An unexpected muffin morning

Saturday mornings are our swimming lessons day.  This means that despite it being Saturday, we are still rushing around to get the usual routine done and off to the pool on time.  This morning however, my snotty 2 year old announced that he is in fact, NOT going swimming. Given the recent fever and the snot of course, I decided to spare the other pool users from Ian's disease and pestulence. So off goes husband with 4 year old and that leaves Ian and I free to bake.  Step one for this project, more coffe of course.

My favorite, favorite morning muffins are my Blueberry Lemon muffins.  They are so, so delicious.  Here is the recipe so you too can enjoy these tomorrow morning.  I swear, you must go out and buy the ingredients if you don't already have them or you will miss out on a little bit of heaven.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

In a large bowl mix together:

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Zest of one lemon

**warning, if your assistant is 2 years old, much mess will ensue

In a seperate bowl mix together

1/2 cup melted butter

1 egg

1 cup of milk

Fold wet ingredients into dry, batter will be lumpy.  Gently fold in 1 cup of frozen (or fresh if you've got them) Blueberries.

Make sure you spray muffin tin with cooking spray before evenly pouring into a 12 muffin tin. 

Bake 350 for 20 minutes.

Happy cooking!



Love and Chaos

When reading other people's Blogs I sometimes wonder where they write.  I picture quiet home offices with the sun streaming in gleaming windows.  There's usually a cup of tea perched beside this imaginary writer and perhaps a cat curled up nearby.  Alas, this is not my reality.  Last night's post was quickly typed in a sea of the usual chaos that is my home.  Behind me, my husband was doing the dinner dishes and chatting to me throught the pass through.  I was sitting at the dining room table, in my flannel jammies of course, looking kinda like I was dragged through a bush backward after spending the day looking after a sick, fevered
2 year old.  My view into the living room was of my children climbing the furniture and the walls (literally scaling the moulding around door frames to climb the walls), while the unwatched TV blasted and the kids screamed and played.
There I sat, writing my Blog.  Now I have to say, I'm a little impressed with myself for being able to write in such chaos but also a little disturbed that I am able to tune out my entire family so effectively.  How long would it take for me to notice if the house was on fire??
While there are certainly some people who live in a quiet, orderly home and there are moments when I crave the same (usually while wailing to my husband: "This place is such a mess!  I can't stand it!"), I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing about my small, cluttered, dishwasher free, 90 year old home because that's where my heart is and those 3 boys I live with and cook with are my true loves.
Happy Cooking!

An Anglophile Foodie

As a Canadian I am utterly aware of my roots.  All Candians have families "from" somewhere.  We are a young country and pround of our Canadian-ness but also acutely aware of our familial histories.  My ancestors were Scottish, British, Irish and a little German.  I know that this history has influenced my culinary preferences because I am drawn too, ok, obsessed with, all things British.  I also have a soft spot for all things Irish but I will admit to being a true Anglophile.
Like many Canadians I am an avid Corrie watcher (if you don't know what "Corrie" is you should hang your head in shame!). I love the British Monarchy, I made my poor little sister bring me a Willaim and Kate wedding mug when she was last in London.  If it's funny and on TV it was probably a British show first and yes, the best TV Chefs are British.  This makes me drawn to foods like roast dinners with mashed potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts and yorkshire puddings or chicken pot pies or yummy scones.  I've never really thought: "Gee, I need to make the perfect stir-fry!"  but I have been know to say "Oh ya, I make THE best chicken pot pie!".
I honestly believe that no matter how long ago your family "came over" from wherever, they've gifted us with a rich history that's in our blood and in our spirit and which draws us to our roots.  And so that is why two of my favorite things go so well together, a love of all things British and a love for cooking all things British.

With that in mind, here is a decidedly English, comfort food recipe. (Yes I know it's Scottish by origin but basically if it's served in a Pub we can bend the rules here).  A simple Sheperd's Pie and a nice onion gravy which is a family favorite in our home...except for my 2 year old who ate this for dinner tonight:

Sheperd's Pie with Onion Gravy

Beef layer:

Brown about 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef, once almost cooked add 1 packet of onion soup mix.  In my house we don't like the onion bits so I use a sieve and just sprinkle through the actual powder.  If using a soup mix offends you, just add salt and pepper to your beef while it's cooking with a splash or 2 worcestershire sauce. 

Put beef into bottom of a casserole dish.

Veg layer:

I usually chop and boil some carrots while the potatoes are boiling to get a bit more veg into the "pie" that my kids will eat.  I also use frozen "Peaches and Cream" corn niblets, I'm not a fan of the canned corn.  Feel free to use any veg you want such as peas, sweet potato, green beans etc.

Add veggies to beef layer and top with a nice, thick layer of mashed potatoes. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and you're all set!

For the Onion Gravy, use a heavy bottomed frying pan.

Splash in couple glugs of olive or vegetable oil and add 2 finely sliced onions to hot pan.  Once onions start cooking a bit, add a good knob of butter. 

Once onions have cooked down for about 10 minutes, add 2 teaspoons of sugar and brown another 2-3 minutes.  Sprinkle onions with 1 tblsp of flour.

In a large measuring cup, measure 2 cups of beef broth, add a splash of worcestershire sauce and

1 teaspoon of dry mustard.  Whisk together and add to frying pan.  Cook on low-med heat so gravy cooks down a bit and thickens up.

Serve gravy over Sheperd's pie, yum!

Happy Cooking!

PJ's and PMS

Despite my intentions to cook a lovely Sunday roast dinner yesterday, I was thwarted by a dodgy tummy and PMS, not a good combination.  So instead I spent the day doing some cleaning, getting a few groceries, baking some quick butter tarts with my 2 year old  for the Husband who wanted "something sweet" (I pointed at myself but apparently that's not what he meant) and having some PJ time. 
When I can't cook, I like to look forward to cooking so I tend to get some of my old favorites off the shelf and spend some quality time with my cookbooks.   Right now I'm all about comfort food.  Living in Canada in January has that effect on a person. Some of my fave go to cookbooks for comfort food recipes are:
Micheal Smith (Chef at Home)
Nigella Lawson (Kitchen)
Jamie Oliver (Jamie's Dinners)
And of course, Julia Child, The Art of French Cooking.
I find “reading” a cookbook almost as fun as cooking and much less messy!  So on days where I’m not in the mood for all the work, I read recipes and plan future meals.  My favourite gifts from my husband on Christmas morning are cookbooks...seriously!  Hours of entertainment, he probably likes it to because it keeps my occupied and out of his way. 


Some of my favorites



Earlier today I printed off a recipe from Jamie Oliver.com to hopefully try later in the week:

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/steak-guinness-cheese-pie-with-a-puf

I’ll let you know how I make out. As always, Happy Cooking!

Getting started

Breakfast in our house is a noisy affair to say the least.  Rushing on weekday mornings is never any fun for anyone so it's always nice to slow down a bit on the weekends and try to enjoy each other while cooking in our pyjamas.  Today we made my version of pancakes, it's an attempt to get some some healthy elements into my kids since my 2 year old basically survives solely on pasta and yogurt.  Cooking with kids is never peaceful, some days are better then others, usually there are tears, some yelling and a lot of mess and some days there is laughing and learning, but still a mess of course.  Never the less, pancakes were made, breakfast was enjoyed and we did it all in our pyjamas.

Pancakes

In a large bowl combine:

1 1/2 ups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp. ground flax seed

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

In a smaller bowl mix together:

1 egg

1/4 cup unsweetned applesauce

1 3/4 cup milk

1 tblsp vegetable oil

1 mashed banana

Mix wet ingredients into the dry and you're all set to make pancakes.  I always put chopped berries in these pancakes as well so when you get them in the pan just drop in some berries to each pancake.

This recipe is not very sweet but served with maple syrup (I am Canadian after all), they are plenty sweet.  You can always add a couple tablespoons of sugar to dry mix if you prefer a sweeter pancake.

You can also add a bit of cinnamon or nutmeg if you're in the mood.

Happy cooking!

A Comment from my Husband



Winter sun shining in my kitchen



My husband got a new video camera for Christmas.  Last weekend he was playing around with it and then he was watching some of the videos he had taken.  If I appeared in the video it seemed I was always in the kitchen, cooking in my pyjamas.  Of course I did the usual

"Oh God, delete that!  Look at my hair!  I'm not wearing make-up!  I'm in my pyjamas for God's sake! Delete! Delete!" 

To which he replied: "You know that cookbook you want to write?  You should call it Cooking in my Pyjamas"

Huh...interesting.

And so I thought I would start here, sharing some of my thoughts and recipes because ultimately cooking in my pyjamas is something I love...almost as much as pyjamas themselves.  My family has grown accustomed to me being in the kitchen, it is truly the heart of our home.  I hope you enjoy being a part of my heart.