The beds are made and the seeds are sown. Now we wait . . . and weed . . .

Today we planted onions, spinach, swiss chard, peas, and lettuce.

Supper club a.k.a private kitchen

I have long wanted to attend a underground supper club, and now there is one in our community. We went this weekend and I highly recommend it! Excellent food in a casual and cozy setting.

MENU

Aperitif: Ginger Shandy

Canapé: Danish Haddock Fritter

Soup: Roasted Lemon

Starter: Brawn

Ginger Ice

Entree: Smoked Chicken with Apple Butter

Salade Vert

Dessert: Chocloate Bavois

Coffee and Meringues

Spring foraging

Given a choice between fiddleheads and dandelion buds, you would think fiddleheads would win every time. However, it is a different story once you factor cleaning and preparation. After a through rinse, the dandelion buds are soaked in Tamari and vinegar with lots of thyme, garlic, and a slice of jalapeño pepper. After 3 weeks they are transformed into an amazingly delicious pickled bud; equally good in salads and martinis. The fiddleheads? Let's just say we never actually got them clean enough to eat.

Adventures with cheese

We bravely attempted to make our own mozzarella cheese. Armed with recipes and a cheese making kit from www.cheesemaking.com we started by cleaning the kitchen cleaner that it has ever been.

The first attempt was a definite failure. But after some additional research on the Internet, adding some calcium chloride and increasing the rennet, things were looking good.


The curd look like it had set and was maintaining its form after being cut. . .


Later in the process, the Mozzarella was stretching as it should. . .


But . . . sadly . . . the next day - our mozzarella balls had become paste - Mozza-Whiz anyone?
We may try an easier cheese project next time.

gardening itch

We can taste the tomatoes already!
Carole's mum sent us lots of her delicious heritage tomato seeds.


Since moving here we've been talking about keeping a small vegetable garden and we've decided this will be the year - tomatoes, peppers, spinach, lettuce and potatoes.

Our outdoor garden is showing signs of spring too. The chives are doing very well .


Now only if the weather people could do something about their silly forecast of snow flurries on Easter Sunday

How sweet it is

Carole tapped some of our maple trees from the middle of March to the first week of April. The sap was slow at first, but between bouts of snow and windstorms she collected her daily quota of sap.

We had the Crockpot going most days and did the final boil down on the BBQ burner. We have not calculated how much this maple syrup will cost us - it's better not to know, really!


We are now the proud owners of a mason jar of the best maple syrup. Pancakes have never tasted so good!

Happy Spring!

We've been living here for 4 years now, and one of the biggest changes we've noticed is the way we eat. In Toronto, take-out or eating out was a regular occurrence. And why not? Roti, doubles, pho, dhosas, papusas, etc. all available within a short walk or bike ride from work or home. Now, no longer in a city, the only food we have ever had delivered to the house was a lobster supper from a local charity fundraiser. Cookbooks and food blogs are regular reading and inspire our cooking. In the summer we buy produce and meat from the local farmers' market, stock up with what we can for the winter, and dread supermarket shopping.

After reading Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma and Kingsolver's Animal Vegetable Miracle we are more motivated to eat locally (without going overboard - no chicory and dandelion salad yet, and coffee, citrus and olive oil are staying in our pantry). So with this in mind, the Come From Away blog is going to shift its focus to our adventures with food - making, growing, enjoying.

cost of living

When we moved here from Toronto we thought that our cost of living was going to be much cheaper. Some things were, but others not so much. This week there's been some interesting coverage in the press. First an article called - Think it’s cheaper living in Halifax? Think again, and then some reader responses. In brief: "you can get a nicer house in Halifax than in the other cities, but other than that, the cost of essentials in Halifax is 22% higher than in Calgary and 26% higher than in Toronto." - but according to some of the reader responses, what price is there on fresh air and a good quality of life? True and True.

Any lurkers out there?

I've heard that it's National Delurking Week - but really I think it could be International. So wherever you might be, please say hi in the comments.

You may remember a posting way back in September '05, about Carole, Mary, and Dave's road trip to Toronto, and the "techno" opera Dave composed on his Game Boy. Well, Dave has not been resting. He's taken his chip tunes to Montreal and New York, and you can even hear him mention the road trip that started it all in this CBC 'As it Happens' interview. Way to go Dave.

Happy 2007!

Happy New Year!
Having caught a sinus cold on the last day in Trinidad, I've been laying low the last couple of days. Old year's night was spent quietly on the sofa in front of a fire, but we did make out for the annual new year's beach walk today. A completely different experience from our Christmas Day visits to the beach just a week ago. We witnessed a group of crazy people going in for a "polar bear swim". I have never seen people dip in and out of water so fast.

Merry Christmas

waterfall walk

who would have thought that you would have to walk up hill in 30 degree temperatures for over an hour in a thick forest to see a waterfall... not me as you might guess, i was thinking we would be walking along the riverside a nice leisurely stroll. the walk was worth it mind you even if i sweated through all my clothes before we were halfway up the first hill.

the busman's vacation

Where Carole goes, renovations are soon to follow. She's working her magic on my brother's bathroom with Herman and I as willing assistants.



We do a couple of hours work and then head to the beach.