I know, the weekend is already over, but I am still enjoying the leftovers, and am inspired to share.
Friday
Friday's menu was a fairly quick one, but quite delicious and popular with the kids. I made the mistake of buying Panko crumbs at Costco before I realized they have a looming 'best-by' date. So I am working at finding many uses for them. This combo of mayo/Dijon and panko crumbs is fast becoming a favourite, both on fish and other meats.
Panko-crusted pork cutlets
Quinoa pilaf (saute chopped onion, carrot, celery, add quinoa, water and some Mrs. Dash and salt, cook til water is absorbed)
Baked spaghetti squash
Shredded Brussels sprout salad
I love love love this Brussels sprout salad, and even Baby G asked for seconds. It's like a Caesar-dressed coleslaw. Delish! The flavours of everything matched very well, with the lemon zest and mustard in the pork cutlets balancing really nicely with the salad dressing. Yummy.
Saturday
Saturday morning started off with my dad's home-cured bacon, blueberry buckwheat pancakes, and basted eggs. To kick off the weekend, the boys' uncle came over to share breakfast with us. It was the perfect start to Saturday.
Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes
1/2 c. buckwheat flour
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
2 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1 egg
1 1/3 c. milk
1/2 t. vanilla
3 T. canola oil
1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1 peeled, cored and chopped apple
Mix first six ingredients in a large bowl. In small bowl, beat together egg, milk, milk, vanilla and oil. Add to flour mixture. Stir until moistened and then gently add blueberries and apple. Fry on a griddle until golden. Serve with maple syrup.
Every time I serve these pancakes I'm surprised at how good they are. I've been making them for years, but lately we've taken to making banana pancakes a lot, because we always have bananas to use up. The blueberry buckwheat pancakes are truly my favourite. In fact, it's less about pancakes for breakfast and more about having a 'pancake day'. I made a double batch, and everyone in the family preferred to eat a cold pancake instead of any of the other options for lunch or snacks for the rest of the day.
I kept feeling the urge to invite people for dinner this weekend, but when Saturday afternoon hit and neither my husband nor I felt like doing anything (burn-out from my business trip and his full-on kid care and two resulting sleepless nights), we decided we should probably hunker down and hang out on our own.
But that didn't mean we couldn't eat well. I was thinking of using up the last of the scallops and shrimp that I had left in the freezer after my Christmas catering gig. We don't usually buy that kind of thing, since we try to stick with local fish as much as possible, and occasionally we catch a windfall from friends who have done their own ocean fishing. I was wondering whether we should cook seafood for just us, and my husband said quite forcefully, "I am worth cooking seafood for, all by myself, dammit!"
Well, that decided it. There was actually just enough for the four of us anyway, so it worked out well, and boy did we ever enjoy our Saturday night dinner!
Seared Scallops (and Shrimp) with Herb-Butter Pan Sauce (I just added shrimp to the pan along with the scallops, but pulled them out after just a few seconds, once they were opaque)
Simple Risotto (I didn't use a recipe, but what I did is basically repeated here)
Roasted broccoli and cauliflower (toss broccoli and cauliflower with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chopped garlic, place on a sheet pan and roast at 375F or 400F for about 15 minutes, or until browned and softening)
This was a heavenly dinner, and I enjoyed it with a glass of Joseph Mellot Sancerre, which I also used in the risotto and the pan sauce. Definitely a treat—but we were worth it!
Sunday
My husband had stated Saturday that he didn't really want to have people over for dinner on Sunday because he likes some down-time before the work week starts again. We tossed that out the window when some good friends of ours called, whom we hadn't seen in FAR too long. "Sorry hon, they're coming for supper tonight." His response, "Oh, that's okay, it will be great to see them!" Twist his rubber arm.
We had a fairly simple meal, but I finished it off with a nice dessert, so it felt pretty luxurious:
Tortilla Pie
Orange, Radish and Avocado salad with citrus Dijon vinaigrette
Tres leches cake
Recipes:
Tortilla Pie
2 T. oil
1 t. cumin
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 small can chopped green chilies
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pkg. 10" tortillas
Fresh cooked, refried pinto beans (a la Rick Bayless), or you could use a 14oz. can refried beans
1 14 oz. can corn, drained
2 c. grated cheese (I used half mozzarella and half cheddar)
Handful cilantro, chopped.
For the fillings:
Fry in oil onion, cumin, tomatoes, chilies and garlic. Add peppers at the last minute
In a separate bowl, mix corn, cheese and cilantro. Set aside.
Have refried beans ready as well.
Preheat oven to 375F. Layer tortillas and filling in a springform pan that just fits the tortillas. Alternate fillings, using tomato mixture for one, then corn/cilantro/cheese, then refried beans. Finish with a tortilla on top, cover with foil and bake for 20-30 minutes. Let set for 5 minutes before unmolding and slicing like a pie.
Orange, Avocado and Radish Salad (adapted from The Occasional Vegetarian)
Citrus Dressing:
1 t. salt
3 T. lemon juice
1 T. orange juice
1 t. Dijon-style mustard
1/4 t. black pepper
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 c. olive oil
Make dressing by combining ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well and set aside.
Toss together: 6 c. mixed lettuce, 2 or 3 sliced oranges, 1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced, and approximately six sliced radishes. Pour dressing over and serve.
Enjoy on a weekend, or any day you feel like it!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Preparing for a Busy Week
I'm not sure if what I'm doing this week is really an official meal plan; but I am planning meals for the next couple of days as I prepare for a business trip that will keep me away for 32 hours (when you're still breast-feeding, every hour away needs to be counted!) over Tuesday and Wednesday.
I have once again been blessed (?) with a large box of food from my parents who are traveling to BC to see my sister and her new baby. This time, besides fresh vegetables (asparagus, a head of lettuce, and peppers, as well as parsnips, three small cabbages and parsley (still fresh, which is amazing) from the garden), there is a substantial amount of dairy product (yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, feta) and lemons and cooked wheat berries, from our Ukrainian dishes at Christmas.
I already worked some of the cooked wheat into hamburger patties for last night's supper, inspired (again) by Mark Bittman. I used the wheat, ground beef, and thawed frozen garden chard for my grain, meat and greens. The texture of the greens mixed into the meat seemed to slow my kids down a bit, but I still like how these patties include meat as well as a substantial amount of grains and vegetables.
I have to account for an early meal tonight, since my volleyball schedule has us playing from 6PM to 9PM tonight. I am about to throw a large, farm-grown half-chicken (that is, a chicken cut in half, not some sort of weird hybrid) into the oven with parsnips and a sweet potato to roast along with it. I will be going veggie heavy and serving roasted asparagus and peppers alongside it, and finishing with a salad.
I have to include a side note that I would never personally buy asparagus while it is being shipped from Peru, but now that I have it, I'll have to make use of it.
Among my own list of items to use up from the Christmas season is some mascarpone cheese, which is too pricey and too delicious to waste, so I found a recipe for fruit gratin with mascarpone and Calvados, which is in the oven right now. I don't have Calvados, but I do have my own homemade crabapple brandy, which I am using instead. Looking forward to a yummy fruit dessert.
I'm trying to build up my leftovers, considering I have to leave enough food behind while I'm away to feed my kids and inlaws who are going to be watching the kids. So for lunch I pulled some stuff out of the fridge and made quite a lovely minestrone-style soup:
Alphabet Minestrone
2 T. butter or oil (I used turkey fat)
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 c. chicken stock
2 c. cooked white navy beans, plus cooking liquid, to equal 3 c.
28 oz can tomatoes
1 t. salt and 1/2 t. fresh ground pepper
Generous 1/2 c. whole grain alphabet pasta
1 c. fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 3/4" pieces
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 T. fresh parsley
pre-made pesto (preferably homemade) as a condiment
Heat butter in a large Dutch oven. When it is hot, add onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Saute until onion is clear, about 5 minutes. Pour in chicken stock, beans and liquid, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Mash tomatoes with a potato masher. Bring to a boil at high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add whole grain pasta and simmer 5 minutes more. Add green beans and red pepper; simmer 5 minutes more. Stir in fresh parsley. Remove from heat, ladle into bowls and serve with a dollop of pesto.
Tomorrow night, I will have a full-on roast beef dinner (although not sure about the popovers), and possibly an old-school iceberg and blue cheese salad, since I have that to use up as well. That should see the family into their mom-free time with enough food to reduce stress for all involved.
I figure when I get back home around 4PM on Wednesday, there will be enough leftovers to carry us through dinner that night. Between the packed freezer and the generous amounts of fresh stuff in our fridge, we should be covered. The grocery list this weekend was the smallest it's been in a LONG time:
• vinegar (primarily for the diaper pail)
• table salt (primarily for making homemade playdough)
• Miracle Whip (my favourite for making salmon sandwiches)
• onions
And that, as they say, is that.
I have once again been blessed (?) with a large box of food from my parents who are traveling to BC to see my sister and her new baby. This time, besides fresh vegetables (asparagus, a head of lettuce, and peppers, as well as parsnips, three small cabbages and parsley (still fresh, which is amazing) from the garden), there is a substantial amount of dairy product (yogurt, cottage cheese, sour cream, feta) and lemons and cooked wheat berries, from our Ukrainian dishes at Christmas.
I already worked some of the cooked wheat into hamburger patties for last night's supper, inspired (again) by Mark Bittman. I used the wheat, ground beef, and thawed frozen garden chard for my grain, meat and greens. The texture of the greens mixed into the meat seemed to slow my kids down a bit, but I still like how these patties include meat as well as a substantial amount of grains and vegetables.
I have to account for an early meal tonight, since my volleyball schedule has us playing from 6PM to 9PM tonight. I am about to throw a large, farm-grown half-chicken (that is, a chicken cut in half, not some sort of weird hybrid) into the oven with parsnips and a sweet potato to roast along with it. I will be going veggie heavy and serving roasted asparagus and peppers alongside it, and finishing with a salad.
I have to include a side note that I would never personally buy asparagus while it is being shipped from Peru, but now that I have it, I'll have to make use of it.
Among my own list of items to use up from the Christmas season is some mascarpone cheese, which is too pricey and too delicious to waste, so I found a recipe for fruit gratin with mascarpone and Calvados, which is in the oven right now. I don't have Calvados, but I do have my own homemade crabapple brandy, which I am using instead. Looking forward to a yummy fruit dessert.
I'm trying to build up my leftovers, considering I have to leave enough food behind while I'm away to feed my kids and inlaws who are going to be watching the kids. So for lunch I pulled some stuff out of the fridge and made quite a lovely minestrone-style soup:
Alphabet Minestrone
2 T. butter or oil (I used turkey fat)
1 onion, chopped
2 celery ribs with leaves, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 c. chicken stock
2 c. cooked white navy beans, plus cooking liquid, to equal 3 c.
28 oz can tomatoes
1 t. salt and 1/2 t. fresh ground pepper
Generous 1/2 c. whole grain alphabet pasta
1 c. fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 3/4" pieces
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 T. fresh parsley
pre-made pesto (preferably homemade) as a condiment
Heat butter in a large Dutch oven. When it is hot, add onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Saute until onion is clear, about 5 minutes. Pour in chicken stock, beans and liquid, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Mash tomatoes with a potato masher. Bring to a boil at high heat. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add whole grain pasta and simmer 5 minutes more. Add green beans and red pepper; simmer 5 minutes more. Stir in fresh parsley. Remove from heat, ladle into bowls and serve with a dollop of pesto.
Tomorrow night, I will have a full-on roast beef dinner (although not sure about the popovers), and possibly an old-school iceberg and blue cheese salad, since I have that to use up as well. That should see the family into their mom-free time with enough food to reduce stress for all involved.
I figure when I get back home around 4PM on Wednesday, there will be enough leftovers to carry us through dinner that night. Between the packed freezer and the generous amounts of fresh stuff in our fridge, we should be covered. The grocery list this weekend was the smallest it's been in a LONG time:
• vinegar (primarily for the diaper pail)
• table salt (primarily for making homemade playdough)
• Miracle Whip (my favourite for making salmon sandwiches)
• onions
And that, as they say, is that.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Organic Farmers: Hill Your Potatoes!!
I have a pet peeve. I regularly experience organic potatoes that are severely sunburned. I cannot for the life of me figure out why avoiding chemicals prevents organic potato farmers from hilling their potatoes. So I buy organic potatoes to avoid ingesting chemicals, and instead risk poisoning from eating green potatoes.
I grew up on a farm. I have hilled my fair share of potatoes. My mother never harvested a single sunburned potato, of the 200 hills that she regularly planted every year. Now I understand that organic farmers producing potatoes on a large scale are planting more than 200 hills at a time, and that hilling them all might be a challenge, but I am not paying premium prices to get poor quality and potentially toxic produce! If anyone out there knows an organic potato farmer, please pass on my gripe. I too will start seeking them out and making complaints. Grr.
Yes, one can avoid the sunburned portions by peeling them, but I prefer to leave my peels intact, because they help retain nutrients and are full of fiber. When I have to buy potatoes from a store, I want non-sunburned, organic potatoes. Is that too much to ask?
I grew up on a farm. I have hilled my fair share of potatoes. My mother never harvested a single sunburned potato, of the 200 hills that she regularly planted every year. Now I understand that organic farmers producing potatoes on a large scale are planting more than 200 hills at a time, and that hilling them all might be a challenge, but I am not paying premium prices to get poor quality and potentially toxic produce! If anyone out there knows an organic potato farmer, please pass on my gripe. I too will start seeking them out and making complaints. Grr.
Yes, one can avoid the sunburned portions by peeling them, but I prefer to leave my peels intact, because they help retain nutrients and are full of fiber. When I have to buy potatoes from a store, I want non-sunburned, organic potatoes. Is that too much to ask?
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
First Meal Plan of 2012
Notwithstanding the fact that this meal plan is being posted on a Thursday when it began on Monday, I hope this will be a help in planning meals for your family in the weeks to come, and you'll get mini-reviews for the meals from Monday thru Thursday.
Monday
Panko crusted pike with lemon, Parmesan and dill (I had hoped this would turn out better, as I recently made Baked Cod with a Panko Crust, which was fantastic. I used buttermilk and egg instead of mayonnaise and Dijon, and tried to put all the seasoning into the breadcrumbs. It had less flavour, and the pike itself didn't take to the treatment, being a little to dry and a little too 'lake-tasting'. It all got eaten anyway...
Barley spinach pilaf from Mark Bittman's Food Matters (it uses a whole pound of spinach! It certainly fit into my New Year's resolution to put more vegetables on my family's plates)
Steamed carrots
Leftover Beet tartare
Tuesday
Here's where I start relying heavily on Canadian Living's Eat Right cookbook.
Herbed lambchops with Tuscan beans
This was quite good and easy to make. The lamb we have right now is absolutely amazing. However. I have made a very similar recipe that I enjoyed much more, which I thought was also from Canadian Living. But now I can't find it. It finished the dish with balsamic vinegar, which I found much lighter and cleaner than the pan sauce for the above recipe. I have more lambchops to cook, so I'll hunt down the recipe that I'm thinking of and share...
Wednesday
Whole wheat pasta with blue cheese sauce
Raw veggies
This pasta served the purpose of helping me use up blue cheese leftover from my catering adventures. D was super pumped to get spaghetti, and even though it was covered in pretty strong tasting blue cheese sauce, he had two bowls full. The walnuts on top were an added bonus for him. He's a nut nut.
Thursday
Lazy Shepherd's Pie
Steamed green beans
My husband's favourite dish is anything with ground beef, and Shepherd's Pie is a childhood favourite. I could never really get behind it, because casseroles were rare in my childhood home. And the peas get so mushy! I did used to love "hamburger goop" which in our household was ground beef, onions, celery, mushrooms and cream of mushroom soup over pasta. Lazy Shepherd's Pie makes both my husband and me happy. It's easy, the peas are still a nice bright green, and it's like Hamburger Goop without the canned soup. A winner!
Friday
This is going to be a bit of a 'seat of my pants' day, but I'm thinking I'm going to pull out my little package of chicken hearts and do grilled chicken heart skewers, along with rice or noodles and stir-fried veggies. I'll give you the update on what I settle on. The kids go crazy for chicken hearts, though, so it should be a popular meal.
Monday
Panko crusted pike with lemon, Parmesan and dill (I had hoped this would turn out better, as I recently made Baked Cod with a Panko Crust, which was fantastic. I used buttermilk and egg instead of mayonnaise and Dijon, and tried to put all the seasoning into the breadcrumbs. It had less flavour, and the pike itself didn't take to the treatment, being a little to dry and a little too 'lake-tasting'. It all got eaten anyway...
Barley spinach pilaf from Mark Bittman's Food Matters (it uses a whole pound of spinach! It certainly fit into my New Year's resolution to put more vegetables on my family's plates)
Steamed carrots
Leftover Beet tartare
Tuesday
Here's where I start relying heavily on Canadian Living's Eat Right cookbook.
Herbed lambchops with Tuscan beans
This was quite good and easy to make. The lamb we have right now is absolutely amazing. However. I have made a very similar recipe that I enjoyed much more, which I thought was also from Canadian Living. But now I can't find it. It finished the dish with balsamic vinegar, which I found much lighter and cleaner than the pan sauce for the above recipe. I have more lambchops to cook, so I'll hunt down the recipe that I'm thinking of and share...
Wednesday
Whole wheat pasta with blue cheese sauce
Raw veggies
This pasta served the purpose of helping me use up blue cheese leftover from my catering adventures. D was super pumped to get spaghetti, and even though it was covered in pretty strong tasting blue cheese sauce, he had two bowls full. The walnuts on top were an added bonus for him. He's a nut nut.
Thursday
Lazy Shepherd's Pie
Steamed green beans
My husband's favourite dish is anything with ground beef, and Shepherd's Pie is a childhood favourite. I could never really get behind it, because casseroles were rare in my childhood home. And the peas get so mushy! I did used to love "hamburger goop" which in our household was ground beef, onions, celery, mushrooms and cream of mushroom soup over pasta. Lazy Shepherd's Pie makes both my husband and me happy. It's easy, the peas are still a nice bright green, and it's like Hamburger Goop without the canned soup. A winner!
Friday
This is going to be a bit of a 'seat of my pants' day, but I'm thinking I'm going to pull out my little package of chicken hearts and do grilled chicken heart skewers, along with rice or noodles and stir-fried veggies. I'll give you the update on what I settle on. The kids go crazy for chicken hearts, though, so it should be a popular meal.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Happy New Year!
We rang in the New Year in style, with eight parents and seven kids under the age of 5, and I counted myself lucky to have friends who love food and cooking as much as I do. I'm sorry to have posted this selection for New Years' noshing the day after, but I didn't know what my friends were bringing. I guess I did provide you with my menu a day in advance...
Besides all the food that I prepared, we also got to enjoy:
• Caesar salad devilled eggs (YUM!)
• French onion soup stuffed mushrooms (from www.pioneerwoman.com) (EXTRA YUM!)
• Crudites with Miso dip
• Roasted pepper and eggplant dip
• Assorted cheeses
• Hummous and pita
• Homemade chocolate cake (thanks to my hubbie!)
• Assorted Xmas baking and chocolates
• Butter tarts
We had one couple pull out at the last minute, and I think we would have had just about the right amount of food had they come. As it stood, there were a few left over finger foods, and far too much sweet stuff, in spite of the kids' best efforts to eat as much as they could. At the end of the evening, one little three-year-old said, "Mom, I'm still hungry." She said, "What would you like to eat?" He answered, "Hmm, I don't know. Something covered in chocolate?" He had himself a second slice of birthday cake.
Last night I had declared that I would take today "off" and not cook anything. We were planning to go to a New Years' Day open house and I had enough crackers, goat ricotta dip and beet tartare left over from the night before that even if I didn't cook anything else, I wouldn't show up empty handed.
But our plans were foiled by kids once again when Baby G woke up this morning, throwing up. We had an enforced day of rest, mostly sitting under Baby G while he slept. But that meant I had to think up something for dinner time.
I had some leftover empanada filling, and I had saved some whey from my cheese-making efforts because I hate to waste it, and I had read that you can use it in bread dough. So I made whole wheat buns, stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella. They were popular with everyone, including Baby G, who by 6:00 had rallied and ate several bites of a bun and sipped some of the goat's milk.
I am so very grateful for all my friends and family, for their love and generosity, and for the beautiful food they bring to my life. Some examples:
• Last night I found myself mentioning my mom again and again: I used her pastry dough in the butter tarts, she made the gingerbread men that the kids went crazy for, and my go-to birthday cake recipe is her Devil's food chocolate cake. We felt (and tasted) her presence very strongly last night.
• My mom's cousin very generously off-loaded dozens of litres of frozen goat's milk (and she says there is more where that came from), which all my boys drink (in fact, D refers to goat's milk as "boy milk" because only I drink cow's milk in our house. So that is "girl milk"), and which makes up a substantial portion of our grocery bills. The kids (and hubby) love it, and it tastes so fresh that I might even be convinced to start drinking it. It will also provide us cheese and possibly yogurt (more on that after tomorrow) for the next few months.
• My in-laws gifted me with Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal, a cookbook that I am madly in love with (and recently had to return it to the library), as well as a gift certificate to Souleio Foods. There are so many potential (and delicious) ways to spend it!
• Another good friend gifted me with Cook, Eat, Smile, a lovely seasonal cookbook
• "Santa" brought me a cast-iron frying pan, a cut glass beverage dispenser, a beautiful porcelain serving platter and bowl set, and a Le Creuset kettle.
• my neighbour brought us Cat's Claw bush honey from Arizona and some homemade rhubarb chutney.
• my freezer is full of beef, pork, and northern freshwater fish, gifted by my dad, as well as one and a half farm chickens from my mom's cousin and my mother in law.
• another good friend sold me gorgeous lamb for cost, and also brought another pint of honey from bees on her family's land.
• my birthday gift from my husband was a light garden, so I can start growing herbs and microgreens indoors during the cold months! I was so delighted to get dirt under my fingernails, even in winter, when I filled the pots with soil today!
My cup floweth over. And I am thankful.
Besides all the food that I prepared, we also got to enjoy:
• Caesar salad devilled eggs (YUM!)
• French onion soup stuffed mushrooms (from www.pioneerwoman.com) (EXTRA YUM!)
• Crudites with Miso dip
• Roasted pepper and eggplant dip
• Assorted cheeses
• Hummous and pita
• Homemade chocolate cake (thanks to my hubbie!)
• Assorted Xmas baking and chocolates
• Butter tarts
We had one couple pull out at the last minute, and I think we would have had just about the right amount of food had they come. As it stood, there were a few left over finger foods, and far too much sweet stuff, in spite of the kids' best efforts to eat as much as they could. At the end of the evening, one little three-year-old said, "Mom, I'm still hungry." She said, "What would you like to eat?" He answered, "Hmm, I don't know. Something covered in chocolate?" He had himself a second slice of birthday cake.
Last night I had declared that I would take today "off" and not cook anything. We were planning to go to a New Years' Day open house and I had enough crackers, goat ricotta dip and beet tartare left over from the night before that even if I didn't cook anything else, I wouldn't show up empty handed.
But our plans were foiled by kids once again when Baby G woke up this morning, throwing up. We had an enforced day of rest, mostly sitting under Baby G while he slept. But that meant I had to think up something for dinner time.
I had some leftover empanada filling, and I had saved some whey from my cheese-making efforts because I hate to waste it, and I had read that you can use it in bread dough. So I made whole wheat buns, stuffed with ricotta and mozzarella. They were popular with everyone, including Baby G, who by 6:00 had rallied and ate several bites of a bun and sipped some of the goat's milk.
I am so very grateful for all my friends and family, for their love and generosity, and for the beautiful food they bring to my life. Some examples:
• Last night I found myself mentioning my mom again and again: I used her pastry dough in the butter tarts, she made the gingerbread men that the kids went crazy for, and my go-to birthday cake recipe is her Devil's food chocolate cake. We felt (and tasted) her presence very strongly last night.
• My mom's cousin very generously off-loaded dozens of litres of frozen goat's milk (and she says there is more where that came from), which all my boys drink (in fact, D refers to goat's milk as "boy milk" because only I drink cow's milk in our house. So that is "girl milk"), and which makes up a substantial portion of our grocery bills. The kids (and hubby) love it, and it tastes so fresh that I might even be convinced to start drinking it. It will also provide us cheese and possibly yogurt (more on that after tomorrow) for the next few months.
• My in-laws gifted me with Odd Bits: How to Cook the Rest of the Animal, a cookbook that I am madly in love with (and recently had to return it to the library), as well as a gift certificate to Souleio Foods. There are so many potential (and delicious) ways to spend it!
• Another good friend gifted me with Cook, Eat, Smile, a lovely seasonal cookbook
• "Santa" brought me a cast-iron frying pan, a cut glass beverage dispenser, a beautiful porcelain serving platter and bowl set, and a Le Creuset kettle.
• my neighbour brought us Cat's Claw bush honey from Arizona and some homemade rhubarb chutney.
• my freezer is full of beef, pork, and northern freshwater fish, gifted by my dad, as well as one and a half farm chickens from my mom's cousin and my mother in law.
• another good friend sold me gorgeous lamb for cost, and also brought another pint of honey from bees on her family's land.
• my birthday gift from my husband was a light garden, so I can start growing herbs and microgreens indoors during the cold months! I was so delighted to get dirt under my fingernails, even in winter, when I filled the pots with soil today!
My cup floweth over. And I am thankful.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
New Years Preparation
We have two (possibly three) busy days ahead of us, first, my husband's delayed family Christmas is tomorrow. We will be spending the day at his brother's place, opening gifts, eating (more) turkey and drinking wine. I don't have to bring anything, but I will be bringing wine, chocolates, cookies and butter tarts (my mom sent me home with some wonderful things after Christmas, including a container of her most excellent pie crust, ready to be rolled and turned into a pie. I made some of it into tourtiere, which we've been eating for the last two days, and the rest of it has become butter tarts). Speaking of tourtiere, it may have something to do with my kids' French heritage, but I have to say they go crazy for meat pies.
I will be posting soon on the amazing array of food and ingredients that I have been gifted in the past while, but in the meantime I will say briefly that the other thing that I might be bringing to the party tomorrow is fresh, homemade goat cheese, because I became the bemused owner of 68L (give or take) of frozen goat's milk over the holiday.
Following Second Christmas is New Year's Eve, which also happens to be my birthday. We have started a tradition among our friends, and named it "Breeders' New Year": we invite all of our friends who have young children (and they invite some of their friends too) to come over, bring the kids, some food and wine, and have a chaotic but enjoyable New Year's Eve party which usually wraps up around 9PM.
I am blessed with several foodie friends, who will be bringing wonderful things to grace our table. For my own contribution I have settled on:
Ricotta and spinach empanadas (using the remainder of the empanada pastry in my freezer, and the freshly made goat cheese, which is very similar to ricotta)
Pork sausage with bacon and figs (from Pine View Farms), served with a fig and red wine dipping/spooning sauce (this recipe will be adapted from this recipe for spiced chorizo and figs, which we have made and enjoyed many times)
Beet Tartare from Mark Bittman's Food Matters
Marie's Rosemary Nut Crackers from Whitewater Cooks at Home
Blue Cheese and Pear Crostini
I also just bottled some apple brandy and creme de cassis, and I will be offering up my fruit brandies alongside sparkling wine for some delicious locally flavoured kir royales. (Kirs and kir royales are my favourite festive drink: just grab your favourite sparkling wine, fill up a champagne flute and finish with a tiny splash of cassis, cherry brandy, pomegranate juice, or whatever suits your fancy.)
And for any of you who need more ideas for a simple foodie New Year, a good friend sent me this link to an L.A. Times article. Some good stuff here!
I will be posting soon on the amazing array of food and ingredients that I have been gifted in the past while, but in the meantime I will say briefly that the other thing that I might be bringing to the party tomorrow is fresh, homemade goat cheese, because I became the bemused owner of 68L (give or take) of frozen goat's milk over the holiday.
Following Second Christmas is New Year's Eve, which also happens to be my birthday. We have started a tradition among our friends, and named it "Breeders' New Year": we invite all of our friends who have young children (and they invite some of their friends too) to come over, bring the kids, some food and wine, and have a chaotic but enjoyable New Year's Eve party which usually wraps up around 9PM.
I am blessed with several foodie friends, who will be bringing wonderful things to grace our table. For my own contribution I have settled on:
Ricotta and spinach empanadas (using the remainder of the empanada pastry in my freezer, and the freshly made goat cheese, which is very similar to ricotta)
Pork sausage with bacon and figs (from Pine View Farms), served with a fig and red wine dipping/spooning sauce (this recipe will be adapted from this recipe for spiced chorizo and figs, which we have made and enjoyed many times)
Beet Tartare from Mark Bittman's Food Matters
Marie's Rosemary Nut Crackers from Whitewater Cooks at Home
Blue Cheese and Pear Crostini
I also just bottled some apple brandy and creme de cassis, and I will be offering up my fruit brandies alongside sparkling wine for some delicious locally flavoured kir royales. (Kirs and kir royales are my favourite festive drink: just grab your favourite sparkling wine, fill up a champagne flute and finish with a tiny splash of cassis, cherry brandy, pomegranate juice, or whatever suits your fancy.)
And for any of you who need more ideas for a simple foodie New Year, a good friend sent me this link to an L.A. Times article. Some good stuff here!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Catering Post-Mortem
Last weekend, I catered a Christmas party and wine tasting with Doug Reichel Wine Marketing. It was the first time I had catered for people who didn't know me at all. I discovered a few things during this adventure, some related to cooking, and others relating to me.
Apparently (who knew?) there's a lot of ego attached to my cooking. I claim to love cooking for itself alone, and that people enjoying the food that I make is just an added bonus. This is mostly true, but I found myself faced with clients who didn't know what I was capable of, and having to prove myself, which made me a little grumpy. If I were more of a drama queen, I may have shrieked, "Don't you know who I am?!"
But really, who am I to these people? I'm someone they've hired to perform a service, and a fairly lowly service at that. The wine was the focus; the food was a sideline. Once I wrestled with all of this for a few days, I got over myself and decided to treat the whole thing as a learning experience, and a chance to have a good time with Doug, whose wine I love, and whose company I enjoy.
From a catering perspective, I learned the importance of clear communication of expectations. I had to make some items ahead of time, and needed final numbers early. I didn't quite communicate this as clearly as required, and my client went out of town, then replied, FOUR DAYS before the event, that she was expecting 37 people instead of 50. I had said I would charge her per person, but a 25% reduction in numbers, on such short notice, would have eaten into my profits considerably, since I had already made the most labour-intensive items, and had purchased most of the groceries. She was reasonable about it, though, and so we both ended our experience satisfied, she with the product and what she was charged, and me with a reasonable profit (as long as I don't count the hours of list-making, planning, and lying awake trying to think of everything that might possibly go wrong).
The event went over well, and I also learned an important lesson in the midst of it: the art of letting go and not fretting over results that don't meet my high standards. My Bearnaise sauce didn't thicken, because I was paranoid of curdling it. The oven didn't run as hot as mine, so my pastries didn't brown as I would have liked. Those two dishes were the ones that got me the highest praise from the party goers. They could have been better. But I was the only person who knew that.
Here's the menu, for those who are curious, with links to the wines and recipes that I used:
• Destinéa Sauvignon Blanc with Citrus-marinated Seafood Salad (sans black olives)
• Mount Difficulty Chardonnay with Mini Prosciutto-wrapped Chicken Skewers and Béarnaise Sauce (used the recipe for the sauce from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)
• Melipal Malbec and Traditional Argentinian Empanadas (with this pastry and this filling)
• Diesel Pinotage with Artisan Breads (from Christie's bakery), dipped in olive oil and Rozendal vinegar, served with vintage gouda and South African dryworst and biltong (traditional South African sausage and jerky)
• Torreon de Paredes Reserve Late Harvest dessert wine with blue cheese shortbread topped with fig spread and Late Harvest wine poached pears
My days feel empty, now that I don't have to think about the planning of this event anymore. And that is a relief. Now on to wrapping up Christmas baking (one more item on my scaled-down list!) and then wrapping up Christmas baking (as gifts)!
Apparently (who knew?) there's a lot of ego attached to my cooking. I claim to love cooking for itself alone, and that people enjoying the food that I make is just an added bonus. This is mostly true, but I found myself faced with clients who didn't know what I was capable of, and having to prove myself, which made me a little grumpy. If I were more of a drama queen, I may have shrieked, "Don't you know who I am?!"
But really, who am I to these people? I'm someone they've hired to perform a service, and a fairly lowly service at that. The wine was the focus; the food was a sideline. Once I wrestled with all of this for a few days, I got over myself and decided to treat the whole thing as a learning experience, and a chance to have a good time with Doug, whose wine I love, and whose company I enjoy.
From a catering perspective, I learned the importance of clear communication of expectations. I had to make some items ahead of time, and needed final numbers early. I didn't quite communicate this as clearly as required, and my client went out of town, then replied, FOUR DAYS before the event, that she was expecting 37 people instead of 50. I had said I would charge her per person, but a 25% reduction in numbers, on such short notice, would have eaten into my profits considerably, since I had already made the most labour-intensive items, and had purchased most of the groceries. She was reasonable about it, though, and so we both ended our experience satisfied, she with the product and what she was charged, and me with a reasonable profit (as long as I don't count the hours of list-making, planning, and lying awake trying to think of everything that might possibly go wrong).
The event went over well, and I also learned an important lesson in the midst of it: the art of letting go and not fretting over results that don't meet my high standards. My Bearnaise sauce didn't thicken, because I was paranoid of curdling it. The oven didn't run as hot as mine, so my pastries didn't brown as I would have liked. Those two dishes were the ones that got me the highest praise from the party goers. They could have been better. But I was the only person who knew that.
Here's the menu, for those who are curious, with links to the wines and recipes that I used:
• Destinéa Sauvignon Blanc with Citrus-marinated Seafood Salad (sans black olives)
• Mount Difficulty Chardonnay with Mini Prosciutto-wrapped Chicken Skewers and Béarnaise Sauce (used the recipe for the sauce from Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food)
• Melipal Malbec and Traditional Argentinian Empanadas (with this pastry and this filling)
• Diesel Pinotage with Artisan Breads (from Christie's bakery), dipped in olive oil and Rozendal vinegar, served with vintage gouda and South African dryworst and biltong (traditional South African sausage and jerky)
• Torreon de Paredes Reserve Late Harvest dessert wine with blue cheese shortbread topped with fig spread and Late Harvest wine poached pears
My days feel empty, now that I don't have to think about the planning of this event anymore. And that is a relief. Now on to wrapping up Christmas baking (one more item on my scaled-down list!) and then wrapping up Christmas baking (as gifts)!
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