Having said how difficult it is to get around in rural Ontario – Getting to Grey County – I found a great ride share or carpool site.  It’s Canadian, is easy to use, and has members all across Canada, the US, and around the world.  Think incredibly organized hitchhiking.

PickupPal – a service to love

PickupPal is amazing.  Registration is fast and easy, and free.  I posted a request for a ride from Dungannon to Toronto, definitely not the road most travelled, and within 2 hours had 12 (12!!!) possible rides.  One is a definite possibility for a regular trip to Toronto.  Someone from Kincardine goes to Mississauga every Wednesday morning.  I could meet them somewhere between here and Kincardine, go to a Go station near their destination, and then transit from Union Station to Cabbagetown.

Coming back would be easy enough, I know I can always get a ride from Stratford to Dungannon on either a Saturday or a Sunday so I can take the train from Toronto to Stratford.

This is way better than taking the truck to Toronto or to Kitchener and paying for days of parking at the station.

Check it out.  It’s so easy.  And such a good idea!  The more people that register, the better the coverage. We’ll all be able to get or give rides.

The system is now holding its annual book sales. Throughout the Summer and into the Fall, several branches will host book sales.

Come on out and see what bargains you can find.

The book sales run during regular hours.

There are some great books on sale at the following libraries…places, dates and times below.

Seaforth: Friday July 25th, 10:00 am till 5 pm.

Blyth: Tuesday September 9th, Thursday September 11th, Friday September 12th, and  Saturday September 13th. The Blyth library is in the Blyth Theatre Festival building. Their book sale covers parts of 3 days.

Clinton: September 19th right through until September 27th.

(Incidentally, this is now the town where Alice Munro had her home for many years)

Wingham: Thursday November 6th to the 9th. This sale gives you a chance to buy   books in November.  A good time to look for gifts in the birthplace of that famous Canadian author, Alice Munro. Libraries are a wonderful place to buy books. No one will hover around trying to get you to part with your money…the prices are right…and by purchasing a book, you are helping the library – as well as getting a bargain. And take your children, because quite often there are games for sale as well as childrens’ books.

If the book sale is your first visit to one of the county libraries, rest assured, it will not be your last.

You can read a little about the history of the Huron County Libraries here.

Happy book hunting!

Kim is going to be posting to their blog – Kaleidoscope Ride – whenever she has a minute and an internet connection.

Part of the purpose of the tour is to raise awareness of Autism and Autism Canada is one of the sponsors.  Laurie Mawlam, the Executive director of the Autism Canada Foundation has provided a schedule which I’ll add to the end of this.

Kim and Sara are very talented musicians.  Kim is a songwriter and has just written a book about their life and Sara’s autism.  The book and a CD are both for sale on their website, Heartfelt Music.  You can make a donation to help defray touring costs at the website as well. 

If you have a chance to see them perform, go.  I defy anyone to remain dry-eyed when Sara sings "Somewhere Over the Rainbow".

KiSara Kaleidoscope Ride Concert Schedule – July 2008
Call the local contact for venue and times.

Parry Sound, ON – July 1
Parry Sound Canada Day Main Stage Downtown 11:30
Contact Courtney Norrie – Community Living  Parry Sound (705) 746-9330

Sault Ste. Marie, ON – July 3
Contact Lornena Burgan – Autism Ontario-Sault Ste. Marie Chapter (705) 759-5965

Thunder Bay, ON – July 4
Contact Loni Rudnicki – Autism Ontario-Thunder Bay Chapter (807) 622-9713

Winnipeg, MB – July 5 & 6
Contact Sandra McKay-Autism Society Manitoba/Janet Forbes-Community Living Winnipeg

Regina, SK – July 9
Contact Faith Savarese – Regina & District Branch of the SACL (306) 790-5680

Calgary, AB – July 11/12
Contact Lyndon Parkin – Autism Calgary Association – (403) 250-5033

New Westminister, BC – July 16
Contact Ross Chilton – Community Living, Burnaby (604) 451-8699

Castlegar, BC – July 18
Contact Karina Allis – Kootney Society for Community Living – (250) 365-2624

Sudbury, ON
Cathy Oja – Community Living Sudbury – (705) 692-3072

Today when I went to the post office in Goderich I was surprised to see that there was something on in the square.  Usually I’m pretty good at spotting notices for things like art and craft fairs but I’d missed this entirely.

I didn’t count booths but there are a fair number of exhibitors and a good variety of stuff for sale.  The only thing I bought was a fridge magnet even though I saw other things I liked.  Guess I wasn’t in shopping mode.

If you’re in the Goderich area this weekend it’s worth dropping by the square.  If you’re incredibly organized you could do some Christmas shopping!  The show runs today, Saturday, and Sunday.

Last night we had beets.  Garden to table in about 45 minutes.  It doesn’t get fresher than that.

Looks like we need to do a bit of weeding!

I’ve always loved beet greens but for years I didn’t think I liked beets. My mother always used to make Harvard Beets, cooked beets with some kind of sweet  corn starch thickened sauce.  UGH!

When my daughter was about 8 we planted beets.  I just kept cutting the leaves for greens. One day she said “Mum, are we ever going to pick the beets and eat them?”  It hadn’t occurred to me.  We picked them, they were huge by then, and ate them and I discovered beets.

I still cut the leaves for beet greens.  You can do it for quite a long time, new leaves appear.  It’s like a little beet green factory.

We haven’t planted enough beets.  I don’t know if it’s too late to plant more but I’m going to try.  If nothing else we’ll get greens.

Somewhere in Ontario someone is producing fiddleheads.  How do I know this?  Zehrs in Goderich has been selling them this week, alongside Ontario asparagus.  I really don’t know how you grow fiddleheads commercially.  Maybe someone found a great use for their swampy back forty. 

Every time I buy fiddleheads at least one person asks me how to cook them.  Apparently a lot of people have eaten them picked but don’t know what to do with them fresh.  There are 8 fiddlehead recipes at the Fiddlehead Facts page on the University of Maine site.  Fancier than I like though.  Spring vegetables should be fairly plain, I want to taste spring on my plate.

Preparing fiddleheads:
Cut off the brown part of the stem and then wash the fiddleheads.  It’s easiest to do in a colander under running cold water.  Rinse away the little bits of papery brown leaves.

Nan’s Fiddleheads
This is how my grandmother always cooked them.

• Boil the fiddleheads in salted water (or not, the salt is up to you) for about 10 minutes.
• Drain them and let them sit covered for another 5 or 10 minutes until they are as done as you like.  I usually drain them again at this point. You can also steam them for about 20 minutes.
• Add a ‘glob’ of butter
• Add about 1 TB white vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Eat

Sam’s Fiddleheads

This is my new favourite way to cook them

• Boil the fiddleheads for about 5 minutes
• Drain them
• Put about 1 TB oil – I use olive – in a skillet
• Add 1/2 chopped onion, or a chopped shallot, or a clove of chopped garlic, or a mixture and saute until tender.
• Add the fiddleheads and continue cooking til they are done
• Add about 1 TSP white vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste.

I could eat fiddleheads and asparagus every day while they’re in season.  Have to say that my dining companion is finding it a bit boring.  It’s a good thing that I’m off to visit my daughter for a few days.  I can subject her to an unending stream of spring veggies.

It’s almost summer and my search for the perfect butter tart is back on.  I’m committed to this; fully prepared to visit every bakery, restaurant, and market in Grey, Bruce, and Huron County and sample hundreds of butter tarts.  Maybe not all this year. 

Last year I discovered 3 purveyors of fine butter tarts who were worth mentioning.

Why try and find the perfect butter tart?
2 reasons. 

• I love butter tarts but given the calories involved I only want to eat really good ones.
• An amazing number of people search the internet for butter tarts which tells me that I’m not alone.

I have 2 additions to my own personal butter tart trail.

The first is in Toronto.  I’m there often enough that it makes sense to have a source.
Miss Cora’s Kitchen is in Kensington Market and Miss Cora makes fabulous butter tarts. She’s so relaxed about how good they are that she let Tim from BlogTO make a how to make butter tarts video and post her recipe.  I admit to using it to make my butter tarts but that’s another post.

My other great butter tart discovery so far this year is from Hats off to Harry’s in Neustadt in Grey County. This was a serendipitous discovery.  I needed a washroom so went in to get a coffee to go.  Not for me.  I noticed the butter tarts on the counter near the cash and asked who made them.  Harry makes them.  Which also answers the questions – is there a Harry? 

Harry makes the best pastry I’ve ever had.  And the filling is pretty good.  I’d say 4 stars for the filling and 5 stars for the pastry.

Hats off to Harry

366 David Winkler Parkway

Neustadt, ON
N0G 2M0
Phone: 519-799-5995

My personal butter tart trail

And that brings me to the subject of this little essay.

Those of us who love to garden, have held onto our love for the soil, the sun and the rain, because
we see – year after year -  the rewards we reap in the form of clean, health-giving food, planted by us, grown by our own efforts and reaped by our own hands. We know too, that none of this could take place without the intervention of some higher power. Whether that higher power is the Christian God, or the Islamic or Jewish God, or all three…or whether it is collection of lesser gods, which together make up the power of Nature we cannot truly know. We do know this – that we think of Nature as a Feminine Spirit. That’s why we refer to Nature as a Mother. She nurtures us and is vital to our survival as a species. So far, in the great scheme of things, as the decades and centuries have unfolded, we have also come to know and even dread the great power of Nature. The storms, the floods, and the bitter cold of winter. But we have also come to know the incomparable joy of spring – they all speak to Nature’s power and those who contemplate it, are in awe.
I was thinking about all this the other day, as I puttered in my garden. I watched the seeds I’d planted begin to grow into delicate shoots, green and tall. I thought – we ignore this Natural World at our peril. We are an integral part of it. If we abuse this World, we shortchange ourselves. This summer as we watch our gardens grow and admire the lush crops of wheat and corn and other grains begin to mature in farmers’ fields…I thought…

hmmmm…

perhaps we ought to pause and give thanks for the gifts of soil, rain and sun and remember to be humble before Mother Nature’s goodness.

It’s perfect, all that spring should be.  The right combination of sun, rain, and temperature has made things grow but slowly enough that there’s time to enjoy them.  The intense bright green of the new leaves is lasting longer than I remember it. 

Traditionally the May 24th weekend is the beginning of summer.  I’m hoping that this year it’s the middle of spring.

Now it’s part of a complex.  Still a great place to go. 

The best booths are the local producers.  I bought fiddleheads from a Mennonite who wanted to know how I cooked them.   "Steam them and then add some butter, some white vinegar, and some pepper – it’s the way my grandmother always did them."  He said that sounded good, he hadn’t thought of vinegar.  I asked him if he liked  fiddleheads.  "Not really" he said.  "I just pick them and sell them."

I was born in Saint John, for me fiddle heads are spring.  Fiddleheads, new potatoes, and Atlantic salmon.  It’s a spring dinner. It’s tonight’s dinner.

There was also rhubarb, another sure sign of spring.  I’m not a rhubarb fan.  It makes a gritty coating in my mouth.  Yuck.  Everyone I know loves it.  No accounting for tastes!

Lots of people selling bedding plants, – flowers, vegetables, and herbs.   

Someone selling apples which seems strange at this time of year.  At least there were lots of varieties.  Remember when the only varieties you could find were Macintosh and Red or Golden Delicious?  Nice to see the old varieties back.  and to see some of the newer varieties. 

Oh, it looks like these are Macs and red and golden delicious. 

Of course it wouldn’t be a market without the stuff.  Clothes, shoes, sunglasses, T shirts, kitchen stuff, cell phone accessories, you name it, there was a booth.