FauxPas

Oh, I thought it was similar to the one on NY times (that did credit Marian Burros), but didn't realize the one was basically the same as the other. 🙂

A somewhat unglamorous cake, but a tasty one. It's the Late Summer Berry Torte recipe from King Arthur that @Kerry Beal makes now and then. I had some plums to use up, so I put them in and skipped the berries. And the only candles I could find were these huge ones, so opted not to put one in the cake itself. 😃

They have good bulk prices on some produce and I believe they are mostly organic as well, but I don't know if they are certified organic. But this is the place to come or to order online for bulk tomatoes or cabbage or pickling cukes. And they have so many varieties of corn, so much fun to try the different ones through the growing season. So far, it's been Kickstart, Anthem, Fastlane and probably some others that I missed. Some bags of pickling cukes in the top left, dill in the front. Their field cukes are usually a good deal, but they have large English cukes and Persian cukes as well. They always have a variety of tomatoes, since they have some greenhouses. I love their ceiling lights, the watering cans are a nice touch!

Our biggest standalone farmstand by volume is certainly Sieffert's. They grow a lot, enough to supply several local grocery stores with a variety of their produce. And I love that the local groceries, even large chain ones like Sobey's, still contract with Sieffert's and other local farms to make sure they get fresh, local produce. This is one busy farmstand and they are always bringing stuff in throughout the day. I tried to find a quieter time to take pictures, which is later in the day so they did sell out of some of their fruit and veggies. They always have a variety of old farm equipment in the parking area, filled with various flowering plants. One of the fields adjacent to the farmstand is filling up with sunflowers and pumpkins!

I really love it that you still have a sense of adventure! 🙂

One place we go to regularly during the summer is a farm called Berry Best. They grow a variety of things themselves but also bring in some fruit from the Okanagan (peaches, plums, apricots, cherries) - all organic. You may pay a bit extra for their fruit but it's really delicious and very carefully picked. For example, the strawberries are handled minimally as the fruit is usually snipped off by the stem. So Jane's berries are gorgeous, and also amazingly full-flavoured. She grows 3 different varieties of blueberries that vary in terms of tart vs sweet, and you can pick the variety you like so buy one type for pies, another for eating fresh. Her raspberries are amazing, also picked each morning fresh. She doesn't open until 10 or 11, to allow time for picking and packing as she does supply some local stores and other businesses. If you are looking for jam berries, she will usually have some less than perfect fruit for a reduced price. Once we had Jane's berries, we were reluctant to go anywhere else. And even though we can get a better deal on stone fruit at the supermarket or some other stores, we know hers are coming from small organic farms that care about quality and are carefully transported. The first peaches we had this year were from her, they were some of the best peaches we had ever had. My husband ate his over the sink. I cut mine into slices and savoured every last little bite. I made a peach cobbler but it almost seemed wrong to cook them. I realize that my crappy photos are because I'm really a bit shy of taking photos in stores/businesses. And this is a small farmstand/store. But keep in mind that we are a small community and my pictures were taken toward the end of the day when a lot had already been sold.

I hadn't seen these before and was going to throw some in the cart when I noticed they were $3.69 per bag. And not exactly a huge bag either. 🙂 Still, I'd like to try them. They only had a few bags left on that shelf, does that mean they are really popular? Ingredients included "spices, sugar, onion powder, mango powder, garlic powder, tomato powder and paprika extract".

Does your granddaughter use it much? I think you said she was quite keen on one. If so, what types of things does she make?

Oh, I think you have a way(s) to go yet, Grasshopper. 🙂

Got a few pickling cukes, made a few pickles. Nothing too crazy. 🙂

I'm somewhat embarrassed at how bad these photos are and how poorly they represent the variety of vendors at this local market. It really is a nice and diverse market, super popular and fun to wander around when I have the time. I was in a hurry yesterday so only snapped a few quick pics. I picked up some pickling cukes, strawberries, onions, peas. And then some of the cukes became pickles.

Not boring! Actually, quite beautiful! 🙂 I made a tiny little bit of lower-sugar apricot jam recently, just a simple recipe of fruit, sugar, lemon zest, tiny bit of Grand Marnier. It's the one thing I absolutely have to make each year. Yesterday was blackberry-raspberry jam and today was Sun Relish. Sun Relish is a recipe from The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving (eG-friendly Amazon.com link). It includes equal amounts of peaches and yellow bell peppers along with lemon, some hot peppers, sugar, white wine vinegar, lemon, salt. I made it a few years ago and gave some away and got some great feedback on it. It's tasty and pretty! This time I used habanero peppers but used them very sparingly. 😀 Blackberry-raspberry jam and Sun Relish

My background is Scandinavian and I was at University of Oslo for a bit. I remember summer potato salads, often very simple. Maybe like this one with just potatoes, sour cream, mayo, and a LOT of dill. I think the recipe I linked may be heavy on the dressing though, as I seem to recall most being lightly dressed. My problem was with all the dill, I find dill a bit overpowering sometimes. A family member made something similar but with lots of radishes in it. Looking online, I see variations with a bit of vinegar or lemon juice, celery, red onion, or even sliced pickles, like this one from Outside Oslo.

Oh no, we've lost another good one! I'll miss her cheerfulness, her empathy, her friendly tone and humour. Just took a quick look at posts about flying kites and a funny story about her husband driving her to work through Topanga Canyon while she was pregnant and eating crackers to ward off nausea. Loved all the little details of her life that she shared, one of those warm folks who make you feel that you know them even when you've only read a few online posts!

Some controversy over his behaviour at his former restaurant and his win. Here's one link, more if you wanted to search for it. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/top-chef-gabe-erales-apology-firing-harassment-1234987992/

Mashed potatoes can be frozen, just think of all the Hungry Man Dinners out there in Freezerland, ha. (Didn't/don't they have mashed potatoes in them?) 😀 You could make up something like some Shepherd's Pies (with venison?) with mashed potatoes on top and then have an easy meal to cook later on, if you have enough room in your freezer(s). I've frozen Cottage Pie before, but I can't remember if I browned the potato topping before freezing or not. I think either way will work, but you might want to allow it to thaw a bit before heating. Here's an example of one not browned in advance, but thawed before final cook. https://food.unl.edu/shepherds-pie-including-directions-freezing

Well, it is Canadian dollars, so there's that, ha. But actually, that's the one complaint I have about them, their prices tend to be too high on several things. It's not always the case, their usual farmstand offerings are sometimes pretty reasonable. And they have deals at the farmers' markets as well.

Forgot to mention that in the back of this photo is what I think is part of the copper still that the farm uses for lavender distillation. As they say: Stop by and view the art of lavender distillation. Our copper still is set up and running every day during our Lavender Open Farm Days. Today we are distilling our most fragrant Lavandula angustifolia English lavender. We use steam distillation to extract the essential oils from the lavender flower buds. Steam causes the plants oil glands to erupt and the oil evaporates into the steam. At this point, the steam is routed through copper tubing on its way to the condenser where cold water running through the coils cools the steam, which condenses it back to a high-grade liquid of oil and hydrosol. Passing steam through copper tubing helps to achieve sweet, higher quality lavender oils and hydrosols. The best time to view the process is in the afternoon, when the lavender water is flowing. We have been distilling lavender for well over a decade so we’re getting pretty good at it. We’re also most happy to explain the process to anyone who is interested. Just ask for Mike or Shannon (me) when you are here. Our lavender essential oils and hydrosols are available for sale in the Barn Shop. https://www.shamrockfarm.ca/

It's Lavender Harvest time at Shamrock Farm! They do have some culinary lavender (dutifully included in one photo below) and they are harvesting lots of veggies and flowers. A quick visit this week. Still quite a bit left in the field, despite all that they have already harvested. The barn contains lavender, lavender products, a flower bar to make your own bouquets, lots of garlic and various veggies. Lavender hanging from the rafters! The sign is from their Spring plant sale, also a very popular event, especially their heirloom tomato and pepper varieties. Lavender buds, French or English. Lots of garlic curing. Various flowers. They had some amazing sweet peas. Culinary lavender and various lavender products. Those cherry tomatoes look out of place, that's because I was reorganizing my basket and set them down for a minute! The lavender wall. Some of the veggies they sell. I didn't photograph the tomatoes or the various greens at the right end.

It's an early season white potato, I think Yukon Gold is mid-season, though the baby ones may be harvested earlier? The Warbas are harvested initially without a skin. I think they are firmer-fleshed than the Yukons and they have an earthier and maybe slighter sweeter flavour than Yukons. They are very popular in SW British Columbia. We have a few farms growing them here and they usually start harvesting the Warbas as early as May, after planting in March, so they are quite early. They need to be stored in the fridge because of the lack of skin and moisture content. They continue to harvest them for a few months, though the characteristics change somewhat. Later in season, they develop more of a skin and the flavour may not be quite so pronounced. I am sure they could easily be grown in Washington state, but I don't know if they actually are grown there. They may be marketed under a generic description like Nugget or New Nugget. They are identified by their pink eyes, lack of skin in the early season and crisp, white flesh. They are apparently an heirloom variety from the 1920's. My favourite potato for salads but also lovely just steamed and then tossed with butter. https://www.potatopro.com/news/2016/harvest-warba-potatoes-british-columbia-signifies-beginning-summer

I made this recipe once for my husband, who likes cocktail onions in his vodka martinis. I used some as a side dish also. I liked them, but I can't remember if I adjusted the sugar amount. I used white vinegar and did add a hot pepper. I made a half batch or less, didn't bother with the water-bath canning and just stored them in the fridge. I don't know if you want to futz around with pearl onions, though, they can be a pain. Not sure if you would want to use this for sliced onions? https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/pickled-onions.htm?Lang=EN-US

Warm potato salad with Warba potatoes, green beans, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, sweet onion and a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A few basil leaves. There are more potatoes there than it appears, they seemed to hide at the bottom for the photo. 🙂

And my favourite warm potato salad is potatoes with green beans, served warm and quickly mixed with sweet onion, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese and a bit of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Maybe a bit of fresh basil. Plan to make this one tomorrow, will try to share a photo.

My everyday potato salad is pretty simple. I love the Spring/early summer Warba potatoes because they have a firm flesh and a fresh earthy taste. They are harvested very early almost without a skin and aren't cured at all, so they have to be kept refrigerated. I like potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and a generous amount of celery. I let the potatoes cool a bit, then toss them with a few splashes of sweet pickle juice. Add the diced celery and eggs and then a bit of mustard and lots of (Haters can pile on here, ha) Miracle Whip. I have a friend who uses mayo but adds sugar and I suggested she could make her life easier by just using MW instead. 😃 😈 Sometimes I add some diced sweet onion or a bit of green onion and maybe top it with a bit of paprika. Chopped pickles (sweet or dill) don't really appeal to me, but I've tried adding them once or twice. I just made this batch, somehow the photo makes it look gloppier than it really is. 🙂

I have made a potato and beet salad a few times. In this one, I used Warba potatoes, roasted (not pickled) beets, feta cheese, young beet greens and the vinaigrette dressing in the recipe linked to below. My version was adapted from one at Seasonal Ontario Food, which in turn got the idea from the potato salad description at The Old Foodie, from a Cambridge, MA article written in 1842.