"I am the sunlight on ripened grain" . . . and HELEN'S PIZZA

Marta and Helen

Eleanor and Helen

                                                                      Feb. 16, 1935 - July 12, 2017

Helen was a tall woman with a gruff voice and a huge heart.

Suddenly, my cousin is gone.  I talked to Helen only a week or two before she died and she was as uncomplaining as ever.  The only thing she said was that she thought she might have to go into a care facility soon because she was having trouble walking.  

I never knew Helen until about fifteen years ago when she started visiting Mom in Saskatoon. 

Helen was my Uncle Fred’s daughter.  There were 6 children:  Steve, Frank, Lily, Helen, Martha, and Dennis. 

I saw Helen only once when I was little.  She needed help and had come to see Mom and Dad.  She never forgot a kindness and that’s why she started bringing Mom roses.

Soon, we got to know Helen’s sister, Lily, too.  

After Mom passed away, Bryan and I used to see Helen in Estevan.  We always went to the Tower Café and she always ordered the All-dressed Pizza.  “It’s the best,” she said. 

Then we would talk about the old days.  

Helen was married twice and has left behind 5 children, 18 grandchildren, 26 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren.   

Lily said Helen was a farmer and never liked to cook.   Her lungs were damaged by smoking and by dust from grain and working the fields.

I remarked to Lily, “Helen had an interesting life.”

“I would say she did,” responded Lily, emphatically.

 

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Helen said she went out B.C. once and picked cherries for ten cents a pound and then bought sealers and canned them on site: 75 quarts.   

I do love cherries, but when we have pizza, Helen, that is when I will most often think of you. 

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When you have something growing in your garden, you want-to/have-to use it! 

So here is another of my culinary inventions:

Collards on a Pizza

which I am naming. . . 

HELEN'S PIZZA

FIRST PREPARE the FIRST TOPPING which is COLLARDS

2 pounds collards (you can also mix in beet leaves and spinach)

8 ounces fresh tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion

1 ½ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

1 tsp fresh oregano (or ¼ tsp dried)

*Cut out the collard stems.  (You can boil these up and feed them to your dog – they are safe {I checked} and full of fiber and nutrients.)

*Cut the collards in short strips half an inch wide.  Set aside.

*Finely dice the tomatoes.  Set aside.

*Finely chop the onion.  Set aside.

*Wash the oregano and strip those small leaves away from the stems.  Chop the leaves if they seem large. 

*Heat oil and cook onions for 3 minutes over medium heat. 

*Add tomatoes and cook 2 more minutes.

*Add collards, salt, pepper, and oregano.  Reduce heat and cook slowly for 20 minutes.

*Let cool.  This is the first layer for your pizza.

I added Ukrainian garlic sausage, mushrooms, zucchini, Kalamata olives, fresh basil, cheddar, and mozzarella.

                                                          HELEN'S PIZZA