FauxPas

I must try this! 😃

Has anyone mentioned (originally Aussie) Tim Tams? I love the original milk chocolate ones, the caramel ones are vile, though. 😄

Can you share the link, please? I can get quite a lot locally but can probably find something else I need! 😃

Your gift baskets sound amazing! I'd stick to the purchased cheese logs, you're already making so many items.

Flavour, colour and fibre! 🤣

Along with my usual tiny batches of apricot and raspberry jams, I made some plum jam this year. Others here have probably made something similar to this, but it's the first time I've made a Mulled Wine Plum Jam and I just love it. I made a REALLY small batch from maybe about 300 to 350 grams of prune plums and the finished jam only filled a 240 ml container at the end. I had to eat a couple of plums for quality control (ha) and didn't reweigh after, so can't provide a real recipe, but there are lots online. I don't know why I've never tried this one before. I winged it a bit based on a couple of recipes - recipes suggested red wine, but I finished off the remains of a bottle of dry rosé, ha. I didn't have nutmeg and used a splash of Grand Marnier in place of orange juice or orange zest. Basic recipe is to cook equal amounts wine and sugar (I used about 1/3 to 1/2 cup or so?) until slightly thickened, remove pits and cut plums into pieces and add to sugar mix along with cinnamon stick or two, 4 or 5 cloves and splash of Grand Marnier. Cook in a shallow and wide pan until desired thickness - I can tell by stirring and how much of a trail the spoon makes, but you can always use the refrigerated plate test. Obviously I'm not doing any water bath stuff when I only make 1 or 2 of these, so it just goes into a canning-type jar and into the fridge once it cools. I didn't bother removing the plum skins because I like them! And I apologize for the hungry bite I took before taking the photo, but I really love this stuff. Maybe it's all the booze in it, ha!) Why did it take me so long to try making this? 😄

Such a great word to describe the process! I know exactly what you mean, and it applies in a wider context as well. 😃

I think I've had this one before and I also really enjoyed it! Back in Canada for the foreseeable future so can't access a Trader Joe's now, unfortunately.

My group tamale effort was recounted here. Despite telling myself that I would make them on my own the following year for Xmas, I didn't follow through with it. Not that year, not the following year! And probably not this year either, I suspect. Sigh.

They really do! I've thought about how much fun it would be to visit @blue_dolphinand raid her freezer! 😆

Anova is $799 Cdn.

There are tray tables made for steering wheels, not sure if this would be useful for you or not. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=steering+wheel+tray+table&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

Hahahaha 🤣

I'm a little bit in love with that plate! 😺

I guess that's the good news - it certainly could have been worse! Take care and go slow for now!

We've been eating pretty simple meals. More salmon a few nights ago, then some crunchy tacos and last night was soup. Received a link to Garden Green Minestrone Soup from Simple Bites blog and it was a good starting point for making use of quite a few of our CSA veggies and frozen leftover Rancho Gordo beans. It's a fast soup to make so doesn't have to heat up the kitchen and it's pretty light. I had some leftover beef stock and used that, but it might have been prettier with chicken or vegetable stock. I'm cooking a small (beef) roast tonight as it's not too warm this evening. We're supposed to get a couple of quite warm days, so it will be nice to have something pre-cooked.

We love it there, also. Too bad it's so darn far away from us! 😄

Sounds really lovely!

I'm confused. If you are going to wrap them in foil, why use the steam setting? They will create steam inside the foil (like wrapped baked potatoes do), but does the steam oven add anything through the foil? I cook them on steam-bake but without any foil and I think it gives them a bit more flavour than with foil. Then I peel them and if I have time, it's then that I might toss them in oil and season them a bit and throw them back in the oven for a couple of minutes to reheat them. Or I just use Nonna Pia's Glaze. I can make my own balsamic reduction, but I like this company and I really like some of their products. It's become my go-to quick glaze for beets.

Our neighbour was out on his boat a couple of days ago and brought us back some of his salmon catch again. He's very generous that way! We had kind of a teriyaki salmon dinner, sandwiches for lunch the next day and quite a bit more in the freezer. #BestNeighbourEver 😄 Then last night we had pork cutlets made with panko crumbs. Nothing at all special about the way these meals were cooked or plated. I was quite busy trying to do other things while cooking and really needed to use up veggies as the new CSA box had arrived and the crisper drawers were full. We received the carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beets, potatoes and parsley in the current or previous week!

Ha, that is a bit inconsistent, isn't it? Similar thing in baking recipes when someone says '1 egg' after insisting on precise measurements in all other ingredients. My current batch of farm eggs range from 50 grams to 85 grams and I bet there is a larger range in some cartons.

Do you have a cracked rib? My husband cracked a few a couple of years ago and he was in so much pain, I felt so sorry for him. I hope yours mends quickly!

It looks like you have a decent amount of space there, so I think you are only constrained by your budget. You could do a lot in that area and framing it with some veggies/green things would define the space in a really nice way, as well as provide a practical garden area. Would you use planters/raised beds? I guess the big question is how much time will you spend there and do you visualize it as an outdoor kitchen and dining area? For entertaining or just for family meals?

I wonder if Amazon knows yet when it will be! 😄 https://ca.news.yahoo.com/best-amazon-prime-day-deals-012317422.html

Simple chicken and veggie stir fry with rice, watched over by an Inuksuk/Inukshuk (probably better referred to as an inunnguat or inunnguaq, I guess) that was made from Kenora black granite by a good friend in Manitoba.