Firenog!

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Getting bored of drinking the same old same old Rum and Eggnog year after year?  Yeah, me neither.  But this shooter is still worth a try at your first available opportunity next holiday party!

Fireball Cinnamon Whisky and Eggnog.  Our friends April and Brad introduced this holiday shooter to us and dubbed it, 'The Firenog.'  We liked it too much, that fiery sweet creamy combo.  In the new year, April and Brad are moving from living 4 km away from us to living 1140 km away from us, which is awesome for them and their new beginnings, but very sad for us!  We will miss you guys - xo!

To make Firenog, all you do is mix together two parts Eggnog and one part Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.  Shake over ice.  Pour into shooter glasses.  Top with nutmeg if desired.  Cheers to friendship (April and Brad!)/family/holidays/life/love/health/happiness.  Consume (responsibly).

Is it bad that I archived this post under 'Desserts?'  I guess it's better than archiving it under, 'Lunch.'

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Firenog

Ingredients

• Eggnog
• Fireball Whisky
• Ice

Directions
Mix together two parts Eggnog and one part Fireball Cinnamon Whisky.  Shake over ice.  Pour into shooter glasses.  Top with nutmeg if desired.

Recipe Source:  Our buddies, April and Brad Kirk

One Year Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore
Two Years Ago:  Baked Chicken With Creamed Spinach and Squashed Potatoes
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Four Years Ago:  Mom's Fall-Off-The-Bone Oven Baked BBQ Pork Ribs
Five Years Ago:  Plum Cake

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

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Pictured behind the potatoes is a suuuuper good Cheesy Corn Pudding that I want to post the recipe for
but I can't find the recipe for.   That's the whole reason that I have this blog - to be able to archive recipes for later use!
Quelle frustration!  Let's focus on this not-in-focus picture of potatoes instead.

This is just a no-brainer!  Because: mashed potatoes with bacon, sour cream, cheese, green onions, and butter.  We ate this as our potato side dish for Christmas dinner last year, and not only would it make a great holiday dinner side dish again, but it would be a great non-holiday dinner side dish too.  Whoa.  As the name suggests, it's like twice baked double stuffed potatoes, but in a casserole.  If you ask the hubby really nicely, he will even fry up the leftovers for breakfast potatoes the next morning.  Drool.  Only rivalled by one other mashed potato recipe for the best mashed potatoes everrrrr.

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Plum Cake
Two Years Ago:  Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Four Years Ago:  The Best Mashed Potatoes I've Ever Eaten
Five Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 1 pound bacon
• 16 russet potatoes, scrubbed clean (don't peel)
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound salted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 6 green onions, sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cook the bacon in a pan until crispy; let cool and then crumble.

Rub potatoes with olive oil and place on baking sheets.  Bake until tender, 45 to 60 minutes.  Remove the potatoes from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

Slice the butter and transfer to a large mixing bowl.  Add the bacon and the sour cream.  Cut each potato in half and scrape out the insides into the mixing bowl.  Tear up the skins from 3 of the potatoes and add to the bowl.  Mash the potatoes with a potato masher, then add the cheese, milk, seasoning salt, green onions, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix together well.

Grease a baking dish, and scoop the potato mixture into the dish, then top with more grated cheese.  Bake until warmed through, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Enjoy!


Recipe Source:  Food Network - Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Christmas Breakfast EggNog Bread Pudding

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Looking for a new and super tasty make-ahead Christmas morning brunch dish?  Here's one.  You're welcome.

Ha, I have a love/hate relationship with the passive-aggressive 'you're welcome!' when someone doesn't say thank you.  I don't often say it, but I definitely think it.  Oh, I just waited a few extra seconds to hold the door open for you and you just waltzed right though as though I was the doorman and didn't say thank you?  You're welcome!  Oh, I just let your car enter my lane in front of my car and you didn't give me a wave to let me know that you're super appreciative?  You're welcome!  'You're welcome' is how I knew it was time for me to leave the restaurant industry back in my 20's after close to a decade of being an amazing server (if I do say so myself!  Yes, self, you can say that, and thank you for the compliment.  You're welcome self!).  The night it happened I was flying around the restaurant with a zillion tables to look after and a zillion things on my to-do list, when a man sitting at a table that I was not the server for asked me to bring him ketchup.  And even though I was ignoring the kajillion things that I should have been bringing to my own tables (thus ensuring a nice tip) on this extremely busy Saturday night, I looked after getting the ketchup, and when I dropped it off, ha, when I dropped it off, the man at the table didn't even acknowledge that I was bringing something to him!  He didn't even look up from his conversation and give me a nod or a smile.  So, i did it, I said, "You're welcome!!!" in my most chipper friendly voice, and turned on my heels and left the table.  Soooo passive-aggresive, I know, I'm guilty, but sooooo satisfying at the time!  A couple of weeks later I gave my resignation and left the restaurant industry for good.  And I do miss it sometimes...those were super fun days!  But I don't miss the extreme rudeness from a few of the restaurant patrons (ketchup man was nothing in comparison to some people).  I strongly believe that it should be a mandatory requirement for every single person in this country to have to work in a restaurant at some point in their life.  I think that it would make everyone a nicer person.

Well, that was a tangent that had nothing to do with Egg Nog Breakfast Bread Pudding or Christmas spirit!  Talk about pent-up rage...sheesh!  Moving on...

Egg Nog Breakfast Bread Pudding.  Make-ahead Christmas morning breakfast dish idea.  You're welcome.

The Hubby and I served this on Christmas morning in 2015 along with a green chile frittata (recipe to come), fruit salad, cheesy hash brown casserole (recipe to come), and mimosas.

Yum - isn't Christmas delicious!!!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Parsnip and Carrot Puree
Two Years Ago:  Mom's Fall Off The Bone Oven Baked BBQ Pork Ribs
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Four Years Ago:  Baked Chicken with Creamed Spinach and Squashed Potatoes
Five Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

EggNog Breakfast Bread Pudding

Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) loaf French bread
• 4 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups egg nog
• 2 cups whole or 2% milk
• 5 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• salt
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• icing (confectioners) sugar, and maple syrup, for serving

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F.  Slice the French bread, and generously spread the butter on each slice, then cut the buttered slices into 1-inch cubes.  Put the bread cubes into a 9x13-inch baking dish.

In a large saucepan, heat the egg nog and milk together until hot but not boiling.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt, and whisk until light and frothy.  Whisk in one cup of the warm egg nog / milk mixture into the egg /sugar mixture, then gradually add the remaining egg nog / milk mixture, one cup at a time.  Stir in the bourbon.

Pour the liquid mixture over the bread cubes, gently pushing down the bread to make sure all of the bread gets saturated.  Chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour or overnight.

Bake in preheated oven for 40 - 50 minutes, until the custard is set and the top is lightly golden.  Allow to cool for 5 - 10 minutes, and serve hot or at room temperature.  Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with maple syrup on the side.

Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  The Kitchn - Egg Nog Breakfast Bread Pudding

Halloween 7-Layer Dip

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Happy Halloween!

I'm a mom now, which, my friend Kristy told to me, means that I officially need to start making theme food on Halloween.  We were both invited to a Halloween get-together at our friend Jenn's house for the mamas and babies in our mama/baby group.  To Pinterest we went.  Kristy decided on carving two pumpkins into red and white wine dispensers, and I went with this spoooooky seven-layer dip.  I think it's safe to say that Kristy won Halloween.

It was total cuteness overload with ten babies under ten months old in Halloween costumes.  A scuba diver, a strawberry, a skunk, an elephant, Cookie Monster, Batman, an owl, a panda, and a couple of monkeys, including the Little Man (who has had to do about two costume changes a day for the past couple of days to fit in all of the cute costumes he has!  He's turning into a panda tonight).

The cutest little monkey in town

Plus - daytime wine!

This 7-Layer Dip is basically your regular old 7-layer dip recipe, but instead of sprinkling the tomatoes, cheese, olives, and green onions on top, you kind of sprinkle them only around the edge of the dish, leaving room to draw the spider web in the middle.  It was fun to make and delicious to eat.

Happy Halloween!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Parsnip and Carrot Puree
Two Years Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Kendra's Italian Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers
Four Years Ago:  Bacon Night!


Halloween 7-Layer Dip

Ingredients

• 1 can (398 mL / 13.5 oz) refried beans
• 1 3/4 cup sour cream, divided
• 1 package (35 grams / 1.25 oz) taco seasoning
• 2 - 3 medium avocados (or 4 small avocados)
• 1/4 cup salsa
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 plastic spiders!!!  
• 1 bag of tortilla chips, for serving

Directions
In a large circular serving dish, spread refried beans.  In a small bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups of sour cream and taco seasoning, then spread on top of refried beans.  In a small bowl, mash the avocados with the salsa and lime juice until consistency is that of guacamole, then spread on top of sour cream mixture.  Sprinkle cheese around the outer rim of the serving dish in a circular pattern.  Repeat with tomatoes, olives, and green onions.  Pipe remaining 1/4 cup of sour cream on top of the guacamole mixture in the design of a spider web (I did this by drawing a straight line down the middle, then crossing three more lines through in a star shape, then drawing three circles to connect the lines.  I used a plastic sandwich bag with the corner cut off to help me pipe a clean line.).  Top with plastic spiders and serve with tortilla chips.

Happy Halloween!

Cheesy Carrot Casserole

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It would be nice to have some fancy blog with an amazing editorial department where blog posts about a fabulous side dish for Thanksgiving get posted prior to Thanksgiving rather than a few weeks later, but, this isn't that kind of blog!  And, it's almost American Thanksgiving, so I'm way ahead of the game there!  And, Christmas is around the corner!  And then Easter right after that, after which it's Thanksgiving again anyways.  And, it doesn't really need to be a special occasion to serve a carrot casserole anyways.

As promised, this has quickly become the carrot blog (refer to the last three posts including this one to see what I mean!), and here is another blog post about carrots coming at ya!  The recipe comes from the Taste of Home website, and it's a keeper.

I brought this to the Thanksgiving dinner on my side of the family, and it was a huge hit.  The casserole dish was literally scraped clean by the end of the dinner, because people were taking seconds and even thirds (ok, I was the only person who took thirds).  Doesn't it just feel so great when that happens?  I pre-made the casserole earlier in the day, and then we just reheated in the oven prior to dinner being served.  Little Man spent the weekend at his Nana and Grandpa's house (The Hubby's parents) while we went over the line to stay at their trailer in Washington with some friends before coming back for Thanksgiving dinner with his side of the family.  It was a much needed weekend away, but it was awesome to come back to two back-to-back family dinners and our first Thanksgiving with the Little Man.  What a wonderful year with so much to be thankful for!  Cheese definitely being one of those things...

Hope you enjoy this Cheesy Carrot Casserole!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Carrot and Parsnip Puree
Two Years Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Healthy Everything Cookies
Four Years Ago:  Braised Red Cabbage with Goat Cheese




Cheesy Carrot Casserole

Serves: 10 -12 side dishes

Ingredients

• 8 cups sliced carrots
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 can condensed cream of celery soup (10.75 oz / 284 mL), undiluted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 cup seasoned croutons (use the ones that are small in size)

Directions
Grease a 13 x 9-inch casserole dish and pre-heat oven to 350F.

Place carrots in a pot and cover with water, bring to a boil, then cook until tender-crisp.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter and cook onions until tender.  Stir in the soup, salt, pepper, and 1 cup cheddar cheese, and stir to combine.  Drain the carrots and stir into the onion mixture.  Transfer to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and croutons.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then drizzle over top.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbling.

Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted From:  Taste of Home - Carrot Casserole

Carrot-Coconut Soup

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Well, this has been a crazy year!

Crazy in a good way, crazy in an emotional way, crazy in a very, very happy way, crazy in a busy way, crazy in a crazy way, crazy in a good, good, way.

This little love-muffin entered our lives:

The Hubby isn't in favour of pictures of the family going up on the blog, so this may be the first and last photo you see of the little man (that's a lie - there's more at the end of this post), but that doesn't stop me from writing about him.  Which is good, because if I'm honest I want to talk about him non-stop!  We have wanted to start a family for so many years, and we are so fortunate to have had our dreams come true.  His laugh is infectious, his smile is perfect, he's curious, he's happy, he's smart, he's healthy, he's ridiculously cute (just look at that bum chin!), and he's all ours.  He will from here on out be referred to on the blog as Little Man.

And, oh the big plans I had for my time off on maternity leave.  I was going to try a new recipe every day!  I was going to blog at least a few times a week (and finally figure out how to take amazing food pictures with my DSLR camera)!  I was going to get back into running when the baby was six weeks old!  I was, after all, the girl who packed an adult colouring book and markers into her hospital bag for those 'calm down-times during labour.'  It of course stayed stowed in the bag along with a good novel and instructions on how to use my DSLR camera.  New moms just don't have time for new recipes and blogging (cook when the baby cooks!?  blog when the baby blogs?!).  And now he is nearly eight months old, and I can't believe how fast time has gone, and that I am down to just four precious months left in my maternity leave.  Long days, short years, they say.

The poor Hubby has not eaten very well (unless he was the one doing the cooking) in a long time.  I was very nauseous for the first six months of my pregnancy and didn't even want to think about preparing food.  "If we are eating tonight, it's either take-out or you are cooking," became a regular thing said to The Hubby, while I slowly nibbled saltines and took deep loud nausea-reducing breaths on the couch.  And during the last three months of the pregnancy I was too tired and achy, so no cooking happened then either.  So it's been at least a year+ that I hadn't made much of a presence in the kitchen...but, I'm back!

I don't have morning sickness, I'm not sleep deprived, and I have a 7.5 month old who takes long afternoon naps and isn't crawling/walking/trying to destroy the house yet, and so I have found a little bit of time for me again!  There's been stews, casseroles, salads, roasts, and lots of baby food too!  It feels good to be back in my kitchen, and now back on the blog as well.  And what a great time of year...fall is here, and it's time for my favourite food - that of the 'comfort' variety!

So, hello everyone!  I thought for my first entry since becoming a mother I would post something sort of appropriate, because The Hubby always refers to any pureed soup as 'Baby Food.'  Actually, the reason that I made this soup is because I bought a 10-pound bag of carrots from Costco (still the best store ever...going back today) to make actual baby food with, before realizing that about three carrots gives you a freezer full of pureed carrots, leaving me to wonder what to do with the other 9.75 pounds of carrots.

But this soup doesn't taste like any baby food that I know!  The carrots pureed with the coconut milk gives the soup a silky creamy texture, and the touch of Sriracha at the end gives a little hint of heat, and all of it combined is just dee-licious.  I made it once, and then had to make another triple batch the next day (at my friend Kristy's house where she also made a triple batch, for a total of a sextuple batch) because I needed more of this soup in my life (and because of the large supply of carrots still lurking in my fridge).  This left me with 5 pounds of carrots...which means that, if you put two and two together, you can guess where this blog is going over the next few posts - (not to dangle a carrot in front of you or anything - ha!).  This recipe is from the Epicurious website, which I have linked to below.  They never seem to disappoint.  The instructions below are for a double version of the original recipe.

..And this is weird, but I just noticed that my last post before this one was exactly a year ago to the day and also. about. carrots.

It's good to be back!  Thanks for reading...
Megan

OK...just one or two more pics!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Plum Cake
Two Years Ago:  Slow Cooker Philippine Pork Stew
Three Years Ago:  Flourless Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake
Four Years Ago:  Goat Cheese Pesto Torte

Carrot-Coconut Soup

Serves: 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 pounds carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 x 13.5 oz (400 ml) cans of light coconut milk (see Tip below)
• 2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce
• Chopped cilantro (optional), for serving 

Directions
In in large pot, melt butter over medium heat.  Add carrots and onions, and sauté until soft, about 15 - 20 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add chicken broth, coconut milk, and Sriracha.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth.  Alternatively, transfer in batches to a blender then return to pot.  Serve topped with freshly chopped cilantro and additional Sriracha, if desired.  Enjoy!

Tip: When using coconut milk, make sure to buy the canned version often found in the Asian food section.  Don't use the carton version found in the refrigerated section that is more often used as a beverage, as it usually has water added to it.

Recipe Source:  Epicurious (Carrot-Coconut Soup)

Parsnip and Carrot Puree

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I was put on side dish duty for two Thanksgiving dinners the weekend before last (it was Canadian Thanksgiving here), and my friend Kristy suggested I try one of her family favourites - Parsnip and Carrot Puree.  She said it was so good that she likes to have a little bit of it on the fork with every bite of her Thanksgiving dinner.  Sold!  So I found a great recipe on Allrecipes.com and decided to give it a shot.

Just four ingredients: parsnips, carrots, chives, and butter.  So simple, yet so much flavour!  You will need an immersion blender for this recipe to get the vegetables pureed easily and to the right consistency.  The Hubby was a little leery about it being too much like baby food, but in the end even he agreed it should be a new holiday dinner staple.  The great thing is that this recipe is made entirely on the stovetop, so you can save the room in your oven for a bird or other side dishes.  You can also make it ahead and reheat in the microwave or oven before eating.

Oh, and when I brought this to Thanksgiving dinner, The Hubby's cousin Shannon told me that parsnips are the trendy vegetable right now.  They are like the kale of 2015 or the brussels sprouts of 2014...her predictions (and she is vegetarian I might add, so she knows) are that 2016 is going to be all about the parsnip!  I mean, look at these things...how could they not be trendy and cool?

Calling it right now...trendiest vegetable of 2016.

I had 32 parsnips on my kitchen counter because I doubled the recipe for both dinners.  The young clerk who sold them to me at the grocery store was like, "Are these white carrots?"  No, they are parsnips, I said, as if I didn't have to Google what a parsnip looked like myself before heading to the grocery store so that I would know what to look for.  Although they are related to the carrot family (also learned on Google before leaving the house), I wanted to add but didn't, because in no way would he care.  He responded, "Why do you have so many parsnips?  No one needs this many parsnips."  Fair point.  But his comment didn't discourage me, and with 32 parsnips I left the store, nervous that I had too many parsnips and that no one needed this many parsnips.  But all 32 were used, eaten, and enjoyed.

So if you're in the mood to try out something new at your holiday table (or really any dinner with roasted meat), this side dish is a winner.  As mentioned, I doubled the recipe both times that I made it, so the pictures you see here are for a doubled recipe, which would feed about 8-10 people at a small dinner without many other side dishes and with people taking a big scoop, or it will feed many more people if you are at a larger dinner that likely has more side dishes and where everyone will just take a very small scoop.   It's a great alternative to mashed potatoes, or just served right alongside the masted potatoes like we did.  Delicious.

Enjoy!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Two Years Ago:  Healthy 'Everything' Cookies
Three Years Ago:  Goat Cheese Pesto Torte

My messy pot of parsnippy deliciousness

Parsnip and Carrot Puree

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 8 parsnips, peeled, cored, and cut into 2-inch pieces (see this helpful video for a how-to on coring parsnips)
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/4 cup chives, snipped
• 6 tablespoons butter, divided
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Put parsnips and carrots into a pot, covering completely with water and a couple of pinches of salt.  Place over high heat on the stove, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Drain water, return vegetables to pot (if not already there), and add the chives and 3 tablespoons butter.  Using an immersion blender, puree until just a few small chunks remain.  Add remaining 3 tablespoons butter, and blend or stir until combined.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Serve immediately, or cover and reheat in oven or microwave when it's time to serve your meal.

Recipe Source:  Allrecipes.com Parsnip and Carrot Puree

Plum Cake

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Hi friends!

I keep doing that thing where I don't post for months and then get a random burst of energy and blogginess, and then don't post again for months.  The food I have been cooking lately has lacked any inspiration, and thus I haven't had much of anything to post besides the 50 or so draft blog posts in my drafts folder but who's counting.  But then, this plum cake happened.  In my mouth.  In all it's plummy deliciousness.  And so here we are again!  Also, my friend Katie told me this week that her friend from work recommended my blog to her, which is the first time that's happened that I know of, and that is just so cool to know that people who I don't know are out there reading this blog of mine...hello unknown readers (of which I now know there are at least one)!!!  Welcome!



The Hubby and I were asked to bring a dessert to our friends April and Brad's house the night they had to cook us dinner as their punishment for a three-peat loss in our Big Brother pool.  Embarrassing performance, April and Brad!  Well, my mom had recently visited her friend Denise at her apple (and plum!) orchard in Okanagan Falls, BC, and had come home with bushels of apples (and plums!), and split them with my brother and me.

Some of her bounty

I knew that the dessert I made would use one of those two fruits.  I chose to make an apple dessert, hoping that The Hubby would have forgotten his contempt towards any warm-apple-based-food, but NOPE, not forgotten.  Back to the drawing board (and plums!) I went, and I immediately became excited when I stumbled across this amazing plum cake recipe.



This recipe is adapted from an oldie but a goodie from the New York Times, where it was first published in 1982 and has made many repeat appearances after that.  The Times version has cinnamon, which I have omitted, and instead I have added both vanilla and almond extract.  I like my version a lot (don't mean to toot my own horn, but TOOT TOOT!), and so did the people who ate it with me (and had seconds I might add!).

The cake is so pretty and interesting to look at.  I love that plum halves are simply placed onto the batter, and that the cake just sort of moulds itself around them.



The juices from the plums tunnel their way jam-like through as everything is baking, and you are left with a moist, delicious cake.  Make sure that you use a springform pan to bake this cake, so that the cake can be removed from the pan easily and without changing the appearance before serving.  And then definitely top it with vanilla ice cream.

As summer is changing into fall, this is a great way to still cling onto the last tastes of summer fruit.  Plums are still in season until the end of October, so this plum cake would be a nice way to change up    your (Canadian) Thanksgiving dessert from the typical pumpkin pie (shock! horrification! dismay!).

Speaking of which, The Hubby and I wish you all a very happy Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend to all of my fellow Canadians (and my favourite expatriates...you know who you are)!  To celebrate, we have a ham dinner going on tonight at my parents' house, and a turkey dinner to follow tomorrow night at The Hubby's aunt and uncles's house.  So much deliciousness coming our way...I'm ready!

I hope that you enjoy this delicious plum cake as much as we did!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Slower Cooker Phillippine Pork Stew
Two Years Ago:  Flourless Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake
Three Years Ago:  Thanksgiving 2012!

Plum Cake

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 eggs
• 12 plums, pitted, and sliced in half

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.  In a medium bowl, add the flour, baking powder and salt, stirring well.  In a separate medium bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and 1 cup sugar together.  While still mixing, add the vanilla and almond extracts, the eggs, then the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into an un-greased 8, 9, or 10-inch spring-form pan.  Arrange the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter.  Sprinkle lightly with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.  Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake (not a plum!) comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on a rack in the pan.  Remove outer ring of spring-form pan.  Slice cake and serve with vanilla ice cream of whipped cream, if desired.

Recipe Adapted From:  New York Times

The Hubby's Smoked Salmon

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The Hubby's first blog recipe, and of course it's one for the BBQ.  My apologies to my Canadian readers who don't live on the west coast, but out here it's barbeque season all year long baby!

Hubs has made this to-die-for smoked salmon for New Years Eve every year for the past two years (so, twice), since his parents bought him the smokebox accessory for our Weber BBQ.  He stresses and fusses and toils over it as though it were his baby.

"It's getting too smoked!"
"I think this will be my best smoked salmon attempt yet!"
"This is going to be a total fail!"
"It's not getting enough smoke!"
"I think the smoke level is good now!"*

*he has just informed me that he has never actually said this last one.

The BBQ smoking away!

In the end it's always perfect.

This year he made a double-batch because I accidentally bought double the amount of salmon that I was supposed to.  That works just fine for me because now we will have super flavourful smoked salmon in our freezer for a quick appy.  Speaking of quick appy, this one takes over a day to prepare in its entirety, so make sure to plan ahead.  You will need some hardwood chips to smoke the salmon.  The Hubby's preference is hickory.

We choose to serve it with bagel chips, cream cheese, and capers.  This is a crowd pleaser and he always gets rave reviews!



For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Turkey Meatballs in Coconut Curry Sauce
Two Years Ago:  Curried Chicken and Rice Soup
Three Years Ago:  Caesar Salad

The Hubby's Smoked Salmon

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large salmon fillets or sides, pin bones removed

Directions
To prepare the rub, mix together the salt, brown sugar, white sugar, and pepper in a medium bowl.  Spread a piece of extra-wide aluminum foil a little longer than the length of the salmon along the counter, then top with an equally-long layer of plastic wrap.  Sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the plastic.  Lay one side of the fish skin down onto the rub, then sprinkle 1/3 of the rub onto the flesh of the salmon.  Place your second piece of salmon flesh-down onto the first piece of salmon.  Use the remaining rub to cover the skin on top of the second piece.  Fold the plastic over the salmon to cover it completely, then close the edges of the foil together and seal tightly around the salmon.

Place the wrapped fish onto a rimmed baking sheet, and top with another baking sheet.  The rimmed edges are important because lots of juice (salmon juice??) leaks out during the marination process, and you need something that will collect the run-off.  Weigh down with something heavy, such as a phone book, heavy cookbook, or a brick.  Refrigerate for 12 hours.  Flip over the salmon, then refrigerate again for another 12 hours.

Unwrap the salmon and rinse well with cold water to wash off the rub.  Pat the salmon dry with paper towels, then place in a cool place (not the fridge) until the salmon is dry, about 1 - 3 hours.

Now you are ready to start smokin'!!!  Set your BBQ's smokebox attachment or a smoker to between 150 - 160 degrees F, and start smoking your fish over hardwood chips such as hickory.  Keep smoking away until the thickest part of the fish registers at 150 degrees F.  After that, you can serve right away (or chill and serve), or keep it for later in the fridge for up to 3 days.   We choose to serve with cream cheese, capers, and bagel chips.



Recipe Source:  Alton Brown's Good Eats - Where There's Smoke There's Fish!

Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

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Happy New Year!!

Just had to do a quick blog post today about these cinnamon buns that we ate for New Years Day brunch this morning.  This is a recipe that we make in my family as a tradition for almost every holiday or special occasion brunch since I was a kid.  The whole family loves it.  It's ridiculously easy to make, and you prep it the night before so you just have to quickly pop it into the oven in the morning and, voila!, delicious home-made cinnamon rolls on your table in 25 minutes.  Everyone will think you are a genius who has been up baking cinnamon buns for hours!  The recipe comes from the Best of Bridge cookbook series, and the page for this recipe in my cookbook at home is worn out from overuse.

We served this as one of the dishes for our friends this morning after a very fun New Years Eve games night* at our place with us and three other couples.  The cinnamon buns were served alongside a hash brown casserole, an egg frittata, and fresh fruit.  Oh, and Baileys/coffee and champagne mimosas too, because if you are with some of your best friends then why not be drunk twice in 2015 before noon on January 1?

*no games were actually played.

Ainslie, Kendra, Sara, and me!

I wanted to get the recipe up on the blog today because I was asked for it a couple of times.  We didn't turn off the lights last night until past 4am, and I was in bed nodding off before I realized that I hadn't made the make-ahead night-before cinnamon buns!  Out of bed and off to the kitchen I went (with Hubby sawing logs already).  Good thing they are super easy to make and take no longer than five minutes to assemble, if you don't spill half of the melted butter on the floor (I did), which does in fact delay the process.  I was still back in bed in a matter of about five minutes, and the effort was worth it this morning!

Speaking of beds, I just want to show off our new bed and bedding because this is my blog and I can do that!

The bed is from Costco (my favourite store in the world), the bedding is from West Elm, and the new mattress is so high that we almost touch the ceiling!  The Hubby says he is excited for hot summer nights since he will be so close to the ceiling fan!  I always thought I just was a person who has a sore back all the time, but ever since getting a new mattress my back pain has disappeared....hooray!  It's the most comfy bed in the world.  New year, new bed...woo hoo!  But, I digress...

Definitely make these gooey, sticky, delicious cinnamon buns for your next brunch and then the one after that too...you won't regret it!!!  One quick word to the wise...the recipe calls for a bundt pan, not an angel-food cake pan.  You cannot use an angel food cake pan for this recipe.  I have tried to do so, my mom has tried to do so, my best friend has tried to do so, and each time the recipe fails miserably.  You can pick up a cheap bundt pan at the thrift store if you don't have one already.  I'm not sure how this would work in a loaf pan, but if you try it with success (or with a failure), please let me know!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Chocolate Mocha Roll
Two Years Ago:  Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata
Three Years Ago:  Egg Nog Supreme (another Best of Bridge winner!)

Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

• 20 frozen dinner rolls
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vanilla dry instant pudding
• 1 - 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions
Grease a 10-inch bundt pan, add half of the frozen dinner rolls, then sprinkle with half of each of the brown sugar, pudding powder, cinnamon, and raisins.  Repeat with the other half of the rolls, sugar, pudding, cinnamon, and raisins.  Pour the melted butter overtop.  Cover the bundt pan with a damp cloth (make sure not to omit this step as it is important), and leave out on the counter overnight at room temperature.  In the morning, preheat your oven to 350F and bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack.  Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes, then flip it out onto a serving plate.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Best of Bridge Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

Alex's Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon, Avocado, and Lemony Dijon Dressing

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I dare you to try this salad and still tell me that Brussels sprouts are not your thing...

I remember when Brussels sprouts were the reject side dish at my family's holiday dinner.  That is for everyone except for my younger brother who would always request them for some unknown reason, probably just because he knew I would dread having to eat my requisite one sprout, and making things a little annoying for me was his duty as younger brother.  Or maybe he actually liked them, but probably not.  My granny used to make them with a delicious cheesy sauce on them, and that was my favourite way to eat them because I could smother my requisite one sprout with five servings of delicious cheese sauce to mask the flavour.  It barely worked.  But my love for cheese sauce grew stronger and still grows every day.

Nowadays Brussels sprouts are cool again, and I don't know if it's that my tastes have changed, or more likely if it's the bacon that always seems to get thrown in with them, but I love like them!  Back in 2012 I posted this Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots recipe that I made as a side dish to a bacon themed dinner party that we hosted at our house.  Since then I can't get enough bacon and sprouts, which is where this salad comes in.  

The recipe is adapted from one found on my brother's girlfriend Alex's blog, The Bookish Cook, and it is bright, crisp, and packed with flavour.  Alex is a total natural in the kitchen, and ALL OF HER recipes come from her own head, which is something I am insanely jealous of.  She makes this salad at home because it's my brother's favourite (you can see he is still keeping up the charade that he likes Brussels sprouts!), or in his words it's, 'sick.'  Well frick, I agree, this salad is downright flu-like!  I'm feeling chills coming on.  I may need to take a day off of work.  I...ok, ok, that's more than enough.

This salad takes a little while to prepare because you have to peel each little Brussels sprout 'head' (well, that's what they look like!) one by one to make the leaves for the salad.  The Hubby stood at the counter and peeled for about 30 minutes, with only about four or five curse words...so all in all pretty good!

The Hubby's Peeling Efforts

The effort was worth it in the end. Once you have your sprouts peeled, you throw them in their raw form into a bowl with some toasted pumpkin seeds, some fresh sliced avocado, some crispy bacon, some dried cranberries, and some lemony dijon dressing, then toss and serve.  This salad is a nutritional powerhouse.  If you have leftovers, the salad will stay fresh and not wilt if you want to eat the rest the next night.  The Hubby must have been ok with all the peeling because he suggested we quadruple the recipe and bring it to Boxing Day dinner this year...that's 4 pounds of sprout peeling in our future!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
-Megan

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Two Years Ago:  The Best Mashed Potatoes I've Ever Eaten
Three Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon, Avocado, and Lemony Dressing

Serves: 6 - 8 side dishes

Ingredients

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 3 sliced cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds or pepitas, toasted (I put into oven at 325F for 10 minutes, monitoring closely, then cool for 10 minutes)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped into small pieces
• 1 avocado, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• Freshly grated black pepper

Directions
Start by slicing off the hard end of each Brussels sprout, pulling off the leaves one by one, and placing the leaves into a medium-sized salad bowl.  Once you are done, give yourself a pat on the back.  Next, add the bacon, pumpkin seeds (or pepitas), dried cranberries, and avocado to the bowl.

To make your dressing, add olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, lemon zest, and pepper to a container with a lid.  Close lid and shake for 10 seconds until well-combined.  Add dressing to salad and lightly toss.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  The Bookish Cook - Dijon Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon

Golf Themed Cake

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I love my dad.  So much.  Enough to learn how to frost a cake with a cake decorating tip for his retirement party last year.  Which is something that I could never, ever, be great at.  I've just never been crafty...I don't think that I got that badge in Girl Guides.  But I do think that the golf-themed cake still turned out pretty well, all things considered.  This could be a great cake for your dad/husband/brother's celebration of their birthday/father's day/retirement.  Or hey, let's not discriminate here; it's great for golf-loving moms/wives/sisters/friends too!

I went to Michael's to buy the cake decorating tip, and may I just say that there is a whole world that I never even knew existed at Michaels in the cake aisle, including a whole section just for the various types of cake decorating tips alone.  To put it in perspective, the tip that I selected was called, "Grass," so that's how specific the cake tip selection gets.  Overwhelming.  I purchased my cake tip and left.
 

Classic Spinach Dip in Bread Bowl

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People have asked me why I don't have a spinach dip recipe on my blog.  Well, it's because I use the same spinach dip recipe that you probably already have the recipe for.  It's the one that your mom uses, or you ate at that baby shower last week, or that you bought in the deli section of the grocery store the other day.  This guy...

It's the recipe almost straight from the Knorr website, which you can link to here.  Dead easy, and always devoured quickly.  Why mess with a good thing, right!

I have a question though...how do you say 'Knorr?'  I usually say it with the 'K,' but always feel weird about doing so, and even weirder when my friend straight up laughed at how I said it the other day.  It's a German company, so I had always assumed that that K should be used.  I also seem to remember from television commercials as a kid that the K was used, but logically it seems wrong, like it would to use the K in the words Knife or Knight.  In any event, since I'm in my 30's now and set in my ways, I will probably go on pronouncing it with the K because I fear change.

Update:  No wonder everyone is I am puzzled!  This is another Canadian / American word difference thing.  In Canada, we use the 'K,' and in the United States you don't.  I live an hour from the US border, so these types of confusing word situations come up a lot.  So, 'K'-Norr it is for me for now and forever more then!

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cheesecake

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Good news - The Hubby bought me a camera for Christmas, so hopefully you've seen the last of dark, blurry photos like this one.  Hopefully...but I wouldn't hold my breath.

As I mentioned in my last post, for Christmas dinner this year on my family's side my contribution was dessert, and I made two different desserts.  I was only going to make one, this White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake, but then my mom reminded me that my brother doesn't really like cheesecake ever since that 'bad cheesecake that he tried when he was a kid.'  I already had my heart set on the cheesecake, so instead of changing course I decided to add a second dessert, my mom's Mocha Chocolate Roll.  Because why not - two desserts are better than one dessert anyway.  

Chocolate Mocha Roll

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Chocolate Mocha Roll

Christmas holidays!  In my family this is synonymous with food and booze.  It's January 3 and I now weigh the most I ever have in my entire life, which is not awesome because my clothes are way tighter than desired.  How does this always happen?!  Argh - why do I love food so much?!  I need a quick fix, which is why I am kickstarting my weight loss regime with a January of no alcohol.  Can this be done?  Not sure...it's never been attempted by me before, but we are two days in and so far so good.

But for some context on how I got to this state - for Christmas dinner this year on my family's side, my contribution was dessert.  I made two different desserts.  I was only going to make one, a White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake, but then my mom reminded me that my brother doesn't really like cheesecake ever since that 'bad cheesecake that he tried when he was a kid.'  I already had my heart set on the cheesecake, so instead of changing course I decided to add a second dessert, my mom's Mocha Chocolate Roll.  Because why not - two desserts are better than one dessert anyway.

Beef Pot Roast with Root Vegetables

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This is my first ever pot roast.

Ta-Da!

 

Ok, so The Hubby said this is the best thing he has eaten in 2013.  Jackpot!  He seems to make this type of comment only once per year, usually pretty early into the year.  I remember last year when he said the same type of thing in February about Martha Stewart's Tomato and Italian Sausage Risotto.  He knows what he likes this guy.

The Best Mashed Potatoes I've Ever Eaten

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Enough said.

 

This potato dish has been a constant at my family's holiday dinners since I was but a young girl first developing an early preference for salty over sweet.  It is the best.  And really, that makes sense when you read the ingredients listing.  Mashed potatoes with cream cheese, sour cream, and butter?  Hello!  I'll take a third helping please.

Thanksgiving 2012

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Guys, I hosted my first holiday dinner this year.  Thanksgiving.  Me.  Guests.  Dinner.  Turkey.  Gravy.  Other Things.  Scary.

What's that you say?  Thanksgiving was October 8, and today is November 21?  Well, the answer to why I am posting all about Thanksgiving 2012 more than a month after Thanksgiving 2012 is because I am really, really bad at not being lazy and really, really good at procrastinating posting this in honour of our neighbours to the south in celebration of their American Thanksgiving!

Butter-Pecan Sweet Potatoes

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Martha Stewart strikes again, in all her domestic wizardry!

 

These sweet potatoes were delicious as an accompaniment to turkey dinner this year.  This truncated blog post comes from a previous post about Thanksgiving 2012.  If you want to read the full blog post about Thanksgiving 2012, click here to go back to that page.  Otherwise, enjoy...

Peas With Shallots And Pancetta

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Gussied up peas, yo.

 

This is a Bobby Flay recipe, and it's a keeper.  It's ridiculously easy and quick to make, and adds big flavour to your holiday dinner table.  I'm thinking it will be great again at Easter with ham just like it was this Thanksgiving with turkey.  Yum.  Did I mention I love food?