Showing posts with label dinner tables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dinner tables. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Canadian Thanksgiving 2013

Whew!
After all that,
we had a wonderful Canadian Thanksgiving meal!

I got to use my new dishes from the
rummage sale.

Menu:
Gravy made with chicken stock and wondra flour.
I turned around for 1 quick second and the gravy was
puffing above the rim of the pan,
I caught it just in time...

Butternut squash soup
with a garnish of pistachio and sage.
I used my soup tureen and
my friend helped bring the soup to the table.
She ladled the first of the soup in the bowls,
just enough that the bottom of the bowl was covered
and so by example showed me how
I can serve a soup as a small beginning portion
to a lovely Thanksgiving Meal.

Roast Chicken
with butter and garlic under the skin,
onion, thyme and garlic stuffed inside
with butter rubbed on outside of skin,
salt and pepper.
These were done the day before and then roasted starting about
5 pm the day of the dinner at 400 F,
as per my 1997 joy of cooking.
Done for about 1.5 hours and then set on
warming in the oven.

Roasted Beets and Carrots.
Done with orange juice and such things at
475 F.  These could of been better
and making them in advance of the chicken
made it more difficult.
They were not bad, the carrots were just a tad
be-raggled.
The stuffing was good,
but I think I would add even more
seasonings next time.

Roses Mr. Husband bought on way home.
Mashed Yukon Gold,
Artisan Bread,
Buttermilk Corn Bread.
Two butters on the table,
1 Gravy.
Next time having two gravy boats on the table will
make it easier so not passing one heavily ladened one.

My Canadian Flag tray and card from a friend! 

I love my new bowls.

We had apple cider,
hard apple cider plain and pumpkin spice.
Cranberry sauce in two bowls with
long spoons.
Recipe so easy ~ on back of cranberry bag:
1 bag cranberries,
two cups water, two cups sugar,
boil for 10 minutes.
Cooled and stored in fridge over night and then set out
a while to bring it back to room temperature. 

It was a lovely time of dining,
fellowship, beauty, wonderful conversation...

I was so proud of the soup.
I think next time I will puree it just a bit longer,
so that it is more smooth.
It was wonderful however. 

The lattice on the apple pie was appreciated.
 
I had to lighten this picture a lot
to have it show up.
Mr. Husband had got me the frozen premade
crusts as I was running out of time
and I ended up balling two of the crusts up and making one
crust in it.  Used another pie crust balled and re-rolled
for the lattice.
I was surprised to hear one of our guests say
it was the best pie crust he's ever had.
I say it is to Mr. Husband's credit.
The apple pie recipe had vanilla in it
but no cinnamon.
Once I realized that, I immediately rectified it and added
generous sprinklings of cinnamon,
as I can't imagine an apple pie without it!
I also ignored the book's recommendation to make
the pie the same day as I it would not work at all with my
Monday cooking schedule.
I made it Sunday evening late at night,
left it out on the counter to cool,
and by late Monday afternoon I put it in the toaster oven
to warm at about 200 F.
The toaster oven does not get that warm and
was prefect for warming the pie.
Mr. Husband topped everyone's pie with French Vanilla Ice Cream.
*
We had three pots of tea:
Original Good Earth for Mr. Husband,
a Orange Spice Green in another, a decaf Earl Grey for myself.
A pot of dark coffee for three guests;
sugar, organic milk, half and half and heavy cream.
I loved being able to offer my guests their choice of tea or coffee.
*
A touching moment for me personally was when
one of our guests sang
O Canada
for me.
*
I found myself being aware of my dear Romanian friends
who had so many dinner parties with me over our
years in Ottawa;
now both they and I are not in Ottawa
but somehow it was almost as if they were there with me
that night...
*
I am grateful for my new friends and
that Mr. Husband and I can have
meals like this one with others in our home.
*
I had all the lampadas lit
and during the day that I was doing all last cooking,
setting the table, etc.,
I was listening to various things...
~Rachmaninoff's vespers
~A recorded life of St. Mary of Egypt
~A CD by Anonymous 4
*
It was a good and peaceful day.
The comments I got on my previous post
about the 2013 Thanksgiving meal saga
were really all uplifting to me.
Thank you.
*
I am slowly making my way as a new wife
of just over 1 year and all of your prayers,
words of wisdom and encouragement,
not to mention cooking and life advice
are all such blessing to me!
*
I thank God for such a wonderful day,
my Mr. Husband, friends near and far
and a wonderful Thanksgiving meal to share.

Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Saturday Lunch ~ Homestyle chicken, pie and salads

My long-time friend from my
undergrad and early Orthodox days
who visited us this Saturday
had given me this lovely cookbook
for our wedding gift.
It was so wonderful to have her at our
wedding and I was so pleased to have her
be with me in the very last days
before I was married.

It is from where she lives now
and her writing inside the book cover
was an additional gift to me.
I remember when Mr. Husband and I
were newly home after our
honeymoon and we went
to our friend's house to get
our wedding gifts that they so graciously
brought home for us.
It included this lovely cookbook.
So... when I knew my friend was coming to see me
I really wanted to make something out of the cookbook
she gave me.
After much reading and paging through the myriad of
wonderful recipes,
I chose
fried chicken with cream gravy.

My friend ended up frying the chicken for us,
using coconut oil.
It was wonderful...
*
We talked about the early dinner parties I had in BC
that she was at and a pork roast recipe that
she had made back in 2003.
*
So for our meal we had:
homemade fried chicken with cream gravy,
basmati rice,

a spinach salad with golden raisins and chèvre
(a creamed goat cheese) with a balsamic and oil dressing,

a fruit salad with Valencia oranges, strawberries
and bananas
with a dressing of sour cream, 1 tbs honey
and 1 tbs orange juice (to taste)

It was really lovely.

I used my fiesta-ware dishes as
they seemed to be the perfect match for a
more southern home-style meal.
Of course when I mentioned this to them,
Mr. Husband was sure to tease me about being a
northerner! :)
So the dessert that we had was wonderful
and made the day before...
the recipe inspiration came from
FB discussions on cream and
this wonderful cookbook with it's
Fresh Strawberry Pie recipe
that I found with Mr. Husband
and a recent library book sale.

Cream cheese happened to be on sale,
I bought an inexpensive organic whipping cream
and on sale organic strawberries.

The cake stand was a special wedding gift.

So I added a lot more cream cheese,
bought a premade graham cracker crust
added a hint of sour cream and some powdered
sugar... beat the cream cheese, whipping cream
and smidgen of sour cream in my
mixer and added powered sugar until it had a
light sweetness to it.

I mashed strawberries in a pan until
it was very juicy, added the sugar and corn starch
after it was boiling, a bit at a time
and when it was thickened,
I let it cool for a long while.
The cream cheese mixture I put down
on the crust a bit on at a time so I did not
ruin the fragile crust,
then added a layer of fresh cut strawberries
and put it in the fridge while the
boiled strawberry mixture cooled on the stove top.
When the mixture was totally cooled,
I put it into on top of the pie.
Note: I actually made TWO pies
but did not double the boiled mixture or the sugar
in this mixture.
I doubled the cream cheese by quite a lot.
3 packages of 8 ounce packages of cream cheese,
plus the whipping cream (did by consistency,
once the cream cheese was a bit easier to mix and
was softened), with powdered sugar (maybe 1/4 cup,
did to taste) added over time.
 
It was very good.
Mr. Husband thankfully had two glass pie plates
and we put the left over pie and second pie
in an insulated bag with
ice packs and it traveled well to our far-away church!
It was loved by all there and
Mr. Husband told someone at our near-by church that
"I make great desserts." :)
*
And that was our meal!
A really lovely one that made enough that
Mr. Husband had it for Saturday dinner
as well.

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Wednesday of my first nor'easter

Well,
we still have power.
We are under a Winter Weather Advisory
until 6 AM.
*
I am hoping and praying that the power stays on
this time...
It's cold out there and we
don't have non-electric heat!


I was struggling a bit earlier today
feeling a bit sad/mopey.
I fought it and talked to one of my
close friends on the phone
while washing dishes
and that really helped a great deal.

And I made two beautiful table settings,
first one for lunch...

I had left over tomato soup...
read a bit more of the biography on
St. Augustine...
it's a very long book...
*
Also started another Madeleine L'Engle novel...


It started snowing in the later afternoon...


I cleaned, cleared and reset the table for dinner,
using my new beautiful red Ukrainian table cloth...
I love it!
It's so cherry!  

Mr. Husband has a bit of a cold
so we had soup for dinner...
it was an enjoyable simple dinner...

It was left over soup that
I had frozen so it was an easy meal to prepare...

Mr. Husband patiently waiting to eat
while I take the last pictures :)


I'm really loving making a beautiful table
and using my bowls and the new blue sauce boat
I was given as well. :)

It was pretty good soup!

The snow is coming down
and the wind gusting...
I really hope we don't lose power again
and that every one's power that is still out
is soon regained!
It is really getting cold out now...

I find a clean table to be so calming...

I lit more candles in prayer
for everyone in the storm...
 
Our little tree outside our window;
Mr. Husband and I note it's progress
as the season and storms are
going on...
so far it is staying strong...
*
I read once that trees are strengthened by storms
(within reason of course)
and that storms can do the same for us if
we let them...
*
I am glad for God's mercy,
that He promises to never leave us
and for the Mother of God's protection...
*
Prayers requested and
thank you so much
for your kind comments and your
prayers during this crazy weeks of weather...
they mean so much to me!
*
Glory to God for all things!
*
I hope to have power in the morning to write here again,
DV (God Willing)....