UnTracked

The Only Good Use for Kool-Aid

During the school year, Harry and I spent many a morning at "playschool" at one of the local elementary schools/  The Strong Start program was set up in the school systems here to help kids get prepared for kindergarten and beyond.

It certainly is fun for Harry!  He gets to see his buddies and play with all sorts of toys that don't have to live at my house and I get to leave it all there!

Surprisingly, one of his favorite was the play dough station.  Who knew?

Now that we are on "summer break" we've had to find other things for entertainment.  Luckily, Miss Madeline shared the play dough recipe...

Kool-Aid Play Dough

2 - 21/2 cups flour
1/2 cup salt
2 pkgs Kool Aid (I'm not sure if a generic would work, probably, I just haven't tried it yet)
2 Tbsp oil

Throw the above ingredients into your Kitchen Aid and slowly add 2 cups boiling water.

Knead to right consistency.

Play!

We started with "Tropical Punch", which according to the color of the package should have been blue or purple if you went by the color of the powder, but turned out a crazy red, and "Lemon-Lime" which was, appropriately, lime green.  The dough itself smells slightly of each flavor to me, but it must look and smell pretty good to Harry because each had to be tasted.  Jeez.

Me: "what are you making, Harry?"

Harry: "Scoooooorpion!  It's an arachnid, Mommy."

Smarty-pants.

Hot and Chilies

Mark Bittman from the New York Times wrote about the Mexican style of grilling corn directly on the grill instead of the more commonly practiced silk-removal method. (Read the article.)

When you set the ear directly on the grill it chars the kernels and gives it a bit of a popcorn taste.  All well and good, but his accompanying recipe about the chili-lime mayo dipping sauce is what kept me reading.

Wow.  This is so tasty.  We've been eating it with everything and you should too...

Chili-Lime Aoli

First, make mayonnaise. No, really.  It's super easy and soooooo much better than anything you will buy in a jar.  Of course, it has a raw egg in it, so if you don't know where your eggs come from or when they were removed from the nest...  it's your call.  I happen to know that the eggs I have were under a chicken earlier this morning.  (Harry likes these chicks because their house is right next to a most excellent blue tractor with red flames on it.)

Judy's Mayo

1 egg

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1Tbsp mustard, grainy or otherwise

1 clove garlic

1-3 tsp anchovy paste or worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend this all together with a hand blender and add oil (my Mom, Judy says use canola, but I didn't have any so I used olive which makes a very thick emulsion.  Still very tasty.) to the consistency you want.

To make the aoli, just mix together mayonnaise, freshly squeezed lime juice, chili powder, salt and pepper.

You Say Tomato...

I say, more please!

I love all of the luscious heirloom tomatoes available here.  Deep purple and crimson; vibrant yellows and oranges; and bright green stripes!

"Our" farmer, "Farmer Rob" at Pilgrim's Produce grows a plethora of these beauties.  I've been buying them by the flat and making all sorts of localicious treats now (salad caprese and tomato toast, my faves) and to sustain me through the winter where no righteous tomato will grow.

Heirloom Tomato Jam (aka ketchup)

Tomato Sauces in red, yellow and green.  How fun for pizza on a cold, dreary day!

Dried

Salsa

With my dwindling supplies I made a gorgeous tomato and basil focaccia with my go to bread recipe...

Crispy crust and chewy crumb with just the right amount of juiciness from the tomatoes.  So good. Tastes exactly like summer.

Feast of Fields

Another day of bacchanalian gluttony.

Erin, Colin and I were joined by our friends, Andrew and Sara, for and afternoon of wine and small bites supporting Farm Folk / City Folk.  These good people are supporting community-based sustainable food systems.  Here, here!  I'm all in.

We (except Erin) had enjoyed the inaugural event last year and we're very much looking forward to this year's.  But sadly, we were a bit disappointed,  It was nothing we could put a finger on, just not as good.  Was it the food?  The drink?  No.... we didn't think so.  But what we did not was there were many more families.  And we all know that when your kids are around you can't focus on the task at hand.  Namely eating, drinking and being merry.

I guess not everyone is as lucky as us to have such great babysitters!  Thanks, Mom and Dad!

A further feast for your eyes....

Biking the Bench

There's just something about visiting the winery to taste.  Usually, the staff is knowledgeable and generally interested in talking about their wines (though there is always the exception...)

And you can try a number of their wares before you buy.  The biggest pitfall is who will have to forgo and drive?

Erin, Colin and I solved that dilemma by bringing our bikes for the afternoon tastings.  Now everyone can imbibe and you don't get too tipsy, especially when you have a serious hill to climb between tastings!

I have to admit that overall, I'm not a huge fan of BC Wines.  I think they are weak and/or overpriced.  I also think Bruce at Vino spoiled me, but what can you do?

That being said, here are two exceptional exceptions:

Therapy Vineyards, Freudian Sip.  This lovely white blend is a perfect summer sipper and very reminiscent of Sokol-Blossers Evolution #9.

Howling Bluff.  This is an evolving vineyard, working towards a very exceptional product.  It's a father-son operation that pours right out of their kitchen.  We got to enjoy a great (10:30am!) sip talking to the Dad and listeninig to his plans for the future of the winery,  If you see their wine, grab a bottle or three for the cellar.  They will become beauties!

Honorable Mention: Elephant Island.  This winery uses no grapes in their wine production and had you told me these fruit wines would be anything but sweet I would have raised my eyebrows with suspicion.  But a number of them were quite dry and very refreshing on their patio.

 More pictures here.

Summer, One Scoop at a Time

This summer I've been experimenting with eggless ice cream.

Traditional custard ice cream, also known as French Ice Cream is a bit high maintenance.  Believe me, I know high maintenance...

You must warm the cream and flavors, temper the eggs, lest you want scrambled egg ice cream, reheat the custard to the right temperature so it will set, and cool the whole thing down.  Then you can finally churn away.

No eggs, or Philadelphia style, only requires mixing the flavors together (maybe heat, depends on the intensity of the flavors), chill then churn.

Much easier.

Without the creamy custard you need to use exceptional flavors to make it worthwhile eating.  Well, there's no shortage of flavor in the Okanagan Valley in the summer.

Raspberry Ice Cream

1 1/4 cups raspberries (or blueberries, strawberries, blackberries , or any combination thereof)

2 cups heavy cream

1/3 cup sugar, or less

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons OKS raspberry liqueur, or vodka.

1. In a bowl, mash berries with a fork or potato masher until just slightly chunky.

2. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, bring cream to a simmer with the sugar and salt. Taste berries and if they are very tart, add 2 tablespoons sugar to saucepan. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Transfer to a bowl, stir in liqueur and place in refrigerator or in an ice bath to chill.

3. When cold, pour mixture into ice cream machine. Add berries and churn according to manufacturer’s directions.

Immediately out of the ice cream maker it tastes exactly like the best raspberry milkshake you'll ever have.  If you can wait, transfer to a container and freeze until solid, at least 2 hours. Let sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving, or better yet, in refrigerator for 15 to 30.

Yield: About a quart.

~adapted from the New York Times

Roasted Onion Schmear

Between the deer and Harry my onion crop has been decimated.  And the ones that haven't (yet) been picked out of the ground have had their tops eaten by one of the aforementioned culprits.

SUCH a help in the garden!

So I decided to harvest the meager few and start afresh.  Now I have a roasting pan filled with red, yellow and white onions and a few shallots to mix in.

After a quick consult with the cookbooks I decided on:

Roasted Onion Schmear

3 cups onion, chopped to 2 inch cubes (how do you chop onions into cubes, they're round, I don't know, just quarter them...)

10 cloves garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 anchovies or 2 Tbsp anchovy paste

2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

salt

pepper

Place onions and garlic in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Roast in a 300F oven for 50 - 60 minutes or until they are soft to touch.  Put all ingredients into a food processor (or use a hand blender) and whir until smooth.

~adapted from "caprial's soups and sandwiches"

So, so good.  Creamy and tangy with a woodsy flare from the rosemary.  This is delicious with eggs in the AM or a toasted tomato sammy at lunch.

The Corner Suite, But No Penthouse

After our sojourn in Victoria, we took the ferry to Vancouver for fireworks, family and friends.

First off, the BC Ferry system is awesome if you have a rambunctious kid like I do.  There is one level dedicated to families; one side is decked out with a slide and climbing gym. If that doesn't suit, the other side had a big screen TV running inane children's programs to turn any little monster into a brain-mushed zombie.  Harry did enjoy both sides during the 90 minute excursion...

And along with a few snacks, he was happy as a clam.

Once in Vancouver, we headed to the West End to take up residence at The Sylvia Hotel.  Likely for the last time. 

Here's why; my parents have been going there for the annual fireworks display on English Bay for at least 15 years.  For 14 of those they've asked for one of the rooms with a view.  And they have never got one.  Mind, they always put a deposit on the room the day we leave (so the hotel has the money for almost a year!)  And they usually book more than one room.  I say to heck with The Sylvia!

I'd also add, when C and I  started to go about 6 years ago the room was less than one hundred bucks.  NOW, it's closer to $250.  With no A/C, or screens to keep the bugs out / little boys in.

Hmm, bad PR for them.  Oh well, at least the location rocks as it is across the street from the beach.  So for a glorious couple of sun-filled days we were beach bums.

Oh!  And another nice thing about the  hotel is the closets are quite large.  Large enough to fit a crib in to be sure.  Just so you don't think I'm awful, Harry really likes his "room"; he even told Colin to "put me in my bed and close my door, I tired."  Hah!

With Harry tucked away we could stick our heads out the window and crane around to see a bit of the pyrotechnics.  And he slept through the entire thing, including the throngs of people milling about until midnight.

More pictures from Vancouver...

The next night we took my Mom up on her offer to sit with Harry while we went our for dinner.  We walked to the Corner Suite Bistro, an Erin suggestion, to peruse the cocktail bible and the cheese tome.  The drink list must be close to twenty pages long!

And the cheeses were not that far behind...

I started with a glass of bubbles and settled back for the study.

On to the second cocktail!  I enjoyed an Aviation 2, made with creme de violettes instead of maraschino liqueur.  Much lighter and the floral notes set off the gin quite nicely.  I forget what Colin had, you'll have to ask him. But I do know that both of our drinks went beautifully with our choices of the creamy pate, crunchy crostini and delicious savory onion jam.  To round out the meal we each had a salad and shared a terrine de campagne.  The French do have a way with offal that I so love.

Dessert was unfortunate however.  I don't know if I will ever learn, but I really shouldn't order desserts.  Especially chocolate as they are invariable too sweet.  It started with so much promise, a chocolate trio of:

truffles

sorbet

flourless chocolate cake.

The truffles were like fudge, never a good thing as far as I'm concerned.  And I'm not sure what they made the sorbet out of, Hershey's Syrup?  But it was definitely oozing with high fructose corn syrup (the ultimate in food porn) if I had to place bets.  Then there was the cake.  I like these still molten or set as long as the chocolate is bitterly sweet.  Alas, it was not to be.. The cake ended up grainy and overly sweet, like they forgot they added the sugar and added more after the eggs had been added.

Sigh, at least I could soak my sorrows in the year port I'd ordered and reminisce about the chocolate sorbet I had made....

Chocolate Sorbet from My House

2 1/2 cups water

3/4 cups sugar

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa

pinch of salt

6 oz your favorite bitter or semisweet chocolate (I used 1 oz of baking chocolate and the rest Callebaut bittersweet), chopped finely

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Use a large saucepan because the mixture will bubble up as it boils.

In a large saucepan, whisk together water, sugar, cocoa and salt until it comes to a boil. Let it boil for about a minute, you should notice the chocolate bubbles look glossier.

Remove from heat and stir in the chocolate until completely melted, then stir in vanilla.  place mixture in a blender or use a hand blender and whir for about 15 seconds.

Chill mixture thoroughly then freeze in your ice cream make accordingly.

~adapted from David Lebovitz's Perfect Scoop

Yum.  And don't listen to Colin, chocolate goes with all fruit, especially fruit liqueurs.