My problem with the diets is that if you don’t live in a southern state or on a coast, you’re shit-out-of-luck for almost half the year. With the exception of root vegetables, nothing available in the local stores is local.  One can only survive on carrots, onions and potato for so long (even if you add parsnips and turnips, it’s still a tough row to hoe).

So dealing with winter is problem number 1.  Number 2 is that there are so many things that don’t even grow in a lot of the populated areas no matter what time of year it is. Off of the top of my head, here are some things that we’d have to give up because they don’t grow in the upper-center of the continent:

• coffee
• cocoa & chocolate
• pineapple
• citrus
• olives
• olive oil
• mango
• artichokes
• banana
• coconut and coconut milk

That’s just the start of it.

I get it.  It’s better for local farmers.  It uses less energy. Etc.  The strawberries and grape tomatoes in the grocery stores right now aren’t the best you’ll have all year (though, I have to tell you I had a mini-watermelon last week that was better than any watermelon I had all summer/fall last year) — but you know what?  I know that, and I accept what I’m buying during the winter for what it is.  It’s variety.  It’s keeping things interesting.  And quite honestly, there isn’t a dicernable difference between the grape tomatoes I buy in August and the ones I buy in February. (I’m not going to compare them to the ones I can grow myself which I know have real flavour — but I don’t grow them, so these will do).

I’m going to go cut up that pineapple on the counter and make it into fruit salad with some bananas and mango.  Maybe I’ll make some coconut curry soup and think about how life would be better if I followed a 100 mile diet.  Or maybe I’ll just enjoy it for what it is.

I’m busy baking and cooking for the holiday — nothing outrageous, just the regular, traditional stuff that I do most years. Hope everything is going well for everybody as you do the same.  Have a great Pesach.

Chag sameach,

noshthoughts

What are you doing for Chanukah?  latkes? donuts? fried chicken?

At the end of the day, the little blog that you’re playing with is, unfortunately, the last thing that gets your attention.  There’s always something more important that needs taking care of.  A) It doesn’t pay the bills.  B) You don’t really know if people are reading it.  Next thing you know, 9 months have gone by since you last posted.

The one thing I have to remember is that it was fun working on.  And lovely to get feedback.  So as this new year approaches, I’m going to try to get back into things.  Of course, the New Year starts with a bang.  Lots to do.  So I shan’t promise things that I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep, but I will do my best to post more.  I’m always happy to hear from you — so please post.

May this New Year bring you lots of happiness and good health.  Shana Tova!

If you’ve been keeping up, you know that I posted about Winnipeg’s status back in July.  We ‘Peggers have a weird sense of pride related to this title.  I’m not sure if people in other places will be interested in the documentary, but you can be darned sure the locals will.

I haven’t had a slurpee in a couple of months… I think I’ll pick one up tomorrow.  It’s a perfect day for it – the high is supposed to be -4 C.  Just cool enough to enjoy a frosty beverage.

 Remember people – this week is about the oil.  Use copious amounts.  Chag sameach.

I looked around the freezer to see what I had (slim pickings) and found about 1 1/2 lbs. of ‘stewing beef’.  I believe it’s mostly shoulder, cut into 1″ (or so) cubes.  Some onions and mushrooms would cover the veg.  And… what?  Nothing too complicated. 

So I browned the meat in some olive oil and added some chopped onions and let them wilt, and just start to brown.  Then added some fresh (well, frozen) chopped garlic, and then a small can of tomato paste.  After a minute or two of ‘cooking’ the paste, I added some water, salt, dry oregano and a pinch of red pepper flakes.  A few cubes of frozen basil went in, covered and let it simmer very gently for about 2 hours.  Added some sliced mushrooms and cooked another hour or so.

 Finished it off with some more cubes of frozen basil, a pinch of brown sugar (just a tiny pinch!) and served it over rice.  It was delicious, easy and hit to spot.  Will do this again… might have to think of some variations though.

 Sorry I’ve been a bad poster!

For those of you unaware of Winnipeg’s connection to bears, I’ll give you a couple of the facts. 

• Winnie the Pooh, was in fact, named after Winnipeg – home to the Assiniboine Park Zoo (and to a cute little statue)
• Winnipeg is the capitol of Manitoba, the province in which Churchill is located.  Churchill is the ‘polar capitol of the world’.

Hmm.. that’s about it.

The thing that caught my attention when I heard about Debbie’s birthday was the cake they had prepared for her.  It was going to be a mixture of shrimp, snow, and smoked Goldeye, among other things.  I thought the smoked fish was a little much – I mean, Debbie would probably be fine with raw fish.  I guess it’s a special day, so let her eat smoked fish! 

Happy birthday Debbie – and to many more.

PS: The weather  cooperated for Debbie as well.  It was a balmy -22 C today. Brrr.

I have tried a couple of recipes out of Dorie Greenspan’s new cookbook – well, baking book – Baking: from my home to yours. First let me say that I love her writing style.  The book is written in a casual way, but the recipes still mean business.  She gives options, shares stories and offers a wide array of delicious baking recipes to the reader.  I’ve tried a muffin recipe and simple chocolate chip cookies.  You can tell a lot by a person’s chocolate chip cookies.  From this recipe I can tell that I’m going to like many, many more of Dorie’s recipes.  Get this book and bake!

I have been remiss in reporting on Michael Ruhlman’s book, The Reach of a Chef.  I finished reading it weeks ago – and had every intention on posting my thoughts but never did.  Having the memory of a gnat, all the pithy comments I wanted to share with you are lost forever.  I can tell you that I loved it. This time Ruhlman takes us into the world of the ‘celebrity chef’ – on many levels.  For anybody interested in the characters involved  with FoodTV or at the head of some of the US’s top restaurants will enjoy this book.  Get this book and read!

And last but not least, I’ve just finished Ruth Riechl’s Tender at the Bone. If you don’t know, Reichl is the editor-in-chief of Gourmet Magazine. She has also spent years as a restaurant critic for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.  This book is the first in a trilogy of memoirs.  In it we learn that as a child her mother’s cooking was so … scary, that she often worried that dinner guests would be poisoned.  She had to find her own way to food and cooking, and find it she did!  Though things seem to skip about a little too quickly for me,  I enjoyed the insight she shares with us – enough to want to read the next installment to see what happened next.

Buy books.  They’re good.