Dejah

We were under yet another tornado warning today! Luckily, it didn't fully develop. The air was stifling outside, so no playing in the dirt today. I cranked up the a/c, turned on the fans, and had another day in the kitchen making something from my Mom's recipes. Daughter and s-i-l are home, so I made one of her childhood favourites: Char Siu Baos Marinated 5 lbs of County style pork ribs and cook them up on the BBQ. Diced along with onion and sauteed in hoisin sauce. Made up 24 steamed baos! My Mom's recipe made exactly 24! Daughter's other favourite dishes that I cooked up and sent back to the city: Black Bean Garlic Beef with Bitter Melon and Ho Fun My sister sent out a lb of dried shrimp meat. I've always used Har Mai (dried little shrimp) but these are the more expensive version. Stir-fried with Napa cabbage and Mung Bean Noodles The kids have a cottage on Lake Winnipeg. They brought back some Smoked Winnipeg Goldeye! Had some leftover rice from paella, fresh peas and beans. and quick marinated cucumber = supper! The extreme weather warning is off. Just a few drops of rain and the power only flicked off a couple of times. Kids have left for the city with a filled cooler.

There was not taste to the baby abalone. I was yearning for the larger baby ones we enjoyed in Seoul a couple of years ago. They were amazing! But the little shells will make a pretty wind chime.

July and August has been crazy times with the weather. We've had 3 devastating tornadoes very close to our city. There were many properties destroyed, but most tragic of all, was the one last week. Two teenagers were killed when their truck was thrown and tumbled into a field. This on top of the uncertainty of life with Covid-19 is weighing heavily on every one's mind. Our province, and specifically, our small city of around 48,000 people had 72 days of no cases of Covid, then this last 2 weeks, we've had 67! Many of us seniors have been living carefully within small bubbles, but we do miss having friends and families gathered for meals, etc. Cooking and gardening, however, has kept me busy, well-fed, safe and happy at home. Halibut steak and fresh veg from farmer's market Stove top grilled lamb chops and fresh mint sauce - mint from my herb pallet. Shitaki mushrooms stuffed with ground pork and shrimp. Steamed with oyster sauce and baby abalone. Not excited about the abalone, but the shells will make a pretty wind chime! This morning started off at 4:30 with a tremendous thunderstorm with high winds. The rain gauge showed 30 mm of rain in about 2 hours. I 've needed comfort food, so I pulled out my old steamer and bamboo basket handed down from my Mom. I made Dan Goh, Mom's recipe for steamed Chinese sponge cake. She used to make it for all her grandchildren, and so it was a walk down memory lane today. I had just finished making one cake when the emergency sirens went off. We were in for another tornado! I saw my neighbors out on our street looking up at the sky, so took pieces of the cake out to them and the kids. 10 minutes later, there was a woosh!, then tremendous torrential rain (14 mm in 30 minutes) and high wind. Lots of broken trees and flooded streets but the tornado did not touch down in the city. It did touch down outside city limits then dissipated without major property damage. So, the neighbor kids named the cake Tornado Cake! The power went off for about 10 minutes, but some areas of the city were without power for 4-6 hours because of downed power lines. But I manage to make supper and another cake for ourselves. My Mom's cake basket, probably 50 years old! My Mom's Dan Goh (Egg Cake) : Beat 6 eggs and 1 1/2 cups sugar for 20 minutes. Fold in 1 1/3 cup flour and steam in parchment-lined bamboo basket for 20 minutes. Perfect with tea or a glass of ice cold milk! Supper was a quick stir-fry of shrimp, cherry tomatoes, onion, in spicy ketsup! Expecting showers tomorrow, but hopefully, no more tornadoes!

What's happened to time? Stuck at home and the garden most days, and wow! I've been AWOL for a long spell. Am looking back on all the meals, and they are all super delicious! Actually, I've been afraid to log on as I end up spending wayyyy too much time looking at everyone's food. My kids gave me a 6 month subscription to Cratejoy for Mother's Day.. I am a hard person to shop for! The one they picked was Spice Madam. It's really a waste of money for what comes in the boxes: several small bags with a couple of tbsp of special spice blends, recipe cards for 4 or 5 dishes, and music that comes in an email - for a particular country. The first one was Brazil. I made the vegetarian feijoada, but added cubed pork, spicy chorizo. It's a simplified version of the traditional version that I made one weekend for my Brazilian exchange students. Picked up fresh produce at a regular vegetable stand yesterday. Had a seasoned turkey breast that I picked up at Safeway a couple of months back. It's Granny's brand and in cryovac. I coated it with Panko crumbs and cooked it in the Ninja Foodie Air-fryer. Enjoyed the crispy coating and tender juicy meat with baby carrots, beets and potatoes.

Cioppino - first time we enjoyed this was in San Francisco, many moons ago. Not as good making it at home with frozen seafood, but the broth was slurpingly delicious! Seared the scallops and topped the bowl. Didn't have baguette or garlic toast, but Chinese crullers filled in nicely. With this Covid-19, everyone is baking, so yeast has become a scarce commodity. I had an unopened jar in the dark recesses of my cupboard. Don't even remember why I bought it as I don't bake anything that requires yeast. Must have felt ambitious one day back in 2018. A good friend was desperate, so I opened the jar and made a test batch. It was definitely alive! Dropped the jar off at the friend's, then looked at the test bubbly goo. Didn't want to waste it, so I googled a cinnamon recipe.: Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Buns. Must be beginner's luck! They were great! Good thing I gave the yeast away, or I'll be making them all the time! We had some for dessert, and gave most away to next door neighbors. "Stronger Together", a salute by many Canadian artists to front-line workers fighting COVID-19 for a historic multi-platform concert, was on at supper time, so it was a quick Butter Chicken with brown Basmati rice, cauliflower and peas for supper in front of the TV.

Made chicken congee and loaded it up with favourites: Chinese crueller, Century egg, salted egg, very spicy peanuts, fuyu, and a dash of sesame oil. Made lazy-man pizza with lavash. Nice and crispy thin crust with squeezable pizza sauce, extra lean capocollo, fresh pineapple, feta cheese, and fresh basil. Something I haven't made for a long time - sushi! Filled it with lobster meat, cucumber, and red bell pepper. I love masago!

Still have ice floes in the backyard, so I am making good use of the Starfrit stove top grill pan. Grilled burgers and vegetables Had scored a 10-rib crown of pork with a $5.00 off a $25.00 chunk of meat. Cut the whole thing into 2 rib portions, seasoned and added fresh thyme or rosemary , then sealed with the FoodSaver. Got 5 meals out of the crown. SV one package, then grilled - tender and juicy. Still enjoying the Konjac noodles from my keto days. The Fettuccini ones are great as faux Ho Fun, with beef and beansprouts Made Beer battered Fish'n'Chips again, in the Ninja Foodie Air fryer. Gilco Curry Gravy is the usual sauce for the fries and Malt Vinegar for the fish

We don't really celebrate Easter, but did have family dinners in the past. Had a smoked pork shoulder a while back and saved the big bone for soup. Luckily, the soup didn't get made, and there was enough meat left on it to provide dinner for two. Our "Past-over" Ham dinner with scalloped potatoes. Grilled fresh pineapple was great with the ham. Happy I picked up the packages of seasoned turkey legs and breasts when they were on sale. They are the perfect size for two people, with leftovers for sandwichs and salads. Stuffing was tucked under the turkey while roasting. Was watching an episode of Jamie Oliver and was excited about his Empire Lamb. I had everything except fresh curry leaves, which were in good supply at the store until I needed them! Made it anyway. The boneless lamb shoulder was marinated overnight in a paste of ginger, garlic,red onion, green chilis, ground almond, yogurt, brown mustard seeds, and white wine vinegar. The lamb was roasted for 3 hours, then a sauce of ginger, garlic, green chili, mustard seeds, fresh curry leaves, tomatoes and coconut milk was added to the lamb and simmered until thickened. The crust fell when I sliced the meat, which was incredibly tender. The gravy - oh YUM! Whole beef tenderloin was on sale at Superstore: $9.98 / lb, and came with 15,000 points, which translates to $15.00 credit on my PC Optimum Mastercard! I picked up two as some of the Alberta slaughter houses were shut down because of staff testing positive for Covid-19. Each tenderloin was about $67.00. On trimming, each yield about 7 oz of fat and silverskin = yorkshire pudding! I portioned each into small roasts / future Beef Wellingtons, steaks, and stir-fries. Kept one piece out and made Beef Wellington a la Tyler Florence with Green peppercorn gravy - send half of the meal over to my brother and s-i-l. Still had galf the Empire Lamb left. Browned and simmered leeks and carrots in chicken broth and the leftover sauce from the lamb. Added a dollop of Patak Hot Curry paste, and that was supper last night with couscous and bak choi. Now, need to eat simpler, lighter and longer work-outs on the treadmill for a few days to counteract the last few days of indulgence.

Fried up some chicken breasts in the Ninja Air Fryer, made up a sauce, and toasted sesame seeds for Sesame Chicken. Vegetable Pad Thai and some breaded zucchini in the Ninja.

Snowed and windy + pandemic lockdown - need comfort food: Chicken, lap cheung, shitaki mushrooms, ginger cooked with rice in a little cast iron pot Black bean Garlic Eggplant & Bell Pepper All made for satisfying combo. Beef Short Ribs in Instant Pot with veg, red vine, and balsamic vinegar. Served over noodles and veg

Superstore Instacart Grocery Delivery brought me two beautiful heads of cauliflower. Oven roasted cauliflower steak with Creole seasoning, steamed green beans and tomato chunks = great lunch! From the freezer, some Spicy Moroccan Spicy Beef Cigars with salsa along with a small bowl of Kale and Cauliflower soup Made lots of wonton soup to share with the neighbors who clear our driveway whenever there is snow. Pan fried a few leftover wontons and eaten with stir-fried vegs = make-believe pot stickers!

Spring...winter...spring...winter! Weather can't seem to settle, but eating never wavers 😋 Quick Stove-top Paella using up a box of frozen cooked mussels and clam meat. Didn't have chorizo but I did have spicy turkey "pepperoni sticks", so they went in as well. This virus is helping me, once again, to cook thru' my freezer - hamburger patties that I bought for a large family gathering = Hamburger Steak / Salisbury Steak with onion gravy. Brought back warm memories of my Dad's little cafe in rural community! Prime Rib, Yorkshire Pudding dinner. I usually make my pudding in muffin tins, but there are only 2 of us eating, so I reduced the recipe and made it, for the FIRST TIME EVER, in the roasting pan. It was good! Great to mop up the extra green peppercorn gravy. Our kids, who all worked in our restaurant years ago, asked me for a recipe for our special BBQ sauce for sizzling hot plates. Had to search my books and reduce the huge 5-gal pails that we made up in the restaurant! I think I got pretty close. Did up our #109 on the menu: Chicken Sizzling Hot Plate with Peppers, Tomatoes, and Pineapple. I tossed in some mini cucumbers that needed using up. The kitchen was filled with delicious smoke! Plated with Jasmine Rice

Snow day after +12C temperatures. Sure fooled me; I thought it was spring! Made a big pot, doled out to neighbors and family who came to pick up from the driveway. Hot 'n' Sour Soup

Double whammy here on the prairies - pandemic and snow! Cooking and eating are the only things that will save my sanity! Using the air fryer, I made a version of the Breaded spareribs we served at our restaurant as appetizers. Instead of cracker meal (soda cracker crumbs) and deep frying, I coated the ribs with eff and cornstarch. These were fried in the Ninja Foodie for 30 minutes, turning twice. To make our Sweet & Sour Sauce and to keep Weight Watcher Points down, I used sugar-free ketsup, sugar free maple syrup (added bonus of maple flavour!), fresh pineapple chunks, thickened with cornstarch slurry. Stir-fried vegetable and brown rice with the ribs Cooking thru' the freezer for the next two meals: Prime rib steaks, grilled vegetable (on the Starfrit stove top grill pan because the BBQ is still under snow!) and wild rice / brown rice mix Lamb Chops, mashed cauliflower, and peas.

Using another of the Granny's seasoned turkey breasts and a few shrimp - brushed all protein with low-fat mayo and coated with panko-shredded coconut mix. These strips were done in the air-fry as well as the chips. Asparagus is at a good price at the moment - $1.98 / lb. Finally went out to the supermarkets during the "Seniors Only" time, 7 am - 8 am, and picked up all we would need for the next couple of weeks. Main items were fresh fruit and vegetables, and the trout. Slow-roasted Steelhead trout with fennel, citrus, and jalapeno pepper. Eaten with wild rice / brown rice mix, and stir-fried sugar snaps and bell pepper.

Cut up a pork rib roast and marinated the slabs overnight. Made Char Siu for the first time in the Air-fryer. Turned out lovely and the clean-up was fast! Cut a piece into strips for Singapore Rice Noodles. then bagged the rest for another day. Singapore Rice Noodles Cantonese Shrimp Egg Foo Young

Can't go out to eat so it is home Pho now🤪

Sorting thru' the bottom fridge drawer = eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, celery, carrot; added slices of beef and supper was served with leftover coconut basmati rice.

Denver Omelette Waffles!

Caribbean Beef Stew with Coconut Basmati rice The spice from jerk seasoning was tempered by the sweet potato chunks and diced pineapple - AND the bigger chunks on the side/ This may because the new beef stew favourite!

Using up bits and pieces of seafood (pickerel trimmings, clam meat, shrimp) in the freezer, plus a box of cooked "PEI Mussels" that I picked up for $4.99 - Creamy Seafood Chowder. Salad was lovely and chunky, other than the bowl I steamed for the hubby who does not like raw broccoli and cauliflower.

It's difficult times all over the world. DO hope you will have good emotional support around you.

Using up a bag of roasted chicken carcasses, I made the Old-World Mushroom-Barley Soup with Turkey (chicken in my case) from the Weight Watchers Cook Comfort cookbook. It was good!