Monster and I have both had just about enough of the blood-glucose testing involved in trying to get her diabetes under control and this is only day two of the establishing-a-baseline exercise that requires blood tests every four hours. Insulin shots, no big deal. Poking her ear every four hours to get a drop of blood so we can see how she's responding to the insulin, we hates it. No, we really HATES it.
When I wasn't poking my cat with sharp things I spent the day in my kitchen where my beautiful new stock pot simmered all day making chicken stock (no more msg laden store bought inferior chicken broth!). And I made beef stew with dumplings and a pineapple upside down cake. But the stew didn't turn out very well. The recipe said I could use parsnips, turnips or rutabaga and I opted for parsnips and turnips but the parsnips gave the broth a sweet flavour which wasn't very good with the savoury dumplings. And, while the cake looked very pretty on the platter, I used a Cooks Illustrated recipe and I think that was a mistake (I hardly ever say that). I should have stuck with the old version from my grandmother's 1940s cookbook. CI modified the cake batter to give it a lighter crumb (not in itself a bad thing, I thought, since it meant about half the butter the older recipe called for) but what I have sitting on my kitchen table this morning, with only a modest 3 pieces missing is some yummy pineapple topping on a dry and crumbly white cake. I have distinct memories of having no leftovers using the 1940s recipe.
So, to sum up, I love my new stock pot (I now have 13 cups of home made chicken broth in my freezer) but the things I actually tried to eat yesterday weren't what I hoped for and I still have to continue poking my cat with sharp things for another two days. (grumble)
But today, between the poking with sharp things at noon and the poking with sharp things at 4pm, I'm going out into the grey and the cold to the loveliness of Kensington Market and I need a list...
Sunday: Pizza Bianca
Monday: Eggs Benedict (make pasties)
Tuesday: Brie & Bacon Pasta & Chicken Cesar
Wednesday: Pizza
Thursday: Greek Pitas
Friday: Pasties
Saturday: Chicken & Dumplings
Sunday: Spaghetti & Meatballs
Dessert: Banana Cream Pie (crust)
It occurs to me that my favourite dessert is cheesecake and I've never made one. Not ever. Not once. And I've been collecting cheesecake recipes for a good long time. Hmmm.
I do have one thing to report. I finally made these and they were delicious and ridiculously simple. Dangerously simple. I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to have the knowledge that I can have a plate of these on the table in a matter of fifteen minutes using things I already have in my pantry.
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