I’m a fan of products from the Alpen muesli line, and I was lucky enough to recieve a box of their brand new Apple Spice muesli that is getting launched in British Columbia very soon. I like Alpen because their products contain very low amounts of sugar- if any. The Apple Spice flavour contains more sugar (6g). I first tried the muesli in a bowl with unsweetened almond milk (as I eat all my muesli/cereal) and I was taken aback by the strong cinnamon flavour. It tasted quite like a box of cinnamon hearts that you get around Valentine’s Day. As the almond milk soaked in, the strong flavour simmered down a bit, and I liked the crunchy texture. The next time I tried it, I had it in a yogurt bowl, where I added chopped pecans, plain yogurt, and a few raisins. I enjoyed the muesli this way much more, as the flavour wasn’t as strong. If you are a huge cinnamon lover and are looking for a big burst of flavour, then this is the cereal for you. For me it was too strong, but I will continue to eat it for breakfast because it fills me up for a long time and gives me plenty of energy to head to the gym in the morning. For all of you in B.C., keep your eyes peeled for this product if you’d like to try it, and see if your local grocery store carries Alpen products.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of things I had to take home from pastry class this week! We had so much food! The long-awaited truffle torte finally came home, along with apple turnovers and meat pies made with homemade puff dough. We also brought savoury croissants- ham & cheese and plain cheese. We made a charlotte russe which is a white cake, lined with homemade lady fingers and a gelatin mousse filling (I used a black currant/raspberry flavour). We also made creme brulee, and for some reason ours tasted like Mcdonalds vanilla ice cream! Can you imagine me standing on the train during rush hour trying to carry all of this and balance- whew! Not to mention the looks I was getting from other passengers….I could tell they wanted my cake

As you can see, I made gigantic truffles, and they had started to melt by the time I got home!!

For my first time participating in Magazine Mondays, I decided on a recipe torn from the pages of the October 2008 issue of Canadian Family magazine. The recipe is for Apple Pumpkin Butter. It is simple to make with very little prep work and lots of time spent in the oven. It is recommended to try the butter with ice cream, cheese and crackers, or toast. I have personally only tried it on toast, but I can tell you that it was great and provided something new and refreshing in exchange of regular butter, almond butter, or whatever you usually put on your toast!

Apple Pumpkin Butter (makes 1 1/2 cups)

• 2lbs assorted apples, peeled, cored and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1lb baking pumpkin, peeled, seeded and diced into 1/2 inch pieces (**I used a 15-oz can of pumpkin puree, as I did not have a baking pumpkin on hand)
• 2 cups apple cider or apple juice
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 whole star anise (or cinnamon stick if preferred)
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine apples, pumpkin, apple cider, and butter together in a large, shallow 12″ x 8″ glass baking dish. Cook in oven, stirring occasionally until apples and pumpkin are softened (about 30 to 35 minutes). Remove from oven, mash apple mixture with a potato masher or in a food processor for a smoother texture. Add maple syrup, star anise, allspice and ginger. Stir well. Return to baking dish and bake in oven, stirring occasionally until thickened and golden brown, about 2 hours.Remove from oven, discard star anise and let stand to cool. Tightly sealed and chilled, apple butter will keep 2 week; frozen, it will keep 3 months.