Thanksgiving Recap

I hope all you Canadians had a fabulous long weekend. I could totally use another day off but I guess I can't be greedy.

For our family dinner at my parents house yesterday, I was in charge of the table decor. I'm not super crafty in the DIY sense but love a nicely set table.

I headed out to Loblaw and bought 25 mini white pumpkins for the 25 people, a bunch of bouquets of flowers, corn and other decor items. Here are a few pictures of the finished product.

We're not usually a family who has assigned seating but I really wanted to use the white pumpkins as place card holders. They would have been cuter if I had nicer paper but what can ya do!

How was your Thanksgiving dinner? Full for a week?

Fall Soups

Are you a soup lover? On a gloomy day like today who wouldn't love a hot bowl of soup for lunch? I came across these 31 recipes on Chatelaine and had to share them.

I've actually never made a big pot of soup from scratch but it's something I plan on doing this fall and winter more then once.

Here are a couple soups I'd love to tackle.

French Country Chicken Soup

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in chicken thighs or 1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
• 2 900-mL cartons chicken broth or 8 cups (2 L) chicken bouillon
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon
• 2 tsp (10 mL) dried tarragon
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) each ground nutmeg and white pepper
• 6 baby potatoes
• 4 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 3 leeks 

Squash Soup with Smoky Bacon

Ingredients

• 1 large butternut squash or 5 cups squash pieces
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 plum tomatoes
• 1 large onion
• 5 thick slices of bacon, preferably double-smoked
• 1/2 tsp each dried sage leave, oregano leaves and salt
• 900 mL carton chicken broth or 2 284 mL cans undiluted chicken broth
• 1/3 cups shredded fresh basil (optional)

How delicious do these soups look? For the full list of recipes click here.


Artichoke Pesto Zucchini Bites

This summer I have fallen in love with zucchini. I've never liked it but something changed this summer and now I can't get enough of it.

We're having a dinner party on Sunday and I plan on making a new recipe my mom got that I'll be sure to share next week.

In the meantime, how amazing do these zucchini bites looks. We're also having people for dinner on Friday night (yes, two dinner parties this weekend) and I think I'm going to try these.

Via

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs zucchini (about 2-3 large zucchini)
• 9 oz package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and squeezed of excess water
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• the leaves of half a bunch of parsley (about a cup)
• 1/4 cup walnuts
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 oz parmigiano reggiano, grated (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:

1. Cut the stem off the zucchinis, then use a mandolin to slice them into long thin ribbons. They should be about 1/8 inch thick, if they're too thin they won't stand up on the own, but if they're too thick, they won't be flexible enough to roll. Give each one a little sprinkle on both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Heat the grill to high, and do a quick sear of the zucchini. Since they are really thin, they should only be on the grill for about 30-60 seconds, just enough to take the raw edge off and give them some pretty little grill marks. Remove the grilled zucchini ribbons to a plate.
3. In a food processor, throw in the artichoke hearts, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, walnuts, and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Let the food processor run for a good 20 seconds, until everything is chopped up, and be sure to stop and scrape down the sides from time to time. With the food processor running, stream in the olive oil. Scrape the pesto out into a bowl, and stir in the grated parmesan. Taste it to check for proper seasoning.
4. Place a spoonful of artichoke pesto into each zucchini ribbon, and roll it up into a little roll. The artichoke pesto is sticky so it should stick together well. Serve and enjoy!

For a play by play with images click here.

Is there a new vegetable you're loving this summer? What's your favourite vegetable dish?

Basic Pasta Sauces

What a crappy weather day here in Toronto; it's cold, damp and pouring rain. When the weather is crappy like this my stomach craves comfort food and pasta is one of my favourite comfort foods.

I found this on Rachel Ray and immediately thought this would be great for a day like today.

VIA Rachel Ray

One of the first things I want to do when we're settled into our house make a big pot sauce and freeze it.

What type of pasta sauce is your favourite?

Fall Table Decor

I love decorating the table with gorgeous fall pieces. Fall is my favourite season as I may have already mentioned. There is just so much you can do with fall decor.

Check out these tables and ideas:

VIA Just a Little Vintage

VIA Style Me Pretty

VIA S R Gambrel

What have you done this season to decorate your table?

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)

Cool Off!

Isn't this weather AMAZING! Aside from the AC being broken in my car I am loving this weather. I don't know about the rest of you, but the when the weather is this glorious all I want to do is hang out outside. That said, here are some yummy outdoor ideas for this week and weekend.

Idea 1: To add some flare to your bbq this weekend why not dress up your bottles?! It's simple, quick and will make your water bottles stand out for sure.

Idea 2: Instead of having four people sit around the table holding down the table cloth why not try this neat and cute trick?

Both of these ideas came from Country Living.

Happy hump day :)

Nicole

Quick & Easy Tuesday Dinner

Since I was slacking last week and didn't post a recipe on Friday I thought I'd mix it up and post one now. Here's a quick and easy recipe I found in the Quick & Easy section on Canadian Living.

Microwave Salmon & Cucumber Salad
Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets (1-1/2lb or 750g)
1/4 cup (50mL) chopped fresh chives or green onions
1/4 tsp (1mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1mL) pepper
1/2 lemon
Salad:
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onions 1/3 1/3cup cup(75 mL) (75 mL) thinly sliced red onionred onions
1/4 cup 2% plain yogurt 1/4 1/4cup cup(50 mL) (50 mL) 2% plain yogurt - I would use Fat Free
1 tbsp lemon juice 1 1tbsp tbsp(15 mL) lemon juice
1 1tsp tsp(5 mL) granulated sugar(5 mL)
1/2 1/2tsp tsp(2 mL) (2 mL) dried dillweed
1/4 tsp salt 1/4 1/4tsp tsp(1 mL) salt
3 cups of thinly sliced cucumbers
Preparation:

Salad: In bowl, soak onion in cold water for 15 minutes; drain and pat dry. In bowl, whisk together yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, dillweed and sa< add cucumber and onion.
Place salmon in microwaveable dish; sprinkle with chives, salt and pepper. Cut lemon in half lengthwise; cut crosswise into paper-thin slices and arrange over salmon. Cover and microwave at High until fish flakes easily when tested, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve with cucumber salad.
Additional Info:
To cook salmon on stove top, bring 1/2 cup (125 mL) water to boil in large skillet. Add salmon, chives, salt, pepper and lemon. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until fish flakes easily when tested, about 10 minutes.

Let me know how your Tuesday night dinner goes!

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)

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3 cups thinly sliced cucumbers

Restaurant Review... Fishbone Bistro

I hope you all had a lovely long weekend! Thankfully the weather was better than predicted.

Friday night we went to dinner with some friends to Fishbone Bistro. Fishbone is a small restaurant in Stouffville specializing in Portuguese Influenced Bistro and it is delicious. We've been twice now and have loved everything about it. The food, service, atmosophere are all amazing.

I forgot to take a picture of our plates because we ate too quickly but I will for sure take some pictures next time.

Be sure to check out Fishbone next time you're in Stouffville for dinner!

Enjoy the Party,

Nicole :)