Cherry Fruit Sauce

Posted on September 8, 2011 by amoment2think

So you know my new obsession with fruit? Specifically picking my own fruit. Well, before I head off to the land of fruit trees on every corner, I decided to get a head start right here in Calgary.

My neigbour has this cherry tree she just planted this year. She was commenting to me the other day that she should do something with the cherries, but probably wasn’t going to. So I asked if I could.

They look kinda like those candied cherries don’t they? Does anyone know what kind of cherries they are?

So I picked them, pitted them and threw them in a heavy pot with sugar, lemon and lemon zest and cooked them for a long time.

Voila! Cherry Fruit Sauce, great for on top of ice cream or cake!

I didn’t full on can them- its meant to eat within a couple weeks. But still! Look! What I made! With free fruit! (And yes, one jar went back to my neighbours.)

Next year I am going to can up a storm!

My new obsession

Posted on September 6, 2011 by amoment2think

I have a new obsession. Fruit.

More specifically, fruit I can pick from a tree/bush/vine myself.

While we were on our vacation on Salt Spring Island (if you missed my Toddler Travel Debrief or my rant about road work, you can check them out here and here) something seemed to open my eyes to the world of picking your own fruit.

Now, to be fair, I did grow up picking raspberries all summer near our family cottage in lake country in Ontario. I picked a lot of raspberries and it was most certainly my favourite summer activity.

Also, I should note, its not like living in Calgary (contrary to what some to the south may believe) is not like living in a barren tundra. There is lots of fruit to be had out this way. Local u-picks have Saskatoon berries, strawberries and some raspberries. Last summer we picked a huge bucket of Saskatoons (which, incidentally, are really not as good a blueberries raw.. kinda better to cook or can them). You can grow a decent garden with rhubarb (which, yes, is not a fruit but a vegetable. But I can make it into pie, so same difference to me in the end.) Heck, we have a crab apple tree on our front lawn and our neighbours have a cherry tree that Audrey quite enjoyed harvesting yesterday. I find those cherry’s a little sour.. but hey, the kid likes them! And! the other day we were at a park we found in an old part of Calgary and they had heritage apple trees! Apples! Full sized ones that looked yummy! In Calgary!

Pictorial Evidence of Said Calgary Apple Trees

Picking fruit is not a new concept to me. But there is something about the fruit we saw on Salt Spring that got me, well, obsessed.

I would spot a tree by the side of the road and demand my husband stop the car so I could harvest. I walked and walked to find the perfect Blackberries. (Which, incidentally, you can not find for sale on Salt Spring this time of year because it would be absolutely insane to pay for blackberries when you can find them growing, free for the picking, almost every where you look.) And I took pictures like a silly tourist at a road side tourist trap every time I saw the magic of fruit on a tree.

See?

In particular, there were two experiences that really got me excited about all this amazing fruit. Both were trips to Gardens and both were very different.

We had heard that Habour House, one of Salt Springs Hotels, had set up its own amazing garden that they used for their Restaurant and sold locally on the island. So husband and I went to have a look. Upon arriving we were invited to feed the goats some broad beans that had grown too big to be yummy for human consumption. The goats seemed to like them. Then we took a self-guided stroll through the gardens. Row upon row of amazing food. Berries, veggies, herbs, fruit trees and green houses with melons, peppers and tomatoes. There was even a bunch of bee hives at the back. Amazing. It took all my will power not to do my own private harvesting… particularly when we saw this amazing cherry tree.

The second adventure was to an apple orchard we had heard about. The AppleLuscious Orchard is amazing and not like any other farm I have seen. We got a tour around from Harry, the owner, of his totally wild orchard. What I mean by wild is that in addition to his 200+ varieties of apples, he also had just about anything you could imagine growing all over the place. No rows upon rows of carefully organized produce, ready to easily harvest. Harry’s orchard is full of windy paths, chickens and ducks running wild, and trees, bushes and veggies patches that crop up at random. He says the trees do best and produce the best fruit when they aren’t coddled- they need to work to survive in this orchard.There was something magical about this orchard– like it was out of the past. Just before we left we stopped to take pictures under a ripe plum tree. Harry picked a large handful and passed it to us– apparently these plums are not good to sell because they go to mush within a couple days of harvest– not good for taking even over to Victoria to sell. They tasted amazing to me.

And there you have it. I am addicted to fruit trees.

So, as we pack up and get ready to move out the wonderful west coast, I suspect I will have more to tell you about this new passion for harvesting!

Have you done any harvesting this year?

Easy Thai Soup

Posted on July 29, 2011 by amoment2think

When I am sick there is only one thing I want. Soup. But I am not a big fan of your run of the mill chicken noodle. Don’t get me wrong- Grandma’s chicken noodle has its place. But when I am sick, I would rather have Vietnamese soup or japanese ramen (not the kind from the $1 package.. the real kind). This week I was feeling pretty crappy and I had had my Vietnamese soup on Tuesday and my ramen on Wednesday… both felt very healing. (Asian soups always seem to have the tastiest healing herbs!) I felt I still needed more soup on Thursday. I didn’t want to order in again, save my wallet go into revolt. So I decided to try my hand at making my own Thai soup.

As those of you who have been following this blog for a while know, I don’t really do ‘recipes’, so much as a take a list of ingredients and throw them in in the quantities that seem to make sense at the time. So here it is, my Easy Thai Soup recipe.

Easy Thai Soup

1 box of chicken stock (organic is my preference)
1 can of Thai coconut milk
Chicken (I used drumsticks, but it would be easier with skinless boneless thighs)
Shrimp
shallots
little butter
a little hot pepper, finely chopped
garlic
greater galangal (a Thai herb. You could substitute for ginger.)
salt
lime zest
lemon zest
juice of one lime
splash of Mirin (A japanese cooking wine. If you ever make japanese soba noddles you want this on hand. If you don’t have Mirin, I think a dash of sugar should do.)
cilantro (which I hate, but I put it in and let it simmer, rather then fresh at the end… so I was okay with it. Add it to taste)
Something green (like snow peas, green beans, some kind of hardy leafy green) I used green broad beans

Start by heating up a little butter in a heavy soup pot. Then throw in the shallots and chicken. Brown the chicken and then pour in the chicken stock and coconut milk. Then add your spices, herbs, zest, ect. Let is simmer until the chicken is cooked. If you are crazy like me and used drumsticks, take the chicken out when cooked and take the meat off the bone and then throw it back in. Add shrimp and something green last and simmer just until the shrimp is cooked. The time it takes to cook the chicken means that the soup will have had lots of time to simmer. And it will be good. Just make sure you taste it as you go along to make sure you have the right balance of flavour. As in all Asian cooking, the key is to balance sweet, sour, salty and spicy. Sweet is the coconut milk and the Mirin. Sour is the citrus. Salty is the salt. And spicy is the hot pepper. When in doubt- add more garlic. Garlic makes everything better.

Enjoy!

Photo by Debs via Flickr Creative Commons

Best Healthy Summer Drink

Posted on July 8, 2011 by amoment2think

Rooibos Iced Tea

It is amazing and the perfect drink for summer. Cool, refreshing and good for you! And super easy to make up a big batch and have on hand for a backyard BBQ. Here’s how you make it.

First, you must have ice and lots of it. I find that whenever I need ice, the two blue plastic ice trays we have are nearly empty with just one cube each. So check that first.

Then, you need to get yourself some GOOD Roobios tea. The reason I stress the good is that I have had lots of BAD Roobios tea. In particular from a lovely place that starts with a star and ends with a bucks. They put some kind of funky artificial sweetener in it and it is just disgusting. Unless, of course, you like artificial sweetener, in which case it probably won’t bother you.

Anyway, given that I am incredibly bias, I get my Roobios tea from Fratello’s Analog Cafe at the Calgary Farmers Market. Because I happen to be married to the guy that sourced their tea and I know it is good. But I also recommend Mighty Leaf Roobios too.

You want either a plain Roobios, or a fruity Roobios– stay away from the vanilla Roobios- it is great for Red Tea Lates- but that’s about it.

Okay. Now you want to steep your Roobios. Boil the kettle and give it a couple minutes after it boils to cool. Then take about 2 teaspoons of tea and pour the water over it and let it steep for about 10 minutes. (Roobios isn’t like black tea- you can’t really over steep it to get that bitter flavour like black tea will get.)

I use one of these cool tea steeping things:

You can use whatever you want. The trick is you want to make a whole bunch of this tea. You need about 1/2 the amount of the container you want to put it in.

For the other 1/2 you want Lychee juice. Never had Lychee juice? Do not be afraid. I use it because it is refreshing, mild flavour and not too sweet. It goes perfectly with Roobios. You can typically find it in a grocery store, though you may have to search for it a bit. I get it in the aisle where the ethnic food is.

If you want to use an other fruit juice, I don’t see why not. I would recommend a fairly mild flavour juice though- or you will never taste the Roobios. Also, this 50/50 recipe is based on the sweetness of Lychee- so I don’t have to add sugar to my iced tea.. so with other juices you may need to modify the recipe.

Add ice.

Put it in the fridge and let it get nice and cool. Pour over ice and enjoy.

Now, you will love this ice tea- I can almost guarantee it. But just in case you are skeptical, I want to tell you some of the benefits of Roobios. Roobios, or ‘red tea’ as it is sometimes called, comes from a bush in Africa. It is not actually ‘tea’ at all, in the same way that herbal ‘teas’ are not tea- they don’t use tea leaves. Roobios has no caffeine. It is full of antioxidants, phenolic compounds and vitamins and minerals. According to Wikipedia, “Rooibos is purported to assist with nervous tension, allergies and digestive problems.”

Trust me, you want to get yourself some Roobios.

Enjoy!