The way Nonna did it.

Homemade pasta! I don't have a Nonna though, so my dad just asked the Nonna at the Italian grocery store how to make it. I don't have the recipe but I will show you what I do know.
What I do know is that pasta is my favourite food. I don't love all pasta equally. Spaghetti and meat sauce is a terrible combination and always will be.
We made stuffed pasta and a meat sauce pasta.

Weapons of Choice

The stuffed pasta was a challenge, so I'm glad we tackled that one first. We added spinach to the dough and stuffed them with a cheese mixture. To roll out the dough we used an attachment for the KitchenAide mixer.

Note: Bored sister in the corner

This was the fun part. Adding the filling by hand was less fun.

Processing, Processing, Processing

The second pasta we made was a plain noodle served with a tasty meat sauce. It contained ground beef and spicy Italian sausage. Actually I just made that up. I'm a blogger which means I have a certain amount of Creative License. This was over a month ago. I have little memory of what was in this. I know it has sausage but beyond that is a mystery.

Meat Waiting to Be Sauced

Homemade pasta is a fantastic treat. If I had the gadgets I would definitely do it again. Pasta making does take some time, which is why the grand finale photo is a dim low-light photo.

Grand Finale

Happy Halloween!

To be fair, I attended a Halloween party in November, so this post was already going to be delayed. Also I went on holiday for one week. Somehow this means the past three weeks have passed in the blink of an eye, causing me to have a minor panic attack today over the proximity of December.
Anyway, I'll work through that grand issue on my own time. Now I will show you the joys of making Candy Apples. I followed a recipe from a vlog (linked below). It was nice and straight forward. We did about 12 apples but spread them out over three batches. I knew I couldn't work fast enough without all of the candy crystallizing or growing too cold.

Waiting for their Bath

This was sort of fun. I'm not a huge fan of making candy because it's finicky and dangerous like a grandma off her meds. We coloured it green because it was Halloweenish. Oh wait, if you read the blog in March, you know we coloured it green because I have A LOT of green food colouring. Nothing gets past you.
For the record they are supposed to be irregular. We drizzled the hardening candy over the top for a spooky effect. In hindsight this was a brilliant idea. If you are going to make candy apples for the first time, do it for Halloween. Any defects are easily disguised!

The highlight was when Mike tried to argue with me over how the molten candy in the bowl would not be hot. After deciding that I was wrong he reached in to pull out the cinnamon stick. I didn't really have to defend my point. The low light was when some candy dripped off the apple on to my hand. Now I have a pretty pink scar.

Links

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0-j8peCBY4

Pastry Can Smell Fear

Yes, just like Chef John, of Food Wishes, warns Hollindaise can smell fear, so too can pastry. This is the only explanation for so many failed attempts concocting a simple dough. With each failure brings a new level of anxiety for the next time. I really hate making pastry.
It should be such an easy thing. Not only are the ingredients uncomplicated but I have a biological advantage. My hands run about 10 degrees colder than the rest of my body. The butter or shortening truly cannot melt due to my body heat. 
My first memory of making pastry is at the age of ten. I was at Grandma's house for a sleepover and she was teaching me how to make buttertarts. After measuring out all the ingredients I then got two knives to cut the shortening into the flour. At intervals she would tell me to gather it with my hands. I thought she was torturing me. Didn't she know that it felt slimy and disgusting? This isn't a Halloween party! I asked if it was okay to just watch.
So I may have a psychological disadvantage. I don't like getting my hands dirty. Never have.
Last month I gave myself 48 hours to take on pastry. I had time and inspiration. The great pumpkin. Maybe not great as in large, but I received a pumpkin in the week's food box. It was the perfect opportunity.
Pumpkin puree was really easy. I looked up a few different methods online. You cook it exactly like you would bake any other squash. Once it's baked through, you can just peel the skin off. Put the flesh in a food processor and volia - pumpkin puree. You know you're on the right track when it looks and tastes like something you would feed a baby (Why do we punish the young?). Then take a break because after all that hard work you should wait until the next day to tackle pastry. 

Alright Pumpkin, Let's Tango

The next day, I took on pastry. I gave myself a pep talk and dove in. Since pastry is gross, my hands were gross. When I tried to add the liquid, the cup slipped and I added too much. I threw a bit more flour on it, wrapped it in plastic wrap and chucked it in the fridge. I was sick of pastry already and it was only in ball form. The rolling had yet to begin.

Look green but was acually a rosy colour!

 I needed a pumpkin pie recipe that called for homemade puree. Since Martha is good at doing things the hard way, I knew she would have one. At least I didn't have to raise a calf to get the milk. With the pumpkin goop assembled there was no turning back.
Here's the weird part- it actually went okay. Rolling it wasn't nearly as challenging as I thought. Plus I got to wear my apron. The filling was extremely simple. It fluffed up perfectly in the oven. The pie came out amazing!

Ta-Dah!

 With each bite I kept repeating "I can't believe I made this!". Michael went to sit in the next room two bites in.
*Well this blog is over a month old and has been sitting in draft form. Oops.* 

Links
Food Wishes
http://foodwishes.blogspot.ca/

Martha Stewart Pumpkin Pie
http://www.marthastewart.com/259353/pumpkin-pie

Bag O' Veggies

We started our second food box at the end of August. This one is just veggies by Riverbend Gardens, a farm within Edmonton City Limits. Mike picks up our bundle every Thursday at the Acme Meat Market. The variety has been pretty good. Unlike the Organic Food Box, you can't swap or add veggies. Riverbend Gardens puts together the bag of their freshest and you pick it up. The price is much nicer than the organic box. This one works out to $25 a week. Of course we still have to go out and get fruit.

The Cabbage is Hiding in the Back. It knows it's a Disapointment.

This is what Week 2 looked like.  There are a few constants in the bag. You will always get a few onions (red and white), a bag of carrots and a bag of potatoes (this time they were purple!). From what I can remember (and see) of week 2, we also got 4 ears of corn, broccoli and cabbage.

Really, a Pumpkin.

This was week 4 all nicely laid out. You can see we got the usual onions, carrots and potatoes. In addition we had some beets, a purple cauliflower and a pumpkin!
The down side to this box is that our fridge is bursting with onions and carrots. We just don't eat them fast enough. An upside would be that Mike and I have willingly eaten cauliflower for the first time in our adult lives. How can you say no to cauliflower when it's so pretty!

This food 'box' only runs for 6 weeks. Next Thursday is the end! I look forward to it next year though. I think this is one Mike and I will be signing up for again.

Links
Riverbend Gardens
http://riverbendgardens.ca/

Labneh

I used to work in an area with a prominent Lebanese community. I was always jealous of their lunches. Everything was so delicate and interestingly flavoured. I love living in such a multicultural city. The lunchroom is always so much more interesting.
This is where I learned of Labneh, a Lebanese cheese, which has the consistency of cream cheese. The lady that explained how to make it started it from whole milk. I just googled it when I got home and found a short cut.
Essentially you would make yogurt with the whole milk and then strain the yogurt to leave the creamy curd. I've looked into making yogurt before, but the temperatures in my apartment are very inconsistent. I'm concerned that I would uncover it to find a whole green community has taken over the milky-yogurt. This would turn me off dairy. Then I would have to eat small fish bones to meet my daily calcium requirement. Thus the cheater way.
I start by buying plain yogurt and skip right to the straining.

Double Awesome Points for Local Yogurt

You will need some cheese cloth, a mesh stainer and a bowl. If your bowl is shallow like mine don't forget to empty the whey every now and then. This would also be a good time to gather the edges of the cheese cloth and give it a twist. I filled mine too high, so I was unable to tighten the cheese cloth from the start.

I usually let the bowl sit in the fridge for 48 hours. I was impatient this time and took it out after 24. Don't do this-it's not same.
Once it's ready sprinkle it with salt and dried oregano, then drizzle with olive oil. Devour with crackers or pita chips.

I Want You

You can change up the flavours too. I've been meaning to add some minced sun-dried tomatoes or olives. The original way is just so delicious that I've haven't gotten around to experimenting. There's always next time.

Campfire Food

Camping is about laziness. It's when you pack up your car and leave your house to avoid doing all the chores that are waiting for you there. Trouble is that camping is quite a bit of work itself. I don't have to set up walls and a roof when I'm at home, yet I leave home to sleep in a tent.
To lessen our amount of camping chores, my friends and I limit ourselves to food that can be cooked over the campfire. Bonus points are awarded if you also limit your utensils to tin foil and a hotdog roaster. The great thing about cooking over a campfire is that you are already sitting beside it anyway. The effort required to flip or stir your supper is very minimal.
A few years ago hotdogs and a bottle of mustard made up the bulk of our camping groceries but this gets old fast. Our tastes have become much more sophisticated and so have our meals (jello shots are sophisticated right?). I bring you the best of Campfire Food -Summer 2012:

Bacon Wrapped Hotdog

What better way to elevate the smokie than by wrapping it in bacon? No really, if you know of more ways, I'm all ears.
Corn is another camping classic (did you pick up on that one Ash?). We throw our cobs onto the grate above the fire pit. Leave them in the husks and they take care of themselves.
One of my favourite camping foods this summer was veggie skewers.

MMM

This would be one of those bonus point dishes if the skewer wasn't being continuously basted in a delicious sauce. Luckily it is. The sauce is worth the 'effort'. It is made up of melted butter and this beauty:

*actually not that hot

This is from the Italian Centre and costs less than a toonie. It has coated pretty much everything I've put on the BBQ this summer.
Breakfast for me is usually just cereal but this time we took it to the next level.

Yeah We Did

Bannock pancakes were really just a delicious excuse to break into some of the homemade jam.
The next morning we experimented with scrambled egg breakfast burritos.

Cheese Makes it Taste Less Burnt

There is room for improvement with these ones, but I'm looking forward to it.
The last idea I can't claim as my own but thought I should share it anyway.

So Simple- Why Didn't I Think of That?

Delightful naan bread pizza!
Sadly, this will be my last camping trip this year. I have a whole nother year before cooking on a campfire once more. That's a long time to be subsisting on oven smores alone!

Should Canned Cherries Float?

This was my google search. I canned cherries this past weekend. The good news is all of the jars sealed! I did them in a simple syrup, following a recipe and method I found on a blog. I had 10 lbs of cherries which I had ordered from my Organic Food Box.
In order to make the chore easier, I purchased a cherry pitter. The one I ended up with was an OXO Good Grip. It was the cheapest one I could find at a whopping $12. Yikes. When Mike came home and saw it on the counter he asked what it was. When I explained, he laughed maniacally, tore open the package, grabbed a handful of cherries and headed outside. He wanted to test the 'range' of the cherry pitter. Judging it to be about three feet he was satisfied with our latest kitchen gadget and agreed to pit 10 pounds of cherries for me.

Cherry Pitting Station sans Michael

Saturday I set him up outside in the 30 degree heat, surrounded by bowls of cherries. As it turns out he has a knack for this sort of thing. They were pitted in record time.

Jars- Just Waiting to Burn Me

I decided to sterilize my jars in the oven, so I wouldn't have so many pots on the stove. I think this worked quite well. When Mike came back inside I carefully explained the canning method I was going to use. He looked bored already, so we just got into it. He was bored because he was done this many times before and was something of an expert. All this time he has been keeping this from me. I've read books and blogs. I've questioned friends and strangers. He has known how to can all along! What else has he been keeping from me?
Things went smoothly and quickly. I had 8 jars of cherries in no time. I plan to use them during the winter to make pies and tarts. I'll see if there is anything else I can come up with.
Trouble is, when I held them up to the light, I noticed they weren't resting on the bottom. Google to the rescue. Seems it has more to do with the method I used than with food safety. I was relieved!

Finished Product

Links
Recipe and Method
http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-cherries.html
Answer to Question
http://puttingupwiththeturnbulls.com/2011/04/09/canning-101-fruit-float/

Box on My Doorstep

I signed up for an organic food box to be delivered once a week. I only did the trial because summer is not the time for commitments. Typically it would cost $35 dollars a week but because I only signed up for three weeks the cost is $40. Your box is delivered to you once a week, unless you want to pick it up between the hours of 10 and 4, somewhere on the north side. Delivery is free if your order is over $50, otherwise it will cost you $5. Okay, I see how this game is played. I am now purchasing $50 dollars of organic produce  a week.
Here's what I got this week:

Bananas, mushrooms, beans, apricots, zucchini, scallions, potatoes, cherries (10 lbs)

I enjoy the selection. It's a good split of fruit and veggies. I also like how I can choose. I get about 48 hours to swap things out of my box (in case they try to send me swiss chard). I can also add whatever I desire. They have lots of other food to choose from, like bread or condiments. It's right at my door when I get home from work. Like if Santa Claus got you exactly what you wrote on your list. I also thought that it encouraged me to eat more veggies. That was the case last week. Tonight I'm eating cheese cake as I type this. Don't worry I had a piece of bread and a fudgecicle for supper. 

I enjoy this food box but I don't think I'll get it again for a while. I've signed up for a different, local, food box for the fall. The Organic Food Box tries to choose local when available but during the winter months, most everything is from south of the border. Not that's I'm complaining. The veggies I get at Superstore come from the same areas and aren't organic. I would just prefer to go with local first. I'll keep you posted!

Links
Organic Food Box
http://www.theorganicbox.ca

Do Nanaimo Bars Taste Better in Nanaimo?

In early July I was fortunate enought to take a trip out to Vancouver Island. It was only an extended weekend but it was truly amazing. The trees were huge, the food was fresh, the ocean was salty and the beer was cold.
The first night we got there we had dinner at a gorgous resturant in a dark alley at 10:00 at night. It's named Il Terrazzo. The food was fantastic and the atmosphere was very memorable. I encourage you to head to the website, just to see the courtyard (link below). My best experince in a dark alley to date. 
The next morning we stumbled around downtown dazed and hungry. You see after Il Terrazzo we went to a pub named Swans for some pints. Eventually we turned to Mike's trusty smart phone and followed the little arrow, leading us to Chef Suzi in the Square. We sat in yet another alley, drank coffee and ate granola. The sign on the counter said "Relax-This ain't the mainland'. I loved it.
For the rest of the day, I left Mike at a pub and went shopping in all the little botiques. I accidently bought a rain coat but that wasn't my worst desicion of the day. I left Mike at a pub. He is the only one who was insured on the rental car and we needed to be in Ladysmith that evening. Oops. After lots of water, walking and pizza at an ocean side pub, he was fully recovered.
I guess this could bring me to my original question-Do Nanaimo bars taste better in Nanaimo?

You Really Wanna Know?

 No they don't. It's too humid. The whole top layer just melts all over you. To be fair, I was just outside of Nanaimo. Maybe within city limits they have this figured out.


Links
Il Terrazzo
http://www.ilterrazzo.com/index.php

Chef Suzi in the Square
http://www.chefsuzi.ca/index1.html

Weberberry Jam

For the past few years I have wanted to learn how to can. Along the way I have been discouraged many times, even before I had a jar in my hand. I was told I for sure needed a dishwasher. I was told I would need to purchase a pressure canner (120 bucks, seriously!). I was told that it is very scientific and complex.
The good news is that only the last one is true. And since I am not a scientist, I don't need to invent the recipe, just follow it. I have looked into a few canning classes over the years but they are always expensive. I know a few people who make preserves but our timing was always off. My quest to learn how to can was coming up fruitless (that was for you Ashh. You get one), until now!
I was speaking with some family friends and mentioned my Quest (it gets capital letters now). They dispelled all the nasty rumours I had heard about canning being a terrible chore that only cheap old people do. I didn't need a dishwasher or a pressure canner, and most importantly I would have their guidance. Hurray!
First you need some kind of fruit or veggie. I like raspberries and they are in season. Perfect. I was graciously given some by a friend and for the rest I went to a u-pick. Props to the family members who were nearly carried off by mosquitoes while picking raspberries with me. I was going to make a 'fruits of your labour' pun, but Ashh, you only get one.

These Raspberries are Waiting Patiently to be Turned into Syrup

Step two is canning. With the raspberries, we made a jam and a syrup. The recipes my dear Friend found on the internet. I will link them below, so you may follow the steps there. To sterilize the jars, Friend suggested washing in hot soapy water and then pouring boiling hot water on them. Her tip is "so long as the fruit is hot, the jars are hot, and the lids are hot, everything should seal up nicely. Knock on wood". It worked! I should mention that the syrup was given a water bath, while the jam was only left to cool.  All eleven jars sealed up nicely!

I am Envious of their Bath

 I haven't gotten to eat any yet. It seems that canning requires some amount of self restraint. Since I did not can chocolate I think I can handle that. Now that I think about it, I do have a jar of dark chocolate spread that would go fabulously with the syrup. I will keep you posted on that self restraint thing.

Awaiting Consumption

Links
U-pick
http://www.dunvegangardens.ca/MarketGardenEdmonton.htm
(recipe links to come....as soon a I find them...)

Paris Part 2 -The Groceries

Heading home from Paris, my suitcase was stuffed with pantyhose and groceries. I had meant to bring home a whole new work wardrobe but that just didn't happen. Everytime I left a store,  I had filled my bag with food and under things. Oh well. I'm not going to show you the underthings, so here's the food!

The gold tin is Rose Tea from Fauchon. Fun Fact: Fauchon is the most ridiculous store I have ever been to. I love it! It is a speciatly grocery store. Their shelves are lined with exoctic ingredients all packaged in pink, gold, black, and white.
The black bag is filled with Angelina's Hot Chocolate Mix. I'm not sure I've ever left a country without bringing back chocolate.
Next I have a big ol'jar o'honey. This honey is flavoured with a small field flower. I got it at a farmers market from a nice old lady. It was half the price my sister paid for a teeny tiny jar of honey from Fauchon. Mine however is not packaged in fushia. Drawback.
Of course I brought home mustard! I spent forever in Maille and was not about to leave until I was certain I would be only slightly under my luggage weight limit at the airport. It's a good thing skivies aren't heavy.  This was their seasonal trio. Neon! The green one in basil and parsley. The orange is pepper and garlic flavoured. Lasly the purple one is some kind of berry. I've only cracked open the green one so far. It is very tasty on my sandwiches but I feel I should be doing something more than putting it between plain bread and honey ham. I've done the odd salad dressing with it, so I feel slightly better about sqandering limited edition condiments on Tueday lunches. Slightly.
Our layover on the way back was in Germany, so it was in Frankfurt that I stocked up on Duty Free. Sadly I have eaten all my German chocolate. Luckily I have my biscotti-flavoured Bailey's to concole me.

Links
http://www.fauchon.com/
http://www.angelina-paris.fr/
http://www.maille.com/

Away to Paris

While I have titled my blog Home and Away, I have only written about home thus far. I am a great lover of trips. Road trips in particular. We are gone at least one weekend a month, but often more. These trips don't seem to make it to the blog though. In part this could be because it is personal. Don't get me wrong, food is deeply, deeply personal but trips are personal in an internet-stalker-invitation sort of way. So here I go, shaking off my fear of the internet and the ownership of information by multinationals, to bring you PARIS.

Macaroons are Disgusting

Twoish months ago (really, only that long?) I was in Paris for a week. I was spoiled.
Sights are a small part of traveling for me when there is the joy of smells and tastes!
The bread is obviously amazing here. There is no getting around that. European lattes are incomparable (but if you had to compare, you could order a cafe crema in St. Albert or head to Cafe Haven in Sherwood Park).
While we were there, I booked a cooking class . We learned to make salmon, souffle and baked zucchini. The instructor showed us proper french presentation.

Ta-Dah

I made a face. Like IHOP.
The cooking class was nice but brief. I was also a little disappointed because when I think french cooking, I think complex. What we learned was all quite straightforward. Maybe I just have just been misled all these years or maybe the course is meant to appeal to a certain level. As you can see from my work above, I would be more suited for the master class...
We dined in many a fancy french restaurant, cafe, and street cart (there is no passing up street crepes!). 
My favourite thing I ate all week was truffle pasta. Too bad I was eating it off my dad's plate. That was at a place called Le Carre. It was a happy accident that we found it. If was lunch time on election day. It seemed everything was closed so we wandered aimlessly, guided by our hunger. Turning left, crossing right, closed cafe after cafe. We very nearly ate at a place with large window signs saying ``English Menu Here!``. It was a close call but at last we came across Le Carre.
The desserts were exceptional. Luckily I have photos of these!

Raspberries Encircling Pistachio Cream, Layered with Chocolate

I ordered the Chocolate ball, with chocolate mousse and Hot Chocolate.

The chocolate mousse was contained in the chocolate ball. Upon serving it, the waiter takes a small container of hot chocolate and pours it over the ball to melt it slightly. The gold leaf is just flourish really.
We go now from high class to street food. Nothing quite like a European waffle! So crisp and sweet. It the perfect street food! Add some nutella and we`ve taken it to the next level. Just next to the line for Orsaay there is a cleverly placed waffle hut. This here is our waiting waffle.

Mmm Waiting Waffle

Here are some links!
The tasty resturant (as though there was only one)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187147-d800575-Reviews-Le_Carre-Paris_Ile_de_France.html
The cooking classes
 http://lacuisineparis.com/product/classes

A Little Bit Green

Front Steps

For the past three summers I have experimented with a patio garden. I rent, so the only thing actually in the ground is a delicious rhubarb plant. This I take full advantage of. Strawberry-rhubarb is one of my all time favourite flavour combinations. I love sweets but even more so when they are combined with something quite tart.
Down my front steps I have been planting various herbs and vegetable plants. I'm not going to waste my time planting and watering something that I can't even eat in the end. What would be the sense in that?
Each year I plant basil and tomatoes for certain. There isn't anything like fresh basil in a salad. I would eat fresh basil everyday if I was a good enough gardener to maintain it. Sadly where I lack gardening skills I must compensate for with self control. I am always tempted just to pick the basil plant clean, enjoy it and be done with it.
Tomatoes are another mainstay because they are not too finicky and well suited for planting in a pot. I prefer the smaller grape and cherry like varieties because they mature faster in our short gardening season. The one time I grew larger tomatoes, I waited all summer and that plant only produced one tomato. I picked it in the last week of August. It was such a momentous occasion that the tomatoe rotted on the counter while I decided what recipe would best showcase my achievement.  Over the years I've tried various herbs: oregano, thyme, sage, dill, chives and rosemary. This year I have some thyme and sage on the go. The sage is barely clinging to life but the thyme is doing alright. I've got two tomato plants this year. Both are small and sweet varieties.

Thyme

I'm also trying two different kinds of basil, a sweet one and a French basil. The French basil is a few full bunches of very small leaves. They are very pretty and smell amazing. Another bonus to the French basil is that you don't have to cut or tear it if you are using it as a garnish. It looks much nicer that the large leaves all torn up. Unfortunately my French basil is protesting something or other. I don't really know if it's over watering, under watering or disease. The base turns brown, the leaves turn light then the whole bunch shrivels and dies. Each time this has happened I've been in an unnecessarily bad mood, recounting all of the recipes I could have eaten with it.

French Basil =Death on My Doorstep

I have a lot to learn.

Ode to Local Producers

I've never been a huge fan of food trends. I hated when 'fusion' food was trendy (and in fact I still hate it). I love casseroles and always have, even though they haven't always been cool. I do love me some local food though. Shopping at the farmers market is often the highlight of my week. I usually go to the old strathcona market because it is close. Every now and then we make it up to the St. Albert farmers market.
Here are some of my favorite local producers:

Doef's Greenhouses
http://www.doefsgreenhouses.com/
These guys are from the Lacombe area. They have some great veggies all year long! My favorites are their peppers and tomatoes.

Riverbend Gardens
http://riverbendgardens.ca/
Right in North Edmonton! I love their root veggies and crazy cauliflower (It probably tastes better when its purple).

Peas on Earth
http://www.peasonearth.ca/
An organic farm in the Edmonton area. I really enjoy their bagged salad.

Sunworks Farm
http://www.sunworksfarm.com/
I LOVE their meat! They have some amazing sausage (the Moroccan is my favourite). Their ground beef is delicious too! Their products are both organic and gluten free. They run a pretty interesting farm (you can read about it on the site) and they are great people to do business with.

First Nautre Farms
http://www.firstnaturefarms.ab.ca/products.html
An organic meat producer. They have a wide range of products but I am particularly partial to their bison and pork.

Are you aching for some bacon?

Lion King Quote!
Anyways...
It was Mike's 25th birthday this week. What better way to celebrate a milestone than with a supper completely wrapped in bacon!
We had potato-bacon-cheese tart (chef at home recipe). It was a masterpiece!

Can't you hear the bacon angels singing?
I also made prosciutto wrapped Asparagus and prosciutto wrapped steak bites!

It seemed like such a good idea at the time, however 20 minutes later we were sweating bacon. Sooooo much salt!! Probably worth it though.
For dessert I made pineapple delight because what better way to wash down a bacon wrapped meal than with layers of whipped cream and whipped butter. Ahh regrets; delicious regrets.

St. Patty's Day!

A little late, but here are the cookies we made for a St Patrick's Day party!

We made some chocolate oreos with cream cheese filling and green shortbread with 'golden' sprinkles (okay fine they were yellow). Now I have way too much green food colouring left over. Hopefully it keeps until next year or everything featured on this blog will be green for a long while.

Is this pesto molding?

On Saturday we decided to have a quick pasta of pesto spaghetti. We roasted all  the veggies that we had been neglecting in the bottom of our fridge. The pasta had been boiling for about 5 minutes when I pulled the jar of pesto from the fridge.
Is this pesto molding? Mike and I deliberated. The part on the sides of the jar, near the lid, looked white. I assumed this was because the oil was slightly frozen. Further down the sides it got much darker. Was it just dry? Did the rest look fine? What if we just stirred it? Maybe we should try a bit before we ruin the pasta? Mike dipped a finger in and decided it was fine. I decided that if it took longer to conclude than a UN debate on the definition of 'gender' then we probably shouldn't eat it.
Good thing everything is ready and we have no sauce. To the mini food processor! I wheeled around the kitchen grabbing things that could be in a pesto. One clove of raw garlic, few spoonfuls of sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil), parmesan (mine comes from a can, sadly), fresh basil (okay fine, I only have dry basil. It`s March!), pine nuts (yeah I didn`t have any of those either), few tablespoons of olive oil. Blend. Add lots more olive oil when you realize you`ve made a paste, not a pesto.
Tah da!

It looks gross here. I probably should have taken a picture of it on the spaghetti, all glistening and such. Oh well. Also I would like to take this time to formally apologize to Mike for waiting for him to eat the jar pesto before declaring it unfit. Will you forgive me NOW? Yesh. Holds a grudge.

The Book

Once upon a time, all the recipes that I printed off the internet or wrote on scrap paper were folded up and stuffed between books on my bookshelf. Stellar organization. Not to mention, the only recipes that made it to the bookshelf were the boring ones. Any of the good recipes were destroyed in the process of cooking them. Either covered in batter or soaked in milk, they would be become paper mache that I would then scrape off the kitchen table. Enter-the recipe binder.

About a year ago I found a stash of old school supplies including a binder, dividers and plastic covers. The plastic covers are perhaps the most integral part, otherwise I would never be able to keep the recipes.
 The binder is still a work in progress. I need a bigger binder very soon but I want a cute one. The categories grow whenever I have a recipe that doesn't fit one of the existing categories.
I try to add all of the recipes that we have gotten from the internet, thought that doesn't always happen. I have a very bad memory for where I find recipes so if it's not printed, we're likely never to find it again.
We often add notes to each of the recipes. We include changes we have made and what we would do differently next time. This not only helps us improve the recipe but it also helps me remember eating it to. Comments like *Cauliflower-never again.* really help take me back to that soup. Live and learn I guess.

Whipped Short Bread: V-Day Edition

I've never really celebrated Valentines Day because I don't see the point. I do, however, like the adorable packaging. It's all cute with pink and hearts! Sometime at the beginning of January I went to the dollarstore to stock up on cute goodie bags. Last year I bought a whole bunch and used them all year round to give out baked goods. This got me thinking....
Mike complained this year that whipped shortbread are the best cookies but people only make them for Christmas. I thought this would make a good Valentines gift but of course I would have to make them pink!
More importantly it was a good inauguration for my kitchenaid mixer!
When I first started whipping them the colour was a pretty pastel pink.

They looked so cloud-like, I was excited to see how they would turn out! Unfortunately after baking, they turned the colour of homemade play-doh. Rats. It's a good thing they taste better than play-doh. I decorated them with cinnamon hearts (how could I not!) and crasins.

It looks like I made the crasins heart-shaped. I did not. They are just a blob, cleverly photographed.

Mike also got me a Valentines Day Present! It's pink and silky and make especially for the bedroom (or sometimes the couch).

Bliss. Unconscious bliss.

That's right! A new Sealy pillow! Yay!

Oven Smores

Sunday we made roast beef with garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans for supper. Which means that I ate fish with garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. I used this fish recipe and it was delicious!
http://www.canadianliving.com/food/dinner_club/cheddar_tilapia.php

The only thing I omitted was the mayo because the only mayo I had was two months past the expiry date.
All in all a good Sunday supper, but for once I hadn't thought about dessert. Mike reached for his standard dessert of marshmallows and a tub of peanut butter (YUK!), but I had a better idea. Here are my pantry goodies

The chocolate sauce was a birthday present. It's chocolate cappuccino liqueur! Next comes the broiling.

And all together!

The peanut butter was quite necessary because the sauce is incredibly rich. My only regret was trying to share one small plate while eating on the couch. Devouring these requires a drop mat or at least a campground. Not living room friendly.