Monthly Archives: January 2014

Delicious Oreo Cookie Chocolate Cake

Chocolate-Covered Oreo Cookie CakeWell, it party time! Today is the official date of Eden’s birthday and we’ll be having family over for cake and ice cream after dinner. Eden requested a Oreo Cookie Cake. I’ve made this cake once before, so I knew that it was pretty easy to make. I followed the recipe, but omitted the chocolate glaze on top and opted for our favourite frosting instead.

Chocolate-Covered Oreo Cookie Cake

This recipe was adapted from the original that I found on All Recipes. It makes approximately 16 servings.

Ingredients:

Directions:
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Prepare cake batter and bake in 2 (9-inch) round pans as directed on package. Cool cakes in pans 10 minutes. Invert onto wire racks; gently remove pans. Cool cakes completely.
  3. For the filling ~ beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Gently stir in whipped topping and crushed cookies.
  4. Stack cake layers on plate, filling with cream cheese mixture. Add a few sprinkles of extra cookies over the top and edges of the filling (the cookies become covered in whip topping and you can’t see the black/white contrast, so I added a few cookie crumbs to get that look.)
  5. The original recipe calls for a chocolate glaze on top. You will need Microwave chocolate and butter in small microwaveable bowl on high 2 minutes. or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minutes. Spread chocolate glaze on top of the cake; let stand 10 minutes or until firm. Keep refrigerated.

Roy Family Favourite Frosting:

Instead of the glaze, I made a batch of our all time favourite frosting and then made rose like swirls all over the cake.

My aunt used to make this frosting when I was a kid and I absolutely loved it. It is made with a cooked white sauce made with flour and milk. You cook the flour and milk until it forms a thick pudding like texture and then add butter, white sugar (NOT ICING SUGAR) and vanilla. It is super creamy and not as sweet as most icing. You really have to try it as it is very different from any regular butter icing. The issue is that I have found it to be a bit finicky to work with and it isn’t the best for decorating. I used it on this cake and it worked out quite well, but I have run into problems before. I have tried many variations of the recipe over the years and I think I get pretty consistent results now that I have worked out some of the issues. The recipe I now follow is from Our Best Bites. Their proportions seem to work well on a consistent basis. For this cake, I doubled their recipe.

Cindy’s Tips:

  • Stir milk/flour mixture constantly to avoid scorching and forming lumps.
  • Transfer the pot with the white sauce to an ice bath (ice cubes in a bowl). Set the pot on ice and stir it regularly to avoid lumps and a crust forming on top. I used to place it in the fridge, but would often get a crust on the surface that will not beat out when making the icing. UGH! So, I stick to the ice bath and don’t have that problem anymore.
  • Stir the vanilla into the cooled flour/milk mixture.
  • MAKE SURE THE WHITE SAUCE IS COMPLETELY COOL or even COLD before proceeding. Be patient.
  • Add the white sauce one tablespoon at a time and beat well between. I use the whisk attachment on my beater to make the icing fluffier.
  • Beat for 7 to 8 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved and you can not feel the granules when you rub a bit between your fingers.

I know what you’re thinking….this seems like too much of a hassle, but believe me it is worth it. I have had to start over with this icing more times than I can count, but it didn’t prevent me from figuring out how to make it work. It is sooooooo yummy!

Swirly Rose Cake Decorations:

I used a large open star tip. Started at the center and while working my way out by circling around the center, I twisted the tip slightly. I would make about two rotations per rose. I started by just doing the top cake and was going to leave it at that as I really did like the look of chocolate on the bottom, Oreo center and then the white roses on top, but I worried about the bottom layer drying out if left exposed until tomorrow evening. I decided to go ahead and place another row of roses around the bottom layer to prevent drying. It doesn’t matter how good the cake looks, if it is dry then the effort is all for nothing. This was my first attempt at making these rose/swirls. They aren’t perfect by a long shot, but not bad for a newbie.

Here is what it looked like before I added the final row of roses along the bottom.
Winter Party Cake

Although our theme is really more for the kid’s party on Saturday, I thought the white swirls were a classic look that somewhat went with our snowflake theme and especially our colour scheme. I had baked the cakes on Wednesday, froze them and decorated them on Thursday evening after work. Eden already saw the finished cake and loved it. Hopefully it will taste great too!

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Shabby Chic Cupcake Wrappers

I searched all over to find a cupcake liner that either worked with my colour scheme or the winter theme, but could find nothing. So many cute little patterns and colour combinations, but not what I was looking for. So, I came up with what I thought was a brilliant idea ~ doilies. I had actually not seen this idea before, but went to my trusty computer all the same. Sure enough, not an original idea!

So, I proceeded to bake my cupcakes using the plain white liners I already had at home and then decided that I would dress them up with the doilies I had already bought for the table. (I am not really a doily gal, but I figured they would work well with the look I was going for and were even a bit snowflake..ish.

How To Make Cupcake Wrappers from A Doily

Here is a great little tutorial on how to make the wrappers. This video suggests cutting them in thirds, but another suggested cutting in half. I might have to play with the size a bit, but for the cost of doilies who really cares if I mess up one or two before I get it just right!

I think this idea will be perfect with our snow theme, but they could also be used to create a more elegant look.  I am sure I will use this idea again.  I am getting excited and can’t wait to pull every together at the end. Of course, you can’t see my cupcakes yet, as I won’t finish decorating them unit Saturday morning.

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Birthday Party Loot Bags

Obviously, the theme of the week is birthday party planning. My daughter’s birthday is Friday and so I have been busy pulling together everything I need to prepare for her family party on Friday and her “friends” party on Saturday. Today is my day off and on the list of “to do’s” is loot bags, bake the cake for Friday and cupcakes for Saturday. I won’t decorate them until closer to the time, but I generally bake ahead and freeze the cakes.

What to Put in a Loot Bag:

When my kids were younger, the loot bags were almost entirely theme related. As they have gotten older, the “themes” have definitely become less of an emphasis. When pulling together these loot bags, I tried to think of the “snow” theme, party decor colours and of course, what the girls might like.

Although I don’t always stick to it, many years ago I adopted this thinking when purchasing stocking stuffers and I loosely follow the same thinking for loot bags.

  • something to do
  • something to wear
  • something to eat
  • something to read (not this time!)
  • something to watch or listen to (for stockings I often get an iTunes card, CD or DVD)

Here is what I came up with for Eden’s loot bags this year:

1. I made little “Snowman Soup” baggies. I didn’t include the poem as the one I usually use is more “Christmasy”.

I got a great deal on these end of season Lindor chocolates. Mmmm…yummy.
Hot chocolate, mini marshmallows, Lindor chocolates and little cellophane bags. These were included in the loot bags.

2. I found these little packages of white elastics and thought they would be perfect for our “snow” theme. The girls are really into making those little looped elastic bracelets, so my thinking was they could go into the loot bags or if they wish, the girls could make a bracelet at the party! Last night, I stopped at the dollar store (AGAIN!!) and they were just putting out these little loom/elastic sets. I couldn’t resist and bought the looms to go with the white elastic set.

3. In addition to the loom and snowman soup, I added soft white fluffy gloves, blue nail polish, Mentos and a chap stick.

I am planning to make cake pops for the loot bags as well, but they will be a last minute addition ~ if they turn out!  I have never made them before, but thought I would try a few for the girls to take home. We’ll have to wait and see how they turn out!

Creating a Loot Bag:

I try to tie the loot bag into the theme as well. Sometimes I am able to purchase something that works, but most often the purchased “theme” bags are a bit “too busy” for me. I will often purchase “loot” that serves as the container for holding the goodies (eg pail for a beach party, cowboy hat for a western party, etc.) Otherwise, I purchase plain bags that follow the colour scheme. For these bags, I bought plain “butcher paper brown” gift bags at a cost of 3 for $1 and then upcycled them a bit to fit with my theme. I used the same snowflake prints that I had used for the birthday banner, added a button, some glitter and a little homemade “thank you” tag.

Homemade loot bags.

Well, that’s one more thing off my list of things to accomplish today. I had better get baking!

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Homemade “Snowflake” Themed Birthday Card

I consider myself to be one of those people who is more of a “Jack of all (many) trades” than a master of any one thing. I like the fact that I will attempt almost anything at least once, learn from my mistakes and sometimes try it again so I can do a better job the second time around. If I achieve some degree of success and find the experience enjoyable and rewarding, I will continue to perfect that particular skill. The problem with this is that I love to try new things and therefore don’t really have a specific area of expertise. So, I do many things well, but few with the level of excellence I have grown to expect of myself. Such is the case with card making. My experience with “paper crafts” stems from a scrapbooking background. Although many of the techniques are the same, I can’t say that I spend much time making cards. Basically, I haven’t dabbled in card making enough for the task to be quick and easy for me.  I make a card when I need one and will often just give purchased cards or make a little gift tag in lieu of a homemade card. It is for this reason that I have a set of steps that I subconsciously follow when planning the layout for a card ~ this just helps to give me some direction when starting a project.

Card Making Tips

  1. I  start by picking the paper I want to use. I usually include a solid colour along with one or two coordinating printed papers.
  2. I then go through my “stock” to see what kind of embellishments I have on hand that would work with the palette and papers I have chosen (brads, eyelets, beads, glitter, ribbon, buttons, stickers, etc.)
  3. I often include something linear like ribbon, washi tape or even long narrow strands of paper. Although I don’t always include an element like this, I find it is my “go to” card embellishment.
  4. I then consider what my focal point is going to be ~ a sticker, a layered paper image (made with my Cricut), buttons, flowers, felt shapes, etc. For the actual layout, you need to keep in mind where you want the eye to be drawn.
  5. Finally, I think about the greeting or message I want on the card and how I am going to achieve it ~ computer, stamps or letters cut from my Cricut.

Homemade Snowflake Card:

  1. I chose the paper colours based on the colours I was using for the theme of the party. I am mostly using “butcher paper brown” and white, but have also included a hint of blue to tie in the colours I used in her birthday invitations.
  2. I have many embellishments on hand, so I simply went through what I had. I obviously was looking for items that specifically fit into either the winter/snowflake theme or my colour scheme.  For this card, I chose a roller stamp that was kind of swirly and whimsical like falling snow. I also found a white snowflake brad, a few snowflake stamps, a foam “SNOW” word that I cut out from a border that was in the paper package I used for the invitations and some Cricut cut snowflakes and lettering.
  3. For this card, I used the same ribbon that I used on the invitations as well as some pre-cut white borders I had on hand.
  4. I wanted the focal point to be the words on the card, so I made sure that this stood out and that nothing else on the card competed with the message.
  5. Again, for this particular card, my greeting and the focal point were one and the same.  The other embellishments added a bit of dimension and appeal to the card, but were not meant to be the centre of attention.

When pulling a card together, I am always trying to think in layers. When making a card I feel that the paper is my base and from that base I build the look of the card, one layer at a time. I often find that what takes a card from “blah” to “bling” is those little subtleties that are hardly noticeable and yet make a world of difference. For me, the three things I use that I believe pack the most punch are:

  • inked edges ~ I find that a bit of ink on the edges of the paper help distinguish one layer from an other and make an element stand-out and not get lost in the layout.
  • pop dots ~ 3D adhesive dots help to lift an image or letter off a page and thus give the project some dimension.
  • opalescence glitter glue ~ by this I mean glitter glue that is more clear than any specific colour, but just adds a bit of shimmer to the edge of an image, centre of a flower or tips of a snowflake. The glitter is not “tacky looking” or over powering, but more just a hint of shimmer when the light hits it just right.

Here is a look at how I used these principles to create Eden’s birthday card.

Choose your paper.
Create your first layer. This was done with a few stamps.
Add something linear (if you wish). This was created with ribbon and a white paper border.
Decide on your focal point. In this case, I wanted the message to be the highlight of the card.
Add additional embellishments to create a completed look.

In addition to decorating the outside, I was looking for something for the inside as well. In this case, I found a poem that works perfectly. I will mount the poem inside the card and then write her a personal message. My kids love these homemade cards and often keep them by their bed and read the personal messages we write inside. A birthday is the perfect opportunity to tell your loved ones how special they are and how much they are truly loved. Shay has even been known to keep special cards under his pillow and sleep with them. It really is worth the extra effort to let them know how important they are.

Here is the poem that I found. Credit for this lovely poem goes to Mandy Wilams.

homemade snowflake card

 

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Winter Party Decorations: 3D Snowflakes

As I try to find a few minutes here and there in the midst of a very busy weekend, I recruited the birthday girl to make some 3 dimensional snowflakes. They are quite stunning and will really help to create the wintry look I am going for.  Eden’s birthday is now just a few days away and as the weekend draws to an end, I know I will be busy baking cakes and pulling together the final plans for her “Snowflake” theme every evening this week. I decided to go with the “winter” theme not so much because it is a “theme” party, but more so because we were taking the girls “snow tubing” at a local park. As it turns out, I am not sure if we will be able to spend the evening outdoors or not, as the forecast does not look great for the coming weekend. If not, I know the girls will be fine hanging-out at home. Regardless, we will continue to decorate around a winter theme.

Eden did an awesome job of making this 3D snowflake for the party. Although these snowflakes take more time than a typical one, they are not difficult to make and it is fun to include the birthday girl in the party preparations. Here is a complete step by step picture tutorial, but for a complete video tutorial check-out this link.

Take 6 sheets of regular 8 1/2″ X 11″ paper.
Fold over one corner to create a triangle.
Cut off the extra paper at the end.
Fold the triangle in half.
Make slits across the triangle.
Open up the triangle.
Open up to reveal the cut square.
Roll the centre by taking the edges and overlapping them. Tape in place.
Flip the square over and pull the corners of the next biggest square towards the centre, roll them and tape them.
Flip the square over. Pick-up the corners of the next square, roll towards the centre and secure.
Continue to flip, roll and secure until the entire section is complete.
Completed section.
Repeat the process with all six sheets of paper and then join all six sections together.
Completed 3D snowflake.

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Pom-Pom Snowflakes

Well, the Winter Birthday Party plans continue. I got the invitations out and finished her snowflake birthday banner and it turned out great.  Eden is going to be 12 and is pretty much over having birthday parties with activities and games. I still have to make a few decorations, as well as the cake and cupcakes for both her family party and her girlfriend party.

I have wanted to make these oversized pom-poms/paper flowers for like….forever, but have never had a reason to do so. It might be a bit of a stretch, but I thought why not go for it using white tissue and call them snowflakes instead of flowers. I followed Martha Stewart’s tutorial and this is what I came up with. I have only made one so far, but will probably make a few to hang from our chandelier over the table in the dining room. It was super easy to make, but takes a bit of patience and a soft touch to carefully pull the layers of tissue apart.

Use 8 full sheets of tissue paper.
Fold the sheets accordion style. My folds are about 11/2″ wide.
Continue to fold until you reach the end.
I tied the centre with fishing line, leaving enough length to hang it when I am done.
Carefully begin to pull the layers of tissue apart. The first layer or two is the most difficult.
Keep pulling…
and pulling…
and pulling until all the layers are pulled apart and you have a nice full pom pom.

I think it will look fine when I have everything put up. Sometimes you just have to wait until all of the decorations are set-up for a theme to really come together.

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Snowflake Prints

My daughter’s birthday is on Friday and I still have lots to do, so this weekend I will mostly be consumed with party planning and preparations. I always make the kids a birthday banner for their party and it is usually somewhat theme related. Although we hadn’t really planned a theme for this year, she did want to take the girls sledding, so I opted for a “snow” theme ~ not exclusively, but just to give me some directions in pulling things together. I got my inspiration for the little bit of decorating I will do, from this awesome purchase I made on Thursday evening. I found some Christmas clearance items at Sears for 90% off. This snowflake garland was just too adorable to pass up. The original price was $59.99, but I picked up two strands for $6 each. I absolutely love a great deal and this was one of my best! Don’t you just love the look of the snowflakes made from twigs!snowflake garland

So, I decided to go with a bit of a rustic look. I picked up a roll of the brown parcel wrap paper used for packaging up mail and this will be used for her birthday banner. I plan to stick with a primarily brown and white look. Although I am just beginning to pull this together, I am planning to incorporate several snowflakes of different kinds. I was trying to think of a way to create a large snowflake stamp, so that I wouldn’t have to hand paint them all. I have a small stash of paper towel/toilet paper rolls and I figured I might be able to rig something up for my snowflake theme. Here is what I initially came up with.

Paper towel tube
Cut in about 1″ strips
Slit the ring on one side
Fold the cardboard in the opposite direction to its natural curl and then staple it along the centre fold, to a cork.
Staple the cardboard on a cork.
Fold the ring with the outsides together and staple it about a quarter 1/2″ from the open end, so that the ends curl out. (Obviously there is no cork in the picture here, as I took this picture before I came up with the cork idea and then had to undo the staple and re-staple after attaching it to the cork. Just imagine that this has already been attached to the cork.)
I repeated this process 6 times, and this is what I came up with.
Dip in paint to evenly cover the surface. Make prints.

The concept was great and it worked okay, but I knew that it would be way too finicky for making lots of snowflakes. The problem was that despite my efforts to create an even base for printing, you had to play around a bit and ensure that each little arm of the snowflake made contact with the paper. This would be totally fine if you were making a few, but I planned to make quite a few and don’t have the patience for that. So, I decided to take it back a few steps and this is what I ended up with.

snowflake prints

I made two different sized “arms” exactly as I had in the original snowflake, but didn’t attach them to anything.

I simply used a cork to make a circle for the centre of the snowflake and then was able to quickly add 6 “arms” around the circle to create my snowflake. I did the exact same thing with the smaller one and used the eraser end of the pencil to make the circle print in the middle. Although it means actually doing 6 prints plus the circle for every snowflake, it seems to be much easier to get a nice even print and faster to do. I have only played around a bit and haven’t yet done the banner, but I am thinking I could easily take a brush or even the eraser tip of the pencil to add other little lines and dots to add some variety to the basic snowflake print.

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Piano Pillage

Here is our piano before the dismantling.
Here is our piano before the dismantling.

I was so excited when I got home today and found that my husband had started dismantling our piano. We received the above piano for free about 4 years ago and it served us well, but unfortunately the 100+ year old piano could no longer be tuned. We had been hunting for a perfect replacement for about a year and a half and finally settled on one over the holidays. The new “old” piano was recommended to us by our piano tuner. The sound board and “body” are  in great shape, but we decided to replace all of the keys, as many were chipped. Our “new” piano also fits in well with our character 1921 home (even better than the first one) and it’s now in tip-top shape. 

As a result, we have had two pianos in our dining room for the past few weeks.  While I was at work today, my husband began the daunting process of taking it apart piece by piece. Why you might ask? Well, obviously it is of no use musically to anyone, as it can no longer be tuned and it is several hundred dollars to have a piano moved. Besides that……one of my greatest passions is repurposing the old! I was so excited when I came home to find my dining room scattered with piano parts. I have a few ideas, but no definite plans. However, you can bet that I will be sharing some piano projects over the next few months. The only down side to missing out on the dismantling is that I think the process would have got my brain going and perhaps even sparked some creativity. Instead, I will have to spend some time looking over the parts carefully and giving my brain some time to reflect on each and every part. I can’t wait to see what the pieces of this old piano might become. I’ll keep you posted ~ literally.

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Upcycled Wine Bottle

BEFORE: WIne Bottle
After

Ever since I made my Christmas rag wreath with the burlap flowers, I have been really anxious to do more burlap and/or jute projects. I love the shabby chic look, especially when there is a hint of white in the project as well. I “pinned” some cool upcycled wine bottles a few months ago, but have never gotten around to making my own. Although the project is far from done, I had a medical appointment yesterday and had a bit of time to myself after, so I took the opportunity to get started. This is a not a complex task, but I have to admit it was a bit more difficult than I anticipated.

Upcycled Wine Bottle Project~ Materials Needed:

  • jute, twine or string (I bought a 3 pack at the dollar store. Unfortunately, one of the spools is green. I wasn’t sure how much I would need, so I bought one pack. I have only done one bottle so far and used one whole spool plus a bit of the second one. One spool had 12 meters of twine, so I am guessing I used approximately 13 to 15 meters for one bottle.)
  • empty wine bottles ~ rinsed and dried (Some sites suggest removing the labels, but I didn’t. Duh! The bottle is completely covered with string and you can’t see what is underneath, not worth the extra effort in my eyes. Perhaps I missing something and there is a specific reason for removing the labels, but I haven’t been able to figure that out yet.)
  • glue gun/glue sticks or white glue
  • scissors

Upcycled Wine Bottle Project ~ Wrapping the Bottles:

Getting Started: I read several tutorials and some recommended starting at the top of the bottles while others recommended the bottom as a starting point. I started at the bottom by glueing the first row of string all along the bottom edge. I left about 1/2 inch of twine at the end and curved it up towards the top of the bottle. I then untwisted the strands slightly so it wasn’t quite so bulky and then hot glued it flat against the bottle. This allowed the me to place the next few rows over the end and helped to secure it beneath the tightly wound rows of twine.

This system seemed to work well and the twine seems secure and the end is well hidden. The job of wrapping the twine around the bottle is a bit tedious and took me about an hour for one bottle. You must make sure every single row is pressed tightly against the previous row in order to eliminate the possibility of gaps between the rows. I only glued the twine sporadically about every  inch or two up the most of the height of the bottle.

Some of the tutorials did indicate that the incline from the main part of the bottle to the neck can be tricky and require more glue. I tried this several times, but even with regular application of glue, the string kept slipping up towards the neck. It was almost as though you were working against gravity. In the end, I decided to stop near the bottom of the neck and begin from the top working down. I started much the same way as I did at the bottom, but this time working my way down. This worked well and although the incline was still a little tricky, it did work. Of course, I was then saddled with the extra task of joining the top and bottom in what appeared to be a seamless join. I basically made the join in much the same way as I handled the ends, when starting at both the top and bottom. Clearly, this is not what I would advise.

Conclusion: For my finished project, I want to have 4 bottles. I will definitely be starting at the TOP of the bottle from now on. I am not sure if there is any advantage to working upwards, but having tried both, working down seems much easier to me and so that is the strategy I will use next time. My bottle looks completely fine and it would be difficult to see the join, but it was obviously more work than was necessary.

I still want to embellish the bottle, but may wait until all 4 are done to see what might look the best before committing to something more permanent. For now, I just added some raffia and a button to dress it up and set it on my mantel!

AFTER: Fireplace Accessory

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Roasted Carrot and Apple Soup

You all know how much I love Lyn Genet-Recitas and her book The Plan. I have posted about it often and have been feeling the need to need to give my body a break and what better way than with carrot soup. I had stopped taking my Omega 3 supplements months ago because I have been so “reactive” to fish. I thought I would give it another whirl for two weeks to see if it made a difference or not. Now I must admit my body has not been in a purely “friendly” state for testing the supplements, but I can say that the scale has steadily climbed and they might just be the culprits. I quit taking them again today and will wait and see what happens over the next few days….interesting?? 

So, this brings me to today’s recipe. I have made the Carrot Ginger Soup from The Plan many times, in fact I’ve had it so much that I am a little tired of it. Although it is good, I never really loved it. I think the problem is that the recipe doesn’t give much direction in the form of how much of each spice to add. I am not great at figuring things like this out and don’t write down how much I added as I am often trying to add a bit more of this or that to tweak the flavour.   The result is that I ended up with a different flavour every time I make it and even when it is really good, I can’t seem to match it the next time. So, I decided to go in search of a recipe that was similar, but perhaps more thorough or with a splash of something different. I had to be careful because I need this to remain a “friendly” food that can be a great alternative for the recipe I had.

Ginger and Roasted Carrot Soup

This is a picture of Lily’s soup from Big Bang Studio.

Roasted Carrot Soup with Apple:

I found this awesome sounding recipe at Big Bang Studio and decided to see if it would serve both of my purposes – provide the same nutritional value and be outrageously delicious, as claimed in the post. I have to start by saying that this soup was “souper” easy to make and it is my absolute new favourite ~ unfortunately I’ll have to wait until tomorrow morning to see if the rest of my body likes it as much as my taste buds….it is in fact outrageously delicious as claimed!! I followed the recipe quite closely, but made a few minor changes.  Here’s Lily’s recipe with the few changes I made.

Ingredients:

olive oil
salt and pepper
Jumbo bag of  baby carrots (I used just under two pounds of regular sized organic carrots and chopped them in about 3″ chunks and halved the shaft if it seemed too big)
1/2 zucchini cut into thick chunks (I added this because my recipe from The Plan had zucchini in it and I wanted to keep it as close as possible).
1 MacIntosh apple
1 good-sized sweet onion, diced (Maui, Vidalia, or Walla Walla)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh ginger, minced
2 32 oz. cartons of good chicken stock
few sprigs of thyme
curry powder
orange juice (optional)
cream (optional)

In roasting dish: Mix a little olive oil and salt and pepper over the carrots, apple and zucchini. Roast on the middle rack for 1 hour at 400 degrees, tossing once if you remember. You seriously could stop here. The roasted carrot, zucchini and apple was unbelievable. I will be making my next roasted veggie dish exactly this way.

In large stock pot, sauté the onion,  garlic and fresh ginger. Place the onion mixture and the roasted veggies in a food processor or blender. Don’t over process into mush. (I actually used my little manual processor so mine ended up being very finely chopped, but not puréed) .

Add the chicken stock to the large stock pot you used for the onions and turn the temperature to medium.  Throw a few sprigs of thyme in and a dash of good curry powder. (I couldn’t find fresh Thyme, so I used some ground Thyme that I had at home). Stir occasionally, letting soup thicken and the flavours ripen. Add a splash of orange juice if your carrots aren’t sweet enough. Just before serving, add a cup or two of cream if you like. I didn’t want to add the cream to the base and it was very good without, although I am guessing it would be over the top with the cream. However, I absolutely couldn’t resist giving my freshly made Crème Fraîche a try. I added a blob to my bowl of soup an stirred it in . They must serve this soup in heaven. I am sure of it! 

Serve hot. For an A+ presentation: in each bowl add a wee swirl of cream, sour cream, Greek yogurt or Crème Fraîche with a crack of black pepper, and a leaf or sprig of whatever live herb you have on hand. Crusty rustic bread is a must. Enjoy!

Comparing the Two Soups:

The Plan recipe calls for carrots, zucchini, onion, garlic, raw ginger, cinnamon, cumin, onion powder, pepper and water.

This recipe also contains carrots, zucchini, onion, garlic, pepper and raw ginger. However, it also has an apple, chicken stock and a few different spices. The other possible issue in terms of being “cleanse worthy” is that the veggies are roasted. Although The Plan recommends roasted vegetables for other meals, I am not sure if it alters the “state” of the soup and thus may impact its effectiveness.

So here is my summary – Who cares?  This soup is to die for, I absolutely loved it. Having said that, it would be so sweet if I were able to get similar results to that of Lyn’s recipe from The Plan.  Here’s to being hopeful that I pass the scale test tomorrow a.m.! Be careful with the cream as that is where the danger is. It really is very good without it, so you may want to omit the cream from your shopping list on purpose, so you won’t be tempted. I ‘m doomed. I have a full jar of Crème Fraîche in my fridge and I already made the mistake of testing it in the soup. Most likely a big mistake ~ it was so good! Let me know what you think of the soup. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I have. (I made it for dinner, but have already had 3 small bowls – I hope it last until dinner time!)

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