Kitchen Quick Tips - Storing Yeast

Yeast is considerably less expensive when bought in bulk, usually 1 lb packages in comparison to small packet or containers.  Keep the yeast fresh by storing in the freezer.  Use directly from the freezer as needed.

Stoke's Bay (Sarnia, Ontario)

During the summer months we do a fair amount of boating on the Great Lakes Waterway and smaller tributaries.  This includes Lake Huron, Lake St. Clair, and connecting waterways.  We also often enjoy meals on our dock.  Dining overlooking the water either inside or outside is a wonderfully pleasant way to dine.

Stoke's Bay is located at 485 Harbour Road in Sarnia, Ontario.  The restaurant offers dine in, catering and online ordering as well as private rooms for weddings.  Stoke's Bay is a wonderful, cosy bar and grill with an outdoor patio featuring broasted chicken, barbequed ribs, and so much more.  It has a fun, lively atmosphere with friendly waitstaff.  The food is quite good!  Reservations are recommended.  While there are no docking facilities at Stoke's Bay, the restaurant is across the road from Sarnia Bay Marina making it possible to arrive by boat.  Day docking fees are $20 and reservations are recommended.  If arriving by boat from the United States you will need a valid Nexus or I-68.  Be sure to call Canada Border Services Agency (aka Customs) upon arrival.

Our party of six was promptly seated upon arriving at Stoke's Bay.  We ordered cocktails and appetizers.  One of the appetizers was cheddar and bacon skins served with sour cream ($8.49).  The skins were nicely done, quite tasty.  The potatoes had been seasoned before baking.

Baked potato skins are very easy to make at home simply by cutting baked potatoes in half then scooping out the meat leaving about a quarter inch of potato.  Add a bit of extra flavour by seasoning the skins before baking.

Seasoning Potato Skins Method:  To season the potato skins prior to baking, place on a square of tin foil.  Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.  Sprinkle with seasoning of choice.  I often use Montreal Steak Seasoning or garlic pepper but sea salt works nicely too.  Wrap the potato tightly in the tin foil and bake until tender (about 40 minutes).   Remove tin foil then prepare the potato skins as desired.  Note that potatoes cooked this way can be done in the oven or grill.

Stoke's Bay offers a wide variety of entées served with soup or salad, vegetables and choice of potatoes.  Dinner prices per person range from $11 to $25.  Pictured is the broasted dinner one member of our party enjoyed.  Stoke's Bay is known for their great food, especially broasted chicken.  Broasting is a trademarked method of cooking chicken that combines pressure cooking and deep frying using a specialty foodservice equipment called a broaster.  It is manufactured by the Broaster Company in Beloit, Wisconsin.  The broaster creates tender, juicy chicken with a delectable golden brown coating. 

Baked Chicken Breasts

There are so many ways to cook chicken and each method gives different results.  Chicken is higher in fat than some alternatives but that can be reduced by removing the skin along with any remaining fat before cooking.  Removing the fat can result in drier meat especially if grilling or baking.  It can also result in a less flavourful meat.  The work around for both is to use some type of sauce that will provide both moisture and flavour when using a dry cooking method (eg. grilling, baking) or use a moist cooking method (eg. braising, slow cooking, pan frying).    It is also important to not over cook chicken especially when using dry cooking methods.  Cook until the juices run clear and/or use a meat thermometer for an internal temperature of 165ºF (74ºC).

Baking chicken is one low fat method of cooking chicken.   I like using a sauce when baking boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Diana Sauce is always a nice tomato based sauce for oven baked chicken.  An alternative to sauces is chutneys, jellies and marmalades.  I served the baked chicken breasts with home canned Old Vermont beans and baked potatoes. 

I discus home canned foods here quite a bit because that is what is in my pantry.  There is a myth that commercially canned foods are safer and generally better than home canned foods.  That simply is not true.  In fact, home canned foods are safer and better than commercially canned foods.  Government standards for commercially canned foods actually allow a low level of bug parts in commercially canned foods.  The allowable bug parts in my home canned food is zero.  With home canned foods you know the source, control the quality and eliminated food additives that can cause food allergies and other health problems.  

Dried beans are very economical even in comparison to store bought canned beans.  Cooking dried beans takes a bit of planning as they need to soak overnight before cooking.  An alternative method is the quick soak method where the beans are covered with water, brought to a boil then covered and allowed to soak for one hour before cooking.  However, dried beans can also be home canned at a fraction of the cost of store bought canned beans. 

Frugal Kitchens 101 - Choosing Small Kitchen Appliances (colour)

Small kitchen appliances come in a wide range of colours because manufacturers realize that kitchens come in a wide range of colours.  During our married life I have enjoyed 16 permanent kitchens and 5 temporary kitchens.  Of the temporary kitchens, 2 were smaller spatially challenged RV kitchens and one (current) a larger, fully equipped kitchen.  Surprisingly I can describe down to minute details of each of those kitchens including the small kitchen appliances.  Our very first kitchen was peach and rust.  We went through the harvest gold period, moving on to the black glass, onto country blue and finally arriving at the mainly wood with white.  I already have the colours picked out for my new kitchen when we move.  It has a black marble floor so the colour scheme will be black, white, and grey with red accents.  What does this have to do with small appliances?

Quite often small appliances are purchased based on colour under the premise it will match the kitchen decor.  This is a mistake because the right coloured appliance may not have the features another one that doesn't match has.  Replacing small kitchen appliances is costly but for many if the appliance doesn't match the decor, it will be replaced for one that does.  It's a vanity thing but one that can be quite costly.  For that reason the frugal choice is to buy high quality small kitchen appliances that can be integrated into any kitchen decor without having to replace them because they now longer match.  I will be doing a series on Frugal Kitchen 101 posts based on making frugal small kitchen appliance choices.  Here's a few of my tips:

• never choose based on colour - A small kitchen appliance should be chosen based on function not colour.  The cavate is if there is a colour choice go with the most neutral choice you can.
  
• avoid strong, current fad colours - Notice how harvest gold and avocodo green is no longer available in small kitchen appliances?  That's because they were fad colours.  They came and they went.  That beautiful red stand mixer may look wonderful in your current kitchen but won't look as well in deep forest green of your newly decorated kitchen.  Keep your small kitchen appliance colours neutral so they will match any kitchen decor. 
• avoid white - While white is considered a neutral colour, avoid any small appliance that is white.  Many small kitchen appliances have plastic parts.   If they are white they tend to yellow over time making them look gungy.  There's nothing wrong with the appliance just it looks dirty but there is the tendency is to replace. 
• avoid decorative paint - Some small appliances have decorative paint/designs on them to reflect the current trends or they may reflect a sports team or seasonal use or something similar.  Avoid these.  The thing is over time your tastes change and it makes little sense to have a small kitchen appliance that will be used seasonally or becomes too cutesy for your new modern looking kitchen.

Bon Appétit!