GRANPA COOKS FOR A BIRTHDAY DINNER

As everyone knows that reads this blog, I love to cook. So given an opportunity like a birthday get together for my oldest daughter Natasha, I did most of the cooking. The family had a discussion about which of granpa's pasta dishes- lasagna, gnocchi or spaghetti- I was to prepare. The consensus was homemade spaghetti or as I have posted previously the egg noodle. It is easier to make and actually is my favourite pasta dish.

Lots of meat for the ragu sauce for the pasta. As it simmers, I remove as much of the oil and fat as possible. The thick meat sauce clings to the pasta better. It gives a hardy meat portion to a meal.  I made oven roasted chicken thighs and leg along with potato wedges. Again draining off excess fat! Salt, pepper and rosemary added the needed flavour. Peas made with onions simmered on the stove top added another dish to the meal. The pasta was cooked and prepared. I took along extra sauce in case someone wanted more on their portions Taken to Natasha's in travelling tin foil containers made the job easy.

A Greek salad prepared right before dinner rounded out the meal. The kitchen mess stayed home for Barb to clean up later. I do the cooking but my cook's assistant cleans the pots! Overall it was a good birthday meal enjoyed by all!
#granpalovestocook#chichenandpeas#chickenandpotatoes#salad#homemadeeggnoodle#lotsofgoodfoodforabirhdaydinner

GRANPA MAKES HOMEMADE PASTA FOR THE FAMILY

I like to help my daughters with food items. So yesterday, I made a hardy ragu sauce and homemade egg noodle-homemade pasta to some. The pasta can be eaten fresh or frozen for a quick meal. I gave my daughter Sonya two containers of the sauce to help her with her current situation- expecting baby number 3!
Of course Barb and I had a nice plate of the pasta and sauce along with a big salad for Saturday night dinner.
The picture shows a good platter of pasta-fettucine and meat balls/ragu sauce. In the background is a bowl of fresh pasta with a hearty seafood sauce. This was part of a Christmas Eve meal 2011.
Homemade is best!
#homemadepasta#noodlesbyhand#helpingthedaughterscook#fettucineandmeatballs#pastaagoodpartofthemeal

GRANPA'S VISIT TO THE ST. LAWRENCE MARKET TORONTO

Barb wanted to visit as many markets this summer so we could find ideas and pictures for her blog and mine.

Driving down the Don Valley Parkway from Richmond Hill is 1/2 hour more or less on an early Saturday morning. The St. Lawrence Market's south building is in the first Telegraph building in Toronto. The north building on the right has a farmer's market inside as well as booths on the street. We started looking around about 7:30 a.m.

Ready made appetizers at the one cheese booth look good. I bought some Italian hard Parmesan/parmigiano cheese. Barb bought some bocconcini as well as camembert.

There are many meat counters- marinated steak, sausages of all kinds for example. Toronto is very cosmopolitan with foods represented from all over the world. Sausages were Italian, Portuguese and German to name a few.

Seafood of all kinds can be found. I decided on some fresh Prince Edward Island mussels for dinner with a nice canned tomato sauce and spices.

The fresh homemade pasta and sauce looked good but mine is better!!!

One of my favourite parts of the day was buying "the Toronto's tradition peameal bacon on a soft country bun" and then eating it outside sitting on a table to take a little break from walking around the market.

Actually world famous sandwich according to the sign Barb and I saw while eating!

As in Italian tradition, top off any meal with a short espresso. Barb had a cappuccino.

With our purchases in our tote bags, I was ready to leave the market after an hour and  1/2. Barb loved the atmosphere of Torontonians and tourists shopping- families with little children, couples, empty nesters! I was happy to be on the road home as I really do not like crowds. The market allows anyone to buy whatever they need for a real feast.

Saturday dinner was an appetizer plate with the cheese, mussels with tomato sauce and fresh bread, shrimps and small lobster tails from the freezer, boiled new potatoes bought at the market and the fresh lemon and berry tarts for dessert. The fudge will be a treat for Barb's colleagues on Monday.

I definitely will make another trip to the St. Lawrence Market. Perhaps another place to take visitors-especially ones who love to eat!

Visit their website. St. Lawrence Market
#stlawrencemarket#torontofamousmarket#cheese#pasta#canadianbackbacononabun#PEImussels#newpotaoes#lemonandberrytarts#canadianfudge#somethingforeveryone#downtowntoronto#torontotraditions#peamealbacononabun#espressocoffeehitsthespot#adayinthecity#timeforlotsofpictures