simple potato salad

While my mom and I were out last week, we were reminiscing about a comment that was made about a year ago.

The comment was something along the lines of my mom not thinking about what words were coming-out of her mouth.

Like when she referred to a beautiful sunset by saying "the moon sure looks pretty."

Ummmmm.....

The comment we were laughing about was when we were out one evening and my mom ordered a wine spritzer. Judge all you want, but apparently they making a comeback. Usually when you get served a white wine spritzer, you get a glass with ice and wine, with a small carafe of club soda to add to it.  My mom gets her drink, pours in her club soda and adds a lime, takes a sip. She makes a face. Like a pucker face.

"Whew, that's strong. I think it's a double."

Wait, what?

"No mom, I think you just need to add more club soda. I'm pretty certain there's no such thing as a double wine spritzer. Pretty sure that's just a full glass of wine."

"Oh." And the she laughs.

So while you are enjoying this simple potato salad on a warm summers eve, try having a wine spritzer, a double if you please. Which is just basically ice and wine.

Simple potato salad
[ slightly adapted from the Kitchn ]

2 lbs russet potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and cubed into 2-inch chunks
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/4 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green onions
salt & pepper to taste
finely chopped chives for garnish

In a large pot, add the potatoes and cover with cold water. Place pot on stove top and bring to a boil. Boil the potatoes for 20 - 30 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender. Drain potatoes and add back to pot. Add to the pot mayonnaise, dry mustard, yellow mustard, celery, and green onion. Mash slightly with a potato masher, leaving quite a lot of chunks. If you like a smoother potato salad, mash more. Continue mixing by folding the ingredients with a rubber spatula. Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a large bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve topped with chives, if desired.

lemony quinoa, chickpea, + kale salad

Running.

Laundry.

Coffee.

Feed and change the baby. Times a thousand.

Catch up on the t-flo debacle.

More laundry.

Trying to bake in the 25 minute naps my daughter takes. About 5 times a day.

Stuffing my face with quinoa salad, feeling healthy, but then eating some chocolate right after.

Balance people. I'm still trying to figure it out, but it's getting better.

In my search to find balance, I'm always searching for a healthy meal. For some reason, I always seem to think meatless / vegan / vegetarian meals are best. Nothing makes me feel better than whole grains, beans, and tons of veg. 

Well, a really big spoonful of cream cheese frosting makes me feel pretty damn good too.

ps. every time I hear about Joy & Tracy refer to mesh panties, I almost pee from laughing.

pps. I need cookie butter.

ppps. Trader Joe's need to be in Canada, ASAP.

Lemony quinoa, chickpea + kale salad

[ adapted from Love and Lemons ]

2 cups cooked quinoa
1 clove garlic, minced
1 14oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups green kale, roughly chopped
4 radishes, sliced
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 fresh basil, chopped
salt & pepper to taste

dressing:


3 tablespoons olive oil
juice and zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon amber agave syrup

In a small bowl, whisk together all of your dressing ingredients. Season to taste with salt & pepper, set aside.

Place the minced garlic in a large bowl, followed by the warm quinoa and kale, toss to combine. Let rest for a few minutes and then toss in the remaining ingredients. You want to give the kale time to wilt a little bit before added all the other good stuff in. Toss in the dressing and season to taste with salt & pepper.

Today I'm one!

Today is the one year anniversary of me starting this blog!

It's flown by.

I've met many new people (hello 33 followers!), had lots of visitors (over 22 thousand to be exact), and have learned a great bit since I started this little chunk of the internets one year ago.

I've learned to have my true voice shine through, no matter what I'm writing about.

Take better photos! Get the right light, right equipment, and it will all fall into place.

Pimp your shit out. Wanna get more people to chat about kittens and cake batter with ? Social media. Srsly.

But, really I'm not here to preach, I'm here to show to recipe and kitchen adventures. So, to celebrate the baked life's birthday, let see some of my favourites.

 Crack pie. Always a teeth shattering treat.

Kugelhopf rolls. Worth the wait. Although, you may need to fight off your husband to even try them.

Cinnamon raisin bagels. If you have not made these from scratch, seriously, you are missing out.

Cream cheese cinnamon rolls. That is all.

Rhubarb + raspberry tart. Summer flavours in your mouth.

Homemade oreos. Let the photo do the convincing.

Finally, my most popular post (thanks Pinterest!). Orzo salad. I love this salad, we eat it pretty much everyday in the summer. You need to try it.

THANK YOU and here's to many more years of my crazy ramblings and cat photos. Yay!

black bean + heirloom tomato quinoa salad

Well folks, this is what we've been waiting for. The last few days of summer. Hot, dry, full of last minute parties, deep fried fair food, farmer's markets full of fresh, local produce, last minute road trips, everyone is trying to squeeze ever last drop out of summer before winter arrives. 

But I have to say, I'm kind of ready for fall. 

Summer is awesome and all, but I bought a new raincoat and I'm DYING to wear it. Quote me on this later, in January, when I am cursing the rain. 

broccoli slaw

Summer can come with some side effects that are not so pretty.

Mosquito bites (which I have three of on my right foot), overheating (especially while straightening my incredibly curly, unruly hair), and the worst of all, very unsightly tan lines.

I've been really trying to avoid getting the dreaded tank top tan lines on the chest and shoulder, and I think with my excessive wear of strapless maxi dresses, I've conquered that.

But, I have another very odd tan line.

It's on my right knee. It's a band aid tan line.

orzo salad

With the long awaited arrival of spring in Vancouver, I finally get to cook all of my favourite summer things.

Now it's acceptable to bbq everyday, rain or shine, eat ungodly amounts of corn on the cob, look for pretty, ruby red stalks of rhubarb at the farmers market, drink lots of unsweetened ice tea and/or blush wine and make orzo salad.

caesar salad + roasted garlic compund butter

I've been in a fog of playoff dreaming the last day or so.

My beloved Canucks have only 4 more wins to go.

I'm beyond freaking out. The husband is already planning where he will be on the parade route.

I know, I know, we still haven't even started the season, but it's just nice to think about.

Back to a few days ago on game day. It was kind of nice outside and I was feeling like something a little lighter for dinner. Of course I thought a salad would be amazing. Caesar salad is even better. Who doesn't love garlic breath?

But of course, the husband thought well a salad clearly isn't enough food. Dilemma.

chickpea wrap

When being in a marriage or any sort of long term relationship, you start to realize that your tastes are different. I'm talking about food.

The husband and I have a lot of favourite foods in common, like sushi, good Italian, real Mexico-style chips with guacamole, big, fresh salads and chocolate cake. But there's also a lot of things he won't eat that I love.

Mostly brown rice and whole grain bread. Or anything remotely healthy.

Cookies, cakes, apple crisp, popcorn and oranges are husband food.

sunday reflections + balsamic dressing

Friday was a beyond stressful day.

After hearing the tragic news, heard around the world about the devastating earthquake and tsunami that followed, I was in complete shock. 

bean. Interrupting my blogging with her cuteness.

I don't need to recap the details, because we've all been inidated with photos and videos that were too terrifying to recount.

This disaster really hit home when they announced the tsunami warning for the coast of British Columbia and realizing that we live on the EXACT same seismic plate. Should a large earthquake ever happen in this area, we would be going through the same thing as Japan. It was like watching our potential future unfold. I'm not a conspiracy theorist or some crazy person who's going to go into a panic, waiting for this day to come, but it just seemed to give me a gut check you know?

cat in a blanket.

Anyways, I still can't take my eyes off anything Japan related, but I'm really trying not to buy into the fear mongering.

To help, I sat on the couch on Saturday after a nice walk home from Jazzercise , in the rain might I add. Very nice for reflecting and just having a nice moment with my music playing in the background. Great for my hair? Not so much.

I eventually got off my ass to shower (the husband did tell me I stunk, nice guy I know) and start making my mom's homemade bolognese sauce. Recipe will follow eventually, it's sort of a cook by memory recipe. Means I actually have to measure before I share with you lovely people.  I'll get to it, I promise. 

But I do have a recipe to share! Hold on to your hats, it's salad dressing.

bean. Keeping an eye on my wine.

I know, this is a baking blog, for christs sake the name is the baked life! But sometimes, we like salads before our butter/sugar gluttony. Actually we love salads here. Everyone could use a little more greenery.

This dressing is super basic, but like most things that are really simple, crazy delicious. The hardest part was mincing the garlic. 

Please make this. It's much better than store bought.

I promise. You'll never doubt me again.

Balsamic dressing

[ from Bon Appetit via Epicurious ]

Makes 3/4 cup.

3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup olive oil

Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Gradually pour in oil, whisking as you pour. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Can be made up to 8 hours ahead, let stand at room temperature for at least 15 minutes before using. Re whisk to blend as needed. 

box cat strikes again.

ps. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I played with an extremely cute one year old. Baby giggles = distracted cook.

purple cabbage slaw

After a couple of weeks of pure butter, sugar, cheese and tortilla chip indulgence, I'm really craving some vegetables. Good hearty vegetables.

Nothing screams vegetables like a head of cabbage. Sometimes cabbage gets a bad rap. I think of boiled cabbage that I used to eat as a child and it sends shivers down my spine.

Nowadays I prefer my cabbage in rolls or in slaw form. Coleslaw is one of the best way to throw a salad together in no time flat. I know you would usually reserve it summer barbeque's and such, but I felt like it last night.

After an ass kicker workout at the gym (my ass needed it after 2 weeks off), I didn't really feel like being gourmet. Sometimes that happens. Actually that happens alot on weeknights. Not uncommon from most households, so unless I make or plan ahead, I will usually just throw something together. I try and plan my meals before I go to grocery store but that never really works out. So I just keep staples around so I can throw something together last minute.

Good cook, yes. Good menu planner, no.


Simply coleslaw


[loosely adapted from Gourmet]

2 1/2 lbs purple cabbage, cored and cut into 3 inch chunks then finely chopped or shredded
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 large carrot, coarsely grated
1 1/4 cups mayonnaise
1/3  cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar

Toss all vegetable in large bowl with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.
In a small  bowl whisk together mayonnaise, vinegar and sugar. Pour over cabbage mix and toss to coat. Let sit in refrigerator, uncovered for at least an hour. Veggies will start to wilt and the flavours will brighten. Slaw tastes really good on it's own but it also great on top of pulled pork or in tacos.