Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Oriental Rice Bowl Supper


A few days ago,
I went to one of my favourite
specialty grocery stores
Vincenzos
to pick up a few things for the
weekend.
They were serving up a delicious
lunch - rice bowl.
I had to try it so I stood in line
and it was so worth the wait!
The hot rice and meat with
the crunchiness of the cold veggies was
a treat for the senses.

I watched how they assembled
this deliciousness and thought
I'd try it at home....
afterall there were some Thai seasoned
chicken breasts in the freezer,
waiting to be eaten!




There really isn't a recipe
but here are the ingredients:
Hot items:
Warm Rice - I used brown rice
Meat (can be pulled pork, pulled chicken,or beef
cooked and flavoured with Teriyaki or BBQ sauces)
I used chicken breast and Thai seasoning.
Sauted mushrooms
Cold crispy items:
Julienne shredded carrots, zucchini,
 and red peppers
chopped green onion, purple cauliflower,
and sliced radishes
Dressings (any or all of the following):
Sesame Oil - do not omit and use sparingly
Teriyaki Sauce
Hot Sauce (we used Franks)
Soy Sauce - Optional
Assembly:
Put a nice serving of warm rice in the
bottom of the bowl
Top the rice with the mushrooms,
crispy veggies and a scant splash of
sesame oil (a splash of soy sauce too if desired)
Add the meat and dress it
with Teriyaki Sauce and Hot Sauce
Garnish with the radishes,
green onions and a fried egg (optional).
Till next time ............... savour the tastes of the Orient!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Welcome Fall!

What a wonderful way to
Welcome Fall....

We just returned home from a
beautiful weekend visit with friends
in Northern Ontario.



After doing a bit of hiking,
eating a picnic lunch
next to a serene lake,


enjoying each other's company,
more eating,


reminiscing and solving the world's problems,
and still more eating,


I feel rejuvenated and
ready to welcome Fall!

Thank you John and Dianne
for your superb hospitality
and friendship.



Till next time ............ how was your first weekend for Fall?




Sunday, September 15, 2013

Happy Anniversary!



One year ago
we celebrated a very special day!
It was the day that our daughter
married the love of her life.




We couldn't be more pleased
and proud of this amazing
young couple.

HAPPY HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
AND GOD BLESS YOU!!!!
Becky and Patrick


Photos by Red Umbrella Photography




Flowers by Stacey Nicholson and Becky Baechler



We love you
to the
Moon and back!


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Fruit Relish


This is my mom's Fruit Relish Recipe.
It tastes wonderful 
as a condiment to any meat and
especially with pork.

The Farmer loves this relish and
I always try to have some in my fruit cellar!


Mom's Fruit Relish
Into a large cooking pot place the following:
20 ripe tomatoes - peeled, slightly seeded, and roughly chopped
8 pears - peeled and chopped
8 peaches - peeled and chopped
6 large cooking onions - chopped
1 Red Pepper - chopped
Mom says - don't chop too fine.


Add to the pot:
4 Cups white vinegar
5 Cups white sugar
1 heaping Tbsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. mixed pickling spices - in cheese cloth

Cook for approx. 4 hours, stirring very frequently!
The relish will reduce to almost half and become
thickened.  If you would like it to be thickened a 
bit more you can add 2 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 
1 Tbsp. water X 2 if needed.


Ladle into hot sterilized jars and seal.
This makes 8-10 pints of delicious relish!



While you're doing all that stirring,
you can make a cup of mint tea,
some beauty products,
and clean the kitchen
like I did the other night - smile!!

BTW for those who wonder how
It worked very well!
Only one caution - it will leave a slight white residue
on dark clothing.

Till next time ............... enjoying the bounty of fall!




Monday, September 9, 2013

Homemade Deodorant

Today is making
the Fruit Relish Day!


While this delicious sauce boils down
taking approx. 5 hours,
I have time to clean up the kitchen,
stir the relish,
make supper,
stir the relish, 
watch Amazing Race Canada,
(so sad to see the brothers lose tonight)
stir the relish,
catch up on my blog friend's posts,
stir the relish
make a pot of fresh mint tea,
stir the relish,


and
make some homemade deodorant!!!
Weird eh?

It's supposed to be a scorcher tomorrow
so I'll put this to the test 
and let you know if it works!

I've always wanted to try making this
because I'm concerned about what
ingredients are in commercial brands.....
I do realize that this is not
an antiperspirant, just a deodorant.

This was easy peasy and took about 10
minutes to make!

In a glass bowl mix:
1/4 Cup Baking Soda (aluminum free)
1/4 Cup Arrowroot Powder (I found it at the health food store)
4 Tbsp. Corn Starch
Add:
1/3 Cup Coconut Oil (solid state)
Essential Oils (I used a few drops of Lavender and Thieves)
With a fork, mix the coconut oil into the dry
ingredients until mixture is completely combined
and resembles a thick paste.

Store in a glass jar and keep it in
a cool place as the Coconut Oil will melt
at 76 degrees.
I might need to keep it in the fridge tomorrow!


















Well, it's getting close to midnight and I'm still
stirring.
It's getting close to being done though ...... I'll share the recipe
on a future post!

Till next time ............... getting the jars lined up for sealing - whew!

Follow-up on how the deodorant works....I was very pleased with this product. The only caution I would have is that it leaves a slight white residue on dark clothing. The commercial brand I use is Liquid Rock and I will use it on occasion as well.








Sunday, September 8, 2013

Burlap Pumpkins and Twisted Bread

One year ago 
I was cutting bolts of burlap
into table runners
for our daughter's wedding!
It's so hard to believe that a whole year
has passed.

Somewhere on Pinterest I saw
fabric pumpkins and thought
I might try to make some 
with all that left over burlap.

Stems are cut from an apple tree branch and grape vine
curls and twine was used for decoration.


It was fun making a mess on my
kitchen table, attempting my hand
at a craft - something I haven't done for so long!

Meanwhile, the bread dough was rising
Giving me a couple of hours to play.

This all sounds ideal but truth be told,
the rest of the housework was being left undone
and I was feeling a tad guilty for just 
having a "play day"....

Anyway, here is the recipe for my
latest favourite bread.
This bread uses no oil and has a 
nice rustic texture for slicing.


Twisted Bread
3 Cups warm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
¼ Cup sugar
6-7 cups all-purpose flour


Combine water, yeast, sugar, and salt in a large warm bowl or in your stand mixer bowl. Leave for five minutes to make sure yeast is working. Stir in first three cups of flour. Add the next cups of flour a little at a time as needed, stirring until dough becomes too stiff and pulls away from sides of bowl. Transfer dough to a floured surface and begin kneading, adding more flour if still too sticky. Knead till dough is smooth and elastic. Form into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover and let rise until doubled (I cover it with plastic wrap and a warm kitchen towel and place it into my oven on "proof"). This usually takes about an hour.

In the meantime, get out your craft project and make a mess - smile!

Uncover bowl, sprinkle in a little more flour and knead again before dividing in half. With floured hands, shape dough into loaves, twisting the loaves several times and placing them into two greased loaf pans.  Cover and let them rise again until double in bulk.

Continue with your project while the bread rises again!

Bake for 25 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven.



That was fun!

Now I have a little burlap pumpkin display
for my front hall sewing machine
table.....
and fresh bread for supper.






Till next time ........... don't forget to play sometimes!





Monday, September 2, 2013

Dad's Cookies

Tomorrow is back to school
for so many.

With this in mind, I had an urge
to bake cookies.

This is a recipe that my
mom often made.
She called them Dad's Cookies,
I don't exactly know why they are
called that but they were
always good and a favourite recipe.

When mom was getting feeble and
couldn't manage her housework as well anymore,
we hired a sweet young Amish girl to
come and help her for one day a week.
We soon discovered that mom had all the
housework done before she arrived
and insisted that
they bake cookies together instead
of housework!

The grandchildren sure didn't mind
this change in plans as there
were ALWAYS lots and lots of their
favourite cookies when visiting 
Grandma and Grandpa's house.




Dad’s Cookies

This recipe was written in her own
hand writing and passed on to each of us!


½ Cup Butter                                                                              
½ Cup Shortening (she used Lard)
2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Eggs – beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 Cups Sifted Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt
2 Cups Rolled Oats
1 ½ Cups Coconut
Drop on baking sheet and press with a fork.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.  Will make 8 dozen small.

I used a small ice-cream scoop and this made
approx. 40 large cookies (3" round).
I had some left-over smarties from 
our weekend ice-cream dessert
so I added some before baking the last batch.





Maybe I'll deliver them to our
neighbours who have
3 sweet children heading
back to school tomorrow morning?

Becky, did I ever make cookies for you
for your first day of school lunch??






Dad's Cookies and Mom's baking Apron

Till next time ...... how is your Labour Day going?  We just heard the news that our beloved St. Jacobs Farmer's Market building burned to the ground during the night - such a terrible loss to this community and to the vendors!





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