I will turn 60 this week. It’s hard to believe, life has flown by so quickly this far. While there are lots of days my body feels 60, thankfully my brain and spirit haven’t  caught up. I think continuing to learn is a vital part of staying mentally young. I love to learn new things about language, culture, and food. Compared to some people I know a lot about cooking. In college I learned proper knife skills, how to make the master sauces, memorized all the fancy French culinary terminology, and practiced cooking the classics. But I’ve learned so much more about food since then. While I think cooking skills are like muscles that strengthen with repeated use I continue to study and practice with new ingredients and different techniques.

A few years ago I discovered the sous vide method of cooking. And I love how tender everything that is cooked this way is and also how much easier it is to keep food at a particular temperature and not overcook it. Here is how it works. You attach what looks like an immersion blender to the rim of a large pot filled with water. Once the water has come to the soared temperature, you put the items you wish to cook into a freezer bag and slowly lower it into the water, allowing the water pressure to force the air out of the bag before you seal it. Then the machine acts like a whirlpool, heating and moving the water around the bag of food. It cooks it to what ever temperature you have set the machine at. It’s a slow cooking method, but when you are making a big meal it is helpful to have your proteins hot and held at the perfect temperature.

While I have used my sous vide for lots of type of meat my favourite thing to cook this way is fish. Here is my recipe for sous vide salmon and beurre blanc, one of those master sauces I learned in culinary school. 

Sous Vide Salmon

4 fresh wild salmon filets (skin off)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt & pepper
Generously salt salmon filets and put into fridge for 30 – 60 minutes before cooking.    

Prepare sous vide bath: Fill water sous vide container (leaving room for water to rise when you put salmon in). Set the temperature on the sous vide equipment to 125 F for medium rare salmon.  Heat water to that temperature.

Wash salt off each filet.  Dry well with a paper towel. Brush all sides of salmon with olive oil, lightly salt & pepper, and place two filets in inside freezer safe ziploc bags and don’t seal bag. Lower a bag at a time  into the preheated water until top of bag is just above water (water will push air out), then seal bag. Or use a vacuum sealer if you have one. Cook for 40 minutes if salmon is 1/2-1 inch thick, or cook 40-60 minutes if salmon is 1-2 inches thick.

Beurre Blanc Sauce
½ cup white wine
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp shallots (finely chopped)
4 oz unsalted butter (cold and cut into ½” cubes)
salt

Combine wine, vinegar, and shallots in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until the liquid is reduced to about 2-3 tablespoons. Strain the mixture to remove the shallots and pour it back into the warm pan. Discard the shallot. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the cold butter, one cube at a time, until it is completely incorporated. Continue whisking over low heat until all of the butter is incorporated into the sauce. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt.

Notes:

Make sure the butter is cold.
Whisk in one cube at a time until incorporated, take your time!
Be sure to keep the saucepan on low when adding the butter heat to avoid “breaking” the sauce. 
If the sauce does break (the fat separates), simply remove the Beurre Blanc from the heat, let it cool a bit and add a very small amount of water. Whisk again and the sauce will bind again.
Once thickened remove from the heat. Like a hollandaise sauce, you don’t want to overheat this sauce or it can separate.

Kath’s quote: “Lessons from a salmon: Spawn new ideas. Show your true colours. Swim against the current. Be a good catch. Cherish clean water. Always find your way home. Don’t give up without a fight.“-authour unknown

Love never fails.

D and I have always wondered what the experience of running a Bed and Breakfast would be like. We got very close to doing so when we stayed at and fell in love with a beautiful Victorian Home in Minnedosa, MB. We would have had to completely liquidate to make it happen and so it was not meant to be.

In the mean time Air BnBs came on the scene and we have really enjoyed hosting guests from all over the world into our River Heights home. We do so in the manner that Air BnB’s operate: a coded entry,

communication by texts, on line financial interactions, etc. We have met very few of our guests face to face and that is the piece that is missing for us. D and I have always been in the hospitality business, and we miss the welcome greeting, touring the space with the quests, providing for special requests, etc.

Sister #2 and her husband have a favourite place where they spend their anniversary each year. The property is located on the “other side” of the lake from where we all live at Lester Beach. In their conversation with the Owner/Hosts of Aaron’s on the Lake, Bed and Breakfast, it was determined that as much as Eleanore and Randy loved their business and their work, they would love a respite time where they could play some golf, meet with friends and do so much loved travelling. Sister #2 mentioned to them that D and I had the experience and inclination to run such a lodging and a new adventure had begun.

We started with an overnight visit, reacquainting ourselves with the pleasures of a BnB stay.

The yard, gardens, outbuildings and the main house at Aaron’s (on the Lake) created a calm and pleasurable atmosphere right from the moment we were greeted by Elenore. She was working hard in the garden, but gave us a tour as we settled in.

Their location right on the edge of Lake Winnipeg is perfect. If you open the window of their Lakeview room, you can hearing the gentle lapping of the waves at night.

A special feature at their location is that they are right next door to one of the areas many wooden piers. These are totally unique to us, having never seen one on “our” side of the lake.

D and I walked the entire horseshoe of the bay that first evening and then took our books (and libations) to end the night. Eleanore and Randy joined us for the sunset. I think we were pretty much made up our minds that becoming Guest Hosts at a BnB, made perfect sense.

That weekend, we followed the staff around, learning how to make up perfectly cozy beds, what extra touches were added to each and every room,

make a sumptuous breakfast and a Aaron’s signature Charcuterie Board.

We drove home later that day, wanting to go to the next step in our training. And so, soon after, we arranged a weekend where we could go solo, with a safety net underneath us. Stay tuned for the details of our next BnB adventure, coming soon.

Kath’s quote: Jobs fill your pockets, adventures ill your soul.” –authour unknown

Love never fails.

I am not Ukrainian, yet I don’t think there is a culture that impacted my youth as much as Ukrainian culture did. My mom was Metis, but grew up with lots of Ukrainian friends. So she knew how to make borscht, perogies, cabbage rolls, and she was really good at these dishes. Her culinary skills were a bonus when she met our handsome Czech/Polish father.

Growing up, both my best friend and my boyfriend were Ukrainian. Terri and I met in grade two and even though she lives in the U.S. now, I still consider her my bestie. While I learned lots about Ukrainian culture from her family, we probably ate more dilly bars and brazier burgers than perogies, as they owned a Dairy Queen store. Whereas, my boyfriend Steve (who I dated from fourteen to twenty four)- his family was all about the food. His Baba was an amazing cook and generously taught me how to make many specialties. I’ll share her amazing holopchi recipe here in the future.

One of my favourite Ukrainian dishes is beet borscht. I recently visited St. Norbert market and picked up garden beets, potatoes, and onions, and pulled out a mound of dill weed from my freezer and went to work to make this rich delicious red soup. The recipe I use is from a friend I used to work with. It has a secret ingredient and while I love all borscht, I think this one is still my favourite.

Donna’s Borscht
4 large beets                          

4 large carrots

3 large potatoes

6-8 cups chicken broth  (enough to completely cover the vegetables)          

1/2 large cooking onion

1/2 lb side bacon               

20 oz can tomato soup

1 cup milk                              

2 tbsp chopped fresh dill                   

Salt and pepper to taste

Sour cream

Peel and cube beets, and potatoes, slice carrots.  Place in a soup pot with enough chicken stock to cover them.  Boil until tender.  Meanwhile cut bacon into small pieces. Fry bacon and when almost done add chopped onion and cook till translucent.  Add bacon and onion mixture to soup pot. Add dill, can of tomato soup and milk. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on the top.  Tastes even better the next day.

Sometimes I will add thinly slice cabbage to bulk the soup up.  You can skip the bacon and use vegetable broth to make a vegetarian version.

When war broke out in the Ukraine. I felt so helpless and really wanted to do something to help. So I contacted friends and family and offered to make them borscht in exchange for them making a donation to any organization supporting the people of Ukraine. I made 36 litres and together we donated approximately $2,500.00. My charity of choice was World Central Kitchen.  This team of volunteers is headed up by chef José Andrés and quickly set up to feed people fleeing to safety. So many lovely Ukrainians have feed me through my life, it was my turn to feed them. Praying for peace in Ukraine.

Kath’s quote: “The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.” – Tom Robbins

Love never fails.

Since Covid, my Food Musings topics have drastically changed. We have a favourite restaurant that we visit often, but as far as other local dining experiences, the occurrences of visits are very rare. Living at the lake for six months a year, doesn’t help either.

J1 and J2 have a favourite place in their Wolseley neighbourhood that we have wanted to visit for a very long time. When they presented us with a Gift Card as thanks for watching the Wee Ones, we held on to it for a special occasion, that being our wedding anniversary.

We commenced with a refreshing beer from Low Life and a sublime glass of wine. I typically shy away from Tuscan wines as they are usually too robust for me, but this one that our server suggested from Montepulciano, where we once visited, was as smooth as silk.

Walnuts, fresh mint and pomegranate molasses sounded like a strange way to serve olives, but it absolutely worked in this appetizer in a jar, to get our juices flowing.

When I make meatballs at home I tend to make them from ground turkey as it is affordable and good for our heart health, so Bonnie Day’s combination of beef, pork and veal was a luscious treat. Their tomato sauce sparkled and smearing everything onto a toasted baguette was perfection.

J1 suggested we sample the kale Caesar salad but spying this deconstructed chicken salad on the menu, we couldn’t resist. The skin on the quarter chicken absolutely burst with flavour and it was very hard to resist a nibble of skin with every chicken morsel.

But the piece d’ resistance for us was the whipped feta pizza. J1 suggested we sample the whipped feta as an appetizer but we thought “why not go all the way?” with this delicious entre, and we were so glad we did. The pie was sauceless, which was a welcome thing as the cheese was so decadently delicious. After our other noshing and the richness of the feta, we could only manage a piece or so each. Two days later though, served as a cold snack, it was just as scrumptious as day one! I am a truffle lover and the promise of truffle oil on the pie really sparked my interest. My only complaint of the evening was the lack of that bold flavour on our entree.

This gorgeous wall paper adorned the front entrance of the restaurant and really made a statement of what to expect of the decor. It was vintage and yet trendy at the same time. I loved the mismatched china that they utilized as their dinnerware and now I know where I will donate my china when the time comes.

As we left that evening, we walked through the deserted patio. Every time we drive past the restaurant, the patio was always packed but on Sept 2, you may recall, a blast of hot, humid air made one last appearance to our prairie city. Much as Winnipeggers embrace the heat when it comes, the cool restaurant was very much appreciated by all the diners on this evening.

If you get a chance to visit Bonnie Day, do so. The service is educated and attentive which is not a surprise in the Wolseley neighbourhood.

Kath’s quote: “A little among neighbors is worth more than riches in a wilderness.”-Welsh Saying

Love never fails.

This time of year there is often a plethora of zucchini. Our three now adult children, had birthdays in May, July and September. The latter was always a tough time for us financially as it is for many families. I once shopped at Costco for items to make school lunch making a bit easier. My check out tally came to $500 and then my cheque bounced! How embarrassing. Luckily for our household budget, J1 (our son) requested my Zucchini Chocolate Cake Recipe each and every year.

Ingredients:

2 c flour

2 t baking soda

1/2 t baking powder

1 t instant coffee (why? because cofee enhances the depth of the chocolate taste)

1/2 t salt

1 c canola oil

1 c sugar (I often substituted Stevia with good success)

3/4 c packed brown sugar

4 large eggs (room temperature)

1/3 c sour sour cream (or plain yoghurt or vinegar and milk)

2 t vanilla

3 c grated zucchini (don’t hand grate-use a food processor!)

1 c semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a silicon bundt pan with canola oil. Whisk together all the dry ingredients, set aside. In a food machine beat oil, sugars, eggs, sour cream, zucchini and vanilla together. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix until moistened. Add the chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Pour into bundt pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, testing with a toothpick after 35 minutes. Allow to cool, invert to a serving plate. I always iced mine with a chocolate cream cheese icing.

Hmm maybe that is why they liked my zucchini cake so much…

Sister #3 made a new zucchini treat this year.

If you would like the recipe for her zucchini cheese bread, leave a comment for us.

Have you ever tasted fried zucchini blossoms?

Kath’s quote: “The first zucchini I ever saw I killed it with a hoe“.— John Gould

Love never fails.