Last Sunday, I was able to do some baking with the new silicone cups that I bought from Steeped Tea. As hubby left to do groceries that morning, he said to me "If you have time to make something yummy for breakfast, that would be appreciated". I used my chocolate orange muffin recipe, which I was actually planning on doing at some point. Since Little Miss Nugget was still asleep, I figured it was as good a time as any! They turned out very well, and even better than usual. The petals around the top of the cups allowed for the muffin tops to get very crispy on the outside (something which I've NEVER been able to achieve with my muffin recipes), which made it even more difficult to only have one! Like with my other silicone cups, it was quite easy to take them out as well. I didn't grease the cups (I tend not to), but you can if you want the food to slide right out with no bits sticking to the cups. Love 'em!
On Tuesday, hubby, myself and Little Miss Nugget had our first visit of the season to the fifth annual Christmas Market. I got one of the package deals through LivingSocial, which gave us admission, two apple ciders, two souvenir mugs and two carousel rides. The first visit was not long, as hubby was on his lunch break, but we will be coming back a few more times. :)
Our first stop was Candy Meister, which has returned to the market for a third time and actually has a candy van throughout the rest of the year. I love their candy, and was hoping to try some of their coconut flavored ones (as last year, they were all out by the time we came to the market). I sampled some of their coconut brittle, which was very yummy. We didn't buy any candy, but may do so at a later visit.
We then bought our lunch from the Schnitzelhaus. I decided that I would finally buy their traditional schnitzel, served with mushroom gravy and potato salad. In previous years, I've always bought it without the gravy, only because I wanted to have that fresh crispiness and not have it disappear with the gravy on top. Well, my worries were for naught, because every order is made fresh, and the gravy is the last thing to go on. The gravy was very yummy with very large pieces of mushroom (meaning hubby could get his own and just give the mushrooms to me). The schnitzel stayed perfectly crisp right to the last few bites. I had Little Miss Nugget in the ErgoBaby, and she was quite curious as to what mommy was doing.
We then wandered around the market for a little bit, and Nugget had a little snooze. We visited Zotter's Chocolate Factory and sampled the various chocolates they had out. They had several new flavors, most of which were available to sample. I bought the Butter Caramel (tastes like yummy salty toffee) and the Lemon Curd & Orange Lord (very refreshing blend of lemon and orange). We continued to wander the market, and scouted out other vendors to visit later on. Sadly, the noodle hut did not return, as well as the baked apple hut, but there are many new huts that we will definitely try. The Haxn Hut has brought back their massive pork hocks, which I will definitely be having this year!
Last Friday was hubby's staff Christmas Party at the Fairmont. I look forward to it every year for all the yummy food they serve. Sadly, they don't offer lamb anymore at the party, but their roast beef is always outstanding. They had a few interesting dished this year: a Mediterranean orzo salad and pumpkin cannelloni. The latter of the two was sweeter than I thought it would be, but it definitely had that pumpkin taste to it. It seemed to also be made with ricotta, which gave it a nice creaminess overall. For dessert, they had a very yummy eggnog cheesecake and cream puffs filled with mint chocolate cream. They also had yule logs (chocolate and vanilla flavors), but I decided I didn't want to overdo it TOO much. ;)
Here is the meal plan for the week. As I wrote in a previous entry, our meal plans have been more on the simpler side lately, so not as much experimenting with recipes. I still have my forever unfinished task of updating my recipes, as there are MANY that I have not shared on here. Have a great week and happy cooking all!
December 7-12th
Sunday: Chicken enchiladas
Monday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, veggies
Tuesday: Olivieri pasta
Wednesday: Clam chowder
Thursday: Perogies and sausage
Friday: Take out