Northern Scenes and Winter Greens

Going for a walk the other day I was once again blown away by the beauty of this rustic Northern Landscape. I don't know if it's just me, but I am in awe of the trees, the shrubs, the snow and the sky every time that I venture out of the house. The vast expanses of snow-covered lakes thrill me in their barrenness although I know from the local ice fisherman that there is life under the heavy sheet of ice. I am dazzled by my Northern Playground. It may just be because I'm New Up North, but I hope this feeling never fades.

I decided to trudge through some of the bush while walking the dogs because it is like a Elven Wonderland. The snow is so thick in these parts that I let the dogs run ahead of me so that I could have a partial trail to follow. It was still difficult to make any quick progress, but my efforts were rewarded by this most striking likeness of a snowy-white boa constrictor lounging on a fallen trunk.

I'm not sure what's happened here exactly, but a delightful mixture of snow, wind and sun have created this slinky, perfectly draped albino. Maybe he's waiting for a blast of sunlight to warm his dormant state so that he can slither away, invisible in the pristine snow. Even with the dogs paving the way through the knee-to-waist-deep snow, it was an aerobic workout for me to get back to the partially plowed back-road that is our normal walking route.

Back to the kitchen after my hearty walk to deal with a different kind of heartiness. In the New Year I've been cooking with some new vegetables for the first time. I have sauteed swiss chard and roasted fennel, so I decided to continue my leafy green cooking experimentation by dehydrating kale. I've had kale once or twice in salads, but never prepared it myself, and I've never dehydrated anything. I found a Vegan/Raw Food recipe that has gotten rave reviews all over the internet. The most common claim is that the kale chips taste exactly like real sour cream and onion chips despite the fact that the "sour cream" is made of a cashew mixture. I wasn't sure about that, so I decided to give them a try to see for myself. I used sunflower seeds instead of the cashews because that's the closest thing I had and I wasn't about to drive for 5 hours total just to make this recipe authentic. I mixed the dressing in my Magic Bullet, which was super quick and easy, although the texture maintained a certain level of graininess that I couldn't seem to get rid of.

I made only half of the recipe because I didn't have a lot of kale, and even so I think I should have made even less because I put too much goop on the kale, resulting in a bit of a clumpy mess with some parts being super crisp and others still a little mushy. I also don't have a dehydrator and the lowest setting on my oven is 170 degrees Fahrenheit (left them in for 4-5 hours) so they are technically cooked as opposed to dehydrated. One of the principles of raw food is that nothing is heated to over 140 degrees, so my chips aren't considered raw by purists, but I would be extremely shocked to come in contact with a Raw Foodie Up Here in Northern Saskatchewan anyway. The chips were interesting in flavour, and I wouldn't say they tasted like sour cream and onion. Maybe the cashews make a big difference so I might try them again if I have the proper nuts around, but otherwise I think that the next time I make kale chips I'll just season them with a bit of olive oil and salt and call it a day.

 

Speaking of the end of day, what could be a better way to say goodnight than a cheery wave from the Aurora Borealis. They were splendid one night last week as I came home from a gathering at a friend's house. I stopped and watched for awhile as the Northern Lights danced above me. This was the first time I was able to capture a streak (although, sadly, nowhere near their true essence) on my iPhone, and I was even in town amongst the street lights. Truly an amazing experience and one that I know I will never get completely used to, no matter how long I live Up North.