Update and New Eggs

After about a year of convincing Sarah that we could not live without a Big Green Egg, as well as the complete disintegration of our propane (we got it free) grill, we have our Big Green Eggs. One small, one large. The BGE is proclaimed as the worlds best smoker/grill. I'll put it through the paces and report on that lofty claim.

In addition, to fuel my addiction to odd hobbies, Sarah got me a meat grinder and Charcuterie by Ruhlman and Poclyn. She's forgotten what she's gotten into by "Living the Lock Life." It is, after all, me that drive most of the insane things that go on around here. And gifts are, I think, implied permission, aren't they?

As an example, I've come across my new food hero - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall from the River Cottage. That would be me, if space, Sarah and the town would allow. But they won't, so it isn't. To (over)compensate for that fact, I'll be making sausage and various other charcuterie, smoking things, making bread and pizza, growing our garden, fly fishing and tying. And likely other half-brained attempts at hobbies. If all goes well, I'll elucidate my experiences here.

Last Summer's Vegetable Garden: Trial #1

So our 2010 summer has come and gone. We planted our vegetable garden and it was crazy! We had way too many plants and hadn't planned very well. We had 3 zucchini plants, 4 watermelon plants, 6 or so squash plants, 4 cucumber plants, 4 kale plants and 2 each of 3 tomato varieties... which was way too much of all of these! One of each of those would have been plenty for our family. We also had some peas, lettuce and carrots that worked out really well for us. All of our plants grew well and were straight from seed. Many were started in the house and transferred well. The peas, carrots and lettuce seeds were started from seed outside. Now that we had this crazy trial run, next summer should be much more of a success. We were satisfied with our seeds from The Cottage Gardener and will order from them again. They recently sent out their 2011 seed email with some new varieties. 2011 will be the summer I report on our garden... now that we have a bit of a clue.

Seeds Seeds, Seeds!

We finally ordered our seeds and just received them in the mail yesterday. We ordered them from The Cottage Gardner.

We ordered:

Brandywine Tomato: (75-85 days) An Amish heirloom dating back to at least 1885, this is probably the best-known old variety. There are many types of Brandywine available - ours is potato-leaved. Large, reddish-pink fruits have an incredible taste.

Brandywine, Yellow Tomato: (80 days)Indeterminate, potato-leaved - 1900's. This late-maturing tomato provides large, 1-2 lb meaty fruit with an intense flavour, almost tart. A beautiful, bright yellow, this variety is loved by gourmet restaurants, due to its delightful taste. Although it's late maturing, it's quite drought tolerant.

Brown Cherry Tomato: (75 days) Indeterminate. Another wonder tomato from Russia! The fruit is a rich brown/copper-green colour, and is large for a cherry tomato (11/2”– 2”). It’s packed with great taste and is very prolific, continuing to produce well into the fall.

Small Shining Light Watermelon: NEW FOR 2010!! (80-90 days) A very old Russian variety that is perfectly suited for our short northern summers! Fruits are round, 10-12", with a dark green rind and sweet red flesh. Keeps for several weeks after picking.

First-Time Gardener Collection: NEW FOR 2010!! It's difficult being a first-time gardener - there's so much to know and there are so many choices that's it's hard to know where to start. Each year, we advise many new gardeners on the best approach to starting their first gardens. So, we thought that this year we'd put together a collection that was 1) easy to grow 2) could be all sown directly in the garden (no starting indoors) 3)would provide as broad a variety of veggies to experience as possible and 4) contained no "finnicky" or "fussy" plants. So here it is: a ready-made garden that contains tried-and-true heirlooms known for their taste and hardiness: Royal Burgundy bush bean, Ireland Creek Annie's dry bean, Specialty Beet Mix, Colourful Carrot Mix, Specialty Radish Mix, Heirloom Leaf Lettuce Mix, Dwarf Grey Sugar Pea, Sutton's Harbinger Pea, Black Beauty zucchini, Waltham Butternut Winter Squash, Mid-East Prolific Cucumber, Russian Red Kale and Galilee Spinach. (Save $6.50 off the cost of buying the packets individually)

Our seeds have arrived and we plan on starting some seedlings in the house in mid March. All we need to purchase now is some soil and a heating lamp and we are ready to plant. I am glad we are finally getting things going. I was beginning to worry that we wouldn't find the time since we are planning for a new baby and Owen is a very lively 18 month old.

Seed Catalogue

We have decided to order our seeds from a place called The cottage Gardener . We decided to go with them because they are local to southern Ontario and are an Heirloom seedhouse and nursery. They have over 600 heirloom seed varieties as well as one of the most diverse selections of certified organic seeds in canada. We plan on ordering our seeds in the next few weeks once we figure out what we want to grow and more importantly, what we have room to grow.

Christmas Tree Cutting

We cut down our very own Christmas tree this year with Owen. It was loads of fun and I think more people should ditch the plastic and go for the green! The smell in the house is wonderful and screams Christmas when you walk in. The fake tree phenomenon has gotten out of hand and is terrible. With the senior citizens, I get the fake tree thing, but the rest of us should be going green with our Christmas trees. The trees are great for the environment; providing clean fresh are for us for 10 years while they grow, then we cut them down we plant new ones... how wonderful! Its a great tradition to start with children and a great way to help local farmers and the environment all at the same time.

2007 Prince Pirate: Merlot/Cab Franc

Aaron and I had tried the 2006 of this wine from the Opimian Society and loved it. We kept the name and purchased a case the following year, being 2007. The 2007 we received and tried a bottle and it is divine.
The nose is of dark fruits and fresh cut grass with a hint of wood and leather, possibly some cinnamon or nutmeg.
The taste is light and smooth with very mild tannins. It has a lush and jammy mouth feel. There is a wonderful explosion of fruit on the finish.
This wine can be drank with almost anything or nothing. I would avoid any peppery meals and overly sweet desserts since they would overpower the wine, but just about anything else would be a great pairing.
We rated the wine a 4.5/5 stars!

Priscutto wrapped Figs and goat cheese.

This Christmas we got together with some family and were in charge of bringing an appetizer. We did some digging and found a great recipe for Priscutto wrapped figs and goat cheese with a balsamic glaze. OMG, were they delicious. The recipe was very simple.

For the Balsamic Glaze:
50/50 sugar and balsamic vinegar (about 1/2c each) cooked down until smooth and sticky. (just thick enough to be sticky and not too drippy)

For the Stuffed Figs:
Rinse fresh figs. Cut slit in fig and stuff with 1/2 tsp or so of goat cheese. Then wrap stuffed figs with one slice of Priscutto each. Bake in a 350 degree oven until edges of Priscutto is crispy, approx. 10-15 minutes.

Serve with sauce for dipping or pour sauce over each fig.