I'm on hiatus from my normal quiet cooking life. I continue my cooking with my brothers at hand--and I can tell you, my brother Joel is a mean cook. Last night we decided to attempt the Bloody Mary Steamed Salmon. I don't even like vodka or hard alcohol, so I wasn't sure if I was going to like this dish. (Besides, I've never even tasted a bloody mary or a caesar so how can I judge? )

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It's a funny world isn't it? Do you ever feel that no matter how old you get, you are some youthful age on the inside? Maybe that's why we never stop loving a dish of ice-cream with chocolate sauce, or some chicken nuggets (I like how McDonald's tried to sell themselves to women by having these hip hot chics eating nuggets on their night out...) or how about just good ol' grilled hot-dogs. Not Chef Michael, but still good.

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I didn't have much of a challenge today---I actually served dinner from a recipe in the milk calendar. (I always have a secret love affair with the milk calendar, and I go crazy if I don't get one each year! ) If you try the recipe from January (some sort of chicken baked nacho thing) I can tell you that it's really, really good!

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Short and savory tonight. I am wondering if anyone is still reading my blog---and if you are---is there anything that you want to hear more about?? Today was Pasta with Hidden Vegetable Sauce.

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So fun! It was my mom's birthday today, so I got to break the news to her that she was going to have to go to the King Tut exhibition for her birthday (I think she was excited! ) And then, some friends of ours sporadically called and told us that they were dropping in for lunch! QUICK! What will we make for them!!? I know! The ham that's been waiting for me, and maybe an old fashioned apple pie??

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Crazy kids! They are always making my laugh! My son is blowing bubbles in his soup, and Olivia's imaginary chickens just finished taking their coats and boots off from their walk! Aiyiyi. The good thing about kids, and visiting the doctor so often (yes, we were there again today, but it was a good report! ) is that we have to drive by an excellent butcher...that means steak for dinner tonight!






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IT WAS A GREAT DAY!!!! The Wilmot Family Resource Center offers a "Great Food Box" and we went to pick ours up today! It's full of local organic produce ( and some organic stuff that isn't in season here) and there was so much excitement as we went to find out what was in the box! My kids were literally drooling on it as I carried it into the house, and when we opened it, they were ripping out the fruits and veggies and dancing around with sheer enthusiasm!

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So, I have heard a million times that the Americans are considered the perfecters of the hamburger. Perhaps it's true. I mean, they have sent the world at least 3 hamburger fast food chains that I can think of. Today we spent the morning at Mickey D's (otherwise known as McDonalds) and ended our evening with Chef Michael's Perfect Hamburger. It was perfect, but it was Canadian! That suited our new-found-post-Olympic-Canadian-pride!

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I was inspired by Julie and Julia, and boy, if only I had known what a chore it was to cook your way through an entire cookbook. Initially I thought that this was just a great idea to get to know people via my cooking, and to feed my family healthy foods. It IS all those things, but it's also restrictive. It's tiring to have to limit your tastes to recipes you need to finish for the sake of a regime. Some days you just don't feel like anything in the cookbook. http://www.mycookingblog.com/files/1867/GetAttachment.aspx.jpeg





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It's mayhem in here today! Today's blog has FOUR different recipes, and there are THREE that have found a permanent place in our families home. Whoops--better make that FIVE recipes--I have to run and make sure the chocolate isn't burning on the stove!

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How come my spell checker doesn't recognize the word Fettuccini Alfredo? It's not that ethnic of a food is it? As if the American English spell checker doesn't even know what it is! Ok...I know there's about six different ways to spell it, but the word should be in there somewhere! Anyhow, today's recipe was just that--creamy, smooth Fettuccini Alfredo.

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Shredded! Not Shredded Wheat, not shredded cheese, but shredded body and butter! That's what today was all about. Before I went on vacation to Panama I decided I needed to get into some better shape. (Chef Michael advocates exercise.) I bought a workout video called "The 30 Day Shred." Meaning, it was going to shred my body into a svelt Olympic shape. So, I did my first session today. Whoa. Then I shredded frozen butter forever to make the "Frozen Butter Biscuits" for dinner.

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My dad used to tell us as kids that when it came to ketchup, there was no other keinz. When he married my mom, his mom actually gave him a box of ketchup cans that ended up only lasting him a year. He loves his ketchup. Kids love their ketchup! (Interestingly, Andrew and I can do without. We are mustard/mayo people.) I tried Chef Michael's Homemade Ketchup recipe tonight (along with Pan Roasted Steak and Stuffed Potatoes ) and there is no other keinz.

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I am dead. I am so dead. I thought today at 3:30 pm that I wasn't going to rise from the couch again. How do parents survive that have kids with chronic illness? The waiting around at the hospital is so draining...I have to salute and give a shout out to any parent who has repeatedly taken their child through the maze of surgery. You are heros! Today's recipe is super simple, for a super dead chef wannabe. Garlic steamed broccoli--yes, a repeat, but nutritional.

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My little muffin turns 3 tomorrow, so we celebrated her birthday last night. (She didn't like the applesauce. Her little brother loves it.) Her Grandma (Cookie) and Papa Beard came to celebrate with her and we needed a dish that everyone would love. My mom's fall back dish for parties is either a roast chicken or lasagna. Since my kiddies love noodles, lasagna with speedy meat sauce sounded pretty good! And it was! It was remarkably good!



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