Vancouver Bakery: Divinely Delish

Divinely Delish is a blogger, traveller, food enthusiast so I happily support her baked goods and savory items by treating myself to something homemade.  I love ordering her one savory item which are Chinese dumplings.  I've tasted all of the dumplings but traditional Pork and Chives is still my favorite.  Even though she posts the recipe on Divinely Delish blog, I still like to order them to save time.  It's nice to have fresh homemade dumplings in the freezer.  They make my meals on a numerous occasions.  I just boil them until they rise to the top and then dip them in a combination of soy and sriracha sauce.  

During the holidays I wanted to get something for my husband and the biscotti sold me.  Biscotti is something that I would never make at home especially the double baked biscotti so I decided to order some for my hubby to have with his coffee.  When my husband saw the big bag, he immediately froze some and then we had the rest fresh to go with our coffee drinks.  

I look foward to new year when I may try some other new baked items.  In the meantime check out the Divinely Delish Blog.

Subscription Box Sunday - Gluten Free London Fog Cake from the White Willow Box

Dear Vancity Girlfriends,

Now when we opened April's White Willow Box, there were ingredients for a Gluten-Free London Fog Cake and so I have tried it.  It was quite easy to make with the Nextjen Gluten-free Vanilla Cake Mix and it only used half a package so I can make another London Fog Cake with blueberries another day.  I was surprised that a gluten free cake could have so much flavour but it did and it was moist.  I had debated bringing the cake the work for my colleagues but after tasting a slice or two, my tummy made the decision for me.  I couldn't bring a half eaten cake.  It wasn't long before this cake was devoured.  

I don't even think my husband ever knew it was gluten free.  That's how good it was!  I can't wait to make the next one.  

Vancity Girlfriend's Unboxing of White Willow Box:  

Subscription Box Sunday - Baker's Krate Dessert Box (April Unboxing)

Dear Vancity Girlfriends,

It's time for our last Baker's Krate Dessert Box (April Unboxing) from our 3 month subscription.  This is a Canadian gourmet dessert subscription box from Winnipeg, Manitoba.  If you like sweet treats with a homemade touch, then this box is for you.  Let's take look to see what was inside the Baker's Krate for April.

1.  Earl Grey Meringue - light meringue that melts in your mouth.

2.  Raspberry Imperial Cookie - two of these were in the box and since I love rapberries, these were the first to disappear.  Two shortbread coookies sandwiched with raspberry jam and pink coloured icing to tie it all together.

3.  Salted Caramel Cookie - two of these for those who like sweet and salty.

4.  Goodies - two bards, one was a chocolate brownie and the other was an oh henry.  

Baker's Krate Dessert Subscription Box never lasts long in my household. 

Check out our YouTube unboxing to watch the yummyness!

Subscription Box Sunday - Baker's Krate Dessert Box (March Unboxing)

Dear Vancity Girlfriends,

As promised on Subscription Box Sunday, I will unbox the March box for Baker's Krate Dessert Box.  This is a subscription box from Canada that contains 4-6 sweet treats that are handmade with love and shipped to your doorstep.  Now when we do our unboxing videos on YouTube, since we are unboxing the Baker's Krate subscription box for the first time on the spot, we are guessing what items might be when we are looking at them.  We are pretty honest with our unboxing.  (Not like some reality shows where you know that everything has been staged - it's all too good to be true).

Anyways, here's what was inside Baker's Krate March box.

1.  Bacon Butter Tart Pie in a Jar 
2.  Caramilk Chocolate Chip Cooke
3.  Chocolate Chunk Cookie
4.  Butterscotch Quickie
5.  Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich
6.  Crinkle Cookie

The butterscotch quickie in a sandwich bag was a little odd.  When I opened the box, I thought it was a topping for the cookie, but it's a separate dessert in itself.  The cookies were delicious and I'm saving the Bacon Butter Tart in  Jar for when I have some vanilla ice cream because then I can heat it up and put ice cream on top as they have suggested in the Baker's Krate menu.  

Now watch our Baker's Krate unboxing video to see the unboxing of each item.  

Out of the two Baker's Krate dessert boxes that I've received so far, the February Valentine's Day box is my favorite.  I do have one more Baker's Krate Box arriving for April so we will see if it can be better than the February Box.

Either way, none of the treats last long in my household.  Enjoy!  

Cookie Swap Testing: Reeses Piece's Cookies

My girlfriends and I every year organize a Cookie Swap where we each choose a festive cookie and then share them with each other at the cookie swap.  Instead of having someone host the cookie swap, we choose a restaurant that we can enjoy and bring the cookies already packaged for each other.  

I'm quite happy that this year I only have one cookie swap (last year I had two and I needed to enlist the help of my friend to get them all done).  Okay that means that last year I only decorated cookies for one of the swap.  

This year since I'm ahead of the game I decided to open up a Cookie Test Kitchen.  Or that's what I call it.  I'm going to bake different cookies to see which one I like the best for the cookie swap.

The first cookie I baked on the weekend was a Reeses Pieces Cookie.  They reeses pieces candies were on sale so I just used the recipe on the back of the bag.  

I reduced the amount of sugar as I don't have much of a sweet tooth.  I usually just omit the white sugar in recipes, or something like that, and used half a bag of candies instead of the full bag.  The cookie has a strong peanut butter flavour and surprised my husband that it didn't contain any peanut butter except the amount that was in the candies.  The Reeses Piece's cookie tastes good, but it doesn't really make the cut for a holiday cookie.  Next year it looks more like it would suit a spooky Halloween with the orange and brown colours.  

My Cookie Swap test kitchen continues....what cookie will be next......

Classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Dear Vancity Girlfriends,

I love baking in the kitchen to help warm my spirits and find a bit of relaxation from the stresses of life.  I enjoy melting in the warmth of the oven and smelling the freshly baked chocolate chips floating in the air. 

From years of baking my go-to recipe has always been the Classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.  I've used different recipes but after years of making this recipe I know what is key for me.  I like to use real butter (not margarine), high quality semi-sweet chocolate chips, and to decrease the sugar.  Most classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipes are sweet and I like to enjoy the sweetness of the chocolate chips.

When I had a recipe book in the 90s, I would take out the tattered pages and make the recipe that was hand written and smudgy from years of use.  A recipe passed down from someone's great grandmother that was tested, tried and true.  Nowadays, Google internet search is at your fingertips.  So when I wanted to make the classic oatmeal chocolate chip recipe all I had to do was a simple Google search for "oatmeal chocolate chip recipes". 

I found this recipe:  Betty Crocker Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I like the recipe the way it is because it has easy measurements. In this recipe it calls for 1 and a 1/2 cups of packed brown sugar.  I reduced this to 3/4 cup of lightly packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar.  Taste it to make sure it's to your liking.  Less sugar makes it guilt free and people still love it!  I have never had any complaints with this classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Only requests to make it more often. 

Cookie mix ready to put on the cookie sheet

Freshly baked classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

When I make cookies, I scoop them out the old fashioned way with two teaspoons but there are cookie scoops and spatulas that would make baking cookies easier.  They're added to my Wish List. 


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