Dying for a Good Dye Job

After eating all those eggs (I never want to eat frittata again!!!) - we finally got to dye the eggs with my Brownie unit last week.

Decorating eggs isn't particularly hard - but just simply dyeing them is particularly interesting either.

By covering the eggs with plain old tape and stickers - the designs end up looking quite amazing. The girls were so impressed with how they turned out.

Luckily there was only one broken eggs and only a few tears - fortunately she didn't start designing her egg yet so we just gave her a new blank egg. A nice fresh start.

I made some prototypes for the girls, so they would know what to expect - just a little tape and stickers can go a long way. For the dye we just used a little warm water, tablespoon of vinegar and food colouring. Just continue to add food colouring until you get the colour you want.  

We also took this opportunity to review the colour wheel with the girls.

The overall process was a little messy but what isn't?

David also decided to try his hand at dyeing eggs - Ukrainian much?

Personally, I think he was trying to show up 7 & 8 year old girls - Look Melinda, I can dye eggs better than a child. I am so proud. No seriously, his egg turned out wicked. True story.

Sugar & Spice

I consider myself a fire eater, the spicier the better.

Basically over the years, anything that had hot peppers in it, I was game to try it. Pretty much anything - pickles? Yup! Vodka? Yup! meal worms? Yup! No seriously, I ate spicy fried meal worms from a street vendor in Thailand. Tastes like chicken. Spicy fire-in-your-mouth chicken.

But - I am frequently forced to make a mockery of people who give me mild or medium instead of the hot that I clearly asked for. Based on my pasty white complexion, I get the ‘I think this curry will be too hot for you’ or ‘this salsa is too hot for white people’.

Melinda, clearly you don't know what you've just asked for - try this mild curry instead.

You're not just born with a tolerance for hot food, I have been diligently training since I was a wee child (Vietnamese noodles across the street at the Lieu's house). Now - I can dazzle my friends with my ability to eat a plate of widow maker chicken wings. They're gross but I can do it.

Later in life (while in Mexico), I was introduced to the wonderful and life changing combination of chilli and chocolate. Talk about fantastic!

Recently, I decided to try my hand at making Mexican-inspired Chilli Double Chocolate Cookies.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Mix butter, sugar(s), vanilla, and eggs together
2. In another bowl, mix flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, ginger, and pepper
3. Add flour mixture into butter mixture slowly, ensuring that it is well mixed and there are no pockets of dry ingredients
4. Add chocolate chips
5. Spoon onto tray (make sure not to overcrowd since they flatten & expand as they bake)
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes in a preheated oven (350F)
7. Watch carefully – these babies have a tendency to burn and plus they are way tastier soft and gooey

100% Irish ™

Saturday was St. Partick's Day - I know I'm not 100% Irish, but I'm definitely more Irish than that guy. You know the guy...

Wearing the stupid St. Patrick's Day hat, head-to-toe green, ridiculously drunk and trying to talk in an Irish accent to impress the ladies (or the men as the case may be).

We decided to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at home this year, didn't want to wait in line just to go to the bar and couldn't stand the idea of hearing another person get angry at the bartender for bringing them the wrong drink.

Last Year...

Patron: I'll have a Snakebite 

Bartender: Pours her a Lager and Cider

Patron: I ordered a Snakebite, where's the Guinness?

Bartender: Snakebite doesn't have Guinness - but if that's what you want I'm happy to make you a new drink

Patron (out loud to her friends): This bartender is a complete idiot, how did he even get this job? Who doesn't know how to make a Snakebite?

Well, this woman obviously. So let's start here...What better way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day then with a beer cocktail?

All you need is Guinness, Harp (or another lager), and Strongbow 

Poor Man's Black Velvet: Guinness & Cider
Black Velvet: Guinness & Champagne (or sparkling wine)
Red Velvet: Guinness, Cider, and Blackcurrant Syrup
Snakebite: Lager & Cider
Black & Tan: Lager & Guinness


Since we decided to stay home, we made some drinks (see above) and prepared some Irish inspired recipes.


Beef Irish Stew

Ingredients

• 1-1 1/4 lbs stewing beef
• olive oil
• lots of garlic
• 3 cups of red wine
• 1 cup Guinness
• 6 cups beef stock
• 1 tbs white sugar
• 2-3 tbs Worcestershire sauce
• 4 bay leaves
• dried thyme
• 2 tbs butter
• potatoes
• parsnips
• 2 medium onions
• carrots
• salt
• pepper
• fresh parsley

1. Marinade beef in 1 cup of wine for a couple hours
2. Brown beef with olive oil (a couple generous glugs) and garlic (garlic should be coarsely chopped vs. minced)
3. Add all the liquids, beef, sugar, thyme, and bay leaves in a large pot and simmer for 2 1/2 hrs
4. In another pan, sauté onions in butter
5. After 2 1/2 hrs add onions, veggies, salt and pepper to the liquid and beef
6. Simmer for another 30-40 minutes
7. Remove fat and bay leaves
8. Serve topped with fresh parsley

Note: This stew does not have a thick base - if you like thinker bases, reduce the amount of red wine you use and add cornstarch 

What would dinner be without dessert? AND what would St. Patrick's Day be without Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake?

Ingredients

• chocolate chip cookies (I used President's Choice but you don't really even need a crust)
• approximately 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp heavy cream
• 8 ounces unsweetened chocolate (I find semi-sweet is just too sweet)
• 3 packages of cream cheese (don't use lite, if you're on a diet you shouldn't be eating this cake anyways)
• 1 cup sugar (white or half white and half golden brown)
• 1/2 cup sour cream (again NO lite because what's the point?)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup Guinness

1. crush the cookies and mix them with butter until you get a consistency you like
2. use a spoon to press the mixture into the bottom of a spring form pan
3. with the cream, melt the chocolate in a double boiler (I just use a small pot inside a larger pot of boiling water)
4. beat the cream cheese
5. add sugar, chocolate, sour cream, vanilla, Guinness and eggs to cream cheese mixture
6. pour mixture into the pan
7. bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 45-50 minutes
8. turn off heat and leave cheese cake in the over for about an hour with the door open just a crack
9. let cool completely before placing in the fridge and chill overnight

I was in a rush, cut corners, and was totally impatient and as a result had a huge Grand Canyon-like crack right across my delicious cheese cake. (insert sad face)

You can avoid this sad fate (and face) by following these simple steps...

• Make sure to generously grease the pan so when it's cooking the cake doesn't stick to the sides as it's expanding
• DO NOT overcook - the centre should look like jelly but not liquidy
• My oven light wasn't working so now and then I was opening the door to check on the cake, this changes the temperature and most definitely leads to cracks
• Be careful not to over mix the mixture and add the eggs last. Eggs have a tendency to cause air bubbles which lead to...you guessed it, cracks

Sláinte

Frittata, Frittata, Frittata - Marsha, Marsha, Marsha

20 eggs down and 16 eggs to go. Decided to make a second frittata - frittatas are basically a blank canvass and each one tastes completely different (and they use up a boatload of eggs). I am not suffering from egg overload yet (thankfully), but likely very very soon. How many non-devilled eggs can one person eat?*

At the end of the day, all I really hope is that my Brownie unit has fun decorating Easter eggs next week (without too much breakage and minimal crying).

Mom channelling - I ate dozens of eggs for you girls, so you could make beautiful eggs and this is the thanks that I get? 

Ingredients this time 'round

• 2 new potatoes
• 2 tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of baby spinach
• delicious, delicious asparagus
• half Spanish onion sautéed with bacon
• 1/2 cup extra old cheddar
• 1/2 cup smoked bacon Gouda (like an explosion of happiness in your mouth)
• 10 eggs
• pepper
• salt

More eggs = extra time in the oven. Took about 45 min at 350 °C

YUM!

I hear you can freeze eggs, so that might be the route I take for the remaining eggs - oh and muffins.

*Personally - I can eat about a dozen devilled eggs.

Get Cracking

Me and my big mouth.

I volunteered to plan our March 21st Brownie meeting - and since it's the day after the spring equinox, a spring theme seemed appropriate. 

I decided that I'll teach the girls to draw some spring-like cartoons - rabbits, chicks, insects maybe a frog or a blue bird. But definitely need something else, we are not going to be able to draw for 2 hours straight, no way. Just wishful thinking on my part.

Light bulb went off in my head - what about Easter Eggs?

I love love love the idea of making Easter eggs - I don't think I have made Easter eggs since I was a kid. Problem is, we'll need about 3 dozen eggs and since the girls will want to take them home, the eggs will need to be empty rather than just hard boiled. That's a lot of blowing.

Guess what I will be eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner from now until the end of time?

It's a good thing I'm not vegan or I would be in a lot of trouble.

So far, I've made it through the first 8 eggs by making an oven baked frittata (sigh, yes only 8).

General instructions

Peel and chop 3 medium sized new potatoes, dice a couple tomatoes and half a Spanish onion, slice a small zucchini, and a cup of baby spinach.

This is what I put in my frittata but basically you can add whatever your heart desires.

Cheese is a must - I think it's against the rules of the universe to make a frittata without cheese (ok well in MY universe it's against the rules to make a frittata without cheese).

I used 1/2 cup of extra old cheddar and 1/2 cup of Greek feta. If you can get your hands on some dill ThunderOak Gouda, highly recommended and perfect for a dish like this.

Sautée the onions, potatoes and zucchini with a little olive oil.

I added a little olive oil to a round baking pan and just spread the oil around with a paper towel. 

While the oven is pre-heating (to 350 ºC) - Mix 6 - 8 eggs with a little milk (to your liking), pepper, dash of dill weed and a little oregano or whatever.

Mix in the tomatoes and spinach with the sautéed veggies and spread them out evening at the bottom of the baking pan, then layer the feta, followed by the cheddar.

Right before putting the pan in the oven, pour the egg mixture over top making sure it's evenly distributed. Also make sure that the whole mix is level.

Depending on your dish's depth - it can take 15-30 minutes to bake. My pan was fairly deep and took about 25 minutes.

Let it cool a bit before serving.

Serve it with whatever you like - I topped my with a little salsa.

8 eggs down, 28 more to go.

Unlisted

I used to have a travel blog. Beautifully designed with lovely graphics but sadly absolutely zero content. My intentions were good, really they were but I was just too lazy busy. I was out there living life, when you’re living life who has time to write about it?

This story is a familiar one. Once all the travelling and living overseas was out of my system, I resettled in beautiful Canada. A fresh start and the perfect time to start a new blog. It would have been but I was too busy with my new job and catching up friends and family. Then…I was in love, busy volunteering, becoming an aunt, getting myself engaged and on and on and on.

This had to stop.

You could basically use the word ‘blog’ as a proxy for any number of things I wanted to do but simply just didn’t…there was that knitting project, those new recipes, gardening, photography projects, camping trips, that baby blanket I wanted to make my niece (who is turning 4 this summer).…

This past week-end was my birthday and I plan to make this trip around the sun the best one yet. I'm ridding my life of all those outstanding to-do lists and living my life unlisted. Ok – I love lists so my life will never be completely unlisted but I am finally freeing myself from some of those lists and doing new stuff, lots and lots of new stuff. Well that’s the plan anyways - I guess time will only tell.

Step one: Leave work at a reasonable time

Step two: Avoid the couch at all costs