all things february

oh hi!
this has been a long time coming.
partridgeberry: comes from my love for that stinky feet smellin' berry. it ooooozes love. and smoothies. and muffins. and loafs. and jams. and juice.

luckily my wonderful momma (shirley as some of you know her) brought me up two huge bags and about a half dozen bottles of home made jam in November. My house has been smelling like stinky feet ever since. but that's fine by me!

I have a sneaky suspicion this little blog o' mine will end up being all about cooking, food and my foodie farm aspirations (okay, and maybe the art practice of my peers and I)

and to start, oh sweet frig what a Sunday! I did absolutely nothing. and it felt so so good. I had a breakfast worthy of sharing with jill - and that's saying something. we're breakfast queens, partners in crime. it was almost wrong to have such a beautiful feast without her. brie, veggies, fresh greens, scrambly eggs, home made jam and fresh fruit. oh man. for a minute it didn't feel like February. The reason for the feast didn't feel right without her either! A prior evening of drinkin' beer, stomping feet, twirling skirts, and hollering to the grass mountain hobo's certainly made room for a lazy day.

rest of my lazy lazy sunday was spent watching 'the union'..putting me into a spiral of resarch on the uses of hemp and eventually (as all things agriculture related end up in my brain), devising a plan of how to grow it and what I could do with it. so I spent over half the day researching how to grow it and hoping to find info about DIY versions of making hemp fiber and dreaming about being able to produce my own hemp seeds (mmm good eatin') and bringing the business to newfoundland.

right now, if I were to tell you my ideal farm set up it would go a little like this:

-greens (bok choy, kale, lettuce, spinach, arugula)
-nightshades (tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers)
-root veggies (BEETS! carrot, squash, turnip and pumpkin)
-herbs (BASIL,parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, cilantro)
-a few chickens freely roamin'
-seeds (just sunflower would be fine..how are these even cultivated? oh god, more research)
-legumes!
-goats..and OATS!!
-sheep for their wonderfull fleece (and then I'd be spinnin' and weavin' on my loom)
-a cinnamon tree
-I'd make my own yogurt and cheese
-I'd have a home brew operation (better watch out.. might make us go blind)
-I'd do the bee thing for honey
-I'd have a medicinal herb and dye garden
-hemp hemp hemp

and then I'd cook from all those fresh things to feed YOU!
and I'd also have an outdoor foundry on the property. sweet lord.

ohhh plans a rumblin' in my brain! there are so many organizations back home that I want to get to talking to for my growing list of questions. you should check them out and maybe get involved.

st. john's safer soil
http://safersoil.ning.com/

food education action st. john's
http://www.feastnl.ca/

food security network of newfoundland and labrador
http://www.foodsecuritynews.com

NL federation of agriculture
http://www.nlfa.ca/

and now I'm thinking about where the hell does all of my food come from? geographically it's easy enough to track, but HOW each and every lovely thing that goes into our bodies is produced is boggling my mind.

and on the topic of food..some cooking!
I tried out a recipe for butternut apple soup. with a bit of tinkering and love it's going to be a staple in my diet for the rest of the root veggie season.

so in the midst of chopping up some squash for the sunshiney soup I found this:
























I think it made me squeal and giggle a little too much.

if you want to try out the soup it's incredibly simple. I found it in a cookzine (the name is escaping me..but it was really wonderful) at the anchor archive zine library.
I altered it with a few more ingredients to give it a little more zip! I didn't want the squash seeds to go to waste so I roasted them in paprika and added them, but you could enjoy them as a snack if you'd prefer.

you will need:
blender, food processor or if you don't own either of those, a veggie masher and some arm action!
1 medium or large butternut squash chopped
2 green apples peeled and chopped (or regular apples that look more green-yellow than red!)
4-6 cups of veggie stock or water (shoot me a message for tips on the home made stock..please save your already pickled insides and don't buy the store bought versions)
4 cloves garlic
black pepper
salt
oilve or sunflower oil
fresh basil (this is the ingredient I added but thyme might be a nice addition since basil isn't always readily available this time of year)

for the roasted seeds:
a cookie sheet or some sort of pan suitable for the oven
oil
paprika (or you can use your favorite spice)

SEED DIRECTIONS:

I don't have exact measurements because you'd have to gauge it on how many seeds your squash yeilds but! here it goes

preheat oven to 350
rinse and drain seeds in whatever draining device you have (I use my veggie steamer basket)
set aside and let dry for a couple of minutes

in a bowl mix enough oil and a roughly a 1/4 teaspoon of paprkia (could be more or less if you are using a different herb or spice..use your tastebuds!) to coat seeds

toss seeds in oil + spice mixture and spread on pan, drizzling any extra liquid over the seeds

bake until golden and crispy but not chared.

note: you may want to try covering your dish with tinfoil as a couple of the seeds acted like pop-corn and popped all around my oven! I haven't tried it yet but it sounds like a reasonable solution.

if you want to save these for a snack, let cool and then store in air tight container in room temperature.

SOUP DIRECTIONS:

over medium heat simmer the garlic in oil till light golden brown
add the apples and cook for about 3-5 minutes
add the squash
add the stock or water and simmer until squash is tender
add the salt and pepper
simmer for another couple of minutes

turn heat to low and then transfer to blender or whatever blender-like gadget you have. blend till creamy and smooth
transfer back to pot and add the basil and the roasted seeds
mix it up and tada!

a yummy warming soup the color of gorgeous SUNSHINE!

DISCLAIMER: if those instructions are confusing I promise to re-write 'em. it's late and I'm getting the case of dizzy-eyes!

and now! one last thing before I crawl in bed. This past week I took part in a group sculpture exhibition at the anna leonowens. here are some photo's of the action.

the name of the show is all too suiting
























setting up the show (featuring the work of jessie walker)























lustration
crocheted fishing line














































































right on. time for bed!
happy living!