Christmas Knits!

As it is the Winter season, I have found my way back to my knitting needles. I hate knitting in the Summer. The feeling of dewy hands wrapped in acrylic yarn grosses me out. I'm not a really skilled knitter yet. My goal this year is to learn to knit in the round. I want to be able to make mitts and toques so badly but every time I pick up a pattern I am massively confused. Why are patterns written in code? This isn't the 1940's. You don't have to worry about any foreign spies stealing sock patterns. Was that a concern in the 1940's? Seems like it might have been.
Anyway, this fall Roots had all sorts of awesome, sock monkey-inspired, knit wear. I wanted it but wasn't about to spend 40 bucks on a scarf (this time). Since I had more time than money that week, I headed to Michael's. Yay! It was 10 am on a Thursday in the middle of November but the place was packed! Apparently they were having some kind of sale that I wasn't aware of until a nice granny gave me an extra 25% off coupon that she had printed from her email.
Here is what has resulted

(also does anyone know how to flip these damn pics?)
I used Patrons Classic Wool. I was fortunate that they not only had a grey sock monkey colour but also the perfect red and a creamy off-white. The colours are much better in person.
I was hoping for mitts but decided I better start with a scarf. I used 6mm needles and cast on forty stitches. It's nice width but if i were to make it again I would make it wider. Wide scarfs seem more luxurious to me.
Tonight I was wrapping more presents and had to wrap a piece of jewellery that didn't come in a box (bc I shop at all the classy places). Rather than wrap it in the plain brown paper and risk loosing it, I quickly knit it a little case.

This one I did on smaller needles (but I don't remember the size). I only cast on 12 stitches. So cute! I knit it while Mike showed me the joys of the Buffy the Vampire Musical episode. Ahh the holidays.

Nicole For Food Activism

Early in December I attended an information night hosted by NEAP- Northeast Edmonton Agriculture Producers. I first came across the group in October, when buying produce from Riverbend Gardens, at the Strathcona Farmers Market. The grower asked that we help save the farm and slipped a flyer into our bag. It seems that Riverbend Gardens, along with a handful of other producers is at risk of losing their land to a large scale suburban development project. This area of Edmonton, they say, has a particularly long growing season (three weeks longer than the rest of Edmonton) and fantastic soil.
The fight for this land has been a long project. They have been fighting for it for over 4 years. The issue and its development seemed quite complex to me, which is the main reason that is has taken me so long to write about it.
It seems that come Fall 2012, the city council will be presented with a land proposal drawn up by a company which was hired by a few land development groups. These types of proposals are almost never turned down and rarely modified.
What NEAP hopes to do is have a large showing of people at city hall to oppose this plan. What NEAP would like to see is a food HUB. They want to take not only their existing farms, but the surrounding area and make it a local producer haven. In this way Edmonton could work towards sustainable eating.
This seems like a really good idea to me. I just get confused with all the politics. Here is the link if you would like to learn more and be their friend
www.friendsoffarmers.ca

Christmas Baking the Sequel

Yay! Three weeks later we got around to making more goodies! Short bread and Nanaimo Bars this time, but not all in the same day, in fact we didn't even do the Nanaimo Bars in the same day. Stupid layers make me loose momentum. First your waiting for the layer to cool then next thing you know your watching a Full House Marathon  all night. Or something like that anyway.
Again recipes courtesy of Mike's mummy.

We didn't have any sprinkles so we crushed up some candy canes to put on the top. We also decorated others with crasins. I prefer the tartness of the crasins. I feel like a grownup for choosing them over the ones with smashed up candy. I must be really mature.
Mike and I like our Nanaimo bars with a thinner layer of custard rather than a thicker one. For me it gets in the way of the chocolate. I don't despise the custard layer, I recognise it as a necessary evil. Here's how they turned out

Poor Nanaimo Bar didn't have the hope of lasting til Christmas. Taste test was perfectly executed.

Present Wrapping

For a long time I have wanted to wrap presents in brown paper because it looks so old timey. Usually I run out of time to plan this so I just end up getting paper with santas on it from a drugstore close by. This year we happened to have some brown kraft paper because we had to mail a package in September. Plain paper means we get to decorate it ourselves so the possibilities are ENDLESS! Since I'm not that artistic that limits the possibilities quite a bit. I choose to do thumbprint designs taken from one of my all time favourite books 'Ed Emberley Complete FunPrint Drawing Book'. I got this book from Scholastic book orders when I was in grade school. It has never let me down. I highly recommend finding a copy bc you never know when a thumbprint design may come in handy.
All I really needed to decorate the presents was a fine black felt pen and a stamp pad in my colour of choice. However I went to the dollarstore and went slightly crazy in the craft aisle. Now I have a nice shoebox full of crafting things. My favourite purchase was some sticker ribbon from the scrapbooking section. It looks like thin christmas ribbon but has a sticky backing. It is perfect for making sparkly collars for thumbprint reindeer.
 One of the best things about this project was the cost. A roll of brown kraft paper at Staples is 4 dollars for 40 ft. The rest of the items were about 10 bucks from the dollar store, including pencil crayons and glitter. The only downside is that the paper is slightly transparent so if I was so inclined to sit under the tree, I could trace out the words on the box beneath. I'm not so inclined and most of our presents will be opened as soon as they are received, so it is not such a huge downside for us.
Here are some of the designs

I meant to post a few more but I can't get blogger to stop posting them upsidedown. Oh well.

So many marshmallows, so little friends.

I followed through on my hot chocolate party this weekend! Best use of marshmallows, short of a marshmallow gun, of course.
My first thought was just to make the Mexican style hot chocolate that I usually make but my mom said that that kind is disgusting so probably everyone won't like it.. Well guess what mom, as it turns out, you're the only person who doesn't like it. So there.
Now that I've got that out of the way, I shall give you the recipe. It is a Nigella Lawson recipe, although I have never measured anything in it. The ingredients are milk, cinnamon, honey, vanilla extract (go for the good stuff), spiced rum and chocolate. I use a mexican hot chocolate bar, if I have one otherwise I use bakers semi-sweet chocolate. This time I skipped the rum so everyone could add their spirit of choice.
I thought white hot chocolate would be a nice contrast but i had no idea how to make it. Thanks to a quick google search I learned that most people make it from the same three ingredients- milk, vanilla, white chocolate chips. This search led me to here-
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2010/12/gourmet-hot-chocolate/
yay! Hot chocolate party post! This was a gold mine for ideas, like using my smaller cups (so you can more easily have seconds and thirds) and candy cane stir sticks.
Here is my arsenal of hot chocolate condiments:

We have our FIVE flavours of marshmallows, mini candy canes, whipped cream, nutmeg, cinnamon, caramel syrup, baileys, spiced rum and kahlua. Oh the possibilities! My favourite combination of the evening was white hot chocolate, Kahlua, whipped cream, and caramel syrup. See,

To maximize marshmallow consumption I also made these

From here http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/smores-brownie-bars/
Smore's brownies! I made a row of each of the marshmallow flavours. So far the caramel ones are my favourite but I still have a few more rows to eat through.

Tapas Pinxtos

When we were in Spain a few months ago, we ate tapas everyday. They were so tasty and cheap! I haven't found a place here that sells anything close to Spanish tapas, at any price. There are a few different types of tapas. You can have a variety of warm ones in sit-down restaurants or you can have ones served on bread. The ones with the bread base, tapas pinxtos, are often served in bars.

Pinxtos were fun to eat but it was a little challenging if you were shy. You have to stand at a crowded bar in late evening and jump up and down to get the attention of the bartender to get a plate. Once you have a plate, push in front of people and reach across other people to grab your tapas at the bar. Don't worry about offending people because others will do the same to you. Each pinxto has a toothpick in it. Save the toothpicks and hand them to the bartender when you want to settle your bill. That's how they tally what you owe. It's usually about 1.60 euros per toothpick. Don't be a tacky tourist and 'drop' a toothpick or two.  Not going to lie, it took a heroic effort for me to be so aggressive, but there is food at stake. Mike had to figure out how to get us a beer because I was exhausted by the work to get the plate. However, it is well worth the effort. These little buggers are phenomenal!

So this weekend we had a few people over for some christmas festivities and decided to serve tapas pinxtos. We made a few of our favorites.

One is a tiny croissant sandwich with Iberian ham (similar to prosciutto) and Havarti.

The other two are on baguette slices. One was brie, juicy pear, and a fig.

The last one we made was with goat cheese, tomato and basil. In Spain, this one also had olive paste on it, to make it more savory. However, we couldn't find olive paste yesterday. Anything with tomato and basil is a win anyways.

Stupid hard to find ingredients. I have no idea what was in one of my favorite pinxtos. Its in the top picture. It is the purpley-red one on the bottom row, second in. It was piled very high with a delicious cheese mixture, something like a cross between cream cheese and mascarpone. Maybe there was also some almond flavor too. The top was glazed with a dark sweet jam, like huckleberry. It was so rich that I could only eat the one, but the flavour was amazing.

Tastes Like Childhood...

Way back, when my mom used  to make supper, and I mean waaaaay back (hehe just kidding mummy), she used to make very tasty spare ribs. When Mike and I were planning our christmas baking we came across the recipe she used. It's bacially a sweet and tangy sauce that you bake the ribs in for 45 min. Then you serve it over rice to mop up all the sauce. See-

It tasted exactly how I remembered! I was very excited but I'm less excited now since we still have enormous amounts of leftovers 4 days later. You see, we bought the rack of ribs and proceeded to use the whole thing, even though, clearly there are only two of us, and I don't like meat very much. Killer plan.

Just when you thought you were safe...

Refried bean leftovers! So delicious, if only they were better looking.
We had to use up the leftover refried beans so Mike set to work looking for recipes. He came across this one - http://www.grouprecipes.com/123184/spicy-refried-bean-and-sweet-onion-chilaquiles.html
Lo fue rico! It bakes up just like a lasagna, see,

Check out that bit of refried bean hanging over the edge. That's the money shot.
 We baked them in personal size casserole dishes but they were so rich that we each only ate half. Of course we added a lot of jalapenos. They were quite tasty but I believe they could be improved upon with addition of diced chicken. It was even good the next day. Leftover, leftover refried beans...who knew.

Like Child Find but for mittens...

This week I am Mitten Find. On the train I have reunited 4 pairs of mittens with their owners. And it's only Tuesday! Hang on to your winter gear folks or I suggest you attach them to a string. I wish people really would attach them to a string. This one guy had Armani Gloves. That would be hilarious. Just picture it...

Pre-christmas baking

I may have started Christmas baking this weekend. And by 'may' I mean that it is highly unlikely that these batches of cookies will even see December. This weekend was molasses crinkles. Recipe courtesy of Mike's mummy, Deb.
 The trouble with these cookies is that they go extremely well with egg nog. The cookies have cinnamon and ginger in them so they are crying out to be paired with nutmeg. I just happen to put my nutmeg on top of rum, concealed in egg nog.

I enjoyed these cookies and 'milk' so much that after one too many, I fell asleep on the couch at 4:30 and missed the Christmas lights festival, which was the whole reason I was feeling christmasy in the first place.
While I was asleep Mike was busy making stew for supper! He used bison steak and beer. It was very tender and savory. It was made tastier by the fact that I didn't have to do a thing. Except dishes...

Breakfast for Supper

I can't make an omelet to save my life, so it's a good thing that it's never come to that. Mike, however, makes very good omelets. He can even fold them right! Breakfast burritos are one of my favourite suppers. I get everything ready then I holler at Mike to stop playing video games and make me the perfect omelet. So far he hasn't refused.
Here is a close up of some omelet action

I like mine best with  onions, cheese, bell peppers and jalapenos. I wrap it up with some refried beans, then  garnish with tabasco sauce.

The final product clearly is not attractive. Please do not be disgusted. I apologize if you are eating while reading this post. Anything with refried beans is not pretty.
I'm picky about refried beans too. If you read the label on most cans of refried beans the salt content is often 50% of your recommended values in half a cup. I prefer my refried beans to taste like beans, not salt and fat. So far my favourite brand, outside of Mexico, is Casa Mama. You can get it at Save on Foods.
I leave you now with a picture of a small dog. Hopefully you will be able to get the image of the refried beans out of your brain.

Mac and Cheese

If I was on death row, for systematically hunting down the producers and personalities of Fox News, in a misguided effort to make the world a better place, I would request mac and cheese as my final meal. This week, when Mike picked me up from work he had a list of all the things that had gone wrong with the car that day. This means we need a new one. Sooner than expected. Rats. Mike was sad bc he likes the one we have. While he was outside making sure it started and brushing the snow off the other suv I decided it was a mac and cheese night. I thought it turned out pretty good this time but Mike prefers it spicier and without so many herbs.

 Here is my "recipe"

2 tbsp of butter, melted w 3 cloves of garlic, diced. Once it smells good I add 2 tdbp of flour and whisk it around for a little bit. Then I slowly add milk. Probably 2 cups or maybe 3. Once its thickened I add 1 and a half tbsp of mustard (but possible more), half tbsp of worchshire sauce (possibly), tsp of Cayenne pepper or paprika, some nutmeg, then some more nutmeg.
This time we added a bit of Tabasco sauce although I prefer to add jalapenos when I add the garlic. They both make it only a bit spicy but the jalapenos have a better flavour. I also added about a tbsp or more of rosemary, although usually I add thyme.
My rule of thumb is that it should taste like how you think mac and cheese should taste before you add the cheese. Even when I use white Cheddar, the cheese seems to add more texture than flavour. Also, I find that although the flavours may be quite bold in the sauce pan, they don't taste as bright once its all mixed and possibly baked. Go big.
After everything was how I wanted it I added around 2 cups of old Cheddar.
As you can see the important thing about making mac and cheese is the science behind all the exact measurements. (even my 'mac' isn't macaroni. stupid bow ties are useless when it comes to sucking up sauce) 
I love me some comfort food.

Montana: Home of the Unnecessary Portion Size

Great long weekend spent in Montana, where the portions served in restaurants were comic. Delicious. Going to the States means I get to peruse the aisles, looking for new flavours of things. Mmmm Smorez cereal. More importantly, I was on a marshmallow mission. I found five different kinds! This means that I need to have a hot chocolate party to use all of them up in the next couple of months. You see, in my excitement of finding new flavours of marshmallows, I forgot that I don't actually like marshmallows unless they are sandwiched between chocolate and graham crackers. It`s not exactly smore season (although I wish it was bc the carmel ones would be tasty!). oops. I don't even like them in hot chocolate. Oh well. Here is what I ended up with

Cinnamon Bun! I know, right!

We tackled the turkey!

And no, that's not a dirty euphemism. We actually made a turkey dinner! We found a turkey for 10 bucks right before thanksgiving so it was too good of a deal to pass up. Unfortunately now we need to make room in the freezer for Christmas baking so the turkey had to go.
We used the Chef at Home method so we brined the heck out of it. She sat in out camp cooler, on the deck, soaking in sugar and salt for over 12 hours. Mike was worried that someone would steal it so I had to promise to buy him a new cooler is this occurred. Who the hell would steal a brining turkey? I wasn't concerned. We cooked the turkey for about 3 hours but she probably only needed only 2 and a half. Even still, it wasn't dry at all!

mmm turkey...

The sides were garlic mashed potatoes, honeyed carrots, cranberry sauce and stuffing.
For the cranberry sauce I used cranberries, apple juice, brown sugar and lime jest. I probably should have tasted it more bc it ended up being a little bitter. Oh well.

For the stuffing we used this recipe
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/sausage-apple-stuffing-00100000068272/index.html
The flavours were really nice but the texture could use some work. It was way too mushy even though I cut the liquid down by a third.
All in all it was a success. Even the gravy turned out great for a first timer! And unlike our usual Sunday suppers, we timed things properly! Normally we eat each dish in succession over the course of a few hours bc the timing is so off and we are starving... Embarrassing....

Millhurst Pizza

Ahh the childhood memories. Millhurst pizza rediscovered. I'm happy to report that both the decor and food are unchanged- tacky, and tacky and delicious, respectively.
Here is a picture of me enjoying dessert.

Grunt Rant

Apparently this is a grunt.

It looks more appetizing than it sounds but tastes as appetizing as it sounds. Rats. I make fruit crumbles all the time so lately I have been branching out. I have been trying things like cobblers and yes, grunts (I'm a wild child, I know). First, you stew the fruit with sugar and spices for 10 min on the stove top. Next you make a dumpling like mixture (sweetened and spiced if you prefer) and drop it on the top. Put the lid on and wait about another 10 min until they have risen and are dry to the touch. I think I had the fruit to dumpling ratio all off. Too much flavourless bread to delicious fruit.
This is where lovers come in handy. If I 'slaved' away baking it, you better eat it to show me that you truly love me. Sucker.

Home Alone

This is what I have for supper whenever Mike is not home. Every time. No really. If he's gone for a week I make a big pot and eat it every night for supper.

Cheater French Onion Soup
1 pack of onion soup mix
1 deliciously caramelized onion
slice of leftover crusty bread
any kind of white melting cheese that I find in the fridge

I make the onion soup, add my delicious onion. Pour into a bowl, and bake the bugger with the bread and cheese at 375 until everything is extremely browned and bubbly.  Delicious.
This isn't real french onion soup bc normally I don't add the wine or sherry, and I never cook the onions until they are shriveled (because I am lazy and impatient). Either way, it seems to hit the spot.

Halloween!

We went to a house party on Halloween weekend. I knew I would be bringing jello shots but I wanted to add some kind of gummy to make them creepy. Originally I was thinking of trying to stuff one of those green frog gummies into each of the small cups but then I happened to find body part gummies in Winners. Hurray! I was ridiculously excited. They turned out great! See...

I like how the fingers are poking out. Gross.

 I was also pretty excited about themed food but I wanted to bring something savory rather than sweet. I settled on a chili dip I found online (Can't remember the site. I think it was from about.com or something). We served it in a hollowed out white pumpkin. We also cut pitas into ghost shapes with the intent to bake them with garlic salt, add some black eyes to them, and serve with the dip. Once we got to the party we were feeling lazy though, so out came a bag of tortillas...oh well.