I am turning into a crazy cat lady, I can’t stop taking pictures of my cat. These gems are just too much not to share:
Jinx posing pretty on the radiator.
Next a close up of her pretty little face:
Jinx up close and personal.
And finally, the don’t mess with me:
A face only a mother could love.
Man, I forgot seriously how bad I am at knitting. I have learned both the garter and stockinette stitch and that is in in my 20+ years of “knitting”. I have accomplished multiple dishcloths and a scarf. After an evening of several bottles of wine, my friend sent me home with wool, some circular needles and the Knitpicks Two at Once, Toe Up Sock pattern.
After many attempt and swear words, this is the result:
What I've accomplished so far...
I’m really struggling with the cast on. I can get as far as stitching on two separate groups of 12 stitches move it to the cable, and then the part about “Pick up 12 sts from back purl bump” and I’m lost. You may as well be speaking Mandarin to me. So, being the resourceful gal I am, I scour the forums at Ravelry and Knitty, and watched multiple videos on YouTube. I found the “Judy’s Magic Cast-on” technique. Looks simple. I attempted. I failed. Tje next step? Harried visits to friends both local and international to help me whip this yarn into shape.
In other news, I made Coq Au Vin the other night. That, was a non-fail:
Yes, it was delicious.
Also:
Yes, my presentation sucks, but man this was one tasty dinner.
Post copied from Sara at I Like To Cook, because, well, she’s already said what needed to be said:
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AMERICANS – TEXT Haiti TO 90999 AND $10 WILL BE CHARGED TO YOUR CELL PHONE BILL AND WILL GO TO THE RED CROSS.
CANADIANS – TEXT Haiti TO 45678 AND$5 WILL BE CHARGED TO YOUR CELL PHONE BILL AND WILL GO TO THE CANADIAN SALVATION ARMY
Well, it’s getting colder out now, and I’m not too keen on standing in the ice and snow to BBQ, since I do not yet have a fancy outdoor covered grilling station set up yet. But I was in the mood for steaks, so I thought I would attempt oven baked steak. I added a dollop of horseradish beside the beef, that was a good call. The green beans and roasted potatoes with some sour cream were an excellent side.
Balsamic Glazed Steak with Roast Potatoes and Green Beans
Ingredients:
2 new york striploin steaks ( I got two really nice ones from the butcher)
salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil
mushrooms
shallots
red pepper
1/2 t. italian seasoning.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat on the stove. Lightly drizzle and rub in olive oil into steaks, then season with salt & pepper. Sear each side of the steak for approximately two minutes or so, until desired browning is acheived.
Generously brush balsamic glaze on the meat and transfer to oven and bake for between 7 – 15 minutes or so, 8 being fairly rare, and 15 minutes being fairly well done. Halfway through, you are welcome add more balsamic glaze, just make sure you reserve some for serving and the sides.
While the steak is baking, slice up red pepper, shallot and onion and place into a small skillet. Drizzle some olive oil on top, add the italian seasoning, salt, pepper, a few tablespoons of the balsamic glaze and mix well. Saute five or so minutes or until the mixture has reached the desired doneness.
One steak is done, allow it to rest for five minutes outside of the oven. This “resting” allows the juices to redistribute through the meat, so when it sits on your plate it doesn’t leave a bloody or greasy puddle running all over your plate into your side dishes.
For the balsamic glaze (based off an old recipe in Canadian Living Magazine:
1/3 balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup tomato juice
3 T. olive oil
2 T. chopped fresh thyme (or 2 t. dried)
2 T. dijon mustard
1 T. granulated sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
In small saucepan, whisk together vinegar, tomato juice, oil, thyme, mustard, sugar and garlic; bring to boil over high heat. Boil, whisking occasionally for 5 minutes or until thick enough to coat back of spoon. Reserve 1/4 cup to serve with steak.
So, I signed up for NaBloPoMo again this year. It’s pretty apparent of my success with that…
FAIL.
Oh well. I realize it’s been some time again since I’ve posted, I got in a bit of a funk and then I got a job. So my cooking/blogging/creativity took a dive, and I had no patience for anything outlasting MafiaWars on Facebook.
I finally got around to watching Julie & Julia. I must say I was pleasantly surpised, not normally a Meryl Streep fan, but I really enjoyed her portrayal of Julia Child. So, between Julia Child and Laura Calder I finally mustered up the motivation to make “Coq au Rieseling“.
I substituted plain Balkan style yogurt for the Creme Fraiche/Sour Cream, as the boyfriend is averse to Sour Cream, and the stupid Grocers had no Creme Fraiche.
I had planned out this great little pictoral as it has been some time since I have done that…and it turns out I suck at sectioning a whole chicken. My knife kept getting all slippery and the stupid chicken kept sliding all over the place, and I kept having bloodied emergency room visions, so I ended up tearing the chicken by hand, limb by limb. Not fun. By the time I was done, the chicken carcass looked as though it spent some time with Jason Voohries sans blood bath. So, no pictures for you. It was mighty tasty though. I served with sweet carrots and parsley tossed potatoes.
I think next time I will buy a pair of proper kitchen shears and some Creme Fraiche. I have a ton of cognac now, I don’t care for it as a beverage. Perhaps I could invite over Sean Connery for a round of Jeopardy.
I love this chicken stew, it’s my all-time favourite. Ina makes these with homemade biscuits, but I can’t be bothered to mess around with making my own, I found the Pilsbury Country Biscuits work excellent in this recipe.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, or until cooked through.
Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones and discard the skin. Cut the chicken into large dice.
In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock.
In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and saute the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce.
Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the heavy cream. Add the cubed chicken, carrots, peas, onions, and parsley. Mix well.
Place the stew in a 10 x 13 x 2-inch oval or rectangular baking dish. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment or wax paper. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the stew from the oven and arrange the biscuits on top of the filling. Bake another 20 – 30 minutes, until biscuits are puffy and golden, and stew is bubbling.
After years of not doing anything with my polymer clay, I thought I’d finally give making food miniatures a whirl. Here is my first attempt.
Today was the boyfriend’s birthday, so I thought I would take advantage of the occasion and the last long weekend of the summer and finally get around to making Beer Can Chicken. I had always wanted to try it, and never had, so I was a bit scared, but…whatever.
First off, turn on the barbecue to high and let preheat.
I used:
Rub the rub all over the naked chicken. Stick can up chicken’s butt like so:
Put onto grill, turn the side the chicken is on down to low, and keep the other side up around medium – high. Let chicken cook until it’s done, about one to one and half hours. Chicken is done when internal temperate reads 185°F (85°C) on a meat thermometer. I found my chicken was browning really quickly, so I through some foil over it loosely while it cooked for the last half hour
The balsamic bbq sauce recipe I used is from here.
1 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Put all ingredients in small saucepan over med heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer til mixture has reduced about 1/3 and thickens to desired consistency. Baste over chicken during last half hour.
Remove chicken when done and let rest 10 mins prior to serving. Enjoy.
I know, I know, it’s not really meatloaf season, but the paper I have this recipe scrawled on is about to disintegrate, so I thought I’d post it online so I don’t loose it. I prefer to make this in the oven, but a lady I know will make it in the microwave – she microwaves it for 11 minutes, adds ketchup on top and microwaves for another 11 on high. Me, I’ll preheat my stove and do it the old fashioned way. I have this aversion to microwaved meats, I don’t even like thawing meat that way. I like my microwave for reheating coffee and yesterday’s chinese take-out. Well, without much further ado…the meatloaf:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all together in a bowl, put into loaf pan and bake one hour. Serve. I like this with garlic mashed potatoes and carrots in a brown sugar butter glaze.
Mr. Bigglesworth, eat your heart out!
