We are just at the conclusion of our two week stretch at the cottage. 

Preparing food for each other and guests has been a primary focus for D and I and I have loved every minute of it.  But I will also be glad to be home and reacquaint ourselves with the kids and our mandatory Sunday suppers.  Tonight the breeze is actually very cool and I also look forward to the time of making soups and stews with ingredients that I intend to fetch from St. Norbert Market-a pleasure that I also miss when at the cottage. 

I am also anticipating the opportunity to eat alone again.  This is a complicated feeling and one that I cannot express as eloquently as Ann Patchett in this excerpt from “Dinner for One, Please James”.  I read a wonderful collection of food essays earlier this summer in a collection entitled:  “Alone in the Kitchen an Eggplant” (edited by Jenni Ferrai-Adler).

“So while it is with deep and genuine pleasure to nuture those I love, it is an equal pleasure to be off the hook for the responsibility as well, to pass over food that is delicate and beautiful and complex in favour of the item that is likely to spoil.  Eating as a simple means of ending hunger is one of the greatest liberties of being alone, like going to the movies by yourself in the afternoon, or back in those golden days of youth, having a cigarette in the bathtub.  It is a pleasure to not have to take anyone else’s pleasures into account or explain why I like to drink my grapefruit juice out of the carton.  Eating, after all, is a matter of taste, and taste cannot always be good taste.  The very thought of maintaining high standards, meal after meal is exhausting.  It discounts all the peanut butter that is available in the world.” 

Kath’s quote: “Oh, the pleasure of eating my dinner alone!”-Charles Lamb

As we drove down Henderson Hwy. recently, we read a sign that went “Mennonite Girls Can Cook-262 sold”.  A cryptic message, but I understood it perfectly.  “Mennonite Girls Can Cook” is the title of a blog that I enjoy very much and the “girls” have now produced a cookbook by the same title.  Sales have started off modestly… 262 to be exact.

My favourite Mennonite recipe is Platz.  When I say the name out loud, I giggle because it sounds like something that has been deposited in a field by a range animal.  In fact, it is the German name for Coffee Cake.  I like the German take on coffee cake because it is not filled with carbs and sugar.  The cake is flat and the emphasis is on seasonal fruit and berries.  I made one recently and the Daughter #2’s Frenchman (who is half German) was very impressed.

Here’s the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x13″ pan.

In the food processor, combine 1 c flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1 t baking powder, 1/4 c butter untill crumbly.  Or the cut the butter into the above ingredients with a plenty blender.  Add 1/2 c milk, 1 egg, 1 t vanilla.  Spread into the prepared pan.  Top with finely diced fresh or frozen fruit of your choice.  The “girls” prefere rhubarb or halved Italian plams.  On this day I combined rubarb, frozen strawberries, blueberries and a over ripe banana.

Combine the following for the crumb topping: 1 1/2 c of flour, 1/2 c melted butter and 1 1/2 c sugar (white or brown for a different taste).  Sprinkle over the fruit.  Bake in the top 1/3 of your oven until golden brown (about 30 minutes).  If you have overloaded the fruit (as I have a tendency to do), you may want to put a second baking sheet near the bottom of the oven to catch the drips.

A couple of weeks ago, Mom#2 picked a bucket of fresh local strawberries for me.  I froze them individually on cookie sheets before I bagged them.  Instead of turning into one frozen hunk, they come out individually frozen and are so easy to use.

 I may have posted this recipe before-who cares, it is so good that it deserves an encore. 

Kath’s quote: “You can tell when you have crossed the frontier into Germany because of the badness of the coffee.”-Edward VII

I would consider myself a Poutine Afficiando.  Not only do I take on month-long quests to find the perfect french fry, I tasted my first cheese curd 28 years ago (almost to the day) at the Minnesota State Fair.  I regard carnival food as a special treat and was astounded when we walked into the ARENA full of food vendors to grab a bit of supper before an evening concert.  The cheese curds were slippery and made a squeaky sound when you bit into it.  And since that time, every cheese curd that I’ve sampled, must pass the same rigid guidelines.  Of course the gravy too, must be just right-savoury but not too salty.  I like turkey gravy best but will settle for a good beef gravy in a pinch.

I once worked almost kiddie corner to Smoke’s location in Old Market Square.  Thank heaven that is no longer the case as the temptatin for weekly visits would be too overwhelming!  We ventured to the Cube in Old Market Square during the Fringe Festival to watch my daughter-in-law, niece and Goddaughter dance.  The day was sweltering so we found a place in the beer garden and cooled off with a shady seat and a cool one.

We tucked in to their traditional fare and declared that it was absolutely the perfect poutine.  Then went back and ordered the “Canadian” to deliver to Daughter #1 who was a Fringe Volunteer and wanting to grab supper in between working and watching a performance.  The one dish contained every food group!  We hope to find many more excuses to be in the area so that we can sample the rest of their extensive menu.

Kath’s quote: “The potato, like man, was not meant to dwell alone.”-Shila Hibben

In case you did not already know-I buy media for a living.  That means that I decide on the optimum timing and placement of radio & TV commercials, out of home & on line spots and magazine & newspaper advertisements.  The media world has drastically changed of late with the onset of hand held mobile devices and social media.  As you have witnessed in the news this summer, it has been a tough go for newspapers around the world. 

We are very fortunate to live in a city with such a prestigious and forward-thinking daily newspaper in the Winnipeg Free Press.  The publisher and editors are committed to the delivery of local news and they continue to employ talented writers and photographers to deliver that news in an insightful and thought-provoking manner.   As if that were not already enough-they have totally embraced the digital and on line world as well with a bevy of innovative products for restailers and service providers alike.  The icing on the cake is the News Cafe.  A place which promotes social interaction in a world that is increasingly avoiding face to face contact.  The location in Old Market Square and the concept is brilliant but they could not pull it off, if the cafe did not hold its own with ambience and food quality and….it does! 

 The News Cafe was the perfect place for my good friend Lori, who is also my social media and blog consultant, to have a business lunch.  When we arrived, the place was humming with a variety of solo persons working away and small groups of people from the offices of the area having coffee and deciding on lunch.  It was HOT outside but the room was cool and still sun-filled. 

Lori chose the Grilled Portobello Mushroom and havarti on panini and I the Muffaletta Sandwich. 

I have had a hankering for this delicious sandwich since I first tasted one in New Orleans.  The key ingredient to this offering is the olive tapenade which is called Muffuletta in the French Quarter of New Orleans.  I would have enjoyed an extra spread of this, but respect that this delicious version uses saltier Italian meats than the authentic one and the sodium contact was already running high.  The provolone cheese is a good choice to counter the tangyness of the olives and meats and the grilled ciabatta bun added some crunch.

Support the Cafe and the Free Press; we are so fortunate to have this fabulous media option, as part of our rich Winnipeg lives.

Kath’s quote:“News is like food: it is the cooking and serving that makes it acceptable, not the material itself.”-Rose McCaulay

Today I leave for China to visit Priscilla, and international student who lives with me during the school year.  I have been preparing myself for this trip for months, yet I really don’t have any idea what to expect.  Sure I have looked at the websites and talked with others who have made the trip, but I think that China is going to be a totally mind opening experience for me. 

Of course I am looking forward to experiencing the food.  People from Asia tell me the food is very different from what we Canadians think of as “Chinese” food. When Priscilla and I go out to eat we love to go for dim sum which she says is similar to what she would eat at home, although she had never heard the expression “dim sum”.  I am thrilled to hear that lovely steamed dumplings and noodle soups are what I have to look forward to. I doubt that there will be a deep fried shrimp in sweet and sour sauce in sight and to that I say hallelujah, bring it on. A few friends that visited Beijing told me about street vendors serving live scorpions and beetles on a stick, something I will be sure to avoid. I am an adventurous eater, but there are limits.  I am most looking forward to trying Beijing “Peking” Duck. 

On the day I picked up my Chinese visa I stopped at my favourite Chinese place, The New Hong Kong Snack House. Owner, Robert likes to give me a hard time about not visiting as often as I used to. I once worked with a woman who ate there twice a week so needless to say I was a regular.  I treated myself to his wonderful hot pork noodle soup and beginner plate which includes steamed shrimp dumplings, sweet pork bun, Peking perogies and yummy meatballs.  A great way to get my taste buds ready for the culinary adventure I am about to undertake.

Kath’s quote:  “(In Canton) the Chinese fondness for snacks and small eats reaches a kind of apotheosis.”E.N. Anderson