An Afternoon on the Kitchen

    Saturday is my day for laundry and grocery shopping but the afternoon is often a lazy time with not much accomplished. Not today!

   When I got home from the store I got a pot of leek and potato soup going. I haven't made it in ages but I recently replaced my hand blender and wanted to try it out. It worked very well and the soup was smooth and delicious.

   After lunch and a nap I decided to get cracking on some Christmas baking. Normally I use a pastry mix for mince pies but I have been unable to find it in the stores so had to (horrors!) make it from scratch. They turned out well and I had enough pastry to make a rustic mincemeat pie for my "cook's treat". 

   Still feeling energetic I got dinner started in my new crock pot (not strictly new, just new to me from Value Village). It started with some chicken drumsticks, a can each of mixed beans, corn and chopped tomatoes and some brussell sprouts. However, it seems to be cooking rather slowly so may not be ready until too late for dinner. In the meantime I am having another treat, guacamole and red pepper hummus (homemade) with tostitos.

   The hummus was made with chick peas that didn't go in the crock pot and some red peppers I roasted earlier this week. Along with some garlic, sour cream and lemon juice it made a delicious dip. So, all in all, a highly productive day with enough food to keep me going until later in the week.

Fun in the Afternoon

    A bitterly cold wind but, fortunately, no precipitation. I was out early to play tennis at Hendrina's condo. They have a court in the basement of the building and not too many tenants use it. I was on the losing end for both sets but it was fun and good exercise. We played for about an hour and a half.

   The afternoon fun was another wine tasting - I had a bit of a rush to get home from tennis, change and put together my contribution, a fruit tray. Henny, who was our host today, lives quite far south of me and I had forgotten I would have to cross Eglinton Avenue where they are putting in a new subway line. Luckily I had left quite early (just by happenstance) as the traffic was pretty horrific. But I arrived there just in time.

   We tasted two white wines and three reds and I was surprised how close my scores were to the group average. I really have no idea what I am supposed to be looking for! The categories are colour/appearance, aroma/bouquet, flavour/ smoothness, and finish. I gave the highest score to one of the reds, Pascual Toso, a Malbac from Argentina (priced at $17.95 - I never drink wine that expensive!). We snack all through the tasting (cheeses, veggies, sandwich meats, fruit and dessert) so I haven't even thought about eating since I got home. Maybe I will just have a cup of tea and some of the fruit I brought home.

The lemon ginger tea is caffeine free so I can drink it in the evening.

Treating Myself

   Very heavy rain today so I didn't have my usual walk to the Senior's Centre and drove instead. I was indoors during the worst of it which was quite torrential. It was also very windy but the wind has died down and, hopefully, things will dry off before the temperature drops.

   Just had a lovely piece of smoked mackerel for an aperitif. I bought three fillets for serving at Christmas but decided I needed one all to myself - so indulgent. It is quite expensive here as it is imported but so tasty on crackers with a piece of extra old cheddar. 

Sunny and Mild

   Another beautiful fall day -sunny, high of 10C and no wind. I had a long walk this morning (no gloves or hat needed) to make up for sitting at the Bridge table all afternoon.

    I had pretty good cards at Bridge but not enough to put me in the top five. At least I didn't get the booby prize!

   Nothing else to report.