Not Guilty

Congratulations to:

Christophers Heart
Leanne
3boys247

You have all won a copy of Not Guilty - My Guide to Working Hard, Raising Kids and Laughing Through the Chaos by Debbie Travis. Be sure to shoot an e-mail to donmillsdiva@hotmail.com with your address and I'll make sure they're sent off to you.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Mickey knows cake

(posted by LeeAnne)

Remember when I went to Disney world and brought back that fabulous soup recipe from Boma?

Well, that's not the only great recipe I managed to get their chefs to reveal. While I was there I got to wondering how a visitor with allergies would survive at Walt Disney World: it turns out very well, thank you very much.

The chefs at Boma are allergy savvy and know the scoop. While there, the flourless chocolate cake caught my eye. Although our dairy-free readers may want to make some substitutions, I recommend anyone who is gluten-free check this one out.

It is not too sweet and ever so moist (I know, how could it not be with 9 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of butter!!!!) without any frosting. It's also simple: other than almond flour (ground almonds) most ingredients are probably already in your pantry

Boma’s Flourless Chocolate Cake (adapted)

1 1/2 cups butter
2 cups + 2 tbsp sugar
9 eggs
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 lb almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

1. Cream butter and sugar together.
2. Beat in eggs one at a time.
3. Melt chocolate and add to mixture.
4. Mix in almond flour and baking powder.
5. Grease a 10” square baking pan. Bake in a pre-heated 300F oven for 70 minutes.
6. Let cool completely in pan before unmolding.

Not Guilty!

(by LeeAnne)

Women spend so much of their lives feeling guilty.

Guilty about working outside the house, guilty about not working outside the house. Over scheduling, under scheduling. It just doesn’t matter: we feel guilty.

But Debbie Travis, star and creator of The Painted House, a 14-season, 200- episode, world-wide phenomenon has a new book that advises women to cut out the guilt.

Not Guilty - My Guide to Working Hard, Raising Kids and Laughing Through the Chaos is part memoir and part how to succeed in business, but mostly just Travis relaying how she made it through with lots of chutzpah, tantrums (hers) and laughter.

Travis tells how, as a bored young mother, she started decorative painting, a trend that was popular in the UK but hadn’t yet hit North American soil. Her home became her canvas and clients start to ask for her services. Travis loved it but her husband wasn’t so sure. “Can’t you just buy wall paper like some normal person?” he pleads in frustration.

But continue she did. Painting led to workshops, then to video and, her biggest leap, to television. Working with her husband she created The Painted House and spun off books, newspaper columns and eventually, a product line.

Not Guilty is full of self-depreciating stories about Travis, her husband and two boys. Full of sage advice and always told for maximum humour, Travis is like your hilarious best friend regaling you with stories, such as the time she came home from work and found her boys sending their two miniature rabbits down the stairs in frying pans as if they were going down a toboggan run.

Never one to mince words, even with her kids, she screams, “What the hell are you doing!?”

“Mom, they’re happy, look at their little mouths,” they replied.

“That’s not a smile, that’s gravity!”

After declaring her sons will never, ever have another pet, Travis puts the miniature rabbits on the deck in a laundry basket.

Within five minutes, raccoons had eaten them.

Stories about her kids and her business ventures are woven together throughout the book. One of my favourites involves her sitting on the edge of a boardroom table with her team discussing a successful design event the previous night, only to look down and see a bulge in her right pant leg.

As she talks, she reaches down and pulls out the offending lump, which turns out to be her “knickers” from the last time she wore the pants. She laughs, but recalls her style interns could barely contain their absolute horror.

Unfortunately I can relate!

I was heading into a fancy restaurant to meet a client once when a sock somehow worked its way out of my pant leg. Just as I approached the table to shake hands with my client, the host came running up to me and handed me the dirty sock.

Great! I laughed (sort of) and tucked the offender in my purse as the client eyed me with suspicion and chose to wave hello instead of shake my hand. Opps. Guilty. Again.

I also enjoyed reading about the time Travis finds out her son has paid someone in his class to do his homework. When busted, her son declares, “But you said, “Hire the best.” So I hired Charles Wong, He’s the best. He even goes to school on weekends.”

Although she gave her son a stern glare Travis reveals that she and her husband privately laughed their heads off later that night.

If you have kids and are trying desperately to achieve that elusive life/work balance, thumbing through Not Guilty is a welcome respite. Travis ends the book with a top ten list for avoiding guilt. Number one is to treat you kids like a paint job. It’s all in the preparation. Take the time to sand and prime well and results will be as good as perfect. Don’t worry about the cracks or blotches-they will just add character.

These days the only thing that Travis feels guilty about is the amount of energy she spent feeling free-floating maternal guilt.

And I couldn’t agree more: what a waste of time.

Don Mills Diva is giving away a copy of Debbie Travis’s Not Guilty-My Guide to Working Hard, Raising Kids and Laughing Through the Chaos to three lucky Canadian (only, sorry!) readers. Leave a comment below to win. Comments will be closed Friday January 23rd at midnight and the winners announced shortly thereafter.

Day After New Year's Day Dinner

(by LeeAnne)

As many faithful readers will know, my mother-in-law left my house on Christmas Day and went directly to the hospital. My parents and brother were also there that night. I had told them Henny hadn’t been feeling well lately, but they immediately were alarmed by her loss of weight and, more importantly, her loss of zeal.

Gradual decline is much more difficult to see, but that night they helped us all see clearly that we needed to act.

And so we acted.

Henny was discharged on New Year's Eve and I started the new year by bringing her a big pot of homemade chicken soup and her favourite gluten-free grain loaf (I will post that recipe soon!). With a grim diagnosis and more questions than answers, I wasn’t sure what other way I could nourish her.

And you know how I love to make soup. My husband, daughter and I ate soup and bread around the table together with Henny and Karl. After dinner, I cleaned out the fridge and noticed a pair of cryovaced Brome Lake duck legs were sitting all alone on a shelf in the fridge. Henny had picked them up on Christmas Eve, never had a chance to cook them and now didn’t feel like duck. I gladly took them home and this is what I made the next day.


Braised Duck Legs with Baby Mixed Potatoes

2 duck legs
11/2 cups chicken stock
1 lb baby potatoes
Salt and pepper

Season duck legs well with salt and pepper. Using a fork pierce the skin of the legs to help release fat and make the skin crispy.

In a cast iron skillet over high heat sear duck legs skin side down for 5 minutes or until nicely golden brown and fat has been rendered. Turn and brown over side for another 3 minutes. Although you can drain the rendered fat at this point, I like to keep it in because it adds incredible flavour to the potatoes.

Add potatoes and enough chicken stock until the duck legs are half submerged in stock. Bring to a boil and transfer to preheated 350F oven and bake for 40 minutes or until legs are crispy brown, potatoes are soft and internal temperature reaches 170F.

I served this with steamed broccoli although spinach would be great with this dish as well.

A taste of Walt Disney World right at home

Navigating Walt Disney World is complicated.

Do you hit Toy Story first or Rocking Roller Coaster? Test Track or Soaring? Expedition Everest or the Safari? We recently returned from a family reunion of sorts where 25 people (!) ranging in ages from eight months to 69 years old rendezvoused at Walt Disney World.

Talk about complicated! Thankfully, the one place almost everyone was happy was dinner.

Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge was one of our favourites. Boma is a buffet, but you won’t find any steam tables with languishing, dried-out food here. Everything is cooked fresh in small batches so it’s as if you ordered everything on the menu- the hard part is choosing where to dig in.

With it diverse food offerings and great setting, surrounded by a savanna with roaming giraffes, Boma should not be missed. It is African-themed, but the culinary delights are internationally influenced. Go if you like high quality food in a great atmosphere.

I loved the watermelon rind salad and the Mulligatawny soup. The soup was so wonderful that I asked the chef for the recipe. And guess what? He gave it to me!

If you can’t jet off to Disney, have a little taste of Boma at home.

Boma’s Mulligatawny Soup (slightly adapted)
Makes 8 servings

Mulligatawny is a mixture that originates with the Tamils of southern India (see what I mean about not African, but really international?) It is such a great soup at this time of year. It's spicy and slightly exotic, but based on chicken broth, garlic and onions and somehow these ordinary ingredients seem to sing in it. I think the apples are the secret ingredient that makes this soup extraordinary.

1/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1 tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup each: chopped celery, carrots and onion
1 tbsp curry powder & minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups diced chicken breast pieces
1/2 cup 35% whipping cream
2 tbsp milk
1 cup each: chopped red and green pepper
2 tbsp each: honey and hot sauce
1 1/2 cups diced apple (cored and peeled- about 2 small)
2 tbsp chopped parsley

1. Melt butter and whisk in flour to make thickening roux.
2. Sauté celery, carrots and onion in oil in large pot over medium heat until tender but not coloured. Add curry, chicken stock and pieces.
3. Whisk in roux, cream and milk and bring to a boil then immediately reduce to a simmer to thicken.
3. Add peppers, honey and hot sauce about 10 minutes prior to serving. Add apples and parsley at the last minute. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

And the Gargoyles go to...

Can you forgive me for not thinking of a clever way to announce the names of the following lucky readers who have won their very own copy of Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle, just in time for Christmas?

I'm going to go ahead and assume that you can AND that you'll join me in congratulating:

The Reluctant Housewife
Janet
Julia

Thanks to everyone for reading and for entering. Winners should e-mail their mailing addresses to donmillsdiva@hotmail.com and I'll ask the folks at Random House to send out your book!

Believing in the extraordinary

A truly extraordinary book makes you believe things your logical mind knows are impossible.

A truly extraordinary book is a rare find. I used plow my way through dozens and dozens of books in search of one so magical that I would happily spend days lost in its thrall. But since Graham's birth and the resultant time crunch, I have discovered few.

And I have missed it.

I have missed the way in which an extraordinary book makes the world seem more exotic and full of possibility. I have missed being awestruck by the evocative power of a masterful wordsmith and the unfettered imagination of a gifted storyteller.

I have missed books like The Gargoyle.



The Gargoyle starts when the caustic protagonist, a morally bankrupt porn star, swerves to avoid a vision of fiery arrows and plunges his car into a ravine where it is consumed in flames. After awakening in a hospital abandoned by friends, financially bankrupt and essentially transformed into a human gargoyle by virtue of extensive and excruciating burns, he bides time and plots his suicide.

Until something extraordinary happens.

A beautiful, heavily-tattooed psychiatric patient and sculptress (of gargoyles, no less!) visits his bedside and claims to have been his lover some 700 years ago. Is she mad? At first the unnamed narrator thinks so . But eventually she draws him into her world and out of his despair with uncanny, historically- accurate accounts of their life together and mesmerizing tales of undying love from around the world and throughout the ages.

The Gargoyle is the debut novel by Andrew Davidson, a previously unknown Canadian who spent seven years crafting it full of illusions to myths and fables and great literature from the Bible to Dante's Inferno. It was the subject of a heavily-publicized bidding war for publishing rights and has received massive amounts of press since its release this past summer.

And for good reason.

It is impossible to characterize The Gargoyle. It could accurately be described as a mystery, a horror, a medical primer, a historical tome and a Gothic love story. Though at times overwrought, it is nonetheless one of the richest and most satisfying books I have ever discovered: truly extraordinary.

*********************************************

The Gargoyle is published by Random House Canada and would make a treasured Christmas gift for any book-lovers on your list. I also have three free copies to give away to Canadian readers only (sorry to my American friends). Leave a comment below to win. I'll close comments next Wednesday and publish the winners' names shortly after.

The easiest Thanksgiving dinner you'll ever make!

Call it getting by with a little help from my friends: nobody needs to know their names are Uncle Ben and Betty Crocker.

Tackle these recipes the traditional way and it’s an all day affair or sneak in a few simple fakes and presto: you have extra time to play with your children, go for a walk, visit a friend or just relax. Print out the shopping list and get ready to save time and eat well.

Wondering why a girl in Toronto would be fussing with Thanksgiving in November? We're celebrating American Thanksgiving this year because our son is going to school in Lake Placid and is home for the holiday. So we are thankful and eating turkey together with family and friends this week just like millions of other across the border. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!

Game Plan: Since most people have only one oven, big holiday meals can prove problematic. The key to success is balance stove top cooking with oven required items.

Oven Roasted Turkey Breast with Maple Thyme Glaze
If a big turkey is overwhelming, cook the breast only. It cooks in about an hour and there's no tricky carving. The simple glaze elevates it to something special. Time saved = 4 hours

2 1.5 to 2 lb split bone-in turkey breasts (the whole breast but cut into two parts)
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 ½ tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried
1 tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Combine butter and maple syrup in a microwavable bowl and micro for 90 seconds or until butter has melted and syrup has boiled and thickened. Add thyme.
3. Place turkey on a roasting pan. Brush turkey with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook in preheated oven.
4. Baste turkey with maple mixture after 50 minutes. Continue to cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes or until an internal thermometer reads 165F. The timing can vary due to the amount of time the oven door is opened and close so a thermometer is highly recommended. Remove turkey from oven then baste once more. Tent turkey with foil to rest for at least 10 minutes. Use roasting pan to make gravy.


Stove-top Cider Gravy
Traditional gravy takes at least 20 minutes, ours 3. Time saved = 17 minutes

3 cups apple cider
2 packages poultry gravy mix

1. Add cider to roasting pan to loosen any baked on bits.
2. Whisk in mix and move roasting pan to stove element set to medium high. Bring to a boil then reduce temperature to low. Add additional cider if gravy is too thick.

Sausage, Apple & Cranberry Stuffing (stove-top & oven baked)
This stuffing may come from a box, but it sure doesn’t taste like it. Sausages, tart apples and cranberries make it an instant favourite. Spend your time prepping the embellishments, not mountains of dried bread. Traditional stuffing takes up to 45 minutes to prepare, ours: 10 minutes. Time saved = 35 minutes

3/4 lb sausages (Italian or garlic and herb)
2 Granny smith apples, cored and diced but not peeled
1/4 cup butter
2 cups water
1 cup dried cranberries
2 boxes stuffing mix (120 g Uncle Ben’s Stuffing Mix)

1. Squeeze sausage from casing and cook in a large pot over medium heat. Break up sausage into small pieces while it cooks. Add apples during last few minutes of cooking.
2. Add butter and seasoning packages, if separated, and water to pot. Increase temperature to high and stir to combine. Add cranberries and dried stuffing mix. Combine then transfer to large greased baking pan or casserole container. Can be prepared in advance up to this point and refrigerated until ready to bake. Cover and bake in a preheated oven for 60 minutes.

Garlic Mashed Potato Bake (stove-top & oven baked with stuffing)
Two convenience products in one dish elevate each other to new heights. The hash browns add a chunky texture to otherwise boring mashed potatoes. Although pre-cooking the hash browns adds a step, the creamier finished product is worth it. Green or yellow onions can be used in place of leeks.

1 package frozen hash brown potatoes (680 gr)
1/4 cup butter, divided
1 cup chopped leeks
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 package dried mashed potato mix (113 gr Idahoan Butter and Herb is good)
1 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup goat cheese
1 cup grated Asiago cheese
pinch ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper

1. In a pot of boiling water, cook frozen hash browns 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In same pot, cook leeks and garlic in 1 tbsp butter over medium heat until softened and translucent. Add water and milk then bring to a boil. Stir in potato mix and drained hash browns. Turn off heat.
3. Mix in remaining butter, sour cream and goat cheese. If mixture looks to stiff, add more milk. Stir in nutmeg, salt and pepper.
4. Transfer to a greased glass lasagna pan (9 x 13). Bake for 60 minutes in a preheated 350 F oven or until golden brown around edges and on top. Broil for the last five minutes to brown up if needed. Leave broiler on if making brussel sprouts.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
Pretend that you have a sous chef who has pre-trimmed and blanched your brussel sprouts when you start this recipe. At that point you are simply warming vegetables and garnishing with crisp bacon. Time saved = 20 minutes

1 kg frozen brussel sprouts, defrosted and drained
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbsp olive oil
8 slices pre-cooked bacon, chopped
2 tbsp cider vinegar
salt and pepper

1. In an baking pan large enough to hold sprouts in one layer, broil sprouts in chicken stock 5” from heat source until warmed through and stock has almost evaporated, about 6 minutes.
2. Add olive oil and toss. Sprinkle bacon over top and continue to broil until bacon is crisp and brussel sprouts are browned on the edges, about 8 minutes. Shake pan after 4 minutes to prevent one side from burning.
3. Carefully add vinegar (it will bubble when it hits the hot pan). Swirl around to coat sprouts and bacon. Season with salt (check first because bacon adds saltiness) and freshly ground pepper. Serve immediately.


Stove-top Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Puree
I love butternut squash but cutting and peeling sometimes turns into a wresting match with sharp objects: case in point. A simple fake uses diced squash and canned sweet potato. The roasted red chile paste adds a smoky note to this sweet dish. Look for the small jar in the Asian food section of your grocery store. Time saved= 25 minutes

1 kg frozen, diced butternut squash
1 can sweet potato (597 ml), drained
1/4 cup butter + 1tbsp for finishing
1 tsp each: vanilla and salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp each: cinnamon and cumin
1/4 tsp roasted red chilli paste pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar, to taste

1. Cook frozen squash in steamer insert over boiling water for 5 minutes or until defrosted. Drain well and transfer to a large pot. Add sweet potatoes and mash. Over low heat, add remaining ingredients except sugar and stir well.
2. Sprinkle brown sugar and small pieces of reserved butter over top so it can melt in. Cover pot and keep warm until ready to serve. Taste and add further seasoning if needed.

Pear Upside Down Cake
For best results use two 9” diameter round cake pan. Plan to bake this cake while you are eating dinner so that you can serve it immediately. Scratch cake easily takes 25 minutes to pull together, ours only 7 minutes from start to finish. Time saved = 18 minutes

1/3 cup butter + extra for buttering pan
11/4 cups brown sugar
2 cans Bartlett pear halves or slices (398 ml/14 oz)
1 box lemon cake mix*
3 tbsp cornmeal
* ingredients plus 3 eggs, 1 to 1 1/4 cups water and 1/3 cups oil

1. Melt butter in microwave. Add brown sugar and microwave 90 seconds or until bubbly and brown sugar has dissolved.
2. Pour half of the syrup in each buttered cake pan. Tilt pan to distribute evenly. Don’t worry if it doesn’t completely cover pan bottom. Arrange fruit cut side down in a pretty pattern. Slice extra thick pieces so entire pan has fruit on it.
3. When preparing cake mix add 3 tbsp of cornmeal prior to adding wet ingredients indicated on the box.
3. Pour half of the cake mix (2 1/4 cups in each pan) over fruit.
4. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes clean when inserted into the center of the cake and the cake has pulled away from the sides of the pan.
5. Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen. Use a larger (10” minimum) plate held on top of the cake pan. Flip the pan over and gently remove the cake pan. Serve immediately.

Shopping List
2 x 1 1/2lb bone in turkey breasts (called split breasts)
maple syrup
fresh thyme
apple cider
2 package poultry gravy mix
1 lb Italian sausages
3 granny smith apples
2 boxes stuffing mix (120 gram is usual size)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 package frozen hash brown potatoes (680 gr)
2 leeks
minced garlic
1 package mashed potato mix (4 serving size)
sour cream
goat cheese
Asiago cheese
nutmeg
1 kg frozen diced butternut squash
1 can sweet potato (597 ml), often incorrectly referred to as yams
brown sugar
cinnamon
cumin
toasted walnuts
1 kg frozen Brussels sprouts
chicken stock
1 package precooked bacon
cider vinegar
2 cans Bartlett pear halves
1 box lemon cake mix
cornmeal

Four ingredient squash soup

I have been on a soup kick lately, probably due to the cold weather, being able to see my breath when I run in the morning and gasp, snow! Soup on the brain led me to plan a soup party for our skiing friends a few weeks back.

Six soups simmered on the stove for guests to help themselves. Some just wanted to try one or two; a few wanted a “flight of soups” and tried all six! It was such a relaxed and fun party with everyone jammed into our kitchen sipping soup. One of the soups simmering was squash soup. Bright orange and studded with bacon, it was a big hit.

I picked up a very green turban squash at the local farmers market a week or so beforehand. It was really interesting looking- the most pronounced turban shape I had ever seen. Turban (or buttercup squash) is extremely flavourful and sweet-much more pronounced than butternut squash. Look for it in the fall when squash varieties are abundant. Turban is one of my favourites for cooking and roasting the squash before adding to the soup intensifies the flavour even more.

The most difficult part of this soup was trying to cut the hard shelled squash in half so I could scoop out the seeds and roast it. Although I managed without cutting off my left hand, be very careful when attacking the turban squash.



1 large squash, cut in half and seeded (about 3 lbs)
4 slices of bacon
1 large onion, chopped
4 cups chicken stock

1 Preheat oven to 375 F.
2 Lightly oil sheet pan. Place squash cut side down and bake for 45 minutes or until squash is tender.
3 While the squash is baking, cook bacon until crisp in a large pot. Crumble and set aside.
4 In same pot over medium heat, sauté onion in bacon fat until translucent.
5 When squash is cool enough to handle, scrape flesh from skin and mash then add to pot.
6 Add chicken stock and bring to a boil, stirring to combine.
7 Reduce heat to simmer. Use an immersion blender to puree until desired smoothness.
8 Add crumbled bacon. You also can thin out with more stock or milk if needed but I find it is usually just perfect.

Putting a postive spin on the holidays

I don't think there will ever be another Doctor Seuss.

He is the unchallenged master of rhythm - all types of rhythm - and when another author attempts to write in a similar fashion, it's natural, if admittedly unfair, to draw comparisons. It's not easy to make words trickle off the tongue in a manner that will enthrall young readers and unfortunately that was abundantly clear when I settled in to read three books the Parent Bloggers Network recently provided for me.

All Hallows Eve, Winter's Eve and Christmas Eve, from Positive Spin Press, are illustrated and written by husband and wife team Lisa Sterlazza Johnson and Tucker Johnson. They are holiday-themed books which introduce children to the myths and stories behind Halloween, Christmas and a number of other holidays around the world by way of a charming little fairy named Eve.

It's an absolutely wonderful concept, the illustations are beautiful and there are certainly times when the rhythms, written in the anapaest style a la The Night Before Christmas - are lovely. But there are also times, quite a few times, when the rhyming is so forced it difficult to read the stories in the lyrical style in which they are intended to be read.

The books are recommended for children aged four and up or children from 2.5 years of age who are used to being read to. Graham has just turned three and he is a voracious reader but as valiantly as I tried I couldn't seem to hold his interest with the stories.

Perhaps he will enjoy them more when he is a little older, but I do think the awkward phrasing and some of the convoluted stories - particularly in the Winter's Eve book - were definitely a factor in his disinterest.

I have never made a conscious effort to seek out books that tackle explanations of holidays and traditions for children and I have heard from people with older children that appropriate stories of this nature are few and fair between. If that's the case, these tales from Positive Spin Press may well be excellent alternatives to what's currently available.