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?!