Happy Hallowe'en! 2008

Ghosts and gremlins are running amuck at Mom's Cafe today so you will be seeing a few weird things going on. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you! Don't worry as soon things will be back to normal with a few fresh new additions and a few stale deletions. A few tricks & treats here and there should soon put things right with a little help from the gnomes. Meanwhile I'm in the kitchen cooking up a few goodies that you can't hand out for Hallowe'en anymore like popcorn balls, candy apples, homemade fudge and homemade cookies. Oldest grandbaby might learn how to bob for apples tomorrow. I know it is a day late but what the heck.

Have a safe and happy Hallowe'en!

Mango Chutney

I am on a definite roll with the success of trying new home canned products. This year alone at least six new home canned products have found their way into my pantry, all of them receiving my family's seal of approval. A lot of this comes from being able to assess a recipe and know first if the ingredients are the right match and second knowing whether or not the product can be safely canned.

I was browsing through one of my canning books when a recipe caught my eye. It was for mango chutney and something about it just begged for me to try it. Chutneys are similar to salsas except they have a rich, smooth, mellow, sweet-sour taste whereas salsas tend to have a fresh, lively flavour. They compliment spicy and strong flavoured foods. The texture ranges from chunky to smooth while their spiciness ranges from mild to hot. Apples and onions are the base ingredients in traditional chutneys but sometimes dates or raisins are added as well.

Mangos & Gingerroot

Cases of mangoes were on sale last week for $7.99. The problem was we knew were away Tuesday through Thursday then Friday through Sunday but the sale for mangoes ended Thursday. So I had my husband pick up a case of slightly under ripe mango then put it in the pantry where it is both cool and dark where I hoped they would be fine until I could get them processed. Four of twelve mangoes went to the kids, two for each set of parents of the grandbabies. Apparently youngest grandbaby age 6 months loves mangoes!

Pictured are the mangoes and gingerroot. One thing I really don't like about produce bought in the grocery store are those stupid stickers on every piece of fruit. Honestly! They are a pain to remove and certainly not very environmentally friendly. An easier solution would be to teach the staff to recognize the various types of produce just like they did in the old days!

Prep

Mangoes have a large, flat, whitish pit so they are a bit more difficult to prepare. When quartered the mango flesh needs to be cut away from the pit because it does not peel off freely. It is a bit messy. A step-by-step method for preparing mangoes can be found here or use any method that get the desired results. One mango will yield about 1 cup of prepared fruit.

Gingerroot has a thin bark type covering. Peel this away to use for this recipe. Slice the peeled gingerroot into thin slices then slice again to form thin slivers. Cut across the slivers to form finely chopped pieces of gingerroot.

The mango chutney smelled heavenly and looked beautiful while it was cooking. It affirmed my suspicions that this would be a keeper recipe!

Mango Chutney

Pictured are 4 - 250 ml (half-pint) jars of mango chutney packed in the cutest, squatty Ball jars as well as enough left over for tomorrow night's dinner. I have to tell you I love fancy canning jars but I only have a few. The reason being is some of these fancy jars are not really all that practical or economical. Still I will buy a 4 pack of fancy jars just to try them out. Sometimes I will buy more but that won't be the case with these Platinum Ball jars. Sure they are cute but I could only get four jars in the BWB canner. There wasn't even enough room to add a regular 250 ml jar! This makes these jars suitable for mainly small batch canning at best. The replacement platinum lids are more expensive than the normal gold ones so the next time I use these jars they will be getting regular wide mouth lids. Since they are so squatty you don't get a really good view of the product but they will look nice on the table without having to pour into a bowl. Finally they are more expensive but they really are eye catching for gift giving.

Mango Chutney
source: Topp, E. and Howard, M. Small-Batch Preserving. 2001. Richmond Hill, Ontario. Pp. 218.
modifications: by myself October 30, 2008

3 medium cooking apples
2 large mangoes
½ medium sweet red pepper
1½ c organic granulated sugar
1 c finely chopped Spanish onion
½ c Sultana raisins
½ c white vinegar
¼ c finely chopped gingerroot
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp sea salt

Peel, core and chop apples. Peel and chop mangoes. Chop pepper and finely chop onion and gingerroot. Place all in a large saucepan. Add raisins, sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil over high heat then reduce to a simmer. Cook uncovered for 20 minutes or until the fruit is tender and the mixture is thickened. Stir in the lemon juice and seasonings. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Ladle into hot, sterilized jars leaving ½ - inch headspace. Wipe rims. Adjust two piece lids. Process 250 ml (half-pint) jars 10 minutes or 500 ml (pint) jars 15 minutes in boiling water bath canner.

Yield: 1.25 L (5 cups)

Moving Day Pizza

After a very busy week arriving home late Thursday night we were on the go again on Friday. The nice thing about this traveling is we knew we would be staying at the home of parents of oldest grandbaby for two nights. Saturday was a family affair helping parents of youngest grandbaby move into their first purchased home. Whenever we get together as a family there is always good food!

Friday night we enjoyed homemade Philly cheesestakes and home canned coleslaw. I have to tell you I am really impressed with the home canned coleslaw! We mixed in Miracle Whip® so the result was very close to our favourite homemade creamy coleslaw. Even oldest grandbaby loved it!

Pizza Nova

Something about moving always says pizza and beer. Well, we got the pizza and it was really good! We got three large pizzas from Pizza Nova. This is a chain pizza restaurant in Ontario and Québec originating in Toronto, Ontario in 1963 that has grown to 120 locations. One taste of their pizza and you can see why!

The Portobellissimo (1) was topped with fresh Portobello mushrooms, hot Soppressata, and Asiago cheese. This was a definite hit! The Asiago cheese was different yet made for a very tasty pizza. The second pizza (2) was topped with pepperoni, mushrooms and bacon. The Deluxe (3) was topped with pepperoni, fresh mushrooms, green peppers, bacon, sliced tomatoes and Spanish onions. I really like this pizza. All had the classic tomato sauce. I really liked the Deluxe but then I also liked the Portobellissimo so will be making both of these versions at home.

Michigan Casino Bus Trip

This has really been a year of first for us with respect to travelling. New to us was staying at a bed & breakfast and renting a condo instead of a motel during our travels to Florida earlier this year. Both were very enjoyable and we are planning to do the same the next time we visit Florida. Both were cost saving as far as breakfasts and snacks. Breakfast was included with the bed & breakfast as was happy hour. We could have cooked all of our meals as the condo (major cost savings) but we didn't. Still we saved on food by making breakfast and lunch at the condo then eating out for dinner.

On Saturday (18th) we were offered the opportunity to go on a bus trip (3 days, 2 nights) that would stop at four casinos in Michigan. Dinner was included for Tuesday and Wednesday while breakfast was included for Wednesday and Thursday. The only meals we had to buy was lunch on Tuesday and dinner on Thursday. Other perks including motel rooms for Tuesday and Wednesday nights made this an excellent deal! We were off on another adventure :)

Wendy's®

We left the house early Tuesday morning to drive to the pre-determined bus pick-up location. Neither of us are huge breakfast people especially that early so we had our travel mugs filled at Timmy's aka Tim Hortons®. My husband got an extra large black while I got an extra large double double. There were 48 of us on board plus our tour guide and bus driver. The first stop was in West Branch, Michigan (I-75) where there were a few restaurants to choose from. The majority went to Elias Brothers Restaurant but we went to the Wendy's® next door. It was nice and slow which meant no line-ups for the washrooms! We only had 45 minutes which meant not wandering too far off either.

Wendy's® is one of the few fast food restaurants I don't mind on the rare occasion. Two things I really dislike about fast food restaurants are the quality of food and the vast amounts of garbage they produce. My husband ordered a double original cheese burger combo while I ordered a large chili and baked potato with sour cream and chives. We split the cola that came with his combo but between the two of us drank less than half. My choices were healthier than his yet checking Calorie Count from About.com I still was not happy with the amount of sodium or fat in the chili. Honestly if you eat fairly healthy for the majority of your meals your body can handle the occasional fast food meal if absolutely necessary.

Dinner Buffet (Kewadin)

Our first casino stop was at Kewadin Shores in St. Ignace, Michigan but were were not there long enough to eat. The evening meal was a nice buffet at Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie. In comparison to Las Vegas casino buffets this was small but it was more than adequate. The food was quite good!

We start many of our evening meals with soup or salad. The salad bar would rival many Las Vegas casino buffets. There was a large selection of very fresh produce, dressings, toppings and salad extras. My salad consisted of a bed of iceberg lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, stuffed olives, carrots and hot peppers topped with low fat Thousand Island dressing, shredded cheese and sunflower seeds. My dinner was roasted turkey with cranberries, cod, green beans broccoli stir fry and potatoes (upper right). It looks like a lot but I never eat the breading on fish and the potatoes were left on the plate with the breading as they were too heavily spiced. I also only make one trip to the buffet and don't get dessert. My husband's dinner was very similar given the selection although he had cream of mushroom soup instead of a salad.

One neat thing about buffets is the cooking equipment. I simply had to take a picture of this beautiful wok filled with stir fry. The smell was wonderful so I lingered a while taking pictures and talking with the chefs. That is how you get some of their secretes! My husband finished off with cherry pie and ice cream for dessert. Michigan is famous for its sour cherry pie and it is a must have for those who like desserts!

Breakfast Buffet (Kewadin, Sault Ste. Marie)

The following morning we ate at the breakfast buffet at Kewadin (Sault Ste. Marie) before heading back to Kewadin Shores (St Ignace). The breakfast buffet included coffee and orange juice along with hot and cold breakfast offerings. It was smaller than the dinner buffet but again the food was quite good.

We ate as close to the bus departure time as possible more in keeping with our schedule. Departure time was 10 AM for Kewadin (Sault Ste. Marie) for a short period of time. We left there for Turtle Creek Casino in Traverse City, Michigan for the afternoon finally arriving a Leelanau Sands Casino in Peshawbestown, Michigan where we would be eating our evening meal and staying the night.

Leelanau Sands Casino had a very, very small soup and salad bar or you could order off of a very limited menu. We didn't mind this ourselves as soup and salad makes a rather nice meal. [There were a lot of complaints from others though.] They had a chili that was a bit different than what I make. It had black turtle beans and white beans instead of kidney beans as well a chunks of beef and tomato. There was a nice bite to this chili as well. With both texture and flavouring considerably different from my normal chili, this will be one dish I try duplicating at home. The following morning we had an included continental breakfast then it was back to Turtle Creek. We shared a nice BLT with chips from the deli mid afternoon but I forgot to take a picture.

Ponderosa Steakhouse

When my husband and I were dating Ponderosa Steakhouse was the place to go so when they said we would stop in West Bank on the way back at Ponderosa I though it would be a bit of a trip down memory lane. Others went elsewhere including the nearby Walmart but we decided to forego shopping and eat knowing it would be quite late when we got home.

I have to tell you I'm disappointed in the new decor. Gone are the wooden tables and wooden beamed ceilings but the food is still good. I order the all-you-can-eat steak special instead of the buffet which was pretty close to the same price. It came with soup or salad, choice of potato and bread. My husband ordered the seafood platter (pictured). It came with shrimp, coconut shrimp and fish on a bed of rice with choice of potato, soup or salad and bread. The presentation for the seafood platter was nice. What I forgot about Ponderosa is their potatoes are automatically topped with butter (?) and sour cream if you ask for it and they are wrapped in foil. I really don't like either.

We learned a lot by travelling this way. First you are on a schedule so you do need to follow that. There are no side trips or impromptu stops. You are very limited as to what food will be offered. In this case it was the restaurants that the bus could easily stop at en route. Time limitations meant you really could only go to whatever restaurant was very close by. Once stopped for the night you had the option of eating the meal that came with the package or paying for a cab and finding a restaurant that may or may not have been better (not really worth it). So if you go on this type of trip do consider both the time limitations and food choices. This is really the time to go with the flow as well especially when it comes to food.