Cookies and Nephews...

Since I am often not in the country for some of the most important events in someone's life (weddings, Christmas, birthdays, the birth of children and so on), I am trying to make the most of having my nephew with me here in Gibsons (see my teaching here there and everywhere blog to see a pic of the beautiful place I am from). And one of the ways I can do that is to cook and bake with my nephew. Today we decided that chocolate chip cookies would be a great treat for our movie night. I got the recipe from the old Five Roses Cookbook that was put out in Canada ages and ages ago. My parents have had it and used it so long that the cover is missing and the pages are starting to yellow. I wish Five Roses would do a reprint because it has some of the simplest, easiest, and BEST recipes EVER. This is the cookbook that gave me fond memories of baking and making pancakes (that was a daddy thing in my house)


Anyway, this post isn't about the recipe or how to make something... it's simply about how cooking can bring families together and be a great activity to share with those that you love. Today as my nephew (a 12 year-old boy, so you know it was messy, fun and silly) and I (someone who I am suspecting might have a tough of OCD hehehe) baked together, we built a memory and that's better than the best tasting cookie.

Happy sharing the love through cooking!!!

Baked Potato Corn Chowder

So my parents have a TON of baked potatoes left from an event that they did with their Lions Club on the weekend. I've been trying all week to find ways to use them. On Sunday, I made some of the yummiest hash browns EVER (saute onions and garlic in olive oil, add the potatoes and then use sea salt, pepper and basil to spice). On Monday, I made baked potato salad (chopped up the cold potatoes and dressed with chives, bacon bits, sour cream and mayo). On Tuesday, I made cheesy potatoes (slice the potatoes, place them on a cookie sheet and lightly brush with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake until lightly brown, then sprinkle cheese ALL OVER them and put them back into the oven on broil.... mmmm.... cheese!!). So as the days have gone by, we are getting potatoed out and are searching for new things to make that have potatoes in it. I've never done a potato chowder before and so that was today's experiment! Here is how it went down:

In a LARGE pot, put some olive oil to heat. Then finely chop 2 cloves of garlic and 1/2 of a yellow onion. Saute that in the oil until the onion is translucent. Then toss in 2 chopped up baked potatoes (leave the skins on) and let them saute for a bit, add in a pinch of black pepper and some sea salt. Let the potatoes soak up some of that garlicky oil before putting in two containers of chicken stock (veggie stock works as well). Take the remaining potatoes (I had 5 or 6 more) and scrape out the insides into a big bowl and mix it with about 1/2 a cup of sour cream and bacon bits(of course veggie alternatives would work well too). Once your soup is coming to a boil, put in the potato mixture. Then once it returns to a boil, toss in some corn (I used frozen corn). Then let it simmer until you are ready to eat. It was a super easy soup to make and it took about 1 hour total.

Sorry that there are no pictures, but I just haven't had time today (and soup never looks as good in a picture for some reason). Happy Eating.

Mmmm... RIBS!!!

Tonight I did a little chemistry in the kitchen and made my own dry rub and BBQ sauce for the ribs my mother trusted me to cook for my whole family. It was a little nerve wracking because I've never done a dry rub, a BBQ sauce or ribs on the BBQ before.

Okay... so here is how it went down:


First I made a dry rub with the following (Mary, I didn't use exact measurements but I will try my best to give approximations for you):

• 1/4 cup granulated garlic
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1tsp Moroccan spice (or use cayenne, or skip it all together)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 tbsp sea salt
• 2 tsp basil

After I combined these ingredients (taste as you go and adjust as you like) I rubbed it into the meat and let it sit in the fridge covered for 3 or 4 hours).


Then I put the rubs on the grill (set to low) and let them get heated up. Then I slipped inside and whipped up a BBQ sauce (again, all measurements are approximate and I encourage you to taste as you go along to make sure it is to your liking):

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1/3 cup brown or whole seed mustard
• a couple drops of hotsauce/tabasco
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

The sauce is a little sweet, with a little heat. YUMMY! I basted the ribs, turned them, basted them and kept doing that until they were done. Took about 45-50 minutes on low on the grill, but they were tender as could be with a little caramelized, crispy edges.


I made Krispy Kale (see an earlier post) and some carrot/celery sticks to eat with it. It was DELISH!!
HAPPY EATING!!!

Rice Salad and Teriyaki Chicken

YAH!! I am so thrilled with this recipe. I did a little experimenting, tasting and crossing of fingers and came out with an incredibly tasty meal. So here is the break down of what I did:

First I marinaded the chicken in a homemade teriyaki sauce. I've done this before and you can go back into the archives to see that or just do this:

2 parts soy sauce
1 part sesame oil (I stole that idea from a reader and YUMMY!!!)
garlic (to taste)
1 part sugar (my parents are diabetic so I used Splenda to make it more friendly for ALL our waistlines)
ginger (to taste - I used fresh ginger chopped super fine)

I let it marinade for a couple of hours before throwing in on the grill. I LOVE summer and using the BBQ grill as often as possible (this makes 3 nights in a row and ribs are on the menu for tomorrow).


Then to make the rice salad I used the following ingredients:

2 1/2 cups of cooked and cold basmati rice
1 fresh clove of garlic
1 small piece of fresh ginger
a small amount of cilantro (or skip it if you don't like it)
a dash of black pepper (fresh cracked is best)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tbsp of vinegar (I'd recommend a wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar)
2 green onions
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots


The first thing I did was finely chop the garlic and ginger. I also chopped up the cilantro into this so that there was a combining of flavours. I put it all in a big bowl with the soy sauce and vinegar.


Then I chopped up the veggies. I had a little fun withe carrots. I think you need to have some fun with your food, can't always be serious! ;) I then tossed them all into the dressing and added the pepper. I made sure that all the veggies got tossed around in the sauce before adding in the rice and stirring well.


Mmmmm.... so good.


And there is the finished product!! Perfectly cooked chicken that was both savoury and sweet and then a salad that was a little sour and spicy because of the fresh ginger. And the best part was that the rice was cold... such a nice treat on a hot day!

Happy eating!!

BBQ Chicken and Salad

So my last post had a chilly weather meal, but this one has a typical summer menu around our house. It's nothing fancy either, but I was very proud to have grilled the meat myself for the first time!! I lightly seasoned the meat with a garlic spice mixture and let it rest for a bit before putting it on the grill. After cooking it almost all the way through, I basted it with some italian dressing. Once it was nicely grilled (if you look closely you can see some lovely grill marks... I tried hard) I paired it with a lovely garden salad I made a little earlier. YUMMY!! Happy eating.

Family Favourite Casserole

When I was a kid and the days were cold and gloomy my mom would make one of the simplest, tastiest, heartiest casseroles. The day after we got home from our long drive (see my other blog: http://angelamae-internationalteacher.blogspot.com/ )it was cloudy, chilly and just right to revisit the old favourite and now I want to share that with you.


These are the ingredients: dinner sausage, potatoes, frozen peas, an onion and mushroom soup.

You slice the potatoes and dice the onions (we tossed in some celery this time, but we don't usually do that). You mix up the soup with the required water. Once you have it all ready, you put all the sausages on the bottom of the dish (no need to grease or whatever) and then layer the vegetables on top. We did two layers of each one and then pour the soup mixture over the top, making sure that everything was covered.


We use a big corningware pot, but any casserole dish works well. Cover with either foil or a lid and put into your oven at 350 for as much time as it takes for your potatoes to be done (ours took 1 1/2 hours, but a flat pyrex might take as little as 45 minutes).


And that's how it looks at the end. It doesn't look fancy but the taste just makes you feel warm and cozy. Not a typical summer dish, but up here on the west coast when our northern rain forest can drop rain and chilly temperatures anytime of year, this is a good, quick warm up meal. And it's easy and great for families!!

Frozen Lime Pie

This is really all you need. Sweetened Condensed Milk, Frozen Limeade or Lemonade, Cool Whip and a graham cracker crust. I used a store bought one in the interests of time, but you could make your own. You fold the whipped topping and condensed milk together first and then slowly and gently fold in the limeade in as well. Once it is all incorporated, put it in the pie crust and toss in the freezer overnight. It's a SUPER yummy and refreshing treat!