I write this in haste.  Not because I have a particularly hectic day; in fact D’s car is in getting a set of winter tires and he has my van, so I cannot go anywhere, anyway.  I scramble to get text onto this page and press “publish” so that I will not change my mind.  I intend to start this new year differently and I require your help.  I need to be accountable to you, my loyal readers.  I believe that you come to this space because even if we have never met in person, you care about me and perhaps even love me.  With love, there is responsibility and I hope that you will encourage me in my journey ahead.

I am almost 59 years old (I know by the photos I post here and my youthful lifestyle, you thought I was much younger, correct? correct?).  I am just on the cusp of menopause which at my late age is something that has me and my doctor, quite mystified.  Her ongoing reassurance has always been that women who are pre-menopausal are healthier than those who have gone through the change.  I have never asked the chemical or biological reasons for this, just took this as a blessing and a reason for my continued good health.  But sure enough, just as one phase of my life is making way for another, health concerns that I have never had before, are now an issue.

I am now medicated for high blood pressure and my doctor is keeping close eye on my cholesterol.  I know what I need to do to get these things into check-it is pretty simple, really.  I need to be more active and make good decisions with my diet.  (So why just now, did I almost consume that thick piece of banana bread left over from the holidays instead of pouring out a small bowl of whole grain cereal?)  The only answers I can think of, is that I am careless and lazy; that I eat as a response but not based on rational thought.  I have wholesome food in my house.  I have the luxury of time to prepare it.  So, why can’t I make good choices?

I have decided to focus on all that I love: my husband, our children and our gorgeous grandbaby.  I will soon be on Isla Mujeres where I wear a bathing suit and pareo from morning until sundown, I will spend the summer at our little cottage where I love to walk the beach from end to end, I need to chose a Mother-of-the-Bride dress for later this year, D and I want to take long hikes and stroll through Europe again in the next year or so.  These are my incentives, my motivation.

I have already made some positive steps: the salt shaker has come off our table, I have reduced the salt added to my recipes, I have eliminated coffee and drink only decafe. I have reduced my alcohol consumption in quantity and frequency.  I walk twice a day but I turn back when our old dog has done his business, instead of walking as far as I had intended.  The frigid temperatures are my excuse but this too is hogwash as I have the warmest clothes that money can by.  I love Zumba and have a set of cds that I should be working out to but I have been lazy with this too, and need to set aside time each day to really get my heart pumping.

I have pulled out my two favourite Bonnie Stern Cookbooks: “Heart Smart Cooking“,”Heart Smart Cooking for Family and Friends” and one new one: “The Heart-Smart Diabetes Kitchen“.  I intend to cook my way through the pages of these three (Julie & Julia style).  Tonight: Salmon Fillets in Rice Paper Wrappers with Peanut Dipping Sauce and a Carrot Salad with Moroccan Dressing.  High in vitamins A, B6 and B12, low in carbs, calories and fat.  I will report back on the taste.

I wanted to share all of this with you, just in case you happen to be in the same place as me.  Send me an email if you are: kathryne@mediachef.ca and we can hold hands and do this together.

Kath’s quote: “When you smiled you had my undivided attention.  When you laughed you had my urge to laugh with you.  When you cried you had my urge to hold you.  When you said you loved me, you had my heart forever.” Brandi Snyder

Love-that is all.

Whenever I walk by Monticchio Ristorante Italiano (684 Osborne St.), I do a double take, retrace my steps and gaze inside.  I have never been sure of what goes on inside because the banners of the other businesses are displayed more prominently and the restaurant name across the building awnings has faded in the sun.  On this day, with a light snow fall that the wind had not yet dispersed, the letters were completely camouflaged.  But, now that I have been inside and know the delights within, I will never forget their locale.

I was hosting a dinner party that evening and had decided to pull out some of my Italian vegetarian recipes, so I let my lunch companion make the decisions as to what we would share.  Had I tried to avoid duplicating tastes, who knows what we would have ended up eating?

We started with their house salad which was dotted with shavings of cheese and Italian ham.  The tomatoes were meaty and the dressing a perfect complement to all ingredients-with a pungent acidic taste of vinegar, a fine olive oil and what I always assumed was my secret ingredient: a pinch of sugar.   

Our “main” was selected with the help of our server who is a part of the Di Fonte family, who have owned the restaurant for the past eight years.  She recommended that we share a pizza that is not listed on the lunch menu.  As my lunch mate picked up a slice, I grabbed my knife and fork.  When she commented, I had to admit that I was afraid that if I ate the amazing smelling pizza without utensils, my share would be completely gone before she finished her next sentence.  It was so tasty, I had to muster a great deal of restraint.  The crust was wafer thin and yet flaky and buttery.  Our sever described it simply as ”Pesto” on our bill and this is how it appears on their dinner menu.  In addition to the sauce of basil, pine nuts and parmesan, the pie was topped with sun-dried tomato, feta and chicken.  I often select a version similar to this and even make it often at home, but this rendition was truly stellar and expertly prepared. 

There was another ingredient that I just could not name but discovered what it was later in our conversation with our server.  She told us that her brother-in-law was recruited to be the chef.  They had tried to teach other staff to fulfil this role but they could not find a person who understood what it meant to “cook with love.”

Kath’s quote: “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”-John Ruskin

Love-that is all.

The excerpt below is from this steamy book entitled La Cucina by Lily Prior , that kept me warm and cozy over the frigid Christmas season here in Winnipeg.   The story of a lonely librarian (I have yet to discover why the world assumes that librarians lead uneventful lives) is set in Palermo and Castiglione, Sicily.  The latter lies about 160 km east of Palermo and when we visited Sicily we were about the same distance from Palermo but in the opposite direction in Castellammare del Golfo. When I shared with my Facebook friend Erica Bauermeister writer of The School of Essential Ingredients that I was reading this book, this is what she commented “if I remember La Cucina accurately, you might need that blood pressure monitor!”  So if you are in the mood for a good (and lusty read), I would recommend the story. Here is an excerpt (Page 220 Kindle Version):

Once I arrive back at the farm, my legs walked me into la cucina, and instinctively I rolled up my sleeves and tied on my apron.  It was time for me to make myself at home once more in the kitchen.  The glossy eggplants nestling in a basket invited me to make a caponata, a sweet-and-sour vegetable stew.

I sliced and salted the eggplants and left them to disgorge their bitter juices.  While waiting, I chopped an onion and some tomatoes and celery on the old table.  The blade of the knife became a blur in my fast-moving fingers.  I chopped for Bastolomeo, a beautiful young life so needlessly cut down.  I chopped for l’Inglese, who I knew in my heart was also dead: no one ever survived a disappearance.  And I chopped for myself, for the happiness that was snatched away from me.  The vegetables soon became very small dice.  When I wiped the eggplants I fried them in some of Mama’s best olive oil, then set them to drain while I fried the onion, and added the tomatoes and a good pinch of salt.  When the sauce had thickened I put in a handful of capers, the celery, and two handfuls of green olives, and left the dish to simmer for a while.  This caused a delicious perfume to emerge from the open door of la cucina, and led old Rosario, loitering in the yard, to say, “Ahh, Rosa’s home.”  Rosario had been loitering in the yard my whole life.  When the time came we would have to bury him there.

Then I added the fried eggplants, a little sugar, and a little wine vinegar, and cooked it just long enough for the vinegar to evaporate.

I waited impatiently for the caponata to cool a little, and then ate it up with some chunks of fresh bread.  It felt good to be home.

Kath’s quote: “The meat touched her tongue and the taste ran through her, full and rich and complicated, dense as a long, deep kiss…feeling the river wind its way to her fingers, her toes, her belly, the base of her spine, melting all the pieces of her into something warm and golden.“-Erica Bauermeister (pge 56 School of Essential Ingredients).  Erica, obviously has blood pressure rising writing skills of her own.

Love-that is all.

At Christmas time I try to be helpful and take the stress off my family by offereing up suggestions of things that they could give me at our gift exchange (still to come).  But the truth is, I was once given the most incredible gift of all and now I am very difficult to buy for.  I do not know if this gift was inheriterd from my Mom and Dad, or given to me as a reward for going through some really tough times in my life or for some supernatural reason that I will never understand.  The gift that I was given, is the gift of contentment.  I am so satisfied with my life, that I cannot think of another thing that could/would improve it. The only thing that occurred to me was that I would love a mechanical pencil with a good eraser to do my sudukoes in the morning.  I kid you not, I really had a hard time coming up with more than this.  Here are the reasons why:

Cousin time

• Our youngest has just announced that she has accepted the proposal of her long-time beau (referred to as the Frenchman in this space) so we have a wedding celebration to plan and look forward to.
• We are absolutely thrilled to be first time grandparents.  We could not imagine loving anyone more than how much we love the “wee one”.  Every time she smiles, perches an eyebrow, or cries out with her husky voice, we are captivated all over again.
• Our son has finished his formal post-secondary education and our daughters are still enrolled: one in honours and the other, her masters.  We are not only thrilled that our children value their education but are grateful that we have the where-with-all to support them financially in their pursuits.
• There are some health issues in my extended family but my Mom who is in her late 80’s feels blessed to receive such good care in a sparkling clean, spacious and safe environment.  She was well enough to join us on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Four generations

After we open our gifts in the morning, we will sit down to a family brunch.  I will serve “Domestic Partner Saver” (the politically correct version of wife-saver), grilled sausages including venison garlic sausage that my brother-in-law provided, smoked gouda direct from Holland gifted by another brother-in-law, Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns, banana loaf that was given to us, a fresh fruit tray and a double crusted oatmeal apple crisp.

First Canadian Christmas for the Aussie-he says he always wears shorts on Christmas!

I am glad that we have a couple of days between the feasting that we’ve done with both sides of the family, to have some time with our very own.  Last weekend we celebrated our first Christmas with D’s family and amidst the turkey and ham, I discovered a fabulous new salad that was contributed by one of my talented sister-in-laws.  It was so good, that I produced my own spin on it and served it on Christmas Eve with my extended family.

Love-that is all.

There are so many reasons why I love working from home.  This morning as Daughter #2 flew out the door, she said: “Mom, could you please throw my laundry in the washing machine for me”?  amd I had the time to cheerfully oblige. I took an extra long walk with our old dog as he has a very thick coat and loves the cold winter far more than the balmy summer.  I met a good friend for a long lunch and picked up a few groceries on the way home.  I will be here when the wee one gets dropped off later this afternoon so that Glamma and Poppa can babysit this evening.

But this is also the time of year when I miss the camaraderie of a busy office with silent santas and pot-luck lunches.  Last week when I was at the Global studios they were getting ready for a special group lunch and there were crock pots plugged in and various people arriving with their casseroles full of savoury treats.  I got to peak under the lid of one such covered dish and it looked so good that I made it last evening for home.

Kath”s quote: “In any world menu, Canada must be considered the vichyssoise of nations — it’s cold, half-French, and difficult to stir.”-James Stuart Keate

Love-that is all.