Jensen

It's not that you're unpopular ... all the condiment queens were elsewhere! I've made some condiments (mostly of the pickled or relished kind). I like to consume all kinds of condiments though and will often buy local condiments as souveniers.

Great blog! Maybe I will have to check out the Isleton Crawfish Festival here in California this year ...

Breakfast of eggs Benny: Before our spa appointments, it was fondue for lunch: More local oysters as an appie: This was an impromptu purchase so it was a little lonely on the plate. The salad: The entree (prosciutto-wrapped halibut): and dessert:

Dinner started with the baked Fanny Bay oysters: I should add that my sister, Sharon, had never had oysters. Since Linda and I have been eating them since we were kids, we had trouble believing that she hadn't but ... She was feeling brave though, tried them, and liked them!!! Another oyster virgin sacrificed to the oyster gods! My dinner of wild sockeye: Linda's pepper steak: and Sharon's mahi mahi: Sorry they're out of focus. Maybe we should have had dinner before the wine tasting???? Dessert: Okay, I totally forgot to take a picture until there was just the bones left ... Next up: Saturday and eating in the cottage

Okay, the pictures are uploaded! Friday's lunch at SeaTac: The wine selection for the wine tasting: And the cheese we ate with it ... Here's the table in the cottage: Next post will be Friday's dinner at the restaurant ...

Well, I could say that I had trouble accessing the site from the spa but that would be a lie ... I was just having such a good time that I didn't even go looking for the Internet access. I'll update this with Friday and Saturday meals but the pictures will have to wait until I'm home again. Friday breakfast was just coffee...much too excited to think about eating. I had a two hour layover in Seattle so, once I'd found my way to the other terminal, I decided to eat there. My connecting flight was in the South Satellite terminal and the options were somewhat limited ... fast food or a deli sandwich in the bar. I went for the sandwich: corned beef on rye. The bread was great and the sandwich as a whole was very fresh. Unfortunately, it was way too salty for me; I only ate half of it. My sisters picked me up at the airport in Victoria and we headed up Island to Tigh-na-Mara, arriving there at around 5:00. To tide us over until our dinner reservations, we had a selection of cheeses with crackers and fresh fruit. We also did some wine tasting. The Chilean chardonnay beat the California one by a mile! No comparison ... At 7:30, we headed over to the restaurant for dinner. I ordered off the fresh sheet: baked Fanny Bay oysters with pancetta and raclette cheese as an appetizer and wild sockeye salmon covered with fresh herbs and topped with a garlic herb butter. Linda had the pepper steak and Sharon ordered the nightly special: macadamia nut-crusted mahi mahi served with a cilantro lime butter sauce. Every dish was outstanding! Unbelievable to have that sort of quality of flavour all across the menu! Between the 3 of us, we shared two desserts: Grand Marnier creme caramel and a falling chocolate cake. Yummy! Saturday breakfast took place after a long walk on the beach. We ate eggs Benedict and fresh fruit. (Yummmmmm!) The rest of the morning was spent exploring nearby communities, which included a trip to French Creek Marina to buy the fish for that night's dinner. Back at the cottage, we had a late lunch of cheese fondue (dipping bread, grapes, and apple slices). Then it was over to the spa for our appointments! My sisters were just doing the mineral pool but I had a facial booked. As part of that package, I could have had a snack in the lounge. There were muffins and fresh fruit available; I wasn't hungry though so passed on that. Back at the cottage, Linda pan-fried some more oysters (I really love the oysters from the Island...can you tell?) in butter, deglazed the pan with some white wine, topped the oysters with some grated cheese and broiled them for a few minutes. Heaven! The "official" dinner started later with salad at 8:00. The salad was composed of baby greens tossed in a mustard vinaigrette and topped with a roasted pear half, crumbled Danish blue cheese and toasted walnuts. The entree was halibut fillet wrapped in paper-thin proscuitto and topped with a lemon caper sauce. Served with rice pilaf and seasonal vegetables. Dessert was chocolate caramel pecan cheesecake. We warmed up some of the chocolate stuff I'd bought at Venezio winery and had that with the cheesecake. Oh, and some of the port... So that was my week! I'll post pictures of the food when I get home. Thanks everyone for your interest and comments ... it's been a lot of fun! cheers, jen

All-righty then! Dinner at Xian's was fab, as usual. I didn't take a picture of everything we ate but, enough to give everyone the general idea ... This is Kathleen's "signature" roll...cucumber and tempura zucchini in a soy wrapper, topped with avocado and various sauces Kim, our friend, ordered some hot sake and Xian gave her some marinated octopus to go with it: Mike and I each had an oyster shooter: Kim's first roll, "I'm on a Roll" ... spicy tuna, deep-fried shrimp, and snow crab inside, seared tuna, ebi, and avocado on top: Kim and I shared the "scallop thingie" ... little balls of rice topped with a scallop, split and seared, guacamole, and jalapenos (and tobiko and green onions): One of Wayde's custom rolls...crab and shrimp in a soy wrapper and then the whole thing is dipped in tempura batter and fried: And the man himself: Tomorrow, it's off to the Island ... woo-hoo!!!!

I'm just now back from yoga. I decided not to take my camera, as I've strained a muscle in my shoulder and didn't want to carry it there and back. Pan: No, MSG does not give me headaches. I have very few food-related triggers; in fact, the only one I can think of is actually alcoholic--some liquors will give me a migraine. My biggest trigger is getting overheated. Owen: the only herb I grow is comfrey and that is for medicinal purposes (touch wood that I never need it). It was recommended to me by many people as a poultice material when Streaka broke her leg. However,at that time, I learned that it is illegal to sell comfrey in California, due to side effects if taken internally. So now I grow it and, if I ever do need it again, I'll have access to it. As for smaller portions of pulled pork products, I've cooked up a bunch of carnitas before, vacuum-sealed it, frozen it, and then reheated it by dry frying it. It tasted the same as when it was first cooked. Cynthia ... of course you can come for dinner! I would have loved the company last night. As I was going to that show at UC Davis, I ate by myself and then Wayde and Kathleen ate later on in the evening. As we are one of those families that does sit down to the table every night, it felt pretty odd to be there at dinnertime by myself. Retirement gets pretty old after a while (like a month or two... ), especially if you have a busy mind. Streaka doesn't mind retirement but I think Tighe would rather still be an active racer. He can still race if the surface is soft enough though so he doesn't have to sit things out entirely. It is a dog's life though (and Rogie hasn't even started his career yet!): And on to food ... Breakfast this morning was some granola with yogurt and one cup of coffee. Accckkk! I'm getting predictable! After yoga, I did go to the Village Bistro and had a portabella and eggplant sandwich (grilled portabella, grilled eggplant, roasted red pepper, provolone cheese, and arugula with garlic aioli--did I spell that right?--on a sourdough bun). It was served with mixed greens and a balsamic vinaigrette. I just drank water with it.

It was très yummy: Needed a little salt though (and I should have put more of Jaymes' salsa on it ... even with the dreaded garlic granules, it is INCREDIBLE!). On the downside, I am having some sort of reaction/vascular response to the pork, probably from the seasoning. A migraine is imminent. I will take some meds and it will stop but this means I can't make this again. I've only heard it referred to as "Hatha Yoga". I'm loving it, whatever type it is!

Okay, I just took the pork out of the oven and yes, I sampled it. It is soooooo good. Now I can't wait for dinner! Here is the baking dish, just out of the oven: The first unveiling: Another lump of pork gets naked: After shredding with two forks: In the bowl, waiting to be eaten: I think I could just sit down and eat that entire bowlful! The pork has a sort of "dusky" flavour...not really smoky but almost. I think that's from the banana leaves. While it was cooking, it smelled quite a bit like nor my gai (the dim sum dish). Wayde came home midway through the cooking and asked if I was roasting squash. At any rate, I'm going to eat it in a taco for dinner. Will post more pictures then.

Yes, we are! The landlord was a bit of a gardener when he lived here; I think he said the fruit trees are all from cuttings he took from trees that he knew had particularly delicious fruit.

I can't think of anything to add but I can't wait to see what others have to say!

Just because I have nothing better to do (well, I suppose I could do housework but that's hardly better), I went and took some pictures in the garden. Nothing is ripe yet (of course) ... The figs: These ones will be yellow. There is another tree behind this one that bears Mission figs. When they're ripe, we have to fence them off or Dayton will eat as many as he can reach. I've even seen him chew a leaf off, in order to get to the fig behind it. A peach: Almonds: Rogie, enjoying a green almond: All the dogs love the green almonds. The squirrels end up getting them all and the dogs clean up what they drop on the lawn.

Lunch was pretty quick and simple...leftover mashed from last night, topped with a fried egg: Getting out the HP reminded me that I will have to make a shopping list for foodstuffs to buy while I'm at home this weekend. I'm sure the Spawn will have a list of candies a mile long (Smarties, Aero bar, Crunchie bar, Mackintosh toffee...). I've checked my cupboards; my stock of HP is fine, as is my custard powder and Silver Shred. I did use the last of my golden syrup though so I guess I'll have to get some of that. I think tomorrow I will take you all to yoga with me. There is a nice little bistro in the village (coincidentally called "The Village Bistro") that has really nice salads. That'd be just the thing for lunch, I think. Plus, I can take pictures of the packs of feral chickens that roam the village (and, if "feral chickens" aren't two words you never thought you'd ever hear together, I don't know what are!).

Okay, it looks like it might get warm today so I've started the oven early. I reckon I can just warm up the meat for the filling in the micro-nuker. So, breakfast ... no surprise here: my two cups of coffee. I've got some beans "soaking" on the stove at the moment. I don't have any black beans so I'm using some Rio Zappe beans I bought at the market. I've used these before and they do retain a dark colour when cooked. I also made some cooked salsa as directed by Jaymes in a past thread about Mexican food. I forgot to buy garlic salt though and I had to use the very thing that was strictly prohibited: California Garlic Granules. If it is anything less than perfect, I will know where the problem lies though, won't I? On to the pork! Here is one piece, prior to wrapping: And both pieces, wrapped, tied, and stuffed into a baking dish: I forgot to oil the banana leaves so I hope that doesn't screw things up. If it does, I'm sure Wayde and the Spawn will just go out for dinner. We're not eating together tonight as I've been invited to attend a dance thingie at the Mondavi Centre in Davis tonight. I imagine I'll be leaving while K. is at aikido.

I've got some great recipes for pickled beets and green tomato pickles but is that what you're looking for?

Yes, I know. I saw Braveheart, you know. Oddly enough, I actually had tea with the fellow who heads the Loch Ness Project in 1995. My dad and I were visiting the family in Orkney and, on the way back down to Glasgow, spent the night in Drumnadrochit. Apparently, my dad had been corresponding with this fellow (Adrian somebody?) via email so we stopped in to say hello and have a little visit with him and his wife. Other than that, my only distinct memories of my time there was buying the Spawn a little t-shirt that said "I'm a little monster" on it and walking into the village and having pizza for dinner. Oh, I also recall how uncomfortable the bed in the lodge was. I should also tell you that I can't wait to try your pasta recipe for a filled pasta too. I loved the look of your ravioli. I've got a ravioli mold thingie but I really liked how your filled pastas looked. Wunderschön!

I have to ask: which is more impressive ... the Mariachi band or the nakedness? (Feel free to wax poetic in your response, keeping in mind that I'm "retired" and don't get out much.) I think I'm going to follow these directions for Yucatecan roast pork. I found this site (and others) while I was looking for things to do with my little spice packet. Whenever I've made any pulled pork products in the past, I usually use a higher temperature for a long period of time. Kalua pig is usually 325 for 5 hours. Carnitas are done at the same temp but for a slightly shorter period of time (maybe 3 hours?). I think, unless you've got a smoker of some sort, higher temps for a long period of time seem to work better.

Swede is rutabaga. One of the non-obvious British/American translations. Thanks! My mum's family is Scottish; they never called them Swedes though. Rutabagas were "baggies"; turnips were "neeps"; and potatoes were "tatties".

I bought a yoga magazine (Yoga International) last night and just got around to looking through it. Of course, I can't find the article now but there was one little bit talking about balancing different parts of one's nature and how food contributed to that balance. The bit that stuck with me was this: if one is overweight, then one has too much pitta and one should reduce the amount of red meat, alcohol, and caffeine consumed and increase the amount of leafy greens and fish. After reading that, I just reckoned my pitta was getting in line... I used to make a homemade diet of raw meat and raw vegetables but, after a couple of years, I saw signs of dietary imbalance. Tighe's toenails lost their pigment and, while I can't rule out trauma as a factor, it could also be due to diet. The other problem came up with Dayton; he had an accident which required an xray of his shoulder (he ran into a tree while chasing a squirrel and tore some of his deltoid out at the insertion; initially, we thought he'd fractured his humerus though). In the xray, the vet found that he had some possible signs of OCD (osteochondritis dessicans), which was likely caused by a high protein diet as a puppy. I loved how the dogs looked on that diet and how they performed but I knew it couldn't be balanced correctly. So, they went back on their former diet: a high quality kibble mixed with a small amount of raw beef. I've just switched them to Eagle Pack Performance and I'm liking it so far. The only down side is that Streaka has gained weight on it; she was retired after breaking a leg a couple of years ago so she's not as active as the other dogs. Now that the weather is nicer though, she should be able to run around more in the garden. I plan on keeping an eye on her and, if I need to, I will put the retired dogs (Streaka and Tighe) on a different food.

It's even hard for me to imagine now. When I think back to my childhood experiences of pork chops (you know, baked in the oven with mushroom soup on them), it's a wonder I was even tempted to try. That's a new "recipe" for me so it should be interesting, at the very least.

<HOMER SIMPSON>Mmmmmmm. Pork chops.</HOMER> Served with steamed spinach and "baggies and tatties", mashed and then fried. (Okay, maybe we had fried potatoes when I was a kid too...) If anyone is interested, here's how I made the brine for the pork chops: * 2/3 cup kosher salt * 1/3 cup sugar of some sort (in this case, turbinado but I've also used brown sugar and golden syrup) * 6 cups water * 2 cloves garlic, crushed * some peppercorns The reason I use 2/3 cup is because that's the size of measuring cup I have. I asked for kitchen stuff for Christmas this past year and the Spawn obliged by getting me some beautiful brushed stainless measuring cups from William-Sonoma. What she didn't notice was that it was a set of "odd" measures. So, I've got a 2/3 cup measure and a 1-1/3 cup measure and a 1-1/2 cup measure but no 1/2 cup or 1 cup. They're just too pretty not to use though so I've made up recipes around them. I know I had spinach salad last night but sometimes I just don't think these things through. I like to serve "greens" with the pork chops and have been buying a fair amount of chard of late. But, the last time I bought it, Kathleen was almost sobbing at the table ... "Please don't ask me to eat that!" So I bought spinach instead. Heheheheheh. Never let it be said that I don't have a sense of humour when it comes to tormenting my child. The root vegetable melange was an aborted effort at duplicating a recipe from the February issue of Olive. The recipe was for "Swede and Bacon Cakes with Dill Sauce". I'm not entirely sure what a swede is ... either a turnip or a rutabaga. I didn't really care though, as I thought rutabaga ("baggies", as my Papa used to call them) would do nicely. I cooked and mashed two baggies and two potatoes. The recipe calls for the addition of carmelised onions and bacon bits. I went with the onions but decided against the bacon. Then, you're supposed to form them into cakes, refrigerate for an hour, and then fry them. That just sounded like entirely too much effort to me so I threw the pot of mashed into the fridge and, when the time came to cook it, just made one big cake in the frying pan. Hey! It worked ...

I don't know what it's called in non-English. Sometimes it is green and sometimes it is pink; Xian says that the pink sheets are higher quality. Now I wish I'd taken my camera to lunch with me ... Wayde was working from home this morning (beaucoup de con-calls) and so, when I got home from yoga, he took me for lunch. Of course, we went for sushi He had his regular Korean-style barbecued albacore and crab on soy wrapper. I had himachi and sake (and then Xian gave me a couple of freebies ... one tuna (not toro but the cheaper one) and one hirame). Another side effect of the yoga ... I am losing my taste for the rolls. When I want sushi, I want it to be very simple and I want to taste the fish. Right now, my favourite is himachi. There is something so wonderful in its buttery smoothness and yet it is so very simple in flavour. Whenever I eat it, I get this amazing sensation along the sides of my tongue. Another one that gives me the same sensation is uni. Hmmmm. I wonder if that's where the fat receptors are... Wayde has thrown another spanner into my plans for the week's dining by inviting friends to go out for dinner on Thursday night. We'd talked to these particular friends about Xian's before and so Wayde said we'd be going there. This is actually just fine with me (although now I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't take a page out of Linda Evangelista's book and cut back on my fish intake). I'll try to remember to take the camera so that I can take pictures of the soy wrapper-wrapped rolls. Cynthia--the music played during yoga is eastern-style music. It's funny that I ended up at a more "spiritual" yoga place. I was looking just to strengthen my core muscles so that I wouldn't have ongoing problems with my back. This place offered both aikido for the Spawn and yoga for me so we signed up. Now, I'm really starting to appreciate the meditative aspects of the practice as well. Oh, I've also found that, since starting yoga, I've been losing my taste for beer. Considering that one of my personal goals since retiring here was to become a functional alcoholic, this is somewhat disturbing to me. Back to cooking ... On the way home from yoga this morning, I walked to Los Hermanos Lopez Carneceria y Taqueria to buy some banana leaves. This is all part of my plan for tomorrow night's dinner. While I was on a road trip last October, I happened to be in a small Mexican corner store in Wendover, UT and saw an interesting spice packet called achiote rojo. Of course, I had to buy it. Normally, I wouldn't take a picture of something so ordinary but I wanted to show off my cutting board. Isn't it nice? My neighbour, Bob (of "Bob and Marge" from this Sunday's events), made it for me. I thinned the spice packet with the juice of that lemon in the picture and then spread it on some pork: Then I vacuum-sealed it and popped it in the fridge to marinate it overnight. Tomorrow, I will wrap it in the banana leaves and cook it for a looooonnggg time. I haven't decided yet whether to serve it as part of a tostada or as a taco filling. I'd be happy either way. Which brings to mind a little tidbit about being a Canadian living in California... Even though there is almost no decent authentic Chinese food to be found in Sacramento, I love the Mexican food here. There is nothing like it at home, especially carnitas. And we all know carnitas is just a fancy word for barbecue, something else that is woefully lacking from the Canadian palate. As for dinner tonight, I am making pork chops. It's at this point in my blog that I bare one of my deepest, most defended secrets ... I cannot fry. For this obvious lack of character, I blame my mother. We simply did not eat fried food when I was growing up (with the exception of the occasional treat of bread fried in bacon fat). Food was baked or roasted or stewed but it was not fried. And so, I never learned how to make pork chops. If I baked them, they were overcooked (and I mean waaaay overcooked) and if I tried frying them, they were undercooked. Imagine, if you will, a life without pork chops. That was my existence. Recently however, through something I read here on eGullet, I was inspired to try pork chops once again. Not just any pork chops either ... those big thick ones that are particularly intimidating. And I was successful! I brine the pork chops for several hours. When I'm ready to cook them, I put my Calphalon grill pan in the oven and pre-heat it to 400. When the oven is hot, I put the pork chops on the pan and then bake them on it for about 25 minutes. Flip them over and let them go for another 25 minutes or so. Heaven!!! (Edited to correct embarrassing homophonic confusion.)

Ahhh, but the Spawn is very creative. Xian (sushi guy) has soy wrappers. So, Kathleen thought up a roll that uses those, is filled with cucumber and tempura zucchini, and has avocado on top. Wayde, who will eat fish but only if it is cooked but who also dislikes nori, has a roll made with the soy wrapper and filled with Korean-style barbecued albacore and crab. No avocado for him as he doesn't like it. Xian also does rolls using cucumber as the wrapper. I think Kathleen has had one of her own concoction using that.

Breakfast was more than just coffee this morning ... yep, that's right, I had granola and yogurt (and a big latte that Wayde brought home for me after dropping the Spawn off at school). No picture because there is just no way I could make it look interesting (and besides which, now you'll all be wondering whether I tried that strata thing and failed!). This morning, I'm off to my yoga practice. I started practising yoga about a month ago after spraining my back in January at a dog race. I waited until my back was strong enough to handle activity before starting and, after two lessons, I haven't had any more back pain. Anyway, back to food ... recently, I read that yoga can change your life, including how you eat. I immediately pooh-poohed that thought but it keeps popping up in my brain, especially after I've been to practice (I go two or three times a week for 90 minutes at a time). When I leave the dojo and start thinking about what I'm going to eat for lunch, all I ever want to eat are salads. Big, crunchy, romaine lettuce salads. I've also noticed that on the days that I practice, I think more often about eating fish. Unfortunately, I don't act on that fish impulse because the Spawn will only eat "fish and chips" (which are not readily available in any recognisable form in Sacramento). So, I fulfill my fish impulse by going for sushi, where Kathleen has invented her own "sushi" rolls -- ones not involving fish products or seaweed. At any rate, I thought that whole yoga-food connection was interesting.