Our Calgary/Banff/Lake Louise Visit

Lake Louise

 Son K, husband M and I visited daughter L and her fiance in Calgary Nov 3-15.  Her fiance's parents also joined us for part of the trip.  Daughter L planned a wonderful itinerary and we were also able to visit beautiful Banff and Lake Louise in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.  I was finally able to check that off my bucket list, it is really beautiful in those mountains!  

 

Favourite Form of Potato

 Baked for me how about you?  My husband and son say hash browns.

It snowed yesterday for the first time!

10 Multigrain Rice

 My sister told me she enjoyed this farro dish, so I went looking for it.  Having no luck, I found this 10 multigrain rice at my grocery store and decided to try it.  It is very nutritious, medium glycemic, a healthy carb if used in moderation.  The instructions on the bag told me to rinse a cup of it 2 or 3 times, then soak in water for an hour or 2, then cook in a rice cooker.  It has an oatmeal texture, but I flavoured it with tomato, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, olive oil and parmesan (optional) prior to cooking it in the rice cooker with some extra water.  We like it.

It is a happy feeling discovering new foods that we end up liking.

On Kidney Beans

Fall Colour from October

I recently learned that red kidney beans can be toxic.  They contain a natural protein called lectin that can cause vomiting, diarrhea.  Always soak raw beans at least 5 hours, drain the water and boil at least 30 mins.  Never cook them in a slow cooker as it doesn't get hot enough to destroy the toxins.

It is safe to use canned beans however, it sounds like a plan to me!

Were you aware of this?

Paint Party Friday - Ranunculus

 I saw this photo of pretty ranunculus flowers and painted it as an ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") in alcohol ink and permanent markers.

Have a wonderful Paint Party Friday kindly hosted by Kristin and Eva.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Stripes

 

Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Stripes' theme.  I have exaggerated the waves with stripes and they appear also in the sunset in this ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2").

Meme Wednesday

 

Jerk Pork Loin

 I made this delicious Jamaican Jerk Pork Loin roast using this recipe.  You can purchase mild jerk seasoning which is what I do.  I added a few other items to my marinade.

Preheat the oven 350F

4lbs pork loin centre cut

rub with 2 tbs jerk seasoning, 2 tbs oil, a chopped onion, 2 tbs dark soy sauce,2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp salt

bake for 20 min

reduce temp to 300F

bake 1 hr more (145F meat thermometer)

I used the other half of my 'pork loin half centre and sirloin cut'.  It was $15 on sale for about 8 pounds of meat.

Oatmeal Muffins from a mix

 I baked up these perfect oatmeal muffins from the Noname Oatmeal muffin mix at the grocery store.  Nicole had a tip to bake them at 500F for 5 minutes then lower the heat to the regular temperature for the rest of the time.  It results in big muffin tops.  Well for me I think it does look a lot puffier.

Pork Sirloin Roast

 I have been working on this approximately 4 pound pork sirloin roast and am happy with the latest results.  It is a less expensive less tender cut of meat.  This video has the method I used.

preheat  oven 375F

coat dutch oven with a bit of oil to protect the enamel

heat dutch oven 20 mins

4-5 lb pork sirloin roast

marinate with onion, garlic, sugar (1 tbs), soy sauce, vinegar (2 tbs), salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil

Into heated to dutch oven,

place marinated roast in covered, for 45 min to and hour

then add can of chicken broth with a cup of water

bake 1.5 -2 hours more covered

The roast slices up kind of like pulled pork as pictured above, but it is moist, tender and delicious 

note I bought  an 8 pound  'pork loin half centre and sirloin cut' and cut

in half to make a sirloin roast and a pork loin centre roast (approx $15 on sale)

Omelette

 I am happy with the way my omelette turned out one morning.  I used 6 eggs, fresh basil, tons of ham and cheese with a dash of onion powder.  

Paint Party Friday - Mountain Scene

 Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday.  I have a mountain scene ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 1/2") for you today.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Wisps and Winds

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Wisps and Winds' theme.  Here is my piece in alcohol inks and PITT marker.  It is a windy night where the wisps of grass are blowing about, complete with will-o'-the wisp glowing insects to set the atmosphere.

Meme Wednesday

Here are the memes I chose for you today:

 

Top Sirloin Roast

 I made this top sirloin roast using this recipe as a guide.  This cut of meat was new to me, I usually do prime rib which is a fattier cut.  It was delicious roast beef.  

Roasted Daikon Radish

 My neighbour was cleaning up his garden a few weeks ago and literally tossed these vegetables over the backyard fence.  I decided to make roasted daikon radish based on a recipe   I googled.  So Daikon radish cut into strips, flavoured with canola oil, chili, soy sauce, ginger, sugar and salt.  It took me 45 minutes to roast at 475F as opposed to the 30 minutes specified in the recipe.

It is good eaten as a side dish, if you like the taste of turnips, which I do.

On Rockefeller

A friend sent me some fake news on John D Rockefeller which made me go to wikipedia for the true information.  He was a remarkable man, such an impressive interesting story.  The fake news wasn't bad but it said he passed at 57 when in fact he passed at 97.  He is considered the wealthiest man of all time.  He made his fortune in oil and was a philanthropist focusing on improvements in medicine, education and science.  He was born into a poor family with a good mother and a shady vagabond of a father who was not home much of the time.  The father had 2 children with the housekeeper.

On Chair Socks

For me, bacon 4, eggs 3, coffee 4.  How about you?

Kay posted recently about finding chair socks which made me do some googling on what is available in that category.  It seems like something good for our chairs.  There are all sorts of leg covers at Amazon, Walmart and Etsy.  I imagine the dollar store has some too.
 

Paint Party Friday - Champagne Celebration theme

 Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday.  I did a celebration themed ACEO (2 1/2" x 3 /12") in a mixed media format, on canvas paper.  The background is painted in white acrylic and the drawing is outlined with a PITT marker, coloured in with markers, including a gold sharpie water based marker.

This design will be great printed up as celebration themed cards.

Apologies if you have been receiving multiple comments from me I got a new phone and sometimes it doesn't appear as if my comment was successful. I blame blogger.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - Soft

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'Soft' theme!  Here is my pink teddy bear ACEO (2 1/2' x 3 1/2"), what could be softer?  Painted on pink cardstock, he is outlined with a PITT marker and the background is in white acrylic.

Here is a quote to commemorate Remembrance Day today:

"Our hopes are high. Our faith in the people is great. Our courage is strong. And our dreams for this beautiful country will never die."
—Pierre Trudeau

Meme Wednesday

 

Milk and Good Sleep

 I like my coffee lighter, say D1 or D2.  How about you?

This is an interesting article that says drinking a glass of milk may help you sleep better rather than relying on a sedative.  It is a scientific study.  Food and gut health (carbs) can help you sleep.

A beautiful cake

 One of my sisters had a birthday in September and her family got together to celebrate.  Her adult kids got her very thoughtful gifts and they bought this fabulous cake.  It was layers of cake with hazelnut mousse covered with chocolate ganache.  At first I thought her daughter had made it, I was about to crown her best cake maker.  The cake looks larger than it is in this photo.

On Dinnerware

 Over the years I have tried different kinds of  dinnerware materials without doing too much research.  Fine bone china is so pretty and delicate but I was leaning towards stoneware as my favourite material being of a more casual, practical nature.  Well my stoneware mugs gradually broke and my current thought was that corningware is the most indestructible, it seems to last forever.  Earthenware ceramic mugs seem to be the most brittle, I don't seem to have any surviving.  Porcelain seems to be quite hardy as well.   Here is a link with more information. According to this article fine bone china is the most durable ceramic dinnerware despite its delicate appearance!   Fortunately it is my current dinnerware!  

What is your favourite type of dinnerware?

Cosmos in October and On Beef Stew

 My cosmos flowers were making me so happy this October!

One of my sisters told us that the secret of a good beef stew lies in the cut of meat.  So use beef shoulder blade or beef chuck roast cuts for a tender beef stew.  All these years I wondered why my beef stew was lacking.  I hope you will try these cuts for your next beef stew!  Were you in on this secret?  The beef stew as labelled in the supermarkets is not the same.

Paint Party Friday - Irrawaddy Dolphin

 Welcome to Kristin and Eva's Paint Party Friday Art Coop!  I did an Irrawaddy Dolphin ACEO (2 1/2 x 3 1/2) that I saw on the World Wildlife website.

Rain's Thursday Art Date - The Workshop

 Welcome to Rain's Thursday Art Date's 'The Workshop' theme!  I did an art workshop in markers outlined with a PITT pen inspired by a photo I googled.  I should have made it messier, but it is not in me to be too messy haha.

Meme Wednesday

It was the BBC's 85th birthday yesterday, I was struck by their mission according to the TV newscaster 'to inform, educate and entertain'. I thought, that's a great 85 year old mission statement.  And here I am entertaining you today haha:

 

New hope in treating Alzheimers

 I took this photo on a walk, showing nature's fall colour palette.

This story contains hopeful news in treating Alzheimer's in the future.  it lies in a 50 year old diuretic drug called Bumetanide. Apparently the drug ' led to a reversal of Alzheimer’s symptoms in laboratory mice as well as human brain cells'.  Here is a more detailed article on the topic.

I feel that our increasing knowledge of genetics is helping us to realize new cures.  The articles say the fat metabolism gene APOE is also associated with Alzheimer's.  Bumetanide may reverse the effects of altered APOE genes.  

It is interesting how fat metabolism is tied to heart failure, blood pressure, and  Alzheimers.  I am sure carbs and sugar play into this too.  Well maybe we can just eat everything in moderation.

My November 2021 Calendar Page

Happy November!  Going by the news and online it seems there was a lot of Halloween spirit yesterday.  We were out for a walk in the early evening and saw some squid game characters.

These are some treat boxes we walked over to the next door neighbour kids last evening. We did not hand out snacks otherwise. The kids were delighted and it made it all worth it though.

And Here is my November 2021 Calendar Page.  The quote I chose to go with it:

“Some of the days in November carry the whole memory of summer as a fire opal carries the color of moonrise.”
― Gladys Taber, Stillmeadow Daybook