tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-113971322011-12-14T21:39:02.907-05:00Cooking, renovating my 1937 bungalow, and gardening.Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.comBlogger701100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1132439257611710132005-11-19T16:29:00.000-05:002005-11-19T17:33:17.176-05:00

Early this week I received a wonderful package from Kristina of Clivia's Cuisine. What a shock! I thought that this BBM was confined to our neck of the woods. My package came all the way from Sweden and due to Kristina's careful packaging the contents arrived all in one piece. At this writing I already finished the Nut Tops she sent. They have very little flour and are almost an hazelnut

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1131596161723462652005-11-09T22:34:00.000-05:002005-11-10T16:12:17.113-05:00

One of these days people will ask me how come I have a cooking blog, since it looks like any construction job can get me away from the pots and pans in no time at all. My last post is dated almost a month ago. During this time I've tried to keep in touch and read and comment on my favourite blogs, as a way to let people know that I'm still breathing.My son bought his first house, a nice house in

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1128957234051234152005-10-16T11:08:00.000-04:002005-10-15T20:55:29.130-04:00

Sopa de grão com espinafres (chickpea and spinach soup) is one of my favourite Portuguese soups. Full-bodied and satisfying I make it often once the weather turns colder.When I make this soup I always make a large quantity because it freezes so well. When the weather is cold and you come home after a long day at work, it is nice to just take a portion out of the freezer, nuke it in the microwave

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1129421311879876862005-10-14T19:22:00.000-04:002005-10-15T20:09:03.516-04:00

I finally spent some time creating an index for my blog. You can see on the right, a button that will take you to the Index and also another button HOME, to get you to the main page, a feature that has not been available since I created my banner. Once on the index page, on the right, you will find the different categories. Click on each one to go directly to that page.

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1128776284737268462005-10-09T08:45:00.000-04:002005-10-08T22:14:24.653-04:00

I had two cups of homemade applesauce languashing in the fridge. I took it out of the freezer about a week ago but can't remember what exactly was I planning to do with it. So a search into my "Cooking Light" electronic recipe book brought me this.Since this is "Cooking Light," the recipe has low-fat/low-cal ingredients for the sake of saving calories. Mostly I ignored; I used wheeping cream

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1128654986100960102005-10-06T23:05:00.000-04:002005-10-08T21:40:11.836-04:00

This meme was created by Cenzina, from Rome Italy. In her blog il cavoletto di Bruxelles, you can read about what gave her the idea of creating this meme.She says: "So, as I was saying in the Italian version , it's raining, it's cold, so why not have a little fun: five questions about your kitchen, a place where you're presumed to spend quite a bit of time..."For this meme, I have been tagged by

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1127995744058214852005-09-29T07:40:00.000-04:002005-09-29T17:23:43.026-04:00

Dieting or mostly thinking that I should really go on a diet, has been a constant since I was a teenager. I cannot say that I've tried all the diets I know of (I do not count those I tried and could not go past the second or third day), but I've tried Weight Watchers and Atkins with some success. I managed to follow Somersize for a couple of months, the Schwarzbein Principle and the South Beach

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1127786472435795422005-09-25T21:59:00.000-04:002005-09-26T23:54:26.776-04:00

I was tagged by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen for the 23/5 Meme. The way it works is you go to your 23rd post, find the 5th sentence, and then ponder a little and write about it on your blog.My 23rd post was the recipe Gnocchi with Red Pepper Sauce, one of my favourites, and the 5th sentence read:It is an easy recipe to make, very filling and the intense flavour of the red pepper in the sauce is just

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1122226050516635132005-09-18T13:22:00.000-04:002005-09-19T22:26:41.193-04:00

I've had this post semi-prepared for such a long while and I think it is about time I finish it and publish it. Yesterday I finally ate the last slice of this cake, which I've kept in the freezer, wrapped individually in parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Still full of flavour and moist like it was when I baked it, maybe by the end of July.From a recipe by Nigella Lawson in How to be a

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1125884414946344822005-09-05T21:30:00.000-04:002005-09-05T10:09:20.106-04:00

Today I tried one of Kelli's bread recipes. This is a quick bread, full of fiber and it tastes delicious. I followed Kelli's recipe almost to the letter. The only difference is the buttermilk I used, because I had it, instead of milk and lemon juice.This bread is dense and very flavourful. I calculated 16 slices and it does give me 104 cals., 5gr. of protein, 1 gr, of fat, and 3 gr. fibre per

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1125883127498920922005-09-04T21:09:00.000-04:002005-09-05T10:10:20.260-04:00

Ms. Beije having trouble with the flash from the camera. I tried to take another photo, but she decided to beat a hasty retreat. She really has little patience for my photography efforts.

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1125486314454947422005-09-03T06:54:00.000-04:002005-09-03T13:05:28.410-04:00

I'm not very familiar with Southern food, except maybe having heard of Southern Fried Chicken and Blackened Fried Fish. The cuisine of Louisianna seems to include a lot of hot food, which I shy away from. However, I wanted very much to contribute to Amy's event in any way I could.Browsing my recipe box, I found this recipe that I had copied from one of those church fundraiser cookbooks. The

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1125546183850723742005-08-31T21:34:00.000-04:002005-08-31T23:50:14.946-04:00

I just found out today that August 31st is Blog Day. The brainchild of Nir Ofir of Sparkarmada the idea that August 31st should be Blog Day was born out of the fact that "3108" looks similar to "blog". Today we are asked to link to five blogs that are distinctly different from our own, in the interest of promoting traffic.Foto BenFoto Ben is the blog of Benjamim Fonseca e Silva, a young

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1125240641180963552005-08-28T09:36:00.000-04:002005-09-04T21:22:54.516-04:00

Good morning everybody. My name is Ms. Beije and my human pet finally got around taking one decent picture of me. Now I don't necessarily have the patience to pose for her and to do it on her own time, but you know how finicky humans can be so I humoured her. Besides she is been sick the poor dear (big feline sigh here).Hopefully you will be seeing some more of me from now on. I've been in

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1123928416887703482005-08-21T06:18:00.000-04:002005-09-05T10:11:49.070-04:00

When I was flat on my back, many times I though of all the vegetables I had languishing in my fridge. That Saturday, I had purchased quite a good quantity of beautiful fresh vegetables at the Parkdale Farmer's Market. Little did I know I would not have much time to dedicate to them. Some, sadly, got lost. But since the vegetables had been picked that very morning the day I bought them, some

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1124549749491304142005-08-20T10:41:00.000-04:002005-09-05T10:13:35.490-04:00

It is fitting that I should start my blogging activities showing off two beautiful cucumbers I picked from my backyard, some two weeks ago. You cannot get any more local than this.I had the pleasure to eat my first backyard cucumber just sliced very fine, skin on, and seasoned with nothing but salt. They tasted divine.The so-called "grape tomatoes" plants grew huge and the wire loops I bought at

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1123930037382409072005-08-13T06:20:00.000-04:002005-08-13T06:51:37.256-04:00

Two weekends ago I had some "destruction" around my house, in preparation for some more upgrades. It so happens that this beautiful bungalow of mine, having started its life as a summer cottage in 1937, does not have a vapour barrier. The mold problem this house had, when it had aluminun siding, was caused by this lack of a vapour barrier, which allowed the hot humid air to go through the walls

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1122945017180108572005-08-02T21:02:00.000-04:002005-08-05T11:55:31.556-04:00

This meme, sent to me by both Tarzile, from Quebec and Elvira of Tasca da Elvira (Elvira's Pub). Tarzile has a beautiful blog that features many French-Canadian recipes. It is definitely worth a visit. Elvira was born in Portugal, raised in France and returned to Portugal to live permanently not long ago. She is a journalist and her beautiful blog, written in French, has wonderful Portuguese

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1122225382755273852005-07-29T12:08:00.000-04:002005-07-29T23:11:28.236-04:00

Here is a glimpse of my very small vegetable garden. In the photo above you can see one of my grape vines. I've planted two, on oposite sides of the deck and last weekend I spent sometime pinning horizontal wires to the deck side. It seems that the vines prefer to expand horizontally. I had assumed the vines would climb the vertical wood banisters but they were instead moving into the deck

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1122221323498743972005-07-27T12:03:00.000-04:002005-07-28T10:18:01.770-04:00

I've been wanting to make my own granola since I saw Michelle's Taste Canada entry featuring maple granola. I do love granola and I find that the purchased variety sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. Too much sugar, too little fruit and even less nuts always leaft me somewhat disenchanted.I always thought that making granola was difficult. Don't ask me why because just by reading the recipe

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1122225758068045472005-07-25T13:20:00.000-04:002005-07-25T06:13:38.720-04:00

On Saturday I had an appointment with my hairdresser and that meant go across the river to the small little city of Aylmer, on que Quebec side. On the way, on the Lower Aylmer Road, there are always one or two stalls usually selling one type of fruit or vegetable in season. In June it was the strawberries and now they are offering wild blueberries. Wild blueberries are very small but bursting

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1121279813181778052005-07-23T14:36:00.000-04:002005-07-24T20:50:23.783-04:00

This recipe for banana bread was given to me by my friend Nancy who got it from her friend Daphne. It is by far my very favourite banana bread. The ratio of bran to flour is quite high and it is the reason why I like it so much. I like to fell the bran when I eat it. I do love both the flavour and the texture of this bread.It is specially good when the bananas are very ripe, as they impart

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1121924106942425332005-07-20T23:39:00.000-04:002005-07-25T06:13:07.516-04:00

I have added several new cookbooks to my collection. Today I want to mention the one I was anxiously awaiting and which arrived a couple of days ago.I found out about this cookbook from Jennifer, our gifted chef from Vancouver's Roast Chicken Reasoning. If you remember, her entry for Taste Canada was Gambas al Ajillo, a specialty from Chez Piggy, a Kingston Ontario Restaurant. Jennifer

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1121569931451968382005-07-16T22:56:00.000-04:002005-07-16T23:15:56.530-04:00

Today was unbeliveably hot and muggy. I spent quite some time working in the yard, clearing an area which used to be beside the garage, before I moved it. The work was hard as there were maples that had been allowed to grow somewhat. Taking them out means digging the roots out and it is no small job. Then I leveled it, put garden fabric and then crushed stone. It will be nice when it is

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1121475620950118752005-07-15T20:56:00.000-04:002005-07-15T23:23:08.263-04:00

From my mother's recipes I chose Honey Cake, a very typical Portuguese Cake. Thanks to Nic from Bakingsheet to host today's Sugar High Friday event and for having chosen honey as the theme.The unusual thing in this cake is the use of olive oil as the fat ingredient and this is another of the Portuguese cakes that you will find everywhere. Every region has its own version of the recipe: Bolo de

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1121401708824220822005-07-15T00:14:00.000-04:002005-07-15T00:28:28.830-04:00

TADA!!!!!! Here is the new template. After lots of weed-pulling (trying to save my scalp here!) in frustration I finally got the test blog to work after which it was surprisingly painless to transpose the code from the test blog to this one.For a first effort, I am very pleased with the end result. Please let me know what you think and how do the colours show in your monitors.Of course now that

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1120785819142824842005-07-13T21:23:00.000-04:002005-07-13T15:14:50.386-04:00

I have two posts started and saved in draft mode and I'm actually posting this during lunch hour at work.After intermitent bursts during the past two weeks my ISP provider finally arrived to the conclusion that the cable modem is acting up and will probably need to be replaced. The technician will come over by next Friday and I'm taking the day off to be home both for the ISP technician and for

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1120785741259456162005-07-07T19:12:00.000-04:002005-07-09T09:26:30.290-04:00

I did make this loaf some time ago but never managed to post about it. The recipe is from one of my favourite cookbooks, the How-to Book of Healthy Cooking. It is the first time I tried this recipe and it is very tasty, and at 361 calories per serving and only 4gr. of saturated fat it is healthy indeed. I have to admit though, that my version of the recipe was fatter as I used full-fat

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1120777744264077522005-07-04T19:07:00.000-04:002005-07-07T21:54:11.506-04:00

I know that I should be making this tourtière from scratch but the truth is, I might not do as good a job as Loblaws.Says in the package that "is made according to a traditional Québécois recipe, with pork, beef, veal and a rich pastry crust," and it is "made without artificial flavours or colours". It is already baked so all you have to do is pop it in the oven for about 20 minutes or take it

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1120354926269177442005-07-02T21:09:00.000-04:002005-07-05T23:55:26.996-04:00

I have to thank Kelli for the wonderful idea of making the bread in the breadmaker using the dough cycle and then put the dough in a pan and bake in the oven. Just take a look at this beauty.I've had my bread machine for a while now and although I liked the breads I made in it, I hated the large cube format of the finished product. I know the booklet shows how you can program the machine for

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1120352912489572812005-07-01T20:57:00.000-04:002005-07-02T21:08:32.496-04:00

A friend and I went strawberry picking yesterday. The picking season started maybe a week ago and this field is actually only about 20 minutes from Ottawa.The strawberries are smallish but full of flavour, much better than what we get in the supermarket. We went at about 8:30 a.m. and I had just finished breakfast. Bad move! I was too full to enjoy eating as much as I picked. Next time I'll

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1120014144654191872005-06-29T20:00:00.000-04:002005-07-02T14:56:29.186-04:00

Right around the corner, here comes the first Taste Canada started about a month ago by Lyn and Jennifer who thought that there was high time to have a Canadian Food Blogging event.The idea caught the imagination of the rest of us Canadian bloggers. We wrote to other Canadian bloggers we knew, thought of ways of promoting this event and Tara created the beautiful "Canadian Food Blogger" logo you

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1119955474422563312005-06-28T06:18:00.000-04:002005-06-28T22:59:20.090-04:00

To honour Canada Day and this great country of ours I am a proud participant of Taste Canada, the brainchild of Canadian Food Bloggers Jennifer The Domestic Goddess and Lynnette of Lex Culinaria.For me Canada represents barbecues, fast food and getting your meal ready-made from the supermarket, all concepts that were utterly foreign to me when I arrived some 20 years ago.I came from a culture and

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1119792323802824752005-06-26T08:47:00.000-04:002005-06-26T16:10:26.293-04:00

Thanks to Nupur and Kelli for tagging me for this meme. I would also like to thank Nicki and Oliver for coming up with the idea. I just love this meme. I have been reading the entries as they are published and it is fun to learn a little bit more about the people behind the recipes.What's your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?I must have been about 10 years old and I was spending some

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1119614783570518102005-06-24T07:21:00.000-04:002005-06-24T15:19:20.966-04:00

Once more I searched my mother's recipes for my entry into this IMBB # 16, kindly hosted by none other than Viv at Seattle Bon Vivant, and the theme is eggs . Using eggs as the main ingredient, Pudim de Claras, which translates literally as Eggwhite Pudding, is an ubiquitous pudding in Portugal. It is right up there with the flan (caramel pudding) and the world famous custard tartlets. You will

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1119376966820964252005-06-21T14:01:00.000-04:002005-12-03T07:55:41.803-05:00

If I may shamelessly borrow an excellent idea from Niki at Delicious Days, for having decided to keep track of the meme she created. Many times I've wondered who started and where finished the many memes that float around the blogosphere.I was tagged by Lyn from Lex Culinaria and answered the "5 Cookbooks Meme". Checking around the previous replies and saw that many people wondered where had it

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1119055654649197942005-06-17T20:29:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:14:52.560-04:00

It’s Sugar High Friday again and this month’s edition is hosted by Jarrett of life in flow and the theme is “Tantalizing Titillating Tempting Tarts”.This time I decided not to use one of my mother's recipes and chose instead a tart from one of the Tele-Culinária books in my collection: Tarte de Cerejas com Nozes (Cherry and Walnut Tart).The recipe called for a pastry dough that used an egg yolk

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1118973747443901202005-06-16T20:04:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:17:06.366-04:00

I've been tagged by legal cook Lyn of Lex Culinaria, who also posted an explanation of what a meme is. Thanks Lyn and I hope you don't mind that I piggyback on your explanation.1. Total number of (cook/food) books I’ve owned:Probably around 70. I left several cookbooks in Portugal and some others in Angola that are now out of print. I miss them.2. Last (cook/food) book(s) I bought:"Manual de

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1118713536562472432005-06-13T21:30:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:17:54.253-04:00

First thing I did Sunday morning was to take these pictures of the new "front" garden. It actually comprises the north side of the house, the south side and the front view.It was a difficult job due to the extreme temperature and humidity, but it is done. You noticed that I did not lay sod in the culverts. Well, grass does not do well in culverts because of the salt the city puts in the roads

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1118573943083010442005-06-10T06:33:00.000-04:002005-06-12T07:01:03.306-04:00

I have been working hard preparing my front garden for the sod that will arrive hopefully early Saturday morning.June has been a very difficult month to work in the garden. The temperatures are unseasonally high and the level of humidity makes it unbearable. What you see in this picture has been the painstaking work of about 3 weeks. I have progressed this far because my neighbour, gentle soul

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1118442735216750482005-06-08T18:27:00.000-04:002005-06-12T06:32:59.466-04:00

Last week I had a friend come over for tea. I have been so very busy with my garden, which unfortunately is not progressing as fast as I have predicted. That tells you how much of a gardening rookie I am.Anyway, not to default on my social life on account of garden woes, I decided to try "3 Tarts - Fine baking for all occasions" a small shop on an area that has become quite trendy in the last 5

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1118025635353866802005-06-05T21:27:00.000-04:002005-06-06T07:10:15.426-04:00

This recipe is my entry for the 3rd edition of Blog Appétit and it is therefore written in French. For the English version, please see below.J'ai trouvé la recette originale pour cette confiture dans une des éditions de mercredi de notre quotidien "The Ottawa Citizen", il y a une quinzaine d'années. La recette originale demandait 6 tasses de sucre et le produit final était une confiture qui

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1117796155671731942005-06-02T06:30:00.000-04:002005-06-03T07:30:15.793-04:00

The name Roupa Velha (Old Rags) dutifully belongs to the dish that is made for lunch on December 25. Usually, on Christmas Eve (now isn't it crazy of me to talk about Christmas in June??? But I love "roupa velha", so there...).As I was saying, on Christmas Eve traditionalists eat a boiled dinner of codfish, potatos, eggs and kale, the whole thing well seasoned with olive oil. Usually, there are

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1117451960213945772005-05-30T06:16:00.000-04:002005-05-30T22:26:45.816-04:00

My brother makes a mean curry. No, I do not mean hot; in our family we do not like hot spices, so the curry is actually mild, but flavoured just so, that makes it unforguettable. Last year, when our mother was so very sick, he and my sister-in-law came from Portugal to stay with us and visit with mom one last time.While here my brother made several dishes, being this curry one of them. It is

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1117144230126393032005-05-26T16:58:00.000-04:002005-05-26T17:53:01.833-04:00

I have been outside in the garden since about 9:00 a.m. and at noon I was both famished and tired. Fortunately I had a baguette of fresh country wheat bread, purchased this morning at Loblaws when I went to get some lawn seed. That baguette put me in the mood for a sardine sandwich with a salad of vine-rippened tomatoes which looked like they would not take their stay in the counter for much

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1117054356164260252005-05-25T16:34:00.000-04:002005-05-25T16:55:08.906-04:00

These beautiful tulips came out recently in a corner of my garden. I was confused because I knew for sure that I had not planted tulips in that spot. My neighbour told me that this was the work of squirrels, those pesky little creatures (at least that's what I heard gardeners call them).Well, it looks like they know a thing or two I did not know. I always planted my bulbs, dutifully, as the

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1116678052967591472005-05-20T08:02:00.000-04:002005-05-21T16:16:36.516-04:00

Pity I don't have a picture of my entry for SHF #8. I made it on Wednesday (May 18). The recipe of choice among mom's recipes was an Orange Pudding. The recipe called for boiling the sugar in a bit of water to the pearl stage, then add the beaten eggs and the orange juice. The pudding was then poured into a buttered pan and baked inside a baking sheet with hot-water. The recipe did not say

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1116383894284014362005-05-17T22:32:00.000-04:002005-05-19T06:53:21.776-04:00

Dreska has called for May to be the pasta month, and so yesterday I made this dish that I saw for the first time in the November 1997 issue of Canadian Living Magazine. I was, at the time, trying to make more vegetarian meals and this recipe caught my attention. We all loved this dish and I still make it regularly.The original recipe called for fresh gnocchi from the supermarket aisles. It is

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1116176732758821892005-05-15T09:54:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:20:15.726-04:00

I found out about this meme when getting my daily fix at Delicious: Days, and found out that this meme was started by Anthony of Spiceblog. Thanks Anthony for a very good idea. So, without further ado, here are my photos and answers. 1. Rationale behind what we're seeingI have more cookbooks than this. Several are in boxes in the basement because the top floor is being renovated (while I still

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1116111597146145632005-05-14T18:49:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:21:26.580-04:00

I apologize for staying away from this blog for all this time but now that the snow is gone and the days are warmer, many of my days will be spent starting my garden. I have not done much until now. The house needed several big repairs including moisture protection to the foundation wall and there's nothing better to wreck gardens that digging around the foundation.You can see in the picture of

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1115345410496564402005-05-05T21:19:00.000-04:002005-05-05T22:34:01.770-04:00

I had a more elaborate pasta dish in mind for today, to send to Dreska, but with timing constraints in effect, I had to settle for this simple dish created with whatever I could find in the refrigerator. Still, the end result was very tasty, even if the picture was not as eye-catching as the gnocchi with red pepper sauce I was planning to make. Well, the weekend is coming.The story of this dish

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1115148761011563942005-05-03T14:28:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:22:43.013-04:00

I saw some old cookbooks on ebay and decided to purchase the whole lot: 5 cookbooks - 25 pounds of hardcovered material. I actually found them while searching for a cookbook I used to have "The How-To Book of Healthy Cooking" from Reader's Digest.Sometime in the early 90's I borrowed that book from our Public Library. I liked what I saw, tried a couple of recipes and was very happy with the

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1115000469621234842005-05-01T22:15:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:23:09.456-04:00

I just returned from a departmental 4-day workshop. It was a lot of work and very interesting. I learned a lot.Have several things to post but I am busy with a genealogical site that I also maintain and unfortunately the day has only so many hours.I have some "new" old cookbooks and have already started to try recipes from them, which turned out very good. I hope I will be able to post them soon.

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1114288183126504052005-04-24T16:19:00.000-04:002005-04-24T10:18:29.293-04:00

Thanks to Foodgoat and Ladygoat for hosting this month's edition of Is-My-Blog-Burning and the theme is orange.This was an easy one for me. Mom's recipe book has plenty of recipes featuring oranges, not to mention the orange colour and the one I chose is an orange-based rolled pudding she used to make quite often."Torta de Laranja," can be translated maybe as Orange Roly-Poly. In Portuguese a

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1114052156720707962005-04-22T22:49:00.000-04:002005-04-22T00:56:44.916-04:00

Again another of my mother's recipes for this mont's Sugar High Friday, and thanks to Derrick from An Obssession with Food for hosting this event and coming up with the theme. Now molasses is not an ingredient that is very much used in Portuguese cookery so I thought that I might have to go somewhere else for my entry this time. To my surprise, I found this recipe, named literally "Cake from

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1114051543023238122005-04-20T22:15:00.000-04:002005-06-20T18:24:15.130-04:00

In January 2004 I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer. Although mom did not consider herself a good cook (she always compared herself to my grandmother who was an excellent cook) she really was. Mom believed that food should be done leisurely and flavours should be allowed to develop and mingle. Supper in your plate in 20 minutes was not in her vocabulary and it showed. The food was carefully

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1113869073727713162005-04-19T18:43:00.000-04:002005-04-18T22:22:04.423-04:00

Today's recipe is my entry into blog appétit the French equivalent of IMBB and today's theme is lamb and peas. Since this is an entry for a French event I will proceed with the recipe in French. The English version, follows right after.Celle-ci est une de mes soupes favorites, pleine de saveur et nutritive. Je la fais souvent. La recette originale a été conçue para Anne Lindsay et publié dans la

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1113526276846784862005-04-14T20:35:00.000-04:002005-04-15T13:03:34.113-04:00

Granted, this dish is not much to look at, but it is very tasty and very easy to do. Honestly, I don't know what to call it. I made it one day, many eons ago, and it started innocently enough as a possible pasta sauce.In an attemp to cut the calories, I decided against using oil. So I freed the ground beef from the shrink wrap and dropped the whole thing in the hot pan. It sizzled as it was

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1113148931495031922005-04-11T12:00:00.000-04:002005-04-12T22:57:50.973-04:00

Almost 10 years ago I found this jewel of a cookbook on a garage sale. It cost me 25 cents. I love old cookbooks. This one "The Art of Coking and Serving", by Sarah Field Splint, Editor Food Department of McCall's Magazine, was printed in 1929.The book has 549 tested recipes and was published as a vehicle for Crisco shortening. I do not use Crisco but have tried and adopted several reciped using

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1112929904463470612005-04-07T23:11:00.000-04:002005-04-10T17:54:37.676-04:00

Several weks ago I purchased a small cookbook on sale at Loblaws, our biggest supermarket here in Canada. Loblaws carries about 3 or 4 shelves with magazines and cookbooks and every now and then they place a big bin in the middle of the store where they throw all the books on sale. When the bin is there this becomes a popular spot at the supermarket, crammed full of shopers searching for a

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1112840569082069722005-04-06T21:45:00.000-04:002005-04-15T13:00:39.803-04:00

Niki from Esurientes - The Comfort Zone submitted this wonderful gelatin pudding for Sugar High Friday's #3. I love gelatin puddings but do not like your garden variety Jell-O brand which is nothing but sugar and food colouring. I n the picture below I was planning to put creme fraiche around it so that the yellow pudding could shine through. Unfortunately I dropped a blob of creme fraiche on top

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1112833900154682932005-04-05T20:12:00.000-04:002005-04-07T23:19:07.103-04:00

Today I had a wonderful dinner, courtesy of Jennifer (Roast Chicken Reasoning) for the main course and Niki (Esurientes - The Comfort Zone) for dessert. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the whole meal as I intended, so tomorrow I'll write about Niki's Orange Jelly. It certainly deserves a full entry.Jennifer's recipe for the herb/salt rub caught my attention. I had made roast chicken

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1112480647576029802005-04-02T17:19:00.000-05:002005-04-07T07:34:09.990-04:00

Braised fava beans stew is one of my favourite dishes. It is easy to make, redolent of the garlic, chorizo, and fresh coriander leaves that go into it and shock-full of flavour.There are many recipes for favas guisadas. Some use the dark blood sausage as well as the chorizo, some do not use onion, only garlic, and some spoon the prepared stew into slices of bread. When I make this dish I can

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1111938652033984562005-03-27T10:38:00.000-05:002005-06-20T18:25:35.323-04:00

Mud, mud, mud! It seems I'll never stop. It is such a dirty awful work. I have a steady hand and that is why I decided to do the joint compound around the new areas. Because I am not a professional, I take probably twice or three times as long. In the meantime I have to live in the middle of all the dirt, dust and confusion.Since my little house has about 850 ft², there is not much room to

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1111812673344399422005-03-25T23:22:00.000-05:002005-04-07T23:16:31.690-04:00

Lucky me. As a government employee I have both Godd Friday and Eater Monday off. A four day weekend...yupeeee! and I'm going to spend it working my hands off finishing off the entry hall renovation...or as much of it as I can anyway.The photo above shows the entry hall the way it looked in 2000 when I bought my little bungalow. It was frightfully small and dark with varnished plywood walls and a

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1111630500670567742005-03-23T20:55:00.000-05:002005-06-20T18:26:46.706-04:00

What a convoluted way to get dinner. Two days ago I was reading through Esuriente's blog and saw that she had made the Broccoli Cornmeal Upside Down Cake invented by Clotilde of Chocolate and Zucchini's fame. I had seen the recipe when I perused Clotilde's blog and at the time I thought it was unusual. Would I like it? I wasn't sure. I like broccoli and I like cormeal, but both together???Somehow

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1111454213318998512005-03-21T19:05:00.000-05:002005-06-20T18:27:57.556-04:00

One of my very favourites, this cheese is manufactured, in Canada, mainly from cow milk. In Portugal it can also can be made from the sheep milk, goat or a mix of both. According to my research, the moistness of this type of cheese is between 70-80% and therefore its period of conservation is limited.Having gotten that out of the way, let me tell you that, as far as I am concerned, it is the best

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1111189460907179822005-03-18T17:48:00.000-05:002005-04-07T23:14:20.440-04:00

Pudim Flan is the Portuguese name for a very popular custard pudding cooked in a pan in which the inside has been covered with caramel.My mother used to make this recipe, using a tumbler to measure the quantities of eggs, milk and sugar and cooked it in the pressure cooker in an aluminum pan with a lid. I did not have milk so I used 10% cream. The finished product was deliciously rich.Pudim Flan1

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1110802525441298082005-03-14T07:14:00.000-05:002005-06-20T18:28:45.206-04:00

Yesterday I asked my friends to come and check the new renovation in the new dining room. I had thought of filling in a half-wall in the old kitchen looking for some extra shelf space. When you live in a 850 ft2 bungalow, you need all the help you can get.The contractor had not even finished the job and I knew I hated it. The space suddently seemed so cramped...My contractor would come back on

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11397132.post-1110637486266556352005-03-12T09:12:00.000-05:002005-06-20T18:29:12.766-04:00

I finally got the courage to create my blog. After lurking for about three months and reading everybody else's blogs, here is a nice way to communicate with family and friends. Beats writing the same letter with the same news over and over again.After a little struggle, I finally decided on the title for my blog. One contender was "Ana's Rambles" which I disliked for the lack of creativity. I

Anahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14804076620255719859noreply@blogger.com0