Shape - Shifting

You would never be able to guess that our street was just a hop, skip and a jump away from one of the most child-packed areas in town. Truth is, we do live in a fairly "new" housing area, but a segregated one, so most of the kids are actually on the streets on the other side of the forest - you see them coming over to their friends' places after school, but come Hallowe'en? Good luck getting rid of even one box of candy (hence the birth of things like this in November). Even though I can't see the kids in the area, I still know they're around when I'm outside and hear the school bells during the day and the hubbub of young voices during recess. It makes me pine for the good old days of my elementary school, filled with friends, fun, and the highlight of our week - the bake sale!

Though I didn't make this particular treat when it was my turn for the Friday fundraising adventure, I do recall making it's "kissing cousin" with my mom once or twice. I had half a bag of organic puffed millet in our pantry which almost screamed "crispy squares", but no marshmallows to make the classic recipe (and I wasn't about to go and buy any - I was trying to use what excess I had, not make more!). Googling around didn't yield much other than a few vegan recipes which all used brown rice syrup and agave (which I also didn't have, being a broke student in the boonies of Ontario!). After a while, I kind of gave up and put it on the "back burner" of my mind.

Then I was flipping through my old church cookbook (my all time favourite, by the way!) for a totally different idea and came across one of the ladies' entries for "Golden Puff Squares" that used puffed wheat stirred into a corn syrup, sugar and butter caramel, without a marshmallow in sight. The lightbulb went on, and I abandoned my previous quest (which I now can't remember!) and got right into the kitchen. The recipe struck me as being quite brilliant, actually, since while I do have an everlasting (and some might say irrational) fear of boiling sugar, for some reason the addition of already cooked corn syrup made it "safe" to me. For a more complex, "ooh la la" flavour, I opted for a partial honey swap rather than use only corn syrup. Even if it isn't the maligned HFCS, corn syrup can be a bit... boring. And honey caramel? Yum! For a little bit of visual appeal, I topped the warm pan of squares with a few "dots" of chocolate chips and popped it into a hot oven for a minute just to melt them onto the surface a bit. Cooled and cut (I made triangles, because I can't do anything by the book!), they made for a delicious snack, and I have it on good authority that some young foodies nearby had a pretty delicious dessert too!

Time Waits for No Muffin

I'm stunned that September is almost over. I mean, it seems like only yesterday that we were packing up all my sister's worldly possessions to move her back to college, and now we're arranging all the Thanksgiving hubbub!  The Halloween stuff has been out in the stores since mid-August, and now the Christmas decorations are beginning to pop up on the shelves. Insanity!

But time waits for nobody, not least us procrastinators! With the "children's" back to school rush in full swing, sometimes the college and university kids get a bit lost in the shuffle. They don't want to be packing kiddy-sized Lunchables and pudding cups in with their laptops every morning (though, mind you, I know some who would...). From my experience in both university and 3 different colleges (yes, I know!), the post-secondary crowd is more the coffee-shop variety. I'll admit that I was one of the textbook cases of the "too busy / lazy to eat properly" student when I first moved out, before discovering the joys of Cheerios again! Breakfast easily morphs from a wholesome meal into just a latte, or worse - a sugary coffee "drink" and a pastry of some kind, which spikes the energy for about half an hour before crashing back down. And guess what happens then? Back into the cafe lineup.

I made these gigantic muffins on a whim, really, for one of my clients who was going back to school after a summer of essentially recuperating. Still being a "new" celiac patient, everything is suspect, and not every meal can be successful. I knew she did love the Iron - Rich "Gleegan" Muffins I made before, packed with bananas and all kinds of other goodies, so I turned back to the blog of one of the biggest gluten-free, dairy-free, mostly egg-free bakers out there - Karina's Gluten Free Goddess. I had been coveting her banana muffins for a while, so what better opportunity to play? I kept the same basic formula, but merged it with my previous recipe for a bit of a twist and a nutritional boost. They came out beautifully - huge, fluffy but substantial, filling and definitely something that will keep anyone (student or not) going right through the morning. They're not low-calorie, or low-fat - but they are supposed to stand in for a balanced meal when you can't get to the kitchen, not to fill a "nosh" need mid morning on your coffee break! After one of these for breakfast, chances are you won't even need that 10AM latte - they might even help you break your coffee addiction!

Cookin' Greens Coupon Winners!

Apparently, there are only two "Green's Great" readers of this blog! Last week's givaway announcement netted entries from Nic and Kymm - both delicious ideas and well deserving of the Cookin' Greens™  vouchers! Congrats ladies, and thanks for reading and playing along!

Livid

Spice-phobics, beware - my latest use for the goodies of the garden is not the sauce for you!

If you look closely at the photo, you'll see all the makings of a great date-repellent: fresh Ontario garlic (I only used half the head, I was restrained!), a whole giant onion, and two (yes, two) habañeros. Everything made it's way (along with a carrot, sweet peppers, tomatoes, fresh herbs, salt, pepper and wine!) into my variation of a classic Roman pasta sauce that just so happens to be one of my all-time favourites. Arrabbiata (or "angry") sauce is traditionally a fairly "quick and dirty", simple recipe made from a blend of canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, parsley and bell peppers with a pinch or two of red pepper flakes. Tossed into penne, ziti or (my personal love) rotini, it's supposed to be one of those "thrill a bite" meals.

It's great. Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with your Italian nonna's penne all'arrabbiata - but I was looking to take it a little step further. The base for example. Canned tomatoes are wonderful, and definitely have their place, but I had two huge bowls of fresh, ripe, sweet orbs still warm from my garden out back. Dried chili? Well, okay, if you don't have anything else... but I had three types of fresh chiles to choose from - cherries, fingers and the aforementioned Scotch bonnet (AKA habañero). Really, it was a no brainer what I was going to use! A few more minutes out back and I had an interesting two-legged carrot (a purple one, FTW!), two sweet peppers and a couple bunches of herbs perfect for this pseudo-Italian sugo.

The story behind our crop of habañeros is a funny one, to me at least: my rather overtly Italian stepfather, who prides himself on his garden knowledge, bought 4 or 5 of the pepper plants because he believed that "Scotch Bonnet" peppers were simply a small version of a bell pepper. Flash forward to the first (generous) crop of them, where he plucked one right off the vine a popped it whole into his mouth. The look on his face is one I will not soon be forgetting! A few days later found him with sliced fresh ones on a sandwich, followed by hours of moaning and groaning about how his mouth burned. I'm not immune either, though - while making this, I discovered a few cuts on my hands I never knew about, as well as learning the hard way that capsaicin has a nasty habit of lodging under one's fingernails. You've been warned!

It's all a worthy price to pay, though, if you're a chile-and garlic-head like me. While you only need a small serving for a punch of flavour, it's a lingering experience you'll never forget!

Not Having to Choose

This post is not about food.

It's about the flap of wings, the anguished cries of an animal in pain, the decision to do what's right - not for money, fame or other gains - but because it's what's right. Because it's what I would expect anyone else to do in the same situation. I've been called a "collector" and a "rescuer" of broken and lost souls by a fair number of people (including my mom and grandma), but this was the first time I really saw my actions as a separate entity.

This is what today's post is about:

And ironically, the story of how this poor jay came into my posession started with food. I was out in the backyard picking tomatoes and peppers to take to my massage therapist this morning, and decided to check on our grape vines to see if there were any bunches of Concord I had missed (and if I could steal some more of the yummier Cabernet Sauvignons) and maybe grab a few of our strawberries for a mid-morning snack. As I walked down the row, I kept hearing the caws of a bluejay that were way closer than I was used to hearing, and looking around a flurry of frantic activity in the netting on one side of the row caught my eye. While I expected a bird, I was not prepared for the sight I came across: the poor thing was upside down, flailing helplessly, and had tangled one foot in the netting, attaching it to one of the twigs and pretty much binding it six ways from Sunday. In an obvious panic trying to get free, the bird twisted and pulled so much before I came across him that he broke his leg at the knee joint, and I could see the bone poking through the skin. It was the first time I had seen a compound fracture in "real life", and I admit it originally scared me.

Then the adrenaline kicked in. I didn't even have to think it over, I didn't even pause to consider if the bird was sick, what I would do with it, if it would even live for long enough to be worthwhile. I just knew I had to get him out, take as decent care of him as I could, get him any and all the help I could find and afford. Nobody deserves to be in pain at all, nevermind being left alone, hanging upside down by one broken leg. I could never imagine leaving any person or animal in that situation. So I did the only thing I could at that moment - I dropped the bowl of tomatoes I had collected, jumped over the row of strawberries and carefully grabbed hold of the creature from behind, pinning his wings so he couldn't flap about. Not having scissors, I bit through the plastic netting around the tangle and got him free. As soon as he knew he was'ne attached to the fence anymore, he relaxed - exhausted, I'm sure, by the pain and exertion. I made a beeline right into my bathroom, which became (as I called it) Birdy Triage. The first thing I found in the bathroom (as I was looking for a dish for water) was Orajel - and suddenly it made total sense. Not only would it get rid of some of the pain, but it would help somewhat sterilize the wound so that I could look at it closer.

It worked - I was able to not only examine the leg, but calm him down enough that I could wrap it in gauze and tape it with the only thing I could find - Band Aids. I put him in a box with a towel and a little dish of water, covered it so he couldn't fly out (he can still fly!) and spent the rest of the day calling, Facebooking and Twittering anyone and everyone I could think of to find a shelter to take care of him that wouldn't euthanize on site. He had - has - so much life and vim left in him, that aside from his leg he's a totally healthy wild being. If I didn't believe staunchly that wild animals should be as free as they were born to be I would fight to keep him, but given that he is a wild animal, has a mate out there calling to him and that I live in a home with three cats, three other humans and a dog it is so not right on so many levels. But I refuse to give him up to die just because others won't deal with the situation. You don't kill a dog because it's hurt it's paw, or even if it's been hit by a car. Assisted suicide is against the law pretty much everywhere in the world, even if the person is clearly in pain and will never recover. I think all creatures deserve the same respect. Call me crazy, but there you have it.

I did, in the course of my searching, manage to find a shelter willing to take injured wildlife, and they gave me the name and number of a vet to look at his leg. With luck saving this bird's life won't put me in the poorhouse, but in the long run I don't really care - you can't put a price on life. And regardless of what the naysayers think, the good karma I reap from whatever I can do tonight and tomorrow will have effects when I truly need it most.

What would you have done, in my situation? Have you ever rescued an animal?

PS: You have until Sunday to enter my giveaway for a Cookin' Greens coupon pack - and their "Green with Envy" contest to win a $500 grocery gift certficate of your choice has been held over until September 21! What are you waiting for? Pop over to this post and get your entry on!