CaliPoutine

Thanks for responding Pan, Im glad someone is reading Tomorrow a visit to a turkey farm( just the retail store part), and hopefully, if I can get out of bed early, to a bakery in Robin's hometown. I'll be making dinner and maybe a few extra items.

For lunch today I decided on York Street Kitchen( Thanks Alex for the recommendation) YSK is a funky little bistro that serves an ecletic menu. Nothing on the special menu struck my fancy, so I used their inventive make your own sandwich sheet. You pick the meat, breads and condiments and then they bring you some very tasty morsels on fabulous bread. I chose smoked turkey with local goat cheese on 12 grain bread. Mustard, mayo, lettuce, onion, sprouts and olives rounded out the sandwich. I also had a side of kettle cooked potato chips. The sandwich was 5.50 plus 1.50 for the goat cheese. The chips cost an additional 1.50. I spied a butter tart on the sweet platter and since I knew Robin loves them, I thought Id be a peach and pick one up for her. unfortunatly it looked a lot better than it tasted. Robin said it had an "off" taste. I had a bite and it tasted like fried food. I think the odors from their kitchen have permeated the baked goods. I inquired about the bread because it was really tasty. They told me the bread came from breadworks, a local bakery. I set out to find some of that fabulous bread. On the way, I came across this . Even the name was fabulous, so I ventured inside. Wow, I could have stayed there for hours, browsing all the cookbooks and goodies, but I only had a short time before my appt. The owner was really nice. I had a nice chat with her and she gave me some more recommendations to try in Stratford. I finally made it to the bakery. I passed two more bakeries on my way, but I just didnt have the time to stop. Breadworks When I went inside, I dismayed to see there was no more bread for the day. However, I asked the owner if any other place in town had his bread and he directed me to a pasta shop that carries it. He called for me and the pasta shop said they would hold a 12 grain loaf for me.( picture to come later). I told the owner there was something vaugely familar about his bread and I asked him if he ever had the bread at "Today's Bread" in Goderich, ON. He told me that he trained that owner and the recipes were basically the same. No wonder it was familar. My Mother-In-Law lives in Goderich and I've had that bread many times. On to the pasta shop which was really cool. I went inside, looked around and bought the loaf. Once again, I wish I had more time, but it was almost 4pm by this time and I had to get home. I wanted to talk to the owner, but she had stepped out. Turns out I didnt have to rush, because we ended up going out to dinner. edited for more pics

OK, I think I might have missed it. I'd love to hear why. ← The title of this blog probably should have been called 365 ways to prepare chicken since we eat so much of it. I stopped eating red meat when I was 21. I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and my dr. told me that red meat contributes to inflamation. I never really ate that much of it anyway, so I gave it up completely. A few years later my ex stopped eating chicken so I began to cook a lot of vegetarian food. I still always ate poultry and fish. When I met Robin, she ate meat. In fact, she was raised on meat and potatoes. After all, this area is cow country. I still get some strange looks when I pass up steak at BBQ's. When I'd come visit Robin, she would request that I make her meatloafs and she'd still order burgers when we went to dinner. I think we'd been together about 4 months and she decided to give meat up as well. She says she doesnt miss it at all. Robin do you care to comment? Sometimes I really miss a filet or a pot roast, but for the most part I dont miss red meat. When I moved here, I added pork to my diet. I dont really care for ham, but I love pork tenderloin( afterall, pork is the other white meat). edited because i said "give me up" instead of "give meat up"

I love Angelo's! Do you feel the quality of their prepared stuff has gone down? The cakes just don't look as good as they used to. But the deli can't be beat. There is a great butcher in the strip plaza across from Angelo's and an all you can eat sushi place that is decent. ← I've only recently starting going there, so I wouldnt know. I thought they had some nice looking breads and pastries, but the last time we were there together, we tasted a few minatures and we werent that impressed. The deli is really great though. They make tasty sandwiches. If we ate red meat, Id probably run right over to check out the meat market

Here are all the pics and prices of what we bought today. I picked up these natural fruit leather strips for our neice Chelsea. They were on clearance for .10 each. Hopefully, she'll like them. I had a rasberry one and it wasnt too bad. This was 8.89 1.99 10.99 8.99

ok, here is the dessert from the birthday dinner we made in Florida. There are two pineapple upside down cakes. One is a ginger-coconut variation. They came from the September/October 2004 issue of Cooks Illustrated. They were stupendious. Very moist and the fresh pineapple was fabulous. The birthday boy loved them.

Wow, what a day. I didnt know Stratford was such a culinary gem. I found a number of interesting shops I'll write about later. First, when I got home I checked my vm and was dismayed to hear a message from the owner of Bertoldi's in London. I had called this morning to let them know I was going to be taking pictures for my blog. We had planned to eat there on Saturday night. They didnt think it would be a problem. However, the owner informed me that unless I was a professional food stylist, my pictures couldnt do the food justice. His parting words " see you Saturday night". Ummm, no thanks. I really wanted to take pictures, their ceasar salad is really good, one of the best I've had in Canada and I wanted you to see it. Oh well, we'll find someone else to go. I stopped at Hansen's on my way home. I had planned to make chicken milanese. I picked up this . It just galls me that I had to pay 7.40 a lb for boneless, skinless breast and now Im not going to use it. Into my already stuffed freezer it will go. Robin felt a craving for wings. It's wing night at her favorite pub in Bayfield. A small touristy town on Lake Huron. I decided to join her. They make a really good french Onion soup. Robin went to Costo today in London. She brought me back all kind of groovy things. Sheeps milk feta, a huge vat of dijon mustard and some greek tzatziki sauce. I might just grill the chicken and serve it on salad with the feta and some sauce tomorrow for lunch. She also went to Angelo's. A great Italian bakery/deli/specialty foods store. She brought me back some mascarpone( Im going to bake a cake this weekend), halvah and best of all KASHA. She knew I was craving my kasha and bows. That's now on my list of foods to make. I have lots to tell you about Stratford. I found a great bakery, a wonderful cookbook shop and a really neat pasta shop. I wish I would have had more time, but I can always go back. It was only 30 miles and yah, no traffic what so ever. Catch ya after our pub grub!!

I've been cooking pretty simply this week. I think because we ate out so much in the last two weeks, I've been craving uncomplicated food. While in Florida last week I cooked a meal with my best friend Mike( waves HI to Mike). Mike picked the main course and since it was his brother-in-laws birthday, I said I would do the cake. The Birthday boy picked Pineapple upside down cake because that is his favorite. He told me his mother used to bake him one on every birthday. Mike decided on Parmesan crusted chicken breasts. The chicken is left to marinate in a mustard/vinegar mixture and then it gets a coating of a combination of wheat free bread crumbs( we subbed from the original recipe) and reggiano. Mike wanted to make penna ala vodka as well. I suggested a simple salad of baby arugula with warm sautteed mushrooms and reggiano on top( we're both big fans of reggiano). I made a lemon vinaigrette as well. Robin plated up the salads I made the sauce using DOP San Marzano tomatoes. I cant recall the brand name, I'll get back to you on that. They cost 2.69 a can at Publix. We sauteed 6 cloves of garlic in 1/4 cup EVOO. We added 3 cans of tomatoes, and broke those up with a spoon. Dried oregano was next, salt, pepper and 2 pieces of rind from the cheese. After that simmered for awhile, we added 1 cup of grey goose vodka and 2 cups of heavy cream. We finished with a chiffonade of basil and chopped italian parsley. OMG, that was pure heaven on a plate. The best sauce or gravy as the Italians call it, that I've ever tasted. I could have eaten in again and again. I just know it was those DOP tomatoes. They really make a difference. Here is the finished plate And now because Im running late, and in keeping with my theme of waiting an hour for dessert, you'll have to wait until I get home from my appointment before I post the dessert pictures. However, I promise, it will be worth the wait edited to add recipe link

Good Morning fellow foodies, The boys and I are back from the gym. Another thing I like about living here is a feeling of security. I can take the boys with me, leave them in the car and not worry about someone stealing them. However, one thing I dont think I'll ever get used to is the weather. On Monday I was wearing shorts and today I'm wearing a sweatshirt. Almost makes me wish I drank hot beverages. It's chilly outside!! Time for breakfast: I was famished and I knew this was waiting for me. It came out really well. The recipe is pretty basic. Boil the noodles, drain. I mix everything up in the pot and then add the noodles back in. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 and bake. I can post the recipe if anyone is interested. Before I left for the gym, I made Robin lunch. A variation on Tuesday's lunch in that I added some perfectly ripe Avocado, I used a different mustard( hickory farms sweet-hot) and some of the salad blend from last night. Btw, I froze the rest of the avocado after squirting them with lime juice. They defrost really well. I'm off to Stratford today for an appointment. I'll be eating out lunch there and I'm excited. I love trying new places. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. We just got a new camera ( Canon A510) and I havent quite figured it out yet. One thing is for sure, my food tastes good, but I wouldnt win any awards for my photography. Speaking of awards.......... Last September, I entered a few things in our towns County Fair. I won 1st prize for my Chocolate cake, 2nd prize for my peach jam and 3rd prize for my carrot cake( which would have won first, but they didnt like the orange flavor in the icing). I'll dig up the picture of the cake and post it later. Tonights dinner: I'm a bit perturbed because I thought I had boneless, skinless, breasts in the freezer. I searched high and low this morning and I cant find them. Sooooo, I have to buy some this afternoon. I'm making chicken milanese. This morning, while on the elliptical trainer I was thinking about the items I always keep in my fridge. I always have a hunk of reggiano, assorted mustards and non-fat milk. What do you always have?

and here's the pudding before baking and before I generously sprinkled with cinnamon. I pretty much stuck to the original recipe, except I added more vanilla, some golden raisins and cinnamon. Oh, and I dont know whats wrong with me. I grabbed the Seafood Grill and Broil and started to shake that on first. Luckily, I caught it on time and was able to spoon off the noodles that had the spice on them.

Dinner was good. I broiled the rainbow trout after sprinkling with some trader joes seafood grill and broil spice blend. I topped with some sliced lemons and a splash of white wine. I made a box of Near East sundried tomatoe/lentil cous cous(1.50US). I steamed the brocolli( organic .99us on sale), seasoned with EVOO, kosher salt, pepper and reggiano. A simple meal but very tasty. I also made a shortcut salad. A bagged organic mix(2.50US on sale), half a seeded english cuke(.99CAD) and always some croutons. To me, a salad isnt a salad without some croutons. We used Ken's steakhouse light peppercorn ranch. but dont fret, tomorrows dinner features a homeade dressing!!! Now a funny story about dessert. I grew up waiting about an hour after dinner before we had dessert. When I moved here, I was surprised to see the table being cleared as soon as everyone finished and the dessert being brought out. It's still hard for me to eat dessert right away. I like to give myself a little break to clear the table and put stuff away. Luckily, I dont have to do any dishes I cook, Robin cleans!! However, in order to get the pictures tonight, I made a sacrifice and cut the cake early. It was yummy.

The Banana bars are ready. I altered the recipe somewhat by adding cinnamon and some banana liquor. I also made my own cream cheese frosting. I folded some creamy peanut butter into the frosting as both Robin and I really love peanut butter, especially with bananas. I'll show you the inside after dinner This recipe is almost exactly the same as the recipe in the Banana cake thread Now, off to make the trout and accompaniments. edited to add links

Umm... my question is: what difference does it make if I'm bringing citrus into the US... since it usually comes from there anyway? Is it just in Manitoba that the citrus is mostly from calif. or florida? ← That last is impossible to enforce, of course, since there aren't any border crossings between counties. I can't remember whether Arizona has the same sort of restrictions coming into their state. ← I was in California in March and I drove to Phoenix. There was a agricultural insection station right after I crossed into AZ, but it was unmanned.

Hi, Yes, I've been to the Covent Garden Market a number of times. I think we're going there on Saturday. We're going out too dinner too, Bertoldi's on Richmond. Have you tried that? The food is very good and reasonably priced.

The cajeta is mixed with cream and evaporated milk; then poured over the warm cake to soak in. The cake is iced with whipped cream spiked or not with orang liqueur. Other ideas: over poached pears over apple fritters (sliced rings, +/- ice cream) over warm gingerbread a dip for raw apples over roasted or sauteed bananas or pineapples (+/- ice cream) Thanks for blogging; it's been fun so far! ← You're welcome!! It's been a lot of fun for me too. Thanks for that link. I saw a few other recipes from that site Id like to try. I've been looking for a good Jewish food website. I'm still pondering the cajeta.

I answer honestly " I bought groceries". They've never asked specifically if I have any produce. Last week I was sent over to customs for a second inspection. This was the first time in 3 years this happened. The officer had me pop my trunk, he looked inside, saw my grocery bags and cooler, asked to see my receipt( I spent 40 bucks) and said "Have a nice day". I think the US is more of a stickler when it comes to bringing in produce.

Lunch Today: I ate some leftover chicken and smashed spuds. They were a tad dry so I topped them with a bit of light sour cream. I really dont like eating a hot lunch. That must run in my family because my sister is the exact same way. I prefer a salad or a sandwich. However, waste not want not so I sacrificed today and ate leftovers. I didnt eat the leftover totally overcooked roasted veggies though, Oliver and Harley enjoyed those on their kibble. For my beverage I had this. I took a picture of the french side. Currently, the chicken carcass is on the stove with a quartered onion and some baby carrots. Im making a quick stock. Im having a craving for some Jewish Comfort food. Since I cant make the kasha, I decided on a noodle pudding( kugel). Im using a recipe from Martha Stewart's everyday food magazine. A reader sent in the recipe and I've made it before. It doesnt taste like my mom's, but it does taste good. Robin has requested I bake, so I think the banana bars will be the next project.

Wow, what great suggestions for the cajeta. I'm going to ponder that one for a bit. Now, remind me never to stop at the supermarket on the way back from the gym. I was starving. The largest supermarket in town is Hansen's. It's amazingly well stocked for a small town. They carry lemon grass, arugula( but not the baby kind), and watercress. In the past there have been one or two things I've looked there for that they didnt carry. One of the things I love is their fresh salads/fruit bar. They prepare quite a few different kinds( ie: California salad( gotta love that one), ceasar, mixed fruits, etc). Hansens gives them a one day shelf life so the next day they are reduced by half price. I picked up a veggie crunch bowl today. Cut up raw carrots, celery, brocoli and cauliflower with ranch dressing. I ate that on my way home. I also picked up some trout(6.99lb on sale) for dinner tonight as well as some Canadian ground beef and pork. I promised my niece Id make her some meatballs. You'll see those along with some turkey meatballs for Robin and myself on Friday. Did I mention that Robin and I dont eat red meat? I'll get into more of that later. In addition to the veggies. I made a piece of rye toast using my dwindling supply of Zingerman's rye bread. I picked up the bread on my last trip to Ann Arbor last month. I had some cottage cheese and blackberries with the toast. I like to put my cottage cheese on the toast. Beverage was water. Be back later with pictures. edited to add pics

Yes, Yes, Yes. But how? As a filling? Frosting? Part of the cake batter? Wendy I need you!! Where are you?

Good Morning everyone, Wow, after all that cooking yesterday, I slept like a baby I'm off to the gym but before I go, I'd appreciate some help. I picked this item up at Big Lots last week and I have NO clue what to do with it. The only thing I did think of was maybe ice cream. Im partial to a cake though. Any suggestions?

Hi Pan, We never lived in California together : ), but Robin did come out there a few times before I moved here. Of course, I brought her to all my favorite restaurants and she loved them. Oh and dont let her fool you, she does know how to cook, she just doesnt enjoy it like I do. She loved the food in California, I think mainly because she loves trying new things. One thing that she doesnt love or even really like is fruit. It's like pulling teeth to try to get her to eat some( exception bananas). We were in Florida last week and we both baked a birthday cake at a friends house. The birthday boy requested pineapple upside down cake. We ended up baking two, a regular version and a ginger coconut variation. Robin proclaimed them fabulous. Hmmmmm, I wonder if its because she had her hand in the outcome? Nevertheless, they were scrummy and I'll be posting pictures and the recipe downthread. PS: I'll be PMing you on the other answer.

Hi Alex, We're looking forward to meeting you too. We've eaten in Stratford a few times, but nothing that remarkable. I've never eaten in St. Mary's but we did visit a cheese shop there( the name escapes me now) that was small but impressive. I'll be going to Stratford on Thursday for a dr.appt. Do you have an suggestions? ← For dinner I'm very fond of Sapori Pasta House. We'll be eating there both nights when we're in Stratford later this month. We also like Tango Coffee Bistro for pretty decent lunch and brunch food in a fun atmosphere. Here's an eG Stratford thread. ← Thanks Alex, Tango looks good. I think I'll try that for lunch on Thursday.

Possibly. My friend Gwen from Edmonton assures me that Cheesies are both altogether different from and superior to their U.S. counterpart, Cheetos. I'm not a big fan of either, so I just take her word for it. Any plans for Nanaimo bars this week? I've yet to see Nanaimo bars down south. ← I'm not that fond of them either. However, our neice was here this weekend visiting and those were from her visit. I prefer doritios or baked lays. I need to have a little crunch with my sandwich and besides the pickle, chips usually fit the bill. No Nanaimo bars. I've never baked them and honestly, I find them way too sweet. I think they're more of an west coast delicacy. I have a whole whack of vanilla beans( about 35 of them) so I plan on baking the vanilla layer cake with vanilla mascarpone frosting and rasberries, if my spouse can get to costco on Thursday after her meeting in London and bring me some mascarpone cheese. The recipe can be found in the May issue of Fine Cooking. Anyone care to bake along with me?

Hi Alex, We're looking forward to meeting you too. We've eaten in Stratford a few times, but nothing that remarkable. I've never eaten in St. Mary's but we did visit a cheese shop there( the name escapes me now) that was small but impressive. I'll be going to Stratford on Thursday for a dr.appt. Do you have an suggestions?