The juvenile sea squirt wanders through the sea searching for a suitable rock or hunk of coral to cling to and make its home for life. For this task, it has a rudimentary nervous system. When it finds its spot and takes root, it doesn't need its brain anymore, so it eats it. It's rather like getting tenure. -Daniel Dennett, philosopher, writer, and professor (b. 28 Mar 1942)
Hi Simone! Trust
all goes well with you. Busy here and enjoying the warmer days. Will
even be getting our small garden ready over next few weeks. Garlic we
planted this past November is already pushing up some green shoots and
rhubarb root, planted at same time, is showing signs of awakening as
well. The snowdrops and lilies Corinne's Dad gave her when we were last
in Winnipeg are doing the same. I've been riding outside for past month or more so certainly pleased about that.
Our
new kittens, (a year this August), Etta and Duke, provide us with
endless entertainment. We are off to LA this July for our youngest
grandson's wedding, (Alexander and Samantha), so we are looking forward
to that. Will be home otherwise, all summer, as Lady Dar is now a
Marriage Officiant and has five weddings booked, first being in early
June. In fact, she met with one couple, yesterday, here in Penticton,
although they are from North Vancouver. Their wedding will be at Painted
Rock, a wonderful winery located on Skaha Bluffs, just a few minutes
south of Penticton, at the end of June.
Must away as I want to
have breakfast and then suit up for a ride, to OK Falls, with two
friends from the hiking group I've joined. Fondestos from Lady Dar to
you Simone. All the best. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pics: Duke with Lady
Dar, Etta on chair; Nap time! I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago and
met up with some former library colleagues at UBC. Lady Dar and friends, at a whiskey tasting two Sundays ago. Thank you Patrick. I am glad 😁 there is some semblance of spring in Penticton. Glad you are getting out on the bike 🚴�� again. All to report here is RAIN. Take care. ☔️😟🐶
I had arranged to meet Jack Rabbit and Margareta near the Marina at Skaha Lake Park at noon. We were to ride to OK Falls via McClean Creek Road. Since I wanted to ride further than just there and back I left the house at 10:30 am to chalk up some extra distance before we rendezvoused. Realized that it was really going to be a slog heading down Eastside as wind was about twice as strong as yesterday, literally howling out of the south at 39-41 kph, (gusting to between 46-52 kph), over the time I was out. Took advantage of my Gerbil/Hamster loops to have 25 km on the clock by the time I returned from PTC to Burns and made for Government.
As I knew it would be, cycling up Ellis and then along Government, took a considerable amount of effort and I was relieved to be on Dawson as soon as I turned onto it. Although I was still battling the damnable head wind, at least I was going downhill. Much the same was the case on South Main but about a km from the Marina, road levels out so fight was on again for last stretch. Thought I'd see my riding companions in the parking lot but neither sight nor sound of them. Just in case I had confused the meeting spot I rode to the smaller parking lot at the other end of the boardwalk but no luck there either.
However, short jaunt across the top of Skaha, filled with whitecaps and its waves crashing into the shore, was more than enough to persuade me not to ride to OK Falls. I wondered if they had left before I arrived, [It was probably about 12:07 pm when I rolled into the marina parking lot so they might have thought I wasn't joining them.], heading south in spite of the fierce head wind. At any rate, I decided I'd dipsy-doodle my way around the route I'd mapped out there ever since I first started riding in this part of town.
Didn't take long to chalk up the distance I wanted as I was able to do the bulk of my make-up K's with the help of the wind and once I was back on South Main, it was certainly nothing but smooth sailing all the way home, in spite of the gradual climb along South Main and then up slightly steeper Dawson. Sorry I didn't connect with The Sisterhood but not overly unhappy about missing the protracted fight it would have been, ever inch of the way to OK Falls and beyond. Wonder if Jack Rabbit and Margareta did make that run or decided otherwise. Nevertheless, glad to have finished my cycling so early as now I can attend to the lengthy list of chores Lady Dar, [sitting in front of the fire, Duke on her lap, watching The Young and the Useless], has set for me! Cheers! Map and Stats for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1645647146#.WNrXlCO01_M.email
Hello Fellow Naramata Blenders! Thanks
to Elaine, Mike, Dawn and everyone else who helped with tonight's
wonderful, wonderful cooking class. It was a delight to drink and taste,
get to know new folk and visit with friends. Trust all our paths will
cross again, in the not too, too distant future. All the best to one and
all. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hello Corinne and Patrick—A bit belated but very sincere thanks for a most delightful evening on Sunday. The meal was delicious (Really, really!!), the wine and whisky first-rate, and the company exemplary. Who could ask for more? Not us, for sure. We really enjoyed ourselves.
I’m still plugging away at tax prep interspersed with chats with Barb about our trip to Italy in the fall. Petey is plugging away at some work work in his office. Hopefully, he’ll finish it today so that we can complete the tax package tomorrow (after golf) and get it to the accountant by the end of the month. Speaking of travel, here is the link to Royal Heights for the African trip.
http://www.royalheights.com/product/namibia-botswana-and-victoria-falls
Cheers for now, Lynnie XO P.S. I just got off the phone with my sister in North Bay. (It was her 65th birthday yesterday. Hard to believe my “baby” sister is now a senior citizen!) She still has snow in her yard and my brother-in-law is still ice fishing!!
Hello Namibia Naramatian Office Folk! Thanks for the thanks, Lynne. We certainly enjoyed the evening
ourselves. Certainly appreciated the wonderful wine you brought, as well
as your sparkling personalities, of course! Thanks as well for travel
link. Am I correct in assuming that this is planned for 2018? Sorry
it has taken a bit for me to send along snaps of Sunday evening but
have been busy ever since. Fondestos from Lady Dar to you both. Cheers,
Patrizzio! Pics: Sunday's Shenanigans! Vegetable stock…how hard can that be to make? Done right, it’s not so much hard as slow, Chef Mike Sonier tells participants of the third Naramata-Blend cooking class, “Cooking done right takes time. You can’t make great food on the fly. There is no cutting corners. Food takes time. Cooking with proper ingredients and from scratch is about flavour and nutrition. If you take one thing away tonight it’s take time to cook for yourself.
“Take a minute to look at the ingredients on a packaged stock from the grocery shelf,” he says. “It’s full of MSG, sodium, food colouring and some things not on the labels like GMO ingredients and pesticides.” In addition to the superior flavours of home made stock, it’s also about what’s not in it, he says.
Chef Mike shares his vegetable stock recipe with us and more importantly his tips to make it well. Vegetable Stock Ingredients Choose organic vegetables if at all possible. On a side note Chef
Mike says always choose organic vegetables for juicing as the process
will pull out any of the chemicals found in non-organic vegetables, “not
doing yourself any favour.” Good quality ingredients makes a night and
day difference to your end product, Chef Mike adds. Recipe:
2 cloves garlic
1 head celery
3 pounds carrots
6 yellow medium onions
Handful of fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, basil stems, parsley
4 bay leaves
½ tablespoon whole peppercorns
4 tablespoons cold-pressed organic extra virgin olive oil
10-15 litres spring water
Method:
Wash celery and carrots thoroughly. Peel very top layer of onions. Chop celery and carrots into 2” pieces. Chop onions into 6 pieces while leaving shells and ends on. Place stock pot on burner over medium heat until pot is warm but not hot. Place onions and olive oil into pot. Reduce temperature to a low heat and caramelize until starting to brown. Mike says that the onion caramelizing is crucial to making a good
stock. The sweet flavour of the caramelized onions will be the main
flavour of your stock and sweet makes for a great flavour profile. Some
of the onions will stick to the bottom of the pot…this is what you want.
Add garlic cloves, celery and carrots. Increase temperature to medium-high heat, stirring frequently and allowing vegetables to stick and brown to pot. (Keep a close eye on temperature as you may need to reduce heat if starting to burn). The garlic will turn dark brown and some will even turn black which Mike says is “totally fine.” “You want a really dark colour in your stock because that will mean its flavourful.”
Chef Mike shows us the technique of scraping only some areas of the pot at a time incorporating the dark flavourful bits into the mixture. Once vegetables have fully caramelized (this takes awhile…don’t rush this step) then add in your spring water, herbs, peppercorns and bay leaves. Increase temperature to high heat until boiling. Once boiling lower your temperature down to a low-simmer and continue to reduce liquids until pot has only ¾ left. This can take from 6 to up to 18 hours depending on how potent or concentrated you want your stock to be.
For soup you may only want to reduce by a quarter but for a more intense flavour for a dish like risotto, Mike says to reduce by 3/4 or more. Taste stock as it’s reducing to achieve desired flavour profile that suits your needs. Cool down in pot. Once cooled, cover and set in refrigerator to incorporate full-flavourfor a minimum of 24 hours. Double strain liquids with mesh strainer into sealable containers to keep in the refrigerator or freezer. Discard the vegetables which no longer have any nutritional value. Will keep in refrigerator for up to 7 days. Freezes in 1 litre containers for up to 6 months.
Chef Mike Sonier and his business Knotweed is focused on catering events around British Columbia, consulting and finishing up a cookbook that has been in the works for several years. Coming soon, he will be opening a new location that will be geared towards a gastro-styled restaurant on BC’s coast. Knotweed will also be catering, hosting pop up events and workshops in the Okanagan.
“I’m more than stoked to be back on the coast creating coastal dishes that will complete my cookbook, after creating all my land dishes over the years when I’ve been in British Columbia’s interior,” he says. “This journey that I’ve been on out here in B.C has been absolutely incredible and it feels like it has just begun.”
Next up on the blog, a recipe for Legend Distilling‘s Rosemary Swizzle from the mixology component of the cooking class.
Hi Patrick What did you actually cook? Tina Hi Thermomix Lady! Most of us didn't actually cook
anything but we did learn how to prepare stock and sauces. A couple of
chaps did do the sauce for the mussels, after the initial demo, and
their mussels were just as delicious as ones done by chef. Part of
package was a print copy of recipes with instructions so it will be
relatively easy to do this on our own. Cheers, Patrizzio!
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