dozen to two, depending on the size of your truffles

• 6 chocolate chip cookies (Chips Ahoy type)
• 1/2 banana, mashed
• 1/2 C chocolate chips
• 1/4 C Nutella
• chopped nuts, coconut flakes, cocoa powder

Mash the cookies in a ziploc bag with a rolling pin. Add the mix into the mashed banana. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 2 minutes on medium low power. Then mix it well into the banana cookie mix along with the Nutella.

Cover and refrigerate to harden a bit before forming into balls and rolling them in your favorite toppings.

The texture gets better the next day. But if you have as much patience as me when it comes to food, you will never find out!!!! Enjoy!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Oh boy...

So, I was immediately M.I.A again after the first disappearance due to our Europe trip back in the summer. But this time, it wasn't such a pleasant one... My laptop went into a coma after an attack of trojans, malwares & who-knows-what, even though the only porn I ever went to look at, was the ones on Tastespotting & Foodgawker... I was lucky enough to get tremendous help from a couple of friend, who backed up everything I had, then proceeded to wipe out the whole thing & gave my precious a new life. Cheers!!!!

It took a while, but Tramie's Kitchen is back!!!! Technically, the kitchen never shut down, but that's just too many details... I'm just excited to be back and share my yakking & goodies. Yay!!!!

Tomorrow is Halloween, and it would only be appropriate for me to post something that has to do with it, right? So here is my share of ghouly, gross & weird-looing cupcakes for this wonderful day.

All cupcakes are chocolate, and frosted with cream cheese base frostings that come in various flavors:

Jack, from Nightmare Before Christmas, is covered in Lemon cream cheese frosting and melted dark chocolate.

Owl, is frosted with Dark Chocolate cream cheese and Peanut Butter cream cheese, decorated with mini Oreos, yellow Cry Baby candies, and split Toasted Marshmallow Jelly Beans.

Pumpkin, is frosted with Peanut Butter crweam cheese, Green Tea cream cheese, melted Dark Chocolate. The spaced-out looking spider is made out of fondant, cut Red Licorice Wheels and White Chocolate pellets.

Pumkin is made of fondant, and the basket is Green Tea cream cheese frosting.

Mummy: Lemon Cream cheese Frosting with eyes made from yellow colored White chocolate pellets.

And the obvious Eyeball of Lemon cream cheese & veins of Peanut Butter cream cheese frosting. Topped with an eye of Green Apple Gummy Ring and a Dark Chocolate pellet.

So what are you serving for your Halloween party?