last night I cooked a steelhead trout fillet for the first time… it came as part of my Save-On-Foods delivery, substituted for the salmon I had ordered… I’ve never had this fish, and wouldn’t have likely tried it otherwise…
I found a recipe online and even used the pepper flakes it called for… getting braver with hot things…
I also used the last of the rice from Sunday’s Chinese food with some fresh asparagus… it was a very tasty dinner and I enjoyed it…
there was enough left for another meal, which I had for my lunch today, and it was equally as delicious;-)…
got a text this afternoon from a wonderful friend advising she was going to drop something off…
one day last week I had gathered up some Virginia creeper vines and she had picked them up, so I think this was a little thank you…
I was excited because she makes the world’s best scones… and I was hoping that was what she was bringing…
we had a lovely chat and exchanged items… she got a card from my stash for Mother’s Day, and I got craisin scones, made with sweetener, and some purple napkins… I think I got the best of the deal, lol…
I said I wasn’t going to eat them until tomorrow, but I had to have a taste, lol…
someone recently talked about taking the time to enjoy eating, whether it is a snack, a meal, a treat…
tonight I had shrimp with cocktail sauce for my dinner…
while I was eating, I was remembering…
many years ago I flew to Florida with a dear family friend on vacation… I was there in case she had any problems with her health… we had a wonderful time and I enjoyed every minute with her…
one of the things you could do there was order cooked shrimp while shopping at the grocery store… while you shopped they were boiled and bagged for you to take home fresh… many evenings we peeled these delicious cold shrimp for our dinner as we discussed our day and life in general…
the other special memory was when we were in Hawaii last year and went to ShrimpHale… it was a little restaurant in a strip mall just a short walk from where we were staying that we just happened upon…
the shrimp were boiled, butter, garlic and fresh lemon were added, and it was brought hot to the table in a plastic bag… we were given plastic bibs and gloves… the shells just went onto the paper on the table… it was such fun and so delicious…
such wonderful and special moments and memories… how blessed I am…
the kitchen counter looked rather sad because it was covered in stuff… I’ve been setting things that have come in the mail onto it to quarantine until I can open them, lol…
happily there were two packages filled with chocolate bars sitting there that had served their time… they were ready to add to my chocolate stash…
previously I’d been using two small plastic containers, but clearly that wasn’t going to work now… I searched through the house looking for the right size container and came upon an orange flower box which had held a flower delivery… how happy is that…
cleaned off the shelf in the cupboard which held the chocolate and some larger mugs and then reorganized… I moved the mugs to the back as I haven’t been using them much lately and then put the lovely orange box, filled with all the chocolate, towards the front of the shelf…
looks great and now it will be easier to get to…
of course I have to make sure not to eat too much chocolate… but now there is easier access…
the doorbell rang again today… second day in a row… I was expecting this one;-)…
it was a delivery of bread, croissants and hotcrossbuns from La Belle Baguette… the hot cross buns were still warm;-)…
I am going to be in trouble with my doctor if I keep eating bread at this rate because it raises my blood sugar… but I had to have a couple of the buns with cheese for my breakfast… very tasty…
then, for supper I made Frenchtoast using the bread knife and board that my beloved and I purchased at Victoria Beach many years ago…
the knife is made for left-handed people and fits into the tray portion of the cutting board… it is very cool…
after yesterday’s odd day, I decided to make some comfort food…
things that have always made us feel good, or remind me of special moments;-)…
the first thing I made was a batch of cornmeal muffins… I’ve never made them before, but the idea of a tasty – bread-type – food sounded good… they were delicious and went well with the Thai Shrimp Soup that I had for lunch…
then I made macaroni and cheese… this has been a family favourite since the girls were small… I packaged it up into containers and will bake it when I want to eat it…
finally I made bacon, mushrooms and croutons… I remember my mom and dad making this for supper… it was usually served on toast, but I’ve adjusted the recipe and add croutons at the end as I don’t usually have bread in the house… the crunch is a perfect accompaniment to the soft bacon and mushrooms…
it really was comforting to spend the day in the kitchen, making these reminders of family times…
this week was Shrove Tuesday and I decided to make pancakes… I sort of followed my recipe, but cut it back by two-thirds and adapted the ingredients…
took the page from my new cookbook and stuck it up on the message board so I could read it easily…
as I’ve typed the recipes, for many of them I’ve added two sets of quantities so there is less likelihood of messing up the ingredients… I will redo this one with the smaller amount for next time, lol…
I used to make this recipe for the family and would take the last few tablespoons to mix with grated potatoes to make potato pancakes for me…
worked out well with the adjustments and they were delicious…
usually I’d use sour cream, but this time I used Greek yogurt and it worked well…
I’ve used quite a bit of the leftover rice that I made last week…
so far I’ve made a few things with it… combined some of it with shredded Brussels sprouts; mixed it with shrimp and egg for a lovely fried rice; and combined it with meatballs…
but I am getting a little tired of it, particularly as rice isn’t one of my favourites, lol… I would much rather have potatoes…
but I do love rice pudding;-)… so I did some research and then made some…
I’ve seen lots of ads for the Instant Pot, but felt that I didn’t need another appliance in the kitchen…
and now that I’m retired I have all day to prepare food…
but… my daughter showed me hers and told me all the things it can do which made me think about it more seriously…
apparently, it could replace my egg cooker (which is currently not working), be a rice cooker (which I’ve wanted), act as a crockpot (which I have, in purple), act as a steamer, sauté things, keep things warm, and even be a sterilizer…
we made salmon (from frozen) and smashed potatoes with spinach in about half an hour… and it was delicious…
we also made white and wild rice with chicken thighs (again from frozen) in about 45 minutes from start of prep to eating…
and mushroom soup, and risotto…
think I just might have to buy one now that I am home…
