Cafe World Challenge

I play Cafe World (amongst other) games on Facebook. Yes, I know, it's a terrible time waster, but a REALLY fun one. Cafe World is basically a virtual restaurant, where you prepare and serve various dishes to customers. It's all about time and resource management and its fun to advance through with your friends' help.




Now a few days ago I was tired and hadn't planned anything for dinner, ugh what to make? Something quick? So I was actually busy virtually serving up some "Hotdog and Garlic Fries" while quickly playing some Cafe World, and thought hey wait, not bad, it'll be minimal effort & the kids will love me for it. So that night I made hotdogs (on wholewheat buns, of course) and used frozen regular and sweet potato fries. I love garlic fries and haven't made them in ages, but realised that my favourite garlic topper was finished, so I've ordered some more.

So that got me thinking about the other dishes in my cafe. Mmm, some are good classics, some are just for fun, like Stardust Stew & Dino Eggs, skip those and some would be interesting to try out.

So why think and not do!!! I've decided to blog my way through the dishes in Cafe World. So when I have a few dishes complete I'll post them here and keep track of the progress. I'll still be doing my other stuff, like SWAP.....I know not much progress reported, but I'm busy, just haven't finished any one thing in a while.


Okay, I was going to make a list of all the dishes here, but that's not going to work. I've just copied down the entire list from the cookbook and am flabagasted at the number... 54. Wow this is going to take a while, it always takes just a few clicks to get through the list on the game. So I will make the list at the bottom of the right margin, so scroll down for the list. I will mark off the recipes as they are completed. Otherwise I will just have a counter with each post.

I have a life outside of the computer ie. blog & facebook games, so I think I'll aim to do a Cafe World post once a week. So I'll declare tomorrow as Foodie Friday and see if I can post the recipes & reviews every Friday. So check back tomorrow for the 1st installment.

* Disclaimer: Image owned by Zynga. This site is not owned by Zynga. This site is not the owner of the intellectual property.

Happy Birthday Hubbie!!

Well, it's my husband's birthday today and I thought I'd share the menu. Something a little different and a delicious treat.

Now have you ever seen these things (below) in the store and wondered WTF is that and what do you do with that. Well, here is an option.



The purple thingie is rutabaga and the gnarly root whatsit is celeriac or celery root. Now don't misunderstand...this selection in no way reflects my feelings for my Peter. ALTHOUGH, he does look like he just crawled out the ground in the following shot (taken in Afghanistan)



I've never used either of these before so it was a good discovery. I was browsing through a publication of "All you need is Cheese" brought out by the Diary Farmers of Canada and was looking for something interesting to make and this Rutabaga Oka Soup kind of popped out at me. The website even has a demo video, which I've only now discovered.

I garnished my soup with Gouda Cheese, since I didn't have Oka at home and I concentrated my apple puree more than the recipe intended, producing a sweeter puree more like apple butter. I would really recommend serving this with the apple puree, as the soup itself is mild flavoured and the little touch of the apple and cheese in every bite really complements the soup. Overall a great choice, even if the veg were a little rude looking to start off.


* Please mind the soup shlosh, terribly messy of me!! On the list of to-do's...get better at photography/set-up


The dessert I made has been sitting on the to-make list for a while. Chocolate, Pear & Almond Tarts are little bite size glories. Check out the recipe, they've been a hit in my house.

My Sweet Valentine

My husband and I don't exchange much for Valentine's Day, usually just flowers and we usually avoid the crowded restaurants. But I do try to make a nice treat each year and it usually involves decadent rich mixtures of chocolate and berries.

This year I chose a treat from Canadian Living magazine's January 2010 edition.
You can find the recipe for Black Forest Mousse Parfaits on their website.

Now how do I describe the taste sensation.....it has moist, decadent chocolate cake drizzled with a boozy cherry syrup, then a layer of white chocolate mousse with cherries mixed in. The mousse is gorgeous...another dessert on it's own.

Lets say my husband was REALLY happy about this present.

The only drawback about this recipe is time. I made it in stages, making the cake the day before and the rest a few hours before serving. The mousse also needs contant stirring and attention. In other words, lots of LOVE went into making it. But it was sooo worth it.



Since I wasn't blogging this time last year I remade last year's treat to share too. I made a chocolate mousse using marshmallows, the recipe is here.



Lastly, I couldn't forget the kids. So I made up some cookies. I made these Chocolate Coconut Chewies. They were very yummy, so lets just say they weren't just for the kids. The meringue, since it's gluten-free, adds a nice crunchy, chewy texture which combines well with the coconut.

Loes Hinse Outfit

I've been away from blogger for a while, but I was determined to finish up some more of the SWAP before I posted again.

I made up an outfit using Loes Hinse Design patterns. I made the Boot skirt, View A, with the front vent and the Tank dress group, view D (look under dresses). I was inspired by a suggestion in the S magazine section on the website to make up these two garments as a two-piece dress. I used black rayon crepe and used stretch lace on the tank hem as suggested too.

These patterns sewed up easily and have the classic line and good fit I've come to expect of Loes Hinse's patterns. I'm determined to sew more of her patterns, as well as try out other independant pattern companies.

This outfit, although very basic, will be a great addition to my dinner/event wardrobe. I'm attending many more events than usual this year, as Canada's Navy is celebrating their centenary.



In regards to my SWAP progress:
- I've completed 5 out of 11 planned pieces
- My sweater has a completed back and I'm busy knitting up the front.
- All the woven dresses have been cut out and stay stitched.
- The purple satin for the other skirt is on my cutting table with the pattern pieces attached, ready to be cut out.
- Knit dress hasn't been touched yet.

So I'm happy with my progress and should be finished before April 1st....or is it March 31st....must go check.

South African Trip

I realise that I've forgotten to post photos from the trip, well wait no longer. I created a flickr set with the photos, because it was just easier to upload and label them this way.


South African trip Dec 2009 Flickr set

Healthy Eating

One of my post vacation goals was to lose some unwanted weight. To achieve this I've followed a meal plan in The Pritikin Weight Loss Breakthrough. This diet as with most healthy eating plans focusses on reducing fat intake, increasing vegetable and fruit intake and replacing refined carbs with whole grains. The book has a 3 week meal plan and 60 recipes. I've often used this book for the delicious recipes.

You can browse the website for the Pritikin Longevity Center to get a better idea of the program. They've taken it to a whole new level that seems to cater to the wealthy and I suppose builds on the principles originally researched by Nathan Pritikin. As with lots of diets, it seems to have turned gimicky to bring in the money.

When I want to lose some weight, I like to follow a printed meal plan for a while to get myself disciplined again. So I basically don't put anything past my lips that isn't in the plan. This tends to work well for me.

I've been using the plan for almost 3 weeks and have dropped 5 pounds. I'd probably like another 10 pounds gone, so I'll be looking around for another plan to continue the weight loss.

I haven't taken any photos of the meals, but some of my favourites have been: Chicken Curry, Vegetarian Chilli, Red Pepper lentil Stew and Bulgar Pilaf (which I've made many times before) and tonight is a Harvest Vegetable Stew with sweet potato, red potatoes, butternut and cauliflower.

New Look 6775 times 2

I've finished my first two items for the SWAP 2010. I chose to sew up the red garments first, so that ended up being two of the same pattern which made it quite easy. They are a blouse from View D in red silk and a dress using view C's sleeves in a red polka dot.





I'll be waiting till the end of SWAP to photograph myself in the clothing, so for now my dressform will be your model.

I'm thinking the top is a little plain, so I'm considering adding embroidery, beading or something to jazz it up.