Mmmaple is Autumn's Flavour

September, are you in? Because October's already knocking on my door, leaving little gifts of freshly picked pumpkins and a swirl of red-brown leaves on the deck. 

Summer went and packed up it's bags, I've been greeted by a crispness in the air that must be the space where summer once was. And as soon as the vacancy opened up, Halloween came swooping in with hanging ghosts and little witches stirring cauldrons under trees. I know it's a little early, but space seems to be filling up fast. I mean, Christmas has already reserved its place by way of little reindeer and Santa figurines lining store aisles. It's hard to keep up with the changing of seasons, especially when layers pile on in the morning, and layers come off in the afternoon to a change in weather like suddenly summer really did change it's mind, and bags were once again brought back up to the door, and the sun carefully unwrapped from it's place in a suitcase. The cloud of dust surrounding it now dispersed and shaken off. 

Unfortunately, dust always seems to settle somewhere, and usually by that evening, we once again feel the coolness of the air and the softness of the sun's rays are missed. The little electric fire hums to the tune of wind howling outside, and little pockets of cold air come in through windows left open from a sunny afternoon. 

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This Little Pie

Homemade apple pie and fresh produce straight from the farms. We even picked the figs and pears ourselves, and helped wash off these gorgeous red beets! This really is like living in the country, but with the ocean at our doorstep.

From a few farms that we visited, mum and I returned with all that is laid out above, plus a carton of free range eggs from a roadside stand. In fact, it was a roadside cooler with a large sign that read, "EGGS $4.00." And we were sold. Or, the eggs were. Carrying on down the road, with the carton of eggs preciously resting on my lap, and a huge smile on my face from the special egg of the dozen, we came back to our favourite farm in the Sooke area.

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Forget Everything but a Peanut Butter Cookie

I wanted to make a cookie that was made from the purest ingredients. Using whole foods that can be held in your hands before they become a cookie so full with flavour, and so full of love, that you can't resist just one more... But there's no guilt in all natural foods right? So why not, indulge. 

And so this is all about the cookie. The most delicious, easiest, foolproof, spectacular... well it is a cookie. I mean don't all cookies make the world crumble away, and our focus narrows to the way it melts in our mouth, the way it absorbs milk when you dunk it, and the way the cookie makes you feel, all warm and fuzzy inside? Yes, that's what a real cookie can do.

It started with a huge bag of raw peanuts I picked up at the bulk store, a place filled with everything in bulk, from gluten free flours to dried fruits and nuts, even freshly ground nut butters and honey. And the best part, was an entire aisle dedicated to gluten free products, including pizza and cake mixes. We stumbled upon this goldmine while searching stores for a new dresser, because as it seems, mum and dad have more clothes than I... Really! But after a long winded search, driving from store to store, we turned around and circled back to where we had begun, and with chocolate chai lattes in hand, this building suddenly appeared. And yes, it was like something from a movie, it just appeared, and it hadn't been there before.

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Cashew Caress in a Spinach-y Hug

It has been a lazy weekend. Out in the forest on the western shore snug in warm vests around a camp fire, it was the kind of weekend where we took long walks and read our books in the warmth of a thick fog down at the beach. Sand stretched into rocks which stretched out and under slow, crashing waves, which seemed to come from a white blanket of cloud hovering just far enough to give us the beach to rest, and to play.

The major moment of our days camping was building and lighting a fire for the evening. It took most of our attention, and all of our efforts. It was then around the roaring flames giving off both heat and light that we could sit and watch the cascades of dancing light around the trees. We had sticks for roasting marshmallows, and after a disappointing first gluten free s'more which I described as only worth it if you intended on giving your jaw a workout while trying to chew the two home made gluten free Graham crackers sandwiching a perfectly toasted marshmallow and a small square of chocolate. Appalled, I stuck them straight in the waste. I would have liked to at least given them a second life, but being too chewy and tough, I couldn't think of a better place for them.

I was instead comforted by the leftover chocolate, if marshmallows go hand in hand Graham crackers, then chocolate slips so easily into mine.
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Wrapped Up Falafel and Pita Style

 

Last nights dinner, warm home made kale falafels on top of fresh greens and slices of tomatoes from the farm, with a bed of piping hot pita breads straight from the oven, was the perfect end to a hot day that suddenly turned when the fog set in the bay, and a breeze swept up any leaves that tittered around the front deck. Dancing feet outside our open doors were fluttered away in one strong gust, and just the squeals of an open door caught up in the wind could be heard. I set to baking early in the afternoon, and with my chin resting on my hands, staring at this bunch of fresh kale, there was a separate whirlwind of thoughts, recipes, and ideas for the luscious green vegetable. The fresh kale from a nearby farm was how falafels became something else, a whole new flavour was added, as well as intrigue, and falafels were taken up a notch.

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Closer to Farms for Raw Yogourt

I close my eyes, it's time to let the water take me where it wants to. A couple of deep breaths. I feel the fear rising up, but I try and forget about it against the pounding of my heart. Try to swallow, get it back down. How is it that I’m still afraid. With another, deeper breath, I can swallow again. And then I start thinking back to the moment when we first arrived here, the moving truck a moving target for watchful eyes in a small town, I can do this. It's only deep water around me, and a couple of eerie looking kelp. Nothing big, nothing scary. A seal over there who just wants to play. Paddle in, paddle out. Left side. Paddle in. Swish. Paddle out. And kayaking gets easier when you realise that although you can't see below you, are the smallest boat on the water, there isn't any real danger around. Like those first few moments when you arrive in a new place, it takes a couple of deep breaths, and maybe a little pep talk before you'll be on your way, navigating the rocks and finding new caves to explore. Moving to a new place is the same.

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Days Are Endless with Figs

With our move to Sooke, we're closer to farms, fresh produce daily, and markets held on weekends that I'm dying to peruse with basket in hand. Now, sitting out on the front deck, a small boat with someone checking for crabs in the middle of the bay, I have a bowl of layered fresh vegetables and sesame seeds, mixed in with avocado and olives, topped with lettuce, dressing, and blackberries which I picked today as I walked down our little path that runs from the yard to the beach! 

To make it a little more picturesque, the sun is shining, and mum and I have our books open at the spine from when we passed the later part of this morning with a book in one hand. Mornings are sweeter with the sea out front, and little places planned to explore in the town. From one of the bakeries where fresh bread is baked daily I found gluten free rolls sold in packs, which are perfect for sandwiches and slightly toasted as well. From Little Vienna bakery we left with Canadian-made Brie and two packs of rolls tucked under our arms, which were enjoyed with lunch yesterday and again for breakfast, a perfect base for strawberry jam, because when life is as sweet and delicious as this, breakfast should be too. 

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