Kitchen design and coffee

Those who have known me for some time know that I am new to coffee.  I never drank it.  Except on rare occasions when I'd add a little to a mug of hot chocolate.  I didn't care for the bitterness, though I always loved the smell.

Fast forward to a few years ago when our daughter was born.  When pregnant with her brother I developed a taste for watermelon, something I hadn't liked at all since I was a kid.  After Little Miss came along I began adding more and more coffee to my cocoa.  Then came a day when I just needed a break.  Hubby stayed home and I went for a walk.  I found myself at Tim Horton's (hard not to walk anywhere and find oneself at a Tim Hortons around here).  I was chilled and wanted a hot drink, but wasn't in the mood for the cloying sweetness and fake taste of their hot chocolate.  I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I got a coffee instead.  Doctored up with a lot of sugar and cream, mind you.  But it was, I think, my first cup of coffee.  And I enjoyed it.

Not long after that I began buying instant coffee and making a cup for myself in the mornings.  Hubby was in the habit of taking tea with him in the mornings, or making a coffee in his single serving coffee maker.  But I figured that coffee was coffee and instant was easier.  I was teased by friends on Facebook for drinking instant and not realizing that there's a noticeable difference between that and brewed coffee.  So I relented and brewed some up.  Wow, definitely a difference.

We went out and bought a coffee maker that brews up either one or two travel mugs or a thermal carafe.  And since then (a couple of years ago?) I've had a mug of brewed coffee most mornings.  It's still just Foldgers, mind you.  I'm not a coffee snob.  And while I'm sure a gourmet single plantation brew would taste nice, I'm not so much of an enthusiast that I am willing to spend that much for my morning cup.  Though I may treat myself to some fair trade beans at some point, if I get a grinder.  I don't imagine I'd go in for one of those single cup coffee machine thingies.  Unless we won one.

Having said all that, there is one thing I do want.  I want a coffee station.  Right now our coffee maker sits on the counter near the stove.  The tub of coffee sits next to it, tucked back against the wall.  The sugar sits somewhere around there too.  It's a cluttered space, with the mugs on the other side of the (admittedly small) kitchen.

I don't know if it was online or in a magazine that I saw a wonderful coffee station.  It had a deep drawer to hold all the mugs and whatnot.  It was its own space in the kitchen, not amongst the clutter.  My imagination has taken this and run with it.  Imagine a lovely French country sideboard, like this (I want a French country kitchen)


Now, combine the left and middle drawer into one and double their height.  In there go the mugs and plates and sugar and spoons.  On the counter goes the coffee maker and a decorative container of coffee. And maybe a matching one for cookies.  On the right, change the drawer and door into a single door, with a small fridge unit inside.  That's where the cream, the cream liqueurs and flavoured syrups go.



Anyway, as you can see, I've given this much thought.  Of course we could just unclutter our kitchen to make the coffee space more morning-friendly, but a gal can dream, right?

Total randomness

I don't necessarily have anything to say, but I haven't blogged in a bit.  It's not that there's nothing going on.  I just haven't been sleeping well and sleeplessness does not beget much inspiration.  Though I can now blog with some authority about Better Homes & Gardens bedding from WalMart.  Unless it softens up tremendously with repeated washings, I would never buy it again.  It is stiff and noisy enough that it actually kept me up the first night we used it.  I'm still not finding it all that comfortable.  I prefer my jersey knit bedding, which drapes over the body and doesn't sound like I've put my head in a bowl of dry cereal.

Speaking of sleep, or lack thereof, what is up with the brain creating nightmares that make no sense?  I mean, I get that some things are scary and go in nightmares, like monsters or fire or falling.  But when the brain puts Drew Carey in the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, things get downright weird.  Throw in a large golden dragon chasing us through a corner store and I begin to wonder about what my brain is doing with its downtime.  And for the record, I don't even watch Buffy.  Or Drew Carey.

Moving on to things less scary, Hallowe'en is almost here.  For us, that's a non-scary event.  We don't do monsters or spooky things or stuff like that.  But we do take the kids trick or treating.  And then we go through and sort out all of the safe (peanut free) candy from the rest, throw out anything made in China (seriously, we've gotten mystery candy we've never heard of, labeled "made in China") and put it all away.  Usually I end up making a batch of candy cookies with the safe chocolates.  The "unsafe" but familiar stuff gets divided between hubby and I for our own private stash.  It's one of the few times I actually have "emergency chocolate" on  hand.

Between now and then we have our anniversary.  Thirteen years already.  Plus the six that we dated (high school sweethearts).  Not sure what we're doing yet.  My birthday is in there too, so we may combine both.  There is a local artisans market that we are absolutely going to attend at the end of the month, and since I won $50 from it the last time, I plan on buying myself a little something.  Maybe we can mix it all into one date night.  We'll see. I'm not sure where we'll have dinner, though there's a great Asian fusion tapas place in town that we both really enjoy.

It's funny how things change.  A great dinner date night used to be at a local Thai restaurant.  While that is still super-enjoyable, we get take out from there so it's not quite as special.  A steakhouse was also considered a great dinner date, until I discovered how to create an amazing end result with any cut of steak just by using salt.  Now we're both a bit spoiled and find restaurant steaks, even good one, lacking.  If I'm going to pay $30+ for a steak now, it had better be grass fed, local and come from a cow that could moo show tunes.  Atmosphere and chef name alone is no longer enough now that I can produce something at least as good, if not better, at home.

And because I can't blog and not talk food most of the time, with the cool weather has come the desire to braise pieces of beef.  Which makes me laugh because honestly I'm not a big fan of beef stew and things like that.  I am a big fan of making it though.  Thankfully hubby is all too happy to eat it.  Little Mister is requesting more veggie chili.  I say "veggie" rather than "vegetarian" because I do use chicken stock in it.  And Worcestershire sauce.  Just no meat.  I use eggplant and bulgur for texture, and always kidney beans, which are L.M's favourites.  Maybe I'll make some for tomorrow.   I wonder what he'd think of a vegetable curry?  Hmmmm....  Honestly I think that he'd be... not necessarily a vegetarian, but maybe a carba-vore if I let him.  He likes veggies and fruits well enough, but would exist on graham crackers, soup crackers and whole wheat bread if I let him.  Little Miss, however, asked for steak for her birthday dinner.  Both will contentedly eat bacon until they burst, but bacon is a magic food.  Tonight it's pork chops.  Thick, butterflied pork chops from a butcher we decided to try out on the weekend.  So far the flank steak was so-so and the "medium" Italian sausage was bland.  Hopefully these chops are better.

Leftover non-recipe

Today is Thanksgiving day in Canada.  But since it's a long weekend, we had our meal yesterday.  Today hubby is working on outdoor projects.  The weather is beautiful.  Even the leaves, which aren't normally so vibrant so early, are nearly at peak colour.  It's been an absolutely gorgeous weekend!

I'll be honest.  I didn't make the broccoli with bacon and chestnuts.  I had the chestnuts, but forgot to thaw the bacon.  *embarrassed*

But the capon was wonderful.  7lbs of succulent meat, which I brined in the morning.  I treated it simply, with just onion, sage and celery in the cavity, and a sprinkling of pepper and sage on the skin.  It needed nothing else.  The "stuffing" (dressing, I guess) was really good too.  My mother has been making it for years.  Sausage, peppers, onion, celery, garlic, sage, oregano, basil and bread cubes.  She uses mushrooms as well, but we don't care for them, so I skip them.  I added some of the fat from the roasted bird to give it a bit of oomph in the flavour department, and I always add broth to soften the dried bread cubes.  Even the cranberry sauce turned out well, and I usually don't have much luck with it.

So a little while ago I assembled a small casserole for hubby and I for supper.  I know the kids won't touch the leftovers.  They don't like stuffing or mashed potatoes.  That's fine.  They'll enjoy their own yummy supper.

Here's my non-recipe for Next Day Thanksgiving Casserole.  It's a total no-brainer, but so yummy.

In a casserole put a loose layer of stuffing.  

Then layer slices of meat over it (add a little salt if your bird wasn't brined).

Dab with a little gravy and then a thin layer of cranberry sauce.

Repeat stuffing and meat layers.

Cover with a layer of mashed potatoes.

I sprinkled some applewood smoked Cheddar over the top, just for fun.

Bake at 350 until heated through.  Serve with gravy and more cranberry sauce if you want.

There you go.  A non-recipe for an excellent way to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers.  I take no credit for it.  I'm sure most people have at least heard of it, if not tried it.  In fact there used to be a sub shop in town YEARS ago that sold a Thanksgiving sub.  Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and maybe even gravy on a sub bun.  I never did get to try it, but it sounded interesting.

Thanksgiving

With a nod to my American friends and readers for whom Thanksgiving is still something of a distant blip on the radar, I'm blogging about the holiday that is next weekend here in Canada.  For a while there it seemed like September was hurtling at breakneck speed.  I wasn't ready to contemplate Thanksgiving being so soon.  But then somehow it slowed and I breathed in the cooling air laden with the scent of woodstoves in the neighbourhood, early fallen leaves and a decided lack of humidity, and all became right with the world.

I've begun putting up Autumn decorations.  When I was first married there was a local craft show where I'd seen some lovely placemats and table coverings.  My grandmother generously gave me the money for a set of them.  I have a half dozen placemats and serviettes, a table runner and a hot pad in a pattern that is a lovely explosion of harvest colours.  I set them out every year in the living room (I don' t have a dining room).  We put corn stalks and Mums outside, and we'll get pumpkins in the coming weeks.

As far as our menu goes, I've ordered a capon from a local butcher.  We had one earlier this year and found that its size was perfect for our small family.  6-8lbs of juicy meat that tastes how chicken should.  I can get behind that.  As much as I love turkey, it's all but impossible to get one from a butcher that's under 11lbs.  Often they're closer to 15lbs.  We just don't use up the leftovers from a bird that big.  I mean, I guess we could, but the capon is far more manageable.

Along with Mr. Bird, we'll have mashed potatoes and gravy, even though the kids don't like them.  They're still a must for hubby and I.  I've been looking at my Thanksgiving cookbook (literally "The Thanksgiving Cookbook" by Holly Garrison - one of my favourite cookbooks).  There are so many great ideas in this book.  As I've been going through it this year I've been asking the kids what they'd like to have for Thanksgiving dinner.  So far they've settled upon Broccoli with Bacon and Chestnuts.  We just bought chestnuts from a local nut tree nursery, and I've had a few. They're wonderfully sweet and full flavoured.  Hubby doesn't care for broccoli, but "bacon makes everything better" right?

I'm not sure what dessert will be, though last year I made a butterscotch apple cheesecake that I may repeat.  For now I'll share the broccoli recipe with you (I'll be halving it for us).

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Broccoli with Bacon and Chestnuts

8 slices bacon, cut into 1/2" pieces
2 Tbsp butter (honestly I'll just keep enough bacon fat back)
2 large bunches broccoli
1/4 lb chestnuts, roasted or steamed, peeled and cut into small pieces
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cook the bacon in a medium size skillet over medium-high heat until it's crisp.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  Discard all but 2 tablespoons of fat and add the butter to the skillet (seriously?  I'll be using all bacon fat) and set aside.

Rinse the broccoli and cut off the main stems.  Break the bunches into even size flowerets, leaving short stems.  Cook in a large saucepan of lightly salted water until tender-crisp.  While it's cooking heat the bacon fat over medium high heat.  When it's hot, stir in the chestnuts and cook until heated through. 

Drain the broccoli and rinse it briefly in cool water to set the colour and stop the cooking.  Return it to the saucepan.  Add the hot chestnut mixture and reserved bacon.  Stir gently over low heat until combined and warm.  Add pepper to taste and serve in a warm bowl.

Serves 8
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Sounds simple enough.  And quite tasty.  I love that my kids have chosen this.  They're also considering creamed leeks, though that requires a bechamel and cheese, neither of which I think would go well with gravy.  They're also pondering glazed carrots.  We'll see.

Local?

I've been thinking a lot lately about what we eat and where it comes from.  As I mentioned only half jokingly in my last post, I had to buy asparagus for a recipe for my gourmet group and I struggled with that for a moment.  It's not in season.  Not by a long shot.  Where was it from?  Peru, I believe.  Never mind the hefty price tag. 


Not too long ago that asparagus wouldn't have even been a blip on my radar.  But thanks largely to those I've met on Twitter, I'm becoming more and more aware of how unsustainable our current food system is.  Yes, I used a buzzword.  I may even throw "locavore" into the mix (beyond just the book, which I whole heartedly recommend!).  Anyway, the passion of local foodies is contagious.  And it's not just about me anymore.  I have two wonderful children.  And a choice to make.  Do my husband and I raise them to simply make healthy choices in what they eat?  Or do we raise them to be aware of not only what they eat, but where it came from? 

Some wonder why it even matters.  But when I read about a woman who found a chicken head in her basket of wings in a Toronto restaurant, what struck me wasn't that she'd found a chicken part in her chicken parts (okay, it would be freaky, but not a total shock).  What struck me was that the chicken was from Brazil!  I would have never thought that meat being consumed in a Toronto restaurant would be from Brazil.  The U.S, maybe.  But a different continent altogether?  I've been somewhat sheltered, I guess.  When I saw a flyer from M&M meats earlier this year I was surprised to read that some of their beef is from New Zealand.

Maybe I'm naive.  I don't understand why we import things that we can and do grow and raise right here.  Why are there peaches from the U.S in stores during peach season?  Especially right here where tenderfruit is king?  Why are we exporting produce and meat that we're also importing at the same time?  Why don't we grow to feed our own first, and supplement with what we can't produce enough of, or cannot grow here after that?  The system looks broken to me.

I want to do what I can for my own family and community.  I just called the local butcher shop that we go to.  I wanted to know where the meat comes from.  It's not "local," but it is all Canadian.  I guess I feel better about that.  I think I'd go elsewhere if the meat were from the U.S.  Most of it is from Ontario, with a bit from Alberta, apparently.

I know that we can't afford 100% local, organic meat all the time.  But we buy it when we can.  And I know that I said I buy factory chickens.  Since that time though I've pretty much stopped buying grocery store meat.  Largely due to quality (or lack thereof) rather than conscience, though that is creeping in too.  But I'm still often buying it from a butcher who I am sure sells only factory farmed meat.  But at least I know it's Canadian.  Eating with ones conscience is a strange balance to try to keep. 

So that's where I'm at.  With knowledge comes responsibility, right?  Hence the reason I haven't watched movies like Food Inc yet.  I don't think I'm ready to take that step yet.  It feels like a bit of a leap from where I am.  But not as much of a leap as it was even a year ago.  Baby steps.

Ahhhh, Autumn

Summer was tough.  After a couple of years of unseasonably cool summer weather we were hit with a lot of heat and humidity.  There was surprisingly enough rain, mind you.  But the temps were a little hard to take.  Thankfully Summer has behaved itself by turning tail and leaving as requested on Labour Day weekend (yes, I made demands of a season... what, you expected 100% sanity all of the time?).  With the exception of one day it has been lovely and cool.  We've gone from 22C overnight lows to 22C daily highs.  It's lovely!

I'm feeling more productive.  The fog is lifting and I'm feeling so much better.  The windows are open, the duvet is on the bed (more for my hubby than for me), I'm cooking inside the house rather than only using the barbecue (though it's still being used quite a bit) and I'm enjoying being productive.

Our homeschool year has begun and we actually have a (loose) schedule.  Our Little Mister is doing well.  He's working on some basics, like how to write a sentence that starts with capital letters, uses lower case letters for the rest and has spaces between the words.  LOL, simple things that we adults take for granted.  He's excelling in math.  We have nothing to compare him to, but I don't think that most 5 (almost 6) year olds can add and subtract negative numbers, dabble in multiplication and work with decimals.  I suspect that by the end of the school year we may be close to completing the grade 3 math book I just bought.  I'm not pushing him at all.  This is what he does for fun after the rest of his work is finished.  I don't understand it, but then again math was never my thing.

Speaking of the new season, my gourmet (which has been on hiatus for much of the summer) starts up again tonight.  We're doing all appetizers and a movie.  Which reminds me, I need to put Julie & Julia on my purse so I don't forget to bring it, in case that's still what the hostess wants to watch.  Must remember to wear comfy movie watching clothes, too.  Yoga pants it is.  Woohoo!  Oh, and my recipe is for phyllo rolls with asparagus, prosciutto and Parmesan, seasoned with... dill.  Um, I would never have thought to combine those flavours.  LOL.  The recipe can be found here.  Notice how it calls for "cup Parmesan cheese."  No amount.  Is that one cup?  I really don't know.  I'll eyeball it and report on Twitter how it turned out.  And you local food peeps are really rubbing off on me.  When I saw the recipe my first thought was, "But asparagus isn't in season!"  LOL  $5/bunch right now.  Ouch.

I'm sure I'll post lots more about my love of Autumn.  For now I need to go over my recipe, and maybe make a batch of cabbage soup, too.

Stumbling about the net

I love Stumble. What's Stumble? It's a wonderful add-on for Firefox that lets me select preferences and then randomly takes me to sites that (usually) match them. Mine is set to take me to all kinds of food and coffee and home schooling sites, among others.

So while Stumbling around I come across all sorts of wonderful recipes. And today I'm going to share links to just a few that are appealing to me right now.

Here's a snack that I intend to make at some point. It just looks so amazingly yummy and fresh. With cucumbers and tomatoes in season right now, I can see making these soon.


Yep, Greek Nachos. *swoon* http://notwithoutsalt.com/2009/08/06/greek-nachos/

Then there are these Carnitas.
Slow cooked pork and home made salsa. So simple, but I bet they are incredibly satisfying. I'm adding these to my autumn/winter must try list. http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/carnitas/

Jumping to sweets for a moment, I'm taking inspiration directly from Bob Blumer. I watched him create a bacon ice cream on his show, "Glutton for Punishment" and I knew that I had to find the recipe.

Maple Bacon Crunch ice cream. Oh. My. Gosh. Bacon brittle. Seriously, on it's own that would be wonderful enough. But bacon brittle stirred into home made ice cream? I'm swooning again. And I'm not even a huge ice cream fan. http://www.thestar.com/living/food/recipes/mealorcourse/dessert/article/743118--maple-bacon-crunch-ice-cream

Then there are these Millionare's Shortbread with Salted Ale Caramel. Yep, shortbread, beer, caramel and salt. Oh, and chocolate of course. http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/08/04/millionaires-shortbread-with-salted-ale-caramel/

So that's just a tiny bite of what I've tucked away for future enjoyment. I love coming across new recipes. Food inspires me. I hope to post more entries like this so I can share that inspiration with others.