Good companions

H and I decided to plant my herbs in pots so that they can be moved around as the landscape requires, or if they need more shade or sun, or if they need to be taken indoors to survive in winter. Yesterday we bought a selection of young plants from Triple Tree nursery on Lougheed Highway and packets of seeds. I fell for a young bay tree, more than a foot tall with a few clusters of small, yellow flowers. A bit pricey at $27 including GST. Total spend: $40+. This is not a cheap hobby. But so satisfying to see it all growing!

I did some research and found that you can grow certain plants together. Tomatoes and basil make good companions - no surprise there, Italian and Mediterranean cooking often pair the two. Dill helps cabbage grow nicely. Rosemary makes a good companion plant to cabbage, beans, carrots and sage. Following these rough guidelines I grouped some herbs together. Time will tell how well I did the job! We may be lucky enough to harvest some basil, parsley, chives and rosemary next month.

Heart of oregano

This will be planted today as soon as H gets the big tub for herbs organised.
May 1, correction: This is a bay tree. Duh.

Tart and glossy-skinned

We had a surfeit of Granny Smiths in the fridge, I wanted the scent of cinnamon and apples to perfume the house, and so I came up with my own recipe, which is partly inspired by an apple pie recipe and a crumble recipe I found on Epicurious.

I think the crumble tops all the crumbles I've ever made. The sweetness of the brown sugar adds the right note to the crisped-up oats, and the amount of butter is just right. The filling is perfectly balanced between tart and sweet and I like that there are raisins - they add a fleshiness that sliced apples cannot offer. I think Granny Smiths are best for this recipe but that's a personal preference. The orange juice in the raisins, the zest of lemon in the filling (and at the last minute I decided to throw in a bit of lemon juice as well), added a fragrant citrusy scent. H says it's the best crumble he's ever had (and I'd like to believe him!). I imagine this would be even better -- no, glorious -- with a dollop of very good, store-bought vanilla ice cream.


Idiot-proof Apple Crumble

Crumble
2 cups quick cooking oats
4/5 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (arnd 1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into dice

Apple filling
6 medium apples, can be sweet or tart (I used all Granny Smiths) - peeled, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch thin slices
3 tbsp orange juice
1 cup raisins
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional, if you like nutmeg)
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish or omit the nonstick spray if you plan to serve the pie cobbler-style.

Toss the raisins with the orange juice and let sit.

In a bowl, combine the crumble ingredients until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

In another bowl, rub together brown sugar, flour, zest, cinnamon (nutmeg too if using), and salt until no lumps remain. Add apples to sugar mixture and toss until coated. Add the raisins with the orange juice.

Transfer apple filling to baking dish and sprinkle with topping. Bake around 45 minutes until topping is brown and crisp. Eat warm.

Home is where the plums grow

Well! Here I am blogging again from the heart of British Columbia this time, a week after my move to Canada to join my husband. It's a beautiful spring afternoon, the sun is such a golden soft pool of light, hot enough to be a blessing without the ferocious bite of the tropics (which has its own appeal) and the garden - dormant these past winter months - is fairly bursting with growth and promise. There are buds everywhere and green shoots. H has taken me on a tour of the front and back yards and patiently repeats the names of the various plants whenever I ask. My memory is not what it should be and sometimes it takes a few reminders to make it stick but I try, I try.

A new life, a new country, marriage. The past year has just ZINGED and TWANGED! Flew by on hummingbird wings. 2008 was a multilayered scrapbook: A busy, hectic job, tons of new faces and projects, trips to Canada, trips to Europe, visits back home, so much went on. Christmas and the yearend were incredibly busy with the wedding, and January saw me in Switzerland to attend a trade show. Little did I know that even then events were in motion that would see me out of a job by March and in BC by April.

I was reminded to journal my life this morning by a post in a blog I follow (zenhabits.net). He was right; a journal is an aid to memory, and 10 or 20 or 30 years from now, the specifics may not matter; little problems will have faded away; but a journal wil help me remember how it all used to be and hopefully be of help as I face new situations.

Hence the resurrection of this blog, which has gone by a few other names in the past few years.