A New Favourite

The Victoria in Canada has not been known to be a cook or someone who has ever given that much time or effort to baking; however I have turned over a new leaf here. I remember a couple of years ago, when Alanna was living in the basement suite close to my house and JoAnne and I would go over there, pull up a chair and just watch as Alanna baked us somthing yummy! We always loved her baking- I especially remember the yummy chocolate zuccini loaf that she baked "with us." Of course, this story came up at Alanna's wedding because Jo and I told everyone that we have learned many life lessons from Alanna and that K scored himself a good wife when he married her. No, really, she is awesome!! Before I left, the present she gave me was a homemade Cookbook. I love it! It has a picture of us on the front and of course gives all of the dessert recipes first, because we all know the saying, "Life is uncertain- eat dessert first." She has included many yummy things for me to refer to. Today I gave one of her recipes a go- Tortilla Soup. It was delicious (however, it was missing the jalapeno!). Thanks for helping me along Alanna by providing me with some of yours (and Kevin's) favourite recipes.

Strangely (?) I have really come to enjoy cooking and baking. During the past four months, I have tried a variety of new recipes. I enjoy putting on some nice tunes or a good sermon via podcast, or just enjoying the silence. Yes, I've had to refer to google translate a number of times to translate different spices, as well as run across the street to the get a missing ingredient or two (how convenient to have a grocery store right there!); however, I've really grown to Enjoy the whole cooking experience.

It's funny because in North America we often buy a lot of processed, or prepackaged food (cake mixes, easy Mac, etc.) but here, I have actually liked the process that is involved in making food from scratch. One of my favourites has been baking Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (Delicious. Last week some friends were over and the boys helped themselves to 3 or 4 pieces each and then asked if they could take some home!). The reason I feel so proud of this cake is due to the fact that the pumpkin was bought from the market and then I cooked and pureed it before using it in the cake- no cans of Pumpkin here! You get this sweet sense of satisfaction when you make something completely from scratch.

Another observation is that at home we typically shop at Superstore and buy our groceries for the week, whereas here, we frequent the grocery stores more often. I find myself going to the grocery store everyday or every other day. I love the markets on this side of the world. We typically get our fruits and veggies at the market; however, I've realized they don't have all of the preservatives that ours do at home. That means that they usually only stay good for a couple of days- not an entire week! So although there is so much healthy stuff to buy at the market, you can't go overboard or else you will end up feeding the Garbage after a couple of days (and I'm sure Mr. Garbage is already full becuase there are 17 million people in this city alone feeding him).

Well folks, I just wanted to share my new found friend "Cooking" with you. Some of my favourite meals include: Tacos, Lasagna (I made it for the first time here), Chickpea Curry, Homemade Pizza, Sweet & Sour Meatballs, and Chicken + Squash + Potatoes (made "the Cindy way"). I am reminded of my Granny's cooking. Her food was always so good- and I think it's because it was all made from scratch. You just knew that time and love were put into her cooking. I think it's halarious that Lydia has such confidence in my cooking/ baking because to be honest, most of this is me just stepping out and trying new recipes!

Dare I say this is something to add to my "Wife Resume?" I suppose so (wink, wink Denise).