Nancy's Cordial

So I'm going to link this recipe with one of my favorite books - Anne of Green Gables. In the book, Anne mistakes wine for raspberry cordial, setting her friend drunk. So naturally, I searched everywhere for a raspberry cordial recipe. There was one on a PEI cooking website, but I think that would've taken an hour or more to make. There was the boiling, the measuring, and the preserving. To be honest, I didn't have the patience for that, even if it's Anne of Green Gables. There are two main ingredients that make a fruity cordial taste not like ginger, and not like the fruit itself.

INGREDIENTS:
Ginger-ale
Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries (anything that can be boiled to make a jam/sauce)

Step 1: Use leftover blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries to make a sauce. In this recipe, I used blueberries but I really recommend using raspberries. Put them in a saucepan, add a teaspoon of sugar if necessary, and a tablespoon of water. Boil until the fruit becomes soft and a sauce forms.
Step 2: Strain the fruit through a sieve and discard the fruit.
Step 3: In a tall glass, pour in ginger-ale to the top of the glass, and add a tablespoon of the sauce and stir fast until foam starts to over-flow the glass. Add ice, and enjoy!

Cooking For One: Hot & Spicy Soup

Ingredients:
2 cups Chicken Broth
4 White Mushrooms
1 teaspoon Finely Minced Ginger
1 tablespoon White Vinegar
1/2 tablespoon Red Pepper Flakes (more or less, depending on how spicy you want it)
8-10 Frozen Shrimp (thawed)
1 tablespoon Chopped Green Onion

Step 1: Boil the chicken broth and begin slicing the mushrooms. Add them to the broth, along with the ginger, vinegar, and red pepper flakes.
Step 2: Make small incisions on the back of the shrimp and add to the broth. Cook for 10-15 minutes, and serve! Garnish with the chopped green onion.

This little gadget...

Otherwise known as a flour sifter!


I found this at the thrift store... oh my goodness - best thing ever. You could easily use a sieve to sift the flour through when making pastries, but if you know me, you'd know that I like to do things the old fashion way.

Basically you measure the flour, put it in the sifter, and you crank the handle. I can't wait to try it out!

Been inventing vegan, vegetarian, and non-vegetarian burger options...
So far, they taste delicious, but the burgers look more like sloppy joes to me, so I will update once I find the right ingredient to add to them!

In My Opinion...

This new section on Peek in Your Pantry will be my own personal opinion on things I've tasted/eaten. I think though, my opinion will always be a good one. I will also devote this section to my many, many, many failed recipes, or things I could work on.

Shrimp Cakes/Patties

So I did not come up with the recipe for these. I don't remember what my mom said when she told me the ingredients, but I do know these contain shrimp, garlic powder, salt, pepper, some other kind of power, and oil. They're so, so, so good!

Personally, the next time we make this, we'll add less salt, because it seems more like something to eat with a main course, than something just as an appetizer.

Basically, you mix all the ingredients together, and you fry them in oil! And they take maybe three to four minutes to cook. Super fast, and super yummy!

If I can find the correct measurements, I'll post a recipe as soon as possible.

Summery Lime-nade

So this is the only way I will make lime-nade. I'm not a big fan of lemons, but you could easily make this with lemons if you want.
Adding some chopped mint leaves will give the lime-nade a fresher taste, and that's insanely important for those hot summer days.

Ingredients:
4 limes
4 cups cold water
1/2 cup sugar

Step 1: Zest all four limes, and put the lime zest in a large jug. Juice the four limes and also add to the jug.
Step 2: Pour in the cold water, sugar, and stir. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Step 3: Before serving, dip the tips of the cups in water, and then in sugar to create the frosty tip. Slice up some strips from another lime and attach to the cup. Stir before pouring the lime-nade.

Rosemary Potatoes w/ Garlic and Onion Steamed Mussels

So I remember seeing something about garlic steamed mussels in a Winter cookbook, but I never actually got around to actually reading, much less, trying the recipe.
At first I made the potatoes, but then I realized I needed some stock to make gravy to go with them. I opened the freezer up, no frozen stock, but I did find a pack of frozen mussels. So that's where this came from!

Ingredients:
Rosemary Potatoes
4-5 medium sized russet potatoes
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic and Onion Steamed Mussels
10 frozen, or fresh mussels (fresh mussels will take longer to cook)
2 bay leaves
6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
pinch of ground pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the potatoes, skin on or off, into french fry like pieces. Toss on a baking dish with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary until evenly coated. Bake in the oven until they are soft and tender.
Step 2: Place a non plastic plate, bottom up in a pot. The plate should be about the same size at the bottom of the pot.
Step 3: Pour half a cup of water in the pot and bring the water to a boil. On medium heat, add the two teaspoons of salt and bay leaves.
Step 4: Line the mussels up in the pan. Sprinkle in the chopped onion, garlic, pepper, and pepper flakes. Drizzle on some olive oil, and put the lid on the pot.
Step 5: Occasionally lift the lid up and slightly stir.

Frozen cooked mussels should take until the onion, and garlic are very soft, tender, and sweet. Fresh mussels will hold more flavor, but will take longer. They are done when the shells open up. Discard any mussels that have not opened.

Place the potato fries on a dish, and two to three mussels over top. Pour some of the liquid from the mussels over the mussels and fries. Serve hot.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1/3 cup canola or vegetable Oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large bananas)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Step One: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a loaf pan. Grease by buttering the pan, then cover with a thin layer of flour.
Step Two: Mix the oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a bowl. Add the mashed bananas and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until the dry items are incorporated.
Step Three: Bake in the center of the oven for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the bread looks too dark, don’t worry, it’s still very moist and delicious (this depends on the oven).