Good Eats and Trick or Treats

Happy Hallowe'en!

I've gotta say that I have enjoyed the holiday more today than I have for a long time, despite the fact that I did not dress up, nor do I have any children to dress up. My amusement this year came from the little things that are so enjoyable about the season. Tasty treats, children's smiles and the autumn elements.

I started my day off with a steaming cup of pumpkin chai tea from David's Tea. This is an exquisitely flavourful tea that is only available for purchase in the fall, so you have to make sure to stock up for the entire year at this time. It also has cute little pumpkin candies in the loose leaf blend, which makes it the perfect start to an All Hallows Morn.

My next order of business this morning was to bake a sweet treat to take into work (I'm not crazy; I didn't go to the office until the afternoon so it's not like I got up super early or anything...well actually I did but that was for the puppies, not to slave away in the kitchen). I'm a sucker for a good cupcake, so naturally I turned to that department. I have a nice moist chocolate cake recipe that I usually use, but it's not as rich and sweet as I wanted for these cupcakes so I decided to do some surfing to find something else. I'm so glad I did! I found the best chocolate cupcake recipe ever at this blogsite. The cake is fantastic, although to be honest next time I will add a bit of melted semi-sweet chocolate to the mix because it still wasn't as chocolatey as I would have liked. The cupcakes were, however, the moistest, airiest and most delightful cupcakes I have ever made. Scrumptious! I used the cream cheese icing recipe from the same site. I ran into one snare with the icing, however, in that I didn't have orange food colouring and wasn't aware how much yellow would be required for a vibrant orange, so I just didn't have enough on hand. The result is a very pale orange with chocolate piping. Not the greatest first attempt at fancy cupcakes, but I'm pleased enough with the results to post a photo, so they can't be that bad.

My second project of the day was seasoning and roasting the pumpkin seeds from the jack-o'-lantern that I carved yesterday. I had decided that despite the no children factor, I would carve a pumpkin this year. It's something I haven't done since I was in grade school. At first it seemed a bit strange to be sitting in my kitchen alone with a butcher's knife and a large squash, although one of the greatest things about having a blog is that I can justify anything that I do by simply saying: "It's for my blog". And really, it was fun.

The carving went pretty well, as you'll see at the end of this post, although I couldn't remember having such an easy time gutting the thing. Since I was a kid, has a particular group of pumpkin scientists been toiling away to create a Supergourd just for lazy gourmands' Hallowe'en carvings? Or am I just old enough now that what seemed like a lot of work is no more? And what happened to the mere handful of seeds that I can recall salvaging from the thing? This is to say that the inside of my pumpkin was mostly empty except for a veritable bounty of seeds. I hardly had to scoop out any innards, just pull a few stringy pieces and voila! A hollow pumpkin ready for carving! I happen to enjoy roasted pumpkin seeds immensely, so I was pretty stoked with my loot.

I rinsed the seeds of any pumpkin flesh in a colander and set them on two cookie trays to dry overnight. This morning I doused them all in a bit of canola oil (not my favourite choice: next time I think I'll use olive oil or maybe butter; I've seen recipes using egg white as well) and then seasoned them with different spices I found in my cupboard. I decided to quarter the batch of seeds and spice each quadrant with a different flavour: Montreal steak spice, cayenne pepper, curry and za'atar spice. The last one is a Lebanese spice blend that is commonly thyme, sumac and sesame seeds along with a bit of salt, although I bought my blend in Boston and the label doesn't say exactly what is in it, so there could be other flavours there as well. Maybe oregano, but I'm not entirely certain. The roasting results were a pleasing and crunchy snack that admittedly could be improved upon by adding a bit of salt or garlic salt to those spices that didn't already have salt as an ingredient; mainly the curry and cayenne pepper. Their normally bold punch of taste ended up a bit bland without a bit of salt. Regardless, this was a snack that I truly associate with Hallowe'en, and it was much appreciated! 

After work came the hour most anticipated: Trick or Treat Time! The children in the village go out to beg for candy between the hours of 4 and 7pm, so I was ready and waiting with my jack-o'-lantern display outside of the door and my bowl of candy inside. What I was not quite prepared for is that although the kids may knock or ring the bell (or they very well may not), they will quite certainly reach for the handle and let themselves in. Apparently it's the norm here, and I would venture to guess that many aboriginal communities are the same, although for someone coming from The South it's a bit off-putting at first. These were expected visitors, however, so I really couldn't be startled by little witch or vampire heads that peeped in the doorway at me. The puppies, watching from the backyard, were intrigued by the flow of strangely dressed traffic. I offered Nanuq to one boy instead of candy, and he accepted; but of course I couldn't part with my little polar bear. He would have fit in the boy's bag. Reina, not a chance.

The little ghouls and princesses proved to be too overwhelming for my candy stash; I ran out in under two hours. Next year I'll have to buy more than 140 pieces, I suppose. I brought in the pumpkin, turned off the lights and spent the next hour pretending no one was home. This was tough. The doorbell rang a few more times, although I had had the foresight to lock the screen door so the little ones (or not so little; there were more than a few older kids with nary a costume in sight, but I won't complain about that because this is what grown-up people do and I am not a grown-up!) couldn't sneak in and raid the pantry or start a riot.

The final delight of today was unexpected but oh so pretty! The Northern Lights were glowing enticingly so we drove out of town to watch them for awhile against the staid silhouettes of the spruce trees. One beam created a green streak across the entire sky from one horizon to the other. The stars were also vibrant, so the show was quite spectacular. Unfortunately I don't possess a camera of the quality required to capture such things for all infinity, so you'll have to take my word for it.

The last day of October has marked a truly satisfying day here in The North, although I have to end this post with a thought on what Hallowe'en ultimately means to me...

...IT'S LESS THAN TWO MONTHS 'TIL CHRISTMAS!

Change of Seasons

It is becoming ever more clear to me that fall is officially over and that winter is here. 

There are only a few trees left that cling to the last colourful leaves of autumn. The two birch trees in our neighbour's yard still have most of their leaves, despite the fact that all of the other trees around them have been bare for about a week now. They are like misguided rebels; they stand against a change that is  inevitable by the laws of nature. Eventually they will have to give in to winter's chilly grasp, like I will have to start bundling up soon when venturing out.

It snows every few days now, and we recently saw accumulation that stayed until the next morning. The snowflakes that day were so huge that they weren't flakes, but chunks of flakes that bee-lined to the lawn instead of flitting daintily around on their way down. They were so big that the dogs tried to snap them out of the air, or they would take bites out of the snow cover on the ground, which was clearly a novelty for them.

This not being Reina's first encounter with snow, she got over the initial excitement and back to her normal routine of chewing anything that could be found, ripped or dug from the ground. Sticks are easy prey for the little doggies, but that doesn't stop them from going after trickier backyard game such as charcoal, weeds, stones, dirt and garbage (not ours: sadly, it often blows into the yard).

Nanuq, upon recovering from his wonderment at the falling flakes, took cover under the pine tree with a miserable look on his face. To his credit, he's getting over a rather nasty mange invasion during which he scratched off a considerable amount of fur around the belly and elbows, so he feels the cold more than Reina and I in our respective coats.There's no vet in town so he had to suffer a bit longer than we would have liked. C'est la vie Au Nord.

Thankfully Nanuq's fur is growing back so he should be more comfortable by the time the snow bleaches our backyard and beyond with a thick covering of flakes big and small...and when it does, believe me, I'll let you know!

Falling for The North

The bounty of Autumn is truly amazing; its beauty never ceases to impress me. As I write this snowflakes are falling around the bare birch branches and sturdy spruce, reminding me of impending winter. I'm also reminded that I'd better post my fall photos, as we are clearly heading into the next season rather more quickly than I was used to in Southern Ontario (not that we don't ever get snow in October; I've seen quite a few flakes fall on or even well before Hallowe-en). The fall colours Up North are a bit different as well, omitting the rich reds of them maple trees and deep oranges and browns, but still beautiful. Enjoy.

The Canadian Shield starting to show signs of the season.

 

The lakeside is particularly beautiful when the leaves start to turn.

  I feel like I'll be taking a lot of pictures of this bend over the years.

 The line of trees remind me of Degas' paintings of the ballerinas. 

Strange? Maybe, but they seem very graceful to me.

 Love the stunning contrast of the deep blue sky and bright yellow leaves.

 The birch trees are mostly sunshine yellow and tangerine.

  A mass of a driftwood root system got lodged on shore, with pleasing results.

 The shores that I gaze out upon regularly. 

 It's so lovely up here.

Not only the changing leaves add to the landscape; 

the reeds and bushes contribute their own sort of beauty.

 

 The afternoon sun encourages the Autumn hues to be at their best. 

 

 Cherishing the moment with the puppies on a day too beautiful to stay indoors. Fall is gone too quickly up here so you have to take advantage of every nice day.

Turkey Take One

Recently across this great country we celebrated Thanksgiving, and like our neighbours to the south who will gather around the table in a little over a month, our autumn holiday is all about giving thanks...and turkey! I happened to be in the U.S. during Canadian Thanksgiving, but I was unwilling to live through an October without a full turkey dinner, so I cooked a feast this past weekend to make up for the missed opportunity. It was my first time cooking The Bird with all of the trimmings, and I must admit that I was more than a bit daunted by the task.

My original idea was to blog as I cooked, but already being in a bit over my head, I didn't entertain that notion for long. Instead I was thinking to document the entire process, but I also realized very early on that this would not work. For my first time making such a meal, I simply concentrated on cooking. My only distraction was having to tiptoe around a little puppy who sat at my feet the entire time hoping for some tasty morsels to fall on the floor. He was not disappointed.

In the end, the meal turned out really well, although I was about an hour behind schedule in the end as the turkey took longer than the recipes I consulted called for (my 5 kg turkey was supposed to be done in 3 and a half hours but it was more like 4 and a half). Otherwise only very minor glitches were met and dealt with accordingly and I was quite pleased with myself at the end of the day.

To stay sane on Eating Day I did make a few dishes the evening before and there are a couple that I want to share. Incidentally, I also had enough time to photograph them, whereas the turkey didn't make it on the memory stick before we devoured it. 

Awesome Herb Rolls

The first recipe is from one of my favourite food blogs, Once Upon a Plate. The rolls shared on that blog (and all recipes, for that matter) are fabulous so I knew that they were something that needed to be included in the meal. You can find the recipe by following this link; I've made the herb rolls before and they are so comforting served warm with salted butter, on their own or accompanying a lovely soup or chili. I'll make them again and again.

I also made a couple of pies the night before; traditional harvest pumpkin and blueberry. I was so excited to use my hand-picked wild Northern blueberries in a pie. 

Wild Blueberry Pie 

5 cups frozen blueberries
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons butter, melted

1 pie crust
Enough dough to cover the pie
1 egg
1 Tablespoon water


You don't have to defrost the blueberries beforehand, but watch the pie carefully because the cooking time will be decreased if you do. Also, if the blueberries have thawed completely and been drained, use only 1/4 cup of flour. Mix the berries with the flour, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon and pour over the crust. Brush the butter over the berries and top with a layer of dough. If you cover the berry mixture completely you'll need to cut a few slits so that steam can get out. Beat the egg and mix with water. Brush the top crust with the egg wash and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes, or until the blueberry mixture bubbles. You'll probably want to place a cookie sheet on the lowest rack of the oven so that it catches any overflowing bubbly goodness.

I decided to celebrate the bounty of The North by topping my pie with a moose crust (belatedly I realized that both of the moose, having antlers, are male. Brotherly love pie? Or gay moose pie?!?). If you decide to do something like this (not the gay part, but the partial pie coverage), know that the parts that are not crusted over do not get as bubbly, but this doesn't compromise the taste. 

This Thanksgiving just getting all of the dishes on the table was enough work for me, however next year I hope to document the process of turkey dinner a bit more closely and share more of my trials and triumphs.Or who knows, there's always Christmas...

Quick and Easy

Today, a cool and windy day, I just wanted to share a simple pattern for a chunky knit cowl. It took me a day or two do knit completely, and in fact the first time I did it I wasn't 100% sure whether I liked the end result so I just took it all apart and started again the next day. Here's the pattern that I ended up with:

Chunky Cowl

 

Cast on 50 stitches onto one 12 mm circular needle: the chunkier the yarn the better

Transfer half of the stitches onto the second 12 mm circular needle and joint in the round

Row 1: Knit (K)

Row 2: Pearl (P)

Repeat rows 1-2 four more times

Row 11: K1, Slip, slip, knit (ssk), K until the last 3 stitches of round, Knit two together (K2tog), K1 - decrease of 2 stitches (48)

Row 12: P

Repeat rows 11-12 four more times (until 40 stitches)

Row 20: K

Row 21: P

Row 22: K1, Make one (M1), K until the last stitch of round, M1, K1 - increase of 2 stitches (42)

Row 23: P

Repeat rows 22-23 (until 44 stitches)

Row 24: K

Cast off LOOSELY and sew in ends

I used Flamm FB Fashion wool, which is interesting because it's thick and thin intermittently, so the cowl turned out really nicely. Even after my second attempt, I still feel that the cowl turned out a little looser on the neck than I might like, so you can try casting on a few less stitches if you want a more snug fit, or don't do the increases but make sure that you cast off loosely (I didn't the first time and the result is that the cowl would hardly fit over my head despite being loose everywhere else). The nice thing about the circular needles is that you can try the cowl on as you go (looks a little goofy with the needles hanging out, but you sure can get the picture of how it is fitting) so feel free to alter the pattern as necessary, or just try your own! Like I said, it doesn't take long to do so it is not a big deal if you need to start over at a certain point.

Today is a perfect day to wear the cowl, as it is cold enough (snowed a little bit again) that just a sweater or jacket aren't enough on their own; however a sweater with gloves and the cowl was fine for shorter jaunts outside with the pups. Having a warm neck can sometimes make a world of difference between cold and comfortable; that's why it is always handy to have a chunky knit cowl on hand!

Close Call

October is fire safety month, and with that in mind I'm sharing a recent experience of mine that many people of a certain latitude have had, and of which all are fearful. Part of living in an isolated location is that often the unsettled expanses are filled with trees. A lot of trees. The trees, normally so wholesome, become deadly if ignited. Of course I am referring to forest fires and the danger they pose to Northern Residents.

A few weeks ago there was a day unlike any I have lived before. Having only ever inhabited densely populated and therefore sparsely forested regions, I had never considered what it would be like to have two forest fires burning within 50 kilometres of my home; this is what I was facing one day not long ago. I write about it in retrospect partially because I was waiting to see what would come of it all, but also because I was hesitant to post the potential danger and cause my mother to worry from two provinces away. Fortunately, neither blaze reached my Northern Town, but for a few days we were at the mercy of the spreading flames and shifting winds and left to wonder if they would reach us.

One day in particular was noteworthy. It was fairly windy, and when I took the dogs out the scent of campfires was heavy in the air. The sky was completely grey, which at first I mistook for impending rain. Looking around me I realized that what was above me was not a raincloud but a dense blanket of smoke drifting continually from the west. I could see the edges of the smoke to the north and south; the sky was actually a lovely blue. Even the setting sun was filtered by the hovering mass, and small bits of ash were starting to collect on the back stoop and windowsills. This was no campfire, that much was clear; somewhere out there an inferno was burning. I had no idea how close it was, how expansive it was, or whether there would be a need to evacuate. All I knew was that if the winds remained constant we would be in its path of destruction.

On that blustery day the fire apparently gained about 100 kilometres on us, but in the end it stopped well short of town. The winds died down and we happily received a few afternoon showers. Another fire was reported to the north of us a couple days later but it was smaller and contained. Both eventually petered out. The threat was over.

With the smell of woodsmoke fresh in my nostrils, I couldn't help but mull over the fact that we humans are not as in control of things as we think. All around the world people face overwhelming natural forces; hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes seem to be daily occurrences these days. However, that smoky day was the first time that it was my family and belongings that were in jeopardy. If that fire had burned its way through town there would have been nothing to do but evacuate with what we could carry and re-build elsewhere. A daunting prospect, to be sure, but I was happy to discover that I was not as concerned about our home and its contents as I might have thought.

On the way to my community there is an extensive section of bush that has seen flames in the last few years. The blackened skeletons of spruce tower over the saplings straining to make their way closer to the sun. The regrowth is green and dense; a lush contrast to the barrenness above. Life moves on. Which is exactly what we would have done if our home had been razed by a forest fire, or any other disaster. Life is not about having nice things; life is about relationships, experiences, and the freedom to have both in unlimited quantities. Living Up North is one of life's experiences that I am really enjoying, so I'll have to accept the possibility of forest fires and move on. No worries, Mom, I'm fine!

Post Script: I wrote the first draft of this post last night and was too tired to finish it, so I saved it for today to complete. When I took the dogs out before retiring what did I smell, but the unmistakeable odour of burning wood! Of course it's possible that someone nearby was having a fire; it was too dark to see where the smoke was coming from, but it is also possible that we are again in the vicinity of a forest fire. I don't smell anything today, but it's not windy so that may explain the absence of smoke.

From spring until autumn this uncertainty will be my reality, as long as I am Up North.