The Gouda Life

This is it! The last post before I embark on a week (a full WEEK) of family, friends, eating, dancing and general celebration! It’s been quite a year in my kitchen and I’m so glad you could all join me for the ride. I owe a debt of gratitude to you all for reading, commenting, trying recipes out and listening to my never ending rambling. So thank you, from the bottom of my butter-soaked heart. 

That being said, I didn’t want to leave you without just one more Handmade Holiday gift idea. There is still time to throw something wonderful and unique together to give to someone special. 



I’m not much for martini’s. On the odd occasion I find myself sitting in front of one, I go right for the olives and slowly, painfully, sip the rest the way a child would poke at a plate of Brussels sprouts. 

But because I know I’m a bit of an anomaly in the everybody-loves-martini’s world, I thought I would make my favourite part of them, the boozy, gin-soaked olives, as part of an easy gift for the martini-aficionado’s in your life. A bottle of their favourite vodka or gin, one or two glasses, and a jar of salty, briny, boozed-up mammoth olives makes a gift that’s both useful and thoughtful (and will get the giftee tipsy! win-win-win!). 

There’s still two full days for you to throw this together! So get going! You’ll be in line at the Liquor Store for at least 12 of those hours.



Boozy Olives & Martini Kit

If you can’t find olives that are pitted and unstuffed (yes, thats the technical term), just buy some that are stuffed with pimentos and poke them out. 

2 small chili peppers (optional)
3-4 strips of lemon zest
1 cup gin
1/4 cup vermouth
squeeze of lime
jar of your choice
1 - 1 1/2 cups favourite martini olives (I used mammoth), pitted, not stuffed  
1-2 martini glasses (optional)
1 bottle favourite gin or vodka (optional)

Add everything but the olives to the jar. Seal and shake the jar to get everything mixed up. Add the olives and seal the jar. 

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before eating. Will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks. 

If you’re giving it as a gift, place the jar, glass and vodka in a bag and decorate to your heart’s content. 

That’s it for me for a week, all! 
May you all enjoy each and every minute of time spent with your loved ones. Travel safe, eat plenty, hug lots and Happy New Year!! 

It’s that time again! 

Handmade Holiday #2!

This week, I’m letting you off real easy. This one is pretty much as simple as it gets. Mix a few things, put them in a bag. Arrange together and Bob’s your uncle! (It’s a long standing joke in my family that Bob really is our [great] uncle. We’re pretty hilarious. I know.)



If you’ve ever had mulled wine, I don’t have to tell you much to convince you that it’s a lovely gift. If you haven’t, let me explain. Mulled wine is red wine simmered with aromatics like cloves, allspice, nutmeg, star anise and cinnamon. It’s a touch sweet, and it warms your belly like nothing else.  There’s nothing quite like it while playing a long game of scrabble, or as I’m accustomed to, Balderdash with a few close friends and family on a snowy Christmas eve. This little DIY kit will provide your giftee with everything they need to brew up a small batch to enjoy this Holiday season. 



DIY Mulled Wine Kit

I put my kit together in a pot, which you can get for pretty cheap in any Zellers/Walmart/Homewares Store, but feel free to use a basket or whatever you have on hand. 

It should also be said that my creativity is nothing too imaginative. I am no Martha Stewart, unfortunately. But please, feel free to use YOUR imagination to make this prettier. 

1 bottle of red wine, something affordable is a-ok
2 glass mugs or wine tumblers
1 medium sized pot
2 small plastic baggies
1 small sachet (for the mulling spices)
3 whole star-anise
3-4 cardamom pods
4-5 allspice berries
2 cinnamon sticks
1/4 tsp nutmeg (or 1 whole nutmeg)
1/4 tsp cloves (or a few whole cloves)
a few big strips orange zest
1/4 cup turbinado or demerara sugar

 In one small plastic bag, add the sugar and any ground spices you might be using. Secure it.



In the other, add all the whole spices, and orange zest. Again, secure it. Tuck both baggies into the sachet and tie with a bow or decorative ribbon. 

In the pot/basket, place the bottle of wine, mugs and sachet of spices. 



Either wrap the whole thing in cellophane and secure with some ribbon, or leave as-is. 

 

In the next few weeks, I’m going to be doing something a little different around here. 

We all know how stressful the holidays can be, what having to buy gifts for not only your immediate family, but your in-laws, close friends, grandparents, and somehow you always end up getting a few things for people you’re not even sure why you bought for. I know I have a hard time figuring out how to make it all work while still being able to afford my rent and groceries. 

 

We all know a homemade gift is cherished much more than something you swiped some plastic for, so in the weeks coming up to the big day, I’m going to give you some really great, as far as I’m concerned, homemade gifts you can create for very cheap to moderate prices for the food-lover, kitchen-guru or host(ess) in your lives. We’re not talking macaroni animals or painted egg ornaments here either, I promise. I’m going to try my best to keep the posts short and to the point since I know it’s not the easiest time of the year to lounge around reading. 



First up on the list, Salt Preserved Lemons and Oranges. If you’re not sure what those are, I don’t blame you. I wasn’t so knowledgable about them a while back, either. Preserving citrus gives you an easy way to add tons of lemon/orange flavour to a dish without using very much. They’re preserved in a salt-brine and after hanging out in a jar for a month, the skins are soft and ready to be minced into your favourite dish. The uses for preserved citrus are endless, you can add them to couscous with roasted vegetables, mince into fresh salsa, chop up with green olives and garlic to garnish fish or chicken, garnish ice cream or a dirty martini, in a gremolata… I’m sure you can use your imagination here. Why preserve the citrus, you ask? Preserved citrus is to fresh what smoked meats are to raw meats. Still delicious, but with more depth, more flavour. 

Give your food-loving friends a jar of these with a tag that explains some uses for them and I’m sure they won’t be disappointed. 

Preserved Lemons and Oranges

I kept mine pretty simple and didn’t add any extra aromatics, but if you choose to, they would add another dimension of yummyness! 

Since you’re intending for your friends/family to eat the rind of these, you should really try to buy organic or unsprayed cirtus. 

2-3 medium-sized jars
2 of the smallest lemons you can find (Meyer would be great, but I wasn’t able to find any)
1 extra lemon for juice
3 oranges
3/4 cup or more of your favourite coarse salt (this is a good place to use that jar you’ve been saving)
small chili pepper (optional)
bay leaf (optional)

Working over a bowl, slice the pointy tip off the lemons. Slice in half from the bottom to top, and then slice each half again, from bottom to top. 



Scrub each lemon slice really well with salt. Press into jar and give another good sprinkle of salt. Repeat until your jar is packed firmly with lemons. Give them one more generous sprinkle of salt and slice/squeeze the remaining lemon’s juice over the jar. Press them in there really good. Pour remaining juice and salt from the bowl into the jars. 



Repeat the same process with the oranges. 

Close the jars and place in the fridge over night. For the next 2-3 days, open the jar once a day and press the lemons/oranges down to help release the juices. Refrigerate for at least a month before use (tip: write the “Open On” date on the jar so your giftee knows when they are ready!)

When ready to use, they should be rinsed off well and the meat of the lemon should be removed. You only need a little rind, minced well, to pack a whole lotta cirtus flavour into dishes. 

 

Enjoy!