ACK! I just double checked the invitation to a Christmas party tonight, to discover that it is potluck! These are important things to pay attention to when it comes to limited time availability. Ah well, I had pulled that butter out to soften once again in an effort to kick start my stalled Christmas baking, but before I get to the peppernut cookie dough, I guess I'll be making something for the potluck.
I decided quite quickly on a simple, comforting and festive dessert, a la Canadian Living: pear gingerbread pudding. Gotta love those websites with all the recipes!! I've been wanting to make it for dessert for one of our own meals, and I have all the ingredients (and the pears are getting tired of waiting for me to get around to making it), so it seems like the right choice.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Cold Season + Christmas Season
I have now officially softened the same pound of butter three times, in an effort to prepare for baking that I just don't have the energy to do. I was the last of my family to catch the nasty cold that's been going around. Top that with two busy work weeks full of meetings and deadlines, and I haven't had much time/energy to write. I can say I've been leaning heavily on Mark Bittman's Food Matters cookbook, having made pasta with asparagus, bacon and eggs, mushroom stew with beef chunks and roasted butternut squash chowder in the past few days. All excellent. I have reconfirmed celery root as one of my favourite vegetables, finding some after a lengthy search at the Co-op Marketplace. Christmas baking was supposed to get a boost this week with help from some friends, but since we're all sick, we've rescheduled for next week (Thursday). More on that soon!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Curry No-go
Well, I really enjoyed the curried coconut rice that we had for supper last night, but I'm afraid curry is still food non grata with two year-old D. At least he's old enough now to try it and say, "No, it's too spicy. I want some water," instead of just spitting it out.
The vegetarian chef's salad that we had tonight, on the other hand, was more popular. He's going through a protein phase these days, so he was all over the chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs. Avocado is always a hit, as well. I think I'd rather have a veggie chef's salad than the original recipe, since I've never understood the logic behind piling a bunch of cold cuts on lettuce, drenching it with mayonnaise, and calling it salad.
The vegetarian chef's salad that we had tonight, on the other hand, was more popular. He's going through a protein phase these days, so he was all over the chickpeas and hard-boiled eggs. Avocado is always a hit, as well. I think I'd rather have a veggie chef's salad than the original recipe, since I've never understood the logic behind piling a bunch of cold cuts on lettuce, drenching it with mayonnaise, and calling it salad.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Joys of a Hot Breakfast
This morning, I've been enjoying the sensation of well-being that comes from having a belly full of hot food and delicious coffee first thing in the morning. I had a left-over container full of lemon-caper potatoes from last Friday's supper, as well as some bean sprouts that weren't going to last very long, so I decided to make a 'clean out the fridge' frittata for breakfast this morning. D was excited at the prospect, but it turned out he liked the idea of eggs for breakfast more than he liked the act of eating them. He's usually got a huge appetite, but he's been struggling with a virus that has knocked out his will to eat. I thought maybe eggs for breakfast would tempt him, but not so much. Oh well, all I can do is offer, and rest easy in the fact that he's got some weight to burn.
Clean Out the Fridge Frittata
Preheat oven to 375F
In a medium bowl, mix 8 eggs with a splash of milk. Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as any herbs you'd like for flavouring.
Chop some onions or garlic (I opted for 1/4 c. green onions)
Add 1 or 2 T. of oil or butter to a 10" oven-safe fry pan and heat to medium.
Add onions or garlic and leftover potatoes (roasted or boiled, either will work—2 cups or so) until potatoes are hot and onion or garlic is cooked
Add 1 c. vegetable that needs using (I had bean sprouts, which don't need any extra cooking. If you use other veggies, just add them with the onions and potatoes)
Top with 1/2 c. grated cheese of your choice (I had old white cheddar on hand)
Pour egg mixture over the vegetables. Make sure that the eggs cover the veggies. If they don't, quickly scramble another one and add to the pan.
Leave on the stovetop until the eggs start to bubble in a few places. Then move pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the top is browned.
Cut into pie slices and serve--then enjoy the sensation of a warm, full belly on a cold morning.
Clean Out the Fridge Frittata
Preheat oven to 375F
In a medium bowl, mix 8 eggs with a splash of milk. Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as any herbs you'd like for flavouring.
Chop some onions or garlic (I opted for 1/4 c. green onions)
Add 1 or 2 T. of oil or butter to a 10" oven-safe fry pan and heat to medium.
Add onions or garlic and leftover potatoes (roasted or boiled, either will work—2 cups or so) until potatoes are hot and onion or garlic is cooked
Add 1 c. vegetable that needs using (I had bean sprouts, which don't need any extra cooking. If you use other veggies, just add them with the onions and potatoes)
Top with 1/2 c. grated cheese of your choice (I had old white cheddar on hand)
Pour egg mixture over the vegetables. Make sure that the eggs cover the veggies. If they don't, quickly scramble another one and add to the pan.
Leave on the stovetop until the eggs start to bubble in a few places. Then move pan to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the top is browned.
Cut into pie slices and serve--then enjoy the sensation of a warm, full belly on a cold morning.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Weekly Meal Plan #1
This week I've got a few items that need using up, namely a half-used can of coconut milk from our weekend dessert of black sticky rice pudding, and some fresh snowpeas, thanks to a lack of communication between my husband and me--I picked up snowpeas for a kid snack on one trip to the grocery store; my husband did the same thing two days later.
Usually I start my week with a Sunday night dinner that guarantees leftovers. That was thwarted this week by a Grey Cup party. The leftover chili was barely enough to cover lunch, so Monday turned into the big dinner with leftovers as a goal (my other goals being to include servings of beans, vegetarian food and fish to supplement my freezer full of meat. Ironically, meat is often our cheapest option for dinner, because it comes from family who raise it themselves):
Monday
Roast chicken (from a local Hutterite farm)
Rosemary roasted potatoes (rosemary sprigs grown in my herb garden and frozen for use over the winter)
Organic frozen green peas
Salad with homemade dressing
Tuesday
Leftover chicken with baked curried rice with apples and coconut (from Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook...not sure how curry will do with the two-year-old palate...I'll get back to you on that)
Steamed cauliflower
Wednesday
Vegetarian chef's salad (from Canadian Living's Eat Right 2009 Cookbook, no longer available, but luckily the recipe is still on line)
+ play group at 6PM, if we can pull it off...
Thursday
Beef and snowpeas with pan-fried noodles, a la epicurious.com
Friday
Tuna and sweet potato casserole (from Barbara-jo McIntosh's Tin Fish Gourmet)
Salad
Usually I start my week with a Sunday night dinner that guarantees leftovers. That was thwarted this week by a Grey Cup party. The leftover chili was barely enough to cover lunch, so Monday turned into the big dinner with leftovers as a goal (my other goals being to include servings of beans, vegetarian food and fish to supplement my freezer full of meat. Ironically, meat is often our cheapest option for dinner, because it comes from family who raise it themselves):
Monday
Roast chicken (from a local Hutterite farm)
Rosemary roasted potatoes (rosemary sprigs grown in my herb garden and frozen for use over the winter)
Organic frozen green peas
Salad with homemade dressing
Tuesday
Leftover chicken with baked curried rice with apples and coconut (from Mark Bittman's Food Matters Cookbook...not sure how curry will do with the two-year-old palate...I'll get back to you on that)
Steamed cauliflower
Wednesday
Vegetarian chef's salad (from Canadian Living's Eat Right 2009 Cookbook, no longer available, but luckily the recipe is still on line)
+ play group at 6PM, if we can pull it off...
Thursday
Beef and snowpeas with pan-fried noodles, a la epicurious.com
Friday
Tuna and sweet potato casserole (from Barbara-jo McIntosh's Tin Fish Gourmet)
Salad
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Christmas Baking Edit
Following my sister's stay at my house this weekend, I discovered some additions to the Christmas Baking list in my food planner. Underneath my own list of recipes and notes on the number of days I'll need to complete them, she wrote:
Teddybear cookies (7 days)
Gingerbread house (1/2 day)
Candy canes--must find recipe, maybe elves can help?
More spiced truffles (2 days)
Ha ha, little sister.
Her mention of teddybear cookies triggers a sore spot in my Christmas baking experience. Years ago I discovered a recipe for the cutest little white/chocolate sugar teddy bears. You divide sugar dough in two, add chocolate to one half, and then begin rolling 1 inch balls for bodies, 1/2 inch balls for heads, 1/4 inch balls for arms and legs, 1/8 inch balls for ears, 1/16 inch balls for buttons, eyes and mouths...you get the idea, and then putting them together in alternating colours. White bodies get chocolate heads and chocolate legs, white heads get chocolate ears and faces, and so on. The process is absolutely maddening. But the final results are so cute and delicious that my family would insist that I make them every year. As the years passed, my tolerance for them got lower and lower, until I was cursing those poor little bears before I creamed the butter.
Then came the year that I swore off them completely. My brother and sister begged me to not give up, and promised that they would help. So I made a double batch, only to have my helpers get bored half-way through and wander off. That left me with twice the amount of dough to work through, and twice the time to develop new and creative curses for those GD bears. That was the last year I made them. It obviously doesn't stop my family from requesting them--and maybe five years from now I'll have forgotten how annoying they are--at least enough to consider making them again. I can guarantee it won't be this year.
Teddybear cookies (7 days)
Gingerbread house (1/2 day)
Candy canes--must find recipe, maybe elves can help?
More spiced truffles (2 days)
Ha ha, little sister.
Her mention of teddybear cookies triggers a sore spot in my Christmas baking experience. Years ago I discovered a recipe for the cutest little white/chocolate sugar teddy bears. You divide sugar dough in two, add chocolate to one half, and then begin rolling 1 inch balls for bodies, 1/2 inch balls for heads, 1/4 inch balls for arms and legs, 1/8 inch balls for ears, 1/16 inch balls for buttons, eyes and mouths...you get the idea, and then putting them together in alternating colours. White bodies get chocolate heads and chocolate legs, white heads get chocolate ears and faces, and so on. The process is absolutely maddening. But the final results are so cute and delicious that my family would insist that I make them every year. As the years passed, my tolerance for them got lower and lower, until I was cursing those poor little bears before I creamed the butter.
Then came the year that I swore off them completely. My brother and sister begged me to not give up, and promised that they would help. So I made a double batch, only to have my helpers get bored half-way through and wander off. That left me with twice the amount of dough to work through, and twice the time to develop new and creative curses for those GD bears. That was the last year I made them. It obviously doesn't stop my family from requesting them--and maybe five years from now I'll have forgotten how annoying they are--at least enough to consider making them again. I can guarantee it won't be this year.
Guilty Pleasures
As promised, as soon as my date squares disappeared, I moved on to the raspberry coconut squares. These little treats fall down in the realm of healthy foods, since they are true confections, packed with white sugar and white flour.
While I will enjoy every bite of the squares (my motto is 'moderation is key'), I usually try to cook and bake things that have at least some nutritive value, using whole grains, unrefined sugar or fruit whenever possible. I have a King Arthur Flour cookbook, titled Whole Grain Baking which helps me in that quest. Those recipes aren't entirely perfect either, as I find they tend to use more sugar than I prefer. (I'm not a low-sugar fanatic. I just like cookies without that melted sugar crisp edge that they get when they have too much sugar compared to other ingredients). But at least using whole grain recipes makes me feel better about feeding it to my family.
While I will enjoy every bite of the squares (my motto is 'moderation is key'), I usually try to cook and bake things that have at least some nutritive value, using whole grains, unrefined sugar or fruit whenever possible. I have a King Arthur Flour cookbook, titled Whole Grain Baking which helps me in that quest. Those recipes aren't entirely perfect either, as I find they tend to use more sugar than I prefer. (I'm not a low-sugar fanatic. I just like cookies without that melted sugar crisp edge that they get when they have too much sugar compared to other ingredients). But at least using whole grain recipes makes me feel better about feeding it to my family.
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