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.