Happy All Hallow’s Eve to all Goblins!

The autumn is such a wonderful time of year in this part of the world (Eastern Canada). The wonderful colours of the leaves in the forest and on the large tress lining our streets, ranging from yellow ocher, burnt orange, to fiery red, are so rich and cheerful! And the outdoor markets are filled with colourful seasonal produce, including all the different types of winter squash that are wonderful to use in cooking and decorating!

That's me, a few years ago, with a bunch of squash "geese" in Montreal's Jean-Talon Market!  Pumpkin anyone?!

While the evenings get a little cooler, there are still lots of warm sunny days ~ just perfect for preparing all sorts of comforting dishes, hearty bakes, harvest breads, cakes, cookies, and other baked goodies. Then of course, there is one of the world's oldest holidays, All Hallow's Eve or Halloween as it's more commonly called ~ a great reason to have fun!

Two lovely ladies adding to the cheerfulness of Montreal's  Jean-Talon Market.

The essential elements of Halloween, such as costuming, trick-or-treating, lighting bonfires, telling ghost stories, and attending community parties can be traced back 2000 years ago to the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (SOW-in or SOW-an), which means “summer’s end.” As the second major seasonal festival of the year (the first was called Beltain, celebrated around May 1st), Samhain marked the death of summer and the beginning of the Celtic New Year (Rogers 2002). As a moment of change, Samhain was viewed as a night of magic and power. [source: Random History]

Naturally, one of the most fun elements of Halloween for any foodie like me is making all sorts of goodies for  the little and bigger goblins around us! This year, I took a cake decorating course at the Academie Culinaire in Old Montreal, and we created a Halloween themed cake. Our Chef, Eleni, was great fun and as sweet as the cakes we were decorating! She suggested a spider and cobweb design, so here is my decorated cake:

The cake is a light genoise which I split into 3 layers. I sandwiched the layers with vanilla pastry cream, then covered the cake in Swiss meringue buttercream, before decorating it with thin fondant. The body of the spider is almond paste that I molded by hand. Yummy and quite light!

I also made dozens of large and mini Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream (all home-made of course, including the caramel à la fleur de sel), which I distributed to friends, family and neighbors. And oh my! These were such a huge hit! The cupcakes were based on a Martha Stewart recipe, although I changed the preparation technique completely (I'll be posting the recipe in another post on my gourmet webzine, www.EpicureanPiranha.com); and the icing is a simple buttercream blended with lots of salted caramel (i.e. caramel à la fleur de sel). I found some fun decorations this year ~ little pumpkin food pics and the tiniest black candy bats for decorating cakes ~ so this is what my mini Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream looked like:

Last year, I had made these cute little mini dark chocolate cupcakes, and had lots of fun making tiny almond paste pumpkins to decorate them:

The recipe for these intensely fudgy, chocolate cupcakes was from Martha Stewart, and I decorated them with a very light vanilla buttercream; sure to tame even the most evil of witches and goblins!

So here's wishing you all a fun, sweet, and slightly spooky Halloween!

My Darling Mom ~ 80 & Still as Fab as Always ♥

My darling Mom ~ Still Young and Fabulous at 80! 

It was my mother's birthday August 3rd, 2012. Two weeks before her birthday, having pondered what I should do to help her celebrate, I finally decided to have a surprise party for her at our home.

The festive buffet table, filled with tempting verrines & cocktail bites, all made by myself or our dear friend Sue, who prepared four of the dishes.  Some of the goodies you see: Tiny Marinated and Bar-B-Que'd Chicken Tikka skewers which I served on a fresh Cucumber Mint Raita in small verrines (these are on the square serving platter front left); Smoked-Salmon and Fresh Dill Canapés on thin Rye Bread spread with Lemon Pepper Butter (center front); miniature Vol-au-Vents filled with Ratatouille that I prepared with fresh herbs from my garden and veggies cut in brunoise (seen in the small rectangular serving dish, center); Sue's Deviled Eggs; tiny Cheese, Jalapeno, and Olive Empanaditas in a Cheese-Butter Crust (seen on the small glass cake pedestal behind the Deviled Eggs) ...

It took quite a lot of planning, but with the help of friends and family, we managed to ensure it would be a totally unexpected surprise. Mom's birthday was on the Friday, but I wanted to have the party on Sunday so it would be easier for more people to be there. One of our relatives had already planned a small dinner party for her on the Thursday night. Dreaming up a little white lie, I told her I would have to be in the Eastern Townships until the Saturday night (to accompany my sweetheart at a fundraiser his sports club was organizing). Have to admit that I felt a pang of guilt about telling her I'd miss her birthday (even though I was planning a special treat for her) but she assured me it was OK, and I promised I'd have a small but special private dinner for her on the Sunday.

A close friend had already planned to invite her out for her birthday on the Friday for lunch, and when I explained my plan to yet other friends, they decided to invite her to dinner on the Friday night. In addition, she'd already been invited to a darling friend's 104th Birthday on the Saturday night (yes, that's correct - 104 years young!), so she had no time to feel lonely!

With all that celebrating during the week, she could not imagine what surprise awaited her at our place when she arrived with her friend Rita! All the friends who'd celebrated with her during the week and other family and friends were there, waiting to greet her. Mom was not only surprised ~ the gleam in her eyes and her contagious laughter said it all! It made all the effort so worthwhile ♥ Like a typical lady, her only worry was that she was dressed too casually, but we all assured her she looked great ♥

Mom and some of the guests shortly after Mom had arrived. We ended up being 23 in all ~ 

Below is a photo of the large 11 x 15 inch, two-layer lemon-scented butter cake I created for her.  Filled and frosted in Italian limoncello-flavoured buttercream, topped with a layer of almond paste, then covered in limoncello flavoured fondant to give the cake a mirror-like finish, I then wrapped three fresh white roses with pink ribbon and placed them on the cake. These added a special touch, not only because of their beauty but because my Mother's name is Rose-Blanche, which means white rose!

Unfortunately, I ran out of time to make more buttercream (which takes quite a while to make) and had to make due with what I had left to decorate the cake. Then a little hole appeared in my small piping bag and my writing ended up a little wonky, but with the fresh roses, everyone thought it was quite pretty nonetheless! I must say that the flavour, delicate and not too sweet except for thin layer of fondant and almond paste, was the perfect pairing for the sparkling Rosé we served with it ♥

The Limoncello-flavoured birthday cake with fondant icing which I created for Mom, decorated with 3 fresh white roses.

In addition to the Birthday Cake, I also made a dozen small Lemon Sour Cream Bundt Cakes in pretty shapes (which you can see below), some of which I decorated with fresh rosebuds and placed in tall glass petite cake pedestals with glass domes to decorate the table; I later gave some away to friends who had helped either making food or assembling the verrines and platters ♥

Small Lemon Sour Cream Bundt Cakes in pretty shapes sit under glass domes.

Mom, below, looking  positively radiant as she reads her small booklet of personal greetings written by all who were at the party.

One thing is for sure, I could never have organised this so successfully without the help of all our wonderful friends and family! Huge thanks go out from my heart to my sweetheart Claude, Solange (merci mille fois pour toute ton aide!), Sue Potter-Lee (thank you so much for all the help and the wonderful dishes you prepared), Marielle, Claude, & Rita (pour votre amour et votre complicité!), and to everyone else who lent a hand here and there ~ I love you all!

~ 9 11 2011 ~ We Remember

~ 9 11 2011 ~ We Remember, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha ~ enjoying last days of summer! on Flickr.

~ a small but heartfelt tribute ...


A personal thought ::

Is remembering enough?

No. We should all remember and strive for greater peace and harmony in this world, starting with the smallest things. Peace and harmony with the people around us;  the people we see everyday. Deeply ingrained beliefs are hard to change, but we must start somewhere ...

A Festive Apricot Orange Almond Bread ...

A Festive Apricot Orange Almond Bread ..., a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha on Flickr.

...this is what I baked for my Mom on Mother's Day. Perfect for special days, for brunch, or afternoon tea ♥

Freshly published on my gourmet blog/webzine: Festive Apricot Orange Almond Bread ♥

Deliciousness !, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha on Flickr.

A Wonderful Surpise Tasting Gift!

A Wonderful Surpise Tasting Gift!, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha on Flickr.

Via Flickr :
Last week, after creating my official EpicureanPiranha Page on Facebook, the charming owner of É Café Canada, Michel Alloul, left me a message to say how much he enjoyed my gourmet webzine. We started chatting on Facebook about food, coffee, and coffee beans, and Michel said he’d send me some of their coffee for me to try.

I had been expecting a few small samples ~ so imagine my delight and surprise upon receiving a large box containing a selection of four 454 g bags of their coffees, a package of dark chocolate covered coffee beans, a package of dark chocolate covered cranberries, and a package of assorted biscotti!

I’ll be writing up a review and posting a new article on my webzine about all the É Café goodies and coffees I received, so watch out for it soon!

Savouring Quebec

One of my Facebook friends posted a link to an article on the Louis d'Or today, a Quebec cheese from the Fromagerie du Presbytère which won first prize in the prestigious Canadian Cheese Grand Prix. As I was reading the article, from the Montreal Gazette, I came across another interesting bit of info which I thought might interest some of my readers:

"If you plan a holiday in Quebec this year, the latest edition of the annual guide to B and B's, inns, and farms to visit which offers a savoury collection of addresses throughout the province has just been published. Called Terroir et saveurs du Québec (Guides de voyage Ulysse, $24.95), it lists 330 places to stay or dine, 250 farms and producers of foods, wines and ciders, 105 restaurants serving local products, plus careful directions, maps and copious photographs. It's a mouthwatering read...."

Read more on the Online version of the Montreal Gazette: Quebec Cheese Wins Award.

From: http://www.bonjourquebec.com/  Travel Media Centre

You'll find lots more information on Quebec's official tourism website, Bonjour Quebec. Here's a link to the site. It provides information on some key events taking place in the Province, as well as other usful info (to change the language, check the top right hand of the screen where you can select French, English or Spanish):

Bonjour Quebec Travel Media Centre.

Morrocan Chicken with Chickpeas, Almonds, & Currants

Morrocan Chicken with Chickpeas, Almonds, & Currants, a photo by ©EpicureanPiranha on Flickr.

This is a lovely Morrocan dish, but unlike the original, it is much lower in fat because the chicken is skinned. The recipe is from a Time Life series of French cookbooks I bought years ago on healthier eating, and sadly lacked flavour. So I adjusted the spices and seasonings, and the resulting flavour was perfect! Subtle, delicious ...perfect with a chilled, dry rosé or white wine, or a cold Boréale Blanche white beer "on lie" from one of Quebec's excellent micro breweries!

Hazelnut broyage layered with cream, fresh peaches & blueberries

Hazelnut broyage layered with cream, fresh peaches & blueberries
Mise en ligne par ©EpicureanPiranha

"Meringue gateaux are wonderful concoctions based on layers or pieces of meringue to which ground nuts may have been added, which once baked, are layered with one or more preparations of flavoured whipped cream, light buttercream, pastry cream, ganache, fresh fruit, fruit compotes, or a multitude of other fillings and filling combinations.

If ground nuts have been added to the meringue, the mixture is then known as ~ depending on the recipe’s origin and the type of filling(s) used ~ success, progress, japonais, grillage, broyage, dacquoise, or russe. These delicious types of meringue range from very crisp to very chewy, depending on the proportion of nuts, sugar, and egg whites used, as well as how they are baked."

~ the ©EpicureanPiranha


I had leftover egg whites I needed to use the other day, so I decided to make some toasted hazelnut meringues. The delicious flavour of hazelnuts, gently toasted then finely ground, makes the meringue rich and just slightly chewy in the centre. Whipped cream flavoured with vanilla and a little brown sugar to give it a delicate caramel flavour, blueberries and thinly sliced fresh peaches are a lovely compliment to the hazelnuts.

Lovely with an espresso or perfect to end a meal :-)

MYTH: "Making Bread the Traditional Way Takes Too Long"

MYTH: "Making Bread the Traditional Way Takes Too Long"
Mise en ligne par ©EpicureanPiranha

"...making bread takes very little actual time on your part - about 15 minutes at the start, to measure, mix, and knead the ingredients is all that's needed, plus a few minutes time and attention to punch the dough down and knead once or twice between provings, then to place the dough into the greased tins. The dough itself and the oven take care of the rest, leaving you plenty of time to do whatever you wish in between!" ~ ©EpicureanPiranha

Next time it’s raining or stormy outside, why not try this delicious recipe for oatmeal bread. I’ve detailed and photographed each step. Creating something so delicious and satisfying from simple ingredients using one’s own hands, without the need for more than a few measuring cups and spoons, is unbelievably satisfying and therapeutic!

I hope you'll have a look at the recipe and be tempted to try it - it's actually very simple if you follow the steps I've fully illustrated. Here is a direct link: Step-By-Step Instuctions for Making Great Bread"

Emergency Cake Fix!

Emergency Cake Fix!
Mise en ligne par ©EpicureanPiranha

Muffins are a great emergency fixe when you have a craving for cake! They’re quick and easy to prepare, bake quickly, and taste best warm from the oven so there’s no waiting :-)

I created these Butterscotch Pecan Bites today for my brother-in-law Ron – he loves having sweet pastries or cake for dessert and is arriving from Alaska with my sister this evening to visit. They’re made with rich 10% fat yogurt, brown sugar, loads of tiny butterscotch bits wrapped in milk chocolate (a recent discovery ♥), and my favourite nuts, pecans.

The recipe is coming up soon on EpicureanPiranha.com, my epicurean webzine ♥