Marshmallows with Jane

Thursday's are special since Christmas because now that Jane is 3 she is old enough to go to the preschool ballet class on Thursday afternoons.  Theo stays with me because at (just) 1 he still needs a nap. Most weeks, Hannah and kids come over late in the morning to play for a bit before it is time for the serious business of lunch, doing "ballet" hair, getting Theo to bed and Jane off to class. Sometimes just to make the day even more special Eden and her girls come too. But not today.

Today Jane and I had just enough time to make pink marshmallows. She was the sweetest little helper and after helping was even sweeter - if a little sticky.

Marshmallows

3 envelopes of Knox unflavoured gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp sea salt

powdered sugar and cornstarch for dredging

Line a 9x13" pan with foil and spray foil generously with cooking spray.

Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup water in a large bowl. Soak for at least 15 minutes.

Combine sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Pour boiling syrup into gelatin* and mix at high speed. Add the salt, vanilla, and almond extract and continue beating for about 10-12 minutes or until white, glossy and stiff peaks form. Scrape into prepared pan and shake to spread evenly. If you want to smooth it more than this you can use a wet spatula or even wet hands.

Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 30 minutes (or more). Mix together equal measures of cornstarch and powdered sugar - I use about 3 Tbsp of each. Turn marshmallow out onto a cutting board that has been dusted quite liberally with the cornstarch and sugar. Peel the foil off and sprinkle the exposed candy with more powder. Cut with a sharp knife that has been dusted with the powder as well. (You will need to keep dusting the knife after pretty much every cut - or things get very sticky and get ugly fast.) Roll the cut marshmallows in the sugar mixture.... or coconut, or cocoa and powdered sugar, or cinnamon and sugar, or toasted coconut, or...you get the idea.

Store in an airtight container - if there are any left!

*Most recipes I have read say to pour the syrup in a thin stream over the gelatin but once (because I was in a hurry and didn't read carefully enough) I just dumped the whole thing over the gelatin and started to mix. Happily, it worked just fine and so that is what I do now. You can choose your method but for me, easy always wins (as long as it also works).

Notes: 

Jane and I wanted pink marshmallows today so we added a tiny dab of pink food colouring paste just we started the beating process.

The sky - or your imagination - is the limit when it comes to flavouring marshmallows. Chocolate (cocoa), cinnamon, licorice, mint. Whatever I have tried so far has been yummy.

And that is a pretty cute pile of pink!

Time Out

Last week David and I went to Fairmont. My brother Mike and his wife Michele have a time-share condo there and they ever so kindly invited us to join them. The holiday that they outlined when they extended the invitation sounded lovely but the reality exceeded the expectation, at least for me. It was - simply - quite blissful. We did only what we wanted to do. Period. 

Mike and Michele have both experienced loss that has been profound - his wife and her son - so they truly do know. It is both comfortable and comforting to be with them because there are no demands, no expectations - just  understanding and companionship. They have been an incredible source of help and love not only to David and I but to all of our family. They have had Eden's little ones overnight. Mike has worked at Mike and Merin's for hours and hours. Michele (a nurse in the NICU at Rockyview Hospital) spent several nights with us at the Children's Hospital helping with Ysa - and that after a 12 hour day in the nursery. Food, help, love. So freely offered, so generously given. 

Mike is two years younger than I. When we were children and would bicker as all children do, I remember my father teaching me that it was important to treat my brother with love because he would be one of the best friends I would ever have. We were great friends as children and then, indeed, best friends as teenagers but it is only now that I truly understand what a tremendous blessing that friendship is. In Fairmont as Mike worked on the puzzles that he loves to do, I remembered his absorption in dismantling a clock or building with Meccano - his round cheeks flushed, little boy eyes sparkling - and I felt such a surge of love for him and gratitude for the years of friendship.

The relaxed pace of a holiday where we slept late, ate well, went skiing - or stayed in and read, or watched old movies (in the afternoon!!!!), or worked on sewing projects - that was lovely. But the bliss was being with one another and with others we love who also love us. Thanks Mike and Michele for all of that. It was the perfect time out.

Felted Wool Heart Scarves

Valentines's Day is coming. Perfect motivation to be creative - and with two sweet, sweet little girls in mind - the wheels started turning. I decided to make scarves for them out of felted sweaters. So off to Value Village to buy a few previously loved sweaters for the project. I was amazed at the apparently large number of people who wash - and dry - wool sweaters. By machine. In hot water. Seriously interesting. (There was even a lovely pink cashmere sweater from BCBG that I don't think had started life sized to fit a 2 year old.) Anyway, a stranger's loss was my gain since this was exactly what I was looking for. I chose six sweaters in shades and patterns that seemed roughly "valentine's-ish", carted them home and got to work.

Felting sweaters is easy and ... fun! (You get to do what you really shouldn't and it works out well. How often does that happen?!) Just toss the 100% wool sweaters in the machine with a healthy amount of detergent and run the cycle with hot water. Put them in the dryer on hot. Repeat. And voila! perfectly miniaturized sweaters that are nicely felted. I cut the sweaters apart at the seams, pressed them lightly, and cut out a bunch of 3" hearts from one sleeve of each sweater.

Next I lined the hearts up in a way that appealed to me and sewed them together using Pearl Cotton. I use 'sew' loosely because really I just made a couple of stitches and then tied a knot leaving the ends showing. Just for fun I embroidered an initial on each scarf.  Done! 

I would like to be all "Oh this old thing?" - kind-of-cool about this project but really I am pretty tickled with how it turned out. More "Look, look, look!" than cooly uncaring but, what's the big deal with cool?I love how the hearts look a bit like flower petals. I love how the little girls played all afternoon wearing their new scarves. More magic.

Caramels with Mediterranean Sea Salt

I had meant to post this recipe before Christmas - but everyone knows what happens to things one means to do before Christmas. At least I always have a pile of ideas that I never get to in time. When the post didn't happen, I thought 'no worries, just do it next December' but then Jonathon relayed the info that his friend Allie wanted the recipe (I am guessing he shared some of what I sent home with him at Christmas time) and I decided that it made all kinds of very good sense to share the recipe as a Valentine's Day treat. For some people it isn't a real treat unless it involves chocolate - others (myself) prefer something caramel-y and salted. So if you know someone like that try a batch of these to say "I love you more than the whole world!"


Caramels with Mediterranean Sea Salt


1 cup unsalted cultured butter*
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
2 tsp sea salt
1 cup corn syrup
1 15 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp vanilla


Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan. Add sugar and salt; stir thoroughly. Add corn syrup and milk, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over medium heat until just past firm ball stage (245 degrees) or about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour into buttered 9x13" pan. Sprinkle with flaked sea salt (like Maldon's) to taste. I was pretty liberal with the sprinkling - but I love salt! Cool completely, cut into squares and wrap in waxed paper.


*good butter makes a huge difference here. Don't cheat yourself and buy any old butter - or worse, use margarine. Just don't.


Note: for an accurate reading on your candy thermometer, boil a pan of water noting at what temperature the water boils. All recipes assume that water boils at 212  degrees F but of course, that assumes we all live at sea level. If you want a happy outcome when making candy, do the check and then adjust your recipe. For example if water boils at 202 degrees and the recipe says to cook to 245 degrees, subtract 10 and cook to 235 degrees. (Clear as mud right?) You can also check the candy hardness by dropping a bit of hot candy into a glass of very cold water. This caramel should be very firm not hard. Good luck and have fun. It isn't hard and is always going to be delicious. It is, after all, salted and caramel!

Sorry the recipe is a week late Allie - this really was my first opportunity. I was too busy taking a holiday.

Salmon, Quinoa and Asparagus

I made this a few weeks ago and wished I had taken a picture of it so that I could share it with you but I hadn't and all I could show was a very empty plate. Because I have been telling all sorts of important people (my kids, good friends, strangers in line at the grocery store) that they really need this recipe and because it is fast, easy and good I made it again today. And this time I did take a picture. This meal is very good, just as fast, super easy, and extremely healthy. (You know all the lists of super/power foods that abound? I think almost everything in this recipe is on those lists!) The recipe is from Quinoa 365 the Everyday Superfood by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming. I haven't tried anything close to all 170 recipes but the ones I have tried have been winners. This one for sure is on our "make again soon" list. It looks pretty amazing plated up - almost as good as it tastes. 


Salmon and Red Quinoa on Asparagus with Lime Cilantro Sauce
(tweaked ever so slightly from Quinoa 365 the Everyday Superfood )
1/2 cup red quinoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup light sour cream*
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp grated lime zest
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp grated ginger
3 Tbsp minced minced fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp salt
Four 4 oz wild salmon fillets
1 lb asparagus


Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat but keep the pan on the burner for another 6-8 minutes, then uncover and fluff with a fork.


Preheat oven to 400 F. Place the fillets on a foil lined baking sheet, rub with olive oil. Bake for about 12 minutes or until salmon flakes easily.


While the salmon and quinoa cook, steam the asparagus.


Combine the sour cream, mayo, lime zest and juice, ginger, cilantro and salt in a small bowl. Mix well.


Arrange the steamed asparagus on individual plates. Spoon on a portion of quinoa, top with salmon and drizzle (or pour if you want - it's really good) the lime-cilantro sauce over the salmon. Enjoy! I served additional sauce at the table - just because we liked it so much.

(My empty plate - again! I practically licked it clean! mmmmm )

*The first time I made this I used the sour cream called for. This time I didn't have any so I subbed non-fat Greek yogurt (plain) for the sour cream and it was equally delicious.

Fast and easy to cook, quinoa has been identified as one of the world's healthiest foods - it is a nutritionally superior source of non-animal protein, contains all the essential amino acids, and is a good source of fibre. It can be used in many ways and incorporated into almost any type of dish from appetizers to desserts, soups to breads. 

Kitchen 'Rehab' at Merin's

With lots of assets (great curb-appeal, location, space and potential) this little house had a few less desirables. The most obvious of which was the kitchen.

It was, to not put too fine a point on it, a disaster.  Totally unworkable from a current perspective. And that isn't even getting into that it was just ugly. The cabinets were too small and too few.The layout impractical. The counter space was almost non-existent. And  ugly! How about the faux brick combined with the dark faux wood paneling? As we 'excavated' we discovered three different layers of laminate on the counter, two layers of vinyl flooring over top of the original linoleum tile and yes, two layers of wallpaper along with evidence of 3 separate color schemes in paint that was revealed as we worked. Wow! The original owners really liked to redecorate. (and who am I to knock that?!)

For the better part of the year that Mike and Merin owned the house the kitchen looked like it does above. At the end of May - a month before little Ysa was due - they pulled everything out right back to the studs. So there was nothing - no water, no counter - not even the vinyl flooring. The hope was to have the kitchen in and finished by the end of the summer. It was a challenge for the end of a pregnancy and even more so for a new mom but Merin was willing to do it and  looked forward with excitment to the finished and functional kitchen.

Merin and I spent many hours brainstorming ideas, drawing the plan, shopping for finishes and fixtures. It was my idea of great fun. It also put me in the unique position of being able to execute the plan after the accident - to know that I could finish it so that the kitchen looked just like she wanted it to. I did. And it does. It is, I think, pretty fantastic.

Now there is a very functional, large, deep single bowl sink to replace the shallow and entirely frustrating itty bitty sink. And the dishwasher we found is a huge upgrade over the old portable. We chose to install the shelf instead of upper cabinets. It kept the kitchen much more open and is a younger, hipper look. The countertop is Richlite, a material that is fantastic. It will not burn or stain, is more forgiving than stone if things are dropped on it and has a softer, warmer appearance. 

We mounted upper cabinets on the wall under the windows. This addressed several issues - the baseboard radiant heating that could not be moved, the need for more storage, as well as the need for countertop. Brilliant solution. I like the way it 'floats' - visually light and open. (Merin and I had planned to paint the space between the windows with blackboard paint - a great graphic hit -but since the house is no longer for them but resale that was deemed a potential hazard. I still thought it would be amazing. Oh well.)

The new ceramic tile floor is practical and, in my opinion, cool-ly graphic. The kitchen light fixture was original as is the lovely chandelier over the table. We thought it was fun to keep that bit of history - and, after shopping, we really liked them.

Merin would have been beyond thrilled with the result, the product of all the dreaming, working, and sacrifice of convenience. I have felt comforted (although at times it was very hard) as I have had the opportunity to do this for her. For me it has been important. I wish she could have used this kitchen but she was so happy here in this little house of love and dreams even without it. I remind myself that it doesn't matter so much where we live but how we live. I can be grateful and therefore happy or I can not. I choose. Every day. I can honor her memory by choosing well.

It is a very good kitchen. Sweet, practical, beautiful, cool - perfectly Merin.

I know that most of  you have likely seen many of these pictures from Eden's blog but since I was so intimately involved in the process of getting to the "After" stage, and since who doesn't love to see the "Before"s, this is my offering.

I acknowledge all the hours of help and work contributed by Merin's brothers, father and uncles, they selflessly gave many,many hours doing work that was not fun. It was a gift of love.

All after photos are courtesy of edenlangpictures. Thanks so much Eden for your beautiful work.

Roasted Vegetable Meatloaf

There are a lot of meatloaf biases. Seems that people either love it or hate it, with the majority not loving it. It is practically a metaphor for bland, boring and totally tasteless. For a whole generation meatloaf for dinner meant there was no money for anything more desirable (see bland, boring and tasteless above). Admittedly for others meatloaf + mashed potatoes = comfort food. This recipe for meatloaf changes the meatloaf playing field entirely. A totally new paradigm even. There is a fair amount of tedious chopping vegetable prep but it smells so good when the vegetables roast and tastes so amazing that - like childbirth - the less-pleasant aspects recede and all you remember is that this is good. Admittedly it is a home-y kind of meal, more diner than haute cuisine but the herbs give it a nice kick, the vegetables rescue it from blandness and it is... really, really good. 

Roasted Vegetable Meatloaf

3 small zucchini , diced
3 red bell peppers, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, divided

2 lbs ground beef
2 cups coarsely grated mozzarella cheese
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
1 Tbsp chopped fresh marjoram
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
2 large eggs


Preheat oven to 450 F. Combine zucchini, peppers and onions in medium bowl. Add oil and 1 Tbsp rosemary; toss to coat. Spread on rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with salt and freshly ground pepper. Roast until vegetables are tender - about 25 minutes. Remove from oven; cool. Change oven temperature to 375 F. Mix ground beef, mozzarella, panko, basil, marjoram, salt, pepper, dried crushed pepper, remaining rosemary, and 1 cup roasted vegetables. Whisk together ketchup and eggs; add to beef mixture. Stir with wooden spoon until well incorporated. Spoon into 9x5x3 loaf pan, forming rounded top. Bake until cooked through, juices run clear and top is browned - about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest 20 minutes. Rewarm remaining vegetables. Turn meatloaf out and cut into 1" thick slices. 

I like to serve this with potatoes and cauliflower mashed together, along with another green vegetable and of course, the remaining roasted vegetables. Helps immensely with achieving the goal to eat 6-8 servings of vegetables a day. Win/win. And honestly, I haven't heard a single complaint.