Halloween

Saturday October 31, 2009
It's Halloween! Now that I'm a grown up...er...well...now that I pay taxes and have a mortgage I harken back to the day that I was just a kid and halloween was an exuse to be rude to adults and ask them for candy. I wasn't a mean kid or anything but if your pumpkin was poorly carved then it deserved to be rolled down the closet hill - most often it was Mountain Road in East Side Saint John. Also, if you had the nerve to hear me ring the bell, say trick or treat and then proceed to lock your door and turn off the light then your pumpkin went a rollin! Another fun pumpkin related thing I used to do was just move their jack o lantern slightly. Or from one house to another. This was harmless mischief as far as I'm concerned. While I was rollin ghourds in the port city, in the Miramichi they were burning cars and torching bridges!
As for costumes, I pretty much used the standards - bum was a particular favourite, pirate, dracula, etc. One year I went as "the kid who had absolutely no help from his parents"...I wore a garbage bag. The kids didn't get it but it sure got the parents laughing. One house I recall answered the door and went and got his wife so she could see my costume. This was the same house that said to my friend and I "you two look like part of the runny nose gang". To which my friend replied "well you better give us some candy or you'll be part of the bloody nose gang" Best line ever!
Happy Halloween

Good Things on a Cold Day

Friday October 16, 2009
I awoke this morning to the announcer on the radio saying "minus" something..of course he was talking about the temperature. When I went outside to start the car to drive my wife to work I realized how "minus" it was. The chilliness gave me an idea - soup!! Tonight on the menu is soup. I'm not sure what kind of soup it will be...perhaps just a simple vegetable soup. Maybe I'll do a cream of carrot soup which I've made and for some reason people go apeshit over it. Not quite sure.
Anyways, now for me is the best time of year to cook. You can grill, bake, saute, broil, boil, steam anything you like and not be too warm. I once cooked jambalaya in July in a poorly ventilated apartment...I've learned my lesson. October is a great time for casseroles. And any fall/winter month is a great time for homemade beans...yep, the ones with snappers. What I'm trying to say is it's cold outside and soon there will be snow so get cookin'!!
I may post later to say which soup I had for supper.

The Most Useful Tool in the Kitchen

Thursday October 8, 2009
I've got some time on my hands so I thought I'd write a little about my favourite tool in the kitchen...and no...I don't mean myself! ;) There's a lot of people out there who have their favourite, must have item in the kitchen. Most people are foolishly sentimental and say "my grandma's wooden spoon" or "my indian carved, BC cedar wooden cutting board" Well, if you're one of those people...sucks to be you. Well not really, just for the sake of this post though...
My essential tool in the kitchen is "tongs". No, not thongs; tongs! However, thongs can be useful in the kitchen too...but that's another type of blog...you can search elsewhere for that one. I use my tongs for everything! Lifting, stirring, serving, backscratching and even spatula-ing(is that a word?) Seriously though, the set of tongs have to be good ones and by good ones I mean the silver type that close to resemble a mussel shell. My favourite set of tongs are ones that - and get ready for this one - I bought at a dollar store! For a buck! Can't beat that deal! I remember purchasing ones years ago when I still lived at home. I bought them at the dollar store in Lancaster Mall in Saint John. When I first saw them I knew that they were the tongs for me. They were sturdy and rugged and not cheaply made. I bought some paderno ones for my dad one year for Christmans and when I used them I pinched my skin at the hinge...there was even blood. It made me appreciate my dollar store find. And now, if I'm ever in a kitchen that doesn't have a set of tongs, I make it a priority to give whoevers kitchen it is that I'm in, a pair the next time I see them. Long live the tongs!

The Classic Mac and Cheese

Monday October 5, 2009
Lately I've been struggling with what to eat for supper, for lunch..er..well generally anytime actually. It's not that I'm picky its just there is so much that I could eat that I don't want to offend what I don't choose to eat. Confusing? Yes..i'm pretty much rambling...
Tonight for supper we had Mac and Cheese! My Dad's recipe. It's a simple recipe with no saffron, no truffle oil, and no lobster. It's just basic macaroni and cheese. It's tasty, it's simple and it's classic.
Boil your macaroni until its al dente. Then in a saucepan, melt some butter. Add some flour and mix with the melted butter until it forms a paste. Add some milk and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 1 min - maybe 30 seconds. Take off heat add a cup of grated cheese...any flavour really...i used marble cheddar...it was on sale at the Superstore. Add sauce to macaroni. Bake in oven at 350 F. Wait for the cheese to look bubbly and golden...then eat! Serve with ketchup, a salad or whatever the hell you feel like serving it with. Have the leftovers for lunch at work tomorrow...
Cheers

Breakfast for Supper

Sunday October 4, 2009
You know what's right with the world? It's breakfast! That's the one thing that is true and delicious. What can be better than waking up and having some coffee, bacon, eggs and juice. Perhaps some toast and jam or peanut butter or just butter...hell, even margarine. Nothing really gets better than that. Well, you can make it even better by having it for supper. Growing up my dad would do this quite a bit. I loved it! Add some baked beans, or even canned beans and maybe hashbrowns or fry up some left over mashed potatoes so that it gets that golden crust on the outside...mmm...ain't nothing better than that. Make sure you have some mustard pickles nearby too.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you find yourself looking for something to make for supper all you need is breakfast.