Food Blog!

[Marlene]

Yay! I passed my theory. And even better, no theory for next week, just 4 new songs

Today was just too rushed to cook. Other than to make coffee, I don't think I touched a pot or pan all day. Since I still had to feed the lad, we did in fact order pizza. Ok I'm a failure as a mother

]Really bad garlic bread

pizza

Cinnamon twists. These actually weren't that bad, considering.

In a feeble attempt to make up for the lack of cooking and tasty looking food, I thought perhaps, based on This thread, I'd post some pics on how we designed in insides of our cupboards when we re-did the kitchen.

Pull out spice rack

Other side of spice rack

The cupboard above the fridge

The Pantry

The appliance pantry

more next post

[Marlene]

A few more

The kitchen bar (everyone needs one of these )

Pot drawers

drawer dividers - all our drawers are divided

Double tiered drawer

pull out garbage

corner cupboard lazy susan

oven #1

[Marlene]

oven #2 at the end of the island

Sunroom

left side view

right side view

I've got lots of food things planned for tomorrow, including chili, garlic bread, french onion soup etc. Really I do

[Toliver]

Marlene,

Thanks for posting the pics of your kitchen! I am envious. It all looks very efficient.

I am waiting to see if your son will out-eat NeroW from her blog.

[Varmint]

I don't want to see pictures of Marlene's beautiful new kitchen, I want pictures of MY beautiful new kitchen. Someday. Soon. Maybe 2007.

[Marlene]

I don't want to see pictures of Marlene's beautiful new kitchen, I want pictures of MY beautiful new kitchen.    Someday.  Soon.  Maybe 2007.

Yes, but you'll have a lot of time to think of ideas And in the meantime, my kitchen is your kitchen

Edited March 3, 2004 by Marlene (log)

[FireWire]

Wow, thank you for this, Im new to the egullet community, granted, not new to forums as I moderate my companies forums.

A fellow Canadian I see :)  I have really enjoyed your blog thus far, and look forward to the rest of it.

-FireWire

(Already thinking about what to have for breakfast)

Welcome Firewire! Where in Canada are you from?

For the next 5 years I actually have 2 homes.

I am currently in Calgary Alberta, which is where I call my "home" with family currently doing a work term with Voodoo Computers.

The other half of the time I am attending the University of Waterloo in Ontario, taking Computer Engineering.

At home = Great food, and access to a kitchen to cook for myself

School = School food *barf* with no ability to cook something decent for myself, granted I have an uncle in Toronto, who i can visit on the odd weekend for some VERY good food :)

BTW, LOVE your kitchen.

[Anna N]

Beautiful kitchen, Marlene. Thanks for sharing.

[jackal10]

I would not dare show the inside of my cupboards. How do you keep so tidy?

[Marlene]

I would not dare show the inside of my cupboards. How do you keep so tidy?

Lots and lots of Tupperware

[Marlene]

Hump day. Everyone moves slowly this morning, including me. Coffee, I need more coffee . I have this wonderful coffee maker, a Cusinart Grind and Brew Thermal Carafe. I make several pots of freshly ground coffee everyday. I aslo have a giant coffee mug I bought in New York on my recent trip and today, it just seemed appropriate.

Breatfast for the troops this morning:

Don had bananas in milk and coffee. I just can't think about food right now, so I'm sticking with my coffee and smokes for now.

Ryan had:

Krispy Kreme doughnut. Bananas in milk. Cereal with no milk (I just don't understand how he can eat this stuff dry). And milk to drink. He's now at the Centre where they were wheeling out cinammon toast and fruit as I left

Today for lunch he got: A ham sandwhich - no butter, mustard or cheese please , a banana, a monkey bread muffin, a hunk of cheddar cheese, a small bag of mixed munchies (corn chips, pretzels, etc), a Mrs. Field's cookie and a Fruit cup. A juice box and a Koolaid jammer.

I'm just about to start the Chili for tonight's dinner. I'll put the recipe in the archive later and post a link. I like to let my chili simmer for most of the day. I'm going to clean the other oven today, and re-organize my pantry. NOt the one in the kitchen. We actually have two other pantrys (to go along with the other two fridges, and freezers that we have ). Don is a firm believer in being prepared in case "the big one hits". So downstairs, we have lots of bulk and canned items, and upstairs in the laundry room I keep stuff I use on a regular basis, like oils and stuff.

Being self employed gives me the luxury of making my own schedule, so I don't have a lot of client stuff this week. I've had a couple of meetings at the school for volunteer stuff, and apparently Ryan's class is tapped for cupcakes on Friday for cupcake day. Guess who's making cupcakes tomorrow?

[s'kat]

Marlene, you are an organized kitchen goddess, and I aspire to be as tidy and neat as you, one day. Not to mention the fact that you kitchen is incredibly beautiful!!

And, ah- bananas in coffee and milk? I think I need another cuppa...

[bleudauvergne]

Marlena, I simply adore your backsplash and your countertops.

Can you tell me more about how your onion confit tasted? Mine didn't come out as rich and dark as yours did. How are you eating it? I found mine was better with anchovies.

Thanks for sharing !

-Lucy

[Marlene]

Marlene, you are an organized kitchen goddess, and I aspire to be as tidy and neat as you, one day. Not to mention the fact that you kitchen is incredibly beautiful!!

And, ah- bananas in coffee and milk? I think I need another cuppa...

No, no, bananas in milk, and coffee to drink

[Marlene]

Marlena, I simply adore your backsplash and your countertops.

Can you tell me more about how your onion confit tasted? Mine didn't come out as rich and dark as yours did. How are you eating it? I found mine was better with anchovies.

Thanks for sharing !

-Lucy

The confit is very good. It is quite a dense flavour, and again, I think it's because of the demi glace. The other night we had put some on a crusty french loaf. I've got a nice brie I'm going to bake on Sat (we're having company) and serve it with toast points and the confit. And I'm planning on a french onion soup and I may put some of it in there

[s'kat]

Marlene, had there been a perfection of the confit technique? I'd like to try this myself this weekend...

[Marlene]

Marlene, had there been a perfection of the confit technique?  I'd like to try this myself this weekend...

It worked for me the second time. I've updated the confit thread with my technique

[Jake]

You have a beautiful home Marlene. Thanks for sharing the pics.

[Marlene]

Thanks! It's around 3 p.m. and next to Sat mornings, this is my favourite time of day. Most of my work is done, there's no one home but me, and I can just relax with a cup of coffee and a book (or hang out on egullet as the case may be ).

The chili has been simmering all morning, and I've made some Rice Krispie Squares for a snack (at least one of them) for Ryan when he comes home from school). I've started simmering a french onion soup that will be for tomorrow's dinner. I always do my French Onion soup a day in advance, simmer it for four or five hours then let the flavours blend overnight. French Onion Soup. This time, I threw in some of the onion confit, and omitted the demi-glace in the recipe.

I grocery shopped for French Bread to make garlic bread with tonight , and the ingredients to make cupcakes tomorrow. And of course, I had to buy a lunchable or two .

Took my Forester in for it's oil change, and since the BMW dealership is right next door (they're owned by the same family and both spaces are brand new), I had to go over and moon over the new BMW X3.

I'm really likin that vehicle . Our saleman, (Don bought his car from him, and I'm aquainted with the owner because he works out at the same gym as I do with the same trainer), told me when I wanted to test drive it, he'd give it to me for a weekend. Oh the temptation

One of the neat things Ryan's school does is each class has a web page and the teacher posts the day's homework on the page. Actually, in the older grades, the teacher has the kids post it, which gives them some experience in webmastering as well. I love it, because Ryan is somewhat "forgetful" about bringing his homework home. It's a sneaky, parental thing to do, but I can always make him check his binder before we go home to make sure he's got everything. There doesn't seem to be any homework tonight which translates into a wonderful, peaceful evening. Hurrah!

Hmm, my coffee cup is empty. Miss Vickie is calling my name, but I'm resisting the temptation for now.

Edited March 3, 2004 by Marlene (log)

[kimabima]

Okay so I know what kind of protein drink you like- what is yor favourite coffee???

Don't laugh but I am a huge Tim Horton's fan. We have very few Timmie's out here and none within walking distance of my house (the only drawbck to life on the West coast ).

Do you have any trouble with sleeping after all that caffefine or have you built up an amazing tolerance. I LOVE coffee too but anything over three cups in a day and I am wired.

This is so much fun asking a complete stranger such nosy questions!!!

Edited March 3, 2004 by kimabima (log)

[Marlene]

In my blog, you can ask me anything you like . Of course, I reserve the right not to answer

I also love Tim Horton's coffee, and before I got this coffee maker, I blended my Tim's with some Vanilla Hazelnut coffee. Now I have the grinder attached to my machine, and I use beans. Unfortunately, Tim's does not sell beans, so I usually buy my beans from The Second Cup or from Timothy World Coffee. In the RV when we travel, we use a percolator, and I take my Tim's along with me. I personally cannot stand Starbucks.

I think I've probably built up a tolerance to the coffee. I don't usually have any trouble sleeping. In the evenings though, in deference to my hubby, when I do make coffee, I'll make decaf, otherwise, he'll be up all night, which means I'll be up all night He often threatens waiters when we go to restaurants when asking for decaf. He tells them he'll call them at three in the morning if they make a mistake and give him regular

[kimabima]

Oh god Marlene- your DH sounds like mine! He has been given caffenated when he asked for decaf a few times (at least he swears it was) and noe he grills the waitress as well!

I hate Starbucks coffee too- sadly there is one a block away and I sometimes buy one there when I am desperate. I immediately regret it.

I also love Second Cup- and we don't have a single one here! Nope- the only chain we have is the evil one! All the best coffee shops here are small independent ones and not one of them is near me. (and I live right in town!).

Yeah for another Timmmy fan! (I thought you egulleters might not drink such low brow stuff! )

Don't worry- all my qustions will be food related!

So what do you think of Pelltier having to eat crow???? (just kidding- inside Cdn political joke!)

[beans]

Marlene,

How did Ryan do with that Haida village in the show box? Being a Tlingit gal myself, I'd really enjoy seeing a pic of his handywork!

I loves your kitchen! I am also really enjoying your blog. I think I'll make monkey bread this weekend.

[Marlene]

Hey beans! I think he did quite well. His presentation was today, so he hasn't got his mark back yet. I didn't take a picture of it and it's at school, but I will when it comes home.

Dinner pics to come shortly!

[Marlene]

Ah, dinner is over, the lad is in bed, and the dishes are (mostly) done. Tonight's menu included:

Chili

I simmered it on the stove all day.

spices

I found these spices at William Sonoma and figured it was a good time to check them out.

Hot chili spice

The spice packet contained both a mild chipotle and this hot spice packet. I used the mild one

Finished chili. We like ours with some grated cheese on top

garlic bread baking

No chili dinner is complete without some real garlic bread to go with it!

finished garlic bread

Rice Krispie Squares

One of Ryan's many snacks tonight. As you can see, mice had already been into them before I got a chance to take the picture I use a square springform pan to make these in. So much simpler to remove the rim and cut. The corners are kinda rounded, but hey, I like rounded corners

I must confess, I am not a huge fan of Chili. However, Ryan requested it, and he seldom makes dinner requests (other than McDonalds of course ), so I figured it wouldn't kill me. As he grows older, he is developing a taste for spicy food, and has even requested a trip to Texas or Louisiana to check out the hot foods there. He's quite getting into the food blog experience. He took the picture of the chili in the bowl, and he wanted to take a picture of the cheese I melted for him to dip his nachos in, but I figured that was probably overkill. Of course, I'm not letting him read what I write about him

I had one bowl of chili and two pieces of garlic bread, no cheese. Ryan had a Rice Krispie square for snack with milk, two bowls of chili with nachos, 4 pieces of garlic bread with cheese, a Krispy Kreme doughnut for dessert, and a fruit cup before bed. I get tired just watching him.

Don was a little late getting home and then took off right away with Ryan and his Saxaphone. It needed a slight adjustment. Something about too much *water* getting into the neck of the thing, making some of the keys stick. Don't ask. Suffice it so say, we put a towel under his feet when he's practicing

Forutnately, chili keeps warm well and Don finally got to eat around 9:00 p.m.

DOn and I are both enjoying a glass of wine before bedtime. Speaking of alcohol, Ryan does like to remind people that I fed him alcohol as a baby. He had horrible colic as a baby and every now and then I'd give him a little gripe water which has a touch of alcohol in it. Remind me to tell you about my first two years with Ry. It would explain why I only ever had one child!

So dear readers, that's it for tonight. We have a couple of fairly good food days coming up. I'm going to do a honey garlic pork tenderloin tomorrow, (haven't decided on sides yet), on Friday I'd like to invite you all to come to our favourite restaurant with us, The Omega, a Steakhouse here in Oakville, and Sat we are having company so it will be a big cooking day for me.

See ya'll tomorrow! Thanks for tuning in.

edited to fix stupid typos

Edited March 4, 2004 by Marlene (log)