What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Restaurant-Inspired Edition

On December 1, 2021November 30, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, The Great Outdoors, The Great Trail, What's On Your Plate53 Comments

A while ago now, Donna and her hubs Richard, and myself went a walkin’…along the Great Trail (aka Trans Canada Trail) down to the pretty town of Chemainus. It was a dark and stormy night…er…light and rainy day but we didn’t let that dampen our spirits. It also didn’t dampen our appetites. In fact it enhanced them. We were so hungry by the time we arrived that we promptly fell into the first restaurant we came across, that – so fortunately for us! – was also the most excellent Indian eatery.

Near the beginning of the hike, and soaked already.

As for myself? Well…

Somebody thought to bring an umbrella 😉 Photo by Donna

Photo taken by our gracious waiter, at Invitation Indian Cuisine.

Closeup of our food. Clockwise from top left: palak paneer, butter chicken, naan, eggplant bartha. Photo by Donna.

I hadn’t had Indian food at a restaurant for over a year (not since I left Ontario) so this was especially delicious to me. And inspiring! I bought a new cookbook, determined to add some easy-to-make dishes to my repertoire.

The Amazon ratings and reviews sold me on this book.

The first thing I needed to do was to buy the spices necessary to make the garam masala spice blend recommended to use for the dishes in this cookbook. Thankfully it was almost Diwali, and everything was on sale!

Spices ready to go in the coffee grinder (which thankfully made the cut for the move!). Note *THE BAY LEAVES.*

Finished garam masala. Smells delicious around here already!

I started with the book’s recipe for palak paneer. Which was simple and easy to make. Here is similar recipe, found online. Does not require a pressure cooker (although I recommend the pressure cooker version and the cookbook I bought – definitely faster and easier!).

Frying the onions and spices right in my Instant Pot-type pressure cooker.

Blending after cooking. (I don’t mean for Seashell Jesus to photobomb my cooking adventures always, but I do have a very small kitchen. It’s more of a hallway than a kitchen, really – so He will inevitably pop up in some shots.) Next step: add the cubed paneer.

Closeup of palak paneer, over basmati rice. Tasted almost as good as at the restaurant!

The next dish I attempted to recreate was the eggplant bartha. There was a similar recipe in the cookbook, but it asked for liquid smoke (which I didn’t have) and I didn’t want to do another smoky dish like last month’s. So I went searching online, and found this one. It also called for a smoky addition (in fact all the ones I looked at did ~~so I just gave up~~) but at least I had the smoked paprika it called for and that is the one I ended up using.

Ingredients for the eggplant curry, including my homemade garam masala in a repurposed condiment jar.

Tomatoes and spices frying on the stove.

Simmering curry, with roasted eggplant and coconut milk added. Smells heavenly.

Finished! And delicious with reheated store-bought naan. (I could not detect any overt smokiness in this dish. Yay!)

This eggplant curry was really delicious! I made a few changes to the recipe I used. I added cumin instead of the chili powder and I used 1 tablespoon of my garam masala instead of the cardamom and coriander. Next time I would cut the coconut oil and olive oil back to a couple of tablespoons each instead of a 1/4 cup each. It was just a tad too oily for my taste.

As always: please feel free to let my co-host Donna or myself know what’s on your plate at your house, in the Comments of either Donna’s or my post (or both, if you are so inclined!). Please check out Donna’s post, here. She has written about her adventures with a guilt-free hot drink mix!

Remember: if you decide to blog or Facebook or Instagram about it, to use the tags #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge or #woypbc so we can find you out on ye olde interwebbs!

Rock spicily on,

The WB

What’s On My Bookshelf – Blast From the Past Edition

On November 20, 2021November 19, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, Hmmm?, Read Books, What's On Your Bookshelf80 Comments

You know, I really should have predicted this would happen. I’ve been going on almost-weekly adventures with this woman, and by now I should know by now not to open my mouth around her. Case in point: we were idly browsing a favourite thrift store prior to embarking on a soggy beach walk, and I happened to notice a cook book that I used to own, placed on a table right at the front of the store. This book DID NOT – I repeat – DID NOT make the cut when I was packing for my move to the island. Seeing it in the thrift store, I had a momentary ~~failing~~ ~~weakness~~ flood of nostalgia as I gazed upon its cover – recalling flipping through it during many a Christmas Past. I remember looking for inspiration or maybe it was just an escape from the chaos that was that season at my house what with 2 young children, no money, an insufferable monster-in-law, and an unsupportive spouse. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget rampant consumerism and commercialization spoiling the season too...

Is it any surprise that my formerly insane love of this holiday got permanently squashed like a creepy bug on the bathroom floor?

Anywho…there I go digressing AGAIN. The point of my story (and this post) is that I resisted re-buying this book even though the store clerk was helpfully pointing out that it was ONLY A DOLLAR and YET somehow, someway I ended up leaving the store with this book…thanks to Donna sneakily adding it to her purchase and immediately thrusting it into my hands! I pretended to be exasperated with her (how can anyone be pissed at Donna though, really?) but secretly I was looking forward to paging through the book once more…

The book was just as wonderful and aspirational/inspirational as I remembered it. Here is the only recipe that I recall actually trying.

The kids and I made these ornaments. I remember them smelling wonderful; even the following year when they were brought out again and rehung on the tree!

As I was flipping through the book, I kept finding pieces of paper stuck between the pages. Like these: not 1, but 2 printed copies of some woman’s fruitcake recipe.

Gosh! Two copies. Is this a sign that I should try this one?! I’m a bit *suspish*, as the pages are too clean. (A clear sign the recipe has not actually been attempted, in my view 😉 ).

One copy of the recipe was stuck between these 2 pages, see photo below. This recipe looks good too.

And then I found this piece of paper: a couple of recipes cut out from a newspaper.

No indication of date or what newspaper it came from.

But the most surprising find of all? Not a piece of paper but this recipe:

Can we take a moment to remember last Christmas’s Black Forest Trifle kerfuffle? Here is the link. Now I have the source recipe once again, it seems.

But I don’t want to attempt it again this year. The wounds are yet too fresh. However, I have been thinking about making a fruit cake (again). Those wounds have healed over, apparently. Remember this near-disaster, also from last year?

Readers, I need your help (and your votes). The poll will close on November 30th. Help a badass out, will ya?

Thank you, Donna! ~~I may curse your name later but for now~~ I am really happy you ignored my babblings about how I was not going to buy this ~~damn~~ book again, and instead bought it for me.

Rock on,

The WB

500 Posts!!!!

On November 18, 2021November 17, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, Blogging, Good Times, Hmmm?, What's On Your Plate59 Comments

Dear Bloggie,

I have known for some time now that we were approaching the magical event of having 500 posts published. And I had promised myself that I would make a big deal about it. And I was counting it down, from about #493 until, well NOW.

So imagine my surprise when I realized – only AFTER yesterday’s post went live – that it was indeed post #500. And that I had completely missed it.

Well, fear not my faithful long-suffering ~~blogge~~ friend….It is Not. Too. Late.

Inspired and informed by fellow blogger Rivergirl, may I present to you and all my readers: a piecaken (dessert’s answer to the turducken) that I had made just for this wondrous occasion! 😉

From the Food Network. My teeth ache just looking at it. Not going to appear as a #WOYPBC post anytime soon.

Here’s what a piecaken (Thanksgiving version) is comprised of:

In other words, a fat and sugar bomb. A conglomeration of pie and cake ~~what, no pudding?~~. *Not that anything is wrong with that!* Why take multiple trips to the dessert bar when you can put a slice of this beauty on your buffet plate instead?

Anywhoodle, I digress ~~as usual~~.

Back to you, Dear Bloggie…I apologize for having missed this momentous…uh…moment. ~~(But only by one day, so can you give me a break?).~~ I also apologize for having taken so long to get here. Despite you being in existence for over 12 years now (yup, missed that one too), it has taken me until now to get to this milestone.

I spent a lotta years in Crazytown (as the Mayor, no less) and the lack of blogging during that time is the proof in the ~~pudding~~ piecaken of that.

So please accept this piecaken as my sweet attempt to make up for all the lost years and forgotten milestones. Enjoy! ~~And don’t come crying to me when your teeth hurt.~~

Rock ever onwards, to the next 500 posts!

The WB

Wordless (Almost) Wednesday – What Is That Bright Ball In The Sky?

On November 17, 2021November 16, 2021 By Widow BadassIn See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors55 Comments

Today the sun came out. Why is that exciting, you may well ask. Since Saturday afternoon, here on Vancouver Island we have been experiencing what meteorologists have dubbed an “atmospheric river”. If you can picture a river flowing overhead and ~~leaking river water~~ dropping rain all along the way non-stop, well…that’s been exactly it. Leading to rainfall records being broken for the province, people being trapped in their cars on washed out or flooded out roads, and mass evacuations.

It has been quite the weather-event year for British Columbians – a heat dome, a summer-long drought, forest fires, and now flooding and mudslides.

I have been lucky where I live, having escaped the worst of the effects on the land. And lucky enough to get out today and enjoy the sun at Neck Point Park. Here are some photos.

Here they are. (Using “they” as I do not know the gender).

The land is still draining, and created this pixie-scaled waterfall, seemingly coming from a cavern within the tree.

More rain is in the forecast. This is supposed to be our only completely dry and sunny day this week. What is the weather like where you live?

Rock on,

The WB

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Not My Typical Beef Stew Edition

On November 3, 2021November 1, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, What's On Your Plate64 Comments

~~It was a dark and stormy night.~~ The weather approaching Halloween had turned cold, dark and rainy. That means one thing and one thing only at Chez Badass Kitchen…it’s time for comfort foods! And I had developed a hankering for a good ol’ fashioned beef stew in the slow cooker. That I don’t really use a recipe for, as I generally throw things in the pot and hope for the best. I didn’t want to do that this time, so I found this recipe on Ye Olde Interwebs and gave it a whirl with some great veggies that I had picked up at a farmers’ market.

They look even cooler, peeled and chopped.

They look kinda *Yukon Gold*-ish to me, when sliced open.

The recipe called for some unusual spices for a beef stew, in my opinion. Including smoked paprika, mustard and my ~~nemesis~~ a bay leaf. I tried to remember what I hated so much about bay leaves but I’ve been avoiding them for so long that I kinda forget. I got to thinking this after my last WOYP post, where I dissed this ingredient. I thought it was time to revisit ~~my nemesis~~ the bay leaf.

ATTENTION: A bay leaf has entered the slow cooker. I repeat: A BAY LEAF HAS ENTERED THE SLOW COOKER.

Seashell Jesus says “Gurl, you sure about this?” Bettie Page the Kitchen Aid says “No Comment”. Ditto for Alexa (far left). All are crowded around to witness this strange event.

Fast forward to 8 hours later (on low). The stew turned out quite nice, actually. Although I am not sure about the smoked paprika. I think next time I will just add regular paprika. Turns out smoky beef stew is not my jam. And as for ~~my nemesis~~ the bay leaf? I couldn’t pick out what it had contributed to the stew’s flavour so I guess bay leaves are back on the menu (and in the spice cabinet). Who knew?!?!

“*I’m ready for my closeup, Ms. Badass*.”

Remember: if you decide to blog or Facebook or Instagram about it, to use the tags #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge or #woypbc so we can find you out on ye olde interwebbs!

Rock on,

The WB

Silent Samhain Sunday

On October 31, 2021 By Widow BadassIn See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors32 Comments

It is a beautiful day so I walked down to the beach. Across the street I saw the grounds maintenance crew hard at work. 😉

I had brought some local (from the community of Cedar) honey, to leave as an offering for the spirits of the ancestors of this land. Tis the season, after all.

I left a similar offering for the spirits of the land itself.

I was also looking for a hag stone (stone with a naturally occurring hole). No luck. Does a hag oyster shell count? 😉

There was most of a dead Pacific octopus on the shore.

As to be expected, there were people both in and on the water.

However you choose to celebrate this time, I hope it is wonderful. Happy Halloween!

Rock on,

The WB

Too Much Information?: A Bidet Story

On October 25, 2021October 25, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Hmmm?, Home Improvement63 Comments

WARNING: Please click away if your nerves are far too delicate to read about bathrooms and associated functions.

Remember back at the beginning of the pandemic when everyone was losing their minds and all sorts of craziness was happening? We were all so scared and unsure of what was going to happen next. And some scoundrels tried to buy up all the essentials, leading to shortages of everything and the people were going on Facebook to beg for toilet paper AS THERE WAS NONE TO BE HAD IN ALL THE LAND? Yeah, thanks a lot hoarders! Gone through your stockpile(s) yet, jerkwads?

Scene at my local grocery store in March 2020.

Well, around that time I began chatting regularly online with a bunch of blogger friends via Zoom and the topic of bidets came up during one session, and how great they were to use and – especially – how you didn’t need all that much toilet paper if you used one. I remember researching bidets at that time – along with the rest of the universe, apparently – and although I could find information on them, there were none to be had as demand has far outstripped supply. Go figure. Sigh. Turns out I had just enough TP to get me through until the shelves were restocked, so I promptly forgot all about bidets once the GREAT TP SHORTAGE OF 2020 was over.

Fast forward to present day: I somehow severely ~~fucked up~~ strained my back muscles last week. I could hardly move and when I absolutely had to move it was groan-out-loud painful (sorry, neighbours!). We are talking A STRUGGLE to put on socks and underwear, and to get from lying down to sitting to standing and vice versa.

And did you know how much you need to involve your back muscles in order to thoroughly wipe your nether regions clean after using the toilet? Let me elucidate you, in case you didn’t already know: IT’S A LOT, ACTUALLY. IT’S QUITE A LOT.

I was ~~bitching~~ ~~complaining~~ chatting about this very thing with my massage therapist this past week when she said those 3 magic words that sent me running back to Amazon: GET A BIDET.

This baby arrived yesterday. Amazon’s Choice, with thousands of great ratings. *Thousands upon thousands of happy butts!*

I bravely started to do the install after reading the instructions and putting my talented son-in-law on speed dial, just in case.

And then, dear Badassians, it all went ~~to shit~~ wrong. Trying to affix the t-valve to the toilet tank….water leaking everywhere once I turned it back on! So I undid everything and tried to put the toilet back together as it was before I started messing with it. No good. Still spraying water everywhere. I shut the water valve off yet again and frantically called the SIL, who came right over and diagnosed the problem!

First – as I suspected – it was partly the blame of the shitty plastic wrench included in the kit. Although I thought I was behaving like a pretty poor workman blaming the tool and all that, but whatevs. Second – and completely related to the first – when I was tightening the t-valve I was loosening the fitting coming from the toilet at the same time. Thankfully SIL came prepared with a REAL wrench and his big man hands and a less sore back than mine, and soon there was this:

After thanking SIL profusely and seeing him out the door, it was time to take Ye Olde Bidet for its (and my) maiden voyage. I want to say it was a dry run, as I didn’t actually need to use the facilities, but “dry” is not the right word when describing how a bidet is supposed to work.

With great trepidation, I reached down to the dial at my side.

Note to self: be careful not to dial it up too fast, lest it get downright invasive!

It has taken some finessing (one must develop a technique; some skill, as it were), but overall I am quite happy with this upgrade to Ye Olde Water Closet. In the succinct ~~words~~ word of someone named Brad (see quote on box, above), this bidet addition is:

“FANTASSTIC!’

Rock on,

The WB

What’s On Your Bookshelf – When Books Make You Shop…er… Work Edition

On October 21, 2021October 21, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Artistic Endeavours, Read Books, What's On Your Bookshelf70 Comments

Usually reading is a very passive thing. That’s why we like to do it, amiright? One can escape into a book and leave the present world behind…at least for a little while. I love those kinds of books, especially for the past 18 months since we have pretty much all had to assume the role of armchair travellers if we wanted to get someplace different.

But for the past few weeks, I have been diving into a book that is making me sit down and paint. I bought Everyday Watercolor back when I was still working for a living…thinking I would find the time to do the exercises every day. Well, that never happened (quelle surprise!) yet somehow this book made the cut and got packed to come with me to my new home on Vancouver Island.

I have to hold the cover down as I’ve been weighting it down with objects to keep it laying flat while I work through the exercises.

I’ve been making s-l-o-w but steady progress through this book (hindered somewhat by a strained back that makes sitting forward to paint – or blog – quite fatiguing). I am enjoying it. So much so that I have been ~~tempted~~ ~~seduced~~ ~~forced~~ inspired to shop for more watercolour painting supplies (See Princeton brushes, above! Thanks to Karen, for telling me about these!).

For instance, this beautiful palette of Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints (Thanks again to Karen, for introducing me to these paints as well!):

Swatching the colours in the conveniently provided chart, inside the lid. You can buy this palette on Amazon.

And these gorgeous colours, “Northern Lights” by Indigenous-owned company Beam Paints (Thanks yet again to Karen, for making me aware of this company…uh, I think. Hmmmm. 😉 ):

I love their commitment to avoiding any and all plastics in their packaging.

I like that the paints are made from local (to them) and natural ingredients. But that doesn’t make them safe to consume. Be safe:

Kinda sad that this needs to be stated. Besides, these paints would make a pretty expensive snack!

Here’s what they look like, in my workbook:

Close-up:

Such a beautiful shimmer, created by the mica in their paint.

Have you ever used a book that helped you learn a skill, with daily exercises? Did it make you ~~shop~~ better? I can see some improvement already and am encouraged to keep up with this, as my back ~~(and credit card)~~ allows.

Thank you to Donna et al, for providing this interesting monthly blog challenge! And thanks to Karen, for helping me to drain my bank account and increase the art supplies hoard. 😉

Rock (and paint) on,

The WB