MIA

Ron and I have been missing for a while, well not really... just a whole lot of unfortunate events that has kept us from blogging.
At the end of August after some continued minor home repairs to our home, it came to our attention that my camera was missing. Ron had taken some picture of a nagging problem he had with the kitchen floor, and took it over to Home Depot for some advise. I thought I saw the camera in the car, he says he brought it home. Long story short, the camera is gone! Home Depoy doesn;t have it , we checked all the cars, the house, all our little nooks and cranies...no little red camera. He had it last!

Barb, lent me her super expensive Nikon, (you need a degree in engineering to figure it out) I took some lovely food pictures,but was remiss about posting them promptly. When a few spare moments came along and I was ready to blog, I could not find the cable that went from the camera to the computer to download the pictures! Truth be told I still haven't told her it's missing and now her camera is also dead as a doornail. Oh my... do you think I have to go to a camera store to replace this part? Surely it will turn up soon? But then neither has my little camera that I loved so much.

I guess all good things come to an end eventually, and change ultimately sometimes is for the good, well time will tell. In the meantime no food pictures, no yummy recipes,no conversations...how quickly the months have flown by and how I have missed my little blog and here it is almost Christmas ...so  from my heart a sincere wish for all of you to have your lives filled with the joy and happiness that this holiday season has to offer. Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah to everyone. See you all in the New Year, I'm sure a new camera will be under the tree waiting for me.

An Iron Chef Charity Throwdown

 A challenge was offered.

 A  food basket supplied, the mystery food presented... beef tenderloin and organic chicken breasts.
The rules:Each group had to produce  appetizers, a salad, a main meal and dessert.
 A good time was promised.
The reward: we would all share in the meal.
The cause: was for an organization close to all our hearts. THE PALLIATIVE CARE OUTREACH PROGRAM.

It always amazes , but never surprise me how a beautiful group of  professional women that are grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters but mostly friends ...come together and are so generous of their time, energy and love for each other and their strong belief system that in life you must give back. Thank you to all that participated and donated so generously to this worthwhile program.


Meet our hostess Sandi Grant

and the lovely members of TEAM I

chopping, dicing, and whispering secret ingredients.

hum will that be a salsa, or dessert?



TEAM II also hard at work...The pooch was the official floater whose job it was to oversee the work ,comment and sweep the floor.

Hey Barb, you belong to Team II are you snooping (read spying)  on Team I??

Meet the GALS on the GRILL

Sandi and Dr. Margaret..... WOW these gals rocked big time on the EGG, Smoker and BBQ Grill.

BUSY BEES ALL HARD AT WORK

 It 's almost ready!!

 Set Up

 "What do you mean it's a mock Bellini????

'To love and be loved."

OH MY.. I'M SO EXCITED ..IT ALL LOOKS SO GOOD!

THE TEAM"S FINISHED PRODUCTS.

The rules to the competition were that all foods in our baskets had to be incorporated in the meal. We were allowed one secret ingredient, and could purchase items that did not total more that 5$ from our own pockets to enhance or help in our preparation 

 ( all other food provided by our host) 

OOPS downloaded pictures in an incorrect order.. sorry..

Recipes to follow in later blog entries.

 Beef tenderloin grilled with a balsamic reduction on a bed of roasted potatoes, mushrooms,and almond green beans.

 BBQ  garlic beef tenderloin in a coffee/chili rub, dill potatoes, grilled chicken stuffed with cheese and a pineapple salsa.

 Grilled vegetables marinated in a balsamic tomato basil dressing.

 Tangerine, fruit Romain salad served with a tangerine dressing (not Shown)

 Pancetta Cesar salad

 Baguette appetizers grilled with garlic butter and topped with pancetta & cantaloupe,Others topped with homemade tomato/olive salsa.

 Mock chilled Bellini

 Artichoke dip served in an eggplant boat and served with...

grilled baguette to accompany the dip.

PS. Apologies for the pictures that were missed such as the grilled asparagus and I'm sure a few other items. Dessert pictures never made it to the table as the brandied fruit, whipped cream and shortbread cakes would have literally resulted in the explosion of the already full and satisfied participants!

THE EVENING MEAL

A JOB WELL DONE, WE were all winners!

The end of all our hard work was the communal supper shared by all with tales of how we had spent the supper to date. We laughed, congratulated each other on a job well done, praised and drooled over the food and later dangled our feet in the warm water of the swimming pool. But we also talked and shed some tears for people missing from the evening and the reason for this fund raiser.

Our cause is a program that deals with events that has touched all of us in our life experiences... The Palliative Care Outreach Program.

Here in Ottawa Canada, Dr.Margaret Farncombe   started the program in 1997, when she realized the need for at home care for the terminally ill.
Most of us present have cared for a loved one during the dying process.

The Palliative Care  Outreach Program provides an all encompassing approach to the care and support of individual clients with terminal diseases and to their families in an out of hospital setting to ensure an environment of comfort,respect and dignity in accordance with the clients goals,needs and belief system.

 Please visit their website at www.palliativeoutreach.org

POST MORTEM,

There really was no competition, as we all had way too much fun , that the consensus was that the  winner was the FOOD and of course the MONEY raised for the Palliative Care Outreach Program. We have vowed to do another event in the fall so stay tuned .

Catch- Up

In my previous entry I was lamenting about rushing through the past 6 weeks, without taking the time to feel any joy in what I was doing. You know the feeling? when you are running as fast as you can and never reaching the finish line?
But to be honest there were some really great moments and times. March ended with Rosanna's birthday, but she rang in 3 more birthdays in April, Lynne, Mary and my sister Heidi's... she looks pretty good for 72 years young!

 Baking as mentioned was a huge bust with me lately. Recipes were read wrongly or even when they were executed properly just feel short as in this lemon- lime tart that just didn't set correctly and even though it tasted great was just always a little runny to the very last bite.

 Easter and Mother's day brought joy in the form of beautiful flowers that will always

warm my heart and put a smile on my face. So even when life has you dancing as fast as you can, please take the time to smell the roses.
I hope to get in one more blog before I have a little surgery and then come back after a little rest and recuperation.

Montreal

 Saturday was such a lovely day, that after we did our little trip to Kemptville, Ron and I decided to hook up to the 401 and just go to Montreal.

 No trip there is complete without spending some time at the Jean Talon Market and a visit to Premiere Moison for some Bread.

 This place also sells a delectable array of pastries, terrines and cold meats. So it is also a nice place to sit down and have a coffee with a sweet or a baguette with some pate.

 We also stopped at the cheese shop there and bought a nice selection of our favourite cheeses. The Bartlett pears were to die for, sweet and juicy.

That day the bakery was highlighting a sweet baguette with walnuts and maple. Ron and I devoured the loaf by ourselves with delicious white creamy honey, on Sunday morning. No guilt here! It was so yummy.

If you have a chance to go before Easter,pick up some bread and their hot cross buns ..lovely!. 

BBQ Season is here!

Thanks to Blogger Aid-Changing the FACE of Famine's project View & Review, I was selected to sample and write a review on new products from Loblaw's Presidents Choice Biggest BBQ Event and Tour. For more information on their Great BBQ Event go their website and check their schedule to see when they will be touring your area and don't forget to enter the contest. But back to the surprise box that arrived last week.

How great it was to open the box and pull out this beautiful Presidents Choice cooler containing all new must try Presidents Choice BBQ products, and...

this luscious red apron!!

Here are a few of the items that were inside the cooler to help me get ready for BBQ season. PC Slider Thin Mini Burger Buns, PC New World EVOO, PC 100% Sparkling Fruit Juice, New PC Glaze With Balsamic Vinegar Of Modena, PC Maple Bacon Marinade, PC Grilling & Roasting Seasoning Grinder, PC Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies, andtheir new must try PC Thick Cut Ballpark Hot Dog Rippled Potato Chips. Attached to the package of buns was a $10 PC Gift Card to try the new PC Angus Sliders and a tub of the new PC Ice Cream Shop Flavours Ice Cream.

Supper that evening was a no brainer as I knew that I would be drizzling those new PC Slider Thin Mini Burger Buns with the new PC New World EVOO from Chile. In 2006 Chile beat Italy for the prestigious Sol D'Oro Prize for the World's Best Olive Oil. This EVOO originates from the same award-winning region, where olive groves have been cultivated for more than 400 years. The slider buns split apart easily and heated up nicely on the grill and were the perfect size for the Angus meat patty.

The new Grilling & Roasting Seasoning grinder with Sea Salt had the right amount of punch needed to spice up the burgers. It was a great addition to the BBQ cooler from Loblaw's.

Would you believe a chip that tastes like a hot dog? Well, believe it! The new must try PC bag of Thick Cut Ballpark Hot Dog Rippled Potato Chips tasted exactly like a hot dog from the stadium and was a great addition to the slider meal.

The cooler bag also contained various glazes and marinades. The Balsamic Vinegar Glaze conveniently comes in an upside down bottle and its thick glaze is great over grilled vegetables.

The next morning I decided to use the Maple Bacon Marinade for our pork chop dinner. The lovely flavors of the Maple Bacon Marinade would also be an excellent marinade for chicken.

By evening time the heavens opened and the rain came down but that didn't deter us from BBQing our delicious pork chops with the Maple Bacon Marinade.

A lovely addition to the meal was the 100% Sparkling Orange and Tangerine Fruit Juice over a glass filled with ice which was both refreshing and very tasty.

Last but not least, the cooler bag had a $10 PC Gift Card with which to purchase the Angus Sliders and thenew PC Ice Cream Shop Flavor Ice Cream that would go great between the yummy PC Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies. Wouldn't the ice cream and cookies make for a great ending to a great BBQ meal?

One of the great things about Presidents Choice is that along with their new great food products, as a company they are also involved in many charities in particular the Breakfast For Learning which provides nutrition programs to children of all ages across the country. Once again a huge thank you to Loblaw's Presidents Choice and their partners, and also to Blogger Aid-Changing the Face of Famine.Do take a minute to check out the wonderful food bloggers from around the world at the Blogger Aid link.

An Easter Wish

Daisies make me very happy. They are cheerful, sunny , simple blooms that remind me of spring and all things beautiful. They are one of my favorite flowers, when I got married 35 years ago, all my bridesmaids had daisy bouquets.
When I arrived back from Michigan my sister Heidi had supper ready and a beautiful daisy plant on the table. She remembered they are my favorite. So appropriate for Easter also, I know that the regal Lily is the Easter flower of choice, but for me it will always be the daisy.
I returned from Michigan , happy to be home for Easter but also a little sad that Ron is still there completing another phase of closures. I met so many lovely people in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. If I could have only one wish granted to me I would wish that all these lovely people will be able to find new jobs quickly, as many are wondering how to put food on the table and are in danger of losing their homes. Many of these people will be leaving their State, family and friends and will be looking for opportunities elsewhere, where they don't have this network of support. I do wish them all well. Easter is a time for new beginnings, I know that if they keep a positive outlook on life as one door closes another will open for them.

He Shoots..He Scores and Canada wins Gold in Hockey

What a great Olympic Hockey Game. Ron has been in Grand Rapid Michigan since the beginning of February and has had to watch the Olympic Hockey games in a Roadhouse Restaurant, then he would have to do some heavy Bribing to the bartender in order for him to switch the channel to the hockey games, unfortunately the olympic hockey games were not telecast on any of the US channels.( Unless the US were playing) BUT not today... The Canada ,US game was on the local channels and we were able to watch in the comfort of our own room. We didn't catch the game from the beginning as Ron was still working, but Oh Boy we certainly were here for the best parts. Whoohoo, we won Gold!!!

I like to join Ron towards the end of his consult in the USA, this time I will be here for another month till the end of March. After eating out for all 3 meals the first week, my stomach started to rebel and it's time for me to start cooking some home cooked meals. We have a suite with a fridge ,microwave and stove top, no oven, thus , it really makes it a bit limited as to what to make. Also without all my spices and utensils within easy reach it takes the pleasure out of preparing food. If I had driven here I could have brought some of my stuff, but the thought of driving , by myself, in winter for 11 hours did not appeal to me, so I flew. We bought a Teflon electric frying to help the situation , last time in Boston we bought a crock pot all of which we leave behind, I really don't know why these hotel suites don't invest in some of these pots as they are much easier to clean and way more convenient to use instead of those aluminum ones were everything sticks to itand you need dynamite to clean them!

Anyways, not much to blog about food wise, today's meal was going to be burgers on a bun , but ended up being burgers in mushroom gravy with a Boston lettuce salad and rice with broccoli and carrots.

As, far as blogging about Michigan, I've been tagging along with Ron and we haven't had any time so far to do any sightseeing, although we were in Saugatuck yesterday, Cottage country with lovely beaches on lake Michigan, a very beautiful place in the summer, but a bit of a ghost town in the winter. I met the town Director of the Library a wonderful person, and we stopped into a little place to have a bowl of soup and discovered that the place is owned by a pastry chef and purchased some lovely homemade olive tapas and artisan bread, heavenly ! if you are in the area stop in and check it out, it's called Caravanserai. The people as always are fabulous, warm and funny and interesting, but they have no clue about Canada!! It's a long story and one day I will elaborate more fully, But to give you a hint, I heard an NBC US Olympic Newscaster refer to Vancouver as the Great White North TUNDRA!! OMG. Seriously....tundra Vancouver??? and there is more to Canada other than Toronto.... and OTTAWA is the nations Capital. But please don't get me started.

But back to food, after my stomach settles......

If anyone can recommend a great place to eat in Michigan's West Coast please let me know.

I'd love to blog about a good eatery.

Indulgent Behaviour

I've been MIA from my blog, no excuses, just taking some time off for myself. A sever sinus infection has made me miserable for a while, but thankfully a visit to the Dr. and some excellent meds are making me feel almost normal again.

I have also been letting hubby take over the kitchen as I haven't been up to wanting to do anything! The food has been good, some family favourites. Comfort food that has been blogged about already, but, just what the Dr. ordered. Thank fully, Ron is still home and willing to take over in the kitchen.

Instead I took the time to lick my wounds and just catch up on some reading ,"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larsson, "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society " , by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, "Francesca's Kitchen", by Peter Pezzelli and currently I am reading the second book in the series by Steig Larsson "The Girl who Played with Fire".

All these books are excellent and totally different. Francesca's Kitchen was light reading about a middle aged widow living alone in Rhode Island . Her children are all grown, married with lives of their own and are scattered around the world. She has to come to terms with her life, what exactly is "family", and how to give purpose to her life now that her children no longer need her.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, was a lovely love story set during the war , told in the format of letters between the characters. What a lovely art, "Letter Writing" it's so personal , I felt a bit like a voyeur, looking into someone life, I just loved reading this book and would highly recommend it.

I must say my favourite hves been the books by Steig Larsson, mystery novels written in great style ,set in Sweden at the beginning of the millennium. His work kept me reading way into the wee hours of the morning. I have already ordered the third book," The Girl That Kicked The Hornet's Nest," due out in May. Unfortunately, the author passed away after completing this trilogy, so his brilliant thrillers are limited to these editions. Don't let that stop you from reading these highly charged modern day thrillers. Even Ron got hooked on his work.

I did not know if I would like this genre of work, but if I could make just one more recommendation I would highly recommend this author,Steig Larsson , check him out.

So folks, no food this time, just a little chat about some other things.