Dejah

Caught up reading a few pages of amazing food. Now, for some of the meals we've had: Lean ground beef on sale at one of the stores, so made up a bunch of meatballs. Had these with jar of marinera sauce and pappardelle. A new European grocery and tiny restaurant opened in the city. I went in to buy mix for potato dumplings, and came home with these Moroccan Lamb sausages, made on site. The texture and spices were good, but they were way too salty! We could eat one each - and thankful for the sauteed cabbage and couscous . Time for paella! And Persimmons are in the stores! Great for dessert time. Haven't been able to find these in town for quite some time. Was happy to find them at the new European store. We love these with stew. Made a big pot and 8 dumplings. Shared 3 servings with my brother, s-i-l, and their grandson. Been trying to get the rest of the outside stuff done while we had a day of double digit temps. Shrimp and Udon Noodles made for a quick supper.

Perfect meal!

Were busy with medical apptns, other errands, and hubby didn't feel like the steaks I had set out. So, I pulled out the 2 big chunks of bone from the saddles of lamb and made Scotch Broth. Had leeks, turnip, carrot, parsnip, celery, and it was perfect with a few oyster crackers. I enjoyed some fresh mint with mine. ! Grilled in the cast iron the 2 tenderloins I had set out for last night's supper. Baked potato, veg from the freezer, and some raw stuff. Have new shipment of pickerel coming in the next couple of weeks. Had some tonight to work down the stash! Diced up and sauteed zucchini, bell pepper, and an eggplant, and Jasmine rice = supper.

A friend gave us a package of liver, but it was cut thin. I try to get thick cut. These were cooked quickly! Eaten with onion gravy, sweet potato and Romano Beans Moroccan Chicken Tagine with Lemon scented Basmati rice and steamed carrots. Enjoyed the sweetness of the dried apricots and saltiness of the green olives.

I don't have the luxury of fresh shrimp here on the prairies, but I get lovely big frozen shelled ones from Sysco, the company that supplies local restaurants. They come individually frozen, with only the shell on the tails. I never bother to de-vein them unless they are really noticeable, then it's just the tip of the toothpick somewhere along the top of the shrimp, and out it comes. A friend gave us some wurst made locally at a butcher's close to their summer cottage. The butcher's name is Kurt, so the label said Kurtwurst! It was lovely, coarse grind, well seasoned, and the casing was "crisp". Didn't have red cabbage, but bok choy and a yellow zuchinni needed cooking.

Our son, who works off-site from St. John's Nfld with his company in Manitoba, was home for "their yearly summit meetings". Took the opportunity to come home for a few days, still working , then a few days off. He loves lamb while his wife and kids don't, so I feed him as much as I can with his favourite protein. Moussaka with eggplant and lamb: I had 2 saddles of lamb in the freezer. Boned both, rolled and roasted. Our oldest son and 2 daughters joined us next evening for supper. The girls didn't know it was lamb, so they ate it up and loved it! LOL! Thanksgiving was Baked Ham, Scalloped Potatoes and various vegetables. I made a BIG scalloped potato as the grands love them. Sent most of it and the ham home with them. A final meal before our son left for his flight home to Nfld: a single bone prime rib: Had picked up a case of mangoes, and they are not ripening well. A waste to use in cooking but made something with chicken: Lean Ground Beef on sale this week: $4.49 / lb. Picked up several trays, vacuum sealed some packages, then used some to stuff acorn squash. Made a threee-peppercorn gravy and eaten with Cavendish fries, peas. No point making Fish 'n' Chips while the kid was home, but we needed a fix, with pickerel!

Fall temperatures! Good time to turn on the oven for meals! Had a recipe for Butternut Squash with cranberries, pecans, and maple syrup: SO pretty and tasty. Also had a recipe for roasted beets salad with herb vinegar and burrata, but the beets weren't great , so I just drizzled on a Bourbon Maple Dark Basalmic vinegar and the burrata. Will have to go to the farmer's market tomorrow to see if I can find better beets, and more than just the red ones. The above accompanied slow roasted pork ribs. Busy day getting plants ready to come inside for the winter. Quick meal of Singapore Rice noodles and shrimp. Had some green beans that were getting a bit "old", but they worked well as julienne veg with bell peppers. Had a recipe for one pan Rosemary Chicken with Cranberry sauce. I didn't have any canned cranberry sauce, so I made my Apple Cranberry Orange Chutney. It worked!

This was my second joongzi making session. I was flying solo this year as one of my partners had moved to London, Ont, and another was away to China. In total, I made 82. The first batch of 36 were frozen and flown to my sister and family with my niece who was out visiting. Yesterday, I made up 46. Half will fly back to Nfld with my son who flew into his Wpg office for meetings then to our house next week. My 11 year old granddaughter loves joong. We taste-tested a couple for supper last night, along with a simple bok choy soup. It was a great way to end the month of September! And THAT was a WRAP for 2024! The last 22 cooling after being boiled for 2.5 hours. They have been bagged and in the fridge before going into the freezer. Supper was easy after the wrapping session!

Had a lot of shredded zucchini left after lots of baking. Didn't want to bake anything else so I made Cheesy Zucchini patties. Sauteed shrimp with Vadouvan Curry spices and stir-fried Bok Choy = supper. I became friends with a gardener on facebook a couple of years ago. She lives in Winnipeg, about 2.5 hours from me. She has sent me special lily bulbs for my flower garden, and this time, she asked to bring them out and plant them for me. In exchange, she was some guidance in doing a versatile veg stir-fry. So along with gardening chatter, we cooked up 4 dishes. She enjoyed some for supper, then packaged it all up for her to take home, to analyze and to eat for a couple of days. LOL! We put together Yaki-Udon Noodles, Cantonese Noodles and Mixed Veg, Black Bean Garlic Beef with Bell peppers, and Mushroom Fried Rice that she can ramp up. We also made Wonton Soup for lunch. After my friend left at 9 PM, hubby and I had A & W burger, fries and onion rings for supper! With leftover vegetables and a chicken breast that we didn't use, I made Chicken and Veg Stir-fry for our supper tonight. Leftover rice became friend rice with diced salted egg yolks.

Thai Coconut Grilled Pork Tenderloin. Tenderloin was in marinade (coconut milk, spices, fish sauce, and peanut butter) overnight then grilled in cast iron pan on stove. It was pouring rain when it was time to grill! House smelled wonderful. Roast chicken with West Africa Citrus Spice. Golden Boy tomatoes were delicious! Along with the gift of the golden tomatoes, I also received 3 huge zucchinis! Used up half of one last night and made Lemon Zucchini Almond loaves. Had a lovely warm slice for dessert with tea.

Thai Basil Stir-fried Chicken with Bell Peppers. I have a "Tower Thai Basil" plant with loads of leaves. I had made Hot 'n' Sour Soup for friends, and had bamboo shoots, Shitaki and Wood Ear mushrooms left. Chicken again then for supper! Busy day today! Put together all the ingredients and made 3 doz Joong (Sticky rice in bamboo leaves). We had 2 for supper, then froze the rest to send out to my sister in Burnaby, B.C. My niece is visiting and will take them back with her. It's Mid-Autumn Festival, so we had moon cakes for dessert. There are 2 varieties on the plate, but we prefer the 5-nut and seeds one. It's not as sweet. The tea is Japanese Toasted Rice green tea.

My 8 year old granddaughter loves these noodles, so it was time to learn how to cook them! She and her older sister (12) also love egg rolls and wontons. They made and Gramma deep fried. These girls are 1/4 Chinese, one blond, one red-headed!

Ground beef, tofu, and zucchini stir-fry with Toban sauce. LOTS of rice involved. Tried a new recipe last night with pork ribs. It's from Woks of Life, called 1-2-3-4-5 Ribs, cooked in the wok. They were great, sticky, a little sweet, sour, but so good with the caramelized sugar with black vinegar. Stir-fried veg odd and ends and rice to go with them. I was scraping up the last scraps of sticky sauce from the ribs!

Years ago, when I was still teaching, I had a group of 7 Science Without Borders students from Brazil. They were here for 6 months and were missing home, especially since it was in the middle of a prairie winter. I asked what they missed most food-wise, and they said " Feijaoda"! Decided to surprise them, and MAN! It was a surprise to ME on what an effort it was to make it! But the students were thrilled, and I still hear from them. Have never made it again. LOL! But it was delicious, with beans and rice.

Kept out some of the 3-meat mixture for meatballs, and did up some patties. Sauteed mushrooms, 3-peppercorn gravy, rice, and veg. Lamb chops, one lonely meatballs that escaped the vacuum-sealed bag, Basmati rice with cardamom, cumin and mustard seed, plus various leftover veg from other meals.