And then the World Cup.
I did not grow up in a place that recognized the World Cup.  In my little town about an hour outside of Toronto, soccer was a thing you played after school when the hockey season was over.  Filler I guess.  When I moved to Montreal the World Cup was a thing that was recognized for sure but I was a broke student in the music faculty.  I didn't really give a crap about team sports generally and had no money to go to the pub with my friends to socialize... and watch the game.  Hence, this soccer thing was not at all on my radar.
My subsequent move to Trinidad served to school me in the 'joys' of cricket more than anything else. I thought that all of these people must be talking about croquet.  Never heard of cricket and therefor it can't be that important.  After, I've been around and would have heard about it if it were a big thing.  Yup - it's a big thing... not croquet after all... turns out most of the world knows about a lot of things that I didn't even know existed...imagine.  Cricket and all of it's test match weeks and day long games are huge... HUGE.  Who knew.


We took a trip to London a few years ago.  We wanted to reconnect with some of D's family and to spend time in a place that I had heard so much about.  Our trip just happened to coincide with the World Cup.  Of course this meant nothing to me until I attempted to navigate around Piccadilly Square during an England match (god help us all).  You couldn't so much as buy a cookie that didn't have the white flag with the red cross on it.  I think even vegetables were branded with it.  Tv ads and even a music video - so ghastly that I shudder a bit even remembering it - marketing how well the England team would do.  Of course being the England team (I'm sorry - I really am) meant that they didn't get too far into the tournament.  Imagine my shock when the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, gave a televised statement viewed across the UK expressing his deep disappointment (expressed by him as 'devastation' as I recall) that the team would not be bringing home the cup.  What... the Prime Minister... what's going on here.  I'm sure that all of the cakes and cookies stamped with the flag went on sale the next day.

A very dark picture of two members of my family watching a game.

For D this was a relief because finally I get it.  I understand just how important this world cup thing was.  I understand that this is something entire countries get behind in a way they never do in the Olympics.  I understand that even if you aren't from Brazil you can support them and that you'd better hope if you are in the pub that you aren't the only Brazil supporter present.  I understand that even if you've lived in Canada your entire life that when it comes to the world cup you absolutely become Italian.  I get that it's almost impossible to work at your desk during a game... and why fight it.  I know now that doing something, anything on a day when there are 3 or 4 games happening will be done by me by myself unless it happens in the 60 minutes in between game times.
I understand and I'm ok with it now.  I made rhubarb cake so that I could serve it to the construction guys in our house during the game.  'Cause I know now that they won't be working.


Rhubarb Lemon Cake adapted slightly from 'honey & jam'

And here we are... at the start of it all.  The first rhubarb recipe of the season.  I wish that I could tell you that it came freshly picked from my garden but I can't.  It didn't come from my garden.  It came from my freezer.  From last year.  How embarrassing.  How un-food-blogger of me.
The truth is that life has lately gone into end of school year mode.  Lots of papers to sign, dates to book, grad dress to shop for, uniform stuff to take care of for september - it's kept all of us hopping.  Coupled with that, every spare second has involved, ripping things out of our house, cleaning up the back yard, cleaning and bagging things for donation, painting, drilling holes and hanging important things... I can't even think clearly anymore.  Our neighbours are pretty happy with us though.  In the course of one week we have put 1 chest of drawers, 1 bookshelf, 2 chairs, 1 table, 1 large basket and 2 8lb weights on the front boulevard.  All of them were gone within a couple of hours.  I think the neighbours are now keeping watch on our front sidewalk to make sure they get first dibs.  Our kids are wondering exactly when we are going to stop and whether there will be any furniture left in the house when we do.

Please note the large power tool in the lower right corner.

To be honest I have no problem getting rid of things.  None.  I could live with very little quite happily.  I form very few attachments to stuff.  Not always a good thing but it does come in handy when you are going through your house with the purpose of getting rid of stuff.  It can be hard to stop once you've started though.  I'm at that point right now and I know that this means I have to be careful.  I can get out of control.  I can justify almost any toss out.  I'd love to say that I would regret it later but I wouldn't.  I might feel bad that someone else feels bad about it but I wouldn't miss the thing I tossed... like I said, not always a good thing.
All of this toss talk ties in nicely to the rhubarb... and I love a good tie in.  The rhubarb is in the freezer.  The freezer and fridge that it's connected to will be donated very soon to make way for the new-to-me appliances that my BFF is handing over.  I don't even want to talk about how excited I am about it... it's awesome and I have an awesome BFF.  So knowing that my freezer/fridge is on it's way out, I'm using this as an opportunity to clear through a lot of that stuff too.  Seeing as there is still another bag of rhubarb in the freezer you can look forward to another rhubarb recipe or two coming soon.


Blubarb Crumb Bars adapted from 'Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy'

Quick Blubarb Jam makes about 3 cups

4 generous cups chopped rhubarb
4 generous cups blueberries
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey


Crumb Stuff

1 cup oat flour (blitz old fashioned oats in a blender until it's a flour like consistency)
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
pinch of cinnamon
1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350°F
Line a 9x13 baking dish or pan with foil and butter it.
In a bowl combine all of the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together.  Mix well.
Add the cubed butter and using two forks or a pastry cutter begin to cut the butter into the mixture.  Once it becomes fairly crumbly looking add in the egg and continue to cut everything together until the mixture is wet and crumbly.
Pat half of the flour mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Pat down firmly
Spoon about 2 1/4 cup of blubarb jam over the bottom layer.
Evenly sprinkle the rest of the flour mixture over the blubarb layer.  Do not press this layer down.
Bake for about 40 min or until the top is light, golden brown.
Cool completely before cutting the bars (this gives the jam stuff time to firm up again)

So Resting Bitch Face is a labelled phenomenon that I've only recently learned about.  It's a thing.  I'm not even joking... it's real and I know that because it's on YouTube.  The Urban Dictionary defines it as a person, usually a woman, who naturally looks mean when her face is expressionless, without meaning to.
Recently my sister and her family made it to town.  This is a big deal because they live in Calgary which is far from Toronto.  Of course, somewhere during the course of our conversations the subject of resting bitch face came up.  What I discovered is that not only do I (and probably both of my siblings) have serious resting bitch face, we inherited it from two of THE BEST resting bitch faces on the planet.  I'm sure that you can put the pieces together.  My sister and I high-five'd (?) each other and the conversation moved on from there.  However, I've spent the last few days mulling over the idea that when I'm not aware of it I quite probably look like a bitch.  It might be anger that comes through.  It might be disdain.  It might be boredom.  Doesn't matter how it's perceived, the real issue is whether I know it's happening and whether therefor I meant for people to perceive me that way.
It's true, there unquestionably are times when I purpose to give that look but the thought that I might not have meant it but conveyed it anyway was unnerving at first.  Then I read this article.  You know, a few days and a few articles later I think I'm ok with it.  The alternative is aggressively working to remember to smile... all the time.  It looks weird.  You've seen that person walking towards you, haven't you?  The one with the weird ass smile and you wonder what the hell they're thinking about.  That is not me.  Or, as the article goes, I have to try to pretend all the time... jeez - don't we pretend enough already?  I really don't want to spend my time pretending to be happy and nice to people I don't know because... well why?  At the end of the day, if I don't know I'm doing it then I have to be super committed to not doing it in order to change (I'm not) and in order to be super committed I have to be convinced that there is a good reason to motivate that change.  Making people feel better or giving them the impression that I'm a 'nice' person just isn't motivation enough for me.  So I'm ok with it, my resting bitch face or bitch resting face or whatever that 'unsmile' is.  We're cool.


I survived Kid #2 birthday party and made a kick ass cake to boot.  Check here for the recipe if you're into it.  She's got much better pictures than I do.


I got this message on my beer bottle cap.  Best end to my day.


Here's the contents of this week's Food Box... this is for you KT.


I made this ice cream.  I'm not going to apologize for giving you another ice cream recipe because I'm just not.  I wanted it to be with strawberries and you'll need to check my last post to understand why it's with mixed fruit instead.  No matter what, this ice cream had to be lemon for me.  It's creamy lemon, kinda like lemon curd ice cream.  I wanted to drink the custard.  I would honestly just make the ice cream and forget the fruit but if the fruit was roasted strawberries then it might be too good to resist.


Lemon Ice Cream with Mixed Fruit Mush  adapted from epicurious.com
serves about 8

6 egg yolks
2 heaping tbsp lemon zest
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 cup mixed fruit
1/3 cup sugar

Combine the milk, cream, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Heat slowly over medium heat until almost coming to a boil.  Turn the heat down to low.
Slowly add a ladle of the heated cream mixture to the egg yolks, stirring constantly.  Add a little more of the cream to the egg yolks.  Then pour the egg yolk mixture back into the cream mixture.  Stir over med/low heat until the custard coats the back of a wooden spoon and stays separated when you run your finger through it (a candy thermometer should read 170°F)
Pour through a seive into a bowl and add in the lemon juice.  Cool custard a little then cover with clingfilm (place the clingfilm right on the custard so that it coats it completely).  Chill until the custard is cold (mine was chilled overnight).
Just before finishing the custard in the ice cream maker:  Combine the mixed fruit (rhubarb, blueberry, cherry for me) and sugar together in a heavy bottomed saucepan.  Bring to a simmer and turn the heat down to med/low.  Simmer for about 15 minutes or until most of the liquid cooks off and the mixture is almost jam like.  Set aside to cool.
Finish the custard according to the instructions on your ice cream maker (Mine took about 20 - 25 minutes)
Remove the ice cream from the machine and loosely mix (I just did a couple of stirs to mine) the fruit through the ice cream.  Transfer everything to an airtight container and place in the freezer to harden.
Thaw for a few minutes to soften before serving.

I know what you're thinking - 'Where's that chick pea salad that Wanda keeps promising on and not delivering'  See I knew that I knew what you were thinking because we're all so into salad with chickpeas and feta and parsley that we can't get enough.  Don't worry, I made it and it's coming down the pipe.  I've been eating it for lunch and literally feeling years peel off of me and my entire system simultaneously undergo a cleanse.  Not really.
I made ice cream.  Again.  It's weird stuff... even for me.  D HATES it... absolutely, utterly, profoundly.  HATE.  Kid #1 likes it.  Not absolutely, utterly or profoundly but she likes it.  I am in like with it.  Not love - I don't love easily... anyone or anything.  I can tell you that I used a cream cheese that was almost homemade and therefor a little lumpy.  I think that regular 'cream' cheese would do the trick for me.  The rhubarb crap is essential.

Notice the lumpy looking cream cheese in the top right corner.

So with that taken care of...  I'm thinking about high maintenance lately.  Like how in the summer my yard and garden are high maintenance and how I'm not dealing well with it because I still haven't planted a lot of the crap that I should have by now and I've only cut my grass twice so far.  (Yeah, I do know that's a run on sentence) Also, I think that I get fussy and high maintenance mixed up.  What's the diff between fussing with my hair and being high maintenance about my hair (this issue doesn't really apply to me personally in any way)  Or think about eating.  If I'm a fussy eater then I'm probably pretty high maintenance with food.  I think that maybe the two words are synonym's.  I've always thought of both words having a negative connotation but maybe they don't.  Maybe not being high maintenance is just another way of saying boring.
Kids are high maintenance and sometimes fussy too but then they grow out of that, right?  Kids who aren't a little fussy can be way too passive.  I'm guessing that a high maintenance friend would be super demanding about stuff that I probably wouldn't care about but maybe that's just what I need.  Mightn't I get bored if my friends just went along compliantly with whatever I suggested or offered.  My friends have come to terms with my high maintenance idiosyncrasies.  Things like my crippling inability to come up with a decent gift... unless you spell it out for me i.e. 'my favourite thing in the world is grey socks' or my utter indifference around make-up (a colleague is working endlessly to get me to straighten my hair.... why?), my embarrassing biking clothes, the difficulty I have listening to music whilst having a conversation and my obsession to get my friends moving more.  Damn - maybe that makes me high maintenance.


I feel very uncomfortable right now so I'm going to head back to the subject of food.  This recipe is a little high maintenance.  Custard - finicky/fussy, contains egg yolks that will curdle if handled carelessly.  Custard has to cool for a good long time.  Rhubarb sauce - needs to simmer gently down for almost an hour then it has to cool.  You have to stir it to keep it from sticking, i.e. constant attention.  Then the custard has to turn into ice cream and then you add the cream cheese and then you layer everything and then you freeze it some more and then you thaw it a little and then you eat it.  Definitely high maintenance from beginning to end but on the flip side it's not hard and it's definitely worth it.  It might be just what you need.



Strawberry, Rhubarb Cheesecake Ice Cream adapted from kokocooks
makes about 1 litre

Ice Cream:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 scant cup sugar
1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or 1 tsp vanilla
4 egg yolks, lightly whisked

1 cup  cream cheese (not light or whipped cream cheese)

Rhubarb/Strawberry Sauce:
3 cups rhubarb, coarsely chopped
1 cup strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean (insides scooped out)
1 tsp lemon juice

For the custard:
Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium/low heat.
Add the sugar, cream and milk and whisk together until the sugar dissolves.
Cut the vanilla bean down the side and split it open using the blunt side of a knife.  Run the knife through the inside of the bean to extract all of the little bean thingies (! - I don't know what they're called really).  Throw everything in with the cream mixture.  Turn the heat up just a little.
Have the egg yolks ready.
Once the mixture is almost to a simmer turn down the heat to low.
Using a ladle, slowly add a little of the cream mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Once you've added about 2 ladles worth to the yolks then pour the yolks back in to the cream mixture.  Continue whisking and turn the heat up just a little.
Once the mixture coats a wooden spoon such that if you run your finger through the back of the spoon the finger line doesn't run together then you can remove the mixture from the heat.
Pour the mixture through a sieve and into a bowl.  Cover with cling film, placing the cling film right onto the custard mixture so that no custard is touching air.
Refrigerate for at least 4 - 5 hrs and preferably overnight.

For the Sauce:
Combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, scooped out part of the vanilla and lemon juice in a heavy bottomed saucepan.
Heat over medium heat until the mixture comes to a simmer and turn the heat down to low.  Stir occasionally to keep from sticking.  Simmer for about 45 - 55 min at low heat or until the mixture begins to thicken.
Cool completely.

To combine:
Churn the custard into an ice cream maker according the the machine directions.  Once the custard has almost set but is still soft, add in the cream cheese a tbsp at a time - continue churning.
In a large container spoon a thin layer (1/2 inch or so) of the rhubarb mixture on the bottom, cover with about 3 inches of ice cream and continue to alternate the layers, ending with rhubarb.
Freeze for a few hours.
Thaw for a few minutes to soften before serving.

My kid has graduated.  From gr 6.  She is 11.  It's not like university or something but it's still weird.  It's a thing.  She's graduated from something other than kindergarden.  We kept things simple and it still seemed like a big deal.
There was a beautiful dress made by her Granny.  Sweet and Simple.  There was no make-up.  Thank God.  She borrowed a pair of my extremely low-heeled shoes.  There was a dance in which I'm pretty sure not one boy danced with one girl.  Cause in gr 6 I guess they're just not into that yet.  And since when did dancing consist solely of jumping up and down?  It was confusing.  It's also just amazing how much junk food kids can consume.  Amazing.  All in all though, it was a blessedly simple, toned-down affair.

I took the day 'off'.  Mostly I just really needed to be away for a day but in the end it's a good that I took the day because if I had tried to fit everything into just an afternoon I would have felt even more farging nuts than I did.  I cooked all day.  All day.  Well, after my substantial morning run which helped me get through the day with a scrap of sanity.  You see, in our house there are no trips to the salon.  I remember my gr. 8 graduation...
I was valedictorian.  My Mom insisted that I get my hair done.  We didn't stop there though - being the 80's - I got my hair streaked.  We went shopping for something to wear of course.  I wasn't exactly a big pouffy dress kind of girl.  I opted for something that I felt was sensible and could by worn again and again... a business suit!  So the valedictorian showed up to her gr 8 graduation ceremony in a grey business suit (with a blue top underneath of course) and streaked hair...
So, this time around there are no trips to the salon.  Just a day in the kitchen.  I promised to send something sweet for the party after the ceremony.  I had my in-laws coming to the ceremony and it just seems wrong to send them home without feeding them.  So I made the quiche from my last post - the one with zucchini blossoms - and a thrown together sausage, mushroom and snap pea stew.  And I made these.


These bars are the last thing on my rhubarb 'must do' list for this season.  I really just had to make them.  And they might just be my favourite thing so far.  I loved these bars.  The red fife flour hit just the right note.  I made sure that I hovered so that there was no over-baking of the crust.  The custard filling turned out great too which I was a little skeptical about.


So, although after 3 graduation ceremonies in less than a week I'm a little 'graduationed' out, I offer my congratulations to everyone out there graduation from one thing and into something else.  No matter what it is.  Here's to the grad's!



Rhubarb Custard Red Fife Squares adapted from 'A Sweet Spoonful'

Crust:
3/4 cup red fife flour (or whole wheat or spelt)
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold and cubed

Filling:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 lg eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger or 1/4 tsp ground ginger
3 1/2 cups rhubarb, chopped

Topping:
1/4 cup red fife flour
1/4 cup all purpose
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
4 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a 11x7 glass baking dish with foil (I had to use a 9x13 size but set the foil back a couple of inches on the end.  Grease the foil with a little butter and set aside.
Crust:
Combine both the flours and salt.  Add in the cubed butter.  Using a pastry butter or two knives cut the flour into the butter until it forms a crumbly texture - butter should be the size of small pebbles.  Pour everything into the greased baking dish and press it down over the bottom.  Bake for about 20 minutes or just until the crust is turning a slight golden colour.  Remove and cool slightly while making the filling.
Filling:
Whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.  Separately, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and ginger.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture.  Whisk until everything is well mixed.  Add in the chopped rhubarb and stir to mix.  Pour onto the top of the crust and spread evenly.
Topping:
Combine all the ingredients and mix until the butter has turned everything into a crumbly mess.  Sprinkle over the rhubarb filling.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the topping is just turning golden.
Serve a little warm.

I really wanted this to be a 'here's-a-list-of-my-current-favourite-things' but it's not happening.  Mostly because I just haven't had a chance to stop and consider what my current favourite things are.


I can tell you with certainty that sleep is a current favourite.
Drinking a cold beer is right up there too.
Cooking, though a current favourite, is creating a small heating problem.  It's extremely hot right now and doing any cooking is only adding to that heat in a rather unpleasant way.
I've been reading... as you know if you've been following my blog... which is nothing new.  But I'm not going into what the book it and how I feel about it yet again.  Besides, I'm moving on to a book about Cleopatra and then another 'civilization-is-evil' book.  In other words, I'm in between things right now.
I would love to tell you that I'm currently catching up with all my friends... but I'm not.  I'm hopelessly behind in that.  To be honest, when I do have a free evening I'm not even sure where to begin and how to fill it.  There is so much I want to do and so many friends I want to catch up with.  Fortunately, I have the most understanding friends.
I wish that I could report that my house is clean and tidy... but it's nowhere close.  Damn.  My laundry hasn't even been touched.
I really really wish that I could even begin to describe how hard it's been to not just completely collapse at work into a melting flesh ball - it's hot and everyone (students and teachers) is tired.
I would also love to be able to tell you that I've already been taking advantage of the great seasonal fruit that is starting to appear.  Strawberries are in season right now.  I haven't even touched one yet.  I'm hoping to fix that very soon but at the moment I've barely even seen a strawberry.


At the very least I can give you rhubarb.  Rhubarb.  I've still got one more rhubarb recipe up my sleeve but I'd had my heart set on doing this kind of thing with rhubarb for a while.  I finally -FINALLY- had a moment and turned these suckers out.
Making these bars isn't something that I would recommend doing on a crazy hot day like today in Toronto.  So if these look interesting to you then I would chop up the required rhubarb.  Bag it.  Freeze it.  And once the temperatures in Toronto find there way back down to something that makes turning on the oven bearable then go for it.  The browned butter adds a nice richness to the bars.  Please note that I have upped the amount of rhubarb in the recipe.  When I made them I found the rhubarb disappeared a little.  Make sure that you use enough rhubarb and chop it coarsely.



Rhubarb and White Chocolate Blondies adapted from 'Relish Recipes'
makes 1 9x13 pan of bars

1 cup unsalted butter
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, coarsely chopped
6 oz white chocolate chunks

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over med/low heat.  Cook until golden/brown - this took me about 12 minutes.  It will get little flecks in it that look like dirt or something.  Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil and set aside.  (I did not grease the pan or anything and had no problem with sticking after baking).
In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.
In another bowl combine the cooled butter (mine only cooled outside for about 7 - 9 minutes) and brown sugar.  Whisk or use a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and continue to whisk or mix until frothier.   Add vanilla and whisk to combine.
Gradually add in the flour and mix until the flour is completely blended and the batter is smooth.
Add in the chopped rhubarb and white chocolate.  Mix only until blended.
Pour the batter into the baking pan.  Spread evenly over the pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean (you might want just a tiny bit of goo on the tester if you want slightly gooier blondies)  Cool for about 7 minutes and then cut them into squares.
Keeps well in an airtight container for about 3 days.

D just sent me (and posted on FB) this Guardian article about why our food is making us fat.  If you decide to read this article - which, after reading a few books on the subject myself, I found well researched and explained - please note that a st (or stone) is equal to 16 lbs or so here in North America.

Of course I've read about HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) before.  Of course it's adverse side effects are hotly debated.  Of course the salt content of our food is also an important issue.  Of course it all seems ridiculous that the food industry could be so corrupt.  And yet, of course,  it all makes a lot of sense.  And the whole thing just makes me really really angry.

I mostly feel angry that we've allowed ourselves to get 'led down the garden path' with regards to the food that keeps us alive.  Sure, a lot of the decision making has been covert and crucial information glossed over.  But it honestly isn't that hard to figure out that things aren't working.  That all of this 'low fat' stuff is too good to be true.  That when we can't even pronounce what our food ingredients are then there might just be a big hole that large corporations have worked to their own advantage.  I remember going to the grocery store to buy soft drinks for some party of other (and it wasn't that long ago - we haven't had those drinks around much at all) and being amazed at how cheaply the stuff was being sold.  I remember it disturbing me that something so obviously bad for you was so cheap.  (remember:  I was buying the stuff myself)

I'm also amazed that so many of us truly believe that cooking food from scratch is difficult and too time consuming.  Often when I get a little deeper into conversation I discover that cooking from scratch hasn't really been given a fair chance... mostly because a lot of people have no clue where to start.  Somehow the message that it will take a long time to cut up some onion, carrots and broccoli has been swallowed hook line and sinker.  We've given up to a certain extent.
There have been lots and lots of people out there saying that living this way is bad for us.  That red meat isn't the root of all evil and that lard won't kill you on the spot.  The problem is we just haven't been listening.  We've been busy... eating low fat yogurt and biscuits with 'Omega 3' infused margarine.  I've become more and more convinced that the last place I want to buy my food is a grocery store and reading articles like this one just reenforce that resolve.  I don't care if it's subversive or not.  It makes me feel more human.  I'm less and less embarrassed to admit to people that I eat bacon and that I save the bacon fat and cook with it.  I believe it's called 'rendering the lard' or something fancy like that.  It's been a revelation to me that beets actually taste good and rutabaga can be prepared so that it doesn't make me want to hurl.  That some of our winter root vegetables contain just as much vitamins and nutrients as the summer fruit and vegetables that we import from god-knows-where.  I've learned that canning my own fruits and vegetables isn't hard, it just takes time and some space.


I also believe that sugar isn't evil.  Not when it's used 'properly'... ie. not secretly added to basically everything that I put on my fork.  I use the word 'Properly' here in reference to real sweets.  The stuff that you might have as a little snack or at the end of a meal.  The stuff that's considered a little treat.  This cake uses sugar.  I use fair-trade organic cane sugar which I can get at my local bulk food store.  This cake also uses red fife flour which has been locally milled and farm eggs from my local mennonite store.  But most importantly it features rhubarb.


Sure rhubarb aren't considered the 'superfood' that blueberries or acai berries are but blueberries aren't in season yet and I don't even know where we get acai berries.  Rhubarb is tart and red, and it's this long stick kinda thing that grows in my back yard and it's awesome.  Real food.


Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake... with Red Fife and Pear  adapted from 'Canadian Living' Magazine
makes 1 9inch round cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar (I use cane sugar here - if you are using granulated sugar than you might want to use just 1 cup of brown sugar instead)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat or red fife flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups chopped rhubarb (or 1 cup chopped rhubarb and 1 cup chopped preserved pears... or peaches... or...)

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tbsp quick oats
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 tsp (ie. a dash or so) cinnamon

Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan.  Set aside
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all the topping ingredients and mix.  Set aside.

In a bowl combine both flours, the baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix well and set aside.
In a large bowl beat together the butter and both sugars until well combined and a little fluffy.  Add in the eggs one at a time and continue to beat until each one is fully incorporated and light and fluffy.
Add the flour and milk alternately to the butter mixture beginning and ending with flour.  Mix well after each addition (I only used 3/4 of a cup of buttermilk here because the cake batter looked wet enough to me so use your judgement - if it looks like it will be too wet then add less buttermilk)
Fold in the chopped rhubarb (if you are combining with other fruit like pear or peach then I wouldn't add those in with the rhubarb - I plopped my pears into the bottom of the pan and then added the cake batter over the top of them) and stir just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Spread out evenly.
Sprinkle the topping over the cake batter.
Bake for about 1 hr (1 1/4 hr tops) or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Cool slightly before cutting.

I'm thinking that the transformation is nearing 'critical mass' for me.  Well... 'nearing'.
 - I'm barely in a grocery store anymore.  When I am there the place feels almost stressful.  Have you ever thought about how much stuff is there?  Damn, it's so overwhelming.
 - I've got my little garden going.  Who knows how much stuff I'm going to get from it over the summer but it's always worth it.  In fact I have little potato plants breaking through the ground.
 - The local farmers market has started up - hello great cheese and sausage too ;-)
 - I'm scheming about this summer's canning already.  Going through my books and figuring myself out.  I'm going to buy an outdoor burner and reusable sealing lids as well.  More tomatoes/Less Pears... that kind of thing.

 I'm also seriously pondering how lucky I am.  I have so many fantastic options.  I can choose to grow food - as much as I want.
 - I have the choice to go to the market and to any number of small, local places that are committed to good, local food choices.
 - I have summer's free to do all this stuff.
 - I have a job that allows me (with some sacrifices albeit) to choose to eat the way I believe in.  I'm lucky.    I'm fortunate.  And I hope that I never forget it.

My approach to recipes has changed completely over the last two years as well.  I look at recipes on blogs or in cookbooks and think about how the combinations of food make no sense.  How can I have zucchini bread in the middle of winter?  How can I make strawberry cake in March?  Why am I serving  fresh tomato whatever in January.  The answer may well be that wherever that book or post is coming from has a longer or completely different growing season.  D's Mom for example has no concept of the growing season here in Canada.  She's from Trinidad and the growing season there is endless.  There is just very few things that are only available at certain times of year.  Here in Canada though I can only get fiddleheads for a couple of weeks or asparagus for maybe 3 - 4 weeks.  Rhubarb... well it's a little longer but then it's done.  It makes me so thankful for the beautiful things like rhubarb that make the spring so special.


I mixed these muffins with blueberries because a) the recipe did as well and b) I have last years wild blueberries still to finish in my freezer.  Otherwise, it would have been all rhubarb all the time.  Some of these muffins are going off to a family member who needs some 'cheering up' but otherwise they are staying right here with me.



Rhubarb and Blueberry Muffins adapted from 'Taste of Home' magazine

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 lg egg
1/2 cup (full) milk
1 scant cup each rhubarb (chopped) and blueberries
Streusel - find the recipe here

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Line about 10 muffin tin cups with paper or silicon liners.

In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Mix and set aside.
In another bowl beat together the butter and sugar until combined and light.  Add the egg and beat until light and fluffy.
Add the Flour and milk alternately to the butter/egg mixture beginning and ending with flour.
Fold the fruit gently into the batter.
Scoop the batter into the muffin cups.  Fill each cup just to the rim.  I got 9 in all.
Sprinkle each muffin with about 1 tbsp of streusel.
Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes.

It hot as hades here in Toronto.  Hot like July.  And dry.  Dry like... I don't know.  It doesn't often get this dry here.  All this hot, dry weather is making me feel like school should be done... like now.  It's making me feel like I need a sleep in the afternoon - yeah, I don't know why the summer makes me want to sleep in the afternoon.  The hot weather makes me want to run like crazy and get all my canning stuff out.  The problem is... it's May.
It's the end of May, I'll grant you that.  But it's still just May.  It's pretty early for 28 degrees.  It feels weird baking with rhubarb in 30 degree weather but here I am baking with rhubarb.  And it's 30 degrees.  Three.  Zero.
I'm not going to get into the whole scary/disturbing side of it being hot like crazy in May.  It's been hot before, right?  I'm not going to get into all the stuff that puts a knot in my stomach and makes me fear for my kids and especially my grandkids.  I'm not going to dwell on the notice that has come with the last two or three food boxes.  The notice that informs us all about this seasons tree crops or the lack thereof.
Needless to say, school is not over yet.  Not for a good little while.  I can't sleep in the afternoon because I have work to do or am in the middle of doing work.  Because of that work I can't just go and run like crazy, I have to be reasonable about the amount of time I spend doing fun things (yes, running is fun for me).  And, because it's May, I could get all my canning stuff out but there isn't a hell of a lot to can just yet.  Except for Rhubarb.


Rhubarb.  I got some in the food box this week because my own poor little rhubarb plant is being overtaken by the raspberries that I unwisely planted too close years ago.  It's struggling and I have to move it and I don't know where to move it to.  So while I'm pondering I decided to just go ahead and get some rhubarb in the foodbox.  Rhubarb is weird.  Rhubarb makes me wonder how anybody thought of eating it.  Rhubarb makes me think that it's a good thing it's a fruit/veg (?) that is best in the early spring because honestly if it had to compete with fruit later in the growing season it would be no contest.  It doesn't even taste that good unless you do something to it.  It's not like a fresh tomato or green bean that you can just pick and enjoy.  Rhubarb needs some TLC.  Once you do cook it, it's got this strange texture that only reminds me of rhubarb.  Nothing else.   Although the stuff made me want to gag as a kid, now I'm using it and eating it like it's my favourite.  I think that it's what rhubarb represents that makes me love it so much now.  A new season.  New growth, new planting and better things to come.  The start of a whole new cycle.  I've still got a couple more rhubarb recipes up my sleeve and I want to make sure that I've got a little in the freezer to mix with some strawberries for some kick ass jam.  Whenever strawberry season hits.  For now though I'm going to sweat it out in my kitchen.



Rhubarb and Sour Cream Cake adapted from 'Delicious Magazine UK'
1 8x8 square cake

Rhubarb:
3 cups fresh rhubarb, chopped
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp all-purpose flour

Mix the chopped rhubarb, sugar and flour together in a bowl and set aside.


Crumb Topping:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 generous tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup less 2 tbsp sugar
1 vanilla bean with the vanilla scraped out
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt.

Melt together the butter and both sugars.  stir well over med/low heat until the butter is melted.  remove from the heat.  Add the vanilla bean scrapings and stir well.  In a separate bowl mix together the salt and flour.  Add the flour to the melted butter.  Mix together until it forms a crumbly texture.  Set aside.


Cake:
6 tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt
1 lg egg + 1 yolk
1tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/8 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup + 3 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature

Grease an 8x8 square baking pan.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla.  Whisk until everything is mixed together well.  Set aside.
Mix together the sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.  Add the butter and cream together until everything is well mixed and not dry anymore.  Add the egg/sour cream mixture.  Whisk together until light and fluffy.  The dough will be quite thick.  Spread into the prepared pan.
Using a slotted spoon, spoon the rhubarb onto the top of the cake batter.  Spread evenly.
Sprinkle the crumb topping on the whole mess.  I pressed it in just a little but you don't have to do that.
Bake for about 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean and the sides of the cake are just lightly browned.
Cool for about 10 minutes before cutting.

This was done by Kid #2... he's 5.  It's pretty cute.  We didn't see it until after it was done which is kind of a good thing because we might have tried to get him to fix it.  It's so damn adorable that I even put it on Facebook.  I never put photos on Facebook.
It's Easter today... today people, not the whole weekend.  Please keep on top of the liturgy here.  Just because it's a holiday we do not wish each other 'Happy Good Friday'.  Jeez.  Happy Easter Vigil... NEVER.


I haven't really gotten to any serious cooking or baking but it's on it's way.  Instead I went to The Hunger Games movie with Kid #1, went out for some serious connecting with KT, went for a 10k run and survived with my foot none the worse for wear (my poor body however is not exactly happy with me today), had some much needed time with D over a pint or two, spent some time with the in-laws and my own parents... and I washed my windows.  All in all not so bad for a long weekend and it's not over yet.  The weather cooperated today so I've also taken some pictures of the up and comings in my garden.


I don't know quite how this has happened but its the second year now that I've gotten parsley coming up on it's on.  I didn't think it was a perennial - I think it's a biennial - but what the hell... here it is and I'm not complaining.


You know it's spring when the chives start to poke through the brown earth and green up the place.

The scent isn't quite as strong this year but my little hyacinth's are going strong.  Another sign that spring is here to stay.

And lastly my favourite, homely rhubarb.  Just doing what it does best, forming huge leaves and hiding the gorgeous red stalk underneath.  In about a month it will be ready for me to start cutting... that should give me just enough time to get through all those damned canned pears that are still sitting in the cold room.  Happy Easter.