Thanksgiving Mash-up Recipe

I spent the summer getting and eating the lovely greens of the garden and now is the time when we start seeing the robust root vegetables and squash. As the weather cools, I'm reminded of the Thanksgiving dinners my mom put together for us as kids. One of the most memorable dishes she makes is a butternut squash mash. To this day, Thanksgiving dinners aren't quite complete without it and this is the first year I'm having to do these types of things on my own. I thought to share the recipe!

These are not exact measurements and it's more about putting together proportions of the ingredients you enjoy.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 small/medium butternut squash
2. 4-6 carrots
3. 5-7 small red potatoes (or other potato)
4. 1 white small/medium onion
5. 1-2 cloves of garlic
6. 1/4 cup unsalted butter
7. 150g cheddar cheese
8. Salt to taste
9. Black pepper to taste
10. Granulated garlic powder (1/2 tsp or to taste)
11. Ginger powder (1/4 tsp or to taste)
12. Nutmeg (1/4 tsp or to taste)

DIRECTIONS

Haul from the farmers' market

1. Gather the fresh ingredients and start cleaning them of dirt and blemishes/eyes/etc and peeling the carrots and potatoes. Note: I chose not to peel the potatoes unless there is a blemish or eye so I could keep the fibre-y bits. Keep in mind that often the best nutrients are found in or just beneath the skins so you won't want to let those go to waste (and it's good for your colon)! You'll also need a large (~6 quart) crockpot, water and your stove.

Cutting the squash can be precarious so be careful!

2. The tricky part will be to get your butternut squash peeled, opened and cleaned. Tip: I laid it on its side with the 'bulb' in my weaker hand and sliced off the stem. Then I inserted the tip of the knife into the columnar portion of the squash, lengthwise, and pushed the knife down towards the top. Once the cut is made (doesn't have to be all the way through), I pull the knife out and stand the squash upright and then take the knife and drop it into the cut and bring the knife right down to the 'bulb' and am able to slide it right open. From there, the peeler has a "grip" where I cut the stem off and I peel from top down.

Carrots, garlic, potatoes and onion

3. Then I cut everything into smaller pieces for quicker cooking and easier mashing. Note that carrots generally take the longest to cook so I cut smaller pieces and the onion cooks the fastest. At this time, I have not yet cut the butternut squash because that cooks the fastest.

Boiling phase 1

4. Add the ingredients to the crockpot and add water just until it starts covering the ingredients. Cover the crockpot and turn it on high heat to get boiling.

During this time, get the butternut squash ready by cutting it into smaller pieces to be cooked.

Cook on medium-high for ~10-15 minutes or until you can push a fork into the potato and carrot with resistance.

5. Add the butternut squash pieces and add some more water to the point where the water is halfway up the squash layer.

6. Boil for about 10-15 minutes more or until the fork easily slides into the butternut squash. At this point, you're ready to drain the pot and you can either chose to keep the broth for something else (it's great to drink if you've got a cold as its full of vitamin C and other water soluble vitamins/minerals) or dump it.

7. Grab your fork or potato masher and add in the butter and cheese. Slice the cheese into pieces so for easier melting. Mash vigourously. Include the salt, pepper and other spices as you are tiring out and mix well. Tip: if you aren't sure about the spices, take a small portion out into a bowl and play with the proportions there to see what you like. My proportions are for a full pot based on me fiddling around with a recent batch but your tastes and portions will be different than mine.

I got so excited to taste and run out the door with it (I was taking it to a pot-luck), I didn't get an image but the image doesn't do much justice to how it tastes so nothing lost there. But if you're looking to get some colour into your diet and mix things up for Thanksgiving, check this out and make it in place of your mashed potatoes!

Let me know if you get a chance to include it in your Thanksgiving menu this year and how you enjoyed it!

The Late Garden Update

This is probably the first I've mentioned much about my garden. If you've been around here for a while, you'll know I have dabbled with vermicomposing and enjoy my time outdoors (however fleeting those moments can be). This is the third summer I'm gardening in the backyard through raised beds that my +brother built and put in the back breaking labour to get them set-up. It's been me and Captain Obvious keeping up the maintenance and growing. Sometimes I'm not as diligent as I could be, to ensure a very fruitful growing season. Plants require as much care as other living critters... the only difference is that you can plan to have more time to yourself.

Garlic Scapes

What did I grow this season? I planted garlic last fall with 75% germination success and I'm waiting to harvest. Uncle B has been really helpful to get some of the other things started like my beans and potatoes; I planted potatoes from "seed potato", which is an interesting process--one I'm not familiar with. The season started the same it has in the last year... with pests digging up my plants or outright killing them. I didn't have any insect problems but I must have a feline or squirrel issue; my bean seedlings were broken or things were all together pulled out. I did plant a catnip plant in one of the corners in hopes to lure feisty felines out of the other boxes but it hasn't worked as I hoped and early in the season before anything was planted, Bucky was spending his outdoor time rolling around in the boxes and eliminating himself on occasion. I let that be for a bit but have since had him cease the behaviour.

Last night's dinner was a testament that the food we get straight from our garden is by far several times tastier than the stuff you get at the supermarket. Things at the supermarket somehow taste 'cheap' and mass produced (that's because they are!). The beans were crisp and sweet. The tomatoes sweet and full of tomato-y flavour and the lettuce was firm, not bitter but flavourful (both from a small Brampton farm). I ended up throwing together a nicoise salad with chicken.

Lesson #115: Learning to 'Just Trust'

I had the day off yesterday to do some wedding related things and horsey stuff (some enh, balanced with hooray!). Right to the hooray stuff, I started in King City where I made a visit to the Tipperary (Phoenix Performance) head office to pick up a protective riding vest. Then, I headed over to my usual week night lesson in Hillsburgh. And let me tell you, even though the drive was ~1 hour, it didn't bother me one bit. Driving in the country can actually be RELAXING! Who would have thought that, eh? The highlight of the drive (I forgot to snap a photo!) was at the corner facing west at Kennedy and The Grange Side-road when you come to a stop at the intersection and you just see a breath-taking vast expanse of land covered in trees, estates and farm plots; it's not called the Hills of Headwater for nothing! The view was stunning and everything that has been stressing me out for weeks (if not months) momentarily melted away. Good thing the side-roads aren't busy ;)

To top off the great drive in, I got to casually stroll into the stable and calmly put my stuff down and get myself together. There were 2 other 'students' in the lesson. I say 'students' because one of them Sheri's companion, who's been riding since he was a boy. We started with a lot of flat work. Ariel seemed sleepy when I found her but better than the last time I went to get her when she defiantly made a dash for the other end of the paddock. The first exercise was a shallow serpentine pattern across the quarter line. We had to get our horses to bend and flex... not Ariel's forte. Needless to say, we both spent a lot of the lesson arguing about what to do.

Eventually those 'lines' became a ground pole, a low X and 3 trot poles. I would say the need to be thinking ahead of the next obstacle while as you're coming into the immediate one was critical. Lots of leg yielding, bending and flexion. All things (again) that Ariel loathes doing. My right shoulder was falling forward and I was torquing my body to the left again so I had to make an extra concerted effort to be in control at all times because let's face it, if I give even a second to this mare, she's taking over and doing it her way. Which actually only means that I need to be on her more consistently and to prepare ahead of time for what I want--not new, I know... we've been working on this for what seems like ages and I suppose I may continue doing so for a while.

That final exercise is tough! Because I doubt myself and Ariel to get through the obstacles that are so close together! And the directions offered Ariel are actually rather minor so in my mind, I can't quite figure out if it's effective or not! Ugh... I'd need to just trust... another example of how the rest of my life is connected to my horsey lessons.

My Winter Riding Wardrobe on a Budget

I've been meaning to compose this post for a couple weeks now... especially with the last very cold spell. Since last winter wasn't as cold and snowy as this one, I didn't pay much attention to winter-specific clothing other than a down vest; I got that from MEC at clearance because I squeezed into the size 14 kid's version! Goooo me!! Anyways, I don't show and probably won't do it for a little while so my focus this chilly and snowy winter has been on schooling clothes that can double as outdoor active clothes. I know that this is already a relatively costly endeavour compared to some of the other activities I've done/do so I try to work with what I've got and consider alternatives for my riding wardrobe.

It's good that I'm active outside of horseback riding and I've amassed plenty of active clothing. I paddled and steered a dragon boat team for several seasons in my previous years but have since stopped, but I do continue to kayak in the summers for leisure. I also cycle in the warmer months and have a substantial arrangement of cycling clothes for someone who cycles once... maybe twice a week. Primarily, I am an avid yogini for many years and find enjoyment in this activity. However, these are all warm weather activities and don't accommodate for cooler weather. So, I have been riding with the same clothes I ride with during the summer; with one amendment: many more layers.

This year, I've been thinking about the "gaps" in my winter riding wardrobe without breaking the bank. I already have many t-shirts and a few long sleeve shirts that I usually pull over my tshirt; this past few months, I've gotten a moisture-wicking active shirt from MEC as well as a very warm and soft fleece pull over top I picked up at Le Baron, all during the Boxing Day week sales. We'll talk gloves another time because I've realized that having the appropriate gloves are key.

While we tack-up in the main stable, the horses are often in the adjacent fields and some of the tack is in the other smaller stable. I find myself trekking into the snow driftswhere there are few trees to keep the snow from blowing around and turning into snow dunes. To mitigate this, I put on my paddock boots and half chaps then make my way out rather successfully. No snow in my boots and I'm dry by the time I start lesson.

The only thing that has gotten to me though, is being cold. I layer my top and slip on wool socks, but my bottom and legs (particularly my thighs) are perpetually chilly. I tried to get long johns on underneath but clearly I've had too much fun over Christmas and things aren't fitting the way they could and so I'm considering winter chaps. Wiarton Willie says that we're getting another 6 weeks of winter so these will likely come in useful. Stay tuned for my post about how it's like, riding with them :)

Lesson #53: Front Heavy

Sunday September 29, 2013

I've got a long day ahead of me but what better way to start it than to be riding! I'm on my own today, to get everything done. The lesson with Trinket is a good start to the day. Since it's an outdoor lesson, we work on getting our gaits going and Lenka challenges us to a sort of "course" with trot poles. We're asked to start a canter and then transition to a trot and then trot over poles and then re-initiate the canter and then trot over some more poles and completes with a canter. Easy enough to comprehend what is being asked but I certainly had a good deal of difficulty getting through this. My initial canter worked just fine and I even transitioned down into a trot. But, getting back into the canter was a total nightmare. I was struggling and Trinket was only going faster and faster. Nothing worked despite my urging and pushing.

Lenka pointed out that I was leaning forward and my shoulders were hunching forward. It isn't that Trinket is not listening... but she tends to be heavy on the forehand so when I tip forward and my weight gets onto her front end, it must put her out of balance and make it difficult for her to initiate the canter. So, instead of am bumping around in a seated trot with my posture totally out of alignment and my shoulders rounding forward with her pulling me down and forward.

This is certainly not my most graceful moment on this mare so I do try to continue to push forward and try again but I also recognize that I will have to do something about my own posture to get this right. It isn't her... she's clearly capable of doing a canter but I would say that she's probably not feeling balanced enough to initiate it and nobody wants to trip.

This was a frustrating lesson and I hope that my luck will be better next lesson.

The rest of the day was me driving out in the country to get to Stratford/Sebringville. It's such a wonderful drive out that way and I have a great time driving out on country roads on my own. It was a great break to be out on my own zipping around in ADW's car ;)

The best part? I'm on my way to do a food pick up this afternoon. Starting with my trip to Sebringville/Stratford to pick up my half Berkshire pig carcass. That's right folks, I'm going to pick up ~100lbs of delicious heritage pork. I always say, pork is supposed to be fatty. If it isn't, why aren't you eating chicken or something even less fatty? There's nothing wrong with fat. Especially when the animal is raised naturally and happily. I arrive and pick up 2 large boxes of my pig and head home with an additional 100lbs in the back.

I won't get into too much detail as I'll save that post for another day but the farm that I went to is called Perth Pork Products and they raise several heritage breeds that taste like the pork that used to be eaten. mmmmm mmm delicious!

Perfect Escape

It's something I knew but my coworker confirmed it during a conversation earlier this week when he said "... you definitely seem to 'recharge' better with nature and/or animals". You see, I'm an introvert; apparently a severe introvert and I require "me time" to properly recharge after expending my energy on regular events like going to work for 7.5 hours--what a chore! And it appears that I get the most out of being around nature and animals. When I think about Buckingham's entrance into my life (and home), I can see how the dynamics of my home and myself have changed for the better. My parents don't know it but I hear them with the little dude and they sound genuinely happy. Me? I feel plenty better after I spend an evening (or short morning) with him. I know, it sounds a bit crazy cat lady, doesn't it?

Selina Kyle, my hero!


So, the prospect of getting out of the city and spending time surrounded by the Ontario nature and horses really appealed to me. I booked a long weekend at Cadogan Farm Adventures in Caledon, Ontario. This is a horse farm B&B where guests can choose to go and relax away from the buzz of the city, or they can take the opportunity to work with and ride horses.

Since I've started riding, I have fallen further and further in love with the countryside of Ontario. Unfortunately for us this evening, we've arrived late and didn't have the opoprtunity to get the full impression of arriving to our weekend home away. The home is stunning and huge: I'm excited.

Friday morning's first order of business was breakfast before getting ready to head out to ride for our assessment lesson at Trailwood Farms (just down the street). And what a breakfast it was! Our hostess, Gina had stocked the pantry with bacon, breakfast sausage, eggs, cereal, juice, bacon, coffee, tea, pastries and more bacon! What a fabulous hearty breakfast to start your day with.

We are introduced to Gina's head instructor, Wendy at Trailwood Farms. I am assigned to ride a chestnut thoroughbred named Sully; he's a big horse compared to what I'm used to riding. I believe he's at least 16hh. We start the lesson together and by the end, we're split up to work on specific things to further tune our weaknesses and strengths. It's nice to ride a properly sized horse and not a pony. Not that I have issues with ponies... but for some reason, a bigger horse seems to feel safer! We do manage to get into a canter and his canter is this nice smooth "da-dun da-dun" that just has you sailing through the air. However, little did I realize, that without me directing him more, he liked to speed up and drift into the ring during turns. Wendy tells me that I have to ride deep into the corners by pushing him into the corners so that he keeps proper balance and doesn't lose me in the process. I work on staying focused on doing what I wanted of him. We finish off the lesson with some ground pole work and then head out. Trailwood Farms is a beautifully maintained location. And their indoor ring...*swoon* it's truly a spectacular facility.

Our afternoon ride for Friday is on Cadogan Farm property but we didn't quite know what we were in for. This time, I'm assigned a sweet and quiet liver chestnut names Sadie who is a bit shy at the get go; she isn't running away from me but she's not exactly interested in me. This time, Wendy's daughter Nicole is riding with us too. She leads us to the interior of the property; as we walk over the small swell of a hill, we're greeted with this stunning open field with some cross country jumps. We're riding in an open field. What a chance! I'm not sure what's going on but it doesn't seem like Sadie is excited to do this with me... she's more interested to go running and jumping about on her own. We eventually sort out our differences and we take to our lesson and practice cantering and trotting. I'm cautioned that Sadie wasn't started properly (she's a rescue) so when she turns, she turns straight as a board and doesn't bend. So it's on me to get her to bend this weekend.

Uh oh! Sadie sees me with carrots...

Three times is bliss, I say. We finish dinner and head over to Greyden for our regular weekly Friday ride. With so much riding in a short period of time, I'm all limber and I remember some of the things we were working on earlier in the day. A successful ride.

Saturday is more riding in the morning at Trailwood and this time I ride a leggy thoroughbred named Mon. He's a dark bay and he's inquisitive and eager. He's also one of the biggest horses I've ever ridden before. He's stunning. But, he's distracted in the arena because the windows are open and he can see the fields and his friends. With a day like that, I wouldn't want to be working either! We eventually figure ourselves out and we have some cantering and transition work. It's more of a similar lesson on Friday except we ride with NR and Kent.

During our lunchtime break, we spend time on the stunning property and find some peace in the teepee set-up on the property. A lazy afternoon and the perfect rest before our next lesson back in the open Cadogan field! It should be noted that at this point, I'm not (not surprisingly) tired and only a tad sore and with a giant bruise on my leg from a stirrup buckle rub. But I hadn't noticed until late Friday night.

It is incredibly liberating to canter in the field again and we learn what a flying lead change is. Something new to work towards when we get better with our canters but for now, we continue to go with a controlled canter and the proper bend. We do some low level pole ground work where our horses are asked to trot over the poles in a specific order. Our last activity is to actually try a basic cross country jump at a trot. It's not the first time we've done a jump but it was certainly a different feeling when there's so much space available to you and your mount!

This is our last lesson for the day and ADW and I head to the Brampton Fall Fair to watch the demolition derby. Have you ever been to one? This was my first and not last! I admit, I didn't have high hopes about this and figured that we'd just go and see what it might be and head back. But I found it very amusing to watch and we stayed for 2 rounds instead of 1! These old clunkers were doing a figure 8 loop and going at full speed (as fast as broken clunkers can go!) and crashing into one another and drifting out in corners! It was hilarious to watch the cars do their bumper car thing and wheels went flat or flew off, bumpers knocked off and one car even rode up onto the barrier early on!

Towing off car 537 from the concrete barriers...

Our evening ends with a bon fire where we sit calmly staring into the flame. There's something very primal about fire and watching it can be hypnotic!

Sunday is our last day and we finish our time at Cadogan with a nice trail ride. When I mounted Sadie, I noticed how tired my body finally is, after 5 lessons in 2 days. And it's only at this point where I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable sitting in the saddle. I persist to ride but not as effectively as I was earlier :P The trail ride is a perfect way to end our time here since it's easy and gives me the opportunity to spend a nice slow walk with Sadie so that I can get to know her better.

Just after noontime, we part our ways and say goodbye to Gina and thank her for having us. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend and even then, I could still jump on a horse and take another lesson or two! I can't wait to have another opportunity to head out and ride some more at this perfect escape from the city.

Stawberry Fields

It's strawberry season! And I'm the least likely person to talk about strawberries or any other fruit, for that matter. My family knows that I loathe eating fruit; but that's not completely true... I don't like eating subpar fruit. Unfortunately, that's most fruit that we get from the grocery produce section. It was several years ago, with ADW when I discovered this little nuance about me. I always refused to eat fruit when it arrived at the table and rarely bought it voluntarily. We were making a salad, and bought a cantaloupe melon (and a lot of cheese) from the Cheese Boutique off the Kingsway. The melon looked like it was rotting and didn't seem like something most people would have considered  delectable. But, when it was opened up, the fruit was fragrant and utterly delicious; I nearly ate it all before it made it to our salads!

Prior to this instance, I went strawberry picking with a coworker when I worked out in Oakville. I was working at a food research lab for a coop term and have to say, it was probably my favourite posting. Anyways, this lady took me out to a strawberry field after work once and I picked a large basket (4 litres) full of berries. These berries looked beautiful and delicious. They're also not the freak-show mutant blobs that you get in grocery stores where they grow these mutant fruit in Mexico or the like. These strawberries had a sheen and tasted like a little bit of heaven. I finished half the large basket in a day. I was originally planning on canning them but that clearly never happened...

Over the weekend, when I was enjoying my trip out into the country, I saw a sign that said "strawberries" at 'The Farm'. I took the opportunity to go, when I was on my way back from lesson. This place was magical... you drove in from 15th Sideroad and entered this wooded land with trees everywhere and the narrow road just kept going... I drove by the train bridge and up into a field... it was almost magical... and arrived at a field with a small trailer and tarp.

I thought about picking my own but with the humidity, I just couldn't bear the thought of going to do it so I bought the 4 litre basket and headed out. I love fresh strawberries from the farm. They're beautiful and they're sweet. And you know they're fresh when you see the sheen on the fruit; if your fruit looks dull, then it's not fresh anymore.

Farm fresh Ontario strawberries

I spent the drive home reaching back to grab berries... and I'm sure you can see why!

Something to Cluck About!

I love to eat... but not just any food, but delicious food. I'm not talking about the kind of food that you slather salt and sauces on, but tastes delicious when simply prepared with minimal ingredients and even more delicious when dressed up just a wee bit with something more complex and fancy.

I've never considered myself a picky eater but since I started eating local grass-fed beef when I was studying at Waterloo, it's been a reluctant return to the industrial kind. My journey with animal protein has been a back and forth battle with me starting out eating whatever was put on my plate... because it was there. I didn't ask for it but I rarely declined it either. It was my parents providing for their children and nothing more, really. I am not unappreciative of their actions but I've also learned a lot. I remember growing-up and enjoying beef (in particular) and other meats less and less. I actually preferred the "cheapie cuts" like liver (of all creatures), gizzards, hearts, hocks, tendons, (pork) skin, feet (pork again) and wings... over the "prime cuts". There was a moment in high school where I flirted with the idea of going ovo-lacto vegetarian because I was becoming put-off with the idea of killing an animal to consume its body. But try being a teen and living at home with carnivorous omnivores; it didn't last and was nearly impossible to accomplish.

When I left for university, things changed a bit... I had more autonomy over my meal choices and like all first year frosh, I got careless then skipped meats in favour of less stellar vegetable dishes. I didn't know why I was put-off with what little I knew about why our food tasted the way it did but I was. During my first co-op term I got the opportunity to look the beast that is the commodity meat system, in the eye, well a glimpse anyways. I worked in an abbattoir with the QA department testing the microbiology requirements. It was months before I decided to eat pork again.

Sometime last year, I stumbled upon the website of the Culinarium. This little shoppe in the Mount Pleasant area is a hidden gem that promotes and makes available, local Ontario grown food that is sustainably raised and grown. The story goes that the founder, Kathleen McIntosh, was visiting a west coast friend who was raving about deliciously BC grown this or that. Kathleen realized that Ontarians don't really feel similarly about their local food and decided to do something about it and the Culinarium is born.

One of the main programs that the Culinarium runs and I have been enjoying for two seasons now is their "Chicken Shares Program" through a local farm, Nyman Farms in Picton, Ontario. Their chicken is raised in small flocks in the traditional way by letting the chickens outside to eat the grass, bugs, worms and whatnot that is available through nature--the way it was meant to be. I bought a large share last year and was getting six birds every month for six months. I tried the first chicken and I was hooked. The texture, taste and satiation gained from eating this chicken was bar none the best chicken I've ever experienced.

The few people who were lucky enough to buy a bird from me always came back to tell me that the chicken they cooked (regardless of the method) was amazing... tasted like the chicken of their childhood or was simply delicious (one told me that their spouse thought it was a small turkey!). You might think, this must be some sort of special breed; I assure you, it's not. These are the same birds that farmers raise for meat and the only difference is the method in which they're raised. It's as if you can taste the time, effort, sweat and tears that went into raising these birds to market. The clincher is learning that these chickens I'm purchasing are actually... illegal.

Last week, the Culinarium hosted a get together session to educate clients about the way chicken is raised on the Nyman farm, the politics surrounding raising commodity animals and what us normal people can do about making this more readily available to us. The first thing that we learn is that in Canada, certain food commodities are regulated by "supply management" in order to ensure that there is enough food raised for consumers and to ensure that independent farmers are paid a fair market price for what they raise. The foods that fall into this category include: meat chickens, eggs, milk; to name a few. Farmers are required to buy "quota", which dictates how many animals they're able to raise. The quota can be traded like stock and are often passed on from generation to generation of farmers (or so I've read...).

We focus on the chicken marketing boards. There is a national marketing board and each province has their own marketing board; Ontario's marketing board is the leader for a province that is the largest producer and consumer of meat chickens in the country. You'd think that with this characteristic, the marketing board would be far more complex in terms of their supply management but it isn't terribly complex: currently, for meat chickens, you can either buy a minimum quota of 90,000 birds for $1.75 million or raise 300, without buying any quota.

Economically speaking, if you're going to buy the quota, you're going to maximize your quota and turn these creatures into commodity products. And that's how most store bought chicken is raised: as commodities to maximize economies of scale. Now, there's nothing wrong with a business maximizing their operations and make healthy profits but at what cost? We all know that when you do things en masse, quality often suffers; in addition to the inability to humanely monitor each animal; especially since animals don't all act predictably nor uniformly.

On the other hand, if you choose to raise a smaller flock, you're only allowed to raise 300 and only sell these chickens at your farm gate. This is not economically viable by any means. I can't imagine a farmer to be able to make a proper living off of raising 300 chickens and being unable to bring them to markets. However, note that this current situation is only in effect in Ontario. Other provinces seem to have higher quota limitations which a farmer can buy... generally something that is reasonable enough to allow for a living. In addition, anyone who wants to get into farming is completely limited in terms of being able to reasonably get started since the start-up costs are astronomical!

What can you do, to support local farmers/economy and advocate for tastier options? Check out the petition that is advocating for change in the way the supply management system is set-up for meat chickens in Ontario: http://www.flockingoptions.ca/ !!!

Long-Weekends are Best for...

I am sure everyone can agree that it's great the long-weekend is finally here. The weeks leading up to this weekend feel like we're preparing for summer. It's probably because the weather is often unpredictable and I can't seem to get any of my garden stuff going. But, as I'm sitting here typing this post, I hear the fire works going off in the background and know that it's here: the warm weather and countless opportunities to get outdoors!

This weekend has traditionally marked the start of my cycling season too. I'm too much of a wuss to go out any earlier because one year, I went out around April-May and I thought I was going to die. It was the first time out since the autumn prior and my body was reminding me good and well that I was a fool for skipping out on the off-season trainer riding indoors. It took me +2 hours to get home from my usual 45-60 min ride into the city. With little money, a dying cellular phone and my own stubborn character, I rode into the cold wind all the way home--all the while cursing about how dumb the idea was.

Today was totally different. It was perfect weather. I didn't sweat excessively while gearing up hills or weaving through the city cycle paths. The sun was giving me my much needed vitamin D dose and keeping me warm enough to get through my condensed version with ease. First ride of the season and I did pretty well. I didn't have to get off to walk it up any of the hills (uber embarrassing!) I trekked through and I didn't feel too worn out from the gear choice I maintained.

I love my ride. Especially the condensed version.

I start out in Etobicoke and take a series of small residential streets to make it out to South Humber Park and end up at Sheldon Lookout. I love the opportunity that I get, to stay in the city while feeling like I'm out in the wilderness. Toronto does parks pretty well: there is always a sort of "untamed" wilderness that you can get to and feel like you've gotten away from all the crazy of the city. I often think people forget that we have such wonderful places to see and go to, while staying in the city.

Check out the view from Sheldon's Lookout:

Looking into the City from Sheldon's Lookout

Worldly Tastes Close to Home

This weekend we were lucky enough to dine on delicious Korean kalbi beef ribs, try Afghani style spiced fish, and re-connect with the tastes of Peru. The best part? All of this was within comfortable driving distance in our diverse city of Toronto.

To recap...

On Saturday night, we visited our local Korea town. Its a short little strip between the Bathurst and Christie subway stations that has an abundance of authentic Korean establishments. Here you can find restaurants that specialize in soondubu (Korean tofu stew), proper Korean barbeque (and not the unauthentic all-you-can eat style), Korean bar food (I must try the friend chicken!), little dessert houses (bite-sized redbean walnut cakes are our favourite), and even a supermarket specializing in Korean groceries! We often frequent this area when we have a hankering for some spicy Korean food.

Then on Sunday for lunch, we visited a flea market in the suburbs of Mississauga. Here we found a little food court that offered us a wide variety of flavours from around the world. In no particular order...there was*deep breath*... Chinese, Hakka Chinese, Indian, Carribean, Latin American, Fillipino, Middle Eastern cuisines and a bubble tea stand thrown in for good measure!

I ordered the pan seared fish from the Afghani counter since I had never had anything from Afghani cuisine, while Deb ordered some fried corn tortilla chicken wraps from the Latin American counter. The fish was nicely spiced with a nice hot sauce and flavourful chick peas on the side. The rice that came on the Latin America was spiced with Aji chili which was a flavour we had become very familiar with during our Peru trip. And topping all of this off was a nice refreshing...Inca Kola! Very satisfying...

I have always been told that Toronto is a very culturally diverse city, but I never really took time to think about it. While we sat in this little food court surrounded by the tastes and smells from around the world, I began to have a better appreciation of what our city has to offer. We may not have the best transportation system, the most famous arts and culture scene, or even the tallest building in the world anymore, but I can't think of another city in the world where I could sit in a small little food court with that many tastes from around the world.

ADW signing out!

Daniel Klein, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

On our visit to the farm lands of South Western Ontario in search of equine facilities this past weekend, AW and I accidentally found a local Elk farm: Coyote Creek Deer Company Venison on Trafalgar. We turn into this seemingly innocent residence, ring the door bell and are greeted by a tall grey gentleman with a cheerful disposition and giant smile. He's happy to see strangers... wow, I think. I tell him we've stopped because of his sign "Elk Open" and he nods and quickly tells us he's going to get a coat and shoes to show us what he's got.

We get into his double garage and he opens a huge freezer of neatly vacuum packaged meat. We're somewhat speechless and I think he senses this and says to us "why don't I take you two to see the animals. They're out back this way." Thinking about this turn of events while I'm writing, makes me wonder what we were actually thinking... this man is potentially a murderous psycho who kills and chops us strangers who stop by to innocently buy elk! But, we're so excited right now that we head to his back yard.

His dogs come bouncing out of their doggie door and follow us to the back fence. Our new friend's name is Dan and he tells us that the elk are probably near the back of the enclosure and that he'd take us on the entire tour. We grab the bucket of corn and hop on his tractor while he drives us out what seems like almost a kilometer. Now we see them... the herd of elk. He tells us that he's raising red deer and elk and the hybrids of the two.

We're in the enclosure now, and the herd comes running over and they are soon eating out of our hands (literally!) of the corn from the bucket. A few get really greedy and push themselves to eat directly out of the bucket!

Dan also raises pheasants to release into the area...

The conversation with Dan is really engaging and we learn a lot about the practices he's employing to raise these animals and the other practices that surround this endeavour. He even has a neighbour who's raising his own honey bees and we grab a raw, unfiltered, unpasturized jar of honey. I'm not sure if it's just the fabulous fall day that is making things seem so neat but I don't remember having had more fun while getting so dirty!

NB: Dan and Daniel Klein aren't the same person...