I have a couple more entries to share before the deadline, that just got extended to November 20th, to submit a recipe  for the Backpackers Recipe Guide. This cookbook will be sent out to 20,000 youth hostels worldwide with a selection of cheap, easy and delicious recipes a traveler can cook in a youth hostel kitchen. How exciting it would be to have my recipe in there. Don’t worry I have no huge long travel story like my first entry which was a Pesto and Mushroom Pizza inspired by a day I spent in Cinque Terre Italy many years ago.

This recipe deals with what some consider a travel emergency: attack of the killer sweet tooth. While traveling I know I have a higher risk to get this attack. After all you spend all day walking around, burning calories so your body wants sugar and you CAN afford the calories. Now in some destinations around the world you have the most delectable pastries so that should be your first destination. But sometimes you want a sweet treat now. This very simple Lemon and Raspberry Tarts recipe will come to the rescue in a jiffy.

Desserts can be a daunting preparation in a hostel kitchen. Most will assume they need flour, sugar, eggs, milk, baking powder – stuff that will probably not be available. By getting ready made tart shells there is not pie crust to make. Then all that is left is the filling which in this case is a lemon curd and fresh raspberries. Of course if you fancy a different flavor go for it. Maybe you found a lovely orange curd, or blueberries are in season. Let your imagination run wild. The only note I would like to mention is that your tarts will be as good as the quality of your chosen curd. This recipe makes 12 tarts so there will be plenty to go around.

Ξ Lemon and Raspberry Tarts Ξ

Ingredients:

• a package of frozen ready made individual tart shells
• 1 1/4 cup  (285 gr/10 oz jar) lemon curd
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F/190C. Place 12 tart shells on a baking sheet. With a fork make holes on the bottom of each tart to prevent the bottom from rising.
2. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until the shells are cooked and golden. Let the shells cool completely.
3. In the mean time  reserve 12 nice raspberries for decoration. Mix gently the lemon curd with the remaining fruit.
4. Spoon the mixture evenly into the 12 tart shells and top decoratively with a fresh raspberry. Makes 12 tarts.

So I am on like day 12 of being obsessed over new smartphone. It is my first one and it is an Android with the touch screen plus bells and whistles. It is freaking AWESOME. And than there are all the applications you can add, called app for short. Wow those are fun: there are games to play alone or with others, you can link up to you bank, check when the bus will past next, listen to music, etc.

Than I fell on the Drinking Water App. It asks you how many glasses you want to drink in a day, asks when you want to have your first drink (like 9 am) and the latest time to drink. When it is time to drink the phone makes a noise of a glass being filled. It’s a fun app for someone wanting to drink more water than they already are. If you achieve your daily goal a crowd applauds and cheers you. This is what the app screen looks like…

That got me thinking about articles I vaguely remembered reading some time ago: do you really need 8 glasses a day?, what is the size of a glass?, do your other beverages count and which?, and what about the water in the food we eat?

Oh gees, all I wanted was an app that may help me incorporate a healthier habit and inspire me to do more maybe? But now I am bombarded with existential questions about liquids. ENOUGH. Let’s get to the bottom of the glass and find the answers.

So according to wiki…

The human body is made of between 55% to 78% water. Now how much you need per day depends on so many factors one cannot give a specific amount that fits every human being. Factors include on body size, level of activity, temperature, humidity. Some people may need one liter while another person needs  seven liters of water per day.

Who said 8 glasses a day?

We used to think that approximately 2 liters (6 to 7 glasses) of water daily was the minimum to maintain proper hydration. Where did this number come from? It goes back to 1945 when a recommendation for water intake was presented to the Food and Nutrition Board of the United States National Research Council. Since then many studies have been done to prove the claim, all have failed. In the US, the reference daily intake (RDI) for water is 3.7 liters per day (l/day) for human males older than 18, and 2.7 l/day for human females older than 18,  including water contained in food, beverages, and drinking water.

What does water do for you?

What is the size of a glass?

This one they all seem to agree on: eight fl oz each (240 ml).

What about the water in the food we eat?

Normally,about 20% of water intake comes from food, while the rest comes from drinking liquids. This means that with the current US recommendations, after eating you still need on average 3.0 liters (13 glasses) for a man and 2.2 liters for a woman  (9 glasses). Wait a minute that is even more then the old false recommendation of 8 glasses? Now I am really confused.

So how much do we really need per day?

Medical literature favors a lower consumption, an average sized adult with healthy kidneys needs no more than one liter of fluid (4 glasses). Another article I read recommended 1 liter of water for every 1000kcal you expend. If it is hot and humid, drink more, if you exercised drink more. If you sit all day and no nothing in a cool comfortable room there is no need to add more.

The “loose average” kcal burned in a day is 1800 ( an average people…some are at 1400, some are a 2200). So let’s take off 20% because that water was in our food. Now we have 1440 kcal which would be 1.4 liters or 6 glasses.

This is another formula (apparently) to learn what your liquid daily needs are:
To determine how much water you should drink, weigh yourself each morning for 3 to 4 days in a row (ladies not during your PMS or period cause you are bloated). If you lose a whole pound in a day, it means you came up short on liquids the day before. Drink a pint of water or juice first thing in the morning for every pound you’ve lost and adjust your daily intake until your weight is steady.

Do other beverages count?

Water is water is water? Actually no, beverages such as milk and juice are composed mostly of water. Same goes for beer, wine and caffeinated beverages. Of course I won’t recommend you only drink beer, but if you have a glass of milk in the morning, a coffee at work and a beer at night…if you are that average 1800 kcal person you just knocked off 3 of your 6 glasses.

In the end I decided to set my Drinking Water app to 6 glasses and I count all my liquids as water. So far so good.

A final note

I read a couple of sites that said you are your best judge of how much water you need to drink. I actually totally disagree with that because most of us misinterpret “I am thirsty” brain signals as “I need to eat something”. Yes most of your pangs of hunger are actually your body saying it needs fluids, not food. When you are really hungry you will know it – like you might want to steal the sandwich from that kid and run because you are starving.

Also some people only recognize thirst when they are already dehydrated. If that is your case better drink by prevention before you feel thirsty. Dehydration can be life threatening.

And yes you can die from drinking too much water too, although that is rare. It is referred to as water intoxication or hyper-hydration. If you drink so much water that your normal balance of electrolytes go out of wack your muscles and brain will stop functioning. Nearly all deaths related to water intoxication in normal individuals have resulted either from water drinking contests.

Even if we had a big sorta surprise birthday party last Saturday, we still had another immediate family dinner the actual day of my dad’s 75th birthday. And for this party I decided to go with a Southern American theme influenced by my trip last summer in North Carolina. I had a list of Must Do recipes from back then I still not attacked…I did a bunch in one shot, most adapted. Enjoy the dinner.

Oh yes, 1 recipe is a Southern impostor, can you guess which one?

Menu

Cajun Lemonade
Zucchini Corn Fritters
Beer Cheese Soup
Evelyne’s Slow Cooker North Carolina Pulled Pork
Corn bread
Swiss Chard
Sweet potato pudding cake
Evelyne’s Homemade Ice tea

Cajun Lemonade

6 ounces rum or vodka
2 ounces limoncello
4 ounces fresh lemon juice
2 ounces Simple Syrup
1/4 tablespoon Tabasco
4 ounces chilled 7-Up

In a large container, combine all of the ingredients except 7-Up. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Poor into a shaker and shake in batches, then pour into an ice-filled pitcher. Strain into ice-filled rocks glasses, stir in the 7-Up.

Zucchini Corn Fritters (12 fritters)

1 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/8 cup butter, melted
1 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cups fresh corn, kernels cut from cob
1/2 cup finely shredded Cheddar cheese
oil for frying

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cumin, sugar, salt, and pepper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and butter. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir in zucchini, corn, and cheese; mix well.
3. Warm oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Drop batter by the tablespoonful into hot oil. Fry until crisp and brown, turning once with tongs. Remove to paper towels.

Beer Cheese Soup

½ white onion, diced
¼ cup butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 12 ounce bottle of beer
14 oz broth
1 can cream of celery
1 Cup half-and-half
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and ground pepper, to taste

Saute the diced onions in butter, add the garlic, broth, cream, cream of celery and beer. Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted then add Worcestershire, salt and pepper.

Slow Cooker Carolina BBQ

3-4 pounds pork roast, Boston butt or pork shoulder
2 tsp black pepper, garlic salt, Paprika each
1 Medium Sweet Onion, Chopped
2 Teaspoon Liquid Smoke
2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup of barbecue sauce (homemade or store bought, I used Bone Suckin’ Sauce from NC)

1. Combine garlic salt, pepper and paprika, rub into the pork. Place pork in slow cooker and cover with vinegar, onion and liquid smoke. Cook for 8 to 10 hours under “low” slow cooker setting.
2. After meat is cooked, remove from slow cooker onto plate and break apart with fork. If meat has any bones, please discard at this time. Keep liquid
3. Put the pork in the slow cooker & add BBQ sauce and liquid to tastes. Keep warm. Serve on  plate or burger bun.

OK I am assuming responsibility for my outlandish following statement: this was the BEST pulled pork ever. I have had about 4 different ones in NC and about 3 in the last year in Montreal BBQ restaurants (which all sucked). Mine is the BEST. I am specifically sending out this challenge to Rich, my friend who hosted me while I was visiting him last summer. Rich, get your butt up here for a little holiday and I’ll make you my pull pork…the BEST, period!

Swiss Chard

1 bunch of Swiss chard
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
Sea salt and pepper

Trim the stems of the Swiss chard and chop into sections. Wash the leaves well, shake dry. Cook the stems in a large pot of simmering salted water for 5 minutes, then add the leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes, turning them occasionally as they wilt down, until soft.

Drain well in a colander, then toss with the butter, lemon juice , sea salt and pepper.

Cornbread

I used my Mama Dips Cornbread Mix that I bought when I was in North Carolina…but if you want to make you own…

1 c. self-rising cornmeal
½ c. self-rising flour
3-4 T. sugar
3 T. butter
1¼ c. buttermilk
2 eggs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix cornmeal, flour, and sugar.
2. In separate bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add buttermilk and melted butter.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Pour into cornbread dish (or 8“x8” baking pan).
5. Bake for 25 minutes. Until golden brown

Sweet potato pudding cake

1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons dark or light rum
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour (I used A”P” white flour)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups mashed sweet potato (about 1 large)
3 large eggs
14oz coconut milk
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Topping

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 tablespoon packed brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch spring form pan with cooking spray.
2. To prepare cake: Toss raisins and rum in a small bowl and let stand. Whisk flour, nutmeg and salt in another bowl.
3. Boil sweet potato till tender, drain and mash in a large bowl. Add eggs; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add coconut milk, 1 cup brown sugar and butter; beat until combined. Stir in the dry ingredients until evenly moistened. Stir in the raisins and any remaining rum. Spread the batter in the prepared pan.
4. To prepare topping: Combine coconut, 1 tablespoons brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle on top of the cake.
5. Bake the cake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, 25-30 min. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and gently remove the side ring. Let cool at room temperature for 1 hour, then refrigerate until cold, about 3 hours.

Evelyne’s Homemade Ice tea

2 liters of water
3 tea bags (any kind)
fresh lemon juice, to taste
honey, to taste

Run your tap water hot and fill the pitcher with about 2 cups of water. Add the 1 tbsp of honey and lemon juice and stir. Add the teat bags and let sit 1 hour on the counter. Fill with 1.5 liters of water and put in the fridge for a few hours. Discard tea bags and adjust lemon and honey to taste.

Yesterday I organized a big family and friends party at a great restaurant for 2 very special occasions: June 5th is my parent’s 40th wedding anniversary and June 8th is my dad’s 75th birthday. We were a nice group of 30 people and we enjoyed a great meal at a very group-friendly restaurant, LaGriglia d’Oro in Montreal. Thank you Carmine for everything. The food was excellent, all cooked perfectly and served warm (salmon and steak not over cooked like most places), everyone loved the place, the decor, and the service was excellent. The general comment I got from everyone was that the dinner experience was perfection. Now this post is not about the dinner but about the DESSERT!

Sorry bad restaurant lighting

The restaurant does not supply cake with the group menu but would charge $5 extra per person for a dessert. Times30 that is $150…a lot for a cake! They happily said I could bring in my own cake. Again a cake for about 30 in a bakery shop will  run you around $100. So I though I am a baker, I have a food blog, I can kinda decorate. Why don’t I make the cake? And lots of anticipation stress ensued.

After much research I settled on a 12 x 18 in. sheet cake with 1 layer. Now you can serve 36 to 54 people with this cake depending on how you cut it. If you portions will be cut 2 x 2 in. you get 54 slices; math 6 horizontal slices x 9 vertical = 54. If you want a more generous portion (like me) you can cut portions 2 x 3 in. and get 36 slices ; math 6 horizontal slices x 6 vertical = 36. I also decided to settle for cake mix to save lots of time and money **hold the rotten tomato throwing**.  I was way more stressed about the decoration and spent hours online looking at pictures and trying to find some inspiration. This was truly the toughest part. Here are the recipes and my costs:

Sheet Party Cake

3 cake mixes (2 chocolate and 1 golden) – $6
9 eggs – $2
3 cups water
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil – $3
1 cup sour cream – $3
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 12×18 aluminum rotisserie pan from the dollar store – $2

Cake batter total= $16.00

Preheat oven at 350 F. Butter and flour your pan. Add and mix with an electric mixer everything as directed on the cake mix box and poor into the pan (I had a cookie sheet big enough to place the pan on). Bake for about 55 min or until ready, you know the toothpick test. Cool 10 min and remove from pan. Let the cake cool completely.

Since my pretty undulated borders stayed pretty clean I opted to not ice the sides. I decided to go with a buttercream icing recipe, found here, that would be laid smooth on top and add colored scrolls inspired by my henna designs for a sophisticated look.

Vanilla Buttercream Icing and Decorations

1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature – $4
6 to 8 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted – $7
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
up to 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
pack of 5 vials various cake sprinkles – $3

Icing and decoration total= $14.00

Beat butter for a few minutes with a mixer on medium speed. Add 6 cups of powdered sugar and turn your mixer on the lowest speed until the sugar has been incorporated with the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and 2 tablespoons of milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add remaining sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add remaining milk 1 tablespoons at a time. Makes 5 cups.

Spread 3 cups of the icing (colored if you wish) on the top of the cooled sheet cake  smoothly. Put the remaining icing (colored if you wish) in a pastry bag fitted with a tip of your choice and pipe your designs. I added the candle, wrote some wishes, let inspiration flow for the sprinkles (less is more) and voilà! Of course I was so rushed for time I forgot to take pics of the icing process, so you get the dirty dishes, and when my lift arrived as I was finishing my icing job still. I did not even have time to take a good pic at home of the cake.

Cake total= $30.00

Gee I saved about $70. True I did not add an hourly rate to my cake total because it was fun, I saw it as a personal baking challenge for growth and I made it out of love for my parents.

A note on the icing: I went with an all butter recipe which means it will be off white and could melt in a warm climate. If you want a purer white or a less climate sensitive icing substitute half the butter with vegetable shortening and use clear vanilla extract.

Talk about killing 2 birds with 1 stone: 2 challenges, same publish date…SAME THEME! Awesome! And it gets better, I cooked with another daring kitchen member who has a food blog and who just so happens to be a great friend! On the menu tonight for both the Daring Cooks Challenge and the International Incident Party (which is hosted by the lovely Penny at Jeroxie) : Gumbo.

Gumbo is a stew or soup which originated in south Louisiana. It consists primarily of a strong stock, meat or shellfish, a thickener, and the vegetable “holy trinity” of celery, bell peppers, and onion. Gumbo is often categorized by the type of thickener used: the African vegetable okra, the Choctaw spice filé powder, and/or the French base made of flour and fat, roux.

DC challenge: Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh. For the entire recipe PFD click here.

My partner in crime is Amanda of The Mindful Table. We met about a year ago through a Montreal food blogger BBQ, realized we actually had a lot of common interests and acquaintances. And then she joined the Daring Kitchen so we exchanged emails and phones calls on various recipes. Finally the stars were aligned for us to cook a challenge together. Amanda’s blog is devoted to local and sustainable food. If you want to learn more about these options, and learn about the organic meats we used in this recipe then check out her post of the gumbo challenge.

Our notes
Neither one of us was enthralled by the idea of so much sausage so we cut back a lot. And once all the herbs and spices were added from the original recipe we found it quite bland so we added a lot more thyme and cumin seeds, chili flakes and cayenne. We also added 3 garlic cloves to the rub. Oh and we did not read about the size of the pan…we used a 4-5 quart….so we only got in half the chicken stock (1.5 quarts) but we got a quite liquid gumbo so no idea why the recipe says 3 quarts.

There was a lot confusion and a lot of improvising…thank god we are both good at that and can laugh it off. It was  really fun night filled with cooking, banter, booze, gossip and laughter. Love you my friend! The gumbo was not what we expected, we found by the end all the veggies and meat had disintegrated. But it was very good to eat. I would not do this recipe again though.

The wine pairing was phenomenal. I researched the best red wines online to go with gumbo and the results were Pinot Noir or Gamay. Went to the SAQ store, asked for the best mid-priced, splurged a bit more for a Californian Santa Barbara Pinot Noir 2009…A-MA-ZING with the gumbo.

Here are the recipes we used…

Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

VERY adapted by Evelyne and Amanda
Serves 10-12

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) rendered chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
2 large onions, diced
1 organic chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) Creole spice blend
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3/4 pound organic Valens smoked german style sausage, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick
2 stalks celery, diced
2 green bell peppers (capsicum), seeded and diced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 sprigs of fresh thyme
1.5 quarts (1.5 liters) Chicken Stock
2 bay leaves
2 cups (480 ml) (320 gm) (11 oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices
1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon (15 ml) crushed cumin seeds
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
cayenne and chili flakes, to taste
4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Season the chicken pieces with the Creole Spices and 3 garlic cloves while you prepare the vegetables.
2. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.
3. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.
4. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.
5. Add the chicken; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, 10 minutes.
6. Add the sliced sausage and stir for about a minute.
7. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.
8. Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
9. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.
1o. Add the chopped okra, and Worcestershire. Season with cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne and chili flakes, to taste.
11. Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice.

Basic Louisiana White Rice
Servings: About 4 cups

Ingredients

1 tablespoon (30 ml) (30 gm) (1 oz) chicken fat, extra-virgin olive oil, or butter
1 small onion, minced
1½ cups (360 m) ((280 gm) (10 oz) Louisiana rice (we used brown rice)
3 cups (750 ml) Basic Chicken Stock
1 bay leaf
1-2 pinches salt

Directions:

1. Put the fat, oil, or butter and the onions into a medium saucepan and sweat the onions over moderate heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Pour the rice into the pan and stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
4. Add the bay leaf and salt.
5. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 18 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.