I'm Sick of Soup

I love soup, but this last week I have had nothing but soup.  I caught that terrible cold that has been going around and I didn't feel like cooking.  Nothing sounded good to me so I ate soup.  I ate borscht, hamburger soup, chicken soup, turkey soup and minestrone soup and  I am sorry to say I AM  SICK OF SOUP!!! Now I'm feeling a bit better (still coughing and sniffling) but I can't eat any more soup. So tonight I'm making some stuffed zucchini with salsa. Yum! Real food! I adapted the basic recipe from "Winners" Best of Bridge Cookbook

 STUFFED ZUCCHINI WITH SALSA
1 medium zucchini scraped out
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
8 crushed 65% lower sodium Ritz crackers
pepper
Some flesh from the zucchini
Mix all the ingredients  except the zucchini until well mixed. Fill the scraped out zucchini with meat mixture.  Bake for about 45-60 minutes. Add homemade salsa( see recipe page) and cheese and heat through.

Happy New Year

Well that's another year gone and over with and a fresh clean year is standing before us.  Like Anne of Green Gables says "tomorrow is a fresh day with no mistakes in it".  I plan to start the new year exactly like that, fresh with no mistakes. No regrets, no worries, no doubts.  I plan to make every day  hopeful, healthy and interesting. I plan to take advantage of all opportunities that come my way and live every day to the fullest.
My Dad just turned 82 on Christmas Day and he was bragging to my brother that he no longer does 20 push-ups every day.  He now does 25! My Dad is in great shape. When he first told me that he did 20 push-ups a day I asked him if they were girl push-ups .  He said no they were the real kind. My sisters and brothers are all hoping that we have his genes.  Sure he drank and smoked, had stress in his life, but after retiring he quit smoking, drank less (home made wine doesn't count) fished, hunted, golfed
and did all the things that he enjoyed.  My Dad practically lives on fish. He walks quite a way to his fishing holes, carries all his fish back plus his gear. I want to be that active and healthy at 82.  Due to my salt free requirements, Dad cans salmon special for me when the fish are running. Dad makes this in the pressure canner  and adds nothing to it.

                                                     Dads Canned Salmon

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Another Christmas

So another Christmas has come and gone.  All the pressure is off, the gifts are opened, the turkey has been cooked and served and I can at last relax.  Relatives  are on their way as we speak so I'm gearing up for yet another day of feasting on all the things we look forward to all year. We like to start with turkey buns with stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce, a few sausage rolls, some Mexican spirals and of course all the cookies and pumpkin pie. So we might gain a couple of pounds but it is definitely worth it to spend some time with friends and family around the food table.

Sweet Potato Cranberry Bread

Since I've been home from Vegas I have gained 4 pounds. It is because I have been scarfing down bread.  I don't usually eat bread but we went to Saskatoon and tried some Sweet Potato Cranberry bread. Mmmm.  It was so good I came home and made some and then I made some more and some more and more still. This is a great recipe because if you don't eat it all you can use it to stuff your turkey. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did....well still do.

SWEET POTATO CRANBERRY BREAD
3/4 cup potato water
1/4 cup melted margarine
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes
2 tbsp honey
salt (I put 1/4-1/2 tsp)
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/2 cup dried cranberries
I put the ingredients in the bread maker,wait for the beep to add the cranberries, put the machine on dough mode.  When ready make buns or loaves, let rise until doubled in size then bake 350 degrees in the oven for about 30 minutes.

Christmas Purr-fection

I always strive for a perfect Christmas.  I start planning in November, writing and rewriting lists.  Lists of cookies I want to bake, lists of breakfast, lunches and dinners I want to serve. Even lists of what Christmas quilts go on which bed.( I think I have too much time on my hands). My tree is always decorated just so, the house has wreaths and Christmas fru-fru all over the place, the Christmas china comes out to grace our table which last year I had set 9 days before Christmas and then ended up having to wash the dust off everything.  The Christmas cakes that I baked 3 years ago will come out of the freezer(again) and be offered to visitors with a little something something to wash it down. But that's the price of being perfect.  My son seems to have inherited my qualities?? of perfection. Yesterday he decided to decorate his tree. Striving for his purr-fect tree all it took was a string of lights and a cat.
Hope you have a perfect Christmas too.

Its all about Family.

I was talking to a girlfriend the other day and she was saying that Christmas isn't what it used to be. She doesn't like it anymore because it involves giving and getting gifts that nobody wants or needs.  Older people (sorry gal) are downsizing now and as much as the thought is there, some gifts are just not needed.  When I was growing up it was all about family.  Visiting and spending time with family.  Now it is all about commercialism.  What to buy. Who to buy for. How much to spend.  Forget it! This year I have decided that I want to go back in time.  I don't want my kids to worry about  buying us gifts. And I don't want to worry about buying gifts for my family that they don't want or need just so you can give gifts.  I just want my family.  I have a sister who always goes away for Christmas.  She has two kids.  One has his career happening and he can afford to go the other is trying to get his career going and he can't always afford to go. But this year the one son said to his mom,  I'm gonna get my brother a ticket to Hawaii, and mom said just hang on I'll check into it.  They divvied up the cost and bought a ticket for the brother.  How awesome was that ! Really the best gift you can give yourself and your family  is the gift of family. Time spent together is the most important thing.  Don't worry about how full your tree is,  worry about how full your house is.  My family, my children and my grandchildren are my gift this year and always.  I love you guys.  See you soon.
Cheesey yes, But I am so  grateful to have family to spend the holidays with.

Christmas Season Starts

This morning I awoke to the ground covered with snow and really cold temperatures.  So its  time to drag out the tree, deck the halls, and start looking for cookie recipes.  Christmas is my most favorite time of the year.  A magical time. It always has been.  My sister asked me the other day if I remembered  when we were young we would come home from church on Christmas Eve all decked out in our finest clothes, Dad in his suit, Mom in her best dress and high heels and she would serve up sausage rolls .  I didn't
remember that but  I remembered how my parents always made Christmas special.  Later on Mom and Dad  used to host Boxing Day and all the relatives from the area would gather for the day.  What fun those days were. Aunts, uncles,cousins,sisters and brothers sitting around the living room playing guitars and accordions singing Christmas carols or old western songs from the past. Others playing crib or just catching up.  The smell of food wafting from the kitchen.  Now my sister holds a relly rally(a gathering of relatives) every year not on boxing day but earlier before Christmas,  carrying on a tradition that I hope will not be broken.  I can't make it home every year for those special times and I sure miss them.
 But times change and you make your own traditions and I'm hoping that I will have all my family and all that entails home for Christmas. So whether they are here or not Christmas comes anyway and I think this year I will make some sausage rolls.


Since I posted this blog I have been on the lookout for a sausage roll recipe.  This is my version of my Mom's sausage rolls which I am sure was a breakfast sausage rolled up in pie dough.  My version keeps the pie dough and makes low sodium  sausage from scratch. My son calls these little yummies..Snauss Babies
                                                              Sausage Rolls

1 1/2  pounds ground pork                                      PIE CRUST (OLD CRISCO RECIPE)
1 1/2 tsp dried sage                                                2 cups flour
3/4 tsp ground black pepper                                   1 cup crisco
3/8 tsp italian seasoning                                          1/2 cup or so water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper   flakes
pinch of cloves (1/16 tsp)
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1 egg
Roll out rectangles of pie dough, make a log out of sausage, place on dough, roll up jelly roll style brush edges with another beaten egg.  Cut rolls into 1 inch pieces and brush with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired and bake on middle rack at 375 for about 25 minutes. Serve warm or cold with your favorite dip. Can be frozen raw (I haven't tried that yet)
Makes 42 pieces. Sodium content is about 55 mg per 3 pieces.

I Was Sad Because I Had No Shoes

Today I'm going to the care center where I volunteer.  I've realized that you really have to give back in life.  Not just to the people that have helped along the way but to reach out and help people you don't even know.  I met an elderly lady at the center. What a lady! She would have turned 101 on her next birthday but unfortunately she fell and broke her hip and passed away shortly thereafter. She used a walker to get around but man, could she move on that thing.  We used to have dancing one day a week and I swear that woman wore me out. She loved to dance.  I was taking her back to her room after dancing one afternoon and she said "Thank you for being so nice to me" I laughed  because I didn't know what to say to her. Even the smallest kindness can make a difference in someones life.  So get out there people and give a little of yourself to someone.
"I was sad because I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet" ( Original author unknown)

Dad's Good Intentions

Last week my Dad came to visit me. Hes been dining in Greek restaurants and so he tried to teach me how to cook all things Greek.  I had some bone-in chicken breasts and he told me to put them in the oven with some partially baked potatoes.  So I partially baked the red skinned potatoes, threw the chicken in the oven with some garlic and herb Mrs. Dash, added the potatoes and then asked Dad how long I should bake it for?  He asked if I had partially BOILED the potatoes. I said no!  you told me to bake them.  He said red potatoes! I thought you had russets.  Then he told me I'd screwed up the whole thing and to do what I wanted. Yikes! Anyway to make a long story short we ended up with basmati rice sprinkled with tarragon vinegar to go with our chicken and it was fantastic.  Thanks for the recipe Dad.