Pears are my favourite fruit.

Yesterday we served this fruit platter along with dessert, but since everyone was stuffed from the big meal, there was plenty of fruit left over for me, me, me. :-)

Today I ate three pears, and feel as privileged as royalty.

I live with an Indian lady. Yesterday she had a lot of guests, and somehow amongst everything going on she forgot to put the dal on the table. There was so much food that it wasn’t even missed, but in the evening she discovered it.

I’m not sad at all that it got left off yesterday! Now there’s a LOT of dal here to eat, and I know one girl who is very fond of it. Meeeeee! =D

SCARPONE’S beans. My most recent discovery in foods.

Best thing about them (besides the fact that they are delicious) is they have no EDTA.

I have had them in soups, and they were outstanding. Seriously, I must say it was the perfect bean for the soup (white kidney beans).

Today it was the white kidney beans again. Simply fried up some onions (cut into pieces aprox 1 cm) then added good stuff. A bit of garlic, and a TINY bit of jalapeno. (Wow, just learning to cook with hot pepper. I live with an East Indian lady, so I’m experimenting with heat.) Gave it a few more min, then added the beans. After I took it off the stove, I added fresh chopped parsley and let it sit several minutes before serving it up. (Main reason for letting it sit was so that the beans would come cleanly off the bottom of the pot, but that did wonders for the parsley.)

So… I discovered a new, VERY simple, dish to put beside freshly cooked potatoes. I am satisfied.

ps – I don’t think this would reheat well, but it’s so easy that I don’t mind doing just one serving at a time. I’ll certainly be making more before long.

Everyone loves them. A healthy choice. Also a delicious choice.

I don’t use a recipie, but if you’re interested, I can write down approximately what I do. It’s hard to say, because I don’t use measurements, but at least I know the ingredients.

• Whole wheat flour (can use up to 1/3 unbleached flour if you think 100% whole wheat is just too healthy)
• Baking powder (try aluminum free – it’s better for you)
• A bit of brown sugar, if you want
• Pinch of salt?
• If you want to put cinnamon in, add it to the dry ingredients

Mix up the dry ingredients separately from the wet ingredients, of course.

• Water (as much as you need to get the right consistancy – have you made muffins before? lol)
• Some oil (doesn’t need much, especially if you are adding some of the other moist ingredients)
• Mashed banana (optional, but yummy – plus they improve the texture)
• Applesauce (optional)

Note that no eggs are needed. Seriously!

Some of my favourite flavour combinations are as follows…

• Raisin (add them after you mix the wet into the dry)
• Maple walnut (use real maple syrup and chop up some walnuts)
• Banana raisin (I love to eat these with peanut butter. mmm banana peanut butter)

Some people top them with honey or jam or margarine, but they’re great on their own too.

Fast to make! Quick to bake!

My friends and I love to get together on Friday or Saturday nights, and we often have fruit salad (or fruit stew in winter) and fresh fruits and popcorn. Of course, the evening is never complete without muffins. If I neglect to make them, I’d better be prepared to hear about it.

Kids love them. (Coincidentally, I love the kids, too!)

Enjoyed potatoes today. Fresh cooked, broken into chunks, with dried dill and dried chives sprinkled on top.

So easy. So tasty.