A CUP OF TEA
When the world is all at odds
and the mind is all at sea,
then cease the useless tedium
and brew a cup of tea.
There is magic in its fragrance;
there is solace in its taste.
And then laden moments vanish
somehow into space.
The world becomes a lovely thing;
there’s beauty as you’ll see.
All because you briefly stopped
to brew a cup of tea.
~ Source unknown
So – here’s the main reason I haven’t posted for quite a while…. Or at least the flimsy excuse I’m giving!
I’ve been too busy watching episodes of my new favourite TV show – Come Dine With Me. (Yes, I’ll admit it! I’ve been tied up watching the telly!)
If you aren’t familiar with Come Dine With Me, here’s the premise of this British (reality) series.
Five strangers get together to each host a three-course dinner party on successive evenings. At the end of each evening, the guests score the host on his or her hosting/cooking/entertaining skills. The host with the highest score is revealed on the last night and wins £1000, and the title of top dinner party host for the week.
The show is a real life comedy, drama, tragedy, cooking show and sometimes worst nightmare all rolled into one. Things invariably go wrong in the kitchen, personalities clash, and the competitiveness of some ALL of the participants fuel each half hour episode and make for sometimes strange and bizarre, but rather entertaining TV.
Then you mix in the British accents, eccentric characters, the chance to peek into other people’s homes and see how they prep for and host a dinner party in the UK (one of my favourite countries!), and you’ve got a recipe for a show quite unlike others currently available for sampling. And if you really want to sample, often there are some inspired and inspiring menu plans and recipes served up! (And posted online for viewers who saw something that whet their appetite.)
I can’t forget to mention the show’s host/narrator. Dave Lamb (his voice, accent and witty comments!) is a huge reason why I like the show. Throughout each episode he interjects a comical runny commentary about what the participants are doing – or should or shouldn’t be doing!
It’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted something (anything!) on my blog.
I’ve got excuses! Lots of them.
* I’ve been busy with my work blog – Everything Eggs.
* I had to develop recipes to teach a couple of Afternoon Tea classes – one at Thyme to Cook in Guelph and the other at Household China and Gifts in Waterloo.
Triangle- shaped herb-crusted egg salad sandwiches pair perfectly with a cup of tea!
* I’ve been doing some recipe development and food writing for Roomplanners‘ e-zine.
Little Jimmy and his family were having Sunday dinner at his grandmother’s house. Everyone was seated around the table as the food was being served. When little Jimmy received his plate, he started eating right away.
“Jimmy, please wait until we say our prayer,” said his dad.
“I don’t have to,” the boy replied.
“Of course you do,” his dad insisted. “We always say a prayer before eating at our house.”
“That’s our house,” Jimmy explained. “But this is grandma’s house, and she knows how to cook!”
Want a decadent brunch or dessert recipe? Perhaps something to serve this Easter weekend?
At the Chocolate class I taught at Thyme to Cook in Guelph a couple weeks ago, one of the recipes I made was Chocolate Crepes with Cream Cheese Filling.
You could easily use another filling of your choice for these crepes: chopped fruit, caramelized bananas, ice cream, sherbet, frozen yogurt, pudding, or ???? What do you suggest?
Or, you could simply roll up the crepes and drizzle them with fruit syrup, maple syrup or chocolate sauce.
Chocolate crepes filled with chocolate ice cream and topped with strawberries and a sprinkle of icing sugar
Chocolate Crepes with Cream Cheese Filling
(Makes about 18 small crepes or 10 large crepes)
Crepes:
2 eggs
1 cup (250 mL) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp (45 mL) sugar
2 tbsp (30 mL) cocoa
¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
1-1/4 cups (300 mL) milk
2 tbsp (30 mL) melted butter
Vegetable oil
Continue reading
Some food for thought……
Heard an interesting conversation about local eating this morning on CBC Radio’s Q. The participants included host Jian Ghomeshi, London-based chef Peter Gordon and Toronto’s Jamie Kennedy of Toronto. They were debating whether the local food movement has created an aversion to foreign foods and ingredients.
Listen to the podcast, then check out comments from other listeners and add your own.
Personally I wouldn’t want to limit the food in my fridge or cupboards to just what’s available within 100 miles. I don’t see it as local vs global, and having to choose one system over the other. However I do believe in eating seasonally and locally as much as possible. Why not support farmers and growers in my area, get to know the people who produce the food I eat, and benefit from the fresh flavour of foods grown close to home? And have the option to enjoy chocolate, bananas, mangoes, coconut, tea……
I’ve developed a bad habit. Well, it’s kind of a good bad habit. Or should that be a bad good habit?
Most week days my husband, a hockey scout for the Kitchener Rangers, doesn’t get home until 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. Often he leaves for the evening before I got home from work, or we have a lightening speed supper together before he dashes off to a hockey arena somewhere to assess the on-ice talent.
Late night tea with Pain Au Chocolat.....and milk bones
But when he walks in the door later that evening, a little ritual ensues. I put the kettle on, ask him what kind of tea he wants, and the two of us sit down with our cups of tea and maybe a cookie or a piece of chocolate, and we talk over the day’s events or anything else on our minds. (Sorry, make that the three of us. Cocoa, our poodle, snuggles in beside us – after he’s enjoyed his own snack!)
While it’s a good thing to take a few minutes each day to spend together, by 11 p.m., the lights in the rest of the houses on our street have long since been turned off and most people have been in their beds and sound asleep for awhile.
Driving home the other day I heard a ‘sleep specialist’ talk about the importance of sleep. You don’t expect to get through the day on only half the food your body needs, she said. So why do people think they can exist on half the amount of sleep their bodies need. Good point, I thought guiltily.
And never mind all the sleep I’m missing out on! How about the effect of snacking at that late hour? Sure, sometimes there’s no snack, or maybe just a digestive cookie, but often it’s something a little more, uh, how to put this…..calorie-laden?
Recently I brought home a box of Caramilk Snack Cakes. Not something I typically buy, but I like Caramilk chocolate bars and I was curious to try these little cakes with my evening tea.
The verdict? Well, I liked the oozing caramel centre but I wasn’t really crazy about the flavour of the chocolate sponge cakes or chocolate coating.
Then there are the chewy chocolate cookies Murray likes – Little Debbie Caramel Rings (cookie rings made with caramel and coconut) and Caramel Treats (cookies made with caramel and crisp rice). I like them too. Probably a little too much.
And how about my own baking? Tonight I made a super easy version of Pain Au Chocolat. (I’ll share the recipe in the next weeks. I’m teaching a Chocolate Class at Thyme to Cook in Guelph on March 24th and I don’t want to post the recipe until after the class.)
Murray should be home soon and then we’ll try them with a cup of tea. Or maybe we’ll just share one. And, just maybe, tonight we’ll drink our tea quickly, keep the conversation brief, and get to bed a little earlier than normal.
One can dream.
One can dream even more comfortably if one is in bed……
For Valentine’s Day – a basic chocolate cake with lots of variations (see below)….in case you’d rather have cupcakes, or a different size or shape of cake.
Chocolate Cake
(Makes 10 to 12 servings)
2 cups (500 mL) sugar
1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
¾ cup (175 mL) cocoa powder
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
2 eggs
1 cup (250 mL) milk
½ cup (125 mL) vegetable oil
2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla
1 cup (250 mL) boiling water
Chocolate Icing (recipe below)
Grease and flour two 9-inch (23 cm) round baking pans.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water. (The batter will be thin.) Pour batter into prepared pans.
Big games = big appetites!
Excelling at spectator sports is hard work! Armchair athletes can work up a hearty appetite cheering on their team. Chili, sub sandwiches, pizza, wings and nachos are fan favourites for noshing while coaching from the sidelines, analyzing plays and critiquing the refs’ calls.
Bring your A game and score a touchdown this Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 7th) by serving Pulled Pork on a Bun. Pork roast bathed in a rich barbecue-style sauce cooks lazily in the slow cooker freeing you up to catch all the antics on the big screen, from the singing of the National Anthem through to the final whistle.
Once the pork has cooked, the tender meat is easily shredded by pulling it apart with two forks (hence the name!). Serve it and the flavourful sauce piled high in warmed buns.
You’ll want to put the recipe for Pulled Pork in your play book. It’s a crowd pleaser no matter which Bowl or Cup your armchair quarterbacks are watching!
Sports Speak! Want to sound like a sports commentator, coach, player or just a die-hard fan? Learn all the lingo by checking out this great list of sports cliches!
I’m a food magazine junkie, always on the lookout for the latest issues of my favourites, or the arrival of brand new publications.
A quick perusal of the magazine shelves at a Kitchener grocery store tonight rewarded me with a newbie – The County Grapevine. This newcomer focuses on the food, wine, art and culture of Prince Edward County (PEC) in southern Ontario.
It seems I’m a little late getting to the party on this one; the issue I picked up is for Fall/Winter 2009/2010 (it’s a biannual publication). The magazine has been around for a while. How did I miss it??
So where exactly is Prince Edward County? PEC is an island at the eastern end of Lake Ontario. It is surrounded on the north and east by the Bay of Quinte, and is west of the St. Lawrence River. Its mild climate (by Canadian standards, that is!) has made it home to numerous vineyards and wineries.
What initially attracted me to The County Grapevine as I leafed through it in the store was the article Steeped in Tradition by tea expert Melody Wren. As a tea lover always looking for new places to enjoy a good cuppa’, I was interested to read her review of tea rooms in PEC.
Since bringing the magazine home, I’ve read and enjoyed a couple light-hearted pieces – “I was a teenage waitress” by comedian Deborah Kimmett and “Table Manners: The Lost Art of Dinner Parties” by sommelier Natalie MacLean.
I also noticed that food stylist and blogger Ruth Gangbar was credited for food styling in the magazine.
Tomorrow I’ll have to take some time to savour the food and wine articles!
The County Grapevine is available free in Prince Edward County and surrounding areas and can be purchased at Chapters, Indigo, Metro, and stores within the Loblaws chain.
Wendi Hiebert 