Gourmet Camping

Back in April I bought myself a camping cookbook.......... and I googled camping recipes because I was drawing a blank on menus for the summer.  I wanted to cook something other than the usual on the barbecue -- something a wee bit more challenging and tastier than the norm.  

And I have to say I think we are batting a 1000 ...... I say 'we' cause I do all the prep work and Sir Steve barbecues it.  

Our first meal was lobster tails and steak -- Sir Steve made that request -- he said it would be a celebration of the start to summer at the trailer...... 
Despite the fact he had never cooked lobster - never mind on a barbecue -- it turned out perfect and sooooooooo damn good!!

In my research for camping menus I found a lot of menus that required something called a 'pie iron' ......... every recipe I found seemed to have 4 of these pie irons sitting on a fire (or barbecue).  So I thought 'great I'll pick up 4 of them too' until I priced them!!  dear lord - they were like $25 each!!  I went to Canadian Tire - thinking I would buy one and we'd just be patient and cook one at a time -- but it was my lucky day and they had them on sale for $19 so I bought 2.  On the weekend Sir Steve and I had 'gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. I put gouda and swiss and cheddar cheese in the sandwiches and topped them with a generous helping of bacon....... another success story!  (though cleaning them - despite they're being well oiled -- was a challenge in my small kitchen sink)

The other night I made 'oriental beef and mushrooms' over japanese noodles -- again another huge success!  

We've also had garlic and herb pork tenderloin and curry sausages and gobs of homemade caesar salad.


The lil one is joining us today for a week -- so the gourmet cooking may be dumbed down a little bit to accommodate a 6 year old (like no lobster or shrimp this week) But I have made an apple and cheddar cheese pasta salad to go with hamburger patties for tonite's supper.  The weather is topping out around 35degrees Celsius (which is about 95F) so am thinking cooler suppers may be in order for the next lil while.  

OH yeah - I almost forgot - I think we may try 'banana boats' cooked on the campfire one night while the lil one is here for dessert one night -- and the lil one and I are gonna make blueberry scones for breakfast this weekend.

Life is good when camping includes loads of sunshine and good food!

Success and Failure

I love to cook (don't much like the clean up -- and oh dear god there is always a lot of clean up when I cook -- which is why I am thrilled with the new back splash!)  

For the last couple of weekends or so I have been trying new recipes... This weekend was no exception.  I had found a recipe for cheese danish.  I LOVE cheese danish -- so does Sir Steve.  I had also wanted to (for quite some time now) try my hand at Dim Sum. 

With the Dim Sum in mind -- I had ordered a bamboo steamer which arrived this past week.  Dim Sum was definitely on the menu for the weekend.

Because of the road trip to our Nation's Capital on Saturday both recipes were bumped to Sunday.

While Sir Steve started the painting in the bathroom Sunday morning I started the cheese danish recipe.  It was much easier than I thought!! And instead of making individual danishes -- the recipe suggested using a 9x13 pan.  Around mid morning I suggested Sir Steve take a coffee break....... coffee with cheese danish !

It was declared a BIG success -- it was really yummy and definitely on the 'keeper' list.

Sunday dinner was Dim Sum with homemade won ton soup.  To be honest I didn't like the smell of the bamboo steamer .... it might be my overly sensitive sense of smell (from the withdrawals) I'm not sure.... but I wasn't looking forward to eating the dinner even before it was cooked.

The won ton soup was pretty good -- it had ginger and garlic in it.... and I'm not used to ginger in my won ton soup.  It was ok -- but not exactly my favourite.  Sir Steve on the other hand was gobbling it down smacking his lips 

My timing was pretty damn good -- as we finished up the won ton soup the Dim Sum was ready. 

I enjoyed plating it -- presentation after all is everything right???  

Except when you don't like the taste - ughhhhhh I didn't like it all...... we had shrimp dumplings and barbecue pork buns.  The pork buns were ok but (shuddering) I didn't really like the texture.  Sir Steve enjoyed the pork buns and ate the shrimp dumplings but didn't love them...... I marked the Dim Sum as a failure

I have stored the bamboo steamer away for now...... maybe I will find another use for it... dumplings maybe?? I do make pretty good dumplings -- mainly cause I fry them just before serving to make them crispy.

Life is good when you share the successes and failures.

Christmas baking

And so it begins - the final push towards Christmas. 

I had marked this week as "baking week"  ... I also realized I have not mailed out my Christmas cards!!!  (dear god in heaven what was I thinking??!!)  So today I will write up the few cards I plan on sending and get them into the mail......... and I think I will wrap up some gifts.

We are going up to Ottawa on Saturday to do a "Santa run" to eldest daughter...and on Monday doing a "Santa run" to Montreal to youngest daughter and the kids....... I was so damn organised until I realized Christmas is NEXT week!!  So besides cards - I think I should wrap up some gifts today.

Then maybe I will get some baking squeezed in..............

Yesterday I made some Scottish shortbread...............

and something called Orgasmic Fudge......... it's layered maple fudge.
 First layer is maple fudge - then you cover it with Caramilk bars

and then add a final layer of maple fudge.  They tell you to work fast as the fudge hardens quickly - they weren't kidding!!!  I couldn't spread the top layer nicely..... and landed up buttering my fingers and pressing it down.  

We sampled it last night - after all - we had to make sure it was edible - wouldn't want to serve guests inedible fudge right??? LOL and it was quite good..........though I think I prefer plain maple fudge - forget the chocolate and caramel.

Master Chef Canada?

 

Way back when, McDonalds brought out their "egg mcmuffin" and W had to - and I do mean HAD TO - try it.  Then began the race for the subsequent fast food places to bring out breakfast sandwiches.... and........... W had to try each of theirs.

Then W decided he would buy a kitchen gadget that would allow him to make perfectly round eggs the size of an english muffin and make his own egg mcmuffins.  And his kitchen began to fill up with egg gadgets.  With little success at mimicking McDonald's egg mcmuffin.

This past Christmas youngest daughter and her brood gave him a breakfast sandwich maker.

Oh we couldn't get home fast enough for W to try it out... it looked perfect !!!

Now before we go too much further I have to explain - W makes his own breakfast.  (stop it .. just stop it!!!  I can hear all you good subbies gasping in disbelief and falling over in a dead faint.  We all have contracts in one form or another - mine clearly stipulates "unless you wish to be poisoned and possibly yelled at - I don't DO breakfasts"  W was smart and opted to make his own breakfasts.)

Back to the story of the breakfast maker and the Master Chef Canada...............

W had a couple of false starts - with egg oozing out the sides and dripping all over the counter............. but he has slowly mastered the art of layering and cooking his very own breakfast sandwich.........

It obviously takes a lot of focus............

the bottom of the muffin goes in first (on the bottom) covered in bacon or cheese or bacon and cheese or sausage  depending how much cholesterol his heart can take and spices of course. Then you slide the flat metal shelf thingy over and add the egg to that and then top it all off with the top of the english muffin and carefully and gently and strategically lower the top down and press firmly yet gently.

 

  Then you must set the timer for exactly 4 minutes or is it 6 or 7 minutes - see I really don't know - if I learn I might have to make one one day...

After the prescribed amount of cooking time - you gingerly lift the top - swing the middle bit out and carefully - with the skill of a surgeon ease the freshly cooked sandwich out onto a plate ............... 

and then - if you are like W - you will want to have 2 of these heavenly delights - so while you munch on the one cooked you assemble one more to take to the table with a nice hot cup of coffee to enjoy.............

W is very - extremely - proud of his breakfast sandwiches - he's my Master Chef Canada !!

 

W's great love

Somebody taught me (grandmother??? mother??? just an old saying??) that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach... meaning - for those of you who didn't get it - baking/cooking/food.

However W doesn't fuss over food.  If it's meal time and he is fed - he is happy.  I have learned he is a simple man - meat potatoes and veggies.  Oh he'll eat the concoctions I come up with - but he's happier with a plain meal.

EXCEPT for one food............ potatoes.

W loves... LOVES .. potatoes.  In any form or shape - baked, fried, mashed, instant, as long as it tastes like potatoes he's happy.

I do not care about potatoes.  I would rather have rice.  BUT I am a good subbie (cheeky grin) ok ok I like to please W so mostly I make potatoes.  I have mashed them, fried them, deep fried them, baked them,made potatoe salad, turned leftovers into bacon cheese potatoe balls...... I have done just about everything humanly possible with the lowly humble potatoe.  

And I am always on the look out for new recipes for potatoes.  OR W will send me recipes for potatoes.

The other day there was a pretty looking potatoe recipe on Facebook.  I decided to try it.

Basically you take an uncooked potatoe - slice it almost all the way through - drizzle oil over it - brush it with butter, add salt and pepper and then bake in the oven for 40 minutes.  It is supposed to taste EXACTLY like french fries.  

So last night I sliced - almost all the way through - and oiled and buttered and salt and peppered two potatoes for dinner. 

However W sang it's praises.  W suggested I try it again.  W said it almost tasted like french fries.  W enjoyed it.  Which didn't surprise me in the least - it was a potatoe his great love.

To me - a potatoe by any other name is still a potatoe.  
 

Leftovers

   I have a love hate relationship with leftovers.  I love that the next day I don't have to think about what to make for dinner.  I hate the clutter/mess in the fridge of containers and plastic covered plates.  I love how easy it is to throw food in the microwave and just reheat - instant dinner!

On Friday night I made sausage and mashed potatoes.  I had leftover sausage (not enough for another full meal - but still leftovers) and I had leftover mashed potatoes.  I also had some leftover pasta in the fridge from lunch.  Oh yeah I also had taken some ground beef out for a meal - some sort of meal - couldn't quite come up with a recipe that appealed to me so it just sat in the fridge.

I had half way planned what to do with the leftovers - but knew I needed to use up the ground beef soon.  I was gonna chop up the sausage and throw it in the leftover pasta and reheat, that would be one meal.  I would take the mashed potatoes and find some sort of recipe for potatoe patties and serve them up with beef patties.

So Saturday I set out to find a recipe for leftover mashed potatoes.  I found quite an interesting one that involved grated cheddar cheese, bacon bits (we always have bacon bits in this house - seems to be a staple much like milk and butter) eggs and breadcrumbs.  I made up these lovely potatoe puffs (just a small note here - the bread crumbs are actually crushed corn flakes)..................... 

and served them with meat patties (my version of hamburger steak)

BUT to my dismay - I now had leftover potatoe patties and leftover meat patties.  I added them to the leftover sausage and pasta in the fridge.  It really is carrying my love of leftovers too far when the leftovers create more leftovers!!

Oh yeah I also have a nice roast beef waiting to be cooked too........... I think I may have the menus planned and organised for the next couple of days........ (of course there will be leftover roast beef too.......... le sigh) 

It does seem it is either feast or famine around here when it comes to menu planning - either I have NO idea what to cook and/or no desire to cook - OR I have meals/leftovers piling up in the fridge.  

As promised.......

We were up at the crack of dawn today.  W headed out to Toronto by train (thank god  - considering we are suffering through freezing rain and snow and more freezing rain today)  to try and sort out (finally) his sister's body.  Get her released and sent down to us in Kingston.  

I was left at home - so I decided to put the time to good use and finish off the Christmas baking/decorating.  

AND I promised you guys pictures of the goodies........... 

Ready?? here we go..................


W's absolute favourite - scotch shortbread

My girls favourite - sandwich cookies - make a base cookie (I  use sugar cookies) then put favourite jam in the middle -

Then ice and decorate - btw - those are supposed to be holly - use your imagination!!

Then I made brown sugar and cinnamon cookies

Some snickerdoodles - square cause I packed them too tightly onto the cookie sheet

some one bite cupcakes 

and finally - I make homemade cinnamon bread for the family - but also as gifts for friends 

 
Now I am off to wrap up gifts.......... and then god willing I will be ready.............

 

Where am I???

Baking is where I am................ baking and baking and more baking.......

Details to follow - I promise !!  W is smiling btw - he's the official Christmas cookie tester.

Asian fusion

There was a type of cooking called Asian Fusion - I am not entirely sure it is still the "in" thing - but last night's dinner made me think of the term.

A month or so ago I bought some noodle bowls in China Town in Toronto.  They have sat on the shelves in the kitchen ever since. 

I had been threatening to find recipes that would allow me to use the new bowls.  Last night was the night.

As most of you know the decorating here at the house has a strong Asian influence.  W has been very patient / tolerant with me and my fancy arty farty ideas.  But when I announced that dinner was going to be Asian steak and vegetable noodles - well he looked less than impressed.

He came into the kitchen at one point to see what I was doing - I told him to smell the sauce.  He didn't wrinkle up his nose too badly so I figured I was safe.

BUT when it came time to serving (and this is where the Asian Fusion comes in) I really did think I would be pushing it, to ask him to slop his steak,vegetables and noodles out of a noodle bowl with chop sticks.

So I made two plates ... one for me................ ASIAN......

and one for W.... CANADIAN...........

Unfortunately - it looked very pretty and rather authentic........... but sadly the taste left something to be desired.   I might try it one more time - with a better cut of beef - the one we had last night was tough - like shoe leather.  And I might add a few more spicier spices to the sauce.  It really did seem a little bland..............

BUT I loved using my noodle bowls ............ I guess worst case scenario I could use them for chicken noodle soup .......right??     

So far

So far this Thanksgiving weekend -

we joined a group of lifestyle friends and went to  Fort Fright night....that's where they set up Old Fort Henry as a massive haunted house and scare the crap out of visitors.  (well they scared the crap out of THIS visitor)

Two of the folks we were out with came back and spent the night.  This morning I made a yummy country breakfast - hash brown potatoes, peppers, bacon and eggs all  scrambled together.  We  had brown toast, apple muffins, juice and coffee. 

Once they left I started thinking about our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.  Instead of the usual pumpkin pie which W doesn't like (I am surprised how many people really don't like pumpkin) I decided to make a gingerbread cake - served warm with whipped cream.  W told me to let him know when I was gonna start baking - which - being the good subbie I am - I did.  

W had this bright idea to tie me up - tight - and then turn me loose to make the gingerbread cake.  Seriously folks - I am not gonna be responsible for the cake - it was just a little distracting to bake tied up like the turkey that will be in the oven tomorrow. 

 just some nice lil marks



and that is the holiday weekend - so far !
 

Organizing

Happy Monday morning............. so whatcha do all weekend???

wanna know what I did ?? huh huh?? do ya??? 

Over Christmas - with the thought of a new kitchen........ and some new recipes that W sent me via email (yeah yeah we were in the same house - what can I tell you?!) I started toying with where to put all my recipe books.. binders and loose sheets of recipes.

As I was sitting there reading these new recipes -  a memory flooded back - of a friend who had a desk in her kitchen with a computer (long before the days of multiple computers and gadgets) and she kept all her recipes on it.  When she wanted to bake/cook she just opened up her computer and got started. 

It was a light bulb moment.  I have this little notebook that I take to W's - but I also have a desk top .................and truthfully when I am living with W I don't see much reason to have the notebook.   

So I opened a new file on the hard drive of my lil netbook - called it "recipes" and was set to go.  (ok ok not set to go - but ready to set it up with all my recipes).  I figured the netbook will find a special spot in the new kitchen and I will no longer be rummaging through stacks of recipe books (and I do mean STACKS) as well as binders of family recipes - and loose sheets of recipes torn out of magazines.

Saturday I was busy cleaning the house and having clients through and then napping....... don't ask - I was exhausted !!  

Sunday dawned snowy and cold with horrific winds.  A good day to stay put - and watch all my taped television shows.  About mid way through a snow squall that was worrisome (I hate dark storms) I got up and dragged all the recipes - books and loose papers and binders - into the living room and started copying each and every one of them into the new file "recipes".  I made different files - chicken - breakfasts - casseroles - desserts - well you get the idea. I typed for hours.  Now I have all the family favourites and some new ones as well - neatly typed and catagorized on the netbook.  

Today is garbage day..............All the old books and papers will go out to the garbage. One less pile of junk to move to Kingston.   Everything is safe on the hard drive,  Oh don't panic!!  Once I had it all done - I copied the whole thing to my external hard drive as well.  All well protected from computer crashes and other devious computer problems.

I am even working on some sort of program that will allow me to plunk in shopping supplies based on my recipes - so I am never missing anything.  Did I ever mention I am a little OCD???
 ( cheeky grin)

And that's how I spent my weekend.  Not very BDSMy but - sadly -  my life these days doesn't seem to involve a whole lot of anything resembling BDSM.............

Truth in advertising...........

 YES Virginia - there is truth in some advertising !!!




Have any of you seen the ad on television for this meatloaf pan??

Well I saw it and lusted after it...... I was told it wasn't very good - not very sturdy - but still I wanted it.  Two weeks ago when I was up in Kingston W found it in a shop we were in and bought it for me.

It was more than sturdy - better then the meatloaf pan I have.  It also came with a cookbook.

So last night I decided to try it out.  The recipe I picked was "bacon cheeseburger meatloaf"

It took me about 5 minutes to throw it together ........... and pop it in the oven.  One hour later it was ready - the whole house smelled so good - my mouth was watering.  AND it popped out of the pan as easy as pie -- and didn't fall apart !!

Now the recipe clearly stated to leave the meatloaf cooling for 15 minutes - because the cheese inside would leak out - I waited maybe 5 minutes - then couldn't wait anymore......... 

Despite the cheese leaking out - it was the best meatloaf I have had in LONG time - it might even be better than my mother's ............... 

Oriental Zen

Back when we were "visiting" Japan and China at school - I went looking for an oriental grocery store to buy 'real' chinese dumplings for our celebration.....  There was one just down the street from me believe it or not.  I had driven past it for years and never really noticed it.  It is a small lil shop tucked into a large sprawling metropolis - easy to miss (that's my story and I am sticking to it !!)  And I found the BEST dumplings ever - and so easy to make.......... 


Well around Easter... W was telling me about going out for dim sum with an oriental friend.  They had gone to a 'real' oriental restaurant - and W raved about the hot mustard.  (W loves hot food / hot spices / hot everything!!!  which is why he's with me of course - cheeky grin) 

So I ventured back into the oriental grocery shop one day to see if I could find this hot mustard.  I had a wonderful sales clerk help me find the mustard........ and she added a hot chili sauce  - promising me that if W didn't find it hot enough for his tastes - there was one other he could try.  The same day I bought some of those delicious dumplings I had bought for the kiddies and some sweet chili sauce (I do not like hot sauces - even more so since being sick last year)

The dumplings are so easy to make that they became a bit of a diet staple around here - especially on nights when I was too tired to cook.  The sweet chili sauce was like ambrosia - my god it was delicious !!! 

Last night I didn't know what to cook for dinner.  I didn't feel like cooking.  I was feeling just a little battered and bruised from "stuff" ........... so around 7:00 I decided to whip up a batch of dumplings and sweet chili sauce.  While they were cooking I decided to break out the oriental dishes and chop sticks... to pay a little attention to the visual appeal of my meal instead of just wolfing them down and getting the meal over with. 

The picture's a bit dark - black plate on dark table - but hopefully you get the idea...
Eating with chopsticks takes time - and makes me sit back and enjoy the meal a little bit more... makes me breath while I am eating..... creates an almost Zen moment.  I took pride in the placement of the dumplings around the dipping cup..... creating (in my mind's eye) a flower........ 


And I thought to myself when I had finished - no more wolfing down meals just to get them over with........... I must start paying a little more attention to detail....... find my Zen ... relax into it.... refocus from the busy noisy life outside the 4 walls I call home... 


Take time to appreciate...............to be Zen....... at one with the quiet stillness around me.

C is for cooking-EDITED for clarification

 
D Recipes  -  as requested.............

 

Please note:   the custard powder is Bird's Custard - and I can buy it up here in the Great White North at the grocery store.  I do not know if the french vanilla instant pudding mix would work as a substitute as suggested in the comment section yesterday.  BUT I do thank BlaznScarlet for the urls for recipes and the custard powder.

Nanaimo Bar Recipe

Bottom Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
¼ cup sugar
5 tbsp. cocoa
1 egg beaten
1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs
1 cup coconut

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs and coconut. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer
½ cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream
2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder
2 cups icing sugar

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer
  
NB I have been known to add green food colouring to the middle level with a tsp of peppermint flavouring.

Third Layer
4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Melt chocolate and butter overlow heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

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Chicken and Stuffing Skillet

      1 tbsp butter

      4 boneless chicken breasts

      1 box Stove Top Stuffing Mix

      1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup

      1/2 cup milk

      1/2 cup Cheddar Cheese shredded

Heat the butter in a skillet - add the chicken and cook for 15 minutes or until it's well browned on both sides and cooked through.

Remove the chicken from the skillet

Prepare the stuffing mix according to directions except let stand for 2 minutes

Place the chicken on the stuffing 

Stir the soup and milk in a small bowl Pour over the chicken

Top with the cheese 

Cook till cheese is melted

(I doubled the recipe and made ahead of time - put it in a casserole dish added the cheese the day of the party and popped the whole thing in the oven and heated through)

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Ham and Scalloped Potatoes

simplest recipe EVER

slice cooked ham in strips 

Add to the bottom of a casserole dish

Make scalloped potatoes (I always add cheese to mine) and pour over the top of the ham.

Cook  according to the scalloped potatoe recipe. 

Enjoy !!!!