Archive for the 'sandwiches' Category
And a new toilet. Mike and I installed one our very own selves. (Since then, Mike has been running around the house in slow-mo – arms in the air, singing We Are the Champions. We planned to do it at around dinnertime, knowing that our handy neighbours would be home around then in case we needed backup (we did, due to our 100 year old house’s extremely wonky floors).
After, we drank cold Strongbow with our friends/neighbours on the lawn as our assorted toddlers played with pushy things and W tormented one of their cats. And when we finally came inside it was pushing 8, so W had Raisin Bran and dried apricots, and I cooked up some bison bacon I had bought earlier specifically for the occasion of a perfectly ripe, buttery avocado, and turned both into sandwiches on toasted grainy bread. Bison bacon is very lean – much like back bacon, only leaner, and quite salty. A perfect pairing with soft avocado.
So – straight to Free Stuff Friday. To preface: I emceed Speak Out 2009 this afternoon, an event downtown in Olympic Plaza with celebrated the disabled, with a pride parade down Stephen Avenue. It was hot, and there was a great lunchtime turnout. W splashed in the enormous wading pool and flicked his feet in the fountains.
At one point, I was chatting with my Mom (who helped organize the event) and a volunteer, who had just been approached by a young boy who gave her six dollars. His grade 8 class was doing a “pay it forward” project; we later noticed that kids were wandering around handing out flowers and such. She was then supposed to pay it forward, so she gave the six dollars to my Mom. We kind of looked at each other and said, so.. what? This six dollars gets passed from person to person until someone finally pockets it? And why six dollars? It was a nice but slightly odd gesture; the volunteer was not visibly in need of financial help – there were certainly a few people around the downtown plaza who could have used a few dollars. But it seemed to me like an interesting opportunity to try to do something more. And it just so happened to occur on a Friday.
There have been a few suggestions to hold a tagline (or header art) contest here, with the prize being whatever I had on offer for Free Stuff Fridays – great idea. But this seems more important than a blog header.
So – what can be done with six dollars? I invite you all to make suggestions – you are a creative lot – and I will carry out the idea that seems most inventive or can do the most good. The winner will get the Free Stuff Fridays loot, which I am keeping secret. (Who knows – maybe more stuff will make its way into the loot bag as people pay it forward?) And I’d like to request that everyone reading this do something small to pay it forward in response to this young boy’s six dollars. If you do, post it here (so that would count as two entries – one comment for the idea, if you have one, and another for the good deed). Next week I’ll give the school principal a call, or write his teacher a letter, outlining all that came of the six dollars – it’s a great opportunity to illustrate to this grade 8 class how one action among strangers can create a domino effect in more directions than one. Don’t you think?
One Year Ago: Alphabet Wedding Soup
May 29 2009 | sandwiches | 41 Comments »
Made high tea today for donors attending the Family of Hope Tea at the Alberta Children’s Hospital; wee sandwiches with the crusts cut off, lemon scones with berry jam and cream, my Mom’s nut balls, vanilla bean meringues and lemon curd tartlets. I made it home (through rush hour) by 5, but after milling about with the neighbours out front it was suddenly 6, and so we had the last of the egg salad for dinner.
Egg salad, in my opinion, must be eaten on soft white bread, spread with soft butter. Crusty bread and rolls are the natural enemy of egg salad, causing it to squirt out the other end upon biting. All teas must have small sandwiches, and among them must be egg salad and cucumber (I did mine with chives and fresh mint from the garden), but plain old egg salad, though I love it, seemed dull. So along with the mayo I stirred in a bit of curry paste (powder would work as well), a handful of finely chopped red pepper, tore in some cilantro and snipped in some chives. It was pretty fine, if I do say so myself. Luckily, having made a batch using 18 eggs, there was enough left over.
For dessert – now here is an example of how a few sad leftovers quickly reassembled turned into something that when you describe it sounds downright fancy – I had a few extra lemon biscuits (or scones – pretty much the same thing – scones tend to be sweeter and denser, with an egg added, but these are sweet too – scones without the density and egg?) and a bit of whipped cream, but no berries save for frozen wild blueberries. So I thawed them with a drizzle of maple syrup and swirled that into the small dish of leftover cream, which had sort of deflated after several hours, and then got a bit watered down from the juicy berries and maple syrup, and made a kind of fool, albeit a sloppy one. A sloppy fool on a flaky bun. You are what you eat, I guess.
Large-Batch Lemon Biscuits/Scones
I used a small biscuit cutter to make mine, but the open end of a tomato paste can is perfect. Or for square scones, which look very cool, simply cut them into squares using a pastry cutter or knife. If you like, add fresh or frozen blueberries as you stir the milk into the dry ingredients – if they are frozen don’t thaw them, or they will turn your dough greenish and wet.
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2/3 cup butter, cut into chunks (I used roughly a third of a pound of butter for each of three batches – it doesn’t have to be exact)
1 cup milk, plus a little extra for brushing on top
coarse sugar, for sprinkling (optional)
In the bowl of a food processor (or a large bowl), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Add the butter and pulse or work with a pastry cutter, fork or your fingers until the mixture is well combined and crumbly, with bits of butter no bigger than a pea – you want to leave some larger bits, rather than blending it completely – the larger chunks are what will make them flaky.
If you used a food processor (this is my favourite way) – dump the mixture into a bowl. Add the milk and stir just until you have a soft dough (you may need to use your hands). Pat the dough out about 3/4″ thick and cut into small rounds with a biscuit cutter, glass or open can rim, or a knife. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick spray, spacing them an inch apart. If you like, brush the tops lightly with milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 30-35 biscuits.
Header update: Thanks, really, for all your input. The cookies were a place holder really, I didn’t want to spend too much time on this if the consensus was a big thumbs-down. I thought I’d use this template and do up several with different images, and then add some sort of plug-in to make them automatically rotate. Or change it altogether. Or something.
Any thoughts on a different tag line? Some of you may have mentioned in passing that it’s stale and cookbooky, which is definitely not what I want to portray. You all know this site better than me even, being on the other side of the screen.
It’s difficult to encapsulate yourself in a graphic design format, particularly when a) you’re not a graphic designer and b) you can’t figure out this stupid new computer program. And yes, it had occurred to me to call an artist/graphic designer friend (and I’ve had some offers- thank you!) for help, but I wouldn’t want to presume that dinner might be a fair trade for their time and skill. Plus – graphic designers all have their own sense of style too. What if they don’t jive? I’ve worked with many (not friends!) that came up with things I just didn’t like, or that didn’t quite grasp what I wanted. Of course, I don’t even know what I want, except that it be hip/fun/current/usable as a header with elements that could be used on their own for a logo. Like a header transformer. I would hate to not like what they do, or be ultra high-maintenance and force them to do a dozen different things and then go back to the first, or change my mind and do something completely different. I don’t want to be one of those people.
One Year Ago: Tim’s Everything Bagel, Old Cheddar Cheese
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May 28 2009 | cookies & squares and eggs and sandwiches | 51 Comments »
I haven’t been fully awake since arriving in Tofino, but haven’t managed to sleep much either. I’ve been hanging on the edge of full consciousness, spaced out, feeling like I could curl up and sleep for two days. In this state I’ve had little interest in cooking despite the fresh air and open kitchen, and haven’t prepared anything beyond oatmeal for breakfast and toast with peanut butter. If my Mom wasn’t here, I’m sure I’d let myself live on eggs on toast and spoonfuls of peanut butter all week. I think I may have coming-home syndrome, something I’m not all too familiar with having spent the majority of my adult life in the same city as my parents, and as such not really ever having the opportunity to really come home to the house I grew up in to stay and sleep and be cooked for and taken care of, an experience I always envy when my friends go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. When I walked in the door here I almost (very unexpectedly) burst into tears of relief, partially because it was just me and my Mom and Dad (and W, of course… nothing against Mike or my sisters, brother in law, nieces and nephews – it was a riot spending a week here last year with all 13 of us, but you know how that kind of “vacation” can be) and partly because although it’s a brand-new house, not yet finished, it smelled exactly like my grandparents’ house on the Detroit river in Windsor, something my Mom could not detect and I still can’t explain.
Today, after coffee and muffins at the Earth Day festivities in the park and ice cream cones in town, we spent hours at Chesterman Beach, digging channels in the sand for water to run between tide pools and open ocean, walking in the wind, climbing on rocks, and came home too tired to bother with anything more than what we could scrounge around the kitchen. My mom made bacon sandwiches spread with guacamole left over from dinner out before we arrived. And more toast with peanut butter.
But this evening we were invited to the neighbour’s living room for a partial dress rehearsal of Annie, Get Your Gun, which said neighbours, who are in their late eighties, are performing in the upcoming talent show in two weeks. They promised popcorn and beer, but we decided to doctor up a wedge of brie to bring along. With limited pantry stores my Mom spread the brie with marmalade and topped it with chopped walnuts, which we (OK, she) toasted in a skillet with a little butter, salt and pepper. We popped it into the oven while changing into something a little less slovenly, and it was quite phenomenal.
And now here it is after 11 (midnight in Calgary) and the whole house is asleep; I should be too, but there is the small matter of this blog, and part of me really wants to sneak outside and lie on the deck and look at the stars. Then again, there was a rather large chew mark in the garbage bin this morning, that I’m quite sure was not managed by squirrels.
Hey, I’m not really one for horoscopes, but I met Georgia Nicols in the green room at Vicki Gabereau years ago (remember the Vicki Gabereau Show?) and I just really liked her a lot. The January after we met she emailed me my horoscope for the year, and it was surprisingly accurate, and not in the vague way so many horoscopes are, and so I subscribed to her weekly email-out. I just got it. Want to hear what she has to say for me (Scorpio) this week?
Before I say anything, get more sleep. The Sun is as far away from your sign as it gets all year, and the Sun is your source of energy. Your tush is dragging! Pamper yourself and get more rest…
That Georgia is so smart. I think I may just start living by my horoscope.
One Year Ago: PB Banana Wrap and a Latte
April 26 2009 | sandwiches | 17 Comments »
I pulled a pound of ground (Galloway beef from Second to None meats) out of the freezer last night with no real plans for it. Tonight, after painting a bowl as part of the Empty Bowls Benefit for the Calgary Inter-faith Food Bank and coming home with no dinner plan, I noticed half bag of Italian buns in the breadbox and got a sudden urge for sloppy Joes. It seems to me the penultimate working weeknight family meal. (With peas.)
When I was a kid, sloppy Joes were about as close as to a burgers as we got. Closer even than the made-from-scratch burgers my dad made out of extra-lean ground beef and oat bran (in approximately equal quantities) which I called sawdust burgers and which discouraged my friends from staying for dinner. Now it is becoming evident that I am in fact turning into my Dad, as I do things like bring bagels and cheese to the zoo (instead of buying food there) and am excited to tell you how easy it is to sneak ground flaxseed into things like sloppy Joes – anything with chunky texture, like chili or spaghetti sauce, makes a good candidate. It seems I have developed a taste for frugality as well as grainy breads.
I’m sure their sweetness was a big part of the reason I loved SJs so much – between the ketchup and brown sugar, it’s sweet, saucy meat on a bun. Although a soft bun is considered the classic vehicle, sloppy Joes are phenomenal on split cheese biscuits or a thick wedge of cheddar beer bread.
Sloppy Joes
a drizzle of canola or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lb. lean ground beef or bison
1 14 oz. (398 mL) can diced, whole or stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup ketchup or barbecue sauce, or some of each
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
soft buns, cheese buns, plain or cheese biscuits
Heat the oil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat and sauté the onion, celery, red pepper and garlic for about 10 minutes, until the onions are starting to turn golden. Add the meat and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking it up as you cook, until the meat is no longer pink.
Add the tomatoes, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 20-30 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. Split the buns or biscuits in half and ladle the sloppy Joe mixture on top. Serves 4-6.
One Year Ago: Peanut Noodles (weird!)
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April 15 2009 | beef and freezable and sandwiches | 12 Comments »
Good news: I think I’ve found my new favourite way to eat broccoli.
We had a head in the fridge that needed out of its misery. I briefly pondered broccoli-cheese soup or Classy Chicken… I don’t dislike broccoli, but I must say I’m rarely inspired by it. I’ll eat it on a veg & dip platter, mostly because those little trees can hang on to a lot of dip and I feel virtuous for it. (The broccoli part, not so much the dip.)
I was pondering the fact that my favourite way to cook vegetables is to roast them, and yet I’ve never roasted broccoli. I’ve never heard of anyone else roasting it, either. (Which is not to say it hasn’t been done – I’m certain it has!) So I cut it into fairly small florets and the stalk into chunks, tossed them with oil, spread them out on a baking sheet and roasted them at 450F for about 20 minutes.
Then I grated a bit of fresh Parmesan over the lot and put them back in for 5 minutes or so. It could be that I was ravenous, and actually held off nibbling while I cooked dinner (patting myself on the back counts as excercise, doesn’t it?), but it was the best broccoli I think I’ve ever had. (Which I realize you’ll have to take my word for considering this photo.) Next time I think I’ll add garlic.
While it was roasting I made quesadillas. Which I know are so last year, but we had a surplus of whole wheat tortillas, a baggie of leftover chopped chicken and a small chunk of old cheddar – just enough to glue them together but not enough to indulge. Normally I would have opened a can of black beans, but I had some of those Canton beans seasoned with garlic, onion and peppers and so added them to the filling, and then when they were gooey and crisp, scooped up as much salsa as each wedge would structurally tolerate. We each ate one folded quesadilla (by that I mean made with one tortilla rather than two) and then I had to go distract myself while my stomach caught up to my brain – once I get going I could easily graze straight through from late afternoon until bedtime.
But I didn’t. Yay me.
(Don’t think that my choice to use flour tortillas means they are somehow healthier than other types of bread – Atkins had us believe that wraps were a low carb choice, but in fact they are just unleavened bread – imaging rolling a slice of sandwich bread flat with a rolling pin. It would be nice if they were freebies, but they’re not.)
In other news, apparently I actually did have the Norwalk virus (which I think sounds far more dramatic just on account of its having a title – stomach flu doesn’t quite have the same ring to it) on Monday. Which explains why I thought I just might die right there in the loo. And which makes me ponder whom I came in contact with over the past week – Health Canada says I’ll remain contagious for a minimum of 3-4 days (and up to 2 weeks) after being symptom-free. So does that mean I can’t go to the gym and sweat all over everything for the next few days? Or even weeks? Damn.
(Can dogs get the Norwalk virus? Because as I sit and type this Lou has been intermittently and politely getting down off the couch and quietly ejecting vast quantities of soupy brown tire bits all over the floor.)
January 07 2009 | sandwiches and snacks and veg | 14 Comments »
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