The Queen's--Erm-- Message

The Ins and Outs of 2010

Well, I've been reading the top ten lists that inevitably come out at this time of the year and some have resonated with me. The Daily Beast, for instance, picked up on the gluten free trend which seems to have really taken off and also the new interest in coconut, which has piqued my curiosity. I love coconut water and coconut flour certainly intrigues me. Eating local and urban farming is really hot right now and there is much demand for us to talk about our experiments with the Two Block Diet. Two of our group even ended up on the front page of the Vancouver Sun.

For me, this is the year that I got really tired of the food snobs. My personal approach to food has become much more humble, pared down and (I hope) respectful. I no longer seek the ultimate exotic taste sensation, but I want simple, reverent experiences with food, friends, and family. Let's face it--food snobs are bores and just end up whining about mediocre food ad nauseum. I'm sick of them and they are banished to sit in the corner with their jaded palates to keep them company.

Food is precious. I was touched when a man doing charitable work in Guatemala told me they eat their corn one grain at a time. Why? Because it is packed with more nutrition than our corn and because they are preparing themselves for a famine this year. That story makes me grateful for the richness of the food we have here in BC.

I heart bloggers. This is the year I really grew fond of the people who have no pretensions to stardom, but just share what they make and do for the sheer love of it. They are keeping it real and they inspire me. Sure, there are some bloggers who designate themselves worthy to freeload with impunity. You know who you are. Go sit in the corner. There's been a lot of blogger bashing going on in the media this year, ironically done by people who not too long ago were humble bloggers themselves. Methinks they do protest too much. Other people bash bloggers while desperately trying to re-invent themselves through social media because print is dying. Enough of the haters and the professional cynics. You, go sit in the corner with your lump of coal and your bitter self -loathing.

This is the year that coalition governments are in, budget cuts are in, the old party leaders are out and there's not much hope for any of our political parties. Bicycle lanes are in, and thank goodness we've got a mayor who is a man of action and stands by his principals. There's hope for us yet. Susan Anton can go sit in the corner too. She's out.

This is the year of celebrity Twitter. My in list is: Stephen Fry, who now has two million followers; Jamie Oliver, who tirelessly interacts with his fans; and comedian Ed Byrne who's wife just had a baby boy. Congrats!

Facebook is on everyone's lips, but I have still not joined because frankly my dear, I'd rather bake an apple cranberry streusel pie, like the one I just took out of the oven (Sid Goldstein's recipe).

This year I am ever more grateful for faithful friends. You rock!

A Man After Me Own Heart

Night Owl Pancakes

I've turned into a night owl this holidays season and have been cooking into the wee hours. Tonight I made Quinoa, Hazelnut, and Cornmeal Pancakes adapted from Nuts in the Kitchen by Susan Herrmann Lewis. (I borrowed the book from the library.) I omitted sugar and the steps where you separate the eggs, beat the egg whites, yadda yadda yadda. I had a taste of one with crabapple jelly and these are going to be good in the morning with maple syrup and awesome with cream cheese and smoked salmon tomorrow night for New Year's Eve.

I've got the first fifty of my annual 100 New Year's Resolutions written. How about you? First resolution: eat more nuts and whole grains. Check.

Cheesecake Parties

Yesterday I decided to bake buns, so I used a recipe with pumpkin in the dough, which I makes them nice and moist and gives the buns a golden hue.

Since I was spending a great deal of time in the kitchen I decided to cook up some of the Cherokee Trail of Tears beans from my garden. I simmered them for hours in chicken stock and then added chopped raw pumpkin and sausages at the end.

We had this with a beautiful bottle of Nichol Syrah, which is one of our favorite wines. Then we were invited for a cheesecake party for a friend's birthday. The cheesecake was New York style served with a blueberry sauce. C told us the story of her husband and a friend deciding they were going to make a cheesecake at 3 am when they lived in San Fran. They went to an all night store and bought the ingredients and whipped up a cheesecake. They decided this cake was "not up to snuff" so they went back to the corner store, bought more ingredients and made another cheesecake. "And we ate both!" D said. OMG. Anyway, his cheesecake was so light and creamy and delicious that when I got home I decided I had to make a cheesecake. I watched Midsomer Murders on YouTube and baked until 11 pm. So tonight we had friends over for 10 Year Tawny and pumpkin cheesecake garnished with whipped cream, hazelnuts and maple syrup. Per's in a huff because he's lactose intolerant, so tomorrow I will have to placate him with a non dairy sweet.

Today I spent the afternoon watching YouTube and eating popcorn with hot chocolate. That's what holidays are for!

The Tea Lady's RAF Tea

NRG Snowballs

Boxing day and the artists are already back to work. Well, fun work. Yesterday I finished up some craft projects and Mr. Zuke or Pere Zuke worked a bit in the studio which he warned me he is "taking apart" today. As in, "Honey, do you mind if I take apart the studio?"
"Oh sure, just add to the chaos, and I'll go whimper in the corner."

Good thing I thrive in chaos. I decided to make the local walnuts into energy balls to put some healthy snacks on the holiday table. I used local dried fruit, our own honey, maple syrup, chia seeds and black sesame seeds. I toasted some coconut (I warn you, it toasts very quickly) and whirred it in the food processor with the walnuts and the sweeteners and dried fruit to taste. Then I added the seeds and some brown rice crisps for crunch. In order to make them more appealing to kinder, I rolled them in melted white chocolate chips and more coconut.

I'll need energy today as I barely slept a wink from too much chocolate and tea yesterday. I'll never learn. Also, weird house noises kept me up. It sounded like a sabertooth tiger was gnawing on our roof. Or must be one of those rare sabertoothed squirrels.

Boxing Day Comfort Food

Mr. Zucchini Mama is working on some braised bison shortribs for tonight. He's also baking bread and making up a batch of his granola. I am cuddled under a patchwork blanket with a cup of Shaktea's Five O' Clock Blend, which is my current favorite. This year I'm going to be doing a lot of ingredient-based research. I've decided that my approach to cooking is based on my love of key ingredients so I want to organize and focus my seasonal meal planning to try to stay inspired. These last few days, lunches have been tuna melts with tomato miso soup and perogies with winter salad. I bought some fresh walnuts from the Farmer's Market so I am researching walnut recipes. California Walnuts has a really good website with a ton of recipes. Savory scones, maple walnut pots de creme and banana caramel walnut squares are a few that captured my fancy.

I made a ginger pumpkin custard for Christmas Eve from Canadian Living. It's made with coconut milk, so Peter can eat it. I was very happy with the recipe except it has a creme caramel sauce base which I thought was finicky and not needed. I also want to cut back on the sugar in the recipe and try it again. It was delish, and we had leftovers for breakfast, of course! I'm not a big fan of baking in a water bath, but it's all right to do it for a special occasion. My three key words for the next year are Simple, Seasonal, and Sustainable. One of my favorite gifts was my friend's dried pear slices and toasted almonds. I've been snacking on them in between cookies and chocolate and I appreciate the healthy alternative at this time of the year. Next year's plan is to really get into dehydrating food.

Cozy Christmas Fun

Good Finds

Isn't it great when you find that perfect present for someone you love? One of my favorite finds this year for our ten year old son was a collection of books from The Faber's Children's Treasury. Most of these books seem to be written some time ago, and at least one is a re-write of an older classic. I'd never heard of any of the books, but they seemed perfect for Ules. I hope he enjoys them. They were on sale too, which is a bonus. Originally valued at about $60 Canadian, I got the collection for $15.

For Pierre, I was delighted to find those hard-to-find tiny licorice candies from Italy he likes, just days after he ran out of his last candy. I was also lucky to find the Elephant Island Stella Port. In fact, a man was literally just stocking the shelf as I went to look for it at the Brewery Creek liquor store.

Et pour moi? I received a new camera!!!!!!! Woot! Details and pics to follow. I bought myself a little foot massage ball, which I covet, and a black currant chocolate bar from Zotter. Toodles!

Symbolism for a Christmas Stocking

A book for an exciting life story,

some small gadget for inventiveness,

soap for freshness and fragrant memories,

something homespun for a creative soul,

seeds for nourishment and beauty.

An orange for travels to exotic lands,

chocolate for passion and energy,

socks for warmth and shelter.

A butterfly for joy.

An acorn for a long life.

A charm for luck,

a rock for protection and grounding,

tea for friendship and conversation.

The Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Winter

Check out these lovely photos on the Guardian website of one of may favorite places in England.

Christmas at Our House

M came by and dropped of a giant box of cookies and candies. Thanks so much!!!!! She also gave me a Gocco. Woot! My Christmas already feels complete. I will put that baby to good use in the New Year.

We got this lovely card in the mail from our friends in Ontario. I love the owls and the colouring is one of my favorite Christmas combos. I love the contrast between the bright red and the baby blue.

M's impeccable packaging as per usual! We can always use tea towels, especially ones with cute penguin graphics.


That snail (from M) is chocolate gingerbread and it's all MINE!!!!!!! Moohoohawhawhaw.... My sister also gave us some Coco Nymph chocolates which arrived at the doorstep hand-delivered, thank you very much. Peter loves the one with passion fruit and since Bad Girl chocolates are having a hiatus, Coco Nymph will be one of our go-to places for filled chocolates. I also made a trip to Xoxolat for the Zotter, but don't tell anyone at our house!!!!

Merry Christmas to all of you, from our house to yours.

Making Traditions

You know how it is--some traditions are worth keeping and some just fall away. I have made our homemade family calendars a yearly way of organizing my photos and keeping up on making hard copies of the digital files worth keeping and filing into a project or an album. I often do some collage projects at this time of the year, making little books and gifts and cards. Today we made peppermint bark and pipe cleaner snowflakes and candy canes. We made our gift lists and checked them twice, putting tags on all the bags of Shaktea's finest that we bought for our friends, family, and for each other.

We finally put the tree up last night and Ules has already performed the annual ritual of shaking and feeling his presents to try and guess what's under the wrapping. Every year I vow not to use new paper wrapping and every year I succumb to at least some shiny happy crinkly paper. I am glad I finally posted my Christmas cards--some I did though snail mail and some through e-mail to keep it economical. There's something special about sending those cards off, knowing that they might create the same thrill you get when a Christmas card comes in the post. I like the ones that come with at least a bit of news or a photo.

The collection of snowmen is out, the tiny Christmas village and ornaments old and new. This year I bought some vintage chenille ornaments from the most senior lady on our block. I will think of her each Christmas and I value the memories she gave us. Some ornaments are glamorous and glittery, some homespun, and my favorite are the ones with just a touch of homely pathos. I appreciate those ornaments with a good helping of wabi sabi or the je ne sais quoi of the bittersweet melancholy that this season is tinged with. This is the time of the year when we count our blessings and think about those events and news stories which really touched us this year. I am thinking about the local family whose two daughters were involved in a (thankfully non fatal) car accident and I wish them healing and rest. This year there were two stories of women trapped in Saudi Arabia without the ability to leave abusive situations which really touched my heart. The first story, a woman whose family would not allow her to be with her lover did have a good ending, I believe, thanks in part to at least one CBC radio interview. The second story, a woman trapped with her children in an abusive relationship is still ongoing. I wish and pray for an ending to her pain and suffering.

It is with fatigue and sadness that I hear rumors that once again the short-sited conservative government is going to try to shut down the CBC. Bah humbug and a one finger salute to Stephen Harper. The CBC radio is one of our family traditions. I listen to it almost every morning as I do the dishes and prepare breakfast. It's one of my tiny windows on the world and a very important agent for tolerance and change in our country.

My Favorite Holiday Things

Isn't this a lovely table? My friend M has exquisite taste and she does such good Christmas baking. I beg her for her chocolate gingerbread recipe every year!!!! Her home is light and airy and full of her beautiful art.

She invited a group of us over for tea and treats and I parked myself in front of the goodies and chowed down.


M made her own yogurt from scratch which she served with her own apple sauce and maple syrup. I hadn't eaten breakfast because I was working on a grant again, so this was just what the doctor ordered.

These delicate cookies have ricotta in them, so they're really quite healthy, right? Ha! This was the best holiday breakfast club ever! Now that I'm over my migraines (fingers crossed), I am in a festive mood. One more shopping trip for me and then I'M DONE!!!!!

Black Holes

I've been in bed for two days with an epic migraine, neck pain, tooth aches and sinus pain. Hoping for it to clear up by tomorrow. There's a lunar eclipse tonight. Hopefully if the sky is clear we'll get a blood red moon. Luckily I had a stack of DVD's to see me through: The first season of Murder One, which I watched a bit of and then skipped to the end because it became extremely tedious, a bit of Monty Python, a dramatic series about vets in Yorkshire called "Chase" (5 out of ten), and tragic movie based on an Evelyn Waugh book called Handful of Dust which gets 8 points due to casting and costumes. Christmas tree is still not up.

Spent a lovely evening with Hungry Girl at Van Dusen Gardens listening to the Jewish Folk Choir. The garden was beginning to look a lot like Vegas. Next year there will be a hologram of Celine Dion rising from the carp pond.

Stand Up

I am going through a weird obsession with stand up comedy right now, which is right out of left field for me. Routines are running through my brain. What shall I do with this? If I had time to go on a retreat I'd write them all down and do an amateur night to get it out of my system. There's big $ in stand-up so I am having delusions of grandeur.

Lucky Blogger

This has been a lucky week for me. I entered two contests held by bloggers and basically won because I tried. My favorite kind of contest! Plus Ules won a big prize from Urban Source at our school draw. It's a basket full of crafty stuff which he had a good time cataloging everything after school today. I won delicious homemade vegan lentil soup from Somerville Kitchen which I had for lunch today with a classic grilled cheese sandwich and a piece of my latest pumpkin cake. I also won a cupcake pincushion made by Red Spotted Patch. Cool! Bring on the bling. I'd better buy some lotto tickets.

Anyways, draws are a great way of getting people to engage with your blog. Hmmm, maybe I should do that sometime after the Christmas crunch.

Feeling like I need some laughs I have been watching and listening to topical comedy from over the pond in the UK. Check out a week of Sundays on BBC radio and Mock the Week on YouTube. I heart those comics, but I do tire of some of the more sophmoric turns.

I've just discovered Ed Byrne. He is a gem.

I Heart Miso

When making grilled cheese sandwiches, people either tend to go back to the basics (yes, slices of processed cheese on buttered white bread) or else they go over the top: 6 kinds of cheddar, two blue, a sheep and a goat. I like a grilled cheese sandwich made with a good sharp cheddar and sourdough bread. Butter each slice on both sides and sprinkle one side of each with parmesan. Grill the parmesan side on the sandwich in a cast iron pan prepared with butter and oil on medium low heat. If the cheddar cheese doesn't melt all the way though, finish the sandwich off in the oven.

Today I made a grilled cheese sandwich and I had a real craving for tomato soup. So miso plus water plus organic tomato paste plus buttermilk = a tasty tangy afternoon soup perfect with grilled cheese. Proportions? I just eyeballed it. That recipe is tweetable isn't it? I don't know my tweet lingo well enough to do it. Someone published a cookbook with all the recipes as tweets. I think that is f-ing ridiculous.

The Blue Owl

At this time of year I thought a fun thing to do would be to go to shops I've never been to and support little out of the way businesses. Today I went to Blue Owl on West Broadway.

It's got a shabby chic aesthetic which I love with artisanal objects mixed with collectibles. I found a little trinket for my friend and just soaked up the inspiration. Didn't there used to be more stores like this, with a lovely sense of whimsy and eclectic beauty? Why are they such a rare breed?

Do check out the hand-painted signs and plates if you drop in.

Baking Marathon

Over the last two days I baked with my son's class for 8 hours, six of them in one day and I am exhausted but elated. We made dozens of pumpkin tarts, zucchini muffins, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies and brownies, sweet pumpkin coconut "soup" and a zucchini apple salad. The kids were fabulous.

It was wonderful to have all the teachers and kids remarking on how great everything smelled when it was cooking. All those aromatic pumpkin pie spices and of course the chocolate in the zucchini cupcakes and the pumpkin swirl brownies filled the hallways with the scents of sweetness and comfort.

Three of the boys chose a pumpkin swirl cheesecake recipe, but it would have been somewhat impractical to make it at school, so I made it at home and brought it in for the students to taste.

The pumpkin cookies may not look perfect, but they tasted good!

We videotaped everything and the kids are actually going to stage parts of the cooking show again without the pressure of actually having to make the food so they can focus more on their presentation. Having this 0n video will be a great chance for them to sit back and watch themselves performing, which is a valuable experience in media skills and being able to critique what they see on television. I plan to post a full narrative on what we did on the school website so that the students and their families will have access to the recipes and be able to share the experience at home. I love doing this. It is my passion.

Collage, Latke, and the Unborscht

Wow, what a clear, sunny and frosty Saturday we had today. Perfect for a trip to the market with my handsome dude. I bought 3 more sugar pumpkins, more dried oyster mushrooms, Merridale cider brats, hazelnuts, and bread from purebread (what a great name!). We had some of my unborscht for lunch and latkes from Solly's with crab apple jelly and sour cream. Happy Hanuka!

I am totally in nesting crafty collage mode and worked on our Christmas card today which is based on an idea I saw somewhere on the web and will track down to give you the link. I cannot stand my silhouette, but I love my handsome men in profile. Aren't they gorgeous?



So I printed the photos out and then cut them out and traced them onto card stock and cut them out again.

At that point I started to collage them. I wish the stickers inside the head were smaller. I'll have to make the heads bigger next time I think.


ETA: Here is the source of the idea.

Apple Fritters

I was inspired by the Dinner with Julie blog to try out her apple fritter recipe in honor of Hanukkah. I used coconut milk in the batter. (I think I ended up using about a cup.) I put cardamon in the batter and added cinnamon powder to the icing sugar. They were crispy and delicious. We had the soup I started yesterday with the addition of wild rice and Jean's beans, which we pressure canned last month. The flavors have melded in the beans and they are really tasty.

I felt like Hell warmed over when I woke up, but managed to haul my ass out to go skating with the kids and I really had a lovely time. We may be poor in money at this moment, but we are rich in time. Ules did a good job on his oral report on bees and proudly said he had more visual aids than anyone else! Ha! I almost sent the whole hive with him. He also finally read the absolutely excellent Clan Apis graphic novel I bought for him by Jay Osler. It tells the story of the life of a bee and it is so well done it made me cry. Highly Reccomended.

Betty Lambert Tribute at the Downtown Library

Looking forward to reading at this event! For more info see Mrs. Okana's blog.

A program for adults

Wednesday December 1 7:00 pm Free Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye Rooms, Lower Level Central Library 350 West Georgia Street

Please join Anakana Schofield for a revisiting of Canadian playwright Betty Lambert's only published novel, Crossings (1979).

Tomorrow We Borscht

Yes, I had to have Mac and Cheese and it's the end of the month and money is tight so I bought a box of Annie's for a buck fifty at EastWest. Tonight I reheated it with broccoli and squash. The squash was amazing--so buttery and intense it didn't have anything on it save a tiny bit of sunflower oil and salt. Oooh sometimes simple pleasures are the best. I made pizza for the boys with a whole wheat crust and turkey sausage bought at the winter market. I also made chicken stock from a Polderside carcass and dried vegetables I also bought at the market. It rocks!!!! Tomorrow it's gonna be borscht.

I got into the zone today making collages. Time zipped by.

Did you know the universe is shaped like a doughnut? Cake or yeast, I wonder.

Winter Cravings

Today I made a Thai soup with coconut milk, dried oyster mushrooms from the market and wild rice. It was the best thing I have ever made. Now I am eager to try my hand at more Thai dishes. I am craving clam chowder (Boston style of course), and Rhyzome's mac and cheese with mushrooms and Rooster sauce. I also made one of the worst things I've ever baked today. I was really excited about making cashew nut shortbread, but I should have cut the sugar by half. They are shriekingly sweet and so will end up in a graham crumb crust. My mood's been up and down today too. I had a fun time starting on my annual winter collages, but I'm frustrated that we don't have any color ink right now and it's so bloody expensive. I've been researching paper dolls to add that element into some of the collages. There are some cool vintage ones you can download from the web. I'm going to print some up for my niece and nephew.

I want to try to recreate the apple slaw at Crave. I think I may need a mandolin this year for Christmas.

The neighbors are having band practice again tonight. Arghh. Please stop.

Oh What a Perfect Day

I'd like to spend it with you-oo.

I had such a lovely Saturday. Brunch at Aphrodite's so that I could pick up a whole load of gourds they are donating to our ArtStarts project. Shopping for stocking stuffers at Banyen Books at their 40th birthday sale. I got a free bliss ball, chock full of chocolate and cardamom. Gorgeous! I went to the winter market and bought homemade pasta, sun-dried local fruit and veg, crab apple jelly, dried oyster mushrooms, a sugar pumpkin, a rustic scone from Rise, and a delicious buckwheat brownie covered in walnuts which fed three of us. I had a nice visit at the library and then had a hilarious time at Shaktea playing at imagining what it'd be like if the three of us ended up in an old age home together. This conversation was sparked by an Alton Brown video with a photo of mac and cheese on the cover. Apparently, in the rest home where M's mom lives there's a woman who shouts out "Mac and Cheese, please!" every night at dinner time. M says she'll be shouting "wonton soup"! I'll be shouting for my five o'clock blend and a shot of tequila. (If you want to see me completely lose my mind, serve tequila.)

Chef P made buffalo shortrib stew on spaetzle with cabmerlot. Now I'm going to watch Taggart and Spooks on DVD. Oh and did I mention I bought myself a dazzling ring for 6 bucks? La vie en rose.

Touque in Bed

I'm never sure how to spell that word. Oh well, suffice it to say I am typing in bed fully clothed in a fuzzy wool hat and scarf. Our heating is working downstairs, but up on the second floor, it is cold. Today's ingredient is pomegranate. They are popping up all over the place and I am starting to crave pom juice. I made crab apple juice today and infused it with fresh lime leaves. I feel the cocktail season coming on and must buy vodka!

Muffin Mania

Now that the cold weather has settled in I find myself cooking and baking to keep warm. After school I made some oatmeal muffins and topped them with maple icing and pecan halves. For dinner I brined a pork tenderloin, roasted it and served it with roasted cauliflower and parsnips that were steamed and then pan fried with garlic and fresh thyme. I had to dig out the thyme from under a snow cap.

I've discovered a British mystery show called Jonathon Creek which I am now addicted to. It's up on YouTube and it's kind of a grown-up version of Scooby Doo. The main character is an understated anti-hero which you just have to fall in love with. After all, he doesn't drive a car and lives in the countryside in a windmill. He's got a kind of high functioning autistic personality and his vulnerability is offset by his brilliant gift at staging magic performance spectacles. He is played by a British comedian named Alan Davies who just happens to be one day away from being my birthday twin.

Shifting Soil

On Wednesday I finally got soil for my garden bed. I'm not sure about the quality so I think it's going to need amending. It doesn't seem to have the sand content the company promised. I shifted almost all two yards myself and lived to tell the tale. In the rain. Actually, it was really empowering to do some hard labor and it was just in time because now we've started to get snow. I've got to keep up with the winter gardening and winter sports to build up some strength and drop some weight this winter. I'm going to try to go skating more this winter, starting next week.

I've been doing lots of baking lately. Ullie loves muffins, so I am testing out various muffin recipes. I like this recipe for brown butter pumpkin muffins. This morning I made it with half butter and half sunflower oil to cut back a few calories. One of my downfalls is dairy. I love it way too much and butter is just too tempting for me. I love the mouthfeel of dairy and it's just such good comfort food in the winter. We'll just have to look for the low fat versions of my beloved dairy products.

Mid November Crunch

Most of the maples leaves have fallen and now other deciduous trees are losing their leaves. It's a misty moisty day, the kind of day that really puts the chill in your bones. It's 9 degrees C now and looks like it's going to freeze later this week. I brought in my lemon verbena plant for the winter.

Yesterday I went to Granville Island to see Lois's show. Remind me never to go to the Island on a Sunday. The bus service sucks and having to transfer twice and wait half hour intervals for the bus puts me in a foul mood. In fact, everyone at the market seemed to be experiencing their own personal hell. I was going to buy a drink from a vendor, but the guy behind the counter looked so drugged up and unhealthy I pegged him as a poster child for Hep C. Ummm, I'll take a pass on food from that place. I saw another vendor looking absolutely miserable, living for his smoke breaks, sucking on a ciggie in the rain which made him look even more unhappy. Then there was the woman I saw sitting and gazing at the harbor at dusk. She just had this incredible aura of loss, I was mesmerized.

The fancy dancer at the gallery cheered me up and gave me faith in the human race again. Her costume was beautifully beaded with designs of the Alberta rose. The dancer's fringe fluttered, her beading glittered and she looked absolutely beautiful performing her butterfly dancing. The smoky smell of the tanned leather filled me with nostalgia for the prairies. Thank goodness for the dancers among us.

Sweet Time

Isn't it wonderful to have an extra half hour to sleep in? What a gift. I have had a lost weekend, a migraine weekend, but I did manage to bake zucchini muffins, go to the winter market at Nat Bailey and read three books. (Thank god for drugs.) I got to putter around in the garden, harvesting the last of the amaranth and pulling up the stalks so my winter crops get more sunlight. My rare nematodal marigolds are finally blooming and they have an incredibly pungeant smell, even in the cold. So far we've had an amazing November and even now there is a patch of clear sky out there. The bees are closed in for the winter with their own honey and pollen but no queen. They do still seem to be keeping themselves warm by forming a ball. I noticed this a while ago when I took the feeding box off.

Time to go and make breakfast and lunch. Enjoy that extra few minutes this morning.

Yes Virginia, There is PMS

And it sucks. The thing is you forget what it's like so you fail to realize that one of the reasons you are falling into an emotional sinkhole is because your hormones are pulling you down deep into the abyss. You know you've got it when you will sell your granny to buy chocolate. You know you've got it when even Gordon Campbell's resignation fails to cheer you up and anyway you know he's going to hang on by his toenails to any tiny bit of power he can until the burnt and bitter end. You know you've got it because if someone looks at you funny you think they hate you and everything you've worked for is ashes and dust. Your back aches and you're starving. Welcome to my world.

Halloween Pix

Oooh mate, you're bloody scary. I was too busy on Halloween night to take many photos. Below you can see the chocolate zucchini graveyard cake. I made a white chocolate ganache thickened with icing sugar for the icing. It wasn't good for piping, but oh well, you get the idea. The cake (from the Rebar cookbook) is really chocolatey with one cup of cocoa and a cup of chocolate chips.

The Day After Halloween

I kind of feel like our little friend Elmo here. Stuck in spider slime. Halloween has left me exhausted and hung over. I like walking through the neighborhood the day after and seeing all the creative jack o'lanterns.

Of course I'd left everything to the last minute and we were still carving our pumpkin when our dinner guests arrived. J brought her fabulous mac and cheese and I made salad and baked salmon. I made the chocolate zucchini cake from the Rebar cookbook and we decorated it like a graveyard with shortbread tombstones.

I dressed as the Chef from Hell and handed out pop rocks to the neighborhood kids including the entire band of Kiss. The heavy rain held off and Ules aka The Headless Horseman came back with his bag full of candy. He magnaminously gave me his bag of mini cheese nachos (which he hates) and I pronounced them inedible.

Today I medicated myself with home made ginger beer and added some tuna to some of the leftover mac and cheese to try to cure my headache and bring my body back into the land of the living. I feel a bit like the headless horseman myself right now.