The BloggerAid Cookbook is here!

Very exciting news: The BloggerAid Cookbook is now available through the Create Space Estore (a branch of Amazon)!

La nouvelle : Le BloggerAid Cookbook est actuellement disponible sur Create Space (une branche d'Amazon).

Inside: a collection of international recipes submitted by food bloggers from around the world who want to make a difference by raising funds for the UN World Food Programme. It includes a recipe for Sausage and Peppers by yours truly!

Dedans : des recettes internationales, proposées par des bloggeurs du monde entier dans le but de combattre la faim en soutenant le World Food Programme de l'ONU.

How exactly we're helping: One hundred percent of the proceeds from the cookbook will benefit the WFP's School Meals, a program that nourishes school children in developing countries in an effort, not only to combat poverty and hunger, but also to promote education.

Comment cela va aider : cent pour cent des bénéfices seront donnés aux programme School Meals, qui nourrit des enfants à l'école dans les pays en dévelopement pour combattre la pauvreté et la faim, et pour encourager l'éducation.

To purchase: Click here, or on the cookbook cover to get to the estore!

Pour l'acheter : cliquer ici, ou sur l'image du livre en haut. Si je comprends bien, le livre est envoyé du Canada, mais la boutique en ligne peut l'expédier partout dans le monde !

View and Review : Divine, Heavenly Chocolate Recipes

The devoted bloggers over at BloggerAid...Changing the Face of Famine are always coming up with wonderful new initiatives, and recently they've launched the View and Review program, in which agreements were reached to partner cookbook publishers with BloggerAid and to offer members participation in book and product reviews. I, of course, immediatly signed up, very excited about the prospect of getting free cookbooks, testing new recipes and then telling you about it!



Then, when I finally got my first one, I got sick! So... while I meant to test at least 3 or 4 recipes before writing, I only got to test 2. I did however, read quite a few of the recipes AND drool over -- er, I mean, look at -- all the pictures. My other quick caveat is that Divine: Heavenly Chocolate Recipes, published by Absolute Press, is a recipe book that's supposed to accompany Divine chocolate (a fair-trade farmer-owned chocolate company "with a heart"), which unfortunately is not distributed in France. I did buy organic fair-trade chocolate products to test their recipes, but I'm sure they would've been better with the chocolate for which they were written!


Divine has a great introduction with the story of Divine chocolate, the meanings of the Adinkra symbols on their products, as well as helpful tips about working with chocolate. The cookbook is very well presented. The recipes are laid out in a way that is easy to read at a glance. You can quickly see if the recipe is a complicated or simple and whether or not it appeals to you. There are a wide ranges of recipes from cookies to brownies to cheesecakes to drinks and even a small savory section with a couple recipes that would be great for the holidays. Also all the oven temperatures are in Celcius, Fahrenheit and gas mark -- very useful for those of us straddling systems!

Considering that, I was surprised that author seems to assume that we all have every modern convenience. I would have liked to have seen alternative methods proposed for those without a food mixer or other amenities.


I tested both the Butterscotch Swirl Brownies and the Honey Chocolate Madeleines and both times had some trouble with the batter (again, possibly because I didn't have the right chocolate). When I tried to swirl the chocolate into the brownies, it mostly ended up mixing in in some places and staying on top in others, making the texture a little mushy once cooked. (Though still yummy of course.)


I didn't quite master the Honey Chocolate Madeleine batter either, which never became thick at the beginning, like it was supposed to, and the end result tasted good but had a texture more like cakey brownies than like madeleines.



Still, there are quite a few delicious-looking recipes still to try (White Chocolate Cookies Studded with Cranberries, Toasted Pecan Shortbreads, Lemon and Chocolate Tart...) and I know some guinea pigs who will be happy to test until I get the batter just right!

A big thank you to Absolute Press and View and Review for letting me test this cookbook!

Seasonal Food and World Food Day

So, I missed World Food Day this year. I've been sick and run down with things to do and I started to lose the train of them a few days ago (just in time for World Food Day). But better late than never, as they say, so I'll tell you about it anyway...



World Food Day is a day set aside by the World Food Programme to focus on issues of hunger and famine with this year's theme being "Achieving Food Security in Times of Crisis". We are also encouraged to focus on what we can do personally to prevent hunger in the world and in our communities.



Last year, a couple of amazing bloggers came up with the idea of creating a network devoted to working on the issue. Bloggeraid Changing the Face of Famine supports the World Food Programme and particularly the School Meals Programme, and to this end we've been writing a cookbook -- which is almost finished! (Stayed tuned because you'll all be encouraged to buy it when it comes out for sale on Amazon :-)) In the meantime, bloggeraid has created a partnership with The Cookbook People, whose cookbook software helps you create and print your own family cookbook. They have generously agreed to donate $20 to the School Meals Programme when a member mentions them on her/his blog. It was the least I could do.


As I was feeling sad for not having cooked something hearty and inexpensive and posted it for Oct. 16, I realized that I actually had -- in my guest posts for Seasonal Market Menus. In my CSA, I get cheap, local and seasonal vegetables and cook with them every week. So, although the meals are separate from the World Food Day chat, you should head over and check out Potato, Peppers and Greens Frittata, Insalata Caprese and How I Learned to Like Swiss Chard.

Also to look forward to: as part of the Bloggeraid View and Review initiative, I will soon be critiquing Divine: Heavenly Chocolate Recipes with a Heart...

Art Auction with a Twist

A little over a month ago, a call went out to the members of Bloggeraid to submit food photos to Lisa at The Lunch Box Project for her Art Auction with a Twist. She would choose one photo to turn into a painting that she would then auction off, donating all proceeds to the World Food Programme.

Il y a un peu plus d'un mois, Lisa du blog The Lunch Box Project a lancé un appel aux membres de Bloggeraid demandant des photos culinaires pour son Art Auction with a Twist. Elle allait choisir une des photos pour en faire un tableau et le vendre aux enchères et faire don de l'argent au World Food Programme.

(click on the photo to see Lisa's version!)
(cliquez sur la photo pour voir la version de Lisa !)

I immediately went to check out her blog where she posts daily tiny masterpieces, all food themed, and submitted a photo for her consideration. Then, in the chaotic flurry of other projects, I forgot about it. When I got an email saying Lisa had chosen my photo, I was excited to see what she would do with it. Now, I'm happy to announce the painting is officially up for auction (until June 24th) on ebay. So go check out Lisa's wonderful piece of work and, why not, bid on it! If the link doesn't work, go to ebay.com and type #220436850908 in the search box. It'll take you right there.

Je suis d'abord allée regarder son blog où ses petits tableaux quotidiens autour de la nourriture m'ont beaucoup plu, puis je lui ai envoyé une photo. Ensuite, dans le joyeux chaos d'autres projets que j'ai en ce moment, j'ai totalement oublié. Quand on m'a dit que Lisa avait choisi ma photo, j'avais hâte de voir ce que cela donnerait. Aujourd'hui, j'ai l'honneur d'annoncer que le tableau est mis aux enchères sur ebay. Donc, allez voir l'oeuvre de Lisa inspirée de mes humbles sandwiches -- et pourquoi pas, faites une offre si vous l'aimez bien ! (Si le lien ne marche pas, allez sur ebay.com et cherchez #220436850908. Vous allez tomber dessus tout de suite.)