Email History

Like so many people of my generation, I have multiple email addresses. Three to be exact. The Oatmeal, has a great comic about what your email address says about you, but then again The Oatmeal has great things in general.

Indeed, my old Hotmail address still exists, though I rarely check it anymore, I keep it around in case it happens to be the only address someone has and they need to get in touch. Though I suppose they could just go one Facebook or Google me as one person did (not that I am famous, but there are not too many Toronto Hilary Green's out there). It is also where I get some e-blasts that I need to get but don't need to look at on a regular basis (CAEA I am looking at your E-Drive here) and where I have an extensive file of great emails from my university years.

Today when I was cleaning out the inbox I took a look in a folder I had labelled "I Like." Two things stuck out at me. I'll give you the sort of melancholy one first. It was an old email from a friend who passed away. For some reason in 2002 I circulated around with our friends that asked what the three songs would be at your funeral. My friend Bryce who passed away a few years later wrote:

Bad as they seem, Hayden
Motion Picture Soundtrack, Radiohead
Ice ice baby, Vanilla Ice... But all funeral attendees would have to replace the word "ice" with "Bryce"

And it made me think of him again.

Then I kept going and found this poem that my friend Kristopher wrote, it would have been when we were all (you know all of us right?) living together. I guess we were writing door poetry in the mornings for each other or something silly like that. And since it has to do with food I thought I would publish here (Kris don't sue me!)

HOT TEA?
maybe this tea won't be hot.
a quick sip tells me it is not.
a burning feeling, then to numb,
to think tea cool, that was dumb
my tongue now feeling thick and hurt,
the roof of my mouth raw and burnt
i slap my thigh in anger and scorn,
why do i do this every morn.

As you can see by the poem above and image below (of Bryce and a lens) both these guys were a little bit silly, if they had ever met they probably would have got on like a house on fire.

It's been too hot again to cook, but here is a link to an easy salad to see you through.

The One Where I Talk about Quinoa

June was kind of nutty and I didn't cook so much, then July came and with the first of July comes this ones birthday:

And there was some champagne and good times. Then the G20 came and there were some really really bad times.

Then we went to the cottage and had some homemade wings and other delicious foods, and the good times returned. With views like this:

Before we left for the cottage my long awaited oilcloth order came and I got really into crafting and finished this (more on my oilcloth obsession in another post):

Then we went out and around and saw some things like this:

And this past weekend visited, among others, these lovely ladies:

So with all of that running around and eating on the road I thought it best this week to return to some healthy roots.

With that in mind I bring you a quinoa salad. Embarrassingly healthy and though you do have to turn on the oven it can be eaten cold, straight from the fridge, keeping for 3 days. Perfect for summer office lunches.

Curried Quinoa Salad

From the GI Diet Cookbook

Serves 6

*You can add some diced cooked chicken (as I did) or tofu to make this a complete meal.

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 tbsp + 1/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup chopped shallot

1 tsp curry powder (or more if you like it spicy)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped carrot

1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup chopped toasted cashews

2 tbsp chopped green onion

1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1. In frying pan over medium heat, toast quinoa for 5 minutes or until fragrant and beginning to to pop. In small saucepan, bring 2 cups of water and a pinch of salt to boil. Add toasted quinoa; cover and simmer over medium head for 15 to 20 minutes or until water is absorbed. Scrap quinoa into a large bowl. Let cool.

2. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high eat; cook shallot for 3 minutes or until softened. Stir in curry powder and cook, stirring, for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together remaining oil, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper and pour over quinoa. Stir in reserved shallot mixture, carrot, red pepper, apricots, cashews, green onion and parsley.

Beans, Beans the Musical Fruit....

On Sunday we finally came out of the little cold snap we had been experiencing this May. This guy and his glare tells you how I feel about cold snaps. Dislike.

Needless to say when I was grocery shopping this weekend my mind was not on grilling and outdoor dining. It was on comfort food, which is why in the middle of May you are getting a chili recipe. I blogged earlier about vegetarian chili, both are equally tasty but this one is healthier (no re-fried beans and the added bonus of soy protein).

The recipe is from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry, I've adapted it to use my favourite beans and a flavoured soy ground round. I only bought the flavoured kind because it was on sale, but I think the extra spices add a little extra kick to the mix.

If by the time you read this you are firing up the grill perhaps you could use this to make a veggie chili dog or as part of veggie nacho dip.

Or you could just file it until fall....

Spicy Veggie Chili

Adapted from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cup chopped red onions

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 cup chopped celery

2 tsp minced garlic

1 pkg Yves Meatless Ground Taco Stuffers (also called Tex-Mex Ground Round) 340g

1 1/2 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

1 can (19oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (19oz) lentils, drained and rinsed

1 can tomato sauce (14 oz)

1 cup vegetable broth

1/2 tbsp Splenda Brown Sugar**

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Light Sour Cream (for serving)

** if using regular brown sugar use 1 tbsp.

1. Heat olive oil in a large, non-stick, pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, green pepper, celery, and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

2. Add ground round, chili powder, cumin, oregano, coriander, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon. Mix well and cook for 1 more minute. Add tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, broth, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and serve with Sour Cream.

On Compromise

One of the biggest parts of any relationship is the aspect of compromise. I don't mean the big compromise, I mean the little everyday ones we do with all of the people in our lives. Everything from the way the toilet paper hangs to the kind of coffee in the office. Compromise keeps everyone playing nicely, and at some point if we are all doing it right everyone gets what they want.

One compromise I have made with Homer is the love of chicken wings and of the Habs. I never really liked chicken wings, something about eating meat off a bone doesn't appeal to me, it is the same reason I am not a rib lover. This is sort of odd since as a child I once tried to eat a chicken bone, but that is a story for another time.

But Homer loves chicken wings, and he loves a restaurant called Wild Wings which has over 100 flavours of chicken wings (including Creamy Suicide and Rush Hour). Over the past year we have been there a few times, he even celebrated his 30th birthday there. And now, while they are not my meal of choice, I have come to appreciate the humble wing.

The Habs were a bit easier for me to get into (they require no extra calorie intake). And with playoff season here, TSN and Hockey Night in Canada are a regular fixture in our entertainment roster. Since we don't have cable when the games are on TSN we need to go a bar to watch them. This is all well and good as long as pace myself in the food and drink department, reminding myself that the playoffs come but once a year.

This round of games is on CBC which comes in crystal clear on our HD antenna so we can dine and view in the comfort of our own home. I wanted to make it a bit more festive so I whipped up some healthier chicken "wings" this weekend. At 56 calories a wing you can afford to have a few.

In honour of our friends at Wild Wings I'll name them Hal Gill. Enjoy!

Boneless Chicken "Wings"

*Hal Gill Flavour

Adapted from Eat, Shrink and Be Merry

12 large boneless, skinless lean chicken thighs (Blue Menu by Presidents Choice has these)

1/3 cup barbecue sauce (can be low cal)

2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp liquid honey

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp roasted garlic puree

1 tsp chili powder

5 dashes Sriracha Chili Sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

*Note if your barbecue sauce is already sweetened you may want to reduce the amount of liquid honey to 1 tbsp.

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with foil, spray with cooking spray and set aside.

2. Cut each thigh in half and place cut pieces in a single layer in prepared baking pan. Fold or roll them up to a bit so they resemble the shape of a chicken wing. They should just fit in the pan (3 rows of 8 "wings").

3.Whisk together all remaining ingredients. Spoon sauce evenly over chicken pieces.

4. Bake, uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and sauce is bubbly.

Serve!

Below a not so great iPhone photo of the "wings" in action.

The Little Things

Lately I have been feeling a little overwhelmed. Lots of changes are happening all around me, and I have been feel pressure to make some changes myself, and by gosh those changes better be the right ones.

If I had a dollar for the number of times I have been asked "What do you want?" or "What happens next for you?" in the last few months, I would be able to not have to worry about the answers to those questions. I would be able to sit by my hot tub and veg with a bottle of champagne.

Despite my mounting number of grey hairs I still don't feel like an adult or someone who needs to make important life decisions.

We babysat my co-workers daughter this past week and it dawned on my that I hadn't babysat since I was in my early teens. It felt a bit strange and I realized how little our house is equipped for children; not that it needs to be I guess. It also became apparent that I wasn't sure what kids liked to eat. Mostly she wanted the cookies, I relented with one only to have a chocolaty hand smear on my pants a moment later. Sadly, they weren't even homemade.

I remember a Friends episode where Monica talked about wanting to be the mom who made the perfect chocolate chip cookies. I think about that whenever the thought of children crosses my mind. I am terrible at making cookies and I am not sure why. My muffins can rival any bakeries, my cakes are generally tasty, I make a mean crumble, but successful cookies have always eluded me.

A few weeks ago after I finished making a particularly disappointing set of chocolate cookies I made silent promise to stop trying to make cookies for a while. One batch of muffins in the last three weeks, that is it. When I came across the below recipe I had a renewed sense of hope. No they are not cookies, but they are a sort of cookie bar. They are really easy (I assume something that is good if you are a mom) and quick and they keep for a week.

I'm not sure what is next for me or even what the right next step is. But I can now make a really good cookie bar. It's the little things that count.

Salted Toffee-Chocolate Squares

Adapted from Everyday Food May 2010

Makes 24 squares

13 graham crackers

1 bag of toffee bits (8oz or a little less)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped peanuts

1/2 cup sugar (yes the real stuff)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup chocolate chips

3/4 tsp coarse salt

1. Preheat over to 350. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Place graham crackers in a single layer on sheet, edges touching. Sprinkle toffee bits and peanuts over the graham crackers.

2. In a small saucepan, bring sugar and butter to a boil over medium-high. Reduce heat and cook at a rapid simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is syrupy, 2 minutes. Immediately pour over graham crackers. Bake until sugar topping is bubbling, 12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle chocolate and salt over graham crackers. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2 inch squares. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. (Store in an air tight container, up to 1 week)

Food iPhone Apps

Oh hi.

Lately I have been totally obsessed with adding food apps to my iPhone. I am sucker for the low low prices and convenience of having a cookbook in my pocket.

While I am by no means a technical genius, I thought I might weigh in on the three I have purchased.

#1 Martha's Everyday Food App
Price: $0.99 - Bargoon!

As a present a few months ago Homer bought me a subscription to Everyday Food and I love the magazine dearly. Small enough to fit in my purse, simple recipes, and a focus on budget shopping in addition to food trends.

The app is great for simple recipes. They have short ingredient lists and a limited number of steps, making it perfect for weeknight meals. Like all the recipes in the magazine the nutritional information is included at the end of the recipe, a god send for those of us concerned with such things.

While the stores function of the app does not work well for Canadian customers, I do enjoy the grocery list feature where you can add the ingredients for the recipe to a shopping list, and then customize the list for your shopping trip. I actually found the shopping list function easier to use than an app I bought specifically for that purpose. You can share the list via email, which I have never tried but it seems handy.

There so many recipes in the app, I don't know how you would ever go through them all. You can customize your search by main ingredient, meal/course, method and holiday/season. At $0.99 you really can't go wrong with this one.

#2 How to Cook Everything

Price: $1.99 (currently, but I understand this is a limited time offer)

I had sort of mixed feelings when I read How to Cook Everything. For some reason I felt like I was being talked down to, but I am not sure why. The app really does contain a lot of information found in Bittman's book but for a fraction of the cost.

There is a lot of text in the app (as there in the book), along with lots of tips and reference information (such as which knives you should own and properties of different ingredients). It is all good stuff but I don't know that I will spend the time reading all the information unless I am waiting somewhere with nothing to do. Perhaps for the iPad this app might be more useful.

You can either search for recipes by Key Ingredient, Cooking Technique, Flavour or Recipe Type (Fast, Make Ahead, Vegetarian, Essential), and you can see Bittman's Picks, Quick Dinners, Most Popular or a Featured Recipe upon opening the app.

Like Everyday Food it has the ability to export the ingredients to a shopping list and the functionality is essentially the same.

What I don't necessarily like about the recipes is having to "turn the page" from one step the next. With Everyday Food it comes as one long list, so when you are cooking it means you are touching the screen less, and therefore less chance of a messy iPhone.

A good buy for someone who does not own the book or another general reference cooking guide, but less user friendly than Everyday Food.

#3 Jamie Oliver 20 Minute Meals

Price: $4.99 (though when I bought it when it first came out it was $7.99!)

This was one of the first food apps out there (that I am aware of), and my goodness is it pretty! The reason for the higher price is, I believe, due to the video content on the app. Many of the videos seem to be culled from Jamie's 20 minute Meal podcast as do the recipes.

The number of recipes on the app is much less than Everyday Food and How to Cook Everything. They are organized by Cooking Technique/Ingredient (eg. Easy Pasta, Tasty Stir-Fries and Classic Meat).

There is some difficulty with the conversions, and there are cases where I found neither Metric nor US imperial helpful. I think he expects you to have a kitchen scale (which I sadly do not). Many of the recipes can be customized to 2 or 4 people, a function that neither of the two previous app has. But like How to Cook Everything you are constantly scrolling through the steps, though each step includes a photo of how it should look (handy for novice cooks). You can also have the option to have Jamie's voice on while cooking, which is cute for the first time, but then if you have to scroll back and forth fast becomes a little annoying.

Like the other two apps there is a shopping list function, which is easily customizable.

The recipes in the app are all quick, with some unique flavours, but some of the ingredients can be difficult to find at your run of the mill Loblaws.

I would say if you don't already own any of Jamie Oliver's books this app is a great buy. But with 3 of his cookbooks lining my shelves, I'll turn back to those before coming back to the app.

So, That Happened

Hey look it's Jimmy Fallon's shoulder! (to the right) and The Roots.

That was intense, could I have blogged each and everyday? Maybe. Though I was limited to using my phone most of the time, which is why the previous ones were so short.

Summary? The days were longish and with odd hours, I met some nice people (Jimmy Fallon), I met some rude people (Feist), I took illegal photos of medals but never held one, I ate poutine and I drank more Diet Coke than you should probably consume in a lifetime.

I am on a break right now for a week staying with my friend Oliver in Vancouver until going back up to work the Paralympics, which I think will be an experience unto itself. When I left Whistler yesterday the streets had already cleared out and they were taking down a bunch of the satellite stages they had set up for the games.

We had no events on the last official day of the games (February 28) and so I watched the hockey game with Oliver and friends in his condo, which was conveniently located by the village stage where Blue Rodeo was to have a free concert following the game. They also showed the game on the two giant screens flanking the stage.

After we watched the storybook ending we decided we really should see the medals ceremony in the square with all the people. As we walked down we saw the thousands (?) of people jammed in the square, hanging out of windows and sitting on rooftops. Just as we approached a little space opened up front row and we ducked in. It was a miracle as though the crowd parted just for us.

And so we the national anthem along with the crowd and hooted and cheered. Then Blue Rodeo took the stage, and played what was probably the most receptive and heart felt concert I have ever witnessed. For the encore they did "Lost Together" and the entire crowd sang along. It was amazing and wonderful, it made everything come together and the long (and sometimes boring) days worthwhile. The moment made me remember why I did this crazy nutty thing.

On to the next!

Oh and incidentally this was the longest I have ever gone without cooking, I made one dish the entire time I was there. A Barefoot Contessa rice recipe that I hope to write about in the future.

But for now....