For the Love of Leftovers

I’d like to take a moment to gush about one of my favourite menu items at a popular restaurant chain: Boston Pizza’s Spicy Perogie Pizza.

My husband and I have both started to work at a new BP restaurant in our town in an effort to sock away some cash, and during training sessions we’ve been able to taste this yummy, albeit unusual, pizza.

The base of the pizza is sour cream.  You read that correctly…and then there is a layer of “cactus-cut potatoes”, thinly sliced potatoes that have been soaked in jalapeno juice.  Then there’s cheese, bacon, green onions and a dollop of sour cream in the middle of the pizza.

It sounds really unusual and not pizza-like at all, but this pizza is AWESOME.

It’s the season for harvesting herbs!

Yesterday I made this recipe for dinner, and the recipe called for fresh sage.  I ventured out into the herb garden for the first time in awhile, and really LOOKED at the plants growing there.  Things are a little out of control.  I decided that I would harvest some herbs before the frost hits.  I’ll start with the mint, because fresh or dried home-brewed mint tea makes a great gift, and is so soothing on a cool, rainy, November afternoon.

To make my mint tea, I harvest the mint stems, wash them, and then hang them to dry.  When the leaves are dry I cut them from the stems.

Last year I found this great little product online called Press and Brew Tea Bags.  These are basically tea bags that you fill with whatever herbal concoction you like, then simply iron shut.  They’re terrific.

I’m going to make some mint tea with these to give as little gifts this Christmas.

I’ve been doing a little research to find services online that will not only send me a weekly recipe list, but an accompanying grocery list, too.  With my husband and I about to get started with second jobs, life is about to get a little busier.  I’m going to be looking for ways to reduce the time I spend doing certain tasks, and having a system that will plan my menus for me and provide the grocery list is at the top of my wish list.

So far I’ve come across:

Wish 20-Minute Supper Club

Wish.ca is the companion site to the Canadian magazine, Wish.  Their website features this great service, the Wish 20-Minute Supper Club, which provides via e-mail four dinner menus and a shopping list to accompany them.  Previous weeks’ menus are archived, which is great if you get stuck on that fifth night’s menu or wish to substitute something else.

Menus4Moms.com

Menus4Moms.com looks promising (even though I’m not a mom), with weekly menu plans featuring five meals each week, including desserts!  Shopping lists are also provided.

There are other paid services out there, too, but I’m going to give these free ones a try, first.

This week’s posts seem to be taking on a theme…my favourite foods.  And drinks.

Coffee has been an important part of my life since I bought my first coffee maker when I lived in Toronto, about five years ago. I bought a basic Black & Decker coffee maker from Canadian Tire for about $19.99 and stopped off at Starbuck’s for a bag of their breakfast blend (obviously I had a lot more disposable income in those days). As the fresh aroma of fresh coffee filled my home for the first time, I knew I’d made a life-long friend.

Over the last five years I’ve developed a taste for pretty much any coffee drink with the exception of espresso, straight-up. I can handle cappucino, latte, all of that. But on a daily basis, I prefer a plain ‘ol coffee, brewed fresh in my kitchen, liberally laced with Hazelnut-flavoured Coffeemate. Here’s a little secret: I’ve been known to bring my own little container of Hazelnut Coffeemate out to have coffee with a friend, ordered my coffee black and fixed it up right there at the table.

The coffee players:

That’s President’s Choice’s Great Canadian Coffee right there. That big can sells for $8.99 regularly, but is often on sale for $6.99.

There’s my baby, Hazelnut Coffeemate standing proudly by. Why yes, it is sold in that convenient economy size.

Hey you, International Delight! I only bought you as a last resort. You were the next best available product at the store and I thought I’d give you another chance. However, you disappointed me again. You’ll stay there in the fridge for company because you are just not creamy or hazelnutty enough for my morning ritual.

My favourite mug rounds out the group…why is it that a good cup of coffee tastes even better in a great mug?

What’s your morning coffee ritual?

I thought it was time to divulge my secret addiction to carbohydrates…specifically BREAD.  Did you know that there’s an entire food blog crew who are devoted to baking and blogging about bread?  Their site is called A Year in Bread and even the banner will have you drooling and reaching for a jar of jam.

I first found A Year in Bread when Susan at Farmgirl Fare wrote about an amazing recipe for No-Knead bread that was sweeping the nation back in early 2007.

The recipe for No-Knead Bread was adapted from Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City.

The bread is crispy on the outside, moist but not soggy inside, full of lovely little air holes, and is so easy to make. You virtually just toss the ingredients together to form the dough, then let it rise for 12 to 18 hours. This means you get to forget all about it for a day. It fills the house with a wonderful warm smell while it bakes.