Saturday, April 18, 2009

Easy Peas-ey Split Pea Soup


It was just Easter and there was ham at the family dinner in Calgary. In the desperation to fulfill my cravings for split pea soup (which I made last Easter), I asked if I could take the bone home along with the other leftovers being forced on us! (well, not exactly forced...:-). Yes, packing the bone up in my suitcase, but it's a quick flight from Calgary to Vancouver. This soup has become only an annual thing because of Easter, but it would be just as easy to make this with ham hocks from the store. It's just delicious and I tried freezing it and it works well. I have decided this is an official recipe for the book! Must try the hobo bread in the next few days......

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Three empty coffee cans


So my quest to make HOBO Bread started about 1 1/2 months ago when I had to start to empty 3 one pound coffee cans in order to create the containers to make the loaf. This is one of those loaves that remind me of childhood- and is really nice plain and with butter too. I am sure that 30 years ago the coffee tins were more abundant than now. In fact, with all of the "cheap" coffee in plastic tins and the fancy coffee in vacuum sealed bags, it might actually become more challenging to make this recipe. As it was, I was just happy that Timmies comes in small cans - because I can do Timmies. The recipe - and it really is worth drinking all of the coffee.

Wash one pound of raisins. Let stand overnight in 2 cups of boiling water and 4 tsp of baking soda. In the morning add 2 cups of white sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 4 tbsp veggie oil, 2 eggs (beaten) and 4 cups of flour. It is a bit of a stiff dough. Line 3 one-pound coffee tins with parchment - bottom and sides (you must do this). Fill the tins with equal portions of dough (a little over half each) and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool in tins. Freezes well.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Kitchen Therapy

Who needs retail therapy when they love cooking? On Sunday I cooked up a storm and made three big batches of meals, but none of them involved any recipe testing for this blog. Shame on me. I did; however, make some yummy eats that we had for Sunday dinner and froze the rest for lunches.

First I tackled a family lasgagna recipe that husband's cousin gave me. One time when she house-sat for us, she put this wonderful lasagna in our freezer to enjoy on the return from our trip. Super thoughtful and super yummy! The recipe is very simple - lot's of cheese, great sauce, same ol' lasgana layers, but is is just great.

I then made Scentilentil Journey from the Looney Spoons cookbook. Red lentils are the key ingredient in this one. It is a healthy, filling, and very flavorful casserole-type meal. Even better it doesn't have any meat, but husband still eats it! As he says, 'it looks a little bit like baby puke, but tastes really good' (terrible - I know! my biggest critic) - a winner for lunches!

Finally, I made Ina Garten's (the Barefoot Contessa) Italian Wedding Soup. It takes a lot of prep because of the little meatballs, but they make the dish. I think the meatballs from that recipe could be eaten just on their own! Anyhow, the soup was superb.

Car tells me that she just made Hobo Bread from the family recipe treasure trove. Hobo bread is probably one of my most nostalgic recipes from childhood. A hearty, sweet bread with molasses and raisins taking the spotlight and to top it off, it's cooked in an old coffee can. Pretty cool! I don't have the recipe, so she is going to post it and then I am dying to try it out. Stay tuned...

Mushrooms on Rice


It's been a number of months (well, over half a year!) since I've passed the perogies, but I am ready to stop the drought.

A few weekends ago, I was in dire need of some comfort food. It was cold, rainy, and life was generally "blah". I knew the last recipe test Car did on here was the "Mushrooms on Toast", so I did the Sandy-fied version: Mushrooms on Rice.

It's basically the same mushroom sauce recipe as in the previous post, except that mine is one step lazier: I use a can of mushrooms (instead of fresh). This recipe is especially perfect on comfort food nights, especially when moving seems like a chore. It is easy and filling and cosy. I love to serve the easy-to-prep mushroom sauce on top of hot cooked rice instead of buttered white bread that has been toasted, but both options hit the spot.
Seems like this mushroom sauce makes it way into a lot of recipes on here!