Yukon Chatter Bug

A post by Grannymar, an Irish blogger I read (because I like all things Irish), reminded me of my own scattered collection of recipes. Like her mother had, I have a clash of newspaper cut-outs, bits of pad paper with chicken-scratched recipes, and many others bearing other people’s handwriting: Mom, Teresa, Mme. Hamel, Mrs. Schulte, and so on. These signed recipes are like time-marks of my life, and each time I prepare them they remind me of the people who gave them to me, including yesterday’s feta, mint, black pepper and olive oil drizzled watermelon Mrs. Schulte showed me years ago.

Off I pranced to the post office to pick up a Christmas parcel a few years ago, and madly I tore open the box. I spotted a container of rolled oats, a packet of brown sugar, and Grandma’s carefully handwritten recipe for making oatmeal or soupane as we called it in French.  Tears flooded my cheeks as she obviously knew this was a sweet spot for me. This was, by far, one  of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received at Christmas.

Firmly anchored in my head are childhood memories of Grandma making porridge on her woodstove. Whether it was for this reason or only because it was a treat from Grandma, that porridge was extra tasty. Of course the dark brown sugar and splash of whole milk helped.

The only problem now was finding an old woodstove to prepare it the way she did.

Similar to what my Grandma had, except the colour

For a scrumptilicious fantasmagorical warm beet salad, get fresh ingredients from your local market (I can’t say enough about the Fireweed Community Market), and toss ‘em all together. You never know what you’ll end up with. In my case, I ended up with this wonderful spur of the moment recipe.

1. Boil red and white beets
2. Boil (or steam) carrots
3. Meanwhile, melt butter in pan.
4. Sauté:
   • green onions
   • dill weed
   • sliced mushrooms
   • sliced collard greens
   • sliced beet greens
5. Add to mix:
   • sunflower seeds
   • dried cranberries
   • 2 tsp. lemon juice mixed with zest
6. When carrots and beets are cooked, slice and add to salad mix
7. Toss salad with salt and pepper to taste

I had never tried collard greens before, and I didn’t know you could eat beet greens. Apparently turnip greens are also edible. Who knew!

Oh, and I purchased a beautiful original painting ink work from Stace Pshyk.

For the last week, I’ve been trying to find creative ways to get rid of foodstuff before it’s too late. “Never buy groceries on an empty stomach, my mother always warned me. I usually try to heed her advice, but for my last trip to the store, I must of had a brain fart, so I ended up with almost every fruit and vegetable under the sun.

Trying to get rid of way too many kiwifruit resulted in a tasty sauce that’s delicious over vanilla ice cream. Something has to balance out all those fruits and vegetables! Here’s what I did:

• peel the kiwifruit – use a teaspoon and scoop the fruit out (I had about 10)
• put in a food processor
• add 1 cup white sugar
• add 2 teaspoons of lemon or lime juice mixed with zest (adds a nice tang to the syrup/sauce)
• simmer for about an hour

I poured the sauce into an empty bottle and keep it in the refrigerator. Deeee-lish!