Christmas cookie countdown?

I'm thinking about doing a Christmas and/or holiday cookie a day at the store during December. Do you have a favourite holiday baked good? I want to make London Fog Icebox Cookies! 

dinner ditty ~ Headache - Frank Black

This will only end in tears

I saw these in the local bargain store. I laughed, snapped the picture, posted it online, and forgot about them.

Silly me. I got helpful suggestions like, 'Jam that mutha in with a fork!' and 'Don the flame-retardant gear, keep a fire extinguisher and phone handy, and give them a try!'.

Well, since I always listen to what people tell me to do online, I AM going to give these a try. I may rethink 'jamming that mutha in with a fork', but you only live onceish, right? I'll pick up the bags this week, and see what I come up with... after I get apartment insurance, of course.

Any suggestions?

dinner ditty ~ The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band (the version from The Last Waltz... almost makes me cry)

Perks of the job

Tomorrow, I'm making a guest appearance at a local high school. I'll be showing them how to make a quick, tasty chilli. It has chocolate in it! I love teaching children and teens how to cook. I'm hoping I'll get to do this on a regular basis. I'll post tomorrow on how it went!

dinner ditty ~ Just Like Heaven - The Cure

Pork belly-isma

Pork belly, before cooking.

Holy feckinshitcookies, this is just too much fabulousness. My friend, Charlotte, let me know that I should try pork belly marinated in soy sauce, maple syrup, Chinese five-spice, and vegetable oil. Seeing as I had all those on hand at work, I decided to try it with my lovely meat boys* and coworkers.

I didn't measure anything, I just threw it all together, lined a hotel pan with tinfoil and a rack (it gets messy), placed the pork belly on the rack, and left in the oven (400°F-ish) until it got crispyish. 

Lord Scandinavian Jesus, it's good. Delicious. Possibly one of the best thing I've eaten all year. You should try it. You won't be disappointed. Really. 

I'm going to play around with this recipe to make it even more awesome. Any suggestions?

dinner ditty ~ Me in Honey - R.E.M.

*meat boys is a general term for my lovely meat coworkers... there are two women included in the meat boy crew. 

Street Meat Friday

Street Meat Friday is the best day of the food week! Every Friday, I make a different meat dish from around the world. Today's dish was picadillo. It was very well received. Here's the recipe!

Picadillo

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

500 g lean ground beef

1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ ground cumin

1 can Aylmer Accents Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1/3 cup raisins

¼ cup blanched almonds, toasted and chopped

¼ cup tomato paste

½ cup dry red wine

1½ tablespoons honey

1 bag Cavendish Farms Rustic Red Potatoes, cooked according to package directions.

1. On medium-high heat, heat oil in pan; add onions and garlic, cook, stirring, until onions are soft. Add ground beer, cook, stirring until changed in colour.

2. Stir in spices, tomato, raisins, and the almonds, cook, uncovered, three minutes. Add tomato paste, wine, and honey, simmer five minutes or until most of the liquid is evaporated.

3. Add the cooked red potatoes to the beef mixture; stir to evenly incorporate ingredients, for about three minutes until evenly heated through. Enjoy!

dinner ditty ~ Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin

For the love of scallops

Oh my. I don't think I've talked about how much I love scallops. People ask me all the time what my favourite food is, and I have to be honest, it's a toss-up between scallops and apple pie. They would be part of my favourite meal. I like them raw! I like them sauteed in butter! I like them wrapped in bacon! I like them in chowder! I would probably like them in apple pie.

Last week, I went to Tempo with my loves. We had the tapas and tinis. I went with the kataifi (pictured above) and the fried dough (pictured below).

Along with some lovely colourful drinks... here is the Key ~

So. Lovely! The staff is friendly, the food is fabulous and reasonably priced, and the drinks are girly and delicious. It was a great night, and it made me miss Halifax even more than I already do.

dinner ditty ~ These Days - Nico

Visiting friends and far too much food...

Agnes came down to Sydney for a visit! Okay, she was here for work, but I am choosing to believe that it was just to see me. 

We ate at The Crown and Moose and Governor's Pub. Both were very, very good, but the lighting wasn't bright enough to take pictures. I will go back to both places to get pictures and write a proper post.

I think it was the first time I've eaten the large sundae, but it was delicious and worth it and in celebration of Agnes' big birthday coming up this week. 

dinner ditty ~ Get the Party Started - Shirley Bassey