Marlene

That's what I'm afraid of. Not that I've ever seen grits up here. So I should be safe.

Progress report on the church. The pieces are all iced with Royal Icing and are now drying. I already had to "glue" one piece back together again. Next will come the assembly part which is where we usually fall apart. I'll take pictures along the way, and I'll even take one of the picture on the box, so you can see what it's really supposed to look like. I have no doubt that ours will not look anything like the picture on the box. Why do I let Ryan talk me into this every year?

I'm told that soya oil is great for deep frying and that is what I used to make my b blooming onion in my very first deep fried experiment last week. Depending on what you're frying the oil can be used several times. Certainly proteins such as meats will break the oil down faster, but for vegetables etc, you should be able to get many uses from the same oil if it is strained etc. At least that's what I read. Lol. When you think of it that way Ms M. you're absolutely right.

Ryan just wandered into the kitchen to find yet another snack. I think this one might be considered lunch. I'm letting him have more free range of the fridge these days, although I do periodically check to ensure he isn't eating all junk food. Next up, the cursed gingerbread house.

That good advice on the cornbread, thanks! The stuffing will be pan made, not inside the turkey as well. No, I have no intention of making okra, nor will there be grits. There are limits to my willingness to try new things. Now, where is Brooks' thread on how he made that Turkey?

Oooh. This sounds good. I mean, if I have the deep fryer out and all anyway. . . . another experiment. Details please.

You worry too much...those pancakes would have sold the house! ← Sure, if I could just have had them sitting out decoratively on a platter! I did make a fresh pot of coffee. Nothing like the smell of freshly ground brewing java. But you have to understand, I'm the world's messiest cook. So a little clutter maybe, but the kitchen kinda looked like a tornado had passed through.

Not everything I do this week will be Southern, but there'll be enough of it to warms Brooks' heart. In no particular order, things I plan include homemade pizza,experiment), tonkatsu and fried rice (I'm not married to this one, so I'm open to suggestions) There will be gumbo, but not on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is for mulled wine and nibbles. Christmas Day dinner will be Turkey a la Brooks method with Squash Casserole, cornbread stuffing and apparently Pecan pie. (nore experimenting) Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) is our big family Christmas. Prime Rib, (yes, Dave's molten mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots, chocolate turtle cheesecake and assorted appetizers will be the order of the day Monday is gumbo day. yet another experiment. And of course french toast, croissants and other assorted breakfast items. And what would a Canadian blog be without doing up some Peameal bacon?

Oh Lord, two pie crusts. I hope I can make this damn pie ahead of time. If I want to serve it on Sat, I guess I could make it on Friday. I did download the pictures myself! All these new things I'm learning this week. BTW, I forgot to mention that our house is up for sale. It's been very quiet, and I figured we wouldn't have any showings till after Christmas as we haven't had any for two weeks. So naturally, the morning my kitchen is a complete disaster from pancake making et al, doesn't the real estate agent call to say there'll be a showing in half an hour. I'm now catching my breath after 25 minutes of frantic cleaning.

Decidedly un-Southern. Authenticity demands Steen's 100% Pure Cane Syrup. Brooks will back me up on this. . ← That may be, but I don't think we get that brand up here.

Owen, that thread is going to prove extremely useful to me, thanks! And having never made pecan pie before, I'll use whatever y'all tell me to use!

Good Caesar salad, or good Caesar cocktail? ← Well both actually. Like butter tarts, Bloody Caesars seem to be distinctly Canadian.

And so, breakfast is served. The pancakes in their cute little molds Voila! Maple Leaf Pancakes and Sausage And because there is nothing more important in my house in the morning than coffee, The Cusinart Grind and Brew coffee machine. I adore this machine. I get freshly ground coffee, and the thermal carafe keeps it hot for several hours. I tend to make several pots of coffee throughout the day. Particularly if I'm working at my desk or on conference calls, a cup of coffee is standard office equipment for me. In some ways this week will be more relaxed. Ryan's out of school, there's no pressure of homework and deadlines. On the other hand, I need to keep him amused, get the rest of my Christmas shopping done, and get ready for my family Christmas dinner. I've a few errands to run this morning, and then we shall attempt the gingerbread church. Wish us luck. We're gonna need it!

I have not. But I'm willing to try just about anything this week! And I need nibbles for my family Christmas dinner.

I'm planning on mashed and gravy. And heck, I'm not opposed to trying the chicken both ways. Deep fried and cast iron! I can do a side by side comparision!

Morning all! While the lad sleeps and I fortify myself with coffee, let me catch you up on a few things. First the lad, otherwise known as the eating machine. The last time I did this, I was still doing all of the cooking and meal prep in the house. Somewhere over the summer, Ryan grew up. Literally. He's now an inch taller than I am and on school days he makes his own breakfast and packs his own lunch. (I don't even want to know what's in there). When school first started, I wandered around in the morning not knowing what do with all the free time I suddenly had! Of course he is now on Christmas break and so, I will revert to making breakfasts for him. He just turned 12 a few weeks ago and we gave him a digital camera for his birthday, and he's enthusiastic about taking some of the pictures for this week's activities as well as helping with some of the prep. Speaking of pictures, I took a lesson from Don last night on how to upload pictures from the camera to the PC. If I can make sense of my notes, I should be able to post pics as I go this week, instead of having to wait for him to come home and do it for me! And so on with the blog. In order to solicit all your advice, I'll let you know a day in advance when I'm going to be doing something "new". That way, if I need ingredients I can get them the day before and study tips and techniques before actually attempting the damn thing. I'll start off today doing stuff I know how to do. Breakfast, whenever the lad shakes himself out of bed will consist of maple leaf pancakes and sausages. Maple leaf pancakes are simply pancakes made in Maple Leaf molds. Somewhere on this site is a thread about William Sonoma starting to ship to Canada. FOr me, this was like suddenly being let loose in a candy store! As an added bonus, everytime they shipped an order to Canada, they included a set of Maple Leaf pancake molds. And they never shipped an order complete. I'd end up with three or 4 boxes and in each, a set of pancake molds! The damn things breed. I swear. I kept putting these things away in a cupboard, and when I last looked, I had 14 boxes of pancake molds. That's 42 molds folks. I've wrapped a bunch up as gifts, I've given them away to friends. And I still have 3 boxes of the damn things. So I'm gonna use them this morning. Ryan and I will attempt (as we do every year) to make a Gingerbread house, or in this case a gingerbread church). We have never ever been sucessful at making these things look any good, but it's a tradition now. Dinner will be homemade mac and cheese. I don't eat lunch, but I'll be sure to let you know what the lad scarfs down throughout the day Tomorrow will be experiement #1. What could be more Southern than Fried Chicken? I now have a deep fryer. I'm not even afraid of it (much) anymore, and if there's one thing I know you guys have, it's tips and techqniues for frying chicken. So y'all can think on that one a spell, while I go get more coffee and feed the lad who seems to have decided to roll on out of bed. And he's hungry - of course.

I have those croissants from Costco and I agree. I'm not thrilled with them. I like their old ones better. I've just picked up some of this puff pastry and I'll try it this week. Now if I could just find the PC bittersweet dark chocolate the Toronto Star was raving about last week. . . . .

Flour in the freezer? And what's "bench" flour? Don't worry Brooks, any crunchy things are well frozen here after today.

I'd probably make it by hand. I can't remember the last time I actually used my food processer!

Clueless questions will abound, trust me. In the meantime, just spread your coat over that puddle for me would you? Pie crust?

I"m not sure how I can avoid it Pan. So it's possible. If someone teaches me to make pie crust.

Yes, but you have to come up here to Ontario to get it.

Hello, it's been a while. Since we've been promised snow in this week's forecast, I've traded in my food bus for a sleigh. This blog doesn't actually get started until tomorrow, but I wanted to get y'all thinking some. See here's the deal. In my first foodblog, many of you came and visited with me as guests in my home. Well, now you're all more like family. So this time, you have to help me. Welcome to the interactive foodblog. I decided that if I was going to do another blog, I had to branch out. I couldn't just do the same thing I did last time and more importantly, I didn't want to replicate any of the dishes I did last time around. This I realized was going to require me to step outside my foodbox somewhat though. So I'm going to do some experimenting. I'm going to make some things I've never made before. Now I know, from reading the various threads on these forums that there's a wealth of information and advice to be had, and that's exactly what I need from y'all. I'll be doing stuff that you're going to think "how can she not know how to do that?!". Well I haven't and I don't. But, I'm willing to put my ingnorance on the line in the interests of higher learning. I'm putting myself out there folks. Don't let me fall. Not only that, but other than our big Christmas dinner, which will actually be Boxing Day (the day after Christmas for all you non Canadian and English people), I don't think there's a speck of beef on the menu. Oh the withdrawal! Note the Southern drawl? A lot of what I'll be doing are Southern dishes. I figure by the time I'm done, not only will my drawl have improved, but I'll be a card carrying Southern Mama. So sit back and relax. But don't get too comfortable. Y'all need to work with me on this one.

I've used pyrex for the last two lasagnas I've made but the all clad lasagna pan is on my christmas list. Not that I think there's any advantage to a ss lasagna pan, and the pyrex works very well, except it's a bit small.

It's -16C here with a wind chill factor making it feel like -29, and it's supposed to drop to -22 overnight. Mulled wine or hot buttered rum is coming to mind at the moment.