To Market, To Market!

My workplace is going through a “strategic realignment” - management’s wording, not mine. This initiative has lead to many changes, some exciting, some frustrating, some overwhelming. Some are even funny if you have a twisted sense of humour. I tend to have a twisted sense of humour. One of the best things to come out of these changes is my new schedule. I now have Saturdays off for the first time in 2 years. This means I can attend the Saturday Farmers’ Market on a regular basis. *Insert happy dance here*

March 28 marked my first venture to the Saturday Market in about a year. I was so excited that I was rather giddy. I’m sure the vendors thought I was more than a little mad. I should probably save the happy dance for less public venues.

A quick spin around the market dampened my spirits a wee bit. I had imagined that I would be buying produce. Somehow I had neglected that fact that it was still March, and the produce pickings were pretty slim. Part of that might be due to my late arrival. The good stuff usually goes first at the Farmers’ Market, and I had slept in. I did mention it was my first Saturday off in a very long time, didn’t I?


Though there wasn’t much to choose from in the way of produce, there was still plenty available to purchase: beef, chicken, lamb, chevon (aka goat meat), bison, tuna, salmon, two kinds of eggs (duck and chicken) a variety of jams, jellies and condiments, a seemingly infinite variety of baked goods, honey and locally made cosmetics.

I had money burning a hole in my pocket, so I treated myself to some facial clay and some bison wieners. (That’s hotdogs you lewd thing. I know what you were thinking.) Not what I was planning when I started, but that’s half the fun of shopping at the Farmers’ Market. I never know what I’m going to leave with, but I never go home empty-handed.

Dinner that night was barbequed bison wieners followed by a wicked facial mask. There were enough hotdogs for two meals, which prompted me to get over my fear of preparing dry beans. I made homemade baked beans for the first time, as I wanted to use the leftover bison for wieners and beans. It seemed a shame to use canned baked beans with the bison wieners. I love how unplanned purchases can lead to new experiences. As a bonus, we also got 3 meals out of the beans (wieners and beans, plus baked beans on sourdough toast x 2) and there‘s two 500ml jars of baked beans in the freezer. I feel another happy dance coming on.


Tomorrow brings the first outdoor Farmers’ Market of the season. Once it moves outside, the market usually attracts more vendors. The local produce has also had that much more growing time. I’m looking forward to the increased selection. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for good weather, but I will be there rain or shine. I can’t wait to see what cooking adventures this week’s market will inspire.

Up and Down and All Around

A day of difficult discussions and hard decisions interspersed with amazing support from hubby and friends.

Lunch with C (Potage Parmentier again), a visit to the garden of the lovely L, and a salute from the Snowbirds brought balance to a day that might otherwise have spun out of control.

I've included pictures from my garden visit. I left L's in a much calmer frame of mind than when I arrived. I also left with kale and parsley plants for my own garden. She should really charge for such services.

L has crops in her garden year-round. The kale was planted last fall, and they've been eating it all winter. That's the kind of local eating I aspire too, though I have to work on greening my thumb first.

Child-ish Cooking Project

It was Thursday morning, slightly before 11am. I was in my kitchen. I hadn't yet showered, or brushed my teeth, or combed my hair. There was a bottle of vermouth in my hand. It sounds like I was heading for a nervous breakdown, but in reality I was battling with a recipe from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”.

I would have never considered such a thing on my own, but my book club will be discussing Julie Powell’s “Julie and Julia” this month. They’ve decided to combine this discussion with a pot luck. I say "they’ve" decided because I was away when this decision was made. Had I been there I’m not sure I would have agreed. I like cooking, but cooking for potlucks stresses me out. Particularly when the other participants, like those in my book club, are such amazing cooks. And even more particularly when the cooking involves Julia Child.

Julia Child scares me. Not her cooking, the woman herself. I’m not sure why. I can’t say that I know much about her, but I do remember seeing this big, loud, boisterous woman on television as a child and being terrified of her. OK, maybe not terrified, but definitely overwhelmed. As a result, I’ve avoided all things Child-esque. Until now.

Given my feelings about Julia Child, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed “Julie and Julia”. Inspired by Powell, I borrowed “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” from the library. My idea was to find a recipe for the upcoming potluck. I don’t know if this was what the potluck's planners had in mind, as I said, I missed that meeting, but I figured that if Powell could cook every recipe in the cookbook, I could try one recipe for the book club.

Like Powell, I started with Potage Parmentier. It turned out remarkably well. A promising start considering my Julia-aversion, but not a recipe I wanted to use for the potluck. I was hoping for something more portable. My mom once had a potato-soup coat. As a child I thought it was a coat that you wore when you ate potato soup, much like you would wear an evening gown for an evening event. It turns out that the coat was known as the potato-soup coat because my aunt spilled potato soup on it. I really didn’t want my Toyota to be known as the Potage-Parmentier car.

Further investigation of the cookbook provided few alternatives. The dietary restrictions of the group, another reason I find cooking for potlucks so stressful, immediately eliminated any recipe with meat. Ditto for recipes with cheese and dairy. And almonds. Eventually I wound up in the vegetable chapter, where I found Champignons Farcis. Bingo. The instructions were fairly straight-forward, and the ingredients were fairly ordinary for a cookbook with recipes that require sweetbreads and brains and calf's feet. Oh my. Still, hubby suggested a trial run for our sanity, and because he likes stuffed mushrooms.

I’m glad he did. Even though this recipe is one of the least complicated ones in the book, it is not written in a way that I find intuitive. None of Child’s recipes are. I was determined to follow the directions exactly even though at one point you’re asked to “saute as in the preceding duxelles recipe"…okaaay…except I found the instructions for sauteing duxelles to be fairly vague. Still, I read the recipes several times, bought my ingredients and figured I had everything under control. Then I started cooking.

It wasn’t until I was partway into the recipe that I realized that I didn’t actually have all the ingredients. I had purposely omitted the Swiss cheese, as hubby isn’t fond of Swiss cheese, but I had also forgotten to pick up whipping cream. As I stood in the kitchen trying to determine whether yogurt or skim milk would be the better substitute, I remembered that dairy was on the no-go list for the book club. In trying to find an brain-free, hoof-free, nut-free recipe for the group I had completely forgotten that. Damn. I went with yogurt, substituted cheddar for the Swiss cheese, and noticed that the veggies sautéing in my frying pan weren’t looking at all like I imagined duxelles should. At that point I decided to add the optional Madeira, though I didn’t have any Madeira in the house. I was pretty sure Child had mentioned vermouth as a substitute for wine. I just wasn’t sure what type of wine you could substitute vermouth for, and I didn’t have the time or the patience to check. In went the vermouth.

I still wasn’t sure about the duxelles-like quality of the veggies, but at this point I had already strayed so far from the recipe that I was sure it didn’t matter. Mushroom stuffing commenced.

I had intended to prep the mushrooms up to the point where they went in the oven, then set them aside to bake later. I wanted to see how they held up to sitting in the fridge prior to baking, as this is what I planned to do for the potluck. So much for intentions. Although my kitchen looked like a disaster area, the mushrooms looked and smelled so good that I baked them right away. What was supposed to be our dinner became our lunch. And they were good. Too bad they won't work for the potluck after all. Riz Duxelles looks pretty safe, and I'd only need to refer to three recipes to make it. I see another morning of experimenting in my kitchen. At least I have some duxelles experience under my belt. Bring on the vermouth!

March Sadness

A morning phone call had me rushing out the door, chocolate in one hand, tea in the other. A young friend had had her heart broken, so I was off to offer what advice 43 can give to 19, which is pretty much none whatsoever. At least I had chocolate. And hugs. I thought that made me prepared. I was wrong. She didn't want chocolate. I know it wasn't good chocolate; I had already eaten the good stuff. In fact, all I had to offer were some cardboard-y biscuits. Still, I thought everyone consumed chocolate when broken-hearted. Have things changed? Am I that out of the loop? I feel so old! I just wish I felt that the age came with wisdom.

In her distress, my friend didn't want anything to eat. She had to struggle to finish a half a cup of tea. Poor thing. All that left me to offer were hugs, and a shoulder to cry on. She seemed to appreciate those things, as much as one can appreciate anything when in the depths of despair. We talked for a while, then walked, then went to pick up boxes to pack up his stuff. What a sad morning.

Thanks to hubby it's been years and years since I've had to deal with this kind of heart-break myself. I'm left struggling to remember what I wanted to eat when I felt like this. Chocolate, for sure, but what else? I'll ponder for a bit, and in the mean time am open to suggestions. What foods call to you when you need comfort?

Steamy Lunchtime Adventure

I've been trying to buy foods that contain pronounceable and recognizable ingredients. I don't always succeed, but I'm certainly getting better at it.

I was surprised when I started looking for tortillas that met these requirements. I really thought tortillas would be "wholesome". Not so. The majority of the tortillas available at my grocery store contain mystery ingredients that I don't want to consider. I was about to give up on tortillas when I discovered Alvarado Street Bakery's Sprouted Wheat Tortillas in the dairy aisle. Only 5 ingredients and all of them are pretty much recognizable. (I'm not completely sure about "unrefined" safflower oil, as vegetable oil refineries, unlike crude oil refineries, are outside of my experience.)

These tortillas seemed like the answer to my quesadilla prayers until I tried to work with them. The package suggested warming the tortillas, but it didn't seem to matter how I prepped them. They cracked and tore as I fumed and swore. I was beginning to think that I was doomed to live a tortilla-free life. Then I noticed a second serving suggestion on the package. Apparently I could also steam the tortillas. Perfect, except I had no idea how to go about steaming a tortilla and the package gave no directions.

Internet searches produced some vague instructions. Could steaming tortillas be a skill like boiling water? Is it possible that the process is so basic that it doesn't merit explanation? Most instructions involved wrapping the tortillas in damp paper towels and microwaving them. Sounds reasonable, but "damp" is one of those subjective terms that is hard to convey on the internet. I was pretty sure any attempts would lead to more cursing, so I kept searching.

I eventually discovered that tortillas could be steamed in a basket over boiling water, which sounds easy enough, but I don't have a steamer basket that is large enough to hold burrito-sized tortillas. I was rooting through the kitchen, trying to find a reasonable substitute, banging together baking racks and my wok, when hubby remembered that we actually had a steamer rack/insert for the wok. Even better, he knew where it was. We've had the wok for so long that the handle has broken off and disappeared. As we'd never in my memory used the rack/insert thing, I was most impressed that he knew where it was. With that problem solved, the wok, its lid, its rack and about an inch of water went on the stove.



The rack alone seemed to be missing something, so I covered it with foil before adding the tortillas. It's a good thing I did. The tortillas stuck a bit, and I think it was much easier to peel the tortillas from the foil than it would have been to peel them from the rack. I'm sure you, unlike some of us, don't need to be reminded that steam it hot.


I steamed the tortillas on each side. Once they were flexible I filled them with scrambled eggs, veggies and cheese. The tortillas weren't as elastic as they could have been, so I stabbed the wraps with a toothpick and put them back in the wok. This allowed the tortillas to steam a bit more, and it gave the cheese a chance to melt.

The process looks more complicated than it really is. The tortillas steamed in the time it took the eggs to cook. Once the wraps were assembled and in the wok I took the wok off the heat and left them until we were ready for lunch. They stayed warm and the cheese got nicely gooey. Because I used the foil, clean up was easy. I tossed the foil and left the wok and its pieces on the dish rack to dry. Eventually, I'd like to work out a system that doesn't involve foil, but am pleased with this method for a starting point. And to think I was ready to give up on tortillas, when all I needed was a little experimentation. Next thing you know I'll be making my own tortillas. Or not. I don't think I'm quite ready for that much adventure. Yet.

BRB!

Today's post is written. See, look, here it is, scribbles and all:



Unfortunately it is on paper, and it's going to have to stay there for the time being. Will be back soon to input it in a form you can read. CU soon!

Blocked

I am suffering from writer’s block. I know what I want to write about, but the words just won’t come together. It’s most frustrating. I’ve started this week’s post FIVE times, but I never seem to get anywhere with it. I’ve set those attempts aside and I’m going to vent instead. You’ve been warned.

Nothing I do seems to help. Walks to clear my head haven‘t worked. Picture me storming through the neighbourhood grumbling to myself about how much this sucks. Time in the garden, which worked last week, has lead to the discovery that something has eaten the flowers off the crocuses. This is particularly irritating. The yard is fenced. There are plenty of crocuses growing out in open, easily accessible places. They remain untouched. What makes ours so special? Are they particularly tasty, or is the local wildlife just enjoying the challenge associated with getting over (around, under, through) our fence?

Taking the writing on the road hasn’t helped either. I’ve dragged myself and my writing implements to the library, to a friend’s house, to a coffee shop and to the Toyota dealership. Still stuck. The waiting room at the Toyota dealership is promising though, and if they hadn’t finished with my car so quickly I may have made some progress. I’ve had luck writing there before. Comfy chairs, quiet work stations, wireless internet, coffee, a fireplace. If we could just do something about the Regis and what’s-her-name on the television I’d suggest myself as their writer-in-residence.

Thankfully, not everything this week has been as difficult as my writing. Experiments in the kitchen have led to good results. I made these banana-blueberry muffins for the first time. Like the author, I had to make some adjustments. I didn’t have whole wheat pastry flour, so I too used regular whole wheat flour, and I didn’t know what was meant by “old-fashioned oats”. (My recent confusion regarding oats could be an article on it’s own.) I used quick oats instead. They worked. I was feeling too lazy to chop walnut halves in to suitable pieces, so I left them out. The resulting muffins were tasty, and they were the most healthful baked goods I’ve ever made. All the ingredients were either organic, or local or both. Just thinking about that improves my mood.

I also figured out a way to use my wok to steam tortillas. I’d never steamed tortillas before, and I consulted several websites before I figured this out… more on this soon. I just checked the time. I need to get lunch started. Fortunately today’s lunch involves tortillas, so I’ll take some pictures and show you what I came up with.

I realize there are likely to be many errors in today’s post. Live with it. I am. The important thing, for me anyway, is that I’ve managed to defeat my writer’s block, and I have something to post. I suppose I should worry more what you will think of my messy attempt to get some words out, but you were warned.