We've been out and about lately.
We've been living it up at the beach...


At my friend C's place, meeting her chickens....


Generally enjoying the freedom of getting up when we like and getting started when we like and all that goes along with not scheduling ourselves into oblivion during the summer.  Being at C's place is always great for me.  It speaks to my longing to 'get out'.  I feel almost jealous.  We had a great talk although it was too short.  Even though I had the kids with me they are now at an age where C and I can scoot out for a while and have some unfettered time to chat.
We talk a lot about food.  Because we both love food.  I always take food up when I go.  It's not because I feel like I need to or anything but just because I know that C is someone who loves food as much as I do - we can enjoy sharing the food together.


Our lunch together was some of my Eggplant and Tomato Pizza, 2 kinds of homemade pickles (I was in heaven), whole grain toast, hummus, cold eggplant curry, yellow cherry tomatoes from the garden and locally sourced cheese made from raw milk (again in heaven and the blue cheese was to die for... I almost asked for some honey to go along with it).  How about that for a fantastic lunch.
C and her partner B are constantly adding to their garden space and are really slowly morphing into a farm.  Their commitment to living life differently never ceases to awe me.  They have added a generous number of fruit trees to their land and even use the word 'orchard'... cool.  The nut trees are doing well. Their blackberries have had a rough go with the dry summer this year but damn they tasted good.  It would just take forever to pick a significant amount because they're so small.


The big addition to the family this year are the 9 chickens (Bantam's I believe but don't quote me on that... I'll deny it) that now have a lovely home in the back.  I've been thinking about chickens a lot after reading this book - Joel suggests that everyone should at least consider having a few chickens roaming around... for all kinds of good reasons.  It was great to see it happening for real with C.  All of the chickens have a name (yes, even though they know that these beauties won't be around forever... so to speak) and they wander around happily, cooing and pecking at whatever they can get at.  They have a little outdoor haven under the big pine tree close to their coop.  Their coop was hand crafted by B and it's a fortress.  Of course they had some set backs, an aggressive rooster and a chicken pecker that had to be *ahem* dealt with but for the most part these girls are happy to coo together and eat the kitchen scraps that get fed to them.  They haven't started laying yet but they are starting to brood inside the coop so it must be coming soon.  My kids are in love.  They want chickens.  Kid #2 nearly cried when he found out that we couldn't actually bring some of the chickens home with us.
What I did come home with though was a huge jar of honey (that I have to send C some money for - thanks for the reminder) made by one of their neighbours, some local corn, blueberries and 2 butter tarts.  Next time I head up I'm going to organize ahead of time with C to get some of that locally sourced cheese because it was amazing.  I dreamt about the cheese last night... that's how bad it's gotten for me.  When I get that cheese I'm going to share with all my friends and make sure that I have some of these with me.


I don't buy crackers any more because it takes so damn long for us to get through them.  This recipe makes the perfect amount and the taste is fantastic.  Just the right amount of butter and oats.  Perfect for blue cheese with a little honey on top... damn.



Seed and Oat, Red Fife Crackers adapted from BBC GoodFood website
makes about 2 dozen crackers depending on the size you go for


1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup red fife flour
2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt and red pepper flakes
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
10 or so tbsp of water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the oats, flours, baking soda, salt and mix.  - I divided my flour mixture in half at this point and placed them in separate bowls - Add in the red pepper flakes, sesame and poppy seeds and mix.
Add in the butter and mix well.  Add in just enough water so that it forms a firm dough ball.
Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick or so.  Using a cookie cutter or a knife cut the dough sheet into whatever shapes you want.
Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until the crackers are just beginning to turn golden.  Remove and place the crackers on a cooling rack.  Cool completely before eating or packaging to give away.

This is it.  It's truly winter.
We have had our first real snowfall of the year.  The one that stays for at least 24 hours.  The one that starts slowly over 3 or 4 hours and then gets heavier for another 3 hours and then just becomes flurries for another 4 hours.  The kind where you don't have to guess whether it's rain or snow.  The one where you are definitely cold when you go outside, the wind is unmistakable and your hands are frozen in a couple of minutes.  Yup.  It's winter.
It came 3 days after Christmas here in Toronto.  That's ok though because I'm kind of still celebrating.  I'm still cooking away and baking for friends.  Right now D and I are in the kitchen cooking our annual ham.  This year it's happening in Coke which is kinda funny because we are against drinking it (look I'm no saint - I'll have it once in a while).  So while the ham is getting a coke bath I'm making crackers.


Sometimes I have this weird experience where I'm reading my own blog, I'm reading what I wrote not much earlier, and it feels like I'm reading someone else's stuff.  That's weird right?  I sound different when I read me.  Maybe it's like hearing your voice back after a recording (super-weird) or seeing photos of yourself that look nothing like you do when you look in the mirror.  When I read me it feels to me like I'm reading about this person who is really funny and smart, who is probably feeling pretty confident about herself, who believes strongly in things (true), has it pretty together (hmmmmmm) and is highly energetic.  The only problem is that it's just not me.  I was never one of the super-smart kids in school.  In fact, I don't think that I fell into the 'reasonably smart' category.  I guess I was funny but that was only to my friends who I cared enough to be funny for.  My confidence levels vary daily and sometimes multiple times daily (is that normal?).  I do believe in things strongly but not so strongly that I'll get angry with you about it which probably would make me a terrible activist.  'Has it pretty together'... let's not even go there.  And highly energetic?  Well, since the holidays have started afternoon naps have become highly valued and since the snow has fallen and it's gotten like mega-cold (Ok - not that cold) I've been too lazy to run... but I am getting out there tomorrow.  That laziness has caused me to procrastinate making these crackers by at least 3 days.  But not any more... they're done and they were easy.  The results very tasty.


This recipe would easily lend itself to all kinds of variations as well.  I would happily add something peppery or parmesan or herb.  I'm definitely making these again with some variations.  I have a BFF who loves oatmeal and needs some homemade Christmas gifts in her life.    I tried a little one with some cheese on top and it was great.  KT is going to love these.


Seeded Oat Crackers adapted from GoodFood UK Magazine
makes about 12 - 15 medium/large crackers

50 g (between 1/4 and 1/3 cup) butter, melted
100g (1 cup) oatmeal
100g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/4 tsp salt
dash of nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment or silicone.
Bring a little water to a boil.
Combine the oatmeal, flour, baking soda, seeds, salt and nutmeg together in a bowl.
Add to the flour mixture the melted butter and enough boiling water (about 5 - 6 tbsp) to form a stiff dough.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness (.5 cm).
Cut out the shapes that you want and place on baking sheet.  Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden.
Remove and cool on wire racks.

I am in a tizzy getting blog posts ready because I am going to be away for a little while. The little school where I work(!) is doing a tour and I have been 'asked' to be a chaperone. Of course, I 'willingly' obliged! So, off we all go on a big bus for 6 days to more places than I can keep track of. I have 9 'lovely' Grade 8 boys for the week and I'm really looking forward to it (!).