Main Street Cook

Easy go to recipe . If you wish, use half shortening and half unsalted butter.

Ingredients
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon clear imitation vanilla extract

Directions
In a large bowl, combine sugar, shortening, water and vanilla. Beat on low speed to combine, then beat on medium speed for a full five minutes. It won't look like Icing at first, but keep the mixer going for a full five minutes, and then you're done!
Add 2 tablespoons of corn syrup if you want the icing to harden so you can stack cookies.

Ingredients
2/3 cup shortening
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, shortening and sugar. Stir in the eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stir into the creamed mixture until dough comes together. Roll dough into walnut sized balls and roll the balls in sugar. Place them on an unprepared cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. ( if using cookie cutter, chill dough an hour and pat down or roll out.)
Bake cookies 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until bottom is light brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1cup corn
1 cup canned jalapeños.
Preheat oven to 375 and place cast iron skillet in oven. Place butter in cast iron to melt. Once almost all melted place in large mixing bowl. Lump all other ingredients in and stir. Batter should still be slightly lumpy. Pour batter in cast iron. Bake for 30 minutes.

I took a couple of days to reflect and digest the food we ate over the weekend in Canada(both mentally and physically )It was a great trip to Niagara Falls Canada and I would highly recommend  going both for the falls and the surrounding atmosphere. 

The food options were numerous and finding food gems wherever we go has become a hobby and a secondary activity on our trips. 

In a limited time frame we were able to try out a few Trip Advisor top ranked restaraunts and decided on a winner.

Cheetal Indian Cuisine and Buffet was the standout. 

We were greeted very nicely by a gentleman who I believe was the owner.  He sat us, got our drinks and showed us everything at the buffet after we told him that's what we were there for.  He briefly explained some dishes and answered any questions we had.  It was a nice personal touch for us because we are less experienced in Indian Cuisine.

The food was great, every dish had loads of flavor from herbs and spices. This restaraunt with this food is NOT for the immature pallet.   I would highly recommend going to Cheetal for a different type of food experience in Niagara. We surprisingly ate  this buffet for lunch and did not suffer from MSG hangover that you would find in your standard run of the mill Chinese  buffet.

Cheers to you Cheetal. You stood out and made an impression on us as my wife  made naan and curried lentils for dinner on the Tuesday following our trip 

Over Labor Day weekend  we took an 8hr trip up to Niagara Falls, Ontario.  We took in everything we could in the area which included the falls (of course), food (duh), and some hiking. The people watching was and is always an added bonus while traveling. 

If you haven't been to Niagara Falls but you've been to Gatlinburg, TN or Branson MO, picture both on steroids.  Roughly guessing I'd say there are 10 times the amount of people that are packed into the city at any given time and there are more entertainment and food options but actually less shopping. 

If you're an American traveling up north, you can take advantage of the conversion  rate.  The Canadien dollar carries only 75% of the American dollar.  We heard multiple jokes about preferring American money over Canadien.  

I'll try to review a few restaraunts as well as the hiking trail that we visited while  we were there in the next few days.  So check back later and I'll have you  wanting to plan a trip to one of Nature's  wonders pimped out to make a nice short vacation enjoyable!

Ingredients:

2/3 cup quinoa

1 1/3 cup water

1/3 cup almond milk

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup unsalted organic butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Make the quinoa according to package directions and allow to cool.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly mist an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.  In a blender or food processor, combine the milk, eggs, and vanilla.  Add the cooked quinoa and butter and continue to blend until smooth.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the blender contents to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Pour the batter into baking dish and bake on the center rack for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove the brownies from the oven and cool completely in the pan before serving.

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze for up to 1 month.  Serves 8-16.