Cooking with Charmaine

 I do not do much of the cooking in our household. My specialties are pizza and cream puffs. However, when a Facebook ad for a holiday entertaining class at The Creative Cook in downtown Bracebridge popped up in my feed, I decided to take the plunge. When I arrived, I was greeted
warmly by Beth Kelly, the owner of The Creative Cook, and our chef for the evening, Charmaine Broughton. You may recognize Charmaine, ­­ she appears on Daytime York Region, CHCH Morning Live, and Breakfast Television, She also writes for Running Room Magazine. Charmaine is on the left in the photo and Beth is on the right.


 Here are the members of my class: in the foreground, Debbie and Kim; back row, left to right, Gramps, Elsie, and Larry.

The first treat of the evening was prosciutto ­wrapped figs with blue cheese. This is a great hors d'oeuvre and is dead easy to make. No recipe needed here. Simply place a fig, a dab of blue cheese,and a sprig of arugula on a piece of prosciutto and roll it up. Presto! This is what you get.








 Next Charmaine prepared Twenty Minute Seafood Chowder. This recipe starts with onions and a carrot and winds it’s way through spices, clam juice, clams, water chestnuts, and salmon. If you like oysters, as I do, add one to the center of the bowl. Lots and lots of flavors here and the crunchy water chestnuts add a nice mouth sensation.





Larry and I teamed up to make the next delight: Caramel Covered Brie with Dried Cherries and Nuts. Melt butter, brown sugar and corn syrup together, then stir in baking soda,dried cherries or cranberries, rosemary, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Pour this mixture over a wheel of brie and serve with an assortment of crackers. This is definitely an eat more. It will soon disappear, believe me! You can also substitute popcorn for the brie if you wish.






The grande finale to the evening was Coconut White Chocolate Cheesecake. Use a food processor to combine nuts, coconut, and butter to make the bottom layer of the cake. This mixture goes in the oven for ten minutes. Next, use the food processor to combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, eggs, melted chocolate, and rum. Pour this concoction on top of the first layer and bake. Thirty minutes later the cake comes out and after the addition of some garnishes(lightly toasted coconut, finely chopped white chocolate and fresh berries) the eating commences. Lovely, lovely, lovely.


 All of the recipes are available at http://charmainebroughton.com/creative-cook-holiday-entertaining-cooking-class/.
If I have whetted your interest, Beth is planning more cooking sessions for the winter months. Check out http://www.thecreativecook.ca/ for details. You will not be disappointed!

Top Ten Reasons Why Prime Minister Trudeau is recalling Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 fighter jets from the war against ISIS:

1. Canada purchased these planes between 1982 and 1988.
2. These planes are older than the technicians servicing them.
3.  Introduction into Canadian service was initially problematic due to early issues with structural fatigue which delayed initial deployment. Canada has lost 18 CF-18s, incurring nine pilot deaths as of November 2010
4. Smurfs are the choice of pilots for the CF-18 dashboard.
5. Parts for these planes are so scarce that you cannot buy them on E-bay.
6. Pilots for these planes must be Grandfathers.
7. The only music on board these fighters is Olivia Newton-John singing Physical. https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DvWz9VN40nCA
8. The  Donkey Kong game is the basis of the onboard avionics.
9. Airplane II: The Sequel is the in-flight movie.
10. The planes need to come back to Canada and go to Canadian Tire to have winter tires installed.

  

Alex, won’t you please come home?

Where, oh where, has Alex Anthopoulos gone?

Oh where, oh where, can he be?

Rumours have been flying since Alex Anthopoulos declined the Blue Jays’ offer to continue as the general manager of the ballclub. The Goose Grease Gramps Truth and Reconciliation Commission has sprung into action to bring you the skinny concerning these rumours.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will work for Sneaky D’s restaurant and manage their recreational softball team.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will join the Colorado Avalanche hockey team and work to inaugurate nine periods in a hockey game instead of the current three.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will start a cottage business sewing his own baseballs.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will launch a business building bases for baseball. These bases would be held in place by magnets so that players sliding into the base would not injure themselves.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will join the Toronto Raptors as the new mascot, even though he felt the fit was correct.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will move to Bracebridge and open a Mr. Greek franchise.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex has decided to become a player agent specialising in players who are past their prime. His first client will be Stubby Clapp.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will become co-host on Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown. When offered the position, he took one look at McCown and decided that the fit was not right.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will replace Sid on the Tim and Sid Show, even though their body types are similar.

There is no truth to the rumour that Alex will move to Japan and become the manager of the Nippon Ham Fighters.

That’s all the rumours that we have for now. Stay tuned for further developments!