A Year in Review, a Look Ahead

I know, I know, my blog isn't exactly 1 year old yet but hear me out. I started this blog to write about the challenges and successes of trying to source and feed my family local food while working full-time outside the house and keeping up with the hectic schedule of 3 little boys. I am fortunate enough to have the summer off from work and stay home with my boys so technically my blog year is September to June :). 


What did I learn this year? I learned that sourcing local food is possible but it requires a lot of meal planning, organization, taste adventures and money. 


Meal planning: I learned that when your fridge is full of parsnips, carrots and potatoes, you need to plan your meals around them as opposed to planning your meals and fitting them in.  Not doing this results in a large pile-up of root vegetables in the veggie drawer. 


Organization: CSA deliveries happen bi-weekly on Wednesdays. I have to remember to get the cooler outside with the blankets or ice blocks before I leave the house in the morning. So far I've only forgotten once and had to improv with corn for dinner since the frozen corn had thawed by the time I got home. It also means that if I need some meat I have to plan a Saturday around going to pick it up which adds to the errand-running time on my precious weekends. It can be done, but sometimes you have to give in to reality and pick up your groceries in one stop.


Taste adventures: Parsnips, mangels, lamb's quarters, beets, farmer's cheese... These all foods that I had never eaten before. Ok, well, I had eaten beets before, but never in ice cream form! Choosing to eat local and seasonal means much less variety on your plate in the dead of winter but with some planning there is always a jar of summer tomato sauce in the freezer or some frozen summer berries for dessert. My family now eats two meatless meals a week, sometimes three if there are leftovers. I'm very proud of my boys for trying all the frittatas I made and braving all my other culinary experiments!


Money: There is no question, living local and supporting local farms and businesses costs more money. But that's when you look at the value of your dollar and realise the impact of how you spend your dollars. You may recall my post on blueberries back in the winter when I was faced with a great bargain price of $5 for 3 quarts of off-season imported blueberries. Sometimes it makes sense to buy at a great price but most times I prefer to give my money directly to our farmers. 


Looking forward, here is the direction in which I would like this blog. I'd like to keep posting recipes that are seasonal and made with local produce, I'd like to keep my readers informed of my great local finds and I'd like to start writing about my lifestyle change away from dairy and sugar. 


That last one is not going to be easy. I love dairy and I love sweet but I've begun seeing a naturopath about ways to boost my immune system and this was his recommendation. We're starting with milk, cream and white sugar. Cream. As in ice cream. How ever will I survive the summer without ice cream? Well, here's a look at my first attempt at dairy free ice cream.


Coconut and Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream


2 cans coconut milk (not light) - definitely not local
3 tsps matcha green tea - also very far from local
1/4 cup of honey - local


Blend all ingredients with a hand mixer under smooth. Place in ice cream maker and churn for 30 to 40 minutes until well set. Transfer to freezer for about 3 hours. Serve. 


It will not be very sweet but it will certainly be refreshing!! 

Peas and mint, perfect timing!

You know that saying: what grows together, goes together? So true. Surely it is not a coincidence that peas are ready when mint is at its finest! Last year we moved our mint and our raspberries to the side of the house to let them grow as they wish. They started out separate but now it's all one big giant raspberry mint forest. What to do with all the mint? Yes, I suppose I could drink them in a summer of mojitos but I haven't quite mastered the perfect recipe yet so for now I will stick to cooking with it. 


Here is a quick seasonal side recipe to any barbecued meat that is sure to please everyone, including my 5 year-old non-cheese lover who had 2 helpings!!




Coucous with Peas, Mint and Feta 


1 1/3 cup dried couscous (made in Canada)
1/2 cup fresh peas - from the pods - you can use more, it was all that I had ready (0 mile diet, from the yard)
1/4 cup feta (made in Canada)
5 large mint leaves - or more if you love mint (0 mile diet, from the yard)
Olive oil (one can only wish this was local)


Prepare couscous as per package directions. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add peas for about 6 minutes and strain. When couscous is ready, fluff with a fork and stir in peas. Cut feta into small cubes and stir in. Stack your mint leaves on top of each other, roll them up lengthwise and cut them finely crosswise. You should have a little chiffonnade of mint leaves. Stir them in. Add a bit of olive oil and you're ready to serve. I didn't take a picture of the dish because the boys literally inhaled it! 

Surprise! Surprise!

Just a quick follow-up to my last post as I've since noticed two more surprises growing in my back yard!

Here's the first:

Not sure if you can quite make out what that little nubbin' is, but in a few months, it's going to be a pear! We planted the pear tree when my oldest turned 1 and five years later it bore its first fruit. Last year it produced nothing and we were kinda bummed about that but we had heard that pear trees only bear fruit every two years. When we saw this little fruit we were so excited to see it! There were so many flowers in bloom on this tree, it's hard to believe only one pear is growing but we'll take it!

My second son was born in the winter so when the soil was ready in the spring, we planted a cherry tree. That was 5 years ago and this is the first year I looked up and saw these:

I counted 20 cherries! I've since gone back and noticed a few pits on the ground, I think the birds may have gotten to them. I'll have to figure out a way to protect them if I want to harvest them for my family!

What's Growing 2011

I had been wanting to write this post for a while now but due to circumstances outside of my control - my son dropped the laptop, the hard drive crashed, sent it in for restore... - so 3 weeks later, here it is! 

Chives

I wanted to share what's growing in my garden this year. The returning champions are: asparagus, chives, parsley, thyme, cilantro, sage, kale, onions, lettuce, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes and dill. Oh. The. D-i-l-l! Last summer when it went to seed, I cut off the tops and tossed them back in the garden. When spring came around and I was watching the first little greens pop out of the frozen ground, I noticed what seemed to be dill covering half my garden. Sure enough, it's dill. It's dill carpeting! Unless someone can share their dill inspired dish, I will be pulling dill for the rest of the season.

Borage

Planted once again this year: tomatoes, marigolds, basil, rosemary, oregano, parsley, zucchini, peas, red lettuce, radishes and beets. These are so simple to maintain, aside from spreading some eggshells  and coffee grinds around the bottom of the tomatoes and the copper wiring around the lettuce to keep the slugs out. Oh! and giving the peas a little climbing structure or else they'll grab on to whatever they can, like the onions! The only finicky ones are the basil plants, they need a lot of water and their flowers need to be snapped off to keep the leaves growing. I planted the marigolds to keep the bugs away from the tomatoes. This really works. I bought this book to learn more about companion planting: Carrots Love Tomatoes.  I used it to select different plants for the garden this year including: savory, potatoes, echinacea, pumpkins, lovage, borage and sunflowers. 

Around the side of the house we have mint, raspberries and rhubarb, all growing together and left to battle it out for space. The raspberries actually popped out from under the wall barrier and are now growing in the grass! We've pretty much eaten all the rhubarb already, I've made quite a few compotes. After I harvested the rhubarb, I couldn't help but admire the colour. Wouldn't you love to have a dress that starts in light green and finished in a deep shimmery reddish-pink?

I also have lavender growing in the front garden and I've planted chamomile and calendula  to accompany the lavender in my bath salts and bath fizzy production this year. The borage should be a fun addition as well. 

So. That's what's growing in my garden in 2011. I was trying to keep it simple this year since I have my CSA baskets that will continue to be delivered. Believe it or not, it's less than what was planted in 2010, more focus on flowering plants to bring beneficial bugs to the garden. There is a huge bumble bee that visits daily and we've already seen a beautiful yellow and black butterfly. I'll try to snap a picture if I can but there's never any guarantees with the wildlife. I'd love to know what's growing in your garden!

Mangel Mystery

Well, well, well... What do we have here?

Turnips? Nope. Beets? Nope. What ever could they be? I receive these little mysteries in my latest CSA delivery. I quickly checked the farm's website but none of the pictures resembled what I received. So off I go to Twitter to send the picture around and hope that one of the many foodies can help me out. No one guessed it right but many were very curious. Then I turned to Facebook for help. I posted the picture but still, no correct guesses. Well, the only way I could get an answer was to email the farm and of course, I got my answer. They are mangels! Mangels? Yup. Also known as sweet beets.

I'm told they're to be cooked like beets. I'm always nervous to try beet-related recipes since my beet and chocolate ice cream epic failure this past winter. I peeled them, chopped them up into little cubes, tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and herbes de Provence. I wrapped them in foil and placed them on the BBQ on low heat. The verdict? Good stuff! I left them on the grill too long and the undersides burnt so I had to cut off the bits before serving but I don't think it impacted the taste at all. So what did the taste like? While it's true that they're kind of like beets, they're more watery, more sweet and less pasty in texture.


Curious to know if anyone else has ever tried mangels and if you have any interesting recipes!

About Ewoks and Springtime in Ottawa

Finally! The sun is out, the ground is thawing and I really think Spring is here. A sure sign? Fiddleheads arrived in our CSA box last week. It was so nice to see the fiddleheads because they were truly something new for all of us. Although I had eaten them before I had never cooked them. Best way is to boil them until bright green then strain and drop in a bowl of ice cold water. I sauteed them with garlic butter for a few minutes and they were ready to eat. 

Question is: How would I get my boys to eat them? If you've never had fiddleheads, they taste like asparagus but they have a chewy texture. Two strikes against the fiddlehead for "who wants to try some?" Fiddleheads are the furled frong of a young fern and are only available for a few short weeks at the beginning of May. They look like violin curls. You know what other curls they look like? That's right... Princess Leia's curls!! Oh! when I made that remark the boys were so curious. I told them we were eating Princess Leia curls for dinner and they bought it. Well the older two did anyway, my little Flip just throws all green veg on the floor. My Mac then asked where they came from and on the spot somehow I came up with: "they grow in the Ewok forest". Yup. They bought it :) My oldest had TWO servings!!

May the fourth be with you ;)

Parsnips, parsnips, parsnips

I must say that up until recently I was never a big fan of parsnips. Probably because I never ate them as a kid, my mom thought they were disgusting. You know how it goes, whoever cooks gets to pick what's on the plate. I don't think I even tasted a parsnip until I was 30! 

These days, my fridge is full of parsnips. Let me qualify full: 3. My bi-weekly CSA vegetable home delivery by Bryson Farms has meant a whole new adventure in tastes, mostly because I don't decide what's in my basket but I plan my meals around what I receive. This has made meal planning quite a bit easier. What has happened over the past few weeks has been the consistent serving of (at least one) meatless meal per week. I have discovered the best weeknight recipe in the world: the frittata. Why serve it for brunch when you can have it whipped up and ready to eat in less than 30 minutes?? 

Swiss Chard, Parsnip and Cheese Frittata

4 Swiss chard leaves, stems removed and chopped (to chop them, I roll the leaves length-wise and slice them across - like a jelly roll - plus one chop across the middle.)
3 small parnips
1 small onion
7 eggs
1/4 cup of milk
1 piece of Gruyère cheese (about the width of 2 fingers - sorry, I don't usually measure)
1 clove of garlic
Olive oil, salt & pepper


Preheat the oven to 375F.


Peel the parsnips then use the potato peeler and peel the parsnips into long strips. It's easier to rotate the parsnip as you peel. You probably won't be able to use the whole parsnip, it'll be hard to peel it when you get to the core. Slice the onion in half then slice it into long strips. 


In an oven-proof frying pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions and parsnip strips. Add a bit of salt. Stir them frequently so that they don't stick to the pan. When the onions have softened and the parsnips have started to wilt and turn a golden colour, add the Swiss chard. Cook until the Swiss chard is wilted (you might need to turn down the heat).


In a medium sized bowl, whisk 7 eggs. Whisk in the milk slowly. Shred the cheese or chop it into small cubes (I prefer the cubes cause it's one less dish to wash). Finely chop the garlic. Add the cheese, garlic and a bit of pepper to the egg mixture. 

When the vegetables are soft, add the vegetable mix to the egg mixture. Return the pan to the medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and pour the veggies and egg mixture into the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes until the eggs are set around the sides then pop it in the oven for 10-12 minutes until set. 

Serve with a mixed salad.

Enjoy!!