Green-Bean, Almond, and Feta-Cheese Salad, and Summer Holidays!

The Teachers Jumped Out of the Windows

    

 (Sing to the tune of "My Bonnie") 

We're all childlike in the summer, aren't we?

The teachers jumped out of the windows.
The principal ran for the door.
The nurse and librarian bolted.
They’re not coming back anymore.

The counselor, hollering madly,
escaped out the door of the gym.
The coach and custodian shouted
and ran out the door after him.

Chorus
Oh my! Goodbye!
They’re not coming back anymore, no more.
How fun! They’ve run!
They’re not coming back anymore.

The lunch ladies threw up their ladles,
then fled from the kitchen in haste,
and all of the students looked puzzled
as staff members scurried and raced.

We’d never seen anything like it.
But still, it was pretty darned cool
to see all the staff so excited
to leave on the last day of school.

Chorus

By Kenn Nesbitt  (Gratefully used with permission)

www.poetry4kids.com

Found these great mittens on summer holidays in PEI !

Next week, my teaching buddies are coming over for lunch; we’re celebrating the beginning of our SUMMER HOLIDAYS!

Even though I’ve been retired for a couple of years, during the school year I still occasionally do some substitute teaching, but not in July and August; I, too, am free again! We’re all ready to let loose and enjoy the blue sky days of Alberta, or wherever we find ourselves over the next two months.

An easy-peasy way to stay healthy and happy is by nurturing relationships with friends and close colleagues. They're our support system when we're having a rough go; they're our cheerleaders when we accomplish that goal for which we've been striving; most of all, we share with them a common history - they're some of the eyewitnesses of our life journey.

So, while my friends and I re-tell old stories, drop our jaws at new tales, and laugh until we hurt, I’m going to serve up a crustless salmon and roasted red pepper quiche; a crunchy, delicious salad made with fresh, plump green beans I saw at the  market, sprinkled with lightly toasted almonds, a touch of red onion, goat feta cheese, and dressed with a ‘just-picked from my garden mint' vinaigrette. 

The recipe for the salad comes from my favourite cookbook, Back Roads and Country Cooking by Sara Waxman. I’m still using the imperial measurements in this 1985 publication. I’ve made a couple of minor alterations to the original recipe; here is my version of:

Green-Bean, Almond, and Feta-Cheese Salad

1 ½ lbs. fresh green beans

1 cup sliced toasted almonds

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

½  cup thinly sliced red onion

¼  cup + 2 tbsp. olive oil

¼ cup packed fresh mint leaves, chopped

2 tbsp. white wine vinegar

¼  tsp. salt

¼  tsp. minced garlic

a generous pinch of freshly ground pepper

A sprig of mint leaves for garnish.

Trim the ends of beans and cut the beans into bite-size pieces. In boiling salted water, cook the beans just until crisp but done (about 3-5minutes after the water comes to a boil after adding the beans). Drain the beans, and immediately plunge them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain, and lay on a clean tea towel, or paper towel to dry. (I often do this ahead of time, wrap them in the paper towel, and put them in the fridge crisper until it’s time to assemble the salad.

In a blender, combine the olive oil, mint leaves, vinegar, salt, garlic and pepper. Blend until the leaves have been thoroughly crushed and the dressing is thick. I do this in my little coffee grinding machine that has a small blender attachment.

Put the beans into a bowl – pour the dressing over the beans and mix together to coat the beans. Place the dressed beans on a shallow glass serving platter. Sprinkle with the red onions, the feta cheese, and the almonds. Garnish with the sprig of mint leaves.

Serves 6 as an appetizer salad.

This dish is a hit at potlucks, parties, wherever and whenever you want to make a great impression. It truly is a dish of kindness, if only for the delight of discovering the melding of these varied flavours.

In the meantime, if you think you might like to plant mint in your garden, or your flower bed as is mine, don’t. As fragrant and tasty as mint might be, it’s invasive – let me spell that again for you; i-n-v-a-s-i-v-e. Put the plant into a very large container, or somewhere in the back forty, or somewhere with garden edging more than a foot or two deep. If you live in Calgary, come and help yourself to some of mine - please!

Warmly,

Wendy

Greek- style Lemon Potatoes, Father's Day, and Bonds

Sunny October day in pastoral Bavaria

It was a strange dinner party; new friends over for a farewell meal together. They had embarked on a new adventure to emigrate from Europe to Canada, but now, life events were sending them “home.”

So, we ate, drank, laughed, and enjoyed the ongoing discovery of kindred spirits before it came time to say, "Auf wiedersehn!",  "See you again!"

 It was  a precious time.

 A couple of weeks later, as my little family gathered for Father`s Day, our German friends came to mind. What struck me was the parallel between the altered connection with unsere fruende (our friends), and the bonds I have with my Dad who died almost a decade ago: both relationships continue - in absentia.

My Dad, John Kurchak, and me in 1955

In grief work, we call this connection “continuing bonds.” It seems that we don`t ever actually `let go` of the loved ones we've lost;  the relationships just change. How they look will differ for each of us: my sister talks to my Dad each day; I rarely talk to him, but I talk about him, all the time. Different people, different ways of continuing the bonds.

This year, at our Father`s Day dinner, we lit candles in memory of the dads that were no longer with us:, my dad, John; Hubert's dad, Xavier; and Adrian's dad, Patrick.

It was also a precious time.

Then we set on eating the feast that Logan, Hubert’s daughter, and her buddy, Adrian, cooked to celebrate Father"s Day. The charcuterie plate on which we indulged before dinner was loaded with smoked meats, herrings, smoked oysters, goat cheese, fig and olive crackers, and pate.

Next came the Black's " family - secret BBQ chicken recipe" from Adrian’s dad, Patrick;  just the fragrance of the drumsticks arriving at the table caused serious drooling on my plate (classy). Our side dishes included crispy oven- roasted smashed potatoes with garlic, and balsamic- drizzled BBQ grilled vegetables. Lemon meringue pie, at the end of the evening, finished us off. 

Although we bribed, okay, we cajoled and threatened, Adrian for the BBQ sauce recipe, his dread of sisterly retribution protected the 'family- secret'.  So, instead, I‘d like to share my recipe for “Greek- Style Lemon Potatoes” that I made for the farewell dinner with our German friends. These potatoes soak up the ollive oil and the lemon juice, resulting in succulent, lemony potatoes just like at your favourite neighbourhood Greek restaurant - maybe even better!

Greek-style Lemon Potatoes

( adapted from www.allrecipes.com/recipes/)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp fresh rosemary ( or 1 tsp dried rosemary)
6 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
Extra fresh rosemary, chopped, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together all the ingredients, except the potatoes.

Put the potatoes into a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Pour the lemon/oil mixture over the potatoes, and mix to coat.

Cover tightly with foil, and bake for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours, stirring occassionally.

Add extra stock, as needed, to prevent the potatoes from drying up. Start testing  for doneness at the hour. Garnish with extra chopped rosemary, and serve.

Serves 6-8

You just can't beat these taters; fast prep, into the oven, and soooooooo tasty!

In the meantime, just as our relationships with each other change, so do the continuing bonds we have with our loved ones who have gone from us.

 To have a look at more info, take a peek at http://www.griefsheart.com/ -> Video -> Love in Separation.

Also, Thomas Attig's book The Heart of Grief is second to none. Here's an excerpt from the  website:

 "When we grieve, we move from loving in presence to loving in separation. Nothing is more difficult in grieving. Nothing is more important if we are to thrive again in lives profoundly changed by loss "

 BTW, Attig currently lives in Victoria, BC!

Whew, this is one long blog - making up for the past two weeks.

Hey, try the potatoes - you'll enjoy them!

Warmly,
Wendy 






Andrea's Delicious Root Vegetable Soup

Hubert cracks an egg.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures.”

Not just wars, famines, plagues, and economic downturns for us; desperate times in our home means post –op knee replacement recup!

Desperate measures found Hubert playing master chef as I laid around groaning and whining. My 60- something-year-old German partner made a mean fried onions and egg with toast breakfast, fried onions and egg with toast lunch, and fried onions and egg with toast dinner.The menu also included any  take-out I desired. Hubert’s effort and willingness to cook and gather earned him an A+ !

However, after a couple of weeks of Hubert Cuisine, I needed REAL food. Andrea to the rescue – again!

Loaded with grocery bags, she just appeared at the door. The house became filled with sounds of chopping and stirring, and the sweet mouth- watering fragrance of caramelizing root veggies in the hot oven. Life was good again. I laid on the couch, icing my knee, and waiting....

Dinner was almost ready; once the veggies were blended into the stock, we’d be slurping. I heard the button on the blender click and the machine started; suddenly, a scream, and all hell in the kitchen. Flinging aside the icepack I rushed (hobbled, quickly) to the kitchen.

The top of the blender had come off and there was hot soup on everything: the coffee-coloured glass tiles on the backsplash, the stainless steel stove, the stove hood fan, the cupboards, the floor and even the window on the other side of the kitchen.

Hot soup on everything, including Andrea. There was soup in her hair, on her face, all over her arms, and dripping off her T-shirt. She looked...shocked. She didn’t say much as we got the soup washed off her face, and I got her into one of my XL tees. Then she started to cry - for a long time.

Turns out that sometimes we just need a reason to cry. A hot soup burn, or any other unexpected incident, on any scale of magnitude, may be the catalyst we’ve been waiting for to finally release whatever’s inside.

 So, while Andrea let go of life’s gak and  I sat next to her icing my knee, Hubert cleaned the kitchen, finished blending the soup, and made fried onions and egg with toast. 

The perfect dinner – soup, eggs, and family.

What did  I love most about that day? Andrea came bearing food to take care of us, and then we took care of her – just the way it’s supposed to be, everyone taking care of each other.  It’s great, isn’t it?

I’m not sure of the origin of Andrea’s dish of kindness so I’m calling it “Andrea’s Delicious Root Vegetable Soup". Here's the recipe, in her own words.

Andrea’s Delicious Root Vegetable Soup

1 pound carrots

1 pound parsnips

1 large sweet potato

1 small butternut squash (it’s easier if you just buy the pre-cut pre-packaged kind)

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground pepper

2 tbsp. fresh parsley

1-2 containers of prepared chicken or veggie stock ( somewhere around 4-8 cups)

Preheat the oven to 425.  

Cut the carrots, parsnips, potato and squash into large (1 inch) cubes.  Don't cut these too small; they will shrink while roasting.

Place veggies in single layers on 2 cookie sheets.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Toss well (you can always do this in a bowl and then distribute veggies on cookie sheets).

Bake for 25-35 minutes until veggies are tender, turning once.

 Remove the veggies from the oven.  Cool (highly recommend :) then add to a blender and blend small amounts at a time with small amounts of cool chicken broth.  Transfer to pot.  Add enough stock to bring the soup to desired consistency. Heat , add in parsley and serve.

In the meantime,  making myself cry when I need to shed just a few tears is effortless. I listen to Ukrainian folksongs by Kvitka Cisyk ( makes me think of my late, dear dad John Kurchak); I watch inspiring youtube videos about people overcoming disabilities to obtain victory; I try on clothes that used to fit.

Oatmeal Muffins

This story starts 36 years ago, the year of the Vancouver Expo.

It was a cool evening in the foothills south of Calgary; there was a thunderstorm in the distance, and I was learning to barrel race. Actually, I was trying to figure out how to just stay on a horse.

It was my turn to tackle the barrels; Woody, a big chestnut, and I were midway around the course when we both heard the clap of thunder. Woody took off, just to come to an abrupt stop when he reached his buddies; I, however, kept going - I really should have held onto that saddle horn.

Miraculously landing in an upright position I walked back to the horse .I put my foot in the stirrup; I hopped to get some momentum into the saddle; I ripped the ligaments in my left knee as my shattered fibula gave away. According to the ER orthopedic surgeon, tearing a ligament beats labour and delivery pain, any day.

Fast forward to 2011.

One way to stabilize loose, damaged knee ligaments is to just replace the knee. A knee replacement on the right arthritic joint had gone “A-Okay” four months earlier, so when it came time to finally repair the riding injury, I thought, "Why not?"

Why not? Because, with two knee replacements so close together you need two crutches, and two hands to hold them; eccolo, no hands for cooking.

Andrea to the rescue; she's a former teaching colleague, our personal fitness trainer for whom we have pet nicknames ( censored), and the kind of friend who comes over and opens the fridge to help herself. Andrea is family to us. Andrea brings us food when we’re sick, or just home from the hospital. Andrea's the best.

Large doses of pain medication can decrease an appetite and cause nausea. However, comfort foods, like muffins, are the perfect snack with tea as you lay moaning on the couch. Andrea’s muffins are delicious and remarkably good for you with their high fibre content. And, because they’re always delivered with care and kindness, we feel warm and comforted as we gobble them down, and lick the crumbs.

Muffins were just one of the dishes that Andrea brought while I was mending. The perfect high fibre food for someone on pain meds, nauseated and not moving around too much – yay Andrea!

So, when you have a friend who needs some comfort food with tea, try these oatmeal muffins; your friend will be glad you did.

Andrea uses this recipe from www.epicurious.com

Oatmeal Muffins

Makes 8 large or 18 standard muffins Active Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes (includes baking and cooling time) Ingredients: Non-stick vegetable oil spray 2 1/3 cups quick-cooking oats 1 cup whole wheat flour 1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 2 ounces) 1/2 cup (packed) dark brown sugar 1/2 cup sugar 2 tablespoons natural oat bran* 2 tablespoons wheat germ 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup buttermilk 1/2 cup canola oil 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup boiling water 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen wild blueberries * Natural oat bran can be found at many supermarkets and at natural foods stores. Preparation: Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 8 large muffin cups (1-cup capacity) or 18 standard muffin cups (1/3-cup capacity) with non-stick spray. Whisk oats and next 9 ingredients in large bowl. Add buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla; whisk to blend. Stir in 1/3 cup boiling water and let stand 5 minutes. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake muffins until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 28 minutes for large muffins and 20 minutes for standard muffins. Cool 10 minutes. Turn muffins out onto rack; cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The recipe is at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Oatmeal-Muffins-361819

Sometimes we can make the simplest food, and sometimes a recipe takes more time and effort. This recipe is the latter – definitely a dish of kindness.

The muffins freeze well, so you can make tons of them for later, or, share some and eat the rest yourself. Or, you could become friends with Andrea, and she’ll make them for you!

In the meantime, pain meds, and immobility can work together to make other things stop working altogether. Help your buddy out by taking them high fibre foods, lots of bottled water, and my favourite new food during my knee recuperation, prune juice. Yep...just a tip from my nursing days....

Warmly,

Wendy

P.S. Check out Andrea’s blog at www.runrunrunning.blogspot.com, or her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Move-Eat-Vegetables-Give-Yourself-a-Hug/286886691375186and get ready for down-to-earth inspiration, encouragement and more healthy food ideas!

Lemon Chicken Birthday Dinner

Logan and Adrian get our team logo painted on their faces!

I share my birthday week with my partner, Hubert. A mere two days (and 5 years) separate the days we celebrate each year. This birthday was one of the absolute nicest in 58 years.

Logan, Hubert’s daughter, and her buddy, Adrian, spent the day with us. We all participated that morning in the Hike for Hospice; we walked, laughed, raised money, and ate hamburgers with over 600 other hikers and volunteers.

Later, back at home after our early start, while Hubert and I had Sunday afternoon naps, Logan and Adrian cooked our birthday dinner - in our kitchen.

We woke to an appetizer platter with salami, stuffed olives, goat cheese with truffles, organic crackers, and hold onto your seats, home baked rye bread – yay Adrian! Delizioso…

Adrian and Logan whip up the popovers!

The  strawberry and spinach salad with poppy seed dressing reminded us spring had finally arrived. Already bursting, we nonetheless continued to stuff ourselves with the main course: lemon chicken with fresh herbs, rustic garlic mashed potatoes, Balsamic roasted Brussels sprouts, deep brown gravy, and even light popovers. 

It was such a treat to have dinner prepared, served, and the kitchen cleaned without having to exert one iota of energy.  I really appreciated the effort that Logan and Adrian had put into our birthday dinner: they had taken time to create a delicious menu, the food had been purchased from an organic grocer, the preparation executed so quietly that we could sleep, and then voila, dishes of kindness were served up on our own dining room table. I was deeply moved.

Then, too full to move from our chairs, we continued the evening by enjoying another birthday gift; we played the very fun card game Apples to Apples. I WON! !!!

Dishes of kindness + time together = a wonderful birthday celebration from Logan and Adrian. Thank you!

I’d like to share my Lemon Chicken  recipe which is very similar to the one created by Logan and Adrian. This particular recipe, pollo al limone, is from the Villa Delia cooking school in Tuscany where I spent an amazing 10 days on my first trip to Italy. There isn’t an easier way to make lemony fragrant, moist, delectable chicken.

                                                            

Original notes I scribbled at cooking school.

  Pollo al limone 

1 chicken ( about 1.2 kg)

1 large lemon

1 head of garlic, separated into cloves still with skins

1 big bunch of fresh sage ( or thyme, or rosemary, or a combination)

Chicken broth as needed ( I use the low sodium kind in tetra boxes)

A glass of white wine

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Preparation:

1.  Cut the ends off the lemon, and pierce it several times with a sharp knife to allow the juices to come out.
2.   Put the chicken into a baking pan, making sure that the pan is not too much larger than the chicken.
3.  Salt and pepper the cavity of the chicken.
4. Into the cavity, stuff the garlic, most of the sage, and the lemon
5. Tuck the remaining sage into the crevices of the wings and legs. Tie legs together.
6. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
7. Drizzle the chicken with olive oil – massage into the skin.
8. Cover, and put the chicken into the refrigerator.
9. Leave the chicken for a few hours. You can leave it overnight.

Cooking:

1. Bring the chicken to room temperature . This is VERY important to avoid tough meat.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Put in chicken, uncovered.
4. After 10-15 minutes, if the pan is too dry or burning, add a bit of chicken stock.
5. After about 20 minutes, sprinkle the chicken with the glass of white wine.
6. Cook for about 40 minutes, or until done.
7. Remove the chicken from the ove, and let it sit, covered, for about 15 - 20  minutes before carving. Remember, the chicken will continue to cook.
8. Ready yourself for shouts of praise and groans of ecstasy as family, friends and neighbours devour every last morsel of meat.

 Eccolo! There it is!

I also make this recipe with just chicken thighs. Spread the garlic, sage, and sliced lemon evenly across the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch glass baking dish; lay the chicken parts on top, sprinkle with salt and pepper, drizzle and massage the olive oil into the chicken; follow the rest of the recipe. Of course, the baking time is less – closer to 30 minutes. Fast.

In the meantime, this is an easy, and user friendly dish to take to a pal in need. The whole chicken, cooled and wrapped tightly can later be warmed up, used in sandwiches, pulled right from the bone as a nibble, or frozen for another day. Protein is vital for a creature under stress; when you share  pollo al limone, you're nourshing your buddie's body, soul and spirit. It's truly a dish of kindness.

Beans, beans are good for your heart

Celebrations!

Birthdays, anniversaries, house-warmings, weddings, team victories; all those events that we can’t wait to get to.

And the celebration that teachers enjoy the most – the end of the school year!

Yeah, kids like that one, too.

The second last weekend of June is the perfect time for a baseball party to celebrate surviving another school year. You get to hit that ball (sometimes), run around the bases (with help from some of your friends), and slide into home plate (rarely). The highlight? Walking home from the diamond to some Triple B in the backyard – beans, burgers and beer.

At the last "end of school" baseball party before I retired, I watched my teacher friends eat the beans the same way as always – taking seconds, thirds, and scraping the roaster. Laughing about the game, telling stories about the school year, and beginning the wind down to summer holidays made for wonderful memories, and great photo ops. We relaxed and celebrated before leaving each other for the summer; and we were reminded of the support, the encouragement and the genuine care that helped us through another school year. For me, a career.

 I think that what we really celebrated was friendship, that singular bond that lasts for years.

Here's the bean recipe that my buddies either finished off at the baseball parties, or took home in empty sour cream containers from the bottom kitchen drawer. I got this recipe almost 20 years ago, from Joan Kendal, a generous and kind “ole timer” from ranching country southwest of Calgary.

Joan Kendal’s Baked Beans           Serves 30 -40

2   1.36 litre cans beans ( I use Heinz Deep-Browned Beans with Pork and Tomato Sauce)

3 Tbsps. Worcestershire Sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

1 cup ketchup

2 large onions, chopped

½ lb. bacon, chopped, fried, and drained

12 oz. ( about 350 ml) can drained pineapple tidbits ***save the juice

½ cup cooking molasses

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Mix all the ingredients, except the pineapple juice,  together in a large roaster. Cover tightly. Bake about 3 – 3 ½  hours, stirring occasionally during baking. Add the pineapple juice if necessary, especially during re-heating.

The beans will continue to bake after you remove them from the oven. They should still be slightly runny when removed from the oven.

Easy easy peasy.....

At my last party, I put the beans in a slow cooker to stay warm – they REALLY firmed up. If you want to try this, add extra pineapple juice, and check on the beans frequently.

However, next time, I’m just going to leave the beans in the roaster;  they stay hot for quite a while if I’ve just cooked them that day. The other benefit of cooking them the same day is that they’re in the oven early, no last minute preparation for those guys, and the house smells oh so mouth-watering homey.

In the meantime,  beans are wonderfully nutritious; they're high in fibre and iron, low in saturated fat and a good alternative to meat. However, they can be difficult to digest. Friends and family who are grieving, or under a lot of stress, often have digestive systems that are a bit compromised; it's probably better to save the beans for sharing at potlucks, and fun celebrations. Because, beans beans are good for your heart; the more you eat....

Warmly,

Wendy

Follow me on Twitter #adishofkindness

Table Talk with Grieving Kids

The year after the death of one of my neighbours in ranching country south of Calgary, his family trekked up the hill where Bob’s ashes had been placed under a large boulder (it’s handy having big tractors on a ranch). As the adults shared memories of his life, and said comments like “Dad, you always took care of us.” 5 year old Josh was becoming increasingly agitated.

Confused about what was going on, he finally asked his mom “Where’s Granddad?” 

She told him that his grandfather was under the boulder. Suddenly Josh yelled, very loudly, “Hey, if Granddad’s under that rock, somebody better get him out before he dies!”

Thanks, Josh.

Talking with grieving friends and neighbours can be an unnerving endeavor : what to say; what to avoid; will I help or make things worse; how much will they understand?  Sometimes, when we take  baking, or other dishes to a bereaved family, we find a grieving kid or teen in the house as well. Yikes. Table talk with grieving kids.

There are many simple things that you can do to feel more comfortable talking with  grieving kids. If you would like some ideas, check out my current "Ed in Grief" blog at edingrief.blogspot.ca .

 

The article is based on one of the topics I cover in my upcoming online course " Walking and Talking with Kids about Death and Dying." You can find more information about this 3 week course, starting on May 10^th, at Life and Death Matters online  programs.ldmonline.ca

In the Meantime what suggestions or hints have you found helpful when you're talking with grieving kids or adults? Heartwarming stories?

Take care!

Wendy