My Very First Attempt at Making Bread from Scratch!

And Today: First Day of Winter!

Yesterday

A Weekend of Homemade Pizzas

Pizza Galore: one frozen dough ball made me 4 pizzas this weekend. I didn't have a lot of the conventional toppings so I improvised. My favorite was the white dough with herbs, just slightly undercook so it's possible to fold it sandwich-style, stuffed with bocconcini cheese, tomatoes, proscuitto and arugula. I actually made one like that for lunch Saturday and one for Sunday! The other one was also with bocconcini (no mozarella in the fridge!), smoked chorizo sausage, hot peppers, garlic, onions and mushrooms. And with tzatziki dipping sauce! Thanks Jamie for your recipe!

Hilarious!

This could be me next February....

I Hate Yogurt!

Plain, fat-free that is! I tried my best, you know to get more calcium, to eat healthier stuff; did a few garlic dressing, dip and even a fake-tsaziki sauce. All were bad tasting, just plain nasty. I even made this small portion with granola, fresh raspberries and real maple syrup. It was ok, but just ok. From now on, I’m sticking to fruit-flavored pre-mixed commercial kind.

Saturday Night Feast for One!

Once again, I’m trying to empty my freezer. I’m not very successful at it because I posted about the same thing a year or so ago… I don’t know why I need to buy more than I can eat weekly; as if I was going to miss something. Anyhow, found 3 Flintstones beef ribs; thought it would be a waste of propane to use the rotisserie on the BBQ for just 3 ribs so I tried them in the slow cooker. I used a mix of 2 BBQ sauces: Diana’s Gourmet Rib & Chicken and Cattleboyz’ Original BBQ sauce. Delicious!!! The meat is very tender, just a bit more fatty than if it turned on the spit all afternoon. If there was a dog in this household, he would be in heaven tonight!!

Perfect.....

fall afternoon for a nap on the deck! Perhaps one of the last days nice enough to lounge outside.

Today’s Groceries

I haven’t lost any weight in the past 2 months but have maintained my 25-lbs loss for that period. I’m very happy about that because I’ve traveled in Europe during that time and believe me, I didn’t lose any opportunity to try all the local specialties! And since I came back, I don’t have the feeling I didn’t eat exactly what I wanted. So something must be sinking in my brain! But I have another 25 lbs to lose so it’s time to put some extra efforts. For the past 2 weeks, I’ve been participating in a Learn Eating and Activity Forever program from the local health unit dietitian; so far it’s been very informative and last week’s cooking demo showed us a few very easy ways to add tasty and healthy food to our daily meals. This week’s groceries are definitely a reflection of what she’s been talking about and I’m all excited about giving it a shot. I already made some fat-free hummus this week and it was a success at the lunch table! Tonight, I prepared a spread of yogurt, low-fat cream cheese and seasoning, I chopped broccoli, onion, carrots and cabbage and will have a cold veggie pita pizza for tomorrow’s lunch. Already looking forward! Isn't that crazy??

Lunch Soup - part 2

Today's use of leftover turkey is a Turkey/rice soup with carrot, topped with garlic croutons and grated parmesan cheese.. A few months back, I purchased at the bulk food store a mixed rice called Aztec Blend (Colusari red rice, brown rice, split peas and amaranth grains), seemed healthy enough and I was waiting for the perfect occasion to try it. Of course, I put too much rice in the soup; it appears I have a problem calculating the proper quantities of rice and pasta per portion...oh well. But the winning ingredient in this soup was once again the Mexican Oregano leaves. I believe I bought it when I was in California last spring and each time I use it, it bring fabulous flavor to the dish. I went on the McCormick's site to find more details and found recipes galore!! I wouldn't have enough week-ends in a year to try all the appetizing dishes I saw there!! And check out their Flavor Pairing section, so much inspiration! I need a bigger spices & herbs cabinet!

Something to be Thankful for this Thanksgiving

My cat! I'm thankful to my friend Ann who had the insight to see that this kitten and I would be a good match, despite my (very!) strong preference for dogs. She was only 4 months old when she joined our household and my 10 y.o. dog didn't really know what to do of her. She was so full of love for him, would follow him everywhere, sometimes clinging to his back legs! Now, I see in her many dog-like behaviors and they always bring a smile to my face. Nita is 7 years old now and I could not imagine how my life would be without her. Definitely empty. Thank you Ann, wherever you may be in your travels. I miss you.

Fleeting Beauty

Beautiful sunset lasted barely 5 minutes. Popham Bay, looking west.

Lunch Soup

With the turkey bones and smoked skin, I made a delicious soup stock this morning. I used half of it to do my lunch soup today and will use the rest for tomorrow's. I put in there some potatoes, butternut squash, lima beans, spinach and some acini di pepe pasta. And of course some turkey meat! I like food with a kick so I added a chipotle pepper to my bowl. When I was putting away the rest in portion sizes, I realized that I forgot to add some smoked sausages from yesterday; no problem, I sliced up some and added to the individual containers.
Already looking forward for my other meals using leftover turkey!

Thanksgiving Turkey

This year, I decided to do a small turkey in the smoker to use my leftover of wood briquette before the winter. Wanting to maximize the space, I added some chorizo and bratwurst sausages and a white fish fillet. The smoker works with moist heat generated from the water basin above the charcoals but below the lower grill. It makes poultry with darker/pinkish meat and very moist. Even the breast is delicious, it just never dries out. The smoked white fish was a first for me; I had a craving for white fish and had dropped by my favorite Jewish deli in Toronto 2 weeks ago but they were closed due to Rosh Hashanah. Luckily, white fish was on sale at Sobey's this week and today was the day for my first experiment. It was quite a success!! Next time, I might put more wood chips earlier to give it a more smokey flavor but it was extremely moist, almost better than at the deli! Tomorrow, I will make some turkey soup, probably a couple kinds and I will use the smoked sausages in them.

Brighton's Popham Bay

Peaceful, quiet and so enjoyable!

How ironic that just as I'm finishing this post, a seadoo and its driver decide to discturb the quietness.

Simply Striking

Such an ideal sunrise, if only the days didn’t bring so much disenchantment.

Europe September 2008 - Ireland

This year, I took the Dublin North Coast tour on my vacation day. Unfortunately, the weather was not the best: gray sky and rain! But I hope the beauty in the landscape is still showing through these pictures.

Europe September 2008 - Germany

In September, I spend 11 days in Europe – mainly for business but my colleague and I were able to squeeze in a few days of vacation. Our last stop was in Heidelberg, Germany and here are some of my best pictures. It took me a while to post as all my pictures were much too big and not web friendly at all. I had to resize them all; I still have the Paris and Dublin ones to do, so stay tuned, more to come!

Booming Brighton!

WOW! 2 new restaurants to open in Brighton this month! Choice Bonanza! Captain George's Fish & Chip and Pizza Factory. Never heard of either but apparently they both have more outlets in Ontario....

Captain George's is having a free taste test this Wednesday; I'll have to drop by to see if their fresh cut fries make the cut! As for the Pizza Factory, wouldn't it be nice if it was was real italian, thin crust, wood-oven baked? Probably just in my dreams.....

Another One Bites the Dust!

Few months ago, I discovered a great restaurant in Colborne, the next village 15 minutes down the road. An authentic Thai restaurant! At first, I was skeptical but when I found out that the owner’s wife was Thai AND was the cook, I was hooked! Unfortunately, I've driven by twice in the past week, and even though the signs are still all there, the restaurant closed and there was nobody in the'r apartment upstair. Hummm, hopefully, they just went on a little holiday and forgot to leave a note on the door…… I certainly hope so but most great places don’t survive too long away from the city crowds. And I would bet that not many locals know about Thai food anyway?

The Sardines Lunches

Pretty much every week, Bonny and I share sardines for lunch at work. So far, we’ve never been able to recruit new participants, wonder why…… Well now we have our UK colleague, Shane, joining us each time he visits our plant! So we try to make it a bit special when he’s here and this past week, I brought out of the freezer an Irish soda bread and Bonny made her famous Caesar salad. Let me tell you that Bonny is not frugal with the garlic in the dressing and Shane and I had to avoid others for rest of the afternoon!!! But so ever delicious!!

Time for Me to Move??

I think I've been living in a retirement community for far too long: it's 6pm on a Saturday nite, I already had dinner (at the Curling Club at 4:45pm....) and I'm already back home in my pj's......sad sad sad. I even decided not to go to the dance at the arena tonight because it's probably going to be just teeny boppers anyway..... wow I need to get an life, and quickly!!!

Here's a few pictures from both ends of main street this morning for the Applefest ~ surprising how many people still came out in spite of the rain!! At the dinner tonight, there was more tourists at my table than locals! So I guess that would qualify as a success!!

Breakfast Food??

I'm pathetic. I wake up in the morning with a single thought: What am I going to have to eat??

I read a few sections of the Toronto Star and before 8am I had decided to do my version of the Margherita pizza featured in the Living section. Here's pic as I'm putting it on the BBQ. There's no photo of it after because I couldn't get my paws on it fast enough and now there's only half left.....

End of the Swimming Season

ahhh, when the ducks and geese are back, I know the swimming is over for me; the water is just too cold! This morning, I got a parade of geese swimming towards the shores of Presqu'Ile beach. It's such a grey morning with rain dizzling; it just too bad because it's the Applefest today on Main St. Brighton. People put so much efforts into putting up these events and for every one of these event this summer in Brighton, we've had rain. Nonetheless, I'm on my way there in a few minutes to show my support, check out the wares, the crafts and of course the treats! Unfortunately, there is my Midway rides this year, so that means also no corn dog stand...... I'll have to find another fair somewhere sometime soon to fill my constant craving!

Dublin & North Coast - September 2008

Waterfowl at Presqu'Ile

Can you name this bird?

Family Outing

The Year when Everything Falls Apart

42 – What a bad year. Started the year with the doc’s concerns about my high blood pressure (something that has been going on for years but now needed to be treated….), then a foot condition that finally required some orthotics. In between, on a good note, I started a new lifestyle program to lose weight, not easy but I’m down 25 pounds now with still 25 to go. Now, I’m scheduled tomorrow for a CT scan for severe lower back pain. I’ve done physio and massage therapy before going to Europe but the latter part of the trip was extremely difficult and the best word to describe me when I came back last week is: crippled. The pain med has been working very well however, I’ll just wait to see what the CT scan says before I resume activities. The year is not over yet, but my cup is full.

Hostile Take-Over

They finally got the best of me! I had to bring in the big guns to get rid of the Undesirables. The Spiders. They’re everywhere outside and started to invade the inside now. You can’t sit on a chair outside without giving it a sweep over. And it only last a couple hours. When I get out of the house, I have to make sure my mouth is closed because I have to go through a barrage of webs. So very pleasant.
It’s been 7 years since I had the house perimeter treated against them; I thought it was ridiculous to have to pay to get rid of a few insects. Well, well, have I changed my mind!!! The outside of the house, garage and around the decks were sprayed this morning and tonight, the place looks like a morgue: dead bodies piled up everywhere!! So it looks like I won the war. For now.

Rainbow over Presqu'Ile Park

Albuquerque’s Dog House

When I walked by this joint in Albuquerque, NM, I was sure to hit the jack pot in my quest for the best corn dog ever. With a name like that, they must have perfected every which way to serve a dog, one would think….

Of course, with high expectations, one can only be disappointed…… their corn dog was a mini-version, bland and greasy, just not the Mexican-inspired jalapeno-real corn bits I would have like to bite into……oh well the search continues…In the meantime, i’m grateful for the grocery-store POGO corn dog. Their all beef version is actually quite tasty!

And if anyone is in Indiana, I’d love to have a review on Hinsdale Farms all beef corn dog.

7th Annual BBQ Party - June 21st 2008

Fantastic weather + Terrific friends + Fabulous food = Great Party!! What else could one wish for??