The fable of the ant and the grasshopper is playing itself out in my home...

Written by Linda Gauthier

As I've said, I have had a busy couple of weeks,

so I thought I'd show you some of the fruits of my labour.

This is only some of what I've been doing. I have made frozen fruits and veggies, frozen purees: peach, pear and concord grape,  (oh so good) for Sorbets.  In this assortment, we have peaches, plums, pears, all sweet and some pickled, some flavoured with Sea Cider(brand name), Rum-Runner Apple Cider (a local cider) or Epicure Selections Rum Butter.  I've made Vanilla Vodka Pears, Rum Butter Peaches.  Spiced Crab Apples using Epicures Selection Mulling Spices in the syrup.  I have also made Jalapeno Plum Jelly. Yummy!!!. Salsa, both tomato and fruit, used Epicure Poco Picante Salsa Mix, or the Fresh Salsa Mix. I've also made flavoured vinegars. 

As well as pickled peppers, and candied peppers. Great on Brie.
Pickles galore, jams and jellies, and all sorts of tomato preserves.   You'll be hearing about them in the coming months.  This is all part of my strategy to eliminate food additives from my diet.  If I can't pronounce it, I'm trying not to eat it.  I'm also trying very hard to eat as many local foods as possible.


I have dehydrated plums for prunes and grapes for raisins.  Quick yummy snacks, frozen grapes for sweet treats when the need arises. 
This next week I'm canning salmon and baked beans and soup for quick meals.  I'm using a pressure cooker for the vegetables, such as tomatoes and tomato sauces, and of course for the fish and soups etc.

It is always best to preserve these items in this manner, rather than risk spoilage by processing in a water bath.  A water bath just   does not reach a high enough heat to ensure the food will not spoil.
Canning with sugar or sugar syrups or vinegar with at least a 7% acidity, or salt, all help to preserve the food and the heat of a water bath is sufficient.

However, vegetables, soups, fish, meat, etc, are not high in acid, do not usually have a high salt content, or high quantities of vinegar in them when canned, hence the need for pressure cooking.

So onto what I was originally going to talk to you about, the recipe for Tom Yum Goong Soup.

In an earlier blog I mentioned a lot of my cooking is influenced by Asian tastes.  Right now, I'm mad about Lao or Vietnamese cooking.

I believe a part of this, is the fact that the flavours are so fresh and the recipes are very easy, but the taste is complex.  Another reason is the area I live in. It has an abundance of Asian style restaurants, with wonderful food, but I can't afford to eat out everyday, and I can't afford to hire a cook either, so whats a girl to do -- learn how to do it herself, of course!

With a few simple ingredients, you can have dinner on the table in a few minutes, and your stomach full with a healthy, and very flavourful meal.

Tom Yum Goong Soup (my version)
I added some chicken meat balls along with the prawns

Tom Yum Goong soup is a traditional Asian soup.  The flavour is fresh with the mild taste of fish, curry, and limes.  It is the result of  the combination of the fish stock from the shrimp bodies, lime leaves, and the Tom Yum Curry paste, which you can find in most supermarkets' Asian or foreign food sections.

The recipe for Tom Yum Curry paste is here, if you can't locate any, or feel like making your own.

As you can see, I've added to my recipe, as I always do.  I feel a recipe is your guide, but not a hard and fast rule.  I always add my own embellishments, such as bean sprouts, cilantro, sometimes meat, etc.  

Recipes in baking use hard and fast rules because it is more chemistry than flavouring to taste, as in cooking.  Cooking is an adventure and if you have fun with it, you never know where you'll end up.

The following are the Epicure Selections products I used in this recipe.  I didn't mention it in the recipe earlier, but at the last minute I used some Lemon grass to help with the flavour.

The following could also be used:

These are the products from Epicure selections which I used in my canning:

Well I'm going to sign off on this and I'll talk to you soon.

Happiness is trying something new...

Written by Linda Gauthier

It has taken me a long time to learn to dance in the rain when it comes to most of my life's experience, but when it comes to cooking, I'm an accomplished dancer.  I am so happy, I've finally come to the point in my life when I can truly dance in the rain.
The following dish is an example of how I often take an idea through to a recipe, and I must say I was pleased.  This dish turned out better than expected.  (a recurring theme, my husband insists)  This was just an idea I had and built upon.


 Sweet Chili Chicken

Serves 2

• 1 chicken breast, skin off. Cut chicken as if you are butterflying it, then cut into two pieces.
• Bread in crumbs mixed with spices. I used Epicure Selections Indonesian Seasoning with Panko Japanese style crumbs.
• Brown in non-stick fry pan, sprayed with non-stick oil. Watch closely as they will cook quickly because they are thin.
• remove from fry pan when browned, let rest while you prepare the rest of meal.

Sweet Potato Mango Curry

• 1 med sweet potato, washed and peeled, chop into chunks
• 1 apple. I used a Honey Crisp apple, don't peel, but do core. cut into 8 slices

Place sweet potato into Epicure Selections Silicone Steamer.
Steam for 3 minutes, add apple, steam for 1 more minute.

On stove:
Place in saucepan
1 cup of  buttermilk, 
1/2 cup less 1 tablespoon coconut milk, 
1 lime leaf, 
1 tablespoon Epicures Mango Curry Dip. 
Bring to simmer. 
Add potato and apple, simmer.

Deglaze chicken pan with chicken stock or apple juice. Add  2 tablespoons jalapeno jelly, return the chicken breasts to the sauce, cook for approximately 5 mins until warmed through.

Sweet Chili Chicken and Sweet Potato Mango Curry.

Products I used in this recipe:

This is served with steamed zucchini strips, snap peas and sweet jalapeno peppers. (my own recipe)

Some of the reasons I love Epicure Selections

Starting my 5th week and feeling positive...

Garden is looking sad, but it is still very enjoyable.

Well we are still having great weather out here on the west coast, but probably not for much longer.  We have not had a dry spell like this for as long as I can remember, almost 2 months without a drop of rain or at least anything worth mentioning, and here it is October 1st!! I can however, feel fall in the air, the evenings are cooler and there is a heavy dew in the morning.  So you might notice that this weeks menu reflects the changing season and temperature.

Omelette with Salsa, Fried Green Tomatoes with Bacon Jam.

To avoid having toast, I decided on serving Breaded  Green Tomatoes;

1. first dipping them in a beaten egg, 
2. then dipping them in Epicure Selections Garlic Herb Dip mixed with  bread crumbs,
3. lightly browned them on top of the stove in fry pan
4. then finished them in the oven at 300 degrees,  while the rest of the meal was cooking.

I tried a new recipe for the first time today and I'm glad I did.  When I made it, I only made a small portion, as I was not sure I would like it, however next time I'm going whole hog!!!

The following recipe is the full recipe and not my stingy little one, try it you'll like it.  It came from one of my favorite blogs M is for Mommy

As I said earlier, Fall is in the air and for some reason that made me

want to do Baked Beans, so I did.  This recipe is designed for use in a Pressure cooker. I was happy with the recipe it did turn out pretty good, but I believe I may have added too much water, it wasn't as thick as I wanted, easily remedied by placing in slow cooker overnight.  Woke up to the most delicious smell, and enough beans to freeze for future use. will be great for quick dinners, mixed with pasta , used in soups, a quick chili or even a bean dip, the list goes on and on.

Homemade Baked beans, served with Coleslaw and dinner roll.

The coleslaw dressing was made with 
Buttermilk 1/2 c
Sweet mustard Chow Chow Pickle,  1 tsp
low cal mayo 1/2 c


Dessert was the crowning glory in this celebration of fall.

Have a terrific day; more recipes to come this week. Going out to rake leaves. Enjoy life's simple pleasures, talk to you soon.

"Sometimes you just don't feel like doin nothin"

"Sometimes you just don't feel like doin nothin"

I had a couple of days like this this week.  I think I have just been going full blast for so long that I ran out of steam like this little fellow.  So I have not gotten all the typing and posts I wanted to do accomplished, so my fingers are doing double-duty typing today.

So today is weigh in day and I'm hoping my being lazy this week has not affected the bottom line, ha ha, get it? bottom line, snicker, snicker, lame, I know, but here we go:

This is great, feet doing a happy dance, down another 3.6 lbs.  Total lost is now 16.2 lbs since September 1st.
I think I might even reward the feet with a pedicure tonight; since I keep making them stand and have their picture taken.
This is a message to my daughter, the dress I bought just before you left to go home, I can now zip by myself no problem.  Ta-dah! Happy Happy.  Might reach my goal by Christmas.  Hope so, anyway.

Have a great day. I know I will!

Eggplant, Tomatoes, Mushrooms, oh my....

Vegetable Terrine starring the above characters

This Recipe is my own creation, created over time.  Linda Gauthier

Made my Vegetable Terrine today, and it was pretty darn good, even if I do say so myself! The thing about my Vegetable Terrine is I serve it warm.  Most terrines are served cold and I enjoy them both ways, but the following recipe is served warm.
It is more like a vegetable lasagna but not nearly as cheesy, or have as much sauce.  The other thing is, the cast of characters changes, dependent on what vegetables I have in the house.  

Today's terrine contains eggplant, zucchini, green tomatoes, leeks, mushrooms, roasted garlic, canned tomatoes without the juice, bread crumbs, goat cheese, fresh basil, lemon juice, Epicure Selections Herb and Garlic, and Epicure Selections French Onion Dip.

1 sm eggplant                              Sliced into thin slices lengthwise
1 sm zucchini                              Sliced into thin slices lengthwise
4 or 5 mushrooms                       Sliced thinly 
1or 2 green tomatoes                  Sliced into thin slices
1/2 of a yellow bell pepper         Sliced into fine strips
1 leek                                          Sliced thin only the white part
1 tsp Epicure Selection Herb and Garlic
1 tsp Epicure Selection French Onion Dip
fresh basil leaves julliened and sprinkled in the layers
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup feta cheese
4 cloves of roasted garlic
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese. You may not need the total amount.

While you are slicing other vegetables, place your eggplant slices on a plate, sprinkle with salt and let sit approximately 10 minutes.  Drain the liquid the salt has drawn out, rinse slices under cold water, pat dry.
Drizzle with olive oil and grill or broil until just tender. Don't overcook.
Repeat with your zucchini and green tomatoes.

Mix crumbs, feta cheese and roasted garlic along with herbs in a small bowl.  Incorporate all the ingredients.

Layer the vegetables into individual loaf pans.
Be careful not to put too many bread crumbs in.  This will result in a dry terrine.
Start with the eggplant, followed by the mushrooms, some crumbs,
zucchini, crumbs, tomatoes.  Squirt of lemon juice.
Press down on the mixture, add more mushrooms, crumbs, zucchini, crumbs, canned tomatoes, no tomato juice, crumbs and top with thin layer of mozzarella cheese on top of each loaf.
I used a fresh Bufala mozzarella, made locally at Fairbridge Farms in the Cowichan Valley.  It's made from water buffalo milk, is a nice soft creamy cheese, low sodium and has a yummy flavour.
Bake in oven for approximately 15 to 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

These are the Epicure selection products used today.

Salted eggplant slices to drain off extra liquid and remove any bitter taste.

Patting dry after rinsing, to help remove any extra water or salt.

2 small loaf pans of vegetable terrine about to go into the oven.

Finished result

We each ate 1/2 of one Vegetable Terrine, saving the other for lunch tomorrow.  I served it with shredded roasted chicken and the rest of the leftover veggies from making the terrine.  They were simmered in the leftover tomato juice to make a sauce, and poured over 2 slices of grilled polenta.  I also placed some cucumber slices on the plate to give the meal added texture. 
In my original menu, I was going to serve it with chicken meatballs and pasta.  But you know the old saying, "Sometimes you feel like a meatball, sometimes you don't".
Okay, okay, it doesn't say meatball, but I couldn't figure out what else to say, consider this artistic literary licence, that is, if writing a food blog can be considered literature.

Until next time, keep smiling.


Just a note:
For the next days' lunch I had the Vegetable Terrine in a pita, with lettuce and low fat Caesar dressing made with Epicure Selections Caesar dressing mix, low-fat mayo and buttermilk.
It was delicious and I still have 3/4's of the second terrine left.   
Oh the possibilities!! Must think. Must think.

Falls Here, warm days, cooler nights.......

crisp leaves and the beauty of the harvest surround us.

I love fall, its beauty can be found in the simplest things.  It's in the light and the majesty of how things seem to suddenly change from the muggy dog days of summer to the crisp days of fall.  The spider webs stretched between tree branches with beads of dew shining on them.  The crunch of the leaves underfoot, and the beauty of the open air markets, the smell of the fruit and the earthy smell of the vegetables, an abundance of local fresh produce.  The sweet smell of the smoke from burning leaves and the smell of hay. The misty sunrises, the red sunsets and the fog that rolls in, only to clear away and show us a bright, sun-filled day.

With fall comes a change in appetites and flavours as routines return.  So back to school and regular scheduling and work.  With all of that in mind, I plan to do some writing in the next few days about some of the best ways I know to keep lunches interesting and easy to do, as well as diet-friendly.

I'll also be doing recipes focusing on the flavours of fall, as extra posts this week.

So here comes the recipes for the 4th week.

No breakfast recipes this week, so Lunch recipes are first.

I hope you like them.  I've chosen recipes that are quick and easy to prepare.

Dinner Meals