Marlene

By the way folks. It is Friday. And my blog ends with tomorrow night's dinner, so if anyone is interested in being tagged for the next one, shoot me a PM

I can.

When I was a bartender, (a very long time ago), we were taught to make a Martini (Gin or Vodka) with just a touch of vermouth. Usually, by pouring a dribble into the glass, swirling it around the glass and then dumping any remaing vermouth out. However, I just know beans and JAZ can weigh in on this one much better than I can. And thanks for the thread plug

I forgot to mention that using the Onion Confit for the French Onion soup was brilliant. It provided a much richer flavour than anything I had made previously, even with carmelizing the onions. I think confit will become my standard ingredient for making French Onion Soup from now on

It's pouring rain and foggy here this morning. It's warming up though, and most of the snow drifts we'd accumulated over the winter have disappeared. Maybe we can actually get the reindeer off our front lawn now No shower this morning for Ryan. He'll have one when he gets home from school instead in preparation for dinner out. This morning his preference was Frosted Flakes without milk (he could be seen eating them one flake at a time ). Milk to drink for him. Coffee and more coffee for me. Don had a cupcake . I made him eat it before Ryan came downstairs so I didn't have to explain why it's ok for Don to eat cupcakes for breakfast but not him. Ry's lunch today: Assorted sub lunchable, the last of the monkey bread muffins, cheese, fruit cup, Mrs. Field's cookie, trail mix (no nuts), and 2 drinks. Plus 50 cents for cupcakes today. Cupcakes are 25 cents each, and there's always a kid who forgets their quarter so I always give Ryan an extra one. Plus he carries a quarter in his lunchbag for emergency phone calls. (He's been angling for his own cell phone lately ) Drove Ryan to school, got him settled. Watched parents bring in cupcakes. Drove home - retrieved cupcakes that were still sitting on kitchen counter. Drove back to school. Did I mention it was pouring rain? Stopped at Brunos (a gourmet food store here in Oakville) to buy materials for prep work today. Tomorrow's tentative menu includes Roast Pork Cheese Potato Puff Maple Glazed Carrots creme brulee or Strawberries with Cointreau or Grand Marnier Cream French Bread Depending on how much time I have, I'll either shape the loaf by hand and bake it or let the bread machine finish the whole thing Nibblies before dinner include: Baked Brie with Sundried Tomatoes served with garlic crackers Bacon Cheddar Toast Points Shrimp with a horseradish cocktail sauce And possibly a few other things I haven't thought of yet

And you're just chilling the glass with those ice cubes, right? Say Marlene, I just want to let you know how much I'm enjoying your blog. I'm envious of your organizational skills! Thanks also for your effort at eGullet... I know I'm not the only one who appreciates it. Plus what the heck kind of counter surface is that? It's beautiful! Quarried Canadian stone? Did you cover it elsewhere in the forum? If not, let's hear about it! Cheers, Squeat Um yeah. I'm just chilling the glass. That's right. Thank you for your kinds words. I really enjoy doing the recipe archive for eG and anything else they think up for me to do The countertops are Granite. It's hard to see from the pictures, but it's got a beautiful swirled pattern to it. I'll see if I can get the Island cleared off enough today to take a proper picture of it

He read the blog over my shoulder last night and just smirked. I've been encouraging him to register though

No olive this time. Twist. Butter tarts and Butter tart squares seem to be distinctly Canadian for some reason. And the square are one of the easiest treats to make

Thanks!

Not a chance It's Belvedere Vodka (are you MatthewB in disguise? )

Care to share the recipe on that one? I'm often the cupcake baker for my Ryan's preschool class I'd be happy to pm that one to you. I got the recipes from a cookbook

Bacon Cheddar Toast Points 2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese 3/4 c mayonnaise 1/2 c cooked, crumbled bacon 1 French baguette Mix the cheese, bacon and mayonnaise together. Slice the baquette on the diagonal into 24 slices. Spread the cheese mixture on one side of each slice. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre ( RG880 )

Bacon Cheddar Toast Points 2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese 3/4 c mayonnaise 1/2 c cooked, crumbled bacon 1 French baguette Mix the cheese, bacon and mayonnaise together. Slice the baquette on the diagonal into 24 slices. Spread the cheese mixture on one side of each slice. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. Keywords: Hors d'oeuvre ( RG880 )

Maple Glazed Carrots An easy recipe for entertaining 2 lb peeled baby carrots 1/4 c water 1 T cornstarch 1/2 c brown sugar 1 T melted butter 2 T maple syrup or honey Put the carrots in slow cooker. Stir all other ingredients together, pour over carrots and stir to coat. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours. Keywords: Side, Vegetables, Crock Pot ( RG879 )

Maple Glazed Carrots An easy recipe for entertaining 2 lb peeled baby carrots 1/4 c water 1 T cornstarch 1/2 c brown sugar 1 T melted butter 2 T maple syrup or honey Put the carrots in slow cooker. Stir all other ingredients together, pour over carrots and stir to coat. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours. Keywords: Side, Vegetables, Crock Pot ( RG879 )

brownie crumbs?

Here are tonight's dinner pics. cupcakes before frosting cupcakes after frosting French Onion Soup simmering french onion soup with Gruyere Cheese Unfortunately, all my cheese melted and went straight to the bottom Pork tenderloin sliced pork tenderloin and Garlic Whipped Potatoes and butter lava If it had been just Don and I for dinner, I would have added some chopped green onions in the potatoes as well, but Ryan hates them. I want you to know that I managed to burn my finger twice while basting the tenderloin. The first time, I didn't pull the rack our far enough and the top of my first finger touched the rack again. The second time? The same damn thing. You'd think I'd have learned the first time giant butter tart square Finally, the finished product Stay tuned folks. Even though we are going out to dinner tomorrow night, (and I do hope you will all be our guests - remotely speaking of course ), I've lots of prep work to do to prepare for Saturday's dinner, which involves not only company for us, but a friend for Ryan to sleep over. pssst. My husband is up to something. He asked to me check with Ryan's dad to see if he could take him from us on a few dates. He's planning something for our anniversary, but he won't tell me what The Perfect Martini. I really needed this today

A brilliant idea! They already make a pouring shield as an add-on. Why not put a pour spout on the bowl and make the spout part a little wider to accept ingredients being poured into the bowl as well as out of the bowl? They could kill two pastry birds with one stone, so to speak. That's a million dollar idea, Marlene. Does eGullet get a cut? Why not?!

Not yet, although I'm anticipating now For one thing, I need to keep my head clear for Ry's math homework, math not being my strong suit at the best of times. For another thing, Don makes a much better Martini than I do, and he's not home yet.

I had Blovie pull mine out of the pantry this morning (I didn't want to re-injure my back). It's damn heavy. No kidding. I decided to leave mine on my counter since the only place tall enough for it was in an overhead cupboard, and I had visions of it crashing down on my head . I love the things, but you'd think they'd make the bowl with a pourable spout wouldn't you? I mean it's meant for making batters etc. While I'm on the subject of batters, do any of you have as much trouble as I do with the whole "divide evenly" thing? Everyone of my cupcakes is a different size (I feel the need for a martini coming on.......Beans? I need you Beans!)

a preview of tonight's dinner. Pics will come once Don gets home to download them: Butter Tart Squares French Onion Soup Honey Garlic Pork Tenderloin Garlic Whipped Potatoes Devil's Food Cake Cupcakes with Buttercream frosting. (yeah I made a few extra ) I will get my chili recipe into the archive tonight or tomorrow. Really I will.

Too late. Although I am starting to get a butter tart complex. I mixed up the second batch, put the crust into bake, took it out, poured the batter in and set the timer for 20 minutes. (I figured I was gonna watch this one like a hawk). Timer went off, I turned around, and there were my squares, waiting to go in the oven. Feeling slightly paranoid this time, (not sure if I'd pissed off the Butter Tart Gods completely), I put them in the oven, and stationed myself on the floor in front of the oven. My kitchen looks like a tornado went through it, I've used every mixing bowl in my house (and believe me I have lots), but damn it, I've got Butter Tart Squares

Oh no. I'm re making them now. The lst batch went into the garbage. I said I was going to make butter tarts, and darn it I'm a gonna

There will be further delay as I re-make the butter tart squares that got a little "crisper" than I anticipated

And now for my stupid cooking trick of the day In making the butter tart squares, I made the base as usual, and baked it for 10 minutes. I then turned off the timer (I thought) poured the batter in and placed in oven. Checked on squares 20 minutes later, they are still uncooked? Ah. I turned the oven off, not the timer. There will be a slight delay in the completion of the butter tart squares I think the cupcakes are cool enough to frost (slinks back to kitchen)