Category: food

Here’s what to do:

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 20/07/2010

When you have the time/space. Since last Monday when I was at the Sorauren Farmer’s Market (which, if you are in the area, you really should go to, it’s small but everyone there is nice and has beautiful local/organic produce) and met some nice ladies from Parkdale’s Westend Food Co-op who made me think about canning. And it’s Jana’s fault too, I guess. And Libs.

Yesterday I made pickled beets. I used this recipe and it’s seriously perfect. To think I was going to halve the recipe? I should have doubled it, Shannon’s already eaten half a jar.

Three jars. I expect them to be empty by the week’s end.

Today I made blueberry jam because blueberries are on sale and what is a girl to do with 4 cup of berries? Freezer jam. The direction was ‘crush’ the berries and I considered whizzing them in the blender but ended up just mashing them with my hands so it will be very chunky jam.

With crepes wrapped around giant blobs of it, I am very certain it will be most delicious.

Also of note, I saw an extremely cute car on my way to the grocery store and found out that Spongebob shills for corn watermelon.

If I were to send an open invitation for a canning party, here at my place (I have 2 kitchens and buckets of space) would anyone out there be interested?

Also, what can anyone tell me about Athens, Georgia? I have been looking at real estate there and for some reason I’ve got it in my head that it’s where I must live. Is it nice there?

Impending health

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 24/02/2010

In an effort to be healthier, I’ve switched up my normal diet. Of course, I’ve become addicted to this meal and eat it daily. Well, as far as I can tell, there’s nothing bad in it.

yummmm

It’s a baked sweet potato with a mixed green salad dumped on top, with a lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper dressing and nothing else. Well, today-as in this picture-I included some leftover asparagus from last night and sprinkled it with nutritional yeast.  The yeast scares Shannon a little, but I find it to be largely tasteless.

I think I want a spritz bottle for the olive oil.

I also got a jar of brown rice syrup to put in coffee instead of refined sugar. Again, Shannon declined but I thought it tasted fine. Plus it gives me the excuse to make granola bars again. I take back what I earlier blogged about brown rice syrup!

iphone self portraits

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 20/02/2010

I took these on my walk home from Dufferin Mall today. I tried to take a picture of an hilarious hipster but missed him by inches so I turned my camera to myself instead. I’m almost as hip, with my Gap for Kids sunglasses, right?

movement

It’s better blown up, if you click it you can see. It’s motion.

Speaking of my phone, I’ve had a few problems with it for a couple days. I’m new to the world of macs and all that so I find them hard to use and confusing. Especially itunes. I just don’t understand why I can delete apps directly from my phone but not podcasts or songs. Not even the podcasts I download directly onto it. Then for about 24 hours itunes wasn’t even seeing my phone when it was plugged in. Not only that, but itunes was also freezing when the phone was plugged in. Unplugged? Everything’s kosher.

I installed the newest version of itunes on both my computer and my phone. Here’s me hoping it works better.

I have a headache. I made these but they’re not for eating for another 45 minutes.  If they’re not good I am going to blow a gasket. Watch me.

In other news, Roger Ebert’s interview on Esquire is quite amazing, leading me to read his blog , lots of movie reviews and other interesting stories. I was thrilled to read that he thought Synecdoche NY was the best film of the past decade. I loved it too and look forward to having time to watch it again.

Gesundheit!

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 05/02/2010

I’ve been working on being extra healthy this winter and so far, so good. No colds or flues to mention-yet. Part of that regime was inspired by Karyn, the owner of the workroom where I am taking my quilting class. One evening she was making herself dinner, and it smelled so good I knew I had to replicate it at home. And it IS so good.

nom nom good

Yes. I put my lunch on the dirty floor to take a picture. Here’s what is in my bowl:

1 can chicken broth + 1 can water

2 tsps grated ginger

1/2 tsp chili and garlic sauce

1 bundle soba noodles

1/2 a zucchini very thinly sliced

2 baby bok choi, stems and leaves separated

And I boil the broth with the ginger and chili sauce, toss in the noodles to cook for 4 minutes, adding the zucchini and bok choi stems after 2 minutes and the leaves at the very end. If I’d had cilantro, I would have thrown a lot of that in. Ditto sliced mushrooms. And I drizzle a tiny bit of sesame oil after I dump it into a bowl.

Oh. Yes, it’s delicious.

At the gym I’ve been working very hard. A year ago I felt enormously accomplished when I could finish 20 minutes on the stationary bike without dying. Now that’s my warm up, then I do a bunch of weight lifting (not heavy but repetitive and fast), like pull downs and crunches and stuff, there’s 6 different things I do, then I either jump on the elliptical for 5 minutes (but I could do more, we only have an hour total at the gym) and today I RAN for 5 whole minutes! And I felt fine! It’s great, feeling the change in my body, even just since the new year. I haven’t lost any weight, darn it, but I am getting stronger and my stamina is amazing, even to me. I’ve never been able to run for any length of time, even in junior high I was just a sprinter (just? I was pretty darn good at sprinting).  And I do this workout three times a week.

After March break I will be joining Ari’s gymnastic gym and doing the adult’s gymnastics class on Wednesday nights. If anyone who reads this and lives in Toronto wants to join too, PLEASE DO. It will be fun and silly and wonderful.

First post of 2010

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 01/01/2010

It snowed a little here in Toronto today, not much-maybe an inch or so-but it sure was cold. How cold? This hydrant/faucet thingy on Roncesvalles was feeling it:

Brrr.

Don’t lick it.

We did end up playing at the park too, but not for long. Ari and I worked on several projects, the first a teddy bear gingerbread kit she got for xmas a year ago and the other  the new shrinky dinks she got this year (thanks to Aunt Jodi and Uncle Devon and their brood). The bears were fun, the kit only provided 11 eyes so a few of them were scary cyclops bears.

Bears.

The picture is blurry because I had to rush to snap it before any got eaten. So silly. My shrinky dinks are being made into stitch markers for knitting!

Salmon=Success

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 25/12/2009

The gravlax I mentioned the other day was unwrapped, rinsed, sliced and eaten. Not entirely, no, that would be crazy, but we ate about a quarter of it. A lot. The only thing I would do differently-next time I make it and there will be a next time-is to use actual Kosher salt rather than regular table salt. And maybe use brown sugar instead of white.

Salmon, indeed.

Try not to drool on your keyboard.

And because I was feeling culinarily ambitious, I made latkes to eat the salmon with. Oh, latkes are good eating, right?

Yep.

Yeah, really good eating. With sour cream. Oh.

Speaking of fish, big white fish Donna has a bruise on her shoulder and I wonder if there was a fight during the night or if she just got scraped on a rock. She’s pretty fussy about letting me look closely (and her fin blobs are getting worse too) and I’m guessing she’s not long for this world. Ah, 14+ years is a pretty good run for a regular, old fashioned feeder fish I guess.

I’m really hoping we hear from Ari today-she’s in California for xmas. Video chat is armed and ready!

Xmas eve dinner

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 24/12/2009

I wanted to make something new, festive and pretty for dinner tonight and I was successful on all three points. I made Beet Barley Risotto and I only made a few minor changes to the recipe.  I added about 2 tablespoons of cold butter at the end to make it shiny and creamy.  I also ground in some black pepper.

beet, barley risotto

It’s, sadly, not quite as delicious as it looks. If I were to make it again (and I doubt I will), I’d add orange zest or concentrate or something equally zingy.

Anyway, I hope everyone’s happy and well fed this holiday season, I love you all!

Cuba, farewell

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 22/12/2009

Since the Cuban authorities had other ideas about our vacation (Shannon called it 20 minutes, but it was really closer to an hour total on the ground there), I’ve had to figure out other ways to amuse myself while off work for a few days-other than wound licking.

I’ve done some more knitting-the shawl I started with the lovely yellow sock yarn is coming along swimmingly. It’s nearing the end and I have to figure out a nice way to edge it to tie it all together. I’m meeting Jana for lunch tomorrow and I’ll be asking her an enormous favour-that’s all I will say about that here. I ordered another ball from a different (Canadian) vendor on Etsy and was surprised-and a little pissed off-at how much shipping was: on a $14 ball of yarn,  shipping was $9.50! Plus tax and exchange rate, it came to almost $28 total! Whereas the yarn I got from America? The shipping was $3. Crappy crap crap, right?

Because the dishes are almost done, I have also done a lot of cooking-so far today I have made vegan cabbage rolls and non-vegan fudge.  I also made my first gravlax ever, which will be ready on xmas day so we’ll have something delicious to feast on. I have also unpacked, vacuumed and wrapped all the presents.

We’ve been trying to stay busy and not wallow in sadness about missing our vacation. I’ve been looking for a salt water public pool in Toronto (there’s one at the JCC but I was hoping for one in our area) to swim at and I think we’re going out for a very nice dinner tomorrow night. Then we’re going to lay low and wait for Ari to get home so we can celebrate xmas for realzies.

Packing heat

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 19/12/2009

We’re getting ready to take off for a few days over xmas. Because we’ve taken so many trips in the last year, it’s become easier for me, I no longer make lists of what to bring-it’s second nature now. I also keep vacation stuff (passports, goggles, miniature toiletries) all together to keep things simple. The only thing is that I do still tend to over (and occasionally under) pack for trips bringing clothes that I don’t end up wearing.

If we’re allowed to go. If, if, if. I never believe we’re going anywhere-and refuse to get too excited about anything-until we’re actually on the plane.

suitcase full of sunshine

I should take another picture when we get home and it’s all balled up and covered in white sand. And smells like sweat and spf40.

Today was a good day, I had a tattoo consult with Bill and we’re going to get together in the new year to get back to work on my right arm. It took me years to figure out what I wanted to do in the negative space and I finally got it. He seemed happy enough with the design and I am very happy about it.  Plus I love to hang out with Bill because he’s very funny and friendly and full of great stories.

Then I ate lunch at Big Fat Burrito and was not disappointed. My goodness, SO GOOD. I had a small yam burrito with everything and burrito sauce. To. Die. For. I should have ordered a large…drooling just thinking about it now.  There are some things I could eat almost daily, and that burrito was one of them. Perfection.

I got new shades too, since I’d lost my green G4K pair and was reduced to wearing the black wrap arounds that came free with our Hallowe’en contacts. These new ones are ok, they were only $5, but my hair’s already been ripped out by the metal logos pinned to the sides. Stupid knock-off D&G.

Pink shades

Big glasses for a giant head.

Now I have to decide on entertainment for the trip, which yarn/needles to bring and books. And my DS, it’s always good. And I have to remember to get fish food blocks tomorrow. Gosh.

I got 99 problems but my coat ain’t one

Posted by Caitlin Jane – 10/12/2009

Winter, it seems, is finally here which means I’ve worn my new winter coat all of 3 times. It’s stunning, not just in appearance but in it’s warmth, a knee length down-filled coat is very cozy. Oh, so warm. I wore it to the grocery store this morning and actually had to take it off while shopping because I was so sweaty, my arms were wet! I absolutely love this coat, it’s wonderful, and has 3 inside pockets! And a hood that comes off! And when I  wear it on the subway, it feels like I am sitting on the comfiest pillow ever. And it looks super with my gorgeous boots.

Winter coat!

Harder than you’d think to take a picture of a long coat. Just imagine it’s down to my knees.

It’s funny, as I type a blog entry about my lovely new winter coat that my darling buddy bought me, he’s dozing on the couch right beside me while wearing his own winter coat. His ancient winter coat that I swear he’s been wearing since 1998.  He’s tired because the tarp kept him up all night: the one on the skylights in the interior space where we sleep, it’s windy outside so the tarp flap flap flaps and it’s pretty noisy but doesn’t bother me much. He kept thinking someone was coming into our place to murder us. I took a picture of him because I think he looks adorable but I won’t post it without his consent.

I’m also working on my second attempt at chocolate truffles. I actually weighed the chocolate this time, so hopefully I got it right.  And for dinner we’re having scalloped potatoes, chicken and broccoli. Gosh, how domestic am I anyway?

(Oh, and ps, I got my second email from Richard Christy. He’s my favourite!)