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

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

When Bad Luck Schmedlap Comes to Visit

When the morning starts off a little like today did, you start to believe in the Huldufolk.

Waking up at 5:30 am on Mondays is enough to make most people I know cringe. But, it began with the morning ritual of visiting the washroom before pouring a coffee. "What?! No toilet paper? Seems to me there was toilet paper at 3 am, when I was in here last. Oh, I've seen this little culprit before, the toilet paper thief. The one who takes the very last 24 sheets of toilet paper and throws them in the trash. And I do mean the last 24 sheets of the entire house."

5:34 am: Pour the cream into the coffee and return it to the fridge. Not until you drop it on the floor and coat your black cupboards with white cream first! Yes, it is the 'cream tripper'.

So, after a 4 mile run, a sleepyhead that needed to be awakened and a lazy dog that doesn't like the 4 inches of slush in the backyard, I am met with a wiper blade that cracks off of the car and is stuck to the confines of my pink glove. How does this happen? Can't drive in this muck all the way to school - it's a 15 minute drive over the armpit of Lake Ontario. Call the school and tell them "We probably won't be there."

Enough said. I'm not trying to say I had a bad day. We started our morning off with what is known as a "Bad Luck Schmedlap" day.

While we let teddy bear Emma roast plastic marshmallows over a fire made from Tinkertoys, let's review that gingerbread recipe that is chilling in the fridge:

8 tablespoons of margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar (the firmly packed variety)

1/2 cup molasses

1 egg

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp powdered ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugar. Beat in egg and the molasses.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the margarine mixture. When completely combined cover and refrigerate for an hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease those cookie sheets, cool cat.

4. Roll your dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters or to the specifications of your blueprints. Bake for about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

5. Decorate with icing, gumdrops and sprinkles OR glue your "Hansel and Gretel Trap" together with loads of gooey icing and delicious treats! Enjoy my pretties.

signed, the schmedlap/er, I mean willow

Yo! You been lookin' faw me?

I have been on a blogging holiday. It has lasted over 3.5 weeks and has been luxuriously spent on the shore of Pelican Lake, driving home to my abode and listening to the gushing drips of a broken toilet in Owen Sound.

I won't bore you with the grim details of the toilet scenario in Owen Sound. I will just tell you that no matter which motel/hotel we choose after we step off the Chi-Cheemaun it includes insect life or dilapidated bed with cracked toilets. We will find a winner next year - I promise!

*Mila* is preparing to enter her first year of many in the confines of a classroom. I hope that we have chosen her a suitable school and that the adjustment will come easy to her. Worry is my middle name and I have sensed that *Steve* too is now losing many nights of sleep tossing over who will be more emotional: *Mila* or I?

Appetites have seemed to dwindle around here lately. But I dug this one out of the archives and decided to give it a spin last night:

Mexican Corn Bake

1 tbsp olive oil

2 crushed to oblivion garlic cloves

1 red bell pepper finely chopped

1 green bell pepper finely chopped

1 yellow bell pepper finely chopped

1 celery stalk, diced

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

28 oz can of chopped tomatoes

12 oz can of corn, rinsed and drained

19 oz can of kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 tbsp chopped cilantro

salt and pepper

Topping:

1 cup cornmeal

2 tbsp flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup milk

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

- Fry the garlic, peppers and celery for about 5 minutes in the olive oil

- Stir in chili powder, tomatoes, corn, beans, seasonings

- Boil the mixture and let simmer for 10 minutes

- Stir in cilantro and transfer to oven proof casserole dish

- For the topping, mix together the dry ingredients

- Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the egg, oil and milk (adjust to get a cake batter consistency)

- Beat until smooth

- Smooth the topping over the corn mixture and sprinkle with the cheese

- Bake in a 425 oven for 25 or 30 minutes

- Serve with cilantro sprigs immediately

signed, the willow

Northwestern Ontario Blueberries

And I know. I've been absent for a while. Making good use of the weather we brought up north with us. There's been swimming, boating, scrapes and bruises, attack of the killer mosquitoes and snoring dogs. It's been so good, I've forgotten that I even had a blog. Now I must be bored and back with a vengance. My week off was deserved and more hectic than ever.

Now, on with the most desired of all good things to be desired from NWO (Northwestern Ontario)....blueberries. If you've eaten blueberries from the grocery store, they've more than likely had the circumference of that of a Canadian nickel, been as tasteless as a rock and left you feeling, "Who cares about blueberries.". You my dear need to try the real northern lowbush blueberries of NWO.

Blueberry Muffins

1/4 cup soft butter

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg, well beaten

1 1/2 cups pastry flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

In a bowl cream together bugger and sugar, add egg and mix well. Add sifted ingredients alternately with milk and fold in blueberries. Fill 12 buttered muffin tins with batter (2/3 full). Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

Eat your weight in pancakes

There is a reason why people visit S. Lookout during the blueberry Festival. I'm sure the pancake breakfast has something to do with it. Although *Mila* chose not to eat a bite.

Oh great, I broke my promise to my dad to never post pictures of him.

signed, the willow.

Welcome to Canada we eat Poutine

If there is a way to make poutine vegetarian, I will find a way. I have this argument all the time with *Steve*: "GRAVY COMES FROM MEAT" Well it does at KFC I'm sure. So I picked up a package of Vegeta (watch out for the MSG) which makes my Croatian husband perky. From this I can whip up a quick gravy. Or IKEA sells a lovely cream sauce that goes with their meatballs. This is what I chose for dinner last night.

1 package of spicy frozen McCain's fries
1 package of IKEA cream sauce
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup cream
1 cup of shredded mozzarella

Bake your fries for about 20 minutes at 425 F. Shred your mozza and while you continue to wait for the fries to cook, make your gravy. The easy way is to put the water and the cream in a pot and boil it. Once boiling, add the IKEA cream sauce and let simmer for 3 minutes. Stir well. When all is cooked, put fries on a plate, top with mozza and pour your cream sauce on top. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper and enjoy. This should make you enough for about 4-6 large portions. Do not blame me for the calories.

signed, the willow

Fox Mulder Veggies

Because when I met *Steve* he introduced me to the world of Fox and the world of X-Files. While I often fell asleep watching it (like I have during every tribal council ever held on 'Survivor') I sort of took a bit away and I have to admit, I just wanted Scully to get married to Mulder and have his baby. But I think she had an alien baby, didn't she? I forget.

Here are the Fox Mulder Roasted Veggies from my personal recipe vault:

• 1 diced zucchini (something green in honour of the little green men)
• 12 diced cherry tomatoes (something cherry red for the colour of Scully's hair)
• 12-15 small whole mushrooms (for all the fungi and viruses that attached themselves to Mulder)
• 1 chopped hot red onion (for Mulder's love child with Scully that was spiced up with a little Alien DNA)
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• dash of hickory smoke (for Mulder's Dad, the Cigarette Smoking Man)

Place all ingredients in a roaster and toss. Place in oven at 400 for 20 minutes or less. Toss occasionally. Alternatively you can BBQ them or send them into space with an alien passing by.

signed, the willow

Finger Paint

An inedible recipe, but safe for kiddies if they get it in their jaws.

Gooey Finger Paint

4 tbsp cornstarch
2 cups cold water

Mix together over medium heat until thick. Will set more as it cools. Divide into 4 containers and add colour. Can keep in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

I take no responsibility for the mess this will create.

And darnit all if I wasn't wrong on the 68 GTO. That WAS the 68 Firebird! HO 350. My Dad's car which would soon be our family car. We wore no seatbelts *Mila*!

signed, the wife of a Car & Driver Enthusiast who owns every issue back to 1983....but did not recognize her own family's car.

I'm not making supper

and therefore, I have no recipe today. Just a link of a great little vegan girl and her plethora of original vegan recipes. She's a gem.

The Chocolate Covered Vegan

signed, the willow

Smooth Criminal

In honour of the police checks that *Steve* and I are enduring in order to volunteer at *Mila's* school this fall, I dedicate this smoothie to all the non-criminals out there who have been wrongly convicted. Take 1 cup of your favourite milk. I'm currently enjoying a little soy in my coffee. Pour the milk into your blender. Get ready for some blending.

Then add at least 1/2 cup of frozen woodland blueberries to that blender. Europe's Best is our new standby. *Mila* eats them by the gallon, so we always have at least one bag on hand. Look how impressed she is that I am blogging about HER blueberries.

Next get the vanilla extract away from the dog. Add in 1 tsp of vanilla to your mixture.

And no smoothie is complete without a splash of orange juice (1/4 cup would be plenty). You can also try lemon, which I'm sure is delicious. Next time I'm adding a teaspoon of wheat germ as well. So, blend up all your ingredients well and drink immediately through a straw. Remember to adjust your ingredients if you like your smoothies thicker or thinner.

signed, the willow

Toasty Tortillas for Two

Toasty Tortillas

What will you need?

2 spinach tortillas
2 baby English cucumbers (seedless) diced with peel on
8 Ontario strawberry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes will work well)
1/2 cup chickpeas - mashed
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp mayonnaise OR 2 tbsp your favourite salad dressing
2 scallions diced
1/4 cup brown rice - uncooked

In a frying pan "pop" the brown rice until toasty but certainly not burnt. Set aside.

Mash the chickpeas. Add the mustard, mayo (or dressing), the cucumbers, the tomatoes, the rice and the scallions. Gently mix together and fill tortillas. Roll up and enjoy.

signed, the willow

Salad Pizza

Make sure you walk to the store to get the ingredients!
Thanks to Lady of the Lake for this recipe!

SALAD PIZZA

2 plum tomatoes, cored and sliced thin
I pizza shell (whole wheat store bought)
¼ tsp. each salt and pepper
¾ cup shredded mozza
3 tbsps grated parmesan
4 cups baby salad greens
3 tbsps light balsamic vinaigrette

Heat oven to 450. Spread tomato slices onto paper towels. Let sit 5 mins.
Place pizza shell on baking sheet. Top with tomatoes; sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake @ 450 for 8 mins. Top with cheeses and continue to bake additional 5 mins.

Meanwhile, toss greens with dressing. Remove pizza from oven; top with salad. Cut into wedgies!

signed, the willow

Paddy Thai

Hi! I'm Paddy. Paddy Thai.

1 package of wide rice noodles

2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic chopped, minced
12 mushrooms sliced
10 mini carrots sliced in slivers
1/2 red pepper sliced and diced
1/2 purple pepper

2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
splash of Tabasco
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 cup vegetarian broth

2 scallions sliced

1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
30-40 medium shrimp deveined, shelled and cooked (optional)

In a large pot prepare your noodles. Read the directions on the package. Generally the noodles are not boiled, but rather they are soaked for 7 minutes. Set aside. I toss them in an additional mixture of sugar, rice vinegar, salt pepper and oil. You can too!

In a large saucepan, fry garlic in oil. Add mushrooms and fry til brown. Add carrots and cook till slightly softer. Add peppers, ginger and then rice vinegar, broth, sesame oil (optional), Tabasco, chili powder, sugar and peanut butter. Boil until sauce begins to thicken. Add more water if necessary. Add noodles and stir to coat noodles with sauce. Top with scallions and toss with shrimp if wanted.

signed, the willow

Make a Salad Fun, Would Ya?

Now and again I just whip up a salad. A different salad. Make it fun, would ya? This one here has:

2 generous handfuls of fresh baby spinach

1/2 English cucumber - sliced (peel left on)

1 green onion sliced

a handful of trail mix with assorted nuts, raisins and seeds (mine had smarties - I took them out and gave them to um...er....*Mila*)

6-8 PC sea salt & pepper Calabrese bread croutons (they are the HUGE croutons)

1 tsp of watered down Ranch dressing

signed, the willow

On the Table Tonight

Since it is usually just *Mila* and I for dinner, I have to come up with different vegetarian meals that we both will eat. Usually it turns into "Can I have coloured noodles?" or "Can I have Kraft Dinner?" or "Can I have shell noodles?". I'm going out on a limb tonight and we'll see if she will eat this. We are going ovenless tonight as it is about +32 degrees Celsius with the humidex. I'm sure I can start that pot of Kraft Dinner soon.

Couscous for Girls on a Hot Hot Night

1 cup cooked organic couscous (2/3 cup dry couscous, 1 cup water - follow the pkg directions)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint, cilantro or parsley

4 green onions minced

1 red (or orange or yellow) bell pepper, finely chopped

1 English Cuke finely diced

1 pint of cherry tomatoes - halved

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes diced

Cook the couscous and set aside. I like to add a bit of veggie broth here or a tsp of butter to it while it sets. Let it cool.

Chop up veggies and combine with lemon juice, olive oil and spices. Mix together and call it a meal. You can also add cooked chickpeas for some protein punch!

signed, the willow

Icelandic cookie pie crust

No, this is not a picture from Iceland. This is Lake Ontario at La Salle Park. Off in the distance you can see how the tree, landmark and strategic placement of the limestone chunks are framing the scenery of the steel factories in Hamilton. Pretty, ain't it? Nice of the people in Burlington to frame that picture.

The other week I stumbled across this recipe that a cousin of my Dad's had generously typed up and bound into a little book for family members. Her favourite Icelandic recipes. This one happened to be her daughter's favourite cookie and I made them with *Mila*. They are super easy and quick. Best of all, we had only used half the batch, so I took the remainder and made a pie crust with banana cream pie filling. It was delectable!

ALMOND CRESCENTS

1 cup butter, softened

4 1/2 tbsp powdered sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup finely chopped almonds

1 tsp almond extract (I used about 1/4 cup of Amaretto - because I can!)

Cream butter and sugar. Blend in remaining ingredients. Shape into crescents and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 350. While still warm, roll in 1 cup of additional powdered sugar. Yields 4 doz +.

signed, the willow

Not to be or to be? That's the Question.

*Mila* and I have been reading the Barefoot Book titled 'Shakespeare's Storybook: Folk Tales that Inspired the Bard'. To be completely honest with you, if you have never gotten into Shakespeare and you don't have anyone young to read to, don't fret. We took this out from our local urban library and I've been enjoying it so much that I've decided we need to own our own copy. It's Shakespeare without the "doths" and the "me thinks". What *Mila* got out of the "Ashboy" aka Hamlet story was "Not to be or to be? That's the question." that she reiterated to her dad when he arrived home.

A DOOCE FAN note: Dooce will be on ABC Nightline tonight at 11:35 pm according to her blog and the ABC website. If this was somehow misinterpreted by me I will officially take myself to the optometrist and get some damn glasses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (see Dooce's affinity for exaggerated exclamation marks) Personally, I always dreamed I would be on Letterman. I hope she doesn't get on Letterman, then my days are over of ever getting on his show for having a yodeling dog that can spit noodles from her nostrils whilst I balance on her head.

For Mother's Day I was sort of expecting the IKEA teapot that I've been hinting at for several weeks. Since it's only $9.99 I thought I'd see it stuffed into a Zellers bag on the kitchen table in the morning. But, instead when *Steve* got out of bed he whispered in *Mila's* ear the words she was supposed to utter 3 hours earlier when she woke me up from my slumber at 6:30: "Happy Mother's Day! We're going to Niagara Falls today!" I guess she was pumped to go and I have to say she kept her secret safe from me for the first time. We get there at least once a year, as it's just a short little drive for us. In fact, I think we clocked in at 40 minutes this time due to good traffic on the way there and about an hour and 45 minutes on the QEW coming home. *Mila* wasn't too interested in getting out in Niagara-On-The-Lake (which happened to be Ontario's prettiest town at one time, I believe...if you've ever been there you'll know what I'm talking about) and I can't say I blamed her as it was super busy with several of sweater-over-the-shoulder dudes. As *Steve* said "Your Dad would never live here because he doesn't tie his sweater around his shoulders." For one second of my life I actually remembered thinking how wonderful it would be if I met some guy named Brad, Chad, or Tad who would wear his preppy sweater tied over his shoulders like that. It was 1984. Okay, okay, enough of that talk. We got out and a kind young lady offered to take our picture at the Floral Clock. *Mila* and *Steve* played Hide-and-Go-Seek for 30 minutes (something she'll remember for the rest of her life.

Here is *Steve* stuffing himself between two cedars.

And here is *Steve* grabbing our four-year-old by the scruff of her neck to hold still for 10 seconds so I can take her photo.

Down the Niagara Parkway we went and we finally found a parking spot after driving thru the Clifton Hill strip 10 times and seeing what lurks on the streets behind the tourist traps. Advice to visitors who have never been to Niagara Falls before: Spend the $12 and park close to the Falls on the Parkway unless you clearly look like a thug and want to buy some illegal drugs down a back alley and only pay for the $5 spot.

There they are being blown away by the wind and *Mila* had given up eating her Dipping Dots by this point.

She must have stood there (along side another 4-year-old girl) watching this water fountain for 5 minutes until we dragged her away. We never did get to see the largest tourist trap in North America after this time-waster.

Since the weekend was all about the women of the family, today I've got a little secret recipe from our family that the men do love: BEER BREAD

You heard me right brother, BEER BREAD. It has real beer in it. Or you can add the non-alcoholic variety if you so choose. It goes great with your other BBQ fare or it always goes really really really well with pickerel if you are fortunate enough to catch some fresh from Minnitaki Lake.

2 & 3/4 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp dill

1 can of beer (or bottle - you do the math)

Mix all ingredients together well, pour into a loaf pan and bake in a 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes. Serve warm with butter.

signed, the willow

HELP...I need somebody...not just anybody...HELP

Really now, I don't need help. In fact I chose to entertain 4-year-old *Mila* in the bath by writing out random words from the Beatles' song "HELP" and then I had to sing it to her. She followed up with taking bath crayons and scribbling all over the tiled wall and the tub. She said that restaurant ladies always scribble when they take your order. Imagine. How fancy? I remember my family wondering about me when I would play "waitress" for hours on end. I didn't get any where near being a waitress. Simply because I would have burnt their laps with steaming hot coffees, dumped orders over the heads of belligerent gentlemen whose eyes wandered where they shouldn't have, and I probably would have taken out my frustrations behind the scenes on the chef who would have knives between his/her toes and plates of pasta dumped near his/her feet. So, no I didn't make it into the restaurant industry. I'm thinking of just staying away for a few more years as well.

Today's recipe:

University Rice

While studying for many exams, I relied heavily on cheap carbo-meals. You know the type, Mr. Noodles, Ramen Noodles, Ichiban Noodles, Kraft Dinner, etc. This was one that I cooked up near the end of my sentence at U of M.

2 cups cooked rice

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp sugar

2-3 tbsp water

soya sauce

ranch dressing

Mix in a small bowl rice vinegar, water and sugar. Take cooked rice while it's still hot and add rice vinegar mixture. Stir till all rice is coated. You may need to add more or less water. Top off with soya sauce and ranch dressing. Stir again. Eat while you read over about the reproduction of gametophytes for the 900th time this semester. Try to enjoy it.

signed, the willow