Root vegetables for Thanksgiving

My friend Anita's daughter, Melanie, just posted this 

yummy root vegetable recipe on facebook.

I had to try it! All the ingredients were in my fridge.

I made a small batch for the farmer and I today and

it did not disappoint. So flavourful and pretty.

Adapted from Melanie's recipe:

2 medium parsnips - chopped

2 medium carrots - chopped

½ turnip – chopped

1 large onion – chopped

3 stalks celery – chopped

Cook above in pot with 1-2 cups of water for 10 minutes till tender (turning down to simmer after it begins to boil).

Drain and save ½ Cup liquid in a small dish (I used my 2 cup glass measuring cup)

Put veggies into a buttered casserole dish

Add to the liquid:

½ Cup sugar

3 Tbsp. butter

½ tsp. salt

½ Tbsp. corn starch

1 tsp. nutmeg

Several grinds of pepper

Boil/microwave till thick and pour over veggies

Cover and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Melanie notes - she always doubles this recipe but not the sauce. She makes this ahead and then reheats it in a crockpot for their family's camping Thanksgiving Dinner! Yum....

This may well become a new tradition for Thanksgiving Dinner

for our family too. I will make this again for sure.

Now, the other new thing I made this week was a Ricotta Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Unfortunately it cracked!

Hoping it tastes better than it looks.

In hind sight it probably cracked

because I took it out of the oven too soon and it cooled too quickly?

Who knew?

I may also have baked it a tad too long.  Other hints on line are that you should bake it in a water bath to prevent cracking.

Have you ever made a Ricotta Cheesecake?

I hope this fix will do the trick ....

Pumpkin whipping cream sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice.

(extra topping saved for tomorrow morning's pumpkin latte)

Tomorrow our extended family will gather for a Thanksgiving Dinner/Feast.

My small contribution - homemade bread, pumpkin cheesecake, and 

a crunchy broccoli salad

We have SO MUCH to be thankful for ....

Till next time - Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends and family

September's Beet Goes On

September has been such a busy month - every week has been full of events.

There was a root canal - ouch, big girl bed, a week of camping, a weekend of camping,

a cousin's wedding, a mid-week dinner party, etc. etc.

We are truly blessed!

The Fall garden has exploded.

This week we pulled the vines and best crop of weeds ever

to find at least a bushel of candy cane beets, spaghetti squash,

the last dig of potatoes and last picking of tomatoes!

Still more weeding and tilling to do.

I'm not at all sure what to do with all the beets, especially since

I discovered that the farmer really doesn't even like beets!

I've been experimenting with some recipes for this abundant vegetable

but need to give away as many as I can as they can not be stored too long.

Beware your porch stoop my friends, neighbours and family!

Lunch today was stir fried spiralized beets

My newest kitchen gadget ...

The Cuisinart Spiralizer

BTW, I am not paid for this post by Cuisinart. In fact,

I picked up this sweet little slicer at a local liquidation store for a mere $8 - shhhh

I used 
1 candy cane beet - peeled and spiralized

1 yellow beet -peeled and spiralized

a small chunk of cabbage - shredded

1 clove garlic - crushed

a few slices of red onion - sliced

1/2 carrot - peeled and spiralized

Any combination of veggies would work.

Zucchini would be great!

Stir fry the vegetables in 1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil for approx. 10 minutes.

Seasoning - salt and pepper to taste,

1/4 tsp. curry, 1/4 tsp. chili powder.

I added some sliced (left-over) steak to the mix and it was delicious.

It was more than I could eat but very tasty.
I think the secret ingredient is using

coconut oil - it gives such a nice flavour to the stir fry.

September 2018

Crib to bed for big girl. Cradle to crib for growing baby.  Nammie's big girl bed with pool noodle "rail".
They are growing too fast!

Labour Day Weekend camping on Lake Huron. Visitors from home and watching the Monarch Butterflies head South!

An exciting win (red asym Eternelle sweater) from Shepherd's Fashions in Ottawa -one of my favourite stores!
Want to visit there some day. In the meantime, mail order works well too.

Meanwhile back at the ranch farm, we bake bread and enjoy the simple things in life!

She shaped the loaf all by herself!

September has one more week and we will be busy every day - whew, I'm ready for

a less busy month in October - or is it???

Till next time ..... make these last few days of Summer 2018 count!

Ramped up Scalloped Potatoes

Even tho' Spring is Springing

it rarely feels like it these days ...

the weather is still damp, dull and cool.

However, on my way home yesterday from a wee "rampage"

to town I caught a glimpse of this shy newborn.

So sweet!

The farmer and I also made a little jaunt to a woodlot

just down the road and brought home a few shovels full of ramps!

Ramps - also known as wild leeks, or bush onions

are a true sign that Spring is here!

They always remind me of my Dad who loved to eat them raw.
Those closest to him always knew he had!

These pungent, strong and earthy tasting treats are used in many different ways.

They are said to be very healthy - if only they didn't have such a strong odour!

Ramps taste wonderful paired with potatoes and since scalloped potatoes is on the menu for dinner I decided to chop a few into the potato casserole.

Taste Note - the ramps added a nice mild and earthy flavour to the potatoes. I would do this again!

Tonight I roasted some in the oven - recommended by my friends Gary and Anita. This was another very tasty way to enjoy Spring Ramps.

Till next time - are ramps/wild leeks something you and your family enjoy?

"Rooted" in Family

Me - "I don't think I'll make turnip this year for Thanksgiving.

The Farmer - "What!!! No turnip!!"

I was feeling lazy and remembered how much work it is to

peel and chop those hard rutabaga heads.

But not to disappoint - off I went and thought "I'll just buy the frozen chopped ones".

Not one bag of frozen chopped turnips to be found in any of our local grocery stores.

Green Giant - where are you when I need you?

Sigh - there they were - beautifully waxed and round rutabaga roots in the produce bin ...

O.K. - I can do this.

The best way to peel them is with a vegetable peeler (a paring knife works too but a tad dangerous in my case). 

I like to peel them on some newspaper or paper towel, thus avoiding the wax from getting onto my cutting board.

Why do they wax them so heavily?

Chop, chop - here we go!

Seasoned with some salt and pepper - water added and boiled gently till soft and mashable.

Now I will cool them, refrigerate till Thanksgiving Sunday (tomorrow) and make my Mom's casserole recipe. I love recipes with do-ahead possibilities.

My Mom's Turnip Casserole recipe goes something like this:

Add to one boiled and slightly mashed turnip:

1 beaten egg

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/4 Cup cream

1/4 Cup unsweetened apple sauce 

Turn into a buttered casserole dish and top with:

1/2 Cup bread crumbs moistened with a few Tbsps. of melted butter

Bake at 350F for 1 hour or till hot.

The other roots that will be appearing on my Thanksgiving Table are these beauties right from my garden:

Rinsed and ready to roast

They have been roasted and diced. Tomorrow I'll simply reheat and butter them before serving.

A medley of yellow, candy cane, and red beets, roasted and ready to be added to the Thanksgiving table.








I'll let you know how it all turned out.
Hope our family likes these roots!

Happiest of Thanksgivings to you and yours on this Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend!

God is Good!

Spud Stacks

I found a fun potato recipe that would be a great side

for any meal.

Just had to share it .... plus I use any excuse I can get to warm up the oven

these sooooo cold days!!!

2-3 large Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes - peeled and sliced very thin 

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 tsp. thyme

1 tsp. sea salt

Fresh ground pepper

1/2 Cup Cheese (I used Asiago) plus some for sprinkling on top.

Grease muffin tins or small ramekins

Melt butter with oil and seasonings - stir in the grated cheese

Place sliced potatoes in a bowl and pour the melted butter mixture overtop.

With hands gently work the potatoes and butter to coat slices.

Stack the potato slices into a greased muffin tin or greased ramekins - this recipe made 4 stacks but you could triple the recipe and make 12 stacks to fit your muffin tin.

Sprinkle more cheese on top and bake at 375F for 40-50 minutes or until nicely browned and crispy.

Allow them to set for 5 minutes and then gently remove from tins with a spoon.

Till next time ............ how are keeping warm these days (or maybe you are somewhere warm and wonderful). I wonder if the Robins will arrive on time next week - Spring must be just around the corner - right?

Organic Vegetable Soup

The farmer went to pick up a wood splitter from,

James Harrison, a local organic vegetable farmer

and brought home a nice sampling of his

delicious and nutritious harvest!

Fresh picked kale and dragon kale,

purple and deep red potatoes,

purple, red, white and orange carrots,

some heads of the best garlic in the land,

a huge leek, onion, and pretty edible flowers.

Have you ever seen such beauty?

I've never tasted Dragon Kale.

Dark purple carrots and

solid red potatoes,

packed with vitamins

and nutrients.

Pretty edible flowers

and some of James' famous

juicy garlic!

This calls for a healthy energizing vegetable soup.

Just a quick picking of parsley, thyme and sage from

my herb garden and I'll be all set!

Wonder what colour this soup will be?

Saute an onion in a splash of Olive Oil,

add in 3-4 cloves crushed and chopped garlic,

add in some chopped carrots and 2 - 3 diced potatoes.

Add fresh or dried herbs and seasoning to taste.

Pour in 4 - 5 Cups of chicken or Vegetable broth

and simmer until vegetables are tender.

Chop and add in 3 Cups of Kale and cook

for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove a few cups of the soup and blend with

hand held blender if desired - add back into soup pot.

Serve with a wee garnish of chopped green onion and Enjoy!

That soup should give me enough energy to get out of my pjs and

help the farmer chop some wood - right!!?

BTW - the soup turned out to be a lovely
slightly lavender colour - so yummy!

Till next time ...... gathering some more kale recipes .... do you have a favourite one?

Cloud Bursts and Fried Green Tomatoes

We've had SO much rain lately but I finally had a day

that I could get into the garden to do some much needed weeding.

The sun shone warmly, the humidity was high and I enjoyed

pulling the weeds and seeing the garden's progress!

As I was happily weeding,

the skies turned dark

and thunder was heard in the distance!

Ugh .... not again! 

We've been experiencing torrential rains

once a day or so for the past few weeks.

Within minutes - the clouds

opened up and it literally drowned

my freshly weeded garden.

The tomatoes are
so heavy that they are bending
the cages.
Since they are not quite ripe
I decided to pick a few 
and try making
Fried Green Tomatoes!
I was inspired to do so after 
reading one of my favourite
bloggers where she had
tasted some of these on a recent
vacation to South Carolina.

While the farmer
barbecued the steak (our reward for a busy and productive Saturday)
I set to work to make these
tasty treats!
It was easier than I expected!

I simply dredged the slices in
seasoned flour, then dipped them into a whisked egg and finally coated them in Panko bread crumbs.
It only took a minute or two on each side to fry them in vegetable oil - so yummy!

Now, back to my soggy garden ....
I actually got stuck almost lost my flip flops while taking the pictures of the green tomatoes!

Thank goodness for the rain barrel to wash my feet ...

Have you ever had or made Fried Green Tomatoes?
They really are worth the effort .....

Till next time .......... happy Civic Holiday Weekend to my Canadian friends and families.

Braised Red Cabbage

I have a spare fridge in the garage

(which I LOVE having, by the way) and

there was a beautiful Red Cabbage out

there that I had almost forgotten

about till the other night we were 

served this delicious power food with

our meal at a local restaurant.

We love cabbage in most any form,

slaw, Nappa cabbage salad, cabbage rolls,

red, green, cooked, braised, etc.

This is how I cook

this versatile red beauty:

1/2 Red Cabbage - quartered and chopped

1/2 Onion - chopped

1 apple peeled and diced - optional

2 cloves garlic - crushed and chopped

1/8 Cup Olive Oil

1/4 tsp. caraway seeds - optional

Squeeze of lemon juice - 1 Tbsp.

3/4 Cup chicken broth

3 Tbsp. vinegar

3 Tbsp. sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in sauce pan. Add and sauté/sweat

the onion and garlic over medium heat till

softened.

Add in the cabbage, lemon and caraway - toss and 

cook till cabbage has wilted - approx. 5 min.

Add the broth, apple, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Cover and reduce heat to low - simmer for approx. 15

minutes stirring occasionally.

Serve warm as a side dish to your

favourite meal.

I "googled" the health benefits

of Red Cabbage (click on this link) and this is 

what I learned!

#2 is my favourite:

 It is a brain food!

"It is full of vitamin K and anthocyanins that help with mental function and concentration. These nutrients also prevent nerve damage, improving your defense against Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Red cabbage has the highest amount of these power nutrients."

I need all the help I can get!!!

Schnitzel, Noodles and Red Cabbage

Till next time ..... what's your favourite brain food?