aladdin on ice

on sunday i went to see the little niece perform in aladdin on ice. almost 2 years ago somebody revived the ice skating club in my hometown. little niece was sold almost instantly and she now eats and sleeps skating, making her way from point A to point B by way of pirouettes and jumps, not forgetting to pose on the way...

the show was quite charming as everyone from the club got to skate in it. the youngest can barely stand on their skates, but these two were rather skillful. the local newspaper has more (and better) pictures.







the little niece played fire







i didn't think the tiny arena would be filled to the last seat, bearing in mind that outside temp was -18C when they started, it wasn't much "warmer" inside the hall. my nephew dared to make comments on how i looked ready for a polar excursion. i did wear quite many layers of clothing...

winter & winter food

certain someone and i took the icy roads to the cottage to visit with my parents, we left the dog home to keep company to certain someone's mom.

the ice-lanterns light the path to the little cottage where we sleep. it took my parents a good 2 days to warm up the little cottage, it was -10C inside when they started...







the sauna, a must even in the freezing -12C weather







the lake is almost frozen, very early for it to happen







the low sun made everything georgeously sparkly







everything is frozen a round the shoreline







just don't go walking on the ice...








my dad and i went to get some smoked ham from a guy who does it at his house (in almost middle of nowhere)







the guy's father had originally built this smoking house/hut decades ago. i was warned that the buckets contain the fat the drips from the hams...there was plenty of it! he uses freshly cut alder for maximum smoke







he also had these cute calves in the byre







what would a farmhouse be without a farmhouse dog? he was a very puffy







back at the cottage we had to taste the ham...so gooood!







this fatty (although i think fatty doesn't apply to him, he's too thin) came to feast with the sunflower seeds and peanuts my dad puts out for the birds







the sun just makes everything so much prettier

baked chicken in tomato sauce

found that tin of olives in the pantry, it had been there for a very long time. decided that its time had come, i initially bought those olives to make maroccan-type dish but never got to it. i haven't really been to the stores after i got home, the other ingredients were scraped from the fridge and pantry.

here's what went in:

2 cans (400/240gr) of crushed tomatoes
2 medium onions, minced
4 carrots, cubed
3 stalks of celery, cubed
20-30 olives, stuffed with lemons
1 huge clove of garlic, grated
4 chicken brests, skin on (optional)







mircoplane should start paying me for promoting their stuff...







i was hesitant to taste these as they were, but i quite liked them...so much so, that i had to put some aside to make sure there were some left for the dish







i browned the chicken breasts on skin side, then placed in oven dish skin side up. you could used any part of chicken here, with or without the skin. i wanted to use the skin to get some of its flavour. or, you could go all veggie and use eggplant (cubed), zucchini, potatoes, etc







then removed some of the fat left from the chicken and sauteed the onion, carrot & celery mix for a few minutes to get their flavors going, then added the crushed tomatoes to heat them up a bit...







...before pouring the mixture into the oven dish and onto the chicken







i had preheated the oven to 200C, i put the lid on this and placed it in the oven







you could cook this on stove as well, i took the dog for a walk and wanted to have my luch ready after i got back...the dish ended up being in the oven about an hour and a half, but i guess an hour would be enough. the chicken was still juicy after the longer cooking time as it had been submerged in the tomatoes







you didn't think i forgot the olives? nope, olives sometimes start tasting funny after cooking too long, so i wanted to add them to the dish once it had done cooking. i did pour in approx 2 tbsp of the brine of the olives, but in case you didn't notice, there is no salt anywhere before this, no pepper nor chili nor nothing. i did add 1 tbsp of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes







cooked some whole wheat pasta to go with it...for the leftovers, i removed the skins, shredded the chicken into smaller pieces, mixed the chicken and cooked pasta into the dish. certain someone had one portion for dinner, took one to work for lunch and there is still some for my lunch today

the last of nyc, for now...

this batch of pictures will be the last of nyc, until next trip, at least. i will get back to cooking, the dog, winter and snow (since we have so much of it already), and life back home.

the chrysler building has become a new favourite







the corner of west 23rd and 6th ave at sundown







brooklyn bridge, what can i say, i like it, too







one morning on ferry to staten island







thanksgiving evening in grand central dining concourse. too much to eat, or just tired from travel?







must be a very exciting book!







a vera wang dress, madison avenue shop window







fred's balcony garden, long island city

something red

on west 47th street







mural on the wall of 77th street subway station







garage in chelsea







FDNY firetruck







st.marks place, east village







rooftops, from the manhattan end of manhattan bridge, chinatown







on williamsburg bridge







somewhere in east village