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I spent the week watching and reading the weather forecast for Saturday. For all the good it did me. Mother Nature had other ideas for my party and sunshine didn't come into it at all. I had to cancel the shindig. Just as well too. The rain came down in biblical proportions with thunder and lightening thrown in for fun. I was quite the bitter Betty Friday when I had to pull the plug and send out emails with the bad news. Boo hiss. The weather was great on Friday....too bad I hadn't planned it for then. I was feeling sorry for myself, sitting out on the patio, brooding when I noticed a little kitten in my next door neighbour's yard. I crouched down to take this picture and he took off like a jack rabbit. We played peek-a-boo through the fence. My husband came home just in time to see my new little friend. Turns out they were old friends...he had seen him climbing our tree and walking along the top of our fence earlier in the week. He told me in no uncertain terms that I could not rescue him as we already have a cat....Bijou. She is 14 years old and a cranky thing. He's just not up for any new recruits. Well damn. My new little friend is a darling. Turned my frown upside down. So with my party plans in ruins and nothing fun to look forward to for the weekend I was twitchy. Fortunately, my husband knows me well and came up with plan B. We invited a few couples over for dinner and drinks and hoped for the best with the weather. Nothing fancy....homemade burgers, corn on the cob and Caesar salad. My husband makes really good burgers - a mix of ground beef, ground pork, seasoned bread crumbs and spices. I fried some bacon, sautéed mushrooms and onions for the burgers. Grated some sharp cheddar to top the burgers with and mixed up a flavoured butter for the corn on the cob. Put some beer on ice and made a jug of sangria. We were back in business, Dear Reader! Lime Chive Butter Adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2005 issue 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 1/3 cup fresh chives, finely chopped 2 tsp lime juice 1 tsp lime peel, grated finely 1/2 tsp fine sea salt 1/4 tsp sweet paprika pinch of cayenne pepper Place all ingredient in bowl and mix with fork until combined well. Cover and chill for up to two days. Makes enough for 8 ears of corn. Sangria Adapted from Food and Drink magazine, August 2010 issue 750ml bottle dry Riesling wine 1 cup peach juice 1 cup apple juice 1/4 cup peach schnapps 1/2 orange, sliced 1 lemon, sliced Strawberries, sliced 1 cup ginger ale Put all ingredients except ginger ale in pitcher and stir. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hour or overnight. When ready to enjoy, add the ginger ale and pour over ice into wine glasses, Spoon fruit into each glass. Makes 10 servings. The girls brought the desserts so I didn't have to worry about that. Brenda brought assorted berries, grapes and whipped cream and Sam, the daughter of our friend Tom, brought a key lime pie. Sam is learning to cook and has been making recipes from the copy of the Joy of Cooking that my son gave her for Christmas last year. Her pie was a hit and the meringue was perfect! The sun went down and took the humidity of the day with it. My shindig was a bust, but we managed to salvage the fun with good food and good friends and a bit of help from Mother Nature herself. Best of all, I get to plan another party....weather permitting of course!
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Happy Father's Day Dear Reader. It began a day early at my house with the boys cleaning up the front and back yards for their Dad early Saturday morning. Hours later, the weeds were pulled and the grass was cut. They also cleaned the barbecue until it shone. Then off the three of them went shopping. Our cousin Andrew is getting married this July and our youngest son needs a new suit for the occasion. He won't stop growing! Sixteen years old, six foot three and size thirteen shoes. He's the little brother in age, but the slightly bigger brother in size. I work to fill the fridge. You think I'm kidding but I'm really not. Sunday morning, for Father's Day breakfast I made homemade hashbrowns and a lovely mushroom omelette. No recipes needed....I parboiled the potatoes and the browned them in a bit of vegetable oil with diced onion, garlic, salt and pepper. I sliced some cremimi mushrooms, grated a bit of cheddar and added that to three eggs and a bit of cream. Easy peasy. Sliced a nice ripe tomato for some colour on the plate and put on a pot of coffee. But the culinary star of the day was tonight's dessert. Now I will admit that it was a bit time consuming to make, but I have to say, it was worth it for the rave reviews I received tonight. My husband isn't really one for desserts. I think that may have changed tonight. He declared it was the best dessert I have ever made. Ever. He also said it was the best apple pie he has ever had. Ever. Those are huge compliments from my fella. Through the years, I have asked for blunt honesty regarding my cooking. I would rather know the truth than waste my time making something that he didn't enjoy. As for the boys, the sparks were flying from their plates as they devoured it. Kudos indeed! Now I have to tell you Dear Reader, there was a time when I wouldn't share recipes. In fact, I have a cranberry sauce recipe that I used to guard like my life depended on its secrecy remaining intact. Every Christmas, rather than share this gem, I would make jar after jar and give it to those who asked for the recipe. (Lucky for you, I plan on sharing it with you later this year). Although I am a changed woman, I wasn't sure if I should share the apple pie recipe with you. Not because I have reverted to my old ways, but because it comes from another food blogger. I thought perhaps it would go against blogging etiquette to do so. As I am still new at this, the last thing I would ever want to do is offend a fellow blogger, but after poking around her blog today, I was relieved to read that she is just fine with it and in fact appreciates it as long as a few simple rules are followed. I hope I did her proud and I encourage you to check out her wonderful blog, Smitten Kitchen. This isn't just any ordinary apple pie...it is a deep dish pie that doesn't disappoint. Trust me when I tell you it is worth your time. Start with the pie dough and while it chills prepare the filling. All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt 16 tbsp butter (half pound) very cold butter 1/2 cup ice cold water Using quick pulses, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in food processor. Dice butter and add to dry ingredients. Pulse in processor until butter is combined into pea sized clumps. Transfer to large bowl and slowly pour water over mixture and stir with fork until combined. Knead dough taking care to work quickly to keep dough from warming up. Flatten dough into disc shape and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Allow to chill for two hours before rolling out. When you are ready to roll the dough, sprinkle your counter top with flour and place the unwrapped dough on top. Start rolling out the dough, taking care to keep moving it a quarter turn after a couple of rolls. If necessary, sprinkle more flour on counter and rub flour along the length of your rolling pin to keep dough from sticking. Roll out to 16 inch round. Carefully fold into quarters and place corner into centre of 9" springform pan. Open up and press into pan, leaving a one inch overhang around the edge. Deepest Dish Apple Pie Adapted from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook Filling 5 pounds apples (3 pounds golden delicious and 2 pounds apples of your choosing...I used Royal Gala) 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg Streusel Topping 3/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup cinnamon 1/4 tsp salt 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 8 tbsp (quarter pound) butter, melted Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To make the filling, peel, core and quarter the apples. Slice each quarter into 1/4" slices and place in large bowl. Toss with lemon juice. In separate bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Sprinkle over slice apples and toss to coat evenly. Pour apple slices in three additions into prepared pie crust, smoothing out apples between additions. This is the only way they are all going to fit! Bake for 30 minutes. While it is baking prepare the streusel topping. Melt the butter for the streusel topping. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, flour, salt and baking powder. Pour melted butter over mixture and stir until lumpy. Once the pie has baked for 30 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Remove pie from oven and sprinkle streusel topping over top of pie. Bake pie for another hour. Let pie cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Loosen clamp on springform pan. With oven mitt on, push pie up and through the top of the ring and place on large platter to catch the juice while slicing. You might need an extra pair of hands to do this...I did! Enjoy with your favourite ice cream. Today and tomorrow. It is so huge you will probably have leftovers! Surprisingly we did....
Yes Dear Reader, it is true. We have a winner and we have Gordon Ramsay to thank for it. Remember my very first post on St. Patrick's Day when I posted a recipe for wheaten bread? Well since then, as promised, behind the blogging scene, I have made loaf after loaf of this elusive peasant bread. But today, after many attempts, some close and some not even, my husband declared my mission complete. As you may recall, my darling was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland and this makes him the resident expert at our house. There are many versions of this bread with long lists of ingredients such as currants, raisins, and caraway seeds. I was seduced by the addition of exotic honey called for by some. Some were baked in loaf pans. Some were cooked on the griddle in the shape of scones. But in then end simplicity proved to be the victor. Gordon's recipe has six ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to mix, knead and put in the oven. I think this bread would be fabulous with a nice beef stew, homemade soup or ohhh....baked beans! (I think I might have a new mission!) This bread bakes to a beautiful crust with a dense, moist centre. It has some weight behind it. It makes a nice lunch with some cheddar cheese and a cup of tea. Thank you Gordon! Soda Bread Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking 2 cups all purpose flour plus extra for dusting 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour 1 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 2 cups buttermilk Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and dust with flour. Set aside. Sift the flours, baking soda, salt, and sugar in large bowl. Make a well in centre and add all but two tablespoons of the buttermilk. Mix with fork taking care not to overwork the dough, but ensure all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated. If necessary, add the reserved buttermilk. Dust work surface with flour and lightly knead the dough for 30 seconds. Don't overwork the dough. Form dough into round shaped loaf and place on prepared baking sheet. Press down on dough to flatten slightly. With a serrated knife, score an "X" deeply into the top of the loaf. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown and cooked through. Allow to cool on wire rack for a few moments before slicing to enjoy warm. I have been planning a party for the last few weeks too. It is two weeks from now and I think I have it under control....the invitations have been sent and the menu is settled. The plan for this evening is to delve into my box of tricks....I love that box of clipped recipes. So much so, that one day it spilt and fell all down the basement stairs. I am embarrassed to tell you that I actually had a wee cry over it. I was heartbroken over what a jumbled mess it was! But much to my surprise, there was a silver lining....in picking up all those clippings I had the chance to pour over them and rediscover recipes that I had long forgotten about. I have been adding to this box for 20 years so it was like lost treasure! The party is going to be a casual affair....a bbq in the backyard with about 18 of us in attendance. Tonight I am going to look out the recipes and start writing the shopping list. I find it very helpful to have a file folder with the recipes, the shopping list, the guest list and any other details for the shindig all in one place. It keeps me organized and on track and best of all, scratches the OCD itch that I have. More to come about the party later!
Well here it is Sunday night and I must confess Dear Reader I don't think I accomplished much of anything this weekend. I'm going to blame my lack of motivation on the weather. It has been really hot for days and for the past two it has rained quite heavily on and off. Other than laundry, I have spent alot of time curled up on the couch with books, magazines, my laptop (Pinterest!) and coffee. Definitely, the dreary weather is to blame for such laziness. I got up today with the intention of getting a few things crossed off my to-do list. I made an easy breakfast of scrambled eggs and sort of a hash brown pie that I found in the May issue of Bon Appetit magazine. I was looking forward to sharing the hash brown pie recipe with you today, but it was disappointingly bland. It has potential though and to that end I am going to tinker with it before I share it with you. Its not that it was terrible, it was just terribly boring and that Dear Reader is not good enough for me to post here for you. When the rain finally stopped late this afternoon, I took to the patio to weed through some of the library books I have out. At any given time, I usually have at least 20! I honestly believe that the most valuable piece of plastic in my wallet is my library card. The Toronto Public Library has 100 locations and has the largest circulation in North America and is second only to Hong Kong. From books and magazines, to dvd's an cd's, the amount of material available to borrow for free is impressive. A few years ago, our family nearly moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta due to my husband's job. After checking out the public schools for our boys, the next thing I looked into was the library. I informed my husband that the only way I was going was if I had a monthly book allowance. Clearly, I have been spoiled! Fortunately for me, we didn't end up going....good thing really....it is really cold there! Back to the grind tomorrow!
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