Haaa, Fooood! As I was thinking of the past year, it occurred to me that our big trip did influence our eating habits - as anticipated. For one thing the kids have a much wider food palette now. The trip gave me the opportunity to explore new recipes with local Yucatan foods, and it was a pleasant part of our adventure. I posted recipes over the past year, but I thought it would be a good idea to make a 'best of' compilation, in different categories.
Here is a collection of dessert recipes that I have discovered in the past year, part of which consisted of our 3 month family escapade to Mexico, in late 2010- early 2011. I added some recipes that I have discovered after we returned home, and here I share only what I deem deserving of our attention... of course.
Our first escapade destination in mid-November 2010 was Xcalak, a very remote and idillic spot in the extreme South-East of Mexico. We were in cozy Casa Caracola (www.casacaracola.com), with solar power and rain water, in the heart of the Xcalak National Reef Park. It was us, and the pristine sea - a snorkeling paradise. Food wise, the produce truck came by twice a week, and except for tortillas baked goods were particularly rare. So my cooking quest began with desserts while in Xcalak, and I found an apple cake and banana cream pie which I kept making later at the ranch - and all along our Mexico trip, and thereafter. Enjoy!
EASY APPLE CAKE
2 cups diced apples (small cubes)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup flour
1tsp baking soda
1/4 sp salt
Cinnamon and vanilla to taste
-Mix the diced apples with the sugar and let sit for 30 min. Add oil and egg, cinnamon and vanilla and mix, add dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into a prepared 8'' or 9'' pan, bake at 350F for 40 to 45 min. To add a special touch after it cooled a bit, I poked the top with a fork and drizzled maple sirup on it. Yummy yummy! You can also make this cake using pears or peaches, or mangoes. Makes a great breakfast or afternoon snack!
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BANANA CREAM PIE
3/4 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
4 bananas, sliced
In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks (to warm them up), and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes (I cook it for at least 20 min. for a firmer result). Chill for an hour.
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Moving along - We spent the last week of our 3 month escapade in Tulum, where we met a wonderful couple who are building a house in the jungle inland, near Coba. She gave me a big bottle of local honey, so when we arrived home I started to search for ways to use this precious sirup. Here are a couple of good finds :
HONEY GINGER CAKE
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
4 tsp grated lemon peel (I used orange peel, very nice too!)
4tsp grated fresh ginger
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Blend sugar and honey into butter, add yogurt, eggs, lemon peel and ginger - Mix well
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Fold liquid ingredients into dry mixture.
Pour into greased 9" pan (a 'tube pan' - as for angel cakes - might actually be best since the centre of my cake was uncooked), bake 30-35 minutes
Cool and remove from pan - Dribble with Honey (optional) and serve.
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HONEY GRANOLA BARS
1 cup granola
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup raisins1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 slightly beaten egg
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
-In a large bowl combine granola, oats, flour, coconut, almonds, raisins or chocolate pieces, wheat germ, and brown sugar.
-In a small bowl combine the egg, honey, butter or margarine, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir together until all ingredients are moistened.
-Spread evenly in a greased 12 x 7 x 2-inch baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees F. for 30 to 35 minutes or until light brown on the edges.
-Cool completely in the pan (I always set the pan on a cooling rack). Cut into squares or bars. Makes about 24.
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And at last, here are a couple of my home favorites :
BERRY POUDING CAKE (from my childhood in Quebec city)
Poor 2 cups of blueberries (or other berries) in a 'crown' baking pan, and sprinkle with sugar or honey. In a bowl mix together 1 cup of sugar (or half and half white and brown sugar), 1 cup of flour, 2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt. In a measuring cup, melt 3/4 cup of butter, add 2 eggs, and fill with milk up to 1 cup. Mix with dry ingredients until smooth and creamy, and poor evenly on the fruit. Spread the dough with a fork as needed, and bake in the oven at 350F for 55 minutes. Let it cool for 10 or 15 minutes, and serve with ice cream - or with yogurt! Oh yes!
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BEST BANANA BREAD EVER! (discovered this one only last fall - simple and super good!
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix 1/3 cup of melted butter into 3 or 4 ripe mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in 3/4 cup of sugar (or a little less), 1 egg, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a pinch of salt over the mixture and mix in. Add 1 1/2 cup of flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.
Somewhere between Izamal and Sudzal, Yucatan.
Monday, December 26, 2011
On the other side of Christmas
On the other side of Christmas, there are peaceful and lazy mornings stretching to the afternoon. Kids playing with their new toys, and adults drinking way too much coffee while listening to their new music. I'm planning on cooking over the next few days. Both for our family needs and for our upcoming traditional Levy - a fair size gathering of good friends on January 1st.
The Holidays are nice so far, but still strangely too green for the end of December. Worrisome. We humans must change our idiotic ways of not respecting our limited resources. We are living on a self sustainable island, and based on our current state it appears that we're quite the devastating pest infestation... Call that intelligent????
Okay... back on a positive note, as Jack Layton once said - 'let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.'
And more on the positive side, I will be in Yucatan in 4 months and I am very much looking forward to it. I put some time into the April to June schedule for my business, and my work is perfectly timed around the trip.
Still no news about the Merida teacher training project - no development whatsoever. So I will no longer try to get this one going, and my expectation is now to simply go and shake hands with some key contacts in Merida. Trust my instincts, go with an open mind, and see what happens. Sometimes it takes a little longer to find how the puzzle pieces fit together. There is something brewing over the years, and I shall get to it eventually! Yucatan will always be part of my life.
Well well.. with that it's already 1pm and I'm still in my jammies! It's a cold crisp and sunny day in Toronto - and I'm gonna get myself some of that frozen vitamin D!!!
The Holidays are nice so far, but still strangely too green for the end of December. Worrisome. We humans must change our idiotic ways of not respecting our limited resources. We are living on a self sustainable island, and based on our current state it appears that we're quite the devastating pest infestation... Call that intelligent????
Okay... back on a positive note, as Jack Layton once said - 'let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.'
And more on the positive side, I will be in Yucatan in 4 months and I am very much looking forward to it. I put some time into the April to June schedule for my business, and my work is perfectly timed around the trip.
Still no news about the Merida teacher training project - no development whatsoever. So I will no longer try to get this one going, and my expectation is now to simply go and shake hands with some key contacts in Merida. Trust my instincts, go with an open mind, and see what happens. Sometimes it takes a little longer to find how the puzzle pieces fit together. There is something brewing over the years, and I shall get to it eventually! Yucatan will always be part of my life.
Well well.. with that it's already 1pm and I'm still in my jammies! It's a cold crisp and sunny day in Toronto - and I'm gonna get myself some of that frozen vitamin D!!!
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Wo Ho Ho
The past week must have been the fastest passing week ever... I thought it would be kind of mellow, so much for that!
I finished two series and worked on many details of upcoming engagements in January, wrapping-up business properly so that I can kick back and enjoy. Well done. The next two weeks should be very slow, like a nice long sigh.
Today was a big house clean-up day, and we just hosted the Christmas Eve dinner. Tim's family tradition is pretty easy - we order chinese food! Far from my French Canadian 'réveillon' roots... but I like it. We ended the evening by singing a few Christmas songs, and everyone was gone by 8pm.
Dylan helped me to clear the table and wash the dishes, and he went to bed early - happy and excited. He asked Tim to read The Night Before Christmas, another Posgate tradition. My big 12 year old is full of Christmas spirit this year. Beautiful.
Leo prepared a little plate for Santa, a couple of fortune cookies and a few carrots for his reindeers. I hope Santa doesn't leave too many crumbs on the floor and in the fireplace this year... he is a bit messy sometimes. But I guess he's in a hurry, so I should cut him some slack.
Almost 10pm... time for me to go to bed, something tells me that it will be an early morning!
I finished two series and worked on many details of upcoming engagements in January, wrapping-up business properly so that I can kick back and enjoy. Well done. The next two weeks should be very slow, like a nice long sigh.
Today was a big house clean-up day, and we just hosted the Christmas Eve dinner. Tim's family tradition is pretty easy - we order chinese food! Far from my French Canadian 'réveillon' roots... but I like it. We ended the evening by singing a few Christmas songs, and everyone was gone by 8pm.
Dylan helped me to clear the table and wash the dishes, and he went to bed early - happy and excited. He asked Tim to read The Night Before Christmas, another Posgate tradition. My big 12 year old is full of Christmas spirit this year. Beautiful.
Leo prepared a little plate for Santa, a couple of fortune cookies and a few carrots for his reindeers. I hope Santa doesn't leave too many crumbs on the floor and in the fireplace this year... he is a bit messy sometimes. But I guess he's in a hurry, so I should cut him some slack.
Almost 10pm... time for me to go to bed, something tells me that it will be an early morning!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
2011
Another year, this one was pretty good. It started in the heart of the Yucatan state, we were just about half way through our great family escapade. I had pulled the plug on stress and worries and was happy with a much simpler life style. Happy that my children were enjoying it too, and very proud of Tim for stepping outside of his comfort zone for three months. In retrospect, it was fantastic for all of us to immerse into simplicity and I think that we came back home with a fresh new perspective.
2012 is very promising, the boys are growing beautifully and family life is good - home sweet home. Business is also pretty good and I realise that I can provide sufficient income for our family. Tim can generate a fair income too but he always has to make a big special effort to make it happen... so it happens in phases and it's far for consistent, and it's not likely to happen if I don't let him know that he must focus his energy on it for awhile. He's an artist, and work is not always tied to income. I find this part of our life difficult. At this point in my life, I would like to just pay off the house and invest in a bunch of much needed upgrades and fixes - partly for comfort, but mostly for decent upkeep of our house. I can not do it alone and sometimes it feels like I'm on a treadmill... only managing to keep up a good pace but staying in the same spot. If I think about it too much, I get very frustrated and bitter... so I focus on the positive aspects. We have a good roof over our heads, food on the table, we're healthy, we have enough money to keep the boys in hockey and baseball, and for some entertainment. We're doing pretty good overall.
For these reasons I'm having a hard time with my upcoming Mexico vacation... flipping back and forth between remorses of selfishness and satisfaction of rewarding myself for providing for my family. It started as a plan for a low cost business trip, and it has turned into a much bigger expense. I have no choice but to go with the flow at this point, make the best of it, and make sure that I still follow my business agenda while in Merida. Life is a balancing act of holding on and letting go, it requires an open mind and willingness to adapt. I have done it many times before, so I should be able to find peace with my decisions.
It's the Holiday season again, time for fun gatherings with family and friends. I'm making candied nuts, pepita brittle and nuts and bolts this year instead of cookies. All packaged in pretty tins, perfect for parties. I will share my best finds on that front very soon - Stay tuned for recipes!
2012 is very promising, the boys are growing beautifully and family life is good - home sweet home. Business is also pretty good and I realise that I can provide sufficient income for our family. Tim can generate a fair income too but he always has to make a big special effort to make it happen... so it happens in phases and it's far for consistent, and it's not likely to happen if I don't let him know that he must focus his energy on it for awhile. He's an artist, and work is not always tied to income. I find this part of our life difficult. At this point in my life, I would like to just pay off the house and invest in a bunch of much needed upgrades and fixes - partly for comfort, but mostly for decent upkeep of our house. I can not do it alone and sometimes it feels like I'm on a treadmill... only managing to keep up a good pace but staying in the same spot. If I think about it too much, I get very frustrated and bitter... so I focus on the positive aspects. We have a good roof over our heads, food on the table, we're healthy, we have enough money to keep the boys in hockey and baseball, and for some entertainment. We're doing pretty good overall.
For these reasons I'm having a hard time with my upcoming Mexico vacation... flipping back and forth between remorses of selfishness and satisfaction of rewarding myself for providing for my family. It started as a plan for a low cost business trip, and it has turned into a much bigger expense. I have no choice but to go with the flow at this point, make the best of it, and make sure that I still follow my business agenda while in Merida. Life is a balancing act of holding on and letting go, it requires an open mind and willingness to adapt. I have done it many times before, so I should be able to find peace with my decisions.
It's the Holiday season again, time for fun gatherings with family and friends. I'm making candied nuts, pepita brittle and nuts and bolts this year instead of cookies. All packaged in pretty tins, perfect for parties. I will share my best finds on that front very soon - Stay tuned for recipes!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
December Full Moon
Yesterday Dylan left school early and came home after lunch, and we went to see Leo in his Holiday school concert - featuring a great collection of French Canadian folkloric songs. It was fun, and felt very good to see all the kids signing traditional songs. It reminded me of my childhood, we did sing many of these songs when we gathered over the Holiday season. A couple of guitars, spoons, and everyone singing. I wish we could revive the tradition... but I'm the only one who knows the songs, that repertoire is foreign to Tim. Maybe I will invite a few Quebecois friends over the Holiday break and give it a try! These good musical memories are pretty much the foundations behind what I do for a living now. Getting kids to sing, teaching them songs that they bring home and sign to their parents. The very best feedback I get is when parents tell me that their child sings the songs I teach them. Or when older students take the time to tell me a special thanks before I leave the classroom, or to tell me how much they like music class. This is something they will keep enjoying all their life, and to help anchor that enjoyment is amazing.
It seems that the December full moon came with winter weather, hat and gloves are now required. The skating rink is open at Trinity-Bellwoods park, the closest to our house. Dylan goes there to play shinny (hockey) with his friends and I love to see him walk down the street with his hockey bag and stick. That too reminds me of good winter times of my childhood. My sisters and I would walk to the rink in our skates, and stay there until we couldn't feel our big toes from the cold. Crazy... who decided to settle in this weather anyway?
The children would like to set-up the Christmas tree this weekend, we'll try to squeeze that into our schedule.
Full moon, December, and thoughts of December 10th of last year. Nostalgia... and so very much looking forward to being in Yucatan again in the coming spring. No developments on the Merida teacher training project... I am adjusting my expectations and will be happy to simply meet my contacts in person once in Merida. Can't wait to see my Telchac friends - wonderful and inspiring women, and also hoping to get together with my old friend Jose-Luis... have not seen him in about 25 years! But that's all on the other side of this winter... can't go around it this year, I'll have to go through it!
It seems that the December full moon came with winter weather, hat and gloves are now required. The skating rink is open at Trinity-Bellwoods park, the closest to our house. Dylan goes there to play shinny (hockey) with his friends and I love to see him walk down the street with his hockey bag and stick. That too reminds me of good winter times of my childhood. My sisters and I would walk to the rink in our skates, and stay there until we couldn't feel our big toes from the cold. Crazy... who decided to settle in this weather anyway?
The children would like to set-up the Christmas tree this weekend, we'll try to squeeze that into our schedule.
Full moon, December, and thoughts of December 10th of last year. Nostalgia... and so very much looking forward to being in Yucatan again in the coming spring. No developments on the Merida teacher training project... I am adjusting my expectations and will be happy to simply meet my contacts in person once in Merida. Can't wait to see my Telchac friends - wonderful and inspiring women, and also hoping to get together with my old friend Jose-Luis... have not seen him in about 25 years! But that's all on the other side of this winter... can't go around it this year, I'll have to go through it!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
December?
Wow... Christmas in less than 3 weeks...
The boys are very happy to be home for Christmas this year (we were in Yucatan for Christmas last year). So far December has been rainy and warmer than usual, Toronto is still well above freezing temperatures. It would be nice to have some snow for the Holidays, the kids are also looking forward to a full winter experience. I just started my shopping, a bit reluctant... one of the things I appreciated about our 3 month trip to Mexico last year was that we were in very remote locations and far from all the commercial madness - Christmas and all. No TV, no billboards, no paper, only the occasional Facebook update. I think everyone should experience that for at least a month every year - we enjoyed 3 months of being disconnected from 'daily and in your face marketing'. I loved it.
On the health front, my cold was nested in my right ear for about 10 days - plugged ear... but now it made a merry come back for another round of sneezing and sniffles. It's war - and I am determined to claim victory.
Work is settling nicely, all my clients are paid-up for this first trimester and I started to invoice for January. The next 2 weeks will be fairly busy, I am ending two series of workshops - one for Kindergarten and another one for grades 4, 5 and 6. The last 2 weeks of my series are pretty much all about evaluations, and when I am finished the teachers have what they need to put a mark of the report cards. Here in Ontario, the first report card is issued at the end of January.
I am contemplating the summer already, and I think that I will take the plunge and finish my Orff Pedagogy certification at the Royal Conservatory of Music. It will be a lot of hard work, but it will be very good for me. Nothing like a good intellectual challenge! One of my teachers will also attempt to register in the Music in Early Childhood program this summer, it was cancelled last summer because they didn't get enough registrations. She is excellent, a natural. With that certification under her belt I would like her to lead some teacher trainings in French - we talked about it and the plan is to get out of the city to provide trainings in the many French communities of Ontario. I would cover the elementary school grades 1 to 8, and she would cover early childhood educators.
I have a lot of marketing work ahead of me between now and March break... I am merging both businesses, probably incorporate, and deploy my long planned positioning sweep to enlarge my zone of operation.
Okay... 8:30am and a full day ahead of me... let's get to it!
The boys are very happy to be home for Christmas this year (we were in Yucatan for Christmas last year). So far December has been rainy and warmer than usual, Toronto is still well above freezing temperatures. It would be nice to have some snow for the Holidays, the kids are also looking forward to a full winter experience. I just started my shopping, a bit reluctant... one of the things I appreciated about our 3 month trip to Mexico last year was that we were in very remote locations and far from all the commercial madness - Christmas and all. No TV, no billboards, no paper, only the occasional Facebook update. I think everyone should experience that for at least a month every year - we enjoyed 3 months of being disconnected from 'daily and in your face marketing'. I loved it.
On the health front, my cold was nested in my right ear for about 10 days - plugged ear... but now it made a merry come back for another round of sneezing and sniffles. It's war - and I am determined to claim victory.
Work is settling nicely, all my clients are paid-up for this first trimester and I started to invoice for January. The next 2 weeks will be fairly busy, I am ending two series of workshops - one for Kindergarten and another one for grades 4, 5 and 6. The last 2 weeks of my series are pretty much all about evaluations, and when I am finished the teachers have what they need to put a mark of the report cards. Here in Ontario, the first report card is issued at the end of January.
I am contemplating the summer already, and I think that I will take the plunge and finish my Orff Pedagogy certification at the Royal Conservatory of Music. It will be a lot of hard work, but it will be very good for me. Nothing like a good intellectual challenge! One of my teachers will also attempt to register in the Music in Early Childhood program this summer, it was cancelled last summer because they didn't get enough registrations. She is excellent, a natural. With that certification under her belt I would like her to lead some teacher trainings in French - we talked about it and the plan is to get out of the city to provide trainings in the many French communities of Ontario. I would cover the elementary school grades 1 to 8, and she would cover early childhood educators.
I have a lot of marketing work ahead of me between now and March break... I am merging both businesses, probably incorporate, and deploy my long planned positioning sweep to enlarge my zone of operation.
Okay... 8:30am and a full day ahead of me... let's get to it!
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