What I learned this summer.

It seems impossible to me that Labour day is here and yet another summer has come and gone. But, rather than cry into my fall clothes I thought I would take a moment to look back at a few of my summer highlights and the things I learned the last couple of months.

I learned…..

… that I really love pesto made from radish tops and I still really don’t like parsnips.

…that while watching a baby coyote sleep under the hedge is adorable it probably isn’t desireable (and freaks the cats out).

… that the Yukon is amazing. Getting to explore it with my sister is twice as amazing.

… that taking an outdoor cooking class from Michele Genest, writer of The Boreal Gourmet, beside a northern BC lake, while at a music festival with said sister is pretty much my idea of heaven.

… that mint and spring pea rissotto made by my husband is divine.

… that a greenhouse makes an amazing bar for summer parties (but if that’s the case we may need a bigger greenhouse…).

… that it is actually possible to eat your fill of fresh figs.

… that I will miss the community, friendship and food created this summer in the Community Kitchen.

… that when making pierogi, even when using the identical batch of dough and filling, once cooked you can always tell which ones the Ukrainian Grandma made.

Most importantly I (re)learned that summer is far too short but when there is food, friends and family involved life is grand. What did you learn this summer?

Cook (those) books. Spring edition.

Social media is a funny thing. It’s a superficial entity filled with soundbites and pictures of the perfect moments of our lives. (Lets not even talk about all the pouty lipped “selfies” out there) Arguments could be made that it both brings societies and people closer together and yet somehow manages to isolate us even further. After all, we’ve all seen the table filled with people using their smart phones rather than having an actual conversation. I like to think though that used the right way social media is a great way to make new friends and keep up with old ones.

And that’s just what happened. A couple of weeks ago I had the great fortune of meeting an online twitter and blog friend Jeanette Ordas from the delicious website Everybody Likes Sandwiches. In our brief (in person!) chat we, not surprisingly, talked about blogging and cookbooks. It got me thinking that it had been awhile since I had written a Cook(those)books post about the recipes I’ve been trying from my cookbook collection. So, with thanks to Jeanette, a blog post was born.

Cook(those)books. Year two. And Canning.

You know how in goal setting 101 it is often said that if you want to achieve something you first need to write it down and then you need to make it public? Well almost exactly a year ago I gave myself a cook(those)books challenge. I pledged to try two new recipes a week from my rather extensive collection of cookbooks and cooking magazines. I blogged about it (which is pretty much as written down and out there as you can get) and off I went. But, as with many well laid plans the challenge didn’t go at all as hoped. I guess one could say that I failed. Awesome. And here I thought it was going to be one of the easier goals I had ever set myself.

Cook(those)books. Summer Edition.

Summer is an easy time to entertain. Food is fresh, nights are sultry and most people aren’t craving the heavy rich meals of the colder months. Summer also means more casual and outdoor dining. It couldn’t be simpler than to light up the barbeque, make some salads and serve fruit for dessert. Perfect.

If you’re looking to celebrate this August long weekend here is my cook(those)books roundup of a few of my recent favourite finds from cookbooks and magazines. Packed in a picnic basket, spread on the picnic table or schlepped to the cottage, these three recipes are absolutely easy and delectable.

Cook(those)books & weekends.

Ah, weekends. How those days do beckon. To me there are three kinds of weekend people. The practical ones who actually relax, the determined-to-get-away (and have fun!)-even-if-it-means-I’ll-be-exhausted-at-the-end-of-it ones and the bury the head in the sand types who spend their days at their desks happy that the phone isn’t ringing as much and they can finally get some work done. Now practical people recognize that you need at least three days for a proper weekend. A day to wind down and get some things accomplished, a day to relax and a day to wind back up and get ready for the week ahead. But how many of us actually find the balance and do this? This past Victoria Day weekend I tried. I gardened, and then I took a nap. I went to a wedding, but then went to bookclub with my girls. I tried a new recipe and cooked dinner for family, but then stayed in my pj’s until noon. Not a bad balance all in all.

What I also did over the long weekend was download about a bazillion photographs and sort through some of my menu and cooking notes. As I was doing that I realized it had been awhile since I did a Cook(those)books recap. So if you need a bit of inspiration here are a couple of the recipes that have been new to my kitchen in the last while.

Hoppy Easter.

This is weekend of religious celebration.  It doesn’t matter to me (and shouldn’t matter to anyone else either) if you celebrate Easter, Passover, something else or nothing at all.  I hope your weekend is filled with activities that renew your spirit, celebrate spring, your many blessings and the people in your life.

Celery, fennel and radish salad.

Reading.  I can’t imagine a life without it.  Books, magazines, anything.

I’m one of those people who always has a least 3 books and several magazines on the go. A good book (the kind that might have won an award), a trashy book (the kind you could accidentally drop in the tub) and a work type of book (the kind that needs a highlighter).  I especially love reading food magazines.  You know, the kind of magazine you read “just for the articles”.  Food porn so to speak.  I’ve been struggling with my writing lately.  But reading?  I seem to be doing just fine.

Last week I walked into the kitchen to plan dinner.  I had just been reading some of the great book by Dianne Jacobs Will Write for Food and contemplating how to describe  food with different metaphors and similes.  Coincidentally I happened to be eating some candied ginger (this is connected, trust me).  I opened the fridge.  Wow.  What a random bunch of ingredients.  As I perused the available produce I recalled a salad I had tried and discarded.  A few months ago I had discovered a recipe in one of my many piles of magazines for a celery and fennel salad dressed with just olive oil and salt (my apologies that I absolutely can not seem to find the article so am unable to give credit).  We had tried it and thought average.  Not good, not bad, just there.  Light and refreshing, but no zing.  Suddenly however I had all of these creative juices swimming around in my brain (and ginger zinging around my mouth) and thought I can make this better.  The result was a celery, fennel and radish salad with a candied ginger and meyer lemon dressing.  It’s still a work in progress, but I think it’s pretty good.  Better at least than my similes and metaphors.

The lightness of it makes it work well as an accompaniment to a heavier meal.  But, I think it works best as something to build a lunch around.  Add chickpeas, quinoa or white beans and toss it in a container for work.  Saute some fresh shrimp with some ginger and lemon, add it to the salad and serve over some spinach or arugula.  Or try mixing it in with some tuna salad served in a pita or wrap.

While I go work on my writing please enjoy.  Happy reading.

Ingredients

• 6 stalks celery
• 1/2  bulb fennel
• 5-10 radishes

For the dressing:

• 2 meyer lemons (regular lemons will work too)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 5 small pieces of candied ginger, finely chopped
• 1/4tsp dried ginger
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method

Chop celery and fennel into, relatively uniform, bite size pieces. Slice or chop the radishes. Place all vegetables in a bowl.

To make the dressing squeeze the juice of the lemons into a jar (I like mason jars).  Add the remaining ingredients.  Put a lid on it and shake.

Combine dressing with vegetables.  This salad is ideal if the flavours can meld at least for a few hours.