We typically serve this salad around Christmas as pomegranates are not always available all year round on the central prairies.  Why does this recipe come to my mind when it is almost summer?  I crave salty/sweet food combinations the way others crave chocolate.  A reasonable substitute for the pomegranates is watermelon, which I just happen to have in the fridge!  In addition, there is new evidence that pomegranates are a superfood and I am always trying to find ways to incorporate more superfoods into my families’ diet.

1 head romaine lettuce, washed & torn

1 bunch spinach stems removed, washed & torn

Seeds of 1 pomegranate or ½ c dried cranberries

¼ c toasted pine nuts

½ c crumbled feta cheese

Dressing

1/3 c olive oil

1 T red wine vinegar

2 T maple syrup

1 t Dijon mustard

½ t oregano

Salt & freshly ground pepper

Toss lettuce & spinach together in a large salad bowl.  Add pomegranate seeds, add pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and feta.  Whisk dressing ingredients together, store in fridge.  Toss with salad ingredients just before serving.  Serves 6.

Kath’s quote: “Let us go early to the vineyards to see… if the pomegranates are in bloom—there I will give you my love.”-Song of Solomon

My husband has a distinct memory from his childhood and that is of the rotisserie turning on the barbecue every Sunday afternoon.  Of course in those days it was over live briquettes which we still use up at the cottage for beach barbecues. My husband and I are not major consumers.  We had been married five years before we purchased a gas lawn mower or a brand new vacuum.  Well, we’ve just marked our 25th last fall and my husband has finally gotten his rotisserie!

Last Sunday we invited the kids over for backyard cocktails and supper on the deck. Now that we only have one living with us at home, we try to assemble for at least one meal together every week. 

My husband put a couple of chickens on the spit and then grilled portobello mushrooms.  I sauteed spinach in bacon, onion and almonds and then tossed new baby potatoes in sour cream and fresh dill. 

We also enjoyed a crisp Chenin Blanc that Daughter #3 brought back from Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Kath’s quote: “Wine is sunlight, held together by water.”-Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

The first time I ever tasted Ceviche (raw fish “cooked” in line juice) I was with Sister #3 at a restaurant called El Rico Maya in Cozumel in the late 1980s!  When the three sisters first travelled to Mexico together in 2005, we tricked Sister #2 into trying Ceviche Mixto by telling her that the cylindrical fish (octopus) were scallops.  She bravely had a taste.

Tonight we are all assembling to celebrate the birthday of a dear friend who also happens to be our son’s Father-in-law.  The theme is Mexican and since it is spring, all of the ingredients are plentiful and well priced on the prairies.

This is the recipe that I have adapted over the years-modifying it to partially cook the shrimp before I take it to a party where it sits out all evening.

1 lb. medium shelled shrimp (optional: before shelling, steam until shell JUST start to turn pink, then remove from heat and rinse in very cold water)

freshly squeezed juice from 2 large limes

salt and pepper to taste

1 small white onion, chopped

3 roma tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, loosely chopped

1/2 t chili flakes

1 T ev olive oil (optional)

In a glass bowl, toss together shrimp and lime juice.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (This is particularly NB if using unsteamed shrimp as this is time is required for the shrimp to “cook”).  When shrimp are opaque, add all of the other ingredients and toss.

Here’s a photo of the dish being prepared by my man-servant-jk.  I took this of the Chef at Tibouran on Isla Mujeres when we requested an order to go for “happy hour” on our hotel balcony.

Kath’s quote: “Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.”-Carl Sandburg

Thank you to my patient readers, this is the last entry about our traditional Easter celebrations.  We have a group of friends that have been getting together for an Easter Feast for over a decade.  It started when Connie (our  transplanted Sicilian friend) remarked that she was missing her families’ celebration that year and so we decided to create an traditional Italian Easter celebration of our own. Connie and Roger are visiting from Castellammare del Golfo right now and so the timing was perfect.

Connie and I in her home town

Connie assembled the antipasto.  Three Italian meats, provolone cheese, olives, marinated veggies and spicy eggplant.  She picked everything up at Sobey’s and was very pleased with their selection and quality.

Next course was Judy’s Caprese salad, topped with a light shake of olive oil from C&R’s own olive trees back home.  This was accompanied by Connie’s stuffed sun dried tomatoes-a recipe that she taught me when we visited them in Sicily. In addition, delicious and authentic breads purchased at De Luca’s (that were contributed by another attendee) were served. 

The meat course was Italian sausages that I brown and then roasted with tri-coloured peppers and a roasted herb chicken that we have called “Ruth’s” Chicken since she shared the recipe with me 20 years ago.  Roasted potatoes and yams with a drizzle of truffle oil and yellow and green beans sauteed with toasted pine nuts, accompanied the meats.

The person who was to have brought the salad course, which was to have been served next, couldn’t make it and so “uncleansed”, we ate on.  Gina contributed a decadent tiramisu that she purchased at La Grotta and Connie had brought a special cake from Sicily –Il Panettone Grandorato.  Jamie brought a platter of fruit to accompany the sweets and Doug put on the tea and espresso.

Kath’s quote: “Food is not about impressing people. It’s about making them feel comfortable.”-Ina Garten

Saturday of Easter weekend we went to another service where we rang bells and noisemakers at an appointed time.  It was like New Year’s Eve but even more fun because we celebrated many times not just once at midnight. 

My family assembled for dinner before the service and we walked over to church together.  I prepared all the items in advance and assembled them to go into the oven when the baked ham came out for a “rest”.

Doug did a superb job of the ham.

This was accompanied by  a mandarin/almond salad which I veggied up red onion, red pepper  and sprigs of fresh cilantro. 

We also  had cheesy scallop potatoes, sweet potatoes tossed in honey, green beans topped with crispy onion rings and herb pull-apart loaf. 

For my new daughter-in-law I prepared one of her families’ traditions when ham is served-hot curried fruit ( I used pineapple, peaches and mangoes). 

I also made this hot mustard sauce to go with the ham:

Whisk together 1 T of flour with 3/4 c sugar and 1 T dry mustard.  In a separate bowl, blend 2 egg yolks with 1 c milk.  Whisk the contents of the two bowls together and then whisk in 1/2 c tarragon vinegar.  Transfer to saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking the entire time, then reduce and simmer until desired thickness.

It was a wonderful weekend and we created some new traditions.

“I do not green eggs and ham.  I do not like them Sam I am.”-Dr. Seuss