Re: Education Part 1

I am fortunate enough to work for people who consider continuing education for their staff to be extemely important, and acually go to great lengths (and expense) to see to it that we get a very good education. So, on that note, I will warn you that my brain is currently swiss cheese from attending classes for the past few days, though I have to admit, I loved it. I was That Kid, the one that couldn't wait to go back-to-school shopping every August, who couldn't wait to get new textbooks and find out what we'd be learning next. I still am.

If you were to go through my bookshelf, firstly my husband would probably look the other way if you stole something because it would delay his having to try to figure out where yet Another bookshelf was supposed to go. Secondly,  you would also note quite the disparity of subject matter. I went through a phase where I was fascinated by physics, another where I read as much as I could on global politics as pertaining to the oil and war industries (and thank all the gods that That was short lived), not to mention my uber-snot phase where I couldn't get enough of the Greek masters. However, the lions share of my collection is and has always been my cookbooks. I read them! I'm like a little kid with the pictures, I point at them and say "Look!!"! If it is a book about food, and it will teach me something, hand it over and you'd better say if you want it back!

Now, imagine my abject horror when first, I had to cut out all dairy (I am severely intollerant to caseine) but then also all gluten. Argh!! What was I supposed to do with my lovelies??  Tried and tested recipes, favourites, the baking....(insert overly dramatic hand gesturing here) I am pretty sure at some point I cried. Basically, life sucked.

At first, I readily accepted all the sympathy I was given (who wouldn't? My life had been totally turned upside down, me, who loved food that much. What the hell was I supposed to do?  I indulged my inner diva and preened a little bit, that's what). However, it didn't take very long before I actually started thinking about what  I was being asked most often: so what are you going to eat now? It took even less time for me to accept the statement "Oh, I'd kill myself!" as a challenge. Why should I kill myself? I already knew how bad fast food is, and unfortunately found myself relying on it far too often. When you consider how much I have always loved to cook, I had certainly allowed myself to slack off. Now throw in the fact that Montreal has two fantastic markets, both the Jean Talon and the Atwater which are open all year round, plus a million little fruitterie and shops, and I really had zero excuse. Okay. Pitty party over, aaaaaaaaaaand Go!

It took me a couple months to get bored of what I could cook that I was 100% sure had no gluten or dairy; a lot of soy products, fresh fruits and veggies and meats. I ate really well, but the minute you accept that kind of challenge, what are you going to eat now, you keep it in the back of your head. If you've already eaten it, you remember, and store it away for future reference, but you go looking for the next thing. You remember the dishes you used to love, and the things you'd always wanted to try, and All Those Cookbooks.

It has taken me over 2 years to get to where I feel confident enough to try to convert over just about any recipe so that I get to eat it too, though that doesn't mean it's going to work! I have had my share of flops (one of the guys I worked with suggested we use the first chocolate cake I ever attempted to replace some of the bricks in the building we worked at, and I have as yet to successfully make cinnamon buns, but those are stories for other times) and my husband and I have a pact that any experiment that is Not a success goes in the garbage, even if it means going out for dinner. However, I am having more fun playing with this than I would have every imagined! Quite possibly, the biggest compliment I now get is when people ask me what my lunch is, I tell them and they ask "You can eat that?". Most excellent.

Mug Shots!

Mug Shots!

Wow... Get married, move, adopt a new kitten and it's a year later! Hehe.. Oops! Fortunately, I have a number of Very good friends with hob nailed boots more than willing to kick me in the keester to get me moving again. I love every single one of them, too. *grin*

Since in a way this is starting all over again, I got to thinking about where this all started for me. Which, of course, means cake. When you love cooking and baking as much as I do and are faced with the prospect of not getting cake anymore, you have a couple of options: you can curl up into a fetal ball and try to console yourself with the realisation that you will finally get into those skinny jeans, or you can say "oh, hell no!" and figure out a way to eat your cake too. However, being only 2 people in a household, and with both of us liking sweets, having an entire cake around isn't always a good idea. I was complaining about this to my not-sister in Texas, and she gave me her recipe for coffee cup cake. Quite literally, it is a single portion of chocolate cake that you mix up in a coffee mug and then cook in the microwave. Yes, it is as dangerous as you think...

Now, this is not the cake that you would get from an award winning baker, and I seriously doubt that you will find it on Top Chef: Master Bakers or anything of that ilk, but this is actually one of the most versatile and handy desserts I've got on my roster! Not many ingredients on hand? No problem. Surprise guests or no time? No sweat. Midnight sweet craving? You're diet is toast. And as there wasn't much dairy or flour in it to begin with, it converted over really well. The biggest problem with it? You will need a Very large coffee mug to accomodate this, and it feeds 2 Very easily (I usually use a cereal bowl). Unless of course you want to eat an entire cake with little guilt; it is decdently doable.

Allow me to present to you the first in our series of Mug Shots - The Basic Chocolate. I was thinking that since this is so versatile, and lends itself to modifications quite well, to do a series of them. Once a month (maybe twice?) to present a different variation. Now if I can just figure out how to present it like a kitschy pulp detective novel, that would be even better! Enjoy = )

• 1/4 cup of GF Flour
• 5 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons Cocoa powder
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Almond/Rice/Soy milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Dash of vanilla and salt

Whisk everything together in your mug (bowl) till smooth and then microwave till puffed (the top will look a little moist), approximately 2 mins.  (Careful! It is very hot.)

I still don't fit into my skinny jeans!