A little Meat!

Along with an amazing dessert I made for my in-laws, I also made burgers. Both beef & tasty veal ones that let me use herbs from my garden. After a few bbqs of burgers & dogs you might want to try something new - give veal a try.

Bistro Veal Burgers:

Ingredients
1 slice bread, torn into small pieces (I toasted mine)
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I doubled this)
1 egg
2 basil leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary (I used more)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound ground veal
4 (1 ounce) slices Cheddar or pepper jack cheese (optional) (I used Havarti)
4 hamburger buns
Directions:
Place torn bread into a bowl and sprinkle with milk and Worcestershire sauce. Mix in egg until combined. Season with basil, rosemary, and pepper. Mix in veal until evenly mixed. Shape veal mixture into four patties.
Preheat a grill for medium heat.
Lightly oil the hot grill. Grill veal burgers to desired degree of doneness, about 5 minutes per side for medium. Place a slice of cheese on each burger, and allow to melt for about 1 minute before serving on buns.

Original Recipe Yield 4 burgers

Inlaws

Every married person has in-laws. You don't get to choose your in-laws, just like your own family. If you're far away from your family your in-laws are even more important.

I had a day of in-laws! After a precarious start (my mother-in-law got a flat on the highway) we went strawberry picking. Let me tell you 37 or 38 degrees with 2 kids in the sun - you are happy to have an in-law around to help! That & the fact you are creating memories ...even if they are of peeing in the open & having a strawberry stained face!!

The day ended with my father-in-law & his wife (& brother & sister-in-law) joining us for supper. Earlier I mentioned to them I was going strawberry picking in the hopes of making strawberry rhubarb jam, the wife mentioned a pie she had made... Rhubarb Custard Pie & suggested I try it. Being adventurous (& loving the mix) I decided to try Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Pie. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! Everyone was pleased & I was happy to make a meal that was equal to my martha-like sister-in-law... one day I will have it as together as her.

Below is the original recipe. (SEE MY NOTES AT THE END).

CUSTARD RHUBARB PIE

Line a 9 inch pie dish with pastry.
Combine:
2 beaten eggs
2 tbsp. milk
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp. flour
Pinch of salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
Add:
1 1/2 c. rhubarb, cut in 1/2 inch slices
Pour mixture into pie shell.
Top with crumb topping.
Bake at 400 for 40 minutes or until custard is set up.

CRUMB TOPPING:
Combine by cutting with pastry cutter:
1/2 c. butter (cold)
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. flour

NOTE: Suggestions: put in less sugar - again I used a packet of vanilla sugar. I added strawberries & rhubarb to the pie crust (about 4 cups total) to make sure I had enough to fill, then added them to the custard to mix it all before dumping back into the pie. Lastly I put a pie crust cover on top instead of the crumble topping - next time I'll try the crumb.

Just Peachy

In my effort to get my blog up and running, I decided to kick it off with a tasty summer treat.

Many American movies show southern belles and they all make their famous Peach Cobbler and hey we can all use some southern hospitality, right?

I was expecting it to be hard, but it was SO EASY! When never sure on how it turned out my hint came when I walked into the kitchen & saw my husband had eaten a 1/4 of the dish! It was even better when served warm with ice cream.
Here is the recipe I found. The only note I have to say is that the peaches in the US must be bigger. I used around 10 and next time I'll use more! Also, a special treat I use is vanilla sugar, found at your local grocery store in the baking section. It really adds a lot of flavor to any fruit dish your making.

PEACH COBBLER

Original Recipe Yield 4 servings

Ingredients
8 fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced into thin wedges
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4 cup boiling water

MIX TOGETHER:
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine peaches, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Toss to coat evenly, and pour into a 2 quart baking dish. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in butter with your fingertips, or a pastry blender, until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in water until just combined.
4. Remove peaches from oven, and drop spoonfuls of topping over them. Sprinkle entire cobbler with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Bake until topping is golden, about 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 512 Total Fat: 17.6g Cholesterol: 46mg

Where does time go?

Ok... so I have to admit that my life has overtaken me. I usually am good at organizing my time to ensure I fit everything in... but lately I think I've been fitting so much in that I don't have time for everything and this blog has fallen to the wayside.

I so enjoy writing & even looking back & reading what I have written and I feel horrible that I have neglected it... even if no one reads it, that's not the point. The point is to write it & hopefully someone will read it, or enjoy it... if not at least I will.

I'm going to follow-this up right away with a recipe for a great summer treat!!

No place like home... when your sick.

Despite a few thoughts that I may actually be crazy, I packed up a few suitcases, hopped on a few planes & came back to my roots in Newfoundland for a few weeks - yes a few weeks with my 2 kids! Minus a few mishaps (like remembering my double stroller was in the garage as I pulled up to the airport) the traveling went relatively easy - as easy as it can be traveling with an almost 3 year-old & a teething 9 month old!

Then I think my body actually realized I was back on familiar soil & could relax, because the day after arriving I got struck with the most gruesome flu bug! I was so thankful to have family around to take care of my kids - mostly because I was in & outta consciousness! It felt ok to be sick cause I knew I had help. Just like it was great today when I dropped my baby off at my aunt's so I could take my toddler swimming.

It is so nice to have my family around, I can understand why many people my age are moving back here - if my family was closer I'd never have to watch my kids! I'm also inspired, although it's a pain to get everyone together for a dinner, when I get back home I'm going to re-start weekly family dinner with my in-laws, who knows perhaps my mother-in-law will cook too!

A Night out!

Every now & then my man does something good. Recently he got his mom to watch the kids to take me out for a suprise dinner ... although I had already made supper & was planning on an early evening I got gussied up & to my suprise had a great time. Not being out in adult company often a few things were a bit errie, like how quiet & quick the dinner was; and how the waiters asked where our kids were (guess we eat there a bit). But we managed through & at the end of the evening I cuoldn't believe how relaxed I was. Perhaps it was the excpetional food that was presented so nicely, or not having to keep reminding a kid to either keep his pants on or stop singing to other tables (he's in his 2's), either way it was a great night! It's WAY too easy to get caught up in life, whether it's kids, work or whatever... I hope I remember this night & take more time to just be.
p.s. for those of you in Laval/Montreal wondering where this place is... it's Sushi Palace (25 Cure-Labelle in Ste-Rose) & it's an all you can eat sushi place (when I first heard all you can eat sushi I too thought it's suck, but it's great!). Not only do they have sushi, but thai, chinese & a whole buncha stuff!

EASTER

Growing up for me Easter meant LOTS of chocolate, new clothes for school, cool pj's and some girlie accessories like new hair clips! However, as I speak with friends I find out for them Easter was just another day off except they get to gorge on chocolate & food!

For the past few years we've been hopping in our car & driving 5-6 hours to spend the holiday with my childhood friends and now that we have kids we've started an Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday morning... even after having celebrated & gorged on food ourselves the night before. Nothing was funnier to me this Easter morning when I see my kid taking cues from his older friend to look in places for plastic easter eggs... then when he dropped one & candy spilled out that was it for him. He no longer cared about finding eggs & got down to business at emptying the 2-3 eggs in his basket! Once he realized the other boy was still finding eggs he got back in the game, but only to get a few more theen went back to eating them! I know Easter will be more fun as he grows older & we have to get more creative in hiding eggs, but for now I couldn't have asked for a better Easter - and not just cause the sun was shinning!