What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Trying Out The New Range Edition

On January 4, 2023 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, What's On Your Plate56 Comments

For those of you who may not already know, I moved recently (late Summer 2022) from my city apartment to a separate dwelling located on my daughter and son-in-law’s semi-rural property. I have spent the fall waiting not-so-patiently for my kitchen to be installed and become workable. Thankfully, I am on good terms with my new landlords 😉, and had access to their kitchen while mine was being worked on. My kitchen is still not finished – backsplash, range hood, and under-cabinet lighting has yet to happen – but it is a fully working kitchen now, with brand new appliances. In December, I gave my new range a workout one Sunday as I prepared a meal for my ~~landlords~~ family. This post is about that momentous day, when I officially “broke in” Blue Steel, my navy blue Samsung range.

The inspiration for my range’s nickname:

Bluesteel GIFfrom Blue Steel GIFs

Blue Steel is very smart (and chatty). He sends me messages all the time, on all my devices.

I also get messages when Blue Steel has reached the desired temperature and when there are only a few minutes of cooking time left. You can’t say that I am left in the dark about what this appliance is up to. 😉

But how is he at actually doing the stuff he is built for? Let’s see, shall we?

The meal’s menu consisted of the family favourite: Greek potatoes, with a simple salad and air-fried chicken. I also made an almond cake.

Almond cake in Blue Steel. The oven will never look this clean again, so enjoy! 😄

It turned out beautifully. The recipe came from here, and I added almond flavouring to the batter instead of cinnamon. I will be making (and tweaking) this cake recipe over and over again.

Blue Steel came with an air-fryer function and also this tray, for that purpose:

You might know how fond I am of my counter-top air fryer. Let’s see how Blue Steel compares!

For the “fried” chicken, I used this KFC dupe seasoning recipe, with some modifications: I didn’t have buttermilk so I soured a cup of milk with 1 tbsp vinegar; I used gluten-free flour; I only added 1 tbsp white pepper; I skipped the MSG; I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt and added an extra tsp salt (I figured that was close enough). Instead of deep-frying, I air-fried the chicken for 20 minutes at 400F, then turned the pieces and air-fried them again for another 20 minutes.

Flipping the chicken at the half-way mark.

By the way, the Greek potatoes turned out perfectly!

Wow. Just wow. The meal turned out perfectly. The chicken was divine (best yet!); the potatoes too. And I have lots of seasoning left over for future batches of chicken!

That chicken was truly *finger-licking good!* It tasted exactly like KFC to me, if my memory serves me correctly.

To finish off the main meal:

We love a simple salad of greens, dressed with olive oil and this stuff:

This flavoured balsamic vinegar is DA BOMB.

And the cake?

Absolute heaven! Delicate, almond-y heaven.

Blue Steel, you did me proud. (And you were worth the 4 month delivery wait.)

via GIPHY

You’re welcome, Widow Badass.

Please share with Donna and/or myself what’s on your plate this month, in the Comments! Please check out her post on the delicious soup she made me, here! And here’s the Link Party, if you are so inclined.

Rock on,

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – I Like Big Boots And I Cannot Lie

On January 1, 2023December 20, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer30 Comments

Mommy and I came over to visit Oma using the back yard entrance, and her boots were within reach. Time to switch into Evil Villain mode!!!

I am wearing my Good Puppy disguise, to throw people off. Look at my innocent face.

Not innocent for long! *Also, does this boot make my butt look big?*

…And carry it to my ~~top secret~~ Evil Villain lair.

That is to extract the insole to ~~destroy~~ chew on.

Alas, my mission was interrupted when Mommy reclaimed her boot from my lair.

‘Til next time, Mommy! Bwahahaha!

Rock on, and happy 2023!

The ~~Evil Villain~~ Bowz 🐾

The Sunday Schnauzer – It Started Out Fine…

On December 25, 2022December 21, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer38 Comments

We had another big snow dump this past week. It wasn’t safe to drive, but it was perfectly safe to go for a walk in the woods. Or so I thought…

Rosehips brought some delightful colour to our walk.

There was a lot of snow tasting going on.

I decided to join in the fun. And wisely decided only to taste the snow *before* it hit the ground.

It was so beautiful out, we walked all the way down to the channel coming off of Haslam Creek.

I had just taken this picture when IT happened.

Bowser either tried to walk on the very thin ice or fell off of the bank into the channel! He was completely submerged for the longest millisecond of my life. Then he popped back up and tried to grab onto a nearby branch that was in the water although even further from land. Meanwhile I ran like a rocket to his location and coaxed him back to the bank, whereupon I grabbed him by the harness and hauled him back onto land. All the while agonizing how I was going to get this dog back home without him turning into a pupsicle in this -8 degrees C weather. (Obviously no pictures were taken of all this drama.)

Turns out I had nothing to fear. Bowser’s instincts kicked in and I was treated to the “snow zoomies”.

Snow Zoomies: running and diving and rolling into the snow to get warm and somewhat dry.

Zoomies over, we were back to running, jumping and exploring all the way back home. Like nothing ever happened. Huh! What about that?!

He never even shivered once. What a dog!

I doubt future walks will find us near the creek, for the time being! Bowser got over his dunking in no time at all, but I am still ~~traumatized~~ recovering.

Good Yule, Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah! However and wherever you celebrate, hug your loved ones (and stay away from icy creeks).

Rock on,

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Oma’s Daybed

On December 18, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer38 Comments

Bowser loves the daybed in the TV/studio/guest/everything room in my new place (still under construction). He loves to lean back in the pillows and look out the window for passers-by, cats, and other assorted ne’er do wells.

*Hmmmm…the neighbourhood SEEMS secure, but you never know…*

*How about joining me for a nap, Oma? I’m tired from all the hard work of being a watchdog.*

*I can’t hold out much longer, Oma. Please hurry.*

*Just checking that you are for sure planted on this here ~~dog bed~~ daybed.*

We hope you are having a restful weekend!

Rock on,

The WB

The Sunday Schnauzer – Dashing Through the Snow

On December 11, 2022December 4, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Bowser the Schnauzer33 Comments

Like a one-dog open sleigh…that was our Bowser the day after the snowfall, when someone had run a truck or quad through the logging roads we like to frequent on our walks. I had already shared these photos on social media, but not everyone follows me there. I hope you don’t mind seeing them again, if you already have seen them.

*Stay on the nicely packed down tire ruts? No way, Oma!*

Bowser coming back from exploring under the trees.

*This is so much fun, Oma! Why don’t you try it?*

We hope you are enjoying whatever weather you have been given, this weekend.

Rock on,

The WB

Because You Asked – A Snack Trip to South Korea

On December 9, 2022December 5, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, Because You Asked32 Comments

I really thought that this box would be our last one, for the subscription. But then, another box showed up in the mail. So here is the review of the now next-to-last box – South Korea! Once again, Donna’s husband Richard was able to join us as our extra special guest judge ~~insert favourite RuPaul’s Drag Race meme here.~~

This box looked quite promising, and it did not disappoint!

First on the list of snacks to be evaluated: the choco pie.

We all agreed we have tasted this confection in another form. Apparently this treat was given as a bonus to North Korean workers. It got so popular that the ~~buzz-kill~~ ~~evil dictatorship~~ government banned them. *No happy moments for you!* So South Korean activists sent thousands over the border using balloons. There, now you know!

Next up: spicy chicken flavoured corn puffs!

Also known as KFC – Korean Fried Chicken! American KFC used to be a special occasion treat for Koreans, but now they can eat it whenever they want (in South Korea only, that is). And they have spiced things up, including with this snack.

Then it was on to some marscapone shortbreads (What a lovely combination of 2 yummy things!)

And lovely to look at, too! This might be one of my favourite snacks; at least top 5.

These cookies have a weird (to us Westerners) backstory. Apparently Valentine’s Day in South Korea is the day for women to treat the men. And then came the sequel: White Day (March 14)…where men give white gifts to the women, including these cookies. Apparently this tradition originated in Japan – in 1978 – and spread to South Korea. Although LGBTQ+ folks appear to be left out of this celebrating, never fear Singletons! April 14 is Black Day, when you dress in black and go eat your feelings with all your single friends. Black-bean-sauce-smothered noodles is the preferred comfort nosh. All of this info according to the literature that came with the snack box!

Now onto some candy! Sweet and sour grape-flavoured chews.

Check out those super cool grapes 😎. Very flavourful!

Back to savoury snacks with the next on the list: Shrimp Chips.

I’ve eaten a lot of shrimp chips with Indonesian dishes. In fact, we used to have to deep fry them ourselves. It was exciting for me as a kid to watch the tiny hard chips expand into these airy delights when fried. I found the South Korean version quite “shrimpy” though…stronger flavour than what I am used to.

Last but not least were a bag of Peach Flavoured Gummies, to sample.

Isn’t the peach also known as the *butt emoji*, in social media? I can see the resemblance 😄.

I think this was my favourite box to date. So did Donna. Here is our scoring.

As usual, Donna treated us to a fabulous lunch afterwards. She wrote all about it on her latest WOYPBC post, here.

Yeah, you could say we were pretty excited about those cookies 🤣.

One more box to go! Stay tuned – we’re going to Italy next.

Rock on,

The WB

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – When You Know You Are Family Edition

On December 7, 2022December 5, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, What's On Your Plate52 Comments

My good friend and WOYPBC co-host Donna and I are taking an ElderCollege course in her home community on Wednesday mornings. We usually follow this up with a walk and lunch. I’ve been lucky enough to be invited back to her place for our lunch…or am I?! This was a pre-lunch conversation during one such walk.

Donna: I’m going to serve us the lemon-lime soup I’ve been telling you about, for lunch.

Me: The one you said wasn’t that good? And that you were hoping to pawn off on me, to get rid of?

Donna: Oh goody, you remembered! Yes, that one.

She then peppered me with food safety questions about this soup – was it safe to reheat it in the crock pot for hours; how long could it be left out to thaw before it became dangerous, etc. (By now my eyebrows had completely disappeared into my hairline and I was wondering who I could get to call me on my cell so I could plead an emergency and beg off lunch 😉). Then she revealed that it was actually still in the freezer and she would heat it up once we got back to her place. Phew!

Being safely heated up on the stove, with me in charge of cooking once again as Donna disappears! Remember this lunch? ~~Uh huh. I never learn.~~

Donna made up a nice charcuterie board ~~with my help, of course~~ so at least I could fill up on something other than the ~~dreaded~~ soup.

Donna does set a lovely table, I’ll give her that!

This is when I kinda got the idea that I was now considered “family”. When you see dinner accompaniments plopped on the table in their original packaging…

And you know for sure you are considered “family” when the soup comes to the table in the cooking pot!

And now, for the moment of truth:

Friends, it WAS delicious. After all the anti-hype about the lemon-lime soup, imagine my relief!

Donna also asked me to try this cheese that she said she didn’t like. It was fine too, but by now I am getting even more of a complex about this lunch.

Our dessert: more ~~shit~~ treats Donna is trying to get rid of. Also perfectly fine…in fact, delicious! Liquorice chalk, candied popcorn and white chocolate nut clusters. Served communally in the tin and help yourself by digging in. I truly am *family* now, friends!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this less than serious WOYPBC post. You know I am just kidding about Donna using me as a human garbage disposal, right? ~~You were just kidding too, Donna…right?~~ Please share with Donna and/or myself what’s on your plate this month! Please check her take on slow cooking, here! And here’s the Link Party, if you are so inclined.

Rock on,

The WB