eggnog buckwheat crumble cake

If your first thought was that this looks like a gooey mess, you're right. It is a gooey mess. It's still a gooey mess in my kitchen. Cake is another one of those things that I struggle to photograph well. When it looks like "an undercooked hamburger," that makes it more difficult. Lesson One: to minimize hamburgerness, don't make this cake in a round pan. Use the suggested 9x13 pan. In any case, I have a lot to learn about photographing things that don't look as appealing as they taste. Some people can make anything look good. I'm not one of those people. YET.

I was inspired to make this a week ago or so when I read Jessica's post at How Sweet It Is. That cake entered my brain and never left. So today, on the heels of the beet cake failure, I did something about it.

My intent was to make the recipe as written (with my usual sugar alterations - for someone with a penchant for desserts, I have a low tolerance for sugar). When I went to get my whole wheat flour from the cupboard, I saw my bag of buckwheat flour and, I swear to you, it looked up at me saying, 'pick me! pick me!'. So I did, with absolutely no knowledge as to whether using buckwheat flour requires any other special alterations. Luckily, it worked just as well (if not better!) and gave the cake this wonderful earthy, nutty flavour which complimented the eggnog and spices. It also rocked the texture of the crumble topping.

Buckwheat flour in your cake. Do it now. You know you want to.

dijon chicken with rosemary

 

This chicken was not much to look at. I struggled with whether or not to blog it based on its looks. I've posted ugly foods on this blog before (pulled pork with bourbon orange coriander barbecue sauce comes to mind, as does pea and mint soup), but as I progress through this blog, my standards are getting a little higher. With experience comes improvement. Improvement was not evident in any of the photographs taken. Only struggle, oversized garnish and ugly chicken.

Then I tasted the ugly chicken.

pulled pork with bourbon orange coriander barbecue sauce

One thing that is awesome about Quebec is the weather. I know a lot of people will disagree with me. They don't like feels like 40 summers and -30 winters. They don't like Breakfast at Tiffany's rainstorms. I can't say I would always enjoy this weather. For example, I don't like the heat unless I literally don't have to do anything aside from sipping a glass of cold lemonade on the balcony with a good book. I don't care for -30 temperatures when I'm standing at a bus stop. I could do without Breakfast at Tiffany's rainstorms when I'm on my way home from work and wearing flats. That being said, the weather here is interesting. There is nothing 'blah' about it. Someone once said to me that the weather here forces you to change up your routines. It definitely does, and that's such a good thing!

Today we had a Breakfast at Tiffany's rainstorm. This was the perfect time for (leftover) comfort food. Over the weekend I turned to Joy the Baker's bourbon orange coriander barbecue sauce. I was intrigued from the moment I first clapped eyes on her tantalizing photos. I was also hankering for pulled pork, so I decided to throw the two together because, why not?

pea and mint soup

It was not my plan to make pea and mint soup tonight. I had another soup planned. One that involved potatoes and sausages. Perhaps you might be wondering what led me to change my mind. Well... okay, I'll admit it, but not without a hefty dose of shame.

Every month, my office holds "treats day." This means that the lunch room is filled with treats. Cookies, cupcakes... you name it. It changes every month. Well, today it was treats day, and the treats were Easter candy. Mini peanut butter cups, mini eggs, gummy worms, jelly beans, ju-jubes... I think you can see where I am going with this.