Easy Delicious Chili!

My mom gave me this recipe when I moved out 11 years ago and it's always been one of my favourites.  It's just so simple to make, especially once I got a crock pot (also from my mom:)).  Ok, I think I say that all of my recipes are easy, but this one really, really is!  And it costs less than $10 to make 4 large bowls of it.  I always make my chili into chili cheese fries, because I think that's the best way to eat it.  My hubby eats his with Tostitos.  We both top it with grated cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onion though.  It's also great with homemade cornbread.  Ok, I'm getting hungry, can't wait to leave work so that I can go home and eat some of this!

Chili

1 lb. ground beef

1 can tomato soup

1 can browned beans in tomato sauce

1 can kidney beans (small or large can, depends on how much you like them)

1 pkg. chili seasoning...or make your own (see below)

1 onion

1 celery stick

1 carrot (optional)

Peel carrot and remove skin from onion.  Finely chop the vegetables by hand or in a food processor.  Add a little bit of oil to a large frying pan and cook them for a few minutes to soften.*  Put them into a crock pot.  Brown the beef in the frying pan, drain, and add to crock pot.  Add all the other ingredients to the crock pot, stir, cover, and cook on low for anywhere from 2-8 hours.  Serve with any combination of sour cream, grated cheddar, sliced green onions, or bacon bits.  

*My crock pot will only cook vegetables fully if it's set to high heat, that's why I pre-cook them. I don't like crunchy pieces in my chili!  If you don't cook them first, you will definitely need to keep them in the crock pot for more than 2 hours.

Homemade chili seasoning:

This seasoning is good, but it does lack the bright red colour that the store-bought stuff has.  I just assume that means it has no dyes and is therefore healthier:)

-1 tsp. paprika

-1 tsp. cayenne pepper

-1 tsp. oregano

-2 tsp. ground cumin

-2 tsp. garlic powder

Super Easy Stuffed Shells!

I used to always buy the frozen cheese and spinach stuffed cannelloni, but for close to $10 I was only getting a little over 2 "servings" ('cause I do love my pasta!) so I thought I should try making it myself.  I have never bought it frozen since!  It's simple to make, and for about the same price I get so much more food out of it.  Plus I can make it much healthier than the store-bought stuff.  This is another one of those recipes that's really easy to change, depending on what you have on hand.  For example, this time I added cauliflower to the filling.  I have also made it many times using only tomato sauce (no Alfredo) or by adding some cream to the tomato sauce.  If you want to make it really healthy, just go with the tomato sauce, and if you want something extra decadent, cover the top with grated Mozzarella and Parmesan.  Mmmm, cheese.  I also usually use a large container of ricotta cheese, but the store was sold out, and so I just used a 300g container.  And it was still amazing!  By the way, I use jumbo pasta shells instead of Cannelloni because I find it way easier to stuff.  But if you have more patience than me, go for the Cannelloni!

Oops, didn't realize how blurry the picture was!

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

1 box Jumbo Pasta Shells

300 g. Ricotta cheese

1 pkg. frozen chopped spinach (300 g.)

1 cup finely chopped cauliflower

1 cup tomato pasta sauce

1 cup Alfredo sauce

Salt and Pepper

Cook pasta according to directions on box, then drain.  While the pasta is cooking thaw spinach in microwave and cook cauliflower.  Mix the vegetables with the ricotta cheese, season with salt and pepper.  Cover the bottom of a 9x9 pan (for 2 layers, if you want one layer use a 9x12) with a thin layer of tomato sauce.  Stuff each shell with about a tablespoon of the filling.  (If you want to swear less than me, wait until the pasta cools down before handling the shells!)  Once you have a layer of stuffed shells put a spoonful of tomato sauce over each one.  Continue stuffing shells and adding them to the pan until you run out of the veggie-cheese mixture.  (I usually have a few left over shells.)  Pour the rest of the tomato sauce on top, and then pour on the Alfredo.  Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Serve with freshly grated Parmesan if desired:) 

Mango and Sweet Potato Coconut Curry

A few years ago I was working at a daycare with a child who had quite a few allergies, so his mom used to bring in his own lunch.  Quite frequently she would bring in a delicious-looking curry rice dish, which was the inspiration to this recipe.  I suppose I could have asked her what she put in it, but I just guessed and made  it up.  I love this dish because it's easy, filling, versatile, and best of all, delicious.  When I made it for my mom-in-law she said it was the best lunch she has ever had.  I have made this dish a variety of ways, adding  and omitting some ingredients.  I didn't put chickpeas in it at first, but to make it more filling I have started adding them.  I also sometimes add pineapple or raisins, and sometimes omit the pepper.  It just depends on what I have on hand and what I feel like eating.  I'm going to write the 'basic' recipe here.

Mango and Sweet Potato Coconut Curry

2 cups cooked rice (I prefer brown)

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 mango, peeled and chopped

1 red pepper (or orange, or yellow...) finely chopped

1 540ml can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 400ml can coconut milk

1 tbsp red curry paste (more or less, depending on how spicy you want it)

Over medium-high heat saute the sweet potatoes in a large pan with a tablespoon of cooking oil.  When they are about half-way done add in the red pepper.  Cook for another few minutes and then push the vegetables to the sides of the pan so that there is a space in the middle.  Put the curry paste in that spot and add a little of the coconut milk, mix until it's creamy, then stir into vegetables.  Add the mango, stir.  Add the rest of the coconut milk and the chickpeas.  Bring to a simmer and then add the rice.  Cook over low heat until the sweet potatoes are tender.  Serve and Enjoy!

Lemon and Cilantro Cappelletti

When I got home last night I realized I had nothing to take for my lunch today.  I had some leftover Spicy Red Lentil and Havarti Soup to take for my dinner, but no lunch.  So I looked in my fridge for something quick to make and found cilantro (which I love!), chicken broth, preserved lemons (which I made from this recipe), and carrots.  I basically mixed that together with some Cappelletti (Angel Hair Pasta) and that was it.  I was actually expecting to make a soup, but I put in too much Cappelletti and it sucked up all my broth so I ended up with a pasta dish.  It was so refreshing and comforting at the same time.  I think it would make a great cold combatant!

Easy Lemon and Cilantro Cappelletti

900 ml Chicken broth

1/2 pkg of Cappelletti (or less, if you want it to be more soupy)

1 carrot

Handful of Cilantro

1/4 of a preserved lemon

Pour the broth into a pot and set to med-high.  While it comes to a boil peel the carrot and cut into very thin strips.  I thinly slice my carrot lengthwise and then cut each slice into long, skinny strips.  Cut the strips in half.  Wash and dry a handful of cilantro and chop up finely.  Cut the pulp and pith off the lemon rind and discard.  Rinse the rind to get rid of some of the salt and then very finely dice.  When the stock boils add the carrots and pasta.  Once they are cooked add the lemon and cilantro.  Serve and enjoy!

Spicy Red Lentil and Havarti Soup

I made this soup the other night after seeing the recipe in an ad for Canadian Dairy.  It's so filling, and healthy, especially with the barely there lentils.  I did find it a little too thick though, but I think that's because I melted the cheese into it, instead of just serving it with a few cubes of cheese on top.  The next time I make it I will add more broth and less milk.  I also added about a teaspoon of chili flakes to this recipe, because the jalapenos in the Havarti didn't make it spicy enough.  And I added chopped cilantro to the soup, because I love cilantro and always add extra when a recipe calls for it.  But ya, besides all that...great recipe!  

Spicy Red Lentil and Havarti Soup

1 1/2 tbsp butter

2 tsp curry powder

1 onion, diced

2 cups diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced potatoes

3/4 cup dried red or orange lentils, rinsed

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth *

3 cups milk*

5 oz jalapeno Havarti cheese, cubed

2 tbsp fresh cilantro

* I would use 2 cups broth and 2 cups milk instead

In a large pot melt butter over med-high.  Add curry and vegetables and saute until onions are soft.  Add lentils, broth, and milk.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30-40 minutes.  Puree soup until smooth.  Add salt and pepper if desired.  Serve garnished with cilantro and Havarti cubes.

Squash and Fish Soup...who knew it would be so good?

I know I've said it before, but I love soup!  And I love squash.  However, when I found this recipe in The Hamilton Spectator I wasn't really sure how great it would be.  I knew that I would like it, but wasn't prepared for the feeling of love that overcame me when I took my first bite.  It was so flavourful, with some spiciness and a hint of sweetness.  And it doesn't really have a lot of ingredients in it, mostly spices.  Actually, the whole reason I ended up making it ahead of the like 100 other soups I want to make, is that I actually had all the ingredients on hand.  I love it when that happens!  Especially when my hubby is out of town and I would have had to walk or bus to the grocery store.  Which sucks.  (And yes, I realize I should get my license.)  I love the beautiful colour of the soup too, it's perfect for fall, and with the rice and fish in it, it's actually pretty filling.  

Although the recipe calls for haddock or cod, I used Tilapia that I had in my freezer.  I prefer using frozen fish for soups because if you just thaw the fillets halfway by running cold water over them they are a lot easier to chop up than fresh fillets.  And it's convenient to have some frozen fish in your freezer.  The squash that I used for the soup was an acorn squash, it was a little over 2 cups worth once I had it peeled and chopped.  I realize that the recipe calls it a chowder, but when I think of a chowder I think of it as being cream/milk based, and this is not, so...I call it soup.

Chilean Fish Chowder

2 tbsp olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup long-grain white rice

2 lbs squash or pumpkin, peeled and diced

4 cups fish, vegetable, or chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1 lb (450g) skinless haddock or cod fillets, cut into chunks

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a large pot heat oil over med-high heat.  Add onions and cook for 5 minutes.  Add spices and pepper flakes, cook, stirring for 1  minute.  Add rice and squash.  Stir in broth and bay leaves, scraping any burnt bits from bottom of pot.  Cover and let simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes.  Add fish, and cook covered for 10 minutes (or until fish is opaque).  Sprinkle with parsley.  Enjoy!

And since I have the nutritional information, I'll add it too:

Per 1 serving (1/4 of recipe)...

290 calories

6 g. fat

21 g. protein

42 g. carbohydrates

3 g. fibre

*Update: I just made this again but since I had half a cauliflower in my fridge, I chopped it up and added it too.  It tasted just as delicious, but it was even healthier since it had more veggies in it.  Vegetables make me happy:)

Sausage Jambalaya

Recently my hubby confessed to me that since I started working in the evenings as well as during the day that he sometimes just eats chips for dinner.  Or nothing at all.  And the only vegetables he eats is when he gets green peppers on his pizza.  So, I felt a little guilty, not a lot guilty, because he is a grown man, but he has come dependent on me to make sure he eats healthy.  The problem is we don't like a lot of the same food.  My favourite foods are pastas and soups...which are 2 things he will only eat 'if he has to'.  His favourite vegetables are green peppers, which is one of the few that I don't like.  And I'm mostly vegetarian, while he's a meat lover.  Which means when I cook a bunch of delicious food on Sundays to get me through the week, he's basically left on his own.
So I decided to make something just for him.  With lots of meat, peppers, and spiciness.  I decided to make a slow cooker sausage jambalaya.  I did all the chopping when I got home from work at night, and then in the morning just took the crock pot out of the fridge and plugged it in.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.  All he had to do was make some rice when he got home to serve it with.  And I bought pre-cooked sausages to make it with, just so there was one less step.

Sausage Jambalaya

4 cooked sausages
1 medium onion
1 green pepper
1 orange pepper (or red, or yellow...)
2 ribs of celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
Rice to serve it with

Remove casings from sausages and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Finely dice all of the vegetables.  Put all of the ingredients, except the rice, into a slow-cooker and cook on low for 7 hours.  Serve on top of a bed of rice.

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

I love making soup.  And eating soup.  I try to make a pot of soup each Sunday so I have something homemade and healthy to eat for lunch all week.  I'm lucky in that my hubby doesn't particularly groove on soup, so I don't have to share it with him.  I do sometimes share with my mom-in-law though, since she comes over to let my dog out when she has days off.  But it's still hard to share! 
This soup has quickly become one of my favourites.  I had printed off the recipe years ago from some random website, but just never got around to making it.  I think the long list of ingredients was daunting.  But it's easy to make, as most soups are, and it is a treat to your taste buds!  I actually did share this one, because it makes such a big amount I thought I would bring some in to work.  My co-workers loved it, and all of them asked for the recipe. 

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp ginger, minced

1 ½ tsp ground cumin

1 ½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 can diced tomatoes

1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

4 ½ cups water

1 tsp salt

¼ cup chopped, unsalted peanuts

1 pinch cayenne pepper

2 tbsp peanut butter 

1 bunch chopped cilantro

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat.  Sauté the onion for 10 min, until lightly browned.  Mix in the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves.  Stir in the tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrot, and continue to cook and stir for about 5 minutes.

Pour water into the saucepan, add salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove soup from heat and blend with the peanuts in a food processor until almost smooth.  Season with cayenne pepper.  Return to heat, whisk in peanut butter, and cook until heated through.  Serve topped with cilantro.

Risotto Delicioso

Anything that contains wine and cheese just has to be good, and this Squash Risotto is no exception!  I love risotto, and usually just make a delicious lemon and herb one, but since it's fall I thought a Butternut Squash Risotto would taste fantastic.  And it did!  The first time I tried making this it turned out too mushy, so I have made some changes and it worked much better this time.  Now, I'm not gonna lie, risotto is a pain to make.  It's easy, but it involves a lot of stirring.  My arm was cramping up by the end!  But it's soooo worth it!  The important thing to remember when making risotto is to be patient.  When I made risotto for the first time I was so hungry that I started adding more and more liquid at a time, and then it ended up being mushy.  Just add a 1/2 cup at a time and wait for it to absorb before adding more. (I heat my stock by microwaving it in a 4-cup pyrex measuring bowl, then it's easy to see how much to add a time.)  And once it's close to being done, test the rice before adding more liquid, because you might add more than you need and end up with...that's right, mushy risotto.  But don't worry, it will still taste delicious even if it is too soft!

Butternut Squash Risotto

-2 tbsp butter
-1 medium onion, diced
-2 1/2 cups squash, cubed into bite sized pieces (1/2" pieces)
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-3 to 3 1/2 cups vegetable broth, simmering
-1 1/4 cups Arborio rice
-1/2 cup white wine
-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in a medium sized pot over medium heat, add onion and cook for 2 minutes.  Add squash and cook for another minute.  Stir in garlic and a 1/2 cup of the broth.  Lower heat, cover, and simmer for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add rice and stir for 2 minutes.  Add wine, and stir constantly until almost absorbed, about 2-3 minutes.  Add 1/2 cup of the stock, stirring constantly, until absorbed.  Continue adding stock, 1/2 cup at a time, until the rice is tender - about 20 minutes. 
Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper, if desired.

The Best Chicken...Beer Butt Chicken!

I was at my cottage a few weekends ago with a whole chicken and a can of beer, and I thought...why not stick this beer up it's butt and barbecue it, that would be great.  And it was!  Maybe a meal with the word 'butt' in it doesn't sound very appetizing, but it was some of the most delicious chicken I have ever tasted.  It was so juicy and tender and flavourful, I'm drooling just thinking about it.  I had only cooked a whole chicken once before, and that was in the oven, so this was definitely an experiment...but it worked out great.  And it was so easy!  I was worried that the chicken wouldn't stand very well on it's beer can stool, but it was really sturdy, and even took the test of my dog jumping up on the barbecue. 
So to make this delicious chicken, here's what you need:

1 whole chicken
1 can of beer
1 lemon
3 tbsp butter
pepper
salt
any other seasonings you like with chicken

Rinse the chicken, inside and out.  Pull up the skin where it's tail would be and insert your finger in between the skin and meat to make a pocket on each breast.  (This is kind of hard to explain.)  Put the butter into the pockets and then squeeze lemon juice in.  Add any other seasonings you would like.  Squeeze more lemon juice on the outside of the chicken and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pour half of the beer into a glass and save it for further use.
Cover a baking sheet in foil, and place the 1/2 full can of beer in the middle of it.  Take the chicken and push it over the can of beer until it's legs make a tripod with it that can hold the chicken upright.  Put the pan on a barbecue set to medium and cook it for about an hour, depending on the size of your chicken.  Throughout the cooking time use some of the leftover beer to baste the chicken with and to cover the pan with.  The beer steam will soak into the outside of the chicken:)
The tricky part is taking the bird off the can without spilling boiling beer all over the place!
Enjoy the chicken, it will be amazing!

Appetizing, isn't it?

Sneaky Macaroni and Cheese

I made a delicious macaroni and cheese last night that had zucchini and tomatoes in it.  I think it would be a great meal to serve to picky children who don't eat their vegetables because you could hardly tell there was zucchini in it.  My hubby is not a vegetable lover, and he did complain about the tomatoes, but he didn't seem to realize that there was another vegetable hiding in his mac and cheese!  I adapted the Italian Macaroni and Cheese recipe from Mable Hoffman's Pot Luck recipe book, just adding and changing a few things.  It was easy to make and looked really pretty with the tomato slices on top!

Three-Cheese Macaroni with a Twist!

4 cups cooked macaroni
1 small onion, finely diced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded yellow zucchini
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
3 Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2/3 cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a large pot, add onions and cook for about a minute.  Add flour, stir until bubbly.  Mix in milk, zucchini, cayenne, and salt.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low, add mozzarella cheese.  Stir until melted.
Mix the Ricotta cheese with the basil and parsley.
Put 2 cups of the macaroni in a greased 9" casserole dish.  Pour half of the zucchini and mozzarella sauce on top.  Place sliced tomatoes in rows to cover the macaroni.  Place a small blob of the Ricotta mix on each tomato.  Add the rest of the macaroni, followed by the rest of the sauce.  Make another layer of tomato slices, placing the Ricotta mixture on each one.  Sprinkle all over with Parmesan cheese.  Bake in a 400F oven for 30 minutes. 

Pickles and Pears and Beets, Oh My!

I did a lot of canning last week.  A lot.  Right now in my pantry I have 19 half quart jars of bread and butter pickles, 6 quart jars of dill pickles,  2 quart and 2 half quart jars of pickled beets, 7 half quart jars of pears, and 4 quarter quart jars of pear butter.  I could write a Christmas song about them.  It was definitely a lot of work, especially the bread and butter pickles, but looking at those jars gives me such a sense of achievement.  I have already shared the recipe I used for the pears so I thought next I would share how I made my bread and butter pickles.
I went to St. Jacob's Market to buy my pickling cukes and beets.  I bought 21 pounds of cucumbers for $16.  It didn't seem like such a large basket until I got home and tried to fit them in my fridge!  I used 16 pounds of them to make the bread and butter pickles.  Slicing 16 pounds of cucumbers takes a while, I tried to use the slicing adapter thing on my food processor, but it sliced them too thin.  I like my bread and butter pickles to be about 1/4 inch thick.  I also had to chop 4 pounds of onions, but for that I definitely used the food processor.  They still made me cry though!  I had to divide up the pickles, onions, and salt between two bins because I knew I could never fit them all into one pot.  That's one of the reasons it was so much work, because after getting my first batch jarred and starting to process I had to start all over with the next batch.  I'm going to give the recipe for the amount that I made, but it's easy to change it for the amount you want to make.

16 pounds of pickling cucumbers (42 cups sliced)
4 pounds onions (6 cups diced)
1 1/3 cups pickling salt
9 cups vinegar
6 cups sugar
6 tbsp mustard seed
6 tsp ground turmeric
3 tsp ground cloves
ice cubes

Mix the cucumber slices, onion, and salt in a large container.  Cover with ice cubes and place in fridge for 1 1/2 to 3 hours. 
Remove from fridge and rinse in cold water, drain well.
Bring remaining ingredients to a boil, add cucumbers and onions and return to a boil. 
Pack prepared* jars with pickle mixture, leaving 1/2" space at the top.  Wipe rims clean and then place the lids and rings on the jars, be careful not to over tighten the ring. 
Place the jars in a hot water bath, making sure the water covers each jar.  Boil the jars for 10 minutes.  Remove from water and place on a clean tea towel and do not move for 24 hours.  Make sure each lid has sealed, you will hear a popping noise when it seals and the lid will curve inwards.
Store in a cool place for 6 weeks before opening.
*Prepare the jars and rings by boiling them in water for 10 minutes.  The jars still need to be hot when you add pickles to them.  Add hot water to a bowl with the lids in it to soften the seals.

Half of the cucumbers are sliced!

All of the sliced cukes, ready for the salt and onions!

Cooking the cukes in the vinegar mix...first batch.

The finished product!  Yummmmmm!

The Bounty!  Can't wait to start eating it!

That Chicken is Supreme!

I haven't been doing much cooking lately because I've been canning so much, but more on that later.  I did finally make a good dinner last night though.  I had some garden fresh baby potatoes and yellow beans from the market, and had picked up some chicken breasts to go with it.  I wanted to try something new with the chicken though, so I decided to make chicken schnitzel supreme.  It turned out really well, and I even had some chicken left over which I'm going to add to my pasta for lunch.  I don't have a meat tenderizer, so I just used a regular hammer to flatten the meat.  I like to make do with what I have!  I had bought two boneless, skinless breasts, so to make them thin enough for schnitzel I first had to butterfly them.  I placed the chicken breast on the cutting board with the thick side towards me, and then cut through to the thin side to make two pieces.  Then I put a piece at a time on parchment paper folded over so it covered the top of the chicken as well.  Then it was hammer time!  I just hammered all over until it was all about half an inch thick, then moved on to the next piece.  This is great way to get more for your money, because out of 2 chicken breasts you end up with 4 large pieces which the hubby and I couldn't even finish. 
And now...the recipe:

I topped it off with some sliced mini red and orange peppers, the plate needed some colour!

Chicken Supreme

2 Chicken breasts, butterflied and tenderized
1 egg
1/2 cup of flour
1 cup breadcrumbs
Seasoning (I used dried parsley, rosemary, sage, garlic, and paprika)
Vegetable Oil
Alfredo pasta sauce

Mix the seasonings with the breadcrumbs in a bowl.  Set aside.  Beat the egg in a large bowl.  Make an 'assembly line': sprinkle the flour on a plate, next have the egg bowl, and then use another plate to put 1/4 of the seasoned breadcrumbs at a time.  Take a chicken piece and rinse it with cold water.  Next put it in the flour, making sure both sides are covered.  Dip it in the egg mixture and then put it in the breadcrumbs.  Punch the breadcrumbs into it so they stick well.  Continue with other chicken pieces.  Heat enough vegetable oil in a frying pan so that the bottom is covered.  Fry each piece of chicken for about 4 minutes a side.  Pour warm Alfredo sauce over each piece before serving.  (I used roasted red pepper Alfredo, but you can make/buy any type to use.)

Millions of Pears, Pears for Me!

I have been getting busy with pears lately.  Delicious little pears from my pear tree!  Last year all of my pears went to waste.  I didn't realize how quickly they would ripen and so they all ended up falling off my tree into a mushy pile... which the wasps loved!  This year I was ready for them though!  Once I saw one turning yellow I knew they all must be close to being ripe so I picked them all off the tree to let them ripen inside, like you're supposed to.  As they ripened I put them in the fridge so they didn't get too ripe, and after a couple of days they were all ready for canning! 
I have been slowly getting into canning things.  Two years ago I made dill pickles and bread and butter pickles, and then last year I made pickled beets.  It's a lot of work, and takes some time, especially when you don't know what you're doing.  But once you get the basics down it gets much easier.  The most time-consuming part is prepping the vegetable.  In this case, peeling pears.  I peeled pears for over an hour one day and another 45 minutes the next.  My hand was so cramped up!  But even with all the work, it is such a satisfying thing to do.  And the canned food lasts for a year, so you get to enjoy your hard work for so long.  Home canned food also makes for beautiful gifts, some people are amazed at the fact that "you made pickles?!!", people definately appreciate the hard work!
So with all the pears I picked this year I was able to make 7 half-quart jars of sliced pears and 4 quarter-quart jars of pear butter.  These are most of the pears that I picked...

To can your own pears all you need for special equipment are some jars with rings and new lids.  (You need to have unused lids so that the wax seal will still work.)  There are special pots you can buy for processing the jars in, I bought one this year at Canadian Tire for $15.00, but all you really need is a tall pot that your jars can sit in and be completely covered with water.  And this is how you can pears:

1. Peel, core, and quarter pears.  Keep them in a bowl with water and lemon juice to keep them from turning brown while you keep peeling.
2. Make a syrup to cook your pears in.  I like a light syrup, which is 1 cup of sugar per 3 cups of water.  Make however much syrup you think you will need for the amount of pears that you have.  Slowly cook the water and sugar on a low setting until the sugar dissolves, and then bring it to a boil.
3.  Add the pears to the boiling syrup and leave them in it until it comes to a boil again.
4.  Use a slotted spoon to fill hot, sterilized jars* with the pears.  Use a ladle to cover the pears with the syrup, leaving a 1/2" of space at the top of the jar.  Take a butter knife and stir the pears a bit to make sure there are no air bubbles.
5.  Take a clean, damp cloth and wipe the rim of each jar, and then place a hot, sterilized lid* on each jar, followed by the ring which you don't need to over tighten.  Twist it on until it just tightens.
6.  Process your jars by placing them upright into a large pot of boiling water, the jars should be completely covered.  Let the jars boil for 20 minutes, more if you are at a high altitude. (If you don't have a canning pot with a rack then you can place a tea towel at the bottom of the pot so that the jars don't bounce around too much.)
7.  Remove the jars and let cool for 24 hours without moving.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with a clean tea towel.  Then store them in a cool, dark place for up to a year.
*To sterilize the jars I put them and the rings in the pot I will also be processing them in and then cover them with water and bring to a boil.  I put the lids in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water.  When I am ready to use the jars I lift them out with tongs (use a jar lifter if you have one!), but leave the water in the pot so that it is already boiling when it comes time to do the processing.

This is how I set everything up to get ready for canning:

These are the pears being processed:

And the final product!:

The Bacon Experiment

Bacon is delicious. Candied bacon, even more delicious.  I had never eaten it before, but since first hearing about candied bacon a couple of years ago I had always wanted to make it.  So when my hubby started frying up some bacon last night for our Caesar salad I decided to finally try my hand at baking up some deliciousness.  I looked at a few different recipes for it, some saying to bake it on a cooling rack over top of a baking sheet, others saying to bake it right on the sheet.  I experimented with both ways.  I found that when I cooked it on the rack all the brown sugar just melted off with the bacon grease, but cooking it solely on the baking sheet wasn't letting it get crispy enough.  What I finally ended up doing was cooking it on the sheet, and then when it was nice and caramelized I transferred it onto some parchment paper to crisp it up.  It was so good, I ate a few pieces by themselves and then later on I crumbled it up to put on top of creme brulee ice cream along with real maple syrup.  Now that was an amazing dessert!

This is how I made my candied bacon:

Take as many pieces of bacon as you would like to candy and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.  Generously rub each bacon strip with brown sugar.  Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 7 minutes.  Remove from oven and turn over bacon strips, rubbing brown sugar on the other side.  Bake for another 7 minutes.  Remove the bacon from the tinfoil and place on parchment paper, broil on high for about 2 minutes a side.  The bacon should be nice and sticky and brown.  Put the bacon a plate and as the sugar cools it will get nice and crispy.  Mmmmm, crispy.

Homemade Pesto...it's worth making it!

Sometimes it's cheaper (and easier!) to just buy something than it is to make it.  That's how I feel about pasta sauces, among other things.  But when I went to the farmer's market last week and saw a huge amount of fresh basil for only $2, homemade pesto was all that was on my mind.  I have always loved pesto, and can remember begging my mom for "green spaghetti" when I was a child.  So I looked at a few recipes online and finally settled on two recipes to follow, and then went to buy the ingredients.  Since you can buy a jar of pesto for about $4.50 at the grocery store, I wanted to keep my cost as low as possible.  All I needed to buy was fresh Parmesan cheese and pine nuts or walnuts.  I went with walnuts because they were way cheaper than the pine nuts, and I knew they would taste just as good.  And then I made pesto for the first time!  It was extremely easy to make (the 'hardest' part was getting the leaves off the stalk and washing them!) and turned out really well.  It was more expensive to make it at home, especially since my grocery store currently has it on sale for $1.99, but it was much more satisfying to say I made it myself.  And it was delicious!  I had it with linguine, but I plan on making pizza with it later on this week.  Here's the recipe I used if you would like to make your own 'green spaghetti':

Basil Pesto:

2 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed), washed and dried
1/3 cup pine nuts or chopped walnuts
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor, add the basil, nuts, and Parmesan cheese.  Pulse until well chopped, add the garlic.  While the processor is on a low setting, slowly pour in 1/3 cup of olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.  Pour pesto into a jar and top with remaining olive oil.  Keep in fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for later use.

I divided the pesto into 4 small containers, so I could freeze some and keep some out.  Don't worry if the top of the pesto turns dark brown or black, it's just the air's effect on the basil, the olive oil on top should keep it greener.  Enjoy!

An Introduction

I am exceptionally, amazingly, awesomely great at one thing.  Eating.  It just comes naturally to me.  I have a love/love relationship with food.  I see it, I eat it, I love it.  Well, except mushrooms...I'm hoping that they'll grow on me, but instead they just keep growing on poo and I just keep not liking them.  Now, I don't consider myself a foodie by any means.  My tastes aren't so discernable, and I can enjoy a tasty bowl of KD just as much as a filet mignon.  But I would prefer the filet mignon, yes, I would prefer it right now in fact.  The wallet is telling me I'll be eating KD though.  When I dream about winning the lottery, it's not the houses and cars I'm picturing, but being able to eat at restaurants every single day, trying new foods, and old foods in new ways.  But since I have not yet had the pleasure of winning the lottery I will have to make do with cooking my own delicious meals, which isn't so bad.  I enjoy cooking, and I love trying out new recipes.  Sometimes they exceed my expectations, and sometimes they don't.  Sometimes they just need to be tweaked to get it right.  This blog will be all about the recipes I try and how I think they fared.  I'm looking forward to sharing my cooking experiences with you!