Azoresgal~Life on an Island

Although I no longer live in Canada, I still love to celebrate Canadian thanksgiving with my family. The 20 years I have lived on the island, I don´t think we have never not celebrated it. It is certainly now a part of our traditions and our children's memories. I think even if I tried not to, our kids would not let it slide.There are dishes I have to make for them, mac&cheese, pumpkin pie and glazed carrots are a must. Yesterday for our tiny thanksgiving lunch I added this side dish, and it was a hit! It's a  sweet potato casserole seasoned with a little cinnamon and nutmeg, topped with marshmallows. Let's be real here, this could almost pass for dessert...think- pie without a crust , but it’s a veggie dish. It's simple to make, it's delicious and I promise you will love it! 2½ pounds sweet potatoes (4 medium), peeled and cubed 4 tablespoons margarine 1 egg 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon pinch of nutmeg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon kos...

This is such a great breakfast dish, it is a cross between bread pudding and french toast. It is prepared the night before, so it is great for any holiday breakfast or brunch, or a lazy Sunday morning. It's filled with blueberries and cream cheese, and served with a very yummy blueberry sauce that just make it...the breakfast of Champions ! Seriously I wouldn't lie to you! The sauce really takes it over the top, but if you just want to serve it with icing sugar, and maple syrup, that's fine too. My family loves it, I hope your's will too. Ingredients 12 slices day-old bread, cut into cubes **or enough slices to fill a lightly greased 9×13 baking dish quite full. 2  packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes 2 cups fresh blueberries/or frozen 12 eggs, beaten 2 cups milk/ or 1 milk and 1 cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup maple syrup Sauce 1 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 cup water 1 cup fresh blueberries/or frozen 1 tablespoon bu...

Out of the blue, I got the biggest craving for Chicken Divan..weird..or nostalgic, since I just turned 40 ! The last time I ate Chicken Divan, I was a shop girl, and worked in a very frou-frou  boutique, in the mall. I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the bistro, where I would have this for dinner. I do however remember  that it was really good, so good, that 20 years later I can still taste it. I made it this weekend, adapitng what ingredients I can buy here, to loosely follow this Paula Deen recipe . It was amazing, my husband, asked why I had never made it before, and the kids loved it ! Adjust the curry powder to your liking, omit it if need be, but it really gives it such wonderful flavor. I really hope you give this a try ! 2 400g bags of frozen broccoli, cooked and chopped 2 whole chicken breasts, cooked and chopped 1 box of bechamel (500ml) 1 cup mayonnaise 1200g bag grated  Ilha cheese 1 tablespoon  lemon juice 3 teaspoons c...

This was divine....seriously divine ! My kids absolutely loved it, they love bacon, just like their momma ! As I made this, I kept thinking, of how great this would be, with some jalapeno peppers added to it. I can hardly wait, for all the jalapenos in the garden to grow.When that happens, I will for sure have to give it a try. This is such an easy dish to prepare, I have said it before, just as fast as using the stuff that comes in the box. Give this version a try, I think you will like it ! To this recipe , I added 200g. of diced bacon, which I pan fried.

This one is a keeper, all the wonderful flavors of stuffed green peppers, but oh so very quick to put together. Even the kids loved it, and they won't go near stuffed peppers with a ten foot pole. I added bacon to the recipe, because....well because bacon makes everything taste better. Next time, I think I will add in some chopped Linguiça/chorizo, I have a feeling the great smoked flavors will be an added bonus to this casserole. Stuffed Green Pepper Casserole 500 gr. ground beef 2 small packages diced bacon (optional~I added that in) 2 small onions chopped 2 medium green peppers, seeded and chopped 1 and 1/2 cups tomato sauce 1 cup rice (uncooked) 2 cups chicken broth  OR 2 cups boiling water + 2 chicken cubes shredded cheese Directions -In a little bit of olive oil, brown the ground beef, bacon, diced onions, and diced green peppers. - Remove from heat, to the pot add, the uncooked rice, the tomato sauce, the chicken cubes and the boiling ...