Spaghetti & Meatballs

Seafood/Fish/Corn Chowder

If you want to make a corn chowder, do the same thing but replace the seafood with 1 can each of cream of corn and corn niblets.

Seafood/Fish/Corn Chowder
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 8 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 medium carrot, finely diced
• 3 stalks of celery, finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 medium potatoes, finely diced
• 2 lbs seafood (eg., white fish cubes, scallops, prawn, mussels, clams, etc.; whatever you have on hand)
• 1 370ml can of evaporated milk
• 5-6 cups water
• 2 tsps dried thyme 
• a pinch of cayenne pepper (doesn't make anything spicy; just brings out the flavour)
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Add a splash of water to a large dutch oven and brown bacon until crispy over medium high heat. Set bacon aside but keep all the bacon grease in the dutch oven.
2. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, dried thyme, cayenne pepper, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Mix well until garlic is fragrant.
3. Stir in flour and mix until you can't see any more white/raw flour. Slowly add in water while stirring the veggie/flour mixture. It'll be kind of clumpy but adding in water slowly will help unclump everything.
4. Add in potatoes and evaporated milk. Bring to a simmer and simmer on low for 15 minutes, covered. It'll form a skin but no worries; just stir to get rid of it.
5. Turn heat up to medium low and stir in seafood. Keep stirring occasionally until seafood is cooked through; about another 10 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.
6. Serve with bacon "bits" on top as garnish and French bread/baguette to sop of the chowder.

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

This is my favourite cookie. Hands down.

I LOVE gingersnaps but even more when they're chewy. So that doesn't really make them gingerSNAPS anymore, does it? Regardless, they're my fave so I try not to make them too much or I'd just get super fat from hogging them all. :X


Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies
(makes 5 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger
• 2 tsps baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup dark molasses
• 1/3 cup cinnamon sugar (1 heaping Tbsp ground cinnamon & 1/4 cup sugar)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, ground ginger, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. Mix in the egg and molasses until well incorporated.
5. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture and mix until well incorporated. Mix in remaining flour mixture until a soft dough forms.
6. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll into 1 inch diameter balls between your hands. Roll each ball in cinnamon sugar, and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. 
7. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until the tops are rounded and slightly cracked. Allow the cookies to cool on the pans for 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks.
8. Serve with milk, ice cream, or coffee, etc.