Ghost...Uh Dinner of Christmas Past

I hope Christmas isn't too much of a distant memory.  Some of you very busy people may still have your tree up?!  There was once or twice, growing up, that ours was threatened to have Easter eggs hung from it!  Thankfully, I took all our decorations down the day after I arrived home from Canada - otherwise there's a good chance we'd be hanging some Valentine's hearts on it!  I have been extremely busy, and have neglected this blog somewhat.  As part of my new year's resolutions, I plan to make time for the things I love and find balance.  For those who don't know, I am currently training to be a teacher and planning a wedding - both of which will come to fruition in less than 6 months!  Can we say "steeeeressed"?!

So, a Christmas catch up is in order!  Because I would be going to spend Christmas in Canada with my family and friends, I began decorating much earlier than usual, so I could enjoy it!  Although, I did worry that the other half  Grinch would spend Christmas day throwing my holiday cheer into the fire.

I also don't feel Christmassy until I bake cookies (and Bailey's in my coffee helps too!).  So I spent a few evenings in December spreading flour around the kitchen.  I like to give tins filled with cookies to family and friends.

I made sugar cookies, buttertarts, gingersnaps, peanut butter cookies, Skor and chocolate chip and cranberry and white chocolate.  Shortbread and gingerbread men usually make an appearance but I didn't want to go overboard!  I won't list all of the recipes but I get most of them from The Joy of Baking website.

I flew to Canada on the 18th of December and enjoyed a plethora of Christmas goodness over the next two weeks.  I spent a few days in Timmins before making the trip to Toronto for the holidays.  Lots of time was spent eating, drinking, shopping and more eating.  Our Christmas Eve feast consisted of my mom's meatpie, homemade fried rice and lots of nibbles - cheese and crackers, veggies and dip, chips and dip etc.  This is standard and I can always count on it.  I thought I could count on Christmas Day being what I remembered it to be, but no.  We now have pork for dinner.  I was counting on turkey but apparently Turkey is reserved for Thanksgiving and my mom no longer makes it for Christmas.  I tried to fight it but pork was sitting firm on the menu.  I prepped the roast vegetables and par boiled the roast potatoes (English style) and when it came time to start cooking, I somehow took over.  Then it happened...

Dinner was just about ready (okay so it was burning slightly) and someone (you know who you are) decided to "help" and poured cold water into the Pyrex dish the pork was crisping burning up in. If you want a pipe bomb type explosion in your oven then this is the move for you. Glass went everywhere - in the food, in the oven, in my mother.

And so, this is how we ended up having pork (after slicing the bottom off it was glass free - at least I hope it was) frozen vegetables and mashed potato (I was not having leftover fried rice on Christmas day so I whipped some up quick).

 

When all was said and done it wasn't too bad.  I'm very thankful we had food to eat and family to share it with.  I had a great time with my family and friends, and there was plenty of snow!  Anyone else have any little Christmas dinner hiccups? 

Rock on!

Love my family!  Being away from home and most of my family members can be especially hard so when I get the chance to spend time with them in England I get very excited about it.  Back in September we visited my aunt and uncle (mentioned before here and here).  Their son, his wife and their gorgeous baby boy were visiting from Canada and there was a hoopla in their honour.  My uncles family came over and family friends - there were over 20 of us!  We drove up on a Saturday morning and arrived just after lunch.  Just in time to hit margarita ville!  Don't worry, I was quite sensible - there was no mexican hat dancing, let's put it that way!

Dinner was a sweet sweet carb fest!  We had pasta, chilli on jacket potatoes, garlic bread, a mashed potato and cheese bake (I opted not to ask how much cheese was actually in it - best not to know!), swedish meatballs (IKEA style), fried rice, and a few salads (gotta get your 5 a day).  I had two, yes two (don't you judge me) big plates full.  I had to, I couldn't get everything I wanted all in the first helping.  Then there was dessert...

I had mentioned to my aunt that I would be bringing cupcakes for dessert (any excuse to make and eat cupcakes) and thought in honour of the newest little family member I would make some decorated with little baby footprints.  But then I remembered it had been my cousin's birthday a few days earlier and I thought - as he is a guitar player, I could hone my skills in cake making, and make a guitar shaped cake.  I saw a recipe for one in my Canadian Living magazine and thought I might give it a try.  I have had a go with a few novelty cakes before but never quite like this.

First, I made 2 chocolate cakes in 8 inch square tins.  I followed the recipe from the Canadian Living magazine (my aunt in Canada gets me a subscription every year for my birthday-love it! and her!) with a few tweaks.  Here it is:

3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder (this I tweaked since I couldn't find any-I melted 2/3 cup of milk chocolate and reduced the oil by about 3 tablespoons)
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups of cold water or coffee (I used coffee)
1 cup vegetable oil (I reduced this by about 3 tablespoons)
2 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp cider vinegar (I used distilled malt vinegar and at first I was a bit worried but there was no taste, not even a hint of maltness)

Grease and line cake tins (I used sillicone ones and just lightly greased them).  Bake in 350°F or 180°C for about 25 minutes or until cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes and invert onto rack.

While the cake cooled I made the icing.   A huge batch of buttercream.

1.5 cups of butter, softened
6 cups of icing sugar
1/4 cup milk or cream
2 tsp vanilla

Beat the butter until smooth and then alternately add the sugar and milk and finally beat in the vanilla.  The measurements can vary depending on the consistency I want.   Add a little more liquid or sugar as required.  This can also be made in advance, covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days.  Allow about an hour to stand at room temperature before use.

I cut out a template for a guitar from plain paper.  After the cake had cooled, I placed the template (in 3 sections-bottom of guitar, middle and the neck) on the cakes and cut them out using a small knife.  Then I divided and coloured the icing as I went along, so as to try and not make too much of a mess (bit late since there was icing on the walls, floor and probably ceiling!) 

I then needed a plate long enough to accomodate the nearly lifesized cake instrument.  My cutting board was too small, and so was a baking sheet.  So I got my saw on!  I found a piece of wood-with all the DIY going on around here it's not hard to find - and neither was the saw what with all the tools hanging on the kitchen wall!  I ended up with a good sized rectangle and covered it in foil.  I put the cakes together and used a little icing between each piece to secure.  Then I gave it a crumb coat.  A new thing for me.  Which worked a treat!  I have always just dived right in with the decorating - no preparation for this gal.  The crumb coat seals in all the crumbs and gives you an easy working surface for decorating.  Here she is:

I cheated and used a packaged chocolate icing (it was nearing 10pm at this point so I thought it would be allowed).  You could always add cocoa powder or melted chocolate the the buttercream (or at least I think so-I've never actually made chocolate icing).  I used about a cup of the vanilla icing and tinted it blue.  I then spread the different colours with a knife (I really need some icing tools) like so...

Then using about a quarter cup for each I tinted the icing red, orange and yellow.  I used about the same amount to tint grey and green.  I spread the white on the cake first.  The yellow for the flames went on next, followed by orange and red and finally, I did the frets in grey and used licorice for the strings.

Turns out my cousin doesn't really like a fuss!  Whoops!  We didn't sing or anything and kept all birthday kerfuffle to a minimum.  And everyone loved the cake and cupcakes, even without the baby feet decor!

Scrummy cupcakes with edible blue glitter!!

Gobble gobble!

I hope my Canadian peeps had a great Thanksgiving!  It's one of my favorite holidays.  I love the chance to get everyone together but I especially love the food!  Since moving to England I have always made a big Thanksgiving meal.  And this year was no different.  Apart from one thing - we actually had a turkey!!!  The last few years we have had chicken and once we also had a ham because I could not get my hands on a whole turkey this far from Christmas.  This year I found a whole freezer full at Aldi.  Very exciting for me-doesn't take much! So along with turkey we had mashed potato, mashed sweet potato, homemade stuffing, cabbage and bacon, and green beans with toasted almonds.  For starters we had parsnip soup and beetroot and goat's cheese tarts and dessert was a delicious pecan pie with maple whipped cream.  I couldn't get my hands on a tin of pumpkin pie filling this year but word on the street is Whole Foods or Sainsbury's might have them so I will check that out!

The weekend before turkey day I made a roast dinner - as you do on Sunday in England.  This one had a twist.  I have always wanted to try the American Thanksgiving sweet potato side dish (or is it a dessert?!!)  and had the fixings in the cupboard - sweet potatoes and a whole bag of "American" marshmallows (it said so on the bag).  I thought it was going to be pretty bad - disgusting even - but it was heavenly!  W didn't agree but he doesn't have a sweet tooth.  He also was a bit confused with the whole marshmallow topping thing and thought it was dessert.  The slight sweetness of the mash and the gooey marshmallow with a crispy top is a fantastic combo! 

Sweet Potato Casserole

6 sweet potatoes, boiled, peeled and mashed with the following:
1 tsp each of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg
juice from an orange
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup butter

Spread the mash in an oven proof casserole dish.  Use large or mini white marshmallows and spread evenly across the mash.  Bake in a preheated (180°C/350°F) for about 15-20 minutes.  Keep an eye on the marshmallow layer so it doesn't burn.

I didn't make this for Thanksgiving dinner only because I spent all last week eating it for dinner.  I was all marshmallowed out by then!  I would certainly try it again though - but maybe with more people around to help me eat it - if I could convince them!

Where the Magic Happens

Ok so it's not all magic.  Some of my culinary experiments, well, really are experiments and look like they have come straight from a lab and not my little kitchen.  Other times, I completely surprise myself (like with my attempt at plum chutney) and spend the rest of the day in awe of what I've created.

It's taken some time to get used to my little kitchen.  And by England's standards, it's actually not that small.  We saw some little cupboards disguised as kitchens when we were house hunting four years ago.  You could stand in the centre and reach absolutely everything you needed without actually moving your feet.  Small!  At least there's room for shuffling in mine.

When we were looking for a house we had a house hunting checklist.  We both wanted a second bedroom (or two) for guests and as office space and some outdoor space (which I quickly learned was going to be tough to find).  Also, W needed a garage or room to build one and I wanted a dining room separate to the kitchen (so when entertaining guests they wouldn't see the giant disaster secret preparations happening in the kitchen).  So when after over 30 viewings I brought home the details of our current house (because it had a ginormous bath-which turns out isn't that ginormous in person and a big back garden-not just a yard, a whole garden) we were sold!  There is some work to be done (and some of it has been done) but this little 2 bed terraced house is perfect for us.

This is our little kitchen.  And I use the word "our" very loosely here- usually, the only other thing cooked in here by anyone else in this house is toast!  And stuff on toast!  Which is funny since when we moved in W insisted on telling me where to put things away as I unpacked.  I don't tell him where to put his hammer, so don't tell me where to put my spatula!  Anyway, it's a galley kitchen, which means it is long and narrow.  And we can't wait to renovate the it, however that project is dependant on a variety of other projects.  The garage needs to be built before we can empty the utility room of all the tools and then extend the kitchen straight through.  We weren't going to do anything to the kitchen to upgrade it since we'd be ripping it out at some point and starting again which we had planned to do a few years after move in day though with our wedding coming up next summer we decided to put it off a little while longer.  But I longed for something brighter, with a cleaner look and I didn't know if I could wait a year, or two!  So when Easter gave us four days off I thought a quick paint job would do just the trick.  Quick?!  Let's just say, 6 months on and it's still a work in progress (the drilling just stopped for the night - no lie!)

So as it was sunny out, I took all the cupboard doors off and set them up outside on some trestle tables.  I sanded them first and then painted them in antique white.  I gave the backs of the doors a couple of coats and let them dry overnight and then painted the fronts the following day.  That way, when they were turned over in the painting process if any marks got on them they wouldn't be very noticeable.  And for the most part, the weather was fabulous.  The sun was out for nearly the whole the long weekend.  I brought the doors in at night and spread them out on the dining table and counter tops.  But on the final day of painting, well, it did what it always does in England - it rained!  And it came so quickly we had to rush to get everything into the house.  It was chaos.  Doors lying on every surface!  I wish I had taken a photo of it but I was a bit overwhelmed with wall to wall doors and forgot!

Even George tried to get in on the action!!

We kept the counter tops as they are and the hardware on the doors.  I painted the walls in moss green and the trim in antique white.  Here is what it looks like at the moment, just ignore the dishes piled up by the sink!

We are working on the utility room at the moment.  I've painted it green to match the rest of the kitchen and W is building some shelves.  And once complete there will no longer be tools hanging on the wall.  I'm pretty sure there's an ax on the wall in that first picture!

So for now this is where I make science experiments culinary magic.

What's your kitchen like?  Big or small?  Do you have plans to change it, or have you already done so?  Anyone have a kitchen like mine?    

Easy Peasy!

I love a deal.  Gimmie something on sale and I gotta have it!  I mean, you're saving right?  So when I have time to stroll through the supermarket I love to scour the shelves for reduced items.  About 2 weeks ago I came across this:

Pork shank for £2.10.  Not too bad.  But lo and behold, it was reduced to this :

49p!  Bargain!  I took this baby home and stuck it in the freezer ready to be used another day.  Well, Wednesday was that day.  The weather has been cold and rainy (I know, shocker right?!) and I thought pea and ham soup was just the thing we needed.

I defrosted the ham overnight in the fridge and at the same time soaked 2 boxes of marrowfat peas.  It was cheaper for these at 33p a box, than a big bag of them.  Although yesterday while I was out I found them for 29p a box.  Dang!

After everything was soaked and defrosted I placed the peas in my slow cooker, sweat a large onion and added that to pot, gave the ham a quick soak and a rinse (normally the ham should be soaked for a few hours or overnight but I forgot this step and luckily the soup didn't come out very salty) and covered everything with water.  I added some pepper but no salt as the ham would be salty enough.  I put the cooker on high for about 4 hours but this could be done on low either overnight or during the day while you're at work or something.

Not so pretty to look at but really tasty!

At about the four hour mark I took the ham out and let the peas continue to cook.  I took off as much of the ham as I could, chopped the meat into chunks and before returning it all the pot I gave the peas a bit of a  liquidising (if you're using a blender allow the soup to cool, blend, and then return the meat).  I then turned it off and let it cool overnight.  It was still slightly warm by morning.  As it had settled there was liquid and fat along the top so I skimmed that off, gave it a stir and tasted my creation.  Surprisingly it needed salt!  I added a little, gave it another taste and perfecto.  So last night we had pea and ham soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.  Delicious!  And the best part - so cheap!  In total with the onion (I'm not counting salt and pepper here) the soup cost about £1.35 and there were at least 6 servings. That's 22p a serving!  Bargoon!  

Soup for lunch, me thinks!

Summer is still here!

So remember when I said summer was done, finished, kaput?!  Well, I was wrong.  Cue the rain the storm...

Wait for it, wait for it...

Hmm...nope nothing.  It's still warm out there.  Yesterday was glorious sunshine and actually hot.  Like tank top and cropped pants hot (not shorts hot - I don't think it's ever been shorts hot here-though some in the neighbourhood might disagree).

 This is George enjoying the summer sun.  She spent most of yesterday lying on her side on the patio catching the rays but anytime I tried to take a picture she'd get up and do this:

Not exactly a fan of the paparrazzi!

Again today, the weather has been lovely.  Not as hot as yesterday but what I would call neutral, so there's no difference between inside and out.  It would have been the perfect day to sit outside with a magazine and a few bevvies but common sense (I do have a little of it) told me that if your man is out at work all day he best not come home to find you've been boozing all afternoon.  So instead I cleaned the bathroom.  Not exactly the Lady of Leisure lifestyle I'm going for here but I have to do my bit.

Though not before making myself a summer salad.

This is an easy one.  Salmon goes in the oven with a little olive oil on both sides, pepper (if you like) and some sweet chilli sauce.  Put it in the oven at 200°C/400°F for about 20 minutes.  While it's cooking make your salad - I've been enjoying tomatoes while they're still red!  Pop the salmon on top of your salad and add more sweet chilli if you like.  I make this with chicken breasts (fresh or frozen) or just a can of tuna and some nice dressing.

Would have gone down nicely with a bottle glass of white.

It's probably going to chuck it down this weekend so I'm enjoying the warmth with the back door open and finally that glass of wine (red though).  Maybe a bowl of ice cream?

Anyone else still have nice weather?

Rack em up!

It's not a meal if it ain't got meat!  Or so I've heard...over and over again!  Being surrounded by carnivores (my fiance, my brother and a little dog who's under your feet the minute the bacon hits the pan) means a higher intake of protein around here.  Last year, when I was back in Canada for the summer, my brother made me dinner.  He said he was making chicken fingers - and he wasn't lying.  When it came time to eat, it was in fact, an entire plate of chicken fingers.  Not a veg in sight, not even a potato!  They were delicious, but I swear I could feel my kidneys going into overdrive.

So when he offered to make dinner earlier in the summer, I knew what to expect.  Meat, with a side of meat.  Ribs were on special and I had thought about tackling them myself but knowing Marc had made them before I knew best not to mess with a good thing.   He made it look so easy.  And they were the most amazing ribs I'd ever had.  I knew I should just give it a go sometime.

This past weekend was the last long weekend of the summer (if you can call it summer!)  and although it rained the entire time and I had pretty much declared summer over, I thought ribs would be a last ditch effort at getting a little taste of summer and an easy bbq cheat (since we lack the essential piece of equipment a bbq doth make).  Back when Marc had made ribs, he had noticed a distinct lack of barbeque sauce in the condiment aisle, necessary for the sauciest of ribs.  We have a small supermarket around the corner from our house and I'm sure size is responsible for the slim pickings but I found something new this time around:

In honour of our recent family trip to Ireland (fondly referred to as Fam Jam 2011) where copius amounts of Guinness were consumed (Coors Light for the mumster - I know, we couldn't believe it either) I decided to use this to saucify my ribs.  The recipe is easy and can be adjusted for as many or as little people you are cooking for.

Kindly shared by my brother, it goes a little like this:

Saucy Fall off the Bone Ribs
2-4 trimmed rack of ribs (or as many as you need)
2 oranges sliced (or enough to cover the bottom of your pan)
water
1-2 shots of whiskey (optional)
barbeque sauce 

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F.  Lay the sliced oranges at the bottom of your pan.  Place the ribs on top of the orange slices and don't worry if they overlap slightly.  Add water (and whiskey if using) to just cover the orange slices.  Cover the pan with foil and bake for 3 hours or so.  Remove from the oven and glaze both sides with barbeque sauce.

Now here is where I would put them on the bbq, or at best under the grill in the oven.  Well you already know that we don't have a bbq and well, our grill is broken and has been, ahem, since we moved in, 4 years ago.  So I popped them back in the oven for a bit and just hoped for the best.  I should have kept a close eye on them and glazed them a few more times because those babies crisped right up and got a little burnt on the edges.  Marc had forgotten to tell me to keep on glazing.  Whoopsy!  So whether you are finishing them off on the bbq, under the grill or baking in the oven, keep on glazin' on.

I served them with roasted potatoes and sweet corn but decided while eating,  that the ribs would be best served with things you can eat with you hands (now I see why wings are served with crudités).  Picking up a sticky fork is just not nice.

And if you happen to have some crispy edges, just choose the best rack for yourself,  like I did.  The men will just be happy to be eating meat!