The Bountiful Season

It's becoming that time of the year: the time of great bounty. I picked raspberries last weekend (and only ate about half a dozen while I picked ---- a huge improvement on other years). 

AND while at the farm, I picked up a big bag of cucumbers for only $10:  enough for 2 batches of bread and butter pickles.

The Ontario peaches have arrived and are particularly sweet and tasty. But so far, I've been too busy gorging myself on them to bottle any. Soon!

I begin my 'staycation' tomorrow and am more excited than is proper at my age. (Soooo lacking in decorum!) Let's see what the next week or so will bring.

I hope your life is bountiful where you are.

TTFN!

She said Yes to the Dress!

I had a wonderful time last weekend in St John's. Coming from NS where the finer things in life were readily available to me and moving to CB where it's meat 'n' potatoes and the necessities of life, the trip was an enormous tonic to my foodie soul. Sharing it with family was icing on my cake.

We 2 mums were with our two 20-something daughters, so we did our best to keep up, fueled by a big breakfast and a big supper with  coffee and water in between; but it was so exciting and fun that no felt hungry until we stopped each day. We did breakfast at Chez Cora and Rocket (where I also bought a delicious loaf of whole grain sourdough bread to bring home). We ate at Swiss Chalet one night and had an epic evening at Jack Astors another night: St John's is known for it's colorful row houses (left picture), and I was so tickled when I visited the ladies room to see that they'd paid homage to this with the toilet stall doors that I had to snap a picture to share (right picture).












We'd start each day with bridal salon appointments and end up in the malls mid-afternoon. I even managed to fit in a few hours at my beloved Value Village where I scored some treasures. I got to eat Laura Secord ice cream (pistacho/almond and double chocolate together!); and I got myself a Starbucks. I loved the ice cream. But surprisingly, I found that I could have done without the Starbucks and chocolate buttercream cake from Rocket; my months of eating healthy is helping me get over my sugar monkey. Hurray! (And don't worry, there are lots of other fattening, unhealthy foods that I'm still addicted to!) 

But OH! THE BRIDE! She tried on so many dresses; and each salon had a front runner. But #3 salon - Kathy Evans -  was the winner, with a gorgeous beachy, sparkly gown that came in under budget and, as my mum would say, "fit her like a smack in the mouth". Yes ...... I cried and so did her mum-in-law! I'll share some of the runner-up gowns here, but the winning dress is a secret!

 We celebrated that evening with pizza at our Air B'n'B and a bonding evening of hilarious board games as we raised a glass or 2 to a beautiful bride-to-be and a successful shopping trip. 

I loved this vacation weekend with it's over-indulgence, late nights and exhausting day-long trekking. But ohhhhhhhhh! How good to be back to regular meals and sleeping in my own bed. 

This weekend promises to be a sunny one here on the west coast of NL. And the weather man says there will be a turn for the better weather-wise next week with spring being here and summer on it's way! 

Fingers crossed!

Happy Pie Day!

I love a good slice of pie (or 2 ... or 3 even). My Mom made the most wonderful pie crust:  crisp and flakey, not too "fatty" -- a perfect crust! "It's easy," she'd say to me.  But I could never replicate it.

When I was an at-home Mum in Nova Scotia in the late 80's (the apple capital of the world), we'd buy huge 20 lb bags of apples in the fall for under $10. I would bake pie after pie after pie and gift some to friends; but I'd always have at least half a dozen in the freezer. I've gotten out of the habit and my pie crust isn't as good as it used to be, so I don't bake many pies now a days.

But I still love a good pie; and it hardly matters what flavor (although I will choose cherry a la mode if it's available). My ex's mother used to make the most wonderful squash pie (substitute for pumpkin) -- spicy, deep and rich. And I'm always on the look out for the best coconut cream. 

Not my pie but mine is similar
and tastes just as good!

Today's lunch is pie! Yesterday I decided to add some cornbread to the top of my chili and VOILA! Instant (cheater) tamale pie, a favorite savory pie in our household! 

And oh, couldn't you just swoon at the sight and taste of a good meat-filled hand pie. The Farmer's Market in Lunenburg NS sold the most wonderful hand-pies. The perfect lunch huh:  so convenient and comforting and delicious!


I don't know about your area, but I haven't heard of anyone giving out free pie today. Darn!!! But I hope that you do get to eat pie today in whatever form you enjoy.

Weekend Wanderings

I stopped taking Symbicort over a week ago but was (am) still experiencing side effects. One of the worse was the depression and anxiety -- something I don't experience normally. So, I took Friday afternoon off for some much needed "Me" time. And as it was a drizzly, cool day, I crawled the mall.  I still had a Xmas gift card and gifted money (whatever wasn't spent on medications!), and it was burning a hole in my pocket. And I needed socks. 

I think most of my hometown was at the grocery store stocking up for the upcoming weather. There weren't a lot of other shoppers around. So, I leisurely strolled through the shops -- Reitman's, Cleo, Ricki's, Spring, Cole's Bookstores and Northern Reflections. I only had to hold my nose twice as I scurried past the smellier shops. I spent hours and hours, touching and looking; I tried on several items and hemmed and hawed. Most items were marked an additional 50% off. So, I was a very savy shopper.

Here's my haul.

Okay! I admit that I may have gone overboard with the socks. I was aiming for 3-4 pairs and ended up with 10 pairs. The jewellery was in the $2-$3 each range. And the sweater! Ahhhh! Well, the sweater has polka dots -- on both sides so you can roll up the sleeves and have alternate colored polka dots! And who doesn't love polka dots!

On my way home, I dropped into Winner's. I wasn't looking for clothing; I was looking for food! My little (hick) town doesn't carry a lot of variety in foodstuffs. These were sale items again. 

Saturday I began taking down my Xmas decorations. And when I stopped for an afternoon break, I was very happy with my selections. I had a macha latte (with a sprinke of chocolate) and a most delicious chocolate orange biscotti. Fortification for the tedious task of undecorating the tree.  That evening, I prepared a really nice dinner for myself and (Happy gasp!) poured myself a large glass of wine -- the first since early December! "Merry Xmas, Sandy", I said with a smile!

Sunday brought news about the devastation we suffered on the west coast of Newfoundland after the warm temperatures and torrential rains all day Saturday and the resulting snow melt and runoff. The rains continued into Sunday as well. And by late afternoon, Corner Brook was one of 4 communities that declared a state of emergency.

These people lost their house, garage and truck (which you can't see because it's under water!) The smaller villages on both sides of our very long bay were completely cut off with high flood waters and washouts. Half of them are still cut off today with crews working as hard as they can.

Roads in the city as well as several areas on our major highway collapsed. For a while, CB residents were told NOT to try to leave the city. And anyone who needed emergency medical services were told to call the Coast Guard as boat was the only way to get into the city. It was (and is) a mess. But no one lost their lives, thank God.

Early Sunday evening took us back into the deep freeze. So today, although it's clear and at times sunny, my city of hills is a skating rink. 

But as happens everywhere on this beautiful planet, at times like these, people come together to help others. We will rally and smile and sing and survive!  

Gifts from Afar

My new students arrived last weekend on either side of a snow storm. And as always, they bring a gift for the new host Mom.  I love getting (and giving) gifts; but the ones I get from my international children are always special because they are so unique. 

This beautiful scarf was given to me by Abby from China. Isn't it lovely! It reminds me of a Jewish prayer shawl, and that suits me just fine!

Like many Chinese students, Yuxin has decided to take the much easier English name of Abby (because we're so hopeless at pronouncing their beautiful names!). My Korean daughter did the same; and she told me it was an exciting yet serious chore when she sat down with her father and decided on her "Canadian" name.  

These are my gifts from Japan. Isn't this the most exquisite packaging! I'm always blown away by the beauty and detail. These are shortbread cookies with chocolate icing in the centre: strawberry white chocolate, white chocolate with dried fruit, etc. Absolutely delicious!

And then there is this gorgeous box of chocolates! Be still my heart! I've only eaten one so far -- the dark chocolate with candied ginger. And yes, the quality is wonderful.

The one out front is white/strawberry chocolate with dried strawberries; there are almond milk, white and dark chocolates and what looks to be a mocha white chocolate. 

I'll have lots of fun trying these out. But at the moment, I'm trying to curb my sweet tooth and take off those 5 lb that magically appeared over Xmas! (2.4 down so far.)

Aren't I fortunate to have these wonderful opportunities to share my life with young girls from other countries.

To say nothing of how fortunate I am to be the recipient of such beautiful gifts.

Boozy Berries and R 'n' R!

Summer berries!  Yummy!  I know that we never run out of wonderful ideas for using and preserving, but isn't it great that people keep coming up with new ones.

Because of Hurricane Arthur, I didn't get to take Nagisa strawberry picking as I'd promised.  So, Friday we visited a local u-pick and purchased berries:  8 quarts to be precise.  We cleaned and trimmed and bagged several quarts for the freezer.  But one new idea (new to me, anyway) piqued my interest.  So I gave it a try.      

Strawberry Vodka

I got the idea from a rabbit trail that began with checking out "Cherry Bounce" at The Runaway Spoon (another recipe I plan on trying) which led me to other boozy fruit recipes and then eventually to David Lebovitz and the simple recipe for strawberry vodka --- just the choicest fruit, a decent vodka and a week of your time.  I'll let you know how it tastes.

Saturday, Amy and I dropped Nagisa off in the city; she's headed for a month long summer camp.   And I was headed for freedom! She's a honey of a girl, don't get me wrong.  But sometimes Mama doesn't want to feed the babies on time; sometimes Mama just wants tea and toast for supper; or sometimes Mama wants to walk naked from the bathroom to her bedroom, etc. etc.

After we dropped Nagisa off, we went to several thrift stores Sally Ann had 50% off selected items; and of course, I had a 30% off coupon for Value Village.  Even more fun, we visited the Asian grocer for Japanese and Korean supplies.  Then we found this little gem:  Cafe Aroma Latino and stopped in for lunch.

The thing I most liked about Cafe Aroma (besides the food) was that you could order one of each thing:  the portions were small and the prices were as well.  

We began in Mexico with a beef taco as well as Colombia for a couple of empanadas; they were gorgeous!  Full of flavor and not at all spicy.  Then we visited Guatamala for chuchitos and a couple of tamales; but sadly, we were a little disappointed in them as they were fairly bland.  We probably should gone to El Salvador for pupusas.  Oh well!  Next time!  But overall, we were pleased with the meal and the lovely decor.

They also had a small shop attached where we filled our basket with mole sauce, purple tortillas, dried hot peppers, tajine, hot sauce and all sorts of other goodies.  Such fun!  I love finding new food sources.

I'm looking forward to my month of relative freedom.  Yesterday after work, Amy greeted me with an amazing super supper salad and yummy healthy cookies made from oats, almond meal, chocolate ships and coconut. Don't you love it when someone else does the cooking.

Later in the week, I'll show you my thrift store finds.

In the meantime bloggies -
It's summer!  

Breathe.
Relax.
Swim.
Explore.
Enjoy.

And eat!

What delicious items have been on your table lately?

What do Geckos and Cupcakes have in common?

Instead of relaxing, last weekend was spent in a wonderful flurry of unexpected guests (children).  And as they needed a bed to sleep in, that meant quickly cleaning and organizing and changing bedclothes.  In spite of how tired we can be, isn't it amazing what we can accomplish when we need to!
Yes there were children -- mine and other peoples -- and there was a dance recital, burgers on the grill and music & wine on the deck (for those of us with the IDs to prove it.  For the others, there was Netflix and popcorn.)

Sunday was another flurry of returning these unexpected guests to their various homes; the last of which was my lovely daughter Molly.  As she was returning with a trunk load of stuff from my basement, I gladly drove her to the city. But after a weekend of work and festivity and driving, a body gets mighty hungry.

Enter Bayer's Lake ... and there like a huge green beacon of joy was:

The Gecko Bus!

What is the Gecko Bus?  It's "Canada's Freakiest Food Truck"  , serving up fresh, local, affordable Mexican Fusion food.  I'd seen the bus around the city, but this was my first visit:  it will NOT be my last.  Yum yum yum!  It was delicious.  I've been craving hot and spicy, and it delivered in 3 ways with 3 different tacos -- pulled pork, smoky chicken and spicy beef.  I highly recommend eating here.

Walking back to the car, I noticed another eating establishment I'd long wanted to visit: Susie's Cupcakes.  I thought "This will be just the ticket for dessert later"!  And with just a little extra enthusiasm from Molly (just look at that bright, shiny face), I was persuaded to enter ..... for one cupcake each, right?

How does one decide between "Dulce de Leche" or "Lemon Zinger" or "Snowball" or "Death by Chocolate" or any of the other marvelous flavors.  AND when you see the 50% off selection (that didn't sell at the Farmer's Market), well, you know you're done for. Resistance  is futile.

Half a dozen for Molly & her boyfriend and half a dozen for Nagisa and I.  Perfect!  

And although I practiced, I resisted eating one until later.

"Root Beer" (with a straw) and "Chocolate Deluxe".

It was a tiring, delightful, delicious weekend.  How was yours?

Birthday = Let's totally eat something wonderful & overindulge in cake!

Rabbit Rabbit everyone.   

And Happy May! 

Doesn't that word "May" conjure up images of flowers and sunshine and all things good and bright.  Fingers crossed.

I spent yesterday in the city with my darling (now) 24 year old, Molly, and Nagisa who was competing in a dance competition with her local group.   And we all know what the city means to me:  good food, fun and Value Village.  

The birthday girl anticipates her cake:  Brownie Truffle cake from M&M's.  (This Mama can't be baking cakes in the middle of the week!)

We lunched at Dhaba Express in Bayer's Lake, and the food was absolutely divine.  So much flavor.  The lunch special was this meat thala for $11.99; we ate butter chicken, lamb curry (so delicious), channa salad, raita, basmati rice and naan.  We began with veggie samosas & corriander sauce and had some lovely, sweet mango chutney with our main course.

Can you say "Not on my WW diet but who cares 'cause it was scrumdillilicious and I'd do it again in a minute"?  

I said it AND had cake and coffee! 

Burp!

Here's Molly and I at CanDance waiting to cheer on Nagisa and her Nova Dance team in the hip hop category.

And here's the gold medal winner in said category.

She was so awesome!

I can honestly say she was the best there.  


PS - She's offered to teach me some moves but I don't want to throw out my hip!




What a fun day!  I'll share my VV finds with you later in the week.  Let's just say I think I should have gotten the gold medal for thrifting finds yesterday.

But then just like in dance ...

Practice makes perfect!

Crispy Tofu with Citrus Soy

My body and my brain are constantly battling each other.  My body

cries out "No more junk!  Eat healthy food!"  And my brain yells equally as loudly "Where's my chocolate?  I want cake!"

Most of the time, my body wins the battle; its various aches and pains gain the upper hand.  But really!  Let's face it:  we have to give in to our cravings occasionally.  Hence my eating the Lindt  and the Cadbury mini eggs consumed this weekend -- against my WW rules.

There are no regrets:  they were delicious!

But equally delicious is this dish I prepared last night for dinner.  A year ago, tofu wasn't on my list of favorites; but I guess like most foods, you just have to find the right recipe.

I have found it!

To make the Citrus Sauce:  1/3 cup orange juice, 1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp Mirin, 1 tsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp grated ginger root and the zest from one lemon.  

Heat a Tbsp olive oil in a frying pan. (I used my iron pan.)  Cut the block of firm tofu (roughly 250-265 gm) into 8 equal pieces; pat dry.  Dip each piece in beaten egg yolk and then in Panko crumbs (roughly 1/3 cup).  Then fry on each side until golden and heated throughout.  

Serve on a bed of salad greens with chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds.  Drizzle with the citrus sauce.  Add some pickled ginger and rice and this wonderful meal is complete.

This is soooo delicious!

Can't wait to make this one again!

Glimpses of our Easter!

Did I mention that the Easter Bunny attends our church?

• Tulips for the lady of the house ....
• Matching dress and nails for church.....
• Bunny chocolate (and other goodies) .....
• Crown Cake (French fruit brioche) from Julian's in Chester.....
• Lemon spatchcocked chicken with the most crispy golden skin, roast onions and potatoes, turnip/carrot mash and my very first Pavlova for dinner.  (A little flat perhaps but most delicious and definitely worth repeating.)

The only thing that's necessary now is an after dinner walk.  

Funny how most of the things I ate today are NOT on the Weight Watchers menu!

Hope your day was wonderful!

I hate it when my food has eyes!

This past Friday, we received the last ever care package from Korea that Elly will receive here in Nova Scotia.  (She's taking early graduation and leaving me at the end of January.  But let's not get me crying :(    Boohoo!  She'll come back to Canada for college AND back to her NS home for the holidays.)  

Care packages from Korea are always welcome in my house.   It means good food:  

.......  like these Korean snacks that will get devoured while playing Skipbo over Christmas (if they make it that long!) 

..... and a huge box containing a huge can of delicious kimchi, homemade by Elly's mother.  She made it with lots of love .... and lots of gochuchang 'cause Man! It is soooo spicy hot!

There were also some things I'd never tried before; and me?  I'm game to try just about anything!  

Dinner that evening was (working from the top and going counter-clockwise):

• steamed brown Korean rice = yum;
• topped with pieces of Korean kim (nori) = yum;
• with a side of sweet 'n' crunchy lotus root = yum;
• and some sweet 'n' spicy daikon radish kimchi = yum;
• AND ..... Wait a minute!  What the heck are those on my plate?  Those little silver creatures with the wee eyes?

THOSE, my friends, are dried anchovies with peanuts in a sweet soy marinade.  Seriously, does anyone like anchovies, let alone dried and crunchy with their little beady eyes staring back at you?  

But being the scientifically-minded gal that I am, and seeing as I'd already put myself out there by stating that "I'll try anything", I went for it.  And surprisingly, they were delicious.  You taste peanut and salt and soy and crunch and thankfully not what you'd expect from a wee little fish head.  Really, really yummy!

The next day, I finally cooked a dish I'd been meaning to for a few months:  black sesame porridge or Heukimja-Juk.   You start by soaking short grain rice for 3 hours; then you toast black sesame seeds, grind them together in the blender and cook slowly and carefully until it has thickened.  Sprinkle with a few pine nuts ..... or create a happy face like Elly did.

Elly said it reminded her of being a little sick girl at home and her Mom would take care of her and serve her porridges like this (and one made with abalone??).  

It was really good; a little bland but nothing a dribble of honey didn't fix.  After some more research online, I found that I can make it with regular sesame seeds (much less expensive), brown rice, a little ground chia seeds and coconut sugar for a very tasty nutritious breakfast.  (I figure a sprinkle of heart-healthy dark chocolate chips wouldn't go amiss either!)





Eating can be such a fun and tasty adventure.  

Some birthdays deserve 2 cakes, don't ya think?

.
Turning 17 meant a Korean feast and 2 cakes; I love my girl (and my tummy) that much!  

We began with Elly's request - Bulgogi:  slices of beef & veg in a pureed marinade of soy sauce, onion, garlic, an apple and an Asian pear.  Sweet & delicious!  We also had my favorite - Jeyuk Bokem:  slices of pork & veg in a marinade of soy, Gochujang (spicy red bean paste), garlic and sugar.  Just a touch of bite!  We had steamed rice, Elly's Mom's very spicy (but good) Kimchi and a delicious mixed greens salad with mandarin oranges and dried cranberries & golden raisins and this wonderful, wonderful dressing.  The dressing makes a lot -- which is perfect because you're going to want to have it again and again.

Asian Salad Dressing 

(http://allrecipes.com/recipe/asian-ginger-dressing/)

Blend all the ingredients together until well incorporated; store in the refrigerator and shake before using.

3 cloves minced garlic

2 Tbsp minced ginger root

1 cup olive oil 

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp honey

1/4 cup water 

I found the Korean Rainbow Rice Cake, when trolling the internet for recipes.  It was intriguing so I decided to give it a try.  

  It was a lot of work, a labour of love, but still fun to make; and I learned a lot.  Like ..... next time use the called-for 8" springform pan and the layers will be better defined; and more importantly,  go with your gut when it comes to cooking time and pan size.  Although mine tasted good, it was chewy rather than fluffy.  The flavors in this cake are very subtle; the green tea Matcha layer was my favorite.

(A real plus?  You can eat "cake" for breakfast and not feel guilty about doing so!)

THIS cake was the real hit of the night:  Lighter Authentic New York Cheesecake!  (http://bakingbites.com/2011/01/lighter-authentic-new-york-cheesecake/).

It uses 1% cottage cheese, 1% plain Greek yogurt and a block of light cream cheese -- all blended in the food processor to ensure an even, smooth texture. It was delicious!  Lighter tasting for sure, but still maintaining that creamy just-rich-enough taste as a New York cheesecake.

We shared our meal with another host family, who have gotten to know Elly very well over the past 2 years, and one of Elly's Korean schoolmates.  Elly said the meal and the presents were perfect ....

And they had so much fun creating messages with their sparklers!

I'd encourage any of you adventurous eaters out there to try different foods.  From my experiences over the last 4 years, a lot of them are as easy as reading a recipe .................. 

but sooooo much more rewarding!

Bon Appétit!