Of course I came back from North Bay loaded down with foodstuffs, and extra bulk around my always-slovenly midriff. I suppose most parents - those that aren't pushing thier daughters into anorexia - have some sort of instinctual compulsion to overfeed thier offspring. That's cute. The things I'm really excited about in terms of the food I've been loaded down with are all yummy yummy sugar substitutes. Starting with:
1. The fruits of a trip to Board's Honey Farm. Apiary is maybe my favourite word in the English language, besides "fuck", "goddamn", "twunt" and "bonobo". I know that it sounds all counter-intuitively like a place where you keep apes, which is probably what I like about it, but I wish they called themselves The Board Apiary instead. Anyways. They make fucking delicious honey. You can't see it on their product list, but one of them is a creamed raspberry honey which is just to fucking sit there and eat by the spoonful. I just got their clear, pale unpasteurized wildflower honey and then for the good of my health (hah!) some buckwheat honey.
I have a nice honey provider in Toronto too - John Alecu of Bees Universe, who sells a great product harvested from GTA conservation regions, which is awesome. Not to mention, he calls me "princess" whenever I buy his stuff, which is definitely my favourite familiar name. But the odds of me getting to the farmers market where he sells on a regular basis are poor at best.
Mmmm, I love honey. But not as much as I love
2. Maple syrup, from Dave Matthews' sugar bush. Doesn't that sound naughty? I have a fairly strong dislike for the music of the musician Dave Matthews, his voice sounding so very constipated to me, but the excellence of the wares out of a very different Dave Matthew's sugar bush rehabilitates the name. Every grade of syrup you can imagine, from the most subtle, lightest, slippiest amber to a dark and broody molassesey opaque. Just stick it all into my fucking veins. I usually go simple amber. Mmmm. Sugar can fuck off and die.
Except we need mighty bags of it to make
3. Strawberry rhubarb jam. I don't have much to write here about a homemade product, except people should get over pectin being gross. Sure it's fucking gross. I really doubt what that link says about it, I'm sure it's made out of ground up animal bones or something, but what you've got to understand about pectin is that it lets you use fewer mighty bags of sugar to make the jam set, which lets you get a subtle whiff of the rhubarb through the sweet, not to menion keep the strawberry taste.
I love sweet.
12 commenti:
My parents are of the "are you sure you need to be eating that?" variety.
"You're eating again!? But you ate breakfast 6 hours ago!"
:o(
I've always felt a little sad for you people. But your midriff is much less slovenly than mine, so maybe I shouldn't.
It sounds like the food situation in your house was a wee bit boring, good for you for exploring the Thai world!
Ah, a girl after my own heart. I could talk about honey, maple syrup and sugar/pectin all day.
No wonder mosquitos attack me viciously, I think my blood is half-sugar.
That's what happens when you grow up with a Dutch grandmother who introduces you to toast dipped in bacon grease and slathered with sugar. Or icing on toast, or chocolate on toast etc etc. Then top the day off with a bowl of cereal and 5 teaspoons of brown sugar.
ps - ha-ha, Dave Matthews sounding constipated..that's brilliant! Minus his voice, I do really like his music though.
I'm pretty chuffed about some honeys being acknowledged as a gourmet product, though praying it doesn't drive the nice monofloral or unpasteurized stuff out of my price range so I have to keep going up to fucking Restoule to get it.
But you have some lovely things in your neck of the woods. When I went to see Mr. H, he fed me some fantastic wildflower honey some friends of his had just started harvesting in those hills. FUCKING DELICIOUS. One of the best I've had, and the price was right. You should get the address off him before he moves to Halifax, such a nice area for you guys to take a day trip maybe.
Hmm, sounds interesting. When is he moving?
I can get some nice honey at a farmer's market close by as well. Maybe you'd be interested in checking it out with me when you're up?
I have tonnes of honey now, but I always like a nice farmer's market . . . When is it?
It's every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. from May till October.
Did you try dark forest honey? The light honey is from flowers. The dark one comes from forest trees, and so you get it in the spring. It's my favourite. I also liked it because it stays liquid and doesn't turn solid with age like the light one does. Or maybe it does, but it takes a lot longer.
The stuff they say about pectin is probably true, because I remember going to sell fallen apples with my grandparents when I was a kid, and I was wondering why would anyone pay money for green, unripe apples.
Jiri- That seems like a beautiful memory, selling unripe apples with your grandparents and wondering why. I'm not sure why, but I'm struck by the beauty of that. Anyways, where did you get the dark forest honey? I've never had any and now I want some.
Mel: Maybe I could stay with you Friday night then? I'm just concerned about getting to out ot your area after the shows. Is there a 24 hour bus?
Yr ice cream question reminded me of this...
Honey Gelato
1 pk Unflavored gelatin
1/2 c Nonfat dry milk
2 c Milk, skim
1/2 c Honey
1 ts Orange juice
1 ts Lemon juice
2 Egg whites
1.Mix gelatin and dry milk in a saucepan. Stir in skim milk, cook over low heat, stirring constantly until gelatin dissolves. Remove from heat.
2.Stir in honey and juices. Pour into a cake pan and freeze for 1 hour.
3.Pour the mixture into a chilled bowl and add the egg whites. Beat at high speed with an electric mixer until mixture is fluffy. Return to freezer container, cover, and freeze until firm.
Mmmmm. Just looking at that recipe makes me happy.
My grandfather had bees. People who have bees by the woods should get dark honey in the spring. But maybe things are different in Ontario because the spring happens so quickly.
Check this out though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monofloral_honey
That gelato recipe sounds delish...
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