Roses for Remembrance

I just have to remark on the fabulous fragrance of roses that permeates our neighborhood right now. It's kind of uncanny. Many of the cottage garden flowers are blooming right now: roses, delphinum, lavender, snap dragons, foxgloves, etc. I sure miss Daphne's garden. It is so hard when something truly lovely is destroyed. Well, I must take comfort in the plants that made it into other neighbor's gardens. But a moment of silence for her heritage roses.

 Who is that tall, skinny kid that keeps running downstairs to grab food and then disappears into his lair to consume it at an alarming rate? We're going to have to take another mortgage out on the house to feed him when he turns into a teenager.

I am off to bee the Queen Bee at a Canada Day event in Coquitlam tomorrow. I hope I get good transit karma. It's a loooong trip, especially on a Sunday.

This makes me so happy I could cry. Shaktea, Mobius and The Acorn, my trifecta of joy.

More Crumble!

It is so good to finally be cooking things from the garden! Tonight I whipped up some turkey meat balls with garlic and Vietnamese coriander growing in a pot in the back yard. I made quinoa for moi-meme and rice for the boys. (Luckily we had a surprise guest who helped me eat the quinoa.) Then I braised some peas, kale and mustard greens with garlic. We also had a bowl of avocado with a squeeze of lime. Condiments on the table: soya sauce and Korean sweet and spicy sauce. I also made a crumble with oats, hemp, flax, and coconut oil with our strawberries and Catherine's rhubarb. I got the sweetness bang on with a bit of brown  sugar and some Sweet Cicely leaves. Now it really feels like summer.

I am going to go on a crumble bender and make some nice custard to go on top.

Kung Pao Tofu

I was craving Kung Poa Tofu and luckily we had all the ingredients in the house: approx. a tablespoon each of white wine, chili sauce, crushed garlic, soya sauce, plus scant 1 tbs corn starch dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water, 3 tbs green onion, 1/4 cup peanuts, one tsp each sesame oil, rice vinegar, and brown sugar. Sauté, add 1 package tofu (cubed) and simmer until sauce is thickened. I also added in chopped spinach at the end.

I have found my favorite chai recipe. I now make it with crushed cardamom seeds, fennel seeds, black tea, almond milk and rose water. After straining the tea, add 1 tsp tsampa (roasted ground barley).

Today I gave the garden club at my son's school a tea party and tried to teach them etiquette. They were in a very silly mood and full of beans, but it occurred to me that we really do need to teach children etiquette so they develop a sense of the rituals of respect. Some of them act like little beasts. And these kids are ten years old. (Do I sound like an old biddy?) We had chocolate cookies, lemon verbena cookies and Paris toasts with cream cheese and edible flowers.

Dreaming of Italy

I have been indisposed with back pains and so I stayed inside yesterday and read two mystery novels based in Italy in the summer. It's fantastic to read about oppressive heat when you are huddling under a pile of wool blankets in June. I nestled down with Aurelio Zen in Michael Dibdin's Medusa and Commissario Guido Brunetti in Donna Leon's Question of Belief. Both were highly satisfying novels full of good coffee, pastries, and fantastic little restaurants in out of the way places. Good summer reading, especially since it doesn't feel like summer.

I also struggled though Martha Grimes'  Rainbow's End, aka The Novel that Drove a Woman Crazy. So many loose ends, annoying extraneous characters, and a very tenuous plot. By the end I wanted to toss the book out the window.

My new favorite salad: papaya on greens with fresh snow peas, pumpkin seeds and Little Creek Dressing.

My new smoothie: papaya, ginger, lime, coconut water and kale.

We had a fun time at Car Free Days on Sunday. Tacos every two blocks! Fantastic made-to-order funnel cakes at Mobius. Mergues on a bun at the French Table.

There's a new restaurant opening on the corner of Main and 24. I am so glad they are painting over the green trim with brick red paint. Yay! Rumor is it will be vegetarian. I hope it's good, but my gut feeling it's just going to be a clone of another existing vegetarian restaurant aiming to cash in on this part of Main Street.

Cheesecake report: The last time I looked Mobius had Blueberry, Strawberry White Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cheesecakes.

Junuary

It is the middle of June and I am in my long underwear. What gives? The sunny days that punctuate this cold spell are savored with frenzied enthusiasm. But we have another forecast of a rainy and cold weekend. It's crazy making.

This week was a culmination of much gardening activity for the school which saw the building of many funky trellises, weeding and transplanting. It was also the wrap up week for our choir, singing our final concert at a senior's home. I will miss the gals who sing around me and are great to giggle with. Now I have to get back to the uke!

My aunt who is 87 years old flew from Saskatoon to Vancouver to go to an Amnesty International conference. She was in very good form. She has become even more enthusiastic as she ages, and cares deeply about social issues. I made her a lentil curry on brown basmati, knowing she has been having teeth/denture troubles. She scarfed a huge plate and was very appreciative.

We are expanding our curry repertoire and Peter is downstairs making chapatis right now. The aroma is awesome.

I was at Whole Foods yesterday and there was this group of three people at one of the tables. They made themselves right at home to the point that one of them was sitting on the big communal table. I was incensed at how rude and stupid this was and really had to exercise a great deal of control to make a snarky comment. Arghhhh. I think I've been around too many people with big egos lately and I need a retreat.

It was also the week of amorous insects. I asked the students to meditate and observe bees and they saw copulating flies and ladybugs all over the school yard, making hay while the sun was shining.

Rumor has it that a vegetarian place is going in where Cipriano's used to be. Fingers crossed it will be good. The Nutella cheesecake at Mobius is awesome. Butter Bakery is now selling fudge. Shaktea is going to update their menu with more snacking plates. The garlic soup at Trafalgar's is to die for. Chai restaurant is now open on main after six pm. There is an amazing upmarket bakery in the DTES called Cadeaux. We've sampled some of Lucky's doughnuts and my favorite so far is the coconut bismark, but I think if they put the meringue from that doughnut on top of a lemon bismark that would be a most amazing thing. I'm also loving Organic Lives lemon coconut macaroons. (No, that is not a spelling mistake.)

Spring Cupcakes

Well yesterday was our choir's big spring concert, which was a lot of fun. I made cupcakes to take to the reception. We had some overripe bananas hanging around, so I made banana chocolate cupcakes. I experimented with coconut butter for the icing, and used 1/2 butter, 1/2 cocoa butter, cocoa and a bit of icing sugar to make the texture fluffy. I also ground chai spices and added them, then put the icing in the fridge overnight. I made tiny flags with some text from the songs and things like "I love you" in several languages, including Esperanto. Then just before we left for set up I placed fresh viola blossoms on top.

I also dug into my several tickle trunks to bring out hats for the ladies to wear for our red hat song. I was very pleased to be able to take my burlesque lobster head dress out for a spin. Fun times!

Oh, and I didn't have toothpicks so I went to borrow some from Catherine and ended up making them out of black bamboo trimmings. Eat your heart out Martha!

For Ma Sis

Because she is the coolest!

Diamond Jubilee Coronation Salad

I am not a monarchist. I think too much time and money is wasted on the royals,  but I do have a soft spot for coronation salad, so today I mixed a tbsp each of sour cream and yogurt with two teaspoons of mayo, some Dandy Pack Madras curry powder, salt and turmeric and added raw peas, spinach, green grapes, mango, fresh curry plant leaves, cucumber and radishes and garnished it with cashews, lox and avocado slices. This is one of my favorite lunches.

Oh Transit of Venus, will you bring the sunlight back into our lives?

Weekend Salad

A great Swedish-inspired salad for the weekend is smoked salmon, capers, fresh dill,  cubed cukes and radishes and fresh peas. I put in a couple teaspoons low fat sour cream. I also made a  burdock dish--not a salad but good for a main dish: mushrooms, grated burdock (rinsed), asparagus pieces sauteed in olive oil, finished with sesame oil, salt, and sesame seeds. It's a very calming dish.

Put in some quality gardening time yesterday. The weather today is not co-operating but I think I might go out and putter around anyway.

Mango Salad

Wednesday's salad was just strawberries and orange segments. Thursday's salad was mango with cardamom and mustard seeds sprinkled with lime juice and finely flaked coconut.

The rain has been great for the garden, but we are ready for a sunny weekend. The late lilacs are in bloom, the early oriental poppies are finishing and the irises are blooming in the rain. I am amazed at how many varieties of irises there are in Vancouver in shades of purple and mauve. The mock oranges are also filling the moist air with their heady jasmine scent.