“Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you toot.
The more you toot, the better you feel. Then you sit down for another meal!”

Ha! Ha! Ha! What memories! I think every time we had homemade baked beans for Saturday’s supper (which was quite often) this was the popular saying at the table.

So what better way to spend a stormy Saturday than to make homemade bread and baked beans, continuing on from last week’s post with using recipes from family members that bring with them great memories. ❤️ Plus a new recipe.

What started this journey was reading an article from one of last week’s newspapers, The Guardian, and seeing recipes for baked beans and steamed brown bread. I decided to try that bread recipe but used my tried and true beans recipe passed down to me by Lorna Turner (my late husband’s grandmother). I usually make them in a pressure cooker but today I used a bean crock in the oven.

Back to the bread recipe.

I’ve never made steamed bread before and sadly this recipe gave no instructions on how to steam. I’m sure you’d know what to do but I didn’t. Thank goodness for Google. The other problem with her recipe? No oven temperature given. What? Although I’ve made bread before I’m not a master bread maker so I’m off to Google again for recommendations. Most said 350F. Ok then. Now after mixing the ingredients (no yeast in this recipe) I thought, what is this? It’s a liquid. Like no other bread I’ve ever made. But the recipe said pour the mixture into a loaf pan so that’s what I did.

Worried now that the bread would be awful I decided to make an old recipe of my mother’s for Porridge Bread. She always made it in large apple juice cans for my kids. They loved having the round slices, especially toasted. I follow that tradition. Great idea Mom.

While the porridge bread was rising the steamed brown bread was ready to come out of the oven. After baking for the suggested 2 1/2 hours it looked, well let’s try and be positive and say “It looked interesting.”.

Thank goodness it tasted good. Actually delicious. Dense but moist with a nice crunchy top. Yummy 😋

And the porridge bread?

As good as I remember. 🥰

What are your feelings regarding beans and homemade bread? Do you have a regular weekend meal? I’d love ❤️ to hear from you.

Can you believe I found this song?

Baked Beans and Brown Bread – Jerry Blodgett

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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“Just knowing you don’t have the answers is a recipe for humility, openness, acceptance, forgiveness, and an eagerness to learn – and those are all good things.” Dick Van Dyke

Gotta love Dick Van Dyke. Good things. Maybe we all need to remember the good things in our lives. I don’t know about you but I need to do this instead of dwelling on the negatives that have been surrounding us these past years.

I found this on the internet the other day and immediately liked it. As we’ve been in such turmoil these past two years this might be a way to focus on the positives in our lives instead of dwelling on the negatives. I’m starting it this month.

This weeks’ recipe Fish Cakes is a combination of recipes from two cookbooks-the Acadian Pictorial Cookbook I borrowed from the local library.

and a new cookbook The Hairy Bikers’ British Classics I received as a Christmas present. (Thanks so much Brenda and Teresa)

So today’s dinner is British meets French.

Parsley sauce must be a British thing as Richard automatically associated it with fish cakes but growing up on PEI my mother never served it.

And the final product.

I have loved this song since high school. And that wasn’t yesterday. Lol. Every year, as part of our Winter Carnival, Charlottetown Rural High School would have a variety show on the main stage at the Confederation Centre of the Arts. My best friend Joan Robinson and I sang it as part of the coffee house scene. What fun that was! Especially exciting as we were only in grade nine and the other performers were older students. I even remember the two guys who accompanied us on guitars-John Martin and Paul Druet. They were amazing. Such great memories. Guess that’s a sign of old age. I can remember happenings from the past but often can’t remember why I went upstairs. Oh well. C’est la vie.

Scarborough Fair-Simon and Garfunkel

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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“A spoonful of sugar…” Robert Sherman

Spoonful of sugar-ha ha. We certainly had more than a spoonful of sugar this weekend.

In my last post I shared the baking that my daughter and I had done for Christmas. Sugar overload. Here’s some from Christmas Day.

Now back to reality and the ever difficult sugar detox.

A quick note about Christmas. Up at 7:30. Unwrapped gifts. Lovely gifts from everyone. As always my family and friends overwhelmed me with their thoughtful presents. Here’s a few: much needed new sneakers in great summer colours, silk pillowcase, fantastic new hair straightener, always loved gift certificates, a sweet homemade tree ornament, and a beautiful British cookbook. I’m super excited to try some of these recipes. I’ll certainly share them with you. Most of all I love seeing those I love open their gifts. I try to find meaningful ones. This year, besides the purchased gifts, I made sea glass pictures for them. Then, in addition, for my three children I made bears using their baby sleepers and buttons that my mother had saved years ago. They weren’t the prettiest but they were made with ❤️ and lovely memories.

I hope everyone had a safe and healthy Christmas and that the new year brings us all a healthy and less stressful life.

“A Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins- Sherman and Sherman (Sung by Julie Andrews)

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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“It’s been a crazy week, …that would be the best way to put it.” Paul Green

Aren’t we all feeling that way? It seems to me that we just start feeling comfortable and more at ease with life as we now know it and then

A Great Big Kick In The Pants!

But what can we do. We just keep on truckin’ and do the very best that we can.

Other than the Omicron news I had a fantastic week. I spent Wednesday to Saturday at my daughter’s house doing the Christmas baking. To be honest she did most of it. She’s an excellent baker. Let me make this perfectly clear. She didn’t get that talent from me. (Or maybe she got all my talent and left me with none.) Nope. She got it from her grandmothers and great grandmothers.

A little of our Christmas history: In 1979 my father died and from then on Mom spent every Christmas at my home. How excited my kids were every year when she’d arrive in her car that was overflowing with presents and, of course, all the Christmas baking. 🍪 🍰 🧁 To say she went overboard on the baked goods is not an exaggeration. She loved it. Every year she’d bring the old favourites plus a few new experimental ones. Some new recipes she’d deem good enough to keep for the next year and others she’d toss. Years later, when she had a stroke and was not allowed stove access, my daughter and I assumed the Christmas baker role. Sadly in September 2017 Mom died but her Christmas baking and all the wonderful memories live on. ❤️

Some of our Christmas goodies this year are:

Scotch Cookies https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/443041682095445196/

Peanut Butter Blossoms https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/443041682097792839/

Uncooked Marshmallow Squares https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/443041682098731805/

Butter Tarts https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/443041682095445172/

Paleo Ginger Molasses Cookies * https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/paleo-ginger-molasses-cookies/

Pretzel Hugs * https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/pretzel-hugs/

Linzer Cookies *https://www.platingsandpairings.com/linzer-cookies-with-strawberry-jam/

Nougat Bars * https://aprettylifeinthesuburbs.com/easy-christmas-gumdrop-nougat-candy/

Toffee Pretzel Bark *https://www.the-farmersdaughter.com/blog/2012/12/tasty-tuesday-toffee-pretzel-bark.html?format=amp

*In Mom’s memory these are the new recipes.

This week my PEI recipe, Old Fashioned Fish Chowder is from “The Very Best Recipes” by The Women’s Institutes of PEI.

This was a very easy recipe. (My kind of recipe) 😊 And it included our wonderful PEI potatoes. Our little sampled spoonfuls tasted delicious. Well, I thought delicious, Richard thought it tasted better than he expected.

Then we decided to vary the recipe slightly and added some corn niblets for an added veggie. Plus a homemade roll from our local Borden cafe Crossings Cafe. https://www.facebook.com/CrossingsPEI

One of my family’s Christmas traditions is watching “Home Alone” and “Christmas Vacation” every Christmas Eve, always roaring with laughter even though we’ve watched them more times than I can count. I love Christmas traditions. Great memories. 🎄

My music selection is from “Home Alone”. Somewhere in My Memory by John Williams

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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” A goal without a plan is just a wish “-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

It’s been a while.

You know that feeling when you haven’t done something for a while, like exercising, and even though you love doing it the longer you’ve been away from it the harder it is to get motivated to get back at it. Well, that’s what it’s been like with my blogging. I wanted to get back at it but just couldn’t get myself to start. So I had to come up with a plan-something to get me motivated.

So this is it. Each week I’ll make a recipe from various PEI cookbooks and let you know how it goes. Some will be recipes passed down from my mother and others will be recipes from recipe books I checked out from the PEI Library.

https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/information/education-and-lifelong-learning/public-libraries-locations-and-hours

If you have any favourite recipes please share with me. I’d love to try them.

We’re staying on PEI this winter (or at least until Covid and its variants are more under control) and we all know what long, cold, dark winters can bring. Oh yes. The dreaded winter blues. My goal is to try and keep them at bay the best that I can. So to work towards this goal my plan is to create projects to keep me busy. One recipe a week will be just one of my winter projects. I’ll share the others as the winter progresses. (Richard is to be thanked for this as he’s big into creating ‘to do‘ lists and encourages me to do the same.)

Who remembers when various local groups would publish cookbooks, possibly as fundraisers? I remember having had quite a few in my collection. Sadly, years ago I decided to downsize and most of these were given away.

One of these types of books was in the library: Spanning The Gulf With a P.E.I. Flavour by Free Church of Scotland W.F.M.A. On Prince Edward Island.

Today’s recipe is Shepherd’s Pie. Over the years I’ve made my own version of this many times, but never followed a recipe.

I love how they added a quote to the bottom of each page. Gives us something to think about. I don’t know about you but I am a big worrywart. And yes 😊 that is a word. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary a worrywart is defined as “a person who’s inclined to worry unduly”. Guess that says it all. Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to worry less. (Don’t hold your breath. Lol)

Making this dish was easy. That’s a good thing. And supported PEI potatoes too.

The big issue: everyone has a Shepherd’s Pie that they’re used to and that they love. So trying this recipe was risky.

We liked it. Both of us said it was different that any that we’d previously eaten. I’ve never put cheese on Shepherd’s Pie. Richard said his was always richer, with more meat, gravy and cheese but with less potato. That’s ok. It was fun to do it. And it passed some time. Yay!

When I taught elementary school music I often played Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. They would envision the seasons while listening to the music and create drawings.

Close your eyes and enjoy!

Vivaldi Four Seasons: Winter (L’Inverno), original version. Freivogel & Voices of Music RV 297 4K

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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“It’s okay to take a break.” Unknown

What a dreary, rainy day! While lamenting about the miserable weather we’ve been having, certainly not summer weather, my Aunt Fran reminded me that people in British Columbia would relish receiving our rain. That took me out of my self pity. Smart lady.

Today, July 4th, Americans are celebrating. Here we’re also celebrating. We’re celebrating Richard’s birthday. But I use the word ‘celebrating’ loosely. Richard doesn’t really celebrate them. We had planned to go to our ‘local’ Lone Oak Brewery for a late lunch or an early supper. They were having outdoor entertainment: Keelin Wedge and Roland Beaulieu. Guess we’re fair weather people. Due to the miserable weather we stayed put. Change of plans. I told him I’d make him Fries with the Works. He’d never had it before moving to PEI and now really enjoys having it-once in a while.

Thus today’s quote. He took a break from healthy eating. In addition to his supper he had a Tim Horton’s Boston Creme doughnut as his birthday cake. He acquired a taste for them from my mother. Boston Creme doughnuts were her favourites. And, for her, they had to be from Tim Hortons. I made that mistake once but only once. She was in a community care home in North Rustico and I stopped at Robin’s Doughnuts to get her a treat. She took one bite and promptly said,”That doesn’t taste right”. Lesson learned. My whole family doesn’t get together very often but when we do we usually have Boston Creme doughnuts in remembrance of her. Love you Mom.

I wish I had more to share but things are pretty tame around here. Mostly do the same things every week. So I’ll share a few meals we’ve had lately, mostly healthy ones.

Southern Baked Picnic Chicken Bowl

This was delicious and will have again. Included in the bowl: chicken, avocado, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and cucumber all on a bed of lettuce. To add a bit of ‘fun’ to the salad I used our Spiralizer to create cucumber ribbons.

Coronation Chicken

This is a major favourite of ours. We’ve made it many times and for many guests. On that day we served it along with mango and small, spiced potatoes.

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The two pictures directly above are from tonight’s birthday supper. Hmmmm. Easy to tell who had what. Richard enjoyed his and I love scrambled eggs so we were both happy.

So today I’m saying it was okay to take a break. We don’t do it very often so no guilt here. Well, I wouldn’t have guilt about mine anyway. Ha Ha 😊

I hope you’re enjoying the summer and allowing yourselves the liberty of “taking a break”.

And in honour of Richard’s birthday here’s today’s musical selection. (unapproved by Richard)

You Say It’s Your Birthday-The Beatles

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

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“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.” Fran Lebowitz

Today’s title is the name of a song from the musical”Oliver”. Love that musical. (I bet the workhouse boys back then would have appreciated a balanced diet.) When I was in grade 12 my high school did a production of it at The Confederation Centre of the Arts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confederation_Centre_of_the_Arts

https://confederationcentre.com/

I had the role of ‘Bet’. What an amazing experience. Memories that last a lifetime, with more learning experiences than you can imagine. A prime example of the importance of ‘the arts’ in school programs.

So I haven’t posted in a while. Haven’t been doing very much. Just working around the house and the yard. Not very exciting. But there have been some interesting meals and I’ve been saving the pictures to share with you. Today’s the day.

I’m starting with tonight’s supper. This recipe may be meant to be eaten as an appetizer but it was delicious and filling as a meal.

Pineapple Avocado Salsa

The next three we enjoyed over the last two weeks. Even though Meatless May is done we’re still including many vegetarian recipes in our diet.

The far left is Chick Pea Curry and Basmati Rice

The centre is Mango, Beef, and Rice on a bed of lettuce.

The far right is Cheese Omelette topped with Garlic Scapes.

The eggs are local from Kool Breeze Farms https://koolbreezefarms.com/. The garlic scapes are from our garden. For those who haven’t heard of garlic scapes (we hadn’t until last year): Garlic scapes are the tender stem and flower bud of a hardneck garlic plant. (Hardneck garlic is the kind of garlic that typically grows in Canada and the northeastern U.S.) Scapes first grow straight out of the garlic bulb, then coil. When harvested, they look like long, curly green beans.

So we’ve been working, exercising, and eating healthy. Or at least we’re trying. always a work in progress.

Food Glorious Food from “Oliver” – Lionel Bart

Stay safe and healthy.

As always, thanks for your interest and thank you for reading.

I invite you to click follow to receive timely updates,  like to show your love and support, share my post on your social media site, and /or comment.