Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I've Been Riffing All Morning!

This is what happens when I have a whole day with no commitments....

First, I sleep in....after 10...still time to sit under my day light!

Rod's made coffee so I'm really saving time by sleeping in as I can quickly make my latte, grab yogurt and granola (I'm addicted to Clotilde Dusoulier's granola and have already eaten it twice for breakfast instead of my regular muslie.  This may not seem so bad except I have 6 1/2 bags of muslie (really great sale!) left in my cupboard...addiction is strong, I'll just have to ride it out!!!

After breakfast I embroidered crow feet on the last block I need to finish for Autumn House.  Much excitement in my head as I think of the possibilities for today!  I could cut all the blocks to the right size for Autumn House and maybe sew them together!!!  I could meander Little Town as I pinned all three layers together the other night!!!

I end up in the kitchen making Tony Danza's Roasted Chicken Soup!!!  I actually bought a rottiserie chicken yesterday to make this for dinner but ran out of time before my body class.  We ended up eating part of the chicken for dinner anyways, soooo...I'm going to have to alter the recipe...and I'm not sure about the end part of the recipe anyways.  Reads like for the last few minutes of cooking you throw in raw carrot, celery, potato and broccoli...I can't see how this will give them time to soften...soooo...I'm really RIFFING now!!!!

I used chicken broth (lots on sale in my cupboard!) instead of just water.
I took most of the big hunks of chicken off the carcass, diced and refrigerated.
I added some celery, carrot and garlic to the broth.
I added some dry parley and 2 bay leaves to the broth.
Well this was brothing (some say simmering) I sauted some shallot in a little olive oil, added some minced garlic for 1 minute, then tossed in sliced carrot, celery to soften.
Then I added a little broccoli (not much or Tony says it overwhelms the soup).
I boiled up some Ditilini (tiny pasta) to substitute for the potatoes.  I do the pasta separately so that it doesn't use up all the soup broth.
Next, I added 1/2 a small can of diced, roasted tomatoes...AND I have a nourishing lunch for me and my lover (read Rod!)

Cooking always makes me excited...so I decided to abandon all thoughts of quilting and bake a cake!!!  Clotilde Dusoulier's Yogurt Cake!!!  It looks delicious sitting on my counter as we speak!!!
I didn't have the recommended rum, so I've added a little almond extract!  I'm going to be riffing again and slicing the cake in two, spreading seedless raspberry jam and stacking it back together!!!

Alright, it's time to eat!!!

Monday, February 21, 2011

I've overdone it!

OK, so now I'm realizing that I'm blogging, and reblogging and the old new blogs are going over to the side under February and maybe no one will read them...except this one...and then think, this is lame, why is this a new Blog?
So, todays blogs are under February, the real blog being Food Heaven and then the other blogs before it in February.
Well, I'm really confusing things now...

Snow - I'm Back Again Baby!!!

OK - so I just looked up "Whitewater Cooks Brownies" and my Blog was second on the list!!!!  Is this just me or everybody's computer?!?!  Much excitement!!!  I don't really know why!  I'm some sort of cookbook   fan gone wild!!!  Too much to soon - it's going to my head!
Now is it just me or is this computer thing taking up way too much of my time?!?
Ponder that.

Snowed in While Blogging!

OK not really snowed in BUT I'm not going anywhere if you know what I mean!!!
Luckily I went for my jog before I started blogging!!!
Also, this granola from Clotilde Dusoulier is Fantastic!!!  Not to sweet and it's yummy in a I'm so healthy in my Birkenstock hippy lifestyle kinda way without the black socks!!!
I think I'll just snack on it as I don't think I can give up my muslie and plain yogurt in the morning thing I've got going on!!!
Rod's going to love it!!!
Well, obviously it's time to quilt!
Ok, I just lost this and Rod said and I quote "It's better to have blogged and lost than never to have blogged at all".
He said that, because I just lost this, but he found it for me!
Now he's hand feeding me tiny bits of orange!!!
Well!  Good bye!

Food Heaven!!!

Well!!!
Another great week gone by!!!
Princess Amanda was home for a week and it was excellent to hug her again!!!
She will be coming home for 4 glorious months at the end of April!!!

We ate some great food (mainly desserts to talk about!)
I made the chocolate brownies from Whitewater Cooks - even EASIER & BETTER than before!!!  I just mixed by hand - less clean up & worked out great!  I knew to take them out at the earlier time and when I served them you could still see oozing chocolate chips and a little moister - warm with the ice cream - I'm going to have to make them again soon!  Happy Valentine's Day!
Amanda's guy Brian surprised us (I don't like surprises - except for this one!!!)  with his family's shroud in secretiveness - let me whisper in your ear "PEANUT BUTTER PIE"!!!  Yummmmmm!   Peanut Butter Perfection!!!

One of many great things happened during the week - Amanda cooked dinner for the 5 of us!!!  Quite an undertaking!!!  And she made it on Tuesday night while I was at my body class during dinner prep time!!!  What a great event to come home to!!!  Burgers with the most amazing veggie topping of onion, garlic, red pepper, spinach and kale!!!  You don't use any condiments just veggies sauted and warm!!!  Fantastic!

We had my BFF's Pizza on Monday night - Fantastically delicious, amazingly easy, happening regularly now folks!  Get used to it!!!
Whole wheat flat-breads (each person makes up their own pizza)
Pizza sauce homemade or other (other was a little can of Primo Pizza Sauce)
Toppings - what ever floats your boat - mine had thin slices of red onion, zucchini, black olives, baby spinach, crumbled feta cheese and a little mozzarella.  Not too much of anything so it's not to thick and heavy.  In 400 oven for 8 - 10 mins.   We used pizza stone but also could just use perforated pizza tray!

I also made Tony Danza's Quick sauce and meatballs along with his everyday salad.  Actually, I made this meal twice since I last blogged!!!  Way too good!  Nothing beats Tony's balls... hold me closer Tony Danza!!!   The guy can cook!!!  I used Panko instead of breadcrumbs and quite moist!  It's great to be Italian - even just for a day!!!



Amanda & I went downtown shopping on Friday - I of course bought a cookbook - what else would you go all the way down to Robson Street to buy?!?!
The book is by Clotilde Dusoulier and it is called Chocolate & Zucchini.  I have been browsing for this book for over an year!!!  Finally bought it and it was on sale!!!  Life is great!
There is a recipe for Chocolate & Zucchini cake - which will be happening as Amanda has wanted a good recipe for this for a while now!

I'm going to make the Yogurt Cake first - just as soon as I've worked off all the excess weight gain from last week!!!

Great book to read - I always love a cookbook where the author writes an intro to each recipe with family memories etc.   and this one is delightful!!!
I went to her website Chocolate&Zucchini.com and as we speak I am making Clotilde's Basic Granola Formula and it smells like a winner!!!

One other thing I made this past week is Chives' Buttermilk Biscuits by Craig Flinn.  They are from the book Fresh and Local.  I got it out of our local library.  They are fantastic - and I substituted Buttery Becel for the butter.  Easier on my heart!!!  I also divided the recipe as these are best warm - ok - here's the recipe - divided.

2 cups unbleached white flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 Tbsp butter  (I used Buttery Becel)
1 1/2 eggs (I used 1 whole egg and 1and a bit Tbsp Simply Egg Whites)
1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp buttermilk

Mix flour, bp, sugar and salt well in a large bowl.
Use a fork or pastry cutter, cut butter into the dry ingredient mix until mealy in texture.
In a small bowl, beat eggs into buttermilk.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in beaten eggs and buttermilk.
Using a fork,  combine wet and dry quickly, thoroughly, without over mixing.
Onto a baking tray (I put down parchment paper)  drop dough in balls making 9 - 10 biscuits.  I didn't spend to much time worrying about roundness as I didn't want to overwork the dough.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400 until golden brown.  (about 12 to 15 minutes).

Thursday, February 10, 2011

S to the I to the M to the P

Zander just showed me this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrM7jZ9pUAo!!!

This is pretty much all my moves from Zumba!  Except she doesn't do the "board like shimmie" that I'm infamous for!

Ok - I was blogging this website and BFFS was at the door ready for our "Fitness Blast" class!!!  Time flies when I'm blogging!!!  ("YES!"  to all you peeps keeping track, that is 2 exercise classes in one day!  Thanks for noticing!!!)

So now I'm back from the FB class - sub instructor, really great but too many "ponies" for my liking!  (twist feet to the side and jump body - hard on this old body!!!)  NEVER make me do the pony!!!  I did the "prancing pony" (personally named tonight!)  jogging on the spot, bringing my knees up as high as I can in front instead!!!

Well - I guess its "SHOWER TIME!" (I'm a little horsey if ya know what I'm sayin!)  Which, PS is where number 18 on my List of 52 comes in "take longer showers"!  I hold the record for fastest shower!  Tonight, I'm letting that go!!!  Maybe I can stay in for over 3 minutes!!!

Woot! Woot!

It's time to Woot My Own Horn!

I just Googled "Squirrelinmypocket" and I'm Number One!!!

OK, it's only out of a few hundred but Zander gave me a kiss on my head!!!  He's such a prince charming!!!

Pilate's was fantastic today - 5 lb weights (tooooo mucha) and a large ball - not much in the balance department but my hair looked pretty fantabulous in the mirror today!

Last night BFF Sandy tolerated a lot of needy Kim questions while she worked on "Autumn House".  I started Bunny Hill Designs free BOM "Henrietta Whiskers" - I'm using up fabric leftovers from "Autumn House" and "Little Town"  with a few newbies thrown in.  Finally got the two blocks fabric chosen, then started ironing the freezer paper applique shapes onto fabric.  Of course I started with the pumpkin, using Sandy's much sought after perfect pumpkin orange fabric.  I joked about cutting it out wrong and having to use double the fabric in the process (as I did with her much sought after perfect squirrel fabric when I made my table runner).  I did replace that fabric on our last border crossing fabric shop.

Note to self:  NEVER start a project with friends fabric!!!!   Actually - BFF Sandy should also make note to self as she knows how forgetful I am!!!

This is the slightly embarrassing content:  (whispered in your ear - mindfully staying out of the midtones)  I traced the applique shapes onto the smooth side of the freezer paper!  Anne Sutton's method is to trace onto the shiny side with a permanent marker, then, iron it to another piece of freezer paper on the smooth  side, so that the ink is sandwiched in the middle AND the shape is automatically reversed!  Clever Bunny Lady!  The double layer also gives a bonus thickness when using the starch method of applique I love.

Now I didn't remember this clever trick when I made my shapes - and my pumpkin was cut!  Now I need to reround (even I don't know what that means but I REFUSE to make this overly lengthy so use your imagination if you are still with me) my pumpkin.

And Exit.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Sew Little Time...

Two weeks have past since my last blog!!!

I guess I've been busy.... lets see if I can recap!

Thursday Pilate's! (Number 1 on my list!)  My first class had my previous instructor as the teacher!  She is awesome and left 6ish months ago to instruct in White Horse.  Apparently she is coming back!!! I didn't  hear for how many classes!  Second class I missed due to being snowed in and blogging!!!!  Third class I had who I thought was the regular instructor.  Excellent instructor if you are looking for perfection and have a lot of Pilate's experience.  Not so great for me... every other move she would stand beside me and say things like "oh, it shouldn't look like that"  or my personnel favorite "Oh!  That's not good!!!"  It got to the point that I couldn't make a move because I thought I was going to do irreparable damage!  Was I ever happy when I talked with her after class to find out that she was the substitute!  She's a very good instructor although I think my not striving for perfection attitude wasn't going to fly with her!  Last Thursday my previous instructor was back and I had an awesome Pilate's/Yoga fusion class that leaves me feeling warm and snuggly and stress free at the end!  That's what I'm all about!

Friday, February 28, Sandy & I headed 'cross the border for a fantastic day of fabric shopping at some of our favorite quilt stores!  I found some browns and light background fabrics for "Henrietta Squirrel".  I also found the inside border for the squirrel table runner I'm making!  Boy!  I really do love squirrels!

I missed the first Zumba class (number 2 on my list!)  Suddenly Susan went to the free Zumba class on Sunday with me!  Lots of fun!!!!!  I'm so excited that I joined Zumba!   Dance!  Dance!  Dance!  Last Friday I made it to my morning class - packed with a bunch of women all of us smiling and jittering like school girls at a sock hop!!!!  There's a wall of mirror at the front of the class and you can see us all grinning!!!  It's the greatest!  I can't believe I'm only doing this once a week!  We all clap at the end of each song as in "Way to go!  Aren't we something!!!"  The teacher's great and encouraging and does a lot of great moves!  I really like the dance we do to the song "Zumbalicious"  Oh Yes We Are!!!!   I shimmy like a board and can't do all the moves but I'm really something in my mind!!!!  I can't believe this counts as exercise!!!

Monday Rod & I went snowshoeing at Hollyburn!  Snowshoeing is Number 12 on my list of 52!  I'm really getting a lot accomplished off my list!!!  We had a fun time!  We got to a sign that warned us of avalanches and that it was extremely dangerous  but we went on anyways - up a steep hill until I said "I'm good"  Then we slid down on our bums!!!  It was thrilling!  Great workout with my guy!  Breezy was still exhausted the next day!  She covers a lot of ground!

Our Como Lake Quilters Group had our monthly "tin exchange".  Val and I managed to snag one tin we've done and one new one for the month!  Feeling pretty smug!!!  Takes a lot of brain power for us to figure out what tins were going for!  Previously we would each take one tin and then when we got together to work on our blocks we would do each others tin.  Now when we get that tin as our own we just slip our premade block in and both do the new tin.  Whoever signed the new tin out puts in their block, the other of us keeps it for their turn.  Were like quilting criminals in our minds!  It was great this past Monday when we got together to sew - the blocks took us all day!  Tiny pieces!  Lots of cutting and figuring out the pattern!

Number 7 of List of 52
Whitewater Cooks
I made Hurf's Halibut.  I'm thinking it would taste great with the right ingredients.  I improvised too much!  The recipe has 6 ingredients and I changed 4!!!
Mayonnaise (I used light)
Jalapeno pepper (I used pickled)
fresh ginger (I used dry - not so good!)
Halibut (I used Cod)

Last night I put together Healthy Fridge Muffins.  Today I baked them and then told Rod he could take them to our cabin and throw them off the dock!  Lot's of pouting as they are hard little  beasts!
Well, Rod really thinks they are good!  He likes how "Healthy" they are!  He was naming all the  things he liked in them - carrot, apple, cinnamon - and was happy to hear they had oats and whole wheat flour in them.  He'd even like it if I made them again... I'm still pouting.

That's 5 Whitewater Cooks recipes down 7 to go (but I think I'll be making more than 12 recipes - really beautiful books!)

Well - that was long - I really should blog more often - was to serious trying to recap a bunch of stuff!!!