So after two attempts with two different Dell computers, I am now the owner of a MacBook.
This week marks the last week of school for the kids, and the last week of my full time employment. I have voluntarily taken a huge cut in hours, down to 1.5 shifts a week from 5 full shifts, in order to be home with my kids this summer. I think I remember what it is like to be home with the kids. And I'm pretty sure I remember how to cook and bake with them home as well.
This week also marks my 15th wedding anniversary, which both the hubby and I have off of work, so we will get to spend some time together!
Short plan, but here we go, my entry for this week's Menu Plan Monday:
Sunday: Dinner with family to celebrate a birthday and anniversary (yummy ribs and potato salad)
Monday: Chicken caesar salad with garlic bread
Tuesday: Hamburgers, coleslaw and watermelon (oh yes, fries in the freezer if needed)
Wednesday: Pork tenderloin with pears and apples
Thursday: Anniversary night, but dinner tucked in between music, so either Wendy's or Subway.
Friday: Last day of school - whatever the kids pick that night (one year it was funnel cake, another year it was go out for pizza, the year before, waffles with fruit - so who knows what it will be?)
It is Father's Day today, and I've already missed my chance to wish my Dad a Happy Father's Day (even though I called shortly after 8 am on a Sunday, I was still too late, he was gone!)
My boys greeted their father with breakfast, which they made with only supervision from me. My oldest has gotten more comfortable in the kitchen and made some lovely, crisp bacon, as well as scrambling eggs all on his own.
Think I will put him in charge of making breakfast for dinner next week.
Which has nothing, whatsoever, to do with I Heart Cooking Clubs and making something for Father's Day from one of Mark Bittman's recipes. I went simple, picked a recipe I know all my dad's would like (my own father, my grandfather and my father-in-law), and my husband would like as well: Peanut Brittle.
We haven't broken into this brittle yet, it was still warm when I took the picture, but I'm sure it will be great. Afterall, peanuts and sugar, with a touch of salt, how can you go wrong?
I will say, though, that this was the oddest instructions for candy I've ever made. I've made candy before, and it always involved a candy thermometer and not stirring the sugar (so as not to cause crystalization.) This recipe calls for stirring the sugar until it is melted and adding the peanuts in when you achieved the color you were looking for. Simple, yes, but if you aren't comfortable with sugar, or don't realize how quickly it can go from amber to burnt, a bit too simple.
I'll be bringing this with me this afternoon, when I see my father-in-law, to share it between him and my husband. My own father won't get any, this time, and neither with my grandfather. But we will be thinking of all the dad's out there and wishing all of them a Happy Father's Day.
You can find the recipe for Peanut Brittle on page 679 of How to Cook Everything. Other Mark Bittman recipes can be found at I Heart Cooking Clubs.
I had a lovely week off from work (more details about that still to come), but reality had to happen, so back to work I go this morning.
And while I did have a menu plan for last week that I did not post, we also tried to be very flexible. After all, I was going to be in a kitchen all day, every day, and while it was fun, it was also very tiring.
So here we go for the week, my contribution to Menu Plan Monday!
Sunday: Bbq'd steak with salad and garlic bread
Monday: Taco's
Tuesday: Lasagna, made ahead of time for ease and convenience
Wednesday: Chicken wings (probably bbq'd) with veggies and dip
Thursday: Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with fruit
Friday: No plans, leaving it open
I'm off, have a happy week!
It is a beautifully sunny day outside. About 25C outside, not too hot, not too cold. Perfect for a light, summery meal.
Which is why I'm posting about pot roast and popovers for this week's I Heart Cooking Clubs, Mark Bittman Edition.
Don't laugh. It's all I had pictures of, despite the stacks of recipes made recently. This was it.
And somewhere in the world, there is a Mark Bittman fan, a reader of my blog, who is going into winter and could use some warm comfort, the kind you can only get from a good pot roast.
This pot roast was fine, but the star of the meal was the popovers, or Yorkshire Puddings. Light and fluffy on the inside, crisp on the outside, the right shape for sucking up gravy. I had not made these for quite some time, so all my boys, husband included, were quite excited when I placed the bowl on the table. And they are so simple to make, made me wonder why I don't make them more often.
Recipes for both of these can be found in How to Cook Everything. The Pot Roast on page 437, and the Popovers on page 253.
If you like Mark Bittman, or are just curious, go check out the I Heart Cooking Clubs page and see what everyone else made.
Just a quick note on the computer problems I've had lately: they aren't over yet. I bought a new computer, much needed, however my new computer was defective, so I have been waiting for my new new computer. Basically, right now, I'm stuck between two bad computer options, which makes it very difficult to do things that require a computer.
I'm told my replacement computer will be here this week, and if works when it gets here, I will be on the road to computer recovery. If it doesn't work, then I'm sending it back and going to go look at a Mac.
And you'll never guess where I am!!!
I've gone back to school for the week, to college of all places (cause that's what you do when you take time off of work!)
Today was day one of Introduction to Baking and Pastry, the first course I will need to get my culinary certificate. For the next 4 days, I will be in a baking lab, wearing my chef's coat and little black hat, saying, "Yes Chef" and baking up a storm. I don't expect to learn alot (as there is nothing on the sylabus that I have not already made multiple times), but is sure is fun to be in such a huge kitchen, with mammoth ovens, multiple restaurant style dishwashers, and baking up a storm!
I'll be taking pictures as I can this week, so will do an update when I am all done.
Have a lovely week!
Computer problems continue, waiting for the new one, but for now, here is a quick menu plan for the week:
Sunday: Roast chicken with rice and creamed corn
Monday: Pork chops with yellow carrots
Tuesday: Pasta with tomatoes, garlic and chili peppers
Wednesday: Bbq`d steak with grilled veggies
Thursday: Bbq`d hamburgers with salad
Friday: Left overs
Go to Menu Plan Monday for more plans and ideas.
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!
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!
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.
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!?!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
