It's been a while since I posted anything substantial...my laptop has been sitting on a shelf unused ever since I got my new phone at the beginning of the year, and my camera has been sitting unused in my purse for the same reason. Most of the pictures I've taken are with my phone and uploaded to facebook, and I haven't gotten around to putting them on a computer yet. I think I'll finally set up my laptop tonight and start doing that. In the meantime here's what I made for dinner last night:
I decided to make an african-themed meal: bobotie, fried plantains, and rice.
Bobotie:
1 lb ground pork
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 slice white bread
45ml milk
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp curry powder
1/3 cup heavy cream
4 eggs
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1tbsp olive oil
Pre-heat the oven to 350 Farenheit. Fry the onions on med-high heat in the oil till they begin to brown. When they do, turn the heat down to medium and add the garlic, and fry a minute or two longer while stirring, just enough to fry the garlic without burning it. Add the meat and spices, and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring and breaking up the meat. When it's about done set it aside. Soak the bread in the milk and mash it up, add it to the meat, along with the tomato paste and vinegar. Spread the meat out into a baking dish. In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and cream with some salt and pepper, pour it over the meat mixture, and then bake for 25-30 minutes.
I do realize meatfare ended yesterday, but I figured whoever is interested can save this till after Lent if need be. Which reminds me I should continue working on my list of fasting recipes.
Here are a few other pictures I've taken since the beginning of the year:
Here's something I bought for the first time last Friday. It's delicious! I wasn't expecting such a strong heady flavor and aroma. You just need half an ounce to flavor a whole drink. Mixed with mango juice and a bit of ginger ale it's heavenly. It's the first time I've seen this flavor, I'd seen the lemon and mandarin flavors many times before, but not this one. They have it at the SAQ on the corner of Decarie and Queen Mary. Pity you can't read the text, I'll have to take a better picture tonight.
Here's the view from my job in the middle of a snowstorm we had:
Here's my sister reclining with my cat Licorice and a can of juice at my place when she came to visit a few weeks ago:
Here's the view from the livingroom window in my new apartment a few weeks ago before the temperature rose for a few days and melted most of the snow. That's our balcony you see, the door to the balcony is in the kitchen:
My plants on the computer desk in the livingroom before Carlo set up his computer/xbox/stereo on it. I'll have to take another picture tomorrow morning from the same vantage point to compare:
Here's my sister and the cat again:
The view of the street corner while waiting at the bus stop one snowy morning:
Something my friend Stephan had me try, it's the first time I've ever seen this, it tastes quite similar to coke/pepsi I find.
The menu at the Island Pride restaurant 2 blocks away from my apartment. I've been meaning to go there for a while, but I'll have to wait a while longer still. I'm eager to try the food there, I've never had roti or jerk chicken before, can't wait to try them since I've read about them often, and I love anything with goat or lamb.
Here's the only other sign out front in the window:
Opening hours:
A cake I made based on Paula Deen's Gooey Pumpkin Butter Cake, I screwed around too much with the original recipe when I made it the first time and it didn't turn out right, and was way too rich anyways, so I decided to modify it:
2 eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
1 box butter pecan cake mix
2 small bags of pecan pieces
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp each ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves
1 can of pumpkin pie filling
Preheat the oven to the temperature indicated on the box of cake mix. Mix everything except for the cake mix and the cream in a bowl, then add the cake mix and stir that in as well. Bake according to instructions on the box. While it's baking whip the cream with some sugar. When it's done, let it cool for a while, cut and serve with the whipped cream. Sooo good! And this recipe we can still enjoy for the next few days :)
Here's the little fruit & veggie store on the corner of Walkley and Cote St-Luc that I decided to stop at on the way back from the gym last week. It's more convenient than going to the big grocery store cause it's closer and doesn't require a detour. It's a tiny kitchy little hole-in-the-wall mom & pop place. I love those kinds of stores, the non-chain ones that you can find unusual things in. This one had a weird mix of mexican and middle eastern foods, with fresh fruits and veggies, dry goods, meat, cheese and dairy. I was surprised how much stuff they had, considering the small size of the place. The guy that was working there that night looked mexican, I told him he had a cool store cause I found a couple of things that I'd never seen anywhere else, he said he's been there for 8 or 9 years. I got some fresh tortillas (never had those before) some Jack Daniels bbq sauce (never seen that in any store), an avocado, some turkish delight (had been at least 10 years since I'd had any), and a brand of sausage pomodoro spaghetti sauce in a glass jar with a pretty label that I'd never seen before. This is the second fruit and veggie store I come across that sells way more than just fruits and veggies, the other one is the Fruits Rocky Montana 3 or 4 blocks away from my apartment, that one's chock full of a variety of stuff.
