What's going on

I visited Vancouver and Calgary recently and was lucky enough to eat Vietnamese food in both cities. It's my very favorite as you may know. Still nothing here that compares so I will have to continue to try to make my own, like this and this. I have started reading The Little Saigon Cookbook from cover to cover and have tried 2 recipes so far - Grilled Beef Slices with Chile, Lemongrass and Honey, and last night I made Chicken with Ginger and Garlic Rice. Both were excellent and easy to make. I will be cooking more out of this soon.

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Paxton had his 6 month checkup and was given the all clear to start eating actual food. My baby is all grown up! I made the decision before he was born to make my own baby food and then as if she read my mind Ilva sent a book called Cooking for Baby as a gift when Paxton was born. I love the book, it has great advice and simple recipes. A couple of nights ago I prepared 3 recipes - pureed apples, pureed zucchini, and rice cereal. Paxton had a couple of spoons of pureed apples that night and seemed puzzled. Here he is in his highchair enjoying his first big boy meal. Sniff. I think I have something in my eye.


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In addition to the Vietnamese cookbook and re-reading the Cooking for Baby book again, I've got 2 more baby food books to read, AND I've got 3 books to tell you about, hopefully soon.

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I sort of half-heartedly followed the Kitchen Cure Spring 2010 on my own. I thought I did pretty well, got my counters and walls clean(er), washed my cabinet doors, and got more organized. I tossed out broken stuff, packed up a couple of boxes for the thrift store, and also got my pantry organized. I forgot to take a before picture though.


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I have so many things to tell you about - food I've made, more things I've eaten for the first time (to add to my life list). I have ideas for posts, theme weeks. I want to share information on where I live. I just need to find the time and brain space. Time is moving so fast. I want it to stop, I want it to keep going. I can't wait to see what's ahead.

argh.

I clicked on a saved bookmark in my computer this morning for a recipe I wanted to make for lunch. Website no longer exists. Tried another one, maybe for dinner next week. Website open to members only. How about this one? Page does not exist.

This is why I have 15 (and counting) notebooks of stuff off the internet.

RIP, awesome waffle recipe I really liked and will never be able to make again.

Bread Baking Babes - Tunisian Spicy Breads

This month our hosting Babe is my fellow Canadian Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. She picked a spicy bread for our spicy group - Tunisian Spicy Breads from from Savory Baking from the Mediterranean by Anissa Helou.


This is a quick, savory, fiery little bread made with semolina and filled with a spicy filling of onion, tomato, peppers and harissa. The dough, which requires very little rising time, is rolled out, cut into rounds and the filling is sandwiched between 2 pieces of dough.


Traditionally these breads are pan fried, but Natashya gave us the option to pan fry or bake them. Since I'm trying to cut back on fat, I baked mine.


Thanks Natashya for a great bread this month! Please visit her blog Living in the Kitchen with Puppies for the recipe.

If you'd like to bake along this month as a Bread Baking Buddy, you've got until May 24 to get your post to Natashya.

Please visit the other Babes, listed over on the right, to see what they thought of the bread.

English Muffin with Guacamole

A few months ago I shared with you a couple of fast breakfasts I like to make. Here's another one that I forgot to post at that time.

This one I think I like more than the quick egg sandwich. It's even easier and vegetarian. A toasted english muffin (or bagel!) smeared with guacamole, topped with sliced tomato and sprinkled with cheese, then popped back under the heat to melt the cheese. Heavenly.


PS - make your own guacamole! So easy and you can't fudge it up.

chicken fried steak

Here's what I can tell you about this plate of food:
It's chicken fried steak, mashed potatos, green beans and gravy. It was delicious. It was sort of time consuming, but overall easy to make.

Here's what I can't tell you: the freaking recipe.

I swear, my brain has gone to complete mush since the end of November. I cobbled the CFS recipe together from a few sources, trying to remember what I liked about the one chicken fried steak I'd had before. A good 5 or more years ago. I did a good job and was very happy with the results. However my notes are gone. Again. Dam-mit.

homemade sausage rolls - so easy

All right, now none of these photos are pretty, but you should be used to that on this here blog by now.

I used to have a weakness for sausage rolls - at a previous job there was a deli in the bottom of our building and a co-worker and I would split one every couple of months or so. Side of mustard, please.

After I left that job I never really gave them much thought, but a few months ago I was rummaging in the freezer for something and found a pack of ground pork I'd bought while pregnant expressly for the purpose of making sausage rolls. I found my Jamie Oliver recipe and got to work.

Now the recipe calls for sausage meat and I had pork, so I just jeujed it up a little more. Then I did a piss poor job of rolling out the dough, and laid the filling down the middle.


Rolled them up and cut into lengths. Brushed them with egg wash.


And bake until golden and cooked through.


These are DELICIOUS, probably the best sausage roll I've ever had. Give 'em a try.

Mighty Life List - Lotus Root

Here's my second post for number 108 on my Mighty Life List - Try 10 foods I've never had before.

Lotus Root!

Lotus root comes from the Lotus, a water lily which is used in Asian cooking. The root has a red-brown peel that must be removed before cooking. Lotus root can be found fresh, canned and dried. It has a crisp texture and mild flavor.

We took a couple of trips to Vancouver last month, and I came across pickled lotus root in an Asian grocery store.


The slices were pickled with a sweet and spicy edge and were really refreshing. I've avoided dishes that had lotus root in the in the past (fear of the unknown!) but I won't any more, quite delicious.

Grocery Shop, May 3

My Mom and I went to a neighbourhood garage sale on the weekend and I pulled these magazines out of a box marked "Free".


2 are from the 70's and the rest are 83-85, and pretty much all the ads are for booze or cigarettes. Hey, if you need a recipe for Kipper Pate or Partridge Bourguignonne, give me a shout.

I actually had a plan when I went shopping this weekend. I'm trying to drop more than a few pounds and so I've cobbled together some sensible meals for the week. Please send good thoughts and low calorie and fat recipes my way.


I bought: asparagus, cheese, tortillas, edamame, green beans, egg whites, pears, potatos, lettuce, chicken, salsa, zucchini, steak, corn, turkey sausage, watermelon and yogurt.

I was a little worried how much this was all going to cost, it looked like a lot of food and some of it was pricey (chicken $7.99, salsa $4.99) but it was a reasonable $52.31. The receipts show you at the bottom how much you've saved with your savings card. I forgot to post it in the other grocery posts I've done, but this week I saved a whopping $14.43!

Bread Baking Buddies for Potato Bread with Chives

Thanks to all of you who joined us Babes in baking the Potato Bread with Chives this month, thus becoming Bread Baking Buddies.



Nicole at Bread Butter and Buns


Gosia at Majology


Donatella from Il Cucchiaio D'Oro




Elle from Bread Bakers Dog


Andreas from Delta Kitchen


Kelly from A Messy Kitchen


Andrea from Family and Food


I'd also like to send a huge THANK YOU out to Lien, our BBBabe who blogs at Notitie van Lien who very graciously makes both the BBB and Buddy badges every month. Thank you Lien!