I've got a cold. Again.

Forgive me, but, I haven't been in the mood for much. I'm not baking or cooking. nuh-uh.

So instead I offer you some food p0rn. A photo of a beautiful bosc pear I took some months ago. It's one of my faves. I have this one printed out on my "gallery wall" of photos in my dining room.

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Anyone else watch the show Pitchin' In with Chef Lynn Crawford?

I personally love the show and think she is HILARIOUS. I have found people are really split down the middle about her. Some of my friends really dislike her and some love her.

I know she's a bit over the top but I think she makes for good tv. She's pretty entertaining to watch and I love every time she is gagging doing the farm work... I feel for her, it does stink.

I remember years ago, we had watched an Alton Brown episode on the Food Network, where he made some parsnip chips.

Fast forward, we finally got around to it :)

Except for the small size of the chips, I couldn't tell if they were parsnips or potatoes, in regards to taste. I suppose that because they are so thinly-sliced, and deep-fried, it all mellows out.

I'm not much of an outdoor person, especially in the winter. I like my home, where it is warm and without snow. But, I decided to challenge myself and get outdoors. So I drove down to my city's river valley to snap a couple of pictures.

Of course, I picked a colder day to get myself outside. It was foggy for part of the walk but cleared up some near the end. I have a thing for bridges. I think they are beautiful pieces of architecture. Of course, some are more beautiful than others.


I was all alone along the trail path. Not a soul in sight. It was very quiet and serene (except for the cars driving down river valley road).


The trees were all frosted and white. It was a lovely walk. However, next time, I really should bring a scarf and wear 2 pairs of pants because both sets of cheeks were frozen.

When me and the hubby got married a long while ago, there must have been an unspoken vow that he take on most of the cooking of meat in our home. It's not that I don't pitch in and make chicken, roasts, ground beef and such but I would say that he does much more of it. Especially when summer season rolls around and the trusty BBQ is back in business.

Or it could be that I'm a bit squeamish about raw meat. My mom had to do everything in her power to get me to eat it as a child/teenager. Then, it took me YEARS to be able to touch raw ground beef (hubby was in charge of forming hamburgers) and don't get me started with chicken breasts. I've used plastic wrap, wax paper, tongs and other utensils to prevent myself from coming in contact with it. I know, pathetic, huh? And it's not even a "bacteria" or "germ" thing. But, rest assured, I have come a long way. Really.

But, that all being said, I didn't make this beautiful tenderloin. Yes, the hubby did. Because, as I said, he's in charge of most of the meat cooking in the house.

This was delicious. Bites of pork mixed with spinach, bacon and a hit of goat cheese. Oh, it was so very good.

Just one word of advice, if you are using loose spinach, make sure you wash it very thoroughly. Our spinach wasn't rinsed enough and it was gritty (it's grown in sandy soils).

I'm not one who makes soup often. Correction, I make soup, but usually from a can or a package. I suppose this is kinda humorous considering I'm into "from scratch" recipes.

But, why spend all that time making soup when you can get really great-tasting soups from packages and cans? I also consider soup to be a prelude to the entree, so I rather spend my time making the main meal. I know... poor soup, it's like a second class citizen in my home.

So, I compromised here. I "made" this soup but I used a store bought broth :) ALMOST entirely homemade.

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Broccoli Cream Soup
makes 8 one cup servings

2 medium sized carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 tbsp oil

1 carton (900ml) vegetable broth
1/2 cup brown rice
5 cups of fresh broccoli, chopped

2 cups milk
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

In a large pot, cook carrots, onions and celery in hot oil for a few minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil.

Stir in rice and cook for 30 minutes, until rice is almost cooked. Add broccoli and reduce heat to simmer for another 10 minutes. Or until broccoli is softened.

Puree soup with a hand blender (food processor or blender).

Add milk and cheese and until heated throughout. Serve.

Recipe adapted from: No Cream Creamy Broccoli Soup, Kraft what's cooking Winter 2006 magazine.

I made heart shaped chocolate lollipops to go along with my son's Valentine's cards. If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you might remember I made some chocolate lollipops before for my daughter's birthday but in pink colored white chocolate.

This time around, I melted milk chocolate chips in a double boiler (you can use the microwave if you prefer) and filled the cute heart-shaped chocolate/candy molds. I then placed the filled molds in the refrigerator until it was set and then popped the chocolates out of the mold. Easy peasy.

It really is simple and for those of you who seem intimidated by chocolate molds, don't be. I remember being apprehensive about trying it out. It's a lot of fun. You can make it more difficult by painting different colors of chocolate but I'm just as happy with one solid color.

Hope you all have a delicious Valentine's Day.

Break out your cookie presses!

The easiest way I know to make a lot of cookies in a short amout of time is with the good ole' cookie press.

I'm not one to really celebrate this holiday much but this year, I thought I'd make little heart cookies to go along with the Valentine cards my kids are writing up for their classmates. They seem a bit more excited about it this year versus last year.

Nice and simple. Each valentine will have a little bag containing 3 little heart cookies, 2 with different shades of pink and one with a shade of purple.

This week has been a tough week for this stay-home mommy. I've had zero alone time.

You get used to having even just a few hours, a couple times a week, free of kids but when that gets taken away... you miss it.

You miss it a lot.

My kids have been ill. And whiny. And cranky. And... well, you get the picture.

I don't really consider myself to be a "granola". You know, a "hippy", "tree-hugger", "flower-child", type of person but when I saw this recipe, I was pretty excited to try it out.

Chockfull of seeds, oats, bran, whole wheat flour... basically it is an "everything in your pantry but the canned sardines" type of recipe. Plus, there is no kneading for this bread, it's basically a batter-type recipe.

I'm not a big bread eater but if I do have a slice, I would prefer it being full of nutrients and fiber. I would say that this seed bread fits the bill. (Though I love my less-nutrient white breads on occasion too).

I remember a camping trip I took, many, many years ago, where I had brought a store-bought sprouted grain bread, full of seeds, along. My brother looked at the sandwich and responded with "what the heck is THAT? Where's the normal bread?". He jokingly threw some of the bread pieces and claimed that the squirrels were not even eating it and continued to make jokes the rest of the day about it. Quite frankly, I think the squirrels were probably full after one piece and that's why they didn't come back for more.

Hmmm... wait a minute. Seed bread, pantry full of oats, nuts and seeds and camping?

Ok, maybe I have an "inner-hippy". But you won't see me in Birkenstocks, a tye-died long skirt with a flower garland around my head.

Enjoy the bread. I did.

:)

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Seed Bread
makes one large loaf or two smaller loaves

1 tbsp sugar
2.5 cups warm water, divided
1 tbsp dry yeast

Well, just like most people, I have broken my New Year's Resolutions. I was hoping that I could post Weekly Photos, every week, but this last week has been so very busy that I didn't even pick up my camera. But, on a good note, the fundraiser I was organizing went really well. The food was good, people bid on a lot of great silent auction items and there were no big problems. Things went really smoothly. Hallelujah!


If you tried out the Applesauce-Raisin Muffins that I blogged about before, then you will surely love these Zucchini & Chocolate Chip mini-loaves. It's the same base recipe but adapted for zucchini instead. They are moist and healthy.

From what I learned from the Banana Bread blogpost, if you prefer to put in nuts instead of chocolate chips, you are more than welcome! I was surprised that so many of you did not like chocolate chips in your loaves! Like I said in that post, I love my chocolate chips.