French Coconut Pie with Dark Chocolate Sauce

 

I've been wanting to dedicate a post to Paris for a while now, but just never got around to it. I didn't know what to make, since most of what I ate when I was there was cheese and fruit and more cheese. Then finally it dawned on me: the first night we were there we ate at Le Café du Marché near the Eiffel Tower, and although our dinner was rich and kind of "meh", we split the most delicious coconut pie with the darkest, blackest chocolate sauce I'd ever tasted.

My friend (and then roommate) Christina and I went on a little trip to Paris in September 2011 to celebrate finishing our theses and finally being done with school. As soon as we stepped off the train, I immediately understood what all the fuss was about. Paris is magical. I was swept off my feet.

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Creamy Lime and Avocado Pie

This post is dedicated to the very, very tiny voice of virtue in my head, the one who every once in a while shouts at me to eat something clean and healthy. Sometimes you crave a cheeseburger, and other times you need something devoid of animal fats, processed sugar, and other things that are probably not great for you. Luckily, I live near Noorish Conscious Eatery, which caters to my occasional bouts of virtuousness with an eccentrically delicious menu.

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Rhubarb & Strawberry Galettes

It's been so gloomy out the past few days, but this weather makes me all the more grateful that our May long weekend was so gorgeous. I booked off an additional two days from work to turn it into a five day weekend, as did my mom (who came up to visit), and we had an awesome family weekend that included seeing Fleetwood Mac in concert, shopping on Whyte Ave, and wandering around the jungle of flowers and plants at the Enjoy Centre. On Saturday we all went to have lunch on the Manor Bistro's sunny patio (if you live in Edmonton and haven't been to this little hidden gem, you need to go. Like, right now). Afterward we went on a leisurely walk up 124th Street - we purposely skipped dessert at the restaurant so we could go to Duchess for a treat. It was packed in there, as usual, and I panic-bought the most delicious looking thing I could see through the crowd of customers - a rhubarb galette. I demolished it before we even got back to the car. 

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Blackberry Curd Tarts

I think I ate my own body weight in blackberries last summer. Behind our flat in Chelmsford were miles and miles of blackberry bramble, and it seemed like we were the only ones picking them. All-you-can-eat blackberries! I was in heaven. Thinking about it now, Chelmsford seems like some kind of mythical promised land - not the land of Milk and Honey, but of berries and rosemary:


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