Dessert By Candy

Race Weekend Bento

Last weekend I took part in the Roller Sports Canada National Championship in the Masters Women category. My performance was within my expectation and it was a nice change to get back in the rhythm of racing once more. My speed is not back yet but race photos provide solid evidence that I made improvement with my form. I skated well in the distance races (5km and 10km points) leveraging my race experience and endurance training. My coach prepared me well to handle those conditions with gruelling training program that I dreaded. An old friend came over to me after my 10km points race to welcome me back to the racing scene. He said he thought I would not be fit after such a long break but I proved him wrong. I guess I owe my coach a big thank you.

The unique challenge about nationals is that we all hang out at the track all day long for the whole weekend. There are lots of down time in between races but I need conserve energy. Racing in blazing heat under the relentless sun quickly zaps energy out of anyone. Last weekend I sat under the shade as much as possible and stayed hydrated. I also packed myself a bento with breakfast and lunch to fuel me throughout the day.

Slow Cooker In Summer

Comfort food and slow cooker go hand in hand. With minimal fuss, my slow cooker churned out endless meals of soup and stews that nourished me all winter long. However, just because it is summer now doesn’t mean I put the slow cooker away. In fact, now is the time when it is more valuable than ever! Quite simply put, it doesn’t heat up the kitchen and that is a very very good thing.

Last week I received a new recipe to test from America’s Test Kitchen’s upcoming healthy slow cooker cookbook. It is a lighter version of their classic beef stew which is one of my favourite recipes. With less meat and more vegetable, the recipe cuts down on calories with little difference in taste. In fact, my family could not tell that it was not the usual recipe we’ve come to love.

The Danish Pastry House

Exploring pastry stores and bakeries used to be a hobby of mine. I spent afternoons hopping from one sweet destination to another until my feet ached and my sweet tooth satisfied. That was years ago before I became keenly aware of how my diet affects my athletic performances. I still miss those crazy afternoons filled with sugar and butter but I no longer feel the drive to check out the latest pastry emporium in my hometown.

Many wonderful bakeries have become fixtures in Greater Toronto Area’s culinary landscape. You can find bloggers and reviews on many of them. However, the predominate style are still upscale French or whimsical American baking. I could not contain my excitement when I found out about The Danish Pastry House in Oakville. I was enticed by the promise of traditional flakey buttery danishes in all shapes and sizes.

If You Can’t Handle The Heat…

Heating up the kitchen is a great deterrent for summer cooking. It is no wonder grilling has enduring appeal when the temperature gets warm. For reasons unknown, I do not own a grill nor am I motivated to get one. I do not like the idea of heating up the kitchen either and it inspires me to turn to dishes requiring little to no cooking. It doesn’t hurt that such dishes tend to be easy to make to take advantage of vibrant summer flavours.

I took at a look at my calendar and realized that I skipped out on making weekend family dinner for almost a month. That is highly unusual and I feel a tinge of guilt to deprive Little Brother of wholesome home cooked meals. I am struggling to get back on my feet. Even though it is small progress, preparing family dinner last Sunday is a clear sign of improvement. It is nothing fancy but I am gradually taking joy in the simple task of cooking once more. With less than five minutes of heating, I prepared a meal of watermelon feta salad on mixed greens with pickled shallots and pesto angel hair pasta with prawns. It is a menu requiring little work yet delivering big flavours.

For The Love Of Deep Frying

I discovered last weekend that bringing two dozens donuts to a party is one of my best potluck decisions ever. Not just any run-of-the-mill donuts from the corner cafe. Not even fancy gourmet donuts from the latest hipster donut shop. I’m talking about honest homemade French crullers and custard-filled yeast donuts that emerged from a pot of bubbly hot oil in my kitchen. Deep frying may be intimidating but the result far outweighs the effort.

Since I bought my Thermapen digital thermometer, my confidence with deep frying soared. Knowing that I submerge my food in precise 350F hot oil makes sense because I can relate that to oven baking temperature. Discovering Japanese grease solidifier granules also eliminated one of my worries. Now I can safely dispose of spent cooking oil in one jellied disc along with other organic waste. As long as I do not stink up the house like a fast food joint, I have few reasons to avoid deep frying. Combined with my love of donuts, I sense a slippery slope in dietdom.

My cooking friends and I share a penchant for themed cooking parties. Pie Day, Cake Day, and Dumpling Day have become much-anticipated annual traditions. Last Saturday we had our inaugural Choux Day filled with cream puffs, éclairs, profiteroles, and gougères. What do donuts have to do with choux pastry? My favourite donut, the impossibly airy French cruller, is in fact deep fried ring of pâte à choux. A dozen honey glazed French crullers was my contribution to Choux Day. But since I already had the whole deep frying set up at home, I extended its mileage by throwing in a dozen of yeast raised donuts for good measure. Because, why not?

Cake For Breakfast

Blueberry. Buckwheat. Buttermilk. Maple syrup. I don’t read minds but I bet you’re thinking about pancakes. I love weekend pancake breakfasts as much as everyone else but it is not practical on weekdays. I am gingerly stepping back inside my kitchen and want easy recipes that do not test my culinary limits. Luckily, I came across Orangette’s pancake-inspired recipe yesterday and it was just what I needed to fire up the oven once more.

At its heart, this Blueberry Maple Buckwheat Bundt is a quick bread. From the ingredients to the mixing method, it is no different than mixing up a batch of pancake batter. Instead of frying up each pancake individually, you pour every drop into a Bundt cake pan and let the oven take care of the rest. There is much to love about that. As the designated pancake maker of my family, I can’t say I am a huge fan of all that waiting and flipping. On an empty stomach, no less.

Another plus of this handsome cake is the satisfaction of eating cake for breakfast. It feels just a little indulgent, a little reckless. I can use a little bit of both in my life right now.

Kale Salmon Sandwich In Peanut Sauce

I barely did any cooking since my last post. As I alluded, I do not want this hobby to become a chore. I try to be kind to myself. When I simply don’t feel like cooking, I do not put pressure on myself to make something just to have something to write about. With less demand in the kitchen, I found surprising amount of free time and surplus budget on my hands. I never think about how much time and money I devote to my hobby but it certainly makes a lot of sense.

Last night I finally ran out of ready-to-eat food so I had little choice but to put something together for dinner. I scrounged around and gathered bunch of ingredients together. A can of hot smoked coho salmon. A box of washed kale. A handful of baby carrots. A bunch of really fresh basil. Some romaine lettuce leaves. Toasted peanuts. I chopped and sliced and tossed. 15 minutes later, I had a box of sandwich filling made special with an Asian-inspired peanut dressing.

Bread In A Box And An Update

Race season will officially kick off for me in less than two weeks with the first major marathon road race in Wisconsin. After all the ups and downs for the last two years, I am thankful to be able to race once more. In May 2012, after returning from 5th place at World Master Championship in Damp and stepping on the podium for a race in Nordsee, I began a string of crashes which ultimately culminated with my first concussion. It was a harsh test in my personal life and athletic career. Two years later, I am far from being back in my top racing form but things are slowly coming together. I am making small progress at every training session. I am sure there will be more setbacks in my future, that is just a fact of life. However, in order to give myself the best chance of succeeding a goal which I hold dear for years, I think the time has come to make some changes.

For years, I have been posting three times a week regularly at Dessert By Candy. I appreciate the opportunity to expand my horizon. Your support inspires me to keep cooking and writing. Unfortunately, the time demand is competing for my attention in training. I do not want to lose my passion in either by letting them become chores. Cooking will always be a big part of my life and the joy I get from sharing delicious meals with loved ones is incomparable to anything I do on skates. However, for the time being, the best course of action is to keep regular blog updates on a less frequent basis. I hope you understand.

Today I want to share with you a little something I bought at IKEA, emporium of some-assembly-required. I am always fascinated by the small grocery section just beyond the checkout lines with the exotic Scandinavian sundries. This is where you’ll likely find the best price in town for blocks of marzipan. For Swedish expats, the traditional multigrain bread hold special appeal. Of course keeping supply of fresh bread in a furniture store is unrealistic. Thankfully, IKEA has an elegant answer that comes neatly packaged in a carton.