Monday, April 27, 2020

WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF MILK, DO YOU SUBSTITUTE?

Scalloped potatoes without milk
We had potatoes and onions, and no milk. I found a recipe for dairy free scalloped potatoes, and made a few adjustments (the onion was going to be a lot even at half measure for my audience), and an accompanying side of tuna bites (recipe here).

A few mistakes to review:
Like trying to replace a meat dish with a veggie one, it is hard not to disappoint.
The potatoes were cooked to perfection, but the flavour was plenty of onion, but not of much else but oil. Some feta and pepper made it edible, but for a couple hour venture, I would wait until I had milk again. Maybe broth would have helped. I think I would have preferred mashed potatoes with margarine!

As to the tuna bites, they were too homogeneous, and cooked to a tough shell texture that could have been avoided had I just used fresh bread crumbs. I had crust that were quite moist that I processed, and just added the rest of the ingredients, and over-processed. I would leave the tuna chunks and add the crumbs to fold in. Still, no complaints were heard except in my head.



Breakfast was also a one time deal, but if you every want to go to a carnival without living your house, it was sweet enough to rival the freshest donuts. I tried a recipe called Louisiana French Toast (Pain Perdu). I halved the sugar, and it was still too sweet for Princess Pirate. Maybe if I run out of maple syrup and milk next time.

COVID DIVERSIONS

Puzzles of places I have been
Exercise in my living room without witnesses


Renovation projects

Wellness committee bulletin board





















Easter hunts, decorations, stories, and crafts

Long baths with visitors
Lego lands

Following my favourite artists

Reading books I forgot I had

Jean Paul Lemieux


Trying my hand at the creative arts

John William Waterhouse's Lady of Shalott


Some props

Channeling Anne with her bosom buddy taking the photo (modern version!)







MY MORNING SMOOTHIE IS SLATE GREY

RECIPE FOR HOME
1 ripe banana
1 chilled apple
2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 inch raw ginger
1/2 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup soya milk
1 T hemp hearts

I love a good smoothie, and I am always amazed how easy it is to get your daily fibre.  Today, I was very pleased with  the ingredients. Not so impressed with the colour result. You won't see this on in a smoothie shop near you, but it was still delicious!

2020 YEAR IN REVIEW

Looking back, I am to the year's photos, I am considering naming this an Annus Horribulis. Here's why:

These are the pictures in evidence:
My fitbit broke and I am at a record weight of 156 lbs!

Her classmate inspired this picture with a concussion that kept him out of school
The birthday party in January was ice, not snow.
I bought new skates to replace my daughter's old ones, and she never ended up using them once. I got the hours wrong, forgot they don't come sharpened, even when her friend invited her to go skating, they ended up drawing because it was too cold outside!
New Year's was celebrated with 4 days of fever, likely influenza

When we finally got snow, they closed the ski hills because of this century's pandemic, COVID 19.


I was working when the world topped up on toilet paper, so I had to consider all my options.
I stubbed my toe and didn't realize how bad it was until I lost my toenail, and the one underneath was half the size.
School's out, but so are parks, libraries, pools, skating rinks, playgrounds.
We are living in the epicenter of the COVID19 spread in Canada

My friend was a flurry of activity, but I had to tell her that cloth masks weren't going to replace the mask I needed to wear at work to stay safe.





Tuesday, April 14, 2020

PFEFFERNUESSE (GINGERSNAPS)

I have this recipe card for 4 dozen gingersnaps, and memories of flat soft cookies topped with sugar.
These weren't the expected results, but they resembled the commercially made pfeffernüsse that I knew from German tradition. I would make them again, but in powdered sugar, and just as small.

I wonder if using margarine would make them spread out, and closer to memory. Something to try another time. This time I followed the recipe, but sometimes I have likely been out of shortening.

3/4 cup shortening
1 c brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
Mix wet ingredients together, then dry. Blend dry into wet to combine to a stiff dough.
Cover and chill one hour (No need for wasting plastic wrap. A plate over the bowl will do.)
May leave overnight.
Heat over to 375F. Shape rounded teaspoons into a ball (this is key to making 48 cookies). Dip tops in white sugar (try powdered, or go without).
Place 12 on a greased cookie sheet or silpat.
Bake 8-10 minutes. I found 8 to be enough.
Remove immediately (browns easily on the bottom).


REESE'S BY BETTY - A VERY GOOD THING!



MASKS IN PUBLIC



























QUARANTINE ACTIVITY NUMBER 53: CLEANING ROCKS

WHAT I ATE LAST WEEK

Almond date granola for breakfast
Lentil soup and salad for lunch
Lasagne and salad for supper

Repeat





OVERNIGHT CINNAMON BUNS





THE SUBNIVEAN ZONE OF VOLES IN OUR NEIGHBOUR'S GARDEN



Editor's note: my neighbour, in whose yard these locust trees live, confirmed that the snow didn't come up high enough to make it possible for voles to eat it. It was rabbits, from the snowbank's surface that ate this bark. Looks like it might have been enough to kill the tree. Weird. I guess humans aren't the only ones to burn up their finite resources.

SQUIRRELS NESTS LEAVE A LOT OF BOUGHS ON THE GROUND





NEUSCHWANSTEIN LUMINOUS IN PASTEL

HAPPY EASTER