Simple Simon's Pieman and more!

 Last Wednesday was a beautiful, warm and sunny day (of which there have been few lately), so I called up my friend, Lukas, and we agreed to meet at the Surrey Farmer's Market near the Surrey Central Skytrain.  Being late in the season, there weren't a lot of stalls open but we had fun poking about.

Feeling a bit peckish, I decided to pick up a sweet treat for us and went over to a stall that had baked goods which was being run by this very gracious gentleman who explained that the goods were the work of his partner and himself.  He said she was an excellent pastry chef and they had not yet found a permanent location but invited me to check out their website.  (I have an awful memory for names so, having pored over their site, I am so hoping that his name is Laurie.)

Let me tell you the choices there were killer!  But I narrowed it down from rhubarb streusel (lower left), almond (center) and pear (upper left) tarts to the rhubarb and two absolutely deadly ginger cookies.  (There was much, much more but I didn't get a picture of everything.  :)


Except...

Pies!  Ohmigawd, how I love pies and the only reason I got out of there without going amok at their pie counter is that I had prudently only brought a limited amount of money with me.  (I may go back this Wednesday to see if the market is still open and rectify that error!)

Anyway, I went to their website today and yom! yom! yom!  Folks, it's worth the visit just to drool your way through the photos in the galleries.  Sweet Thea looks like a going concern (especially with their custom designed wedding cakes) and I can tell you that they taste like a winner.  I don't know where they will ultimately open up their outlet but I am sooooooo going to add them to my list of gotta-go-to places.

Meanwhile, go to http://sweetthea.com/ and tell me if there are not some of the most droolworthy goodies there!

November 23 ~ Up-date:

Sweet Thea had a booth at the Circle Craft Co-operative Christmas Fair and I bought a package of their Lebkuchen (a traditional German cookie baked for Christmas, somewhat resembling soft gingerbread.)~ absolutely delish!  Definitely two nom! nom!'s up. 

Imitation, flattery and all that good stuff...

I was at my roomie's grandson's birthday 'do' the other day and was telling a couple of people there about my new blog.  Since I had made up 'business' cards with the blog address, etc... I gave a few out more than broadly hinting that I would be happy if they contributed articles..

Later, in my email, I got this from one of them: ' Looks good Nana!! You've inspired me to create my own blog.'   'Oh, too funny,' I thought and went to the address he had sent.

Well.........  Good stuff, Verno.  Funny *and* yummy!  Great BBQ ribs recipe and commentary ~ more!  Encore!

So, folks, I look forward to future postings by Verno at http://guyeats.blogspot.com/!  Hopefully so will you.  :)

Bugged by bananas...

For whatever reason, I have never liked raw bananas.  My brothers and sisters would eat them with glee but the closest I would get is when mom would mash bananas, peanut butter and honey together for sandwiches.  Until one winter in the early '60's she fried banana halves with a little brown sugar for breakfast and I discovered that I very much liked cooked bananas.

Some Vancouverites might remember the My Tan restaurant that was on Broadway in the '70's where they had the *best* deep fried bananas that I have ever had.  Lay a scoop of vanilla ice cream up against those suckers and I was in heaven...  Yom!

Anyway, I don't buy a lot of bananas except now and again when I get some for my roommate.  Occasionally he forgets about them and they do not rise again in my consciousness until I become aware of the scent of ripe bananas wafting about the kitchen.  In my world, there's only one thing to do with 'em.  Yup ~ cook something with them.

 So I took one of my favourite pans...  (http://www.nordicware.com/)

And one of my favourite recipes...
(Banana hat courtesy of Ladies of Lallybroch *g*)

Invited a special friend...

And had Banana Bugs for a rainy afternoon snack!  Yom! yom! yom!

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 medium bananas, finely crushed
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Cream together butter and sugar.
2. Add eggs, crushed bananas and nutmeg.
3. Combine well.
4. Sift together flour, soda and salt.  Add to creamed mixture.  Add vanilla.
5. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.
6. Bake at 350 F for 60 minutes (About half that time for muffin-sized portions.)
7. Keeps well, refrigerated.  (Assuming they last that long!)

These can be frozen too.

(Just as a side note:  I used this recipe to bake in one of those cupcake/muffin pans that produce 24 mini's and found that baking for 20 minutes gave me the best results.  They are excellent topped with a chocolate cream cheese icing.  Yom!)

Cooks and cameras ~ cool combo!

Ahem....

I have an idea.

No ~ seriously...  I do.

I know I'm not the only one who loves to cook 'n' things and who has fun taking far too many pictures in order to get one.  :)  I know *lots* of people who can do both and whose levels of skill are...  Well, what they are.

I know people who say that it's impossible for them to function in the kitchen at all and who go to great lengths to avoid doing so (but secretly have a couple of yummies they actually make quite well).

(Clip art:  www.webweaver.nu)

And we all know cooks who say that they can follow a recipe but 'nothing fancy' even though they cook for themselves, families and friends all the time.

(Clip art:  www.webweaver.nu)

And I know people from many cultures and countries who have a lot of  nummy stuff they like to make.

And with digital cameras, people can take *tons* of pictures to get a couple that they really like.

So what I propose is that if people are cooking something they really like and want to go through the trouble of writing out the recipes and taking photos of the process (or at least the end result),  I would be really glad to do posts using the material and giving you ALL the credit.  Or something like that....

What do ya say?   C'mon, folks, talk to me!

The Mango Tango comes to an end...

Does this not look like it's yom! yom! yom!?

With a little time and work, you can take these yummy things and, using the same recipe (and almost the same ingredients), achieve different results.

In batch #1, the limes were sliced thin, there are chunks of red-skinned apples and I used white vinegar and white sugar.   Because half the ginger was minced and left in, this chutney will be a little 'hotter'.

In batch #2, I used apple cider vinegar and brown sugar, which gives it a slightly 'softer' taste.  Because I 'chunked' the limes (and threw a little extra in for good luck), I get bites of almost bitter, lime-y bits amongst all the other flavours..

Mango Tango Part Two

Okay ~ this is the part where I try to use pictures and text to walk neophytes through the basics of making a mango chutney.  (If you know what you're doing, you already have the recipe and the skills so I'll bet you're here just out of curiousity.) 

I also played with the ingredients according to my whims and tastes and I'll tell you about that as I go along.  If you're really nervous and want to stick the recipe the first time or so, you won't be led too far astray.  :)

Ready?
 

First, clean your kitchen ~ wash the counters, stove top, floors.  Just imagine what in shape it has to be in order not to have Gordon Ramsay look like he does in this picture should he happen to pop in.  (I saw this episode where he was reaming someone out for a filthy kitchen ~ I thought he was remarkably restrained myself.)  There's lots of info on the web about the basics of preserving, etc... so I won't bother repeating it all here ~ yet.  :)

Next get your ingredients together to make sure you have everything you need.  (Yes, I ground the spices by hand but you don't have to; I just get a kick out of doing stuff like that sometimes ~ I'm as likely as the next person to grab pre-ground spice.  Just make sure they haven't languished in the back of your cupboard since 1992 when you inherited them from someone you don't even remember. *g*)

Step 1: Peel and finely slice the mangoes.  I' ve seen instructions where they say to cut a slit around the mango and pull the sides away from the pit.  Riiiiight ~ I'm older, arthritic and these can be slippery suckers!  I pare 'em and cut the flesh away in slabs for cutting (and ummmm... tasting for quality control).  It doesn't hurt if some of the mangoes are just barely ripe ~ makes it a bit chunkier.  If someone doesn't have a handy-dandy scale to weigh it out, I find that it's a tad over 5 cups.

Step 2:  Put them into a bowl and sprinkle with the salt.  Likely I should have used a wider bowl and done a bit more sprinkling, but I sort of mixed it in and put them to one side.







Step 3:  Skin and slice the onion.  (Pretty easy, right?)

Step 4:  Bruise the ginger and tie in a cheesecloth bag.  (The first time I did this, I thought, 'Uh oh ~ the ginger is gonna go after the cooking.  But wait!  I *like* ginger!'  So I compromised and slivered half the ginger up to put into the chutney and packaged what was left in cheesecloth.)  I did two batches for this post ~ #1 had chopped ginger in it and #2 had the bruised and bagged ginger.  For the mildly curious, this is what 3 ounces of ginger kind of amounts to once peeled.

Does it look bruised enough for you?  Instructions like that usually bemuse me ~ was I supposed to just slap it around or give it a good smacking?  Shoving it under my dough scraper's blade and giving it a thump seemed the thing to do.

Step 5:  Wash and slice the limes.  For batch #1 I sliced 'em and for #2 I diced 'em ~ and it does make a difference.  Sometimes I like a lot of the flavour of lime and prefer the chunkier variety.







Step 6:  Wash, core and chop the apples.  The job is made a whole lot easier by having an apple slicer on hand.  They are not a rare and esoteric item to find and are awfully handy to have around apples.  :)  In batch #1 I found myself a little short in the 'tart green apple' department so threw in a couple of tasty red apples instead ~ a bit more colour too.  Prep the apples last so they don't have time to start going brown.

Get all your ingredients prepared and ready at hand as you go though the next steps.

Step 7:  Put half the vinegar into aluminum kettle with the sugar and stir over a medium heat until dissolved.  (The sugar, not the pot.  I don't have an aluminum pot ~ just my stainless steel stock pot ~ and I haven't found that it makes a difference.)  Bring to a boil and boil for 5-8 minutes to make a syrup.  (If your sinuses need clearing, lean over the boiling pot of vinegar and inhale.  :P)  In batch #1 I used white vinegar and in batch #2, apple cider vinegar.  I was eyeing the rice vinegar but thought it would be too sweet.

Step 8: Add vinegar, mangoes, spices and onions.  Simmer 10 minutes.  (No, making the syrup does not change the colour of the vinegar.  :) This picture is from the batch using the apple cider vinegar and brown sugar.  Notice that the ginger is all in the bag this time as well.)

Step 9:  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer 40-50 minutes until thick.  Do remember to stir it occasionally and make sure it doesn't scorch ~ don't want all that slicing, dicing and bruising to go to waste, eh?

Step 10:  Pack into hot, clean jars and cover with lids.  Don't forget to wipe the lip of the jar with a clean cloth or paper towel to make sure it's clean before putting the lid on to ensure a good seal.

Step 11:  Process in boiling water bath 30 - 45 minutes.

 





Step 12:  Let cool and check to make sure all lids have 'popped' in.










Now ~ go to the next post and see what you've done.  :)

The Mango Tango Part One

I grew up in Eastern Canada where I was exposed to a variety of flavours and cuisines but I guess you would have to be from the Maritimes to understand what I mean when I say that it was basically... ummmm... 'white'  food ~ English, Scottish, Irish, French, Acadian, German, Dutch ~ so my taste buds never encountered 'real' Asian (Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, etc...) cooking until I hitched out to Vancouver at the beginning of the '70's.

Well...  Revelation, renaissance, rebirth ~ whatever!  I was quite happy to start correcting that oversight.  :)  And one of the condiments I fell in love with was mango chutney.  At first it was the good old reliable Major Grey Mango Chutney and then more vistas opened as friends shared jars of their homemade goodies.  I began to realize that 'chutney' was a rather vague term for a lot of really good tasting stuff.

In the Wikepedia article on chutney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chutney) the writer states, 'There is no limit to the number of chutneys as it can be made from virtually any vegetable/fruit/herb/spices or a combination of them.'  Amen to that I say!  But mango remains one of my favourites...

Anyway, umpteen years ago, I decided I had enough of paying what I think is an exorbitant price for good 'ol Major Grey's and decided I had to try making my own.  I wandered into Vancouver's Kitsilano library, rummaged around amongst the ethnic cookbooks and found a recipe that I thought I could deal with relative fearlessness.

Well, yom! yom! yom!  I liked this one a lot and went back for more recipes but, alas, had not written down the name of the book and, no matter how much I looked, never found it again.  I wish I had the information to share here especially to give the author due credit but, since I don't, I'll just send a sincere thank you out to the universe and hope good karma gets the address right. 

Meanwhile, I'll share this with you:

Mango Chutney 

2 pounds mangoes (3-4 depending on size)
3 ounces (1/4 cup) salt  (I prefer using sea salt myself.)
1 pound tart apples (3-4 ~ it's the size thingie again)
1 medium onion
2 limes
3 ounces (3 inches/7.6 cm) fresh ginger
2 1/2 cups vinegar
1 pound (454 grams/2 2/3 cups) sugar
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cups raisins

Instructions:

1. Peel and finely slice the mangoes.  Put them in a bowl and sprinkle with the salt.  
2. Wash, core and chop the apples.  
3. Skin and slice the onion.  
4. Wash and slice the limes.  
5. Bruise the ginger and tie in a cheesecloth bag.  
6. Put half the vinegar into aluminum kettle with the sugar and stir over a medium heat until dissolved.  Bring to a boil and boil for 5-8 minutes to make a syrup.  
7. Add vinegar, mangoes, spices and onions.  Simmer 20 minutes.  
8. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer 40-50 minutes until thick.  
9. Pack into hot clean jars, cover and process and then let cool.

And voila!  Pretty tasty stuff I think.  Depending on how blase you are about precise measurement of the recipe ingredients, you should end up with 8-9 half pint jars of chutney.

I know, I know ~ there are those of you who are culinarily challenged or somewhat trepidatious about trying this and are thinking, 'Yeah...  Right...  Easy for you to say!'  but remember I wasn't born channeling Julia Child and had to learn too.  :)

In my next post, I'll try to show you how easy it really is.  But right now it's really late and I'm really, really sleepy so I'm going to trundle off to bed for the now.

So why don't you get all this yummy stuff together and tomorrow we'll go over how it's done.

Transformation

There's an apple tree on the property we rent that has very delicate yellow apples and, when they ripen in early August, I make make apple butter with them.  This year I had taken several pictures at various times and posted them on my Facebook page with the title 'Transformations'.  It is, you know ~ a transformation.  I am always awed at Mother Nature's unfolding of the rhythm of life.

I am from the 'baby boom' generation ~ born in the early years after WWII.  My parents and their peers were raised during the Depression and war years when availability of a wide variety of food during all seasons wasn't taken for granted.  Often, having food wasn't taken for granted either.

During my growing years, food in preserved and artificial forms for 'ease and convenience' came into daily life at an increasing speed.  The connection between 'real' food and what we were eating in North America became rather tenuous.  Anyone who survived instant mashed potatoes and the introduction of frozen dinners will know exactly what I mean.  (We'll get into mutations like Kraft Dinner later.)  :)

I missed flavours from my childhood made with ingredients I could spell *and* identify so, when my daughter was young, I started making jams.  Which kinda led me to experimenting with other things and so on and I found I liked stuffing things into bottles and enjoying the hell out of them when the cold wind blows.  Homemade strawberry jam just tastes so much like summer then.  :)

So when I see something like this in the spring not only do I appreciate the visual beauty and the delicate perfumes, my mind also turns to remembering the rich flavour of apple butter ~ applesauce cooked thick with sugar and spices melding into something that just begs to be spread on toast, blended into yogurt, spooned on pancakes....  Mmmmmm...

I couldn't resist running out with my camera one rainy afternoon.  The tree was heavy with apples, looking so fresh and pure.

And then August came and I went out early one morning to start picking.  There was a small side trip past the garden to take some pictures but then it was into the kitchen ~ my favourite idea of fresh.

This was my reward the next day after cooking the apple butter all day and night in my crockpot until the applesauce was thick and redolent with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and caramelized sugar.  And, yes, it tastes very, very, VERY yummy!





I hadn't thought of the blog at that time and so have no visual record of the process but I'll rectify that later.  :)  It would simply make me happy if you enjoyed what I've shared with you here.

Oh yeah...  I also write now and again.  Whether or not it's good is a matter of taste no doubt but this came out of a warm spring night when I had been lingering on the back porch after dark and the breezes were blowing my way ~

Perfumed Persuasion

fragrant night air loiters
on the other side of my door ~
apple blossoms’ sensual scent,
artlessly arrayed on my sill,
enticing me from cloistered dreams
spun in Demeter's barren realm.
the silky sibilance of distant traffic
croons at the sybil's witching moon,
a ritual for the shedding of virginal pretence.
now is the time for the casting of perfumed spells
to hold me captive for Persephone's return.
i am ready

So.... Why the blog?

Ummmmm ~ I guess it comes down to 'Why not?'  The ubiquitous 'because I can' comes to mind but it's actually a bit more than that.  I'm going to be experimenting with two of the things I enjoy ~ one is playing with food and the other is fooling around with digital cameras.

First thing to keep straight is that I am not a photographer and not even particularly so inclined but I have a digital camera which allows me to wander around and snap pictures of whatever I want ~ I like to think that the law of averages is on my side and, if I take enough pictures, some of them might even turn out.  Even better in this age of technology, I don't have to pay a fortune I don't have to develop the pictures before I can see what I'm doing.  If you want to see what I'm doing, feel free to browse ~ just don't expect Yousuf Karsh, eh?

Second is that I like cooking and I like eating.  I'm not really great at the cooking part ~ though like everyone I have a few moments of glory ~ and, if I don't behave myself, I can excel at the other.  Yeah, (*sigh* ) I have the butt to prove it.  But it doesn't stop me from wandering off into the kitchen.

I like a lot of stuff about food but I'll try to unload it on you a little at a time.  Well, most of it...

Just let me start by saying I like playing with my food, I honour the source of life that feeds us and I think sharing food, recipes, memories, etc...  is a great convivial pastime amongst friends.  I'm going to try to pull that all together as best I can here.