This delightful soup was created by Laura. It was very tasty and warm on a cold night.
Ingredients:
2 cups red lentils
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cracked black peppercorns
¾ tsp chili pepper flakes
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, including juice
2 large carrots, peeled, cut in half lengthwise and thinly slices
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
thin slices lemon, optional
finely chopped cilantro or parsley, optional
Preparation:
In a colander, rinse lentils thoroughly under cold running water. Set aside.
In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring, until soft. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, cumin seeds, salt, peppercorns and chili pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
Transfer mixture to slow cooker stoneware. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours, until carrots are tender and mixture is bubbling. Stir in coconut milk and cook on High for 20 to 30 minutes, until heated through.
When ready to serve, ladle into bowls and top with lemon slices and cilantro or parsley, if using.
Serves 8 to 10 as a starter or 4 to 6 as a main course.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Mulled Cider
Another favorite that makes the house smell delightful!
Ingredients:
2 Litres unsweetened apple cider/juice
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tsp whole cloves
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 orange sliced in wheels
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a large pot, cover and heat on low for at least 2 hours. Stir regularly. Serve hot.
Ingredients:
2 Litres unsweetened apple cider/juice
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 sticks cinnamon
1 tsp whole cloves
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1 orange sliced in wheels
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a large pot, cover and heat on low for at least 2 hours. Stir regularly. Serve hot.
Maple Rum Sauce
This is good on plum pudding, and ice cream. Well, actually on anything if you like sauces.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp rum
1/2 tsp maple extract
Preparation
In a saucepan melt butter and add brown sugar and whipping cream. On medium heat cook and stir until it boils. Let boil for 2 - 3 minutes and remove from heat. Add rum and maple extract. Serve hot.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp rum
1/2 tsp maple extract
Preparation
In a saucepan melt butter and add brown sugar and whipping cream. On medium heat cook and stir until it boils. Let boil for 2 - 3 minutes and remove from heat. Add rum and maple extract. Serve hot.
Plum Pudding
I love this recipe. Not only does it taste excellent, and not like fruitcake at all - even though it does have some "kick" to it-, it's healthy made mostly from fruit. It can be made gluten free and nut free for those who have allergies and are generally limited in the selection available to them for holiday treats.
This recipe takes 2 days to make, just because you need to soak the fruit overnight in your chice of alcohol, but that doesn't take long at all.
day 1-
Ingredients:
2 cups raisins
1 cup pitted prunes
3/4 cup currants
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup guiness stout beer (or rum for gluten free)
Preparation:
mix fruit together with beer, cover and let soak overnight in refridgerator
day 2-
Ingredients:
1 cup flour (wheat or non-gluten)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup mixed candied fruit
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 c fine breadcrumbs (or leave these out)
8 tbsp butter
2 eggs
Preparation:
Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl, in another bowl add the butter, eggs and candied fruit in with mixture that has been soaking overnight. Combine contents of both bowls and spoon into a bundt pan or other cake pan of your choice. You will now need to use a double boiler and place the cake in to steam for 2 hours on low heat. I just use a really big canning pot and put an inch or so of water in the bottom.
You will know it is finished when you can smell it, and when it seems to have solidified together in the pan. Let cool a few minutes and remove to a cool plate for serving. It is best served warm with rum sauce. See recipe below.
This recipe takes 2 days to make, just because you need to soak the fruit overnight in your chice of alcohol, but that doesn't take long at all.
day 1-
Ingredients:
2 cups raisins
1 cup pitted prunes
3/4 cup currants
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 cup guiness stout beer (or rum for gluten free)
Preparation:
mix fruit together with beer, cover and let soak overnight in refridgerator
day 2-
Ingredients:
1 cup flour (wheat or non-gluten)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup mixed candied fruit
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 c fine breadcrumbs (or leave these out)
8 tbsp butter
2 eggs
Preparation:
Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl, in another bowl add the butter, eggs and candied fruit in with mixture that has been soaking overnight. Combine contents of both bowls and spoon into a bundt pan or other cake pan of your choice. You will now need to use a double boiler and place the cake in to steam for 2 hours on low heat. I just use a really big canning pot and put an inch or so of water in the bottom.
You will know it is finished when you can smell it, and when it seems to have solidified together in the pan. Let cool a few minutes and remove to a cool plate for serving. It is best served warm with rum sauce. See recipe below.
December 2006 potluck notes
Hello all!
The nostalgia of the season is getting to me. I put up my Christmas decorations early this year so that we would have a festive potluck, and it turned out to be all that and more. We had a cornucopia of delicious food, veggies and dips, vegetarian stew, lentil and carrot soup (the recipe is here too) apple crisp, plum pudding and mulled cider (recipes are also on the blog).
It was really a magical night, we welcomed back Mair from her travels abroad to Ireland and Scotland and of course to Findhorn. You can learn more about her travels at her blog. You may even like to ask her about her miracle.
Teresa is off to Australia and a 1 year contract with Outward Bound. We will miss her at the potlucks, but we will keep in touch through the blogs! Her blog is here. It was really great that Mair and Teresa got to see each other before she left.
What did we talk about? Lots of things as usual. Four of us from the group have been involved in a very exciting and innovative project called "Net Zero". The aim of this project is to bring together an assortment of people - engineers, architects, designers, builders, bankers, landscapers, and alternative energy specialists to design and build a house that -over the course of a year- uses no energy. CMHC is sponsoring this Canada wide contest and we have been involved in the Alberta effort. The house will be built in Riverdale. You can find out more about this project at this address.
We also talked about pet empathy and communicating with animals. Everything from Mair's story of telling the fruit flies in her worm bins to leave and they did, to Kim telling a dog that was on the Whitemud to get to the side before it got hurt, and it did. I'm sure all of us have had these telepathic experiences with animals, but have we ever thought about what it means? Have you ever been deep in thought and looked around to find yourself surrounded with butterflies? Or when you see a certain type of animal at a certain time in your life, what message are you supposed to get? There are lots of dead bats being found at the bottom of the wind turbines in Pincher Creek. Why? What is attracting them there? it might be something to pay attention to.
Some books that offer insight and further thought on these subjects are:
When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Susan McCarthy. If you would llike to read an excerpt from this book click here.
Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small , Ted Andrews. If you would like to read an excerpt from this book, click here.
Some other books that came up this evening were:
Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle, See excerpt
Boundless Love, by Miranda Holden, sorry no excerpt for this one.
The Universe Is a Green Dragon: A Cosmic Creation Story by Brian Swimme. To read an excerpt, click here
We then talked about the many opportunities this time of year affords for enjoying music and choirs. And woven into this topic of watching the kids' Christmas concerts, was the issue of childhood obesity we all hear so much about on the news. Among those at the potluck, none noticed that any of the kids in the choirs had these issues, which led us to wonder if singing could possibly prevent obesity? We then proceeded to sing a number of rounds of songs that Teresa taught us from her workshop experiences.
One of the songs - which I did not capture the title from, perhaps Teresa will read this and let me know- goes as follows:
may you dwell in the heart
may you be free from suffering
may you be healed
may you be at peace
may I dwell in the heart
may I be free from suffering
may I be healed
may I be at peace
may we dwell in the heart
may we be free from suffering
may we be healed
may we be at peace.
That is my wish for all of you as this year quickly draws to a close. There was some talk of a New Year's Eve gathering, details still to be worked out. If anyone is interested in this please let me know. maureen@iamdesigns.com
The nostalgia of the season is getting to me. I put up my Christmas decorations early this year so that we would have a festive potluck, and it turned out to be all that and more. We had a cornucopia of delicious food, veggies and dips, vegetarian stew, lentil and carrot soup (the recipe is here too) apple crisp, plum pudding and mulled cider (recipes are also on the blog).
It was really a magical night, we welcomed back Mair from her travels abroad to Ireland and Scotland and of course to Findhorn. You can learn more about her travels at her blog. You may even like to ask her about her miracle.
Teresa is off to Australia and a 1 year contract with Outward Bound. We will miss her at the potlucks, but we will keep in touch through the blogs! Her blog is here. It was really great that Mair and Teresa got to see each other before she left.
What did we talk about? Lots of things as usual. Four of us from the group have been involved in a very exciting and innovative project called "Net Zero". The aim of this project is to bring together an assortment of people - engineers, architects, designers, builders, bankers, landscapers, and alternative energy specialists to design and build a house that -over the course of a year- uses no energy. CMHC is sponsoring this Canada wide contest and we have been involved in the Alberta effort. The house will be built in Riverdale. You can find out more about this project at this address.
We also talked about pet empathy and communicating with animals. Everything from Mair's story of telling the fruit flies in her worm bins to leave and they did, to Kim telling a dog that was on the Whitemud to get to the side before it got hurt, and it did. I'm sure all of us have had these telepathic experiences with animals, but have we ever thought about what it means? Have you ever been deep in thought and looked around to find yourself surrounded with butterflies? Or when you see a certain type of animal at a certain time in your life, what message are you supposed to get? There are lots of dead bats being found at the bottom of the wind turbines in Pincher Creek. Why? What is attracting them there? it might be something to pay attention to.
Some books that offer insight and further thought on these subjects are:
When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Susan McCarthy. If you would llike to read an excerpt from this book click here.
Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small , Ted Andrews. If you would like to read an excerpt from this book, click here.
Some other books that came up this evening were:
Stillness Speaks, by Eckhart Tolle, See excerpt
Boundless Love, by Miranda Holden, sorry no excerpt for this one.
The Universe Is a Green Dragon: A Cosmic Creation Story by Brian Swimme. To read an excerpt, click here
We then talked about the many opportunities this time of year affords for enjoying music and choirs. And woven into this topic of watching the kids' Christmas concerts, was the issue of childhood obesity we all hear so much about on the news. Among those at the potluck, none noticed that any of the kids in the choirs had these issues, which led us to wonder if singing could possibly prevent obesity? We then proceeded to sing a number of rounds of songs that Teresa taught us from her workshop experiences.
One of the songs - which I did not capture the title from, perhaps Teresa will read this and let me know- goes as follows:
may you dwell in the heart
may you be free from suffering
may you be healed
may you be at peace
may I dwell in the heart
may I be free from suffering
may I be healed
may I be at peace
may we dwell in the heart
may we be free from suffering
may we be healed
may we be at peace.
That is my wish for all of you as this year quickly draws to a close. There was some talk of a New Year's Eve gathering, details still to be worked out. If anyone is interested in this please let me know. maureen@iamdesigns.com
Monday, November 27, 2006
Corn Chowder Soup
This one is from a fancy recipe book I got for Christmas one year. It's the only thing I've ever made from that book.
Ingredients
5 slices of bacon - chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onion - chopped
2 tbsp flour or corn starch
4 cups of vegetable broth/stock
2 large white potatoes (I just use hasbrowns, way easier than cutting everything up)
1 cup light cream (or soy creamer)
1/4 tsp pepper/salt
4 cups corn kernals (I use frozen ones)
1 large red/orange pepper - chopped
3 green onions - diced
Preparation
wilt the bacon in a large stockpot over low heat until the fat is rendered (5 minutes)
Add the butter to the pot and melt. Then add the onion and sweat over low heat for about 10 minutes until soft but not brown. Add the thickener and stir for another 2 - 3 minutes.
Add the vegetable stock to the pot and then add the potatoes and cook until soft on med-low heat, about 10 - 15 minutes. The add the corn and cook about 5 minutes.
Now add the cream, red pepper, seasonings and onions. Stir in and cook only about 5 minutes and then serve immediately! I like to put my tvp bacon bits on this to add more flavor, but do what tates best to you!
Ingredients
5 slices of bacon - chopped
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups yellow onion - chopped
2 tbsp flour or corn starch
4 cups of vegetable broth/stock
2 large white potatoes (I just use hasbrowns, way easier than cutting everything up)
1 cup light cream (or soy creamer)
1/4 tsp pepper/salt
4 cups corn kernals (I use frozen ones)
1 large red/orange pepper - chopped
3 green onions - diced
Preparation
wilt the bacon in a large stockpot over low heat until the fat is rendered (5 minutes)
Add the butter to the pot and melt. Then add the onion and sweat over low heat for about 10 minutes until soft but not brown. Add the thickener and stir for another 2 - 3 minutes.
Add the vegetable stock to the pot and then add the potatoes and cook until soft on med-low heat, about 10 - 15 minutes. The add the corn and cook about 5 minutes.
Now add the cream, red pepper, seasonings and onions. Stir in and cook only about 5 minutes and then serve immediately! I like to put my tvp bacon bits on this to add more flavor, but do what tates best to you!
Corn Meal Muffins
I love these muffins, they taste so good and go with everything! They are also super easy to make, it's just like making porridge - which is most welcome on these cold days. This is also a 2-part recipe
Ingredients
2 cups soy milk
1 cup cornmeal
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1/4 c oil
Preparation
In a saucepan, combine and cook the above ingredients until mixed and starting to thicken, about 10 minutes.
Ingredients 2
1 cup flour (spelt, amaranth, or whatever you like)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
Preparation
Sift together the dry ingredients and fold into the wet ingredients in saucepan. Combine and spoon into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until tops are brown and you can smell them when you walk in the house from shoveling snow.
Ingredients
2 cups soy milk
1 cup cornmeal
1 egg
1/3 cup honey
1/4 c oil
Preparation
In a saucepan, combine and cook the above ingredients until mixed and starting to thicken, about 10 minutes.
Ingredients 2
1 cup flour (spelt, amaranth, or whatever you like)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
Preparation
Sift together the dry ingredients and fold into the wet ingredients in saucepan. Combine and spoon into muffin tins. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until tops are brown and you can smell them when you walk in the house from shoveling snow.
Lentil Soup
Some people have requested that I share my recipes with them. I try to make dishes that are vegetarian/vegan and nut/ gluten free due to allergies among our guests. Here's one of my favorites taken from the book "Eating Alive", by John Matsen, it's a 2 part recipe so make sure you look at both parts for ingredients:
Ingrediants
6 cups water or vegetable stock
1 cup brown lentils (washed)
4 - 6 celery stalks
2 carrots sliced
1 onion chopped
1-2 cloves garlic
Preparation
Simmer stock, vegetables and lentils for about 1 hour until lentils start to soften
Ingrediants 2
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp braggs
3 tsp parsley
1 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp italian spice
1/8 tsp cayenne
5 dashes kelp
Preparation 2
add spices to soup and simmer another 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Ingrediants
6 cups water or vegetable stock
1 cup brown lentils (washed)
4 - 6 celery stalks
2 carrots sliced
1 onion chopped
1-2 cloves garlic
Preparation
Simmer stock, vegetables and lentils for about 1 hour until lentils start to soften
Ingrediants 2
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp braggs
3 tsp parsley
1 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp italian spice
1/8 tsp cayenne
5 dashes kelp
Preparation 2
add spices to soup and simmer another 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Thursday, November 16, 2006
November Potluck Notes
Good evening everyone. I am having fun playing with this blogging site. Thanks to Teresa for getting me started on this adventure.
Tonight's potluck was a heady assortment of soups, dips, and of course cakes! We talked about our usual wide range of topics, everything from summer camp, traveling, and snow shoveling to sexual enhancements and breast reductions! Of course we had great fun and lots of laughs as well.
We've loosely agreed that it would be fun to have more than one of these gatherings per month, so starting in January, there will be separate nights for games (anything from board games like scrabble to murder mystery nights and more), movie nights for screenings of especially interesting pieces like "The Secret", and of course the regular potluck and perhaps opportunities for our very talented guest to share some of their skills in mini workshops from time to time. Dates and times for these new events will be coming soon.
Items of interest:
- if you will be in vancouver in the near future you may like to catch a screening of the movie, "Conversations with God", based on the book of the same name. I missed the sneak preview here in Edmonton, but I hope that it will be widely released to the public after the limited release in Toronto and Vancouver.
- also in Vacouver - if you are fascinated by the human body and the miracle of creation and interconnectedness of all our systems you may want to check out the Body World exhibit at their version of the Space & Science Center. People have donated their bodies to this exhibit where they have been plasticized and posed in various situations so you can examine the inner workings of our bodies. That's right, no skin on these people. If you want to find out more you can visit the following link: http://www.scienceworld.bc.ca/whats_on/Body-Worlds/overview.htm
- On December 6/06 there will be a concert by the St Albert Community Band at the Arden Theatre. 7pm, tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for kids and can be bought at the door or call Laurelie at 450-4227
- Teresa will be putting on a workshop on Dec 1 & 2 in Pincher Creek, Alberta. The title is: Healing Our World - based on the work of Joanna Macy. There is already a contingent going down from Edmonton, and you may be able to get in on the carpooling. For more details you can email me and I will forward you a brochure. Maureen@iamdesigns.com
And yes, Teresa is jetting off for a year long adventure overseas - Australia to be exact, and she has a new email address which is sherpadoginoz@care2.com and she also has her own blog which is http://sherpadoginoz.blogspot.com so check out what exciting things she is doing too.
I have also been asked to share my recipe for the corn chowder from this month's gathering, along with the recipe for lentil soup. I will start a special recipe section for the blogs so you can just go there to get recipes from anyone. Feel free to ask someone for theirs or add your own.
Tonight's potluck was a heady assortment of soups, dips, and of course cakes! We talked about our usual wide range of topics, everything from summer camp, traveling, and snow shoveling to sexual enhancements and breast reductions! Of course we had great fun and lots of laughs as well.
We've loosely agreed that it would be fun to have more than one of these gatherings per month, so starting in January, there will be separate nights for games (anything from board games like scrabble to murder mystery nights and more), movie nights for screenings of especially interesting pieces like "The Secret", and of course the regular potluck and perhaps opportunities for our very talented guest to share some of their skills in mini workshops from time to time. Dates and times for these new events will be coming soon.
Items of interest:
- if you will be in vancouver in the near future you may like to catch a screening of the movie, "Conversations with God", based on the book of the same name. I missed the sneak preview here in Edmonton, but I hope that it will be widely released to the public after the limited release in Toronto and Vancouver.
- also in Vacouver - if you are fascinated by the human body and the miracle of creation and interconnectedness of all our systems you may want to check out the Body World exhibit at their version of the Space & Science Center. People have donated their bodies to this exhibit where they have been plasticized and posed in various situations so you can examine the inner workings of our bodies. That's right, no skin on these people. If you want to find out more you can visit the following link: http://www.scienceworld.bc.ca/whats_on/Body-Worlds/overview.htm
- On December 6/06 there will be a concert by the St Albert Community Band at the Arden Theatre. 7pm, tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for kids and can be bought at the door or call Laurelie at 450-4227
- Teresa will be putting on a workshop on Dec 1 & 2 in Pincher Creek, Alberta. The title is: Healing Our World - based on the work of Joanna Macy. There is already a contingent going down from Edmonton, and you may be able to get in on the carpooling. For more details you can email me and I will forward you a brochure. Maureen@iamdesigns.com
And yes, Teresa is jetting off for a year long adventure overseas - Australia to be exact, and she has a new email address which is sherpadoginoz@care2.com and she also has her own blog which is http://sherpadoginoz.blogspot.com so check out what exciting things she is doing too.
I have also been asked to share my recipe for the corn chowder from this month's gathering, along with the recipe for lentil soup. I will start a special recipe section for the blogs so you can just go there to get recipes from anyone. Feel free to ask someone for theirs or add your own.
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