Five on Friday

1.

“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.”

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900); novelist, playwright

2.  Last week I bought corn at the Farmer's Market (ours needs a few more weeks to grow) and I wanted to grill it on the BBQ.  This post at Our Best Bites outlined 3 awesome methods, including one that did not require soaking.  I've done it twice now and it's. absolutely. the. best. way. to. do. corn!  Try it - I guarantee you'll love it :)

3.  The garden is still going strong with peas, beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers and cabbage all ready. I think the only thing we are still waiting on is the corn and it's coming!

4.  This morning I picked a small yellow squash, which was delicious steamed and served with butter and a hint of maple syrup for lunch.   The good news is there are lots on the plants.

5.  Photo of the week:

Roasting Marshmallows

(and really interested in how the stick was cut!)

Five on Friday

  1.

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926-2004); psychiatrist, author

2.   Did you know that  within 72 hours you’ll forget 95 percent of what you heard? 

3.  This week I popped a lovely little chicken into my slow cooker, added a little paprika and garlic salt, filled the cavity with an onion and a whole head of garlic (following the ideas here) - and walked away for 7+ hours.  When I got home, the house smelled yummy and supper was nearly ready.  I cooked some potatoes, squeezed the head of roasted garlic into them and (s)mashed the whole lot together.  Some gravy from the slow cooker drippings and cooked creamed cabbage rounded out a  most delicious meal!  You should try it!  I'm so glad I took N's advice and tried this method.  

4.  I started a little sewing project this week - but I can't show you because it's going to be a Christmas present.  I like how it's turning out so far :)  Next up - some pouches for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

5.  Photo of the week:

the birthday girl with her Olympic swimming pool cake

(her Mama is so creative!)

Five on Friday

1.

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

~ Margaret Cousins

2.  I borrowed this cookbook from the library

and have tried a few recipes this week.  The whole concept of eating only raw food, using soaked nuts and not using heat on food is interesting, to say the least.  What we've tasted so far has been delicious so that's definitely a motivator to try more.

3.  It's a canning blitz around here this week!  Apricots, plums, peaches and pears are all in jars but I still have more of each to work with tomorrow.  I love lining the jars up on my pantry shelves when they are all done :)

4.  I made popcorn tonight.  Filled the hot air popper, put the cover on and turned to the other side of the kitchen.  When I looked back a few minutes later, there was popcorn everywhere!  Yeah, I forgot to put the bowl under the machine!  Multi-tasking at its best!

5.  Photo of the week:

This spring I gave my Dad 4 of the tomato plants I'd started.

They are now taller than I am - he's such a good gardener!

This Week In My Kitchen

Well there was a little less cooking and a lot more picking around here this week!  We did eat these good things that included produce from the garden:

1.  Raspberry Yogurt Dressing - delicious on a salad of mixed lettuce, raspberries, crumbled goat cheese and toasted pecans.

2.  Lasagne - with swiss chard added to the meat sauce.

3.  Zucchini Relish - 5 jars ready for the winter.

4.  Fresh cucumbers - just sliced and eaten like that.

5.  Raspberry Muffins - I only make these once a season but they are so good.

6.  Bacon, jalapeno harvarti cheese, lettuce and tomato sandwiches - on more than one occasion :)

7.  Raspberries with brown sugar and cream.

8.  Sugar snap  peas blanched and frozen for winter eating

9. Turkey Spanish Rice - with swiss chard and the last jar of 2010 canned tomatoes.

10.  Many fresh tomatoes eaten all by themselves - I've picked 92 already!  We have 10 plants of a variety called Moneymakers, started at the end of February by Bob's dad, and they are so uniform in size and shape, averaging 50 grams each.

And on deck for this week:
German Potato Salad - potatoes are already cooked, need to add sauerkraut from last year's stash (only 4 jars left)
Peas to blanch and freeze
Beans to blanch and freeze
Apples to cook into applesauce
Raspberry jam to make

This Week In My Kitchen

This week Amanda Soule asked the question "What's happening in your kitchen?" and I'm happy to share that many of our meals have included vegetables and fruit from our garden.  This is what my basket looked like this morning :)

This week we've eaten:

1.  Crustless Zucchini Quiche

2.  Lots of fresh tomatoes on cheese sandwiches

3.  Spring Greens Soup (Better Homes and Garden, March, 2010)

4.  Raspberries with brown sugar and cream

5.  Stir-fries with snow peas

6.  Nova Scotia Hodge Podge

6.  Fettuccini Alfredo with Swiss Chard

7.  Caesar Salad

There are 4 big zucchinis waiting to be turned into relish and one lonely little cucumber that's almost ready too.  Good times in the summertime, for sure!

Crockpot Love

In the last week, these two little appliances have been busy!

They've been used for:

- taco dip
- mulled cider
- homemade yogurt
- sauerkraut with pork chops
- apple - turnip puff
- mashed potatoes

I really do appreciate being able to use them to simplify and serve tasty foods with very little fuss!

From the Kitchen Today

Pumpkin French Toast

with maple syrup

Stuffed Mushrooms

Orange Ginger Carrot Soup

Whole Wheat Buns

Sweet and Sour Spareribs

Coconut Rice with Peas

Cranberry Walnut Pear Salad

Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream

Sweet Orange Herbal Tea

It was a very productive day!  And it was good to share supper with our dear friends.   I'm thinking that it would be a good idea to have guests over to share a meal with once every week.  

Making Salsa

Take 12 lbs. of ripe tomatoes -

add peppers and onions -

season and simmer -

put in jars and seal -

and you will get THE most delicious salsa ever!!

Go to Mennonite Girls Can Cook and check the canning and preserving section for their awesome recipes.

And then I decided to cost it out!  Well, well, well!!

Tomatoes - 12 lbs. @ $0.40/lb.    $12.80
Peppers - green & colored              6.50
Garlic (from BC)                             2.50
Onions (from garden)
Vinegar                                              .75
Spices (guesstimate)                        1.25
Sugar & salt                               .50

Total                                            $24.30

Divided between 12 jars   =           $2.025

That same size of jar at Superstore (the cheapest place I know to shop) is $3.99 so I saved half - had a pleasant afternoon in the kitchen AND have an awesome product with 0 preservatives, hardly any salt or sugar, and most of it (except for vinegar, sugar, salt and spices) was grown within 500 km of home.

I had heard people say that once you make your own salsa, you will never use the store-bought kind again and now I know why!  I'm on the hunt for more tomatoes!!

Cooking Lesson of the Day

Fact #1:  After 30 minutes at 400 degrees F in the oven, an eggplant will explode.

Fact #2:  Three eggplants will do exactly the same thing.

Fact #3:  This is an example of multi-tasking gone wrong.

Fact #4:  I will be cleaning my oven tomorrow.

Fact #5:  There will be no Baba Ghanoush dip at our house this weekend.

This happened within a few minutes of the guys coming in from the field for supper so there is no photo documentation.  Trust me - it happened!!

January In The Kitchen

In January, I baked:

- Red Velvet Cake

- Raspberry Mallow Dessert

- Cranberry Nut Muffins

- Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce

- Honey Wheat Buns

- Carrot Muffins with the Grade 2's at school

- Nut and Seed Bread

- Apple Pie (with Naomi's filling in a jar)

- Caramel Cinnamon Buns

- Pumpkin Pie

- Pumpkin Squares with Cream Cheese Icing

- Tapioca Pudding

It was a very yummy month!  And this list will be the basis of a scrapbook layout inspired by the Sweet Talk journalling challenge at Log Your Memory.

Recipes

A few people asked about the recipes that I made with the crockpot cooking class so I thought I'd share them here.  Slow cookers are wonderful for winter use when it's cold outside but they can also be great time savers in the summertime.  By planning ahead, you can keep the kitchen cool and enjoy the whole day outside with friends or family - instead of in the kitchen!

Slow Cooker Barbecue Pork Ribs

(adapted from Better Homes and Gardens The Joy of Cooking)

4 pounds pork spareribs, cut into serving pieces of 1 - 2 ribs each

1 - 2 cloves garlic

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup dry red wine (or apple juice)

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

Place the garlic in a food processor and process to chop.

Add the ketchup, wine, oil, soy sauce, vinegar, dry mustard, chili powder and oregano. 

Process until smooth.

Arrange the ribs in a greased slow cooker.  Pour the sauce over the ribs.  

Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours, until the meat is tender and seperates from the bones.  Serve immediately.  

Serves 4.  

Serve over hot cooked brown rice with  roasted asparagus, Greek salad and foccacia bread.

Twice Crocked Potatoes 

(from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker for Entertaining by Beth Henspenger)

6 large baking potatoes, unpeeled 

1/2 cup milk 

1/2 cup sour cream 

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions 

salt and pepper to taste 

1 cup shredded cheddar or Swiss cheese 

Wash the potatoes and while still wet, pierce each potato twice with a fork.  Place 

dripping wet potatoes in slow cooker - do not add water.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 

- 6 hours OR on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.  

Remove potatoes from cooker with tongs and cut in half.  Scoop out the center of each 

half with a large spoon, leaving enough potato to keep the shell intact.  Place the flesh 

in a large bowl and add the milk and cream.  Beat until smooth with a potato masher or 

electric mixer.  Mixture should be quite thick.  Stir in onions, salt and pepper.  Spoon the 

filling back into the shells, mounding each.  Place each potato half back in the slow 

cooker, setting them in a single layer and sprinkle with the cheese.  Cover and cook on 

HIGH for 45 to 60 minutes.  (Potatoes may be reheated in the oven at 350 degrees F for 

25 - 30 minutes.) 

Chocolate Chip Fondue

(from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker for Entertaining  by Beth Hensperger)

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (12 oz. bag)

2/3 cup whipping cream or half-and-half

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Combine the chocolate chips, cream and vanilla in the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on LOW for 1 to 2 hours.

Stir until the fondue is smooth.

May be served immediately, keep it on WARM for an hour or so OR

let it cool, uncovered, and store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 hours.  Reheat, before serving, 

by placing in slow cooker and re-heating on LOW for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Serve with bananas, pears, dried apricots, strawberries, angel food cake cubes, small cookies or graham crackers.

Enjoy!!

Cooking Classes

I had the privilege of teaching another cooking class this week!  This time we used slow cookers  - 

to make Twice Crocked Potatoes, Baked Beans, Barbecued Ribs and Lasagne.  

For dessert we had chocolate sauce with fresh fruit and lemon cookies.

I am really enjoying these little events :))

(Thanks for taking the pictures, E!)

Cooking Classes

You've heard me mention that I was preparing to teach a cooking class and it finally  happened earlier this week!  The community living association that my sister works for wanted a basic class offered to their clients and staff so I submitted a proposal and it was accepted.  Called "Fast and Fabulous for Beginners", I focussed on dishes prepared with ground beef.

I demoed how to make a Nacho Appetizer Dip, Taco Salad, Chili with Cornbread Dumplings, and Classic Meatloaf served with Pasta.

The audiences were wonderful, engaged in the demonstrations, curious and lots of fun.  I had really thought about the whole process alot and it went very smoothly.   I hope that the participants will be able to incorporate the recipes and tips in to their own cooking.  (Thanks for taking the pictures, E!)

And they asked me to do another one on Crockpot Cooking!!!  So I'm in the searching for recipes and planning mode again :))

Menu Planning

I'm trying to get organized and get healthy so I have magazines and a calendar spread out on the kitchen table and some websites bookmarked with ideas for this week's meals.  How do these sound?

Asian Orange Beef

Beet and Apple Soup

Southwest Surprise Bread (refried beans in this!)

Baked Barley and Wild Rice

Apple Cider Beef Stew (pictured above)

Italian Style Lentil Soup

Makeover Chicken Potpies (baked and served in great big mugs)

French Breakfast Puffs

Soft Lemon-Ginger Cookies

Frozen Pistachio Dessert with Raspberry Sauce

Gluten-Free Spice Cake

It's going to be a busy week in my kitchen, I hope!!

Cooking Classes

Just half an hour away from us is a wonderful little restauranat called the Eco Cafe' which specializes in regional cuisine using locally grown products. We have several favourites on their menu! The owner is teaching cooking classes at a local school so Naomi and I are going to learn and try some new tastes.



Tim previously taught in the culinary arts program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and was a successful restauranteur in Edmonton. He has travelled extensively and it's really interesting to hear him talk about his adventures.



Wild Pacific Salmon with Roasted Red Pepper Pesto on Pasta and Autumn Salad with Mango Vinaigrette - it was just as delicious as it looks!!

And this week he prepared authentic Mexican dishes (after spending 2 weeks there on vacation last month) like Tortilla Soup (Sopa Azteca), Chicken in Green Mole, and Mexican Empanadas with Pork Picadillo. I forgot to take my camera but please take my word - it was scrumptious. And Bob came along this week too!! Maybe I can get him to be the sous-chef :))