A Single Step

Loving Greek yogurt

2012-02-03T09:27:00.005-05:00

My kids have always enjoyed yogurt, but I was never terribly keen on the junk in so much of what's out there. I did my best to buy stuff without extra stabilizers and curious new breakthrough ~~gimmicks~~ ingredients designed to get people to spend more so they could look good while wearing green. I longed for Greek yogurt to become more readily available.

So you can imagine how happy I am with all of the choices available in stores now. My kids aren't eating as much yogurt as they used to, ironically. Greek yogurt is spendy, but I'm fine paying for quality. And I love using it in recipes where I'd otherwise use sour cream, or have to strain conventional yogurt overnight to achieve the right texture (Tzatziki comes to mind).

Speaking of recipes, I saw on Twitter this morning that Oikos is giving away free yogurt to people who blog about their product (yeah, I'm about as subtle as purple panties under white pants). It's a good product and we like it. So why not? I can repost one of their recipes, tweak one or post one of my own, which is what I'll do.

My husband and I enjoy the quiet after the kids are in bed. Some nights we skip supper so that we can relax later with a drink and this dip. It's best served with tortilla chips, and the inspiration comes from the overpriced nacho dips in the cold section of the produce area at a local grocery chain. I often have a homemade "taco spice" blend on hand, but when I don't I just use the spices listed below, tweaking the final flavour before spreading it all in a dish. And sometimes I like a dash of smoked paprika in it, too. I love that this can be played with to suit any taste.

Nacho Dip

1 8oz block light cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 C Oikos plain Greek yogurt
1t ground cumin
1-2 T chili powder
1 t garlic powder
Pinch of salt
2 T minced red onion

2 T chopped pickled jalapeno, or to taste
1/4 C salsa
1/2 C shredded cheese

In a large bowl or stand mixer, whip together the cream cheese, yogurt, spices and salt. Fold in the onion and jalapeno. Spread into a shallow, small baking dish and smooth the top. Spread the salsa over it and cover with the shredded cheese. Let sit in the fridge for a few hours for the flavours to mix. Serve with tortillas.

Chinese New Year

2012-01-23T10:54:00.001-05:00

by fab4chiky

I have a near lifelong friend with whom I share my passion for food and food culture. Before we had kids we spent a lot of time exploring Chinatown in Toronto, and the Pacific Mall in Markham. We were told off by an old Chinese man for daring to ask what a Dragonfruit was. We marveled at the array of amazing edibles in boxes along busy sidewalks, and old grandmothers sitting quietly with bunches of fresh garlic at their feet, waiting to sell to whomever needed garlic right there. We stood, dazed by the choices for lunch in the food court of the largest indoor Chinese mall in North America. We also discovered that if you're going to need a washroom and are afraid of creepy basement corridors with bare bulbs hanging between dusty pipes, go before heading to Chinatown along Spadina Avenue.

Over the years we've celebrated our love of Chinese food (and Asian food in general) in many ways, including a few Chinese New Year inspired feasts that we've both shared with friends and had the pleasure of catering for others. Now that we have children, we're passing along our passion for these flavours to them.

Yesterday I spent a good part of the afternoon prepping a relatively simple meal of Char Siu (Chinese barbecue pork - in this case tenderloin), Chow Mein (stir fried noodles and veggies), and scallion pancakes. Not authentic, but as Chef Michael Smith once said (paraphrase alert), "When playing culinary tourist, my goal isn't to be authentic. My goal is to make dinner." So while we didn't enjoy any whole steamed fish or lotus bean tarts, we enjoyed some new flavours and dishes. Okay, so the pancakes weren't as good as I remember, and the kids didn't care for them either, but the pork was a hit, and the noodles were so good that hubby found our son eating leftovers off of Dad's plate after we'd all finished.

And that was the goal for me. To find some new foods and flavours that we can incorporate into our menu. Hoisin sauce isn't some weird, foreign flavour now. Noodles can replace rice (without calls for pasta sauce on them). "Chinese food" doesn't sound strange.

I think I'd like to continue this through the year, as more culinary festivities come up around the world. This means I get to research food traditions and play culinary tourist, the kids get to learn about the world around them through food, I get to recreate global dishes using local ingredients whenever possible, and hubby... he gets to enjoy it all. LOL Though I think I may skip the Haggis for Robbie Burns day on Wednesday. Perhaps a nice bowl of Cock-a-Leekie soup instead?

I love vinegar

2012-01-19T14:45:00.000-05:00

I am a sour freak. I love sour things. Always have. When I was pregnant with my kids, one of my cravings was for sour things. Especially gummy candy doused in citric acid. As a kid I loved those 5 cent sour soothers (or sour keys as we called them) and their penny candy cousins (they're probably all a quarter each at least now). Don't give me "Sour Patch Kids." They aren't sour enough. When I want sour, I don't want to mess around with sweetness that takes over after a few moments. I want face puckering, tongue twitching sourness that may even bring a tear to the eye.

So it's no surprise that I love vinegar. And a few years ago I happened upon a lovely couple who would rock my world. I was at a Thanksgiving craft show, perusing the gourmet food tent. There were so many vendors with so many lovely things to try. Spreads and jams and sauces and chocolate and cookies and... vinegar. Not your average flavour enhanced vinegars that are everywhere (shouldn't raspberry vinegar actually be made from raspberries?). This was the real deal. Small batch, home made, properly fermented vinegar. I was drawn to one called Ale and Rum, if I remember correctly. It was apparently made with Smithwick's Ale, and it was like the punchiest malt vinegar you've ever tasted. My taste buds exploded. Wow, was it amazing! I was hooked. I forget what else was offered that day, as the varieties have changed and evolved over the years, but from that day nearly 10 years ago, I have been a loyal customer of Mr. Vinegar - aka Roger Lambert and his wonderful wife Joyce.

If you go to their website (mrvinegar.ca) you'll see Roger and Joyce's smiling faces first. Then you'll read a bit about what makes their vinegar special. Words like "small batches" and "static fermentation" share space with "premium" and "international awards." But this isn't a huge corporation. It's a cottage business, run by a couple with a passion for quality and innovation. From their original offerings, they've played with ingredients and created some amazing varieties of vinegar. Among my favourites are the "Rapture of Raspberry" and Peach Chardonnay. The "Barley Wine," which is their malt vinegar is the best thing fish and chips ever met, and while pricey (you have to inquire about the price and availability), Roger's Maple Syrup Vinegar is a sweet/tart offering that is out of this world and worth every penny. It is a showstopper on a salad of mixed greens, dried cherries or cranberries, toasted nuts and Feta cheese!

Why am I writing this? Because I am passionate about food, and about local food. And Mr. Vinegar is a local (Hamilton) producer of top quality vinegar. It is a company that I am proud to support and promote.

They used to be full....

Cookies and Cameras

2012-01-16T15:01:00.000-05:00

Those of you who have read this blog for a while (or even just skimmed it and noticed the pictures) know that I have never claimed to be a photo blogger. I don't imagine I will ever post recipes in photo by photo detail, with ingredients neatly displayed on my counter and dozens of images of each step along the way. I don't even really enjoy reading posts like that, so it's doubtful that I'd ever adopt that style. I'm more of a "give me the money shot and get to the recipe already" kind of person.

That said, I got thinking about my humble blog as the new year began. I don't think I want to be a mega-blogger, with deadlines and sponsors and thousands of readers. Not right now. I like being a small time blogger in a big pool of talent. It affords me the time to be inspired and learn from that inspiration. So it is with photography. I looked up the manual for my little Nikon 8mp camera the other day and discovered that I can do things with it. Like use a setting called "macro" to take better close up shots. And play with light levels so that not everything I take a picture of in natural light looks like it's glowing.

There is a lot to read, and I have much practice before I can claim that I'm doing well, but I played a bit today and I think I got an image or two hat I can say are better than they would have been before I was inspired to learn more.

And on the plus side, having cookies to photograph means that we have cookies to eat. These were inspired by Chef Michael Smith's chocolate chip cookies.

Marbled Cocoa Chip Cookies

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa
1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).

In a large bowl (or stand mixer) cream the butter and sugars together until smooth. Add the corn syrup, egg, vanilla and salt and beat until totally blended. Scrape down the bowl, sprinkle over the baking powder and add the flour, mixing just until combined (yeah, I don't follow standard cookie protocol). Stir in the cocoa and chocolate chips until just marbled. Streaks of cocoa should still be visible (it may be best to do this by hand, as I overmixed it a bit in my stand mixer).

Working with a teaspoon, scoop up some dough and roll it between your hands and flatten it lightly on a greased or or lined cookie tray. Leave space for the cookies room to expand.

Bake for 12 minutes (15 if you like them crisper), and let cool on a wire rack.

I got 2 dozen from this.

The Evolution of Dinner

2012-01-09T16:08:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning with no clue what tonight's dinner would be. There's soup in the fridge, but the kids won't touch it (just because it's black bean and cabbage... what's so bad about that?). There's pork cutlets that I browned the other day because they'd come out of the freezer and had to be cooked. The freezer holds meatballs, various frozen appetizers that hubby and I keep on hand for in house "date nights," and some larger cuts of meat that would not freeze in enough time to enjoy tonight.

By this afternoon I was no further ahead. I got thinking of the meatballs and the pork cutlets. I didn't want to do pasta and tomato sauce. What about gravy? Ooh, there's time to caramelize some onions. How about onion gravy? How about onion gravy with cranberry sauce, finished with sour cream? Yeah, that's what I want. I love onion gravy, and my 7 year old loves meatballs with cranberry sauce in the gravy. But... the pork cutlets need to be used up first. So we're having those instead.

The gravy goes like this (no real recipe)...
* Caramelize some onions (4 small in this case) in some oil and butter over low heat until lovely and sticky and brown.
* Deglaze with booze. I had a little whiskey on hand. I let it all cook off.
* Sprinkle with flour (generously heaped dessert spoon).
* Add beef broth (a couple of cups?) and bring to a boil to thicken.
*Add a little cranberry sauce (I made up a small batch - 1/4 C water, 1/4C sugar, 1C cranberries, simmered 10 minutes)
* Add meat and simmer for a while.
* Adjust seasonings to taste. Add sour cream (I hope I don't forget that step).

I'd serve it over mashed potatoes, but the kids don't like them, so I'll do something more like home fries. I'll serve it all with pickles and some cucumbers in vinegar in lieu of a salad.

So that's it. From nothing to a spark to a craving for yummy gravy to supper. In the middle of the afternoon.

Indian

2011-12-31T18:16:00.004-05:00

I realize it's New Year's Eve and everyone is doing retrospective posts about the year behind, or resolving to make 2012 ______ (fill in the blank with the positive action word of your choosing). Me? I don't do resolutions. And I haven't really spent much time looking back on the past year.

So instead of all that, I'm going to talk about my first experience eating Indian food in a restaurant. I've had (bad) Indian takeout, I've had good curries in the homes of friends, I've made some curries that have been quite good myself, and I had some awesome nibbles in Toronto during Taste of the Danforth some years ago. But I had never eaten in an authentic Indian establishment until my friend and I went to a place downtown last night.

It was one of those post-holiday craziness, last minute "I need out!" kind of nights for her, and I was only to happy to go along. We circled around a few times before settling on the pay and display lot across the street from the restaurant. It was raining. We didn't want to walk far (aside - what is up with the weather? No snow of any substantial amount thus far, near double digit temps... I'm in a tank top as I type this). Anyway, we sat in a quiet little corner by the window and had a look at the menu. There were several dishes I was familiar with, at least by name, and several I'd never heard of. The descriptions were very helpful (I'll try to link to as many recipes as possible, for those who, like me aren't as familiar with the cuisine as others, but I make no promises about how authentic they are). I knew I wanted onion bhaji, and was hoping for pakora, but they don't have that. There were so many delicious looking appetizers that we settled on a mixed platter, which included two kinds of ground meat kebabs, onion bhaji, generous samosas and chicken tikka, with raita, and two anonymous dipping sauces; one sweet, the other very hot. We chose a white wine to accompany our meal, though they do have Indian beer as well.

While we waited for our appetizers to arrive, we were served two paper thin papadums, flavoured with whole cumin seeds. A bit like a very light chip, it was pleasant to have something to nibble while we waited. We also ordered the rest of our meal at that point, having taken our time with the menu.

We decided to order a meat dish and a vegetable dish each to share, plus two pieces of naan bread in lieu of rice. My friend ordered Chicken Dupiaza, Channa Masala and a hot mango pickle. I settled on a beef dish called Bhuna Gosht, which boasted a "rich, thick sauce" and Saag Paneer, a classic dish of spinach and Indian cheese. The dishes were smaller than I'd expected, but they ended up being just right for two to share, with some leftover for my friend to take home. I really liked the sauces that each of the dishes had. Perfect for dipping the bread into. The beef was braised and quite tender. The chicken was alright, but I found it a little bland. I really appreciated the contrast that crispy peppers and onions in each dish provided. The chickpeas (channa masala) were really tasty, and the cheese in the saag paneer reminded me a little of curds. I found that the spinach was a bit strong, but it was nice when mixed with the sauce from one of the other dishes.

We didn't get dessert, but there seems to be a variety of authentic Indian sweets to choose from. Maybe next time. We were a bit full, and opted for a walk before heading to another place for dessert.

The service was great. We had the manager and two servers taking care of us. It wasn't terribly busy, and the pace of our meal was very relaxed. I lost track of time, but I think we were nearly an hour and a half. I grabbed a takeout menu, and I definitely will be using it in the new year. There, I'll call that a resolution!

This review is linked to UrbanSpoon

Nearly ready

2011-12-23T10:49:00.002-05:00

I'll save you the ubiquitous "wow, that went by fast," and "I can't believe Christmas is already here" comments so often seen at this point (though they are true). Instead, I'm going to focus on something that doesn't come naturally to me. Organization. LOL I'm not making a lot, but much of it needs to be done in the day or two immediately before Christmas.

I'm not hosting Christmas in any way this year. I never do. Our home is too small for more than maybe two extra people. Even at that, the kitchen table would be cramped. We were content to do Christmas here, with just the four of us. It's not how I grew up (we always went to a relatives, or hosted the whole big shebang), but it worked. Except the kids got a bit older and started getting restless spending the whole day at home, even with their new toys. Going to the inlaws for (an admittedly more low key than I'm used to) dinner breaks up the day and gives the kids a whole new (and much, much larger) space to play.

My mother in law likes to cook. We have different styles, mind you. To strike a balance, I've offered to bring a few things this year. I made some of Jamie Oliver's "get ahead gravy" earlier this week. Unfortunately the butcher gave us eight chicken wing pieces instead of eight whole wings. That has a dramatic effect on the end product, I can assure you. I hope the turkey produces lots of flavourful drippings. In the new year I'll make the recipe again, with the proper amount of chicken parts. It would be nice to have some gravy in the freezer for quick meals.

I've broken down the rest of what I need to do into blocks of time. Last night I made the chocolate crust for the Candy Cane Cheesecake. This morning I made the base for the sausage stuffing. Bulk sausage, browned with a melange of diced vegetables (onion, garlic, peppers, celery), seasoned with some traditional herbs (sage and thyme) and some which are less so (oregano and basil, in a nod to my Italian roots). My mother often adds mushrooms to hers, and rosemary, but I'm a fan of neither. I've added eggplant in past years to bulk things up even more, but I couldn't find any that weren't either huge or past their prime this week. I've contemplated adding roasted chestnuts. I still may. Tomorrow I'll mix it all up with bread cubes and stock and pack it into a pan to cook alongside the bird on Sunday.

Later today I'll make up the cheesecake, using this recipe from Taste of Home. I'll add extra crushed candy cane to ramp up the Christmas quotient, so I'll need to get those crushed soon. It seems to be a tradition in our family to finish our holiday meal with a mint dessert. I think I've done candy cane ice cream the past two years. The mint is a very refreshing way to end a large meal. Somehow it makes me feel less over-stuffed and a little more comfortable as I leave the table. LOL

I want to make a couple of gift foods as well, but I'll share about those later, as the recipients might actually read this before I see them.

Then there's the bacon to pre-cook for Christmas brunch and the chocolate chip muffins to bake to nibble between the stockings and the gifts. I *think* that's everything. Oh, and I have Christmas cards to finish making, gifts to organize and all of those last minute details (like showering and making sure the children are clean) to attend to. Glad I wrapped hubby's gifts yesterday.

Since I will not be blogging again between now and Christmas, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. Thanks for reading my little blog. May the year ahead bring blessings of peace, hope and joy to you and those you love!

~Mama B~

Shortbread, part 2

2011-12-12T13:23:00.002-05:00

It's a new day, the sun is shining, and I have a large batch of savoury shortbread cooling in the kitchen. I tweaked and played with a few recipes that I found, wanting to incorporate certain elements into a cohesive treat. The result is a flaky cookie, with a nice, savoury edge that will pair well with a glass of wine or cider. There is a little sweetness from the cranberries, and a bit of crunch from the walnuts. I wish I'd added a bit more salt (I've compensated in the recipe), but otherwise I'm pleased with the result. A little cayenne or thyme or even nutmeg would work in variations, too. So would very small bits of smoky Speck.

Cheese Walnut Cranberry Shortbread

1 Cup butter, softened
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Kosher salt (careful if you're using a salty cheese)
4 C grated flavourful cheese, at room temperature (I used a blend of old cheddar, Oka and Asiago - this is no time for mozarella and colby)
1/2 C chopped toasted walnuts
1/2 C chopped dried cranberries
2 1/2 C flour
milk, to moisten

Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter, spices and salt. Add the cheese, walnuts and cranberries and blend well. Mix in the flour until crumbly. Add the milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the dough just barely comes together. I may have used a tablespoon or so.

On a floured board, work with half the dough at a time. Bring it together with your hands and roll out to 1/4" thickness. Cut out into desired shapes, place on prepared sheets and bake for 12 minutes, until light brown. Cool on wire racks and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 5-6 dozen, depending on size.

(As always, I'm not a photo-blogger. My cookies did not actually come out this yellow.)

Shortbread

2011-12-11T19:29:00.000-05:00

There's something about Christmas and shortbread, isn't there? They seem to go together. I seldom make shortbread outside of the holidays. At least, not straight up, unadulterated shortbread. I'll add chocolate chips or dried berries or citrus zest to it. But plain, buttery shortbread seems to be reserved for Christmas.

I had a package of unsalted, cultured butter in the fridge which I had bought for something else that never did get made. I thought it would make a lovely cookie, and so I pulled it out to soften. I found a recipe that used plain flour and some icing sugar, plus a whisper of vanilla. It sounded lovely. The softened butter danced in the mixer with the sugar until it was a fluffy mass on the sides of the bowl. I added a restrained splash of vanilla and smiled. By the time my 4 year old and I had patted out the soft dough, scored it and docked it with little fork marks, I was eagerly anticipating the cookies that would come. Going against my own nature, I waited for them to cool before sneaking a taste from a crumbly corner. The flaky fleck almost melted on my tongue. Such a wonderful texture. And then... nothing. No flavour. Just blandness.

I forgot the salt! The scant 1/4 tsp of savoury balance that holds together the very fabric of the food world was still in my little blue salt pig. The subtle nuance of flavour from the expensive block of cultured butter was lost forever, and the whisper of vanilla was mute. I tried in vain to salvage the batch, smearing some of the biscuits with melted chocolate and a sprinkle of salt, but it was too late. There was no saving them. Though, to be honest, my husband will probably still eat them all. He just loves shortbread and can't bear for it to go to waste.

Tonight I'm making a batch of savoury shortbread with Oka cheese, walnuts and dried cranberries. And salt.

Oh yeah. Duh.

2011-12-02T10:22:00.000-05:00

I tried to make candy for my ladies gourmet night. Twice. A single batch, and then a double. And nothing worked. At first, I thought it was the granulated sugar that I rolled the fruit jellies in, instead of icing sugar. I thought perhaps the hygroscopic properties of the sugar was the culprit that was making my candies weep and soften. But the next day the same happened when I used the powdered sugar. And then I looked outside. And realized it had been raining heavily for a couple of days. Um, duh. High humidity and candy don't mix. I know this. And yet somehow I totally spaced on such a simple fact.

That's okay. I didn't even end up going anyway. Seriously. I skipped my beloved gourmet night. In favour or what, you ask? Sanity. Simple sanity.

Wednesday was a stressful day, coming off of a stressful several days (did you read my last post?) I was frustrated by my candy failure, unimpressed with my appetizer offering (barbecue pulled pork wontons), short with the kids, spinning in circles in my own mind, and feeling like my breaking point was in sight. My friend was coming to pick me up just after 7:00. Hubby took the kids out just before 6:00. Between those two times, I called my friend to let her know that I just was not going. I asked her to come by and pick up my appetizers, and convey my apologies to the group. I couldn't go. The thought of socializing, even with friends, was too much. The thought of sitting at someone else's house, sitting on the couch watching a movie left me realizing that if I was going to spend the evening in front of the TV, I wanted it to be with my husband.

And do you know what happened? The moment I hung up the phone and sat down to continue making my appetizers, I smiled. I began singing the Christmas song on the radio. My heart lifted and I felt... good. Like I'd sprinted back from the brink to a cozy, safe place where I could sprawl out and breathe. The relief was palpable. And it felt wonderful. I'd made the choice to do something for me. And I didn't regret it or feel selfish. And I got to put my kids to bed and give them extra cuddles, and I got to curl up with my husband for a little TV and, most importantly, time spent sharing the same space without running here and there. It was a good decision. One I won't hesitate to make again.

If My Inspiration Returns

2011-11-28T12:29:00.001-05:00

Our four year old princess has been sick for a bit now. What started out nearly 2 weeks ago as a fever and cough progressed to what we thought was the flu, then maybe nothing, then maybe Roseola, then.... We really don't know. Any of the above are still on the table, but the bottom line is that she has this wet, lingering cough that is keeping her (and me) from sleeping well and has been the suspected root cause of her throwing up at least 3 times in the past week and a half. Taking medicine also triggers her gag reflex (though not immediately - a few minutes after willingly taking it). Now she won't take anything at all. I don't blame her, mind you. All of this has left me quite stressed. And tired. Very tired.

This week I have a couple of things requiring my time in the kitchen. I need to make cupcakes for the kids for an event with a group that says it's "nut aware." We've come to realize that what they mean is that they know peanut allergies exist. Period. It doesn't mean that they take any steps to choose safe snacks for affected children. Don't get me started. I wish that Babycakes mini-cupcake maker was available in Canada.

Anyway, there is also my ladies gourmet night. We're doing a goodie exchange and tapas. We need to bring 4 1/2 dozen of something, plus appetizers for 8. I have my dishes in mind. Pink grapefruit "Turkish delight" (jelly candies, which I'll roll in white sugar and citric acid, for zing), and Asiago frico cups filled with balsamic drizzled arugula and topped with some smoked prosciutto. Sounds simple? And it is. Except my motivation has vanished along with my energy. I'm debating going at all at this point. I want to, but I don't, kwim?

What I really want is to take an evening when all of this sick is over and get a hotel room, by myself. I want to zone out alone, just staring at the wall if I choose to, knowing that short of a fire in the potted plant in the hall or a Spider Man wanna-be smashing through the window in my room, I will not be required to do anything. Nothing will be demanded of me. No one will need me to fetch water, get a snack, find socks, wash clothes....

I guess I'm just feeling a bit burnt out. There is enough positive to keep me going right now. It's just hard to focus on when I'm so worn down. Little Miss is really doing okay. We'll take her to the doctor later, just to find out what's going on and if it's running its course. I can't imagine trying to give her anything for it at this point. She's so gun-shy that we'd never get it in, let alone figure out how to make her keep it down. But I'm heading into the negative again. Ultimately she's still relatively perky, still cuddly, still her happy self. Just not as often. And her brother, who I need to stop referring to as "Little Mister" now that he's turned seven, is taking the lack of attention relatively well. Must remember to focus some time just for him today.

I'm going to take some time to dwell on the pluses, rather than the minuses, and see where that gets me today. Prayer is a great way to shift from looking inward at the bad stuff to outward at our blessings. I'll admit it's not always my go-to solution, though.

So, if I end up roasting the chicken I bought on the weekend (assuming it's still good) rather than sticking it in the freezer, we can assume things are looking up. I'll Tweet about it later and let you know.

Let the season begin

2011-11-15T09:17:00.002-05:00

And just like that, we're hurtling towards Christmas. Wasn't it just Hallowe'en? Wasn't it just early October? So now we sit, on the edge of the cliff, ready to base jump into "the holiday season." Some have already taken the plunge, diving headlong into the lights and trees and garland and bows. Others hang back from even peering over for another few weeks. Me? I'm gearing up to rappel down for a bit, easing into things so that I don't miss a lot on the way by.

I began playing Christmas music the other day. Just a little, and mostly instrumental. I'm not ready for full fledged choirs singing Angels We Have Heard on High yet. Though I'll admit that I've begun dreaming of a White Christmas and longing for a little snow (it was 17C yesterday).

And I've begun... no, not baking. I don't bake a lot at Christmas. I've begun making candy. I found a bag of my beloved Meyer lemons on the weekend and spent part of yesterday turning them into candied peel (and some bonus lemonade and Meyer lemon infused simple syrup).


Yes, only one picture. Photoblogger I'm not.

I's so simple to make candied peel. Last year I made quite a bit. I love nibbling on it through the season. The kitchen smelled amazing (until I shattered the plastic spray bottle of vinegar, anyway).

Candied Citrus Peel

2 Cups citrus peel

Boiling water

2 1/2 Cups white sugar, divided

1 Cup water

Scrub the fruit to remove any wax (organic is worth it here). Peel it and cut the peel into strips (I make mine pretty narrow - think shoestring fry). Place in a medium saucepan and cover with boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and repeat 2 more times (it helps to have a kettle of recently boiled water handy). If you're doing grapefruit, you may want to repeat the process for a total of up to 5 times, as it tends to be more bitter.

Meanwhile, place 2 cups of sugar into a medium saucepan with 1 cup of water, over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the blanched, strained peel and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the peel is soft and translucent.

Strain the syrup into a container to save and spread the strips of peel on a wire rack set over foil or parchment. Once cool, toss them in the remaining sugar. Epiphany moment - I added a little citric acid as well, to cut some of the sweetness and complement the lemon flavour. It's wonderful! Spread the pieces out again, keeping them separate, and leave them to dry for several hours, or overnight.

These can be dipped in chocolate, nibbled with a cheese and nut tray, or chopped up to add to fruit breads, muffins and cookies.

Oh, and I've also been replaying our kick off to Christmas last year. The amazing Chorus Niagara Flash Mob that we got to witness. Still the best way I've ever started the holidays!

Of Hallowe'en and Chicken Soup

2011-11-01T12:15:00.000-04:00

It was a quiet Hallowe'en (am I the only one who still uses the ' in that word?). Not just because there seemed to be fewer kids out and about, but also because 3 of the 4 of us were losing our voice. Hubby stayed home from work (always nice on my birthday, which was also yesterday) because he "woke" -aka barely slept- with a really sore throat and almost no voice. Never good when you have to do work in schools. My voice was fine until the evening, and ditto Little Mister. I caught a cold a couple of weeks ago, and am still coughing up a bit of the last of it, and the guys seem to have caught a bit of it now too. Little Miss seems fine, after getting over it quickly already.

*Bunny trail - There weren't too many costumes last night that made me pause, though there were a few really over the top gory masks. But there was this one... a girl of about 16 maybe, handing out candy with her mother. Her dress was the Candyland game board. Not sure where she got it, or if she found the fabric somewhere and made the dress, but either way there was a measurement issue, because not only was the dress SHORT, but let's just say that this girl's ample jujubes were spilling out of her candy bag. /Bunny trail

So today, with November here, and our routine back to normal after a fun filled evening of Trick or Treating, I've retrieved the capon carcass from Thanksgiving (remember U.S readers that Thanksgiving was nearly a month ago here) and I'm simmering it to make us a very nourishing stock for dinner. I do not want a repeat of last February, when we lost the whole month to illness that consumed all of us. And I've realized that our current diet is not exactly supporting our health. We've been blessed lately with a little extra money, and sadly we've spent a disproportionate amount on take out and restaurant food. *sigh* I have no excuses to offer. I just know that our current habit has contributed to our current lack of well being. And I want to change that.

The stock is simmering. The house smells amazing. Like a warm, soothing hug wafting down the hallway. Glorious healthy fat is rendering out, along with minerals and other assorted nutrients that will provide us with what we need to nourish our bodies, soothe sore throats and bring us together at the table (in our own home). There is a whole head of garlic in the pot as well. Little Mister has requested lentils and barley in his bowl (it's his favourite soup). I think I want some noodles and hot sauce. Hubby will want some actual meat in his, and Little Miss... I don't know that she has an opinion. LOL

Full time blogging

2011-10-28T12:27:00.000-04:00

So it's been nearly a month since my last entry. I'd ask where the month went, but I haven't figured that out for the previous 9 months, so how would I know this time around? It was the beginning of the month, then Thanksgiving, then general life, our anniversary, and now we're closing in on Hallowe'en, my birthday, the dawn of a new month, the holiday season whose name I will not mention until at least after Hallowe'en, if not until after Remembrance Day.... It's all going so quickly.

Clearly I would not make a good full time blogger. Never mind that I do not know how to take blog-worthy photographs. I can't seem to find the time to write when inspiration strikes, or the inspiration when time allows to blog every single day. Or even every week! Hopefully my followers are content with the posts which I do produce.

Speaking of time and it racing by, I am going to take a few moments to be deliberate about Autumn before allowing myself to slide into.... not going to say it. I have a few pins on Pinterest that I can share...

Toothy pumpkins on my Holidays board

A cool way to turn old books into Autumn decor

And the template hubby used last year for one of our Jack O Lanterns

He may do that one again this year. It turned out really well.

We're not a family that is into gore or spooky stuff and whatnot, so I won't be baking Mummy cupcakes, or witches fingers or making up a batch of goblin phlegm punch or anything like that. We're more into Autumn flavours than Hallowe'en creepiness. I've made butternut squash soup already, and I have been looking at a recipe for soft pumpkin dinner rolls that I want to try. But no "Hallowe'en-y" stuff. Though I do like to use the abundance of chocolate bars and Smarties to make cookies (for my U.S readers, Smarties here are like a much better version of your chocolate M&Ms. Your Smarties are what we call "Rockets" and would not be good in baking).

It's October

2011-10-02T18:16:00.000-04:00

The first weekend of October is nearly finished. For us this weekend always means harvest festivals and a local food fest. The weather has been cold, rainy, damp, wet, cold, cloudy, cold... But we ventured out with the kids anyway, hitting up a favourite harvest fest for some games, prizes, cider and beeswax candles. It was a hurried affair, as little fingers numbed in the cold and little noses turned bright red. But asking them, the Littles say that they had a good time anyway.

After they tucked in to a welcome supper of veggie chili from the new crock pot, they got to hang out with my middle sister (and the aunt who delivered Little Miss) while hubby and I hit the local food festival. It's a grand affair, made all the better this year by a return to the wide open space it occupied a couple of years ago (last year it was moved to some local streets, which resulted in a crowded mess of people, with lines from one vendor melding into lines for others, close calls with cigarettes, and a generally unpleasant experience all around). The space allows for lines to come out from each vendor with no overlap, and provides a large area for picnic tables. There is a lower level for the beer tent, stage and more seating. It's really great. There is also a market area that's supposed to showcase local growers, but honestly it was a disappointment. There were scant few vendors, and among them was a corporate trailer handing out "natural" deli meat. It's sad, because a few years ago there were so many vendors, selling produce, cheese, locally made condiments and sauces and so forth...

Given the very cool temps, I was looking forward to trying some soups. But first, we stopped for an ear each of fire roasted corn, dipped in a crock pot of melted butter, and sprinkled with whatever seasoning one desires. I'm a bit of a purist and prefer salt, but I did try a little garlic powder. Meh. I like my salt and butter combo best.

Then we split up to get some soup. Hubby went for our yearly favourite - loaded baked potato soup. I opted for some wonderful sounding cheddar beer soup, made by a local pub. I know it was a long, cold day for everyone working there, but when the woman taking the orders went from cheerfully conversing with a friend to taking my order, her demeanor shifted to totally distracted and slightly annoyed. She nearly forgot to even collect my money.

Speaking of which, I noticed the booth next door had on the bottom of their menu, "Bacon biscuits - 3 for $2, while they last." Biscuits and soup are a great pairing, so I asked for 3. The first sign that I should have just walked away came when I noticed the girl taking the money was wearing latex gloves. Why wear gloves to handle money? Then she reached into the bin and grabbed the biscuits. Um, you just took my money and used the same gloved hand to touch my food? I should have said something. I don't know why I didn't. I guess I figured it wouldn't matter. Clearly they felt that the gloves somehow provided magical protection from any and all transfer of grossness from public money to the food (I've seen this same belief in magic in a local drug-free butcher shop where they handle the raw meat and deli meat with the same gloved hand). I never did eat the biscuits, as the first tentative bite revealed them to be hockey pucks in disguise. I got my money back. I wonder if they tossed the un-nibbled biscuits back into the bin to serve the next unlucky people?

Back to the soup. Hubby and I met back up and sat down to tuck in. The cheddar beer soup was... well it was lumpy, with an awful lot of something... thyme perhaps? No beer flavour at all. Or cheese, for that matter. The loaded potato soup I'd been looking forward to was not what I remember having the past few years. It was actually kind of bland. We needed to regroup and try something else.

A stop at a booth offering a sampling platter of samosas, gyozas, spring rolls and wings was infinitely better. Though the wings were cold and fairly inedible, the rest was quite delicious. I would eat their veggie samosas any day.

We still wanted some meat, though. So we stopped by a booth run by a local butcher/deli for a chipotle steak sandwich. A whole steak, pounded thin and marinated in a chipotle marinade was tossed onto the grill, not overcooked at all and put on a bun. And I need to commend the woman handling the money and the buns. Not once did she touch the food with her bare hand. She used tongs and serviettes and did everything in her power to keep something between herself and the food. I was well pleased to see that. I was equally pleased that the steak was a tender treat, without the gristle that one might expect in a piece of steak that large that's sold for a mere $5.

Full of savoury goodness, we wandered over to line up for coffee (that was one line that never seemed to get shorter all night). Though pricey ($2 for a relatively small cup), the warming goodness was much needed. I popped next door for some freshly made mini-doughnuts. While there was a gut-churning variety of fried foods available, none appealed to us besides these warm gems (deep fried butter, anyone?)

We took our warm food (and warming hands) to the lower area, where we were pleasantly surprised to hear the strains of music we've enjoyed in years past. AC/DC, Poison, Guns and Roses, Queen... Dancing with a warm coffee and warm doughnuts made for a warm body and happy me.

By the time we headed out, the wind had begun to pick up and the temperature dropped further. It was a good time to leave, with bellies full of some good food, heads full of good music and the knowledge that we'll be back again next year.

T minus one day. But...

2011-09-22T13:14:00.001-04:00

My favourite season of all officially begins tomorrow. It's no secret that I adore Autumn and look forward to it every year. But I have a confession to make...

I've been celebrating it for a couple of weeks now. How could I not, with the amazingly wonderful cool weather we've been having? September has behaved exactly as I like it to. A last hurrah of heat at the beginning of Labour Day weekend, and then cool temps straight through. Long pants, even long sleeves (and even jackets on occasion). Covers on the bed, nights where even I've had to acquiesce and close the window, comfort foods, Autumn decor scattered about... *insert big, contented sigh here*

I've got our capon ordered for Thanksgiving, which is coming up more quickly than I'd care to admit. We don't do a big thing for the day, but I like a rather traditional meal. A whole turkey is just too big for us, even with our love of leftover bird. So I've ordered a capon from a local farm, which I'm looking forward to. Actually I ordered two, in case we want one for Christmas as well. Capon is what chicken used to taste like when I was a kid. I love it.

We skipped the local farm show/exhibition this year. We'd talked about going, but it's really been pretty crappy lately. We opted instead to hit up a local pumpkin farm that was having it's seasonal grand opening and charity event ($2 per person, instead of the usual $16, and the money went to a local cancer charity). The kids had a fabulous morning. We would have stayed longer, since we were told when we entered that the owner is super-conscious of nut allergies at the concession. But when I went to order food, there were signs saying that they made no guarantees and that the food may not be safe. So we had to cut our fun short and leave. It was very disappointing.

The rest of the day made up for it though. My sister came over to watch the kids, hubby loaded the van up with audio gear and we headed to our pastor's place (a wonderful little house on 13 acres of gorgeousness) for a pig and corn roast. A couple of guys set up with their guitars to entertain the group (hence the audio gear) and we all tucked in to a potluck buffet, with a fantastic spit smoked pig being the star of the show (I'll spare my vegetarian readers a pic). There were salads and buns and more salads and corn (and corn, and corn, and corn...) and then there were desserts. So many desserts (we are Mennonite, after all). We all ate well, enjoyed some wonderful music, (including a far too brief appearance by our pastor's crazy talented daughter) and good conversation and then sat around a bonfire, staring at the flames in a satiated stupor. One by one the stars popped out above us and time slowed to a crawl. It was a wonderful way to celebrate an early Autumn day and night.

There is only a little time left in this month. I hope that it continues to behave well. I am enjoying the prolonged sense of Autumn.

Party time

2011-09-02T12:21:00.000-04:00

It's Labour Day weekend. Typically fun, but usually a bit low key around here. For most of my life I've either worked at (in my teen years) or gone to the local community carnival. Before kids we kind of stopped going, but now that the Littles are older it's fun to take them. Plus there's a parade and fireworks to look forward to.

I've been wanting to entertain on our new patio for a bit now, and since my first opportunity got rained out (in spectacular fashion - what a storm!), I decided to invite 4 couples around for a taco party. I smoked a large pork "butt" last month, and then shredded it up and froze it. I'll take it out (today, must remember) and fry it in batches to crisp the shreds up a bit. Then I'll pile the meat into the crock pot and serve it all with flour and corn tortillas, my lacto-fermented salsa, some guacamole that a friend is bringing, cheese, sour cream and pickled jalapenos. We'll probably have a bonfire and s'mores afterwards. Though I doubt I'll make the marshmallows myself. Then again, you never know.

The other day I made two chocolate cakes. Oh, did I mention that somehow my baby girl is turning 4 this weekend too? I don't know who told her she could get so big, but she has. So we're having a party for her on Sunday. At her request there will be pizza, chocolate cake (possible filled with Nutella) and... sushi. Yep, my soon to be 4 year old who has never had sushi or seen us eat it (we don't) wants to try it at her birthday party. Going with recommendations from my sister, a friend and a random stranger, I contacted a local restaurant about making a platter of miniature sushi and they are more than happy to accommodate my request. We will have 16 small bites and 16 regular sized pieces, with an assortment of fruit, veggie and cooked fish fillings. This should be interesting. Must remember the camera.

Then there's church snack. Without thinking, I volunteered to make snack for this Sunday when the call went out last week. Okay, no problem. Chocolate chip cookies are easy. But boring. So of course I had to play. The resulting Butterscotch Coffee Drops are on my Church Snacks Blog.

On Monday the inlaws have agreed to either make dinner, or take us all out. LOL

Eat Global, Buy Local

2011-08-24T12:50:00.001-04:00

That's the theme of my ladies gourmet night tonight. Inspired by a book my sister bought me years ago on a trip to New York (The All Around the World Cookbook by Sheila Lukins), and the abundance of incredible produce available locally right now, I settled on a menu of dishes from around the Mediterranean, created using what is fresh right here, right now. It's not a stretch. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini, peppers, peaches and more... All in available right now.

The book has inspired me ever since I first opened it. There are no glossy pages full of food porn type images. Instead there are stories. Wonderful stories. Stories of breakfasts eaten around the world, of a dizzying array of appetizers and soups and salads, of a myriad of ways to prepare meats and seafood, each inspired by a specific memory of a wonderful place... I freely admit that I pick this book up often, just to read it.

So after thumbing through the pages and browsing the internet, I settled on my menu. There are 8 ladies coming. Each brings a course. Appetizer, soup, salad, main, two sides, dessert and, in tonight's case, a cheese plate (instead of a bread course, as there is crostini with the appetizer). Here is the menu...

I like that the menu expands the Mediterranean from just Italy, Greece, France and Spain to include northern African and Turkish recipes. I am really looking forward to trying each of the dishes. The slathers come from France and Greece, and are more like thick spreads than dips. They are meant to be "slathered" over the toasted crostini.

Now if only the weather cooperates. We'll be dining al fresco under the gazebo on our new patio. So long as we don't get rained on, stormed on or blown over. Otherwise we'll be crowding around a table at a friend's house, since I do not currently have the space to serve 9 in my own home.

Such a lovely day!

2011-08-13T21:04:00.001-04:00

I love weddings. Especially weddings that so totally reflect the personalities of the couple. Especially when the couple has no idea what's in store for them, beyond saying "I do."

We went to my first ever "surprise wedding" today. Our friends dearly wanted to marry, but honestly did not have the time or energy to plan such an event at this point in their lives. Enter an amazing friend of the bride, who volunteered to take over all of the details, from the decor to the food to the invitations and other assorted details. The brides dreams were discussed and a team was created to put feet to the plan. I was honoured to be a part of that team.

The wedding would be a relatively simple afternoon tea affair, with lovely tea cups and saucers for each person to use for beverages and then take home. The decorations were in pink, green and metallic grey, and wonderfully soft and beautiful. The food was divided into three parts. The main course, which was a dizzying assortment of crudites, fruits, dips, sandwiches, pastries, rolled treats, hot hors d'oeuvres and assorted other edibles. The cake, as per the bride's dream, was really a 3 tiered structure, decorated in colourful cake pops. Then there were the desserts. Along with the pastries on the main table, there was a book shelf loaded with canisters and containers and bowls of candy. Every colour of the rainbow. And that's where I got to help out.

If you remember my post, Of Strawberries and Artichokes from this past June (click here), I made soft and fluffy strawberry marshmallows for this same friend's bridal shower. It was decided then that I would make more as part of the surprise for her wedding. Those who follow me on Twitter or are friends on Facebook read this week about me making up assorted flavours. I started with peach, using the same recipe from June, but with fresh peach puree. A little food colouring brought out that lovely peachy hue. Then I made the strawberry ones (but with a brighter splash of colour). Then I eyed some leftover coffee in the pot. Hmmm, I wonder... Can I substitute coffee for the fruit puree and still have the marshmallow turn out? Indeed I could! And here's how.

Crazy Easy Mocha Marshmallows

2 envelopes gelatin
1/2 cup cold coffee
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark corn syrup
3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (for dusting)

Line a 20-cm (8-inch) square dish with plastic wrap and oil lightly.

In a large bowl, sift the sugar and cornstarch together. Set aside.

In a saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin on the coffee. Let soften for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.

Pour the coffee mixture, corn syrup and cocoa into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (you could do it with a hand mixer, but your arm may fall off first). Beat on high until the mixture has cooled to room temperature and forms stiff peaks, about 15 - 20 minutes, wiping the bowl occasionally with a
damp cold cloth to help remove the heat (I've found that a fan, aimed directly at the bowl, lessens the beating time considerably!). Spread evenly in the dish and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 3 hours.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the icing sugar and remaining cocoa. Lightly dust a clean surface with the icing sugar mixture. Unmould the marshmallow. Using a knife with a lightly oiled blade, cut the marshmallow into 4-cm (1 1/2-inch) squares. Roll each square in the icing sugar mixture in the bowl. Shake off any excess (a sieve works well for this). Place the marshmallows on the cookie sheet and let warm to room temperature. If necessary, roll a second time in the icing sugar mixture.

The marshmallows can be stored in a zip top bag for several days at room temperature.

Mid-summer

2011-08-08T14:45:00.000-04:00

So, it's August. I'll admit that this might be my least favourite month, just because by this point the heat and humidity has begun to wear me down. But this isn't going to be an entry of complaints. Because what gets me through this month is the amazing bounty that is ripe for the picking. Tomatoes come into their own this month. So do peaches and plums. There are late season strawberries, a second flush of raspberries, amazing greens, soy beans, blueberries, cucumbers, herbs, garlic, onions.... In short, August is a month of abundance. And for me that makes the continued stretch of hot weather very close to worth it.

I've got a few events on my plate. This weekend a dear friend gets married. I'm making marshmallows for her reception. If you read my "Of Strawberries and Artichokes" post back in June you saw the insanely simple recipe that I use. I pureed and froze some strawberries for the sole purpose of making these again. And just the other day I peeled and blitzed some just barely past prime, overripe peaches with the intention of trying a peachy variety of pillowy goodness. A test batch with sour cherries taught me that in high humidity these treats will not turn out. So if I have to put a dehumidifier in the kitchen, I will. I am determined to have a few platters of these ready for the happy couple and their guests. I will not tempt fate by attempting to also make Turkish delight style gummy candy, however.

In a couple of weeks I'll be hosting my ladies gourmet group here (weather permitting). We'll be dining al fresco under the light of my freshly painted $5 Kijiji find chandelier, in the gazebo, on our newly laid patio (many thanks to hubby and his father). The nine of us will be dining on a menu I'm calling "Eat Globally, Buy Locally." Inspired by what's in season right now, I'm preparing a meal that circles the Mediterranean. Thick spreads from France and Greece, a grilled vegetable salad from Tunisia, a sweetly spiced tomato soup from Morocco, leeks, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, garlic, fresh herbs... all starring in dishes that will showcase amazing food from an amazing part of the world, made with amazing ingredients from our own area. And for dessert? I'm thinking of a free form peach galette. Happily the way these evenings are set up mean that each person brings their assigned dish and the hostess only needs to provide the space and the drinks, so it's not as much work as it sounds like.

During the Civic Holiday weekend I smoked an 11lb pork "butt" on my grill. It came out wonderfully, and I have a large container of it in the freezer now. It's too good not to share , so we're going to have some friends around on the Labour Day weekend, not for pulled pork sandwiches, but for carnitas tacos. I'll take the unsauced meat, crisp it up a bit in a pan and set it out with fixings for a make your own taco bar. I've recently become a huge fan of lacto-fermented salsa, and I'll make more for the party. I'm hoping to try my hand at a lactic-fermented tomatillo salsa verde too. I may make guacamole, though I don't know. I've never made it before. I am seriously considering making the corn and flour tortillas myself, though, if we can find my tortilla press.

For anyone who knows me, you can understand how big all of this entertaining is. I'm something of an introvert, and having people over can be a bit of stress for me. I really enjoy it once we're in full swing. It's the actual inviting people that I tend to trip over, so gourmet night is perfect. And my husband, who doesn't bat an eye at inviting friends round, is a huge help. He doesn't have my issues. LOL

The flavours of Summer

2011-07-25T12:18:00.000-04:00

For the next while I suspect many of my posts will have a "flavours of summer" theme. My cucumbers are going gangbusters, the tomatoes are colouring up, the soy beans are staring down the rest of the garden for dominance, the carrots still look good.... And then there's the produce at the farm stands and farmer's markets! We've been gorging on blueberries and cherries, and peaches have begun too. Let's not forget the corn as well. We've had that 3 times in just over a week.

Yesterday afternoon I was looking at the zucchini and summer squash Little Miss (3) had chosen from the farmer's market on Saturday. We don't eat a lot of either, but I had something ratatouille-esque in mind when she asked for them. As I began looking at recipes, I realized that I had no eggplant. Okay, time for plan B. I had tomatoes, sweet onions and farm fresh garlic. I chose the yellow squash and thought about what to make. How about a "marmalade" of sorts (and for lack of a much better term)? Something sweet and sour that would go well on a burger, or topping some crusty bread slices. Okay fine, now to make it happen.

I began by lightly caramelizing the thinly sliced onions. Then I added the garlic, the quartered squash slices and a few diced tomatoes. Played with brown sugar and red wine vinegar. I resisted the urge to add oregano, which in my mind always goes with anything having to do with cooked tomatoes (I blame my Italian fore-bearers) and opted instead for thyme. Ah, a French-inspired creation. Sounds good to me. I let it cook until it was relatively thick. In the end I got about 3 cups of... whatever it became. LOL And while I liked it well enough still warm on crusty bread, I'm sure it will be even better at room temperature.

Sweet and Sour Onion, Tomato & Summer Squash Spread

1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or a good, fruity olive oil if you have it)
2 sweet onions, quartered and thinly sliced
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large summer squash or zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
5-6 tomatoes (peeled if you're so inclined - I didn't, but should have)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp thyme (more if using fresh)
salt and pepper to taste

In a large enamel sauce pot heat the oil over medium and add the onions and a little salt and pepper. Cook until they begin to caramelize, then add the garlic. When it's fragrant, add the squash and tomatoes and give it a good stir. Add the thyme, vinegar and sugar, and keep them out to adjust the flavour as you go along. Let it all bubble over medium-low heat until it starts to thicken and much of the liquid has evaporated away (this took over an hour in my pot). Check for seasoning and adjust to taste, making sure to cook out any raw vinegar flavour.

Pack into clean canning jars and keep in the fridge (I froze some). Use as a topping for crusty bread, burgers, chicken, fish... even meatloaf.

I bet this would be nice with a couple of dried chilies tucked into it while it simmers.

Got me a haul

2011-07-21T13:36:00.002-04:00

I cannot say enough how much I love living here in Southern Ontario. I am in the heart of the "fruit belt," which (quite happily) is also the heart of wine country. Right now we have fruit coming out the wazoo. There are a few lingering strawberries, and we're in the thick of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and cherries. I don't do anything with currants or gooseberries, but they've been available too. And the early peaches, apricots and plums are showing up on farm stand stalls. And while it's not a fruit, I'll mention my delight last weekend at finding the first sweet corn of the season too.

But today I am going to focus on the 11lb pail of pitted, unsweetened, fresh tart cherries I picked up yesterday. Plus the 1kg tub of dried tart cherries. I got six 3-cup containers of the fresh cherries into the freezer, set aside a cup or so for just snacking and used the remaining 2 cups to make a recipe inspired by one I came across earlier this month at Autumn Makes and Does and have been anticipating enjoying ever since.

The original recipe for Hot Cherry Preserves calls for 3 dried chile de árbo, which I don't have. It says to use cayenne if need be. So I did. I also added some of the dried cherries.

Spicy Cherry Sauce

2 cups pitted tart cherries
2/3 cup sugar
1/4-1tsp cayenne pepper (depending on your tolerance)
1 split vanilla bean (optional)
1/4 cup dried tart cherries
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions
Stir all ingredients except the dried cherries and lemon juice in a bowl or measuring cup. Taste for heat and add more cayenne if necessary. There should be more of a pleasant tingle than full on burn. Cover and store in the fridge overnight.

Place the contents of the bowl in a small saucepan with the dried cherries and boil over medium-high for about 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently. The cherries will begin to break down a little and the liquid will become a bit thicker.

Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

Let cool to room temperature and store in a clean half-pint (250ml) jar in the fridge.

Personally I think this is going to be awesome over some dark chocolate ice cream. I wonder if it would pair well with cheese?

Too hot

2011-07-20T12:05:00.001-04:00

What is the weather here today? It's noon and it's already 31C, feels like 39C (that's 88 and 102 degrees American). It's been this way pretty much since late last week. And tomorrow it's supposed to be 36C before the humidex kicks in. *insert melting emoticon here*

I gave the veggies an hour of water this morning. The raspberry canes have drooped and will need to be supported for the rest of the season, I fear. Some may have snapped already, but I think overall most of the canes are just fine. We've certainly gotten a lot of berries in the last week. And this is only the first flush. The big push comes next month when this years new canes start bearing along with the old ones.

In this heat it's too hot to even boil water. And grilling leaves the family with a meal and me seeking shelter in the nearest freezer, uninterested in eating. So tonight I'm turning to my other favourite summer meal helper. My crock pot. It was a wedding gift from some thoughtful person nearly 14 years ago, and it has been well used ever since. It, and it's smaller cousin, have been the source of stews, braises, soups, roasts, hams and even hot chocolate and lattes. Today it is home to a couple of hot Italian sausages, some chicken drumsticks, onions, garlic, bay leaf and a bottle of beer.

I first created this meal many years ago while clearing out the fridge, and it became a favourite. I love the sausage when it comes out and the chicken shreds into a beautiful, tasty pile. But it's the broth that I look forward to the most. The meat juices, aromatics and beer mingle together to create a liquid that is absolutely wonderful served with crusty bread and old cheddar. Often I skip the meat altogether and just add a green salad or some pickles. It's a, nourishing meal that doesn't heat the house (or the cook) and isn't salad, again.

Tomorrow we may just order in pizza, though.

Summer Eating

2011-07-11T11:07:00.003-04:00

Wow, it took a while, but summer is definitely here. My garden is slowly catching up after a cool, wet spring, and today I impatiently picked a few not-quite-ripe raspberries and some extra large snow peas that were hiding in the copious foliage of the 6 foot tall vines.

The shift in weather brings with it a necessary shift in eating, too. Although we have air conditioning and I close the curtains and blinds as the sun bursts through the kitchen windows around mid-day, the back of the house still gets hot quickly. Obviously I limit the use of the oven as much as I can, baking only at night and roasting in the toaster oven if I can get away with it. Even just simmering a pot of soup or boiling water for pasta (or canning) on the stove can make the kitchen air thick and sticky. I've found over the years that I use my crockpot more in the summer than in the cooler months. It doesn't really heat up the kitchen, and there is minimal effort involved. I also barbecue. A lot. And we eat lighter things like salads, or grilled pizzas. Actually, I've made a lot of naan bread this summer, and that's just a topping or two away from do it yourself pizza.

I'm always on the look out for summer friendly meals that we'll all eat*. Today I came across a post on Chow about playing with stuffed potato skins, changing up the fillings to make a variety of tasty treats. I love potato skins! The post (here) was put up in March, but I can see these being an easy go-to for a hot day. A side of fresh salads and a cold drink would definitely round the meal out. And even Little Mister, my 6 year old who eats a lot of things, but not ground meat and never cheese (except on pizza), said that he'd like to try them... with his own filling - black beans, corn and salsa. Sure! Sounds great!

* For more ideas, check out these two fabulous posts (and don't forget to follow their blogs for a wealth of inspiration throughout the year) -
http://mixingbowlkids.typepad.com/family_bites/2011/07/meal-planning-monday.html
- great summer meals for the whole week
http://www.simplebites.net/frozen-treats-cherry-limeade-popsicle-recipe/ - part of a week long series of posts about frozen treats (because dessert is part of dinner too!)

Our food as it grows

2011-06-29T13:35:00.000-04:00

My husband and I have been married for nearly a decade in a half. From that first year, when we planted upwards of 10 Roma tomatoes and a half dozen cayenne pepper plants, oblivious to the sheer volume that would result, we've always had a food garden. We've made mistakes along the way (and still do), had some hits and misses (still do) and have found great delight in sharing it all with our two children.

There are some things that we plant every year. Tomatoes are a must, though we plant fewer of them now than that first year (mind you, we've still got 6 plants going right now). Peppers have never done well for us, but we continue to try, and this year it looks like we may have some success. Green beans are popular "yard snacks" with the kids. And our 6 year old son insists that we plant soy beans, which are a favourite of his. We grew some lovely lemon cucumbers last year, and this year we're trying some conventional ones. And I've had more success with lettuce as well this season. Hooray for the cool, wet weather, I guess.

Speaking of which, that same lettuce loving weather has taken its toll on our beans, peas, radishes and beets (which are another crop I always try to grow and never seem to see success with). Of the 20-30 snap peas I planted, only 4 came up, and those have been rather pathetic producers. The snow peas are doing better, but the plants seem rather spindly and don't look terribly productive. The green bush beans didn't germinate well, and are starting to look rather lace-like with their bug eaten leaves. The soy beans look fairly resilient. I have high hopes for them.

The one thing that does not struggle in our garden is raspberries. Oh me, oh my do they do well! I suspect they are plotting world domination. We've dug out copious runners once already, and have twice as many to still remove. They are an "ever bearing" variety, and this year's first flush looks like it's going to be a bumper crop.

We often try at least one new thing each year. A few years ago (again at our son's request) we tried eggplant. They did quite well, but we don't eat enough to really make having them worth it. This year it's kale. As with our tomatoes and hot pepper (and the seeds for our soy beans and sweet peppers) these lovely plants came from Tree and Twig. OT, but you know how some people are in an animal shelter, when they want to take home every cute thing they see? I get that way when I visit Linda's wonderful farm. Hence the reason why I have 6 tomato plants, which will produce more fresh fruits than the kids and I will eat (no worries - I'll be roasting and freezing them, I'm sure). Anyway, now I have four beautiful kale plants and no clue what to do with them. LOL I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes, and getting suggestions from the Twitterverse.

Of strawberries and artichokes

2011-06-15T11:27:00.001-04:00

I am happy to say that strawberry season has arrived, pretty much right on time, in spite of the marked lack of a real Spring this year. So far (this week) I've purchased and used/consumed nearly 5 quarts of these red jewels. I've made strawberry sauce, strawberry vinegar, strawberry gelato and these lovely strawberry marshmallows...

I made them for a friend's bridal shower and they were quite a hit. I'd made them once before, a few years ago, and when I saw the strawberries at the market, I knew what I had to do with them. I'd considered strawberry cupcakes, but I think I really do prefer candy making to baking for events and holidays. I adapted the recipe from an episode of Ricardo and Friends on Food Network Canada...

Ingredients

2 envelopes gelatin
1/2 cup strawberry puree*
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions

Line a 20-cm (8-inch) square dish with plastic wrap and oil lightly.
In a large bowl, sift the sugar and cornstarch together. Set aside.
In a saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin on the strawberry purée. Let soften for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
Pour the strawberry mixture and corn syrup into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (you could do it with a hand mixer, but your arm may fall off first). Beat on high until the mixture has cooled to room temperature and forms stiff peaks, about 15 - 20 minutes, wiping the bowl occasionally with a damp cold cloth to help remove the heat. Spread evenly in the dish and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 3 hours.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Lightly dust a clean surface with the icing sugar mixture. Unmould the marshmallow. Using a knife with a lightly oiled blade, cut the marshmallow into 4-cm (1 1/2-inch) squares. Roll each square in the icing sugar mixture in the bowl. Shake off any excess. Place the marshmallows on the cookie sheet and let warm to room temperature. If necessary, roll a second time in the icing sugar mixture.
The marshmallows can be stored for several days at room temperature, though excess icing sugar may crust on the bottoms.
* For 125 ml (1/2 cup) of strawberry purée, process and strain about 180 ml (3/4 cup) fresh strawberries. If desired, use raspberry or peach or mango purée instead (I'm contemplating cherry)

For some strange reason my father has requested that we all go to their house for Father's Day this year. It's a bit odd, since we always just celebrate it in our own way. But my dad's work schedule has been weird lately and dinners are out of the question. So my darling husband agreed that we should go. Mom asked me to bake a cake, but not chocolate because apparently my nephew doesn't like it (I saw him being born, so I know he's related to his mother and myself... must come from his dad's side). I settled on a white cake, and decided to turn the leftover egg yolks into the aforementioned strawberry gelato. I cranked out one batch last night and then my ice cream machine overheated while I tempted fate by trying to freeze the second batch right away. At least it's not fried. I'll toss the chamber back in the freezer today and make the rest tomorrow or Friday.

Are we tired of strawberries yet? Nope. This weekend I plan on making two batches of jam! I made 8-10 jars last year and they were gone by December (Little Mister is a big fan). So this year I'm making twice as much. Hopefully that lasts until next June. LOL

On a different (and, in my opinion less tasty) note, I saw some artichokes in the grocery store yesterday that looked nice. They were big, and on impulse I bought two. There are a few things that I've always wanted to try for myself but have yet to cook, like risotto. And artichokes. I've heard a lot of buzz about them and how wonderful they are and how they're totally worth the work. I should have taken it as a sign when I went to put the bag on the scanner and one of the little spines cut my finger open.

Following these instructions I prepped the thistles and discovered that I needed a bigger pot. They were larger than they seemed in the store. That problem solved, I set about preparing the rest of dinner, and some garlic butter to dip the cooked monster flowers in. When they were ready, I pulled off a leaf and, careful to not drip butter on myself, scraped the meager flesh off between my teeth. I was.... underwhelmed. The flavour was a bit like a bitter potato, with a similar texture. I ate some more. Then I dipped some in Baba Ganouj. Much better! Probably because all I could taste was the garlicky eggplant dip. I tore off the remaining leaves, scooped out the hairy choke and tried some of the heart. Meh. Boring, really. Not worth the effort.

But I can say that I've cooked and eaten them, and cross them off my culinary bucket list.

I've now tried lobster...

2011-05-29T15:43:00.003-04:00

A while back I heard about an exciting (to me) event happening in the area. The very name set my heart a-flutter. The Niagara Food and Wine Expo. Such an event virtually on my doorstep? No long drive to Toronto? No outrageous Toronto prices? I marked the date on the calendar without needing any more details.

And details there were. A weekend long event featuring some of the most brilliant culinary minds in the region, preparing carefully selected morsels designed to showcase their talents and passion in a few bites at most. Couple that with relatively inexpensive admission, a short drive and ample parking and I was counting down the days.

Then the Twitter contests began. Various connected people had tickets and were giving them away. Answer this question, win a pair. Missed? Try again tomorrow. And on it went, until finally I was the one answering the question correctly and having two tickets left at the door for me. Let me tell you, for someone on a bit of a budget, freeing up $20+ dollars to spend on a wide variety of culinary treats was such a huge bonus!

And $20 went a long way towards sampling the amazing bounty the evening offered. Not only was there a dizzying array of wine to try, there were very interesting beers as well. And a couple of "other" beverages like slushy Margaritas, Pina Coladas and a really nice cocktail made from sparkling wine and mango puree. I can't even begin to describe the variety of food offerings.

My husband and I decided to wander around first, getting a sense of what was available. The tickets were $1, sold in strips of $10 and most things were between 1 and 3 tickets, with a few things for 4 or even 6. But nearly everything was only a ticket or so, which was pretty amazing.

As I said, my husband and I planned to walk around to get the lay of the land so to speak before trying anything. Until we got only a little ways in and smelled the amazing Sliders being cooked by Syndicate Restaurant and Brewery. It was like walking into a wall of beefy yum! I don't think there was really a choice made. We just stopped, my husband ordered a beer and we handed over tickets for a slider and a pulled pork sandwich, which was good, but paled in comparison to the richness of the burger.

Our hunger distracted, we continued on. We saw fresh oysters being shucked, assorted foods in cones, on baguettes, topped with creams and leaves, sandwiches, cupcakes, cheesecakes, chocolates, seafood, game meat, cheese... There were familiar restaurants, and ones we'd never heard of. And the food wasn't over the top fancy, either. It was creative. It was inspired. But it wasn't fois gras stuffed truffled lobster dipped in the butter of virgin rare breed European mountain goats. It wasn't pretentious at all, really.

After touring nearly the whole floor, and grabbing a glass of Konzelmann Reisling, we came upon the Maritime Lobster booth. They were offering Digby Scallops in (I think) a creamy lemongrass sauce and half lobster tails in (again I think) an apricot and Ice Wine sauce. Or maybe just wine. It's a bit of a blur. My husband and I don't eat "sea bugs" as we call them. I'll tolerate a little shrimp in a Spring roll, if it's chopped finely enough. But to actually eat seafood outright doesn't happen. Largely because much of what I come across in the seafood department is mingled with an overwhelming un-fresh fishy smell. And I don't know how appetizing a lobster lying limp in a scummy tank really would be anyway. But this was really fresh. And for $6 I could have a half lobster tail and a plump scallop. I was still hungry enough to be feeling adventurous (though not so much that I felt drawn to the oyster bar), so I took the plunge. Hubby and I sidled up to one of the many bar height tables scattered about and I struggled with the plastic fork to cut into the ample scallop. It looked a little stringy in texture, which is exactly what it wasn't. Instead I can only describe the texture as being like undercooked chicken with a good deal of chewiness to it. It had a slightly raw quality to it, but it was also a bit rubbery. It was strange. The flavour was alright (I suspect that was mostly the sauce), but the texture was unappealing.

On to the lobster... The texture was better. Only slightly chewy. And a little fluffy. No discernible "seafood" flavour. I imagine I'd try it again, if I could find it that fresh. But only in a very small amount. I doubt I'd want a meal of it. But I did it. As did hubby (he tried bites of mine). He was far less impressed and did not take a second bite of either. And while I don't know a lot about wine and food pairings, I can say that I did not like the lobster with the Riesling.

Having conquered that culinary mountain, we moved on and found ourselves at the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel booth. Where the chef was deftly sauteing some beef. But not just any beef. Tender strips of what claimed to be Kobe rib eye. I doubt it was authentic Kobe (think "Champagne" and the trademark on the name... ditto for authentic Kobe beef). Probably more like "Kobe-style" beef. Nevertheless, I was eager to try it. The rib eye was piled on a mini biscuit with fried onions and mayonnaise. I picked a bit of meat off the plate which had fallen from the slider and was immediately in awe. The taste was so intense, so beefy and nothing like anything I've had in recent history. Maybe, way back when I was a kid, before cattle was so intensively farmed and it still had flavour? I don't know. This was just... better. Richer, with a deeper beef flavour and a silky texture. Fat that would normally be gristly on your average cut was meltingly tender. I ate most of the sandwich before realizing that the biscuit was just in the way. It was too sweet and it took away from the savoriness of the beef, rather than compliment it. It was also too heavy. Later in the evening I went back to the Seneca Casino booth and asked for just a plate with beef and a little salt. The chef laughed, piled the plate high and happily sprinkled a little salt on top before handing it over. All for only $1. Yes, only one single ticket for a plate of this amazing beef.

And so the evening went on. Hubby sampled a very strong maple infused beer that would make an excellent barbecue mop sauce. He also tried an apple ale beer float. I tried some strawberry beer, the aforementioned mango and sparkling wine cocktail and a Margarita. We had some Spring Rolls, some grilled pineapple and sausage, a slice of duck confit pizza (I didn't know you could dry out duck confit), chocolates, chocolate dipped strawberries, cheesecake on a stick, cheesecake in a container... We even tried another incarnation of "Kobe" beef. This time in a flat iron steak. It was decidedly less flavourful than the rib eye, and it was on a cold puddle of pureed Sunchoke, which was really quite unappealing, both in texture and temperature. We sat in on a cooking demonstration and got free samples of rice balls, eggplant parmesan and cannolis.

Another absolute highlight came when we wandered past the Niagara Fallsview Casino booth. It had multiple stations, and one featured cured salmon with fruit "caviar." Little beads of pure passionfruit, strawberry and lychee juice, coagulated via the magic of molecular gastronomy, so that they retained their liquid centres but popped in the mouth like beads of caviar. Neither hubby nor I are fans of salmon, and we were pretty much nearing the end of our desire for savoury food, but I really wanted to try these fruit beads. So I asked the chef if we could have a few and he happily obliged. As each bead burst open in my mouth a flood of passionfruit flooded my tongue. It was extraordinary. I must find sodium alginate and calcium chloride in order to replicate this at home!

I hope I haven't forgotten anything. The jazz music was lovely in the background, there was ample space to move and meander, everyone was very friendly and the whole place was well suited to the event, with stations dotted here and there with taps to rinse out glasses (and, as many did, to get much needed free water to stay hydrated) and tables all around to make eating more involved items a bit easier. Even the parking was painless, unlike for the home show hosted at the convention centre earlier this Spring (what a nightmare that was).

Even though I won our tickets, I will absolutely go again, even if I have to pay admission. I hope this event is here to stay. I've done food for ticket/token events at places like the Grape and Wine Fest (sorry, "Niagara Wine Festival") and this was hands down worlds better. The food, wine and beer was not only wonderful, but a far cry more reasonably priced! My husband said it would have been nice if someone was offering coffee or other alcohol free beverages (aside from the $2.50 pop and water cart outside the hall), especially for those driving. There were some free samples (including a cheese booth manned by someone who wouldn't actually offer us any... he just stared at us. Only odd thing all night), but at $1 and $2 for most items, abundant freebies weren't missed. I'm already looking forward to next year.

so What! Jazz finishing up the evening (sorry about the pic quality -iPhone).

Potato salad kind of day

2011-05-25T13:06:00.000-04:00

It's been lovely out for a few days. There's still a bit of squish in the ground from the copious rainfall last week, but the sun has been shining, the windows have been open and the plants (and people) are all so happy. It's not hot out yet, either. That makes me even happier.

It's a potato salad kind of day. The kind of day that says, "Welcome" to the nice weather and acknowledges that we've turned a corner from grey and damp to balmy and bright. It helps that someone on a forum that I frequent was asking for ideas to help her bland potato salad. Hers has small red potatoes, which I actually don't care for. I am not a fan of the "earthiness" of new potatoes at all. It also had mayo, hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, and some dry mustard. That's it. Mine is quite different. I like my potato salad to have different textures. It's actually basically my mother's recipe.

It starts with dicing some Yukon Gold (or other waxy) potatoes, and boiling them until just done with some peeled cloves of garlic. Then I drain and rinse them under cold water to cool them quickly. Usually I fish out the garlic to mash into the dressing. I forgot today. So there will be some little bits of big flavour scattered about in the salad this time. LOL

While the potatoes cook, I dice veggies. I like to use celery (with the leaves), tomatoes, cucumber, red or yellow or orange peppers, radishes and red onion. The dressing is simple. Mayo, a little dry mustard and a little yellow mustard. Plus the boiled garlic, salt and pepper. My mother mashes in egg yolk, adding the diced whites to the salad, but I don't bother. I don't really notice much difference without the egg.

Then the whole thing gets gently tossed together and sits in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight. I garnish it with a sprinkle of paprika and a little freshly ground black pepper. Hubby and I feast on it for a few days, since the kids won't eat it (they just do not like potatoes that aren't crisp, like my hash browns or grilled slices).

So that is what I made today. If you don't mind an over exposed iPod pic, here it is... Tastespotting material it ain't. But it still tastes great, and is perfect for a day like today.

Trying to find inspiration

2011-05-19T10:44:00.000-04:00

Last week was lovely. Absolutely lovely. Warm but not too hot, and gloriously sunny. After much rain, more rain and a lot of rain, plus downright un-Springlike cool temps the warming glow was so welcome. Then came this week. We've had so much rain that the city closed down all of the recreational parks. The week that many minor sports were getting ready to start. Both kids had their activities canceled due to the intense squishiness of the fields. It's been so gloomy that I felt like I was going to bed pre-drepressed by the lack of sunshine ahead. Then there was that wind storm a few weeks ago...

As I type, it's foggy out. It's lifting, but the tops of the trees still appear softened by a hazy film. It's quite calm too. No breeze at all. There is a majestic Chestnut tree in my view that was only bare branches earlier this month. Lilacs that are promising to bloom at the first sign of warmth. A vase of tulips from my garden sits on my desk, reminding me that it is indeed Spring and not Autumn, regardless of how it feels out there.

It sure doesn't feel like it's Victoria Day this weekend. The "unofficial kick-off of summer" seems at odds with the weather we've been having. In past years we've had the air conditioning running for weeks already. Yesterday morning the furnace ran.

But it is the May Two-Four (for my American readers that is the first holiday weekend of the season, and usually falls on the weekend closest to the 24th of the month. It is also traditionally a large beer consuming weekend, and a case of 24 beers is called a Two-Four). And I am looking for inspiration. Lately Pinterest has been my go-to for illumination of all sorts. Today I am perusing pins with barbecue tags. Check out this space from Design To Inspire...

Now that's a summer kitchen! Put in some plumbing for a sink and some lighting and I'm there. Not that I could do that with this house, but I can dream.

For a little more realistic inspiration, I'm looking at the wonderful barbecued foods. Like Barbecued Thai Chicken Legs and Korean Barbecue Beef. There are some wonderful kebab images on Pinterest too, as well as salads, drinks, cute summer party invitations and more. Even though it doesn't feel like summer yet, I can still live vicariously through fabulous pictures and find inspiration for the grilling and entertaining season ahead.

Powerless

2011-05-02T13:29:00.000-04:00

And the strange weather continues. Last Tuesday we broke records for the warmest weather at 27C or so. On Friday it was all of about 8C. And in between, on Thursday, was the storm. Not a rain storm or a snow storm (thank God) but a wind storm. With gusts of up to 100+kph. Combined with the over saturated ground, the winds took down entire evergreen trees, roots and all. The damage was widespread and terrible. A man was killed when a door that was on his property was hurled into his head by the wind. Near us an entire front porch was sheared off of a house when a whole tree fell on it. Thousands upon thousands were without power. Including us.

The power blipped 4 times on Thursday morning. Each time it came back in moments, but it's never a good sign in bad weather to have the hydro go wonky. Then, around 10:30 or so it went out and stayed out. For 50 hours!

At first it was kind of amusing. The wind was blowing debris around in a swirly dance and it was fun watching the birds try to fly by against the gusts. I figured it would only last a few hours though. I put ice packs in the fridge, just in case. Hubby got home and we were still without power. He called his parents, who were also without electricity. We called around the city and found a restaurant that was open and they took us out for dinner. Then they returned home to power. We returned home and lit candles. My husband hooked up our fridge to a power inverter in his work truck so that we wouldn't lose the contents.

Friday morning found us a little chilly. Hubby opted to stay home from work to take care of things here and keep the fridge going. We plugged it in for a bit and "recharged the cold." Then we packed up the kids and went to our favourite breakfast place for warm food and coffee. We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon outside, with hubby and his father putting some finishing touches on the kids new playset, which we were very thankful for. It was quite cool out, and the kids were in their winter coats. It wasn't a lot warmer inside, so I pulled out our firepit and made a small bonfire to warm us up. We roasted huge marshmallows and I made some garlic onion bannock over the coals. I was able to use the side burner on the barbecue to warm some nutmeg and vanilla spiced milk for the kids. The inlaws had us over for pizza that evening and then the kids hunkered down under very warm blankets. We stayed up, alternating running the fridge and using the power cord to run the computer to get the taxes done (yeah, we were not on the ball this year). More candles were burned. More calls to the hydro company were made. More promises came forth that did not come to pass. We ate chips and curled up together.

It was so cold in the morning. 13C in the house. And hubby had to go out to help a friend move. We had been taking it all in stride, as we were more inconvenienced than anything else. Our home and property had sustained no damage, we were safe, fed and cared for. But I was still starting to get frustrated by it all. They were saying that some areas would be without power for days yet. I feared that we were among them. Did I mention that the rest of the neighbourhood was up and running? Since Thursday? Yep. There were about 40 of us in a little pocket who were still in the dark, so to speak.

To say that we were grateful to see the red light on the TV come on in the early afternoon on Saturday would be an understatement. The furnace came on and we were warm again. We didn't need the work truck idling in the driveway anymore. And once the power had been on for a while and seemed stable, we let out a sigh of relief.

All in all it wasn't a harrowing ordeal by any stretch. But it did leave us realizing how ill prepared we are for a long term disaster. Our biggest problem was heat, both for our home and to cook with. Our camping gear is at the inlaws place. It will be coming home so that we can at least have the stove here. The home heat... well that will have to wait until our family room is done and the fireplace is in working order. It's a wood burning one, but it needs to be inspected and probably needs some work. I am looking forward to that, as I will be able to cook in it as well. In the end, though, I am more aware of the power of being deliberately grateful in difficult circumstances. I am thankful for God's provision and care during what could have been a much worse situation.

And thus continues the strangest Spring I can recall. We're in May now, with Mother's Day less than a week away and it's time for the gardens to get planted. But it's still cold and wet and it feels like we somehow lost April.

Hello? Spring?

2011-04-18T10:46:00.001-04:00

The weather lately would make for some lovely days - if it was February! Seriously, it snowed yesterday. Hard enough that we couldn't leave a parking lot yesterday because it was snowing so hard we couldn't see well enough to back out safely. Later we had "thunder-snow." Today a friend posted on Facebook that she was sitting in her car, snow falling around her, listening to someone mow their lawn while a 70 year old man rode by in shorts on a bike. Yep, that's the kind of weather we're getting. I snagged this Facebook status from a friend...

INSTALLING SPRING...
███████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 44% DONE.
Install delayed ... please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again. 404 error: Season not found. Season "Spring" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable. Please try again.

Pretty much sums it up.

We still have so much to do outside. We put in some shrubs last year (well, the inlaws transplanted them from their yard) that heaved and need to be replanted. The planting of them necessitated the moving of one of our square foot garden boxes, which needs a bit of repair and a new home. And we need to build another. The raspberries are mostly pruned, but not fully yet. I have cool weather seeds to get in the ground. I fear that we're going to see all of this cold, wet weather give way to insta-Summer and we won't get a decent Spring at all. Heck, it's Easter next week and you'd think that it being this late would guarantee nice enough weather for an outdoor egg hunt like we did last year when it was earlier. But no. There is rain in the forecast. Again. It's only 2C right now, and it's 10:30am!

Speaking of gardening, if it doesn't warm up in time we're going to have a hostile takeover of the kitchen on our hands. The 4 cucumber seeds we planted are a couple of inches high already. I've been watching them and I think they're plotting to strangle my Thai basil in a competition for windowsill dominance. If they reach my fragile little pepper sprouts I fear the worst.

Not that I've ever had luck with red peppers. We bought 4 plants last year and they grew well and even turned red. But they weren't the bell peppers the labels claimed. They were some sort of thick skinned, horribly seed filled little round cherry peppers. And for all that, they weren't even hot. Or tasty. Or useful for anything. I've never been able to grow proper red peppers. This time around I was given some seeds for a variety called Jimmy Nardello (I believe). They are apparently an Italian pepper. Guess the name gives that away. I'm looking forward to trying them, if they actually ripen rather than rotting between the green and red stage.

Little Mister has requested soy beans again. I need to get more seeds. I can't find ours from last year. Ditto my radish seeds, beet seeds and green beans. We have mice in the garage. I fear the worst.

It's snowing. Un-freakin believable. The Robins look confused.

Gotta run. Little Miss just asked for a "big stick of celery, with leaves." There's a veggie I won't grow again. Did it once and got the most incredibly bitter (non-lettuce) vegetable I've ever tasted.

Barbecue sauce by halves

2011-04-03T14:05:00.001-04:00

It's a glorious Spring day today. After being surprised by snow a couple of weeks ago, 10C with the odd peek of sun is most welcome. It wasn't that I was surprised that we got snow in mid-March; this is Southern Ontario after all. It was how long it stuck around that surprised me. There are still a few small patches of it in the yard!

Now that (I've declared) Spring is here, my thoughts turn naturally to... grilling and barbecue. Of course. Not that we don't use the grill in the winter, but now we start using it way more often. It's right off the kitchen, just outside the back door, for maximum convenience. And what has fired my flame kissed cooking fever today? Burgers? Not this time. Steak? Always, but not today. Today it's ribs. I found some on sale yesterday. Big, meaty side ribs. I bought two racks, had them split in two between the bones, seasoned them with an all purpose rub that I had made a while back for another pork application and popped them into the fridge overnight.

The rub is a simple blend of Kosher salt, brown sugar and various spices. For pork I almost always use allspice. Then there's garlic, onion, smoked paprika, a little ancho powder, fresh ground black pepper, dry mustard and cumin. And maybe chili powder. I forget. It's balanced, flavourful, but not too complex or spicy (Little Mister doesn't care for spicy food yet). I don't know that I ever make it the same way twice, as I tend to not really measure.

What I did measure was the ingredients for the sauce. I took a look at a book by barbecue guru Steven Raichlen and found a simple ketchup based recipe for a Jack Daniel's sauce. I don't have any J.D right now, but I do have dark rum. So I used that, substituted molasses for the dark brown sugar, omitted the Worcestershire sauce (because I'm out of it), and of course, added allspice and a few other things to echo the flavours in the rub. And the halves of this blog title? Take a look at the recipe...

1/2 C dark rum

1/2 C cider vinegar

1/2 C ketchup

1/2 C molasses

1/2 T dried onion flakes

1/2 t allspice

1/2 t granulated garlic

1/2 t liquid smoke (optional)

salt to taste

Combine everything in a saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer until reduced by... you guessed it - HALF. It will keep for a few months in the fridge.

It's not bad. If I had the time and ingredients I would have maybe tried something a bit more complex, but for a simple sauce I quite like it. It's not too sweet, not too tangy and not overwhelmingly tomatoey either (is that a word?) It's not as spicy as I'd like, but again, deferring to the palates of the children it's just fine. I think I'll be playing with it as the year goes on, changing the alcohol or the sweetener (whiskey maple maybe, or a nice strong beer and local honey) and the spices. I love how versatile barbecue sauces are. A little change here, a tweak there and suddenly you've got a whole new creation.

A lovely surprise

2011-03-28T10:42:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, while baking, blogging and totally making over Little Miss' bedroom, I received a lovely surprise. I saw a Tweet entitled "Gratitude" by a dear gal who Tweets under the moniker Eating Niagara. An ardent local booster and supporter of much good food, I try to keep caught up with her blog as often as I can. During a little down time while something was either baking or cooling, I clicked the link. It was a post about the Lovely Blog Award, which she'd received a nomination for. I'd never heard of it, but apparently it's a pay-it-forward token of appreciation for bloggers from people who enjoy what you do.

As I read down through the post, enjoying learning some fun things about T. that I didn't know, I got to the blogs she was nominating. Definitely some great ones there. A few I need to start following myself, actually. Then I saw it. "A Single Step." What? My little blog, among all these amazing ones? Really? I was stunned. And so humbled. This blog started as a a rather indulgent way to capture my thoughts and feelings about life, and has sort of evolved into a blog which is largely about food, and, if you piece it together, my journey towards being more mindful about supporting local businesses and farms. For it to be a place on the web that others enjoy reading and being a part of is more than I'd hoped for.

So in the spirit of the nomination, and in accordance with the rules, I am going to share some facts about me that some of you may not know. Then I am going to go through the blogs I enjoy and nominate some. To avoid duplication, I suggest you take a look at the Eating Niagara blog post for an already wonderful list.

1. While I always wanted to be a Mom and have something like half a dozen kids, it took us 6 years before our son was born. His sister came along 3 years later and we decided we were done. We were both in our mid-thirties by that point and honestly my body does not do pregnancy well. Where once I thought I wanted a house full of kids, I now see that these two can be more than a house full! LOL And I love being a Mom more than I ever imagined!

2. My mother did all the cooking in our home. Her grandfather came to Canada from Italy and her "5-day" pasta sauce was a special Christmas dinner treat. Several kinds of meat, simmered in a rich tomato sauce for 5 days until it was dark and acidic. But beyond that it wasn't her who inspired my "foodiness." It was my father, who actually has a very limited menu of things he'll eat (meat, potatoes, corn... not much else). But he enjoys looking at, learning about and talking about different foods. He was a truck driver and would travel to Texas often. And then he'd come back and tell me about regional foods he'd come across (but never tried, of course).

3. I like ironing. Really. I don't mind doing it at all. Though we really don't have much in the way of clothes that need to be ironed. We're really a jeans and t-shirt family. I don't own a single skirt, and the only dress I have was the one I wore to my sister's wedding last year. I hate folding and putting away laundry, but not as much as I hate unloading the dishwasher.

4. I have been a foodie my whole life. As a young child I remember seeing caviar in a store and being impressed. Why, at 5 or so, did I know what caviar was? Probably because I watched the few cooking shows that existed on 70's T.V in Canada (Celebrity Cooking with Bruno Gerussi anyone?) When Food Network launched I would ask friends with cable to put it on in the background so that I could indulge. Getting satellite TV blew my culinary mind!

5. I do have interests outside of food. It's just that food is what I'm most passionate about. I love homeschooling because there is a whole world of things out there for me to learn as I teach the kids. My faith is important to me as well. And I enjoy learning. I mostly read non-fiction and magazines. I read very little fiction.

6. I fancy myself to be crafty. I'm not, but I keep trying. I like browsing crafting blogs for inspiration. Some day I'll learn to use my sewing machine.

7. My dream home would be on a nice sized piece of land, with geo-thermal heating, solar and wind power, with a lovely wood stove in the kitchen, pizza oven outside, and a fireplace in the family room. There would be a balcony off the master bedroom, and in the shade under it would be a space for those hanging hammock chairs. I would have a nice kitchen, with a "summer kitchen" outside specifically for canning and baking and such without heating up the house. And I'd have a room with no electrical outlets, data jacks or even wi-fi reception. A real retreat space to go and "unplug."

Now that you know a bit more about me, take a look at these blogs I'm nominating. I imagine they'll tell you even more.

365 Days to a New Me - I've known Dawne for some years now, and I have to give her props for being so gutsy as to start a blog documenting her planned weigh loss. As one who has always struggled with my weight, Dawne's blog both fascinated and horrified me. What if it didn't work out? What if she didn't do it this time? What if..... But Dawne left the "what ifs" by the wayside and over the course of the past year has changed her life so completely that she's quite literally a new woman. A healthy one, dedicated to making the most of her life. She's been a real inspiration.

Around My Family Table - I found this one recently, through a message board, if I'm not mistaken. Great recipes and a lovely person behind them.

Life Nurturing Education - Renae Deckard is a home schooler who inspires me. Her blog is full of wonderful information and charming posts about the real life of a home school family.

Seasonal Ontario Food - What more need I say? The name says it all. And the recipes look so good!

Food in Jars - A recent discovery, this blog is all about canning. And I am really getting into canning, so this is a joy to read. I have found so much inspiration already. Can't wait until we're really rolling in the fruits and veggies!

Living Life With Food - My friend Jenn is such a creative woman. She decided a while ago to change the way she approached cooking, and specifically baking, to make delicious treats healthier for her family. This blog is the result of that and her desire to share what she's learned with others.

My Life I Live - Similar to mine, this is a blog about a journey. Hillary is a wife and mom who is finding her voice, and I'm looking forward to reading where the journey takes her.

Why Not Train a Child - Not for the faint of heart, this blog takes a hard look at child abuse under the guise of Christian faith, and offers many guest posts about alternatives to punitive parenting. As a Mom of two young children, this blog speaks to my heart to see children raised to choose what's right because they've learned how to discern that for themselves, not because they're afraid of being hit. One approach changes the heart, the other only the behaviour. And to me that just isn't good enough. Or what Christian parents are called to.

A productive kitchen weekend

2011-03-27T12:06:00.000-04:00

Over the years my husband and I somehow got into the habit of using weekends to be out and about, running around, whether we needed to get things or not. "Feel like going to IKEA just to look around?" "Hey, there's a sportsman's show in Toronto right now. Let's check it out!" "Wanna go wander a mall?" And so forth. When the kids came along we just took them with us. So it continued that a good chunk of our weekends were often spent out of the house.

Lately we've tried to be more deliberate about staying home. The kids don't like spending the day going from one place to the next, and honestly there is plenty here to keep us all occupied. And somehow it's been truly amazing to see what we can get done around here when we're actually... well, here.

Yesterday we did minimal running around. We bought a few groceries and blitzed a mattress outlet to get Little Miss what she needs for her "big girl bed." Yes, she's 3 and still in a crib. We'd intended for her to be in a bed by now, but the one we had needed painting and sealing, and then there was February... Ugh. Anyway, 5 minutes may not sound like much, but this place has 2 twin size mattresses available, and one box spring. Fine by us, they're all quality and way cheaper than other place we've dealt with. Let's just say that we now know why to buy a mattress anywhere else. ;-)

Anyway, that's today's project. Stripping out her room, dismantling the crib, moving the dresser and toy bins and getting her bed set up. I needed a simple meal that didn't require my attention, so I picked up a rump roast yesterday. After browning the well salted meat, I made a marinade of soy, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, smoked paprika, ketchup and a barbecue spice blend that I made some time ago and like to have on hand. I added some dried onion flakes and the contents of the deglazed pan as well. It sat overnight and is in the crockpot now. Man does it smell GOOD!

Backing up to last night, I spent the evening making baked wontons. And learning that I suck at not overfilling them. LOL I made two fillings. One was inspired by these Buffalo Chicken Rolls at Can You Stay for Dinner. I don't like blue cheese though, so I created a mixture of cream cheese (half a block), shredded cheddar, cooked chicken and hot sauce (Frank's and Sriracha). For the other I blended shredded mozzarella, the other half block of cream cheese, two diced jalapenos and about a quarter of a jar of pickled ones. Stuffed, rolled, brushed with oil and into the oven they went. I increased the heat to 450F and turned them part way through cooking. All of the cream cheese ones burst on me, as did a few chicken ones. But they were all tasty and I have a bag of them in the fridge for lunches this week for hubby and I. And maybe Little Miss, who snagged two small pieces of jalapeno yesterday just to taste them.

As I was talking to the kids this morning about supper, we all decided that dessert was in order. They usually have fruit for dessert, but since we're home I figured I should make something. And that something was a unanimous vote for brownies! Borrowing from this recipe, I added a square of unsweetened chocolate to the butter as it melted. The pan is now cooling on the counter.

And now I'm going to start on some coleslaw. I'll salt the veggies first (yes, it's a bag of slaw... I needed it for the Buffalo chicken rolls and didn't want to buy an entire head of cabbage), and let them drain before I dress them with a vinegar based dressing. We're not really big on creamy coleslaw here. I'm also thinking of making some cornbread. We'll see. The crib is being dismantled right now... It's nice to stay home.

Pimento Cheese

2011-03-15T10:28:00.001-04:00

As a watcher of Food network and reader of various blogs, I've heard of this Southern U.S spread called Pimento cheese over the years. It never really appealed to me at first, given that I read it was made with Velveeta. But lately I've been hearing more about it and I even read that along with Whoopie Pies it's going to be one of the food trends of this year. I'm ahead of the curve on the Whoopie Pies (read here), but Pimento cheese was still something I hadn't tried. Until a few weeks ago.

I'll be honest - money was tight last month. Lunch meat (the non-baloney, non-mystery loaf type - think salami) isn't cheap when you're on a budget. We can't have peanut butter in the house and hubby was tired of plain cheese sandwiches. So my thoughts turned to a recipe for Pimento cheese I'd seen recently on Epicurious. There was no processed cheese in it. It called for real cheese, jarred pimentos and mayonnaise. Ditto other recipes I looked up. This went from something I turned my nose up at to something I could see us enjoying.

We always have old Cheddar (which I believe is called sharp cheddar in the U.S) in the fridge, and a jar of mayo and some jarred peppers costs very little. I couldn't find anything labeled "pimentos" so I bought roasted red peppers. A little grating, a little chopping and some mixing and voila, a sandwich spread I've read folks in the Southern U.S swooning over.

It was... okay. Nothing special. Definitely better as a cracker dip than a sandwich spread. I added a grated clove of garlic and some hot pepper paste and that helped a lot. But honestly I think it needs more. Like some smoked Cheddar or Gouda. Maybe some crumbled bacon. A little green onion. More zip... But then I guess it wouldn't be true "Pimento Cheese."

I asked some people online. Many buy it already made (processed) in tubs and have never considered making it themselves. Others grew up with it, so the relative blandness is ingrained in childhood memories and they don't question (or notice) it, I guess. None add much to it, and most spread it on white sandwich bread.

What it actually reminded me of (probably because of the roasted red pepper) was a Feta dip I did my best to recreate after dropping way too much money at the local Farmer's Market for it. So I'll share that recipe, such as it is. There are no set amounts. The end result is slightly chunky, with visible oil and a bit of a curdled appearance. It should be tangy, with a noticeable oregano flavour and a bit of zip. If your olive oil is strong, cut it with some neutral oil, like grapeseed.

Feta cheese
Roasted red peppers
Garlic
Red onion
White wine vinegar
Olive oil
Oregano (dried or fresh)
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

I put a couple of chunks of mild feta in my Kitchen Aid and break them up with the paddle. Then I add a few mushed up roasted red peppers, some garlic (I grate a whole clove into it), some finely minced red onion, a splash of white wine vinegar, a generous amount of olive oil (or a mix of olive and grapeseed if the olive oil is strong), a good sprinkling of dried oregano and some salt and pepper to taste, along with a little crushed red pepper flakes. I mix it all together and eat it with lavash (crisp flat bread).

ABC of Me (fluff)

2011-03-14T10:48:00.000-04:00

~~Stolen~~ Borrowed from a friend at 365 Days to a New Me. Just a little fluff that gives a bit of a picture about who I am. Thought it would be fun while I get back into the groove of posting recipes and thoughts about food, faith and family.

Age: 38
Bed Size: Queen
Chore You Hate: Putting away laundry
Dogs: Had one for about a year or so when I was about 11. The kids want one "after the cats die."
Essential Start of Your Day: Coffee. It's not a "need" as in "I have to have it to function." I never used to drink it, but have come to enjoy the ritual of checking email and my social networks while enjoying a mug. I normally only have that one in a day.
Favorite Color: Hmmm, not sure. To wear I like shades of turquoise, light grey and baby pink. But in decor I lean towards neutrals, yellows and blues. And in general I like black, red, and purple. LOL
Gold or Silver: Silver
Height: 5'3" or so
Instruments I Play: Does recorder count? I still have the one my Dad bought me in grade 3, and I still play it. I also played clarinet in high school.
Job Title: Stay at home mom, loving wife, homeschool parent, family cook.... I refuse to be defined! LOL
Kids: 2
Live: Southern Ontario
Mom's Name: Roslyn.
Nicknames: A friend of mine used to call me Alex. It really isn't related to my name at all. I called her Rocky, so I guess we were even.
Overnight Hospital Stays: Broke my wrist when I was 3 and had to stay overnight because I rebroke it after they set it. My kids were born at home.
Pet Peeve: People who are perpetually late.
Quote From a Movie: I just saw Amelie, so I'll go with one from that - You mean she would rather imagine herself relating to an absent person than build relationships with those around her?
Right or Left Handed: Right
Siblings: 2 sister
Time You Wake Up: Whenever hubby leaves for work, or the kids get up. Whichever is later.
Underwear: Absolutely! LOL
Veggie You Dislike: Mushrooms (though technically a fungus)
What Makes You Run Late: "Fat days." I can't find anything to wear on those days, and it takes me longer to get dressed.
X-Rays You Have Had: wrist, lungs
Yummy Food You Make:Oh I make a lot. I do steaks really well. I also make great roast chicken, and delicious Brussels sprouts (though my family disagrees)
Zoo Animal You Like Best: You know, I haven't been to a proper zoo in so long, I'm not sure. Though I adore penguins!

The February That Wasn't

2011-03-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

Is February over yet? Let me see. March 1st. It's finished! Hooray!

February was the month that wasn't in our house. Our youngest got hit with an illness late in January and it monopolized our lives for a full month. We did very little, accomplished nearly nothing, got behind on other things and generally fell off the face of the Earth for a while.

But now it's March! Look at that. Sunshine! Hello Lamb of March. Let's hope the Lion is a nice thunderstorm after a balmy Spring day and not a snow storm.

So let's see, what lies ahead this month? Our gourmet group finished off it's year with a lovely dinner based on the final dinner on the Titanic. This month we start the next year with three fewer people and one new person. So we've gone from 9 to 7. I don't host for another few months, hopefully in the summer, since I have no space in my house for 7 people to sit comfortably at this point. On the plus side, we can do some fun barbecued dishes.

Speaking of space in our house, my husband began tearing apart the basement before the sick hit. We're converting the largest space into a family room, with a storage room. The rest, excluding the laundry/furnace area, will be a recording studio. My husband is something of an audio geek. I've never had a family room before. I grew up in a house with an unfinished stone/concrete basement that had a couch and chair. Not exactly cozy. My bedroom was down there too. Next to the furnace. Again, not cozy. LOL Having a family room will more than double our "entertaining space" which right now might comfortably seat 5, if you count the computer chair as being comfortable. LOL

Look at that. It's still sunny out. If it were warm at all I'd open some windows. We could use some fresh air in here. For now it's -1C. Pretty to look at, not nearly warm enough to bask in.

I should start on supper. Pasta, with a nice sauce that will simmer all afternoon. We have pasta nearly once a week. It's Little Mister's favourite. Sometimes I add meat to the sauce, though never ground beef, as he's not a fan of meat with his pasta. Today I'll add slices of kielbasa, a nod to my late grandfather, whose father was from Italy and brought with him the knowledge that you use what's available when cooking. He moved to an area surrounded by people from both Italy and Poland, and thus his pasta sauce often contained meats reflecting both. Kielbasa, pepperoni, hot sausage, pork hocks, spare ribs... Maybe even squirrel, though I can't say for sure (my aunt has done that). I tend to keep it simpler, with only one or two meats flavouring the basic sauce of tomato, garlic, onion, oregano and basil. Now I', getting hungry...

It's good to be back. :-D

Deliberate gratitude

2011-02-16T13:31:00.000-05:00

I could fill a page or two with complaints right now. We've had some form of illness passing between the four of us for the last few weeks. With this comes many, many sleepless nights and 4am Tweets. Many days of walking through fog and keeping sleep-deprived, irrational Mommy emotions in check. Just when we thought we were clear, my dear husband, who had been relatively spared the last time around, got hit with a fever and then we all went down.

Yesterday the furnace was blowing only cold air. Then the toilet clogged up. I hadn't slept much at all in 3 nights at that point.

See where this is going? I could continue, trust me. But I won't. Because I've slowly begun to realize that in each situation, if I choose to find something to be thankful for it's less likely that I'll find myself wallowing in whatever the situation is.

For example I have a sick 3 year old who is demanding that her nose be wiped ever few seconds because a) she won't take medicine and b) she refuses to do it herself. Tempting to complain, but then I look at her and realize that she's here. I have a beautiful daughter. There was a time when I wasn't sure I'd ever have children, and now, through coughs and tears and snot and laughter, I have two wonderful children.

So rather than venting, here are some things I'm thankful for.

*We're sick with colds. Nothing serious. Annoying, but not harmful. This will eventually pass.
*While sitting up at night, either coughing or with a sick child, I have a roof over my head and a wonderful husband I can (eventually) crawl back into bed with.
*There's a lot of snow on the ground. But we have a large yard to put it in when we shovel. And lots of space for the kids to build and have fun.
*That same snow will be melting soon (and quickly), making quite the mess. I am thankful that we have a dry basement in this house.
*My father was able to come by yesterday and sort out what the furnace was (and was not doing) so that when I spoke with the company we bought it from, the guy was able to tell me what he thought the problem was.
*My husband, who is wonderfully handy, was able to take care of the furnace himself after that, saving us roughtly $120.
*My father has a drain snake and was able to unclog the toilet that he, um... someone clogged up.
*Both my father and husband were available to take care of the crisis yesterday before the house ever got cold enough to be uncomfortable.
*I have many friends who are so supportive and amazing.
*Money is tight, but we're not starving and my husband has a job not only with a company he likes, but doing something he truly enjoys.
*Spring will arrive eventually. I have many people on Twitter who are so inspirational and make me look forward to the mild weather all the more.
*In all of this, God is in control and cares for us so much.
*And as for all the rest of the stresses and frustrations... this too shall pass.

Soup Therapy

2011-02-04T10:46:00.000-05:00

So after a dud blizzard that produced more snow after it was declared officially over and gave us a snow day for hubby mid-week and a lot of cold whiteness, I wanted something comforting and colourful for this weekend. The only condition is that it must be made from what I already have on hand.

Scanning my fridge, I see beets and butternut squash. Hmm, seems to me I've seen those ingredients used together recently, and not in some strange salad with Thai chili paste. Where was that recipe? Oh yes! Over at Dinner With Julie! Recently she posted a recipe for a Roasted Beet and Butternut Squash Soup that sounds like it will fit the bill nicely.

Oh, it calls for orange juice. Hmmm, I have none. But I have blood oranges. Those should work nicely. It also calls for chicken or veg stock. I have beef broth. Not going to work. So I'm currently roasting the beets and squash while simmering some veggies for stock. I may even toast the squash seeds later for a nice snack.

After a week of all of us being sick to some degree (the kids bearing the brunt of it) and wonky eating habits all around, it's nice to be planning a meal. I can tell you, there has been a lot of "breakfast for supper" happening around here. And by that, I mean cut up fruit and bowls of dry cereal. I'm a firm believer in the ability of the body to let us know what it needs or can handle while sick, and the kids have largely only wanted these very simple things. Finally the other night they ate some veg chili. Tonight we'll have pork chops. We're on the mend.

And it feels good to be cooking again. To smell stock simmering, to be mindlessly peeling and dicing vegetables, to be roasting squash and beets. There is something therapeutic in cooking. Even more in going beyond just preparing food to creating nourishment for loved ones. Last night I'll admit it, I heated up chicken nuggets and french fries (never claimed to be perfect LOL). Technically I guess I cooked them. Kind of. But making this soup is truly doing me some good. I'm making something that's filling the house with a lovely, comforting, homey smell. Something that will fill our fridge with a few meals. Something that will fill our bodies with all manner of wonderfully healthy things to nourish us. Sometimes I wonder if there's almost as much healing in the preparation of some meals as in the eating of them.

I am still here

2011-01-25T13:49:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates for a while (too long). I am still here. I've just not had the time/ideas to update. I have yet to find a recipe from a cookbook and execute it. Who knew it would be so stinkin' difficult? I am going to do it. I like that this is challenging me.

So I will update with something soon. :-D

I love cookbooks

2011-01-10T11:21:00.002-05:00

I really do. I read cookbooks like others read novels. I have well over 100 books, I'm sure. Sadly many are in plastic totes, as I don't have the space for them all yet. Someday I will have them all out again. For now I have a selection in my kitchen of ones I look at most often. Yes, "look at." I love cookbooks, but I don't often cook directly from them. I tend to use them more for ideas, tweaking the recipe, or abandoning it altogether in favour of something that it has inspired me to create.

Right now I've got barbecue books and canning books (canning recipes are always followed) on the middle shelf, baking and holiday books above them, along with books that came with things like my food processor and mixer, and on the bottom shelf are a few of my all-purpose books, from chefs like Jamie Oliver and Michael Smith, plus Betty Crocker and Taste of Home. There are also a few of my "escape" books that I love to read just because. All Around the World with Sheila Lukins, The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American, The Silver Palate Cookbook... They aren't "pretty" books, but they inspire me with tales of food from other places and cultures. A well written cookbook can transport and inspire me in so many ways. I also own two books by Naomi Duguid and Jeffrey Alford. Hot Sour Salty Sweet and Home Baking. Both are wonderful just to look at and read, even if one never cooks from them. I have a few books by Nigella Lawson which really need to get into the cupboard too.

So recently another local blogger who inspires me as much as my cookbooks (just read Eating Niagara and try NOT to be inspired... good luck) took up a challenge to not only enjoy a particular cookbook as an inspiring read, but to actually cook from it. Shocking idea, that! I am looking forward to reading her "Tuesdays With Tony" entries. Several of us began talking about the challenge and decided to step up and try it ourselves. Thus far I have no clever name for mine, nor a set date to start, but I am looking forward to it.

For those who follow my blog, you're familiar with my gourmet group. 9 ladies who get together regularly to share food. The hostess sets the menu and hands out the recipes, and it is our job to make the recipe as written. For some it's easy. For me it's a challenge. I read something and think, "That would be better with..." or "I'm not sure 'x' will work in this." But I follow the recipe nonetheless, because that's the "rule." This challenge reminds me of gourmet nights. I need to choose a recipe and actually follow it. I need to use a cookbook, not only for inspiration, but for actual instructions. I'm really looking forward to it. And I will blog about it, even if I don't come up with a clever name. :-D

2011 food trends?

2011-01-05T10:30:00.001-05:00

I'm a little torn reading about the projected food trends for this bright, shiny new year. More local food. Great! Burning vegetables, powdering their ash and calling it a condiment. Weird. Adding sea salt to french fries and calling it healthy. Misleading. New buzzwords like "snackify" and "drinkify." Stupid.

Don't we enter every year like this? New predictions for what we'll all be seeing and wanting in the months ahead. If the predictions are at least partially correct and we see an upswing in the demand for local, seasonal produce and meats, I'll be very happy. I'll be happier still if it's not a "trend" but instead a very real shift in the way we eat. We exist on a globe, but first and foremost we live in a community. And there are wonderful, hard working people right here whom we can turn to for nourishment and quality. Not to mention variety. Have you seen the list of things Linda Crago of Tree and Twig has both in seeds and transplants? The mind boggles at the vastness of her list of tomatoes alone. And she is not the only one out there. Farmstands dot the landscape across the peninsula, giving us all the opportunity to divert some of our money directly back into the community. The rewards range from fresher produce for us to a boost to the local economy, to a reduced carbon footprint for those who are inclined to measure their impact on the planet in such a way.

And as with most predictions for each new year, there are the ones that make you roll your eyes and wonder how we ever got here. The pendulum swings this year from artisinal cheeses and farmer's markets to the idea that adding sea salt to fries or whole wheat to a fast food pizza crust will add "healthiness" to the food. Isn't that like ordering a diet cola with a greasy burger, or topping your double stuffed deep fried vaguely Mexican sounding meal with low-fat sour cream? Can we really feel more virtuous because our pizza has an insignificant amount of fibre in each slice? Aren't we missing the point of how to eat healthy in the first place?

And speaking of which, don't even get me started on Pepsi, and their dollar sign driven desire to dupe people into believing that they are giving kids a healthy alternative to sugar loaded juice by offering sugar loaded juice with fruit pulp. Um, what? Yep, apparently Pepsi believes that their "Tropolis" drink is going to facilitate getting kids to eat fruit. Because the process of introducing kids to fruit apparently needs sugar laden middleman now.

Before my head blows off from the increase in blood preasure, I'll leave you with my favourite Top 10 Food Trend List for 2011. It's from an incredibly clever blogger whose name I do not know at 5 Second Rule, and contains the wisdom of many years of food trend lists. Enjoy. The Most Superlative Food Trends List Anywhere

Ahhhh, the holidays

2010-12-27T10:08:00.000-05:00

I know for some Christmas isn't over. For some it hasn't even begun. But for us, it's finished. All that's left is to bask in it's fading glow and take down the decorations, which we'll do this week. We like starting the new year fresh. Sometimes I even buy myself a bouquet of white flowers to put in the window in place of the tree.

So how was it all? Wonderful. From the start of Advent through to the end of Boxing day, we were surrounded by the warmth of the season. We had a white Christmas, heard a lot of inspirational messages over Advent that we'll be pondering for a long time to come, enjoyed the company of wonderful people and ate great food.

Ah, the food. I know that Christmas is traditionally a time of overindulgence. Of tables laden with copious feasts. And indeed, we attended a party with such a bounty. But it was a potluck, so that is to be expected. Christmas Eve brought us to finger foods at my sister's house. Local cheeses, wonderful smoked meats, vegetables, crunchy bits and sweets covered the table from one end to the other. But with two Littles to occupy and help with gifts, overindulgence wasn't really an option. LOL

Our own Christmas meal was far from meager, but it wasn't over the top with buttons straining against pant fabric and comatose stupor descending upon us soon after. We had a lovely smoked ham. It was huge, mind you. Just a bit over 8.5lbs for the 4 of us, including the Littles. We barely made a dent in it. But to accompany it was a simple spread of potatoes, carrots and parsnips roasted in bacon fat. And a refreshing homemade candy cane ice cream for dessert. That was it. It was simple, it was sufficient and none of us felt the worse for it afterward.

We still have New Year's Day to go, and we'll have turkey with the inlawas (have to have turkey some time - hope it's a big one with lots of leftovers). Then I'm sure my thoughts will turn to temple food which I blogged about last year. And we'll be into 2011...

Cooking and baking and candy making

2010-12-18T15:02:00.000-05:00

My kitchen has been buzzing this weekend. We've got two potlucks this weekend, one of which is a brunch. The other is a buffet and everyone is asked to bring a main and either a salad or dessert. With dozens of families, it's quite a feast, that's for sure! Plus I've been making candy to give as gifts instead of buying more stuff people don't actually need, just to say that we've gotten them a stocking stuffer.

After a few false starts earlier in the week, mostly involving burning sugar, I finally got things sorted. I had picked up some Meyer lemons, which are wonderfully aromatic and not as sour as conventional lemons. And since I had a recipe for Turkish delights that called for oranges and lemons, I decided to substitute a couple of these beauties instead. The result is small yellow squares of powdered sugar dusted wiggliness. Meyer Lemon Turkish Delights (recipe here).

Then I moved on to a recipe I've been wanting to make for a while now. If you follow me on Twitter, or are a friend on Facebook, you have been hearing about bacon caramel corn for a while now. The success of the bacon fudge only fueled my desire to try this interesting confection. So last night hubby and I worked together, cooking the bacon, popping the corn, making the caramel, stirring the combined ingredients every 15 minutes... Not as labour intensive as it sounds, trust me. The end result? AMAZING! The salty goodness of the bacon coupled with the caramel is wonderful. The popcorn is merely a convenient delivery device.

1/2 pound bacon
1/3 cup popcorn kernels
1 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Cut bacon into a fine dice and fry until crisp. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the bacon fat.

Heat the bacon fat in a large pot with a cover. Add 3 popcorn kernels and cover. Listen for all three kernels to pop, and add the rest of the popcorn kernels. Cover and shake until popping stops. Put popped corn in a non-stick roasting pan, making sure to remove the unpopped kernels.

Preheat oven to 200°F.

Heat butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until it reaches 300°F on your candy thermometer.

Remove from heat, stir in baking soda and bacon (the caramel will explode in volume at this point so make sure you use a large enough saucepan) and pour this caramel mixture over the popcorn (do this quickly so that the caramel doesn’t cool and stiffen).

Stir the mixture with a couple wooden spoons and place in the oven for a total of an hour rearranging the popcorn to evenly distribute the caramel and bacon every 15 minutes. Add more salt (if necessary) during this process. Cool and break into bite-sized pieces.

Today I continued with my main dish for the potluck. It's technically a salad, but it's so hearty that it is easily a buffet main. I found it in a Taste of Home cookbook that I have. Potatoes, bacon, kielbasa, and a creamy sauce made with potato soup, onions and sauerkraut. It sounded wonderfully tangy and hearty. And the best part? It is cooked in the crockpot! Perfect for a diner buffet. I doubled the original recipe (which can be found in my last blog post here), but used fewer than 4lbs of potatoes, and only the original amount of sauerkraut. It smells wonderful!

.I made a last minute change from the salad of winter greens in favour of inspiration from something that someone mentioned on a web forum the other day. She mentioned a cold salad of green beans, dried cranberries, nuts and Feta. I immediately pictured it sitting on the buffet table and knew that was the recipe I was going to run with.

I made a simple dressing with Dijon, the juice and zest of a Meyer lemon, the juice of a clementine, a little shallot, grapeseed oil, salt and pepper. It's a big on the tangy side. Then I trimmed, halved and blanched a large bag of green beans. I heated a small skillet and melted a couple teaspoons of white sugar and added a few handfuls of toasted pecan pieces. I tossed them to lightly candy them and then spread them on a foil lined plate to cool and set. I'll toss the beans with the dressing and a little Feta just before we leave. Then I'll top it all with more Feta, the cranberries, nuts and some crispy bacon. I'm really looking forward to this salad. I think I'll make it again soon.

Tomorrow we have a brunch buffet at church. Each of us has been asked to bring cut up fruit for the fruit salad, and a hot dish. I'm going to put together these Brunch Enchiladas, substituting black beans for the ham, and adding some salsa for kick. It sits overnight and gets baked in the morning before we leave.

I also had some potatoes leftover that didn't fit in the crockpot, so I roasted them in bacon fat and I'll reheat them for supper tomorrow with some pork tenderloin.

I still have more to make this week. More bacon fudge, more Turkish Delight (perhaps with grapefruit), sponge toffee, and maybe more bacon caramel corn. Plus Christmas dinner. But for this weekend, that's quite enough.

10 days to go

2010-12-15T11:14:00.005-05:00

I find myself caught between wanting things to slow down a bit as we head towards Christmas and wanting the weekend to hurry up and get here already. LOL Maybe the weekend can get here and go by really slowly. That would be great.

So the house is decorated. We bought a tree. We have a tree, mind you. But it's really, really large. It's quite big around and would never fit in the window of our living room. Not without eating some furniture. Since Little Mister's second Christmas we've been using a table top tree as our Christmas decoration focal point. It was nice, but I missed having a floor model. So this year we found a slim, 6 foot tree for very little money. It fits quite nicely in here, and I was able to use ornaments that haven't seen a Christmas in some years, and also spread the others out more. I'm quite happy. And so are the kids. They've never had a full size tree (save for Little Mister's first Christmas, but he was barely more than brand new at that point).

Cookies have been baked. I made some yummy gingersnaps and some tasty but ugly shortbread rounds that were rolled in and sprinkled with crushed candy cane. Honestly, it sounded prettier than the end result. I've also made a batch of honeycomb candy/sponge toffee. And I discovered that the distinct floral flavour of the local blueberry honey that I enjoy does not make a nice tasting candy. So I will have to buy a container of more generic honey that has far less character, I guess.

I still have more candy to make. Bacon caramel corn, beer caramel pretzels, more sponge toffee and possibly some jelly candies. Many will be gifts.

As for parties, we don't host any. I'd love to, but space is sorely limited. Once the family room is complete, we'll be able to have friends around to share fun and games with (I miss game nights). But for now we go to parties. And our most favourite is hosted every year by friends from church, who have a potluck and invite EVERYONE! There can be 100 people (or more, apparently) in their home. All ages (though for our sanity and Little Mister's health we leave the kids at home to enjoy pizza with their Aunt and cousin). Did I mention it's a potluck? Is there a more splendid compound word? I think not. Everyone is asked to bring a main and either a salad or a dessert. I've brought chocolate mint truffle triangles, a winter salad of endive and pomegranate on a bed of watercress (here), various casseroles, and last year I believe I took a glazed peameal bacon roast.

And this year? This year I'll take something like my winter salad. It was a big hit and very pretty. And I'm taking a recipe I found at Taste of Home that is technically a salad. It's a German Potato Salad with Sausage for the crockpot (another wonderful compound word), but it looks hearty enough to be a main on a buffet. I've never used sauerkraut before. But the combination of it with the creamy soup, the sausage and bacon makes me think that this will be balanced and delicious. Of course I'll double the recipe and use my large pot. Lots of hungry mouths to feed!

Ingredients

    * 8 bacon strips, diced
    * 1 large onion, chopped
    * 1 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, halved and cut into 1/2-inch slices
    * 2 pounds medium red potatoes, cut into chunks
    * 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of potato soup, undiluted
    * 1 cup sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained
    * 1/2 cup water
    * 1/4 cup cider vinegar
    * 1 tablespoon sugar
    * 1/2 teaspoon salt
    * 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper

Directions

    * In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels with a slotted spoon to drain. Saute onion in drippings for 1 minute. Add sausage; cook until lightly browned. Add potatoes; cook 2 minutes longer. Drain.

    * Transfer sausage mixture to a 3-qt. slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the soup, sauerkraut, water, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over sausage mixture. Sprinkle with bacon. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until potatoes are tender. Yield: 8 servings.

If you're in the mood for a more introspective look at Christmas through my eyes, you can go back to my post from last Christmas Eve --- http://asinglestepblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/real-meaning.html

I may be late to the party

2010-12-05T16:36:00.002-05:00

but last night I joined the scores of foodies who jumped on the "everything's better with bacon" bandwagon. To set the scene, we were invited to celebrate our friend's birthday. Our friend, who is a HUGE fan of the movie, "A Christmas Story" ("You'll shoot your eye out!"). We were told that the party would have a "meatloaf and fudge" theme, and to bring either. I originally thought about doing some kind of fudge-that-looks-like-meatloaf thing, but thought better of it after picturing lumps of it sitting on a plate.

So since I wasn't up to creating fudge that resembled meat, I opted for the next best thing. Fudge WITH meat! And really, what meat could you add to chocolate and still create something edible? A proper nod goes here to Nigella Lawson for introducing me to the combination of chocolate and bacon. And to bloggers before me, whose creations gave me the inspiration I needed to create my own version of this taste sensation.

14 oz sweetened condensed milk
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
8 slices of good smoky bacon, cooked and cut into bits
Kosher or sea salt, to taste

Line an 8-inch square pan with foil.

In a non-stick saucepan, combine the condensed milk, chocolate and vanilla over medium low heat. Stir until the chocolate is just melted.

Pour half of the chocolate into the pan and quickly sprinkle with the walnuts and most of the bacon. Top with the remaining chocolate. Sprinkle with the rest of the bacon and the salt.

Refrigerate for about 2 hours, or until fudge is completely set.

With a sharp knife or a bench scraper, slice fudge into 1-inch squares. Store leftover fudge uncovered in the fridge (if you cover it the condensation can melt the salt crystals).

I'd consider adding a pinch of smoked paprika, or chipotle powder the next time, just to bump up the smokiness (and give it some kick). But overall it's a really good confection. Just make sure your bacon is crispy before you start. Softly cooked bacon won't work as well.

And the verdict? Well, half the platter was devoured, and our hosts kept the rest. Definitely a do again recipe.

Christmas angel

2010-11-23T10:46:00.001-05:00

Okay, I'll admit it; I'm not a fan of graphic representations of angels. At least not in the form of pretty women in flowing, glowing robes with shining wings and perfect hair. I figure there's a reason why most people, upon encountering angels in the bible are told to not be afraid. Doubtful that the appearance of a lovely woman, even one with wings and a halo would terrify someone to the point of having to be soothed and calmed (besides, the bible never describes angels as lovely glowing winged women). It's a quirk of mine. Maybe I've become too literal in my years. Or cynical. I don't know. And don't get me started on the naked babies with wings being called cherubs. LOL

Our Christmas tree has several ornaments depicting the nativity scene (which probably actually happened in something closer to a cave or stone structure than a wooden stable, but I digress). It also has several trains, which hubby has collected. And many other miscellaneous ornaments depicting all manner of things, from cooking (of course) to carousel horses to the ornaments that have been collected for our children. Growing up we were each given an ornament every Christmas, and my mother has continued this for our kids.

Our tree does not have, however, any angels. Except one.

She's not much to look at, I know. She's definitely seen better days. She's made of card stock and felt and her hair just won't go down anymore. Her halo is crooked and bent and her skirt is all wonky. She wouldn't even be on our tree at all, except for two little numbers written on the paper lining on her underside. 72. As in 1972. The year I was born. She was my very first Christmas ornament, and has been on the tree every single year since. She has seen 38 Christmases, and this will be her 39th. Even in the past few years when all we've had was a tiny table top tree, she's been there. I contemplated not putting her up this year. I mean, she's tattered and scruffy looking and not at all like the shiny Hallmark ornaments that light up and spin and play music. But there's something about her, about her history, that left me unable to leave her in the box. She may not be the prettiest thing on the tree, but she's one of the most sentimental ornaments I have. Who knows, maybe some day one of our kids will put her on their tree for their children? In the meantime, I'll continue to put her on ours, not hidden at the back or tucked down at the bottom, but out front where she can be seen.

And besides, I think she looks pretty good once the tree is all lit up.

Flash Mob

2010-11-13T16:02:00.004-05:00

We saw a flash mob today. It was pretty surreal, even though we were pretty sure something was going to happen (all we had to go on was an internet rumour). There was an older lady against a wall playing Christmas music at one end of the food court. Nothing odd there. Malls have people play Christmas music, and there was a sign for a local charity and some brochures and such beside her. We grabbed lunch and sat down, still not knowing where it was going to happen, exactly. We were expecting dancing. I've never heard of a singing flash mob.

Hubby noticed some microphones taped to some poles, and was suspicious of the amount of audio gear that was set up for just a lady and a Yamaha keyboard. I saw a guy with a camera wandering around, and there was another with a video camera.

We started looking around, trying to figure out who was going to be a part of this. There were a lot of seniors around us. Then the music went from rather lame to a very rousing rendition of Jingle Bells, with quite a grand (and louder) finish. Then the first chords of the Hallelujah Chorus began. Suddenly this cute woman who had been talking on her cell phone popped up and belted out the opening "Hallelujah!" Bit by bit a good 70% of the food court stood and joined in, including many of those seniors. It was incredible. Really incredible.

I don't wear a poppy

2010-11-03T09:21:00.001-04:00

As Remembrance Day approaches, you'll find me wearing a button from Mennonite Central Committee that reads, "To remember is to work for peace," instead of a poppy. (A note to international non-commonwealth readers - you can find out more about the significance of the poppy here)

I don't wear a poppy

Not out of disrespect

Nor do I view Remembrance Day

As a time to not reflect

On sacrifices that were made

Upon war's great cost

But my heart does not forget about

ALL lives that were lost.

Poppies blow in Flander's Field

To remind us of the brave

But may we not forget about

ALL people in war's grave.

On the 11th I think about my hope

That guns and wars will cease

And teach myself and my children that"To remember is to work for peace."

Kitchen design and coffee

2010-10-27T11:07:00.001-04:00

Those who have known me for some time know that I am new to coffee. I never drank it. Except on rare occasions when I'd add a little to a mug of hot chocolate. I didn't care for the bitterness, though I always loved the smell.

Fast forward to a few years ago when our daughter was born. When pregnant with her brother I developed a taste for watermelon, something I hadn't liked at all since I was a kid. After Little Miss came along I began adding more and more coffee to my cocoa. Then came a day when I just needed a break. Hubby stayed home and I went for a walk. I found myself at Tim Horton's (hard not to walk anywhere and find oneself at a Tim Hortons around here). I was chilled and wanted a hot drink, but wasn't in the mood for the cloying sweetness and fake taste of their hot chocolate. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I got a coffee instead. Doctored up with a lot of sugar and cream, mind you. But it was, I think, my first cup of coffee. And I enjoyed it.

Not long after that I began buying instant coffee and making a cup for myself in the mornings. Hubby was in the habit of taking tea with him in the mornings, or making a coffee in his single serving coffee maker. But I figured that coffee was coffee and instant was easier. I was teased by friends on Facebook for drinking instant and not realizing that there's a noticeable difference between that and brewed coffee. So I relented and brewed some up. Wow, definitely a difference.

We went out and bought a coffee maker that brews up either one or two travel mugs or a thermal carafe. And since then (a couple of years ago?) I've had a mug of brewed coffee most mornings. It's still just Foldgers, mind you. I'm not a coffee snob. And while I'm sure a gourmet single plantation brew would taste nice, I'm not so much of an enthusiast that I am willing to spend that much for my morning cup. Though I may treat myself to some fair trade beans at some point, if I get a grinder. I don't imagine I'd go in for one of those single cup coffee machine thingies. Unless we won one.

Having said all that, there is one thing I do want. I want a coffee station. Right now our coffee maker sits on the counter near the stove. The tub of coffee sits next to it, tucked back against the wall. The sugar sits somewhere around there too. It's a cluttered space, with the mugs on the other side of the (admittedly small) kitchen.

I don't know if it was online or in a magazine that I saw a wonderful coffee station. It had a deep drawer to hold all the mugs and whatnot. It was its own space in the kitchen, not amongst the clutter. My imagination has taken this and run with it. Imagine a lovely French country sideboard, like this (I want a French country kitchen)

Now, combine the left and middle drawer into one and double their height. In there go the mugs and plates and sugar and spoons. On the counter goes the coffee maker and a decorative container of coffee. And maybe a matching one for cookies. On the right, change the drawer and door into a single door, with a small fridge unit inside. That's where the cream, the cream liqueurs and flavoured syrups go.

Anyway, as you can see, I've given this much thought. Of course we could just unclutter our kitchen to make the coffee space more morning-friendly, but a gal can dream, right?

Total randomness

2010-10-19T10:33:00.001-04:00

I don't necessarily have anything to say, but I haven't blogged in a bit. It's not that there's nothing going on. I just haven't been sleeping well and sleeplessness does not beget much inspiration. Though I can now blog with some authority about Better Homes & Gardens bedding from WalMart. Unless it softens up tremendously with repeated washings, I would never buy it again. It is stiff and noisy enough that it actually kept me up the first night we used it. I'm still not finding it all that comfortable. I prefer my jersey knit bedding, which drapes over the body and doesn't sound like I've put my head in a bowl of dry cereal.

Speaking of sleep, or lack thereof, what is up with the brain creating nightmares that make no sense? I mean, I get that some things are scary and go in nightmares, like monsters or fire or falling. But when the brain puts Drew Carey in the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, things get downright weird. Throw in a large golden dragon chasing us through a corner store and I begin to wonder about what my brain is doing with its downtime. And for the record, I don't even watch Buffy. Or Drew Carey.

Moving on to things less scary, Hallowe'en is almost here. For us, that's a non-scary event. We don't do monsters or spooky things or stuff like that. But we do take the kids trick or treating. And then we go through and sort out all of the safe (peanut free) candy from the rest, throw out anything made in China (seriously, we've gotten mystery candy we've never heard of, labeled "made in China") and put it all away. Usually I end up making a batch of candy cookies with the safe chocolates. The "unsafe" but familiar stuff gets divided between hubby and I for our own private stash. It's one of the few times I actually have "emergency chocolate" on hand.

Between now and then we have our anniversary. Thirteen years already. Plus the six that we dated (high school sweethearts). Not sure what we're doing yet. My birthday is in there too, so we may combine both. There is a local artisans market that we are absolutely going to attend at the end of the month, and since I won $50 from it the last time, I plan on buying myself a little something. Maybe we can mix it all into one date night. We'll see. I'm not sure where we'll have dinner, though there's a great Asian fusion tapas place in town that we both really enjoy.

It's funny how things change. A great dinner date night used to be at a local Thai restaurant. While that is still super-enjoyable, we get take out from there so it's not quite as special. A steakhouse was also considered a great dinner date, until I discovered how to create an amazing end result with any cut of steak just by using salt. Now we're both a bit spoiled and find restaurant steaks, even good one, lacking. If I'm going to pay $30+ for a steak now, it had better be grass fed, local and come from a cow that could moo show tunes. Atmosphere and chef name alone is no longer enough now that I can produce something at least as good, if not better, at home.

And because I can't blog and not talk food most of the time, with the cool weather has come the desire to braise pieces of beef. Which makes me laugh because honestly I'm not a big fan of beef stew and things like that. I am a big fan of making it though. Thankfully hubby is all too happy to eat it. Little Mister is requesting more veggie chili. I say "veggie" rather than "vegetarian" because I do use chicken stock in it. And Worcestershire sauce. Just no meat. I use eggplant and bulgur for texture, and always kidney beans, which are L.M's favourites. Maybe I'll make some for tomorrow. I wonder what he'd think of a vegetable curry? Hmmmm.... Honestly I think that he'd be... not necessarily a vegetarian, but maybe a carba-vore if I let him. He likes veggies and fruits well enough, but would exist on graham crackers, soup crackers and whole wheat bread if I let him. Little Miss, however, asked for steak for her birthday dinner. Both will contentedly eat bacon until they burst, but bacon is a magic food. Tonight it's pork chops. Thick, butterflied pork chops from a butcher we decided to try out on the weekend. So far the flank steak was so-so and the "medium" Italian sausage was bland. Hopefully these chops are better.

Leftover non-recipe

2010-10-11T13:53:00.000-04:00

Today is Thanksgiving day in Canada. But since it's a long weekend, we had our meal yesterday. Today hubby is working on outdoor projects. The weather is beautiful. Even the leaves, which aren't normally so vibrant so early, are nearly at peak colour. It's been an absolutely gorgeous weekend!

I'll be honest. I didn't make the broccoli with bacon and chestnuts. I had the chestnuts, but forgot to thaw the bacon. *embarrassed*

But the capon was wonderful. 7lbs of succulent meat, which I brined in the morning. I treated it simply, with just onion, sage and celery in the cavity, and a sprinkling of pepper and sage on the skin. It needed nothing else. The "stuffing" (dressing, I guess) was really good too. My mother has been making it for years. Sausage, peppers, onion, celery, garlic, sage, oregano, basil and bread cubes. She uses mushrooms as well, but we don't care for them, so I skip them. I added some of the fat from the roasted bird to give it a bit of oomph in the flavour department, and I always add broth to soften the dried bread cubes. Even the cranberry sauce turned out well, and I usually don't have much luck with it.

So a little while ago I assembled a small casserole for hubby and I for supper. I know the kids won't touch the leftovers. They don't like stuffing or mashed potatoes. That's fine. They'll enjoy their own yummy supper.

Here's my non-recipe for Next Day Thanksgiving Casserole. It's a total no-brainer, but so yummy.

In a casserole put a loose layer of stuffing.

Then layer slices of meat over it (add a little salt if your bird wasn't brined).

Dab with a little gravy and then a thin layer of cranberry sauce.

Repeat stuffing and meat layers.

Cover with a layer of mashed potatoes.

I sprinkled some applewood smoked Cheddar over the top, just for fun.

Bake at 350 until heated through. Serve with gravy and more cranberry sauce if you want.

There you go. A non-recipe for an excellent way to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers. I take no credit for it. I'm sure most people have at least heard of it, if not tried it. In fact there used to be a sub shop in town YEARS ago that sold a Thanksgiving sub. Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and maybe even gravy on a sub bun. I never did get to try it, but it sounded interesting.

Thanksgiving

2010-10-01T11:07:00.000-04:00

With a nod to my American friends and readers for whom Thanksgiving is still something of a distant blip on the radar, I'm blogging about the holiday that is next weekend here in Canada. For a while there it seemed like September was hurtling at breakneck speed. I wasn't ready to contemplate Thanksgiving being so soon. But then somehow it slowed and I breathed in the cooling air laden with the scent of woodstoves in the neighbourhood, early fallen leaves and a decided lack of humidity, and all became right with the world.

I've begun putting up Autumn decorations. When I was first married there was a local craft show where I'd seen some lovely placemats and table coverings. My grandmother generously gave me the money for a set of them. I have a half dozen placemats and serviettes, a table runner and a hot pad in a pattern that is a lovely explosion of harvest colours. I set them out every year in the living room (I don' t have a dining room). We put corn stalks and Mums outside, and we'll get pumpkins in the coming weeks.

As far as our menu goes, I've ordered a capon from a local butcher. We had one earlier this year and found that its size was perfect for our small family. 6-8lbs of juicy meat that tastes how chicken should. I can get behind that. As much as I love turkey, it's all but impossible to get one from a butcher that's under 11lbs. Often they're closer to 15lbs. We just don't use up the leftovers from a bird that big. I mean, I guess we could, but the capon is far more manageable.

Along with Mr. Bird, we'll have mashed potatoes and gravy, even though the kids don't like them. They're still a must for hubby and I. I've been looking at my Thanksgiving cookbook (literally "The Thanksgiving Cookbook" by Holly Garrison - one of my favourite cookbooks). There are so many great ideas in this book. As I've been going through it this year I've been asking the kids what they'd like to have for Thanksgiving dinner. So far they've settled upon Broccoli with Bacon and Chestnuts. We just bought chestnuts from a local nut tree nursery, and I've had a few. They're wonderfully sweet and full flavoured. Hubby doesn't care for broccoli, but "bacon makes everything better" right?

I'm not sure what dessert will be, though last year I made a butterscotch apple cheesecake that I may repeat. For now I'll share the broccoli recipe with you (I'll be halving it for us).

**********************************
Broccoli with Bacon and Chestnuts

8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 Tbsp butter (honestly I'll just keep enough bacon fat back)
2 large bunches broccoli
1/4 lb chestnuts, roasted or steamed, peeled and cut into small pieces
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cook the bacon in a medium size skillet over medium-high heat until it's crisp. Remove and drain on paper towels. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of fat and add the butter to the skillet (seriously? I'll be using all bacon fat) and set aside.

Rinse the broccoli and cut off the main stems. Break the bunches into even size flowerets, leaving short stems. Cook in a large saucepan of lightly salted water until tender-crisp. While it's cooking heat the bacon fat over medium high heat. When it's hot, stir in the chestnuts and cook until heated through.

Drain the broccoli and rinse it briefly in cool water to set the colour and stop the cooking. Return it to the saucepan. Add the hot chestnut mixture and reserved bacon. Stir gently over low heat until combined and warm. Add pepper to taste and serve in a warm bowl.

Serves 8
*****************************************

Sounds simple enough. And quite tasty. I love that my kids have chosen this. They're also considering creamed leeks, though that requires a bechamel and cheese, neither of which I think would go well with gravy. They're also pondering glazed carrots. We'll see.

Local?

2010-09-24T12:29:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking a lot lately about what we eat and where it comes from. As I mentioned only half jokingly in my last post, I had to buy asparagus for a recipe for my gourmet group and I struggled with that for a moment. It's not in season. Not by a long shot. Where was it from? Peru, I believe. Never mind the hefty price tag.

Not too long ago that asparagus wouldn't have even been a blip on my radar. But thanks largely to those I've met on Twitter, I'm becoming more and more aware of how unsustainable our current food system is. Yes, I used a buzzword. I may even throw "locavore" into the mix (beyond just the book, which I whole heartedly recommend!). Anyway, the passion of local foodies is contagious. And it's not just about me anymore. I have two wonderful children. And a choice to make. Do my husband and I raise them to simply make healthy choices in what they eat? Or do we raise them to be aware of not only what they eat, but where it came from?

Some wonder why it even matters. But when I read about a woman who found a chicken head in her basket of wings in a Toronto restaurant, what struck me wasn't that she'd found a chicken part in her chicken parts (okay, it would be freaky, but not a total shock). What struck me was that the chicken was from Brazil! I would have never thought that meat being consumed in a Toronto restaurant would be from Brazil. The U.S, maybe. But a different continent altogether? I've been somewhat sheltered, I guess. When I saw a flyer from M&M meats earlier this year I was surprised to read that some of their beef is from New Zealand.

Maybe I'm naive. I don't understand why we import things that we can and do grow and raise right here. Why are there peaches from the U.S in stores during peach season? Especially right here where tenderfruit is king? Why are we exporting produce and meat that we're also importing at the same time? Why don't we grow to feed our own first, and supplement with what we can't produce enough of, or cannot grow here after that? The system looks broken to me.

I want to do what I can for my own family and community. I just called the local butcher shop that we go to. I wanted to know where the meat comes from. It's not "local," but it is all Canadian. I guess I feel better about that. I think I'd go elsewhere if the meat were from the U.S. Most of it is from Ontario, with a bit from Alberta, apparently.

I know that we can't afford 100% local, organic meat all the time. But we buy it when we can. And I know that I said I buy factory chickens. Since that time though I've pretty much stopped buying grocery store meat. Largely due to quality (or lack thereof) rather than conscience, though that is creeping in too. But I'm still often buying it from a butcher who I am sure sells only factory farmed meat. But at least I know it's Canadian. Eating with ones conscience is a strange balance to try to keep.

So that's where I'm at. With knowledge comes responsibility, right? Hence the reason I haven't watched movies like Food Inc yet. I don't think I'm ready to take that step yet. It feels like a bit of a leap from where I am. But not as much of a leap as it was even a year ago. Baby steps.

Ahhhh, Autumn

2010-09-13T13:53:00.000-04:00

Summer was tough. After a couple of years of unseasonably cool summer weather we were hit with a lot of heat and humidity. There was surprisingly enough rain, mind you. But the temps were a little hard to take. Thankfully Summer has behaved itself by turning tail and leaving as requested on Labour Day weekend (yes, I made demands of a season... what, you expected 100% sanity all of the time?). With the exception of one day it has been lovely and cool. We've gone from 22C overnight lows to 22C daily highs. It's lovely!

I'm feeling more productive. The fog is lifting and I'm feeling so much better. The windows are open, the duvet is on the bed (more for my hubby than for me), I'm cooking inside the house rather than only using the barbecue (though it's still being used quite a bit) and I'm enjoying being productive.

Our homeschool year has begun and we actually have a (loose) schedule. Our Little Mister is doing well. He's working on some basics, like how to write a sentence that starts with capital letters, uses lower case letters for the rest and has spaces between the words. LOL, simple things that we adults take for granted. He's excelling in math. We have nothing to compare him to, but I don't think that most 5 (almost 6) year olds can add and subtract negative numbers, dabble in multiplication and work with decimals. I suspect that by the end of the school year we may be close to completing the grade 3 math book I just bought. I'm not pushing him at all. This is what he does for fun after the rest of his work is finished. I don't understand it, but then again math was never my thing.

Speaking of the new season, my gourmet (which has been on hiatus for much of the summer) starts up again tonight. We're doing all appetizers and a movie. Which reminds me, I need to put Julie & Julia on my purse so I don't forget to bring it, in case that's still what the hostess wants to watch. Must remember to wear comfy movie watching clothes, too. Yoga pants it is. Woohoo! Oh, and my recipe is for phyllo rolls with asparagus, prosciutto and Parmesan, seasoned with... dill. Um, I would never have thought to combine those flavours. LOL. The recipe can be found here. Notice how it calls for "cup Parmesan cheese." No amount. Is that one cup? I really don't know. I'll eyeball it and report on Twitter how it turned out. And you local food peeps are really rubbing off on me. When I saw the recipe my first thought was, "But asparagus isn't in season!" LOL $5/bunch right now. Ouch.

I'm sure I'll post lots more about my love of Autumn. For now I need to go over my recipe, and maybe make a batch of cabbage soup, too.

Stumbling about the net

2010-09-03T10:45:00.006-04:00

I love Stumble. What's Stumble? It's a wonderful add-on for Firefox that lets me select preferences and then randomly takes me to sites that (usually) match them. Mine is set to take me to all kinds of food and coffee and home schooling sites, among others.

So while Stumbling around I come across all sorts of wonderful recipes. And today I'm going to share links to just a few that are appealing to me right now.

Here's a snack that I intend to make at some point. It just looks so amazingly yummy and fresh. With cucumbers and tomatoes in season right now, I can see making these soon.

Yep, Greek Nachos. *swoon* http://notwithoutsalt.com/2009/08/06/greek-nachos/

Then there are these Carnitas.
Slow cooked pork and home made salsa. So simple, but I bet they are incredibly satisfying. I'm adding these to my autumn/winter must try list. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/carnitas/

Jumping to sweets for a moment, I'm taking inspiration directly from Bob Blumer. I watched him create a bacon ice cream on his show, "Glutton for Punishment" and I knew that I had to find the recipe.

Maple Bacon Crunch ice cream. Oh. My. Gosh. Bacon brittle. Seriously, on it's own that would be wonderful enough. But bacon brittle stirred into home made ice cream? I'm swooning again. And I'm not even a huge ice cream fan. http://www.thestar.com/living/food/recipes/mealorcourse/dessert/article/743118--maple-bacon-crunch-ice-cream

Then there are these Millionare's Shortbread with Salted Ale Caramel. Yep, shortbread, beer, caramel and salt. Oh, and chocolate of course. http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/08/04/millionaires-shortbread-with-salted-ale-caramel/

So that's just a tiny bite of what I've tucked away for future enjoyment. I love coming across new recipes. Food inspires me. I hope to post more entries like this so I can share that inspiration with others.

Another first - Pickled Beans

2010-08-29T15:59:00.004-04:00

Inspired by one of my favourite local bloggers and her zeal for pickled green beans, I once again gave in to my canning impulses and bought 2lbs of local green beans (the ones in our garden have all been eaten by the kids - gotta love yard snacks). Instead of dill, which honestly I didn't think to buy, I used basil from my back step. I combined Italian and Thai because I didn't have enough Thai basil to use it exclusively. It really hasn't been as robust this year as in past summers.

So with thanks for the inspiration to Tiffany at Eating Niagara, here is my recipe for Pickled Basil Beans.

2 lbs. green beans
3/8 c. pickling salt
3 tsp. sugar
3 3/4 c. vinegar
3 3/4 c. water
1 tsp Pickle Crisp, divided (optional)
dried chilies, optional
fresh whole garlic bulbs
fresh basil leaves

Trim the stem ends off the beans. Combine salt, sugar, vinegar and water in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil.

To each jar add 1/4 teaspoon Pickle Crisp, 1 dried chili, 1-2 cloves of garlic, quarted, and 6-12 leaves of basil. Pack beans lengthwise into the jars, leaving 1/4 in. headspace. Ladle hot brine over the beans, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Run a clean knife around the inside of the jar to loosen any air bubbles and readjust the headspace.

Wipe the rim and loosely apply 2 piece lids (the ones with the screw band and the flat part that you put in hot water ahead of time to soften the sealing compound). Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Let stand at least 2 weeks for the flavours to mellow and blend. The brine that's leftover after you eat the beans is nice in salad dressings and stir fries.

Yield: about 4 pints.

Editing to add - It's mid-September and I've tried my beans. They are nice and crisp, but the basil flavour is lacking. I would double the number of basil leaves the next time. The chilies give a good little kick, though.

Found this hilarious

2010-08-26T13:43:00.005-04:00

Let me start by saying that I am active on several message boards. One in particular is for Christian Moms who have rejected the punitive style of discipline and male-centric households so often espoused by such organizations as Focus on the Family.

Recently a gal was incensed by an article about marriage that her husband pointed to from FotF which explained how men have "needs" which a good wife should meet. Interestingly no matter how hard she tried she could not find a parallel article about the needs of women and how men should work to meet them. She's still waiting for them to reply to her email asking where she can find one.

After some conversation about this obvious oversight, I said something about taking the article and substituting "house work" for "sex" and sending it back to him. A very, very clever woman named "Cherish" ran with the idea and posted this brilliant reply...

From Focus on the (male part of the) Family:
Author Robert Byrne-Baby-Byrne once quipped, "Anyone who believes that the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach flunked geography." This humorous statement hits home with what any adult with a brain knows: Help around the house is very, very important to women. Research consistently shows that between 80 and 90 percent of women view help around the house as the most important aspect of their marriage. When asked what one thing they would like to change in their marriages, they wish that their husbands would be more interested in helping clean and more willing to initiate dish-washing.

Marriage experts Scary and Hanna-Barbara Baconburger surveyed women about their domestic needs. The vast majority of women indicated that mutual laundry folding and male initiation of closet-cleaning were among their primary housekeeping needs. No doubt, our domestically explicit culture plays into the prominence of a clean house on a woman's mind. She can't open the newspaper, turn on the television, surf the Net, or walk into a mall without being reminded of Martha Stewart.

Yet long before the Internet or washing machines were invented, a swept floor was an extremely powerful force in women's lives. History teaches us as much. David and Bathsheba. Samson and Delilah. Reuben and Bilhah. Scripture is filled with references to and examples of women falling into domestic drudgery. Archaeological discoveries reveal that civilizations thousands of years ago had houses of slobby bachelors. Solomon's warnings in Proverbs and the exaltations in Song of Songs written 3,000 years ago are completely relevant today. Time and culture have changed the venues of expression, yet the power of a woman's cleaning drive has remained a constant force of both intimacy and destruction.

Before we go too much further, let me acknowledge that you may be married to a woman who falls into the 10 to 20 percent of women for whom window washing isn't all-consuming. Although picking up socks may not be as dominant a factor in your wife's life, it doesn't discount the fact that it's important. In fact, many women who avoid or minimize the impact of having help around the house in their lives do so because of past painful experiences or because of the fear of future failure. Regardless of how often your wife thinks or talks about you helping out, make no mistake, it is a vital aspect of who she is as a woman.

I almost snorted when I read "our domestically explicit culture." This whole thing made me laugh so hard that I just had to share it.

On a personal note, my own husband would never point to such an article as the one originally referenced and totally gets that we both have needs and wants. I'd hate for anyone to think that I was implying that I can somehow relate to this situation personally.

Plum butter

2010-08-24T20:08:00.003-04:00

Okay, so like I was saying yesterday, I found myself so inspired by the lovely cool weather we're having that I found myself in the kitchen wanting to find a use for the local plums I'd impulsively bought on the weekend (there's a theme here, I'm sensing). I decided I wanted to try my hand at a fruit butter. Just to recap...

I peeled and chopped a couple of the apples, pitted and chopped about a dozen plums and stemmed a handful of the grapes. I popped them all into my small crock pot and added a little leftover hard cider and some local dark maple syrup. I left the lid ajar and turned the crock on high.

The plan was once it was bubbling I'd turn it down to low and let it go all day. At some point I'd adjust the sweetness and decide if I wanted to add spices or if I wanted a more pure fruit butter. Then I figured I'd strain out the skins later.

Instead I used my stick blender to puree the fruits once they were soft. Then I forgot to plug the crock pot back in (had to unplug it to plug in the blender). So the mixture sat for a few hours around suppertime, just hanging out. I noticed my oversight and turned the crock on low and put the lid on overnight. This morning I once more slipped it off to the side. Then I tasted it, adjusted the sweetness with some brown sugar and added about a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. Enough to warm it, but not enough to flavour it outright.

This afternoon it was ready. Thick, brown, tangy and still tasting of plums. I ladled it into two small canning jars and processed them for 10 minutes in boiling water. Both lids popped. Always a good sign.

So now I have a lovely (predominantly) plum butter ready for use on toast or mixed with a little icing sugar to spread between spice cookies. Mmmmmm.....

Inspiring weather

2010-08-23T09:56:00.005-04:00

Have I mentioned that it's been hot this summer? And humid? Hmmmmm, maybe. ;-) But lately we've had a few days where the A/C hasn't run, where the air wasn't thick and where the window is open at night. And today... ah today. It's all of 17 degrees out and it may not get any hotter. Hooray! It's practically chilly in the bedroom. LOL

So what am I doing to celebrate? Well yesterday I bought some local yellow plums (wow are they big), local early apples and local tiny purple grapes (they may be Coronation grapes, but they weren't labeled with a name). Just now I peeled and chopped a couple of the apples, pitted and chopped about a dozen plums and stemmed a handful of the grapes. I popped them all into my small crock pot and added a little leftover hard cider and some local dark maple syrup. I left the lid ajar and turned the crock on high. Once it's bubbling I'll turn it down to low and let it go all day. At some point I'll adjust the sweetness and decide if I want to add spices or if I want a more pure fruit butter.

Later today I'm going to bake. Probably cookies. Probably with chocolate. Maybe a spin off of the Mocha-scotch Truffle Cookies I blogged about earlier this summer. And I popped a pork tenderloin into a simple marinade of Dijon, and more of that cider and maple syrup. I'll glaze it with more of the same towards the end of cooking.

It's amazing how something as simple as some cool weather can revitalize me. As I've mentioned, I'm not a summer person. I love the bounty, but it only makes the heat and humidity marginally bearable. Autumn is when I feel like I come alive. And days like this, which are a sneak peek of the season to come, inspire me to make the most of them.

Tomatoes. Ah, tomatoes

2010-08-11T12:32:00.005-04:00

Tomatoes make summer a bit more bearable for me. There is something magical about that moment when the first slice of a still warm from the sun tomato touches the tongue. Before the flavour takes over, there's the physical awareness of the tomato. The brain notices the decided lack of chill in the fruit (yes, it is technically a fruit), the soft, yielding texture that isn't remotely mealy, and the juiciness. Oh yes, the rush of juice over the tongue from a slice of freshly picked tomato is a sensation to savour.

Then comes the taste. The delightful acidity tickles the taste buds first with a wonderful tingle that wakes up the tongue and sparks the yum receptors in the brain. Depending on the variety it can be subtle or sharp. But either way it's just the prelude for what's to come. For all of their savoury applications, tomatoes can be amazingly sweet. A great tomato has a lovely balance of sweet and sour, with intense umami. The succulent meatiness against the almost sugary, tart intensity creates a depth of flavour that one does not find in a store bought winter tomato (or those imports cramming the shelves in the summer).

And there is seemingly no end to what you can do with tomatoes. I stumbled upon a page yesterday that boasted 100 ways to use a tomato. Growing up I remember coming home from school in late summer and being greeted (knocked over) at the door by the smell of tomatoes stewing. My great-grandfather was Italian and my mother always stewed down vast quantities to freeze for the winter. I never cared for the smell back then, but now it is inextricably tied with the coming Autumn (though with the relatively early harvest this year there is a stark contrast between my memories and the reality of the summer heat that still abounds).

I like to roast my tomatoes. I've done them both at high heat and low, and like the results of both. Roasting them really emphasizes the sweetness and concentrates the flavour. On the weekend I bought, halved and high heat roasted some Roma tomatoes. And last night my husband and I picked several (huge) heirloom tomatoes which had split on the vine. I cut into slices the still usable parts and roasted them overnight in a low oven. I pureed both batches together and they, along with a generous amount of garlic, are the basis of a lovely tomato sauce that we will enjoy for dinner tonight with some basil from the back step. The essence of summer in a nourishing plate.

My first review

2010-08-09T09:43:00.003-04:00

Very cool. I was looking at the Foodie Blogroll a couple of months ago and saw that there was a company looking to send their products to bloggers for review. Never one to pass up free stuff, I sent an email to Marxfoods, offering to try and review their Palm Leaf plates. These plates are marketed as eco-friendly, biodegradable/compostable and stylish.

A few square and round plates arrived in the mail a short while later. My first impression was that they were nice enough looking. Kind of like wood. They would look very nice setting an outdoor dining table. I noticed some splinters and rough edges that surprised me a little. The plates were thick and seemed quite strong.

We used them for lunches and salads and they held up well. However we had a spell of high humidity and I found the plates became a little pliable at that point. Still stronger than a flimsy paper plate, but I wonder how they would hold up at an outdoor function on a humid day.

While eating some salad off of one of the round plates I found a splinter in my mouth. That was disappointing to say the least. And not the only one we found.

While these plates seem friendly enough, the reality is that the ones I received had rough edges and gave off splinters in my food. I would not let my children use them. Nor would I want to serve guests with them.

Then there is the price. $33.50 (USD) for 25 square plates, for example. Plus shipping and handling. I don't know that I could ever justify spending over a dollar a dish for something meant to be thrown out at the end of the day.

Good on the company for using a something as innovative as dead palm leaves to make products out of. But when looking at price and quality, I will definitely take a pass and won't be ordering them for our family.

Feelin' hot hot hot

2010-08-05T09:40:00.003-04:00

Okay, I get that the last two summers have spoiled me. Two full summers of temps that barely went above 25C, very little humidity, lots of rain (okay, too much last year)... I think we had something like 6 days over 30C last year. This year it feels like we've had maybe 6 days under 30C. And then there's the humidex. By suppertime yesterday it felt like 41C out there (for my American readers, that's about 105F). Too hot to take Little Mister to soccer. To hot to move outside. And so humid that sweat can't cool you because it doesn't evaporate.

To those who know me, it's no secret that I don't like summer. I don't do well with heat, humidity, bugs, heat... I miss baking, which is funny because I've only come to enjoy it relatively recently. I have wonderful local peaches in the fridge that my son keeps asking me to make a pie with, but the thought of turning on the oven in this ick makes me cringe.

That's not to say that I would do away with summer if I could. I do value some aspects of it. The produce, for one. Living where I do I have at my doorstep a dizzying array of fresh produce. Berries, tender fruits, heirloom tomatoes, greens, beans, beets and so forth. All grown within kilometers of here. All amazingly fresh and bursting with goodness. Then there's the herbs. Fresh herbs are a joy to work with, and summer brings them in abundance. My own garden is bursting with Basils, Oregano, Chives, various Thymes and a fun little Mint called Cotton Candy.

Speaking of the garden, if you've been following me for a bit you know that we have a small one in the back yard that is a source of food and amusement. The Lemon Cucumbers have been interesting. A definite do again! What I thought were bell peppers have turned out to be mild cherry peppers. Kind of disappointing. The heirloom tomatoes are a source of joy and the broccoli has been... well thus far the plants are huge, but not bearing much. I do love walking into the yard to pick whatever is out there and then making it into something to nourish us. More than that I love it when the kids just pick what they want and eat it right there. Yard snacks. A definite joy of the summer.

Then there's the smells. Specifically the smell of tomatoes roasting or stewing. Man do I love having that smell fill the house. I need to buy a quantity of Roma tomatoes soon to put down in the freezer for the winter. The thought of a freezer stock of roasted tomatoes makes me happy.

There are also carnivals and fun things to do that are even more fun now that we have kids. I love making memories with them. And I adore sharing my own childhood memories of these events with them.

And the final thing that makes summer bearable? The fact that enduring it makes autumn all the sweeter!

Found it!

2010-08-03T09:38:00.002-04:00

I made some chocolate mint ice cream this weekend. Actually I made some over the top rich, smooth, creamy chocolate mint frozen custard this weekend. It's incredible! And people I've mentioned it to have asked for the recipe. And normally I wouldn't have hesitated to share, except that I found it on hubby's iPhone and didn't save the link. So I've had to work to remember what phrase I used to Google, and then what website I found and finally set upon. And even then, I made some changes to the original recipe.

I finally found it. It turns out the basic recipe is from Joy of Cooking. But it calls for half and half, which I didn't have. So I used almost all heavy cream (no wonder the end result was so smooth). And I used mint chocolate chips in place of the bittersweet chocolate. And I added a splash of mint extract, too.

So rather than copy the original recipe, here's mine, with all of my changes.

1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 ounces mint chocolate chips
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
splash of mint extract

In a small saucepan gradually whisk together the milk, cream and cocoa powder until it is a smooth paste. Place over medium-high heat and bring the mixtureto the scalding point (the milk begins to foam up). Remove from heat, add the chocolate chips and stir until the chocolate has completely melted and is smooth.

Meanwhile in a stainless steel bowl beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy (about two minutes). Gradually pour the scalding cream mixture into the whipped egg yolk mixture, making sure you keep whisking constantly so the eggs don't curdle. If any lumps do form, strain the mixture first before heating.

Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, cook until the custard thickens enough that it coats the back of a spoon (170 degrees F) (77 degrees C).

Immediately remove the custard from the heat and continue to stir the for a few minutes so it does not overcook. At this point stir in the mint extract.. Strain into a bowl over another bowl of ice water. Taste and add more mint if necessary (the flavour will dull slightly once frozen). Refrigerate the custard until it is completely cold (several hours but preferably overnight).

Transfer the cold custard to the container of your ice cream machine and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Once made, transfer the ice cream to a chilled container and store in the freezer. If the ice cream becomes too hard place in the refrigerator to soften for about 30 minutes.

Best veggie dip I've ever had

2010-07-27T11:52:00.002-04:00

I'll be up candid right away. This dip is not some virtuous recipe that calls for essential fatty acids, organic yogurt, green superfoods or artisinal sea salt. It uses celery salt. It uses full fat store bought mayo. It uses GARLIC POWDER! I make no claim that it is healthy in quantities greater than a tablespoon or so (and really, who eats a tablespoon of dip?) And honestly, if you've come to expect that kind of uber-healthy recipe from me, have you really been reading my blog? LOL

What is this dip then? Well for starters it is part of my childhood. My mother's cousin gave her this recipe back in the early 80's, I believe. There may have been a Tupperware party involved. For all I know the recipe comes from the back of a package of something. I have no clue. But from that point on it's been my mother's go-to vegetable dip recipe. And it's mine, too.

Mom doesn't make it quite as robust as I do. I've doubled the original amounts of things like garlic and onion powder and Tabasco. But it's basically the same dip. Equal parts of sour cream and mayo (Hellman's only, reads the original recipe) flavoured with dill, onion, garlic, celery salt (originally "Beau Monde" seasoning, but I haven't seen that around in ages) and Tabasco. While you *could* use low fat or even fat free sour cream and/or mayo, I've done it and it really doesn't taste as good. If I were having this every week I'd consider getting used to it, but this is a sometimes recipe and we don't mind the extra fat and calories. Besides, we're eating it with raw vegetables for crying out loud!

Left to sit in the fridge overnight, the flavours marry into a smooth, creamy dip with a little punch and lots of flavour. I am some enjoying right now, as I type this blog post. This dip is so good that I'll eat a plate of raw cauliflower if it's around. Heck, I'll even consider thinking about possibly contemplating trying celery with it. It's that good. My preferred dippers are carrot sticks, though. I love their crunch with the smooth dip. But any sturdy veggie works well. Even zucchini spears, which are less wet than cucumber slices and hold the dip better.

Okay, without further adieu (and before I forget to actually add it), here is the recipe. I hope you enjoy it. And if you do, please tell me. I love to hear about people enjoying the things I share.

1 Cup sour cream
1 Cup Hellman's Mayo
1 1/2 tsp parsley (dried is fine - or just omit it as I often do)
1 tsp dried dill (mine is usually heaped)
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
10-15 drops of Tabasco
finely sliced scallion, green tops only

Combine everything and allow to mellow in the fridge for at least a few hours. Overnight is better. Adjust seasonings to taste. Enjoy!

Look what I grew from seed!

2010-07-26T11:34:00.004-04:00

Lemon cucumbers! I bought the seeds from a lovely woman named Linda back in earliest Spring. She has a fabulous farm not too, too far from here where she grows heirloom veggies. And these are among them.

Now traditionally I've been the kind of gal who buys veggies already growing and just transplants them. But I decided to give these a try and I'm so proud of myself. These little darlings are the first of the crop, off of two plants which I am certain are plotting to take over the world. Or at least the yard. We're growing them vertically, on a trellis that hubby made. I can't imagine how much space they'd need if we let them grow on the ground.

So, who's up for lunch? I can't wait to try them. I've heard that they're less bitter than regular cucumbers. I'm going to fresh pickle some for supper in some rice vinegar and Thai basil. Yum!

Herbal bounty

2010-07-20T11:40:00.003-04:00

I think I want to expand our herb garden next year. Well, it's not so much a garden as several planters. I have some parsley that is past it's prime (I really need to treat it like an annual), some chives, some Italian and Thai basil, oregano, thyme and lemon thyme and some "cotton candy" mint. All are very nice. Oh, and that poor sage plant I bought in the Spring that has yet to make it out of the little pot on the kitchen counter. How it's still alive is beyond me. LOL

I've been thinking of making some herb honey lately. I love sage honey as a base for glazes for chicken and pork. Thyme honey is great for sore throats. I'm wondering how Thai basil honey would be? Probably quite nice in a stir fry. But I don't have enough of it to make a jar. I should have planted more than one plant, but last year the Thai basil plant I had was massive! This year it's small and struggling and the Italian variety is flourishing.

I don't personally drink herbal tea (wish I did, but I've just never developed a taste for tea without cream). But my husband likes mint tea, which is why I bought the interesting sounding "cotton candy" mint. It's alright. Strong, but not like peppermint. Nice for tea, apparently. I'd like to grow some lemon balm as well, since it's supposed to make a very relaxing tea. I would love to see the kids start drinking herbal teas. If they develop a taste for them now, they can reap the benefits that I'm missing out on. So many tasty herbs are so good for us.

So, I'm open to options. What tea herbs do you suggest? What about culinary herbs (apart from rosemary and cilantro, which we do not like at all)? What can you not do without in your kitchen?

Cold brewed iced coffee

2010-07-16T09:20:00.005-04:00

Yeah, I'm a good year behind on this one. LOL I did find it last year when it swept the web, and I've enjoyed it since. But today I decided to share it here for my friends and readers. With so many places offering expensive cups of mostly ice and some bitter/sweet, high fat cold coffee, this treat is so much better. It costs less, it tastes better and it can be customized to your heart's content.

The basic recipe is one I came across here. It may have started with the New York times, as many viral recipes do.

1. The night before, start with 1/4 cup of coarse ground coffee, and add 1 cup of cold filtered water.
2. The next morning add 1 more cup of water.
3. Strain and pour into a chilled glass over ice (makes two glasses).

I add a generous amount of milk and a spoonful or two of raw sugar. You could even make a simple syrup with a little vanilla. If you like extra milk, then add less water. Freeze leftovers in ice cube trays for next time.

So that's where I started. But after doing that a few times I decided to ramp things up a bit. I doubled the base recipe, for starters, adding all of the water at once instead of only half of it. So here's what I do...

1. Add 1/2 cup coarse ground coffee to a French press (or glass measuring cup). Pour over 2 cups of cold water and let stand overnight (on the counter or in the fridge).
2. In the morning, press the plunger down slowly.
3. Fill a glass that has a little ice in it half full with the coffee concentrate. To those two parts of coffee, add up to one part water and one part cream, milk, soy milk, rice milk, goat milk or any other creamy beverage. I tend to use more cream/milk than water.
4. Sweeten with simple syrup to taste (I keep a jar in the fridge - one part water with one part sugar, heated until the sugar dissolves).

You can play with this, of course. Flavoured coffee works well. So does a splash of vanilla extract (or even a split vanilla bean added to the simple syrup when you make it). A swirl of chocolate syrup in place of the simple syrup turns out a nice mocha beverage. I'm sure my husband would add caramel. And for those not opposed, there are plenty of non-dairy flavoured creamer type thingies out there.

I like that the sugar and fat can be controlled in this. And there are no chemicals, unlike (I suspect) in a certain coffee shop iced brew. (I really don't know for sure, since if you want the actual ingredient list you have to contact them directly. I'm guessing it's more than "coffee, milk/cream, sugar.")

So last night I picked up and ground some organic beans at the Bulk Barn (what an age we live in when you can buy organic at a bulk dry goods store). Added a cup of them to my French press (yes, I doubled my already doubled recipe) and added the water. And this morning I made a lovely cup of iced coffee. The cold brewing process doesn't seem to leach bitterness out of the grounds, which makes for a smoother cup of coffee. You can heat it up after the fact by mixing it with hot milk/cream (or stirring it into some hot chocolate). I've made some hot brewed iced coffee this year already and the difference is amazing. Well worth the "effort" required to start the concentrate the night before. And I have enough for my husband and I for today and into the weekend (maybe). ;-)

Learning

2010-07-14T10:30:00.003-04:00

Schooling confuses teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. ~ Wendy Priesnitz

I'm not terribly familiar with Ms. Preisnitz but if this quote is any indication, I like the way she thinks. I am also partial to the quote, "Learning is not the product of teaching. Learning is the product of the activity of learners." Not sure who said that. But I've come to find it so true.

I went to public school. "And I turned out fine." LOL Isn't that always the argument? "I was spanked and I turned out fine." "My mother smoked and I turned out fine." "We never wore sunscreen and we turned out fine." And so forth. As if not being a social deviant or homicidal maniac somehow justifies everything.

I wonder just how "fine" I turned out. I was a bright child. My report cards reflect that. Not the grades, but the comments. ".... is a smart girl. But she doesn't apply herself." Yeah, I was smart. And bored. Very bored. I never felt particularly motivated to do better than I had to in order to get by. I was happier to spend time with my friends. And as I got older it only got worse. By high school I was all about my peers and the music I listened to. My parents lost virtually all influence over me and knew nothing more than my report cards showed them. I was passing my classes. Not excelling. Not even working at my full potential. But passing was the goal, right?

So I spent my teen years separating from family and bonding with friends. Music had just as much influence in my life. Spending that many hours a day away from home afforded me a lot of time to cultivate the interests and relationships that shaped much of who I identified myself as in those days.

Do I blame the school system entirely? Of course not. How can I? It served it's function. Push as many through as possible with the goal of mediocrity. "Pass" was the point. Anything above that was gravy. Excellence was something for the individual to strive for, but was not really facilitated by the system. Teachers had a class full of students they had to ensure were at least average. They couldn't take much time to make sure those who were already past average were being challenged.

So what brought this on? Especially when the tone of this blog has a decidedly foodie flair? I was looking at my (home schooled) 5 year old son's math work today. He did a page of problems that were like this... 85 = ___+____ At first glance it looked like he didn't get it. Until I looked closer. His answer? 85 = -5 + 90. Correct!

He won't be 6 until nearer to the end of the year, and he's taught himself negative numbers and is using them in every day math. Why? Because it was part of a program that I taught him? No. Because it is what he should be learning at this age? Certainly not according to the public school system. He did it because he wanted to learn it. Much of what he knows he's learned himself, following his interests (which lie largely in math and science).

I could say that I can't imagine how bored he'd be in school, but I can imagine it. I was just as bored. But I didn't have anyone encouraging me to learn at my own pace and explore my interests. Instead I was taught to do what everyone else was doing. Sit quietly. Do only the work you're given. Finished it quickly? Sit quietly some more. Do not go ahead in your workbook. Don't listen to the lessons for the next grade (our school had split grade classes). Fit the mold. Excel on your own time.

I'm not anti-public school. I just don't want it for my children. I don't want them to turn out "fine." I want them to turn out amazingly excellent!

I'll update soon

2010-07-09T12:51:00.003-04:00

I know I've been quiet this past week. It's gotten crazy hot. Too hot to cook. Too hot to go outside and barbecue even. Blech. It's raining today, though. The gardens are as thankful as I am.

So there hasn't been much to say. The gardens look good, but nothing is quite ready to harvest, save for a few lingering strawberries. The raspberries, green beans and some tomatoes are *almost* there.

My baby sister gets married tomorrow, so maybe I'll have some musings after that. At least it will be "cooler." 27C (humidex of 31C) rather than 33C (humidex of nearly 45C). Crazy that 31C can be thought of as "cooler."

Be back soon!

Canada Day

2010-06-30T10:41:00.003-04:00

Happy (day before) Canada Day! Long weekend (hubby took Friday off), sunshine, not too hot, barbecue... Wonderful!

Speaking of barbecue, not sure what I'll grill this weekend, but I have a pork loin that I think I'll pull out of the freezer to smoke. Man I want a proper smoker. For now I can make due with the grill, but someday I'll have a smoker. Maybe one that I can cold smoke in. I could make my own bacon! Sweet. Heck, I could smoke fish. Maybe we'd eat it then. LOL

Not a lot going on otherwise. It's not a big deal holiday to us in terms of having a party or anything. Though maybe we'll invite a few friends around for a bonfire. Food always tastes better with a fire. Maybe we'll visit the carousel. I love that we have a long weekend of nothingness. Hubby will work on the garage, we'll play outside, we'll eat... Ahhhhhh.

I didn't grow up with big Canada Day celebrations. Maybe family barbecues when I was little, but I don't remember if they were specifically on Canada Day or not. I've never done a lot with it. Though I think we'll be picking up some fireworks. The kids have requested a mini-show. MUCH less hassle than going to a big show at the beach with a 5 year old and 2 year old who don't nap and are used to going to bed around 7:30. LOL

Have a great weekend everyone. And happy July 4th to the Americans who've dropped in.

Culinary Immorality

2010-06-23T09:07:00.004-04:00

I just read an article about an American chain restaurant's latest creation. The Grilled Cheese Burger Melt at Friendly's. I've only seen pictures, as we don't have this franchise in Canada. Not even in Niagara Falls, where we seem to have an awful lot of American chains. But the pictures say enough. Described as "a Big Beef burger between two hot grilled cheese sandwiches" with some token lettuce and tomato thrown in for good measure, I guess. 1500 calories, a whopping 97 grams of fat and 2 090mg of sodium.

Not to be outdone, another chain - Chili's - has a burger with a comparatively lean 40 grams of fat but 5 250mg of sodium!

I don't understand it. Not completely. Just because one can do something, does that mean he or she should? Just because a restaurant can create something that goes so far beyond the definition of unhealthy, does that mean that they should offer it to the public? It can be argued that the onus is on the customer to not indulge in such nutritional fiascoes, but does that absolve the restaurant entirely? Would the guy who just ate two KFC Double Downs have chosen to create a meal with a similar fat and sodium profile if that abomination weren't available?

It's a kind of culinary immorality. Immorality being defined in part as "not conforming to the patterns of conduct usually accepted or established as consistent with principles of personal and social ethics." Food like this is created not for positive social value or personal betterment, but to revel in the grossness of human excess. To thumb noses at sensible eating and celebrate a more immature mindset that would have us believe that this kind of food falls under the "everything in moderation"mantra. The missed point is that there is no moderation in a burger with 97 grams of fat. There is just excess.

Do I blame restaurant chains for catering to the whims of the stupid and short sighted? No, not entirely. Much of the responsibility lies with the guy choosing to shove the disgusting mess into his gaping maw, guffawing about how it's just one burger and it won't kill him, as mayo drips down his chin and his blood pressure goes through the roof.

I don't know how we got to this point. Perhaps with more research I'd be able to trace the roots of this to something larger than self indulgent stupidity. To be fair, many more of us make poor food choices on a smaller scale all the time. But there is something that I find almost offensive about offerings like these "burgers." They seem to be daring people to embrace them as somehow normal, while at the same time scoffing at the idea of making healthy choices and creating menus which embrace health rather than debauchery.

Of radishes and unpopular salad

2010-06-22T13:09:00.004-04:00

The weather here this year has been pretty unreal. The past two summers have been cool and wet. Last year we had the furnace on until mid June. This year we turned the AC on in May. It's been crazy.

That heat, along with the adequate rainfall, has produced abundance. Some of it quite early. It's not July yet and the cherries are ready. Strawberries abounded weeks before strawberry festivals took place. Our peas are finished in the garden already. And just this morning I harvested the best radishes I've ever grown. They are called Cherrybelle and they are round and red and crisp. My 2 year old loves them. Hubby is the other one in the house who eats them (yes, as proud as I am of having grown them, I will only eat them diced into macaroni or potato salad). I am well pleased.

Speaking of salads, my gourmet group met again last night. Portuguese was the theme (our hostess having just returned from there). But as often happens with internet recipes, I fear that something was lost in interpretation with the recipe I was given. Perhaps there is a recipe for a Portuguese salad of winter squash and beets with a thick sweet dressing. I don't know. But my recipe had me roasting butternut squash (could not find pumpkin) and opting to roast some beets rather than opening a tin of them. I also roasted the chopped onion rather than sauteing it separately. It was all seasoned with salt, pepper and an undisclosed amount of Thai sweet chili sauce. I used 1/3 of a cup for about 3lbs of veggies (uncooked weight). Just enough to bring it all together, but not swamp it.

It looked pretty. Like a fruit salad, actually. I wanted to like it. I mean, squash, beets, onion, sweet heat... Alas it was not to be. Of the 9 of us, 3 were honest and said that we just did not like it. The rest claimed that it was good, but I don't imagine any of them will be adding it to their salad repertoire. LOL

Mocha-scotch Truffle Cookies

2010-06-10T13:58:00.004-04:00

Alright, I know I said I don't photo-blog (and you can tell by the quality of any pics I do post that I'm telling the truth). But I just couldn't post a recipe for these gems without a pic.

Friends of ours are having a baby soon (really soon) and some of us are coming together to provide freezer meals for them. And really, what's a freezer full of meals without a dessert option now and then? So I decided to make some cookies.

I took inspiration from another recipe which called for significantly less coffee. It also had nuts. Instead I increased the coffee granules in the recipe and used butterscotch chips. The result is a chewy, crispy cookie with a deep mocha flavour and a hit of unexpected butterscotch-y goodness. Yum!

Mocha-scotch Truffle Cookies

12 oz chocolate chips (not milk chocolate) - you could use a good dark chocolate
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp instant coffee granules
3/4 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 C white sugar
1/4 C dark brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 C butterscotch chips

Preheat oven to 325F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.

Using a double boiler (or not), melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee granules. Set aside to cool.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat the eggs (I used my stand mixer, but an electric hand mixer would work) and slowly add the sugars. Beat for a few minutes until light coloured. Add the cooled chocolate mixture and beat until smooth. Scrape down the bowl and add the vanilla.

On low speed (or by hand) add in the flour mixture and butterscotch chips until just combined.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets (the batter is thick and sticky), about 2 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for 15-18 minutes, until the cookies are set at the edges and still slightly squidgy in the centre (they will take on a crackled appearance).

Cool on a wire rack (slide the parchment onto it to make it easier), and enjoy.

Great summer salads - volume 1

2010-06-01T13:29:00.002-04:00

It seems that summer has arrived in Southern Ontario in full force. Spring rolled over and gave up a couple of weeks ago already. So now it's time for recipes that beat the heat.

I subscribe to Taste of Home magazine. The recent issue has a recipe for a Pickled Veggie Salad that looked interesting. Not sure why, since I'm not a huge fan of Brussels sprouts and I dislike mushrooms. But I had a baby shower to go to this weekend and wanted to bring something different. This salad sure fit the bill. I've had a couple of requests for the recipe already. So I'm going to share my take on it here.

Pickled Vegetable Salad

1lb fresh Brussels sprouts
1 cup sugar (I'd use 3/4 cup next time)
3/4 cup vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp plus 1/4 cup oil, divided (I used grapeseed)
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained and cut into halves or quarters
2 cans black olives, drained (or a mix of black and green olives)
2 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped (I used about a pint of halved cherry tomatoes)
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Cut an 'x' in the core of each Brussels sprout. Place in 1/2" of water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook for about 8 minutes, until tender. Drain and let cool.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan combine the sugar and vinegar (I'll add a dried chili or two at this point when I make it again). Bring to a boil and dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

In a large skillet heat 1 Tbsp of oil and saute the mushrooms, onion and garlic until just tender. Transfer to a large bowl. Add the water chestnuts, olives, tomatoes, peppers and lemon juice. Cut the sprouts into halves or quarters and add to the bowl. Pour the sugar and vinegar mixture over it all and toss with the remaining oil (not sure I added it... hmmm).

Cover and refrigerate at least overnight.

Notes - I drained it and added a generous splash of fresh vinegar before bringing it to the shower. It gave the salad a bit more kick.

The next time I will omit the mushrooms and maybe try some asparagus in place of - or along with the Brussels sprouts.

Reason number 56 why we homeschool

2010-05-31T10:36:00.005-04:00

Okay, so I don't actually have a list of why we homeschool, but you get the idea.

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on

Stacy, can I come over after school? (after school)
We can hang around by the pool (hang by the pool)
Did your mom get back from her business trip? (business trip)
Is she there, or is she trying to give me the slip? (give me the slip)

You know, I'm not the little boy that I used to be
I'm all grown up now, baby can't you see

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want and I've waited for so long
Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Stacy's mom

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
Stacy's mom has got it goin' on

Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn? (mowed your lawn)
Your mom came out with just a towel on (towel on)
I could tell she liked me from the way she stared (the way she stared)
And the way she said, "You missed a spot over there" (a spot over there)

And I know that you think it's just a fantasy
But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want, and I've waited so long
Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me
I know it might be wrong,
but I'm in love with Stacy's mom

Stacy's mom has got it goin' on
She's all I want and I've waited for so long,
Stacy can't you see your just not the girl for me,
I know it might be wrong but oh oh
(I know it might be wrong)
I'm in love with (Stacy's mom oh oh)
(Stacys mom oh oh)
I'm in love with Stacy's mom

What do you think? An appropriate song for children (K-8) to listen to? I certainly don't think so. Heck, I don't think it's appropriate for adults. It's a disgusting song.

So why am I posting about it and what does it have to do with homeschooling? We went to the fun fair at my nephew's school on Friday evening. A large part of it was outside, with games and food and a bouncy castle. Great kid fun. And there was a sound system, cranking out the tunes. Some Beatles stuff, some other fairly innocent stuff, and this song. It's not like the kids were in charge of the music either. The adults were playing it.

I don't care if it seems old fashioned of me; if teachers or school administrators think that a song like this is appropriate to play over the speakers at a children's event, something is very wrong. And if they claim to not know what the song is about, they are negligent at best. It is their responsibility to know. Ignorance is no excuse for playing sexually suggestive junk at a school fun fair.

No one batted an eye. No one in charge made a move for the player to change songs. The kids around me were singing and humming the tune like it was a T.V jingle. It wasn't even a blip on anyone's radar that the children were playing and running around while a sexually inappropriate song was blanketing them all.

I wish I'd said something. I really do. I may still email the school. I don't know what good it will do, but shouldn't they know that someone noticed? That someone cares that the music (at best) wasn't screened? I fear that this kind of garbage is so ingrained into the lives of children anymore that I will come across as the strange one (not that I would be bothered by that - I'm not exactly into conformity for the sake of not stirring the pot).

I guess I'm more disappointed than surprised. Disappointed that a song like this didn't raise any eyebrows but mine. Disappointed that children would know the lyrics to it. Disappointed that a place where parents believe their kids to be safe would pour this kind of garbage into their brains.

UPDATE - Heard back from the school. Here is the entire, disappointing conversation...

Me, yesterday
I just wanted to take a moment to comment on something that I observed (heard) at your fun fair. We don't have children at "insert school name" but I do have family there.

While we were outside playing games and eating, the music that was playing caught my attention. The song was called "Stacy's Mom." The lyrics in full can be found here http://www.lyrics007.com/Fountains%20Of%20Wayne%20Lyrics/Stacy%27s%20Mom%20Lyrics.html

In part, they include
"Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn? (mowed your lawn)
Your mom came out with just a towel on (towel on)
I could tell she liked me from the way she stared (the way she stared)
And the way she said, "You missed a spot over there" (a spot over there)
And I know that you think it's just a fantasy
But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me"

I was quite stunned and disappointed that no one changed songs. No one seemed to mind at all that sexually suggestive lyrics were being played at a children's event. It's troublesome that whoever the adult was in charge of the music (as well as all of the staff who were outside) either didn't think this song was inappropriate or weren't paying attention to the fact that a song about wanting to have sex with a friend's mother was playing loudly over the event. If music is going to be played, someone needs to be accountable for the choice of songs.[/QUOTE]

The reply from the Principal

I am so sorry if you were offended by our song choices, but do want you to know that we tried to be proactive this year and had staff (as opposed to parents or students) create an appropriate selection of songs, spending hours listening to and filtering. Ironically, we had numerous people comment on how much they enjoyed the music and the welcoming atmosphere at the Fun Fair. I am certainly willing to discuss your concerns further, please feel free to either give me a call or make an appointment to see me.

My reply

Thank you for your quick reply.

I am stunned and really saddened that a song about a boy who explicitly wants to have sex with his friend's mother is considered appropriate. I can't imagine what it would take for a song to be rejected in that case. Given your apparent lack of concern over such an overtly sexual song being played at a children's event, I see no reason to get together to discuss anything. It's pretty clear that I'm out of touch with what is considered fine versus filth by our public educators.

I can't say that we will be bringing our kids back to support your fun fair again next year, though, knowing what kind of lyrics they could very probably be hearing. Call me old fashioned (or just in possession of some common sense), but sexually suggestive songs aren't what come to mind when I think of creating a "fun atmosphere" for children.

Square Foot Gardening

2010-05-25T10:51:00.004-04:00

We're trying something new this year. "Square Foot Gardening." It's a rather radical approach to back yard gardening that minimizes space and maximizes yield. We are doing it on a small scale with some tomatoes, peppers, cukes and assorted greens and things like beets, radishes and broccoli. We went with two beds that are four by two rather than four by four. Here is the first one.

The tomatoes (and cukes in the next pic) will be supported on a net which we'll be installing shortly. They will grow vertically to both save space and allow for a more manageable growing and harvesting situation. Growing them vertically allows for better plant support as well.

Here is the second garden.

The Lemon Cucumber is a new experiment this year. I can't wait to see how they turn out. Ditto the Pak Choi.

I'll blog about the garden's progress as the season goes on. We'll mulch the beds once the seeds sprout. I suspect we'll need to water them this year (as opposed to last year when we barely needed to water anything).

And a special thanks to Linda Crago at Tree and Twig for her tireless dedication to heirloom plants. She is my source for the tomatoes, broccoli, the Sweet Pimento and the many of the seeds. Plus much of my inspiration.

Rib fix

2010-05-18T10:22:00.004-04:00

Okay, again I'll apologize from the outset that I am not a photo food blogger. There are no pictures of the ribs we enjoyed so much last night. Only fond memories in blog form.

I've been craving ribs since the weather turned nice. Even went to a "pasta and rib place" nearby. They really should not claim to be a rib place at all. They burned them. Though they burned the onion rings too, so really I shouldn't have expected much.

After that disappointment I knew what I had to do. Buy my own ribs. Though that in itself proved to be a little frustrating. First, there were ice crystals on the meat. They explained that they are shipped to them on ice and that their cooler sometimes goes below zero. But that the ribs weren't frozen. Um, yeah, they were. So I didn't buy more to freeze for later.

And maybe I need to learn butcher-speak, but when the woman behind the counter asked if I wanted the long racks cut in half I expected them to be cut down so that they would fit better on a grill. Instead they left the length and cut them to create ridiculously narrow racks of tiny ribs. I've never seen that done. Maybe it would work for appetizers? I don't know. So I had to endure their lecture on "cut in half" versus "cut across" before they would cut two new racks in a way that actually made some sense to me. Note to self, maybe look at going elsewhere for ribs.

Anyway, after all that I set about making a good rub for them. I have a book by Steven Raichlen that is all about rubs, bastes, sauces and such. Since I was also going to be smoking a couple of rump roasts for later use, I chose a rub with no sugar in it, opting to mop the ribs with a mix of a Lambic beer with cherry and some cola for sweetness. I let them sit for a few hours and soaked a mix of maple and apple woods.

I have a gas grill, not a smoker. So I use the indirect heat method with a smoker box that I bought. It's a metal box with holes in the lid that sits right on the bottom of the barbecue. I use two parts wet wood chips to one part dry. Once they got smoking I put the ribs on. I don't think the heat was high enough, though. Even with mopping they dried out a bit. Re-reading Mr. Raichlen's notes it seems that a slightly higher temp (up to 325F) for a bit less time would produce a better result. Duely noted for the next time.

Since we weren't going to have them that night I went ahead and wrapped them in foil and popped them into the fridge. I love that about ribs. They can be smoked ahead of time and reheated later.

I made a barbecue sauce (thanks again to Mr. Raichlen for the inspiration) from cola, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, a little steak sauce, honey, molasses, garlic and onion powders and some allspice. The recipe called for liquid smoke, but I have none. So I used some smoked paprika. Hot smoked paprika. It made for a delicious sauce that was too spicy for the kids. Bummer. I cut it with some store bought stuff that is pretty good in a pinch (President's Choice Smokin' Stampede Chipotle Beer, I believe it's called) and all was fine. The ribs glazed up beautifully and we tucked in to a meal that served to both satisfy my craving and whet my appetite for more. I will definitely work on improving this recipe as the summer goes on!

The peas are sprouting!

2010-04-29T10:03:00.003-04:00

First off, I cannot believe how early everything is blooming and greening up. The forsythia has been finished for a good week at least. Normally it's blooming now. Lilacs are in bloom. Those aren't usually out for another two or three weeks. The fruit trees are in their full glory. Last year we were a week past Mother's Day at least before they bloomed. And it's still only April. Remarkable.

So we've planted some things. Pak choi, radishes, rainbow chard in the garden, and a lettuce mix and some peas in pots. The garden plants may not do well. I didn't loosen the soil first. Me and my lack of patience. We've added a lot of compost to the garden, but it's still pretty heavy clay. We'll see how things do. The lettuce is coming up and just waiting for a bit more warmth. But the peas. Oh the peas! Four inch shoots, straining for the sky. I've never grown peas from seed before, so I am excited. The kids are thrilled too. They're in favour of anything that brings them "yard snacks." I'll be planting green beans for that purpose too. And cherry tomatoes. We love to just sit out in the yard and pick whatever and nibble. I like to wrap the tomatoes with a fresh leaf of Basil, or a little Oregano.

We're going to give Square Foot Gardening a try this year. We're not going to go so far as to source 5 types of compost or whatnot. But we are going to build some raised beds and structures to grow tomatoes and cucumbers on. Oh yeah, I have a cucumber sprout in my windowsill, too. I've never grown them from seed before either (I've always been more of a "buy the plant" gal). I hope this experiment works out well, because I love the idea of it. Space saving, high yield, low maintenance... And if we hook it up to the rain barrel through a drip irrigation system, it will practically take care of itself. We're looking into that.

It is very satisfying to grow some of our own veggies. But more than that, I love knowing that the kids will grow up with this being the norm. Tomatoes aren't always pale and mealy and can come in all sorts of colours. Things taste best when just picked. And I love that we can bring it inside and do things like preserve the raspberries in jam, or turn the tomatoes into sauce. As homeschoolers it's nice to have science and nutrition lessons in our back yard.

Between the garden and the local farm stands and farmers markets, we're blessed with an abundance of fresh produce throughout the growing season. I still have blueberry jam from last year, made with fresh berries from the downtown market. This year I want to do peach. I put some down in the freezer in light syrup last year. I should fish some of those out soon and make something with them. Peach ice cream, maybe?

I'm editing to add a link to a blog I've found that is really speaking to me. It's Goodlife (Eats) and it's very much where I am at (or at least getting to) with regards to kids and gardening and eating healthy foods. Teaching children where food comes from, teaching them to grow and care for it and then enjoy eating it are dear to my heart, and this blog is spot on. GrowEatCook I love it.

Not the most amazing chocolate chip cookie in the world

2010-04-21T08:46:00.006-04:00

So many blogs out there boast THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe. I've seen them described as everything from amazing to orgasmic (seriously? Not going there). Everywhere you look, someone has THE combination of butter, flour, sugar, eggs and chocolate that everyone has to try.

Is this recipe one of those? Nope. But I like it. It's my go to recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It belonged to a friend, and when my husband tried them he asked me to get the recipe. So I did. They are very basic, with no fancy chocolate (though I suppose you could buy some) and no prolonged preparation. Beat like mad, mix, stir, bake. Simple and good.

Simple Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 C room temperature butter (needn't be unsalted)
1 C dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp real vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 C flour (you can use up to half whole wheat)
chocolate chips (as many as you like - I tend to use about a cup)

Beat the butter and sugar until light. Add the egg and beat like crazy (original instructions from my friend). Add the corn syrup, vanilla and salt and mix until incorporated (at this point yesterday I added a heaping tablespoon of instant coffee granules). Mix in the baking soda and flour and stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by small spoonfuls and bake in a 350F oven for 10-12 minutes.

The corn syrup helps keep the cookies moist even if you leave them out on the counter overnight (like I did last night), but you can omit it, or use maple syrup, which I did once. I get about two dozen out of this, but it depends on the size spoon or scoop I use.

Once again the kids (and husband) are happy. There are chocolate chip cookies in the house and all is right with the world. These might not be worth a million dollars, or bring one to the peak of sexual pleasure (again, seriously?), but they are an honest, straightforward cookie and we like them.

Learned a new trick

2010-04-18T15:41:00.005-04:00

As I mentioned on Facebook and Twitter, I've learned a new trick with steak that produces remarkable results with almost zero effort. I've done it twice, and both times the steaks have been wonderfully tender and flavourful. Moreso than if I had done what I usually do.

What did I learn and where did I learn it? I'll address part two first. I stumbled upon a web blog called Steamy Kitchen a while back. In particular I came across this page. "How to turn cheap "Choice" steak into Gucci "Prime" steak." I absolutely love a good steak, so it sounded interesting and I read on. What I read was so crazy simple it seemed a little exaggerated. In a nutshell you take your steak, cover it in Kosher or non-iodized sea salt, let it sit for a while, rinse it off (yep, run it under water), dry it and cook it. That's it. Easy peasy cool and breezy. I was skeptical. But wait, there was science content.

It turns out that salt relaxes the protein strands, allowing them to trap the juices when heated instead of tightening up and squeezing them out. That's not to say that there is no moisture loss. Just salting the meat draws out some moisture. But, like a good dry-aged steak, this method allows for the partial breakdown of the protein, which creates a juicy and tender end result.

We tried it a little while ago with a couple of rib eye steaks, finishing them with some garlic butter. Very nice. But last night was the true test. We had 3 New York strip steaks. I salted two of them and left the third plain (I even forgot to salt it before it hit the grill, which is what I always used to do). I cooked all three for about the same length of time (the unsalted one got a bit less because I nearly forgot to get it on the grill). Oddly, when I did the "finger test" to check for doneness the two salted steaks were much more yielding than the unsalted one. But off the grill and after they'd rested, the unsalted one was slightly rarer, but also tougher. And when we tasted them, there was no question. The texture of the salted steaks was far superior. Soft, buttery, juicy. The other one was familiar, in that it was what we've always been used to in a New York strip. But it was a far cry from the other two. It was merely sufficient, while the salted steaks were wonderful.

In reading, it looks like it's possible to add some flavour during the salting phase, like fresh garlic. I'm going to experiment. But to really try this salt method out I am going to have to try it on a couple of top round steaks, or some other such tougher cut. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a beautiful summer.

*ETA - You can find this post linked on Around My Family Table's Thursday Tip Day

Gourmet again tonight

2010-04-12T16:06:00.005-04:00

Oh boy! It's gourmet night. I've been feeling a little off all day, but tonight's menu is still enticing me. I don't know a lot about it, save for our hostess claiming that it will be "lighter food." That sounds perfect today.

My course is one of the sides. I've done dessert, I've done the main and I did the side the last time (we have two sides). Some may remember that last time I made zucchini boats. Guess what I'm making tonight? Yep, zucchini boats. LOL But the last time they were Lebanese and filled with meat, and this time they will be filled with an herbed ricotta "mousse." Here is the recipe...

6 small zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)
Cooking spray
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1 cup (8 ounces) Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons hot water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Parsley sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 450°.

Cut each zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Reserve pulp for another use. Arrange zucchini shells in a single layer in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine basil and next 7 ingredients (through pepper), stirring well with a whisk. Divide mixture evenly among shells, pressing gently. Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Looking at it, I think it needs garlic, or at least chives. But the rules of the evening are that we each make the recipe exactly as it is given to us. So that is what I shall do. It still sounds like a wonderfully light side dish for a Spring evening.

Next day edit/addition - It was quite a nice evening. The appetizer was a carrot and ginger puree with curry on a base of what I called chickpea polenta. I guess chickpea flour was boiled with a little salt for 20 minutes and then spread in a pan and cut into squares when firm. It had the texture of tofu, so I found that off putting. But the flavour was nice. There was a very nice salad with crisp greens, mandarin oranges and bacon. The soup was a creamy cauliflower with Stilton. I'm not a fan of blue cheese at all, but the small bit of soup that I did have was okay. Very flavourful. The focaccia stuffed with roasted garlic and peppers would make a nice picnic sandwich.

We moved on to the main course. Along with my dish, which I have to say I wasn't much of a fan of (I think it was the texture) we had herb roasted chicken, which was really nice. There were mushrooms in truffle oil (which I passed on - not a mushroom fan) and polenta with Asiago, which was kind of gummy and funky tasting. Oh, and herb roasted red skinned potatoes. Dessert was a low fat chocolate cheesecake that was interesting. Tasty, but with the texture of firm pudding rather than cheesecake.

I would make the salad again. I'll add the recipe. If anyone wants any of the others, I'll gladly share them.

Mandarn Almond Salad with Bacon

1/2 pound bacon
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon dry hot mustard
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
1/4 cup olive oil (not necessarily extra virgin)
1 head red leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 bunch green onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup slivered almonds

In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook bacon until evenly brown. Drain, cool, and crumble.

To make the dressing, thoroughly blend the vinegar, honey, dry mustard, celery salt, paprika, and olive oil.

Place lettuce, oranges, green onion, bacon, and almonds in a serving bowl. Toss with dressing and serve.

Where is Spring?

2010-04-05T11:08:00.003-04:00

Oh, there it is. I was wondering and a little worried. After the warmest Easter weekend I can remember (nearly 30C), I was concerned that this would be another one of those Winter into Summer years. I hate it when that happens. I'm not much of a fan of Summer to begin with, but more than that, I like Spring. I like wearing jackets. I like the slightly cool breezes. I like the bit of damp in the air and the ground as we start waking our gardens up. Instead we were out this weekend in t-shirts and shorts, and the garden had begun to wake up without us. Heck, we had the window open all night twice over the weekend. In early April!

With regards to the garden, most of the straw mulch is off the veg bed now. The garlic is looking good, the strawberries have survived quite nicely, and the parsley and chives are greening up. Still waiting to see if the mint seeded itself last year or not. I hope so. The raspberries had buds on the stems on Friday. By Sunday they had full leaves. We cut them back and will do some weeding and mulching to encourage the runners to grow strong. I even planted some radishes, pak choi and peas. I still need to sow some lettuce seeds.

I don't think I mentioned the latest chapter in trying to buy quality meat. We began going to a local butcher. One that has been around for a long time and seems to have a respectable name. Got some lunch meat and such and it all seemed okay. Then I got some kielbossa one day. A few days later it smelled a bit off. So I tossed it. Last week we went in, having decided to get all of our meat from a proper butcher rather than the grocery store (I was getting tired of buying rancid meat - ironic as you'll see in a moment). We bought a bunch of meat and ordered our Easter ham. In particular I bought a $20 free range organic chicken. It was a splurge, but it was also huge and would feed us several meals. That was late Monday. On Wednesday afternoon I opened the bag and was greeted by a wall of stink that nearly knocked me over. There was no guessing as to whether or not the chicken was a little off. It was full on rotten, complete with the stench of ammonia wafting out of the packaging along with the stink of the rotting carcass. The meat was slimy and it was disgusting. Less than 2 days (in a cold fridge) after purchase. I was quite disappointed. We called the store and they agreed to refund our money. If it hadn't been so close to Easter I may have canceled our ham.

I kind of wish I had. I ordered a 5lb bone in ham. I got (after they finally found it), a 5lb bone in ham steak. Um, how on earth do I glaze that? I gave it back and bought a boneless Black Forest ham from the case. And wouldn't you know it, it was slimy when I opened it. It didn't smell off, but let me just say that if it weren't for the fact that it was Easter Sunday we would have been eating out.

Needless to say we are not going back to that butcher. It should not be this hard to buy quality fresh meat.

I did try a new glaze this weekend, though (what, you thought I was going to talk food and NOT talk about a recipe?) I reduced some Coke with some Dijon mustard and a little allspice and lemon zest. I basted the ham as it cooked and finished it with a sprinkle of dark brown sugar. It had a very nice crust when it came out of the oven. It would have been really good on a decent ham.

What's really going on?

2010-03-23T12:24:00.002-04:00

"There isn't a lot going on right now." How often do we say or think that? I haven't blogged in a bit because it feels like there's nothing going on. In reality, a lot has been going on. Some of it is more personal or family centred than I share in my blog. Some of it is just boring. And some of it has left me a little dazed and disillusioned.

For example, an online community of foodies that I nurtured for nearly a decade fell apart last week. We were a tiny group. Maybe a dozen on a really good day. But we had shared a lot. We were friends. Or so I thought. Turns out I was convenient, not cared about. I could set up and manage the actual community site, so I was needed. But eventually they all found social networking and showed their true colours. I'd been used.

Please don't think that this is a "poor me" type entry. It's not. I was just stunned by the emotional reaction I had to losing an online community. To losing people who, for the most part, I'd never met "in real life." To those who think that cyber relationships aren't real, I can tell you that you're wrong. Without spending one's life online, one can still cultivate relationships with other real people in a virtual domain. And when things turn sour, it hurts just like it hurts "in real life."

Other things that have been going on, but seem to fall into the category of "nothing going on" have been lovely weather, playing outside, baking some really good cookies and realizing that Easter is almost here. I could make a blog post about any of those, I guess.

Okay, I'll share the cookie recipe.

Toffee Dream Cookies

2 1/3 all purpose flour
1 pkg (102g) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 C butter (if using unsalted add 1/4tsp salt to the recipe)
1 C packed dark brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp real vanilla extract
2 C toffee bits (I just used a whole package - I think it's slightly less)

1 Preheat oven to 375F. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, pudding mix, baking powder, baking soda and salt, if using. Set aside.

2 In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, or in a KitchenAid, cream butter and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down. Add eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Beat in vanilla. Scrape down the sides again.

3 On low speed, or by hand, slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Mix in the toffee bits.

4 Using a cookie scoop or spoons, drop tablespoonfuls of dough about 2 inches apart on parchment lined cookie sheets. Bake one sheet at a time for 8-10 minutes, until the edges start to turn light golden.

4 Cool in pans on wire rack for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies directly to the rack to cool completely.

Recipe says it makes 3 1/2 dozen. I used a small cookie scoop and got 60 cookies.

My kids declared these to be the best cookies ever. High praise indeed. Especially when it comes with hugs and "I love you"s.

So there, I had something to share after all. LOL

Paska

2010-03-15T09:57:00.004-04:00

Paska
Originally uploaded by Mama__B

Is that an unfamiliar word to you? Paska. It was unfamiliar to me too until just over a decade ago, when I joined a Mennonite Brethren church. It was there that I learned about this sweet yeast bread with it's creamy white frosting and ubiquitous rainbow sprinkles.

Paska is an old world Easter bread. Many in the MB faith have Russian and Ukrainian roots, which bring to us foods like Paska, and borsht (often without beets). I can't recall when exactly I first tasted this sweet Easter bread, but I know that I was instantly enchanted. It was rich and golden, with a soft, yeasty crumb and a sweet frosting, dotted with tiny balls in rainbow colours. More frosting was served on the side for spreading over each slice. Definitely NOT diet food.

After a little asking around, I was given THE recipe. Not that there is one recipe for Paska. Quite the opposite, actually. But I got the recipe that I'd first tried. The one that everyone talked about. The one that defined Paska for me. And I'm going to share it with you.

1 pkg yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk, scalded
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 lemon, juice and rind (grated fine)
4 1/2 to 6 cups white flour

Dissolve the yeast in the sugar and water. Set aside.

Mix the scalded milk, butter (cube it while scalding the milk), sugar and salt. In a very large bowl, combine the milk and yeast mixtures. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and rind. Gradually stir in the flour, one cup at a time, with a spoon. By the 3rd cup, the mixture will get stiff. Add the remaining flour with your hand, mixing, but not kneading. Additional flour is only needed if, after 4 1/2 cups, the dough is still sticky. Add what you need a bit at a time.

Knead the dough 6 or 8 times and take it out of the bowl in a ball. Clean and dry the bowl and butter it lightly. Put the dough ball back in and butter the top with your fingers. Please do not use sprays. Cover with a tea towel and place in the oven with the light on for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until double in bulk.

Punch down the dough and knead once or twice in the bowl. Turn it over and butter the top again. Cover with the tea towel and put back in the oven for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch down again. Divide into loaves and knead them individually once or twice. Put the loaves into greased bread pans, punch them down to flatten them. Butter the tops once more and put back into the oven uncovered for 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from oven and place away from drafts. Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake the Paska for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let stand in pan 15 minutes to cool. Turn onto a wire rack.

PASKA ICING
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter (or all butter)
2 cups icing sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients together, adding more milk if necessary. Ice the Paska tops and serve extra alongside. Icing can be frozen. Add lemon to the icing if desired. I like to, though it's not strictly authentic. *

Makes 2 large or 3 regular loaves. Can also be shaped into buns.

* Speaking of "authentic" there is another common way to enjoy Paska, which is with a spread made with cottage cheese and boiled eggs. I've never tried it, but I found a recipe here. You may want to scale it down.

So integral to Easter is Paska in our church that we even serve it (unfrosted) for communion on Good Friday. And this past Friday several women got together to make hundreds of Paska buns for Easter Sunday snack.

The snow is almost gone

2010-03-10T08:33:00.003-05:00

Woohoo! There is rain in the forecast, which should take care of the last of the snow. Not that we've had a lot this winter. None at all until January (which made for a drab looking Christmas). But this last dumping has been persistent. It is my sincere hope that we have seen the last snowfall of the year.

Winter weather can be odd here. A few years back, only half an hour or so away, there was a freak snow storm in mid-October that crippled a town. It was massive, sudden and a total shock. At the other end of the spectrum, I've seen light snow in early June. Actually, I've seen it on Labour Day, too. So the only months when I've never seen snow are July and August. Then there was the year that my husband began gardening in early March, and it never did turn cold again until the next winter. By mid-April we were chomping at the bit to plant, but nothing was in the nurseries until May.

We finally got to plant some bulbs last Autumn. Our last house had dozens, of all varieties. For now we only have tulips here, I think. Maybe a few daffodils, but I don't think so. Either way, I'm looking forward to seeing them poking up out of the garden. We need to get some crocus bulbs and snowdrops for next year.

I've been planning the vegetable garden, too. Lemon cucumbers, heirloom tomatoes, beans, chard, radishes, golden beets, lettuces and Chinese greens... We are really looking forward to getting going on all of it. And herbs. Each year I grow Thai Basil, which I adore. I hope my Cotton Candy mint survived the winter. Ditto the parsley and chives. I know the lemon thyme did. I picked some the other day. Such a hardy little plant! The Greek oregano I bought last year wasn't a favourite. I think I'll go back to Italian varieties. I found this particular Greek strain (Kaliteri?) to be too astringent and soapy.

The learning curve is daunting. We're trying a new approach, using a grid to plant in. It will help me tremendously. I suck at proper plant spacing (as I'm sure I'll see evidence of yet again when I see our garlic sprouts). And I've never been good at successive planting. I tend to plant a row, and then have too much at once to deal with. This grid method will hopefully help with that too. We have to construct a few net structures for things like the cukes and tomatoes, so that they grow vertically. Must remember to ask Linda at the Tree and Twig about indeterminate tomato varieties. This is all so new to me.

Even still, it is worth it. There is something so satisfying about walking out into the garden and picking the night's salad. Or enjoying "yard snacks" of beans and raspberries and cherry tomatoes with the kids. Watching them just wander over to a bush and take something and eat it makes me so happy (not that it's a fight to get our kids to eat veggies anyway, thankfully).

I wonder if we'll do potatoes this year? We'd wanted to last year, but didn't have a place for them. Must read some more. I'd love go grow them.

So today I dream. The temps will be around 10C, but very damp. And then comes the rain. Hopefully we won't see it get cold again. I've started to get used to the sunshine and having an open window again.