Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Husband's favourite cookie of all time is Oatmeal Chocolate Chip. He scours the grocery store looking for them in the bakery section but almost never finds them. Oatmeal Raisin abound but the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip seems to be forgotten or unwanted by the population according to the grocery store's bakery. Personally I don't much care for cookies at all, but Husband is a fiend for cookies. - I feel like there's a sexual inuendo there....moving on.

I haven't made cookies in a VERY long time due to this whole pregnancy thing. My baking has fallen to what may be an all time low for me and actually my cooking activity is pretty low on the charts too. Even though I woke up feeling like I weigh 800 lbs and achy as hell at 27 weeks pregnant I really wanted to make Husband these cookies. Going for a swim made me feel a lighter for an hour today which gave me some energy, oh and my 2 hour nap this afternoon also gave me a little get up and go. So by the time the heat of the day had mostly passed at 9pm I was ready to make these cookies.

They really were very easy to make, well from the voice of someone with a Kitchen Aid mixer. But if you're used to stirring by hand I'm sure this will be no big whoop. I find cookies very simple to make though, I mean you just toss everything in a bowl, mix and pop in the oven, not exactly rocket science. If you have trouble baking you're probably not reading the proportions correctly. Baking is really just chemistry. Do the formula as you're told and the reactions will look after everything else for you. And for the record I only passed highschool chemistry by 2% I think it was so if I can get it correct you really should be able to too.

Anyhow, Husband thought these were the cat's meow so if you're one of those people scouring the grocery store for some decent Oatmeal Chocolate Chip here's your answer.

Enjoy!

1/2 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 1/2 c quick cooking rolled oats
1 c all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 c chocolate chips

Add your ingredients in a bowl in the order I've listed them. Start by creaming your butter and stir in each ingredient as you add it. You may want to add the flour/baking powder/cinnamon all in one go.
Bake in the oven for 13 min approx @ 350F or until the edges of the cookies are browning.
For the love of God use a good cookie tray or at least a silpat if your tray is shit. If you don't have a good tray your cookies will burn and stick every time - there's no blaming that on the recipe!

Pie and Tart

It's no secret that I love pies and tarts. They are by far my favourite desserts. I think the only thing that can rival I slice of pie or an amazing tart for me is a cappuccino and croissant combo. God, if I had to choose....well, I don't even want to think about it.
Anyhow, I wanted to make sure that everyone knows about the existence of this cookbook. It really and truly is an amazing book. Every recipe I have had from it has been fantastic and actually if I were to cook my way thru another cookbook this would be a great choice - except that I'd weigh 50 lbs more at the end of it all. It just might be worth it though. It has all the classic pies you'd ever want to make, and *%$@ they are good!!!!!!!!!!!
If you're a baker or know someone who is a baker get your hands on this book if you haven't already. I'm sure that if you give this as a gift to someone you can convince them to make you a pie or two from it's pages =)

Happy Eating!

Spring Pasta Salad

So, yeah I've been slacking with the posts. I have a great reason though, I'm pregnant. That means that my energy level is pretty low. I'm in my 6th month and yeah, don't have tons of energy to blog these days. You may have noticed.....
Anywho, yesterday I was watching Food Network and happened to be watching "Sandwich King" and he made this delicious looking super healthy pasta salad. I looked an Husband and said with much elation , "That's what I'm going to make for lunches this week!". It looked really easy to make and had a nice variety of veggies that I thought would be great for my little fetus. After a trip to the grocery store and many a household chore it was 930pm and I just started to make the salad. It was really easy to make, I'll give Sandwich King that, but today at lunch even in my pregnancy induced state of famished hunger I wasn't a fan of this salad. I would even go so far as to say that had I not been so incredibly hungry I probably wouldn't have eaten this. True is was full of vitamin filled veggies for baby K but my taste buds were not feeling this. I still have 2 more lunches worth of this salad too....
I give this recipe a fail and I'm also going to fail the Sandwich King too because I'm so disappointed.
Boo Sandwich King, Boo.

Apples and Peanut Butter

Who would have thought??? Apples and peanut butter are actually really effing good together! Sometimes all it takes for a little treat is some creative thinking. I was not the creative thinker in this and I'm sure plenty of people out there are already aware that apples and peanut butter are a delicious combination, but I have been living the dark for 32 years of this fact. No more though friends, no more. I am gloriously enlightened.
I have this thing where I like to watch cartoons even though I'm 32 years old. So I'll admit that I am a fan of Sponge Bob Square Pants. Maybe you find this to be a little creepy or a little terrifying but I assure you this show is hilarious. I've even turned Husband into a fan. Last weekend I was watching Saturday morning cartoons (why stop a good thing I say) and once Sponge Bob was over they cut to a little cooking segment for kids. They were making peanut butter and apple sandwiches and I immediately wanted to try it. All you do is slice your apple nice and pretty and then put some peanut butter between two apple slices. Voila! Amazing snack and great for your kids!!
See watching cartoons can pay off after all!
Oh and don't judge my appearance, it was early!!

Afternoon Tea!!

I think that Afternoon Tea is becoming En Vogue again. Personally I've been enjoying this little gem of a treat for quite sometime. I love to be pampered and waited on hand an foot, I mean who doesn't!?! Afternoon tea for me at least is just as good as a day at the spa. It's relaxing and it makes me feel rejuvenated and it's a little slice of luxury. I've been to quite a few places to have this wonderful experience, usually offered a luxury hotels so I fancy myself a bit of an expert at afternoon tea. Really that's just me patting myself on the back though. The truth is I'm just too much of a junkie for this kind of thing and I love stuffing my face! Even though tea is a variety of petite items you really do leave quite full.

I decided a while back that I would host afternoon tea at my house to welcome Husband's grandmother to our neighbourhood. Grandma is the coolest 89 year old I know and I hope one day to be as cool as she is at that age. I thought that afternoon tea would really be the ticket to make her feel welcome to our neighbourhood and let her know we are glad to have her even closer to us now. I invited all the ladies in Husband's family that live in the neighbourhood and did my best to recreate an afternoon tea at a fancy hotel. I didn't do too bad a job if I do say so myself!

I made petite breakfast scones served with devonshire cream and jams. Open-face cucumber sandwiches, toasted asparagus rolls and petite lobster rolls. For dessert I served shortbread cookies, mini strawberry cheese cakes, and mini chocolate mousse cakes. Now don't feel you have to make this all yourself. I certainly didn't. I made the scones the night before and I prepared the sandwiches the morning of. The sandwiches really are very, very easy to make. The desserts I purchased from a local grocery store with a great little bakery inside.

Afternoon tea is all about presentation, so break out your fancy dishes. I'm lucky enough to have gotten some amazing serving dishes and beautiful china as wedding gifts. If you don't have fine china you needn't worry. Just use your best dishes or if you're feeling like putting a little money into it you could go to your local second hand shop and and buy some shabby chic tea cups etc give them a good scrub and voila, your table is set. One piece of serving ware that you will need to make this a traditional afternoon tea is a tiered serving tray. A few years ago these were very hard to come by, but as I said afternoon tea is making a come back and I've noticed you can't walk into a Winners or Homesense without seeing these nowadays. The last thing you'll need is some high quality tea to serve your guests. This is all personal preference but don't be afraid to spend a little extra on your tea choice if you can afford it.

Everyone really enjoyed the experience I believe and it's a great little afternoon party that's out of the ordinary so people really enjoy this unique experience. If you're looking for something a little more quirky but very IT to do, I think this is your ticket to success! Enjoy!

Neuhaus Chocolates

I know it's been a while since I've done a post. And yet here even though I'm posting I'm still not even cooking. Well, I'm lazy. It's February after all. My worst month of the year. I'm always so tired and sick of winter in February. I just want to hibernate. February for me feels like a month I have to make it through. One thing that does help get me through it is thinking about vacations that I will be taking in the coming year and vacations I have taken in the past. This February I find myself thinking about our trip to Europe last fall because it was the best vacation ever. I'm thinking about all the fun things we did and all the yummy food we ate. Sometimes I try to re-create the thrill of vacations past by re-creating a food item I enjoyed while on vacation. Right now I'm thinking of Neuhaus Chocolate. I hadn't heard of Neuhaus until maybe 3 years ago. It's not readily available in my corner of the world and to be honest it's not exactly cheap. I did discover Neuhaus while in Paris with my mother and now that I know about it there simply is no going back.

I guess I could describe Godiva as being the poor mans Neuhaus. And anyone who has shopped at Godiva knows they don't exactly give the chocolate out for free there either. That' s also not to say that I don't enjoy Godiva because believe me I do. I really, really do. But I feel like why have just champagne when you could have Dom Perignon? Have you had Dom? If you have you know what I'm talking about. Neuhaus to me feels like the Dom of Chocolates. I insisted Husband and I have Neuhaus chocolate while in Europe and I think Husband spoke well when he said he felt like a kid again when he ate the Neuhaus Chocolate. It just tastes that amazing. And the fact that they had a Smurf line out at the time helped out too!

Now, it's not easy to get your hands on a box of Neuhaus Chocolates in Canada. The only place I have ever seen them sold is a high end grocery store in Toronto called Pusateri's. And the cheapest box was $50. If anyone can tell me of another retailer I'd be glad to hear it. If you find yourself in Europe pick up a box. You will not regret it. You should be able to find a box in the airport shops. You will be turned and I have been, and how I turned Husband into a Neuhaus fan and find yourself daydreaming of those wonderful truffles!

Vegan Chili

For quite some time I've been wanting to try the Vegan Chili that I saw made on The Ellen DeGeneres show. Ellen is a well known vegan and this was a recipe that, if I do recall correctly, her personal chef made on the show. I thought this might be expensive to make but was pleasantly surprised that most of the ingredients were things that I already had in the cupboard. I really only had to pick up a couple things. My grocery store did not offer the brand of "Ground Beef" listed on the ingredients list,which is Smart Ground, so I went with Yves Original "Ground Beef". Which is actually tofu that looks just like a cooked ground beef.

Not only is this recipe super easy and super fast to make but it is also SUPER delicious!!! I made a plate of hot nachos for Husband and I and served it with this vegan chili as a dip for the nachos and both Husband and I really liked it. I highly recommend this recipe. And seriously if you're thinking of cutting down on the amount of red meat you consume but hate to give up your meaty favourites, think of this recipe as having your cake and eating it too. You can still enjoy and nice bowl of chili honouring your inentions of lessening the red meat in your diet. I beseech you to try this recipe whether your vegan or not. Delicious, delicious, delicious!

RECIPE: http://ellen.warnerbros.com/recipes/vegetarian_vegan/vegan-nachos-vegan-chili-nacho-cheese-0205.php

Italian Dinner!!! featuring Amalfi Baked Lemons, Amalfi Salad and Lone Linguine with White Truffle Oil

Last Friday I decided to make a bit of a fancy meal for Husband and I for dinner. My sister bought me "Jamie's Italy" for Christmas and I've been wanting to try some recipes. I chose 2 recipes from the aforementioned book and one recipe from Nigella's "Kitchen". The Jamie Oliver recipes were the 2 Amalfi recipes and the linguine belongs to Nigella.

The Amalfi Baked Lemons really intrigued me. It's just so different than anything I've ever had before or tried to make before so I was really looking forward to trying it. I decided to serve my dinner in courses and to prepare each course fresh for serving. I thought "What's the rush it's Friday? Right!?!" Husband wasn't to fond of that approach. I think he was looking for a massive plate of food all in one shot, but as the chef for the evening it was my opinion that mattered!! The ingredients for the baked lemons are easy and straight forward. And while you might be thinking "Who wants to eat baked lemons???",I have good news for you. This is actually a cheese dish. The only part of the lemon you use is the rinds, which you fill with buffalo mozzarella and a couple other items. Then you bake until the cheese is ooey and gooey and infused with a subtle but fantastic lemon citrus flavour. I thought this dish was a really nice change from the ordinary. Husband found this dish passable.

So, round one I hadn't won Husband over and he was making it known that he was still quite hungry. I forbade him from snacking on cookies between courses. I'm not sure Husband is familiar with the adage patience is a virtue! Round 2 was Amalfi salad. No greens for this salad. It's an uncomplicated dish, but very fresh and refreshing. Everything is very thinly sliced and tossed in an oil & vinegar dressing then at the last moment you add in orange. The orange is quite vital I feel because it balances the strong flavours of the radish and onion. I liked this dish as well, Husband liked it better than the baked lemons but still he was not satisfied.

My last and final chance at impressing Husband was the Lone Linguine with Truffle sauce. Now I know that husband loves pasta and I know he likes truffle so I was feeling pretty good about this one. Sure it doesn't have any meat (always a negative for Husband) but still I held out hope. Even though this dish is really quite quick to prepare I still couldn't keep husband's hands out of the cookie jar which was disappointing but apparently he was on the verge of starvation and the only thing between him and certain death was a chocolate chip cookie. Anyhow, this recipe calls for white truffle oil but as I had black truffle oil in the cupboard that's what I used. The sauce is made with raw egg and the trick to the dish is stirring the sauce into the still hot pasta over your still warm element but not having the egg "curdle" for lack of a better term. What you do get if you can avoid that scrambled egg effect is a gorgeous and velvety truffle cream sauce that is to die for. I thought this dish was amazing! Husband found it to be good but he thought it was more of a base of a sauce and there should be more to the dish. I have to tell you though I could not disagree with him more. This dish is like a little black dress. Uncomplicated, simple, classic and stunning. The pasta acts as a canvas for that amazing and unmistakable flavour that is truffle. I feel like this dish is a piece of culinary artwork. Maybe not everyone is going to get it but if you truly do love food and flavour then you simply cannot ignore that this dish is nothing short of an Ode to the truffle.

In the end, even with Husband's lack of enthusiasm for the meal, I managed to quite enjoy this culinary expedition. What better way to armchair travel than through the kitchen?

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

I have to say I first fell in love with pumpkin soup while on my honeymoon. Husband and I went to an all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and one night we ate at the French a la carte restaurant on the resort. I ordered the pumpkin soup and it was amazeballs. It had a beautiful puff pastry crowning the bowl and once you poked thru to the soup it was rich, delicious, creamy and heavenly. What more do you want in a soup? I've been chasing that pumpkin soup ever since. When we were in Amsterdam this past fall I had another great pumpkin soup, but if I'm having to cross oceans to get a pumpkin soup I love I won't be having the stuff very often will I? That is until today!

I have been looking for a really good pumpkin soup recipe for a while now. I had some pumpkin puree to use up in my fridge so I was looking for a recipe again tonight. I found a Jaime Oliver recipe that looked okay - but it was made with butternut squash and chestnuts...not pumpkin. So I made an impulsive decision to try a recipe of my own design. A bold move, I know, but I just happen to be feeling bold tonight. I have to tell you, I'm pretty effing happy with how my soup turned out. Previously, I wasn't able to find what I wanted in a pumpkin soup. So I guess perhaps the old adage applies here, necessity is the father of invention. Or maybe in this case we can say that cravings are the mother of recipes.

So with these clouds of want all around my head I started to build my pumpkin soup with a very specific idea of what I wanted. A velvety texture, rich and subtle undertones and I wanted this soup to make me feel like I had just crossed an ocean to get to it. I wanted this soup to make me feel like I could be eating it in the fanciest of restaurants of Paris or in the coziest corner of a Swiss ski lodge. I have to say I think I have achieved this. Well, for me anyway. I share this recipe with you because you deserve a vacation in a bowl too!

2 tbsp butter

1 medium onion chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

1/8 cup ice cider

2 1/2 cups chicken stock

620g pumpkin puree

1 cup 18% cream

3 bay leaves (fresh)

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1 tsp cinnamon

Bolivian rose salt

pepper
Fresh Parsley (optional)

In a large pot over medium heat melt butter. Add onion and celery and saute until soft. Add ice cider and let this cook off. [If you don't have or can't acquire ice cider (this is a liqueur) you could use apple juice.] Add chicken stock, pumpkin puree and cream. Stir until blended and allow to come to a soft boil. Add a good grinding of both salt and pepper, followed by bay leaves and cinnamon. Stir to blend. Add Parmesan cheese and stir until melted in. Let simmer on low heat for 10-15 minutes. Remove the 3 bay leaves and puree the soup with blender (either conventional or immersion blender). Portion to bowls and garnish with freshly chopped parsley if desired.

Gingerbread Cookies

I have grown quite the reputation in the gingerbread department. Everyone knows that I am the queen of gingerbread cookies. Really I owe my crown to Martha Stewart though. It's her recipe that I use and have always used to make the gingerbread cookies that everyone seems to love. I think I've been making this recipe for close to 10 years now and it hasn't failed me yet. This time of year we're all looking for a recipe to really make the season. And a foolproof recipe at that! What better to way to fill your home with all things seasonal than with the smell of gingerbread. If you have kids it's a great family activity to decorate these cookies with them (or you could even make a gingerbread house!). These cookies also make a great little gift to friends or family members that you just want to give a little something. The very best part about this recipe is how well the cookies freeze. You could make these well in advance, freeze them and pull them out of the freezer if you have guests over during the holidays. I really truly think that this is THE perfect holiday recipe. Which is why I'm passing it on to you. Enjoy this festive season with your friends and family and maybe a little sugar too!

RECIPE:

http://www.marthastewart.com/343445/gingerbread-cookies?czone=holiday/workshop-christmas/workshop-christmas-house&center=307034&gallery=274868&slide=285771

Spicy Sweet Green Beans

Yesterday was Christmas with my family. We did it a little early this year because with Husband and I living almost 3 hours away from my family it's just not practical to see bot hour families in one or two days at Christmas time. So we've been alternating families for Christmas for quite a few years now. Hence this past weekend was "Christmas" with my family. It was a nice relaxing weekend at my sister's house and I brought a vegetable dish as my share of the family dinner. I thought of bringing green beans and then found this recipe in my Mark Bittman Food Matters cookbook. It's a mixture of sweetness, spice and nutty that really goes great together and was a nice compliment to our traditional Christmas dinner. Everyone really liked it even my sometimes hard to please with food father and Husband too who was not exactly glad to hear that I was making green beans.

I made these at my sister's house but if you wanted to take a dish as your contribution to a meal this is also great because it doesn't have to be served warm. It can be served at room temperature, but it can be served warm too for those of you freaking at eating something less than hot.

I think this is a terrific vegetable dish and you might be able to convince all the "greens" haters out there to give this a shot because the nuts make this seem like something other than just a pile of veg on your plate. Anyhow, I'm telling you to give this one a chance you will not regret it.

http://markbittman.com/spicy-sweet-green-beans

Vanilla Tzatziki

The other night I found myself faced with a daily question "What will I make for dinner?". As I stuck my head in and out of cupboards, the freezer, the fridge, I came across a box of falafel mix and decided that was it. Falafel for dinner, with rice and greek salad, perfect! Things went great making the meal but I realized that I really wanted some tzatziki to go with it and I didn't have any. I wasn't going to run to the store for it but I thought why not google the recipe and see if I have what I need to make it. I chose a recipe from "allrecipes.com" and checked my cupboards against the ingredient list. I had everything I needed except the only yogurt I had was vanilla flavoured. This made me doubtful that I was doing the right thing but I thought "What the hell, worse case scenario I throw it out." I didn't make the portion of the recipe they instructed for - it was calling for 2 containers of yogurt! I just needed enough to get me thru my meal so I scaled it back considerably. I used 3 tbsp of yogurt as my base and just winged it from there on portions of other ingredients. And I have to tell you I am sooooo glad that I went ahead with it. I think I actually liked this version of tzatziki better than regular tzatziki. The vanilla gives it just a little bit of sweet that is so delicious. I love it when my careless kitchen habits turnout for the good. This one paid out in spades. I now want to always make my own vanilla tzatziki and I'm going to share my "recipe" with you.

3 tbsp Vanilla flavoured Greek Yogurt (Liberte brand)

2 inches of a cucumber peeled and finely chopped

a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

a few dashes of lemon juice

a dash of salt

a good grinding of pepper

1.5 tsp of fresh (or frozen) dill

1 small clove of garlic minced

put all your ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Taste and alter as your taste buds allow.

example - if it tastes too sweet add more lemon juice, if it tastes too tart add more yogurt - but only small portions at a time.

I think you will really like this, I had a couple people at work give it a taste and they liked it as much as I did so it's not just me!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Scones!!!

Do you love pumpkin like I do? I get so excited when fall comes, not just because of the beautiful leaves and the crisp air and blue skies, but also because it means pumpkin is in season! Nigella has a great recipe in her Feast cookbook that brings pumpkin to your breakfast table, pumpkin scones! I've made 2 batches of these so far and the number will only go up from there. There is a subtle pumpkin flavour in these scones so that you can still enjoy and lovely jam on them. Or you can just put butter on and let in melt into a still warm scone. Is there anything more delicious?

I gave one of my pumpkin scones to a repair man that was at my house the other day and he told me 4 times how good the scone was and he made sure to point out his number to call him if I had anymore issues. He reminded me of his number at least 3 times and I have to say I think he was hoping I would call him back because he wanted more scones!

Anyhow, give these bad boys a try. They're pretty easy to make and a nice alternative from your everyday scone.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/quickbreads/pumpkin-scones/

Chili Corn Chowder

I'm in a little bit of a soup obsession lately. But I feel like it's a good obsession to have. Making soup is just so great. And it's perfect to freeze for lunches or just for those days you don't want to make anything. Plus soup is a fantastic comfort food. Nothing makes you feel cozier than a terrific bowl of soup. As we all know I am also a little fanatical about Jamie Oliver right now so of course I have combined my 2 current obsessions and made a Jamie Oliver soup. Chili corn chowder to be exact.

Things were going pretty well in the making of this soup, until I realized that Husband had used our last bit of cheddar cheese the night before and I had to run to the store mid way thru preparation to pick up a block of cheddar. That was a bit of a hastle, but I'll not complain about it because he did use up the cheddar by making me a gorgeous mac and cheese dinner which I thoroughly enjoyed. (He even put homemade croutons in the dish which really made it an A+ meal) What a lucky girl I am! Once I had the cheese in hand though I was good to go and was rockin' and rollin' thru this recipe. The recipe came together lickety split and in no time I had myself a lovely bowl of comfort. I love how this soup is rusticly chunky and the dollop of sour cream, while not necessary, is a nice added touch. I'll make this again for sure, after all there's a long Canadian winter ahead of me yet and I'm going to need plenty of warm bowls of soup to get me thru it!

PS - I can't find this recipe on line right now..but if you download J.O's iphone app the recipe is on there!

Maple Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are underrated in my opinion. If you're anything like me you think of your mothers steamed/boiled sprouts from when you were a kid and you think PLEGH! However, I was awoken to the awesomeness of the sprout one day by watching the food network. I saw on a French cooking show a recipe where you break the sprouts into individual leaves (not for the impatient) and then saute the leaves with bacon. This was a revelation for me. I tried the recipe, loved it and have since become a fan of the brussel sprout. Yesterday I was cruising the produce section of Metro (yes I'm still shopping there!) and noticed they had fresh sprouts in stock, so I bought a handful or two and thought I'd base my dinner on the sprouts.

What I came up with was the idea of making them sweet and sour with a maple vinegar deglazing. First I pre-heated my pan, then added a lug of olive oil. Then I tossed in my sprouts with chunks of green zucchini and let it cook at a nice medium high heat so that I got that tasty crispiness on the outside of the veg. After a bit I added some Bolivian rose salt, fresh ground pepper and tossed in some cubed smoked tofu. Let it cook another 4 minutes or so. Then I took one tablespoon of real maple syrup and one table spoon of maple vinegar, whisked them together and poured that in the pan also where it deglazed nicely and I was left with a great sweet & sour tang to the crispy sauteed veg. I served this over rice but really it would be fine on it's own or as a side dish too.

This recipe is completely from my own mind so there's no link to give you, but I was inspired by a Nigella recipe. I wanted to spread the word on this because it's really simple and maybe it'll get you to give brussel sprouts another chance!

Quick and Delicious Pea Soup

Not to hate but this recipe is way better than Nigella's pea and pesto soup. This is creamy, delicious and full of the goodness of peas! Jamie keeps winning points with me...but I'm a tough one to turn so he's not won a permanent spot in my heart yet.

I made this recipe from my JO iphone app and learned a good lesson about the app. A lot of these recipes you can make either for 2 or 4 servings, and there is a button you can select for your ingredients list based on portion preference. I didn't know this previous to making the soup and found this out the hard way. That being, halfway thru making this soup I inadvertently hit the button changing serving requirements and couldn't figure out how I'd gotten all my portions wrong. Then somehow, don't ask me how, I managed to figure this out. Not before questioning my sanity though. This was my only little hiccup along the way, but now that I've figured this out I have to say it is a pretty cool little feature of the app. I mean once you know about it.

Anyhoo, back to the soup. Very easy to make, and incredibly delicious. I chose to omit the croutons but think they would be a great feature.But i quite enjoyed the soup less these few carbs. The feta really makes this and is great for presentation too. The mint in the recipe isn't a strong flavour either, it just lends a hint of freshness to the soup which I love. Jamie has done it again for me, and I think this recipe will do "it" for you too.

http://www.takethoufood.com/2010/01/jamie-olivers-pea-and-mint-soup.html

Mussels in Brussels

On our Euro trip eating Mussels in Brussels was one of the things on my to do list. Not simply because of the clever rhyme, but because we were going to be in this little pocket of the world precisely when mussels are at their best, September. So, on our very first night in Brussels once Husband and I finally found a restaurant, I ordered Mussels in Garlic Cream Sauce. This ended up being my favourite meal of the entire trip. It wasn't just the mussels that were good either. I started the meal with a glass of proseco. Then moved on to a delicious dark beer that I has with deep fried Belgian cheese. which was amazeballs. Then came my lovely pot of mussels. I do know that everything always tastes better when you're on vacation. But this meal was so delicious. And these mussels were the best I have ever had. (Not that I've been eating them for a long time - I did have that whole anatomical hurdle to get over with mussels) However, the cream sauce on these mussels was indescribable. I literally do not know how to convey how good this was. At the time I thought it would be uncouth if I took my spoon and started ladling the sauce into my mouth like a soup but that is what I really, really wanted to do. I did take a couple spoonfuls because I couldn't help myself but showed some serious restraint by keeping it down to only two. The meal finished with more beer, some toffee waffers, oh! and an American giving me hell for not having been to San Francisco.

What really is a bee in my bonnet is not the American chewing me out in the most polite fashion possible, but that at the time I didn't know how good I had it. I thought "My God I can't wait to eat like this the whole time we're here. I'm having mussels at least twice more before we go home." And I did. But every serving of mussels after was just completely mediocre compared to that restaurant. O, to own a time machine. Or have the cash flow to just pop back to Brussels now and then to satisfy the craving. Since I have neither of those things at the moment, I find myself trying to re-create this seafood experience and failing miserably. I should have paid more attention to what exactly was in this dish but I was too busy having a gay old time in Brussels. I tried exactly 2 different recipes for mussels in garlic cream sauce since coming home from vacation and both times I've been sadly disappointed. Not that they weren't good, but it just didn't meet the standard or expectation. But I am on a mission my friends to crack this code. And if it takes me 10 years and a return trip to Brussels I will figure this out. I'm not one to give up easy. And dammit I want to experience those flavours again.

PS - I don't have any pictures of me enjoying those fabulous mussels so a random picture of our wanderings thru Brussels will have to suffice

SALSA!!!!!

Yo Quiero SALSA!!!! Salsa is the most popular condiment in North America and I do believe it is because it is so versatile and really effing good. So, I decided to pop my canning cherry with a bit of salsa making. My dad gave me the bernardin instruction/recipe book last year and after looking at all the recipes I decide that salsa was a good thing to try first time around.

As you should all know I'm not the best a fully reading instructions thru when it comes to recipes. But you'll then also know that I do usually somehow find a way to make things work even if it is a bit questionable at times. This was no different.

The first thing you have to do even before you start your recipe is sterilize your jars. I didn't do that first. I made my recipe first. All this really meant though was that I had to keep my salsa warm while I did sterilize my jars. And just an FYI that does take some time. Figure on 20 minutes. If you are doing things properly and get your jars going before your recipe you should save yourself some time. To make salsa you have to blanch your tomatoes, peel and seed them which is a bit of a chore but worth it at the end of the day. From here it's just chop, chop,chop. Boil, boil, boil. And the hardest part is remembering to remove your air from the jars before you put on the lids. Just be sure to read all the details/steps you need to do for your seals to take and voila you have some fantastic homemade salsa that you can give friends/family. Give as hostess presents or just keep for yourself!! You don't have to have a canning pot to make this, just a deep pot that will fit your jars with water covering them. I would suggest though that you do need at least a really good pair of long tongs if not specific canning tongs. I borrowed a pair from a friend at work, maybe you know someone you can borrow from too?

Be adventurous and give it a try!!

http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/recipe_page/51.php?pid=550

Summer Vegetable Lasagne

This is again a Jamie Oliver recipe and I have to say, previously I thought this guy was basically just another Celebrity Chef who rubbed elbows with Hollywood bigwigs and didn't necessarily have a lot of substance to him. But I feel like now I'm seeing the man behind the myth and I have to say he is winning his way to my heart thru my stomach no less. True he did really impress me with his trying to change the world from fast food junkies back to home cooked meal addicts. (A philosphy I completely support.) He really seems to put his money where his mouth is for that kind of thing - at least on the surface. But I felt like I was sick of this guy as he seemed to be everywhere I looked for so long that I really didn't give him a fair shot. But this lasagne his so delicious, hearty, easy to make and has quality ingredients that I think I'm a believer now. To tell you the truth, I've even downloaded his app on my iphone. That's how much drastic change there has been in the MrsK/Jamie Oliver relationship. (Don't worry Nigella you're still in my heart too!)

So this lasagne is not made the way you're used to making lasagne. This one is made on your stove top and only finished in the oven to get the golden brown we all love on the top of our lasagne. I think this is a great way to get your families to eat more greens but in a way they maybe won't complain about it. What you do is saute your veg with the appropriate herbs then bring them to a boil in chicken stock (or veggie stock) and a little bit of cream (I used 5% to keep the fat content down), and cottage cheese. Then once everything is humming along nicely you start to layering your concoction with FRESH lasagne noodles in your ovenware. Layer, layer, layer with a little parmesan cheese in there (which if that's too rich for your blood you could always use something a little less pricey - say an aged cheddar or something with strong flavour, no mild cheeses here). Then top it off with the tops of your asparagus spears and more cheese, pop it in the oven for a few on broil and bon appetite!

If you wanted to you could add chicken to this lasagne and it would go really nicely. I would say use fully cooked chicken breast cut up into slices and then just toss it on maybe the middle layer of the lasagne when you're layering. And for my fellow vegetarians you could also add some silken tofu to this to beef up the protein. But keep in mind there are beans in this lasagne which are giving you some protein already.

Another great thing about this lasagne is it freezes really well. Personally I made this on a Sunday night then cut it up into portions, froze them in tupperware and there I had my lunches for the week. I think this recipe is fantastic and I will definitely be making this again.

http://hotcooking.co.uk/recipes/28/jamie-oliver-30-minute-meals-summer-veg-lasagne

Italian Tomato and Bread Salad

I haven't watched the Food Network in quite sometime. For a while I felt like I had seen just about every show on there at least twice. So I took a lengthy break - maybe a year or so. Then today out of nowhere I just decided to put on the food network. I am so glad that I did. Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals was on and he made this salad. It looked so good that I decided to make it. This recipe is so easy to make and D-effing-licious. Husband loved it and I loved it. It takes about 10 minutes prepare and can be served as either a side or in my opinion can also be the main dish. It's hearty and flavourful. The kind of flavour where you have a perfect combination of ingredients and everything just works. AMAZING is all I have to say. I highly recommend this dish, it doesn't gest much better than this is my books.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/vegetarian-recipes/italian-tomato-bread-salad