The Swede in me...

I bought two Scandinavian cookbooks awhile back and have been neglecting them for some of my more recently purchased books. On Thursday, I watched a Swedish film and it reminded me not only of my ancestry but also of the lovely books on the shelf in my office-turned pantry. Looking through them, they appealed to me because a lot of the ingredients are ones that I would think of as important or traditional to the Canadian food I grew up eating. There is an obvious hunter-gatherer vibe with recipes calling for things such as moose tournedos, crayfish and chanterelles. Multiple rhubarb and blueberry recipes appear and it seems that just like in my moms house, dill is the most popular herb.

The two books are unpretentious and lovely. They are filled with photos (a must for me in a cookbook!) and have a bit of cultural background with most of the recipes. The following are two simple recipes that would be in season right now for us in Canada.

This recipe is from "Kitchen of Light" by Andreas Viestad.

Veiled Farm Girls

1-1/2 cups bread crumbs

3 tablespoons superfine sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1-1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream

1-1/2 cups applesauce,chilled

1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

In a nonstick skilled, combine the breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon and butter. Stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula or wooden spoon, heat over medium heat until the crumbs are uniformly golden. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whip the cream until stiff.

Layer the applesauce, bread crumbs, and cream in individual glass bowls. The top layer should always be whipped cream, "veiling" the dish. Sprinkle with the chopped nuts and serve.

This simple and elegant recipe is from "The Scandinavian Cookbook" by Trina Hahnemann and is inspired by shopping with my friend Amy. She picked up some jerusalem artichokes today in Leslieville!

Jerusalem Artichoke Salad

3 lemon slices

1-1/3 pounds Jerusalem artichokes

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon superfine sugar

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/4 cup walnut oil

1/2 pound grapes, seeded

1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Salt and pepper

Have ready a bowl of water with the lemon slices. Peel the Jerusalem artichokes and cut them into very thin slices, adding them to the water as you go to prevent browning.

Whisk together the mustard, sugar, vinegar and walnut oil to make a dressing.

Drain the artichokes and place in a bowl with the grapes and walnuts. Fold in the dressing. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Mix it up!

I've had my eye on this baby for a long while. Thankfully, I was blessed with a fat bonus and a desire to burn it. IT WILL BE MINE!

Montreal

The first thing I do when I arrive in a hotel room is take off my pants. It's my home, temporarily thank goodness, but still...

Keepsakes.

Jean-talon market it the BEST market.

Suicide note.

J ATE THIS! I had Matzo ball soup.

Americans are weird!!

I want to move to Montreal. I don't care if it will feel like a small town compared to Toronto or even that I don't speak french. I really love Montreal and next summer I'm going to move there.

Thrifty

J's band is playing at the Velvet Underground tonight. I would normally be a perfect girlfriend and attend despite being worn out from work, having a headache and also facing an ever expanding inability to imagine being around other humans. All of the above make leaving the house for a Dan Burke rock show very difficult but in this case I'm just trying to save some dough.

We are heading to Pop Montreal this weekend where Ancestors will play a Saturday night with the likes of Anagram and Catl. I am prepared for mondo party-times which will certainly include couch-sleeping and cell destruction. The kind of fun I have not engaged in since 2007--whoa.

While you wait for those juicy photos let me share with you some of the great weekend finds from St. Lawrence Market.

Pyrex butter dish.

Vintage fabric.

Hornsea elephant mug.

A Delicious Birthday

I went and got older this weekend!

Harvest Cold

It's September already? Well, yes...this ain't no summer cold, that's for sure. It was a chilly sweater weekend and I spent most of it inside trying to control my snot production. I did go out to check on the fall garden--I secretly love the look of the browning, crispy stems and leaves scattered around. It's a sad sight but I am a person that can really stew in sadness. I used to make my mom sing me "500 Miles" by Peter, Paul and Mary every single night even though it made me sob. She didn't want to sing it but I relished the way it made me feel. A masochist at 7 years old.

Easypeasy copy-cat-crafting

My goal last night was to clean the office. It has been shown extreme neglect--even distain since I bought the laptop (which is so functional, amazing and adorable that I can't get enough). I even bought an expensive cover for it which may not protect it from being run over by a mac truck but will protect it from kitty-bum, greasy boy-hands and droplets of Stiegel-I hope.

Not only am I famous for not following recipes, I am also famous for avoiding things. To avoid tackling the real issue, last night I went ahead and did some crafting. This little chalkboard house is inspired by the one at Yvestown. Mine is a little different--I wasn't in the mood for garage hangouts and power tools so I just used what I already had laying around. I left out the chimney which I'm starting to think was a mistake. What do you think? I may just have to avoid cleaning the office today again and paint one on. Once I attach this baby to the wall in the office, reminder notes can be left on it such as "eat more fiber" and "clean the office."

Copy-cat.