Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire...

Sorry no photo is available to add to this post.  We didn't have the open fire either.  I can say Bernie Klassen did a great job of shaking my cast iron frying pan full of chestnuts.  I had mentioned that I'd never had roasted chestnuts.  Roasted chestnuts are often available at two events in town, one the Cadboro Village Christmas event and the other the Oak Bay light up.  I've attended the Oak Bay event when I lived in the area and missed the chestnuts.  So Bernie kindly decided I needed to experience roasted chestnuts and brought over a bag for me to try.

After slicing an X into the bottom of the chestnuts, all of them went into the cast iron frying pan on medium high.  The chestnuts swell and expand, splitting open at the X.  Cooling them a lot and then peeling the shell back is the way to eat them. Or you can try to hold the hot chestnut in your hand and peel to get to the delicious insides. The taste is a slight nutty flavour, although chestnuts are not nuts but seeds.

After a search on the internet I found some sites about chestnuts.  Further cooking instructions can be found at Canadian Living

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/cooking_school/all_about_chestnuts.php

The history of the chestnut is interesting, humans have been consuming them for thousands of years. In areas where cereal grains don't grow the chestnut is used instead. Often ground into flour for bread as well.  Like potatoes, chestnuts can be used in many different recipes and being mild flavoured are a good base for spices and flavouring.

I found an article at The Cambridge World History of Food on chestnuts worth reading

http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/chestnuts.htm

No Fat

I've recently signed up for Saanich's Backyard Newsletter to keep me in the loop of what is going on in Saanich my own neighbourhood.  I don't cook a turkey dinner for Christmas, thankfully my sister in law, Brenda, does the traditional dinner.  I'm sure I'm going to be called upon in the future and knowing this trick for fat disposal will come in handy. 

http://www.saanich.ca/living/environment/pdf/ob/OurbackyardWinter2011FinalWeb.pdf

Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) aren’t good for our sewers or septic systems. This season, 

put FOG where it belongs. You’ll keep your drains clear and our sewers, septic, and 

watersheds clean and healthy.

Each year almost one million kilograms of fats, oils and grease (FOG) are poured down 

residential drains. These household cooking oils, salad dressings, and fat or grease 

from meat really clog up our wastewater treatment process and they also impact the 

environment.  The build-up of FOG in sewer or septic lines can cause blockages that 

force sewage back into homes or allow it to spill over into our watersheds.

Clogged or restricted sewer lines aren’t just a messy situation for cleanup crews, 

they’re also expensive to deal with: fat clogged lines can cost you in tax dollars. 

Municipalities are spending up to $10,000 per block to repair and maintain sewer 

lines due to the build-up of FOG. 

If you’re connected to an onsite septic system, FOG can also be hard on your tank and 

drain field. Oils can form a puddle on the surface of your septic tank, preventing septic 

tank bacteria from doing their digesting job. If FOG moves from the septic tank into 

the drainage field, it can cause expensive blockages and contaminate surrounding soil 

and groundwater supplies. 

Even FOG in liquid form (such as olive oil) can cause problems when you pour it down 

the drain; many oils solidify at lower temperatures and can clog further down the 

line. Those that don’t solidify often bind to other forms of fats and grease, creating 

blockages, or they move through the system too quickly, preventing treatment. 

The good news?  The solutions are simple and free! 

For small amounts of grease, sauces, and salad dressings:

Use a paper towel or citrus peels to wipe 

out the container and remove most of the 

oily residue before rinsing in the sink. 

For grease left over from cooking and 

frying:

•Cool fats, then pour or scoop into a 

sealable container.  

•Store the sealed container in the 

refrigerator or freezer until full and 

then dispose of it with your household 

garbage, curbside organics collection 

bin where applicable, or take it to the 

recycling area at Hartland Landfill, no 

charge, to be recycled into industrial 

fuel, soap, among other consumable 

items.

For large residential amounts of deep fryer fat:

•Store in a sealed container and take to Hartland Landfill for recycling.

I finally made it to another Farmers' Market, this one being the last of 2011.  I had a informative chat with Dean at Food Roots Distributors Co-op www.foodroots.ca  It is always interesting to hear about what farmers and others who share my passion on local food are doing. I'm impressed the community is really making an effort to work towards the island being a 95% local food producing community.

I also learnt about Italian desserts from Claudio at Il Forno di Claudio, the hazelnut desserts were delicious and I loved the hazelnut flour taste.  I also learnt about Italian breads.  I passed on having a treat but certainly will visit Claudio again.  Thank you Claudio for the samples and the chat.

I wandered around the market and everything looked wonderful.  I wish I'd had more money to spend as I really wanted to try every booth.  Especially El Guapo Chorizo Grill which was making sausage chipatta buns with the most delicious smelling chorizo.  The hunger pangs kicked in.  I passed on this too as I was saving my hunger for B-Red Bakery where I had a Gibassier - orange and fennel brioche which was a flavour explosion.  The question is where to find B-Red Bakery goodies, well you have to Facebook like them and then they will tell you.  For a start though, try 2% Jazz Coffee 2621 Douglas and soon to be in the Hudson or Caffe Fantastico on King http://caffefantastico.com/contact.php

To complete my food journey today, I tried Organic Fair's dark chocolate bars for the holiday season. Would have bought a few of these for stockings stuffers but never know who enjoys dark chocolate in my family.  Not John for one.  Although he might have gone for the candy cane bar which had a very minty flavour. http://www.organicfair.com/default.asp  Next time we are up island kayaking or day tripping we have been told to phone ahead and drop in to see the farm.

Next market day is January 7th and I will be heading downtown again, by bus with my bags to partake of 2012's first market day.  I might even drag John along for an island food adventure. http://victoriapublicmarket.com 

White Food

We've all heard the mantra to stay away from white foods.  Those over processed carbs that make up the white pasta, white flour, white rice group.  I've heard about incorporating the rainbow into one's diet to ensure one is eating a variety of fruits and vegetables. The rainbow would be yellow, orange, purple, red and green.  The rainbow excludes white, which got me thinking about what fruits and vegetables would fall into the white colour category.  For fun I started a list and this is what I ended up with:


Cauliflower
White Asparagus
White Beans
Endive
Garlic
Ginger
Jerusalem artichokes
Jicama
Mushrooms
White nectarines
Onions
Parsnips
White Peaches
Asian Pears
Shallots
Turnips
White corn
Potatoes

Now to research and make a list of black, brown and other colours not included in the rainbow. 

Chia Seeds

Remember the Chia pet? If you do those little seeds are back and are the latest in superfoods. People are adding them to their morning oatmeal, smoothies and salads. As a superfood, Chia seeds are used for suppressing the appetite, weight loss, leveling blood sugar and aiding in digestive regularity. I was provided with the Chia Pudding recipe from Lynn at Health Essentials the new health food store at the corner of Tillicum and Gorge Road http://www.healthessential.ca/   I've made the pudding twice, yummy, filling and a great mid-morning snack that will keep you full and not craving sugar filled snacks.

Chia Pudding

3/4 cups chia seeds
2 cups unsweetened vanilla or chocolate almond, hemp, rice or soy milk. (I used unsweetened unflavoured coconut milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together and let set for 5 minutes or longer.  Wait until it starts to gel.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Goes great with strawberries.

What the World Eats, Part I

Amazing photographs of what one week of food world wide looks like for a family. Take a good look at the food in these photos. Note how little some people have for one week and how much others have. Note the amount of junk food in some of the photographs and how this same food is missing in others.

A very interesting project.

What the World Eats, Part I

Five ways to avoid GMOs in your food | Chatelaine.com

Another article on the way we posion ourselves and how to avoid doing it. North America is behind Europe again on the GMO issue and maintaining healthy food crops. Sadly we in North America are exposed to GMO crops. Luckily we have a means of avoiding GMO crops and to stop buying foods that contain GMO crops. Learn about what you eat. Here's a start from Chatelain magazine on avoiding GMOs in your food.


Five ways to avoid GMOs in your food Chatelaine.com