Just Another Ordinary Day

Sunday Cooking
A mini-batch and thinking about Christmas dinner.

A couple of weeks ago I had plans to make a batch of vegan Italian-style beef and a block of hard vegan parmesan, but I got a migraine, and then I got houseguests, and my mini-batch for the freezer was tossed to the wayside. Well, this afternoon, it finally happened, probably because I had no plans to cook or do anything. That always seems to be when I get stuff done. I made three chunks of Italian-style beef in my slow cooker. Because I use meat analogs as an ingredient in recipes, I will get two or three meals from each piece. The block of vegan parmesan will also be portioned and put in the freezer. I like making these types of things myself. It is usually much cheaper than buying them at the store and some items aren't available in my area. The vegan parm, for instance. I know Violife has a shredded vegan parmesan but I've never seen it, only the shredded cheddar and mozzarella.

While I was working in the kitchen, it occurred to me that the Italian-style beef would be really tasty in a lasagna. This got me thinking about Christmas. I can't tell you how or why, but it's become a tradition in my family to have lasagna for Christmas dinner. And so we don't get stuck in a rut, eating the same thing every year, I experiment with different versions of lasagna. One year I made a pizza lasagna that was the bomb. My daughter, who isn't vegan, loved it! She ate so much that she didn't have room for dessert and ended up taking the leftovers home. This year I might do a more traditional lasagna, maybe with broccoli soup to start (because everyone really likes it), a green salad with apples and cranberries, and some sort of roasted vegetable. For dessert, I like the idea of a lemon ginger tiramisu, festive yet refreshing.

So, that's Christmas dinner #1. I wonder how many menus I will come up with between now and December. LOL The menu for tonight was a very exciting toasted chick'n sandwich and potato chips. And now I am going to relax and do nothing for the rest of the night. Maybe I will watch a scary movie or two in bed. That sounds like the perfect end to a good day.
 
Another Birthday
I am so blessed to have watched my children grow up.

Today, this newborn peanut turned 31. My apologies for the quality of the picture. It is a photo of a photo and I picked the best of the bunch. Look how cute he is! Awww ... my heart is melting. A part of me wonders how my firstborn can be in his thirties already, but I know how lucky I am to see my children growing older. My mother passed away from complications due to pneumonia when I was just over a year old. She never got to see her child grow up. I hope I am still here in another thirty years, marvelling that I have a son in his sixties. What a blessing that would be. In the meantime, I would be happy to have him come for a visit. He lives in another city and works a lot. I haven't seen him in three, maybe four, years. Visit your mom! Butthead. ❤️

Newborn Terry 001.JPG
 
TeaBiscuit said:
Sunday Cooking
A mini-batch and thinking about Christmas dinner.

A couple of weeks ago I had plans to make a batch of vegan Italian-style beef and a block of hard vegan parmesan, but I got a migraine, and then I got houseguests, and my mini-batch for the freezer was tossed to the wayside. Well, this afternoon, it finally happened, probably because I had no plans to cook or do anything. That always seems to be when I get stuff done. I made three chunks of Italian-style beef in my slow cooker. Because I use meat analogs as an ingredient in recipes, I will get two or three meals from each piece. The block of vegan parmesan will also be portioned and put in the freezer. I like making these types of things myself. It is usually much cheaper than buying them at the store and some items aren't available in my area. The vegan parm, for instance. I know Violife has a shredded vegan parmesan but I've never seen it, only the shredded cheddar and mozzarella.

While I was working in the kitchen, it occurred to me that the Italian-style beef would be really tasty in a lasagna. This got me thinking about Christmas. I can't tell you how or why, but it's become a tradition in my family to have lasagna for Christmas dinner. And so we don't get stuck in a rut, eating the same thing every year, I experiment with different versions of lasagna. One year I made a pizza lasagna that was the bomb. My daughter, who isn't vegan, loved it! She ate so much that she didn't have room for dessert and ended up taking the leftovers home. This year I might do a more traditional lasagna, maybe with broccoli soup to start (because everyone really likes it), a green salad with apples and cranberries, and some sort of roasted vegetable. For dessert, I like the idea of a lemon ginger tiramisu, festive yet refreshing.

So, that's Christmas dinner #1. I wonder how many menus I will come up with between now and December. LOL The menu for tonight was a very exciting toasted chick'n sandwich and potato chips. And now I am going to relax and do nothing for the rest of the night. Maybe I will watch a scary movie or two in bed. That sounds like the perfect end to a good day.
Click to expand...
 
I found my favorite potato gratin recipe online so I'll send it to you as a contribution to your well planned Christmas dinner. It is finally cool enough to turn on the oven so I plan to make them today.

https://www.nigella.com/recipes/creamy-potato-gratin

When the potatoes are cooking on the stove I add about 1/8 teaspoon baking soda to the pot. Also, when they go in the oven top them with your favorite cheese or panko crumbs.
So, if we all make it Christmas Day we can all be a part of the same meal and be grateful for the company.

Since you are so organized, how do you manage your cookbooks? My shelves are over run so I have many just boxed up.
 
A Pleasant Surprise
A nice little gift from the Universe.

It was a quiet day filled with uninteresting tasks. I paid the end-of-the-month bills and I was very happy to notice that my gas bill is still fairly low. October has been cold and wet and windy and my old house, accordingly, has been cold and drafty. It is always colder upstairs, with the third floor being the coldest area of the house. There are radiators on the second floor, but the top room relies on warm air rising through floor vents. During the winter, you can actually feel the change in temperature as you ascend the stairs. I often joke that you need to put on your coat to go to the bathroom. LOL It's not really that bad, though, unless it is super cold and windy outside, and then you definitely want another blanket on the bed. We had a couple of weeks this month where the upstairs was quite cold and I was sure that I was going to see the gas bill start creeping up, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that it was pretty much the same amount as last month. Whew. Thanks, Universe! The temperature has gone back up. It was in the mid-20s over the weekend. The snow melted and the rain has returned. Maybe I will get a reprieve for November as well. How great would that be?

If you are wondering how cold my upstairs can be in the winter, here is a photo of the steam from my shower frozen on my bathroom window. It was taken in either January 2020 or January 2021. We had been experiencing a cold snap with daily temperatures hovering around minus 35°C and dropping into the minus 40s overnight. My gas bill was a frightening thing that month! LOL

Frozen Window.jpg
 
Happy Heart said:
I found my favorite potato gratin recipe online so I'll send it to you as a contribution to your well planned Christmas dinner. It is finally cool enough to turn on the oven so I plan to make them today.
Click to expand...

I've made that recipe (with vegan substitutions)! It's in Nigella Bites. I've cooked a few of the recipes in that book. I should dig it out and flip through it. My books are very unorganized, I am sorry to tell you. I only have one bookcase and it is up on the third floor. My cookbooks are currently housed in cupboards and drawers and piled on whatever available surface I can find. I am forever telling myself to stop buying books because I have nowhere to put them, but of course I don't, and I somehow always manage to find room for them somewhere. Where there is a will, there's a way! LOL
 
TeaBiscuit said:
I've made that recipe (with vegan substitutions)! It's in Nigella Bites. I've cooked a few of the recipes in that book. I should dig it out and flip through it. My books are very unorganized, I am sorry to tell you. I only have one bookcase and it is up on the third floor. My cookbooks are currently housed in cupboards and drawers and piled on whatever available surface I can find. I am forever telling myself to stop buying books because I have nowhere to put them, but of course I don't, and I somehow always manage to find room for them somewhere. Where there is a will, there's a way! LOL
Click to expand...
I have been curious about my cookbook compulsion and finally decided I'm just on a quest for the perfect recipe. What are your thoughts? I have been able to dispose of some books that I have outgrown as my skills changed but I don't want to accidently toss out the perfect recipe.

Is the steam on your shower door iced over? It looks like it from the photo. We had to replace all the duct work under our house and all the windows when we moved in to this house. Our old windows would have a good layer of ice on the aluminum frames during the winter resulting in $300 winter heating bills. We used to live in a two story but decided to move to single story while we could.
Sweet dreams.
 
Daily Journal
More rain, baking a cake, new cookbooks.

It rained all night, quite heavy at times, and continued through this morning. This afternoon the sky was overcast. The sun is attempting to make an appearance, but judging by the dark clouds, I doubt we'll get to enjoy it for very long. Tomorrow is supposed to be cloudy as well, but no rain. If I wake up early enough, I have errands outside of the house that I want to take care of before I have to go out again later, and then my days are my own until next week to do whatever I please ... or nothing at all.

I busied myself today making a beef and rice casserole for dinner with some of the vegan Italian beef I made on Sunday. Man, that stuff is SO tasty! I also baked a cake because I have some vegan yogurt in my fridge that needs to be used. It is just a plain vanilla cake that I can eat with coffee and tea as a snack. I like a simple cake and I am not a fan of frosting. I find it too sweet and most of the time I just can't be bothered. I will say, though, Nigella Lawson has some easy glaze recipes that are very good and not overly sweet. I really appreciate that for special occasions. For everyday bakes, me being fancy is putting poppy seeds in a lemon cake. LOL Sometimes simple is just what you want.

Two 'new' secondhand cookbooks arrived at my doorstep the other day. It was a surprise because I'd only just ordered them less than two weeks ago and they were coming from the States. Usually, it takes longer. But I am definitely not complaining. I also bought a brand new Christmas cookbook from Amazon and it has also made a timely appearance. The book is Advent by Anja Dunk and it is a celebration of the Advent season (November 27 to December 24) with German recipes. I love Christmas cookbooks, old and new, and this one is beautiful. Trying to choose which recipe to make first is such sweet agony.
 
Comparing Cookbooks
Kind of different but I suspect mostly the same.

I arrived home late last night, around 10:00 PM. I was starving and so happy to have leftovers in the fridge for a quick meal. After I'd eaten and washed up and relaxed a bit, it was almost midnight and too late to write. It occurred to me that this was the first day I've missed since starting this blog back in September. I have written every day for forty-one days. That was a pretty good streak for me! I am not the best at blogging - or journalling on paper - so I tend to tell people not to expect much and then they won't be disappointed. LOL

Yesterday, before going out, I had an interesting little conversation with a woman in my vintage cookbook group on Facebook. She had posted a photo of the apple fritters she had made from a recipe in The American Family Cookbook. I commented that I had the Canadian version of that book and wondered how similar they were. She told me the page number of the apple fritters recipe in her book and I checked my book. Same page! When I first bought my copy of The Canadian Family Cookbook, I had assumed, incorrectly it seems, that it was a Canadian book. I had no idea there was an American version. My copy has a section at the beginning: Regional Specialties by Province. I joked to her that this must be the Canadian portion of the book. LOL I remember when I first got the book I was curious as to why the territories weren't mentioned in that section as well. And hot roll mix is used as an ingredient in some of the recipes. I've never seen that item in Canada (maybe we have it and I've just never noticed?). Also, there is the occasional reference to American sources: xx recipe came from this place in this state, yy recipe came from that place in that state. I would read those and think, okay, but those aren't Canadian. Well, now I understand why.

The books are published by the Culinary Arts Institute. I just googled and a bunch of cookbooks popped up, including a Christmas cookbook. Universe, what are you doing to me? You know how weak I am when it comes to Christmas cookbooks! And I admit that I am already considering buying a copy of The American Family Cookbook for the sole reason that it would be fun to see how similar the two books really are. Someone ... PLEASE ... take my computer away! LOL
 
Happy Heart said:
I have been curious about my cookbook compulsion and finally decided I'm just on a quest for the perfect recipe. What are your thoughts? I have been able to dispose of some books that I have outgrown as my skills changed but I don't want to accidently toss out the perfect recipe.
Click to expand...

I have been pondering this myself. For me, cookbooks and food and cooking are comforts. Older cookbooks, especially, have such a strong sense of nostalgia. They take me back to my younger self and a time when I was filled with hopes and dreams. Maybe a part of me is trying to find that again.
 
Sunshine And Wildflowers
Let me tell ya 'bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees ... 🎶

The weather has been very mild this week and the past couple of days have been sunny and lovely, so nice after all the rain we've had recently. All the leaves have fallen from the trees in front of my house, but the trees in the back are still holding on. The other day as I stepped outside to talk to my daughter, the chickadee flew right past my face and landed on the tree branch beside me. He/she sure is a determined little creature. LOL I still haven't seen my squirrel yet, but other people have, which is a relief. He always disappears in the summertime and then I worry about him until he returns in the fall. I think he has a vacation home in another neighbourhood. Lucky guy.

My Facebook memories have been showing me photos of nasturtiums that have blossomed in the yard at this time in previous years, along with my comments about how cheerful they looked in their Halloween colours of yellow and orange. Usually, my gardening efforts are centred around vegetables. And I tend to stick with easy vegetables that I know will do well. I don't really have a knack for getting plants to grow unless they're weeds. And if I can boast for just a minute, my weeds are frikkin' spectacular! LOL But every now and then, I like to try my hand at something new, so one summer I planted some flower seeds. The nasturtiums did the best. I also got some sweet peas to grow but I can't remember if they flowered or not. I have read that flowers are difficult to grow from seeds, so I was happy with the results of my efforts.

This summer I didn't plant anything. I just let nature do as it pleased. It's good for the ecosystem to let native plants have the chance to thrive. A bunch of wildflowers came up along the fence and when the windows on the second floor were open, all you could smell were flowers whenever you went upstairs. Bees and butterflies really enjoyed my backyard and I was glad to see them. You know you're doing something good for the planet when bees and butterflies come to visit. ❤️
 
Daily Journal
Enjoying a lazy day not doing much of anything.

It's been a typically quiet Sunday. I had planned to work on a project and then got distracted and ended up binge-watching Prom Night movies all day. I only have two days left in October and I am making the most of them! Next week I'll be getting out my Tipsy Reindeer mug and sliding into Hallmark Christmas movies. I love everything about Christmas, even the cheesy romantic holiday movies!

For dinner, I made a delicious curry from odds and ends in the fridge, so I haven't been completely useless. I might do some work on my project later, but honestly, I will probably spend the evening watching movies and then reading in bed. If you can't goof off and be lazy at the weekend, when can you? Time enough to be productive during the week.

I hope everyone is spending their weekend doing what makes them happy! :)
 
Now you have me curious. I have The American Woman's Cook Book, 1949, on page 118 top of page is a recipe for Rice Muffins - your book? I have never tried it. My 1969 Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook has Peppermint Stick Ice Cream on page 654, is that a match? That is my favorite ice cream, well actually I haven't met one I didn't like. Although watchin Biden lick some is well.........................
 
Last edited:
TB, have you ever seen the Alberta Women’s Cookbook? It had a turquoise green cover. It came out about 1970. Somehow I lost my copy. A SF member found it in WA state but they don’t mail to Canada. I loved the basic recipes. Who knows, the memories may be better than the reality.
 
Story Time
A ghostly visit at Halloween.

Back in the day when my dad was still alive, we had a conversation about something I can no longer remember that ended with me saying, "I don't know what happens when we die, but wherever you end up, stay there. I don't want any visits from the afterlife." He joked that he was going to come back and haunt me. Well, he didn't haunt me, but he did come back. He visited annually for about eight years. The very first visit occurred the December after he passed away, but all the other visits happened in October. Once he came on Halloween.

My kids and I were living in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia that year. All that month we waited and watched for a sign that he had been by. My dad always left some sort of sign to let us know that he had stopped in to see us. And it was different every year. We never knew what he was going to do, but we always recognized that it was him. The days passed that October and there was nothing. And then it was the 31st and I was so disappointed to think we weren't going to see him. We were sitting in the living room watching Ghost Ship on tv and I said to my kids, "Well, I guess Grandpa Bob isn't coming this year." And no sooner were the words out of my mouth, than the radio in the kitchen came on. Now, the radio in the kitchen was an old secondhand clock radio with a sticky on/off switch. Up was on, and you had to hold the clock radio down with one hand in order to push that switch up. No way was that thing just coming on by itself. We were all so happy to hear music suddenly blaring from the kitchen. Me, especially!

There were only a couple more visits in the years following. I wasn't even at home for the final visit, but my son was. I am sorry I missed him. I was always so happy and so grateful that my dad didn't listen when I told him that I didn't want any visits from the afterlife. They meant the world to me, and I am glad that my children's first experiences with ghostly visits were good ones. We all looked forward to his visits so much. Ghosts aren't necessarily scary and some of them can even leave you with fond memories. ❤️
 
Jules said:
TB, have you ever seen the Alberta Women’s Cookbook? It had a turquoise green cover. It came out about 1970. Somehow I lost my copy. A SF member found it in WA state but they don’t mail to Canada. I loved the basic recipes. Who knows, the memories may be better than the reality.
Click to expand...

I checked the two sites I frequent most often for older books and nothing came up in a search. If I happen to come across it, I'll let you know. :)
 
Can We Say Price-Gouging?
Things that make you roll your eyes.

The other day, SF friend Jules asked me about a cookbook. I was, unfortunately, no help, but that post got me thinking about my own quest for a particular cookbook and not having much luck. For the past few years, I have been searching for a specific copy of the Canadian Cook Book by Nellie Lyle Pattinson. I actually have two copies of this book, one from 1977 and one from 1947. This book was originally published in 1923 and was Canada's very first all-purpose cookbook. The final edition of the book was published, I think, in 1991. So it has been around for a very long time!

The edition I have been looking for was put out sometime in the late 50s/early 60s. It had a yellow cover. This copy belonged to my late mother and it was the book that taught me how to cook when I was a young girl. The 1947 copy, which has a blue cover, belonged to my dad's sister, whose maiden name (written inside on the first page), was my mother's married name. Every time I open the book and see the name, I think of her. But I still keep looking for the yellow book. And it's been unbelievably hard to find. Then, one day, I did a search at one of my favourite secondhand book sites and there it was! I was SO excited for a hot minute and then I glanced to the right. Good luck with that, dude! LOL

Canadian Cook Book 2.jpg

Since I have begun buying secondhand books, I've noticed that Canadian booksellers are the worst for charging ridiculous prices for older Canadian cookbooks. And look at what he wants for shipping! Seventeen American dollars for shipping within Canada. Really, guy? It's a small book. It isn't at all heavy. Not too long ago, I had a much bigger book shipped from the UK for a third of the cost. With the current exchange rate, this book would cost a total of 425.15. Sometimes you just have to laugh.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top