FauxPas

This started out as a fairly simple chana masala but I added a bit too much hot chili pepper so threw in a diced potato to help absorb some of the extra heat. So it became a chana aloo curry, I guess? 🙂 it was tasty with some cucumber and tomatoes on the side.

NY striploin (which needed trimming, but was quite thick and med-rare centre) along with steamed farm corn and sauteed mushrooms and a few tomatoes from our garden.

We eat quite a bit of salmon. We don't fish but we have friends and neighbours who do and they are very generous. Not the best photo because I took a piece that was a bit broken up. Green beans from my little garden. Yesterday I made my husband enchiladas but then I decided that I wanted something lighter so I had more green beans and tomatoes from the garden with some feta cheese and a simple balsamic vinegar dressing. This turned out to be a LOT more photogenic than enchiladas. 🙂

Picked hot peppers today. I grew these plants from seed so I am an especially proud mama. 🙂

Also here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_Star_(TV_series) Filmed in High River, Alberta though it seems to be a British production. It's available on Amazon Prime in Canada (not sure about US).

In Tucson I believe they were called bolillos when shaped as an elongated bun but were called teleras when they were shaped in a round (with grooves) for tortas, but I think the dough was basically the same most of the time. https://mysliceofmexico.ca/2020/04/02/homemade-buns-bolillos-and-teleras/ Rick Bayless adds a bit of sugar to his teleras recipe, none to his bolillas so some people will argue the dough is not necessarily the same. https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/teleras/ https://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/bolillos/

I think this should read "I'm efficient like that lol." 😄😄😄

The sauce can be made in advance, that's what I did. I didn't process it, I just pressed it through a strainer and refrigerated it. (It could possibly be frozen.) Then I reheated it later while I was cooking the salmon and only added the butter at that point. We had amazing wild blackberries this year, the right combo of Spring rain followed by summer warmth.This sauce was so luscious, capturing all that sweet/tart/richness. But it's really a quick sauce to make. I was just lucky when the recipe showed up. I happened to have a fresh lemon, some frozen ginger, an open bottle of red wine and those amazing berries.

I'm completely out of the habit of taking photos but every now and then I think I should. Last night's dinner was one, not because it was complex but because it was simple but SO good. My stepdaughter and her boyfriend were burned out in the wildfire a month ago in Jasper Alberta and have been staying with us here. They are going to stay here long term now and have just arranged for an apartment to rent. While here, they have been picking blackberries because we all love them. Now I have lots in the freezer but also still had some fresh ones to finish off and some wild sockeye salmon filets. So this recipe for Salmon with Blackberry-Wine Sauce jumped out at me. Loved this sauce although I should have reduced it a bit more, it wasn't quite thick enough. But the blackberry and ginger and lemon and wine was all so good together in that sauce. Definitely doing this one again, can use some of those frozen berries. My little garden's bush beans are done but I still have some pole beans so steamed some of those and added a wild rice blend as well. This is the Saveur photo that accompanied the recipe. This is the rice blend I used. It's new to me, but we all liked it.

The largest of our local farmstands is operated by the Sieffert family. They grow several varieties of corn each year to extend the harvest times. I think Bolt was one of the earliest and not sure what they have today but here is one of their mid-season ones: 🙂

I did a search and found this recipe, but does it look like the right thing? https://sunflower-recipes.blogspot.com/2011/02/chan-pei-mui-chinese-fruit-candy.html

I've probably seen posts where you use them, but if so I have forgotten. 🙂 Just wondering how you like to use your beet greens - cooked, raw in salads or maybe both? Do you have fave recipes or anything? I'm not sure I make the best use of mine - I use the younger ones in salads and some of the older ones in soups maybe, but I'm not very creative with them.

Isn't yum cha the common term in Hong Kong? https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190227-the-yum-cha-rules-you-need-to-know

Corn and tomatoes, two of my very favourite things! Is that Nirvana corn? Do you grow more than one variety?

Any other southpaws here? 🙂 From Facebook, Left Hander's Club

For @Shelby, from Facebook Happy Gardens group

Don't you get any of the new-potato varieties there before then, @Smithy? We are an in-between climate season here (I think) but we get the new Warba potatoes in late May or so. And others later in the summer. What type of potatoes do you grow @Shelby?

I laughed a lot over this! 🙂

My tiny little garden is doing ok. Getting a good handful of cherry tomatoes most days and the larger ones are getting there. Picked a few hot peppers and a surprising number of sweet peppers. Snap peas have slowed right down, partly due to some hot weather but the beans should be producing later this month maybe? I planted the beans late because the soil was wet and cold for much of June. I also have a few cantaloupe, watermelon and winter squash plants - they were also planted late because the original ones were planted too soon and succumbed to wind and cold. it's mostly a deck and container garden, so it's more for fun than quantity but we do enjoy whatever we get to eat!

I like Smitten Kitchen's Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake aka Pizza Beans. 🙂 She used RG Royal Corona beans also. https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/09/pizza-beans-cookbook-preview/

From the bits of information I saw, it certainly sounded like it was just the one neighbour. But sounds like he's been able to make things pretty awkward for the restaurant owner. Too bad, the restaurant does sound like it's well supported otherwise. It looks like such an interesting place to eat.

That might be pricey for them. I looked them up just for interest and found this on their Facebook page: Sal's Place We’ll be opening in Provincetown towards the end of June, unfortunately we basically get fined every day we’re open due to the ongoing nine years of litigation with our neighbour, so we’re doing the best we can to be open and limit our financial exposure. Some background: https://provincetownindependent.org/news/2022/11/02/owner-of-sals-fined-for-contempt/

It was often quite cool this Spring here on Vancouver Island so some things are delayed. Snap peas have been enjoying that weather though and there are still quite a few there for picking. They have become rather expensive to buy at the farm markets so I am happy to grow some from seed. My husband isn't a big fan though he's ok if I add them to salads or stir fries. That leaves more for me to munch but I love them so much, I should have started more. I only have a tiny area for gardening though - a few raised beds and some pots. I started hot peppers and tomatoes from seed also. My hot pepper plants have flowers but not much fruit yet. I have quite a few green tomatoes but have only been able to pick a few riper ones so far. I'm glad I started mostly cherry tomatoes - Red Robin (determinate and suitable for containers) and Sweet Million. Also some Mountain Magic which are larger but not full-sized. But then I have these crazy sweet mini pepper plants that my husband bought at the nursery and they are covered with ripe fruit! You can only see the red ones in this photo but there are also orange and yellow ones. Fun and nice to add to salads. I started a few winter squash and melons but some didn't make it through a big storm and the cold weather so .... compost. Sniff. I might still try to get some going this weekend.

I think it was this one? Was it really that bad?

No, you are correct! But Trader Joe's (proper) helped to shut them down. Not entirely sure why, since it was basically homage to TJ's. They bought products from TJ stores in the US and brought them legally across the border and sold them for a bit of a mark-up. People in Vancouver didn't mind paying a bit more because they wanted the products, but I guess TJ's wanted to maintain control over anyone selling their products. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/david-vs-goliath-pirate-joe-s-shuts-down-following-legal-battle-with-trader-joe-s-1.4152270#:~:text=Pirate Joe's%2C the Vancouver-based,described as a "David vs.