Ok.  Enough is Enough.
I've had this sitting in the wings.  Waiting.
I made the mix.  I burnt it a little - totally my fault.  I missed the tobasco.  My fault.  I took really crappy pictures.  My fault.


Then I thought, 'I've got a lot that I haven't used yet.  I'm going to make this again and do it right... and take better pictures, 'cause... damn.'  Then I didn't.  I didn't make it again.  I didn't take better pictures.
I just looked at the stuff sitting in the bags every time I opened my cupboard.  I would think, 'not today'.  Then we went back to school and mysteriously the corn chips disappeared after day 3.  That was weird.  Then by school day 4 the cashews had disappeared.
Later that same day the cheerios made it into the after school snack roster.
It was then that I decided that the whole project was a bust.  I realized the obvious.  I was not going to make this again anytime soon.
I still haven't acquired any tobasco.  The cheerios have by now dwindled to half of their original volume.  The cashews and corn chips have been demolished and only the pretzel's and shreddies are in amounts even close to necessary.


Since I feel guilty for totally procrastinating on the remake I'm not going to continue procrastinating the post itself.  I apologize for absolutely sucky pics but I can recommend the recipe itself.  It's worth it.  if you consider the amount of butter combined with the cereal and chips you gotta know that it's pretty much impossible to go wrong... unless you burn the edges just a little like I did.  If I were to make it again then I would turn the oven down to about 275 degrees and then work up if that's not quite enough.  Please don't leave out the tobasco because it really does need the punch.  This makes a great giveaway and it also makes a great movie night snack.  Or tv night.  Or friends visiting.  Or snack with a drink after the kids are in bed.


Roasted Chex Mix adapted from 'Food in Jars'
makes a lot but I would double it if you want to do some giving away and keeping.

4 cups cheerios
4 cups shreddies
8 cups chex
2 cups pretzel sticks (not the round ones)
2 cups corn chips
2 cups peanuts
2 cups cashews

1 cup butter
5 heaping tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cayenne (or 5 - 8 dashes tobasco - I didn't have any)
10 good dashes (about 2 heaping tsp or so) garlic powder
coarse salt to sprinkle

Combine the cereals, pretzels, chips and nuts in a huge bowl.  Mix well.
In a saucepan melt the butter.  Once melted remove from heat and add in the Worcestershire, cayenne and garlic salt.
Pour the butter mixture over the bowl of stuff... stir constantly.  If you can get a helper then one can pour while the other one mixes and it's much easier.
Heat the oven to 325 (although I ended up turning mine down just below 300 - I think my oven just gets too hot) degrees F.
Divide the mixture between two deep roasting pans.
Bake for just over an hour stirring every 10 minutes.
Cool completely by pouring the mixture out onto parchment paper and spreading it out.  (otherwise it sticks).  Cool and place in jars or containers to give away... or in a nice big bowl in your house and munch away.

It's only just occurred to me that I could be one of those bloggers who has a 'one year ago/two years ago' spot at the end of each post.  Have you looked at any other food bloggers?  A lot of them have posted what  they cooked or baked a year ago, two years ago and so on.  And yes... it's just occurred to me that I've now been blogging for two years.
I guess that I knew the time was passing.  I remember thinking about it a couple of times - you know 'Hey, I've been blogging for almost two years now' kind of thing.
It's pretty cool, this blogging thing for me.  I started doing this largely because of my sister.  A few years ago I began a little cookbook for her and each Christmas I would add a couple of recipes to the book.  She lives very far away from me so doing it was a fun way of passing on a love of something that we both shared.  Things like spaghetti sauce, chocolate cake, chocolate cupcakes and some joke ones too.  I started to think that this could be a lot easier if it was online somewhere.  I really wanted to do a realtime cooking thing on youtube but my house is not really set up for it  - my lighting is horrible and my smoke alarm goes off just about every time I turn on the stove.  I thought it would be hilarious to shoot whatever time it took to make a recipe from start to finish - complete with kids in the background, phone calls, you get the idea.  Anyway, that went the way of many other great ideas... nowhere.  Then one day my sister forwarded me this recipe from Heidi Swanson at 101cookbooks.  Beautiful, intelligent and artful.  I loved it.  What a thing, this food blogging.
That's when the light-bulb went off - I could do this food blog thing and then my sister could access my recipes and see what I'm cooking or baking anytime.  This could be cool.  It also served my love of attention without confrontation perfectly.  I started taking pictures of my christmas baking that year, figured out how to work this blog/typing in the data/thingy, finally got my head around how to get pictures on it and all that and, well... the rest is history.  At first the pictures were really small and I'm a little embarrassed but what the hell... I did it.  I wanted to, I figured it out and I did it.


Now that we are two years on I've discovered more about myself than I ever thought I would just by doing a food blog.  I've gained a lot of respect for writers.  I've tackled some recipes that I would never have even considered before.  I've ranted and raved and probably made a right fool of myself sometimes and other times I may have achieved a level of coherence that I hadn't imagined possible from little ole' me.  In short, I had no clue what I was getting myself into but I'm really glad that I did.


To celebrate I've posted this wonderfully exciting soup recipe (WTF).  Seriously, I wasn't thinking about anything celebratory when I made the soup - obviously.  It's soup.  Goop in a bowl.  More white stuff that looks like porridge until you taste it.  I doctored this soup so far from the recipe that it's barely recognizable but when I tasted the original recipe result the boredom nearly knocked me out.  The soup contains bacon which should cover a multitude of boredom but somehow did not with this recipe.  Doctored up the soup is great although I still throw some chilli pepper flakes on the top of mine before I down it.
Special thanks and love go out to my little sis' for inspiring me to start the craziness.  Thanks to you all for reading my crap and hopefully being entertained and maybe occasionally feeling inspired to make some of it.  Cheers and here's a spoon salute to you my readers for coming with me on the two year journey.   Grab and spoon and dig in.


Roasted Cauliflower, Bacon and Cannellini Bean Soup adapted liberally from... I can't remember... a food magazine...
serves 6 - 8

5 cups roasted cauliflower (broken into florets, tossed in oil and roasted at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes)
1 medium onion, diced
2 lg cloves garlic, diced
1 rib celery, diced
4 slices of bacon, diced
2 tbsp thyme
2 tbsp salt (I was using low salt bouillon so start with 1 tbsp and add if necessary)
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 dash saffron
2 tbsp sugar
1 540 ml can of cannellini beans (or white kidney beans), drained well
4 cups veg or chicken stock

In a soup pot (or dutch oven) heat oil over medium heat.
Add the onion, celery and bacon to the pot.  Turn the heat down a bit to med/low.  Brown together for about 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and brown for another 3 - 4 minutes.
Add in the cauliflower and mix well.  Cook together for about 5 minutes.
Add in the thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne, saffron and sugar.  Mix.
Add in the drained beans and stock.
Simmer for about 15 minutes.
Check the tastes and adjust if necessary.
Blend with an immersion blender or ladle into a blender and blend until smooth.

Chocolate Chip and Cherry Muffins adapted from Taste of Home
makes about 10 large or 12 medium muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (2%)
1/2 cup canola oil (or other tasteless oil)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup diced cherries (tossed in a little bit of flour)
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips or small chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a muffin tin with papers or silicon muffin cups.
Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl.
Whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla in another bowl.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
Add in the cherries and chocolate.  Mix
Spoon into the muffin cups.
Bake for about 22 minutes or so.  Cool and eat.

I'm not one for these January resolutions.  I'm not.  In fact, I'm trying to recall a time in my life where I made a new years resolution... nope, can't recall even once.
So, I don't hit the gym in January.
I've never gone on a diet in January.
I've never stopped smoking in January.
I've never stopped swearing in January.
I've never been nicer to people in January... I think that you get the picture.  I do make a habit of sitting down and talking through some bigger things with D once in a while though.  I don't think it's quite the same thing though.  The thing about the resolutions is that somehow it becomes a set-up.  It's like we've jinxed the whole thing just by calling it a new year's resolution.  By the end of February the whole thing has been either completely forgotten or so devastated that even the thought of it is riddled with guilt.  However, maybe I have it all wrong.  Maybe I'm the one whose gotten it backwards - if that's the case then I can deal, I can handle it.
D told me lately that he thinks that my writing here has been a little incoherent of late.  I'm not surprised.  December was a bitch - it always is.  My head is tired.  My brain is foggy and my body wants to hibernate.  I took his words to heart though and it got me thinking about what I do here.  So, even though I think that what I'm about to do is pretty dumb, I present to you...

Wanda's Blog Resolutions for 2012:

#1  I hereby resolve to do my best to be coherent.  This means that I will stop posting after work when my kids are home and running around.  I will stop posting late at night when I should be sleeping.  I will not post when I've had less than 5 hours sleep a night... Wait a second this resolution is totally not gonna work, I'll have like a 10 minutes window on Sunday eve after 9 p.m. to blog.  Moving on.

#2  I resolve not use blogging to procrastinate and/or completely avoid other work that should get done... screw it, that's dumb.  Moving on.

#3  I resolve to personally respond to every single comment left on my blog.  (Have you ever actually checked how many people leave a comment... this one is so easy and it makes me look sooooo good) Moving on.

#4  I resolve to my wit more and my sarcasm less... who am I kidding.  Moving on.

#5  I resolve to stop making stupid resolutions.  Even before I wrote them out they seemed stupid and now that I see them on the screen in front of me they look even stupider (if that's even a word).  I think that I might have, once again, veered into 'incoherent-land' just to make matters worse.  I'm going to stop while I'm ahead.


If I'm a little 'incoherent' over the next 2 months (conveniently coinciding with Winter, people) then please forgive me.  I will do my best.  In the meantime, I'm working hard to cook food that will help my brain and my body.  Root veggies are super good for you - I don't know what they do exactly but whatever it is they're definitely going to help me make better posts than this one in the future.


Squash, Root Vegetable and Kale Cassoulet adapted from GoodFood Magazine UK
serves 6 - 8

2 lg parsnips diced
2 lg carrots diced
2 small turnip or rutabaga diced
1 lb butternut (or other winter squash) squash diced
1 onion diced
2 cloves of garlic minced
1 1/2 tbsp each - thyme, parsley, oregano, rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 tsp salt
1/3 cup ketchup
2 lg tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 - 2 cups vegetable stock
3 - 4 dashes of cayenne or hot sauce (optional)
1 large can of diced tomatoes (I used my own which I think was 700 ml)
2 15 oz cans of beans (any will do really but I used Navy beans) undrained
3 - 4 cups kale, coarsely chopped
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Throw the parsnips, carrots, turnip and squash onto a baking sheet.  Toss in oil and sprinkle with salt.  Roast for about 30 - 35 minutes.
Remove from the oven.
Turn the oven down to 350 degrees F.
In the meantime, heat a dutch oven over medium heat.  Add a few tbsp of oil or grease (yeah - I said grease).  Add the onion and sauté for about 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and sauté for another 4 minutes.  Turn the heat down to med/low and add in the spices, ketchup, brown sugar and dijon.   Mix.
Add in the canned beans and mix.
Add the tomatoes and mix.
Add enough vegetable stock to cover the whole mixture.
Add the hot sauce.  Check the tastes and adjust if necessary.
Add the kale to the top and gradually mix it into the bean mixture once the kale starts to wilt.

Place the roasted vegetables into a large baking dish or even a roaster if nothing else is big enough.
Cover with the bean mixture.
Sprinkle the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese on top of the casserole.
Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling and the bread crumbs/parmesan is golden brown.
Cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just can't figure out what day of the week it is.  It's awesome when you finally figure out that it's Saturday but it feels like Sunday... it bites when you realize it's Monday and it feels like Wednesday.  I'm having a 'it's Saturday but it feels like Sunday' day today.
I've already done a ton of chores for the day.  I've already done my run for today - p.s.  I'm now up to 6k without killing my foot.  I'm stretching a lot during the runs as well as before and after.   I'm working my way up to 7k by the end of this week - I've already eaten my lunch.  I've already made my fake order on Amazon - you know, when you click on a few things and you totally intend to buy them but then you get through to the checkout when you are supposed to confirm your order (the very last step) and you log out instead.  Today's order was 60$ - All that I've done and it's only 2 p.m. THE BEST.
Now I could definitely get up to something.  I could clean up the kids rooms.  I could take down my tree.  I could hang up my laundry 'cause I haven't done that yet.  I'm not going to do any of that though.  I'm going to curl up on the couch (if my kids will let me) with a book (does it count if it's on a kindle?) I might (read will) make some tea.  I'm gonna read and sip and not feel guilty at all.  It's cloudy and rainy and cold and I need to curl up somewhere and be thankful that it's the weekend and I have the luxury of curling.  If thing really go well then I might just heat up a little piece of this stuff in the microwave (just a little heat) and have it with a few dollops of lemon curd on the side.  Yup - it's that kinda day.


I don't have much of this wonderful gingerbread because KT got most of it as part of her christmas gift.  I like doing that and I think that she likes getting it.  The recipe itself is a total hybrid.  I only started making gingerbread when I was cooking for the elderly couple during my university years.  They wanted 4 o'clock tea everyday and gingerbread was one of those things that they wanted me to make.  I made it so much back then that I could do with almost without a recipe.  They watched PBS and noshed on gingerbread and tea while I made their dinner.  I've adapted the silver palate recipe to coincide with the recipe I used back then... which was my favourite.  Previous to my time with the Waite's I wouldn't have dreamed of eating gingerbread because... well because it wasn't chocolate.


Now, I love it.  It's one of those things that goes down so well when you are curling up on the couch on a cold, wet, dark Sunday.  At least I think it's Sunday - it feels like it shouldn't be the weekend but I'm pretty sure it is... I'd better go and check just to make sure.


Gingerbread adapted from The Silver Palate cookbook
makes 1 9x9 square pan

2 cups all purpose flour
1 14 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp (or so) ground nutmeg
1 lg egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 9x9inch square pan.

Combine the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg together.  Mix and set aside.
Heat the molasses and butter together in a heat proof bowl over simmering water.  Set aside.
Mix together the egg and the buttermilk.  Beat together and then add the sugar.
Add the egg mixture to the molasses mixture.
Pour the molasses mixture into the flour.  Mix until combined.
Pour into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 30 - 35 minutes (turning half way if you need to in your oven)
Remove and cool for about 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.
Cut and enjoy with whipped cream or lemon curd or just sprinkle with a little icing sugar.

2011 in on it's 365th day which means it's time to say goodbye to this year and hello to the next.  I'm not big on sentimentality but since everybody else is doing it I thought that I might as well jump on the band wagon... 'cause I'm a wagon jumper kinda person.  Here are some highlights (the ones I can remember), some inspirations and some struggles that have hit me this year...

This movie blew me away this year.


Hoisin Sauce.  I heard a chef on tv the other day remarking that he could eat hoisin sauce straight from the jar.  Yup.  It's been a huge discovery for me this year.  What... RAD.

I'm still coveting a tattoo by Alice.


Bread became a regular part of my life this year.  I can't say that I'm good at it.  I can't say that I make nice looking loaves.  I can say that it's pretty easy and is worth the effort.  Most importantly I can say... 'Yeast!  Hey!  I'm not afraid of you anymore.'  We're cool.

Music is always a big part of my life.  I'm currently over-dosing on these guys... canadians no less.  I'm also loving this and this and this.  Sometimes I look pretty funny when I'm running and doing a kind of arm dance at the same time.  I just can't help it, sometimes music really does transport me.  Oh and take a listen to this stuff.  Mind blowing.



 In 2011 I took an awesome trip with the fam and  another short one with my BFF.  Both were awesome and I'm a lucky human being.

This year I learned that things you could never have predicted can come along and change your world view completely if you let them.  Sometimes it doesn't just help you become a better person but helps the people around you too.  For that I say a big Thanks.

I learned that good relationships can still get better even after 16 years.  Awesome.

I'm grappling with my sense of self in the midst of environmentalism.  I'm wondering what it means to give a shit in this current politically correct ecology dialogue.  I'm wondering if that dialogue is even a good thing.  I'm grappling.  Reading an article in the latest Orion Magazine by Paul Kingsnorth really hit the issues I'm struggling with on the head.

I'm crossing my fingers and praying hard to whoever will listen that 2012 be a better, brighter, happier, more fulfilling year for all of us... now let's get it started!!!

This is it.  It's truly winter.
We have had our first real snowfall of the year.  The one that stays for at least 24 hours.  The one that starts slowly over 3 or 4 hours and then gets heavier for another 3 hours and then just becomes flurries for another 4 hours.  The kind where you don't have to guess whether it's rain or snow.  The one where you are definitely cold when you go outside, the wind is unmistakable and your hands are frozen in a couple of minutes.  Yup.  It's winter.
It came 3 days after Christmas here in Toronto.  That's ok though because I'm kind of still celebrating.  I'm still cooking away and baking for friends.  Right now D and I are in the kitchen cooking our annual ham.  This year it's happening in Coke which is kinda funny because we are against drinking it (look I'm no saint - I'll have it once in a while).  So while the ham is getting a coke bath I'm making crackers.


Sometimes I have this weird experience where I'm reading my own blog, I'm reading what I wrote not much earlier, and it feels like I'm reading someone else's stuff.  That's weird right?  I sound different when I read me.  Maybe it's like hearing your voice back after a recording (super-weird) or seeing photos of yourself that look nothing like you do when you look in the mirror.  When I read me it feels to me like I'm reading about this person who is really funny and smart, who is probably feeling pretty confident about herself, who believes strongly in things (true), has it pretty together (hmmmmmm) and is highly energetic.  The only problem is that it's just not me.  I was never one of the super-smart kids in school.  In fact, I don't think that I fell into the 'reasonably smart' category.  I guess I was funny but that was only to my friends who I cared enough to be funny for.  My confidence levels vary daily and sometimes multiple times daily (is that normal?).  I do believe in things strongly but not so strongly that I'll get angry with you about it which probably would make me a terrible activist.  'Has it pretty together'... let's not even go there.  And highly energetic?  Well, since the holidays have started afternoon naps have become highly valued and since the snow has fallen and it's gotten like mega-cold (Ok - not that cold) I've been too lazy to run... but I am getting out there tomorrow.  That laziness has caused me to procrastinate making these crackers by at least 3 days.  But not any more... they're done and they were easy.  The results very tasty.


This recipe would easily lend itself to all kinds of variations as well.  I would happily add something peppery or parmesan or herb.  I'm definitely making these again with some variations.  I have a BFF who loves oatmeal and needs some homemade Christmas gifts in her life.    I tried a little one with some cheese on top and it was great.  KT is going to love these.


Seeded Oat Crackers adapted from GoodFood UK Magazine
makes about 12 - 15 medium/large crackers

50 g (between 1/4 and 1/3 cup) butter, melted
100g (1 cup) oatmeal
100g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone.
Bring a little water to a boil.
Combine the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, seeds, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl.
Add to the flour mixture the melted butter and enough boiling water (about 5 - 6 tbsp) to form a stiff dough.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness (.5 cm).
Cut out the shapes that you want and place on baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden.
Remove and cool on wire racks.