Papas Fritas and Irish Coffee

Despite not being Irish, we still decided to have some Irish Coffees yesterday :) My boyfriend made that amazing foam again that doesn't seem to melt away ever, I don't know how he accomplished that! He had his Irish coffee with Baileys and I had mine with Kilbeggan whisky. Kilbeggan is my favourite Irish whisky. It's not very "peaty" (or smoky) like a lot of the other brands and it's got a bit of fruitiness to it. We both had a splash of Irish Mist on top. Only problem is we had them at 10pm so we were up until 3am forcing ourselves to try to fall asleep! I thought the alcohol would cancel out the caffeine...not so.

For dinner, I wanted to try to have some kind of potato dish! :) I didn't really go Irish, I went with Papas Fritas instead! It's the thought that counts lol...these are SO DELICIOUS. I make mine with chicken to make it a full meal instead of just a side dish. I'm still happily using my window-garden chives from last summer!

It's another sunny winter day today. It's just a shame that all we can hear outside is the vroom vroom vroom of snowmobiles, it kills the solitude! Two more winters of this and that's it! :) I wish we could manage a way to buy sooner, but realistically we have to pay off some big debts first and no matter how you crunch the numbers, it won't be before 2019.

The river is really flowing. The sun is starting to melt things very nicely, that waterfall is really loud, but I love the sound!

Charlie and Marlene decided to take some snow naps this morning!

But my little fella Jack didn't want anything to do with the winter! I put his hoodie on and he tolerated me as he posed for some pictures :) This is Alex's old hoodie that I turned into a dog hoodie for Jack. What are you all up to this weekend? I have some baking planned and I hope to try out a recipe for homemade Cracker Jacks (minus the peanuts!).

Fondue And Black Squirrel Visit

It's such a beautiful sunny winter day today! What a difference from the last few blizzardy ones. I'm so grateful for the sun, that "drip drip drip" that used to annoy me at times now makes me happy because I know that if the roof snow is melting, so is the snow on the ground!

Yesterday we had the leftover Mexican Lasagna that I'd made the night before so I don't have any delicious menu pictures to include today! Tonight we have to eat that pork tenderloin that's in the fridge! I had a potato dish planned for St-Patricks, but we'll have that another day. We will definitely be having Irish Coffees for dessert/digestif though! I have a wee bit o' Irish in my blood, but my roots are mostly Scottish. Still though, I love to create in the kitchen so any holiday or special day is an opportunity for me to make the day unique and fun! Any special menus planned?

Every month, my boyfriend tries to get me a new or used cookbook. Even though this one is used, it's new to me! A lot of these are out of print or just not available anymore so we buy a lot of used books on Amazon. Sometimes they're as low as a dollar and you just have to pay $6 for shipping. So this month I got a Fondue book! It's so wonderful! It's the same author who wrote my Comfort Food and Breakfast Comforts cookbooks.

There are four sections. My favourite is the Cheese fondues. Then they have Fried fondues (where you use oil to cook the meat), Hot Pots (which most people, including us call Chinese fondue) and Dessert fondues - oooh the chocolate possibilities! He's not ensuring any kind of weight loss giving me cookbooks like this I'll tell ya. :) We love fondues...I see lots of them in our future! We do however, need a good ceramic pot for the cheese and dessert fondues. We have a stainless steel one we already use for hot pots. I'm excited about this cookbook!!!

Look who was at the bird feeder today. A beautiful black squirrel. We used to see them a lot but in this area, they are kind of rare, they're so pretty!

I had to get a close-up of his tail because it's just wonderful. Our bird feeder has been a little slow lately, we are always seeing the usual little chickadees and the squawky Blue Jays. We get more variety of birds and critters when spring starts, but it's nice to see someone different visiting for a change! :)

After The Blizzard and Mexican Lasagna

To get down the driveway, I decided not to fight the snowdrifts and I put on my snowshoes. There is no point struggling through knee-deep snow if I don't have to! I just wanted to clear a little pathway just in case we get our delivery today. Alex and I are very loosely contemplating shoveling the rest of the driveway...later. :)

The blizzard left a lot of snow and a lot of damage, but we were lucky at home that no trees fell down in this area. Nature is tough! The sun was desperately trying to pop through this morning when I took the huskies for their 45-minute walk, it's about a mile and a half walk each morning and I'm loving it. It's hard to get myself into the snowsuit though, but once I'm out, I want to keep going! Walking in the winter is more challenging and I have to stretch after each walk now or I feel it in my legs and lower back. I can't wait for the weather to get better so I can take Jack with us and walk much longer through the woods!

But the girls do need their walk every day, especially Charlie or she gets that depression. We have a nice covered bridge here over the river, it gives the town a little quaint village feel to it! But tomorrow is Friday and the town is very quiet for now...soon all the weekenders will invade with their loud snowmobiles and ignorant "boom boom boom" of the car stereo, sigh. We can't control other people, just our own reactions to them, so we choose to hibernate even more on weekends!! The knowledge that buying our little quiet property in about 2 years time keeps me patient through the weekend noise!

Last night was supposed to be Chicken Cesar Salad, but once again I veered from the menu plan. Gosh, this free-spirit spontaneous meal attitude I've had lately is making me edgy lol...we both preferred some comfort food so I used the chicken to make my Mexican Lasagna instead.

A little indigestion was worth it lol...tonight is supposed to be chili night, but I think we'll be making a pork tenderloin instead. I've mentioned before that we love to eat comfort food, but once in a while we need some clean eating to balance everything out! I think I'll make the Apricot Brandy Glaze with it, it was so delicious the last time I made it!

*****

Do you ever have a "I wish I could change X" moment?  These are just random thoughts I'm having today...I was doing so well with my eating. I started to take a spritz of Rescue Remedy before each meal and it relaxed me enough that no food got stuck. Last night though, I had a small issue with a piece of chicken getting stuck at the base of my esophagus...no matter how many times it happens, I feel scared and traumatized. So I was thinking "I wish I could change my uncontrollable anxiety and PTSD so that I can relax enough so that I don't feel frightened every time a meal is coming up"...but then it's a pipe dream, I can't, I've done every test, tried every medication, done every therapy...the only "possible solution" (medical term apparently) is a surgery that will keep my esophagus "valve" open to my stomach. Sure, no food will get stuck ever, but acid will definitely make it's way up all the time I was told. It's no solution for me, but what can I do, this health problem is with me for good, has been since I was 8 years old - at least that's my earliest memory of food getting stuck.

Is there something you wish you could change, that you know deep down you just have to live with? Deep thoughts on a Thursday afternoon lol...

Wonderful and Scary Day!

Thanks to my friends for the nice anniversary wishes yesterday!! It was so nice to feel special like that...gush. It will take me a few days to catch up on your blogs!

We had a very nice day yesterday. We started off the morning in the sunshine. There was some snow in the forecast for the evening, but our outing was planned for the afternoon, so we figured we were safe...anyway, more on that a little later! I made Alex's grandma's signature "Toast-ettes". This is a variation on the toad in the hole. Alex's side of the family is French Canadian, though he was brought up in the States, and we live an English life here. His grandma didn't pronounce the "t" at the end of toast, so we call them "tosettes"...yummy!

I have so many food allergies and intolerances...so I make mine without the yolks. They're so good. The toast itself tastes almost like melba toast around the edges!

We went out after breakfast because we wanted to get some anniversary gifts for each other. It has sort of become a tradition that we get fishing gear! We decided to buy these ice fishing rods, see how tiny they are? We will eventually use them for ice fishing, but in the summer we will use them for small crappy fishing. We're building our collection! We just need to find some reels.

We also got some new insulated rain boots for spring and fall fishing. They were on sale so we took advantage of the lower price. So..while we were in the store, the weather got really bad. What started as a sunny day with snow forecast only to begin after 8pm, turned into a white-out blizzard - NOT what was in the forecast and we were a 90 minute drive from home. We hurried to get the food we needed for dinner, then started back at dusk in a blizzard. Alex doesn't drive yet, so it was up to me and I have to say my hands are still sore today from white-knuckle driving for 2 hours.

I went onto Google Maps to take a print screen of this hill. This is the ONLY way home unless we backtrack for two hours, then take the other way, which would total 5 hours. It's beautiful going up the mountain in the summer, but last night...it was frightening. The onslaught of snow, the cars skidding, ice, lack of road clearing...see the exclamation mark? That's where we got stuck. Thankfully I made it just beyond that point so I could slide back into someone's driveway (thank you to those people for having a clear driveway!). I actually started crying from fear because people were all over that road, it was so dangerous and we nearly got hit a few times. We were stuck there about half an hour, waiting for the trucks to clear and sand and even then, in the lowest gear with my foot to the floor, we only inched up as the tires whirred. Things go through your head in situations like that...the pets are alone, what if we can't make it home, what if the car slides down into the lake or the river or what if some yahoo with a four-wheel drive and an impatient attitude hits us...I heard stories this morning of people stuck ALL NIGHT in their cars on the highways near Montreal - what a disaster.

We were both traumatized from that. It was really scary folks. We don't have studded winter tires, just the regular ones, and a front wheel drive and the lack of control was terrifying. We agreed that we will try to put the thousand dollars aside as soon as we can to get new winter tires that are studded because we aren't ready to buy a new car with four-wheel drive, and we do live in the mountains so winter is going to happen whether we like it or not! The fishing boat might just have to wait a few years now sigh...but our safety is so much more important. But we made it home safely - much later than planned, the dogs needed to pee and we needed a drink when we got back! This is a nice Moscato wine called Nivole, it's sweet and we relaxed, listening to the Jack Benny radio show, sipping on wine! Jack Benny is a master comedian...I'm so glad these radio shows are available on You Tube, this kind of comedy doesn't exist anymore.

We honestly didn't feel like cooking, but we agreed that we can't let what happened ruin our plans. We really wanted to celebrate our 4 years together, so we tackled the recipes together which was so nice! The appetizer was a Tuscan Tomato Soup that was really fresh and yummy!

For our main course, we had more appetizers :) I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but we had Steak Tartare - well Alex did. I used to eat this and LOVED it, but my fear of beef getting stuck in my esophagus outweighs my desire to eat this lovely appetizer. Yes, it's raw meat, that's why we know it's not for everyone! For me, I made a Smoked Trout Mousse with Orange and Chives.

For dessert, we thawed out the other half of my birthday cake! That Ferrero Rocher yummy cake. There is just a little bit left! The meal was so delicious and we stayed up intil 4:30am watching a series called Alone. It's just about people being dropped in remote locations all by themselves to see how long they can survive fending for themselves, we are hooked on it and had to force ourselves to turn it off for some sleep. But we were kind of riled up from the trauma of that drive home.

We woke up to about 2 more feet of snow this morning and it's still going! We had to shovel out just to give the dogs a place to "go". I say this every March when spring seems to be arriving. "We ALWAYS get a horrible snow storm around St-Patty's Day". And we got it again this year! It never fails.

Jack didn't last long outside but the girls loved being in the snow, watching me shovel for them lol...now I'm headed back to bed, after very little sleep, to watch more tv shows with Alex...we have no intention to take the car out ever again in any type of snowstorm, no matter what special day it falls on! I remember the days of commuting to work and back and I'm so grateful that we have built a life together that doesn't require back and forth driving to an office. Simplicity and planning...despite the scary experience from yesterday, I feel lucky to be living where I am and having my loving relationship and my wonderful fur family. Can't take any of that for granted!

Ham and Cheese Crepes, Lacy Hash Browns

I took this photo of Alex in the summer of 2013, during the first year that we met. He taught me how to fish and we spent many evenings by the lake together! Today is our 4-year anniversary so I will be posting a short blog post today because we have lots planned! 

As per my plan, last night's dinner was supposed to be blueberry pancakes...but just to show how spontaneous I am, I changed things up MAJORLY.

We had ham and cheese Crepes instead :) That IS a major change for me!! Same basic meal but I really wanted to use up some Monteray Jack cheese I had from last shopping cycle so I stuffed the crepes with ham and cheese and let them sit in the oven for 10 minutes or so to melt. I also made some Lacy Hash Browns from the Williams Sonoma Breakfast book - YUM! Those potatoes are delicious but my gosh, you can taste the butter...they'll be a once in a while side dish that's for sure.

Baking Day and European Hot Dogs

I was in a baking mood yesterday so I made some more Pumpkin and Peanut Butter Dog Cookies. I got 46 out of this batch.

Since my boyfriend is allergic to peanuts I never bake with peanut butter or peanuts. But Jack knows that when he smells peanut butter, it's cookies for him! He waited very patiently by the oven until they were done! Someone asked me why I bother to cut them with the bone-shaped cookie cutter. Why? I don't know, because it's FUN! I know the dogs don't care one way or the other, but I do!

Since we ate our last freezer-pizza on Saturday, I decided to make two more with the leftover ham in the freezer. Everyone has their own favourite dough. I got mine from a cookbook called 500 Pizzas and Flatbreads. It's Basic Pan Pizza Dough - but I roll it out quite thin to make 2 large pizza crusts. It's SO HARD not to want to eat the pizza as I'm preparing it, but I had to keep reminding myself it's for a quick lunch or dinner when I'm too tired to cook!!

And a baking disappointment :(((  I'm a huge fan of Williams Sonoma and I have 22 of their cookbooks. Once in a while I come across a disappointing recipe. This was one of them! From the Breakfast book, I made a Cranberry Coffee Cake with Streusal Topping. I've included the recipe for anyone who wants it, but I really didn't have a good result. I switched the cranberries for cherries and mine is dark because we use brown sugar. It wasn't sweet at all and the topping....all you could taste was the flour, sigh. I re-checked the recipe to make sure I didn't flub up, but no, I followed it to a T. I was so bothered by this...I really don't take it well when a recipe doesn't work, I guess because I put so much time and love into it! My boyfriend Alex said to me "In our 4 years together, you've made me over a thousand dinners. One disappointing recipe out of thousands is still very good darling." He ate it anyway...he's so nice, he knows how sensitive I am! But I think this will be fed to the garbage bin today while I think of something else to bake!

How many meals have you made for your significant other/family/self/fur-kids? I'm sure you can all out-do my 1400 or so! (I just did 365 x 4 years for an estimate - not to mention breakfasts, lunches, sweets and snacks...) When you come up with your number, you should feel pretty proud of yourself :) I'm going to remind myself of that the next time I have a failed recipe!

Alex made dinner. We had what we call European Hot Dogs, though I'm not quite sure how European they are! We use Italian sausages and Alex makes a honey mustard sauce, which I don't have any recipe for since he's the master of "winging it" - which I cannot do. He loads his hot dog up with sauerkraut.

Mine has no sauerkraut - I'm not a fan of it. We caramelize mushrooms and onions too, it's SO GOOD...and so filling too. I made the homemade potato chips to go with it. These are tricky to make because we don't deep fry. I started them in the microwave but then had to finish them in the oven. We found out that our microwave can't handle the workload very well, it got SO HOT to the touch after about 12 minutes of cooking off and on plus not all of the chips cooked well, half were soggy. I won't include a recipe this time. I need to find a better one. The chips that did turn out were crisp and yummy though!

Despite the hair-freezing weather again today, the huskies got their 45 minute walk! Charlie walks on the snow banks while Marlene and me are on the side of the road...Charlie always thinks she sees something in the woods!

Despite the deep freeze, the river flows on. How poetic lol...that water must be frrrrreeezing. That's where the huskies swim in the nicer weather every day after their long walk, they get so hot in the summertime. We bought a kiddie pool for them last summer, but they only use it as a big water dish, I think they prefer to smell like the river!