Monthly Archives: July 2021

The Blue Drink (Starfakes)

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This one is a delicious alt to iced coffee.

Blue Drink:
1/2 Frozen Blueberries
1 tbsp Maple Syrup** (or any other sweetener/sugar)
1C Ice
1/2C White Grape Juice
Splash of Coconut (or regular) Milk

I like to hard shake the ice over the blueberries in the cup before adding the liquids to help quasi muddle them as they start to thaw. It brings out the great blueberry colour.

** Use real maple syrup, not that table pancake crap.

I have a second drink that’s a riff of this Blue Drink called the violet drink.

Violet Drink:
1/2 Blackberries
1 tbsp Maple Syrup** (or any other sweetener/sugar)
1C Ice
1/2 Passion Tea (or any exotic fruit juice)
1/4C Coconut (or regular) milk

Same thing with muddling the berries with the ice in your large cup, giving it a hard shake or three so the ice really breaks the berries up to release its flavour and colour before adding the other liquids.

** Use real maple syrup, not that table pancake crap.

Small Home Refresh

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We wanted to do a full main floor reno where we ripped down the two kitchen walls, redid the flooring, changed the paint colour, and installed a new ceiling with pot lights after some structural work we wanted done (even though a few contractors said wasn’t necessary).

In the end the quotes we got were too high, so we decided to do the flooring and painting ourselves. This is how it’s going.

What the old flooring and wall colour looked like.
Ripped the eff up!
What the new colour scheme will be in the end.
The new flooring mock up with the nosing for the stair edges.

So, the floors are ripped up in the foyer, around the basement stairs, the living room and the dining room. The last part of that puzzle is the kitchen since we’re redoing that floor space as well. There are a few things to address there: where to store the fridge and stove while we do the kitchen flooring and how do we move them without ruining any of the new flooring in the process.

I’m a bit nervous just thinking about that part. Eek.

I have all of the main painting done. I have to paint all the floor and window trim boards, and then we can put the paint and rollers back in the garage where they belong and start playing the tile puzzle game with our furniture and belongings from corner to corner until the new flooring is all installed. Someone other than me wants this project done by the end of this long weekend. Wish us luck!

A Burger For The Ages

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I don’t make a lot of burgers by hand at home. When we do burgers, it’s typically store bought pre-formed and frozen for convenience only. The husband takes them to work fully cooked on the smoke bbq and cooled down, with a slice of cheese and anything else he wants to add to it on the fly.

I was cleaning out the two freezers last night (the one attached to the fridge, and our cube stand up mini freezer) and found some portioned ground pork in ziplock bags. I pulled them out thinking I can use it for a dinner this week. Not specifically anything like burgers, but sometimes I like to form them into a meatloaf or meatballs before even thinking about burgers.

Tonight I made burgers for a change of pace. And now my husband is demanding to be kept in the style to which he quickly became accustomed to (as of tonight). *sigh* Ok, fine. Here is what I made him:

Creole Burgers:
14 oz Ground Pork
3 tea Creole Dry Rub
I Egg
3/4 C Breadcrumbs (of your choice, though I used Italian flavoured)
1/4 C Parmesan Cheese, grated up

Don’t overwork the meat mixture as you combine everything. I measured out meat for three patties at 4.6/4.7/4.7 oz each. Each was hefty and fantastic. It was a tasty burger on its own that could forgo a bun if need be. But, of course we topped it with sauces, veg and lettuce from our herb garden.

I was spoiled Beyond when this truck showed up at my workplace.

I was, I suppose, trying to give that Beyond Meat burger I had earlier this week a run for its money. I think this burger is just as tasty as the meatless one. Similar flavour palette, same texture, same satisfying feeling in our tummies.

Try this burger recipe and tell me what you think.

Breakfast Kebabs

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Although it’s not hot here – or when it is, it’s not deathly hot – like it in the deep southern part of the States, I still needed to use up some fruit I bought days ago that were on the cusp of aging out. I’m not about food waste if I can help it. I trimmed off the bad parts and used what was left to make five large fruit kebabs we ate as part our breakfast this morning.

It’s currently +22C. Not too shabby. I’ll take it.

That’s the breakfast hash I made using leftover baby potatoes, sweet potato, and hot sausage that I smoked on the bbq.

A&W Onion Ring Seasoning

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It’s Canada day, a day of reflection upon who we actually are vs who we like to pretend we are. Hard ugly truths are bitter pills that are hard to swallow, but we must take our medicine at some point so we can start some kind of change for the better, right?

Also, Canadians don’t have much in the way of culture outside of the Indigenous, Inuit, Metis and Quebec peoples to lay claim to, but we do have a fast food franchise called A&W that makes the best onion rings I’ve ever tasted. I have been working on figuring out the secret or the formula off and on all year, but I had a chance meeting with an employee yesterday and they openly told me the secret.

We love A&W root beer in this house.

I was close, but not close enough. Here it is:

1 tbsp Onion Powder
1 tea Garlic Powder
1/2 tea Chili Powder

My last attempt at making these beautiful rings at home a few months back.

I figured out the increments for making a small batch at home. They could only tell me what the powders were but not how much since it wouldn’t help me unless I plan to open my own food shack tomorrow. 🙂

So, this blend is the seasoning you will add to your coating bowl in a 3-bowl dredge station. This should be enough to batter and fry up rings from at least two medium to large sized onions.