Family Picnic

Sometimes, when I get an idea in my head, I go a little overboard with it.

This was one of those occasions.

I decided that it would be fun to have a family picnic, and then spent most of the day putting together the menu.  Then, when Jesse got home from work, we packed up and went down to the river, enjoyed our picnic, went for a short walk, and watched a beautiful sunset.  Was it worth the busy day in the kitchen?  Absolutely.

Here is our picnic menu:

Macaroni Salad

While it may not be much to look at, the recipe for macaroni salad that I got from my mother-in-law is very good, and easy to make.  Macaroni, hard boiled eggs, and tuna are mixed together with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and celery seed.

Honey Garlic Drumsticks

This recipe that I found online is definitely a winner!  I minced the garlic instead of chopping it, and used crushed chili pepper flakes instead of hot sauce.  Sweet, spicy, and garlicky, I would definitely use this recipe again!  Honey Garlic Drumsticks

Citrus Iced Tea

I got this recipe from a friend of mine, and it has become a summer staple in our home!  Steep green tea with mint leaves, then add honey, orange juice, and lemon juice before chilling in the fridge.  A refreshing reminder that summer is indeed on the way!

Strawberry Hand Pies

Portable dessert at its finest!  I found this recipe online, and it turned out pretty well.  Having to make the pastry was fairly time consuming, but if I already had some made in the fridge this this would be quite easy.  I added a few cranberries to the strawberry filling which added a nice tang to it.  Strawberry Hand Pies

A Healthy Portion of Family Time in God's Beautiful Creation:  The best part!

Crispy Ginger Beef - A Canadian Classic?

I like Chinese food.  As a child, I would often go with my family to Chinese restaurants for special occasions, and in my mind Chinese food is still associated with special family dinners.  One of my favourite Chinese food dishes is ginger beef.  So, naturally, I wanted to try my hand at making it myself.  To find a recipe for ginger beef, I turned to my most frequently used recipe-finding resource - the internet.  I was not disappointed, with my search highlighting several recipe variations.  I quickly found a couple of recipes that sounded like what I was looking for: deep fried, battered strips of beef with stir fried vegetables in a spicy ginger sauce.  But in my research I came across a surprising fact:

Crispy ginger beef originated in Canada!

According to several sources, while crispy ginger beef is roughly based on an authentically Chinese dish featuring beef and ginger, the "westernized" dish originated in Calgary.

That's right, folks.

Italy has pizza, Germany has bratwurst, England has yorkshire pudding, Scotland has haggis, and Canada has poutine, maple syrup... and crispy ginger beef.

To make ginger beef, you need some sort of beef that is already cooked.  I used leftover roast from a dinner a few days earlier.  You cut the beef into strips, coat the strips in batter, and deep fry them.

Meanwhile, the vegetables are chopped in preparation for being stir fried.  Technically they are supposed to be julienned, but that takes a lot of work, so I just chopped them however I felt like.  I used carrots, red peppers, onions, green onions, garlic, and ginger.

The vegetables are then stir fried, and once they have begun to soften you add the sauce and deep fried beef.

Serve with rice, and enjoy!

For the recipe that I used*, and some of the history of crispy ginger beef, you can follow this link:  Crispy Ginger Beef: The Authentic Calgary Recipe

*Some changes that I made to the recipe included adding different kinds of vegetables, chopping/dicing the vegetables rather than julienning (is that a word??), and omitting the mushroom soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine from the sauce.  Next time I would also add less water to the batter.  And be warned that if you don't like spicy food, you should add less of the dried crushed chili peppers.

Three Months

Our precious little one just keeps getting bigger and cuter!  The past month's highlights have included visiting Mommy's friend Lisi in downtown Vancouver, spending a weekend at Nana and Grandpa's house, getting to meet all three of his cousins, and his first camping trip!

Big enough now to fit the onesie Mommy made for him

Hiking with Daddy

He loves getting outside, and has also started getting giggle fits - too cute!

All this growing is tiring work!