Berry Good Stuff.

I broke out the food dehydrator today. There was a good price on strawberries at Avery's farm market, we got 6 quarts and it was about $15. I made 10 jars of jam. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I think it is ok. Luckily, unlike pickles, I won't be waiting weeks and weeks for it to be ready. I can eat toast tomorrow with my very own jam on it! I have a couple cups of mashed berries left over, which I am going to freeze in ice cube trays for use in smoothies etc. I set aside a good size bowl of fresh berries for use with cream. Yummmmmmm..... And all the rest has gone into the dehydrator.

I just got the dehydrator for Christmas, and I haven't used it yet. I was really waiting for this time of year, when all the best stuff goes on sale. My plans for the summer involve dried strawberries and blueberries, dried cherries (maybe, if I can avoid eating them all first) Maybe blueberry syrup, and hopefully some raspberry jam as well. The raspberries and blueberries should be free, providing I can put in the effort to haul myself out to the bush and pick them. Not fun work, but worth it in the end. It is at this time of the year (July - October) I appreciate living in the Maritimes the most. The one thing I really miss from back home this time of the year is the BC Peaches. OMG. There is nothing else like them on earth.

***

I would also like to mention, I am aware I missed my post for Monday, with the cook book. I havent forgotten. I am going to do two next Monday to make up for it. But seriously. Does anybody even read this? Look at the stat counter on the side. Like 250 people since I started. And I just found out it has been counting me too. Lame. So really, I am not letting anybody down with my slackernly behaviour. (Like how I just made up a word there? Cool, eh!)

Having someone else scrape off your hubby's tread marks... Priceless!

The Cheapest Luxury on Earth

THAT'S what you will say, too, once you try the swift service and dependable work of this up-to-the minute laundry. No luxury of life could be so great and cost so little. As a matter of fact you will really save money in the end. You will not only have more time to yourself, more happiness with your family, but you will look better.

Will You Let

Us Call This

Week

UNGAR'S

Laundry and Dye Works

FOUR-FORTY-FOUR * FOUR-TWO-EIGHT

Barrington St * Sackville

HALIFAX, N.S.

Have a look here and scroll down to 1921.

I can't figure out what they mean by the address. Do they mean the corner of Barrington and Sackville? Or were there two locations? Either way, these addresses don't exist. Barrington Street starts at 950. Which I can't even find on Google Maps. And I can't really find any history on when the street addresses may have been changed. I know I could go downtown to the library or public archives and research all this but in all honesty, I have a three year old. We need to be realistic here. At some point I may make it down there but as of yet, it isn't quite babysitter worthy. So sorry folks, thats all I have on this one.

It's Jelly Time. (Sorry no peanut butter)

I tried folks, I really really did. But I couldn't find any information on this at all. I Googled everything you see here. I tried the brand, the company, the product, I even typed in the ad word for word. I tried jelly powder, flavorings, etc. This one has beat me. And I am only on the inside of the cover!

So if anybody has any info on Pure Gold Jelly Powder or Flavoring from the Pure Gold Man'f'g Co., please let me know!

Chicken Satay, Potatoes, and Cold Soup

I always wanted to try chicken Satay. I worked at a restaraunt once that had it on the menu, and it looked really really good. But it was like $9 and I didn't get a staff discount on it so it didn't seem worth it for like three measly little bits of chicken on a stick. So I never tried it. Maybe I should have because then I would know what it is supposed to taste like.

I got the recipe from here. The only ingredient I changed was I added some frozen cilantro. I didn't follow the amounts closely. I barbecued the chicken and it was pretty good but I didn't like it with too much sauce. I may have used too much peanut butter. It would have been better thinner. Ian gobbled the sauce like it was going out of style. Weird.

I also got some really good baby Yukon Gold potatoes which I steamed for a bit before sticking them on the bbq in a foil pan with some butter, salt, pepper, and fresh thyme. Best. Potatoes. Ever.

Finally, I made Gazpacho which is absolutely the best on a really hot day. My own recipe which is as follows:

One can diced tomatoes
1 clove garlic, chopped fine
fresh thyme, basil, parsley and oregano. (Dried is fine. Don't make a fuss, it is too hot out. Also, you don't need all of them, just whatever you have. I didn't have any parsley today. Also, my basil was frozen.)
About 1/3 -1/2 of an English cucumber, in cubes
About 1/2 of a pepper (orange is yummy) in bite size pieces
Salt
Pepper
A glub of olive oil
A glub of Balsamic vinegar
A glub is about 1-2 tbsps. Don't worry about being precise here.
Maybe about half a cup or so of V8 or tomato juice, just to make it soupier. Not really necessary, I wouldn't go buy it just for this but if you have it, it's nice.

Just mix it all in a bowl and then put it in the fridge for an hour or two. If you want to get all fancy you could put sour cream on it and some chopped parsley or whatever. Or don't. Anyway, it is like liquid salad and very healthy. Also, as I said before, it tastes phenominal when it is very hot out.

Enjoy!

Yarmouth Line

YARMOUTH LINE

DIRECT SERVICE BE-

TWEEN YARMOUTH

AND BOSTON

The Land of Evangeline Route

STEEL STEAMSHIPS

PRINCE GEORGE and

PRINCE ARTHUR

The Shortest and Quickest Route

between points in Nova Scotia, New

Brunswick, Cape Breton, Prince

Edward Island, Newfoundland and

BOSTON

Running time between Yarmouth

and Boston about 17 hours

THE YARMOUTH LINE provides

most satisfactory service throughout the

entire year, its schedules being arranged

to answer the demands of travel at all

seasons

For staterooms and other information

apply to J.E. KINNEY, Supt.

Yarmouth N.S.

Boston & Yarmouth Steamship Co. Ltd.

And thus is the first ad in our tour of 1920's Halifax. Honestly, most of these ads are text only and I am too lazy to take pictures so unless it really makes the ad, I don't think I am going to bother. I will try to more or less stick to the text formatting. To some extent.

Boston & Yarmouth Steamship Co. was a subsidiary of Eastern Steamship Lines. That company was later part of Admiral Cruise Line and then later was taken over by Royal Carribean. So in essence, this company sorta still exists. You can see one of B&Y's pamphlets here. This one is from 1919. You can see a current picture here of the Boston Yarmouth building. Scroll to the bottom.

These days, you can't take a ship to or from Boston from anywhere in Nova Scotia. But you can fly from Boston to Halifax in about an hour and a half, and then if you really wanted to go to Yarmouth it is about a three hour drive. So you could round up and give yourself about 5 hours. Not too shabby.

As far as Mr. Kinney goes, (the guy you have to see about the tickets) I did Google that guy as well. It seems he gave a speech!

In the days of the sailing ships / J.E. Kinney. An address given at a mariners'
night entertainment, Zion Baptist Church School Room, Yarmouth, N.S., May
20,
1930. 22 x 28 cm., folded to 22 x 14 cm

I got this info from: http://www.westerncounties.ca/banks/misc.htm and it would appear to be a description of a pamphlet. Of course, we can't know for sure if it is the same dude, but hey. Same name. In Yarmouth. Giving a speech on ships. 10 years later. I would say it is a pretty safe bet.

It also seems likely the guy wrote a book:

J E KINNEY {CA} (?: ? - ?) The Port Of Yarmouth [Canada] And Its Development
[n1931]

But I can't really find out anything about that. And I am not going to Yarmouth to find out. Although I am now insanely curious.

Real cookery going on here, eh? Stay tuned next week when we discuss...insurance! Woo Hoo!

New Feature

I am so excited to announce a new feature here at Chop til you Drop. I was down in Value Village today and I got this great cookbook called The Modern Cook Book for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. As you can imagine, it is not particularly modern. Here is a link to the closest think I could find: http://www.resourcebooks.net/si/014066.html

That book looks exactly the same as mine, other than mine does not have New Brunswick on the cover. It is blank in that spot. So I guess I got the Nova Scotia version. The other difference is that mine has 151 pages. As near as I can gather, the book is probably from the same year, 1920, although there is not a year to be found in the entire book. I have only surmised that based on some of the ads in the book.

The book was "published in co-operation with the various Women's Organizations in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island". The list of "Women's Organizations Interested" includes the Red Cross, I.O.D.E, various hospitals throughout the two provinces, and the Ladies' Auxiliary of the GWVA (which although we all know still exists, is really hard to find a single website for. In case you are wondering, GWVA stands for Great War Veterans Association, which is what the Legion was before it became the Legion. There is a good story here.)

With regards to the advertisements, I will quote the introduction from page seven:

"The Publishers of the Modern Cook Book for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island
cannot help but feel highly gratified with the reception which the idea of this
work has met, both from the women's organizations interested in the sale and on
the part of the thrifty housewife who appears to welcome the opportunity of an
exchange of tried and tested recipes with neighbors in her own town and with
women in other parts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. We believe the
recipes found within the coves of this book will be found practical and
economical and are guaranteed to be the best of their kind."

and from page 9:

A WORD AS TO OUR ADVERTISERS

When the idea of a Modern Cook Book to be issued in aid of the various
hospitals and women's organizations throughout Nova Scotia and Prince Edward
Island was proposed it seemed a hopeless task to meet all expenses in connection
with the preparation and printing of the book, and also to leave any substantial
amount for the use of the various philanthropic causes to which this work is
dedicated. Through willing co-operation of practically all Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island firs of importance, however, it has been found possible to
defray the printing cost through advertising, and a very gret debt is due all
taking space in this book. We ask all of those using the book that they study
the advertisements believing that thye will find suggestions of value in the
advertising pages as well as those devoted to the recipes.

Believe, me. I will be studying the advertisements.

So basically my plan is to do a regular feature here, The Modern Cookbook Mondays. I chose Monday because I like alliteration. What I plan on doing is to have a look at the ads in the book, several of which are for Knox Gelatine. I will provide witty commentary and have a look into the companies to see if they still exist. I will also attempt to recreate some of the recipes, and if possible look into the ladies who provided them. I am hoping to go cover to cover on this. I don't have a scanner, so I will try to take pictures with my camera that don't suck, and post them along with the feature. But I can't guarantee any quality.

I will also try to keep up with my (admittedly scarce) normal posting. I am not going to try and post more or anything, since I mostly keep this for myself as a kind of online cook book. But maybe this will make it worth looking at for other people.

So why am I doing this? Well, I think because I really like to feel a connection with Women who have gone before. Women who knit socks, not because they wanted to, but because they had to. Women with hard hands from scrubbing laundry. Women who had ten kids, six of whom did not make it to age five. The women for whom this book was written were living in quite the age, they lived in a time populated both by horses and by cars, by hand-delivered letters and telephones, they could make their own soap or buy their own bread, they bought goods from the farmer and brand name items from all over the world. They had electricity. But they didn't depend on it. They had just lived through a war that made what we go through when we send our boys overseas seem very pale in comparison. They could finally vote, (and show their ankles in public). These were are grandmothers and great grandmothers, who really did the work. I feel in touch with these ladies every time I knead bread or knit socks. I look at how these women did things and feel grateful for so many things we take for granted these days and can't live without. Not just the fancy stuff like computers, cell phones, and microwaves. But also the basic "essentials". A heated house. Reliable electricity. A stove that doesn't burn wood to bake with. A washer and dryer. Birth control.

I know some of these recipes and ads are going to be wierd and ridiculous in this day and age, but I think the contrast might help bring into focus how lucky we are to live in the 2000's, and not the 20's.

While we are on the subject of Lemons...

I made lemonade for Ian's birthday party. It is super good. I wanted to share. I know I am not big on the amounts for stuff so I have to apologize for that, but I really think all .06518 people who read this per month should try it out.

Step One: Go to the store and buy some lemons. You need at least 6.
Step Two: Wash your lemons with soap. They come from a foreign country and who knows what has been sprayed on it.
Step Three: Grate the rind of one or two of the lemons into a jug. Or use a lemon zester. Whatever.
Step Four: Juice those lemons! I have a really cheap plastic citrus juicer that I love, but you can use your fancy electric model, or just a fork works good. Try not to get any seeds in. But that is nigh impossible.
Step Five: Add about half the amount of sugar as you have in lemon juice. You usually need more, but it is easier to add more sugar than to take some out.
Here is the part where I begin Taste Testing for Quality Control:
Step Six: Add water. Start with about twice as much water as you have in lemon juice/sugar. Then stir it up good and have a small taste. Too tart? Add more sugar. Too strong? Add more water. Keep going until you have it slightly stronger than you want, and then chuck in some ice cubes. If you want to be all decorative, you can garnish with some thin slices of lemon.
Step Seven: Drink the delicious nectar of the Gods. (Vodka optional)

(There was no vodka in Ian's lemonade.)
(Nor mine. Alas)

A note about lemon pie

As some of you know, I have had a little bit of lemon pie drama over the last few days. To sum it up, I baked two lemon merengue pies for a potluck thing I went to and NOBODY ate any. To be fair, as I have mentioned previously, presentation is not my strong suit. And there was about 80 million tons of cookies there as well as two other lemon pies, which were clearly prettier. (although I had a piece, mine was yummier. Tarter and lemonier. Is that a word?)

Anyhoo, so I had almost two whole pies at home in the fridge. The next day, Monday, we went for dinner and I brought potato salad, and I thought I better bring the one whole pie as well. So I put it at the top of the stairs and went back to get my purse, and Ian had squashed the whole pie. It looked awful. So I left it at home.

I had a good run at it, but by today, there was still half a pie left, and the merengue was all melted and the whole thing was a runny mess, so I just chucked it.

Anyhoo, some of you have had this pie, and it is actually my most requested item. Sadly, I can't take credit for the sweet lemony perfection. I even tried to make one for Easter, but didn't have the recipe, and the pie I made was a sorry shadow of my usual ray of sunshine.

So I will hereby provide one and all with my deep dark secret: I got it from Company's Coming. Yep, Holiday Entertaining, page 57. Plus I use Tenderflake crust. (It's not that I CAN'T make my own pie crust, I just CHOOSE not to.) It is the most ridiculously easy recipe on the planet, it is easier and less time consuming than using a mix, and it always turns out. I barely even modify it; the only thing I do differently is I add some grated lemon zest. Oh and I always add some extra egg whites to the merengue. I love merengue. It only takes 3 lemons (about; it depends on their size and juicyness) and 3-5 eggs. and a pie crust. (obviously there are other ingredients, but I have them on hand all the time, and I don't have to run out and buy them specially) So it is a cheap dessert when I am low on cash but still want to make a good impression.

So there you have it folks. My deep dark secret!

Guacamole-mole-mole-mole

(sorry no pics)

So take one avocado, or better, two, because this stuff is going to go fast. You want one that has turned really dark green (almost black) and is soft to the touch. Cut it in half, around the pit, then take a knife, whack the pit, and give it a twist to pull it out. Scoop out avocado with a spoon into a bowl. Add the juice of half a lime, (or a whole lime if you used two avocados), and mash it with a fork. That will help keep the avocado from turning really brown and gross. Then you can chop up some cilantro and garlic and mix that in. Or get all lazy like me and put them together in your food processor. Just don't chop the cilantro ahead of time, I find it gets brown really fast too. You need about 1/2 cup cilantro per avocado, prior to chopping it, and one clove of garlic per avocado. Then dice up 1/2 tomato per avocado. Then add salt, pepper, and some cumin or chili powder (which is mostly made of cumin anyway.) If you like it hot, add some hot sauce or something. You want to mash this all together with a fork to the desired consistency. I like it kinda lumpy. Have a taste. If you think it needs more of something (salt, cumin, lime, garlic, whatever) just go ahead and add it. Guacamole shouldn't be bland. Cover it with plastic, pressing the plastic down over the guacamole, and then put a second piece of plastic over the top, because if there is any air, it could turn pretty brown. You should refrigerate this for about an hour before you eat it, it tastes better when the flavours have a chance to merge. Eat it with Mexican food, or just with chips. It is good the next day too, but I don't think it will keep much longer than that. Not that I know for sure... it always gets eaten before then. I am guaranteeing you that this will be a big hit at your next party.

In other food-ish news, I have planted my garden. Very optimistic of me, I know. Not only do I have a black thumb, but I don't actually have a garden in my yard. Last year I had some herbs in a window box, which were pretty successful, although I grew them from bedding plants, not from seeds. But this year I have great plans on building some kind of raised bed at the bottom of Mount Nelson (what I call my back "yard") Eventually, I would like to terrace the whole thing. But we'll see. In addition to my complete and utter lack of growing skills, I am also short on landscaping skills.

Mwahahaha!

How to make a chicken quiche in 8 friggen easy steps. By Leoal.

1. Chop up some leftover chicken, add some salt, pepper, and sage. Place in a Tenderflake pie crust. What? They're easy!2. Don't use breadcrumbs. They are silly. Crunch up some cracker crumbs, mix with salt, pepper, and sage, and sprinkle over the chicken.3. Open the fridge to discover you have this many eggs left:4. Pop down here:5. And pick up some reasonably priced eggs. Frig.6. Mix 1 1/4 cups of milk, 3 tbsp of flour, 2 eggs (yeah, I paid that price and I only needed one egg) and (you guessed it) salt, pepper, and sage. (I like to season every level of this meal). Whisk until you get some bubbles. 7. Pour egg mixture into the pie crust:
8. Realize you meant to put some veggies in, but that it was too late once you added the cracker crumbs. Frig. Bake at 350F for 40-50 minutes, until set the whole way through. Serve with veggies and dip, because you started knitting, lost track of time, and forgot to put any veggies on to cook.

(the hole is from when I poked it to see if it was done. Presentation is not my strong suit)

This quiche is great for leftover chicken or turkey, and it is a great make ahead meal, because you can just slip it out of the foil pan, put it in a pyrex pie plate (if you have one... I do, and that is about all I do with it) and pop it in the microwave. It reheats well. If you have a lot of chicken, the quiches can be wrapped in foil and frozen. I once cooked myself a whole turkey while Travis was away, and then made all these quiches with the leftovers that I just pulled out of the freezer whenever I needed them.

Orange Muffins

These came out great. I baked these orange muffins from this recipe today. I had a helper. He stirred. They came out great. They were soft and fluffy and only a little sweet. Not unpleasantly un-sweet but rather just a hint of sweetness. I did make some changes to the recipe (naturally). I subbed out 1/4 cup of the flour for whole wheat (I need to sneak it in whenever I can) and I also subbed the butter out for oil instead, partly because it's better for you, but partly because I was too lazy to melt butter. I would have opted out of the oil entirely and replaced it with apple sauce but all I had was blueberry apple sauce. I also added in about 1/2 cup of dried cranberries instead of the nuts. (I hate nuts in baking. I don't know why, because I like nuts by themselves) Anyway, the only real change I would make in the future would be to double the amount of cranberries. They were few and far between. Oh, and I also added about 1/2 teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg. I figured they went so well in the cranberry sauce I made for Christmas, that it wouldn't hurt in here. Oh yeah, plus I left off the topping. And the picture reminded me that I put in about 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Geeze, it wasn't very much like the actual recipe at all, was it!

One wierd thing was that it only made 11 muffins. Maybe the extra cranberries would help with that next time? Who knows. Anyway, I will absolutely be making these again, modifications in place. And I won't forget my helper!

I have a post about quiche in the works too so stay tuned.

Broccoli Surprise

I needed to make something super fast last night and I needed it to have veggies in it. So I steamed some broccoli in veggie broth (go Campbells), and meanwhile chopped a small onion and sauted it in butter. Then I poured the broth/broccoli into the onion pan. Then I took the pot from the broccoli and put a glob of butter in and melted it, then threw in a couple handfuls of flour, and mixed that up for a bit until it was all dissolved, and added some milk (about a cup). Then I poured the onion/broth/broccoli into the milk/flour/butter pot and cooked it a bit more until the broccoli was good and soft, and then whipped it up with my handy dandy hand blender, added a bit of salt and pepper, and some grated cheddar cheese. And voila! A rich, filling, relatively healthy cream of broccoli soup created in under 20 minutes.

Is there anything I can't do??

Pizza Pasta

God, I'm bad, eh? I haven't really forgotten about this. I swear. I know my loyal readers will be happy to know I have no job and therefore a renewed vigour about posting to BOTH of my blogs.

I think we should be having a great summer coming up, despite the fact that Travis will be away. I will be cutting off the cable and spending my time outdoors. I will be taking Ian camping and attempting gardening. Last summer I planted a very successful window box full of herbs which Travis left out to freeze instead of drying for me. Argh. But I have big plans this year to put a raised bed in my yard (hopefully the first of many) and I want to fill it with tomatoes and herbs. I also recieved a dehydrator for Christmas which I hope to put in use all summer with the beautiful Bounty of the Maritimes. I will dry berries in the summer, apples in the fall, my herbs and tomatoes, and I might try to make a dried or smoked salmon of some kind. I love Nova Scotia. I am so exited just thinking about it. I am going to make pickles again this year too, since they were so successful in 05. Maybe I should plant dill for that?

A lady in Halifax decided to keep some chickens, which has caused some debate. You can read about it here. The debate comes from the fact that she is going against a city bylaw, for one, and for two, her neigbors are upset about the chickens being too noisy and their feed attracting rats.

I just think that's silly. There are so many GOOD reasons for her to be raising chickens in her city yard, providing the pen or coop or whatever is kept clean:

1. It is environmentally friendly for a person to raise their own meat/eggs/fertilizer which she uses in her garden to grow food for said chickens, if only for the fuel it saves to transport those things from place to place to get the finished product.
2. It is healthier for one to know where their food comes from.
3. Does chicken feed seriously attract more rats than regular bird seed that someone would put out for wild birds? Seriously? That's not even a valid argument if even one of her neighbors has a bird feeder in their yard.
4. So you can get a boa constrictor or a ferret, but chickens are off limits? What if she had a pet peacock? Would she be having the same problem?
5. People think if you are allowed to keep chickens, what's to stop someone from getting a cow? Well really, folks. What kind of person in their right mind can reasonably expect to successfully keep a cow in a city yard? I mean really.

Anyway, I commend her for doing what she's doing. I would keep a chicken in my yard if I could (read: if Travis would let me) Maybe they should consider some kind of permit system. So you can get a permit for a chicken, goat, sheep, whatever. In order to be given the permit you need to show that you have enough space and proper facilities for keeping whatever animal you are requesting, and knowledge to care for said animal (s) and the permit can be for a certain number only. So Chicken Lady can, say, get a permit for up to 5 chickens on her current property, and Mr. Richy Rich in Voyageur Lakes can build a shed and get a cow. And screw the neigbors. Complaining about that is about as stupid and selfish as complaining about wind turbines that spoil your "view". Because you know, sleek white windmills are so much uglier than that lovely coal plant on the Dartmouth side of Halifax Harbour that sits there glinting in the morning sun, spewing cute white puffy clouds of carbon emmisions into the sky.

Whew. Rant much?

Anyway, I really meant to put in my Pizza Pasta today. It's super yummy. I invented it. Then I looked it up on the internet and it looks like a whole bunch of other people invented it too. There's nothing new in this world, I swear.

So here's what I put:

1 pack of pasta. I like whole wheat. It's a sneaky way to get healthy food into your family. I also like bite sized sorts of things like macaroni, rotini, or penne for it. This time I used Scoobi Doo, which is like some kind of spiraly macaroni.

Pizza toppings, cut into bite size chunks. About 3 cups. Put what you want in, whatever you like on pizza. I put pepperoni, green peppers, and sauteed mushrooms and onions. You could put bacon, or ham and pineapple, or pretty much anything you like.

Add sauce. I use 1 can of tomato paste, and one can of plain tomato sauce. It makes it taste like pizza sauce if you don't use flavoured spaghetti sauce. Then I put some seasoning in to make it taste like pizza sauce. Oregano (lots), onion powder, garlic, and some basil. Salt and pepper to taste.

So dump all that in a pan, then add about 2 cups of cubed cheese, particularly mozza, but I always throw whatever I have in, so I might add some cheddar or whatever. Mix it as much as you want. So basically, if you mix it a bit, you will have melty chunks of cheese in it. If you mix it lots until the cheese is all mixed and blended, you get a gooey, cheesy mess, kinda like the inside of a pizza pop. So mix it how you would like it.

Then add the pasta, mix until coated and serve.

And if you really want to give your family a heart attack, you can put some grated mozza on top and bake it in the oven. Mmmm! Healthy!

So Trav likes it in recipe format, so here goes:

1 pack pasta, cooked
1c pepperoni, cut into cubes
1 green pepper, cut into bite size pieces
1c mushrooms, cut into cubes
1 onion, cut into bite size pieces
2c cheese, cut into cubes

1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
2 tbsp dried oregano
1tsp onion powder
1 clove garlic finely minced or 1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

1 c grated cheese

cook pasta according to package directions. Place pizza items in pan except for cubed cheese. add sauces and seasonings. Mix cheese in to desired consistency. Add pasta. Place in baking dish, sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake at 375f for 30 mins or until top is golden brown.

It's really pretty easy. You can customize it however you like. Recipes are not rules.

Sorry I didn't take a picture. I don't always think to take pictures of my supper. And then we ate it all.

So there.

I really don't know how to end this.

Bye!

Chicken and Mushroom Stew

The basil plant died. It is in a better place now (the green bin) I have a new one and it is doing ok. It isn't growing much but it looks healthy. I have a little thyme plant as well that thinks it's weeds and is growing madly. I guess I will have plenty of thyme on my hands later on! Hardee har har har.

I wanted to comment on a loverly dinner we made complements of my favorite chef, chef Michael Smith. Please view the recipe here. We followed it almost exactly except we used boneless skinless thighs. Oh. My. God. It was, like, the best chicken ever. We used Kumala Shiraz (South African) for the wine. I didn't care for the wine to drink (we had bought it the night before because we wanted a glass of wine) . I found it rustic tasting. I can't explain it exactly but it sort of reminded me of a log cabin or something. I am not good at explaining wine. However the qualities I disliked in the wine went absolutely phenominally with the chicken and mushrooms. It really brought out the earthyness of the mushrooms. I didn't have any left because I dumped it all in the dinner so I don't know if it drank any better with the meal than it did with sitting on the couch. However, I do know I would buy it again if only to cook this dish.

This meal would have been better with mashed potatoes, as it was served on Chef at Home. We used Lundberg Jubilee Gourmet Rice Blend (which is available at Superstore in the Organic section) I liked the rice, Lundberg rice is always good, but Travis prefers white rice, so it wasn't such a hit with him.

So that was the mushroom and chicken stew. Please try!

As seen on Food TV (the website)

Here is an interesting article from food tv. I enjoyed this article because of the information regarding seasoning foods allows for experimentation. With basic knowledge on how to season your broth/soup/stew/rice according to the national cuisine you are aiming for, it opens the door to experimentation. Basically, by matching the correct ingredients you have a starting point for whatever you can imagine!

How to Grow Basil

Here is a quote from an ehow.com article:


"How to Grow Basil
...Difficulty: Easy"


It's a lie. All lies, I say. So they magically grow big and tall and bushy, you claim. Lies! Look at this thing:

Is that not the sorriest looking thing you have ever seen? And this is the third one! The THIRD! I found the second one crawling across the counter towards the trash can, just creeping along, dragging its pot, like some kind of dismembered hand from a horror movie.

Ok, so that's a slight exaggeration.

So all you plant-o-philes out there, if anybody thinks this poor thing can be rescued, and have any advice, I would love to hear it. If you think I should put it out of its misery and try again, let me know. For now I am feeding and watering it and I moved it to a different spot. I am going to pluck its leaves.

I mean, all I want is a big plant so I can make pesto whenever I want. Is that too much to ask?

Mac And Cheese

I't a classic, but just a recent favorite at our house. We always got by on K.D. But I didn't want to give that to Ian so we learned to make it from scratch. It's really not hard. At all.

Melt about 1/2 cup butter in a pan. add about 1/4 cup of flour and stir until dissolved and you have a liquidy paste. Add salt, pepper, and/or whatever seasonings you want (dry mustard, parsley, anything you like) Add about 2 cups of milk (honestly I didn't measure I just poured it in until it looked right. It's better to add less milk and then add more later if it's too thick than to add too much right off the bat) Add 1/2 cup cream cheese and mix until melted in and combined. Add about 2 cups grated old cheddar cheese and mix until melted in and combined.

Here's the sauce when it's ready to go:

Add to about 3/4 package (a package is about a pound) of cooked pasta. The best pastas are Macaroni (duh) Penne, bowties, shells, or Gemelli. They should be a little firm still because they will soak up some more liquid from the sauce. Mix it all together and add whatever you like to it (hotdogs, chicken, veggies, shrimp, etc) Put it in a baking dish. Mix together about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs with melted butter or olive oil and sprinkle over the top. Bake it at 400 for about 20 mins, until the top is golden and crispy. Yum!

Healthy options: Whole wheat noodles, whole wheat bread crumbs, low fat cheese and milk. I don't recommend replacing the butter with margarine, especially low fat margarine. Margarine tastes terrible to begin with, and low fat margarine is mostly just water. If you insist on avoiding butter, then use olive oil instead, although I have never tried that and so I can't speak as to how it would work.

You can use any cheeses you like. It doesn't have to be cheddar and cream cheese. And this meal is so flexible you can alter it any way you like and it will probably turn out. Here's an alternative:

Instead of using milk, use cream, and instead of using cheddar and cream cheese, use parmesan. Be careful with the salt, but add lots of black pepper. Pour over fettucine to make fettucine Alfredo! (Yep, it's not fancy, it's just Mac and Cheese!)

Bish World Cuisine

Bish World Cuisine

We went for a fancy pants dinner last night and before you ask, yes, we were both wearing our fancy pants. It was really classy in there. It is right on the waterfront with a view of the harbour. We did not get a seat by the window. We had a seat by a column. It was very nice in there nonetheless, with real roses on the table. In one wall sconce was a few sprigs of cotton, which was very unique. The staff was really nice, and the waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable.

We decided to forgo the wine. We both really like wine but gift certificate or no, I can't bring myself to pay $40+ for a bottle or $9+ for a glass of wine so we just had water to drink. The bread was amazing. I am not sure what the first piece had in it but I suspect it was Chipolte peppers and poppy seeds. There was also an Italian loaf with poppy seeds on top and the single most delicious piece of corn bread I have ever had. It was moist and crumbly, very muffin-like in texture, and with a faint hint of sweetness. It made me want to make corn bread all week until I can get it to come out like that.

We started our meal with High Spiced Pulled Pork and Manchego Roast Pepper Quesadilla, Habanero Spiked Guacamole...10.95 It was pretty spicy but good. The Guacamole wasn't that spicy (although I can't be sure, Trav hogged it all) but the pulled pork had a bit of a kick to it.

Trav's main course was: Grilled NY Striploin Cubano with Ropa Viejo Plantain Empanada, Chimichurri and Likkered Greens...32.95 He says the veggies were a little sweet, but very good, it had cherry tomatoes and some greens. The empanada was like a samosa actually, I had a bite of it. It didn't scream out "bananas", but I have never had plantains so I didn't know what to expect. The steak was good but not $32.95 good. We have made better steaks at home.

I had Roast Pheasant Breast "Oscar", Stuffed with Crab and Asparagus, Five Herb Aioli and Madiera Reduction...34.95. It was really good, although I believe I got a leg, not a breast. It was tender and tasty. The Madiera Reduction was awesome. I have been experimenting with wine reductions lately with moderate success. Now I know what it should taste like when I do it right. It definitely tasted like something I would make at home, just better. I guess that is what years of training and a Chef degree does. The Aioli was great too, it also tasted like something I would make, likely because I love using fresh herbs. It was all served with roasted baby potatoes and veggies. The veggies were great, baby carrots, broccoli, and brussells sprouts. I have not had a brussells sprout since I was about 8, and I remember I hated it, so I bit into the sprout with apprehension. However I really enjoyed these, as it was crisp and flavourful, and did not have the life cooked out of it. Like all veggies, it benefits from being steamed until hot but still crisp, not boiled until soft.

The only complaint I would make about my meal was that both the pheasant and the potatoes were crusted in salt to the point that if there was any potatoe or pheasant skin in the bite I had it was almost unbearably salty. I really appreciated my glass of water at that moment, let me tell you!

For dessert I had a cup of Desert Lime tea, which was good but tasted like it should be served iced with vodka. But good nonetheless. We had Bish Made Ice Creams and Sorbets...8.85 for dessert. We got a scoop each of rum raisin, pistachio, dark chocolate, and ginger ice cream. The rum raisin was fantastic, it actually tasted of rum. I didn't care for the pistachio much, but I don't like nuts in dessert at the best of times. The dark chocolate was extremely rich. It tasted like cocoa, not chocolate. Very dark. The ginger was the best. I have had ginger ice cream before, I wouldn't say this was better, but it definitely wasn't worse. The ginger was very subtle, you almost wouldn't notice it if you were not looking for it. It didn't leave so much of a heat in your mouth, rather than a warm aftertaste. Very good.

The whole bill came to $102, so we gave her the gift certificate and let her keep the tip. It was overall a very good meal, but not something I would do every day, and definitely not something I would pay for myself, as I could make very similar meals at home for a fraction of the price. We did, however, enjoy our meal. Thanks so much, Adrienne and Daryl!

Chop Suey

Chinese food bender the last few weeks. Yum. I made four different Chinese dishes over the last 2 weeks. They were pretty good. To make Chinese stir frys, dont forget the most important rule: Chop everything first and have it ready to go. Then stir fry it.

Chicken Chow Mein
Heat wok, add about 3 tbsp of peanut oil (another vegetable oil is ok if you have peanut issues). Add some sesame oil too, about 1 tsp. It is strongly flavoured and a little goes a long way. Drop in 2 or 3 whole cloves of garlic and some slices of ginger. When the garlic turns brown, pick the garlic and ginger out of the oil and throw them out. Don't leave the garlic in there, it will burn. By cooking the garlic and ginger in the oil for a few minutes you infuse the oil with the flavour without having to bite into big chunks of it.

Put about a cup of chopped up or sliced chicken in the pan and stir fry until done. I used boneless skinless thighs for mine because they taste better. When the chicken is cooked, add some soy sauce and black bean sauce. Take the chicken out and set it aside.

Put some more oil in the pan, and saute some more garlic and ginger in it. When that is cooked (and picked out of course) begin stir frying vegetables. It is important to cook them in the order that they will take the longest to cook. I used, in this order: carrots, frozen broccoli, onions, celery, and bean sprouts. I put in the carrots and broccoli, gave it a stir to cover with the seasoned oil, and put the lid on for about 5 mins to let it steam. Then I added the onions and celery, and let it cook for about 5 more mins. Finally I added the bean sprouts.

In the mean time, cook some ramen noodles to al dente. (just looking at that sentence boggles the mind) Put the chicken in with the noodles and toss with some more soy sauce and black bean sauce. When the veggies are done, right after the bean sprouts are added, throw the chicken and noodles back in the wok with the veggies, add more soy and bean sauce if necessary, sprinkle with ground ginger, and toss the whole works together. Put the lid on for another couple of mins to make sure the veggies are cooked, and then enjoy!

That chow mein is a meal in and of itself. We had enough for all 3 of us for dinner and for my lunch the next day as well. It heats up well as leftovers. Ian really liked it, he discovered slurping noodles last week!

Tonight I made a 3 course Chinese meal.

I started with stir fried veggies. Pretty much the same as the chow mein except I left out the noodles and the meat. I used carrots, peppers, bok choy, and snow peas today.

I also made beef and broccoli. I cooked the beef in the same manner as the chicken above, except when it was cooked I added Hoisin sauce and frozen broccoli, and sliced onions. The dish was good exept for Hoisin has a hint of sweetness and would have better with chicken or pork. It was also kind of sucky because I bought beef stir fry strips which are basically mystery meat. You don't know what you are getting. I should have marinated them a bit, or bought a steak and sliced it up. But despite these drawbacks, it was still really tasty.

Finally tonight I made fried rice. I used some sticky rice because I like to eat with chopsticks when I eat Chinese food and sticky rice clumps together and is easier to pick up. But sticky rice is kind of glommy sometimes so I actually mixed 1 part sticky rice with 2 parts good old long grain white rice. I put some big chunks of ginger in the rice because it aromatized the rice with ginger.

People are intimidated by rice but it is really easy. You need to cook rice one part rice to 2 parts liquid. It doesn't have to be water, it can be stock or tomato juice or wine or whatever. But today I used water. Bring the rice to a boil, slap a lid on, and turn the heat to low. DON'T OPEN THE RICE! Set the timer for 20 mins and just leave it alone until it is done. If you open it before it's ready, it won't work. Unless you are making risotto. But that's a different blog entry.

I sauteed garlic and ginger in peanut and sesame oil as above, when it was done I took it out and chopped it up fine. I then put 2 eggs in the oil, and fried them up. You want the yolks to break. When the fried eggs are done, put some frozen peas, stir it up, and add the rice. You can add some soy sauce to it if you want, or any other asian seasoning. I like oyster sauce as well. When the rice is all mixed with the peas and oil and seasoning, add the chopped cooked garlic and onion back in. Mix it all up, serve, and enjoy.

All of these dishes benefit from chopped green onion, either mixed in or sprinkled on top as a garnish. I didn't have any this week. I just forgot when I went to the store I guess.

Well, that's it for Chinese Food. Hope you like it.

Stupid me.

Oh my god. I just spent almost an hour explaining how to make bread and then I accidentally deleted it. I even had a picture. Oh my god. I think I will go watch American Idle now.

Addendum to previous post:

I have not gotten over deleting this post and so I won't rewrite it any time soon, but I learned to save it occasionally. And you can have the picture. It's a shame to waste such pretty bread.