Lemon Family Book Club: February's Read

We're a bit behind on getting together to discuss

last month's selection

, but in the meantime, here's February's book (my pick):

I greatly enjoyed the recent movie adaptation (not least because my future husband Benedict Cumberbatch was in it), so decided I'd like to read the book, because many of the movie reviews said the film had greatly simplified the plot of the novel. So, we'll see. And Alex, Laura and I will FaceTime soon and give you our verdict on World War Z.

In the meantime, here's a picture of my love, to inspire you:

Happy Reading!

Recipe: Dani's Hawaiian Mahaloaf

So on the weekend (before awful pneumonia and flu really set in), I was anxiously looking for something to do with not only overripe bananas sitting on my counter, but overripe mangoes. Given that at this time of year, my thoughts turn to Maui, I decided to make a sweet loaf that combined some of my favourite Hawaiian flavours. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...Dani's Hawaiian Mahaloaf.

Ingredients:
-3 medium or 2 large ripe bananas
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-2 tsp pure vanilla extract
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-1 cup whole-wheat flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp ground ginger
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 ripe mango, sliced into chunks

- 1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

- 1/3 cup chopped macadamia nuts (I used Kona-coffee glazed macadamias to make this even more decadent)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan and set aside.
2. Mash the bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in sugar, oil, and vanilla extract.
3. Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt, mixing just until combined. If you find the batter is too dry (which I did), add a smidge of almond milk (or - if you want to be really fancy - coconut milk) to moisten. Fold in mango, coconut and macadamia nuts.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing and cooling completely on a wire rack.

6. Eat while listening to ukelele music and doing a hula, preferably with a mai tai.

Hot Chocolate Festival: Why I'm Blogging It

"Of course you're blogging it Dani," some of you may be saying. "It's about chocolate."

Well, yes. I do like chocolate, it's true. But the real reason I'm blogging and Tweeting City Food Magazine's Hot Chocolate Festival to death is because funds raised by the festival are being donated to the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre. I live in the Downtown Eastside - these women are my neighbours. The DWEC is a drop-in centre, an emergency shelter, and a place where women can go to receive a number of life-saving benefits, such as victims' services, housing outreach, and training, education and skills development. The DWEC is creating positive change for women and needs all the help it can get. So - go drink a hot chocolate somewhere, wilya, and know that you are helping to make my neighbourhood a safer place, and my neighbours happier, more productive people. Even better, you can donate directly to DWEC online here.

Hot Chocolate Festival: Thierry Patisserie

Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie, on Alberni Street, is a recent arrival to Vancouver. I've visited before and love the European atmosphere - dark wood panelling, delicate french baked goods, and really, really, really good coffee. I was excited to see what Thierry would do for City Food Magazine's Hot Chocolate Festival and made a date with my friend Sarah, who lives just down the street from Thierry, to visit.

It's been interesting to see how much, or how little, effort some of the participating businesses have put into this festival. At places like Bella Gelateria, Juice Truck, Bel Cafe and Schokolade, you feel like it's kind of a big deal, that thought has been put into what to offer, and that you are participating in something special. Other places, not so much. I was disappointed that Thierry fell into that "not so much" category. Exhibit A:

Meh. This looks like your ordinary everyday hot chocolate offering at Thierry. This is the Gianduja Dark Hot Chocolate, as it was served to me. It was rich, it tasted of Gianduja - but that was about it. The staff did not offer any explanation of what Gianduja was - luckily I've spent a fair amount of time in Italy and was familiar with its rich, hazelnut infused flavour - nor was there any special effort made in presenting the hot chocolate. It was a weekday afternoon, and not that busy, but I didn't get the sense that the Hot Chocolate Festival was that big a deal to Thierry. Fair enough - they do well enough on their own without having to do anything special. Still - I was disappointed. Thierry is the master of chocolate - why not go all out and really show it?

Hot Chocolate Festival: Bel Cafe

I hadn't yet had a chance to visit David Hawksworth's Bel Cafe at the recently reno'd Hotel Georgia, so was glad to troop over there this week to meet my friend Karen for lunch and yet another sampling for City Food Magazine's Hot Chocolate Festival.

Bel Cafe is casual and cozy and offers slightly more upscale versions of what you'd find in any coffee shop - soups, sandwiches, salads, baked goods, and delicious coffee. The difference is you are greeted very formally by the cafe's staff and served at your table, as opposed to walking up to the counter and choosing what you want. This seemed slightly incongruous with the decor and the concept but the staff was so attentive and courteous (even when they screwed up our order - twice) that we couldn't really complain.

And now, to the hot chocolate. I informed our server that I would be sampling their Hot Chocolate Festival entry and he was extremely knowledgeable about the product - a 70% valrhona dark hot chocolate with orange oil, green cardamom, and vanilla-infused whipped cream topped with orange zest:

The hot chocolate was served with a dark chocolate cookie which was chewy and moist and the perfect thing to dip in the whipped cream (yum). I'm sad to report that the green cardamom, despite being a luxury, expensive spice, didn't really have a strong flavour - or maybe it was simply overpowered by the orange oil and orange zest, I don't know. The flavour was distinctly citrusy, not spicy. That being said, it was still absolutely decadent and delicious. I think Bel Cafe might deserve a repeat to try one of their other offerings...I've still got two weeks, right?

Hot Chocolate Festival: French Made Baking

French Made Baking, which only opened its storefront this past December 22, is tucked away on Kingsway just steps away from the Mount Pleasant Community Centre. I enlisted my favourite "lapsed Frenchman" Andrew to help me sample FMB's entry into City Food Magazine's Hot Chocolate Festival. Truthfully, I needed an escort to ensure I didn't buy every single macaron (one "o" thank you very much) in the shop. Macarons have become very trendy here of late - I have often quipped that "Macarons are the new cupcake" - and I can't say I've had many macarons as good as French Made Baking's offerings.

On this particular day, FMB's Hot Chocolate fest flavour was a dark chocolate Yuzu drinking chocolate. Incredibly rich, with a lovely hint of that Japanese citrus flavour:

Andrew contemplates. Yes, this will do. Baker David told us he adds coconut milk to give this drinking chocolate an even smoother flavour.

Of course we couldn't not sample the baked goods while we were here. Andrew chose this canelé, a rummy, vanilla-y, caramelized concoction that was met in your mouth good:

I chose a cassis-flavoured macaron at the staff's suggestion, even though I do not often choose fruity pastries. However, I can happily report that it was absolutely delicious, with a delicate flavour and the perfect, meringue-like texture. I will definitely be going back for more macarons, like this Cendrillon (cinderella) macaron, made from pumpkin:

Photo courtesy French Made Baking.

Hot Chocolate Festival: Schokolade Cafe

Schokolade Artisan Chocolate & Cafe, in Hastings Sunrise, is a cute little place that I have passed often but never visited. Their entry into the City Food Magazine Hot Chocolate Festival seemed like the perfect opportunity to drop by. Although their entries are some of the priciest to date, at a whopping $9.99 a serving, I was not disappointed with the hot chocolate, the accompanying truffles, or the attentive service of proprietor Jane Suter and chocolatier Edward Suter.

After much deliberation and discussion with Jane (who knows just about all there is to know about the relative merits of white chocolate vs. dark chocolate vs. milk chocolate), I chose to go with the Ginger Milk hot chocolate:

This hot chocolate may be a festival favourite. Expertly prepared by Jane (who was too shy to have her photo taken), this hot chocolate had just the right amount of crystallized ginger (which is prepared in-house by Edward, without sulphides), and sprinkled with marigold flakes, so it had a nice crunch to it (it sounds weird to have a crunchy drink, but it's delightful). Jane told me I'd have to drink the milk chocolate version faster than the dark chocolate, as the milk curdles faster, but I was more than happy to do so.

The hefty price tag made sense when Jane told me that the hot chocolate was accompanied by three handmade truffles. This included two coconut ginger truffles, and a raspberry heart, which I substituted in place of a brandy truffle - one of Schokolade's house specialties, I'm told, but I'm not really into boozy chocolates.

In addition to these truffles, Jane presented me with a Mah Jong piece truffle, as a Chinese New Year blessing:

The chocolates chosen were the perfect accompaniment to the hot chocolate - although I was starting to head into a sugar coma by this point. Hot chocolate and truffles may not be the healthiest Saturday morning breakfast I have ever had.

Chocolatier Edward Suter was kind enough to come out of his workshop to answer some questions for me about his chocolates. Most of his ingredients are sourced locally, he told me - he prefers to go and pick his own berries for some of the ganaches if possible. He sources his chocolate from Switzerland, where he did his apprenticeship.

Chocolatier Edward Suter.

Edward told me that these heart designs are "silkscreened" from plastic onto the wet chocolate using chocolate tinted with colouring...

...while these peppermint truffles are hand-painted.

Despite having filled myself to the brim with sugar, I couldn't resist buying a few more chocolates to take home for later (which I was sternly warned by Jane not to refrigerate - the chocolate gets rubbery). Particular favourites included an earl grey truffle, and a white chocolate jalapeno mango truffle - which I was dubious about, but was actually delighted with.

Schokolade offers a chocolate high tea, and a great selection of chocolates. Their wares may also be found at Urban Fare. I highly recommend a visit to Schokolade's cafe - it's worth the trek.

Favourite Voice: City & Colour

On Thursday night I went to see City & Colour (aka Dallas Green and friends) at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, almost 2 years to the day from the last time I saw C & C play there, during the Olympics. Dallas has one of the best voices around, and you can't really appreciate its clarity until you hear it live. The effortless, somehow husky falsetto - well, it's just magic. Bring Me Your Love and Sometimes have been albums in heavy rotation at Casa Lemon for some years now. It's taking me longer to get into his latest, Little Hell, but that's another story for another time.

City & Colour's lineup now includes Daniel Romano (guitar n' stuff), Scott Remila (bass n' stuff), Dylan Green (drums) and Aaron Goldstein (pedal steel), and the lads were kitted out in matching natty black suits for the show. Daniel and Scott sang harmony with Dallas on a number of songs - a highlight was "As Much As I Ever Could," from Bring Me Your Love - but there were also plenty of songs that were just Dallas and a guitar, which - well, you can't really top that.

The crowd was pretty much the same as the last City & Colour show I attended - young girls screaming "I love you DAAAALLLLLLAAAS" (there was a great one in front of me who was filming on her iPhone AND her camera, for the ENTIRE show), loved-up couples, and a surprising number of rowdy drunk dudes. Dallas seems very aware of who makes up his audience. Before performing "Body in a Box," he asked everyone to put down their cellphones and cameras. "You're trying so hard to remember it that you're not actually experiencing it," he admonished us. Then he smiled. "Don't worry, I'm not mad at you." He also asked if anyone was coming to the Friday night show - and was met with a chorus of squeals. "Sorry girls, it'll be a lot of the same jokes."

The boys in their suits, from left: Dallas, Aaron, Scot, Dylan, Daniel

I was surprised that the setlist for the show was - well, pretty much the same setlist as the show two years ago, with a few additions from Little Hell. In fact, as good as it was, I kind of had deja vu the whole time. Certainly, the choice to play plenty of songs from Bring Me Your Love, knowing full well that it's the album people know best - well, that was smart. It's a guaranteed crowd-pleasing kind of move. But for those of us who were there last time around, it was a little disappointing.

Blurry Dallas.

Still, all in all, it's hard for City & Colour to put on a bad show - Dallas is just a great live performer. If you haven't seen City & Colour live - go. But if you have? Well, you didn't miss much on Thursday.

Hot Chocolate Festival: Terra Breads' Hot Chocolate Chai

OK, this hot chocolate chai from the Terra Breads cafe in the Olympic Village takes the cake (pun intended) so far, in terms of hot chocolate entries in CityFood Magazine's Hot Chocolate Festival. Rich but not too rich, with a fabulous chai spiciness that is absolutely irresistible. And served with a delicious almond spiced cookie that complemented the chai flavour perfectly. Well done, Terra Breads!

Hot Chocolate Festival: Salted Caramel Bonanza

My quest for the most amazing hot chocolate during CityFood Magazine's Hot Chocolate festival continues. It seems that the combination of chocolate, salt and caramel is on everybody's mind at the moment, and the two cafes I visited this week both had very different takes on that flavour profile.

First up is Mink, a lovely lovely chocolate and coffee store on West Cordova. My favourite of their many hand-crafted chocolate bars has always been "Mermaid's Choice" - chocolate with rosemary-infused caramel and fleur de sel. When I heard that they were doing a "Mermaid's Choice" hot chocolate - well, hot diggity.

Here it is:

Mink's Mermaid's Choice Hot Chocolate.

This was served without whip or garnish of any kind. It was VERY salty. And rich. I ordered it with dark chocolate, and found the salt was almost overpowering. It was also difficult to taste the caramel, or the rosemary. Still, I'm not going to complain too, too much about something being too salty - as I've grown older my love of sweet has diminished and been replaced with a wicked craving for all things salty. Still, it took me ages to finish an entire cup given how rich and salty it actually was.

Next up, a few days later, was Bella Gelateria, also on West Cordova. I was *really* excited to try their Macadamia Nut hot chocolate, with Erin Ireland's To Die For Banana Bread - which I've blogged about here before - her bread also features chocolate and macadamia nuts so this sounded like an amazing combo! Sadly, proprietor James (who was dashing off to Italy that morning for the Gelato World Cup) informed me that they were sold out of the macadamia, and suggested I try their salted caramel instead, which is made with their house-made dulce de leche.

Bella Gelateria's Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate with Erin Ireland's To Die For Banana Bread.

This seemed to have just the right balance between the salt and the sweet, and the Michel Cluizel hot chocolate was rich but not too rich - just right for drinking. I enjoyed it very much, but *really* want to try that Macadamia Nut hot chocolate one day soon...

Hot Chocolate Festival: January 14 - February 14, 2012

It's the Second Annual Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival and my pals at the Juice Truck have teamed up with super-yummy chocolatier Beta 5 Chocolates this year and will be offering a different hot chocolate every week during the festival. Today they debuted their first entry, the White Chocolate Matcha Hot Chocolate, and I was the first to get a chance to taste it!

Beta 5 made this big block of matcha white chocolate, which gets dipped and stirred into hot water.

2 minutes later, voila! Add some yuzu marshmallows, and you have a delicious non-dairy treat! Perfect for a snowy day like today.

I'm not a huge white chocolate fan, but this was amazing. The combination of the matcha with the sweetness of the white chocolate was perfect, and not too rich. I say YES.

I'm going to try to get out to sample some of the other hot chocolates on offer during the festival - you can check out the schedule and list of participants at CityFood Magazine.

Feed Life, Starve Cancer: Eden MacDonald

I met the delightful Eden MacDonald, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, just before Christmas, thanks to my pals Zach and Ryan at The Juice Truck. Eden runs a blog, consultations and several education programs called "Feed Life, Starve Cancer," which she built out of her passion for health education and her own experience with cancer. This past week Eden invited, Zach, Ryan and I to be her guests at Organic Lives for a three-hour intensive session called "Set Yourself Up For Success," an introductory class filled with guidance, tools and recipes to help incorporate healthy, cancer-fighting behaviours into your life.

Eden making hemp milk - takes less than 3 minutes! Sorry AlmondFresh, but we're over.

I didn't know what to expect from a three-hour nutrition class, and frankly, I was a little dubious that I would have the time or energy to build any strict regimes into my daily routine. But I loved it! Eden is clearly an expert on her subject, and her passion and enthusiasm shine through. She made reams of information accessible, and even entertaining, and managed to strike just the right balance between personal anecdotes, Q & A, and recipe demos to keep us all engaged.

And the food (all plant-based)? Awesome. Let's just say I'll never look at kale the same way again. And it was easy, too - I really didn't have any excuse not to start making some of Eden's cancer fighting dishes right away - and so I have! Omega 3-filled cereals, green smoothies - and kale, kale, kale!

Eden is offering more classes at Organic Lives this winter - you can check out the schedule here.

The dessert part of the evening - Eden making cacao-chili "Nice Cream" in the Vita Mix.

I may or may not have licked the spoon.