A Rainy Day in the Box

I watch,

from inside the fishbowl.

Looking out

at the dysfunctional world.

The rain has eased

the skies, still grey.

It merges with the asphalt,

the buildings,

various shades of Blaaah!

Traffic is steady

it's quitting time

everyone in a rush

their needs

surpassing all others.

Pedestrians shuffle

shoulders hunched over.

Either due to the

electronic device

in their hand,

or against the wind.

Some,

 carrying many burdens

upon themselves.

Raves for rapini:

Raves for rapini: This week, we finish our four-part look at some of the less-familiar vegetables in the supermarket

 

The green Italian vegetable known as rapini has as many names as the chicory cousins, which we dealt with last week. But there is no confusing rapini with anything else.

By The Calgary Herald
March 29, 2006


The green Italian vegetable known as rapini has as many names as the chicory cousins, which we dealt with last week. But there is no confusing rapini with anything else.

Brassica rapa, Ruvo group -- also known as broccoli raab, cima di rapa, ruvo kale, turnip broccoli and Italian turnip -- has its own uncompromising presence.
Rapini has been a presence in the New World since the early 1930s, when a breeding program was introduced by an Italian family of gardeners who recognized the plant as it grew wild in the ditches and fields of California.
Rapini sits firmly and aggressively on the bitter end of the flavour scale. Rapini is a pretty raw vegetable, but it is never eaten raw. Look for ruffled elegance like a flamenco dancer's dress, but choose all green, with no yellow. Elongated stalks are thin and tender, with densely clustered leaves and tiny buds. Look for stalks that have been newly severed, and no woody texture.
This vegetable is perishable, lasting only a few days in the fridge. Make the most of it by wrapping the bunch in paper towels before nesting it into a perforated plastic bag. Avoid storing rapini near fruits that ripen after harvest (apples, avocados, pears, melons, tropical fruit, plums). As they ripen, they exude ethylene gas, which will turn the rapini yellow.
Rapini is easy to prepare. Wash the bunch and discard any aged or faded leaves and buds, then trim and discard the stalks at their woodiest point. Then cut the entire bunch crosswise into short lengths of about an inch, maybe two.
Garlic and ginger are natural partners. So are spicy sausages, cured pork such as pancetta, hot chili flakes, black olives of the oil-cured variety and curry powder -- even sparing amounts of turmeric or cumin.
Lemon zest, a golden haze of finely grated yellow skin after the dish is cooked, adds a bit of balance and welcome colour. Use flavoured sweeteners with character to temper rapini's bitterness: honey, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup. Or rely on rapini's bitter edge to boost potatoes and pasta.
Cook rapini knowing its glowing colour will fade to drab in the pan. The flavour won't, though. If it seems too assertive, too pungent for your palate, blanch rapini in boiling water, then drain and rinse in cold water before carrying on.
Traditional cooks cook rapini by braising it until tender, flavoured with garlic and hot chili flakes in a bit of water or stock. Alternatively, steam or stir-fry, saute or boil, just as you would broccoli, only briefly.
Be prepared for shrinkage. One bunch of chopped rapini fills about 6 cups (1.5 L), but it condenses into about 2 cups when cooked, so be generous.


dee Hobsbawn-Smith is an author, writer, chef and poet.
dee@curiousocook.net




Braised Rapini and Garlic with Balsamic


Serve this traditional combination as a side dish or on pasta.  It makes a natural partner for spicy Italian sausages, steamed or grilled.


2 to 4 slices bacon, sliced crosswise


olive oil for the pan


1 onion, sliced3 to 4 cloves garlic, sliced or minced

1 bunch rapini, washed and chopped

1/2 cup (125 mL) water or stock


1/2 cup (125 mL) oil-cured black olives


zest of 1 lemon


hot chili flakes to taste

drizzle of balsamic vinegar


salt and pepper to taste


toasted pine nuts for garnish

Saute bacon in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat until all fat is rendered out. Add enough oil to lubricate the pan, then add onion and garlic.
Cook until tender and translucent, about 10 minutes, over medium heat.
Add rapini, water or stock and olives. Cover and simmer until rapini is tender to the bite, 8 to 15 minutes.
Add lemon zest, hot chili flakes, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
Mix well, then serve immediately. Garnish with pine nuts.
Serves 4.

A Date of Birth

I really don't know what the weather was like 41 years ago today.  but I hope for my mother's sake, it was tad nicer that it is today!  Brrrrr
I also wish I had more details about the day of my birth.  What was it like for my parents in those hours leading up to my arrival?  Did Mom have a difficult time?  Was Dad at the hospital, pacing the halls?  Or, was he at home watching my older sister, Marilyn and waiting for a phone call?  I wonder if Mom's parents were there for my delivery?  Why I don't even know what time I arrived at either?

It makes me wish that I had asked my Mum more questions about my birth.  But, when you're young, you are so busy living, you don't always ask the right questions.  I remember asking my Dad & Marilyn a few years ago if they remember anything of my birth, but neither of them were much help.  I got two different answers on the time of my arrival - midnight and mid-afternoon.  Dad thought he was out working in the field (harvesting/threshing)  Note likely as it was the end of September.  Unless he was harvesting corn...Hmmmmm

Marilyn later told me, the Doctor who delivered me had passed on some time ago.  Interestingly enough it was by suicide.  Ack!  Perhaps a check on the local record books might give me the answers I'm looking for. 

I've never had the maternal urge.  (except when it comes to caring for animals)  There's been no biological clock ticking, chiming or cuckook'ing away.  No interest in babysitting or even oogling young mothers little cooing bundles.  Although, I can appreciate a cute baby or an adorable, well behaved imp.  I have never had a desire to have one of my own!

Kudos to those who do!  But, I'll stick to my dogs, cats and any other creature that need some of my TLC thanks!

Miss you Mom - Feb/01 & Dad - Dec/04 - RIP

Preserving & Canning

Having recently read an article on Home Canning in the Mother Earth News, I was inspired to write about my own canning experiences.  And, those I hope to create in the future!
Canning was very much a part of my childhood.  Dad, especially came from an era/lifestyle where it was essential to put up goods from not only the garden but from the local waters as well.
Yes, that's right, they canned fish!  Although I have no idea how they did it.  But I must assume a pressure cooker was involved and then they packed the fish in vegetable oil.  So, it would be quite similar to sardines or mackeral.
As for my childhood memories...
There were jams and marmalades, mostly strawberry and either an orange or a pineapple zuchinni marmalade.
Pickles! 
Dills, bread & butter and I believe icicle pickles were made.  Mustard beans, hot dog relish and chilli sauce! 
Fruits! 
We canned a ton of pears too.  Lots and lots of Bartlett pears. We also sold pears by the basket full and on a really good year, by the bushel. This, all from one tree, often with supports beneathe its branches to support the weight of the fruit.  Needless to say, I was saddened by the loss of this amazing tree in May 1985, when a small tornado went through.  A relative of the one that did major damage in Barrie, ON.
We often would stock up on fresh peaches as well, nothing quite like canned peaches in mid-January!  Yum!
And of course, there was the tomatoes, we always canned tomatoes.  Not stewed or sauces, just plain ol' tomatoes, with maybe a little salt.  Dad would often be up until the wee hours of the morning, ladling these red beauties into sterilized yars.  You'd go to bed smelling them and wake up smelling tomatoes
If it wasn't canned then it was frozen!  Peas, beans, corn, berries, rhubarb, currents, and probably some I've forgotten along the years.
I long for the day when I am able to can and preserve again.  I don't have proper storage, space or the equipment to do much at this point.  But, I believe we all have to be more resourceful and re-learn these ways.  Besides, it tastes so good on a cold winters night!

Moods & Transitions

I don't quite understand it myself really, but tonight I'm feeling a profound sense of sadness.  Almost a overwhelming feeling of disappointment tagging along for good measure.  I'm not even completely sure what triggered this mood.  It could be a few friends who are sad, some who are angry and others frustrated by the lives.  I know I'm sensitive, but sometimes peoples moods affect me.  It's as if I'm too much in tune with the emotions of others and haven't developed a suitable enough defense system to keep them at bay.   I've been successful at fending the emotions off at times, but tonight it was too much, overload time. 

Sometimes I think the changing of the seasons, generally from Summer to Autumn is a sad period for me.  The short days, longer nights, cooler temperatures, lack of green, migration of songbirds and the passing of time all begin to make their presence known.  I know Fall can be a beautiful time of the year, but in some ways it can feel like a passing.  And, November is the greyest, dreariest month of all, with the only bright moment is a day at the Royal Winter Fair.

Ironically, I was born in the month of September, at the very end of the month, the cusp into October.  You would think I would have more fondness for this time of the year, but as I grow older, that's all it is, another year older and no excitement for the upcoming Season.  Winter!!!

La Mia Vita...

At what point does a house, become a home?  What does a home mean to you?  Is it just a place to lay your head and hang your hat?  Or does it mean so much more?

I've lived in many houses and apartments over the years.  But very few actually felt like "Home". Of course the home I grew up in had the "Homey" feeling.  And out of the 10-12 residences I've occupied since, I would have to say only 2 gave me the warm fuzzies.  One, was a raised bungalow basement apartment in Guelph, where I lived through 2 major dusty renovations and the other place, an almost new townhouse in Whitby.  Dreadful neighbours on both sides of the townhouse, but loved the home. My present day place, is NOT one of these warm fuzzy homes.

Allow me to elaborate, this "unit" is owned by Fab's brother. (one of "those" landlords) We live 2 doors away from him, with wonderful neighbours inbetween us.  It's a corner lot, with a transit stop on the busy street side.  The lot size is about 60-something by 90-something.  But, the whole back part of the property (which would make a lovely fenced garden) is used by his brother.  It's called "The Compound".  I call it the Junkyard because that's essentially what it is.  Grrrrreat!  The front of the lot is open and fronted with 2 large maple trees. (1 Silver & 1 Sugar)  Great shade on a hot summers day and heaps of leaves in the Fall.  The larger silver maple tends to shed branches & twigs whenever the wind is higher that say 30km/h.  I'm a self-professed Tree Hugger, so I tend to be more forgiving of it's issues. Fab would have it cut down tomorrow.  Honestly, it needs the gentle carass of an Arborist.

But I digress, back to the "Shack". (my term)

The Shack, I'm guessing was built sometime in the 30's.  The quality and the workmanship declares that it might have been built by men on a chain gang.  Those, who were forced to do manual labour in exchange for crackers, water and a toothpick.  There's no basement, but a scary looking crawlspace.  That, I fear if I was ever to enter, I'd pack my bags, grab Jabby and vanish.  There's an archaic old gas furnace down there too.  I hear it banging and it's shifts the floor when it comes on.  Scaring the crap out of us all from time to time during the winter months.

The Shack is about half the size of the townhouse we were living in.  So, we went from 1500 sq ft to about 800 sq ft.  Aaaaaagh  There is an attic-y type room upstairs that was probably a couple of children-sized (maybe trolls?) bedrooms at one time, but we only use it for storage.  The stairs to reach it are as steep or steeper than the stairs at the Roman Coleseum.  With little to no headroom and I'm only 5'4".

OH, and the bigger issue is the electrical or lack thereof system.  Fuses, only 3 of them, for everything and I believe it's 30 or 40 amp service.  We lost the bathroom outlet over a year ago, never been repaired and like the rest of the promises, we won't likely get the electrical panel upgrade either.  Needless to say, you can't run the dryer and say, the vacuum cleaner, or the oven at the same time.  My God, what century is this kids?

Before moving in 2 years ago, I had to strip off old wallpaper, paint, clean carpets and nag his brother to deal with a mold issue in what was to be our closet (room).  Our bedroom is the living room and our dining room is the living room. It, the mold, was back a year or so later, anyone say BLEACH?!

The floors here are something out of a carney ride (lol) they go up and down, along with the walls and the ceilings.  It's like the centre of the house has sunk or something like that. The galley kitchen, well, it's a converted lean-to..shhhh, do you hear the banjos too?

I've attempted to make it "home-like" and have put a some effort into the outside by developing flower gardens, improving the lawn and keeping things neat and tidy.

His brother had replaced some flooring, windows and had reshingled over the old shingled, wavy roof, the year prior to us moving in. 

Interestingly, the garage is new!  (brotherly love perhaps?) Fab's brother built it for him before we moved in.  It's nicer than the house.  Except, the first winter, with freezing and thawing, water came in through the block.  It's a major thorn in Fab's side.  His brother doesn't seem overly concerned, then again, it's not his stuff in there is it?

In reality, I think the biggest blessing for the Shack would be a High-Ho and a Dump Truck! 

Tuesday September 1, 2009

How much longer do I have to suffer with allergies, I've had about all I can take! I think it's time to see the Doctor because when they hit, I can't function. Time for an allergy test and perhaps prescription meds. When I take an allergy pill, I get about 2, maybe 3 hours of relief and I don't think that's normal. We had such a damp and cool summer, theres a huge influx of weeds, molds and gawd knows what! Time to get back to normal summers and to move outta the shack!

Peace.......out