Raspberry Freezer Jam

 Towering Raspberry Freezer Jam. Start with about 4 cartons of raspberries. I never measure for freezer jam. Eat some. Put a lot in the bowl.   Make sure you have 8 cups of sugar, and 2 pouches of liquid certo and a good splash of lemon juice ready to use.

 Mash berries with the sugar. Let stand  at least 10 minutes. Stir in the two pouches of certo ( liquid, not crystals) and lemon juice. Then ladle into small plastic containers. Freeze. Realllllllllly good on ice cream...... and anything else  that comes within your reach!

Restaurant at Salmon Point

 Love going to Salmon Point to walk around the bird sanctuary and the wild beaches. Other day was far too stormy to do anything like that. So took our company to the restaurant. Always take everyone there. On a nice day you get to sit out on the terrace, right by the ocean. On a day like it was a couple of days ago, you get to sit inside the rustic restaurant by  a large window, so you can stare longingly outside. I love how they bring ice cold water in pop top bottles.................everyone  wants the chance to pour.
   Salmon Point is actually an RV  "resort"....plain and simple, with a great restaurant. Worth the drive out from Campbell River, which is only 20 minutes away.

 Seafood Chowder with Ceasar Salad.  Fresh seafood, not clumpy or bland. Nice and creamy.

 Grilled, Wild Sockeye Salmon with grilled veggies in season.  This actually comes with a maple glaze, but I don't like maple,so  easy to request a change. They are very accomodating.

                       Portobello Mushroom Burger. Huge thing. Wonderful. A littel messy, but worth it.

And finished with a guinness.............Coming to Salmon Point has become a place that we know well. Just wish the weather would have co-operated so we could have sat by the ocean and watch the sail boats toodle by.  One can only imagine......

Moxie's

 Sweet Potatoe Fries...perfect for one, or two or three......nice sweet crunchiness coupled with the dip trio. One in a curry base, nice  flavoured, not too strong, the other kind of dilly. But I think the fries are best just on their gold own.

                             As you can see...short work was made of these swseet potatoes.

 Simple dessert for kids, but I was fascinated by the prsentation. Just a scoop of ice cream served with dry ice upon which hot water was poured to get the ghostly effect.

                                                             Wonderful Volcano

Custard berry tart with shortbread crust. I did think the shortbread base was a bit too dense, and not enough creamy custard filling, but  very fresh and good.

Deep Dish and Devil's Food

 Company for dinner. Made deep dish vegetarian mushroom pizza. The dough is great:

DOUGH:  2 cups warm water, 4 1/2 tsp instant yeast, 1/2 cup olive oil, tsp kosher salt,  5 1/2 cups flour.  Mix all at once. Should be very soft. Let rise till doubled. Then punch down. Will rise again very quickly. Divide into two and press into greased pizza pans, or two cookie sheets.  Pile toppings of your liking on top and bake at 450 degrees about 18 minutes. Bakes beautifully.

 Devil's Food Cake: Quick and easy. Take a golden cake mix, throw in about 5 large tablespoons of cocoa , a cup of sour cream, 1/2 cup oil, splash or two of water, 4 eggs. Beat all together, pile batter into a greased bundt pan. Bake about 40  minutes. Let cool, slice as you wish, cover with whip cream and sweetened strawberries, or any other nice fruit.  Very quick. Everyone seems to like it.

Sour Cream Cake with gooey Centre

 This is good for company, church potlucks, whatever. You can top it with ice cream, whipped cream, berries, or serve as a brownie.

SOUR CREAM DEVIL's FOOD CAKE
1 package devil's food cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup,maybe a tad more, warm water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Combine everything , except chips, in mixing bowl and beat till smooth. Add a bit more warm water to make the batter smooth, not stiff. Pour half of batter into a 13x9 inch veggie sprayed pan.

 Pile the chocolate chips on top of the batter. Then top with remaining batter.

 Bake at 350 degrees about 40 minutes. Check at 30 minutes to see if it is done....add time if needed .

         Yummy yummy. Cut into small pieces to freeze for a later date. Serve to some lucky guests....

Measure or not to Measure Pastitsio

 No Measure Pastitsio.....I'm not a big fan of accurate measuring, well, unless it's reallllly necessary. I kind of like the "dump and pour" method....go my sight and feel. So this is how I make Pastitsio without really measuring........especially fun when I have a new oven to bake it in! You can use meat or  veggies to make this. I like both. Or you can mix them.

FIRST: Cook up a large packet of ground beef with a handful of onions. Or, stir fry any veggies that you like ( I love root vegetables with pinto beans)  till softened. Add a jar of really nice spaghetti sauce, toss in a small amount of sugar to take the acidic taste from the tomatoes. 

SECOND: Boil up a package of rice noodles, more or less. when they are cooked properly, drain, then toss noodles into a 13 x 9 inch pan or casserole dish that you have sprayed with veggie spray.

THIRD: Pour on the spaghetti sauce (meat or veggie or both) over the noodles, till below the rim . Make sure you leave space to add the white sauce. Any leftover sauce that you do not use can be frozen to use in soups, stews, etc. I do this all the time.)

FOURTH: Make white sauce by putting a small  amount of margarine in a large skillet to melt. Add a good shake of flour.....a handful possibly and stir to make a roux. After the flour has incorporated into the margarine take skim milk, or veggie broth, but the skim milk is better, and pour into the pan. I let it go almost to the 3/4 point in the pan. Stir till thickened. You can always toss in a little more flour, and whisk like crazy. Break two eggs into a bowl. Ladle in a little of the white sauce into the eggs and stir....this will stop them from curdling. Then take the egg mixture and dump into the white sauce in the skillet. stir until it thickens. Add a sprinkling of nutmeg. This is very important. Gives the sauce a lovely flavour. Pour the sauce contents over the veggie/meat mixture in the 9 x 13 pan. Discard the leftover sauce. It will not freeze. Sauce will come to top of pan.

FIFTH: Put pan of Pastitsiio on cookie  sheet. Place in 350 degree oven. Bake about 45 minutes till bubbling. Take out, add something green to each plate. I love these sushi veggie rolls ( like in the picture) No, I don't make them...I get them from the  store, once in a while....there is one place that makes them and it is a real treat. Beautiful, green and fresh.)
    And the Pastitsio is not too bad either...................

Strawberry Buttermilk Muffins

STRAWBERRY BUTTERMILK MUFFINS (these double very well)

(these are incredible….the flavour is that of fresh strawberries mixed with cream)

2 cups flour                 TOPPING: 1/3 cup brown sugar
¾ cup sugar                                 3 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp baking soda                            pinch gr. ginger
Pinch salt                                      ½ cup flour
1 cup buttermilk                            **sliced strawberries for presentation
½ cup veggie oil                                           (or blueberries)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries (or blueberries)

1.     Line muffin tin with paper liners. Spray with Pam. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2.    Combine all ingredients and fold together swiftly and deftly, without over mixing.

3.    Divide batter, evenly, between all muffin liners. This batter doubles great….makes two 12 muffin tins.

4.    In small bowl, combine everything for Topping. Sprinkle on top of muffins.

5.    Bake at 375 degrees about 18 minutes till a sharp knife inserted in centre, comes out clean.

6.    They are very nice served slightly warm, with tiny slices of fresh strawberries ( or blueberries) on top.  The taste is  lovely.

 BEST CHEESE BISCUITS   (So good, and so easy!)
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
pinch salt
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/3 cup cooking oil
3/4 cup milk

Grate the cheese..........I actually like doing it by hand.  Then measure all dry ingredients into bowl. Add grated cheese. Make a well in centre, then add wet ingredients. Combine roll or pat out to 3/4 inch thick. Cut with biscuit cutter and place on silpat lined baking sheets. bake in 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes. Very quick. Very good.   Makes about a dozen.

Recital Goodies ...Triple Whammies

 Recital next week. End of the year shingding rerquires some sort of baking extravaganza. Decided on things that could be made ahead of time, then frozen till required. These big batches are great on large cake trays. Kind of of a triple whammie this time....Banana Muffins, with orange juice, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, and Mrs. O's Scotch Shortbread....

BANANA BREAD MUFFINS (I doubled this recipe)
1/2 cup margarine, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 3 medium mashed up bananas,2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, pinch salt, a splash or two of orange juice so batter will not be too dry.

 Beat all together, pile into greased muffin cups. I topped each one with half a pecan.  Place in preheated 400 degree oven and bake about 18 minutes. Check for doneness and add time if you need it.

 The Muffins come out looking perfectly uniform . This new Convection oven is something else. Mega baking takes on a  whole new meaning.....

 NEXT: OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP CROWD COOKIES( also good doubled)
1 cup margarine, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla, 2 cups flour, 2 1/2 cups regular oatmeal, of 1/2 needs to be ground up into the texture of flour ( see picture), pinch salt, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 14 oz chocolate nibs ( or chips)

 Grind up half the oatmeal into flour..........

 Use Chocolate Nibs ( they are quite decadent). Combine everything together in large bowl. Use your hands to mix.

 Place on cookie sheets with Silpat liners, or parchment paper. Bake at 375 for 6-9 minutes. Should be browned slightly.

Very, very nice cookie.....good for crowd baking. Nice uniform shape and golden in all the right places.

 LASTLY: MRS. O's SCOTCH SHORTBREAD ( I double this as well)
1 pound butter ( NOT margarine), 3 cups flour, 1 cup cornstarch, 1 cup berry sugar ( NOT icing sugar), 2 egg yolks. If doubling recipe, prepare 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Have oven at 335 degrees.

 Combine everything by hand. If doing two batches, so NOT mix together. Keep each batch in their own separate bowls.

 Should reach the consitency as seen in the picture. Nicely kneaded soft dough

 Roll into a ball and then place on cookie sheet parchment paper. Use your fingers and heel of hand to press out towards edges of cookie sheet.On batch will do one cookie sheet.

 Once pressed out to each edge, prick with tines of fork. Bake at 325 for about 15 minutes, adding time, as needed to dry out the shortbread, but not to make it too browned. Just tinged.

Now you have everything ready for goodie trays. Place on goodie trays and let the masses enjoy....

HootyCreeks

Hurray for a convection oven.....cookies bake up  with the proper gooiness intact.....be prepared for people to pounce on them.

HOOTYCREEKS

1st column:                                          2nd column:
1 cup margarine                                  4 cups plus 8 tbsp flour
1 cup butter                                          2 cups rolled oats ( not quick)
1 1/3 cups brown sugar                        2 tsp baking soda
1 1/3 cups white sugar                          2 cups dried cranberries
pinch salt                                              3 cups chocolate chips
4 tsp vanilla                                          1 cup chopped pecans ( if you wish)
4 eggs

Beat together 1st column, till well combined.
Then add everything in 2nd column to mixture in large bowl. Use your hands to mix, if you wish, Jsut before you wash them well, before and afterwards.
Plop large teaspoonfuls of dough onto Silpat lined baking sheets ( or use parchment paper). Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.  Just until edges brown. For a more chewy cookie let bake a little longer. Cool on wire racks, then devour at will..................

NEW OVEN...Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

 New Convection Oven.....at last! Ahhhh, it's sooo good to be able to bake again. Tonight we decided to make Lemon Blueberry Muffins for Morgan's work tomorrow. It has been a couple of months since they have had a treat. we cheated, somewhat, taking a lemon cake mix, and making it according to directions on the box, but adding some extras, like 4 eggs, and a cup of greek yogurt. Did not have the ingredients on hand for cupcakes from scratch.......and if you just add a few things, here and there, it will taste like homemade.

 Gold farm eggs in the batter....................

              Use a small melon scoop to ladle batter into paper lined muffin tins.

 Nothing like  convection oven...can bake multiple layers at one time, and still get everything perfectly browned and even. Wow, have I missed that........this is heavenly. Bake at 18 minutes.

 The cupcakes come out perfectly browned and lemony.

Top with a glaze of icing sugar mixed with water and topped with blueberries....fresh, fresh, fresh. Wonderful..............now gobble it up.....