Because You Asked: A Snack Trip to France

On March 5, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, Because You Asked58 Comments

While waiting for the next snack box in my gift subscription to arrive, I received an email from the giver of such deliciousness advising me that the upcoming box would be from Russia and that Universal Yums was offering to switch that out for another country instead. I didn’t feel comfortable receiving and blogging about a Russian box given the current situation with Ukraine so I said yes please to the switch. Barely 2 days later my box arrived and I was a bit apprehensive that there hadn’t been enough time to sub in another box. Luckily though:

Once again, I enlisted the snack-judging prowess of my blogging partner-in-crime Donna, and a date was set. Then I had a thought and texted her to see if she had a French beret or two hanging around her place. I thought it would be funny to dress stereotypically “French”, while we sampled the goods. Of course Donna being Donna 😉 , she had to take it much further including a soundtrack while we “worked”.

I have to admit, it did really add to the *ambience*.

Yeah, yeah. I know these aren’t actual berets. They are “beret-ish”, and all we had to work with. And we don’t have actual Breton sweaters on either, but hey, we have a very limited budget here at Chez Badass and Chez Retirement Reflections. P. S. I wanted to draw on a *Hercule Poirot* moustache with eyeliner, but Donna ~~wisely~~ talked me out of it.

Here’s what was included in the box, besides the guidebook:

Map of Deliciousness on back of scorecard

First up, a bag of French strawberry chews. According to the book, we have France to thank for strawberries, and these particular candies were the top-voted Yum in the last two French snack boxes.

We were immediately put off by the labeling of “artificially flavoured” (*France, how could you???*) but the taste was really good. We both thought they tasted like something we ate in childhood. ~~Ahhhh, that sweet nostalgic time of artificial everything and cancer-causing red dyes…~~ Donna was reminded of a candy called a Mojo. I don’t remember those, but do any of you?

Next up was a bag of French Cheese tubes. The book advised us that French cheeses are better and so are their cheese snacks. We both agreed. So far, two winners!

Think of a really good cheesy Bugle-type snack.

We left “Savoury Town” and headed back to “Sweetsville” with the next offering: Pure Butter Sablés. The book explained that the name “sablé” (French for sand) came from how these cookies are made: by rubbing cold butter into flour and sugar to form tiny particles that look like sand.

Yet another winner! How long can this go on????

After the cookies, it was time to try the other savoury snack in this box: Garlic Aioli Potato Chips. “Yes, you will get garlic breath. And yes, it will be worth it” the brochure opines. We have to agree. These were amazing. (Apologies to my hairdresser, who I met later on in the day. Thank goodness for masks, non?)

Salted butter caramels were next in order. Confectioner Henri Le Roux created the first salted caramel in 1977. Sir, we salute you. Hopefully in Brittany they have erected a statue of this god amongst men.

Donna and I both agreed on the flavour but Donna found them “too chewy”. I like to make them last as long as possible so that means very little chewing is involved – full marks from me!

Donna took this artful picture of me hard at work. 😉

After waiting forever for me to finish my ~~damn~~ caramel, it was time for truffles. Apparently truffles were a happy little accident (RIP Bob Ross!). In the 1920s Paris Confectioner Auguste Escoffier mistakenly dumped hot cream into the wrong bowl, which contained chocolate. Rather than waste it, he rolled the paste into balls and coated them with cocoa powder, and named them of what they reminded him of: mushroom truffles.

Last (and probably least) were French Fruit Chews. I had the raspberry and Donna selected the orange one. Made by Confiserie du Nord, this family-owned company has been making bon-bons since 1912. These French “Starbursts” are supposed to be bigger, chewier and juicer than the American candy. It’s probably been decades since I had a Starburst so I can’t compare but I have to say my raspberry chew was excellent.

And here are the results:

Just two French chicks, hanging out in front of the fire. Not to brag or anything, but *someone* has perfected the French tuck. *N’est-ce pas?*

France, you are a snacker’s paradise and we salute you!

Le Rock On,

The WB

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Late To The Party Edition

On March 2, 2022March 1, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, What's On Your Plate83 Comments

After resisting the urge to get one of these for – uhh – at least two years now, it finally happened. An air fryer has appeared at Chez Badass. My reasons for hesitating included (not limited to): having to surrender even more precious counter space to yet another small kitchen appliance; pondering if it was all that and a bag of (air-fried) chips i.e. being not entirely convinced it would be better than roasting things in my convection toaster oven; not liking most fried foods anyways; telling myself to “get a ~~fucking~~ grip” on most of my random thoughts on the daily. Meantime, I was studying air fryers…at times, intensely.

OK, I finally caved. My internet “research” led me to this particular make and model.

Pretty small footprint, all things considered.

The first thing I made in my new ~~toy~~ kitchen appliance was sweet potato fries.

Next up – I found a package of chicken wings on sale at the grocery store (and it was the time of the Superbowl – not that I pay attention to sports – but in keeping with the situation…):

Seasoned wings waiting for the air fryer

I also tried my hand at “regular” fries, learning in the process that russet potatoes make the best ones.

A russet potato tossed in a teaspoon of peanut oil and a dusting of salt

Alas, my success with my new ~~toy~~ appliance just couldn’t last. In keeping with Widow Badass tradition, I will let you in on my kitchen failure. I attempted to make a recipe with tofu. Not just any tofu but puffed tofu (something new to moi). My daughter and I had tried a delicious tofu appetizer from Shed, when we were in Tofino earlier last month, and I was hoping to recreate it at home. I found this video, which is a close contender to Shed’s version:

Now I just had to find the elusive tofu puffs.

I also found the mini size, and brought home both kinds.

I tried the mini-puffs first.

Definitely crispy-looking. (I put a piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the air fryer, to make an already easy cleanup even easier.)

Unfortunately I had let them go a bit too long in the air fryer. I was left with candied air, basically. So, let’s try this again…this time with the regular sized puffs:

Assembling the 3 ingredients – well, 4 counting the green onions

Lesson learned. When the YouTuber says to check every 4 minutes while cooking, do as he instructs!

Since I brought the air fryer home, I have used it almost every single day. In addition to the foods featured above, I have also used it to roast asparagus (delish), kabocha squash (delightful), and chicken thighs (crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside). Dare I say it: this could be my new favourite thing in the kitchen. (Sorry, pressure-cooker!) I love how quick it is to add a roasted vegetable to a meal. And using this little guy instead of heating up an oven (even my toaster oven) is much faster and therefore less wasteful of electricity, methinks. Consider me a convert!

That’s what’s on my plate for this month: anything I can cook in my new air fryer!

Please let my co-host Donna or myself know what’s on your plate at your house, in the Comments section of either of our WOYPBC posts (or both, if you are so inclined!). If you are feeling extra chatty 🙂 and have the time, please let me know if you have an air fryer, and what are your favourite tips/tricks/things to cook in one. I’d love to learn more about this wonder appliance and what it can do! Please check out Donna’s delicious March post, here.

Rock on,

The WB

Because You Asked: A Snack Trip to Poland

On February 14, 2022February 17, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, Because You Asked, Good Times59 Comments

A lot of readers were interested in knowing what was in the next (and any subsequent) snack boxes I received with my gift of a subscription to Universal Yums (original post here). I ~~could~~ couldn’t just sample the snacks on my own so I enlisted the help of esteemed snack judge Donna once again, and off we went to Poland (snack-aphorically speaking).

Contents of Poland box, artfully arranged by Donna

First up on the scorecard was Poland’s iconic dark chocolate-covered marshmallow bar. According to the brochure, this is Poland’s most famous confection and the name translates to “an unobtainable delicacy”. We’ll see!

That tasted exactly like you would expect. Maybe it was “unobtainable” and a “delicacy” back in 1936 when it was first created, but it seems pretty average now.

Marshmallow bar sampling. Photo by Donna.

Next, we were guided to a salty snack. Pretzels are Poland’s favourite salty snack, according to the writeup on this one:

Now you’re talking! (Donna and I are both salty snack fans.) Cheese and onion flavoured aka pierogi-flavoured, apparently.

Back to sweet, for taste test #3:

Chocolate-covered gingerbread sticks. I didn’t think this would be such a good pairing.

But I am happy to report that they were quite good! Poles love gingerbread – especially at Christmas time – and their favourite holiday film is *Home Alone*, according to the brochure. KEVIN!!!!!

Next was something that intrigued both Donna and myself:

Too cute to eat…almost! These are considered a national treasure in potato and salty-snack loving Poland.

The next item came from the “yum bag” included in the box: a hard candy – fruit yogurt flavoured.

The bag contained 4 wrapped candies. Two of each variety. Jogusie tasted good but neither of us are hard candy fans (caramels excepted, of course). Seventy three percent of Polish people list yogurt as their go-to dairy snack, and Jogusie yogurt candies were created to “get a yogurt fix on the go”, apparently.

The next sampling I hoped would be good, since I liked the chocolate-covered gingerbread sticks so much:

However, neither of us found anything delicious about this particular snack. Frederic Chopin, however, sang the praises of gingerbread, as described in the brochure. ~~Maybe he should have kept his opinions to music only.~~

Again, I had high hopes for the next offering – it even had a cute wrapper.

It was a disappointment, to say the least. Kinda crispy on the outside and blah on the inside. We’ve both had better caramels and better fudge. Apparently this is Poland’s most popular candy. ~~Can I introduce you to a little thing called “Werther’s”?~~

Last but not least was a milk chocolate bar with a peanut cocoa filling.

I thought it had a nice nutty flavour but Donna was kinda “meh” about this. Manufactured by the company run by Jan Wedel, the “Willy Wonka” of Poland, who also created “the unobtainable delicacy”, seen previously. Jan Wedel was also famous for being a humanitarian by producing food for hungry citizens when the Nazis seized control of Poland’s food for themselves.

Donna, in her ~~snacking~~ judging glory.

Here’s what the finished scorecard looked like:

And here are the Poland box snacks ranked by us, from favourite snack to least favourite snack (LEFT TO RIGHT):

And the winners are…..

Us! Because we got to have a bunch of laughs and spend time together sampling exotic snacks! Photo by Donna

Where in the world will we go next (in terms of snack boxes)? Stay tuned!

Rock (and snack) on,

The WB

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Subscription Box Edition

On February 2, 2022February 1, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, What's On Your Plate76 Comments

At the beginning of January, I received an unexpected delivery of a mysterious package. The outside was decorated with cute symbols of food in red and white and it proclaimed it was from a company called Universal Yums. Curious, I opened it up and looked for some kind of note or explanation as to who sent it but there was nothing to be found inside except some packages of snacks, a score card and a booklet. So I looked at the outside of the package again and there it was, partially obscured by the shipping label.

What a lovely gift, from my good friends back in Ontario: Jonathan and Kenn!!! Clearly the package was supposed to arrive in December, but what with all the weather difficulties and highway closures it couldn’t make it to my door until early January.

Snack contents of the box: popcorn from Taiwan, truffles from France, candies from the UK, “plum” cake from Argentina, baklava from Jordan, and potato chips from another region of France.

As you can see, the December box is a collection of snacks from around the world. The regular monthly boxes contain snacks from one country, only.

Of course, you know I couldn’t just snack (and score) all by myself…so I called someone whose food judgement I trust implicitly.

Donna is clearly taking this project as seriously as I am. 😉 What concentration! What focus!

And so we began. One by one, we carefully sampled each snack and wrote our thoughts down on the scorecard.

I forgot to take a picture of the “plum” cake. Probably because I was pretty pissed it didn’t contain any plums. Imagine a twinkie stuffed with caramel, in lieu of a photo.

And here are the results of our scoring:

Your happy ~~judgy McJudgersons~~ judging panel (photo by Donna).

This was a whole lotta fun. And I get to do it every month for a whole year! Don’t worry, I won’t post it on WOYPBC each month…just this first time. While I was waiting to get together with Donna to do the scoring, my January box arrived:

Hmmm….what country am I going on a snack holiday to, next?

It’s Poland! (Which has bison, apparently…who knew???)

I am so tickled by this subscription. I really love the scoring aspect of it. Something fun to do with friends and family. I think it is both a great idea for a gift to give, and also a joy to receive!

Once again, my co-host Donna and I are using a linkup for people to share their posts on. Please find it here:

Not sure why InLinkz hates me. What have I ever done to it??? If the button doesn’t want to work, you can always join up at Retirement Reflections or try this link HERE.

Of course, you are still more than welcome to let 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 mouth-watering February post, here!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Rock on,

The WB

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Bringing the Sexy Back to Fruitcake Edition

On January 5, 2022January 4, 2022 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, What's On Your Plate89 Comments

Ah, yes! That butt of a lot of Yuletide-themed jokes…the long suffering fruitcake. Gentle readers, you might have suspected that when Donna gifted me with the Canadian Living Christmas Book and I found the bonus mystery recipe stuck within its pages, that a seed had been planted within my wee brain. You see, I am one of those weirdos that actually likes fruitcake…IF it is well-made and aged. Don’t get me started on the ~~crap~~ fruitcake you can purchase at ye olde grocery emporium. It’s dry as dust and made with cheap ingredients – no wonder people don’t like fruitcake if that is what is being served!

I hadn’t made a fruitcake in probably…uh…decades. I haven’t let fear or rusty skills stop me in the kitchen thus far, so shortly after that blog post (and even before my poll closed) I was assembling my ingredients to make not one but two versions of fruitcake for the upcoming festive season – Violet Burke’s and the Canadian Living Christmas Book Light Orange Almond one.

Oh, and thanks for voting on my poll! 52% of you said I should GO FOR IT, when it came to attempting Violet’s recipe. Another 20% said make the Orange Almond; another 23% wanted further investigation into piecaken. And I think 100% were pissed that Black Forest Trifle was not a choice, amiright? 😉

Orange Almond fruit (and nuts) assembled, and ready to be soaked in Grand Marnier overnight prior to baking.

Violet Burke’s fruit mixed and ready to marinate in sherry overnight, prior to baking. (Violet’s recipe did not specify any booze but I FIXED THAT!)

Orange Almond fruitcakes out of the oven.

Violet Burke’s cakes out of the oven. Can I just say that my house smelled amazing for more than a day?

Since late November, I had been giving the cheesecloth-wrapped cakes generous lashings of the same booze I had soaked the fruit with, every couple of weeks. The results speak for themselves:

Violet Burke recipe on the left, and Orange Almond on the right – ready for testing (and voting!) *I’d like to publicly thank the holly bush outside my balcony for contributing to the table decor.*

Closeup of the Light Orange Almond fruitcake

New Year’s Day “judging panel”, including Donna (renowned fruitcake ~~hater~~ critic) behind the camera. Once again, I am rocking the *Canadian cashmere*, just like Christmas Day (different plaid, though). Hmmmm, am I in a (lack of) fashion rut?

More festively-dressed Donna trying the Orange Almond cake. She liked it! After enjoying the New Year’s spread my daughter and I had laid out though, there was absolutely no room for a piece – no matter how small – of Violet’s cake. However…

…Donna was kind enough to send me this photo the next morning – proof she tried (and liked!) Violet’s cake too.

I thought both recipes turned out beautifully – moist and flavourful. However my favourite (and the favourite of the Esteemed Judging Panel) was the Light Orange Almond Cake. (Sorry, Violet!)

The orange almond cake is non-traditional in its citrusy flavour and light colour. The inclusion of the slivered almonds and almond extract in the batter adds a lovely nuttiness that I really appreciated. I think this makes it a great cake for “fruitcake haters and nonbelievers” to try. Both Donna and Richard liked it and said they would definitely eat it again if given the chance, and they also both profess not to like fruitcake. The rest of us already liked fruitcake in general, and we also preferred the light cake.

Violet’s cake was leaning more towards the traditional fruitcake/plum pudding in richness and the addition of the sherry certainly lent it that old-time English fruitcake taste, in my opinion. Definitely a great fruitcake, and definitely head and shoulders above anything store-bought. I think next time I would make it with brandy instead of sherry, and play around with some of the ingredients and add chopped nuts…maybe pecans?

Or maybe I will make Suzanne’s mother’s fruitcake recipe next year instead. Suzanne wrote a lovely blog post recently, in defense of the much maligned fruitcake.

I had so much fun reading your comments about my finding of the Violet Burke recipe. You are so imaginative and creative and some of you really should go into the sleuthing business! Who knew a fruitcake recipe found in a thrifted cookbook would generate such wonderful responses? Certainly, not I.

Blogger and real-life friend Janis was even inspired to write another one of her beautiful short stories; this time about Violet Burke and how her recipe ended up in the pages of the cookbook. You can find it on her blog here. I highly recommend reading it. You might want to have a tissue handy. 😉

Thank you, everyone – for making this ol’ blogger’s heart so happy!

Speaking of Violet’s recipe – here’s what it looks like, now (like a real recipe should):

Donna and I are trying something new this month, for WOYPBC, a linkup!

Fingers (and toes) crossed that it works well, and that people like this way of checking out each others’ WOYPBC posts. (If you don’t like it, it was Donna’s idea. If you do like it, it was our idea. Bwahahahaha!)

Of course, you are still more than welcome 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 January post, here!

Hope you all had a lovely holiday, if you celebrated. And all the best for a happy, healthy 2022!

Rock on,

The WB

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

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

What’s On Your Plate Blog Challenge – Soup Weather Edition

On October 6, 2021October 4, 2021 By Widow BadassIn Adventures in Food, What's On Your Plate41 Comments

Well, the weather outside is not exactly frightful…but it has changed and fall is definitely in the air. At Chez Badass, that means it is that special time of year once again. Oh yeah baby – I’m talking about Soup Weather! I like to make lots of different soups once the weather cools down…and one of my favourites is Lemon Chicken Soup.

I base my soup on this recipe: Yum & Yummer’s Lemon Chicken Soup with Orzo but I use rice instead of orzo and spice it differently ~~because I am lazy like that and I hate bay leaves~~ according to my preferences.

Assembling some of the first ingredients needed, and using the actual recipe for guidance.

Chop onion, carrot, garlic (I use the already minced stuff) and celery and sauté in olive oil until onion is soft and translucent. (I don’t measure. I just chop till it looks like enough, to me.)Then add the seasoning. I like Italian seasoning for my soups. ~~I put that shit on everything.~~ Again, I don’t measure. I just shake it on till it seems like enough. I can always add more later.

Then I prepare the chicken stock. Since I don’t have a big freezer anymore, I no longer have homemade stock on hand. This is the next best thing, I have found.

I usually make about 6 cups worth of bouillon to go into this soup. Then I get to work on the lemon. Best to have it at room temperature – makes it easier to get the juice out ~~or so I’ve been told.~~

Zest BEFORE juicing. I can’t stress this enough. It is so much harder to zest a juiced lemon ~~not that I would know anything about that~~. This recipe calls for 1/4 cup lemon juice. I managed to get just that amount from my lemon.

Cut zested lemon in half and juice that rascal!

Add lemon juice and zest to the soup. Then I add the rice (1/2 cup). I have used brown and basmati, in the past. This time I used arborio, just for a change. You could add whatever starch you like to this recipe. Barley, noodles, potatoes…anything (or nothing) would be good. Go crazy!

Sometimes (like this time) I add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric for colour.

I had previously cooked and chopped up chicken breasts in the freezer, so that got added to the soup.

I took the chicken out of the bag before adding it to the soup. *Just to make that clear.* 😉

Let everybody in the soup pot commingle and get to know each other for about 20 minutes or so while things are simmering.

Did you notice that freshly baked loaf of rustic bread in the table shot? I sure did. I also adjusted the recipe a bit – now I only use 1/4 tsp yeast, add an extra 1/3 cup of flour and let it rise for 18 hours. Even better!

That’s some ooo-ey chewy goodness, right there!

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, to read about the delicious dessert she makes for sharing with friends!

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