Beans, Beans Good for Your Heart

September 19, 2011April 13, 201352 Comments

I can’t help it. I still think of that silly rhyme every time I think about beans. Juvenile, I know, but there you have it. So did you guess tonight’s meal features beans?

Miss A is our culinary guide for the next two weeks. She made her international choice after studying (and spinning) the globe for a bit; and much like her first pick, she’s taking us back to South America. This time, however, we’re on the Western coast in the country of Ecuador.

Unlike some of our international picks, finding recipes for regional dishes from the “Republic of the Equator” wasn’t terribly difficult. We adapted tonight’s selections from Laylita’s Recipes, a blog featuring recipes from South America and Ecuador among others. So to kick off our adventure we chose Menestra de Porotos, or Ecuadorian Bean Stew. It just seemed fitting for our unseasonably cool (and gloomy) weather today.

The boys kicked off the meal for us. Mr. N measured out all the spices and Mike took care of the chopping. Continue reading →

Sweet, Sweet Memories

September 16, 2011September 17, 201546 Comments

As promised, tonight we’re concluding our Maine recipes (We won’t make you wait anymore Caroline! 🙂 ), and what would a trip to Maine be without the traditional Maine Blueberry Pie. We couldn’t think of a more fitting end to both our trip and our Maine posts.

So without further adieu…We began by making a butter crust. I love to make pie crusts. I have several favorite recipes – the all-shortening crust for my Grandma’s blackberry cobbler and a shortening and butter crust for apple pies; but when it comes to blueberry pie, I like a good, all butter crust.

We started by sifting together the flour and salt and then we cut in the cold butter. I didn’t have my trusty pastry blender on hand at the cabin, so I used two knives to create coarse crumbs. Continue reading →

Vacation Time

September 14, 2011April 13, 201340 Comments

Nearly nine weeks ago I set my watch to Eastern time for our vacation to Maine, and even though we have been back for nearly six weeks now, I have yet to set it back to Central time. I just like that when I look down at my watch I’m reminded of our family trip. I know one day it’s going to end up making me really late for something (like when the time changes this fall), but for now, it makes me smile.

So in honor of the Eastern time zone and family vacations, and because it’s nearing the official end of summer, we’re going to close out our Maine recipes this week. First up, a Classic Lobster Roll.

We prepared this dish from some of the leftover lobster meat we had saved throughout the week. I know you’re thinking, “Leftover lobster? Surely they didn’t leave any uneaten lobster on their plates!” And no, Mike and I certainly didn’t leave any lobster on our plates, but Mr. N and Miss A can’t quite finish a whole two-pound lobster just yet. (Although Mr. N can come close!) So, we chopped up the leftover lobster. Continue reading →

A Cure for a Case of the Mondays

September 12, 2011April 13, 201354 Comments

We’ve got one more recipe from the Niagara region of Ontario before we head off to a new international destination. This recipe again features the deliciously sweet and wonderfully inventive Ice Syrup, only this time we’re whipping up a dessert…because I need a dessert.

We chose to adapt a recipe from Lynn Ogryzlo who has created 1,400 recipes, most of which are dedicated to the seasons of Niagara. Our choice for this week is what we’re calling a Blueberry Ice Crumble.

We started by beating one egg to be cut into the dough. Continue reading →

Ice, Ice…

September 9, 2011April 13, 201347 Comments

Don’t worry. I’m not going there (think 1989 really bad song). I won’t do that to you. Especially because I’m still trying to get the Spice Girls out of my head.

Instead I’ll just tell you how much we love Canada’s ice wines. Mike and I enjoyed our first ice wine in Ontario in 2007. Since then we also drank a wonderful German Eiswein and even found a few ice wines from Michigan that we enjoyed.

So we were excited to try some new ice wines this summer in the Niagara region, and they didn’t disappoint. In fact, I’d say they have even improved the overall quality of the ice wines in the past few years. One of our favorites we came across this year was a Cabernet Franc ice wine from Jackson Triggs. It was so balanced and smooth and had such wonderful flavors. Truly about as close to perfection as you can get with an ice wine in our opinion.

That’s why when we were planning our Ontario meals we knew we had to incorporate some Canadian Ice Syrup. Ice Syrup is derived from the same frozen grapes used for ice wine and which are harvested and pressed while still frozen.

Continue reading →

Oh Canada!

September 7, 2011April 13, 201349 Comments

Mr. N in Ontario at 3-years. He couldn’t have been happier – there were Canada flags everywhere!

When Mr. N was about three years old he learned the Canadian national anthem. This may not seem unusual, except for the fact that we don’t live in Canada and we hadn’t taught Mr. N the song. One night, much to our surprise, he began singing the anthem as it played on TV at a sports event. Mike and I were rolling with laughter at Mr. N’s utter cuteness.

Turns out he picked up the song from a Hallmark e-card designed for Canada Day. Back when the cards were free they provided a great source of entertainment for Mr. N who liked to peruse the e-cards and send them to his grandparents – many of them just cracked him up to no end (And I could listen to his laughter all day – best belly giggle in the world!).

So when Mr. N learned that he was going to visit “Oh Canada,” as he called it, later that summer he was beyond excited. His first souvenir: a Maple Leaf flag. It still hangs on the wall of his playroom today!

While Mr. N’s favorite thing about Canada is still the flag and anthem, he was also quite delighted with the attractions we discovered this summer including the Royal Ontario Museum, the Toronto Zoo and Casa Loma.