Try Some Thai ~ A Guest Post from Bewitchin Kitchen!!

Randa from The Bewithin' Kitchen has been a loyal longtime Northern Mama follower and I love her fabulous recipes and exciting blog so when Randa asked if I'd like her to write a guest post featuring a delicious recipe how could I resist?

Here is her fabulous recipe for Thai Chicken Fettuccine...Yummy!

THAI CHICKEN FETTUCCINE

~1 cup salsa
~1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
~2 tablespoons orange juice
~2 tablespoons honey
~1 teaspoon soy sauce
~8 ounces uncooked fettuccine
~3/4 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
~1 tablespoon canola oil
~1 medium sweet red pepper, julienned
~1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

For sauce, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Cover and microwave on high for 1 minute; stir. Set aside.

Cook fettuccine according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until chicken juices run clear. Add red pepper; cook and stir until crisp-tender.

Drain fettuccine; top with chicken mixture and sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro. I hope you all enjoy this! It's really good, I thought at first it was a weird combination (who would think peanut butter and salsa would go so well together).

If you like this, be sure you follow me over at The Bewitchin' Kitchen and while you are there be sure to check out Weight Loss Wednesday and Wedding Wednesday.

Thanks,
Randa

Chocolate: A Love Story by Max Brenner and illustrated by Yonatan Factor

Chocolate: A Love Story by Max Brenner and illustrated by Yonatan Factoris a sexy, avant garde chocolate desserts cookbook filled with over 65 quirkily titled recipes from the collection of the Bald Man himself, Max Brenner.

Max Brenner has spurred a Chocolate revolution and Chocolate: A Love Story is uniquely illustrated with revolutionary Art Deco-poster style! My husband is salivating over this book already and is excitedly planning our next chocolate feast. No longer is chocolate to be reserved for dessert, from twists to the conventional chocolate delights to the most unusual of delectable chocolate concoctions, chocolate is a culinary decadence for the young and old, the gourmet and the palate of the "average Joe".

I admit I do not tend to make such rich fabrications. Whole milk and cream don't grace our refrigerator regularly but I relented--all for the sake of this review--to adding such indulgent items to my shopping lists {alright my arm did not require twisting}!
A sampling of these deliriously lavish recipes:

*My Lost childhood chocolate birthday cake

*The Belgian Street Waffle

*Revolutionary Rice Pudding

*Meaningless Sweet Spaghetti

*The adult and child chocolate burger joint venture

I thought to share this excerpted recipe which I found both Delicious yet dependable:

Eco-friendly chocolate bread pudding

1 1/2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

9 ounces dark chocolate, chopped, plus 3 ounces

3 large eggs, plus 3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

12 brioche buns or 1 loaf white bread, cubed

------------------------------

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bring the milk and cream to a boil and pour over three-quarters of the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Cover and let sit until the chocolate begins to melt, about 1 minute. Stir until smooth.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until well combined. Keep mixing and stir in the chocolate mixture.

3. Place the brioche cubes in a large bowl. Pour the chocolate custard mixture over the brioche. Add the remaining chopped chocolate and stir well to combine. Set aside to let the custard soak into the bread, about 10 minutes, then pour into two 8-inch loaf pans. Bake until golden brown and crusty and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

4. Remove from the oven and let cool 20 minutes before unmolding. Cut into 1-inch slices and serve with the vanilla cream.

Vanilla Cream

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 1/2 cups milk, divided

1/2 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

---------------------------

1. Sprinkle the cornstarch over 1/2 cup of the milk in a small bowl and whisk to dissolve. Add the sugar and egg yolks and whisk well.

2. Bring the remaining 2 cups milk and the vanilla bean just to a simmer in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over low heat. (If using vanilla extract, add it in step 3.) Remove the bean, scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk, and discard the bean. Gradually whisk the egg yolk mixture into the milk.

3. Cook, whisking often, until the sauce comes to a full boil, about 3 minutes. If using vanilla extract, stir it in now. Strain through a wire sieve into a bowl. Serve warm.

Yield: 16 servings

Rich and moist you will be amazed by this twist on the traditional!

Want to give a sweet and lasting Valentine's gift to that special someone? Chocolate: A Love Story is the perfect gift for the passionate chocolate lover in your life!

One Northern Mama reader will win a copy of this artistic hardcover volume filled with decadence, art, and romantic musings!

To Enter:

• Be a Northern Mama follower or Facebook Fan {Required}

Extra Entries:

• Subscribe via email
• Follow on Twitter @Northernmama35 and RT Tweet {daily} about this giveaway
• Grab my Button
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back here {please leave a link to your post}

Giveaway open to US and Canadian residents. Giveaway closes February 2, 2010 10:00pm CT. Read Giveaway Rules for details.

Pillsbury Baking Challenge ~Voting time!! Vote and Win!

In October I informed my Canadian readers of the Pillsbury Baking Challenge! Canadians were challenged to create their own unique recipes inspired by and utilizing their favourite Pillsbury products. A fabulous contest from a brand we've known and loved for years.

Why do we love Pillsbury? It could be the convenience, perhaps the great taste but I dare say we can't resist that lovable, perma-smiling little bundle of dough, that icon of North American baking, the Pillsbury Doughboy {A.K.A. Poppin' Fresh}! I can actually recall the popularity of the Pillsbury Doughboy dolls when I was a young child.

Northern Mama readers, both those in Canada and the United States will have the opportunity to win one of these adorable little Doughboys or a Pillsbury Doughboy totebag while voting for their favourite Pillsbury Baking Challenge recipes! Starting November 16th and running until December 31st visit the Pillsbury Baking Challenge site and vote for your favourites. The top three winners in each category will then undergo the ultimate challenge, scrutinized by the esteemed Pillsbury Judging Panel, featuring popular web personalities, the Pillsbury* Kitchenista, and an Olympic Gold Medalist!

To reiterate the contest details, the Grand Prize winner will walk away with a dream suite of kitchen appliances courtesy of Whirlpool®, cleaning services for a full year courtesy of Molly Maid®, and a year's worth of groceries, all valued at over $11 500! To learn more about the contest details read my Pillsbury Baking Challenge post from October.

Vote now and one Northern Mama reader will win a Pillsbury Doughboy doll, a second will win a Pillsbury Doughboy Totebag! To Enter:

• Visit the Pillsbury Baking Challenge site and rate your favourite recipes {leave a comment here telling me which recipe was your favourite} {Required}
• Non-bloggers please leave me your email address with your comment.

Extra Entries:

• Follow Northern Mama {via google friends connect}
• Be a Northern Mama Facebook Fan
• Follow me on Twitter @Northernmama35 and tweet about this giveaway
• Grab my Button

{Please leave a separate comment for each entry}

Giveaway open to US and Canadian residents. Giveaway ends December 30th, 2009 10:00pm CT. Read Giveawy Rules for further details.

Thanksgiving Book Festival Giveaway ~ Cook in Style!

For my wonderfully supportive American readers Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Sure, Canadians like myself have had a jump on the festivities but we too can look forward to winters rich with wholesome feasts of comfort food to warm our Chilly Canadian souls!

Hachette wants to give thanks to their loyal readers and has graciously given Northern Mama the opportunity to thank her supportive followers by offering up a Fall Feast book giveaway--from their shelves to your tables!

This Fall Feast features two beautifully illustrated and elegantly written fine cookbooks! I am actually planning an upcoming review of Chocolate: A Love Story featuring a recipe or two that my husband and I have tried. Look forward to this in the upcoming week!

How To Roast a Lamb by Michael Psilakis and Barbara Kafka features New Greek Classic Cooking

What the Publishers are saying: A rising star in the food world, Michael Psilakis is co-owner of a growing empire of modern Mediterranean restaurants, and one of the most exciting young chefs in America today. In How to Roast a Lamb, the self-taught chef offers recipes from his restaurants and his home in this, his much-anticipated first cookbook.

Ten chapters provide colorful and heartfelt personal essays that lead into thematically related recipes. Gorgeous color photography accompanies many of the recipes throughout. Psilakis's cooking utilizes the fresh, naturally healthful ingredients of the Mediterranean augmented by
techniques that define New American cuisine. Home cooks who have gravitated toward Italian cookbooks for the simple, user-friendly dishes, satisfying flavors, and comfortable, family-oriented meals, will welcome Psilakis's approach to Greek food, which is similarly healthful, affordable, and satisfying to share any night of the week.

Chocolate: A Love Story by Max Brenner and illustrated by Yonatan Factor

Is a sexy, avant garde chocolate desserts cookbook filled with over 65 quirkily titled recipes from the collection of the Bald Man himself, Max Brenner. Max Brenner has spurred a Chocolate revolution and Chocolate: A Love Story is uniquely illustrated with revolutionary Art Deco-poster style! My husband is salivating over this book already and is excitedly planning our next chocolate feast {which I will most definitely be reporting about here on Northern Mama}!

Two Delicious titles and Three amazing Fall Feast Book Sets to giveaway!

To Enter:

• Follow Northern Mama {via google friends connect} or Become a Northern Mama Facebook Fan {Required}
• If you are a non-blogger be sure to leave me your email

Extra Entries:

• Subscribe to Northern Mama {via email}
• Follow on Twitter @Northernmama35 and tweet about this giveaway daily
• Grab my Button
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back here {please leave me the link to your post}

Giveaway open to US and Canadian residents. Giveaway closes December 1st, 2009. Read Giveaway Rules for details.

Easy Canning Recipes~If I Can Can You Can Can!

No I don't mean that Can-can {nothing so exciting as that}!

I contemplated giving you a garden update but now that my garden has been covered in snow I believe it is a little late and pointless! Despite the poor weather conditions this year we had a decent harvest: About 20 pounds of potatoes, bags and bags of green and yellow beans which are now clogging our freezer, and enough cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers to do a bit of canning!
Now, I am far from the domestic goddess type. I was always of the impression that I would be the professional or academic too busy working to bake, cook, and heaven forbid can! But three children later I have learned to adapt. Having lived in the arctic for 8 years I was able to avoid something as down-home domestic as canning but that all changed when I started truly gardening in our new southern home. Last year I was struck with the dilemma of being overwhelmed by fresh vegetables. Knowing they would not last long I had to find a way to use and preserve them thus the idea of canning flourished.

I needed some very simple canning recipes! A neighbour of mine provided me with a simple Krispy Pickles recipe for my cucumbers and my mom had a wonderful Chili sauce recipe which I always remembered enjoying as a garnish with roast beef or sausages! For those who are a bit unsure what to do with their garden overflow and are not already adept at the domestic arts these recipes are for you!

NOTE: Remember you must always sterilize your canning jars before use. I tend to turn them upside down in water in a deep skillet on the stove. The boiling water steams the jars. Remember heat is the key to sealing the jars. Make sure you put your recipes in the jars hot! The special canning lids will seal as the jars start to cool.

Mom's Chili Sauce
{the amounts can be altered and played with}

8-10 Onions
1 Large fruit basket of Tomatoes
1 1/2 cups vinegar
4 cups brown sugar {or more}
3 stalks celery
2 green sweet peppers
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. allspice
2 tsp black pepper
Handful of salt

1. Soak the tomatoes in boiling water first to remove the skins. I use my sink or a large basin to soak the tomatoes and just boil water in my kettle to pour over them. The skins will split and can be removed easily after this.

2. Grind the celery, onions, and peppers {I used my food processor}.

3. Mix all ingredients in a very large stock pot on the stove and cook for 2 hours or more until a bit thick and dark red {mine was actually a little more green last year because I used some yellow tomatoes as well}. While cooking the chili sauce use a potato masher now and then to break up the tomatoes.

4. Pour your hot chili sauce into sterilized canning jars and cover with seal and lid ring. leave the jars on your counter top until you know they are sealed. They will seal as they cool. You will hear a popping sound and the seal lid will have indented in the center.

5. Store in a cool place in your home.

Krispy Pickles
{taste like sweet mixed pickles}

5 medium cucumbers, sliced
3 medium onions, sliced
1/4 cup salt

Put salt on the cucumbers and onions and let stand for 3 hours then wash and drain.

Make the Brine:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 tsp celery seed
1/4 tsp tumeric
1 tsp mustard seed

Heat these brine ingredients in a saucepan.
Pour the brine over the vegetables in a stock pot and reheat just to boiling {but do not let them boil}.
Pour into jars and seal!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! ~ Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe!

HAPPY {CANADIAN} THANKSGIVING!! Not so happy for me. Two of my three children are sick with a flu bug and I'm feeling exhausted and run-down. Of course hubby has to work long hours all weekend and today is turkey day! I'll admit I am looking forward to eating turkey dinner but not making it and cleaning up afterward. Sometimes living away from family takes its toll. It's especially difficult during the holidays.

Regardless we have much to be thankful for. We have a lovely home in a country free of war and unrest. My children have educational opportunities and free health care. We need for nothing and have the love of family and friends! We are so lucky and today's a day to take stock!

It's also the day to gorge ourselves on rich and savoury foods.

Here's a holiday recipe I've used for years and admittedly do not even remember its source!

Sweet Potato Casserole
3 cups Cooked and mashed sweet potatoes {about 2lbs}

1/2 cup White Sugar

2 Eggs

1/4 cup softened butter {or margarine}

1 tsp Vanilla

1/4 tsp Salt

Mix these 6 ingredients and put in a 2 quart {2 L} casserole dish.

Topping:

1/4 cup Butter or margarine

1/2 cup Brown sugar {packed}

1/4 cup Flour {all-purpose}

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Melt the butter/margarine in a saucepan and add the brown sugar, flour, and nuts. Stir and sprinkle over top of your first mixture in the casserole dish. Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit {180 C}.