I’m going to spare you too many words tonight – mostly because I’m making 100 pork satay for the kitchen theatre in the morning (I’m missing the World Cup final! Boo!) – and because each picture is worth a thousand, right? We took the boys to the parade yesterday. They selected their own cowboy attire. Think they’ll make the Sartorialist? My favourite part is the bagpipes. I get all verklempt.
The cowboys enormous bulls make me even more so.
Later, on the grounds, we went to MacKay’s -they’re finally in Weadickville this year instead of Breyers- and got some mini donut ice cream. I do also recommend the cowboy coffee, Saskatoon berry and coconut… the beer is subtle and interesting, but I’m not a beer fan myself. Seventeen flavours to choose from is altogether too much pressure.
We had pepperoni sticks wrapped in cheese bread (once a year – in lieu of corn dogs this time) in the grass, and after dragging ourselves back across the tarmac, through the stables (love the Clydesdales) the boys needed to cool off in the river before we made it all the way home.
I have a really great Stampede-themed recipe for you tomorrow. Just wait.
July 10 2010 | leftovers | 8 Comments »
It was a long, hot day between the Stampede parade and hours on the grounds and midway today, and I’m just sitting down now to upload photos. I had another event tonight, arrived home after 9 and spent an hour of the remaining evening looking for the dog, whom I had forgotten I brought along for the ride on a coffee run (he was in the back of the car). A great use of time and energy, don’t you think? Even the neighbours came out and offered to help (likely in an attempt to get me and W to stop walking up and down the street shouting LOOOOOUIEEEEEE!)
And it’s about a thousand degrees outside, or perhaps I haven’t yet recovered from the +30 on the asphalt (which adds another 20, I’m sure) and so because this week of 5-5:30 am wake-ups has greatly reduced my brain function and made me prone to extreme run-on sentences, I’m going to put off the dozen or so photos of the day and tell you about a particularly spectacular salad we had a few days ago, that I completely forgot to report.
Which reminds me: my spinach is growing! It’s about a tenth of a centimetre across right now, but not bad when it began as seed – it’s an easy, cool-weather crop (it’s partly in the shade) that can be replanted as it’s harvested, providing a steady supply throughout the summer. Presuming of course one is on the ball about it. I predict mine will be at its peak around the time we arrive in Tofino.
But my sister, being far more regimented and scheduled and prone to planning ahead than me, planted hers in a timely manner, and it’s good to go. Also, Emily brought a bucket of eggs back from her Dad’s parents’ house out of town, where the chickens (the only names I remember are à la King and Salad Sandwich) were sent to live when the city told my sister she couldn’t keep them in Lakeview anymore.
The combo of course smacks of a bacon and egg spinach salad. It would have been nice to sauté the spinach with some garlic and top it with an egg, or push it aside in the pan and crack the egg in to cook in the garlicky emerald oil (how Nigella did I just sound right there?) but when leaves are so baby-perfect I have a tough time wilting them.
So I cooked some bacon, and toasted some croutons, and made salads, and topped them this time with soft-boiled eggs instead of poached, which I love on a salad but can sometimes be watery. Regardless of how you cook them, there isn’t much better than runny yolk oozing out over greens, mingling with a balsamic vinaigrette.
Bacon & Egg Spinach Salad
This salad is also brilliant with a chopped tomato or ripe avocado.
1/2 baguette, cut into chunks, or about 3 cups of cubed or torn crusty bread
olive or canola oil
1 garlic clove, squished
1 big bunch fresh baby spinach (or 1 bag)
3-5 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
4 eggs, poached or soft-boiled
Dressing:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive or canola oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp. grainy mustard
1 tsp. sugar
salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
Spread the bread chunks out on a baking sheet. Pour some oil into a small dish and swish the garlic clove around in it; drizzle over the bread and toss to lightly coat, then toast in the oven until golden. To make the dressing, shake everything up in a jar or whisk together in a bowl. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Build your salad with greens, crumbled bacon and croutons, then top with an egg and drizzle with dressing.
One Year Ago: Coconut Macaroon Bark
July 10 2010 | salads | 11 Comments »
