Free style cooking

Keeping with the cottage theme, cooking is always a bit unstructured at the cottage.  And while I often bring a cookbook or two with me, I tend to free style things.  So two notable recipes from the weekend.  One made while there and one made with leftovers last night at home.

I'm still eating yummy goodness from the garden and brought a sugar pumpkin and some pears donated from a local farmer that my husband did some work for and made soup.  The onion that had been in the fridge seemed to have left with the in-laws who left before we did so I made do frying a bunch of green onions (including about half of the green parts), a clove of garlic, the pumpkin, the pears and some rosemary.  No chicken stock, so I used water and a bit of orange juice, turmeric, pepper and cinnamon. Very tasty as an appetizer to the barbecued steaks, also simply done with salt and pepper before grilling and a dab or rosemary butter after grilling.  With a side of foil roasted potatoes and Moose Tracks ice cream for dessert, we were happy and the fridge was that much further to being empty for the end of the season.

We had a bunch of leftover ham from Friday's dinner so I decided to make a ham and mushroom risotto.  I fried up a chopped onion until very soft, added garlic and celery, fried for a couple of minutes more, then added the mushrooms.  Once the mushrooms were mostly cooked, the rest of the process was standard risotto, toast the rice in the olive oil in the pan, add liquid in small amounts and keep stirring.  I used 1/4 cup sambuca instead of white wine as the first liquid added and then chicken stock after that.  When the rice was almost done, I added chopped up ham and finished the rice with parmesan cheese before serving.  The flavour of the ham (which had been baked with a maple mustard glaze) and the mushrooms went very well together.  I think I'm actually overcoming my general dislike of ham.  I really enjoy the things I have made with the leftovers.  The ham and cheese sandwiches on the griddle for lunch today were also fantastic.

Tonight, it is more simple pleasures with a roast chicken and roasted vegetables picked from a big dig in the garden this morning.  I'm really looking forward to the leftovers at lunch tomorrow.

Fall Relaxation

We had a very nice few days at a family cottage this weekend.  We threw the cat into the car and off we went.  The cat travelled very well and seemed to be content with the cottage.

The weather this weekend was fabulous and I went kayaking twice.  Saturday morning, the lake was quite glassy for the most part and I was out for at least an hour, exploring a bay I hadn't really plumbed the depths of before.  It was so peaceful and makes me forget why we don't go to the cottage more often (the horrendous traffic).  The leaves are about 1/2 down and the lake was covered with pine needles.  There were other people up there but it was not crowded with signs of habitation at about every 4 or 5 cottages.  That early in the morning, the only motorized boats are those of the fishermen moving from one spot to the next.  The sound of a passing train across the quiet lake sounded like the train was going to run me over it carried so well.  I saw (and heard) a few loons enjoying the morning and had a conversation with some cottagers outside on their deck doing some repairs.  It was fabulous.

This morning was even quieter.  It rained last night and the sky was still cloudy with further threat of rain.  But I went anyway.  As the husband says, I love kayaking and only get to do it very periodically so I went.  While the weather wasn't as nice, the cloud cover makes the colours more saturated and even nicer to look at.  I spent more of my paddle this time floating and looking at the scenery.  Fantastic.

We came home this afternoon to avoid the Monday traffic and get a few things done here and I'm trying to remember that relaxation for at least a few more days.

Friday crafting

My husband brought home a new set of frying pans that were on sale at Canadian Tire the other day so I decided to make little quilts to keep them from getting scratched when stacked.  I used leftover pieces from the Christmas quilt that I made for my dad.  I quite like them.  The execution isn't perfect but I think they turned out well enough.  

I also got my favourite bread made and the best bran muffins from the Flavours of Canada cookbook.  These are the only bran muffins I will ever bother making.  They don't dry out if you stir a little too much or bake a little too long like others I've made.  I can mix it up with different ingredients.  I like using bananas, walnuts and a few chocolate chips but pieces of apple and dried cranberries taste great too.  

And on the knitting front, I switched my purple project, partially begun in the last post's photos back to the Norah Gaughan pattern, kaide.  I bought the yarn to make this in the first place, then waffled and started a different sweater.  Today when I was making the pot quilts, I looked at the swatch I made for kaide and decided that the pattern really looks nice.  So, I ripped out and started again.