Roasted Whole Fish

There was a recipe for roasting a whole fish in the newspaper the other day. I may have tried this in the past (I've since learned the fish has to be scaled, gutted and cleaned), but I decided to try it again. The article said (truthfully) that cooking fish (or meat) with the bones imparts so much more flavour. Once cooked, you slice away the flesh from one side of the fish, uncovering the bones. You lift those bones away and you are left with the flesh on the underside. It's not hard to do.

I got some whole farmed trout from Costco wholesalers. It was beautifully cleaned so I just had to stuff and roast it. The stuffing can be as simple as some chopped onions, tomatoes and herbs. Season with some salt and pepper and I'm thinking you could lather it with your favourite barbecue sauce. Pre-heat the oven to 400F (or 450F depending on how hot your oven is). Bake on a sheet lined with parchment paper for half an hour. 

Have you ever roasted a whole fish before?

Roasted Trout

The Santa Claus Fund

My daughter L sent us this photo of a snack tray she made. It looks good!

I read this touching article in the newspaper concerning the origins of the Toronto Star newspaper's Santa Claus Fund:

'One day during his youth, Atkinson stood near a frozen lake, watching children skate. A woman approached him and asked why he wasn’t skating as well. The young man explained to her that he didn’t have enough money for skates, which evidently touched the stranger. She bought Atkinson his first-ever pair of skates as a Christmas gift. '

It sounds like it's out of a movie, but it's a true story of a man who grew up in poverty and went on to fight against all kinds of social injustice.  So he founded the newspaper's Santa Claus Fund which gives toys to needy children year after year. Needless to say, I made a small donation to the fund myself right after reading this article!

Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

Marie of the English Kitchen posted this wonderful recipe for cinnamon and oatmeal cookies and I made them last week.  They were so good.  I even used quick oats and it didn't seem to matter.  It was fast and easy and made 36 cookies.  They are rolled in brown sugar before baking, I love that sweetness.  I'm learning to keep a close eye on my cookies as they bake.  Sometimes the recipe will say 10 minutes but if you have a hot oven like mine, it can be 7 minutes, you have to decide when they are just lightly browned.

Child-proof medicine bottle

I had a cold but sunny walk to church yesterday morning, it was 1C (34F).  But I went back inside the house to change and bundled up in my winter coat and it was fine.  The night before we went out to dinner with some friends (Zaffron Persian restaurant).  My husband M and I shared a wonderful whole roasted fish.  I'm not really a fish lover, more into lobster, shrimp and crab, but it was a great meal, it felt almost celebratory.  I'm sure the waiter said it was a fresh trout that had just come in that day.This restaurant also does a delicious 'chicken barg kebob' that melts in your mouth.  My son K came along as he is not one to miss a nice dinner out.

As an update to my post last week, here is a photo of the offending medicine bottle cap. It's not the greatest photo, but can you notice where it indicates steps '1' and '2'? So you press in at either side of the container then twist counter-clockwise at the same time.

Sunday Sketches - Holiday

For Sunday Sketches, I decided to take a look back at my first Sunday Sketches contribution way back on Dec 12, 2010! It was very nostalgic searching through my posts until I arrived at this one.  The years do fly by but luckily we have our blogs to capture the memories! 

Online purchases

I snapped this pretty fall arrangement while I was out and about. I love that flowering kale.

Here is a trend to watch: internet purchases hit $18.9B in 2012 (Canada). It was mostly in the 25 to 34 age group and mostly for airline tickets and events.

I cleaned up the yard a bit yesterday, it was very windy but mild. Halloween came and went, we only had 2 kids this year! That is an all time low. It was raining all that day. I found these '10 helpful ways to smile through painful situations' and hope it gives you a laugh too!

Paint Party Friday - The Dress

A few weeks ago, Gloria of Loving Frida decided to show her first PPF entry around the time it just started up. I decided to do the same for this week's Paint Party Friday! Here it is, all the way back to March 18, 2011.  I had seen this beautiful dress in a magazine and loved it.