Falling Back on Island Time

[Deryn]

Canadians (at least eastern Canadians, can't vouch for those out west) love their Costco I have found. Parking lots are jammed at all times of the day in my experience, though I am sure on Thanksgiving weekend it was worse than normal. I too have gone elsewhere and paid more for less on occasion when I didn't have the patience to deal with the madding crowd. Haven't found the same when I go to the nearest one to me (Greenville SC) down here - where Costco shopping is often a peaceful experience (and quick checkout).

 

By the way, I am not Thai but I could eat Thai food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 days a week - and in Canso, I don't believe they have ever heard of Thailand, much less its foods. So I have been deprived for a while now - and I have to thank you, Kerry and Anna, for so many pictures of Thai food to salivate over. I read your 'ladies who lunch' thread avidly. And since I hit Asheville the other day, I have eaten nothing but Thai - though I doubt I will ever get it out of my system. Keep those Thai lunches coming though because I won't be down here for too long.

[Anna N]

Wow, did you get those cookbooks at the Thrift Stores? The two I can see (Pastry and Vegetable of the Day) are recent publications and have very good reviews. 

 

I like the look of that Ontario heirloom garlic. And the Apple Chips made me laugh, not sure why. 

 

How long does it take to get from Little Current to Sudbury?

Not at a thrift store but at HomeSense so not much more than thrift store pricing. The journey to Sudbury is about 1 1/2 hours.

[rotuts]

what's the title or better picture of the book w the Eiffel tower on the cover ?

 

fine trip it looks like it to me !

[Kerry Beal]

Just an empty lined notebook - my favourite of the 3 I bought was the 'Decomposition' notebook.

 

The one with the Eiffel tower on it will probably be my notebook for a trip to France.  

Edited October 12, 2014 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Darienne]

Does the area have an Indian food restaurant?  I make Indian food at home, but would love to eat it out again.  We have only two Indian restaurants in Peterpatch, owned by the same people and we haven't eaten there in years.

 

What about Chinese?  Our local Chinese food restaurants are all the same...all you can eat buffets and not very good.  Again we make it at home...Ed does the mises and I do the cooking...but I would love to eat out on occasion. 

 

My DH, JUST LIKE his late Father, would rather eat at home any day and says that our food is better than the restaurant food...which isn't true in the case of the Indian food. 

[Kerry Beal]

No Indian up here unless you include the Indian Tacos - that would be Ojibway.  

 

The local Chinese food joint is suspected of being a front for something illegal I seem to recall.  I've never seen anyone coming or going from there.  

 

One of the first years I was here I was on an Indian food kick - brought my masala dabba, that hubby had purchased for me for Christmas from Lee Valley, with me and made all kinds of Indian food.  Think if I look in the drawer I could probably find all the printed out recipes.  

 

Right now in the cupboard we have pretty much all the spices we could need to make just about anything.  

[huiray]

No Indian up here unless you include the Indian Tacos - that would be Ojibway.  

 

The local Chinese food joint is suspected of being a front for something illegal I seem to recall.  I've never seen anyone coming or going from there.  

 

One of the first years I was here I was on an Indian food kick - brought my masala dabba, that hubby had purchased for me for Christmas from Lee Valley, with me and made all kinds of Indian food.  Think if I look in the drawer I could probably find all the printed out recipes.  

 

Right now in the cupboard we have pretty much all the spices we could need to make just about anything.  

 

Including some asafoetida, I presume.  ;-)

[MelissaH]

Headed off to Sudbury fairly early this morning - my call overnight was not too onerous so I had the energy.

 

Stopped at the Nairn Center truck stop "Jeremy's" to grab a few of their potato pancakes for the road.

 

DSCN3438.jpg

Applesauce, sour cream, or both to go with those potato pancakes?

[Kerry Beal]

Including some asafoetida, I presume.  ;-)

Pretty sure it's in there!

 

Not absolutely certain about the black salt though.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kerry Beal]

Applesauce, sour cream, or both to go with those potato pancakes?

Both for me - sour cream for Anna. 

[Kerry Beal]

We had a lovely day for cider making - we were giving thanks for the sun and relative warmth compared to yesterday.  

 

 

 

 

Our hosts live just a bit down island from us - they have a hobby farm with goats, ducks, chickens and a lovely Weimaraner.  

 

 

This is the pumpkin he grew in his manure pile.  

 

This is the first time that he had used the new big press since he had purchased it.  You can see the older smaller press off to the left on the next picture.  We didn't use that one at all.

 

We had enough apples to fill the big one twice - and filled a 19 litre carboy of his and one 17 litre and two 10 litre bottles that I had brought.  

 

 

He's the original McGiver - he built this apple crusher out of a chunk of maple that he rounded in the lathe then screwed some stainless screws into.  Made short work of the apples - requiring unjamming about 3 times during the whole operation.  

 

 

 

Safety glasses were required wear - as apples and bits want to return to the light.  

 

 

 

The liquid gold started to drip out very quickly after pouring the first pot of ground apples in.  

 

 

So we'd put in a bunch of apples bits, press them down by hand, put some cherry boards on top with grooves in them to bring the flow of juice out to the sides where it can drip into the trough below and flow into the spout.  

 

 

 

More boards, more layers. 

 

 

 

Then you start adding the parts of the screw assembly.  

 

 

 

To every thing, turn, turn, turn...

 

 

 

Then you are left with this great big cake of pressed apple.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

It got taken off to the goat pen - hopefully there won't be colicy goats tonight.  

 

 

So only on Manitoulin can you invite yourself to a stranger's house to make use of their apple press, be provided with more apples than you brought and be fed lunch!  Chanterelle soup no less, made from chanterelles picked by our host.  Apparently he has a nose - he can tell when he is approaching them in the woods by the apricot smell they give off.  

 

Our host and another 'core' member (by the name of Applebaum) started an apple pie competition that ran for 25 years.  Can't really read the T-shirt but it's from one of the Pomological competitions.

 

 

Our very delicious chanterelle soup.  

 

 

The haul - SG was 1.044.  About 1 litre made it into the fridge. 

 

 

The remainder is now yeasted and ready to ferment.  

 

 

 

[Shelby]

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  Is it terribly hard to turn the press?  If one didn't have goats, are the apple "remnants" ever used for anything else? Could you cook some down for sauce or apple butter?

[FauxPas]

What a lovely way to spend the day! And the weather did look quite decent. What happens next with the cider? How long until a finished product? 

 

Really enjoyed reading this and thanks so much for all the photos! 

[Shelby]

Yeah, thanks for the pictures!!!  And, that house is so cute.  

[Anna N]

I have to just pop in and say this was truly a magical day. Our hosts were warm and welcoming, their place was like a little slice of Eden with beautiful views of the trees turning colour and the soup was delicious.

[FauxPas]

yes, would love to see more of that farmhouse! And I was hoping for a picture of the dog, after you mentioned him/her. 

 

Also meant to say that the soup sounds lovely. What a treat. Great neighbours! 

[Kerry Beal]

This is one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  Is it terribly hard to turn the press?  If one didn't have goats, are the apple "remnants" ever used for anything else? Could you cook some down for sauce or apple butter?

They are pretty dry.  I suppose you could add some sugar and water and use them to make something like grappa - but otherwise I'm not sure.

 

Oops - realize I forgot to answer the question about turning the press.  Easy at first - harder later - for two people much easier than for one alone.  Got a workout - will know I have biceps tomorrow.  

Edited October 12, 2014 by Kerry Beal (log)

[Kerry Beal]

What a lovely way to spend the day! And the weather did look quite decent. What happens next with the cider? How long until a finished product? 

 

Really enjoyed reading this and thanks so much for all the photos! 

Several weeks I suspect before it ferments dry.  Then to decide if it should be drunk as hard cider or processed further.

[Kerry Beal]

 

Autumn Snap - cider, bourbon, ginger brandy (or canton and brandy in this case), muddled candied ginger and angostura bitters.  

[FauxPas]

 

Autumn Snap - cider, bourbon, ginger brandy (or canton and brandy in this case), muddled candied ginger and angostura bitters.  

 

How apropos! 

[Smithy]

Beautiful day, beautiful descriptions! Thank you!

Before the cranking started, it looked like the apples were several inches higher than the rim of the press. How did you prevent them from spilling out the sides?

[rotuts]

after it completely ferments, consider one PureFizz trial.

[Kerry Beal]

Beautiful day, beautiful descriptions! Thank you!

Before the cranking started, it looked like the apples were several inches higher than the rim of the press. How did you prevent them from spilling out the sides?

Not sure - but they did seem to go down rather than out.  The boards were pretty close to the edge - in one picture you can see him using the claw side of the hammer to keep the board inside the staves. 

[Kerry Beal]

after it completely ferments, consider one PureFizz trial.

Excellent idea!

[Kerry Beal]

So, both of us looking at things we might want to bake - realized we don't have any apples in the house (with the exception of one Fuji left over from the Ivan Ramen ramen.  

 

So hiked out before it got dark and picked a few.