WITK - Vegan Sponge Candy

I have been meaning to test out a vegan sponge candy for years. Many friends and family are either vegetarian or vegan and cannot enjoy the deliciousness of sponge candy. Most candies out there don't have this problem, but my version of sponge candy requires gelatin for proper aeration. It took a few tries to get the candy close to the original. I have a few tweaks left to try, but I wanted to share this first success with you.

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WITK - Peanut Butter Fudge

I love making candy, but I really hate making fudge. Traditional, stove-top fudge that is. The quick and easy fudge that you make with marshmallow fluff and chocolate is no problem. That stuff I can whip up with no problems. Starting with sugar and corn syrup is a little trickier. I either wind up with a sticky mess or a dry and crumbly block of sugar.

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Salted Toffee with Toasted Almonds

I love making candy. It is surprisingly simple to make and the perfect treat to share. When you bring a cake or a box of cupcakes to the office, people whine about calories and suggest that you are trying to fatten them up. Candy is generally welcomed with open arms (and open mouths) and quickly disappears from the office kitchen.

In my quest to make more candy in 2016, I decided to finally take on a traditional English toffee recipe. After finishing, I have no idea why I didn't make it sooner. The recipe was fast and easy. While you have to babysit the sugar syrup through the whole process, you won't be slaving over the stove for long.

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Cooking in Marrakech

There is no better way to get to know a country, than to explore its cuisine. Food speaks volumes about culture and history. It feeds the belly and the soul.  When visiting a new country, I love to attend cooking classes and immerse myself in the local flavors.

While in Marrakech a few years ago, the boyfriend and I took a half day class at Riad Monceau. The class is held poolside in the Riad and lead by a local chef. There are a number of different cooking schools that you can visit for classes, pick on based on your schedule and the menu. We were scheduled to make a three course lunch of chicken tagine, lamb with couscous and a vegetable m'hancha. We also had dessert, but didn't prepare it.

Our class was about twelve students from all over the world. We had a couple from Australia, several Parisian ladies on a girls getaway and quite a few Canadians in addition to several Americans to round out the group. The class with held in English and French, so it was easy to follow along in English, but I was able to pick up some new French culinary phrases!

The cooking class was long, but the final product was definitely worth the effort. I enjoyed it at least. The boyfriend isn't a big fan of cooking and he was bored after the second hour. As with most international cooking classes that I've taken, there is a lot of food prep involved in the course. You'll be busy chopping, shredding and stirring, the actual cooking process doesn't take that long.

My favorite item that we made was the vegetable m'hancha. It was prepared by shredding onion, carrot, zucchini and cabbage adding spices and rolling it up into a sheet of pastry. It's baked and then topped with a tomato compote. You can find the recipe here on my cooking site. It's a process, but so delicious.

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Riad Monceau Cookery Class

Have you taken any cooking classes while abroad? Tell me your favorite places to eat and cook!

Wilde in Morocco

A few years ago, during my half year of unemployment, the boyfriend and I took a trip to Morocco. It was our first visit to Africa and a predominantly Muslim country. Before we left I was extremely nervous about the trip. I didn't know what clothes to pack, what to expect in the cities and towns and how we would communicate with everyone. As with most travel concerns, they were all completely unnecessary!

Our trip went off without a hitch (with the exception of the boyfriend having a wisdom tooth abscess while in Agadir) and it was the trip of a lifetime. We spent ten days in visiting different cities across the country. I scheduled four different experiences before we left on our trip, so we were pretty busy the entire time we were away!

10 Day Morocco itinerary

Day 1 - Overnight Flight to Casablanca, connection to Marrakech
Day 2 - Tour Marrakech Medina
Day 3 - Cooking Class at Riad Monceau
Day 4 - Rock Climbing in the Atlas Mountains with Climb Morocco
Day 5 - Two day desert excursion with Moroccan Views
     - Ait Ben Haddou - Zagora - Camel ride through the desert -
Day 6 - Return from the desert & Marrakech Night Market
Day 7 - Bus ride to Agadir & poolside relaxing
Day 8 - Surfing lessons with Original Surf Morocco
Day 9 - Bus back to Marrakech & train to Casablanca, evening out in the city
Day 10 - Casablanca city tour & visit to Plage Ain Diab
     - Late night flight home -

It was an intense schedule for our Moroccan visit, but I did it on purpose. I decided to fill up our vacation schedule in order to minimize our downtime. Though we had a little downtime while in Agadir so that we could enjoy some relaxing time by the pool!

My concern about not being able to converse with the locals was completely unnecessary. The majority of people that we interacted with either spoke excellent English or they spoke French! While I'm not at all fluent in French, those Moroccan people that weren't comfortable speaking in English were really happy that we could talk in French. The concierge at our Marrakesh riad spoke little English, but we were able to talk in French and he was so nice and helpful!

Hotels

Marrakech - Riad O

Agadir - Sofitel Agadir Royal Bay Resort

Casablanca - Sofitel Casablanca Tour Blanche

There are a few other cities in Morocco that I wish we had time to visit, but I think this was the perfect introduction to the country. I even learned a little Arabic over the course of our stay.