Messy afternoon

I've wanted to do this for a while, except that once I got the supplies...  the weather turned yucky.  So, speeding headlong into fall, I figured I should seize the sunny day.  Girl was going to paint.

I bought a canvas, some paints that co-ordinate in her room (c'mon, it had to be fun for me too), and we hit the front lawn.  I have discovered I have a child who doesn't really like to get messy.  She did get into there a bit, but she was pretty tame.

And after fun painting time...  Girl's actual favourite activity.  Bath time.

Here is the final product...  (In case you were wondering, I added the flower.  It was a collaborative effort)

Now, a bit of varnish and this baby is going on the wall!

Stuff you should keep in your freezer.

Obviously ice and pizza pops... but this entry is about the things you wouldn't necessarily think to keep in your freezer. 

1.  Yeast
The expiry date on yeast will give you a good indication of how long it will last on the shelf.  If you keep it in the fridge, you'll get another year or so out of it...  and I have never had yeast die on me if I kept it in the freezer.

2.  Breadcrumbs
Like I mentioned in my earlier post, I had breadcrumbs in my freezer for years and they were fine.  In the cupboard you need to watch that they don't go rancid, or get mouldy if it's humid out.

3.  Parsley
Most herbs can be stored in the freezer using an ice-cube method (grind up herbs, stick them in an ice cube tray, pour water over and freeze) but I've found that parsley is really great if you just take the leaves off the stems and freeze them in a freezer bag.  Then, if you ever need a handful for a recipe, you can grab some from the bag, and toss them in.  I do it mainly for spaghetti sauce, but it comes in really handy for soups too.

4.  Ginger
I never use the whole hunk of ginger when I buy it...  so I keep it in the freezer.  The bonus is that when you need some, you can grate it while frozen.  It actually grates much better that way.

5.  Nuts
This is a big one.  I often buy nuts for baking, or even for eating, and they don't last terribly long in the cupboard before the oils in one or two here and there start to go rancid.  I know it's never pleasant to get the rancid one. (Rancid is a really fun word...  rancid... rancid).    Keep them in the freezer and you won't have that problem.

6.  Spices
There is some controversy on this one, but I do it.  Granted, there are a lot of people who think their countertop spice rack is the right place to keep spices (NO NO NO!).  Heat and light take the flavour from dried herbs and spices, and even in a cool, dark place, they're only really good for 6 months.  Obviously I keep mine longer than that in the cupboard, but the ones I know I won't use often at all, (like turmeric), I keep in the freezer.  Be reminded that letting them freeze and thaw repeatedly isn't good either, so if you need it for a dish, keep it in the freezer until you're ready for it, and then stick it right back in.

7.  Flour
Until I started making all my own bread, I didn't use my "other" flours all that often (whole wheat, rye, multigrain etc), so I kept them in the freezer (This is best in a deep-freeze).  Flour does go rancid after a while, especially ones of the whole wheat variety.   If you live in a humid place, even more so.  They don't freeze solid, so you can go in there whenever you need a cupful.

8. Grated Parmesan
I had to come back to add this one after I saw it in the freezer.  I love parmesan on my pasta and I kept buying those containers for the grated stuff, only to have them go mouldy on me in the fridge.  If you keep it in the freezer, you can grab a spoonful whenever you need it.

What do you keep in the freezer?

Breadcrumbs

I needed breadcrumbs.  I can honestly say I have never purchased breadcrumbs, but I think I can attest that more to my Oma than to any work on my part.  I'm pretty sure that Oma, the day before she died, spent the entire day making breadcrumbs.  There is no other explanation.  Since I was given the task of cleaning out her apartment solo (long story), and needed a freezer, I took her small apartment-sized freezer home, contents and everything.  I quickly gave away the pig feet and ducks *shudder* and among the rest of the normal food, was an insane amount of breadcrumbs.  She died 5 years ago, and I just finished them a few weeks ago.   Mental note, always keep breadcrumbs in the freezer.  They'll last really, really long.

So, for the first time in 5 years, I had no breadcrumbs.  I was anticipating this, so whenever I'd get down to the crust of some of my homemade bread (the part I don't like eating anyway)  I set it aside and let it dry out.  (You can also do this in a low oven more quickly if you need them pronto).  It doesn't matter what kind of bread you have.  It's a great way to get rid of the stale stuff.
 

This is where the recipe gets complicated.  Stick it into a food processor (a blender would likely work too, just make sure you have small pieces) and pulverize the snot out of it.

Breadcrumbs! Now I can make hamburgers!

Millions of peaches... peaches for me.

I was at the grocery store today, and it was their regular 10% Family Day, where everyone gets 10% off everything (as opposed to Senior's Day).  I also had in my grubby little hands, a coupon saying that if I spent $125, I'd get 500 bonus points in their loyalty program.  I'm a sucker for bonus points.  I didn't need that much (in fact, I have been noticing that my grocery bills have been somewhat lower these days) so I figured I'd find something that was on sale and stock up.

What I found...  was a 20lb box of BC peaches.  Hmmm.  Husband likes canned peaches on his oatmeal for breakfast, and it never ceases to irritate me that once you open the can, you have to look for a container to put the rest of them into.  Having them in a jar means that you can leave open ones in the fridge, and use as much a you need.  I've never made canned peaches...  but I knew it wasn't hard.  I even had jars at home from my fantasies of making canned tomatoes (not gonna happen). 

So, after careful consideration, my sense of adventure won out and I found not only 500 bonus points (725 gets me $5 worth of groceries for free), but my project for Girl's naptime. 

The first thing you need to do is peel the peaches (apparently you don't NEED to, but I figured I'd try it the traditional way before doing something different.)  The easiest way to peel all soft, thin skinned fruits is to have a pot of boiling water and a bowl of icy water.  You pop the peaches into the boiling water for about 20 seconds and then into the cold water.  This will cause the skins to separate from the flsh, and they're easy to scrape off.

Once you have them all peeled, chop them into whatever sized pieces you want.  This proved to be annoying for me.  I think the problem was that the peaches were a little too ripe, and soft.  It worked out ok, but I would have liked cleaner cuts (more like the ones you get in the can).  Mine were all a bit fuzzy.  Since I knew these were mainly going on oatmeal, I went with bite-sized chunks.  I can never find them that way in the store, so Husband is forever cutting slices or halves.

I added some lemon juice at this point to keep them from oxidizing. (For this many I used 1 1/2 big lemons) Next, make a syrup.  You can pack them in juice, but I don't have a ready supply of peach juice, so I went for a light syrup. 

2 1/2 cups sugar

8 cups water

Simmer until all the sugar has melted and then I popped as many peaches in as would fit in the pot. I had heard that using the hot-pack method (where you heat the peaches) was the best, but if I hadn't done that, I could have just stuck the fresh peaches into the jars, and poured the syrup over. (Either one will work). Once they were warmed through, I used a slotted spoon and filled the jars with peach chunks, and then poured syrup over to fill the jar to 1/4 inch below the rim.

Clean off the rims of any dripped peach juice, and seal with lids and rings. 

Then it's into the canner (boiling water bath) for about 15-20 minutes.  You can use a normal pot of water, as long as the water covers the jars completely, but if you plan on doing any canning, a canner is a good investment.  They tend to be pretty cheap, and come with a rack to lift the jars in and out of the water.   I should point out though, that most cheap canners don't have a flat bottom, so they can't be used on flat, ceramic or induction ranges. (So, I'm glad I still have the old-style coil range).  You can buy canners that have flat bottoms, but they will cost more.  They will also be a lot prettier. 

Out of the 20lb box, I got 14-500mL jars of peach chunks.  So, since I already had jars, it worked out to about $1.75/jar.  I'm pretty sure a small can (380mL) costs more than that at the grocery store. They aren't going to win me any blue ribbons at any county fairs, but they'll do.

I sacrificed myself again.

Chocolate taste tests...  such hard work I do. My mom told me once that every job worth doing, is worth doing right, so I put my nose to the grindstone and buckled down.

I had three different chocolates.  Now, let's get this straight right from the get-go.  I'm no chocolate connoisseur.  I'm almost as happy with semi sweet chocolate chips and Three Musketeers.  I do however, know what I like, and for corroboration, I begged my chocolate-loving SIL for help (luckily we had similar opinions, one wouldn't want to start a family feud).  All these chocolates contain only whole ingredients, and I did notice they are all fair trade.

Terra Nostra Double Dark Truffle:  I had high hopes for this one, as it was recommended to me, but maybe I picked the wrong bar.  They had 9 different varieties, and since I'm not that interested in rice milk, or goji berries in my chocolate, I went for the most simple.  Their website describes it as having "a sophisticated smoothness and subtle vanilla/floral entry flavors, distinct and consistent cocoa notes throughout and a beautiful finish with lingering cocoa flavors."  Not really my experience.  I thought initially that it was just too dark a bar for me, but at 60% cocoa, it should have been great.  I found it to be harsh, and had an acidic, pine tree kind of aftertaste.  Maybe that's what you want?  Not me.  It didn't melt in my mouth as nicely either. 

Next up was Cocoa Camino Caramel Crunch.  Overall, an enjoyable bar.  It's not really a "put it in your mouth and let it melt" kind of bar, because of all the toffee pieces.  For that reason alone it's difficult to savor as one should with good chocolate.  Somehow, chewing and swallowing $5 chocolate bars seemed like a bit of sacrilege, but it still tasted good.  It was creamy, the chocolate was nice and the toffee bits added a nice crunch and sweetness.

Lastly (if you've figured out now, I usually do my favourites last.):  Alter Eco Fair Trade Dark Chocolate Velvet.  I think it might be the hint of milk that made this one better.  It was so creamy, and delicious.  Exactly what you want as a savouring chocolate. It melted into nice chocolately puddles of heaven.  I am torn now as to whether to save it until I've made it through the rest of the chocolate, or eat it all today.  My style tends to be (when eating just about anything) to save the best for last, so I guess that's what I'll do.  Though, remind me to hide them before Husband is hankering for a late night snack.

My garden patch.

Garden fresh veggies.  yum!  This year, I started my own tomatoes from seed and planted a garden.  I mainly just grew tomatoes (no, that's a lie, I also tried to grow peas, but the pathetic vine that grew doesn't have any peas on it).  What better place to inspire people to grow their own veggies than a blog about real food...  so here is a picture of my wonderful garden:

I bet you've never seen a tomato plant with no leaves before.  (That's what that sickly stick in the middle is... and the others aren't far behind).  It's horrible.  If it wasn't still producing tomatoes, I'd probably mow the whole thing down and pretend it never happened.  But for now, I'll let it live.  Maybe it's because I haven't watered it.  We had a lot of rain, so I didn't figure it needed water, but man, this garden needed something.  I can't get over how badly I garden.  I've been pretty cursed with gardens since moving to this house.  Maybe the previous owners were serial killers and the bones of their dead have in turn, killed the soil.  That's probably it.  Or maybe, I should stay as far away from a garden as possible.  Those poor plants, when the seeds popped up, they had no idea what they were in for.

Food

I wish I understood food ingredients better.  I've been trying to read "In Defense of Food" lately, but Michael Pollan seems to be one of those people who think "Why say things in 10 words, when you can use 45?"   Those kind of writers annoy me.  I like a bit of flourish, but sheesh, let's get to the point.   It was his philosophy of "Eat food, Not too much, Mostly plants"  that started me on this journey.  He talks a lot about how the "foods" we find in the grocery store are more science experiment than food, and that there is no reason we need cake that can be left on the counter for 5 years with no ill-effects.  Hey, I love my junk food too, but I can kind of see his point.  The cake I make is better, and if I have to make it every time I want it, I definitely enjoy it more.  There is no mindless eating over here.  

(Before anyone starts to wonder why I started this journey three weeks ago and am only just now reading the book...  I saw him on Oprah.  He makes a lot more sense when he's crammed into a segment and not trying to bulk up a book.)

One point Pollan made is that in the "Western Diet" we keep having these fads. There was the "everyone-eat-bran fad" and the "don't-eat-animal-fat fad", the "low-fat fad", the "low-carb fad", the "high-fibre fad" and even now... the "omega three fad"  (do we need to inject everything with omega three?).  Where has it gotten us?  We're getting fatter.  Other cultures are still eating very much their traditional diets, and they don't have the same problems.  Hence, real food.  Pollin said that if what you are eating is making a health claim on it's brightly coloured package, it's likely not that healthy.  The low-fat fad made us all fatter!

So, here we are.  Looking at food through different eyes. 

It's interesting now to go to grocery stores and read ingredents, even when I was at the organic market yesterday, I was amazed at how much of that food I couldn't buy either.  (Like I said, this is NOT an organic diet).  That food is twice the price and full of the same unrecognizable ingredients.  I suppose it's created in an organic labratory... unless xanthan gum grows on trees.  No thanks.  I'll buy some organic things if they're the only available option (like chocolate, or canned tomatoes), but I have no desire to shop organic any time soon.  I wonder if the "organic food" fad will strengthen at some point.  I figure, the people who truly eat organically will be the ones who identify the most with what we're doing...  but, if you're eating organic oreos...  you're not doing anyone any favours.  

I love food.  I always have.  I don't love it any less having to make it myself.  In fact, I think I love it more.  Knowing that I made it, gives us a special bond.  Knowing how hard it was to make, forces me to cherish it more.  It's like kids.  Other people's kids just aren't as great as your own (who KNOWS what they put in those kids!).