Ladybug Crazy

Ladybugs always make me think of Dorothy.  We worked together for a few years and I was always so awed by the fact that she was a Master Gardener.... something I will never be.  Whether this is truth or lore, I remember one year she bought a thousand ladybugs to introduce to her garden.  Well, they had other plans and moved on!  I can only imagine how a Master Gardener would feel when her ladybugs chose a new home.

I have never seen so many ladybugs...ever!  Hundreds examining all the blades of grass in my back  yard.  I dried my bed linens on the line and the ladies came in with my sheets!  They are everywhere.  I love them.

Sunday Morning Eggs

One of my bread clients from the Farmer's Market brought me her special flavoured butter.  It looked so beautiful ... light green hued with pieces of herbs and wrapped in a parchment paper sausage.  I needed to taste it right away!  So even though it might not be best used with eggs, that is what I did.  I pan fried my Sunday morning eggs in this wonderful butter flavoured with herbs, garlic and blended with olive oil.  The result...amazing!

Farmer's Market Update

I have been so busy with baking bread and making healthy salads and dips for the Farmer's Market that I can hardly keep up.  I have not posted for ages and it seems I am not cooking up a storm like I used to either.  I am learning so much.

But, how do I bake all that bread!  I made 45 loaves for today's market and I am exhausted.  I have finally taken a few pictures.

My bread laying out on parchment paper for the second rising.

My improvised bread cooling rack.  I purchased a clothes drying rack and it works like a charm.  I have to label all my bread because it becomes a little difficult at times to distinguish a red fyfe from a rye from a whole wheat.

It is health regulations that all food have a sneeze guard or be covered.  In the beginning I put my bread in plastic bags but when it is still warm that interferes with a nice crispy crust.  Now I lay it all out in parchment lined drawers from an antique dresser and other rustic looking containers.

This vintage tablecloth works great to add a little charm.  I am using simple clipboards as labels for all the different breads.  I make 50% hard white with cheddar or with raisins, cinnamon & honey, cornbread with and without fresh sage, 7 grain with and without za'atar on the crust, rye with caraway, pumpernickel, red fyfe and a few others from time to time.

Clear cellophane is cheap and works well to cover the bread.  I don't even need tape.  I just tuck it under the front of the container and drape it back.  I can easily get in to serve the bread.

This is some of the other things I am selling.  I have ice in the tub to keep cold things cold.  All my packaging has my 'logo' of a splash of green.  I am also selling some local organic flours.

Geocaching Fun

The cache - in an old munitions box.

I know.   This is a food blog!  But with summer here, I get a little side tracked.  My sister and her husband visited this weekend and we went geocaching!  This is a high tech treasure hunt.  Use a GPS and find a cache.


Grasslands National Park is stunning.  This is a region of virgin soil.  It has never been tilled.  The grasses and vegetation are all natural.  A herd of buffalo has recently been located here and they live wild.  The sky is big.  The air is fresh.  It is heavenly.

Beautiful lichen on the rock.

Don't you just love the prairie grasses.

Examining our cache.

Farewell to Vancouver Island

Five days and five posts from Vancouver Island.  What a fabulous vacation.  Put this on your bucket list for sure.  Visit Vancouver Island with side trips to the Gulf Islands and you will have a very satisfying time.

For my last post on this great trip, I am featuring a couple of places to buy good food.  Wildfire Organic Bakery has an amazing selection of breads and baking.  It is a 'must see' place.  Nice to go to see the wood fired oven.

Another great place to buy fine food is Choux Choux.  They have a great selection of special ingredients, house made pates and condiments, and take out sandwiches to mention only a few of their wonderful foods.

Spot Prawns, Oysters and Mussels

 

No visit to Vancouver Island is complete until you have sampled the wonderful fresh seafood and fish.  These are Fanny Bay oysters.  They are quite large but still sweet.  Dressed with lemon juice and hot sauce and they taste great.

We also bought some spot prawns and made a saffron sauce and tossed with pasta.  This is a salad with the mache we bought on Salt Spring Island.  Lightly dressed, it was perfect with the prawns.












And we have no pictures of the mussels.  They were so fat and juicy, also from the Fanny Bay market.  We made mussels two ways - in a lemongrass and coconut milk sauce and the traditional white wine, tomato, fennel and shallot sauce.  We had lots of crusty bread to sop up the sauce.

Lemongrass Coconut Mussels

1 pound fresh mussels
2 tablespoons finely diced shallots
extra virgin olive oil
stick of lemongrass
1/4 cup coconut milk

Saute the shallots in the olive oil.  Add the lemongrass (bruised) and coconut milk.  Bring to a boil.  Add the mussels, cover and steam until all the mussels open.  Serve immediately with crusty bread.