In December my co-host Donna and I decided to treat each other for Christmas with an experience – Christmas High Tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. We had already tried a couple of high teas closer to home and I knew we would eventually make our way to the Grand Dame of all high teas on the island but didn’t think it would happen so soon. Kudos to Donna for suggesting it and making it happen!
We were kinda excited to make it to the lobby of the hotel. In case there was any doubt.High tea is always served in the upstairs Lobby Lounge. Our table (framed by potted palms and near the grand piano) was waiting for us, candles in the tea warmers already lit.Our server Yousef brought our teas shortly after we made our selections, and instructed us on the use of the tea timer.Yousef also offered to capture the moment of our first sips of tea. My beautiful friend and co-host, Donna.It was a Christmas High Tea, and the sweets tier reflected that beautifully.The savouries were also delicious! These are just a few of them.And the still-warm scone was absolutely amazing with clotted cream and strawberry-vanilla jam.Donna insisted I shoot this proof of her eating Christmas cake. (It was very good and I would have gladly eaten her piece and she could have eaten my chocolate thingy…which I ended up taking home for the kids, along with Donna’s macaron.)
During our 2 hour tea we were treated to piano playing as well as carol singers. Magical! After experiencing uh..overwhelm at the size and quantity of offerings at another high tea, we were pleased to be able to consume almost everything on our tiered tray…it would have been a shame not to; everything was so pretty and delicious!
I remember having high tea at the Empress back in 2003 with my late husband (then boyfriend) and the kids. He kept asking our server for more sandwiches, which were promptly supplied! I suppose this happens, with the men people with larger appetites who partake?I wonder if extra sandwiches would still be provided now, in these different times.
It was the perfect kick-off to the fast-approaching holidays, and with the perfect companion! Of course, we found our way to the hotel’s gift shop after our tea experience, and as well as purchasing some tea and one of those cute tea timers, I found the holy grail this:
I had been looking for a new waffle weave robe for years…ever since the one I had bought on my honeymoon had become threadbare from constant use been retired. SCORE!!! Merry Christmas to me 😉. Thank you, Fairmont Empress!
Please join me and Donna in sharing what’s on your plate! Join the Link Party or let me know in the Comments. I hope you all had a wonderful December however you celebrate (or not)!
I came across a recipe last month that I think is perfect for this month of celebrating, potlucks, and hosting a crowd. It’s pretty easy to make (and make ahead!), can be made vegetarian easily, is gluten-free, is a HUGE amount of food, and tastes even better the next day! What’s not to love?!
Without further ado, I give you:
Riso al Forno recipe
I made this recipe AS IS (I know…who am I?!?!) for the first go-round but I am already planning to make it again with more and different vegetables added in…and maybe (spoiler alert!) cut the recipe in half next time 😉.
The meat sauce, ready to go!Assembled casseroles!!! If you watch the video, you will see that he makes ONE dish out of all the ingredients. I had so much food prepared, I needed to use a second casserole dish for the overflow!!! (Not a bad problem to have if you have the freezer/fridge space, though!) Sadly, Robert Plant the Fridge (he’s my tall cool one 😎) could not accommodate all this bounty so off to my daughter’s I went with it.Out of the oven.What’s On My Daughter’s Plate.Closeup of all that comforting Italian delicious-ness!
This recipe is a KEEPER, in my books anyways.
As always, my co-host Donna and I are looking forward to seeing what’s been on your plates! Please check out Donna’s post where she transforms one of my garden squash into a delectable meal. Here is how to get to the link up party…and/or feel free to let me know in the Comments!
The second Monday of October has been designated (since 1957) as the day Canada officially celebrates and gives thanks for the annual harvest. Although it has been recognized as an annual holiday since 1879, there wasn’t an official date to celebrate before then and sometimes it was celebrated in November instead of October. I don’t know if we ever shared the same date as American Thanksgiving however we did adopt their customs of making the meal centre around turkey, pumpkin pie, and squash!
This year’s Thanksgiving was even more special to me because it included some food that I had grown or harvested myself (which I am truly thankful for!) AND because it included a special cranberry relish made by my challenge co-host, Donna. Donna and Richard were able to join us at my daughter’s house for this special meal (another in the long list of things I am thankful for!)
Donna’s delicious cranberry relish (photo stolen from by Donna)
Kabocha squash (aka buttercup; aka Japanese pumpkin) is hands-down my favourite squash. This was my first year attempting to grow it and for some reason I had it in my mind that it was difficult to grow, or maybe that it couldn’t be grown in my climate. I’d only even seen imported kabochas in the grocery store and never seen it at farmers’ markets either so I had incorrectly surmised this. Thankfully I found some seed and took a chance, anyways! The plants ended up almost taking over my garden, like some kind of alien life force 🤣.
Kabocha squash spreading like the tentacles of an octopus all over the garden. Clearly not difficult to grow!Most of this year’s kabocha squash harvest. One of these beauties ended up on the Thanksgiving table.
Another item featured in our harvest celebration was the blackberry! We had as a family gone blackberry picking on several occasions in August, and some of this hard-earned bounty ended up being featured in a trifle.
Blackberries from my freezer. I think most of the scars on my legs and arms from the harvesting of these have faded by now 😩 😉.Blackberry jam made by my talented son-in-law being spread on the sherry-soaked cake as part of the assembly process for the trifle. The name on the jar says it all.
And here are some shots of the harvest feast:
Some of the dishes on the breakfast bar – turkey, stuffing, Donna’s relish, mashed potatoes, roasted brussel sprouts with pancetta, kabocha squash. Photo by Donna. What was on our plates! Photo by Donna.Ready to enjoy this feast! Photo by Donna.My blackberry trifle and a fantastic pumpkin pie from the Wild Poppy (a delightful gluten-free bakery in town), for our harvest celebration dessert.
Bonus content: Last month there was some fun discussion in the Comments about my drawer of shame. I thought I would include a photo, so you have a visual…
A chaotic, chronic mishmash of mostly useful kitchen gadgets. STILL not organized.For contrast and comparison, this is the drawer above the Drawer of Shame. Much more civilized.
That’s it for me for this month. As always, please join in the fun in the Comments section and/or join the Link Party.
Well! This month came and went in a flash as evidenced by the lack of journal entries AND lack of progress on my To-Do list for September:
As you can see, I did take a stab at a few things, and they were mostly of the big and multi-layered variety…🙄
In my defense, my TV died suddenly at the beginning of the month and that got me to thinking all sorts of thoughts…like:
Do I even want to replace it if it can’t be repaired? (at this moment it looks like it is repairable)
If it can be repaired do I want it back in the same spot, in my studio space? (the answer is no)
If I move it, then that opens up all kinds of possibilities in the 2 main living spaces in my place. (at the moment, I am planning on turning a closet into a “cloffice”, freeing up more space for other things in my studio/guest space aka The Everything Room 😁)
Why am I piling even more projects on my To-Do list?!?!?!
Also, I received much-anticipated guests at my place part-way through the month (and we had a blast whilst together, so much so that I don’t have any pictures of what was on my plate during this time).
All of this to say: I was relying on past favourite recipes – my tried and trues – to feed myself and my houseguests.
Such as Greek potatoes and Air Fried Chicken. Both were received very well. I also made a killer beef roast in the slow cooker…no recipe, really. Just brown the meat (blade roast or cross-cut rib is best), then throw it in the slow cooker with beef broth, fresh ground pepper, lots of garlic, generous lashings of Worcestershire sauce, and let cook on low for at least 8 hours.
That’s it for me for this time! Pardon me as I have a free fireplace mantle to paint (more on that coming up on the blog if it turns out OK).
I would love to read what you’ve been eating, in the Comments. And please join my co-host Donna as she managed to put together a delicious dish in her challenging month as well!
Here is the Link Up party link, should you care to visit there:
Joanne and I returned from our fabulous trip to the west coast of the island (read about it here and here) to find this:
How do zucchini grow so fast in such a short time?!?! Rhetorical question – I know it is just their thing, to explode in size when your back is turned.
We decided to make a quick lunch, from this and other bounty from the garden. With the help of these and a can of pizza sauce:
Miracle product! Add a little pizza sauce, a little shredded mozzarella and you’ve got lunch!
I had made some quick refrigerator pickles from my pole bean bounty, before Joanne’s arrival.
And Joanne made a quick little zucchini salad using olive oil, vinegar, garlic…and oregano and chives from my garden.
Joanne’s plate – with an almost basic Margherita pizza (she added some shredded salami) – the basil came from my gardenMy plate – basically the same except I added a cremini mushroom to my pizza and decided against the salami.A quick and delicious al fresco lunch. With the clothes from our recent trip freshly laundered and drying in the background 🤭.
That’s it for me! And Donna is off hiking in Portugal with her husband, so no Link Party this month. She wrote about what was on her plate here before she abandoned me left.
Please let me know in the Comments what was on your plate this past month! As always, I look forward to them.
All of this stuff is happening around Chez Badass, all at the same time. The weather has been hot and super sunny, the garden is going gangbusters, the grandkids are here, nature is calling, the wild berries are ripening, AND I am undergoing some long awaited renovations (of my 2nd bathroom and my entryway). Whew!
What’s a gal to do, with all this mayhem happening ALL at the same time? Turn to the pantry (or in this case, her daughter’s pantry 😉), that’s what to do!
I had some long-suffering frozen shrimp thawing in the fridge and we combined that with a jar of sauce, some frozen mango chunks, chopped onions, and these babies:
Fresh picked pole beans from my backyard!Languishing jar of sauce, from my daughter’s pantry. I’ve been disappointed by jarred sauces before, so my expectations were non-existent low.Simmering it all together. Looking (and smelling) good so far!Dear Readers, it was unexpectedly amazingly delicious. The fam came trooping through the back garden gate – lured by the pleasing aromas wafting from the kitchen – and everyone enjoyed this hastily put together masterpiece! Now, please excuse me while I make an emergency run to the store to pick up more sauce…🤣.
So that’s it for me, for this month! Please join my co-host Donna (she lost the golf game but won at dinner!) and me in sharing what’s been on your plate lately!
Here’s the Link Party deets if you care to join the party that way:
Donna came over to my house last month (surprise, surprise), one of several visits actually. I forget why or what we were doing this particular time but I don’t forget what I made for lunch! Or was it supper?! 🤣
My daughter had served me this meal previously, and I not only thought it delicious but perfect for my mostly-vegetarian friend and co-host. Here is the recipe: Instant-Pot Mujadara.
I would describe this lentil and rice dish as comfort food that is easy to prepare, and quite healthy (as opposed to most comfort foods 😉). I think you could spice it up easily, if you wanted. For my first time making it (don’t you love how I make my guests my guinea pigs?), I made and served it exactly as the recipe stated. I don’t know who I am anymore either. I made it the day before so there would be less time in the kitchen and more Donna-time.
Lentils soaking.My favourite brand of brown rice, measured out and ready for the rice cooker.Sauteing the onions for almost 30 minutes. I stopped at about 21 minutes as I was afraid they would start to burn. Also, I was damn sick of hovering over the pot and constantly stirring.Looking plenty caramelized to me!Reserving half the onions for a topping.Finished dish – ready to go in the fridge, for heating and serving the next day.Plated with yogurt, lemon, and salad. Fresh herbs from my garden top the salad, and the mint leaves came from there too!Donna approves of this meal. She even had seconds!
That’s what was on my plate in June! I’ll be adding this recipe to my repertoire, especially for the colder months. Please join Donna and myself in sharing what was on yours, either in the Comments or via the Link party (if you wish to link your blog post).
Last month I had a good friend come to visit me (and attend a work conference in Victoria, but yeah let’s say the main reason was to visit me 😉). Kalena invited me to come down to Victoria with her, and amuse myself while she was busy doing the conference thing. As I am easily amused, there could only be one response: HELL YES. So this month’s post is going to be about that time, and some of the wonderful things we ate and drank during her visit.
We made sure that a stop at The Butchart Gardens (enroute to Victoria) happened!
Ready to visit The Butchart Gardens! Taking the Mill Bay ferry across the inlet.It was gently raining when we first arrived. Luckily the gardens have umbrellas conveniently placed throughout, for just these occasions!This is easily the most photographed view of Butchart Gardens – overlooking the sunken garden.Not a bad place to hang out and refuel after touring the gardens! Sitting down to nosh at the restaurant at the Butchart Gardens.We split the tea tray, which was just perfect for our lunch! (That’s the Italian Garden in the background.)
We had several memorable lunches while Kalena was on a break from conference-ing (is that a word?) but my favourite meal was actually at the hotel (Marriott Inner Harbour). It was a meal for me, but a snack for Kalena as she had a gala dinner to attend!
Of course we had to start with a drink. Cocktail hour at the Marriott in Victoria. Kalena chose a glass of wine while I decided on something fancy-shmancy, for a change! There could be no other choice, for me. It was amazingly delicious!I had to order this cocktail. With a name like “The Butchart Garden”, how could I not?The top view: a work of art!Kalena: looking like a gorgeous model for a fancy lifestyle magazineDelicious charcuterie plate, at the Marriott Inner Harbour in Victoria. Kalena could only nibble at it due to the gala dinner awaiting her, but I happily chowed down. I could eat charcuterie for dinner every day!
After the conference, we had only 1 full day before Kalena had to fly back home. We decided Cathedral Grove and Goats on the Roof were two good ways to spend it.
The goats were putting on a show that day. Nice and close to the edge. At Goats on the Roof aka Old Country Market, in Coombs.What’s that, Kalena? Something about standing in the danger zone?!?!Caution stickers, available for purchase at Goats on the RoofDining al fresco for the first day of “patio season” at Cuckoo’s Italian restaurant in Coombs (behind Goats on the Roof.)Cocktail – Aperol spritz. Not too sweet and plenty refreshing!Appetizer – spicy meatballsOur lunch at Cuckoo’s. I had the Cuckoo pizza, and Kalena had a pasta dish – some kind of shells stuffed with cheese (forget what it was called, sorry…but the leftovers of both tasted great the next day!).
I think I gave Kalena a good enough “taste of the island” that she will come back to visit me again 😉. I know that I certainly enjoyed myself!
That’s what was on my plate in May! Please join Donna and myself in sharing what was on yours, either in the Comments or via the Link party (if you wish to link your blog post). Note: When this post goes live I will be traveling by plane to Ontario for a very quick visit to my hometown so please forgive me as I may be tardy in replying or visiting your blogs.
I probably should have titled this “What’s In My Glass” as there is nothing to put on a plate in this post, but here we go…
I have been pretty busy lately with my backyard. Buying and assembling together patio furniture; buying patio stones and sand; buying plants, mulch, soil and wood chips…and now I am at the stage of implementing my grand vision for the space. And this involves a lot of dirty, sweaty labour. That means I don’t feel like spending much time in the kitchen. But a gal’s gotta keep her strength up, ya know?!?!
Bowser supervises my work in this garden bed.
It’s protein smoothies to the rescue! I am no stranger to protein powders – been using them for years – however I have never found them to be all that good at keeping my hunger at bay. But recently I tried a pre-mixed protein drink and it’s ability to keep me satisfied for hours and “going” in the garden has been nothing short of amazing to me. Thank you, Premier Protein!
The basic start to this protein smoothie.Today’s add-ins: frozen baby spinach, collagen powder (for my aching joints 😉), Vitamin D oil (for my sun-starved hide), peanut butter (for my soul and taste buds 😁). I like to pack in as much spinach as I dare.Sometimes I add some ice to make it thicker and colder. Using ice from the cute silicone cube tray I scored as a freebie at Ye Olde Libations (Liquor) Store.Blending it all together. Please excuse the state of my manicure. Yard work…what can I say? 🤷♀️Finished peanut butter shake – Delicious! (With a many-year’s-old bubble tea straw I kept and keep re-using.) I don’t taste the spinach. Just a salty sweet peanut buttery glass of refreshment!This meal drink snack drink is a lifesaver for when you can’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen for whatever reason. Back to the garden-in-progress!
That’s it for me for this month. Please check out Donna’s post where she presents a feast for the eyes, from her recent trip to visit her son in Hong Kong. Looking very much forward to your comments!
My lovely co-host – Donna – has abandoned me taken a short blogging break so it’s just me this month running this show. It’s spring on Vancouver Island and I am out of doors as much as possible, gardening and walking/playing with my granddog, Bowser. This means I need a quick and hearty breakfast to power me through till lunch. Steel-cut oats to the rescue!
I came across an online recipe years ago for cooking steel-cut oats in the pressure cooker. I know the recipe by heart now, so forgive me please: I’ve forgotten the source.
I apologize in advance for how boring this post will be, photographically-speaking (if not in its entirety).
Here goes (serves 5):
1.25 cups steel-cut oats
3.75 cups water
Pinch of salt
Place in electric pressure cooker. Stir to mix. Close lid. Cook on high for 13 minutes. Let the pressure come down naturally. Open lid. Stir and serve.
That’s it.
JUST KIDDING. Of course I add all kinds of stuff to this recipe!
Oats plus embellishments before adding the water.
This time I added raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg. In past versions I have added embellishments such as dates, apricots, apples, nuts, tumeric (thank you Jonathan for that tip!)…you are only limited by your imagination! Ooooh – what about shredded carrots for a carrot cake oatmeal?!?!
Just finished.I scoop out one serving for the day’s breakfast into my bowl, and put the rest into a container and then into the fridge for future breakfasts.Breakfast is served! With even more embellishments: fresh berries and peanut butter. You can add whatever you like to your bowl – in the past I’ve added other items such as Greek yogurt, milk, maple syrup, honey, fresh fruits in season, protein powder, that almond butter that you are so over etc., etc.
And the next day, when you are in a hurry to get outside?
Easy to cut and serve the next dayJust pop into the microwave to heat up
Now, doesn’t that look better than ripping open a packet of instant oatmeal? I think so. And it tastes better too. Dare I say it’s better for you?
Well, dear readers – I look forward to your comments and seeing what’s on your plate this month. Before she went on break (literally seconds before), Donna did the InLinkz thingy for me as I am so over it refuse to fight with it any longer. Fingers crossed (as usual), that it works for you.
