Key Lime goodness

Thanks to an amazingly super-cheap Air Canada seat sale, Jeff and I are headed south for some sunshine and R&R in a few weeks. It has been a long year with us each facing a relentless pace at school/work and things have (unfortunately) intensified a lot over the past 2 months... so vacation is most welcome. Jeff has always wanted to drive down the Florida Keys so that is exactly what we are going to do! To tackle some much needed planning for this trip, we enjoyed som home made coconut ice cream (our new #1 choice for dairy-free ice cream) while huddled in front of my computer as we sorted out accommodations for our trip and made plans to swim with dolphins, snorkel, visit civil war forts and eat conch fritters and Key Lime Pie.

I love just about anything made with lemons or limes and thoughts of Key Lime Pie were still on my brain yesterday. It was my week to make dinner for our small group and since one of our members was celebrating his very important 2nd birthday, cake was needed as well! I made Key Lime mini-cupcakes and they were so yummy that Jeff said I had to share the recipe. Here goes.

adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine, Sep 2008

Yield: 12-14 cupcakes (I made 24 minis and 6 regular)

1 3/4 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs at room temperature

2 1/2 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon of lime zest

a few drops of green food colouring

3/4 cup buttermilk (I substitute soy milk)

1. Preheat over to 350*F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and coat with cooking spray.

2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter/margarine on low until it is softened a little. Add the sugar and increase speed to medium. Beat until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lime juice, lime zest and food colouring and beat until mixed. The mixture will look curdled- do not worry!

4. Add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Mix on low until just combined. Fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full.

5. Bake 20-25 minutes or until cakes test done. Cool completely and frost with lime cream cheese icing.

Lime Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup butter or margarine at room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese room temperature, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/4 cups sifted icing sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest

Beat the butter at low speed until it is soft. Increase speed to medium and add cream cheese, one piece at a time. Reduce to low speed and add vanilla and powdered sugar. Mix until icing is smooth. Stir in lime zest and enjoy!

The first time I made these, I prettied up the icing and garnished with a nibble of lime.

Garden View

As I look back to photos of our garden at this time last spring, the first cherry tree was in full bloom, the magnolias were out and most of the spring bulbs were budding. That's certainly not the case this year! With our "cold" winter this year (remember, this is a relative term!), the crocuses are the only things blooming this week and even they are a little late!

The difference a few days make

Here is the view from our front stoop (to the right, then left) as I posted a few days ago. Nice and springy, right?! The magnolia buds make me so happy.

Here are the same views, yesterday. Not so springy.

Kitchen riddle solved

Two brave souls offered guesses to the kitchen riddle I posted below. This odd mix of powder, seeds and allyl isothiocyanates turned out to be neither cheese or home-made poison.....

it's MUSTARD! While you probably think I'm crazy to waste time and effort to make mustard, one taste will convince you otherwise. Jeff loves it on roast beef, burgers and sandwiches while I love it in salad dressings, marinades or mixed with brown sugar to glaze salmon or ham. This year's batch was my 14th (if memory serves correctly) and I used Guinness for the base. It's the only Martha Stewart recipe I regularly make and its one I'm happy to share.

adapted from Martha Stewart Living Magazine
yield: ~ 3.5 cups

1 cup mustard powder

1 cup water

3/4 cup of mixed brown and yellow mustard seeds (I usually do 1/2 cup of brown and 1/4 cup of yellow)

1 1/4 cup dark beer (this year was Guinness but I have used all sorts of stouts and ales to great success)

1 1/4 cups white-wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground turmeric

1/4 tsp. ground mace

1. In a glass measure, combine mustard powder and water. Mix well and let stand for 20 minutes.

2. In a non reactive bowl, combine beer, vinegar and mustard seeds. Add mustard powder mixture and mix well. Cover the bowl with a non-reactive plate and let sit 48 hours.

3. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Transfer to a food processor and process. If you want grainy mustard, process 1-2 minutes; for a creamier mustard, process 5-6 minutes.

4. Transfer to airtight containers and refrigerate 1 week before using to let the flavours develop. Martha Stewart says the mustard keeps for 1 month but in my experience, it keeps well for at least 6 months.

5. Enjoy!

Birthday boy

Celebrating

It is a BIG weekend for us.  My Valentine has a pretty big milestone and we will be celebrating his 40 years on this planet with a hike and dinner at a country pub on Sunday afternoon with friends.

It's no secret that Jeff loves music. His favourite composer is Mahler - to Jeff, Mahler's music is the sound of beauty, and of love.  In honour of Jeff's birthday, I hope you will take a few minutes to listen to one of his favourite Mahler passages- the second movement of the Second Symphony. Jeff would be so pleased if you did. 

Kitchen riddle

I am a mix of the contents of these two bowls and need to soak/marinate for 48 hours before I am ready.

Part of me (on the left) is a thick yellow liquid with a sharp, pungent flavour resulting from the allyl isothiocyanates created when I was mixed with cold water.  The other part of me (on the right) is more mellow but filled with seeds.

When I am done, I will be strong enough to make you cry.

What am I?!?!

Moving forward

Life in these parts has been pretty quiet... and focused. The good news is that I have made major headway during the past two weeks developing my thesis concept and the bad news.... well, this headway has been made possible through long, long, LONG hours of work.  January was a really tough month- one where I considered the real possibility that grad school is beyond my capability and I might need to quit- but I think I have turned a corner and things are better.

I only have to turn on the news for 30 seconds these days to be reminded of how fortunate I am.  My life is revolution-free, snow and sub-zero temperature-free and the crazy lady across the street has moved away (taking her out of control barking puppy and boom-box boyfriend with her). To top it all off...our primroses are blooming, the daffodils are growing and our magnolia preparing to blossom.  Yes- much to be thankful for.