Stuff and things

These are all dishes I made in the summer and wrote about in the summer.  Since it's November and there's now SNOW on the ground, I will share them with you.

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I found this recipe for Strawberries with Basil Granita in a Food Network magazine, and thought it sounded so wonderful. I made it, and eh. It was ok.


I loved the cold granita with the berries, and in theory the granita was good - cold, sweet basil equals yum - but it was just too sweet. I would play with this recipe, and work on getting it less sweet. But it sure has potential.

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frick frick frick. I just messed up and deleted the photo for this dish. Look up stupid in the dictionary, and they may well have a picture of me.

I saved this recipe from Deb last year, for her Thai Chickpea Curry, and made it earlier this month. We had it for dinner the next 2 nights and it was marvelous. I didn't follow the vegetable part of this recipe, just threw in what I had, which was sweet potatos, peas, cauliflower and carrots.

If you like curry, try this recipe. So, so good.

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I had some strawberries that were heading south faster than we could eat them. Instead of turning them into a smoothie like I normally would, I decided to make some fast jam.


I gave the berries a quick chop, then put them in a pan over medium heat. When they started to bubble, I added some maple syrup and a splash of balsamic vinegar, and then mashed them with a potato masher.

We liked it.

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I made these on Canada Day - I call them "meatballs stuffed with tomatos stuffed with cheese". I took some grape tomatos, cut off the stem end and cleaned out the seeds with the point of a knife. I stuffed them with cheese (I had some Laughing Cow pieces, but any cheese would work). I mixed some ground chicken with salt and pepper and then formed meatballs around the tomatos. Then I grilled 'em.




And lo, they were good.

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This is THE banana bread from Cookin' with Coolio, and if you don't own this book you are a fool, A FOOL, I tell you. We've made this approx 137548686597 times and love it. What are you waiting for?

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If you weren't quite convinced you should pick up a copy of The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook, this will seal the deal. We tried the vegetable pancake recipe, made it for some dinner guests and it got RAVE reviews. I ended up in a fork fight for the last piece with a guy who doesn't even like veggies that much. (We shared it, like civilized people do)
I have no photos but man oh man, it ruled. It ruled hard.

Stuff and things

These are all dishes I made in the summer and wrote about in the summer.  Since it's November and there's now SNOW on the ground, I will share them with you.

_____________________________________________________

I found this recipe for Strawberries with Basil Granita in a Food Network magazine, and thought it sounded so wonderful. I made it, and eh. It was ok.


I loved the cold granita with the berries, and in theory the granita was good - cold, sweet basil equals yum - but it was just too sweet. I would play with this recipe, and work on getting it less sweet. But it sure has potential.

_______________________________________

frick frick frick. I just messed up and deleted the photo for this dish. Look up stupid in the dictionary, and they may well have a picture of me.

I saved this recipe from Deb last year, for her Thai Chickpea Curry, and made it earlier this month. We had it for dinner the next 2 nights and it was marvelous. I didn't follow the vegetable part of this recipe, just threw in what I had, which was sweet potatos, peas, cauliflower and carrots.

If you like curry, try this recipe. So, so good.

_______________________________________

I had some strawberries that were heading south faster than we could eat them. Instead of turning them into a smoothie like I normally would, I decided to make some fast jam.


I gave the berries a quick chop, then put them in a pan over medium heat. When they started to bubble, I added some maple syrup and a splash of balsamic vinegar, and then mashed them with a potato masher.

We liked it.

________________________________________

I made these on Canada Day - I call them "meatballs stuffed with tomatos stuffed with cheese". I took some grape tomatos, cut off the stem end and cleaned out the seeds with the point of a knife. I stuffed them with cheese (I had some Laughing Cow pieces, but any cheese would work). I mixed some ground chicken with salt and pepper and then formed meatballs around the tomatos. Then I grilled 'em.




And lo, they were good.

_______________________________________


This is THE banana bread from Cookin' with Coolio, and if you don't own this book you are a fool, A FOOL, I tell you. We've made this approx 137548686597 times and love it. What are you waiting for?

__________________________________

If you weren't quite convinced you should pick up a copy of The French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook, this will seal the deal. We tried the vegetable pancake recipe, made it for some dinner guests and it got RAVE reviews. I ended up in a fork fight for the last piece with a guy who doesn't even like veggies that much. (We shared it, like civilized people do)
I have no photos but man oh man, it ruled. It ruled hard.

bites

Last month at my fathers request I made him and my mom my pork skewers with almond butter sauce, the recipe I have entered in the Maple Leaf contest.

You still have time to vote for me! Go to facebook, and visit the Maple Leaf page. You have to "like" the page, and then click on the red box that says Vote Now, and then you can click on (MY) any recipe you like, and then click on the "like" button.

That'd be super. Thanks.

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I have some really excellent cookbook reviews coming up this month and next month, but I want to tell you right now about one that I bought myself - Balls!: Round the World Fare for All Occasions by Angela Murrills. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It has, as it states on the cover "Over 100 Ball-istic recipes" for every kind of meatball, fruitball, riceball, dessertball, fishball, and pretty much anything round that you could think of. We've tried the French Meatball and Onion Soup (which was amazing), the Gehaktballen (Dutch Meatballs) (very very nice), Boules Provencales (tasty), Bistro "Steak" with Oven Fries (delicious), and Grapes Glaces (refreshing). I've got many many more of the recipes marked, and when Fall arrives (it is so gorgeous right now! And how many parenthesis am I using here???) we'll give some more of them a try. Check out this book, you'll love it.

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Last month I crossed something off my Life List - I gave blood.

I tried to do that in the spring, but because I'd given birth just a few months before I was not eligible. Then I got a little freaked out and avoided making an appointment for the rest of spring/all summer when I could have given. But they called me last month and I stopped being a weenie and went and did it.

It was a piece of cake. And I'll be doing it again and again for sure. Free cookies!

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If you happen to be in the BC area, here's 3 things you might like. First, in Vernon - Davison Orchard, about an hour away from Kamloops (where I live). We went last month for the first time and enjoyed it. Paxton is a little too young for the kid activities, but we had a nice walk and a delicious lunch which included apple pie and fresh apple juice, and the most delicious turkey and spinach sandwich. Then we bought a bunch of apples and tomatos and delicious rye bread and went home. Paxton enjoyed the tomato container.

Also last month we went with my parents to the annual autumn feast at Thistle Farms. It was a beautiful setting and the food was lovely. I hope to go back again.

And last, the Salmon Run has started up at Adams River. This is an annual occurrence, which I've mentioned before. This is the biggest run in about 100 years, with millions and millions of salmon swimming home to spawn before they die. We've seen them swimming up the Thompson River, right at the park downtown, which is something we haven't seen in other years. We haven't gone to Adams River yet, probably in a couple of weeks, but I'll share photos and more info with you then.

Happy Sunday!

bites

Last month at my fathers request I made him and my mom my pork skewers with almond butter sauce, the recipe I have entered in the Maple Leaf contest.

You still have time to vote for me! Go to facebook, and visit the Maple Leaf page. You have to "like" the page, and then click on the red box that says Vote Now, and then you can click on (MY) any recipe you like, and then click on the "like" button.

That'd be super. Thanks.

___________________________

I have some really excellent cookbook reviews coming up this month and next month, but I want to tell you right now about one that I bought myself - Balls!: Round the World Fare for All Occasions by Angela Murrills. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It has, as it states on the cover "Over 100 Ball-istic recipes" for every kind of meatball, fruitball, riceball, dessertball, fishball, and pretty much anything round that you could think of. We've tried the French Meatball and Onion Soup (which was amazing), the Gehaktballen (Dutch Meatballs) (very very nice), Boules Provencales (tasty), Bistro "Steak" with Oven Fries (delicious), and Grapes Glaces (refreshing). I've got many many more of the recipes marked, and when Fall arrives (it is so gorgeous right now! And how many parenthesis am I using here???) we'll give some more of them a try. Check out this book, you'll love it.

___________________________

Last month I crossed something off my Life List - I gave blood.

I tried to do that in the spring, but because I'd given birth just a few months before I was not eligible. Then I got a little freaked out and avoided making an appointment for the rest of spring/all summer when I could have given. But they called me last month and I stopped being a weenie and went and did it.

It was a piece of cake. And I'll be doing it again and again for sure. Free cookies!

___________________________

If you happen to be in the BC area, here's 3 things you might like. First, in Vernon - Davison Orchard, about an hour away from Kamloops (where I live). We went last month for the first time and enjoyed it. Paxton is a little too young for the kid activities, but we had a nice walk and a delicious lunch which included apple pie and fresh apple juice, and the most delicious turkey and spinach sandwich. Then we bought a bunch of apples and tomatos and delicious rye bread and went home. Paxton enjoyed the tomato container.

Also last month we went with my parents to the annual autumn feast at Thistle Farms. It was a beautiful setting and the food was lovely. I hope to go back again.

And last, the Salmon Run has started up at Adams River. This is an annual occurrence, which I've mentioned before. This is the biggest run in about 100 years, with millions and millions of salmon swimming home to spawn before they die. We've seen them swimming up the Thompson River, right at the park downtown, which is something we haven't seen in other years. We haven't gone to Adams River yet, probably in a couple of weeks, but I'll share photos and more info with you then.

Happy Sunday!

Bites v 6

Back in June I posted a Wordless recipe for toast with peanut butter and bacon. An anonymous reader left a comment on that post with instructions on how to make peanut butter bacon spread. When Scott read that, there was no stopping him.



It was really really good! I was skeptical, but was won over. Salty smokey bacon and creamy peanut butter are a match made in heaven.
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We saw Jamie Oliver make this relish on his new(ish) show Jamie at Home - Jalapeno Avocado relish. At least, that's what I call ours. His is called something else similar, but the book is alllllll the way in the other room right now.


I first served the relish with some chicken breast I'd smoked in an old smoker bag. That bag had to have been 5 years old. About time to use it. The chicken and relish paired well together. The smoked pineapple, not so much. Grilled pineapple rocks. This smoked pineapple just tasted oily and weird. A waste of perfectly good pineapple!
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Here's a del.icio.us recipe for you from La Mia Cucina. I bookmarked this recipe in January 2007. Lisa made this for Weekend Cookbook Challenge, and even though I'd saved it, I was never sure I'd make it. Until I was faced with 3/4's of a large head of purple cabbage leftover from a salad recipe. I still had coleslaw in the fridge from the pork sandwiches, so we tried Lisa's stew


Kielbasa Stew.
This received good but mixed results. I'd had a choice between 3 kielbasa's at the store. I personally don't think I chose the best one. I enjoyed the "soup" part (I didn't cook it as long as the recipe recommends, so it was soupy, which is what I wanted), but wasn't crazy about the sausage. I found it too firm. Scott just loved the whole thing, and ate 2 bowlfuls that night. I divided the leftovers into lunch for Scott for the next day, and the rest for my parents. And mixed reviews from them too - my Dad enjoyed the veggies and soup, my mom thought the sausage was the best part.
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Back in the summer Scott's sister, brother in law and our nephew came to visit. That kid survived on a diet of ribs, skinny cow fudge pops, peas, and goldfish crackers the whole weekend. (The adults ate pretty much the same thing, with a few cocktails in the evenings.) One day I sat with my nephew as he ate his snack, and he was kind enough to share a couple of his goldfish crackers with me. They were good! A month later on holiday, a bowl of goldfish crackers turned up at the bar we were having a pre-dinner drink at, and when we went home, I added them to my grocery list. The bag sat untouched for a couple of months until I was trying to figure out what to do with some chicken for dinner. Cheddar Chicken Fingers were born.


The little crackers were so happy to go swimming in my mortar. Or pestle.

A massacre! Avert your eyes!

I lightly spread the chicken strips with mustard, and breaded them with the ground up flesh of hundred of small cheesy goldfish.

Then they were baked and eaten. The end.
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This was a Nigella recipe for Risi e Bisi - Rice and Peas. Basically a soupy risotto. It was ok.
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Bites v 6

Back in June I posted a Wordless recipe for toast with peanut butter and bacon. An anonymous reader left a comment on that post with instructions on how to make peanut butter bacon spread. When Scott read that, there was no stopping him.



It was really really good! I was skeptical, but was won over. Salty smokey bacon and creamy peanut butter are a match made in heaven.
_________________________________________________

We saw Jamie Oliver make this relish on his new(ish) show Jamie at Home - Jalapeno Avocado relish. At least, that's what I call ours. His is called something else similar, but the book is alllllll the way in the other room right now.


I first served the relish with some chicken breast I'd smoked in an old smoker bag. That bag had to have been 5 years old. About time to use it. The chicken and relish paired well together. The smoked pineapple, not so much. Grilled pineapple rocks. This smoked pineapple just tasted oily and weird. A waste of perfectly good pineapple!
______________________________________________

Here's a del.icio.us recipe for you from La Mia Cucina. I bookmarked this recipe in January 2007. Lisa made this for Weekend Cookbook Challenge, and even though I'd saved it, I was never sure I'd make it. Until I was faced with 3/4's of a large head of purple cabbage leftover from a salad recipe. I still had coleslaw in the fridge from the pork sandwiches, so we tried Lisa's stew


Kielbasa Stew.
This received good but mixed results. I'd had a choice between 3 kielbasa's at the store. I personally don't think I chose the best one. I enjoyed the "soup" part (I didn't cook it as long as the recipe recommends, so it was soupy, which is what I wanted), but wasn't crazy about the sausage. I found it too firm. Scott just loved the whole thing, and ate 2 bowlfuls that night. I divided the leftovers into lunch for Scott for the next day, and the rest for my parents. And mixed reviews from them too - my Dad enjoyed the veggies and soup, my mom thought the sausage was the best part.
_______________________________________________________________

Back in the summer Scott's sister, brother in law and our nephew came to visit. That kid survived on a diet of ribs, skinny cow fudge pops, peas, and goldfish crackers the whole weekend. (The adults ate pretty much the same thing, with a few cocktails in the evenings.) One day I sat with my nephew as he ate his snack, and he was kind enough to share a couple of his goldfish crackers with me. They were good! A month later on holiday, a bowl of goldfish crackers turned up at the bar we were having a pre-dinner drink at, and when we went home, I added them to my grocery list. The bag sat untouched for a couple of months until I was trying to figure out what to do with some chicken for dinner. Cheddar Chicken Fingers were born.


The little crackers were so happy to go swimming in my mortar. Or pestle.

A massacre! Avert your eyes!

I lightly spread the chicken strips with mustard, and breaded them with the ground up flesh of hundred of small cheesy goldfish.

Then they were baked and eaten. The end.
_________________________________________________


This was a Nigella recipe for Risi e Bisi - Rice and Peas. Basically a soupy risotto. It was ok.
________________________________________________

Bites v 5

Saturday was the 3rd farmers market of the year. Pretty much the same as the week before - mainly plants with a couple of baking stands. We bought some whole wheat buns and a rhubarb plant.
After the market we had planned to go for a walk in the park, then pick up some lunch stuff at the deli and have a picnic in the park. It was too windy, so we went home and I worked in the yard. When we were done, we had a jug (or two) of beergaritas. And then suddenly, somehow, Saturday was over.
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I love zucchini and I made these little baked zukes last month. It started off as a Jamie Oliver recipe from Cook with Jamie, but he made a vinaigrette with herbs, and I didn't have all the stuff, and Scott wanted garlic, so it became just zucchini tossed with garlic and olive oil and baked in the oven. They were really really great, and the next day I chopped up some of the leftovers into a salad.

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This recipe was what I made for dinner on Valentines day. Savory Bread Pudding with Spinach, Gruyere and Shiitakes from Food to Live By, that I received from Lis last year. I'll never be able to thank her enough for this great book.
We couldn't find any shiitakes, so we used brown mushrooms. We also cut back on the amount of spinach. It was really great, and we ate the leftovers for breakfasts.

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Coral Broccoli that I bought from the deli downtown. Tasted pretty much just like cauliflower to me.
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I don't really like pork chops anymore, I think they are too lean and no matter how careful I am they are always too dry. I had some in the freezer I wanted to get rid of. Thankfully I found a bbq crockpot recipe to use them up.

Here's the recipe from Chicken, again?. Very tasty and I like any recipe where my crockpot does most of the work.

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I am thinking of changing the name of this blog from i like to cook to "i want to cook everything that the cookbook junkie blogs about". Catchy, huh? I think I've got half her posts bookmarked. I love anything sweet and sour, like her Sweet and Sour Meatballs. Don't they look yummy?
They really were. Here's the recipe for Sweet and Sour Meatballs.

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Donut King opened here in Kamloops in December. The owner is a former Tim Hortons franchisee. He's opened his store in a former (not his) Tim Hortons location on the corner of Summit and Columbia. The big difference between Donut King and Tim Hortons? Donut King makes their donuts fresh daily, on premises. Tim Hortons donuts are made in a factory, frozen, and shipped to the stores where they are heated up.

I had to buy donuts for an early morning meeting a couple of months ago. I'd heard rave reviews about Donut King, so I picked up two dozen donuts. They were still warm.


The verdict? OH MY GOD. Those are some mighty fine donuts. I scooped a couple to take home to Scott after work. He nearly had a fit when he saw them - one was covered in toasted coconut which apparently is his favorite donut. That was news to me, but we don't eat that many donuts. Isn't the box so great?

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It's been ages since I shared a del.icio.us recipe of the week . My recipe count on del.icio.us has hit 305 which is frankly ridiculous. I need to stop bookmarking and start cooking what I've already saved. Back in February I spotted a vegan pate recipe over at one of my weekly reads the urban vegan. It sounded really interesting, and the ingredient list was so short and simple I couldn't believe it. I showed the recipe to Scott and just like that we were off to the store to pick up mushrooms and pecans.

This could not be a simpler dish to make. Toast your pecans in a large pan on top of the stove. Then whizz them into toasted pecan flour. Slice up your mushrooms and garlic and cook them. And cook them. And then cook them some more. Deglaze with sherry.

Then toss them in the food processor with the pecan flour and some olive oil. I added some extra sherry at this point just because I could.

We let it cool and later that night served it with crackers. (Go look at uv's picture of the finished pate, it's much nicer than mine.)

There are no words to tell you how great this is. It's nutty from the toasted pecans, it's earthy from the mushrooms. It's boozy from the sherry. And it's even more amazing the next day.

A million Thank You's to the urban vegan for sharing such a delicious recipe with the internet. It's so damn good.

Recipe:sherry-infused pate.

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I tried another recipe from the most recent Rachel Ray magazine. Unlike the Asparagus Popover that we liked so much, this one was a dud. The turkey meatballs were pretty easy to make, but were so bland. There wasn't much seasoning in them, so Scott added some Italian blend. If he hadn't these would have been much worse.
A couple of days later we heated up the leftovers in some pasta sauce for meatball sandwiches. They were ok. I wouldn't make this again.
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Normally the end of April would/should be too warm to have the oven on for 3+ hours to make stew, but that wasn't the case here in Kamloops. So I found a nice sounding stew recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking - Carbonnades a la Flamande (Beef and Onions Braised in Beer)




This was tremendous - definitely the best stew I've ever made. I added more brown sugar than called for, the sugar was hard so I just threw in a clump, and I really enjoyed the sweetness it added. I'm hoping the warm weather is here to stay, so I won't be able to make this again until at least November!
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I was very fortunate to receive an advanced copy of Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs (available on May 6):
I loved this book! I was excited to see that Kate is originally from Hope, BC (although now lives in the US) which is practically down the road from Kamloops. This is Kate's second book and her first based on cooking. Because I'm afraid I'll give too much away, here's the official blurb:
In this smart, delicious novel by the bestselling author of The Friday Night Knitting Club, a celebrity chef shows her friends and family the joy of fulfillment— and manages to spice up her own life at the same time.
Shortly before turning the big 5-0, boisterous party planner and Cooking with Gusto! personality Augusta “Gus” Simpson finds herself planning a birthday party she’d rather not—her own. She’s getting tired of being the hostess, the mother hen, the woman who has to plan her own birthday party. What she needs is time on her own with enough distance to give her loved ones the ingredients to put together successful lives without her.
Assisted by a handsome up-and-coming chef, Oliver, Gus invites a select group to take an on-air cooking class. But instead of just preaching to the foodie masses, she will teach regular people how to make rich, sensuous meals—real people making real food. Gus decides to bring a vibrant cast of friends and family on the program: Sabrina, her fickle daughter; Troy, Sabrina’s ex-husband; Anna, Gus’s timid neighbor; and Carmen, Gus’s pompous and beautiful competitor at the Cooking Channel. And when she begins to have more than collegial feelings for her sous-chef, Gus realizes that she might be able to rejuvenate not just her professional life, but her personal life as well. . . .

I really enjoyed reading Comfort Food. I loved the writing, and the characters. I loved the plot twists, those I saw coming and those I didn't. It was a really fun read and will have a permanent home in my bookcase. There's also a companion website to go with the book, with information about the book, characters, recipes, and games and quizzes. I'm proud to say I received top scores in the quizzes, thankyouverymuch. Check this book out! I don't think you'll be disappointed.