Cream Puffs

I will admit that I am a little hung-up on cream puffs after having those super big and super delicious ones in Vancouver, they are amazing. Little crunchy puffs of heaven!

I thought that the first Saturday of March break would be a perfect day to whip up a batch. And as I was making the choux paste I remembered a book I always read when I was growing, it was a series of beginner chapters books all about a maid named Amelia Bedelia. First off, her name is great, I was into (and actually still am) funny rhyme-y names like that! Second, she was just plain hilarious, she always misunderstood directions and was fired more than once...but she always got her job back by making cream puffs for the couple she worked for. As I made my cream puffs I channeled Amelia Bedelia and that put a big smile on my face which in turn may be the reason they worked out so well!

I was pretty happy! While they weren't the size of Beard Papa's cream puffs they were quite yummy!Check out that filling! One more look...

Sausage and White Bean Soup

It is so sunny here and the snow has almost all melted, except for the big mountain of snow in the school parking lot, and it's starting to feel like Spring. This makes me so happy! But I'm trying to not get too excited...last year there was a snowstorm in April. Winter is almost gone but there is still the occasional snowflake and cold wind so I thought I'd make one last winter soup. Something hearty and filling. I picked up some chorizo sausage at the farmers market, soaked some beans, and spent the afternoon making soup! It turned out to be just what I needed! I thought I'd share the recipe just in case any of you wanted to give a hearty winter soup one last hurrah!

Sausage and White Bean Soup
adapted from 'the kitchn'
serves 4

Olive oil
2 links of chorizo sausage, or any spicy sausage, or really any sausage!
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 small red skinned potatoes, diced
4 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon oregano
1 bay leaf

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

salt and pepper

Heat some oil in a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat and saute sausage until it's golden on all sides. Remove to a paper towel lined plate.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onion to the pot. Saute till translucent. Add garlic, saute 30 seconds. Add carrot and potato, saute 5 minutes.

Stir in broth, oregano, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer. Simmer till vegetables are tender.

Add the beans and reserved sausage. Season with salt and pepper!

Vegetarian Variation: Replace sausage with 1 lb kale. Wash kale and remove the hard ribs, chop into thin ribbons. Add to pot right before add the liquid and let it wilt slightly, then add the broth.

*Loving the response on the last post, keep 'em coming!*

Hello out there!

Occasionally I wonder who all reads this blog. Some I know, either through their comments or just talking. But who else is out there? So, please, do me a favor, leave a comment saying who you are and how you heard about the blog. I would love to know!

Bye-bye Vancouver!

One of our lasts nights in Vancouver the Atlantic Canada House Culinary Team took a evening cruise. It was gorgeous.

We saw the Olympic Rings...
And the torch!
And the Lion's Gate bridge...isn't that purty?
We took a big group photo...and Chef Kevin gave us all fancy knives as job-well-done gifts!
On our very last night our plane didn't leave till 10:30 pm so we got one last sunset in Vancouver...it was an especially beautiful goodbye sunset...And just for kicks here is a picture of me sleeping on the floor in the Toronto airport...red-eye flights and me do not work so well!
This was the last Vancouver post! Bye-bye Vancouver! It's been a pleasure sharing it with you!

The Medal Ceremony

During the Olympics there was a night for each of the Canadian provinces. We were lucky enough to get tickets to PEI night at the Olympics. We got to see the medal ceremony for the day and attend the Premier's party on the top floor of The Bay!

The medal ceremony was exciting because it was the day that Christine Nesbitt got gold for speed skating and Marianne St-Gelais got silver.

Here we are eagerly waiting...in our matching jackets nonetheless!
Here is Christine getting her gold!
At the Premier's party I got to have my picture taken with Marianne St-Gelais and her silver medal!
How exciting is that!

Eating with the Team

As a group of aspiring culinarians (wow, that makes us sound so snotty!) eating at some of Vancouver's best restaurants was quite important. We managed to dine out at some well-known restaurants as well as some that were equally delicious but more hole-in-the-wall. Here are a few of the highlights!

We went to Tojo's Restaurant for some delicious Japanese food. I had tuna for the first time...I was saving myself for the right restaurant, and boy was I satisfied! We got our picture taken with Tojo himself...

One of the other restaurants we went to as a group was Vij's. Vij's has the best Indian food in Canada and the coolest part is that the entire kitchen staff is made up of women. I have never seen a place run so smoothly...it was so calm and everyone felt so attended to. The woman working were so beautiful, never breaking a sweat or raising their voices, they kept smiling at us as we ate. I had the goat stew...it was so, so, so delicious and it was served in the cutest red pot that I wanted to take home with me!Another memorable meal was tacos at La Taqueria downtown. Ah-mazing! Just a little place with no tables only stools. And smiling Mexicans! I had 4 tacos, I just let them choose which ones to give me. My favorites were the one with beef tongue and the vegetarian one with creamed corn and roasted poblanos. They made me pretty happy!
One night a graduate of Chef Kevin's dropped off seven 30 day dry aged steaks for us. They were mammoth.
We BBQ'd them up and had one helluva dinner.
And one last bit of deliciousness...my Valentines day treat...a heart-shaped jam filled doughnut!

YUM!

PEI Home

While I don't have all my stuff or all my people in PEI I do consider where I live here to be one of my homes. I have my home in Winnipeg that has always been my home and will always be my home, but I also have this place that I spend most of the year, that I have settled into and grown to find quite comfortable. Coming back from Vancouver I was particularly struck by the things I love about this home in PEI..

Like this patch of sun in the living room...I have been known to take the occasional nap in this spot...I missed the sun when I was in Vancouver.

Or the view from this window...Blue skies and blue water...beauty.

And the kitchen, though it may be small, it has my purple spatula in it and it has the perfect sized pan that only sits flat on the stove if you prop the handle up with the sea salt container. It may be messy but good food and fun comes out of it. I missed cooking in it.

And my bed. I love my bed. I love my pillows and my cupcake pj's. I love the pile of books on my dresser that never seems to be finished.And the one picture that I'm missing is of Tracy and I sitting at the dining room table playing the game bananagrams. We are both laughing and congratulating each other on our long or creative words. We are in comfy clothes and drinking tea.

This is what I miss when I'm not here...I'll be graduating in a little more than 2 months and leaving this home, I think these will be the things I will remember the most when I look back on my PEI home.

More Vancouver tomorrow.