| Hint of Vanilla

As much as I love fall, I'm really going to miss the abundance and variety of fresh local fruit that we have in the summer. I love going down to the farmers market on Saturday, picking up whatever fresh fruit that was in season, and finding something to make with it. Fall has apples, pears, and, of course, pumpkins, which are all nice fruits, but they're not the same as fresh raspberries, strawberries, peaches, or blueberries. They just don't have that bright, summery taste. I guess that's what makes them so wonderful when they finally arrive at the markets - we've missed them for so long.

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Basic Bread Dough

Bread

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Bread is incredibly simple yet deceptively complicated at the same time. Four ingredients - flour, water, yeast, salt - that can be manipulated to produce an endless variety of products. Every step in making bread is important and attention to detail is key. A slip-up in any of the many steps can create a less than impressive bread.

Because of this, people are intimidated by making bread at home. It's complicated, I don't have a bread stone, I don't have a steam injection oven, I don't have a linen cloth, I don't have a mixer. To make an outstanding loaf of bread, yes, those tools really do help. But you can still make a great loaf of bread without all the extra equipment and it is much simpler than most people make it out to be. The only tool you really, truly need is a digital thermometer. You don't need a mixer (I did these completely by hand), but a thermometer is essential. Once you successfully make a loaf of bread at home, you'll be hooked on it.

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Blueberry Lavender Pie

Fruit | Pie

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I hate to say it, but summer is winding down. Just kidding, I'm actually pretty excited that summer is coming to an end, at least here in Vancouver. I've had enough of sweating. It's as simple as that. Summer is nice and wonderful, but sweaty. I managed to enjoy some of it after my trip to Italy, but then it was right into school. Not much time to enjoy summer when you're in a hot, humid, crowded kitchen for 7 hours a day.

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Dark Chocolate Espresso Ice Cream

Chocolate | Ice Cream

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You know those people that hate raw tomatoes but love tomato sauce? Or hate avocado on its own, but love guacamole? Or those people that hate drinking any kind of coffee drink, but adore coffee flavoured desserts? I'm one of those coffee people.

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Nectarine and Blueberry Crisp with Pecan Oat Crumble

Fruit | Pie

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While I love being in pastry school and learning more about baking soda than I ever thought I could, there are times when I want to make something messy and ugly. Almost always, I strive to make my food pretty, appetizing, and a little bit refined. I like doing that. But doing that for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week makes me want to do the opposite.

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