Radically Retired

Tag: Foodie Friday

  • Foreboding Shadows

    Foreboding Shadows

    Do you like poached eggs? If yes, how do you prepare yours?

    Yesterday morning, as the sun was coming up and peering through our balcony’s big sliding doors, I was looking for something for breakfast to both photograph and enjoy.

    I came across a recipe on Facebook for air fryer poached eggs.

    I love poached eggs and have made them using many different methods but never the air fryer.

    As I looked for a spot on my table to set up for a photo, it didn’t matter what spot I chose, the sun coming in the adjacent balcony doors caused long, dark shadows. I was hungry, so decided to just go with it.

    My air fryer poached eggs were a disappointing fail of epic proportions. After the time given in the recipe, they hadn’t set one bit and were just slimy, unpalatable blobs, mocking me from the ramekins they were supposed to be “cooked to perfection” in.

    I increased the temp a bit and added two minutes. The eggs were slightly more set, but still not edible. I like my poached eggs to have soft yolks but the whites have to be completely set.

    I added three more minutes. Now, the whites weren’t great but just slightly more set, and the yolks were overcooked. The surface was wrinkled and not one bit appetizing in appearance.

    I plated it up anyways, took the photo, and grudgingly ate my brekky.

    Strike that prep method from my list.

  • Mary and Me

    Mary and Me

    When I was growing up, Mary Moore was a household name among the womenfolk.

    Mary (Allen Clark) Moore, born in Hamilton in 1903, was a Canadian food writing legend. From 1928 to 1978, she was a nationally syndicated newspaper food columnist. Her columns, which appeared in as many as 25 daily newspapers across the country, were clipped and used by thousands of Canadians…

    … Moore was known for her heartwarming, highly personal recipe columns, in which she dispensed cooking advice and also encouraged her readers to take a long walk each day. *Exerpt from thewhig.com

    I remember both of my grandmas and my mom faithfully clipping the recipes from Mary’s column and either pasting or handwriting them into a notebook.

    Many of the main dishes and desserts I enjoyed in my youth came directly from Mary’s weekly newspaper offerings.

    When the first edition of her cookbook was released in 1978, I purchased a copy.

    To this day, it’s my all time favourite cookbook.

    In its pages, I can find recipes I remember my mom, my grandmas, and my friends’ moms and grandmas making. There are even recipes my high school home-ec teacher used in class.

    As I gently leaf through the ingredient stained pages of this well-used and mightily worn hardcover book, I’ll come across a familiar recipe and smile with a fond memory.

    One such recipe is Mock Marzipan Strawberries. My maternal grandma made these every year at Christmas and made them as table favours for my wedding.

    I now make them as well.

    These are mine

    Straight from the cookbook:

    First editions of this cookbook in excellent condition now sell for $200 CDN. My book is far from even good condition, but even if it was in excellent condition, no amount of money could purchase it.

  • 3 C’s: Chili, Comfort, Cleanup

    3 C’s: Chili, Comfort, Cleanup

    One of my favourite cold weather comfort foods is chili con carne. People seldom use the full name anymore and have shortened it to chili.

    Although this dish was originally Tex Mex (from the border area of Texas and Mexico), I can recall my mom at home in Canada making her version of it when I was a child. Mom always called it by its full name.

    In researching chili for this post, I was surprised to learn that the dish was introduced to eastern Canada in the early 1900’s. I wondered, given the distance, how that could be? Further reading explained that a group from San Antonio introduced it at a chili stand at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. This explained a lot, because Chicago is much closer and Canadians were very well represented at that fair.

    There are many variations of this hearty meat stew, and I make it a bit differently each time.

    The one in my feature photo has carrots, red bell pepper, button mushrooms, onions, celery, and three bean varieties with the lean ground beef and diced tomatoes. I prepared it in my Instant Pot, as I do all of my soups and stews. Pressure cooking has a way of locking in and enhancing flavours, which is key in one-pot meals.

    We like our chili either over a baked potato, or with a side of toast. Sometimes I garnish it with shredded cheese and/or sour cream.

    If you eat this dish, what sides do you enjoy with it? I’m always looking for new ideas.

    I used the Touch Retouch App to clean up the bowl. As I did this, I recalled cooking competitions on TV, and how the chefs always wipe the edges of the dishes and bowls before serving.

    By doing this task digitally, I was able to finally realize why that’s done.

    Here’s the dish before cleanup.

    Much more appealing with the dishing up smears removed, I think. Do you agree?

  • A Decadent Treat

    A Decadent Treat

    This is a late post for me. We had a busy day finding ways to celebrate the first day of spring.

    We’ve actually decided to do something special each day over spring weekend 2026. More on that Monday.

    Yesterday, I found a forgotten loaf of homemade focaccia bread in my freezer.

    I defrosted it in the fridge overnight and this morning, set it out on the countertop to soften in the bag. When we got home from our day out of the park, I cubed up a slice for a decadent late afternoon snack. .

    The slightly sweet and tangy notes of the aged balsamic vinegar floating in light olive oil made the perfect dip.

    It was a bit too good.

  • Family Tradition

    Family Tradition

    December 1st is traditionally when I start my Christmas cookie baking. It’s when my mom always started hers, so I guess the date is firmly ingrained in me from an early age.

    I bake the cookies that both of my grandmas and my mom made over the years, plus I always add a few of hubs’ faves from his memories of his mom.

    My feature photo is of sugar cookies – a must every Christmas.

    Each year, we exchange gifts with friends here in our park, and my gifts always include a selection of my home made cookies.

  • Getting my Popeye On!

    Getting my Popeye On!

    Carrying on with my prepared salads reviews:

    This one is by Marketside and is called Spinach Dijon.

    Ingredients: spinach, eggs, shredded Monterey Jack-Colby Cheese, chow mein noodles, almonds, sweetened dried cranberries, and sweet onion dressing.

    The dressing is just sweet enough to cover the earthy taste of the spinach.

    This salad is one of my faves in the line. If you like raw spinach, you’ll love this one!

  • Berry Nice

    Berry Nice

    This salad, by Marketside (a WalMart brand), and very likely sourced from Taylor Farms has a fresh, and only slightly sweet flavour, despite the sweetened ingredients.

    This one has: Spring mix (leaf lettuce and arugula), feta cheese, herb seasoned flatbread strips, sweetened, dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and raspberry vinaigrette dressing.

    Although arugula isn’t among my fave greens, the sweet bits in this salad nicely mask it.

  • Winter Staples – Everything Chopped

    Winter Staples – Everything Chopped

    Each winter, we eat far more salads than in the summer.

    Why? It’s because prepared salads are abundant here in south Texas.

    Taylor Farms makes a variety of single serving and double serving salads.

    The part we enjoy the most, is that we can enjoy a variety of salads without having to buy all of the ingredients separately and then risk them going to waste if not used in a timely manner.

    For the next few “foodie Friday” posts, I’ll feature and review different pre-made salads that we enjoy.

    My feature photo is of the single serving Everything Chopped Salad from Taylor Farms.

    Ingredients: Romaine lettuce, grilled white meat chicken, carrot, red cabbage, sharp white cheddar cheese, cheese and garlic seasoned crouton crumbles, everything bagel seasoning, and ranch dressing. *No synthetic colours or high fructose corn syrup*

    These salads, available at WalMart, come in a disposable plastic bowl, but I prefer to plate them.

    My review: I love that all of the ingredients are separated in the packaging, so nothing is soggy. This one had great flavour and crunch. Although they contain some cooked chicken, don’t expect more than a tablespoon or so of small cubes of meat in the single serving size. The cheese adds extra protein.

    At under $3 USD, it’s good bang for your buck.

  • Ahhh … Back to Mexico

    Ahhh … Back to Mexico

    This week, we’ve been going over to Mexico for dental appointments.

    It’s only a 20 minute drive from our home.

    My favourite part of this is that we can once more enjoy authentic Mexican food. We didn’t get across once last winter, so now we’re making up for lost time.

    I had some problems with my feature photo because of the shadows cast on the plate. I’ll be sure to avoid that next time.

    Each of us ordered our fave dish : enchiladas for hubs and chile relleno for me.

    We forgot that we could order one dish, split it, and easily have enough food for lunch.

    Practise makes better.

  • When in Texas (2) …

    When in Texas (2) …

    Because the price of avocados and the variability of their freshness at home in Canada is more than a bit prohibitive, I look forward to our winters in South Texas.

    We live close enough to Mexico that the avocados are reasonably priced, fresh, and don’t spoil in a day.

    And … I can make guacamole… my favourite dip.

    Easy Guac Recipe:

    2 ripe avocados

    2 TBSP Salsa

    1 Small Red Onion (or 1/2 medium), chopped fine

    Juice of 1 Lime

    1 TBSP sour cream

    Salt and Pepper, as desired

    If you like it a bit more spicy, seed, finely chop, and add one small jalapeño pepper.

    Mash avocados and salsa together in a medium bowl, then stir in all other ingredients until well blended. Store in tightly covered container in fridge for at least an hour (this will keep up to 1 day in fridge)