1/11/2009

Light dinner with good company

This is a great, quick and easy recipe - another one from my brother. Pick your favorite lettuce (I like to include a little red/purple), top it with mandarin oranges (straight out of a can), chicken (pick up a rotisserie) and crunchy chow mein noodles (right out of the can). And, Newman's Own Lighten Up Low Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing is the perfect finishing touch.

My friend, Tina, came over and we had a great evening catching up over this salad, a wheat baguette and red wine. Delish!

Thankful for Thanksgiving!


































My lovely, long-time friends, Pete and Kathryn Hunter and their young son, Jay Wesley, were kind enough to have me to their home in London, Ontario, Canada to celebrate American Thanksgiving.

Despite the fact that there were only three of us eating the meal directly, we had a spread fit for an army. Our meal was traditional, including:

-Turkey (we ended up using a turkey breast due to a foibled grocery run in the States)
- Dressing
- Gravy
- Orange cranberry sauce (Kathryn's recipe)
- Mashed potatoes
- Green bean casserole
- Butternut squash, apple and cranberry bake (http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/006160butternut_squash_apple_cranberry_bake.php)
- Pumpkin pie
- Mince meat pie
- Cranberry nut pie (Kathryn's recipe)
- Whipped cream

Most of these recipes are very traditional, like I had in my childhood growing up. And, sometimes, that's the best.

The really interesting recipes were Kathryn's and I'm not telling. :) However, the Butternut squash, apple and cranberry bake is very easy and delicious (esp. if you get pre-cut squash). The recipe calls for butter and brown sugar, but they aren't really necessary if the apples are juicy, so it's an easy recipe to reinvent health-wise.

Kathryn did teach me how to roll a pie dough from scratch, a skill I'm looking forward to putting into action.

Stir fry (11-23-08)


Back in November '08, my brother came down and he cooked me a delicious chicken stir-fry. Never doubt the ability of a large wok, some chicken tenderloins and frozen veggies to provide a tasty, healthy, substantive meal that lasts.

Update

Greetings all! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and that 2009 is off to an auspicious start for everyone!

It may have been a while since I flogged, but I've been doing a lot of cooking and entertaining since I last posted. I've been cooking for and/or with friends. I've also been blessed with a few new wonderful and exciting cooking accouterments:
- a Dutch Oven (http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=3&SKU=16048992), something I've wanted for years
- a fabulous new cookbook from my brother: The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook The Essential Recipe Collection for Today's Home Cook

I, of course, have photographic evidence of all this and will post a number of messages to get us all up to date.

:o)