From the outside looking in, our lives are chaotic. There is grace within the chaos. I just want to share with you bits of our life with triplets plus two more, some food, some chaos, some grace.
Let’s just agree that butter is amazing. If you’re lactose intolerant, I do apologize for your loss. Butter is so diverse, but I would like to take a moment to highlight butter in a particular form which I feel doesn’t get enough time in the spotlight.
Have you ever heard of brown butter? People are often afraid to let butter turn brown for fear of burning it. There is a fine line between brown butter and burnt butter, but it’s not a difficult thing to learn where the line is! Brown butter can be used for a wide variety of things. I personally really enjoy brown butter and sage gnocchi, and if you love savoury foods like I do, I highly recommend giving it a try. I’ll get to posting about that more in the future. Brown butter can also be used in baking. It adds a new dimension and depth of flavour! If you read these ramblings that I write on occasion (I really should try to write more), you’ll be in for a treat! I’m going to be combining two amazing flavours and seeing what we come up with! Stay tuned for some Brown Butter Espresso cookies in the near future!
In the meantime, here are a few simple steps to follow for the perfect brown butter…
First, place your required amount of butter in a small saucepan and prepare to stand there for however long it takes. Grab a spatula (and possibly a coffee), as this will require frequent stirring so as not to cross over the line into the burnt realm.
Turn your burner on low. First, your chunk of butter will melt.
You will see white foam on top. This is normal. This is good. Next comes the tedious part. Wait. Stir.
Look at the beautiful bubbles!
Keep stirring gently. The process will take longer if you have more butter in your pot. Pull back the foam every once in a while to keep an eye on the colour of your butter. We are looking for a deep amber colour.
Slowly starting to change colour. The foam changes too. The foam will froth up more. This is good and means you’re close to your goal. Peeking through the foam!
All at once, you’ll pull back the foam to reveal this gorgeous deep amber colour and the butter will be wafting the delicious nutty scent of brown butter up to your nose.
Transfer your brown butter to a heat proof bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature before putting it to the desired use.
Now that you know where the line between brown butter and burnt butter is, try replacing the butter in one of your favourite recipes and kick it up to a new notch! Let me know if you do! I love to hear if you’ve read this or tried my techniques or “recipes”. If you don’t try any of them, that’s alright, though I do ask that you consider hitting the share button. I simply would like everyone to have the opportunity to try some yummy treats! Watch for my Brown Butter Espresso Cookies in the next few days!!
My daughter loves rainbows. They are bright and colourful, just like her. She has the most vibrant personality and I wanted to capture that for her in her seventh birthday cake!
The height got a little out of hand…What a fun surprise!
My girl wanted a Frozen cake for her eighth birthday and Frozen 2 was a big deal. So, I turned it into a cake. She was thrilled! The inside was fun colours too!
July is a busy month for birthdays in our house. Four out of our five children were born in July so I usually do one party with four cakes. It can be pretty difficult to gather everyone in the summer months, hence why we only do one party. However, we want each child to feel specially celebrated so I do a cake for each child. This is our son’s 8th birthday cake. He loves dragons! Seriously though, who doesn’t love dragons and fire swirls?!
It was fun to play with the coloursI knew I wanted dragons and fire. I had no clear idea beyond that and this is what I ended up with. Swirl!
I’m going to let you in on a little secret…. Don’t ever underestimate a simple marinade. There. I said it. Your marinade can become like your signature. When all the neighbourhood grills fire up, your marinade will set your grilling apart. People will know just by the smell, exactly which grill to head to!
There are so many benefits to marinating your meat. It adds flavour, it smells divine when it’s cooking, it keeps the meat tender, and I could go on. I like to experiment with flavours in my marinade but I’m going to share with you my go-to marinade that is versatile and good with most kinds of meat. I use this when I grill, sauté, bake, or slow cook the meat. I use this on chicken, pork, shrimp, and so on.
I usually have most of these ingredients on hand. If you’re new to reading my blog, you’re going to see these pop up lots. If you’re a seasoned (ha! Seasoned- see what I did there?) reader, then my hope is that you’ve included most, if not all of these ingredients in your staples by now. Don’t be overwhelmed by the amount of things you see going into the bag. Read on to find out just how simple this marinade is!
With only a few simple ingredients, you can have a marinade that is soy-amazing!
The first thing I like to do is open a large ziploc freezer bag and place it in a metal bowl. I do this for two reasons. The first reason is that it holds the bag nicely so you don’t spill oil all over the place. Let me assure you, that is not fun to clean up. The second reason I place it in a bowl is that it keeps the fridge clean. If your bag happens to leak, you will be left with a large mess and the possibility of cross contamination and nobody wants that. If you know me at all, you’ll know that I’m very particular when it comes to cleanliness.
The next step is to take your garlic and peel it. Garlic is a very personal thing so I won’t tell you how many cloves to put in, you’ll have to make an executive decision here. Next, lay your cloves on the cutting board and turn your knife sideways. Use the flat part of your blade to crush the garlic. I lay my blade down over the garlic and give it a good smash with my fist. You could definitely cut the garlic if you’d like. However, I’ve found that crushing the garlic is quicker. We crush it to release the flavour but we are going to be picking the garlic out before we go to cook it so it’s easier to pick out if it’s in huge chunks.
Give your garlic a little smash! Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that a little bit…
Toss your garlic in the bag. Next, take your ginger root and cut a few thick coins off. Ginger is also very personal. If you like a more subtle flavour, then add only a little bit. If you like more zing, add more! Dried ginger does not give the same effect here so try to buy fresh if you can. Ginger root is super cheap and you can store it in the freezer if you’re not going to use it all before it turns. (I like to keep a nub in the freezer for heating into some recipes because it grates so much easier when it’s frozen). Next take your green onions (which you’ve already washed because cleanliness is important) and rip them up into large pieces and toss them into the bag as well. Bruising your green onions will release more flavour into your marinade and we will be picking them out before cooking as well.
Garlic, ginger, and green onions- such good friends!
Next, sprinkle in some of our beloved pink Himalayan sea salt, some white pepper (black will do but I like the dynamic the white pepper brings here), a little squeeze of hoisin sauce, and a little splash of fish sauce (warning- it stinks. Don’t take a huge whiff out of the bottle and don’t be too heavy handed with it. It definitely adds good flavour but unless you’re well acquainted with fish sauce, it might be best if you only added half a tablespoon at most in a large freezer bag). Add roughly half a tablespoon each of sesame oil and mirin. Mirin will add that umami flavour. Rice wine vinegar can be used instead if you’d like a slightly more sour flavour. Mirin is sweeter, rice vinegar is more sour. Add your soy sauce of choice. You want to be fairly generous with the soy sauce (unless it’s China Lily, then do yourself a favour and just skip it all together). I’m using Kikkoman soy sauce, but also really like Tamari. We are almost there! Take your meat of choice. For this meal, I’ve chosen fresh, skin on, chicken thighs. Place your meat in your freezer bag and cover with canola oil. I generally like to use olive oil where I can but this is not the appropriate place for that. If you are grilling, you’re going to run into problems because olive oil has a much lower smoking point than canola oil. We want neighbours showing up to see what the smell is, not the fire department.
In order to ensure that all your meat gets evenly marinated, squeeze as much air out of the bag as you can before you seal it up. Next take the bag and carefully give it a few good shakes and squish it a few times to move all your ingredients around and get them to mix and mingle.
Now that everything is in the bag, you can let it hang out until you’re ready to cook! It’s party time in the bag there and something amazing is going to happen as it sits. Now, if you’re planning to grill right away, you can let this sit on the counter for about 20 minutes and then cook it using whatever method you decide. If you’re going to let it sit longer then you should put it in the fridge. Remember, we don’t want anyone to get sick. You can let this hang out and work its magic anywhere from 20 minutes to 24 hours. The longer it sits in the bag, the more the flavour intensifies. If you’re letting it sit for quite a while, I suggest that you flip the bag over every couple hours just to shake it up and flavour everything evenly.
Now comes the fun part-cooking! I pull my bowl out of the fridge about 15-20 minutes before I’m ready to cook it because it will cook more evenly if it’s not cold right out of the fridge. If you’re going to be grilling, you’re definitely going to want to pay your meat dry before you put it on the grill. If you skip this step, you’re going to end up with a fire on your grill.
Lay it out on a tray and pat dry
One of my favourite parts of using skin on chicken thighs here is that when you grill it, you get the nice crispy skin with that amazing grill flavour, but you will not have dry meat inside. When you cut into your chicken, you will have incredibly juicy and tender meat that will leave everyone reaching for more!
Can you smell this photo?
We served these chicken thighs with a nice fresh casesar salad. It’s a family favourite in our house and always goes over well. The chicken was still flavourful and tender left over the next day and was amazing even served cold.
There it is, my not-so-secret, go-to marinade. Feel free to experiment with different amounts of ginger, garlic, meats, cooking methods, and so on. Find one that really hit the spot? Feel free to share and leave a photo. I’d love to hear from you! Go ahead, play with your food! Sorry Mom!
I’m going to let you in on a little secret…. Tomorrow! Something is happening in the fridge right now. These ingredients are going to come together in a versatile marinade that will have the whole neighbourhood drooling whenever you fire up the grill! Stay tuned!
If you want a soup worth crying over, then read on, because I’ve got just the soup for you! Before we tear up too much, let me just pause here to say that I use the title French Onion Soup loosely. It’s soup, with onions in it, and it resembles a soup served in France. I must remind you that I am not a chef and so I have decided to use many different kinds of onions in my soup *le gasp*!
This soup is best simmered for hours in the crock pot, or slow cooker of your choice. Personally I prefer not to boil mine on top of the stove because it reduces and can become very salty quite quickly. It is French onion soup, not Dutch soup, so we don’t really want that to happen. I like to get a start on the soup first thing in the morning. Then while you’re washing up the dishes, you can crack the window open and taunt the neighbourhood with the delectable smells wafting our your window. You only need a handful of ingredients, and most of them are pantry staples! If you don’t have a store of onions on hand, I suggest you grab your basket, hop on your bicycle, and ride on down to the market for some onions and a nice baguette before reading any further.
If you have a nicely stocked pantry, or have returned from your excursion, let’s carry on!
You will need:
Onions (I will make a note about this in the instruction step below)
Beef stock
Sherry (It doesn’t have to be fancy and don’t worry about adding alcohol to your soup, your kids won’t get tipsy because the alcohol will cook out. I can’t guarantee they won’t be smelly after though!)
Salt
Pepper
Fresh thyme
Olive oil
Butter
A nice baguette
Fresh parsley
Garlic
Parmesano Reggiano (a fresh wedge of Parmesan)
Gruyere (provolone or Gouda will do as a substitute)
First of all, a word about the onions. I mentioned previously that I like to use different kinds of onions. Your onion medley is completely up to you, so feel free to experiment with this! I use mostly white onions. I do add some sweet onions, shallots, and a red onion or two in the mix as well.
First you want to take a nice big sauté pan and get it nice and hot. We want to caramelize the onions to get a good depth of flavour going on. While it’s heating up, slice up all your onions. I cut each end off, peel them, cut them in half, and then thinly slice them. Be prepared to cry! Once your pan is nice and hot, add some olive oil in the pan and a good pat of butter. The butter gives great flavour and the oil stops the butter from burning in the pan. Add in a heap of onions (don’t worry, they’ll cook down quite a bit). Give them a good stir around and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Do yourself a favour, please use pink Himalayan salt. It’s simply the best. Cook your onions until they’re nice and caramelized. If it looks like they’re burning on the bottom of the pan, you’re doing it right. This is flavour, and we will lift it off the pan in a moment. Here’s where the sherry comes in. Pour a good glug (or two or three, depending on your preferences). Give it a good stir and breathe in that smell! Mmmmmm. Lift your pan off the heat and transfer the onions to your slow cooker of choice. Repeat this with as many onions as you’d like to use, depending on how much soup you need.
Once you’ve got your steaming mound of onions in your slow cooker, pour in your beef broth. It should cover the onions by quite a bit. Now add a good handful of fresh thyme (stems and all) to the top, place the lid on, turn the slow cooker to low, and walk away. Voila!
Next I like to make the croistinis for the soup. Turn your oven on to 425. Slice your baguette into long oval slices (you’ll need to cut on an angle to achieve this). Lay them out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
Melt some butter. Add in some salt, pepper, minced garlic, and finely chopped fresh parsley. Mix it well and brush it onto your crositinis. Grate some of your Parmesan (very finely) over the pan and pop them in the oven until they are nice and crisp. They’ll smell amazing. Now set them aside for later and wash up all your dishes! You’ll hardly have any clean up to do later on and it will free up your evening. Now comes the hardest part- the waiting.
When you’re ready to eat, simply scoop the thyme springs off the top of your soup and put them in your compost bucket. Now, there are a few ways to serve your soup. You can ladle your soup into individual oven safe bowls, top with a crostini, and then a slice of gruyere. Pop it in the oven, and broil until the cheese is browned and bubbly. The way we often serve it is more peasant style. Place your vat of soup in the middle of the table, along side a plate of gruyere slices and your delectable croistinis. Let everyone ladle their own soup, pop a croistini or two on top, and finish it off with a slice of gruyere. It’ll be a hit! We like to serve the soup with a nice fresh Caesar salad and garlic shrimp.
The soup is amazing on the first, second, third, and even fourth day. It is so quick to pour some in a pot and heat for a quick lunch. It freezes well, so you can be sure to have some quick and easy meals at the ready. You can pull a bag of soup from the freezer and place it in your slow cooker before you head out in the morning, or you can pop it in your instant pot if you realize that supper is supposed to be in 20 minutes and you’ve forgotten to prepare something! In the time it would take for you to put together a salad, your soup will be ready. Your family will be asking for seconds! My kids love this soup. Your company will be impressed! If you give it a try, let me know how it turns out! I’d love to see photos and hear back from you!
So a few years ago (more like 5, but it feels like only a few), I was asked to make a cake for a birthday party. I was shocked. And nervous. I had only made cakes for my children and as gifts before. I had never been paid to make a cake. This family had two boys with birthdays coming up and they wanted me to make their cakes.
I’m not a chef, I’m not a professional baker, and I’ve never had cake decorating lessons. I thought back to art class in elementary. This is pretty much the same thing, right? The icing is like paint, you just smear some here, smear some there, and hope you get a nice picture. I agreed to make the cakes. The boys each had a theme in mind and they had coordinating toys that I could use as cake toppers. Perfect, I thought. This would be super quick and simple. They’ve got the toppers, so I didn’t have to worry about fondant or modelling chocolate. Just colour some buttercream, smear it on there, place the toys on top and voila!
Whelp, any of those who know me know that was never going to be the case. The first cake was Mario Kart themed. What is the first thing you think of when you hear Mario Kart? My first thought was rainbow road! This could be fun. I figured I would just make the inside of the cake look like the track from rainbow road. It would be a fun surprise when they cut into the cake. I took a look at the toys they’d given me for cake toppers. Oh dear. There were far too many for the simple round cake with a track around the edge idea. I couldn’t decide which toys to leave off and which to include. I decided I needed more cake space for the toys but I didn’t have a big enough pan. The next logical step was to add space by going vertical. I still didn’t have enough space so I thought I’d add just a bit more. I looked at my muffin tin and realized that cupcakes would look like the mushrooms! One thing led to another and I ended up with a rather sizeable cake.
I barely slept that night because I was playing with cake and Mario kart toys into the early morning hours, but I sure had fun. This is what I ended up with. The family was so happy with their cake. Imagine their surprise when they cut into it and found the rainbow road! The cake was a hit at the birthday party and talked about for years to come.
It was a little taller than originally planned Thankful for all the handwriting practise in grade 3Rainbow road!!
My Grace Filled Chaos 