A muffin to cure all that ails you

When *Mila* woke up and felt "oh, not so good"; there is nothing better than some Bisquick (R) muffins for the soul.

Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick (R)
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tbsp sugar
* I add some vanilla or cinnamon or lemon peel depending upon the season

Topping:
3 tbsp butter
Cinnamon and sugar mix

Preheat your oven to 400F.  Mix together the milk, Bisquick (R), egg, and sugar.  Grease and flour your muffin tin or use some handy cupcake liners (so easy for lazy people, like me, and a inpatient patient).  Pour the muffin mix about 3/4 fill in each cup.  Bake the muffins for about 10-12 minutes.

Melt the butter.  Dip the warm muffins in the melted butter and the cinnamon/sugar mix.  Mmmm.  All better.

signed, the willow

The Holidays 1

How were the holidays?  

We took some time to make a gingerbread house. Since "some" time equates to very little time, we bought a kit.  See above.

 This is how ours turned out.  Not sure that the icing is real icing as the instructions read "knead the frosting until it is the consistency of toothpaste."

It was an afternoon of giggles as we gave the gingerbread man and his snowman that lived in this humble abode some bulging eyes!


signed, the willow

Favourite Snack

One of my most favourite snacks is my Salmon Cracker Fight Club.


Take some crackers
 Brown Rice Crackers with Black Sesame Seeds
or
 34 degree Rosemary Crispbread

Take some cheese
 Havarti - Jalapeno!

A little spice
 Spicy Spinach Dip

No Fight Club Salmon Cracker snack would be complete without 

 Smoked Salmon

 Top it off with something sweet

 Red Pepper Jelly

This was my late night dinner on Saturday night.  For the Moms that needed booze, I needed booze too.  First I needed this food.  Then I passed out.

signed, the willow

Making a latte

First, start the machine

Pour the milk about 'yay' deep (1/3 full) in the stainless steel container.  Cold, skim milk works the best.

Turn on the steam wand (while the wand is in the milk).  Like so...

Hold the canister as the steam wand begins to steam the milk.  "Pull" the milk up and down in a vertical motion.  You should hear a hissing or kissing sound, but not a sputtering or gurgling.  

You're looking from thick dense foam here and not big fluffy bubbles.  As the foam develops, swirl the steam wand around in the milk.

Set the milk aside and tap it on the counter if you see large air bubbles.

Take a wet cloth and clean your steam wand.

Meet the portafilter

Freshly grind the espresso and fill the portafilter.  It should overflow slightly and be sure to clean all areas around the filter, so they are free of espresso (as this will damage your machine).

Using your tamper (and mine is not a good one, it just happened to come with the machine, so it fits the filter) apply about 30 pounds of pressure and do a very slight turn.  Make sure to apply even pressure so that the espresso is tamped flat, smooth, and level.

Lock the portafilter in place and press "go".

Look at the espresso here it comes.  I'm running a double shot here.

Voila, a nice rich red colour with crema on top.  If the crema is white, you'll have a bitter shot.  Watch for black dark espresso in the liquid part as this is wrong as well.  This takes practice and that's what makes it so fun.

I'm running another double shot and I don't want to spoil this shot.  Make sure that something hot is added to that espresso shot within 10 seconds, or it's lost.  I've added a splash of our steamed milk and prepared my second double shot.  I've spared you the details.

Here comes the second shot.

Now we are going to add that steamed milk.  Using a container to pour that has a sharp, or peaked, spout works well.  IKEA sells some great barista supplies.

Carefully pour, you don't want the foam to fall on top.  As you near the bottom of the liquid milk, you'll see a white spot form in the latte (yes, you've made a latte).  Play with this.  Waggle it back and forth and draw a zig zag, or a big line.  Or leave it as a bigger dot (make a heart with this dot).

Waggle.

My special tool of the day was a knife.  I've never been known to use a knife to draw with.  Normally, I'm using a toothpick, fondue fork or chopstick.  I guess I felt adventurous. One of the best tools is the tip of a meat thermometer (use it exclusively for the espresso machine and ... did I just have to tell you that?).

Go with it.  It's a .... feather?

And if you aren't happy with your design, plop that foam on top and you've got yourself a smurfy cappuccino.

Cinnamon and voila!

sip, sip, enjoy.

signed, the willow

Schnook's Cookbook

There is nothing like an old fashioned cookbook to call upon when you want a basic bread recipe or a how-to-make-gravy recipe.  This was my Gramma's cookbook and she's probably long forgot about it.  I just love glancing through it at the old ads and the recipes have no concern for using fat, salt, carbs, sugar or love.

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

Dog-eared and well-inked cook book.  

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

 This kills me.  Pigeons?  Who eats pigeons?  Who ate pigeons?  What?  I'm pretty sure I've never even eaten a hard-cooked egg!

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

 Avoid those wascally wabbits found in the bushes.  Instead, eat your domesticated pet!  What the ?

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

 Oh, man!  This is a hillbilly cookbook, isn't it?  Roasted with bacon fat and the quintessential Worcestershire sauce, of course!

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

 How to frost a cake.  "Transformation before your eyes - This Is How It's Done".   This is the 1950s alter-ego of Martha Stewart.

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

They had only 2 cookie cutters with shape in the 1950s:  clover leaf and heart.  Oooh, two holidays are covered!

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

If popcorn was fun, why were they just learning it was food too?  What were they using it for before eating it?  (p.s. I love the can).

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

 My favourite.  There was no description under these lovelies.  Are they figs?  Are they meatballs?  Are they found on an animal in a place we don't want to know about?  It was all about the garnishment in the 1950s.  "Make sure you have a head of iceberg lettuce, a jar of maraschino cherries, and can of pineapple rings on hand at all times to impress your husband!"

willowofthewood  The American Woman's Cook Book

Cooked carrots rolled in breadcrumbs and baked to look like real carrots.  These American Women cook book creators were pure genius!



signed, the willow

For breakfast today

On mornings that I do decide to gulp down something I've been choosing eggs lately.  This morning we were rushing around to get out of the house and get going.  And so, I reached into the fridge and chose....


smoked salmon....


rolled in a slice of ....


jalapeno.....


havarti cheese.


What is wrong with me?  Anyhow.

source:  Gypsy Faire Tents

I did choose to reach into the refrigerators of the internet and share this with you tent loving fairies out there.  Is this not just the most divine thing in the world?

signed, the willow fairy

Winning Big with your Ice Cream Recipes!!!

Now that I am in trouble with 'Lady of the Lake' I am not going to indulge you with any more of her anecdotes. For this week, anyhow. Here we go again with my boring stories about my vacation this summer.

This mansion atop an island all to itself is just slightly famous in my hometown. Riss' Island, as it was know, was owned by the Riss family for many years. Legend be told that Jimmy Hoffa's body was disposed of here. Whether or not that is true or not, I did have the luxury of playing pool on the billiards table there once with Jimmy Hoffa's pool cue. Enough already!

Here we have *Steve* and our charming daughter *Mila*, who insists on wearing that undersized life jacket because it is pink, swimming in Abram Lake.




Making sandcastles with gardening tools and sticks. We're primitive.



Making new friends is so important in the Sioux Lookout summers. Somehow, I always envied the kids that visited Sioux Lookout each summer. Each summer they would enjoy the beaches, lakes and blueberries and each winter they could get the hell out of there and enjoy city life. Now my kid is one of them, a 'citiot'. My brother and sister-in-law take full credit for inventing the word 'citiot". If you have to look it up, you might just be one.



All good things must come to an end. Maybe we should have had another child, just to see if he/she would look like me. *Mila* is the spitting image of her dad, and acts just like me. Aren't I lucky? It's like having *mini-Steve* scream her demands at me. Yay!
Now that we are home, we finally bought that ice cream maker. Yeah, I know. Now the challenge is going to be finding great ice cream recipes that involve little fat, little egg yolks and tons of flavour. Here's my challenge to you: Comment here on what your favourite flavour of ice cream is and if you have a great recipe and name it after me, then I'll make up a custom prize for you. Really!


On the topic of making things up, *Steve* made up this google sports calendar blog and I have to share with you.


signed, the willow

Port Wine Cheese Spread

Just the recipe today and no photo of the finished product. Obviously I'm all out of port wine.

Port Wine Cheese Spread

1/2 cup port wine
1 pound sharp aged cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne

Combine wine and butter in a bowl. Set aside. In a blender/food processor blend cheese, sour cream, salt and cayenne. Gradually add in wine and butter. Process until smooth. Store in airtight containers. Refrigerate for a day and then spread it on a Triscuit or something cracker-like.

signed, the willow