The Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up Week #39

Good day my darling readers!

This past weekend I was in Victoria for a visit. Uh, yeah. Why do I live in Toronto again? The entire trip was just jam packed (and I do like me some jam!) with friends and beaches and patios and fresh air, free of smog and noise pollution and smokers. It was glorious! I can do mail art sitting at the bar in Victoria without receiving strange "WTF?" glares; I can wear stockings and look like I belong in the city; Flip flops are considered appropriate footwear in fine dining restaurants. Yup. I love my island.

But it was also good to see what I've left behind. In a good way. As spectacular as Victoria is, it's also important to leave your comfort zone. Try new things. See new places. Meet new people. Like a plant, a person can only grow as much as their environment allows. If they don't get a new pot, they become stagnant and will eventually wilt. And I'm not talkin' about B.C. pot, either. Though, the same could be said for that too.

This link-up is to encourage fresh food production, consumption, activism, and awareness.

Please feel free to link up posts containing:

• CSA collections;
• Farmer's market treasures;
• Home grown/raised hauls;
• Recipes that feature fresh fruits and veggies that are seasonal to your area or feature local, sustainably farmed meats, eggs, and dairy;
• DIY projects and tutorials for: gardening, storing and/or preserving fresh, real foods, composting market scraps, raising chickens in your back yard, small living, etc...

You may link up to 3 posts in a given week that you haven't shared here before by using the linky tool at the bottom of this post. Please make an effort to click on any of the linked up posts and say hello by leaving a comment for your fellow fresh food communitarians and/or leave one here to tell us what you've shared - because we know how much we all love comments!

And lastly, please include the button below or a simple text link back to this link up in the post(s) you share:

<left><a href="http://www.gastronomicalsovereignty.com"/><img src="http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa411/gastronomicalsovereignty/DSC_0713-6-1.jpg"></a></left>

I want this blog hop to feature you as well as help each other come together to form a resource of good food ways for one another. In order to be featured on the monthly features - which includes a highlight on your post here on the last Wednesday of the month as well as tweets, facebook page "like" and posting, and being added to the Fresh Foods pinterest board - you must have a text link back or button displayed in your post or on your blog. If you don’t link back to this post I can’t feature you.

Secret Recipe Club: Crepes a las Vegetables

Hello my darlings and happy Secret Recipe Club Reveal Day!

I love to stuff things! ...And who doesn't, really?

Peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, tacos, chicken, potatoes, squash, zucchini, stockings, sleeping bags, faces, vaginas, err... heh. Inappropriate, Kristy. Inappropriate.

Basically, if you can shove a bunch of good things into another, I want to be a part of it!

It's even better if whatever you're stuffing has a soft, tender cakey like consistency. Like crepes! Flat, delicious little devils!

Crepes can be an elegant AND fun way to transport stuffing to mouth. Not sure what to do with that pulled meat? Or extra fruit? Or leftover pesto and chicken? Stick it in a crepe! Refinement city, population you dude!

White Lights on Wednesday was my SRC assignment this month and that's exactly what I did. Julie and I have more than a few things in common, some of which include an appreciation for clean sheets, Monica-like organizational habits and bread infatuation to name a few. Oh yeah - and we stuff things. Namely, crepes. 

Julie's recipe for vegetable crepes was simple and made for a nice light dinner with a good dose of veggies which I supremely needed. For some reason the sauce didn't quite work out for me - not sure what I did wrong. But even without the sauce, they were still highly enjoyable and an excellent way to use up some veggies that are just coming into season now. And there ain't nothin' wrong with that!

Now... Go stuff it!

What are your favorite things to stuff?

Dine Out Alone: 5 Tips for Successful Creative Entrepeneurship

Good Friday to you my little monkey butts!

Today I'm at Handmadeology with an article on thriving as an independent creative enterprise! Starting up your own company (aka dining out alone) isn't as scary as you might think. Okay, that's a lie. It totally is. I'm uber freaked out. But if I can do it, so can you.

Table runner - Woodpile, in Smudge / Pollen / Spruce by: Skinny laMinx

Swing by, say hello, and read my article, Dine Out Alone: 5 Tips for Successful Creative Entrepeneurship. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts!

Have a great weekend! I know I sure will - Victoria here I come!!!

The Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up Week #38

Happy Wednesday my darlings!

It's official! Camping season is ON! All the major parks in Ontario opened up this weekend and let me tell you - I'm about ready to dig out the tent and BBQ and tarps and playing cards and beer cozies and get out there! I'm totally pitching a tent over camping (if you know what I mean) - and that means camping meal planning!

As I learned after our first camping trip years ago, keeping camping meals simple is key to camping fun. They should be delicious, nutritious(ish) and easy to put together. I often make vegetarian chili or prepare blue cheese bison burgers ahead of time so it's just re-heat and serve! Do you camp? How do you camp? What are your favorite camping dishes?

This link-up is to encourage fresh food production, consumption, activism, and awareness.

Please feel free to link up posts containing:

• CSA collections;
• Farmer's market treasures;
• Home grown/raised hauls;
• Recipes that feature fresh fruits and veggies that are seasonal to your area or feature local, sustainably farmed meats, eggs, and dairy;
• DIY projects and tutorials for: gardening, storing and/or preserving fresh, real foods, composting market scraps, raising chickens in your back yard, small living, etc...

You may link up to 3 posts in a given week that you haven't shared here before by using the linky tool at the bottom of this post. Please make an effort to click on any of the linked up posts and say hello by leaving a comment for your fellow fresh food communitarians and/or leave one here to tell us what you've shared - because we know how much we all love comments!

And lastly, please include the button below or a simple text link back to this link up in the post(s) you share:

<left><a href="http://www.gastronomicalsovereignty.com"/><img src="http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa411/gastronomicalsovereignty/DSC_0713-6-1.jpg"></a></left>

I want this blog hop to feature you as well as help each other come together to form a resource of good food ways for one another. In order to be featured on the monthly features - which includes a highlight on your post here on the last Wednesday of the month as well as tweets, facebook page "like" and posting, and being added to the Fresh Foods pinterest board - you must have a text link back or button displayed in your post or on your blog. If you don’t link back to this post I can’t feature you. 

Peaing All Over the Place (Even in the Risotto)

What up, bitches! (and by bitches, I mean super amazing lovely loves!)...

I'll be honest... No shame in it... Not at all... I have a small bladder.

Seriously. I pee more often than most people, I think. Tea goes right through me, I rarely make it through a movie without hitting pause and I regularly have to get up to piddle in the middle of the night.

In fact, when John and I go camping I have to sneak out of the tent in the middle of the night with our piece-of-shit-wind-up flashlight and duck behind the tent in the bush, hoping the entire time that a cougar or bear doesn't have the very same idea as I do at that very same moment.

When John teases me about it I often blame the fact that I wear tights and that they constantly cinch and push on my stomach. 

...Though I suppose that doesn't apply whilst camping.

Yes. I pee a lot. But I also drink a lot of tea. And water. And wine. And bourbon. And even a cosmopolitan or brown cow from time to time. So of course I pea a lot! Better to be extra hydrated than dehydrated, I say.

TMI?

Speaking of pee, how about peas? They're rolling into season right now and there really isn't anything much better than fresh shucked sweet peas from the garden. Unless of course, you have fresh shucked fava beans from the farmer's market. Yes. The other day I had both of them in my fridge so I jumped (or knowing my bladder, waddled) into the kitchen to make a Spring has sprung risotto with my two favorite seasonal legumes.

I fondly remember sitting on my parent's back deck growing up shucking peas and the klunky rolling sound they made in the tupperware bowls as we dropped them in. I think we ate more than we saved. Funny, I had that same issue this past weekend, sitting in my living room, plucking the little green gems out of their shells. Tasty little fuckers.

Spring Pea & Fava Bean Risotto

(printable recipe) - serves 6.

Ingredients:

1 C Fresh Shelling Peas.

1 C Fresh Fava Beans (see preparation instructions here).

1 C Arborio Rice.
1 C Parmesan Cheese, grated.

2 Shallots, thinly sliced.
2 Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced.

3 Tbsp Butter, unsalted.

3/4 C Dry White Wine.
5-6 C Chicken or Veggie Stock, well heated.

Fresh Parsley, roughly chopped.
Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper.

What to Do:

On a medium-low heat, melt 2 Tbsp of butter in large pan and add shallots and garlic, season lightly with salt. Saute 5 minutes, stirring often.

Add rice, stirring until grains become slightly clear and golden on the outside, approximately 2 min. 

Gently pour in the wine, stir well, and allow for absorption by the rice and evaporation of the alcohol.

Next ladle in enough stock to just cover the rice mixture and allow for a low simmer, stirring fairly regularly to avoid burning and encourage creaminess. Continue adding further ladles of broth as it gets absorbed, again only as much as is needed to cover the rice.

This will continue for roughly 30 mins, or until rice mixture is creamy and has reached the desired texture. You want it to be soft and oozy but still hold it's texture and not be mushy.

 

When you figure you've got about 5 minutes (one more covering of stock) left, stir in the peas.

Once it has reached the desired texture dump in the Parmesan cheese, parsley, fava beans, about a Tbsp of butter, and a good dose of pepper. Stir well.

 

Oh yes. Eat.

 

 

What do you think, TMI? 

Do you have any childhood food memories? What's your favorite Spring ingredient? Have you had fresh fava beans? Worth the effort of shelling them? Peas?