Afternoon treat – bundt cakes 3 ways
I’ve been a bit crazy about bundt cakes lately. There is a little take away place called Botanica that recently opened here in Brisbane who specialise in fresh salads and small cakes. Their bundt cakes always catch my eye while I’m ordering my salad and it’s very hard to resist walking out without one. What I love is that a lot of their cakes are gluten free. I don’t usually go for gluten free foods as most I’ve had have been rather dry and bland but these cakes are pretty incredible. So good even Reid will eat them. Mention the ‘g’ word usually and he goes running.
So with my bundt cake craze of late I wanted to put a few versions together to share. I managed to create a gluten free coconut + raspberry version as well that I’m pretty happy about. They are really moist and sweet.
Putting this series together I had those in the northern hemisphere in mind. I figured something darker and moodier might inspire you to get into that kitchen, turn the oven on, fill the room with warmth and the smell of freshly baked cake. Enjoy!
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For recipes, click on the text page images to enlarge
Introducing Dévorer Montréal!!
I have been so eager to share this for some time now. I mentioned last year that I was busy working on a book. It has finished printing in preparation for its launch in March so I can now share the details with you (hooray!).
On initially visiting Montréal I found it really stole my heart. The beautiful old terrace houses with steep steps, the way the city wraps around Parc du Mont-Royal, the historical buildings of the Old Port, and the incredible array of food on offer from many nationalities. It really is a great place to be for a food lover. I was so inspired by the city that I put together an online magazine called A little relish. A couple months were spent photographing the places I loved and trying to capture what was so unique about this city. On launching it for all to see a Miss Claire Bouchard viewed the magazine and sent me an email.
Dear Chantelle,
You fell in love with Montréal, I just fell in love with your work! I am speechless.
Everything is there: the pictures, the design, the feeling… Wow.
Claire told me a little about herself and her own dream of producing something. After a couple emails back and forth we agreed to meet over coffee. On a cold Thursday morning in December 2011 we met at La Mie Matinale on rue Saint-Catherine Est.
‘We should do a book together’ Claire said.
Ideas were tossed around about how we could collaborate and what we could produce. Claire could use her skills as editor-in-chief of a well known Québec website called CASA, combining that with her passion for writing, love of Montréal and its selection of food. And I could use my skills in design, photography and my fresh set of eyes of Montréal. With this we believed that something unique could be created. It all sounded very exciting to me but being the cautious person I am I said I’d think about it. Many thoughts ran through my head. “I’ve never produced a book and don’t know where to start!” “I’m used to working solo rather than collaborating!” “I get bored easily so can I really work on a year long project?” I stood on the corner of rue Saint-Catherine and boulevard Saint-Laurent and called Reid (of course). Poor Reid is my sounding board for the many ideas and thoughts that run through my often confused mind. I told him of my meeting and said I was excited but unsure. ‘Do it’ he said. It was the simple confirmation that I needed to confirm my gut feeling. When I returned home I emailed Claire right away.
‘I think we do it!’ I said.
With the agreement made we set out to put a proposal together and met with Éditions de l’Homme, a large Québec publisher. To our delight they fell in love with it and agreed to publish the book. As you can imagine we were over the moon and could barely believe it. We were doing a book! Straight away we delved into producing it. Schedules were drawn up, timelines created and it was full speed from there. With Claire still working full time and having two young (very cute) boys to look after we spent most weekends of last year putting it together. I won’t deny it and I’m sure Claire won’t either, that at times it was hard. When you take on a book project it’s hard to imagine how much work and dedication is involved. You really need to reach inside and use every bit of commitment, passion and determination that you have to get to the end. There were tears of frustration and we had to mentally support each other but we eventually made it and were able to hand our finished files over in November.
So enough about our story and onto the book! It’s called Dévorer Montréal (Devour Montréal in English). And it’s exactly that, eating your way through Montréal. We wanted to produce a book that featured the unique places to eat, enjoy coffee or buy products in Montréal. Not so much the celebrity and well known restaurants, but the smaller places that have been a neighbourhood favourite for years. The places that offer an authentic and quality product to its customers. We wanted to share their stories about how they came to open their business and the journey they have undertaken up to today. And rather than being a regular restaurant guide we wanted it to make people feel something through its pages and for it to be a book to hold onto. A book to share with friends visiting the city or as a reference of places to revisit or experience. The 288 page book is full of my photographs combined with Claire’s stories. And every place in the book (52 to be exact) we ate at, some more than once. So you can imagine my slightly curvaceous figure after a year! It has been grains, salads and lean meats ever since.
The book has printed and will be on sale on the 20th March this year. But I have to warn you, for now it’s only in French. Of course Quebec being a French speaking province it is understandable. But we remain hopeful that there will one day be an English version to follow. It will be available in bookstores throughout French speaking Canada as well as online.
Right before I left Montréal Claire and I met a couple very talented girls named Geneviève Philippon and Isabelle Darveau who agreed to help us put together a film to promote the video. They completely understood our vision and I thank them both so much for what they did. The film captures the essence of our past year: running around to the 52 places; keeping up with Claire’s young boys Ludovic and Renaud; eating, photographing, talking with business owners and working alone to complete our parts. For me it’s rather emotional to watch as it really does sum up my past year living in Montréal. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you also to Monogrenade for allowing us to use their song Ce soir.
So that is it! We have put together a small website to promote the book. Those who can read French will be able to read a little more about the book and about Claire and myself. And the facebook and twitter pages launched today as well. We will be updating it with images of our journey and events as the launch nears.
I hope it will be a book that those living in Montréal love. One that inspires them to rediscover their city. And those who haven’t yet visited the city to one day pack their bags and explore it for themselves.
Have a great weekend everyone x
Morning, noon & night
The height of summer
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Waking in the morning seems much easier in summer.
Early morning walks, meeting friends for breakfast,
lazing by a beach, days that stretch long into the night.
Flavours are light and meals enjoyed at cooler temperatures.
Simplicity prevails. This is summer at its height.
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Since returning home to Australia we have faced some incredibly hot days. Some parts of Australia have reached nearly 50˚C this summer. Luckily Brisbane hasn’t quite faced that kind of heat but we have had a few very hot and humid days so far. On days like these, light and fresh foods are often enjoyed and it’s the perfect time for fresh and local seafood. This series of Morning, noon & night is inspired by our warm summer season. The meals are simple and the flavours are subtle, meaning less time in a hot kitchen and more time for enjoying the long summer days. I hope you enjoy the series and they inspire a few creations of your own.
For those who haven’t heard of Moreton Bay Bugs, they are a species of lobster caught in the Moreton Bay area in Queensland. I’ve used them in the fettuccine recipe but you can substitute it for another form of seafood like lobster, crab or prawns (shrimp).
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For recipes, click on the text page images to enlarge
Sourced Cities San Francisco
As you may recall a little while ago I started up Sourced Cities – travel guides showcasing unique restaurants, shops and scenery of different cities. Well, life has changed slightly and for now I’m having to put it on hold while I focus on a few other things. Namely our little one arriving in less than 10 weeks and also photography work I have in mind for the new year. But I wanted to make sure to share it with those of you who may not have seen it since I initially had it for sale on iTunes. It seems a shame for it not to perhaps inspire some of you to travel there yourselves or give you some ideas of places to check out. To those who did buy the guide, I thank you so much. Your support is greatly appreciated and it kept the project alive until now.
If you would like to take a look, I’ve made it available for viewing on a new page I’ve created called City Guides. Here you can also find the older Montréal and Brisbane guides I put together a couple years ago.
I’m still dreaming of visiting so many cities in the world so won’t see it as an end to my exploration just yet. But a little break with a focus on different projects, and of course family.
I hope you enjoy it :)
Taking the long way home
The last month and a half has been a fairly eventful one for Reid and I. We said our goodbyes to friends in Montréal and began to make the long journey back home to Australia. Being that there is a little one on the way and travelling will be slightly harder to do we thought we would make the most of seeing a few more parts of the world. The West Coast of Canada was the first leg of our journey. For years I have been longing to visit this part of the world. I imagined it would be beautiful, and it really was.
We flew into Calgary and spent a couple nights in Banff and Lake Louise. We also made the slightly scary drive up north to Jasper. I was left breathless and so glad we decided to brave the weather. I have never seen so much snow before and it was absolutely mesmerising. We felt as though we were in a black and white movie with the blanket of white snow and black lines of pine trees and rocky cliffs breaking up the landscape. Step out of the car and the air was still and silent. I imagine doing the drive in the summertime would be beautiful as well but I’m glad to have seen it under a layer of white.
From Calgary we then flew to Vancouver. Vancouver seems like a city you could happily call home. It’s easy to get around, has cute little neighbourhoods with green parks, water and mountains close by. The food scene is very good and we enjoyed a few nice meals in our short time there. Tina Lau who I had the pleasure of meeting in Montréal shared a few of her favourite places with me since she grew up there. Nelson the Seagull we visited 3 times for its good coffee and fresh simple breakfast made on their own freshly baked bread. We also enjoyed the coffee (hot chocolate for me) at Revolver. Both places are located in Gastown.
A place I fell in love with is Le Marché St. George. This cute little cafe is set in a suburban neighbourhood and combines good food and coffee with a selection of household and food products for sale. Upstairs they also rent out the fully furnished space if you so wish to stay for a while. Outside the window there were beautiful Christmas trees for sale and it seemed to be the place for new mums to meet and share stories about their little ones. It’s a small trek from the downtown city area of Vancouver but well worth the bus ride there.
Another place Tina recommended which I absolutely loved (and am still salivating over) is Meat & Bread. At lunchtime this place has a line out the door with many people working downtown sharing a space at the long communal table to enjoy their sandwich. The menu is simple and consists of only 3 or 4 items which change daily, but the porchetta sandwich remains constant. The meat is chopped fresh at the front counter and a little salty crackle mixed in, then served with a salsa verde between a fresh bread. Dip it in the dollop of mustard and it’s a pretty awesome lunch to say the least.
To ease our bodies back into the warm Aussie weather we then stopped in Hawaii for a few days. The Big Island is where we spent most of our time with a mix of lazing on the beach combined with a little exploring of the volcanos. It feels quite surreal to be staring down into a volcano with the steam flowing from the ground. After the Big Island we flew to Waikiki Beach for a couple nights before heading home. Waikiki is a mix between Vegas and Surfers Paradise. It has an element of cheesiness, overrun by tourists and all the glitzy expensive stores and restaurants to keep you entertained and empty your pockets. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the other parts of the Honolulu but it was nice to wander the beach and watch the sun go down.
Since arriving in Australia it has been go go go with getting our apartment back together again, catching up with family and friends over Christmas, and getting our lives back together and organised for the new arrival of our little one in March. We have had warm 33˚+ days so it has been quite a change from the 0˚ temps we left in Montréal. Having been away for 1 1/2 years Brisbane in ways has changed but is very much the same. A few new cafes and restaurants have popped up around the place, roads have changed, high rises have been added, but it is still the sunny blue sky city we remember well.
And so we start 2013 with a new chapter. I’m not exactly sure what this year will bring, how our lives will change with the little one, or where we will be in a years time, but I look forward to the journey and experience of it all. I hope you all have a great start to the New Year :)
{ Thanks Tina for all your Vancouver recommendations }
