To market

I wish I could say I was one of those people who visited their local farmers' market every week. Sadly, I'm not. Most of my shopping is done in a rush on my way home from work when I dash into the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner. 

But last weekend, my fella and I decided that we'd take the time to visit the market. I'm so happy we did -- it was so much more fun than the grocery store.

  

 

We picked up a couple of coffees -- locally roasted and brewed cup-by-cup -- and wandered around the stalls. We were given slivers of cheese to help us decide which ones we want to take home. We got advice from the butcher about how many pounds of pork shoulder we'd need for pulled pork. We chatted with a farmer about why garlic from China is so freely available and local garlic is tough to find (apparently our government subsidizes Chinese garlic).

The cherry on top of our market experience was how good the food was. The local tomatoes we bought were ripe and flavourful, the cheese was mouthwatering and our pulled pork was fantastic. I think we're going to work more market visits into our weekends.

PS  - We used Anna Olson's pulled pork recipe...delicious and easy.

Jamming

Every summer for the past few years, I've made a preserve. Two years ago, I made dill pickles (which were fantastic). Last year, it was raspberry jam and spicy dilled beans. This year, I made some blueberry lime jam -- my favourite preserve so far.

I bought the blueberries at a little fruit stand in Niagara when my fella and I took a little road trip one Saturday. The blueberries were huge, sweet, and perfectly ripe.

The recipe is very simple -- lots of blueberries, sugar, pectin, and the zest and juice of three limes. It's amazing how well the sweet blueberries and tangy lime go together.

The rest of the process is very straightforward -- boil the ingredients, pour into jars, and seal.

Canning really used to freak me out because it seemed so complicated. I always felt worried that I wasn't going to sterilize the jars properly and end up giving someone botulism. But, while canning might be a fairly involved process, it's really not difficult. Within a couple hours, you'll have a delicious reminder of summer that will last you all year.

The full recipe I used and a canning how-to can be found on the Bernardin website. (Sidenote: how funny is it that Bernardin's motto is "Because you can"?? Gotta love those canning puns!). Also, here are a whole bunch of canning recipes for you to try. I'm thinking I'd like to tackle a chutney before the summer's over.

DIY cheese

A few months ago, I picked up a copy of Home Dairy with Ashley English, a cookbook that's all about making your own cheese. I was very intrigued, but totally intimidated by the process. You need ingredients that sounded scary (bacteria! rennet!) and that were hard to track down.

But today I stumbled across something that could de-freakify cheese-making: a DIY cheese kit. All you have to do is add a gallon of milk and follow the instructions. It comes in a couple flavours -- mozzarella and ricotta, goat cheese, and paneer and queso blanco.

If you're as intrigued as I am, you can pick up your own cheese kit on Etsy here.

Perfect summer dinner

It has suddenly become incredibly hot. Hot with a capital H-O-T. So hot that I've been working up a sweat just by sitting on the couch. (Classy, I know). So hot that the thought of turning on the stove top, the  barbecue, or -- God forbid -- the oven -- makes me want to throw a major temper tantrum.

Herein lies the wonder of the cold soup. This recipe requires zero heat to make and is cool and refreshing to consume. I made a big batch of this the other day and have been eating it basically nonstop ever since (which is actually fantastic, because it's pretty darn healthy). Add a bit of focaccia and maybe a slice of cheese or two on the side and you've got yourself a fresh, heat-free, heavenly summer dinner.

Gazpacho My Way (Adapted from "For the love of  Soup" by Janelle Mitchell)

1 can crushed tomatoes
2 ripe, fresh tomatoes
1 cucumber
3 sweet peppers (a mix of green, red, orange, yellow -- whatever you have on hand. Though I like using only 1 green pepper because the other varieties are a bit sweeter).
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
2 chipotle peppers, or to taste (If you don't have chipotles, add a few dashes of your favourite hot sauce).
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped fresh cilantro to garnish

Roughly chop cucumber, peppers, onion, garlic, and chipotles.

In batches, transfer the chopped veggies into a blender or food processor, adding a bit of the canned crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and a splash of olive oil to each batch. Puree until smooth.

When blended, transfer each batch into a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and salt and pepper. If it's too thick, gradually add water until it suits you -- but keep in mind this should be a thick, hearty soup.

Chop the fresh tomatoes into smallish pieces and add to the soup. (This adds a nice chunky texture).

Mix well and refrigerate until you're ready to serve. This will keep covered in the fridge for several days.

Serve garnished with the chopped fresh cilantro and, if you like, a little vino on the side.

Enjoy!