As the weather gets colder, and the pumpkins ripen in the fields, my thoughts turn to soup. Pumpkin soup, to be precise…and in today’s case, pumpkin soup with coconut milk and Thai curry paste.
I love high tea or afternoon tea.  My aunt usually takes my cousin and I for tea at The Empress every Christmas. I had some high tea ideas of my own, so when my cousin’s sister came out to visit this week, I invited them both, plus my aunt to high tea, hosted by myself and my mother in law. This is very much NOT a meal in a hurry…I prepared this well in advance, except for the crab and shrimp boats and the pork pasties…which were made by myself and my mother in law and cooked off just before serving. All the baking was spaced out over several evenings, and I made the sandwiches the night before.
Posted in baking and desserts, chicken, egg and/or cheese, ideas, vegetarian
Tagged High Tea Ideas
This is a variation of my favourite go-to recipe when I need a dessert/treat in a hurry. I have made butterscotch brownies (I think some people call them blondies, but I have known them as brownies all my life) so many times that I no longer need to look at the recipe.
After talking to my daughter last night, I decided to try making them with apples. She had just made an apple cake, and since she is 500 miles away, I can’t pop over for a bite.
Posted in baking, baking and desserts, vegetarian
Tagged Apple Butterscotch Brownies
These banana bran muffins are my very own creation. When my daughter was a teenager, it was sometimes hard to come up with things that were relatively healthy that she would eat. The combination of banana and chocolate chips is one of those flavours I could usually rely upon, so I added some oat bran and flax seeds to make it it a tad healthier, and it was a hit:)
Posted in baking, baking and desserts, vegetarian, Weight Watchers points
Tagged Banana Bran Muffins
I first encountered a raspberry and white chocolate scone at the local coffee shop. It was delicious and my mouth was in ecstasy. After I had eaten it a couple of days in a row, and found my desire for it unabated, I decided to try to replicate it. I think I have been successful.
Posted in baking, baking and desserts, vegetarian
Methinks I may have occasionally mentioned just how much I love crab? Yesterday we got four of the yummy little guys. Steve cleaned them up, and I steamed them for supper (takes about 10 minutes in a bamboo steamer over boiling water).
We had them with a little melted butter and some quinoa “fried rice”.
Today was a little bit hectic first thing in the morning…getting the recycling out to the curb, emptying the dishwasher, making my breakfast and prepping a lunch. All of a sudden it was time to dash, and I rushed out of the house and was halfway to work before I realized I hadn’t taken anything out for supper. By the end of the day, I was tired and hot, so I decided to buy a cooked chicken , fry some potatoes and experiment with this watermelon cucumber salad.
The loveliest thing about summer is the delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables that are available at local farmer’s markets and in the grocery stores. So much more flavour that those that have been picked before their peak and shipped thousands of miles to grace our tables out of season. I like this strawberry blueberry salad because it takes advantage of the local berry crop.
This broccoli grape salad won’t win any prizes for beauty, but for taste and simplicity? Win!
I threw this together last night to have with some leftover chicken curry for my lunch today. I happened to have some leftover peanut lime dressing, so I added  a bout 1 1/2 tablespoons of the dressing to 3/4 cup broccoli florets and about 1/3 cup red grapes. It was very tasty.
If I were to make this for dinner, I think I would add apple slices, diced celery and some nuts (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or pecans).
Spinach strawberry salad is very quick to prepare, tasty and eye-catching. It is also nicely nutritious:)