The Weekend Homemaker

The arrival of fall has been very sudden this year on the west coast.  Last Sunday (September 11th) was  a lovely warm summer day.  On Monday, the 12th, it was fall.  Victoria weather usually consists of one season, spring, with a pinch of summer and a bit of fall tossed in for a little bit of variety.  The transitions are usually long, slow and awkward (what should I wear?) and I am desperate for a change by the time it arrives.  But, not this summer.  It came late, left early and was was rather noncommittal, even on the hottest days.  I wanted more!

In any case, the cooling weather has put me into a cooking and baking mode.  I haven't quite gotten back into my weekends of weekly food preparation (in true Weekend Homemaker style), but I am heading in that direction. Over the past few weeks, I have turned to oven on several times!

I've made:

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Rosemary Focaccia

Wicked Thai Chicken Soup
(I omitted the dairy and replaced rice with rice noodles)

I even baked bread!  Yum!

Of course, I can't let the last few weeks of summer go by without a few final simple summer eats.

Tomatoes from my balcony garden.

Tomatoes, freshly baked bread with local cracked pepper
cheese, chicken and homemade honey mustard sauce.  

Although I am not yet accepting of the arrival of fall, the knowledge that there is baking, soup making and roaring fires to look forward to makes the change a little easier to handle!

Summer Eating and the Single Girl

It seems to me that singletons, couples and families with children each have different diets.  I think my diet says "single woman" loud and clear.  I should throw a pot roast or something in there for good measure!

Breakfast: Blueberry Muffins

Lunch: Greek Yogurt with Figs and Honey

Dinner: Banana and Nutella Crepes

Harvest

I can't say how much I love harvesting the vegetables I have grown in my little container garden.

Spinach, carrots and basil.

The haul might be small.

But the rewards are big!

A Simple West Coast Lunch

Smoked salmon on multigrain tortilla chips with greek yogurt for dipping is one of my favourite meals or snacks. It is delicious. And strange. But mostly delicious.

For a quick lunch yesterday, I added in some carrots from my balcony garden (they are getting bigger!) and some local blueberries. To go along with the meal, I made up a pitcher of Hint-style water, flavoured with lime and home grown chocolate mint.

I (heart) Salad

There are two eating seasons for me: (1) salad season and (2) soup season. All fall and winter long, I eat soup almost every day. I love homemade soup. It is so easy and so nutritious. But, by the time spring rolls around, I start thinking that soup is gross and hot and boring and that I. will. never. eat. soup. again. And so, I switch to salad. Salad I find a little more challenging to deal with because it requires fresh veggies (which means more shopping and food preparation), but it does allow me to use food from my own little garden and farmer's market. Usually, I obsess over two or three salads all season long. This year, I started off with a minty spinach and fig salad, moved on to a roasted asparagus, yam and spinach salad and am now all about a shredded veggie, lettuce and smoked salmon salad.

The goods (lettuce, carrots, beets, garbanzo beans, feta, pumpkin seeds).

Made even better with local maple smoked salmon, one of my very favourite foods.

And topped with homemade basil vinaigrette.

What could be better than that?

Strawberries . . . let me count the ways

The local strawberry season has already come and gone. The sweet and tender Vancouver Island Juneberries don't last long. I bought two flats of berries, a week apart, and had to eat and/or process all of the berries within 24 hours. It was a yummy, crazy, mess.

What to do with all of these berries?

I ate them for breakfast:

Greek yogurt, strawberries and honey

And for lunch:

Strawberry smoothie

And for dinner:

Salmon burger with strawberries on the side

I even had them for a snack:

I made strawberry jam, strawberry sauce and strawberries in sugar syrup:

And, the best thing I made? Baked french toast with strawberries AND (last year's) raspberry sauce. I love berry season!

Baked French toast

Thank goodness raspberry season starts soon!

Fresh

Summer hasn't quite arrived yet in these parts, but I am done with soups and casseroles. It's time for fresh, crispy, clean, eating!

Rice Paper Rolls

Rolls: Rice noodles, mint, julienned carrots, and bean sprouts all wrapped in rice paper.

Dipping sauce: sweet red chili sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, rice vinegar and honey.

My Container Garden

I've tried container gardening a few times, but have never had much success due to poor sun exposure. It my current place, I have western exposure and a partially shaded balcony which, while not ideal, is an improvement. In fact, I had such great success with lettuce and spinach in the fall and have decided to expand my mini garden for 2011. If things go well, I will add a bit more each year.

My garden so far:

Pots of spinach, lettuce, strawberries, mint and rosemary.

The large "bin of dirt" behind the lettuce is planted with two types of carrots and the bag on the shelf is a homemade "greenhouse" containing basil.

I am going to plant more strawberries and basil as well as some cucumbers and tomatoes.

In addition to fruits and veggies, I've also planted flowers. For some reason, I am into red and white this year.

I love double begonias. They do so well with minimal sun.

My mom used to plant geraniums when I was young. One per pot. I never cared for their gangly sparseness, but have grown to love them when packed together in little groups. And in boxes rather than pots.

Even my little Ollie-cat, who was terrified of the balcony one year ago, loves container gardening. Birds to watch, leaves to chase and new hide outs to explore, what could be better?

A Nip in the Air

I have felt a certain telltale crispness in the air the past few weeks, but I am loath to use the f-word yet. Instead, I will drown my sorrows in maple syrup (along with some cinnamon french toast and very summery peaches).

Summer Eating

Five steps to the perfect summer meal:

1) Toast two slices of whole grain bread and spread with butter

2) Add several slices of the Little Qualicum cheese of your choice

3) Top with thick (local) tomato slices (sprinkled with salt and pepper)

4) Slice up two ripe peaches from Oliver, BC

5) Eat

Yum!

Oh, and the optional #6: repeat again tomorrow!