A Life, Lived

Time to Garden

Well, in lieu of the last post, perhaps not immediately.

Nonetheless, we signed the lease and paid for the garden plot last weekend. We take possession of 'our' land on Sunday.

For the next six months we'll be 'farming' this:

Seeds are bought.

I have also bought onion 'sets' and planting fingerling potatoes to try something new (although I think the soil is going to prove too heavy for them).

We will buy tomato and jalapeno pepper plants from a local farmer.

Last year I didn't take the warnings from the experienced gardeners about hungry deer seriously.

I will not make that mistake again.

This year I won't wait until AFTER they have treated the tender seedlings as a buffet to build a fence. I have one all planned out, drawn to scale on graph paper.

Don't ever say that I refuse to learn from my stupid mistakes!

I've also mapped out the plot. Mind you, I seem to have repeated potatoes twice so we'll either plant a few more rows of something or just spread other things out a bit.

The next 6 months will be busy!

Spring?

Another frost advisory tonight . . .

Travel Tuesdays - Ancaster

Funny, I have driven through Ancaster 100s of times yet never taken the time to stop and wander around. A few weeks ago we had some spare time so off we went!

Founded as a town in 1793, it immediately developed itself into one of the first important and influential early British Upper Canada communities established during the late 18th century. By 1823, due in large part to its easily accessible water power and location at the juncture of prehistoric indigenous trading routes, Ancaster had become Upper Canada's largest industrial and commercial centre. 

Given its history we expected to find some old buildings on our wanders. We were not disappointed.

Easter Dinner

Easter dinner was a fairly simple meal. One of the things that I have learned from the pandemic was there are all sorts of wonderful food producers who have amazing food for purchase. While I started buying things from an urge to support local businesses who were hurting I continue because it makes live easier.

Don't get me wrong I did make some parts of the dinner myself. Like a loaf of challah to serve with dinner. That was a complicated tasks but other than rookie braiding, turned out well.

I ordered a ham from a butcher in Dundas. It was from a local farm that doesn't feed the livestock a bunch of chemicals and crap. The animals are raised free range. The ham was smoked over fruit wood. All I needed to do was heat it up and glaze it. I used the delicious (and super simple) glaze that we got out of a 1991 Gourmet magazine. It consists of rum, candied ginger, and brown sugar. MMM

The butcher also makes delicious things to serve with their meat. In this case I ordered their potato gratin made with thinly sliced potatoes, cream, caramelized onions and Gruyere cheese. MMMM

I also bought a lemon meringue pie from a nearby bakery for dessert (augmented with treats from the Greek bakery). I like that they use a graham cracker crumb crust instead of pastry for their lemon pies.

We generally keep the appetizers simple. Deviled eggs and kielbasa. I picked up kielbasa from a favourite producer while we were away the other weekend. When it came to the eggs I was feeling like I needed to take things up a notch. I googled Easter deviled eggs and some horrific things came up (I do not think i could bring myself to eat egg whites that have been dyed pink, purple, blue, and yellow). However, all was not a bust. This recipe for Easter Chick deviled eggs came up and I was inspired. It was a bit complicated and my wee chicks aren't going to when any food styling contests  but it wasn't bad for a first attempt and was thrilled so it was all worth it.

Dinner was mostly set - I just needed to make a vegetable. I went with a recipe I've made a few times before - peas and carrots with dill, mint, and lemon. It is a fresh take on good old peas and carrots. I find the freshness is a good foil for the rich ham and potato gratin.

 

Easter Brunch

For Easter we tend to to a big brunch followed by an early dinner. If the menus are planned properly there is time to sleep in and time to get a mid-day nap. Well, there would be time to sleep in were it not for a cat named Jake who demands his owners awaken at 6 AM and present him with food.

I did a breakfast casserole that I have made before. It is a Martha Stewart recipe calling for English muffins, Canadian bacon, cheese, and lots of eggs. You make it the night before and the bread sucks up all of the eggy goodness. I made a hash brown casserole to serve with the strata. We also had the traditional Hot Cross Buns. The ones I had made on Thursday were all gone so I whipped up a new recipe (which I didn't like as much as the other one). Paul made mimosas to sip.

Remember when one could drink a few mimosas and not require a nap?

Goodness, one mimosa and I was DONE! LOL

 

Good Friday Dinner

Dinner on Good Friday was inspired by finding this:

It is difficult to find Pastitsio noodles in Canada - when I did the memu was set.

Pastitsio is a Greek casserole made with noodles, a beefy tomato sauce, cheese, and a rich bechamel  sauce. Some folks call it Greek Lasagne because in their minds it is easiest to connect something new to the 'known'. Enough. It is Pastitsio and it is a delicious, rich casserole.

We started with appetizers some made and the rest purchased at the Greek bakery in Toronto and cooked at home.

Fried feta with honey and thyme, spanokopita, tiropita, and tzatziki.

Dinner was the pastitsio and a Greek salad.

Dessert was super simple - treats purchased from the Greek bakery. MMMMM So good. I used to pop into Sareno a fair bit when iIwas working but since I've retired it has been awhile some I made the trek into the Toronto Greek Village.

Travel Tuesday - Prince Edward County

I've posted two sets of pics from our recent getaway to prince Edward county here and here.

Here are some shots of our dinner on Saturday (one of the best meals we've had in years), wandering historic sites in Picton, a creamery, and a maple syrup 'hut' and one last winery.

 

Happy Easter!

Swedish Meatballs with Red Currant Pan Sauce

Lately I've been trying to use up the bottles and jars in the fridge. There are a lot of them and they have been threatening to take over. LOL

This recipe was selected because it would help me use up a jar of my red currant jelly than had been taking up real estate for far longer than I wanted to think about.

Even though I didn't pick this recipe because I thought it would be amazing (such is the choice you make when the focus is getting rid of jars of stuff) it turns out it made for a really tasty dinner. I've made lots of Swedish meatball recipes before this this one yielded a sweet and savoury sauce that was delicious. The sauce would also be great with pork chops or grilled chicken.

Enjoy.

Swedish Meatballs with Red Currant Pan Sauce

6 ounces egg noodles
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
¼ cup grated red onion
¼ cup whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs
¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
¾ teaspoon salt, divided
½ teaspoon ground allspice
¼ teaspoon grated whole nutmeg
1 pound 90% lean ground sirloin
Cooking spray
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted beef stock
2 tablespoons red currant or lingonberry jelly
2 tablespoons sour cream

Cook noodles according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; toss with butter, cover, and set aside.

Combine grated onion, panko, milk, dill, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1/4 teaspoon salt, allspice, and nutmeg in a large bowl; stir to moisten panko. Add beef; stir with your hands until combined. Gently form beef mixture into 20 balls (about 1 tablespoon each).

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add meatballs to pan; cook 6 minutes, turning occasionally, or just until cooked through (thermometer inserted into center of a meatball should register 160°). Transfer meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate; leave browned bits in pan.

Place flour in a medium bowl; gradually whisk in stock. Return pan to medium heat; add stock mixture and jelly to pan. Cook 2 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly with a whisk. Remove pan from heat; whisk in sour cream, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Serve meatballs and sauce with noodles.

Travel Tuesday - Prince Edward County

Last week I posted some pics from our weekend getaway in Prince Edward County.

Here are some more. Food, Quaker meeting house, wineries, brewery.