Colder weather

Umm can you say ‘Brrrrr!!’ After being completely spoilt with beautiful weather for the last week or so, Calgary has taken a turn for the freezing and is decidedly UNspring-like. We had a bit of a storm this morning but I managed to brave the chill to go out for groceries and found this adorable little Twinning’s tea tin at the store. It just had to come home with me. What’s better than curling up with a good book and a hot cup of tea when it’s this cold out?

This weekend also marked the official christening of my apartment’s oven. I’ve been slightly terrified to turn it on because when I first moved in, the cleaners had not wiped the solution off the stove burners and I nearly had a heart attack when I turned them on to make tea and instead my apartment quickly filled with burning chemical fumes. It took me a solid week of not using it before I realized that they had to be a) thoroughly scrubbed clean and b) slowly coaxed up to maximum heat to burn of the stubborn residual cleaning solutions. Needless to say, I was a bit hesitant to repeat the scenario with an oven that can get four times hotter than the stove top. Luckily, they either hadn’t cleaned the oven or had remembered to wipe off the cleaning solution because there was no acrid chemical burning smell this time around and I was able to do some baking and making of kale chips.

I had never made kale chips before but decided to be adventurous. Normally, I’m not a big fan of raw kale (odd for a vegetarian, I know) but there’s something about the texture that just puts me off. In smoothies or roasted, it’s fine, so I was really hopeful that the kale chips would turn out. They totally did and they’re so easy to make. Literally all you do is wash the kale, dry it thoroughly, lightly toss with some extra virgin olive oil/pepper/salt and throw them in the oven at about 350 for 30 mins. And voila!

Yum. It was definitely a Betty Crocker-style weekend. A colleague of mine had brought in vegan pumpkin scones earlier in the week and, almost being interested in ways to make baking healthier, I couldn’t wait to whip up a batch of these. They are literally the easiest thing in the world to make.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp ginger powder
2 tsp cinnamon
as many chopped walnuts and raisins as you want
1/2 cup vegan margarine (I just used regular margarine)
2 cups pureed pumpkin

Combine the dry ingredients then add the margarine and pumpkin puree. Mix and then knead on a floured surface. Flatten the dough into about one inch thick and then cut like a pizza. Pop into a 425 degree oven for 15 mins and you’re all done!

I halved the recipe and it made eight triangular scones (that are WAY better than the ones at Starbucks).

All in all, not a bad way to get started on the coming week eh?

Amanda Connolly