Fun in the Kitchen with Milks and Creams

I am by nature a chronic musser as my Mom would say or in more refined terms as perpetual experimenter. Either way I love trying different things especially in the kitchen. Quite often the goal is to see if I can do it not so much as trying to save money. The secondary goal is to create a homemade substitution for those times I may need to. A homemade substitution may be a bit more expensive in terms of ingredients but it ends up being cost effect in terms of both time and expense by saving a trip to the grocery store for one ingredient. Any time you can eliminate a trip to the grocery store you will end up saving money because it eliminates impulse buying as well as the travel costs.

Raw Ingredients

I usually have whole milk (3.25% MF), skim milk (2% MF, 1% MF), half & half (10% MF) and whipping cream (35% MF) on hand all the time. The heavier milk fat (MF) products are used for things like creamed soups where I want a creamier flavour while the skim milks are great for frothing on lattés and cappuccinos. Buttermilk and plain yogurt is something I buy only when having to refresh a starter. Both need to have active culture for this purpose.

Milk in Canada comes in plastic bags 4 L divided into 3 bags. This tends to be the cheapest way to buy milk however, some milk products can only be bought in waxed cardboard containers as pictured. While whole milk can be bought in bags, cultured buttermilk, whipping cream and half and half comes in the waxed cardboard containers. Milk and dairy prices are controlled by the Canadian Dairy Commission (CDC) so the price per L is fairly consistent across Canada and it is seldom possible to find any great sales on these products. Some grocery stores will put milk or butter on at loss leader prices occasionally.

Homemade Dairy Products

It is surprising how many products can easily be made from a few ingredients. I made sour cream (1), cultured buttermilk (2), plain yogurt (3), sweet butter (4), ricotta cheese (5), yogurt cheese (6), ricotta whey (7), buttermilk (8). Of these products the sweet butter (4) was not cheaper than current store prices but this method allows me to easily flavour it with herbs, citrus or cranberries and gives a small amount of buttermilk (8). The homemade products cost: sour cream 50¢; cultured buttermilk $2.17; yogurt $2.49, butter $3.47; ricotta cheese $1.99 with the whey and buttermilk free by-products. These are the costs with buying cultured buttermilk and plain yogurt to inoculate the fresh product. A batch of yogurt only takes 2 tbsp of starter yogurt so the rest went to the cook and yogurt cheese. Once the fresh product is ready it can be used to inoculate future batches eliminating the cost of store bought cultured buttermilk and yogurt further reducing the cost of the homemade. The cost per batch will continue to decrease using the homemade cultures until the only thing you are paying for is the milk or cream so at today's milk prices (CDN) the cultured buttermilk will go down to $1.49/L and sour cream down to 48¢. So while the homemade products are not going to save a lot per product it is still a savings.

Sour Cream

1 c whole milk
2 tbsp fresh active buttermilk

Mix together and pour into mason jar. Cap. Let sit at room temperature 12 - 24 hours then refrigerate.

Cultured Buttermilk

8 oz fresh active buttermilk
3 c whole milk

Mix together and pour into 1 L mason jar. Let sit at room temperature 24 - 36 hours then refrigerate.

Butter

2 c (500 ml) whipping cream

Pour the whipping cream into blender. Beat at high speed until butter fats separate. Pour into cheesecloth lined strainer. Pat butter lightly to remove as much of the buttermilk as possible. Reserve buttermilk for cooking. Place the butter into molds or container then refrigerate. If desired season with salt or herbs.


Bon Appétit!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

The Duke of Devon in Toronto, Ontario

One of our favourite Canadian destinations is the beautiful city of Toronto, Ontario. The area around the city of Toronto has many smaller communities like Rexdale, Mississauga, Burlington and Oakville. This area is officially known as the Greater Toronto Area or GTA. You can find just about everything in Toronto and the GTA including some of the world's best in fine dining. We are rather partial to Chinatown and have been visiting the same Chinese restaurant since our kids were infants. We usually get to the GTA several times yearly often visiting Toronto as well.

Exploring Toronto and the GTA is quite easy thanks to the great transit system (TTC) consisting of subway, trolleys, city buses and Go Train. Of course you drive around sight seeing but walking and using the TTC gives you a better flavour of the city from the street entertainers to the sidewalk cafes and street venders. It's the sights, the sounds, the smells that just makes Toronto an amazing place to visit!

The Duke of Devon

On one of our visits to Toronto we parked at a subway station and road the subway around to explore a bit. The Duke of Devon is a small, cosy pub with plush red velvet seating. It is located on the concourse level of the Toronto Dominion Tower in the middle of Toronto's banking district. The pub is within easy walking distance to the Rogers and Air Canada Centres and Union Station. They a nice selection of premium beers and mixed drinks as well as a nice variety of pub grub.

The atmosphere of The Duke of Devon is just wonderful. It is the type of place you would just like to sit a spell and enjoy. Both their food and service is quite good!

Spinach, Artichoke and Stilton Cheese Dip

We each ordered a drink then shared the spinach, artichoke and stilton cheese dip. This appetizer is a tantalizing marriage of vegetables and gorgeous Stilton cheese served with grilled focaccia spears ($9.99). Stilton cheese is a British historical blue cheese. Stilton has its own Certification Trade Mark and is an EU Protected Food Name. Stilton cheese can only be produced in the three Counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

The dip came nicely presented with the focaccia spears stacked log cabin style. The hot dip was rich and creamy with a nicely balanced tang from the blue cheese. This was a lovely appetizer!

Bon Appétit!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Kitchen Quick Tips - Cleaning Stainless Steel

Pour baking soda over and stuck or burnt on food. Cover with about half inch of water. Bring just to a boil while keeping an eye on the pot because this will foam up and you don't want it to spill out onto the stove. Remove from heat and let sit 20 minutes or so. Dump out the liquid then use a spatula to remove any remaining food that will pop off almost like magic. Wash your pan then polish if desired. Any stains inside the pot or on the outer bottom clean up nicely with Bar Keeper's Friend either liquid or powder. Buff up the outside of the pot or pan with a soft, dry cloth for a nice sparkle.


Bon Appétit!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Oven Roasted Spare Ribs (spareribs)

When it comes to home cooked comfort foods you can't beat spare ribs (spareribs, rack of ribs). We love visiting North American ribfests where we enjoy wonderfully barbequed racks of ribs. Our favourite cooking method for spare ribs at home is a long, slow barbeque. I have discovered that this method can be almost duplicated in the oven for those times during the winter months when running the outdoor grill for long periods of time is not all that appealing especially when you have to dig through the snow.

Preparation

Spareribs are the most inexpensive cut of pork and beef ribs. Typically they are a long cut from the lower portion of the pig or cattle, from the belly to breastbone, behind the shoulder including 11 to 13 long bones. Typically they are barbequed long and slow with or without a rub and quite often finished with a mop (wet sauce).

There was very little in the way of preparing the ribs.
I use both a slow braising and roasting method when cooking spareribs in the oven. I place the ribs in a roaster without a lid with about 2 c of water and sliced onions. I place the prepared on the lowest rack in the oven at 112ºC (250ºF) for 1½ hr. Then I pour on the desired barbeque sauce. This time I used Bulls-Eye Hickory flavoured barbeque sauce. I covered the ribs and continue cooking at the same temperature for 3 hours. Then I removed the lid, raised the temperature to 176ºC ª350ºF) and allowed the sauce to caramelize.

Cooked Rack of Ribs

The beauty of combining braising with roasting is you can enjoy great ribs without using the barbeque in the colder months. The end result using this method is richly flavoured ribs with meat that literally falls off the bone. The meat is very moist and tender. Pictured are the two steaming hot rack of ribs just out of the oven. There is not nearly as much sauce as it looks on the bottom but enough to spoon a little sauce over the ribs if desired.

Usually 4 - 6 ribs is a good sized serving although at ribfests and in many restaurants they sell full or half rack of ribs. A half rack of ribs would be about 6 ribs. Two rack of ribs are enough to feed 4 to 6 people but some have been known to eat an entire rack of ribs themselves.

Rack of Ribs Dinner

Dinner consisted of a 4 rib piece from one rack of ribs which was more than sufficient. I didn't cut it into individual ribs because cutting it is part of the fun of eating ribs. The ribs were served with home canned green beans and oven baked potatoes. Since the oven was already heated cooking the ribs it was only logical to put potatoes in for baking. Oven baked potatoes with their crispy skins and soft flesh are always delightful!

The sauce was true to form deep and richly flavoured while a nice hickory smoke aroma filled the house. The meat was melt in your mouth tender. It was a lovely, comfort meal that was easy to put together bringing the tastes of summer barbeque into the kitchen during the cooler weather.

Bon Appétit!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Eating Out

Have you ever had one of those weeks where things just kind of piled up then the unexpected happened? Now it might start innocently enough with deciding to splurge for pizza delivery because the weekend was a planned work at home weekend. Such was the case on Thursday evening when my husband and one of the kids decided to hook a new audio system and didn't feel like a traditional dinner so we ordered out. Ordering out is quite rare for use because we pay premium delivery charges since we are rural. From there things snowballed to unexpected but welcomed travel. The problem with this kind of week is cooking quickly becomes the last thing on your mind. Well it was on my mind but life got in the way and sometimes that becomes the priority :)

Pizza & Wings

Thursday night we ordered pizza and wings from our favourite pizza parlour. The intentions was this would be our night out (but in) because we had a work weekend planned that included two smaller home renovations projects.

This was a lovely pizza topped with ham, mushroom, pepperoni and extra cheese. The sauce is quite tasty on a somewhat thinner crust. It was as always an excellent pizza! We always order the wings with the sauce on the side. I like the extra hot sauce while others like either medium or honey garlic sauce. Ordering the sauce on the side allows everyone to have their choice of sauce.

Quarter Pound Cheeseburg

Thursday saw a bit of an unexpected phone call that would see us on a weekend road trip. We had to pick up a few items for this trip so did the necessary shopping on Friday then stopped at our favourite burger joint. Now this definitely is not fast food but it is well worth the extra wait. The quarter pound burger comes topped with cheese served with sliced onions and pickles. Ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper is available on the tables. This burger is so large that it is takes a lot of effort for me to finish half of it!

It is nothing fancy but the restaurant has an excellent, cosy atmosphere. The food never fails to please either. It is not fast food but it is good food. We always bring doggy bags home.

Wendy's

When we are on the road we prefer to stop at trucker's restaurants that offer small sit down restaurants usually with a buffet. This allows us to take a much needed break while enjoying a nice meal. Saturday morning found us on the road fairly early so instead of stopping at a truck stop we ended up stopping at a Wendy's on the highway. Wendy's is one of the very few fast food restaurants I like because they offer so much more than just burgers and fries.

The food was good but unfortunately the service was not! I kid you not, my husband stood in line 36 minutes to get the food. Had it been me I would have walked away. Apparently they only had one register opened with a huge line so then they opened another where those just arriving got service before those who had been standing in line. The service here gets 2 thumbs down and something we will remember in the very unlikely event we are ever tempted to stop there again.

Wiener Schnitzel

Saturday afternoon was extremely busy especially for the guys. We (the girls) stayed home to entertain the grandbabies. Later we did a bit of sightseeing with the kids then took them to a quaint little restaurant called The Old Country Restaurant for dinner. The restaurant is located at 105 Peel Street in the picturesque town of New Hamburg, Ontario. The feature home cooked food in a nice family style restaurant. When they say home cooked they mean home cooked! The service was excellent and the food even better. The restaurant has gone onto our list of to visit again.

Their house specialty is Bavarian Style Wiener Schnitzel. Wiener Schnitzel is a thin piece of veal coated with breadcrumbs then fried. My husband and I both ordered the Wiener Schnitzel. It came with a choice of potatoes, vegetable, homemade soup of the day or garden green salad for $9.95. We both chose baked potatoes but he ordered the soup of the day (beef noodle) while I ordered the salad. This would be a very easy and inexpensive meal to duplicate at home!

Bon Appétit!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Holiday Baking

The topic for this week's Frugal Kitchens 101 is holiday baking. It has long been a tradition for many to do extra baking for the Christmas holidays. Typically the baking includes fancier decorated cookies such as sugar cookies and gingerbread men along with fruitcakes. The problem for many especially in today's economy is the extra cost of holiday baking coincides with increased winter utility costs and combined holiday costs (gift giving, entertaining, decorating, travel) along with unemployment and threat to job security. Holiday baking can have a huge impact on your holiday budget simply because many popular holiday recipes use higher priced ingredients like candied fruits, chocolate and nuts. This is the time to rely on frugal kitchen skills.

1. start early and with a plan - This is one case where planning early is a must. I would recommend you start planning right after the previous holiday season. Take notes of likes or dislikes and amounts needed, what didn't go over well and what did. This allows you almost a full year to pick up all the necessary supplies and take advantage of sales.
   
2. KISS (keep it simple silly) - The holiday season is busy enough so keep your holiday baking simple. It is surprising how many baked goods can be made using simple ingredients. The thing is they don't have to look like they are simple ingredients and most don't after baked.
3. don't forget the recipe - The recipe is a must for some home baked goods so print it out either by printer or handwritten for a gift that will be cherished. Check the craft section of dollar stores for pre-cut tags perfect for using as the recipe instructions or print your own on cardstock.
   
4. ingredients - Buy any ingredient you use for holiday baking in bulk if at all possible. Most baking ingredients will keep for upwards of a year or longer. There are two ways to save here if you have a bulk food store. Those ingredients that you may only need a tsp or so buy in bulk in double the amount you need. That way you have enough for another batch. Those ingredients that you use more of buy in bulk simply because bulk usually is cheaper per unit and avoids the pesky packaging. Now, the exception to this is if an ingredient is on sale and/or you have a good coupon or rebate then figure out the unit price as sometimes it might be less expensive to use this method over the bulk food method. If at all possible rather than a large expenditure just before the holiday season, gradually stock up throughout the year.
   
5. energy usage - Where ever possible use the full capacity of your oven. Once your cookies are baked use the already heated oven to cook your dinner. Small batch baking can be done using your toaster oven or countertop roaster.
   
6. no time to bake - Give the gift of cookies, soups, breads and brownies by making gifts in jars (homemade mixes). Essentially you assemble the dry ingredients in a mason jar or similar then add a recipe tag and any other desirable embellishments. The recipient adds any liquid, oil or egg when they are ready to make their gift.
   

Bon Appétit!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009

Gift From the Kitchen - White Chocolate Chip Cookies

A couple of our kids need a bit of extra loving so I decided I wanted to make something special from the kitchen. I ended up testing out a gift in the jar idea so in essence the kids became taste testers but in this case I doubt they will mind. Besides who can resist a bit of Mommy's love straight from the kitchen?

Ingredients

One of the neat things about gifts from the kitchen is you can incorporate a definite craft element. True the gift itself is edible but the presentation is very much on the craft making side. So aside of the edible ingredients there were extras needed to make this gift special. For the extras I relied on my scrapbooking and crafting supplies.

Extras include things like decorative brads, eyelets, ribbon, punches and wooden spoons. Surprisingly most of these can be bought at department stores and increasingly at dollar stores so you don't need to invest a lot to give a nice presentation. You will also need craft scissors or an exacto knife to avoid using kitchen scissors for this project. You will need one 1 - L mason jar with lid and ring to package the finished mix in. I should point out that any of the decorative elements can be eliminated. In general they add a lot towards the presentation and very little towards the expense but they are entirely optional.

Gift Tag

One of my favourite scrapbooking mediums is card stock. This is a heavy weight paper available in many different colours allowing me a variety of options. I scanned the tag then with a bit of Photoshop® magic I ended up with an instruction tag suitable for this project. What is really neat about this method is I can pretty much customize the tag as I want then size it to fit anywhere from 3 to 6 tags per sheet to print. Once the sheet is printed I can further customize it using any number of scrapbooking techniques ranging from adding embellishments like eyelets or brads to using decorative scissors or punches. So this really becomes a very personalized approach. In this case it was extremely important for me to use a heart on the tag to symbolize that little extra needed hug from Mom.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Making gifts in a jar is actually quite fun. It really becomes more of a craft project even though it is edible. There is a chance to branch out just a bit further to tweak that creativity. For this gift I really wanted something that said hey I'm thinking about you and I love you. So I chose to make a white chocolate chip cookie gift in the jar. It was really important to me that a heart appeared on the tag and oh my gosh did that heart brad cause me problems but I finally got the results I wanted. This seriously is a project from start to finish that you could easily put together in about 15 minutes and while I did not calculate the actual cost it would definitely come in under the $2 mark. This type of gift is not about the cost though. It is about the thought that goes behind the gift to make the gift fit the recipient. I'm sure the kids are going to love these cookies, just what they need a taste from home :)

White Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar

¾ c granulated sugar
¾ c lightly packed brown sugar, divided
1 c chocolate chips
2¼ c unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp sea salt

Pour the sugar into a 1 L mason jar then shake slightly to form a level layer. Add half of the brown sugar and pack down tightly (seriously push down hard as this mixture will fill the jar). Pour in the chocolate chips then the remaining brown sugar. Again pack down tightly. Mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt well. Pour the flour mixture into the jar. You will have to tap it down and even carefully tamp down to get the mixture to fit. Wipe the rim then place the 2 piece lid on top and tighten.

Garnish with a wooden spoon and recipe secured with a ribbon.

Bon Appétit!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2009