sad

Samson. Archie the Wonder Dog. Sam the Mighty Hunter.

Our pretty boy dog, whose goofiness and occasional idiocy have been cause for laughs but who has been such a good dog, has cancer. An aggressive form that has, quietly and insidiously, grown on his spleen. We had no idea until he couldn't walk this evening and we made an emergency trip to the vet. Spleen hemangiosarcoma.


It's in constant danger of rupturing and causing him a slow, painful demise by internal bleeding. A canine time bomb of sorts, something we don't want him to go through. And so tomorrow, if our family vet confirms the diagnosis, we say goodbye to Sammy.

Tonight, we sat with him and shed some tears together. There will be more to come.

food, meet writing

I've been pondering a phrase I came up with a few years back. On trying to think just when, it was in our old house, so that puts is back at least 8 years. I'm not sure I was the first to come up with it, but it was new to me and summed up perfectly that certain 'aaaahh' I get as a reader when words are put together in just such a way that it rolls off the tongue, flits happily around your mind, nestles snugly into your thoughts.

A Delicious Phrase. If a reader could taste the words, it would make them sit back and savour.

In my (recently limited, I admit) writing of prose and (mostly) lyrics, I wriggle with glee when I find them. But as I've been pondering them today - mowing the 3 acres of lawn gives one much time for thought - I realized that those delicious phrases reflect different types of food - the fast 'wow!' and the slow 'aaahhh'.

Here's what I mean.

Sometimes when cooking you toss the ingredients together. They're the perfect ones, the just-right mix of flavour and texture, and immediately you taste it and - pow! there it is. Like strawberries steeped in sugar and splashed with baslamic vinegar. Yes, really. It will make you think of strawberries a whole new way, and you will apologize to them for not having given them enough credit. Some of the words come all in a giddy rush and jumble, clamouring to be let loose and - pow! there's the expression, the turn of words, the wow moment.

But sometimes it all stews. Flavours mingle and marry, and what you first put in the pot to cook oh-so-slowly takes on a new identity. Like the cassoulet I made a few months back. It was started days before so the duck could get to know the rosemary and fat, the beans could sit and talk to the onion and garlic, and the whole could come together and quietly sit, sharing themselves until - aaaahhh! The top was lifted off the roasting pot and there! There! A spoon in the mouth, and you sat and pondered the taste you were experiencing. There are phrases that come like that, too - adding a bit of this and a bit of that, sitting and reading and rereading, changing and editing. And finally, one day you realize it's done. And the timely bits you added in make it wonderful. Where it was a week ago, a month ago, just wasn't right, but it needed time to stew and mature to where it was ready.

And with that deep thought, I have made myself hungry and shall go eat. Or write. I'm not sure.

possibilities

As we sit here in the annoying limbo that is spring coming, almost but not quite, the snow gone and the sun warm but the wind still chilly, I find myself again pondering the question: what to do with this place?

While the cows have returned each year, I am aware that at the farmer's age and the fact that his kids have no interest in farming, this source of use and income will not be a forever thing. And while having a tenant farmer assures that our land is zoned agricultural and gives us the property tax benefits of that, we'd need another source of income to keep that zoning.

So today I sit here reading governmental documents that I'm sure were written by some sadistic person bent on making my brain hurt with the clauses, acronyms, and reference to other documents. Every page I read has me looking up other documents so that it's an exponential opening of pages on my browser. It's like the Star Trek episode with the tribbles. They just keep multiplying (and at this point I must earn some sort of award for combining a farm blog post with a geek reference, right?).

So today, the wind too cold and the garden too wet to do anything there, I am researching possibilities for taking the farm knowledge we do have and finding a way to use it here.

But there are interesting ideas brewing. Very interesting.

I just need to figure out those documents and see if we could actually do it.

planning and scheming

Spring is here. I know because the flies have been emerging from the windows, buzzing around in their dopey hey-I-slept-in-a-window-frame-and-just-woke-up manner. I know because I can hear the waterfall from the house. I know because the crocuses, and now the daffodils, have dared to poke their heads up and start blooming. I know because the grass has green shoots peeping out. I know because the sump pump runs on a regular basis, removing the melt water from our cellar. I know because the chickens no longer stay in their coop, but wander over to the house - though we seem to have lost two yesterday, thanks to a fox or something.

I know because we had the conversation.

"What do we want to do on the farm this year?"

Oh. So, so much to do. But we prioritized.

1.the garden boxes repaired and the whole garden back to full production on the veggie front. We don't need to enlarge it, as it is large and can put out all the produce we need for a summer and even some to freeze for winter. The herb box alone makes me smile. I love fresh herbs.
2. some sort of fence around said veggie garden, so the chickens can't wander through at will and demolish the lettuce I'm trying to grow (see #1 on full production). They also love fresh veggies and just look at me when I scold them for decimating the new greens.
3. continued cleanup of underbrush along the laneway (a never-ending job if ever there was one).
4. grading the footprint of a barn torn down a couple of years ago, making it mower-safe.
5. two batches of meat birds, the first one coming in a week or so.
6. I might raise some ducks for meat this year along with batch #2 of chickens.
7. host a few dinner/pool parties (gotta have some fun plans along with the work ones, after all!).
8. plant some honeysuckle around the house. I fell in love with the smell of it at Disney World and want some here, too.

And today? Nothing so ambitious. School projects, housecleaning, and some laundry on the line. That smell alone is enough to convince me it's spring.

daring cooks, april

This month brought a fun new challenge - edible containers. This was a fun challenge, as it was a little more about taking flavours I knew and combining them into a bowl that could be eaten, rather than trying entirely new cuisine. I have loved the journeys through Peru, Japan, and France these past months, but this month's was enjoyable in its own way.

Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com! 

I did two variations, both appetizer-type things that were enjoyed by the tasting panel (my family, my sister, and brother-in-law). First was a polenta cup with a Caprese-type salad. I love polenta, it's a summer favourite when I grill squares of it on the BBQ. I made a batch with onion and herbs, then shaped it into cups in oiled muffin cups (a sticky effort, so took some time) then chilled until it set. The cups were filled with a mix of grape tomato, boccancini, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and prosciutto. Nice and fresh, and had me itching for summer when my garden will be full of fresh herbs. Yummm...

The second version was made from cups of overlapped oiled wonton wrappers that I baked until they were crispy and golden. These were filled with some noodles that I'd coated with a sauce made with peanut butter, soy sauce, Thai chili paste, minced hot chilies, and oyster sauce for an Asian version. These were the favourite with most of the taste panel.

Another fun month in the kitchen! Thanks to a family holiday, my time to experiment was shortened this month, but it definitely got me thinking of new ways to serve goodies.