Ann_T

The sauce for the escargot is basically just shallots simmered in white wine, chicken broth, garlic, fresh thyme until the liquid is reduced to about 1/3rd of a cup. Then a cup of heavy cream is added and simmered again until reduced to 1/2 a cup. At that time I add the drained canned snails and the gorgonzola cheese and just let it cook for another 5 minutes or so. It is also good without the cheese and just a little butter added at the end. I normally make little toast cups to serve them in rather than using puff pastry. Sometimes I make slightly larger toast cups and serve them as a first course at the table. That way you get more of the escargot. Susan, I think that soup would be very easy to recreate. It is similar to one that I already make. No real recipe. Just saute shallots, garlic and mushrooms, season with fresh thyme and add some chicken or beef broth, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes and use a stick blender to partially puree some of the mushrooms. Add the cheese and drizzle with the oil. The soup was very brothy rather than creamy. I like to use a combination of fresh mushrooms with some dried porcini for a more intense flavour. Thanks Racheld, I was hoping that you would read my blog. Coquus, I shopped at a number of of the Wegmans in the Buffalo area but my favour was the super version over behind the Blvd. Mall off of Sheridan. I called it the flagship store because it really was a step above the others. I think Wegmans is one of the best grocery chains. I wish we had them in Canada. Kim, I have to make bread year around. Moe can always tell when I give him someone elses bread. Actually I don't mind because I like making bread. We are kind of boring though, because we are definitely white bread eaters. Either Italian or French. I put together a pictorial (Italian Bread) for some friends on another cooking forum. It is a very wet dough and some were having problems with it. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. And I have lots of pictures of breads stored on Smugmug. We are going to just hang around town today and probably have lunch at home. I'm still thinking about dinner. Leaning towards chicken breasts stuffed with a mushroom duxelle, although that may change between now and dinner. Ann

Lori, I know that you can bake so making French or Italian breads will be very easy for you. Check out Julia Child's French Bread recipe . It is a good one to start with if you are looking for just a simple baguette or loaf. Do you have a stone? I bake all my breads on a large square stone that I keep in the oven. Thanks Grub. Thanks Daniel. Funny, I wasn't even going to post that picture but my husband (Moe) really liked that photo the best. Suzi, I agree, Beef on Weck truly is one of the most perfect sandwiches. Topped of course with a little hot horseradish. Hi Jennifer. Thanks for dropping by. You've been missed over on tthe CF. Lunch today was in a little restaurant on the west coast of the Island. We did the tourist thing today and went to Sooke, stopping and looking in a few galleries and other tourist traps. The restaurant was in a little resort about 30 minutes outside of Sooke - Point-No-Point. View from our table. Sandra started with a seafood chowder and I had a mushroom, blue cheese soup that was drizzled with truffle oil. See the little pepper grinder in the background? That is the one that I carry in my purse. Nothing better than fresh black pepper. We both had sandwiches. Sandra had a wild salmon and mine was Beef Shortribs with carmelized onions. Tonight we started with Escargot in a gorgonzola cream sauce in puff pastry cups, followed by Duck Breasts with a Black pepper and pear sauce. I should have taken the duck out of the oven a minute or two sooner. I would have preferred it a little more rare. I don't think that we will stray far from home tomorrow. But Thursday should be fun. We are going to head over to the Saanich Peninsula and check out some of the wineries and farms in that area and visit the farmers market in Sidney Thursday night.

FabulousFoodBabe, there are a number of farms in the area where you can buy free range chicken, beef, duck and of course fresh produce. I bought a baby goat from one of the local farmers back in April. I still have quite a bit of it still in the freezer. I should have said just corn, butter, salt and pepper. Got to have fresh ground pepper too. But when corn is ready it takes centre stage. We will make a meal of just corn, nothing else. Thankfully I have a husband who loves fresh corn as much as I do. We both grew up in Ontario. He is from the Windsor area and I'm from the Toronto area. Wow Kerry, you do have some wonderful memories. I'm glad my pictures are jogging them for you. I'll try to post a few more of the local scenery this week. Thanks Shaya. I just love good food and I like to cook and bake. Just for leisure. I've been a stay at home wife/mom for 27 years. The veal shanks are browned and cooked with onions, garlic and a carrot (I hate carrots, but can handle the flavour and sweetness that one adds) , seasoned with fresh rosemary and sage, a little white wine and some chicken broth. And then roasted in the oven, basting often, until tender. I covered them for the first hour and just basted for the last hour. I used the stick blender to puree the veggies into the sauce. Susan, I don't really have a food background, except for the fact that I have always loved to cook and to eat. I'm originally from the Toronto area but have moved around a bit. Just after we were married we moved to Grand Rapids Michigan for a couple of years. I took a few hands on cooking lessons from Pat Davis. She ran a cooking school in her home. Matthew was born while we were in Grand Rapids so he actually has dual citizenship. We moved back to the Toronto area and lived there for the next 12 years and then ended up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for 5 years before moving to Vancouver back in 1998. Then we ended up in Dunkirk, NY for two years. I really liked living there. I was only an hour from Buffalo, Erie, PA and Jamestown , and all of these cities had Wegman grocery stores. So I went into Buffalo at least once a week and usually into Erie and Jamestown once a week too. And we were less than three hours from Toronto. So we would get down to Toronto quite often. We moved back out west the summer of 2001 and lived in Nanaimo for 3 1/2 years before selling our house and moving to Vancouver for a year. Moe was working on a few things and it was easier to do from Vancouver. Matt lives in Victoria and we really missed seeing him whenever we felt like it so we moved back to the island last December. Since we are less than an hour from Victoria we see a lot of Matt now. Thankfully he is happy to have us so close too. My son is a real foodie too and is becoming quite a good cook. I recently gave him my Cuisinart . It was an excuse to buy a new one for myself. Here are my new toys. Breakfast wasn't too exciting. But the bread is homemade french bread and the honey is local. I didn't hear any complaints. Oh and I forgot to post a picture of my fridge. Since I shop on a regular basis, I don't keep a lot in it and I'm not big on leftovers so I try to not save anything that I will just end up throwing out a week later.

Thanks everyone. I've never done anything like this before and I'm a little nervous. And to have to follow Bryan's amazing blog on top of that. Fabulous FoodBabe, your son might not want to come home. He will probably fall in love with the Island. We moved our son out here back in 1998 when he was 15 and he says he is never leaving. Daniel, the espresso machine is a Saeco Incanto Sirius, one of the super automatics. We are really happy with its performance. It is all we drink now. Klary, I hope you find time to visit the Island. Especially if you haven't been here before. It really is beautiful. MarketStEl, The Dinner thread is the thread that I hang out the most on so I don't think that many members will know me. Hopefully my blog will change that. I promised Moe and Sandra scones this morning so that is what we had. Blackberry Scones. We are going to spend some time driving around Lake Cowichan this afternoon. I'm hoping that we will find a nice place for lunch. See you all later. Ann

Bryan, I've really have enjoyed your blog. You only turn twenty once so I'm happy to see that you and your family celebrated it in style. Ann

Good Morning from beautiful, sunny Vancouver Island. My name is Ann and I live with my husband Moe in Duncan, British Columbia right in the heart of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. We have a son, Matt, who is 24 and lives just an hour south of us in Victoria. My blog theme is planned around all the wonderful foods that are available here on the island, mostly in the Cowichan Valley and the Victoria/Sidney area. I have a friend visiting from Toronto this week and Sandra and I plan to drive all over the southern part of Vancouver Island visiting farms, markets and wineries. It is my intention to cook most of our meals using local in-season produce, meats and seafood also from the area. We got started early by going to a couple of the farmers’ markets in Victoria on Saturday and the Cedar Farmer’s Market on Sunday. Duncan has a wonderful farmer’s market that is open every Saturday 12 months of the year and I very seldom miss it. I love this time of year. Each week the selection at the market just gets better and better. I can’t wait until the corn and tomatoes are available. Actually this week won’t be too much different from the way that I normally cook and plan meals. I’ve always shopped on a daily basis and I’ve never minded driving some distance to find what I want. Here is a picture of Saturday’s take from the Markets. The garlic is from the James Bay Market and the rest of the produce came from the Moss Street Market. It's early here, just 6:15 AM so I'm off to the kitchen to make coffee.

Happy Birthday Bryan. Looks like you started the day off well with a wonderful breakfast. Looking forward to seeing what is on the menu for the rest of your Day. Ann

Bryan, I'm really enjoying your Blog. Your meals and your photos are wonderful. I really love seeing the Wegman's photos. Brought back memories of when I lived in Western New York 5 years ago. Wegman's was my favourite grocery store. Ann

Wow Bryan, you have so much planned for the week. I know I'm really going to enjoy your Blog. Ann

Nice looking french bread Daniel. I very seldom use leftovers for anything but I had some of the salmon leftover from last nights dinner so I made Moe some Salmon cakes for lunch.

Oh I miss the meats from Oyama, especially all their wonderful sausages. I baked French bread this morning and then used one of the mini loaves to make Moe a Grilled Steak sandwich using a small beef tenderloin steak and topped it with fried onions. And I had a cold roast turkey sandwich using the rest of the small turkey breast from last night's dinner. I know it looks plain , but it was so good with just butter, salt and pepper and wonderful crusty bread.

Lori, I have so enjoyed reading your blog. I love the pictures and the tradition of your kids spitting cherry pits. And there is nothing ugly about your bread pudding. Bread and Butter Pudding is one of my all time favourite desserts. I've made it with a chocolate bread before but have never added chocolate chips. Great idea. You live in a beautiful part of your country. . Love the photos of your shopping trips and the Cooking lessons. Looks like you and your husband celebrated your anniversary in style. I would have been happy with what you both had. Everything looks so good. Ann

Beautiful sonces, Megan! I think you did Ann proud! Lori ← I'll say. Perfect Scones Megan. My favourite breakfast food. Ann

Those look super good, Lori. Is the recipe in RecipeGullet? I didn't see it when I did a quick search, but I simply must have it! ← Megan I posted the recipe for you on Recipe Gullet. Susan that is one beautiful waffle. Ann

Scones This is my favourite Scone recipe. Great with raspberries, blueberries, fresh currants, etc... Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Scones ================ 2 1/4 cups flour 1/2 cup sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 6 Tbsp. cold butter 1 cup heavy cream 3/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries/blueberries, etc.. extra cream and sugar Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into mixture with pastry blender until it resembles a course meal. Add cream to dry ingredients. Mix lightly with fork and just before the mixture comes together add the frozen berries. Form the dough into a ball and then pat out into a circle on a floured board. Roll into 7-inch round and cut into 6 or 8 wedges. Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet; brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Note: When adding fruit to the scone mixture, make sure the raspberries or blueberries are frozen. Otherwise you end up with crushed fruit. Still tastes as good, but not as pretty. Keywords: Breakfast, Dessert, Bread ( RG1737 )

LOL! I had to look too. We are having "baby" goat for dinner tonight too. When I ordered my kid from a local farm I got everything but the head. Looking forward to your next post. Ann

Decadent Brownies These are my all time favourite brownies. If you like a fudge style brownie then you will love these. I've played around with this recipe for a number of years. I call it Decadent because of the 20 ounces of chocolate in the batter. Rather than melt butter with the chocolate and then add the sugar. I melted the butter and the sugar together and then added all the chocolate. I also used a combination of brown and white sugar and I think the flavour is even richer. I edited the recipe to show the change. And I topped some of them with a glaze. But decided that they are decadent enough without the glaze. They freeze well. I usually cut them into bars, wrap in plastic wrap and put them into a freezer bag. Easy to pull out a bar when a chocolate craving hits. Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Decadent Brownies ============================ 1 Cup butter 20 Ounces chocolate 1-1/2 Cups sugar Pinch of salt 4 eggs 1 Cup flour vanilla to taste 1 Cup toasted pecans/walnuts (or more. I usually add about 1 1/2 cups) Options: Use 3/4 cup brown and 3/4 cup white sugar Add a shot of real espresso Line a 13 X 9 inch rectangle pan with foil and butter. Melt butter and sugar together over medium heat until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the chocolate and stir until chocolate melts. Continuing stirring until the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat. Add one egg at a time and mix well using a wooden spoon. Add vanilla (and espresso if using). Stir in flour and salt and mix well. Stir in the pecans or walnuts and pour into prepared pan. Bake in a 350 °F for approximately 30 minutes. Do not over bake. Brownies should be set in the middle but still slightly soft. Place immediately in the freezer. When cold, remove and cut into bars. Wrap each bar in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. Keywords: Chocolate ( RG1733 )

Here is the dinner I made on Tuesday night based on what was in the pantry. I'm trying to decide whether to take some Bolognese sauce I have in the freezer out for dinner tonigh or if I feel like going out and picking up something for the grill. Ann

OOh perfect timing. I've just started to read the food blogs and I' m really looking forward to reading yours Tupac. I really enjoy your posts to the Dinner thread. Ann

No secrets Susan, I add a little vinegar to the water and I always crack the egg into a little bowl and then slide it into the water. Giving the water a little swirl also helps to keep the egg compact. Plus I think that really fresh eggs work best for poached eggs. Ann

Spinach and Crab, Foie Gras, now that is my idea of breakfast. Thankfully though, Moe is happy with simple poached eggs on toasted homemade french bread. The Eggs are farm fresh free range eggs. With wonderful dark yellow yolks. Ann

I slow roasted one last week. . Skin was wonderfully crisp and the meat was melt in the mouth tender. Served it with an orange sauce. I cut the wings off prior to roasting and they were browned and used to make stock. I have a jar of duck fat in the fridge that I have been using to roast potatoes.

My family loves Yorkshire Puddings. If I'm making 12 I use muffin tins and if I only want six I use a popover/yorkshire pudding pan. The recipe I use calls for 1 cup of flour , one cup of milk and 3 large eggs. Salt and Pepper. I add about 2 teaspoons of fat to each cup and heat in a 450°F oven until very hot. Fill each cup no more than 1/2 full.

I keep going back to look at Percy's Walnut and Cream Cheese Bread. Yum! That and all the Sweet pastry type breakfasts are my favourites. Made an oyster mushroom and chive omelette for Moe this morning. He would eat eggs every today if he could.