by on October 7, 2013   •   27 Comments Main Dish

Squash-Roasted, Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Roulade with Cider Gravy

It’s officially the holidays. That is the only way I could get away with such an elaborate recipe title as the one above.

Yes, Canadian Thanksgiving is exactly one week away and I’ve been working on a turkey dish well worthy of your holiday dinner table. If it sounds complicated, don’t worry, it’s not, and roasts up in half the time as a whole turkey.

Today’s recipe is a whole turkey breast that has been flattened and filled with a bacon, herb and cranberry stuffing. The roulade is wrapped with bacon to keep it moist and tucked into a half of a spaghetti squash.

The turkey roulade and the squash roast up together in a time-saving 2-for-1 dish and a simple apple cider gravy tops it all off. It’s a seasonal and scrumptious way to bring turkey to your table this Thanksgiving.

Bacon & Cranberry Stuffed Turkey Roulade with Cider Gravy on www.simplebites.net #recipe #dinner #thanksgiving #turkey

The recipe as written, with two turkey breasts and one whole squash, would make a feast for about 8 people, but it can easily be divided in half, if you are a smaller group.

Oh, and plenty of the work can be done in advance, so important for these wonderful food-centric celebrations. Hit the jump to see how it all comes together, then grab a pen and paper and start a shopping list!

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by on October 4, 2013   •   30 Comments Home DIY

How to build a cider press and harvest apple juice

Today’s post is written by my sister-in-law, Laura, who is partnered with my brother, Josh, on their own homesteading journey. From raising wild boars to constructing artful greenhouses, they have inspired me many a time with their projects. Their latest DIY undertaking was to build a most impressive cider press and I asked Laura to contribute an article about how it came to be and the rewards it brought. Take it away, Laura!

The last time Josh and I were graced upon the pages of a food blog it was about how bad our car smelled, all for good reason of course – it was because it was full of fish from our trip to Haida Gwaii.  Well, I’m at the point again where my car smells, but this time it smells good, really good. That’s because on any given day I’ve got between 1 and 6 boxes of apples in the back.

These apples, I’d like to point out, are free, foraged from both rural and urban spaces where they are going to waste.  I think I’m actually addicted to it, as in, “Where can I get more free apples, please?”  I have to confess I sometimes drive around the back alleys in town in search for fruit to forage.  “  ‘Where are we going Mom?’  Uhhh, I’m just looking for apples.’”

How to build a cider press on www.simplebites.net #tutorial #diy #homesteading

The amount of fruit trees in our country that go about un-noticed, neglected and lonely is incredible! You’d think they’d evolve into emotionally unstable creatures… if these trees were in Narnia they would tell us that they need more love…. But I digress, this isn’t a blog about talking trees or the emotional state of a depressed deciduous.  The point is that there are many, many fruit trees that go unharvested year after year.

So, I’ve got all these apples, now what?  I canned a dozen or so jars of applesauce, but what I’ve always wanted to do is build an apple cider press, and this year it happened.

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by on September 30, 2013   •   29 Comments Beverages

5 ideas for cooking with fresh apple cider

Where we live, when the jugs of fresh apple cider appear in stores with a sticker boasting “New Crop”, it’s time to snag one for the basket.

Fresh apple cider is sometimes called ‘cold pressed’ or ‘fresh pressed’ and is an unfiltered, unsweetened pure apple juice. It is often unpasteurized, and recognizable by its cloudy brown colour.

Cider can be purchased from farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and local orchards, but cider really tastes best when you make your own. Look for a tutorial coming soon on that very topic!  You can also find it in the refrigerated area of the organics section in your grocery store.

It may not look pretty, but fresh pressed apple juice has one ingredient: new apples, and it’s full of Vitamin C. My kids call it brown juice. On cold days, I serve it to them slightly warmed, with a little cinnamon sprinkled on the top. They tilt their cups far back to get every last drop.

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