blood orange palomas

I was really excited to see blood oranges appear at the market in the last couple weeks. They reminded me that winter is on the turn, despite the snow and rain and wind and grey that have permeated Victoria lately. I bought up a whole bunch of them and started scheming exciting ways to use them. 

a little announcement!

There he is in my mixing bowl 

If you have been reading my blog for any stretch of time (thanks for that by the way!) you may have noticed a bit of a difference in the general fantastic-ness of the pictures around here the past few months.  I am really excited to announce that the source of  these much-lovelier photos: my friend and collaborator Tyrel Hiebert.

You can check his work out on his website, flickr, instagram and facebook. If you would like to order a print of anything here or work with Tyrel on another project, contact him here.

caramelized white chocolate and raspberry financiers

I made some caramelized white chocolate a while ago because I kept reading about it everywhere for a month or two. I loved it; caramelizing really helps to blunt the cloying sweetness of white chocolate and adds complex, toffee-y flavours. Have you ever noticed white chocolate on the surface of a baked good that is golden brown and crispy and tasty? That's caramelized white chocolate: naturally occurring caramelized white chocolate in its natural habitat. I always knew that I liked that stuff, but I hadn't realized that you can make it on purpose. Plus, it's really easy.