GO WEST YOUNG MAN!

A spirit of adventure seized Bryan in 1971.  He resigned from a position in the Government Documents section of Laurentian University Library, packed some belongings into his red Datsun, left home, and headed off to Winnipeg. 

That’s where I found him in 1972 after Dorothy Crosby hired me for the Children’s Department of Henderson Regional Library.  Bryan was working in the Adult Department.  He suggested books for me to read . . .  J

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His mother must have wondered, “But how will my poor boy survive?  What will he eat?  And so she started writing out recipe after favorite recipe for him.  I love that she noted “Mom 1972” on them.  Was she afraid he would forget her?

Here are a few of them:

MARILYN . . . and a Mexican dinner

I’m happy to report that my cousin, Marilyn, is back from a trip to Paris and Ireland with her sense of humour intact.   She just emailed me today:

Have a good trip, Looking forward to Mexican recipes, all

 with Black Beans in your blog! LOL 

Well, Marilyn, here’s  tonight’s  dinner . . . but no black beans L.  I’m just using up the stuff in my fridge and freezer.

EGGS with CHORIZOS

HOME-STYLE POTATOES

MEXICAN RADISH SALAD

LEAFY GREENS with BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

*****

And the star of the show was the

                                         MEXICAN RADISH SALAD

            From Paula Peck’s ART OF GOOD COOKING

2 cups finely sliced radishes

½ cup vinegar

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp pepper

Marinate radishes in vinegar, salt, sugar, and pepper for at least 2 hours.  Drain and serve. 

·        I made half the recipe and it served 3 nicely.

BRY the BAKER . . . and RIESKA (Finnish Quick Bread)

I asked Bryan today what he thinks of being the family baker.  “Enhh,” he dismissed it.  “It’s a job.”

Blackberry Apple Pie!

Actually, he seems pretty proud   J

Onion Hamburger Rolls

but he remains modest as ever.  

When complimented on his pizza crust last night, he said, “Eleanor finished it.”  (He wasn’t home when it was finished rising so I turned it out of the mixing bowl and spread it out on the baking sheet.)

I still bake the cakes, 

 but Bryan makes the icings.  This one's marzipan.

This one's Marshmallow (to use up some of the marshmallows we bought for camping.  It’s okay, but we all prefer a buttery icing.)

 

Rieska (a breakfast bread)

RIESKA

From COMPLETE VEGETARIAN COOKBOOK by Janet Hunt

2 cups rye or barley (Bry used barley)

2 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

*Preheat oven to 425.

*Grease a baking sheet.

*Melt the butter.

·        Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl.

·        Mix in milk and melted butter.

·        Knead briefly to make a smooth dough.

·        Put dough on baking sheet and press it into a circle about ½ inch thick.

·        Prick lightly and bake for 10 to 15 minutes until golden.

·        Serve warm with butter.

*I actually served this with a stew and liked it, but others commented that it didn’t work because it wasn’t good for dipping.  

STEWS and CAMPING

The challenge of a 3 night camping trip is how to keep food from spoiling.  There are cans, of course, but one trick is to freeze a large amount of stew in a tall jar and put it in a small cooler where it will help to chill the cream for your coffee.

I found an excellent Hungarian Stew recipe in Bernard Clayton’s book, The Complete Book of Soups and Stews. 

The only change I made was that I blended the potatoes in it because I don’t like the texture of frozen potatoes.

Since then, I also have made a very good Boeuf Bourguignon from the same cookbook. 

 Used paperback copies are available from Amazon for a penny!

Here’s to stews al fresco!

 A Vinaigrette Dressing is perfect for an accompanying salad and this one makes a simple  bowl of lettuce and tomatoes taste SPE-CIAL!

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup canola oi

½ tsp salt

Juice from ½ lemon

¼ cup balsamic vinegar 

Christina Creek Trail J

  

Upcoming CRUISE ITINERARY . . . and MEXICO in 1973

 The Surrey Stadnyks plus Cholovik are embarking on the Norwegian Jewel on Sept. 20.

ITINERARY

DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART Sat Sep 20 Vancouver, BC, Canada 4:00pm Sun Sep 21 Astoria, OR 10:00am 6:00pm Mon Sep 22 At Sea Tue Sep 23 San Francisco, CA 8:00am 6:00pm Wed Sep 24 At Sea Thu Sep 25 Los Angeles (San Pedro), CA 8:00am 4:00pm Fri Sep 26 At Sea Sat Sep 27 At Sea Sun Sep 28 Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 8:00am 4:00pm Mon Sep 29 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico 11:00am 7:00pm Tue Sep 30 At Sea Wed Oct 1 Huatulco, Mexico 9:00am 5:00pm Thu Oct 2 Puerto Chiapas, Mexico 8:00am 5:00pm Fri Oct 3 At Sea Sat Oct 4 Puntarenas, Costa Rica 8:00am 5:00pm Sun Oct 5 At Sea Mon Oct 6 Panama Canal (Full Transit) (Cruising) Tue Oct 7 Cartagena, Colombia 10:00am 7:00pm Wed Oct 8 At Sea Thu Oct 9 At Sea Fri Oct 10 At Sea Sat Oct 11 Houston (Bayport), TX 8:00am

In Houston, we’ll hop into a rented car and 5 hours later, look who we’ll see!

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Four stops in Mexico!  I love Mexican food J. 

The first time Diana and I were in Mexico was back in 1973.   We bought bus tickets in Winnipeg for Mexico City.  Two buses loaded at the same time for our first stop in the United States.  A woman on our bus was very anxious about her husband.  “Bill, Bill,” she cried from the bus entry step, “What good are you to me if you’re on the wrong bus?”

It took us 3 days, I think, and sometimes we had to change buses in the middle of the night.

We were so exhausted by the time we reached Monterey, Mexico, that we decided to stay a couple of days there.  Our first restaurant meal was not a winner: there were goat carcasses hanging in the window – we ordered soup:  it came watery and blackish.  I had never heard of black beans and I wasn’t impressed.

Diana, in front of the Cathedral in Monterey . . . I think  

We enjoyed Monterey.   On the last day, we even found a restaurant we liked.  Where glasses of cold water were placed in front of us.  We had been so careful not to drink anything but bottled water, but, suddenly, we both just gulped it down. . . with no ill effects.  We’d have liked to stay longer but Mexico City was calling. 

 

 Mexico City :  We couldn't speak Spanish, but somehow we got about everywhere on public transit.  And we shopped -- I bought a little green plaid jumper that I still think is cute.  Nicole even wore it just a few years ago.

Chapultepec Palace . . . I think

“Tssst, Gringa!”  Everywhere we went.

Mexico, hot, hot, HOT!