Dealing with Gastronomic Gaffs

Like most people, I can give myself a hard time when I don’t live up to my own high standards.  But I’m not a perfectionist. I aim for excellence instead; excellence, I think, can encompass high standards for professionalism, quality, dedication and sincerity, without finding oneself completely derailed by the idea of perfection. Perfectionism makes us lose focus, abandon deadlines, and fail to accomplish the main point or goal of any given task. Excellence, on the other hand, provides a guide to a high quality or caliber of work, but allows the person to know when to say  ”it’s good enough” and move on.

In the kitchen, I let myself fail. In this blog, I post my kitchen successes.  But there are many other kitchen failures.  A few nights ago I made Aloo Ghobi. It smelled delicious, and I thought it was going to taste really good. But it was bland. I don’t know why, because I’d used more spice than what the recipe called for, and my spices are more powerful than most, because they are fresh and whole ground. Perhaps the cauliflower I used wasn’t flavourful enough because it wasn’t fresh enough - it had been sitting in my fridge for a while. Regardless, I thought I might be able to turn the leftovers into a curried cauliflower and potato soup.  I used some leftover corn water as stock.  I’m not sure where my fist mistake was made - either the vegetables cooked way too long and released too much starch - or the corn water was too starchy and I should have just used plain water - but the end result was disgusting. I pureed it and it came out way too thick and unsalvageable. It was a disappointment, because the aroma from all the spices was incredible.

If anyone has a clearer idea about where I went wrong, please let me know, because I’d like to learn from my mistakes. But I don’t obsess about my kitchen errors, no matter how I many ingredients I waste. It’s sad, yes, but I look at my kitchen experimentations as an investment. I haven’t taken cooking lessons, so the only way I’m going to learn is by trial-by-error and making mistakes.

I think a lot of people are afraid to learn how to cook, or simply just write the entire idea off by saying, “I can’t cook.” The reality is, if we give ourselves permission to fail, we can learn to do just about anything.

Good culinary skills are something that will last you your entire life and, from a financial perspective, it’s something that will save you a lot of money in the long run.  Sure, if you have to throw out a failed meal, you might think, “it would have been cheaper to go out to eat.” For that instance, maybe. But you wouldn’t have learned a valuable lesson from your Big Mac, and stopping at McDonald’s won’t make you a better chef.

So, when I tasted that soup and realized it had the texture of glue, I shrugged my shoulders and moved on. Like I said, cooking is an investment and mistakes are just part of the game.

What’s been your biggest kitchen mishap and how did you deal?

Summer vegetable soup

So, the weather lately has been hot, hot, hot and at times like these, you definitely don’t feel like eating hot soup. Nevertheless, a flavourful summer vegetable soup is a satisfying meal on an evening when it’s raining or when it’s just a little cooler.  A soup like this is easy to make in advance, and keep in the fridge or freezer for a rainy evening.

My soup, pictured above, is one of the tastiest vegetable soups I’ve ever made, and I credit a delicious homemade vegetable broth and plenty of fresh, summer vegetables.  The vegetables are all Ontario produce (except for the celery). They include fresh cremini mushrooms, zucchini, onion, peas, carrots, potatoes, celery, fresh herbs from my patio garden (sage and parsley) and garlic.  The broth was made from vegetable scraps, such as the leaves from the celery bunch, carrot tops and carrot peelings, pea pods and various herbs.  The broth was a dark green colour and at first I was worried it would be too strong, but it wasn’t; it was perfect.  Combined with a can of whole tomatoes (I crush the tomatoes using just my hands) this broth was delicious.  You could easily add some parmesan to the top, but I didn’t think the soup needed it; it was good just on its own.

What kind of summer soups do you enjoy?

Update: potluck picnic in the park

Just wanted to say a special thank you to Gail Vaz-Oxlade and blog reader friends who attended the potluck picnic in the park last Sunday! It was a beautiful day, and just as the rain disappeared last year in time for our gathering, this year the rain held off until everyone was ready to leave. I really appreciate that people drove from out of town in order to meet and catch up.

Thank you, Gail, for your sound, practical advice, your warm and open heart, your generous spirit and you infectious laughter! We love it!

From fast food to fresh food: livening up the palate with summer herbs

Prior to, during and after my move, I resorted to eating out at fast food restaurants… a lot.  So you can bet that I am well and truly stoked to finally have my kitchen in order, because I am more than ready to start eating fresh and healthy food again.  Last weekend I christened my kitchen by whipping up a few items where my little patio herb garden could play a starring role.

Exhibit A: Chickpea salad, with feta cheese, yellow peppers, cucumber, thinly sliced zucchini, green onions, peas, and an assortment of herbs (basil, mint, chives and parsley). Every one of these veggies was grown locally. Grated garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper make the dressing.

Exhibit B: Orzo and vegetable salad with homemade pesto, celery, carrots, cucumber and peas.

I love the orzo in this salad!  All vegetables in the salad are local, including the basil and spinach that were used in the pesto, except for the celery.  This was delicious with peas, carrots, cucumbers and celery, but I would add some tomatoes and onions next time.

If you’re wondering about the pesto, it was incredibly easy to make.  I used Martha Stewart’s recipe but I didn’t want to strip my basil plant naked, so I used about half basil and half spinach and it still worked out well; I found that it had a strong nutty flavour, however, and would increase the basil and scale back a bit on the pine nuts next time.

This is a fantastic way to use up basil.  The pesto can be used on traditional foods like pasta and pizza, of course, but I really enjoyed it in the salad above, and I also used it as a flavourful sandwich spread.

Exhibit C: Cucumber and mint dip

Similar to, but not technically tzatziki, I made this dip with cucumber, mint, sour cream and yogurt (not bothering to strain it) and grated garlic. Tasty with pita, in pita sandwiches or served with kebabs.

Exhibit D: (Not shown) Mint iced tea

I took the leaves off several branches of my mint plant, crowded the leaves into tea balls and steeped them in hot water in my tea pot.  Made two pots of this hot mint tea and then emptied the contents into a large jug.  Added some honey, let it cool, and refrigerated until cold.  Very refreshing and delicious - and healthful!

Bright, beautiful, flavourful! It feels so good to start cooking again, using local produce and herbs!

My simple life: an update on the move

What I gave up: a view of green. But I'm finding other ways to appreciate nature around me.

“There’s something good everywhere you go.” That’s what my grandfather told me when I expressed anxiety about leaving my hometown to go to university. That has always stuck with me. It’s very true, because no matter where we  live, there is always something good to be found. Sometimes in unexpected ways and in unexpected places.

My move went well, and now I’m finally getting settled in to my new place.  I was very scared to move, partly because I was giving up so much - to name a few, I was downsizing from a large two bedroom to a small one bedroom, switching from underground to outdoor parking, and moving further away from, well, just about everything - downtown, work, yoga.  And I was trading in my beautiful balcony for a much smaller, less scenic view.  There were also sentimental reasons that made it difficult to leave.  It was where I had lived with my former partner, and walking away meant officially closing the door to my past.But I was also sad to give up the apartment because it was the place where I had become re-acquainted with myself. I was crushed after the break-up, and I put myself back together in that apartment. For a year I lived alone. I found work, found new friends, found a new sport, and found myself again. I rediscovered my independence, and found peace in simplicity and in solitude.

And so, I was afraid to give up this space where so much had happened. But I felt inspired by my readers’ comments, especially the one that said, “You will create peace in your new apartment. You are peace.” It reminded me of a quote by Robert Fulghum:

Peace is not something you wish for;

it’s something you make,

something you do,

something you are,

something you give away.

I wish to give away peace, to inspire, respect and honour other people, including myself. And moving to this new place helps me to accomplish this. I’ve found a place that is affordable but is also comfortable, which makes it sustainable, and that allows me to do the work I love to do.

My new place is simple, modern, clean, and it is me.  It has big windows and a big bathtub. And it is filled only with what I truly love. I got rid of everything I didn’t need or that didn’t make me feel good.  I donated my television sets so I am officially TV free. I donated most of the cheap, mass produced Ikea furniture that my ex left behind.  I donated a lot of things that had negative associations from my past, or even things that just pulled on my heart strings too much. I kept only what I really value, what I love, and what brings me joy or adds something to my life.

Walking into my new apartment, it feels cozy and it feels like me.  To some, it might look like failure. I don’t have a lot of expensive stuff to show off. But to many, I think, this lifestyle would be enviable. Not bogged down with extra “stuff”. Not a slave to my posessions or to my self image. Clear on what I love, and what is important to me.  I have my antiques and vintage finds, my own art, my plants and herbs, some high quality furniture, and my most important asset, Butternut. (Home, afterall, is where the cat is.)

Sometimes I compare myself to other people and I wonder if I’ve failed myself, if I haven’t raised expectations of myself high enough. But I guess my inner desire is just too strong to be ignored, the desire to live simply, to live modestly, to live meaningfully and mindfully.  I guess I don’t even need to question it; this life feels right to me. It gives me peace.

Great summer pizza ideas

When I wrote my post, “On the Bruce,” what I didn’t say is that when I came home from my second Bruce trail trek, I came home famished, and was able to satisfy a great craving for pizza in less than 15 minutes. I’ve written before about how to make pizza in batches and freeze it (I actually wrote about batch cooking in general, but it generated a lengthy discussion in the comments section on pizza, specifically.) Pizza is not hard to make, but there are lots of tips to make it even easier. In addition to cooking in batches and freezing the pizzas, you can also save time by prepping the ingredients at once. If you have a busy week coming up, prep a bunch of veggies and cheese in advance, and then assemble when you’re ready to eat. If you make spaghetti sauce, preserve some for your pizza - or make a roasted garlic puree. ( I’ve mentioned before that I love roasted garlic puree as an alternative to pizza sauce.) It will last in the fridge for days.  You can also make up a full pizza, cover, and refrigerate for a day or so.  The pizza doesn’t need to be baked immediately. This can be a handy trick, especially if you’re cooking for company or planning ahead for days when you have almost no time to cook. The day I wrote, “On the Bruce,” I came home to do just that - bake a pizza that I had sitting in the fridge.  It turned out to be one of my finest creations yet:

Portabello mushrooms, zucchini, rosemary, roasted garlic puree, and a blend of real parmesan and mozzarella (heavy on the parm).  Gorgerous.

Simple pizzas can taste really good, too. I recently made a pizza with my own spaghetti sauce, mozerella and lots of fresh basil.  Perfect opportunity to use the basil from my herb garden.

I noticed that my sister recently tweeted about some pizza toppings she likes, and thought I’d share them with you too, because they sound damn good:

1. Carmelized Vidalia onions, heirloom tomatoes, artisan proscuitto, fresh mozzarella, baby arugula, fresh basil & homemade sauce
2. Sauteed green garlic, wild mushrooms & sausage w fresh mozzarella and homemade tomato sauce.
3. Benedictine blue cheese, carmelized Vidalia onions, proscuitto & homemade fig jam.

Sounds great! What I love about pizzas is that you can be totally creative, often using what is sitting around in your fridge and pantry.  I love that a delicious pizza can be made out of very little, and that cheap ingredients - herbs, onions, garlic - can go so far in adding amazing flavour.

What is your favourite homemade pizza idea?

Moving on

I took the above photo at a yoga & meditation retreat I attended recently. Actually, it was the same retreat I attended last year. Long-term readers will remember what was going on in my life right around that time. There’s been many changes in my life over the last year. This was an opportunity for me to not only feel more mindful and present, but to engage in a little self-reflection.

The gardens had wild rose bushes as you can see above. Wild roses are my favourite. I first discovered them on a hike in Newfoundland:

Wild Rose in Tickle Cove, Newfoundland

At the retreat, our instructor had written out little affirmations that we could pick from an envelope; they were statements that we could reflect on during our practice.  I picked one that said, “now is the perfect time to let go.”

This weekend, I am letting go.  I’m packing. In a couple of weeks, I will literally be moving on. I’m not changing cities, but I am changing apartments. My current apartment is beautiful, but housing costs take up 65% of my income (every time I think about that I hear a line from TTDUP ring in my head: “No one can afford to spend 65% of their income on housing!” My new apartment lacks the luxuries of my current place, but will give me a little more financial breathing room. It will also be a change - a good change - as it’s an opportunity to say goodbye to some of the ghosts of my past. It will be a new space, and all my own.

Packing is not easy. You discover things you had long forgotten about - old photos, to-do lists, letters, trinkets, and they are all loaded with memories. In studying an object that you see every day, contemplating what to do with it, you realize that something you long considered benign is actually heavy with meaning. Packing is like lifting up a log in the forrest - you see all little insects crawling around underneath it that have long gone unnoticed.

As I write this, I sit comfortably on my loveseat, which faces the balcony.  It is close enough to see the water droplets hanging on the balcony railing. The view is all green - green trees for miles. On my balcony I’m growing herbs. Butternut watches the plants shake in the wind. I can hear the birds singing proudly. Their joyful songs dwarf any lingering traffic noise. My apartment is a perfect retreat. I hope that in my new place I can recreate the same kind of peace.

DIY power generation

I normally don’t post about local events, because I have readers from all the country - and the globe - but this event is too cool not to mention. This weekend in Toronto, Subtle Technologies is having a workshop on how to build your own power generator out of, well, trash.  The amount of power generated will not be enough to power your entire home, but it will be sufficient to power a small gadget like an ipod or cell phone.  Personally, I’ve wanted to create something like this for a while but didn’t know how to start. This little workshop is uber practical, because you walk out the door with your own little power generator, not to mention the skills to build on and share this craft with others. Here are the details of this cool project:

On the Bruce

I hope that all of my Canadian readers enjoyed a relaxing long weekend. I spent a good portion of my weekend in one of my favourite places in the whole world: the Bruce trail. I live too far away for a weekend jaunt up to its prime region (the Georgian Bay escarpment) but I did two day trips on the trail in the Halton Hills area instead.

Day one was especially wonderful. I went with my dad. We hiked for 5 hours, and only ran in to one person - an older gentleman who was doing some geocaching along with his friendly canine companion. The day was wet and rainy, which turned out to be perfect; it kept the temperature cool, and we got to enjoy sensory treats like smelling that fresh “rain” smell and listening to the rain drops land gently on the leafy canopy above us.  My second hike was with friends; we went to a more popular spot and bounced back and forth between the Bruce trail and side trails.  This route was easier and took us about 4 hours to complete.

On our hike today we passed a small boy who was with his Mom and Dad. The boy was looking at a caterpillar. The Dad asked the son, “what do you think it’s going to turn into? What do you think that caterpillar is going to become?” My heart melted. I love seeing children outdoors, learning about nature, learning to respect small creatures, learning to treat the world with gentleness.

Whenever I take time to go on a hike or spend time in nature, I’m always humbled by how much there is to see and how much there is to learn.  We Canadians (and Americans) are lucky enough to live in countries with huge, vaulting vastness. The Bruce trail alone is 700 km long.  If solitude is what you’re looking for, you can find it. If you crave self-reflection, the trail provides a perfect opportunity to get reacquainted with yourself.  If you are seeking curiosities or enjoy discovering new worlds, all it takes is a little patience to reveal the magnificent, private world of insects and plants, not to mention birds and other wildlife.

Furthermore, hiking is such a great form of exercise. It’s load-bearing, which means that it’s good for your bones, but it’s fun; no need to stare into space or into a TV blaring the news while jogging on a treadmill at the gym. Hiking creates opportunities for you to stay mentally engaged while strengthening your muscles and getting a good cardio-vascular workout.

What occurs to me is that everything I wrote above is free, save for a little gas in the car and good footwear. Pack a homemade lunch and you’re off.  The Bruce trail parking lots are all free. If you go to a conservation area you can expect to pay a bit more - usually between $4 and $6 a person - still not excessive.

When we get in touch with nature, we can gain a little perspective.  Like stargazing, hiking is a humbling activity; you realize that you are merely one creature out of millions, a tiny speck within massive eco-systems, full of life and mystery.  Suddenly our own problems don’t seem so significant.  It is peaceful, refreshing, enlivening. Most of us crave stress-relief. We crave peace. We seek relief through entertainment, through distractions, through malls, movie theatres, casinos and bars.  We take expensive vacations. We buy stuff. And yet there is so much at our fingertips, for free. So much that nourishes us. Right here, waiting for us.

Are you a lover of the Bruce trail? Do you love to hike? Where do you like to go to spend time in nature?

My upcoming staycation

I have decided to book a week off of work in August for a vacation. I’ve been mulling over what I’d like to do with my time off, and I’ve finally made my decision: it will be my very first Staycation.  My decision is partly influenced by financial limitations, but not entirely.  In fact, I made my decision while driving to work one day this week, when the weather happened to be absolutely perfect. I realized how much I would have liked to just enjoy the weather outside.  Being a grown-up means that we never really get to fully enjoy good summer weather and do the things that we used to do as children during summer holidays.  Lying out in the grass on a blanket, reading books under a tree, riding bikes… aren’t these the true pleasures of summer? As adults, we don’t get to enjoy what summer is really all about.

I love Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s ideas about staycations - especially her ideas about eating out, getting pedicures, and hiring a cleaning person to take care of the house! The trick, I think, with a staycation is to get out of your routine a bit; indulge yourself, and take a break from your normal routine.

Including the weekends, I will have exactly 9 days. Here’s how I plan on using my time off:

- Visit my parents, taking full advantage of their beautiful deck that faces a forrest and a popular bird feeder, to sun myself, drink cocktails, leaf through books, watch the birds and gaze in the sky

- Do some hiking

- Take walks/bike-rides in the park

- Go to the beach

- Visit antique stores and used book stores

- Treat myself to some of my favourite restaurants

- Do some outdoor yoga, either in the backyard of my parents’ place, a park, or a beach

- Go stargazing

- Eat ice cream

- Catch up with friends and have a BBQ (here’s looking at you, Nature Hogg)

My birthday also falls on that week. It’s a milestone birthday (well not technically but the last year of your 20s counts, right?) so I will need to find a way to celebrate that as well.

Things I won’t do:

- Check my work email

- Worry about work

- Schedule any appointments other than things that are fun

I plan on creating a little photo-diary of my staycation for the blog so I’ll be able to share the results with you.  I’m already looking forward to it!

Are you planning on taking a staycation this year?