The Annual Pig Roast

Every year, my husband's aunt hosts a large annual gathering the weekend following the Canada Day weekend.  No invites go out, rather everyone know when and where it is.  Family is encouraged to bring friends and spread the word.  The event starts mid-afternoon at their beautiful park-like setting in rural southern Ontario.  A picture of one of their man made ponds is the background image for my gardening blog, Garden Gnome Wanderings.  It has been wonderful watching as their vision for this gorgeous acreage become a stunning reality! 

We are beyond blessed with amazing family and friends.  Our extended family are very much foodies so there is always an abundance of delicious foods at family gatherings.  This gathering is no exception.  The grills are fired up for hot dogs and burgers while the piece de resistance is the roast pig is ready for serving along with a large variety of salads, vegetable trays, potatoes and of course, baked beans.  Then the dessert trays laden with delectable treats made their rounds. 

This year's pig did not disappoint.  As always, it was moist, tender and flavourful.  Normally the full face is showing as well but for some reason it was covered.  I forgot to ask why.  At any rate, the pig was the sure crowd pleaser.  I brought home a bit of the skin for pork rinds, a delicious treat I indulge in once a year.

After dinner which really continues into the wee hours of the morning with food out and ready for anyone wanting more, folks wander about the ponds, hike up the hill or just sit and chit chat waiting for the fireworks display that out does most community fireworks.  It is one of the most spectacular displays we've ever seen!  A couple of campfires are lit to ward of mosquitoes then left to die into glowing embers during the fireworks.  We usually head home after the fireworks but others stay through the night and the gathering continues throughout much of the following day.  It really is an incredible event!

Weekend Pig Roast

We have enjoyed pig roasts for years and held  our first pig roast in celebration of our 30^th Anniversary shortly after moving here.  We did everything from arranging the pig roaster, picking up the pig and roasting the pig.  It was a lot of fun.  The huge, propane powered pig roaster was hooked trailer fashion to one of our vehicles for transportation from where we rented it to our home then back again.  At one time these roasters were easy to find for rental, perfect for larger summer get-togethers.   The following year we called to rent the roaster again to find they no longer rent out their roaster.  I called around looking for one without success. Apparently we are going to have to breakdown and buy one.

A couple of weeks later we went to relatives for their   Canada Day weekend pig roast celebrations.  This is a massive get-together that starts early in the afternoon lasting into the late evening hours.  Some stay overnight where the party continues onto the following day.  Their firework display outshines many community firework displays.  In recent years, they have moved the get-together to the weekend after the Canada Day weekend.

This is large scale summer cooking at it's finest.  They have built a room inside the garage where the guest of honour, the roasted pig resides.  This year's pig was simply gorgeous!  It is prepared for them by a firm in Amherstburg, Ontario.  Unlike most pig roasts we attend and even the way we roasted our pig, this pig was roasted without the legs and bones other than the head.  The body was stuffed then secured with butcher's twine for the roasting process.  The presentation as always was impressive.  The black countertop roaster on the table (upper left corner) was filled with homemade black beans.  There was a variety of salads, vegetable and fruit trays.  Just outside of the garage to the right, two massive grills were going full tilt turning out hamburgers, hot dogs and sausages.  The grills continued throughout the evening.  Trays and trays of desserts mainly squares, cookies and bars were passed around.  There was a large, bottomless candy bowl of various penny candies was passed around much to the delight of the little ones as well as some of the not so little ones.   It was a non-stop foodie fest followed by amazing eye candy!

Personalizing Homemade Pizza

Homemade pizza compete with ingredients made from scratch have been a family tradition since our kids were young.  I'd put the dough into the breadmachine then my husband would form it into a large rectangular crust and each of our kids would top their piece as they wanted.  It was always a lot of fun!

My husband and I have kept this tradition when we make homemade pizza.  We usually use a homemade tomato based pizza sauce but not always.  The homemade pizza we recently made looked a little odd from its normal patchwork look but since the kids weren't home we went a little plainer.  My husband didn't want a lot of toppings on his just mushrooms, peameal bacon, onions and cheese while I wanted more (spinach, olives, fresh tomatoes).  So I made a kicked up  slice for me while my husband topped the rest of the pizza a bit more plainly.  He planned on taking the leftover pizza to the office for lunch the next day.  One of our kids is helping out in the office so I've been sending lunch for two.  Homemade pizza warms up so nicely so it's perfect for lunch.

I love experimenting with pizza toppings and so far I don't thing I've come across one that I don't like.  My piece was about 6 - inch square and filled with great toppings.  If you haven't tried this method of building a pizza with your family, you will be surprised at how easy and fun it can be. 

The easiest way is to set out small bowls of favourite toppings for each family member to use on their slice as desired.  Once the dough is formed and the sauce spread let the fun begin.  It's funny too because kids have one idea of what their pizza slice will look like but the look changes when the pizza is cooked.  You can even make it a bit more challenging by voting on who's pizza slice looks the best.  I think this is just such a family fun time event to be shared making wonderful memories while enjoying geat food!

Weekend Pig Roast

Pig roasts are always fun events! Two years ago we held a pig roast that was a huge success.  We were planning on holding another pig roast this year but so far have been unable to find a roaster for rent. At one time the local abattoirs and a few local farmers had the roasters that they would rent out but no longer. A relative and I were chit chatting about not being able to find a roaster. They were hosting their annual fireworks event on the 11^th. It always falls in July as close as possible to Canada Day. The number in attendance reaches around 150. This wonderful day long event is held on their picturesque, farmland property in southern Ontario. Local foods and entertainment are always a feature which is something I really appreciate. After dark everyone settles in for a gorgeous fireworks show that would out do many communities! Some of the fireworks are originals made specifically for the occasion. It is just a lovely event with a good time had by all!

She also wanted a pig roast for this event to compliment the hot dogs and hamburgs being grilled but was having no luck finding a roaster. She had found a place in Ahmerstberg, Ontario that seasons and roasts the pig. Then then gut it, remove the bones and stuff the meat back into the skin. Well sounded a bit intriguing to me so I couldn't wait to see what the pig looked like done this way. More importantly I couldn't wait to taste the meat!

Roasted Pig

The roasted pig was nicely presented on a bed of lettuce and garnished with the traditional apple in the mouth and orange slices. The meat had been de-boned then stuffed back into the skin to give the appearance of a whole pig. The meat was then easily sliced as desired with an electric knife.

As interesting as this solution is, buying a roasted pig this way presents a couple of problems. It removes the day long work of tending the roasting pig and it eliminates having to pick-up and return the roaster. However, buying the pig already roasted was considerably more expensive coming it at $5 per pound plus the cost of gas to pick it up. In comparison we paid $100 for the 117 lb pig for our pig roast, $80 for the roaster and about $150 in additional foods for a total of $330 serving about 70. The pig pictured was similar in size at a cost about $585 already roasted. Additional foods would have driven the cost per plate considerably higher. They would have had to drive a good 90 minutes each way. Taking a good 3 hours out of the prep time on the day of this type of event just to pick up the pig would have been rather inconvenient. It definitely would not work for us as we would have to drive even further. The second problem is transportation itself. The pig would have to be kept in the safety temperature zone during transportation and until serving. With this in mind, a roasted pig purchased this way can still be a good solution in a pinch.

Baked Beans & Sides

The sides consisted of several homemade dishes including baked beans, potato salad, coleslaw, fresh fruits and various desserts. Grilled hamburgers and hot dogs were available for those not wanting pork. One way to keep costs down a bit is to have people bring a side, salad or buns. Even if you ask people to bring nothing more than whatever they are drinking they will invariably bring something else. If someone asks what can they bring be specific. The real problem with this method is even if you delegate you will end up with too much of one dish and not enough of another because that is human nature. So you really do need to with the flow and be prepared with back-up dishes just in case.

The sides and additional food was presented linear spread in a covered outdoor location. This controlled any outdoor food problems such as dust and insects. The host kept things simple by serving in the baking pans and plastic bowls. What I found interesting was behind some of the sides like the coleslaw was a plastic zipper style bag filled with more for easy refilling as required. While this does work, I wouldn't recommend it simply because the food in the bags may spend time outside the proper safety temperatures that could cause later tummy upsets or worse.

Roasted Pig Dinner

Pictured is my plate of food consisting of pork with barbeque sauce, potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans. The meat was nicely roasted, moist and tender. The sides did not disappoint either. That golden brown to the upper right of the meat is roasted pork skin. Roasted pork skin is a true delight! It is chewy yet crispy with a thin layer of fat on the inside. It is packed full of flavour! I don't to enjoy roasted pork skin very often even though I love it. The closest I get is the occasional cracklings which is pan fried pig skin from our bulk pig purchase and that I don't get that very often either. It likely isn't the healthiest thing to eat but oh my gosh it is just so good! I tucked a small container of it into our cooler to enjoy the next day.

Second Cup (Guelph, Ontario)

One evening while I was staying with the kids awaiting the birth of youngest grandbaby, we went for ice cream after dinner. Oldest grandbaby has just discovered ice cream cones. It is quite funny watching her try to master the finer art of ice cream cone eating! I'm not a big ice cream fan so the kids stopped at a Second Cup so I could get my cappuccino fix. Cappuccino is currently my favourite morning drink!

Second Cup

Second Cup is gourmet style coffee shop located at 369 Gordon Street in Guelph. There is ample off road parking in the lot beside the corner coffee shop. This was my first visit to a Second Cup so of course I was comparing it to Tim Hortons® and Country Style Donuts (originally only in Ontario, Canada). Country Style grinds the beans fresh for each pot of coffee so you are always assured of a great cup of coffee! Their cappuccino is quite good.

Second Cup offers a wide variety of coffees, teas and specialty drinks. The overall atmosphere was warm and cosy with lots of wood. There smaller wooden tables and wood chairs for enjoying your purchases in the coffee shop. I ordered my cappuccino to go and bought two boxes of flavoured teas.

Second Cup Teas

Like many coffee shops, Second Cup also sells coffees and teas you can take home. On this trip their 20 bag size of selected teas were on sale buy one, get one free. The non-sale price was $5.95 which is a higher price than many other teas but not as expensive as some organic teas. Well that was a deal I couldn't pass up so I chose the cherry flavoured organic green tea while the kids chose the deluxe assortment of teas. The assortment included 4 tea bags each of caffeine-free peppermint herbal tea, vanilla créme black tea, Chai blact tea, caffeine-free orange mango herbal tea and Chinese green tea. I exchanged 5 of my cherry flavoured bags for one each of the other flavours when we got home.

I tried a cup of the cherry flavoured tea later that night. It has a nice cherry smell but just a hint of flavour. It is a pleasant tea for those who enjoy flavoured teas. This tea just has that little bit of difference to make it enjoyable.

Teapots & Tea

Every time I see someone casually pour hot water over a tea bag in a cup I shudder. The only way to get a good cup of tea is to steep it! This is one reason I seldom order tea when out unless I am sure it comes in a small teapot meant for steeping.

I have three teapots but use only two of them on a regular basis. My favourite teapot is a cup and teapot combo. The teapot holds about 2½ cups of tea just perfect for morning tea. The larger pot keeps 8 cups of tea hot. When I make tea, I always warm the teapot first. Then I bring cold, filtered water to a full boil. I empty the warm water from the teapot, add either teabags or filled tea ball then pour the boiling water over and cover the teapot. After steeping 3 to 5 minutes, I pour a cup of steaming tea ready to enjoy.

By far my two favourite teas are Red Rose® (orange pekoe) and Early Grey but I also enjoy Jasmine, green tea and several herbal teas. I also prefer loose tea and a tea ball to using tea bags. I like storing tea bags and loose tea in older mason jars that are no longer approved for canning. These jars keep the tea fresher and prevent any humidity issues.

Grilled Greek Pork Chops

I've mentioned several times on this blog that all of our kids (including spouses) are quite accomplished when it comes to cooking so it is always a pleasure for me to have the opportunity to enjoy their cooking. As you know I spent a couple of weeks at the home of oldest grandbaby awaiting the birth of youngest grandbaby. That meant a new spin on food so I came home with a few great ideas!

Grilled Greek Pork Chops

The kids made a lovely grilled Greek pork chop dinner. It really was quite good! The pork chops were marinated then grilled and served with spinach, basmati rice and Greek pitas with tazaki sauce. The marinade added a nice flavour without being over powering.

Greek pitas is pocketless flat bread. To prepare for this dish, brush each pita with melted butter and sprinkle with a little garlic salt. Bake until warmed through. Cut each pita into 8 wedges. Serve with tazaki sauce.

Marinade

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp dried oregano flakes
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

Wisk ingredients together. Place 4 pork chops in container with lid. Pour the marinade over the pork chops. Cover and put in refrigerator for a couple of hours turning occasionally. Remove the pork chops from the marinade and grill.

Scores® Chicken & Ribs (Mississauga, Ontario)

While awaiting the arrival of newest grandbaby we girls (oldest grandbaby, Mommy and Grandma) had to amuse ourselves during the day. Mornings proved to be a good time to get a little exercise and do a bit of shopping. We stopped for lunch one day at Scores® Chicken & Ribs located at 2967 Argential Road in Mississauga, Ontario.

Scores® Chicken & Ribs is a restaurant specializing in chicken and ribs. There are three locations in Ontario, Canada (Brampton, Missassauga, Kanata) and 21 locations in Québec. Scores® offers a delivery service as well.

The restaurant looks anything but a fast food restaurant. The dining room nicely decorated with comfortable, cozy yet quiet elegance. It is kid friendly in that highchairs are available and there is a kid's menu. The children's menu is rather impressive with a good selection of meals for $3.99. The waitress brings a colouring page and crayons to help entertain young ones while they wait for their meal. It might have been our timing but we did find the wait time not only for the food but also waiting to pay which was a bit excessive (over 15 minutes given the restaurant wasn't busy) made it a bit more challenging to keep a toddler entertained.

Scores® is a bit more expensive than some sit-down restaurants however, the atmosphere is quite enjoyable and the food . We paid $54 for two adults and a toddler so I do think that is expensive for lunch. It still would be a restaurant I would go to again and I do think it would be a great place for us to go as a family with all of our kids. Each dinner would average $20 including a non-alcoholic drink. Appetizers would be separate as would alcoholic drinks so that puts this restaurant in the price range of Red Lobster and similar style restaurants.

The soup &salad bar (1) was quite substantial! It included two soups, salad greens, a good assortment of salad tops and dressings, a few prepared salads and fresh fruits. The all-you-can-eat salad bar can be purchased separated as a meal for or as part of the meals for an additional charge.

Mommy to be had the Santa Barbara grilled chicken (2). A plump chicken breast was topped with honey garlic sauce, Canadian cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, sliced grilled onions and Pico de Gallo served with a side of seasoned rice, gravy and dinner roll.

I had the Chicken Baked tortilla rolls filled with rotisserie chicken and ancho chipotle cream cheese topped with fresh salsa and melted cheese. The 6 rolls were served with fresh diced marinated tomatoes and sour cream. This was classified as a starter but for lunch there was more than enough! (3)

Grandbaby ordered a pogo stick (4) with fries from the children's menu. This really was too much food for a toddler since the salad bar was included. The small salad plate Mommy fixed got a lot more attention than the fries. There's something about kids choosing their own food sometimes that makes them want to eat it. The pogo stick was partially eaten.

We left the restaurant and made our way back to the kids' house. Grandbaby was exhausted and since transferring to her bed doesn't work all that well we kept pointing out things of interest to keep the drooping eyes open. Looking back on our meals the baked tortilla rolls will be the most likely meal I will try duplicating at home. I really liked the flavour and presentation.

Baby Update

Baby Aiden entered the world at 10:18 AM weighing in at 9 lb 3 oz and 23 inches long.

Baby (1)

Update:  For those interested the kids went to the hospital about 3:45 AM.  The baby is on it's way so depending on how it goes it could be a long day.  I will post when baby arrives!

Enjoy!

An Bit of an Update

Dear Readers, 

I arrived at the home of oldest grandbaby last Saturday to await the arrival of youngest grandbaby due according to the doctor any hour now.  There has not been a rush to the hospital yet but we expect one very shortly.  Before I left I was able to schedule several posts but not much more beyond a week.  Unfortunately despite enjoying a lot of great food and taking a lot of wonderful pictures to share with you, I do not have Photoshop on the laptop I borrowed from my husband so those will have to wait until I get back home side.  Frugal Kitchens 101 and Kitchen Quick Tips will not be affected and you may see a graphic or two from what I have in Photobucket.  Please bare with me.  Things should be back to normal within a few days :) I promise to let you know when the little one arrives! 

A Foodie Christmas

When our family gets together and that is quite often one thing is always guaranteed. There is an abundance of great food. Would you expect anything else from a foodie family? We had planned on stopping at a family Christmas Eve party then heading to the kids later in the evening but the weather quickly changed our plans so we were on the road in the early afternoon of the 24^th trying to stay ahead of the weather. We arrived safe and sound glad to be out of the snow.

All of our kids are very good cooks! One thing I enjoy about visiting any of our kids is they are a bit more daring when it comes to food. Sure they have the tried and true family favourites but they step away from simple home style cooking as well. Wednesday night we enjoyed a pasta with shrimp dish. Seafood is a family favourite and we do go through a lot of shrimp during the holidays so it was no surprise that the kids used shrimp as the main feature for a dish. Oldest grandbaby loves pasta! Christmas day the kids made homemade beef noodle soup. I showed them how to use the pressure cooker to cook the soup bones to make a rich stock. I will post more on that later as I made a vegetable beef soup using the same method when we got home. The kids found these wonderful spring rolls at a little shop in the GTA. If you buy them fresh they are 50¢ a piece but if you buy them frozen they are 20¢. I don't need to tell you which ones they bought. They served the spring rolls with plumb sauce for an easy appetizer. These fall under the category of "please bring me some home the next time you come down". They were very, very good and would make a nice appetizer to have on hand for entertaining. They also fall into the category of "I want to try making these from scratch" so I will be experimenting. The kids made easy panini for lunch. Now the beauty of these were unlike regular grilled cheese no butter or margarine was used at all. They were very good! I am now convinced I need to go shopping for a panini press.

Friday night the kids ordered pizza and wings. I cannot believe how much cheaper delivered pizza is where they live! Honestly a large pizza with 2 lb of wings where we are costs $37.49 delivered. That is one reason we make our own at home. They ordered 3 large pizzas, 2 lb wings and breadsticks for under $50 and it arrived in under a half hour! That's still expensive but it was more of a treat. Pictured is the buffalo chicken pizza. This was very nice. I seriously am going to be making this at home so watch for that recipe coming very soon.

Our toaster gave up the ghost a few months ago but I didn't replace it. We use the grill and indoor grill for toasting so a toaster wasn't a high priority. Parents to youngest grandbaby gifted us with a beautiful stainless steel Hamilton Beach® toaster with slots large enough to toast bagels and thicker slices of homemade breads. Parents to oldest grandbaby gifted us with a really nice French fry cutter. My husband is really into making homemade French fries at the moment so this is a much appreciated gift. One of my husband's clients gifted him with a lovely gift basket filled with items from Orange Crate Food Co. This is a Canadian company specializing in gourmet foods with no MSG or preservatives.

After all our adventures we arrived home Saturday night. Sunday we were both exhausted and sore because not being of sound mind we discovered the kid's Wii. Silly grandma and grandpa were quite entertaining! I heated up frozen hamburg soup served with stone ground wheat crackers for a quick and easy yet very filling dinner. I love having ready meals in the freezer!

Early Thanksgiving Weekend Fun

Friday we packed up and headed down to our daughter's for an early Thanksgiving get together. The Canadian Thanksgiving is celebrated the second Monday of October but we had plans so suggested an earlier family get together.* I brought barbequed pulled pork for Friday's meal. It was the last of the pork shoulder roasts I bought on sale so thought it would go over well since all the kids would be home and it would save her cooking. We also brought the turkey for Saturday's dinner. The turkey was in the oven just before 10 am, the traditional way I roast turkeys. We decided on a side trip to the orchard and grocery shopping before others arrived.

Chudleigh's

The trip to Chudleigh's r in Milton, Ontario was uneventful yet provided a lot of photo opportunities. The orchard is set in a very beautiful and hilly region outside of the Greater Toronto Area. There is a U-pick, petting zoo, store with already picked and much more as well as a wonderful snack bar with seating set under apple trees. We decided against picking our own for this trip because were were pressed for time. We selected our purchases then settled down on comfortable Adirondack wooden chairs while the guys went to the snack bar. A scarecrow with a skunk puppet entertained the little ones while we people watched and enjoyed the wonderful apple smells wafting around us. The guys brought back lovely roast beef buns, chili (for me), a cheese bun and apple cider. Grandbaby had a healthy appetite for all. Desert was their famous apple blossoms.

Apple Blossom

This was my daughter's apple blossom since the guys already started devouring theirs before I could get the camera ready. Grandbaby really smacked her lips on this delight and I can't blame her. Chudleigh's famous apple blossoms are made with Northern Spy apples. The dough is cut then wrapped up around the the spiced apple pieces. Crumbs are sprinkled on then the desert is baked. Optional is topping with whipped cream forming a wonderful little desert bundle. This week I will be experimenting to duplicate the desert so watch for that. Northern Spies will be ready here this weekend.


Pumpkins

We headed home Sunday with the plans of making a few stops along the way for produce. We found a nice farm market on Wellington Road south of Woodlawn just before Hespler that goes to Hwy 401 so we stopped. On the outside it was quaint and homey looking as was their store but the prices were outrageous! Pumpkins were going for $4 plus while home canned jams were priced at $5.50. Geesh, I could make a little extra money if I were to sell my home canned goods. What really got me was the price for butter tarts at 6 for $7.25! Needless to say I didn't buy a lot there but did get some fresh basil that will be very much appreciated.

Food Purchases

Overall, my food purchases were very minimal. It wasn't really a food shopping trip but I can never resist picking up a few odds and ends. I brought home:

• fresh basil
• Wealthy apples (baking & cooking)
• fresh garlic
• The Orange Crate: Gourmet Popcorn, Holiday Hot Chocolate mix
• Gourmet Village: cheddar onion dip mix, lemon dill dip mix, mulling spice

* As it turns out they will be home that weekend anyway so we will be having another family get together this coming weekend.

A Food Filled Labour Day Weekend 2007

Waterside Entertainment
Sept. 1, 2007

As many of you already know we go to as many ribfests as possible. Canada's largest ribfest is held in Spencer Smith Park, Burlington, Ontario on the Labour Day Weekend. This is a family event for us each year. We left Thursday night so we could spend a whole day with our grandbaby while her Dad was at work and her Mom was getting her classroom ready for the new school year. That meant we got to spoil her a lot. In the early afternoon we took her shopping at IKEA. We saw a kitchen in their catalogue we liked so was considering it for our remodel. Then we stopped at Fortino's to get the ingredients for a homecooked dinner to surprise them when they got home. We bought rib steaks, baking potatoes, salad fixing and a few other goodies for a nice barbeque. Our grandbaby is now 8 months old and eats directly from her parents plates, steak included! The following morning our mouths were already watering in anticipation of sights and smells of the ribfest.

The smell of the ribfest hits you well before entering the enclosed area. The smokey aroma from wood fires intertwines with the sweet tang of sauces and rubs. From there it is sensory overload! The lines are long, the sun is hot and the people are friendly. The smells continue to entice along with the sights and sounds. The anticipation builds as you watch the ribbers in action. The ribs all look wonderful promising a lip smacking, finger licking culinary delight!

There were 16 ribbers at this year's ribfest:
Camp 31
Gator BBQ
Uncle Sam's BBQ
Bibb's BBQ
Turtle Jack's
Carolina Rub King
Hog's Gone Wild
Kentucky Smokehouse
Memphis BBQ
Billy Bones BBQ
Blazin BBQ
Howling Coyote BBQ
Jack on the Bone
Bone Daddy's
Silver Bullet
Toney Romas

Some ribbers were barbequing chicken and beef ribs this year so of course we just had to get some of those. Saturday was people's choice voting so some of the ribbers decorated their take-out packages. As per our normal quest at ribfests each family member gets $20 from my husband to go off, stand in line and bring back a rack of ribs except the designated ones to get corn, a blooming onion, fried vegetables and beverages. I had to get the blooming onion and fried vegetables this year.

We settled around a picnic table in the shade to enjoy six full racks of ribs from various ribbers, a blooming onion platter with fried vegetables and all dressed fried potatoes. With the exception of our grandbaby and daughter-in-law who expecting, the drink of choice was beer. The little one happy munched with as much gusto as the rest of us. Afterwards we chose the ribs we liked best and filled in our ballots. Camp31, Bone Daddy's and Hog's Gone Wild were our favourites. Sufficiently stuffed we packed up the left overs then headed to the ice cream stand. With treats in hand, we wandered through the rest of the ribbers and booths then strolled leisurely along the waterfront.

Part of the fun is finding sauces that made the "best of the previous year" all for sale for $6 each or 2 for $10. What we normally do is bring a list of the sauces that won best last year and we liked the ribs as well as picking up a bottle or two of sauce from the favourite ribbers of this year. I picked up two bottles of sauce from Uncle Sam's Albuquerque Style BBQ Sauce while my husband picked up Rib Rub from Blazin BBQ. He really liked the flavour of those ribs! Unfortunately their sauce is not available yet but should be soon. I was disappointed that Smokin' Joes wasn't there as I had wanted to buy more of their sauce. I was also disappointed that the Jet Set Spice Co. booth wasn't there either.


Our son and daughter-in-law took us to Whole Foods Markets in Oakville, Ontario. This supermarket specializes in organic and fair trade foods. The market is huge, a visual culinary delight! I could have stayed there for a few hours slowly going up and down the isles seeing many things that I can't easily get here. I bought Dabur Red Rose Water, Turtle Reef Alca Hawaiian Sea Salt and Organic GD Herbes de Provence. Unfortunately I was not able to buy much in the way of perishables because we had plans to stop at the Charity Casino in Brantford on the way home but the next trip I will be stocking up on a few items.

We arrived home in the early Monday morning hours yet I was up by 6:30 am ready to get the car unpacked and laundry done so I could get a bit of canning done. When I canned the caramelized onions, the canner had lost almost all of the water even though it had maintained pressure. While I hadn't noticed it in the rush to get ready to leave, I discovered the canner bottom had just slightly warped. Now I'm likely the only one who would have noticed this but it was cause for concern so I put the canner through the paces yesterday canning water. This is a standard canner test. Then as if we had not had enough ribs over the weekend, I put a rack of ribs on the grill for dinner much to my husband's delight.

After Christmas Chit Chat

My kitchen has had a bit of a rest with the new grandbaby. She is doing well and we are enjoying out new roles as grandparents. We have determined that she is very photogenic! The digital cameras are getting a real work-out and pictures have been making the rounds via email.

January is obviously going to be a lower cooking month with the traveling and our fast approaching winter vacation. We were out shopping preparing for the vacation today so stocked up on more cheeses. I thought I would share some of the neat food related gifts I got for Christmas.

There is always an element of truth in humour and one can accuse our kids of not having a sense of humour when poking a little fun at their parents. I can immediately find the truth in the figurine for my husband. Years ago he was trimming a large pine tree in our front yard when the saw kicked back but hit his wedding band saving his finger. The hospital had to cut the ring off but other than a scare, he was fine. I'm not sure where the truth is in my figurine yet and the adorable now adult child isn't spilling the beans. These cute figurines are being put out by TLC.

I collect hot sauces so this gift makes a nice addition to my collection. The ingredients are water, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, habanero peppers, hone, lemon juice, sugar, Kosher salt, corstarch, granulated garlic and red pepper. That is a table weight poker chip hanging on the lid. It comes in a whiskey flask completing the theme. Their website, Texas Hold'em Hot Sauce is rather cute playing on the poker theme. They say this is a real Chili Head hot sauce according to their site. I can't wait to try this hot sauce! I'm the Chili Head while my husband is the serious poker player. He definitely is not a Chili Head!



I had ordered a copy of this cookbook online back the first week of October. By mid-December it still hadn't showed up so the company refunded my money despite their horrible customer service. Somehow my husband found this cookbook online and had it here in time for Christmas. Obviously the second company has considerably better customer service than the first. I am absolutely thrilled! This cookbook fits right in with my ancestry, genealogy and love for cooking. I can't wait to start trying out some of the recipes.

A Taste of Quebec was published in 1990. The author Julian Armstrong is food editor of The Montreal Gazette, the largest English-language newspaper in Québec. The recipes are divided into the Québec regions with a brief description of each region. Historical notes and stories are included along the margins. As cookbooks go there are few colour pictures of the recipes.

Cookbooks are a very popular Christmas gift in our family. One of my kids gave me this cookbook published in 2004. This is the second cookbook I have written by Emeril Lagasse, the first being Prime Time Live published in 2001.

This cookbook is geared to cooking for a crowd with recipes serving 8 to 10 people. I like that the focus is on comfort foods so am looking forward to trying some of these recipes.

New Grandbaby

Our new grandbaby made her debute Dec. 23, 2006 at 8:03 pm. She weighed in at 8 lb 6 oz and is absolutely the most perfect little sweetheart you have ever seen!