How can I go to bed tonight without at least a nod to fathers? The lazy part of me would very much like to but there is another part that simply cannot. I had the most amazing father any little girl could dream of - a wonderful, handsome, warm and loving man who encouraged me to dream big and reach for the stars. He called me his pride and joy and I really believed that I was. That belief gave me the confidence to be strong and to have courage. He told me I could do whatever I wanted to do if I wanted it badly enough - and my experience has taught me that he was right about that (sometimes I just don't want it badly enough to do the work). It was his push that propelled me more than once, and his hold that kept me safe. I knew he would catch me when I jumped because he always did. He enfolded me in the best warm hugs and listened thoughtfully when I came to him. He loved my mother without reserve - and I felt secure. He died when I was 36 but he is so very present in my life still.

David is the best of fathers. Honest, loving, fun and always there for the important things whether big or little, he paid (and pays) attention to the things that matter to each of our children. Our sons have followed this heritage and are wonderful fathers. I love to watch them care for their families - to see them tenderly teaching or dreaming up make-believe, to watch them console a hurt or build a fort, to see the love they show, to know that they too will help their children reach for their dreams and protect them from harm.

I am blessed by the fathers in my life. I love them all.

rhubarb & quinoa breakfast bowl with strawberries

If attentively watching and impatiently waiting have any impact on the rate of growth in the rhubarb patch, my rhubarb plants should be well ahead of the curve. Unfortunately I suspect that all my watching and waiting have simply been a bit of a waste of time - rhubarb seems to grow as fast as rhubarb grows. The attention is not entirely wasted however because I am finally able to slip out my kitchen door first thing in the morning to pull the three stalks required for a bit of breakfast (or an armful for stewing - love stewed rhubarb so much!)

I am a true lover of the vegetable and generally look down my nose at recipes that add strawberries to rhubarb. I honestly love the mouth-puckering, dry taste of rhubarb. Some sweetener is for sure a good thing but I just can't find a love for cooked strawberries and don't like to cover the taste of the rhubarb. There is an exception to every rule though and this is one of those exceptions.In this case, cook the rhubarb with the quinoa and put the fresh strawberries on top. Simple and lovely. A perfect, hearty, warm-weather breakfast that delivers a good serving of complete protein. Gluten-free, refined-sugar free as well.

As a card-carrying member of the sweet tooth club I sprinkled my bowl with a bit of coconut palm sugar, you might be happy with just a spoonful of honey or maple syrup mixed in. The Greek yogurt, though, is non-negotiable in my opinion. This recipe makes 2 hearty servings.

rhubarb & quinoa breakfast bowl with strawberries

(adapted from Quinoa Revolution by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming)

1 1/3 cups water

2/3 cup quinoa

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp sea salt

1 cup sliced fresh rhubarb

1 cup quartered strawberries

1 Tbsp honey or pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp sliced almonds

Greek yogurt

coconut palm sugar

Bring the water, cinnamon, quinoa and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce to a simmer, add the rhubarb, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Removed from heat and stir in the honey or maple syrup. Divide between two bowls for serving and top each with a generous dollop of honey (or plain) yogurt, half of the strawberries, and 1 Tbsp sliced almonds. The additional sprinkle of coconut palm sugar is entirely up to you.

darkest chocolate ice cream

refined-sugar free

Yesterday was Thomas's 31st birthday. The heavy, dark sky looked so much like the sky the day Thomas was born - and neither in any way reflect the brightness of my middle son. He came with an intense, concentrated wonderfulness. An independence of spirit that has been nicely balanced with warmth and awareness of others. He has grown into a most interesting man with a multitude of talents and interests. I am always impressed. Honestly. Currently he is passionate about axes (of all things!) and wood - making the coolest (truly uber-coolest) tools, sculpture and even furniture. What a guy!

Usually we have a family birthday dinner for each family member here, at our house, but this year Thomas and Hannah invited us to their home for the celebration. All Thomas asked me to bring was some homemade dark chocolate ice cream. Easy and fun.

I have pinned a bunch of ice cream recipes that look so tempting but in the end I turned to my very favourite book of ice cream recipes jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer. Billed as "more than 100 addictively good artisanal recipes" I was hooked without a hope as soon as I saw the book - I mean 'addictive' and 'artisanal' and 'ice cream'?!! - I didn't have a chance. Having made a good start on testing the truth of the claim my advice is to buy the book. Anyway, I started with her recipe for The Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream in the World. Totally promising and it delivered. Thomas declared it the best ice cream he has ever had. He may have just been polite but I thought it was pretty good too.

Of course, I had to tinker with the recipe somewhat so that Eden could indulge with the rest of the famille - all of us are better without refined-sugar and the ice cream was none-the-worse for the change. We are not coffee drinkers so I used a tiny bit of my precious store of "Postum" in place of the coffee called for. Sadly Postum is no longer available but if you can lay your hands on a bag of "Dandy Blend" (and don't want to use coffee for whatever reason) my bet is that it would be even better than the Postum substitute - the addition is subtle but important. I made a few other small changes because I felt like it. Use my adapted recipe or the original but you gotta try this - rich but not cloying - it is ice cream for adult palates.

Of course, it should go without saying but I'll point it out anyway, use the best cocoa and chocolate you can manage. It is worth it.

darkest chocolate ice cream
(adapted from jeni's splendid ice creams at home by Jeni Britton Bauer)

1/2 cup good quality cocoa (not dutch process)
1/2 cup water with 1 tsp Dandy Blend dissolved
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1 1/2 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 10 oz can whole condensed milk
3/4 cup coconut milk
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup honey

Start by making a chocolate syrup: combine the cocoa, coconut palm sugar and the Dandy Blend/water mixture in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring and boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat, add the chopped chocolate and let stand for a few minutes. Stir until smooth and set aside.

Mix about 2 Tbsp of the condensed milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Whisk the cream cheese and salt into the chocolate syrup.

Combine the remaining condensed milk, the coconut milk, cream, and honey in a large saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Replace on heat and bring back to a boil, and cook, stirring, until slightly thickened - about 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the chocolate mixture until smooth. Cool completely. Follow the directions particular to your ice cream maker. (I use a Cuisinart electric freezer and love it.) After churning, pack into a container and freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm. About 4 hours.

rainbow superslaw

Life gets crazy busy - every season a bit more full than the last. When my kids were tiny I imagined that once they were more independent life would be easier. And it was.... in a way. Less hands-on with things like doing up buttons and zippers, getting food from bowls to mouths and bodies into beds but still complicated as I learned to navigate the intricacies of homework and after-school lessons - busy-er not less so. As we progressed through the teen years and on into university, then marriages and babies of their own I have realized that life doesn't slow down, it speeds up. As I move through the experiences of my life I know that I want to continue to experience personal growth. To be better, wiser, smarter, more skilled. That takes time and thought and effort. Doing that and keeping up with the people that mean the most to me means I have to run pretty fast some days. 

One of the things that gets left in the dust of the party of life is the small effort of sharing some of what I put on the table each day. Not that what is on our table every day is worthy of being shared but there are a lot more recipes I have been excited about than I share. If I could sit down right away and tell you how fun it was to try this or that, to share how well it was received and how delicious it was, how I made it easier, or even the laughable less-ables there would be a lot more posts. But I am usually running off to keep up with myself and some of the recipes that are really well worth sharing are neglected. This is one of those.

I saw this recipe in Everyday Food magazine and added it to the list of things that look good to me. That was last fall. I finally made it a few weeks ago for David's birthday dinner and after the first mouthful I really wished I had tried it earlier because we could have been eating it months ago! I love a good slaw and this is one of the best I have tried. Full of wonderful flavours and textures but most importantly, good healthiness. The cherry on the top is that it is really beautiful. The original recipe is Jamie Oliver's so you know it's going to be good :) 

Everyday Food recommends using a food processor and grating all the ingredients into the bowl in a prescribed order. My food processor while not small, is not large enough for that technique so I modified it. I used pecans instead of walnuts because of walnut allergies. Other than that, I followed Jamie's lead. Why mess with excellence?!

rainbow superslaw
(from Everyday Food and Jamie Oliver's Great Britain by Jamie Oliver)

2 raw medium sized beets, trimmed and scrubbed
1/4 red cabbage
2 large carrots
1/4 green cabbage
2 firm pears
1 cup pecans, roughly broken
2 large handfuls fresh curly parsley, chopped

dressing:
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp grainy mustard
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
6 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Worcestershire sauce
sriracha hot sauce

Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.

Shred or coarsely grate the cabbages and carrots into a large bowl. Grate the pears and add to the bowl. (To grate the pears I used a finer attachment.) Add about 1/2 of the chopped parsley to the bowl. Grate the beets into a separate bowl to keep them from staining everything.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage, carrots, and pears. Toss lightly to combine roughly. Add about 1/3 of the shredded beets and toss very lightly to keep the colours bright and separate. Arrange the mixed vegetables on a platter. Top with the remaining beets, followed by the rest of the parsley and finishing with the broken pecans.

Take a minute to enjoy the beautiful perfection of healthy, delicious food - then dig in!

salted chocolate crispie bars

gluten-free, refined sugar free

June! I have always loved June. Maybe because it is my birthday month, maybe it is the held-over memories of end-of-the-school-year stuff that seems to fill the month (causing mothers to pull their hair out and kids to rejoice) but it can't be the weather because June in Calgary pretty much means rain. The kind of daily rain that in Japan they call The Rainy Season. The kind of rain that swells the rivers, threatens flooding and awakens the mosquito population. The kind of daily rain that gardens thrive in if you were clever enough to get out there and sow the seeds but that spells a muddy mess if you want to try that project right now. In spite of that reality for some crazy reason reason when I think, read, or hear the word 'June' I think SUN.

Today is June 1, Saturday and sunny! I think that must qualify this as a day that needs at least a mini-celebration. Celebrations - even mini ones - simply need treats. It is in the definition. No treat, no celebration. These chocolate bars are up to the task and in fact, I like them so well that I think simply having a bite of one qualifies as a mini-mini celebration all in itself. I found the recipe over on FOOD52 (a favourite stop for me) with a write-up that intrigued (touted as an attempt at a healthy rice krispie square and called Hippie Crispie Treats). We have been missing our rice krispie squares around here since if I make marshmallows -with honey no less - there is no way they are being melted into the ubiquitous rice krispie squares and any other marshmallow is just a yummy, sweet puff of refined sugar. Which, of course, we avoid now. So... a healthy option sounded promising enough to try. While I am not sure I would add this recipe to the queue of truly healthy it certainly is healthier and healthy enough. AND it is De. Lish. Us! I loved the sprinkle of salt on the top - yummy became amazing.

The only itty bitty tweak I made to the recipe was to decrease the amount of coconut oil in the topping - a choice not lightly made. Coconut oil while incredibly good for one has such a low melting point that 2 Tbsp of the stuff made a topping that was wonderful straight out of the fridge but almost runny 10 minutes later. Messy, messy. 1 Tbsp is about perfect. These squares do not need to be kept in the fridge and if by some miraculous chance they are still hanging around the day after you make them the rice will be slightly less crisp (but in no way even approaching soggy). I have previously always subbed honey or agave for brown rice syrup in any recipe calling for the syrup but for this recipe stick with the brown rice syrup. It is not nearly as sweet as the other two options and enhances the chewy factor. Worth adding to the market list.

I took some over to Eden's for a little market research. The test market is a tough one but the product received a very favourable rating with the testers lamenting the one piece per person I had allowed for. 

After I shared my treats, Deacon shared some lego creations - scenes from books he has read. Amazingly he remembers which lego pieces came from which particular lego set. A feat you would be more impressed with if you were to see the extent of the collection ;)

salted chocolate crispie bars

(barely tweaked from Food 52)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup brown rice syrup

1/2 cup almond butter

1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

4 cups puffed rice cereal

topping:

1 Tbsp virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (like Maldon's)

Line an 8x8" pan with a sling of parchment paper and set aside.

In a large saucepan combine the maple and brown rice syrups, then bring to a rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly so it doesn't boil over. You will want to use a larger saucepan than you think you need simply because stirring the cereal into the chocolate mixture can be kind of frustrating if the pan is too small. I know - I did it :) Remove from heat and add the almond butter, chopped chocolate, coconut oil and salt, stirring until everything is melted and smooth. Fold in the rice cereal. Push the mixture into the lined pan and press firmly and evenly.

In a small saucepan melt together the second 1/2 cup of chopped chocolate and the 1 Tbsp of coconut oil. Stir constantly over low heat until melted and smooth. Pour the topping over the rice mixture and spread to the edges. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds and sea salt.

Refrigerate to speed setting or let cool at room temperature for about 2 hours.

fresh berry birthday tarte

There is a long tradition of non-traditional birthday 'cakes' in our family. We like cake but some of us just aren't cake people. That is to say nobody turns a piece of cake away but when asked for a preference cake rarely wins the day. So when I asked David what he would like for his birthday cake this year I didn't even blink an eye when he suggested fresh strawberry pie. (Actually the strawberry pie came in second after a request for a rhubarb pie but the spring has been late in arriving and my rhubarb is not yet ready for harvesting.)

I was all set to make the regulation fresh strawberry pie but you know, sometimes you just have to follow the urge when it hits and change things up a bit. I put away the lard and rolling pin, pulled out the butter and made a yummy sugar-cookie crust instead of a pastry shell. Lined that with a schmear of cream cheese and topped it all off with a pretty mix of sweet-tart blueberries and fragrant strawberries. I have to say it was pretty good - just not a good bed for a bunch of birthday candles .... but David was only too happy to forgo that tradition as well :)

I went a little bit crazy with this dessert and threw caution to the winds - I used plain old white sugar and white flour (gasp!!) in the cookie crust and white sugar in the glaze for the berries. Call me irresponsible but I rationalized it with the thought that it was an exception not the rule. Nevertheless I wanted to include Eden in celebrating and enjoying the whole meal so for her portion (needing to be gluten-free and refined sugar free) I lined a pretty bowl with the cream cheese mixture, topped that with beautiful, clean berries, and topped the lot with a soft spoonful of whipped cream. Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too?!

fresh berry birthday tarte

For the crust:
10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

In a medium bowl combine the melted butter, salt, vanilla, and sugar. Whisk the flour and baking powder together and add to the butter mixture, mixing just until well blended. It will be really soft but don't worry, just dump the lot into a 10" tarte pan and press it evenly across the bottom with your fingers. As the butter cools it firms up nicely. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is a beautiful warm gold. Don't underbake or it will taste doughy instead of being deliciously crisp. Cool completely on a wire rack before assembling the tarte.

For the filling:
5 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
3 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 250 gm package of cream cheese
4 Tbsp honey

To make the glaze for the berries process 1 1/2 cups of the strawberries with the water in a blender until smooth. Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan; stir in the strawberry mixture and cook, stirring, over medium heat until thickened. Cook and stir for another minute. Remove form heat and let cool without stirring for 15 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese and honey together until light and smooth.

To assemble the tarte:
Spread the cream cheese/honey mixture evenly over the cookie crust.

Gently fold the remaining strawberries and 2 cups of the blueberries into the cooled glaze. Top the cream cheese layer with the berry mixture. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries over the top. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Top with softly whipped fresh heavy cream.

I have just returned from seven perfect days in Vancouver. Perfect because I got to spend the entire long weekend with Jonathon all to myself. Perfect because although the forecast was for rain, rain, and more rain, we had mostly dry days with only a bit of drizzle and even some clear sky and sun from time to time. Perfect because I love Vancouver. And perfect because I shared the rest of the week (after the weekend) with Janet. 

Janet and I have been friends our entire lives - since before our memories begin. Janet is in the pictures of my earliest birthday parties, was my constant companion and best friend, my sleepover buddy, my confidante - the Diana to my Anne Shirley. As we grew into our teens I admired her verve and confidence, the way she drew people to her, the fun she always made, her great style, and wished I looked just like her. When we started high school we attended the same school for the first time. Every day during Grade 10 we walked the short distance to her family home for lunch - delicious hot lunches I still think of from time to time. We agonized over the boys we had crushes on, shared dreams and clothes, got our ears pierced, listened to LP vinyl records, and had sleepovers every time we could get parental agreement. Then Janet's family moved, taking her with them. We were sad and promised it wouldn't change a thing but I think we knew it would and of course, it did. That and the inevitable busyness that accompanies the last two years of high school - studies, dating, planning, growing up, figuring out who you are. When David and I were married Janet was my bridesmaid. She married. We had babies - her Bradley and my Jonathon were born 10 days apart. We had loose contact for years and years but as our children have grown and we have matured we have found our way back to a close friendship I think we both treasure.

There is a special and unique quality to a friendship of such longstanding. Janet knows me in a way no other person on earth does and laughs and loves me anyway. She isn't offended that I fall asleep when she is talking to me - she wasn't when we were girls and she teased me when I did it again after a long and fun day of shopping in Gastown. 

It was a wonderful luxury to reconnect with the leisure of several days - to be reminded of how much we have in common and to enjoy all that we don't in one another. What a happy thing our mothers were friends so we could share a long and rich friendship. Best friends then, dear friends for always.

And I have to say ... Janet can still talk all night long. We had So Much Fun!