Happy Blustery Thursday!

Do you know that feeling when you open a wrapped present completely oblivious as to whats inside? Will it be socks? A Louis wallet? A homemade picture frame? Well, readers, this is how I feel right now, because I have a huge pot of Beef Bourguignon stewing away in the oven and I have no idea how it will turn out. The recipe comes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which my husband bought for me a few weeks ago when I was feeling slightly discouraged and lacked motivation in the cooking department. So the reason why I feel like this Bourguignon has the potential to be a flop is because firstly, I forgot to pick up tomato paste at the grocery store this morning so I omitted it from the recipe, and secondly because I could not locate a hunk of bacon with the rind still on, instead I used maple leaf center cut bacon, the one with the re-sealable container, which someone should of thought of years ago. Serious question for you readers, when you only need a few slices of bacon, how do you store the rest of it?

Fun fact about Julia Child, she loves using the word FAT in her cookbooks, in the recipe I used today, she used the word 7 times, referring to the bacon fat and butter. I guess healthy and low fat eating goes by the wayside when you cook with Julia.



Everything in this picture makes me happy, especially my new Cookbook which reminds me of Tiffany every time I look at it! My parents bought me the Saucy Sangria Drizzle in the photo from Niagara on the Lake a few weeks ago, I'm looking for a creative way of using it, any ideas?

Yesterday I was in a festive mood, so I made a batch of Almond Toffee, the key to making a perfect toffee is to not let the temperature rise even 1 degree over 290, which I accidently did yesterday. The end result was still completely edible, but it had a slight bite to it, which meant the sugar burned. Give it a try, I'm sure you have all the ingredients in your pantry right now, just go out and buy yourself a candy themometer.


Toffee

1 CUP BUTTER
1 CUP SUGAR
3 TABLESPOONS WATER

2 CUPS CHOPPED ALMONDS, TOASTED
2 CUPS CHOCOLATE CHIPS


In a heavy saucepan combine the sugar water . Cook and stir over medium heat until a candy themometer reaches 290. Stir in the nuts and pour immediately into buttered cookie sheet.

Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over toffee and let them melt from the heat of the candy, once the toffee has hardened, using a spatula smooth out the chips and allow to cool and set.

Cool tip: To make sure your themometer is acurate, place it in a pot of boiling water and it should read 212 degrees.


Tomorrow is our first Christmas Party of the season, oh..what to wear?!

no fun Sunday

I've been slacking in the blogging department, but only because there are a million other things i've been busy with. The gym is one of them, and I'm proud of that, I'm also back in the saddle (litterally) after not having a riding lesson in over a month due to travelling and such. My lesson on Friday was so great, I started jumping which was such a rush! I'm supposed to ride again tomorrow, but doubt I will be able to because currently I'm half laying on the couch, foot elevated on 3 pillow and ice on my swollen ankle. I rolled it last night and now its ugly, ouchie and depressing. I've never had a sprained ankle so I don't know how long this will last, any suggestions as to how to make it heal quicker? Anyone?

We celebrated American Thanksgiving with my good friend and fellow blogger Ana and her whole extended family, there were close to 75 people for dinner at her parents house in adorable Rochester. The spread was unreal, they had everything from fried turkey, to a pomegranate and nut salad yum! Since we missed Canadian Thanksgiving this year (B was in Boston and I was in CO) celebrating it now was a real treat.

Have you ever tried Quinoa? (pronounced Keen-Wah) I discovered it several years ago and its been a staple in our house ever since. It's so versatile and the absolute epitome of nutritious! One night this week I made a Quinoa salad type dish. Other ways of incorporating it, is to use it in lieu of potatoes, rice or pasta. Tip: always rinse the Quinoa well before cooking to get rid of the natural pesticide it produces, failing to do so will result in a very bitter taste.

Quinoa with Coconut-Lime Dressing

6 Cups cooked Quinoa

Scallions

Shitake mushrooms (or your favourite kind)

Broccoli

Basil

For the dressing you will need 1 cup of Coconut milk, 2 tsp Fish Sauce, the juice of 1 lime.

Sautee the scallions, mushrooms, broccoli until cooked but still quite firm, add the cooked Quinoa, fresh basil and finally toss with the dressing add salt and pepper to taste. This can be served hot, room temperature or cold.

My ankle is frozen, I'm pretty sure that means I've iced it long enough.

I have a challenge for you lovely readers

I'm back home from 3 weeks in Toronto and a weekend in Quebec City. Although B worked non-stop we still managed to cram alot of fun things into our time. Including, a sweet horse and carriage ride thorough Old Quebec City which picked us up right infront of our hotel Le Chateau Frontenac, which is 116 years old this year and really does look like a Chateau!

The last time I was in Quebec City was in grade 8, which would have been close to 14 years ago. On the first night in QC, B and I headed out to look for a good place to have dinner, we eneded up at this adorable little French bistro, and the hotel it was attached to looked wickedly familiar. As we waited for our food, I walked into the hotel lobby to see if it brought back memories. Indeed, it was the hotel my grade 8 class stayed at 14 years ago.

So here is the aforementioned challenge; for dinner at Les Freres de la Cote, B ordered something that made me very uncomfortable. Look closely at the picture and tell me in the comments section what type of meat it is. The winner will get a package of goodies sent to their house. This is a real contest, so whomever I told already...you don't qualify.

I will leave you with that.
Good luck to all!

Bison Burgers and Peameal Bacon Sandwiches

I did not make these delicious things, but enjoyed eating them at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair this evening. (the 3 little cuties ate slices of pizza from a PizzaPizza booth)

Cooking these days for me has been non-existent, with the exception of mac and cheese (homemade, not Kraft-yuck-whatever-its-called) for W and an egg white omelet for myself at breakfast. I love being in Toronto but I'm feeling really guilty about my fish who have been alone since last Wednesday..oops! according to Wiki they should be o.k!

Tonight was the first time my little girl wore makeup, but the type of makeup Mimi Bobeck would wear, and it came in the form of a swirly lollipop from awesome Joshua!


I briefly mentioned the Gruyere-Walnut Crisps I made in my last post. They were strange. Every time I had a bite of one, I had to remind myself they were savoury and not sweet, because they looked like shortbread cookies but tasted very VERY different.
...after tasting a few of these mini cheese crispy things, I couldn't help but think they tasted alot like a popular child snack, which is why I snapped the next photo.

Have you ever had peameal bacon? If so, what is your favourite way to enjoy it? tell me in the comments section.

On a cooking fren-zē ; intense usually wild and often disorderly compulsive or agitated activity (not quite, but you know what I mean)

Growing up in a Serbian home, my mom would make Pasulja a rich navy bean soup, with few vegetables and LOTS of flavour. I hated it, up until I got married and realized how much I missed my moms home cooked meals, now I love the stuff and decided to try making it. One day last week I visited Ade's Meat Market and bought a ham hock which was the base flavour of the Pasulja. It turned out delicious and was even better the next day! Some Serbs claim that Pasulja tastes the best the 7th time you warm it up. I wasn't about to try.

1 smoked ham hock (or any other smokey meat of your choice)

1/2 bag navy beans (soaked in cold water for 1hr)

3 cloves garlic minced

3 celery ribs chopped

2 carrots chopped

1/2 onion chopped

2 tbs Vegeta (or any other seasoning salt)

Boil the Ham in a large pot of water for 1hr, add remaining ingredients and let simmer for approximately 3 hours or until beans are tender.

To thicken the soup, make a roux;

3 tbs flour

1/4 C butter OR Oil

Brown the mixture on low heat, add sprinkle of sweet paprika and enough broth from the soup to make a thick sauce. Slowly stir roux mixture into soup until thick.

I made Serbian fried bread to accompany the soup. It was my first time making this, so I was not surprised when they didn't turn out as fluffy as they should have. I'm hoping my next attempt will be better!

There really is no reason to use any other Cookie recipe, EVER, other than this one. I have been making these for years, and when I made them on Saturday I substituted half the batch with chunks of white chocolate and chopped pecans. A.J said they ROCKED!

Make them, now, go do it! Come back and let me know how right I am!

In the fridge cooling right now is my Gruyere-Walnut crisps from Bon Appetite, such a quirky recipe, but I can't wait to bake em and taste em.

Recipe for Di's (Toronto Star clipping) Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

My Mom blogged about this recipe when she was visiting a few weeks ago, you can view her posting here. Try it, and let me know how you like it.

ROASTED SWEET POTATO SALAD WITH BLACK BEANS AND CHILI DRESSING

4 Medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 Large red onion chopped
1/2 cup olive oilsalt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoon minced fresh jalapenoes
1 clove garlic
Juice of 2 limes
2 cups black beans drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Heat oven to 400 F. Put sweet potatoes and onions on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, toss to coat and spread out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning occasionally,until potatoes begin to brown on corners and are just tender inside, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; keep in pan until ready to mix with dressing. Put chilies in a blender or mini food processor along with garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Process until blendedPut warm vegetables in a large bowl with beans and bell pepper; toss with dressing and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary/ Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day.

Finished Product

Today I will be making Gruyere-Walnut Crisps taken from Bon Appetit's Thanksgiving issue.

Yoga yesterday at the Downtown studio was GREAT! I'm so sore today.

My next trip will be to South America!

Instead of watching Grey's I'm here blogging about my latest endeavour; EMPANADAS. (Ok so Im taping it)

Attempting to make this South American fare was completely unplanned. As I was trying to lovingly force-feed W and watch Handy Manny, I was scoping out new recipes I could try for dinner. I came across Tyler Florence's Potato and Chorizo Empanadas , the reviews were great and it involved using Masa Harina which sounded authentic albiet strange. Surprisingly, I found it at my local grocery store, which now has a whole aisle devoted to authenic ingredients including Indian, Asian, Mexican and Lebanese. I loved making this because it required many steps, but alot of cooling and wait time in between, which allowed me to get things done outside of the kitchen. I began cooking the filling (chorizo, onions, garlic and potatoes) around 2pm because it needed to cool completely before continuing. As it cooled, I did a load of laundrey and then whipped up the Empanada dough (so easy!) I have to say I may have been grossed out a bit as I un-cased the chorizo sausages.

So with having a brother-in-law who's been to South America recently and has tasted authentic Empanadas, I had to make sure I nailed it. He came over for dinner and said they tasted really good!

The recipe called for a Cilantro Cream (sour cream, finely chopped fresh cilantro, lime juice, S&P) to dip the Empanadas in. It also suggested a 4" cookie cutter, which would make very small crusts, instead, I used a pyrex bowl which made larger Empanadas.


..and this is how they turned out!!

Will definitely make them again, the dough was a little tough to work with as it kept cracking, but it yeilded a very authentic tasting crust. Next time I plan on making them with a different filling, the possibilities are literally endless. B said he wants to try sweet Empanadas, so if anyone knows of a good filling, please share!

Last night the Vegetable Barley stew turned out nicely, I'm starting to think that the crock-pot infuses my food with a wierd taste, so next time I make it will be in a pot on the stove. It was very hearty and healthy.

Tomorrow I hope to visit our friends at Ade's Meat Market to pick up some ham hocks (is that that part that has all the flavour!?) and make Pasulja (Navy Bean soup) Should be interesting!

I want a new set of pots and pans for Christmas, that would make me very happy. and maybe a new kitchen too!

As mentioned in my last post, while making my apple pie yesterday I accidently forgot to "dot" the apples with butter prior to going into the oven. Turns out, it wasn't entirely necessary the pie turned out delicious and the Macintosh apples I used were the perfect type to use in this particular recipe. I used my favourite pie crust recipe from Home Cooking with Charlie Trotter

Mom's Apple Pie

Filling

2/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice

6 to 7 cups thinly sliced peeled and cored apples

1 tablespoon butter

Streusel Topping

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1/4 tsp nutmeg

In small bowl combine sugar and next 5 ingredients. Place half sliced apples in pie crust and sprinkle with half of sugar mixture. Top with rest of apples then rest of sugar mixture. NOTE: I added the apples to the sugar mixture and coated them well before putting them in the pie pan. Dot filling with butter. Top with the strusel topping.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes in a 425 degree oven.

I've been making ALOT of vegetarian meals lately, so I knew it was time to start adding a little more meat to our dinner menus. Last night I made Veal Scallopini. The original recipe just called for the veal to be smothered with a mushroom sauce type thing, in addition to that I served it on a bed of brown rice spaghetti pasta, which gave the meal more substance. The veal was a little tough but thats because B wanted it crispy which meant it spent way more time in the pan than it should have. I will make this again, but will subsitute chicken for the veal. I used portobello, shitake, crimini and oyster mushrooms. Love mushrooms, the more the better! The recipe didn't call for Basil, but I added some to the flour which coated the veal.

Dinner tonight is Vegetable Pearl Barley Stew, it's in the crock pot now and smells yummy. I hear W bouncing around in her crib and I better get her before she jumps her way out! She's attempted MANY times. I'm just waiting for a huge THUD!

Dinner 4 4

I am an avid follower of my friend Jordana's blog because the recipes she tries always look so good, she also gives me good ideas and inspiration through her posts and pictures of the yummy food she cooks up! Last night we had A & J over for dinner so I decided to make Roast Chicken with Lemony Bombay Potatoes adapted from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie, which She featured a few weeks ago. It turned out great, and was a simple one dish meal which I will definitely make again.

So with B being back in town after his 3 weeks in Boston, life is good! While he was away I barely cooked dinner, I would either get take-out or make salads for dinner. However one evening I felt like being creative so I put together a tofu stirfry with spicy Chilli sauce and Dijon mustard sauce. it was satisfying and healthy! Sometimes I make up a similar dish, but with a coconut peanut sauce instead.

I steamed the asparagus and tossed it with the tofu.

I currently have an apple pie with a streussel topping in the oven, sadly, it's not looking very promising. It's been in there for 45 minutes (5 more to go) and I just realized I forgot to dot the apples with butter...OOPS! hope it's not a big deal.

How do you know if you have H1N1? I feel like I have it, but only in the mornings, my chest hurts and I have a croup-like cough which generally lasts until 10am. Should I be worried? I really wanted to hit the gym hard starting this week, but this cold/cough/h1n1 thing is in the way of me and a good run. Frustrating, but at least I have a riding lesson on Friday and a massage on Saturday morning.

Tonight for dinner is Veal Scallopini taken from here and steamed Broccolini (which is hard to find in this town!) It's so much better than regular Broccoli, and the name is cute too!

Cooking to Di for

This is Violet's Mom ( Diana )

Cooking has always been my passion. Having a house full of kids and a husband who all love food my life has been very fruitful. I always like to try new things and usually end up with keepers so my list goes on and on with my recipes.

Here is one of our favorite desserts. Poppyseed strudel / Makara

Something else I love to do is scan the newspapers and magazines for interesting recipes. Here is one I found in the Toronto Star for Roasted Sweet Potatoe and Red Onions with Black Beans and cilantro / dressing of Lime juice,olive oil and jalepeno peppers. YUMMO

This was so easy and yet so very very good.

This is the start of something good.

And now for the finished product.

Im HOME!

I'm home from Colorado, Boston and Toronto and will tell you all about it, but first Iam pleased to announce that my own mama will be guest blogging about a delicious meal she prepared while I was in Toronto this week.

In case you are wondering, this was the weather I had in Colorado. Gross.

an out of the ordinary Friday night

Usually we are out on Friday nights, but with the babysitters aka the inlaws in Europe, we really have no one else to stay over while we go out for dinner etc.. Tonight we are enjoying our favourite type of meal; good cheese, vintage wine and a fresh baquette that just came out of the oven, and B is loving the pork and chicken liver pate..not my thing!! As we're munching, I'm helping my handsome husband pack for Bo-town, yes, you heard me right, he's leaving for 3 weeks tomorrow at 7am and decides to pack the night before...wow I love him! I wish I could pull that off.
Image #1: dinner
Image #2 proof that this is a casual dinner..no bread knives allowed (serbian style)

Image #3 my husband "packing"

I haven't yet talked about my newest favourite movie, Valentino, love love love love love, I love it! Kind of wants to make me become anorexic like my 18 month old daughter, who by the way had 2 bites of a pancake, 3.5 bites of a cheese quesadilla, half a bowl of brown rice noodles, and a bottle of milk...ALL DAY..one cannot survive on this and it has me worried. so yes, I've always loved Valentino Garavani (who knew Valentino was his first name, love that!) and the movie makes me want to be Valentino clad for the rest of the year!

Off to watch Grey's from last night.

We're getting a bird and naming her Cupcake

This made my day! My little model :)

When I woke up yesterday morning, I felt like having an easy day so I decided not to make dinner and perhaps convince B we needed some Chanosos..for the second time this week! Around 3pm I started getting the bug to make a creative dinner...so as W napped, i flicked on the Food Network and was instantly glued to Oliver's Twist. Jamie Oliver was making this beautiful quattro fromaggio quiche that I wanted to make too. I flipped open my laptop and went to the Food Network website to snag the recipe, and even though hubby doesn't like quiches' I had a feeling this one would be different. Sadly, I did not find the recipe, but as I was searching the site, I came across a pizza recipe that looked too scrumptious to pass up. It was Giada De Laurentis' Roasted Acorn, Arugala and Gorgonzola pizza. For the dough, I used Wolfgank Puck's go-to pizza dough recipe, which was so easy to make but required 2 hours to rise. The dough recipe yielded enough for 2 pizzas so on the second one I put a thin layer of pizza sauce, the rest of the gorgonzola, some feta, mozzarella, spicy chorizo sausage, fresh basil and a generous drizzle of olive oil. Both pizzas turned out nicely, but we prefered my made up version better than Giada's. I was, however, very impressed with the way the acorn squash turned out, before roasting I tossed it with red pepper flakes, maple syrup, olive oil, salt & pepper. I will definitely make it again, just not on a pizza.

B is leaving for Boston tomorrow, it makes me sad but Iam looking forward to leaving W at my parent's and joining him in 2 weeks from today!!! I can't wait to visit Harvard Square and have a latte at La Crema Cafe which is quite possibly one of the best cafes I have ever been to, it was also where we met the guys from the NPR show, Car Talk. I love Cambridge and Boston, and would move there tomorrow.

Wish me luck on my 3 weeks sans husband. I will need it!

Riding on Monday! :) :) :)

Dinner for 7 and Deja-vu of Hypnobirthing Class

Last night we had friends (+kids) over for dinner, they were also our Hypnobirthing teachers and sadly the last time they were over was when I was 9 months pregnant. Its nice to reconnect with friends you haven't spent time with in a while. On the menu for the evening was: comfort food, which consisted of Beef Bourguinon, mashed potatoes (with exessive amounts of butter) a chopped salad with a homemade honey-dijon dressing and baked butternut squash with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Our guests brought a homemade plum/peach tart which was very pretty!

Tonight we are heading to our friends adorable downtown condo for dinner, I'm bringing dessert, which I'm very excited about. It's a Chocolate Bourbon Peacan Pie, the recipe is from Charlie Trotter's Home Cooking cookbook. It is cooling in the fridge as I type, and I cannot wait to see how it turned out. My favourite part of the recipe is the crust, it's made up of unsalted butter, cream cheese and 4oz of flour, it is supposed to be incredibly flaky and delicious! I've also never made a pecan pie which called for Bourbon, I used Bulleit Bourbon..pronounced bullet..which is my personal choice of Bourbon.

I've had a headache all day.

I just looked at this picture, and feel slightly better. My little girl wearing my riding helmet yesterday after my lesson.

My next adventure will be to learn how to make authentic Hungarian Paprikas, jó étel! I'm excited about making this spicy dish!

Peanut Butter disasters

A few days ago I wrote about my Peanut Butter cookie flop, well here is proof that they turned out flat, lifeless and just plain dull. If any of you darling readers has a go-to PB cookie recipe, I want it! thanks! xo