Tradition

While spending a month with my parents this summer, my mom commented one day about how she and I are very different cooks.  While I prefer to incorporate lots of fresh herbs and love international flavours, she leans toward the more classic meat-and-potatoes kind of cooking.  It's something we have learned to appreciate about each other; when we're together, my mom requests that I make hummus and souvlaki while I go weak in the knees for her Yummy Chicken, roasted turkey or fresh buns.

Those of you who know my Mom know that her fresh buns are infamous. They really are velvety soft pillows of carbohydrate perfection. In my early 20s, I tried making buns a few times and each time was a colossal failure (yeast dough and I simply do not work well together).  After Jeff and I got married, I eyed his bread machine suspiciously for a year before learning that this amazing contraption could turn out perfect dough, no matter my lack of talent for kneading.  Between the machine and some very old but fantastically seasoned bread pans, I think I've come up with buns that even my Mom would be impressed with.

Risen buns about to be baked

Yield: 1 dozen hamburger buns or 2 dozen dinner rolls

1 cup water

2/3 cup milk

2 Tbsp margerine or shortening

3 Tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp yeast

Measure ingredients into dough machine in order recommended by manufacturer (I do it in the order listed above). Select dough setting, push start, then sit back & relax. When cycle is complete, turn onto floured surface. Divide into buns; 12 hamburger size or 18-24 roll size. Shape each piece into a smooth ball, place in pan and cover with a light towel. Let rise in a warm and happy place until nearly double- about 40 minutes. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Time yourself to see how long you can wait before devouring the first one. Enjoy!

Saturday was a chilly day here on the Wet West Coast- a day that called for soup and buns. Growing up, I never really took a shine to my mom's borscht and ate it as infrequently as I could get away with. While living in Eastern Europe, I learned to make and love true Russian Borscht- with beets, beef, and lots of fresh dill. And the most important part- a dollop of sour cream. Jeff joked that in spending an afternoon baking buns and making borscht, my Mennonite-ness was unquestionably and strongly intact! No doubt, there is something really comforting about eating food that within my heritage, is tradition. It just feels like home. 

Experiment gone right

Usually, I add diced apple to my cinnamon buns for variety and to lighten the stickiness. Today, I added orange zest and coconut to the usual brown sugar. I know- it's not always a good idea to mess with a classic but somehow, this worked out really well. Although... I could be happy with the infusion of citrus into just about anything.

More creativity and colour

Thanks for the comments yesterday offering design suggestions- it was great to hear ideas and get some advice from an actual designer! I'm going to take your advice to heart  and play around with pillow fabrics to see what works. Thankfully, fabric is pretty cheap and pillow covers are easily replaced.

After a year and a half with my nose stuffed in a book or up against my laptop screen writing papers, I have been feeling a void of creativity and begun looking for some projects . Yesterday, I helped a friend make 12 informal centerpieces for her mom's big birthday party tonight. Our budget was $0 and we came in right on the dot!  I scavenged the greens from my in-laws' garden (which I'm really hoping is OK since they will read this while away enjoying their vacation!), the hydrangeas from my garden and the dahlias from a friend's garden. Considering the budget, I think we did really well.

Craving colour

After living with a bright chintz sofa for more than a decade in my last home, I have swung to the opposite end of the furniture spectrum. During our married life, Jeff and I have purchased a new living room sofa and loveseat (both beige) and a used sofa for our family room (also beige). I have to admit- the need for bland neutrality has been all my influence and I'm feeling the need for some colour.

Our basement family room is bright (thanks to 3 windows and 9 foot ceilings) and my plan to revive the space with colour needs to incorporate our existing furniture, artwork, and rug. All of the design blogs I read encourage bold use of fabrics to inject life into a space and while this approach is completely outside my comfort zone, the idea is growing on me more and more. 

What do you think? Comments? Ideas for a coffee table?

You say tomato...

After getting our fill of blackberries, we are now seeing red (and yellow, and orange, and purple!) Tomato season is in full swing- this finds us eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner these days. We really don't mind the repetition because they are SO GOOD.  I actually cringe at the thought of going back to tasteless imported grocery store tomatoes this winter. One of our new favourites is a very simple salad that is seriously delicious and also really pretty. 

 

ingredients to serve 4:

2 cups fresh tomatoes, diced

1 cup (or 1 can) black olives, drained and pitted

1-2 Tbsp. pine nuts (whatever looks about right!)

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1 tsp. white sugar

1 Tbsp. fresh oregano (or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano)

salt and pepper to taste

1-2 sliced green onions (optional)

Mix everything together and let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Blackberry season

This year, I've made a blackberry cream jelly roll, blackberry fizz, savory blackberry plum sauce... but the best of the best is still the blackberry apple pie.  This was my third pie of this year's blackberry season (don't worry- the other two were shared at potlucks!) and while it wasn't the prettiest, Jeff and I were both caught nipping a slice for breakfast!

Saying thanks

In the last update on my dad's health following his surgery, I mentioned how my parents gave permission to use my dad's medical case for training in the First Responder program; this ultimately resulted in their town receiving the donation of another AED (Automated External Defibrillator).

For those of you who know my parents, you won't be surprised at all to hear that they helped turn the donation of this AED into a community-wide recognition of the volunteer First Responder program (in addition to the individuals that responded to my mom's 911 call).  The event not only made the provincial news (click here and forward to the 5:40 mark) but more importantly, recruited 11 new volunteers (at last count) to the First Responder program in Waldheim where my parents live. The Saskatoon Health Authority released a 25 minute video of the evening's presentation- this includes a synopsis of the emergency response (2:15), remarks by my parents (12:12), words from the  First Responders who attended my dad (6:15) and a presentation of the new AED (19:50).   As you can imagine, this brings an amazing finale to the story of my dad's heart attack. For our family, it really is an unexpected and incredible gift.

Fall sunset