Creme Caramel & Bavarian Cream

Bavarian cream is usually the base of most desserts such as chocolate mousse.  Chef decided that plain old bavarian cream would be boring so he found some chocolate and we secretly added it to our recipe hoping that the other class would not notice.  Apparently Chef is not allowed to stray away from the recipes in the book but we like the little add-on's every now and again.

Creme caramel is similar to our filipino dessert leche flan.  It is very simple to make and since we had time, we made designs with our hot caramel mixture.  As Chef says, plain creme caramel will cost you $4.99 but with this added oomph, you can charge $5.99.  How simple is that?

Another one bites the dust...

This weekend we travelled to London, Ontario to celebrate the wedding of our friend Derek to his beautiful bride Julie.  It was a small wedding in a small town and although we did not know anyone except the groom himself, we were greeted like we were part of the family.  This was our first time in London so we stayed the night at a downtown hotel and watched the wild Western kids line up in front of Ceeps, a local bar.  We contemplated going but I neglected to pack my Uggs and my short shorts.  Besides, we had a great time at the wedding.  Great food, lots of wine and a whole night of dancing.  Who can ask for anything more?

Brothers

Gotta love this picture.  I don't really know what to say so I'll let the picture speak for itself.  

WND returns

After a long summer break, Wednesday Night Dinners were back on our schedules again.  I kicked it off with chicken pot pies and an apple pie.  I quickly remembered how hard it can get to plan and cook for these week night events but it's all worth it knowing that next week someone else is wearing the apron.  Stuart is the newest member of our group and although he got us excited about 'toads in a pond' he kept it simple by making pancetta wrapped chicken and paired it with baked potatoes and leeks.  He topped his dinner off with a caramilk chocolate cake. It was a pefect. Well done Matie! Welcome to WNDs!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving weekend was absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining and the leaves were stunning in all the different shades of red and yellow.  As you can tell by this picture, it was a warm sunny day - perfect for an afternoon photo shoot on Bigdog's patio.  As always, I am thankful for my hubby, our health and our wonderful life together. Happy Thanksgiving ya'll.

Chef School

Every morning I find myself constantly snoozing my alarm button to get a few more minutes of sleep but Saturday mornings are a different story.  I'm not a Chef. Far from it actually but taking a few cooking classes is something I really enjoy.  Maybe it's the reward that you get after each class whether it's a apple pie, a cake or learning how to mask a cake.  It looks like other people are enjoying my creations as well which makes it even more rewarding. The other day Mae dropped off a big load of apples she picked with the boys.  Luckily I had the help of my sous chefs: Diana, my official apple peeler/corer and Norm, my official butter tucker.  By the end of the night we made three apple pies and three dozen empanadas - probably more but Norm and Di kept eating them as they came out of the oven.