So it's been quite some time since my last post and...and lots of things have happened. Christmas happened! For someone that likes to cook, I'm *almost* embarrassed to admit that I didn't really do any cooking this Christmas, even though Christmas dinner was at my house.
I found a really great deal through Groupon (incidentally, one of my new year's resolutions is to buy fewer groupons....), for a 10 person fully prepared Christmas dinner from the Hotel Vancouver for $200. We just pulled up to the hotel, gave a lovely lady with a clipboard our name, and dinner was loaded into the back of the car in a box. We didn't even have to get out. This box included a turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and even a piping bag of fresh whipped cream to decorate the pie ourselves - there were a couple of kids that went bananas for that part.
I had my reservations on whether or not this was a good idea, but in the end it was a GREAT idea. The food was really delicious, much better than I could have made for my first Christmas dinner go-round, and left so much more time for visiting and having fun with the family (and Christmas themed martinis). We only had to pop all the food in the over for 1 hour before serving. It was so very easy and I really can't say enough about how much I loved this experience.
I have no photos of this easy feast because I was too busy having fun :)
More coming soon xo
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saturday, December 3, 2011
It's Booze O'Clock
I just finished putting up Christmas deco's, vacuuming up the carpet of sparkles left behind, and making another batch of roasted tomato soup (I used cilantro this time in addition to basil and thyme, quite a flavour sensation!!).
I also just listened to what is apparently the world's most relaxing song (scientist approved no less): http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/music/scientists-discover-most-relaxing-tune-ever
Now, I am relaxed and happy...getting ready to read a Christmas themed Style at Home in front of the fire, but something is missing...oh yes, a fabulous drink!
I love Greyhounds. Loooove. So I made a Greyhound martini and it is scrumptious.
I used 1 shot of vodka and a dash of Triple Sec. I squeezed half a grapefruit out into my old school Nigella Lawson juicer, shook the juice up with some ice in my martini shaker, and done!! Wedge of lime on the rim, and delicious into my mouth. Sit back, relax, enjoy :)
I also just listened to what is apparently the world's most relaxing song (scientist approved no less): http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/music/scientists-discover-most-relaxing-tune-ever
Now, I am relaxed and happy...getting ready to read a Christmas themed Style at Home in front of the fire, but something is missing...oh yes, a fabulous drink!
I love Greyhounds. Loooove. So I made a Greyhound martini and it is scrumptious.
I used 1 shot of vodka and a dash of Triple Sec. I squeezed half a grapefruit out into my old school Nigella Lawson juicer, shook the juice up with some ice in my martini shaker, and done!! Wedge of lime on the rim, and delicious into my mouth. Sit back, relax, enjoy :)
 |
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Sauce Seduction?
It's been said that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I have not always found this to be the case, but maybe I've been cooking the wrong foods...
I'm not sure how I got my hands on a Chatelaine recipe (oh wait, from my mother, who quotes Chatelaine for what she considers to be every important topic possible - politics, relationships, hair removal, proof that salt won't eventually kill her, carbs are bad, blah blah), but this particular recipe is from 2007, and at that time, I felt compelled to rip it out of the now long tossed magazine and save it for 'just incase'. This compulsion was born from the claim that the author "uncovers the most seductive sauce on earth", basically guaranteeing that you could find love through a classic Bolognese (and with a man, not just the pasta).
Of course, I lost the recipe along the way (whoops), but discovered it again a few days ago (joy!). I liked the following:
I'm not sure how I got my hands on a Chatelaine recipe (oh wait, from my mother, who quotes Chatelaine for what she considers to be every important topic possible - politics, relationships, hair removal, proof that salt won't eventually kill her, carbs are bad, blah blah), but this particular recipe is from 2007, and at that time, I felt compelled to rip it out of the now long tossed magazine and save it for 'just incase'. This compulsion was born from the claim that the author "uncovers the most seductive sauce on earth", basically guaranteeing that you could find love through a classic Bolognese (and with a man, not just the pasta).
Of course, I lost the recipe along the way (whoops), but discovered it again a few days ago (joy!). I liked the following:
"The fact is that if someone is madly in love with you, you can serve him almost anything and he will lap it up like a cat, purring all the while. And if he isn't, no filet mignon will change his mind".
So true, so true!!
"But what about the man who isn't sure yet, who thinks he might be falling for you but still has one foot on the brakes? He is the one who needs seducing. You want it to occur to him - as if by chance -as if he just happened to think of it himself - that when he's with you, everything tastes a little better; that being with you is like visiting a land where life is brighter, easier, and just a bit exotic, and to which he might want to consider relocating permanently someday. You need to make a meal, in other words, that will leave him hungry not for sex, but for you".
Ok, so there's a lot of man-catering going on here, in a way that makes me feel a tad icky, but I will admit that at the beginning of relationships, when you're trying so hard to impress, food can be tricky. It's stressful making your first date dinner! You can't be too fancy otherwise you're a pretentious princess, but not too casual, or you could move into 'friend' category (sloppy joe's aren't sexy).
I made this sauce of seduction tonight (no more seducing required, but a happy-to-play-along man nonetheless). It was DELICIOUS. And very, very time consuming. Worth it, but better for a rainy Sunday. I'm surprised I can even type this out considering the carb coma I am experiencing now. Mmmmm.
Bolognese SauceThis sauce takes a lot of time - it should simmer for 4-5 hours - but it does not require a lot of skill (ie any dummy can do it!). Once the veggies are chopped, all that's left to do is add ingredients and stir (and drink wine in the meantime). You need:
1 onion
1 large carrot
3 stalks celery
50 grams pancetta
1 pound ground beef (not lean, woohoo)
1 tsp salt
1 pinch of allspice
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pound pasta (hearty like penne or rigatoni)
Parm-Reg for grating
Steps:
1: Finely chop onion, carrot, celery (mirepoix, fancy frenchy word!). In saucepan or dutch over on low heat, cook pancetta until it starts to brown. It will smell so so good. Now, add the chopped veggies (fancy french mirepoix), turn it up to medium, stir frequently, wait for onions to go soft and clear.
2: Add ground beef, pinch of salt, pepper, and allspice. Cook until meat is brown.
3: Add milk. Once it simmers, turn to low and wait for milk to mostly boil away (about 30 mins). Then, add your cup of white wine, simmer it, turn down to low and wait for liquid to boil away (about 30 minutes). You see this is a bit of a process...Now, add can of tomatoes, simmer, reduce heat to low and cover the pot. Leave for 2.5-3 hrs.
4: Just before it's done, boil the salted water for your pasta. Drain, mix with a third of the sauce, then serve remaining sauce on top (did you know if you reserve a touch of the water the pasta was boiled in and add it to the sauce, it will help it to stick to the pasta?). Grate your cheese, and serve! Bellissima!
I recommend using a really nice dry white for the sauce, so you can drink the rest of it with your date at dinner. I served Ex-Nihlio Pinot Gris, from Vernon B.C. What an awesome vineyard that is, very rock and roll (they collaborate with the Rolling Stones) and romance. If you see this wine, scoop it up - peaches and pears and apples exploding in your mouth!
Even in the face of a horrific Canucks loss, this sauce still managed to make M extremely happy :)
I'm glad I kept this magazine recipe like a hoarder for all these years, and that I had someone so nice to test it out on. Please share if you have special seduction recipes!
Oh, and apparently soup is the least sexy food to make for a date. Something to keep in mind.
Ciao for now,
Katy xo
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Serendipity in the City
Life can be strange sometimes.
This summer, I was lucky enough to attend a gorgeous wedding in Tuscany (you can see this wedding in all its splendor here). When M and I got home, we were pretty depressed...no more Italian food, no more Italian wine, no more made up Italian language (it'sa normal!). Until one night, on Commercial Drive, when fate decided to slap us in the face.
We were quietly drowning our sorrorws in some yummy belgian beer, so quietly in fact that it was very easy for me to overhear the converastion at the table right next to us...and imagine my delight when the woman next to us says "we've been home for weeks and I just can't stop talking in this ridiculous Italian accent!" It seems someone else had been afflicted with M's accent disease.
Anyway, I couldn't wait for my chance to interrupt their perfectly lovely dinner (blame Mum for this trait) to ask if they had also just returned from Italy, and of course they had. We were talking about our love affairs with bella Italia, where we had been in the country, and the woman gets a funny look on her face and asks if we had been at a small wedding in rural Tuscany...it turns out she sat next to our great friends C&G on the way home from Italy, and they really hit it off. Enough so that all of them, who normally speak to no one on the plane, wanted to exchange numbers but felt a bit socially awkward asking. Then bam! Fate puts this lady right in front of me. Turns out we are neighbours. It's just *too weird* to me, so many things had to happen for us to meet. We all felt it was meant to be, and decided we should all get together for an Italian meal to celebrate life's mysteries. Which we did, and this is not that story :)
It was M and I's turn to host last night. Our new friends and C&G all came over; there were 7 of us in total, which for me, is a lot for a weeknight. Luckily I prepared a lot of the food the day before to save myself the stress and the possibility of throwing a pot at M's head. Our new friends are vegan, so this was an experiment for me. I thought it would be simple, but it wasn't! Everything I thought of to make of vegetables that would be delicious included cheese or dairy (the things that make food delicious)...I was stumped. Until I came across this Smitten Kitchen recipe for Ratatouille. In the words of J last night "it looks sexy!". That is thanks to the mandolin I bought which sliced these veggies up perfectly and saved me tons of time! New fave kitchen gadget.
To go with this, I made a great green salad that I found a recipe for in Canadian Living's Best Recipe's Ever Cookbook. This recipe is actually called An Especially Good Green Salad, and oh it was:
4 cups spinach
4 cups Butter lettuce
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup toasted pecans
3 oranges, peeled and sliced
Dressing:
1 tsp orange rind
2 tbsp oj
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
2 tbs olive oil
Shake up the dressing, toss it on the salad. Perfecto!
I also made a roasted tomato soup that was quite a hit....one of our vegan friends said it was the BEST tomato soup she's ever had (quite the compliment coming from a vegetable expert). It was very easy to make, and packed full of flavour. I can't wait to make this again, and freeze the leftovers:
16 Roma tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
---------------------
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
6 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy!)
----------------------
28 oz can plum tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
Toss the Roma tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 for 45 mins. While that's going on, saute the onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the onion begins to brown. Add the canned tomatoes (see note below), herbs, stock, and over roasted tomatoes. Boil, then simmer uncovered for about 40 minutes. Puree, enjoy!
My friend that got married in Italy told me I must always use only San Marzano canned tomatoes - and even though she is most definitely not Italian, her boundless love of both Italy and good food makes me trust her, which was smart because wow these were good. Stock up if you see them!
A man in the kitchen, actually cooking, is a very sexy sight to me. M decided to help out and make dessert, and it was fantastic. We decided on lemon mint granita (another Smitten Kitchen recipe - if you have an expensive addiction to cookbooks like I do, you better check out this site and save yourself a couple bucks). We added limoncello that we'd brought home from Positano for a treat. It was crisp and clean and didn't leave us feeling like overstuffed turkeys. The presentation was awesome:
Dinner was a big success; vegan cooking wasn't scary, but I also realized that it really didn't matter what I made because our group just appreciates being together and having a night of big laughs and a lot of fun. We all truly feel serendipity swept in and brought us together for a reason, and we celebrate that each time we're in each other's company (non-dairy cheesy, but true).
Oh..........and then this happened.........
A good night for all, it seems!
Until next time,
Katy
This summer, I was lucky enough to attend a gorgeous wedding in Tuscany (you can see this wedding in all its splendor here). When M and I got home, we were pretty depressed...no more Italian food, no more Italian wine, no more made up Italian language (it'sa normal!). Until one night, on Commercial Drive, when fate decided to slap us in the face.
We were quietly drowning our sorrorws in some yummy belgian beer, so quietly in fact that it was very easy for me to overhear the converastion at the table right next to us...and imagine my delight when the woman next to us says "we've been home for weeks and I just can't stop talking in this ridiculous Italian accent!" It seems someone else had been afflicted with M's accent disease.
Anyway, I couldn't wait for my chance to interrupt their perfectly lovely dinner (blame Mum for this trait) to ask if they had also just returned from Italy, and of course they had. We were talking about our love affairs with bella Italia, where we had been in the country, and the woman gets a funny look on her face and asks if we had been at a small wedding in rural Tuscany...it turns out she sat next to our great friends C&G on the way home from Italy, and they really hit it off. Enough so that all of them, who normally speak to no one on the plane, wanted to exchange numbers but felt a bit socially awkward asking. Then bam! Fate puts this lady right in front of me. Turns out we are neighbours. It's just *too weird* to me, so many things had to happen for us to meet. We all felt it was meant to be, and decided we should all get together for an Italian meal to celebrate life's mysteries. Which we did, and this is not that story :)
It was M and I's turn to host last night. Our new friends and C&G all came over; there were 7 of us in total, which for me, is a lot for a weeknight. Luckily I prepared a lot of the food the day before to save myself the stress and the possibility of throwing a pot at M's head. Our new friends are vegan, so this was an experiment for me. I thought it would be simple, but it wasn't! Everything I thought of to make of vegetables that would be delicious included cheese or dairy (the things that make food delicious)...I was stumped. Until I came across this Smitten Kitchen recipe for Ratatouille. In the words of J last night "it looks sexy!". That is thanks to the mandolin I bought which sliced these veggies up perfectly and saved me tons of time! New fave kitchen gadget.
 |
| bellissima! |
To go with this, I made a great green salad that I found a recipe for in Canadian Living's Best Recipe's Ever Cookbook. This recipe is actually called An Especially Good Green Salad, and oh it was:
4 cups spinach
4 cups Butter lettuce
1/2 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup toasted pecans
3 oranges, peeled and sliced
Dressing:
1 tsp orange rind
2 tbsp oj
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1 tbsp dijon
1/2 tsp poppy seeds
2 tbs olive oil
Shake up the dressing, toss it on the salad. Perfecto!
I also made a roasted tomato soup that was quite a hit....one of our vegan friends said it was the BEST tomato soup she's ever had (quite the compliment coming from a vegetable expert). It was very easy to make, and packed full of flavour. I can't wait to make this again, and freeze the leftovers:
16 Roma tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pepper
---------------------
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onions
6 cloves garlic minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy!)
----------------------
28 oz can plum tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
Toss the Roma tomatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast at 400 for 45 mins. While that's going on, saute the onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the onion begins to brown. Add the canned tomatoes (see note below), herbs, stock, and over roasted tomatoes. Boil, then simmer uncovered for about 40 minutes. Puree, enjoy!
 |
| San Marzano Tomatoes |
My friend that got married in Italy told me I must always use only San Marzano canned tomatoes - and even though she is most definitely not Italian, her boundless love of both Italy and good food makes me trust her, which was smart because wow these were good. Stock up if you see them!
A man in the kitchen, actually cooking, is a very sexy sight to me. M decided to help out and make dessert, and it was fantastic. We decided on lemon mint granita (another Smitten Kitchen recipe - if you have an expensive addiction to cookbooks like I do, you better check out this site and save yourself a couple bucks). We added limoncello that we'd brought home from Positano for a treat. It was crisp and clean and didn't leave us feeling like overstuffed turkeys. The presentation was awesome:
Dinner was a big success; vegan cooking wasn't scary, but I also realized that it really didn't matter what I made because our group just appreciates being together and having a night of big laughs and a lot of fun. We all truly feel serendipity swept in and brought us together for a reason, and we celebrate that each time we're in each other's company (non-dairy cheesy, but true).
Oh..........and then this happened.........
A good night for all, it seems!
Until next time,
Katy
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Come and Knock on our Door....
Hello Friends,
Welcome to my new blog! The focus of this blog is intended to be about my cooking adventures (good and bad), but I am sure that will expand with time.
Sometimes I feel quite excited about things I see and do, but am too far away from family and friends to share. Everyone's busy, and they probably don't need me to call to talk about the great slow cooker dinner I just made (my boyfriend M and the dog get a lot of these stories instead). But I love hearing recipies from friends, and learning what works and what doesn't and discovering new things as I go.
The older I get, the more I love cooking. In the back of my head all day, I'm thinking of what I'm going to make for dinner, and as soon as I get home, I'm excited to start. It invigorates me and tends to be the highlight of my day.
If you're wondering about the Blog name, it comes from the following song (links to a recording as well):
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy,
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore;
When the m-m-m-moon shines,
Over the c-c-c-cowshed,
Welcome to my new blog! The focus of this blog is intended to be about my cooking adventures (good and bad), but I am sure that will expand with time.
Sometimes I feel quite excited about things I see and do, but am too far away from family and friends to share. Everyone's busy, and they probably don't need me to call to talk about the great slow cooker dinner I just made (my boyfriend M and the dog get a lot of these stories instead). But I love hearing recipies from friends, and learning what works and what doesn't and discovering new things as I go.
The older I get, the more I love cooking. In the back of my head all day, I'm thinking of what I'm going to make for dinner, and as soon as I get home, I'm excited to start. It invigorates me and tends to be the highlight of my day.
If you're wondering about the Blog name, it comes from the following song (links to a recording as well):
K-K-K-Katy, beautiful Katy,
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore;
When the m-m-m-moon shines,
Over the c-c-c-cowshed,
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door
My mum's parents used to sing this to me in the kitchen of their house on West 1st (brings a little tear to my eye to hear it actually). It always reminds me of fun family times in the kitchen. My grandparents had a lot of parties, and as in most houses, the kitchen was where the action was, often in the form of cards and rum and cokes. It was a great place to be a kid. Thanks to my grandmother's British background, it wasn't always the greatest place for food...but my mum has more than made up for any British-cooking induced childhood trauma, and she remains a kitchen inspiration to me now.
So, thank you for following me, and I hope you enjoy reading about these adventures as much as I enjoy undertaking them!
My front door - closest to kitchen door I could get ;)
My mum's parents used to sing this to me in the kitchen of their house on West 1st (brings a little tear to my eye to hear it actually). It always reminds me of fun family times in the kitchen. My grandparents had a lot of parties, and as in most houses, the kitchen was where the action was, often in the form of cards and rum and cokes. It was a great place to be a kid. Thanks to my grandmother's British background, it wasn't always the greatest place for food...but my mum has more than made up for any British-cooking induced childhood trauma, and she remains a kitchen inspiration to me now.
So, thank you for following me, and I hope you enjoy reading about these adventures as much as I enjoy undertaking them!
My front door - closest to kitchen door I could get ;)
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