Walk Widely. Eat Wisely. Live Gratefully.
The reward for today’s workout? Black Forest smoothie. All the flavours of the famous cake, in liquid form. Combine plain fat free yogurt, dark sweet cherries, fresh or frozen, and some milk in a blender with a heaping spoonful of hot chocolate mix. We used the sugar-free kind. Cocoa and honey would work as well. Blend until smooth and start your day with something sweet.
Yesterday’s meetings finished late enough that we didn’t get home until the slush in the driveway had frozen into a rutted, slippery mess. So on today’s agenda, scraping and hacking. Lots of it. Clearly, fuel is needed, so this paradise rye French toast fit the bill. Paired up with a Full Steam coffee and some Acadian Maple syrup, and we’re ready to face what nature has doled out.
Thanks also to Krista Oland at Morning Sun Pottery for making these beautiful mugs!
…I was going to end that title with “in the frozen northland”, but in fact, relatively speaking, we are in the south of our country. However it is most decidedly winter, and that can make local a challenge. Fortunately there is nearly always a hydroponic/greenhouse grower of greens – or a friendly windowsill.
Top a big batch of greens with a simple vinaigrette of mustard, olive oil, maple syrup and cider vinegar. Sprinkle with sliced apples, walnuts, raisins, feta, and…eat up!
We were craving something delicious for lunch and there was an avocado that had just reached that moment of perfect ripeness. We diced it into some salmon and mayo, and served it on homemade whole wheat sourdough bread. Delicious with a cold glass of milk!
As the weather cools and many of our garden crops have been harvested, it can be easy to turn our thoughts to root vegetables. Well we should! But it isn’t too late for salad yet, even without cold frames. Yesterday we harvested delicious beets and Swiss chard, an we still have a healthy crop of mizuna. All of this was turned into today’s lunch salad, along with some chopped apple, walnuts, and feta cheese, held together with this vinaigrette (for two):
15ml/1T each of red wine vinegar, tarragon Dijon, and olive oil, whisked together. If you don’t have tarragon Dijon, use regular, and add some chopped herbs of your choice.
Tasty – although we admit if the chill stays in the air, we will turn our thoughts to soup!
Thanks to the amazing team of women and men at St. Anthony’s, who put together a delicious roast beef dinner last night. This was our first visit to this annual fundraiser, but it definitely won’t be our last. We hardly need more food after such a feast, and yet, here we are…time for breakfast!
Ever-bearing local strawberries were in stores and stands this week, and we’re of two minds. When we were young, everything had a season, especially strawberries. When it was the right window, we ate strawberries in every conceivable form and fashion. Then we put up, jammed, froze, or canned as many as we could, for the other seasons.
This year we missed the traditional strawberry window, on account of the happy event of gaining a son-in-law. So we were sort of relieved to see another crop appearing in our local shop. They look delicious on this almond-y French toast, we think you might agree. But we must say, it seems a little of the magic is lost. The nip of fall is in the air. We’re turning our attention to beans, root vegetables and kale. True, they might not be as tasty on our morning toast…but we think it is a better idea not to press the seasons too far. With so much bounty to enjoy, we’re fans of the ever-unfolding mysteries of what we will find in the garden that needs to be eaten next.
We started our day with these delicious muffins (check the recipe pages) and a hot steaming mug of Full Steam Titanic 1912 coffee…a fantastic start to the day!
Before our recent holiday, we packaged up any fruit we couldn’t finish, and threw it in the freezer. These sweet dark cherries and apple slices came in handy when we wanted a warming breakfast for a gray, drizzly spring day. Brown sugar, rolled oats and butter formed the crisp topping, spiced up with a shake of cinnamon. The addition of some tangy, fat-free yogurt made it just right.
For two:
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a heatproof glass dish, put 3 cups of fruit. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix 2c/500ml large-flake oats, 3T/45ml brown sugar, and 1/4c/6oml melted butter with a shake of cinnamon. Pour this on top of the fruit and bake – 30 minutes if you use fresh fruit, or 45 if you use frozen, as we did.
Top each serving with 1/4c or 60ml of yogurt.
When we were kids, my grandmother used to make this simple salad in the wintertime – usually for breakfast, but sometimes as a surprise for lunch. It consists of peeled and cubed oranges and pink grapefruit, with a small sprinkling of sugar a teaspoon, maybe a tablespoon if you are making enough for the whole family. I’m sure it can be made without the sugar, but somehow it helps the juice along.
These days we still have it for breakfast, usually with a slice of peanut butter toast, or occasionally a yogurt. And when we have it, we remember her, and smile.
It snowed overnight, which we suppose is Mother Nature having the last laugh after we were so excited at yesterday’s promise of spring. We’re fighting back, though, by having a lunchtime salad that combines the flavours of a winter Tagine with the crunchy green-ness of spring.
On a bed of greens, we added celery slices and chopped up last night’s leftover lamburgers. The dressing consisted of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and maple Dijon mustard from Kozlik’s. To top it off, some feta, raisins, and pine nuts gave us a salty-sweet finish with just the right spiciness.