Winter Time is Kitchen Time

The onions, garlic, celery and fennel were already sauteing in the big pot when I started slicing up this glorious geoduc, a giant clam that came from the beach below our house on a super low tide. If this had not been my first ever attempt at geoduc chowder, I would have whacked that thing into tiny bits. Since it has always been quite tender as a barely cooked appetizer, I simply sliced it into thin bands. The chowder was delicious, fragrant, creamy and rich but how did those ultra-chewy rubber bands get in there!! Today, I strained out all the broth and fished out all the clam strips and chopped them into those very necessary tiny bits! Much better. I ate two bowls.

Galaktoboureko: a different Christmas dessert

Galaktoboureko take 2, with fresh pumpkin puree incorporated into the custard. I'm going to get over to the kitchen right now and eat the very last little diamond shaped piece!

Two Brave Women

I loved these two books. For years I remembered everything about these mesmerizing tales of survival in hostile environments, everything but the titles and authors, but now thanks to the wonders of the internet, all is revealed. Check out this link for some incredible writing by Karen Fisher, a local author: http://www.asuddencountry.com/excerpt.htm

The other is a true story about paddling a small inflatable kayak all the way to Timbuktu. In another of her books she admits her friends think she has a death wish, since she takes such horrendous risks in her adventure travels. I have to agree.

Pumpkin Curry

The 20 pound pumpkin that had been decorating the porch for months got roasted last week during the prolonged frigid spell. The "meat" was sweet as could be. There's enough in the freezer now for several Christmas pies and we have a huge pot of curried pumpkin and chicken soup. Here's some thickened with brown basmatti rice and topped with plum chutney and thick yogurt.

Red Sea II

I tried to simplify an embarrassing effort from a few months ago and this is the result. It's better but I still don't like it very much. Also, it's not a very good photo. The lighting was poor. I'll try again tomorrow.