There Is Nothing Like Garden Fresh Veggies

I am finding a recurring theme in a lot of my posts - a return to simple pleasures. Cooking, making, doing and above all enjoying every part of these things. The process, the planning, the work and the outcome.

Well, here we have another post on simple pleasures. From the title I am sure you can guess what it is about.

Aren and I have been really fortunate over the years in that his parents have an AMAZING garden and have been kind enough to share the fruits of their labour with us.

Of course, eventually we would love to have our own garden and grow our own food too.

This past summer we were up to visit Aren's parents and it was so refreshing to be able to go out in to the garden and grab whatever it was you wanted to eat at that moment.

Potatoes and tomatoes? No Problem. Cucumber or rhubarb? How about a fresh salad with herbs? All of it is readily available and oh so delicious.

I managed to take a few pictures before wolfing down all of the good foods we ate, although I got a bit caught up in eating and forgot to take photos of our meals once they were prepared.

Freshly chopped rhubarb.

Two varieties of cucumber and a Russian variety of tomato.

Broccoli!

Cooking the Rhubarb. This was soooo scrumptious!

We were even able to find some mushrooms in the woods which were cooked up into a creamy sauce.

Really, truly, there is nothing like garden fresh food.

Ciao,

Pudding From Scratch

Isn't it amazing how different things are nowadays? Small things like instant chocolate pudding. I have a cookbook that I purchased at a thrift store or garage sale (I don't remember where) with a recipe for chocolate pudding. I am sure that most people my age grew up going to the grocery store and buying (or not buying depending on your parents) JELL-O chocolate pudding. It isn't inconceivable that pudding can be made from scratch at home but it sure would be a stretch for a lot of people. I wonder how many mothers in this day and age would send their children to school with pudding if they had to make it from scratch?

Naturally I made some pudding of my own to see how difficult it really is. Surprisingly easy AND delicious. It has no weird "homemade-y" taste and is just as good if not better than store bought. Not that we ever really bought pudding anyways....

Aren certainly enjoyed it.

If you have any fun suggestions for normally store bought things that I could try to make at home let me know! I always like a good challenge.

Ciao,

Gingerbread House! (and Addicted To Plastic)

So I know that I promised I would tell you all about the movie I was watching (Addicted to Plastic) and I will in just a minute - I just got distracted by these pictures from my Gingerbread house! I love Christmas and I adore Christmas baking. I didn't actually get to bake the house myself since it was made while I was out at camp - I did get to decorate it though! Isn't it the cutest little cabin you ever did see? It is actually the Domco retreat office (I know the close up is blurry - I apologize... I didn't have the new camera yet). I had so much fun working on this and thanks a bunch to Trudy who took the pictures for me!

I made the windows out of melted candy and the trees are ice cream cones covered in icing. I plan on taking some new pictures when I get back out at work this month, then I will be taking the *NEW* camera with me! Hurray! The baker also told me that they will be creating a village with all of the houses that people made and that could be finished when I get back in. Exciting!

These last two pictures are a couple I took off the balcony tonight - the colour was just amazing! Nothing like a sunset to brighten (darken??) the evening.

Now then - about that movie. So I watched Addicted To Plastic (among other documentaries) the other night and I must say - very interesting. Okay that is an understatement.

For those of you who know me, I am already a bit of ... hmm.... how to put this kindly..... an earth loving nut? Okay maybe not quite that extreme, but I do care a lot about the Earth and the way people treat it. I guess you could say that I feel that we were given the Earth as a gift and should be good stewards of what God gave us.

Sooooo on to the movie: it talks about how plastic surrounds us in our daily lives and how we have basically  taken it for granted. Instead of treating it like a valuable commodity we treat it like garbage. The filmmaker brings up a very valid point however: plastic doesn't go away! There was a really crazy scene in the movie where they use this "manta ray" trolling system that skims the ocean for plastic pieces (small pieces). The water they bring up is a veritable soup of plastics in all forms. The craziest part is that they are miles and miles and miles away from shore.

The film also talks about the toxic effects of recycling, manufacturing and disposing of plastics and the effects it has on the developing world. While some of the information was stuff I already knew I found it quite interesting and also thought provoking.

The movie got me thinking about a project concerning garbage production that I had done for the Science Fair when I was a child. People produced a lot of garbage then and I bet it is even more now. I had to sit and think about how much garbage I produce in a year (it's a lot) and what I could do to reduce that amount.

I would recommend the film to others because it will get you thinking. The movie doesn't propose that we get rid of plastic completely but rather that we treat it with more respect. I hope you have a chance to see it! (Family - you can borrow it from me anytime!)

What are your garbage production reducing strategies?

Ciao!

Cooking, Reading and Watching Movies

Hello all of you in cyberspace!

I took the vehicle in for servicing and had a chance to do a little reading while I waited. I am not near to being finished the book but it is a really good read and I would recommend it to anyone who feels that they are rushing through life too fast. I bought it at the thrift shop yesterday for $3.99. Awesome.

For lunch today I made a panini sandwich - amazing! I used french bread with a bit of butter on the outside and some mayo on the inside. I sliced up some Roma tomato and mozzarella cheese and fried some onions, garlic and  fresh mushroom to make it delicious. Naturally I chopped up extra onion and garlic for tonight's supper and I am glad I did - that turned out to be a particularly potent onion and I had tears in my eyes (this hasn't happened in... oh .... a long time anyway).

Grilling grilling grilling! Thanks to my Mum who bought us the panini press a while back.

It makes good food!

My Lunch.

Sliced apples, Panini, Water and Glogg.

Glogg is basically Swedish spiced (non alcoholic) wine and since I can never find Gluhwein (German spiced wine) at the store I bought a few bottles when I found this. You can add wine to it of course and I do have a recipe to make my own Gluhwein from scratch but decided to try this. It is really sweet so I have been mixing it with water to keep it from being too overpowering.

Panini Close-Up

I am still hard at work on my button covered pillow. It is definitely a lot more work than I thought it would be, but so far it looks wonderful.

And last but not least two pictures of my supper :

Tomato Zucchini Tart and Swedish Potatoes. Yum Yum.

Hopefully I will finish the button pillow soon, but for now I have plans to watch a movie entitled:

 "Addicted To Plastic: The Rise And Demise Of a Modern Miracle"

Movie Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daSFXZT-HYk

I'll let you know how I liked it tomorrow.

Ciao!!

Lydia

A Consolation - Freshly Baked Bread

Hello to all of you in Blogland! I trust that you are doing well. I am feeling better after the devastating loss that Germany suffered in the semifinals against Spain yesterday. They will still play for third place but it is very dissappointing not to have won the title. I won't stop cheering them on even though I was shocked, dismayed and disgusted all at once yesterday. However, as I don't want to dwell on negativity (and as I am sure you won't want to waste your time reading a sob story) I will turn to a more pleasant topic.

Bread.

Homemade Bread.

Most of you will remember the song "My Favourite Things" from The Sound Of Music. This is the song you sing when the dog bites, when the bee stings and when you are feeling bad (like say for instance when your team bombs and completely throws away the semifinals..). It is you find a whole list of Maria's (the woman singing the song for those of you who aren't familiar) favourite things. Well, the song got me thinking and it turns out I have a very long list of favourite things:

Pierogies

Matryoshka

Soccer

Shoes

Gymnopedie by Satie

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up With String  (I had one from Russia delivered yesterday!)

Homemade Bread

Mascara

Tim Burton

..........

Okay I will only share a few as it is actually a really long list.

Each one of these favourite things hold memories for me and one that holds really special memories is homemade bread. I know that may sound ridiculous (I mean, shoes are pretty awesome too..) but close your eyes and imagine the smell of baking bread. Warm delicious bread.

Doesn't that bring back memories?

When I lived at home my mum baked bread every week. 6 loaves. We helped her out obviously, with the punching and the kneading and the punching and the kneading...and it was so much fun!

We would dump all of the ingredients into the Bosch kitchen machine and check for the yeast to bubble. Then the machine would whir and the dough would appear as the flour was mixed in, one cup at a time.

Next it had to sit covered for what would seem like an eternity to me. Finally it was time to bake.

I would always steal a peak through the glass door to check on how the bread was doing. Would it rise this time? It always did.

Now that I have my own home I like to make bread whenever I have a chance. Store bought just doesn't taste the same. Homemade is richer, heartier, better.

Maybe I am just biased. I would suggest however, that if you have never made bread from scratch you should do it. It is definitely satisfying to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Happy baking everyone!

Also don't forget that tomorrow will be my interview with Cynthia from The Sewing Dork and a GIVEAWAY!

PS. The loaf shown above is my sandwich bread recipe and has an egg glaze.

AND

I was featured on Totally Tutorials!

They featured my Rosette Pillow Tutorial and I am so excited!

Tomato Zucchini Tart - One of My Favourite Veggie Dishes

This Tomato Zucchini Tart is one of my favourite veggie side dishes. I thought I would change things up today and rather than simply share what I cooked, I am actually telling you HOW to do it too. A kind of recipe post I guess.

This is a really easy dish to make and delicious!

What you need:

Some type of baking ware or pan (mine is clear Pyrex), doesn't matter the size, that depends on how many people you are feeding! :) This one is 9X12

As with the pan, the amount of ingredients needed depends on the size of your tart. I use what is known as "The Doreen Method" (see my mother's blog for info) of cooking, which means use what you have, or more, or less and above all improvise!

So for this particular tart I used:

1/2 of a large Onion

4 cloves of Garlic

4 Roma Tomatos (you can use other types but I love their flavour)

1/2 of a large Zucchini (I think it was like a foot long)

Parmesan Cheese

Oil/Butter

With a bit of butter (or oil) in the pan begin carmelizing the onions. While this is happening you can dice the garlic and slice up the tomato and zucchini.

Fresh garlic is best! Aren and I love garlic so I always put lots in.

On this particular night we also had potatoes, corn and Aren had marinated steak. Seems like one of the four tomatos ran away....at least it made it to the tart! Once the onions start to soften you can add the garlic. Cook these untl they are a nice golden brown. Your pan needs to be oiled and then the onion/garlic mixture spread inside.

Now layer the Zucchini and Tomato onto the onion/garlic mixture.

Lastly pour as much, or as little, parmesan cheese onto the veggies.

Place in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

I am sorry I don't have a finished product photo, but it seems that everyone was famished and couldn't wait any longer to eat supper.

Enjoy! Bon Appetit!

Easy (Really Easy) Asparagus and Smoked Salmon Wrap

 Hello Everyone!

So today was a VERY busy day for me. As some of you know, I will be returning to work soon, so it is crunch time. I am caught up in finishing projects, packing, blogging, cooking and life in general. Happily I managed to finish more than 50% of my to do list for the day. Pretty good considering....

For lunch today I needed something easy to fill out our meal (Kebabs and Baked Potatos left over from BBQ-ing yesterday). I haven't made these lovely Asparagus wraps in such a long time (they are amazing) and I thought I might share it with you!

You will need:

Asparagus

Tortillas (any flavour you like)

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese

I used sundried tomato tortillas, but you can use whatever type you like.

You will need Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese. This can be found at your local grocery store or made with regular cream cheese and bits of actual smoked salmon. I used the store bought.

You will need quite a bit of the cream cheese as you can see!

Spread it evenly onto the tortilla.

Like this!

Start some water to boil. Make sure that you prepare the asparagus properly by breaking off the bottoms. These tend to be stringy and could ruin your meal.

Once the water has come to a boil, drop in the asparagus and cook for 6 minutes.

Strain and then rinse with cold water. Make sure to pat out the excess moisture.

Lay out the asparagus evenly, three to four pieces per wrap depending on the size of asparagus.

Fold and Roll!

Now get ready to slice them all up.

Make sure to trim off the ends as they are usually a little uneven. You can throw them away or (as I prefer) have a little snack before the main meal!

The finished product all cut up and ready to serve.

Lunch Time!

These wraps make a really nice compliment to the meal at lunch or a great appetizer for supper. Of course you can modify this concoction as you like. Let me in on any new varieties you whip up!

And now some comic relief:

Aren loves to think he is sooo funny. He even made me delete the better picture I took of him smiling! Oh well, he really did enjoy his Kebabs. :)

In other news, I am including a few photos of the massive amount of cooking I did today. As with the last time that I went to camp, Aren will be at home and I am cooking him meals to keep him healthy.

So far he has bread, hamburgers, potato leek soup, 2 lasagnas, 5 beef pot pies, chili, chicken wings, drumsticks, chicken breast, loads of steaks (I'm sure you've noticed with all the meat on the list that I took a trip to the butcher's), and perogies.

Homemade Chili Con Carne with peppers from Aren's parents' garden. Spicy!

Lasagna and Beef Pot Pie. Yummy!!

Until next time!!

Tower of CHEESE!

Some of you may already know this but I tend to be a bit frugal... I also really love my Bosch kitchen machine! (My Christmas Present last year). We always buy our cheddar cheese in the huge economy size blocks as they are MUCH cheaper. Of course it would all go bad before we have a chance to eat it which is why I grate the entire thing and freeze it in ziploc bags.

We only do this with our cheddar though as it is used on things like sandwiches, nachos, pastas and the like. Any of the specialty varieties that we purchase are in smaller quantities and stored in the fridge for freshness.

I thought this cheese looked quite humorous as I was cutting it up to be grated.

It's the leaning Tower of Cheeza!

Lame, I know.