Much delayed and probably brief

So this is the weekly update that should have happened on Thursday, July 27, but I had so much stuff going on that I never posted it.

Last week I was on vacation from work because it was our yearly summer shutdown. I saw friends on Friday and Saturday, saw my grandma Sunday to Wednesday basically with most of Monday spent at home. Wednesday I also went to see my aunt for her birthday and while I was there I had a friend text me and ask if we could talk. Now, from that friend, that was a really alarming sentence and I immediately thought "Oh no, what terrible thing happened?" Apparently, that terrible thing was a good mutual friend passing away from a suspected heart attack. I'm doing okay for the most part, although it did hit me kind of hard today, and I will be going to the visitation tomorrow.

The rest of my vacation went well and will be detailed more in this week's update. All in all, my work-free week was pretty good, just had the unfortunate and shocking news of my friend's passing.

I hope you are all doing well and have a good week, and I'm here if anybody needs anything. *hugs to you all*

Cookbook Challenge: Monday, July 19th

This is three weeks delayed, but here is the recipe for the Grilled Chipotle Salmon Tacos I made on July 19th. The recipe comes from the healthy living section at the back of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

( recipe )

Thoughts and Variations
I used salmon fillets, although I don't actually know if the were skinless or not, and I think I forgot to rinse them. I used red potatoes and regular chile powder since I couldn't find ground chipotle chile pepper. I omited the cilantro and used snall whear torillas instead of corn tortillas, since I didn't care for the corn ones last time I used them.

As I don't have a bbq or grill or any kind, I put some oil in a frying pan and did the fish that way. I used medium heat on a gas stove, and the recommended timing, and my fish seemed to come out cooked just fine. Putting it all together was easy, although I did forget the sour cream on most of the tacos, and I didn't serve it with lime wedges either.

It was a pretty tasty recipe, although the fish got a little lost in all the ingredients, and the potatoes seemed a little incongruous with the rest of it. I'm not sure whether I would make this particular recipe again, although it did have the affect of showing me that fish tacos *can* be delicious, so I may be more open to trying other fish taco recipes, or ordering them at restaurants. All in all, I would consider this recipe a success, even if it did have a few flavour misses.

Cookbook Challenge: Monday, July 26th

From two weeks ago, here is the "recipe" for Ham and Brie Melts from the tasteofhome 2012 Annual Recipes cookbook. Since these are essentially grilled cheese sandwiches, it feels a bit like cheating, but I have definitely not made them before and they *are* in the cookbook, so I'm going to roll with it.

( recipe )

Thoughts and Variations
I couldn't find apricot preserves, so I used apricot jam instead which seemed to work just fine. The Brie was maybe less than 8 ounces, but not by much, and was still enough for 4 sandwiches.

This actually made a really nice sandwich. I didn't measure anything, just spread the jam and the butter as appropriate to cover the bread. The sweetness of the jam was balanced by the ham and the cheese and it all made for a very nice sandwich, and a good change from a regular grilled cheese.

One thing I would change next time would be to test one sandwich and see if I mind leaving the rind on or not. I didn't realize it was edible, so I removed it like suggested, but I absolutely used the wrong knife and it was a gigantic pain in the rear. Being able to skip this step would be great if I don't mind the texture/flavour of the rind. Definitely a recipe to keep in mind next time I want a jazzed up grilled cheese.