Thanksgiving in the Tropics

It's hot here. All the time. Morning. Noon. Night. The calendar says October, but it feels more like a heatwave in the middle of July. It's hard to believe that we celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend. Despite the hot weather, earlier last week we pretended it was fall.

We roasted pumpkins. Two tiny halves from different pumpkins bought from the local wet market. Both grown locally, meaning that they are from neighbouring countries. The pumpkins were all being sold in halves. I couldn't find a whole pumpkin! I did see whole pumpkins this week though. They are a totally different variety than those grown in Canada, harder skin (is that what you call it?), paler and bumpier, but they tasted very similar. The grocery stores here are now selling the standard orange pumpkins imported from the US. But at $25 -$50 a pop, um, I think we'll stick with these. It smelled like fall. Did I mention that we were wearing shorts? 

Tracking down the pie filling was the easy part. Making the pastry turned out to be an adventure in itself. So apparently lard is not sold anywhere on this island. Or if it is, I couldn't find it. After a friend and I made a trip to the butcher for some pork fat, I then had to render it to make pastry. Um, what?! Thank goodness for google. It was actually an easy process. I know you're dying to know how to do it... Just cut up the pork fat into cubes. Put in a dutch oven. Add 1/3 cup of water. And cook it uncovered at 300F for about 3 hours or so. Just check it every 30 minutes. Pour through a strainer. Let it cool. And voila. C'est tout fini! Easy peasy. But smelly. Be warned. Heck, just go some Tenderflake from the shelf, unless of course you live in Singapore. 

Andrew ordered a turkey. Not quite the same as ordering a turkey in Canada where you order one so that you are guaranteed to get the size you want. Here you order a turkey so that, well, you can actually have a turkey. Andrew was more than happy to continue the long tradition of bringing home a turkey in his red backpack. Before moving to Guelph, Andrew trekked home many a turkey from the St. Lawrence Market on the GO train. This year, same backpack, but wearing shorts under palm trees. Crazy!

We brought our roasting pan with us, but it doesn't fit. At all. Not even close. The ovens here are small. Minuscule really. Between a small oven and only three burners, we really had to think about how we were going to get everything cooked.

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Thank goodness for tin pans. We actually had to bend it to fit in the oven. But fit it did. Just.

A few hours later the turkey emerged from the tiny oven.  And it was delicious.

 We kept the decorations simple. Maple leaves place cards -- a nice nod to home. Fall colours amongst the palm trees.

And a simple Happy Thanksgiving banner. Letters cut from newspaper and edged in sparkles. Love. We won't mention that there are still sparkles everywhere. Everywhere.

And the best part of celebrating Thanksgiving in Singapore? Friends. For most of them, it was their first Thanksgiving. It was so fun to share our traditions. 

Happy Thanksgiving  and happy fall to everyone back home!

Hosting a Tea Party - Part 2 - The Recipes

The best part of hosting a tea party is the company of course. Little Miss and I had such a lovely afternoon with the Grandmas. It's nice to send the boys out of the house and eat dainty things for an afternoon. 

Menu

Salad

Cucumber Sandwiches

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Scones with Jam and Devon Cream

Lemon Squares

Jam Tarts

Chocolate Dipped Crescent Cookies

Tea

A tea party wouldn't be a tea party without scones. They taste best warm from the oven. The night before I put the dry ingredients together and then the next morning I added the rest, rolled them out and put them on a cookie sheet and waited just we were about to eat before sticking them in the oven.

Scones

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking poser

1/4 tsp salt

4 TBSP butter

3/4 cup milk

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter into crumbly. Add milk and mix well. The dough will be sticky. Knead the dough for 30 seconds on a floured surface. Roll 1/2 inch thick and cut into triangles. Bake at 400 F for 10 -15 min.

Salad

Mixed greens with sliced green onions and strawberries, dressed with raspberry vinaigrette.

Sandwiches

Egg salad 

Cucumber - cream cheese and cucumber with a sprinkle of salt.

Now, the rest of the yummy goodies you could buy from a bakery to save time or if you just don't want to bake. I made these the night before.

Lovely Lemon Squares

Crust

1 1/3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

Combine all ingredients and mix at low speed until the mixture is crumbly. Press into a 8-inch baking pan. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 F.

Filling

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 TBSP flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 TBSP lemon juice

powdered sugar

Combine all the ingredients except the powdered sugar. Beat at low speed until well mixed. Pour filling over hot crust. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until filling is set. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Let cool. Cut into bars and sprinkle again with powdered sugar.

Jam Tarts

Pastry - follow the directions on the box. Use lard. One box of lard makes a ton of pastry. Divide it into six balls. Wrap each ball in wax paper and place in freezer bag. Free. Pull out one ball from the freezer and let thaw on the counter. 

Roll out pastry and place in mini muffin tin. Place a teaspoon of jam in each shell. Bake.

Chocolate-Dipped Crescent Cookies

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup softened butter

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips, melted

powdered sugar

Combine sugar and butter. Beat until creamy. Add egg and almond extract. Mix well. Add flour and other dry ingredients. Mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll into ropes and shape into crescents. Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes. Cookies do not brown. Cool. Dip on end in melted chocolate and sprinkle the other end with powdered sugar.

For the Love of Butter Tarts

Butter tarts. They're a Canadian thing, or so I'm told. The rest of the world doesn't know what they are missing! Since I've had a few people ask for the recipe, I thought I'd share.

Recipe

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

Pastry for 12 tarts (I use lard and just follow the directions on the box. Lard, in my opinion makes the best pastry. Just ask Andrew, he'll agree! If you don't want to make your own pastry, grab some pre-made shells)

Pour boiling water over raisins and let sit for 10 minutes. Drain. Add raisins, butter, sugar, salt and corn syrup. Stir until the butter is melted and the sugar is disolved. Add egg and vanilla. Fill the tart shells 3/4 full. Bake at 350F for 15 - 20 minutes.

Enjoy! 

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Treat Tuesday - Giant Muffins

This girl, who just had her first manicure with the lovely Aunt Sarah, loves chocolate chip muffins.

I mean, truly loves chocolate chip muffins. And what's the only thing better than a chocolate chip muffin? A giant red chocolate chip muffin. They are so easy to make. In fact I cheated. A lot. I mixed up a white cake mix. Yup. A mix. Added chocolate chips to the batter and some food colouring left over from this. Easy, right? I'm all for homemade, but sometimes, just sometimes, a mix is where it's at.

Once you've mixed up your batter, all you need is a coffee filter and a ramekin. Now Le Creuset has some lovely ramekins, but ours come from Canadian Tire. Much more affordable. As in you could get 8 ramekins for the price of 1 from Le Creuset. But, back to the muffins.

Now place a coffee filter into the ramekin. And fill 3/4 full of batter. Bake. Yep. It's that easy.

They really are giant. And so much more fun! The muffin on the right is a regular muffin baked in a normal size cupcake pan. Go big. Go bold. Have fun. Because sometimes you just need to add a little sparkle to your muffins.

Waffle Love

It's no surprise to many of you that we love waffles, especially the kids. They would eat them everyday if they could. The kidlywinks do eat waffles a couple of times during the week.  I like quick, simple and easy and this waffle mix fits the bill. It's actually a pancake recipe that I've had for many years, so if you don't have a waffle maker, don't worry, you can still make this mix. We choose to use a waffle maker because, well, it's fun and the thing beeps at you at an alarming volume that you can't ignore. Pancakes on the stove on a weekday morning would be a burnt mess around here I'm afraid.

Every once in a while I assemble the mix. It's quick. It's easy.

Grab a funnel - one used for canning is best since it has a wide mouth, jars, measuring spoons and cups.

 Into each jar put:

1 1/3 cups flour

3 TBSP sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

I make a bunch at a time. Like nine or so. No joke. It takes next to no time, yet saves an absolute ton of time in the morning when all you want to do is sit quietly and drink coffee and not make breakfast or pack lunches or get kids out of bed or hope your husband heard the second alarm. The mix helps. Really, it does. It doesn't do the laundry, but it helps.

You can add a nice chalkboard label or  metal rim tag.

On the reverse side of the label, list the directions.

Add: 1 egg, 1 1/4 cups milk, 3TBSP melted butter, 1 tsp vanilla.

Mix just enough to combine. Don't over mix. The batter will be lumpy. Let it sit and get happy for about 5 minutes. One jar of mix makes four large waffles or a bunch of pancakes. 

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Lil' Luna
Not Just a Housewife

Warm Inside

It's snowing/sleeting outside. Thankfully I'm inside. A perfect day to bake.

Yummy Carrot Muffins (or cupcakes as we call them at our house. They seem to get eaten quicker if you call them cupcakes.) This recipe comes from my mother-in-law. She wrote out the recipe several years ago. You can see that we've made it once or twice. Maybe. 

A Quick and Easy Treat Tuesday

Little Miss made this all by herself. I was in the kitchen cooking supper. Mr. Man had a play-date. The call of the mixer was drowned out by the allure of a fort.

This recipe is quick. It's easy. It's yummy.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Whip 1 cup butter. Add 1 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix until fluffy. Add 2 cups flour. Mix until fluffy. Add 1 cup chocolate chips. Mix. Put it into a 8" square pan. Pat it down. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 F. C'est tout!

Building a Smoker - Part 1

He likes to cook. A lot. He likes to BBQ. He likes to try new things. Like homemade worcestershire sauce. (It didn't turn out. But that's okay.) Apparently what's been missing in the cooking department is not homemade worcestershire sauce, but a smoker. Yes, homemade.

So if you're Andrew and you want to build a smoker, you head off to my dad's with plans in hand. Andrew originally thought that he would buy the metal and make it in my dad's workshop, but as luck would have it, behind the workshop hiding in a corner, stood a large 4'x8' sheet of metal.

So after some cuting, welding, sanding and bending the smoker is beginning to take shape. Just a few more Saturdays to go.

Total Bust

Yesterday's Treat Tuesday was a total bust. Sure the kids had fun. The recipe looked good. It was even awarded "Best Loved". But after tasting the Revel Bars, I have to say, the love was missing. They're okay, but I don't feel like eating another one. Ever.

These babies saved the day. Garlic breadsticks. There was only one left. Lucky Mr. man got to take on his luch today.

Their favourite part of making bread is punching it down, second only to making sticks.

If you've never made bread, it's fairly easy to do. You just some time. It doesn't take long to mix up the dough, but you do need to let it rise. Twice. Like 2 hours. That's where the time comes in.

Here's what we do:
In  a small pot, melt 3 tbsp butter with 1/2 cup of milk, 2 tsp salt and 3 tbsp sugar. Once the butter is melted and the sugar disolved, remove from the heat and let it cool until it's warm.

While that is going on, warm the mixer bowl with hot tap water. Dump out the water. Add 1 1/2 cups of hot tap water (105 - 115 F) and 2 packages of active dry yeast. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until the yeast begins to disolve.

Add the butter mixture.

Add 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour. Mix witht he dough hook for about 1 minute on speed 2.
Slowly add 4 cups of all-purpose flour a bit at a time.

Mix until the  dough clings to the hook and cleans the sides of the bowl. Mix for 2 more minutes.

Place the dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave it in a warm place to rise.

An hour later, punch dough down. Divide in half. I make one half into a loaf - roll dough into a loaf shape and place in a greased loaf pan.

With the other half, roll dough into bread sticks. Place on cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil and minced garlic.

Bake at 400F for about 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

He Doesn't Like Cereal

He doesn't like cereal. He says he does. But he never eats it. It could be because he eats his breakfast on his way to work in the morning. Juggling a bowl of cereal while you drive isn't a good thing. But that doesn't explain why he doesn't eat cereal on the weekends either. Anyway, because he doesn't like cereal, I make these. They are quick and easy to make.


Rise & Shine Cranberry Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup quick oats
2 eggs
3/4 cup orange juice
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup frozen cranberries


In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, juiuce, milk and oil. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Add the oats. Stir well. Add cranberries.
Pour the the liquid mixture into the large bowl. Stir the batter to combine. Do not overmix.
Scoop into greased muffin pan.
Bake for 20 minutes at 375 F.

Eat them while you can. They tend to disappear quickly.

You can find this recipe in this book.

I am partial to the guy that wrote the intros and I hear he's a good hand model too!