Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Ode To My Missing Morning Coffee

So yeah, my head hurts and I'm irritable. I'm off the juice.

On Friday, I succumbed to the nagging of friends, family & coworkers alike and went to the damned Naturopath to see about my allergies. (long story short: I've had crazy bad allergies this last year, whereas before I had none. My family Doctor does not believe in testing and would prefer I take 3 different antibiotics for the rest of my life, so I'm pursuing other options)

She took some blood to be tested for specific allergens (which was hella expensive- luckily we'll be able to claim part of it), and told me that for the next 6 weeks, I can't drink anything but water.

No coffee. No beloved Pepsi; drink of the Gods. No beer or wine.

It's going to be a long 6 weeks.

However... IF all this garbage results in a better understanding of the mysterious allergies that kick my butt, then I guess it *might* be worth it.

Grumble... grumble...

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Did I mention...?

Not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I'm in the process of starting a catering business. I'm specializing in 'party food' with an emphasis on global flavours made with fresh, local ingredients. I'm calling it Maeven's Kitchen, and I have a gig catering a Valentine's Day cocktail party for a chapter of the Vancouver Giro Club. The spread will all be hot & cold finger food, mostly circulated, but there will also be an antipasto buffet. The menu theme is Mediterranean, and the dishes pull heavily from Spanish, French, Greek & Italian cuisines, with a taste of Morocco & Turkey.

Last night I made about a million Empanaditas. They are miniature versions of the Spanish Empanada, a puff pastry crescent filled with an aromatic mixture of meat, fruit & spices. Mine are only an inch long, and while I almost crippled myself cutting and folding and pinching them together for several hours... I had so much fun!

The rest of the menu is mostly settled, and will include a twist on sliders (tiny gourmet hamburgers) and Albondigas (a Spanish meatball & tomato dish), with saffron & tomato aioli. Also, phyll0 wrapped asparagus with roasted garlic & lemon aioli, and my famous Cardamom Poached Apricots with Amaretto Mascarpone. Geez, my stomach is starting to rumble.

This gig I'll be catering from home, as I have a family connection in the Gyro Club, but if I'm to continue I need to find a commercial kitchen willing to rent me space by the day. This is proving tricky, but I'm working on it.

Bon Apetit!