Readers...

Please be on the lookout for a mess of stuff coming up in January. I am headed to Texas to spend time with one of my friends who is also one of my fabulous cooking buddies (best spaghetti ever when we make it) and I am helping to cook for his huge family over the holidays... so yea, keep your eyes peeled in the new year for pictures and chatter about what was done and how it turned out!

Reindeer Poo

Hahahaha... I laugh every time I say it, write it or read it... reindeer poo! But I wanted to share the recipe with you because it's a great little party snack that is easy and yummy and great to do with the kids or without (see, married friends, I do think of you too!!).

Here are the things you need:

1 Box of Crispix Cereal
1 Bag of Milk Chocolate (although I am sure you can use whatever kind you like)Morsels
2 Cups of Peanut Butter
1 Stick of Butter
1/2 Bag of Confectioner's Sugar

Melt the PB, Chocolate and butter together. Mix with cereal. Let it cool spread out on a cookie sheet. The place it is a ziplock bag with confectioners sugar, shake and serve. Make sure to keep it in a sealed container.

Hurry Up Chicken Pot Pie

Okay, there is no picture and you can get the full recipe from Food Network online. It is a Paula Deen recipe and is SOOOOOOO perfect for a wintry, cold day. My roomie found the recipe online today and we decided to make it. She did most of the making, but it was so yummy. We didn't have all the right ingredients so we make some more than perfect substitutions. Instead of Cream of Chicken soup, we use Cream of Mushroom (mushrooms and chicken are so nice together). Instead of mixed veggies, or peas and carrots, we used some frozen corn and spinach (we throw the fresh bags in the freezer so it will keep). It was incredible. We didn't spice the chicken when cooking, added no salt or pepper and it was still perfect. I felt like licking my bowl, it tasted so good. So, go, get the recipe... make your own substitutions if necessary and ENJOY!!

Happy Eating!

Crustless Quiche

Okay... the first time I made a crustless quiche is because I was on the Atkins diet and couldn't eat the crust (which was, is and always will be my favourite part of the whole thing). So the first recipe I used was the one in the Atkins book and it was good but I couldn't find the book for when I wanted to make it again, so I looked it up on line (not at Atkins, just good ol'google), made a few changes and kept on cookin'. Here is what I ended up doing:

8 eggs
celery salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)
fresh ground black pepper (you decide how much, I just ground until it looked like enough)
Dill (about 1/2 teaspoon)
Thyme (just a dash)
Flour (1/4 cup)
Grated cheese of your choice (1/2 cup)
Thinly sliced baby zucchini (about 2 of them)
Finely chopped baby portabella mushrooms (1/4 cup-ish)

I added all of it together, whisked it until it was pretty nicely blended and there were no flour lumps and then I poured mine into a mini muffin tin that was greased with olive oil spray, but you could also do it in a regular greased pie tin too. Because mine was in mini muffin tins, I put a thawed frozen cooked shrimp on the top of each one... but you could just sprinkle them all over the top I guess. Then I popped into my oven that was pre-heated to 350 degrees F and cooked it for 30 minutes. It rose up beautifully, was pretty light and tasty.

So there you go, the latest creation from my wee little kitchen.

Baked Brie and stuff...

Okay... the other day I was told that it is my grade level's turn to host the social for the month. Our fearless leader came up with the theme: Nutty for November. You know how cheesy we elementary people can be! haha. Well, it inspired me to make a savory dish with nuts in it. Originally I thought of making a cheese ball rolled in nuts and then I changed my mind to making little individual cheese balls. But then it ALL CHANGED!!! I was looking at the pilsbury website because my lovely friend Katrina sent me there to look at something she or a friend made (sorry, my memory fails me) and I saw a recipe for baked jalapeno brie cheese thingy. I looked, I saw, I decided to tweak. Have a look below and see what I did:


I couldn't find brie in the round, so I decided to use Camembert. I like the taste and it is pretty similar. I also decided to switch out the jalapeno jelly for fresh raspberries and walnuts.

I cut the cheese in half. I rolled out 2 crescent rolls from pilsbury and placed them on a greased cookie sheet and put one half of the cheese on it.


Then it was time to load the bottom half with fresh raspberries (which I kind of squished a little to make them flatter. I think using cranberries would be tasty) and walnuts. Then I topped it with the other half of cheese and put two more rolled out crescent roll dough pieces on top.


The next step is to seal it all up. If you have extra dough, you can cut it off and make adorable cutouts to put on top. I didn't, instead I made it a little thicker around the sides for a thick crust.


Once baked it came out looking like this!!! This is the trial one I made for my lovely lunch group that I eat with each day at school . Can't wait to crack it open and try it. I think with the one I make for school, I will do an egg wash with a touch of vanilla to bring a little sweet into the savory! Serve it up with fresh cut fruit and ENJOY!

HAPPY EATING!!

Carrot Soup

I know it is not the usual for most people, but carrot soup is YUMMY!! The picture simply does not do it justice. Here is how you get to it: You need carrots (I added in some butternut squash because I love it's flavour), vegetable stock, the spices you like (I barely salted and peppered the carrots as they boiled in the vegetable stock and the taste was perfect for me) and whipping cream. You also need a blender or food processor, I had just a mini one so didn't quite get the smooth consistency that I love. So, it is really simple. You boil your carrots and/or squash in the vegetable stock. Boil until they are extremely soft. But don't throw away the bathwater once the babies are done cooking... you need it for flavour and soupy consistency. Take the soup broth and the vegetables and put them in your blender and blend until SUPER smooth. Put the blended mixture back in the pot, add a pat of butter to help make it smooth and buttery. Then throw in the whipping cream (I used the smallest container and didn't even use all of it) and heat gently. It should look creamy and a pale orange. Then all you do is serve it up. I used to make this (without the squash) at the Lebanese restaurant I worked at in my university summers. It is such a hearty and delicious soup... perfect for a rainy day... and lots of people who aren't huge fans of carrots actually like the soup! :) Happy eating!

Lazy Black Forrest Cake

I am not the biggest cake fan, but WAY back in university, my roomie (Kris) used to make this cake and then I adopted it as my own (as we all do with the best recipes we come across). It is the lazy way to make a REALLY amazing cake.

You need 1 chocolate cake mix (two round pans for cooking), vanilla instant pudding (don't do it with soy milk... just doesn't set), a can of cherry pie filling and cool whip. I told you it was easy!

After the cake bakes and cools, put the cherries on the bottom layer with a thin layer of vanilla pudding. The put the top layer on. Mix the rest of the pudding and cool whip together and "ice" the cake. You can put on cherries and chocolate shavings to make it all fancy-schmancy, but I like it just the way it is. Make sure to keep it in the fridge so the cool whip doesn't melt off.

So yummy!!

Happy eating!

Caramel...

I love having caramel with apples and I like it even better when it is homemade. I use Sweetened Condensed Milk, Dark Brown Sugar and Butter. I use about equal parts of all three, heat over medium heat until it is well blended and hot. It should settle into a thick caramel as it cools.
I did try to make it recently, but must have messed up my measurements somewhere as it didn't set as I needed it to. *sigh* I wanted to use it to make homemade caramel apples (never made those before), but alas it didn't work.
Hope it works for you... my favourite cake recipe is coming up soon (Kris, you will totally remember it once I make it and post the pics here).

This is what the apple pie that I wrote about earlier looked like. I am telling you that the vanilla egg wash makes all the difference. Well that and making sure to dust the apples with flour and lots of butter before sticking the lid on. Used the recipe with my students and they were simply the best pies ever (even the moms and several staff said so).

This is the gorgeous pumpkin pie that my roomie made. SO good... pumpkin is my fave.

My first all-by-myself turkey!! Look at it? I didn't stuff it but put fresh dill, fresh sage, and some celery inside. Then I lightly spiced the outside and roasted that sucker!

I used the tri-colour potatoes, onions and parsnips. I dusted them with salt, pepper, a tiny bit of cayenne pepper and some rubbed sage. Throw in some butter and let it roast covered for about 35 minutes or so.

The turkey after... gotta include the pics of it all snarfed down!

Sweet, sweet apple pie.

Canadian Thanksgiving is just around the corner and being in the US (where they celebrate the holiday like nothing I've ever seen) it makes me a little homesick, so I am planning to throw a big dinner for those who are here and make me feel less homesick by being great friends. Today I made the apple pies for dessert. It was just a standard apple pie with a few little tricks that my mom passed on to me. She said to dust the apples with a little flour so that they create a thick sauce when they cook... yum! She also said to do an egg wash on the top crust. But I jazzed it up with a little Mexican vanilla. You should have been in my apartment to smell that!!!!
So next time you make an apple pie, put some vanilla in your egg wash. yum yum!

Meatloaf

I used ketchup, spicy brown mustard, lean ground beef, lean ground pork, bread crumbs, eggs, 1/4 of a red onion and minced garlic. It is a US favourite and is slowly becoming a favourite for me too. This was not a comfort food for me growing up but I can see how it was for others. Yummy stuff.

Throw everything in a bowl and get to mixing.

I think I needed to use some more bread crumbs in mine as it was very juicy.



To make the glaze for the top of the meatloaf, I used mustard, a little maple syrup, ketchup and brown sugar. The glaze was SCRUMPTIOUS!! Bake until done and serve up with garlic mashed potatoes! So yummy!

Julia Child's kitchen

During my time in DC on Saturday, we popped into the American History museum at the Smithsonian. It is a wonderfully touchable museum and I can't wait to see more of it. But for this blog, I thought you may appreciate these pictures the most. It is Julia Child's kitchen. The above picture is of two of her quotes that seemed to connect to my life the most.

The wall of photos, quotes and details of Julia's life. The top quote says: "Above all, have a good time!" I loved that because that is how it should be in life... you should have the positive attitude to have a good time!

The kitchen was encased in glass, so you couldn't get a great shot, but if you saw the movie Julie/Julia Project, then you know EXACTLY how it looks.

Bon Appetit! Blurry, I know... hehehe.

Halibut

I know, I know... I really need to get back to taking pictures of this stuff!! :) I will, I promise but I had forgotten to take my camera out for this one but wanted to share it with you all.
On Fridays, my roommate and I like to try to have fish. It was a tradition in her home and I think it's nice, so I want to honour that with her.
I went to Fresh Market (a WONDERFUL) grocery store here in Williamsburg (and all over the USA) to see what they had and they have a great, old-fashioned butcher's counter. I saw lovely, thick pieces of halibut and began to build the dinner menu in my mind as I wandered around the store. I bought whole wheat gnocchi, a lovely pesto, some rosemary/sea salt bread and a little over 1/2 a pound of the fresh, thick halibut. Now, the other stuff, I am sure you can figure out what I did... no real surprises there... but the halibut. Usually, I like to put my fish in a foil pocket with some butter, lemon, dill, salt and pepper, close it up and toss it in the oven for a while. But this time, I decided to throw it on the George Foreman grill. I'd never done that before and was a little worried about it being overcooked, or undercooked, or just plain gross. But the halibut had the skin on (gross to eat, but great for grilling)so that was lucky. I heated up the grill, nice and hot and then put the fish down, skin side first. I wish you could have heard the sizzle... I love that sound. Then I lightly sprayed the top of the fish with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and lightly salted, peppered and dilled it. Closed the lid and voila! After about 10 minutes, I checked on it, the grill marks were lovely. The oil on the top helped the fish to carmelize and it had this little crispy top. I don't eat the skin, but it peeled right off in one piece of crunchy, cripy-ness. And the fish was moist, done to perfection and just wonderful. So give it a try!!! Happy eating!

Simple Teriyaki

Once (many moons ago) I worked in a deli and learned how to make a really quick and simple teriyaki sauce for wings, marinading meats or stir fries. Again, I can't remember the exact measurements... I just kind of toss things together. Here is what you need: oil, sugar, fresh garlic, soy sauce. Less oil than soy and a little sugar and garlic... mix, mix, mix and then throw the meat in to marinade for a while. When I cook the meat, I use ALL the sauce with it. Yummy in my tummy!!

Creamy Seafood Pasta

You will need some small bay scallops and shrimp (I use the frozen ones because they are already cleaned, peeled and all of that), whipping cream, red onion, minced garlic, fresh Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, your favourite pasta, a very big skillet for the sauce, some flour for thickening(like just a little tiny bit) and whatever other spices you feel like might complement your tastes. I used a little dill and garnished with cilantro.
Dice up that onion and saute it with the garlic. I use extra virgin olive oil because it is the best!!

Add in the scallops and shrimp and then throw in your salt and pepper and dill or whatever spice you like for this.

Add the whipping cream and a little flour, bring it to a boil and keep stirring. Cool it down and throw in your cooked pasta.

Once it is thickened up and cooled a little, put it in a bowl and then garnish however you like.

Happy eating!!!

Perogies

One of the BEST comfort foods ever to me is perogies. The mashed potato and cheddar insides are happiness themselves. However, I really don't do it the traditional way. I don't like to boil and then fry them. It just has the wrong texture to me and seems greasy. I do love the bacon but I do that the way I do the perogies... baked in the oven. This way the shell is chewy and crispy and the bacon isn't super greasy.


I like to make a different little sauce for them too. I use plain fat free yogurt with a touch of thyme, dill and garlic salt. SO yummy and more health conscious than sour cream (although that makes my tummy happy too!!). Happy eating!

Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of my favourite things to eat. My mom makes the absolute, without a doubt, best potato salad ever and no one should try to claim that title from here. I make a good one, but somehow it just doesn't measure up. I know that the missing ingredient is though - A Mother's Love. It is the most amazing ingredient and it makes everything from my childhood so much better. So as I begin to explore some of my favourite childhood recipes, I know that they won't taste exactly like my mother's, but they will be yummy and take me back to a place of happiness again. So enjoy the version of potato salad that I made yesterday for dinner with a grilled turkey burger (my potato salad has some different things in it this time than I normally put in and some stuff was missing. I was missing the green onions and paprika garnish. I added cayenne pepper for a little burst of spice and I used Miracle Whip when normally I prefer regular mayo).
The ingredients... Miracle Whip, French's Mustard, Dill, Celery Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Sage. I use the sage very lightly because it fives a little different taste.


As you can see it is pretty easy... sometimes I fully peel the potatoes and other times I don't. This time I used baby creamer potatoes so I left the peels on, good texture and nice taste. Hard boiled eggs.... chop it all up, throw in the spices and mustard to taste and them slap on the mayo to the desired wetness.... YUM!!

Thai

Okay, I must really be missing Asia these days and since I can't readily get my hands on anything Korean, I went with Thai food one more time. It wasn't as authentic or yummy as the real deal, but it filled the empty Asian spot in my tummy for the moment. I made a shrimp Pad Thai... yummy. My roommate even gave it a try and liked it. I have no advice or pictures, just thought I should share something as this blog has been somewhat neglected over the past couple of weeks. Look out though, I am getting a hankering to make something yummy and fun! ;)

Favourite Restaurants

My lovely friend Kristen, has asked her friends with foodie blogs to write about their favourite place(s) to eat and then link our blogs together... so that is what I am going to do since I really don't feel like cooking today (I have enough leftovers to manage for today) and also because she is a good friend and it is fun to think back on some yummy places for good dinners. Being international makes mine a little different as well, since some of my favourite places to eat are not on this continent. :) Please see the list below... they are in no particular order.

1)Samwon Gardens is one of the best (but most expensive) Korean restaurants in Seoul. Everything I have ever eaten there is delicious. It is also special to me as this is the place I ate with my Uncle Garth when he would come to Seoul on business and once when my parents visited, we all ate there and it was wonderful.

2) There is another restaurant in Seoul that had the best Rib Eye steak covered in a super creamy and delicious blue cheese dressing with a side salad and shoestring fries. It is La Cigale Monmarte. Loved that place and used to go there a couple times a month with Raymond and then friend Wilma...

3) My favourite Chinese food restaurant ever was also found in Seoul, Korea. Holee Chow. Mmmm... spicy pork loin.... the food there was hardly ever greasy and just the right amount of spices. Raymond and I would go there every so often and gorge ourselves on way too much food. Our favourite thing was their side dish of spicy cabbage (not kimchi exactly... just really really yummy).

4) Cafe De La Lune, Victoria, BC. I used to go for evening walks with my friend Shawna from UVIC and we would always stop in there for a treat to share, they had the biggest, best Rice Krispie Squares. Mmmmm... We'd often pop by there for tea etc after a night out on the town too. Sounds granny-ish but it just seemed to suit our sensibilities. Loved that place.

5) My house or my friend's houses... a home cooked meal with family and friends will always beat out a restaurant in my tummy, heart and mind.

Thai Green Curry

First things first... get all your ingredients ready! I use the chicken breast strips that they sell in the grocery stores, but you can use chicken breasts, or beef or even fish or seafood. Pick your protein (even tofu) and go with it. I also like to use leftover veggies mixed with fresh veggies. Great way to clean out the fridge and still make something yummy and new.

The all important coconut milk. You can get a lower fat version but for some reason it just isn't as nice. Go for the full fat version!!

Green curry paste. Bad picture, I know... green curry is not very spicy so if you are looking for something a little hotter, go for a red curry. The basic procedure is pretty much the same. The jars of curry paste (which is better than the pre-made curry mix) have a how to on them, but I am using what I remember my Thai cooking teacher telling me to do... well sort of.

Instead of using Pam or another spray to grease the pan, I bought a Kitchen Spritzer from Pampered Chef and I just fill it with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Saves money, doesn't have aerosol and is more environmentally safe.

Drop in some onions and garlic to saute
.
Add chicken and eggplant into the mix and keep sauteing. The eggplant should be soft before you add much more.

When the eggplant or any other heartier veggies you choose to use are soft, add in other softer veggies. I tossed in some frozen mixed veggies and leftovers.

After a few minutes of cooking that, open your coconut milk and pour it in.

Then stir in the curry paste and allow the whole pan to simmer for a little bit. You should be tasting it to see how much of the curry paste you want to add. I added about twice what the bottle said because I love this curry's flavour. But we are all different, so do what feels right for you.

Once it and your Thai jasmine rice is cooked, plate it up and ENJOY!! Yum, yum... and it makes enough to serve probably 5 or 6 people... or enough for you to have super yummy leftovers for lunches at work. Everyone will be jealous when you tell them it is homemade and not take out!

Yummy Cod Dinner

I started out with two fillets of cod (they were frozen, not fresh). I added a little pat of unsalted butter per fillet, a little touch of fresh garlic, salt, pepper and fresh dill. Then I closed the foil pocket and threw it into the oven at 375 for about 30 minutes. This keeps the fish from drying out.

A basic tzatziki sauce made with plain, nonfat yogurt, fresh dill, cucumber and garlic. I thought it might be a fun way to dress the potatoes and asparagus.

When the potatoes were almost done boiling in a lightly salted water, I threw the asparagus in to steam in the same water... waste not, want not, isn't that what they say?

This is one of my favourite additions to any yummy meal... a nice glass of a good wine.

And there you have it... the fish, the potatoes, the asparagus and the tzatziki. YUMMY!! I added a little more fresh cracked pepper and sea salt at the end to make sure that all things were seasoned to my taste (and to my final day of salt loading), I know that you will do the same... Enjoy and happy eating!

Cake Balls - thanks Noreen

This is all you will need unless you want to do the cake from scratch or you want to get all fancy schmancy... I used a chocolate cake mix (eggs, water and veg oil required) but you can use any kind of cake. I also used a milk chocolate frosting, but again you can use whatever turns your cake crank. Then I bought some self hardening chocolate and sprinkles and nuts for garnish.

Mix up the cake mix (I threw in a little Mexican vanilla and cinnamon to add my own personal touch to the mix).

After the cake is baked and cooled, cut it into little squares. I baked the cake in a tin lined with parchment paper, it made it easier to pop out of the pan and into the bowl.

Put the cut up cake and frosting into a bowl and mix. It looks nasty (see the pic below) but you want it to be a mucky, muddy looking mess... that means it is perfect.

ew... right? Just taste it... yum!!

Melt the self hardening chocolate using either a double boiler system or your microwave. I did the double boiler because I felt like I had more control over the chocolate, keeping it glossy and smooth.

As the chocolate was melting slowly, I went ahead and pre-rolled the cake balls. You can make them as big or small as you like. As this was my first time making them, I think I went a little too large, which made them a bit of a pain to dip.

I also layed out my sprinkles and nuts for IMMEDIATE dipping after being dipped in the chocolate.

Look at that glossy, yummy melted chocolate... that is a sight that makes this chubby bubby very happy!! hahaha

As I was dipping the cake balls in chocolate and laying them on the parchment paper, my roommate was sprinkling nuts and sprinkles over them. We put them in the fridge to harden up nicely and then enjoyed them after a yummy cod dinner and some wine... Good times, I am telling you!