Wild Earth Cafe, Edmonton

Wild Earth is the cafe I wish I had in my neighbourhood. It’s in Mill Creek, so I don’t get over there very often, but when I do I remember how much I love it.

Back in the fall I wrote a post about great cafes in Toronto, and bemoaned the lack of such good ones here in Edmonton. After writing that I thought about it some more, and I spent some more time at Transcend Cafe in Garneau, about a 15 minute walk from our apartment. I realized Transcend was actually the kind of cafe I was looking for – a comfortable vibe and delicious coffee. It does get busy, so it’s best to go during the week if you want a place to sit. The one thing they are lacking is a nice choice of GF sweets. I enjoy their gluten-free pao de quiejo, tapioca starch cheese buns, but they’re a unique treat that I’m not always in the mood for. 

Wild Earth has the whole package. Great atmosphere, delicious coffee, and a wide array of GF and non-GF sweets and main dishes. It is also a bakery that sells a variety of breads and sweets to take home (one of them is a GF cookie mix). We walked over there last week with our friend Irene, when the weather was nice. It’s not a short walk, about 45 minutes, so the trip felt like a special event. As I sat and savoured my latte and cookie, I realized that if Wild Earth was in my neighbourhood I would be there very often.

Let me tell you about that cookie. It was labelled a “monster” cookie, though I’m not exactly sure what that means. It was on the large side, about 5 inches wide, with the deep taste of brown sugar, and peppered with chocolate chips,  nuts, and oats. It was baked perfectly, so it was crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Perfect for coffee-dipping. That’s my kind of cookie.

It was a delightful afternoon. We chatted and played with Lucie (who seems quite close to crawling). We lingered over our drinks. I love getting out of the neighbourhood and into different parts of the city, especially when it involves a beautiful walk along the river valley, and great cafes like this one. 

What are your favourite Edmonton cafes?

P.S. Just looked at the website and realized Wild Earth has a newish location in the Epcor Tower downtown! I will have to check that out soon.

Wild Earth Cafe
8902 99 st.
(also locations in Laurier Heights and Downtown)
Edmonton, AB

Happy Holidays

It has been a few weeks of some good celebrating around here. We kicked things off with an amazing supper at the Red Ox Inn for our fifth anniversary on December 16th, then followed it up with a champagne breakfast the next morning at home.

Last week there were some elaborate Christmas preparations, including many cookies baked (you have to try these gems) and my first gluten-free Acadian pâté (meat pie), which was a resounding success on Christmas morning.

There was lots of feasting in the past few days, with turkey dinner on Christmas eve at Jacques’ brother’s house, and a 13-pound fresh ham here for Christmas dinner. More meat has been consumed in the past week than we usually eat in months – and there is lots left in the fridge.

(Just noticed in the above picture that of course, the Sriracha makes an appearance even on the Christmas table)

Another hit was our first homemade rillettes – made, surprisingly, with sardines. Rillettes is usually made with pork or other meat that is shredded and mixed with its own fat, then spread on bread. We fell in love with it in France a few years ago. The rillettes made with sardines was different, of course, but with green onions, cream cheese and lots of lemon juice, it was absolutely delicious.

I also made our traditional Danish rice pudding for Christmas eve. This time we swapped out the almonds for hazelnuts and walnuts and it was fantastic.

Something else amazing we discovered this holiday season? Mulled wine! I used this recipe (minus the eau-de-vie) and it got raves at our holiday party. Definitely going on the annual favourites list.

Lucie was, of course, incredibly spoiled with many beautiful gifts. This time of year definitely makes us realize how loved she is. Our gifts for her grandparents were photo books I made online with the best shots from her first six months. I was so excited to make and send these, and it was great to see my mom and Jacques’ parents open them over Skype. The reactions were great!

After looking at several sites I decided to make the book using Pinhole Press. Though it was on the pricier side, I really liked their designs and I’m really happy with the end result. I’m sure I’ll be creating more of these books as Lucie grows. We also received a beautiful photo book of my sister’s baby, Cash. So lovely!

As wonderful as the holidays are, I am really looking forward to starting the new year and getting back into routines. It’s kind of a crazy thing to say, since my life right now has very few routines compared to the way it used to be. But seeing January 1st on the calendar really makes me think about life in a new way, even now. It’s a time to set new goals and create new habits, and reflect on the past year. 

I hope to be back in a few days to talk about just that. For now, I hope you all enjoy the rest of the holiday season!

Gluten-free apple spice cake for six months

Lucie turned six months old the other day. And we held a little party.

Why not celebrate six months? It seems like a pretty big accomplishment to us. Recently, I was talking to my sister, whose baby boy is 4 and a half months, and we both said we used to wonder why parents held parties for little kids. What’s the point? we thought. Like the kid cares. It’s all for the parents.

Now we get it. Exactly! It is all for the parents. And the parents need those parties. It’s a way to say, “Look! We made it! You are six months old and you are still alive and healthy and happy!”

Coffee in Halifax

Still playing catch-up around here, and this one is a long time coming. I wanted to write about these cafes a year ago after I visited them in summer 2011, but it just never happened. On our trip to Halifax this past September, I stopped in at one of them again, and I’d like to tell you about it.