When You Have Tomatoes...

... You make a stuffed pork tenderloin! I made this meal with baby cherry tomatoes, fresh oregano, lots of garlic (the best), a splash of olive oil and a little S & P. It tasted delicious!

Et voila...

The End

Summer is over. Garden is finished... Until next Spring

First frost... Plants look a little dreary a.k.a dead!

For my first garden, I think I did pretty well. I have loads of tomatoes to use throughout the winter. I already plan on making a homemade spaghetti sauce with 2 bags of tomatoes. I wasn't too pleased with how the yellow and green peppers grew. Took very long and only got two good sized peppers.

Next year I will start my garden earlier so that the vegetables that I plant will have enough time to grow. Either way, I think the garden was a success. It can only get better!

Spicy Chicken Tomato Kabob

It was Sunday and I had the whole house to myself, and what's better than making a mess of the kitchen? Take a look!

Week 3: It Comes Alive

Since planting all my vegetable plants about 3 weeks ago, I finally took some pictures of my garden. My plan is to document the growth of the garden over the summer. As you will see in the pictures, I have added two garlic plants and some herbs to the main garden. Take a look... Notice any little red tomatoes :)

The Garden

First tomatoes

Chives

Fresh Parsley

Tomato Plants

Yellow Bell Pepper

Green Bell Peppers

Fresh basil... It's HUGE!

Dynamic Duos

Yesterday summer official began... Well, not really, but for fans of the reality show, Big Brother, it did. As a way to celebrate the beginning of this years season, I spent a little time yesterday afternoon putting together fruit kabobs. As you will see in the video, I melted chocolate, added some cinnamon, dipped the fruit and place 3 pieces of fruit on a kabob. 

This years season has a special twist. Dynamic Duos from the past returned to the house, so I put together a treat that exemplified just that. Each fruit kabob is its own dynamic duo... Any ideas? Find out by watching the video.

Finally!

I just walked in with a stock pile of some very interesting little plants that hopefully will grow some yummy vegetables. While I have had a herb garden for the past month or so, I had not picked up any vegetable plants, until today! 

So here is what I will be growing in my garden this summer: 5 different types of tomatoes (Pink Girl, Beefeater, Sweet 100, Big Boy and Roma 'Viva Italia'), as well as green and yellow bell peppers! Hopefully with a nice sunny spot in the backyard and lots of water, I will have some tasty vegetables to use in future recipes this summer.

I will post some pictures later on...

Meatball Sub

Today's weather was pretty crumby so I figured I would try something new in the kitchen. In other words, I experimented! My mom was making ragu for dinner this evening, which is one of my least favorite meals.  Instead of having ragu for dinner, I went ahead and made my own meatballs that contained many different herbs (chives, basil and oregano) and seasonings. It was a lot of fun to cook, but the final product was not as good as I had hoped it would be. I placed the meatballs on a sub bun and melted Monterey Jack cheese on them. Before taking a bite, it looked mighty tasty, but in reality in only left me with a stomach ache. This meal would fall under the category of "Failed Experiment".

Don't let the picture fool you!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

This past week, I felt the urge to try my hand at baking. In the past, the baking that I have done has never really turned out. There is something about having exact measurements that just doesn't work well with me.   It's not that I can't follow instructions, it's just that... Oh, who knows, it probably is because I can't follow instructions. Just look at these double chocolate chip cookies and tell me they don't look weird. I bet you can't!

These cookies need some sun... They're pale!

They are weird looking because I forgot to add a half of cup of brown sugar. While they did taste good, me and baking just don't go together. We're like oil and water. I think from here on out I will leave the baking to Lindsay, the baker in this relationship.

Cinnamon Apple Honey Oats

It's another rainy day, so what I did to was put together a little small snack for myself following a good workout at the gym. What I did was cut up a bunch of apples, in which I sprinkled a mix of cinnamon, white sugar and brown sugar on top. I placed half of the lightly dusted apple chunks into a bowl, then covered them with a layer of oats. I then placed the remaining pieces of apple on top, along with some honey and another handful of oats. For a snack that only used four basic ingredients, it tasted really good. If you don't believe, take a look at the pictures.

Sizzling Steaks

Breakfast was Belgium waffles. Dinner was sizzling steaks and roasted vegetables. Before seasoning the steaks, I cut them from a large slab of meat. The slab was cut into 19 individual steaks, which means plenty of steaks this upcoming summer. Along with the steaks, I put together a very simple and tasty side of roasted vegetables. Like always, I filmed the cooking process. Take a look

Simply The Best...

So to celebrate Mother's Day, I along with my dad's cooking touch put together a breakfast fit for the best mom in the world. We pulled out all the stops and made beautiful Belgium waffles. I also made for the first time English cream that was used to as dip for the waffles. To say the least, my mom was very pleased. It definitely got her Mother's Day off to the right foot.

Happy Mother's Day!

Homemade English cream

"I'm the Sauce Boss"

The other day I surprised my girlfriend, Lindsay, with a nice salad filled with all kinds of fresh vegetables. To top it all off, I experimented with a number of different ingredients to make my very own 5 minute salad dressing. 

The pieces to the puzzle:

• Mayonnaise (a good sized dollop - best word ever)
• Olive oil
• Vinegar (only a bit - I ended up putting too much)
• Juice of half an orange
• Orange zest
• A little bit of S&P
• Oregano
• Some form of sweetness (honey is the best)

The thing that makes salad dressings or even marinades so much fun to make is that there are no rules. It's all trial and error! I think that is why I enjoy cooking so much; it's all experimentation.

Cooking Quesadillas

Yesterday afternoon I didn't have much to do, so I decided to cook casadia's for dinner that evening. As I will do with many of my meals/experiments, I recorded and documented the cooking process. Given that it was a stir fry, there is no real recipe that must be followed, so I basically just "created" as I went along. My dad, who has sat through many of my experiments even went as far as saying that this was one of the best meals that I have made. Does that mean all my other meals have sucked? Who knows, but a compliment is a compliment, so I will definitely take it.

Enjoy the video!

Nearly clean plate - it was that good!

Hat Trick: Bleu Blanc Rouge

So tonight the Habs face off against the dreaded Boston Bruins in a very important game 6 match up. I figured since hockey is like religion in my house that I would create a little dessert that my family and I could enjoy during the game. So what I did was create a triple layered Jello cup, consisting of blueberry jello, strawberry jello and lemon (closest colour to white) pudding. In other words, a hat trick! Hopefully it makes for a fun treat to eat as the Habs try to stretch the series to a game 7. GO HABS GO!

OLE OLE OLE OLE

Sunshine In A Glass

There's nothing like a fresh fruit smoothie after a hard workout at the gym.

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 1 apple (not peeled)
• strawberries
• pineapple slices
• orange juice
• honey
• handful of ice

Can you taste it?

The Perfect Burger

During my spring break, I managed to find some time to cook some delicious hamburgers for my family. The recipe titled The Perfect Burger comes from Michael Smith's cook book, The Best of Chef at Home, which my lovely girlfriend got me for Christmas this past year. The video below documented the steps involved, minus the cooking on the BBQ and of course eating. I wish I would have taken a picture of the final product, but you will just have to take my word and believe me when I say that these burgers were amazing!

The Plan

This summer I wanted to try something new. With no work and plenty of time on my hands, I decided why not grow my own backyard garden. My plan is to grow various types of vegetables and herbs that I can use in some wacky cooking ideas. Since becoming practically obsessed with the Food Network, I have tried my hand at a number of recipes that for the most part have worked out quite well... Others, well not so much

Not a fan favorite

My hope is to use whatever I grow in order to cook some delicious meals for my test subjects, also known as my girlfriend and family! Now all I need is the warm weather to show up so I can begin...