Kerry Beal

Plastic made to look like lacquer unfortunately.

Yeah - heard that there was snow in Ottawa a few days back and that snow was predicted in Sudbury. Still came up without boots or a decent coat. You'd think I'd learn wouldn't you? Actually the coldest I've been up here was at the beginning of one of the summers!

Beth - you know me well enough to know how distracted I get by anything new - so not sure what I'll do first with the freeze dried stuff. Squirrel... Anyway - how long have I been coming up here and yesterday is the first time I've noticed there is an apple tree just across from the back of the condo. So off I went through the soaking wet grass and weeds - and discovered there are a lot more than a dozen and a half apple trees of various varieties up there - all covered in apples. Picked a couple off of each tree. Some are like little Delicious - and unlike the ones you buy in the store - they actually are delicious. Girls from the hospital are looking to find me a cider press to borrow.

Apparently it's the last market of the year - did a drive by and didn't bother to get out of the vehicle as we could see there were no vendors there that we wanted. So hit the grocery store again -

Anna did say "this is for Rotuts" when she did it.

Hoping to get to the NEMI market today before I'm called in to work. When I do go in I have some butterscotch squares to take - one of my quickest, easiest things to bake (that is after I figure out where the spatulas and pecans are buried in our stuff).

Strangely there wasn't a single transport on the ferry! We were thinking about that as we were pitching and yawing and pondering how the car was moving down below. Not sure when we will get down to Burt Farms - I did speak to Johanna on the phone the night before we came up when she called to tell me the size of the turkeys this year and ask if I wanted one. She's the one who told me that it had been raining for two weeks and asked me to bring some sunshine. Looking at what's coming down this morning - we have not succeeded. A little side note - there is a new bed in the condo - and the owner mentioned that she didn't have a mattress cover as she hadn't made it to the 'big' city to get one. So I headed out the night before we left to pick one up. Mentioned to the woman in the bedding store that the warranty issue would be moot as the mattress cover would be heading to Manitoulin. She then told me that she was good friends with the woman who had a chocolate store in a place called Kagawong! Small world Beth, small world!

The place I've found the untoasted sesame oil is in a Korean market - might start by checking there if you have such a thing close by.

Brought a whole lot of different freeze dried stuff - did leave the tofu, guacamole and avocados at home.

I did the debate between those and Chruncheez - it was a tough decision!

Dinner!

Dinner not quite ready - but very tiny cocktail done - so on to the second - Paper Planes

Just back from our first grocery shop for necessities - Dinner tonight will be chicken thighs from the steam oven and corn from the nuke. We looked at steak in the Valumart - they must have pulled out a micrometer to size them for cutting - they were much less than half an inch thick. Quickfry my ass - quick cremate! One small miscalculation - apparently we used up the rest of the Chase Elderflower this summer and forgot to remind ourselves that we needed St Germain. So all we had was about an ounce in this little bottle. One cocktail shared - we shall have to make something else after dinner. I prefer to think of it as liberating - rather than scrumping.

Nope - sucker is 120 lbs and too big for the car. Now if I could get a little travel size..,

Well they asked if we had reservations, we did express that we had some reservations about crossing in storm.

Guess I should have said still appearing to contain moisture.

Hope not - pretty low moisture I'd say.

Last kick at the cat before we head north very early tomorrow morning. Garlic cloves, lime leaves and guava puree. Some of the garlic cloves seem to have remained damp - others are dry as a chip. The damp ones seem to have the texture of black garlic - will store them in a closed container and see what develops. Galangal, pear slices and a lime from a small tree in a friends office. More tomatoes of course - they are too good now not to preserve, some thai basil and okra. I salted the okra quite heavily before freezing it - interesting how the salt seems to have freeze dried as well. I won't be freeze drying anything more until I'm back from up north - but will be using some of the FD'ed stuff I've made while we are up there.

I've had cocoa butter get so hot that I could never get it back to useable. Could that have happened to yours?

It's twue, it's twue... you yourself mention how sweet the veg get!

Indeed - I am starting to get a pile of bottles and mylar packages that need spots. The red peppers are earmarked for succotash bark - peppers, corn and either sweet onion or perhaps little lima beans in milk chocolate.

I've personally seen the one at Lee Valley - it looks to be good quality (as is most of their stock) and the price is reasonable.

I like dill with green beans - and of course lots of butter! Bit of mint with peas - and lots of butter.

I ran a piece of turkey under the tap and ate it several minutes later - tasted just like it had before I'd FD'ed (to be fair it was not fabulous before). I'm thinking that the rehydration of the chuck eye I might do in a vacuum box that you use to speed marinate things.

Welcome Carol - look forward to seeing what you produce!