Foodie Nightmare: A Tonsillectomy-Day 5

Still full of tonsils at a lunch full of flavour and texture

After years of snoring and recurrent throat infections, a doctor has finally ripped out my tonsils. After surgery, the doctor states, "your tonsils were pretty bad.  They were like the tonsils of a 16 year old who has had recurring throat infections".  I don't know what he means by this, but I wish the rest of my body was like my 16 year old self.  The hope is that by removing my tonsils, which were quite large, that my snoring would stop and I wouldn't be as sick as often.  P's hope was that I wouldn't speak for two weeks. but unfortunately for him  I can still talk and will be using my time off to remind P of this... bwahahahahah.

I read various websites and blogs about people's experience of getting their tonsils out.  Most people's experiences mirrored mine, with the exception of one person who wrote that the pain is worse than giving birth.  Having never given birth, I can't compare the two, but personally, the idea of your body expelling a watermelon sized human out of an ankle sock opening sounds a little more painful than getting your tonsils out.  At least you're knocked out when you have your tonsils removed.  In my dream world, I'm also knocked out when I give birth and when I wake up, the child is potty trained and is able to tell me what it wants in grammatically proper English.  They also have a job and pay rent.

My throat, in particular the left side, feels bruised and tender.  Like a cold that just won't quit.  The pain travels to my left ear and causes it to hurt when I swallow.  I haven't reached the dreaded days 5-7 which is supposedly the worse in terms of pain because that's when the scabs begin to fall off and expose sensitive new flesh.  I'm down to just taking plain Tylenol and only taking Tylenol 3 before bedtime and maybe before a meal depending on what the meal is.  I find that the side effects of Tylenol 3 and antibiotics are worse than the pain itself.   I'm glugging down tons of ice water to help ease the pain and keep my mouth moist.  My skin looks fantastic because of it.

Ton-Ton still makes my heart flutter

Day 1 (day of surgery)- I remember waking up from the surgery in the recovery room and telling the nurse that I dreamt during the operation, which was a complete lie.  Drugs make me silly.  The nurse asks me if I would like something for the pain.  I sloppily answer no, but yes just in case the pain gets worse later.  The nurse has no clue what to make of this response and gives me something anyhow.  I hear the nurses speak to the other patients about the oxycodone that has been prescribed to them.  I sit there envious and bitter that I was only given Tylenol 3 for my pain, but also know that I have a high pain tolerance, so probably won't be taking the Tylenol 3 much.  I'm staying over at my parents house so as to not disturb P in the middle of the night if I have pain, nausea, or assistance getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  I could barely eat after the surgery.  Not because of pain, but because of the nausea from the anesthetic and taking Tylenol 3 on an empty stomach.  I laid there watching an 80's Filipino movie that had my childhood crush Ton Ton Gutierrez...be still my beating heart.  80's Filipino movies are full of mullets, porn mustaches, and bad acting.  I fantasize meeting Ton Ton being older and a woman now and how it might go down.  This cheered me up somewhat so I pushed myself to have a bit of jello.  I hate jello with a passion because there's no texture.  I could barely eat it and gave up.  Ate a raspberry popsicle with seeds in it.  Spent most the evening chugging water to flush down the seeds.

Day 2- My sister and the Put-Puts came over.  R2.0 buys me a vanilla soft-serve.  Put-put #1 and I both have raspberry popsicles as well and we cheers each other repeatedly as if we're at a pub.  I try mashed red potatoes with sour cream and gravy for dinner but leave the skin on.  Bad idea.  I spend this evening chugging water to flush down little bits of potato skin.

Day 3-I return home.  A bad day in terms of pain, but I manage to get cooked rice and a soft boiled egg down.  I proceed to eat two strawberry popsicles and an ice cream sandwich.  P and I watch episode after episode of Breaking Bad.  My Dad proceeds to tell us the ending of Breaking Bad while we are watching despite  warnings and being told to be quiet in two different languages (English and Filipino) from myself and my Mom.  He actually spoke louder and faster to drown out our objections and described in great detail the finale, supplemented by hand actions and sound effects how the final episode goes down. I think he added the ending was a great surprise to him.  It wasn't for us.  My sister also ruined the ending of The Sixth Sense.  Seems to run in my family.

Day 4-P makes me crepes to see if that can entice me to eat.  It does!  I eat it with greek yogurt and raspberry jam.  Head to my friend's to get a little bit of social interaction and fresh air.  Remembering from my nursing school days, the sooner your mobilize, the better you recover.  There are chips, other appies, and chili with corn bread because it was Grey Cup.  I feel my heart breaking.  Hardest part is that my body feels fine, but I can barely eat and can only speak for a short period of time.  Boil the bejesus out of pasta and have it with butter and a bit of parmesan cheese for dinner.  Not good parmesan cheese.  That crappy white powder stuff they call "parmesan cheese".  Made boxed chocolate cake which is fluffy and soft enough for me to eat.

Eating popsicles, ice-cream, and mushy soft food has since gotten old.  Give me texture, flavour, and complexity! Give me something savoury as well.  I've been taking liquid Tylenol and antibiotics, both of which are sweet.  Enough already!

So here's the challenge I gave myself (mostly to cure the boredom of sitting at home doing nothing): to make soft, mushy food that is full of flavour and keeps me interested and motivated to get through this.

Today's recipe:

Curried Carrot, Apple, and Ginger Soup

(Adapted from Farm Girl's Curried Carrot and Apple Soup)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1-2 medium/large apples, peeled, cored, and diced (I used Granny Smith)

2 lbs carrots, diced

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

2 tsp yellow curry powder

1 tsp cumin powder

2 bay leafs 

2 tbsp ginger (approx 2 inch pieces)

4 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup cream (I used evaporated milk)

Heat oil in a soup pot on medium heat. Saute onion in oil till soft.  Add curry, cumin and bay leaf.  Cook for a minute or two to let the spices toast. 

 
Add carrots, garlic, potatoes, ginger, and apples and stir to combine.  Pour in chicken broth (be sure to scrape the goody bits of toasted spices on the bottom of the pot).  Cover and bring to a boil.  Once it boils, turn down heat to low and let simmer for approximately 15-30 minutes (depending on how thick your veggies are cut) until potatoes, carrots, and apples are soft.  

It smells soooooooo good at this point

Take out bay leaves.  Take a hand held blender and blend until smooth.  Alternatively, you can label portions of the soup into a blender and blend until smooth (be careful!  Do small portions at a time and hold the lid down firmly with a towel so it doesn't blow up in your face).  Return to pot (if using a blender).  Add cream and heat through.  Season to taste.

Let me take you to Flavour Town!

I popped some Tylenol 3s before eating.  I let the soup cool a bit before eating it as well.    Hot food=pain.  Tasting flavour was a bit of a shock at first.  This soup is quite tasty.  Toasting the spices makes a difference than just dumping everything into a pot.  Toasting brings out the flavour of the spices.  There's a bit of sweetness from the carrots and apple.  The apple also added a bit of acidity, but not too much to cause stinging pain.  I didn't peel the carrots having no energy or patience.  It was going to be blended into a puree anyhow.  You don't need to add the cream/evaporated milk because the potato adds body and creaminess to the soup.  Plus, I read that dairy can sometimes make the congestion after a tonsillectomy worse, but I haven't had a problem with this yet so I put it in.  P says it's not too bad, as per usual.  However he does add the caveat that he'll eat some tomorrow.  Success! 

Sigh!  I've been pinning food recipes like crazy on Pinterest to pass the time away.  But it only adds to my misery since I know I can't eat any of it until some time has passed. I've also contemplated picking up crocheting again.  P says maybe I can finish up the baby blanket I started when J told us that she was pregnant.  Peter's nephew is going to be 2 in May.  Yikes! 

 

This is going to be a long week.  Let's see what tomorrow brings.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and diced small
2 lbs carrots, peeled and diced small (about 8 large)
2 teaspoons yellow curry powder
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup fat-free half and half
Read more at http://www.farmgirlgourmet.com/2011/11/secret-recipe-club-curried-carrot-apple.html#rjjGQ62TuXeuEcH8.99

Bread: A Journey

I love baguettes.  Nothing serves as a better vehicle for delicious soft brie cheese, butter and homemade jam, yummy charcuterie, or pretty much anything.  I love using it for sandwiches with my favorite sandwich on a baguette being the Banh Mi, the uber delicious Vietnamese sandwich (and also a favorite economical choice since most Banh Mi sandwiches go for less than $5 at most Vietnamese joints).

So when I saw that the City of Vancouver was offering a baguette class, I jumped at the chance to learn how to make it.  I also convinced two other social workers, J.W. and C.P. (C.P. took a sourdough starter class with me previously) to join me in my madness since I'm tired of being the lonely heart at these classes.

A real legit conversation between me and J.W. days before the class.
J.W.: I think I may wear a beret to the class but it may look weird.
Me:  I say wear it.  Or wear a black and white striped shirt.  I'll smoke cigarettes and wear a scarf during the class.
J.W.:  Hahahahah
Me: You bring a bike with a picnic basket on the front.  
J.W.:  I know a little bit of French too.  Allons-y!  Mais oui!
Me: I know a bit of French because I took it until grade 12 to be with a boy that I liked.  Mon dieu!  Sacre bleu! I know some French swear words too.
J.W.: Well you know more than me.

The class was small (there were four of us) with me not being the lonely heart.  What what!  We learned how to roll our the baguettes with pre-made dough and learned how to make our own dough.  The kneading part was definitely the best part. We learned a kneading technique called slap and fold.  Here's a video on this technique (since I couldn't film myself doing it):

It definitely qualifies as a great stress reliever (What's that P?  I can't buy that dress? Slap and fold!).  Due to my enthusiasm, the dough almost falls on my head and other times would brush my hairline.  Due to C.P.'s enthusiasm, some end up on her face.  J.W. also confirms that some almost ended up in her hair.


Some tips I learned:

-Measuring by weight rather than by mL's will make a difference in the quality of your product so it's a good idea to buy a kitchen scale.

-To simulate those wood fired stone/brick ovens and enhance the quality of your bread, take unglazed ceramic tiles and bake your bread on them.  I have gone to two places and have yet to find these tiles.

-Steam is key when making bread.  According to  The Kitchn website, bread will rise rapidly as gas is expelled and the yeast have a final burst of activity.  The steam keeps the outside crust soft so the bread can continue to expand.  As well, the water dissolves the sugar in the dough.  Once the water evaporates, the sugar carmelizes making it that beautiful brown color.  To outfit your oven for steam, take some good rocks from your garden (clean them obviously) put them in a roasting pan.  Put the whole thing in your oven to heat up while your oven heats.  Right before you put in your bread, pour a cup of water on the rocks and then quickly put your bread in.  Voila a steamy sexy sauna for your bread reminiscent of the sauna of the bizzare Korean spa I went to with two of my girlfriends (we wore bathing suits while everyone was naked!).  That story is for another day.

We made so many baguettes that day that I go home with four of them.  J.W. and I stop at Cioffi's, an Italian deli to pick up some lovely charcuterie and cheese to eat with our baguettes.  I decide to go with some delicious Italian salami and porchetta and to honor the country of the baguette, a French cheese (brie).

I follow the steps that we did in the class with the dough I brought home.  But, like a doofus, I forgot to slash my baguettes, thus it didn't have that characteristic slashed appearance.  But, it still tasted quite good.

So now I'm obsessed with making bread.  It's not just about slapping some flour, water, and yeast together.  It's a FREAKING SCIENCE.  Some people spend years perfecting their formula for bread.  Chad Robertson, author of Tartine Bread (a cookbook I am obsessed with but refusing to buy until I've worked through my other cookbook The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread by Peter Reinhart) spent time in France working with master bakers and learning their craft.  How romantic!  P would say "how nerdy".  I don't have that time or money but have decided to take on this journey wholeheartedly...in my tiny apartment.

A Surprise "Roaring 20's" 30th Birthday

It was both R2.0 (recall she is my sister) and my sister in law's J's 30th birthdays this month so quite the special birthdays.  I wanted to make both birthdays special for my sisters. J was also my friend even before I started dating P.

As a side story, R2.0 and J are BFF's from high school and it is essentially through them that I first became friends with P and then eventually the greatest love story known to man (at least in my opinion).  I try not to give them too much credit (hee hee) but the truth is we all went to the same high school and P and I were like ships in the night, only greeting each other awkwardly and having friendly conversation when social context forced us to (i.e. his locker was by my friend's locker).

However, one day J came over after school to hang out at our house and later that evening, her ride came to pick her up.  At this point, both P and I had graduated high school and I never put another thought to him as I went on a bender of crazy boy crushes at college.  This night, I answered the door and there stood P.  Both of us taken by surprised that the other was standing there (which was stupid because we both knew that our sister's were BFF's).  Forced into another social situation, we awkwardly greeted one another and while J gathered her stuff and me hating awkward silence, I started a full on conversation with P.  P proved to be a kind fellow and quite interesting.  At the end of it, I told him we should continue to climb up a ladder of friendship to become better friends to which he agreed.  Awkward!

As P and my friendship continued to blossom, R2.0 and J would go on to gush about how P and I should get together.  Not because they wanted us to find happiness with one another or that we were meant to be together, but to become real sisters.  I told them they were crazy all the while tucking this theory into my heart to consider for another day.

Long story short, P and I continued to climb this awkward friendship ladder (with one ex-boyfriend and two ex-girlfriends side tracking us) and you know the rest...onto the food!

For J's 30th Birthday, P, P's youngest sister M, J's husband D, and I planned a surprise birthday party.  Because I heart food so much, I voluntarily put myself on food committee.  P by default also got placed on food committee.  Funnily enough, we had committees for everything: Parking, Hair, Fact Checking, Logistics and Decorations, Cake, etc.  M and I created these committees to the dismay of P who, in the end, ended up on every committee. 

I must say I'm pretty proud of myself that I didn't spill the beans.  I'm known in my clumsiness to sometimes blurb things out.  I spilled the beans a few times about P's surprise 30th Star Trek themed birthday but P doesn't listen to me anyhow so was uber clueless about his birthday. 

A real conversation about deciding the theme during an impromptu committees meeting on the phone:
P and me to M: What's the theme for J's birthday?
M: I don't know...Masquerade? Maybe a 1930's theme? Like the Roaring 20's but 1930's instead.
R:  But the Great Depression happened during the 1930's.
M: Yikes! We don't want to say your 30's are depressing.
R: They can be.
P: What about Nerds vs. Gangsters?
R: Dooooooon't that may be your birthday theme for your next birthday
M: Let's go with the 1920's like The Great Gatsby. 

Okay so it's not verbatim, but you get the gist.


I got warned multiple times by P and M not to go overboard as per usual because it wasn't a dinner party, but a snack-y party and it wasn't going to be huge with just her closest friends and family.  My logical self said to relax, but my Filipino mama self said "you don't have enough food and your guests will starve thus bringing shame upon our family".

I also know J doesn't eat certain things like beef or pork, so had to plan around this.

A tentative menu I had planned out:
Turkey Asian Meatballs (usually I make this with pork)
Carmelized Onion, Mushrooms, Apples, and Cheddar Cheese on Puff Pastry Squares
Barefoot Contessa's Salmon Sandwiches
Veggie and Fruit Tray (standard tray bought at a deli)
Some chip and dips (bought at the store)
The real menu after realizing that I was being too ambitious as per usual:

Turkey Asian Meatballs
Caprese Bites
Barefoot Contessa's Salmon Sandwiches
Veggie and Fruit Tray (standard tray bought at a deli by D)
Some chip and dips (bought at the store by D)

 Dropped the puff pastry squares.  My oven can't handle too much food as exemplified by this photo of a turkey dinner I made for my friends:

A few glasses of wine and we came up with a solution to fit in some stuffing

The recipes:

The recipe for Asian Meatballs can be found here,  The original recipe is Asian Meatball Subs, but I have used this recipe for  appetizer meatballs without the bread and serve it with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce, Asian inspired sliders, and Asian inspired burgers with sriracha mayo (mayo plus sriracha to your taste).  Sometimes I just serve it with rice and some veggies.  My next idea is to use it as a filling for Filipino egg rolls called Lumpia.  I have used pork, turkey and ground chicken in this recipe.  For the milk, I sometimes substitute evaporated milk, especially when I'm using ground turkey or chicken since there's so little fat content.  I find that evaporated milk's creaminess keeps the meatballs moist.  I also add a little more than what the recipe calls for when using ground chicken and turkey.  Nobody likes a dry meatball.  Nobody.  I usually take a tablespoon measuring spoon and use that to shape the meatball.  I also  put them on a broiler pan and broil them instead of frying them.  Usually by the time they're brown on top, they're done (open one meatball to check).  A very versatile recipe.

Caprese Bites

 (This is basically idiot proof)

Cherry/Grape Tomatoes

Bocconcini Cheese (the pearl sized ones)

Fresh Basil Leaves

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar Reduction (I used Nonna Pia's)

Take basil leaves and depending on size, cut in half up the centre of the leaf using a good pair of sharp kitchen scissors (you don't want to bruise the basil leaf).  Then cut into bit size strips.  Or if they're small, leave them whole. 

Skewer one cherry/grape tomato, one strip of basil folded in half or one small leaf folded in half, and one bocconici cheese.  Repeat until you've used up all the cherry/grape tomatoes and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar reduction.

Well this idiot failed because I forgot salt and pepper but don't think it really needed it because the basil, olive oil, and especially the balsamic vinegar reduction packs plenty flavour.

For the salmon sandwich recipe, please refer back to my post on my sister's baby shower.  Used that recipe.

And yes, no photos.  Who has time to take photos when you've got a party to get to!

At one point, M called P to ask him to head over to J's house to decorate and I hear this unfold:

M: Hey are you coming back to J's to help decorate?

P: I'm trying to but R has me assembling salmon sandwiches.

M: What?  Wow.  These salmon sandwiches sound intense.

P:  I know.  As usual R has taken on more than she can handle.

Fair enough and partially true.    I actually made good time and planned quite well, but it was intense some parts of the day.  On the way to a stressful trip to Costco with my Dad (who took the most confusing, infuriating way), an idiot driver made a stupid move that resulted in me tucking inwards and protecting my head. Very intense.

Trying to channel my inner Nigella (Lawson), I wanted to do it all: make good food and look divine at the end of it.  Thanks to the other half of the food committee I was able to do so (in my humble opinion).

I think the committees did a great job and pulled it off!  J was authentically surprised and had a good time.  We had a photo booth (thanks to D and M of the Decorating and Logistic Committee), the turkey meatballs were a hit (thanks to the food committee), we were historically accurate (thanks to P of the Fact Checking Committee), our hair looked great (thanks to E of Hair Committee).  The parking could've been better (blame that on P's cousin K of the parking committee...just kidding.  Good job!). 

Here's some pics from the party:

Glam and glitter in keeping with the decadence of the 1920's

The sparkly tablecloth makes the food that much more appetizing

Asian Turkey Meatballs with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce...the most popular item of the night

Stocks will never fall so let's keep partying!

J's gorgeous cake

My personal favorite platter of the evening

Beautiful table centrepiece

Whore's Pasta and Zucchini Loaf

Well I'm back.  Because our little home got so freaking hot in the summer, we ate out ALOT so as to avoid turning on the stove.  Tensions ran high as the temperature rose in our apartment (admittedly because I can't cope with the heat as well as P), so we never turned down an invitation to eat at someone's house or to eat out at a restaurant.  We also ran almost every evening to take advantage of the beautiful weather leaving little time for cooking.  I'm hoping to be a bit more consistent with cooking and blogging now that the weather is cooling down.  Looking forward to comfort fall foods.  But I hope and pray that we will stay consistent with our running because I love to pack fall comfort foods into my gob and thus onto my hips.

The first meal I chose to celebrate the cooling weather includes Pasta Puttanesca and Chocolate Zucchini Loaf.

Two weeks ago I bought four zucchini for $2 at Mary's Garden in Surrey.  I already knew that four zucchini for the two of us is a terrible idea because we can only eat so much zucchini and they would just sit in our fridge where they will meet an undignified death of going rotten.  One zucchini was made into a side dish, one was put in a casserole which left two zucchini.  Surprisingly, they were still good after two weeks.  Sick of zucchini side dishes, I decided to try a zucchini loaf.  As a former veggie hater, I couldn't imagine veggies going into a dessert, but decided to press on.

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

(Adapted from King Arthur Flour's Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread recipe)

2 large eggs

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar ( I reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup and it still came out with good results.  Just depends on your taste)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa (I used Fry's cocoa.  I have no clue if it's Dutch-process)

1 2/3 cups Flour

2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini, gently pressed

1 cup chocolate chips

In one bowl, mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips.

 

In another bowl mix together the eggs, honey, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth. 

Pour the dry mixture and zucchini into the wet mixture and combine/fold with a spatula until well combined. 

Pour into a 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 50 to 60 minutes (or longer depending on your oven).  Test for doneness with a toothpick.  Toothpick should come out clean with perhaps a melted chocolate chip streak.

Let cool in pan for 10 to 15 minutes then let cool further on rack.  Let cool completely before slicing (I didn't wait because I'm a greedy Gus).  Store at room temperature well wrapped once cooled.

Two tips:

1. The original recipe said to add the chocolate chips after stirring in the dry ingredients.  I read somewhere that if you coat the chocolate chips in flour, it'll prevent them from sinking.  So therefore, I mixed the chocolate chips with the dry ingredients to coat them in flour without adding additional flour.

2.  Measuring honey and pouring it out of the measuring cup is a bitch!  To get  honey to slide out easy, I measure the oil or melted butter the recipe calls for first in a liquids measuring cup then use the same measuring cup to measure out the honey.  Honey slides out easy.  You could also achieve the same results by spraying non-stick cooking spray lightly into a measuring cup if the recipe doesn't call for any oil/melted butter.

I'm all motivated and start measuring out my dry ingredients and grating my zucchini.  Then it comes time to measure the cocoa.  But for the life of me I could not find my cocoa.  I looked in all cupboards, emptying each one, finding ingredients I totally forgot I had (i.e. smoked paprika from Spain that I've yet to use).  At one point I was standing on my counter trying to look deep into the black hole that is my cupboard.  However, no cocoa.  Start to feel my blood boil because I could've sworn I had cocoa and had just used it a few months ago when I made chocolate cookies for ice cream sandwiches (which, on a side note, I took to girls night and after a few glasses of wine and talk about our love lives, we just ate the cookies without the ice cream). 

After a few salty curse words, I debated calling P at work (sure he would appreciate that) and asking him in an accusatory tone where the hell was my cocoa, but decide against it.  Instead, I put the ingredients away for later (was going out to an appointment anyhow and would pick up cocoa then) and settle into the couch to watch The Facts of Life on Netflix.  I admired Blair's beauty and daydreamed myself with her big gorgeous 80's hair when in reality throughout my childhood and teens I was a nerdy Natalie.  Sigh!

The zucchini definitely makes the loaf moist and it doesn't come off veggie-ish.  You barely know it's existence because you're so distracted by the yummy chocolate chips.  It's actually quite delicious. P says it's a little bit on the sweet side and I should instead put more chocolate chips instead of sugar.  Write your damn food blog then!

Onto the next recipe!

I love Pasta Puttanesca.  I love saying Pasta Puttanesca.  Puttanesca...whore's pasta.  Whore!

This is one of my favorite dishes.  One of my friend's, Vinnie (obviously not her real name), is half Italian.  When we were in our early twenties, a bunch of us would get invited to her house for dinner for her birthday or New Year's.  Her parents are amazing cooks, would go all out on the meal (my first taste of raw oyster was at her house), and would serve course after course of delicious food.  I would not eat breakfast or dinner in preparation for the meal.  Pasta Puttanesca got served as one of the courses a few times and I fell in love with the simplicity of this dish.  Essentially it's a tomato sauce that has anchovies, hot pepper flakes, olives, and capers (though I don't think Vinnie's Dad added capers...can't seem to remember).  I remember one of my earliest attempts at this dish was taking jarred tomato sauce and canned olives and mixing it together and putting it on spaghetti.  Not even close.  I could've looked it up on the internet since we did have internet at this point, but I was too busy chatting on ICQ with a boy I liked and looking up pictures of Leonardo DiCaprio to even think of looking up the recipe. 

On a side note, one of the New Year's I was invited to was during the Y2K scare.  For you young ones that don't know what the Y2K scare was, it was when everyone thought the world was going to crap because computers would crash due to not being able to process a new century.  One of the boys I liked was going to be there, but because my Mom was frightened of the Y2K scare, she wanted us to be home before midnight so we could be together in case Skynet took over and our world got all Terminator-y.  1130 rolls around and I'm getting all scheme-y about how I can swing staying til midnight so I can kiss the boy I liked at midnight.  But, my Mom started calling at 1150  angry that I wasn't home so I had to leave.  Made it home for midnight to ring in the year 2000 with my family.  Surprise!  The world didn't end!  Missed opportunity...Devastating!

Anyhow, now I know better so decided to use up the tomatoes I picked up the same time I picked up the zucchini.

The recipe I used is Nadia G's (love her!) Spaghetti all Puttanesca.  Too tired to type out the recipe so click here for it.

Some pics:

Recipe calls for cherry tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes

Capers and Olives

Anchovy paste...strong stuff.  Try brushing your teeth with it!

Yummy sauce

Et Voila!

 I liked this variation on the Pasta Puttanesca that I know.  I love olives and capers to begin with because of their saltiness (I'm a salty and sweet gal).  The anchovies adds another savoury salty dimension.  P says he likes it and would eat it again.  This is huge considering he thinks lobster is "alright" and the blueberry butter tarts I made that proved to be quite popular were "not bad".

All in all, a busy productive day.  We go for a run after dinner, but I come home and sneak in a piece of zucchini loaf.  Heaven help my hips this fall!

Ain't Nobody Got Time For That (Sweet Brown, 2012)

I cringe at this title.  This phrase has been floating around the netherworld of the internet and I have heard many young folks use it, but I have yet to actually watch the clip of Sweet Brown that puts this phrase into context.  But honestly...Ain't nobody got time for that.

It's been awhile since I've posted but with good reason:  it's summer!  P and I have discovered that our little abode on the third floor gets so hot in the summer despite opening the sliding doors that lead to our balcony.  On one particular day (and it was a summer rainy day no less), I got the bright idea to make mini pies.  Experienced bakers would know that it's essential to keep the butter and the pastry cold to make delicious flaky pastry.  With the combination of humid heat, the hot oven, and breaking into a sweat trying to mix and shape the dough quickly into a neat disc to throw into the fridge to rest, I quickly regretted my ambition.  I learned my lesson that day and have made it a point to get outside almost everyday instead to enjoy the sunshine (especially since it rains nine months or more in B.C.).

One thing that has been keeping me outside for the past two months is I've picked up running.  Inspired to work on my fitness, I downloaded a couch to 5K app to help me train to run.  Okay, admittedly it's not running, it's a jogging/walking hybrid unique to me that smacks awkward all over it.  To add to the awkwardness, I wear bright blue shorts.  Went to the mall one day to try to get some snazzy "I'm really serious about running" legit shorts.  Having gone too late in the season and most of the running shorts already picked over, I could only find turquoise-y/electric blue shorts.  And boy, are they short.  Sigh. 

But I digress.  I've been working five to six days a week, some days putting in (unpaid) extra time and then fighting the traffic to get home.  Then I sit and hem and haw about running because truth be told, I hate running with a passion.  I roll around on the couch, whine about it, come up with excuses not to run, fall asleep, and then, only then, do I get around to putting on my damn running outfit.  At this point, it's actually pretty close to dinner time.

Which brings us to today's recipe.  I usually eat dinner after my run.  We've had situations where my whining took longer than usual and so I finished my run late so we ate dinner at 8:00.  Yikes!  So I decided to try this "dump everything into one pot meal" because ain't nobody got time for that ("that: being an elaborate meal with mucho prep and technique):

One Pot Thai Pasta

(Adapted from the blog Apron Strings)

12 ounces linguine
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tamarind paste
1 tbsp fish sauce
Thai chili(es) minced, use as much as you want to your taste (I used a bit of jalapeno because that's all I had)
2 inches of a ginger root, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 large carrot, peeled and cut in 1/4 inch by 2 inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut in 1/4 inch by 2 inch pieces
3 green onions, sliced in half lengthwise and then in 2 inch pieces
2 tablespoons peanut butter

3 green onions sliced 

2-4 cups of diced leftover cooked meat (I had cooked shrimp on hand so that's what I used.  I did not dice it because that would be weird)

Add at the end of cooking:
One small bunch of cilantro, chopped

1 cup chopped salted peanuts

 

Slices of lime for garnish

 

 1. Put all the ingredients except leftover cooked meat, cilantro, and peanuts in a large pot.  Cover the pot and bring to a boil.  Once it comes to a boil, turn the heat down to a simmer.  Add your leftover cooked meat and allow to simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring every two minutes (if you're using cooked shrimp, I would suggest putting it in the last 5 to 7 minutes).  Cook pasta until al dente and most of the sauce has been absorbed/evaporated.

 

2. Once pasta is done, toss in cilantro and chopped peanuts.  Serve with slices of lime on the side.

Et voila...dinner on the table at 7:15:

 

 

 

I know I know...more photos.  Today's run involved running straight for 22 minutes.  Considering that I used to fake illness or womanly issues to get out of running laps in high school, running straight for 22 minutes (admittedly I did walk two of those minutes and took a quick bathroom break at the library along the way) was exhausting and annoying, therefore refer back to title of post. 

This dish is quite tasty and interesting in the sense that I never use straight up pasta when making a dish with Asian flavours.  One tip I would suggest (if you can stomach it) is, after tasting for seasoning, rather than using salt, add a little more fish sauce if you need a little bit more salt (but be cautious because fish sauce is strong stuff).

 

Hopefully you're all enjoying your summer, enjoying the wonderful produce the summer has to offer, and getting out there to soak up the sunshine.  Surely you have time for that.

Serenity Now! A High Tea Baby Shower For My Sister R2.0

My sister, R2.0 (because she also has a name that starts with R and is younger than me) is having her second baby boy.  Following the latest trend of "Baby Sprinkles", I decided to throw her a Sprinkle to celebrate.  R2.0 and I love high tea so we decided to do a high tea theme.  And thus, I embarked on my journey.

Sunday-I go over some ideas for the high tea with R2.0 and my Mom.  R2.0 decides that she will buy a cake.  My Mom suggests that I get a sandwich tray to make life easier for myself.  I scoff at this idea because I believe I can do a better job of making sandwiches.  R2.0 and Mom say I shouldn't take on too much for myself because I'll just get stressed out and go crazy.  I remain determined.

Monday-I come up with the following menu:

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Chicken Club Sandwiches

Cold Roast Beef Sandwich with Onion Jam

Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Cherry Scones

 Raspberry Breakfast Bars

Rice Krispies Treats

Pistachio Shortbread  Chocolate Sandwiches

I decide to work on the Pistachio Shortbread Cookies first.  Rather than typing out the whole recipe, click here.  I essentially did Martha Stewart's recipe and rather than using jam, I planned to dip them in semi-sweet chocolate (mmmmmmmmm pistachios and chocolate).

I bought unshelled pistachios.  I began un-shelling them when I realized I was going to be late for my gym date with my friend.  Got home and continued shelling them after a shower and dinner.  Never again will I sit there and un-shell damn pistachios.  I tripled the recipe and I tell you that was a lot of cookie dough to mix.  By the time I finished shelling those damn pistachios and mixing up that damn cookie dough, I was ready to pass out.  Granted, I did work out beforehand to the point where I felt light headed and nauseous, thus adding to my fatigue.  When it came time to roll the pistachios into logs, I didn't give a crap what they looked like.  I just wanted to finish.  They looked like awkward sausages.  I quickly wrapped them in saran wrap and threw them into the freezer.

Tuesday- I make strawberry vanilla jam as gift give aways.  Please see previous post on my jam making experience.  This time though, I was super careful.  I also asked P to help.  As per usual, he takes over the project.  I tell him that I am going to hot water process the jam so that it lasts for a year.  P says I am crazy and not to bother hot water process the jam and just write on the label a best before date.  I stand firm that I will hot process the jam because I don't want the guests to feel pressured to eat the jam in three weeks.  I want them to eat the jam when they're ready.  P again reiterates I am crazy.  I begin to think I am.  I begin to curse myself for taking too much on...as usual.

Wednesday-Went to a bread making class and didn't have time to make anything for the tea party.  Admit to myself that maybe I have taken too much on.

Thursday-A day off from work!  I finish off the rest of the jam.  I start cleaning the apartment like a mad woman.  Need a bit of music to motivate me.  My music of choice: 90's hip hop and R & B obviously.  Belt out some K-Ci and Jojo while scrubbing the toilet.  Living the dream baby!

After my mad cleaning, head over to R2.0 to help my Mom babysit Put-Put.  Decide to start on making the paper pom poms.  My sister in law has a few of them she uses to decorate for her parties, so I wanted to make them too. 

Here's what they're supposed to look like:

Image taken from marthastewart.com

Beautiful.  This is what mine looked like on the first try:

I throw it in frustration and Put-Put comes by and adds more insult to injury by stepping on it.  I begin to curse party planning.

Originally I had planned to make a Banh Mi sandwich, but realize that it's cray cray to even think about making a meat sandwich from scratch with the bazillion things I already have on the go.  Get angst-y about buying roast beef from the deli, but think if I jazz it up with some nice condiments, maybe I could get away with it.  I always liked the taste of carmelized onions with beef as well as horseradish and beef.  Decide to throw all these things together into a sandwich.

In the evening, I start the French Onion Marmalade. 


Friday-It's crunch time.  I am in denial that there's a lot to do and take my time shopping at H& M.  I head over to Target and leisurely buy the rest of my ingredients. I head home and I quickly make Rice Krispies Squares (won't post the recipe.  Buy a box of Rice Krispies and the recipe is on the box).  I am laughing inside.  I can do this!  I eat my take out dinner (no way in hell was I going to cook dinner on top of baking) and move onto egg salad.

I make cherry scones and my Dad comes by to pick them up and put them in their freezer (I've run out of room in mine at that point).  However, I flub up and add waaaaaaay too much buttermilk.  I decide to make it again, but P stops me saying I have officially gone insane and nobody gives a poop about the scones.  People will just be grateful to eat.  I decide to move on.

I start to work on decorations and cleaning up.  Finish that up and move onto the cookies.  I melt the chocolate for the pistachio cookie sandwiches and begin dipping.  It's now 11:00 at night.  I turn on Breakfast at Tiffany's on Netflix to keep my motivated.  I take stock of the things I still needed to do and start to get nervous.  I pull up my recipe for raspberry breakfast bars and think screw it, I am buying desserts for tomorrow.  I recall watching Laura Calder of Food Network Canada's French Food at Home and how she said French women have no shame in buying store bought desserts and in fact take pride in knowing where to buy the best desserts.  I decide to adopt this attitude.

Saturday:

It's hammer time!  Mom and I head to Costco bright and early to avoid the lineup.  Made no difference.  It was lined up like a hot night club.  I'm on a mission and walk with purpose.   Pick up salmon and enough bread to feed an army along with others niceties.

Head home and begin making sandwiches.  I won't put exact recipes, but I will tell you the gist of  the filling for each sandwich with.

Egg salad:

Eggs
Green Onions
Celery Salt (my secret ingredient...not so secret anymore)
Fresh cracked black pepper
White bread

Chicken Club
Bacon
Chicken breasts seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, and basil
Spring Mix
Mayo
(Kept it simple for the kids.  What kid doesn't love chicken or bacon)
Demi Ciabatta loaf

Salmon Sandwich
Actually followed the Barefoot Contessa's Grilled Salmon Sandwich recipe

Roast Beef with Onion Jam
Deli roast beef
Onion Jam
Mayo
Horseradish mustard
French baguette

So those were the sandwiches.  We were in the process of making cucumber sandwiches, but at this point I was flustered and exhausted, so we said screw it and didn't make them.  Mom and Dad also forgot to bring the scones I made.  I try to get my Dad to go back to their place and bring the scones over, but I get talked out of it.  Thank goodness!

Since it was High Tea, I served English Breakfast Tea.  But, I'm not a huge hot tea drinker myself, so I made Ina Garten's Iced Tea.  They didn't have Red Zinger tea, so I made it with President's Choice Raspberry Pomegranate tea.  I think you could make this tea with any tea that has Red Hibiscus as their main ingredient.  Red Hibiscus tea is so refreshing!

R2.0 and Dad were designated decorators while Mom and I made sandwiches like nobody's business.  Had everything ready and waiting by 1230.  

Mission accomplished.

Some photos from the Baby Sprinkle:

Jam for one and all!

Some success with the pom pom

Okay...I bought one bite brownies.  So what!

R2.0's cake with chicken club sandwich in the background

Put Put partakes of some tea as well (no not really...It's empty.  Hot liquids and squiggly, squirmy babies don't mix)

The set up

Top to bottom: Salmon sandwiches, roast beef sandwiches, chicken club sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches

DIY Baby Onesies

Another pic of the set up

Yes, I could've ordered a sandwich tray and made life easier for myself or had it at place that actually hosts high tea, but I really wanted to put in the effort and show myself that I could do this.  The praise and thank you's everyone gave me at the end made the blood (not really), sweat, and tears worth it and only confirmed that I should keep on with my cooking.

Update: This baby shower happened a month ago (yes I am majorly late in posting).  My sister had Put-Put 2.0, a healthy baby boy, on June 10.

Pump Up the Jam...Pump it Up

During the May Long Weekend, most people were out of town except little ol' me.  With nowhere to go, I decided to start a jam project.  Strawberries were on sale at Superstore at a 2lb container at $2.50 if you buy in multiples of 2.  Picked some up yesterday on the way home from work.  Then headed to Canadian Tire for the rest of my canning equipment.  Picked up a funnel, magnetic wand to help me fish out the jar lids out of boiling water, and a jar lifter, and a dozen 250 mL jars.

So I've got all my material, let's pump out the jam!  Saturday was the day because P was heading out so he won't get in the way trying to take over the whole project.

All week I've been browsing recipes, but one recipe I knew I had to try was Strawberry Vanilla jam.  I still had leftover vanilla beans and the recipe described it as tasting like strawberries and cream.  Well that did it for me.

Due to my paranoia of botulism, I first soaked my strawberries for a few minutes in water mixed with a little bit of vinegar.  I then rinsed the strawberries with plain water.  I learned about this trick awhile back and read that it kills off mold and other nasties.  I did find the strawberries I bought earlier in the week have lasted longer after I did this trick.

 The recipe:

Quick Strawberry Vanilla Jam

(Adapted from Put 'em Up: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling by Sherri Brooks Vinton)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon Pomona's Universal Pectin

4 cups strawberries, hulled

1 tsp calcium water (this is found in the Pomona's box.  Follow the directions)

1/4 cup bottled lemon

1 vanilla bean

1. In a huge pot, get a large amount of water boiling.  There has to be enough water to cover the jars and then some when it comes time to processing.  Put in your jars with no lids to sterilize.  At the same time, get some water boiling in a smaller saucepan and put your lids and screw caps in to sterilize. 

2.  Mix the sugar and pectin in a bowl and set aside.

3.  In a non-reactive pot, put your strawberries in and put on medium heat.  Start mashing the strawberries with a potato masher.  Too poor to afford a masher, I used a whisk to mash (which can't be good for the whisk) which resulted in some big chunks which I like anyhow.  Once they're starting to look a bit cooked down and mushy is when I added the vanilla seeds (slit pod and scrape out the seeds).  Continue to mush a bit more, dump in the vanilla pod.  Add your lemon juice and calcium water.  Stir.  Then add your sugar and pectin and stir.  Let it come to a boil.

Calcium water.  The calcium comes in the box of Pomona's.

4.Turn off heat and stir for 5 minutes to release any air and skim off any foam.

5. Take out sterilized jars and put on a tea towel.  Take funnel and pour jam into jar.  Leave about 1/4 inch headspace.  

6.  Take magnetic wand and fish out lids and rims.  Screw onto jar.  You don't have to tighten it to the point where you have to ask your partner has to open it for you (oh how sexist...my apologies).   Screw on the lid as tight as you can make it and as tight as you will be able to open it later on unassisted.

7.  Now you can do one of two things.  You can either not process it and eat the jam within 3 weeks or you can process it in a hot water bath.  Knowing P and I, we will not eat 4 jars of jam in 3 weeks.  If you process it, put covered jars back into large pot of boiling water and process for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, turn off heat and let sit for another 5 minutes.

8. Take jars out with jar holder.  Let them sit on the counter.  You should hear pops as the jam cools indicating the jar has created a vacuum seal as the air seeps out. 


This recipe is supposed to make 4 jars but I increased it by 1 1/2 with the intention of making 6 jars however didn't quite work out that way.   Because I increased the sugar 1.5 times but possibly did not accurately measure the strawberries, the jam is a touch on the too sweet side.

I had enough to make 5 jars, however due to my klutziness, I spilled one of them while trying to pour the jam into another jar.  After dropping a few f-bombs, I scooped up the spilled jam on my (thank godness) just scrubbed hard and cleaned stove and put them into a jar that would not be processed that P and I would eat for the next three weeks (that's how long it's good for without processing).  I am reminded of my nephew Put-Put (obviously not his real name) and the time my Mom and I were watching him go down the slide awkwardly.  My Mom then comments that he is klutzy and awkward like me.  Poor kid. I call P and tell him I made jam but spilled one of the jars.  He asks me if I cleaned it up.  I sarcastically remark no I left it sitting on the stove and all over the floor.  Honestly!

I process the jam.  Meanwile, like a kid, I treat myself to licking the cooled jam left in the pot.  It tastes like jam, but has that je ne sais quoi which I assume is the vanilla bean.  It's subtle and you can miss it if you're not paying attention.

 After this, I went and sat down on the couch to relax, waiting to hear the pops while watching TV.  I counted the pops, but only heard 3.  I start to curse myself and my inadequacies in cooking.  Then I start to talk myself up saying maybe the TV is too loud and blocked out the sounds of the pops.  I went between angst and encouragement for an hour.  I went back into the kitchen to check my jars and they had all sealed (you can tell if you press down in the centre of the lid and it doesn't pop back at you)!  Hooray!

I did the peanut butter and jam test on a cracker (I made this test up) with my "stove jam" and it passed with flying colors.

I'd like to end this post on a very relevant song;