Tuesday, November 30, 2010

SAMM - Avocado and Shrimp Sandwiches

SAMM - Share a Meal Monday is a linkup that I've been reading on Laura's blog for awhile, and I finally have something worthy of sharing.

I first had one of these sandwiches years ago at a sandwich shop in the beltline in Calgary called 'The Alligator Pear' and decided it was time to try copying it.  Arvid and I love them (can't get Bryn to try it yet), so we've made them quite a few times.

Here's what you'll need for 4 sandwiches:

8 slices whole wheat bread
A little margerine
A little mayonaise
1 ripe avocado
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup (or so) tiny shrimp, thawed
Sliced cheese - mozza or swiss

Start with nice soft whole wheat bread.  I generally make the bread we eat around here, but it often doesn't turn out very soft, so I've been buying store bought stuff for this - just the cheap brands, but they're fresh, so they're soft.

Mash the avocado flesh.  We like it a little chunky.  Then mix in the lemon juice.  Spread the bread slices with margerine (optional) and mayonaise (we've never tried Miracle Whip - I think it would taste funny).  For each sandwich, spread the avocado mixture on one slice, then top with the shrimp.  Lay slices of cheese on the other slice of bread, then put them together.

Not rocket science, but delicious!


Linking To: Share a Meal Monday

Thursday, November 25, 2010

The Train Cake

For the September birthdays in my family, we had a joint birthday party.  There are 4 of us with birthdays that month, so it just makes sense to do one big party.  I got to make the cake.  Or cakes, in this case.  Since three of the birthdays are kids, I decided to do a fun kiddie cake.

Here's a few pictures of the finished product.




They were pretty straightforward, and I didn't take any pictures during the process.  I started out with 7 chocolate cakes (using my favourite recipe) baked in a mini-loaf pan, and one baked in mini muffin pan.  The loaf pan has 8 loaves, the mini muffin pan makes a dozen and the recipe filled more than the two pans - I used a regular muffin pan to use up the extra.

To make the engine, I cut one of the loaf cakes to sort of notch onto the back of another standing upright. then I added the mini cupcake for the smoke stack, gluing it all together with chocolate buttercream. Now that  I'm trying to describe it, I wish I'd taken a picture before decorating it.

I used tinted buttercream icing for pretty much all the decorating, except the black - I used chocolate buttercream and added some black colour, and the wheels - they are candies I found at the grocery store.

It was probably the most challenging cake I've done so far, since all the pieces were so small they didn't stay put very well as I iced.  I knocked the engine over a couple of times as I was piping on all the little stars.  Probably not a project I'll do again for a long time, but the end product turned out alright.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

The Puke!

So, Bryn is 19 months old now (well, she will be in a few days) and today she puked for the very first time.  She was never much of a spitter as a baby, for which I was very grateful! Are you listening, Baby in my Tummy?  Anyway this afternoon, we went to A&W for lunch (we had coupons) and Bryn ate lots of fries and ketchup, along with the sandwich we brought for her (she doesn't like hamburgers).  After that, we took a little nap/rest, then had a tickle fest.  She giggled, and giggled, saying 'More' over and over, so Arvid and I kept tickling.  We then proceeded downstairs to make start dinner and I heard Bryn gagging!?  I looked over and there it was, puke!  Thank goodness it happened in the kitchen and not on the carpeted floor of the bedroom!  I have a really big problem with vomit, so I'm really glad Arvid was home.  I had been hoping that I'd be able to handle my own kids' puke, but no such luck.  I'm in trouble.  Sorry no pictures for this one!