Archive for February, 2010
Week 5 wasn’t such a hit save for the appetiser. It was artichokes on toast and it was so easy and the ingredients were all items I would likely have on hand, making it easy to whip up if unexpected company were to drop by. Which happens surprisingly often around here…
The colour on this photo wasn’t great, but here’s what the toasts looked like.
Fuss ate all of his as it was served. Bug scraped all the toppings off and ate the toast complaining the whole time.
The spaghetti with clams was passable, but too much work for what it turned out to be.
I bought the clams at Whole Foods. They were kind enough to pack them in ice for me.
Once they were cleaned (that’s cornmeal on top which Martha Stewart says will draw the grit out - not sure how)
I sauteed them with garlic and white wine until they opened.
And then tossed them with the pasta and a spot of the pasta water. I never remember to save the pasta water, so I just used half chicken broth and half water.
The only good thing about this was watching poor Colin try to eat it when Bug fed it to him. (Her favourite meal time activity - feeding her Dad.)
Poor guy.
The salad was average.
The dessert was lackluster despite being colourful and sparkly.
So, nothing to really recommend from this menu. I do think I prefer to eat seafood in a restaurant!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
February 3rd, 2010
It has been a very long time since I’ve read a Stephen King book. I started reading him when I was 11. I remember once sitting on the kitchen floor at my grandparent’s house reading a King novel with my mother and uncle arguing over the suitableness of such reading material at such a young age. My uncle (childless) was appalled and my mother was just glad I was reading. It did no harm in retrospect, however I’m not sure how I would feel about Fuss reading Stephen King when he’s 11. We’ll cross that bridge if we have to…
Anyway, every Christmas it seemed I would get a new first edition Stephen King and I just loved his books growing up. So much so that my father went out of his way to meet up with him on various business trips and get my firsts signed. These are very precious to me mostly for the effort my dad went through.
Once I got older and moved out of my parent’s house I found that I was too freaked out by King’s stories so I stopped reading. For some reason, his newest intrigued me. Then my friend bought it and brought it straight to my house from the store. I felt obligated to read it as I consider it an honour to be loaned a book before the owner even reads it!
It is over 1000 pages, so it took me about 6 weeks. I had other reading obligations to attend to, so I would put it down for a couple of weeks, pick it up again, put it back down, etc., I wish I could have just dedicated the time initially as it’s a really fast read.
I would highly recommend this book. There is nothing scary to it. It’s more of a study of modern society. I suppose looking at modern society through a magnifying glass is horrifying in itself. No monsters needed.
I read a review comparing Stephen King to Charles Dickens. My literary-snob side said “pshaw!”.
She was right. Charles Dickens wrote in such a way that we can look back through his writing and see society at that time. That is what Stephen King has done with Under the Dome. This book could be put in a time capsule and enough said. Hundreds of years from now it would be unearthed and the historians would see us for what we were.
The writing at times was a bit contrived, but that’s normal for a King novel. Whole pages for conversation would be constructed just to highlight some cheesy line such as “leggo my eggo’. ~roll eyes~
I do think that King has lost his edge. Nothing kept me on the edge of my seat and I wouldn’t even call this a page turner. But there is just enough King there to entice me to read his next book. Which, if history repeats itself, will not been too far away!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
February 2nd, 2010
This menu was amazing! It was such a good and simple dinner. The kids loved it and my husband had two helpings. We had enough left over that Colin and I had sandwhiches the next day.
We started with the cheese fondue which is always a hit at our house. Fondue of any description goes over well here, actually. I loved the combination of cheeses. I did leave off the onions and pickles as I didn’t think that they would go over well. As it was the fondue appie was finished within minutes. I forgot to get a picture of it, but I did manage to snap one of the aftermath!
The egg noodles with brussels-sprouts was an amazing way to get my kids to eat this vegetable. Actually, it was a great way to get me to eat them as they are on my list of despised veggies. They were so tasty in this dish. Loved it and would definitely make it again.
The pork cutlets were super easy and super tasty. I think I overcooked the pork, and I’ll know that for next time. I would definitely recommend following the recipe exactly but then baking them on high heat to crisp rather than sauteeing them in oil as the recipe does. I followed the recipe, but next time I’ll definitely bake.
Finally, the cherry compote was a super contrast to the sweet ice cream. The chocolate (I used super dark) added an interesting crunch. This meal was definitely company-worthy.
Here is the compote on the stove - the colour is just divine.
The finished dish make my mouth water just seeing it again. I wish I’d saved the leftover compote - if so, I’d have a serving right now! (I made this meal a couple of days ago.)
Just yum!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
February 1st, 2010
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