Sister #2 had surgery this week and is now recuperating at their home at the lake.  In an attempt to increase her rest time but also give her the excuse for an outing, we have invited them over to our place for dinners this long weekend.  This is easy to achieve since their place is a mere three cottages away with a cut through of the kind neighbours at a 4th house.  At the appointed hour, they (two adults and one beautiful old white lab) mosey on over to assemble in our solarium if the bugs are pesky or el fresco if they have subsided.

I had a couple of pork tenderloins in the freezer and we often prepare them in a brine, the recipe of which was given to us by Sister #3.  But to mix things up a bit, I saw that my gifted copy of “The Kamado Smoker & Grill Cookbook” written by Chris Grove (Ulysses Press)
had a version close to ours but with a Mexican influence.  Since we all travel to Isla Mujeres together, chilies and cilantro is just our “cuppa tea”.

As is often the case when I am cooking at the Beach House, I had to modify a couple of ingredients to make this dinner all come together-some out of necessity and some because of preference.  We prefer wheat tortillas over corn ones and to be specific whole wheat wraps are our favourite.  The recipe book also recommends having Mexican toppings on hand such as Mexican crema and cotija cheese.  For these I substituted Greek yoghurt and feta cheese.  Regular white sugar replaced piloncillo (Mexican sugar) and other than that my recipe list was complete.  Whether you specifically recreate this recipe or not, the pre-amble for this and every recipe in the book is extremely detailed and helpful for your general reference.

A brine is a simple solution of salt, sugar, and some type of aromatic.  Just remember this one rule and you will be on your way to making your own brines: use 2 to 5 tables of kosher salt per quart of water and equivalent amount ( or less) of sugar.  ….Add whatever aromatics you like.  If they dissolve in water, then you don’t have to heat your brine first.  But a lot of seasonings (such as black pepper) aren’t water soluble, and you need to heat the brine for 5 minutes to release their essential oils.  Then you need to cool it back down to 40 degrees or below to make it food-safe.  To do that, I put one of those blue freezer packs in a zip-top bag and put it in the brine in the refrigerator until the mixture comes down to temp.

More tips from this excellent reference cookbook:

To get an extra boost of flavour, try grilling citrus ingredients for marinades and cocktails.  Cut them in half and grill direct, cut side down, over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

OMGoodness-the refreshing lime taste went to an entirely new level.  A fabulous tip that we will use often.

The tacos were served to rave reviews along side grilled pitty pat yellow squash and sautéed coloured swiss chard. A meal that was huge on flavour, low on fat and best of all -full of protein, nutrients and anti-oxidants to help my amazing sister heal.

I love this new cookbook in my repertoire.  The next step will be acquiring a Kamado Smoker & Grill!  Here’s what the book’s publicist had to say about it:

Designed to do everything from slow smoke at 250 degrees to flash sear at 700 degrees, the kamado-style grill is the most versatile and powerful backyard cooker. Are you ready to become a Kamado Pro?

Introducing “The Kamado Smoker and Grill Cookbook,” the first all-encompassing guide to the wildly popular egg-shaped ceramic cooker currently blowing up the world of barbecue.

This cookbook is organized into 52 tutorials that combine a valuable kamado cooking technique with a delicious recipe that are sure to transform you from casual griller to kamado masterchef!

You’ll learn the steps and secrets to perfectly grilling Cajun Strip Steak, smoking Hickory Smoked Chicken, brick oven baking Wood-Fired Pizza, salt-block grilling Tropical BBQ Tuna, and so much more.

With gorgeous full-color photographs as well as loads of tips and tricks, this is a must-have manual for anyone (like Dad!) looking to spend their summer enjoying tasty barbecue!

Kath’s quote: “Cookery, or the art of preparing good and wholesome food, and of preserving all sorts of alimentary substances in a state fit for human sustenance, or rendering that agreeable to the taste which is essential to the support of life, and of pleasing the palate without injury to the system, is, strictly speaking, a branch of chemistry; but, important as it is both to our enjoyments and our health, it is also one of the latest cultivated branches of the science.”-Frederick Accum (1769-1838)

Love-that is all.

When I am tasked with regularly cooking up brunch items for weekend breakfasts at the beach house, I try to stretch my repertoire passed bacon, pancakes and eggs.  On this particular weekend, I had lugged along a bag of Brussel sprouts and then ran out of opportunities to cook them for dinner.  At a Beach House you have to be flexible and use your fresh ingredients when they are at their maximum.  As a result, this dish was born.  J2 thought that it tasted like the Brussel sprouts on the Segovia menu and I couldn’t think of higher praise than that.

I love using my Mom’s mandolin for jobs like this.  My kids always called Brussel sprouts, baby cabbages.  They actually ate them as youngsters.

Check out this nutritional info about Brussel sprouts (from http://www.brussels-sprouts.com/): They are a very good source of many essential vitamins, fiber, and folate. They are especially high in Vitamin C. They, along with their other cruciferous cousins, have been shown to have some very beneficial effects against certain types of cancer, as they contain many different ingredients that are believed to help prevent the disease.

The combination of pungent sprouts, salty bacon, nutty crunch, sublime maple syrup and the rich oozing of the egg yolk make this one a keeper in my mind.

Kath’s quote: “We kids feared many things in those days – werewolves, dentists, North Koreans, Sunday School – but they all paled in comparison with Brussels sprouts.”-Dave Barry

Love-that is all.

The past year has been an amazing one for our family.  One year ago today, the Wee One was born with a bit of a ruckus that I am so pleased is long forgotten (well, perhaps not by her Mom).

She has made each day of our lives rich with purpose and meaning.  We are so blessed that she (and all our family in fact) live only minutes away from us, so we intercept on a regular basis.  We love to babysit and especially our most recent times with her at the Beach House.  J1 brings her into our little bedroom in the morning so that J2 can catch a little bit more sleep.

D has always been a fun and affectionate Daddy but he is absolutely transformed as a Poppa.  He can’t stop kissing and hugging her and he is mesmerized by every little thing that she does.  In truth, we all are.  We talk about her over dinner and are fascinated by her every move when she is with the family.

The Wee One will perform official duties a the flower girl for Daughter #2 and the Frenchman this fall.  Can you imagine?

Most profoundly is watching her being nourished and grow-both her beautiful little body and her incredible mind.  She has a huge vocabulary and loves books and roll-playing.  She has a quick wit and loves to tease and surprize us.  She is long and lean and has a super-strong core, being able to pull herself to a sitting position for months now.  Her mouth full of big teeth (genetically gifted to her through D’s side of the family) has meant that she has been biting and chewing food with ease.  Plain Greek yoghurt and garlicky hummus are two of her favourites but she also loves the cheerios out of my homemade nuts and bolts mixture and French fries (just like her Glamma).

Her birthday celebration was her first taste of coconut cream cheese icing.  She resourcefully discovered the best way to attack conquest.

People ask us if she is ever sad and although it is rare, she was unhappy about something going on here.

She loved the texture of the frosting and spread it all over her body like her mom does with a massage cream when she is getting ready for bed.  She is being whisked away for a refreshing bath at this moment.

She is so social and loves being with her enormous family and all of J1 and J2’s friends.

With her Auntie Beep

and her Auntie Boo. The Wee One already knows that food=love and delights in sharing her favourite tastes.

With her many second cousins

and her Uncle B and only first cousin.

We are so blessed that her other grandparents are our best friends and we share in the joy of her in our lives.

This was their special birthday gift to her.  They are a family who loves to celebrate life with food too and this seems to me the most appropriate gift.

Here are two of her great-grandmas.  My Mom hired a cab to drive her from the Misrecordia in Winnipeg.  Love was in abundance.

Kath’s quote: “I know why families were created with all their imperfections. They humanize you. They  are made to make you forget yourself occasionally, so that the beautiful balance of  life is not destroyed”.-Anais Nin

Love-that is all.

When I saw that this book was featured recently in the book section of the Winnipeg Free Press, I could not  wait to get my hands on it-literally and figuratively.  I was looking forward to reading the story of four women united by their mutual foodie blogs.  But I literally wanted to put my hands on a “real” book; one that I could throw in my beach bag and sink into on the shore as opposed to risk taking my tablet with me.  I now upload books from Kindle, which is how I keep up with my book consuming obsession.

I always find it fascinating to read a work of fiction that closely intercepts my own life.  This is why I love reading fiction that is food and/or travel themed.  This really is where the intrigue of this novel ended for me.  I found the premise had been done before and the almost instant success of the food bloggers unrealistic (unless I just jealous that one blogger had more than ten times my audience).  Blogging and especially food blogging is very hard work but somehow these fictional bloggers were able to whip off blog posts before turning out the light at night. Case, in point: mine typically take me in the two hour range and that is not including recipe testing, photo taking and reformatting.

But, you decide for yourself.  Here’s an excerpt (the novel includes blog posts, recipes, photos and emails):

O Cherries!

I am in bliss.  Purest, deepest cherry bliss.  I am going to become a cherry in my next life, born to open my soft pink petals to the new spring sun.  Honeybees will buzz around my stigma and drink of my juices and bring me the secret nectar to impregnate me.  I’ll close my petals tightly and rest in the cradle of bright mornings and rainy afternoons until I grow big and fat and red, the very red of lips, and luscious, and then I will be plucked with gentle fingers and carried, ever so tenderly, into the hot, waiting mouth of a hungry woman.  I’ll feel her tongue wrapping around my roundness, feel myself explode into her throat and cascade into her body.

Cherries are in season.  You can cook them if you want to, make them into pies, or put them in pancakes or slice them into a salad.  But, really, why?  Just eat them.

If you’ve heard fabulous culinary photography called “food porn”, I think that this except might classify as food porn as well.  Actually I am being unfair to the author because when I read it again (I just finished the book this morning) I can see how this was intended to be foreshadowing.  But, and I guess that this is my key complaint, the narrative kind of strayed from the food blogging business and became more of a story of “coupling” with everyone finding the perfect mate in the end.  I don’t think that I am wrecking the story for you as the conclusion was pretty predictable in my mind.  Novels of this genre often climax (pun intended) with a multitude of persons paired off like a Shakespearean comedy or even a more ancient story-Noah’s Ark.

As I say though, if you are a foodie, food writer or blogger, you might find this a fun summer read.

Kath’s quote: “And I don’t care! How about that! I love French fries!”-one of Barbara O’Neal’s fictional characters.

Love-that is all.

I once worked around the corner from the King’s Head Pub and Eatery and it was our Friday lunch restaurant of choice. We didn’t sit at the wood as Norm did at “Cheers” and the bartender did not know our names but our waiter certainly did.  He also knew our drinks of choice off by heart, as well as our lunch orders.  I recently got to choose a place to meet up with these former co-workers and it seemed only right that we assemble at the King’s Head.

Not a lot has changed over the years except perhaps that it was once a private club and we had to purchase a membership to attend and sign in every visit.  The pints of beer are still served as frosty cold and our favourites were still on the menu.

Two of our standard orders were the Fish and Chips and the Chicken Curry.  The price of the Fish and Chips has not risen as steeply as the cost of haddock has inflated.  In order to compensate for its dear cost, the portion has been scaled back a bit.  This is a good thing because I could never eat a whole portion back then and the new size is just right.  The beer batter is what makes it so irresistible and takes me back to the days of ordering Fish and Chips at Eaton’s Valley Room (now I’m really dating myself).  The fries are still delectable, especially with just a shake of malt vinegar and a glistening of salt.  Ketchup?  How dare you suggest such a thing!

The chicken curry, although not a feast for the eyes, was enthusiastically tucked into.  The taste that was offered to me indicated a confident curry cook in the kitchen. 

The third member of our klatch loves spicy food more than anyone I know but the Chicken Vindaloo proved to be too much for even her to handle.  She had been duly warned by our server but had no idea what she was getting into.  The abundance of on-tap beer varieties help quench the fire. 

 Kath’s quote: “This curry was like a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony that I’d once heard…..especially the last movement, with everything screaming and banging ‘Joy.’ It stunned, it made one fear great art. My father could say nothing after the meal.” – Anthony Burgess

Wearing my birthday gift of a turquoise heart-how did they know?

Love- that is all.