Ann_T

I would like to thank everyone that participate this week on my Blog. When Susan invited me to do a blog and gave me a choice of dates I thought it was the perfect time for our friend Sandra to visit from Toronto. I got to play the tour guide and introduce her to some of the areas that she hadn't been to before. And I got to revisit a few places that I hadn't been to in a while as well as find a couple of places that were new to me. It was my intention to showcase the Cowichan Valley and the southern part of the Island. I didn't want to cook differently.. I wanted to prepared the type of meals that I would normally cook, using local produce and meats and seafood from the area. I've really enjoyed the week. So to bring it to an end, I thought I would share two more pictures with you. One is the Blueberry Pie that I made this morning using Cowichan Valley blueberries. And the other is a photo I took this morning from our front deck. This is the view I have from the kitchen and the livingroom and diningroom. The lake in the distance is Quamichan Lake. Thanks again for all your support and kind words. Now I'm off to read Torakris's Foodblog. Ann

Susan, thanks for giving me the extra day. I've been having the same problem today. My service has been off more than it has been on since early this afternoon. We are having record high temperatures. Thanks Pam. I'm originally from the Toronto area but I also lived in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for 5 long years. I love our winters out here on the west coast. CaliPoutine. I posted the recipe I use for Bagels on Recipe Gullet. It is one that i have used for years. I use Rogers Flours the unbleached all-purpose and their bread flour. I've made these bagels with both. I believe our Canadian flours have a higher gluten content then most of the US flours. Their bread flour has 13.5 g of protein and the all-purpose unbleached has between 12.2 and 13.6. Rogers is the flour that I prefer. We started the day by going to the Duncan Farmers Market. I bought bread today from one of the vendors. Wonderful sour dough. Picked up one of his small baguettes and a loaf of white/whole wheat. I decided that it was just too hot to bake my own today. I also bought coffee from a young woman who has a small roaster and is just getting into the business. I'll let you know tomorrow if the coffee is any good. I made salmon patties last week using some leftover ivory spring salmon and I froze a few. Moe and Sandra had them for lunch today. My son Matt drove up from Victoria this afternoon and stayed for dinner. We started with an antipasto platter of grilled vegetables. And the main course was a 2 pound Beef tenderloin grilled and served with fingerling potoates also cooked on the grill and some green and yellow local beans and some sugar snap peas. The beef was topped with a gorgonzola butter. I bought a 10 pound box of blueberries today and promised Moe a blueberry pie, but again it was just too hot to turn the oven on. I hate to break promises so my intention is to bake one first thing in the morning. Ann

Thanks Shaya, Since it is obvious from the wonderful meals that you are making for your family now that you are very motivated. I don't think you lose any of that. In fact it just becomes more fun when you have more time. Thanks Racheld. Its been fun visiting some of the places that I haven't been to in a while. And a couple of new places as well. We are already talking about going back to the Cidery for lunch or dinner again soon. In fact we might go there tomorrow night. They have an outdoor wood fired oven and Sunday night is pizza night on the patio. Thanks Barbara. I'm not sure what is going to be on the menu tonight. The Duncan Farmers Market opens at 9:00 and I'm going to go and see what looks good today and I'll plan dinner around whatever I find. My son, Matt is planning on coming up tonight for dinner so I know that we won't be having anything fish/shellfish related. And it is still really hot here so whatever we have will probably be grilled. Moe just put in a request for a toasted bagel and would like more of the peameal bacon to go with it. So since all I have done so far this morning was make him a cappuccino I guess I'd better go and make breakfast. I'll post some pictures of the market later. Assuming that my internet doesn't act up again because of the heat. Ann

It was really hot here today and the heat has been affecting my internet service. It has been off more than it has been on today. So I'm going to try and post while it is actually working. We drove around the Cowichan Valley this afternoon stopping at a couple of wineries and having lunch at the Merridale Estate Cidery in their La Pommeraie Bistro. We sat out on the patio and sampled two of their ciders. Sandra had the Frittata Basquaise "........ Four Fresh Pasture Raised Eggs, Chorizo Sausage, Brie Cheese, Green and Red Onions & Diced Potato. the the Spinach salad. The frittata didn't photograph well but it was apparently really good. And to drink she tried the "Scrumpy" described as" Winner of Gold & Silver 2002 North American Brewers Awards in Idaho Springs. If you're a Scotch drinker, try this one. Scrumpy is strong and sharp, and rich in flavour of BC crab apples fermented without sugar. Once you acquire a taste for Scrumpy, nothing else will do! In old England, scrumpy was a cider made by farm workers who stole or ‘scrumped’ apples from the orchard. I had the Roasted Chicken Foccacia Sandwich "......Roasted Cowichan Bay Farm’s Chicken Breast, Brie Cheese,House-Made Tomato-Thyme Jam & Sunflower Sprouts on Warm Foccacia Bread also with the Spinach Salad. I had them leave the Homemade Tomato-Thyme Jam off the sandwich. I'm not a fan of ketchup even if it is homemade. I had the Somerset and it was described as: Somerset – Champagne Style This is the English version of champagne-style cider, dry and sparkling with balanced acids. Perfect for a special occasion, Somerset is aged for more than a year to become completely dry After lunch we stopped at the Blue Grouse Vineyard and Winery and sampled a few of their wines before heading home. It was too hot to turn on the oven so I grilled some fresh Black Cod for dinner and grilled potato slices to have with it.

Marlene, I posted the recipe for the Bread and Butter pudding over on Recipe Gullet. Here is a better picture. I made it in individual ramekins a few months ago. For breakfast I toasted one of my bagels and topped it with sliced tomatoes with lots of fresh ground pepper and my favourite salt (Murray River Salt from Australia).

Bread and Butter Pudding This is one of my favourite desserts. I love it served with the caramel sauce. It can be made with any of your favourite breads including Chocolate. Bread And Butter Pudding With Caramel Sauce 5 or 6 slices of bread 1/2 cup butter 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar 5 eggs 2 cups cream (Or milk) vanilla pinch of salt Caramel Sauce 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup cream pinch of salt 2 teaspoons vanilla NOTE: If you prefer the pudding to have more custard, then use less bread so that all of the custard is not absorbed into the bread when baked. Cut crusts from bread and spread each slice with butter. (Bread slices can be left whole, or cut into halves, quarters or cubes. Place bread buttered side up in a oven proof dish. (may use any shape dish, or glass loaf pan, cutting bread to fit) Beat the sugar and eggs together and then add the cream, vanilla and salt. Pour over bread and allow the bread to absorb. (may be refrigerated at this point and baked later) Sprinkle with some white sugar and place dish into a pan of hot water and bake in a 350 oven for 45 to 1 hour, or until pudding is set and golden. To make caramel sauce, Bring butter, sugars, cream and salt to a boil and then simmer for 3 or 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Custard sauce for Chocolate Bread and butter Pudding. 2 cups cream or milk (I use coffee cream) 3 tablespoons flour 1/2 cup white sugar 1 egg pinch salt Heat cream. Mix flour, sugar and salt and mix into beaten egg. When milk is hot, slow pour into the egg mixture stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pot and cook over low heat until thickened. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Custard should be pouring consistency. Keywords: Dessert, Pudding ( RG1759 )

Ever tried carrots with honey or brown sugar? I'm not saying that will turn you into a carrot convert, but they take well to the sweet stuff. ← No chance I'll ever like cooked carrots. I often roast and glaze them in brown sugar or honey or maple syrup for Moe. But it is actually the sweetness of the carrots that i don't like. I can eat them raw. But they wouldn't be my first choice for a snack. H. du Bois, I cook summer squash/zucchini the same way. Just cut the squash into 1 1/2 to 2 inch logs and then cut the logs in half horizontally. Then I just use a knife to carve a little off the edges, rounding them. I steamed the squash until it was almost tender and then tossed them with some butter/olive oil and a little garlic. Hi Tony, the James Bay Market didn't have many produce vendors when I was there last week, just mostly crafts people. But the Moss Street market has a number of produce vendors, all organic I believe. Lots of crafts people there too. It opens at 10:00 and people line up in front of their favourite vendors waiting for the bell to go off. You should check out the Duncan Farmers Market. It is one of the better ones. I decided for "picture" sake to take the Mill Bay Ferry over to Brentwood rather than drive down through the Malahat. We almost made it too. This is a small ferry that only holds 18 cars. Apparently we were number 19. We would have had to wait for over an hour for the next ferry so we ended up driving after all. So no pictures from the ferry. First stop was at the Church and State Winery. We tasted 4 of their wines and bought a couple of bottles of their Chardonnay. Wasn't terribly impressed with the others. This is a picture of their vineyard. Next we stopped at Marley Farm Winery. Fun place. Wasn't able to taste everything but I bought some of their dessert wines. Forgot to take a picture. We stopped at The Bakery for lunch. Almost forgot to take pictures. Sandra had the Meatloaf Sandwich and I had a Egg Salad Sandwich and a cup of their mushroom soup. Everything was homemade, fresh and very good. Next we drove into Sidney and wandered around the harbour for a bit. Beautiful view of Washington's Mt. Baker today. We decided not to hang around until the evening market opened and instead stopped at one of the roadside stands and picked up some fresh corn. The first of the season . And it wasn't even island corn. It was from the mainland. Chilliwack. I should apologize in advance for dinner. We didn't get home until close to 5:30 and all we ended up having was corn on the cob and I also made a corn and potato chowder. Driving home I pulled off at one of the lookout points in the Malahat and took a couple of pictures. You can see Mt. Baker in the background again. I did make dessert though. I had a loaf of chocolate bread in the freezer that I made a while ago and I used it to make a chocolate bread and butter pudding and served it with a custard sauce.

Thanks Abra. We spent the day over on the Saanich Peninsula. Just got home and still need to download pictures off the camera and make dinner. But I thought I would share a picture of the bagels I baked early this morning.

Tracey, Klary, Gifted Gourmet answered the question on Peameal Bacon. It gets the name Peameal because the loin is rolled in cornmeal. As much as I like Canadian back bacon, it is the peameal bacon that I really really like. I think I will talk to the butcher here and find out if it is something he would consider making. I remember when we lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I had a wonderful butcher there and he started to sell Peameal bacon after I told him how much I missed it. I can buy chicken breasts just about anyway I want them. Skinless and boneless, Bone in Skinless, boneless with skin. This is just a spectacular thread to wake up to!! All the dining out and the cooking---my, my. Lucky Sandra---that's MY KIND of visit. That lovely bacon, all sandwiched between the juicy tomatoes and that crispy, crusty bread---Heaven. And the shiny, perfectly cut vegetables, cooked to a turn. Miss Martha would be SO envious!! That chicken is a marvel, with its hidden secrets revealed by the slice of a knife, and the juices that you soak up every drop. And the Hand-pie!!! That's just perfect, with its golden wispy crust and the berries bursting out. And is that Angelica I see? Or a candied violet? Haven't used either in a long time, but I've always thought they gave the MOST elegant touch of anything on a dessert. ← Racheld, I love your posts. H du Bois, You are right that not all Wegmans are created equal. But most of them were still a step-up from the Tops and Quality that were the two major grocery stores in the Dunkirk area. I lived right on Lake Erie, and it was about the same distance to Erie, PA as it was into Buffalo. So I would just as often to go the Wegmans in Erie. It was one of the better Wegmans. The one in Jamestown was pretty good too. MarketStEl, some soups are quick and easy to make. That mushroom soup would be one of them. Cream of cauliflower, cream of broccoli or asparagus are also soups that can be made in 30 to 45 minutes. The escargot are a little more time consuming, but you can do some of the work ahead of time. Make the toasted bread cups the night before. Just use regular white "cotton batten" bread. Cut off the crust and flatten the bread with a rolling pin. Cut out rounds using a biscuit cutter and fit each one into a buttered mini muffin/tart tin. Brush with melted butter and bake in a 350 oven until toasted. You could start the sauce in the morning. Prepare it right up to the stage just before you add the cream. Then when you get home from work all you have to do is add the cream and the escargot and the cheese or butter depending on what you are using. That chicken dish can be made ahead to. These are great for a dinner party because they can be made much earlier in the day. You can stuff them and then refrigerate them until you are ready to cook them. Megan, yes is is a candied violet. I could never be a vegetarian, but I do love my vegetables. Almost all of them, except for carrots and parsnips. After I took the picture I gave my carrot to Moe.

Thanks Saskanuck. Is this the name that you used on the Gardenweb? Thanks H. du Bois. Coquus, I've been to the one near the Galleria and another one near the McKinley Mall. I think it was this one that was actually the closest too me in Dunkirk. I liked going to the one off of Sheridian because then I could stop for lunch at the Taste of India in the Northtown Mall and then visit the Premier Wine store before heading home. I often took the scenic route along highway 5. Oh Marlene, it is so nice to hear that you are recreating something that I've made. Daniel, I was so glad that I chose the Short Rib sandwich. It was even better than I expected it to be. OOH and it was messy too. We stayed close to home today. Lunch was a favourite of mine and something that I can't get out here. When Sandra came out from Toronto she brought me a big piece of Peameal Bacon. I love Peameal bacon. It is really common everywhere in Ontario and I would have thougth all over Canada. But unfortunately not in BC. Or at least not in Vancouver or on the Island. We had toasted Peameal bacon and tomato sandwiches on homemade bread. I split the loaf lengthwise and toasted it. Dinner was Chicken Breasts stuffed with Mushroom Duxelles. This was requested by Moe. Something I hadn't made for him recently and his way of helping with the Blog. I used up some of the veggies picked up at the farmers markets earlier this week. Ready for the oven. Local blueberries are in season so we had Blueberry Turnovers for dessert. I used frozen puff pastry and just used the same filling that I would normally use for a blueberry pie. I promised Sandra that I would make Bagels while she was here. So that is what is on the agenda tomorrow morning. Good Night. Ann

The sauce for the escargot is basically just shallots simmered in white wine, chicken broth, garlic, fresh thyme until the liquid is reduced to about 1/3rd of a cup. Then a cup of heavy cream is added and simmered again until reduced to 1/2 a cup. At that time I add the drained canned snails and the gorgonzola cheese and just let it cook for another 5 minutes or so. It is also good without the cheese and just a little butter added at the end. I normally make little toast cups to serve them in rather than using puff pastry. Sometimes I make slightly larger toast cups and serve them as a first course at the table. That way you get more of the escargot. Susan, I think that soup would be very easy to recreate. It is similar to one that I already make. No real recipe. Just saute shallots, garlic and mushrooms, season with fresh thyme and add some chicken or beef broth, and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes and use a stick blender to partially puree some of the mushrooms. Add the cheese and drizzle with the oil. The soup was very brothy rather than creamy. I like to use a combination of fresh mushrooms with some dried porcini for a more intense flavour. Thanks Racheld, I was hoping that you would read my blog. Coquus, I shopped at a number of of the Wegmans in the Buffalo area but my favour was the super version over behind the Blvd. Mall off of Sheridan. I called it the flagship store because it really was a step above the others. I think Wegmans is one of the best grocery chains. I wish we had them in Canada. Kim, I have to make bread year around. Moe can always tell when I give him someone elses bread. Actually I don't mind because I like making bread. We are kind of boring though, because we are definitely white bread eaters. Either Italian or French. I put together a pictorial (Italian Bread) for some friends on another cooking forum. It is a very wet dough and some were having problems with it. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. And I have lots of pictures of breads stored on Smugmug. We are going to just hang around town today and probably have lunch at home. I'm still thinking about dinner. Leaning towards chicken breasts stuffed with a mushroom duxelle, although that may change between now and dinner. Ann

Lori, I know that you can bake so making French or Italian breads will be very easy for you. Check out Julia Child's French Bread recipe . It is a good one to start with if you are looking for just a simple baguette or loaf. Do you have a stone? I bake all my breads on a large square stone that I keep in the oven. Thanks Grub. Thanks Daniel. Funny, I wasn't even going to post that picture but my husband (Moe) really liked that photo the best. Suzi, I agree, Beef on Weck truly is one of the most perfect sandwiches. Topped of course with a little hot horseradish. Hi Jennifer. Thanks for dropping by. You've been missed over on tthe CF. Lunch today was in a little restaurant on the west coast of the Island. We did the tourist thing today and went to Sooke, stopping and looking in a few galleries and other tourist traps. The restaurant was in a little resort about 30 minutes outside of Sooke - Point-No-Point. View from our table. Sandra started with a seafood chowder and I had a mushroom, blue cheese soup that was drizzled with truffle oil. See the little pepper grinder in the background? That is the one that I carry in my purse. Nothing better than fresh black pepper. We both had sandwiches. Sandra had a wild salmon and mine was Beef Shortribs with carmelized onions. Tonight we started with Escargot in a gorgonzola cream sauce in puff pastry cups, followed by Duck Breasts with a Black pepper and pear sauce. I should have taken the duck out of the oven a minute or two sooner. I would have preferred it a little more rare. I don't think that we will stray far from home tomorrow. But Thursday should be fun. We are going to head over to the Saanich Peninsula and check out some of the wineries and farms in that area and visit the farmers market in Sidney Thursday night.

FabulousFoodBabe, there are a number of farms in the area where you can buy free range chicken, beef, duck and of course fresh produce. I bought a baby goat from one of the local farmers back in April. I still have quite a bit of it still in the freezer. I should have said just corn, butter, salt and pepper. Got to have fresh ground pepper too. But when corn is ready it takes centre stage. We will make a meal of just corn, nothing else. Thankfully I have a husband who loves fresh corn as much as I do. We both grew up in Ontario. He is from the Windsor area and I'm from the Toronto area. Wow Kerry, you do have some wonderful memories. I'm glad my pictures are jogging them for you. I'll try to post a few more of the local scenery this week. Thanks Shaya. I just love good food and I like to cook and bake. Just for leisure. I've been a stay at home wife/mom for 27 years. The veal shanks are browned and cooked with onions, garlic and a carrot (I hate carrots, but can handle the flavour and sweetness that one adds) , seasoned with fresh rosemary and sage, a little white wine and some chicken broth. And then roasted in the oven, basting often, until tender. I covered them for the first hour and just basted for the last hour. I used the stick blender to puree the veggies into the sauce. Susan, I don't really have a food background, except for the fact that I have always loved to cook and to eat. I'm originally from the Toronto area but have moved around a bit. Just after we were married we moved to Grand Rapids Michigan for a couple of years. I took a few hands on cooking lessons from Pat Davis. She ran a cooking school in her home. Matthew was born while we were in Grand Rapids so he actually has dual citizenship. We moved back to the Toronto area and lived there for the next 12 years and then ended up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario for 5 years before moving to Vancouver back in 1998. Then we ended up in Dunkirk, NY for two years. I really liked living there. I was only an hour from Buffalo, Erie, PA and Jamestown , and all of these cities had Wegman grocery stores. So I went into Buffalo at least once a week and usually into Erie and Jamestown once a week too. And we were less than three hours from Toronto. So we would get down to Toronto quite often. We moved back out west the summer of 2001 and lived in Nanaimo for 3 1/2 years before selling our house and moving to Vancouver for a year. Moe was working on a few things and it was easier to do from Vancouver. Matt lives in Victoria and we really missed seeing him whenever we felt like it so we moved back to the island last December. Since we are less than an hour from Victoria we see a lot of Matt now. Thankfully he is happy to have us so close too. My son is a real foodie too and is becoming quite a good cook. I recently gave him my Cuisinart . It was an excuse to buy a new one for myself. Here are my new toys. Breakfast wasn't too exciting. But the bread is homemade french bread and the honey is local. I didn't hear any complaints. Oh and I forgot to post a picture of my fridge. Since I shop on a regular basis, I don't keep a lot in it and I'm not big on leftovers so I try to not save anything that I will just end up throwing out a week later.

Thanks everyone. I've never done anything like this before and I'm a little nervous. And to have to follow Bryan's amazing blog on top of that. Fabulous FoodBabe, your son might not want to come home. He will probably fall in love with the Island. We moved our son out here back in 1998 when he was 15 and he says he is never leaving. Daniel, the espresso machine is a Saeco Incanto Sirius, one of the super automatics. We are really happy with its performance. It is all we drink now. Klary, I hope you find time to visit the Island. Especially if you haven't been here before. It really is beautiful. MarketStEl, The Dinner thread is the thread that I hang out the most on so I don't think that many members will know me. Hopefully my blog will change that. I promised Moe and Sandra scones this morning so that is what we had. Blackberry Scones. We are going to spend some time driving around Lake Cowichan this afternoon. I'm hoping that we will find a nice place for lunch. See you all later. Ann

Bryan, I've really have enjoyed your blog. You only turn twenty once so I'm happy to see that you and your family celebrated it in style. Ann

Good Morning from beautiful, sunny Vancouver Island. My name is Ann and I live with my husband Moe in Duncan, British Columbia right in the heart of the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island. We have a son, Matt, who is 24 and lives just an hour south of us in Victoria. My blog theme is planned around all the wonderful foods that are available here on the island, mostly in the Cowichan Valley and the Victoria/Sidney area. I have a friend visiting from Toronto this week and Sandra and I plan to drive all over the southern part of Vancouver Island visiting farms, markets and wineries. It is my intention to cook most of our meals using local in-season produce, meats and seafood also from the area. We got started early by going to a couple of the farmers’ markets in Victoria on Saturday and the Cedar Farmer’s Market on Sunday. Duncan has a wonderful farmer’s market that is open every Saturday 12 months of the year and I very seldom miss it. I love this time of year. Each week the selection at the market just gets better and better. I can’t wait until the corn and tomatoes are available. Actually this week won’t be too much different from the way that I normally cook and plan meals. I’ve always shopped on a daily basis and I’ve never minded driving some distance to find what I want. Here is a picture of Saturday’s take from the Markets. The garlic is from the James Bay Market and the rest of the produce came from the Moss Street Market. It's early here, just 6:15 AM so I'm off to the kitchen to make coffee.

Happy Birthday Bryan. Looks like you started the day off well with a wonderful breakfast. Looking forward to seeing what is on the menu for the rest of your Day. Ann

Bryan, I'm really enjoying your Blog. Your meals and your photos are wonderful. I really love seeing the Wegman's photos. Brought back memories of when I lived in Western New York 5 years ago. Wegman's was my favourite grocery store. Ann

Wow Bryan, you have so much planned for the week. I know I'm really going to enjoy your Blog. Ann

Nice looking french bread Daniel. I very seldom use leftovers for anything but I had some of the salmon leftover from last nights dinner so I made Moe some Salmon cakes for lunch.

Oh I miss the meats from Oyama, especially all their wonderful sausages. I baked French bread this morning and then used one of the mini loaves to make Moe a Grilled Steak sandwich using a small beef tenderloin steak and topped it with fried onions. And I had a cold roast turkey sandwich using the rest of the small turkey breast from last night's dinner. I know it looks plain , but it was so good with just butter, salt and pepper and wonderful crusty bread.

Lori, I have so enjoyed reading your blog. I love the pictures and the tradition of your kids spitting cherry pits. And there is nothing ugly about your bread pudding. Bread and Butter Pudding is one of my all time favourite desserts. I've made it with a chocolate bread before but have never added chocolate chips. Great idea. You live in a beautiful part of your country. . Love the photos of your shopping trips and the Cooking lessons. Looks like you and your husband celebrated your anniversary in style. I would have been happy with what you both had. Everything looks so good. Ann

Beautiful sonces, Megan! I think you did Ann proud! Lori ← I'll say. Perfect Scones Megan. My favourite breakfast food. Ann

Those look super good, Lori. Is the recipe in RecipeGullet? I didn't see it when I did a quick search, but I simply must have it! ← Megan I posted the recipe for you on Recipe Gullet. Susan that is one beautiful waffle. Ann