Frittata 101

Every Sunday, we try to make a real breakfast. 

Sometimes, the bf cooks, some times I do.

But last weekend, I wanted to do something different than eggs over easy with bacon and toast, which is pretty typical around here.

So I did a little searching for something new... And decided to make a frittata.

I love eggs, but I'm always nervous about under cooking them and doing something like a frittata or a quiche seemed beyond my abilities, but I gave it a go anyway.

And it's super easy. And reheatable. And versatile.

And just to show you, here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

- 8 large eggs

-1/2 cup milk

-salt & pepper

- whatever you want to put in it: meat, veggies, cheese etc.

-1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1) Scramble your eggs with a whisk

2) Add milk. I used skim this time, but I used left over half & half last week. Turned out great both times.

3) Add cheese if you want to. I usually use about 1/2 cup, but the bf shredded it right into the bowl for me and I'd estimate this is closer to 3/4 cup.

4) Add whatever seasonings you want. I used about 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp garlic power (not  garlic salt!)

Note: You want to mix the eggs VERY well. Use a whisk to incorporate as much air as you can so your frittata will be very light a fluffy.

5) Heat (on medium) 1 tbsp olive oil in a 12" pan. MAKE SURE it can go in the oven, because you're going to put the whole pan under the broiler at the end.

6) Chop up everything that needs to cook for awhile. I used misc breakfast meats we had on hand and onions. 

7) Toss in pan and cook.

8) Next, chop up any thing that's pre-cooked or doesn't have to cook for very long. I used spinach and mushrooms.

I added the mushrooms when the meat was almost done, just so they'd cook a little bit.

If  you're using spinach, toss it in once everything is done.

It will wilt really, really fast. It only took about 30 seconds.

You're also going to want to turn the broiler on here, so it'll be hot when you put the pan in the oven.

9) Once all the meats/veggies are cooked, toss in the egg/milk/cheese mixture

10) Scramble the mixture. When it's scrambled but still wet (still too raw to eat), even it out and let cook for about two minutes.

The whole point of doing this is to let the bottom set up.

11) Pull the top of the eggs aside with a spatula to check the bottom. It will look more like done scrambled eggs, while the top will still be very wet.

12) Even everything back out and stick the pan under the broiler. You want it about 6 inches away from the broiler. 

Another note: You can top it with more cheese before putting it in the oven if you want to.

13) Broil until top is browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out ALMOST clean. Leaving in the oven until done will result in dry eggs.

14) Let rest for 5 minutes. This will allow the eggs to finish cooking without drying out.

15) Cut into 6-8 slices, serve and enjoy!

Freyja's a little jealous when we make breakfast...

But she's having breakfast with Rocky the Raccoon instead.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

A walk in the park

I've been pretty distracted this week... Which isn't good for my blog... or keeping up with the housekeeping work.

Last Sunday, while playing with little Freyja, it got a little out of hand and she scratched my cornea. Fortunately it wasn't bad and I'm fully recovered, but it made for a rough start to the week.

And school started this week! For those of you who don't know, I'm studying for my advanced paralegal certificate... And reading 6 chapters on Medical Paralegal Law, it takes a lot of time.

Speaking of reading, I also broke out my Kindle again this week. I haven't used it in months and after using it 3 days straight, I can't seem to put it down...

I did manage to stop reading on Saturday for a little outing. First stop: Starbucks.

Anyone know what these cute little boxes hold?

Starbucks mini cupcakes.... I'd never seen them before and we just had to try them.

On the left, carrot cake for me and the right, chocolate peanut butter for the bf

After our Starbucks run, we took Freyja for a walk in our favorite park. It was a gorgeous day and surprisingly warm. 

It's really starting to feel like spring, even if there is no evidence of that in the plants.

Freyja had a blast, as always.

But she was one tired pooch when we got home.

And she really likes to cuddle up.

We also put the final coat of stain/poly on the new dining room table... I'm really hoping we can get it moved in sometime today.

And for dinner? It was so nice, we decided to do all of our cooking outside.

We just couldn't bring ourselves to go inside when it was so nice and warm.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

I've been seriously neglecting my housework this week, so there won't be much else getting done.

I'm not Irish (at least that I'm aware of) and neither is the bf. And Freyja's a German dog from French Canada with a Scandinavian name. So I'm not wearing green. And I won't be pinched.

I am, however, making corned beef and cabbage... for the first time.

Frankly, I think it looks a little gross. At least all packaged up. I mean, it looks a little like beef tongue.

The bf didn't leave me with a recipe. "Just add water," was his 'recipe.' 

So I went and I found one of my own.

And luckily, we have this lovely, pot:

I'm sure it was inherited. The bf's kitchen stuff is always surprising. I'm either surprised he doesn't own something or surprised he does.

But it's a great, versatile pot. So thank you to who ever it came from :)

And apparently, it's not St. Patrick's Day without Guinness.

But frankly, I don't get the hype.

How ever you celebrate,

HAVE A GREAT ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Also, there's a great pattern giveaway over at Adventures in Dressmaking... Head over and check it out!

Canadian Thanksgiving

The Turkey, finally done.

 It's finally fall... and in Canada, that means thanksgiving! I, however, have never cooked a turkey in my life, let alone a full thanksgiving meal. The first thing I did, perhaps a habit I picked up from my mom, was make a list of EVERYTHING I was going to need. So, a week before thanksgiving, my boyfriend and I do our weekly grocery shopping trip... Only to find that the store we usually go to doesn't have quite a few of the things we need.


One thing I noticed after moving up here is that quite a few of the grocery stores, especially the ones closest to us, are about the size of a drug store. In the states, all of the grocery stores are huge. And you can always find everything you need and then some. But here? No. We frequently have to go to 2 or more stores to find everything we need.

Boyfriend carving the turkey

So, after our first grocery store, I'm still missing turkey bags, poultry seasoning, stuffing meant for inside of the turkey and the ingredients for green bean casserole. What grocery store selling turkeys for thanksgiving doesn't have poultry seasoning and non-stove top stuffing? Apparently Fresh Co. So, we easily find poultry seasoning and stuffing at our next stop, but no turkey bags and no French's Fried Onions, which has the recipe for green bean casserole on the back. We probably went down the same two aisles looking for these two things 10 times each. Finally, I make the boyfriend ask, because I don't like to ask anyone about anything. The guy tells us to look on the same aisles, but gives us the location of where we should find what we're looking for. We find the turkey bags; there is only one brand, not the brand I know of and they are on top of the aisle. Not on the top shelf, the top. I'm not sure how I was supposed to know to look there and I wonder how Canadians cook their turkeys without a turkey bag (which is the only way I ever remember our turkeys being cooked). Next, it's another ten trips down the same aisle looking for French's Fried Onions. Only, they aren't there. The boyfriend asks again. The employee takes us to where they should be; they aren't there. He finally takes us to the Asian food aisle and finds some bag that has fried onions, but not French's. I call my mom for the recipe, but she's not home. I try to look it up on my phone, only to not have service in the massive store. I guess what the recipe is, and luckily I was right.

Table set

Thanksgiving Monday rolls around, and we have everything we need; I just have to figure out how to cook this turkey that has been taking up my whole fridge the past two days defrosting. I call my grandma, our resident turkey expert to figure out what I need to do. I'm not entirely sure what I'd have done without her help.

It was an ordeal, but at least I'll know what to do next time this rolls around... for us, that's about a month away.

The Credit River

 Last weekend, while the dog and boyfriend were still sleeping, I started looking for some place to take a walk. We usually just walk Freyja around our neighborhood. But, we're right off the QEW, literally, like I can see the concrete sound wall from our driveway. And the compression breaks of those big trucks tends to freak Freyja out.

I do a bit of research and find this trail, that now for the life of me I can't remember, that runs right next to the Credit River. So we drive over to Erindale Park, lattes in hand, hoping it's not just a bike trail like most of the sites say. It was a gorgeous day and I was quite surprised to see that once you were on the trail, you didn't even feel like you were in the city. The boyfriend was focused on all the fisherpeople (there were women too and I do try my best to be PC), who were fishing for salmon which run this time of year. We didn't see anyone actually catch a fish, but we did see a few dead fish (courtesy of Freyja and her nose) that had likely already spawned and the boyfriend was quite jealous.

Freyja leaping for a cookie

 Freyja did pretty well, although she was pretty terrified of every dog (thanks to the husky next door), bike and stroller. I ended up buying her a harness to use when we walk her after this; it'll be way easier to pull her along when you don't have to feel guilty when she starts coughing from pulling her so much.

Freyja finally gets her 2nd wind towards the end

At one point, I saw a yorkie, who wasn't any bigger than her, coming down the path and turned to Freyja and said, "If you're scared of this little thing coming down the path, I don't think you have the right to call yourself a dog anymore..." Freyja just looked at me confused, as usual and the boyfriend started laughing. However, as the yorkie and it's owners neared, she just cowered and hid behind our legs. Hopefully taking her on a walk like this regularly will make her less afraid of other dogs; especially ones that are about her size. She loves people, though, especially little kids, so we do have to stop fairly often so she can say hi and everyone can comment on how little, cute, soft, etc... she is. The trail is actually quite long (12 km/7.5 mi), so we only did about 3.5 miles, but Freyja made it the whole way!

Back at the beginning

We definitely plan on making this a weekly weekend event, though. As long as its "warm" enough that I can still feel my fingers.

We'll be carving pumpkins, and likely brewing and knitting, this weekend, so stay tuned for some more photos!

Beginning to feel like fall in the GTA

After two of the hottest months I've ever experienced in my entire life, it's finally feeling like fall in Ontario. I know I'll be regretting wanting the temperature to drop in another two, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy it. Who would have thought 60 degrees would warrant putting on pants and a sweatshirt? Not I.

The pup, on the other hand isn't too thrilled... little does she know this is nothing compared to what it'll be like in January, so I probably should find a few more dog sweaters to knit for her.

Speaking of sweaters, I've been working on two. One, I mentioned in my last post, is a sweater for my boyfriend.  He's been nagging me since he learned I could knit to make him a sweater, and although my grandma gave us each a hand knit Icelandic sweater, he still wants one from me. I know I mentioned awhile ago that he asked me specifically for a sweater like "the one Hawkeye wears in that one M*A*S*H episode..." Well, luckily, the only thing he really cared about was the collar/neckline and pockets (which I think is just because he doesn't know stockinette stitch from any other stitch). It's mostly knit up; I only have a sleeve and a half to go, but I'm going to have to pick up another ball of yarn to finish it up. It's knit on US 15's, and thankfully I use interchangeable knitting needles (god's gift to knitters) so I didn't have to buy a new set that I won't use again for 10 years.

In the mean time, I've been knitting myself a sweater that I found on Ravelry. I'd never used this site before, but it's pretty fabulous; that's especially true for someone like me who often has yarn and a general idea of what they want to do with it, but needs a pattern where the gauge is right (or at least close) for the yarn. I've had this mohair that I got for dirt cheap (100 g, 200 yard balls at $3 each) for years and finally, I'm getting around to using it. I'm hoping to have it done with in the next couple of days, but I haven't been getting as much knitting done as I would like... I still haven't finished my mittens; I haven't even finished the first one. I have some serious doubts I'll get them done anytime soon; I'm just not a person who's great at knitting pairs of anything. That would be why my next goal for myself is to learn to knit two mittens, socks, or anything else that comes in pairs at the same time. Sure it'll take the same amount of time as knitting two, but at least then I'll have a set.

I have been working on my cooking abilities. I'm a decent cook and have mastered a fair few dishes, but there are some I haven't had the time and patience to undertake in the past.

Icelandic pancakes, for one, are something I've never been able to make even when following my grandma's recipe to a tee. But the boyfriend (who is Swedish) has been wanting Swedish pancakes for sometime. I (the Norwegian/Icelandic girl), refuse to eat or cook such a thing. Both types are close in style, so I figured I'd give Icelandic pancakes another go. And voila! For once, they turned out pretty amazing and darn close to what my grandma makes. I can only hope my other cooking endeavors go so well.

Until next time...