There are many people out there who do not imbibe alcohol. Rather than serving plain soda why not go an extra step and m ake a faux (sans alcohol) drink. Try this one and see the surprise on their faces.
All it takes is:
- 3 parts pineapple juice
- 2 parts coconut cream
Pour ingredients into a shaker filled with cracked ice and shake well. Pour into a prepared martini glass and garnish with a slice of fresh pineapple and a maraschino cherry on a pick. Easy, fun and really appreciated.
Thyme and Lemon Tea Loaf
This is a unique and yummy tasting tea loaf. I love it for sure. Definitely one of my most favourite.
This makes one loaf.
You will need:
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tbsp. minced fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. grated lemon peel
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine milk and thyme in a bowl and microwave, uncovered, for one -two minutes or until bubbly. Cover and cool to room temperature.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the egg mixture alternating with the milk mixture. Stir in the lemon juice and peel.
Pour into a 9″ x 5″ x 3″ prepared loaf pan. Bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes before removing from pan.
In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup icing sugar and t tbsp. lemon juice and drizzle over the loaf.
All you need now is a good book, pot of tea and this. Heaven-made afternoon, I say.
Too Early? Nah…
Yesterday we delivered our invites for…get ready….our “lead-in to Christmas” evening. For years we have done this and believe me, it is one good thing that really makes a difference in your attitude for the remainder of December.
I get frustrated that we all seem to think we MUST have the perfect tree, the perfect gift, the perfect turkey. No one can keep that pressure up and expect to enjoy the big day when it arrives.
Step back, take a big breath , grab a coffee and relax. Look at your calendar and pick a date at the beginning of the month (December). Write it down. Now, make a list for however many people you can accommodate in your home. Done? Leave it for a few minutes/or a couple of hours.
Do you want a dinner? (we did for about 15 years)…what do you want to serve? Be sure to start with a signature drink (see my lists for ideas) and what hors d’oeurves you can serve with it. After the first drink, switch to wine. Remember, it is only a signature drink.
Now think of an appetizer, soup or salad or both, then the main course, and lastly, dessert.
Leave it now and go back to it in a little bit.
More tomorrow……
French Toast with Pears and Pomegranate Sauce
Every once in awhile you feel like going the extra mile and don’t know where to start. Noooo! Martinis for breakfast is a real bad choice. ‘Cuz then you would miss this wonderful recipe. Besides, this is from my cookbook “The B & B Cookbook” from Amazon.
This serves 2 and you will need:
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 tsp. cardamom, divided
- 2 thick slices of bread
- 4 tbsp. butter, divided
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 ripe, but still firm, red skinned pear, cut into thin slices
Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and 1/2 of the cardamom and pour into a 9″ square glass baking dish. Add bread and let stand about 10 minutes, turning over with a spatula until the mixture has been absorbed.
Melt 1 tbsp. butter in a fry pan over medium heat. Add the pear slices. Saute for 3 minutes until soft and transfer to a plate.
Add 2 tbsp. butter to fry pan; add juice, brown sugar and cardamom simmering until it thickens and syrupy (about 5 mins). Remove from heat. Melt remaining butter on griddle, add bread slices and cook until golden (about 3 minutes each side) cut in half and divide onto plates. Top with pears, spoon sauce over top. Serve (with a big smile, of course) immediately.
In a word or two….yummy-yummy.
Rodini Heaven
Don makes a sandwich to die for. We buy the bread from Cobbs Bakery. He cuts it in half. He spreads dijon mustard on one side and lays out thinly sliced roast beef. Spreads a very thin amount of horseradish on the beef. Then he adds thinly sliced ham. We are not even halfway there! Now he adds thinly sliced sun dried tomato turkey breast. The fourth meat is Italian mild Genoa. This is about the only thing that is thin…..certainly not my waistline.
On this goes slices of Havarti cheese to cover the entire surface. Strips of roasted red pepper is laid over the cheese and avocado slices on top of the peppers. Thin slices of tomato covers this. Lastly, he spreads mayonnaise on the top half of the rodini loaf. Replace the top half and wrap in tin foil.
Wrap this CAREFULLY in tin foil and heat in a 350 degree oven until the cheese starts to melt. Remove from the oven and slice it up like a pie. This is absolutely the best sandwich you can make.
He gets requests for this all the time. Not just in our home. For luncheons at Church, friends having company, etc. Yup! He’s a real keeper.
Hookey, AGAIN?
Ya know, sometimes adults playing hookey is a good thing. My favourite sister-in-law is here for a week and we have been also dealing with fence hole digging, landscapers working hard in 34C. We went down to Omak, Washington Tuesday to get away from it all and yesterday we did the wine tasting tour (3) and ate dinner at the NK’Mip Resort in Osoyoos.
The landscapers are back and so, today we are going in the other direction ….to Penticton to look around. We have company for lunch tomorrow and company for dinner tomorrow night.
Okay, so we played hookey. It all stops now and I have to get back to work. On a serious note….it was so much FUN. Later.
A Minty Martini
This could almost be used as a drink AFTER dinner. It is super good.
- 1 part Grey Goose Vodka
- 2 parts Bailey’s
- 1 part Creme de Menthe (clear)
Pour into a shaker filled with cracked ice and shake really well. Strain into prepared martini glasses and sprinkle a few Choco flakes on top.
Try it once….okay, twice!
Sour Cream Cookies
These are a tasty little treat instead of the same old, same old.
You will need:
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/8 tsp. baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/8 cup packed brown sugar (dark)
- 1 egg beaten
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla flavouring
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- grated peel from 1 lime
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and grated lime peel.
Cream butter, add sugars and beat until creamy. Add the egg and flavoring, mixing well.
Add the flour, alternating with the sour cream. Set aside to chill.
Divide into rolls, wrap in wax paper and chill for an hour. Cut into slices 1/8 inch thick and bake for 8-10 minutes on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
I have had this recipe in my recipe box for about 22 years. I have no idea where it came from but it is sure tasty.
Peach Melba
I have had this recipe in my recipe box for 20 years and can, once again, buy peaches so readily at the fruit stands/orchards that are around us. ‘Tis the season…..
You will need:
- 4 large peaches, skins removed
- 1 cup basic sugar syrup
- 1 tsp. clear vanilla
- 1 quart best vanilla ice cream (actually, Chapman’s)
- 1 recipe Melba sauce
Cut peaches in half. Combine syrup and vanilla and boil for 5 minutes. Poach the peaches in this syrup for 10 minutes until tender. Remove from syrup, cool down and chill thoroughly.
In 8 of your prettiest dishes, place a generous scoop of ice cream. Turn the peach halves upside down and place in the center of the ice cream. Top with the Melba sauce.
Sugar Syrup
Combine 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for about 4 minutes. Cool down and keep covered in the refrigerator.
Doesn’t have to be difficult to be and look exceptional.
Melba Sauce
- 2 cups raspberries
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 1 tbsp. fresh lemon jujice
- 1/4 cup apple juice
- splash of Chambourd
Put all ingredients in a blender and puree. Strain to remove all the seeds. Chill until ready to serve.
yummy-yummy
Dining Out With Small Children…Part 2
These are only tips that will keep EVERYONE in the restaurant comfortable and happy to be there if a few steps are followed.
If you are going to be eating a little later than normal, take some crayons and paper or a toy with you. Give them a piece of fruit to eat before leaving home and they will not fuss so much if dinner is long in coming.
Take the time, at home, to be consistent with the use of manners and etiquette. When they are out in pubic it will show. We have gone over and commented to parents when their children are a joy to watch. NEVER when they are misbehaved. Once, Don got up and offered to buy whatever it would take to get this one child stopped from that high shrill scream they have. My father wore a hearing aid and it almost broke his ear drum. They finally took the kid outside until he calmed down and returned about 10 minutes later.
If your children (and you) are chewing gum…remove it BEFORE entering the restaurant. DO not, under any circumstances, put it on your ear, finger tip,or underside of your plate and NEVER stick it under the table. Come On…would you like to clean that? Not me.
Parents please, please, please…do not loudly scold your children in a public place. It is embarrassing for them and for others. Immediately go outside or to the washroom to correct him/her/them. NEVER YELL! I don’t know about you, but my Dad had a “look”. You just knew you had gone too far.
More later….
Whipped Cream Cake
When Don and I got married twenty plus years ago, we had a whipped cream cake for our wedding cake. I loved it then and looked for absolutely years to find a recipe that actually used whipped cream, real whipped cream in the batter. Try this one….it’s an oldie.
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipped cream
- 3 well beaten eggs, light and fluffy
- 1 1/2 tsp. clear vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- pinch of salt
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare cake pan(s) by buttering and flouring . Whip the cream until it is stiff and fold in the eggs and vanilla.
Measure flour by dip-level-pour method. Blend flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. GENTLY fold in to the cream mixture with a wire whip. If using layer (2) pans, bake for 35 minutes; if using a 9 x 13 inch oblong pan, bake for 40 minutes.
Let cool and ice with even more sweetened whipped cream.
Oh my, oh my! This is yummy-yummy.
Dining out with small children
When we dine out (from McDonald’s to fine dining establishments) we notice two things.
1. Parents who totally ignore what little Jane and/or Johnny is up to. For example: running around the restaurant, chasing each other; making loud shrill screams; arguing with parents; fighting with siblings; tormenting each other OR
2. Parents who have taken the time to instruct their children on how to behave when in public. For example: no fussing; no tantrums; staying put.
The children in the second category have also been instructed on how to chew their food with their mouths closed and, if old enough, to use and handle their cutlery correctly. They DO NOT throw their food around.
More to come…..