What I ate Wednesday

Summertime means BBQ...And here on the West Coast, it also means, BBQ Salmon!  Thought I would share it over at What I ate Wednesday over at Peas and Crayons

This recipe is so easy...Get your whole salmon (head on or head off...my kids prefer head on, I prefer head off...If you like fish stock, you want head on)...Your aluminum foil (the heavy duty kind is great)...One or two onions (plus a nice big sweet one for the grill), a good sized lemon, some sea salt and fresh ground pepper and in the case, I used some dried oregano.  Some fresh herbs (chives, parsley...) to sprinkle on before serving).
Slice the lemon and the onions...Set aside the sweet onion slices, 'cause those go on the grill on their own for 5 minutes a side AFTER the fish is done.  Stuff the lemon and onion slices into the fish's belly (er, where the belly used to be, now it is just a perfect onion slice sized slit from head to tail), sprinkle with your salt and pepper and oregano.  Wrap well in the foil, put on preheated grill (medium) and cook for about 35-45 minutes, depending on the size of your fish.  DON'T OPEN THE BBQ!  As long as the lid stays closed, your BBQ will work like an oven.  If the fish was dead when you put it in there, then it is still there, you don't need to check on it!
Serve with new potatoes and Santa Fe salad.  (and make wraps with the leftover salmon and Santa Fe Salad!)
Enjoy!

What the fish looks like after your family has been at it!

Notice what the plate looks like? that fish was GOOD!

Eating Locally

My favourite form of eating locally, is straight out of the garden in your own backyard. When I was young, we had a small garden in the backyard, for green onions and tomatoes, beans and potatoes.  Both of my grandfathers had large vegetable gardens.  Even though one lived right in the center of the city of Sherbrooke, he grew corn and squash and tomatoes and peppers, and lots of zucchini.   As a child, I loved sun-warmed tomatoes (and couldn't stand fried green tomatoes!), eaten out of hand like an apple, while still standing next to the plant that raised it.  Raw green beans...and even better, after sitting on the stoop, topping and tailing those beans, getting to eat a whole plate full, dripping in butter.  Or, the ultimate childhood harvest...Sitting just off the path through the field near our house, in grass that tickled the backs of my knees, hunting for wild strawberries.  The kind you just pick and eat, no need to carry them home.  Occasionally, a few might make it back to the kitchen counter, a little worse for wear, a few strawberry stains on my hands.

Eating some of Grandpa's green beans

Farm on Grand Marais in Chateauguay Valley

We didn't live in the country (although I would have loved that!), just a small suburb off the Island of Montreal, in what is now known as the Monteregie region of Quebec, and home to mostly rural communities.  So there were many trips to the countryside, the Chateauguay Valley, the unofficial Corn capital of Quebec.  Now, I believe one of the main crops is Soy, and celery.  Yes, if you live in Canada (east of the Rockies) and you eat celery grown in Canada, it was likely grown in the Chateauguay Valley.

Where we live now, there is ample space for a lovely vegetable garden, raspberry patch, blueberry bush or whatever.  Heck, we even have one of the best climates  for growing stuff here on Vancouver Island.  I have some friends who have great backyard gardens with way smaller spaces than we do.  And many of them are ready to share their bounty with friends and neighbours.  Recently, one such friend provided us with an abundance of raspberry canes, complete with raspberries getting ready to ripen.

Yes, they were in our yard not more than 24 hours,
and they looked like this:

 

Why?  

...Because of these guys (and yes, they are guys, although the gals are equally responsible for the eating of some items, just didn't catch them in the act this time)

  This year, there are 8 males travelling together, and they range in age from 2 up to about 6 or 7, and they eat EVERYTHING!  Well, almost, they seem to ignore the dandelions and a few other nasty little weeds.  

So, I am starting to think that rather than accepting free deer food  so lovingly cultivated, from friends, I should be trading venison for vegetables...

Happy Packing!

Happy Canada Day!

To all my Canadian Friends,

Happy Canada Day!

Homemade spelt waffles with raspberries and whipped cream and (of course!) some Quebec Maple Syrup!

Enjoy your break from Packing lunches (if you get one!)

Kim