Playing Catch-Up

Okay, okay! So it's harder to maintain a daily blog than I thought. But here I am! I am still alive! And better yet, still writing.

Alright, so since last I wrote in this, my adventure was what passed as Greek food. The next day, my big adventures for the day was discovering the park near our house and making a dish following a recipe! Not that I haven't ever followed a recipe before, mind you, but it was a slow, lazy day.

The park is HUGE and very beautiful. It has a play park and water park for the kids, a public pool, a sports area where a kids football game was going on at the time (with a horribly slow and monotone announcer that would put me to sleep if I was watching the game) a mini-put area, train ride for kids and a gorgeous garden. My love and I explored the garden thoroughly, and my appreciation for the city really sky-rocketed right then. This place beats the parks we have in Montreal by a landslide! It's the little things like this that make me melt for him and this province..

The meal we ended up making was 'Jambon et pommes de terre au gratin', aka 'Ham and Potatoes au gratin' My love and I prepared it together, and he swore it would taste excellent because it was made with LOVE! With this knowledge we placed it in the oven and waited for the magic. Meanwhile, we vegetated on the couch and watched old movies and re-runs... I told you it was a slow, lazy day!

Well the meal came out great, though it stuck to the casserole dish a bit more than I liked (would PAM solve that? Someone with more experience please get back to me on that) and here is the recipe, if you want to live through my adventure for yourself:

4 cups peeled and thinly sliced potatoes
3 cups cooked and cubed ham (omit this for the vegetarian version of adventure)
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/2 cup of chopped onions
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp sage
1 tsp salt
pinch of pepper

In a large casserole dish, combine potatoes and ham. In saucepan, melt butter, then add the onions and cook, stirring for about 2 min. Then stir in flour. Next, add the milk, sage, salt and pepper. Continue cooking and stirring for about 4 min. or until sauce comes to a boil and thickens. Stir in the cheese, then when well mixed pour this yummy mixture all over the potatoes and ham, stirring it in. Cover and bake in 375 degree oven for 1 and a half hours. It 'should' make 4 servings..

bon appetit!

On Sunday we went to the PNE, the Pacific National Exhibition... for you Montrealers reading, think cultural fair and La Ronde combined. They had musical acts (though that day it was a country star, and I am honestly not interested in that genre too much, though my Love is such a cowboy!) exhibits such as a sandcastle competition (which I thought was really wicked cool, I love seeing people's creativity shine!), logging competitions (in which they all cheated so much, was fun to watch) 'super dogs', petting zoos and motocross to name a few.

I also met Filiz that day, a friend of my Love. She was very sweet and it was nice to get the kiss on two cheeks, it reminded me a bit of back home. She was a riot on the rides, always screaming and clutching at the safety bars for dear life. We even did an old fashioned photo together!

The rides themselves were okay, but I felt a little bit taken. The price was pretty high, and they only had two roller-coasters, and only the wooden one was really worth it. They did have a lot of fun little thrill rides, but roller-coasters are my favorite! Ack I miss the Goliath back in Montreal, that was so much fun!

We got home and my Love realized how exhausted he was, so I made dinner. It turned out great... except I hate peppers, and it was mostly peppers... *grumbles*

Warm Feta Salad.. how I wish you had no peppers in thee!! Here's how to make it:

Block of feta, cut into 4
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp dried rosemary or 5 tbsp of the fresh stuff (I used dried)
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 package of fresh basil or cilantro, chopped (I cheated and used some dried..)
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 lettuce mix

Mix together the rosemary, oil and garlic and pour over the feta and let marinade for at least an hour, or overnight. Heat onion in saucepan for 5 minutes until lightly browned, then add the rest of the ingredients (except the lettuce) and let simmer for half an hour. Arrange lettuce on the plates, then place the feta on the top and coat with the sauce. Makes 4 servings.

For all those who enjoy peppers, bon appetit!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a lot of fun! I spent the morning with June, my Love's mom! We went to a place called De Dutch for breakfast, and got to know each other better. June is an amazing person and gives really excellent hugs! I told her about my biggest dilemma in the house - no toaster! She seems to like me (which works well, since I like her too) and also enjoys reading this blog! She told me I should go into writing.. I would, but writing is by no means a lucrative career, so I will continue writing for the joy of it and for the joy of your responces.

We had my Love's brother and sister-in-law over for dinner, and so I planned a feast! Soup and salad to start with pasta as the main course. It went over very well, they seemed to like it and left fairly full. His brother amused me by bringing a huge loaf of bread, when we had asked them to bring a nice bread to compliment the dinner. His mother, June made me nearly fall over laughing when she had him bring a toaster over as a gift for me! So thoughtful! I feel so loved!
The pasta sauce I made was from a website online claiming it was the best sauce, though after my Love tasted it he felt it was missing something so started tossing in spices left and right, so I won't copy it here simply because I haven't clue what went in. The soup, though, was something I had picked out of my Food Network Cookbook I brought with me! It was really yummy. Sorry, no vegetarian alternative to this one.. at least not in my head.

Chicken, Spinach and Gnocchi Soup

Kosher salt
2 cups prepared gnocchi
4 cups chicken broth, low sodium, canned
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp unsalted butter
pinch of sugar
3 cups cleaned baby spinach leaves
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used the leftovers of a rotisserie chicken I had bought)
Freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese

Bring a medium saucepan of cold water to boil over high heat, then salt it generously. Add the gnocchi and cook, stirring occasionally, until they rise to the top. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, put 1/4 cup of the broth, garlic, butter and sugar in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, bring it to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the garlic is tender, about 1 minute. Add the spinach and let it wilt for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining broth and chicken and bring it to a simmer.. Stir in gnocchi and bring to full boil. Taste and season with with and generous amounts of pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and shower with cheese.

Bon appetit!

My Love's brother and sister-in-law are going to have us over on Friday! I wonder what they will serve up? Until then, I am a bit tired of all the typing, so... toodles!

Melody