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 #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 #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

Day #12 Gift > 12 Drummers Drumming?

Today is Day #12 of my 29gifts. So today is supposed to be “12 Drummers Drumming.”

Well, I’m having a hard time getting 12 drummers into a little box suitable for mailing. Legs and arms sticking out, it’s just not going to work. Squish. Can’t get the top on.

So instead, for today’s gift, I’m going to give away a $25 online gift certificate for Amazon.com (or Amazon.ca) to the 12th person who emails me a little food-related Christmas (holiday) story from when you were a kid. Your favourite Christmas food memory, a story about your mom’s cherry surprises, the time your father served pickled fish, the time my grandmother made minced meat out of real meat… Whatever! I’ll post the best stories over the next few days.

Are you ready? Whoever is #12 wins. It’s like 12 drummers drumming… OK, not really. This is better. Email your stories to: shelley [at] OneRoastVegetable.com

Healthy eating ideas for this week…

Since I’ve already eaten today’s allocation of chocolate, I thought I’d better check out The Veggie Club site for something healthy to make for dinner.

Are you in the same boat? If so, here are some ideas based on Veggie Club recipes:

“Almost” Vegetarian Chili

Recipe 1.15 > “Almost” Vegetarian Chili. Healthy, lovely and cheap. It’s only $1.70/serving (and freezes well), and is a yummy meal to have on hand, AND is great as a leftover/lunch.

(To make a completely vegetarian version, leave out the tiny 1/2 pound of lean ground beef).

Trout with Fruit Salsa

Recipe 2.3 > Trout with Fruit Salsa. Especially now that the price of pineapples seems a bit more reasonable, I love making this recipe. I also secretly like having the mango/pineapple salsa with rice, just on its own, as a leftover. Have you tried heating up the salsa? It’s unusually good.

(This is a vegetarian meal if you’re a fish-eating-vegetarian. If not, make the fruit salsa and rice and serve with a veggie stirfry.)

Vegetarian Pizza

Recipe 1.20 > Vegetarian Pizza. Just today, right before I ate today’s allotment of chocolate, I said to André “we should have pizza for dinner.” My recipe uses frozen dough, so the whole thing comes together pretty quickly. Roast a few veggies for toppings — use up what’s in your fridge. I’ve got beets and yellow pepper and red onions. And cheese. And potatoes.

(This is a vegetarian meal if you use vegetarian cheese.)

Homemade Vegetarian Soup

1.6 > Homemade Vegetable Soup (better than Campbell’s). OK, I like to cheat and add chicken to this sometimes, but only when I’ve got leftovers in the freezer from when I roasted Recipe 2.1 > Roast Chicken with Rosemary. But you don’t need to add chicken, it’s great the way it is, and cheap. Err, inexpensive. (Now you’re thinking that cheap means it can’t possibly taste good!) Well, I can tell you, it tastes great, and there’s even a video of me making it here > http://theveggieclub.wordpress.com/2008/03/23/veggie-soup-video/

(To make a completely vegetarian version of this soup, substitute veggie broth for the chicken broth.)

Easy Bar Shortbreads

If you’ve been following my 29gifts, then you’ve also seen my recipe for Easy Bar Shortbreads. Stay tuned, I’m going to make a video to go with that recipe, and I’ll post it on the blog ASAP.

All best and happy Saturday,

Day #8 Gift > Very lovely video

OK, here’s my gift for you today. Someone just shared this with me, and I think it’s the perfect ‘put a smile on your face’ gift. It’s the first holiday music I’ve heard yet this year, and it really made me smile. These guys are so funny and talented, I’m amazed I’ve never heard of them before … Enjoy!

Oh yeah, and there’s a free teleclass tonight on STRESS during the ‘holidaze’ — you can register for that here: http://www.oneroastvegetable.com/teleclass.debbie.htm
All best,
Shelley