Monthly Archives: November 2012

fish chowder for a cold winter’s evening

25 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in cook

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After an hour of shoveling and sweeping snow in sub-zero temperatures, there’s nothing better than coming in to the warm cabin, the air humid and fragrant with a stew or chowder simmering on the stove and freshly baked bread… I love the balance of garden potato and cod in this recipe.

Fish Chowder

1 pound cod fillets (or any firm white fish), washed and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 dozen mussels, washed and de-bearded (Note: I didn’t have these on hand this time around but they are lovely in this chowder)

1 pound red potatoes, diced with skins left on

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups milk (I use almond milk)

1 can clam nectar or clam juice

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons butter

2 onions, thinly sliced

very small pinch saffron

1 teaspoon dried thyme

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

In a pot of boiling salted water, boil the potatoes until just tender, about 8-10 minutes. Rinse and drain the water.

In a small bowl, add the saffron the 1 tablespoon of milk and set aside.

In a large soup pot, put cream, milk, clam nectar, thyme and bay leaf. Allow to warm on low heat.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter and saute onions on medium heat until translucent. Add cooked onions and potatoes to the soup pot and bring to a boil. Add the fish and mussels and the saffron. Cover and let simmer for 6-8 minutes, or until mussels are open and fish is firm to the touch. Discard the bay leaf. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately with fresh bread.

 

making Christmas cards with E

24 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by in appreciate the seasons, handmade

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A few weeks ago, E came over for some knitting by the fire. We are both beginner knitters so after only an hour or so, our hands began to cramp up. We decided to take a break from the yarn and knitting needles and go downstairs to the craft room to make some Christmas cards. We brought down our tea, a plate of freshly baked cookies, cranked the Christmas music and got straight to work.

E decided to do a forest theme for the front of her card. She used different sizes of tree stamps as well as different colors of ink layered on top of each other to give the effect of trees in a forest.

To follow the tree theme, she cut out this cute little stamp of a car carrying a Christmas tree home, which she had colored in with markers. Below is the front of the finished card.

And here is the little Christmas touch added inside… Love it!

Meanwhile, I was making a small batch of cards for myself. I began by cutting out little squares of white card stock, then stamped a pine cone in dark brown ink over a background of pine needles stamped in a lighter green ink. (Note: these stamps are from the Definately Decorative Pines set from Stampin’ Up.) I adhered each of the white squares onto a slightly larger deep brown square using double-sided tape.

Next, I prepared the red card stock by cutting each 8-1/2″ x 11″ piece in half, then scoring each of these in half and folding them. I stamped “Peace on Earth” on the inside and let this dry a little. Then I stamped the pine needles in green ink over the front and adhered the pine cone squares with thick mounting tape.

It was a fun and productive day and now we are one small step closer to being ready for the holiday season. Tomorrow I will spend some time writing a personal note in each card and will send them next week. Hmm… what’s next?

discovering raw chocolate at the Devonian Botanical Garden and making raw chocolate at home

18 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in chocolate-making, raw foods

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My love affair with chocolate has taken an exciting new turn…

Last month I attended a Heart Yoga and Raw Chocolate Workshop at the Devonian Botanical Garden. The class was held in the Ozawa Pavilion overlooking the peaceful Kurimoto Japanese Garden and Lacie Cosgrove was our amazing instructor. We spent the first hour and a half doing a yoga sequence focusing on both the physical and spiritual aspects of the heart. After the yoga, we gathered around Lacie as she taught us about the medicinal and nutritional value of raw cacao and its affect of stimulating and calming the heart. She brought along 6 samples of various blends and flavors mixed in to the raw chocolate and shared some of her secrets of making raw chocolate from scratch. We also had a lovely herbal tea to drink.

I was so inspired that I immediately went to Noorish, (conscious eatery and superfood elixer bar) in Edmonton to buy the raw cacao as well as the two books by David Wolfe that Lacie recommended which contain everything I need to know about cacao (Naked Chocolate and Superfoods). Note: I will need to do separate posts on Noorish, raw cacao, David’s books and more tips of chocolate-making in the near future!

Today, I decided to start with a simple recipe:

Raw Chocolate with Maca and Toasted Almonds

3/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup agave nectar (add 3/4 cup if you like your chocolate to be very sweet)

1 cup raw cacao powder

1 teaspoon maca (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

Toast almonds and set aside to cool. Distribute tiny cupcake paper cups (I buy these at craft stores in the candy-making section) on a plate, or lay out candy molds. Put a few pieces of nuts into each cup.

Place coconut oil in a double boiler and gently heat until it turns to a liquid state. Add the agave nectar and vanilla and whisk to combine. add the cacao and maca and which until smooth. Pour a small spoonful into each cup. Once all cups are filled, put chocolate in the refrigerator to set for at least one hour.

Enjoy! Store in the refrigerator or freezer in an air tight container.

By the way, when it came time to clean my chocolate bowl, I heated up some almond milk and added it to the bowl and whisked the last of the chocolate into the milk. Voila! Hot chocolate! I poured this into two tiny cups, sprinkled a bit of cayenne pepper on top and served this to B. A delicious and healthy treat!

silky sweet potato pie

15 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by in buy local, cook

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I found a great cookbook recently at my local thrift store, called Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source by Terry Walters. This is my first recipe in using this book and I am already loving the focus on local, seasonal cooking. This pie was so easy to make and after trying a piece, my friend B said that this was the best pie he had ever tasted. I am looking forward to trying more recipes in this beautiful book!

Silky Sweet Potato Pie
For the Crust:
1-1/2 cups pecans
1/4 cup chickpea flour (or whatever flour you have on hand- I used spelt this time, but chickpea flour will add a rich and creamy texture to the crust)
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
pinch of sea salt
For the Filling:
3 medium sweet potatoes
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup rice milk (I used almond milk)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1 teaspoon agar powder
Preheat oven to 350 defrees (F). Wash the sweet potatoes, place them on a cookie sheet and bake until soft time will vary according to the size of the potatoes. Remove from oven and set aside.
Meanwhile, chop pecans in a food processor until it resembles fine meal. Add chickpea flour and process briefly to combine. Add oil, syrup and salt and process to form dough. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate with canola oil, add dough and press to form an even crust (about 1/4-inch thick). Pierce several times with a fork and bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack to cool.
When sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove skins and cut into large pieces. Place in cleaned food processor bowl and add maple syrup, rice milk, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, arrowroot and agar powder. Process until smooth.
Pour filling into pie crust, cover edges with foil and bake for 50 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack. Serve at room temperature or cold. Enjoy!
Resource:
Walters, T. (2009). Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source. New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Co. Inc.

cabinorganic learns to knit

04 Sunday Nov 2012

Posted by in handmade, knit

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I like making a piece of string into something I can wear.  ~Author Unknown

My grandmother patiently taught me to knit when I was 10 years old. I never finished that first project and after my grandmother passed on two years later there was no one else in my life that knitted. Years later, I tried crocheting and did manage to finish one afghan while living up in Inuvik, NT. I loved the hours of sitting quietly, with yarn and needle hook in hand and my thoughts free to wander… Just a few months ago, I become inspired by a few friends to begin knitting once more. I was impressed at how my hands remembered the stitches even after all of these years. Pictured below is a scarf that I knitted last month with organic cotton yarn. I haven’t cast off yet (or added fringe to the ends) as I am trying to decide if I will finish it (and either wear it or give it away) or if I will unravel it and make something new.

Knitting is very conducive to thought.  It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again.  ~Dorothy Day

A knitter only appears to be knitting yarn. Also being knitted are winks, mischief, sighs, fragrant possibilities, wild dreams. ~Dr. SunWolf

Below is my new project. It is another small project- great for beginners- another scarf, this time for a friend of mine. I chose a simple pattern as the yarn is quite fuzzy and adds a lot of texture on its own.

Apart from yoga, meditation, reading, it has to be one of the most serene things to do…  ~Carole Berman and Jennifer Lazarus, about needlepoint

Knitting is a boon for those of us who are easily bored.  I take my knitting everywhere to take the edge off of moments that would otherwise drive me stark raving mad.  ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit’s End:  Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

I love knitting! I love those quiet and deeply relaxing moments where I knit just a row or two before moving to another task. Or better yet, those long afternoons where I can sit by the fire and knit for a few good hours. I carry a large purse and always have a book with me wherever I go. Now I carry a book and my knitting…

Everybody tells me that they would love to knit, but they don’t have time.  I look at people’s lives and I can see opportunity and time for knitting all over the place.  The time spent riding the bus each day?  That’s a pair of socks over a month.  Waiting in line?  Mittens.  Watching TV?  Buckets of wasted time that could be an exquisite lace shawl.  ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit’s End:  Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

Knitting is equally enjoyable with a friend or group of friends. Yesterday, E came over to the cabin and we knitted by the fire for a few hours while catching up on each other’s busy lives. She is also a beginner knitter and we are learning together. She is working on a scarf for herself and chose a funky deep purple yarn with sparkles woven in, which perfectly matches her winter jacket. We had a good laugh about her school friend’s comments about E taking an “early retirement” with her grandmotherly hobby (she is 11 years old). But soon we will show them how “cool” knitting is, especially when we are able to wear our new creations.

All my scattering moments are taken up with my needle.  ~Ellen Birdseye Wheaton, 1851

I have always loved making things with my hands… quilts, crafts, gifts and now knitted projects. I am looking forward to knitting my first sweater soon and love that I can pick exactly the yarn and pattern and size I want. With the winter slowly arriving, it is nice to have new indoor projects to keep me busy and learning!

I am looking around for a few good books with easy patterns for us. In particular, I have seen some that have funky patterns for children and teenagers (for E). If you happen to know of any great knitting books, blogs or websites, please feel free to write in and recommend them! In the meantime, I’ll be here… knitting…

There is no right way to knit; there is no wrong way to knit.  So if anybody kindly tells you that what you are doing is “wrong,” don’t take umbrage; they mean well.  Smile submissively, and listen, keeping your disagreement on an entirely mental level.  They may be right, in this particular case, and even if not, they may drop off pieces of information which will come in very handy if you file them away carefully in your brain for future reference.  ~Elizabeth Zimmerman