It's Official!

When I got accepted to do my Masters back in 2007, I felt like I was embarking on a daunting journey; I couldn't believe I'd ever come out the other end of the tunnel. But two years of course work, a thesis and an oral defense later, I can finally say: Ta-da!

More Bookish Thoughts...

Listening to CBC over Thanksgiving weekend, I heard Margaret Visser interviewed about her newest book, "The Gift of Thanks" (2008), and thought it sounded fascinating. Indeed, Visser has produced a thorough and engaging look at gratitude, embodied by the deceptively simple "thank you." These two words launch an inquiry into all aspects of thanksgiving: how and why children are taught to give thanks, the difference between speaking words and feeling them, and how different cultures (especially the Japanese) understand grace. Reflecting on North American customs, Visser argues that notions of gratitude underlie everyday conventions including wrapping gifts and exchanging compliments.

Visser provides an extremely detailed account of reciprocity and rejection in the contexts of folklore, mythology and history; this results in some ennui and makes various sections "skimable." However, the book is ultimately insightful and thought-provoking with a central theme that rings true: thankfulness is a choice and a source of happiness that can be shared and cultivated.

Autumn Colours

Despite the shorter days, the cooler air and the increasing rain, Fall boasts the prettiest foliage of the year. A few particularly spectacular neighbourhood trees:

Small Maple on Brighton Ave.

Larger Maple on Redfern St.

Also Redfern St. I'm not sure what type of tree this is but it reminds me of a 1980s tie-dye shirt...though far more tasteful!

More Bookish Thoughts...

I can't possibly do justice to Philip Pullman's epic trilogy in a short posting but I will say that The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass are all captivating and worthwhile reads. His Dark Materials, albeit fantastical and other-worldly, manages to capture the raw human emotions of innocence, guilt, love, loss, and hope.

Pullman creatively combines ideas about God, consciousness, evolution and even contemporary physics to produce a brilliant and complex narrative. Some have criticized the trilogy for its anti-Church stance but, really, the story foregrounds the values of most religious institutions: freedom, responsibility and personal sacrifice in the name of "the greater good." Regardless of political undercurrents, the story remains exciting, touching, heartbreaking and thought-provoking.

Auntie Kake Update

Auntie Kake now has her own blog! Check it out at www.auntiekakebakes.blogspot.com

Auntie Kake

I have decided to launch a dessert catering business, which I'm calling "Auntie Kake" in honour of my niece, Josephina. I will offer home-baked goods from scratch including:

- wedding cakes

- special occasion cakes

- holiday desserts

- dinner party desserts (pies, tarts, cupcakes, squares, cookies, truffles etc.)

- bread and breakfast pastries

- dairy-free, vegan, lower calorie and gluten-free options

Sample Prices:

- wedding cakes - from $300

- cakes - from $20 (6"), from $30 (8")

- cookies - from $12/dozen

- bread - from $4/loaf

- weekly/monthly orders available at special rates

I graduated from George Brown's baking and pastry arts program in Toronto and have five years of professional baking experience. I have also made numerous wedding cakes and special occasion cakes for family and friends, including my own wedding cakes. Here are a few photos of my recent work:

Almond/Apricot Pound Cake, Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vanilla Wedding Cake with jam filling, buttercream and marzipan roses

Strawberry-Banana Cake with cream cheese frosting

Feel free to leave a comment or email me at kate.soles@mail.mcgill.ca with questions or requests.

The Little Cookbook That Could

Very rarely do I find a cookbook that I think could replace all my others and, while Michael Ruhlman's Ratio doesn't quite make me want to purge my culinary reference collection, it certainly makes me consider doing so. By way of thirty-three ratios and suggestions for variations, Ruhlman teaches cooks how fundamental ingredients (water, flour, butter and oils, milk and cream, and eggs) work together. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes pasta dough, cakes become muffins and pancakes become crepes.

I think this passage sums up the essence of the entire book: "Batters are almost incestuously linked to one another and show an exceptionally delicate balance between one another. The loosest of the batters is crepe, and we move up with increasing proportions of flour to popover, pancake and fritter, muffin, cake, and so on in potentially infinite variations until you hit the point of the fulcrum and tip over into dough: pasta, pie crust, cookie, and bread...I think that people who are gifted pastry chefs have simply seen the crepe-bread continuum more clearly for longer, rather than seeing crepe equaling one set of instructions, bread another, and so have been able to improvise; they understand how small adjustments in fat, flour, egg, and sugar can result in satisfying nuances of lightness and delicacy or richness in flavor and texture. It's all one thing."

I borrowed Ratio from the library and will be making copious notes before I return it. The only reason I wouldn't purchase the book is that its large middle section provides ratios for stocks, forcemeats (sausage etc), mousselines (meat/cream/egg fillings) and fat-based sauces - nothing I'd realistically be producing in my kitchen! Really, it's the baking section that interests me but I do believe that you'll soon be able to pick out the serious cook in the crowd based on who has a stained copy of Ratio close at hand.