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!

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?

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!

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

my homemade deodorant worked

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!

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.

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!

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!

One of "Those" Days

Do you ever have one of "those" days

when things just aren't going

as planned???

I have my fair share but today

was a corker!

Last week I was at a Norwex Party

where I was reminded that pillows

that haven't been washed for some time hold

up to double their weight in dust mites!!

O.K. this might be too much information

but I have to tell you, I was grossed out.

So, today, I stripped my bed linens,

pulled the "old and stained" etc. etc.

pillows from their cases and decided to go for it.

I've washed them before with good success

and vaguely remember reading somewhere that you

should carefully check all the seams to be sure they are

intact before laundering..... you know where this is going right?

Thank goodness for the old shop vac is all I can say....

My first load of laundry was old cleaning rags and a couple

of car blankets which were on the line to dry.

The skies turned black and the 

rain poured - sigh... for a second rinsing.

Oh, and I was rudely reminded by my machine
that it couldn't drain the next load
due to a clogged filter - go figure.
 (I had to get the manual out for that one)!

On the bright side,

my rain barrel has been refilled,

the hydro has remained on,

and my bread dough rose.

There is a huge spaghetti squash and
a meat loaf in the oven and
fresh bread for supper.
Life is good!

Have you had one of "those" days recently?

Till next time .......... planning a wee trip to the nearest Hutterite Colony for some new feather pillows.

August Garden Bounty

My August Garden

is in full production.

Note to self, if you ever want

to really garden and preserve - take holidays

for the month of mid-August to mid-September!

The beets need thinning

(should have done this a month ago)

and the parsnips are developing nicely.

The spaghetti squash are huge

and I can't wait to roast this one.

I planted these beets for my

favourite Beet Salad

(find the recipe on the above link)
This time I sprinkled it with roasted
pine nuts - so delicious.

Just add a juicy BBQ'd hamburger

and you have a great summer

evening meal.

Till next time .................... enjoying the harvest.

Savoury Zucchini Bread

As much as I love sweet things,

especially zucchini bread,

I decided to try a 

savoury version!

It did not disappoint

but

alas, it only used 1 Cup of Zucchini!!!

Maybe if I pick all the flowers

(which are edible AND very pretty)

I could control this prolific crop?

Thanks Jill, for the idea of stuffing 

and frying the blossoms.

You can find Jill's blog at:

 http://www.blogger.com/profile/15826496514403918108

You will love her amazing photography

and more!

Savoury Zucchini Bread
2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2-3 Tbsp. of your favourite fresh herbs (I used Rosemary, Basil and Chives)
Substitute with 2-3 tsp. dried herbs
1 Cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 Eggs - lightly beaten
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Milk
1 Cup shredded Zucchini - drained
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
Whisk together the dry ingredients.  Stir the fresh herbs and cheese into the flour mixture.
Combine the eggs, oil and milk in separate bowl.  Stir in the shredded zucchini and then pour the wet
into the dry ingredients - stir just until combined.  Turn into your prepared loaf pan.  Sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing.

This recipe only used

1/4

of this beauty!!

I've been shredding and freezing the

left-over pieces.

Also, experimenting with refrigerater
pickled zucchini
(thanks Michelle for your inspiration)
and planning to make some
fritters!
Stay tuned....

Till the next zucchini experiment ......... enjoying the bounty of this season!

Tip Toeing Through the Zucchini

What was I thinking

to plant more than one Zucchini Plant?

The bountiful harvest is

keeping me on my toes!

It seems that each
time I check,
there are many more
than what I can
use .....

It's wonderful to
have such a great harvest.

I've been sharing them,
stir frying,
roasting on the BBQ,
baking them into
muffins, etc.






On the weekend I created a casserole!

It turned out pretty good......I had all the ingredients
on hand and the time to make it!

Cheesy Zucchini Casserole

Preheat oven to 350F

4 - 6 Cups Zucchini - sliced into 1/4" slices and halved

1 Tbsp. fresh Oregano - chopped

1 Tbsp. fresh Basil - chopped

1 shallot - chopped

2 cloves garlic - minced

1/2 Cup sharp Cheddar Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix the above ingredients in a bowl.  Spoon mixture into a greased 9 X 9 casserole dish and top with:

1 Cup Cooked Ham - diced

1/2 Cup Mozzarella and 1/2 Cup Cheddar Cheese (shredded and mixed together)

1/2 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs moistened with 2 Tbsp. melted butter

Bake for 35-45 minutes until fork tender.

This casserole smelled amazing whilst baking and was a delicious meal served with a crisp salad.

Now what to do with the rest of these

monster zucchini??

I've been shredding, measuring into 

1 Cup piles and freezing them

for future baking.....

What would you do????

Till next time ..... thankful for the Zucchini harvest!