sunday mornings

Sunday mornings have always been my favourite time of the week - they mean lie-ins and lazy breakfasts and postponing busy work until tomorrow. It's a catch-your-breath day, of sorts. When our family lived in Nice my father, bless him, would get up early and take his morning jog down to this darling little pâtisserie, returning with a string-bound box of hazelnut peach tarts that us kids devoured like starving inmates. Years later in Quebec, in a tiny flat above a bakery that also sold cigars, I would think back on those delightful treats as I purchased the paper and fresh croissants and scones to devour with my then-boyfriend in bed over coffee and crossword puzzles.

Things change, of course. When you have kids, there's a limit to how relaxed and sedentary one can be. Thankfully our monkeys seem to enjoy the slower pace of the weekend and afford us a couple extra hours of peace and quiet so long as we promise to provide them with something shamelessly unhealthy for brekkie. 

To this end, my brother bought me an excellent device:

It looks so shiny and pretty, tucked away in it's spot on the counter, catching the sun's morning rays and - 

What is this? Surprise!waffles, gasp! Is it any wonder why Oom Fitz is their favourite uncle? 

Now, to be fair, I'm not as cool a mum as my dad is a dad. I make the waffle batter with oat flour and greek yogurt, instead of white flour and milk, and they have to have at least one type of fruit on top as well as their maple syrup, but they don't really care, especially as I'll sometimes make whipped cream or, if we've got a tin of condensed milk, caramel. A treat is a treat is a treat, and they relish the change from their typical mealie, fruit and egg weekday breakfasts. 

On that note, I'm off to go enjoy my own extravagant Sunday waffle. 

Much amore!

Diz

so-ba good, bru

It rained all through the night without letup and continued today, alternating between a gentle mist and bullet-like sheets that left our yard looking like a map of the Great Lakes. It makes everything slower and the inclination to be lazy is multiplied exponentially. I'm a firm believer that rain is like Dementors, in that it sucks your vital force out of you until you have no energy left. Even doing routine chores when the world outside is a mural of muted greys and blues requires a lot of metal self-motivation. 

That being said, this is going to be short. I'm exhausted, and can't quite figure out what to say, except that if you have this: 

(plus rice wine vinegar and ginger that I forgot to put out until I was already cooking and couldn't be bothered to snap a photo of ^_^;), then you can make this:

You might recognize those oyster mushrooms from yesterday's farmers market post. I wanted to use them up when their flavour was peaking, and a quick soba noodle dish was the perfect canvas for these beauties to shine atop. Onions were sliced thinly and sautéed at a low heat in some olive oil until they started to caramelize and then in went garlic and ginger for a few minutes before I popped the cleaned and sliced mushrooms in. They cook down really quickly and when they were about halfway there, I threw in the snap peas and a couple of teaspoons of tamari and let it all twine together in the pan. The soba noodles were boiling beside them and once they were drained and rinsed, I poured a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar (it would be better with rice wine, but I was all out, sadly) over top and added one bunch of chopped fresh lemongrass. The mushroom mixture was done by then and so I poured that from the pan to the dish and mixed it up. Voila! 

I garnished mine with scallions, but for my significant other I marinated thinly sliced steak in Worcestershire and pan-seared it. 

We followed dinner with a simple baked-apple dessert. A couple of honeycrisp apples, cored and filled with soaked raisins, crushed pecans, cinnamon and maple syrup, and popped in the microwave for six minutes each. 

An absolutely delicious dinner on a cold and unwelcoming evening. Now it's time for tea and bed!

Sleep sweetly,

Diz

rain, rain go away

It's been raining all day on the North Shore. Kauai is the wettest island, and home to Mt. Waialeale, which is actually the wettest spot on the planet. This winter has been surprisingly dry, so when we woke up this morning to the heavy, dark clouds and drizzling grey water, we were very happy. Everything was starting to look a little tired and limp as if considering turning brown, which we just can't have - not on the Garden Isle!

                                                    view of the neighborhood from our deck 

                                                   the tree in the front yard looked particularly ominous against this morning's backdrop

Needless to say, the Friday farmers market in Kapaa was cancelled.  It's held in a small lot oceanside, and when it gets wet, it disintegrates into a nasty mud pit that has more vindictive energy than the swamp thing. No worries though, because yesterday kicked off the string of markets that we normally shop at and we were able to find some great buys. Thursday is the small market, which is located in the parking lot just down the street from us. Local farmers bring their products  and sell them from the backs of their trucks, always willing to dispense information about the methods they use and the produce their offering, and often supplying tasty recipes if you're trying something for the first time. 

A quick note about farmers markets: if you have one near you, please, please give it a try. There's no better way to get gorgeous, honest food than from local suppliers, and not only does it promote sustainability and ensure that you get seasonal, quality product, it will probably save you quite a lot of money. In the grocery stores here, a bell pepper (shipped from the mainland) costs anywhere between 4-6 dollars. At the famers market, an organic, locally grown bell pepper costs 2 dollars. A 2-4 dollar saving is phenomenal, you guys. Check to see if there are any markets near you - and if not, there might be a local co-op that you can take advantage of. It's a great experience to give a go, if nothing else. 

Like I mentioned, we nipped into the market yesterday so that we could supplement the groceries already in the fridge. I brought my camera along, hoping to take some pictures of the actual vendors, but man, it's a competitive little hive of activity once the opening horn sounds - you've gotta move quick to get the good stuff!

It wasn't a big haul, but boy is this stuff handsome. Leaf lettuce, radishes (with dirt still clinging to the roots!), bananas, rambutan, and two things I'd never seen at the market before - oyster mushrooms, which I've eaten before, and suriname cherries, which I haven't. Snapped those babies up quickly. 

The dealer with the mushrooms is new to this particular market, even though he lives here in Kilauea. Turns out he's been cultivating mushrooms on the island for fifteen years now but he only just recently decided to try his hand selling them. He's got two varieties of oyster - the blues and the pinks. I'd never seen the pinks, but the delicate colour on them was so delightfully eyecatching that I had to try them. A mixed half-pound bag only cost five bucks, which seems too low (not that I'm going to complain, mind you.) I asked Kaivi, the vendor, what the difference was between the two varieties and he said that the pinks are more aromatic and, as you might guess from their appearence, delicate, while the blues have a nice earthy flavour. Can't wait to try these babies out!

Carl runs the fruit stand that we always buy from. His stuff surpasses everyone at any of the markets on island, by far, and he's incredibly generous with giving samples and full of interesting stories. He usually has something unusual for sale - last time it was ice apples - and when we got to his table and saw the little basket of ridged red berries, we knew that we'd be having another fun taste adventure. They were six for a dollar, and so we got three dozen for the walk home. 

Was I ever surprised when I bit into that cherry! What an unusual taste! The first sensation you get is a startling tartness, that's quickly followed by a deep smoky undertone that's hard to describe because it's so unique. It was vaguely reminiscent of something but it took me more than a few to realize that they remind me, strangely enough, of curry leaf, yet another distinct flavour. Alex, my oldest, wasn't a big fan of them but I think if they're used properly, he might come around. Perhaps in a berry sauce over buckwheat pancakes?

While the rest of the fam enjoyed pizza for dinner, I opted for a salad as I'd had a piece of pizza earlier in the week. Kale, green leaf lettuce, arugula, preserved lemon pieces, sesame seeds, sesame oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme and a bit of shaved fennel. Just a simple, easy toss-together meal that was completely satisfying and left very little cleanup. It's always nice when there aren't many dishes to do after enjoying supper, but never more so than when you're free to curl up with a warm blanket and a cup of tea, and listen to the lazy drumming of the rain outside. 

Peace to you all, 

Diz

a full day of meals

Every day is a new day and a fresh opportunity to have fun and explore. This is what I tell myself every morning when the alarm clocks (yes, that's meant to be plural) go off and I'm reluctantly rousted out of the blessedly warm cocoon of blankets and pillows that are my bed. Sometimes I manage to convince myself of this - those are the days where I bounce up and am near-giddy at the prospect of accomplishing the list of tasks that need attending to. Other times, it's not so easy. I'm not a morning person by nature and despite the spectacular sunrises that we so often have, I'd much rather slap the snooze button and burrow down for another couple hours of sleep. 

Unfortunately, that's not usually possible. With kids and animals that need taking care of, nine times out of ten when those waves start crashing and those gulls start screeching (why yes, we are the sort of people who order things like 'natural-sounds' alarm clocks and Snuggies. Which are, fyi, the greatest blankets in the world) it's time to surrender the z's and get a move on. On your average morning, we're up at 4:30 and I'm corralling the dogs out to the truck as I stuff on boots and drive up to the ranch (it's maybe a ten minute trip) to feed and water the horses and then let them out to the pasture. If it's a weekend the stalls will need mucking out which lengthens the time there, but during the week the ranch staff will take care of that and so we're usually home by 5:30. Cats and dogs get fed, pooches let outside, and then I get to do some morning ashtanga sun salutations and shower.

This morning was fairly routine, though I skipped the yoga knowing that I would be trying out a new routine later on in the day. We (being my father and brother who are visiting, and I) had a remodeling project to finish and were planning on an early start so it worked out and at about seven my stomach started pining for some coffee, which meant it was time for brekkie - an ffy meal in our house. With all of us being nightowls, it's every man for himself come dawn. 

Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day for me, personally. I've never been much for it and for years and years I didn't eat until around one. It's not a healthy habit and I'm making a concerted effort to change it. The morning meal is pretty simple - in fact, most of what I eat is very simple, straightforward stuff that can be whipped up on the fly - and, while I don't always manage to squeeze it in, brekkie is becoming something rather enjoyable, a moment to sort of catch one's breath after the morning rush and just enjoy easy sustenance.

This morning was fresh grapefruit from the tree, trimmed of the bitter pith and cut into forkable pieces. You will see a lot of the bowl that it's served in - it's my absolute favourite dish, found in a little shop in the Canary Islands a couple of years ago and such a pretty robin's egg blue that I couldn't pass it up. It's survived many a drop and more than earned it's spot as number one. Next to that is a piece of pumpernickel bread from the bakery down the street (which will get it's own entry, in time) with fresh avocado mushed on top. Avocado is such a simple but delicious fruit - creamy and clean-tasting, you don't need anything else on toast with it, except perhaps a bit of pepper to add some depth to it. Like every morning, there's a glass of water and a cup of tea: today was Yogi brand Ginseng Vitality. 

A word about this particular blend. It's an herbal blend of ginseng, eleuthero, astragalus, organic honeybush, spicy cinnamon, and sweet licorice. According to the box, "One cup and you may find yourself blossoming into a state of pure exhilaration!" This? Is very, very true. It does, however, taste like ass. So why drink it? Well, I'm a hippie. I love herbal concoctions. It might taste gross, but I love the way it feels, how it wakes my body up and keeps me going throughout the day. The other variations of Yogi that I've tried are far more satisfactory and I highly recommend the brand. You can check them out here. 

After breakfast we got to work almost immediately on the project - finishing the master bath. There's been a leak from the upstairs bathroom for quite a while now, and it finally succeeded in rotting off the ceiling plaster downstairs, so we fixed that up, and then tore apart the downstairs. Any excuse for a remodel, right? It's been a slow process, between moving and traveling and various jobs and the other laundry list of projects, but it's finally done. Ahhh, it's going to be lovely to not have to troop on upstairs with toiletry bags every time we need to shower. Of course, we had to break around ten for teatime. 

That's another thing I'm finding about eating breakfast - I'm so much hungrier during the day. I never used to want for anything until the afternoon when I wasn't eating early, but now that my metabolism is getting woken up, it's ravenous come mid-morning. 

Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'that's not tea, that's coffee.' And you're right. But also wrong. It's actually neither - it's Inka Naturalis, a Polish coffee substitute. I'm not sure what it's actually called, outside of a brand name, but we first tried a version of it in Prague. It's a combination of roasted and ground rye, barley, beets, and chicory root. As you might guess, it's got a very pleasant nutty flavour, yet is surprisingly creamy. It was a great compliment to banana bread with a bit of Earth Balance spread on top. 

This is what South African's call "cement mixing". It's actually a rather impolite term often said with great disdain, and should probably be axed just because of it's origins but what can you do? I remember quite clearly my dad flicking mine and my brothers' lips many a time when he caught us at it in the midst of company (despite the fact that he did it himself, all the time, and never cared so long as it wasn't in public.) Nothing quite beats a mouthful of Inka/coffee/tea and some sort of biscuit or bread, all warm and soft and mushy in the mouth. 

Then it was back to work and off to the park with the kids and then home again, home again, jiggedy jig to tackle some laundry. Time flies when you're in the midst of forced labour and before I knew it, noon had zipped by and it was coming up on half-past one before I managed to boogy upstairs for some lunch. 

Now, I generally try to make my lunch the night before or in the morning. I'm usually packing lunches for my partner then anyway, so it's not a big deal to get it done and it saves a lot of time the next day. Mom tip: always, always, always pack your lunch in a tupperware or other to-go container. You never know what's going to come up or when you're gonna be flying out of the house and if you've got a meal to grab, you won't find yourself starving hours later and trying to scrounge up something healthy and filling on-the-go. 

This salad is tasty and as simple as they come: some kale, whatever lettuce greens you prefer, red onion, a couple of olives (I used Spanish olives, but kalamata would also be mighty tasty), chopped raw garlic,  a splash of safflower oil and a dash of red wine vinegar, pepper, and mix. If you leave it in the fridge for a bit, the kale will soften and everything will marinate together nicely. Deeee-lish!

After a full morning and busy afternoon, I was dreading having to cook, but thankfully it's Thursday. Thursday at our place is leftover night, because we start hitting the farmers markets (more on that tomorrow) and need to clear out what we have stocked in the fridge. There's always a bowl of salad made; as it dwindles throughout the week we add more vegetables, so there's always something fresh and healthy available for empty tummies. 

Earlier in the week I'd made a crockpot of soup, and after picking at it the last few days, we were down to about a bowlful. It wasn't quite enough for a satisfying meal but when mixed with the remnants from last night's supper you get a delicious bowl of split pea soup with tofu soldiers. Both are great on their own, but together? Whew. Fuggedaboudit. The tofu adds a smokiness to the soup that's to die for. It was so filling that I didn't have any room or desire for dessert, despite having found some delicious new fruits at the market earlier. 

And that's that, a day of meals on the North Shore. Most posts are probably going to be pretty one-meal oriented after this, but since I hadn't actually done a whole lot today, and since this is the start of it all, I figured a little overview would be fun. =)

Until next time!

Diz

P.S

Look what came in the mail today!

an introduction

C'est la chose que j'aime le plus.


I am aware that it is probably an unforgivably hackneyed 90's move on my part to begin my blog with a French phrase. It's not some sort of vapid attempt to impress anyone, I assure you. My language skills en francais are laughably elementary and wouldn't stand up to much beyond a small, country cafe, but there's just something about the way the words roll off the tongue, small syllables that mean so much. There is an elegance to the French language that isn't quite captured by it's English equivalencies (when they exist) and isn't even attempted upon in the Afrikaaner language; hey, is lekker, ja bru?, just doesn't have the same ring of sophistication.

There are a lot of adventures to be had in Kauai, and with children and a busy partner, we're always on the move. It's not much different from my childhood, where we spent a whirlwind ten years or so rocketing around from country to country. In all the mess of trading up and exchanging one life experience for the next - leaving school, owning my first flat, falling in love, falling out of love, having children, getting a degree, moving to Hawaii - the one constant has always been cooking. It's a way of letting out frustrations, of striking out into bold new worlds when you haven't got the means to physically take yourself there, of going back in time on those days when you're feeling so desperately nostalgic that just the smell of curry simmering and rooibos tea steeping can bring tears to your eyes. C'est la chose que j'aime le plus. It's the thing I like the most.

The last year has been one hell of a ride, and I'll admit that I've been a terrible friend to my kitchen. It's been mostly abandoned, sadly, used sparingly for special occasions and it shows; that particular broken-in feel of a well-loved space is a bit musty, now. So it's time for a change.

2010 is the year of committing to life whole-souled and in full YAWP glory, I'm seizing onto it and stoking up that oven fire again. The extra challenge of going vegan for 40 days, as well as a new fitness plan, has really added an enticing element to this fresh start and I'm quietly exhilerated by the prospect of a 'do-over' year to make amends and grow in spirit and strength, all recorded by casserole dishes and brightly-coloured produce. It's not all going to be pretty - but it will be honest, and if that's all that we can find at the end of the day, just a little bit of truth, a victory can be counted.

Drop by, if you like, and check out how this crazy ride is progressing. Feel free to eave your thoughts or suggestions or experiences or anything else that strikes your fancy. Sharing is the quickest way to contentment.

Until tomorrow, then, have peace,

Diz