The History of Aprons

This email came through this morning 

Note the medium is a size 14 to 16

The History of 'APRONS' I don't think our kids know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few and because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons required less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold, Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove. Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the empty shells.

In the autumn, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes. 

REMEMBER:

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw. The Govt. Would go crazy now with political correctness bullsh*t trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron- but love... 

Finding Regional Canadian Food in Calgary

The theme for this month’s blog for the Canadian Food Experience Project to identify our Canadian voice is: A Regional Canadian Food: (identify your region).  When you think of Alberta, beef comes to mind. 

But what about Calgary?  For the past month, I have been thinking about this and doing an informal survey with anyone who would talk to me. What local products do we have? I do have Jack Rabbits under my spruce tree and I did see a coyote prancing by our house with a peasant in his mouth as we live by Fish Creek Provincial Park!

As far as I can find out there is no food named after Calgary. I’m thinking about Winnipeg Goldeye!

One of the participants of this project has written about the Caesar drink that was first made here in Calgary in 1969.

Ginger Beef is attributed to being first made in Calgary.  Ginger Beef although a favorite of one of my sons has too many steps for me to do. Anyone who knows me, knows  that I tend to skip steps unless I can be convinced the step is truly necessary.  Basically Ginger beef is marinated strips of beef, then coated in a batter mixture, deep fried and served in a sauce with julienne vegetables. 

Another dish that was suggested to be a Calgary wonder was prairie oysters or Rocky Mountain oysters. This year the festival celebrates at Buzzard’s Restaurant and Bar 20 years of its famed Testicle Festival.  No one wants to come with me to the festival and luckily I found that Montana also hosts a similar festival! I was off the hoof so to say about this so called Calgarian delicacy. 

So what is our regional dish?

Two weeks ago, downtown Calgary was shut down for 12 days due to lack of services such as electricity, gas and water after a flash flood of the Bow and Elbow Rivers that snake through the city. The Calgary Zoo was devastated, evacuation of tens and thousands of residents with some areas not expected to go home for over a year.   In spite of the damage to the Saddledome, the Calgary Stampede will go on.  However, some of the events will be cancelled or moved to other locations.

The flood has shown the worst that nature can dish out. Yet, during the storm and continuing, the best in human nature has come out. 

My daughter in law’s bridal shop in downtown Calgary was water damaged. It is difficult to express the emotions.  Yet the feelings of my son had when his place of employment, outfitted and sent help to bail out the muddy water from the basement and rip out the damaged walls and flooring were one of gratitude. 

Help to those in need has been remarkable!  The community spirit of Calgary shone through as we all helped one another to cope in whatever way we could.

To aid flood relief, Tim Hortons, our Canadian Coffee Giant created a doughnut, the Wild Rose,shaped like the provincial flower with a cream centre. 

In 1970, Madame Benoit wrote in her Canadiana Cookbook about Alberta.  “Beef and ‘Red Eye’, ranch barbecues, the dashing wide brim of cowboys’ hats, the French touch in Edmonton, the  Hutterites in Lethbridge, in the prairies wheat pool (elevators), sheep in the mountains, cattle ranches, perfect steak, pioneer’s spirit, the FWUA (Farm Women Union of Alberta) women you keep the pioneer traditions alive, the beauty of Banff and Jasper, all give Alberta her interesting personality”.

Stereotypes live long and its hard to change them. Calgary has been known from the beginning as a cowtown and still has and maintains that Wild West image. Calgarians love to hate this image, yet revel in it. 

Calgary Stampede kicked off with its Parade. Pancake Street Breakfasts serve up flapjacks with sausages throughout the downtown and different communities.  Businesses also get caught up with Stampede fever and treat their employees to Stampede Breakfasts and Barbecues. Throughout the city, sidewalks and parking lots of business and malls are decorated with straw bales and wooden fences along with live bands playing country music.  Calgarian are seen everywhere in cowboy boots, blue jeans and cowboy hats at work or at play.  The small town atmosphere in this million plus city population once again is experienced as it was during the flood.  Calgarians fearlessly maintain this image!

Photograph by: Stuart Gradon, Calgary Herald

As fundraisers are held through the city for different charities, the dinner or evening meals usually serve up  heaping plates of beef on the bun or burgers with creamy coleslaw.  The other standard side dish is baked beans.

   Beef and the Red Eye

Madame Benoit talks about her mixed feeling about being “served a superb slice of roast prime rib surrounded with baked beans in Calgary” and wondering how they possibly went together.  She writes “one bite of each made me understand the why of this luscious Western Fare”. 

2 lbs large navy beans or red kidney beans
1 cup tomato ketchup
1 large onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 cups of canned tomatoes
1 pound fatty pork , 1inch cubes
1/2 cup of sugar
3 teaspoon salt

Wash beans, cover generously with cold water in a bowl and soak overnight. The next morning, pour beans and water into a sauce pan, add more cold water so that they’ll be well covered. Bring to boil, cover and simmer over low heat 2 hours. uncover and cook over medium heat  1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender and sauce is thick, then taste for seasoning. 

These beans freeze very well and can be kept 3-4 months. Place uncovered and still frozen into a 375 oven until hot.   

Of interest was her comment  “as the Man moves into the kitchen” in the seventies. “Men cook mainly for pleasure because they like to eat and are not obliged to do it. Their stint in the kitchen being short lived, they feel freer to make the most of what they cook. They like to try new creations, however wild they are.”  She  shared  recipes such as Drunken Meat Balls, Barbecued Lamb Shanks, Steak in the Rye, Pioneer Omelette, Farmer’s Pancakes  that were given to her by Albertan men.

All the recipes were of great interest to me as there was an experimentation with local products available at the time.  I have picked the recipe labelled Richard’s Steak in the Rye as in Madame Benoit words “ if you have the Calgary spirit, try this 1 1/2 inch thick boneless sirloin steak cooked over hot coals or on the stove”.

Steak in the Rye 

1/2 teaspoon coarse or sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Boneless 1 1/2 sirloin about 2 lb.

3 tablespoon melted butter

1 tablespoon salad oil

1/4 cup consommé

2 tablespoon rich cream

1/4 cup rye

Mix the salt and pepper and rub into both sides of the steak, patting it in. 

Blend the butter and oil, roll steak into it until most of it is absorbed. Do this if you intend to barbecue or broil the steak. Broil as you usually do the steak.

To pan fry, use a large cast-iron frying pan. Heat the oil and butter until quite hot.  Quickly brown the steak on both sides over high heat for 3 minutes, then lower heat to finish cooking as you like it. 

Remove steak to a hot platter.  Add to the pan the cream, consommé and rye.  When the steak is barbecued - warm up the ingredients in a pan and pour over the steak.  Serve with “a mess” of French fries and slice tomatoes.  

Last night, as we usually do is have family dinner on Sunday.

Fish Creek during the Flood

Portions of it rebuilt following devastating flooding in 2005, Fish Creek Provincial Park is in recovery mode once again.

And Alberta Parks Calgary area manager Jim Stomp says it could take millions of dollars and years to fully restore the park that once again has fallen victim to massive flooding.

“There’s a significant amount of damage … it’s certainly not the kind of damage some of the communities have had, but it’s going to be costly and it’s going to interfere with people’s use of the park for awhile,” he said, adding cleanup in some areas could take weeks or months, while severely damaged areas could be out of commission for a couple years.

My First Authentic Canadian Food Memory

The Canadian Food Experience Project was launched on June 7, 2013 by Valerie Lugonja to explore the essence of Canadian cuisine with participants across Canada as they share their regional food experiences.   

I was born in Manitoba, in the Parklands and have fond memories of growing up on a Hereford cattle mixed farm. I have lived across Canada; Winnipeg, Montreal, Regina and now live In Calgary.  Every place has its charm and I loved living in each of the cities in Canada. 

I have been blogging off and on, mainly trying to develop a personal style that appeals to me...  I went from being a food critic to now blogging on my personal life and recipes that have evolved as I prepare them.  I also am  trying to master dishes of my Mom’s that I refused to eat as a child!  My thoughts as a child were who eats dough and cheese? Disgusting!  Yet, My Irish Maritimer husband and children love pyrohy! 

My Mom at an early age had worked in a hospital setting under a trained chef.  Her knowledge of food preparation such as sauces, custards, pastry and desserts are legendary!  Rarely were her recipes in writing and if they were they lacked a name or the method.  Much like the very early edition of “The Mennonite Treasury of Recipes” where method often was lacking as it was a given, one just knew how to use the ingredients once they were listed!

I am most interested in the similarity of food preparation between cultures.  Most recently on our trip to Jamaica, the recipe given to me by a chef for Browned Fish, was very similar to my Mom’s preparation of fresh water fish such as pickerel and jack fish, of course minus all the seasoning.  Certainly Canadian cuisine is constantly incorporating other foods as it’s own other ethnic groups foods yet basic food preparation is at times very similar.

My first food memory was as a preteen when my Dad had hunted three prairie chickens and brought them for me to prepare for supper.  My Mom was in hospital after giving birth to my brother and the task of  preparing these prairie chickens was left to me.   I remember staring at them wondering what I would do with them.  I remembered Mom pouring hot water on our farm chickens before plucking the feathers, which I did.   As I tried to pluck the feathers  much to my surprise all the skin of the chickens came off!   The rest of my food memory is vague, but I do remember my Dad's smile, which I think was for a job well done!

My father was always reading recipes in the Manitoba Cooperator paper, a weekly rural paper and getting my mom to prepare the recipe.   One such recipe was Cornish Pasty.  These we enjoyed hot out of the oven as we listened to Saturday Night Hockey on the radio!

After reading about Maple Syrup season in Quebec, the next spring Dad tapped one of the Manitoba Maples on the farm.  With much excitement, the gallon pail was placed on a wood stove to reduce.  After many hours of carefully watching this process, the result was about a cup of syrup, which was not very sweet.  Needless to say my father did not do this again!

Last year, I had the good fortune of meeting Chef Martin Picard and in relating the Manitoba Maple syrup story to him at coffee, I was surprised at his interest and to have him quickly calculate the amount of sugar water from Manitoba Maples it would take to get a liter of syrup!

I am excited to be part of this project. I believe that Home Cooking and Baking is taking a back seat to the packaged and processed foods as these products take over our supermarkets! There are fewer and fewer space over the years allotted to one ingredient products in our supermarkets  and even our farmer’s markets are being affected! Home cooking needs to be back in the forefront so that further generations enjoy the tastes, smells, textures and just pure joy of creating a recipe from scratch or mastering a family traditional recipe. 

My Mom has been remembered for her culinary skills by her grandchildren.  I too want to be remember by my grandchildren as having a kitchen full  of great smells and delicious food!

How many of these did YOU know about?

A sealed envelope - Put in the freezer for a few hours, then slide a
knife under the flap. The envelope can then be resealed. (hmmmmmm..)  ============Use Empty toilet paper roll to store appliance cords It keeps them
neat and you can write on the roll what appliance it belongs to.==========
For icy door steps in freezing temperatures: get warm water and put
Dawn dish washing liquid in it. Pour it all over the steps. They won't
refreeze. (wish I had known this for the last 40 years!) ==========
To remove old wax from a glass candle holder, put it in the freezer for
a few hours. Then take the candle holder out and turn it upside down. The
wax will fall out.=========== 
Crayon marks on walls? This worked wonderfully! A damp rag, dipped
in baking soda. Comes off with little effort (elbow grease that is!)..==========
Permanent marker on appliances/counter tops (like store receipt
BLUE!) rubbing alcohol on paper towel.============ 
Whenever I purchase a box of Steel wool pads Pads, I immediately take a pair of
scissors and cut each pad into halves. After years of having to throw
away rusted and unused and smelly pads, I finally decided that this would
be much more economical. Now a box of Steel wool pads last me indefinitely!
In fact, I have noticed that the scissors get 'sharpened'' this way!============= 
Blood stains on clothes? Not to worry! Just pour a little hydrogen
peroxide on a cloth and proceed to wipe off every drop of blood. Works
every time! (Now, where to put the body?) LOL ========== 
Use vertical strokes when washing windows outside and horizontal
for inside windows.. This way you can tell which side has the streaks.
Straight vinegar will get outside windows really clean. Don't wash windows
on a sunny day. They will dry too quickly and will probably streak. ============ 
Spray a bit of perfume on the light bulb in any room to create a lovely
light scent in each room when the light is turned on. ======== 
Place fabric softener sheets in dresser drawers and your clothes will smell
freshly washed for weeks to come. You can also do this with towels and linen. ========= 
Candles will last a lot longer if placed in the freezer for at least 3
hours prior to burning .====== 
XX To clean artificial flowers, pour some salt into a paper bag and add the
flowers. Shake vigorously as the salt will absorb all the dust and dirt
and leave your artificial flowers looking like new! Works like a charm! ============ 
To easily remove burnt on food from your skillet, simply add a drop or two of dish soap
and enough water to cover bottom of pan, and bring to a boil on stove top.===========
Spray your TUPPERWARE with nonstick cooking spraybefore pouring
in tomato based sauces and there won't be any stains.===========Wrap celery in aluminum foil when putting in the refrigerator and it will keep for weeks.============= When boiling corn on the cob, add a pinch of sugar to help bring out the
corn's natural sweetness
===============Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half, and rub it on your
forehead. The throbbing will go away.
=============

Don't throw out all that leftover wine: Freeze into ice cubes for future
use in casseroles and sauces ......... LEFT OVER WINE, WHAT'S THAT? :)=============To get rid of itch from mosquito bites, try applying soap on the area
and you will experience instant relief.============Ants, ants, ants everywhere ... Well, they are said to never cross a chalk line.. So,
get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march. See for yourself. ============
Use air-freshener to clean mirrors. It does a good job and better still,
leaves a lovely smell to the shine.===========When you get a splinter, reach for the scotch tape before resorting to
tweezers or a needle. Simply put the scotch tape over the splinter, and
then pull it off. Scotch tape removes most splinters painlessly and easily. ===== Now look what you can do with Alka Seltzer...... ... Clean a toilet.
Drop in two Alka Seltzer tablets, wait twenty minutes, brush and flush.
The citric acid and effervescent action clean vitreous China...========Clean a vase.To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water
and drop in two Alka Seltzer tablets.============= Polish jewelry.Drop two Alka Seltzer tablets into a glass of water and immerse the
jewelry for two minutes.============== Clean a thermos bottle.Fill the bottle with water, drop in four Alka Seltzer tablets, and let soak
for an hour (or longer, if necessary).===========
Unclog a drain.Clear the sink drain by dropping three Alka Seltzer tablets down the
drain followed by a cup of Heinz White Vinegar.. Wait a few minutes,
and then run the hot water.================ Do your friends a favor. Pass this timely (and some not-so-timely)

Jamaican Food- Browned Fish

The following recipe was given to me by one of the servers in Bayside at the Whitehouse Sandals resort.. It was part of the breakfast buffet.

Bammy is a flat bread made from Cassava, formed into a patty, heated in a cast iron pan, then soaking in coconut milk and  frying, steaming or baking them.  The bammy was bland tasting.  I couldn't taste the coconut but thought they were a cornmeal mixture. The server said that they were served with the browned fish and a typical dish in a Jamaican Kitchen.

The fish was marinaded in seasoning for at least a half an hour, dusted in flour and fried in oil until crispy and a golden brown colour. The vegetables, a mixture of onions, red peppers and carrots  were julienned, steamed and seasoned with butter. 

The seasoning was mild for breakfast , but at the evening beach party the fish was seasoning was spicy and hot!

Spicy Rice Noodle Salad

Pan fried Atlantic Salmon with Spicy Noodle Rice Salad

 For this recipe, soften rice noodles in warm water

Mix noodles in the following dressing

Dressing

minced garlic- 1 -3
brown sugar -1 teaspoon
chili paste- 1/2 - 1 tablespoon
rice vinegar- 1/3 c
fish sauce- 2 -3 T

Add Chopped Herbs ( Cilantro, and/or Mint and/or basil) and julienned vegetables .. I used a carrot, zucchini, green onions out of the garden and sweet pea pods.

I proudly used my new julienned matchstick slicer and was pleased with the results!

Drizzle  a little of sesame seed oil.  Garnish with peanuts, chopped green onion and chopped herbs.

Since I had soften too many rice noodles, I only added the vegetables to some of the noodles.. I left the rest of the noodles for another night!  Leaving out the vegetables gives you a fresher salad the next day when you mix in new vegetables .