Tag: recipes

Christmas Visit

After a busy, fun-filled Christmas holiday, our houseguests, Beniamino and Anna, are returning to their home in Italy tonight.

As you can see from the photo, they came prepared for the weather. Besides down-filled coats, they had gloves, scarves, hats, ear muffs and boots. They ventured out almost every day. Only Boxing Day, with the heavy snowfall, deterred them. After a lot of frantic pacing, they gave up and accepted our offer to take them on the subway downtown to Sankofa Square. They held onto each other as we navigated the ice and slush, stopping at Little Canada, and enjoying the lights at the Eaton Centre and the 2 City Halls. Then we came home to relax with coffee and stories of Peter’s childhood village in Italy.

Beniamino soon got the hang of winter driving and the next day they were off again visiting relatives and friends. Their daughter and grandchildren, who were staying elsewhere with an aunt, joined them when their travels took them as far away as Canada’s Wonderland, and Niagara Falls. The grandkids got a huge kick out of Blue Mountain where they tried tubing, cross-country skiing and rope-climbing in the snow drifts.

During their stay, Beniamino and Anna made shopping trips for souvenirs to take home. They collected traditional things like snow globes of the CN tower, and maple leaf tee-shirts. Their favorite food souvenirs were maple syrup, peanut butter and Tim Horton’s coffee pods. They stocked up on paper plates and other stationary. They made a trip to Lee Valley for tube squeezers and other gadgets. Their bedroom got fuller and fuller.

We shared meals, mostly breakfasts, together. We learned that they prefer fruit and sweets like biscotti and cannoli, but one day they got brave and tried the breakfast that Peter and I eat every morning. That night they returned with strawberries and ladyfingers. Apparently our steel-cut oats were not a hit. Planning dinners was more complicated. Often they would call around 5 pm to say they wouldn’t be returning till late. Our fridge bulged with leftovers.

One day they found themselves here for lunch. They had anticipated this and bought a BBQ chicken and some asparagus which Anna planned to cook. It was a pasta recipe she had recently learned from her daughter who lives in Mexico. But she needed some tomatoes to make into a sauce. Peter gallantly offered his home-made “tomato sauce” which he neglected to mention also contains beef. While the chicken was warming up, Anna prepared her recipe of asparagus, garlic and olive oil. She stirred it lovingly as it simmering on the stove. Then Peter triumphantly dumped in his homemade concoction. Anna glared. It was the war of the sauces!

Peter and Beniamino had many spirited conversations, with Anna adding comments here and there. I could usually follow the topics but I rarely offered more than “si”, or “perfetto”, or “fredo” (which was a very useful word because it WAS cold every day!) But we did have one language default with greater consequences. On New Year’s Eve Beniamino and Anna were leaving for the entire day, beginning at 10 am. They were going to several events with various groups, and Peter got the definite impression that they were staying overnight at the last place.

As we got ready for bed aroud 11:00 pm, we turned off the lights and turned on the house alarm. Around 1:30 am our guests returned and unknowingly set off the alarm. Buzzers sounded and a commanding voice shouted “Identify yourself! The police are coming!” When I woke up and ran to the entrance, Anna and Beniamino were standing near the door, frozen in place, a look of terror on their faces.

Other than that incident, we liked having our holiday guests. We enjoyed their company. We shared lots of Italian baking and family stories. I re-learned a few lessons and some vocabulary from my Italian classes. Peter talked with long-lost cousins, and revisited a lot of childhood memories from his Italian village.

But, sadly, the Christmas season is over. Time to rest up, eat all those leftovers, and move on.

Sue

Food For Thought

An acquaintance dropped by the other day for a coffee and, as he was leaving, he mentioned that he had to go to Bruno’s to pick up something for dinner. The he said “My wife and I don’t cook any more.” Just like that!

A couple of days later, as I was going through my recipe book and meticulously making up my grocery list, I found a recipe for BBQ’d chicken wings that I wanted to try. The recipe recommended using wings from COSTCO. In the COSTCO meat department I found the wings for $23.99. Right beside them were wings in the same sized package, which had been skinned and seasoned, for $27.99. Did I really want to buy all that skin and do all that extra work to save $4? Definitely Not.

Then I started looking around some more. In another bunker I found bacon-wrapped chicken medallions. I had tried this myself with bacon strips, tooth picks and chicken breasts, and what a finicky job it was. I picked up the COSTCO version and added it to my cart. I found some lamb chops on sale too. I loved the idea of these and other meats that Peter could cook on the BBQ, leaving no kitchen mess. Now I was on a mission. Salmon steaks? Why not!

I looked into another bunker and found peppers stuffed with ground beef, something we had tried once and loved. Then I spied a 3-bean salad – three kinds of beans and a vinegar dressing: lots of protein and a work-saver for me. And then, staring me in the eye was lasagna.

Now every cook knows that lasagna is one of the most time-consuming recipes on the planet. You need at least 4 containers – one pot for boiling the noodles, another for sauteing the onions, spices and meat for the sauce, and a third container for grating and mixing the cheeses. Then you need the lasagna pan for the oven, plus other spoons and measuring cups. When you’re finished, the kitchen looks like a death trap – with red splotches all over the counters and stove. The COSTCO lasagna went into my cart too.

By this time my cart was getting full, and I was feeling guilty. It was not so much because I was giving myself a break from tedious kitchen work. But I was thinking about my rule to “Buy Canadian!” Although COSTCO is an American company, there are a lot of Canadians employed in every Canadian warehouse. But what about the products? I went home and checked online. Here’s what I found:

COSTCO beef comes from Alberta. Lamb comes from Australia. Salmon comes from the Atlantic but where in the Atlantic is not clear. I have my fingers crossed that the salmon don’t want to be part of the US either, and probably swim to Nova Scotia to be caught.

But chicken? Chicken comes from a farm in Nebraska! How can this be? Chickens are pretty easy to raise. I have a friend who has chickens in her back yard for heaven’s sake. Anybody can raise chickens. How many chickens would I have to raise to get a meal of wings for 2 of us, plus a few medallions for the BBQ? Probably about 7. Plus the cost of the chicken coop and the feed and straw. And fighting off the coyotes in the neighbourhood. More problematic than cooking.

As for the 3-bean salad? Made in Canada! A small victory in my quest to make work in the kitchen a little easier.

Sue