Calving season in NZ
On the Hale farm in NZ my romantic notions of being Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie were quashed. I thought I would be churning butter in some Victorian frock, milking cows and hand feeding apples to horses and other farm animals who were all part of the farm family.

Instead I put on a blue one piece smock and green wellies and went to the cow shed (see glamour shot above - I know, Laura Ingalls would be appalled). There I witnessed the civilized entrance and exit of the cows to get milked by the slickest automatic milkers housed in a slick milking station. I am sure I am not saying any of this in correct farm terminology! Help me out Hale's.After this lovely parade to the milk utensils, the cows then walk causally back to their luscious fields to munch more green grass and laze around in the New Zealand fresh air. Not a bad life until some are sold for our steak dinners.I was there during calving season and this is a busy time for Mr. Hale. A few calves are born each day. They are then almost immediately seperated from their mommies (v.sad) and Mr. Hale and his farm hands have to teach these calves to drink from a fake nipple (see pic).

The calves are so cute and quite large for only being a day old, it is cute to see them act like little babies when they are learning to suck. They have milk all over their face and are a little wobbly when walking. They also behave like children; some are more aggressive pushing the others away from a nipple and taking up lots of space while others are just pushed out of the crowd and will not fight the bigger ones to get a feed of the milk.The milk is colostrum or the 'first milk' which is taken from the new mothers, it takes four days for that milk to exit the new mother's system. Colostrum is high in carbs, protein and antibodies which delivers lots of nutrients to the new calves.

Once all the milking is done a big truck picks up the milk (not the colostrum) and whisks it away. Almost immediately, Mr. Hale can get a reading on the internet as to how much milk was collected along with other statistics. How advanced...am sure Pa Ingalls would not fathom such technology way back when in the mid-west.

This milk is then sold and then turned into butter, powdered milk and other milk by-products that are shipped and sold around the world. I think the farm is connected to Fonterra the largest co-op in NZ which is owned by over 11,000 dairy farmers.

It was a lovely morning watching the cows and calves in the sunshine. We took a ride around the farm on the ATV and it was great to feel the crisp morning all around us. I am sure I will find a mom and pop farm with one lonely cow that I can milk someday! Maybe I will have to find a farm outside of Toronto that caters for farm wannabes like me.

Traditional Fijian lovo
Traditional Lovo is used on special occasions. We were lucky enough to experience this day long affair which ends in a great meal. Similar to the New Zealand hangi, food is wrapped in natural materials and buried and cooked. All foods are cooked in the lovo, pumpkin soup, taro, potatoes, fish, chicken and more.

It is a long process that starts early in the day. Step one: build a great fire and when it burns down to just coals place a grill on top and the food for your feast. These baskets were woven especially for the meat and fresh fish. You cannot see the detail but the fish ones were woven with a fish tail .
Cover the food with palms and branches, then with burlap sacks and cover the whole meal with sand. The food will then cook with the smoke/steam from the hot coals. The smell is amazing.

While watching this we were told how this is the way they used to cook bodies during the days of cannibalism...eeek! Now I always think of that when I look at these pictures.



After a few hours the meal is ready. The palms have also turned a lovely golden brown from the heat.
Dinner is served and it is splendid. Traditional lovo dinner at Otto and Fanny's is not to be missed.

Pig 'N Pancake
It is the long weekend and will try and beat the exodus of traffic to cottage country so will write a short post before I set off . No doubt, the weekend will be filled with bbqs and big breakfasts, the usual cottage fare with lots of fresh local Ontario produce too. The last time I entered the beach supermarket, local strawberries were at the entrance and I was treated to a delightful smell of fresh non-gm strawberries. The Body Shop should bottle that smell!

Big breakfasts reminded me of a lovely couple we met in Fiji. Michael and Grace from Oregon (he is originally from Vancouver) were on holiday with their two children and had owned a franchise of the Pig 'N Pancake in Oregon for the last several years (how many Grace?)

During our long food discussions at Otto and Fanny's we had great breakfasts but the pancakes were not up to scratch. M & G said that they have the best pancakes at the Pig 'N Pancake and named off the eight or 9 varieties but said the plain buttermilk ones were the best. It is making me hungry looking at the website's menu.

It would've been nice if Grace and Michael got into the kitchen to make us some of the famous pancakes like they made at the restaurant but apparently the franchise has a secret recipe that even they do not have access too.

Here is a basic pancake recipe for your breakfast this weekend. Remember to put some Canadian maple syrup and fresh fruit on top!

* 2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred or sifted before measuring
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg, slightly beaten
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 2 tablespoons melted butter


Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine egg and milk; add to flour mixture, stirring only until smooth. Blend in melted butter. Cook on a hot, greased griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until brown on one side and around edge; turn and brown the other side. Serves 4.

Or just buy a box of Aunt Jemima which is also a quick alternative to making your own. Aunt Jemima knows her stuff too!

To the Canadian readers - have a great long weekend.

Kava drinking
Kava is the alcoholic drink that Fijians drink at traditional ceremonies like a lovo feast. This traditional feast will be explained in further detail later with great pics from JP's great camera.
Kava looks like mud and I think it almost tastes like it too! (see the brown liquid in the large bowl, that is kava - looks yummy eh?) The ritual before downing the dentist-like numbing agent is to clap three times before you are handed a coconut shell full of this root goodness and to slurp it all down in one go and then clap once to signify that you are finished.

In the past the drinking of kava was saved for important ceremonies but today it is used more informally and quite socially with the village males who drink it while singing or swapping stories. The singing by the Fijians is something very beautiful too, they have very distinct and strong voices.

It is rude to not drink your whole coconut cup full so you have to just take a deep breath and do it even if you think it is vile tasting (this is what I did). Kava is made from a root and has a peppery taste and is known to have many benefits as a herbal remedy from curing anxiety to depression to insomnia. I found a laundry list of its benefits on a website selling it so not sure how accurate all these claims are to its healing magical powers. One thing is for sure, it will get you very drunk if you drink enough!

Kava's Latin name Piper methysticum literally translates as "intoxicating pepper" has been used for centuries, by the inhabitants of the South Pacific Islands -as a ritual drink, a social beverage, and also as a medicine. Kava (Piper Methysticum) is a lush, leafy green member of the pepper family, from the tropical islands of the South Pacific.

Kava comes in a powdery mix that is brewed in cold water for a few minutes, then it is squeezed through a cloth to filter out all the sediments (muddy looking stuff) and then voila it is a clear liquid to drink. If you get to try some Fijian kava try it - I think the Fijians laughed at all the tourists faces and reactions when they were downing these little coconut cups full of goodness.

The woman in the picture Carol Dunlop is also the only female skipper in Fiji, she skippers the yacht called Surprise which is a privately chartered boat. In a male dominated county she is quite the anomaly and I love her spunkiness. She sat and sang and drank kava with the males all night which is most likely unheard of in Fiji. Her crew and guests came to Otto and Fanny's on our last night there for a lovo feast, cava drinking and singing. It was all very festive and our hosts Fanny and her son Harry put on a great spread, as usual. Bula!

Would you like tea with your baggage?After Fiji there was a wonderful week spent in Auckland, New Zealand. Upon arrival at Auckland International Airport I had quite a pleasant shock which at first I thought was a joke. A big sign was popping out from the custom's line which read 'free tea and coffee.'

I thought this was an offer if you buy something from duty free or if you signed up to some credit card or some tourism gimmick but it was none of the above. It was simply a warm welcome and free tea and coffee to passengers arriving from their worldly destinations.

It was served by the two friendliest ladies I met on my month-aventure. The tea counter is near the baggage claim area so while waiting for your bags to roll off the belt you can chat with the ladies and get a steaming cup of java or tea. After a few minutes I got the latest gossip on weather in NZ and who they were and all about how the free tea stand is the only one in any airport in the world (which I beleive to be true- I thought Canadians were hospitable).

We gossiped more on where I was from (they thought I was Brazilian from my now faded tan) and we chatted about Sicily and more about the coffe which was arabica. I didn't actually want coffee or tea at that moment but it was the whole interaction that made having the coffee so pleasant.

The free tea and the airport itself were all very civilized, not like the chaotic third world feel of the Los Angeles Airport (LAX) where you want to scream at how crowded and dark, disorganized and dirty it is.

I wrote down the ladies' names on a napkin and exchanged email addresses with them but I have since disposed of the napkin accidentally. Will try and get their address from J who will be traveling through the airpot on a ski weekend this coming weekend (for some people the holiday never ends!)

New Zealand is a beautiful country with some great food and people. More posts to come on Fijian and NZ adventures...

Bula!

Coconuts, coconuts everywhere...

With two weeks holiday in paradise a.k.a. Fiji, getting back into blogging seems like hard work. Our days were very busy...morning swims, mid morning snorkelling (swimming with sea cucumbers, manta ray's, parrot fish and other colourful sea creatures), late morning naps in the hammock, delicious lunches freshly prepared by the friendliest Fijians at Otto and Fanny's, afternoon snorkelling, a little Scrabble, afternoon tea (3pm) followed by watching breathtaking sunsets by the beach and ending the day with a fabulous meal. This is how our days were spent.


We went to bed early due to the generator being shut down at 11pm, which gave us a long and restful sleep to recharge our batteries to do it all over again; this indeed, was tough work!


At Otto and Fanny's we stayed in authentic Fijiian bures and the property was filled with tall coconut trees which brought pleasant shade to the sunned out beach goers. One thing we noticed was that every so often (at least every hour) a coconut would plummet from the trees onto the property. (Our Norwegian friend Lars, aka Paul McCartney, while resting in the hammock almost had a coconut drop onto his noggin!) Luckily we were spared this experience although at times they fell close to us.

These were large coconuts and there was an abundance of them but oddly enough we did not have any meals with coconut?! I thought we would have fresh coconut slivers for our desert, macaroon type cookies, coconut curries and more. We were served authentic and delicious other meals but no coconuts were to be found on our menu...

One day we did spot the staff eating large bowls of boiled coconut -which didn't look too appetizing. Perhaps that was considered a staff meal and not appropriate for guests.

Anyhow the mystery of the land of coconuts continued throughout our trip. With such an abundance of the fruit I thought we would be drinking coconut water, offered coconut oil at every opportunity to purchase and have coconut in all of our meals and drinks.

We did make gorgeous bracelets on Manta Ray Island from the coconut shell and when we requested a drink of coconut, the staff at Otto and Fanny's collected two for us to drink the crisp coconut water.

According to Wikipedia, 'virtually every part of the coconut palm has some human use.' Someone in Fiji needs to get their coconut hat on and make some money from this lovely fruit! (more pics to be added to the blog as still travelling so not able to upload many pics!)

:)

BEAUTIFUL FIJI
Bula (hi/bye/welcome)
The internet is too slowfor pics but the update is that Fiji is paradise.
Crystal clear waters in the most vibrant green and blue hues, beautiful reefs, the most colorful fish, a plethora of coral which comes in all shapes and forms, completely isolated and idyllic beaches where you can snorkel off the shore, the loveliest Fijian hospitality, Fijian sunsets...the list goes on.

Our accomodation in the Yasawa's consists of only 7 bures (tiki style/bamboo huts) which hold 2-4 people. At breakfast, lunch and dinner we are a small but diverse mix of Norwegians, Americans, Canadians, Kiwis and people from Malyasian and Indonesian descent.

The power is turned off at 11pm, and our dinners commence at 6pm. In these few hours we chat about life, love, religion, music and of course - food. Last night we had especially lengthy talks about food. Grace and Michael owned a pancake house in Oregon and the Nordic folks are chefs in a top restaurant there. The rest of us like to eat so the conversation went on for ages...I will try and post some recipes/comments from our 'holiday family dinners.'

Fiji Bitter Beer is on tap and there are lots of coconuts everywhere. The only dangers in Fiji are sunburn, falling coconuts and getting stung by a jellyfish. Luckily we only got stung by a jellyfish but we did see many a coconut fall very close to our hammock. When the internet comes up again I will try to post more food tidbits. I even ate Kolkoda (from my last post) and it was divine!

Bula
xx

Fijian foods
I am off to Fiji - the islands in the South Pacific Ocean for two weeks. I have been out of blog mode for a while with all these national holidays getting in the way.

Happy belated Canada Day to you all...hope you had a good one. Ours was filled with bbq and more bbq, pies, ice cream, cakes and more treats like brownies, fresh strawberries, cherries and more.

Needless to say it was a great weekend with lots of fresh Ontario produce.

This pic is of Kokoda, a Fijian food. It is made out of raw fish meat seasoned with lemon juice and coconut milk; can't wait to have some great fish meals.

While away, I am going to try and post if I can but not sure if I will be able to access the internet.

Am asking guest bloggers step forward -any takers? Or readers, I will be back in two short weeks. By then, I should have a wealth of stuff to post in regards to plane food (tip: always order a special meal as you get served first), Fijian delights and New Zealand treats - am going to Pat and Robbie's farm so will take pics of me milking the cows!! Am very excited. Maybe Pat will make her famous Pavlova....mmm!

Coffee granita

2 cups lukewarm espresso or strong black coffee
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons coffee flavored liqueur
1 teaspoon orange or lemon zest


Combine all ingredients and stir until sugar melts.

Pour mixture into 9 by 13-inch metal pan and place on level shelf in freezer for half an hour. (Mixture should only come about 1/4-inch up the side of the pan.)

Remove and use a dinner fork to scrape any ice crystals that have formed on the side or bottom of the pan.

Return to freezer and repeat scraping every 20 to 30 minutes for 3 to 4 hours.

Once mixture is thoroughly frozen, fluff with a fork and allow flakes to "dry" in freezer another half hour before serving.

When served, the granita should look like a fluffy pile of dry brown crystals.

Serve in a tall glass with whip cream or after a meal for a refreshing treat.

Get the scoop...Japanese style

As we are trying to beat the heat, lots of us are turning to swimming pools, lots of water and sitting in front of fans, air conditioners or retreating under shady trees (which doesn't work in this heat!)

In Japan you can go for your fatty treat of ice cream - aisu kuri-mu.

An article in the Globe & Mail today states that a single half cup (125ml) of most Haagen-Dazs ice cream flavors delivers more saturated fat than a McDonald's Big Mac. Shocking, non?

As I mentioned in a post in the early days gelato is the way to go.

In Canada you can get organic ice cream and for the vegetarians - soy, rice and hemp varieties.

The one thing we do not seem to have is the flavors like they do in Japan.

(See pics) From this ice cream parlor in Sapporo, flavors sold are - cheese, squid, salt, curry, cherry blossom & sesame. mmmmmmm.....
And on the menu to tickle your taste buds even further there are flavours like sweet potato, beer, sea urchin, aloe, fermented beans and more.

Not sure how brave I would be to try these flavors...

We had the loveliest visitors over for dinner last who arrived from Japan only the night before. They were gracious guests and although we did not speak the same language our translator Kiki and Ayuko were wonderful and somehow we understood each other.

They brought us lovely gifts of traditional Japanese cake and jellies...posts on those to follow.

Great but...fruit not so fress
Sunday brunch is always a favorite and for this weekend's adventure we went to the vegan restaurant Fressen on Queen West.

It was Pride Toronto weekend and the city was alive with various characters coming out to celebrate the week long festival culminating in the notoriously loud, proud and colorful parade. With the window seats at the restaurant we had a prime viewing platform for people heading to the day's festivities.

Our favorite was the tall, goth, long haired, mesh stocking, batman wannabe. His sunglasses were the best part as they covered his entire face with a big plastic bat. Actually his facial expression was better than his sunglasses as it was this mysterious, angry, indignant, look at me - but how dare you look at me, look. Sooo good to people watch!

A few comments about Fressen, the brunch menu is not as extensive as expected it only had waffles and French toast which, in my opinion, were truly brunch-y. Then there were lots of salads and stews which were more lunch-y. I guess if you cannot serve eggs and bacon then the brunch menu immediately is cut down in scope.

We almost all unanimously ordered the French toast which was divine. It was served with a fruit compote, maple syrup and the toast was coated in oats/granola (not exactly sure) which gave it a lovely texture. The one disappointing thing about the dish was that is was served with fruit that was off. It was well presented with garnish of icing sugar and fresh mint but when eating the watermelon and cantaloupe they were not hard and sweet, just soft and lacking in flavour, like they were sitting in the fridge too long/past their freshness date.

When this happens at home you eat it yourself and kick yourself for not peeling it and eating it sooner, you do not serve it to guests or to restaurant patrons, non?

Other than the non-fresh fruit, all else was great, service, staff, drinks and atmosphere.

AK ordered the corn fritters (2nd pic) and Jill ordered th waffles and all were satisfied! Their drink of the day was spectacular and so simple. It was a strawberry lemonade made with fresh strawberries, water, lemon juice, cane sugar, fresh mint and pineapple chunks and juice.

Try making it at home as it is a truly refreshing summery drink!

Summer rooftops

Located on the 18^th floor, The Roof Lounge at the Park Hyatt was indeed pleasant.

The pic is a scan of a little coaster which was placed in front of us. I thought that was a clever touch and a good conversation starter with the wait staff.

It may be hard to see as I could not scan it very well but it reads:

'I didn't realize how utterly pleasant it was to be here.' Marlon Brando

You get a lovely tray of dried fruit and nuts when you are seated; the dried apples were so tender and juicy they were gorgeous! We ordered soup & appetizers (asparagus and Parmesan shavings, yoghurt dip and Indian crackers, parma ham and smoked salmon) served with a lovely Cabernet sauvignon wine which was delightful.

The view is great but the walls are a bit high so you need to sit up tall to get a good panorama of the city facing south from Avenue Rd & Bloor St. It's a great way to see the Michael Lee Chin Crystal from another angle and a nice place for a first date or for a romantic surprise. Try something different, go for a drink or two on a hot summer night before or after dinner.

Arancini di Riso - Sicilian rice balls
You can find these arancini di riso at gas station rest stops, train station booths and anywhere you can buy a snack in Sicily. They are delicious, filling and great to eat on the run.

* 1 1/2 cups risotto rice
* 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
* 2 eggs
* Salt and pepper to taste
* 1 egg, beaten
* Flour for coating
* Breadcrumbs for coating
* Oil for frying

*you can add green peas or ground beef if you want additional tastes to the balls. I prefer them in their original state.

Boil rice and add to a bowl with cheese, 2 eggs, salt and pepper.
With oiled hands, shape rice into balls the size of small oranges (arancini). Roll aranci into beaten egg, then into beadcrumbs to coat well.

Deep-fry in oil until golden. Drain on paper towels and serve Serves: 4 - 6

To make them with a soft mozzarella core which is delightful to reach follow this tiny trick. With a small piece of mozzarella cheese. Push a hole with your finger into each ball after shaping. Insert the cheese, then close the opening to hide the cheese.

Mmmmm.....

Where does canned corn come from?
I remember watching an episode of Jamie Oliver's TV show called Jamie's School Dinners where he went to a school and laid out 10-12 basic fruits and vegetables and asked kids from varying ages to identify them.

99% of kids in that group could not identify things such as spring onions, sweet potato, celery, broccoli and other BASIC fruits and vegetables. I remember watching in shock but not surprise as I worked at a school for a few months and some of the lower kids would come to school hungry or with a Coke and a bag of chips for lunch. Some were so hungry they ate the rotten pumpkin after Halloween, sad but true.

The School Dinners show demonstrated that kids in these schools do not recognize these foods in their raw state because they never eat them in that state, their parents never buy them and they are never involved in the cooking process at home if their parents cook. At school and at home kids from these schools ate only processed and pre-packaged foods.

Turkey Twizzlers were made famous on the show as they served them in many UK schools to children as part of the standard lunch program. TTs are a bizarre chicken nugget type food with some ridiculously small % of actual turkey in it and it is shaped as a coil so makes no resemblance to any natural food or turkey for that matter. It is a food listed on the UK school lunch program list - after the show Jamie got them banned from schools -yay! And the Department for Education and Skills created the School Food Trust to provide support and advice to improve the standard of school meals.

During the show Jamie followed some parents to the grocery store and watched them shop and all they put into their baskets were microwave dinners and more turkey twizzlers (they said, 'but our kids like them'). He even went home with a few parents to see what they could 'cook' and since they grew up on frozen foods too they could not actually put a basic soup together or cook some pasta as they had never seen their parents do it. The show pointed out the need for parents to get educated on proper health, nutrition and basic cooking skills.

When I first arrived in England I was impressed by this prominent 'ready meal' aisle at the supermarkets as for £2 you could have a lasagna, turkey dinner, Chinese food, Indian curry etc... When you finally read the label and see what crap was in there you soon re-think your choice. But think about this spend £14-20 a week and have a ready made hot meal each night after just 60seconds in the microwave or spend £20-40 a week and have to come home, peel, prepare and cook? For lazy and ignorant parents guess which option they choose?

That whole show was fantastic and can be a whole blog in itself. The reason for today's post is that some of the neighboring kids at the cottage had a diet which consisted of packaged foods all the time and the snacks they came out with were always chips and some type of sugary juice. Their parents didn't really enforce meal time so some of them also went without dinner on several occasions. The parents also did not spend much time with them and only seemed to be smoking in front of the tele each and every day. The kids were always at our place staring at our healthy dinners and lunches with hungry looks. This angered me and I blame lack of education and laziness on the parents part. In this situation do we feed the neighbors kids each night? There was 4 of them so not an easy task even if we wanted to. We did give them healthy snacks but who does that when we are not there?

Our little ones were always helping with meal preparation, tending the vegetable garden, coming along to do the grocery shopping, choosing which pint of strawberries they wanted and which carrots to put in the cart. This all makes up the educational experience of children which keeps them involved, teaches them good food habits and makes them appreciate food.

PM is peeling fresh corn in the pic and he loved it - we almost had to go back to the store to get another basket full so he could peel more. I guess my rant today is that kids need to eat fresh, whole foods and parents need to stay away from the gimmicks and easy avenues of junk or fast food. Yes kids like Coke and chips and boxed meals but think of how bad it is for them, they only like these things as they are filled with sugars and salts which makes them crave more!

Crystal Beach bakery
Back from the cottage hence no posts lately....this small town bakery was around for probably over 25 years and provided our family with breads and the best doughnuts a kid could ever have as a Sunday morning treat.

It was sad to see it closed but am happy they left the sign up as it is so quaint and retro...

Going to the West Side!

Went to Westside Studio's summer fete last night and the evening was perfect for an outdoor party. They had a lovely surprise for guests. Never mind fancy caterers and posh h'ors derves served by good looking waiters...they had the real summer deal.

They had two vans selling street food -they probably picked them right off of Queen Street. One was an ice cream van run by the coolest ice cream man complete with chef's hat and big moustache. And the second van was dishing out hamburgers, hot dogs and the best hand cut fries you have ever tasted.

This morning, I was excited to download all the candid shots of our evening's treats but when I went to download there was a memory card error and there are no pics to show! So I will try to describe some of what the pics were showcasing. At first there was some fresh cut and greasy french fries, ladled with vinegar and ketchup (we had 3 LARGE servings). They were long and fat and glistening with oil in the moonlight.

Then there were pics of my vanilla caramel twirl soft serve, Erin's chocolate vanilla swirl and Brendan's swirl which he got dipped in chocolate, that dirty dog didn't share that tip with us!

There were other photos of Matt in his tiki hut office, behind the bar with his fez and some with Erin and her nemesis who rode away on her bike - a little tipsy too. Maybe you will see the lovely man who served us ice cream like we were 10 year olds on the street somewhere. Just ask him if he has been to the Westside.

Hopefully someone will send some pics of the real deal and I can post them.

For now I leave you with this...eat from one of those vans again - it brings you a little nostalgia and is really fun!

Cuddrireddra of Delia
Sometimes we digress from the task at hand but the cookbook will get some attention this month. This recipe and Sicilian specialty cookie - Cuddrireddra- is probably the main reason for starting to collect Nonna Falzone's recipes.

My grandmother was born and raised in Delia, Sicily and this cookie is only made there. It is like a twisted crown or a carousel and it is magical in taste and history. We always looked forward to eating it and also watching her make it.

Making these cookies would take her the whole afternoon and it involved such skill and fast finger work that it was fun just sitting at the edge of the table and watching. Now my sis and I are going to attempt to make these but I am not sure we have the skill to make them look as perfect as she did.

We were never allowed to help - a trait that Momma Dolce has inherited, as we would not do them properly so due to this none of my aunts or mum can make these cookies. So much for passing the recipe on.... we are definitely stubborn Sicilians! The recipe was in Nonna's head too and she used an odd plastic green cup to measure her ingredients. This cup was probably from one of our toy sets so the exact measurements were never written down.

I have collected the recipe from two aunts, one in Sicily and one in Toronto but I have to say that tasting theirs are amazing but not quite up to par with my grandmothers -I am allowed to play favourites, non?

The ingredients are simple: orange rind, cinnamon, wheat flour, water, eggs, red wine & lard. All deep fried in vegetable oil until they are golden brown.

When visiting family in Delia I visited a young entrepreneur Stefano Strazzieri who has taken this recipe which is so local to the community and has started making it and selling it abroad. Very clever as it is a great specialty and something so authentic to this town that getting it elsewhere is next to impossible. Now you can buy this treat in other parts of Italy and even get it shipped to the UK.

I brought home a tray from my trip and my flat mates did enjoy their Sicilian souvenir.

It is said that the crown like cookie was born as homage to the châtelaines that lived in the medieval fortresses, which dominated the city of Delia during the war of the Sicilian Vespers.

When we muster up the courage to make these with the guidance of Momma Dolce we will report back....

'Everything that was in the fridge chopped up and cooked together'
This is how, when asked, a handsome gentleman named his recipe.

It really should be called Thai Surprise or JP's Thai Extravaganza but instead this is what came out as it's title - I kinda like it although it would be very long to write on a recipe card for those cute little boxes.

A close competitor to the 'naked chef' in terms of charisma on screen and vigor in the chopping department -the talent and handiwork in the kitchen was equally entertaining. You just have to minus the Brit accent add a kiwi one - change the hair to dark and add more rugged good looks and there you have your Kiwi Jamie O! There was even some singing into a 1970s karaoke microphone which Jamie has never done before...which does give a slight edge.

I was watching on the web cam, kind of like watching the food network, but fuzzier and the sound breaks in and out - so had to guess what was happening when the screen went into pixellated blocks and squint a little at times. A new way of watching live cooking.

Thx J for letting me into your kitchen!

Ingredients and recipe:

• all vegetables in your fridge suitable for a curry: courgettes/zucchini, green peppers, spring onions, broccoli, snow peas, beans etc.
• nice to have but JP didn't have on hand: water chestnuts, bamboo, thai basil
  
• slices of beef
• fish sauce
• garlic
  
• Thai red curry paste
• one can coconut milk

Fry onions and garlic in oil and quickly brown the the beef.
Add vegetables and cook them until they are tender
Add fish sauce and curry paste.
Add coconut milk and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with rice.

When in Rome...
'Hmmmm, I like my cow's fallopian tubes well done - keep up the basting, won't you...'



'Myah, I am putting a bit of cow's fallopian tube in my mouth. I clarified that's what it was with lots of gesturing and aghast faces - I had only been learning Japanese for 2 days at this point so that was about as much as I could handle...

It tasted of the sauce it was marinaded in, so personally I don't really see the point...

It was actually fine and if I hadn't been told what it was, I might have thought it was a tiny bit of meat with lots of skin attached - yum!!'

Quotes above from my friend Nat who is traveling around the world for a year and has been having some interesting gastronomic experiences. Currently she is in Japan learning the language and hanging with the locals.

We miss you Nat but are happy you are having fun - and are eating and photographing for the blog. x x

Salad days

This pic is taken from a city garden. It is a little garden on the side of the fashion-pharmacist's house and it has enough lettuce to feed a small army.

After a day in the sun we had a salad with roasted eggplant/aubergine, steamed cauliflower, tomatoes and olives. The fresh garden salad and all of its toppings tasted delicious!

Home gardens are definitely the way to go...I was very surprised at how large the lettuce was already and how many of them there were.

The garden already had loads of bulb and spring onions and the tomatoes were just starting to creep up their poles...will have to go back for fresh tomato salad soon.

Am going to try and make coffee ice cream and will report back :)

Love old stoves
This one was in perfect condition and shone. The retro design dials and knobs from the stove are now all the rage in modern furniture, clocks and more. I like this better than modern appliances that are all electronic and with the bland red LED lights.

FC bathing suit weather
Bathing suit weather is fast approaching am trying to get back into shape after a month of inactivity. Am trying to eat healthy and take vitamins to get back to normal after a busy and stressful month.

On my first weekend off I get a b-day gift of free tix to the Toronto FC game - thx George & Hellen!

Picture it -30+degrees the sun is shining down, smog is high, humidity is higher. We are roasting in the sun, sweating and sticking to the seats but admiring all the lovely men and the amazing atmosphere and spirit of the fans, it was great!

After about 40 min of sweaty viewing we ducked inside to get some water and food. As per the sporting venue stereotype the menu is totally not suited to anyone who is trying to be health conscious or to vegetarians.

What the new 'beemo' BMO field does have is great toilet facilities as there seems to be enough to go around without long queues of women wasting the whole break/intermission (what do you call it at a football/soccer match?) trying to make a nature call and to check their makeup. In our case to splash water on our red arms and legs!

Anyhoo back to the menu, as you will see from the pic lots of burgers, dogs, popcorn, nachos, pretzels, popcorn etc..but nothing remotely healthy. I asked if they had veggie pizza and the guy said that the 'supreme' is the veggie one. When it arrives it is laden with pepperoni and some green pepper (guess he didn't know what veggie was?!) Pizza Pizza must give these people a briefing.

But alas....as we ate our pizza we saw someone with fresh boiled corn on the cob, he told us that there was a stall only a few metres away! Next time I guess.

Get to a game it is great fun! Toronto FC won 2-1. I would love to see the Beckham game if anyone wants to get me a b-day gift still...ol' Becky in action with the LA Galaxy would be nice!

Dos Amigos
If you use Bathurst St as a main road to get downtown you probably pass this place and never really notice it. It is across from the Bathurst & Dupont TTC yard.

Meeting up with old CF'ers we went to Dos Amigos as per the recommendation of our social convener Ashlynn. She comes almost once a week with her hubby so it must be good. And it was.

Fresh, authentic Mexican cuisine served by lovely Mexican ladies and great Spanish music playing on the patio where we sipped our pineapple and lime margaritas.

The pic above was taken in Mexico as once again the camera was at home...(hw) I had the enchilada which is corn tortillas stuffed with chicken, covered in a tomato sauce with cheese and sour cream. The rice it was served with was delicious and there was a little side salad.

The restaurant is owned by two friends (dos amigos) and their site says, 'approx 70% of Torontonians have been to Mexico,' and they say they want to bring a little piece of authentic Mexico home to these people. I think they do a good job at it. The patio is sure to be a hit from now on with the temperatures rising! Minus our tipping mishap it was a great night catching up with old friends.

Energy Drink

Today I feel like an energy drink, I remember my friend Ben telling me there is one called Cocaine but it is not on the shelves anymore.

Apparently guarana juice is a good natural energy juice to drink. Tribes in Brazil believed guarana to be magical; a cure for bowel complaints and a way to regain strength.

The can in the pic is the one that they serve at Guanabara(fun fun place to go) and other Brazilian establishemnts in London town not sure if it is sold in TO?

Am going to a mexican restaurant tonight, will check out their native drinks too, perhaps margaritas - ole!

Ahh Terroni

After a long day with Shoot - the Shoot Team including the 'events manager' and I went to Terroni. We were tired and starving...not a good combo when you try to get a table in a busy , popular restaurant. I think it was all the gay jumping we did.



My pics for dinner:

Funghi Assoluti
Baked oyster mushrooms with parmigiano cheese, balsamic vinegar, garlic and parsley served on a bed of arugola. So simple, yet so delicious, you can make this at home (in the past I have added bread crumbs to this recipe) under your oven's broil setting. Impress your friends.

Spaghetti al Limone
Home made spaghetti with spinach, capers and shavings of parmigiano in a lemon and extra virgin olive oil sauce. I loved this as it was refreshing and light - perfect for a warm summer evening.

We LOVE this place and were so hungry we did not take pics but instead wolfed down this meal and rolled home as we were so tired from our day.

Go there if you want real, southern Italian food.

Minty Fresh
If you grow mint it never stops growing. It grows tall, spreads out and the aroma is great. You can chop it and then use it for several things.

• Brew fresh mint tea: add some leaves to a cup of boiled water, let it diffuse and add a little sugar. It tastes great and is good for digestion.
  (Itsu in London charges about £3 for a pot of this = $6.90 Canadian for some minty goodness)
  

• Add it to a jug of water and drink hint o' mint flavoured water. You can also do this with cucumbers and oranges for a nice summer twist to your usual water jugs with lemon.

• Add it to your meatball/hamburger recipe. I think this is the ingredient that makes Momma Dolce's meatballs so great.
• Add a few sprigs to any other sauces you may be making or mix a little in with your pesto dish.
  
• Mince it up and use it on your bbq'd lamb
• Use in a fresh tomato and cucumber salad with basil
  

Since we have an abundance there is some in a vase by the window and a few other leaves strewn about on my desk which I am twirling about to get some of the lovely smell.

Am sure you can make some kind of cosmetic concoction but for now I will stick to the mint tea with sugar.

Ouma's Rusks

Ouma Rusks (Afrikaans: Ouma Beskuit - literally "Ouma Rusks"; "Ouma" is a brand and proper noun meaning "Grandmother" ) are South Africa's best-known brand of rusks.
They are dipped in coffee or tea before being eaten.

It is an iconic South African product that is consumed all over the world. It is usually marketed with the slogan Doop 'n Ouma (in Afrikaans) or Dip 'n Ouma (in South African English) (Dip a Ouma).

According to the manufacturer, the history of Ouma Rusks began in the 1939 in the small Eastern Cape town of Molteno, where the effects of the Great Depression were bringing people to their knees. During this time, a certain (grandma)Ouma Greyvensteyn and her friends attended a church meeting to find out ways to help.

At the end of the meeting, each of the women were given a half-a-crown coin and told to multiply it using their talents, as in the Bible. Ouma Greyvensteyn used this money to buy ingredients in order to make rusks using her family recipe. The rusks she baked proved to be extremely popular and orders continued to be placed for her rusks.

You can still visit the factory and Ouma's home in Molteno. They produce 37 million rusks a year. 12.4 tons a day in winter and 8.4 tons in summer.

The rusks come in different flavors like wholewheat, buttermilk, condensed milk, muesli and more...


pic of the factory and the original Ouma in the frame.

African Tea TimeLots of talk about Africa has been going on these past few days so I thought I would post about my favorite tea which comes from South Africa. It is called rooibos and is at the top of my list for hot drinks and has been for a while.

Rooibos is caffeine free and means 'red bush' in Afrikaans. The plant is a member of the legume family of plants and is used to make a herbal tea. Commonly called South African red tea, the product has been popular in South Africa for generations and is now consumed in many countries.

It emerged in some diet book in the UK a few years ago and was all the rage and now is more mainstream, you can buy it in the grocery stores (Loblaws sells this PC brand) now whereas before you could only get it from visitors from South Africa, Zim, Namibia etc. (Sally M and The Kirstens were my suppliers) or at the South Africa shop in Covent Garden and the equivalent in TO is Eat Sum More.

Rooibos is only grown in a small area in the Cederberg region of the Western Cape province. Get to Cape Town or anywhere in Southern Africa if you can, the landscapes are absolutely beautiful!

In South Africa people drink rooibos with milk and sugar but elsewhere some drink it without. The flavor of rooibos tea is often sweet enough without adding sugar. I like it with and without sugar depending on my mood. You can drink cups and cups of it and because it is such an anti dioxant filled tea - the more the better!

South African friends of mine who grew up in boarding schools were served rooibos for breakfast, lunch and dinner and now, as adults can't stand it as they were forced to have it as young ones. Oh well too much of a good thing....

When drinking your rooibos tea you also may be served a rusk, which is a hard biscuit that you dunk in your tea. These biscuits are kind of like Italian biscotti but bigger, harder and with a more rugged, salty flavour. More on Ouma Rusks in my next post...Ouma is the brand name but also means grandmother.

But beware, in Africa when drinking your tea and eating your rusks the baboons are everywhere trying to snatch your food. And they look all cute but when they get close they are a) larger than life b) quick with their hands and c) agressive and hungry!

Mr. Kirsten had a run in with them and we had to roll up our windows after taking this pic as they were ready to pounce!

Spaghetti Aglia OlioMy friends were picking olives this past weekend in New Zealand on Waiheke Island and then I had this dish at Momma Dolce's so thought I would post this simple recipe.

Two simple ingredients make a fantastic, quick dish which is one of my favorites.
Garlic and olive oil.

When you are tired and want to eat something quickly do this:
>Boil your spaghetti in salted water, make it al dente.

>In a seperate bowl chop 2-3 cloves of garlic and douse with 5-6 heaping tablespoons of olive oil more if you please. Use the best quality olive oil you can get as this makes a difference. Use extra virgin olive oil if you can.

>Add a few tbsps of the boiling water that is cooking your pasta, with a fork mash this all together so the garlic infuses in the olive oil.

>By the time the pasta is cooked your little olive oil concoction can be dumped into the pot, stirred up and served.

For those who like it spicy add some hot chili peppers, and salt and pepper to taste. Add fresh basil if you want to add another gorgeous, fresh flavour.

Et voila!
You have a delicious dinner...

Creative Summer GatheringsWith the summer sun beaming down on us there are a lot of bbq and back yard parties going on especially as this is a long weekend -yay! Some creative invites are going around like this one and am looking forward to seeing more like this.

This one was for a simple bbq where hot dogs were the feature food. We were going to rock up at 2pm with drinks and hot dog condiments, thinking this was the time for the party but luckily called and were told that the party started around 10pm -ish!

Enjoy the sun today! Happy Victoria Day.

Victoria Day is a Canadian statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on May 24 in honour of Queen Victoria's birthday.