In 9 days I’ll drive to Montreal with two slow cookers, two massive camping coolers, and enough food to feed 27 hungry skaters for 24 hours. That’s right, it’s the annual 24 hour inline relay race at the F1 race track. And yes, I just said 27 skaters. Have I bitten off more than I can chew? I will find out soon enough.
I am not new to this culinary and logistical challenge. Last year I fed 20 skaters with enough leftovers for one week’s worth of dinner at home. I have a good idea of dishes that hold well at the paddock, food that skaters prefer during the race, and enough variety to keep things interesting. It also helps that I already have an elaborate spreadsheet to organize menu, links to recipes, shopping list, budget, inventory, and food preferences. You can say this is going to be business as usual. What is NOT usual is that I extend my meal plan service this year to a few skaters outside of my own team. Words travel quickly and that is how I end up with magic number 27. It would have been 30 if I didn’t already declined a few requests.

You can say that I am mildly stressed out over this. My original plan is that I will only cook and not race. I am far from top racing form with all the injuries this season and I do not want to risk aggravating any concussion symptoms. Plus I have no clue if my ankle will cooperate with the volume of skating expected at the event. Last year I had to excuse myself from night time racing once I started feeling dizzy. It was a pretty horrible feeling to leave my teammates high and dry so I do not want to repeat. My very persuasive team captain talked me into being a half-fledge (is that a word?) member and agree to only put me in the line up when I am feeling well.
In the last week I’ve been furiously putting together the menu and shopping for ingredients. I also kicked off the cooking with a batch of my favourite olive oil maple granola (it’s vegan!). My own cooking projects have taken a backseat and I desperately try to free up space in my fridge. That brings me to these homemade pop tarts.
It has been Summer Of Pie at my kitchen and my tasters cannot be happier. As a result, I accumulated a small pile of leftover pie dough pieces. I defrosted the dough and rolled it out to 9x14 inch rectangle between two pieces of parchment paper. I scored the dough into eight smaller rectangles and brushed with egg wash. I placed two tablespoons of homemade strawberry rhubarb jam on half of the dough rectangles and covered with other half to make giant raviolis. I poked vents on each pop tart before brushing on more egg wash. I was a little dismay that the baked pop tarts did not quite keep perfectly straight edges but it was not the end of the world. Once the pastries cooled down, I frosted them with a water icing made glossy and pink with the help of liquid glucose and red food colouring. Of course rainbow sprinkles and sparkling sugar gave the ultimate finishing touch.
These homemade pop tarts were absolutely adorable and 100% made from scratch. Best of all, I am one step closer to freeing up precious space in my fridge in anticipation my biggest cooking event of the year. Starting next week, I will bombard you with more talks of the menu and my preparation progress. Deep breathe, it’s going to be okay. 27 is just another number.
Yeah, right.
P.S. Opportunity Missed
I bought a Nyan Cat hoodie earlier this year and have yet to take any photo of myself modeling this awesome purchase. Had I not been so scattered brain with all the menu planning, this is the perfect opportunity to do so. Sigh. Well, at least you can admire the product shot. It does go so well with my pop tarts.