Day #29 Gift > Hooray for 29 days of giving

OK, tomorrow I’ll do a ‘best-of’ for the past 29 days of giving, but first I just gotta tell you what a truly amazing experience it has been for me.

Based on the website 29Gifts.org, the premise is that you are supposed to give something away every day for 29 days.

Most of my gifts were posted here on the blog, and a few others were more quiet.

Some make the house smell great (baking cookies), and other gifts made me feel awkward while I ran away (buying a woman’s lunch in a restaurant and having the waitress nearly give me away in her disbelief).

And then there’s the banana bread.

For yesterday’s gift, I was going to bake 3 banana breads for “Chez Doris,” a Montreal drop-in centre, where you can knit, play cards, watch TV, see the doctor, and get fed three meals a day.

When I suggested that some of you might want to also sponsor a few banana breads, well, I’ve received 12 confirmed sponsors so far …

This afternoon A. went out to a corner store and found somebody with dead bananas for sale… lots of them.  I told him to bring home 36 bananas (i.e. 3 x 12 banana breads = 36).  He instead decided it seemed like a good idea to buy ALL OF THE DEAD BANANAS this store had.  All of them.

Want to know what 52 dead bananas look like?

this is what 52 dead bananas look like

There are so many, in fact, that we’re going to have to store them in a plastic container outside in the snow because I don’t have enough fridge or freezer room.

So that means that I can make a few more if you’re interested in a tiny sponsor?  It’s $2.50 per banana bread (which is $2.05 US).

Don’t feel like you have to buy 4 or 5 of them.  You can just raise your hand for one.  I’ve set up the link here.

Tomorrow I’m going to ask you what your New Year’s Resolutions are, so get ready now …

All best & happy banana bread,
Shelley

Day #28 Gift > Banana Bread for the Homeless

Today I’m making banana bread to take to the women’s shelter in downtown Montreal.

I’ve got the recipe for you below, and I’ve also got a way that YOU can give so I can make MORE than the three I’ve got planned for today.

When I first moved to Montreal five and half years ago, I was searching for a local community shelter where I could do some volunteer work and I found “Chez Doris.” It’s a daytime drop-in place, to get off the street and get inside for meals and company.  I had a tour and was impressed with the sunny inside spaces, the sewing room, the ’shop’ where visitors can pick out clothes, kitchenware, and bedding. A doctor is onsite once a week to answer questions and check on regulars. The day I was there, a group of women sat around a giant old TV set, all of them knitting.

After I made my first cash donation, a newsletter came in the mail. It was around Christmas, and there was a section in the newsletter listing non-perishable gifts we could drop off: deodorant, toothpaste, socks, winter coats. And baked goods and desserts. Really. Did they want donations of food?

I called Chez Doris and spoke with a lovely bilingual receptionist, who assured me that yes, in fact, they did want food. “Our kitchen is very busy,” she said. “We provide breakfast and lunch to over 70 women every day. If you want to donate something, please bring enough for 50-70 people to share.”

I was single then, and new to the city, and happy for a project. I dedicated several Friday nights to making banana bread for Chez Doris. They’re easy to make, with only 6 ingredients, and are easy to package in plastic wrap and then tinfoil before I pop them in the freezer. Once I have 3 or 4 loaves, I pack them in the car and deliver them downtown.

The greeting I receive when I show up at the door with a bag of baking is always the same: “Great! We’ll use these this afternoon for prizes in Bingo… We’ll eat these today. These will certainly be appreciated.”

Today’s gift:

Today’s gift has three parts.  First, I’m BAKING three banana breads this afternoon to donate to Chez Doris. Second, I’m including the RECIPE below so that you can make your own banana bread as soon as you have brown bananas.

And third, if you would like to MAKE A DONATION so that I can make more banana breads, I’ve set up a link here.  For a teeny tiny donation of $2.75 CDN ($2.20 US) I can make, bake, and deliver one whole banana bread that serves 10.

===

BANANA BREAD RECIPE

3 medium bananas, very ripe (approx. 375 g)
1/4 cup margarine or butter, softened (75 mL / 57 g)
1 cup white sugar (250 mL / 200 g)
2 large eggs
1½ cups flour (210 g)
1 teaspoon baking soda (5 mL)

Preheat oven to 325°F (190°C / gas mark 5). Peel ripe bananas and place in medium bowl. Beat with electric mixer until completely smooshed.

Soften margarine in microwave at low power in 10 second increments until soft to touch. (Or you can soften at room temperature for 45-95 minutes.)

Add margarine to bananas and beat together. Add sugar and continue to beat until well blended. Add eggs and mix.  Add flour and baking soda. Beat for about a minute until ingredients are well combined.

Spray bread pan (8.5” x 4.5”) with non-stick spray, or coat with a bit of butter.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top and wipe off any drips.

Bake at 325°F (190°C / gas mark 5) oven for 60 minutes, or until brown on top and cooked inside. You can check for doneness with a wooden skewer, a toothpick, or a thin knife. A few moist crumbs are OK, but you shouldn’t see any uncooked batter when you remove the tester.

===

If you’d like to make a donation to Chez Doris by contributing to the Banana Bread Fund, click here.

All best and happy Monday
Shelley

Day #26 Gift > Back to Basics: Thirteen Minute Fish & Rice

Thanks to everyone who emailed to tell me about their favourite holiday foods. For Suzi, it’s cinnamon rolls, for Beth it’s gingerbread houses, for Kristina it’s homemade tamales.  I couldn’t have arranged for a better range of answers, could I?  Bruce also emailed that he liked creamed peas and carrots (and he sent along a recipe I’m going to try).  Amber likes homemade fudge, and Lauri’s got a thing for shrimp.

My favourite holiday food is stuffing.  I only make it once a year, for Christmas dinner, and it’s an un-healthy mixture of butter, soft bread, onions, celery, mushrooms and the killer ingredient — ground savoury (it’s like sage, or poultry seasoning). I bake it in a pan with a light lid made out of tinfoil, so that it partly steams and partly gets crunchy corners.  Best mixed into chicken salad sandwiches the next day, with cranberries and mayo.

Now.  Back to the gifts. Don’t forget to post your comments below.

Today’s gift:

In keeping with my 29 days of gifts, today’s gift is a simple trick for a healthy dinner for Fish and Rice.

In January I’m launching a Back-to-Basics class that covers all those things we (maybe) learned in Home Economics in high school, but have since forgotten…

And one of those topics is timing — like how to get the meal on the table so that it’s all ready at the same time — without running around with your head flying off from stress.

So tonight I’m going to share with you my favourite “perfectly timed” 13 minute dinner.

And I’ll give you the trick right up front:  basmati rice cooked on the stovetop and a filet of fish baked in the oven both take exactly 13 minutes to cook.  Add in a bit of time for soaking the rice, and you’ve got dinner in 25 minutes.

Thirteen Minute Fish & Rice
Serves 4, easily doubled or reduced

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup basmati rice (125 mL)
3/4 cup chicken broth (or water) (190 mL)
4 filets of fish
orange marmalade
clove of garlic
grainy mustard
green veggie

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Soak 1/2 cup basmati rice in cool water. Not all rice needs to soak first, basmati does.  Let it soak 5-10 minutes, and up to 25 minutes if you’ve got extra time, but it’s not required.

Drain rice. Plop drained rice into a small pot with a tight fitting lid. Using the same measuring cup you used to measure the rice, add 1.5 measures of chicken broth, veggie broth, or water to the rice in the pot.  If you used 1/2 cup of rice, then you’ll need 3/4 cup of liquid.

Do not start cooking the rice yet.

Line a pan with tinfoil, and place your fish filets on the foil, skin side down. (I love trout or salmon, but other dense white fish would work too).

Mix together a couple tablespoons of orange marmalade with a half clove of garlic and a teaspoon of grainy mustard.  Smear over the fish.

Put the rice on high heat and bring it to a hard boil with the lid off.  AS SOON AS it starts to boil hard, immediately reduce the heat to minimum, and put the top on the pot. Stick the fish in the oven.

Set your timer for 13 minutes.

That’s it

You can add in another pot for a veggie too, like broccoli or brussels sprouts or green beens. Cook them in a 1/2 inch of water, bring to a boil at the same time as the rice, also reduce to minimum and put the lid on. Cook for the same 13 minutes.  If you want asparagus, it cooks faster so start it later, maybe half-way through.

===

More to come in January’s Back to Basics course including quiche, chicken broth from scratch, how to store lettuce, and apple crisp with cinnamon ice cream.  If you’d like to be on the list to get more information, you can sign up here > http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com/backtobasics.htm

All best,
Shelley

Day #22 Gift > 3 free one-month memberships to The Veggie Club

Back on Day #12, I had a contest to give away a $25 gift certificate for Amazon.com  (.ca), and the winner was Sally.  Here’s her Christmas story:

A few years ago I had my first Christmas in my apartment. This was a turning point for me as I had always gone home for Christmas. I was living in Montreal Nord on Henri Bourassa Blvd. I am from Nova Scotia and my mother had come to visit me. I had thought of everything, almost. Being 20 years old, on my on and in the big city, I was not completely domesticated. I bought a turkey and all the trimmings. After we opened presents Christmas morning it was time to put the turkey in the oven.

Where was the roasting pan? In my mother’s kitchen in Nova Scotia…at the store…but not in my apartment.

Being a very resourceful person, my mother came to the rescue and we roasted the turkey in the only thing available….a muffin tin. I will tell you that in a pinch it worked great! All the drippings were collected in the muffin cups and we were able to make a nice gravy. And the turkey was very tasty!

Cheers, Sally

Congratulations to Sally for being the 12th person to send in a story that day.  And thanks to everyone who has been following along on these 29 days of giving… It’s been quite an experience for me.  At this time of year we’re often thinking of donations to others, but to continue to ‘give’ each and every day has been a gentle stretch for me that I have quite enjoyed. Some days I can’t think of anything to give… when really, we all have so much we can offer each other…

Today’s gift:

I have 3 free one-month memberships to The Veggie Club (value $9.95/month) to give away to the first three people who write me and tell me what their favourite Christmas (holiday) food is.  For example, Christmas wouldn’t be the same without homemade cranberry relish, or Gramma’s pumpkin pie, or cherry surprises?  So, let me hear from you.  What food tradition is the BEST part about Christmas for you.  Send me an email, I can’t wait to hear what you have to share.

All best,
Shelley

Day #20 Gift > Shortbread Video

Today’s gift to you is a video.  I know you all LOVE the videos.  Well, this one ties in nicely with some previous posts.

Remember when I was at Day #2 of this 29 days of giving thing, that was the day I gave you my recipe for Easy Bar Shortbreads.  I make them every year, only at Christmas time, and they’re easy and very yummy.

Right away, Veggie Club member Suzi tried the recipe, and then she emailed me: “I made your short bread bars for my work Christmas party… and they were a BIG hit.”

On Day #13 I had a preview lesson for the Back-to-Basics class that’s coming up in January.  The little lesson was all about the RIGHT way to measure flour, and there are loads of comments on the blog about that one, thanks!

So today, to tie it all together, I’ve got a video of me making the shortbreads that includes demonstrating the flour measuring part.

I’d be happy if you were to forward this email to anyone you know who might benefit from it, and encourage them to sign up at www.OneRoastVegetable.com to also follow along with the Back-to-Basics lessons (and other great veggie ideas).

Ready to start cooking? Don’t forget to leave a comment below

All best,
Shelley

Day #19 Gift > Free Q&A Call

Well, today I’m going to do something I’ve never done before.  A free Question & Answer.  I’m going to get on the phone, and I’m going to answer your questions.

You, my wonderful subscribers, email me questions every day, and yes, I do my best to answer them one-by-one.

But I was thinking how cool it would be if we could get ‘together’ on the phone.

Like, you ask me about homemade chicken broth (which I’m making right-right now), and then Katie gets to hear my answer to you, then Katie asks a question about roasters versus fryer chickens, and you hear that answer.

Then Jim chimes in with how to ask how I’d make a vegetarian version of chicken pot pie…

You get the picture?

So in about 1.25 hours, I’m going to hop on my bridge line, and I’m going to talk to whoever is there.

Do you have a question about …

• kitchen klutter
• meal planning
• hard boiled eggs
• how to get your husband to help you clean behind the fridge
• packing lunches

Or maybe you have a question about …

• how I run One Roast Vegetable … I’d be glad to share any behind the scenes stuff that might be helpful to you.
• or about a recipe on The Veggie Club
• or when the next Klutter Klass is starting
• and how you can get a dozen cookies mailed to your house
• or what it’s like to be married to a guy who doesn’t speak English…

I’m ready if you’re ready

DATE: Today, Saturday December 20th, 2008

TIME: 5:00 pm Eastern / 2:00 pm Pacific

YOU CALL: 1-605-475-6006
(regular long distance fees apply)

ACCESS PASSWORD:   774307#
(you need to enter the pound key after the number).

I will NOT be making a recording of this available afterward — this is a one-time deal.  Be there or be square.

Talk to you soonly,
Shelley

Day #18 Gift > Homemade cranberry sauce

It’s nearly time for Christmas dinner. People everywhere will be getting up at dawn to put a giant turkey in the oven. They’ll peel pounds of potatoes. They’ll cut Xs in the bottoms of Brussels sprouts. They’ll glaze carrots.

And then they’ll open a can of cranberry sauce.

Now, what’s wrong with this picture? Would you serve canned turkey on this big day? Or canned mushrooms? Probably not. But somewhere along the way we’ve decided that there’s nothing like cranberry sauce alongside a roast, and that canned is fine.

OK. I’m here to dispel that myth Don’t yell at me, I know, I know, canned is quite lovely too. I eat it all the time. But for Christmas dinner? No way! Got to have the real thing. And it’s really simple … you can even follow the recipe that comes on the side of the bag of cranberries, or you can jazz it up a bit with one of my recipes below.

(1) you can turn whole berries into quite a lovely homemade sauce

(2) The cranberries will begin to pop and the outside skin will split open

(3) bring to a boil

(4) as it cooks, it will become quite jammy and most of the berries will explode open

(5) once cooled, it will be thick and lovely

Orange Whole Berry Sauce

One bag of cranberries (or about 3 cups of whole berries)

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange peel (zest)

Rinse cranberries, pick out and discard any that look very shrivelled or brown. Put all ingredients together into a medium-sized pot. Heat over medium heat. The skins will begin to open a bit and they might spit a bit.

Once it comes to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer about 10 minutes. Most of the berries will pop open and the sauce will be quite jammy. Let cool at room temperature, taste to see that it’s yummy, then put it in the fridge. Can be stored for a week or so. Makes just over 2 cups.

Spicy Whole Berry Sauce

Same recipe as Orange Whole Berry Sauce, but add:

4 tablespoons dried raisins
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

Talk again soon,
Shelley

Day #16 Gift > Back to Basics: Boiling the perfect egg

In January, I’m launching a Back-to-Basics class that covers all those things we (maybe) learned in Home Economics in high school school, but have since forgotten…

I hardly remember any of the calculus I studied, so is it any wonder that we can’t remember other things? (OK, hard boiling an egg is perhaps slightly more useful than rotating an imaginary object in space around the ‘z’ axis, but you get the picture).

Brandi sent me this email:  “If I had to pick something I struggle with, it would be consistently making the perfect hard-cooked egg. The photo of your eggs in the nicoise salad (photo a, below) are the hard cooked eggs of my dreams. Every time I need to make eggs like that, I need to look it up. So the ability to have a quick, printable reference would be fantastic.”

OK, so today’s preview lesson is how to hard boil the perfect egg. Yes, you can do it. Really, you can. You won’t look like an idiot. You won’t have to throw the eggs out. It’ll work. Here’s what I do, and it works every single time for me.

1. Start with a pot and some eggs and some cold water.  Place the eggs in the pot and ALMOST cover with them with cold water. A tiny bit if egg can be showing through the top of the water (photo b, above).

2. Now put your pot on the stove, and turn the heat to high.  When the water comes to a very hard, full boil, remove the pot from element completely, turn off the heat, and let the eggs sit in the water for 15 minutes. (I usually say 13-15, but you can go for 15 just to ensure they’re completely cooked and next time when you have more confidence pull them out at 13-14).  Go for 15 minutes if you want hard boiled eggs for sandwiches, and stop at 13 minutes if you want the yolk to be a tiny bit soft for a salad.

3. At 13 (or 15 minutes), pour off all the hot water, add in a bunch of very cold water to stop the cooking process.  Let sit until cool enough to handle.  Then you can peel and serve.

So to recap, start with cold water, do NOT cover with water completely, once they start to boil hard then you remove them from the heat all together, wait 13-15 minutes (don’t touch the pan). Then change the water to cold water (just until they’re cool enough to peel). Then you can peel and serve   OK, now you’re making me hungry!

All best,
Shelley

PS Lessons in the full “Back-to-Basics” class will include my tricks for making the best hard boiled egg sandwich, as well as foolproof soft-boiled and fried eggs… and oh yeah, I’ve got a really great (and dead simple) recipe for quiche that I can’t wait to share with you. Yippee, this is going to be so much fun!

Day #15 Gift > 2 hour reunion phone call

Tonight I’m holding a 2-hour free ‘reunion’ call for all past graduates of the 6-week Kill Kitchen Klutter Klass. We’re going to use our time to catch up on what’s going on in everyone’s life, and also to tidy up our houses a bit – just in time for the madness of decorations, gifts, and the overwhelming amounts of food!

As well, if you’re a member of The Veggie Club, then registration has begun for the Whole House Klutter Klass (that starts in January). Registration for everyone else begins after Christmas. If you’re a member and you’d like to sign up now, just head over to Our Fresh Market, click on the link “Register for Workshops” and go from there

http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com/market.html

All best,
Shelley

Day #14 Gift > One of each market item free

Today is the first day that the One Roast Vegetable “Fresh Market” is online and ready for action.

What is “Our Fresh Market”? It’s a market store. A place for cool things to hang out together. Imagine art, and cds, and books, and classes, and cookies, and t-shirts, and memberships, and even free classes. All that kind of stuff. It’s all together now on one page (some of it is still in progress … you’ll see when you swing by).

Yeah I know. OK. What kind of a “gift” is it for you if I open my “market” where clearly I’m going to ask you to part with some of your Christmas money?

Well, here’s my gift. The FIRST person to purchase each item up for sale will have their entire purchase refunded to their credit card. Be the first to buy cookies, and I’ll zip into my credit card company file, and refund you the entire purchase.

Some of the gifts are kinda big, so if you’re the first to buy one of those, yup, you’ll get that refunded too! It’s my way of asking you to part with some of your Christmas money AND giving back at the same time

Ready? The timer starts now.

The Fresh Market is here > http://www.OneRoastVegetable.com/market.html

All best,
Shelley