Mucky and Dirty

March 31, 2009 - Day 90

I took this picture of our street when I got off the bus from work around 5:00 this afternoon. It’s so mucky and dirty but it’s what the transition from winter to spring looks like in Edmonton every year. So…3 cheers for mucky and dirty!

Our house is the first one on the left, hidden behind the fence (you can only see one of the upper floor windows).

What's Old is New

March 30, 2009 - Day 89

My sister Darlene posted a picture of her cast iron frying pan as one of her Project 365 pictures a couple weeks ago. She uses it regularly and it looked so old-fashioned and wonderfully seasoned that I wanted one of my own!

I remembered having a set several years ago, which I’m quite sure I bought at Macleod’s in High Prairie in the late 1970s, and we bought an extra large one in 1999 as we were preparing for Y2K and for our electricity to disappear. We imagined it may be necessary to cook for a large group of people over an open fire in the backyard!

Cast iron frying pans were always a mystery to me; I never knew how to take care of them, don’t remember ever using them regularly - and I even tried to sell them in garage sales I’ve had! I was thrilled to discover that they didn’t sell in a garage sale or been given away as I thought, but that I still had them - a whole “family” of beautiful cast iron frying pans sitting on a shelf in my basement!

I found instructions online on how to clean the rust out of them, how to season them and how to take proper care of them in the future.

After I spent a few hours (including the oven time) cleaning and seasoning my “new” frying pans today, I was so excited to use one that I had to find something to “fry” for supper; I made spaghetti sauce.

Mini Pizzas

March 29, 2009 - Day 88

I made another 10 mini pizza crusts today (some for the freezer). We still had a lot of toppings left from last night so Ken and I had mini pizzas for supper again tonight. This is one that I made – shrimp, mushroom, onion and mozzarella cheese.

Ken and I both love the crust. Here's the recipe if any of you would like it:

Pizza Dough

1 Tbsp yeast
2 T. sugar
1 cup warm water
2 ½ c. flour (I use 2 Tbsp. whole wheat flour)
½ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes or until yeast is double in size. Use a wee bit of extra olive oil when kneading if the dough is stiff.

In a mixing bowl, combine yeast mixture with flour, salt and oil. Knead until dough forms a smooth ball. Grease a large stainless steel mixing bowl. Roll the dough in the bowl until lightly coated with grease. Cover with a tea towel and place in oven with oven light on. Let dough rise in oven until double in size, about 20 minutes. Spread dough out evenly onto a greased 12” pizza pan, pressing dough up slightly at the edge.

Roll out, brush with extra virgin olive oil, poke with fork, and prebake for 4 minutes at 425F. If bubbles rise in dough, press down carefully with cloth. Can be frozen at this point (put wax paper between each pizza). To bake: thaw if frozen, add pizza sauce and toppings of your choice. Bake until done, about 8 minutes for minis. I use 135 gms. dough for minis (makes 5 minis).

Marley and Me

March 28, 2009 - Day 87

I took pictures of the homemade mini pizzas I made for our movie night tonight but the movie was so wonderful that the pizza paled in comparison. Ken and I watch movies most Saturday nights and once in a while, we watch a movie that stands out above the rest. That was the case tonight. The movie? Marley and Me. I took this picture of a picture on the internet so this isn’t really “my” picture, but it’s a picture that I took with my camera so I hope it qualifies for my picture of the day. I won’t tell you what the movie is about but I’ll tell you that I cried. Well actually, I sobbed. If you haven’t seen it – you should!

To give credit to the photographer, the original picture is here: http://www.aceshowbiz.com/still/00002102/marley_me01.html#

A New Recipe

March 27, 2009 - Day 86

I brought home a new recipe from a copy of Canadian Living magazine that was in our lunchroom at work last week. I tried it today and it was delicious! Here’s the recipe:

Baked Curry Chicken and Rice

6 chicken drumsticks (I used 4 chicken breasts with bones and skin)
6 chicken thighs (with bones and skin)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 large tomato, chopped
1 sweet green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 lb. button mushrooms, halved
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 ½ cups basmati rice
2 Tbsp. West Indian curry powder (I used Jamaican curry powder)
1 tsp. turmeric (optional) (I used the turmeric)
½ tsp. each salt and pepper

In large pot, bring 6 cups water to boil. Add chicken drumsticks and thighs; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Reserving stock, drain chicken; set aside stock and chicken separately.

Meanwhile, in large shallow Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat; sauté tomato, green pepper, onion, mushrooms and parsley for 5 minutes. Add rice; cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups of the reserved stock, curry powder, turmeric (if using), salt and pepper; bring to boil. Add reserved chicken and return to boil.

Cover and bake in 350F oven, stirring twice for 30 minutes, adding up to ¼ cup more stock if necessary. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.

Be the person...

March 26, 2009 - Day 85

This poster has been hanging on the back of James’ (one of my favourite lawyers) office door for a few years. James is such a nice person that I think he IS the kind of person his dog thinks he is :-) and I love his poster.

The Aftermath

March 25, 2009 - Day 84

For my picture today, I was able to get up close to the building that was on fire yesterday. I heard on the radio this morning that the damage is estimated at $3 million. The fire made the front page of The Edmonton Journal and The Edmonton Sun today.

The silvery-blue building in the background (on the left) is the TD tower – where I work; it’s half a block away.