Lucky me!

Sometimes when I'm on my own for a night I get invited out for supper. Tonight was one of those lucky times.

The best part was that everything was made from scratch, with love.

The chicken soup started out as a locally-raised organic hen. The soup was packed with spaetzle (yummy German noodles). There was also a crunchy salad and twice-baked bread with a seriously delicious crust.

Too bad the photo of the dessert didn't turn out. Backyard plums made into a grainy-topped crisp, topped with a spectacular swirl of real whipped cream.

I'm thinking 100 miles, but can't be sure

It was the day for the last lawn-cut and some clean-up outside. As that kind of work so often does, it led to a fire in the chiminea with the main course cooked out there.

Tonight we had freah halibut steaks, always a favourite around here. I made mamaliga (the polenta-type dish) and a mushroom sauce. Fresh tomatoes from the backyard were a nice addition to the salad.

We also had a nice piece of gorgonzola as a treat. Because I wasn't able to determine where that came from, I can't claim our meal as falling completely within the 100-mile limit. Still, I know that most of it was.

West Coast treats

I'm not sure what the occasion is, but we seem to be having a mighty fine supper for an ordinary Monday night. Fresh salmon steaks (wild, of course) cooked up on the barbie, fresh green beans, and freshly-dug potatoes from the kitchen garden. Chives and parsley from that same patch of dirt -- mixed in with butter and smooshed around with the potatoes, mmm-mmm!

There's salad, of course, with a homemade dressing based in soured milk. Sounds disgusting, but it isn't at all.

Cheers to eating locally, especially when it tastes this wonderful!

Something crabby

Anyone who’s read this blog a few times knows I hate throwing out food – that I just about always seem to find some way to use whatever didn’t get eaten during a previous night’s meal. Tonight’s no different, only I’ll admit I had trouble coming up with what to call our supper-in-a-bowl.

After a bit of research, I’m still not much clearer as to what it is we’re eating tonight. Calling it a bisque isn’t really correct, because let me say it right off: I did not grind last night's crab shells with a mortar and pestle.

From what I can tell, it’s probably not really a chowder either. Whatever it is, we’re eating it and not surprisingly, it tastes pretty darn good.

A few garden potatoes went into the pot, as well as a fair bit of parsley and chives picked from out back.

Along with the soup/bisque/chowder, there’s a green salad topped up with the crabmeat we couldn’t quite finish last night.

Once again, aside from the bread (it’s the flour that makes it so difficult – wheat really doesn’t like to grow here), we’re dining within the bounds of the 100-mile diet, including a few of those tidbits that qualify as part of our 100-foot diet.

End of summer feast

It's hard to think of any food better than fresh Dungeness crab. The little darlin's were tap dancing in a bag not long ago at all. A quick trip to the steaming pot and they're ready for supper.

Along with sweet B.C. corn, a Caesary salad and crusty bread, it's another almost-annual gathering of friends, marked by celebrating with the best of local foods.

West Coast treats

Tonight we have company, all the way from Denmark. What a great excuse for extra-good food. So we're having fresh B.C. salmon. Wild. And done on the barbie, the best.

New potatoes and mushrooms, with parsley and chives from the kitchen garden. A salad of local greens and vegies.

I like eating from our environment. We grow some mighty good things around here.

Living off the lot

The city lot, that is. You've probably heard of the 100 Mile Diet. This summer we're aiming for something more ambitious. Our goal? At least a few meals that qualify for the 100 Foot Diet.

We're starting tonight, in a very small way. I'm adding wild lettuce that grows in the yard to the salad and to the pesto. Besides the wild greens, the pesto contains basil and oregano and parsley from the kitchen garden and some coral mushrooms picked last fall.

I know I'm not going to be growing olives to make oil. And not growing wheat to make the pasta. Still, I like being aware of what we're eating and where it comes from.

As for the chicken livers cooking on the barbie, I may well not want to know where those used to live.