Chillin' with Connie

I spent a large part of the last couple days before I headed back to the UK hanging out with Connie. We went for a walk the one morning, down her "street", and were delighted to see so many songbirds, as well as a couple of evil geese, out and about, especially around the marsh that lives at the intersection down the road. Even if a couple of them did try to kill us (I mean, Connie said they were probably just chasing each other and we just happened to be there, but I maintain that they were trying to kill us). 

It really is a gorgeous little bit of land, I took a lot of pictures of this corner from the car while staying with Connie and Brad, but it was nice to walk down there and get some really clear ones.

It certainly didn't hurt that it was such a gorgeous morning.

I love the fence posts in the water. One of my favourite things about being in the country in all these farms is seeing all the places where nature has taken back over from human attempts to tame it, whether that be the rather small fact of marshland taking back over drained land as in these fences, or all the flooded bits beside Stony Trail, or the more obvious sight of decaying barns and sheds that slowly list over and eventually succumb to gravity (there was a shed on the corner leading into Christine's farm that slowly, over the course of my childhood, went from standing mostly upright to leaning over and then disappearing entirely).

The redwing blackbirds were one of the most populous species of birds that morning - the red flash as they fly is so beautiful.

This guy was being very nice about posing for me (but refused to do the same for Connie - hahah).

Mum and I also ended up taking a couple of trips into the city - after I got home, my mum put me on a wait list for the dentist for the couple of days before I left back to the UK, and I ended up getting in due to a cancellation, which mum was *extremely* excited about.

(so of course I had to counter that by continuing to drink as many slushees as humanly possible before heading back to the land of no slushees).

The same day that we went in to the dentist, we stopped by to see Grandma Jones, as well as Lorraine, which was really nice to see them one more time before I hopped back across the pond. We also stopped into the mall and went into Sephora where I cried over the fact that they don't have it in the UK (just kidding I didn't actually cry... much). Mum bought me a Stila liquid eyeliner for my birthday, and I also used my reward points to get a really nice Clinique mascara, AND got my birthday treat from Sephora. So it was a pretty awesome trip. Mum also bought me a book for my birthday. It was awesome.

Then we went to COSTCO. Nothing quite like that big box shopping experience. Plus we hit it at a really awesome time - all the samples were out so we got to try loads of different things. Except the fruit liquorice. The lady serving that didn't seem to actually want to serve it to anyone.

We stopped at the dome briefly on the way home, and I lamented again that I was leaving before there were actually any strawberries.

Spinach and Feta Pie

My mum asked me what I wanted for my 'birthday dinner' while I was home and I asked for an old favourite - Spinach and Feta Pie. I have the recipe out of my Canadian Living: The Vegetarian Collection cookbook which is honestly the best cookbook I've ever bought - I've never been disappointed by any recipe I've tried out of it. If you are ever in the market for a vegetarian cookbook, I really recommend it (my mum liked mine so much she bought herself a copy as well).

I found this version of the recipe on the Canadian Living website, as my copy of the cookbook is currently in a box in the basement of a house in Kimberley, BC, Canada, but it should be the same.

Spinach and Feta Pie

The key to this rustic vegetarian pie filled with classic Greek flavours is the pastry: it's made with extra-virgin olive oil. You can make the pie up to five days ahead and serve it warm or at room temperature (its also quite good cold).

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups (425 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) salt
1 tsp (5 mL) baking powder
1/3 cup (75 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup (75 mL) milk
1 egg

Filling:
2 tbsp (30 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped
5 green onions, chopped
3 bags (eah 10 oz/284 g) fresh spinach, trimmed
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) crumbled feta cheese
3/4 cup (175 mL) shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped mint
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dill
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped parsley
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt
1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) pepper
1 pinch ground cloves

Preparation

In large bowl, whisk together flour, salt and baking powder. In separate bowl, whisk together oil, milk and egg; pour over dry ingredients. Using wooden spoon, stir to form fairly smooth dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, about 2 minutes. Press into disc; wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 5 days.)

Filling: Meanwhile, in skillet, heat 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the oil over medium heat; cook sweet and green onions, stirring, until softened, about 2 minutes. Transfer to large bowl.

In batches, place spinach in large pot with just the water clinging to leaves; cover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring once, until wilted, about 3 minutes. Transfer to sieve; press to remove moisture. Add to onions along with feta and mozzarella cheeses, eggs, mint, dill, parsley, salt, pepper and cloves; mix well.

On lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 16-inch (40 cm) circle. Loosely roll around rolling pin; unroll onto 9-inch (23 cm) cast-iron skillet or baking dish, letting dough hang over edge. Mound filling in centre; lift pastry up over filling, letting pastry fall naturally into folds and leaving 5-inch (12 cm) opening in centre. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.)

Bake in bottom third of 375°F (190°C) oven until pastry is golden and filling is steaming, about 45 minutes. (Make-ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until cold. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. Reheat in 375°F/190°C oven for 30 minutes.)

Transfer to cutting board or serving plate if desired. Let stand for 10 minutes. Cut into wedges.

Delicious! Also, I love the way you can see the steam rising off the pie in these pictures - yummy!

Dome: Revenge of the Seedlings

After mum got home, we headed into the city to do some shopping, and then stopped at the Dome on our way back to the farm. I was amazed to see how much the plants had grown in the two weeks since I had last been there - it was truly crazy to see. If you want to compare, my first post about the dome is over here. 

It was so exciting to see all the peas and beans I had planted were already sprouting and beginning to crawl upwards - I am still kinda upset I won't be around to see the harvest, but I guess I will have to live vicariously through Connie's blog posts on the subject (not quite the same as eating peas off the vine but it shall have to do).

There weren't any berried on the strawberries I'd planted yet, but there were a couple of blossoms, so they should be coming! It was amazing how well the strawberries were doing, considering everything they'd been through before we planted them.

I was really lucky with the weather while I was home, especially since it snowed the week before I got there AND the day after I left (Alberta...).