CSN Store Giveaway!!

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm hosting a giveaway with the help of CSN stores for all my lovely followers! The Lucky winner will receive a $40 gift card to CSN stores that they can spend in not only their lovely dinnerware store, but in over 200 other stores owned by CSN!

Check out some of the lovely things you could buy from Dinnerware!

Look at all this lovely dinnerware! You could take AWESOME food photography pictures with these, or host fabulous dinners. And who knew? Versace makes dinnerware?! Doesn't get anymore chique than this!

But if Dinnerware doesn't strike your fancy, check out their other stores. From Home Decor, Housewares, Home Improvement, Babies and Kids, to School and Office Supplies, shoes, and a Pet section, they are truly a "one stop shop" !!

get your coffee fix!

Rachel Ray's BEST SELLING set!  (Now almost $200 off!)

I would SO add this to my room!

Everyone knows that knee high boots are totallyyy in this season ;)

As for my personal "to buy" list?

I already got the mixer....

Now for the add ons.... ;)

and....I really want a tart pan. I just do ok? Don't judge. ;)

Now that I've got you all drooling, Heres how you can win!

CONTEST RULES:

How To Enter:

1. You MUST be a follower of me via google-friend connect, because if you don't want to VISIBLY be my friend, then you don't want to win! ;)

(if you already are then yay! proceed to step 2!)

2. Write a comment telling me what YOU would buy from their store! (feel free to look around at any/all of them!)

and thats it! Easy as that. You don't need to jump through hoops or make fire out of sticks. :)

BUT WAIT! Theres more! If you want a few extra ballots to increase your chances you can also do the following: 

1) Follow me on Twitter (then add another comment telling me you did (or that you already do))

2) Retweet my "enter the contest" tweet or just tweet about the contest (and come back here and tell me you did) You can say something like: " Check out @ediblemoments giveaway ( http://twitthis.com/wdfzb9 ) for a chance to win $40 gift-certificate!" then post ANOTHER comment telling me you did.

MAKE SURE YOU POST SEPARATELY FOR EACH. SO EACH ENTRY GET'S ITS OWN COMMENT. THEREFORE A MAXIMUM OF 3 SEPARATE COMMENTS

Also please note: 

*** MAKE SURE you leave your name/email/blog etc or someway for me to contact you! (Or else I cant give you the prize if you win! and that would make me sad.=(

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Best Ever Biscotti, New Beginnings, and a Giveaway!

**To all my beloved followers, those who comment and those silent ninjas whose support means oh so much to me too, I’ve decided to host a giveaway for you guys! Please check the bottom of the post for more details! Or CLICK HERE**

When I was sitting in my first class of the year, my professor passed around a ‘sign in’ sheet. Since I’ve been going to Carleton U for a while now, this practice has become quite common place for me. Once the sheet got around to me, I filled out the section for my name, student number, major, and then finally, my year. I instinctively wrote down “2^nd”, but then I realized…no, wait, I’m in third year now! And for some reason this little reality check hit me like a ton of bricks.  I turned to Jordan and informed him of this startling fact, that we are indeed in 3^rd year, but he seemed to be a bit more preoccupied with foodgawker. (who can blame him really? ;)) I’m not sure why this affected me so much, because every year is a new year, and every September I go “woah! I’m another year ahead!”

I think the reason it affected me this much is that I’ve been really reflecting on my life lately, and I feel like everything is going by in super-warp speed. I remember high school like it was yesterday! Going to the cafeteria for lunch, kids skipping class and thinking they are SO Bad ass…thinking about what you want to do and what schools you should apply to…it all seems like a super fast blur now. And as for university…seriously? I’m in third year?! How did THAT happen?! I feel like just this morning I walked through the doors of Carleton, a bright eyed eager freshman, ready for the ‘college experience’, marveling with Jordan about how amazingly ‘free’ we are in comparison to high school. Buying our first books. Getting lost in the tunnels. Being lost in class. Getting lost on the bus ride back home. At a loss for time during my first ever ‘true’ all nighter. Lost. Lost. Lost. Yet somehow, these supposed ‘losses’ have become such fond memories, that perhaps they may be the reason why third year scares me. Third year is one year less than fourth year, and forth year is the last year before you get out of university and enter the ‘real world’. And that ladies and gentleman, is scary. 

I randomly had the urge to make Biscotti this week, and I remembered a recipe that I had tried a long, long, longgggg time ago, back when I had FIRST started this blog. This brought back even more memories. You see, I started my precious food blog my freshman year, and to say I was proud of my work would be an understatement. I thought I was so awesome. Seriously. I mean…I had a blog. About food. I mean. Come on. How AWESOME is that?! Though I remember being so proud of that, its funny that looking back…I’m almost ashamed…those biscotti pictures that I was SO proud of? Well I came *this* close to deleting the post, because it was just plain embarrassing. Dark, blurry, and just plain icky. And the post? I posted not one recipe, not two recipes, but THREE recipes. All complete with their own pics. And my grammar? Not so good. 

As embarrassing as this post might be, in a way it makes me happy, that since then I have improved dramatically(at least I hope I have ;) ). I guess with every ending is a new beginning and that’s what I’m going to be focusing on.

And to celebrate new beginnings, I’ve decided to host my first ever giveaway to thank all you AWESOME followers! Click HERE to enter!

 Best Ever Biscotti

(source)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup light olive oil
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 1/2 cups pistachio nuts

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix together oil and sugar until well blended. Mix in the vanilla and almond extracts, then beat in the eggs. Combine flour, salt, and baking powder; gradually stir into egg mixture. Mix in cranberries and nuts by hand.
3. Divide dough in half. Form two logs (12x2 inches) on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Dough may be sticky; wet hands with cool water to handle dough more easily.
4. Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until logs are light brown. Remove from oven, and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven heat to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
5. Cut logs on diagonal into 3/4 inch thick slices. Lay on sides on parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until dry; cool.
   

 My Notes on this recipe: I didnt have cranberries or pistachios on hand so I just substituted with sliced almonds ( I didnt change the recipe cause its really yummy with the cranberries and pistachios ;) ) As well, I dont like my biscotti TOO hard, so I only baked it oh so slightly the second time around. And as for the forming of the 'logs' I did that the first time around and it doesn't turn out too good. Instead, just make a rectangular shape, and then cut it! :) Overall this Biscotti recipe is amazing and deserves the "best ever Biscotti" title! Enjoy!

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Bipolar weather and Fudgey Homemade Brownies

I swear our weather is bipolar.

In the past few weeks we have had extremely hot and humid days reaching 38C (100F), and then two days later we will have rainstorms, then a day later it’ll be 14C (57F), and then the next day, will be like today, with awful thunderstorms.

How awful? I’ll tell you how awful. Zahra was fast asleep when at 3:30 am she woke up with a start, and sat straight up in bed going “huh? What?” Yah. That’s right. The thunder storm was sooo loud it woke me up at 3 in the morning. ME. Ms.sets-an-alarm-clock-2-hrs-before-she-gets-up-so-she-can-press-snooze-20-times. Ms.litterally-slept-through-a-fire-alarm. So you kinda get a picture of just how BAD it was. Now I don’t know what’s worst - waking up like that? Or then being wide awake in your dark room with a crazy thunderstorm all around you, threatening to engulf you as your bedroom walls shake with the vibrations. I tell you, I was *this close* to running into my Mommy and Daddy’s bed, just like I did years ago when I was a kid. *this close*

Anyways, needless to say I woke up a few hours later - after somehow falling asleep after an hour of lying awake in bed - confused and disoriented and my dad asking me if I was not going to work today, since my bus leaves in 10 min and I’m still lying in bed. To make matters worst, when I finally stumbled into the office with a killer headache, (and a forgotten lunch at home) I opened my secret snack drawer and realized I was all out of teabags.

This.is.panic time.

I was already exhausted from the thunderstorm, and now Zahra the caffeine addict, the must must MUST have her tea girl….stuck…without tea?! Lets just say that this was one of those Mondays.

So when I got home, I made myself a nice big cup of dark, strong, Black tea and gulped it down. But I still needed an extra…something….so I made these delicious brownies. The perfect comfort food after one of 'those days'. They are those chocolatey no non-sensey fudgey brownies, that probably have a million calories each but you honestly dont care, because you've had 'one of those days'.

 Fudgy Homemade Brownies

 Source

Ingredients:
1 1/3c semi-sweet chocolate chips (use best quality-Guittard or Ghiradelli)
5 Tbsp butter
1tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4c sugar
1/4tsp salt
3 Tbsp baking cocoa
1/3c flour

Directions:
1. In a double boiler, melt chocolate chips and butter together. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until light yellow and in the ribbon stage (you know you’ve reached this when you can lift up your whisk and the egg mixture drip down in a steady ribbon rather than in gloopy clumps). Stir in salt and cocoa and mix well to combine.
3. Stir chocolate mixture into egg mixture and combine well. Sift over flour and fold in until just mixed. Do not overmix, or you will have tough, dry brownies and I will cry for you.
4.Pour into a sprayed 8 x 8″ baking pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

**do not over bake and allow to cool completely before cutting*

Recipe Review: These were fudgey. I think that about somes it up. I mean just look at those pics and you just know you are in for a bite of intense, luxuriously sinful chocolatey bliss. These are on the fudgey full blown chocolate end of the brownie scale, which is exactly what I was looking for. However, if you are more in the mood for a 'cakey' brownie than a fudgey one then check out my go to brownie recipe. Overall, these were yum and I will make again! :)

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Moist Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

I apologize for the lack of posts. It almost seems like whenever I make a decision to start posting more, life swoops in and makes it so that I can not only not update more often, but that I can’t update at all! Life has been very un-cooperative as of late, and work has kept me uber busy. Allow me to outline to you my days: I wake up early at 7 late at 8 am, and scramble to catch my bus at 8:15 (you don’t want to know the craziness I go through every morning trying to get ready in 15 min) and hop onto the bus to work. I get to work at 9, and jolt myself awake with a caffeine boost, and then its work, work, work until 5 (sometimes 6). By the time I get home its 6 (sometimes 7) and I’m exhausted. So I figure I’ll take a quick break, rejuvenate, then bake something delicious, take loads of pretty pics, and then update away! What really happens: plop face first into my comfy bed with all its comfy pillows. End up accidentally falling asleep. Wake up an hour later wondering whats going on? Contemplate what I should bake. Check my email. Watch some youtube. Catch up on a TV show or two, and before I know it its midnight! :o

So then, I think to myself, on the weekend I’ll bake a BUNCH of stuff and then update throughout the week with it! Yay! Right? Nay. Every single weekend has been cloudy and rainy! EVERY. SINGLE. WEEKEND. How am I supposed to take pretty pictures without any good lighting? I swear its like life is laughing in my face. Working on files all day at work? Sure! I’ll pour in lots of beautiful sunshine and PERFECT weather. Excited for the weekend and all the baking? How about I stop the sunshine on Friday, give you thunderstorms on the weekend, and bring back the shine on Monday


The weathers a bitch. Plain and simple.

Now that I have that off my chest, on to these delicious lemon poppy seed cakes. I made them way back in January because I was getting the winter blues and need something light and ‘summery’, so I guess that would fit in quite snugly now what with all our 40C hot weather!

Moist Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

(from AllRecipes)

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour

• 1 1/8 cups white sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest

• 4 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

• 1 1/3 cups unsalted butter, softened

• 5 eggs

• 3/4 cup white sugar

• 3/4 cup lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

2. Sift together the flour, 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar and salt. Then mix in the lemon peel, poppy seeds and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. In a saucepan over low heat; cook 3/4 cup white sugar and the lemon juice until stirring until sugar is dissolved. Let cool to just warm or to room temperature.

5. Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack-place a cookie sheet underneath this rack. Prick the top of the cake several times with a toothpick. Brush the top of the cake with the warm or room temperature syrup, allowing lots of the syrup to run down and soak into the sides and bottom of the cake. Cool slightly in the pan before removing the cake to the wire rack to cool completely. When completely cooled, wrap the cake in foil or plastic freezer wrap and let the cake rest at least one day before serving to your guests.

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