Remember what I said about the unseasonably warm weather being had in The North so far this month? Well, forget about it. It has gotten cold. Very cold. I would know, since the heater in our truck has decided to quit its full time job and will only work on certain days.
I drove the truck down to town to get it fixed on a lovely and sunny winter's morning. Luckily, the heater showed up for work, as the temperature on the dashboard showed -38, and that's before the wind chill.
When you're comfortable in a warm truck it's easy to be deceived by the sun. The thick frost on the branches, however, could never be misleading. It's freezing out there!
I wonder if these charred remains are longing for the return of the forest fire that burnt them, or if the icy coating is a welcome relief.
The day before my trip to town was a less sunny but a bit warmer; only -25 degrees. On days like this it takes a lot of willpower (not to mention layers) to take the dogs for a walk. When we do go out it`s for an abbreviated version of the normal 1-2 hour walks, as I don`t relish the sensation of my jaw freezing so badly that I am unable to speak properly. Or at all.
It may be cold, but it sure is beautiful. It's not always comfortable, but I'm happy to embrace the cold because it makes my world a winter wonderland.
Luckily the shorter walks mean that we don't have to go through the "Snare Zone". As I stated in an earlier post, the wire snares are meant for smaller animals like rabbits, and would unlikely hurt my dogs as long as I am there to help them out quickly, but I'd rather not take the chance. It's hard to make out the wire loop in the above picture, but it's there in the middle of the rabbit trail. When the wind is biting we turn to go back before we get to this part of the lane.
Generally I like to add a warm and hearty recipe that makes me feel good on a cold day, but I really wanted to share this salad, and it has become evident to me that if I'm waiting for a warm day to share a salad, it's not gonna happen for awhile. The Beet Salad was inspired by a meal that I ate while at a restaurant in Ontario, specifically one in Kitchener called Borealis. It's a relatively new place that specializes in great and local food at a fair price (at least that's my take on it). I went with my girlfriends for our annual Christmas Dinner Out and we were really impressed, not only with the food, but that we had unwittingly scheduled our dinner on $4.99 cocktail night, a.k.a Thursday. I happily sipped the best drink I've ever had: the Lemon Ice Wine Martini was absolutely heavenly!
I had eaten a heavy lunch earlier, so I didn't feel like having a large meal despite the delectable options. I chose the Roasted Beet Salad, and not only was it delicious, but it was also pretty easy to reproduce, with a few changes. Instead of roasting, I boiled some beets, then peeled and sliced two (in hindsight, maybe a half a beet too many) and laid them on the plate. The restaurant served mixed greens, but I only had romaine so that's what I piled on top of the beets, then crumbled some goat cheese and sprinkled the mix with toasted pumpkin seeds. The dressing at Borealis is a Niagara red wine vinaigrette, but I chose to make a balsamic reduction instead which I didn't reduce quite enough but I was tired of having my entire kitchen smell like vinegar so I pulled it off the element a bit early. Then I added some honey, garlic powder, cracked pepper and a bit of soya sauce and drizzled it on top. Lovely.
Even better than eating the salad is making art from the leftover beet juice, vinaigrette and goat cheese. I probably couldn't make a more attractive tableau with paint if I tried. Something to do on a frigidly cold afternoon, I guess. Have fun with it!
No comments:
Post a Comment