Backyard Farms

Dark Days Week 9- Cold and Flu Edition

2012-01-22T12:22:00.001-05:00

I finally figured out which week we're on for the Dark Days challenge but I'm still playing catch-up. This week was pretty much a write off since I was felled by a miserable cold/flu that forced me to spend much of the week in bed. I have had the worst cold season I can recall, battling one variation or another since Oct but this one really hit me hard and all the members of this house were in varying degrees of illness or recent recovery, so groceries were few and cooking attempts were pretty feeble, at least on my part. Thankfully we had lots of homemade soups in the freezer and home canned juice and stock on the shelves.

My first line of defence when ill is the traditional, rest and fluids. Lots of juice, tea and soup to flush the system is usually a pretty reliable remedy. Last fall at the Royal Winter Fair I picked up these fantastic teas made by Boreal Forest Teas from Thunder Bay, ON. Now even tho it's in Ontario, Thunder Bay is not exactly local for me; in fact it's five Great Lakes and about 1300 km (850 miles) from Toronto. But their teas are organic, wild harvested and hand crafted and they have the coolest names! How could I resist teas named Northern Lights, Loon Song and 40 Below?

Visually appealing as well, each blend is a mix of dried locals herbs and berries and come packaged loose so you can mix and match. Which is exactly what I did and I added additional things like more rosehips (vitamin C) and dried lemon grass ( good for respiratory troubles).

On the worst day, when I was in pain from totally blocked sinuses, the Chef roommate took pity on me and created a version of Hot and Sour soup that you will never find in any recipe book. Using what we had on hand he came up with a reasonable facsimile, with all the tang and spiciness that helped open up all the congestion in my head. I cannot tell you everything that went into it since I was otherwise occupied (in bed, watching Victorian Farm on Youtube) but I do know that it incorporated my hand dried rosehips, chili peppers and lemon grass, as well as garlic, dried mushrooms from Forbes Wild Foods, and fresh local udon noodles. The broth was a mixture of the ham stock I canned earlier, some of the home made cider vinegar and this wonderful organic brown rice miso made by Traditon Miso just east of Toronto in Claremont- check out the photos of their 'factory'. The soup was delicious and medicinal but not exactly photogenic, even if I had had the energy to pick up my camera at the time. I settled for a picture of some of the ingredients.

I'm on the road to recovery finally and my appetite is back which means my next Dark Day post will likely be about something a bit more substantial. That means a shopping trip to the Sorauren Market is in order tomorrow!

Under Pressure

2012-01-18T08:56:00.001-05:00

As mentioned in my previous post I had yet to make use of the lovely pressure canner that I bought just before Christmas. I was too busy to even look at it over the holidays and then I was back to work the first week of January and somehow it's been sitting there for 6 weeks now! And truthfully it made me a bit nervous. I read through the manual the day it arrived and there were steps to do before using in, and very thorough instructions how to use it and it was all a bit intimidating. In the meantime I've been stewing up pots of various meat stock that were not helping with the lack of fridge space and it reached critical mass this weekend when I brought home a large hambone from my friend's wedding. They actually offered me an entire ham and you have no idea how difficult it was to say no but it was a 20 lb ham and I just didn't have room even with the recent fridge clean out!

The hambone was still very meaty so I carved off all the excess to have another meal, and put the bone in the slow cooker to simmer. It had been heavy marinated in bourbon, mustard and cloves among other things so I kept the seasoning minimal, using just some onion and bay leaf. It made a huge pot of wonderfully fragrant ham stock!

I also had a pot of beef stock from a bag of rib bones and fat I rescued from the kitchen at work (I also made beef tallow for later use) and a pot of turkey stock from last week's bird.

So yesterday I finally bit the bullet and set up the pressure canner for the first time; it was actually much easier than I imagined! I cleaned and prepped the canner as directed and then ran it through a test run which went perfectly. So I filled up my jars with hot stock, sealed them and fired it up! I had a moment of confusion when I added the water since my manual says add 3 quarts of boiling water and then indicates a line in the inside where the level should be. Maybe it was because I was only canning four L jars and one 500ml but it took a lot more than 3 quarts to bring it up to the line. The level at that point reached just to the shoulder of the L jars. Can any of you pressure canning experts clarify for me whether that is the correct amount of water?

In any case it seems to have worked like a charm! I was also a little nervous about maintaining a proper pressure since many sources report that using just the pressure gauge can be tricky and many people suggest using weights. Well I don't know if it was beginners luck but I got it up to 11 psi as directed in the manual and there it sat for the entire 25 minutes.

Only in the last 5 minutes did the pressure start to creep up so I turned the heat off entirely at that point (gas stoves rock!) and let it slowly cool down. It was still over 11 for more than the time remaining and it took about an hour to cool down enough for the pressure to release. When the lid finally came off all the jars were intact and still boiling furiously, a good indicator that a vacuum had been achieved. It took quite a while for the contents to cool down, much longer than hot waterbath canning, but eventually I heard a series of lovely pops and today all my jars are nicely sealed.

My first batch of pressure canning was a success!

Time for an Overhaul

2012-01-17T11:55:00.000-05:00

Even I don't believe in New Year's resolutions per say, a new year always suggests the opportunity to reset, and start afresh. Or maybe it's just that January can be so mind numblingly boring at times that even rearranging the spice drawer seem exciting. Whatever the reason, I've been seized with the urge to get my house in order and in between bouts of lethargy, I been having bursts of obsessive reorganization and along with that, some thoughts of things I like to improve on this year.

First up was the fridge- from the above photo you can see I have slight jar problem. (there are also the piles of empty jars taking up space elsewhere but that's a whole other issue). Now we already have the smallest of apartment sized fridges- it's ridiculously tiny. Then there are four adults currently living this house and we don't all eat or shop together so we end up with a lot of duplicates (6 jars of mustards-seriously guys?). So there really isn't room for all these jars but somehow their number seems to increase much faster than it decreases. Pickles and hot sauces have a high turnover but sweet preserves seem to take up residence for far too long. I have a difficult time throwing out food of any sort but when I decided to clean the fridge recently I got ruthless. Besides disposing of the obviously-past-their-prime stuff I also got rid of about half a dozen jars of half eaten jam. There was nothing really wrong with most of it but the truth is we don't eat jam! I know that sound almost like blasphemy from someone who is canning obsessed but when it comes to fridge real estate it's about time I admit the truth and deal with it. I really don't like jam. It's too sweet and unless I'm having fresh bakes scones, I have no use for it. No one else eats it either and we don't cook with it enough to make jam a must have ingredient. So after reclaiming all those jam jars (oh yay, more jars to figure out where to store) I've decided that is the year I stop making jam unless it's to sell or give away. There will be a few exceptions - red onion jam is a staple now, but for the most part I'm going to have to figure out something to do with fruit other than jam it.

Second up is my finances. Now I am extremely frugal and pretty good at living within my means for the most part. But occasionally even I fall off the rails and some how over the years I have managed to acquire 5 credit cards, which is about 4 too many. And on all 5 of those cards I carry a balance. None of them are a very large balance but added together they make up an amount higher than I am comfortable with, and of course they carry interest; in some cases an extremely high rate of interest. Now I know how I got myself in this situation and I know how to get out of it but my history of working mostly contract and piecemeal never gave me the opportunity to do much more than maintain my credit rating without actually addressing the principle. In other words I'm paying off the interest month after month but barely denting the debt. This is basically the equivilent of throwing money away every month and it adds up. I can think of so many things I'd rather be doing with that money and now that I have a job that pays me at regular intervals I can finally do something about it. To that end I sat down and made my first ever budget.( My dad will be so proud!). It's not a fancy budget; I just searched online for a basic template and tweaked it a bit to suit my needs. It allows me to see what regular expenses I have and where I can best use my money to get rid of these debts . First up HBC: this card carries only a $500 limit and should have been paid off long ago- I haven't even used it in over two years! But at almost 30%, pretty much 100% of every payment I make goes towards covering the interest. Right now the balance is at just over $300- if I can stick to my budget of $100/month I should rid myself of this albatross by spring! Then it will be onto my PC Mastercard which I got thinking I'd get points towards groceries. Well in the 5 years I've had this I haven't earned enough points for a carton of milk but at 24.9 % interest, I've paid for a years worth of milk in interest, every year. With any luck I should have the balance paid off on it before the end of this year and then that card too will be cut in many small pieces. I wish I could say I'll have rid myself of all of my cards by next year but I believe in setting realistic goals and even paying off two of them will save me about $70/ month which I can then apply to the remaining 3. So if nothing else I should be able to reduce the principle on the others. Fingers crossed that I stick to my plan!

The other things on my reorganization list are my library (which much as it pains me to say, needs culling, if only to make room for more books!), my seed boxes and the aforementioned jar collection. While I'm offering up confessions, here's another one: I didn't buy a single new canning seal last year, except for the box of Kilner seals which I have yet to open. Every jar I canned last year was done with a reused seal and I didn't have a single seal failure. Frugal yes but it also means I have a lot of seals that are definitely past their prime and I need to sort out the potential bad ones and dispose of them before canning season begins again. I really need a better organized storage system for canning supplies but I have yet to come up with one. I also need to find somewhere to store the new pressure canner which is still shiny and new because it's yet to be used. Can you guess what my next project will be?

Sharing the Love!

2012-01-14T08:33:00.000-05:00

Here's a funny thing: usually I do a year end wrap up and include a list of my favourite blogs for the year. This year time got away on me and I only recently wrote a small post on some the year's highlights but skipped the bloglist. So I am ever so grateful to FarmGal for awarding me a Liebster Award, not only for the pleasure of being one of her favourites but for giving me the opportunity to honour a few blogs that I enjoyed over the last 12 months.

There some guidelines that go with this my first ever blogging award. Liebster is a German word that means 'beloved' so that is the criteria I used when choosing the blogs I am passing the award to. It's a shame you can only choose five tho.

Here are the rules:

1- Choose FIVE up and coming blogs to award the Liebster to. Blogs must have less than 200 followers.
2- Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3- Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you gave the award to with links to their sites.

Here are my five, with a strong Canadian slant:

Harvest Kitchen Sisters: Two sisters, one blog. One lives in the country and the other in the same city that I do. Full of practical advice and great recipes. Oh and lots of pictures of babies!

Backward Leonard: A self described city girl gone country, Liz and her family live near Peterborough and get up to all kinds of antics. Funny blog name, even funnier writing!

Wet My Plants: Best blog name ever! Ellie is a fellow city dweller and as her blog title suggests she's a hardcore plant lady and she delights in all things unusual. We swapped stuff last year and I grew a beautiful moonflower vine thanks to her. I have serious envy of her green thumb!

Twig and Tree Farm: Linda has a small "organic" (italics hers) farm in the Niagara region where she grows hundreds of heirloom tomato varieties, among other things. If there's such a thing as tomato porn, this blog is it. I'm going to make it to one of her open door events this year even if I have to walk there!

Your Place or Mine: Elsie posts about multiple topics and not so frequently but her sense of style is fabulous! She is my dear friend but she left me to live and work in UK. Now I am lost without my personal fashion guide so it's all her fault if I appear frumpy.

So that is my five but I wish I could award it to so many more. Share the Liebster love!

Dark Days Updates

2012-01-09T11:02:00.009-05:00

As usual the holidays were a blur and trying to eat SOLE and find time to blog about it proved to be an impossible dream. So I lost a few weeks and don't know what week I'm on any more. Since I did manage to cook a few things recently that encompassed the spirit if not the letter of the Dark Days Challenge I thought I'd do a quick update.

Post holiday eating is always a bit of a challenge. We've been oversaturated with rich food and haven't had time to shop for much in the way of fresh produce. And on top of that, the Sorauren market was on hiatus over the holidays so I've been missing my most ready available source of local ingredients. So I've been dependant on whatever we have in the freezer or pantry. Luckily both were fairly well stocked.

I made this dish based on something my mom used to make us when I was a child. I don't think it actually has a name but I jokingly refer to it as her fusion style because it has a base of her frugal Scots heritage mixed with elements of her French Canadian roots. In this case I used local smoked bacon and duck fat(I rendered myself) which we didn't have growing up but I'm sure Mom would approve.
1 leek, white and light green part, chopped
3 cups coursely chopped cabbage
1 med cooking onion chopped
1/2 cup of bacon cut in small pieces
1-2 tbsp duck or bacon fat
1/3 c maple syrup or to taste

Melt fat in a cast iron or similar frying pan. Add bacon pieces and saute for about one minute on med heat(longer if you like your bacon crispy- I don't). Add all veggies and saute until soft,about 5-7 minutes. Add maple syrup, stir to coat evenly. Turn off heat and allow to rest so flavours mingle but sugars don't burn. Serve as a side or a meal on it's own (feeds 2).

I mentioned in my first Dark Days post that I have issues with maple syrup made in Ontario and I promised to expand. My mom's family is from Quebec, near Montreal and maple syrup is a way of life- my grandfather was known to eat it on everything from eggs to coffee. Sugaring off time is a big community celebration and the most treasured syrup is the first run. I've grown up with this as the ideal syrup and although I am born and raised in Ontario, when it comes to syrup, Quebec will always be my gold standard. Ontario syrup has two things against it for my tastes; darker syrup (which I think tastes like molasses) is far more popular here, and it's common here to tap species of maples other than sugar maples. It's for the latter reason that my grandmother always referred to Ontario syrup as "fencepost syrup"; in her mind they'd tap anything in Ontario!

I've found I'm not the only one with very stong opinions when it comes to maple syrup. I've even been accused of liking 'flatlander' syrup by a native Vermonter, which I found funny since my ideal syrup is produced high in the Laurentian mountains. Apparently the light grades in Vermont are sold only to tourists.
There are different standards, as well as grading scales for maple syrup in Canada and the US (Vermont has it's own). "In Canada, syrups must be at least 66 percent sugar and be made exclusively from maple sap to qualify as maple syrup. In the United States, a syrup must be made almost entirely from maple sap to be labelled as "maple"." (from Wikipedia).

In Canada, maple syrup comes in 3 grades and each grade has colour classes. Canada #1 is broken down into Extra Light (sometimes known as AA), Light (A), and Medium (B); Grade #2 is Amber (C); and Grade #3 is always Dark (D). In Ontario, Canada #2 Amber may be labelled "Ontario Amber" when produced and sold in that province only.

The United States only uses two major grades: Grade A and Grade B. Grade A is further divided into three subgrades: Light Amber (sometimes known as Fancy), Medium Amber, and Dark Amber.

The lightest syrup to me is the best because it has the appropriate sugar content without the strong mineral content that many people believe is the 'maple' taste. The darker syrups are produced later in the run and because the sugar content is lower they must be boiled longer to concentrate the sugars to the correct density. The last syrup produced in a season is sometimes jokingly referred to as the 'frog run' since it may be far enough into spring that you can here frogs croaking. A good syrup producer will stop tapping long before that; the sugar concentrations in sap are extremely low by the time the first buds begin to open. Anything darker than Light in my books isn't true syrup so I wait until I can receive my annual share from Quebec and then hoard it like liquid gold. The syrup pictured above it is the last bit left from last year's run and has darkened over time in the fridge but it still retains it's delicate flavour.

So call me a maple syrup snob if you will- I can live with it. Just don't try to serve me 'fencepost syrup'.

Surviving January

2012-01-07T13:42:00.001-05:00

It's probably a bit early to be posting about the winter blahs since here in Toronto we've barely even had any winter yet. In fact it was balmy 7 degrees C yesterday and today is looking to be even warmer- yes that's laundry on the line! But it's been mostly grey and bleak for what feels like months already and even sunny days seem too short. It's so easy to slip into a funk when all I feel like doing is reading or watching movies, and even getting dressed seems like too much effort. In my defence I did receive a lot of great books for Christmas, including these beautiful clothbound editions of classic novels that the Russian gave me!

In the video dept I have my dear friend Kate to blame for my latest addiction- Downton Abbey is a beautiful period piece set in England in the early 1900's and I've been devouring the first season which I was able to download entirely along with a Christmas special. I was also delighted to discover that Season 2 begins airing on PBS this Sunday at 9pm!

I never did get around to doing a year end wrap up post so I thought I'd post a few moments in pictures. The highlight of the year was of course my trip to England: my aunt and I had a fabulous time and I hope very much to make another trip there soon.

My search there for both Kilner history and Kilner jars was a success and then my friend Leigh trumped the list with this beauty she recently brought back to Canada with her. It's a vintage 3lb jar that is going to look great on the wall of jars.

The gardens on the other hand have had better years. In fact the less said about them the better. The best thing about a new year is the ability to forget all the heartbreaks of last year's garden because it's a clean slate again. I'm already dreaming of what I want to grow this year!

The one sad note of 2011 was losing my beloved Casey in Sept. I still occasionally forget she's gone and then miss her all over again- 20 years of habit I guess.

I'm grateful to still have my other two Farmcats even now that it's winter and they are as stir crazy as we are. They get restless being inside so much and need regular amusement lest they find some on their own (hide the toilet paper and lock up the yarn!)Our favourite method of entertaining them in the winter is the mini disco balls we have strung in the sunporch. At this time of year when the sun does shine, it streams in the windows; sunbeams reflect off the mirror balls and bounce all over the place. The cats think it's a marvelous game. Best cat toy ever!

And of course I am full of joy that the Russian is still here in Canada. Although it's been a year since he was granted permission to stay, he's still awaiting the documents that make him a permanent resident and until he has those in his hand he won't believe it 100%. Government bodies move slowly and at times it's still frustrating-the longer it takes the more he doubts it will really come to be no matter how much I try to reassure him. Having those papers will mean we can make more plans, as well as allow him to travel outside of Canada again and he hopes to be able to see his daughter who he hasn't seen in 4 long years. Hopefully he won't have too much longer to wait.

Despite my earlier grumbling, 2012 looks to be a promising year. Colette and I have decided to emulate our Can Jam experience by attempting to can one recipe a month again and we have our eyes on Meyer lemons for January. And speaking of canning I finally splurged on a pressure canner just before Christmas but I've yet to try it out so I'll be sure to record my first attempt!

We've also got some other great plans for this winter, including building window farms and of course tapping maple trees again- mmmm, syrup!
At work we're putting together a number of interesting projects as well. I'm still amazed that I'm getting paid to come up with gardening plans and related projects and I can't wait to get going. There's even a rumour that I might be working with bees and possibly even chickens!!

Maybe I should enjoy the quiet time while I can!

Holiday Overload

2011-12-31T00:53:00.001-05:00

So it appears I missed Christmas this year or rather I missed posting about Christmas which is a shame because I actually had a post pretty much written and I took photos and everything but I ran out of time before we left for Sarnia so I brought my camera to my parents and tried to upload the photos to my mom's laptop but she uses Windows 7 and I am still stuck on XP so I couldn't figure out how to download just the few most recent pics without having to download the entire card which is of course always full of pictures I haven't yet deleted for the past year and it takes ages to download a whole card just to delete them all so I gave up and just enjoyed a nice Christmas with my family and then I tried again on my sister's laptop while we were in a crummy hotel for 2 days in Port Hope while her daughter spent time with her dad but my sister's laptop has the same operating system so I thought I'd do it once I got home but when I got back the Russian and I had our own holiday which we invented to split the difference between my traditional gift exchange day (Christmas) and his (New Year) but for some silly reason we decided to exchange gifts on all three this year and I still needed to finish getting his last gift together so since I was in the store anyhow I did a little boxing day sale shopping for things we actually needed and spent $150 at Zellers somehow then last night there was a reunion concert of a band that I used to love and today I am hungover like it's 1996 and trying to look at the computer screen is making my head hurt more and I needed to finish the blogpost for my genealogy blog today because today was the anniversary of the day my grandma passed away and tomorrow I will be at the zoo with the Russian because he is performing in the New Year festivities and then we invited everyone here on New Years Day for a levee (traditional rather than political, at least I hope) so I should really be cleaning or maybe sleeping but I'm on holidays for another 4 days so I keep thinking there's time but I still want to do a year end post before year end and I think I may be out of time for that one too unless I decided to get up really early tomorrow which isn't likely and besides I still haven't done a Dark Days post for this week which is mostly because I haven't actually eaten a SOLE meal since my last post and I may just be a little strung out on sugar and junk food and I'm so glad it's almost over for another year because I think I may have forgotten how to breathe but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Merry (belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year from the farm cats, the Russian and me! Hope your holidays were spectacular!

Ring Out Solstice Bells!

2011-12-21T20:38:00.000-05:00

Blessed Solstice to All!

Dark Days Week 2 and 3, Plus 'Local' Apple Juice

2011-12-16T11:59:00.000-05:00

Since my first Dark Day's dinner seemed to come together with little effort I decided to try something a little more challenging last week. I had a spaghetti squash stored from the summer and a variety of local veggies as well as wild leek pesto that I had frozen and I thought they would go well together. I baked the squash, chopped some of the same bacon from last week, added some mushrooms, onions and garlic, all local as well as the frozen stuff and heated it all together in a cast iron frying pan. Truth be told, it didn't look very appetizing and didn't taste all that great either, even after I smothered it with lovely Tuscano cheese from Monteforte. The Russian thought it was okay but I think I've just discovered that I don't like spaghetti squash. At all. So much for that plan.

So I tried again this week with something I'm more familiar with - Beef Bourguignon! This is not a truly authentic version- no pearl onions for starters but it's tasty just the same. I used some stewing beef which was a gift from a farming friend in Stouffville, more of the bacon, local onions, mushrooms and garlic, frozen local carrots, and fresh thyme and oregano from the herb garden outside (which are still going in spite of a few hard frosts now). The bourguignon in this case was actually Baco Noir from Pelee Island, which is a tad outside the 150 mile radius but still in southern Ontario. To make it even more local I could have used a wine from the Niagara region but this one was already open and I think it suits this dish. The best part of this recipe is that I made it in the slow cooker so it took very little effort. I served it with mashed Ontario potatoes and the last of the tiny brussel sprouts from the garden. So good...

I'm still adjusting to having a regular work week again, even tho it's only part time. It's been 5 years since I last held a job with semi regular hours so I've gotten spoiled with the amount of time I've had to experiment with different recipes and pick up ingredients on a whim. Meals lately have been a lot more sporadic and thrown together without much thought so it's been nice to take the time to plan out at least one good meal a week and thankfully we have still lots of great local food stored in various forms to work with. The brussel sprouts and some kale are the last of the home grown fresh produce so there will be be more trips to the market from here out if we want fresh veggies. Can't complain about having anything from the garden in the middle of December tho!

A note for those of you in Ontario: On a recent trip to Zellers I discovered Allen's apple juice on sale for $.99 for a 1L can, which a great price. We drink a lot of juice in this house so we stocked up. Even more intriguing however is that these are Special Edition cans of juice, apparently because they contain 100% juice from "fresh Ontario apples". On one hand I am delighted to find local apples being used for commercially prepared juice, but it seem more than a little sad that what used to be the norm now rates as a cause for celebration. Just a quick check of stats for 2010 reveals that in Ontario we harvested about 280 million pound of apples, with the majority of those sold as fresh (about 211 million lbs) but only 67 million lbs went into processing. That actually sounds like a good thing but when you consider how much apple by-products are used in the manufacturing of other stuff like mixed fruit juices and that imported apple juice concentrate from China cost about one fifth of the price, you can see why we rarely get local apples used in products manufactured in Canada, even if they are labelled as such. As long 51% of the manufacturing costs are incurred in Canada, the product can be labelled made in Canada, even if the only local ingredient in it is the water used to dilute the apple concentrate! In 2006, Canada imported over 21 million litres of apple juice from China (I couldn't find a more recent statistic but I'm pretty certain that number didn't decrease in the last few years) .

I am prepared to vote with my dollar as the expression goes, and buy up as many tins of this as I can find room to store and I also wrote the manufacturer (A. Lassonde Inc. ) an email to let them know I appreciate the effort to support local produce. If you have Zellers near you it might be worth picking up a few tins, if only to encourage both the use of local produce and the labelling of such!

Books for Blustery Days

2011-12-06T14:54:00.000-05:00

It's a chilly one out there today. It rained all day yesterday and we even got some wet snow last night but I'm not complaining because if it were a few degrees colder we'd have been buried in snow by now. It's still cold tho and the kind of damp that gets in your bones. It's a good day to stay inside, make a pot of tea and delve into one of the large stack of books that I've been working my way through. Too bad I'm off to work instead. I start my new job today!

Remember my Crossroads post a few weeks back? Well all the options aren't yet in but an opportunity came my way that I couldn't refuse, so today I start a new part time position as a Community Food Animator with Foodshare! I'm excited to be working with community gardens and related projects all over the city and i'm sure I'll have lots of new stories to tell once I get settled in.

In the meantime here are a few books I've been enjoying recently:

The book that I've been reading one and off for the past few days is The Non Toxic Avenger: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You. Written by Deana Duke who blogs at Crunchy Chicken, this book is definitely not light reading! In the same week in 2007, Deanna's son was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome and her husband became critically ill with multiple myeloma. Her reaction to this life altering news was to take a hard look at the life they'd been leading, a lifestyle which was a fairly healthy one by today's standards. Deana took things a step further and began examining the hidden toxins we are all exposed to on a daily basis; common chemicals that appear in our toiletries like shampoo and toothpaste, and in our household items such as the glasses we drink from, and the ones we wear on our faces. Using herself as a test subject, she went to great lengths to demonstrate that the levels of known environmental toxins we are exposed to are higher than we're led to believe. It's a pretty scary read and and it almost seems impossible to avoid exposure to many of these substances (cash register tapes contain BPA? Seriously?) And once you know all of this, how do you not go a little crazy trying to avoid it? (Deana herself, not surprisingly, titles one of the chapters Going a Little Bonkers). What she discovers and the choices she makes to deal with that knowledge makes for a compelling read!

Growing a Farmer is another book I picked up the library last week and it's a great read. There are an abundance of books out lately written by people who've given up their successful careers to become farmers but this one stands out if only because of the amount of detail devoted to each aspect of food he produces, from fruit to raw milk, to pork. In his former life Kurt Timmermeister was a chef so his transition to full time farmer/cheesemaker isn't as surprising as some but what is unusual is his stance on many commonly held beliefs of the local food movement. As I made my way through each chapter, I came across several instances of this; moments that made me wonder if I wanted to read anymore but his clear explanations of the options and why he made the choices he did made me respect him, even when I don't necessarily agree with him. Refreshing, informative and sometimes challenging, this is a wonderful book for anyone who's considering producing their own food on a larger scale.

It's a long time till next gardening season but if you need a fix, a good gardening book can be a godsend at this time of year. One of the books that I was given to preview is a titled Decoding Gardening Advice- the Science Behind the 100 Most Common Recommendations and it's a perfect book to read before making plans for next year's garden. It's broken down into eight chapters,with topics ranging from Soil to Lawn Care; each chapter is further broken down into Good Advice, Advice That's Debatable and Advice That's Just Wrong. The information is clear and easy to read, yet very thorough. This is a great book for beginners and experts alike, and a handy reference for a variety of circumstances.

You don't need me to tell you what a great read Half Blood Blues is- it was a finalist for the Man Booker prize and recently won the 2011 Giller prize. But I'm going to tell you anyhow- go get this book. And read it while listening to Louis Armstrong (who makes a cameo in the story), with a kleenex box near by.

So many great books! Next time- How Carrots Won the Trojan War and Reclaiming our Food

Dark Days Challenge Week 1

2011-12-04T11:51:00.009-05:00

I've been curious about the Dark Days Challenge for a number years but this is the first year I've signed up to participate. Started in 2007 by the folks at (Not So) Urban Hennery, the idea is simple: cook one meal each week featuring SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) ingredients, during the lean months of the year,and write about it on your blog. This year the challenge is being hosted by Not Dabbling In Normal and the post round ups are being split between the two blogs. It runs from the beginning of December until the end of March.

There are some basic guidelines to follow:

Local- Local is defined for this challenge as 150 mile radius. Now I'm not a stickler for rules in any case but this graphic that I stole from Joel and Dana at Well Preserved kinda demonstrates why that is a tad impractical and that's just a 100 mile radius! (If you are interested , they did a whole series of posts of how they define local for the Toronto area but be warned- there's geometry and other nerdy stuff going on here!)

For the purposes of this challenge I'm defining local as primarily Southwestern Ontario but in a pinch I'm okay with anywhere in Ontario (and for maple syrup only, I include Quebec- don't get me started on Ontario syrup).

Sustainable- this one's bit trickier to pin down. There's so much information (and misinformation) that it can be difficult to know what constitutes sustainable practises in food production. If I figure out why something is sustainable I'll post about about it in my recap.

Organic- I'm not a huge proponent of the organic labelling system so I tend to ignore it. The only time I pay attention is at the Sorauren market and only because I am speaking directly to the farmer/producers. I rarely buy organic unless it is reasonably priced or the only option.

Ethical- I'm going to assume this applies to meat, dairy and eggs and try to obtain these from sources I know to raise animals in an ethical manner.

Somethings I use frequently will not fall under any of the above: olive oil, sugar, sea salt and spices are the four most common but I will note any others as I use them.

I signed up for the challenge back in October and then promptly forgot about it, as I do frequently. So when I got my reminder email this week past week I was happy to see that I haven't missed any post deadlines. And I was even more delighted when I realized I inadvertently prepare a meal on Friday that fits the above criteria for the most part, so I didn't have to scramble to come up with anything before today (sometimes I am my own fairy godmother!) The only part I didn't manage to take care of was take any photos of the meal so a shot of the ingredients and some of previous meals will have to do for this round.

Back in Sept when local produce was cheap and plentiful we loaded up on potatoes and onions. I made a few batches of pierogies and froze them. The basic ingredients for them included local garlic, potatoes and onions, with goat cheddar from Monteforte in the filling, and Red Fife wheat flour, free range eggs and olive oil for the dough. On Friday I cooked a batch of them with local smoked bacon and more onions. The store where I purchased the bacon has an in-house butcher who cuts and prepares all of the meat they sell as well as sausages, bacon, and other charcuterie. I did not inquire where they source their meat however which I will try to ascertain on a future visit.

I also made beet roesti which I discovered during a different challenge last year. I grated local beets (the ones I still haven't gotten around to pickling) with the above flour, salt and chopped fresh rosemary from the plant that's overwintering inside for a fourth year. I fried these in store bought butter and served everything with homemade horseradish and sour cream produced by Western Creamery. Although I know little of where the milk is sourced, Western Creamy is family run creamery located in Brampton (about 30 minutes from Toronto) who use no additives, preservatives or stabilizers in their products. Once I connect with a recently discovered source for raw milk I hope to make my own butter and sour cream in place of the store bought.

All in all I think I did pretty well for my first attempt, especially since it was without any forethought or planning. It will be interesting to see if all the meals come together as easily!

How Frugal Are You?

2011-12-01T00:12:00.004-05:00

Canadian Doomer made a list on her blog of things she and her family do to live a frugal, low impact life on a limited budget- she calls it Radical Frugalism and I'm sure for many people some of her choices are pretty extreme. As the eldest of 13 siblings however, I grew up with a fairly frugal lifestyle myself and have maintained a lot of those habits in my adult life. I thought it would be interesting to compare our choices with hers to see how we are similar and where we differ. Farmgal did a similar list on her blog here. CD's comments are numbered below, my responses are in italics. I've shortened some of her comments ... for space reasons!

CD 1.We are cash-only by choice. ….

We both have multiple credit cards and don’t pay them off every month. It’s one of the biggest areas I’d like to improve on.

CD 2. We live in a (fairly) small space - about 875 square feet - in a "bad" part of town. The apartment has a galley eat-in kitchen, a narrow but long living room, a small bathroom, and two bedrooms, plus closets. We are NOT cramped - although book and food storage becomes interesting at times - and utilities are included in our quite low rent.

We live in a similar sized apt in an okay neighbourhood with great transit access. NO closets! We rent out the second bedroom and currently have a friend staying in the livingroom who also contributes to the costs. Our portion of the rent is currently well below average rent for our area. We pay hydro in addition to rent, every 2nd month- the bills are usually below $100 for 2 months. We are on Smart meters and try to only run high usage items during off peak hours.

CD 3. We drink tap water.
When we drink water which is rarely it’s from the tap.

CD 4. We have one car.Since gas hit over $1.12/litre, we drive as little as possible. Unfortunately, we're finding that this city is spread out in a very inconvenient way.
No car. We both had bikes but mine was stolen this summer and I haven’t replaced it yet. We walk a lot and take transit if necessary. We spend about $50/m on transit. We can get almost everything we need in our neighbourhood but need transit to get to work.

CD 5. I cook from scratch.
Yep, pretty much everything. No pressure canner tho so I freeze a lot. And hot waterbath can of course.

CD 6. My husband carries a packed lunch every day. ...
No lunches- we both get fed on the job for the most part.

CD 7. We don't have air conditioning in the apartment or in the car. ….
Nope. One ceiling fan in our bedroom.

CD 8. We use a slow cooker ....Slow cooker broke and we did not replace it.
We own a slow cooker which I got with a gift certificate last Christmas. I don’t use it much- I prefer the oven (we have a gas stove and don’t pay for gas.)

CD 8. We do not buy "single use" items. I include not only disposable products like paper towel, but items like a popcorn popper, or a 'Smore maker.
We own a hot air popper which I got at a yardsale for a quarter. I love it.

CD 9. We have been using Family Cloth since December 2010.
I live with 3 men who can’t even remember to change the toilet paper roll when it’s empty. Not a chance.

CD 10. I dumpster dive if I see something worth taking. ....
We used to but being hit with bedbugs twice in 3 years has pretty much curtailed that. Toronto is epidemic with them.

CD 11. This spring, we are going to join a Community Garden. I'm feeling quite excitedout that. The waiting list for these is LONG! We tried, and failed, to get one started at our church.
We have a garden in the backyard, and grow in pots on the deck. I get tons of fresh fruit from volunteering with Not Far From the Tree. I also forage on my own which is surprisingly easy in the city!

CD 12. We've been quite radical with eliminating things in the house that we don't use. Less stuff equals more room for food storage...
Us too!

CD 13 We have fairly streamlined wardrobes and don't change with the seasons. If we do really need something (usually just for the kids), we shop at Value Village. I am considering having a Mennonite lady sew me some basic, durable everyday dresses and matching aprons.
I have summer and winter clothes which I switch out. The non seasonal stuff fits in one suitcase, store in a trunk. We shop second hand for everything but shoes and underwear.We both have too many shoes.

CD 14. The kids have minimal toys and maximum books. The toys that they do have are usually classic items - Lego, wooden train and car sets, a few favorite stuffed toys.
No kids but the book collection is huge

CD 15. We buy almost everything in bulk. And we're not shy about asking about further discounts for dented boxes, about-to-expire meat, etc.
We’re just two (roommates buy their own groceries) and have extremely limited storage so buying in bulk doesn’t really make sense for most items. I buy a lot of discounted stuff tho. Dollar baskets of produce are big in our neighbourhood.

CD 16. We love, love, love Freecycle. …
Just joined recently and have yet to take advantage. We use Craigslist a lot!

CD 17. I use Swagbucks as my search engine. I should be earning money for my searches, not Yahoo.
Tried it but don’t find it useful enough. I do tons of online surveys for $ and points. I also collect points for anything I can sign up for and then swap them for points I can actually use. On my trip to England this summer we used points to pay for 6 nights of hotels including 3 nights in prime London. I also used points to fly to Minneapolis to see my best friend - twice!

CD 18. We do not buy cold cereal. Ever.
Ew- why would you?

CD 19. We do not have cable. Actually, we don't even receive the public stations.
We have cable but don’t pay for it. And we download pretty much everything anyhow

CD 20. We don't have cell phones, and our phone/long-distance/internet is bundled, costing us less than $75 $100/month.
We both have cells-we need them for work. Mine is pay-as-you-go and cost me $20/m, his plan is $25. Landline/ld/internet is currently $60 for 100 G highspeed, unlimited calling to North America.

CD 21. We have no personal debt.
See # 1

CD 22. We have a practical gifts rule, and no surprise gifts except for kids. We're not wealthy enough for "Oh, gee, you shouldn't have. Christmas is for church and good food, not gifts.
We don’t have any rules per say but both prefer practical gifts anyhow. The Russian didn’t grow up celebrating Christmas so for him New Years is the day to exchange gifts which means we get to take advantage of Boxing day sales!

CD 23. We are selective about who we give gifts to outside of the immediate family. Most people Everyone will receive something that has been creatively upcycled, carefully re-gifted, or hand-made. Okay, for "selective", read "Nothing" this year.
We buy for parents, 15 nieces and nephews (mine), one daughter (his) and each other. That’s plenty! The nieces and nephews always get books- sometimes new, sometimes secondhand.

CD 24. We rarely practically never eat out - when we do, we recognize that we're paying extra for someone else to shop, cook and clean. The food isn't any better than, and often it's not nearly as good as, what I make at home. We don't go out for coffee, nor do we go out and drink. Okay, we really don't drink. But if we did, we'd have a drink at home.
We eat out about once a week, usually inexpensive places. We also do a potluck style dinner once a week with friends -we all bring ingredients and someone, usually one of our chef friends cook a gourmet meal. The Russian drinks regularly, me not so much but we have a local where we go to socialize a lot. We can walk there.

CD 25. I save the whey from making Farmer's Cheese and use it as the liquid in my sourdough bread.
I don't make cheese but I save bones and veggie scraps, also the water used to cook veggies for stock. What little waste we have goes in the compost or in the worm bin and ends up in the garden.

CD 26. Oh, yes, I make Farmer's Cheese from goat's milk instead of incredibly expensive chevre. I did say I cook from scratch, right? I mean it.
Still don’t make cheese at home. But I did just locate a way to get my hands on raw milk so butter, crème fraise and hopefully cheese soon!

CD 27. We eat a lot of soup. And stew.
Loads. It’s borsht week!

CD 28. We don't eat a lot of meat. We LIKE meat. Okay, we love meat. And if we had our own farm where we could raise chickens, rabbits, goats and pigs, we'd be eating like decadent carnivorous kings. Right now, though, meat is expensive.
I shop around for specials, use a lot of cheaper cuts and buy last day of sale stuff at the grocery store. I wish I could say it’s all local and ethically raised but not on our budget and the Russian is a big meat eater.

CD 29. Sometime in the new year, we're buying a side of pork. ...
I’d love to do this but we haven’t the freezer space nor pressure canner.

CD 30. We buy farm fresh eggs directly from a local farmer, at a better price than I can get at the grocery store.
Just located a source for eggs!

CD 31. We buy "seconds" whenever possible - blemished or oddly shaped produce that does not sell to more picky consumers. And we happily gather windfall apples when given the chance.
All of the above!

CD 32. Because I put up food in jars, I can portion meals well in order to minimize waste.
I do the same with stuff I freeze.

CD 33. We make coffee at home and take it in travel mugs.
I never touch the stuff and the Russian makes a small bodem for himself in the morning. None leaves the house.

CD 34. We don't use napkins - cloth or paper. After a meal, people with messy faces go to the bathroom and wash, unless they're too little. In that case, they have their faces and hands washed.
Cloth napkins all the way! Also handkerchiefs!

CD 35. In addition, no paper towels, kleenex, paper lunch bags, disposable grocery bags, swiffers, disposable baby wipes.
None here either. The odd paper bag that makes it in gets used for mushroom storage and then shredded for the wormbin.

CD 36. Most of my dishtowels have become rags and I'm still using them. Do they really have to look pretty in order to wash my dishes?
Dishtowels become rags but aren’t used for dishes then. I buy new ones about every two years.

CD 37. Cleaning products - dish soap (bought in bulk), vinegar, baking soda, bleach, borax, Ivory soap. Oh, and we have two bottles of drain opener - a necessity around here.
All of the above and occasionally I splurge on Mrs. Meyers all purpose cleaner- the essential oils scents are amazing!

CD 38. Oh, yea, among those appliances we don't have - a dishwasher. Not that we could fit one in this apartment.
Us neither. We do own an apt size washer and dryer which I bought 20 years ago. We never use the dryer- everything gets line dried year round.

CD 39. We don't ever, ever, ever buy bottled water. Ever. We have metal water bottles that we fill and take in the summer.
Nope. I fill my metal bottles with juice.

CD 40. I do not use cosmetics. We use Ivory soap (until I learn to make lye soap), shampoo and conditioner bought in bulk, toothpaste and mouthwash. Mr. D uses deodorant because he needs it.
We use whatever soap is available- I prefer natural ingredient stuff but don’t always buy it. I cannot stand fluoride toothpaste so spend money on the expensive natural stuff. I rarely use cosmetics but I do own some. I also use fairly pricey shampoo, conditioner and I colour my hair at home. (I’m vain about my hair). I also pay for regular pedicures- best $20 I spend a month. The Russian has bodywash and antiperspirant- he’s a dancer and can’t afford to sweat in the costumes.

CD 41. Homeschooling –
N/A, unless you count the Russian. He could use some English lessons.

CD 42. Oh, yes - need I mention that we happily, happily, happily take second-hand things? What we don't need, we pass along.
Absolutely. I've never purchased a single piece of furniture in my life.

CD 43. My "houseplants" - a sweet potato that I hope to keep alive all winter and a baby False Sea Onion/Pregnant Onion (works like aloe vera).
I have many, many plants. All of them I either started myself (lemon trees, avocado), sprouted from someone else or rescued from near death.

CD 43. We are very picky about what we buy. We frequently ask "Do we need this? Really need it?" Then we go away and ask ourselves that for a week. If the answer is still yes, and we could find no substitution, we buy it. We have decided on our family's goals and values, and we analyze everything to see if it furthers those goals.
I'm the same, the Russian is a bit more of a spendthrift but mainly with clothes. I've been slowly replacing all our plastic kitchen stuff with metal or glass but just with what I can find second hand. Most things we want, we try to make ourselves, except electronics but the Russian is really good at repairing things like that.

Overall I think we are very simlar to you - you have some things that are necessities because of children or where you live; we are a bit more lax with our "luxuries". It's great to see it all laid out this!

Anyone got any other frugal suggestions? Anything you refuse to be frugal about?

Still Going...

2011-11-27T17:52:00.000-05:00

Remember what I said about November in my last post? Well I take it all back. This November has been one for the record books- it's been sunny, mostly warm and pretty much the nicest November I can recall. Friday it hit 16 C (that's 60 F in American)and the overnight low was 11 - that's more like the beginning of October! All month we've had mainly highs in the double digits, a trend that continued this weekend although it's raining now. It cools down at night of course; we've had a couple of light frosts so far, but still no snow and even on the coldest nights we've barely hit freezing! Which is why I still have carrots, beets and a few herbs and flowers still outside, as well as brussel sprouts in the garden. If I'd known we were going get away with this kind of weather this long, I'd have planted more fall crops. And yes that's one foolhardy tomato plant in the bin with the beets. It, along with a handful of others, sprouted in Sept and I thought I'd yanked them all out but it appears I only took the top off this one and it kept growing. Now it's about 8 inches tall, it's got a thick sturdy stem and seems very healthy. I think it's a sign that I'm supposed to try to winter it over in the sunporch.

Inside the food preservation continues- I know I said I was pretty much done with canning this year and I am, all but the beets which are currently sitting in the fridge awaiting pickling. There's one more canning workshop to go as well- we'll be making pear mincemeat which is a first for me so I'l let you know how that turns out - I'm not fond of teaching stuff I've never made before but we've had some requests for it so I'm willing to give it a shot.

At home I'm onto the non cannable condiments now. I grated up a nice chunk of horseradish to make a pint of the extra strong stuff in vinegar- this stuff is guaranteed to clear your sinuses!

I've also soaked some mustard seeds and made a fiery mustard based on this recipe. I'm thinking of doing a horseradish version as well.

I got my hands a few last hot peppers and some local garlic to do another batch of chili garlic paste , since the one I made early this fall is all but gone already. All of these are small batches and stored in the refrigerator. When the chilly weather finally arrives, we'll be ready for it!

The science experiments, aka vinegars are almost wrapped up as well. The cider vinegar is the clear winner this year- literally! It's a gorgeous amber and still smells of apples. I used some of it in the mustard. The red wine vinegar is still murky and some mold was growing in the sides of the vessel, above the liquid so I decanted it into some clean jars and there's a new mother growing on the surface on couple so I think I'll leave them a little longer. Speaking of the mother, the chef (our friend who's temporarily couchsurfing with us), convinced me to add a mother from one of the vinegars to a jar of moisten red fife wheat flour to see what would happen. Well it's bubbling up a storm right now which means something's (likely yeast) growing in it but I have no idea what we plan to do with it next! It smells good tho so I'm guessing we've made a sourdough starter- guess I might have to take up baking.

Another advantage of having a chef for a housemate, besides the obvious, is having someone to talk with about food! The Russian being a typical meat and potatoes kinda guy couldn't care less about how to make vinegar or mustard from scratch. The chef on the other hand compares notes, offers up suggestions and brings home all kinds of treats and leftovers. We've both been scouring local thrift shops for old cookboks and are amassing quite a collection. Looks like I have some more projects ahead of me this winter!

Barnheart - a love story by Jenna Woginrich

2011-11-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

Ah November, you are not the most beloved of months. Although we in Toronto have been blessed with unusually mild weather so far, there's no deny that winter is coming and soon! The brilliant colours of autumn have faded, the days are growing shorter and bleaker. It's dark when I wake in morning, and again by 5 pm. And let's not even mention that dreaded 's' word, which thankfully has yet to make an appearance! But November has some blessings just the same. Now that the gardens are done and local produce is all but gone, the frantic efforts to preserve everything is over for another year. Which means more time for indoor pursuits and there's nothing more inviting this time of year than curling up with a good book!

If you've ever secretly dreamed of owning a farm, then there no better book to curl up with than Jenna Woginrich' s latest offering Barnheart! Fans of her blog Cold Antler Farm will be familiar with Jenna's quest for a farm of her own but for the uninitiated Jenna is a determined young woman who has accomplished and lived more in 30 years than most of us do in a lifetime, and still finds time to write about it. Under most circumstances that would probably make me want to dislike her, but her frank yet often poetic portrayal of life as a start up (upstart?) farmer is a joy to read and gives me barnheart symptoms of my own.

Barnheart picks up Jenna's story where her previous book left off but unlike Made From Scratch which mixed practical homesteading advice with her adventures entwined, this one's a straight narrative. That doesn't mean there isn't a lot to learn from this book as well. Barnheart takes you from her arrival in Vermont to her current life as a farmer and shepherd in training in Washington County, NY and all the steps it took to get her there. Like all true loves, the path does not run smooth and straight. In Barnheart you'll read about digging gardens and build pens, and about the sheep that were the beginnings of her farm and the sheepdog that wasn't. Some days she'll makes you laugh, sometimes you'll want to weep, but you can't help but cheer for her, every step (and misstep) of the way.

Through out it all Jenna perseveres and this book is the story of her transition from dreaming about farming to actually becoming a farmer. She doesn't make farming look glamorous but she does make it look fulfilling, and that's the best cure for Barnheart.

Photo courtesy of Cold Antler Farm

Advanced copy of Barnheart provided by Thomas Allen and Son but I received no financial consideration for this review and it is entirely my own opinion!

Crossroads

2011-11-14T20:48:00.014-05:00

I've been quiet here this month. Not because I've nothing to say (like that ever happens) but because there's some new opportunities brewing that I haven't quite sorted out yet. Some wonderful possibilities have been appearing in my life; all of them good but some will take me in different directions than others, and as much as I would like to, I cannot choose them all. Some of the options are not confirmed yet so I'm playing the waiting game before I make any decisions. I'm not so good at waiting but I believe that timing is everything and I'll know the right path when I see it. So many options, one way or another things will be changing and I'm excited for whatever comes.

In the meantime, Jenna at Cold Antler Farm threw out a challenge recently and the deadline is tomorrow. The idea was to come up with a way of insulating a canning jar (1 litre/quart jar) so that her coffee doesn't go cold when she drinks from it. I came up with my solution to her dilemma and I'm posting it here because I like it so much I've been using it myself ever since!

I'm not a super crafty person; I knit a little and can sew a basic seam but that's about where it ends. I wanted to create something that was so simple anyone can do it with a miminum amount of effort or skill. It had to be removable and washable. I also wanted it to be as inexpensive as possible. I think I succeeded on all counts.

I found an old angora wool sweater that had been shrunk so that the fabric was felted- I got this one at a clothing swap but second hand shops or church rummage sales would be a good place to pick one up for next to nothing. I cut the first sleeve off slightly longer that height of the jar and pulled it over the top so that the knitted cuff was just above the mouth of the jar.

I cut the second sleeve in a similar fashion but slightly shorter than the first so that it sits just above the shoulder of the jar but not up to the mouth.

Starting with the shorter sleeve, I placed it over the jar inside out. I then flipped the jar upside down and hand stitched the opening with a simple blanket stitch leaving the gap at either end open.

I trimmed the excess fabric on either side and folded it in towards the centre and stitched in place. Removed it from jar, turned it right side out. Repeating the above steps with the second sleeve, I made sure there was enough fabric to reach the lip of the jar.

When both sleeves were finished, I placed the shorter one on the jar first and then eased the second sleeve over the first, making sure that the seams were perpendicular to each other to allow the jar to sit flat. I think it turned out spectacular!

When not drinking, the outer sleeve can be pulled up over the edge of the lid; just fold the cuff down to have clear access for drinking!

All in all it took me less than an hour to make this and I love it! My new insulated jar is the perfect container for my new favourite fall beverage- spiced whisky and hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick!

Welcome Baby Claudia!

2011-11-09T11:52:00.001-05:00

While I was off enjoying the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair today, my newest niece made a very hasty appearance! Claudia Elizabeth Lynne waltzed into the world at 8 pm this evening; my sister barely made it to the hospital in time but mom and babe are doing well.

Grandma is delighted with her 15th grandchild; she is especially partial to girls and this makes granddaughter # 5
There are new posts to come, including a round up of the Royal, but for now there's a new baby to meet and I'm way overdue for a visit home!

Wordless Wednesday- Pumpkin Parade!

2011-11-02T12:07:00.007-04:00

Last Harvest and Free Eggs!

2011-10-27T10:45:00.000-04:00

It's that time again. I put it off as long as I could but after a week of cool, gray and rainy days I took advantage of a slight break in the weather and yanked out the rest of my garden. I gleaned one last round of still green hot and sweet peppers and a handful of undersized tomatillas. I used up these and the last of the ripe tomatoes for a batch of end of season salsa. The few plants with reasonable sized green tomatoes are slowly ripening in the sunporch

I left the brussel sprouts still in the ground but everything else is in the composter now. I still have to empty the rain barrel (if it ever stops raining long enough) and put away the hoses. It looks so barren from up here...

I did it just in time tho- not only are we expected sub zero temps this weekend but Monday morning I woke up to this:

That's the city works crew repairing the laneway behind my house. My garden is now a construction site which is a tad unnerving since I've put a lot of time and money into building up my soil. Not to worry, I had a brief conversation with the foreman and it turns out he's a farmer himself! He raises a few head of beef cattle, some pigs and chicken on a few acres very close to where we attended Foodstock last week. I gave him a jar of my pear chutney and he promised to look out for my dirt and veggies. This morning I opend up the composter to find these hidden inside!

Best harvest ever- thanks Frank!

Food Storage Friday - The Headcold Edition

2011-10-21T23:25:00.000-04:00

We've been a bunch of sickies this week- just annoying headcolds for myself and our temporary roommate but the Russian has been really sick and it turns out he has pneumonia. Which means there's been a lot of soups and teas on the menu this week. And since the weather's been lousy and I'm not feeling so great, I haven't done any shopping at all. We did a pork roast on Sunday so there were a couple days of leftovers and some nice pork stock to which I added bacon, brussel sprouts and kale. A big pot of homemade chicken soup lasted a couple days as well. The last of the greens from the garden, some homemade pierogies and pork paprikish rounded out the week. The most processed thing we ate all week was probably the sour cream!

One thing I noted this week is how depleted my medicinal herbs are! I managed to forage some rosehips which I've been adding to hot lemon with ginger, honey and cayenne. I have fresh sage and thyme but I have no slippery elm bark for coughs and a lot of the other herbs are either depleted or too old to be any use. Looks like a trip to the herbalist is in order. I don't know if my usual trusted cold remedies may have been able to prevent the Russian from ending up as sick as he was but having to make a trip to the ER is something we both prefer to avoid. If you aren't already sick when you get there you're sure to be exposed to a lot of ugly germs!

As for me, in addition to feeling physically sick, I'm also a bit sick of canning. I have one last batch of tomatoes and some apples to deal with and then I think I need a break, at least at home. Thankfully the growing season here is all but done so there's not much left to can anyhow. The preserving workshops I teach are scheduled to go till mid Nov and I'll still need to do some pickled beets for us once we've had a frost but at the moment I'm longing to be finished. And when I need something else to keep my hands busy, there's a whole lot of yarn waiting patiently for knitting season to begin!

Last Pick of the year- Ginkgo Nuts!

2011-10-20T23:36:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I did what is likely my last pick of the season with Not Far From The Tree and the object of the pick was a new one for me- ginkgo nuts! Which we prompty decided should be renamed stinko nuts - oh boy do these things reek!

I got a crash course on ginkgo today. First off, nuts are only found on female trees (I can think of so many inappropiate remarks here but lets just stick to the part where trees have gender- who knew?)The term for this is dioecious, from Greek meaning "two households" and only the female trees give off that overwhelming stench - maybe to attract the male trees?

Secondly ginkgo nuts aren't really nuts. They're more like an edible pit. The fruit surrounding the pit is also apparently edible but since that's what emits the odor there's no way I'm attempting it. There's also the fact that the flesh contains an oil known as urushiol, the same substance that causes some people to react to poison ivy and similar plants. Thankfully I am not one of those people but since picking ginkgo fruit barehanded can result in an irritation that ranges from a mild rash to full blown contact dermatitis, I decided to don those lovely gloves just in case.

If all of that isn't enough to scare you off, the nuts themselves contain MPN (4-methoxypyridoxine) which is toxic. In small doses (10 or less nuts /day) it's considered harmless but larger amounts can cause nausea, cramping, vomiting, convulsions and even death (although you'd have to consume an awful lot of them!)

Even the process of making them edible is tricky.
First you have to clean off the gucky fruit (while not getting any on your skin).

Next you crack open the shell and remove the nut.

Then you need to remove the membrane

And finally you have to cook them.

Instant gratification they are not! It took me a few hours to prepare a mere handful.

So why would anyone want to eat them? Well they are very nutritious, containing potassium, phosphorus, folate and vitamin A, and traces of zinc, copper and manganese. They also have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and vasodilatory properties and in traditional Chinese medicine they are used for a variety of ailments, particularly for conditions concerning circulation, heart and lungs. Which is great but not really enough incentive to go through all of that if you aren't sick. Luckily they also taste delcious!

I boiled the first bunch with salt until the water evapourated and they turned bright green.

They taste bit like edamame, which they resemble, but more chewy and rich. I would have liked to eat the entire batch but decided to stop at a few to make sure I didn't over indulge. I think I'll roast the next batch with oil and salt; the cooked nuts can also be added to soup and other dishes.

Once cooked the nuts can be also be stored in the fridge for about a month. And thankfully they no longer smell like rotting milk!

Now if only my house didn't.

Foodstock

2011-10-17T15:24:00.014-04:00

Yesterday we made our way to the heart of Ontario farmland to attend Foodstock. It was a marvellous event featuring samples of scrumptious Ontario foods prepared by over 100 Canadian chefs. All the produce and labour was donated; the event itself was located on one of the few remaining farms that wasn't bought up by the group that hopes to develop a Mega Quarry on this wonderfully fertile land.

The estimated attendance of over 28000 included people from all walks of life and it was amazing to see local farmers mingling with foodies, city folk, musicians and chefs, all with one purpose- to keep the land that grows our food intact.

Some random images of the day- sadly not many of the food (because I ate it!)

I spoke with one woman whose family still farms nearby and she was astonished by how many people came to show their support. We talked about the impact the mine would have on the people who live and farm in the area; blasting 24 hours a day, 300 heavy trucks per day barreling through small communities, and the unknown effects on the water table if 600 million litres a day were pumped out of the ground. We talked of how far people had travelled to attend the event and she appeared delighted by the sheer volume of people who had descended, causing traffic to back up and creating parking lots on the side of the road for miles in all directions. The usual big city vs country awkwardness was nowhere to be found; we were united by a cause that affects us all. I was happy to acknowledge that we urban dwellers are becoming more aware that we don't live in a bubble, and if the voices of the 800 local inhabitants weren't loud enough to be heard, then we'll eagerly join in until the powers that be are forced to pay attention. Because it does no good to preach about eating local food while selling out the people who grow it for us!

Michael Stadlander of Eigensinn Farm, seen here speaking to the crowd who stuck it out despite the cold and rain, was the driving force behind Foodstock. It is a testament to his passionate belief in the land that feeds us that he was able to recruit so many people behind this cause. Thanks and praise to all involved with making this day both a fabulous event and a sobering reminder that we all need to work together to keep our farmers and the land doing what they do best- feeding us all!

Food Storage Friday - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2011-10-14T13:47:00.015-04:00

So it was an up and down kinda week. It started on a high note, being Thanksgiving and the most perfect weather imaginable and it could't help but go downhill from there. My intentions to eat unprocessed were also a bit like a roller coaster- we had some highs, some lows and a bit of inbetween- here's the round up.

The Good:
Preserving continues- this week I did more tomato sauce, tomato salsa, tomato jam (sensing a theme here?) and red onion jam.

Last week's drying experiments all seemed to work out well so there are more trays in the oven and more jars filling out the shelves.
The most fun and interesting projects are the vinegars. I love having science experiments in the kitchen! I used the last of the white grapes, a bag of frozen purple grapes and some homegrown cider (from the apples I picked on Sunday) and set them to ferment on top of the fridge- all are bubbling like mad as the yeasts go to work on them. The screw caps are only loosely on; the gases produced as the sugars ferment into alcohol must be able to escape or they'd blow up!

The bad:
Thanksgiving was a chance to go to two different turkey dinners- one on Sunday and one Monday. I had no say in the preparation of either turkeys (as it should be when one is a guest) and could only contribute sides. For Sunday I prepared two pumpkin pies, made from whole pumpkins which I roasted and pureed, and homemade pastry made from store bought flour and lard- we'll call that one a draw.

For Monday's dinner we shopped at the Sorauren market for local veggies in the afternoon and prepared a roasted cauliflower dish, a root vegetable casserole featuring local carrots, beets and kholrabi, and baked sweet potatoes.

But at the dinner I also indulged in store made veggie and dip platter, cheese and crackers, pumpkin cheese cake, and gravy made from a packaged mix among other things. All of this was lovingly prepared by my sisters who spent the better part of two days preparing to feed a large group of people. In our family of 13 kids, we were brought up to eat what is put in front of us, and it is not good manners to critique someone else's food choices while scarfing them. Count this as a delicious fail.

The Ugly:

The Russian and I both worked a long physical day yesterday. When we got home at 9 pm neither of us felt like cooking. We still had some leftovers we brought home from Monday's dinner and hot turkey sandwiches seemed like the perfect solution, except we had no bread. I sent the Russian to the corner store and this is what he came home with:

Yeah that's Wonderbread. The epitomy of processed food. We weren't even allowed to eat this when we were kids- my mom had the sense to recognize that the amount of sugar and refined flour in it exceeds any possible nutritional value so we never bought it, even on sale. But if you're hungry and this is what's available, you eat it. Which is why things the October Unprocessed kinda bug me sometimes. It's all well and good to talk about eating unprocessed foods but many people just don't have access to these kinds of choices. Did you know if you get your food from a food bank KD (Kraft Dinner mac and cheese) is considered a protein source? And Beefaroni is both a protein and a vegetable source. I'm not suggesting this is a good thing by any means but choosing not to eat those things and then being smug about it seems a bit holier-than-thou sometimes. Most food banks can't provide perishables like fresh vegetables or dairy. And if you have to chose between paying rent or buying fresh veggies, which do you chose? Our weekly Farmer's market is full of locally grown, mostly organic crops but I sometimes can't afford to shop there. I know how lucky I am to have the time and the know how to make much of my food from scratch but if I had kids to think about, I know my priorities would change in a heartbeat. I know at least one participant in this challenge (Canadian Doomer) has small children (and a lean food budget) so her efforts to keep to it are much more impressive than mine.

Today find me in a bit of a riled up mood- this weekend has two major protest events going on in the Toronto area. Tomorrow,Oct 15th, the Occupy Wall St movement moves north to Toronto and Montreal among other Canadian cities. I haven't decided yet if I plan to attend. I support the idea of people making their voices heard and there are certainly many issues in this country that need to be addressed. However the lack of a unified message is troubling and the city as a whole is gearing up for this like it will be a repeat of the disasterous protests that occurred during the G20 summit last year.

Sunday's rally has a much clearer purpose and purposes to be an amazing event- Foodstock is a fundraising gathering to protest the building of a mega quarry in the heart of Ontario farmland and will feature over a hundred of Canada's top chefs serving up local fare accompanied by a program of great Canadian bands- all for a minum donation of $10. This event I'll be attending rain or shine!

But back to Wonderbread-we eat so little bread in this house that I've never bothered to bake our own. Last night made me realize that having a homemade loaf of bread (or even an unbaked one) in the freezer for just such times might not be a bad thing. Anyone have a good beginners recipe for bread?

Wordless Wednesday- Apple Foraging

2011-10-12T15:41:00.005-04:00

What Delicious apples should actually look like.

The apple tree that grows on Dundas St W where I picked them

The pole I had to borrow to reach them!

Food Storage Friday

2011-10-07T15:21:00.001-04:00

Back in March we participated in a Pantry Challenge, a month long experiment of trying to eat entirely from the food we had on hand without buying any more. This month there's another challenge, called October Unprocessed. The idea is to try to avoid using any kind of processed foods for the entire month and my fellow Pantry Challenge participants Canadian Doomer and FarmGal are playing along. I decided not to do the full challenge for a number of reasons but since I support the idea behind it, I'm aiming to add a few thoughts of my own periodically. Everyone has different definitions of what constitutes unprocessed - for example I would never buy things like premade pastry and I make my pumpkin pie from actual pumpkins, not canned, but I'm not about to grind my own flour to make pie crusts with!

The Russian and I are a DIY household on many fronts- partially because we like the experience of making things but also because we often have more time than income. Challenges like these are interesting for me because they draw attention to things we may not have considered and often provide ideas of how to do things better. The Pantry Challenge was a great example of this and one of things I quickly became aware of was how dependent we are on our freezer for much of our food storage. As this blog demonstrates, I do a lot of hot water bath canning but the majority of it is condiments and sauces. Gayla Trail of You Grow Girl calls it "Junk food for the Apocolypse" which is a fairly accurate portrayal. In a pinch it's somewhat nutritious food but not exactly the kind of meals that will sustain us for long. Not having a pressure canner means I don't have the ability to preserve any type of meat or low acid veggies in jars. Soup is also out unless is frozen. But being dependent on the freezer means we are also dependent on electricity and even in Toronto that can be an issue at times. In the Blackout of 2003 I was lucky- my block was on the same grid as a nearby hospital and we had power restored in under 6 hours and everything in my freezer survived. Others areas of my neighbourhood didn't see power for 3-5 days during one of the hottest Augusts on record! In 2009 we lost power for 3 days in the dead of winter and had to put the contents of the freezer in a cooler outside; everything survived thanks to the cold temps. We only have the usual sized refrigerator freezer but even that small space contains a good portion of our stored food, in the form of soups and stocks, fruit and vegetables, fresh meat and homemade prepared food like pierogies and gnocchi. To lose power for any length of time could mean the loss of a considerable amount of food. Finding alternate methods of storing food is frequently on my mind.

One the things that I wish was possible in a apartment is access to a root cellar or cold storage. I grew up with one in my chidhood home and my dad still keeps it full of supplies even tho there's only 3 people living there currently. It's been a long standing tradition among my siblings that when you're totally broke you can always visit mom and dad's and 'grocery shop' in the root cellar. It's mostly full of store bought canned goods, my dad's preserves and pickles and some produce but you could probably feed a family of 4 decently for a couple months on what they have on hand. In the apartment we live in now, we are so lacking in storage I don't have anywhere to keep even the smallest amount of pantry supplies outside of the tiny kitchen cabinet space. Even if there were storage options, the lack of temperature control makes it's impossible to keep anything perishable anywhere but the fridge. Last year I tried to keep apples in the sunporch but even tho it's unheated, the temperature remains at or above the temps in the apartment- southwest windows and a blacktar roof keep it toasty all winter! Great for me and the plants, deadly to stored food.

This week the prices on local root veggies are at their yearly best- we picked up 2 x Ontario new potatoes, yellow onions and carrots for $1.67/ 10bl bag each. Red onions were slightly more at $2.99/ 10 lbs but I'm doing some red onion jam this week so we picked those up too. That means there is currently 50 lbs of vegetables rolling around on the kitchen floor and we need to get creative with our storage. Here's one solution we came up with!

We're considering building some kind of insulated wooden storage box to stay outside on the deck. If we can make it raccoon and squirrel proof it might hold us until winter but once the temps go below freezing it won't be viable for veggies.

In the meantime I'm experimenting with another form of food perservation- drying. We don't own a dehydrator but having a gas oven with a pilot light means I have a low cost drying option already built in. In actuality it's free for us since we don't pay for gas here and don't have the option of turning it off in any case. I've used it for tomatoes for years but never bothered to try much else. In the past few weeks I've been trying out other possibilites with some success- onions, both green and bulb seem to work well. Celery leaves dried in hours. Corn dried out okay but whether it will be edible when reconsituted is another story- it might be okay in soup or I may just grind it to corn meal.

I'm attempting to dry carrots for the first time today- given their density I suspect it will take few day so I'm not sure what to expect. The Russian inadvertantly demonstrated that potatoes can be dried this way too- I'd been hesitant to attempt potatoes because I was concerned that they'd turn brown and unappealing but these ones look fine for being left in the oven for two days by mistake! I think the trick here was that he partially cooked them at very high heat then shut the oven off. They're still a bit moist in the centre so I'll finish them at the same time as the carrots.

Along with the dried cherry tomatoes and the beans I grew this year, the shelf is filling with jars of dehydrated veggies. If nothing else at least I have the makings of some good soups!

Taking Stock

2011-10-03T11:48:00.016-04:00

I don't know about you but September was a bit of blur around here and I can't believe it's October already. The gardens are almost bare, the shelves are filling up and there's a bit of room in the fridge again finally. Preserving season is winding down but there's still a lot to do!

As I mentioned previously my gardens were pretty much a bust this year- between the erratic weather and the ridiculous amount I lost to squirrels and raccoons, there wasn't much of a harvest to be had. I'm still picking a few tomatoes and peppers and the salad greens are enjoying all the rain and cooler temps but pickings are slim. Thankfully it's been a fabulous year for foraging and freebies!

Wanna stretch your food dollars? Got some time on your hands? Consider volunteering with local food initiatives and other food related events! Beside keeping in touch with what's happening in your community and giving a much needed hand, there's almost always leftovers to be shared amongst the people who stay behind to clean up! In the past few weeks I brought home 30 ears of cooked corn on the cob, thawed premade hamburger patties, a pound of barely opened butter, an unopened box of crackers, and more fruit and veggies than I can list here. Between this and all of the foraging I've been doing, there's been plenty of produce to put up for winter. Here's some of the preserving I've done recently, with recipes and links.

Corn Cob Stock:

After cutting the niblets off of 30 ears of corn for freezing, I chucked the cobs into a pot of water and left them to simmer for a few hours. When it was done I had 2 litres of rich corn stock which I froze for soup. The idea and directions came from Local Kitchen.

Autumn olives or olive berries are so named because the leaves resemble olive leaves. They produce clusters of reddish orange berries that are higher in lycopene than tomatoes! These beautiful jewels make a really yummy tart jam- I did some alone and some with grapes.

Olive Berry Jam:
6 c ripe autumn olive berries.
1 c water
2 ½ cups of sugar
1/2 package liquid pectin

Add water to berries and bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes until berries are soft.
Mash and strain through a sieve to remove seeds- should make about 4 cups of pulp. Add sugar and heat till boiling. Add liquid pectin and heat to a rolling boil. Check for set at one minute. Fill sterilized jars (I used 125 ml ) leaving 1/2 inch headspace and process for 10 minutes.

Chilies,chilies and more chilies:
I love the hot stuff! The Russian however does not. We compromise by making almost everything mild and then I add heat to my portions after the fact. Of course different dishes call for different flavours so I like lots of choices in my hot condiments. Here are two very simple recipes for preserving hot chili peppers.

Peri Peri sauce (Portugues style hot sauce)
Use the long red hot peppers for best flavour but any hot pepper could be subbed.

12 large hot red peppers
1 1/2 tbsp course salt (or to taste)
2/3 cup vinegar.

Stem and seed peppers- wear gloves!

Chop into smaller pieces and puree in a blender or food processor. Add salt and vinegar and puree until smooth. In a large sauce pan heat puree until slightly boiling, allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool. This allows the air bubbles to dissipate. Stir thoroughly and reheat to a low simmer and pour in hot sterilized jars (I used 6 x 250 ml but this varies depending on the size of the peppers). Using a plastic or wooden tool, remove air bubbles. Leave 1/2 inch head space, seal and process for 15 minutes in hot water bath.

Peri peri sauce usually includes oil but you should never can anything containing oil as it can reduce the effectiveness of the canning process and allow spores to survive. Instead I add 1 tblsp of olive oil to a jar once it's opened and then refridgerate it.

Chili Garlic Paste (adapted from Viet World Kitchen)
Unlike the peri peri sauce I make small batches of this and don't bother to can it- just pop it in the fridge. It isn't acidic enough as it stands for safe waterbath canning.

1 cup hot chiles (e.g. cayenne, habanero, jalapeno, serrano, Thai, or a combination of them), stemmed and chopped- leave the seeds in for extra heat!
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp white vinegar

Put all the ingredients in food processor. Process to a coarse texture. Transfer to a small saucepan, bring to a vigorous simmer over medium heat, lower the heat to gently simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the flavor with add extra salt or sugar. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool. Transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator. Makes 1 x 250ml jar.

Green Tomatoes
As the warm weather winds down the chance of those last few tomatoes actually ripening on the vine gets less likely, but tomatoes that are picked totally green tend to get only partially ripened before they start to look shrivelled and unappetizing. By roasting the ones that are nearly ripened but not quite red, you can concentrate the available sugars and make a versatile sauce. You also get to use up bits of herbs and any other less than perfect veggies.

Roasted Nearly Ripened Tomato Sauce.
6- 10 partially ripened tomatoes (I sometimes use a few over ripened ones as well but not if they are already starting to go off).
Ends and stalks of herbs that you've harvested for other things- basil, thyme, oregano and rosemary all work well but tarragon, sage and savoury are also okay.
Carrot tops, celery leaves or bits of both cut up. You can also use sweet peppers.
1 onion cut in small chunks
2-3 cloves of garlic, smashed (don't worry about removing the paper skins)
1/2 tsp salt

Cut tomatoes in half or quarters and lay them in a baking dish. Cover with bits of herbs, onions, garlic and other veggies. Add 1/2 cup of water. Sprinkle with salt. Bake in 300 degrees F oven for 30 -40 minutes or until all veggies are soft.

Remove dish from oven and strain contents through a wire mesh strainer or use a food mill. (note if you have the time, you can allow the dish to cool and remove the skins from the tomatoes by hand prior to putting it through the strainer- it does make pushing the pulp through easier but it's not necessary)

Add pulp and juice to a saucepan and cook down over med heat. Taste and add salt , pepper and a bit of sugar if it seems too tart. Cook until it reaches a good sauce consistancy. Freeze as is, or can as tomato sauce (add 1 tbsp of acid per 500 ml jar- I like red wine vinegar but balsamic or lemon juice would work too.) Process in hot waterbath for 15 minutes.

As the daylight wanes and the temperature dips, it's nice to see all the jars lined up again.

The Wilds of Toronto

2011-10-01T19:02:00.002-04:00

When most people think of Canada's largest city, they picture things like the the CN tower, subways and streetcars. Even for those of us who live here, Toronto is more about traffic and nightlife than nature. But there's still lots of wilderness to be found within city limits and you don't have to drive 3 hours to get to it- in fact you don't even need a car!

Recently the annual Tour de Greenbelt took place in Rouge Park. Like previous years the tour featured bike rides through some of our local Greenbelt, with routes ranging from 12 km to 100 km. Unlike other years however, this event was the first time riders (and volunteers like me) could get to the starting point without leaving the city.

Rouge Park is located on the eastern border of Toronto, overlapping into Pickering, and encompasses over 47 km2. It joins the Oak Ridges Moraine, which is located about 50 km north of Toronto, and the City's biggest wetland, where the Rouge River empties into Lake Ontario. It includes two National Historic Sites, a number of working farms, The Toronto Zoo and Glen Rouge Campground. And it's totally accessible by public transit!

The Russian and I love the campground; we can load all of our gear on a couple of wheeled carriers, jump on the Go Train to Rouge Hill station, where we catch a northbound TTC bus which drops us about 10 minutes walk from the campground, all for under $10 each. The campground is located on the Rouge River and features tent and trailer camping with optional water and hydro hookups for a nominal fee. It's peaceful and wooded, with lots of hiking trails and fishing spots, and if you run out of supplies, it's only a 20 minute walk to the nearest grocery store!

At the the Tour de Greenbelt I had a chance to check parts of the Park I'd never seen before, including the gatehouse to a mansion that was formerly located in the Park.

The Park is a forager's delight! Wandering around the trails I found wild grapes, sumac and black walnuts all with in easy picking reach.

I also spotted apples but the best find of the day was Autumn olives (also known as olive berries)!

They were abundant and beautifuly ripe so I picked as many as I could and brought them home along with the usual spoils- lots of leftovers from our barbecue!

The park is governed by a number of different agencies, including the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority. The board of directors for Rouge Park is the Rouge Park Alliance, a partnership of 12 government organizations and one not-for-profit group. This group has been lobbying for years to have the Park declared Canada's first urban National Park and recently the federal government announced that it has plans to do so in the near future- let's hope that this is one promise that the Harper government actually fulfills!

At the opposite end of the city, northwest of the downtown core, lies another watershed known as the Humber Ravine. It consists of a series of parks connected by the Humber River Trail. Last weekend, the West End Food Co-op held the Ride for Real Food, a fundraiser for our new store set to open in Dec. About 20 courageous riders signed up to bike 34 km from Magwood Park on Humber River near The Old Mill, to Kourtright Conservation area just north of the city.
The route was mainly on trails that followed the river, through parks and nature areas and it was a glorious fall day, perfect for riding. We even got to watch the lake salmon swimming upstream to spawn!

(photo by Colette Pryslak)

At the conservation area riders were treated to a fabulous luncheon of homemade pizzas and other treats featuring locally grown food. The event also allowed riders to check out Matchbox Garden and Seed who grown most of their produce on 2 acres of land within the Conservation area. Unlike the rest of Toronto, Matchbox has a glut of tomatoes this year, particularly yellow cherries so we were invited to pick as many as we wanted.

I brought home 4 litres of them!

Not a bad haul without leaving the city!

My Ever Expanding Library

2011-09-21T22:09:00.005-04:00

I've had a life long love affair with books. Ever since I figured out how to read (somewhere between the age of 3 and 4, according to my mother) I have always had to have as many books as possible nearby. Fiction, nonfiction, recipe books, how-to manuals, it doesn't matter as long as it's printed. Bookshelve dominate practically every room in our apartment and stray books still spill off of every available surface. On my recent return from the UK, I had to borrow another suitcase to cart home my extra baggage and I'm almost embarassed to admit that the bulk of that was books - 14 in all. (In my defence we were traveling by train almost every day so I needed reading material. And I actually left some behind because I needed room for my Kilner Jars)

So you can imagine my excitement when I was approached by the publishing house Thomas and Allen and asked if I would like to receive books to review for this blog. Free books? And all I have to do is read them and talk about them here? Um, is this a trick question?

When I arrived home in August there was a parcel notice waiting for me and I hurried to the Post office with my ID in hand to pick up what I thought would be a catalogue of books to choose from. To my delight there were several catalogues and 3 books! And it got better-that squeal of glee eminating from my apartment was me realizing that one of the books was an advanced copy of Barnheart by Jenna Woginrich.

Now if you've found your way to my blog you've likely already heard of Jenna and Cold Antler Farm (and if you haven't, you'll find it here). Jenna has a small sheep farm in the area of New York State known as Veryork and she's one of my absolute favourite bloggers -she make words sing on a page! Last winter I made a special trip to Buffalo, NY just to purchase her first book Made From Scratch which documented her early years learning how to be self sufficient. She also has a book about raising chickens called Chick Days. Barnheart is her latest offering due to be released in November. I didn't expect to get my hands on a copy of it for quite some time. Needless to say I devoured it in record time! And I'd love to tell you all about it but the publisher has requested that I wait until closer to the release date to post my review. Which I promise I will very soon and if all goes well, I'll be reviewing other books and posting about them as well.

In the meantime I have other news of a literary bent. Last night Joel and Dana of Well Preserved and I hosted a small preserve tasting party to introduce our friends and fellow bloggers to Kate Payne, the author of The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking. Kate, Joel and I connected through the CanJam last year so we delighted to hear she was coming here to promote her book and it was a wonderful excuse to get a group of like minded people together for an evening of canning talk and preserve tasting. Many familiar faces were there: Laurel from Not Far From the Tree, Laura of Cubits Organics and Sarah B Hood of Toronto Tasting Notes and author of We Sure Can were among the guests.

There were many delicious jars to sample from, loads of interesting conversations and a chance to chat with Kate and grab a copy of her book. As the title suggests, it's a modern take on 'old fashioned' skills like canning and it's full of great ideas for for creating a beautiful home environment on a minimal budget.

As much as I wish I had time right now to be beautifying my home, or even reading about it, I'm still knee deep in preserving. Tonight it's more tomatoes, chicken stock and chili garlic paste. I also still have grapes, autumn olives (!more on those later!) and a boatload of celery to deal with. But when the freezer is finally full and the jars are all processed and lined up on the shelves, there's a pile of books with my name on them!

Wordless Wednesday- This Week's Foraging

2011-09-14T11:49:00.006-04:00

Clockwise from the top:
Black Walnuts, Toronto Island.
Yellow Plums, Not Far From The Tree pick
Green Grape Tomatoes, Sorauren Market, (bartered for some Una's Heartstock)
Mixed Unripened Tomatoes, left in a basket on the sidewalk after someone cleared their garden

Last of the Lazy Days of Summer

2011-09-11T15:49:00.001-04:00

The calendar and the weather agree it's still summer but the sky tells the truth. The rapidly changing angle of the sun, that particular deep shade of blue of a September afternoon, the chill in the evenings after a hot day, all spell the demise of yet another summer. Night comes faster now and the stars seem clearer- last night as I stared up at the night sky and a nearly full moon, the heavens appeared closer and more vivid than I can ever recall in this city full of light pollution. These are things that you cannot capture with a camera but it doesn't make them any less tangible.

In the heat of the day however, it's easy to forget that summer's coming to a close, and the lure of the beach, a blanket and a book is hard to ignor. Like me the tomatoes are in denial, throwing out new flowers and fruit like they've got months of growing yet to do. I long to seize their optimism and I have my fingers crossed for a long Indian summer but their days are numbered no matter what. Better to try to ripen what's there than expend energy on new growth.

So for this lazy Sunday of summer, a compromise: this morning I cut back most of the new growth on on all tomatoes but I left a branch or two of new growth and flowers- for the bees, if not for any fruit I'll ever see. And this evening when a chill sneaks into the air, I'll fire up the canner and bottle up some grape juice for the winter ahead. But for the rest of the afternoon, you'll find me lying on a blanket in the sun reading a book. While I still can.

Making The Best Of It

2011-09-08T12:45:00.009-04:00

It's hard to admit this but my gardens were a total disaster this year. You know it's bad when even the morning glories failed to bloom! I can point fingers at the weather, my month long absence or the marauding wildlife (note the squirrel in the former potato bucket) but it all amounts to the same- not much produce. When I arrived home from the UK, there was a lone butternut squash growing on the roof and I admired it for several days. Then one morning it vanished without a trace- the Russian swore he spotted a squirrel running down the alley with it in it's mouth. The pepper squash didn't even make it that far- if it ever produced any offspring, they didn't last long enough for me to witness them. My roof tomatoes were stripped of the few little green fruit they managed to produce. All my peppers got eaten, even the hot ones. The garden in the ground fared only slightly better. We've eaten a few tomatoes and beans but have yet to see a cuke or summer squash. There's lots more tomatoes finally but they are small and green and I doubt they'll make it in time. I emptied the potato bucket today to find -you guessed it- 3 tiny potatoes. I swear they are even smaller than last year. I think I'm just not meant to grow potatoes. My last hope is the brussel sprouts- they look okay but I'm pretty sure they should be taller by now- so far they resemble skinny cabbage.

So what do you do when the season tells you it's time to put up food for winter and there's none to work with? When even Not Far From the Tree picks are few and far between?

You raid your neighbour's, friend's and family's gardens for excess/unwanted produce!

The Russian and I took a few days last week to go visit my family in Sarnia. My parents still reside in the house I grew up in and many years ago when we were a huge group to feed, they planted a number of fruit trees. Since only three of them live there now (my parents are raising one of my nephews), they don't have much use for all of the fruit and most of it rots on the ground. (actually it's the nephew's job to pick it up and dump it in the compost but like most 11 year olds, he has a million things he'd rather be doing). The pears were lovely but got eaten by the Russian before they made it back here unfortunately- that man loves his pears! Most of the apples were still good- a bit scabby and prone to worms but tasty just the same. We spent a good hour picking them all up, discarded the rotten ones and still ended up with over a bushel. The nephew found picking up apples was more fun with company and was enthusiastic at the idea of some apple sauce so we cut them up and cooked them down. Eight large containers went into the freezer and one jar plus a bag of fresh apples came home with me!

My brother and his family live only a few blocks away from our parents- his garden was rather generous this year and they couldn't eat everything they planted so he told us to come by and help ourselves. My dad made away with a large basket of cucumbers for pickling and I took the beans! They had a bumper crop of both yellow and green bush beans and the plants were loaded with beans that were past the good eating stage- large and bit tough. Last year I discovered that these make excellent pickled beans so I picked a bagful to take home, along with some onions and dill. A stop at my sister's later that day contributed a nice red pepper from her garden to complete the ingredients needed for some sweet and some dilly pickled beans.

Sweet Pickled Beans (Makes 6 x 500ml or 12 x 250 ml jars)

11 cups of fresh snap beans, green or yellow ( if you use older beans they are delicious but a bit more dense, which I like)

2 tbsp minced garlic

3 cups white vinegar,

2 cups cider vinegar

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

1 2/3 cups water

4 tsp pickling salt

½ cup mixed chopped peppers ( sweet or hot to taste- optional)

Wash beans and trim ends. In a large pot combine all ingredients except beans and peppers. Bring to a boil and time for 5 minutes. Fill jars with beans. Pack tightly but make sure to leave ½ inch head space- trim beans if necessary. Add 1 tsp of pepper mix to each jar. Add hot brine to jars to cover beans, leaving ½ inch head space. Gently bang jars to remove any air bubbles or use a chop stick to dislodge. Wipe rim to remove any stickiness. Centre snap lid on jar and apply screw band. Tighten to just finger tight.

Place all jars in canning pot. Start timing when water returns to a boil. Process for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and remove jars from water. Allow to cool and check seals.

Store in a cool dark place for minimum of 3 weeks before opening.

Garlic Dilly Beans

Follow recipe as above but use only ½ cup white sugar

Add one clove of garlic, peeled and 1 tsp of dill seed to each jar before adding brine.

Process as above.

Back in Toronto, I continued my quest for stuff to preserve and I been blessed with a generous neighbour who gave me a pailful of cherry tomatoes. Those were dehydrated on cookie sheets in the oven, making me doubly thankful for the cooler weather we've had this week. Today I finally got to go on another Not Far From The Tree pick. It's been bad year for local fruit too so this was only only my third pick this season. We were picking grapes, both green and purple and I had to admire the lovely vegetable garden which took up the entire backyard! The homeowner and I compared notes on tomatoes and commiserated on the not so stellar year and then she handed me a spaghetti squash and told me to help myself to some tomatoes and celery! I sense some sauce in the making.

Of course for the major canning projects I usually have to resort to buying in bulk anyhow. In all honesty I can't grow enough peppers, tomatoes or cukes in my small space to even come close to the amounts I like to put up. Thankfully the greengrocers are loaded with bushel baskets of everything I need and it's all Ontario grown. I've been getting sweet peppers for $1/lb, I've picked up a couple quart baskets of plum tomatoes for $1 each, and corn is still cheap and plentiful. So all is not lost and the preserve shelf and the freezer will be full of goodness again this year. It may not all be backyard grown but it's local and seasonal and that's going have to do.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with 20 pounds of grapes!

Casey 1991- 2011

2011-09-06T09:44:00.010-04:00

There's a big hole in my heart right now. On Friday Sept 2 my beloved Casey took her last nap and peacefully faded away in her sleep. Right to the end she was still going strong and although I knew this time was coming I hadn't expected it to be quite so sudden. Certainly her body was showing signs of wear; her paws were less than snow white these days, and her ginger fur was fading to tawny beige. She had a limp that appeared last year and never left, and she was having difficulty retracting her claws so her paws made a clicking noise on the hardwood floors like a dog's when she walked. Her hearing had been mostly gone for a while now which made her usual talkative demeanour that much louder, but she was still totally mobile and seemed bright and happy. She was napping a lot more so I bought her a nice comfy catbed but she preferred to sleep in the bottom shelf of the bookcase or under the bench on the deck. This summer couldn't make the trek to sleep in the tomatoes like she used to. But her appetite never failed her and if she preferred soft food to dry (and let me know it) one could hardly blame her. She still enjoyed her favourite treat- sour cream and onion chips- the day before she died. Still she was drinking a lot more water these days and missed the litter box more frequently; although I can't be sure, I'm pretty certain some of those were deliberate expressions of annoyance. I knew her days were numbered but I didn't know how few she had left.

Casey had 20 good years with me and I feel like I've lost my closest friend. She was born in my closet during a Stanely Cup playoff game in June of 1991 and we were never apart for long since then. When there was only her and I, she slept on my bed, either at my head or feet, every night. She was with me through seven apartments and too many roommates to count. She was always there to greet me when I came home late from work or play in my single years, and she missed me frantically when I was away for long periods in my touring years. I think she truly appreciated the arrival of the Russian and the more settled life that came with him, although she remain my girl to the end.

She was less certain about the additon of the other cats. She was already a senior when Shelby arrived and was less than thrilled about being a play thing for a young kitten but in the long run I think she was glad for the company and Shelby adored her. My grief is being echoed by Shelby's as she keeps searching the house for Casey, crying in corners and closets. Both of the farm cats are noticeably distraught- they won't let me out of their sight and both have been sleeping on our bed at night which they never do when being outside is still an option. Last night Shelby lay on my chest and batted my hands to keep petting her- it's a thing that Casey always did but Shelby is usually too aloof to beg for attention. We both miss her horribly.

If there's a blessing to be found in this it's that Casey went out on her own terms, in her favourite place - asleep on the deck on a warm summer day. She saved me from seeing her decline even further and I am grateful I never had watch her suffer or make the decision when to end her life, because I don't know that I could have done it.

Farewell Casey-Lou, I hope there's lots of cheese and tuna wherever you are.

Foraging Far From Home

2011-08-18T08:40:00.010-04:00

As all good things do, my trip to the UK ended much too soon and I arrived back in Toronto yesterday. My intentions of posting while away were thwarted by technical difficulties on many fronts- poor internet access, incompatible wireless features and then my laptop died altogether. Thankfully my camera had no such issues and though it required several battery recharges, I managed to take over 800 photos! And although the primary focus of my trip was to do some genealogy research, this did not mean that I was too busy to think about gardening and canning- far from it in fact. Three weeks was plenty of time to wander about sightseeing and thankfully my aunt who was travelling with me is of a similar bent. Like me, she is a avid reader and gardener so we stopped in as many book stores as cathedrals, and photographed as many gardens as we did Roman ruins.

English country gardens are renowned for good reason; the moderate climate and perpetual precipitation makes for ideal garden conditions for many plants and we were astounded at the lushness of the greenery and abundance of flowers. Many plants that I am familiar with here in Canada were barely recognizable as the same plant-we saw rosemary the size of juniper bushes, hollyhocks that towered over us, and hydrangeas that resembled pink and blue sheep! Not to mention the lavender that grows everywhere staining entire fields a vivid purple as you drive by.

But the plant that amazed me the most was blackberries- they were literally everywhere and loaded with fat juicy berries! Better known as brambles in the UK, they are so prolific that we took to munching on them everywhere we went and I couldn't figure out why no one seemed to pick them until I tried to gather more than a quick handful. Brambles sport some serious thorns which latch onto skin and clothing alike, making a berry picking expedition resemble the losing end of a cat fight. I persevered however and one glorious afternoon I succeed in gathering an amount worthy of canning. I still have the scratches to prove it.

Blackberries weren't the only thing that was easily spotted; I spied many a fine apple tree and on my afternoon pick I managed to gather a large bagful of sweet juicy apples as well as a few stray red plums. At this point in our trip we were enjoying a visit with friends and I couldn't resist cooking up some blackberry applesauce and some plum blackberry jam. Sadly I didn't want to risk a confrontation with Canadian Customs on my way home so I left it all for our hosts to enjoy.

I did however manage to bring something home with me. Proper 4 piece canning jars with a glass lid and rubber seal were invented in the UK, by the Kilner family in 1852- the same design was later copied by Mason and all the current canning jars we know today evolved from that design. My surname name is Kilner and although I have never found a direct link to the glass making Kilners (my lot were woolen manufacturers), the glass factory existed in the same area of England that my family came from. Whether we're related or not, I still longed for a jar or two with my name on it and although the original jars are now collectible and difficult to find, another glass manufacturer is now making them again so it was my mission to find some to bring home with me. At first this proved more difficult than you'd imagine- I got lots of blank looks and a few comments about how no one cans anymore which surprised me! Eventually my aunt found a hinged storage jar with the Kilner brand on it in Scotland so I was somewhat appeased but still held out hope for the actual canning jars. And fortune shined on me-a random stop in a small home decorating store in Henley-on-Thames provided me with both a quart and pint jar and a box of seals. Based on the price (over 3 pounds each for the jars and almost 6 for the seals!) it's no wonder very few people can in England. I can buy a case of jars here for less than I paid for 2. But the pleasure of seeing my family name in big letters across the jars is priceless to me and I paid it happily and stuffed them in my overflowing suitcase to bring home.

So I'm home again, with loads of pictures and stories to share. And I have some other exciting news on the home front, which will have to wait for another post. My gardens survived without me although they've looked better so I have some work to do. It's also time to start some serious canning- I spotted pickling cukes at a good price today which means the lazy days of summer are almost behind us and I'm itching to get going. England was wonderful but I'm glad to be home.

I has Tomatoes! ( And rain finally)

2011-07-24T10:09:00.010-04:00

There were two more but they got eaten (not by me sadly).
Also I have no idea what variety of tomatoes these are. The plant was a volunteer that sprouted over the winter and then got attacked by spidermites so I cut it back to almost nothing at one point and then stuck it in the garden when it looked like it might survive. It's a small tumbling cherry which makes me thing it's a ditmarsher (I grew one last year) but the colour of the fruit looks more pink, like Russian Rose, which I also grow. This is not my best year for tomatoes. I got off to a rocky start with the aforementioned mites, I mixed up most of my seedlings so not sure what got planted where in containers and I'm having loads of issues with BER- all the Opalkas so far have had to be tossed along with most of the Big Orange Stripes and even a Black Brandywine today - it broke my heart because it was so close to ripe but the middle was rotten throughout.

It's been such a funny year- cold and rainy for so long, things got off to a slow start, then when the heat finally kicked in, it was so dry everything was parched. I've managed to keep everything alive till now but it's felt like all my plants were in survival mode, growing but not producing much. We finally got a good solid rain last night- after the heatwave that was the past few weeks it was desperately needed and everything looks so much happier today. Just in time for me to leave.

Tomorrow I head off on my big adventure- my first ever trip to the UK! My aunt and I are spending almost 4 weeks there, doing some family history research among other touristy stuff. If you are so inclined I hope to be posting some of my adventures in my newest blog The Rising Village but I'll try to post here as well if I get a chance.

It's not great timing for the gardens and preserving but hopefully there will still be lots to eat and can when I return mid August - as long as the Russian remembers to water!

One last pic of the beets in the bin! They're going to have to make it without me watching over them. I think they'll be fine.

Eating in the Heat

2011-07-19T10:06:00.001-04:00

We've been having some really hot days recently - temps in the 30's with the humidex making it feel well over 40 (that's 90's and over 100 respectively in American.) This week we expect to hit 36 by Thurs with no relief in sight. For the first time in my life I am grateful for the air conditioning that sneaks in from the apartment vents below us- it doesn't do much in the rest of the house but if I shut the bedroom door it's at least bearable to sleep in at night.

To make matters worse we haven't seen rain in weeks either. Yesterday we were expected to get hit with some big thunder storms but they somehow skirted by us here in Toronto, hitting west, south and east of us but delivering only a smattering of raindrops here on the way by. My gardens are still surviving but the rainbarrel is dry and the containers on the roof have to be watered daily. I'll be hooking up the hose to the kitchen sink today and giving everything a good soaking before refilling the rainbarrel myself. I don't know if it's the lack of water but everything seems to be in a lull right now; the lettuce is done, the bush beans are slowing to a trickle but the climbing beans are just starting to flower. I don't have any cukes or summer squash yet and the tons of tomatoes are still still a ways from ripening- at this rate I'll be lucky to eat one before I leave for England next week!

The most noticeable effect of all this heat is on my appetite and I find I'm not very enthusiastic about preparing food either. When it's too hot to cook, too late for salad greens and too early for tomatoes, what do you make? Yesterday I went to the Sorauren Farmer's Market hoping for inspiration and came home with a loaf of olive bread, a cucumber, some fresh onions, a zucchini and a patty pan squash.
I'd never made cucumber gazpacho before but it seemed easy enough and I used what I had on hand to come up with a variation that was exactly perfect for this heat wave.

Cucumber Gazpacho

1 good size cucumber - I used a field cucumber and didn't bother to seed it but you can if the seeds are large.
1 green pepper, seeded - I picked a very small one from one of my container peppers
1 hot pepper seeded (I used a jalapeno)
1 glug of olive oil
splash of red wine vinegar (to taste- you could use lemon juice or balsamic too)
1 clove of garlic
handful of onion greens- I cut the tops off a fresh red onion- you could use spring onions as well
1 sprig of fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste.

Chop the veggies in chunks. Add everything to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth- I had to add about 1/2 cup of water to thin it slightly. Pour in bowls, and drizzle with good quality olive oil. (I also added a touch of brine from a jar of pickled hot peppers to mine because I like heat when I'm hot but the Russian is a bit of wimp- he doesn't like olives either so guess which bowl is mine!) Chill before serving.

Serve with a piece of dense bread to soak up the remainders and you have a perfect meal for a hot summer night! I wish I'd bought more cucumbers.

The Late Great Beet Challenge!

2011-07-15T10:57:00.007-04:00

Linda at Tree and Twig Farm was offering up some free Detroit Red Beet seeds last week if you agreed to participate in a grow-a-long so I gladly signed up! Linda sent the seeds to readers coast to coast and we all agreed to post about our results so we can compare locations, growing conditions and of course results! The idea is to show that it's not too late to still plant seeds and in my case I hadn't yet planted any beets and a bin just waiting to be used. My seeds arrived in the mail earlier this week and today is the agreed upon planting date!

I've never tried to grow beets in a container before but to make the most use of space I like to try different things in the ground and up here on the deck to see what works best. I have very different growing conditions in the two locations- the garden in the ground is partly shaded and the soil depth is still not as deep as I'd like. It lies on top of a former gravel driveway, which provides great drainage but not much depth for root crops. I provide water from a soaker hose attached to a rainbarrel so only the roots get water unless it rains! Up on the deck we get lots of sun and it's a black tar roof so it's hot and can be very dry. I have to water often and that sometimes washes away the soil nutrients so I feed the containers regularly with worm compost and a slow release mineral mix from Urban Harvest. I already have a similar bin of carrots planted so the two bins are getting a good amount of sun sitting on my work bench on the deck.

Also in containers nearby are the tomatoes,

the sweet and hot peppers,

and of course the roof squash!

I'm looking forward to some tasty beet greens and hopefully, a wonderful crop of beets!

Adventures in Urban Harvesting

2011-07-13T14:09:00.001-04:00

Guess what my second NFFTT pick was?

If you guessed mulberries, you'd be half right! I actually went to a sour cherry pick, from a very tall tree located right downtown. Sadly most of the cherries were tauntingly out of reach, even from an 8 ft ladder. My share of the volunteer's split was about 2 lbs- not a great haul but free sour cherries are never a bad thing. Luckily there was also a mulberry tree in the alley right behind the house we were picking from and they were the biggest juiciest mulberries I've ever seen!
After gathering a bagful of mulberries (and staining my hand a very vivid deep purple in the process), I set out to do the rest of my errands for the afternoon. Walking to the subway, I stumbled upon a line of people waiting to receive something that was being handed out of black van parked on the sidewalk. On closer inspection I realized it was cans of beer! Molson's was giving out samples of their new brand 'M' and all they required was a swipe of your drivers license. So I lined up and walked away with a bag containing 4 cans of beer!

I continued on with my plans with my purple stained hands now carrying a bag of cherries, a bag of mulberries and a bag of beer. Some of the mulberries had leaked through the bag and I had purple smudges on my shorts and legs as well. I had to pick up a package from a hotel and I also stopped for a bit of shopping on Queen St. No one even gave me a second glance!

On my way home I was a bit hungry so I stopped at a snack wagon for a plate of chips (yes I know they're called fries but I grew up on chip wagons and if it's big chunks of deep fried potatoes served in a paper dish with a toothpick and doused with salt and vinegar, they're chips to me.) I got a bit carried away with the vinegar and it was just as I boarded the streetcar home that the paper dish began to leak. No napkins handy, I had no choice but to let it drip all down my arms and legs. I must have been quite the picture- hands dyed brilliant purple, fruit juices and vinegar dribbling all over the place- the only thing that wasn't leaking was the beer thankfully! For once I was the person no one wanted to sit near on the streetcar.

But I made it home with all my bounty- the fruit is in the fridge waiting to be canned and the Russian very much appreciated the beer. And the best part? Vinegar removes mulberries stains like magic! Who knew?

We're in Print! Announcing We Sure Can by Sarah B Hood

2011-07-07T13:35:00.006-04:00

I've known Sarah of Toronto Tasting Notes for a few years now- we first met through plants swaps as members of the You Grow Girl forum. Last year we both participated in the CanJam organized by Tigress and I know her to be a connoisseur and preserver of the highest merit. So I was pleased and flattered when she asked if she could include our recipe for Pickled Asparagus and Fiddleheads in her upcoming book We Sure Can! How Jams and Pickles are Reviving the Lure and Lore of Local Food

You can check out a preview and order a copy of the book here. It's chock full of great information and scrumptious recipes by contributors including the aftermentioned Tigress, and fellow Torontonian preservers Joel and Dana of Well Preserved as well as many others. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!

If you are near Leslieville in Toronto you might want to check out the book launch on Aug 7

Sunday, August 7
9:00am - 2:00pm
Leslieville Farmers Market
Jonathan Ashbridge Park, Queen Street East, Toronto
(Rain date: August 14)

I'm pretty sure there will be delicious samples!

First Pick of the Year!

2011-07-07T01:38:00.006-04:00

I went on my first pick this season with Not Far From the Tree today and came home with not one but two types of fruit- serviceberries and red currants! Serviceberries (also known as saskatoon berries) closely resemble blueberries in looks and taste, except that they grow on trees. Here in Toronto serviceberry trees are quite common, being a very popular choice of the municipal native tree planting program a few years ago. Today's pick wasn't exactly spectacular, yielding a scant 4 lbs from two trees. Half went to PARC a local community kitchen and the other half was divided between the volunteers - we were 7 in total so my share was about a cup total. The currants were an added bonus; not part of our assigned pick , the homeowner who I know from the Sorauren Market allowed me to pick them as well since he doesn't do anything with them. I ended up with just about a cup of them as well.

I debated just eating them fresh but now that I have free time again, the urge to can them won out and I hunted around until I found a recipe that suited both. What I came up with was an combination of a few different recipes, mainly based on a red currant and blueberry jam recipe found here

Small Batch Serviceberry Red Currant Jam
I used equal amounts of the berries and a matching amount of sugar -in my case 1 cup of each. With both I included some underripe berries (about 25%) to help with set since there's more available pectin.

Heat currants in a non reactive pot with a small amount of water until berries are soft and release juice. Strain through a sieve, pressing down with the back of a spoon- since it will be jam not jelly it doesn't matter if the juice is cloudy. Add juice and sugar back to the pot, heat over med high until boiling, stirring regularly.

When juice is thickened,about 5 minutes, add serviceberries and continue to boil. I also added a few cloves and allspice. Heat while stirring until serviceberries are softened, then mash with a potato masher. Stir well and check for set if necessary- I didn't have to because it was already setting in the pot. Pour in sterilized jars and process for 5 minutes in a hot waterbath canner.

I ended up with two x scant 125 ml jars which I didn't bother to can, intending to put them in the fridge. The jam turned out fantastic- sweet yet tangy, and pretty too. One jar didn't even make it to the fridge but was devoured with some brie.

Looks like I need to do some more picking!

Welcome Summer!

2011-07-05T13:46:00.018-04:00

I know I'm a little late on the season but I've been a bit preoccupied - I work for PRIDE Toronto and this past weekend was our annual parade and festival. For most of the month of June I am tethered to a computer, planning and organizing the musical stages that are a large part of the festival. This year we had six stages and the amount of email generated in getting those organized is mindboggling!I love my work but the down side of course is that there is little time for much else just when the season starts. Thankfully my gardens are in full swing and the daily breaks to weed and water act as a much needed respite from the constant stream of information I channel. So even tho I haven't had the time to post much, my gardens have been chugging away and I've even managed to take some photos of the progression. The festival is now complete for this year, I have no voice and some serious blisters on my feet but my veggies are kicking in and my gardens have welcomed me back with open arms and fresh food.

Everything is doing well in the backyard garden. The tomato plants are huge and bearing lots of fruit.

The peppers are lagging a bit- they love the heat and we haven't had any consistant hot spells yet.

The zucchini are flowering and the patty pan squash should follow suit any day now.

The cukes are also making themselves known and I have some lemon cukes snuck in places including beside the compost - these were a gift from ellieT of Wet My Plants along with a much appreciated moonflower- my favourite flower of ever!

Potatoes in the bucket are coming along nicely although I think I should have added more soil. They haven't started flowering yet so no point in looking for early potatoes sadly.

The final addition was 8 brussel sprout plants I added a few weeks ago- I haven't had much luck growing them in the past but I love them so much I decided to give it another shot- I spaced them well, in a spot that gets a fair bit of sun.

The clear winners so far are the bush beans!
Although I lost all but one of the wax plants, I have a nice bunch of green beans starting to produce and we had the first bunch for dinner last night!

Up on the deck the tomatoes are also coming along nicely- I don't have any ripe fruit yet but it won't be long! Everything up here is exposed to more heat so the peppers are a bit advanced to their in ground counterparts- there are already tiny peppers forming on some. I think I may have been duped on this tomato tho:

It's a Baxter's Bush Cherry that I bought as a seedling but so far it it neither bush-like nor cherry-like and it's threatening to take over!

The carrots in a bin are a bit thin at the moment but making progress. I'm planning on filling the matching bin with some black radish and beet seeds, now that I have time!

The roof squash are loving it up there and I'm excited to watch their progress

I read lot of gardening blogs and I find it very interesting what's growing at any given time in different areas of the continent. Obviously the southern US is always ahead of me but I'm often surprised to read what's ready elsewhere. I know some gardeners growing north of me are already eating new potatoes and baby zucchini (jealous!), where as some gardeners quite a bit south of here were only planting beans a few weeks ago and mine have been in the ground since the first week of May! Is it due to micro climates, using greenhouses, or just preference? What's ready now in your garden?

Wordless Wednesday - Clotheslines as Art

2011-06-21T23:37:00.014-04:00

Berries from the Backyard!

2011-06-19T14:00:00.015-04:00

My main focus in the backyard and rooftop gardens has always been vegetables. For the most part I've always preferred veggies to fruit and for preserving I have access to large amounts of fruit for free through Not Far From the Tree. The exception to both of those things is berries- I adore them but we seldom get requests to pick berries with NFFTT. I have a few secret foraging spots for raspberries and blackberries in hidden spots of the city but some years I miss them or someone beats me to them. Two years ago someone gifted me with a small clump of wild strawberries and I stuck them in an unused corner of the garden near the rosebush. I didn't have high hopes but thought they'd look pretty if nothing else. Last year the runners had increased the number of plants by tenfold but we didn't really see much in the way of berries. This year however the amount of plants has increased dramatically- runners appeared all over the garden and I was forced to remove a few in order to have nay room for anything else. Where there was room along the fence and into the neighbouring parking lot I let them roam freely and surprisingly they have managed to root themselves in cracks of asphalt quite successfully! They also seemed to thrive on the long wet spring we had and I noticed loads of flowers this year. Now that summer weather is in full swing those flowers have become thimble sized strawberries, sweet and intensely flavoured, and I am picking them as quickly as they ripen. So far most of them have ended up straight in my mouth but I may yet have enough to make a single jar of luscious backyard strawberry jam!

Now I'm sending hopeful glances in the direction of the raspberry plant I've been nursing from seed for 3 years- it has actual canes this year!

The rest of the gardens are hit and miss. The tomatoes in the ground are flowering and look sturdy, but the peppers are lagging a bit.

I've got two green zucchini and one pattypan squash in there too and they are looking good but sadly I lost some cukes to marauding wildlife so am down to one lone pickling survivor. The wildlife has also wreaked havoc on my beans- I planted and replanted green and yellow bush beans, edamame and a miscellaneous bunch of climbing beans only to lose most of them when they were barely out of the ground. One row of green bush beans is finally filling in and few climbing beans survive but only a single yellow bush and no edamame survived the slaughter.

The potatoes in the bucket however are looking fantastic and we're currently eating tons of salad greens and curly mustard!

Up on the roof things are somewhat better. I have a mere 6 tomatoes in containers this year and almost all of them are flowering and even beginning to fruit!

The mini peppers seem healthy and have flower buds already.

I'm attempting to grow carrots and beets in containers this year and they are just coming up now but I planted them late so to be expected. My most exciting experiment this year is the squash bins on the upper roof!

I've had little success growing winter squash in the ground - normally possums and mice nibble off what few fruit that manage to appear before the plants succumb to powdery mildew, a persistent issue in my shady damp yard. Up on the roof in large shallow bins, the squash are thriving in the heat and sun and my hope is that the more consistent airflow keeps the mildew at bay and the more challenging access keeps the rodents away as well.

I planted some borage in the bins as well to attract pollinators and I'll post updates to keep track of their progress up there- I'm looking forward to see if they'll spread out on the flat roof or cascade over the side to make a hanging wall of squash to the deck below.

And should any varmints find their way up there, Shelby (aka the cheetah) will be lying in wait for them.

Speaking of the farm cats, Casey turned an impressive 20 years old today. She's celebrating by having a nap in her favourite shady spot on the deck. Varmint hunting is for the young.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T13:58:00.010-04:00

Is there any month as lovely as June?

Good Things Grow

2011-05-25T13:15:00.012-04:00

I am stuffed full of local Ontario goodness this week. In addition to the asparagus orgy, we've been eating fiddleheads, ramps, green onions, red mustard, rhubarb, eggs, and smoked bacon to name a few. The smoked bacon and the mustard greens came from Wheelbarrow Farm, one of the market venders at the Sorauren Market. Tony raises heritage breeds of pigs as well as organic veggies and if bacon can taste happy, this definitely does!

Things are growing on the home farm too. The beans are up! At least the green beans so far, no sign of the yellow or edamame yet but I'm confident it won't long now.

The potatoes are growing in leaps and bounds- I've added more soil to the pail twice now.

I also got some wild garlic plants from Forbes Wild Foods at the market- apparently wild garlic will grow anywhere so I'm testing tht theory by giving it a spot at the base of the big tree of heaven, where little grows now except rubekia.

I have two identifiable volunteers in the garden this year courtesy of the compost again I assume. The first is a pea of unknown parentage- I hadn't planted any this year at all.

Also a member of the brassica family has emerged and again I'm in the dark about which kind since I've yet to plant any. It picked a nice sunny spot that I hadn't allocated to any thing else so it gets to stay, at least until I figure out what it it!

The first round of tomatoes went in the ground last Friday and seem to be happy so far. I planted a brandywine, a big orange stripe, two opalkas and a black brandywine so far.

I still have quite a few on the deck awaiting a spot- several more will go in the garden and the rest in containers. My peppers are coming along slowly but should be ready to go in containers soon as well.

The potted herbs are coming along nicely and I have basil ready to go in the tomato containers as soon as I get to them.

Speaking of which, I have new plan for maximizing my container gardens- it's still a work in progress and I have a few kinks to work out but I'm hoping to get it started this weekend and will post more once I do.

I finally got to make the asapargus soup I mentioned in the previous post and it was absolutely heavenly. Mine didn't look quite as professional as Jamie Oliver's but I'm pretty sure it tasted as delicious. So good in fact that I'm currently cooking a pot of asparagus ends (left over from last night's canning class) to save as stock for future batches. Since there's no milk products in this recipe it will freeze perfectly and we can enjoy asparagus soup all next winter.

Finally!

2011-05-23T23:59:00.005-04:00

Yep, that's local Ontario asparagus at long last! Along with some fresh free range eggs I picked up with the idea of making this lovely recipe from Jamie Oliver. Except we ate every stick of it already; steamed, sauteed in butter, in omlettes and with pasta. Asparagus for breakfast, lunch and dinner- this is how I ended up with kidney stones one year! Now that I know that I need to double up on my water intake to flush the excess calcium oxalate (also found in most dark green veggies), I'll eat it till I'm sick of it! I picked up some more at the Sorauren market today and tomorrow I'm teaching a canning workshop using my pickled asparagus and fiddleheads recipe. I'm going to make that soup yet and I still need to freeze some for next winter too.

Is there anything better than fresh locally grown asparagus?

(It was worth the wait.)

Progress

2011-05-16T10:29:00.000-04:00

I wrote this post last week only to have it swallowed up by the Friday the 13th blackhole. Now we have cool temps and rain again but at least I had one week to get few things begun.

At long last, the weather is cooperating, the Election is over (hideous as the results maybe) and I've finally been able to get going on my gardens. It's been a rough start this year; poor germination, lousy weather and a spider mite invasion have left me light years behind where I was this time last year. I'm not sure what's causing the issues with germination but less than half of my seeds took this year. I do find it odd that this is the first year I've ever purchased proper seed starting mix- normally I use whatever soil I have on hand with some compost or worm castings thrown in and everything seeds just fine. Based on the rate of germination I'll not waste money on seed starting mix again.

The real disaster however was the spider mites. By the time I realized I had them it was a full on infestation. I had to discard the two tomatoes I overwintered and the accidental tomatillos; they were less than peak from growing in unsupplimented light and they didn't stand a chance. The new seedlings were also hit but I appear to have caught them in time that an intense regime of homemade insecticide using neem among other things seems to have done the trick. They still look rather pathetic tho. I have most of them potted up and outside now and they appear to be thriving. Fortunately I still had a large number of seedlings in the mini greenhouse and the mites didn't make it that far.

Things in the garden are coming along- I've only just planted my peas and beans but the composters are emptied and the gardens are prepped to go. I think I missed the window for rapini and other greens. I'll save them for a fall crop now which should make them last longer next winter.

My wish list is as usual bigger than the space I have to grow in but I've mapped out my veggie plot and think it will make the best use of my small space.

I've also started my potatoes in a pail again- this year I'm just using potatoes that sprouted on their own in the worm bin so I'm already seeing some action. I remembered to drill some drainage hole in the garbage can this time!

At the Hort sale last week I picked up a few things to add to my tiny flower gardens. For the Sun garden I purchased some Siberian Iris.

For the Shade garden, I got Virginia Bluebells:

And for the Woodland garden, I added a tiny Solomon's Seal to the trillums and foxglove.

Best of all, my bee nesting box finally arrived! It's rather industrial looking and we decided to mount it to the fence that ends in the middle of the veggie plot so the pollinatorswill have ample options to choose from . It's also tucked in beside one of the composters and less noticible this way; hopefully it will be left alone by passersby.

Not having a fenced-in yard is often a drawback. I've already had issue with off leash dogs doing damage to some of my gardens- my columbine, magenta violet and a swatch of ditch lilies all have been mangled in the past week but thankfully, they are bouncing back.

So things are slowly getting there. Now if only we get some sun!

I was actually hoping for chickens...

2011-05-14T18:32:00.005-04:00

I had a nice update all written and ready to post yesterday. And then Friday the 13th happened and blogger was down all day yesterday. Today when I went to find my post it had vanished. Crap.

In addition my intrepid farmcat and huntress Shadow decided to bring me a gift this morning. Recognizing that certain tone in her meow I went to find what I expected to be a moth or a bee, her usual prey. Instead I found this:

It's a sparrow and it's amazingly still alive. And hungry! It eats every 20 minutes - thankfully only in daylight so there will be no need of midnight feedings. Although I still haven't figured out what to do with it when I have to do things like go to work.

There will be an update post soon. Likely typed one handed as I keep a bird warm in my other. It seems so small to leave alone in a bowl.

I hope sparrow poop is good for the garden.

Leeks, Ramps and Salsify!

2011-05-05T18:29:00.015-04:00

I'm still on the hunt for fresh spring greens so I made a trip to the Dufferin Grove Market today, hoping to find early Ontario asparagus. No such luck but I did find some other lovely things to distract myself with for now.

The beautiful leeks are sweet and tender and best of all, locally grown! They were started in the field last fall, then dug up and moved to the greenhouse to over winter. Helga from Pine River Organic Farm mentioned that this was a first time experiment; they look pretty good so I'd call it a success! My plan is to marinate them briefly and grill them on the barbecue so the sugars caramelize.

Ramps, also known as wild leeks are a spring favourite and I was delighted to find them at the Forbes Wild Foods booth. You can also try foraging for them yourself but since their rise in popularity ramps are becoming overpicked and once the root has been removed the plant doesn't return. I prefer to obtain mine from a reputable source that uses sustainable foraging practises.

One the best things to do with ramps is make pesto from the leaves. Blanche the leaves briefly before processing to remove some of the pungency if you prefer; I didn't and my pesto has a very pronounced bite to it. I used tahini in place of nuts to make it a more creamy texture and add lots of olive oil and a touch of salt- simple and delicious on pasta or as a garlicky sauce to drizzle on other dishes. I also like to dry the leaves and use them in soups in the winter. The bulbs can be pickled or used fresh in any number of recipes.

The most exciting find was the salsify! Not being too familiar with it I had to ask what it was and how to serve it. The vendor from Greenfields was more than happy to fill me in on it's uses and suggested that it should be cooked in a white sauce to enhance the scallop-like flavour it's known for. After a bit of research I have determined that this particular variety is black salsify, also known as oyster plant because of it's similar taste to shellfish. I also found out that's it's very nutritionally sound.

Nutrition
Serving Size per ½ cup
Amounts Per Serving % Daily Value
Calories 50
Calories from Fat 0
Total Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 15mg 1%
Total Carbohydrate 12g 4%
Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
Sugars 2g
Protein 2g
Vitamin A 0%
Vitamin C 8%
Calcium 4%
Iron 2%

To use salsify, wash it well, cut off the greens and peel the root - I found a small knife worked better than a standard peeler for this because the root was knobby and uneven.

Cut the root in small pieces and immediately place them in a bowl of water with lemon juice or vinegar added to prevent discolouration. The greens are also edible when they are young and can be added to salads.

You can add it to soups and stews like any root vegetable, or saute it in butter and/or mash it - it's very versatile! I went with the recommendation of the vendor and lightly pan fried it in butter and added it to a simple white sauce (which in my case was more beige than white since I only had Red Fife whole wheat flour on hand). It really does taste like scallops and was delicious! So delicious I forgot to take a photos of the finished dish before we ate it all!

This Sat May 7 is the The Horticultural Society of Parkdale and Toronto's Annual Plant Sale (affectionately known as the Hort Sale). This very popular event offers tons of lovely plants for sale; many are grown by the members themselves and there is also a number of local vendors like Urban Harvest and Sweetpeas. It's a great place to look for rare and hard to find varieties as well as popular annuals and perennials. There's a large area of native plants for sale as well as shrubs and vines. At the set up last night I spotted some gooseberry shrubs that I wish I had room for and I have my eyes on some Solomon's Seal and Virginia bluebells for my shade garden.

The sale takes place at:

Parkdale School and Community Centre

75 Lansdowne Ave at Seaforth,1 block N of Queen West

10:30 - 1:30

Get there Early!!

Blessings of May

2011-05-01T11:02:00.016-04:00

May I make my fond excuses for the lateness of the hour,
but we accept your invitation, and we bring you Beltane's flower.
For the May Day is the great day, sung along the old straight track.
And those who ancient lines did ley will heed the song that calls them back.
Pass the word and pass the lady, pass the plate to all who hunger.
Pass the wit of ancient wisdom, pass the cup of crimson wonder!!!

Cup of Wonder, Jethro Tull

We rose before dawn this morning for our annual pilgrimage to High Park to welcome in the first of May. It was a perfect morning; a hint of chill still in the air, a deep pink sunrise and the rain held off long enough for the song and dance festivities to take place. Being Sunday, no one was rushing off to work this year so there was time after for a leisurely breakfast and a walk through the woods.

The woods were full of wonders this morning, including an appearance by the fabled white squirrel!
The May Queen, perhaps?

As we traipsed through the forest, we gathered willow branches to make wreaths, from limbs felled in the recent windstorms.

We also picked some garlic mustard for pesto and foraged for fiddleheads, of which we were fortunate to find plenty! We followed sound foraging techniques even still; picked only from a patch that was very plentiful, plucked no more than one fiddlehead per clump and left far more than we gathered.

A caution for those who aren't familiar with them, fiddleheads should be washed thoroughly and never eaten raw. Some sources suggest boiling them and draining the water twice- I have never found this to be necessary but if you have a sensitive stomach you might want to take the extra step. After a good rinsing, I prefer to saute them in a bit of butter and eat them plain but they are wonderful in pasta dishes and can be substituted in any dish that calls for asparagus.

Wandering through a thicket of forsythia, we eventually stumbled onto the historical gardens of the original homestead, Colborne Lodge. The vegetable gardens are all but empty for now, except for some rhubarb and over wintered onions and garlic.

The floral gardens are already in full bloom and we were awed by the variety of spring bulbs that are lovingly planted by the park staff, including this beauty which I believe is a variety of tulip!

On a nearby hillside we discovered a mass of lilies as well; it was still too early in the season for flowers but we'll have to try to find our way back in time to see them in bloom. And in a week or so the cherry trees will be in blossom, so today's meander through the woods was hopefully just the first of many to come.

Blessed Beltane to you and yours! May your gardens be lush and fertile this year!

Edible Wild Spring Greens

2011-04-28T12:06:00.007-04:00

The crazy weather continues- yesterday we had some heavy rain but it cleared long enough for me to get out and play in the gardens for a while. One of the composters is in need of some repair so I emptied the entire thing onto the garden, raked out the good stuff and left the partially composted matter out overnight to get a good soaking from the rain. I'm heading to the hardware store to day to get some replacement screws to put it back together but in the meantime the wind has been blowing ferociously and I may not have any compost left to put in it!

The soil will benefit from the newly added compost and all the rain is helping mix it in. I raked a bit yesterday as well so things are looking nice and rich, ready for planting! I hope to get some cool weather seeds in the ground in the next few days; peas,rapini and lettuces for now. It will be a few weeks before we'll be harvesting them so in the meantime I dug a few dandelions and spring onions and made a tasty wilted greens salad.

Bitter greens like dandelions, garlic mustard, lambs quarters and nettles are an excellent liver cleanser as well as a source of iron and vitamin C, and best of all, they're free! They can be foraged even in the city although it's best to pick them where you know the ground is not contaminated with pesticides or other toxins.

Wilted Spring Greens Salad

2-3 cups of mixed bitter greens (I used dandelions and added some beetgreens left from Easter dinner at a friend's- he was going to throw them out!)
glug of olive oil and small amount (about 1/2 tsp) of bacon fat (you can use a different fat such as butter or omit it altogether but it adds a nice flavour with the bitterness of the greens)
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 med onion sliced in rings
1-2 tsp balsamic or red wine vinegar
splash of soy sauce
Fresh ground pepper
Spring onions, chopped

Wash greens well and remove roots and older leaves which can be too tough. Chop in bite sized pieces. Heat fats in a frying pan over med heat until sizzling, add sliced onions and garlic, stir until softened. Add greens, stir briefly and add pepper, vinegar and soy sauce- mix thoroughly and turn off heat. Allow to rest briefly -the greens will continue to wilt with the heat of the frying pan. Garnish with spring onions and serve.

Serves 2 as a side dish. Or for a meal for one, add walnuts or pine nuts with the greens and lightly toast them before adding liquids. You can also add some crumbled feta(as I did) or goat cheese or a chopped hardboiled egg. Healthy and delicious!

Slow Start

2011-04-23T10:08:00.009-04:00

The rainy cool weather continues and although the weather forecasters keep commenting that this is normal for this time of year, it still feels like everything is so much later than last year! I know for a fact that we made violet jelly for the CanJam which meant there were lots of violets to be picked in the middle of April; this year I've yet to see any.

Even so, the gardens are finally coming to life- the rhubarb is up, the trilliums and foxglove have reappeared and I could be picking fiddleheads in my backyard any day now.

The wild strawberries are taking over and have crept under the fence to grow in the parking lot next door- better than asphalt!

Inside the house things are also starting to pick up although it's been a terrible year for germination- it's like the seeds know I haven't really gotten into my gardening headspace yet. I've had to reseed some of the tomatoes and most of the peppers and I still haven't managed to sprout a single jalapeno!

So far I have some healthy looking Brandywines, Sasha's Altai, and Jaune Flammes. In the second seeding I added Russian Rose, Una's Heartstock and reseeded the Big Orange Stripe since none germinated the first time. I still need to add a few more varieties, most likely Black Brandywine and Cherokee Purple, and I may chose a green tomato variety other than the Zebra's which seem prone BER in containers. I won't be attempting to grow the 20 or so varieties like last year - it was a bit too much to keep up with the watering on the roof!

I made use of the rainy day off today to tend to some neglected house plants as well and discovered that my newest additions apparently came with spider mites which have now advanced to the avocado as well as the accidental tomatillos.That's what I get for buying plants from Home Depot I guess. Anyone got any good recommendations to get rid of them before they make their way to my seedlings?

Hints of Things to Come

2011-04-16T11:17:00.010-04:00

The expression April is a cruelest month has never seemed more fitting than this year; not only has the weather been a major tease but this prolonged cold has everything growing slowly as well. Even Easter is late this year although I can't really blame that on the weather! (I'm looking at you, moon)

There's nothing so cruel as longing for the tastes of spring and knowing that local asparagus is still weeks if not months away from hitting the markets. Of course the stores are full of not-so-local asparagus and rhubarb and it's difficult not to succumb; those of you further south of here who post gloating photos of your spring harvests are rubbing salt in my wounds! My rhubarb is barely up, my herbs declined to return this year and aside from a few spring onions I won't be nibbling on anything freshly grown for a long while yet.

My gardens are still looking bleak and mostly barren but a few things are peeping up including this pleasant surprise I know I didn't plant - they just appeared in the grass thicket!

Even my seedling trays are decidely retarded this year and who can blame them? Every time the weather's warmed up enough to consider putting them outside for a bit, Mother Nature goes and sends something dramatic like thunderstorms or snow. Today it's only slightly above freezing, raining and gusting winds, with a chance of snow tonight. Fantastic, thanks for that.

On a more promising note I do have some fun stuff to share! These lovely eggplant seeds arrived in my mailbox last week and are about to be seeded.

They are a gift from the Ottawa Gardener at The Veggie Patch Reimagined and I'm excited to see if they handle my somewhat shady garden.

My bee nesting box is due to arrive next week and I am excited to know I'll be creating a habitat to encourage more pollinators to my gardens this year. Now if only we can convince Shadow not to eat them!

The Canning season is gearing up again and the folks at the West End Food Coop have put together a guide on how to set up a community cannery, similar to the one I taught at last year. It includes details of budgeting, planning, using local produce and a whole lot of recipes that we taught last year. It's available free of charge to non profits and community organizations by emailing katie@westendfood.coop

And here's the highlight of my week- remember the tomato plants that accidently sprouted from worm compost and have been growing indoors all winter? I ended up with two distinct varieties- one is a small detirminate - I'm hoping it's a ditmarsher which gave such lovely early cherries last year. The other is obviously NOT a detirminate as it is currently about 5 ft long and wound around a lamp among other things. Against all odds it's thriving indoors and just recently these appeared!

I suspect there's not much of a chance that they will pollinate and even if they do the stem isn't strong enough to support much weight in it's current state. If and when I can get it outside I will have to stake it well and hope for the best

So all is not lost, just delayed. Which is probably a good thing since I haven't had much time to think about gardens recently. As all of my fellow Canucks are aware, we are heading for a federal election in May. As an occasional Elections Canada employee, I'm currently working long hours on the voter's list, making sure everyone who's eligible and wishes to has the opportunity to cast their vote. Recent world events have made it very clear how blessed we are to live in a democracy and I encourage you all to take advantage of that and vote!

Keeping a Gardening Journal

2011-04-05T13:19:00.011-04:00

Long before I began this blog, even before my first gardening blog Reclaimed Earth, I kept notes about my gardens the old fashioned way- on paper. The most recent volume was started in 2001 in a lovely notebook gifted to me by my friend Rachael. Part journal, part inventory, the notes in this book and other previous editions provide a record of past successes and failures, of weather and planting dates and of former gardens and new acquisitions. The entries are sporadic at best- the first note of the year varies from Mar 2 one year to May 4 another. Some years there's only been a beginning and end of season post with nothing in between. Some entries have diagrams of seedling trays and garden beds and occasionally little drawings. Every year's inventory includes some old favourites as well as new prospects and each year seemed to have a specific theme although I didn't actually plan it that way.

2001 focused on medicinal and native plants, likely because of my interest in midwifery and herbal remedies at the time:

In 2003 I had new garden with lots of vertical space and very little else so understandably I was obsessed with flowering vines.

In 2007 it was all about the perennials and the rock garden- things that would survive and propagate with minimal effort while I was away on tour.

2009, my first summer in our current apt was veggie-centric. Having room to build a proper garden was a huge bonus!

And last year of course was the year of the tomatoes- over 20 heirloom varieties in a rainbow of colours, most in pots on the roof.

Mostly it's just another place to jot down random garden related thoughts but I occasionally wish I kept more detailed notes!

Do you keep notes on your gardens?

You know it's really spring when...

2011-04-01T17:37:00.004-04:00

The laundry and the farm cats are hanging outside!

Unlike out neighbours to the south who are getting hit with yet anther snowstorm (I feel your pain, really I do!), we have been blessed with sunshine and spring jacket weather today, with more to come for the weekend. We're celebrating by breaking out the barbecue for some steaks and grilled veggies for dinner tonight.

Even Casey, our senior citizen decided to catch some rays today.

She's looking pretty good for a girl that's going to be 20 years old this June!

Pantry Challenge Final Wrap up!

2011-04-01T11:24:00.007-04:00

Yesterday was the last day of the month long pantry challenge and thankfully it ended just in time! We are now completely out of butter, sugar, potatoes, fresh veggies (except onions) and garlic. Virtually no dairy left- sour cream is long gone and a tiny bit of feta is all that stands between me and complete cheese desolation. There is still some frozen turkey, corn and various soup stocks but otherwise the freezer is a black hole of emptiness. The pantry cupboard is pretty much depleted as well- no coffee, no black tea, no herbal tea except a small amount of loose dried herbs. The crackers were gone in the first week, there's not a canned good to be found and even the pasta stockpile is nearly gone. Oddly we still have a few packets of hot chocolate mix left- guess we just aren't chocolate cravers. The dried good shelf is equally grim- white flour is all but gone, we are low on salt, and totally out of lentils, nuts and rice.

But we survived and we didn't even have to resort to eating pickles as a meal! The preserve shelves are looking a little sparse from a month ago but they're nowhere near empty. One thing this challenge has made me realize is that most of what I preserve are more condiment than main course. They make great snacks or additions to other foods as part of a meal but aren't really the main components. Which means I'm still heavily dependent on my freezer and store bought staples. It was a sobering realization.

Some other things I noted along the way:

We don't eat bread much. This is not exactly news to me since I know how infrequently I buy it but I had thought I might make some during the challenge to help stretch out our food. I never did make any and never felt the need to either. Although we did finally eat a small loaf of locally made sourdough bread that was in the freezer- we cut thin slices and toasted it to eat like a cracker for snacks.

Speaking of snacks, popcorn saved me from feeling completely deprived. I am a savoury snack person and had eaten all my usual treats early on (hummus, pate, rice crackers). Having a big jar of popcorn gave me an option for something when I was feeling in need of a treat. Also this recipe from Liz at Food Snobbery was a godsend this week- tahini and kimchi is amazing together- who knew?

My other lifesaver was lemon juice. The concentrated in a bottle kind. Once I ran out of everything else to drink and used up my fresh lemons, a little of the concentrate with some sugar (or honey or maple syrup) in water made a drink I could live with. I added fruit syrup from canned or frozen fruit occasionally as well. I think I will stockpile a few bottles of that stuff in the future- it's not likely to ever go bad!

The mushroom kit was a nice bonus, both for the sustenance and the opportunity to actually grow something edible in the winter. I'm going to invest in a few more of those and see if I can't find a way to keep them going.

Overall the experience wasn't as difficult as I first imagined. There were some tough moments and few lapses that I wrote about previously but it wasn't as big an adjustment as I predicted, once I got past the no shopping part. I think we ate pretty well overall, and I even discovered a few new recipes that I will likely keep making. We definitely didn't lose any weight tho!

One of our last storage meals was Turkey Cacciatore made with frozen turkey and the last of my whole frozen tomatoes.

Turkey Cacciatore

1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup red pepper, seeded and diced (I used frozen)
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olives chopped ( optional
2 cups tomato sauce (I used my own canned sauce)
1 cup fresh or frozen cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup dry red wine
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tsp Fresh or 1/2 tsp dried herbs to taste (I used basil,thyme and rosemary, oregano and sage would be good too)
salt and pepper
2 cups of turkey meat, cooked

Over medium heat, saute onion and pepper in olive oil until slightly softened, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic; cook 2 to 3 minutes more. Add turkey, tomatos, olives, wine, bay leaf, sugar, and herbs and salt, cook on med for 5 minutes until tomatoes are softened. Add tomato sauce and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over pasta or rice.

I don't think anything that came out of this experience will change the way I shop or how much food I'll keep in storage. We really don't have the room for much more here and while I'm forced to acknowledge my dependency on the freezer as one of our main food storage sources, we're not really in a position to change that at present. But I do think it may be time that I look into buying that pressure canner!

Now if you'll excuse me, there's some grocery shopping to be done!

Pantry Challenge Week 4- The Last Squash

2011-03-27T19:52:00.006-04:00

So we've made it through 4 weeks and remarkably, the cupboards are not nearly as bare as I would have thought. The freezer definitely has more room in it now but the fridge looks pretty full even if most of it is half empty jars of preserves. Still I'll be grateful when I can hit the grocery store later this week.

We were able to get through last week without any repeats of the previous week's slip ups. We even went to a hockey game and didn't buy any snacks - although the poutine was tempting and the pulled pork smelt divine...

I think we have finally adjusted to making do with what's on hand, and with the nasty late season blizzard hitting midweek it was actually nice to know I didn't have to run out to shop for food. Also the bonus birthday cheese did go a long way in helping me feel less deprived. And the mushroom kit did its thing and produced ten of these beauties!

Sunday
Pierogies with bacon
Pasta shells with 4 cheeses and dried tomatoes
Monday
Oatmeal porridge (me)
Homefries (the Russian)
Pork with apricot mustard sauce (apricots I canned last summer and homemade mustard)
Asparagus Risotto (last of the frozen asparagus from last spring)
Tuesday
Thai beef and rice noodle stir fry
Carrot coleslaw
Pasta with chicken, pickled wild leeks and roasted peppers in an herbed cream cheese sauce
Wednesday
French Onion Soup
Chilled shrimp with tomato horseradish jam
Squash gnocchi with sage, garlic and brown butter
Thursday
Tortilla chips with salsa and sour cream (last of the sour cream, home canned salsa, homemade chips)
Stuffed pork tenderloin (stuffing made from a mix of frozen herbs and bread crumbs)and boiled potatoes with mustard sauce
Roasted beet salad with cucumber and walnuts and a goat cheese and horseradish dressing.
Friday
Crackers and cheese and mixed pickles
Homemade chicken soup
Popcorn with olive oil and titch of butter
Saturday
Fried bacon sandwiches with maple syrup (we were craving french toast so I fried the bread in bacon grease)
Grilled pork shoulder and potatoes (on the BBQ, for Earth Hour), mashed carrots and parsnips with maple syrup.
Apple cherry rhubarb pie- all from fruit I picked and froze last summer and Red Fife whole wheat pastry
Sunday
Turkey Lentil Mushroom stew (hooray for fresh shiitakes!)
Grilled chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and baked squash
Roasted squash seeds

We still have 4 days to go to make it through the month and I think we'll be okay. As mentioned I baked the last squash today but we only ate half; we are also out of carrots, beets and rutabaga but we have frozen beans and corn, plenty of onions and now mushrooms. There's still some beef, seafood and turkey in the freezer. Butter is all but gone but we still have plenty of olive oil and other fats- I used bacon grease to baste the squash tonight. Speaking of bacon, there's even a small amount of it left- I'm amazed that we've stretched a pound to last this long considering how often we use it- good thing I dole it out in small portions, more for flavour than anything. For starches there's a few potatoes, some pasta and rice noodles and half a loaf of sour dough bread. We'll be fine and we won't even have to eat all the pickles to do it either!

I'll do a final wrap up when we finish the challenge on Thurs!

Spring is Sprung!

2011-03-23T17:33:00.016-04:00

Inside at least.

Outside however we have been buried in snow again today. At least 40 cm has fallen so far and it's still coming down. I had to wear snowpants just to walk to the store for catfood. If I could find that damn groundhog right now I'd make him shovel my sidewalk!

Back in the house we are all pretending that it really is spring and there is no such thing as snow. The tomato plants that have been living in the sunporch all winter are perking up as the daylight increases- they know it's almost time to go outside even if the weather doesn't.

Some new seedlings are up as well- I planted peppers and more tomatoes last week and many of them are eager to get going too!

I restarted the shiitake kit and it is fruiting again- not as abundantly as the first round but they sure grow fast!

This was yesterday

And this was today

We should have delicious fresh mushrooms ready to pick by the weekend!

In the meantime I'm just going to curl up with a new bunch of library books and some homemade French Onion Soup. It's a great way to use up some of the onions that are beginning to sprout.

Ingredients

* 4 large red or yellow onions, peeled and thinly sliced. (I used a mix of both)
* Olive oil or butter or both
* 1/4 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 4 cups of beef stock – you could use veggie stock if you browned the veggies first and add 1 tsp of soy sauce
* 1/4 cup red wine
* 1 bay leaf
* Salt and pepper
* 4 slices of stale bread, toasted
* 1 cup of grated cheese (Swiss, Gruyere and Parmesan are traditional but any hard cheese works. I used Fruilano, Morbier, and cheddar)

Directions

In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the olive oil or butter on low heat until well browned, but not burned, about 30-40 minutes (or longer). (Add the sugar if using, about 10 minutes into the process to help with the carmelization.)

Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute- don't let garlic burn. Add the stock, wine, and bay leaf. Simmer until the flavors are well blended, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve you can either use individual oven-proof soup bowls or one large casserole dish. Ladle the soup into the bowls or casserole dish. Cover with the toast and sprinkle with cheese.

Put into the broiler for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F, or until the cheese bubbles and is slightly browned. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

Take that Mother Nature!

Pantry Challenge Week 3

2011-03-21T21:52:00.008-04:00

I have a confession to make. Last week we failed. Badly. So badly I'm almost embarrassed to write about it. But since part of doing this was to see potential weaknesses in our ability to survive off of what's on hand, I'm going to consider last week a learning experience and talk about it from that angle.

Problem area #1 Poor planning

Last week was the first time in a while that both the Russian and I were out of the house for work all day every day. Because we seldom have access to a kitchen or even a refrigerator at work we don't normally bring a meal with us. I usually bring light snacks and beverages to tide us over but if we are on the job for an extended period we just grab take out. Monday I was not expecting a long workday so I brought a handful of crackers and some cheese. I expected to be home by about 6 pm and had pierogies in mind for dinner when we got home. What actually happened was we finished work at 7:00pm and then still had over an hour of transit travel before we got home. Compounded by a lengthy delay at one of our transfer points that left us stranded for another 20 minutes, hungry and exhausted, and the proximity to a fast food outlet (in the subway station no less!) was too much to resist. Dinner fail.

Lesson learned- I need to plan ahead for food that can be taken with us in case the day goes longer than expected. We did much better for the rest of the week.

Problem #2 Poor Communication

When we set out the rules for the challenge one of the things that was agreed upon with the other participants was that we can still take advantage of food sales for future use but we aren't supposed to consume anything we purchase during the challenge. Last week I found KD (macaroni and cheese, my personal weakness) and canned soup ( the Russian's weakness) on sales so I purchased a number of each. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it to him that these weren't for eating right now but apparently I failed to make that clear. One can of soup was opened and being heated by the time I discovered it. In the interest of not wasting food, it was consumed.

Lesson learned- any future purchases that I make during the month are now being stored somewhere other than the pantry.

Problem # 3- Timing.

As previously mentioned it was my birthday last week. It was also St Paddy's day which meant there were multiple celebrations going on, most of which involved food. On St Paddy's we made the rounds of several local drinking establishments and when there was free food proffered, we took full advantage. On the actual date of my birth, the Russian made me breakfast at home but we went out for dinner- sushi to be exact. On the day after my birthday we hosted a party that involved guests bringing cheese. A lot of cheese. Delicious cheese that did not all get consumed during the party and that will not keep for another two weeks.

Lesson Learned- not much. I'm of the mind that free food should be accepted whenever possible. And it was my birthday.

(Kinda looks like St Patrick threw up on me here doesn't it?)

So this week we will have to be on our best behaviour and I already know it's going to be much tougher than it's been so far. We are running low or completely out of many things now. No eggs, no milk, very little butter. Veggies, both fresh and frozen are in short supply- we still have a lots of frozen fruit however. Only one lemon- yikes! Maybe 5 lbs of potatoes which is practically none when you live with a Russian. Lots of onions but they are starting to sprout so we may have to use them quickly. I'm attempting to get the shiitake kit to fruit again but it's not looking near as plentiful as the first round. Even if we only get a few mushrooms this time they will be very welcome! There's still some meat in the freezer and we haven't eaten all the pierogies yet but we are almost out of sour cream. Still have some pasta, beans and rice, and a decent amount of a couple types flour so I can make both flour and corn tortillas. We won't starve yet but things are going to get a little dull.
(Thank god for the cheese!)

One of my fall back dishes for when were are absolutely ravenous doesn't really have a name. It is loosely based on a German dish that I tried at my friends and loved. I usually serve it as a salad but it can be easily adapted as a main or side dish.

1 carrot, grated
1 beet, grated
2 green onions, or 1/2 sweet onion minced
Optional- other raw veggies chopped fine. (In this version I added some of my white kimchee which included fermented cauliflower and turnips)

Dressing
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp soy sauce or Braggs
1 clove of garlic minced

Grate carrot and beet and add minced onions and other veggies if using. In separate bowl add all dressing ingredients and whisk until smooth. Pour over veggies and serve. Makes two salad portions.

For a complete lunch I will add a hardboiled egg, cut in quarters. To make it a more substantial meal, double the dressing ingredients and serve over warm cooked potatoes.

2011-03-18T01:17:00.009-04:00

It's my birthday today and although embracing the idea that I'm getting older is no longer quite as exciting as it once was, there's still plenty to celebrate. I love being a March baby and tho the weather can be anything from full on blizzard to unseasonably warm, it will always be spring in 2 days, at least on the calendar!

For my 47th birthday I thought it would be fun to take a look back at previous celebrations and memories. Here are some random birthday moments

Every year my dad likes to tell the story of how he threatened to name me Colleen if I was born on St Patrick's Day and how my mother (of Scots and French Canadian heritage) was so horrified at the idea that she refused to go into labour until the day after and then named me a very Scottish name!

Some years my dad mails me a St Paddy's/birthday card addressed to _____ Colleen Mc_____. (There is no Mc in my surname.) Often they will be mailed from places with Irish sounding names. He did a similar thing to my very Scottish grandmother for years but always signed it with my uncle's name.

Pretty much every birthday cake I've ever had has had Shamrocks on it. Which is fine because I don't like cake anyhow but I do like the colour green and I'm fond of shamrocks, particularly ones made of icing. I'm also partial to birthday PIE!

Every year on my birthday, my mom and whichever small children she can locate (siblings when there were still some at home, now nieces and nephews) call me first thing in the morning to sing me Happy Birthday. (A similar ritual happens at the first snowfall every year at which point they sing "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.)

Because it falls the day after St Paddy's I have woken with a hangover on my birthday more often that I care to admit. Sometimes the singing ritual hurts my head but I always answer the phone no matter how badly I feel.

March 18th is the last day of Pisces and the last full day of the zodiac cycle. According to the Book of Birthdays, those born on this day are destined to repeat the same things again and again until they gain enlightenment. That pretty much sums up my life in a nutshell!

On my tenth birthday I had a cast on my arm from a skiing accident. It was my first broken bone (first of many...)
On my eleventh birthday I had chicken pox. Everywhere.(Thankfully I don't have any pictures of that!)

From the time I was 15 until I turned 20 I wrote myself a letter on my birthday to be opened the following year. I still have those letters and they are full of hopes and plans and fun glimpses of my teenage self.( Dear 16, No I still don't have my drivers license. I suck. Love, 47)

The only surprise party I have ever had was for my 33rd birthday and I almost didn't show up because I was busy hanging out with Van Halen at a record store Meet and Greet. (The security guard offered to have Eddie sing me Happy Birthday at gun point but I declined.) I was 2 hours late for my own party but thankfully my friends forgave me - most of them were disappointed I didn't bring the band with me!

On my 40th birthday I was working a concert and the musical director had the entire audience wish me happy birthday. I however was busy off doing something and missed my cue to appear on stage (On purpose- I have total stage fright and am completely happy hiding in the wings.) Colette threw me an awesome 40th birthday party a few days later where we played twister, musical chairs scavenger hunt and had a pinata!

Last year the Russian surprised me with my beautiful pink bike!

So who knows what this year will bring? One thing I know for sure- Spring is almost here!

Maple Syrup in the City

2011-03-16T09:24:00.017-04:00

Not Far From the Tree held our second annual Sugaring Off Party at Dufferin Grove Park on Sunday and the weather was perfect, which meant this year we were able to have a campfire!

Like last year, we spent the day before cooking down 96 l of sap over the gas stove in the Zamboni kitchen, reducing it to about 20 l.
At that concentration, you can taste the maple flavour and it is quite sweet but still not much like syrup. For the party we were serving small samples of this while further reducing the remainder by boiling it in an open kettle over the fire.

We also expanded our sugar shack (aka the zamboni garage) to included a Maple marketplace where people could taste and purchase lots of yummy treats made from local maple syrup. My personal favourite was the maple cheddar.

Volunteers were out in full force to make sure everything ran smoothly.

Because we've had cooler temps this year the skating rink was still open and inside the rink house the Park staff was serving up a delicious pancake breakfast with beans and sausage. There was also game and crafts and some great entertainment!

The most popular place to be was around the campfire! The bubbling syrup gave off a wonderful scent and visitors were treated to performance of a maple syrup-themed legend by aboriginal story teller Liny Kinoshameg.

Best of all was the sweet taste of maple syrup made from our very own backyard trees!

Pantry Challenge Week 2

2011-03-15T21:57:00.006-04:00

I'm a few days late posting this- blame my computer which has developed an appetite for works in progress this week (it's eaten two!).

The second week seemed easier for some reason. We were a lot busier last week which might have something to do with it. We are however running low on a lot of things now. We're down to 3 eggs, not much butter and the mushrooms are finished for now although I think I can try to get my shiitake kit to start fruiting again this week. I luckily discovered a can of half sugar iced tea mix stashed in the cupboard which lasted a week and kept me from completely dehydrating. I have been attempting to drink water (ugh) and milk, but we're out of milk now too. Homemade iced tea is my only beverage choice now. Most tragic of all- we have finished all the garlic! I hadn't noticed we were low or I would have picked up some Ontario grown at the Sorauren market before we began this challenge. It's going to be awfully bland from here on.

Daily Menu

Monday:
Seafood Noodle soup
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Tuesday:
Eggs and homefries ( in our house homefries are mainly potato but usually included a lot of other veggies like onions, carrots, turnip or whatever's fresh)
Homemade chicken liver pate and bread
Grilled chicken thighs and stir fry veggies on rice noodles with l/o peanut sauce
Wednesday:
leftovers for lunch
Tuna melts with chickpea, cucumber, carrot salad
Thursday:
Crackers and cheese and a pickle tray (dills, carrots, turnips and beets)
Grilled Steak with potatoes topped with sour cream and steamed veggies.
Friday
bacon, eggs and homefries
Dinner at my aunt and uncles because we were out of town for a concert- homemade lasagna and salad and tartufo for dessert. Also lots of wine!
Saturday:
Breakfast - we stayed over so my aunt made homemade lemon blueberry muffins served with bacon and fresh fruit. I ate some of the strawberries and grapes but they honestly tasted like crap- the muffins were fantastic tho an made from frozen blueberries so I'm going to get her recipe.
Lunch - hummus and the last of the rice crackers
Dinner- The Russian finally decided to cook one of the frozen sardines for the cats who turned up there noses so we ate them instead. He cooked them whole, lightly floured and baked. They came out very much like the grilled version that is popular with our Portuguese neighbours and were delicious!
Sunday
Pancakes and beans at the Maple syrup festival (me because volunteers were fed for free)
Chicken and homefries (the Russian)
Poached salmon with rice and stir fry veggies

I made a big batch of pierogies on Sunday so we'd have something quick to make- this week is crazy busy again.

Pierogies

Filling

I prefer a potato, onion and cheese mixture and add other thing if I have them- roasted garlic is nice,or a bit of finely chopped bacon. I start with about two cups of cooled mashed potatoes and add salt, pepper and butter to taste - about a tablespoon of butter is plenty. Add finely chopped onion and grated cheddar cheese. Add other ingredients if using and mix well- set aside.

The Russian prefers meat filled pierogies (known as pelmeny in Russia)- I don't use a recipe for this either, just a mix of ground meat(beef or pork or both) and seasonings like onion and garlic. You can also add mushrooms. Brown meat with seasonings and drain off excess oil.

Virtually any filling can go in this type of dough- fruit pierogies are nice if you have cherries or blueberries in heavy syrup (or canned pie filling). Cook as below (minus the onions and cheese) and serve with sour cream and sprinkle of sugar for a dessert version.

Dough

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons of melted butter or vegetable oil
1 tablespoons of sour cream
1 egg beaten
1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup lukewarm water

Preparation:In a small bowl, beat egg and set aside. Melt the butter and set aside. Mix salt and lukewarm water. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups of flour with melted butter and sour cream, add beaten eggs and mix the ingredients with the warm water, mixing constantly. Place dough on table and knead with remaining 1/2 cup of flour until smooth and not too sticky(add a bit more flour if necessary). Divide the dough in half and let stand for about 15 minutes before working with it. Meanwhile fill a large pot with water (add salt as you would for pasta),turn on high and bring to a boil On a floured surface roll out 1/2 of dough into a thin circle, about 1/4-inch thick. Cut circles using a 2-1/2 or 3-inch circle cutter- I use a glass or jar. Place about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of each circle of dough, and fold over. Press and seal into half-moon shapes. Use a little water to seal each pierogi if they aren't sticking. Cover the prepared pierogi with a cloth so they don't dry out before you cook them. Repeat with remaining dough. Add pierogies to boiling water a few at a time. Cook until they float to the surface (about 1 minute). Remove with a slotted spoon or small strainer and place on a cookie sheet to dry a bit- make sure none are touching and drain the excess water frequently. At this point I fill a cookie sheet full and freeze them; when they are completely frozen you can place them in a bag or container and keep frozen until needed. To eat them, melt butter in a frying pan, add chopped onions (and bacon or other veggies if you like)and pierogies and saute until browned, flip and repeat. Serve with sour cream and grated cheese, or with salsa if you prefer!

Make about 4 dozen.

Pantry Challenge Week One Wrap up

2011-03-07T00:08:00.008-05:00

One week down, 3 to go.

And in spite of my earlier whining we are actually doing okay. The fridge and cupboards are all still fairly full and we are not in danger of running out of anything quite yet. We don't have as many eggs as I would like but if I can convince the Russian not to eat two a day for breakfast we should be okay. Beverages are still problematic but I'm coping. We've run out of instant coffee but I don't drink it and the Russian has switched to tea without complaint. We have lots of tea and hot chocolate.

Sundries on the other hand are going to be an issue and I forgot to clarify if they were included in the no buy challenge. We are low on dish soap, laundry soap and already ran out of tp which I had to buy at the corner store. This is apparently an area I need to pay attention to and either stock up or find homemade alternatives to (the family cloth however is SO not going to happen).

Here's a brief overview of last week's menu, in no particular order:

steak fajitas with homemade flour tortillas and home canned salsa (red and green)
bacon pancakes
4 cheese macaroni and grated beet salad
homemade chicken noodle soup ( from previously frozen stock and meat)
eggs and homefries x 4 (the Russian)
yogurt and frozen fruit smoothies x 4 (me)
Roast beef and cheddar sandwiches and homemade shiitake mushroom soup
beef and beer stew in the slow cooker (leftover from last sunday's roast)
Oven bbq chicken with potato salad and steamed beans
Canned sardines on toast
Pasta with turkey, shiitakes and roasted red peppers in vodka cream sauce (last of the cream but not last of the frozen turkey)
Gado gado

Gado gado is an Indonesian salad of sorts that is simple to make and easily adapted for what's available at any time of year. I used potatoes, cabbage, frozen beans and cucumber ( thankfully we were able to pick up an Ontario grown hot house cucumber last week) in this version- you could also use fresh tomatoes if you have them.

Gado Gado

2 cups of potatoes, cut in pieces, skins on.
2 eggs
1 cup of cabbage coursely chopped
1 cup of green beans (or carrots, cauliflower, snow peas, etc)
1/3 of an English cucumber, cut in chunks
1/2 cup tofu cut in small pieces and pan fried (or use tvp soaked in a diluted soy sauce)
1/2 cup bean sprouts
2 green onions chopped
1/2 cup shrimp chips, broken in small pieces ( optional- they add a nice texture and flavour but I rarely have them at home)

Put potatoes and eggs in a pot of water and bring to a boil. When potatoes are partially cooked (about 5 minutes) add cabbage (and carrots, cauliflower etc if using) and cook for a minute. Add beans and turn off heat- cover and let sit for another minute or 2 until beans are partially cooked but still crunchy. Strain and run cold water over everything until cool. Peel eggs and cut in quarters, set aside.

Meanwhile pan fry tofu chunks in oil until browned on both sides. Or soak tvp chunks in warm water with a dash of soy sauce until softened. Set aside.

Spicy Peanut sauce

2 tbsp canola or peanut oil
few drops of dark sesame oil
2 cloves garlic chopped
3/4 cup natural peanut butter (chunky is best, can substitute other nut butters)
1 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
1 tbsp yellow curry powder or red or green curry paste
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp sambal oelek or hot chili sauce (use less if you aren't fond of spicy!)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice or red wine vinegar
1 cup coconut milk or 1 cup water

Heat oils in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add garlic and stir briefly until soft but not browned. Add peanut butter and tahini, stirring constantly until it's all softened. Add the remaining ingredients except coconut milk or water. Reduce the heat and slowly add liquid stirring well. Simmer for 5 minutes, uncovered, stirring regularly until the sauce reaches a creamy consistency. If sauce is too thick add more water.

You can adjust this to your taste by adding more or less of the sweet, sour, salty or spicy. This peanut sauce makes a great dipping sauce if you add even more liquid, or can be added to any number of stir fry or noodle dishes.

To make gado gado - on a plate or bowl layer potatoes, cooked veggies and tofu. Place cucumber chunks and quartered eggs around the edge. Top with bean sprouts and pour peanut sauce over everything. Sprinkle with green onion and shrimp chips if using.

Pancakes and Self Denial

2011-03-06T12:41:00.010-05:00

In the Christian faith, this Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the period proceeding Easter, which makes Tuesday traditionally the last day to indulge in the luxuries that you'll be abstaining from for the next 40 days (actually 46 but Sundays don't count!). Around the world that day will be noted with festivals and food; Mardi Gras (Fat Tues), Carnival, Shrove Tues, Pancake Tues; in my predominently Polish neighbourhood, it's known as Doughnut Day and there's some delicious treats to be had. All of these celebrations come from the same source; one last blow out before a period of self denial and reflection (hangovers are an excellent incentive for the latter).

In my family growing up it was all about the pancakes and although I no longer follow the faith of my childhood I can't help but crave pancakes when Lent rolls around. We happen to have the all the stuff for making some pancakes from scratch in the house so I dragged out my trusty Five Roses Flour cookbook circa 1960.

Basic Pancake recipe
1 1/2 cups Five Roses enriched flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp melted butter
1 1/4 cups milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract (I omitted this)

Fat (butter, bacon fat etc) for cooking.

The recipe indicates you can substitute 3/4 cup of white flour with graham or whole wheat flour so I used some Red Fife stone ground whole grain flour as well. This made a much stiffer batter than regular white flour so if you like runny batter you may want to add additonal milk. I didn't and my pancakes were a bit dense but still airy.

Mix and sift dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat egg thoroughly and add milk (and vanilla if using).
Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients and slowly add milk mixture. Add melted butter and mix only till smooth.

Using a heavy iron frying pan or griddle, heat fat until melted but not smoking. Pour batter in small circles, allow room for each to spread without touching. Cook the pancakes until bubbles appear through out, then turn to cook the other side. Do not turn more than once.

I wanted bacon pancakes so I partially cooked two slices of bacon, cut in small pieces and added to the batter before cooking. I cooked the pancakes in the resulting bacon fat but I had reduced the melted butter to 2 tbsp in the batter and they were still lovely and moist and slid from the pan easily.

Top with real maple syrup or fresh or frozen fruit for breakfast. Or if you prefer, have them for dinner. It was tradition in my family to have them with a side of maple baked beans that my mom would make for Pancake Tues when we were kids and it was our kick off to Lent. In my case it's been many years since I gave up anything for Lent but as we are currently restricting our normal behaviour (for a totally different reason) I feel a resonance with that ancient ritual. In this case it is the purchasing of food that we are denying ourselves rather than the consumption but it sometimes amounts to the same thing. If it isn't in the house now, I won't be enjoying it for about 3 more weeks.

So far it's been rougher than I anticipated. Not because we are lacking in options- the cupboards and fridge are still pretty full. But it's the idea of choice (or lack there of) that's been causing me to question my ability to see this through. I'm fairly organized about shopping and cooking but I'm also prone to whims in our dietary decisions and often will decide to make something because it appeals to me in the moment. Living within walking distance to any number of options for food shopping makes picking up additional ingredients an every day occurrence if I choose. I found not being able to do that felt really restrictive over the last few days. On top of that I realized that food shopping is a form of retail therapy for me. Often my trips elsewhere are coupled with a stop at a food retailer and even when I'm broke I can always justify spending a few dollars on food. Not having that option made a long week seem even longer. Coupled with a bad head cold and the general end of winter blahs, this plan to restrict ourselves added more misery and made me wonder why anyone would choose to do this voluntarily.

Lent occurs at relatively the same time each year; this year is actually later than usual but it's dependant on the lunar calendar. The earliest Lent can begin is Feb 4, the latest is Mar 10. Which means it inevitably falls in the latter half of winter, when we are already feeling a bit deprived. The original purpose of Lent was to promote fasting and prayer, signifiying the time Jesus spent alone in the desert (pondering his fate, no doubt), but I don't suppose the early Christians had northern hemisphere winters in mind when they worked out the dates. Little wonder that the ritual has evolved into choosing only certain things to abstain from rather than complete abstinence of all things pleasurable. Still it's a long way from total fasting to giving up chocolate for 40 days -something I could do with ease (gingerale on the other hand...). Choosing self denial isn't something we are accustomed to these days, yet in a few short days I have been made aware yet again of how little I know of real deprivation. Maybe I was due for some reflection. Maybe I lose some weight or finally ween myself from sugary drinks. Or maybe I'll just be unbearable by the end of this month. Time will tell. In the meantime, there's always pancakes!