best marinade (for life)

On Feb 16, I attended Cookbooks, Cocktails and Cupcakes, a life-changing event.

"Life changing".

To some, those words may carry a lot of dazzle and flash. To me, life changing' = much inconvenient effort that yielded enormous returns that can't be calculated in $. What happened that night was so magical, that to deconstruct it step-by-step turns it into a manual, a how-to, it sucks the poetry out of life, and I'm not doing that, ever.

What I will tell you is that Jodi Lastman is a community-building maven. Her and I go back almost a decade via writing-social media-motherhood, and we're both on the same page when it comes to honesty: we use it, whether people like it or not.

Jodi's got T-O-N-S of friends, and the ones I've met are solid. The kind of people you can't help but fall in love with because they are sooo passionate and generous. They're culinary tourism experts, food activists, they write incredible food blogs, they publish out-of-the-box magazine, they run bakeries in west Toronto, they run independent bookstores (that takes huge _ _ _ _ _), they run bakeries in east Toronto, they self-publish books, they're fundraisers, and they do so much more(!!!) ~ and the glue that binds them, us, is that they showed up.

Remember that great Woody Allen quote about success:
Eighty percent of success is showing up


I almost didn't go,
because of babysitting issues,
because my husband always has to work late,
because I hadn't rehearsed my Cupcakes for Haiti cookbook story,
because it's such a long streetcar ride across the entire city.
But something was pulling me there.
As I took the streetcar back home I knew what that thing was, it was the energy of my tribe, the one that stands behind, next to, onto its people.

Thank you Jodi and everyone that night who shared, clapped, and celebrated together. Honoured to be a Woman in Food.

Remembrance Day, 2010

We will remember.

You are invited to a street party!

WHAT: Cupcakes for Haiti Cookbook Launch & Leslieville East Corridor Street Party!

WHEN: Saturday, November 6

TIME: 2-4pm

WHERE: From Voulez-Vous Café
1560 Queen St. E.
To
Beaufort Décor,
1576 Queen St. E.

What is community?

Photo on the cover of the book features Angel Riccio's Brownie Heart Cupcake, pg 2 (more on Angel below).



"There's plenty of intelligence in the world, but the courage to do things differently is in short supply."
Marilyn vos Savant
Columnist, Author and Lecturer

Great quote, isn't it!


It resonates with the book we produced because our courage was a collective one,
thus, the more people, the more courage, and ultimately a courageous project =
more effective in getting our message across.

Our message is this: the people of Haiti still need our help.

Sure, we all gave $ to a charity back in January, but now, 8 months later that $ has been spent by MSF Canada and FINCA Canada, and they need more to continue their aid work.

The Interprovincial Group printed 1000 copies of Cupcakes for Haiti, for free. Free takes a lot of courage.

Rachael Muir designed the January cupcake bake sale poster for free, then went on to tackle the design of the book, for free. She is a very busy Art Director, mother of two, wife, philanthropist and wonderful friend. Free time is scarce and takes a lot of courage.

Brian Gahan photographed the cupcakes over a period of three weekends. He is a very busy partner at an ad agency, he's a father of two, awesome husband, philanthropist and supporter of many local and international causes. Like Rachael, his free time is scarce. You may think I'm partial to his charm, but it's authentic, and I have loved him for over 12 years because of his courage.

I define community as the people who you can call on the phone, near or far, people we bump into on the street daily, or yearly, people we include in emails, people we've never met in person but chat with on twitter, the word community is endless, like a circle, to me, courage and community are inseparable. Thank you for everyone who has been a part of the Cupcakes for Haiti community, and those that are yet to join the circle.

The Cupcakes for Haiti community is growing day-by-day, here are a few links to get you acquainted with some of the courageous people that enrich our cause (see sidebar for more). Follow these people, learn about them, support them and your community will grow too.

Kari @ ActivekidsClub

Brandie @ Parent Central and The Star.

Kathleen @ good egg communications

Amanda @ FamilyNature

Amanda @ Desmond and Beatrice

ActsofSweetness @ Acts of Sweetness

Joanna @ InsideToronto


Rick Declute @ Team DeClute - RE/MAX Hallmark


Shirley @ Beaufort Decor

Angel @ Shine Blogspot

Thanks for listening. XO

treasures that we seek

creating space

focusing

one-foot-in-front-of-the other

air

wide open sky

laughter

uncontrollable giggling at inappropriate times

creating

blank pages, blank canvasses, just dough -- then time, and air, and heat and pieces of life and it becomes something large enough to heal any wound, sing any song

Tonight I am very inspired and grateful for my friend & neighbour Diana and her Chair Cozy. Her creativity astounds me, and her sense of giving and community fuels me.

Cupcakes for Haiti fresh off the press!

Cupcakes for Haiti cookbook is fresh off the press! So many generous souls created this, so grateful. XO Launch party in the works, but if you want a copy sooner of course you can scoop one up. http://twitpic.com/1z4hne

smoothie recipe: fushia!

The kids have been making breakfast smoothies all summer long. I love to watch their excitement as they tear apart bananas, dump frozen and fresh handfulls of fruit into the glass blender jar, take turns pouring milk, juice, maple syrup and their liquid vitamin into the mix. They also get a huge kick out of the varying shades of red that their delicious drink turns into.

Smoothies are fantastic because there is so much room to experiment!

This morning they both agreed that the smoothie was 'fushia'; not only is a fushia coloured smoothie gorgeous to look at, it's yummy to boot. Here's the recipe:


3 bananas
drizzle of black cherry concentrate (approx 1 tsp)
handful of frozen berries (approx 1-2 cups)
drizzle of maple syrup (approx 1 tsp)
drizzle of kids liquid vitamin (approx 2 tsp)
splash of vanilla almond milk
1 cup water
1 cup of yogurt

dump everything into the blender jar
we blend on low (because our blender is noisy) - we tend to like to let the blender whir 'round and 'round for about 3 minutes
pour into large clear glasses and enjoy!

grilled veggie fajitas

pictured above: grilled halloumi & asparagus & green/yellow zucchini drizzled w/garlic tahini marinade


It's been very hot here in Toronto, too hot to turn on any inside elements. Our meals are either huge bowls of salad, or BBQ something or other, or my favourite: leftovers stuffed into a tortilla.

If you invest about 30 mins washing, slicing, marinading some veggies, about 15 mins grilling (or more time depending on how many veggies you have), then you'll have a weeks worth of delicious, nutritious meals.

GRILLED VEGGIE & HALLOUMI FAJITAS

3 yellow zucchini
3 green zucchini
2 bunches of asparagus
2 pkg halloumi

prepping veggies:

wash zucchini, chop off ends, and then slice lengthwise in 1/4 inch slices (you should get about 5 slices)

wash asparagus, do not chop or cut, simply hold it by the spear and the base and arch in half, asparagus will snap where it needs to on its own

rinse halloumi, slice up lengthwise in into about 5 slices, depending on size of your block

marinade: (try to prepare first thing in the morning so that marinade flavours marry)

12 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
couple splashes of tamari
3 cloves of garlic crushed
dash of cayenne pepper
couple of pinches of brown sugar
sea salt (not much since tamari is already salty, and halloumi is saltyish)
cracked black pepper to taste


when you are hungry:

fire up bbq for about 20 minutes

place all veggies in a large glass or metal lasagna dish; pour marinade over veggies, using tongs make sure everything gets some marinade on it, let sit for 20 minutes (while bbq heats up)

after 20 minutes, dump veggie & halloumi salad into a grill pan (make sure to place it ontop of a spill proof pan w/edges so that marinade doesn't spill everywhere)

place on bbq, cook veggies on medium heat, unlike meat, veggies need more TLC so every couple of minutes toss mixture around w/tongs otherwise they will burn and halloumi will melt through the slots on your pan

once asparagus is as tender as you like, remove from heat

lastly, stuff veggie & halloumi mixture into a tortilla, add a couple slices of avocado and enjoy

next day you will have one of the best lunches of your life

Toronto Taste - pssst

To date, Toronto Taste has sold 1000 tickets to this Sunday's 20th Anniversary event! This year, like every year, they work tirelessly to make hunger history. By selling 600 more tickets, they will be one huge step closer to alleviating the huge burden that is hunger to those in the city of Toronto.

Second Harvest's vision is 'that no one need ever go hungry in the communities we serve'. Together, we CAN help make this a reality.

Pssst, want to know who else is helping?

All the Best Fine Foods will present Braised Korean Short Ribs w/Pickled Carrots

Chiado Restaurant will present Lobster w/Passionfruit Coulis and Panfried Bananas

Hiro Sushi together with Forte Bistro will present Pan Seared Smoked Salmon Sushi Rolls w/Rabbit Pate Japanese Mustard and Nori Paste

Dufflet Pastries will present, something scrumptious...and Chef Michael Smith will cook up sheer delights...and, well, there's so much more.
Please come see for yourself.

Toronto Taste - a taste of Toronto

Toronto Taste 2010

Just got off the phone with Patty Lowry, Copywriter Extraordinaire(!), we chatted about her involvement in this year's Make Hunger History campaign, which marks the 20th anniversary of Second Harvest's Toronto Taste fundraiser.

I asked her, how did it feel to work on this pro bono project?

She said, 'doing something from the heart is so satisfying. It gives us an opportunity to make a difference'.

She went on to say, that doing pro bono work for Second Harvest is near and dear to her heart, because it's about helping those closest to us, hungry people on the streets of where we live.


For me, trying to make sense of scarcity in such an abundant society is a complex issue, it makes me sad, and frustrated, but I know that together we do make a difference.


Toronto Taste is this Sunday, June 13, 6:30pm-10pm, at the ROM

Join 60 of the Toronto's top Chefs and 25 beverage purveyors for an unforgettable evening.



'Pairing cuisine and compassion' is a huge responsibility, please buy a ticket to the event, or buy raffle tickets for great prizes or bid on the auction items.

To purchase tickets, please contact the Second Harvest office at 416.408.2594.

Hope to see you there :-)

Apple Butterscotch Muffins

One of my best friends, Mama M G, has been tweaking her muffin recipes for the last couple of years. She makes great muffins, but like most of us homecooks, she enjoys challenging herself to tweak the recipe 'just a bit'. She came over a week ago today, with a new batch of muffins to share and declared that she'd finally perfected her recipe, which means she is content to stop tweaking.

One bite into these mouthfuls of joy and I knew she was right! These are moist, and sooo flavourful and just too darn delicious to stop at one, yet healthy that you don't feel guilty eating three. Trust me, I know!

Enjoy! Let me know how it goes and I'll pass on your feedback to Mama M G - who will eventually dip her toe into blogging...


Apple Butterscotch Muffins
Makes 24

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup vanilla yogurt
3 large apples, grated, skins and all
1 cup butterscotch chips
　

Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Line 24 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon, and set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix. Mix in the yogurt. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple. Next add the chips.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top.

Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Tamra Davis Rocks!

Watch Tamra Davis cooking and feeding people at the Food Bank for New York City. She's awesome and inspiring! PS all her shows are great!!

Bakers Journal April 2010

So grateful to Bakers Journal for publishing our story in the April 2010 edition of their awesome publication! Brian Hartz is definitely the nicest, most professional, and supportive Editor I've ever worked with, ever! Thank you Brian for giving us the opportunity to share our fundraising story. Hopefully others will enjoy learning about how our community is helping another community (with MSF and FINCA's help); learning about the power of social marketing; and enjoy the reminder that cupcakes, although small are enriching and magical beyond our comprehension.

We have a printing partner!

The Interprovincial Group just called, they will print our cookbook, pro bono!
So truly grateful for their belief in our Cupcakes 4 Haiti endeavours. Thank you!

More Gratitude

Local journalist extraordinaire, Joanna Lavoie, has written a lovely story about what our community accomplished together.

We are most grateful that you made time for us, and shared our story so widely Joanna. Thank you! xoxo

Acts of Sweetness visit TDC!

Photo credit: Brian Gahan, Top Drawer Creative Inc.



The awesome Redpath Team, AKA @actsofsweetness visited us at the first of several professional photoshoots. They drove across the city in their adorable vehicle, brought joy, cookies and sugar! Please follow them on twitter, become of fan of theirs on facebook, and follow their tales on their exciting blog.


Here's the fruit of their labour, featuring yours truly and some of the great bakers: Youtube.


Thank you Acts of Sweetness for honouring us with a visit during such a critical step in our book's development!

Belated update

So many exciting calls to make and emails to send and respond to and photos to be taken and pleases to speak, that there's only a tiny fragment of time for a blog update. If you want to more up-to-date & behind-the-scenes information, please join our Cupcakes 4 Haiti Cookbook fan page.


Thank you to each and every one of you that is helping this project grow from seedling to magnificent miraculous tree. A special thank you to Baker Rhondda, whose beautiful website was born yesterday. Please pay her a special visit and say hello with a nice comment. xo

Cupcakes 4 Haiti - The Cookbook

Thanks @Baker Erica Fyvie, Mama/Writer/Baker, Film Lover Extraordinaire for baking Organic Vanilla Cupcakes. xo




Our group's next step is to publish our cookbook within a month (!!!) so that we can continue our fundraising efforts for MSF/Doctors Without Borders and FINCA. We will continue to collaborate with Les Domestiques - Cyclists Who Serve and Top Drawer Creative Inc - Creatives Who Serve -- both whom are our guardian angels, who will help us reach our 10 year plan of raising $1 billion dollars to help with the world's efforts to rebuild Haiti.

All the money is being raised via our collective efforts we have 'dubbed' the cupcake revolution which started on Saturday, February 23, 2010.

In order to accomplish our goals, we will refer to this beautiful speech, over and over for the next ten years. Please join the cupcake revolution, it's going to take lots of homemade baking to make this happen. Please email: susana@gahan.ws
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

cupcake revolution

Thanks @Baker Patty Lowry, Copywriter Extraordinaire for baking Rainbow Marshmallow Cupcakes. xo


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnTH03x0IcQ

So grateful to Sir George and Tristan for showing up, CP24 rocks!!!!!!! xoxo

Cupcakes 4 Haiti

Collectively we baked, frosted, advertised, advertised, advertised, advertised, advertised, advertised, sold, sold, sold, packaged, sang, clapped, swayed to the music, chatted with media and media, and raised $9800 for MSF/Doctors Without Borders. Our government will match these funds, dollar-for-dollar, and thus, it brings our effort to a grand total of $19,600. This total does not include the money that people have promised...so I'll follow-up with those promises and over the next two weeks our grand total will probably exceed $20,000.


There were approximately 30 bakers; there were some baked goods that we still haven't figured out who dropped them off. The cupcakes ranged from $2 to $437.50. Bakers whose blogs/websites I know of included: Rhondda Nancy, Alexandra, Amanda T-M, Amanda M, Cordelia, Erin, Kathleen, More blogs and websites to be shared as soon as I know. A complete credits to all list to be published as soon as possible. There is so much more to say about our community spirit in the days to come.

Thank you for being a part of such an incredible communal accomplishment.xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo