Inspired Bliss

Yes, this is exactly how my family sits down to eat every night. I may give the butler the night off! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The shared meal is no small thing. It is a foundation of family life, the place where our children learn the art of conversation and acquire the habits of civilization: sharing, listening, taking turns, navigating differences, arguing without offending.” ~Michael Pollan, from his book, “Cooked”

I am guilty of much of what Pollan is railing against in his book “Cooked”. I have been wooed by the fast food industry, courted by the industrial food moguls, and a victim of food that is not really food. And I am now inspired to cook food from scratch and not just heat up “packaged ravioli with sage-butter sauce” and consider it a “culinary achievement”.

My Achilles heel when it comes to cooking is the fact that after a while it becomes too routine, and just getting some food to the table is an accomplishment itself—no matter where it comes from—the pizza delivery guy, my freezer, or a package.

Pollan has renewed my pride in cooking, and inspired me. And real cooking can be so simple—sometimes just a quick nuking of fresh asparagus from the local farmers market with a little butter and salt and pepper will satisfy that urging; other times a full-blown meal where one has to actually touch real potatoes, chop real lettuce, and cook some fresh meat meets the criteria.

I must confess that I will still rely on frozen packaged food at times—but I am now determined to take a little more time, take it that one step further, and serve real food on a more regular basis. And I must look at it as feeding my creative beast—there are so many ways to be creative and I no longer want to limit myself to writing literary masterpieces and somewhat lame poetry (I know I am exaggerating on both ends of the scale here).

To share a meal with those you love where you have actually put some time and thought into the effort is most satisfying. If we are going to do important things like teach the art of conversation, and share and listen and navigate differences—we should do it over fare that deserves that deliberation.

Bliss is going that extra mile and fixing “real food” if not every day at least as much as possible. What do you think?

Starve a Little

I don’t think my fridge has ever been this messy (Photo credit: *Bitch Cakes*)

Sometimes I fill my fridge with food

And it is too full

And I cannot find anything

Sometimes my mind is the same way

It is too full

And I cannot find anything

I do not feel like cooking when my fridge is too full

There is too much choice

I cannot think when my mind is too full

There is too much choice

Sometimes we need to starve just a little

To find our creativity.

Politically Incorrect Wonder Years

Wonder Bread Hometown Fresh Sign (Photo credit: joseph a)

As politically incorrect

as a bologna sandwich

on white bread

with mayo or mustard or sometimes both

topped with iceberg lettuce

and cut into dainty quarters

accompanied by salted potato chips

on a styrofoam plate.

Gulping down a coke

with its empty sweet but oh so delicious calories

while watching TV

a rarity in my childhood house

where most meals were served

at the dining room table ~

meals that included meat and potatoes

and a side of vegetables or two and a salad

on china plates.

Dessert (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And in those days dessert ~

because my father

who expected little, did expect dessert.

Bliss then was

a rare sandwich for supper

instead of the usual heavy healthy fare

and the best sandwich of all

was politically incorrect.

What did you eat that gave you bliss when you were a kid (or even now) that seems out of step with our nutrition crazed (and rightly so) world?

Related articles

• Days Gone By (onthehomefrontandbeyond.wordpress.com)
• Day 5- Oh my GOD…SUGAR!!! Just give me something sweet! Is dessert okay? (cavemandad.wordpress.com)

Mystery Recipe Saturday

Raspberries (Photo credit: hello pedestrian)

Today I am presenting to you a “found recipe”. As I was looking through a notebook which passes for a recipe book at my house, I found a piece of paper folded into four. Upon opening it, I found a recipe—thus my “found recipe”.

You did not think it would really be any more complicated than that did you—perhaps a mysterious recipe on parchment paper in another language that tells us the secret of the ages; or a recipe for what to drink out of that golden goblet that is the journey end of those trying to find ….

Anyway it is a recipe for a salad dressing. An untitled recipe for a salad dressing which makes it all the more mysterious. So I will name it myself. Drum roll please………….

Raspberry Enchantment

1 finely chopped garlic clove

2 tsp. of raspberry jam

1 ½ tsp. grainy mustard

1 ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp. of olive oil

There were no instructions, so I assume you measure the ingredients into a container, mix and pour on salad greens (I would choose  mixed baby greens or baby spinach with red onions and slivered almonds and maybe some dried cranberries).

So now, you are prepared for life—a few Saturdays ago I gave you a blueberry dressing and now I have provided you with a raspberry dressing—you are now officially ready for spring!

Green Bean Bliss

Whole green beans in a carton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It is Saturday—and we all know what that means: Recipe Day! I can just feel the enthusiasm that this weekly sojourn into the land of the culinary elicits, but I persevere. I bought some lovely frozen full size green beans and am going to roast them in the oven using a rendition of a recipe from Food.com.  Here is the original recipe:

Roasted Green Beans

2 lbs. green beans
1 -2 tablespoon olive oil (or just enough to lightly coat beans)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or to taste, may substitute with Mrs. Dash if desired)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (or to taste, omit if using Mrs. Dash)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Wash, dry well, and trim green beans.
Put green beans on a jelly roll pan.  Drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste (1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and about 8-10 grinds of the pepper mill). *Mrs. Dash may be substituted for salt and pepper as desired.
Use your hands to be sure all the beans are evenly coated and spread them out into 1 layer.
Roast for 20-25 minutes, turning after 15 minutes, until beans are fairly brown in spots and somewhat shrivelled.
Serve hot or at room temperature.

Of course I will not be using the original recipe as I will be using frozen green beans—so no washing, drying, and trimming will be necessary, which suits this lazy cook to a T.

Happy Birthday! (Photo credit: KP_Sonny)

I am going to use this recipe for a little birthday dinner party I am throwing tomorrow night for my husband, whose birthday was last Thursday, but he has a birthday month  not day, so this is just a continuation of the celebrations (and for exactly one month he is older than I am).

I may just add some parmesan cheese to the mix to add just a little touch of bliss.

What do you add to recipes for a touch of bliss, even if they do not call for it?

Related articles

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• Spanish Green Beans (expertscolumn.com)
• Chicken and Green Bean Salad with Zesty Lemon Glaze (itsalldelicious.wordpress.com)
• Wishful (Spring) Thinking (melissariebe.wordpress.com)

Is Slow Living Bliss?

Heidi kumquat small, not Heidi@lightlycrunchy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 To say that Heidi @ lightlycrunchy is my favourite blogger would not be true. But she is in the upper tier of my favourites. I have never been one to have a best friend, but lots of best friends, as I never like to be exclusive. (Now whether these people feel the same about me may be a different story). Heidi is one of my best friends. Not just blog friends, as I think that is a good term, but one that categorizes people in a sort of arm’s length way. Nope, Heidi sent me a present after I admired something that she knit (a pretty Christmas-y dishcloth). No fuss, no bother—she just sent it. I have it tucked away in a drawer to bring out next Christmas to festively hand wash my dishes.

 I read every one of her posts as soon as they show up in my email, and I love her sense of humour – she turns a highly informative and useful blog into one that is enjoyable and funny. She never preaches, she just tells us what she does. She never criticizes and she is humble about her many accomplishments from cooking to sewing, knitting to growing a fantastic garden and then using the harvest in all manner of ways, to holding down a job and mothering her two girls, and bragging about her husband.

I admire her and I admire the fact that at the end of every month, no matter how busy she is she does a roundup of what the month held using terms she gleaned from Slow Living Essentials. Now when you go to her site and read her monthly round-ups, you will see that they are full of substantial entries, of things she and her family and friends and relatives did that month to fulfill the key subjects set out by Slow Living.

In my own way, I am going to attempt the same, but instead of month end, I am going to start this month of March with some goals set by using the subject titles: Nourish; Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Repair; Green; Grow; Create; Discover; Enhance; and Enjoy.

Nourish:

I am going to make a meal from a bona fide new recipe this month and not just recycle my tried and true off the cuff recipes. I am also going to continue my “If It Is Saturday, It Must Be Recipe Day” post.

International Recycling Symbol (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Repair:

I am going to get my blue and red boxes to the curb this week. After missing two pick-ups (which are every other week) – I have a mound of recyclables on my back porch. By finally getting this stuff out to the curb I will repurpose my back porch—as I will be able to find it again. I will repair the back pockets on a pair of my jeans and a pair of John’s jeans, and fix my son’s game carrier—the elastic strap is broken.

Green:

I am going to recycle my recyclables. I am perhaps going to use a hint or two from Heidi, but don’t hold your breath on this one.

Remember back in the ‘90’s when all the rage was to buy green products etc? I am going to restart my earlier enthusiasm for this, and try my hand at making some green products. My sister has given me a teeth whitening recipe of 3% hydrogen peroxide and baking soda—so perhaps I will give that a whirl.  She says to only use it once a week, with your regular toothpaste.

Grow:

This one is difficult, as I have a black thumb, and not from lovely luscious humus. I will start small—maybe a violet. I have been known to be able to keep these alive. Our back garden will probably come to life down the road, but it is too soon for that.

Create:

I call writing creating, so I will continue writing. But I am thinking of getting back into my cut and paste phase—I may make some cards (something I love to do) and get back into scrapbooking. I create a lot of messes, but I do not think this counts. I love to create little vignettes around the house—and since it is time to replace the snowmen with something a little less wintry—I will be doing a little interior decorating.

Discover magazine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Discover:

This one is easy. I am a curious soul, so discovering is something I love to do. I am planning on spending an afternoon in my local library to write an article about it for my weekly newspaper column. I visit the library often, but do not spend a lot of time there in one sitting. I want to discover what goes on there and what I may be missing.

Enhance (Community):

As the municipal reporter for our local paper, I like to think I enhance the community by writing up articles that inform the residents of what is going on in the town and what they should be expecting.

Enjoy:

This can take in so many things—do not think I will make a prediction here.

So, at the end of the month, I will write up an end of the month round-up, and we will see what we will see. Thanks for the idea Heidi. Join me if you like.

Can slow living (my definition: mindful living) be the answer to our bliss?

Related articles

• ~ Family Bliss ~ (onthehomefrontandbeyond.wordpress.com)
• Slow Living – January (organisedcastle.wordpress.com)

Exotic Bliss ~ Saturday Recipe

super bowl (Photo credit: sinosplice)

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that the recipe I am providing today is a bit out of my league. First of all, it has way more than five ingredients and a few more than three steps, as well as being slightly exotic. But it is so delicious I could not resist sharing it with you.

On Super Bowl Sunday, I went to a hockey game with friends, and after the game they made us this delightful meal. It hits so many high notes, I barely know where to begin~the chicken was bronzed in the sauce, and the medley of ingredients served to provide a powerful  but delicate punch.

I am not a sports fan, but have been to a couple of Windsor Spitfire games, and am beginning to understand why people enjoy hockey. It is fast-paced and exciting. I was in an arena that held as many people as my small town (6000 or so). The noise is phenomenal, but it is a companionable noise, and the feeling of community is palpable. My only argument with hockey is when they throw down their gloves and go at it, or smash into the opposite team members with anger. That is when the spirit of the game is lost (for me).

Tajine pot.  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This chicken recipe was so good that even I, the queen of easy cooking, am going to attempt it. We had couscous under the delectable “stew” and chunks of butternut squash on top. My hostess forgot to put the slivered almonds on top (they were ready—but like me, she sometimes forgets one ingredient when she has guests), and to be honest they were not missed—but I imagine they would provide a nice crunch.

So without further ado—I present you with:

MOROCCAN STYLE CHICKEN

12 chicken thighs, skinned and boned – cut into chunks

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons dried currants

2 tablespoons of honey

2 or 3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon (or a little more)

1 and 1/2 cups bottled salsa (mild or medium)

1/2 cup of dried apricots chopped or figs or prunes or a combination of these

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup chopped or slivered almonds

Method for Crock Pot:

Cut each chicken thigh into 4 or 5 pieces. Set aside.

In a large metal bowl, mix together olive oil, garlic, salsa, water, currants, apricots, honey, cumin and cinnamon.  Add chicken pieces and stir well.

Transfer to crock pot and cook for 2 hours on high and then 4 or 5 hours on low. Stir occasionally.

Serve over couscous or rice. Follow directions on package for cooking.

Top with chopped or slivered almonds. Serve hot!

P.S. You could cook some chunks of sweet potato or butternut squash and serve on top for colour as well as nutritional value.

Do you have a recipe that is “out of your league” but you would be willing to try because the results are so delectable (or dare I say it, in keeping with my theme: blissful)?

~ Making Bliss from the Unblissful ~

English: Swiss chard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This next recipe is for those who do not eat meat, but still eat eggs and cheese. Yes, I actually did make this recipe once. It is so unlike me, but we had an attack of Swiss chard in our little family garden, so it was in response to the abundance of green stuff that I actually turned the oven on.

Swiss chard is really good for you. Having said that, I have to admit that it is not my favourite leafy green, but it is nicely disguised in this recipe.

So, without further ado (drum roll please) here is some Swiss Chard Bliss (isn’t it amazing how I can work that word into anything?):

Baked Swiss Chard

1 lb. Swiss chard

¼ cup of butter (I probably used Becel, as that is what I usually have on hand unless it is a holiday)

1 large onion, sliced

2 eggs

Salt and pepper (to taste)

¾ cup grated cheddar cheese

Cut stems from chard, then cut into ¼ inch pieces and leaves into 1 inch strips. (Let’s be honest here, I threw out the stems). Melt butter, add onion and stems and cook until onion is transparent. Add leaves and cook for three minutes. Place in greased two quart baking dish.

Beat eggs; add salt and pepper, then pour over chard. Sprinkle with cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Serves 2-4  (Recipe taken from Country Cooking, by readers of Harrowsmith Magazine, attributed to Sandra Lintz ~ p. 163)

Everything thing is better with cheese!  (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are not a big fan of Swiss chard you will like this recipe. If you are a big fan of Swiss chard, you will love this recipe.

So what recipe do you use to turn a vegetable which is not on your bliss list, into something that resembles bliss? And do you agree that if you add cheese to something, it automatically becomes blissful?

IF IT IS SATURDAY: It Must Be Recipe Day ~ Two Blissful Recipes

English: Almonds starting to grow.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As you know I am all about finding bliss this year, and not just my own bliss. I would like to share it and provide you with some bliss on those days when it is a little hard to come by.

So far this year, the New Year’s Eve Party that Robin and I threw was the epitome of bliss–the number of you who came, enjoyed, and checked back in again later was overwhelming. When I was in university back in those delightful days of the 1970′s (I know, some of you were not even born yet) I fancied myself a bit of a social butterfly in that I loved to get a bunch of my friends and acquaintances together to just go out and have some fun. I revisited those “glory” days to start out 2013 and it was just stupendous (I needed a reason to use this word).

I will be providing a few synopsi (yes, I made up this word) of that night, but since today is Saturday, I am going to start up my tradition of providing you with recipes because after all “If It Is Saturday It Must Be Recipe Day”! Okay, so how am I going to meld New Year’s Eve with recipe day? Two of the partiers provided recipes of the appetizers they brought and both sound so delicious I thought I would share them in a forum all of their own.

So without further ado, here are two of the appetizers you enjoyed at the party, and I defy you to not find them blissful:

On January 1, 2013 at 12:20 am lucewriter provided this recipe:

English: Bunches of scallions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Creamy Scallion Dip” with Drumstick snacker crackers.
1 c. dairy sour cream
1 c. creamed cottage cheese
4 ounces Swiss cheese, finely grated
1 T. chili sauce
1/2 t. dill weed
1/2 c. slice scallions
Toasted slivered almonds (never optional)
Blend together the first 6 ingredients and pour into a 1 quart casserole. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees 15 minutes or until heated through. Garnish with almonds. Serve warm with crackers. Makes about 2  2/3 c. I always made a double batch.
Happy New Year!

On January 1, 2013 at 2:03 am sharechair shared this Recipe with us:

Feta Cheese (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Found this Feta Foldover recipe on All Recipes several years ago and I’ve made them ever since.

Here is the WONDER of the recipe…. Just make them, DON’T COOK THEM, just freeze them on a cookie sheet. Once they are frozen, throw them into a food storage bag and keep them in your freezer. Just pop a few in the toaster oven whenever you need them. Very very handy!

8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
1 egg, beaten
1 (17.5 ounce) package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a small bowl, blend feta cheese, green onions, and egg. Cut pastry into 12 (3 inch) squares. Place a mounded tablespoon of feta mixture in the center of each square. Moisten edges with water, and fold pastry over filling to form a triangle. Press edges together firmly with a fork to seal. Lightly brush pastries with the egg yolk mixture.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Bliss is not that elusive if you know where to look. I can find it almost anywhere–but it is especially prevalent in good food.

What food do you find blissful?

Make A Plan

Merry Christmas! (Photo credit: Kelvin Servigon)

I have received a lot of advice in my life. Some I ignore. Some I am delighted to receive. And some I have to digest before I use it.

The following four short pieces of advice {which really meld into one} are from one of my favourite foodies, Rachael Ray, and they will stand me in good stead this holiday season if I take the time to heed them.

So (drum roll please), here are her pithy words of advice:

Rachael Ray Mag (Photo credit: Bekit)

Less is more

Keep it simple

Invite People

Make a plan.

She was referring to entertaining, but I think these words can be used in so many facets of our lives. The only change I would make is to “Make a plan” then “invite people” but that is just the way I roll.

This holiday season I have to keep in mind what is important. As the days wind down towards the big day I have a plan–I know that making my thumbprint cookies with seedless raspberry jam is more important than making sure every room in my house is spick and span; I know that making some good and  simple food will make my family happy and that creating fancy unfamiliar dishes would only cause stress; I know that wrapping the presents in whatever fashion I can, is more important than making sure everything is perfectly bowed and all corners sharp; I know that  family and friends are more important than my to do lists.

So, as I pare down my expectations, I do not pare down what makes this season merry and bright–good food, good friends, and family as well as something to open, something to drink, something to eat, and something to laugh at. And, oh yeah, better not forget to make the fudge.

What is the one important thing you must do to make your holiday merry?