Last Thursday

So we are gently settling down in our new life....I cook healthier with even more veggies, less fat and less salt and more lean protein...

Dan is going to physiotherapy and doing the exercises and doing better.

I find that since things are calmer I am more tired and lazier.

I believe that is my way of heeling and coping.

Tuesday I worked in the office, Wednesday at home and was just too lazy to go out after...Thursday I could not wake up and kept snoozing...

Finally 2 hours later I messaged my boss and said sorry I will work from home, I could not wake up!

Yes I am grateful that my employer is flexible and I can work from home pretty much when I want!

So Thursday at around 5:00 PM , I decide that I need to go pick up essentials at the grocery store...

So I go outside and I see a lot of firemen.....and one tells me : Maa'm you can't stay there....this is closed up.....

So I just went back home....

 Good firemen but not calendar worthy....

They evacuated a lot of our neighbors....

 The street was blocked off for 2 hours because it turned out there was a 

gas leak.My SD came back from work and could not get in her apartment.....We sent her to a restaurant... And then they turned off the power for 28 blocks....

so I figured that I might as well use the BBQ to

cook turkey quesadillas!

 Since I was on the balcony I decided to take a picture of the snowed yard.

Sorry about the pic definition...since there was no light it is kind of fuzzy...

To be honest this really stressed me out!

Ever since the 1998 ice storm, I guess really stressed whenever we have a power outage...

Bobby Flay made me do it!

I think this is not the first time I'm accusing Bobby Flay in this blog....

What did he do? Well, he made me want to try one of his recipes and I had to buy special equipment.

 I bought a BBQ basket to saute veggies.

Here's the result....

 Grilled potatoes with mustard-garlic dressing

Very tasty and the basket will prevent your potatoes from burning

while roasting them

SWEET!

Thanks Bobby Flay!

Delusions of Bobby Flay

On Sunday mornings at 10 on Food Network Canada we always try to watch  Bobby Flays BBQ Addiction.

I'm always awed with the ease he cuts an onion that I don't see in other Food Network chefs and heck he can throw anything on the grill and it looks good!

He's the one who inspired Dan in buying the smoker...Bobby Flays makes me believe I can do anything on the grill and once in a while I decide.....

Like this morning to cook breakfast outside!

Eggs and potatoes

Now the bacon is already on a cookie sheet on the grill...

Potatoes

Eggs...

Halfway through I always wonder what cockemanie idea I had because I don't have Bobby's grace and confidence.

But I was delicious nevertheless!

I'm sure you noticed the Butterprint casserole....LOL

I wish you a great week :) 

Drumroll please! LOL

Finally I was able to finaggle and now I'm able to download my pictures from the IPhone.

I'd like to begin my last saturday's lunch...We had read in the local newspaper that on the Vaudreuil/Hudson border was a BBQ luminary that would park his rig in a mall parking and do some real Q.

This is so rare in Quebec that we nearly couldn't wait to jump in our car and stuff our faces in BBQ heaven!

A juicy smoked beef brisket sandwhich with homemade slaw.

The sauces (homemade) were fantastic. I tried the medium bbq sauce and the creole mustard.

Major Yum!

To top it all off these folks were the friendliest.

They cater, weddings ,parties etc....

Now I'm looking for an excuse to book them!

They only use antibiotic and artificial growth hormone free meats from farms that

treat animals humanly. Another plus!

I was really impressed my the size of the rig....

Compared to my little dinky smoker!

Here's the chef Michael Phillips with the monster!

Check out their web site and phone them to see if they'll be in the parking on the saturday

you want to sample Q joy.

I was told that the pulled chicken was to die for and that is what I'll have next time

I'll stop by

(which might be tomorrow)

http://www.zeegrub.com/

By the way I was not paid for this post. I just bloged about it because it is delicious and they are super friendly!
The pulled pork looked amazing and the ribs too. I saw lucky folks buying sauces and racks of ribs to bring home!

not the same caliber!

This is the first time I used it.

You need to buit a fire to season it.

But this is for another post!

Now for the drumroll.....

This is the first thing to go in the giveaway

A cool bird vegetable peeler

A Pyrex RW Laurel serving plater.

The picture is a bit fuzzy. The paint is bright and shiny.

Of course you are aware that I can't show you everything all at once!

I will show you more another day!

OUCH!

Well it had to happen eventually.....

Last Sunday while I was preparing supper....

I broke a Pyrex!

And let me tell you; it hurts!

This casserole had a sentimental value; my Dad had bought it for me at Brimfield...

You know, it happens so fast. I remeber I had something in my hand, some kind of veggie I believe.

I reached for the 1 pint casserole and next thing I knew it slipped, bounced on the KitchenAid

And exploded in mid-air after....throwing shards all over the kitchen and lodging some in my hand.

Ouch! I couldn't even see them, but I sure could feel them.

 
I picked up the bigger pieces by hand, then I swept the floor and finally I vacuumed.

The hamburgers were overcooked! LOL

Right after supper I was surfing the web and hunting for the very same casserole.

I found one from one of my favorite Etsy sellers Jen from Jen's closet . She is one of the nicest persons I've had the pleasure to 'meet' on the web.

Be sure to drop by for a visit and say hi!

As a matter of fact I just bought a new to me 471 1 pint Pyrex Butterprint casserole! YAY!

I'm looking forward to a weekend of floating in the pool (definitely), thrifting (hopefully), and sampling real Kansas style BBQ (please,please,please) not too far from my house. I will be cooking,gardening and reading too

Yay for summer!

Maybe I can squeeze in a post about some of my Pyrex ;)

Oh my thrifty finds!

I took the day off and since Dan was on vacation we decided to go on the first thrifting road trip of 2012.

So we packed some snacks and a Tim Horton's gift card and headed west to Ontario. I must admit thrifting was not the first reason to make this day trip. The real reason was to reach Gananoque and scraf some BBQ brisket at the Pig Iron.

 It's soooo good and comforting, so homey and everything is homemade. The bread, the meat, the tangy cole slaw, the creamy potato salad, the lemonade, the sweet tea....Truly finger licking good. The owner ever remembered that we had come in September of last year. Oh I forgot the the horseradish sauce that tops the brisket....every time I eat this sandwhich I cry little tears of joy!

On the far right is the Pig Iron BBQ restaurant and on the left you have the Socialist Pig coffee shop. It is situated on King street in historical Gananoque just feet away from a plaque commemorating the Raid on Gananoque during the war of 1812. The American soldiers sure did try very hard to invade the northern shores of the St-Lawrence seaway! You can see plaques in every village bordering the great river.

After a deliciously satsfying lunch we made our way to Brockville, Ontario (I won't bother you with the plaques, the war of 1812 or assorted battles).

King street has amazing historical buildings but at a certain point it becomes more down and out, crusty and sad (read thrifty). There is this really sad Salvation Army store that Dan hates....but I always insist on going....never found anything until yesterday!

Actually the well trained by moi eye of Dan spotted this....

Hum dirty! And fuzzy lol

Dam perfomed some charm magic and the nice lady said the price was .50 cents.

No I don't need a bag. RUN RUN RUN before she realised she made a mistake!

I also found this in a curiosity/antique store still on King Street

   I always long for vintage cheap tins but I always

find them crazy expensive. So since the price was right I brought it home with me!

There are no Goodwills in Quebec so I'm always excited to visit one especially on 50% off day!

I found this cutie hiding behind an ugly baking dish....

It is dainty and small and a really cute example of  english Pyrex!

Next thing we knew the sun was setting and it was time to go home!

That was a wonderfully fantastic day and really therapeutic too.

I hope to do that again real soon, Dan is the BEST thrifting companion.

With luck i'll be back tomorow to show the Pyrex I left.....

Tata! 

To die for!

Last friday I had an out of this world culinary experience....I kidd you not!

We had reservations at 6:30pm at one of the best restaurant in Montreal. We went to Joe Beef to celebrate our 21st anniversary.

I've wanted to try that place now for a couple of years but we were a bit unsure; being people that rarely go to expensive restaurants. But in August I read a review from my fave restaurant critic Leslie Chesterman and POW we had to go for sure!

It is located on Notre-Dame street in an old building lovingly restored The decor is modern country. And the food is unbelivable!

The first waiter I encountered worried me because he was so stiff and snob, I tought my evening was going to be ruined by his snotty attitude! But no. We got the best waiter; Patrick: and I swear he made the evening even better.

We ordered oysters from Prince Edward Island and pork belly as appetizers. I had a Joe Beef beer (local) and Dan the usual coffee. The oysters were meaty and sweet and I got an extra plus 3 huge shrimps (probably because of a small mixup in the reservation).

Then for mains we had a GINORMOUS NY strip (18oz) with blue cheese/horseradish and gentleman sauce along with the yummiest creamed spinach.....and BBQ ribs smoked 24hours with a Coca-Cola sauce and homemade parmesan french fries. I nearly cried of joy!

For dessert? I still can't believe we were able to order dessert! We did ask for doggy bags in order to sample their homemade soft serve! So for dessert we had  OMG a Paris-Brest!

 Imagine the same but with ice cream in the middle!

*sobbing with joy!*

The food was so fresh, plentiful and good, it's the way it should be in restaurants! And as local as can be!

This is the only pic I was able to take because either the lighting was bad or I was too busy sighing with joy!

I asked our fab waiter if I could bring the bottle home and he agreed with a laugh; It seems it's quite often!

I want to thank Patrick for a fantastic evening, we loved everything! And we will be back once we fill the coffers again!

And maybe one day Dan will stop screaming Paris-Brest every 2 seconds! LOL

I want to go in the summer to sit in the garden, I went and it's super cool. A lot of the produce comes from it. Otherwise on my next visit I want to sit in the window and be served once again by Patrick the big man from Gaspésie!

Love your cat!

Seen in eastern Ontario

So last weekend I got to enjoy my B-Day gift. I got to go on a roadtrip to Kingston , Ontario. I love that area, the vibe, the thrifting, the seaway, the colors, the food....

Here some of the stuff I saw:

 I nearly bought this, really! But when I grabbed the box, it smelled like old lady and dirty hair! EEEEWWWW!

These 2 casseroles have been at that flea forever (in flea market talk, it's more than a year). Old orchard is not one my fave patterns and I'm proud to say I've resisted bringing it home.

Hello there Jabba! I nearly bought this....let's just say that I know some Star Wars nuts real well...

But I finally left it in Kingston.

I fell in love with this evil eyed kitty but it was not cooperating for the picture!

OoooH! Did I just spy some Pyrex? Too bad I have them all!

Does that pattern ring a bell? It's just the same as Homestead from Pyrex but on a fondue pot.

On the way we stopped at Gananoque for lunch at the Pigiron Barbeque. Man oh man what joy!

They even serve homemade lemonade in a Mason jar. It was the perfect drink to wash down all that BBQ!

Here's yours truly waiting for her chow.

Here's the fabulous pulled pork sandwhich

Let me just say that the brisket with horseradish sauce was even better but I never got to take a pic!

Now I'm rested and full of energy for more thrifting!

Have a great night and yes I found some Pyrex but haven't taken the time to take some pics! 

BBQ Beast

What a day! I was sure our energy wouldn't last that long, after all we've been working on the house for a week and a half. So today we brought most of the furniture back inside, glued little felt pads under the furniture's feet, installed the drapes, installed a milkglass rod in the kitchen and a new tp dispenser in the bathroom. We also cleaned a junk closet; funny how crap just seems to reproduce!

And I built the BBQ that we bought last week @ Zellers. I would be so thrilled if it became a Target store.... But we'll have to wait 'till 2013.
Ok back to the BBQ. It stayed a couple of days in the car, because it was too heavy to move....Wednesday we put it outside in the box. It has been raining since, all day everyday ; so this afternoon when I came to put it together, the box litterally melted!

All in all it took me 2 hours to build it. I confess to a lot of swearing! It came with all the tools necessary except a hammer, a pack of smokes and some liquor! It was hot and muggy and I was sweating like an animal, but I didn't let this get the best of me, no siree bob!

Here it is, IT IS HUGE by our standard and even our biggest cover won't fit it!

 To celebrate and break it in I grilled some pork chops. They were juicy and delicious and perfectly cooked.

YUM!

Tomorrow I hope to install some of the new ceilling lights....I'm crossing my fingers! 

Bye, Bye Old Friend!

Well it had to happen sooner or later....All the signs were there! The uneven cooking ,the low temp, the difficulty lighting up....

Yep the grill was done, over, finished!!! It was not a high tech, state of the art, expensive grill....We didn't need one. We just wanted something to grill some steaks....We had gotten this little guy for under 100$ about 6 years ago and it even had a side burner! I made a lot of home fries on that burner and a lot of bacon! Nothing says weekend breakfast like bacon cooked outside! NOTHING!

                               Last September a big tree branch fell on the shelf and bent it pretty bad.

Bad pic and rust! EEEWWWW!

And let's face it it won't stay lit! I light it go inside, go outside with the meat and the damn thing is off, cold as death :(

I love to just throw some meat on it for a quick supper! This one is going to the trash tomorrow....and I will buy a new one shortly (finances permitting!)

Oh and it's still raining here and there's nothing in the thrifts so I feel envious of all your fab finds!

It's Guy Fieri's fault! Again....

Ok flashback to my beach vacation! So it's the last night, it's nearly supper time, I don't want to cook....We don't want to eat seafood....I'm watching the food network while reading a book,while savouring a cold one....And I see the commercial for Famous Dave's BBQ And of course I think of Guy Fieri and triple D....The commercial is so tacky that we decide to go and sample some of Dave's fare!

Man oh Man that is a big restaurant! I like the bbq shack decor, I spy a horizon 442 (but I forget to take a pic). The menu is not too big and the prices are reasonnable.

I get the brisket and Dan the chicken. The brisket was DELICIOUS (is it real BBQ? I don't know? But since Guy Fieri won't return my calls-kidding!). Dan's chicken was way udercooked, I flagged our waitress and presto changeo a new chicken appears perfectly cooked, with profuse appologies!

Of course it was way too much food for us! we really liked our experience. Great service, great food, we already know what we'll be eating next time we go!

We took a walk in the nearby mall and ended up at Haven's candies (of course!) Yes ,we bought some, but I forget what because we ate them all!

Later that night while surfing the web, I found out that Famous Dave's is a HUGE chain with more than 120 restaurants! I had never heard about that chain (???), of course I can't know everything....rats!

It's Guy Fieri's fault!

It's Guy Feri's fault that when I think about BBQ, I think of all those fantastic looking pulled pork sandwiches and briskets and melt in your mouth ribs


My idea of BBQ is what I see on triple D. Most Quebecers have no idea what BBQ is. We throw stuff on the grill and that's it.

Now a chain of BBQ restaurants have opened in the Montreal region. Bofinger barbeque smokehouse.

I had the pulled pork with Texas sauce and fries, Dan had the brisket sandwich with Texas sauce and fries.

The pulled pork was dry, OMG DRY!!! And the brisket was all shredded….Obviously the owners do not watch Diners,Drive-ins and Dives!!!

I will toot my own horn and say that my pulled pork is WAY better, juicy ,melt in your mouth and all saucy! I would post my recipe here, but I lost it in the great computer fry up of 2009!

On to the good things! The bread was good, the portions generous and the French fries really good (not frozen). Toothpicks are available (on your table) in huge quantities and you have both a roll of paper towels and moist towelettes.

The price is fair too. For about 8.50 U.S. you get the sandwhich, a side and a beverage. I couldn’t finish my sandwhich nor my fries.

But please, please,please….Bofinger people watch triple D and learn how to make BBQ the proper way!

Weekend wrap up

We had plans to go to the Vanleek Hill's Trash or Treasure garage sale on Saturday but thursday we changed our minds.

We felt we would be better off dropping stuff off at the Salvation Army. Stuff that was getting on my nerves (from the garage sale) and that people didn't bother with. Plain glasses and a lot of BBQ utensils (why we had so much I don't know why).

Of course I had to go inside! And I found 2 beautiful Kromex canisters (tea and coffee) with yellow lids. They will go in my shop, when I'm able to download pictures.

The rest of the day was cold and overcast. I gardened but not as much-when it's too cold I just want to curl up with a kitty and TV!!!

I made mega delicious burgers with fried mushrooms,red onions,dijon and cream cheese on rye bread (OMG!) served with homefries...And I even found some cupcakes in the freezer and a Tupperware full of icing. That was definitely the perfect end to a perfect day!

Sunday, I started working on the front border and had a vision that annuals would really put a splash of color, so we went to my neighborhood garden center (you can't get more local than that) and I bought a cool assortment of blooms.

Supper was Quinoa pilaf, with bbq pork chops and peas-YUM!

Today I plan to take a walk,finish the front border, work on the veggie garden and make homemade water crackers....

As for the picture, it was taken about 2 weeks ago when the forget me nots were in full force. I placed them in one of my favorite vases bought last summer at the Salvation Army. I don't know the maker and it doesn't have any marks...Only that it's milkglass and I love it!

They're back!

When you feel you can't deal with the cold, snow,wind and ice. When you're getting more and more depressed. When you feel the only thing that will cure your winter blues is another pizza slice orbowl of caramel corn, just then when you're about to loose it, they come back...

The canada geese!!! All loud and noisy, they truly are the harbingers of spring!
I saw a couple of flights of geese yesterday going to the church basement. They brought me such joy!

I feel this winter has been very,very long, not that cold at least in southern Quebec but very long....At least to me! Maybe it's the 'I don't work thing'...Don't know!

Tonite to celebrate the arrival of spring I'm gonna try to fire up the old BBQ...and make us some good juicy meaty hamburgers....served with fried mushrooms, dijon mustard and cream cheese...OMG! BBQ heaven....Of course the buns will be toasted ( I need my buns toasted...in a food sense! Now get your minds out of the gutter people!!! LOL)

How is it that most burgers i see in triple D (diners,drive-in and dives) don't have the toasted buns? Guy if you read this please leave a comment. I'm a big fan of yours and I just have to know.....

Bbqcuing (is that a word?) represents freedom and no responsabilities.....It means I just have to throw some meat on it and presto changeo SUPPER!!! And add to that a couple of tomato wedges and cuke slices and you have a salad....good times!

Until then, have a nice night and euh... Welcome back to the geese!!!