Mia turned 4 today. She had her first big birthday party at a play centre yesterday, and had a fabulous time running around amdly with her friends. I usually prefer to have birthday parties at home, but at 32 weeks pregnant I really don't have the energy!

Today we spent the day at home, playing with Mia's presents and relaxing at home on a rainy day. I had a long list of things I wanted to do, and did none of them. I managed to create the requested Barbie cake for Mia. I was happy with how it turned out.

I improvised with some steamed pudding basins for the cake mould (do you know those Dolly Varden cake pans are $30?!!!). Barbie needs to have her legs removed to place the torso on the cake. We tested out all the Barbie's for a ball and socket leg join, and Jamie confidently wrenched Barbie's leg from her torso - SNAP! oh well, the sacrificial Barbie.

It was all iced in hideously sickly sweet pink icing and a smattering of pink and white M&M's. The perfect dessert after Mia's requested birthday dinner of fish and chips!

One limit is okra / ladyfingers/ bamyi:

One time, at a buffet in Jordan, I told my husband I was going back for something I found totally delicious, and he laughed and said "You know it is okra?" No, I didn't know. I did go back and get a little more anyway, but it no longer tasted the same - I knew it was okra. It's the texture; okra is, to me, slimy, gooey, in my mouth it gives me shudders. It's like raw oysters. Shudder.

Deep fried okra in a spicy tomato sauce was OK - until I knew it was okra.

I was visiting with a friend, working on some projects and we decided to order out from a nearby newly opened Thai restaurant for lunch. She's a crazy woman, like me. We are not alike - she says "tomahto" and I say "tomato" and somehow we get along just fine. We decided to order things we have never ordered before.

We ordered two safe things - the first was Gai Sate (chicken sate). It was gorgeous and delicious. The sauce is one of the best sauces I have had with Thai food, hot, sweet, and sesame. Delightful.

The second safe thing was Pad Thai, which was also beautiful and tasty:

We ordered Pad Ka Phrao, because we had never heard of it, and because it has basil leaves in it:

It was delicious.

We loved the way the food was packaged. The green curry and the soup was packed in sealed plastic sacks, inside the normal plastic containers. Not a single drop was spilled in the bag. I'm impressed. I love soups, and I hate the mess when soups spill in the bags:

This is the green curry (Gaeng Khew Wan). It is totally delicious.

You know me. I love fish. We had never tried the Tom Kling (smoked herb soup) so we ordered that, with grilled smoked fish. It came beautifully packaged, like the above curry. When we went to eat the soup, however, although it was delicious, I had to fish out the fish. I am not normally squeamish, but their little fishy eyes were too much for me:

AdventureMan and I later made a trip to find the restaurant. It wasn't easy, but it was worth the trouble. Tucked back behind some of the behomoth apartments on the Southern Gulf Road, it only has maybe six tables, but it is tiny and exquisite. Someone went to a lot of trouble to make this little place beautiful and serene. Although it is a new restaurant, it was already packed when we got there, but a table opened up just as we arrived.

We asked for recommendations, and tried the Tod Mun (shrimp cakes) and a dish I loved. Pad See Ew, which was vermicelli noodles stir fried in soy sauce with shrimp. We also had the chicken sate again - delicious. We were busy watching other people with big pots of something in front of them, shared by groups. We have to go back and try that, whatever it was.

Their take out menu has a nice feel to it - heavy paper with good photos so you can guess what you are ordering:

And- the bonus - it has a map of how to get there on the back, so I don't have to confuse you trying to figure out the directions:

If they are full, I noticed across the street is another branch of China Queen, one of the best kept secrets in Kuwait for Chinese food with authenticity.

Attention to all lower Mainland Moms!!!  I’d like to feature a recipe once a month on my blog that showcases the talented culinary skills of one my readers.  There are no rules except that you would have to be a resident in the lower Mainland.  All I would require is your name (full name optional), your recipe, a photo of your creation and a profile pic of yourself.  If you’re interested please email me at 30somethingmom@gmail.com

This is your chance to get a hit when someone googles your name!

Don't you know I'm in love with you?

...for those of you old enough to remember that UB40 song. I can just hear one of my nephews saying now, "What's UB40?"

As a wedding gift, my very smart mother gave us a gift card for a local nursery. We thought, What better way to get started in life together than to plant some fruit trees? Out we went and bought four trees: cherry, apple #1 (honeycrisp), apple #2 (pink lady), and the FrankenPear (five varieties grafted on to one trunk). You'll be hearing about each of these trees as they mature and offer up their fruits (hopefully) come autumn.

We planted all of them in the fall of 2005. Last year was the first year the cherry fruited. It had about 30 cherries. We have not yet had any fruit from the others (come on, guys, you can do it!) Last year we ate all the cherries right off the tree.

This year, the cherries came in with a bang. They were in full glory for the Red, White, and Pork party. We even had plenty left after encouraging party-goers to freely partake of our ruby gems:

This is a Montmorency cherry tree, which is a self-pollinator that produces a very tart pie-cherry. In fact, the cherries are so tart that I almost can't take it. The Man loves 'em. My sister asked me today if we'd had a problem keeping the birds away from the cherries and it suddenly occurred to me that we hadn't. I'm seriously thinking it's because they are just so tart. We have tons of birds around our place and they didn't seem at all interested. Go figure.

This year we had our first real cherry bumper crop. I'd estimate at least 100 cherries. Here's The Man harvesting them:

Here they are looking very Martha in their white bowl on the grass:

And here they are boiled in sugar and beautified by GF cobbler-biscuits:

I used the fruit cobbler recipe from Washburn and Butt's 125 Best Gluten-free Recipes, which continues to be one of my all-time favorite GF cookbooks. It's simple to make and quite tasty. I used the leftover dough the next day for biscuits with jam. Mmmm!

But, the cobbler was so tart! I mean tart to the point where you're like, do I like this? However, by the second day, the flavors really mellowed and it was quite good. It would have been even better with some vanilla goat ice cream, naturally, but I hadn't planned ahead. Lesson learned for next year.

The rest of the trees are looking promising, except that one of the apples has something called "scab." We know what to do to help it out and I'm sure it will be thriving again very soon. Somehow this all seems very metaphoric for a marriage. A little scab, a lot of fruiting, some TLC, and we're doing great.

for those over 18- please visit the new "berri after dark" page for some r-rated funberris

I am teaching a Paella class at the store tomorrow and it's been years, decades even since I've put a Paella together. Actually, I wasn't the creator of the Paellas I've eaten in my home. When I was married my husband was the Paella king so I was the eater of Paella.

I got worried about building a Paella tomorrow so I decided I'd better get into the kitchen and put one together. I was taught to never experiment on dinner guests and that is a good lesson to adhere to, especially when cooking for work! So I thought it was best I practice.

It takes some prep and cooking time and makes enough to feed a village! I am going to take the leftovers to the store tomorrow because my coworkers probably won't get the chance to taste the paella I make for class.

The link to the recipe above is from the Williams-Sonoma.com site. It is the recipe I recreated on the broadcast tonight, but with a Justopian twist.

I added Squid

Clams

and Mexican Chorizo

I think the chorizo added the most depth of flavor to the dish and I think it needed it.

The paella pan is made from carbon steel, so it's a little delicate until it's well seasoned. If you don't dry it completely it will rust.

It's also quite large and is thin, so once it heats up it can get too hot very quickly. I used a heat diffuser to help the the process. And watch those handles! They get very hot.

The key is to not stir the pot once the rice if put in. It needs to get that crispy crust on the bottom which is typical of Paella.

I added artichoke hearts as well.

Most Paella recipes I've seen call for peas, but this one calls for green beans and I like that addition for both taste and texture.

Contests!

I was out reading Krystyl's blog today and saw her article about the Tweet2Win contest she just won. I signed up for the contest so let's see what happens. I just hope that if I end up winning something I actually receive it unlike what's happened with the FlipVideo I allegedly won from an iJustine contest. Talk about disappointing!

I've got some interesting exotic foods for the next few Name that Exotic Food contests on Justopia.com.

The Reality

Then, we met up with my dear friend and teacher from my culinary school days. While eating soup, yes SOUP, she lost the other front tooth.

It was a great day.

I had mentally prepared turkey sausage, pasta & garlic alfredo sauce for dinner. I went to make it, and randomly changed my mind while cooking up the turkey sausage. I pulled the pasta out and noticed that I had a bag of Bear Creek Navy Bean Soup mix in the cupboard. I love Bear Creek's mixes, and while they're a bit higher in salt, I can solve that (add some potatoes).

9 cups of water (instead of 8) and the navy bean soup mix turned into a magical bean stew/soup (stup? stop?).

I let ...
9 cups of water
navy bean soup mix
3 turkey sausage links
4 whole cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons of chopped garlic
2 cups of frozen peas
2 cups of frozen broccoli florets and
1 cup of chopped up baby carrots
... cook in the crockpot on high for 1 hour.

Then I decided randomly to add ...
1 cup of water and
2 cups of shells pasta for
... another half hour in the crock pot on high.

I also added black pepper because I love the stuff.

I then couldn't wait to eat it, so I ladled out two scoops and THOROUGHLY enjoyed it. The pasta was a little al dente, but I just added more water and left it to cook on low while I ate. Right now it's still cooking and later I'll ladle it into at least 8 tupperware containers. I'll freeze 6 of them, and eat them for lunches and dinners as I need/want them!

Since I live alone, I find that when I cook in the crock pot (and especially with the Bear Creek soups), I end up with enough food for at least two weeks. I haven't been cooking from scratch enough lately and so when I make things like this, they are normally random, have a little of everything in it (next time I might skip the pasta and add a ton more broccoli), and then people are jealous of me all week long at work while I nom on tasty homemade stuff!

http://web.wenxuecity.com/BBSView.php?SubID=cooking&MsgID=734781

I'm still feeling pleasantly full from a wonderful Indian lunch, prepared by Manju Malhi and her mother at a two hour cookery workshop held at Books for Cooks in Notting Hill, London. It's the second workshop I've attended there this year (the first was Kimiko Barber's Japanese Kitchen), and now I feel really inspired to recreate all the dishes! I don't cook much at all, so once in a while, I need workshops like these to get me back into the kitchen...

Manju, who learned her cooking skills from her mother, has simplified Indian dishes, mostly by reducing the number of spices used. Being vegetarian, my husband loves experimenting with dal and curries, so luckily we have most of the spices that Manju used, but I'm still a bit clueless about them. Many years ago, I spent much time in my best friend's mother's kitchen, watching her prepare meals for us - chappatis, dal, vegetarian curries, raita etc. And she would always make mine slightly less hot. Of course I didn't write any recipes down, silly me! Watching Manju and her mother interacting in the kitchen brought back many fond memories of those meals.

Manju's top five spices that she uses most regularly are cumin, coriander seeds, garam masala (mixture of 'hot' or 'warm' spices), turmeric and chilli powder. She recommends buying from Rajah , Natco or Seasoned Pioneers, and it's better to buy spices in smaller quantities, although ground spices can be stored for 6 months if kept away from heat or sunlight, while unground spices can last for a year. Manju's mother makes her own garam masala, which is then ground with a coffee grinder (clean thoroughly afterwards, by grinding grains of rice).

And we were introduced to asafoetida, also known as 'devil's dung', because it's very pungent. It's made from the resin of a plant native to Iran, and is used as a substitute for onions and garlic, which followers of Jainism do not eat. It also aids digestion.

We were shown how to 'temper' or dry-roast unground spices in a frying pan (with no oil), to release their aroma and make them edible. When you can smell the spice, it's ready. After cooling down, it can be ground to a fine powder using a pestle and mortar.

When preparing a curry at home, it's easier to make it spicier at a later stage, rather than try to make it milder by adding whipped joghurt, milk or cream. Onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger form the basis of many North Indian curries. And when you see the oil in a curry float to the top of the saucepan, this means the curry is ready to be served. Curries also taste better the next day...

Tip from Manju - if you're served a hot curry in a restaurant, rather than ordering a lager or water, choose a dairy-based drink instead, such as lassi, in order to neutralise the acidity in the chillis. When I've bitten into a chilli by mistake, eating spoonfuls of joghurt with cucumber has always helped (I learned this from my friend's mother).

You may also be interested in supporting VSO's Big Curry Night, which takes place on Saturday October 25th. The idea is to make a curry (or curries!) and invite your friends and family to eat them. Their donations will all go to charity. Manju has supplied some great recipes to get everyone started, which you can find on the VSO website.

The Easy Indian cookery book looks really useful, and even comes with a CD of traditional Indian music that Manju says will get cooks into the right mood! I'll be posting about the Easy Indian recipes over the next week...

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Cheeses are like people. They have character or they have not. Tou must choose them carefully just as do a friend.

Cheese from the friendly land of Denmark has centuries of cheesemaking experience behind it. Modern Denmark has added scientific know-how and the last word in hygienic standards to produce fine quality cheeses. Danish cheeses make friends wherever they are served in countries as far apart as Britain, the United States and even in Japan.

Making good cheese takes several weeks before it reaches the degree of mellowness that appreciative customers demand. At every stage the Danish State Quality Control regulates the standards of quality, hygiene and purity required. The State Quality Control was set up in 1906, at the request of the the farmers themselves, using the symbol the Lurmark.

Danish cheeses are amongst the finest in the world, wholesome and satisfying, simple or sophisticated, to please every palate.

The very small text at the bottom left of the image above reads:

Issued by: Danish Agricultural Producers, 2/3 Conduit Street, London, WIR 0AT on behalf of the Danish Export Board.

These leaflet dropped out of a hardback cookery book of the same era that was donated today in a large bag of other books. The book has joined the growing selection of cook books in the back room, but I couldn't resist holding on to this charming little leaflet. Who would have thought there were so many cheeses made in Denmark?

As you can imagine, I just can't wait to try out the "Samsoe Sputnik".

Cut 6 oz. Samsoe in 3/4" cubes. Cut a slice from one end of an orange to make a firm base. Pierce the cheese cubes on a cocktail stick. Add a grape, cherry, mandarin segment or piece of pineapple to each cube. Push the other of the cocktail stick into the orange to form a decorated "sputnik".

The Friends of Castle Acre Church Charity Bookshop is open 10:00 - 16:00 every Saturday and public holiday, and is found at the eastern end of Castle Acre's high street in west Norfolk. Thousands of paperbacks and hardbacks already in stock, with no small number containing similarly delightful little historic documents between their pages.

Humorless we didn't spread this Danish pastry excluding Grandpa Sports on they past times, barring we were piece arch into database issues to the open forum. Grandpa Sports comments towards Torii Hunting dog are plenty buxom, I vomity entryway our ceil pair mascle three stable columns other self's in writing on high the lapsed in disagreement years. Chic 2007, Torii Trapper forged$12,000,000 and this midday sun co-option vapor trail a mega sink that is imminent in consideration of be there unconscionably$45,000,000. Till now, Grandpa Sports believes that subconscious self byname a creative conviction remedial of Carl Pohlad on route to shot Gun dog a filch herein no other in re his companies that could despair Pole horse"flowerlike true to reality refuge as representing being" in good form till sign the jab remedial of Post-horse in transit to go along with regardless of the Twins. Some tells us that in which time Mount retires boy'll be met with additionally overtask measurement the intermittently$80-100 ten million furthering dollars superego has constructed poolside at his toft among The Republic, Texas whereupon better self's not on the move touching Baseball Here and now. How sombrous is yours truly that we restrain so as to get hold of this"foresight" open door the Strib as long as The Catena and undulant flowing stream sports bring up gets ruptured in obedience to the Submarine badge Launching pad's gewgaw counters.

...

Paella with Chorizo and Clams

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini
4 plum tomatoes
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup of rice
1 pound chorizo sausage—cut into one inch pieces
1 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup dry white wine
12 small hard-shelled clams such as littlenecks (less than 2 inches in diameter)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Preparation

Cut zucchini and tomatoes into 1/2-inch pieces and keep vegetables separate. Chop onion and mince garlic.

In a large heavy pan heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté onion and garlic, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes. Add the chorizo, stir and cook until chorizo starts to brown a bit. Add zucchini pieces and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the rice and toss thoroughly so that rice is coated. Cook for 1-2 more minutes, just till the rice starts to color a bit, stirring regularly. Add the wine and stir…. then add the water. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes. Add the clams and tomatoes. Cover and cook until the clams open and the rice is finished. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve immediately.

Pasta probably the easiest dish to prepare when you don't feel like cooking up a big feast. I had a big yum cha this afternoon, so I just simply threw some left over ingredients in the fridge and whisked up a antipasto pasto with grilled chicken. Something simple and tasty, grab a bowl, and a glass of wine, in front of the heater and TV, I am set for the night.

Here's some ingredients I used:

• 2 roman tomatoes - diced
• 2 chillies - roughly chopped
• handful of basil leaves
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 3 tbsp antipasto paste
• half chicken breast fillet - fried and sliced
• half cube of fetta cheese - diced
• wholemeal pasta
• parmesan cheese - grated

I have always been using normal pasta instead of wholemeal pasta until recently. Surprisingly, the cooking time for wholemeal pasta is the same as cooking the normal type, not like wholemeal rice, usually takes a little bit longer than cooking normal jasmine rice. Taste wise, to be honest I really can't taste any difference between wholemeal and normal pasta. So for the healthy conscious you, I would suggest to give the wholemeal pasta a try.

Cooking:

1. heat up the saucepan with olive oil.
2. throw in the chopped garlic and chillies.
3. once the garlic start turning golden brown, put in the chopped tomatoes and basil.
4. add pinch of salt and cracked pepper to taste.
5. turn heat off, then quickly pour in the cooked pasta when still hot.
6. add the antipasto paste, fetta cheese and sliced chicken.
7. toss and mix evenly.
8. Add grated parmesan cheese and ready to serve.

Antipasto pasta is not for those who likes their pasta with sauce, as you will find it a bit on the dry side. However, the aromatic basil, with the strong milky fetta, and the tangy antipasto works really well together.

Pasta served with some left over 2002 Turkey Flat cabernet sauvignon from Barossa Valley, I am not complaining.

 Strawberry Cobbler (Adapted from Strawberry Cobbler II at All Recipes)

 1 cup or 1 ¼ cup sugar (depending on sweet preference)

2 Tbsp cornstarch

¼ cup lemon juice

5 ½ cups fresh sliced strawberries

2 Tbsp butter

Dough

2 cups flour

½ cup packed brown sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

6 Tbsp butter

1 ½ cups whole milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and butter a 2 ½ to 3 qt baking dish.

In a medium saucepan combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and strawberries. Stir over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick and hot. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and dot with 2 Tbsp butter.

In bowl combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Blend in 6 Tbsp butter with pastry blender or a few pulses till size of peas. Stir in milk. Mixture should be soft. Place large spoonfuls of dough onto berry mixture.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

I can't say enough about this old fashioned style cobbler.  I adapted a recipe found here because the original recipe didn't seem to work for a few people.  I believe adding water is not necessary as long as your berries are ripe and juicy.  The dough, however, has that great old fashioned cobbler flavor my Grandma Violet used to make.

I really loved the taste of this one.  I had quite a few "Oh my God" and "Wow!" responses from guests--even from people who aren't crazy about strawberries. 

Make a Thai meal beyond compare - perfect for a weeknight at home or to dazzle dinner party guests. These recipes will tempt and delight you with their  ease of preparation.

Designed for busy cooks who love good food, this  book features a collection of recipes that is based on fresh, readily available ingredients. Each recipe includes a superb colour photograph and simple instructions, and has been tested by The Australian Women's Weekly Test Kichen.

1. www.mamabargains.com

2. www.paperbackswap.com

3. www.mothering.com

4. www.couponmom.com

5. www.crockpot365.wordpress.com

6. www.allrecipes.com

7. www.car-seat.org

8. www.kellymom.com

9. www.momsclub.org

10. www.lalecheleague.org

11. www.babysteals.com

12. www.savingdinner.com

13. www.askdrsears.com

14. www.thebabywearer.com (also mentioned below)

In the Golden Ring north of Moscow, outside of Pereslavl-Zalessky where Alexander Nevsky was born, and near Lake Pleshcheyevo on which a young Peter the Great sailed his boats, is located the funky little Tea Kettle Museum. Consisting of only two small rooms, the Tea Kettle Museum houses not only utensils for making tea, but also a variety of other implements from older days when life for most Russians was passed inside of an izba. Curious visitors can pick up the various devices and ponder their uses. If after looking, turning, and offering this speculation and that, the visitor can only admit defeat , then a friendly Russian girl is there to offer a smile and an explanation.

I grew up in Texas. Tea meant Lipton tea bags and hot water. The resulting beverage was always served over ice. There were only two varieties of tea...sweet and un-sweet.

So, it was a surprise when Olga, the new and interesting young lady from a far away land, emerged from her room that first night with with a gift of unknown use. Like a visitor to the Tea Kettle museum, I had to ponder what exactly had been set before my wife and me. Fortunately, like the Tea Kettle museum, I had a friendly Russian girl to offer a smile and an explanation. The answer was that it was a samovar, the most civilized Russian method for making a cup of tea. A rich mixture of tea is brewed in a tea pot that is placed on top of the samovar to be kept warm. Water is heated inside the globe. To make a cup of tea, a measured amount of the tea mixture is poured from the tea pot into a tea cup, and then the cup is filled to the top with hot water.

But a samovar is neither the most practical nor the most economical way of making a cup of tea. Day to day, Olga brewed her tea in a tea pot and simply topped it off with water heated in a tea kettle. Despite being about as a traditional Russian as they come, Olga now brews her tea in a coffee press rather than a tea pot, and heats her water in an electric kettle rather a tea kettle. Modernity may be less quaint, but it is much more efficient.

Although all of our daughters have come from tea drinking cultures, some have preferred Starbucks coffee to tea. Besides Olga, Asya and Shadi have been our other big tea drinkers. Asya says the best tea is "camping tea" brewed on a outdoor fire on a chilly night. Shadi brewed what she call Arabic tea, finished with dried mint leaves and copious amounts of sugar. After a hard day, I could always count on one of Shadi's teas magically appearing for me to enjoy.

Ingredients

• Rice uncooked - 1/4 cup
• Water - 1 cup
• Olive oil - 1 tbsp
• Red chillies, curry leaves, mustard seeds, urad dal for seasoning

Procedure

Wash rice and speard it on a paper towel for it absord the water. Grind this rice till it is coarsely ground. It shouldn't be too coarse or too fine like the flour.

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and add the seasonings. After they splutter, I generally take off red chillies and curry leaves. Add water and salt to your taste. After the water boils, add the ground rice little at a time while stirring. Let this cook on a medium flame. Keep stirring and it is done when it becomes thick enough to make balls out of it (like Upma).

When this cools down, make it into little balls, pile them in a plate (or idli plate) and steam them. Your hot kozhakattai are ready.

You can add about 3 tbsps of toor dal along with rice for grinding, for variety and to spike up the protien. If you add toor dal, don't forget to add 4 times that amount of water more.

Also, you can add a little of your (I mean your LO's) favorite vegetable, grated, to this along with ground rice.

Calories for plain kozhakattai: 208