I have been cooking.....

I havent really been making anything too exciting. Our granite is being installed at the moment and all we'll need to complete the kitchen is a pendant light( next week) and backsplash. The kitchen is still a bit unorganized and a mess so I've been keeping my cooking to simple things. I did make this oreo cheesecake for a fundraiser Robin attended. I also made 3 of these for the Senior Meal last night. It went over really well. Its a simple recipe on the back of the philly package( here in Canada). I ended up using Lactania cream cheese because it went on sale on the weekend for .99 a bar. That price sounds normal for the US, but here in Ontario cream cheese is over 3.00 a bar. Each cheesecake has 4 bars, 4 eggs, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of sour cream. You add some chopped oreos too. The crust is simply oreo's and butter.


The other day I found some fresh pasta clams on sale at Sobey's for 3.99lb. I've never seen fresh clams around these parts so I dug out a recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It was pretty simple and it came out great!!.



Last but not least, I made some homeade hummus for the event Robin attended. It ridiculous how expensive hummus is when you buy it ready made. I made this from scratch( using dried beans) and it cost about 2.00 for a full quart. I even bought a big jar of Tahini. I basically winged it using garlic, Evoo, salt, pepper, lemon juice, tahini and a big spoonful of peanut butter. I sprinkled some chopped parsely on top. I served it with cut up greek style wheat pita.

I cooked( and I baked).....

Yay!! and I didnt even wait until the label came off the oven. I made a simple dinner tonight, Pork Tenderloin with apples and sage( Cook's Illustrated), baked sweet potato and brocoli. It was so nice to be able to cook again. Robin brought me home a wonderful cookbook called The Great Canadian Cookie Cookbook.
. She got it for $9.00, so it was a great deal too. I did notice the Great American Cookie Cookbook has the same cover, its most probably the same book. Anyway, I digress. I baked some simple peanutbutter toffee cookies from the book( can you guess who requested them?) and they were well received. The best part? I can bake the entire recipe at once. No more waiting for 1 rack of cookies to finish before making another. I used the convection feature and the cookies came out perfect.

What shall I bake next?

The correct floor....

Did I mention that the floor people installed the WRONG FLOOR??? This happened last Wednesday and could not be corrected until today because the cabinets were installed for 3 days. We're waiting on the appliances. I need to make a decision regarding the backsplash and I'm waiting on a pendant light( coming from Oregon).

I think I'll be able to cook tonight. Keep your fingers crossed.

So close......

Our appliances are being delivered tomorrow. I'm this[ ] close to being able to cook and bake. I miss it so much.

Be back soon!!

All I wanna do is cook!!!!........

But I can't!!! They started tearing down our kitchen yesterday. While I'm very excited about our new kitchen, I can't cook. Yesterday I had cereal for dinner. It's like we're camping in our living room, but we're not. In order to get to the bathroom, we have to walk thru the very dusty torn apart kitchen. Its not fun.

Our flooring and cabinets go in next week. The appliances will be delivered on Friday Oct 19th. The granite wont be ready for 3 more weeks, but we'll have a temporary sink and countertop so at least I can make dinner.

Chicken Tika Masala( CI).....

Here we have another winner from Cook's Illustrated. This was in the latest issue. Like most CI recipes, there were a few steps, but none too difficult. The only problem I had with this, was that my sauce started to separate. I think its my fault though because I didnt have crushed tomatoes( I used whole Italian tomatoes that I pureed myself). I also had no tomato paste and I didnt want to buy a can( they dont sell the tubes in my town). I'm really try to use what I have in preparation for the kitchen renovation. As it is, I had to buy a pint of heavy cream and a container of whole milk yogurt. The recipe also calls for 1/4 of chopped cilantro, but I didnt want to buy that either as we're leaving on Tuesday for San Fran. I also threw some frozen peas in with the brown basmati rice because I'm trying to clean out the freezer too.

In other news, I've decided on the granite( Labrador Antique), the kitchen pain( Benjamin Moore, Soft Chinchilla) and the flooring. I think we're going to buy the appliances tomorrow.

I also ordered the faucet on ebay( Delta Leland in Stainless Steel) and I found a pendant light for above the sink that I'm going to order.

Today our sunroom was torn down and they're digging the foundation for our new bedroom. Very exciting!!

Tortiglioni with Broccoli and Goat Cheese...

I whipped up this simple pasta dish 2 nights ago. To be honest, I wasnt expecting much since the recipe came from the back of the Decco Pasta box. I thought it sounded too simple, but really isn't simple sometimes best?

You bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add the broccoli stems. Then 2 minutes later you add the florets and the pasta and boil for another 10 minutes. I thought to myself that it was going to be way too mushy, but it really wasnt. In another pan you heat up some EVOO(3/4 of a cup which I thought was too much, I used less), crushed garlic( the recipe said 2 cloves, I used 5) and some red pepper flakes. You toss that with the drained pasta/broccoli. You then shave over some parmeseana reggiano( please do not use the stuff in the green can) and some fresh cracked black pepper. I added some goat cheese since this was my main dish. I breaded and baked up some boneless, skinless chicken thighs for Robin. I picked up this box of pasta( a shape I normally wouldnt buy) for .50 at a liquidation place and the brocolli was 1.29. What a thrifty meal!!

I'm seriously trying to use up what I have in the pantry. We're also leaving in a little over a week and I don't want to buy any more food before we go. When we get back, I have a wedding to cater( just the apps and desserts) and I'll be needing all the fridge space I can get!!

Speaking of fridges, we're looking at the GE Profile French Door Fridge for the renovation. We're also looking at the GE Profile Dual Fuel slide in range and the dishwasher? Comments?

Kitchen Sink....

(stock photo)

I ordered a large one bowl sink. I debated about getting a 2 bowl sink, but decided against it. We're also getting a dishwasher so I don't think a 2 bowl sink is necessary. Anyway, I'm happy with the choice( I hope Robin will be too)

More floor samples.....

I picked up a few more floor samples. I really like the one on the left of the first picture but I'm not sure if it will be too dark. Is there some kind of rule for this? Like, dark floor = light cabinet = dark countertop? ( Btw, do you see the ugly floors we have now?) I'm not sure of the granite either, I'm going to get a few more samples on Friday. The contractor who is doing the addition( and work in the kitchen, teardown, etc) said there was a problem with getting the plans. He's going to draw the plans himself and now I have to get the permit.( A contracter can't get a permit if he draws the plans). He wants to start late next week. This means we have to clear out our sunroom and find room for everything in it because it will soon be gone. I have much anxiety about this project, especially since we'll be in San Francisco while they're digging the foundation. Oy vey!!!

Flooring samples.......

I'm not too sure about these. Now we're thinking of going with a darker granite so we'll have more contrast. I'd love ceramic tile in the kitchen but I'm notorious for dropping things and I know tile isnt good for that. I dont think I have much of choice. You can't have wood or laminate in the kitchen. There is vinyl and ceramic. What other choices do I have?

Kitchen samples.....

Today was very exciting!! I wrote a check to the Kitchen Designers( the largest check I've ever written) and signed all the papers. I wasnt feeling that hot so I didnt stick around there very long. We still need to pick out our granite or quartz( I can't decide). I picked out a couple samples to bring home and show Robin. One of them is granite, the other is quartz. I'm leaning towards the granite. The cabinets will be ordered today and installation is set for Oct 17-19th. The door style we got is what is pictured, minus the middle section. If you have a raised inner door panel, it adds a lot of money to the price. We still need to pick out the hardware, the appliances and the flooring.

Did I mention we're also adding a 24 x 24 master bedroom to our house( with walk in closet). We're adding a deck as well. We're beyond excited but we have so much work to do. Our existing sunroom will be torn down and we need to clean that out. We also need to pick paint colors for the kitchen and bedroom and backsplash tile and lighting. Its going to be a busy Fall!!