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.

With everything going on in the rest of my life at the moment, my poor poor garden has been sorely neglected.  I've been taking little snippets of time here and there to thin out my perennials and expand the garden edges.  It's not anywhere near finished and every time I look outside my heart sinks just a little.
Despite the hours of work sitting out there and waiting for me I have to try to look on the bright side.  I have managed to get some things in the garden.  My herbs are all doing well.  To boost my weary and somewhat sad soul I have decided to post a bunch of things that are good and somewhere deep down are making me happy.  At least that's what I'm telling myself.  So, without further ado, here is my list:

'Bright Things'
#1
 - I planted 3 zucchini plants.  I managed to find naturally seeded plants and grabbed 3 of them.  For the last 3 years I haven't been able to grow zucchini - mostly because the squirrels get to the little plants before they can really set.  Once was just because the seeds didn't sprout.  This year I have plants that are growing well and blooming like crazy.


#2
- My first little 'Black Prince' tomato is getting bigger and bigger every day.  There are many more hot on his heals so I'm looking forward to some lovely fresh tomatoes within the next month or so.

#3
 - I'm growing peas for the first time in addition to me green and purple beans.  Peas.  They don't look unhappy.  This is good.


#4
 - My pride and joy at the moment is this chard.  I have two red chard plants thanks to me friend C.  They are BEAUTIFUL.  I can't wait to start eating fresh chard.  Seriously seriously jazzed about my chard.

#5
 - Second to my chard are the potatoes.  Yes, I'm growing potatoes.  For the first time.  If all goes well then I may never buy potatoes again.  I hear that you can grow them throughout the winter.  This could be it.

I have to keep focussed on the future right now because living in the moment is completely overwhelming.  The future will give me a lot more time to sit and reflect and feel the growth happening all around me.  I find it soul soothing.  Try growing something this summer.  Even if you only have a window sill - throw some herbs into a tiny little pot and see what happens.  A balcony or a tiny little bit of yard space can yield you a surprising amount of fresh food and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.


On a side note:  If you have zucchini blossoms please don't let them rot on the vine.  I snipped mine off and used them in a quiche with some garlic scapes (garlic is another thing that I apparently need to try growing) and they were delicious.  I'll keep you updated on some more zucchini blossom possibilities.

I'm home.  I'm sitting in my house.  I am on my couch.  I am typing on my couch.  I am in my living room.  I'm not going anywhere outside of my own house for the rest of the day.  The whole rest of the day.  It feels... foreign.
For all my bitching about May and how it's all crazy and busy and overwhelming, June has been just as bad and maybe even worse.  Worse not really because it's worse but just because the expectation was that it would be better and it hasn't been.  That makes no sense when I look at the words but it totally made sense in my head.  Combine the 'crazy' with a heat wave in Toronto and you've got two kids living on cereal and toast.  Fortunately, that's done and we're back to absolute gorgeous summer weather.  Now that I'm still - as in not moving - I'm looking at the kitchen and wondering where to begin.


I have to admit that I almost didn't post this.  I think that the bread looks awful.  I look at other food blogs and the pictures are so awesome and everything just looks perfect.  The bread always rises exactly the way bread should rise.  It's always the right shade of golden/brown.  The cookies are never a little over-baked on the bottom.  There is never too much liquid in the stew.  You know?  The colours are perfect and the cakes look just right.  It's intimidating because almost nothing I make looks like that. It's taken me years to get over that my cooking and baking is best when it looks like crap.  So, I'm swallowing my pride and putting this bread recipe out there... crappy looking bread and all.
It tasted good.  And when we'd used it all up for sandwiches and it was starting to get stale... we made strata.  It was good.  And good for you.  And it was more than just a little ugly.


Whole Wheat and Red Fife Bread adapted from 'King Arthur Flour'
makes 1 loaf

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup red fife flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 1/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp melted butter

Grease a stainless steel or glass bowl and have a clean dish towel handy.
Combine the warm water, yeast and 1 tbsp sugar together.  Stir just to mix and set aside in a draft-free spot for a few minutes (just to make sure that it starts to get foamy and bubbly).
Combine the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour and red fife flour together with the salt, sugar and dry milk powder.  Mix and set aside.
Once the yeast mixture is foamy (about 5 - 7 minutes should be enough) add it to the flour mixture.
Add in the melted butter and stir together until the mixture can form a rough dough ball.  Turn out onto a very lightly floured surface and knead for just a few minutes until the dough ball looks uniform and smooth.
Place the dough in the greased bowl.  Cover with the clean cloth.  Place in a draft free spot for an hour. The dough won't quite be doubled.
Gently remove the dough from the bowl and knead just enough to release the air and form into a rough loaf shape.
Place in a greased loaf pan.  Cover again with clean cloth and place in a draft free spot until the dough gets about 1 inch over the top of the pan (took about an hour for me but could take up to 1 1/2 hrs).
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake the bread for about 35 minutes or until the crust sounds hollow when you knock on it.

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.

I've inadvertently joined a book club at work.  I didn't know I was joining which is a long story in and of itself.  But, regardless, I've joined.
Of course the book that we're reading is... well, I'm sure that you can guess.  I just started the book yesterday.  My first conversation about the book was all about how much I'm gonna be blown away by chapter 7.  I can't say that I was waiting with bated breath or anything but I was curious.  So, for those of you who've read 'the book' (I really don't want to give the book any more press than it's already gotten - not that my blog will make a huge crap load of difference) you might understand how I was surprised to discover that the whole thing was basically a contract.  Sure it was a contract of the kind that we don't usually make a contract over... or do we.
I'd like to take this opportunity to declare that a contract regarding the terms of sex first of all isn't terribly erotic and secondly, isn't really a new concept.  In fact, I think that most of us create our own contracts when it comes to a serious relationship.  And we've been doing this for a really long time.  Marriage is our present day default contract.  It is legally binding and there are some pretty serious repercussions if we break the contract.  But sexual contracts have been around for a long long long time.  Pre-Judaism and Pre-Islam (and yes, I do realize that chronologically they are both VERY far apart) relationship contracts were quite deliberate and often quite different.  Our present day marriage contract is mostly straight-forward and inflexible (unless of course a pre-nuptual agreement is involved) but then 'marriage' contracts could take on just about any form.  For example, money could be left out of the contract completely, a couple could contract to be exclusive for a short period of time, a couple could agree that after a pre-set period of time that the contract would be renegotiated.  In other words, the terms were much more open ended than they are now.
When I read the contract in 'the book' I certainly didn't have a problem with the fact that a contract was being put on the table or the fact that there were some 'out of the ordinary' preferences being negotiated.  What bothered me was that the woman was not really being treated as an equal partner.  The contract was all about the preferences and limits required by the male in the relationship.  If we're getting into contracts and law and stuff then shouldn't the woman have taken the opportunity to say 'Thanks for this.  I'm going to go now and look it over and maybe talk to one of my lawyer friends (or not) and come back to you with a counter offer'.  The contract in 'the book' shouldn't necessarily have been taken as the end of the contract road but rather the beginning.  Relationships are all about negotiation - on a regular basis, always and forever, romantic or otherwise - and they should be about equality (especially when it comes to sexual relationships).  So a contract has to be flexible in order to be fair and equal.  Sure there will be some 'Never-do's' or 'Tap-outs' but otherwise it is negotiated and later possibly renegotiated and then again after that.
Now when it comes to 'the book', I'm only on chapter 8 so I definitely need to keep both an open mind and my fingers crossed that things get a little better for our heroine beyond some hugely satisfying 'coming of age' journal entries.
I'll keep you updated.


In the meantime, I'm trying to keep food in my kitchen and it seems to be mysteriously disappearing at an alarming rate.  I'm not sure where it's all going and in the middle of the week I found myself in the unfortunate position of having to get creative with these somewhat incongruous ingredients. The happy news is that after some deliberation... a little negotiational (not even sure if that's a word) coaxing maybe... this wonderful mess was the result.


Potato, Kale and Kitchen Sink Hash adapted generously from 'Simply in Season'
serves 4

6 - 7 small/med potatoes quartered or 'sixed'
1 onion or 3 spring onions, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic crushed
5 cups kale, coarsely chopped
1 lb sausage, cooked and coarsely chopped
1 boullion cube
1 tbsp grainy mustard
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper sauce or 1/4 tsp cayenne
2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Place potatoes in a pot and fill with water just until the potatoes are barely covered.  Bring to a boil and boil for about 7 - 8 minutes.  Drain but reserve about 1/4 of potato water.
Combine the reserved potato water, bouillon cube, mustard, maple syrup and Worcestershire sauce together.  Whisk until completely mixed and incorporated into a sauce.  Set aside.
Heat a large pot or wok over medium heat.  Add a couple of tbsp of your choice of oil.  Throw in the onion and garlic.  Cook together for about 2 - 3 minutes or until the onion is just starting to show signs of becoming soft.  Add in the kale and continue to cook for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly so the kale doesn't get stuck or burn - turn down the heat a little if necessary.  The kale should just be starting to wilt.  Add in the cooked potato and chopped sausage.  Mix well.
Turn the heat down a little more and toss in the bouillon/mustard mixture.  Stir everything until it's all coated with the sauce.  Cook for another 5 minutes or so over low heat.
Serve.

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.

Where do I begin?  This is a bit of a 'catch-you-up' post.
You ever have that feeling that you remember doing something and just can't remember whether that was yesterday or a week ago (or maybe even a month ago).  Yeah.  That's how I've been living for the last... I'm not sure.
What goes through my head:
'I need to call my parents - when did I last call? - I can't remember, maybe Mother's day - Damn, that was weeks ago - Crap'
'I have to return that phone call - when was that phone call - I'd better check my phone - Jeez, it was 3 weeks ago - heavy sigh'
'I know that my friend is having her going away party soon - she sent me an evite - I'd better check - ok Doof it was yesterday'

I'm not sure how exactly I've managed to get so accomplished at it but it now seems that scattered and frazzled is the new 'normal' for me.  Is this finally 'Soccer Mom' syndrome setting in.  Is it just what happens to women of a particular age.  Should I be asking my Dr why I need to ask my phone to remind me to bring my keys with me each morning.  I would love to hear your suggestions... and please don't be one of those people who sends me this message about how I need to take a month off and go to a spa or something completely beyond the realm of remotely possible.  I guess I want to know if this kind of thing happens to anyone else.  Time gets lost, timelines are fuzzy and remembered details are random events.

In the middle of the kind of week where I dragged my whole family to the wrong soccer field for Kid #2's game - argued about it for a minute, checked my email thanks to my phone, apologized to family, got back in car and drove straight to correct field - I've been living on some things both simple and fantastic.


I made quiche.  Not just any quiche but quiche with a potato crust.


Potato Crust adapted from 'The Moosewood Cookbook'
makes 1 quiche crust

3 cups shredded potato (I used about 6 med/sm potatoes)
1 egg
pinch of salt and pepper
1 tbsp melted butter

Grease or butter a regular sized pie pan.
Preheat oven to about 400 degrees F.
Combine the shredded potato, egg, salt, pepper and melted butter together.  Stir well.  Pour into the greased pie pan.  Using your fingers, spread the potato mixture out evenly over the whole pan and up the sides.
Bake for about 30 minutes.  Brush with a little oil or butter again and bake for another 10 minutes or so.  Remove from oven a cool slightly before adding quiche ingredients.  Done.


...You won't hear me talk much about salad but this dressing has kept my spring greens happy for the last week.  I saw it in one of my BBC magazines and thought I would try it.  Fan-Friggin-tastic.


Grainy Mustard and Maple Syrup dressing adapted from BBC GoodFood magazine

1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp grainy mustard

Combine everything in a bowl and whisk until it's completely combined.  Pour over some greens and freshly sliced radishes (perfect!) and go...