Walking the dogs the other night I was seriously tempted to do a little midnight gardening. Now, I'm a thirty-something mom with a mortgage, a real job (as opposed to a McJob), and significantly less alcohol running through my blood than I did 10 or even 15 years ago. Midnight gardening is not something I should be doing. You know what I mean, right? Sneaking into gardens to pull carrots, pick strawberries, and sneak raspberries? Oh, maybe that's just what us bored kids in the 'burbs did.
So there I am walking the dogs in the near dark. Business done, I notice this giant, neglected rhubarb plant in the corner of the alley. Just tucked behind someone's garage, begging to be chopped down, this lush plant called to me. "Pick me! Come on, you know you want to do it. Pick me!"
The thirty-something mom in me prevailed and I went home with only a dog-poop bag in hand.
A few days later, however, we were working on the fence with the neighbour. The girls wandered down the alley and when I chased after them I came across their rhubarb plant. I completely forgot that they have two of these plants. Since they would never harvest and use all of it, and they really didn't need to store one more thing, I volunteered to take it off their hands. Really, I'm that generous.
At this point it was necessary to bring out a bowl of sugar and introduce the girls to one of my favourite childhood treats - rhubarb dipped in sugar. We pulled up a pile of wood, watched Hubby cut some of that wood and our neighbour shovel gravel, munching away. Okay, I munched away, The Monster sucked sugar off and tried to peel her rhubarb, and Smilosaurus gummed the stalk and fought to put handfuls of sugar directly in her mouth. Perhaps the introduction was a bit too early?
When it was time to get the girls out of the way of Hubby we came inside and baked. Conveniently, nature provides the perfect match for rhubarb, strawberries. I know it seems a little cliche, but they really are made for each other. There is a reason they mature together. Armed with the first of the BC strawberries I knew that nothing but a crisp was in order. Everyone else can have their cobblers, crumbles, and brown betty. I love me a crispy crisp.
In my eyes, a perfect crisp has a slightly runny syrup, chunky fruit, and a crisp, oat-filled top. Pick your fruit based on the season, but don't mess with the top. Ever. No extra seasonings, no fancy additions. Simple, plain, and balanced. And whatever you do, please leave the nuts out. They just don't belong.
Where it does pay to be creative is in the filling. Spice, limitless fruit combinations, and unexpected additions are all welcome here. Looking to branch out - just a little - from my usual strong vanilla accents with the strawberry rhubarb crisp I dug through my recently organized spices. Cinnamon? Nah, too predictable. Nutmeg? Feels too wintery. Cardamon? Ooh, now that could be nice. Holy freakin' gawd, it was amazing! Try this. Now.
When it comes to cardamon, a little goes a long way. It would have been a lot better if I had some whole pods to grind fresh, but a little ground, dried spice still worked wonders. It really was a perfect compliment to the tartness of the rhubarb and sweetness of the fresh strawberries. We invited our neighbours over for dinner. Good fences do make good neighbours. And rhubarb honestly got makes you a better neighbour.
Cardomon Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp(serves 4 for dinner, and possibly a little leftover for breakfast, topped with yogurt)
Filling
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 cups sliced rhubarb
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon - 1 tsp ground cardamon (depending on how strong it smells)
Topping
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 by 8 baking dish (or similar size) with non-stick spray or butter the pan.
2. Gently mix together the fruit through to the cardamon. Pour into the baking dish and set aside.
3. Cream the butter and brown sugar. Add in the flour and salt. Finally, stir in the oats. Do not overstir or mix because you can break up the oats and that diminishes the crispiness.
4. Using your fingers, top the filling with clumps of the topping. Do not press down.
5. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the filling if bubbling and the top is lightly browned. Let cool and serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or yogurt.
This weekend is possibly the last one for Edgar Farms asparagus. Go get some!
Walking the dogs the other night I was seriously tempted to do a little midnight gardening. Now, I'm a thirty-something mom with a mortgage, a real job (as opposed to a McJob), and significantly less alcohol running through my blood than I did 10 or even 15 years ago. Midnight gardening is not something I should be doing. You know what I mean, right? Sneaking into gardens to pull carrots, pick strawberries, and sneak raspberries? Oh, maybe that's just what us bored kids in the 'burbs did.
A few days later, however, we were working on the fence with the neighbour. The girls wandered down the alley and when I chased after them I came across their rhubarb plant. I completely forgot that they have two of these plants. Since they would never harvest and use all of it, and they really didn't need to store one more thing, I volunteered to take it off their hands. Really, I'm that generous.
When it was time to get the girls out of the way of Hubby we came inside and baked. Conveniently, nature provides the perfect match for rhubarb, strawberries. I know it seems a little cliche, but they really are made for each other. There is a reason they mature together. Armed with the first of the BC strawberries I knew that nothing but a crisp was in order. Everyone else can have their cobblers, crumbles, and brown betty. I love me a crispy crisp.
Cardomon Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp
We have Revenue Canada to thank for our day. Yeah, I just said thanks to the taxman. Due to ignorance on either my part or theirs (I'm going with the latter, of course) I had to make an unplanned trip downtown to the federal government building. For those of you that don't know Calgary, said building is located smack-dab next to Chinatown. How could I not take advantage of that?
So, thanks to Revenue Canada she and I found ourselves in Chinatown this morning (Smilosaurus was napping and Hubby working from home). Sheesh, it's been a while since I wandered through this part of town. We went into some groceries, a meat place, a bakery (steamed pork buns and pineapple cake!), and even a store selling Chinese medicines. She walked around asking, "What's that? And that? And that, that, that, that?" Of course, being the white girl with no real knowledge of Chinese I couldn't answer her most of the time. 
I loved chatting with the little old ladies selling plants and fresh onion, herbs, and garlic on the street. They reminded me of my Baba in the worst way - if my Baba ever lived in a big city and thought to sell anything from her over-sized garden. They were tiny, full of smiles, a little bit pushy, yet meek and quiet. On plastic sheets in front of them they sold stuff picked from their gardens. Wait, I'm assuming that last part because their English wasn't great. But I want to think that they picked the stuff that morning from their backyard and brought it downtown to sell.
You could eat all day in Chinatown and not even scratch the surface of possibilities. I would love to take the girls to Dim Sum. I think it's been twenty years since even I've been. Honestly, I think need a tour guide to make sure I appreciate what I see around me - on the street and on the plate. Maybe I should sign up for one of these?
In case you were wondering, birthday parties for a three year old are so worth the effort. She won't remember it, but I will forever remember impatience for the last month - drama included - and the high of having all these people there for her, the Happy Birthday Girl. The drama on her part, and mine, was worth it.
I realize that this fruit porcupine is more than a tad over the top for a picnic. It was a fantastic way to keep a now three year old occupied with prep work. Skewering grapes, a new way to kill time and fruit. Plus, there were no post slurp watermelon rinds to deal with. Keep in mind that this is not a way to serve things if you have any distance to travel to your picnic.
Remember the asparagus? Edgar Farms is still picking, so I'm still eating. On my continued mission to indoctrinate, er... feed my friends good food I blanched some, along with some green beans, and served them with some Gull Valley cherry tomatoes and a homemade blue cheese dip. For the few moments when I sat down I was parked near this platter. I'm not sure how many people tried the asparagus with me hogging the plate.
The rest of the menu included grilled veggies and Boursin on a whole wheat baguette, a recreation of the famous Italian Centre sandwiches (very well received and a soon to be picnic staple in this house), tabouleh salad, Holy Guacamole (We Got Chips), and some brewed iced tea and lemonade. And don't forget the cupcakes!
No party would be complete without a little entertainment. No clowns or facepainting here. We had Uncle Paul juggling fire! Sadly fire is not that noticeable at 4 in the afternoon. I can tell you that it is very noticeable after a few beers and once the sun finally sets in the summer. Unfortunately the kids always miss that entertainment.
Happy Birthday Monster!
The very nature of a blog is part confessional. It's time for me to 'fess up. I've never been able to make Rice Krispie Squares. Yup, the laziest, kid friendly treat and I've never been able to make them properly. If you want rocks filled with rice cereal then I'm your girl. That is, until last week. 
Much to Hubby's chagrin I dragged him away from the yard and we made the drive to Edgar Farms' first Asparagus Festival. He was tired and tried not to be cranky, but the rewards were sweet. The girls sat on a horse and a pony, got to pet some brand new goats, ran around a hay bale maze and fort, and even went on a tractor ride. But the highlight of the day for me, and possibly Hubby, was eating stalks of asparagus that we'd just picked from the ground. It would never have occurred to us to eat asparagus raw, but we were trusting the advice of Elna Edgar, and she would know.
We saw the asparagus fields last summer, long after harvest. Did you know asparagus is a fern? But as soon as it comes out of the ground the spears can be picked and will continue to grow. The only thing that stops the Edgars from a continuous harvest is the need to let the crowns rejuvenate to produce next year. During spring, however, these custom pickers travel up and down the fields picking the tall enough crowns. It is a near continuous harvest for more than a few weeks as the crowns can grow over 6 inches a day!
Once we returned from the fields we tasted some freshly grilled asparagus from both Wade Sirois from Forage and Infuse Catering and dee Hobsbawn-Smith. Grilled is my all-time favourite way to eat asparagus. A little toss with olive oil then just a few minutes on a hot grill. You can drizzle some lemon or vinaigrette over top, but I will happily eat them like fries straight off the grill.
Asparagus Festival is over until next year. Okay, this was the first one and there are no guarantees, but I'm betting that we and many more will be back next year. You don't have to wait until then to go to Edgar Farms. You can visit them daily at their farm store - where they currently have asparagus, rhubarb, their own beef, and a variety of asparagus pickles, relishes, and some sweet berry jams.
