The Birch Patio… another great reason to visit the Devonian Botanical Garden

07 Saturday Sep 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in Devonian Botanical Garden, restaurants

Tags

al fresco, Alberta cafe, cafe, cappuccino, coffee, Devonian Botanical Garden, Elm Cafe, kaitas, patio, pickle soup, recommended restaurant, summer dining, The Birch Patio

One of my favorite cafes in Edmonton is Elm Cafe, located on 100, 10140 117 Street. I usually order a large cappuccino and either sit indoors, enjoying the ambience of the tiny cafe and the current art hanging on the walls; or I sit outdoors on their equally tiny patio to take in the weather and changing seasons while sipping the best cappuccino I have ever tasted.

You can imagine how happy I was to visit the Devonian Botanical Garden (DBG) last spring and find that Nate Box of Elm Café had opened The Birch Patio.

The Birch Patio offers a unique and tasty menu of al fresco treats and showcases many local producers, including fresh produce grown right there at the gardens. The menu changes daily and is inspired by the seasons. The Birch Patio also offers a selection of beer, wine and seasonal libations.

On my visit in May, I had the kaitas sandwich and the pickle soup; both were very tasty. Last month, I simply had a cappuccino and a gourmet cookie (double chocolate).

If you’ve taken in any of the DBG’s date nights (June-August) this past spring and summer, then you would have had the opportunity to experience one of The Birch Patio’s themed dinner menus and activities, including long-table dinners, country fair, summer in Paris, seniors’ night and summer dances.

The DBG closes its doors for the season after October 14^th so be sure to stop in even if only for lunch or a mid-day snack in a beautiful location. It will be well worth the drive!

Click here to go to The Birch Patio’s website. (They offer catering!)

Click here to go to the Elm Cafe’s website. (They offer catering!)

Click here to go the the Devonian Botanical Garden’s website.

The Birch Patio Hours

May 1-31 11 am – 3 pm weekdays  10 am – 5 pm on weekends

June 1 – Sept. 2  10 am – 6 pm daily and Date Night Thursdays until dusk

Sept. 3 – Sept. 30 11 am – 3 pm weekdays  10 am – 5 pm on weekends

Oct. 1 – Oct. 14 (Thursday – Sunday only) 10 am – 3 pm

baby update…6 weeks old

06 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in appreciate the seasons, bellybabechild, Chayton, more about us

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

6 week old baby, baby, bellybabe&child, Chayton, child, mom, new mom, newborn

It’s been six weeks since Chayton was born and although I have been ready to get back to my regular blog posts- with no shortage of recipes, projects and stories to share, I have been finding the challenge of the newborn two-to-three hour feeding/sleeping schedule a bit of a challenge. Also, my family was here to visit all last week so things were even busier for a while!

I have no complaints though, as I know that this time with a newborn passes very quickly. Already Chayton is staying awake for longer periods of time, he has gained weight and grown in length, he can roll over on a blanket on his own and is even finally starting to fit some of the smallest newborn clothes. Even his strawberry-blonde hair is longer and thicker and I am starting to notice that his eyelashes are darkening a little.

As I hold him and marvel at all of these small changes, my imagination starts to run away on me as I picture him waiting for the school bus on the curb and leaving for his first day of school.. starting junior high… or even leaving for university or college… I have to stop myself at this point as I start getting misty-eyed at the thought of this tiny little boy, all grown up and independent some day and ready to leave his mom! I know that there is no need to jump ahead here as I snuggle him in a little closer and kiss his fragrant head for the hundredth time today… “Baby steps”, as they say!

One thing that I have noticed about myself since recently becoming a mom is a stronger commitment to living simply, naturally and holistically. With a child, I am fully aware that I am helping to create the world that my child will inherit and I have even more reason now to live a life that is aligned with my core values.

Another thing that I have noticed are the countless ideas that I now have daily on ways to diaper, clothe, feed, raise, play and interact with my child. I look forward to sharing these ideas with you (and learning from your comments and advice) on my upcoming blog: cabinorganic~bellybabechild.

Already Chayton has enriched my life in so many ways and has allowed me to grow in ways that would not be possible without my becoming a parent. I welcome and embrace these changes and strive each day to live fully in the present moment. After all, it’s all we really have.

moroccan lamb burgers

04 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

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BBQ, burger, ground lamb, lamb, Moroccan lamb burger, spelt buns, spicy burger

Enjoy these delicious and flavorful burgers on one of your late summer barbeque! I baked spelt buns earlier in the day and served these with a thick slice of Monterey Jack cheese.

Moroccan Lamb Burgers

1-3/4 pounds ground lamb (1 package)

1 egg

½ cup breadcrumbs (use wheat-free or gluten-free if desired)

Half of one red onion, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

1-2 jalapeño chilies, seeded, minced

1 garlic clove, minced

1-1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

vegetable oil

Combine all ingredients thoroughly (except for the vegetable oil). Shape into four patties. Brush some vegetable oil on your grill and BBQ until done. Serve and eat immediately!

Serve on 4 large hamburger buns, split horizontally and top with mayonnaise, lettuce and sliced tomatoes and Monterey Jack cheese. Enjoy!

calling all mushroom lovers… “City of Champignons”- Mushroom Exposition at the Devonian Botanical Garden

22 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in Alberta Mycological Society, Devonian Botanical Garden, mushrooms & fungi, wild mushrooms

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Alberta mushrooms, Alberta Mycological Society, August event, Devonian Botanical Garden, fungi, mushroom tasting, mushrooms, mycology, wild mushrooms

Last Sunday (August 18th), B and I and the Little One took in the Alberta Mycological Society’s (AMS) annual “City of Champignons” Mushroom Exposition at the Devonian Botanical Garden. It was our first time attending this event and we were looking forward to seeing the displays, tasting some wild mushrooms and talking to local experts about our own recent forays in the backyard here at cabinorganic.

We were amazed at the amount to work that went into the fresh, wild mushroom displays. These were gathered and arranged by AMS volunteers, both the evening before and that very morning. They were arranged and labelled in family groups so it was very easy for us to find many of the mushrooms that we see daily on our twice daily walks but haven’t got around to identifying yet.

The displays were also a nice opportunity for mushroom lovers like ourselves to look closely at, handle, appreciate the diversity and smell the wonderful mushroom aromas. Experts were on hand at each table to answer any questions and provide additional information.

The AMS also had a few large displays featuring local mushrooms, medicinal mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms. There were also tables featuring recommended books, and field guides and posters were also available for purchase.

The entire afternoon was filled with events:

11 am: Mushroom walk in the garden

12 noon: Presentation on “A dozen common Alberta mushrooms”

1 pm: Fungi Flavors with Chef Chad Moss

2 pm: Mushroom walk in the garden

3 pm: Mushroom tastings with Chef Chad Moss

Our favorite part of the day was the tastings! Chef Chad Moss had prepared an amazing feast for the senses, including wild lobster, honey and oyster mushrooms, which were carefully paired with smoked bacon, brie and rose petal, sea bean and other unexpected flavors. These were served on a freshly baked baguette.

In his presentation on Fungi Flavors, Chad challenged us to let go of our dependance on recipes and be creative with our wild mushroom finds in our own kitchens. He really inspired me to let the mushroom be the central taste instead of my usual habit of masking it with garlic, onion or ginger. Instead, he demonstrated how more subtle flavor combinations, which may include apple cider, scotch, earl grey tea, cardamon, bacon, brie, nuts, even fresh strawberries and cream can bring out the unique earthy flavors of these meaty delights.

We were also treated to a wild mushroom soup, rich and full of chunks of assorted wild mushrooms and topped with a herb oil.

We are so grateful to the Devonian Botanical Garden for their spring, summer and fall mushroom classes, as well as to the Alberta Mycological Society for their many educational events and opportunities throughout the year. You don’t have to be a member to attend some of these events but your annual membership gets you invited to many smaller scale events, talks and forays all over Alberta. Here you can rub shoulders with, gather and cook wild mushrooms alongside people who are passionate about fungi and have been enjoying mushrooms for years. These events often involve a small feast where the mushrooms can be enjoyed together as a group.

For more information, please click on this link to visit the Devonian Botanical Garden’s website. Be sure and check out the Events link to see what other events are lined up at the garden before they close for the season. The fall mushroom course is coming up on September 7th. Click here to register.

Also, click on this link to visit the Alberta Mycological Society’s webpage for information on memberships, events and a wealth of information provided by the society as well as links to other helpful websites. If you’re keen to get in on the action, the Great Alberta Mushroom Foray will take place on August 30th in the Castle Mountain area, SW Alberta. See the website for details. Also, be sure and check out their current exhibit AMS@the Royal Albert Museum until September 15th, 2013.

Enjoy your forays and wild mushroom adventures!

add a kick to your day with power ball cookies

16 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

balls, cocoa, coconut, cookies, healthy snacks, no-bake cookies, power ball cookies, power balls, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat-free cookies

This winning recipe was passed to me by my lovely friend, Dana. Try substituting any of your own favorite nuts or dried fruits to your taste. A new favorite at the cabin, these tasty no-bake cookies are easy to pack along with you on long hikes or bike rides and are a great source of protein. This is also a fun ‘hands-on’ recipe to make with small children.

Power Ball Cookies

1 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 cup toasted sesame seeds

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup raisons

½ cup cocoa

2 cups peanut butter

½ cup honey

1 ½ cups coconut

Warm the peanut butter. Mix all ingredients together except for the coconut. Roll into 1-inch balls and roll in coconut. (Refrigerate the mixture for half and hour of it’s too sticky to roll.) Store in refrigerator or freezer. Enjoy!

cabinorganic had a baby…!!!

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in bellybabechild, more about us

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

announcement, baby, baby boy, boy, Chayton, child, newborn, pregnant, Skye

This is one of those situations where you meant to call your good friend but things kept getting in the way and at the beginning it was easy to put it off for just another day or two. Then weeks and eventually months went by and then it became harder to make that call because a simple apology would no longer do. No, you waited far too long; too much time has passed and now dinner, chocolate, flowers and a full explanation and serenade to reintroduce yourself are now in order. Here is my explanation and my serenade…

Back in May 2012, I took a temporary government contract and began a series of research/writing projects. The job involved commuting daily into the city, an hour and a half each way. I knew this would be arduous, especially when winter arrived, but this job was important to me as I was hoping that it would be a stepping stone into a potential full time career as a consultant (working from home). This position gave me an opportunity to do some writing for government, network with potential clients, make some valuable contacts and continue to sharpen my writing skills. The good news is that I feel that I accomplished all of this in my brief time there. However, the commute ate up all of my precious free time and my blogging slowed to a crawl and then recently stopped altogether.

The other challenge was that I became pregnant (Surprise!!!) in November and the added physical demands of ‘building a baby’ took the rest of my energy reserves making blogging impossible as eating and sleeping became the priorities.

I worked my last day on July 19th, cutting my contract short to go on maternity leave. I was looking forward to an entire month off to finish getting prepared and also to surprise you all with a ‘cabinorganic is having a baby’ announcement along with a surprise belly shot. The baby wasn’t due until August 24th but he had other plans! Three days into my leave I found myself in the hospital and five days after that Chayton was born.

Introducing Chayton Skye…cabinorganic’s newest member!

Chayton Skye was born July 28th. He weighed 5 pounds and was 17 inches long and is perfectly healthy. He is a calm, content, bright-eyed little guy and we are settling in nicely together.

I will fill you in on more of the details in future posts, but in the meantime I do hope that now that you’ve heard my explanation that you will forgive my long absence! I have been busy but it was all for a good cause: for the long term benefits of working from home, continuing to live my dream life here at cabinorganic and sharing it you. I am now home full time and have some personal writing projects that I will be working on with the hopes that they will bring in some income when my leave is done. This blog is once again a high priority and I will be starting a sister blog (or shall I say- a ‘brother’ blog) very soon called cabinorganic~belly,babechild for posts exclusively on pregnancy, babies and my adventures in conscious parenting as a new mom.

I have so much to share and catch up on with you all! I may have been away but the projects, cooking and adventures in nature have never stopped. Time to get busy!

…then Mediterranean fish soup on Sunday

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

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appetizer, fish, fish soup, Mediterranean, mussels, soup

After a long hiatus I am finally, FINALLY back- and here to stay! Thank you, dear readers, for your patience, comments and encouragement to keep writing and sharing and posting. I will fill you in on my absence in the next post and am looking forward to catching up with you all. Although I have been away, there has been much to share! In the meantime, here is what B and I did with the rest of those delicious mussels…

Mediterranean Fish Soup

The fish:

2 ½ lbs mixed fish of your choice. You can also add prawns, mussels, clams, scallops, squid, etc. for color and texture.

The soup base:

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

2 leeks, white part only, sliced

2 stalks fennel

3 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 potato, diced

3 cloves garlic

6 cups water

1 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon saffron threads

Strip of orange peel

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Sea salt

Pepper

The garnish:

Croutons of baguette fried in olive oil the rubbed with garlic.

Instructions:

Wash and chop the fish into 1-inch cubes.

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and sauté the onion, carrot, leeks and fennel slowly until softened. Add the tomatoes, potato and garlic and cook gently for 14 minutes. Add the water and wine, saffron threads, orange peel and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup in individual bowls with a couple of croutons in each. You can also top the soup with freshly grated Gruyere cheese.

Resource:

Holuigue, D. (1993). Classic Cuisine of Provence. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press.

a weekend for mussels… first the garlic mussels

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

appetizer, garlic mussels, mussels, seafood, shellfish

B brought over a huge tray of mussels last weekend and we feasted on these tasty shellfish in a cheesy appetizer on Saturday (featured here) and in a Mediterranean Fish Soup on the Sunday.

Garlic Mussels

12-18 mussels per person

½ cup white wine

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3 tablespoon parsley, copped

fine sea salt

¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Clean mussels and place in a saucepan with about 4 cups water. Cover and steam until the shells open, about 5 minutes. Remove half empty shells and discard any mussels that have not opened. Place remaining mussels (in the half shells) on a large cookie sheet. Add a few bits of garlic and a pinch of parsley into each one. Then, using a spoon or a turkey baster, place about ¼ teaspoon of both the melted butter and white wine into each half shell. Finally, put a pinch of Parmesan cheese on top of each mussel and sprinkle all with sea salt. Grill in oven until the cheese has browned slightly. Serve immediately. Note: this dish is great for potlucks!

Resource:

Adapted from: Van Wyk, M. (1986). Cooking the South African Way. Johannesburg: Central News Agency Ltd.

brownies made with coconut flour (wheat-free, gluten-free)

21 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in cook

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brownies, coconut flour, gluten-free brownies, wheat-free brownies

In my recent experimentation in cooking with other grains and baking with other flours besides the standard wheat, I have discovered coconut flour. Nowadays you can find coconut flour in most grocery stores as well as in your local health food store. I have only used it once before in a gluten-free scone recipe, which turned out deliciously crispy -almost like a Scottish shortbread but with an added hint of coconut in the flavor.

Just this afternoon, I was about to transfer the rest of this flour into a glass jar for storage when I noticed that there was a brownie recipe on the back of the packaging. Never one to walk away from yet another opportunity to enjoy some chocolate, I whipped up a batch and was very satisfied with the results. Although the coconut flavor is barely discernible (over-powered by the chocolate), the brownie itself has a lovely consistency and is thick and fudge-y. If you’re getting off the wheat or just looking for a fun way to bake with a new ingredient, I highly recommend trying this recipe!

Wheat Free Brownies

1/3 cup butter (or non-dairy alternative)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

6 eggs (or equivalent)

1 cup sugar (I use raw cane sugar)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup organic coconut flour, sifted

1 cup chocolate chips (use the highest quality you can find)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F). In a medium saucepan over low heat, blend butter and cocoa powder. Remove from heat and let cool. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Blend this into the cocoa mixture. Stir in the coconut flour until the batter is no longer lumpy. Add the chocolate chips if desired. (I also added 1/2 cup pecans.) Bake in a pre-greased 8×8 baking pan for about 30-35 minutes. Enjoy!

1952 Western Flyer… a bicycle trip down memory lane

20 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Delena Rose in refinish, restore

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

1952 Western Flyer, bicycle, motorized bicycle, restoration project, vintage bicycle, Western Flyer

My good friends and neighbors, Brad and Mitch stopped by today to show me their latest project. You may remember them from a previous project of theirs- the complete restoration of a 1959 Glass Slipper. This father and son team have restored a number of boats together so I was quite surprised when this latest project turned out to be a bicycle. But not just any bicycle, mind you. A 1952 26-inch balloon tire Western Flyer bicycle.

I recall asking Brad last summer what his next project would be, shortly after completing his latest boat restoration and hearing about the Western Flyer for the first time. He had already begun searching online for one and finally found the right bicycle on ebay from a seller in Texas.

I love the history behind this bicycle. First, like many other things designed in the futuristic 1950s (cars, motorcycles, bikes, even appliances…), the Western Flyer was styled after jets and rockets. The first picture above shows a close up of the jet-inspired exhaust.

A second interesting bit of history was that these Western Flyers were often used by newspaper delivery boys. The riders would have to travel for miles through towns and rural areas. They could pedal these bicycles or they could motorize their bikes with a kit available for purchase. Sometimes there would be a promotion where kids who delivered the most newspapers could win one of these motors as a prize.

Brad purchased a reproduction of the 1950s bicycle motors that they were using back in the day, however, he and Mitch still had to customize the entire kit in order to make it all fit and they built a custom exhaust.

I love that they left the rust alone and they admitted that they had no intention of painting this project. You just can’t recreate that gorgeous patina and it makes me wonder where this vintage bicycle has travelled and what stories it would tell if it could speak.

Brad and Mitch took the Western Flyer out for a first run two weeks ago. Unfortunately the chain guard popped the clip off of the master link and the chain piled up. That was the end of that trip and it was back to the garage for tweaking.

Today was their second test run, this time with the custom exhaust installed, and the ride went perfectly without a hitch. The boys even got some early spring sunshine on their ride after a morning of heavy cloud cover. Over a glass of lemonade, they shared the story of their project- both the challenges and the satisfaction of finishing it, and generously allowed me to share their story.

I am sure there will be many more hours of riding and adventures on this beautiful bicycle!

My apologies as I have completely neglected to tell you about Mitch’s ride… A mini-bike that he built himself last year from a kit… But we’ve decided that this particular story will have to wait for another post!