And Sew On

A Domestic Weekend

After working this week, my family had me working in the kitchen and at the sewing machine-- rather like the 1950's housewife I am portraying in the show I'm rehearsing!

I made chili, bread, vegetable barley soup, pancakes, and a delicious recipe for mac and cheese with Swiss Chard that my friend, Sonya, sent me. You can find it here.

I made the girls little "crowns" to match their dresses:

 

Although, I must admit, the simple shape isn't very crown like. Still, they were pleased:

Back to work tomorrow-- it promises to be a busy week, but I will do my best to check in with a layout or two!

Thanksgiving 2010

There was turkey.

There were leftovers.

There were dishes...in fact I think we used every dish and utensil in the house...twice.

 

There was fun had by all.

 

The first major holiday held in our "new" house (and it really does feel like a new house with all the changes we've made) was a great success. My family has adopted the brilliant policy of potluck family dinners. The host family does the main, and everyone else brings a side, or wine. It makes a HUGE difference. That said, I still spent two days cooking. I also made some cute decorations that I will adapt from season to season.

THE FOOD: I started by writing out my menu, including what others were bringing:

(The astersisks were for things I could make in advance, in the middle are my groceries, and at the bottom are the potluck dishes.)

On Saturday I started two loaves of No-Knead Bread:

I left one plain, and the other I covered with parmesan and black pepper. This is a really great recipe-- I make my own bread all the time and it is SO easy. Really. Try it.

Next was cranberry sauce:

(Fuzzy. Taken with my iphone. That's my belly in the lower left corner. Nice.)

Let me say that I don't generally like cranberry sauce-- but this is really delicious. There are four ingredients: water, sugar, a bag of cranberries, and cinnamon. (The recipe calls for orange zest, but I added 1/2 tspn of cinnamon instead.) Simmer for 12 minutes on the stove, then throw it in the fridge. Unless you have some sort of emotional attachment to the canned stuff, you should make this. The girls wanted to eat it by the spoonful, and I'm planning to put the leftovers in plain yogourt, or over pancakes. TRY THIS. (Sorry. I'm pushy today.)

I also made Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for the kids for dessert. I use this peanut butter cookie recipe from Martha Stewart, then add 3/4 c. of chocolate chips. They turn out perfectly every time. You should try these, too. :)

We bought a 16 lb. free range turkey from the butcher on the corner. The first time I made turkey was our first year in Ottawa when we hosted Thanksgiving for all of Quillan's grad school friends who were far from home. Again, Martha to the rescue. Once I tried this recipe, Perfect Roast Turkey, there was no need to try anything else. (For the life of me, I cannot figure out why this recipe only shows up on page 3 when you search "Roast Turkey" on her site. It should be number one.) Here is my beauty:

Why this is the best turkey recipe:

1. Even when I didn't know how to cook, the turkey still turned out this gorgeous.

2. No brining, but it's still super juicy. The key is roasting it at 450F for the first 30 minutes to sear it, then lowering the temp to 350F for the rest of the time. My 16lb. turkey cooked in 3 1/2 hours flat. I kid you not. We took the internal temperature three times, and even my sister, who is squeamish of poultry, agreed that it was fully cooked.

3. You baste this baby in three sticks of melted butter and a bottle of white wine mixed together. Every 30 minutes the bird got a good basting. Now, imagine the gravy made from turkey drippings, 3 sticks of butter, and a bottle of white wine. Yeah. Really good. (By the way, Martha suggests soaking cheese cloth in the marinade first and draping it over the breasts before roasting. Of the four times I've make this recipe, I only did that once, and I didn't find it made any difference.)

I had so much left over turkey I started the soup before my family even left so I wouldn't have to find a place for it in the fridge. No doubt there is also Turkey Pot Pie and Turkey Tettrazini in my immediate future.

My grandma, who had a cold and couldn't make it, still sent along her homemade cabbage rolls-- my favourite dish since I was a kid. Thanks, Grandma!

 

THE DECORATIONS:

With all the cooking I was doing, I kept the decorations pretty simple. I had seen paper garlands on other blogs, so I thought I'd give it a shot-- especially since my MIL was staying with us and could help me with my sewing machine. I used my Wishblade (with a free cut file from Laina Lamb) and punches to cut out circles and leaves from Bella Blvd.'s "One Fall Day" line, then I fed each shape through the sewing machine, leaving a little space between each one. Very quick, very cute:

(again, fuzzy iphone photos)

(Little white pumpkins, $2.99 for a bag of five at the grocery store.)

Next, I used the same line of paper and some Maya Road chipboard tags to make place cards for my dining room table:

Rather than painting the chipboard, which would have been messy and required drying time, I just pressed each one onto an ink pad and let the ink soak in where it wanted. I also edged them in a bit of gold ink, for a little extra glitz. (The font here is Edwardian script, by the way.) Each person got a pumpkin and a place card. I'm sure I'll re-use these pumpkins for Halloween... hmm...maybe a set of Halloween minions for a big pumpkin?

I'd love to see your holiday decorations, and hear about your favourite holiday recipes! Link me up!

 

 

 

 

Aprons and Beet Chips

After finishing up a project for the Pebbles Inc. blog last night, I am taking a short break from scrapbooking to get ready for Audrey's fourth birthday party. I am having 6 little girls over for a cupcake party tomorrow morning. We will bake vanilla cupcakes from scratch, decorate tiaras with rhinestones and flower punches, and play pass the parcel. I think it will be fun and right up Audrey's alley!

In preparation for the big event, I printed off a birthday banner, prepped 7 little tiaras, and made 7 little aprons. (Rather than loot bags, the girls will each get an apron to take home with their name on it.)

Audrey was not into posing today, but here she is in her apron:

I found $2 artists' aprons at Dollarama:

(Sadly, they don't have the cute white stitching, as pictured.)

Now, these are for adults, so I had to do a little creative tailoring to make them work. I put one of the aprons on Audrey and folded it up at the waist to it would (kind of) fit. Upon consultation with my mother, I bought Heat'nBond hemming tape, and used the iron instead of possible breaking my sewing machine. I'll be honest, getting the first two done took FOREVER,  but then I got the hang of it and the last 5 went by pretty quick.

After they had cooled I used some old foam stamps and some even older fabric paint to stamp each of the girls' names on the aprons. I picked up some glittery foam stickers, too, so each girl can personalize her apron when she arrives. (I figured that was a good craft to waste 15 minutes as people are getting in the door and getting settled.) Audrey, of course, wanted to put stickers on hers right away. I tried not to stifle her creativity, and I only mentioned the "visual triangle" once. I swear.

She loves the pockets the most. This afternoon I worried that the ties were now in the wrong place with the hemming, so I cut off the original black ties and used my Cropadile to punch holes in a better spot. I tied cute pink ribbon that I had in my stash to each side, and now they fit much better. That's my story, anyway, and I'm sticking to it.

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Beet chips. Microwave beet chips, in fact.

I read a blog entry a while ago (can't remember where) about microwave potato chips and thought I'd give it a try. They were so good-- and the kids loved them so much-- I thought, why not try it with sweet potatoes, or the bag of beets that came in my organic food box? Turns out, the beet chips were a huge hit with the girls. Whenever I pull out the mandolin, the girls say...and I quote..."yay! yay! Beet chips!"

Yay, beet chips? Any beet recipe that gets that kind of reaction from my girls is a keeper in my book. So, without further ado, Beet Chips:

1. Get one beet out of the fridge. One little beet is plenty:

2. Get out your mandolin:

A mandolin is very sharp little tool that cuts veggies and things super thin. The metal ones can be expensive. This one is by OXO and cost me $12 at Canadian Tire. (If you don't have/want a mandolin, I'm told you can use a veggie peeler.)

3. Set your mandolin to the thinnest setting, and slice your beet paper thin. Do not slice off your finger in the process:

4. Cut a piece of parchment paper into a circle that fits the plate in your microwave. (In the blog post I read they said you don't need the parchment per se, but it would be kinda messy without it, I think.) Spritz the paper with Pam, or an oil mister, then set your beet chips down in one layer. (You'll probably need three goes to get through all the beet chips you sliced in 30 seconds with your mandolin.) Sprinkle a teeny tiny bit of salt over the beets, and spritz one more time.

5. Place in the microwave on high for about 4 minutes. Now, microwaves differ a fair bit, so I would suggest the first time you do this, check them after three minutes. The beets will go from raw, to shrunken, to chewy, then finally crispy. If you haven't gotten to crispy, they're not done yet. In the end, they crunch like a chip and have the sweet/salty thing going for them.

Again, it wasn't a good photography day for me, but you can see how much the girls love them:

I'm thinking of trying it with turnips next.

"Yay, yay! Turnip chips!"

What I've Been Up To

 

Sorry, little blog, you have been a tad neglected this week. Here is a run down of the past few days:

Making breadcrumbs:

I love baguettes, but sometimes I don't get through them before they start to go stale. Enter the dried bread crumb:

Tear your baguette into smallish pieces and pulse in the food processor until you get fine breadcrumbs. Spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet and place in a 200F oven for about half an hour, stirring occasionally. Sometimes I just turn off the oven and leave them in there for another hour so they are good and dry. Cool on the counter, then store in your pantry for homemade fishsticks, chicken fingers, etc. I think I'm going to use mine for pork chops tonight.

Applicious

The (rather disappointing) apple festival in our neighbourhood. I kind of expected it to be a bit...more...than it was, but the kids had fun making apple magnets:

Happy Mail from Creative Memories:

I received a few of the new lines from Creative Memories. They've gone through a re-branding recently, and the new designs are so fresh and beautiful. Here's a preview of the new Hummingbird line, coming out October 1st!

Isn't it pretty? I absolutely love it.

Eunice

My friend, Eunice, came over with her girls on Sunday. We went to the restaurant on the corner for yummy Chinese food-- Chicken with Snowpeas and steamed rice, with a few dumplings for the mommies-- then headed back to the house for a little play time, and pie for dessert!

Yes, September certainly is rolling along! Don't forget that Friday is release day for the new issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today. I am totally in love with the Cover Girl... Lily. :)

 

One Chicken, Three Ways

After a busy first week of school for Audrey, we had a pretty relaxed weekend. The weekend was bookended by one $8, whole chicken from the Valumart. Out of that one chicken I got three dinners, and 6 cups of chicken stock for future use.

Friday Chicken:

Have you ever spatchcocked a chicken? All that means is using your kitchen shears to cut out the backbone of the chicken, then opening it up to cook flat on a sheet pan, or in a cast iron pan. (Essentially, butterfly chicken.)  This sounds complicated, but trust me, it is easy-peasy. Here is a photo I found on the internet of a spatchcock chicken:

The GREAT benefit to spatchcocking your chicken is the whole things cooks in just 45 minutes! Add large dice potatoes to the pan half way through, and you have a great meal in one pan-- and potatoes oven-cooked in chicken fat are absolutely delish. I followed this Jamie Oliver recipe for cooking instructions, and Sonya (who made her very first spatchcock chicken this weekend) found this You Tube video to show you exactly how it's done. Give it a try. It takes about 3 minutes, tops.

My quick recipe is this:

After cutting open your chicken, lay it flat on a sheet pan (as above).

Set your oven to 425F.

Rub your chicken all over with olive oil, salt and pepper (make sure you get under the chicken, too). Quarter an onion and throw it in the pan.

Large dice (1") a few potatoes and sweet potatoes, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and have them at the ready.

Put your chicken in the oven for about 25 minutes, then add the potatoes. Cook for about 20 minutes more, stirring the potatoes every 5 minutes, or so. Chicken is ready if the juices run clear when the thigh is poked with a fork.

Or, as I say, when the chicken is all crispy and golden brown, it's probably ready.

Please don't overcook your chicken. Dry chicken is yucky.

We paired the chicken and potatoes with a green salad. So homey and delicious.

For dessert there was plain yogourt with maple syrup. Two bowls...each.

Saturday Chicken:

Since we are not big eaters, we had half a chicken left over. On Saturday afternoon I decided to make one of my favourite recipes-- Chicken Pot Pie. My family loves this recipe. I think I gave my Dad a pie for his birthday last year. It's that good.

My recipe comes from Donna Hay. She is the Australian food goddess. Each one of her magazines is like a little artsy cookbook-- which is why I have about 20 of them. I can never remember which issue has the pot pie recipe, so I always end up flipping through all the fall/winter issues until I find the right one.  In case you're wondering, this is the right one:

I think this was Winter 2007. Maybe. Anyway, there are several pot pie recipes in here, but the basic is the one I work with:

Isn't it pretty? As you will soon see, it actually looks like that! I couldn't find this recipe on her website, but I believe Donna would want you to have this most perfect of pot pie recipes, so I took a photo of it:

Click on it. Right click, and save. You'll be glad you did.

That said, I do add a few things to The Basic because it's, well, basic.

For one thing, I add veggies. Usually small dice carrots and celery, which I cook at the beginning with the onions...although I didn't have any celery yesterday. I'm not a big fan of peas, so I don't put those in, but you certainly could. If you're using dried thyme (like me), use 1 1/2 tspns. Don't skip the thyme, though. It's the familiar flavour one associates with chicken pot pie.

I also add a teaspoon of grainy or dijon mustard to the chicken mixture.

note: With lots of added veggies, this recipe makes enough filling for one big honkin' pie, or two regular pies. They freeze really well, so I always try to make one and freeze one. Nothing like baking up a homemade pie from your freezer on a cold night when all you want to do is sit on the couch and watch re-runs of Everybody Loves Raymond.

Finally, I used a pre-made pie crust (gasp!) by Tenderflake, and then added puff pastry on top. You want the puff pastry-- that gives it the puffed, golden look-- and it's also very easy to work with.

I cut all of the chicken off the bone and put the bones in the tupperware container with the backbone I cut out yesterday. (Holding on to the ingredients for Sunday Chicken.) Then I followed Donna's recipe for the filling:

It's about the creamy sauce. So. Good.

After my puff pastry defrosted, I set to work rolling it out while the pie shell par-baked in the oven:

(That's my grandma's rolling pin.)

Then I assembled the pie and gave it an egg wash.

Before it went in the oven:

and half an hour later when it came out:

Bee-yoo-ti-ful.

Again, a green salad, and we had dinner... Saturday AND Sunday, to be honest.

 

We interrupt this blog post for a cute baby alert:

(So focused on her colouring.)

Sunday Chicken

I recently read somewhere that any chicken stock you make at home-- however meager the ingredients-- is better than the most expensive stock you can buy in a store. Even if all you have is the bones from four chicken breast from last night's dinner, it's a great stock in the making. In this case I had a whole chicken carcass, so Sunday was chicken stock day.

I have great memories of my Dad cooking up a big cauldron of chicken soup in the winter. The smell still takes me back. My grandmother makes an amazing chicken soup, too. If I had to choose, though, I'd pick my Dad's. It's more robust and flavourful. He'd often buy chicken and turkey necks from the butcher and add them into the stockpot. When it was time to take the bones and veggies out, we'd fight over who got to eat the meat off the chicken necks. My Protestant Anglo-Saxon mother was mortified to see her three little girls gleefully sucking on chicken vertebra. The noisier the slurping the better, too.

Anyhoo, yesterday my chicken stock went something like this:

Place the chicken bones in the pot.

Add a halved onion and a few carrots. (If I had them, I would've added garlic and celery, too.)

Add about a dozen peppercorns, and a bay leaf or two.

Pour enough water in the pot to cover all the ingredients.

Bring to a simmer (NOT a rolling boil), and let it go for about 2 hours. After the first 30 minutes skim off the bubbly scum that accumulates on the surface.

Drain, cool, put in the fridge. The next day skim off the solidified fat, then it's ready to use or freeze. (I freeze mine in 2 cup increments in ziploc bags so they take up less space in the freezer.)

Did you know that chicken fat is called "Schmaltz" in Yiddish? (I love google.)

Did you know that Schmaltz is perfect for making Matzo balls?

Can you guess what Tuesday Chicken is going to be?

 

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If you have read this far...I am amazed and slightly shocked. I should now tell you that it's my day for introduction on the Pebbles blog! See my interview and layout there!

The Home Stretch

It's hard to believe we are into the last few weeks of the renovation. We should be (mostly) done by the end of the month. Slowly but surely things are coming together, and I can see just how beautiful and comfortable the house is going to be with the changes we've made. A few photos, and a few thoughts from the last few days...

 

Beautiful light! The glass door and biiiiiiiig picture window are in! The light is amazing. The kitchen is coming in here and there, and we now have enough functional appliances to cook again!

 

I just love it.

 

First real dinner cooked in many, many weeks-- taco salad.

 

Rolling my laundry to the laundromat on Queen St. (This was one of two trips. 6 loads, to be exact!)

 

My Mom, my sister, and her kids came down today. So fun to have all the kiddos at the beach. Even better since we had no electricity today!

I even did some scrapping last night with Sonya-- first time in forever. A great use for an island with no countertop!

 

She's coming over again tonight, so I should have a layout or two to share tomorrow.

Off to enjoy the sunshine!

I just made Pioneer Woman's Braised Short Ribs for dinner-- mmmmm, good. I didn't even have all the ingredients-- no bacon, no sprigs of thyme and rosemary-- but wow was it delicious. Find it here:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/braised-short-ribs-heaven-on-a-plate/