Accountants can cook?

Birthday cake fit for a movie lover

2011-04-18T07:07:00.002-06:00

I know I'm not on here much anymore - but I'm still reading and loving food blogs....and still cooking up a storm! I just never seem to have the time or inclination to take pictures or write little blurbs about what I'm making. To be honest, I've made some pretty great dishes where I wish I had my camera available to document. That being said I was asked to make a birthday cake for a birthday party for a bunch of teens this weekend......I was stumped until I came across an idea for a popcorn bag cake. It was a cinch to make and the kids all loved it - there was one licorice strip and a thin strip of cake left at the end!

Donuts are a Canadian Right

2010-05-30T08:50:00.002-06:00

See, I'm still here. After much cajoling by my mom and Auntie B yesterday I made a dessert (well, I made it a few days ago)....but I'm going to talk about it for them. Must be love ;) I'm still not really cooking, but I'm golfing, having fun with my motorcycle and working lots. And here's the reason why (see, we'll sneak it into a post)....S and I seperated 6 months ago. That's all there is to say and why I have lived on liverwurst and triscuits for awhile. No desire to cook.

But on to donuts....I am not a huge donut fan. I know....Tim Hortons (the Canadian donut god) would not stay in business if it had to rely on me to buy donuts (coffee and bagels...whole other story). I'm just not a sweets fan and find donuts to be too sugary. A good cake donut is great...an apple fritter or cruller once in awhile. I hate hate hate Krispy Kreme (way to sweet).

But....there is a donut....one special donut that even Tim Hortons doesn't do right. The only time this little donut is good is when it's fresh from a bakery.....preferably some fancy schmancy little bakery that does all things french the right way (also a croissant fiend, but that's not what this is about).

Eclairs....pastry, creamy filling and chocolate....heaven in your mouth. Perfection. Why god created pastry chefs.

Now, I eat maybe one a year. But while perusing Karly at Buns in My Oven's blog, she had a recipe for an eclair cake. And hold your horses.....a NO BAKE eclair cake! With hot weather coming up (or so they say...I'm in Calgary, it's May 30th and snowing this morning)....no bake desserts are every entertainers life saver. I made this for a BBQ extravaganza (yes, in the snow) without high hopes for it going over well with the crowd...I mean, it was a no bake, easy easy dessert.

True to form, I will not serve a dessert unless I take a bite first. I would hate to serve something totally inedible and if a dessert sucks, I'll run to the store to buy ice cream. So I quickly wiggled my spoon into the corner of the dessert and popped it into my mouth while tugging on my shoes to get going to the bbq. And I stopped........I stared at the dessert....I stuck another spoonful in my mouth and leaned against the fridge for support. OH....MY....FREAKING....GOD.......I'm in love. I could have eaten the whole pan! (note my picture does not show the missing corner).

Ladies and gents.....this...this is the cake to make. Last summer it was the Cinnamon Roll Cake but this summer...this is the summer of love...the summer of the eclair cake. Do not turn your nose up at the simple ingredients...it works. The pudding and cool whip mixture do something funky to the graham crackers that make them taste like eclair pastry...and the pre-bought chocolate frosting...it works.....oh does it work.

Now, Karly's pics are way better than mine (I think I had too much filling). But head to your local store, grab the worlds easiest ingredients and pop this in the fridge the night before (so you sleep through the 4 hours it takes to set or you will be wanting to taste test...a lot!).

Éclair Cake

1 package Graham Crackers
2 packages (3.4 oz) instant Vanilla pudding
8 ounces Cool Whip (thawed)
3 cups milk
16 ounces chocolate frosting

In a large bowl, mix together the pudding mix, Cool Whip, and milk. Beat well.

Arrange graham crackers in a single layer on the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Pour half of the pudding mixture over the graham crackers. Add another layer of graham crackers and pour remaining pudding on top. Add the final layer of graham crackers and spread with chocolate frosting. You may need to soften the frosting up a bit in the microwave to help it spread easily.
Refrigerate for at least four hours before serving.

I like pizza

2010-04-11T07:50:00.002-06:00

Make no bones about it, I like pizza. Whether it's chain pizza, greasy pizza, fancy pizza, calzones, strombolis, breakfast or dessert...if it's pizza I am happy. I love trying new and unusual toppings (mmmm, potato and bacon last week) or just having plain cheese. And I routinely say I am only going to have one slice to see that I have polished off 3 :)

I make my own pizza doughs - a proper one with yeast if I have the time and patience, or a biscuit crust recipe handed down from my mother. I use pita bread, french bread, naan bread and canned dough. I'll use regular pizza sauce, alfredo, salsa or hot sauce. I think you get the picture...I like pizza...A LOT.

So while perusing JBug's Kitchen Antics in an effort to not write my essay last week I saw she had made a stromboli roll that looked quick and simple. How wrong can you go with pizza that is dipped in marinara sauce? (Dip is my second favourite food...and we could go on and on about the virtues of dip).

This is truly one of the easiest recipes you can make if you go with a tube of pillsbury pizza dough (like I did). This takes literally not even five minutes to put together - perfect for during the week. And get creative - just about anything could go in here and be tasty (I had one once with broccoli and asparagus...yum!).

After 35 minutes, this beautiful looking roll came out of the oven.

Full of pepperoni, salami, ham, spinach, roasted red pepper and cheese....it tasted just as good on it's own as it did dipped in the marinara.

Stromboli Roll
Adapted from myrecipes.com and JBug's Kitchen Antics

Purchased pizza dough

1-1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
4 ounces sliced pepperoni
4 ounces sliced ham
4 ounces sliced salami
1 cup drained roasted red peppers, patted dry
2 cups fresh spinach, washed and patted dry

1 teaspoon dried oregano
Red pepper flakes to taste
½ tablespoon olive oil

Marinara sauce (I used a herb and garlic sauce)

Preheat oven to 350. Place foil on a large baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and set aside.

On a well floured board or piece of parchment paper, roll prepared dough to a 16 x 9 inch rectangle. Layer ingredients down length of dough, in the center as follows – ½ cheese, pepperoni, ham, peppers, spinach, salami, and remaining half of cheese. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and oregano. Bring long edges of dough together in center and pinch together. Trim short ends with a knife and pinch to seal edges. Place prepared baking sheet upside down on to roll, and flip board and sheet over so floured board is on top with the roll on the sheet seam side down. Remove board carefully and brush roll with olive oil. Cut 6 vents on top with a sharp knife for ventilation, being careful not to cut all the way through.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with marinara sauce on the side.

Weekend of fun and salmon

2010-04-02T09:58:00.006-06:00

So my cousin kindly pointed out to me that she needed some inspiration to cook the other day and was I going to post any new recipes.....and yeah, I guess it has been awhile. Life certainly has been bumpy the past few months and my cooking is minimal if at all (it's been a great diet though...20 pounds and counting).

Anyhow, through the ups and downs of the last 3 months, I did manage to sneak away to Vancouver to visit my baby brother and best friends....a much needed 3 days of laughing, talking and more than one Twentieth Century Martini - my new favourite, but can't find the key ingredient in bloody Calgary to make it.

The trip made me realize that no matter how screwed up I feel my life is, I have lots of people who love me for who I am and don't judge the weird parts of my life...something that I will be eternally grateful for. Sucks they all live 1000 km's away, but it makes it that much more special when you do get a chance to visit.

It was definitely spring in Vancouver while I was there - the flowers were in bloom, birds were singing. In Calgary spring starts June 25th, and then summer 3 days later :) I jest....I saw my first robin on the fence the other night in Calgary (Batman was close behind him but that's a tale for another time).

I am off to golf in a couple hours (with ear muffs...it's still kinda nipply out here) and my motorcycle is ready to go when the gravel is swept off the roads in a few weeks.....time to make the most of life and not stress and worry about every little thing (see mom, I listened).

I was surprised that I found the Olympic tribute statue so interesting. It was still burning for the paralympic games while I was there and I found myself walking by it every morning. Wouldn't this be a fun fire pit to sit around in the summer ;)

How can I not miss the landscape of Vancouver??

Cherry blossoms.......my all time favourite indicator that spring is here.

And last but not least, Stanley Park. It rivals New York's Central Park any day of the week.

Now onto the food....I love Beef Wellington - if it's on the menu in a restaurant I am sure to order it. So while perusing JBug's Kitchen Antics I found myself drooling over her rendition of Salmon Wellington. How can you go wrong with fish, cheese and pastry? I finally tried this recipe with a friend who is not a huge salmon fan but agreed to be my guinea pig so I could cook for a night.

Well am I ever glad I tried this recipe - it has got to be one of the best salmon dishes I have ever made...and not only did I like it, my friend thoroughly enjoyed and has a new appreciation for salmon.

The dish comes together quickly for both the preparation and cooking - and if you are looking to impress someone special or company that is coming over, it's a winner. I served it with roasted asparagus drizzled with olive oil and salt.

I loved the sun dried tomatoes in the recipe and I opted to use herb and garlic cream cheese rather than add spices to plain cream cheese. Enjoy! (D, I hope I maybe inspired you).

Salmon Wellington adapted from JBug's Kitchen Antics

Note – recipe for 2 servings. May be doubled or tripled as required.

1/2 package frozen puff pastry, thawed per package directions

2 6 – 8 ounce pieces Salmon fillet at least 1 inch thick
½ package fresh spinach, cleaned washed and dried well
1/2 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces herb and garlic cream cheese, room temperature
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup drained oil packed sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

At least 1 hour in advance, heat oil in a large saucepan, add onion and cook briefly until onion just starts to sweat. Add garlic and spinach. Cook, tossing ingredients with tongs until spinach has wilted. Add lemon zest and cook 1 more minute. Set aside to cool.

Remove skin from salmon fillet using a very sharp knife. Remove any pin bones from salmon. Set aside.

Combine cream cheese with herbs, salt and pepper. Divide cream cheese in half and top each fillet with cheese, spreading to the edges to cover well. Sprinkle with sun dried tomatoes, then top each fillet with equal portions of cooled spinach mixture.

Roll puff pastry per package instructions and cut to fit fillets. Wrap packages well, sealing all edges and use a knife to remove any excess pastry from sides of packages. Slit tops with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape. Decorate as you wish. Place pastry wrapped fillets on a greased cookie sheet. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400. Brush egg wash evenly over pastry bundles. Bake for 25 minutes until pastry is puffed and golden. Be careful not to over bake.

If you hide a hot dog in a salad.......

2010-03-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

I love food....good food, different food, gourmet food, junk food....pretty much ALL food. Which is why I blog and probably why I spend an inordinate amount of time on my rowing machine every morning at 4:30. But I also have a passion for hot dogs. You know the kind you get off a cart when you are walking in a city? Yep...I can't say no. And I loooooooooooooooove mayo on a hot dog....so if the cart doesn't have mayo I'm very disappointed. In Vancouver I have a passion for Japadog and here in Calgary I may have been known to hit Tubby Dog and have the slaw dog or sumo dog.

But my favourite hot dog ever was the Chi-town dog - a hot dog out of Chicago loaded with coleslaw, mustard, onions, tomatoes, cheese and pickles (anything with pickles is up there in my book). The guy who runs our cafeteria at work serves Chi-town dogs every third Friday - it's probably the highlight of my day when I see it on the menu.

So in the interest of cutting down on the amount of bread I ingest (it's sad....and it's not working) I adapted the Chi-town Dog into a salad!!! If I'm not careful I could eat this every night!

Sorry for the crap picture......it's a salad and the picture just wasn't working.

First make some coleslaw. I used the pre-shredded bagged stuff but make my own dressing with mayo, vinegar and a bit of sugar. Then chop up your onions, tomatoes and pickles and dump on top. Next fry up some sliced hot dogs. I used Butterball turkey franks in another effort to appear healthy. Dump them on top, throw on some shredded cheese and voila.....Chi-town Dog Salad.

Change

2010-02-21T20:29:00.003-07:00

There are some things I come by naturally:

Big ears
A xxx-rated sense of humor
A worry-wart streak
A need to plan

But most of all, I don't cope well with change. This is a trait my dad has as well and not so sure if my brother inherited it, but I dread change. In fact, I will keep myself up for weeks worrying (a mom trait) knowing that a change is coming. Once the change is here though, I am fine...in fact, I'll be the first to tell you that really, it's NOT that bad. In fact, why was I worried at all??

So that being said, my whole world is changing right now. School, personal and professional. At 34 and 3/4 I am heading back to finish my Bachelors. Work is taking on a new dimension with added responsibilities and focuses and personal...well, we'll just go with it's changing (how can it not with school, work and such?).

So it goes without saying when I have something I really like, I don't screw with it. Chocolate chip cookies are in that category for me - I make the same recipe my mom has made since I was a baby and they are the ultimate comfort cookie for me.

But last week, Susan over at Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy blogged about trying a new cookie. One that she seemed totally enthralled with - Candied Bacon Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Now, I think bacon makes all things better - you can't go wrong with salty, crispy bacon. And I routinely keep recipes for desserts that call for bacon (bacon baklava anyone?) but have yet to actually venture outside my comfort zone and attempt them. This morning though, I brought out the pound of bacon and thought...meh, if everything else is up on it's ear, I may as well make something a bit different.

First the candied bacon. Oh wow....oh man....um...I had to make a second batch of bacon because the first batch was too good to waste on a cookie. Seriously, the sweet and salty taste of this bacon was out of this world! One hint though, if you are using aluminum foil make it big enough so the bacon fat/melted sugar does not hit the cookie sheet at all. It took me half an hour to peel the aluminum foil off.

As for the cookies......well, as I said, once the change is done I'm usually fine. And believe me, I was more than fine with these cookies. The cookie recipe Susan uses was delicious...and the bacon addition? If you like sweet and salty combos, this is the real deal. These cookies were the ultimate sweet and salty combo.

I left my bacon in bigger chunks rather than bacon bits. They were like salty raisins in the cookie. I took them to some friends to try who knew I was embarking on this little experiment....with trepidation they each took a cookie....and were also converted to the dark side (come to the dark side, we have cookies!).

Candied Bacon-Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy)

Candied Bacon-Chocolate Chunk Cookies adapted from The Great Book of Chocolate

Ingredients:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1 large egg1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup Candied Bacon Bits (recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line three baking sheets with a Silpat liner or parchment paper.
2. Beat the sugars and butter together until smooth. Mix in the egg, vanilla, and baking soda. Whisk together the flour and salt, then sift them into the batter. Stir in the chocolate chunks and bacon bits.
3. Using a small cookie scoop or a teaspoon, scoop the cookie dough into small balls, about 1-inch in diameter, and place them 2 inches apart on each of the baking sheets.
4. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Rotate sheets halfway through baking for even browning. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
The cookies can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for 3-4 days, if they last that long!
Makes about 3 dozen 2-inch cookies.

Candied Bacon Bits adapted from David Lebovitz

Ingredients:
8 strips bacon

1/2 cup light brown sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil, shiny side down.
3. Sprinkle half of the brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes. Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the dark, syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet. Add the rest of the brown sugar and continue to bake until a deep mahogany color. Remove from oven and cool the strips on a wire rack.
5. Once crisp and cooled, chop into little pieces, about the size of grains of rice.
Candied bacon bits can be stored in an airtight container and chilled for a day or so, or stored in the freezer a few weeks ahead.

Comfort food

2010-02-07T13:33:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the absence - way too much going on and blah blah blah. Can't say I'll be cooking every day, but I need to at least once a week to keep my sanity. Something about chopping etc. That being said, I have registered to finish my Bachelor of Commerce degree - I start in 3 weeks. I'm excited because all the hard math and accounting courses are already done - the courses that I am taking are things like, Intro to Spanish and Religious studies....the fun stuff :) It'll take a few years with working full time (ok, more than full time, but that keeps my boss happy). That coupled with some personal stuff, year end at work and budget meetings and audits meant I have once again lived on the mints in the bottom of my purse (although this has been great for keeping that pneumonia weight loss intact).

So instead of watching the Superbowl like everyone else seems to be today, I thought I'd whip up some comfort food. I love Jamie Oliver - he cooks, he has an accent.....did I say he has an accent? Wow. OK....I am maybe a little partial to accents.

So I set to work on his chicken stew recipe. Good old-fashioned comfort food - nothing fancy or tricky about this.

Start by chopping up your veggies in a bit of olive oil and letting them sweat. The usual - carrots, celery, garlic, onions and some fresh thyme.

Add 1 pound of diced chicken thighs and flour and brown. Deglaze with wine, add tomatoes. Then the best part of his recipe - he tells you to walk away for 90 minutes and have sex, read, whatever (best cooking instructions ever).

Take the lid off for another 30 minutes and voila, perfect chicken stew. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes or a big old hunk of whole grain bread. This is the perfect winter comfort food - and there is still some wine leftover to enjoy :)

Basic Chicken Stew
Adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution, Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 stalks of celery, diced
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 heaping tablespoon of flour
- one 14oz can of diced tomatoes
- few sprigs of thyme
- 1 lb of skinless chicken thighs, diced (can substitute chicken breasts)
- 2 cups of white wine

1) Prep all of the vegetables. They don't need to be exact in size. Just rustic, rough chopping will do here. In a hot pot or dutch oven, add glug of olive oil, add the vegetables and thyme and cook for about 10 minutes over medium-low/medium heat. Season lightly with salt and pepper. The onions will be soft and translucent.

2) After the vegetables have finished sweating down, raise the heat to high then add the diced chicken and flour. Cook the chicken until it's no longer pink on the outside and the flour's cooked off.

3) Deglaze the bottom of the pot with the white wine and add the can of diced tomatoes. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon and pick up all of that delicious, good, brown stuff.

4) Add chicken broth until it just covers the chicken and vegetables. Bring the stew up to a boil.

5) Once it's at a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, put on a lid and walk away for 90 minutes. Quote Ruhlman, "Watch some TV, play with the kids, read, have a cocktail, have sex..."

6) For the final 30 minutes of cooking, remove the lid to reduce the liquid. Stir it once in a while to prevent the vegetables and chicken from scorching on the bottom.

7) Once reduced to your preference, serve. Great with rice or bread and amazing the day after

Happy January? Not quite yet.

2010-01-17T18:32:00.003-07:00

I seem to have been missing a lot lately - blogging, cooking, commenting on blogs. I've had a rough few weeks where I have eaten nothing more complicated than triscuits and liverwurst. I can't say that I'll be cooking at my regular intervals in the coming months while I sort through the personal junk, but cooking and baking are my "de-stressors". I have thought long and hard about this and last night I made a meal for some friends (ravioli with smoked salmon in a vodka cream sauce....too die for) and I realized how badly I need that outlet for my stress. I also realize how much I miss my blogging friends that I have made - if anyone wants to connect in a less "public" way my email is in my profile.

I will make an effort after budget meetings and audits are done to cook or bake at least one thing a week that is blog-worthy to share with you guys. Other than that my dear readers, you may be subjected to my rambling about current events or whatever else captures my imagaination.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-21T10:42:00.001-07:00

Wishing you all a happy holidays! I'm going to take a bit of a break from blogging....life just seems to get in the way of cooking and crap. Hope to be back in the New Year, recharged and ready to go. Stay warm and have fun (or a few martinis at least!).

Spreading xmas cheer

2009-12-09T06:30:00.001-07:00

My best friend A sent me this clip a few years ago when I was going through a rough period before Christmas. It is my advent calendar...I watch it ever day as I count down from December 1st to December 25th. If you aren't smiling at the end of this, you are broken :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6NDXYrzioA&feature=related#watch-main-area

How cold is -30 Celsius?

2009-12-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

Yes that's right, -30 Celsius, that is what the temperature was today. And for those of you who don't know how cold that is.....

1. Your coffee in the insulated to go cup that is supposed to keep it hot for an hour lasts 15 minutes.

2. Grabbing the handle of your truck without gloves leaves layers of skin on the handle. And then you are pissed off because you are missing a layer of epidermis and the truck won't start.

3. Standing outside without a jacket on hurts, and you are forced to wear hats with ear flaps (although I personally think they are quite trendy).

4. You walk around with permanently erect nipples (I work with all men, I didn't hear any complaints).

5. You finally break down and wear socks and a jacket rather than just dashing between the house, truck and work and praying that you get the doors unlocked quickly enough to ward off frostbite.

6. You can leave all frozen foods bought at the grocery store in the truck....for days... and they will still be frozen solid.

There is no cure for this kind of temperature shock other than pack up the parkas, sweaters and mittens and move to Hawaii.......a thought I am seriously entertaining. The only reason I like winter weather is it's easier to hide the lumpy bits that I call my body behind a sweater rather than behind a bathing suit.

Winter weather calls for a slow cooker meal. Something without a fuss that can be thrown together literally in seconds. Recipegirl had a post for an Easy Chicken Santa Fe that looked intriguing. How easy you ask? In between the frantic scooping and tasting of Cinnamon Jumbo Cookies I opened a can of black beans and 2 cans of corn. Mixed in some medium salsa. Threw some chicken thighs on top, poured on more salsa and done. 3 hours on high in the slow cooker and the meat was fork tender. Shred the thighs, cut up an 8 oz brick of cream cheese and stir until combined. And you get this:

A delicious, spicy, cheesy sauce that goes great over rice. I cannot believe how much flavour this recipe had. The goddaughter informed me she would eat it but would need to pick out the black beans. Fair enough. After the second helping when I pointed out there wasn't a picked out bean to be had on her plate, she told me she forgot they were there. High praise from a 13 year old I think......coupled with her love of the cinnamon jumbos, her 2 helpings of dinner and a lot of homemade pickles, that kid made me feel like Julia Child.

You can find the recipe HERE.

If they have no calories, why do I have a stomach ache?

2009-12-07T06:38:00.001-07:00

Everybody has a Christmas treat that they love....and that you are allowed to bestow the "calorie free" moniker upon. The rules to this game though:

1. It has to be something you don't get everywhere
2. It can only be made for Christmas.
3. It has to be something you have loved since you could only crawl (no, crawling after downing the bottle of vodka at the xmas party does NOT count).

For me, that calorie free goodie is Cinnamon Jumbo Cookies. My mom has made these forever and they only get made at Christmas. I have many a fond memory of these cookies - including being grounded for calling my Opa a bugger because he wouldn't sneak more for me!

Now, if you have a PNE, Calgary Stampede or other fair type event in your vicinity, you have undoubtedly had cinnamon covered mini-donuts. That what these cookies taste like. Donuty, sugary, cinnamony goodness. You will not stop at one.....hell, I just ate 6. Yes, yes....I hear the rowing machine calling to me (happy to report that 8 pounds I lost with pneumonia has stayed off me!).

Update: I ate 7....on a dare from the neighbor husband that I couldn't get a cookie off the plate with my hands behind my back and my motorcycle helmet on. I did it so I got the cookie :)

Cinnamon Jumbo Cookies - adapted from Mom

1/2 cup butter
2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix margarine, sugar and egg thoroughly. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla.Blend together flour, soda and salt. Stir into above mixture.
Chill dough; about 2 hours.

** 1/4 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix together.**

Drop rounded teaspoonful of dough 2 inches apart on lightly
greased baking sheet.Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake in 400 º F. oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

Yields: about 4 dozen.

Update

2009-12-06T16:12:00.002-07:00

S is home from the hospital and on the mend. Thank you for everyones kind words!! And he got home not a moment too soon on Thursday - Friday we had a blizzard. I have never seen it snow so much or so fast as it did Friday afternoon. I closed our office early and sent my staff home at 2.......and I didn't make it in the door until almost 8:30 that night. There were vehicles in the ditch everywhere, 80 km/hour winds and snow drifts that were taller than me!

These hedges come up to my neck....and the drifts are that high.

Hey Dave - betcha wanna bbq at my house huh?

How many more months until spring?

When it rains it pours....

2009-12-02T05:57:00.002-07:00

Well, now that I'm recovered, S has been in the hospital all week with pneumonia....no cooking for me as I travel back and forth from work to the hospital - doritos for dinner and a glass of wine for a bedtime snack! Looking forward to getting back to normal next week!

Artery clogging at its finest

2009-11-29T22:10:00.000-07:00

I know I have blogged before about not being a big sweets lover. I mean, don't try to pry the cookie from my hands once it's there because I will beat you to death with it (if I can't indulge, no one can). But if you pass me the cookie tray or a cheese platter at a party, I will be the anti-social dork who ambles off with all of the cheese, ne'er to be seen again.

I am Dutch. Dutch people like cheese. And wooden shoes but that's a different blog post. My earliest memory of good cheese - not the supermarket kind, but the kind that comes on huge wax covered wheels - must have been pre-R. Pre-R is pre-little brother - there's almost a 6 year gap and all the fun stuff happened before you R!!! (ha..not, you are the fun stuff and I can't wait to see you Sunday). Anyhow, I digress, the pre-R memory was of a deli somewhere that took awhile to drive too. And there was an older bald guy behind the counter and he always gave me the ends of the meat he was cutting and a piece of cheese. All I remember is thinking it was the best treat ever! And then learning to NOT rub your eyes after holding salami...it burns.

To this day if I am looking to nibble or grab a quick bite to eat I head for the cheese drawer in my fridge. You will always find cheddar, parmesan, mozzarella, goat cheese, gouda, havarti, gruyere and brie. Lately there has been Guinness cheddar, blueberry cheese and a great goats brie that you can't go wrong with.

I was getting to the point where some of the cheeses needed to be used up so I could replace them and I hauled out a recipe for Modern Mac and Cheese that I had seen in Chatelaine. And here's where the artery clogging comes in...this recipe calls for 1 1/2 pounds of cheese...before the log of goats cheese! Heart attack on a plate? Maybe. A lot of salt from the prosciutto? Yes. Worth the 45 minutes on the rowing machine after?? You betcha!

This is it...THIS is the ultimate mac and cheese recipe. I have found it....I am in love. Until I see the next recipe for mac and cheese I want to try, this is the go to recipe if you are a cheese lover.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Grandma in a box.....

2009-11-27T06:54:00.002-07:00

After perusing all my U.S. blogging friends delicious looking Thanksgiving recipes, I'm amazed at how many people have tried and true recipes that are passed down from family. And honestly, it makes me a teensy bit jealous!

My mom is a great cook/baker - but I was an obstinate teenager that refused to participate in anything domestic at our house. The few times Mom would try to teach me to make something would turn into an all out war......until Dad would clear his throat and fold his newspaper up. As I've gotten older I have gotten some great recipes from mom that I love...but they never taste the same as when she makes them (mom....I can't make a cinnamon jumbo cookie to save my life!).

And as for grandma's......dad's mom lived 1000's of km's away in Europe. I have a few recipes from her - olliebollen, rouladen - but not enough to actually be excited about. And for mom's mom....well, let's just say if you want to know how to make a jello salad, she was your woman!

So imagine my excitement when I came across a cookbook from heirloom cooking! These recipes have been passed down generation to generation...it's a Grandma in a box! Ok...Grandma in a book, but the book arrived in a box and seriously...that just sounds funnier (no casket jokes intended people!).

Now who doesn't love a good meatball? When I saw the 1920's recipe for Swedish Meatballs I started my Swedish Chef impression and got to work. Now, I admit there are some updates to these recipes....I don't think a food processor was the tool du jour in the 1920's......but holy crap does Grandma in box deliver!

Hands down these were the best meatballs I have ever tasted! The flavour of just the meatball was outstanding....the addition of nutmeg in my mind makes everything sing. And the use of two types of ground meat, half and half and cracker crumbs....ooooooooooooooooooh I was in heaven.

I am also not much of a sour cream fan, so was skeptical of how much sour cream was being used to make the sour cream sauce. Fear not...if you like stroganoff (I do), this tastes similar. I can't wait to try some more recipes from this book!

Arline Ryan's Swedish Meatballs with Sour Cream Sauce (1920s) - adapted from Heirloom Cooking with the Brass Sisters

1 1/2 pounds ground veal (I used lean ground beef)

3/4 pound ground pork

1 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup light cream or half and half (I used half and half)

2 tbsp flour

3/4 cup saltine cracker crumbs

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup white wine

1 x 14 oz can chicken stock

2 tbsp flour

2 1/3 cups sour cream

1. Place beef and pork in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process until smooth. Add onion, cream or half and half, cracker crumbs, flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Pulse until texture is almost as smooth as a paste. Remove mixture from food processor and shape into balls, using about 2 tbsp for each meatball.

2. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in each of 2 large frying pans over medium heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning with tongs, until evenly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of white wine and 1/2 can of chicken stock to each pan and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Remove pans from heat. Remove meatballs to a platter and set aside. Consolidate all of the cooking juices in one pan. Whisk 1/4 cup of the warm pan juices with the flour in a small bowl, return to pan and whisk to blend. Set pan over low heat and bring to a bare simmer; do not allow sauce to boil. Whisk in sour cream a few tablespoons at a time. Return meatballs to pan and turn in sauce until completely heated through.

And I am back......

2009-11-22T15:45:00.004-07:00

Well, mostly back.....who knew pneumonia could take so much out of you? I'm happy to say I'm not coughing up a lung anymore but still a bit tired. And I can so operate on tired (hell I have for the past 3 years), so back to the grindstone at work tomorrow!

I braved the office xmas party last night too. Sorry, holiday party. 500 people and I made it through dinner and the awards...then home. I am not particularly in the mood for festivities of any kind - but it was an excuse to wear the very cute 1950's Mad Men'esque style dress that K and I spent a lot of hours looking for! For those that were brave enough to risk my germs and get close to me, they got to see that every other black stripe in the dress was see through (um yeah...I wore a black slip underneath....nobody saw nothin'!)

After living on toast, gatorade and bananas for 2 weeks (and still fitting into jeans that haven't seen the light of day for 3 years...insert happy dance), I was in the mood to bake something today. I didn't want to do anything too ambitious, and Joe and Jeff over at Culinary in the Desert routinely have the most delicious looking baking I have ever seen.

Now, their pics turned out 1000 times better, but these cookies are so good. Almost like a two bite brownie with....wait for it......a rolo shoved in the middle! The neighbor husband and goddaughter dubbed these the belly button cookies after watching me quickly stuff rolos into the centers once they were cooked.

I love caramel - way more than chocolate. So this cookie offers up the best of both worlds - chocolate for the chocaholic and caramel for....me. I think I may have over baked one of the batches but the overall flavour is great. Think two-bite brownie meets coffee meets caramel.

Chocolate Caramel Espresso Chews (Adapted from Land O Lakes and Culinary in the Desert)

For the dough

1 tablespoon milk

1 1/2 teaspoons instant espresso powder or coffee granules

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

16 tablespoons (2 sticks or 1 cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted

48 Rolo candies, unwrapped

For the glaze

1/2 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

1 cup confectioners' sugar

To prepare the dough

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, stir together milk and espresso powder.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars until smooth and creamy. Beat in dissolved espresso powder and milk mixture. Mix in eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each. Mix in vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in pecans.

Shape dough into 1 1/4" balls, lightly flouring your hands as needed to prevent sticking. Set balls into miniature muffin tins lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Place into the oven and baked until puffed and set, about 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and quickly, but carefully, press 1 candy piece, top-side down, into each cookie. Set aside and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge of each individual muffin well, then gently remove cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

To prepare the glaze

In a small bowl, stir espresso powder into 1 tablespoon water. Stir in confectioners' sugar - if it is too thick to drizzle, stir in enough of the remaining tablespoon hot water to thin. Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Makes 48 cookies.

Great way to lose weight.....

2009-11-18T08:03:00.002-07:00

Get pneumonia. Yep...what I thought was just another cold landed me in the hospital this weekend with pneumonia. After tons ofs drugs, today is the first day I can stay upright for more than 5 minutes (although I am quickly wearing out here).

Being a Type A workaholic, this is driving me nuts. It's budget time at work and I can't do anything....3 more days until I'm "allowed" to go to work. That's not to say I'm not going to sneakily work from home tomorrow (yep, today I am sleeping).

I will be cooking next week....promise promise promise. I haven't eaten anything more complicated than toast the past 5 days - great way to shed 5 pounds and fit into that Xmas party dress!

Seriously...again?

2009-11-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

I seem to be sick again. Every 3 years I go through a cycle where I catch every bug out there. This seems to be that year. So once again, my cooking has been at a minimum this week (sorry). I did manage to take the goddaughter for sushi and to her first ballet. Unfortunately the ballet sucked and I fear I may have ruined that particular cultural experience for her. Nevertheless, the kids a trooper and we will try again with another ballet hopefully in the near future (maybe the Nutcracker?)

Cate over at Sweetnicks posted a muffin recipe a couple of weeks back that had me drooling. Banana, espresso and chocolate chip muffins - I mean, could you imagine such a thing? Unfortunately I never seem to have overripe bananas at my place as I eat one or two a day. I hid a couple though so I could attempt this recipe on the weekend.

I made 12 of these guys, and oh my god. They were easy, tasty and gone in 2 days. I only ate 2. S ate however many and the goddaughter snuck a couple out of the house with her. I would up the espresso powder though the next time I make these - there wasn't that much of a coffee flavour I found. Or my espresso powder is getting old and needs to be replaced. For something that was in the oven 10 minutes after I decided to make them, you can't really go wrong.

Banana Espresso Chocolate Chip Muffins

Recipe courtesy of Sweetnicks

1-1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4)

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup milk

1 large egg

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (6 ounces) chocolate chips (I used dark)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Yield: 12 muffins

Oh la la la lasagna

2009-11-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

There are some things that happen when you grow up that shape your existence. I'm not talking about anything overly traumatic, just some "things" that parents say or do that stay with you forever. And this one I blame on my dad..........no Christmas anything in the house until after December 1. We were forbidden from playing Christmas carols before that. Oh the records would start creeping out towards the record player (how old am I...dammit), but we knew better! Heaven forbid Dad hear a jingling bell or a ho ho ho or anything before the first!

And I get it.....I get that November is too early. It pains me to see Christmas decorations out already and the stores doing their holiday push. I get that it's a fun time of year, but seriously - why not start the rush in say July?? Or hell, leave the tree up all year long!

But even the best laid plans go awry. In my staunch NO CHRISTMAS BEFORE DECEMBER 1st rule, my goddaughter who had just gotten over the flu last week wanted to go to a movie. And she wanted to see the 3D A Christmas Carol to boot. Who am I to deny a cute 13 year old a movie after a week of painful coughing????? So off we went, pretzel bites in tow and I allowed myself to enjoy a Christmas movie....before Remembrance Day. (No Shauna, no xmas carols in the office STILL until Dec 1st)..........

After the movie though I had an intense craving for lasagna. I have a tried and true recipe that I have yet to blog about.......not sure why as I am sure I've made it this year. But this is not that recipe! Nope, I had been eyeballing the Pumpkin Lasagna in the latest Food TV magazine. It looked good and really, I am a sucker for pumpkin anything.

I didn't find the recipe all that time consuming to make. The flow of the cooking steps was actually pretty smooth - not a lot of hurry up and wait or things that needed to be done all at the same time. It looked (and smelled) fabulous coming out of the oven. I went with a spicy Italian sausage for the meat and only used one zucchini...I would recommend going with 2 though next time.

Tell me why I can never get a good picture of lasagna straight out of the pan?

The verdict? Great!! I like this version as much as my tried and true recipe. You cannot really taste the pumpkin at all. It lends a slightly nutty taste to the lasagna (think butternut squash flavour) and the texture is on par with the ricotta. I actually ate the leftovers on this one for dinner last night! I definitely recommend stepping outside your comfort zone for lasagna and trying this recipe.

You can find the recipe HERE.

If it's not going to be fuzzy purse mints.....

2009-11-09T06:24:00.000-07:00

If I am not going to be chowing down on the mints at the bottom of my purse, I am going to need carbs. Lots and lots of carbs. And please don't forget the cheese - if you are beyond stressed, everything can be made better by the addition of cheese. And what the hell...you may as well throw in pre-packaged fake cheese goodness and fries. I mean.....if your calorie count is going to hell in a hand-basket, it may as well be a good and bumpy ride!

I was indulging in a tiny bit of stress related food porn last week and was perusing The Cooking Photographers website when a picture caught my eye. A picture of fries....and cheese and hell, just the ultimate "I've worked too much in the last 14 days and what kind of crap can I shovel into my body" recipe that I was looking for.

I quickly bought the ingredients and headed home. S raised an eyebrow when he saw me willingly unload a grocery bag that had frozen fries, ground beef AND Dorito chili con queso dip. I am pretty sure that boy thought he'd hit the "boy food" jackpot.

I am pretty sure this pan has at least 1,000,000 calories on it.

But it was worth it.....every last damn bite of it. And then the next morning I made friends with my rowing machine....again.

Green chili cheeseburger french fry casserole - adapted from The Cooking Photographer

Ingredients

1 ½ pounds extra lean ground beef

1 onion, diced

1 (7 ounce) can diced mild green chiles

1 jar Doritos chili con queso cheese sauce

1 heaping cup shredded cheddar cheese

About 1 pound frozen shoe string french fries

A sprinkle of salt for fries

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Get out a 9x13 inch Pyrex pan and a large skillet.

2. Cook the ground beef and onions together over medium high heat until no longer pink, Strain off the fat and place the meat mixture back in the pan.

3. Add the chiles and nacho cheese sauce to the pan and stir into the meat. Cook for about four minutes on medium low until combined and warmed through.

4. Pour the meat mixture into the 9x13 inch pan. Spread out and top with shredded cheddar. Top with frozen fries and sprinkle lightly with salt.

5. Bake for 30 minutes.

A little late, but here's my Hallowe'en cupcakes

2009-11-08T09:15:00.002-07:00

Flu is done. 14 hour workdays, not so much. But after a week of dinners consisting of fuzzy mints found in the bowels of my purse and Halloween candy, I'm ready to start cooking again! I've got a busy week planned with the ballet, S's birthday dinner and a girls night, but there will be a few recipes popping up finally! And I'll finally have time to start commenting on everyone's blogs - man I miss reading what you guys are cooking!

So, in honor of Halloween I made devil's food cupcakes. I went with a mix, but doctored it up by adding more cocoa powder and subbing out most of the oil for buttermilk. Very tasty! I used my mom's infamous icing recipe and turned those little devils into mummies! (note the irony.....mommy's icing recipe for the mummy cupcakes).

They turned out pretty good for a quick decorating job.

And finally, here's is the winning pumpkin in our annual office pumpkin carving contest. Sue did a fabulous job with this...how could it not win??!!

Still Alive....

2009-11-03T07:34:00.003-07:00

Barely alive anyways. Between the flu and some wonky work hours while we take over a new company I haven't really cooked anything for 2 weeks! I will rectify that this coming weekend...once work is back to under 14 hour days!

Here's a pic of my office staff for our annual Halloween party at work. We had a blast and I'll put more up once I get them off my camera!

Sloppy sloppy sloppy

2009-10-22T06:15:00.001-06:00

This is the time of year where I start gearing up to work wonky hours. We have audits, inventories, year end, meetings...you name it and we do it between October and February which means weird hours at work. So you will see more quick and easy weeknight meals and the fun, lengthy stuff on the weekends. But, as I am learning, quick and easy doesn't mean less tasty!

I find Chatelaine (a Canadian magazine) always has great recipes for the time crunched cooks among us. I had a recipe for a meat sauce dog eared for a bit now - they call it South of the Border sauce. Really, there is nothing horrendously special about this. Ground beef, pasta sauce, salsa - not much going on there. They suggest serving over crusty bread, but I picked up some whole wheat kaiser rolls instead. The sauce was not bad - very much like a sloppy joe sauce. But what made the meal.................

Was topping this with sliced avocado and cheese. Yum!!! I served them open faced with a fork and knife. I would recommend adding some black beans perhaps next time....or some chipotle chilis. I used chipotle tabasco sauce which added a slight smokiness. This sauce would taste great on top of rice!

You can find the recipe HERE.

Another confession....I cheated

2009-10-21T07:31:00.000-06:00

Since it's the week for confessions, there you go...I cheated. And no, before the moral police (mom) come crashing through my door........not that kind of cheated!!!

It's no secret that I have a slight fascination with anything Spanish. Spain is in my top 5 places (OK....it's the top place in the 5) to go on a holiday. I love the food, the culture, the language...the sangria, the Spanish men with accents (sorry S).....and I especially love Paella (see original recipe here).

Paella, like risotto, is one of those meals that takes some time and effort to cook, and on a weeknight, who has that? Since I was off to Kevin the magic hands man after work (and yes....wonderful massage. You know it's good if you catch yourself almost drooling while lying on the table), I was going to be a bit late getting home. And since S and his buddy were busy, it was 8 p.m. before I started cooking dinner. So tonight was a recipe for Cheater Paella.

I am not one for quick versions of food (except stroganoff), so I was hesitant to try this. There is no rice (uh oh), there is no saffron (blasphemy!). How good could this be?

I won't go so far as to say it was amazing. It was quick (20 minutes, start to finish), and I could barely taste the olives. I used hot chorizo instead of mild and the flavours surprisingly resembled paella. And couscous as we all know is the little miracle grain that requires nothing more than boiling liquid and a lid on your pot - it worked well as a rice substitute.

If you are looking for a quick meal and want to pretend you are in Spain, I'd recommend it. If it is a Saturday night though, do the prep work and go for the real thing.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Melt in your mouth........

2009-10-20T06:45:00.000-06:00

First I'd like to thank Natashya at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies for dubbing me Ms. Tinglepants last night.....I've been laughing ever since!

Now onto the order of the day. The best laid plans never seem to work out for me. I had a great cheater paella recipe all set to go for dinner last night, but alas, work gets in the way (imagine singing this to the tune of Smoke Gets In Your Eyes). By the time I got home it was after 8 last night and all I could muster the energy for was a bagel and a cup of tea before geeking out and watching Big Bang Theory. Thankfully, I had Sunday's dinner pics downloaded already so I am good to go. Tonight will be cheater paella tonight....after a much deserved hour long massage with Kevin. The man has magic hands....he talks to much...but magic hands. I'll be all gushy and loose (uh...guess that sounds kind of raunchy) by the time he's done!

OK...so since I've rediscovered my slow cooker I am quite enthusiastic when I stumble across a recipe that calls for it. I had 2 slabs of baby back ribs in the freezer from the summer and was contemplating bbq'ing on Sunday. It was cold and rainy though and I remember I had bookmarked a recipe for sweet and spicy ribs in the slow cooker.

You need to layer the ribs and sauce in the slow cooker...so here's the first layer. Really, this is so simple.

Saute some ginger, garlic and green onions in a bit of oil and then dump the rest of the sauce ingredients into a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 or 10 minutes.

After 4 hours in the slow cooker, I was dubious if that would be enough time to make these baby back ribs tender. Oh my freaking god....they fell off the bone (hee hee)....the meat was fork tender and had the most amazing flavour. This wasn't spicy at all, just a subtle smokiness from the chili sauce and hot sauce.

The sauce was amazing on some garlic mashed potatoes and someone (S) ate quite a few slabs of ribs. I didn't see many in the fridge for leftovers. And on a side note....don't accidentally put a rib bone done the garbage disposal...oops!

You can find the recipe HERE.

Do you have food in your blackberry??

2009-10-19T05:48:00.003-06:00

I resisted the urge to get my blackberry for a long time. I didn't want to be that in touch with my world.....it's overwhelming enough as it is! But, I succumbed to the peer pressure of the wireless sales guy, and got a lovely new shiny blackberry a few months ago.

This blackberry has changed my life...although I'm not sure if it's for the better. I can receive email (check), message with my best friends who are miles away (check), and manage my work and personal calendars which are synced to this little black device (check). I've even gone so far as to put my meal plan each week into the blackberry - lest I forget what I was making for supper when I finally find my way back to my kitchen.

The blackberry recently has been used on drink nights for S and the neighbor husband to coerce me into making their favourite cookie. These 2 grown men would be more than happy if this was the only morsel of baking to come out of my kitchen....EVER. When I say I'm going to bake one or the other is hounding me for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. If one happens to be out of hearing range for the conversation, the other one chimes in with lots of encouragement that it be THAT cookie day. Finally we came to an agreement...that cookie will be made every 6 weeks (this is not that week). But, next week is, so I'm bound to have some very happy people around my oven.

The point of this is today I felt like being lazy. Super lazy....think not moving from the couch because it's rainy and I'm reading the new Dan Brown book (loving it!). I was all settled in.....cup of lemon tea, blanket, music in the background, book open on my lap.....and then I felt it. That little tingly vibration from deep in my pants pocket. OK....normally any time my pants are vibrating I'm happy to find out why. Oh who am I kidding, I'm happy to let them vibrate! But, I dutifully pulled the blackberry out to see this reminder pop up:

"CINNAMON BUN COOKIES"

Ah yes, I was going to bake a cookie that was fated apparently. Not only did I come across them in a Taste of Home magazine, but also at Stick To Your Hips blog the same week. But...meh...I'll hit cancel and delete the reminder...I mean, it's nice to be lazy.

And then 15 minutes later, another vibration and another reminder for these damn cookies. I must have had it in two different calendars and two different times for this stupid little device to be taunting me and throwing my laziness right back in my face.

And you know what? I caved. I hauled my ass off the couch and peer pressure from the blackberry made me make the most delicious cookie I've tried in a long time. And you know what??? They were damn easy. The pastry is almost like a pie crust. Butter, cream cheese, vanilla, salt and flour. Mix it all up and into the fridge for an hour. Spread the sugar and cinnamon mixture on after rolling the dough out, roll up and refrigerate for another half an hour. Slice and bake. Pre-baking I was kind of just annoyed that I had allowed my lazy day to be interrupted.

Post baking I was in love. The dough is flaky and tender. I'm contemplating trying this out in an apple pie recipe next week! The cinnamon/sugar combo......exactly as you would expect it. Delicious, light and sweet, these cookies are going to be made often!

And people say peer pressure is bad!

Cinnamon Bun Cookies
adapted from Taste of Home

1 cup butter, softened
One 8-ounce pkg cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

In a large bowl beat the butter, cream cheese, and vanilla until fluffy. Combine the flour and salt and gradually beat it into the butter mixture.

Divide dough in two and wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour. Combine cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a rectangle - about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the sugar mixture to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Roll up tightly - starting at either the short or long edge. (Starting at the short edge will give you a fatter log, and bigger cookies.) Wrap log tightly and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice logs into 3/8 inch slices and place two inches apart on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack

Ok...so maybe I lied.......

2009-10-18T08:40:00.002-06:00

First off, let me say thanks to Dave over at My Year on the Grill for the wonderful award (apparently I give good blog....and uh...other things that aren't food blog appropriate) and the blurb he wrote about my blog. This man is beyond talented when it comes to his grill. I'm talking desserts, side dishes.....this man has it going on! I really wish I lived a bit closer to him and his wife.....I think I may invite myself to dinner every night given the chance! And hopefully he's having a blast in New Orleans this weekend...very jealous that he ate dinner at NOLA.

I'd like to pass the award on to two of my new favourites:

Nat over at Girls are made of.....check out the seriously beautiful cheesecake she just made!

And Pierce over at Life in Squirrelhead Manor. She's a hoot...loves Nigella, has become a fun email friend and....just bought herself the sister bike to mine. Can you say road trip? Wonder where the mid-way point is between Calgary and Florida??

Ok, so now that I professed to not eat leftovers....I will confess that is a tiny bit of a lie. My mother pointed out that I love her leftover meatloaf sandwiches. So yes.....I do. And I will eat leftover turkey. Actually, this time I had to. After spending $69 on a huge turkey, even I felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of throwing out all that meat. I sent over a huge bag to the goddaughter who is a turkey'aholic.....that kid could eat turkey sandwiches every day and be happy I bet!

As for me......

Nothing beats a hot turkey sandwich with stuffing and gravy. Doesn't it look like the perfect cold weather food?? And.....

Pizza....yep, turkey pizza. Why not? I adapted my favourite chicken, bacon and ranch pizza to be turkey, prosciutto and alfredo sauce. This used up the last of the turkey and for a quick throw together pizza...not bad! Now, I am off to enjoy my coffee (with bailey's) and then to get groceries. I'm back in the swing of things with planning meals......what could be better than baking some cookies today and throwing something delicious in the crockpot??

The last of the brussels sprouts

2009-10-17T07:29:00.001-06:00

I have a confession to make. A deep dark secret. One that would make my mother's eyeballs roll back into her head and send chills down her spine. You know...the kind that the people who raised you would be appalled to hear. And I'm going to share it with you all here on a blog........(hope you had your coffee already mom)...............

I don't eat my leftovers. Barring leftover turkey, there is not a single leftover that I eat.

Nope........I do all this cooking and baking and if S or someone else does not partake of what is left in the fridge, then it's done for. Luckily S has a pretty gigantic appetite and most leftovers are packed off in his lunch. If he doesn't eat it, I'm not to sure what happens...it magically leaves the fridge and I don't worry about it. Growing up in a household where we were admonished to eat every last bite on our plate as there were starving children in the world, this could be akin to blasphemy for my mom that I don't use all that food up :)

On that note, I did manage to use up the leftover "uncooked" Brussels sprouts in a deliciously healthy pasta dish. I wouldn't say that it was a wow, but it was healthy (after a week of indulgence, AKA cheesecake, healthy was good).

This was a recipe that you will definitely have to like Brussels sprouts for (sorry Dave) because the taste isn't masked by much.

You can find the recipe HERE.

And finally....thanksgiving dessert

2009-10-16T06:28:00.001-06:00

There are things in life that just make you happy:

The colour orange

A Michael Buble song

Finding $20 in your winter jacket from last year

One of your staff showing up with a latte for you in the a.m. because they know you'll have a rough day.

And cheesecake.

Yes.....cheesecake. There is something about that first bite of cheesecake that just makes everything right in the world. That creamy texture, the slightly tangy bite, the sweet crust....I mean really, what else do you need at that point?

I am talking about Apple Pie Cheesecake.

I made this recipe last Thanksgiving as well (although in a different venue 900 km's away). These aren't the best pictures (we were on our 2ND bottle of wine and having fun), but there is a thin little apple pie layer at the bottom of the cheesecake. For whatever reason, it seemed kind of skimpy (although very tasty) this year. I would recommend doubling what the recipe calls for.

While delicious on it's own, the whipping cream and caramel sauce that went with it made this an outstanding dessert.

Apple Cheesecake adapted from Tish Boyle's- The Cake Book

apple layer

2 medium Granny Smith apples

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons (1 oz/28g) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons (0.9 oz/ 25g) granulated sugar

3 tablespoons (45ml) heavy cream

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/4cups (5.3 oz/150g) graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons (1.3 oz/ 37g) granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (2 oz/57g) unsalted butter, melted

Cream Cheese Filling

3 blocks of cream cheese (1 original and 2 1/3 Less Fat Neufchâtel ), softened.

1 1/2cups (10.5 oz/300g) granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 cup (4.2 oz/ 121g) sour cream, at room temperature

1 tablespoon cornstarch

4 large eggs, at room temperature

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 9x3 inch springform pan and wrap the sides with heavy duty aluminium foil.

To make the apple layer, Peel, core and slice the apples into 1/4-inch. Toss with lemon juice until all slices are evenly coated.Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. When the butter is bubbling, add the apple and saute for 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar over apple and continue to cook, stir frequently until the apple slices are nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Add in cream and cook until apples are tender,about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set it aside to cool.

To make the crust,In a medium bowl, combine the crumbs, melted butter and granulated sugar. Pat the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 8 minutes until the crust turns golden.Reduce the oven temperature to 325F after the crust is baked.Let the crust cool on wire rack while working on the cream cheese filling.

When the apples are cool, arrange a tight circle of slices, without overlapping them, around the edge of the pan, on top of the crust. Arrange another circle of slices in the center, covering the crust completely. (Save the remaining apples for garnish/ camouflage the cracks later)

To make the filling,In a bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at medium low speed until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes. Gradually add granulated sugar and beat until blended. Add the vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ground ginger, sour cream and cornstarch and mix until well blended. At low speed, add in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.Scape the batter over the apple layer.

Place the pan in a roasting pan or a large baking pan. Pour enough hot water into the roasting pan to come about 1 inch up the side of the springform pan. Bake the cake in the water bath for 70 to 80 minutes (Mine was not baked in a water bath and hence was done in about 45 minutes.) until the center is set but slightly wobbly (the cake will continue to set as it cools). Remove the pan from the water bath, if using, and set it on a wire rack to cool completely.Refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 4 hours before serving.

The one sort of failure Thanksgiving recipe

2009-10-15T06:41:00.002-06:00

I love the "not normal" vegetables. When I was little I went through a phase (ok...a very long phase) where the only vegetable I would eat was lima beans. To this day I don't think my parents have willingly had lima beans in their house. But what are you to do with a fussy 7 year old if you want them to eat veggies?

My other love growing up....brussels sprouts. I have a delicious recipe that I make every year that calls for shredding them, cooking them in wine with garlic and bacon and serving them like a warm coleslaw. This year though I got adventurous. First mistake.

But not really a mistake...............the recipe itself tasted delicious. Someone (we aren't pointing fingers here in the spirit of Thanksgiving) should have boiled them a bit longer.......they were tough.

But..............toughness aside, the parmesan cream sauce was out of this world! I believe that even a die hard brussels sprouts hater would love this dish when set in front of them. Ok, more so if you could chew the $%^#* sprouts, but that's neither here nor there.

I will attempt this again, probably not during a holiday meal, but as a side dish to some roast pork or chicken breast.

You can find the recipe HERE.

The only dinner roll recipe you will ever need

2009-10-14T06:33:00.004-06:00

Who doesn't love fresh bread? The smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the house has got to be one of the primary odours of happiness! I stumbled across this recipe a few years ago for dinner rolls that I thought would go great with some soup I was making. At that time I was a little leery of making bread as I was just getting into this cooking thing, but the fact that this bread needed no kneading and the hard work is done by a plastic bowl with a lid...I thought why not? At best they will be edible, at worst this will be a failed science experiment.

Grab a large plastic bowl with a lid, dump in 5 cups of flour and make a well. On the stove over medium heat warm:
3/4 cup of milk
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt

Mix in:

5 tsp yeast
2 eggs

Pour milk mixture into flour and put the lid on and walk away for 30 minutes. Do not stir!!!!! You will come back to something that looks like this.

Melt 1/2 cup of butter and pour into the above mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon, knead lightly until it looks like this and put the lid back on and walk away for 30 minutes.

Now you have dough that has doubled in size and is light and airy.

Shape into 16 rolls and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes (have you figured out yet that you aren't doing a lot of work here??) Pop into a 400 degree oven after this for 15 minutes or until done.

And you will now have the easiest, slightly sweet, light and fluffy dinner roll that is heaven when slathered with butter. Enjoy!

The ultimate stuffing recipe

2009-10-13T06:24:00.002-06:00

OK, so yesterday we discussed that I do not stuff my turkey with the traditional bread stuffing, opting instead for lemons, onions, garlic and herbs. Now, that's all fine and dandy, but in my house growing up the coveted food coming out of the kitchen was not the turkey, but that bowl of stuffing that was barely enough for the 4 people sitting around the table.

Fear not - I have finally found the perfect stuffing recipe! Now, there were a few little hiccups along the way, but I worked those out as I'll tell you later on in the post. I will start off by saying I used french bread which I think is too light for this recipe. At Christmas I'll opt for a heavier whole wheat bread.

The key to your stuffing..................pull out the slow cooker. Yes, that's right....your slow cooker.

Melt 1 cup of butter into your frying pan.

Add 2 cups each of chopped onion and celery and sliced mushrooms.

Mix this in with your dried bread, along with some spices and chicken broth and a couple of beaten eggs and dump into your slow cooker. Cook on high for 45 minutes and then low for 4 - 8 hrs. It is seriously that easy. No babysitting and the slow cooker does all the work.

The only issue I had was mine seemed soggy. Not sure if the 4 1/2 cups of broth was too much, or if it was using french bread that did it.

After a few minutes of panic, I opted to throw the stuffing into the oven for 30 minutes while the turkey rested (it had a long day) and was carved. This did a great job of drawing out the extra moisture and made for a delicious stuffing.....of which there is lots left for the next day!

You can find the recipe HERE.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-10-12T08:11:00.002-06:00

Well, thanksgiving dinner has come and gone for another year. I am hiding upstairs with a cup of lemon tea waiting for S to get up before I tackle cleaning the kitchen. Dinner was a success and almost everything tasted delicious! I spent the entire day cooking yesterday and have some great recipes for you over the next few days.

First off, in Calgary you never really know what the weather is going to be like for your meal. This was us yesterday afternoon. -10 and snowing. At least a person doesn't feel bad for being tied to the stove for the day!

This year we had a 24 pound turkey......yes that's right, 24 pounds for 5 people. A bit of overkill, but I'll be enjoying turkey leftovers all week now! Traditions insists that we name the turkey and since there was so much of this one, I opted to just call it....Tomorrow. Very fitting as I do think we'll be chowing down on this bird for a few tomorrows.

Now, I don't know what I was thinking as I missed taking photos of the prep work for this bird. I do not stuff the turkey as many people do. I follow this Ina Garten recipe for Perfect Roast Turkey and have never had an undercooked or overcooked/dry turkey. She's a genius!!

The turkey is stuffed with lemons, onions and garlic (cut in half or quarters) and stuffed with a bunch of thyme. I used the fresh poultry blend of herbs at the local store - thyme, sage, rosemary and marjoram). The top is brushed with melted butter with lemon zest and liberally salted and peppered.

And as usual, 2 cups of Jack Daniels bourbon and 1 cup of chicken broth is sloshed into the bottom of the pan to be used for basting and the most delicious gravy ever!

24 pounds of turkey....exactly 5 hours on the nose in the oven. I baste every 30 minutes (if I remember).

It amazes me that so many people are wary of cooking a turkey when it's so simple. If you can melt butter and lift the turkey into the oven, you are pretty much good to go. Here's the platter of turkey carved up - you can't really tell how moist the breast is, but it's perfectly cooked. No dry, sawdust like turkey here!

Why organization doesn't pay

2009-10-11T08:29:00.001-06:00

I am what you would call a haphazard cook. My kitchen is usually in chaos while I run around grabbing ingredients as I need them; spilling stuff on the floor; knocking stuff off the stove. I have always cooked like this and regularly run into that little problem of being 3/4 of the way through a recipe and realizing, no, I don't have the one or two ingredients that make this a truly amazing dish.

Now, you think this post will be about what I was missing while cooking. Nope. Although I will share with you my secret weapon...website...for when this happens. The Cook's Thesaurus will make substituting a snap for you!

This post will be about how organized I was while making dinner Friday night. I had all the ingredients lined up on the counter before I started and was rather proud of myself. Then S came into the kitchen and stared at the counter........stared long and hard.

Then he slowly walked over to me trying to see the recipe which I was blocking from his view (not on purpose....really). What's for dinner Cathy??

Risotto. Simple enough right? The skeptical look I received made me wonder if this was a little too eccentric for him. I've talked before about my love of risotto and how I like ones that are a little different than what you normally see. I recently came across this recipe at Shoestring Magazine for Pumpkin and Crab Risotto and something about it made me giddy with excitement.

I love pumpkin. I love seafood. And I definitely love risotto. Yes there is maple syrup in this dish. And lots of mascarpone cheese. But how bad could it be?

The verdict? Not bad at all...in fact, pretty amazing! S tentatively took his first bite. Then another. Then finally about halfway through his plate - "Damn this is good".

There is a barely there sweetness from the maple syrup that pulls together the richness of the mascarpone and crab. And really, who doesn't love orange hued food?? I would make this again in a heartbeat!

PUMPKIN & CRAB RISOTTO

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 cups Italian arborio rice

6 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese

1 8 ounce package crab meat

3 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

In a dutch oven or a heavy-bottomed pot, heat the olive oil and butter over medium-high, until butter foams. Add minced garlic and stir for a few minutes, until slightly tan and fragrant. In the microwave, warm broth for two-to-three minutes. Add rice to the pot and stir for two minutes. Pour one cup of broth over the rice and stir until the broth is absorbed and the rice begins to thicken with creaminess.

For 25-30 minutes, continue attentive stirring of the rice, adding a cup of broth every few minutes once the previous broth addition is absorbed, until all of the liquid is soaked up and the rice is tender and plump. Lower the heat to medium-low.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese, pumpkin, crab meat, mascarpone cheese,maple syrup and sweet paprika.

Serve immediately with a sprinkle of chives.

I really need to stop trying stroganoff recipes

2009-10-07T07:13:00.001-06:00

I always have such high hopes for stroganoff recipes.....I love the sour cream flavour of the sauce and the noodles or rice it's served with. And being the eternal optimist (see, I'm still not posting about snow), I accumulate stroganoff recipes like they are going out of style.

And really, there is nothing wrong with any of them. From the tried and true beef recipes made with steak to this current attempt made with pork and peppers....they all taste fine. Not great. Just fine. I am hopelessly addicted to this recipe for stroganoff.....give me cream of mushroom soup and hamburger any day of the week.

I think part of the problem with this was I used too many noodles so the sauce wasn't as thick as I like it. The pork was not a problem and the peppers....I didn't find they added much of anything. But as far as fast, moderately healthy weeknight suppers go...I'll take it.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Stay tuned for some great recipes! Thanksgiving is this weekend and I have some pretty great tried and true recipes that I'll be making as well as the world's most amazing turkey gravy!

Not a mid-life crisis......

2009-10-03T19:02:00.002-06:00

Well, not at 34 years old I don't think anyways. But here it is.....my new toy.

A 2009 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic. Of course, today was delivery day and it snowed......but come next April, watch out ;)

I am not going to complain about weather........

2009-10-01T20:24:00.004-06:00

Nope, not this year. You see, it's October - I love October. I love the cool crisp mornings, the warm afternoons and the changing colours of the leaves on the tree. I love being bundled up in sweaters and scarves. I love the harvest moon in all of it's humongous prairie orangeness.

And I start to thinking, I am lucky I can see the moon. I am lucky I can smell the fires burning the leaves. I am lucky I am able to walk around outside and enjoy the crisp air. I am lucky I can hear the kids playing outside. I am lucky for so many things.............................

And then I look at the friggin Weather Network and they are calling for snow on Saturday already. Screw you weatherman and your friggin weather....I'm moving to Florida to hang out with Pierce and ride motorcycles!

On that note, my buddy Wandering Coyote over at Retorte has been cooking through some of Kylie Kwong's amazing recipes from her cookbook. When I saw this recipe for Mongolian Beef I knew it would be trotted out on a night where I wanted something quick and easy. Like Wandering, I subbed coleslaw mix for the shredded cabbage which made this a cinch to prepare.

I loved the flavours that came together in this dish. It was satisfying in the way that a meal can only be when you know how easy it was to prepare. I did use rice wine and thought it turned out great! You can find the recipe HERE.

A week off - no cooking in sight!

2009-09-27T07:46:00.003-06:00

We just spent a week off in Vancouver and Oliver with friends and family. The main purpose of this trip was A's wedding (and the majority of these pics). When I got to my parent's in Oliver, my mom commented that I hadn't taken any pics of the groom!!! Oops.....sorry J, you looked dashing :)

Loved the flower girl dresses - real petals are in the bottoms of the skirts.

A looked amazing!

And so happy :) I only cried once during her little brother's speech - it was touching...in only the way a younger brother can make it.

A and I stealing a quick minute alone.

The next morning at the beach for brunch. My mother thinks I look like a little old lady in this picture - all bundled up in a sweater.

The beach where we grew up.

It's called White Rock Beach - bet you can't guess why :)

And as only best friends can, we found time to hit downtown for shopping and bellinis a few days after the wedding.

The house I spent the first 12 years of my life in. That tree used to be tiny!

And last but not least, when your Uncle wants a candid photo of you at the family dinner, this is what you get! Thanks for a great time mom and dad, S's parents and all of our friends.....made for a hectic but unforgettable week!

Uno cerveza por favor.......

2009-09-25T07:44:00.001-06:00

I am not a beer fan at all, but some meals scream for an icy cold mexican beer with lime. Now, I am not talking about that crap Bud Lime or whatever you can get right now, but a proper cerveza with real lime juice squeezed into it and a lime wedge floating on top.

This meal is one of those meals. I started making this when the Eat Shrink and Be Merry cookbook first came out and love the versatility of the dish. You can make it as spicy or mild as you want by simply switching up the salsa you are using.

And the best part - the use of tortillas in place of lasagna noodles. Easy and quick - what's not to like? If you want to be even healthier (blech), use ground turkey in place of the ground beef.

1 1/2 lbs (680 g) extra-lean ground beef (you can use ground turkey)
1 cup each diced red onions and diced green bell pepper
2 tsp garlic
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup frozen or canned corn
1 1/2 tsp chili powder (I prefer ancho or chipotle chili powder)
1 tsp cumin
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup medium salsa
2 tbsp fresh cilantro (I use the frozen cubes)
4 large or 8 small whole wheat flour tortillas
1 1/2 cup shredded light cheddar
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 cup light sour cream (I skipped this)

Preheat overn to 375 F. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spra and set aside

- In a large pot cooke beef, onions, green pepper and garlic until meat is no longer pink.- Add black beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder, and cumin. Cook and stir for 2 more minutes. Add pasta sauce, salsa. Bring to boi. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro and remove from heat.

- To assemble lasagna, spread 1/3 sauce mixture over bottom of casserole dish. Top with 1/2 tortillas, overlapping as needed. Top with 1/3 mixture, then 1/2 the cheese. Cover with remaining tortillas, then sauce and the top with remainder of cheese and green onions

- Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and make 10 more minutes. Let lasagna stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with sour cream.

Pork theme

2009-09-23T07:54:00.001-06:00

Since we are currently holidaying with family and friends on the coast, I had to work through the meat supply I had on hand before we left. (By the way, wedding of A was beautiful, the weather is great and I'm spending a lot of time at the beach smelling the salt water).

I had pork left over from the optimus prime pork chops the other day and needed a quick meal. I had come across a recipe at Urbanbundle for parmesan and panko crusted pork. I always keep 2 or 3 bags of panko on hand at home - I can't remember the last time I used regular bread crumbs for anything. These are by far the best breading crumbs for any kind of meat - they crisp up beautifully.

Since I didn't want to buy anything else this week to make a "meal" out of the cutlets, I opted for a pork cutlet burger.

Aren't they beautiful? Crispy, golden brown. Mine should've been pounded a bit thinner as they started to burn on the underside, but if you are careful you shouldn't have a problem.

Some garlic marinara and melted cheddar under the broiler and we were good to go. I served these with extra marinar for dipping. Everything tastes better when dipped!

You can find the pork recipe at Urbanbundle HERE.

Pork chops maximum....sounds kinda like Optimus Prime right?

2009-09-21T09:42:00.001-06:00

Yeah yeah, Optimus Prime and me....we go way back. As mentioned in a previous post, I am all about this guys voice - I mean, deep and rumbly and authoritative....exactly up my alley. So when Katherine put up a post for pork chops maximum I instantly thought of Optimus Prime (weird word association for me). Actually, I am all about voices. There is a few people at work that I would prefer talking to over the phone....great voices, not so great when you see them up close :) And I remember years ago being besotted with a man's voice that I used to talk to. When I finally met him I was surprised that he was about 70 years old (I was 20). Now, there are also voices that get on my every nerve.....but we'll save that post for another time!

I am not a pork chop fan at all, but the spice rub on these was out of this world. They actually turned out a bit too spicy....but since the goddaughter had a cold, she deemed them perfect because she could actually taste them!

I went with a pork sirloin steak - these things were huge - way more pork than anybody could eat. They turned out tender and would go perfectly with a large glass of riesling and a salad filled with fresh garden veggies.

You can find Katherine's post HERE.

Last "official" burger of the season

2009-09-17T19:54:00.005-06:00

Don't get me wrong, I will still be out at the grill. Sub-zero weather and snow doesn't keep me from firing up the bbq and standing with mitts, toque and scarf. But, this....this burger was awesome. Amazing. Fabulous.......the best bloody burger this year. And the picture actually turned out great! That's a first for me. This made the zillions of other burgers this summer worth suffering through. And before you know it I will be back to blogging about regular fall/winter comfort foods. I have quite the list lined up to try (including an amazing looking pumpkin and crab risotto, braised short ribs and lots and lots of baking).

2 key ingredients here people.....my beloved goat cheese being first and foremost. I really should just buy a goat rather than continuously shelling out exorbitant amounts of money for small logs of goat cheese. I eat this stuff with a fork (much to everyone's chagrin).

The other ingredient...perfectly slow caramelized onions with a splash of bourbon thrown in.

Isn't that the most beautiful burger ever?? I mean, it almost was a shame to eat it.....almost. I was hungry dammit.

The burger was nothing more than meat, steak seasoning, green chilis and garlic. And it's sitting on top of homemade ranch dressing. Cheers and here's to fall!

But they aren't canned!!!

2009-09-17T06:45:00.001-06:00

3 more sleeps and I will be on holidays for a week. Then I promise...solemnly swear up and down...that I will start cooking interesting foods and blogging. I have started cooking again this week, but nothing extravagant enough to make a difference.

We all know S's aversion to canned tomatoes, cooked peas or anything that will "gush" into his mouth when bitten into. I thought I was in the clear when I chose a pasta recipe that called for lightly cooked fresh tomatoes - boy was I wrong. He ate everything BUT the tomatoes. I personally thought the blend of capers, garlic, tuna and tomatoes was great! This is the kind of pasta dish that you can throw together with a few pantry staples and have dinner on the table in the time it takes to boil your pasta.

**Note I did not blanch or peel the tomatoes. I just seeded them and then threw them in the pan to saute for a few minutes.**

You can find the recipe HERE.

Movies that make you happy

2009-09-13T16:45:00.005-06:00

Ok, so I've made it through the emotional upheaval of last week and thought I'd need something to make me happy. Music is usually my artistic choice to uplift my spirits, but when I occasionally struggle with insomnia, I don't think S would be appreciative to the very loud vocal musings of Offspring at 3 a.m.

When that happens, I watch TV (old episodes of CHiPS......Erik Estrada...still yummy 30 years later), or I pop in a movie. The other night I stumbled across Dirty Dancing on a movie channel and settled in to watch Baby learn her moves. This movie originally came out in 1987....so if you are like me, you were around 12 when you first saw it....and had your first honest to goodness OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT MAN MOVE HIS HIPS moment. I mean, here was a movie that me, my friends and our mothers were all swooning over. Patrick Swayze in my mind will forever be that guy that you want to dance with in your fantasies.

That being said, not sleeping = tired and not overly complicated recipes needed for supper. I am gearing up for a week off at work (best friend A is getting married...sniff sniff) so I'm working later hours than normal. A week off transcends into 70 hour weeks either side of your "vacation".

I had some frozen ground pork in the freezer so opted to make the Pork Kofta Pitas out of September's issue of Canadian Living. I didn't do the tomato salsa, but used up the leftover tzatziki in my fridge. I stuffed the pitas with English cucumbers, red onions and feta.....but you can't really tell from the pics.

These were more filling than we thought they would be......but love the flavours of paprika, cumin and dill together.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Comfort food includes spinach????

2009-09-10T06:49:00.000-06:00

Well, labour day has come and gone and I am determined to get back into the swing of things with cooking. I know I've been slacking (sorry) on the cooking front, but just trying to pack so much into the last few weeks of summer before the weather turns.

I had a trying week last week with the death of someone fairly young in age who I got along with. Every now and then a smack of your own mortality hits you square in the face and makes you sit up and take notice. And whenever there is something trying in my life like this, I eat carbs. Lots and lots of carbs.

I had bookmarked this amazing grown up version of mac and cheese on Soup Belly's blog. I set to work making this recipe, even though it was more time consuming on a weeknight than I usually like. There is something that is cathartic about diving into a time intensive (not labour intensive) recipe.

To make the recipe more grown up friendly it has spinach. I um....maybe cooked it in the bacon fat (this is part of how to make spinach more palatable for people).......... The only other slight issue I had was tempering my egg. I was rushing at that point and didn't get enough of the liquid into it so it kind of scrambled. No big deal in the grand scheme of things though.

Shells ‘n Cheese with Spinach and Bacon (serves 6-8) (adapted from Soup Belly's blog)

Prep time: 30 min.
Bake time: 30 min.

Ingredients:

8 oz. pasta shells
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
10 oz. chopped spinach, cooked
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 egg
12 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Topping:
3 Tbsp. butter
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) In skillet, cook bacon and crumble. Reserve bacon fat on skillet for bread crumbs later. Boil spinach as instructed on box. Cook pasta in large pot of salted boiling water until al dente.

3) You can use either a 2 quart casserole dish, or two smaller casserole dishes to gain the maximum surface area for covering with golden bread crumbs. I used 2 dishes, of course. Pour pasta, bacon and spinach into dishes, mixing together.

4) In a medium size pot, make the sauce. Melt butter on medium heat, whisk in flour until thickened. Stir in milk, onion and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes. Temper in egg. To temper, just stir in a few tablespoons of the hot milk from the pot into the egg, then pour the egg into sauce, stirring vigorously. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Add salt and pepper.

5) In the skillet with bacon fat, heat on medium and toss in bread crumbs to coat. If you have cholesterol issues, or feel that this is ‘unhealthy’, use olive oil instead of bacon fat.

6) Pour sauce into casserole dishes, mixing to combine. Add remainder of cheese, and sprinkle bread crumbs on top. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Where does the time go???

2009-09-01T06:58:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe it's September already.......there's only 4 months left in the year and it feels like we just celebrated the new year!

Still rushing around, still not blogging. I promise to stop wearing white after Monday, and to start cooking again :)

Here is the easiest way to grill a chicken though - cut out the back bone and flatten it. Rub all over with olive oil, garlic and whatever spices you like (I'm a huge fan of smoked paprika and cumin). Toss on the grill, bone side down for 10 minutes and then flip every 10 minutes until done. A normal sized chicken done like this takes about 30 minutes and is absolutely delicious. S and I usually just sit and pick the meat off the chicken - screw the carving process!

And my first tomato!!!!! The best tasting tomato EVER. Ok, I exaggerate, but it was pretty damn good and I'm very proud of myself. There are 3 more ripening soon and probably a bunch that'll never make it to fruition. Better luck next year!

Last weekend of August already?? :(

2009-08-30T16:05:00.003-06:00

I cannot believe it's the end of the summer....it feels like it just started! And I know, many places still benefit from beautiful falls, and I'm holding out hope that we'll have an "Indian Summer". But, a few years ago, mid September it snowed while we were at an amusement park....so you understand my trepidation here with beautiful autumns.

In order to benefit from the beautiful weather today, the neighbor daughter and I headed to Expo Latina - a festival celebrating all things Spanish/Latin. The festival was a dud, but we did come out of it all henna'd up!

I used to regularly get my feet painted with henna when I lived in Vancouver - it amazes me how talented the ladies are that do this. It's all free hand and takes about 10 minutes depending on the level of intricacy.

Neighbor daughter had her hand done. It looks like this for about 30 minutes....and then....
It falls off and you have a beatiful orange hue stained to your skin. This will last approximately 5 - 7 days.

I opted to have my shin done. It's less visible at work.

And the finished product.

Almost 200 posts and a boat load of pickles

2009-08-29T15:59:00.003-06:00

Wow - can't believe I'm almost at 200 posts - where has the time gone???

And I would just like to ask why it's been cooler the past week and today it's 30 degrees when I'm canning??????? 6 hours, 34 quarts of pickles and one burnt and blistering finger....I am done.

Dill - the same dill that made my office smell heavenly yesterday, resting in a jug of water.

I have to hand it to the farm I got the cukes from.....they did a great job of cleaning them before selling them to me. I hardly had to do any scrubbing at all.

Half way through - time for a treat for me!

34 quarts......done and done.

Now to wait the 4 months until they are ready for me to taste!

The wonder of roasting

2009-08-29T08:17:00.001-06:00

Everybody has been on me about my lack of recipes lately. Even S complained last night that I haven't been blogging...which secretly was a complaint I think that I haven't been home cooking much the past 2 weeks. Instead, I've had a fabulous time at the Lion King musical with my goddaughter; golfed; had a facial; gone to the fireworks, etc. Just a bit of fun before work gets crazy busy in the next few weeks.

I also finally saw the Julie and Julia movie. Meryl Streep was amazing as Julia Child - I would've preferred the whole movie to be about her.

As for me this weekend....I'm bach'ing it. S is off helping his best friend move 1000 km's closer to us! So instead of being a 10 hour drive away, he's going to be a 10 minute drive away. I am no longer S's only form of entertainment :) This works well for Thursdays this fall when I start fencing again as W and S can have playdates (sorry guys......as K says, your bromance is true).

Part of baching it involves pickling 30 pounds of cucumbers. They are on the counter downstairs taunting me (it really is odd that I always hear vegetables talking to me isn't it mom?) and I am upstairs blogging and drinking coffee and baileys....a fine start to the pickling process I might add. If I believed in conspiracy theories, I'd believe that when I informed S of the impending pickling on Tuesday and he informed me on Wednesday of the impending moving....that it was a ploy to get out of helping! (haha, love you honey)

But I'm rambling and you guys want food. I've talked before about the wonders of roasting vegetables....in particular cauliflower (the most evil food out there). I came across a recipe in the most recent edition of Canadian Living for a roasted cauliflower risotto. In the time it takes to roast the cauliflower you will be able to have the risotto completely prepared.

Look at that perfectly browned little piece of cauliflower! The pictures aren't that great (as white food often is hard to photograph), but the nutty flavour of the cauliflower was out of this world! This is a great vegetarian dish, or if like us you aim to have one meatless dish a week in an effort to diet and be healthy. Speaking of the diet....that horrid thing I started 4 months ago?? Down 12 pounds.....not the fastest moving diet, but I am happy to report down a pant size :) And back into skinny jeans (woo hoo).

We served this with a glass of Valpolicella (S's favourite wine varietel) and some garlic bread.

You can find the recipe HERE.

How to spend a hot Saturday......

2009-08-28T07:50:00.001-06:00

Thanks so much to K & M....I have 30 pounds of cukes sitting on the floor of my office....and my office smells like dill (sooooo love that smell).

Inflation in Canada

2009-08-27T12:59:00.000-06:00

New sign at the dollar store across the street......

Last kick at the can

2009-08-27T06:56:00.002-06:00

Yep, I know - I've been pretty lazy about posting this month....okay, okay, this week especially. It's the last week of summer and I'm cramming all the good weather stuff I can into my evenings. Fireworks, facials, movies, festivals......it just doesn't leave a lot of time for cooking.

Bear with me - by Saturday I'll have a post up for an amazing roasted cauliflower risotto, my first tomato from my tomato plant and 30 pounds of pickles :) But can I just say, the nerd in me did go sniff the school supplies at Staples....there is something about a new binder and pencils that brings out the inner geek in me!

Turtles turtles, rah rah rah

2009-08-20T13:57:00.002-06:00

Everybody loves turtles right? Those lovely little chocolate treats that show up at Christmas in everyones place of employment????

Well, this isn't that kind of turtle. And in the name of being a food blogger, sometimes you have to just suck it up and try something weird and different. My staff are my willing accomplices in finding me new foods - and today......today we crossed the line.

I have a problem with food consistency - I think I've blogged about that before. I cannot stand lumpy, mushy food. Porridge and oatmeal make me gag. And jello.......jello should be banned.

Ignore the fuzzy blackberry photo.............L made me try black turtle jelly today. You get it at the asian market across the street.

Ummmmmm.......the flavour was ok. Kind of like a cold black tea. It does leave a weird after taste - kind of minerally. BUT....the issue was the jello consistency.

I took a big gulp off the spoon and then stood there with my mouth full of this jelly stuff - and my staff cheered and told me that they always took me to be a swallower (nice, huh??)......so I wasn't allowed to spit it out.

Excuse me while I go brush my teeth.

I really want to like them.........

2009-08-20T07:00:00.000-06:00

Refried beans that is. I quite like the flavour of beans, but the consistency/smell of refried beans does me in. I think it is eerily similar to the smell of the dog food we used to feed my childhood dog.

Refried beans aside, I came across the In Good Taste blog some time ago and she had a recipe posted for a turkey tortilla stack, adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe. Since I am trying to get myself into the mindset of eating healthier come September so I can start training for the half marathon, I bookmarked the recipe. (fyi, this means I will be cooking, and therefore blogging a lot more next month....my summer cooking has definitely left something to be desired......)

The prep work was pretty easy for this dish and the smell while it was baking was amazing! The smell while spreading the refried beans onto the tortillas on the other hand.......GAG.

Turkey Tortilla Bake (Adapted from Weight Watchers' Simply The Best and In Good Taste blog)

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 pound ground skinless turkey breast
1-14.5 ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 heaping cup fat-free refried beans
1 4 ounce can chopped green chiles, rinsed and drained
10-6 inch corn tortillas, halved
2/3 cup salsa
1/2 cup reduced-fat freshly grated/shredded Monterey Jack (or sharp cheddar) cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the oil. Ad the pepper and onion; cook, stirring as needed until softened, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the turkey and cook, stirring as needed until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and chiles, bring to a boil. (NOTE: If mixture is too thick, add 1/2 cup plain tomato sauce). Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, until mixture is slightly thickened (about 5 minutes).

4. On the bottom of a 10x6 baking pan (I used a 9x13 for a smaller, thicker casserole), spoon half of salsa and top with four tortillas. Cover tortillas with a layer of refried beans, a layer of turkey mixture and a layer of salsa. Repeat the layering once more, finishing with the final two tortillas. Sprinkle top evenly with the cheese.

5. Bake covered for approximately 20 minutes or until heated through. Remove cove r and bake an additional ten minutes, or until cheese has turned golden.

Burger night

2009-08-17T07:00:00.001-06:00

It's been awhile since I blogged about burgers......it's not that I haven't been making them, I just haven't been taking pictures of them. It comes down to this, they are quick and easy and 9 times out of 10, I'm running behind schedule lately. So my creativity has been faltering with what to cook and I'm actually kind of looking forward to the fall when I start experimenting more with new recipes.

I opted the other night for this chili cheese and salsa burger.

How can you go wrong when you mix the cheese into the meat?? Not only is there cheese, there's one egg, some panko, chipotle chili pepper and a can of green chilis.

Instead of ketchup, I topped the buns with salsa.

I would make these again - the burgers were flavourful and I loved the salsa substitution. I would up the ante with the cheese though by melting some pepper jack on top :) One can never have too much cheese.

I love peanut noodles

2009-08-15T09:03:00.003-06:00

It's been cold and rainy the past few days - not good end of summer weather at all. So while I should be outside bbq'ing up a storm, I've instead been jonesing for some carb fueled dinners to keep me warm.

I have had this recipe for Thai Pork and Spicy Noodles bookmarked from Chatelaine for some time now and it was the perfect time to try it. My focus has been off lately on just about everything, so a meal that is prepared in 18 minutes was perfect for me this week. Any longer than that and I may have booked an airline ticket to Spain or something by accident ;)

I did add an extra tbsp of the hot garlic chili sauce to the dish - I find that most dishes aren't nearly spicy enough. Thankfully S doesn't mind spicy food or we'd be in trouble. Thanks to the peanut butter in the sauce, these had an intense creamy, peanut flavour that I loved.

I also sauteed the broccoli with the pork rather than boiling it with the noodles - I prefer my veggies to be on the crunchy side.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Words that make you laugh

2009-08-13T16:23:00.001-06:00

There are some words that are just meant to make you laugh.

At work, any mention to penetration (purely accounting related) sends me into fits of giggles (bad when you are in meetings).

For my dad, plumbers putty.

And unfortunately..........taco. Yes yes, the slang/derogatory meaning ALWAYS pops into my head. I even tried to convince a co-worker to dress as a taco for Hallowe'en 2 years ago - purely to allow me to spend a day doubled over laughing.

So in honor of the word that makes diet pepsi come out of my nose.......my often requested taco dip! Again, taco....dip....together those words bring about tons of naughty thoughts.

This is the simplest, plainest, easiest recipe to make. I am not exactly sure what makes it such a hit (well, other than it tastes good). My parents make this on the pretense that it will be an appie and then have it just for dinner - I do that too. You can add chopped tomato and lettuce to it, but I usually opt to leave them out due to the soggy factor.

Cook a package of lean ground beef and add one package of taco (haha) seasoning. Let cool.

Mix together 2 large blocks of cream cheese (250 grams each) with 1 container sour cream based french onion dip. Spread into the bottom of a 9 x 11 pan.

Layer beef mixture on top of cream cheese mixture. Spread either a jar of taco (haha) sauce or salsa over the beef. Sprinkle on lots of shredded cheddar and monterey jack and serve with tortilla chips.

Easy hey? People will love you.....and now you will never think of tacos so innocently again.

And it's not radioactive......

2009-08-11T17:25:00.004-06:00

First off, I'd like to thank Muneeba at An Edible Symphony for the blog award this week :) Since she has no questions attached, I'm not doing any...pffft....so there ;) And I'm not tagging anybody because you are all great and all deserve the awards too (borrowing a bit here from Wandering Coyote).

Now on to the food. When I came across Tammy's post for sweet and sour chicken a few weeks ago, I quickly added it to my calendar of dishes to try on a weekend since it needs to be baked for an hour.

I am a huge huge huge fan of sweet and sour pork. So much so, that every now and then I sneak across the street to the food court for that wonderfully radioactive red coloured pork. Unfortunately, the food court stuff tends to leave me feeling bloated and gross (probably some residual MSG in there), so if I can make it at home I'm all for it.

So Sunday night rolled around and my blackberry popped up in the morning with a reminder that today was sweet and sour chicken day. I set S to work frying the chicken for me while we enjoyed some mojitos with the neighbor and I chopped vegetables (narrowly missing my finger when the carrot got away from me).

This is the best sweet and sour chicken recipe I have ever had!! No day-glo colours, but amazing flavours! I did up the pineapple to a full can, and a full can of water chestnuts and I think it just made it better.

Sweet and Sour Chickenadapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Sassafras Cafe

for the chicken:
3-4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup corn starch
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oilf

or the vegetables and fruit:
2 carrots, sliced into diagonal bite-sized pieces
1 yellow pepper, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 red pepper, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 can pineapple tidbits
1 can sliced water chestnuts, cut in half
1 tsp freshly grated ginger

for the sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 TBS ketchup
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 TBS soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over chicken pieces. Toss chicken with corn starch and coat with egg. Place coated chicken on a plate. Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. In several batches, brown chicken on all sides in the hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. Remove browned chicken to a paper-lined plate to absorb any excess oil. Place browned chicken evenly in a greased 9x13-inch pan. Set aside.

Remove all but 2 TBS hot oil from the pan. While the pan is still hot, add the vegetables and fruit, sauteing for 2-3 minutes or until ginger is softened. Evenly layer the vegetable mixture over the chicken.Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken mixture and bake in the oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

My husband, the masked avenger

2009-08-09T08:42:00.004-06:00

So yesterday we headed outside to the deck in the late afternoon to enjoy the sun and a Saturday afternoon mojito. Lately I had noticed an increase in the number of wasps in our yard, but didn't think much of it.

As I was showing S a picture of a desk in a magazine, he suddenly shoots out of his chair swearing and yelling. A wasp had stung him in his temple. As we headed inside to tend him, I pointed out that there must be a nest nearby, probably under the deck. Last year we had one on the front of the garage and a small one over at the neighbors. S pointed out that he was under the deck about 3 weeks ago and there was nothing, but that he'd look around.

Normally, bugs aren't a big deal to me - but since I am allergic to bee/wasp bites, it becomes a bit more of an issue if there is a nest in close proximity to the house. So S went under the deck and found this right under where our table is:

Note that the nest is as long as the beams! Every time we'd walk outside, we must have been jostling the boards and pissing these things off! So after a bit of research, wasps become dormant in the dark and you can remove the nest with little chance of being bit. So late last night, after a glass of wine, S headed outside with me watching from the window. Note: he was not really a "masked" avenger....that was just my fantasy.

The wasp nest is now in a big rubbermaid bin at the end of the yard - we'll have to figure out a way to dispose of it now!

On to the food! I know I've been lax with posting lately. After the kitchen renos and having a week of "poor me" attitude, I think I am back in the swing for cooking again. A few years ago I had come across a Cooking Light recipe for deep dish pizza that still catches my eye.

I am pretty lazy when it comes to pizza, I tend to do my quickie biscuit crust and move on. I don't know why I ever shied away from yeast crusts, as this was quick to come together. While I waited for the dough to rise, I got the topping all cooked up.

We went with the topping from the recipe - a mixture of spicy Italian sausage, zucchini, onions and mushrooms.

Loved the topping, and loved that the pizza looked exactly like deep dish. The crust tasted good, but it was kind of tough. Time to start experimenting with yeast pizza crusts I guess. Would I make this again, yes, but possibly with a different crust recipe. Or maybe I wouldn't bake it so long and it would turn out "tender"?

You can find the recipe HERE.

Sometimes you need comfort food

2009-08-08T19:18:00.002-06:00

OK, so awhile ago I told you that I was afraid of tornadoes.......still am.

But I've realized what it is that I'm afraid of. Case in point - we were "camping" at the lake with friends last weekend. A wicked storm blew in Saturday evening (same one that killed that poor woman at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose), but I was not scared at all. In fact, I stood on the deck and watched the wind, hail, lightning and we all wondered....tornado or not? But it was light out - I could see everything.

The next night though another brutal storm blew in, but we were already in bed and it was well after midnight. There were no pauses between lightning flashes, constant howling wind and thunder and sideways rain and hail. But it was pitch black out and I was terrified. I got up and got dressed - no way in hell would I be blown across the campground naked.

So I've figured it out - if I can see the tornado coming, I'm not scared. If it's nighttime and I cannot see the funnel cloud anywhere, I panic.

This same storm on the Sunday caused lots of damage - a friend had all the windows in his trailer blown out while camping by the hail. His company vehicle is also a write off with over $12,000 in hail damage (he's missing the sunroof.....).

As for us, remember this beautiful perennial flower bed I planted 6 weeks ago?

It now looks like this.

Everything is shredded, demolished and pulverized. I have 2 plants that survived (out of 14) and a few sticks. The rest of the leaves were plastered up against the window. No point now in trying again - we get frost in 3 weeks.....not nearly enough time for the roots to take hold. Better luck next year.

So when I have something happen like this, comfort food is the way to go. Besides, it was cold and raining still. And for me, the only comfort food that will do is stroganoff. And not that fancy, strips of sirloin steak one either. While that version is good, I go straight for the canned soup aisle with a package of ground beef tucked under my arm. This is the version mom made us when we were kids every Christmas Eve. I love it....actually I think mom and I were the only ones who really did - R and dad would prefer other meals.

What you need:

1 package of ground beef
1 package of sliced mushrooms
an onion
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup of sour cream

Cook beef and chopped onions until brown. Add mushrooms towards the end to soften. Stir in both cans of soup and simmer for 20 minutes. Add sour cream, cook for 5 more minutes and serve over rice.

Love at first sight

2009-08-06T20:31:00.010-06:00

**This was meant to post last night, but I was having issues with blogger - sorry for being a day late**

Oon Aug. 6th, 1971, D tagged along to a wedding that she really didn't feel like going too. You know how it is, you are 20, single and thinking to hell with everything. But like a trooper, D got dressed up and headed to this wedding.

At some point in the evening, she found herself chatting to the groom's best man J. A tall, skinny, dark haired fellow with a very thick European accent. D thought he was cute but didn't pay much attention to him (I mean, it`s a wedding after all).

The next evening (sorry if I am butchering the story), D opened the door at her parents party to see J standing with a group of people. This guy had some friends who made him tag along to a party the next night. Recognition set in and D and J sat talking until 4 in the morning when they both had to get ready for work.

As the story goes, J called D the next night to see if she`d like to go to the beach in an hour. D was ready in 10 minutes and J showed up in 15. 3 weeks later, Dad proposed to Mom behind a dump truck and they started on a 37 year marriage 364 days after they met each other for the very first time.

In 37 years, there has been:

Happiness

A cleansing of dad`s wardrobe,

A wedding,

The disco era,
Little kids,
Weird kids,

Kids with pre-teen attitudes,

Milestone birthday`s,

And now retirement.

And if you do not believe in such a thing as love at first sight, you just have to watch a couple that knew from the get go that they were supposed to be toghether forever and have made it work through all the ups and downs that come with a marriage.

Happy 37th Anniversary Mom and Dad! Here`s to many more! Your relationship inspires me every day.

xoxo
Love,
Cathy

More than meets the eye

2009-08-02T17:01:00.000-06:00

When I moved to Calgary 3 1/2 years ago to take this job, I had a pretty tough go of it. The books were a mess, and my staff weren't taking to me very much. We went through a pretty intense 6 month period where I replaced some staff, worked others to the bone and pretty much just ran a stressed out freak show.

And at the end of that July the audits were finished; I could make heads or tails of the financial statements and I was starting to feel at home in my new job. I felt at that time we needed some way to relieve the stress and tension that was building in the office.

My staff were still getting used to my oddball sense of humor so the look on their faces that last day of July when I walked in with a pinata full of candy was priceless. I hung it from the middle of the office ceiling, moved the tables and brought out the blindfold. An office full of people ranging from 22 to 54 all lined up and had their turns being spun around and taking a whack at Nemo. It was the best way to break the ice with my staff and we started our annual pinata day soon after.

We have had Nemo, Sponge Bob and Lightning McQueen. And Friday was the day.......the day we had the ultimate pinata.

Optimus Prime. Yep, it's a well known fact around the office that their boss (me) has a strange attraction to this cartoon characters voice. Since I was a teen and my little brother watched the cartoon, this guys voice drives me insane. (One of my staff even got me the Optimus Prime Potato Head for Xmas one year). S regularly plays the part in the movie loudly for me......"I...Am...Optimus Prime" and I swoon. Although, he did draw the line at wearing the mask that alters his voice to sound like Optimus Prime (odd I know). This pinata was a hit as usual and we are now onto the back half of our year.

Now onto the food. If you get a chance to peruse Tammy's blog Sassafras Cafe do it. She has some amazing recipes and her cooking style is very much like mine. The other day she had a recipe for the Ultimate Barbecued Chicken. I was looking for a quick barbecue dish and thought I'd give this a try - it was a Tyler Florence recipe, so really, you knew it would be good.

I didn't have time to brine the chicken, and opted for skin on, bone in chicken thighs. They were moist and juicy (just the way thighs should be) and the homemade bbq sauce was out of this world. A real winner in my books, I'll be making this for company regularly!

You can find the recipe HERE.

I loooooooooooooooove my new counter tops

2009-07-31T19:54:00.004-06:00

Yep, that's right....LOVE them. Gone are the 1 inch square tiles and the ugly grout. No more white porcelain sink and ugly black faucets..........and I love the replacements. Even if I have developed an eye twitch when I hand over my visa to the Home Depot cashier, it's still worth it.

And in another couple of weeks I'll have the window replaced, the walls painted and the cabinets will be replaced by stained maple and I'll have open concept shelving. Just wait until you see that!

So while S was hooking up the garburator the other night, I needed a quick meal to throw on the table since it was already almost 9. I had come across a recipe for Vietnamese grilled pork awhile back and thought, rice noodles and pork - what could be easier?

With just a few basic ingredients and 15 minutes of marinading, this was the tastiest pork I have ever had. Even minus the hoisin and hot sauce that was on top, this could be the best way to use up sirloin pork chops.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Throw another shrimp on the barbie....

2009-07-30T06:54:00.002-06:00

Is it just me or was I the only 10 year old with a crush on Crocodile Dundee when that movie came out? I dreamt of marrying a guy with a Tilly hat, big knife and an Aussie accent ;)

Well, the counters and sink are installed and I must say they look great! I'll have pictures up tomorrow sometime. In a few weeks we'll have everything painted and the cabinets done and I can say I finally understand why my dad used to take holidays when he was doing any kind of reno work. It's almost impossible to be enthusiastic about priming walls or anything of the sort after a 12 hour work day!

That being said, since our weather has been great and the stove has been unplugged, this months Cooking Light magazine had some great grilling recipes for me to try. Our favourite was Grilled Fiesta Shrimp. We did make a few modifications - I couldn't find the can of black beans I had in the pantry and I dumped some hot sauce in this to kick it up a notch.

Not the most beautiful picture in the world is it? Kind of looks like the dogs breakfast. I will say, the cheese is not absolutely necessary. I used a Mexican cheese blend and can't say it did anything for the dish. Maybe a jalapeno jack would've been better?? But the ease of this dish made up for all of that. Throw some tin foil down, layer your shrimp, cheese and corn and then toss on the bbq for 15 minutes. That simple - perfect for a hot night after work.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Kitchen is almost back to normal!

2009-07-28T06:58:00.002-06:00

I think the worst part about reno'ing a kitchen is...it's the kitchen. If you reno the bathroom, most people have a second one they can use. If you reno the kitchen, well, you are S.O.L. If you aren't finding pieces of gyp rock in the hummus, or plumbers putty on the bread, then you just aren't doing the reno's right!!

That being said, we primed the walls last night, and the counters are being delivered early this afternoon (which means a 1/2 day for me at work.....odd). S's best friend came out to visit on Sunday and he's a cabinet maker by trade. You know what that means.......my painted cabinet doors just aren't going to cut it ;) He'll be coming back to visit in 2 weeks and for materials, Heineken and ribs, I get brand new cabinets :)

So in effort to not eat out all the time while this is being done, I broke out the crockpot. I have no idea why I have an aversion to using it, but it's never something I think of.

I had a couple of pork tenderloins in the fridge that I was going to grill. Instead, I saw this post at Savour-fare and realized, I've got that exact same cookbook!!! I threw everything into the crockpot, literally, 5 minutes worth of prep. Popped it outside on the deck and 8 hours later, done! I can tell you that the smell coming from the deck was making hungry at the 4 hour mark!
This is an easy way to get dinner on the table. The flavour was good, but not spicy enough for our tastes. Next time I would double the red curry paste that I added.

Thai Pork with Peanut Sauce

Adapted from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufman

Yield: 4 servings

Nonstick cooking spray
2 pork tenderloins (about 1 lb (0.45 kilograms). each, each cut in thirds)

2 large red bell peppers, cored, seeded, cut into strips

1/3 cup prepared teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon prepared Thai red curry paste (optional)

2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Procedure:
Place pork, bell peppers, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, curry paste (if using) and garlic in cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove pork from the crockpot and shred. Add peanut butter to liquid in cooker, stir to combine, then return pork to the cooker and toss so the sauce coats the meat.Serve over rice.

Woooo - here's the gyp rock! The ugly white sink and black country faucets are now at the dump. The tile counter tops are demolished and we have primed all the walls. I cannot wait to be able to cook again!

3 ways to not get anything done in the kitcehn

2009-07-26T10:51:00.002-06:00

Both S and I have had some pretty intense cravings for mojitos lately. They are the ultimate summer drink in my mind - the first drink I order when I go somewhere tropical, and the first thing I think of when I see my mint growing. Although, if I'm honest, the only reason I grow mint is for mojitos.

We experimented with 3 yesterday - hence the we got nothing done really in the kitchen. The first is your tried and true recipe that you can find HERE. I added some blueberries in the muddling process, hence the slightly pink hue. This is not a sweet drink, but very refreshing. You can top with club soda, or if you want a slightly sweeter drink, top with 7-up.

Both S and the neighbor husband have an intense love of rye. Last summer we introduced the neighbors to the joys of mojitos and when I found this recipe yesterday for a Canadian mojito that has blueberries and rye, I knew I'd have to sample it. Now, rye and I are not the best of friends....I get a little goofy when I drink it. Okay, I'm goofy all the time, but I'm LOUD and goofy when rye is involved.

Both S and I really liked this one - we'll try it on the neighbors this week. I muddled the shit out of the blueberries to get that colour, I was quite happy with it. You can find this recipe HERE.

Then the last mojito - the one that always puts you over the edge just enough that you become happily lazy and wanting to sit in the sun. We used the Canadian mojito recipe and subbed rum for the rye. I think this one was my favourite of them all. It ended in us lounging on the deck for awhile, reading and chatting. And yeah, that damn crackberry, er....blackberry, is never far!

CHEERS!

S cooks!!

2009-07-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

Being the control freak that I am, I do a majority of the cooking at our house. This doesn't bother me in the slightest - I love looking for new recipes and ingredients and preparing the meals.

But every so often, I just don't want to do it, or can't do it due to scheduling arrangements. When this happens, S happily steps up to the plate with a few of his tried and true recipes.

As I indulged in a manicure and pedicure after work one night to destress, S set about making this.

Szechuan green beans with pork is a Cooking Light recipe that I tried out probably 3 years ago when we first moved to Calgary. S loved it so much that when I started getting annoyed that he was asking for it all the time, he asked if I would show him how to make it. I have to say, he now does a better job at this recipe than I do.

The trick, according to S, triple the sauce ingredients for more flavour. I have to say, the man is right.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Supper club always comes at the perfect time

2009-07-23T19:55:00.006-06:00

And that perfect time would be smack in the middle of a torn apart kitchen!!! Thankfully, someone else would be cooking for a change and I could sit back and enjoy. We are now 5 days away from the counter tops - which means a ton of work still needs to be done this weekend. As I sit here and type and enjoy a glass of wine, S and the neighbor husband are downstairs mudding the walls (and perfect timing, S's best friend - a cabinet maker - is in town this weekend).

So off we went to supper club - this month, Broken Plate, a Greek restaurant. This place is not new to us at all, being one of the places we hit for appies if we aren't looking for a big meal. We were both excited to finally be able to try some of their main dishes for a change (although, as soon as I saw another table with calamari and saganaki I wished I was sitting with them).

First up, a glass of white sangria for me. We got there about half an hour early - I'd worked 13 hours and had interviewed a bunch of people that day (something that always tires me out).

The sangria was good - a nice refreshing drink considering we finally have 30 degree weather!

Usually they pair each course with a wine, but they opted to pair the first of the 6 courses with the house signature cocktail - Thalaussa. A mixture of ouzo, blue curacao, lime juice and 7-up.

I'm not a huge ouzo fan, but what the hell........this picture is the only "normal" one S got of me all night. Most of them I'm sticking my tongue out, have my sunglasses on (which is why I have weirdly flat hair) or my eyes were shut.

The first dish was a fasolata salata - green beans, diced potatoes, kalamata olives, shaved fennel, red onion and onion vinaigrette). Note the absence of the olives - they had already been shuttled across the table to S's plate.

Then they served a seared scallop with risotto fritter and citrus glaze. This was a fresh, light dish, perfect for summer and it paired perfectly with a pinot blanc.

Then, my favourite dish of the whole night. This is one that I routinely order when we do appies here - Kopanisto - a Greek dip made of grilled red pepper and feta cheese and garlic. I would've been happy if they had brought me a huge plate of this with some more pita and left me alone in the corner.

S's favourite dish was the breaded bassa fillet with lemon caper reduction with risotto. We both love seafood and fish and are always excited when we go someplace that has something new to us. I'll be on the hunt now for bassa in one of the 15 grocery stores I frequent.

The only disappointment of the night was the slow braised lamb shoulder and lentils. I love lamb, but this was bland. Braising is great, but you need to have flavour with the meat.

And last but not least, dessert. Both S and I are huge baklava fans - I make it at least once a year (if not more) and it's the go to dessert for one of my best friends who is highly allergic to eggs. Instead of serving the typical baklava that most Greek restaurants favour, they offered up a baklava ice cream with caramelized pears and fudge. The ice cream was distinctly cinnamon flavoured - a hit with me. Not enough baklava flavours for either of our likings, but still a great way to end the meal.

Ah, appies

2009-07-22T07:33:00.003-06:00

I could spend my entire life sitting on a deck, eating appies and drinking wine. There has to be a job opening for this somewhere?????

In true form this weekend, I opted to make a Giada recipe from her show. Sweetnick's blog featured it a few weeks ago and I thought at the time, a sauteed shrimp cocktail would be really fun to try.

The dip is an interesting blend of yogurt, mayo, mustard and maple syrup with some turmeric thrown in (which gives it the yellow colour). I am surprised I liked it as yogurt based dips never rate very high with me.

The sauteed shrimp were simple to make although make sure you don't over cook them as they will become rubbery quickly.

An easy appie recipe, this will leave you plenty of time to kick back on your deck and visit with your loved ones. You can find the recipe HERE.

Cinnamon Roll Cake

2009-07-19T08:31:00.005-06:00

No fancy title for today's post. I just hauled my butt from bed after being called by work on a Sunday and I'm trying to get myself rolling here. While I am waiting for the most important part of a Sunday (or any day really) to be ready........coffee..........I figured I'd throw up a quick post.

We are very divided in our little family of 2. S prefers all things sweet and I prefer savory. But every now and then something catches my eye that is dessert oriented and I know I just need to try it.

We had a friend coming over for supper last night and while I normally make an appie to go with our meal, I opted to do this super easy dessert instead. I knew when it popped up on both Cate at Sweetnick's blog and Donna at My Tasty Treasures blog that it would be made here at some point.

Now, I know it doesn't seem foodie like to use a cake mix for something, but I'm not about to turn my nose up at something that uses one. If it tastes good, it is what it is. Plus, this is a snap because you mixed your ingredients by hand - and since my beloved kitchen aid is in hiding for renos I didn't want to have to go hunt for it in the spare room.

The smells from this cake were out of this world. I had a fork into it as soon as it came out of the oven and a small corner eaten away within 15 minutes. S kept wandering by and picking at it too until almost a whole row was gone and our friend was still a few hours away!

This cake did not disappoint - moist and oozing with cinnamon and brown sugar flavour, we all agreed that it tasted more like an amazing cinnamon crumb cake than a cinnamon roll. But, who cares? It was simple and delicious and S is happy for another week.

Cinnamon roll cake - adapted from Sweetnick's and My Tasty Treasures blog sites.

1 box yellow or white cake mix
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sour cream

Mix by hand and pour into a 13 x 9 greased baking pan.

1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Mix and pour over cake batter. Swirl into batter with a knife.

Bake @ 325 for 40 minutes. Let cake cool 10 - 15 minutes before pouring icing over.

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk

Stir together and pour over warm cake.

Combining the 2 best meals....

2009-07-18T11:12:00.003-06:00

What happens when you marry your two favourite foods together? You get pizza burgers! A delicious addition to any summertime bbq. If you have any males kicking around, they will be at the grill like a dirty shirt, picking at the pepperoni pieces.

These are one of S's favourite burgers and according to him, one that does not hit our rotation often enough. I can barely make it through one of these patties, but S and the neighbor husband both wolfed down 2 each the other night. I was amazed - I don't know how I would feel with two of these things floating around in my stomach!

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup chopped pepperoni
2 tbsp pizza sauce
1/3 cup of shredded parmesan cheese

Mix and form into patties. Grill 5 minutes a side, or until cooked to your liking.

Serve with monterey jack or mozzarella cheese slices and whatever other toppings you like.

Tequila part deux

2009-07-17T10:04:00.002-06:00

So when I posted about my tequila lime chicken the other day I said it was just so-so. Kinda bland, not exciting. When I went through the new food network magazine, they had margarita chicken skewers that thanks to my food porn addiction, had me drooling over the photos.

I had a can of margarita mix in the freezer and I thought what the hell, we'll try it again. Am I ever glad I did! This chicken had that lime flavour I was looking for and you could definitely taste the tequila....talk about chicken with a kick! These turned out nice and moist and were the perfect choice to sit on the deck for an appetizer dinner.

You can find the recipe HERE.

That's not......is it???

2009-07-15T16:19:00.002-06:00

Yes, yes....it really is a giant jug of fruit macerating on the counter. Now if macerating on the counter doesn't sound dirty enough for you, wait until you see what you get up to after this drink ;) Let's just say sangria has always proven to be a wonderful start to any evening for me!

As much as I love to try new recipes, everybody has tried and true recipes that just work for them. And this red sangria is definitely the one for me. It takes me back to the days of my early 20's when my best friend and I would hit La Bodega in Vancouver for tapas and a jug of sangria (or 2).

I'm not sure what does it for me in this recipe more, the crushed raspberries or if it's the $15 bottle of amazing Rioja I keep hidden in the wine room for this exact occasion.

***Warning*** - the consumption of the entire jug in one evening will result in a wicked headache the next day.

There is no good way to take a picture of sangria either. You can try from the sides, the top, or through the jug and they just don't turn out the way you want it too. But take my word for it - this recipe for sangria will leave you happy happy happy!

1 apple
1 orange
1 lime
1 lemon
1 cup of raspberries
3/4 to 1 cup of cointreau
1 bottle of red wine (preferabbly a Rioja)
1 cup of orange juice
1 can of 7-up

Slice citrus fruits into thin rings and juice the end pieces. Dice the apple and add to the citrus fruits. Add raspberries and cointreau and let sit on the counter for 2 hours. Put the wine in the fridge at this time too.

Muddle the fruits with the back of a wooden spoon. Add wine, orange juice and 7-up. Fill glasses with ice and add beverage. Enjoy!

I have converted..............

2009-07-13T19:42:00.003-06:00

For most of my 20's I toyed with the idea of becoming a vegetarian. It wasn't that I didn't like meat, it just wasn't really all that exciting for me. Whenever I went out to eat I ordered seafood or pastas, never steaks or chicken.

And when I lived on my own, I think I can count on my fingers and toes the number of times I purchased meat just for myself. A wheel of brie, but never meat.

Then along came S - a true meat and potatoes kind of guy. And we moved to the prairies where the seafood selection leaves a little something to be desired (unless you come across those prairie jellyfish....but that's a post for another day). So I started experimenting with different cuts and varities of meat. I soon realized the reason I never liked steak before was because it was always cooked well done - give me a rare steak and I'm a happy camper. I have even been known to eat beef tartare, sushi for the prairie dweller.

But ribs always were just a little beyond my grasp. I have never been fond of them, although we frequent a restaurant where S doesn't even look at the menu before he orders their Jack Daniels ribs.

And then there was last night. S has been working so hard on the kitchen that I thought I would be nice and make him ribs for supper. As I stood there grilling them, I thought that maybe I was making too much, that we'd never be able to eat the 3 pounds of ribs I had on the grill. S wandered by with some insulation and I informed him that I'd eat one section of ribs and then we could give my portion to the neighbor husband.

And then it happened.....that flash of light, an epiphany, voices and harps were playing. Oh my god these taste good was my first thought, it must just be the sauce I like. And then it hit me, as S watched in amazement, the pile of gnawed on rib bones grew on my plate. These were amazing and to think, I'd gone all these years snearing whenever someone said "let's have ribs".

And I'm sorry neighbor husband, I ate all the ribs I was going to give you :(

You can find the recipe HERE. The rum made the sauce and I substituted sweet thai chili sauce for the regular as it was all I had on hand.

And here's a picture of my sad little kitchen. Right now S and the neighbor husband are downstairs putting up gyp rock - and I will pay them with chocolate peanut butter cookies once the stove is plugged back in.

Cupboard door opinion?

2009-07-12T15:58:00.000-06:00

The little door on the right is the original colour of my cabinets. Not my favourite. The door on the left is the same door, recently painted (still needs one more coat). Take the poll on the right side of my blog and tell me what you think!

Tequila!!!!!!

2009-07-12T10:02:00.003-06:00

When I was little (think under 5 years old), the instrumental song Tequila by the Rebel Rousers was in my top 3 of songs. The others included the Baby Elephant Walk by Henry Mancini and Guitarzan..........not typical little kid music, but definitely along the tastes of my dad who grew up in the 50's and 60's.

Little did he know that his 4 year old dancing around and yelling Tequila! along to the song would be how his 34 year old daughter still acts when the song comes on...........and that it was fitting as I actually quite like the flavours tequila imparts in cooking.

Don't get me wrong, tequila tastes great for drinking too, but it's the one alcoholic beverage that knocks me on my ass.

So while we were on holidays, I was craving grilled chicken - and not the healthy skinless chicken breast either. I wanted dark meat, and skin and a leg to gnaw on - perfect timing to try Emeril's Cilantro-Tequila Grilled Chicken from his new Emeril at the Grill cookbook.

We picked up some chicken legs (thighs attached) and popped them into the marinade for 4 hours. The S set about grilling.

Keep a spray bottle of water nearby as they can flare up from time to time. Yes mom, the 4 foot flames that happened are just a "flare up", no need to panic.

This recipe results in a very understated tequila/cilantro flavour. While the chicken was good (most grilled chicken is hard to screw up), I found the flavours of the marinade didn't come through all that well. We made a margarita chicken this weekend (to be blogged about later) that both S and I quite preferred.

Would I make this again, probably not, but only because I was really looking for something with a stronger flavour to it. This is the perfect recipe though for people who do not like the taste of alcohol in their meals.

Cilantro-Tequila Grilled Chicken - adapted from Emeril at the Grill

1/2 cup tightly packed fresh cilantro leaves

5 cloves of peeeled garlic

1 shallot roughly chopped

1/2 serrano chile, seeded and chopped (I used one jalapeno as no one in our family other than me likes spicy)

1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup tequila

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 chicken leg quarters (or 8 pieces bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs and legs)

1. Combine all ingredients up to the chicken in a food processor and puree until smooth. Place chicken pieces in a baking dish or resealable bag and pour the marinade over the chicken. Marinate, refrigerated for at least 2 hours and up to 4 hours, turning the bag occasionally.

2. Preheat grill to medium.

3. Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper. Place chicken on the grill and grill for 8 to 10 minutes. Turn the chicken over and cook another 8 to 10 minutes. Continue cooking, turning the chicken as needed to promote even browning, until cooked through and tender (about 40 minutes for a whole leg, 30 minutes for seperate legs and thighs).

4. Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Dutch parking only........

2009-07-11T17:46:00.003-06:00

Just about every Canadian I know identifies with a completely different heritage or ethnic background and this very thing is what makes Canada great! Growing up I was exposed to all sorts of foods and traditions - Chinese, Hindi, German, Jewish, Japanese, Italian, Portuguese just to name a few.

I was the kid that while being baptised Catholic, had an intense desire to learn about other religions and culture as for sure they must be cooler than my background. I never did "stick" to a religion, but the different foods I tried and ceremonies I attended have shaped who I am today. I've tried pigeon, eel, spaetzle, matzo balls (yum), seaweed salad, pigs head, goat and too many other interesting things to list. I cannot wait to continue learning and trying other ethnic foods.

This sign is now hanging in my office at work:

But Dutch or not, come in, sit down and teach me about yourself - I would love to learn about your culture!

And PS - one of the more interesting food cultures I've learned about is from my "mom" at work....she's Swedish and a hoot. And she's getting married this afternoon - CONGRATULATION KJERYN AND MERV!

Now on to the food! When we got back from holidays this week S commanded that I start working through my stockpile of meat in the freezer. So as I bitched and moaned that the whole point of having a freezer is for it to be full, I complied and brough up this huge 5 pound pork loin roast with the intentions of having the neighbors over for a bbq. Well, that didn't quite happen so we bbq'd the roast anyways.

S did a great job bbq'ing as usual, and the meat had a delicious crispy outside.

But 5 pounds of pork loin roast is a lot for 2 people to eat. The next night we set to work on making bbq'd pork sandwiches (the neighbors did get to eat those!).

This bbq sauce is courtesy of Cookingnook.com

Easy Basic BBQ Sauce (I doubled this recipe and it was the perfect amount)

1 x 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp molasses or brown sugar

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small non-metallic pan. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over moderate heat. Reduct the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes or until the flavours mellow and the sauce thickens slightly.

Keeps in the fridge for up to 2 weeks

Odd the things that can excite us......

2009-07-09T09:12:00.009-06:00

Remember the dead tomato plant? The little Charlie Brown Tomato plant that came back to life and is all spindly?

It has a tomato!! A very little tomato, and only one....but a tomato!!! And it's going to be the best damn tasting tomato I have ever had :) See, it truly is the little things that make me happy.

Well, that and receiving an award for my blog today (more on that in a minute) and getting a great deal on an over range microwave. I really wanted one while we re-did our kitchen, and our microwave was on it's last legs. S convinced me to go to a furniture/appliance store on the way home tonight (I didn't really want to.....I was tired and hungry), and we wandered through their clearance section. Lo and behold, we got exactly what we wanted, in last years model with a really little dent on the bottom....for $100. Yep, everything I had looked at previously was 5 times that amount. But I got this for $100!

And lest you think my blog is not about food anymore, here's a tasty little appetizer that I am commanded to make about 5 times a year for my staff. Every potluck it's the same thing. And it's not just my current department, but the same wraps were a hit back in Vancouver for my staff too. I don't get it - they aren't that special, but hey, these ladies want what they want.....so wraps it is.

1 package of tortillas

1 container salsa

1 container herb and garlic cream cheese

3/4 pack of shredded mexican cheese blend

Mix everything (other than tortillas) in a bowl. Spread a couple tablespoons on the tortillas, roll up and cover with plastic wrap over night. Slice and serve the next day.

And now for the award......Katherine over at Smoky Mountain Cafe gave me this award. Check out her blog - I love the recipes she makes. And the first thing that ever drew me to her blog.....her profile pic - great legs, red shoes! My hero ;)

For this award I have to name 7 things you might find interesting:

1. My ultimate travel destination would be to spend 2 months in Spain. There is something about the culture, food, and people that intrigues me to no end.

2. I'm an accountant/controller, but I always wanted to be something that evoked a lot of adrenaline - think fighter pilot, race car driver, etc. Trust me, while controlling a large car dealership is challenging, rarely do I think I could die from it.

3. I am not actually creative (no matter that Katherine gave me an award for it)....I am logical and practical and any type of creativity leaves me stumped. Even blogging requires phenomenal effort - I'd rather just put up a picture and post the recipe.

4. I have a strange fascination for the show Mythbusters. I pretend to not watch it with S, but secretly peer over whatever novel I'm reading to watch.

5. I love music and have an odd talent to know who sang pop/rock songs from the 60's through to today. If Name That Tune was still a game show I would rock at it.

6. I love game shows. I don't watch much of them now, but as a kid you could plunk me in front of the tv and I would watch them all day. Jokers Wild, Lets Make a Deal, Wheel of Fortune.....they all brought out the super competitive side of me.

7. S is the best thing that happened to me and I almost refused to meet him because we work in the same industry. I'm glad our friends persisted or I'd be missing out on a wonderful person.

To accept this award do the following

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Here's the 7 blogs I nominate for this - they are all great - check them out!

1. Airing My Dirty Laundry, One Sock at a Time

2. Debbie at Suburb Sanity

3. Muneeba at an Edible Symphony

4. Pierce at Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor

5. Erica at My Columbian Recipes

6. Spryte at Spryte's Place

7. The Obnoxious Stay At Home Mom

We're not in Kansas anymore Toto.....

2009-07-08T20:28:00.005-06:00

There are very few things in this world that scare me. I mean, I think I am pretty tough - I can be in your face and pretty bold when I need to be. People don't scare me nor do their attitudes. Spiders, snakes and other creepy crawlies - not so much. Earthquakes - nope, been in some small ones and I'm good - no fear whatsoever.

But tornadoes.....tornadoes scare the crap out of me. I don't know why but my fascination with weather does NOT extend towards tornadoes. We had a small one last year about 10 km from our place - S called me to the back door to see the funnel cloud hit the ground and I promptly took shelter in the wine cellar (not a bad place to be in case of disaster if I do say so myself).

And today we've been under tornado warning since about 2 p.m. You know when you go to the zoo and the tiger is pacing back and forth in front of it's cage watching you? That's me in front of the windows at work this afternoon and now at home.

That's our view at about 6:30 from our back deck. The clouds are very dark and swirly - my stomach is equally as swirly and I'm warily watching the clouds blow around. S even plied me with some Pinot Noir in the hopes that I will just "relax". Yep......not relaxed (although the Pinot was very nice).

So dinner turned into a simple pasta dish. I contemplated driving to the grocery store in town (16 km away), but open prairies + tornado + me in my vehicle = not going to happen. So we improvised with a borrowed lemon from the neighbor wife (thank you!) and some things in the fridge. This was a simple, not extraordinary pasta dish. But for a comfort bowl of pasta, you really can't go wrong.

You can find the original recipe HERE.

As for the kitchen, we're humming along. Cabinets are down and we set about choosing a paint colour. The ugly green is the colour of our main floor right now. The colour on the left - Cliffside. The colour on the right - Hiking Trail. We're leaning towards the Cliffside one - a little bit more grey than brown. Thoughts?

The only meal out I took pics of on holidays

2009-07-07T15:45:00.004-06:00

I really do have pictures of food I've cooked recently - but they are on the camera and that's somewhere in the mess that is my kitchen reno. Please stick with me - I promise that I'll start cooking again really really soon :)

As it stands, the kitchen is now minus cabinets and 1/2 of it's gyp rock. It's really sad - and for someone who is slightly neurotic like I am, a bit overwhelming when there is this huge mess that I cannot clean up. But, we picked the colour we are painting our main floor (a grey/brown called Cliffside) and we're going to look at microwave range hoods this weekend.

While we were away, we always go for dinner at Hillside Estate Winery/Bistro. Their wines are fabulous and if you sit in the right spot of the patio, you can see Okanagan Lake. We did not sit n the right spot so you are SOL for a fabulous picture view this time!

We started with the fried oysters in chipotle cream. I love love love oysters, and while these were good, I really do prefer them raw with a tiny bit of horseradish and lemon.

The requisite glass of wine - a Muscat Ottonel that is probably my favourite that they produce.

I wasn't overly hungry, but was craving pizza something fierce last week. I opted for the artichoke, eggplant and goat cheese sauce pizza. I love thin crust pizzas and this one did not disappoint.

S opted for pasta for some reason - it was 34 degrees outside! It had chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and a chipotle style cream like the oysters. I "think" he enjoyed it - he finished it....but I don't think I ever did really ask him what he thought?!

We passed on dessert and opted to hit more wineries and then go back to my parents for a nap. Truly, for the person who only gets about 5 hours a night of sleep, the daily nap was rather nice :)

And as for the stay tuned announcement from a previous post...

I, the person who abhors exercise and does it only grudgingly so I will remain a size 12 (ick)......have decided along with my friend H to train to run a 1/2 marathon next year. Uh yeah....what????????? That's what S said. But, I figure I'm turning 35 and I am pretty sure if I train for a year I can do this - I'm actually a teeny bit excited! The race is on S and my anniversary, and at the end of that 21.5 km's, there will be a fabulous dinner/party! And hopefully, all that running will take my size 12 ass to a size 10 ;) I have to work off these blog recipes somehow!

What to do with 10 pounds of fresh cherries?

2009-07-06T06:26:00.000-06:00

Make ice cream of course! Our visit to my parents coincided with my mom's birthday this year. So instead of the usual gift card to her favourite store, I opted to buy her an ice cream maker this year. It's one of those things that I know she'd never buy herself, but an appliance I firmly believe everyone should own!

Our entire family loves ice cream, so what better gift could there be?

We first opted for the "easy" vanilla ice cream recipe that came with the directions. Forgive me for not actually having it, but pretty much any non-custard type ice cream recipe works. We added chopped cherries and dark chocolate and voila! An easy, delicious dessert.

We did try the custard based ice cream the next day, which both my mom and I prefer. But really, ice cream is ice cream.

And dad seemed to enjoy, even though he informed us that at his age, he needs all the preservatives he can get.

Accountants can garden??

2009-07-05T14:47:00.002-06:00

While S set to work destroying this today,

I set to work clearing out the ugly flower bed in the front of the house. I opted for all perennials in the bed, figuring if I was going to spend $$$$$ on plants, I want stuff that will come back year after year.

S just had to get in on the plant action ;) Apparently we own the worlds longest hose (a bazillion feet), so he was hooking it up so I wouldn't "wreck" anything. We already have one dead soldier, er...plant. It kind of broke in half when I took it out of the package but I planted it anyways.

And this is the plant I'll be watching, it is not easy to grow here, but it can be done. I am determined since the tomato plant fiasco to at least get this garden to work.

And stay tuned for more kitchen pictures...within 3 weeks we should have a brand new looking kitchen!

Wine, golf, cherries and fun.....a week of relaxation FINALLY!

2009-07-04T22:57:00.009-06:00

What a week! We so rarely take a week off together that when we do, we have to pack it full of fun things to do. How better than to maximize our time off by going to the Okanagan to visit my parents and relax in the sun! We had beautiful weather and a ton of fun - thanks again mom and dad for having us! Here's some random pics of our holiday - the food pics as well as my new goal will follow this week!

A random baby deer when I was out for my morning walk.

I give up on ever doing my hair properly when you are driving with the window down in 38 degree heat! (fyi, we came home to 16 degrees, rain and a tornado warning.......I have not unpacked the car in case I need to head back). Note the start of a sunburn on my arm - I smartened up and spent the remainder of the week slathered in SPF 60.

A leisurely lunch at Lake Breeze Winery overlooking Okanagan Lake.

A gorgeous view from Lake Breeze......I have seriously started praying to the lottery gods to win enough to buy my own vineyard. Both S and I were smitten.

View from See Ya Later Ranch in OK Falls.

View from the bistro patio at SYL Ranch towards Skaha lake.

S about 45 seconds before he knocked his wine glass to the patio :) We were at Elephant Island Winery, a little place that makes fruit wines rather than grape. I loved the crab apple wine and pear wine.

My favourite summer fruit.

I think we had been to about 5 wineries for tastings by this point :) I was done.

Relaxing after 18 holes of golf.

View from the golf course overlooking Osoyoos Lake. Did I mention my parents have RETIRED here?? I am insanely jealous (and happy for them).

Yeah yeah, it's 7 a.m. and I haven't had any coffee.

At least I think I was attempting to smile :) Not my best golf game of the year, but who cared...I was on holidays!

Perfect use for fresh corn

2009-07-02T18:34:00.001-06:00

One last post before the end of our holidays - mini corn muffins. If you have fresh corn available use that instead of canned - it makes a world of difference.

If you like a bit of bite to your muffins, add some chopped jalapeno. Or if you are S, he loves when I put goat cheese in the centre - just mix 1/2 cup goat cheese with 1/2 cup of cream cheese and push little balls into your muffin before baking.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Happy Canada Day!!!

2009-07-01T10:50:00.002-06:00

I know we aren't nearly as patriotic as our friends to the south, but still - we live in a great country!

The only grilled summer meat you need

2009-06-29T18:32:00.001-06:00

I came across this recipe last year and thought sweet - fake ribs! I love bbq'd ribs, but hate taking the time to bbq them for 3 hours. This recipe is done in 15 minutes on the grill - and if you are watching your calorie intake, it's healthy to boot because you are making it with pork tenderloin.

First, pound your pork tenderloin until it's apo. an inch thick. Score both sides and apply the dry rub.

Make sure to make the homemade bbq sauce - it is seriously the best sauce you will ever try. I always make a double batch so I have some around for burgers or chicken.

Here's the finished product - melt in your mouth "ribs". Sooooooooooo good!!

If it's just S and I, 2 pork tenderloins are more than enough. If it's more than 5 people, I do 4, if you don't watch, the men will eat a whole tenderloin to themselves!

You can find the recipe HERE.

In 3.....2.....1..........

2009-06-26T16:02:00.002-06:00

Woo hoo - and it officially starts............now!!!

Not to worry - I'll still post the odd recipe while I'm away and I'll be back in the swing of things before you know it!

What am I going to do with that??

2009-06-26T06:44:00.000-06:00

One of the truths of summer is people always bring you things from their garden because they have an abundance of them. I can't tell you how many zucchini and tomatoes I have received in previous summers. It's always exciting since fresh, homegrown produce tastes hundres of times better than the stuff that's trucked to the grocery store.

And then it happened......a fabulous lady at work brought me a bag of rhubarb. I vaguely remember eating rhubarb as a kid. It was a huge plant that grew beside a brown fence and I think a composter? Not sure, but I know I was little because I don't remember my brother being in the picture. Mom gave me a bowl of sugar, demonstrated how you dip the raw rhubarb into the sugar and then munch away.

Now, I don't remember being particularly fond of this as the rhubarb plant was not part of our lives for much longer.

So I graciously accepted the bag and thought, what the hell, it's good to try things again. My tastes have changed so much since I was a kid that maybe it would be ok.

Now, apparently I am not the only one with sketchy memories of rhubarb as a kid, because when I told S I had a bag of rhubarb in the car I was met with silence. I thought maybe my cell dropped the call, but no, he was just being really quiet. Then finally, "We aren't going to eat it are we?". No S, we're going to stick it in a vase and look at it. Sheesh, what does he think we're going to do. "But Cath, I don't like rhubarb". So we had the same conversation that gets trotted out once in awhile..."When was the last time you ate it? How was it prepared?" Again, he was a kid, so too bad, so sad we are trying rhubarb.

I also had some strawberries that needed to be used up and know that my mom had recently made a strawberry rhubarb pie (which I think I vaguely made fun of, so I'm sorry mom). Since I was in a rush and not wanting to make pastry, I opted for a crumble recipe from Cooking Light.

This picture does not do the crumble justice. It was delicious! Almost the whole pan was gone (with the help of the neighbors). I love all things that are tart, sour or have that bit of a zing to it and that was exactly what the rhubarb tasted like. I wouldn't hesitate to make this again at all. I may just even plant a rhubarb plant next year in my garden :)

You can find the recipe HERE.

Sometimes you just don't want a glass of wine....

2009-06-24T16:34:00.001-06:00

I know, I know. You are all saying "What??? Is she sick??". It's not often I pass up a glass or two of wine when it's proferred. I mean, if owning a winery or vineyard was easy, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be an accountant.

But every now and then, the weekend hits and I don't want wine. I want something girly, fruity and fun - and it helps that S is fond of girly drinks too. He'll be unhappy that I outed him so publicly for his love of all drinks pink, but I figure if my 6 foot, broad shouldered mechanic hubby can raise a glass of pink hued fun to his lips on our deck at night, so can your significant other!

This past week I was perusing a copy of 150 cocktails that I found in a stack of books on my office floor. Sometimes it's just fun to read the names right? And then I came across Sex on the Beach. Now, for those of you that have tried that (the sex, not the drink), you know it results in sand in areas that should never see sand. The drink on the other hand, is not nearly as abrasive and will result in quite a few giggles around the patio (yes, S giggles too....I mean if you're already outed sweetie, I may as well go for the gusto here).

Sex on the Beach (adjust if you only want one glass as this made a huge pitcher)

3 3/4 cups cranberry juice (use the 100% stuff)
3 3/4 cups orange juice
1 1/2 cups vodka
1 1/2 cups peach schnapps (odd, I always seem to have this in my cupboard)
1/2 cup pineapple juice

The best part of summer hands down

2009-06-23T17:04:00.001-06:00

I sometimes sit back and wonder if I'm this excited about cherries in June, if they were available all year long, do you think I'd be so passionate about them? I mean, most fruits and vegetables you can get all year, but there's something about spying that first bag of cherries at the grocery store.

I mean, who cares that they clock in at $4.50/lb. I haven't had any for 10 months - that's surely worth the $10 for the little bag I'm hauling out with me right?

The main reason I will never have kids.....

2009-06-22T20:52:00.003-06:00

I would forget them. I bet I'd leave them places. Walmart - check. Grocery store - check. Grandparents house - well, that would be by design.

Since we don't have kids, my realm of responsibility pretty much involves me. Sometimes S, but never anyone younger than oh...34. So imagine my chagrin tonight when only 2 nights into my agreement to take our goddaughter to golf lessons, it slipped my mind. Completely.

And it's not like I didn't know I had something going on tonight....when I booked my monthly massage I was smart enough to not book it for today after work. But there I was at 5:30, finishing up stuff with a manager and thinking of all the things I could get done in the next hour before heading home. And then it hit me....I was supposed to already be on my way home....for golf. Crap!

We made it to golf only 2 minutes late ;) And her golf lessons are now permanently embedded into my blackberry and she'll never know she almost got stood up for a spreadsheet. I mean, I don't know any 12 year old who would take that piece of news all that well.

And as for golf, she's doing great! I couldn't be more excited that she's interested in it.

So, being a golf night, this also meant a quick dinner had to be prepared afterwards. And since I've been seriously shirking my cooking duty, what better way to make it up to S then with a big bowl of carbs! When I told him that I was making Summer Fettucine Alfredo he was super excited. Ok, it was fusili because I didn't have any fettucine on hand, but he was still excited.

Imagine his surprise when the only ingredients on the counter were fresh basil, ricotta cheese and some shredded parmesan. "Where's the cream sauce ingredients??" he asked. I just smiled and told him to go take a shower and not worry about it.

This pasta dish folks, needs to be your quick go to, no time in the world, you have no clean clothes and are late for a meeting dinner. It was fast. It was tasty. It was filling. And better yet, it only had 4 ingredients and was on the table in the length of time it took to boil the pasta.

For the carnivore in your life, throw in some chicken or prawns. For the veggie lover, some sauteed peppers or zucchini. Or eat it plain and marvel at how sometimes the simplest pasta dishes can be the most rewarding.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Around the world in 80 hot dogs, #3

2009-06-21T08:16:00.002-06:00

It's official, we are on sleep countdown to our holidays. 6 more sleeps and then we will be having fun golfing, swimming and touring wineries for a glorious week. We were highly amused though that the weather here is supposed to finally be beautiful the week that we are gone. Figures!

And now a rant about gardening.....I just don't think I'm cut out to be domesticated at all. I think all plants should come from a florist and be delivered to you with a card declaring undying love. But, coming from a dutch background, gardening is supposed to be in my blood.

As this is my first opportunity to try out my (lack of) green thumb, I am starting out slowly. I have one little flower bed in front of the house and a supposed herb garden going in the backyard whenever S is done destroying the kitchen.

I water, I coax, I talk to the damn plants. And the only thing that freaking grows is the weeds. Hardy little buggers these things, one day you have maybe 2, then all of a sudden the whole bed is overrun with weeds. I'll give S credit, he hugged me and said at least the garden was green. Thanks babe. So I weeded yesterday and I'm off to pick up a bunch of perennials this morning. I'm not fond of spending money on annuals when they don't grow back every year.

And from experience, do not grab the first bucket you see in the garage to put the weeds in. Apparently it was the "car wash" bucket and I've ruined it with dirt ;) But, when you wash the car, doesn't the dirt on the mitt go back into the bucket?

Now onto the hot dog, we were racing against the clock to get inside from grilling before the thunderstorm hit (other than the little tornado last year, that has been the worst one I have ever seen).

As I'm still working my way through the food in my fridge, I had to use up my tzatziki sauce. Greek hot dogs were undoubtedly the way to go.

I substituted feta for the kalamata olives as I am not an olive fan. About once a year I come across an olive I like - but never remember which one it is. So, chop up an olive if you like, some feta, tomato and onion.

I have always been a fan of mayonnaise on hot dogs, so it's not a stretch for me to add a creamy tzatziki to the mix.

We used smokies instead of hot dogs tonight, and thin hot dog buns which when tossed on the grill for a minute, tasted a lot like pita bread. So, I think you'd be OK to sub pita bread for a hot dog bun on this if it folds properly.

The verdict, another tasty hot dog. S's favourite is still the bruschetta, and I'm tied between this and the caprese. I love cheese though, so the fresh mozzarella and feta make a huge difference to me.

Around the world in 80 hot dogs # 1 and 2

2009-06-19T07:00:00.001-06:00

When S called to ask what was for dinner and I mentioned the around the world in 80 hot dogs, I was met with a brief silence. Then the question:

"How weird are these going to be??"

Well, I can say there are some pretty weird ones on the list. For example, if I would like to stay married there is no way I will make S the Australian - a hot dog topped with mushy peas. If I wish to garner his love for a very long time, the Tijuana Danger Dog will make it to my menu this summer - a hot dog wrapped in bacon and then fried.

But since we were starting off and I'm trying to use up things in the fridge before we leave on holidays, I opted for 2 of the more normal sounding hot dogs - Bruschetta and the Caprese.

Bruschetta is pretty straight forward - chop up a tomato, fresh basil and garlic. Voila - easy peasy.

Now to turn that hot dog into the Caprese dog you need to add fresh mozzarella (not the store bought shredded kind). I still had some bocconcini to use in the fridge and figured this would be the best way to use it up.

I didn't manage to take a picture of the Bruschetta dog - we ate those pretty quick. But here's the picture of the caprese dogs.

This may have been the best hot dog I have eaten to date! And there are 78 others to choose from - how to pick? S has gone through and marked off the ones he really wants me to try - some of them surprised me. And since we're approaching the longest day of the year, I'm off to golf after work...which will mean a hot dog at 10 tonight. I'm gunning for the Greek dog - stay tuned!! And also stay tuned for our favourite summer grilling recipe - I'm set to make it on Sunday and this recipe has made the rounds between family and friends - you will never do your pork tenderloin the same way again.

And as for the kitchen renos - S is on board with the open shelf idea, so by the end of August my kitchen will look vastly different!

Uh oh.............

2009-06-17T17:00:00.000-06:00

A wise man (I think it was my dad), once told me that when you buy an older house and attempt to fix something, you will probably need to fix at least 3 other things at the same time. Now, I don't remember if he told me this when I was 7, or last year when we bought the 18 year old house.

So, I don't know why I was so surprised to find out that what was supposed to be an easy counter replacement in my kitchen has now taken shape to be a major kitchen renovation. Bah!!!! Just what I need right now! I got home last night to S standing in the middle of a mess looking at me. What started as the simple removal of our tile backsplash to make the counter tops fit, is going to result in:

-all new gyp rock in the kitchen
-a new kitchen window
-all the cabinets being taken down
-repainting the entire main floor

Yep - there was mold under the window and the dorks who owned the house before us had installed the tiles in such a way that there was no gyp rock (or minimal, or something weird....I really stopped listening once S and the neighbor husband started talking about taking the cabinets off the walls).

On the upside, this gives me a chance to try and convince S to go to an open shelf concept in our kitchen!!! Stay tuned while I work my magical ways on him and attempt to go from ugly ugly cabinets to sleek stainless steel shelves!

So dear blog followers - dinners will probably consist of oh...burgers and hot dogs until we leave on holidays - while my stove is in the middle of the floor. This is the perfect opportunity for me to work my way through the around the world in 80 hot dogs idea from Bon Apetit.

As for this post, I leave you with yet another burger. What makes this burger special is the layer of chili kettle chips hidden beneath the patty. I find it pure genius that they are starting to promote chips in burgers in all the magazines....I've been doing this since I was probably about 7 years old. Chips in sandwiches, chips in burgers, chips in hot dogs.........you name it, I was doing it. My favourite sandwich in the whole world is a turkey, havarti and dorito sandwich (with mayo and mustard).

This burger had the addition of coleslaw (another plus) and havarti - and was probably one of the best burgers I've had all year. I shocked S with how quickly I ate this burger (and probably the very un-ladylike belch that followed it).

You can find the recipe HERE.

Maybe blogging in the summer is tough....

2009-06-16T07:00:00.001-06:00

It seems that every time I turn around I have something going on that is preventing me from cooking. Now, this is not always a bad thing (see post re: my visit from my best friend).

And in the coming 3 weeks, I'm away on holidays for a week (ah...a glorious week visiting with my parents, golfing and touring wineries). But the best....and I mean best...thing that will hamper my cooking in the next 8 days...............I AM FINALLY GETTING RID OF MY CRAPPY COUNTERS AND SINK!

We bought our house last year and the people that renovated before us had some odd style ideas. My counter tops are tiles that are about 1 1/2 inches square with gigantic tiles in the same colour on the backsplash. It's a nightmare trying to keep stuff out of the grout and they chip easy. And the worst thing.........a white porcelain sink that was scratched to shit when we bought it. The thing is white in areas and a muddy brown....just gross.

So while I really really wanted granite countertops, we agreed to hold off a few years on that and just install laminate for now - and that happens next Tuesday (insert geeky happy dance here). So, while I will be mainly blogging about hot dogs and hamburgers, be assured that when my holidays are over July 4th that I will be back to fun food!

On to the next burger! I had some ground lamb hanging out in the fridge that needed to be cooked. So greek burgers were quickly thrown together. Nothing better than feta and tzatziki right?

I added some garlic to the lamb and grilled for 5 minutes per side for a medium burger. I loved the addition of the salty feta and tzatziki is one of my favourite condiments.