Quality Time, Quality Food

Hello Sweets,

I am tired, how about y'all?  I couldn't sleep last night because my head felt like it was going to explode, thanks to my injections :(  I had to be up early for my landlord to come by, and then do some quick grocery shopping for the dinner tonight.  Thankfully I got everything taken care of pretty quickly, and since I did all of the clean last night I managed to relax before prepping the food.  Tonight's post is going to be a short one because I didn't take any process photos (oops), and I'm feeling a little lazy lol.  But as I'm sitting here I'm thinking about baking something tonight, lol maybe muffins?  Who knows, but one things for sure, I'll have a new recipe tomorrow ;)

My grandparents picked a Mediterranean salmon as the star of the dinner, so I was tasked to prepare it and prepare some delicious sides too.  I chose to leave the salmon as it was, because it was already seasoned and didn't want to muddle the flavors up.  I personally love brussel sprouts, I know most people don't and it seems those that do cover them with cheese.  Yuck!  I stemmed them just enough to soften them, and then finished them off in the frying pan.  I added a little butter, salt, and pepper, then tossed them a little more.  I also made some brown rice for our starch, I didn't do too much to it.  I just made sure that it wasn't too dry, then added butter and salt.  It was a very simple dinner, but it was delicious.  My grandparents were very happy and satisfied.  Again my grandma ate a good helping of food, which is something she doesn't do enough.  We finished dinner off with the Chocolate Molten cake that I made last night, they both finished everything on that plate lol.  I really like making food for them, but it's even better now that I can have them here at my apartment :)

Now I'm going to go through some of my recipe books to see what delicious treat I can make tonight.  Until next time....


Stay sweet,



Jennifer xoxoxo

Healthy and yummy!

A Rebel Alliance Birthday!

Hello Sweets,

Only a few more days until I get the keys to my new place, which means I am in full on packing mode.  I am excited to be back in my own place, but I will miss my fun little conversations with my roomie.  But it was time for me to get back into my own space again, I just wish someone could do my packing for me lol.  I don't have much left to pack, but the way I've been feeling I might as well be packing a 30 room mansion :p  Which in turn mean I am exhausted, so I thought I would do a quick little post about Nathan's birthday :) 

Nathan's birthday almost always falls on Thanksgiving, and anyone who has a birthday near a holiday knows that combining the two is never fun for the birthday celebrator.  Knowing this, I decided that I would separate the two and make sure Nathan felt very special.  Luckily for me Nathan loves shrimp almost as much as I do, and Nathan's parents hate any seafood so it's never made in the house.  I decided to make him my Spicy Shrimp Linguine, and when I showed him the pictures he was sold on the yummy dinner.  When it was just the two of us, I surprised Nathan with a sweet little card and some paintings that I did just for him :)

Texas flag for my Texan man

A memento of our love and anniversary

Then on the first day we had just the two of us, I decided to make him a delicious dinner complete with wine and garlic french bread.  Lets see handsome and his satisfied smile;

Happy birthday boy!

Look at that beautiful delicious dish

 Of course I also made Nathan a delicious cake, chocolate of course as that is his favorite, but we decided to keep that for the family celebration on Thanksgiving.  Since I had created Star Wars themed cupcakes for a birthday a couple months prior, it was quite obvious what the theme was going to be.  We decided to go with a "rebel alliance" theme, and he let me run with my imagination.  He told me (repeatedly) that I didn't need to make the symbols because he knows how temperamental marshmallow fondant can be, but I am both stubborn and determined lol!
 

chocolate cake with chocolate icing and marshmallow fondant

I used blue coarse sugar to emulate a starry background :)

 Needless to say he was extremely happy and grateful with the results, and nothing makes me happier than to see him smile.  I think now I have created a bar for myself when it comes to his birthday cakes, and knowing me I'll raise that bar every year from now on!

Well I really should get back to packing, but first I need to make some dinner.  Thankfully I made a couple of chicken breasts the other night, purposely, so I'd have a quick meal option :)  Yup, not just a pretty face over here lol ;)  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

No Toast Required

Hello Sweets,


Happy Friday y'all!!  I hope you have some quality kitchen time scheduled for this weekend, I think I'm going to take a break from packing and do some creating myself.  I woke up today so unbelievably stiff this morning thanks to my tumble down the stairs yesterday, which has made doing anything difficult.  However, nothing was going to keep me from giving y'all something juicy to read ;)  And no I'm not taking about the latest gossip, but I am talking about berries.

Keeping with my Thanksgiving throw back, I have the final recipe that I used back in November!  This particular Thanksgiving accompaniment is something I'm not a huge fan of, but that being said the homemade version I whipped up tasted pretty good on it's own lol.  I have to try everything I make in order to adequately write a good post, well that and I ask the person I make it for.  Today's post contains cranberries, so you can only guess what I used them for.  If you guessed cranberry jelly then you'd be correct!  Nathans dad loves it with his turkey, so I asked him if I could make it for him.  He agreed on the condition that I didn't vary too far from the flavor his lovely canned stuff tasted like >_<  Of course I took that as I could make it flavorful but don't add too much extra spice to it, lets be honest most pre packaged stuff doesn't have much flavor period.  Since I haven't eaten too much cranberry jelly in my life (okay, any lol), I had to do some research to see what types of spices others had used.  Thankfully I had a general understanding on how to make the jelly itself from when I made my pie fillings, it's a little different but not overly.

Cranberry Jelly

Ingredients

2 1/4C cranberries

1 1/2C sugar

2/3C apple cider

1/2 lemon, juice only

dash of cinnamon

cinnamon was a last minute addition

Directions:

1)  Place everything, except cinnamon, in a medium sauce pan.

 

2)  Over medium-high heat, cook until cranberries burst.

 

3)  Stir regularly, adding a splash of water if the mixture becomes too thick.

 

4)  Once finished, place in a sieve and push with a rubber spatula.  Continuing until only seeds and skins are left.  Add the cinnamon, stirring to incorporate fully.  Chill at least 12 hours to set.

completely solidified, even has markings from the Ziploc container

  

Nathans dad really liked it, he said it tasted better than the canned stuff.  He even like the subtle cinnamon flavor I added, and now I hope he'll let me do it every year :)  This, just like the pumpkin pie, was something I had never tried before.  I don't think it's beginners luck, but I do think because I am becoming more confident in my kitchen skills it is transferring over to my creations.  Not much makes me smile more than being able to make something for those I care most about :)

Since this is a shorter post I wanted to share some updated photos of my new place, now that everything is installed.

 

 

 

I  am so excited, it's so close that I can barely contain my excitement!!!  I know it's been official for a while, but now that everything is installed and working it actually feels real :D  I get my key on Tuesday and then I start the move, so if you don't hear from me daily y'all will know why.  I am going to do my best to post, but if I haven't done any baking or cooking you may just get a quick little blurb :)  Until next time...

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

Not Your Average Country Pumpkin!

Hello Sweets,

Guess what this smarty pants did this morning, I fell down the dang stairs :(  Yup queen of balance herself fell from the very top all the way to the bottom, all with a glass in my hand.  Ironically the glass made it down unscathed, me on the other hand, I'm bruised all over my left side.  Some are even raised.  Ah well what am I going to do right?  Thankfully I was already scheduled to see my doctor this afternoon, but I hadn't done any serious damage to myself besides my ego :p  Well that, and my toush hurts....a lot lol.

Yesterday I promised a trip back to the American Thanksgiving, with a sweet little treat to make the whole thing worth while!  There are staples to every Thanksgiving meal, turkey and mashed potatoes are obviously number one and two.  But that's where all roads take different turns, every family has their own special recipes, whether it's with the main meal or with dessert.  However there is always one dessert that is almost always present at any Thanksgiving meal, pumpkin pie!  Most people don't bake their own but instead buy it, but we all know that is not my style.  I personally don't particularly care for pumpkin pie so I made a coconut meringue pie for Nathan and I (and a few other family members thoroughly enjoyed it lol), but Nathan's mother and Granny both like pumpkin pie so I was going to make it for them.  In true Canuckette form I couldn't just make a traditional pumpkin pie, I had to jazz it up and make it extra special.  Trust me when I say this, it is worth the work and it tastes even better then your regular old pumpkin pie.

Pumpkin Pie Spectacular

Ingredients

(filling)

 2C gingersnaps, crushed

1C pecans, chopped

1/2C powdered sugar

1/4C butter, melted

1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree

1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2C sour cream

1tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp vanilla

1/4tsp ginger

7 thin ginger cookies, halved

(streusel)

 1/2C light brown sugar

1/2C flour

1/4C butter, firm

1/4C pecans, chopped

 

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 350F.  Fit pie crust into a 9" deep dish plate; fold edges under and crimp.

2)  Stir together; crushed ginger snaps, pecans, powdered sugar, and butter.

 

 

3)  Press into bottom of pie crust and 1/2" up the sides.  Bake for 10 minutes, cool completely on a wire rack for 30 minutes.

4)  Stir together; pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, sour cream, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla until well blended.

  

 

5)  Pour into prepared pie crust.  Place on an aluminum foil lined baking sheet, baking for 30 minutes.

 

6)  Mix the streusel ingredients together, and sprinkle edges of the crust.

 

I had a little extra pie dough, so I created a cute little pumpkin :)

  

7)  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until set.  Shield edges with tin foil for the last 25-30 minutes if necessary.

 

 

8)  Insert ginger cookies around edges of crust.  Cool completely on wire rack for one hour. (I chose not to add the extra cookies, it was too pretty to add anything else).

Look at those lovely layers!

Perfectly set!! Love it when it all works out

  

This was my first and only attempt I've made at a pumpkin pie, and I am so glad that it turned out perfectly!  The layer of sweetened pecans and ginger snaps give the pie a whole new dimension, dare I say even a more grown up twist to the traditional Thanksgiving dessert :)

My lovely Thanksgiving day duo

  

In addition to these two lovely sweets, I also was in charge of the gravy, potatoes, and another dinner accompaniment.  Yes I know I'm being very secretive about what it is, but that's only because I haven't blogged about it yet and I don't want to spoil it for y'all!  Y'all know that's how I do this lol, but only because I love y'all so much.

Since I have about one more week left before I have to move to my new place *happy dance*, I really need to finish up my packing.  I don't have much left to do, but I'd rather finish everything I am not using before, so that way I am pretty much done and nothing is left but my daily items.  Ah the joys of moving, worse part is the packing!  Remember to check back tomorrow for another Thanksgiving addition :)  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo

A Review Just For You

Hello Sweets,

I hope y'all are having a better day than I am :(  I feel as though I was literally hit by a truck, even to the point I had to cancel my plans today.  I know I promised a sweet post today, but considering the way my body feels I figured a restaurant review would be suffice.  Then tomorrow I will get back into the swing of things, I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a better day :)

When Nathan came up to visit me a couple months ago we went to my favorite little Vietnamese restaurant here in town.  Ben Thanh's is a wonderful little restaurant located in Southwestern Ontario, and it is one of our go to dinner dates while here :)  The last time we went I decided to head there for dinner, I thought it would be fun to capture our meal and share with y'all :)

Date night!

Delicious Jasmine Tea

Deep fried wontons, filled with cream cheese and diced veggies

I love the sweet and spicy dipping sauce

My deluxe pad Thai, seafood and chicken mmmm

Nathans beef tenderloin cubes, with a spicy Thai BBQ sauce

There is nothing I love more than a dinner date with my soul mate, I have never been disappointed dining at Ben Thanh's.  The staff is friendly, efficient, and the food is amazing.  If you have one near you, check it out.  You won't be sorry :)  Until next time....

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo 

Change Can Be Good

Hello Sweets,

I'm sorry I've been MIA lately, the migraines have been winning the fight over sleep which makes me drained :(  So today's post is just going to be a quick one as I haven't been doing too much lol.  I'm thinking of making oatmeal cookies, so hopefully tomorrow will be the perfect day to make some.  Just like last week, I feel like tomorrow is going to be MY day, lol maybe if I put it out there it will come true ;)

So the other night I went over to my grandparents house to make them dinner, and they decided on chicken....again.  Since that's what we usually have, I felt the need to change it up a little, but how?  Then I remembered a clip I had seen on TV, but instead of chicken they were using pork.  Any good recipe can be changed around to better suit what you have on hand ;)  That is how this recipe was born;

Canuckette's Smothered Chicken

Ingredients

chicken breast

1 can of mushroom Soup

1C frozen peas

1/4C water

Directions:

1)  Preheat oven to 425F.  Place chicken breasts in a shallow baking dish.

2)  Add the soup, diluting just enough to keep chicken moist.

3)  Add the peas on top and mix slightly.  Place in the oven for about 30-45 mins (depending on size), or until the center is not pink.

 

3)  Remove chicken, spoon the mushroom and pea sauce into a separate bowl.  Serve over rice.

 

 

Simple and tasty!  I personally don't care for white rice, but I'll eat it this way lol. 

I know this is a super short post, but I've got some research to do, some kitchen-wise and some not.  I'll do my best to post daily but please bare with me if I don't get them out as often.

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Dare I Say, The Perfect Pancake

Hello Sweets,

Well much to my dismay :(  I did not get my little butt into the kitchen today.  My sleep is so out of whack it's not even funny, and when that happens I tend to feel even worse.  So tonight I am going to put myself to bed early because I have all the information I need to move forward with a creation that I've been dreaming of.  Alas that will have to wait one more day *sigh*.

However, I will give y'all the super delicious recipe from my friend Heather that I promised.  As you can tell by the title we are making pancakes today!!  But these are no ordinary pancakes, these pancakes have been in her family for three generations now and nothing stays in your family that long unless it's great!  I'll be the first to admit in the past I've made pancakes out of a box (I know, awful), but I've also made them from scratch.  The recipes I've used in the past are less dimensional then Heathers, not to mention a few extra special ingredients go into hers.  I'm a huge fan of breakfast for dinner, lol yes you read that correctly I eat breakfast for dinner and I like it!  But one of my favorite any time of the day breakfast food would have to be pancakes, especially when I make them with maple bacon *drool*.

Unfortunately for me I didn't make bacon with my pancakes, but instead added a little something extra to the batter to give it yet another dimension.  If you are interested in checking out Heather's blog you can do so by clicking here, it's a little blog dedicated to mental illness and not acting as though it doesn't exists in most peoples lives.  I find her writing to be helpful and even sometimes inspiring when I'm having a less than happy moment, which I am not afraid to admit it happens pretty frequently (thank you fibromyalgia).  Just like Heather I have my own little tools to cope, but the most common one we share would have to be creating in the kitchen!  So without further ado, I present to you Heathers super awesome pancakes!

Heather's 3 Generation Pancakes

Ingredients

1 1/2C flour

3Tsp baking powder

1/2Tsp salt

1/2Tsp allspice

3Tbs sugar

1 egg

1 1/4C milk

3Tbs butter, melted

1/4Tsp vanilla

1/2C carob chips

 

*Heather additionally adds cinnamon or allspice, although cinnamon is present in the picture I decided to add allspice in the end lol*

Directions:

1)  Sift and mix the dry ingredients together, making a well in the center.

 

2)  Beat the egg well in a small bowl and add the milk.

 

3)  Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry mix.  Add vanilla and butter, mixing until smooth.

 

 

4)  Fold in the carob chips with a wooden spoon.

5)  Always try a spot of batter on your pan/griddle to ensure it is hot enough.  If you'd like a thicker batter add less milk.

 

These pancakes are light and airy, and they have so much more flavor then any box pancake mix could ever dream of.  If you try them you'll be able to understand why they've been in Heather's family for three generations.  I think because of the fantastic quality of the pancakes you could add almost anything to them, from fruits to chocolate, or even dare I say bacon!  Yes I know I have an obsession with bacon, but it's just sooooo good.

For tomorrows post I want y'all to think tiny, sweet, and maybe even fruity thoughts.  But as per usual I am not going to give you anymore information than that, I have to keep y'all coming back don't I?  Until next time..............................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Not Your Average Sheppard

Hello Sweets,

Are y'all having a wonderful weekend?  Mine is pretty quiet and that's only because I'm dealing with a lot of pain, surprise surprise :(  But none the less I am alive and smiling (most of the time), so I really can't complain right?  I know it's been forEVER since I have written a post and for that I apologize, but I have still been creating in the kitchen so I think once this post is done it will really get the ball rolling again!  So I know I gave you guys fair warning of cookie overload due to my little sisters upcoming wedding, but I thought today I'd step away from the sweets (only for a moment though lol) and get back to where my love of cooking really came to head :)

Like most little girls, my kitchen adventures started by helping mom and grandma with baking. One of my favorite things to help with when I was little was, and yes it is silly, sifting flour.  I don't know what it was but I loved the noise the sifter made with each click of the handle and I ALWAYS had to do it lol.  But it wasn't until I was about twelve years old that I cooked a meal for my family all on my own, yup no help at all :)  First I'd like to give you a little background on my family so you can understand why this was my first dish that I made :)  My grandmother in English, her grandparents immigrated here after world war one so we had typical dishes such as fish and chips, now don't get me wrong I love my grandma but she doesn't use a whole lot of spices lol I don't know if that's part of her upbringing or what but my grandfather hates that.  My grandfather is Maltese (Italy kicked Sicily and pushed Malta, seriously that's what it looks like lol), he immigrated here when he was nineteen years old, he comes from a lot of pasta dishes....obvious huh.  So naturally my mother stuck more to the English side of the cooking, but thank the Lord she used spices lol she's the one the taught me no measurements just the nose ;)  So I made a dish that she had made my entire life, Sheppard pie :), except for one little thing that I don't think she even realized.  Sheppard's look after sheep/lambs so naturally the meat in the dish is corresponding with the association, well not quite at our house because we used beef.  No big deal right?  Well funny thing happened today, it's no secret I'm a huge fan of Gordon Ramsey so I watch a lot of Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen, and by a lot I mean all lol.  So while relaxing early I decided to watch some reruns and what happens?  He orders Sheppard's pie from this restaurant and it's made with beef, he looks at the waitress with one of his priceless looks and says "it's not Sheppard's pie, it's a cottage pie when it has beef in it".  Well you know the saying 'you learn something new every day', well I just learned something new and I'm glad I did because I wouldn't want to misinform my lovely readers :)  And I was surprised when they served it with gravy  and thought to myself jeez I think my mom invented a whole different dish, but then he pointed out it shouldn't have it lol.  Any-who here is my "updated" version of Sheppard's, I mean Cottage Pie, and I say updated because I've added some new things :)

Cottage Pie

Ingredients

1lb extra lean ground beef

2 large russet potatoes, cubed

1/2 onion, diced

1 can of corn, drained

2Tbs butter

couple dashes of milk

1/2Tbs garlic powder

1Tsp cayenne powder

1/2Tsp black pepper

pinch of salt

Directions:

1)  Wash the potatoes and cut into smaller cubes to boil, I left the skins on but you can peel them if preferred.  Place in a pot of water and boil until they become soft, or until a fork pierces them easily. 

 

2)  While the potatoes are boiling, place the onions into a frying pan and sweat them off (soften).  Add the ground beef cooking thoroughly with a little of each of the spices added and then drain the excess grease from the pan.  Place the meat and onions in the bottom of a casserole dish.

 

3)  Next you want to mash your potatoes; drain the water from the pot and add the salt, some pepper, garlic, and a pinch of  cayenne.  Add the butter and milk and mash away!

 

4)  Place the corn in a layer over the beef, and then finally the mashed potatoes.  Finish it off in the oven at 400F until the potatoes have slight color and crispiness to them.

 

There you have it, the very first meal I ever made on my own when I was young :)  I know some people like to add gravy to theirs, but if you season everything correctly you won't need it ;)  

Just so y'all are aware the cookie overload commences again tomorrow, so be prepared to see something sweet, besides me that is lol just kidding.  Until next time................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo