Purple Haze

Thought I should show you all my gardening creation for this year - purple carrots. Actually, I had a theme going on with purple carrots and blue potatoes. I was trying to get back to nature but I am not sure if I was that successful if I resorted to using genetically modified seed??!! Noentheless, both taste awesome and are a worthwhile venture if you want to try to grow something. The purple carrots are great for raw eating but the do not really cook up that great. Still taste good but the purple and orange kind of meld together post-cooking.

The day I became a BABA

So there was one day in August where I apparently decided that since my ass and thighs make me appear as though I may be an old-fashioned baba (sans babooshka), I may as well act like one.

So,one Friday AM in the dead of summer, I got up and picked beans and beets and peas and carrots and some potatoes for good measure in mom's garden. I then beetled home and began processing my creations for - what I thought would be a winter supply of veggies. HA! At about 8 pm I was heavy into chopping and blanching beans and realized that after 1 hour of planting, some hoeing, 75 days of waiting, 2 hours picking, 1 hour cutting, 30 minutes blanching (that would be 10 batches of 3 minutes each) and 15 minutes of stuffing beans into bags, I ended up with FOUR MEDIUM freezer bags of beans. Honestly, it makes one wonder how those on the farms managed without an 8th of the conveniences that we currently have. Our ancestors must spin in their graves knowing that we complain of how difficult it is to make supper when, in fact, supper nowadays means dethawing some pre-made stuff...but I digress...

Anyway despite the small amount of vegetables I managed to freeze, I actually made myself proud by not only completing that but also by making beet top rolls (can't let them go to waste) and making mom's borscht.

Like Sandy's, the borscht was awesome but seemed to miss something even after a review of the recipe with mom (and some quick corrections/additions) - it must be the mom-love because it was good but....

The beet rolls were a hit and I wished I had a picture as I am sure that no one out there believes that I actually made them. The trick is to let the beet leaves wilt before you try to roll in the rice filling. Leaving them out in the sun for an hour does the trick. I was excted to make another version from my friend's in-laws' family that involves rolling bread dough within beet leaves and cooking the whole thing in cream (very heart healthy, I know) but the deer at my parent's place managed to eat the remaining beet tops -likely saving me from yet another 5 pounds of BABA-ass that I did not need.

The proof is in the pudding...or the borscht!

We were lucky enough to have some lovely home cooked foods on our recent visit back to Edmonton. Mum served up some of her borscht. Husband event admitted to me that he loooooved hers (it's true it's super hard to beat....just Mum's speacial touch!). This picture of my father-in-law shows that the proof is in the pudding or borscht tasting!!!

I also scored TWO bags of perogies; carrots, potatoes, beats, and onions fresh outta the garden. Good news is that we were still under Air Canada's weight restriction of 50 lbs (but barely!).

Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce

Fall is a good time to try this recipe. This meal is rich, creamy, and filling for a cool, fall night. Plus, this was super easy to make and is a great recipe for a quick pork dinner. The other night my girlfriends and I were lamenting about easy meals, but unfortunate how so many of them that taste so good involve a can of soup. The irony is that yes, it involves a can of mushroom soup. It is quintessential 1970s recipe making at its peak involving one of the usual suspects: Campbell’s, Miracle Whip, Imperial Margarine…

Anyhow, here’s how it goes:
fry pork chops in a couple of tablespoons of butter mixed with a bit of oil (to prevent burning - don't think you need to do this if you use marg).
Once brown- remove to plate or corning ware dish and put in 1 large chopped onion and fry until soft. Add chopped mushrooms - around 2 cups I guess or you could add a can of mushrooms instead. fry until wilted add 1/4 cup flour to the top of the onions and stir around. add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and some milk or cream to thin to desired consistency. Mom obviously adds cream.... it is much better with cream or even 3 % milk.

I started out trying to make this recipe with a modern twist. I wanted to use up some forest dried mushrooms I’ve had sitting in my cupboard and was trying desperately to avoid “the can”. I floured, salted and peppered my pork first. After browning the meat, I removed from the pain and added onions and deglazed with some cooking sherry. I made a rue and added my soaked dried mushrooms, some of their juice to enhance the flavor, and awaited the ultimate mushroom sauce taste test. In great anticipation I put the spoon to mouth only to taste and feel underwhelmed. I discovered I was longing, more like, yearning for the soup can mushroom sauce flavor after all. That was all I needed. I added good ol’ reliable Campbell’s and must say the result was a good old meets contemporary mix. Not quite like I remembered but veeeeerrrry close.

This is great served with rice or broad noodles or potatoes. I do; however, love the rice and mushroom sauce combo so much that I can just have the sauce and go straight to the carb and the fat (skip the meat). Bon appétit!