Welcome to my blog. This is a way to connect with the big, wide, world in some way. My hobbies are cooking and baking and I would love you to also see my website at http://www.jacksjule.com It's a place to check out some of my favorite recipes and do a bit of shopping in many different stores including my favorite - Amazon.com and I am also working with Amazon.ca for my Canadian subscribers. Click on my picture below to go directly there.
We had four or five days of sunshine with no clouds here in Vancouver. What a great few days that was - my husband had that four days off and we were able to get out and enjoy some walks around the lake near us. Seems too that people are in a better mood, more talkative at the checkout stands of the grocery store and we need that!! We saw people in shorts too - a bit cold for me although we did get up to almost 14 degrees Celsius. Robins (the birds) are usually one of the first signs of spring and there were many of them hopping around the grass.
Anyways without further adieu (seems like such an old fashioned saying), I present you with my:
LEMON LOAF
1/2 c. margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
Cream butter and sugar together with mixer. Add eggs, milk, flour, baking powder and salt
and lemon rind and mix all until just blended. Bake in greased loaf tin for
45 minutes at 350 degrees. Mix juice of one lemon with 1/8 cup sugar and spoon over
loaf while still in the pan when just removed from oven. I poke little holes in it with a
toothpick so the juice gets inside the loaf too. Wait until thoroughly cooled to remove
from pan. Slice and enjoy a slice of spring!!Would love to hear your comments. Please
don't be shy - if you have any questions or ideas for me. Also don't forget to go to my
Julie's Cooking Facebook page and "Like" me if you haven't already. Means a lot to me!!
I am going to make these wings tonight. I have just boiled my wings, onions, celery, carrots, salt and garlic for 20 minutes at a gentle boil and am waiting for the pot to get close to room temperature and the chicken will absorb all the goodness of the vegetables. In the preparation of the sauce please omit 6 "Add the curry and blend again". I also substituted Agave Nectar for the honey - same proportions. I am going to add some pirri pirri sauce to the mixture in the frying pan - just a couple of dashes to give it a bit of a kick. If you don't have pirri pirri (Portuguese hot sauce) any hot sauce will do. When you are ready to serve the wings I would suggest serving with some cut up carrot sticks and celery sticks - nice with the Oikos dip. The Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt is a nice option to regular yogurt. Greek yogurt has double the protein content compared to standard yogurt brands and 50 percent less sodium. My husband and I picked up a 2 container size at Costco today after sampling the flavored Oikos Greek Yogurt. It is a nice consistency - a bit thicker than regular yogurt. We are a society now that reads nutrition labels and watches sodium contents particularly. We used to eat canned soup more but check labels now due to some having higher sodium amounts. Funny how we are always talking about what we are going to have for our next dinner. I really wonder if there are a lot of others like me that do that. Can tell can't you - food is a big part of our life. Seems like chicken wings are always a part of Superbowl. That and chips and dip and lots of Budweiser beer. People love finger food and even if I am not a football fan I will probably watch it (or parts of it). I even have a Manning jersey that I won once at a pub during another Superbowl. We watch a lot of soccer in our household - we were happy to watch the Women's soccer at our Vancouver's BC Place while they played for Olympic Qualifiers. Nice that Canada is one of the teams going on to the Olympics in
London.
So...... gooooooooooo GIANTS!! We have a daughter and son-in-law that have lived in the U.S. and they will be going for the Giants - so will we!! Enjoy everybody! May the best team win! Enjoy all your Superbowl Snacks!
I think the older we get the more willing we are to try vegetables that we never used to like when we are a kid. The more willing we are to like it to seems to depend on how much information we have received on how beneficial the nutrients are for us - not something that made one bit of difference to us when we were very young.
Tonight I made a fairly regular meal in our household - pork chops which were fried with onions and garlic in olive oil at a medium hight heat for about 10 minutes and then I added some beef broth and a bit of clamato juice that I had sitting in the fridge and a bit of Johnny's Hungarian Paprika and salt and pepper. Then you let it simmer for 45 minutes to an hour on low heat. The liquid should be boiling lightly. So the picture shows our pork chop with a little of the broth and onions on top, some beets I had cooked earlier and refrigerated with a bit of red wine vinegar. I boiled two Yukon Gold potatoes (hubby's favorite) with one turnip which I had peeled with the potato peeler and cooked for approximately 20 minutes or until a fork poked in comes out easily. Then Jack mashed the potatoes and turnips with our mixer and some butter and a bit of milk until light and fluffy. The turnips make the consistency a bit more watery so maybe next time we would add less milk before beating with the mixer. I also made some frozen corn in the microwave and served with a piece of toasted cornbread.
We love our Inno Bakery on Ridgeway in Coquitlam for the cornbread. Small world - my Dad used to own the building that the Inno Bakery started their business in. Linda is very kind and still remembers how good my Dad was too when they were starting up. She always acknowledges me with a friendly smile and asks for my Mom. If you are in this area you should check them out - so successful they have now opened another location in Port Coquitlam. They have a deli, and make their own cakes to order and have a very large variety of oils, pastas and sauces. I think they may have 25 workers employed on a weekend day. Good for them!!
Turnips are well known for their bitter flavor if not prepared correctly. When boiling your turnip, and to avoid having to change your water, place a potato or two in the water and cook right with the turnips. Then you will notice there will then be no bitter flavor. Turnips can either be peeled and quartered or chopped before cooking - or they can be cooked in their skin and then peeled (they are said to be sweeter this way). If you are baking turnips in the oven, do not peel before baking. The "hot" flavor associated with turnips makes them particularly well suited to mixing and matching with other root vegetables. Add a turnip or two to your favorite mashed potato recipe, for example, or to a pan of roast vegetables.
Changing the subject - it's Superbowl weekend this weekend and I thought I'd post one of the funny commercials that will be shown during the game. Enjoy your week everybody!! Leave me a comment please and let me know if you watch the football game and if so what snacks/foods do you eat then.
It is a gorgeous day here today in the area outside Vancouver, British Columbia where we live.
We had a few inches of snow in the night and today we have beautiful blue sky and sunshine and not a bit of wind. I love the look of the freshly fallen snow on a sunny day. I like the way the evening is so bright too from the snow's reflection.
I am excited to see that people all over the world are really taking a peek at my writing. I really do wish everyone would realize a comment occasionally would "make my day"!! I need some feedback please - good or bad. Also any new ideas for future blogs would be great! Please don't be shy..... I am taking a big risk throwing out my life here too.
I am sorry there is no recipe, no recommend but this week has been interesting. I have been needed. My Mother who is 85 has had a pain since last Saturday in her head. We went to emergency and sat there for about 3 hours waiting to see a doctor who advised her that she had a virus - it can cause a pain sometimes (shooting) . She is living in an assisted living home not too far from us and gets a bit lonely. I spent a few hours there today - I took some tea, kind of a chocolate blend from David's Tea and we enjoyed a cup. Today my husband is also not at his best after having dental work done last week. As he says " I went in with no pain and now I have pain". I feel so bad. When he eats or drinks he has terrible pain and tomorrow he has to have a root canal.
You know how we love to eat!! Oh my - now I feel so bad as he is hungry and then as soon as any food or wine or water hits that area that is exposed - he is in trouble.
We have read that the recovery after a root canal is a few days and then after a week you feel like yourself. Looking forward to that. I made homemade soup and when I got home from my Mom's he had made rice and prawns and a delicious broth to dip our bread for our second course. My husband is a "keeper".
I hope you are all doing well ..... January can be a very hard month. It is a bit of a low for some. In Vancouver we have a few too many grey days. Today was gorgeous! I wish lots of sunshine for you and may you have a great start to the year 2012!!! (don't forget - please either write back to me via my email at www.jacksjule.gmail.com or make a comment after my blog or share my blog please!!)
This is a picture of a lake not too far from us. My Papa on my Dad's side used to live a block away - when he and my Nana lived there it was only a swamp. Since then the city has made it into a lake and they stock it with trout. I think that you can fish if you are over 65 or under 10 years of age. I have walked many time around this lake. It is a great thinking spot, lots of people walk dogs and there are lots of ducks and swans following the sunshine around.
Como Lake, Coquitlam, British Columbia
A big thanks to all of you!!! xoxoxxoxoxoxo
Don't forget to check out my website, Julie's Cooking at http://www.jacksjule.com
The other day the mailman dropped off a big box for me. It was a boxful of goodies from Kellogg's. These products are new and come into the stores sometime this month. I got three boxes of cereal and a box of cereal bars and a box of Rice Krispies granola bars.
This is a great way to start January - every morning after my latte I think about having my piece of toast with peanut butter and jam and then I look at my cereal cupboard and remember I have a lot of cereal. Cereal and banana is a good way to start your day - just a habit the peanut butter on toast. I think though if I had to be stranded on a desert island peanut butter would be one of the things I wouldn't want to be without.
So ..... today I had the Kellogg's Rice Krispies Brown Rice Gluten Free. I first noticed the familiar snap, crackle and pop that never changes. (thankfully) Brings back memories of sitting at my parent's breakfast table before going off to school.
I liked the cereal - it's easy to eat, it's flavor is simple enough that you can add a banana or whatever other kind of fruit you like. It doesn't get soggy. I'm happy with it and a 1 cup serving with 1/2 cup of 1 percent milk is only 120 calories. The box also says there is less than a teaspoon of sugar per serving.
Ok so now I am off to a good start since we are going on a trip to Portugal fairly soon. When I am there I won't want to watch what I'm eating so much. Isn't that part of being on a holiday? Enjoy all there is, right? Believe me there is so much good food and wine, sand and sun, beaches and we are lucky to have family and friends there.
I heard that we should be having 2 snacks each day - almonds are especially good and high in fibre so I have bought the large bag at Costco as the price is more reasonable. I combine them with cashews and raisins and we put some on the table before dinner.
This morning my snack was Kellogg's All-Bran Bars. It was Orange Cranberry with Natural Orange Flavour. They call it a cereal bar. It is very thin and dark - looks like a healthy snack. My first bite - wow!! I liked!!! My mouth was alive with an orange flavor - delicious. I think I inhaled it - was gone very quickly before the water in my kettle had boiled for tea. At 130 calories it is a good choice for a healthy in-between meal snack.
Don't forget to check out my other blog at: http://jaxjule.wordpress.com
