Today, February 14th 2026, is the tenth anniversary of the blog ‘Good Food & Treasured Memories’. Ten years ago, I decided to start writing a food blog. Brion and I had just spent three months in Ecuador. Prior to going, I needed to have a shoulder replacement operation. After we returned, I had the operation and with Brion’s help recovered successfully. The only thing was, even though my shoulder was much improved, it pretty much took me out of the workforce as I had known it before. After having been so busy in the previous years, it took a lot of ‘regrouping’ to settle it with myself that I had reached a different phase of my life. Prior to our time spent in Ecuador I had written and with Brion’s technical savvy, published two books.
In 2014, Good Food & Treasured Memories, my first ‘print’ copy memorabilia/cookbook was published with good success in Northern Alberta. It was followed by a second book in 2015 titled ‘The Taste of a Memory’. This book was written in memory of my parents, which took its readers back to a gentler time with some personal childhood memories. The book also contains a sweet and savory collection of at least 160 recipes about the ultimate ‘comfort food’ – bread pudding!
With the turndown in our economy, I wrote my first eBook, Living Large on a Lean Food Budget’, which outlines smart strategies for navigating a realistic food budget to keep ‘life in balance’. It was published on Amazon.com in March 2016 and is still available today.
With these projects finished, it seemed only natural to continue this passion for food and writing in the form of a food blog. Once again, Brion’s technical abilities came into play as I needed a very specific site to work with. I wasn’t interested in working with lots of sponsors that required me to advertise their products, etc. The whole purpose of the site was to post interesting articles along with some great food. Having spent 35 years in the food industry, food and food history is something I always gravitate to.
With much time and effort, Brion built a website with a clean, precise format I could work with. We decided to use the ‘Good Food & Treasured Memories’ name again as it was so fitting of its content.
With blogs, it’s not only the award winning sites that have something to offer; its the blogs written by people in their pajama’s at late hours of the night, created because those writers are dying to make something, to publish something, to give a voice to all the thoughts in their head, its the blogs written by people who don’t want to forget their recipes, who want them recorded somewhere for their friends and their nieces and nephews and their kids, its the blogs pursed for no other reason than because they’re fun.
Over the course of ten years I have enjoyed the many aspects of writing a food blog. In order to write about food and its history, I have done many hours of research to keep my articles accurate and interesting. Recipe development is and has always been something I love doing, so creating relevant recipes for each blog article put the icing on the cake so to speak.
Each year, at least 120 blogs with new articles and recipes have been added. When I first started writing the blog I had no idea how time consuming it would be. When I would look at other personal blogs and see they had only kept them up for a few years I wondered why. After ten years of blogging I now understand why. It definitely takes commitment to keep it current but I have also learned that good organization still allows you lots of time to do the other things that make life enjoyable such as spending time with my husband Brion.
With the website being available online at Google, Pinterest, Instagram as well as Facebook it is being read around the world. It has been so unique and rewarding receiving feed back from readers worldwide.
Thanks to everyone who has read and enjoyed the blog for the last ten years. It has been an incredible journey for me and I hope to continue blogging for many more.
Alice & Brion
Since it’s Valentines Day, I thought this strawberry rhubarb cake would be a fitting dessert for the occasion as well.
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- 3 cups cake flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 whole egg, room temperature
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 12 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature & cut into cubes
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 113.5 gm (4 oz) strawberries, hulled & halved (about 1 cup)
- 85 gm (3 oz) rhubarb, preferably bright red, end trimmed, stalk cut crosswise into 1/2-inch thick pieces
- 2 Tbsp sugar OR to taste
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter
- 3 Tbsp old-fashioned oats
- 2 Tbsp almonds, toasted & coarsely chopped
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
Ingredients
Cake
Compote
Crumble
Buttercream
Fruit + For Garnish
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- Preheat your oven to 325 F. Spray two 9 x 13 baking pans with nonstick spray, line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper and spray again. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the egg whites, whole egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
- In a bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together on low speed for 30 seconds.
- Add the butter one piece at a time, about every 10 seconds. Once all the butter is added, pour in the buttermilk and mix on low for about 1 minute, until the ingredients are incorporated.
- Scrape down the sides of bowl and begin to add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches, mixing on medium-low until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Fold once or twice to ensure the batter at the bottom of the bowl is incorporated and mix for another 20 to 30 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides of bowl and begin to add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches, mixing on medium-low until light and fluffy, about two minutes. Fold once or twice to ensure the batter at the bottom of the bowl is incorporated and mix for another 20 to 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between the 2 pans (about ------- ounces of batter in each of the two 9 x 13 pans), spreading evenly with a small offset palette knife.
- Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. Check cake around 23 to 25 minutes and then set the timer for 2-to-3-minute intervals if the cake needs to bake longer. You're looking for a few moist crumbs to come out on the toothpick when inserted into the center of the cake.
- Let the cake layers cool on racks for 10 minutes before inverting onto greased wire racks. Gently turn the cakes back up so the tops are up and cool completely. Once the cakes are cooled completely, level the tops if needed.
- Wrap each cake layer with plastic wrap and chill in freezer for at least an hour before using. The cake layers can be stored for up to a few days wrapped once in plastic wrap and frozen. To store longer than a few days, wrap twice in plastic wrap, then in foil, and seal in a zip-lock bag.
- In a medium size saucepan, combine the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar & vanilla over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to low & let simmer, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is tender. Let cool completely before using in the cake. Can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Preheat your oven to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt & cinnamon. Whisk to blend. Add the cubes of butter & rub in with your fingertips. The mixture will stick together like clumps. Mix in the oats & nuts.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring the crumble halfway through. Let cool completely before using in the cake.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the butter on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Adjust the mixer to low speed, slowly add the powdered sugar, followed by the heavy cream, clear vanilla extract & a dash of salt. Continue to beat the buttercream on medium-high speed for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Before frosting your cake, mix the frosting by hand with a wooden spoon to push out the air pockets.
- Place the first cake layer, top side up, on a cake board. Using an offset icing spatula, spread a thin layer of frosting over the cake layer. This creates a barrier between the cake and fruit filling, so the cake doesn't become soggy.
- Pipe a rim of frosting around the edge of the cake layer. This will help support the cake layers and prevent the fruit filling from spilling out. 2. Spread about 1/2 cup of the fruit filling on the cake layer. 3. Sprinkle about half of the crumble over the fruit filling. 4. Gently place the second cake layer top side down on the filling and crumble.
- Spread about 1/2 cup of the fruit filling on the cake layer. Sprinkle crumble over the fruit filling. Gently place the second cake layer top side down on the filling and crumble.
- Freeze the cake for about 10 minutes to help set the frosting and filling, making it a bit more stable for when you frost.
- After the filling is set, use a small amount of frosting to apply a crumb coat around the entire cake. Freeze the cake again for another 10 minutes to set the crumb coat.
- After the crumbs are locked in, continue to frost and decorate the cake.
