In My Kitchen

Inspired by the ever-amazing SouleMama - 

Today in my kitchen, I:

- emptied 2 jars of sauerkraut into the crockpot (only 6 jars left - I must make more next year)

- opened one jar of pear-plum salsa and one jar of tomato salsa to serve tonight

- whirled up pumpkin hummus in my food processor

- mixed together Bacon Double Cheese Burger Dip

- seperated 2 smoked fish for tasting

- stirred up Frozen Lemonade Vodka Slush 

- melted white chocolate and made Valentine Confetti

- baked and stacked a Russian Honey Cake

- left some things on the to-do list for the next gathering

- made very good use of Pinterest!

Five on Friday

1.

“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit light a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it..”

Wilfred Peterson (1900-1995); Author

2.  A big winter storm this week has left us buried in fluffy snow and made the roads very icy and slippery.  After 2 days of driving in it, I'm safely cocooned at home today - drinking lovely homemade chai tea and sewing Christmas treats.  I am happy!

3.  I poked around online a bit today and ordered a few things for Christmas :)  

4.  A few weeks ago I went to an East Indian grocery store in the city to buy some whole spices for making a chai tea concentrate.  I nearly called my friend to come over and read the words on the bags - everything was in Punjabi!  Eventually I found the spice wall and by looking at the shapes of the whole spices, I was able to identify what I needed.  Heather gave me this chai tea recipe and this morning I actually made a batch.  It was wonderful!!  The fresh orange zest comes through beautifully and using half milk was still too strong so I did a 1/3 tea, 2/3 milk ratio.  I'm so happy to have my very own recipe for my favourite hot beverage!  Thanks so much, Lindsay Jewell!

5.  Photo of the week:

after 2.5 days of winter storming 

outside our patio just after 4 pm

(see the sun going down already?!)

This Week In My Kitchen

My camera has gone to the camera hospital for a cleaning so photos are a little scarce around here for a bit.   Hopefully you can imagine this bounty from our garden.

1.  Borscht - our favourite soup at this time of year.

2.  Nine more jars of zucchini relish - I think we have enough now.

3.  Five jars of raspberry jam.

4.  Frozen green beans.

5.  Three jars of dill pickles - a pleasant surprise!

6.  Cucumbers with cream sauce.

7.  More sliced tomatoes + 3 cups frozen.

8.  Applesauce - 16 2-cup containers frozen.

9.  Chocolate zucchini cupcakes.

10.  Cauliflower and cabbage taken to Naomi.  There are more heads of both that will be ready this week.

While Bob was gone I ate borscht and leftovers so it was another week with not much cooking.

Ten on Thursday

1.  The weather has moderated a whole lot and it was above zero today!  Only in Alberta!  And of course now the weather forecast is for freezing rain - it goes from one extreme  to the other around here.

                                 

2.  Have you ever heard of a cookie stamp?  Apparently you press it down into the cookie after it's rolled and it "stamps" a raised design into the cookie top.   The ones shown are flat but some come with a wooden handle too.  I think I might like something like this!

3.  Speaking of cookies!  When we were making perogies the other day, Naomi told me that she's noticed I don't like to roll things out - and she was right!  So I decided to challenge myself, use the rolling pin and make these cookies that I've been talking about for a long time.

They turned out wonderfully and I made friends with my rolling pin.  I doubt if pie crust is on my radar yet though!

4.  One of my favourite Christmas baking projects is to make  fudge puddles.  The recipe was clipped from Country Woman magazine in 1992 so it's an oldie but they still taste great.

A single recipe makes 4 - 5 dozen but I decided to double it so I ended up with 10 dozen of these little guys!

5.  When all was said and done today, I had several cookie tins full of good things.  Some of these are going to be shared as gifts and some will be used when we entertain in the next few weeks.  I still want to make gingersnaps and shortbread.

6.  I also made a few of these Brownie Wreaths, as found on the Better Homes and Gardens website, to give away to friends and family.   This one went with the plate to a silent auction.

       

7.  And at that silent auction, I found this new little piece to add to my holiday decor.   It's got glitter on it and is quite cute ;))

8.  I'm working on my December Daily album, inspired by Ali Edwards, and loving the little snippets of time that I sneak here and there to do pages.  I'll share some of it soon.

9.  I found an online calendar template tonight and started creating a little paper project for a gift.  I love being inspired, dropping everything else and going off to create!  Pictures to follow in a day or two - after I give it away :)

10.  I saw Oprah's show tonight where she interviewed Stephanie and Christian Nielson.  If you aren't aware of their story, go to the Nie Nie Dialogues to read it.  Make sure you take tissues - I was crying (as were many others in the audience) as they were interviewed!   Stephanie is a burn survivor and one special lady.

Why I Love Fridays

Heather's post "I Love Fridays" got me thinking about one of my favourite days of the week and so today's post is inspired by her.  

Fridays are the local Farmer's Market days in our community and there are 3 of them within a half hour's drive!  Today I bought beef and cheese smokies, tiny eggplants, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, spinach, date cookies, saskatoon vinegar, saskatoon syrup and whole wheat bread.    I have grand plans for some delicious meals this week!

Fridays are a great day to be at schools.  There's always something special going on and it was Track Meet today.  I was at the three-legged race (there are always 2 or 3 fun events) and had two great helpers from the grade 8 class.   It was a PERFECT day to be outside - I even had to put sunscreen on!

Fridays are often hot lunch days at school!  It was hot dogs and popsicles provided by the parents association - perfect for track meet day.  I love not having to pack a lunch sometimes.  

And Fridays are great because it means the routine (such as mine is not these days!) is changed up for a couple of days.  Time to kick back, be outdoors, do special things, hang out with family and friends and rejuvenate!  Enjoy your weekend!!

10 on Tuesday - Salads

I was thinking about salads this week and discovered that there are 10 I would call favourites. I'm sure you've tasted them but let me know if there's any for which you'd like the recipe. I've noted my original source in brackets.

1. Taco Salad (Bob's aunt Lil)

2. Tuna Waldorf Salad (Western Producer)

3. Japanese Cabbage Salad (Company's Coming Salads)

4. Carrot Slaw (Melinda)

5. Pear and Brie with Mixed Greens (Company's Coming Salads)

6. Strawberry Mango Salad (Melinda)

7. Veggie Rice Salad (Chatelaine)

8. Pasta Salad (my sister, Esther)

9. Spinach Salad (Company's Coming Salads)

10. 24 Hour Salad (my mom)

Recipes

I've had requests for these 2 favourites that I baked lately. I hope you get to try them soon - enjoy!!

Orange Carrot Bundt Cake
from Canadian Living magazine cover - May 2007

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 Tbsp. grated orange rind
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup grated carrots

Grease 10 cup Bundt pan and dust with flour.
In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy.
Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each.
Beat in orange rind and vanilla.
In separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.
Stir into butter mixture alternately with sour cream.
Fold in carrots.
Scrape into prepared pan. Tap pan on counter to remove air bubbles.
Bake in centre of 350 degree F. oven about 1 hour, or until center is done.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan to rack. Cool completely.

Glaze

1 cup icing sugar
2+ Tbsp. orange juice

In small bowl mix icing sugar with orange juice until smooth. Mixture needs to be runny.
Brush over cake letting excess run down the sides.
May be garnished with chocolate curls and candied orange rind.

Makes 16 - 20 servings, about 294 calories each.



Flax Banana Muffins
from Anne Lindsay's Lighthearted Everyday Cooking

1 cup ground flax seeds (I use the coffee grinder to do this)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup raisins, dried cranberries or dried blueberries
1 cup buttermilk (put 1 Tbsp. vinegar in a cup and fill to 1 cup - let sit for 10 min.)
3 Tbsp. oil
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe banana

Combine dry ingredients and add raisins. Mix lightly. Add liquid ingredients. Stir just until mixed (15 - 20 strokes). Spoon into greased muffin tins. Bake in 350 degree F. oven for 18 - 20 minutes until firm to touch.
Makes 12 large muffins. 257 calories each, 5 grams fibre, 9 grams total fat.

Bon Appetit!!

This . . .

came to my kitchen as a Christmas gift so I've been trying it out. Yesterday I used the temperature probe and it cooked a beef roast while I was at school. It was definitely nice to have meat ready for supper and it tasted pretty good. Now if I can be super organized ahead of time, we should have some yummy meals around here!



The grade 3's went swimming today and we had an awesome time! Lots of sliding, splashing, swinging and laughing made for a busy but extremely fun time.