Strawberry shortcake cookies

There's something so inviting about a plump and perfectly ripe strawberry. Just the visual of it - the dark red fruit against the bright green top. And the smell...you can smell how the sugar in the strawberry balances the inherent sourness. When it comes to summer fruits, it's definitely one of my favourites.

But me, being restless at times, wanted to see if I could work with Martha again to try and bring 2 of my loves together: strawberries and cookies. I found this recipe on her site and decided to try it. 

To start, the raw batter smelled AMAZING...exactly like strawberry shortcake. The consistency of the raw dough was also beautiful to look at - just like vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries inside. My only complaint is that the recipe doesn't call for enough cream -  it calls for 2/3 cup, but I'd say it's closer to 8/10 before the dough becomes sticky enough to work with.

The cookies were also less like a cookie and more like a tea biscuit. Definitely delicious though - in fact, I'd make these babies again in a heartbeat. (Apologies - I forgot to take pics of the finished product!)

2011 Chef's Challenge kick-off

Discussing strategy

There are times when my job intersects with things I'm passionate about, and today was one of those times.

Today marks the official kick-off of the 2011 Chef's Challenge: The Ultimate Battle for a Cure. Presented by World MasterCard to raise funds for Mount Sinai Hospital's fight against breast and ovarian cancers, the event is every food-lover's dream come true.

The coveted trophy

The premise is simple: register by July 21 for the challenge here, and between now and November 26 and raise as much money as you can (a minimum of $2,500). If you're one of the top 60 fundraisers, you'll not only get to attend the official challenge, you'll actually get to cook on one of the teams! This year's line-up of team leaders? Chuck Hughes, David Rocco, Lynn Crawford, Mark McEwan, Massimo Capra and Nadia Giosa. And of course, the event wouldn't be complete without one of the world's most famous celebrity chefs to host - the throwdown king himself, Bobby Flay.

The prize? Bragging rights for the next year and your team name on the trophy.

Here are a few pics from today's launch event.  Oh...and the food was incredible!

Duck pate & fruit compote

Proscuitto, parmesan & watercress

Eggplant parmesan

Mustard seed and pate

Applebee's

We've all been tempted by the allure of cross-border shopping. With the strong Canadian dollar, and well, the thrill of saving just a little bit of money in taxes, a friend and I decided to cross the border this weekend into OUTLET SHOPPING TERRITORY (a.k.a. Fashion Outlets, Niagara Falls, USA)

After a fairly uneventful drive, we decided to fill our bellies with a quick lunch before beginning our shopping mission. There was an Applebee's conveniently located at the edge of the outlet mall, so we decided to eat there.

The menu boasts a fairly robust salad menu. Encouraged, I settled on a steak and potato salad on spinach, while my friend had some kind of appetizer trio (sliders, boneless wings and I think quesadilla).

I have to be fair and say the service was excellent - in fact our server was extremely attentive. We really did have amazing service.

The food on the other hand was well...less than stellar. The salad was drenched in dijon dressing. I actually couldn't find any spinach without dressing. The potatoes were overbuttered...injected with butter...and since they weren't hot enough, were greasy and oily. The steak was also tough and overdone. I love salads, but this one, I really couldn't go through more than a quarter. I was actually quite queasy from the dressing.

My friend fared no better with his appetizer trio. The buns for the sliders were stale...and well...stale. Sliders are mini burgers, and something I hold near and dear. The best burgers have the best buns. This is a sacred rule. Chose the wrong bun and the entire burger experience goes out the window. And when the bun is stale? It's just plain wrong. The cheese wasn't quite melted all the way...and the quesadilla...well...soggy seems to be an understatement...

It was a mixed experience for us...good service usually accompanies good food, so for the food to be so bad...it just wastes the friendly atmosphere the great staff at Applebee's tries to create.

Restaurant rating: Run fast and run far / may cause stomach ulcers. (My friend could probably attest to this. His stomach was pretty angry).

P.S. The best deals of the day? $5 Nike t-shirt and $10 Gap cargo pants!

Homemade chicken salad on greens

Randomness prevails!

Considering all the rain we've had this spring, the sun is always a welcome sight. And with the sun comes warmer weather. Like most folks, the last thing I want to do is sit down and eat a big meal. Exercise (bleh) and salad call out to me. So today, after a hatless run, I dug into my fridge to see what I could pull together for dinner.

Cue leftover boiled chicken (thanks, Mom), some condiments, spices, greens and sweet red pepper, and 10 minutes later...homemade chicken salad on greens. I love it when randomness turns into yumminess.

(Note: I didn't add any salt because the chicken was already salted)

Ingredients:

- 1 cup of cold cooked chicken (sliced, diced or in chunks)

- 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard

- 1 teaspoon of mayonnaise (I used Hellman's light olive oil mayo)

- 1/2 teaspoon of ketchup

- dash of pepper

- dash of parsley

- romaine lettuce (cleaned and cut)

- 1 red pepper (cleaned and sliced)

Instructions

- Plate greens and pepper

- Beyond this...mix all the other ingredients together

- Done!