We are big fans of corned beef around here, so I make it at every opportunity.

Though I have attemped to corn my own corned beef, it has not turned out just right yet, so I am stuck buying it for now in this recipe.  When I do perfect my own corned beef, I will post the recipe because I find corned beef to be of the highest order of food!

Dinner:

1 head of cabbage (green or red or a combo of both)

8 ounces of Corned beef

1/3 cup sesame seeds

2-3 tbsp of soy sauce

Pinch salt

Cut the cabbage in srips being careful to remove he core and any damaged or “ugly” outer leaves.  I cut the cabbage into bigger strips, but you could cut it into smaller strips.  Just remember that it will reduce down a lot.

Put the cabbage in the bottom of a 4 quart pot filled with about a quarter inch of water.  Add the soy sauce.  Put the lid on the cabbage pot and allow to cook until the cabbage is VERY tender.  Add the salt.

Cut the corned beef into strips and add it to the cabbage until it is warm.  Stir in the sesame seeds.

This makes a great meal for dinner with corn on the cob or some other vegetable on the side.

Recipe Notes:

Make sure the corned beef has already been cooked, you can buy uncooked beef that has been corned from the store.  It is fine to use, just make sure that it gets cooked before adding it to the recipe, since you are simply reheating it here.

Save any leftover for your breakfast the following morning.

Breakfast:

My daughter loves this “hash” for breakfast.   It is the only food I have yet seen go into her mouth before making it onto the floor.

3 Potatoes

Left over corned beef dinner

Scrub the potatoes and leave the skins on.  Cut them up into bite sized pieces and throw them into a skillet (cast iron of course) coated with oil.

Add the corned beef dinner leftovers onto the top of the potatoes.  Cover the skillet with a lid and allow to cook.  Stir often until the potatoes are soft.  Add salt to taste and serve.

Recipe Notes:

Don’t let the hash brown too much or get crispy like traditional hash.  The cabbage doesn’t take well to carmelization.

I usually steal all my ideas from other chefs, but I have now finally come up with a good idea of my own.

I made Chai Ice Cream tonight and I wanted to share the recipe with you all, since it tasted incredible while it was still in the churn.

2 cups milk

1 cup cream

1/4 cup of honey (or to taste)

2 teaspons vanilla extract

1 vanilla bean

2 teabags of your choice (I used chai)

4 eggs

Mix the cream and the milk in a saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Add the honey and then the teabags.  Allow the tea to steap as long as you like.  Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape out the seeds.  Add them to the chai mixture when the heat has been turned off. Put the mixture in the fridge to cool.  You will want it cold when you go to churn it or it will not set up well.

When the mixture is cool, beat the eggs until they lighten in color, about 2 minutes.  Add the vanilla extract.

Pour the egg mixture into the cream mixture and mix.

Pour the base into the ice cream maker and turn until it has a soft set.  Put in the freezer for 2 hours to set up.

Notes: I always have a lot of vanilla beans on hand, so I tend to use vanilla extract AND a vanilla bean.  I love the taste of the vanilla bean, and it is also nice to get the alcohol soluable flavours out of the ice cream.

You could use any kind of tea you like.  I am an Oregonian, so the Chi was fantastic, but it would also be good with Good Earth or even peppermint!

Most Philadelphia ice cream bases call for 2 cups of cream and 1 cup of milk.  I turned this around to reduce the fat content of the ice cream, and to use up more goat milk.  It seems to work fine that way, and I am now changing over to using that ratio for my Philadelphia ice creams.

Enjoy!

I have been working on potty training Daphne by making a big deal about when I have to go pee and taking her to the toilet with me and showing her how it works.

Today, I showed her how to go pee and then I left the bathroom to catch a phone call. When I went back in to see her, I saw that she was working on putting toilet paper in the toilet. When I looked in the toilet, there was a nice Daphne poop in it.

So, she accomplished climbing up on the toilet and making a poop all by herself. I am so proud!

We have rescheduled the Iron Chef nights for the 26th of September at 6:00 at night.

See you then!

Daphne came up to me today while I was sewing and she grabbed the scissors off the table while she said very calmly and clearly, “Scissors.”

Where ever did she learn that new word?

Hello Friends and Chefs!

Now that the busy summer is starting to pass us by, it’s time to cook up some fun of our own! Iron Chef Nights are going to be starting up, and you are invited to join in the fun! Iron Chef nights are a mutation of the old “Tuesay Nigh Dinners” with a bit of a competive and fun twist.

The first Iron Chef Night is going to be next Friday, September 19^th starting at 6:00 pm. We are going to hold it at our house (Jared and Chris’) in Carlton.

Here are some guidelines and tidbits:

· This first night is going to be a pilot night and everyone that attends can join in and have their say about how to hold future events. We hope to do them either every fortnight or every month depending on how people that attend feel.

· The theme for the first night is going to be “Summer Eats” bring anything you think that reminds you of summer. I’m going to make leg of lamb, lemon potatoes and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream (that’s a lot of food, you only need to bring one dish).

Here is some information about the Iron Chef Night idea:

· Anyone and everyone is invited to attend and join in the fun. I have personally intived people that were a part of Tuesday Night Dinners as well as some additional friends. If you think of someone that I may have missed, feel free to send an invitation on. This is meant to be a fun gathering of friends. Please do email me if you plan to attend the first night.

· Every week will have a “secret ingredient” that will either be selected by the “chairman” (a position not yet appointed) or by the group by vote.

· This is being done potluck style. When you cook, bring enough for yourself to eat (two or more people can cook together, as long as they bring enough for themselves to eat). That way, if everyone brings enough to eat themselves, everyone will get enough to eat.

· A silent vote will be collected after the meal to determine the “winner” of the week’s cooking maybe we could do a prize or let that person select the next secret ingredient (see, it’s still all in flux).

· It is very likely that this gathering could get bigger than being able to sit an eat around a table, so plan to eat on couches or maybe even sitting on the floor, this isn’t a formal thing after all. This first week, we have a deck we can put sitting devices on and eat out there (before it gets cold).

· If someone wants to bring wine or juice or something to make italian sodas, I don’t think anyone would object J

· It is possible that we could get in on playing games like Mafia afterwards.

· In the future, it could be possible to assign deserts, main meals, side dishes and beverages to people who plan to attend to ensure that the meal ends up balanced.

· Bring a copy of the recipe you used for the dish you made so that anyone can copy it if they want to. We can all expand our cooking knowledge this way!

· If anyone is interested in being the chairman, let me know. I will hold the role for now, but the idea would be to make a video or something with the secret ingredient and maybe organize or assign what dishes will be made by whom. They would be able to come without making anything or maybe bring the drinks.

Children are welcome just make sure you bring enough food to feed anyone that comes along.

Please do come! We are going to have a lot of fun, and we want to get together and become better cooks!

Hello Friends and Chefs!

Now that the busy summer is starting to pass us by, it’s time to cook up some fun of our own! Iron Chef Nights are going to be starting up, and you are invited to join in the fun! Iron Chef nights are a mutation of the old “Tuesay Nigh Dinners” with a bit of a competive and fun twist.

The first Iron Chef Night is going to be next Friday, September 19^th starting at 6:00 pm. We are going to hold it at our house (Jared and Chris’) in Carlton.

Here are some guidelines and tidbits:

· This first night is going to be a pilot night and everyone that attends can join in and have their say about how to hold future events. We hope to do them either every fortnight or every month depending on how people that attend feel.

· The theme for the first night is going to be “Summer Eats” bring anything you think that reminds you of summer. I’m going to make leg of lamb, lemon potatoes and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream (that’s a lot of food, you only need to bring one dish).

Here is some information about the Iron Chef Night idea:

· Anyone and everyone is invited to attend and join in the fun. I have personally intived people that were a part of Tuesday Night Dinners as well as some additional friends. If you think of someone that I may have missed, feel free to send an invitation on. This is meant to be a fun gathering of friends. Please do email me if you plan to attend the first night.

· Every week will have a “secret ingredient” that will either be selected by the “chairman” (a position not yet appointed) or by the group by vote.

· This is being done potluck style. When you cook, bring enough for yourself to eat (two or more people can cook together, as long as they bring enough for themselves to eat). That way, if everyone brings enough to eat themselves, everyone will get enough to eat.

· A silent vote will be collected after the meal to determine the “winner” of the week’s cooking maybe we could do a prize or let that person select the next secret ingredient (see, it’s still all in flux).

· It is very likely that this gathering could get bigger than being able to sit an eat around a table, so plan to eat on couches or maybe even sitting on the floor, this isn’t a formal thing after all. This first week, we have a deck we can put sitting devices on and eat out there (before it gets cold).

· If someone wants to bring wine or juice or something to make italian sodas, I don’t think anyone would object J

· It is possible that we could get in on playing games like Mafia afterwards.

· In the future, it could be possible to assign deserts, main meals, side dishes and beverages to people who plan to attend to ensure that the meal ends up balanced.

· Bring a copy of the recipe you used for the dish you made so that anyone can copy it if they want to. We can all expand our cooking knowledge this way!

· If anyone is interested in being the chairman, let me know. I will hold the role for now, but the idea would be to make a video or something with the secret ingredient and maybe organize or assign what dishes will be made by whom. They would be able to come without making anything or maybe bring the drinks.

Children are welcome just make sure you bring enough food to feed anyone that comes along.

Please do come! We are going to have a lot of fun, and we want to get together and become better cooks!

I noticed myself today, when I was discussing a computer job, mentioning that my wife was really into “the farming thing” right now. But there’s a bit of a falsehood in that, a misleading piece of data that I hadn’t realized until today. It’s not just my wife. I’m totally into getting her a farm. And yes I think she’s a bit nuts at times, but I think having a little farm would be great. I’m thoroughly impressed with the amount of food her little garden is pumping out and I don’t even mind caring for the animals too much. And I think having a little farm will be really good for Daphne and all future children. They’ll have plenty of space to run around and do things and they’ll grow up able to do some physical work.

So I guess I should say “we are into the farming thing”. I don’t know that I’m willing to take that much responsibility for it just yet, but I’ll work on it. Who knows? Maybe soon it’ll be farmer Jared