Cranberry and Orange Friands

Adapted from the Women's Weekly "Cafe Cakes" book

185g butter, melted
125g (1 cup) ground almonds
6 egg whites, beaten lightly with a whisk
240g (1 ½ cups) icing mixture
75g (1/2 cup) all purpose flour
rind of 1 orange, finely grated
100g cranberries, frozen or fresh


Preheat oven to moderately hot (400-425F). Grease 12-16 1/3 cup friand pans (or use small muffin pans instead), and arrange on a baking tray.

Set aside 2 whole cranberries for each friend pan. Chop remaining cranberries in quarters.

Combine butter, almond, egg whites, sugar, flour, orange rind, and chopped cranberries in a medium bowl and stir until just combined. Divide among prepared pans. Cut remaining cranberries in halves, and place 4 halves, cut side down, on top of each friand.

Bake about 25 minutes, then allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

Chai Spice Mix

I really like Chai tea, but I'm not a fan of the concentrated variety. An easy option is to make your own spice mix. At home I mix the spices and tea just before adding the hot water, but for work I just add tea leaves to the spice mix and it's ready to use.

Chai Spice Mix

2 tsp ground cardamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Mix ingredients and store in an airtight container.

To make tea, add 1 tsp loose leaf black tea and ¼ tsp spice mix to a tea infuser. Steep about 5 minutes. Add milk and sugar to taste.

Lemon Bacon and Olive Pasta

Lemon Bacon and Olive Pasta
Serves 4

500g dried pasta
250g pitted kalamata olives, chopped in quarters
250g bacon/prosciutto/pancetta, chopped the same size as the olive pieces
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped fine
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
Extra virgin olive oil

Cook pasta as directed. Meanwhile, fry bacon until crisp and drain on paper towel. Combine bacon, olives, lemon rind, thyme, and pepper in a bowl.

Add an equal volume of olive oil to the lemon juice, and whisk together until the mixture thickens. Drain pasta, add the lemon/olive oil mixture, and stir until the pasta is well coated. Stir remaining ingredients through and serve.


This is a very flexible recipe – adjust all the ingredients to taste, substitute different meats or olive varieties, try fresh pasta. The only constraint seems to be the lemon juice/olive oil ratio. Too little olive oil and the mixture won’t emulsify and thicken. Even this doesn’t really matter – the lemon flavour will be more pronounced, and the sauce much thinner. For whisking I highly recommend this little gadget, found at the MoMA design store in NYC.

River Café

Prince's Island Park, Calgary

The River Café in Prince's Island Park is considered one of the best restaurants in Calgary, so when a good friend suggested a celebratory lunch there I was quick to agree. The restaurant is in a beautiful location - Princes' Island in the Bow River, just a short walk from downtown Calgary. With the autumn trees in full colour it's the perfect location. And the food? Spectacular!

We started by sharing the Fish and Game Platter - Native Candied Trout, Wild Boar Rillettes, Salt Cured Bison, Pork & Game Terrine, Smoked Rainbow Trout, Grilled Apple Turnip Relish
Red Onion Marmalade, Brassica Mustard & House Made Crackers. The rillettes were amazing - a little odd to look at , but delicious.

We both chose fish mains - I enjoyed the salmon special served with seafood risotto and grilled vegetables. The risotto was particularly good, creamy and full of clams and mussels. My friend chose the Pikerel, also very good.

For dessert (yes, we managed to cram in the ultimate indulgence), we both tried the roasted plum and ginger crème brûlée. A gorgeous contrast of the sweet creamy custard with tart roasted plums.

At $75/each for lunch, the River Café is not going to be a frequent indulgence, at least not for me. But for a special occasion, this restaurant delivers amazing food and impeccable service - well worth the splurge.