The weekend is here. Not that it makes that much difference to my daily routine as I'm not getting up and going to work Monday to Friday but still the weekend is here.
The SU and I are going up north a bit this weekend to spend some time with my sister and her husband at Lake Simcoe (huge lake about 45 minutes north of Toronto). If we decide to stay overnight the only issue I have is that we'll be sleeping on the screen porch, attached to the cottage with screens on 3 sides instead of windows/walls, so it's pretty much outside just bug free.
The forecast for the temperature is not good. Cool and cooler. So we may just be making a day trip. Still 45 minutes each way isn't too bad, we'll see. If we have a wobbly pop or two we may just decide to stay and not change a drive home.
Internally here at casa condo we planted our herb garden. We did this the first year we were here but not since then. This year we decided to do it again and, as a result, we have pots out the wazoo. I haven't taken pics of the various plants yet but when they're up a bit more (they're all up now except the Rosemary - we started them all from seeds rather then seedlings) I'll take some pics and do a garden post.
Also, Monday I have my real estate agent coming to give me estimate of the price we'd get for casa condo if we were to sell. However, on the job front my phone has been ringing off the hook this week. So who knows I may have something and not need to sell after all. Time and good interview skills will tell.
Hope your weekend is good and that you have fun.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Kabobs
What is a kabob? In North American when we hear about Shish Kabob we think of meat on a skewer or veggies and meat mixed on skewer, grilled on BBQ. Nothing wrong with that.
But what the SU's family calls a Kabob is very different from what I called a Kabob. His version (and his families) may or may not be indicative of other regions of the middle east but what I'm giving you today is the version we make.
So what does the SU's family call a Kabob - well basically it's a grilled meat ball. We've been to Arabian restaurants and street fairs (they have an Arabian street fair in Toronto each year in the Arabian neighbourhood). How they would make them there is to take the meat and form the ball around a skewer and cook them on a grill, the meat in this form is thin, and form a long tube around the skewer - so in that respect they are like the Shish Kabob that some of us may have grown up with.
At home, we live in a condo so we don't have a grill (no balcony and our building does not provide or allow for BBQ on site). So we have a cast iron grilling pan and we make them in that. We don't bother with the skewer but just form the balls and grill them that way.
If you wanted to use skewers be sure to soak them in water before using them so that they will not burn on your grill.
Also we use a spice blend to make the kabobs that we purchase at the Arabian market, it's called, funnily enough, Kabob spice. If you can find that use that with salt and pepper to taste. If not the recipe below is how the SU and I will make it without the Kabob spice blend.
Kabobs:
1/2 pound of lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (more or less depending on how dry you like them)
1 tbsp cumin
1tbsp Garam marasala
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp Dill seed
1 tsp Anise Seed (optional)
1-2 tbsp of Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, best to use your hands (use rubber gloves if you don't like the idea of touching the raw meat with your hands).
Form the whole in a ball and cover the bowl, set in the refrigerator to chill and to allow the spices to blend - how long is up to you, minimum of 1 hour though.
Remove the meat from the refrigerator and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, then either using 2 spoons or just your hands form the meat in to 12 kabobs (roughly egg shaped and roughly triangular on the sides).
While forming the balls, set the grilling pan on the stove top with the heat set to medium and allow the pan to heat. Add a splash of cooking oil or vegetable spray the pan to prevent the meat from sticking.
When the pan is hot, place the kabobs on the pan and allow them to cook on all sides (about 5-7 minutes per side).
When the meat is thoroughly cooked remove from the heat and set aside to rest a few minutes before serving.
Serve with grilled veggies and yogurt/cucumber salad.
To make the yogurt salad:
1 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (fat free if you want to save calories)
1/4 of an English cucumber, chopped fairly fine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tbsp of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped and pasted (or use 1 tsp of garlic powder if you are afraid of getting a chunk of raw garlic)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix the all ingredients in a small bowl until well blended, set on the table and use as either a dip or a sauce to pour over the kabobs.
But what the SU's family calls a Kabob is very different from what I called a Kabob. His version (and his families) may or may not be indicative of other regions of the middle east but what I'm giving you today is the version we make.
So what does the SU's family call a Kabob - well basically it's a grilled meat ball. We've been to Arabian restaurants and street fairs (they have an Arabian street fair in Toronto each year in the Arabian neighbourhood). How they would make them there is to take the meat and form the ball around a skewer and cook them on a grill, the meat in this form is thin, and form a long tube around the skewer - so in that respect they are like the Shish Kabob that some of us may have grown up with.
At home, we live in a condo so we don't have a grill (no balcony and our building does not provide or allow for BBQ on site). So we have a cast iron grilling pan and we make them in that. We don't bother with the skewer but just form the balls and grill them that way.
If you wanted to use skewers be sure to soak them in water before using them so that they will not burn on your grill.
Also we use a spice blend to make the kabobs that we purchase at the Arabian market, it's called, funnily enough, Kabob spice. If you can find that use that with salt and pepper to taste. If not the recipe below is how the SU and I will make it without the Kabob spice blend.
Kabobs:
1/2 pound of lean ground beef
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs (more or less depending on how dry you like them)
1 tbsp cumin
1tbsp Garam marasala
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp Dill seed
1 tsp Anise Seed (optional)
1-2 tbsp of Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, best to use your hands (use rubber gloves if you don't like the idea of touching the raw meat with your hands).
Form the whole in a ball and cover the bowl, set in the refrigerator to chill and to allow the spices to blend - how long is up to you, minimum of 1 hour though.
Remove the meat from the refrigerator and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes, then either using 2 spoons or just your hands form the meat in to 12 kabobs (roughly egg shaped and roughly triangular on the sides).
While forming the balls, set the grilling pan on the stove top with the heat set to medium and allow the pan to heat. Add a splash of cooking oil or vegetable spray the pan to prevent the meat from sticking.
When the pan is hot, place the kabobs on the pan and allow them to cook on all sides (about 5-7 minutes per side).
When the meat is thoroughly cooked remove from the heat and set aside to rest a few minutes before serving.
Serve with grilled veggies and yogurt/cucumber salad.
To make the yogurt salad:
1 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (fat free if you want to save calories)
1/4 of an English cucumber, chopped fairly fine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 tbsp of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped and pasted (or use 1 tsp of garlic powder if you are afraid of getting a chunk of raw garlic)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix the all ingredients in a small bowl until well blended, set on the table and use as either a dip or a sauce to pour over the kabobs.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sunday recipe again - Already? where did the week go?
It's Sunday and today I'm giving a simple recipe for Pasta with meat sauce. You can use a jarred sauce but it's easy enough to whip up a home made one, and you can control the flavours to your liking that way.
But first the weekly news. The SU has finally connected with his family back home. I have been after him for some time to get email addresses and to use chat to speak with them. The problem is that they live in Gaza and power and other things are sometimes intermittent and often unreliable.
However, we've finally made a connections with everyone. He has 2 sisters, both married and his mother remaining behind in Palestine (or Israel I guess). We had thought they were living in Israel proper, outside Tel Aviv and not in the Territories and definitely not in Gaza, well we were wrong.
The SU connected with Older sister (OS) first, she and her husband and her brood were all excited to see Uncle SU, some of them for the first time in their lives. That first day he chatted with OS and OS Husband (OSH) for several hours, both of them on webcam. He gave them a tour of our condo, tried to show them the view from our window to the downtown core but it was late afternoon and the sun was blasting in our window, leaving only glare on the cam when he tried to show them.
From that conversation he finally got YS (Younger sister's) email address and was able to connect with her and through her his mother, as they live together.
YS and YSH (YS Husband) do not have a webcam yet but he put our cam up and let them have a look, he gave the tour to them, his mother loved all our plants, YS was jealous of our department store carpet, as all they have is straw mats (all they can get - ironic since they're so close to some of the best carpet makers in the world).
Today they are supposed to be purchasing a cam (they can't get food, water or adequate power but a webcam they can get - go figure). So tonight I may get to see my mother-in-law for the first time. Not that she's knows I'm her son-in-law but they come from a different place with different mores, so we'll have to bring them along slowly.
YS and YSH said the whole family is tired of living there, tired of all the fighting and tired of all the deprivation and they want desperately to come to Canada. The first to come is supposedly Mom-in-law to stay with us for several months (I guess to see how she likes it here). I thought she was much older but it turns out she is only 61, so still young and vibrant and she can make a life here, if she wants one. YS and YSH and OS and OSH will have to apply as refugees, in all likelihood and come in that way. We don't have a time table for any of this and we don't know for sure if it will happen, but I think it should. At first the SU wasn't keen on having them here (due our lifestyle and there most probable lack of acceptance of same) but now he's kind of excited that they may be coming.
One funny thing YSH asked: Do we have beer in Canada. Hello???? Does a bear shit in the woods.
The rest of my week was uneventful, I'm pursuing some opportunities on the job front. Always seem to be pursuing but not catching. I have a head hunter working with me now and she was very impressed with my credentials and some skills testing they gave me, which I aced, so I have a champion in her. We'll see if does my any good. In the meantime, I'm working on designing some sample lesson plans, in a couple of different formats to demonstrate my abilities in that area and provide them as a portfolio of work when I apply for jobs.
Recipe time:
Pasta and Meat Sauce.
Ingredients:
3-4 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
1 lb of Lean ground beef
1 Green pepper, chopped coarsely
10-12 Button Mushrooms
1 tsp Italian Seasoning mix
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garam Marsala
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 Jalapeno pepper (or pepper of choice - can used dried if you like - deseed to reduce heat)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp of Tomato Paste
1/2 package of Pasta of your choice
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt
Cooking Instructions
Before beginning the sauce, place a large pasta pot, filled with water on the stove and bring to a boil.
In a blender, place the tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms and pulse.
A note about mushrooms: In all the cooking shows I've seen and recipe books I've read they say never to wash your mushrooms, as they loose flavour when they get wet. Do you know what they grow mushrooms in? I'm sorry I'm washing them. If you're going to use them immediately in cooking I don't see an issue with running them under some warm water to clean them up.
If you want more body in your sauce, leave the peppers and mushroom out of the blender and just puree the tomatoes, if you want smooth sauce, puree all of them together.
In a large saucepan, place 1 tbsp of cooking oil, allow to heat on med-high, add the onions and all the spices and allow the onions to cook down for a few minutes (to become somewhat translucent).
Add the ground beef to brown the meet, leaving the onions and spices in the mix.
If the peppers were not added to the puree, add the peppers once the meat has begun to brown. Pour the pureed mix over the browned meat and onions, reduce heat to a simmer and stir the mix together. If the mushrooms were not part of the puree mix, add the chopped mushrooms now.
Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper to your taste. The sugar is optional, it will reduce the acidity of the tomatoes, if you like that flavour leave it out, if not add the sugar and stir to blend it in. Stir in the tomato paste until dissolved, cover and allow the sauce to simmer until the meat is cooked and the sauce has thickened.
Once the water is to a rolling boil, salt the water. Add in the pasta and cook until done, 5-7 minutes for El Dente (for dried pasta) longer for soft pasta.
Drain the pasta, but put about 1 soup ladle full of the pasta water into the sauce and stir it in.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce while still in the pan (or if the sauce pan is too small to accommodate place the cooked pasta back in the pasta pot and pour the sauce over it), blend and serve the freshly grated Parmesan cheese and good bread.
Enjoy.
But first the weekly news. The SU has finally connected with his family back home. I have been after him for some time to get email addresses and to use chat to speak with them. The problem is that they live in Gaza and power and other things are sometimes intermittent and often unreliable.
However, we've finally made a connections with everyone. He has 2 sisters, both married and his mother remaining behind in Palestine (or Israel I guess). We had thought they were living in Israel proper, outside Tel Aviv and not in the Territories and definitely not in Gaza, well we were wrong.
The SU connected with Older sister (OS) first, she and her husband and her brood were all excited to see Uncle SU, some of them for the first time in their lives. That first day he chatted with OS and OS Husband (OSH) for several hours, both of them on webcam. He gave them a tour of our condo, tried to show them the view from our window to the downtown core but it was late afternoon and the sun was blasting in our window, leaving only glare on the cam when he tried to show them.
From that conversation he finally got YS (Younger sister's) email address and was able to connect with her and through her his mother, as they live together.
YS and YSH (YS Husband) do not have a webcam yet but he put our cam up and let them have a look, he gave the tour to them, his mother loved all our plants, YS was jealous of our department store carpet, as all they have is straw mats (all they can get - ironic since they're so close to some of the best carpet makers in the world).
Today they are supposed to be purchasing a cam (they can't get food, water or adequate power but a webcam they can get - go figure). So tonight I may get to see my mother-in-law for the first time. Not that she's knows I'm her son-in-law but they come from a different place with different mores, so we'll have to bring them along slowly.
YS and YSH said the whole family is tired of living there, tired of all the fighting and tired of all the deprivation and they want desperately to come to Canada. The first to come is supposedly Mom-in-law to stay with us for several months (I guess to see how she likes it here). I thought she was much older but it turns out she is only 61, so still young and vibrant and she can make a life here, if she wants one. YS and YSH and OS and OSH will have to apply as refugees, in all likelihood and come in that way. We don't have a time table for any of this and we don't know for sure if it will happen, but I think it should. At first the SU wasn't keen on having them here (due our lifestyle and there most probable lack of acceptance of same) but now he's kind of excited that they may be coming.
One funny thing YSH asked: Do we have beer in Canada. Hello???? Does a bear shit in the woods.
The rest of my week was uneventful, I'm pursuing some opportunities on the job front. Always seem to be pursuing but not catching. I have a head hunter working with me now and she was very impressed with my credentials and some skills testing they gave me, which I aced, so I have a champion in her. We'll see if does my any good. In the meantime, I'm working on designing some sample lesson plans, in a couple of different formats to demonstrate my abilities in that area and provide them as a portfolio of work when I apply for jobs.
Recipe time:
Pasta and Meat Sauce.
Ingredients:
3-4 medium sized tomatoes, quartered
1 medium white onion, peeled and diced
1 lb of Lean ground beef
1 Green pepper, chopped coarsely
10-12 Button Mushrooms
1 tsp Italian Seasoning mix
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garam Marsala
1/2 tsp Sugar
1 Jalapeno pepper (or pepper of choice - can used dried if you like - deseed to reduce heat)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp of Tomato Paste
1/2 package of Pasta of your choice
2 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt
Cooking Instructions
Before beginning the sauce, place a large pasta pot, filled with water on the stove and bring to a boil.
In a blender, place the tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms and pulse.
A note about mushrooms: In all the cooking shows I've seen and recipe books I've read they say never to wash your mushrooms, as they loose flavour when they get wet. Do you know what they grow mushrooms in? I'm sorry I'm washing them. If you're going to use them immediately in cooking I don't see an issue with running them under some warm water to clean them up.
If you want more body in your sauce, leave the peppers and mushroom out of the blender and just puree the tomatoes, if you want smooth sauce, puree all of them together.
In a large saucepan, place 1 tbsp of cooking oil, allow to heat on med-high, add the onions and all the spices and allow the onions to cook down for a few minutes (to become somewhat translucent).
Add the ground beef to brown the meet, leaving the onions and spices in the mix.
If the peppers were not added to the puree, add the peppers once the meat has begun to brown. Pour the pureed mix over the browned meat and onions, reduce heat to a simmer and stir the mix together. If the mushrooms were not part of the puree mix, add the chopped mushrooms now.
Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper to your taste. The sugar is optional, it will reduce the acidity of the tomatoes, if you like that flavour leave it out, if not add the sugar and stir to blend it in. Stir in the tomato paste until dissolved, cover and allow the sauce to simmer until the meat is cooked and the sauce has thickened.
Once the water is to a rolling boil, salt the water. Add in the pasta and cook until done, 5-7 minutes for El Dente (for dried pasta) longer for soft pasta.
Drain the pasta, but put about 1 soup ladle full of the pasta water into the sauce and stir it in.
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce while still in the pan (or if the sauce pan is too small to accommodate place the cooked pasta back in the pasta pot and pour the sauce over it), blend and serve the freshly grated Parmesan cheese and good bread.
Enjoy.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
recipe today is for desert
This week I'm going back to a desert that I've actually won an award with. Nothing big, local pot luck that awards prizes for the dish that receives the most number of votes and I won the desert category. The original recipe was was found on the Food Network website and I am siting the original provider of the recipe. I am not user his/her directions though, for the most part.
If I'm telling someone how to bake something, I prefer to tell them the way that I would do it and not just rely on the generic descriptions usually provided.
This week I am providing a recipe for Marble Cheesecake
Marble Cheesecake
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand (found on Food Network (foodnetwork.com)
Ingredients
For the crust:
4 ounces chocolate cookie crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
For the filling:
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 yolks
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream, plus 1/4 cup
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch spring form pan.
If you choose to buy chocolate cookies and crush them you may want to use a rolling pin with the cookie crumbs in a sealable plastic bag to crush them. However, I generally will purchase chocolate cookie crumbs (in the baking aisle of your super market).
Use a double boiler or heat resistant bowl and place over a pot of simmering water and melt the 6 ounces of chocolate, when fully melted set it aside to cool
Melt the butter (you can microwave it to melt it but watch it so as not to over do it) or in a small saucepan on the stove. Pour the melted butter over the cookie crumbs and stir with a fork to blend them then press the blended mixture into the bottom of the pan, and chill.
Into the bowl of a table mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand held mixture with a large bowl, place the softened cream cheese and whip it. Add the sugar, a little at a time, continuing to mix until all the sugar is blended with the cream cheese.
In a separate bowl shift together the dry ingredients, blending the flour and salt then add this to the cheese mixture and blend thoroughly to incorporate all the flour. Add the yolks and eggs gradually, scraping the bowl down as you go. Add the vanilla and then add 3/4 cup of the sour cream and mix in. Take off 2 cups of the mixture and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup sour cream with the cooled melted chocolate then whisk into it, the reserved 2 cups of filling.
Pour a layer of the vanilla filling into the bottom of the pan about 1-inch thick. By large spoonfuls, alternate the plain filling and the chocolate filling to fill the spring form pan. Using the flat face of an icing spatula (or a butter knife), swirl the 2 batters slightly to marbleize it.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 250 degrees F and bake for 1 more hour. Then, turn the oven off and let it cool in the oven 1 hour. The cake will still shimmy, but it is done, it will set up as it chills.
Refrigerate the cake overnight.
Remove from the spring form pan, slice with a hot, dry knife, and serve.
If the cake cracks while baking (crevices on the surface) it’s largely a moisture issue with your oven. Place a pan with water in the oven while baking to avoid this.
If I'm telling someone how to bake something, I prefer to tell them the way that I would do it and not just rely on the generic descriptions usually provided.
This week I am providing a recipe for Marble Cheesecake
Marble Cheesecake
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand (found on Food Network (foodnetwork.com)
Ingredients
For the crust:
4 ounces chocolate cookie crumbs
2 tablespoons melted butter
For the filling:
2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 yolks
5 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream, plus 1/4 cup
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch spring form pan.
If you choose to buy chocolate cookies and crush them you may want to use a rolling pin with the cookie crumbs in a sealable plastic bag to crush them. However, I generally will purchase chocolate cookie crumbs (in the baking aisle of your super market).
Use a double boiler or heat resistant bowl and place over a pot of simmering water and melt the 6 ounces of chocolate, when fully melted set it aside to cool
Melt the butter (you can microwave it to melt it but watch it so as not to over do it) or in a small saucepan on the stove. Pour the melted butter over the cookie crumbs and stir with a fork to blend them then press the blended mixture into the bottom of the pan, and chill.
Into the bowl of a table mixer with a whisk attachment or a hand held mixture with a large bowl, place the softened cream cheese and whip it. Add the sugar, a little at a time, continuing to mix until all the sugar is blended with the cream cheese.
In a separate bowl shift together the dry ingredients, blending the flour and salt then add this to the cheese mixture and blend thoroughly to incorporate all the flour. Add the yolks and eggs gradually, scraping the bowl down as you go. Add the vanilla and then add 3/4 cup of the sour cream and mix in. Take off 2 cups of the mixture and set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/4 cup sour cream with the cooled melted chocolate then whisk into it, the reserved 2 cups of filling.
Pour a layer of the vanilla filling into the bottom of the pan about 1-inch thick. By large spoonfuls, alternate the plain filling and the chocolate filling to fill the spring form pan. Using the flat face of an icing spatula (or a butter knife), swirl the 2 batters slightly to marbleize it.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 250 degrees F and bake for 1 more hour. Then, turn the oven off and let it cool in the oven 1 hour. The cake will still shimmy, but it is done, it will set up as it chills.
Refrigerate the cake overnight.
Remove from the spring form pan, slice with a hot, dry knife, and serve.
If the cake cracks while baking (crevices on the surface) it’s largely a moisture issue with your oven. Place a pan with water in the oven while baking to avoid this.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Recipe time
It's Sunday morning and the SU has worked all weekend, so I've been a little bored during the day. Bored but not idle. We've begun to do a full spring cleaning. It's more then time for it as the clutter has build up and we have so many kitchen gadgets and no space for them all.
It's time to thin the heard, as far as they're concerned.
We started Friday evening, yep we're that exciting that's how we spend our Friday's --Cleaning. Yay.
I started in the office, by organizing the bookshelves. I have some very outdated software manuals, tons of papers and books that I have just let pile up on the shelves (well not tons but a small pile). By the time I'd finished the first two cases I had a full shelve of one bookcase completely empty.
I have a lot of cook books (including some vintage books from the 30s 40s and 50s) and when we moved into the condo we put them in the cabinet over the fridge and closed the doors on those cabinets and haven't touched them since. Out of sight, out of mind. Well truthfully, the cabinet isn't Fridge width, so it's set back and we have a tall fridge so I can't reach them without a ladder. Over the years I just piled some large bowls and other large pieces ontop of the fridge, effectively blocking those cabinets.
Now with an empty book case, I decided to move the books out of that closed cabinet and put them on the shelf. They just fit and took up the whole shelf. I'd forgotten about some of the books that I have. My favourite is a complete set (from 1972) of the Family Circle Illustrated Library of Cooking. I've made a few recipes from there but it's funny to read them, in a way, and see how tastes have changed (and how they've stayed the same) over the years.
Taking the books out of the kitchen, then opened up that cabinet and allowed us to begin to re-organize the kitchen and actually to put some small appliances away, thus freeing up counter space.
We've finished the kitchen, the laundry room and I'm still working on the office. I may put some items on Ebay, Kijiji or Craigslist, stuff that I'm not that interested in having anymore or just want to get rid of. My comic collections, for instance, I haven't collected since I was in my early 20s, is pretty much just sitting there in comic bags and comic storage boxes. I haven't even opened the boxes in more then 10 years. Never had anything super valuable and I'm not that attached to any of it so I might get rid of it. I also have a small collection of sports cards as well. Originally, I had planned to pass the comics and cards onto to my nephews and/or nieces but I don't think any of them are interested in them so I'll just sell them. They'll go up for sale, as will some of the bobble heads and other toys. I'm donating all my Disney VHS tapes to my niece (she's 2) as I haven't even unpacked them, since we moved in here. I have every Disney animated film released (except Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast - didn't like either one) on VHS.
I'm hoping that with all this cleaning and purging, to get rid of 2 or 3 of the smaller book shelves in the office. The office is also our second bedroom and our guest room. I have an air mattress that we inflate, as needed but I'd like to get a day bed (well ultimately I'd like to get a Murphy bed system but that can wait) to better use the space but need those book cases gone to fit it in.
Enough of my boring ass cleaning schedule let's cook some food.
Today I'm offering a very simple recipe, if you can cut stuff and sprinkle stuff you can make this dish.
1-2 Heads of Broccoli (peel and use the stems if you like them as well)
½ Head of Cauliflower
1 Zucchini – Quarter into wedges (cut in half is too long)
3-4 Potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp Garlic Powder (more or less if you like/hate garlic)
1 tsp of Dried Chili Peppers or 1 tbsp of Chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Grated Parmesan, as much as you like (optional)
Juice of ½ of a Lemon
Slice the Broccoli heads into quarters, break apart the Cauliflower head and sliced the zucchini and potatoes into wedges.
On a baking sheet or cookie sheet (you may need more then one sheet), arrange the vegetables pieces loosely.
Mix the Italian Seasoning, Oregano, Garlic Powder and Chili, in a small bowl and sprinkle over the cookie sheet(s).
Sprinkle the Salt and Pepper over the veggies, drizzle with the EVOO, toss the vegetables on the sheet(s) to coat evenly.
Bake at 400F for about 25 minutes.
Grate a light coating of a good Parmesan over them as soon as you take them out of the oven, drizzle with the juice of ½ lemon.
Serve hot.
The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made with any vegetable that you like. We will most often make with Potatoes and Broccoli but we’ve used baby bok choy (the leaf ends crisp up like chips), carrots and others. You just want to keep all you pieces about the same size or thickness and cook denser vegetables together so the cooking time will be about the same time for each. You may have to monitor the veggies and pull the faster cooking ones out a bit earlier.
As well, the seasoning mix used can be whatever you prefer, rosemary goes well with potatoes, and thyme would add a great element to this mix. Experiment with various spices and herbs to find the flavours that you enjoy most and use those ones.
Optionally, sprinkle the lemon juice on the raw vegetables prior to the cooking process.
Optionally, depending on thickness, par cook the potatoes by poking them in several places with a fork (after cutting), putting them into a microwave safe bowl, cover with water and nuke for 3-4 minutes. This is handy if everything else you're cooking is smaller and will cook faster then the raw potatoes.
If you prefer to Grill your Vegetables, this recipe can be made on the BBQ as well.
It's time to thin the heard, as far as they're concerned.
We started Friday evening, yep we're that exciting that's how we spend our Friday's --Cleaning. Yay.
I started in the office, by organizing the bookshelves. I have some very outdated software manuals, tons of papers and books that I have just let pile up on the shelves (well not tons but a small pile). By the time I'd finished the first two cases I had a full shelve of one bookcase completely empty.
I have a lot of cook books (including some vintage books from the 30s 40s and 50s) and when we moved into the condo we put them in the cabinet over the fridge and closed the doors on those cabinets and haven't touched them since. Out of sight, out of mind. Well truthfully, the cabinet isn't Fridge width, so it's set back and we have a tall fridge so I can't reach them without a ladder. Over the years I just piled some large bowls and other large pieces ontop of the fridge, effectively blocking those cabinets.
Now with an empty book case, I decided to move the books out of that closed cabinet and put them on the shelf. They just fit and took up the whole shelf. I'd forgotten about some of the books that I have. My favourite is a complete set (from 1972) of the Family Circle Illustrated Library of Cooking. I've made a few recipes from there but it's funny to read them, in a way, and see how tastes have changed (and how they've stayed the same) over the years.
Taking the books out of the kitchen, then opened up that cabinet and allowed us to begin to re-organize the kitchen and actually to put some small appliances away, thus freeing up counter space.
We've finished the kitchen, the laundry room and I'm still working on the office. I may put some items on Ebay, Kijiji or Craigslist, stuff that I'm not that interested in having anymore or just want to get rid of. My comic collections, for instance, I haven't collected since I was in my early 20s, is pretty much just sitting there in comic bags and comic storage boxes. I haven't even opened the boxes in more then 10 years. Never had anything super valuable and I'm not that attached to any of it so I might get rid of it. I also have a small collection of sports cards as well. Originally, I had planned to pass the comics and cards onto to my nephews and/or nieces but I don't think any of them are interested in them so I'll just sell them. They'll go up for sale, as will some of the bobble heads and other toys. I'm donating all my Disney VHS tapes to my niece (she's 2) as I haven't even unpacked them, since we moved in here. I have every Disney animated film released (except Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast - didn't like either one) on VHS.
I'm hoping that with all this cleaning and purging, to get rid of 2 or 3 of the smaller book shelves in the office. The office is also our second bedroom and our guest room. I have an air mattress that we inflate, as needed but I'd like to get a day bed (well ultimately I'd like to get a Murphy bed system but that can wait) to better use the space but need those book cases gone to fit it in.
Enough of my boring ass cleaning schedule let's cook some food.
Today I'm offering a very simple recipe, if you can cut stuff and sprinkle stuff you can make this dish.
Roasted Vegetables
1-2 Heads of Broccoli (peel and use the stems if you like them as well)
½ Head of Cauliflower
1 Zucchini – Quarter into wedges (cut in half is too long)
3-4 Potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp Garlic Powder (more or less if you like/hate garlic)
1 tsp of Dried Chili Peppers or 1 tbsp of Chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Grated Parmesan, as much as you like (optional)
Juice of ½ of a Lemon
Slice the Broccoli heads into quarters, break apart the Cauliflower head and sliced the zucchini and potatoes into wedges.
On a baking sheet or cookie sheet (you may need more then one sheet), arrange the vegetables pieces loosely.
Mix the Italian Seasoning, Oregano, Garlic Powder and Chili, in a small bowl and sprinkle over the cookie sheet(s).
Sprinkle the Salt and Pepper over the veggies, drizzle with the EVOO, toss the vegetables on the sheet(s) to coat evenly.
Bake at 400F for about 25 minutes.
Grate a light coating of a good Parmesan over them as soon as you take them out of the oven, drizzle with the juice of ½ lemon.
Serve hot.
The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made with any vegetable that you like. We will most often make with Potatoes and Broccoli but we’ve used baby bok choy (the leaf ends crisp up like chips), carrots and others. You just want to keep all you pieces about the same size or thickness and cook denser vegetables together so the cooking time will be about the same time for each. You may have to monitor the veggies and pull the faster cooking ones out a bit earlier.
As well, the seasoning mix used can be whatever you prefer, rosemary goes well with potatoes, and thyme would add a great element to this mix. Experiment with various spices and herbs to find the flavours that you enjoy most and use those ones.
Optionally, sprinkle the lemon juice on the raw vegetables prior to the cooking process.
Optionally, depending on thickness, par cook the potatoes by poking them in several places with a fork (after cutting), putting them into a microwave safe bowl, cover with water and nuke for 3-4 minutes. This is handy if everything else you're cooking is smaller and will cook faster then the raw potatoes.
If you prefer to Grill your Vegetables, this recipe can be made on the BBQ as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
