Yo

Hey, pull up a chair. We can talk while I pack. 

Bought a cottage. Selling our house. Time to sort out the crazy lady cute stuff and move it into the studio.

We live in a very beautiful part of the world, on the Saanich Peninsula of Vancouver Island. Beautiful but chilly… so am beyond excited about inhabiting this little gardening dream spot near Saanich Inlet, where temperatures soar quite a bit higher in the summer months. 

Cooking Class

Your spices this evening will be…

Kickin' up her heels; Valerie breezes thru prep 
and then takes on the dishes

Simmered beans with kale and swiss chard topped with shaved parmigiano

My friend Valerie was here for a visit and we attended a Mediterranean vegetarian cooking class with Chef Heidi Fink. On the menu: bruschetta, beans and greens, chickpea stew with couscous, romesco dip with crudités and anise biscotti.

We were assigned the making of the romesco, and, apart from not having a clue as to how to run the food processor; we did good. Everything was delicious; so back at the ranch I decided to have a go at beans and greens again. It took forever and a day (or two) of subsequent simmerings to get the beans to the tender stage. It was tasty but not as good as the batch served up by Heidi. 

And, note to self: this brand of greek olive oil—avoid those bargain oils because there is a high chance of them being blended/adulterated oils, not pure olive.

Try dye

I guess we won't go hungry this winter. (7 small jars)

Ok, so blackberries are early this year. Since the picking was good, 

I decided to give the old jelly kit a go and ended up with a successful batch. (An unsuccessful batch would be the one I attempted in my early 20s when most of the boiling hot jam cascaded down between the stove and the cabinet instead of into the jelly bag.)

Then, with the leftover pulp beckoning—I decided to try a badcrafter shibori wrap. 

It looked pretty good; until I washed it… when most of the blackberry colour disappeared. Vinegar didn't work as a mordant.  Will try again with a pre-dye mordant, fingers crossed.

Secret ingredient

I wanted to like Kimchi, but we got off to a rocky start. A Korean grocer was unhelpful to the point of surliness as I tried to figure out which of the many was a good entry-level kimchi. My first attempts to include it in our meals were met with less than enthusiasm from my husband.
I just wasn't getting it, the strong flavour and the mushy texture. Then, today, a chilly day which called for soup. Bean, cabbage and Kimchi soup, as it turned out. Success! The sprouted legume blend cooked down to a satisfying toothiness, the green beans and New Zealand spinach stems added a bright note and the Kimchi held it all together like a funk bass line laid down by Bootsy Collins.

Baked

I haven't made banana bread in donkeys' years… avoiding bad carbs along with everyone else.
But having grown up in a household where butter, sugar and flour were like a holy trinity, it was a slow and painful transition to not automatically reach for a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon to bake, usually a couple of things (hey, the oven's on already)—several times a week. My mom baked quite a bit… and I spent many hours going through her cookbooks and handwritten recipes, sorting them and, I thought, bringing order to chaos.  She would just roll her eyes.
I still have a few recipes in her handwriting, and look at them with pleasure. The pound cake recipe probably came from my paternal grandmother. It was her signature dessert, one that I indulge my dad in regularly—since it prompts such pleasant associations for him. "Cherry pound cake! I haven't had this in years!" Well, actually, no…you had some last week, but—hey, glad you're likin' it, dad.

Red to Yellow

… kills a fellow

Red and Black — venom lack

My son was very fond of this aphorism as a child, discovered in a reptile book. Dangerous snakes or benign snakes were difficult to tell apart unless you remembered this rhyme! 

He'd solemnly repeat it and look at me; willing me to remember it too, so we'd both be safe. 

Childish things are hard to put away when your child grows up. I rationalize my reluctance to part with the toys by mumbling my grandchildren mantra. Have to mumble quietly so as not to excite too much eye-rolling from these two, my Angus 'n Tina. Gratitude is important, so this is a good day to say thank you to the powers above for granting me a life that includes them.

Tina's red sweater and the red restaurant booth keep me on theme, too, with the title of today's post.

Am seeing many glimpses of red and yellow around my house and garden; a color combo that creeps in stealthily; insinuating itself here, there and everywhere.

Rosy

Awhile back on Pinterest, this was a very popular image on our Rosy board.  The Chester Canal Heritage Trust in the UK was the source for this interesting template on how to paint canal roses…broad brush strokes and simple forms building vibrant and pretty blooms.

Roses, too, have figured strongly in the old textiles I've been collecting over the years. The thrift stores have so many pieces of the grannyish upholstery fabrics, dress cottons, sheetings, and embroideries; I've regretfully left behind far more than I've brought home.

This week my project was another rosy affair, cutting up a heavy old tablecloth to make winter slipcovers for a pair of ottomans. They are new and needed a bit of 'olding' to warm them up.

Isn't the fabric sweet? Pixels!—but back then I guess it was a graphic representation of cross stitch. 

A pleasant project, all the more so because it was started and completed in the same week. Yess.

Chou Chou

Cabbage, possibly my favorite veg.  Cooked long and slow into a jammy mess, or seared hot and quick in a wok with butter and oil and a spridge of hot pepper flakes.  That's right, oil and butter both, she wrote defiantly.
Let us also praise coleslaw. Good coleslaw and even bad coleslaw if it is fresh enough and cold enough. Coleslaw made with sour cream dressing… or mayonnaise style with a hefty dollop of horseradish. Or asian style with rice vinegar and a smidge of peanut oil, sugar and slivered hot red peppers.
And. Sauerkraut! Pickled red cabbage!  And.  And.  And Cabbage rolls! Sure, I've made a few in my day, but these days I just go to my Polish Deli and buy them, fresh or frozen. Two gargantuan kapusta rolki for 6 bucks and we have a meal. A meal that required no more effort than me visiting my Polish Deli guy and shootin' the breeze for 6 minutes while he slices my Polish cheese (tastes like emmenthal), retrieves my 89-kilometer rye bread from the freezer (he buys it in Vancouver), and wraps up my village-style kielbassa in pretty peach-tone butcher paper.

Not Bad

Not bad at all.

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Meyer Lemon

This brand of no-wheat spaghetti was… acceptable. Not great, but good-enough.  It lacked that toothiness you get from a good quality durum-wheat pasta. I like a little bit of bounce-back when you bite down, this stuff offers not much resistance.

So, to proceed.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, , juice of 2 meyer lemons, and 2 tablespoons butter.

• Frozen tail-on, deveined white or pink Pacific shrimp, 10-16 depending on size. Mine were from Safeway, an organic frozen product - that when thawed under cold water and patted dry yields a satisfactory shrimpy taste.

• Slivered yellow red and orange peppers.  Mine were small; they looked like this.

• Minced garlic and shallot, Old Bay Seasoning, pinch red pepper flakes and lots of black pepper. Oregano or thyme, whichever you have. I always have lots of greek oregano because it goes wild in the garden and I'm constantly picking and drying it.

Boil the spaghetti and drain. Saute the peppers in oil til softened slightly, add a pinch of nice salt.  Add the shallots, shake it up or stir, let it go half a minute, add garlic, then move the pepper mixture to the edges of the pan if you have a really big one, or set aside if it's weensy.

Add half the butter to the pan, and saute the shrimp. These cook fast, so don't overdo. I flip them once, then toss the pepper mixture, drained pasta and juice of lemon back into the pan with the other half of the butter. Grate pepper and scrumble your green herbe of choice over top.

Ta da. Guaranteed husband-pleaser if he likes shrimp.

P.S. If you have an open bottle of white wine lying around it will of course be a happy addition, and make it a bit more 'saucy', if that's your preference. No wine? A splash of white balsamic vinegar, rice vinegar or mirin will do the same trick.

On Bright as Yellow

Anybody else out there an Innocence Mission fan? On my project wish list -  a knockoff of this traditional Shaker drying rack. On my wall - this ghost toaster print purchased at Coudal (artist Billy Davis). And on my dog walk; a fuzzy daffodil topped with fizzy clouds.

Quiet Friday

making arrabiata concentrate from the last of the tomato harvest… oil, oregano, sea salt and firecracker peppers simmered down, sieved then popped into the freezer.  Watching raisin bread rise.

Watching the ferry come in.

and thinking happy thoughts about this. Amelia, Alicia and Andy. Triple AAA happy.