Peach & Cherry Oat Crumb Bars

I don't know how we ended up in an awkward camping situation.  Here's how it started...

We made plans to go camping with my friend and a friend of hers (T).  Then, T backed out.  During that time, my friend started dating a new guy. She asked me if we'd be okay with her bringing the new guy camping in place of her friend.  The fact that she hadn't known him long enough to even get his last name made me pause a bit.  But, she caught me after I had just come back from drinks with friend and I said, "Sure - bring him along!"

Then, she told me about this new guy, but did the worst sales job ever (not that she needs to sell me on the guy).  Basically she told me about all of the undesirable (in a significant other) things the guy has done in his life.

Great.  This should be interesting.

To offset the potential weirdness with the new guy, we invited another couple along.  We figured we could just hang out in a canoe all day if things were weird.

Here's the canoe:

Enough said.

Well....at least the food was good.  Here's dinner from day 1:

Part of dinner from day 2:

Definitely not roughing it.

R and I were responsible for breakfast.  But, I decided to also bring a dessert.  I still had peaches on my mind after preserving peaches four ways and put them to good use making Deeba's Cherry & Peach Oat Crumb Bars.  If you're a foodblogger, you probably already know Deeba and visit her site regularly.  If not, go check out her beautiful blog.  She puts such care into each and every post, it's a delight to read (not to mention beautiful photography).

Cherry & Peach Oat Crumb Bars

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup vanilla sugar
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
200gms chilled butter, cubed (about 7/8 of a cup)
1 large egg
3-4 peaches, pitted and sliced
100gms cherries, pitted and halved
1 sachet vanilla sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 190C (375F). Line a 9 X 13″ baking tin with baking parchment.

Whisk the flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of the blender to mix.

Add chilled butter, vanilla bean and egg and process until you have a breadcrumb like mix.

Turn out 2/3 of the crumb mix into the prepared tin and pat gently into place.

Top with sliced peaches and pitted cherries.  My battery operated scale needs a new battery, so I just estimated how many peaches and cherries to add.  Sprinkle with vanilla sugar if using (I didn't use this).

Scatter the remaining 1/3 crumb mix over the fruit.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the top is light brown.

Cool completely before cutting into squares (if you can wait that long).  Store in an airtight box in the fridge.

The bars were so delicious!  This is my kind of dessert!  Thanks Deeba.

Sydney, Australia: Part 3

Are you getting tired of my trip reports?  I've come this far, with my posts about New Zealand (part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4), Cairns, Sydney (part 1 and part 2), I can't stop now!

Here's my last post about Sydney:

The next day, we started with a walk through The Rocks Market.  The market has some cute crafts and yummy-looking food, but you have to search for good deals because they don't jump out at you.

After visiting the market, we took a ferry to Manly Beach.  Along with Bondi, Manly is one of the most popular beach areas in Sydney.

We spent most of our time enjoying the nice weather and watching the surfers.  I still can't figure out the rules they follow to determine who gets to take the wave.   These instructions are posted on the beach, but I have no idea what they mean.

Here's some film I took of the surfers.  

Before leaving, I managed to track down some Lamingtons on the main drag between the ferry terminal and the beach.  So good!

The ferry ride home, as the sun was setting, was beautiful.  

That night, we went to the Sydney Symphony.  I took this restricted photo and then subsequently got in trouble for it.  

The next day was our last day in Sydney and we still had several things on our list.  For starters, I really wanted to try DinTaiFung.  Rumour was that they have the best dumplings.

I knew, from what I had read, that there would be a lineup.  So, we took some time while waiting outside of the restaurant to review the menu, prepare our order and take pictures through the window of the factory-like dumpling space.  In fact, the whole place runs like a well-oiled machine.

Not being a dumpling expert, I really appreciate the "guide to enjoy the Xiao Long Bao":

Aren't they cute?!?  I want some more.  These dumplings are like little purses of heaven.  I want them to open a takeout window next to the place I work.  No.  I want them to open up a restaurant a couple of blocks from where I live.  I want to reverse time and ignore the full feeling and order another dozen.  Anyway - you get the idea.

The other dishes were also good, but not nearly as good as the dumplings.

After lunch, we walked to the Sydney Fish Market.   

You know your fish is fresh when you can see all of the boats that bring fresh fish in.  

For our last night, we went to see a Rugby game at the ANZ Stadium.

We watched the South Sydney Rabbitohs, a team co-owned by Russell Crowe, play the Wests Tigers.  

The Tigers didn't score during the first half, which left some Tiger fans pretty outraged.  They managed to gain speed in the second half, but the Rabbitohs held on for the win.  It was fun to watch, although we didn't fully understand the rules.  But, now that the Rugby World Cup is on (in New Zealand), we're going to continue to try to figure out the rules and what the difference is between rugby league and rugby union.

With that, our Sydney trip comes to a close.  Next (and last stop) is Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road.  

President's Choice Holidays - Part III

Let's Talk

Our American peeps have now watched the parade and enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner. I hope it was a great one for all. Today there are two groups of people; those who are brave enough to hit the stores for Black Friday for the greatest shopping extravaganza in the U.S. and those who are busy making turkey soup and figuring out what to do with the leftovers from yesterday's dinner. Maybe some are doing both. Thoughts and plans now take a shift to THE holiday season. In the EOK household, the planning is in full swing. President's Choice , for me has been the helper to a "friend in need" when it comes to the planning. The next gift that I opened was a package of these oh so practical baking pans. I'm loving them and relinquished half my stash to Psychgrad who apparently loves them too. They're a perfect 9x9 size, silicone lined and reusable and in a pinch I would use them in a recipe that calls for an 8x8 pan.



The next day along came a Canadian classic; Butter Tart square mix. Butter tart anything (squares, tarts) has always been a big favourite in our family. Of course, the mix was talking to me ..... "make me, make me". I poured myself some of the PC Cranberry and Ginger Ale (it's incredible alone or even mixed with alcohol) and started to put it together.



.... so I did. I didn't exactly time it but it sure didn't take long for them to disappear. I used the 9x9 pan here even though it called for an 8x8 and they turned out just fine.



The price I saw them at my local Loblaws store was $3.00 and I knew that having these in my cupboard was a necessity. Beyond my own pantry, I began thinking about how many gifts could be sent from Canada to expats and non Canadians to give them the flavour of Canada. They're cheap, light weight and would travel well. My Australian family would love these as much as I love receiving Lamingtons from them.

The next day along came Belgian Chocolate Cake Mix. Hmmmm...squares, petit fours, a quick dessert with ice cream - so many possibilities and they can be done within an hour start to finish.



.... and - if you just want to have them on hand, the next day's sampling is a box of freezer bags to put them in and have them ready when company drops by. I like the size of these bags and plan to also use them to package a Nuts n' Bolts recipe I do every year. If you're doing home made, you can create your cookie mixes for gifting and keep them in the freezer ready to package when needed.



These mini peanut butter chips (if I don't snack them all before I bake) are creating combinations with white and dark chocolate. I'll throw some in with my nut mixes as well for an interesting variation.



I've been away for a few days and have just received the second President's Choice package. Stay tuned - you won't believe what's coming in my next post!!! This is the time of year that the best of the best is found in our grocery stores. The freshest products, the newest releases - Enjoy!!!

Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

The "golden girls", i.e. my mother and her friend from Winnipeg are going to be together for a couple of weeks. Here we are planning their social activities and preparing their food in advance. If they heard me say it they would completely deny it but both of them are suckers for something sweet. I've entirely stopped telling my mother that I stick whole cakes, cut up into her freezer and mysteriously, everything seems to disappear. So today's treat for the "girls", we have Blueberry Cheesecake Bars. What I like about this recipe is that it's a cut down from a regular cheesecake and with it cut into bars, they can restrict themselves or else say "it's small, have two".






1 1/2 cups Oreo crumbs
1/2 stick melted butter - (4 Tbsp)
12 oz of light cream cheese (I used a 400 g tub)
5 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup low fat milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line an 8x8 square baking pan with aluminum foil. Mix oreo crumbs with melted butter and press firmly into the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a food processor or mixer, blend cream cheese, eggs, milk, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and zest until smooth. (don't overmix or you'll get cracks)
Pour the mixture into the crust and cover the top with blueberries. Bake in the oven for 35-40 min or until the center is set.
Cool completely. Lift the cheesecake out of the pan and cut into bars.



Go ahead - have two.

If you prefer, you can use graham wafer crumbs for this recipe instead of oreo.

Matrimonial Cake

The weather has, for the most part, settled in to one beautiful day after the other. I don't really feel like spending alot of time indoors or being on the computer for long lengths of time other than to be blogging and feeding my addiction to Farmville. Ya, I know, I'm one of the ones who loads up my facebook profile with posts from F/V. It won't be long until Psychgrad and R get an intervention going.

This time of year I also miss being in a house with a garden and live vicariously through Psychgrad's garden. My little balcony can only accomodate a few pots of herbs and a tomato or two.




But, as I've mentioned before, being a condo dweller means you can't have the bbq at your place. Yesterday was one of those days and I was only too happy to contribute a dessert and help with the prep of hosting a BBQ.

In years gone by, there was one cake that always made it's way to the table in Western Canada. In fact, some might say it's distinctly Canadian although one of the first recipes on record came from Ohio.


Do you remember this type of graphic from the old cookbooks? If you don't then you're alot younger than I am. Come to think of it, most people are a lot younger than I am. This picture sat on top of a recipe for Matrimonial Cake. I'm just not sure if it's a cake, a square or a bar. No matter what you call it, it's easy, delicious and still popular with the crowd



Base:
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter

Date Filling:
1/2 pound dates, pitted
2/3 cup water
1/4 cup sugar **
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

Base:
In a large bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly.
Spread 3/4 of the crumbs in a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Date Filling:
Mix dates, water and sugar together in a saucepan. Cook until thick, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and add lemon juice.
Allow to cool before using.
Spread over the crumbs in the pan. Sprinkle the remaining crumbs over top of the filling.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20 minutes.

** The dates are naturally sweet - the sugar really isn't critical to the mix.