Taken from Fallsview Casino.

A couple of weekends ago, me and the boy did a touristy sort of day at Niagara-On-The-Lake and Niagara Falls during my “staycation”. (Yes, I used the word, what of it?)

I think my head is about to be Fruit Fuckered.

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Blueberry jam by me!

A while ago, I bought a canning pot and a bunch of supplies. The idea was, if I had enough gooseberries, I’d make some jam. Unfortunately, my gooseberry harvest last week was literally a handful, and I don’t think I’d be able to harvest the whole bush in a single batch.  So I went to the market today and bought way too many blueberries (harvested in Pelham, ’cause i’m into the local food thing).

While it stormed outside today, I made my first batch of blueberry jam.

I ate it. It was delicious!

Tonight, I’m treating myself to gazpacho. Most of the ingredients are from the market, at the most Ontario grown.

4 large tomatoes, peeled
1 red bell pepper
1 english cucumber
1 handful of chopped cilantro
5-6 fresh basil leaves
1 handful of chopped scallions (or red onion)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 olive oil
1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
salt, pepper

(optional stuffs: tabasco sauce, other fresh herbs, avocados, parsley)

Half the pepper and half the cucumber are finely chopped and set aside in a large bowl. Everything else goes in the blender. You can chop up the tomatoes and veggies coarsely if you like. Blend until smooth. Add the liquids to the big bowl and mix the peppers and cucumbers together. Season to taste. Cover, and chill in the fridge for about an hour for the flavours to blend in. Waiting is important for delicious gazpacho.

I think a lot of recipes call for tomato juice to thin the concoction and add more flavour. Honestly, I don’t think it needs it. If you want it less chunky, forget chopping anything and put all of it in the blender and set to liquify. If you want more liquid, add water. If you want to bother, you can even strain the pulp, though I wouldn’t because all that stuff is healthy. If you wanted more flavour, add more herbs. Yum, cilantro!

There’s a discussion on one of the forums that I frequent about Raw Milk. Of course, one of the proponents of raw milk brought up the argument, and I will paraphrase, that raw milk is in it’s most purest form, as nature intended, so without the manipulation of man, it’s healthier for us. This to me is a laughable argument and I wonder why people still make it.  Particularly if this argument is coming from someone who enjoys most of their food (i.e. meats) cooked.  I don’t really want to get into this, but I’ve always found it interesting that.  humans are the only species on this planet that drinks another animal’s milk, even after being weaned.  Somewhere we got the idea that drinking cow’s milk  was an extremely vital part of our growth and development.

I haven’t had a proper glass of milk in probably about a decade, maybe more. Of course, I’m a grown adult.  I’m small, but I’m not skinny. I’m not weak and brittle. Yes, I did get meningitis, but I recovered pretty quickly, while still maintaining a vegetarian diet. I’m more active than most people I know, just for my 5km round trip work commute.   I do indulge in cheese, ice cream, stuff like that, once in a while, but not enough to make a nutritional difference. Except for the cream I put in my coffee, I’m practically a vegan when I cook at home. Yeah it doesn’t help that I seem to have developed lactose intolerance after my meningicoccal adventures, but I’ve done fine without that tall glass of white stuff.  The thing with it is, I’ll consume dairy but I’m not going to kid myself into thinking I need it. Dairy is junk food. When I tell myself that I need to eat healthier (and I do), part of that agenda is actually cutting out as much of it as I can.

A while ago, me and the boy had valentine cupcakes from Starbuck’s. The cupcakes were too sweet, and didn’t have a lot of flavour, however I think that it got me on to the idea that cupcakes didn’t have to be that crappy sugary bread that you made from a box when you needed something to bring to your eighth grade church bake sale. Though I am not a vegan, I generally go with the idea that if you can make delicious food without using eggs or dairy, and it’s just as yummy, if not yummier than the alternative, then why not. So far I’ve learned that I make kick ass banana bread and brownies, vegan style, so now I want to explore what I can do for cupcakes.

That’s why Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World is on my wishlist.