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Monthly Archives: January 2011

Finding time

28 Friday Jan 2011

Posted by Jane's Adventures in Dinner in Uncategorized

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I’ve gotten asked a fair amount lately how I am finding time to blog. Here is my standard answer. I don’t do a lot of things that are just for me anymore but writing is something that I need to do. Blogging lets me write but also I hope that I’m creating an online cookbook for my friends, family and myself that hopefully will stick around for awhile. Watching my mom slip away has made me want to write down all the little things that happen and a lot of our family and social life has to do with food. The blog also gives me a kick in the butt to not fall back on the same recipes all the time and let us get bored with what we are having which leads to a desperate need for takeout then.

But what about the other things though?

I love to knit. Wow, sounds like I am making a horrible confession doesn’t it? I find it really soothing and it is fun to see something creative emerge. I tend to pick small projects that give me almost instant gratification and have been lucky enough to find some really funky ideas from the net. One site that I’ve been on a fair amount lately is:
http://littlesesameknits.blogspot.com/2008/02/baby-sweater-dress-pattern.html

There are really modern ideas for kids’ stuff and I would like to think at some point I will be able to make all of them for my wee one. BUT how to find the time?

I think I’ve solved this dilemma (just this one). I’ve started a knitting club with my students. We’re meeting a few lunchtimes a week to knit. Boys and girls-it’s actually a pretty even split.

We have music on, have some snacks and end-up talking about books. How sweet is that?

Madison might even get a fancy knit dress out of it.

Next week’s knitting snack is going to be Chocolate Chili Cookies-hope the kids like them.

Chocolate Chili Cookies

1†1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon ancho chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa, chili powder and salt on paper and set aside. Beat butter with electric mixer for 1 minute until creamy. Add sugar and beat until light in color, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Add egg and beat 1 minute. Add the sifted ingredients and mix in. Refrigerate dough until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Scoop cookies with 1-ounce scoop or rounded tablespoon onto ungreased pans. Bake 6 minutes, then turn and bake 5 minutes more. Let cool for a few minutes, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Makes 12 cookies.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/recipes/articles/0514favoritefood14rec.html#ixzz1CLSAou3i

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Food Waste Friday

28 Friday Jan 2011

Posted by Jane's Adventures in Dinner in Uncategorized

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We’ve been pretty good this week getting rid of leftovers and even eating a fair amount out of the freezer.

My favourite has to be this turkey, chevre, mozzarella and roasted pepper jelly panini. The baby loved it and it was even tasty the next day for lunch.

I thought I would throw-in a picture of the pasta bake so that you can see it is supposed to look like a big, yummy mess. This reheats very well and the husband loves it with a big cloud of parmesan shaved onto the top.

My food sins are few this week but include; half a stirfry that I didn’t package up for lunches and languished on the stove top for the night (yummm) and sadly, half a baguette from the French Baker that got put to the side once my artisan bread made an appearance.

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Toot! Toot!

24 Monday Jan 2011

Posted by Jane's Adventures in Dinner in Uncategorized

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My bad, but since last week I have meant to toot the horn of one of my colleagues who is doing fab things with our kiddoes in his culinary arts program and who I have been having fun with in our after-school, culinary club this fall.

His program got a well-deserved feature in our local paper.

Check it out!

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/School+work+taste/4135963/story.html

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Barrhaven+culinary+arts+students+mark+semester+with+gala+dinner+open+public/4134703/story.html

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Baby, it’s cold outside

24 Monday Jan 2011

Posted by Jane's Adventures in Dinner in Lynne's salt cod cakes, pasta bake, rice pudding

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The thai chicken soup was superb on Friday. I served it with cooked Basmati rice, chopped cilantro and fresh green onions.

My photo is less that inspiring but don’t that let you be turned-off making this bright soup that gives you hope that we will, one day, have a different season.

I was lucky enough Saturday night to have the opportunity to go to my friend Lynne’s house for dinner. She had eight other girlfriends there and we just howled the whole night. It reminded me yet again how lucky I am to have funny, intelligent women in my life and how much they bring to it.

Lynne was sweet enough to give me her Fish Cake recipe that we had as appetizers (yummy). Lynne is originally from Barbados and her Carribean inspired food was delicious on one of the coldest nights of the year.

Well…I thought it was the coldest until today that has a temp of -38 with the bloody windchill.

SALT FISH CAKES

INGREDIENTS

•8 oz salted cod fish, soaked and cooked
•1 cup onions, finely chopped
•2 tsp fresh (not dried) thyme
•2 tbsp green onions or chives (finely chopped)
•1 small hot pepper ( finely chopped – I use a scotch bonnet)
•1 cup flour
•1 tsp baking powder
•¾ cup water
METHOD

•Soak dried salted cod overnight in cold water. This will remove the excess salt. I discard the salty water and re-soak a second time in the morning for a few hours.
•Boil cod for about 10-15 minutes.
•Remove from water and place in a mini food processer till cool.
•When cod is cooled, add onion, green onion or chives, hot pepper and thyme to processor and process till well blended.
•Remove mixture and put in a bowl with flour. baking powder and water.
•Mix well …it will look like a paste….it should not be thin like a pancake batter!
•In a medium heavy pot, fill ½ way with oil. Warning: If your oil is not hot enough, you will have very greasy fishcakes! I put stove on medium high. (350 degrees if you have a food thermometer)
•Drop by teaspoon full into hot oil, but do not crowd them in the pot. Cook for abour 3-4 minutes until they are golden brown on both sides.
Remove from pot and drain on absorbent paper towel. Serve very hot.

DIPPING SAUCE

Combine 1 cup of tomato ketchup with 2 tbsp. hot sauce and 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce.

Yesterday was a day for comfort food so I brought out the big guns with Shepherd’s Pie (I posted the recipe previously) and creamy rice pudding. My father-in-law and I have been chatting about creamy rice pudding the past week so I knew that I had to make it soon. He remembers getting a 39 cent, three course lunch back in the day and the one of the dessert choices was always rice pudding. This is a variation of a recipe that my Grandmother always used. I don’t know where she originally got it.

In a pot cook 3/4 cup rice in 1 1/2 cup of salted water (I use basmati now but my gran always used regular long-grain rice). When fluffy add; 1/2 cup of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla and 4 cups of milk (I use rice or soy and it always turns out yummy). Cook over a medium heat until the milk is mostly absorbed or the pudding is as creamy as you would like. I LOVE to add lots of nutmeg to this recipe too but my gran only ever added cloves and cinnamon.

Now, don’t forget that milk does burn fairly easily so make this recipe when you will be in the kitchen to babysit it. I was cleaning cupboards so I didn’t actually end-up with it burned to the bottom of the pot.

Here’s the babes mowing-down on her second helping of Shepherd’s pie.

Tonight’s meal choice is going to be a great way to use-up a vairety of veg in the fridge. I’m making a really easy pasta bake which is more of a method than an actual recipe.

Cook your favorite pasta (you want about four cups cooked-we’re using rigatoni because I have a tonne of it right now) and mix with; mushrooms, peppers, celery, zucchinni, carrots…whatever veg you need to use up. Add-in enough sauce (about 2 cups) to hold the mixture together (it needs to be the consistency of mac and cheese). Add in chunks of cheese that you need to use up (I have a lot of mozzarella right now and some homemade ricotta) and any sausage or salami, ground cooked meat etc. that…needs to be used-up.

Turn this into a casserole dish, top with more cheese and bake until bubbling (about 20 minutes at 350).

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