FauxPas

Does anyone else use a steam canner? I bought one recently and its maiden voyage was for Bread & Butter pickles. (I can't find a commercial brand that we like anymore and we eat pickles quite a bit.) I should have considered making some dills also, but wasn't organized enough. 😞 Bought more pickling cukes from the farm than I needed so gave some to neighbour who will likely make some dills. I wish I had a steam canner sooner. It's SO MUCH easier than hot water bath. I wasn't sure that I would get good use out of a pressure canner, so this seemed like a good choice, but would be interested in hearing from others. I gave one jar away but there's another jar in the fridge, and this batch should last us for quite a while.

Quite a lot of tomatoes from our tiny little deck garden, loving them! The bowl holds leftovers from yesterday, the rest were picked this morning. Should really try for more containers/raised beds next year. Hahahahhaha

What @KennethTsaid. Really hope things clear up soon! Hugs.

Forgot about this topic and didn't take a photo of last week's CSA, but it included tatsoi, gai lan, celery, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, cucumbers, snap peas and a bag of Spring greens.

The first article seems to be referring to items like root veggie and fruits like citrus, apples and grapes. They mostly talk about removing dates from fresh fruit and veg. Am I missing something here? I don't think I've ever seen a 'best-by' or a 'use-by' date on an apple here in my local stores. Or any produce at all, unless it's been processed somehow. Are they saying that all produce in the UK is/was dated that way? I do see 'packaged-on' dates on some things here, like packaged romaine hearts from California or some packaged tomatoes, but most produce is not packaged.

I know that the Hatch Chile Store used to ship to Canada. I'm not sure if they can shop fresh (due to possible agricultural import restrictions?) but they did shop frozen at one time via FedEx 2-day or overnight. You can't order online, you have to phone them for international shipping and I'm sure you'd pay a pretty good amount for the shipping, but it might be worth it as a splurge purchase. 🙂 Edited to add: Or there are various dried or canned products, of course, but I don't think you were asking about those?

My tiny little container garden is simple fun. The three different cherry tomato plants continue to produce. The larger tomato variety stays stubbornly green, but that's gotta change soon with all the heat we are getting. And despite that heat, I still am getting some lovely sweet snap peas. More flowers on my hanging strawberry baskets so that's nice to see, since I didn't get that much fruit up to now. In a moment of crazy and wild optimism, I planted a couple of watermelon seeds. The plants are still small so I am not too hopeful about actually getting any fruit, but you never know, right? 🙂 From today:

@Norm Matthews, also adding birthday wishes to Charlie. And that meal looks lovely, I bet everyone enjoyed to their last bites! 🙂

I want to try this. I have some of the Noh char siu powder. Yours really looks lovely!

Farmed? I used to live in the Northwest Territories back in the 80's when I was very young and knew people who went out and fished for char, believe they can be tricky fish in the wild, it was considered a bit of a challenge. I had fresh, frozen and smoked from wild stock that people shared. Farmed char seems to be the norm these days. Iceland claims to have sustainable farmed char but I keep looking at what we are doing to wild salmon stock due to fish farming and I can't help but wonder (despair?)

@MaryIsobel, this is the photo I meant to use. Maybe just a little bit clearer image?

Oh, can't forget a couple of options in Cumberland, @MaryIsobel. We really like quirky little Village of Cumberland. Riders Pizza and their sister restaurant across the street, Cumberland Brewing. They share a garden right next next to Rider's, so you know your greens are fresh! Here's a photo I took recently of their garden. I just love it!

Atlas tends to be consistently good, but definitely busy at times. We used to like Mike's Off Main for Eggs Benny as much or more, but the ownership has changed, it's just called Off Main now and they are only open Thurs to Mon from 9am to 2pm, but even those hours don't seem to be consistent. If you need to check something else out for Eggs Benny, the Hen & Hog Cafe has become hugely popular so it can also be busy but the couple of times we went there, we were very pleased with our food. Just spoke to a friend in Qualicum and she says definitely go to Cuckoo in Coombs. She also recommends Qualicum Beach Cafe, which has new ownership (they have a sister restaurant in Gastown) and is getting very good reviews. She says another good choice is Black Bird Schnitzel Haus. Or for something a bit quirkier, the Final Approach at the airport is fun and good. If you happen to head over to Comox, BlackFin Pub is nice - decent food and lovely views of the harbour and marina (especially when the tide is in). They have a few new menu items which we haven't tried but I used to really like sampling from their Starters menu and my husband loved their Seafood Chowder. Couple of new places in Comox are Church St Taphouse (decent patio) and The Curry Cottage Tap & Grill. I really want to check out the latter, but wonder if they have their beer available yet. They are brand new and still trying to get fully staffed, bit of an odd little place. People often recommend Locals Restaurant at the Old House Hotel and their approach to food is really good, but we have been there a few times and had mixed feelings. When it was good, it was really quite good but when it wasn't that great, it seemed like a lot to pay for mediocre. Still, some people love it. Also, 40 Knots Winery is nice and they sell picnic items to go with their wine. It's a pretty spot and they used to have a pizza oven, not sure if they are still doing that. And Beaufort Wines is also a nice place for tasting and/or picnics. Finally, and I'm sure you don't need to be told this, but some of these places are struggling with staffing and regular hours and the current heat wave has caused some of them to reduce hours further or temporarily close, so good to check with places before you go! 🙂

Oh, you are old hands at this region! Ha, not sure I helped much, you could probably give me advice! 🙂 There's also FBI (Fanny Bay Inn). It's changed hands a couple of times recently but it's still adorable. Kingfisher Resort, if you want to venture a bit further north, is also good. I love Coombs also, but we try to go there on quieter days. Hard to come by those in the summertime though!

We haven't been eating out the way we used to, but we hear a lot about two places in particular in Qualicum. One is Q Burger, which was called one of the Top 5 burger places in Canada by Canadian Living and has been super busy since. Plan ahead if you want to try it out. We were going to go there a couple of times but ended up going somewhere quieter. https://viqburger.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral#menu The other is in Coombs, which is a short drive away. I love Coombs, it's a quirky little community but it's become a huge tourist draw (see the goats on the roof, the General Store, etc) and it can be busy in a very annoying way. However, one restaurant keeps getting really good reviews and that's Cuckoo Trattoria. And I admit to loving the goats. 🙂 https://cuckooincoombs.com/ To enjoy Qualicum Beach, you'll likely be driving along Hwy 19A and following the ocean route. There are a few places that have such lovely views/locations that they might be worth the risk of less than stellar food. For example, Shady Rest was getting a bit long in the tooth, but they have been doing some renos and it's a great location on the beach. We have eaten there half a dozen times and it was always ok, sometimes quite good but maybe not spectacular. Again, we haven't been there recently so it may be consistently better now, it gets good online reviews. https://shadyrest.ca/ There's also an adorable little spot right on the beach and I can't remember or find the name, but you'll notice it with it's umbrellas and location. We've had some decent fish and chips there. Maybe it's Shore Restaurant? https://www.eatatshore.com/ You can find various restaurants in town and at the golf courses, but at this time of year, I'd want to be on the ocean or going somewhere fun. Around Nanaimo, same thing. Lots of choices for good food, but if you want quirky, ocean experience then maybe consider something like Dinghy Dock Pub on Protection Island or a trip to Newcastle Island via short ferry rides. https://www.dinghydockpub.com/ https://newcastleisland.ca/saysutshun-concession Edited to add: Not sure if this is your style, but if you let me know more, I can ask friends who live in those communities.

Aw, sounds like a couple of fun places and looks delicious, also. Almost wish we had a road trip in mind, but not on the agenda right now. Hope you are having fun and let us know where else you end up dining! 🙂

Welcome! Podcasts look interesting, I'll have to check some out!

I love citrus also, and use it more and more. In AZ, it was so lovely to get it fresh off the trees, I do miss that. Now, back in Canada, I buy bags of organic lemons (sometimes limes) when they are on sale, zest them and juice them. Freeze the juice into cubes and also freeze the zest. I used to do that in AZ also, as you tend to get a lot of citrus all at once, ha. But here, we don't always see organic citrus for a good price. When I make my small batch jams, it's handy to be able to add a cube of lemon juice and a bit of zest for extra pectin and flavour. Yesterday was hot and I added a couple of lemon juice cubes to a glass of soda and vodka and it was lovely. Tell Ronnie he's on the right track. 🙂

Wow, you really accomplished a LOT! I feel like a sloth. Does your kitchen get hot with the canning/boiling and cooking? Looks so good though! I did manage to make a couple of small jars of apricot jam though, I guess that's something, right? 🙂

@Shelby, dill for pickling? How do you use your citrus?

Happens to all of us now and then! 🙂

For opening jars when my husband isn't around, I use a rubber band. Works very well for me, but may not work for everyone.

Yes, I do. 🙂

The recipe says about a pint of juice. Using a fruit juicer, juice the apples into a jug (you should get approximately a pint of juice) and stir through the lemon juice. Alternatively, if you’re short on time, you can use Pink Lady® apple juice.

I soak berries in vinegar and water also. It really does make a big difference in storage life. Edited to add: I do de-stem or hull them before the soak. Still works fine.