Technical computer difficulties continue (things did not go well with the new pc, still working on it), so the only way I can participate in this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs, themed GARLIC!!, is to go back to my archives and see what I have available.
Nothing, unfortunately, with the words garlic in the title, but at least one recipe with garlic in it, so that's the best I could do.
Spaghetti is a staple in this household. My hubby would be happy if we had it at least once a week. And by spaghetti, I mean spaghetti. Not fusilli, rotini, capivati, especially not fettucini and linguini, or any of the other types of pasta you can get. Spaghetti!
So for a change, I made Mark Bittman's Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe, from page 152 of How to Cook Everything.
Now this recipe only calls for 1 tsp on minced garlic in it, which I of course ignored. I think I went with something like 3 or 4 cloves instead. And I could have used alot more garlic. And chili peppers. And basil. And anything else to impart some flavor.
It was a good basic recipe, good for someone who had never made meatballs and sauce from scratch before, but as we've found with alot of Bittman's recipes, bland.
Anyways, while the computer troubles continue (and my new pc is being replaced by another new pc due to the difficulties), I'll still be a little scarce around here and in reading other blogs.
Have a good week and get cooking!
I Heart Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Edition - Garlic!
Down due to technical difficulties
Good difficulties, new computer kind, but still down for a bit.
Taking me awhile to move things from one pc to the other, and I will get there, but for now, not going to make this week's I Hearts Cooking Club, and may not make Menu Plan Monday either.
Have a lovely holiday weekend!
Menu Plan Monday: May 16
I know, it isn't Monday.
Been a change in the last few weeks, the way I've been shopping and planning. Instead of my going out Saturday or Sunday and doing my shopping, I've been going Monday night, after work, while my son is still in tkd class. Upside to this is that I'm shopping without, "Mom, can we get some of this?" Downside is I'm doing it after work, so I'm usually quite hungry.
As a result, I have not been doing my menu planning on the weekend. It is still getting done, just not in advance.
Sunday: Left over night. We had so many different left over's in the house, it was foolish to cook.
Monday: Salsa chicken with rice (put frozen chicken breast in the slow cooker with a cup or more of a good, strong, salsa, cook on low for 6-8 hours, serve over rice.)
Tuesday: Sausages done on the bbq with corn on the cobb.
Wednesday: Chicken fried steak with smashed potatoes.
Thursday: Pasta with tomatoes, garlic and chili.
Friday: Grilled bbq chicken pizza.
And that's my plan for Menu Plan Monday.
I Hearts Cooking Club: Mark Bittman Edition, Movie Night
A quickie for me today, running late for what I'd like to do this morning but did not want to miss this week's posting for I Hearts Cooking Club, where we are cooking up Mark Bittman. Theme for this week is Movie Night, which leaves a very broad interpretation.
Sure popcorn or candy is traditional (and if I'd had time, I would have made some homemade peanut brittle from HTCE, but I didn't), but who says you have to be stuck with traditional snacks for movie night?
Lately our little family has been gathering around and watching Doctor Who together, fresh from the pvr, which is as close to movie night as we can manage.
For a fun "snack" or fancy dessert, try a chocolate souffle, with creme anglaise (vanilla custard sauce.) A little prep work in advance, pop it in the oven while eating dinner, and it is good to go when you want to snuggle down on the couch for a good night of traveling through space in a tiny blue box.
Leftovers, while not as fluffy, work well in a lunch box the next day.
Or skip the souffle and just drink the custard with a straw, right out of the pot.
Both these recipes can be found in How to Cook Everything, on pages 673 for the custard, and 674 for the souffle.
Now to find my shoes and head out to the farmer's market! Ack! Where did I put my camera!?!
Menu Plan Monday: I think I forgot something
Yup, I forgot to write up my menu plan for the week.
I remembered, sometime Monday, but I was at work when I remembered. Which did my blog no good at all.
So here it is, Wednesday, and I'm finally posting my plan for the week for Menu Plan Monday.
Sunday: Mother's Day and I had a pj day, eating nachos while watching tv. The boys left me alone and went elsewhere for supper.
Monday: Hamburgers on the bbq.
Tuesday: Pizza (take out, the plan ahead did not work due to unforeseen circumstances.)
Wednesday: Pork souvlaki with tzaziki and pita, pasta salad.
Thursday: Chicken drum sticks, with whatever the hubby wants to make with them.
Friday: Something on the bbq, not sure what.
So last week Kara asked me an interesting question about regional differences for bbq'ing and grilling: Sorry Kara, it must be a regional thing - if someone invites me for a bbq, it can be anything from hamburgers to steak, veggies, fruit or anything really. No one say's they are going to grill, they just say bbq.
Happy Mother's Day, Mark Bittman Style
I'm a mom.
Meet my punks, my boys....
Yup, that's my oldest. Growing up so fast and gaining maturity. (hehehe)
And my little Sous Chef, in a very normal, typical position for him.
If asked what I've accomplished in my life so far, those two are my answer. I have two beautiful, silly boys, each confident in their own selves, polite to others, and unique in their own way.
My little one greeted me this morning with a couple of lovely Mother's Day cards he'd made at school, then jumped right in to make juice for me. But first he said, "Pancakes! I want you to make pancakes for breakfast this morning!"
I declined on the pancakes and instead jazzed up my selection for this week's entry for the I Hearts Cooking Club, where the theme was Breakfast in Bed.
I have been craving scones lately, so when my copy of How to Cook Everything just happened to be open to page 252, where Cream Scones are featured, I took it as a sign I should make my own.
What I'd really like is white chocolate blueberry scones (thanks so much Starbucks, you put the idea in my head!), but I keep forgetting to pick up dried blueberries for them. Instead I made only one change to this recipe (other than shape) - I replaced the dried currents/raisins with vanilla bean instead, to give these scones a delicate vanilla flavor.
The scones on their own, not bad, but as I've found with almost every Bittman recipe I've made so far, lacking in the flavor department.
So I added some....
Now, I don't know that I'd want to eat this in bed exactly, unless I had a very big napkin to catch any drips I might make with that lovely, bright strawberry juice. I'm a messy eater, and probably would splash something.
Happy Mother's Day to all you other Mom's out there. May your morning include breakfast in bed, and funky homemade cards from your own punks.
Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman: Have a 3 pack
It wasn't hard to pick a selection for this version of Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman. What was hard was finding one with a picture I was willing to show anyone!
First up we had the Rib Eye Steak with Whiskey Cream Sauce, on pages 166 and 167. Scrumptious, and tasty it was. Wish I'd made more. Will definitely make it again. But if you want to see a good picture of it, open the book up and look at that one. Mine was awful (and I was too hungry at the time to try for better ones.)
Next we have PW's Potato Skins on pages 22 to 24. Much tastier than they sound (cause skins does not sound appetizing), we ate these so fast that no pictures were taken at all! Even my potato disliking children, who only willingly eat mashed potatoes and french fries, had seconds.
But at last we come to a recipe that I got a picture of!
Here you go, PW's Perfect Pie Crust, used to make my apple-caramel crumble pie, and found on pages 128-129.
I admit I wasn't as happy with the end results of this, though I suspect it was because I made this in my mother's kitchen, without my pastry cutter, my rolling pin, or my measuring cups. That and I had the very firm belief that the pie could have used another 10 minutes in the oven, something everyone else told me I was crazy about.
Ree's pie crust was fine, but I suspect it would have been better had I made it in my own kitchen. Oh well, maybe next time.
I think with these three, I've run out of back up recipes for my Pioneer Woman folder and I had best get into the kitchen and do some cooking!
Menu Plan Monday: It's BBQ time!
Oh happy day! Happy, happy day!
Saturday morning saw me putting down all the seats of my car so my brand new bbq could be loaded up into it! Saturday afternoon/evening saw rain, rain and more rain but I did not care! I was bbq'ing even if it was a blizzard! A hurricane! A monsoon!
Yes, that is rain you see on my bbq, and steam you see rising off the grills, but I persisted and we had a bbq on Saturday.
And Sunday.
And likely will for the entire rest of the week!
(Go ahead, see me dancing around, bbq tongs in hand. Probably not far from the truth.)
Did I mention the weather forecast for this week calls for rain? Every single day of the week.
(So add me getting rained on while dancing around. Good image.)
Menu Plan Monday, here we go!
Sunday: Steak with bbq baked potatoes and garlic mushrooms
Monday: Hot dogs with fruit (I'm not home until after 8:30, hubby gets to decide if he's going to try the new bbq)
Tuesday: Chicken and apple salad (I bbq'd a whole chicken, butterflied, last night, to be used this week for salad and another night.)
Wednesday: Korean bbq beef with rice. Or pork chops with sticky glaze.
Thursday: Club sandwiches (using more of that chicken I bbq'd last night.)
Friday: No plans.
Menu Plan Monday: April 25, not yet finished
It was such a lovely weekend that I'm dreading it being over. The sun was out, the weather was lovely, and we spent time together as a family, went exploring, found a new park for the kids to play at and just had some laughs.
We live on the outside of Ottawa, and this area has lots of little villages around it, each with a church or two. At this time of the year, most of those churches are holding a church supper of some kind, a fundraising event for the church, but a tasty dinner option for us. We had several choices for Saturday night, both roast beef dinners, learned of a roast beef dinner we'd missed, and of an upcoming ham and turkey dinner. So many options!
If you've never been to a church supper, they can be a hit or miss type of experience. Everything is homemade, but nothing is made by the same person. The dishes are a collection of items that are volunteered by the congregation, as is the meal, including dessert. A family can go and depending on where you are in line, you can end up with two completely different meals.
Then there is the pie. The ladies of these churches turn out pie after pie after pie for dessert. The church we chose for our dinner had a take out booth set up, and when you went in to place your order, the counter was covered in different pies. There was coconut cream, apple, cherry cranberry, butterscotch, chocolate, lemon meringue, cherry, raisin, and my favorite, the strawberry rhubarb custard pie. Oh was it good!
Memories of a good weekend.... Back to Monday and my menu plan for Menu Plan Monday.
My week is going to be off slightly, so I haven't finished my menu plan, but here is what I have so far...
Sunday: Honey garlic chicken wings with potato skins and veggies and dip.
Monday: Turkey kabobs with corn on the cobb.
Tuesday: Beef noodle soup.
Wednesday: Undecided at this point.
Thursday: Pasta of some kind.
Friday: No idea.
I Hearts Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Edition: Potluck
Who doesn't love a jar full of chocolate chip cookies? Not my family, that's for sure. I personally prefer oatmeal raisin, but generally don't turn down a soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie.
Looking back over the last few weeks of cooking Mark Bittman, it seems we don't really like much of his recipes at all. So since this week's theme for I Hearts Cooking Club was potluck, I wanted something that we did like. These cookies qualify.
At least I'm assuming the boys liked them since I didn't hear complaints about "those" cookies from their lunch boxes (which I did hear when I put Bittman's oatmeal raisin cookies in for the second day in a row - no one liked those.)
While these cookies don't replace any of my previous recipes, they are a nice change. I would make them again, and probably will.
Menu Plan Monday: April 18
Tried something a little different and fun this weekend. Together with a friend and her son, we went trout fishing again at the local trout farm (each member of our family caught a fish, including one by my oldest that was caught before he put any bait on his line.)
Then, I took the 7 fish we caught, discovered it is very, very, very difficult, almost impossible, to fillet a little fish. Especially without a filleting knife.
Then I beer battered them and deep fried them.
And do you know what those little trout tasted like?
Nothing. They tasted like nothing.
Which might explain why my oldest ate two pieces.
Oh well, it was fun catching and cooking.
On to the menu plan for the week, being submitted to Menu Plan Monday.
Sunday: Grilled whole chicken, rice and corn.
Monday: Pasta (hubby made sauce Sunday).
Tuesday: Taco night - oldest son has 'volunteered' to cook that night. Think his brother can help by shredding the cheese.
Wednesday: Chicken cutlets with salad.
Thursday: Sausage on a bun with veggies and dip.
Friday: No plan at all. See what we are all in the mood for.
I Hearts Cooking Clubs, Mark Bittman Edition: Pantry Raid
It's the second week of Mark Bittman and I'm still here and still cooking from How to Cook Everything.
On the advice of several other bloggers, I did look into borrowing the libraries copy of Kitchen Express. It is now sitting on my living room couch, waiting for me to read it.
This week's them was Pantry Staples, and what pantry does not have banana's waiting to be used?
One of the things I like to do when trying a new "chef" is to try a few basic recipes, things that we like alot and that are made regularly in my house, such as banana bread. I even made banana bread for one of my choices for Tyler Florence Fridays, the predecessor of this little group.
So this week I made Mark Bittman's banana bread, a suitable choice for the pantry staples theme as I did not need to pick up a single item to make it.
However if you look closely at my pictures, you will see this bread looks more like coconut bread than banana bread. That's because the recipe calls for coconut in the batter (and nuts, which I omitted.)
And it tastes more like coconut bread than banana bread.
Not a bad thing, if you like coconut (hubby and I do), but not a good thing if what you wanted was banana bread. And I wanted banana bread. The kids wanted banana bread. The hubby wanted to know where the butter was so he could butter his slices before adding them into his lunch box.
Not a bad recipe, not a bad result, just not what I wanted. Though it did help me use up several over ripe bananas and for that I'm happy.
Foodie Fans of the Pioneer Woman: Make this cake
Ree's Chocolate Sheet Cake, found on pages 218, 19 and 20. A lovely chocolate cake with chocolate icing, plenty for a crowd.
I must have made this cake a good half dozen times before I ever got a picture of it. It isn't a picturesque cake, nothing fancy, but people dive into it and it's hard to take a pretty picture of something that people are inhaling.
The only reason I didn't have to fight off my kids to get this picture is because I hid my slice and then I waited until they were busy with their own pieces. My kids are pretty good about letting me get pictures of food items, either mine or their own, but when there is chocolate cake, with a decadent, gooey icing, why tempt them?
I like it when the theme for Food Fans of the Pioneer Woman is any recipe. Makes it easier for me to justify making yet another dessert as my submission.
Thanks Deb and Muneba for this selection.
And thank you Ree, Pioneer Woman, for a great cake recipe that will be make many, many more times for my family and friends.
Free (or nearly free) stuff you should know about
Let's start with the free...
On Thursday, April 14th, if you bring your own mug in, Starbucks will give you a free brewed coffee. 
That's great if you drink coffee, not so good if you drink Green Tea Latte's.
Now for the nearly free:
On Wednesday, April 28 from 5-10 p.m., Baskin Robbins will host its second annual 31¢ Scoop Night in support of the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Foundation (CFFF). You can enjoy a 2.5 oz scoop of your favourite ice cream or a 3 oz Soft Serve cone for only 31¢ (plus taxes where applicable). You will also have the opportunity to donate to the CFFF and participate in the activities that participating restaurants have planned with local firefighters. 
For locations, just check out the website here.
Back to free: The Simply Raw Lifestyle Festival, being held this year on June 19, 2010 from 10am to 9pm, is a free outdoor event for foodies. You can learn more about it at their website.
If you know of other free, or almost free, food events and would like me to post about them, just drop me a line!
Menu Plan Monday: April 11th
Short and sweet as I still have 5 or 6 things to do before I leave for work this morning!
Sunday: Pot roast with roasted potatoes and broccoli, plus Yorkshire puddings
Monday: Hamburgers and salad
Tuesday: Penne with tomatoes, garlic and chili peppers (possibly garlic bread)
Wednesday: Happy Shrimp with rice
Thursday: Panini sandwiches and fruit
Friday: Left over night or Breakfast for dinner.
Have you submitted your menu plan to Menu Plan Monday?
I Hearts Cooking Clubs: Mark Bittman Bites
Now that the period of Nigella Lawson is over for the I Hearts Cooking Club, its on to the next chef. Chosen by vote, Mark Bittman won out over Jamie Oliver (my first choice), and Bobby Flay (my second choice).
I've owned How to Cook Everything for years, and occasionally consult it for something. It is where I went when looking for a simple flour tortilla recipe, for example. But I admit, it isn't even close to my favorite cookbook.
Still, this is the new selection, and I am going to try and contribute as often as I can (if only so I have motivation to cook from recipes when I'm rushed to get dinner on the table.)
The first theme for Mark Bittman was Bites, as in bite sized items of some kind, appetizers, whatever, just bite sized.
For the first week and theme, you actually get 3 selections from me. As you can see from above, I deep fried. Corn fritters. You can find the recipe for these on page 565.
I admit, these looked impressive, golden in color, and they cooked up very well. They didn't get an amazing reception at the dinner table though, with one child disliking them entirely, one liking them only because they came with a dip (my second choice, Garlic Aioli, found on page 761), and my husband and I both indifferent to them, thinking they were okay but not great and not what we expected.
As for the aioli - well, I've made aioli's before that I was willing to lick the bowl clean after, and this wasn't it. It did not want to thicken, as you can see by the pool of it, and was just okay. Again, we did eat it, no one outright hated it, but no one asked for the left overs in their lunch the next day.
My last choice has the worst possible picture but had the best outcome: Bruschetta with tomatoes and basil, found on page 265.
I admit, this is almost a cheat as Bruschetta really isn't a recipe so much as a technique, but I hadn't made any in forever and was in the mood. Plus I had a very good loaf of bread from Pan Chancho, a bakery in Kingston.
While the kids weren't overwhelmed by this (not liking raw tomatoes), the hubby and I loved it and both wished I had made more.
So far we aren't off to an amazing start with Mark Bittman, certainly no outright failures, which means I will try to keep up with him for a bit and contribute regularly to I Heart Cooking Club.
Menu Plan Monday: Tuesday edition
Monday was sort of a holiday for many people. While my hubby did not have the day off, the kids did and I took the day off from work to stay home and do work.
And since we didn't get home until Sunday night, I had to do my menu planning and shopping on Monday.
So here goes, my menu for the week, for submission to Menu Plan Monday:
Sunday: Make do with what is in the house, appropriately, eggs and toast.
Monday: Double coconut chicken with fruit salad (left over from last week, didn't get a chance to make it then)
Tuesday: Pork stir fry with bok choy.
Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs. Trying a different recipe.
Thursday: Sausages and mashed potatoes.
Friday: No plans yet.
For the next little bit, I am going to try and minimize the dairy in our menu. We are doing a little home experiment to see if one of the boys might be lactose intolerant. Since I was before I had kids (and some in between them), and here is a history of it, it is a possibility. He's distressed over it, thinking of all the things he can't have for the next few weeks with dairy involved, but if it turns out he is lactose intolerant, it is an easy thing to deal with.
Happy Easter!
We aren't home for Easter this year, but just because we aren't, doesn't mean I can't find a stove and get cooking!
While the Easter Bunny had to go traveling to find the kids (leaving chocolate eggs in very odd places), I brought some items from home to make things festive for the grown ups. Including these fun eggs that I turned into Deviled Eggs, as part of the ham dinner I made.
Despite the colors, these eggs are completely edible. And are very easy to make.
Easter Eggs for Grown Ups
hard boiled eggs (as many as you'd like, I made 8), still in the shell
various food coloring gels (the kind you use to color icing for cakes)
zip top bags, one for each color you are going to use.
Prepare the colors: Place 1/2-2/3 of a cup of warm water in each of the zip bags you are going to use*. Using separate spoons, mix in some of the food coloring, swirling around in the water so that all the color mixes in and comes off the spoon. The amount of color you use depends on how vibrant you want the eggs to be.
*Tip* Place the zip bags in a bowl, mug or plastic container to let it stand up, before you add the water.
Crack the shells of the eggs, but do not remove! You want to create good cracks so the color can seep inside, but not leave holes in the shells.
Place the eggs inside the colored water bags, seal the bags, removing the air as you do so, then place the bags in the fridge over night.
The next day, drain the water and peel the eggs to reveal the colors and patterns you created.
Use your fun colored eggs for Deviled Eggs, egg salad sandwiches, sliced on a salad, pretty well anywhere you would normally use a hard boiled egg.
Omnivores Ottawa Supper Club: Big Easy
Mike and Ron picked well again!
Big Easy's Seafood and Steakhouse, located on Preston Street, was the location for the 8th Omnivore's Ottawa Supper Club, where 45 or so of us gathered for good food.
Restauranteur Val Belcher greeted us with a glass of sparkling wine upon arrival (and I actually drank mine, though it took me the entire night to do so), while Chef Barrin Bruck and his crew put together a 5 course meal for us.
Warm bread was brought to our table with two butter choices: a "regular" whipped butter and a caramalized butter, which as divine. We had two of these at our table of four and could have used two more.
Appetizer Course: Madeira escargot on shitake mushroom with steamed leek, salmon flank frite with dill aioli and blood orange tuna ceviche.
The description of this course is what lost my husband's interest in joining me for this meal. Don't worry, I didn't eat alone. I went with a few friends, foodies themselves and we savored every course.
Salad Course: Jumbo blue crab, frisee, roasted corn, poached quail egg, sweet onion dressing, curry apple oil, sundried tomato confit and garlic oil.
You may have noticed over the last few years of my blog that I like to talk. I'm not shy with my opinions either.
When this course was over, we were asked by a friend at another table how we enjoyed it, and my boss, who was sitting beside me said, "It was so good that Jenny said nothing during that entire course!"
I had crab, I was happy.
Third Course, Duck and Shrimp: Duck-prosciutto-wrapped barbeque shrimp, White Stone Asiago creamed grits, with red-eye gravy.
Did you know you could replace the flour in red-eye gravy with ground kidney beans? I know I didn't. I didn't taste them, fortunately, but they matched well with the duck fat and the coffee to make a gravy that balanced the richness of those creamy grits.
This course was served with a Chardonnay, paired to match the smokiness of the prosciutto. It smelled very nice and didn't taste bad either. (You all know how much I love my wine, hehe.)
Happy Birthday to BC, who joined me for dinner! She waited until after dinner to tell me it was her birthday the next day.
Probably a good thing - maybe they would have made her stand on a chair while we all sang to her.
Or not.
Fourth Course: Where's the Beef? Chili pomegranate glazed tenderloin, gorgonzola pecan-stuffed croquette, smoked asparagus and caramalized chipolini onions and lattice cut potato chips. Served with a red wine (I have no idea what it was, I forgot to write it down, and I did not drink mine.)
Remember at last months dinner when I said the beef course was one of the reasons I will never be a vegetarian? Just take a look at confirmation of that belief. Melt in your mouth, rare tenderloin, paired with a croquette that was wonderfully crispy on the outside, but smooth and mellow on the inside. The onions were soft and beautiful, and when they said smoked asparagus, they meant SMOKED asparagus. So good, soooo good.
Final Course, Dessert: Sweet potato Canadian Maple Cheesecake with pecan-graham crust, Bailey's whipped cream, pepper tuile and spiced apple bourbon sauce.
Cheesecake that was so light it was mousse-like. The Bailey's in the whipped cream was so generous that we speculated how they managed to whip the cream. All of it amazingly good. We'd have licked our plates if it wasn't so rude.
This entire meal came to $85, including the sparkling wine, two additional glasses of wine, taxes and gratuity.
Many thanks to the staff, kitchen and dinning room alike, for a lovely evening. And thanks to Ron and Mike for organizing and setting up another winner.
Menu Plan Monday: Short week
Since I returned to work last fall, our schedule has been a little hectic. I've done plenty of cooking between now and then, but most of it quick stuff that I can throw together. I've rarely had time to just let loose in my kitchen and enjoy myself.
Yesterday I took some time.
Boy, did I need to do that. I needed to remind myself that I loved playing in my kitchen and making a mess.
And since I will have a bit of time this week to put towards dinners, I'm going to have a bit more fun in the kitchen with this week's menu plan.
Btw, it's a short week because of the holiday weekend coming up, Easter. We won't be home for the weekend, but I will be cooking at my mother's house as well.
Sunday: Bruchetta with rib eye steak in whiskey cream sauce, corn fritters and garlic aioli.
Monday: Lasagna and garlic bread.
Tuesday: Meatloaf with mashed potatoes.
Wednesday: Double coconut chicken with grilled pineapple and papaya.
Thursday: Make your own salad night (with left overs.)
Friday: At my mothers, possibly having nachos.
And that's my contribution to this week's Menu Plan Monday.
