As the year 2010 draws to a close, I am grateful for the people who taught me the artistry, the importance and the history of food, those who showed me the simple pleasures of growing and cooking food, and those who remind me time and again of the ultimate adventure afforded us by eating.To all the Culinary Types of 2010, I celebrate them with a hefty slice of Dorie Greenspan’s “Perfect Party
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My Apologies
I don't even have pictures of my lovely painted walls.
What better time to shop for groceries than 6am? It was blissfully quiet. However Superstore does not have everything I want.
I shopped until about 10am and then cooked until the guests arrived at 6pm. Then we ate and laughed.
It was exhausting. And that was only the party on December 23. Two more dinner parties until we can call it a day, er, I mean, a year.
I am sure you are expecting this was a 'Partridge Family' Christmas! Hah! Are they ever?
I learned a lot from this Christmas dinner. I learned why we should always serve a starter salad and never put the hot food on the table until all are seated.
I could not believe that we placed all the hot food on the table, called the guests and then another cousin decided to completely rearrange the seating plan!
Hot food...haggling over the seating plan...see Sarah seethe! I have never seen anything like it! Hilarious!
Finally I just sat down and let them all work it out, hot food be damned.
Tomorrow I drive out to British Columbia to visit my father and his wife. Perhaps I will get a few pictures? One can only hope.
I hope your Christmas was blessed and I wish you much contentment and many successes in the new year. Thank you all for following me so faithfully over the past year. I promise to be a better blogger when I am nicely settled in my new kitchen, whenever that may be!
Christmas Bread in the Morning
Rise and shine – it’s Christmas Day! To welcome the much anticipated feast, I’ve baked two traditional European Christmas breads, which were the precursor of many of our holiday baking traditions. These festive yeast breads resemble cakes and are enriched with butter, eggs, dried fruit and nuts.Stollen is a German specialty and is often associated with the city of Dresden. My late Aunt Greta
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The Lunch before Christmas – A Yuletide Food Truck Adventure
‘Twas the season of Merry and throughout the city,The food trucks were parked and all looking quite pretty.My lunchtime pals Zany and Marie Antoinette,Were getting real hungry and starting to fret.A holiday luncheon is what they proposed,The heck with reservations, we prefer frozen toes.“Let’s try something different,” dear Zany insisted.M-A had been scouting, she had her thoughts listed. “Let’s
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The Season of Soup
It is a frigid time in the city. The avenues are packed with boisterous revelers. People on the street move in sluggish pods, just to stay warm. The nose is cold and the tips of the ears are numb. As the song says, “I’ve grown a little leaner, grown a little colder, grown a little sadder, grown a little older.”Soup is the antidote - simple, rustic soup with just a few ingredients. Soup that
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Christmas is for Giving
Crockpot Lamb Stew
Still renovating and have no kitchen. I took shipment of my lamb a week ago and was dying to try some. I took some stewing meat and this was delicious.1 lb lamb stewing meat
1 cup beef stock
2 carrots, peeled and cut into large pieces
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces
1/2 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
Grease the crockpot with olive oil or a cooking spray. Add in the lamb, onion, salt and pepper, rosemary and beef stock. Cook on low for 4 hours. Add the potatoes cut into large pieces and the carrots, also cut into large pieces. Cook for one more hour. Serve with a nice glass of red wine.