Category: Food

Food, Miscellaneous and Preserves

So I’m going to tell you a story. Mostly because this post would be boring if I didn’t. It’s about this time I picked peppers. Before I begin to tell you this story, I’m gonna start by telling you a different story. I’ve been known to be….. loud. I’m loud. I dunno why, maybe its the Latin in me, or maybe it’s just my personality. Nonetheless, I’m heard wherever I go.

I used to work for these chiropractors, and one in particular really liked me. I was terrified of him for the longest time, he was “the boss,” and I was completely intimidated by him. So in normal Claudia fashion, I never showed he intimidated me. How? By being loud. I would tell him jokes, stories, I’d tease him, ask him about golf (borinnnngggg), basically used my voice. It worked. He thought I was hilarious (that would be really awkward if he ever reads this and thinks “she actually wasn’t that funny.”) Anyways, we went to another chiropractor’s wedding once. I had done my hair all pretty, my makeup was on fleek (just to clarify, I don’t normally use the term ‘fleek’), my dress was the bomb.com (again, I normally don’t use the term bomb.com), and I was wearing my friends super expensive $400 leather heels (they were $300, but $400 sounded better). It was an outdoor ceremony. With gopher holes everywhere. See where I’m going with this? So here I am looking all fly (Again. ‘fly’ isn’t in my day to day vocabulary), and I’ve got this super hot guy as my date (Dane), and I’m all flipping my hair, doing my celebrity wave and walking toward this boss of mine. I’m a foot away about to go in for a hug when BAM! Frigging gopher ruins my game. My boss had to catch me. Yup. Fell straight into him, and not in a cute “oh I’m so tiny my boss caught me and gave me a raise cuz I’m so cute.” No, more like shamu the orca falls on her boss and pulls his back. Good thing he’s a chiropractor. His exact words were “trust Claudia to make a grand entrance. Like always.” At my going away party after I quit (no, I didn’t quit because I was so embarrassed), his speech to me said, and I quote “I’ll miss Claudia’s work ethic, blah blah blah, but mostly I’ll miss how Claudia never just showed up. She never just walked into a room, she made an entrance. There was always something that had a story.”

Awwwww…. so cute right? Naaaat. Basically he called me a drama queen. Meh, if the shoe fits. Point of this story is to show that I don’t just “pick” peppers. There will always be a story to go along with it. Even if it is calling myself out.

I wanted to make my friends mom’s peppers (Hi Joan!!) They are delicious. You will never buy store bought peppers after you make these. Joan’s peppers are red, orange, and yellow. So those are the colours I wanted. Why? Because. That’s why. So we’re in Osoyoos and we are about to buy peppers at a fruit stand on the side of the road, when I get this bright idea to PICK my own peppers! Like OMG, “how cute would it be to pick our own peppers Dane??” Dane is thrilled. CLEARLY. So I drag him into the field in +35 heat mid afternoon to pick hot peppers. Only thing is, there are only yellow peppers. Apparently, all of these peppers are supposed to be yellow, and when they get too ripe they turn red and orange. So the pickers chuck those out (the pickers names are Peter, obvs). But they have left a few behind, and it is my mission, my life’s goal if you will, to have orange, red, and yellow peppers. So I instruct Dane to look through this whole field with me, looking for the orange and red peppers. Just Like Joan’s. Dane is not impressed. I’m hot and I’m probably hangry, so me over heating and hungry + a hot, sweaty husband who has a nutty wife = husband and wife fight in a pepper field in Osoyoos, BC. Like a full on fight where we yell and walk away from each other. The best part? Dane was recording it on his goPro the entire time. So somewhere in our files, there is a silent video of me CHUCKING peppers into my basket and glaring at my husband. At least they were red and orange peppers;) I win.

Fast forward to pickling them. You have to remove the core and seeds from each pepper by hand. I had a good 100 peppers. It took me 3 hours to do all of them. My hands were on fire by the end. Each finger was swollen and beet red and itchy and hot. I thought I was gonna have to go the hospital. No, seriously, I LEGIT thought I was gonna have to go and get my hands drained somehow. I had to sleep with ice packs on my hands. Karma’s a………

This all happened about four years ago. I’ve been making these peppers every summer since then. Everyone who has them, loves them. You should try making them. My only advice? Wear latex gloves, Oh, and don’t stress too much about the red and orange peppers:)

Pickled Peppers
 
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I've been making these every summer for the last 4 years.... they are the best peppers you'll ever eat!
Author:
Serves: 8-12 half quart mason jars
Ingredients
  • 12 lbs Hungarian peppers
  • 2 cups water
  • 6 cups white vinegar
  • 8 tbsp pickling salt
  • 6 peppercorns (per jar)
  • 2 whole garlic cloves (per jar)
  • 1 sprig of fresh thyme (per jar)
  • Boiling water to "cook" the peppers
  • 12 500 ml mason jars
Instructions
  1. Have all of your jars sanitized, and keep them warm when packing. Thinly slice and seed all of your peppers. Pack each jar tightly with your peppers.
  2. Once you have them all packed, pour boiling water in each jar, making sure all the peppers are covered. Let sit for 3 minutes.
  3. Drain.
  4. Add your garlic, thyme, and peppercorns to each jar.
  5. In another large stockpot, make your brine. Bring your 2 cups of water with the vinegar and salt to a roiling boil. Carefully pour into each jar, making sure to leave about ½" of room up top. Seal with lids.

Thanks to Joan for never being selfish and letting Afton and me devour these, even when she was down to her last jar. And also, thanks for the passing along the recipe:) You can put these peppers on almost anything. We put them in burgers, sandwiches, quinoa salad, eggs, with cheese and crackers. Use your imagination. And latex gloves.

Breakfast & Brunch, Food


Orange Ricotta Pancakes
 
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Perfect weekend pancakes. Fluffy and thick, moist with the perfect hint of citrus.
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • 3 TBLS sugar
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 large egg whites
  • ½ fresh orange juice
  • 1 TBLS melted butter
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • ½ cup chocolate chips
Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder and baking soda, and salt.
  2. In a separate bowl, mix your sugar and orange zest, rubbing your fingers together to incorporate the oil for the orange zest into the sugar. Add this to your flour mixture, mix well, and set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, egg, egg whites, orange juice, melted butter, and vanilla.
  4. Fold your wet mixture into your dry mixture, until you can't see the flour. Careful not to over mix.
  5. Add your chocolate chips.
  6. Heat your pan or griddle over medium low/medium heat and brush with butter.
  7. Spoon about ⅓ cup of batter and spread around with a wooden spoon to shape your pancake. Your batter will be thick.
  8. Cook until golden brown and then flip to other side, doing the same.
  9. Enjoy with butter and maple syrup!

So I discovered Pinterest 4 years ago. I got it when it only had like 10 categories and you couldn’t search anything yet. We’ve come a long way. Wanna freak your girlfriend out? Say “Hey, did you hear that Pinterest is getting shut down?” And then watch her eyes go huge and say “WHAT?!” My brothers friends did that to me last year, and that was my exact reaction. Little turd.

Anyways, I remember pinning the most random things. It’s embarrassing to look back on some of the things you pinned back when you first started this “pinning journey.” It’s like looking back on your yearbook and regretting some fashion and hair choices. I would pin anything and everything. And all under the same board, haha! Needless to say, I’ve cleaned up my act, and my Pinterest boards since then:)

I’ve made quite a few things off Pinterest. Some have been pretty epic fails (lighting a dandelion on fire cuz Pinterest said it would turn multicoloured- LIES. It burns). Some have been pretty epic wins (these ricotta pancakes). Some have been…. questionable (setting a starburst on fire over a campfire cuz Pinterest said it would taste amazing…. it tastes like….. a hot starburst. That’s it). I’m not lying about trying any of these things either. I legit tried those things. I’m that cool person that does stuff like that. Point of my ramble is that since Pinterest came on the scene, people are actually trying things now! Which is awesome. I got this recipe off of Pinterest, which took me to twopeasandtheirpod blog. Yum, Yum.

Dane for whatever reason hates citrus in desserts or in his food. He doesn’t put lemon on his fish and chips. What the heck?! He doesn’t like lemon or orange much of anything. He says lemons are only for lemonade, which he drinks like it’s going out of style. He did however say “I actually liked these Claud!” Which is a compliment, especially from one of the hardest food critics around. You’d think he has a michelin star restaurant I don’t know about or something. I was making a banana cream pie on Sunday and I was piping the whip cream on, and he had the nerve to tell ME how to to pipe whip cream. Like ugh! I think I know how to flipping pipe whip cream…. brat. (Turns out his way was actually better. Little bum, he somehow always knows better than me *insert eye roll*). Let’s hope he doesn’t read my blog like a good husband should. This will be his test. If he brags that I’m admitting he knows better than me, then we’ll know he reads my blog:) Poor Dane, he’s dealing with a woman. Good luck dude, you’ve got me and now a baby girl on the way. You’re outnumbered. Love you.

GUYS!! Make these pancakes! They’re super easy and super tasty. Michelin star buddy over here even approves. Also, tell me what your Pinterest fails have been, so I don’t feel like such a silly brain.

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Food, Sweets

I bought “Linda Lomelino’s Ice Cream” recipe book awhile back after loving all of her creations on instagram. I’ve loved trying her ice cream recipes out, so far I’ve made Vanilla (I added crushed oreos in one, and crushed skor bars in the other), rum raisin, lemon, and now strawberry:) All of her recipes have very little ingredients… which is what ice cream should be, don’t cha think?

If you don’t have an ice cream machine, I suggest you get engaged. That’s when people buy you things you would never go out and buy yourself! No but seriously, get engaged and you’ll get a George Foreman press, ice cream machine, food dehydrator, you name it. If you have no plans on getting engaged cuz your dude is a wuss, or you simply don’t “want to”get married (that’s what we say when our dudes are wusses right? “I don’t need a wedding to prove I love someone.” Ya right, deep down you’re wishing for that ice cream machine and food dehydrator). Anyways, if you aren’t getting one anytime soon, you can totally make this without one! Just google how- pretty sure you just put the mixture in a bowl on top of an even bigger bowl full of ice. And mix every hour.

Strawberry Ice Cream
 
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Only four ingredients... the way ice cream should be.
Author:
Serves: 4 cups
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of fresh strawberries (sliced)
  • 1 TBLS fresh lemon juice
  • 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (300 ml)
  • 1 cup of whipping cream (whipped)
Instructions
  1. Wash and cut your strawberries. Add to your blender along with the lemon juice. Blend into a puree.
  2. Add your condensed milk and blend again.
  3. Once you have your whip cream nice and fluffy, mix that with your strawberry mixture, until fully incorporated. (I'm sure you can just do that in the blender as well).
  4. Put in your fridge until completely cold.
  5. Add into your ice cream maker and process according to your ice cream machine's instructions.
  6. Freeze until set completely.

 

Ps- I was just teasing you about the whole not wanting to be married… I’m sure there are lot’s of you who don’t want to. You should still consider getting an ice cream machine though… just sayin’.

Food, Sweets

 

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I hated peanut butter until I started dating Dane almost 13 years ago. It was thick and made you almost choke. Dane, on the other hand feels that peanut butter is an essential food group. He eats it by the spoonful. He’s also eaten a dozen donuts in one sitting though, so that’s not saying much. I slowly started to come around to peanut butter. I now too, strongly feel that peanut butter should be an essential food group. Only took me 13 years. Wether it’s peanut butter ice cream, peanut butter cheesecake, peanut butter on toast.. or chocolate bars with peanut butter … that’s what I’m ordering. And if I can get extra peanut butter, I’ll take that too.

Dane’s mom gave him a cookbook when he was little, and this recipe was one if them. He’s been making them since then. It even made it into their family cookbook that the whole family all contributed to. It’s on page 199 under “Massey meals and munchies” Chewy Peanut Bars—– Dane Redel. It’s actually really cute, haha.

These are super easy to make, and people are always impressed with anything homemade. They’re so easy that even little gaffer Dane could even make them. I mean, he IS a genius according to me, but I may be being a little biased. I’m sure even non genius kids can make these!

      Chop your peanuts

 

 

 

 

Measure out your chocolate chips, honey and peanut butter.

 

      Mix your chocolate and honey

     Add your essential food group until melted and fully incorporated

    Add the peanuts

   Pour into prepared pan, and voila!!

Chewy Peanut Bars (homemade eatmores)
 
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My husband has loved these bars since he was a little boy, and has actually been making them since then too. I actually got the recipe from him!
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 cup creamed honey
  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips
  • 1 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 2 cups roughly chopped peanuts, salted
Instructions
  1. Combine the honey and chocolate in a large saucepan over medium heat, making sure to constantly stir until the mixture comes to a low boil.
  2. Add the peanut butter and mix until the peanut butter has been fully incorporated.
  3. Add the chopped peanuts and mix well.
  4. Pour into a prepared pan lined with parchment paper.
  5. You can choose the thickness of the bars based on the size... so you can pick! I normally use and 8x8 pan, and they come out fairly thick.
  6. Spread evenly to edges
  7. Let it set for at least 2 hours, then chill for 15 mins in fridge before cutting

Tips:

  • You can add some oats to this to give it some ‘umph.’ Or to trick people into thinking it’s “healthy.”
  • You can substitute the honey for corn syrup to make it vegan (I’ve never tried, but have seen other recipes that use corn syrup)
  • Cut these into nice, even squares, wrap them in parchment paper and tie with some burlap and make it into a cute little gift.

Thank you for stopping by, I hope you try and make these!!

Food, Sweets

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My parents have a cherry tree in their backyard, which I didn’t start actually taking advantage of until two years ago. I made a ton of cherry jelly the first year, the year after I made a ton of cherry preserves. All which are still in my basement, probably going mouldy as I write this. But really, you can only eat so much toast with cherry jelly. It’s delicious, but when I say I made a ton, I came up with 24 jars of jelly. So I got smart this year and picked all the cherries, hand pitted them ( I discovered I had patience while doing this), and froze them. Anyways, I discovered cherry pie is a bigger hit than making your husband eat cherry jelly for breakfast, lunch, and supper. He’s down to eat cherry pie for breakfast, lunch, and supper though. My brother in law had a piece of this pie and said it tasted like, and I quote…. “heaven.” And! He would pay $15 for a slice with a scoop of ice cream. Clearly, he’s a good liar, or has tons of money to drop on expensive slices of pie. Either way, this pie is delicious. So if you’d like to make $120 on a pie, selling each slice for $15, keep reading.

Cherry Pie
 
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Recipe type: Dessert
Ingredients
  • 1 recipe for pie double crust
  • 4 cups frozen or fresh tart cherries
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • 5 tbsp cornstarch
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • butter to dot pie with
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook cherries until thawed out and the cherries have lost a good amount of juice.
  2. Remove from heat. In a bowl, mix together the cornstarch and sugar, and mix into the cherries.
  3. Add in the almond extract. Mix well.
  4. Return the cherry mixture back to the stove and cook over low heat until the mixture has thickened, stirring it every so often. It sometimes takes more cornstarch than other times, so if it isn’t thickening as much as you would like, add more cornstarch. If it becomes too thick, add a few teaspoons of water.
  5. Let the cherry mixture cool completely before using in your crust.
  6. Once it has cooled, pour into prepared crust and dot with a few dots of butter.
  7. Place your tip crust over top and brush with egg wash. Bake at 375* degrees F. Cut slits for the steam to escape. Bake for about 50 mins, but start checking on it at around 40 mins, sometimes it can be done early, or take longer, depending on your oven. Let pie cool completely.
  8. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipping cream. Enjoy!

 

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