A Philly Moment

I know many of you have joined the race to be part of the Real Women of Philadelphia contest.  Good luck to each and all who have entered.
I'm kicking around over there on the community, but I can not enter. (If you wish to friend me on there, poke me in the tummy, or just share some links you can locate me under the name Domestic Damned)

So I thought I would share my favourite Philly cream cheese cheat.  Yes, I call it a cheat.   Why, because it's a too simple recipe for cucumber sandwiches.  

 I used Italian bread, and the Philadelphia Herb and Garlic cream cheese, sliced cucumbers. 
Honestly, it's the easiest thing to create.  Simple, fast, and a perfect for when you get company last minute. 

I'm sure some of you are more skilled at making things look pretty compared to me.  But if you like cucumber tea sandwiches, you have to try it.

Sidenote,   I just got my hands on a copy of As Always, Julia The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto Food Friendship and the Making of a Masterpiece  by Joan Reardon

You know the book that was inspired by all the letters in the movie Julie/Julia.

Though, I have no idea when I will have the chance to read it.  I might try sneaking in bits and pieces between the books I do for review.

The weekend update

Okay my Spudguns.  
You remember last week I mentioned having bought that package of tofu noodles.  Well, I finally had a chance to try them yesterday.   Here's the thing.  When I was at the grocery few days ago, I asked one of the staff if anyone had tried them.  He said he had and that they worked better with a broth and not a sauce.   So, going on his advice, I made a veggie broth for it.  And the second the noodles hit the broth, the broth turned green.   GREEN!  I don't know if you can see it proper in this photo, but there is a greenish-blue liquid in the bottom of the bowl.  GREEN!  

Another recipe I decided to pull out of retirement, was veggie burgers with eggplant.   I've made this before and it's been beauty.  If you slice the eggplant into thicker pieces, and then fry them up in oil with garlic, onion and mushrooms, they can take on a beefy taste.  I normally like this version of a burger better then the portabello tops one.  Normally.   When I remember to use the right oil which is olive oil - this time I screwed up and used canola oil- and I forgot the mushrooms.  So this time around they just ended up being bland eggplant. 

Splat!

I just posted this on my main blog {www.domesticanddamned.com} but since it's a kitchen thing...

As you can see, cream of mushroom soup went everywhere.   This is what I get for multitasking.
I was cooking, watching wrestling and this was on the weekend when I was distracted in general.

Oh and this is not my kitchen either.  It's mom's.  What you see is only part of the mess.   It was gross.  Took awhile to mop it all up too.

Note to self, when using heavy machinery such as a can opener, make sure that there are no tag team matches on tv.

New product

Tofu pasta.  I can't believe it either.  So I had to buy it.   I have not tried it yet, the package is still sitting in my mother's fridge where I stupidly forgot it. So it's on the menu for tomorrow. 
Seriously, I was in the grocery hanging around the produce area which has become like a bar to me.  I'll explain later.  And spotted this next to the veggie burgers.  I was strangely drawn to it.  Weirded out slightly but drawn to it none the less.

And get this,  this package was only $1.89 Canadian.  Beauty.  We'll find out tomorrow if it was worth all that. 

That's a Quiche?

Few days ago, I bumped into my sister's friend as I was going to the grocery. We started talking as we both went around the place getting our items.  This caused me to not pay attention to what I was picking up and I bought the wrong pie shell.  I picked up one with lard and not vegetable oil.
Never noticed what I had done till it was too late. 
Teach me to shop by myself won't it. 

So yesterday, I was thinking, if I replaced the pie crust with a breadcrumb base would it still be considered a Quiche?  I thought about this for a few hours, wondering if it would just be a casserole then, and decided I was going to try making a Quiche but with just a bread bottom.  Not even as crumbs but just cubed bread, almost like a baked bread pudding. 

It was tasty, looked like a Quiche, but can it still be classed as one?

Food Trends

I'm seeing almost every cooking/food show lately centering around food trucks.   It seems they are everywhere... but here. 
I've only seen street carts in my city outside of the bars in the summer at closing time and outside of Canadian Tire during the weekends. 

What is it about the whole idea that seems to have missed Thunder Bay? 

Confessions of a former HamburgerJunkie

This is a title I have used in the past for other blogs.  One was a spiritual blog, the one before that actually was a news/fashion blog. 
Nether blog did very well.   But it's a title I hold true to my heart.

Being a vegetarian makes it difficult at times to get enough protein.  Which is why the soya replacement products are a good idea. 
The real down side to the soya replacement products (veggie dogs, veggie burgers etc)  is the weight and the cost. 
Our local grocery just had a massive two for one sale on a major line of the veggie soya replacement products.  And I bought alot of them.  Most of which is still sitting in my mother's deep freeze because I don't have room for them in my own apartment's tiny fridge.  The rest, I've been eating nearly non stop for the last two weeks.

I've gained more weight then I was planning on.  Other health issues keep me from being able to work out properly. (car crash + collapsed lung = breathing issues) 

I'm thinking I need to do a bit of an overhaul with my cooking.
Trust me this is not a surprise.  Nor will this become any kind of "diet" blog, as I just do not believe in diets. 
I do believe in changing attitudes and how you look at things. 

When I started this blog few years ago, my original plan was to take traditional Newfoundland foods and make then in a vegetarian way.  Cutting out the fish/meat etc.  The results as you've seen have been more failures then successes.  Newfoundland cooking is just not vegetarian/vegan friendly.  Which I learned the hard way.
I also thought it would bring me closer to my family, but it's proven to push even farther away. 

I'm still trying to find that perfect cookbook. One that will spark something in me the way Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking vol 1   did for Julie Powell.