Making time for a stroll

I'm not a person who thinks about work when I'm not at work. This, I feel, is a real stroke of luck. However, during the work day, watch out! When work tends towards stressful, like it has lately, getting a break during the day has been something that I really have to try to remember (like eating!). Until lately, I've had a hard time figuring out what to do that will actually give me a chance to think about something else, and not just stand up from my desk and then sit back down.

I have found that taking pictures on my strolls really really helps (although I'm not sure the Oak Bay neighbours always agree!). It forces me to engage with the outside world and notice it, and not just keep spinning about my work tasks, which will really take all the space you give it. The above scene is half a block from my work. Where better to go than a rose garden? It's almost funny being in there. There are a lot of rose varieties, they all smell different and it's always empty. Basically, it's a little taste of Alice in Wonderland. And what could be a better balance to picky work detail than that?

Making a list of meal ideas

This is a simple project that I've been meaning to start for a long time:

Step 1: Write down your favorite supper ideas and where to find the recipes (plus any other details that you think your future self should know).
Step 2: Add to the list as you try new recipes and discover that you like them as well.
Step 3: Refer to the list when you need to buy groceries but can't think of a single thing that you have ever enjoyed eating.

Sarah told me about this system a year or two ago when we were discussing our grocery shopping habits; Michael and I get by, but I could do with a little less time spent flipping through cookbooks. And pulling my hair.

P.S. I'm going to ditch that card that suggests that I make the baked garlic butter beans again. I jumped the gun with that one, adding it while the beans were still in the oven last night. The amount of work that went in preparing the beans (soaking and peeling) and the tomatoes (blanching) did NOT pay off.

P.P.S. I'm going to add a card with pancakes writ large as soon as I get home.

Making Strawberry Jam

And so another ambitious jam season begins. This weekend Marc, Erin and I headed out to Saanich to collect a piece of the spring/summer bounty. Strawberries were at the top of the list, although SunWing: I could not love you more.

So, jam! This winter/early spring, I really had to ration the jam I managed to make. This year, I hope to avoid this notion, or delay it, by making quite a lot more than last year.

I use a Nigella Lawson strawberry jam recipe with one major difference. I like her recipe very much (balsamic vinegar! no pectin!), but she doesn't process her jam in a water bath. A lot of the British recipes I've looked at don't bother with this. I can't totally abandon it though, so I process it for 10 minutes. It hasn't led to any problems with consistency or anything like that, and it makes me feel better, so I figure it's worth it.

I hope to seduce Erin with the ease and payoff of all of this.

I think I've got the payoff part in the bag, don't you?

Making Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Another trip to the farm called for another strawberry rhubarb dessert recipe. This time I made a Bowen family favorite. You'll see from the amount of sugar involved that it's easy to love!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
Adapted from a recipe by Lorraine Bowen (my mother-in-law)

Put 2 cups of rhubarb, 2 cups of strawberries, 1 cup of white sugar and 2 tbsp of flour in a baking dish and toss. Combine 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of rolled oats and 1/2 cup of room temperature butter and cover rhubarb mixture. Bake for 45 minutes at 300.

Making Strawberry Rhubarb Fool

I don't think there's anything better than picking strawberries and eating the ones that are too soft to keep until later, the ones that are warm from the sun.

I picked a bowl of strawberries at Dan's Farm on Saturday, and after we froze some and ate some more, I decided to make the Strawberry Rhubarb Fool recipe from my Fresh cookbook.


The crazy simple recipe goes something like this: simmer a cup of chopped rhubarb with a half cup of water and a half cup of sugar for 20 minutes. Add a cup of strawberries for five more minutes. Blend. After cooling, fold into two cups of whipping cream that you whipped during the simmering. Cool some more.

The fool was super tasty, but I felt strange eating what is essentially a bowl of whipped cream; it felt both too indulgent and not indulgent enough. Next time I think I will serve it with a piece of angel food cake. I also wonder how it would work in an Icebox Cake, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to find out.