lots of stuff

 I swore this year would be different for me and the rhubarb plant.  I wouldn't just let it sit there and get all old and fibrous and unusable.  I would use it, all growing season!

I cut maybe 3 or 4 bunches and then was like my god, who can use up all this bloody rhubarb???  Why can't my teeney blueberry bushes that have each produced 2 berries be as hardy as this rhubarb?

I made Rhubarb shrub, which is rhubarb picked in sugar and vinegar,  Once it's had its pickling time, the liquid is the shrub, to add to cocktails or mocktails, and the pickled rhubarb can be eaten.

It smelled very vinegary, but also sort of delicious when it was done.  But no one would try it but me, and I did not enjoy either the shrub or the pickled rhubarb.

rhubarb and star anise shrub 

Below is an AMAZING rhubarb and apple crisp, that was so good, but I can't find the recipe.

I also made a whole bunch of rhubarb butter.Recipe here.

These were delicious roasted carrots with parmesan.  Maybe from tick tok?

Also from tick tok - my kids were dying to try the smores cookies where you put a graham cracker on the baking sheet, a marshmallow on top,  and then cover with cookie dough and bake.  I think 2 things went wrong for us - the kids eagerness to help meant none of the marshmallows were fully covered by the dough, which I think was important, and also I think you need A LOT of dough, and I only bought one tube, because I'm cheap.  And, they tasted gross anyway.

Yes, I am an old lady,  These applesauce prune muffins were SO DAMN GOOD.

We always seem to have bags of frozen ham in the freezer.  This ham tetrazzini was delicious.

I am truly upset that I can't find this recipe.  These were pork tacos with pickled onions and they were some of the best tacos I've ever had. 

Also, a recipe without a photo - we bought some peaches and I decided to roast the ones that were still around after a week.  I used this recipe and man, they were so freaking good.  I'd planned to take a photo of the leftovers, but my dad scooped them all up and took them home. 

And lastly, these chocolate and peanut butter cookie bars were chefs kiss.

book club 15 - Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn

 2023-15

 

pantry clean up

 The hideous before photo of our gross messy pantry where ingredients and supplies get swallowed up, never to be seen again.

 It took 2 days, all of my patience, a trip to Canadian Tire for expense bins, trips to 2 separate dollar stores for cheaper supplies and a few schmamazon purchases and multiple arguments with The Mister about expired foods we found, but it ended up looking much better.

 Behold some of my expensive panicked container purchases from Canadian Tire.  And my first brown sugar saver!

 It looks/looked so good, so tidy....and not much room for more food, which has proven to be both good and bad.  And the kids don't give a hoot about putting things back in the bin/category/area that whatever they grabbed came from, so it got messy fast, and I'm getting tired of tidying it every day.