Update

I am sorry for the lack of posts lately and I am working on getting a couple of new recipes and items ready for posting.  There have been a lot of changes around here the last couple of months.  I have started a new blog for the quilts, so they won't be taking up room from the cooking anymore!

The other exciting event is that I changed jobs a few months ago, I went from working in a research lab to being a lab instructor at a University were I live.  I have been busy working on getting lectures, assignments and quizzes ready,  For the last three weeks I have been teaching classes! 

It is exciting and I am loving, but finding that I have less time in the evenings than I am used to.  For these reasons, I am trying out more slowcooker and freezer recipes.  Hopefully things will work themselves into a schedule and I will have more time to start posting them recipes again!

Thank you for reading, and look for more fall posts coming soon.

Zucchini Noodle Stir Fry

It is harvest season and that means zucchini, lots and lots of zucchini (although oddly enough I haven’t had as much this year as in the pasts, and I have actually had to buy zucchini this summer)!  I love zucchini just grilled on the bbq but as the weather cools I am looking for other ways to use up the yummy veggies as well.  On pinterest I came across instructions for making zucchini noodles - very easy with a mandoline or the right peeler!

I made the zucchini noodles and let them sit to lose some of the water while I chopped the remaining veggies.

Stir Fry with Zucchini Noodles

Ingredients:
1-2 zucchinis
Red Pepper
Yellow Pepper
1 - 2 stalks celery
Onion
Bean Sprouts (optional)

Sauce of your choosing (I used a little lime juice and pepper).

Directions:
1. Using a mandoline or peeler make zucchini into small noodles and discard the seeds.
2. Sprinkle the zucchini noodles with a little salt and lay on paper towel to drain.
3. Slice the peppers, onion and celery.
4. In a fry pan or wok with ½ to 1 tbsp oil, cook the vegetables until tender.
5. Press the “noodles” into the paper towel to remove the water on the surface.
6. Add the noodles, bean sprouts and sauce to the fry pan.  Cook until warm.
7. Enjoy!

Reviews:
This was a great dinner with lots of veggies.  You could easily add in some chicken or pork to add more protein or use it as a side dish for supper.  I am looking forward to trying this out again - maybe with a spicier sauce!

As a side - when using lime juice (out of the container - bad I know) and pepper as a sauce, make sure the top of the lime juice is on tight before turning it upside over your dinner....

Spicy Cheesey Grilled Peppers

This summer has been HOT here.  If it isn’t hot and humid (which is a little abnormal), it is a thunderstorm.  Due to this I have been trying to use the kitchen as little as possible to try and keep my house under 26C.  I pulled out this forgotten recipe from 3 or 4 years ago and for the life of me I can’t figure out why I haven’t made this more often.  It has become almost a weekly dish now.

Ingredients.
2 -3 peppers, assorted colours
~ ½ cup grated cheese (I like a sharp cheddar)
Jarred/canned Jalapeno rings

Directions:
1. Remove the seeds and membrane from the peppers.  Then slice into strips about 1.5 to 2 inches wide (you want them wide enough to be able to hold the cheese).
2. Put the pepper slices skin side down and add cheese to the top on each pepper slice.
3. Place a slice of the jalapeno on top of the cheese of each pepper slice.
4. Place on the grill at medium high heat and grill until the peppers start to soften and cheese melts (~8 minutes).  The peppers should still retain their shape and have enough structure that you can pick them up.
5. Remove from grill and let cool for minute before enjoying!

Reviews:
I really enjoy these and we never seem to have leftovers.  They are a great way to use up any peppers we have had leftover from earlier in the week.  Depending on how much spice you like you might want ½ the jalapeno slices on the top of your peppers ( I find I do this for mine a lot, while I put whole slices on O’s peppers).

Grilled Squash - Zucchini and Pattipan

I love summer and being able to break out the grill to go with all the fresh produce from the garden and the farmer’s markets.  I love grilled vegetables and we eat a fair amount of different grilled veggies during the summer depending on what is in season and fresh.  My current obsession is green beans and squash, yum!  They are simple to make and don’t heat up the stove or require me to be in the warm kitchen when I can be sitting on the deck with a glass of iced tea as I cook supper!

Ingredients:
2-3 patty pan squash (quartered)
2-3 small zucchini squash (sliced, 1.5 inch thick)
1-2 tbsp olive oil (just enough for a light coating on the veggies)
Salt and pepper

Directions,
1. In a bowl combine the squash, oil, salt and pepper.  Toss to coat the squash in oil and seasonings.
2. On a grill heated to medium high, place squash in a veggie basket on medium heat.
3. Gill for 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of your squash).  Stir occasionally.
The squash should be soft and warm when done but still have some firmness left ( I am not a fan of mushy squash, so I like mine a little more on the firm side).
4. Enjoy

Reviews:
I love how simply this is for those busy summer evenings.  That and it is a nice fresh light vegetable side perfect for eating outside.  These have even got my husband, who normally does not like squash, eating zucchini and liking it!  He even ate the extra I made (hoping to have some for my lunch the next day) along with his regular portion for supper!

Gumpaste Lilies

Recently a girl I had worked with during Grad School joined the lab I was working in (well she was actually taking over my job as I was leaving), and she was getting married in a few weeks.  Her wedding was taking place out of province and she was trying to plan long distance.  She wanted to put Casa Blanca Lilies on her cake, but couldn’t find fake flowers that she liked and didn’t want to use real ones for various reasons.  She asked if I could make her some gumpaste flowers for her cake.  I agreed and a few weeks later I was giving her a box of 8 lilies for her cake!

I hope they made it through the air travel okay and that she had a great wedding!  I will post a picture of the cake when I get one!

Burger Cake

A coworker had a birthday and it was my turn to bring the cake.  I didn't want to do a cake with flowers for a couple of reasons.  The first being that this cake was for a male coworker, and although he would not have complained, flowers just aren't really him.  The second reason - I had only recently finished my cake decorating class (alright, well it had been a few weeks) and I was not ready to start making more flowers again.

I came across pictures of a cake that looked like a burger on pinterest and decided to give it a go.  It is a white cake with chocolate frosting (darker for the burger, less coco for the bun), and regular buttercream frosting for the ketchup and cheese.  The lettuce was made using rolled fondant.  The sesame seeds on the bun are large sprinkles.

Everyone at work loved the cake which was great.  I had lot of fun making it and it was nice to make something less girly than I had been making for the last few months.

Root Beer Cookies!

I came across this recipe for rootbeer cookies a couple of years ago and was curious.  Root beer is a always a favourite here so I thought the cookies would go over well.  I printed the recipe and put it into my recipe binder.  The only problem was finding the rootbeer extract or concentrate, as you can’t find this at the local grocery store.  After a while I forgot until I went to a candy and cake decorating supply store to pick up some supplies for a cake I was making for one of my Wilton classes.  They had an entire shelf of extracts, and among them was root beer extract!  I picked some up, but with the cakes for classes and spring coming it still took a little while to get to these cookies.  They were worth the time I kept the recipe around!

Root Beer Cookies
Ingredients:
½ cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp root beer extract (concentrate)
1 ¾ cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
(the recipe calls for 2 tbsp of water if the dough is dry - I didn’t need it)

Directions:
1. In a bowl cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy.  Add in the egg and extract, mixing well.  
2. Add in the flour and baking soda, mix until combined.  
3. Drop cookies onto a cookie sheet and press down so they are flat, not dome shaped.  
4. Bake for 6-8 minutes, cool on a wire rack.

Root Beer Frosting
This is the frosting that went with the cookies, and it is amazing!  I was eating it with a spoon and almost licked out the mixing bowl (I probably would have if O hadn’t already been giving me weird looks).  This would also be delicious on top of cupcakes or vanilla cookies.

Ingredients:
½ cup butter
1 ½ cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
1 tsp root beer extract

Directions:
Cream the ingredients together.  Add some water to achieve a spreadable consistency.  Ice the cookies when cool.

Reviews:
Everyone loved these cookies, including me.  I couldn’t stop eating them - with or without the icing.  The icing however was my favorite part - it tastes like a root beer float, delicious!  I will be making more of this for sure.