Breeze

Your silence is as vast as my country.
Your breath, a gentle zephyr upon my beating heart.

Jammin'

It's that time of year again when the trees start to be laden with fruit and preserving hangs heavy in the air. As luck would have it, I was gifted a box of jamming cots. I hardly eat jam myself as I prefer to stay away from anything with too much sugar in it, however, it's always nice to have around the house for when company arrives. And truth be told, I can't resist how pretty the jars look sitting on my shelf. There are also the odd times when I come across a recipe that calls for apricot jam and it would be a pity to not have a jar or two around considering how easy it is to make and how plentiful the fruit is this time of year.

I did save some of the fruit for smoothies as I am crazy about smoothies and have been freezing up fruit where possible to get me through the winter.

As you can see, I also made some spicy red pepper jelly. Now this is a treat that I will indulge in every now and again. It's a real hit around the holidays if you pair it with crackers and cream cheese. If you'd like the recipe, you can find it here.

Today's Mantra

I pledge to see all challenges, joys and sorrows as the ground from which I grow. All things are interdependent, temporary, and empty of inherent existence. When it comes time to part, I will try to look back with joy. One cannot hold onto anything forever.

Looking Up

The clouds
look no nearer
than when
I was lying in the street.

Another Favorite

I seem to be on a roll with recipes these days, so why stop when there's momentum? The abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables this time of year make salad a no brainer and often in summer, that's all I will eat for days on end. Well...that and ice cream. In any case, I've always loved Greek salad, but to eat just that for a meal always left me a little less than satisfied. Then a few years ago, I put together this:

It's my version of a beefed up Greek salad minus the beef, and yes, completely satisfying. Now I'll try to give you the recipe, but if I'm not totally precise, forgive me, I usually cook by feel and taste.

Lentil Salad

1 C French Lentils (if you can't find French lentils, I am sure that regular green lentils will work, but these are my absolute favorite and the hold their shape well.
3 C Water
1 or 2 Tomatoes
1 Long English cucumber
1 Pepper (green or red...whatever you have on hand)
1/4 Red Onion
Feta Cheese
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Pinch of sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Boil the lentils in the 3 cups of water for about 45 minutes or until they are tender but still hold their shape. Drain any excess water. Chop up the tomatoes, cucumber, pepper and onion into medium chunks. Toss with the lentils. Make a dressing with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and juice of the lemon. Pour over top and toss. Crumble the feta cheese on top. Give it one last toss. Add a pinch of salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. Enjoy.

I'll probably be making this again in a day or two will try to be a little more precise on those dressing measurements. Of course if you have your favorite dressing that you make with Greek salad, you could easily substitute it. I am sure that it will taste just as good.

Marvelous

If you thought chocolate mousse was a good deal, you're in for an even better one. Light airy meringues topped with cream and fruit has become my new summer favorite. Seriously, I could eat one a day. And even better, they are so easy and way less finicky than the mousse to make. Let's hear it for MMMMmmmmm marvelous, mellow, meringues. Today was brought to you by the letter M.



4 egg whites (room temperature)
pinch of salt
3/4 C sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp lemon juice

1 1/2 C whipping cream
1/4 c sour cream
2 Tbsp sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Fresh fruit of your choice: strawberries and kiwi; strawberries and blueberries, raspberries and peaches; whatever you have on hand and whatever you enjoy.

1. Preheat oven to 225
2. Line two cookie sheets with wax paper.
3. Whip the egg whites and salt until frothy.
4. Add the sugar a little at a time and keep beating until egg whites form stiff peaks. Fold in cornstarch and lemon juice.
5. Spread the meringue onto the cookie sheets, shaping them like little nests using the back of a spoon.
6. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Check them after 20-25 minutes and turn the oven down if they are turning brown. They would be dry and crisp when done.
7. Remove from wax paper and cool on a rack.
8. Whip cream and when thick, add in the sour cream sugar and vanilla.
9. Pile the cream and then fruit on top of the meringues.

Chocolate Moose

Morris stood there swaying on his gangly legs, munching on whatever tasty morsels he could find. Occasionally he would cock his ears and toss a completely uninterested glance in my direction, mostly at my pathetic whistles. Typical male, eh? Well, serves him right to serve him up with chocolate. There ain't no better way to eat moose. Let's be quite frank here, most things do taste better with chocolate. Melt it and then drizzle it lightly or thickly, add cream, because most things taste better with cream too...and yes, of course, it has to be real. Someone really was dreaming when they dreamt up Dream Whip and thought they could pass it off for the real thing. Well everybody, let's hear it for Morris! Mmmmm Mmmmorris.

*Thanks for being such a good sport, fella. You're pretty yummy. Don't worry...if they don't catch on, we'll post the real pictures later.*

Chocolate Mousse

1C Sour Cream
1C Whipping Cream
1 1/2 tsp unflavoured Gelatin
2 Tbsp Water
2 Tbsp Milk
1/4 C Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
1/8 tsp Salt
6 oz of Chocolate Morsels (of course you can estimate...I personally like using a rich dark chocolate)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Egg Whites

• In large bowl, combine sour cream and whipping cream. Refrigerate.
  
• Soften gelatin in water by heating.
  
• Heat milk with half the brown sugar, and salt until the sugar dissolves.
  
• Add chocolate morsels and continue heating until melted (be careful to not overheat...you may want to melt your chocolate first and then add to your milk/sugar mixture).
  
• Beat egg whites. Gradually add remaining sugar. Beat until stiff.
  
• Stir 1/4 of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture until blended.
  
• Fold in remaining egg whites.
  
• Whip cream mixture until stiff.
  
• Add chocolate mixture and fold until well blended.
  
• Spoon into dishes and chill until set.

Strength

Then very suddenly, she silenced the loud voices who were trying to tell her who she was and what she could be.

Heavenly Concoctions

My latest ice cream experiment was a screaming success and I have to share it before summer leaves us completely. I've learned a few things about home made ice cream this summer. First, the addition of alcohol keeps it from freezing so hard (an issue with non-commercial ice creams). Second, if one uses fresh (or even frozen) fruit, one can totally eliminate the cooking of an egg custard step found in so many recipes. This is a real coup if you are trying to eat raw. Now the real trick here is going to be to try to remember exact proportions of ingredients as a couple weeks have now passed since I first created this concoction.

Rum Raisin Peach Ice Cream

Take about a half cup of raisins and cover with rum. Let sit over night.

In blender, mix 1 1/2 C of cream, 3/4 C of sugar, 3 C of skinned chopped peaches, rum and raisins. Blend until thoroughly mixed. Put into your ice cream maker and process as usual.

How easy is that? Enjoy.

Zucchini Soup with Pasta

It's that time of year when harvest is plentiful and cheap...if not free. If you've ever grown zucchini, you will know that they can go, or rather grow, a bit crazy. Many around here are continually looking for ways to use or disguise the stuff so their children will eat it. When they're not doing that, they are pawning these huge squash off to neighbours and friends. I never mind, I actually quite love the stuff and have used it in all kinds of things. I have never, however, up to this point made soup with it, but must say I was pleasantly surprised by how fresh, light and refreshing it was. It's just the sort of fair you need for this time of year. And of course, this is really simple to make. The taste almost reminds me of the soups my Italian neighbour from my childhood used to make. Rosa never ever, to my knowledge, put zucchini in her soup, but she always made these light brothy soups with little pasta like stellette, so different from the more substantial meal in a bowl type soups my mother usually made. In any case, if you'd like to try something a little different with your zucchini, I'd recommend this. It's perfect for a cooler, end of the summer evening and would be perfect served with a slice of crusty bread.


4 Tbsp olive oil
2 smaller onions finely chopped (or one large)
6 1/4 cups of chicken or turkey broth
1 1/2 lbs of zucchini (probably about 4 cups grated)
1/2 cup of small soup pasta (I used small bows, but use whatever)
a little lemon or lime juice
2 Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
cherry tomatoes halved
fresh grated Parmesan or another hard cheese of your choice

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onions. Cover and cook gently for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not coloured.

Add the chicken or turkey broth and bring the mixture to a boil.

Grate the zucchini and stir into the boiling stock with the pasta. Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes until the pasta is tender.

Season to taste with a bit of lemon or lime juice, salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped parsley. Just before serving top with some halved cherry tomatoes and grated Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy.

Being

At the end of the day, all that matters is who is in your life.

Market Street Fest

Nothing incites the imagination more than one of Nelson's summer street festivals. Hippies descend from the surrounding mountains to dance freely in the streets to local bands. The artistic crowd sets up tents and tables to display their offerings. A large smattering of Nelson's residents and many tourists turn up to enjoy the festivities and breathe it all in. It's a place to run into old friends and meet new, try Little Miss Gelato's new summer flavours or some old Doukhobor specialties. It's a place to be transported to another plane of reality (but we won't go there). Merchants keep their shops open late and there is no better place to sit back and do some serious people watching. If you happen to be passing through Nelson during the summer and you're curious to discover the "true" flavour of this unique little town, find out when their next street festival is and head down to Baker Steet.