Views from the kitchen: impressions of a four-year-old

A few days ago, I observed my four-year-old taking photos of various foods in the kitchen. Before I could ask her what they were for, she turned to me and said, “Mommy, I’m taking photos for your blog.”

Later, we sat down with the camera to get her impressions of the images she captured, and what she wanted me to write about. As we went through each image she commented on why she took the photo, which I reproduce below (my questions in bold).

Why do you like fruit?
Because it’s my favourite appetite and I like pineapple because it is so juicy. I like the apples because they can make the apple juice and the apple cider.

Why are apples red?
I don’t know! Just because it’s their skin, and that’s the way they were born.

What inspired you to take a photo of a pumpkin?
I like the pumpkin pie.

She points to the bag of potatoes in the background.  

Talk about the potatoes because you can make squash potatoes or chip potatoes. That’s why I put it in the blog.

Why did you include the oats?
We can make oat pancakes and because we can make oats.

Why did you take these photos?
Because I want to be a photographer like you and I want to be a dancer … and I want to make art.

Why did you choose to take this photo?

I like meat because it is really juicy.

What’s this?

This is beef! This is beef Mommy. The most I like about beef is that it is really tender and juicy.

Why do you like blueberries?
I like blueberries because we can make smoothies, blueberry pie, and blueberry popsicles.

Do you know why blueberries are blue?
Because they are kind of like blackberries except that blueberries are blue. I think they just put food colouring in it.

Who puts the food colouring in the blueberries?
The bakers.

How do we get blueberries?
You get a ladder and you pick them down. They put them in a truck, then they go to the store and then they [the customers] pick them up, buy them, go home and wash their hands, and then cook it [the blueberries].

What is this photo about?

 

About the nuts. Nuts are really cool. I like nuts except for one nut I don’t like. I don’t like cashews!

Why then did you take a photo of the cashews?
I put them in your blog because I know you like cashews.

…

Nuts! I like the colour because there’s different colours of the skin and the skin is really cool. 

My Gratitude to Prisoner Number 46664

I have been overwhelmed by the world’s reaction to Nelson Mandela’s death on Thursday. It has been emotional, to say the least, to see people from all across the globe pay tribute to this ‘giant of history’.

I was a young child when one hot August afternoon, our plane descended onto the tarmac of Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. I looked out the window excitedly to see what my new country looked like. At immigration, under the line “Citizenship of” in the Record of Landing document was typed “stateless”. From birth, I belonged to no country. I was an individual without a citizenship, until Canada became my first home.

Like many South Africans who fought against the apartheid regime, my father was forced to flee South Africa and go into exile. He lived in exile for almost thirty years before coming to Canada. My mother had one hope for herself. She vowed that if she ever had children they would never grow up under apartheid. She left her life and family in Cape Town and began the nomadic life abroad.

My mother’s hope was realized. I never grew up under apartheid, but it clung to our lives and haunted us. My father’s hope was to live on the border of South Africa in order to be close to our families. But the closer to the border we came, the more our lives were endangered. When I was five, living in Botswana, our family came under surveillance by the South African government. Many South African families living in countries bordering South Africa were under constant surveillance, which resulted in killings or homes being bombed. One afternoon, I discovered a parked car outside our home. Two white men in plain clothes were taking photos of our house. The police later confirmed that they were monitoring our family. That night my parents packed up our family, and drove an hour into a remote village where we would hide out at my aunt’s home. We did this every night for months. That’s how South Africans in Botswana died. Their homes were surveilled, and then later bombed. We never knew in what state we would find our house the next morning. My parents decided to leave the country and immigrated to Canada. My mother’s hope was realized. I became a citizen of a country for the first time when I was ten years old. My home was and always will be Canada.

This is the story of millions of South Africa whose lives were affected by apartheid. I was the fortunate one. I never experienced the humiliation of segregated bathrooms and buses, the immorality laws, the onerous obligation of having to carry a pass, or have a pencil put through my curls to see if my hair was ‘kinky” enough to relegate me to the fourth class citizenry of “Bantu”.

Instead, I was given the opportunity to grow up in a country governed by the rule of law and filled with endless possibilities, where if I worked hard I could accomplish anything, irrespective of my gender or race. My parents struggled as new immigrants in a foreign country. My mother returned to school and my father, with a PhD in Chemistry from a West German university, struggled to find work for our first year. Our lives weren’t easy, but my parents instilled in my brother and me the value of hard work and integrity. We lived in a safe country, free of racial violence and systemic bigotry. We could go to school and play outside without fearing for our lives.

Today, I owe my gratitude to the many South Africans who stood up and defied the apartheid regime. And I owe a profound gratitude to a man who has humbled me with his unfathomable sense of grace and forgiveness and unwavering desire to achieve for us the simple fact of life in a democratic society.

My parents would never have realized their hopes of raising a family outside apartheid if it wasn’t for a country that gave us sanctuary. We’ve read this week about the important role that Canada played in calling upon the international community to take action against the apartheid government. However, Canada also played a role in giving a home to many South Africans whose lives were threatened by apartheid. I was able to go to school, go on to earn two law degrees, get married and bring into this world two amazing children whose lives are a testament to Madiba’s legacy.

In 1998, I went to live in South Africa where I spent two years living in the Eastern Cape, one of the poorest provinces in the country and also where Mandela was born and raised. The beautiful landscape and breathtaking scenery is marked by endemic poverty, violence and AIDS . At the time that I lived there, one in four people was HIV positive. Charlize Theron was appearing on television commercials about the fact that every 26 seconds a woman was being raped in the country. I lived in a small town which was emblematic of South Africa’a historical past. The centre, buried in a deep valley, was developed and for the most part, white and privileged. The periphery was lined with shanty towns, poor infrastructure and destitute poverty. I was so disappointed by the socioeconomic situations that so many of black South Africans endured. What did democracy mean when many of these people didn’t even have adequate drinking water? But despite the poverty and unemployment, South Africans have an unequivocal sense of hope. I realized this most when I photographed the second democratic election in 1999. If there is one memory that lasts with me, it is of these individuals waiting patiently in line since the early hours of the morning to cast their ballot. There they stood quietly, resolute in their desire to exercise a simple right that was now entrenched in their constitution.

So when I read about how Mandela’s legacy has come to an end, I am reminded of the millions of men and women who stood in line to vote in 1999 and the millions more who continue, in the face of the growing social and economic divide, to hope for a better tomorrow. We watched Mandela walk out of prison a free man in 1990 and we owe it to him to fulfil his promise that “[n]ever, never, and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.” It is a deep sense of hope that will allow us to realize this dream.

My parents’ hope for a better life for their children meant that they could live in a society where their grandchildren would never even fathom the ugly face of apartheid, that their children could realize their potential without any social or political obstacles. My own children’s knowledge of apartheid will derive from the history of their grandparents’ lips. They will never appreciate what apartheid meant because the concept of dividing people according to their racial makeup will be as foreign and insidious to them as the holocaust and slavery is to me. This is the hope that Mandela had for all of us, and one we must continue to honour for those who still struggle in the face of social injustice. As Mandela so poignantly wrote, “the purpose of freedom is to create it for others.”

It is hard to imagine that a young boy from a remote village in South Africa would grow up to lead a nation, to become the most revered figure of the twentieth century and to leave an indelible mark on mankind. Would that little boy in Qunu have known that millions of people around the world would tweet about his passing, that countries would declare national days of mourning, that foreign dignitaries would travel to his remote village to bear their final respects to such a great figure? I am only one individual, but I owe a deep gratitude to Madiba for bringing freedom and democracy to my country, and to enable me to achieve the destiny I was intended for.

The Switch Witch: a new spin on Halloween

It’s been a week since Halloween. Are you wondering what to do with all that leftover candy that your kids can’t seem to get enough of? As a child, the best part of Halloween (apart from the dark, spooky nights and crazy costumes) was the delight in devouring HUGE bags filled with candy. Every year my friends and I would set out at the slightest hint of nightfall with the sole mission of filling our pillow cases to the brim with candy. No house would be ignored, and we would avoid with great care any neighbour who handed out apples or any healthy snack. Those families were eagerly blacklisted and there was a community of children who used sophisticated intel to inform their peers of which houses to avoid.

Today as a parent, I cringe at the prospect of my kids coming home with large quantities of candy. I thought of becoming that house that hands out apples or play dough. For children, an important part of Halloween is enjoying and truly indulging in copious amounts of sugar. So how was I going to curb my children’s enthusiasm for candy, without being a Debbie Downer?

At first I thought I would do nothing. My children are young and probably wouldn’t eat that much candy. I reflected on last year, when my eldest was content on receiving a small quantity of candy every day until her reserve was depleted. I would do the same this year. The only problem was her little sister.

On Halloween night, my youngest who can barely talk pointed feverishly at a small bag of chocolate candies. I gave her two pieces of candy which she inhaled, and within seconds her expression changed. She rarely had the chance to enjoy something so sweet and she insisted I give her more, and by insist I mean she began to scream. To diffuse the situation I handed her the remainder of the small bag which she devoured instantly. She then fell to the floor, screamed and pounded her tiny fists on the ground upon hearing the words “all done!”

I had never seen such a visceral reaction in my little girl, but she was so consumed with the taste of this sweet substance. I had to cut her off. She was too young, and I didn’t want this to turn ugly. But then, what would happen when her big sister came home with a bag filled with the same small packs of this sweet substance? How would we keep her away from all these treats? It’s easier to convince a child that she cannot eat all her candy in one sitting, but hard to communicate to a toddler the same message. I had to find a way to get rid of the Halloween candy. All of it.

The next day a friend asked me about the Switch Witch. She is a witch who comes in the night and “switches” children’s candy with a gift. I loved this idea! I could get rid of our Halloween candy and at the same time preserve contentment on my girls’ faces. First, I had to sell my eldest on this idea.

I mentioned the Switch Witch in passing, asking my daughter if she ever heard of her. She hadn’t, and when I described the clandestine transaction, my child was uninterested. There was noooo way she was giving up her Halloween candy for some lame witch. I let it go. The next day, after she had enjoyed a few more treats, I mentioned that the Switch Witch was doing her rounds in our neighbourhood and was looking for homes to visit, reminding her that she would receive a surprise in return. This time she appeared interested at the idea of enjoying something other than candy. I told her I’d “text” the Switch Witch and let her know that our family was in for the switch. The next night, my daughter left her bag of candies hanging on the door and the following morning, to my daughter’s great delight, there was a gift bag there in its place.

To my pleasant surprise, my daughter hasn’t since asked for her Halloween candies. I think the Switch Witch was a hit for the following reasons:

• We introduced the idea to our daughter, and let her make the decision about whether to invite the Switch Witch into our home. This gave her a sense of empowerment so she would feel confident in her decision;
• We let her enjoy her Halloween candy for a few days before the Switch Witch came so she could still enjoy a few treats and not feel she was losing out when she gave them up;
• The deal was attractive. She loved the idea of someone, a witch for that matter, coming at night into her home and leaving a surprise for her in the morning;
• She had fun! We all did. It was a win-win situation for her since she got a nice present in exchange for her candies, as well as for us parents since we don’t have to deal with sugar-induced tantrums or unhealthy eating.

The Switch Witch is a keeper, and has been a great way to slowly transition Halloween candy out of our home.

Related articles

• Does The Switch Witch Come To Your House? (b96.cbslocal.com)

The questionable food labels

A few months ago, I saw a TV commercial for a food product claiming it was “made with real ingredients”. I thought about what this meant. Arsenic is real, and so is mercury, formaldehyde, even dog poop is real. So if I baked chocolate chip cookies and threw in some arsenic, mercury and/or dog poop would I be able to label it “made with real ingredients”? I then imagined what would not be considered a “real ingredient”, and came up with only a few things like pixie dust and elbow grease.

The purpose of that advertisement, or rather the claim “made with real ingredients”, was to suggest something authentic, wholesome or even natural in the food product being advertised. But if one deconstructs its meaning, we’re left with pretty much anything tangible. This is where the success of advertising lies: making claims that will leave the recipient of the message believing in something that may not necessarily exist.

Then there are claims like “natural”. Again, arsenic, mercury, and even lead could also be considered “natural” since they occur naturally in our environment. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising, “[a]dvertisements should not convey the impression that ‘Nature’ has, by some miraculous process, made some foods nutritionally superior to others or has engineered some foods specially to take care of human needs. Some consumers may consider foods described as ‘natural’ of greater worth than foods not so described.”

So what can’t be labelled as “natural”? According to CFIA: “[f]oods or ingredients of foods submitted to processes that have significantly altered their original physical, chemical or biological state should not be described as ‘natural’. This includes such changes as the removal of caffeine.” To read more on this, click here.

There are tons of food products that make claims like “made with real ingredients”, “contains real fruit” or “natural”. I recently noticed a container of Becel margarine with the label “Becel® with Bertolli Olive Oil”. Wow! Margarine made with olive oil!!! I then read the ingredient list which can be found here:

Canola 66%, olive oil 8%, water, modified palm and palm kernel oils 6%, salt 1.8%, whey powder 1.4%, soy lecithin 0.2%, vegetable monoglycerides, potassium sorbate, vegetable colour, artificial flavour, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3, alpha-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E).

The first ingredient is canola oil (66%) followed by olive oil (8%). However, the main claim being made (from my perspective as a consumer) is that the margarine is made with olive oil, hence the name “Becel Olive Oil”. Even the packaging is different. Instead of Becel’s yellow container, the Becel Olive Oil margarine comes in a green container, which to me, is meant to be associated with olive oil.

Despite the name “Becel Olive Oil” and the slightly nuanced packaging, the margarine contains only 8% olive oil. Why not call it “Becel Canola Oil” since there is more than 8 times canola oil than olive oil? Is it because olive oil is generally perceived as healthier cooking oil?  However, the success of the label is dependent on how well it convinces the reader that this is indeed a product that contains a substantial amount of olive oil, convincing enough to purchase the margarine (if you don’t really read the label).

Food labels can be misleading and it takes a very scrutinizing eye to identify truth from fiction. A few steps I use when buying packaged products are:

1. Always read the labels. The front of the packaging, the back, the large print, the small print because the devil really is in the details.
2. Always read the ingredient list to see the main ingredients. According to CFIA’s Guide to Food Labelling and Advertising: “[i]n general, ingredients must be listed in descending order of proportion by weight, as determined before they are combined to make the food. The exceptions are spices, seasonings and herbs (except salt), natural and artificial flavours, flavour enhancers, food additives, and vitamin and mineral nutrients and their derivatives or salts, which may be shown at the end of the ingredient list in any order.”
3. Always read the nutritional information. Even though a product may only contain one ingredient it can contain a significant amount of other questionable ingredients. I recently purchased coconut flour with only one listed ingredient on the package: “organic coconut flour”. However, 2 Tbsp of this flour contains 30mg of sodium, and according to Health Canada, the adequate intake of daily sodium for adults 14-50 years is 1500 mg/day. One cup of coconut flour contains 250mg of sodium. Why does coconut flour have to have this much sodium? Is it naturally occurring sodium?
4. I always, always question what I read. I never assume that because something is “healthy” or “natural” that it is accurately labelled. I find this especially true with non-dairy products such as almond milks (but more about this later).

Food should be simple and conveying information about what a food product contains should be honest and accurate. Reading labels and being informed are first steps in making sure we have access to truly healthy and nutritious foods.

Thanksgiving turkey keeps on giving

Yesterday was World Food Day, and this interesting report on food waste by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization concludes that “[r]oughly one-third of the edible parts of food produced for human consumption, gets lost or wasted globally, which is about 1.3 billion ton per year.” I believe simple things can help reduce our waste of food, like trying to make full use of the foods we eat.

On Monday I decided to do just that. I took the leftover turkey carcass from our Sunday night Thanksgiving dinner and with a few ingredients from around the kitchen I made turkey stock. It’s a simple process and you can rely on basic ingredients from your fridge and pantry. I used these ingredients:

You can use any vegetables and the best recipe, when it comes to stock, is no recipe. The longer you cook the stock, the healthier and more flavourful it becomes. 

Making stock is very basic. I placed the turkey, vegetables and spices in a large stock pot, and filled it with water covering the turkey. I brought the pot to a boil then simmered on low for 16 hours (I would’ve done more but was too tired).

I then removed the pot from the stove, and let it cool before pouring it into mason jars. Since I had a large amount, I used mainly 1 litre mason jars (although having different sizes is useful for various recipes).

I then filled one jar with 3½ cups of stock (leaving enough room to freeze) then used that jar as a measurement for the remaining jars, by placing an empty jar beside it and filling that jar with stock to reach the same volume as the first jar. This saved a lot of time since I had several jars to fill.

I usually freeze my jars for up to three months. I was able to make just over 8 litres of turkey stock:

Chocolate Chip Breakfast Treats

Happy Thanksgiving! What a busy and fun weekend giving thanks for family and friends, laughter and good health. My daughter loves to bake so yesterday morning we decided to bake these breakfast treats, with her favourite: chocolate chips. However, when she saw the rest of the ingredients she became “nervous”. She didn’t think it was possible to bake something delicious with almonds and oats. Well she ate her words when she sunk her teeth into these very delicious and healthy treats (if you want an even healthier recipe, I’m sure you can substitute the chocolate chips with raisins).

Yield: approximately 20

Ingredients
1½ cups gluten-free rolled oats
1 cup almond slivers
½ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine sea salt
2 eggs lightly beaten
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp almond milk
½ cup dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF.
2. In a food processor or blender, blend one cup of the rolled oats (reserving the other ½ cup) and the almond slivers into flour. Add to a large mixing bowl.
3. In a food processor or blender, blend 1 cup of the coconut flakes into a fine consistency, and add to the flour.
4. Combine the baking powder, salt and remaining oats with the other dry ingredients.
5. In another bowl, combine all the wet ingredients.
6. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then fold in the chocolate chips.
7. Form batter into 1.5 inch balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about an inch apart.
8. Bake for about 12 minutes or until they become slightly golden. Enjoy!

Starbucks, what’s in your coffee?

A pregnant woman walks into a Starbucks and is berated by the barista for buying a caffeinated coffee. There’s no punch line since this isn’t really a joke. My girlfriend did walk into a Vancouver Starbucks where the barista questioned her for ordering a coffee. And oh boy, what a coffee! It had caffeine in it!!! How dare she feed this stimulant to the tiny fetus growing inside her?

This got me thinking. Why was coffee the subject of discord for this barista? Is decaf coffee safer than caffeinated coffee? Has this barista ever read the ingredient list on Starbucks’ drink menu (or its food menu for that matter)? Would he also have scolded a very thirsty, pregnant woman who picked up a venti decaf White Chocolate Mocha with 510 calories, 330mg of sodium and a whopping 74g of sugar?

We are conditioned to think certain things are unhealthy, but sometimes we need to scratch the surface just a tad. I was mesmerized by this barista’s comment. I’m sure every pregnant woman has been at the receiving end of such unsolicited advice. I know I have. But what made our barista friend think that the caffeinated Starbucks coffee was the only thing in the coffee shop that presented a risk to her baby?

There are various ways to decaffeinate coffee. I contacted Starbucks to see which processes they use. Starbucks’ Decaf Sumatra is decaffeinated using a “natural decaffeination method” which “uses natural carbon dioxide and ultra-pure water to remove the caffeine from the green coffee beans.  The beans are then gently dried and cooled. In Canada, this process is known as ‘CO.’”

A second method for decaffeinating coffee is the “direct contact method of decaffeination”. According to Starbucks:

“[w]ith direct contact, a solvent (methylene chloride) is introduced to the green coffee beans as they soak.  The solvent bonds with the caffeine in the beans and removes it.  The solvent is then taken away from the beans and the coffee is roasted at over 400^oF.  Since the solvent has a much lower boiling point (114^oF) the coffee beans that come from this process produce a cup of coffee that has no detectable trace of methylene chloride.”

I had never heard of methylene chloride so I did some research. According to Health Canada (see s. 5.2), methylene chloride a.k.a. dichloromethane, is used as a solvent extraction in spices, teas and coffees, and has been found in various foods such as cereals, butter, cheese, margarine, processed foods and peanut butter.

An alternative to chemical processing is the Swiss water process. According to one company that uses this method, Swiss Water® Process, water “from the pristine environment of the coast mountains of British Columbia” is used “to gently remove the caffeine until the coffee beans are 99.9% caffeine-free, while maintaining the bean’s distinctive origin and flavor characteristics.” Bridgehead uses the Swiss water process to decaffeinate its coffees.

Since it seems that most decaffeinated coffee from Starbucks uses the direct contact method of decaffeination which involves the chemical methylene chloride, I wonder if the pregnant woman who walks into a Starbucks would be better off drinking a decaffeinated coffee. It’s not always about substance. It seems that how something is produced is just as important.

And what about their decaffeinated drinks? If a pregnant woman walked into a Starbucks and bought a grande Caramel Apple Spice (Without Whipped Cream) signature espresso drink would the barista bitterly berate her for consuming a decaffeinated drink that contains 65g of sugar? What would our barista friend have to say about a baby doing flip flops after being exposed to that much sugar?

Labels are important, and so is the way in which food is made. A label doesn’t often convey the processing method, which in my opinion, can be just as important about what the product contains. So next time a Starbucks barista wants to bemoan a pregnant mama for enjoying her one cup of coffee, he should spend a little more time informing himself about how the decaf coffee he serves came to be. There are also a lot of other things to be worrying about than a fetus being exposed to a cup of caffeinated coffee, like what will that baby be exposed to growing up in a world where, according to WWF, it takes 200 litres of water to make ONE latte.

Gobble Gobble: Where Does My Thanksgiving Turkey Come From?

In a book that changed my understanding of food, Jonathan Safran Foer (author of Eating Animals), describes Thanksgiving:

Of the thousand-or-so meals we eat every year, Thanksgiving dinner is the one that we try most earnestly to get right. It holds the hope of being a good meal, whose ingredients, efforts, setting, and consuming are expressions of the best in us. More than any other meal, it is about good eating and good thinking.

I couldn’t agree more. Thanksgiving and Christmas are my two favourite celebrations of the year, and the turkey which sits as a prized dish at the centre of the table is a symbol of the annual ritual that brings all our loved ones together. Yet Foer’s depiction of our relationship to turkeys seems to speak otherwise:

And more than any other food, the Thanksgiving turkey embodies the paradoxes of  eating animals: what we do to living turkeys is just about as bad as anything humans have ever done to any animal in the history of the world.

Having researched and visited factory farms where he experienced the deplorable living conditions of these birds, Foer asks the simple question: Should we serve turkey at Thanksgiving?

I asked myself the same question when I first started becoming more conscious of the lives of animals on factory farms. According to the Turkey Farmers of Canada, last year alone Canadians consumed 142 million kg of turkey. Thanksgiving and Christmas apparently account for the two largest purchases of turkey. During last year’s Thanksgiving, 3.1 million whole turkeys were purchased by Canadians, equal to 35% of all whole turkeys that were sold over the year. That is a whole lot of turkey, and one can only imagine how these birds end up on our dinner plates.

In a factory farm, thousands of turkeys are housed together in a large space with barely any room to maneuver. They are debeaked i.e. their upper beaks are snipped off with machinery to prevent them, while being confined with thousands of others, from pecking at each other.  Foer describes a farm that he visited, where there were “tens of thousands of turkey chicks … huddled in groups, asleep beneath the heat lamps installed to replace the warmth their broody mothers would have provided.”

Instead of open pastures where turkeys can forage, the factory farm is characterized by “lights, feeders, fans, and heat lamps evenly spaced in a perfectly calibrated artificial day.” Food writer, Kristin Wartman, describes the living conditions of turkeys on these farms:

Industrially produced turkeys spend their first three weeks of life crammed into a brooder with hundreds of other birds. In the fourth week, turkey chicks are moved from the brooder to a giant window-less room with 10,000 other turkeys where bright lights shine 24 hours a day. With the lights constantly blaring, natural sleeping, eating, and fertility patterns are completely disrupted and the turkeys are, for the most part, kept awake and eating non-stop. Turkeys have an instinct to roost, or to clutch something when they sleep, but on the floor of a crowded room there is no such opportunity. If this is starting to sound like torture to you, you’re on the mark.

Like all animals, turkeys are sentient beings. They experience pain and pleasure. In a factory farm they undergo tremendous stress from having to survive in an overcrowded environment and where they are unable to live a free life.

After reading Eating Animals and watching documentaries like Food Inc. I felt the only recourse was to refrain from eating meat. Period. The only problem with that is (a) I LOVE meat and (b) I love turkey at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Fortunately, there are farmers out there who value the lives of animals, and are committed to raising animals in an ethical manner. I started to seek out these individuals. I went to farmers markets, spoke to people, read blogs. One thing I’ve learned is that farmers sell more than what they bring to the market. Steve can sell vegetables at the market but raise sheep, turkeys and chickens that you can buy straight from his farm. So it’s a good idea to talk to farmers because there’s a lot more that they offer than what you see at their stands at the weekend market.

For the past few years I’ve been buying my turkey from local farmers who raise their turkeys in an open pasture, where they get to eat grubs, worms, grass and clover. These animals taste so much better. In factory farms, in the dark light or constant brightness turkeys are fed feed and because they don’t have much room to move around, or obtain natural light, they don’t grow properly. How can a bird living under these conditions ever taste good? How can it be healthy?

There’s always the issue of cost. I saw a Butterball turkey yesterday at the grocery store for $3.30/lb. I buy my turkey for $4.35/lb. The difference in price is not that substantial especially when I consider what I’m getting: a fresh, healthy animal that lived a happy life. Isn’t it worth it?

In a letter to his daughter in 1784 (an excerpt here), Benjamin Franklin questioned whether the bald eagle should serve as the national bird of the United States of America:

I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America…

I wonder what Franklin would think of how we treat the turkey today?

I wish you all a happy thanksgiving this year and for years to come. I also encourage you to think a little more about how valuable Thanksgiving is, and the meaning of appreciation we attach to this important day. Should we not do the same for the animals we eat?

A First Kick at the Can at Tomato Canning

In an effort to avoid buying bland, hot house tomatoes in the middle of winter, I’ve wanted a way to have access to delicious, flavoured tomatoes for stewing and for sauces on those cold days when a hot stew is in perfect order. The idea of canning was way too overwhelming. Thoughts of botulism or the long process of washing, blanching and canning a bushel of tomatoes was enough to deter me. But this year I decided to take the leap and try it out. I wanted to appreciate the value of preserving food to sustain our family through the winter. If I start with something as “simple” as canning tomatoes, the possibilities would be endless.

I started to research how to properly can tomatoes. I needed a guide to really dumb down the entire process for me. A great reference point is the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning, 2009 revision which provides a step-by-step approach for canning various foods, including tomatoes, and other interesting things like poultry. I never imagined the possibility of canning a chicken, but I guess anything is possible. I also talked to A LOT of people. I asked questions, got tips and ideas. Do I really need to remove the skin off the tomatoes? An overwhelming YES! No matter how much I wanted to avoid this mind-numbing step, it proved to be very crucial in ensuring a tasty end product.

And so began my canning story.

My first step was to find the perfect tomatoes. I had the unfortunate luck of all my tomato plants becoming infected with blight this summer so the hopes of canning my garden tomatoes were shot. The next best thing was a local farmer who sold organic Roma tomatoes. Last year I bought a large quantity from Waratah Downs Organic Farm at the Ottawa Farmers Market. I froze most of my order and also made tomato sauce which I cooked down for hours and frozen in batches.

Pleased with my tasty tomatoes from Waratah Downs Organic Farm last year, I returned a few Sundays ago. John invited me to the back of his stand to go through his tomatoes and pick out a half bushel of Romas. Not only did I walk away with a good stash, but Kim who also works with Waratah, gave me so many great tips on canning tomatoes and more importantly, some serious encouragement that this was not a difficult endeavour.

I returned home with almost a half bushel of tomatoes, weighing in at just under 25lbs. I then needed equipment to can these bad boys. A trip to Canadian Tire and voila: 12 x 1 litre mason jars, a 20 litre canner for sterilizing the mason jars and processing the tomatoes once canned, a rack for lifting the mason jars out of the boiling water, a funnel, a jar lifter, a lid lifter, a bubble remover, ice cubes, paper towels, and some lemon juice. Actually, I bought the lemon juice from the grocery store. I’m glad I decided on pre-squeezed because, looking back, I think having to squeeze as many lemons to fill all those jars would have really turned me off the idea of canning … forever.

I was ready to start canning. First, I washed my tomatoes thoroughly and lay them on a tea cloth:

I then sterilized the jars which, surprisingly, took more time than I expected. It’s amazing how long it takes to boil over 20 litres of water. I ended up boiling another batch of mason jars in a separate pot, which saved a lot of time. 

I sterilized the lids separately. One lesson I learned with canning, is that while mason jars and screw bands can be reused, the metal snap lids should never be reused.

I brought a medium-sized pot of water to a boil, and began the tedious task of blanching the tomatoes. However, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t as dreary and time consuming as I expected. I placed the tomatoes in boiling water for about 30 to 60 seconds then dipped them in a bowl of cold water (this is where the ice cubes came in handy). The skin easily peeled off. I then removed the cores before placing the tomatoes in the mason jars.

I filled the mason jars with the tomatoes, leaving ½-inch headspace. I also added two tablespoons of lemon juice into each jar. The air bubble remover became handy to remove air bubbles from the jars. I (and by “I”, I mean my loving husband who took four hours of his vacation time to help can) then wiped each jar with a paper towel to clean off any remaining juices. We then screwed the lids on but not too tightly.

We then placed the jars back into the water canners and covered them with at least one inch of water. We processed the jars in boiling water for at least 45 minutes.

We set the jars down to cool for 24 hours and this was our final product:

In short, we canned almost half a bushel of Roma tomatoes (just under 25 lbs) in about four hours, and ended up with 9 x 1 litre jars of tomatoes. Not bad for a first try. More importantly, I conquered a fear of canning, which turned out to be quite a delightful experience (and bonding opportunity). Who would’ve thought!

Tasting Something New at Roots and Shoots

I can be a culinary creature of habit. I’m often too intimidated to try new vegetables. Rainbow beet root was living on the dark side. On the rare occasion that I have bought something ‘daring’, I ended up being too lazy to find a complimentary recipe, and it sat in the fridge to wilt away. I needed to pace myself. Start with something not too threatening. No Jerusalem artichoke or celery root. Instead, at the Roots and Shoots stand one morning at the market, Danny the farmer convinced me to try napa cabbage.

I was slightly familiar with this cabbage. I had seen it in the grocery aisle labelled ‘Chinese cabbage’, and it kinda resembled lettuce. When I was a child, my girlfriend’s mom would stir-fry lettuce for us and I thought it was amazing. Stir-fry, I thought. Not too complicated! I bought a bunch, or two, and two years later all I keep thinking is: how did I survive life without this delicious bundle of absolute goodness?

Two lessons learned: (1) it’s not always a challenge to try something new (Jerusalem artichoke is still on my to-do list) and (2) Roots and Shoots grow some good stuff. I had to take a trip to the farm. A few weeks ago, we drove out to the farm which lies near the Bakker’s General Store at the corner of Mitch Owen’s Drive and Manotick Station Road.

These guys are BUSY. I had emailed Robin to see if we could pop by for a visit, and he graciously agreed but warned that he might not have the time to give us a formal tour. We pulled up to the farm while Dymmie, one of the farmers, was rinsing some carrots that she just harvested:

There is nothing as inviting as the rich, strong smell of root vegetables that have JUST been pulled from the earth. I breathed it all in, and for a split second imagined giving it all up to live on a farm to enjoy this sublime moment every single harvest. Then reality sunk in. These gals and guys are up at the crack of dawn every day, working long hours to supply their CSAs with a generous bounty, and to have surplus to bring to market each week. It is grueling, back breaking labour I’m sure, and it’s given me a strong appreciation for the simple slogan “Farmers Feed Cities”.

I’ve always regretted not signing up to the Roots and Shoots CSA, and I guess there’s always next year. They are well priced, certified organic and have a great range of veges in each share. They are at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market at Byron Park on Saturdays, and Brewer Park on Sundays; the Bakker’s General Store right near their farm in Manotick, and some other markets as listed on their website. Unfortunately, they are no longer at the Kanata Farmers’ Market on Saturdays.

Just recently I bought some cured butternut which I planned on storing in my basement for winter, but made soup instead. It was my first ever entirely local meal where all the ingredients came from within 150km of home (recipe to follow).

I’ve learned to taste new veges for the first time, like napa cabbage, but also really taste familiar veges for the first time, like celery. I had only eaten celery from the grocery store until I bought a bunch from Roots and Shoots one summer. The strong, distinct celery taste was like nothing I had ever eaten before. I truly tasted celery for the first time.