Reading is my other passion...

So I am going to take a slight departure on food for this post. After I reviewed Family Meals by Chef Michael Smith, I received a copy of Virgin by Radhika Sanghani from Penguin. I love getting lost in a good piece of fiction and it is even better when it funny and I find myself giggling or snorting, often times in my case. My review of the book is below and I kind of wish that I had this book at the beginning of the summer, to start with a good laugh rather than the end of summer as I am slowing getting my head around going back to work. But it is still a worthwhile read and thoroughly enjoyable. I promise my next post will be about food as I have made a few awesome things over the summer and I finally have a BBQ! Another way to cook even more real food! Enjoy the review and get a copy of this book, it is worth it.

The book Virgin by Radhika Sanghani, a British journalist and first-time author, is an hilarious take on a very tricky and taboo subject when it comes to sex. So often today we see teenagers trying to shed their mantle of youth i.e. their v-card, thanks in large part to mass media, in such haste that they don't stop to think of the emotional and physical consequences of having sex before they are ready. The feminine heroine/ antagonist of this novel Ellie Kolstakis is embarrassed by the flashing cursor over one word on her medical file at her doctor's office that just screams virgin at her. And it sends the 21-year-old into a complete tailspin thinking that a one night stand is the only way to go. Instead of embracing her uniqueness in holding on to something that she has complete control over, she wants to be like everyone else that she knows; like she feels she is on the outside staring at the cool kids, including her bestie Lara.

After a fight with Lara, Ellie teams up with her new friend Emma, from her literary class to begin looking for the person who will help her cash in her v-card for experience. Little does Ellie know that in order to gain experience in all aspects of life, including sexually, you must gain confidence in yourself and your abilities first. Ellie is clearly lacking in confidence as evidenced in the clothing scenes, where everyone compliments her on what she does have and Ellie focuses primarily on what she is lacking.

Even after she meets Jack and begins her trial writing for the Pi Team, her angst builds up about the fact that Jack has not texted her and when he finally does, she realizes she is entering unfamiliar territory, but feels that Jack will be the one who gets to "devirginizer" her. Ellie is relatable and quirky when it come to Jack. I think most women who are dating, in this day and age, can relate to what Ellie is feeling regardless of how old they are. The dating world has become so convoluted what with texting, the online scene and the bar scene that take and devalue emotion at the basic level and leaves people wondering how the opposite sex even end up interacting with one another at all.

Ellie's foray into blog writing or vlog writing turns her adventures from Brazilian waxing gone awry, coupled with Emma's contributions about her sex life to Ellie learning to pleasure herself into hilarious pieces that the reader can completely identify with.

As the book progresses, Ellie does not lose any of her endearing charm or quirkyness and her new found confidence helps her to accept parts of her past that she cannot change and embrace the parts of her future that are slowly being laid out for her with her hard work in accepting who she is. While the ultimate goal was for Ellie to lose her virginity, it was also became about her learning to accept who she is and what she can and will achieve if she has faith and accepts that things will happen and not necessarily in the time frame that she wants it to; but it will happen with determination and courage that evolves with maturity.

I recommended this book to anyone who is looking for a lighthearted look at the female perspective of sex and relationships, or who just needs a good laugh while reminiscing about the "firsts" of everything related to sex, dating, friendships and relationships. I think we can all see a little piece of Ellie in ourselves.

Meal times are family time...a review of Chef Michael Smith's Family Meals

Courtesy of Penguin Canada

When I first received the email asking me to review Family Meals by Chef Michael Smith for Penguin Canada, I was a little hesitant. I am single with no "family" of my own that resides with me 24/7.  I do have family of course; my parents, my brother and his family, my cousins and my friends who are as close to me as family, but I wasn't sure that this was a book meant for me. But I began to realize that families come in all shapes and sizes. I am a family of one with a large extended family including friends. If I do not cook for myself, then I do not eat. Fast food is not an option for me either as I have specific dietary needs, and I do not mind making a big batch of something and eating it for the week to make life easier for myself. I do however miss the conversation that a family dinner affords and I am always grateful when people join me for dinner at my place. Never mind that I am slightly control freakish when it comes to cooking now, since I am the only one that can meet my needs, but also I love to cook and I am always experimenting with new things, but again it is hard when the TV, the DVD or the internet are your only dinner companion.

Growing up, dinner time was always family time. It did not matter what you were doing, what you were right in the middle of or how hungry you were or weren’t; as soon as the call to the dinner table arose, you came. The only time you were ever excused from dinner time was if you were too ill to come to the table or, as we got older, if your shift at your job was over the dinner hour. Dinner was a way for us to connect and talk about the day, sometimes the discussion started earlier over a cup of tea before dinner but generally the discussion about the day was over dinner. Today’s generation, from what I can gather from the stories of students and friends, does not know what it is to sit down to a family meal every single night. Schedules are more hectic, traffic a little more crazy, convenience foods and fast foods a little more convenient and it leaves families disjointed and heading in different directions and very little time to sit as a family and enjoy a meal together. Even as adults it is hard to coordinate schedules to share a meal together and catch up on events.

Chef Michael Smith believes that "cooking real food for your family is easy and fun," and he organized a number of recipes that are a collection of tried and true family recipes and recipes sure to become new family favourites to prove this theory. The book is visually stunning and jam-packed with full colour photographs of the recipes. Not only does he showcase his creations but he also intersperses photos of him with his family, cooking and enjoying the meals that they have prepared together. Chef Smith is a proponent in this book that kids should be involved in the planning and preparation of family dinner times etc...He believes that the better the connection they have to their food the more likely they will be to try new things. If they meet the farmer that grows their food, at the local market, they will gain a better understanding of where their food comes from and in turn eventually gain an understanding of how the economy works and why we should be supporting local. He gives 10 tips at the beginning of the book of how to work with your children in the kitchen and cook with them; instead of regarding it as a solitary chore he proposes that you make it a fun family time. He also includes weekday tips to guide the adults of how to save time and keep the kitchen running smoothly and also tips on how to organize your kitchen. Of course everyone has their own unique style when it comes to their kitchens but it never hurts to see how a professional chef operates and incorporate a few good ideas now and again. Cooking, creating and being in the kitchen are constantly an evolutionary process.

The layout of the book is like most cookbooks, it begins with breakfast and works its way through the major meals of the day, but it also dedicates space to slow cooking, hacks to make food fast but not fast food quality and the meatless Monday that has become popular as of late. Each section has its own cover page and then a separate table of contents so that you can easily scan the recipes for that section and find what you desire. This actually annoyed my Mom when she looked through the book, but then again she is from the Company's Coming generation whereby the books had a meticulous, orderly fashion of retrieving recipes. Whereas I am from the Pinterest generation, who scans and flips through things with fingers and thumbs and quickly reads and evaluates to determine whether something is worth the time to prepare. Mom missed the picture index at the back all together but I found it to be quite useful because if the picture appealed to me, I went in search of the recipe and its ingredients based on the page number listed. It is through this flipping and scanning that I stumbled upon Chef Smith's tip for cooking bacon (found in the prelude to the Frittata recipe) and I happened to employ it while making his Everyday Egg Sandwich for lunch one day. Thanks to this tip, I will never be spattered with grease again I hope. I also used the index to eagerly find the recipe that I committed to try in order to write this review. Normally I would choose a salmon recipe, but since it is summer I have been on a bit of a burger kick; so Nacho Burgers ended up on my long weekend menu.

Courtesy of Penguin Canada

 

The Nacho Burgers are not a complex recipe to follow, the picture shows how simple and delicious the appeal to them is; who wouldn't enjoy their salsa and chips in the burger rather than on the side. So I went to the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market and the Brewery Market to collect my ingredients and make myself some nacho goodness in a bun.

The recipe was simple to follow and did not require any complex use of equipment. If I had been able to have my nephew in the kitchen with me I would have been able to give him little tasks, such as crushing the nacho chips, to help prepare the meal. The burgers combined quite easily and while I will admit to having reservations as to the amount of cumin in the recipe and wondering if it was a typo, it really added to the uniqueness and aroma of all the different ingredients. I did make one swap in the recipe though and that is because I had a lot of fresh oregano that I needed to use up so I opted for fresh over dried. The only other reservation about the recipe that I had was when it came to buttering and toasting the bun with chili powder. I usually try to avoid using excessive amounts of extra fats and oils if I can possibly help it, but as I needed to use a gluten free bun and occasionally must employ this trick to keep it moist, I kept to the recipe. The end result was a moist burger with a smokey, citrusy flavor that words really cannot describe nor do justice to. The butter/chili pepper on the bun in combination with the salsa, melted cheese and the surprise crunch of nacho chips led to a supremely satisfying burger experience that cannot be had in a fast food restaurant. It is definitely a recipe that I will make for my extended family, if we can ever get our schedules coordinated that is.

I thoroughly enjoyed Chef Michael Smith’s cookbook Family Meals and I have already lined up a couple of more recipes that I want to try and very soon. My mother eyeballed the Cinnamon Oatmeal cookies, so I know that I will have to move that to the top of my list. I can also see myself using a lot of his lunchbox recipes, when I go back to work in September, to keep lunch interesting for myself but also passing them on to my sister-in-law, for my nephew who begins school in September, as well. The only drawback to the book that I am critical of is his use of full fat meats for certain recipes, but this could be due to my health consciousness and refusal to purchase full fat items, especially meats, because I do not want the excess calories that comes with it. I know that full fat does lend flavor and preserves moisture, especially where meat is concerned, as I have worked in restaurants and learned a few tricks here and there. Full fat meat items sometimes require a few extra steps to drain the excess to ensure that the fat does not end up in the final product, so sometimes it is easier to purchase the lower fat content in the first place but it also comes down to the preference of the family chef. This family chef though has learned well from the Master Family Chef, her mother, but I think I can learn a few more things from the other Master, Chef Michael Smith. I will definitely be reaching for his book, Family Meals, to make new and interesting things for my family to sit and enjoy a family dinner as soon as we can get those silly schedules coordinated.

Sweet William's ground beef & cumin from the Spiceman

Beef & Cumin

Add an onion

Some fresh oregano

6 large patties

Toasted buns

Broiled burgers, since the weather wasn't great

Cooked patties

Nacho Burger on a gluten free bun from O'Dells, with salsa mixed with Chipotle Lime BBQ sauce from Little Red Kitsch'n

 

 

Summertime and the living is....chaotic?

Okay, so I have found myself severely remorseful that I have not maintained my blog properly. But when the spring months hit, life becomes just a little more crazy at work and I tend to take on a little more too or perhaps it is a case that everything that I took on in September finally comes full circle in the Spring months; who knows.  So now I find myself with the month of July nearly gone and I still have not updated with news of all the wonderful gluten free things that I have consumed and/or made.  It is all such an incredible journey but there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything  that I want to do. :(

First things first, before I talk about two incredible meals at fabulous restaurants that I had to celebrate my birthday in May;  Joy McCarthy is coming to Halifax in August for a book signing. If you read my book review post in the winter you will know that she is the author of Joyous Health and a holistic nutritionist. I have, since writing the review of Joyous Health, made some of her recipes including: Chia Black Bean Brownies, Detox Juice, Double Chocolate Gluten Free Cookies, Apple Beet Carrot Slaw with Honey Dressing and Raw Carrot Cake Balls (absolutely fabulous). I have more recipes earmarked to try as I find the time. Anyhow, she will be at the Healthy Bug on August 22nd and Organic Earth Market on August 23rd. You can find a link to her site here. I will definitely be going to one of the signings and hear what she has to say about organic living and healthy eating. Hopefully others will come out and show her some Maritime/ East Coast hospitality.

Secondly, I will be reviewing Chef Michael Smith's newest cookbook, Family Meals. Looking forward to doing this and to see what kind of family friendly recipes he has to offer. My nephew or parents may be the guinea pigs for this food experiment. :) Stay tuned, as the review will be forthcoming in the next two weeks. He will also be in Nova Scotia for an event in September as well.

So for my birthday in May I decided to do something a little different this year. Traditionally I go to the Wooden Monkey, primarily because I know that it is a safe spot for me to eat. However, I had been wanting to try Morris East for quite awhile but never quite got around to it. I knew that they had gluten free options, as Schoolhouse Bakery supplies them with the crust, so I know that it is completely safe. I decided it was time to give it a try. My parents came into the city 2 days before my birthday, on the same day as Open City. The weather was horrible and I only managed to get to Lost Cod Clothing Co. before meeting my parents to treat myself to a couple of new t-shirts, but dinner with Mom and Dad more than made up for it.

Morris East--Kale Sprout Salad

Morris East has two locations, downtown on Morris Street and just off Larry Uteck Blvd in the Bedford area. Mom and I decided that we would be better off going to the Larry Uteck location, as my father does not have patience for driving downtown at the best of times, let alone in the pouring rain while trying to find a parking spot.  The atmosphere at the Larry Uteck location is very modern and Art Deco. Photos that I have seen of the Morris Street location show a more old world pizzeria feel.  There was a lot of light from the floor to ceiling windows but alas it was pouring rain. The menu was still their winter/spring menu, so the menu has now slightly altered for the summertime. I first looked at the wine menu, as I had already determined that I wanted a glass but was dismayed by their lack of Nova Scotia wines on the list. I contented myself with a Pinot Grigio from Mission Hill B.C. and it was light and fruity and crisp but not quite what I had wanted. I ordered the Kale and Brussel Sprout salad to start, while Mom had the Beet Salad with warm goat cheese. I loved the Kale Salad with its big flakes of parmesan cheese, candied hazelnuts and mustard vinaigrette. My Mom did not enjoy her salad as much as the beets were a cold contrast to the warm goat cheese and she had assumed that the beets would also be warm. We ordered separate pizzas, as my parents decided they wanted a regular crust as opposed to my gluten free crust. My parents are supportive of my need to be gluten free, but sometimes they just don't wish to eat it. So they ordered the mushroom and sausage pizza on a whole wheat crust while I ordered the enchilada with blackened chicken on my gluten free one. I loved the fact that you can see the flames in the oven from the dining room and the pizzas coming from said oven did not disappoint. There is something about a pizza from a wood fired oven. It crisps the crust so beautifully and melts and browns the cheese so perfectly that you want to stare at it and savour the woodsy smell before diving in for the first slice. My parents thoroughly enjoyed theirs and I almost regretted not ordering the same but on my crust. I liked mine, as it was what I was in the mood for at the time, but I cannot say with definitiveness that it is something that I would order again. The dessert that we all shared, on the other hand, was this gluten free, chocolate lovers dream. It was a chocolate, cheese mousse confection piled high with white chocolate shavings resting on a chocolate ganache base. It was decadence on a plate and it took the three of us to make quick work of it. I would, without hesitation, order that again if given the chance. All in all I was impressed by Morris East and as long as they have gluten free options, I will make an effort to put it on my safe list and frequent it a little more. They just need to work on that wine list a little ;)

Morris East--Beet Salad

Morris East--Mushroom and Sausage Pizza

Morris East--Dessert, Salad and Enchilada Pizza with Blackened Chicken

2 Doors Down--Grilled Salmon

2 Doors Down--Pot de Crème

The second birthday celebration I had, was a week later and with my friends Michelle and Shawn. I almost opted for the Wooden Monkey with them, but again looked around at my options and really wanted something different. I chose to go to 2 Doors Down with them. This restaurant tries to use as many locally sourced things as possible and gives a variety of vegetarian and gluten free options which is really nice. I had eyed the menu online and kind of knew what I wanted when we got there. The rustic décor surprised me and I felt kind of overdressed once there. I liked the fact that we were served water from a Fox Hill Dairy glass milk bottle. It was a nice touch for a place that prides themselves on locally sourced items. Their wine selection was really good but the minute I placed my order for a glass of Blomidon Baco Noir, I was informed that they were in the process of changing over to the summer wine selections and there was no Baco to be had. I was disappointed to say the least as my wine selection was going to complement my dinner selection. So I settled for a glass of Seyval Blanc and changed my dinner selection consequently. I had wanted the burger with gfo, but opted for the salmon which really is not a bad alternative and when it came out perfectly grilled with perfectly roasted veggies and vinaigrette it truly was a good choice and one that I was extremely satisfied with. Michelle and Shawn respectively enjoyed their burger and poutine/calamari as well. Michelle and I shared a Chocolate Pot de Crème, which was essentially a small Mason Jar of chocolate mousse and we were enamoured by the genial use of the jar. It was another birthday well spent and I honestly cannot wait to go back to 2 Doors Down and finally try their burger for myself and hopefully they will have some lovely Baco Noir to pair with it.


Here's to Root Vegetables & Red Wine....A Little Chocolate Doesn't Hurt Either!

Well, I am now to the point where I do not know where to begin. So much has happened over the last little while and I have made and consumed so many good things that it is impossible to detail them all in one post. So I will write about my most recent adventure in the kitchen because I am truly proud of this accomplishment, because it made people happy and used one of my grandfather's favourite things; beets.

Beets are the funniest things. They are a vegetable and like most they can be baked, boiled and pickled to your hearts content. They are wonderful for all natural dyes; I know this because most days I go to work with beet stained hands from peeling one to juice it. Luckily for me that my students are so enthralled with my jam jar of juice that looks suspiciously like jam; that they do not notice my hands. I was never fond of beets growing up, but I would occasionally eat my mother's Harvard beets or the odd pickled one if it magically appeared on my plate, when sitting next to my grandfather at Sunday dinner. Since getting my juicer; beets are now a staple in my vegetable crisper. I tend to buy a big bag from Tap Root Farms, Elmridge Farms or Oak Haven Farms once a week when at the market. When I first got my juicer I told my friend Michelle about the benefits of it and how I could take some of pulps and bake with them. It took me awhile to get around to doing just that, but I did. I started with carrots into muffins and Joyous Health's Raw Carrot Cake Balls and then two weeks ago I decided I was going to make my friend Michelle a chocolate beet cake for her birthday. There was just one problem; I had no idea what the hell I was doing.

I had never made a beet cake before, let alone a gluten free one. So I poked around the trusty internet and came up with nothing. Hmmmm....odd for the internet. Most recipes called for the beets to be cooked and puréed, which I did not want to do. I wanted to use the pulp from my juicer. I noticed that some recipes called for strictly beets and no flour and others called for a small amount of almond meal. I have a recipe for really awesome, fudge like, gluten free brownies which uses cooked rice and a small amount of rice flour so I decided to employ that same theory to my cake; beet pulp and some almond meal.  I followed a few other aspects of my brownie recipe to get the chocolatey goodness I desired but modified it to get a cake like batter as opposed to a brownie batter. The end result looked like this.

Chocolate Cake and Red Wine....Yum!

 
It was the most moist cake I have had in awhile and I used very little sugar to make it. I used the Avocado Pudding that I make when I am having an intense chocolate craving and it worked perfectly as a frosting and takes no refined sugar. It was the best cake, if I do say so myself and I really do. My friend Michelle and her partner were raving about it for days; which is a compliment as Shawn tends to be somewhat picky. I am just glad that it worked out for really having no clue what I was doing and I made it the day that I had them over for dinner. If you want to try your hand at it, give the recipe a try and judge for yourself if this is not the most wonderful chocolate cake ever! Gourmandises Avenue's Intense Cocoa Powder was also a great addition to this recipe

Chocolate Beet Cake

4 Beets Medium/Large

½ cup or 125 g Almond Meal

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 tsp. Xanthan Gum

1 tsp. Crystal Salt (I have a salt grinder so it is less)

4 eggs Large/Xtra Large

1 ½ cups Coconut Sugar

2 tsps. Vanilla

2 cups Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (these are gluten free) + 2 tbsp Cocoa

1/3 cup coconut oil

1. Take beets and process through a juicer. You need to separate the juice from the pulp. 4 good sized beets should yield roughly 2 to 2 ½ cups of pulp. Place pulp into a bowl with the almond meal, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum. Set aside. Place the juice in the fridge or drink as you desire.

2. Beat the eggs and sugar together with a mixer until frothy.

3. Melt chocolate chips and coconut oil together until blended.

4. While the mixer is running, slowly pour the melted chocolate into the egg and sugar mixture and then turn the mixer up so that it is completely incorporated and voluminous.

5. Add beet mixture to chocolate mixture along with the vanilla and mixture until thoroughly combined.

6. Line a 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper and oil it as well. Pour batter into the pan and place in a 350° oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool before removing it from the form.

8. Once it has been removed from the form and has completely cooled, you should be able to use a serrated knife to cut it into two layers, if you so choose. I did and used some of the “frosting” in the centre. I made a double batch of the pudding

9. Frost and enjoy.



 

Frosting!

 

Oh Yeah! We had dinner first!

I will have to give the details about dinner on a later post because it was truly fabulous as well.

If gluten free was a superhero, it would be...GRAIN POWER

 

Book: Paperback | 210 x 133mm | 224 pages | ISBN 9780143186908 | 07 Jan 2014 | Penguin Canada

 In case anyone missed the point of this entire blog; I love food! I think it comes from my Mom and Dad, both of whom enjoy good food and they rarely went out to sit down restaurants without my brother and I in tow. We were not much of a fast food family and much preferred the quietude of a restaurant with service and varying menu. You could almost call us food snobs, but we did have the occasional fast food sojourn which was not as fun as our restaurant adventures and usually occurred due to convenience and time constraints.

It wasn’t until food stopped loving me and caused me absolutely nothing but grief in 2010 that I lost my passion for cooking and subsequently eating. I began existing on the things that would keep my stomach from aching, my energy levels from taking a sharp nose dive and my weight from plummeting. Even when I was off and on the gluten free lifestyle, while waiting for testing, I felt like a fish out of water not knowing where to turn, what to cook and eat for the best. It has been a series of trial and errors, up and downs and I am wishing that a book like Grain Power: Over 100 Delicious GLUTEN-FREE Ancient Grain & Superblend Recipes by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming existed then. It did not however, but I am so very glad that it does now. The biggest hurdle has been getting enough fibre and grains into my diet and it has not been easy. I have existed on mostly chia, flax and buckwheat and psyllium fibre with the occasional quinoa and amaranth thrown in for the last year, but now with this book I can become further educated on the other types of grains that exist for those of us whom wheat is no longer an option.

The first 30 pages of this book are a rich resource for those either just beginning their journey using these ancient grains or who wish to further enhance their knowledge. Each grain has a brief description written about them in the introduction, detailing their origins and uses, however it does not end there as it does in most other whole grain cookbooks. Each grain is then given the star treatment and Patricia & Carolyn give in depth details about how to use each grain, cook each grain, turn each grain into flour, the yields they produce and each grain has a checklist that describes their flavour, texture, gluten-free status, classification as seed or grain and whether or not they are a complete protein. A detailed nutritional chart is also included in this section as well as a how-to section on sprouting the grains. Every piece of information that you could possibly wish to know is in this section.

Beyond the introduction the reader then delves into the nitty gritty of the book, the recipes. When I first received the book from Penguin Canada I flipped the book open to a picture of a chocolaty concoction that looked too good to be true; Chewy Chocolate Granola with Cherries & Buckwheat (Pg. 52) and I knew that this would be the first recipe on my list to try. I had to pick up a couple of ingredients to make this, as my pantry was not well stocked at the time in either the proper ingredients or the suggested alternatives listed. The recipe instructions were easy to follow and all the nutritional information was at the bottom of the page. The granola really was as good as its picture made it out to be although I think the next time I make it; I will cook it a little longer and crisp it up slightly. Two different time allotments are in the recipe and chewy is the lower time allotment but there is no indication as to what type of chewy that would be. As it turns out it is no cook, chocolate macaroon chewy before they are set. A good baseline indication would have been helpful for the recipe as I prefer my granola in between chewy and crunchy. The other thing was the fact that the recipe calls for slivered almonds, but I noticed in the photograph that natural, sliced almonds are present. Anyone who does any baking will know the difference between the two and I guess it boils down to a matter of preference. I prefer natural almonds and generally have them on hand in my cupboard as a staple to any type of blanched almond.

The next two recipes that I tried after indulging my chocolate craving, were two things that went perfectly together and were a perfect winter meal and made enough for me to have it for lunch all this week at work. I made the Smoked Ham & Leek Amaranth Soup (Pg. 116) and the Cheddar Garlic Ancient Grain Biscuits (Pg. 104). The soup was really quick and easy to whip up and I even had the amaranth in the cupboard as I use it in another recipe. It was tasty the first night, but better the next day after the flavours had melded together. I made one major swap in this particular recipe and that was the cream. In order to keep my soup dairy-free I used an almond/coconut milk combination instead of the cream and it worked just as well without altering the flavours. The amaranth and the starch from the potatoes (I added a little bit of sweet potato too) gave the soup a split pea soup consistency which was pleasantly surprising and belly filling. However, soup without biscuits just seems wrong, so it did not take long to make the batter and add the cheese and parsley and bake them up. One thing did confuse me about the recipe and that was in the preamble when the authors state, “Potato starch helps keep them gluten-free and gives them a lighter flavour,” (Green & Hemming, Pg. 104) But all of my ingredients were wheat and gluten-free, so how does potato starch “keep” it gluten-free? An unseasoned gluten-free cook might also be confused by this terminology.

Overall the book is put together and organized well. Most of the recipes have corresponding swaps suggested by the authors in case you do not have something on hand and most have an accompanying photograph that tantalises the reader in to wondering what to make next. I am already trying to determine that myself and I am intrigued about trying to make my own crackers. I am glad this book has found its way into my collection and I have a feeling that it will be put to good use. Kudos to Patricia & Carolyn for putting Grain Power into the hands of those who need it and those who just want to experiment with different types of whole grains.

 

 Chewy Chocolate Granola with Cherries & Buckwheat

 

 

Soup before the ham

 

 Biscuits, before the oven

 

Biscuits, after cooking

 

Supper!

 

I curl sometimes when I am not eating...

So last week my mixed curling team went to Middleton to play in the NS Club Mixed Provincial Championship. The curling, unfortunately, was not the highlight of the weekend. It is too bad really because we are a fairly good team, although I am little biased. We have a 9-2 record within our club league and the two losses came to the same team. We discovered that we are all basically foodies. When I heard that we were going to the Annapolis Valley my heart sank a little, because I knew that eating was going to again be a huge issue. I am the only team member with issues and it would have been just so easy, albeit time consuming, to take everything with me and eat in the motel or just grab a salad and some chicken from the local grocery store. However, I knew I needed to be a little more social, so I made the best of it. I packed my wheat free oats, protein powders and bars for the morning and took snacks to get me through the afternoons.

We stayed at the former Mid-Valley Inn which has been "renovated" and renamed the Middleton Motel & Suites. It was a clean place to put our heads and shower, other than that it was overpriced and nothing spectacular, considering where we were and the time of year that it was. That evening before our game we went to the Capitol Pub where the all day breakfast menu said to inquire about their GFO (Gluten Free Options), so I asked if I could have GF toast as an option and they did not have toast, but said they might start carrying some in the freezer. I am not sure what the actual options were, so I had a greasy omelette with a side of ham and sliced tomato in place of toast and hashbrowns. It was not picture worthy at all.

The following morning the Middleton Curling Club had their monthly community breakfast and it was freewill offering. Plates were heaped with sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and pancakes plus toast and beans on the side. The club does a community breakfast up right. I took my oatmeal with me and had that with some bacon and eggs. The lady at the counter proclaimed that they were the best scrambled eggs in the Valley and she was not lying; they were really good.

We were not very hungry after our game that day and we had made reservations to go out to the Perfect Pear restaurant at the Falcourt Inn in Nictaux that evening before our next game. I had looked at the menu online and was prepared to have my standard salad and chicken but when we got there, our server said that the chef was aware of food allergies and sensitivities and placed a variety of different items on the specials. I was able to have a three course meal with wine and coffee for $40. The best part that not only was my meal gluten free, it was absolutely amazing and I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

The following morning we played our final game and stopped at the Green Elephant in Kingston. I had the best Soy, Vanilla Latte ever and I was able to have eggs and ham with GF toast! I think the bread was from the Saraj Bakery in New Minas but I forgot to ask. So eggs were the recurring theme of my weekend. The plate was beautiful, but I was so hungry that there was no time for a picture. :)

Gluten Free in Search of Joy and Joyous Health

When Penguin Canada contacted me in the New Year about reviewing two books for them, I was a little flattered and more than just a little scared. One of the books, Grain Power by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming is a collection of gluten-free, ancient grain recipes and Joyous Health by Joy McCarthy is a lifestyle enhancement book meant to bring peace, balance, harmony and joy back to your life through the use of not only food, but mindfulness of body and spirit as well. It is this book that particularly made me feel beyond my scope. While I may have been an English major at Acadia University back in the day and I have taught my junior high students how to write, I did not feel prepared to write a review on a subject I knew very little about and knew the review would not fit the standard mould of fictional writing reviews; however, as I began reading Joy’s book I knew that it would not matter whether the review fit a mould or not because the book itself does not fit a mould either.

The subtitle of Joyous Health is Eat and Live Well Without Dieting and Joy herself states in her opening of chapter one that, “Diets are not sustainable, period.” (McCarthy, Pg. 1) I found myself smiling at this and began thinking just how much I loathe the term “gluten free diet” like it is some kind of fad meant to be embraced by celebrities and their fan base and then discarded when something comes along that is bigger and better leaving those of us with Celiac’s Disease and Gluten Intolerance looking like we are just picky eaters without a legitimate reason because celebrities and social media have made a mockery of our lifestyle. I tell people straight up that I am gluten free, period. It is not a diet; it is a complete lifestyle overhaul which has left me with a lot of anxiety when it comes to eating out, both in restaurants and in the homes of friends and family. I have managed to bury some of the anxiety, but like all things it eventually makes its way to surface and it is not pretty when it does.

Joy McCarthy is a CNP (Certified Nutritional Practitioner) and an RNCP (Registered Nutritional Consulting Practitioner). She is also the Holistic Nutrition & Health Expert to Global TV’s The Morning Show, and she is co-creator of Eat Well Feel Well, Toronto’s first integrated nutrition and yoga program. She makes herself relatable as an author and as a nutritionist by detailing her own struggles with health and nutrition. I found myself nodding in agreement quite often through chapter one as she gives hints about her philosophy and beliefs surrounding food and nutrition and the fact that it is not just physical nourishment that we need but emotional nourishment in the good sense as well. It is the emotional nourishment that we need in order to make the strong, healthy choices that will guide our physical nourishment throughout our lives.

Joy does not give herself the air of standing on a pulpit, preaching to the masses about how to live their lives. Her approach is more of a genuine, heartfelt, nurturing approach with most of what she talks about in chapter one being more along the lines of old-fashioned common sense; the kind we use to hear and follow before the days of convenience took over our lives in the forms of fast, cheap, and plentiful food that resembles and tastes like the cardboard it comes in. She gently guides us through her reasoning for her suggestions and has the proof to back up her claims. The book is laid out in an orderly fashion and goes step by step for the reader and tackles one problem and suggestion at a time. Joy herself says, “Ideally it should take you six weeks to work through this book. However, you can take as long as you wish. Go at your own comfortable pace.” (McCarthy, Pg.5) She includes numerous recipes to try and I really appreciated the fact that they are colour coded just below the title so that I can quickly scan to see if it is a gluten free recipe and make any adjustments accordingly, by quickly scanning for offending ingredients if it is not.

I am glad that I was given the chance to review this book, as I am not sure that it is one that I would have bothered to peruse or purchase otherwise. I am looking forward to my six week or longer journey, eventually reorganizing my kitchen and discarding any gluten free items that do not serve their purpose or are little better than “healthy” junk. I have been on a journey for the last three plus years and I am looking forward to the one that will lead me on the path to joy and joyous health.

Anyone who wishes to find their way to health or their way back to health then this is the book. With an entire section of recipes, detailed explanations of how to select foods for joy and health and how to practice mindful eating, it is like having a nutritionist on hand, complete with an example of how to keep a food and wellness journal. I think I would much rather have a consultation with Joy herself, but until the day that that dream comes true, this will have to do.

 

Book: Paperback | 210 x 133mm | 224 pages | ISBN 9780143186915 | 07 Jan 2014 | Penguin Canada

 PS: Stay tuned for my review of the aforementioned Grain Power. I am making a couple of the recipes and snapping a few pics for my next blog entry.

Post Christmas in the New Year

So my Christmas vacation is coming to a close and pretty soon the days of sleeping in and wandering aimlessly, day in and day out will come to an end as well. I am looking forward to getting back into my routine though, I won't lie. Especially that I now have a juicer making my days fairly exciting and fresh. The trick is to now incorporate my juicer into my work a day life. It will probably take a bit of planning and prep but I am up for the challenge, I think. I want to have a fresh veggie/fruit concoction once a day. That is my goal. So far I have done well with the exception of one day where I was out and about and barely home. But this is one thing that I am going to endeavor to do and I have already played with a number of combinations. I have looked at a few recipes but I much prefer to experiment. This is not so much a resolution for me but rather a resolve to get more fruits/veggies and the nutrients that go along with them and I would much rather do it in a raw format than a cooked one and hopefully decrease the amount of vitamin supplementation that I seem to require. Below is a list of my combinations thus far, they have all been really good and range in taste between tart, earthy and really sweet. My favourites so far have been day 2 and day 5. I never thought that beet juice would be something that I would take to, but I am truly addicted to its earthy taste and deep rich colour.

Day 1 (Dec 29^th)

1 apple, 1 carrot, 1 satsuma mandarin, 1 piece of ginger root

Day 2 (Dec 30^th)

1 cup of cranberries, 1 lemon, 1 kiwi, ginger root, 1 carrot, 1 cup of pineapple and 1 celery stalk

Day 3 (Dec 31^st)

6 strawberries, 2 mini cucumbers, ½ a personal watermelon, 1 cup of spinach, 1 pear, 1 satsuma mandarin and 1 cup of pineapple

Day 4 (Jan 1^st)

1 beet, 1 cup of spinach, 1 kiwi and 1 carrot

Day 5 (Jan 3^rd)

2 beets, 1 cup of spinach. 1 and a ½ carrots, 1 lemon, 1 cup of pineapple and a large piece of ginger

Day 6 (Jan 4^th)

1 cup of spinach, 1 cortland apple, 1 large navel orange, 1 piece of ginger root, 1 cup of cranberries, 1 and a ½ carrots

Day 1

Day 3

Day 5

Day 6

 

The other thing that marked my break was the amount of baking that I managed to complete. I will have to share the recipes in a separate post, but needless to say that I made a lot of treats for Boxing Day dinner at my place. Instead of one big dessert, I made numerous small ones including; Rum Cake, Besan Barfi/Burfi (Indian Chickpea fudge), Chex Muddie Buddies, Fudge Brownies, Marzipan Squares, Shortbread (my great-grandmother’s recipe), Date Balls, and Spiced Pecans and they were all gluten free. I cannot remember the last time that I baked that much or even attempted to and to be able to complete it all gluten free this year was a major accomplishment for me and it was all so yummy and I still have a lot leftover.

Clockwise from left: Shortbreads, Spiced Pecans, Fudge Brownies,

Besan Barfi,  Date Balls and Marzipan Squares

 

Speaking of Christmas and Boxing Day, I really adhered to the “Buy Local” movement this year. Most of the things that I bought were either manufactured/conceived or purchased locally or will help people regionally. Most of my nephew’s gifts I purchased at the Thomas the Tank Engine Experience by Ambassatours in Saint John. I also purchased books for him from Woozles and an Eastcoast Lifestyle hoodie. I bought my parents sweatshirts from the Lost Cod Clothing Co. and treats from Pete’s Frootique.  My sister-in-law received a clutch from Maggie Pearce and a necklace from the Shy Giraffe, while my brother received a tie from Prostate Cancer Canada. So my brother’s gift was not locally bought but I know that the money spent on it will benefit prostate cancer patients regionally. I participated in Movember this year, so the gift was well intentioned.

When you really stop and look around at places like the Halifax Seaport Farmer’s, DalPlex Christmas Craft Show, Christmas at the Forum and all the other unique places in the Downtown areas of any Maritime city including Halifax; you will find stuff that is better than anything that you can buy at any big box store. Beauty part is that it is unique stuff. There is no way that I would ever have been able to give my mother a little piece of her history if I had never been able to buy her a sweatshirt from Lost Cod Clothing Co. She can now proudly display her Sea Nymph Fish Foods Hoodie; knowing she once worked for A.M. Smith & Co. at the Smith Wharves.

Okay, so I clearly need to blog more often. I have so much to say some times that I cannot fit it all in. Next time, I promise to talk about my gluten free baking and share my recipes; as I started this blog to talk about being gluten free in Halifax.