The Fruits of my Labour

If you would have told me back in the days of our travels to the Okanagan Valley every summer when we had the dubious task of helping mom prepare fruit for canning that I would actually one day plan to spend a whole week of my summer vacations do just that and more, I would have told you that you were crazy. 

My mother actually possesses a picture somewhere of my sister and I looking so unimpressed surrounded by boxes of fruit (peaches if I remember correctly) while we had to blanch and peel them one by one for her to make Brandied Peaches and can them.  I loved the end results but really truly hated the time it took and being forced to participate in an activity that I really didn't want to. Didn't she realize that I would much rather have spent the time in my best friend's back yard swimming pool in the summer time? Really, mothers just don't get it.

Now here I am finishing up my summer vacation time and this week I have canned cherries, made and canned cherry pie filling, canned peaches, made dill pickles and pickled carrots and a batch of salsa.  I have also made ravioli from scratch (which is an entry for another day).

I love my job and the people I work with but I am so not ready to go back to work. There is so much that I could still be doing at home.  My favorite thing in the whole world to do is to take care of my family. Especially the cooking part - cleaning, not so much fun. I often wish I could have been a homemaker for all of the past 17 years. 

I was blessed to be able to stay at home for 4 years right after my son was born.  I enjoyed that time so much, but alas, it is extremely difficult to live on one income anymore so I went back to work full-time.  At least I have vacation time to fully enjoy taking care of my family. 

Further adventures from my kitchen - Baked Ziti

Kevin, my most wonderful husband was watching "The Sopranos" and they mentioned Baked Ziti a number of times so he turns to me and says, "I don't know what it is, but I want it".

His wish being my joy to fufill off I go to look up recipes and then make up my own twist.  YUUUUUMMMMYYYY!  I don't think I will ever do Lasagne again because this is so much better

Here's the recipe:

Baked Ziti

1 (16oz) package of dry ziti pasta (if you can't find ziti use penne)
1 pound extra lean ground beef
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
Steak spice, salt & pepper to tasted
2 (28oz) jars spaghetti sauce (I used Ragu original)
6 oz sliced provolone cheese
6 oz sliced mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, drain

2.  In a large pot/skillet, brown beef over medium heat. Add onions and garlic saute until tender. drain off fat and add spaghetti sauce; simmer for about 15 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C)
4.  (This dish is supposed to be layered but the 9X13 pan isn't big enough so I just made a single layer in 2 separate pans and froze one for another day but if you have a lasagne pan big enough go ahead and layer.)  In a lightly greased 9X13 pan put a bit of the meat sauce so noodles don't stick. Place 1/2 of the pasta; top with a layer of provolone and mozzarella cheese slices. Spread on a layer of half the spaghetti sauce mixture and sour cream.  If layering add remaining pasta, cheese and sauce; sprinkle a layer of parmesan cheese and then top with the fresh basil
5.  Bake in preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until cheese and sauce are bubbly.  Let sit for a couple of minutes to set and serve.

Morroccan Chicken with Couscous

After watching a cooking show my husband blurts out that he would really like to try couscous.  I have never made it and don't generally cook dishes from the area of the world that it comes from so know nothing about what to serve it with.  My darling husband said that he wanted to challenge me.  Onto my favorite research mechanism - online - I go.  I found this recipe for Morroccan Chicken.  So yummy. I might tweak it a bit the next time but really not sure how at this time, but I usually modify things after making them a time or two.  This one was pretty good fresh, but was better after it sat for a while, even a few hours.  It thickened up a bit and the flavours developed a little more.  I think it could use a bit more of something but can't quite put my finger on what just yet.

Here's the recipe if you are interested:

Morroccan Chicken with Couscous

1 cup couscous

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 bay leaves

5 whole cloves

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp turmeric

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

6 chicken breasts, chopped

16 oz can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

16 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 liter chicken stock

2 carrots, chopped

1 zucchini, chopped

Salt (to taste)

1.     Prepare couscous according to package

2.    Heat oil in large pot over medium heat, cook onion and garlic until tender. Mix in spices.  Place chicken pieces in pot and cook until browned.

3.    Pour in beans/peas, tomatoes & broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes.

4.    Mix in carrots and zucchini and cook until tender.

5.    Remove bay leaves and serve over prepared couscous

Further adventures from my kitchen - Italian Wedding Soup

My son plays baseball and for games during the week he has to be at the diamond for 5:30 (or as close as we can possibly make it).  This is not an easy feat with not getting home from work until 4:30, having to eat and pick up a teammate and get to the diamond in Calgary rush hour traffic.  Needless to say this necessitates *gasp* pre-made food on game days.  Last week I wanted something a little different from the things that I would normally pick up so I picked up a can (I know, horrible for me to make canned soup, but what are you gonna do) of Italian Wedding Soup.  I have never had it before and someone I work with has talked about and seems to really like it so I thought I would give it a shot.  It was ok, I was really not that impressed with it but it would do.  My hubby seemed to like it and figured I would be able to make it way better.

On Saturday I grabbed my cookbooks (I have them, I just never use them) to see if I had an actual recipe for this soup.  Not one of my books had it (surprising seeing as one of them is a soup cookbook).  I really wasn't planning on making it that day but when my hunny asked what I was doing he thought it sounded like a wonderful idea for supper.  I went online and did some research as to what went into this soup so that I could make it.  Like all recipes there are 1,000 variations of it but all of them had common ingredients so I went with the simple common ingredients and then twisted it my way.  Didn't even come close to the canned version.  It was AMAZING!!!  Probably the most amazing soup that I have ever made, which is really saying something because my chicken vegetable soup is awfully good.

Here is the recipe:

Italian Wedding Soup (Miranda’s version)

1 cup orzo

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb fresh chicken sausage (I used Spolumbo's Spicy Chicken Sausage)

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

2 boxes low sodium chicken stock

Sea salt, to taste

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 5-oz bag baby spinach, chopped

2 small zucchini, cut bite size pieces

1 large shallot, chopped fine

1)     In a large pot cook orzo in water until al dente, drain and rinse in cold water.  Set aside

2)    Cut the casing off of the sausage and form into small bite-sized meatballs.

3)    In soup pot heat oil until shimmering, add the meatballs and cook over med-high until lightly browned (about 4 mins).  Transfer meatballs to a plate.  Add more oil if necessary.  Add garlic, shallot and zucchini to the pot and sauté for a couple of minutes.  Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add meatballs and simmer until cooked through – about 5 minutes.

4)    Add chopped spinach and cooked orzo and cook stirring until spinach is wilted and soup is hot.

Old Friends

An old friend sent me an email through Facebook a couple of weeks ago that said simply "Ever notice how sometimes you think of the past and, BANG, you're right back there?"  I thought it was very profound and so true.  I have been journeying back through memories (fond ones) of Jr. High ever since. 

It has been 30 years since I have seen or heard from this person (and another that contacted me through this one). When I sat down to think about it - that is 2/3 of my lifetime.  Woah!  How did so much time get away from me.  These two individuals were such good friends in Jr. High but they went to different high schools than I did and we lost touch so quickly (as happens so often when one goes to a different school, different job, different church). Why do we not maintain relationships with people unless they are right in our faces?  Why is it so difficult to reach out and communicate with people that we actually like to be around?  I just don't understand that.

We are designed to need people and we all have people we love, people we like and love to be around and people who we maybe don't want to spend too much time with.  And yet when people are in our lives we don't maybe appreciate them as much as we should.  And when a circumstance makes it so that you no longer get to see them day to day they just slip quietly away and your relationship becomes a distant memory.  I have seen this time and again with the people I was soooo close to in school, people that I worked with when I left the job, the people who left the church that I was attending and then the people left behind when I left.  So many close, close friendships disolved into the mist of fond memories.  Where did they all go? What happened?  Why did they stop phoning me and spending time with me?

I will never have those answers. I don't call as often as I should either. I am sure that there are people that think the same of me - why did she stop calling me? Truth is I have never been a good caller - most of the time I am a callee and love it when people contact me.  I need to change that about myself.  I can't sit at home and wonder where all my friends are when I don't contact them either. 

I have been having a lot of fun getting caught up with these 2 individuals through Facebook.  I'm surprised that they haven't become famous rock stars or something but have just quietly been walking the journey that has been set before them, much like I have (although their journeys are very different from mine).  I love reconnecting with people that I haven't talked to for a long time.