24 August 2010

Good Food & Great Friends

This last weekend our good friends - Jeff, Cara-Leigh, and Hudson - came to BC, Canada to visit us on the Okanagan! We had such a fun time, lots of laughs...and some great meals from my all-time favourite cookbook - REBAR. (The restaurant in Victoria, BC is AMAZING, also a family favourite). Below are not any recipes from Rebar, however it was Jeff's birthday meal and it was incredible too...one of Care's recipes that I love :)

FISH TACOS!

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Start with homemade tortillas from the Rebar cookbook

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My Oh Mahi, That's a Good Fish Taco



1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 jalapeño chile, seeded and finely chopped
1 small red onion, one-quarter finely chopped, the remainder thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
One can black beans (15 ounces), rinsed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
Juice of 2 limes, plus 2 teaspoons grated peel
1/2 head red cabbage, shredded
1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro (a generous handful)
4 mahi mahi fillets -or use any white fish (I use tilapia)
8 corn taco shells
8 flour tortillas
1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream
 

In a medium skillet, heat 1tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the jalapeño, chopped red onion and garlic and cook for 4 minutes. In a small bowl, mash the black beans with the cumin and season with salt and pepper; add jalapeno mixture. cover.
In a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons oil with the honey, hot sauce and lime juice; season with salt and pepper. Add the sliced onion, cabbage and cilantro; toss.
Pre-heat a grill or grill pan to medium. Coat the fish with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and the lime peel. Cover and grill the fish, turning once, for 8 minutes.
Warm the taco shells and tortillas on the grill. Spread a few spoonfuls of mashed beans (stir 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water into the beans if too thick) on the outside of the tacos, and wrap a tortilla around each one, pressing to adhere.
Flake half a piece of fish into each taco shell and top with some cabbage slaw. Serve 2 tacos per person, with the crème fraîche and extra slaw on the side.
 


I think my favourite part is the red cabbage slaw. Amazing. We also attempted homemade crème fraîche...however next time it will be wise to start it 48 hrs in advance ;)

Birthday Cake

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The Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Yogurt Cake....a family favourite!! Try it with a blueberry sauce on top. (I use a lot less sugar in the syrup).


One afternoon Care and I decided to go take some fun photos. She was experimenting with her new camera and I with my new LENS!! the 50mm f1.2 ! I LOVE it!

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05 August 2010

Birthdays to Celebrate

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Tasting the rocks...

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It was Aubrey's BFF's Birthday today! Hudson turned one!

It is Aubrey's 10 Month Birthday the day after Hudson's! She loves to swim all day (with naps in between), is an adorable little crawling machine, and is loving all the orchard fruits that the Okanagan boasts of every summer :) She is my lake girl for sure!!

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Waving to the boats

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Cool rocks

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hmmmmm....cherries.

02 August 2010

Good Friends in Wine Country



Meet our good family friends - Kenny and Christine and their beautiful children, Mattias and Annaliese.  We have been fortunate enough to see them a couple times since being in Canada, and each time is such a treat.  We always share a lot of laughs and I just love catching up with them.  Not only are Kenny and Christine such amazing people, their children take after them in beauty, energy, and kindness.

Thanks for the great visit in Wine Country!

Chelsa
xoxo

01 August 2010

Summer Days

We are SO in vacation mode in our house! Since we have arrived at the Okanagan Lake in BC it has been hard to remember any important dates, including what day it is! Our days are filled up with reading, hanging out, swimming in the lake, warming up in the sun, and frolicking in the kiddie pool out on the dock.  Aubrey has been sleeping like a little fishy diva should.  Even updating the blog has seemed like too much work! But I promise to get better,  because she is hilarious, always rocking out to music, adorable in her little bathing suits, sporting her sunglasses and little curl-hawk.

Until I get a few summer photos up, here are a few I took of Ben and Aubrey on our overnight trip to Osoyoos, BC to visit some friends.  I love the desert look of the Okanagan Valley....it is so beautiful!