My Dark Cove Pantry

I am from Gambo, NL, located on the east coast of Canada, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. My hometown of Gambo was once divided into three smaller communities, known as Middle Brook, Dark Cove & Gambo. I grew up in Dark Cove, and absolutely love to cook and bake, so I thought what better name could there be for my first blog than 'My Dark Cove Pantry'. Even though I now live in Flatrock, and now have a new pantry, it will always be 'My Dark Cove Pantry'.

Sunday, 22 January 2017

Scallops & Snow Storms

Well, we didn't have any big plans for this past weekend, mainly because we had a

forecast for a blizzard, beginning late Friday evening lasting in to late Saturday night.

Forecast was pretty accurate, right down to timing.

Anyhow....what does one do on Friday night, when expecting a big storm to last 24

hours or longer?? Get into the deep freeze and start pulling forgotten treasures out, to

have a cooking-fest on Saturday!!

We pulled out salt fish for a big batch of homemade fish cakes;

a roast of beef to make a soup; some ground turkey for a ~~meat~~ "turkey-loaf----ha ha, just

doesn't sound the same!!

Then last,but not least a bag of scallops (just caught about a month ago).

All jokes aside, I love days like this. Plus, it's a nice feeling when you are loading casseroles and tightly wrapped treasures in to the fridge, all great food for the upcoming week.

It takes away the dreaded question, during the work week, of what will

have tomorrow for supper, but gives you lots of time to have nice brisk walk before supper!!

While we were sitting around enjoying a cozy big fire, keeping up with updates of the storm and listening to music, hubby couldn't resist frying some scallops in fresh butter and minced garlic!

Yummmmmy....they tasted delicious!!

There wasn't a lot of guilt about eating these, we knew we had a bit of activity and

fresh air the next morning to deal with this......

The snowblower makes the chore much easier, and it was a gorgeous morning to be outside.

About minus 4 Celsius, sunshine and hardly any wind.

Have a great week.

Cheers

Wednesday, 11 January 2017

Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

I was browsing through my mom`s old cookbooks for a nice breakfast-type muffin. After all the chocolate and super rich foods over the holidays, I wanted something a little less ``sweet and chocolatey``. I came across this recipe and thought I`d try it.

Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

Yields: 12

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup soured milk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 egg
3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Stir the oats and the soured milk together in a bowl, making sure all the oats are covered. Set aside for 10-15 minutes, until well soaked.

Add oil and egg and combine until well blended.

In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients, mixing well, then add to oats mixture,

mixing well until no dry flour visible.

Fold in the cranberries.

Spoon mixture into prepared muffin cups - then bake for 20 – 25 minutes

until the muffins have browned and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Turn out onto a rack to cool.

NOTE**** To sour milk, add 1tablespoon of vinegar or lemon to 1 cup milk

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Here are the snaps....

I have to say that I was rather disappointed with the amount of rise, and I was afraid of that when I saw the amount of baking powder called for. I thought the half teaspoon of soda would make up for it, but I was wrong. However, they were absolutely delicious and I will make them again, but I will use a little more baking powder next time.

Cheers