Kitchen Help

Blackberry Lemon and Thyme Muffins

I'm not sure what motivated my recent cooking and baking frenzy. My suspicion is that it probably has something to do with my vain attempt to bake my way back to feeling like the most important person in my children's lives.

The Daughter was home from university for Reading Week. On her last weekend before returning to school I bake TWICE. Blackberry Lemon and Thyme Muffins are delicious. Fresh thyme is an unusual but not-to-be-left-out ingredient. The Daughter eats two at one sitting.

The Beamer likes to check out what's going on in the kitchen

My nephew Colin has inspired me to try Bacon Oatmeal and Raisin Cookies. The saltiness of the bacon is perfectly complemented by the sweet raisins. The cookies are very good but don't further my cause with the Adolescent as he's "not really feeling" the bacon. He used to LOVE bacon! There were regular Sunday breakfast arguments over who would get first dibs on the best and most perfect strips. How far we've fallen.

The Daughter baking

I read an article in the March issue of Bon Appetit magazine about one restaurant that gets potential hires to make 3 things in their "interview" for a job in the restaurant kitchen: roast chicken, salad, and chocolate cake. These 3 things are very simple and basic but apparently tell a lot about a person's cooking skills. The Daughter makes a chocolate cake. Apparently not her best effort. We argue over the frosting (although it's about much more than the frosting!). I'm sure this has impacted the finished product. 

The Hubby and the Beamer

I make dinner on Sunday. Ostensibly to honour the Daughter's last dinner before going back to school. But really it's to make myself indispensable to my children. And to test out my chances of being hired in a restaurant kitchen. The Hubby is unsure if I would get the job anyway given how messy a cook I am. Isn't that what a good Kitchen Bitch is for?


In between all this cooking and baking there is lots of parent/child drama with both the Adolescent and the Daughter. In the Adolescent's case it is about him always thinking that he needs me less than how much I think he needs me. With the Daughter it is about our adjustment to relate to each other anew now that she is a young adult. I would like to deal with both these parental challenges with grace but as usual it's a messy sloppy affair.

Roast Chicken

Roast chicken to the rescue! I use an organic bird. The meat is moist and flavourful although it does smoke up in the oven due to the butter that's basted frequently on the skin. However, it's worth the risk of smoke alarms sounding.

The salad dressing is very simple but delicious. I think the key flavour ingredient is anchovy. Not something I normally use but definitely will again.

I would hire me! Kitchen help with drama.

Happy Birthday Scarlett!

We also squeeze in a family dinner party for Scarlett's 9th birthday. Trish and Richard cook up a storm. Home-made guacamole, shrimps coated in panko and potato flour before being quickly sauteed into a crunchy delicious taste sensation. Fresh salad rolls made by Scarlett herself. A chocolate and pear upside down birthday cake.

Trish and the Daughter admiring the new espresso machine

There are also perfect and delicious cappuccinos made by Trish on her new home espresso machine!

The Beamer smells thyme

For my Christmas gift this year the Hubby transferred all our old 8mm video tapes from when the kids were very young to DVDs. Hours and hours of footage of our beautiful children doing the most mundane things. Eating spaghetti, pointing at Mommy's nose, pointing at the light, kissing the doll, singing, dancing. On and on it goes.








Our children wonder if we had a life back then. I tell them that THIS WAS OUR LIFE! And we LOVED it! Marveling at our fascinating children, at their cleverness, at their adorableness. Our entire lives, or at least the part that's on film, revolved around them. And the best part was that they felt the same about us. No wonder it's so hard to let them go now.

Family Togetherness at Montebello

It always feels like a miracle when we're actually able to drive away from the house at the start of a family vacation. There are always so many obstacles on the path to success. It`s Chateau Montebello this weekend for a rendezvous with Mike who lives in Montreal. This has been our annual tradition for the past 11 years.

The Beamer, me, Mike, the Daughter, the Adolescent

However, first we have to get out the door. The Adolescent and his bacteria impede our progress. I won't go into the reasons why at the last minute the Adolescent is scrambling to get his biology project done. How my oven was used to incubate the bacteria. How we must bring the now flourishing growth with us on our trip like a fragile family member. The car must be preheated so the bacteria doesn't die. It must be protected and cushioned. It cannot be jostled. Bacteria.

Siblings

Our annual weekend at Montebello is an opportunity for idyllic family togetherness. The day always starts with The Negotiation. Invariably whatever one family member wants to do another is vehemently opposed. Like the other day. The Daughter wants to snowshoe. Well she doesn't actually WANT to snowshoe but it's the lesser of evils. The Adolescent HATES snowshoeing. He wants to go cross country skiing. The Daughter ABHORS cross country skiing. She refuses to come. The Adolescent refuses to snowshoe. We barter. We wheel and deal. Whining and general sulkiness abound. From me. I'm living the dream.

Snowshoes

An unplanned pleasure this year is that Sabina and Paul are here with their extended family.  Each family does its own thing during the day but after dinner we get together and  Euchre Rules. Their daughter Clara has to be watched closely for her self-professed propensity for cheating. And the Hubby is still most annoying.

Paul, the Hubby, Sabina, and me playing euchre

However, we don`t have to worry about the Beamer. He has the best babysitter ever. Stephen`s Guys are watching out for him! Just like last year (see The Hubby and the Prime Minister), our rooms are across the hall from where Prime Minister Stephen Harper is supposed to be staying. Everything is ready and waiting. But Stephen is nowhere to be found. The bomb sniffing dogs have declared the rooms safe. The command post has been set up in a room down the hall. We're pretty sure our names have been checked and cleared. There is always at least one of Stephen's Guys standing guard outside our room. We are either in the safest or the most dangerous place in the entire hotel. Although Stephen has not yet materialized, his Guys still keep watch. Just in case, I guess. In the meantime they are proving to be very excellent babysitters! The range of our baby monitor is not strong enough for us to hear the Beamer when we all gather down the hall to play euchre. So we put the monitor just outside the room door. If the Beamer makes any noise, Stephen's Guy on duty in the hall alerts us. The Beamer always attracts the nicest people!

Clara, Adriana, the Adolescent, and the Daughter hanging

Happy Family Day!

Third Annual Euchre Night

What to do with an uneven number of euchre players? This unfortunate situation came about when Mary became ill on the day of Euchre Night and we were left one player short. Jon was sick too. But he still came. I'm just saying. Cathy said he was afraid not to. I'm sure she didn't mean that. Jon couldn't eat anything all night and he did look a little grey. And he did have to rush home before the night was over. But he still came. This is the mark of a dedicated euchre enthusiast.

Susan, Steve, Sabina, Sarah

So instead of the planned 12 people we had 2 tables of 4 with 3 people left over. Saner people probably would have decided to have 3 people take turns sitting out. We did consider that, but only briefly. We tried to get a 12th person to come over at the last minute. Friends were called and pleaded with. But no one was available. We even considered calling the Adolescent to return home from his friend's house. That would have gone over well. I decided that we would not be able to scrape together enough money on such short notice to entice the Adolescent to return home and play euchre with a bunch of old people. So the next best thing was to have one person playing 2 tables at once. Only very special people can pull this off successfully. It's multitasking at its highest level. The Hubby, Steve, and Paul demonstrated that they have the superior abilities necessary for this.

Treasure, Sarah, Paul, the Hubby playing 2 tables at the same time, Sabina, Jon. The empty chair is mine.

For a second year in a row, Treasure won first place (see last year`s post). Congratulations Treasure!

The Hubby with Treasure and his first place prize

The tradition is that last year's winner supplies the prize for this year's winner. So because Treasure won first place last year he was now supplying his OWN prize this year. Although, as the Hubby frequently corrects me, THE HUBBY came first last year but was too much of a good host (translation: I made him do it) to accept the prize for himself. Treasure is a neophyte wine connaisseur so felt a lot of pressure to choose an appropriate prize wine. He settled on this one (review from the Globe and Mail):


Penfolds Bin 28 Kalimna Shiraz 2007 (Australia)
SCORE: 91
Full-bodied and concentrated, hinting at plum and chocolate, this is an excellent Bin 28 vintage that delivers a solid kick of peppery spice and – for a warm-climate Australian red – impressive mouthwatering acidity. Great for rare beef, venison or lamb.

Sounds like a great pick and Treasure likely would have been happy to have gone back home with it. However, it lacked a sense of occasion that he should go home with the same bottle that he came with so the Hubby happily exchanged it (translation: I made him do it) for one from his cellar. A 2003 E. Guigal Cote-Rotie. Hopefully an exchange that Treasure is happy with.

Paul, Sarah and Colin

Food-wise it is the easiest entertaining night of the year. Little bowls of munchies...

Cathy and Susan with bowls of munchies

...and desserts! For tonight I make a lemon cheesecake. This cake is smooth, rich, and tart and sweet at the same time with a sour cream topping and a lemon glaze. I also make a flour-less chocolate almond cake. Dense, not too sweet. A nice contrast to the lemon cheesecake.

Chocolate Almond Cake and Lemon Cheesecake

Year of the Dragon

I made a pie! Perhaps I'm beginning to un-beige. My assignment was to bring a dessert to the dinner hosted by Terry and Brian to celebrate Chinese New Year. I was SO CLOSE to buying something. A Chinese bakery makes a lovely cake. It would be SO EASY! The Hubby even urged me to buy something. But I fought those beige tendencies.

I never make pie. Pie is something that was my mother's domain. But it has always intrigued me. Tips to making a good flaky crust: Keep it cold. Don't overwork it. Once it's rolled out and ready to be placed into the pie plate be careful not to stretch it.

Pie crust only has a few ingredients so it's not hard to make. But it's tricky. Just the challenge to push me out of beige.

The family celebrating the Year of the Dragon

As a first pie, I decide to go with one that only has a bottom crust and a crumble top. Half as tricky I hope. I email my Auntie Katie in Vancouver for tips. She is the one who taught my mother how to make pie crust. Unfortunately I don't hear back from her in time. I'm on my own.


I choose a Deep Dish Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumb. It is filled with apples, pears, cranberries, and dried figs. It turns out beautifully. I am happy. I'm a little less beige than I was before.


Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Still So Beige

I can see that others are living lives of colour.

Colin's Bacon Milkshakes

My nephew Colin embarked on a 41 day bacon eating adventure. He ate at least one piece of bacon every day for 41 days. On the weekends he made out-there bacon recipes. Colin is obviously not Beige.

Bacon Cake made by Colin

The Daughter's hair bun is normally small and underwhelming.










Then she does something magical with a sport sock and voila: a full and luscious bun.

This is what someone who's beige finds fascinating.











Treasure, who some might call a "sensitive" (picky) eater, tries various foods that he normally would have refused. Squid and mussels are not beige.

Sabina who previously was struggling with beige has joined the Ride to Conquer Cancer and her face is too red and her butt too sore to be considered beige any longer.

I, on the other hand, am still so beige. I think it has to do with my New Year's Resolution: Acceptance. I'm used to spending a lot of my energy trying to inspire others to...well...to see the world like I do. You can imagine how well that goes over. I really don't understand what all the reluctance is about. I believe strongly and sincerely that if more people saw things the way I do then the world, well, maybe not the world, but definitely I would be much happier. I know on an intellectual level that it's perfectly fine and actually desirable that everyone has their own feelings and thoughts blah blah blah but deep down I really don't get it. But I'm going to try to Accept People for Who They Are. Very basic stuff but not simple or easy for me. I think Acceptance is making me Beige. It's hard to imagine needing much passion to Accept people (yawn). But I probably don't quite Get It yet.

Will keep you posted.

The Year So Far is Beige

The year so far has been underwhelming. Kind of beige. Tofu-like. White rice. Cream of Wheat-ish. I guess it's going to be hard to match last year. In 2011 I became a Cyclist. I clip in. I wear shorts with a padded butt. I ride 100km in one go. In 2011 I became a Blogger. I have followers (only 6...but still...). I post from far away places like Thailand and Vietnam. In 2011 I became a Photographer. The Daughter shared tips. I know (a little bit) about shutter speed and ISO. Aperture is my friend. The few pictures I've taken that are not fuzzy or dark are works of art! In 2011 I made delicious things with yeast. Donuts. Cinnamon buns. I learned about Twitter and opened an account. The Hubby taught me to play pool.

In 2012, so far, nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I'm not just talking about Doing something exciting. I would be happy with even just Thinking something exciting. I know it's only been 7 days into the New Year. But for me the start of the year is usually a time of inspiration, of grand ideas. This year my only New Year's Resolution is to make Croissants. And that's a carry over from last year. I'm worried I've lost my zest. I need some chartreuse. A shot of magenta.

The Daughter and the Adolescent aren't helping matters. I haven't yet figured out how to be graceful as I slide into parental colourlessness. I would like to be doing this with quiet dignity and elegance. But how do you get used to being demoted from the centre of your child's universe to one who is way down on the list of people whom they want to spend time with? I lie in bed at night unable to peacefully sleep until they get safely home. Shouldn't I be the one out late at night having fun? I used to be. Before I was beige.

There are no photos today. They'd probably be fuzzy anyway. I wonder what colour self-pity is?

Ringing out the Old

As we do every year, we take some time out after Christmas at a cottage in a snowy winter wonderland. When people ask us what we do during our week away there's never much to tell them. We do what we always do: Not Much.

Not Much involves a lot of euchre playing. The Daughter and I are the family Euchre Champions. And as this is MY blog, I can conveniently choose to forget to mention all the times that the Hubby and the Adolescent beat us. Those times are purely fluke.

The Beamer, the Daugher, the Adolescent, and me playing euchre

Not Much would not be complete without a lot of lazing around.

The Daughter and the Adolescent lazing around

It also means a soak in the hot tub.

The Adolescent, the Hubby, the Beamer, the Daughter, and the Boyfriend

A treasured tradition is the Family Walk which I force/threaten/bribe my family to do with me every day. Once they're out they always enjoy themselves. As I've said so many times before on these pages: why don't they just listen to me in the first place? Their lives would be so much easier and better.

The Hubby, the Beamer, Richard, Trish, Scarlett, the Boyfriend, and the Daughter

I cook...a lot. This, as you know, is unusual for me and not my preferred state. I did have one temper tantrum this week where I refused to make dinner because my efforts felt unappreciated. The Hubby readily agreed to cook instead. He didn't want to eat food tasting of resentment. But then, surprisingly, so unlike me, I couldn't let go of control and ended up doing it anyway. The result was Pasta with Provencal Vegetable Sauce and it was very tasty, bitterness and all.

Pasta with Provencal Vegetable Sauce

But as you know I've been trying to embrace change. Well maybe embrace is too strong a word. I'm trying to get a little more comfortable with change. This week it comes in the form of the Boyfriend. He has come up to spend a few days at the cottage with us. As when anyone new comes into your life they influence you to do things differently or do things you might never have considered before. The trick, I think, is to be open to the influence and not dismiss the opportunity however small it might seem.

The Daughter and the Boyfriend

The Boyfriend suggests an alternate walking route. We grumble but ultimately take the road less traveled. We discover great tobogganing hills which never would have been found if we had stayed with the tried and familiar. The Boyfriend leads by example and jumps from the hot tub and rolls in the snow in -10C weather. Others follow stupidly.

The Adolescent and the Boyfriend doing craziness

The Boyfriend and the Daughter make dinner one night. Burgers with bacon smothered with aged cheddar cheese and covered with carmelized apples and onions on sourdough bread. It's called The Johnny Appleseed Burger . Delicious! As hard as it is to give up control of the kitchen, I do, and actually think I could get used to someone cooking for me (once in a while).

The Johnny Appleseed Burger and sauteed potatoes

It's near the end of 2011. It's time for me to appreciate (and cling stubbornly to...just kidding...not really) all the old familiar things and look forward to the new things that lie ahead in the new year. Some I will bring on myself. Others will just present themselves if I'm smart enough to recognize the opportunity.