A food tale

A very interesting thing happened last Friday when I joined a group of volunteers to prepare the food for a community dinner sponsored by the nonprofit where I work parttime. The helpers were all different backgrounds and profiles; we were like a microcosm of the world with someone from Egypt, Jamaica, Fiji, Turkey and Hong Kong. The chef was from Fiji. The coordinator of the whole event (I'm guessing) is from Eastern Europe. And of course there was me.

One of the helpers apparently worked as a professional cook, and changed into her chef's whites before we started. I was making small talk and espying some fresh ginger that we were supposed to grate down, I quipped, "In my country we boil that up and make a tea that's excellent for sore throats and coughs."

She replies, as though as I were an immigrant fresh off the boat: "Out here we just go to the doctor and ask for some pills. Why bother making tea?"

Clearly she had never heard of how traditional folk medicine, practiced even in developed countries, uses natural ingredients for common ailments. So, undeterred, I shot back and explained that it's actually pretty common practice in many cultures, and quite effective too.

Later on (because I am too sociable and conversational for my own good) I happened to ask if she was making mint jelly to go with the roast lamb she had offered to prepare. Her reply: "No mint jelly. You only get that in four star restaurants".

Well excuuuuuuuse me! Home cooks prepare mint jelly in a flash -- I've not made it myself but that's only because we don't eat lamb at home, but look it up on the Web and you'll see that even beginner cooks can whip it up.

I may be wrong but Ms Cook clearly had a chip on her shoulder as she reacted so negatively to nearly every overture. Patricia says maybe she had something against Southeast Asian women. H thinks she may not have been very educated and might have thought I was being "posh" -- that she probably had five kids to feed and a hard life and there I was swanning in and talking about mint jellies. I had to roar with laughter at this, as it was so ABSURD. I've been lucky in having the opportunity to experience different cuisines and cultures but I certainly wasn't being "posh". Just goes to show that you can't please everybody! Everyone else was friendly.

On the bright side, assisting and watching the Fijian chef prepare chicken curry was an informative experience and one of these days I will try out his recipe!

The Great Grind

I did it! I did the Grouse Grind! As some of you might know it's a nearly 3km ascent up one of Vancouver's peaks, with an elevation gain of over 800 metres which makes it quite steep and vertical, though there are steps and handholds and a clearly marked path. Literally hundreds of thousands of people of all ages have made the trek over the years. It's considered one of the must-dos for both visitors and residents of the city. Last year I failed in my first attempt to make it to the peak -- H and I had to turn back at the quartermark as my legs were starting to fold and I was too exhausted.

On Sunday morning, in fact, I had no intention of climbing at all, though I did show up dressed for an active day, thinking I could do some gentle walking and wandering while waiting for H and our companions to finish the climb. But I was persuaded into joining the group by three things. One, I was slightly fitter than last year as I have for a few weeks now been incorporating near-daily walks with the dogs into my weekly schedule. Two, we had two "seniors" with us who were gamely attempting the Grind. I thought I should be no less brave! And three, if I were to take the gondola which was the only other way up to our peak rendezvous, I would have to shell out nearly 40 bucks.

And so I did it. While H and the two other guys streaked on to the peak, my walking companion and I made it in three hours in fairly good shape (I was barely sore the day after). The view at the peak was, of course, as stupendous as always. But more than that, that's one thing crossed off my list to things I must do in Vancouver!

I swore as we finished that I would never do it again. But then again, who knows? :-)

In pictures...

The gondola as seen from the base of the mountain



Hard slog all the way as parts of the path were steep, slippery and wet:



Seeing this gave us a second wind:



By this point we could glimpse the peak:



Just a few more steps!



Victory!!



You can come up but you can't go down. Coming down Grouse Mountain means a $5 gondola ride.

Dark and green

What's dark and green and intensely chocolate all over?

This one-egg chocolate zucchini cake, which used some of our last zucchini harvest. Moist, tender, and deeply chocky. The grated zucchini melds with the chocolate and the batter so that you won't even see it after!

There are loads of zucchini cake and zuke&chocolate cake recipes on the Web and I based mine on that motherlode of information -- with one change: I was sure with that much zucchini in the batter you wouldn't need two eggs. And I was right.



One-egg chocolate and zucchini cake
Makes 3 loaves if you use 8x4 pans; also excellent as muffins

1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup yogurt or buttermilk
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini (about 2 1/2 medium), most of the water squeezed out
About 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour your baking pans. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into medium bowl. Beat sugar, butter and oil in large bowl until well blended. Add the egg and beat well. Beat in vanilla extract. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with yogurt or buttermilk in 3 additions each. Mix in grated zucchini, chocolate chips and nuts. Pour batter into prepared pan.* (You can also sprinkle more chocolate chips and nuts over the cake before sticking it into the oven).

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool cake completely in pan.

*Tip: Try to get the nuts and chips to the sides of the batter. I didn't do it this time but this extra step will increase the oohhh factor!

PS I know, I know. There are pumpkins in the background again. They're from our garden, a dwarf variety that probably is good only for show. I am excitedly waiting for true pumpkins to arrive in the market. Next year, H and I plan to have a real pumpkin patch.

Plum coffeecake

We had some plums (the prune plum kind) that were past their best and demanded to be used. They became the centerpiece of this easy to make coffeecake, which shows off their juicy, tart sweetness beautifully. I loved eating this cake -- each chunk consisting of comforting cake, sweet-crunchy streusel, and the juicy baked-up plums.

Behind the photo you can see the remaining plums, and a couple of the dwarf pumpkins that we harvested last week.

Recipe inspired by this.

Plum coffeecake with streusel

For streusel
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softened
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

For cake batter
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

8 plums, halved and pitted
Optional: confectioners' sugar for sifting over cake

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a 9-inch round or square baking pan at least 2 inches deep.

Combine streusel ingredients and process in a food processor (or do it by hand) until combined well and crumbly.

Make cake batter: With an electric mixer beat butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and vanilla. Sift in flour with baking powder and salt and beat until just combined.

Spread cake batter in pan, smoothing top. Arrange plum slices over it, slightly overlapping them. Sprinkle streusel over the cake and bake in the middle of oven 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool cake slightly on a rack and sift confectioners' sugar over it, if using. Serve coffeecake warm or at room temperature.

Late summer walk

This is where H and his friend M run, most Saturdays. I joined them last Saturday for a bit of fresh air. Normally I would have loved to take Patsy but having a dog makes it a bit complicated to find a suitable coffee shop after the run/walk.

As far as I can tell the dike/park is named after a local official. To go by the inscription on one of the memorial benches lining the running path, Jerry Sulina died relatively young, before he was 60. The dike walk is part of the Blue Heron Loop which in turn is part of the Trans Canada Trail.



The Loop runs along the North and South Alouette Rivers through some wetlands, so there is plenty of bird and wildlife to be seen.









This was one of the first places in the area I visited soon after I met H. In the summer the ponds are alive with ducks and frogs, and you can see various birds flitting from tree to tree. With autumn coming it's a bit quieter, but the air is so much cooler and fresher it is a joy to be out on a fine cool morning, walking with H and occasionally breaking into a run (Ahem!)



There are farms and houses bordering the walkway and it's fun to watch the chickens that sometimes come running when you pass by.





Back at home the sunflowers are ginormous. They're pretty much the last hurrah of this glorious summer.



There is a blue flower that recently started blooming in the front yard, delicate and lovely.



The tomato leaves are brown and drooping and aren't putting forth any new fruit.



The zucchini made a prodigious effort and gave us a foot-and-a-half long zuke last week. But today, just two new ones. However, I enjoy looking at the dwarf pumpkins that have come up, they're so teensy they are probably best reserved for our autumnal interior decor. The news in BC is some of the pumpkin harvests are early so that explains why these ones turned orange so soon.



A snap of H with his inevitable cup of coffee. These coffee mugs occasionally litter the garden because he likes walking around with a cup. Then he sets it down and forgets to retrieve it, which is why we sometimes don't have enough cups to go around. Darling man (grrr)!



Ah, fall. The season has turned. We are wearing more layers now and the sky gives us more overcast, drizzly days than not. My thoughts are turning to pecan pies and warm sweet cobblers, fleecy bed linens and cosy woolen blazers, my adored boots collection and scarves and mufflers.

Today is Labor Day. H has to work, the house is quiet and the gardens are...kind of muffled, waiting, quiescent. H tells me this is the first time he has had a real (i.e. planned) garden. We have had a magnificent summer harvest. Scratch that, we've had a magnificent summer. Full stop. Long, golden, baking hot summer days and glorious ease. Time now for the mellow, brisk days of September and October.