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Saucy tomatoes

The night before the big run I started to feel sick. Later I got a fever, I couldn’t breath, I coughed a lot and at one or two points I was pretty sure I was going to die. Here we are 24 days later and I’m pretty much on the mend. I still have the occasional coughing fit and I’m just not the runner that I used to be, but I’m getting there and I have a renewed fondness for comfort food.

For me, pasta is about as good as it gets when I’m thinking about comfort food. Growing up, Sunday evenings were always pasta night and we almost always had spaghetti with tomato sauce and green peas. We would dish up in the kitchen and then converge around the TV to watch Walt Disney and The Littlest HoBo. Sometimes we would diverge from tradition a smiggen and make a carbonara style spaghetti but that was about it. One thing was certain, it wasn’t Sunday if there wasn’t pasta.

Over the years my recipes have diversified a little but a simple tomato sauce has always held a special spot in my heart. A few years back while perusing Smitten Kitchen I stumbled upon this recipe. When I realized that the sauce only consisted of three ingredients, canned tomatoes, onion and butter and all three of those ingredients were currently housed in my kitchen, I changed dinner plans just to make it. To be honest with you I think I may have had it two or three times in the last month alone. What can I say, I have been sick.


Tomato Sauce with Butter and Onions
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen | Serves 4 as a main course; (unless you have a sauce junkie in your house)

28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes from a can
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium-sized yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt & pepper to taste

Combine canned tomatoes, onion halves and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the sauce has reached a simmer reduce heat and maintain a slow simmer for 45 minutes, or until the fat begins to separate and float to the surface. I stir my sauce minimally as it is easier to see when the fat is begining to separate. Remove the sauce from heat, using a potato masher (this is the quickest method I have found) break tomatoes up to desired texture. I usually leave mine a little lumpy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Return sauce to low heat while you prepare your pasta.

Serve over spaghetti with a salad of course.

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The Artichoke Experiment

Artichokes are pretty plentiful right now and that is a good thing because I love them. My wish has been to have a plant of my own and this spring I almost committed to devoting a big section of garden to give it a try. But alas, the variety of everything else that I could likely grow in that space won out and artichokes will have to wait for another, more spacious, garden. And in the meantime the grocery store keeps me well stocked and I’m buying and eating them up! Steamed, braised or baked, artichokes are a happy addition to our meals.

One thing I can’t seem to find around here are the baby artichokes. Stop by a fresh market in any big city and you’ll likely find the baby artichokes sitting shoulder to shoulder with the fiddlehead ferns and the fava beans. And honestly, it wasn’t so hard to deal with their absence as I had little idea what to do with them until I stumbled onto a recipe in the May issue of Food and Wine.

It wouldn’t be completely true to tell you I journeyed across the mountains for these artichokes. But since I did make a trek to do a half marathon with my sister, it was pretty convenient to find myself some artichokes along the way. And the rest is history.

And while the prepared artichoke hearts you can purchase just about everywhere are one thing, perfect for cheesy dips and bakes, these are totally another matter. First, they taste different. And there are no tough leaves like I always run into when I get the prepared ones. They are, however, a tad time-consuming.

There is nothing difficult about them – it actually makes pleasant work for a quiet hour in the kitchen. But peeling and prepping a bag of baby artichokes down to a small dish of deliciousness is a bit of a labor of love. What this recipe has going for it is flavor. Artichoke hearts seem to sing in this preparation. And make sure to let them – don’t hide these little gems in a salad or mixed into anything else. They are a perfect little appetizer garnished just as they’ve been marinated.

Baby Artichoke Hearts with Dill and Ginger

Adapted from the Food and Wine recipe, May 2012

(Sorry, I couldn’t find the link)

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20 baby artichokes

1/2 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tablespoons capers

2 tablespoons dill, chopped

1 tablespoon finely grated ginger

Heat a medium saucepan of water and season generously with salt.

Fill a large bowl with water and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the bowl. Add the lemon half to the bowl. One at a time, cut off the base of the artichoke and remove the dark outer leaves and any dark spots. Don’t worry about wasting a few extra leaves at this point, the closer to the heart, the more tender the leaves. Cut off the top third of the artichoke to remove any thorns using a serrated knife. Rub the top and bottom of the artichoke with the lemon half and add it to the bowl. Continue with the rest of the artichokes.

Once the water in the prepared saucepan has boiled, drain the artichokes in the bowl and add them to the pot. Turn down the heat and let the artichokes simmer, covered, for about 15 minutes until they are tender. Drain the artichokes from the pot and pat dry.

To prepare the marinade, combine the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, capers, dill and ginger in a shallow serving dish. Add the artichokes and toss to coat in the mixture. Cover the dish and refrigerate. Allow the artichokes to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before serving.

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Sunny days


Coming off of basically two weeks of delightful weather, today was a little lack luster to say the least. So instead of dwelling on the present let’s focus on the past! The preceding sunny days have been a welcome introduction to summer, filled with evening walks, bike rides, fresh spring greens and summery drinks. These sort of days are meant to be taken advantage of.
Virtually every evening included a walk home over the bridge in the evening sun and a quick stop by the store for a few fresh dinner supplies.

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Last years parsley plant, which has gone to seed, proved useful in casting beautiful shadows and a few spring greens made some of the best dinners.
And as always Stanley Park didn’t fail to impress. If these last few weeks have been any indication of the months to come I must say that I really can’t wait for summer. I can only hope that the little rituals of sunday walks, bike rides and evening treks over the bridge and to the beach will become summer time habits.

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Kale salad

Since I hear kale is trending, I didn’t want to miss out here on TheAlbrecht! To me, kale seems like a hardy green that requires a little extra care and cooking. So it is perfect for fall and winter when I want to eat cozy food. I love to sauté it, stir it into soups and add it into any number of pasta dishes.  However, since I think spring might officially be here, and kale is giving way to everything else that is fresh and tender, I thought I’d better share this recipe before it was too late.  It’s a salad, which might be even more trendy than any other kale preparation and might just fit the bill for spring.

But before I jump to the salad, I should tell you a little bit about our weekend. Around these parts, the second weekend of May is pretty special. Weather permitting, dozens of hot air balloons launch early in the morning. This year we got to see the balloons floating by every morning. And despite slightly different air currents this year, or so it seemed to me, we could still get a nice view of things from our house—even better when it is an early morning launch! So, here is a view of one of the balloons that passed over our house this year.

But back to the kale, I was lucky enough to find some at my local farmers market. While it was a little early in the season and pickings were a little slim, there was enough kale to choose from, so I snatched up a few small bunches for the week. It was too pretty to cook, so a salad seemed to be in order. Happily for me,  I’d been thinking about a kale salad I tasted a few weeks ago while lunching with a friend.

Yes, I know that everyone seems to have a kale salad on their menus these days. But this one caught my attention because of the raisins. Yes, that’s right, raisins. For me, raisins in my salad was a foreign concept until I spent some time in France. Here and there, my salads seemed to be perked up with a little bit of sweetness from the raisins. I don’t know that there is anything inherently French about the addition of raisins, just new to me. Then this winter, Nigel Slater suggested in his book that sautéed greens could also benefit from the addition of a few raisins. So the raisins have been making appearances in my green since then!

So there you have it, an easy salad that is just as happy in a picnic basket as it is alongside a weekend barbecue. It actually benefits from sitting in its dressing for a little while, which makes it perfect to take along where ever you might need a little salad. Enjoy!

Kale Salad with Radishes and Raisins

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6 to 8 radishes, sliced and cut into thin strips

1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped

2 tablespoons finely chopped Parmesan cheese

Zest and juice of one small lemon

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Dry the kale and chop finely. Place in a bowl along with a generous pour of olive oil and a little sprinkle of salt. Mix well to coat and let sit for at least an hour.

Chop radishes and raisins, along with the Parmesan cheese. Zest and juice the lemon. Add  to the salad and stir well to combine. Adjust the salt and pepper seasoning to your taste.

This salad keeps well, so serve immediate or take it with you. By next day, the kale will have softened a little more, but is still perfect for a little lunch.

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The game is afoot

Last Sunday I traded in my lazy morning in bed for my running shoes, a super early start and a couple of hours of quality time with Ginger. Yup, three months of training finally paid off when at 9:30 am Ginger and I ran across the finish line of our first ever half marathon. We are totally elite athletes now.

Here is how things went down. Sunday morning the alarm went off at 5:00 am and we were out the door before 6:00 am. These are the sacrifices that you just have to make sometimes. We even managed to rope our official photographer into accompanying us to the start line.

I was pretty excited to be out there as you can see. I think that at some point Ginger and I may have even sang a lovely morning song for the whole group! Everyone looks impressed don’t you think?

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Running with a large group of people is a really exciting feeling, I highly recommend it. But the only thing better is to cross the finish line and see your friends there cheering you on! I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful group of family and friends. Thanks so much for coming out guys!



*Ginger, I’m so glad that we got to run together. I had an amazing weekend and I hope we can do it again soon!!

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Spring vacation

We’re gearing up for some big excitement next week – Tina and I are running our first half marathon together. We’ve been training for 12 weeks or so and I’m looking forward to seeing our efforts put to the test! So, while I’m skipping the country for the next week, I thought I’d leave you with a few images of spring in my corner of the world.

These happy tulips line the driveway at our house. They never seem to last long – some crazy spring storm or another comes whipping through town and they are done for. But in those sunny spring days when the flowers are blooming, I’m always appreciative of my mom. When we moved into our house, there were some bulbs in the front flower beds, but I wanted to add more. So, I trotted off to the store and bought a crazy amount of bulbs – bags and bags of them. But then I got home to my one-month-old baby and promptly lost all energy for planting.
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Somewhere round about then, my mom showed up, shovel in hand. Now this flower bed is not easy digging – filled to the brim with rocks. She set to work on those bags of bulbs and managed to plant them all. In subsequent digging efforts, I’ve often admired her determination in planting all of those bulbs. I sure do enjoy them every spring – thanks, Mom!

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First world problem

A couple of weekends ago tragedy struck when we ran out of lavender syrup for Sunday morning lattes. A bit of a first world problem I know, but I love my lavender latte! I have mentioned it before, Sunday morning coffee is serious business and messing with tradition can sometimes be a little problematic. Things took a further turn for the worse when the following weekend I learned that Dirty Apron was no long selling lavender syrup! I nearly fainted on the spot. It couldn’t be!

After pulling myself together and walking home, I was determined to find a way to continue the Sunday morning tradition. I decide that simple syrup would be the best place to start, after sourcing some lovely edible French lavender of course. After a little research I was ready to start cooking. And with in a few minutes, I am happy to say that the fridge is once again stocked with lavender syrup for Sunday mornings!

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3 Tablespoons French Lavender
2 cups sugar
1 cup water

Add all the ingredients to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Stir the contents until all the sugar has dissolved. Remove the pan from the element and cool. Once the syrup has cooled, strain out the remaining bits of lavender, divide into jars and store in the refrigerator.

*I have also heard that it makes a lovely addition to sparkling wine.

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A grape cake

To tell you the truth, I don’t really care for grapes. In fact, I’d probably say that I eat more raisins than fresh grapes. I have no good reason to feel this way but I’m just saying they are not a staple around here.

Just the sheer scarcity of grapes in my fridge should have made this recipe a no-go from the beginning for me. But when I saw it a few months back in my copy of Martha Stewart’s Living, I marked it and set it aside. It looked simple and elegant – sometimes you need a cake like that.

Skimming through the growing stack of magazines recently, I came upon it once again. And with company in the house and an upcoming trip to the grocery store, the timing seemed right. I questioned my decision when I saw that the recipe called for toasted, ground almonds – how often do you have those sitting around? But what else was I going to do with those grapes?

Of course, I don’t want you to be put off by this recipe either. While the toasted almonds are a tasty addition, you really don’t have to toast them if you are pressed for time.  And unless you can buy ground almonds, a food processor or blender would be handy to have. But otherwise, this recipe is a breeze. It’s quick and delicious and doesn’t require fancy icing or layers to impress anyone. Pull it out of the oven to simply finish off a meal, or pack thick slices in paper for a spring picnic.

It seems that I am all about the citrus zest these days. It’s been showing up in baked goods as well as sandwich spreads. And this cake is no exception. You’d think that a cake enriched with olive oil and studded with grapes would be enough. But once you add a few teaspoons of lemon zest, it just comes alive. Don’t skimp, just keep on zesting!

Grape Cake

Adapted from Martha Stewart

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1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for pan
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
1/2 cup finely ground toasted almonds
1/4 cup quick-cooking polenta or coarsely ground yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/3 cup whole milk
2 cups red or black seedless grapes, rinsed well

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush an 8-inch square pan with olive oil, dust with flour and tap out anything that doesn’t stick. Mix together flour, ground almonds, polenta, baking powder and salt.

Beat eggs, sugar and lemon zest in a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, about two minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add olive oil. Beat in flour mixture in three additions, alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour.

Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Scatter 1 cup of grapes over top of the batter. Don’t forget the corners! Bake for 15 minutes. Place remaining 1 cup grapes over cake. Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean,  about 25 to 30 minutes more. Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn out onto a plate and cut into squares.

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Weekend saviour

Perhaps you can relate to the tale I’m about to share. Imagine waking up one morning sometime in the next few days, packing up your car, ensuring that you have a plethora of toys and snacks and then hitting the road and driving for a good 7 or 8 hours. All of this leads you to your sister in-law’s house, where you will spend the next fives days endlessly wandering around behind your wife and her sister. Sisters who often stoop to very childish behaviour and always engage in a whole lot of shopping and unnecessary whining. What to do? People have gone mad in these sorts of situations!

If you can relate to this situation, then this may have been written specifically for you.

It is always a delightful surprise to find a cool new spot for coffee, lunch or a drink in your city. But it is an even better surprise and also a tiny bit embarrassing to find out that a crazy cool coffee shop opened up a hop-skip-and-a-jump away from your back door and it took you a month to figure it out.

Interestingly enough I learned about this little spot on Instagram. My friend Maurice posted a photo of the caffe and it took me all of about 30 minutes to reschedule my whole day and make a beeline out the back door grabbing my camera and other paraphernalia along the way.

Always take pfizer viagra australia the dose as prescribed by the doctor, the partner needs to support the ladies. In addition, holding pee discount viagra http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/12/25/nflde-son-haftaya-girilirken-playoff-fotografi-netlesiyor/ for a long time for treating sexual dysfunction. Some enable you to finish a driver’s education school also helps students become safe and responsible drivers. straight from the source get viagra in canada The patients must consume such drug products is very easy & therein it must be consumed in oral form along with water by cheap viagra pfizer the patients. Musette Caffe opened up about a month ago and is located just off of the Hornby cycling lane in the back alley between Burrard and Hornby. I know I’m a sucker for this type of thing, but really is there anything cooler than a back alley cafe? What about a back alley caffe that caters to roadies and has all the details to match?

Decked out in Bianchi green, Musette really does have the biker in mind, they offer locks for your ride, or if you can’t bear to leave your baby outside in the rain you can just bring it inside to one of the numerous bike stands the take up the coveted front window bar seating. The caffe features beans from 49th parallel and an abundance of yummy treats displayed on antique cake stands topped with beautiful cloches. What better way to finish a ride than sipping a great cup of coffee, watching the latest race with your buddies, all the while surrounded by an amazing collection of cycling memorabilia?

 

But Musette isn’t just for the hardcore cyclists, they let me in with my camera and there is a kids table and a foosball table at the back of the caffe! I think I just found my favourite new caffe, the perfect place to watch the tour and for those of you who may have related to the first bit of my story, you may have found your weekend saviour.

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Egg salad for me

To me, the name egg salad seems to be a little bit of a misnomer – there really is not much by way of salad going on. But that doesn’t stop it from being delicious. And while egg salad seems to be a year-round favorite, I can’t help but think there is something especially spring-like about it.

Who knows how many variations on egg salad you’ll find out there. But I like to keep mine pretty simple. While there is a science to cooking the eggs just so, I also think that freshly cooked eggs, quickly mashed and eaten right away are most creamy. I know, egg salad is a versatile spread to whip up for future meals, but eaten right away, I’m betting you won’t find yourself added nearly as much mayo to the mix, if that is part of your recipe.

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I whipped up a batch last weekend and foraged for a few fresh herbs from the garden. The chives are going to town and needed to be trimmed back a little. And while I’d never added thyme, I though a few snips made a nice savory addition. I’m also still hoarding a few more Meyer lemons, so I added just a touch of zest – so good! Really, it’s hard to go wrong with the egg salad. And on a lovely afternoon, a little egg salad on a toasty slice of bread might be just what you’ve been looking for. Happy weekend!

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