backyard baking 3

Rose Hip Syrup
Picked from: Prelude Lake
Recipe from: Wild Roots Herbal Learning Centre
Thoughts: make any meal romantic with this blush-hued syrup

Ingredients:
4 cups rose hips
2 cups water
1 cup sugar

Rose hips are best picked mid to late August when their colour is rich and full.

Wash rose hips thoroughly. Remove stems and flower remnants.

Boil hips and water for 20 minutes in a covered saucepan. Strain through a jelly bag.

Return clear juice to kettle. Add sugar. Stir well and boil five minutes.

Refrigerate until used. This syrup is my absolute favourite and makes for wonderful gifts.

keeping cozy

With the weather slowly slipping from summer to fall, I know I'll be spending more time indoors. Here are a few things that make my bedroom a bit more cozy.

Favourites: lavender for a calming scent and a tiny tray for favourite pieces of jewellery

A birchbark basket, made in the Northwest Territories, and decorated with dyed porcupine quills. Adding to my mirror by posting beautiful photos taken by my friend Aryn

With a bed this cozy I won't mind hiding out when the temperature plummets

Fresh flowers from the garden... sadly, they won't be there for long!

northern garden party

I know my blog has been a bit lacking in the last month but it's been an extremely busy couple of weeks - don't worry, there are lots of posts to come! One of the highlights of this month was hosting a garden party for two writers from Canadian Living magazine. The lovely ladies are working on a 5-6 page spread on cuisine in the Northwest Territories and I was lucky enough to do some baking for them. Here are a few snapshots I took before they arrived. I prepared rose petal shortbread, spruce tip shortbread, fireweed syrup, rose hip syrup, and bannock. Recipes to follow!

moccasin cake

I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen lately whipping up my favourite recipes, but when a coworker's retirement party came up I decided to try something new. I thought a moccasin shaped cake would be the perfect design for someone leaving the north behind. The piping (for an inexperienced piper like myself) was time consuming but the overall look is worth it. I can't wait to try this one again with more colours and a more intricate design.
Final touches: arrange a few spruce boughs around the cake once it is done to add to the northern look and feel!

almond biscotti

I used a great recipe from epicurious.com to make these chocolate-dunked almond biscotti. The recipe was actually called for hazelnuts but the switch still tasted great. I couldn't believe how well they turned out: delicious and chewy even after a few days. Now if only I had an espresso machine!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups hazelnuts (7 ounces)
3/4 Cup sugar
2 Cups self-rising cake flour
2 large eggs
1 Teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Method:
1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Pulse together sugar and 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to bowl of mixer along with flour and beat at medium speed until combined well. Add eggs and vanilla and beat just until a dough forms. Reduce speed to low, then add remaining chopped hazelnuts and mix until incorporated. Turn off mixer and knead in any loose hazelnuts with your hands.
3. Halve dough and, with dampened hands, form each half into a roughly 10- by 2- by 1-inch log on lined baking sheet, arranging logs 3 inches apart.
4. Bake until golden and set but still soft to the touch, 25 to 30 minutes. (Leave oven on.) Cool logs on baking sheet on a rack 10 minutes.
5. Transfer logs to a cutting board, discarding parchment, and cut logs with a serrated knife on a slight diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
6. Arrange slices, cut sides down, in 1 layer on unlined baking sheet. Bake slices, turning over once, until golden and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes more. Cool biscotti completely on sheet on rack, about 30 minutes.
Read More:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Hazelnut-Biscotti-236948#ixzz1TMp70shX

Final touch: I opted to melt milk chocolate over the stove to dunk one side of the biscotti in. While the chocolate was still warm, I sprinkled about 1/2 a teaspoon of hazelnuts on top. Lean them over the edge of a dish to cool and harden then munch away! The chocolate is a tasty addition!

style envy: emma watson

backyard baking 2

Here's another wonderful recipe to try! I trekked along Ingraham Trail (near Yellowknife) to pick wild roses, plucked the petals and washed then dried them over two days. Once they were dry I ground them in a medicine bowl (a food processor works too) then combined with sugar. What was left was a delicious wild rose petal sugar that is a great addition to any dessert. I've added a cup to shortbread and topped french toast with it. It adds wonderful colour and flavour!