Mel's Amazing (& Amazingly Easy) Pad Thai Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Tamarind Juice*
• 2-3 tablespoons Fish Sauce (to taste)
• 2 tablespoons White Vinagar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp Paprika (optional)
• 2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 2 heaping teaspoons Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste**

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined. 
2. Pour over mostly cooked stir frying veggies. The rice noodles will soak up almost all the liquid, so don't worry about it being thin!

*To make Tamarind juice: soak 2 tsp Tamarind Paste in half a cup of hot water. Let soak for 5 minutes. If your paste is like mine (it's hard and more like dried dates than a paste), you'll need to crush the paste against the side of the dish it's in to loosen it up/make a 'juice'. I also had to strain my 'juice' as it had big lumps in it, like the skin of whatever tamarind is, so if it's lumpy, strain it before you add it to the other ingredients!

**I can never get the proportions or flavour quite right on my own, so I cheat with the pre-made paste. Thai Kitchen's paste is AMAZING. Can also try red chili sauce or a fresh minced red chilli, but you likely need to add more sugar to balance the tamarind paste.

Food I've made!

This post is devoted to food I've made recently that I'm proud of.

First, I made thanksgiving dinner, for the first time ever. Everything was made from scratch, and man, was it good!

 

Here's the Apple Pie. My first, if you can believe it.

I also made my first Carrot Cake for our first anniversary. It was, in a word, magnificent.


 

Now, clearly, I didn't make/cook this, or rather I don't have a picture of it cooked, but I just had to share it as I think it's really really neat. Yes, neat. It's a pointy cauliflower. It tastes like regular cauliflower, but it's green and pointy. I saw it at the market and couldn't not buy it, it was too neat. Yes neat. I'm a goober.

You know, all my life I've wanted to be great at something. Just once I wanted to be great, at whatever, just something. I've always been good at whatever I studied, but I had to work my ass off to get there. I was an average university student. I made it, it what I say about it. I'm a good writer, I think. Or at least I know I'll be good, but not great.

Well, I've finally found what I'm great at. I'm a great baker and cook. It's like I have golden fingers -- everything I bake turns out fabulously. And it's easy! And I'm learning how to tweak certain kinds of baked goods the way I always do with cooking. It's awesome. I love doing it. And, my mom, I can hear the pride in her voice when we talk baking. She knows I'm awesome at it, and she's actually told others I'm good! :D It's.. it's everything I wanted and more. It won't bring in money (I'm too ill to bake and sell it), but it brings me joy, and my family yummy baked goods. Finally, finally I'm great at something.

My Spanakopita

Makes: 1 9x13 inch pan phyllo squares, 8 quarter-sheet phyllo triangles, 12 GF rice paper rolls

Ingredients

• 3 tsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 20 medium white mushrooms, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 pkg frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
• 1 large tub (300g-400g) Ricotta cheese
• ~150g sharp parmesan cheese, finely grated
• ~200g Greek style Feta cheese, crumbled
• ½ cup fresh dill, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 large eggs
• ½ cup melted butter
• 1 pkg phyllo sheets, thawed overnight in fridge
• 12 rice paper sheets, (I used ~8 inch circles)

Directions

To make filling:

1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, on medium heat. Add the chopped onions, mushrooms and garlic. Stir occasionally cook until onions are translucent/lightly browned, and water is cooked off mushrooms.
2. While cooking onions, etc., thaw spinach in a pot of water on low heat. Use a fork to scrape thawed spinach off the frozen block. When all the spinach is broken up and thawed drain water off with a sieve. Allow spinach to cool before squeezing water out. I've found using my (clean) hands, wading it in a ball and squeezing out the water works best.
3. Transfer spinach and cooked onions, etc., to a medium sized bowl. Add cheeses and dill. Stir until just combined.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Add eggs two at a time, stir until just combined.

To make Quarter -sheet phyllo triangles:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375˚F.
2. Remove phyllo from package, and lay it out fat on wax paper(unfold sheets). Lay another layer of wax paper on top of sheets, with a damp tea towel on top of that – this will prevent the phyllo from drying out (and getting brittle), or getting too damp.
3. On a clean work surface, lay out two sheets of overlapping wax paper over an area big enough to lay a full sheet of phyllo – work with the phyllo's longest side parallel to you. Give the phyllo at least 2-3 inches of extra wax paper on the top and bottom. This will make it easier to butter the sheets.
4. Lay a sheet of phyllo on the wax paper. Lightly butter the left half the phyllo sheet. Fold sheet in half sideways. Butter left half of folded sheet and fold again. Butter the long strip of phyllo.
5. Place a tablespoon scoop of filling near the bottom edge of rectangle. Fold a triangle of the phyllo strip over the filling. Fold filling up – as phyllo box will show – to make a triangle.
6. Butter all sides of the finished triangle and place on a baking sheet.
7. Repeat process for 7 more triangles.
8. Bake in the oven for about twenty minutes or until the phyllo is lightly brown. I fnd I have to watch this like a hawk, depending how you fold, the triangles can take more or less time, so be careful! Check on them when you begin to smell them cooking!
   

To make the 9x13inch pan:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375˚F.
2. Lightly brush melted butter onto the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
3. Lay a sheet of phyllo, centred, into the pan. Gently press the phyllo to the bottom and sides of the dish. Lightly brush the sheet of phyllo with melted butter. Repeat with two more sheets of phyllo.
4. Lay a sheet of phyllo sideways on bottom of pan so that it will ft folded in half on the bottom of the pan. Butter half of phyllo sheet resting on bottom of pan. Fold sheet over. Butter top of sheet.
5. Spread filling evenly into pan.
6. Fold overhanging edges of phyllo on top of filling.
7. Lay sheet of phyllo sideways, so that one half of sheet is fulling covering filling. Lightly butter the half of the sheet resting on filling. Fold sheet over, and butter the top. Repeat with three remaining sheets.
   
8. Carefully score the top of the phyllo sheets in a diamond or square pattern. If you don't do this before it's baked you'll never get squares when it's baked!
9. Bake in the oven for approx 20 minutes, or until the top of the phyllo is lightly browned. Let cool before cutting along pre-made lines. Serve hot or cool.

To make Gluten Free Rice Paper Rolls:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375˚F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.
3. Melt ¼ cup butter in a small bowl – don't mix butter from phyllo with butter for GF rolls!
4. Fill a medium sized bowl with hot tap water. You will likely need to rinse and refill bowl while working, as the water cools quickly and the sheets leave a residue in the bowl.
5. Fully submerge a rice paper sheet in the hot water for approx 5 seconds. Check on sheet, if it is now mostly soft, and no longer crinkles when bent, it's time to remove it. Hold the sheet over the bowl to allow excess water to drip off.
6. Lay out the rice paper on a clean work surface.
7. Place 1 tablespoon of filling near the bottom-middle edge of the circle – but leave enough rice paper below filling to wrap paper over the filling.
8. Fold bottom of rice paper up over filling. Fold the sides in to create a long rectangle the width of the filling – fold loosely as the filling will expand slightly when cooked. Roll rice paper rectangle around filling bundle to create a roll.
9. Coat finished roll in butter and place on lined baking sheet.
10. Repeat steps 5-9 for each roll until you run out of filling.
11. Bake rolls in oven until rice paper is lightly browned. Approx. 15-20 minutes – but keep checking as I didn't time these the first time! I just kept checking on them – sorry!

Note: This recipe makes enough for two to have lunch, while baking a 9x13 pan for taking to a party, and even enough for 1-3 GF, dairy loving friends to have some too!

Curry Lentil Soup

This one's for Dee.

Prep Time: If using a food processor, 20 min, if chopping by hand 45 min (or 1 hr if you are slow like me)

Makes: ~24-28 cups of soup. (Enough for dinner for 2 plus 5 days worth of lunches)

Ingredients:

• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (can also use fresh, but I rarely have that in the house)
• 1/2 tsp ground corriander
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp salt (optional, I find the soup flat without some salt)
• 1 head of celery
• 3-4 carrots (just lightly less than celery)
• 900g bag of lentils (I use green usually, but mixed or whathaveyou works just fine)
• ~18 cups water (can use soup stalk if you have it, no need for salt if you do!)

Directions:

1. Pour olive oil into a large pot, and put on medium heat
2. Mince/crush garlic. Chop onions. Add to pot. Stir.
3. Add spices. Stir into onion garlic mixture. Let fry while chopping veggies.
4. Chop/slice carrots and celery. Since carrots are sweet, chop 2/3rd's the amount of carrots to celery to keep the soup balanced. Add other veggies (optional).
5. Wash lentils, and add the bag's worth to pot. Immediately add the water or soup stalk. Bring pot to boil on high heat, then turn down to 1/3rd heat. Stir occasionally. Add more water if necessary. Cook for 2 hrs, or until lentils are soft.

Notes:

• Your food processor is your friend. I use the chopping blade for the garlic and onions (as well as the eggplant), and the slicing blade for the carrots and celery. Saves about 45 min in prep time for me!
• This is a very basic soup. You can add all sorts of veggies and starches to make it interesting. I like adding 1 cup of chopped potatoes, or frozen peas/mixed veggies. If you are trying to get more veggies hidden, finely chopped eggplant is excellent, it takes on the flavour of the soup and mimics ground beef.
• How much soup you get will vary by how much veggie you add (obviously). I have a 32 cup pot. I like to make sure my pot is half full of veggies before I add the lentils and liquid, this ensures I get a full pot of soup. If you have more than half a pot of veggies, be prepared to have to scoop some out into a smaller pot at the 1 hr mark (this is approx. when the lentils will have swollen to full size).

So Much To Do And So Little Time To Do It In....

Or at least that's how it feels.

Yesterday, Monday, I baked 10.5 dozen cookies.  Sadly about 2 dozen of those were oatmeal raisin (and pecan) cookies that just were not good. They weren't terrible, but they were hard, and just blah.  So I shoved them onto Chris' co-workers! :D

I'm almost done my holiday baking. Almost.  I still need to remake the shortbread that didn't turn out to snuff.  It's okay.  But it's for my mom, and she's every bit as picky as I am.  I want them to be amazing. Damnit.  So tomorrow, if I'm feeling up to it, I'm going to go searching for good lemons.  I think part of the problem was that I didn't have quality lemons.  I also need more Splenda brown sugar, and butter, and eggs for that matter.

I was going to visit my parents tomorrow, but if I want to get all my cookies done by this weekend, then I think I need to use tomorrow, at least a little.

Thursday I'm getting tattooed, so it's really very important, frankly, that I rest as much as I can.  So why am I up at midnight writing this?  Because I can't freaking sleep.  Damnit.  So annoying! I really should have napped today.  I was actually feverish with exhaustion.  I have been since last night. Going into a tattoo like this would be just plain idiotic.  So I'm hoping to get all the rest I can manage tomorrow.  Hopefully going for a walk to the nearby metro will, if nothing make me tired enough to want to sleep.

I have pictures of the cookies, and once they are all baked, I'll share. :)  Hopefully my recipients will like them!  I was thinking of baking cookies for my photographer, but I honestly doubt I'll have the energy... And for my uncle, though that can wait until next week.  I might just have enough with what I've already baked too. Since I have like half our freezer full of stacks of cookies.

The only real good thing about baking with Splenda (it is sooooo not appropriate for cookies! They just fall apart!) is that I have no desire whatsoever to eat them.  I can't stand the smell or taste of Splenda.  Thankfully Chris' mom and my mom both can't taste a thing!

GAH.  Trying not to freak out. There is time. I can even bake on Friday if I have to.  If I make the dough tomorrow and chill it, then I can just bake them Friday. Makes things sooo much easier. That's how I was actually able to bake so much on Monday, almost all of the cookies were dough I'd made and chilled days before.

Phone Pictures, and Today's Challenge

I thought I'd share some pictures of my latest trip to my parents.....

Here is the Christmas Tree, all decorated, in our, well, I guess their, living room. 



I only just moved out completely before the wedding, so this September.  It's still really hard for me to get used to the fact that it's not my home anymore. doh.  I mean, I'm always welcome and stuff, but I don't have a bedroom there, or you know a place that's mine.  They still do have a lot of my stuff, simply because we have no place for it in our tiny-ass apartment.

And here's something that surprised the hell out of me: Roses hanging on in December!  This was the first week of December, before they got any kind of snow, but it was sill really freaking cold!




So, to my challenge today... It's a two-parter really. 

(1) Make it to the gym! 

(2) Get started on the cookies, make at least one batch.


I won't lie, neither is going to be easy for me today.  My lower back is just killing me.  I didn't get much sleep because I was in too much pain.  I spent most of the night trying to be very still and waiting it out until morning. My husband worked a maintenance last night (he's a techie), and he uses me as a teddy bear, so if I'd moved around as much as I wanted (I squirm when in pain), I would have woken him up more than once.  He might have even yelled at me (in his sleep).  And I didn't want that, any of that.  So I woke up really angry (from frustration I suppose), and really fucking sore.  Insanely sore.  I've taken some robax, and some ibuprofen, since that's all I have at my disposal, hopefully they will help. I am not holding my breath.  I just want to scream really.

Ungredients bought!

So I totally accomplished all my goals today!

I went to the bank, got my online banking sorted, and the nice teller lady is going to have an account manager call me so we can set up an appointment, which we totally need to do, so yay!

I went to Dollarama and bought 4 more tins! They still have really cute tins! Yay! Bought ones with snowpeople families on them, and one with presents. So cute!

Got everything on my grocery list that my store actually carried.  I am totally impressed with myself for being able to carry it all home.  My knees, well my right knee was screaming at me on the walk home from the subway station, but I made it! Go me!  I think the bag of goodies must weigh 21lbs I think! Considering how much I personally weigh, moving around 21lbs is no small feat! Especially with all the damn stairs!!  Even down my knees scream...  But I did it!  Go me!

There are two things I couldn't get though: (1) Macadamia nuts,  (2) Orange Extract.

I think I'll need to go to the Bulk Barn for both probably, so that will be another day.  I'm honesty not sure which one is closest/easiest to get to. Might go to the one near Wilson Station just so I can check out the Michael's there. lol.  I want more yarn.. Like I need it.... Perhaps AFTER xmas...

I really want to get backing, but my knee doesn't like me standing, and frankly I'm exhausted, so it's nap time!  Perhaps tonight, since I seem to be a night hawk.  But definitely tomorrow...  I'll have to decide what to make first! So many choices!  Exciting!!

Decision!

Okay, so like, I even asked my facebook peeps for help, and no one bothered to have a look.  I feel unloved!!

Anyway, I badgered my husband, and he likes the owls one, since I was leaning that way, I'm going with that. :)  Maybe I'll be able to at least swatch this week. I have a lot I want to get done, so we will see.

I'm planning to bake for both my parents and Chris' parents for xmas. So that means lots and lots of cookies in my future!  Maybe I should have picked up another set of bowls at Canadian Tire when they had them on sale! *sigh*  Though, honestly, I can stop at Honest Ed's like tomorrow or today if I have energy(yes I'm totally dreaming).

Today my goals are to get all the ingredients, which will likely take two trips, and to make it to the bank and get my online banking sorted out.  And maybe, maybe check out Dollarama for Christmas tins since I only have ones for Chris' parents.

I wasn't planning on making my parents cookies, until I realised just how bad my mom's eyes are and how busy they are this month between mom's eye appointments and Pa's.  They both have cateracts.  Mom had surgery on one of her eyes last week. It's still blurry, and she's having a lot of trouble seeing well enough to take pictures, never mind making cookies!  So I want to help out, take some of the pressure off of her, ya know?  So that's my hope. mmhmm.

As a result, need more pretty tins for gifts!  Gods, I really hope I don't go crazy making the... oh, hundreds of cookies I have planned. ha.  We shall see!

If I don't forget, I'll try to take some pictures of all the cookies I'm making, and link to recipes as well. :)  I'm not good at artful pictures though, just fair warning.

Mel's Minestone Experiment

Ingredients:

• 3 cups dried romano beans (whatever you can find/like)
• 1 cup bacon fat
• 10 cups chicken or beef broth 
• 3 onions, diced 
• 6 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 1/2 head savoy or curly cabbage, diced 
• 2 zucchini, diced (optional) 
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh parsley, chopped (can add up to 1 cup, if you desire) 
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 large cans Italian style peeled plum tomatoes
• freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Soak beans overnight in cold water, covered. Drain beans, rinsing until water is clear. Place them in a stockpot.  Add 10 cups of broth. Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook at a gentle boil for 1 hour.
2.  At the same time, heat oil in (separate) large stockpot.  Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, and parsley.  Saute gently for 5 to 8 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Add remaining vegetables.
3.  Using your hand, crush the tomatoes as you add them. Add remaining juices from the cans.
4. Add 9 cups of broth. Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook at a gentle boil for 45 minutes.
5. At the 1 hour mark for the beans, remove from heat. Drain off water.  Transfer half of the beans to a food processor or blender and blend into a paste. If you don't have a blender/food processor, mash half the beans in another pot.
6. Add mashed beans, remaining whole beans, and bacon fat to the vegetables.  Continue to cook at a gentle boil for another hour, or until both the beans and cabbage are soft.

Makes: A shit ton of soup. (I can't remember how much, but it was a LOT)

Tips:

• As always broth numbers are approximate.   Always add enough that soup is very...soupy at the beginning. If you have too much liquid in your soup at the tend, you can either take the lid off and let it cook down, or drain out some of the liquid.
• I know 1 cup of bacon fat sounds pretty gross, but trust me when I tell you this soup NEEDS some kind meaty/smokey of flavour.  You could also fry a package of bacon (diced), and add the bacon and fat together. 

Chris did not like this one, though I did.  It took him three days of having it for lunch for him to realise this though. lol. That's because Chris does not like any soups with tomato bases.  Nothing against the soup, he's just not a totmato-in-soup fan.

Mel's Veggie & Lentil Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 onions, diced
• 4 medium carrots, diced
• 6-8 celery stalks, diced
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 2 potatoes, diced
• 3-5 garlic cloves, minced (to taste)
• 900g green lentils
• 6+ cups chicken stalk (possibly more) 
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ground pepper (to taste) 

Directions:

1. Put everything in a large pot. Cover with enough stock that it's easy to stir and fairly liquid-y. 
2. Bring to a boil on high heat. Turn heat down, until boiling steady (will need 1/4 of max heat likely). 
3. Cook until lentils are soft (very soft is good too) and delicious.

Tips:

• Again, stock powder or bullion cubes are a life-saver. 
• Add whatever veggies you like/you have in your fridge you want to get rid of - the onions, carrots & celery are the base, add what you like after that. This is just what I usually have lots of.  
• As far as herbs, add what you like really. I think thyme is nice and light and works really well with the veggies. Parsley or dill could totally work as well.
• I don't add salt to any of my soups because stock/dry stock alternatives are super salty (unless you make your own stock). 

Lentil & Ham Hock Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 ham hock
• 2 onions, diced
• 4 medium carrots, diced
• 6-8 celery stalks, diced
• 3-5 garlic cloves, minced (to taste)
• 900g green lentils
• 6 cups chicken stalk  
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano (optional)

Directions:

1.  Put everything in a large pot. Add enough water to cover ham hock. Stir well. Cover, and bring to a boil.
2. Cook on low heat (just enough to keep it boiling) for approx. 2 hours, or until lentils are almost perfectly soft, and meat is falling off the bone.  You will need to add more water, lentils take in a lot of water when they expand.
3. Remove ham hock, and allow to cool (20 minutes is usually enough).  Keep soup on low heat. Remove meat from bone.  Cut meat into bit-size pieces, discard the rest.
4. Add meat back to soup. Heat through.
5. Cook until lentils are soft. Remove Bay leaves as you find them (as eating or while potting).

Makes: over 20 cups of soup.

Tips:

• I always use chicken stock powder, bouillon cubes are just as good. Adding less instead of more is the best approach with this soup - ham hocks are salty!
• Times are totally approximate. I usually just cook the soup until the lentils are almost done and the meat is falling off the bone, so I don't pay attention to time
• Soups don't have to be exact. Sometimes I add the whole head of celery, it goes to waste otherwise, and adjust the carrots.  Sometimes I add more lentils (be careful with this, they expand like crazy!), and end up having two pots of soup. ha. 

This is Chris' favourite soup.  I don't like soup much, to be honest, so I don't really get it, but he just loves it.  Maybe it's the warm lunch in a cool work place. Maybe it's just the promise of solid food...I dunno.  But this is the one he asks for most often.

Recipes Still to come

I'm doing a kind of soup recipe dump, and I realize that the soup I make most often doesn't even have a text file - that's how often I make it, I just wing it. heh.  Others only have paper versions.  So when I have more time, and it's not so dang late, I'll add:

• Lentil & Ham Hock Soup
• Mel's Veggie & Lentil Soup 
• Mel's Minestrone Experiment
• Mel's Chili (okay not soup, but I might as well share!)

There are also a few (really, not many, to be honest) recipes I've found on the internet that I really like, and don't actually change! Imagine, my not tweaking!

• Simply Recipe's Black Bean Soup
• Smitten Kitchen's Red Kidney Bean Curry.  I LOVE this with raita (basically good thick plain yogurt with finely diced cuccumber & green onion in it).  So SO good.

This is all I can think of for now. More later.  Well, at least the recipes I promised.

Mel's Decadent Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 7 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 cups water
• 4 teaspoons chicken broth powder
• 4 good sized potatoes, cubed
• dash parsley
• dash time
• dash oregano
• 1.5 heads of broccoli, chopped
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup sharp cheese

Directions:

1. Melt butter in pot on low heat. Add chopped onions and stir. Add a dash of olive oil to keep butter from burning, stir.
2. Fry onions until golden and translucent. Meanwhile, cube potatoes. Add crushed garlic, stir.
3. Add 4 cups of water and 4 tsp of chicken broth powder. Stir until fully combined.
4. Add potatoes and herbs. Boil until potatoes are well done.
5. Take soup off heat, allow to cool slightly. Mash potatoes in pot. Add flour, whisk until fully combined. Take the cup of cream out of the fridge and allow it to adjust to room temperature.
6. Add chopped broccoli. Bring soup back to simmer, and simmer until broccoli are fully tender.
7. Turn burner to low. Add cream and cheese, stir. Heat soup through, until cheese is fully melted and combined, stirring often. 

Makes: ~ 3 servings!

I really love this recipe.  I bought factory-made Knorr cream of broccoli, and although it was good, there was no actual discernible broccoli! It tasted a lot more like Potato and Leek soup, in fact.  So good, but not at all what I was craving.  I sort of jumbled many internet recipes together to get this, and I'm pretty dang happy with the result. :)

Melissa's Beef Barely Soup Experiment

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless lean beef, cubed
• 1 beef soup bone (optional)
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 cups beef broth
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 3 onions, diced
• 8 stalks celery, chopped (one whole head)
• 5 carrots, diced
• 2 cup frozen green peas
• 500g medium pearl barley
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce (& more to taste)

Directions:

1. Saute onions in soup pot with oil, until translucent. Add garlic, and beef. While beef is cooking add a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Cook until meat is nicely browned.
2. Add remaining veggies, beef & chicken broths, barely, soup bone, herbs to the pot. Add a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Sitr. Top up with water, if necessary.
3. Bring to a boil, and cook on med-high heat for 1-2 hours, or until everything it tender, and soup is desired thickness. Add more water while cook, if soup gets dry (barely sucks up a lot of water).

Makes: ~20 cups

Tip: Instead of using actual broth, buy knorr broth powder or bouillon cubes, and add them plus water.

This is still an experiment, but a pretty yummy one.  My first time making it I realised I totally needed more beef broth than I added.  All that barely really exploded!  And without the beef broth to add flavour it was kinda bland. I ended up stirring in beef broth powder into every bowl of it I ate. Made it oh so much more enjoyable.  Also, this could totally work with ground beef.

Split Pea & Ham Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups split peas picked over and rinsed well
• 1.5 lbs smoked ham hock 
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, cubed
• 1 large baking potato cubed
• 3 garlic clove pressed or minced
• 6 cups chicken stock 
• Enough water to fully cover ham hoc
• 1-2 bay leaf
• Dash of Thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a large pot, saute onion, celery, carrots and potato over medium-low heat for 7-10 minutes.
2. Add peas and ham hock and cover with stock & water by a couple inches. 
3. Bring to a simmer and cook about 1-1.5 hrs until soup is thick and peas have almost disintegrated but not quite. 
4. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Remove ham hock and let cool. Pull meat from ham hock bone, shred and return to soup. Once meat is warm through, soup is ready to eat!

Makes: ~20 cups

Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• 7-8 chicken thighs
• 3-4 small-med carrots
• 4 stocks celery (little better than equal parts with the carrots)
• 1 med onion
• 1 bag of extra broad egg noodles
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
• Ground Savory
• Salt 

Directions:

1. Boil 7-8 chicken thighs in just enough water to cover them, with salt and savory. (I add 1 tsp salt, and ~1 1/2 tsp Savory.)
2. Cook until chicken is falling off the bone -- approx. 2.5 hours
3. Take chicken out, let cool. Reserve broth.
4. Cut up the carrots and celery (~ 1 cm thick thick). Dice the onion. Mince the Garlic.
5. Boil vegetables & garlic, with more savory, in broth until carrots are almost cooked. ( I add ~ 1 tsp Savory)
6. Meanwhile, remove skin & bones from chicken thigh meat. Break meat into pieces. Set meat aside.
7. Add egg noodles, 1 tsp salt, and chicken pieces to soup. (You may need to add more water here, I always do. Add water until noodles are fully submerged)
8. Cook until egg noodles are al dente. (read packaging, ~12 minutes, underdone is good as they will continue to cook in soup)

Makes: ~ 16 cups of soup


Tips:

• Careful on the carrots! They can make the soup too sweet. No more than 4 small/med carrots.
• Use lots of savory and salt - "until it tastes right".
• Noodles will keep cooking once they are off the heat, so don't overcook.

This soup is exactly what I crave when I get sick.  The warm chicken-y broth. All that good fat (they've done tests, it can help when you have a cold/flu!), it's just the right thing!  And it's easy to eat when your throat is killing you.  And once it's made it's easy peasy, no work food while you are sick.

Pumpkin Muffins!!

Okay, so, while preparing for my wedding, with all my spare time (HA!), I whipped up this pumpkin muffin recipe, and baked muffins for us to take to the hotel for snacks.  Clearly I'm a crafty over-achieving bride.  Geez.  It seemed logical at the time though, I swear!


Muffins!

Anyway, I'm so in love with my muffin recipe I wanted to share it. It's just so perfect for this time of year.  Not just because of the pumpkin, but the spices warm it up, and feed the cold soul.  Anyway, here it is!

Mel's Pumpkin Muffins
Makes: 24+ cupcake-sized muffins, or 12 giant muffins & 2 cupcake-sized muffins

Ingredients 

•  2 ½ cups flour (cake or all-purpose - cake will make a softer muffin)
• 1 cup instant oatmeal
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp. salt
• 2 ½ heaping tsp. ground cinnamon 
• ½ tsp. ground cloves
• ¾ tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 cup currents or raisins (plumped)
•  4 eggs
•  2 cups pure pumpkin puree
• ¾ cup milk
• ¾ cup oil

For the topping: 

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup instant oatmeal
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 heaping tsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. Line 24 cupcake-sized cups.
2. Prepare topping by mixing the topping ingredients together, cutting or pinching the butter into the dry ingredients to make a crumble. Set topping aside.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk until well mixed. 
4. In another medium-sized bowl, whisk together eggs, oil and milk. Add pumpkin, and whisk until fully combined. Stir in plumped currents.
5. Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
6. Fill cups almost completely full. Sprinkle topping evenly on all muffins. Bake in a pre-heated 375° oven for 25 minutes or until tested done with a toothpick inserted in the centre of the muffin. (my old crappy apartment oven takes 30 minutes)

Merry Christmas to all!

It's Christmas Eve day, and I've got lots to do, so that's all you're getting from me today!

*muah*

Mom's Birthday Sweater (and Cake)!

Waaaaay back in December I cast on to knit my mommy a sweater. I finished it not a week or so before her birthday in March. I've been really lax in posting about it - I'm a bad poster, what can I say. Actually, I can say this, my lack of posting has absolutely nothing to do with the sweater itself! It was a joy to knit.

I used Cascade 220 superwash. It was the first time I'd used it, and frankly, it's lovely! It's even softer after it's been washed! I really loved the feel of it as I was knitting. Also, great stitch definition, and seemingly no desire to pile. The best part: it's actually affordable! I bought 8 balls of it, I believe, for $10.99 each, which was just enough for the sweater with about 1/4th a ball left over. I admit to freaking out about not having enough yarn, it really didn't look like it'd be enough, in the end, thankfully it was.



I used the Climbing Vines pattern from Interweave Knits Fall/Winter 2008 as a base. I didn't have the same gauge, I also wanted it longer, long sleeved, and a v-neck, since mom likes them best. I worked from my mom's measurements instead of any given by the pattern since I wanted it to, you know, fit her. I re-did all the math myself. The only place I used the pattern was when I was doing the sleeve caps and rounding the shoulder area of the body. I don't know how to do that bit, and I've yet to find a book explaining the technique, so I went by the instructions that matched closest with my starting number of stitches. All in all I think it worked out beautifully.



My mom really likes it, and actually wore it for her birthday dinner with the family, so I could not be happier. Without further ado, the finished sweater! (Yes, I still need to actually get a picture of her in it.)



For some reason this sweater was terribly hard to photograph. The first two photos above do no justice whatsoever to the lovely colour of it! The one directly above is closest. It's a pale, bright blue. Like a summer sky on a clear, sunny day. Can you remember that colour? I know it's hard for me, we've has so few clear, sunny days around these parts.

Did I mention that I also made my mommy's birthday cake? I did. I used SmittenKitchen's Double Chocolate Layer cake recipe. OMFG, the best chocolate cake I have ever had in my entire life. Seriously.



I used the ganache recipe for the filling. So simple. So good. So fool proof, or chocolate-impaired proof. Both my mom and myself love cream cheese frosting, so that's what I topped it with. I love the combination of sweet, rich cake, with the more tangy cream cheese frosting. So good. I tinted the frosting a robin's egg blue (or as close as I could get), as it's mom's absolute favourite colour. Then I tinted left over icing in a pastel green for the lettering. This is only the third time I've ever tried to do letting on a cake. Cut me some slack. It is not easy!



I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. The cake was huge. 9 inches around, and about 5 inches high. Huge. There were 35 people there (not that everyone had some, it was buffet afterall), but there was half a cake left over! Everyone enjoyed it; I know I sure did. It tasted flipping amazing! My mommy loved it, which is what really counts. She had been craving rich, moist chocolate cake, and I delivered! :D Baked from scratch. Yeah, that's right. Not from a box. Go me!

Merry Christmas! Let's Bake!

So I haven't posted in forever about all the lovely stuff I've made (both knitting and baking), but today isn't the day either. I'm just about to head off to my parents for a few days, and I really want to be able to leave before 3pm. I'm gussing it's going to be an unfun drive anyway. Wet snow. Our second snowfall, and everyone seems to have fogotten how to drive in the snow. doh.

It's the Christmas season, the big day is fast approching, and I'm no closer to having gifts for the ones I love than I was, oh, this time last month. doh. I've decided some people will be getting baking, but I've yet to actually do the baking. I'm actually taking the ingredients to my parents to bake them there! Deadlines and all.

I joined a cookie swap this year, so by next monday I need to make 108 cookies! GAH. Wish me luck! I'm hoping I have time to make them Friday/Saturday/Monday. Somewhere in there anyway. Frig, I haven't even made a test batch yet! I have no idea if they will even be acceptable!

The crazy thing is, of course, is that I'll be getting almost as many cookies back as I give!! Gah. I don't know what I'll do with that many cookies. I think I will re-gift some of them to a friend with kids who doesn't bake. Hopefully she'll appreciate them, or at least her kids and husband might. Some I know we'll eat... The rest? Well... Maybe Chris can take them to work.... Or I'll have to find a local shelter that's willing to accept home-baked cookies... Do they even do that? I have no idea.

We have a tiny christmas tree on the table/desk here that I bought cause I needed something. Right now it has ghetto decorations of shiny candy wrappers since I couldn't find any bulbs the right size that I liked in the least. It doesn't really feel like Christmas here at all. That makes me a little sad. It's also totally not motivating me to get my Christmas shit together.

I got my Pa a little something, but it's something I know he'll like and use for once, so it's a small victory there. I decided to knit my mom a sweater because I looked all over the place and I couldn't find any that I really liked, and most of the ones that were just 'okay' were $70 plus! Well I can knit one for that price! One I'll love and I think she'll like and will last her a long time! So that's what I'm doing. *nods*

I've decided Chris needs to buy/decide on gifts for his family. It doesn't work out so well when I get involved. But he's yet to decide. I really hate leaving shit like this to the last minute! It stresses me out. I love the man, but he's terrible about the timely gift-buying thing. He's a man, blah blah blah. I don't care, that's no excuse! Half these gifts have a damn long way to go, it's important they get there on time. He doesn't seem to be bothered by it, but it bothers the fuck out of me, which is why I keep mentioning it, and have done since the end of November. And I really can't just be "whatever", it freaking reflects on me too, and I'm not like that damnit! It's the 9th, and it's KILLING ME all my shopping isn't done. I can't enjoy the season with shit like that hanging over me. Which I guess is what I should say instead of "we, you really need to decided what to get your family", because that obviously isn't helping the situation. Sutble doesn't work with men... though I didn't realise I was being at all subtle. damnit.

Anyway! I'm poor, most people are getting very modest gifts... In fact, I think most will end up getting baking - that I have a say in... I've stopped buying for friend's kids a year or more ago, because I have no money. I couldn't, and still can't afford it damnit. Not like they miss it with the shitload of crap their parents buy them.

I don't feel like I'm doing enough for my parents though. My mommy gave me money; she said "it's not a lot", but for me it's more money than has come my way in a long ass time. I feel bad because I can't return the favor in kind. She knows I don't have a job or any money as a result, which is probably why she gave me the money, so I could buy myself the things I want but can't realy afford. Trouble is, it's been really hard to spend the money. There isn't all that much that's gift-worthy that I want. I've been told I'm not allowed to ask for a nice frying pan or a knife that will actually cute tomatoes for Christmas.. But really.. those two things are top of my list of wants/needs. I can live without the frying pan, but we really shouldn't be eating the non-stick coating like we are now. I can also live without the knife, but it's driving me fucking batty trying to saw through tomatoes with the dull knifes we have now. *sigh* I have bought some lovely body butter, a needle case, some knitting books and such. But I still have a good chunk of the money left. I kinda really need to get my hair cut and coloured, so I'm thinking of using it for that.... We'll see.

Okay, I really need to get ready now. Babbling must cease. Merry Chrsitmas! I hope everyone isn't as stressed out about it all as I am! Bleck. I hate the stress. I like the part that comes after... Damnit. And that's usually where I am by this time.... damnit.. oh well.