Jennifer Michie

Tag: recipes (page 3 of 5)

February 11, 2013 / 0 Comments

A Snowy Monday

It began to snow last night, coming down in thick fat flakes and soon the street was covered. We awoke this morning to a good 2 inches (3 in some places) of snow and it is still coming down.

But my cozy snow day was not meant to be spent at home, so off to work we went. I think everyone is sad at the prospect of working on a snow day. Only because I feel snow seems to be nature’s way of telling you to slow down, to be, to take it in and not go outside, or if you do, it is for walks and playing, or getting more soup and bread supplies.

It was beautiful this morning. We watched the snow silently fall as we waited for the bus. The school was quiet when we entered, we were one of the first people in. I always enjoy those few quiet moments before the day begins and the noise never ceases. It is freezing in the cupboard today, I have yet to take off my coat and scarf. I might just unthaw by the time I go home.

We have chicken soup and homemade bread to look forward to tonight. I tried a new bread recipe yesterday, it is called, “peasant bread” and it is delicious. I discovered the recipe on Alexandra’s Kitchen. It has been on my “TO DO” list for ages and I am so happy that I finally made it.

I think we ate half of the loaf, standing over the kitchen counter like greedy little piglets, 5 minutes out of the oven, smothered in butter. Happiness is!

Even though it was cold, my giraffe wanted to go outside and taste a snowflake on his tongue. So we did, now he is bundled back up in the cupboard and drinking a hot cup of chocolate. With marshmallows of course!

Have a lovely Monday!

January 14, 2013 / 3 Comments

Our Weekend

We had a really fun weekend this weekend. We worked hard and we played hard. We tried a new recipe on Friday. I read the wonderful Katie at the Kichen Door blog and she featured this recipe on butter-roasted cinnamon chicken:

We really enjoyed it, but there are a few changes we would make, a bit more cinnamon to make it a little warmer and I thought about adding either some golden raisins or some chopped dried apricots or both to make it a bit more moorish!

The crunch of the almonds was a nice addition to the softness of the chicken and the wheat.

Saturday after running a few errands we went on a date! Mr. Michie took me to see Les Miserables. I saw it last year for the first time on the stage with my theatre buddy. It was wonderful. We both truly enjoyed it. Then, he took me on a date to one of our favourite little Irish pubs.

Mr. Michie had the sausage and mash:

and I had the steak and guinness pie:

Happiness!

Sunday morning it was freezing. I got a hot chocolate before we went grocery shopping:

After shopping and some brunch, we put on our work clothes and got to it. We cleaned our attic. That might not sound like a big deal, but for two people, we have a lot of stuff. It was really just more boxes up there then anything else. Well, that and all of our Christmas things. I have so much Christmas stuff, that Mr. Michie says one day the ceilings will fall down because of it and we will be covered in Christmas!

My coat got caught in the door and the button broke and since I had already used my spare, it was a trip to the haberdashery for more. I chose these and spent a bit of the early evening sewing them on. I like them, they give my coat a more vintage appearance.

For dinner we used the pizza dough recipe again from Annie’s Eats and made her Chicken Ranch Pizza, but put a few more veggies on it. It was delicious. We feasted on the couch and finally got caught up on the first season of Once! Now, I can’t wait to start the second!

For dessert it was hot chocolate and junior mints (a gift from my mom), a little Sunday night treat. This morning the snow didn’t come quickly enough, so off to school we go. I am still doing my snow dance, I hope to have just one snow day this term, they are so much fun.

November 13, 2012 / 0 Comments

Caramel Pumpkin Pots

I pinned this awhile ago, but today I seem to be craving all things pumpkin. In fact, I have been craving pumpkin for the past few days. I almost bought a slice of pumpkin pie at Whole Foods on Saturday, but I just couldn’t. I am being a purist about it, my first taste of pumpkin pie will be my own pie that I make for Thanksgiving. I am more than ready for that taste.

I love the turkey and the cranberry sauce and the stuffing and the sweet potato souffle and all the other sides, but the pumpkin pie could just be my favorite part of the entire meal.

It is even better the next morning for breakfast with a good cup of coffee and as you scoop out a little bit of whipped cream to dollop on the side of your pie, another little dollop ends up going into your coffee too, or better yet, sneaking a little bit of vanilla ice cream in your coffee, oh heaven!

If I could, I would be making these tonight.

{Image and recipe, Bakers Royale}

November 11, 2012 / 0 Comments

Sunday

I’m afraid I have no images to share with you today, just words. I spent yesterday wandering around London and doing a little Christmas shopping. It is early to do that I know, but some things I have to get done dearly, so they can be mailed out in plenty of time to arrive at their destinations amongst all the other flurry of Christmas post the mailmen and mail-ladies are busily sorting, stacking, bundling and delivering.

I didn’t do my Christmas window walk yet, but I have heard tell that Harrod’s theme this year is Fairytales, so I can’t wait to see that.

I walked along Marylebone High Street, it is one of my favorite places to shop! I picked up a few things at Emma Bridgewater and Cath Kidston, popped into Daunt Books and the wonderful Oxfam Book Store. I stopped into Rococo to pick up a little chocolate for a friend and was very kindly given one of my favorites, a chili chocolate truffle by the lovely girl helping me!

As I walked out the brisk air, quickly took the scent of chocolate out of my nostrils, but it came back again the moment, I popped that chili truffle into my mouth, mmmm, heaven sent! I was greedy, I popped the whole thing in at once!

I didn’t make it to Liberty’s, so that is a trip for next time. I wanted to look at some fabric and to go to their Christmas floor, which is always a delight. I did make it to Anthropologie, always a store of happiness, their window was adorably, filled with owls.

I saw the most beautiful sunset yesterday. It was unreal. I wanted to snap a picture for you, but I didn’t bring my camera yesterday and my phone refused to cooperate with me, but I can tell you, if any of you who read me were walking around in London yesterday afternoon and happened to look up, you will know what I am talking about. The buildings were almost black, the sky was violet, pumpkin orange, watermelon pink, daisy yellow, it took my breath away.

Today, we are relaxing, as the next two weeks of school are going to be extremely hectic. I am going to make that butternut squash chili again, Mr. Michie will be working on creating his out of this world guacamole and grading papers in between.

I hope you are well and happy wherever you may be today.

November 6, 2012 / 2 Comments

Roasted Butternut Squash Chili

Mr. Michie and I love to cook with each other. We get caught in a rut at times, not so much in that we aren’t sure what to make, but we go through phases and can’t seem to get enough of a certain thing, for instance a variety of different salads, or soup with different homemade bread recipes we will try. We like trying new things. We were on a guacamole kick during our 1/2 term break and decided to do just that: try something new.

I read Jenny Steffens Hobick blog and she posted the recipes that she made during a recent cooking event that she hosted. One of them was a Roasted Butternut Squash Chili.

It looked and sounded delicious. We decided to try it! As always, it must be the Italian in me, but I made a few moderate changes, I added a whole red pepper, a few more spices, I also completely forgot about the bay leaves and never added them.

It bubbled and stewed away on the stove for hours, filling the house with the most heavenly homey scent. Mr. Michie made his famous guacamole, we piled the chili in bowls, dotted it with mounds of cheese, guacamole and sour cream.

We ceremoniously sat on the couch, with a bowl of tortilla chips, a couple of beers and pressed “play” on It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

It was a very nice evening.

May 15, 2012 / 2 Comments

Are We There Yet?

Maybe it is because we had Monday off last week for the May Bank Holiday, thus making the week shorter? Or, maybe it is because Mr. Michie has been sick most of the weekend and we are a house running on little sleep? But, this morning as I washed my hair, I excitedly though, hooray! Only two more days to go and it is the weekend.

Once, I washed the suds out of my hair, I realized, that I was blinded by soap and sleep and it was actually only Tuesday and not Wednesday as I had believed 10 seconds before. How did that happen?

I was saddened by the thought that it was only Tuesday and in case your week is shaping up to be as long as mine, I thought I would share with you a few things that brightened my day, I hope they brighten yours:

Happy 82nd Birthday to Jasper Johns! One of my favorite artists and one of the best papers I ever wrote in college was about him.

This banana chocolate smoothie, found at Annie’s Eats, looks scrumptious:

This “beached” whale by the Argentinean sculptor Adrian Villar Rojas, he looks magical:

 

This image by the artist Chris Turnham, it reminded me of older Disney drawings, or something that had been created for “UP”:

Well, tomorrow it will be Wednesday and then we will only have 2 more days to go and then it is the weekend again.

October 28, 2011 / 0 Comments

Halloween Round-Up

I have been doing a little Halloween reconnaissance today and came across some cute ideas, old and new that I thought I would share with you!

Glittering pumpkins are always beautiful, not just for Halloween, they can carry you through the fall season and adorn your Thanksgiving table, I found these on the beautiful Livy’s blog:

This Candy Corn Mousse, is festively colorful and perfect for a grown-up Halloween get-together with its cheesecake base:

Leave it to Martha to come up with a cute idea for orange balloons! This is a nice thing for little people to have something to take home at the end of your Halloween party. You could even tie a little bag of candy to the bottom, so their pumpkin doesn’t float away:

I love making bark and this Halloween Candy Bark version looks hauntingly delicious:

Bring something home from the Three Broomsticks to your Halloween festivities and make a batch of Butterbeer for all your little witches and wizards:

Use different colored candy melts and your imagination to create spooky Halloween inspired chocolate dipped strawberries:

Hope you found a few bewitching ideas that take your fancy…

(Images courtesy of their respective blogs)

July 3, 2011 / 0 Comments

Fourth of July Round-Up

There is something magical about the Fourth of July, it is as if it truly heralds in the Summer in all of her glory, of hot days, lemonade, splashing in a pool, riding your bikes, the feel of a hammock on your back, the tickle of a cooling fan over your skin and evenings that are still filled with heat, but surrounded by starry skies, eating dripping ice cream cones off the back porch and stolen kisses.

I know that many families will be celebrating today vs. tomorrow, but I thought I would do a little Fourth of July Round-Up, for all those late minute party ideas and recipes.

This bike would easily win any Fourth of July Parade contest, decorated in all the glory of Red, White & Blue:

What could be better than a take home treat for your guest, or as a sweet to munch on under the stars as you watch the fireworks. To make them, start by partially filling a 2-by-10-inch cellophane bag with blue candies to stand in for stars. Then add red and white candy sticks to mimic stripes. Tie the bag with red waxed twine (Martha Stewart Living):

A spin on the traditional peach pie, adding creme fraiche to this dessert gives it a French twist:

No Fourth of July celebration would be complete without coleslaw, there is nothing better than creamy slaw piled high on a grilled dog, oozing with mustard!:

To go alongside those dogs covered in slaw, you need a good old-fashioned cheeseburger:

I hope everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July!

(All images copyright Martha Stewart)

June 25, 2011 / 1 Comment

Is there any S’More?

I love S’Mores. They hold within those cookie walls the best of Sumertime nights. The freedom of being little, running through the grass barefoot, eating grilled hot dogs, chasing lighting bugs and roasting s’mores over the open grill.

For those of you who are not familiar with a s’more, it is a toasted marshmallow that is laid upon a piece of chocolate and they are both sandwiched between two graham cracker cookies.  We didn’t always use graham crackers in my house though, my Mom would buy the Keebler chocolate covered cookies and we would mush our roasty toasty marshmallows in between those! HEAVEN!

Unfortunately, our little cottage does not have a space that allows us to grill, but that doesn’t stop Mr. Michie and myself. We simply spread our ingredients out on the coffee table and light a candle, which acts as our “grill”. So, you too can even make delicious s’mores indoors as well as out!

Here are a few S’more recipes or variations on the theme that I came across as I was blog reading this week, so they must be a hot topic! Click on the name to be taken to the recipe:

 

(all images copyright their respective blogs)

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