Switching Up Salad

We are about halfway through November and I am still surprised every time I look at the calendar.  It is cold and we've had snow, but somehow it doesn't feel like mid-November yet. I'm lost somewhere in September, I think, as that sounds much more reasonable. Summer always seems to go fast, but this one really flew by.

One of the drawbacks of the colder months is less access to fresh vegetables at a good price. One major budget blower in the winter is lettuce. In the summer a big, beautiful romaine is $0.79. In the winter they are small, wilty, and $2.49 ($2.99 some days). The price increase and quality drop has already begun, and I came home lettuce-less on my most recent grocery run.

One thing that is cheap and plentiful this time of year is carrots. I really like carrots, but I have a hard time just eating a carrot and not being so completely bored. I find even dipping them boring - and my jaw gets mad at all the crunching. I asked Google if there was a way to make carrots more exciting - and Google didn't let me down (it rarely does).

I found a recipe for carrot salad. So simple, I never thought to do it. Just grate a carrot, season it, and eat. This recipe suggested mayo and lemon juice. I tried it and it tasted pretty good. The next day I mixed a spoonful of Greek salad dressing with the shredded carrot and it also tasted pretty good. For my third try I mixed in some chopped cucumber and topped it with cucumber dressing. It was tasty too.

I currently have 5lbs of carrots in the fridge and I'm looking forward to eating them as fun salads.

Everything is a Photo Opportunity #23

Often times when I dip candy or cake pops into chocolate, I end up with some leftover melted chocolate. When this happens, the options are: (1) eat with spoon; (2) let harden and re-use next time; (3) harden with sprinkles for a tasty treat. I'm most likely to opt for option one or three.

Here are my favourite sprinkles in some leftover dark chocolate from Monday's experiment. It was a tasty snack and made for a colourful photo.

Doughnut Muffins (Are Amazing)

I have a Twitter account, and one of the neat things about following other bloggers on there is your Twitter feed often becomes a waterfall of amazing recipes and craft ideas. Recently Kelly over at Just a Sliver posted a recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins, and with a name like that I couldn't stop myself from making them.

I'm normally a cake mix kind of person, but I easily made these from scratch and they turned out great. I only had enough butter to make half a batch, but that was probably a good thing, as these were rather delicious. You want to know what makes them so delicious? Once baked, they are dipped drenched in butter and then coated with cinnamon sugar. So much yum!

Getting ready to dip

Soaking up the butter

Roll in ALL the sugar

So fricken' good!

For the complete recipe, click over to Just a Sliver.

Making Chocolates - Practice Round

I am following through on the lesson I learned last week, which was to have more fun in the kitchen and start practicing recipes. I no longer have to wait for an event to try something new; it is actually less stressful for me to practice first so I don't have to 'get it perfect the first time'. Practice makes perfect, and practicing is super fun and yummy.

Over the past few months I have been collecting flavour extracts. I've been adding flavour drops to hot chocolate (orange and peppermint work great for that) or coffee (almond is tasty addition) or use them in baked goods (lemon made these cupcakes zing). I love working with flavour extracts and want to find more reasons to use them.

I have been toying with the idea of making a big batch of chocolate creams/patties around Christmas time, and last night I found myself practicing. I didn't want to make a whole batch (30 or more) so I took a cue from the internet and altered the recipe so it was closer to a single serving. Cutting a recipe down is super easy when there are only a few ingredients (and no eggs!) and I got to use my love of basic math to work it out. My kind of fun.

So I took a peppermint patty recipe I found through yoyomax12 (love her!), and adapted it to a smaller portion.

Bite Size Chocolate Patties (Practice Edition):

4.5 tbs icing sugar
1/2 tsp corn syrup (I used golden)
1/2 tsp water
1/2 tsp veg oil
drops of flavour extract of choice 
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

I wanted to make three flavours, so first I mixed the icing sugar, corn syrup, water, and veg oil, into a blob. Next I separated my big blob into three smaller blobs and added flavour to each (one orange, one peppermint, one almond). Then I divided each flavoured blob into 3 bite sized patties. They were really sticky so I put them in the fridge to harden for about an hour. Then I dipped them in dark chocolate and put them back in the fridge to harden.

Things I learned by practicing with a small batch:

1. The patties get really melty in the chocolate. If I make a big batch I will try to dip faster.

2. The original recipe called for light corn syrup (the clear kind) but I found I could use golden and the patties still came out white.

3. I didn't pay close enough attention after dipping and lost track of which flavour was which. If I make a big batch I will have to be more organized. I also thought about colouring each patty according to flavour (green for peppermint, orange for orange, light yellow for almond).

4. These were really quick and easy to make - so I now have a new 'single serving' treat I can turn to during moments of craving (...and yes, 9 bite size pieces could be a single serving!).

5. The patty part of this recipe could be any flavour. I am looking forward to picking up more extracts to build my collection of options.

6. Dark chocolate is fantastic.

Mom's Big Breakfast #FoodPicFriday

There is nothing better than a big breakfast at Mom's. Growing up she always made sure we were well fed, and as adults, the dinners/lunches/breakfasts at her place are always delicious and served in enormous quanities.

A big breakfast at Mom's usually happens on Christmas day. Her breakfast options include everything, with a side of everything else. Eggs (any style), hash browns, bacon, peameal bacon, sausage rounds, English muffins, various cheeses, V8 juice, and orange juice (sometimes with champagne in it).

Pictured here is a huge pile of bacon (peameal and regular), keeping warm until everything else is ready. If you are quick enough, you can sneak a piece of snackin' bacon while waiting for breakfast to be served.