Double the taste, double the fun

Today we happened to be grazing through Value Village, and what did we find?  Yes, the deal of the century, a gallon sized Donvier ice cream maker!  For only $14.99.  Double the taste, double the fun.  We may take our old pint sized one to Hornby, just in case we need homemade ice cream up there too.  Life is good.

Who'd of thought?

Last week our favourite green grocer had pineapples on sale so we purchased two, one almost ripe and the other to ripen later.  Tonight, the second pineapple was finally ready to eat, and we were ready to eat it! As I grabbed it from the fruit bowl, I started thinking about how to cut it up this time - big pieces or little pieces?  Then it dawned on me!  We own an apple slicer and if I was lucky, the pineapple with it's outer skin cut off, might be a perfect fit for the apple slicer.  Sure enough, it fit perfectly.  Don't know why I didn't think of this sooner.  It's a time saver.  Besides, a pine-apple is a kind of apple, right?

Now I know how they fit pineapples in a can so nicely!

Chocolate Peanut Parfait

It's so simple, and so wonderful!  And, dairy and gluten-free too.

Step 1 - roasted organic peanuts with a hint of sea-salt

Step 2 - whip up some raw Chocolate Sauce

Step 3 - churn some homemade ice cream

Layer together in whatever order and quantity you prefer and enjoy!
(Oh boy, my mouth is watering all over again)

Love those coconuts

One of our favourite treats is to share a young coconut.  They make a wonderful snack, drink, or dessert.  Until a week or so ago, we found them quite a challenge to open  - which has been one of the few drawbacks to enjoying a young coconut.   The other main drawback has been trying to find them in a grocery store, and harder yet to find them on sale!

Young Coconut, fresh from the store, individually wrapped

Amazingly, we found them on sale today at 3 for $5 so we brought some home to eat.  Luckily, Peter found a website with a video showing us an easy way to open them - this, after years of trying to find that perfect little spot to stick in a really strong knife, and then forcibly cut it open.  Lots of wasted effort.  The new way is MUCH easier and I'll try to show it here.

Shave the fibrous covering from the top part with knife - the sharper,
the better. Shave following the angle of the coconut top.

This is what it looks like 'shaved' or bald.

Take the butt end of a big knife and slam it into the top,
just above the widest part, where it will crack open just a wee bit.

Once the lid is cracked, it will crack all the way round and is easy
to pry off bit by bit all around.
Be careful to not spill too much coconut water!

Here you can see the clear water and thin layer of soft meat.
Or, can you?

Use a spoon to scrape the soft, young meat from the lid.

Pour the water into a glass or bowl, and scrape the young meat
from the inside of the coconut. I use a spoon.

Voila!  Fresh young coconut to enjoy! Nutrition from coconuts is off the map! Potassium, manganese, lauric acid, zero cholesterol, less fat than whole milk, a small amount of natural sugars, and very little sodium - all wrapped up into a liquid that has the electrolyte equivalent of our own plasma.

Marching in March

It has been a busy first half of March so I haven't been able to sit down and post very much.  However, I realize there are lots of things that need posting!

Two weeks ago when I showed up at work on Tuesday morning, as I rode up to the building's back entrance, I noticed several people holding signs and blocking the driveway to the underground garage.  I was on my bicycle and therefore surprised when one of them walked right up to me, stuck his face in mine, and asked if I was a member of the BCGEU union.  I told him I was. He then proceeded to explain to me that I shouldn't go into work in support of their union (the teacher's union) and gave me a piece of paper explaining where I could go to 'register for strike pay'.  Yikes! My brain was racing - I'm not on strike, I'm paid to go to work, AND I'm lucky to have a job. I certainly hadn't expected this.  In fact, I have never been part of a union and had absolutely no experience with union 'activities,' so I had no idea if leaving was what I was supposed to do.  At 7:30 in the morning, there just aren't a lot of other employees to ask their opinion.  However, I decided to go with the flow, find out what I could and see what happens.  As I rode around the front of the building, I could see other small groups of people with signs who had our front entrance blocked, as well as the Ministry of Health building across the street.  Besides as I only had to go a couple of blocks to where we were to register for 'strike pay,' so I rode over there to see what was going on.  I hoped I would see someone with some 'strike' experience.  I registered and took a seat at a table where 2 people were sipping coffee and talking. In short order, I was chatting politics with them and picked up some 'strike' tips.  Soon enough the hall got very busy very fast, and the 3 of us realized we might as well help with the registration process, and picked up pens and blank forms.  That definitely made the time fly by and before I knew it, it was 10:30 and the lineups had disappeared. I met a lot of people but still had not seen anyone I knew.  Weird.  The crowds were slowly grabbing signs and disappearing out the front door.

Teachers and other union brothers/sisters gathering at Centenial Square

I usually eat breakfast at 8:30 or 9 (at my desk), so you can imagine I was a little hungry.  One volunteer had kindly offered and brought me a coffee at some point, and soon the caffeine was  running full tilt through my blood.  I was literally vibrating (I don't normally drink much caffeine these days, let alone on an empty stomach)!  The union announcements were sporadic and confusing, but indicated there would be a rally at the square across the street at 11 am and 'we' would march downtown to the Legislature.  I grabbed my helmet, basket (with my breakfast in it), unlocked my bicycle and walked across the street to see what was happening. I was still hoping to find someone from my branch, or floor, or anywhere in the building, that I could tag along with.  It was a cold, sunny day and there were hundreds of people in the square.  I remembered I had my cell phone with me so called the one office number I could remember and asked if people were at work, and were there any demonstrators still outside? He assured me some people (other than management) had shown up, and, that no protestors were left outside our building.

The teachers were there large numbers and were arriving by the bus load.  Apparently the ferrys from Vancouver that morning had been completely filled up with buses from all over the province! Other unions were there in full force too.  Lots of banners and protest signs, and most people happy.  The sunshine helped. By 11 am there was a new announcement that the march was to start at 11:30.   Well, by this time I felt I'd done my bit to support the teachers, and decided I was not a 'marcher.'  So, I got back on my trusty steed and rode to work uninhibited.  After I warmed up, I ate breakfast.

Spring Ahead Salad Rolls

vermicelli noodles, jicama, lettuce, cucumber, 

carrot, peanut sauce ready to go together

Today we spring ahead an hour and Salads Rolls seemed the obvious choice for dinner on such an occasion. 

SALAD ROLLS

Start by making a dipping sauce. Here are two examples of ones we have enjoyed. You can use anything that resembles salad dressing that you enjoy. So don't worry too much about it!

PEANUT 

1/4 to 1/2 cup organic peanut butter

2 cloves minced garlic

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp honey (optional)

Juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp oil (sesame if you have it)

1 to 2 tsp (to taste) sambal oelek (very important in my opinion)

1/4 cup soy sauce (wheat free tamari if you have it for gluten free)

Blend by hand or in a food processor / hand blender.

OR 

CHILE LIME

Juice of two limes

1/4 cup fish sauce 

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp sambal oelek 

Blend by hand. 

Next the rolls. You will need:

1/2 package rice vermicelli (thin rice noodles)

Round rice paper wrappers  (22 cm/8.5 inch)

Shredded carrots

Shredded lettuce or kale

Shredded cucumber 

After the salad basics you can add anything you like. For example, we love jicama, so we add shredded or julienned jicama. 

Sometimes, we also add BC Spot Prawns when we're feeling flush, or fruit (mango) and vegetables such as green onion or sprouts, and fresh basil. Any salad fixings you have on hand. Experimenting can be fun!

DIP, BITE, DIP, BITE, DIP, BITE ...

Directions:

Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Remove from heat. Place rice vermicelli in boiling water, remove from heat, and let soak 4 minutes. Drain, and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Fill a large bowl with hot water. Dip one rice wrapper in the hot water until soft (only a couple of seconds). 

Lick your lips and enjoy!

Lay wrapper flat on work surface and place desired amounts of noodles, carrot, lettuce etc., etc., in the center. Roll the edges of the wrapper slightly inward. Beginning at the bottom edge of wrapper, tightly wrap the ingredients (think burrito). Repeat with remaining ingredients.  

Serve the Salad Rolls with dipping sauce of your choice, and sit down and enjoy.  The wraps also keep well for lunch the next day if you wrap them in plastic wrap.  That is, IF you have leftovers!

Sunday Night dessert

Sorry for the poor photo -
we almost forgot to take it!

This past week we conspired with Peter's parents to share our "Sunday Night" Japanese style.  We prepared a little miso soup, rolled some sushi, sliced some tuna and salmon sashimi, and finished with freshly made Banana, Lime and Coconut ice cream. 

We've mentioned the gluten and dairy free ice cream once before and have made some adjustments to the recipe that we were most happy with.

Banana, Lime and Coconut Ice Cream

All ingredients ready to blend.

1 tin coconut milk

1/4 tin vanilla almond milk  (I measured in the coconut tin)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 mashed ripe banana

juice of 1 lime (approximately 60 ml including the pulp)

2 tsp orange zest (homemade preferably)

1 tbsp agave syrup (or maple syrup)

Put all ingredients in the blender to puree for a couple of minutes, and store in the refrigerator until cold.  This part you can make up to a day ahead of time.  Then follow the instructions for your an ice cream maker. 

 

This makes a lovely, creamy and tasty ice cream.  Next time I may experiment with coconut milk and different fruits, and, of course, chocolate!

We use the half pint Donvier that was thoughtfully gifted to me by my aunt a number of years ago.  

I imagine that if there was any leftover ice cream, one could keep it in the freezer for a rainy day.  But I can only imagine that part.  The leftover part, that is.

Leap Year

As I am sure you are aware, 2012 is a leap year.  Yup, only comes around once every four years and you get an extra entire full day. I have a friend whose birthday is February 29th. This year I think she celebrated her 14th birthday!

Doug's chai maccha latte

We celebrated a different occasion ourselves.  Our good friends, Doug and Rachelle, were in town and took time out of their social/shopping schedule to have lunch with us.  We all met at a small cafe called the Daidoco Deli.  Daidoco is relatively new and is Japanese in flavour. Very fresh, organic food and it had come highly recommended.  A very nice treat to go out for lunch.

Next door to Daidoco is a tea shop. What, not another tea shop, you say?  Well, this shop is quite special really.  They are "specialty importers of maccha green tea and its tools." The are retailers, wholesalers and importers of fine tea.  Peter, Doug and Rachelle spent some time at the Teabar enjoying Chai Maccha lattes and Judith went back to work.

Life is good.