Summertime

A few blogs ago, I mentioned my love, my adoration, my complete and utter eagerness for when the days turn warm. When the scents of blooming flowers fill the air and I can look out over my yarden (yard & garden) to see the fruits and vegetables of our labour. Much to our surprise this year, our Community Garden Plot has really taken-off, and our new varietals of salad greens are huge! Short are these days, but abundant are the verdant hope filled surprises of soon-to-be peas, tomatoes and beans. Take a look at just some of the food our little space in the city will offer up this year...

 

Tomato Blossoms

Lettuce Harvest

Our Community Garden Plot

Rhubarb

Nasturtiums

Deck Tomatoes

Sunflowers, in a few weeks

Mustard Flowers

Comfort Food

So, it's been awhile. My sincere apologies oh wide blogosphere. But, my reasons for being away have to do with our family suffering a loss of one near and very dear to our hearts. 


On the day that we found out, as my family sat together in our stunned grief, I noticed the food. There was food everywhere. My aunt had been sick for a long time, and not knowing what else to do, people sent or brought food. Lasagnas, perogies, cabbage rolls, and cakes; doughnuts, cookies, and the like. It was such comfort to know that people cared about her, and us, so much that they wanted to do something, anything, that they could. 

In our hearts, always.

In these days that go on without her, when life keeps moving, not allowing for time to grieve, I think of the lasagna that the funeral home gave. They knew that giving a family one night without the task of making dinner, and just letting them "be" could be a great help. 


It's a wonder how food somehow can be comforting. Simple ingredients, cooked together, transfers the love it was made with to the people that need it most. 

Eat Food!

Bullet Shaped Carrots

Looking for blog inspiration this week, I was struck by a fantastic article in the Calgary Herald, written by my friend and dietician Andrea Holwegner. In it, Andrea writes about how in many families, children are not aware of where their food comes from. While this strikes me as a little sad (re: her line about tiny bullet shaped carrots), I know that it is also quite true. I was lucky enough to have parents and grandparents that taught me about farming and gardening at a young age. However, I can see how that might not be a part of the conversation these days. How do we eat actual nutritious food (i.e. whole, organic, locally grown) without compromising taste or desire to eat it? My friends that are parents can attest to the difficulty of getting their kids to eat anything remotely related to vegetables and resorting to "hiding" them in food that kids will eat (i.e. pureed squash or cauliflower in mac and cheese), never-mind teaching them about how that squash gets into their fridge.

Garden Fresh

My mother-in-law has a very cool tradition with her grandkids at Easter that is both fun for them, and mildly educational. She will purchase a bunch of carrots with the green tops still attached (harder and harder to find, I am told), and bury them in her garden. Then the kids head out Easter morning, and "pick" the carrots for the Easter Bunny. While the ground is likely still frozen in April in Calgary, this tradition teaches the kids that carrots grow in dirt and opens the floor for conversation around the topic. The possible distraction from all of those chocolate eggs present during Easter doesn't hurt either. 


I am interested in your tips to get your spouse, children, parents, to eat more real food? OR, how you educate yourself on the topic? AND, where you buy your real food from? 


One last note; My very favorite food author (or my "food-boyfriend", as my husband calls him) Michael Pollan has 7 poignant words of wisdom: Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Sounds good to me, pass it on. 

First Coffee, Then Life

This morning, on my way to my day, I sat holding my freshly brewed, deliciously sweet, satisfying and completely blissful cup of coffee. I lovingly looked down on it wondering how anyone could live without this promise that anything could happen... Ok, ok, I understand that I might be placing a little too much emphasis on a cup of coffee. But it did get me thinking about rituals, and how we use these daily, or weekly or seasonal rituals to create positive bubbles in our life, and how often these bubbles are centered on food & drink.

Besides my necessary daily coffee (or NDC, just ask my husband how necessary that coffee actually is),  I often look to create ritual bubbles in a Sunday dinner, or a celebration or habitual seasonal gathering (read: Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas). I must always have some delicious, comforting culinary element to bring it all together. Skating parties must have hot chocolate and cookies. Dinner parties must have appetizers, wine and dessert. Christmas must have an endless array of homemade and purchased (sacrilege!) baking. I think that it gives us something to fawn over, to talk about, a start to a conversation or an end to a long day on your feet. Even if a guest cannot grasp the delicious intricacies of a well-made potato and onion tart with tarragon créme fraiche, or revel in the joy of cracking through the crisp sugar on a créme brûlée, there is still, inevitably, a kind of warmth in the moment; a sense of togetherness in the ritual bubble. And, regardless of what else may be permeating life in general (family feud or fallen soufflé), at least we can sit down to something satiating. 


I would like to know where you find inspiration for your ritual bubble. Do you have favorite traditions, recipes or other comments? What is your NDC? 


Just think, all of this commentary stemmed from just one little, perfect, steaming cup of coffee :)