Hey, everyone!
Both Helenka and I will be taking a break from posting and filming for awhile.
1. To enjoy the Summer weather
2. Unfortunately other life commitments have taken precedence.
We’ve really enjoyed cooking and having some fun with you all and still have a few episodes left to release so stay tuned!
Have a Safe and Happy Summer, enjoy … and have fun cooking, too! B&H =;)
httpvh://youtu.be/xkz0X5nnAQc
Helenka and I have been hard at work getting this year’s Christmas Special ready. [Helenka adds that it’s always a scary thing when we put our heads together! But it’s never boring.] It’s all about cooking at your table (the Sequel or, in our philosophy, a TRADITION). Last year, we used my electric raclette which was fab, and this year I borrowed Helenka’s fondue sets (well, one of them was an electric skillet, but – hey – we believe in improvising and repurposing, too) with the intent of making three fondues: cheese, broth and chocolate. Our twist was changing the name to FUN-DO because it’s all about playing and having fun with your food. [Helenka adds, in a wry voice, because nobody would ever associate US with food or fun, right?]
We had so much food I must have thought that you all were going to join us. Needless to say, we did not go hungry and Helenka went home with doggy – uh, kitty – um, piggy bags. [Helenka’s too busy with the nom-nom-nomming to talk right now. That’s okay, I can wait p-a-t-i-e-n-t-l-y until she’s swallowed.]
***Behind-the-scenes action, as Helenka grabs control of this blog entry. Brian sighs, because some things never change.***
Hello again, culinary playmates:
Brian jammed so much in this episode that the hours just seemed to fly by. After a light brunch (which really was light since we now know that eating too much for brunch-lunch will make us sleepy and full), we did traditional stuff. Like what? Like baking cookies.
Last year, we were intent on putting the emphasis on non-traditional celebrations, on re-inventing the holidays. Well, this year, we think it’s a terrific idea to reincorporate some of the old traditions into a new way of celebrating. Our main courses and dessert may not have been the usual fare, but – then – there was cookie baking. Not only that, but the cookies were in the shape of stars and were flavoured with peppermint. Anyone for candy-cane tasting cookies? Yum! Then there was the decorated mantle and a tree … that just happened to BE on the mantle. Pretty clever, says Helenka. And a great way to free up floor space when you don’t have a lot.
It’s become apparent to me that it’s harder (or impossible) for many people to have a real tree at Christmas. If you live in a condo, you may find that your condo association does not permit bringing in a cut tree for the holidays. So, what do you do, especially if you really want to have a real tree? There are a couple of possibilities which will involve using your imagination. The first is to buy several miniature pine trees in pots. Then, cover the pots in festive wrapping paper and arrange them on a series of staggered boxes (also wrapped). Decorate the delicate boughs with tiny ornaments, adding miniature LED lights as well. Now, if you just happen to have an ornamental wrought-iron spiral staircase (what – doesn’t everybody?), you can then omit using the boxes and arrange the pots on alternating steps,.interspersed with some fresh greenery (a lot easier to bring home than a tree), ribbons and presents (oh, hello, prezzies!).
The second idea is to use the plants you already have. Ficus trees work well because there are lots of branches with small leaves. The main thing to remember is to be artistic and creative. If the only thing you can add is some beads to a slender trunk, then make a nest of coloured lights and assorted twigs at its base. Just remember to be careful when you’re watering. You can also dangle a few ornaments from the rim, so that they hang down the outer side of the pot. I’m sure you can look around and find new ways of looking at your plants. Just remember to take pictures so that you’ll always have proof of how inventive you were and how proud you are about it! Of course, the best thing is that you’ll still have living plants after the holidays are over.
Okay, getting back to food (as if we’d ever strayed too far), if you want to recreate our idea, you’ll have plenty of different recipes from around the globe, especially for the broth fondue. You might end up with a Chinese hot pot, or Japanese shabu shabu. The fondue I’m most familiar with had beef, chicken and shrimp as well as loads of veggies such as carrots, celery, mushrooms, green onions (and lots of others) as well as a layer of spinach leaves at the bottom of the pot that were poured out for the flavoured broth that brought the main course to a close.
For the cheese fondue, you could experiment with a variety of different cheeses (and why am I suddenly getting a craving for melted Cambozola?) and things to dip in (apple or pear slices? small boiled potatoes? prosciutto?). If you simply think of melted cheese instead of a fancy fondue, I’m sure you’ll come up with your own variations very quickly.
As always, the other really important thing about this kind of celebration is that almost all of the ingredients can be prepared and laid out in advance. And cooking and serving are more than likely to be in the same pot. Eating is less likely to be rushed as every bite will be freshly cooked to your liking, so there’s room for lots of conversation and joviality. We hope our show will inspire you to make the holidays a time when you don’t run yourselves ragged, when you can sit back and enjoy. Because you deserve to have fun at your own FUN-DO!
Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy New Year!!
B & H =:)
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RECEPIES
Grandmother’s Pound Cake II
Modified from Allrecipes.com
Ingredients:
2 cups butter
2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup milk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 3 – 8×4 inch loaf pans, then line with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the flour alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.
3. Pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. After removing them from the oven, immediately loosen cake edges with a knife. Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from the pans. Strip off the parchment paper and cool completely on wire racks.
Cheese Fondue
Recipe by Tyler Florence
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
1/2 pound imported Swiss cheese, shredded
1/2 pound Gruyere cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon cherry brandy, such as kirsch
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Pinch nutmeg (or substitute pinch cinnamon, and some freshly ground pepper)
Assorted dippers
Directions
In a small bowl, coat the cheeses with cornstarch and set aside. Rub the inside of the ceramic fondue pot with the garlic, then discard.
Over medium heat, add the wine and lemon juice and bring to a gentle simmer. Gradually stir the cheese into the simmering liquid. Melting the cheese gradually encourages a smooth fondue. Once smooth, stir in cherry brandy, mustard and nutmeg.
Arrange an assortment of bite-sized dipping foods on a lazy Susan around fondue pot. Serve with chunks of French and pumpernickel breads. Some other suggestions are Granny Smith apples and blanched vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and asparagus. Spear with fondue forks or wooden skewers, dip, swirl and enjoy!
By our absence from your conveniently-available computer screens, you can tell that summer vacation at Friends Food Fun HQ lasted a wee bit longer than expected. Can you say computers retiring? Oh, my, indeed. They didn’t stop working at the same time, but it still put a crimp in our ability to function.
My Macbook Pro laptop on which I edit all our videos decided to give up the ghost just before the summer began. I had the best of intentions of replacing it in June when Apple typically releases their new Mac minis; however, that did not happen until this past October. I am happily back in business now.
Helenka’s PC then decided it wanted to be difficult by having an old-age tantrum (it was nearly 7 years old). How? By shutting down and restarting every couple of minutes. As her PC is her regular connection to the world, Helenka was so not a happy camper. And using her smartphone was a pale substitute for the real thing.
Finally, to top it all off, my sister’s PC also decided that it no longer wanted to store her photos and other important documents, so it stopped working, too (all things in threes … hmmm).
It’s no wonder there was no room for cooking or filming because my living room had parts strewn all over the place, with a lot of swapping between the three units, though it eventually got all sorted out over a couple of months. [Helenka’s very impressed with Brian’s instant DIY electronics workshop, and so, SO relieved.]
Another realization also occurred to both me and Helenka: we really enjoyed doing our specials so we thought that going forward we would spend more effort on producing those videos that provide us with the most enjoyment. One of these is our Christmas Special which is coming up later this week.
We’re aiming to produce a schedule of events that we would like to focus on but I’ll save that for later.
In the meantime, we still have a few videos in the vault [Helenka says as long as they’re not in the “tomb”] that we’re eager to release. One of them is our bloopers video of the past two years. Believe you me, I had a lot of footage to choose from and it was a laugh producing it. [Helenka agrees that we’re funny whether it’s intentional … or not.]
That’s it for now. We just wanted to update you on what’s occurred over the past few months. We are definitely still around and thinking about what the future will bring.
Till next time, have fun playing with your food!
Enjoy!
=;)
B&H
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVq0viiv2tk
Hey, everyone!
Well, as summer is upon us officially, both Helenka and I will be taking a short break from posting and filming for a couple of months to enjoy the great weather.
In the meantime, I loved this video I made last year of a camping trip I took to Killbear Provincial Park here in Ontario, Canada. My friend’s site was right near the water, the weather was great and the sunset was amazing to watch (filmed in short sequences to give you the effect more quickly).
Have a Safe and Happy Vacation, enjoy
… and have fun cooking, too!
B&H =;)
BBQ SWEET POTATOES AND MINI-SLIDERS (SHOT ON LOCATION, BRIAN’S BALCONY, OVERLOOKING LAKE ONTARIO)
httpvh://youtu.be/dBEJF_ry6ME
Hello, Culinary Playmates:
It is I, Helenka, your fearless advocate of gustatory creativity (aka I eat weird but really tasty food and think you should, too). Normally (as if anything Brian and I do is normal) we would have released this outdoor episode during the cold winter months. But, as we had a mild winter this year, we didn’t need the psychological boost. However (and that’s a really BIG HOWEVER), we are now in May … so why am I still wearing my winter coat? [Weather update: it warmed up by the afternoon so I’ve been able to upgrade to my spring coat.] Uh … hello? Universe, dear? [It’s always best to be polite with the old thing.] It’s May in the Northern Hemisphere: a time when we should be heading into summer. Not only that, but we who live in North America will be celebrating two long weekends (Victoria Day in Canada and Memorial Day in the U.S.A. at the end of the month). It would be really nice if we could get rid of some of the layers. Perhaps we can remind the universe by unveiling this episode a few weeks in advance. ::crosses fingers; toes, too::
What could be an easier time to combine some unusual flavours than during a barbecue? Indeed! As barbecues are designed to be a casual form of dining, you can take chances with your marinades, herbs and spices. Food choices, too. After all, considering how many times I’ve moaned about my special barbecued yams, it was high time for Brian to recreate the taste sensation. What was most special was mixing sweet (maple syrup) with savoury (garlic and mustard). There are so many cuisines where this is considered to be routine. [I sometimes indulge in buying frozen Sweet’n’Spicy Thai chicken wings.]
What are some other ways you could follow the same principle? I know many people are trying to cut down on beef consumption, so what about barbecuing turkey or chicken burgers, slathering on mango-chipotle sauce on one side and honey mustard on the other? I’d give that combo two thumbs up (and I can see Brian sticking his thumbs into the picture, too). It’s also important to remember that, if you’re using commercial sauces, a salad dressing can be a marinade and a marinade can be a salad dressing. Don’t get boxed in by labels.
If you’d like to move away from burgers and do a fancier meat, what about marinating pork tenderloin in apple cider, olive oil and crushed cloves before barbecuing and serving with barbecued apple and onion chunks. Or a beef tenderloin in pomegranate juice and olive oil and serving it with a glaze of reduced pomegranate juice, balsamico and a few artfully scattered fresh pomegranate seeds. You may as well toss a few of the seeds onto a colourful side salad, too. Or lovely thick salmon steaks onto which you’ll place a slice of chilled rolled cilantro butter. [You can tell my imagination is working overtime just about every waking moment of the day.]
As for sides, you can see what fabulous success we had with sweet potatoes (and yams, previously). You can do the same thing with other root veggies as long as you slice them thinly enough, so that the outside will be crispy and the inside creamy and tender. I still can’t believe how amazing the baby eggplant slices were that we had on a previous episode. So don’t let the otherwise long cooking times for whole veggies derail you from enjoying them outdoors. Slice them thinly enough and they’ll be done very quickly.
The other thing you can do is enjoy the bounty of summer fruits on your grill or barbecue. We’ve already done peaches, bananas and pineapple (if memory serves) indoors and there’s no earthly reason not to savour the best of summer with a touch of heat, altering texture, consistency and taste. That’s what I call practical chemistry!
Well, I hope we’ve given you enough of an inspiration to zoom out of your comfort zone when it comes to barbecues (as if we didn’t do that often enough with indoor cooking, too). Just remember: it’s all supposed to be … (can you guess what the magic word is?) FUN!!!
Enjoy!
B&H =:)