Butter Celebtrates : Lemony Lemon Loaf and a Giveaway

I came out of hiding to help spread the word on this beautiful new cookbook.   I have sort of been on a hiatus these days.   There is just honestly not enough time in the day now that I am back to work full time and have the two babes.    Well I guess there is time but I just don't always want to spend it baking, photographing and writing.   What do I do instead...  well some nights I clean (not because I want too),  I have been knitting myself a cowl very slowly,  I work out 5-6 days a week, and then sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and watch tv.  Weekends are full of holidays, birthdays and random events to keep kids busy.   And so is life.... but I would rather share with you recipes once a month that pump out garbage every day.

I made several recipes from the book.   I made the Chocolate Chip Cookies,  the Squirrel Pie, the Pumpkin Loaf and the lemon loaf.   The cookies are a great oaty chocolate chip cookie,  the coconut in them is an awesome addition.  Everyone loved that part.   The squirrel pie was for my Hubby's birthday.   I tweaked the recipe a touch because it called to be in a 7 inch spring form pan which I have never seen so I multiplied the crust by 1.5 and put it in a 9 inch pan.  It was devoured at a family birthday dinner.  The pumpkin loaf I made with gluten free flour so a friend could eat it and it also turned out quite good considering I tweaked the flour which can be very iffy in recipes sometimes.

The final recipe I made was the lemon loaf.  Rosie says this recipe is the best seller at her bakery.  I can see why.    I opted out of the lemon glaze on top and it was still wonderful.   It's light and tart and I really enjoyed it.

I am not alone in spreading the love on this cookbook.  Check out some other amazing recipes from my friends.    Oh and I did also mention there is a GIVEAWAY!!!     That's right my friends,  check out the rafflecopter below and you can win a basket of goodies and your own Butter Celebrates Cookbook.

• Mardi from eat. live. travel. write. made Champagne Cupcakes
• Jenny from The Brunette Baker made Guinness Cake with Pretzels
• Heather from The Tasty Gardener made Cinnamon Heart Cookies, Empire Cookies, Coconut Nest Cookies and Cookie Jar Cookies
• Libby of Libby Roach made Gingerbread Guys
• Robyn from What's Cooking on Planet Byn made Orange Gingerbread Cake
• Jan from Family Bites made Animal Cookies
• Tessa from Style Sweet CA made Chocolate Gingerbread Genoise
• Jacquee from I Sugar Coat It made Eggnog-less Bars
• Christina from Strawberries for Supper made 'Hostess' Cupcakes
• Gwen from Devour and Conquer made Pannetone
• Amanda from Once upon a recipe made Banana Pecan Caramel Cake
• Kelly from Kelly Neil made Peppermint Nanaimo Bars

‎

This giveaway is open to all legal residents of Canada who have reached the age of majority at the time of the contest in the province or territory in which they reside. Void in Quebec. 

Winner must answer a skill-testing question. 

No purchase necessary to enter. 

Giveaway will run from Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 12:01am to Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at 11:59pm. Winner will be contacted via email and name will be displayed on Rafflecopter widget. Email address will never be given out to any third party or anyone for that matter. 

Prize value is approximately $125. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Apple Carrot Loaf and a Virtual Baby Shower #babyfamilybites

 It is always fun to celebrate a new baby.   A fellow Canadian blogger Jan from Family Bites is expecting a baby boy in the next couple weeks so we are throwing her a Virtual Baby Shower.

I will take lack of sleep, teething and poopy diapers any day if I can cuddle with, laugh at and kiss my little babes.  My youngest is almost 7 months now and it has been a blast so far.   So I will say I have been blessed with a rather laid back, very chill happy baby.  I have 1000 photos to show you how easy I can make her smile.  I have even had several moms comment when I go to classes for my older one at how she just sits in her car seat and watches and waits.  She barely makes a peep.  She has always been a fairly decent sleeper and rarely fussy, even now with her first tooth coming in.   I may pay for all of this good behavior later but at least when she is older I can somewhat reason with her (hopefully? maybe? probably not?)

There is a lot of new precious moments coming up for Jan in the next few weeks, cuddles, smiles, giggles (something I am getting as I write this) and cries.   Hopefully she will also get lots of help from her older boys as they learn to take care of their new baby brother.  The rule is you can't start tormenting him until he is three.

Good luck Jan and All the best!!

I decided to make an Apple Carrot Loaf for today's shower from one of my favorite new cookbooks.
Check out what everyone else has cooked for up for Today.

Mardi from eat. live. travel. write made blueberry cheesecake macarons

Julie from Dinner with Julie made lemon scones

Heather from The Tasty Gardener made Cream Puffs with Caramel Cream and Chocolate Pretzel Top

Isabelle from Crumb: A Food Blog made Blackberry Meringue Bars

Jennifer from Seasons and Suppers made Baby Blueberry Beignets

Christina from Strawberries For Supper made Chocolate Madeleines

Aimée from Simple Bites made Roasted Turnip Hummus

Jenny from The Brunette Baker made Wild Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Liliana from My Cookbook Addiction made mini-cupcakes

Carole from The Yum Yum Factor made Beet and Blue Cheese Canapes

Charmian from The Messy Baker made Piglet Muffins

Amy from Family Feedbag made Marmalade Poke Cake

Brittany from My Daily Randomness made Caramel + Pumpkin Parfait

Meg from Sweet Twist of Blogging made Carrot Apple Loaf

Louisa from Living Lou made Maple Walnut Cookies

Libby from Libby Roach Photography made Butter Baked Good’s Peanut Butter Sandwich cookie

Robyn from Planet Byn made Milk & Cookies Shooters

Apple Carrot Loaf

(adapted from Huckleberry)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 egg whites
• 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (185g) a mix of all purpose flour/whole wheat flours.  (I did half and half)
• 1 1/2 tsp wheat germ
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup grated peeled apple

Glaze

• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2-3 tbsp milk

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1) Soak the raisins in a cup of warm water for 10 minutes or so.  Drain and set aside. 

2) Preheat the oven to 350F.   Grease or spray a loaf pan (9x5)

3) Place all the ingredients into a bowl and mix together.   Pour into the pan.  

4) Bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.    Allow to cool in pan.   

5) Make icing : beat cream cheese in a medium bowl, then add icing sugar and vanilla.  Beat in milk to thin glaze out a bit.  

6) Remove loaf from pan and spread glaze over top.   

You don't have to add the glaze and this loaf is still delicious.  I just wanted one. 

Peanut Butter Balls and the #GatheringsCookbook

Last Friday was my annual Mother/Daughter baking day with my Mom, Sister and our daughters. We have been doing this for several years now.   It is literally one of my favorite days of the year.   Our main baking agenda is butter tarts, which I oddly don't really eat but we do also try and make a few other things.  These other things are what I look forward to.  Our trick is to come up with a few no bake items to put together while the dozens and dozens of butter tarts are baking.  For some reason I love no bake desserts, especially when they are covered in chocolate.  

I recently was given a copy of the cookbook "Gatherings" .  A beautiful book by Jan Scott and Julie Van Rosendaal.    The book is full of a wide range of different recipes grouped together by occasions, like kids birthday parties, backyard barbecues, pizza parties, date nights, games nights and more. This book has everything appetizers, main courses, desserts, drinks and snacks.   It really encompasses a recipe for any gathering you might have.

Since Mother/Daughter baking day is technically a family gathering I decided it would be great to try a recipe from this book.   They also happen to have a perfect no bake recipe, "Aunt Kathy's Peanut Butter Balls".   I find you can never really go wrong with peanut butter balls (unless you happen to be allergic to peanut butter).   The peanut butter balls in this book are also a bit different, with the addition of dates and walnuts. This gives them a great twist of chewy and crunchy inside.  They were of course, delicious and the hubby complained I made him stop eating them so I could take some photos.   He can now proceed with eating.

This weekend I have plan to make two more recipes, Potatoes Dauphinoise and a Lemony Kale and Brussels Sprouts salad.  There are really just to many wonderful recipes inside to try.  Several of my blogging friends also got a chance to try out the book.  Check out their posts from the week to see more delicious recipes from this book.

Please be sure to check out these fabulous bloggers all week long as we celebrate Jan and Julie:

Monday

Mardi from Eat. Live. Travel. Write.

Mairlyn Smith Canadian Cookbook Picks of the Year
Charmian from The Messy Baker

Tuesday

Amy from Family Feedbag
Jennifer from Seasons and Suppers
Heather from The Tasty Gardener

Wednesday

Isabelle from Crumb Blog
Stephanie from Clockwork Lemon
Valerie from A Canadian Foodie

Thursday

Britt from My Daily Randomness
Robyn from Planet Byn
Libby from Libby Roach Photography
Meg from Sweet Twist of Blogging

Friday

Christina from Strawberries for Supper
Louisa from Living Lou
Liliana from My Cookbook Addiction
Rhonda from Olive and Ruby
Jenn from Chocolate Shaving

Disclosure: I was given a complimentary copy of Gatherings for review purposes, courtesy of Whitecap Books. As always, any and all opinions and views are completely my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Butterscotch Walnut Bars - Butter Baked Goods Giveaway

Christmas is quickly approaching.  Just less than a month, seems a bit crazy doesn't it?   As usual I am getting pretty excited and I have started to pull out the decorations and I have 1 of 2 trees up. Decorating the house with two little ones has extended the decorating process for me and it now seems to take a week off and on.    I don't really mind, more days of Christmas glee for me.

I am also starting to make my Christmas baking list.   Figuring out how many dinners and parties I have, places I will be going, who I can give treats too.  It becomes a very lengthy list.   Have you made yours yet? Do you make one?  If you haven't started myself and several other bloggers are here to help.   Have you ever heard about "Butter Baked Goods"?   It is a cafe in Vancouver and the owner, Rosie, has also put some of her best recipes into this AWESOME cookbook.    It is page after page of drool worthy recipes that will impress any guest at your table.

My bloggers friends and I have gathered together to show you some of these delicious recipes.
I am a bar and cookie girl so I signed myself up to try the Butterscotch Walnut Bars.  What a great combo.   They have a shortbread base and then a gooey top, loaded with butterscotch chips and walnuts.   Delicious.  If you are a butterscotch chip fan these are the bar for you. Check out this recipe on page 116.  Check out more recipes below from my foodie friends.

We are also giving the chance to win.....

A personally signed Butter Baked Goods cookbook from Rosie as well as a delicious box of goodies from the bakery. Prize is valued at $125.

See below for entry.

• Jenny from The Brunette Baker made Butter's Classic White Cake and Coffee Buttercream Frosting
• Meg from Sweet Twist of Blogging made the Butterscotch Walnut Bar
• Heather, The Tasty Gardener, made a Raspberry Custard Pie
• Libby of Libby Roach made Vunderbars
• Robyn from Planet Byn made The Dream Slice
• Brittany from My Daily Randomness made Marshmallows + Smores
• Anna from Hidden Ponies made The Dunbar
• Liliana from My Cookbook Addiction made Chocolate Espresso Pound Cake
• Rhonda from Olive & Ruby made Twice a Week Morning Glory Muffins
• Mardi from eat. live. travel. write. made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies
• Kristy from She Eats made Apple Bacon Cheddar Scones
• Sarah from (Cooking for) Kiwi & Bean made Jackson Pollock Popcorn
• Isabelle from Crumb: A Food Blog made Chocolate Pistachio Pound Loaf
• Jo-Anna from A Pretty Life in the Suburbs made Kitchen Sink Bark
• Gwen from Devour & Conquer made  Chocolate Honeycomb Brittle
• Jan from Family Bites made Orange Pecan Biscotti

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

* Contest open to Canadian & American mailing addresses only and who have reached the age of majority in the province, state or territory in which they reside.

MANDATORY: Simply leave a comment below and tell me your favourite baked treat!

BE SURE to click the widget options below for both mandatory and optional entries because you can’t be entered to win if the widget doesn’t know you’ve done it!

Giveaway closes Wednesday, December 3, 2014.

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