The Blessing of a Snow Day

We all know this is one of the most busy times of the year. Even when you want to keep things simple ...... even when you're organized and ready for the festivities, life is just so darned busy. I've found that with aging, it's so, so important to make ME the priority: one just doesn't have the strength, stamina, or health to ignore the signs that you need to slow down. So, I make allowances for the things that I 'wanted' to do and just stick to what 'needs' to be done. And I'm okay with that. But if a good ole Newfie blizzard causes a work closure, I take full advantage of that extra day. 

Sunday afternoon, I didn't do my usual cooking for the week but instead took myself for a walk in the mist and scattered slush and sat near the bay to soak up some nature. Ahhhhh! 

Alas, Monday morning I woke to a raging blizzard outside which meant no work. So, while I enjoyed my morning coffee, I looked through my new-to-me cookbooks (purchased for $1 each at our library book sale). I adore reading cookbooks! 

I earmarked recipes that I want to try in future; not everything was a Xmas recipe. But I did pull out my tried 'n' true Xmas recipes and made a list of pantry needs. I took out butter and cream cheese to warm to room temp. And while that was happening, I decided to do my weekly cook. 

Soon I had a pot of delicious Japanese curry bubbling on my stovetop, filling the apartment with the most delicious, comforting aromas! Japanese curry cubes are wonderful: they're really quick and convenient and wonderfully flavorful, adding just a hint of sweetness and a deep, rich color. One of my Japanese international students introduced me to them, and although I love Indian carries, there are times that I crave a good Japanese curry, especially in winter. Yum!

For dinner, I made a favorite chicken dish that I've made for years. I put a couple of chicken breasts in a baking dish, top with salsa and Jack cheese and bake. Serve with a good rice and a salad, and you have a completely balanced meal. 

I ate a simple lunch; and by that time, the butter and cream cheese were room temp. So, I made a couple of batches of cookie dough to pop in the freezer: shortbread and Rugelach, two of our favorites. Then, just like the good Lord Himself, I rested! Feet up, a large mug of hot chocolate (and perhaps a few German chocolate treats which had just arrived), and a little Netflix. 

Because this unexpected snow day, I'll be able to give more time to prepping my 89 year old Dad's house for our family Christmas dinner and my grandson's Dec 23rd birthday. And I'll be able to rest more. Fingers crossed that this Xmas will be illness and stress free!

My last day of work will be this Friday. And as I don't have a computer at home yet, you may not hear much from me until I return to work. But I'll be catching up on your posts via my phone.

Hubert, Doris and I all wish you a Happy Solstice tomorrow, a Happy Hannukah, and the very best of Christmas'. And if you don't celebrate, I wish you peace and joy and quiet amidst the hooplah.

Old Man Winter

Old man winter arrived on the west coast of Newfoundland last Friday with a messy drive home. I was quite happy to nestle inside  and simply admire how pretty it looked later that night.

Saturday morning brought a little sunshine with the snow. So, I ventured outside to visit the local 'Wonderful Fine' market. (Wonderful fine is an old timey Newfoundland saying denoting good health and spirits.) The Market only runs from August to December, so it's one of the highlights of my week. Delicious locally roasted and ground coffee; the ONLY good French macaroon around and lovely crafts and treats. 


One of the vendors, Natura Soap Company, had a 50% off special on their soap-of-the-month, and I'd pre-ordered "One of each, please!" I've enough to last me most of the year (unless one or two find their way into Xmas packages.) Occasionally buying natural products is one of the ways I pamper myself.



I spent a quiet Sunday trying (unsuccessfully) to avert a head cold. I always like to go outside for my morning coffee, no matter what the weather. I was prepared to bundle up and get some much needed fresh air and sunlight .... but when I saw the 10" of snow, I decided I'd just drink it in front of the TV. I snuggled under my fleece blankie and watched Netflix. But I did make myself a really nice dinner: Ginger Orange Glazed tofu (which was really delicious), Japanese rice (my favorite) and some sauteed peppers and mushrooms in soy. One must feed one's body well especially when sick.

November 11th brought intermittent rain and cleared some of the snow. But my head cold kept me from going uptown for the ceremonies. So, I bundled up and sat outside; I closed my eyes and spent some time in silence and gratitude for those who have served and who continue to serve in our military. 

We continue to enjoy sunshine and clearing today and tomorrow. So, with any luck, I won't have to don my snow pants this Saturday for coffee time! 

I hope your weekend is a good one.

The Bountiful Season

It's becoming that time of the year: the time of great bounty. I picked raspberries last weekend (and only ate about half a dozen while I picked ---- a huge improvement on other years). 

AND while at the farm, I picked up a big bag of cucumbers for only $10:  enough for 2 batches of bread and butter pickles.

The Ontario peaches have arrived and are particularly sweet and tasty. But so far, I've been too busy gorging myself on them to bottle any. Soon!

I begin my 'staycation' tomorrow and am more excited than is proper at my age. (Soooo lacking in decorum!) Let's see what the next week or so will bring.

I hope your life is bountiful where you are.

TTFN!

Happy Pie Day!

I love a good slice of pie (or 2 ... or 3 even). My Mom made the most wonderful pie crust:  crisp and flakey, not too "fatty" -- a perfect crust! "It's easy," she'd say to me.  But I could never replicate it.

When I was an at-home Mum in Nova Scotia in the late 80's (the apple capital of the world), we'd buy huge 20 lb bags of apples in the fall for under $10. I would bake pie after pie after pie and gift some to friends; but I'd always have at least half a dozen in the freezer. I've gotten out of the habit and my pie crust isn't as good as it used to be, so I don't bake many pies now a days.

But I still love a good pie; and it hardly matters what flavor (although I will choose cherry a la mode if it's available). My ex's mother used to make the most wonderful squash pie (substitute for pumpkin) -- spicy, deep and rich. And I'm always on the look out for the best coconut cream. 

Not my pie but mine is similar
and tastes just as good!

Today's lunch is pie! Yesterday I decided to add some cornbread to the top of my chili and VOILA! Instant (cheater) tamale pie, a favorite savory pie in our household! 

And oh, couldn't you just swoon at the sight and taste of a good meat-filled hand pie. The Farmer's Market in Lunenburg NS sold the most wonderful hand-pies. The perfect lunch huh:  so convenient and comforting and delicious!


I don't know about your area, but I haven't heard of anyone giving out free pie today. Darn!!! But I hope that you do get to eat pie today in whatever form you enjoy.

What? More Snow?

Not my car, but a perfect example of
what my car looked like.

After Wednesday's snow, I was looking forward to yesterday's rain. Sure, it would start out as freezing rain -- my car was coated in it Saturday morning when I tried to venture out for milk and eggs and turned back -- but the forecast assured me that it would warm up later. So, I expected all that ice to melt. Well, wouldn't that cut my clean-up time in half!

Of course, that didn't happen. The so-called rain became snow --- and snow and snow and snow.  But I was happy enough being storm bound: I had my Saturday crossword puzzle, 3 more past seasons of Dr Who to watch, a clean house and a delicious lunch already prepared:  pork and black bean chilli, crusty chabatta bread and a few slivers of stinky, aged cheddar. 

Slipper socks I want but
don't own yet.

I had the beginning of a headache and tummy ache.  And as there's a similar flu going round, I got even more comfortable. I put on my flannel jammies, my wooly polka-dotted socks and got under the fleece on the couch.

I tried to nap, but sleep eluded me. I was in this sort of semi conscious place for over an hour.

Then it hit me! 

An urge so immediate and intense and persistent ...

 So, I baked a cake; a chocolate layer cake. (And I never bake layer cakes, so this was obviously an urge that needed to be met!)

As it was baking, I called long distance to get my mom's recipe for Mystery Icing -- light and fluffy and not sweet, made with cooled custard which is added little by little to creamed butter and sugar.

I spread the first layer with softened apricot jam and then the Mystery icing (which was made with coconut custard) and topped with toasted coconut.

Yum yum! It was so delicious! No, no, no! It IS delicious. Despite all our best efforts, there are still a few slices left.

I don't know about the rest of the winter world, but when Nova Scotians expect a snow storm, they stock up on potato chips

 ..... or as we like to call them STORM CHIPS.

We had a storm cake!

Christmas Chutney

Having international students during Christmas season means that I sometimes get to incorporate their traditions into our time together. Here are 2 of Annkatrin's Xmas traditions:  an advent candle that is burned each evening during the meal and a "smoking" wooden shepherd. He "smokes" incense which unfortunately means that I can't use him because of my sensitivity to scent. But he is pretty cute on my table. And I have the satisfaction of conforming this staunch German into a non-smoker!

One of my annual traditions is the making of the cranberry sauce. But I've accumulated a number of different recipes for chutneys; and with the great price I paid for a large bag of cranberries, I decided to give it a go.  I made three different recipes. (I like to give some as gifts).

The first -- and my favorite -- is a citrus/cranberry preserve: cranberries, orange, lemon and lime chunks flavored with the zest and a touch of cinnamon and allspice.

The color here is gorgeous.

And the flavor is wonderful! 

This could easily be used as a regular cranberry sauce. (Think of how delicious this would be on a cold turkey sandwich!) Or you could just spread it on your toast. Yum yum!

Next we have a cranberry/apple compote: tangy Granny Smith apples, fresh & dried cranberries, both white & brown sugar, finely diced onion, apple cider vinegar and cinnamon & ginger. 

This has a marvelous flavor and would be perfect on top of a baked brie, I think. 

Look at those lovely little chunks of apple and again, that rosy glow from the fresh cranberries.

The last chutney I made is a dried apricot, date and ginger chutney. This has the addition of garlic, a touch of cayenne, golden raisins and what was supposed to be red wine vinegar. Alas, other than 1/4 cup of the necessary 1.5 cups, I was out of red wine vinegar. So, I substituted a little Japanese wine vinegar and an amazing Black Cherry balsamic that I have and topped it off with good old regular vinegar.

This is thick and rich and utterly delicious. The recipe says to top meat, chicken or fish with this chutney. I'm looking forward to trying it tomorrow night with my pork chops.

And, of course, these will become even more tasty as they mature a little.

If anyone would like a recipe, just send me a note.

In the meantime, tell me what you've been cooking up for Christmas?

 

Weekend Update

It rained and rained and rained all weekend in my neck of the woods. No lovely autumn drives in the country for us. 

My organizational skills this weekend took the form of changing  out the seasonal clothes. My goodness! I have a lot of clothing; but there are still a few summer-ish things in there that will get put away later.

Frenchies had a 50% off sale today, so I took the girls for clothes and me for anything but clothes! So I stuck to books and things for others. "Cooking Light" cookbook and "A Moveable Feast" for $1.45 each, Madhur Jaffrey for $1 and the "Food" magazine for 50 cents.


I also bought this costume -- Woody from Toy Story -- for my grandson to wear in a couple of years for $3 (similar to this one but not exact). He's already the cutest little buckeroo in town!




I made a delicious Japanese soup with squash, kale, tofu, udon noodles and a touch of red chili paste. Really tasty.


But my favorite meal was our Sunday night dinner -- Rasam -- from my fairly new-to-me "A Taste of India" cookbook, $4 at Value Village. (Recipe to the left if you're interested.) It was a lot of work: toasting and grinding spices, chopping, frying, baking.  But well worth it.

The dish was marvelous! Really quite spicy (so we cooled it down with Greek yogurt) and served with mixed veg and rice. Lena was content with an egg instead of the Rasam.

Then Lena taught me to make Weckmann or Stutenkerl which are traditionally made in Germany for St Martin's Day.  They are a sweet bread dough shaped into a man; and Lena's mother's version has the addition of gently heated water with mashed apple. 

It's a sad, sad day when I have to make my own man!

Lena made the traditional fat guy at the far right; mine is the slender gent in the middle with the debonair moustache and goatee; and Nagisa's man is actually a Japanese cartoon character.  


They tasted very, very yummy: golden and crusty on the outside but soft and tender on the inside.

Now it's off to bed to catch up on some cookbook reading.

Yup, if I'm not cooking or eating, I'm thinking or reading about cooking and eating.

Dum Paneer Kali Mirch

I love Indian food:  the rich, wonderful aromas and the varied  mixtures of spices and herbs.  I've had the opportunity to view quite a number of TV cooking shows over the past 6 months that have featured Indian cooking and techniques.  And with so many wonderful vegetarian recipes to choose from, it was a natural choice for this new vegetarian venture.  

A foodie friend of mine often grills paneer; so when I found this recipe -- Dum Paneer Kali Mirch -- I was happy to have an opportunity to try cooking it myself.  Paneer is a fresh, unripened cheese used in many South Asian dishes.  Although it's not hard to make yourself, I purchased mine from the supermarket.

It took time to cut and chop and then blend & grind the 2 pastes.  But once that's done, the cooking time is short.  

While the paneer simmered on the back burner, I prepared an easy potato and green bean curry, steamed some rice and added some spicy roti flatbread.

Unfortunately, the potato/green bean curry was a bit of a dud as the curry powder I used (discovered at the back of the cupboard during a recent clean) was old and, I believe, had lost its pungency.  Sad!  Edible but sad.

But the paneer was lovely!  The cheese itself has a delicate taste and texture, and the sauce was again quite mild and delicate. This went very well with the plain rice and roti.  Still, I think next time I will play around with the flavoring a little and see if I can bring out more oomph .... a touch more cumin, coriander and perhaps garam masala. (I'll scout around other recipes for comparison.) And I'd probably serve it next time with simple sliced veggies like ripe juicy tomatoes and red onions.

I'd give this dish a 7 out of 10 on the yum scale

.

 

 

Definitely worth a repeat!

Citrus Roasted Tofu

I'm now on week 2 of being mostly vegetarian and I must say, it's been surprisingly great.  I've had a couple of dud meals where they were fairly tasteless.  (Thank you, Siracha.) And I've craved meat once or twice (and was able to satisfy the cravings with adding a chicken breast for Nagisa and I or with adding something to my lunch.)  But Lena has been a most grateful veggie-child for all my efforts -- good or bad.

I've been the lucky recipient of 3 great new-to-me cookbooks from Value Village:  vegetarian slow cooker, a Thai and an Indian.  And I've found a number of great websites and/or blogs. But of course, with many of these dishes, you have to get your pantry stocked in order to prepare the food.  In the meantime, I experiment with what I have.

This weekend when I did my weekly cooking, I prepared a chocolate chili, a shrimp curry and my daughter's adapted beet burgers.  We all love tofu, and Saturday evening's  Citrus Roasted Tofu (Food Republic) was a huge hit.

The julienned carrot/almond side was delicious as well.

An excellent recipe.  And even if you're not a tofu lover, this one may convince you!  Give it a try.

Labor Day Weekend - Food, Friends and Family

Rabbit Rabbit everyone!

Happy September!  May this month be filled with the remainder of summer -- sunshine and warmth, laughter with friends and more barbeque. And don't forget to finish those cocktails as well; they won't last until next June!

I went to a wedding dance this past Saturday.  It was held

on the couple's property in the country, well off the main road, down a dark, narrow driveway lined with votives in paper bags. When you got to the end, it opened up, and there were lanterns hung in trees and bon fires on either side. The dance was held in the newly-erected frame of the barn, and the bar was in the old barn adorned with tulle and huge Chinese lanterns.  There were tressle tables laden with food and music playing and babies and dogs and people dressed in whatever way made them feel comfortable -- which meant a wonderful collection of glitter and bling was mixed with dungarees and vintage 70's pant suits.  It was quite magical! 

The bride was my daughter's best friend whom we've known for 20 years.  And although there were lots of people there who were my age, most of the time I was the only one gal on the dance floor with the "youngsters".  What's with that, over 50-yr-olds? Regardless, I had such a lot of fun!


Besides my own 2 kids being home this weekend, I also picked up my "foreign children". Nagisa returned for her last 5 months.  And I have a newbie: 15 yr old Lena from Germany, a petite little girl with a mass of lovely wavy hair, big glasses and a sweet personality.  

 She was delighted to jump into the very cold Atlantic ocean with me on Sunday (as Nagisa sat and snapped pictures of us).  
Then she was doubly delighted to walk the boardwalk and eat Canadian ice cream; she said that Germany just has the regular flavors -- vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, etc.  She ate "Grizzly Tracks", I had "Double Decadent Chocolate" and Nagisa "Peanut Butter Cups". I can see we have a lot of ice cream to eat together!

Lena's a vegetarian who (thankfully) eats fish, dairy and eggs.  This semester will be another adventure in eating as we mix lots of good, nutritious vegetarian meals in with the occasional meat meal. She doesn't expect anything extra from me and would happily make do with whatever we eat minus the meat.  But I love to try new recipes.

This weekend, I cooked Indian as I already have a good base of vegetarian meals that I've cooked before.  But bloggie friends: If you have any suggestions for tried and true recipes, please pass them along.  


I do love a good mouthful!