Food Blog!

[Marlene]

And the Martini ingredients? I do hope it's Gin since that's a Martini

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

[Marlene]

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

Edited March 5, 2004 by Marlene (log)

[Marlene]

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

[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

[Toliver]

Marlene,

Promise us you will revive this thread to let us know what happened for your anniversary.

Inquiring minds want to know....

[Toliver]

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

Can you post your onion soup results in the "Onion Confit" thread (if you haven't done so already)? I think it's important to keep all this kind of info together in one place.

Thanks for the great pics!

edited for spellling

Edited March 5, 2004 by Toliver (log)

[Rhea_S]

Mmmmm.. butter tarts. I'm salivating even though I wouldn't eat them when I was a young girl in northern BC. I used to have a problem with raisins. Thanks for the tour of your home and all the Canadian references that made me miss my own home.

[Marlene]

Marlene,

Promise us you will revive this thread to let us know what happened for your anniversary.

Inquiring minds want to know....

Yoy guys will be the second to know (right after me )

Yes, I'll put the onion soup results into the confit thread as well.

[Marlene]

Mmmmm.. butter tarts. I'm salivating even though I wouldn't eat them when I was a young girl in northern BC. I used to have a problem with raisins. Thanks for the tour of your home and all the Canadian references that made me miss my own home.

You're very welcome! I have so enjoyed doing this. You cn put chopped pecans in as well, but hubby won't eat anything that has nuts in it. And yet, he'll eat cashews and peanuts, as long as they aren't in anything else

[Marlene]

Prepping away here to the rhythm of the pouring rain

The Potato puff is made and chilling. The strawberries are hulled in case I choose that for dessert. I've added a Nacho dip to the list of nibblies. I'm currently making bacon bits.

I've had (am still having) coffee in my giant mug. I've had a rice krispie square.

I have not however done my run yet .

I do a lot of entertaining, and I have found the secret to be to make as much ahead as possible so I can talk with my guests. Most of our socializing is done in the kitchen because the sunroom is such a great place to be. And guests like to watch me cooking - especially when I torch the palm of my handing carmelizing the sugar on creme brulee , but I don't want to have to try to concentrate on a recipe, when I should be focusing on my guests. All of the recipes I'm doing for tomorrow are very simple, but quite elegant when they all come together.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I don't want to be mean or anything, but having read through this entire blog, I've noticed lots of meat, carbs, sweets, and very few fruits or vegetables (with the exception of the broccoli at the beginning).

Just curious, really. I'm not one to talk, I really have to struggle to get in a piece of fresh fruit a day and I eat TONS of sweets, but I was wondering if this was normal for you.

[Marlene]

Yeah it's pretty normal. We eat a lot of meat, and the "boys" eat all the sweets. I don't eat many sweets. When I cook just for myself, I'll make more vegetables like spinach that no one else will eat. Ryan eats a lot of fruit. And heck, we're having carrots tomorrow

I should add that in the summer we do eat a lot more vegetables. Fresh corn on the cob, more salads, fresh peas etc. In the winter, the vegetables in the stores are so pathetic that I'd have to resort to frozen peas and corn (which I have done on occassion ) to make anything my family will eat.

Edited March 5, 2004 by Marlene (log)

[Marlene]

We'll be leaving for the Omega in a little while. Assuming of course I can get Ryan out of the shower.

The prep work for tomorrow's menu is all done, and the table is set, except for the silverware which I will polish first in the morning

In anticipation of tonight's dinner, I once wrote about the Omega here. And (hint hint), that contest was never closed, so feel free to jump into that one.

This should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from tonight's menu.

I feel another Martini coming up

(and hey, don't all jump at once to offer to blog next. It really is a lot of fun!)

[bleudauvergne]

After a full investigation, I'm happy to report that Marlene's martini served om Thursday night was a somewhat dry (if it was indeed no. 3) vodka martini with a twist, served "over". It took a lot of tries to get it right....

What's for breakfast? Yes, and has he divulged where you are going on magical mystery tour?

[Jensen]

All I can say is THANK YOU for posting the butter tart square recipe. My cousin gave me a recipe about 14 years ago and I lost it. Unfortunately, said cousin died shortly thereafter so I couldn't ask for the recipe.

It was great to read the Canadian references ... I miss home! (I'm from Victoria but, as part of the brain drain, we are currently living in Sacramento.)

[kimabima]

Hi Jensen!!! I live in Victoria so just wanted to say we miss you up here!!!

The cherry blossoms are in full bloom...I enjoyed a beautiful walk along Dallas Road today.

What do you miss about Canada? Victoria?

I know I would be desperately homesick if I lived outside the country. Do you keep up on Canadian news etc???

(sorry for the hijacking Marlene but since you are out for dinner tonight we have to keep ourselves amused!!!)

[FireWire]

I just finish dinner, I sit down, read this, I will not be making my way back to the kitchen as I am hungry again

[Marlene]

Because there are so many pictures of tonight's dinning experience, I will not have a chance to post them until the morning. Suffice it to say, from ceasar salad, to chateau brianand, to cherries jubilee, the Omega came through for us once again!

Oh and I know where we are going now, Don has booked trip for us to Nassau, Bahamas (sp?) for our anniversary

We will be staying Here

A little golf, a little sun......life is good. and my husband is an amazing man

[Marlene]

(sorry for the hijacking Marlene but since you are out for dinner tonight we have to keep ourselves amused!!!)

Carry on!

[kimabima]

Well you know the old saying while the cat's away.........

Can't wait to see the photos of your dinner. How exciting about the Bahamas- after the winetr you have all endured back east you deserve it!

[cjs]

I am really enjoying reading a fellow Canucks blog!!!

(I live in incredibly beautiful Victoria- plug plug!!!)

I was wondering if you could share the name of the low carb protein drink you use? I have never had one of those but I am really getting into weight training (just for fun- nothing serious). I don't know where to start so I am sure whatever your drinking is great!

I raised two daughters but my sister has two growing teenage boys- they also live near their school. While my sister is at work the boys and their friends drop by and hoover the food out of the house. All the other parents have banned their kids from doing the same at lunch. This is a very affulent area but they still don't mind if their kids clean my sister out!

I grew up in Victoria! In James Bay. I'm on the mainland now, but wish I was back there.

Enjoying the blog.

[Marlene]

Good morning everyone. Saturday mornings are my favourite. I always tend to get up around 7 while the rest of the house still sleeps. It's just me, my coffee and the paper. The birds are singing outside and it's a beautiful day

Let's move on to last night's dining experience. Ryan and I took a cab to the Omega because Don was stuck in Friday night traffic. We ordered drinks while we were waiting. Vodka Martini for me, and Shirley Temple for Ryan.

Ryan's drink

Don finally arrived and ordered a Lagavulin (I'm really not sure how to spell that!)

The Omega is all about table side cooking. By the way, we are quite well known at this restaurant, in fact we are considered "regulars" there

The restaurant is quite dark so some of the pictures may not be as good as I had hoped they would be.

Ryan brought his game boy along as he does when we are expecting to be dining out. The rule is he can play it until appetizers arrive and then he is expected to be engaged in the dining experience.

Ryan, engaged in the dining experience!

Garlic bread and a relish tray are provided to every table

Relish tray (Ryan is already snagging one. He's hungry of course )

Garlic Bread

Satrting with appetizers, Ryan ordered a Shrimp Cocktail and we opted for the Ceasar Salad for two.

Tony, our waiter, making the salad (I've always wanted to master this method of making Ceasar Salad dressing, but so far I haven't)

Ryan's Shrimp Cocktail

Ryan had already eaten one. I couldn't get a picture of his food all night before he'd gotten to it first

Ceasar Salad

Enough for a family of four, and this is just my plate

Moving along to the main event. Ryan has become quite a fan of steak, so we encouraged him to have the Chateaubriand with us.

Tony, making our main course

Tony is setting our dinner on fire

Chateaubriand. It's hard to tell from the picture but this is cooked perfectly. Rare to medium rare

Well you'd think we'd be full by now, and we were, but there was no way Ryan was leaving that restaurant without having Cherries Jubilee

Starting the Cherries Jubilee

Cherries Jubilee simmering away

Serving the Cherries Jubilee

The finished product

During dinner, I had a half litre of Valpolicella and Don had a glass of Coleechio. (you'll have to excuse any spelling mistakes here. Don took the notes last night since I had forgotten my reading glasses and couldn't even read the menu, never mind write. It's alway hard deciphering Don's writing )

With dessert, Don had coffee (decaf please) and I put Tony to work one more time to make a Spanish Coffee for me.

The making of the coffee

The restaurant was extremely busy last night, but Tony managed to pull everything together perfectly. We stopped at the kitchen on the way out to thank Paul, the Chef/Owner of the restaurant.

Paul, Chef/Owner

He wasn't really crazy about having his picture taken, but he finally gave in.

Happy diners:

The family

Don

Ryan

Me. Home from dinner.

We arrived home, practically groaning we were so full. Ryan went to bed around 10:30, Don and I collapsed in the Sunroom with a glass of Offley's LBV 1997.

It was a good night

[Marlene]

As promised, a better picture of my granite countertops.

Granite island

morning coffee

Sunroom. This is where we hang out most of the time.

I'll be back later with an update on tonight's dinner. But for now, the house is starting to stir, which means breakfast will need to be attended to.

Perhaps French Toast this morning.

[Marlene]

Well breakfast was easy . Ryan wanted a huge bowl of fruit, and Don declared he was still to full from last night to eat anything.

The boys have gone to pick up our RV from storage so we can get it ready for our road trip to Nashville starting on Thursday. I'm putting the final touches on the table and then I'm going to get the bread started. I think I've got enough time to let the bread maker make the dough, then roll it out and bake it myself, (although I don't promise that it will look pretty! )

I did notice Don snagging a rice krispie square on the way out the door

[Jake]

Great blog, Marlene! Your sunroom is absolutely beautiful -- and how perfect for morning coffee and the papers! I'm envious, especially as I am about to brave the grey day and take our 3 dogs out for a good run.