Happy Nowruz!

For the last 3 years (or is it 4?) I've been hosting a potluck to celebrate Chinese New Year, usually around the end of January, beginning of February. I missed it entirely this year. (Seriously, where has the time gone!?!) Thank goodness there are other New Years to celebrate! Nowruz is the Persian New Year, which also coincides with the first day of Spring, and it was a nice change for a potluck theme - Middle Eastern food, instead of Chinese. 

I have to tell you, our potluck was a Persian feast! For a small group of 6 people (small for a potluck anyway) we had a fantastic menu: 

Appetizers:

Veggie tray

Main Course:

Adas-Polow (a saffron rice dish with lentils and raisins)

Koobideh (beef kebab)

Maast-o-Khiar (a yogurt and mint side-dish that went well with the beef kebab) 

Jujeh Kabab (chicken kebab)

Persian Yogurt Salad (a yogurt and cucumber side-dish)

bbq grilled vegetables 

Ghormeh Sabzi (beef and herbs stew with dried lemons)

Zereshk Polow (Saffron Rice with barberries)

Drinks:

Ginger Sekanjabin

grapefruit and lemon Italian sodas

Desserts:

The Rebbetzin Chefs Persian Walnut Cookies

Faloodeh (Persian Rose Water Ice)

One of the important parts of Nowruz is the Haft Sin Table. I think generally this is a separate table set up with seven symbolic items. I didn't go with the full Haft Sin items, but selectively put some of the items as a centrepiece for the table. Mirrors, lit candles, spouts (from carrot tops because I couldn't get lentils to sprout), rose water, sumac, and live goldfish!

And now I have 4 goldfish to look after. Well, actually...only 2 now. I seem to have killed 2 today. Let's hope the other 2 survive the night. And survive Millie. :)

Apparently I'm a sadistic goldfish owner. I've been enabling Millie's curiosity and terrorizing the poor goldfish.

Discovery!

Close-up

View from above

Eye contact

Playing tag with the fish.

Delicious!

I'm out of the habit of blogging. I have lots of lovely pictures to post, but keep forgetting to do so. Maybe this will get me started!

Last week I made a delicious summery salsa and I wanted to share it. I'm not even sure if anyone is following my blog anymore, where I've been such an infrequent poster!

The original recipe is from Whole Foods, one of my favourite sources for recipes. Almost every recipe I've tried has turned out perfectly and is delicious and full of flavour!

The following is copied directly from Whole Foods's Recipe website. I didn't do much measuring. I chopped up about 3 tomoatoes and 2 nectarines, and added more cilantro and lime than was called for, just because I love cilantro and lime. :) I served the salsa on top of pan-fried haddock (which you can't see for all the salsa in the picture above). Also, I don't have the patience to cube everything so neatly as Whole Foods did....but it still looks delicious.


Fresh Salsa

Makes about 2 cups

Salsa has lots of advantages: It seems indulgent, but it's actually a healthy choice, fat free and loaded with flavor and vegetables. It's inexpensive, especially when the ingredients are home grown or in season. It's versatile because you can make it hotter with more peppers or make it sweeter with fruit. And it's easy!

Ingredients

2 cups chopped tomatoes (or a combination of tomatoes and fresh peaches, nectarines, mangoes or grapes)
1/3 cup chopped yellow or white onion
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 to 2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
Salt to taste

Method

Put all ingredients into a bowl, toss well and serve chilled or at room temperature.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 4oz/1/2 cup/116g-wt.): 25 calories (0 from fat), 0g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 150mg sodium, 6g total carbohydrate (1g dietary fiber, 3g sugar), 1g protein

A weekend in pictures

I went to the Valley this weekend, and enjoyed a 24 hour vacation in the countryside. So much got done in that short period of time: I did a few loads of laundry and hung out on the clothesline, G. replaced my brake pads and rotors, I went to the Wolfville Market with Mom for lunch and got my hair cut (3.5 inches and still most people don't notice it's been cut *sigh*).

I dipped my toes in the brook, which most years has dried up by this point in the summer. As you can see, there's lots of water in it this summer.

I did my produce shopping for the week in Mom's garden: beets, carrots, green beans, waxed beans, kale, Thai basil....did I miss anything?

And then I went up the road and picked 5 pints of raspberries at the U-Pick, and mashed them into this delicious sauce, perfect for my yogurt in the morning!

When I got back to the city, I decided I needed to find my way to Lawrencetown Beach. I've promised a certain 9 year old (The Little) to take her to a beach and I haven't quite decided which one we should go to. Suggestions are welcome. I'm leaning towards Lawrencetown because they waves are just plain fun, but there beach is actually pretty rocky and not conducive to playing in the sand. Queensland or Cleveland Beach might be better for that.

I had fun in the waves while I was there and managed to get soaked. But what would you expect when you stand in the water waiting for waves daring the waves to crash into you! :) I have to say, the water was really cold! It took a little while to get aclimatised (read: numb).

Afterwards I found a spot in the sand and watched the surfers while the feeling came back to my legs.

It was a beautiful weekend. Perfect in almost every way - a good mix of fun and productivity, of exploring new places and visiting the familiar.

Oh, and I'm over my obsession with the "dream house" in Berwick. Having a realtor stand-you-up for a viewing will do that to you. In the end it's probably better this way. The likelihood of loving this house even more after seeing it in person was pretty high, and yet it's still too far away. The message was clear: the house is not for me. I can move on now.

Feasting in style

Tonight's dinner

Oven Roasted Kale

Sweet Potato Fries

Lemon Baked Salmon

The hunt for kale....and how I organize my recipes

I have a confession: I went to Pete's Frootique today. I know it's Sunday, and usually I try to keep Sundays as a shopping-free day, but yesterday was busy and I didn't get a chance to get into stores at all. Instead, I spent the day with my grandparents, and even got snowshoeing!


But back to Pete's Frootique...

For those who aren't familiar with Pete's, it's a market-style (organic) grocery store filled with wonderful things! Pete Luckett is the fellow that started it all, and he has a farm in the Valley. For my Toronto friends, Pete's is a lot like Whole Foods or Pusateri's. It's an experience, more than a grocery store! The market is beautifully laid out, the displays are artfully done, and you can find a lot of imported food, mostly from the UK.

Today I was on a mission though. About a month ago, I went to the Wolfville Market with a friend, and picked up some kale. After about a week of sitting in my fridge I decided it was about time I did something with it. I'd never cooked kale before, but it's supposed to be one of the healthiest foods to eat, so I thought it'd be worth a try! I found a recipe online that sounded decent: Sauteed Kale with Garlic Onions & Lemon. (I didn't get to participate in Sherrie's food challenge this week, but if I had this would've been my entry for Thursday's vegetarian recipe.) It was delicious!! In fact, I had to restrain myself from eating the full amount of sauteed kale in one sitting! Since then, I've haven't been able to find kale - I tried my local Sobey's and Superstore, the Halifax Market and Wolfville Market (to find locally grown), but no luck. Well, fortunately, Pete's had lots! I bought a big bunch of kale for 2.49. Yay!While at Pete's I picked up a few other things (it's almost impossible not to!): a new tea, Clipper Organic White Tea with Raspberry, grapes and pineapple. And I also stumbled upon a rack of recipe cards. So here's my 2nd confession of the day: I'm not at all creative when it comes to cooking. I need inspiration, and I need instructions. So when I come across recipes that look good, I'll try to make sure I get a copy of that recipe. The result has been an accumulation of so many scraps of paper, labels and recipe cards that were stuffed in my recipe book. Each time I picked it up, a million scraps of paper would fall out.

So here was my solution: Now, I know this may be a bit too obsessive-compulsive for most people, but I thought this was brilliant. I spent an evening in front of the TV, putting together this recipe box system. Sure, it took a bit of time to figure out what groupings I wanted, and to print and trim the labels to fit (thank goodness for my label maker!), but the end result was worth it.

Supplies: box with lid from Dollarama ($1), 3 pkgs of card dividers (only 1.5 used) from Dollarama ($1 ea.), blank coloured recipe cards from Dollarama ($1).

And here they are in their permanent home: I think there's a lot that can be said about someone from their recipe collection. My recipe book is full of family favourites, and recipes I've gotten from family (like great-grandmother's molasses cookies, or Bear River chocolate cake...). It's also full of my regular rotation of recipes - meatloaf, baked beans, risotto, etc. And often the pages are splattered with batter, and then there was that one unfortunate incident where I left a can of frozen orange juice out on the counter overnight and it exploded leaving a sticky orange goo all over my recipe book and walls..... .
So, I'm curious to know what other people do with their recipes. Do you collect recipes? transcribe them onto cards or in a book? where do you put/stash them?

(It's probably the Archivist in me that makes me just a little bit curious about how you organize your recipes.)

My ultimate comfort food!

Warm homemade applesauce!

I love applesauce, especially slightly chunky applesauce, with a bit of cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg. I don't put any sugar in my applesauce when I'm cooking it so the recipe is pretty easy: enough water to cover the bottom of the pot (1 inch deep) + peeled, cored & sliced apples + spices. I used leftover Cox's Orange apples this time, but it's best made with tart flavourful apples like Cortlands or Jonagolds (in my humble opinion).

Applesauce is a staple for me in the wintertime. I'll eat it for breakfast, mixed in with yogurt and Ginger Zinger Granola (the combo of the three tastes like Apple Pie!). I also enjoy it spooned onto a slice of brown bread with peanut butter. And, of course, there's another delicious treat - warm applesauce with a spoonful of vanilla frozen yogurt (wait a few minutes so the ice cream melts a little) + a little nutmeg. Delicious!

So, why am I posting about my ultimate comfort food?
...Because Frenchy's Finds offered a challenge I couldn't resist - a Comfort Week challenge.
And if there's one thing I do well, it's comfort ;) .

M is for Markets

Yesterday I made a trip home to the Valley. One of my many stops was to the Meadowbrook Meat Market in Berwick. Mom picked up delicious honey garlic sausages for supper and some ground hamburger, and I picked up a pre-cooked ham and maple sausages. I've heard rave reviews from my mother about how fresh the meat is, and she's been shopping for her meat there for years.

I was really impressed with the market - a large space with freezers and cooling units full of meat, like the meat section of a grocery store. They're obviously doing very well, and I hope they're business continues to thrive. There was a mishap this fall and they lost a lot of hogs in a barn fire (just imagine the smell!! eww!!), but I gather that's not going to hurt business too much.

I also got a real kick out of one of their parking signs. All of them were different. Here's the one for my parking space....

"For those feeling disgruntled". :D

And speaking of markets, I also stopped in to the Wolfville Farmer's Market. During the winter months it can be found in the Student Union Building at Acadia. There weren't as many vendors there as usual, but I managed to buy a bit of produce (brussel sprouts, a variety of carrots, a big bag of kale), and some pastries from the German Bakery to treat Mom and G. as thanks for being willing to store my All-Season tires for the winter (and alternately, my Winter Tires during the non-winter months, I hope....though that may require more pastries).

Clementines are $4.77 at Superstore

Go buy some!

Dining in the big city

I'm back from a trip to Toronto. It was so good to see friends again and, as always, not enough time to see everyone! I was actually there for business but had the good fortune to turn it into a little vacation. I spent my time visiting, shopping and dining.

I'm going to post photos of the latter today, and save my shopping purchases for another post, another day. So, is it okay to admit that one of the things I miss the most about living in Toronto is the food? I miss the variety and how cheap you can get a delicious meal! So here are the highlights:

An Ethiopian feast from Ethiopian HouseWe ordered the Vegetarian Bayaaynatu plus 2 meat Bayaaynatu....and cleaned the plate of nearly everything! So delicious!!And then we ordered the Coffee Ceremony - strong Ethiopian coffee served with buttered popcorn. It's a perfect way to end the meal...well worth the extra 12.00.
Then there was the Japanese feast - the Supreme Bento Box at Sushi On Bloor. This is super value for your money. It's a 4 course meal - miso soup, then sushi....
The main course of teriyaki beef, tempura vegetables and shrimp, salad with delicious citrus dressing, served with rice. All of that followed with a dish of ice cream (mango, red bean or green tea).
And, last but not least, a Thai feast at Green Mango. I was surprised to find Green Mango had changed back to the set-up they had years ago when I first arrived in TO. They closed their take-out restaurant on the East side of Yonge, and now have the take-out inside the main restaurant. And there's more selection! I was sad to see they no longer have glass noodles (my favourite), but the basil noodles were equally as delicious. I ordered the peanut chicken and the basil chicken with extra cabbage salad - yum! All for less than $9!

And there were other delicious meals too - some in restaurants, some made in the kitchens of dear friends! All were enjoyed especially because of the company they were shared with!

Reality Check

Sometimes I forget how thankful I really ought to be. I complain about making less money, about the expense of the luxuries I enjoy (food, my car, the internet), and about not having all the things I want or that other people have.

Tonight I had a reality check.

I live in a world where 70% of the people make less than $1000 a year, where 850 million people go to bed hungry and where 50,000 people die every day from poverty-related causes. These people are less likely to have access to education or healthcare, and struggle to stay alive.
Makes my troubles insignificant, doesn't it!?

Tonight I participated in Oxfam's Hunger Banquet. It's a fascinating concept and is supposed to replicate the Global Dinner Table. You pay $10 at the door to participate - all the money goes to Oxfam as the food that is served has all been donated by local food producers - which gets you a seat at the table. There are 10 place settings (forks & knives) set at each table, so you're given an opportunity to meet new people. The facilitator at each table then held a lottery to tell you what income bracket you fit into - high ($11K+), medium ($1K-11K), or low (less than $1K). At each table there were 7 people who were low income, 2 who were middle income, and 1 who was high income. And then the meals were served....

This is where there's a catch. The meals were relative to your income bracket. So the high income person got a five course meal (gourmet soup, salad, main course and dessert, courtesy of The Cellar Bar & Grill), along with extra cutlery and a glass of champagne; the middle income people were served a wholesome stew with homemade bread, and the low income earners were served a potato and cabbage stew and their cutlery was taken away.

I was low income.

The experience was very interesting. We watched as delicious looking food was brought out and placed in front of one person. The rest of us had to wait through the first 2 courses before we got our meals. Fortunately, the high income person at our table, was also very generous! Not only did she pass each course around (before she herself took a bite), but she also purchased from the black market (i.e.: a woman dressed in a trenchcoat like a watch salesman) cutlery for each of us who had none ($1/piece). I was prepared to eat with my hands for the full experience, figuring low income earners wouldn't be too concerned about whether or not they had cutlery - but when it was offered, I didn't turn it down either. And so the meal went.

The truth is, I have have nothing to complain about. I have money in the bank, I live in comfort, I enjoy the luxury of driving, I have loving friends and family, and a faith that sustains me. So next time I complain about not having enough of anything, someone please slap me upside the head!

The best burger EVER!

This is not just a good burger... It's the BEST burger. It's thick and juicy, and topped with cheddar cheese and bacon, and served with homemade potato chips and just enough salad to make you feel good about ordering a bacon cheese burger. Now, you may think this is overly high praise for a Bacon Cheese Burger, but it's not! Since my first visit to the Coastal Cafe, everyone I've talked to who's had the burger agrees that its the best they've ever had. Even the people in the restaurant will agree and encourage indecisive customers (because there are so many delicious choices on their lunch menu!) to go with this choice. And if you think you're not in the mood for a heavy meal, let me tell you that this burger does not sit heavy in your gut when you're done. You don't get that gross "I've eaten too much greasy food" feeling. In fact, my co-worker today said, after she had finished her Coastal Bacon Cheese Burger that she could eat another!
With all this said, however, I went with the Curried Leg of Lamb Naan Sandwich, Tomato Ginger Chutney, Feta and Mint Raita to try something different. And let me tell you, it was delicious! Another winner from the Coastal Cafe! The chutney and the raita were so delicious together and a naan sandwich is such a fantastic idea, I may have to try it at home!

SideNote: It's not on the menu, but you can also order homemade brewed iced tea that is sweetened with peach juice. It's delicious, and less than $2.

Eat & Fit

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, one of the things I liked about Toronto was knowing that I had the world's cuisine at my fingertips. I could easily find a restaurant of almost any ethnicity and often within walking distance of where I lived.

Here in Halifax, it's not quite the same. There's not as much cultural representation, and what is available is definitely more expensive. But I'll grab any chance I can get to try a new restaurant, and sample new cuisine. The latest restaurant was Eat & Fit, an Iranian restaurant that's just opened on Quinpool Road. Quinpool Road seems to have become a Middle Eastern hub - with about 4 Greek restaurants, an Iranian restaurant now, and a Middle Eastern restaurant, called Aleppo, in place of the now-closed Ethiopia Restaurant.

To celebrate another pay-day, a small group of us at work went out for lunch. We chose Eat & Fit because it had an online menu, and because reading said menu initiated cravings for delicious food that lasted most of the morning.

Though there were mixed reviews of the food, I quite enjoyed it. It was what I had expected it to be, and definitely very tasty! We started with an appetizer: Kashk-o-Badenjan with pita and then followed it with Friday's Special, Ghormeh Sabzi. Each of us ordered the same, which wasn't perhaps the greatest idea, but the dish sounded truly delicious and none of us could resist (I'm assuming). Our server, who I assume was an Iranian and was very familiar with the dishes, introduced us a little to the food. With the Ghormeh Sabzi, he instructed us to puncture the cooked lemon in the stew to give the dish a tangy flavour. He warned us that some people (who aren't used to Iranian food) find the dish unappealing, but to look beyond it's appearance. The dish was excellent - very tangy (thanks to the entire cooked lemon you can see it covered in stew in the photo above), hearty, and fairly healthy I would expect.

We ended our meal with a date roll and an aromatic Iranian tea spiced with cardamom. We were instructed to put a sweeten the tea by putting a sugar cube in our mouths and drinking the tea through it....but this was difficult to do when you were also trying to eat a date roll.

Anyway, I would definitely visit this place again and recommend it to friends and family. Unfortunately while we were there Friday 12:30-1:30ish we were the only people in the restaurant. I just hope it gets enough business to keep it open.

Like a kid in a candy-shop!

That's what I was like in the Bulk Barn tonight.

Quinoa and Couscous are on sale this week.

Quinoa = $0.88/100 g
Couscous = $0.35/100g

Such a great deal!! A box of 500 g. costs about $10 in stores!

Go buy some!

And then go here for recipes. (Use the "search" box)
You won't be disappointed!

Good friends & Good Food - Part 2

Another weekend full of good friends and good food. How lucky can one girl get!!?!
This time it was my turn to be hospitable. I have to admit, I was quite looking forward to this. I enjoy cooking, but find I don't go to much trouble just for myself. It's definitely more fun to cook for friends or family.

I had been giving my menu for tonight a great deal of thought and decided on a Morrocan/Italian blend. Not for any particular reason except that they were dishes I wanted to make.

The main course was Morrocan chicken and rice, served with garlic bread, steamed green beans, and a cucumber, tomato and parsley salad. And for dessert ...Authentic Italian Tiramisu! (as authentic as you can get in NS anyway!) I've been wanting to make Tiramisu again since my first botched attempt awhile ago, but hadn't gotten around to it. Well, today I did.
So here's what I learned about making Tiramisu.

1. The cookie ladyfingers work just as well as the cakey ladyfingers (which you can't find in Halifax - I know, I tried!).
   
2. The marscapone gets very lumpy when you add the eggs, etc. to it, but a little persistence and steady beating with an electric mixer pays off.
3. Though the marscapone mix seems really eggy, once it's refridgerated and set for a few hours, it's not at all eggy!
   
4. 500 mL of marscapone can make A LOT of Tiramisu. Look for a smaller container next time. I have another Tiramisu to make with all the left overs, and NOBODY needs 2! Tiramisus! 250 mL would work just as well, unless you're aiming to make dessert for a crowd.
   

After dinner, we settled into a game - Settlers of Catan. If you've never played this game, let me tell you, it's a lot of fun. It's a little like risk, but without the time commitment. A normal game, when you're not learning how to play, takes roughly an hour. A game involves some strategy, some luck, and a whole lot of trading. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys strategy games, and to those who don't typically enjoy strategy games!

Good friends & Good food

Whew! I 'm back from a whirlwind trip back to Toronto. My first time back since the move in April. This trip was all about visiting friends but, as I anticipated, a few days wasn't nearly enough time. It was so good to see folks again, and I'm so sorry about not being able to fit everyone in. I did my best and it just means I need to make another trip, right?!

So, as always, it seems when you visit with friends, there is always food involved. I managed to get to Green Mango and Pi-Toms for Thai, and to Pho Hung for Vietnamese, and even better than that I was treated to the hospitality of friends and delicious homemade food.

I helped a friend make homemade Chinese dumplings...
I haven't made dumplings in years, so it was a lot of fun to get my hands in and help again. I haven't quite got the technique down, but as long as the dumpling is securely folded so none of the stuffing leaks out when they're cooked, it's all good! And it's nice to be able to chat at a kitchen counter, working together, laughing together.

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera out for all my meals so I don't have a photo of Thursday's feast. But let me tell you, it was delicious! A four course Portuguese meal starting with pastries and grilled calamari (the best I've ever tasted!), followed by a delicious Portuguese BBQ chicken with rice and green beans, and topped off with amazing custard tarts from the Portuguese bakery. I should've taken pictures because, honestly, I'm not doing it justice!

Friday I got together with friends I used to play Euchre with and before we got into a game (or three!), we had a tasty meal of maple glazed salmon, salad and chocolatey brownie!

Saturday night was a potluck - an unusual potluck when you factor in all the food aversions, but great food is always served with wonderful hospitality and lots of conversation.
What are the food aversions you ask? No fish or meat, no fungi, no cooked peppers, no raisins, no cilantro, no cheese, and no gluten, no alcohol.

So here is what we had:

Hummus & Pita

Lentil Soup with gluten-free Focaccia bread

Baked pasta & Greek salad

Apple crisp for dessert!

And, last but not least, I've been given permission to post this. And so I will....because it fits nicely with the food theme. This was my first time at Licks and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Great burger, great fries....great fun!

Mmm....Homeburger!

I like going out to restaurants, but when it comes down to it, I enjoy the company of friends more. And the great thing about homemade meals, is enjoying the company of friends in their own environment, casually (even in our pyjamas!), where you can relax and not have to rush out.

And a special thank-you to my hosts who treated me like a queen with fresh baked muffins and crepes and porridge. Back to making my own breakfasts now. ...