The Turkey!

So, this year I volunteered to make the Turkey for the Odell family. I did so feeling inspired by Jamie Oliver and the turkey he cooked on his Christmas special on Food TV. It couldn't have been easier - it could have been cleaner on the other hand - but this was my first go - and boy was it the way to go!

First I started by chopping a bunch of dried cranberries (a cup or so).
Second I chopped a bunch of sage, rosemary and thyme.
Third I mixed the herbs and cranberries in about a cup and half of soft butter.
Fourth I squeezed the butter mix in between skin and the meat.

I did not stuff the turkey as it slows down the cooking time, and can apparently dry out the meat - so instead (just like Jamie) I threw in a cut orange.  

16 pounds of fresh, organic, free range turkey!

I cooked it at 350 for 4 1/2 hours - and then let it rest under some tin foil and towels for 2 hours!

It was perfect!

A Good Cooker!

I had planned this Christmas Season to try a kitchen experiment with my nephews/niece. I coined the experiment - "Pizza". I wanted them to see the whole process of making dough - from adding all the ingredients, kneading the dough, to most exciting (well in my opinion) seeing the dough rise.

Ruah (the self proclaimed) good cooker. He was the most enthusiastic about the whole process. Here I am teaching him to knead the dough.

I didn't think Manoah would be quite old enough for this task, but she took to topping her little pizza with so much vigor and gusto. 

Ruah's finish product!

Tobiah's favourite - Cheese Toast!

Merry Christmas to me and you!

So, we have made it home (Saskatoon) for the holidays. It's been nice to see friends/family and co-workers - as it's been back to work for both Teegan (Tonic) and me (MCC).While at work today, Christmas came early! At work this morning - a few items were donated to the shop (Via the food bank - via some store), and among these items was a Kitchen Aid mixer! I have been wanting one for quite some time. Initially I was a little dismayed to see "Motor Smokes" written on the box, but my skepticism got the better of me and I had to try it out. Sure enough, it did everything it's suppose to and not a smoke cloud was in sight. So whomever returned it initially, probably just didn't want it anymore (Thank You)! This came to me on a great day - seeing as today was the day that my Mother in law (Donna), scheduled some Christmas baking (though I doubt what was made will last that long)!

First were Brownies!

Second were Gingersnaps!

Third were Crispy Rice Squares! Chocolate Chili and Lemon.

Sorry no recipes this go round. If you are interested, let me know and I can remedy the situation.

New Home

My avocado tree has found a new home.

The reasons were 2 fold:
1. It had run out of room to grow on my little ledge.
2. It made a great little house warming gift for Nick and Lindsay's new home.

It's amazing what a little good light will do!

You say Potato - I say Patato - Soup!

I have a confession to make. There was a time in my life (A short duration - probably 8 years) where I didn't eat potatoes. The thought of eating potatoes did not appeal to me in the least - I am not even sure why, to be honest. The important thing is I now eat them again and quite enjoy them.

A few months ago I began the practice of buying whole chickens, instead of breasts or thighs here or there. It's just way more practical (i.e. cheaper). Whether you break down the chicken raw and freeze the parts your not using or roast it whole - it just goes so much further (For instance chicken stock for potato soup!).

Potato Soup (So simple!)

oil
1 onion (diced) - sauteed for a few minutes
3 garlic cloves (minced) - sauteed till they smell
6 cups or so of potatoes (cubed)
8 cups of chicken stock
a splash of cream
Salt and Pepper

Top with bacon bits and some finely chopped green onions or chives.

Heat everything to a boil and then simmer till the potatoes are oh so tender - then puree. My goal was to get a thick, rich soup - so if that's not the type of soup your after cut back (or add more) potatoes.

1 Cheeseburger + 1 Pizza = 1 Cheeseburger Pizza

 

This pizza includes:

Ground Beef (cooked), Bacon (Fried), Mushrooms (Sauteed), Cheddar cheese (Grated), Blue cheese (crumbled), Pizza sauce (From a can) and the Dough (Recipe Here).

This pizza is a combination of 2 of my favourites things to eat. So good!!!!

Kale Chips

The first time I saw Kale Chips was at winners - in the "sketchy" food/oil/vinegar/candy/tea and coffee section. I was initially quite put off by the idea (how could they be good). So the other day I was surprise when I saw Giada (On the food network), making the same chips. When I saw how easy they were, I had to try them.

 

So, they look gross, though they don't taste that way. I imagine that not everyone would like them, but for Teegan and I, who can't get enough chips - they are a good substitute. Here's what I did.

1. Wash and cut (into approx chip size) a bunch of kale - discard the stems. 

2. Throw all your chips/leaves into a bowl and cover with a few glugs of oil/a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. 

3. Lay out leaves/chips onto a baking sheet - you may need 2 - just as long as they are not overlapping each other.

4. Bake at 350 for 10 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them - and flip them as you see fit. You'll know when they are done. 

Enjoy

Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie:

2 Chicken Breast

2 Chicken Thighs

If it's already cooked - just shred it. If it's raw, just cut it up into 1 inch cubes and pan fry.

1/4 c Butter

1 Onion (minced)

3 Garlic cloves (minced)

1/4 c flour

1 tsp Paprika

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 c Milk (warmed - almost hot)

2 Carrots (medium dice)

1 Med. Turnip (medium dice)

1 Portabello mushroom (chopped)

1 c Peas (frozen)

- Cook the Carrots and Turnips in boiling water for 5 minutes.
- In a high wall frying pan, add the butter, onion and saute (Medium high heat) the onion till soft (3 Minutes).
- Add the garlic and cook till it smells (30 Seconds).
- Add the flour and stir till it turns slightly brown (A minute or 3).
- Add the spices - stir till Incorporated then add the milk - stir till its reduced and the sauce is a little bit thicker.
- Proceed to add the turnips, carrots, mushrooms, peas and cooked chicken. Stir everything together and let cook for a few minutes more.
- Add Salt and Pepper to your taste.

I filled my 4 mini dutch ovens with the mix - but I think an 8x8 baking dish would work.

- To finish, get a sheet of puff pastry and roll out to fit your dish. Once it's a nice fit, put a few slits in it and bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 400.

Country vs. City

Recipes courtesy of Michael Smith

Country:

2 1/4 c Warm Water

1 tsp of yeast (I doubled the yeast, the original recipe calls for 1/2 a tsp)

3 c Bread flour

1 c Whole wheat flour

1/2 c grain mix (I used a 1/4 c of both wheat germ and flax seeds)

2 tsp Salt

Steps:

1. Proof yeast and water for 5 minutes, unless you have instant yeast, which can be added right to the flour mixture.

2. Combine all dry ingredients and stir together till mixed.

3. Add yeast mix and dry ingredients and stir it till everything is well Incorporated - just make sure that there isn't any loose flour at the bottom of the bowl.

4. Cover (with plastic wrap or a lid) and leave it alone (in a warm place) overnight - or for 12 hours.

5. Scrape the dough out of the bowl, onto a floured surface and knead the dough till it becomes a little tighter (This should only take a minute or so).

6. Oil the dough and roll into a loaf shape and place it in a 9x5 loaf pan. Let this sit and rise for 2 hours or so until it doubles in size. I used my dutch oven, lined in parchment paper (I don't use oil either).

7. Bake at 425 for 45 minutes. Because I baked mine with the dutch over I left the lid on for 25 minutes and lid off for another 20. If you want a harder exterior bake a few more minutes, but watch it, so it doesn't burn.

Results: I don't have anything negative to say about this bread. It was simple, it has great flavour, texture (Crust and inside) and looked like a giant hockey puck (I gave it too much room to grow vertically, so It didn't get the nice rounded shape - not that it really matters).

City:

2 1/2 c Warm Water

1 tsp Yeast (once again I double my yeast)

5 c Bread Flour

2 tsp Salt

The steps are the same as above.

The Results: It came out of the oven, crusty, hard and shiny. The crust had a good bite to it and lent itself well to the soft chewy inside. The bread came out a little on the wet/moist side (Like most overnight breads), which is in no way a bad thing.

And the winner is?

The County Bread! I loved the taste of the city bread, and in some ways it was superior to the country bread. But the country bread is just so much better for me, and in my opinion makes a nicer sandwich and toast!

All In Burger!

My All In Burger:

1 pound of ground beef
1/4 c finely minced onion
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 c or so of grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 egg
A handful of bread crumbs
1 T of grainy horseradish mustard
A Splash of Worcestershire
A few slices of cut up banana peppers
1 Medium pickle cut up
A pinch of dry oregano and thyme
Salt and Pepper

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and shape into burgers.

BBQ! I know it's the end of November - but my BBQ goes all year round. I recommend a headlamp!

I'm Beet Bread!

I came across - this little gem - last night. It caught my attention for a couple of reasons.

1. The dough is purple!
2. It seems pretty simple.
3. I just happened to have a bowl of roasted beets in the fridge!

Before I went to bed last night - I whisked together

1 c Warm water
1/4 tsp Yeast (if you have active dry yeast - proof these 2 together for a few minutes)
1 c Bread flour

Cover the bowl and let this rest for 12 hours or so.

The next morning, unwrap the bowl and add 1 cup of purred beets.

Proof another 3/4 tsp yeast in 1/4 c of water

In another bowl mix together your dry ingredients.

1/2 c Whole wheat flour
2 3/4 c Bread flour
1 tsp salt

Mix everything together and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Apparently the dough is suppose to be on the sticky side, so don't add to much more flour while kneading. After kneading put the dough into a bowl (With oil) and let it rest for another hour (till it's doubled in size).

This is the best I could correct the colour on this pic - mmm - pepto!

After it has doubled in size, form into 2 loafs - whatever shape you desire and let rise (on parchment paper) for another hour. Once the hour is up, cut a few slice into each loaf and sprinkle whole wheat flour over the top.

Bake at 400 for 30 to 35 minutes. If you are unsure if it's done or not, use a thermometer - it should measure 180.

Once again the pictures colour is off. That's what I get for living in a basement - and having a bad camera!

Pepper'd Rosemary Cheddar Biscuits

I love biscuits and in the last few years, I have discovered I love having them for breakfast. Sure nothing beats having them fresh, right out of the oven - but I am happy to report that they freeze quite well. In the mornings I like to take them out of the freezer, cut them in half and give them a little time in the toaster and top with butter (not that they need anymore!).

Recipe: (I adapted it from chef Lynn Crawford's recipe - HERE)

1 cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 cup Cake/Pastry Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
2 T of Fresh chopped Rosemary
1 c Sharp Cheddar Cheese (or a bit more if you feel inclined)
1 c of Buttermilk
6 T Frozen Butter

Preheat the Oven to 400.
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor, and blitz till everything is combined.
Scrape the mix onto a counter that is covered with flour (To prevent sticking). At this point shape the dough into a coheisive lump (kneading is a no - no!). Then grab your rolling pin and roll your dough until it's about 3/4 of an inch thick. Cut the dough into whatever shape you desire, place the cut biscuits onto a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes - or until the sides and top are a golden brown.

To help with the golden colour, brush with an egg wash, before the biscuits are baked.

1 egg
1 T milk

The Results:
Pros - Light, flaky, buttery, cheesy - so delicious - seriously amazing.
Cons (One Con) - I didn't get enough rise out of my biscuits. I have narrowed the reason down to 2 things. The first being - I rolled the dough out to thin - easy to correct for next time. The second being - I handled my dough to much - it came out of the processor to sticky (I should have added another 1/4 c of flour, which I did add to the recipe up top, for your sake) and It played the lets stick to the counter game, which meant I had to re-roll.

p.s. If you don't have buttermilk (which I never do), try putting 1 T of lemon juice in a 1 cup measuring cup and top the rest up with milk. It does the trick!

Bakeware/Soup/Crisp - Supper.

While at Winners today Teegan convinced me to buy some makeshift ramekins, well they aren't really ramekins but rather mini dutch ovens (I love them). So I used them tonight for supper and dessert.

Roasted Romanesque Cauliflower and Garlic Soup

When I picked this cauliflower up at the market last Saturday, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it more then the normal run of the mill cauliflower. It was sweeter with a bit of nutty flavour - quite nice.

Here's what I did - It's super easy.

I cut up the head of cauliflower coated it in olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted it (with five garlic cloves still in there wrappers) in a 350 degree oven till the edges got brown and the garlic is soft - about 20 to 30 minutes.

Once cauliflower is done

Saute 1/2 an onion (on medium heat) till caramelized or there abouts
add the cauliflower and garlic (peeled)
Stir till everything is mixed
Then add 1 liter of stock (chicken or veg)

Bring everything to a boil then turn down and simmer for 30 minutes or so. Puree the soup and you are done. I finished mine in my new bake ware topped with some bread I made this morning and sharp cheddar cheese. So good!

Apple crisp

Topping:

3/4 c flour
1/4 c bran
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c toasted hazelnuts
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter (cold)
a splash of vanilla

I tend to use my food processor for my crisps topping, it does a really nice job of cutting in butter.

For the filling I used 5 huge apples and a half pint of raspberries.


Bake in at 9x13 inch pan at 350 for about 45 minutes. Though I used an 8x8 and 2 of my little dutch ovens. Now that it's cool, I must partake.

More Bread

A few weeks ago I baked my first dutch oven bread - and since then I have been hooked on baking bread.

This morning (or should I say last night) I baked another no-knead bread (in my dutch oven). This go round I was a little more exciting because this bread was a multi-grain with a bunch of seeds in it. I found the recipe here - and it goes a little like this.

2 cups of lukewarm water
1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I used 1 tsp)
2 T of molasses

Stir everything together and then let it proof - 5 to 10 minutes.

2 cups bread flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 T salt (I cut this in half)
2 T chia seeds
2 T flax seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Whisk all the dry ingredients together - then add to the yeast mixture and stir together till everything is well blended and you can't see any remaining flour. Cover and let sit for 12 to 20 hours.

After 20 hours - scrape the bubbly dough onto a bunch of flour and fold it over on itself a few times and shape into a ball. Let it rest for another hour or so (till it doubles in size again). Bake in a preheated oven (the dutch oven should be pre-heated too) at 425 for 25 - 30 minutes then for another 10 to 15 with the lid of the dutch oven off. Oh, I should say that parchment paper is helpful as well.

After that you should have some bread!

My bread turned out good. The molasses gave it a little bit of booze flavour (which I liked, but Teegan wasn't quite a fan of). If your not fond of a slight booze flavour use honey or perhaps some brown sugar instead of the molasses. The texture of the dough was a little moist for my liking, but it was in fact cooked through - perhaps it could have used a few more minutes in the oven.

It'll go great with soup tonight!

The Avocado Tree

My little tree, has been steadily climbing upwards and outwards.

Brown Butter Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts

First I took about 3 tablespoons of butter and browned it (on a medium setting) in my frying pan. Then I added the hazelnut and sprouts and sauteed them till everything was well coated. I then placed them into a baking dish and baked them for about 10 minutes at 350. My oven was already on, if it wasn't I probably would have just let them cook in the frying pan.

The flavour was quite nice and lent itself well to a little parmesan cheese. I will make these again!

Today's Finds!

This morning I woke up, made some coffee and was once again on my way to the market. As I walked out the door, Teegan asked me if I could get some greens, because we have been lacking on the green goodness lately.

Ask and you shall receive!

So I picked up some rapini, brussels sprouts, A weird looking green dinosaur cauliflower, turnips (which can't be seen), a pablano pepper, honey crisp apples (again) and some free range chicken eggs.

Stay tuned to see what I do with my haul.

Zucchini Bread

For the last few weeks, I have been sending Teegan to her Tuesday morning clinic meetings with baking.

I have come to realize that it's the best way to bake:

I get to make something I want.
I get to try it.
I get to give it away.
so I don't end up eating it all.

It almost sound selfish!

I have taken to making loafs lately. Probably because they can look almost healthy, which isn't always the case. So yesterday I decided on Zucchini/Carrot bread, seeing as I have already made banana, pumpkin and beet.

I found a good recipe on allrecipes, but I had to change it so I could sell it to the nutritionally aware/conscious midwives.

Bowl 1:
1 c butter/oil
3 eggs
Vanilla
3/4 c Brown sugar
3/4 c White sugar (as opposed to the 2 1/2 cups of white sugar)

Bowl 2:
1 1/2 Whole wheat flour
1 1/2 White flour (as opposed to 3 cups white flour)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking powder
1 tsp Baking soda
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Ginger

Bowl 3:
2 Small Zucchini's (course grate)
1 Big Carrot (course grate)
- both of these should come to about 3 cups-
1/2 c toasted whole hazelnuts

Mix bowls 1 and 2 together - once it's almost all mixed add bowl 3 - continue to mix till there is no more white. Pour the batter into 2 buttered and floured loaf pans and bake for an hour at 350 - till a toothpick comes out clean.

It turned out quite nice. Next time I may even add some flax seeds.

Caesar 3 (The Saga Continues)

I was quite happy with my last attempt at Caesar dressing, so things this round didn't stray to far.

My new additions:
1 tsp (about) anchovy paste
1/2 tsp (about) fresh black peppercorns
a few slices of red onion

The Other ingredients (no exact measurements):

a mix of canola and olive oil
mayo
red wine vinegar
lemon juice
mustard
parmesan cheese
garlic

I threw all the ingredients into a jar and used my immersion blender to puree.

I can't honestly say that I noticed the anchovy flavour, perhaps next time I will add more. Though the black peppercorns added a nice spice, and will make a return appearance.

Unfortunately my pics once again didn't turn out - Though I imagine if you close your eyes and think real hard, you could envision what it would look like.

A Good Day - Saturday

Last night, before I went to bed, I put together a no knead dough recipe (From the Merlin Menu), in hopes that I would be having fresh bread in the morning.

The bread consisted of:
2 1/4 tsp of yeast - whisked into 1 1/2 warm water and rested for 5 minutes or so.
In another bowl I combined 2 c Flour and 1 c Whole wheat flour and a tsp of salt.
I mixed these together till it formed a kind of ball - This took very little effort, and no more flour. I then covered and let it rest.

I woke up this morning, to a big, soft, sticky dough, full of bubbles. I scraped it onto my counter that was full of flour and I folded the dough over on itself 6 times (The dough was quite tender - I wish all my dough felt like that). Then I placed it in a bowl (The same size of my dutch oven) lined in parchment paper and let it rest for another hour or so.

Seeing as I had an hour to kill - I took a trip to the Peterborough farmers market to purchased some goodies. On my buy list was honey crisp apples, some beets for Teegan (because she loves them), a free range chicken (which will be roasted tomorrow) and the prize of the day mushrooms.

One of my favourite stands at the market is the mushroom stand. The gentleman who runs it, grows all of his own mushrooms in a little town north of Peterborough. So far I have been able to purchase, portabello, shitake and oyster mushrooms - but if you don't get there early enough, you won't get any!

So being inspired by all the mushrooms - tonight for supper I made Mushroom Soup

Here's my recipe:

Add some oil or butter to your pot (as much or little as you like)
brown - a bunch of chopped green onion and garlic
Then saute about a pound of chopped mushrooms (till soft)
Add 4 cups of stock (veg or chicken) and simmer for about 20 minutes
Add 1 cup of cream (however thick you like).
Season with salt and pepper and lots of dried thyme

It's quite easy and quite nice.
Perhaps someday when I live somewhere different with better natural light (or for that matter light), I will make this again and take another picture, because this one does not do it justice.

Once home, I turned my attention back to my bread. I preheated my oven and dutch oven to 425. I gently place the dough into the dutch oven (with the paper) and baked with the lid on for 20 minutes before removing the lid and baking for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. The smell in my house was amazing. Once the bread finished, I wanted to launch right into it, but I know it's better to let the bread rest (I only made it 15 minutes, instead of the suggested hour). It was great with a bit of peach jam.

My only issue with the bread, is that I didn't end up eating it till 11 am. If only I could drag myself out of bed at 6 and prep it then, I may have been eating it by 9.

Falafel

Initially, I had a love/hate relationship with Falafels. I didn't much care for their taste, but for some reason whenever I got an opportunity to order them I would. It took me a few pitas, but my love grew and my hatred disappeared.

I attempted to make some about a year ago - and to my disappointment, things didn't work out the way I envisioned. The falafel balls disintegrated to nothing in the oil. Initially I thought that my oil had gone bad, but that wasn't the case. My falafel's were to moist and sticky.

So This go round, I wasn't going to make the same mistake.

1 c dried chick peas - soaked overnight
1 can broad beans
1/2 c cilantro
1 small onion
4 to 6 garlic cloves
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp salt

Dry off the chick peas and bean - then throw them into a food pro with everything else. Pulse till everything comes together and is a fine chunky, form-able texture. Roll it out into ball, a bit smaller then golf balls (1 good heaping Tablespoon). Deep Fry till a nice golden brown - a few minutes depending on size.

My pics of the final product didn't turn out to well, so they will sadly not be shown.

I made a nice "whole wheat flat-bread - (recipe here) - I used all WW flour" and ate it full of tahini, banana peppers and the falafels. It was quite nice.

What have I done with the Cinnamon Cranberry Dutch Oven Bread?

I toasted it, and had it with beet borscht. 

I also need to point out that, that carrot looking thing is actually a potato!

Oh, look it's a waffle - or is it?!

It's actually french toast - cooked in a waffle maker. It turned out quite nice, and seemed to take no time at all. I stole the idea from a bunch of Mennonite Girls who can Cook.

Cinnamon Cranberry Bread

Once again - HERE - is the site I found this interesting looking bread.

The recipe goes as such:

1 cup warm milk

4 tsp yeast (approx)

1/4 c brown sugar

1/4 c melted butter

1 egg

Mix all of this together and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile -in another bowl combine:

3 c flour

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

some ground nutmeg (1/2 tsp)

1 tsp salt

Oh - I guess I forgot to tell you 1/2 c to 3/4 cranberries (Personally I thought 1/2 a cup worked fine) - or any other dried fruit you would prefer.

Once the yeast has sat for 10 minutes or so - add both bowls together and knead till ball is smooth, and tacky but not sticky (you will have to add more flour, do it progressively). If you are lucky enough to have a kitchen aid mixer - mix everything in there, however it is you use that fancy technology - perhaps I will learn that technology someday.

Let the bread rise overnight - or for 6 hours or so. Once that period of time is over, knead it a few times on a floured surface and place into a dutch over lined in parchment paper - for an hour or until it approximately doubles in size. Then bake (covered) in a preheated 450 oven for 25 minutes and then an additional 10 minutes with the lid removed (this will give the bread a nice crusty brown color - but keep an eye on it).

The Results: The bread is Amazing (Soft, chewy and a nice sweetness in the background). I am currently eating a slice and I am reminded of eating a really good piece of raisin bread (My Dad would love it), but better (but that could because it's still warm). There were a few negatives though - the dough didn't rise as much as I would have liked, but it did fill out a bit in the oven. And the bottom of the bread is verging on being burnt (OK, it is burnt). I attribute this to my inconsistent oven, which doesn't like to keep a consistent heat (no fault of my own of course!), next time I may bump it up a rack or perhaps try a lower temp.

You don't need a dutch over to make this bread - but you will need an oven proof pot of some sort.

Left Overs

It was left overs for supper tonight.

Which included:

Chicken Tika Marsala:

Instead of writing the whole recipe out - Here's the link - The recipe is courtesy of Jamie Oliver. I borrowed one of his cookbooks from the neighbor upstairs and this is exactly it - the one on his website isn't quite the same and not as easy to follow.

Curried Yellow Pepper Soup: Place ingredients into a pot in this order - when done puree.

1. Saute till caramelized (5 min).

1 c chopped onion

Oil

2. Saute till hot (5 min).

1 c chopped apple

1 c chopped carrot

3. Time for spice (5 min).

3 yellow, orange or red peppers (you could try roasting them too).

1 T grated ginger

1/2 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp cardamom

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cayenne (more if you like it spicy)

4. Liquid (cook everything till your content or about 30 minutes on low)

4 c veg or chicken broth

1 can coconut milk

5. Finish

1 T Lime Juice

Salt

This is one of my new favourite soups and though I think it more of a summer soup, it would work to take a chill out of your bones. Our friend Shez made it for us a few months ago, and I couldn't leave that night without writing out the recipe. SO GOOD, even better the second day.

I also made a focaccia:

1 c of lukewarm water
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp honey

2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt

Let the yeast mix sit for 5 minutes. Then mix everything together and begin to knead. You will need to add about another cup of flour, but do it progressively. Knead for about 5 to 8 minutes. Once done let rise for about an hour and bake at 450 till cooked through.

I baked my loaf in my new dutch over. Apparently you can cook some pretty cool looking breads in it. Here's one (click here) I am going to try next week.

New Toy (Dutch Oven)

This morning I found myself wandering around Costco, while waiting for for my new tires to be installed. When I got to the kitchen section (my favourite), I noticed that the Kirkland Dutch Oven was only 45 dollars (As opposed to 65). I walked over to it to investigate a little more closely - I had looked at it in the past, but could always justify not buying it;
1. We would have to haul it back to S'toon in spring (in our small car).
2. I have a soup pot and a baking dish that works as a roaster.
3. We don't really have the money, cause we just bought 4 tires.

But this time I bought it - what had changed?

My soup pot that I bought 6 months ago chipped on the inside in 2 places. It was A Pastel Coloured Tivoli bought from winners (and still to this day they can be found at every winners in a variety of shapes and colours). Upon a little investigation, I found out that this is not a rare occurrence. So don't buy them! The really unfortunate thing is, I only needed the pots to last me a year!

Oh well - now I have a new toy, which I am quite fond of (soup pot and roaster).

I bought a nice big chicken this afternoon, and after cleaning it up and freezing parts for another day, I decided to make some stock for a soup tomorrow.

Today's Chicken Stock:

1 chicken carcass
3 carrots chopped
celery seed
thyme
half an Onion
a few bay leaves
Top off with water and simmer for a few hours.

Avocado Growth

It's been about 2 Weeks - and my Avocado has grown close to 6 inches. There are a few leaves forming on the top, which excites me. 

Here's the best picture I have of it.

Chocolate and Beets

I was perusing this WEBSITE the other day and I came across a recipe for a chocolate beet loaf. The idea was so new to me, that I had to make it. I made just the basic version that the author posted, but after making it (and loving it), I will be back to visit the other variations.

Here's the recipe

Mix together:
1 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 c cocoa powder

Mix together:
2 eggs
1/2 each brown and white sugar
vanilla
1/2 c butter
1 1/2 c grated beets

Combine both bowls - mix until you can't see anymore flour - then pour into a 8.5x4.5 and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or so.