Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!

Sorry!

It's all about my stomach today.

And Thanksgiving weekend (in Canada).

Links to three (simple) “fancy” recipes you might want to make this weekend. 

Click on the titles to zip over to each website.  Enjoy!

Easy Plum Tarts

from Dinner With Julie

Puff pastry can fancy up anything!  The only downside is waiting for it to defrost.  Oh, well.  The best part?  Each one took only about 1/4 of a plum, thinly sliced.  Other fruits would work as well. Add a little ice cream or whipping cream...yum!

Braided Sausage Roll

from The Bon Appetit Diaries

In the past, using a similar recipe from The Best of Bridge, this took a loonnnggg time to bake as the filling was raw meat.  Cooking the filling first made this a quick recipe to assemble.  Be sure to follow the directions for putting the roll on a rack!  Try it once following the recipe, but experiment and try it again with your own combination of ingredients.

Maple Scones

from Dinner With Julie

This is a good basic scone recipe with two tablespoons of maple syrup in the dough.  What takes this over the top is the glaze of icing sugar and maple syrup!

5 Ingredient Thai Pumpkin Soup

While making supper the other day, I was thinking about why my interest in cooking perks up when fall arrives.  I came to the conclusion it's because I love comfort food best... stews, soups, scones and biscuits, fruit crisps and (rice) puddings.  I gravitate to those recipes. 

Not so my husband.

Sometimes, it's an issue.... : )

Now, normally my favourite soup is made from roasted vegetables, whatever's in season. My Butternut Squash Soup is a typical example. Life gets even better if I have homemade stock in the fridge.

Add meat, as in Rainbow Chicken Soup, and dumplings... Hey! It's a Full Meal Deal!  


Today's soup idea came from Foodie Crush.

5 Ingredient Thai Pumpkin Soup.

That's right.  Five ingredients, all from my pantry.  That's why I'm tucking this little recipe into my book.  Sometimes, when there's not much in the fridge and you have unexpected people to feed, it's nice to have a quick, simple soup idea you can whip up at the last minute.

Notes:

The original recipe has fresh red chili peppers and uses red curry paste. I only had green curry paste and chili pepper flakes. No big deal. It still tasted good!

I enjoyed the addition of coconut milk. It was a tasty change from my other version - Pumpkin Soup for One.

What's for Dinner? Korean Beef Bowl

Delicious...simple...few ingredients...quick to prepare...top marks in our house last night... : )

Now, this recipe has been around for a few years (at least). I found it at Kitchen Simplicity, but then found basically the same recipe at Six Sisters Stuff, Damn Delicious and Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers. The oldest version seems to go back to Lizzy Writes (May, 2010). Exciting update... Lizzy Writes has revamped her recipe and turned it into Korean Beef Lettuce Wraps!

Note: Korean Beef Bowl takes only about 20 minutes, start to finish! Put on your rice before you do anything else, or it won't be ready in time.

Korean Beef Bowl

Korean Beef Bowl

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup soy sauce (I used “less sodium” soy sauce)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red-pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

1 pound lean ground beef

2-3 cloves garlic

2 green onions, sliced

Brown ground beef in skillet. Drain off fat.

Add garlic and stir for one minute.

Stir in sauce and half of green onions.

Simmer 5 minutes.

Serve over rice and garnish with green onion.

I served this with a platter of raw vegetables, but sauteed green beans and red pepper strips would be nice. Steamed broccoli sprinkled with sesame seeds could be another option.

Delicious!

Take care,

Maggie

PS Be sure to scout around the food blogs listed above. I saw some more tasty recipes I'd like to try!

Classical Ballet : )

Classical ballet.

Highbrow?

Not always!

Click here to watch the Vienna State Opera Ballet perform...

...and have a giggle!

So well done!

Good Manners

The Calgary Eyeopener had a feature on table manners this morning. Numerous people tweeted and emailed comments about their pet peeves and gave examples of some atrocious manners they'd witnessed in public. No matter where you live, I think we'd all agree that clipping your nails while standing in a buffet line (one example this morning) is definitely over the top!

One of the points made in today's radio interview was that “the rules” are no longer so clear cut, partly because of the many different cultures represented in a typical community today. As people travel greater distances, they quickly learn there's definitely more than one way to do things!

I still remember a lesson I learned many years ago when I moved to France. Rules of Table Etiquette in France – this exact situation happened to me! Fortunately, a very kind, grandmotherly lady gently pointed me in the right direction.

I guess it all boils down to respect for others.

A few days ago, I happened upon an excellent article, 30 Manners Everyone Should Know. Please read it. It's very good!

Thank you,

Maggie

A Great Little (Buttermilk!!) Biscuit

Maggie's Great Little (Buttermilk!!) Biscuits

Last April, I shared a recipe for A Great Little Biscuit. Why was it great? It used only 1/4 cup of oil instead of the more standard butter. No doubt about it – I love butter, but using oil made these super quick to prep. In fact, they're ready before the oven's heated up.

Great just as they are, as a side for a hearty bowl of soup or chili, you can also mix it up a bit by adding raisins or Craisins...

Or, turn them into Ham and Cheese Pinwheel Biscuits...

Maggie's Ham and Cheese Pinwheel Biscuits

Today, this great little biscuit morphed into A Great Little (Buttermilk!) Biscuit. Buttermilk really kicks it up a notch! Life is good!!!

A Great Little Biscuit

2 cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix together.

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk

Add to dry ingredients; stir with a fork until just combined.

Turn out onto a floured surface.

With floured hands, gently pat out (3/4 inch thick).

Cut out round biscuits, triangles or squares.

Bake for 15 minutes at 425ºF (ungreased cookie sheet).

Note: If you wish, add about 1/2 – 3/4 cup raisins, craisins or grated cheese. Makes about one dozen biscuits.

Check out Weekend Potluck #136!

More cookies! Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk by Julie Van Rosendaal

We were expecting some company yesterday, so I tried a “new to me” cookie recipe recently posted by nutritionist, Julie Van Rosendaal.

Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk
A great cookie recipe by Julie Van Rosendaal

On Tuesday mornings, I enjoy listening to Julie on the Calgary Eyeopener on CBC Radio One.  You can listen to her here.  She's also the author (or co-author) of six cookbooks, a freelance writer and creator of a great food blog, Dinner With Julie.

Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies – what an extraordinarily long name for a cookie!

Think “crisp oatmeal cookie with yummy overtones of peanut butter and chocolate” - very tasty! In fact, they were given a gold seal of approval by my “testers”. I'd definitely make them again.

NOTES: I followed the recipe as written, using chocolate chips (rather than chunks) and chunky peanut butter (the only kind allowed in our house) instead of smooth. The recipe makes about 3-4 dozen. They really do spread, so space them out on your cookie tray. Based on a question/answer in the comment section, I put some of the dough (shaped into balls) in the freezer to bake later as needed.

I love that little gadget!  A lot less messy than scooping
up dough with a spoon.  Freeze the balls of cookie dough
separately so they don't stick, then pop in a container.