I make my coffee on the stove top. My friend from university (Ann) married a fellow from Croatia and they now live in Whitehorse, Yukon. Ante (Ann’s husband) taught me how to make this coffee. I think, however, it’s all in the routine of making the coffee and drinking it that makes it so pleasurable.

When I lived in Healdsburg, I bought my coffee at the local coffee house: The Flying Goat. Now, I’m in Petaluma, I buy my coffee at Deaf Dog. Quite honestly, I prefer coffee from The Flying Goat although, I can’t tell you a specific reason why. Maybe, maybe, it’s because the people at the Flying Goat look a bit more hygienic or something. I buy a kilogram of coffee and I ask them to grind it really fine. Ante says to grind it as fine as talcum powder. I noticed this time, my coffee isn’t ground as fine as I need it to be and Ante’s right. It needs to be fine–talcum powder fine.

I have a little stainless steel pot with a long handle. If I fill the pot up with water, to a particular point, add two scoops of my talcum-powder-fine coffee, I get a good two cups from it. So that’s what I do. I fill it up and add two scoops of coffee.

Now, here’s the tricky part. Turn on a burner–I am lucky enough to have gas burners (immediately hot, immediately not). Bring the coffee to a boil. You have to watch though. As soon as the coffee boils, it over flows. The key is not letting it overflow, but to boil at the brink for about one minute. Then settle for one minute. Then boil again for one minute. Then take it off the burner and let everything settle. Let it settle some more while you are getting the ice cream ready. Yes. Ice cream in the morning. It’s so decadent.

I love French vanilla, but on the odd time, I might have mint flavoured. You decide. I think if you like ice cream, you could probably use whatever you like the most that compliments the coffee flavour. I put a small scoop and a bit in the bottom of my coffee mug. Then I pour the coffee (grounds and all) over the ice cream. The grounds settle to the bottom so you don’t end up drinking them. And, if you do, well–it’s added texture. Textured coffee. Yum.

Now, here is the very important part, take your mug of coffee outside and sit on your balcony, porch, patio, front steps or where ever your outside space is. Drink your coffee and watch your world start their day. When your first mug is done, go back inside and get your second cup. Repeat.

Mmmm…mmm…

And, if by any chance you are planning a trip to Whitehorse, Yukon, you can stop by Ann and Ante’s La Bicicletta Bed and Breakfast to try out the real recipe yourself.

This posting is for my sister Nat. She’s been asking me for this recipe ever since she visited in early May. My cousin Nik sent me a recipe chain pyramid thing to which I haven’t replied yet either, but I plan to.

Margaret (a former colleague) once made this salad for one of those potluck things you do at work. You have to balance the ingredients based on the number of people you are making the salad for.

• Fresh tomatoes. I use either cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or just small vine tomatoes.
• Some fresh mozzarella balls. I usually get a bucket from Costco, but when everybody was here, we just got a half pint at Safeway. The mozzarella balls are usually preserved in olive oil and spices.
• Fresh basil.
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Quarter the tomatoes. Half the mozzarella balls. Chop the fresh basil. Mix in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Very simple. Very tasty. Very fresh.

Obviously, this recipe goes very well with crab-stuffed chicken breasts grilled on the BBQ, that grilled asparagus (how did we do that?), and a glass of Alan’s Bush-Field Pinot Noir. It tastes even better when you have friends and family enjoying it with you.

Over ten years ago, my friend Vicky told me about peanut butter and cucumber sandwiches. I thought, Yuck! Peanut butter and cucumber? Disgusting.

Last summer, I accidentally tried the combination though. I was having peanut butter on toast for breakfast. I was also making a salad for my lunch. I guess I used the same knife for buttering peanut butter and cutting the cucumber.

If you know me, I always have to sneak a quick taste of my ingredient–especially if it is a raw vegetable. In this case though, some peanut butter had rubbed off on my cucumber slice. WOW. I thought. How delicious.

And I thought of my friend Vicky and how she told me ten years ago that it was a great taste combination. And I thought how unfortunate of me to have dismissed it so quickly, without even trying. And I thought, how unfortunate that I have been missing this delicious, crunchy, savory, taste for ten years.

And now I’m glad that I have actually tried it. I eat peanut butter on toast with slices of cucumber all the time. I will encourage you not to dismiss it so quickly either. Because in ten years, you’ll be thinking of how you once read somebody’s blog and they encouraged you to try this new, unconventional combination, and you didn’t because it sounded yucky. And when you do try it, you’ll wonder why you didn’t try it sooner. And you’ll remember me, maybe, and you’ll wonder what I’m doing. And maybe you’ll look me up.

I don’t need to look up where Vicky is. We keep in touch. She now lives in France, with her husband and two (yes two!) children. I’d like to visit her this year. I think I’m going to try for September. And this time, if she recommends any sort of taste combination, I’m not going to dismiss it so quickly. I’ll give it a try.

My aunt and my sisters have been visiting me in California. We had an awesome time! Mainly though, we ate. We ate. We drank. Then we ate some more. My sister asked me for the salad recipes I made. I said I would post them on my blog. So–ben, voila!–here is one:

One head of butter lettuce. Tear into bite-sized pieces and wash in a fancy-dancy salad spinner. Spin until the lettuce is dizzy (or you are dizzy, or you can’t tell the difference because you have been drinking the bottle of wine you opened half an hour ago and you have an empty stomach. Remember, you haven’t eaten. You are just starting to make the salad!).

Retrieve glass bowl from where ever the glass bowl is stored in your kitchen. If it is your kitchen, you know where the glass salad bowls are. If you are in your sister’s kitchen, you will have to investigate each cupboard and drawer to find out where they are stored. Depending on the size of the kitchen, this particular task might take a few minutes.

Ok. Glass bowl. Dizzy lettuce. Put the lettuce in the bowl. Pat down so the lettuce is densely layered on the bottom of the bowl and it starts to regroup.

Open a can of corn niblets. This was the first time I used white corn niblets. I normally use yellow corn niblets. Well. You decide what you like better: white corn, yellow corn. Doesn’t make a difference. More likely than not, you are going to have one of them in your cupboard.

Rinse and drain the can of corn niblets and layer them on top of the dizzy lettuce in the bowl. Not a bad combination so far.

Chop a large tomato into cubes. Should I say: cube a large tomato? Well. Whatever the language, you get the idea: one large tomato is now in chunks. Layer the tomato chunks onto the corn niblets.

Find the can of tuna in your cupboard. Staple ingredient: tuna. Open the can, drain the liquid. Put the tuna in a bowl to chop it up with a fork so that it is now flaky. I like to add minced onions–just a wee bit of onions, minced into a pulpy mess–for flavour. Mix the onions with the flaky tuna. Layer the minced onions and flaky tuna onto the tomato, corn, and lettuce in the bowl. Hmmmm…now you have dizzy lettuce and flaky tuna in one bowl. Maybe you should have another drink of wine.

Ok. So now you should have lettuce, corn, tomato, onion and tuna all layered in the glass bowl. You can actually use any kind of bowl. I just like glass bowls because you can see the layers and it makes it more of an interesting conversation piece. Especially, if by now, you are on the second bottle of wine and you still haven’t eaten. You can decorate the top of the salad with boiled eggs sliced in half. Be artistic. Be creative. There are no rules.

The dressing takes some trial and error before you figure it out. I learned how to make this basic dressing when I lived in France and it has been in my recipe repertoire ever since. Scoop some Dijon mustard into a small mixing bowl. Once around the edge with olive oil. Well–maybe another round just so there is enough. Start mixing in circular motions. Add vinegar to the mix. Keep mixing until the oil, mustard, and vinegar have blended. Use the vinegar to modify the consistency of the dressing. If you’ve added too much vinegar, add some more oil, or mustard until you get the right balance. This is where the trial and error comes in. Too much mustard and it will make your nose sting. Too much vinegar and it will make your mouth pucker. Too much oil and–well, you’ll figure it out.

You can pour the dressing directly onto the salad and serve or just keep it in the bowl so each individual can put the right amount on their portion. The idea with the layered salad is that it becomes a tossed salad as soon as people start digging in.

That’s it. Bon Appetit! Dig in!

Don’t forget: Finish the wine.

Today for lunch I walked to the Steel Bear Deli. I haven’t been there in a while and I needed a quick bite to eat. They make pretty good sandwiches. Today, I asked for a hot BBQ chicken breast sandwich with Dijon mustard, lettuce, sprouts, and sliced tomatoes—mmmmmm. But, I also ask that they layer the ingredients in a specific way. (Does that make me peculiar? Don’t laugh. At least I know what I want, and how I want it!) I like one piece of bread, the lettuce, then the chicken, then the alpha sprouts, the tomatoes, then the other piece of bread.

I just find it’s more balanced that way. Balanced flavours. Balanced textures. Balanced crunchiness. Just balanced in general. Here is a picture of my balanced sandwich from the Steel Bear Deli.

Oh no! After I actually looked at these pictures, I noticed they put the tomato on the wrong side!!! I ate it so fast, I didn’t even notice. Now I think I’ll be unbalanced for the rest of my day.

MMMMMmmmm…This is my Christmas tradition. I made it last year. I’m now making it this year. Thank you to my colleague and friend: Quebec-Martin. He made this recipe one year for his Thanksgiving. I wasn’t at his Thanksgiving, but somehow, I got this recipe. It is simply fabulous!! (Oh. On a side note, it is best to open a bottle of red wine while you are making this recipe. Preferably, a bottle from my neighbour’s personal cellar: Bluenose Petit Syrah.)

3 teaspoons peanut oil
1 small (sweet) onion, chopped
pinch of salt.
1 teaspoon of curry powder
1 cinnamon stick, broken
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup of cider vinegar
2 large under-ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
1 pound of cranberries
1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1. Heat 1 teaspoon of peanut oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and salt and cooked over moderately low heat, stirring until the onion softens (about 8 minutes).

2. Add the curry powered and cinnamon stick and cook for one minute.

3. Stir in the sugars and vinegar and bring to a boil.

4. Add the mangoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 35 to 40 minutes).

5. Add the cranberries and cook over moderate heat for 40 more minutes, crushing them against the sides of the pan.

6. In a separate saucepan, heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they begin to pop. Then, add them to the chutney.

7. Stir the chutney. Transfer to a bowl and let cool.

By this time, the bottle of wine should be imbibed. You could be typing a blog, calling friends and family long distance, or hopefully, doing something else far more interesting. Merry Christmas to all: especially our friends and families.

Much love,

Jennifer, Dorothy, and Ken.

I collect recipes of 5 ingredients or less. Today, I was talking to my nephew about cooking. (He’s a great cook by the way!!). He said his five ingredient recipe would include:

1. Get cookbook.
2. Find recipe.
3. Buy ingredients.
4. Cook.
5. Eat.

I laughed and said I would include this recipe in my 5-things or less cookbook.