#more vanilla

[weberina]

I swear to hell that the next fic I write will have so many warning tags

[random-modded-minecraft-items]

Upgrade netherite emerauld Helmet When on Head: +4 Armor +1 Knockback Resistance More Vanilla by thedemon_05

[littledunnie]

It looks like we have a ton of ice cream, but in reality, all of these have approximately one scoop left.

[morevanilla1]

In The Spirit

When we were young, our parents always told us that they preferred to receive gifts from us that we had made ourselves. I was always skeptical. They knew we had no money and were trying to make us feel better about our craft efforts. Now that I have a little girl, I realize that I was completely wrong. I have her art on the walls and keep the cards that she makes me, watching how they blossom into more and more talent every year. I have come to love the time, thought and effort that goes into gifts made by people young and old. Unique, personalized... they mean a lot. I have made gifts in years past but never as a mandate. This year, it is our mission. I started with a wreath, and the idea bloomed. Why not make all of our holiday gifts? Family fun and commitment to putting TLC into everything we share this year... sounded good. Possibly a little late to start perhaps but I work well under pressure. Seemed like a good seed to plant in the little ones. Yes, they will, of course, receive gifts other than those made (apparently Santa prefers to shop rather than craft) but it is a wonderful opportunity to discuss those without and the value of making do, finding the treasure inside of simple things and expanding imaginations. The attempt is to to it all over the next few weeks. Trim the tree with things we make (other than lights), make the gifts and have some fun together around a fire and cocoa, instead of rushing through the crowds at some horrible mall. Noble effort, and worth a shot, no? Paper straw wreath... A wooden circular frame from the craft store, paper straws and a glue gun!

Cake Trays... Made from clay pots and their saucers. So classic looking and made by gluing the pot upside down, onto the saucer, inverted. Paint and add whatever embellishment you wish. I plan to write on these. Recipes, quotes, names..... Find some food safe glaze and you have given a useful and remarkably good looking gift.

Hot plate table protectors. I never, ever know what to call those things. I know there is a name for the things you put on the table to protect it from hot dishes... Coasters for plates... Two kinds. I glued corks together to make these - just white craft glue, one side at a time, 3 coats each side.. takes time but so worth the result.

And these.. a piece of felt, cut to the shape you are feeling, and hot glue river rocks to them. Beautiful on the table. Organic table protection!

I have taught myself to crochet. Yesterday. I figure that some lucky ones deserve the time that will go into sewing all these squares together for a soft patchwork blanket.

I'm dreaming up some more, and will share them as I go. The food gifts will come later, starting with some rose and violet marshmallows....

[morevanilla1]

The Hands That Feed

There is a group of tireless workers out there who would never dream of going on strike, even if they had the option. This may be a generalization, however, it is an accurate one. Cooks cook, not only because they love it, but generally because they must. Passion trumps many things and for a cook, that list generally includes; decent pay for long arduous hours, benefits of any kind, an option for a social life and possibly sustainable health. Don't misunderstand however, this is usually the last group of people you would ever hear complain - they seem to be intensely driven, for a society that are so often overlooked. If they did complain, the only people that hear them are other cooks - they work that much. Yes, the celebrity chef is enjoying quite the onslaught of camera lenses and bags of cash lately, but they are infinitesimal compared to the majority of kitchen staff that fuel the daily fires. The reality of a cook's life is not the glamor shot that is played on a loop on most food channels. It is not driving around in expensive rental cars, touring the ends of the world and eating out around the globe. Most chefs and cooks are lucky if they ever make it to the market. Their homes consist of walk-in fridges, passes, hot lines, cold stations, dish pits, mops and a whole host of weeds..... and they return to it after only a few hours sleep, every day, for more. Most artistic communities can tell the same tale. If you get into the business with a dream of becoming a celebrity, you probably will not be around for many pay cheques, let alone the limelight. For the most part, it is a pretty thankless job. Yes, there are some very lucky men and women out there who work in kitchens that belong to people who value them and who compensate them well for the hard work they do. These cooks are lucky, and they know it because they have all worked elsewhere. There is scarcely a cook who hasn't been yelled at (and I don't mean mildly) for no reason, worked for less than minimum wage (when you tally the hours), gone without dental work because they couldn't afford it (or a trip to emergency when they needed stitches because it was the middle of service), missed a year of holidays with their family, or gone days without eating a decent meal because they work when everyone else is eating and cook staff meals they don't have time to share in. For those lucky enough to work for restaurants run by chefs, things are different. Unless that chef has forgotten his days on Garde, their brigade is taken good care of. I often wonder where they pluck their drive from, what fuels their desire to create, plate and reinvent. The answer is often, "It is what I do. I couldn't do anything else". They dream about food, they talk about food and they do what we were told throughout childhood not to do - they play with food. In general, this crew respect and care for food like doctors do for patients. For the most part (because I can scarcely speak for them all), they are meticulously clean - hand, surfaces and food storage spots are scrubbed religiously. Again, this is the majority. Even though there may be rotten apples in this bunch, they don't go far or long because prison rules apply - you will not be treated well if you don't take this seriously. This faction of the public, this posse of apron wearing, pirates of the line, they are working harder and longer for less because they are driven by desire. Pay cheque to pay cheque is their existence due to devotion to a craft. If all office dwellers gave half of what this bunch did, the landscape would be markedly different. There is a small place near me that has a few hardworking cooks slaving away to a packed house every night. The owner was kind enough to leave a plate on the pass of the kitchen window that looks onto the dining room. I have never been there without leaving a tip in the billfold and then adding extra to that plate for the kitchen. It always struck me as odd that kitchen staff didn't receive a cut. Some places do tip out to the kitchen I am told, however, more often I hear that most don't. If luck is on their side, this wave of adoration for a few of their team will translate to increased respect and support for them all. The age of chef magnate is a good thing, it just isn't a reality for the lion's share. Perhaps the new regard for this profession will mean changes to wages and insurance packages for a group that could really use it. Let's face it, if these people are able to care for themselves and have happy families, imagine how many good cooks they will raise. So never be stingy with your compliments to the kitchen. Whether those words of appreciation make their way to them or not and regardless of whether anything changes for them, these people will still be working to get your food out, with heart.

[morevanilla1]

At Rose and Sons - Eat, Food.... Is Good Advice

Not even a week old - even if there were kinks to be ironed out - here, they would just add charm. Already a favourite spot, Rose and Sons is everyone-friendly, as humble as it is cool and packed with flavour. Only a few words are necessary. Get in here.

[morevanilla1]

Comfort In Sharing

This week, Beth from {local milk} mentioned a wonderful idea dreamed up by Barbara from Creative Culinary and Jenn from Jenn Cuisine. The proposal was a day of food bloggers dedicating their posts to comfort foods and linking up to encourage any and all help to the victims of hurricane Sandy. When I hear about inspiration of this nature, I am reminded that this is one of the most important benefits of our technology. The ability to band together, almost effortlessly, to encourage support, positive change and help, wherever it is needed.

Comfort food is subjective but the common thread is usually a link to childhood memories or thoughts of 'home'. As I pondered, a couple of essentials crept back time and time again... cheese and ease. Cheese is probably associated with comfort in our home more than any other food, save for maybe bread. So, grilled cheese it is. You can skillet it or panini press it and we have cooked it over an open fire while camping too. It is also incredibly versatile for such a staple. You name it, you can throw it in. It is adaptable to any kind of cheese you have or desire. It is also a belly warmer and a smile crafter.

These are two of our favorites - Roasted Apple, Bacon and Caramelized Onions with Old Cheddar & Gruyere with Sliced Tomatoes.

I like to make grilled cheeses on Country Sourdough, but any bread is more than acceptable of course. I find that the one key though, is to butter your bread before you place it in the pan (if you have chosen the skillet avenue). A lower heat allows maximum melt. If you have loaded it up and the bread is as golden as you like it but your cheese hasn't reached peak melt, you can also transfer it in the pan, to an oven of 300 for a couple of minutes.

Apple, Bacon & Onions

I like to bake my bacon, on a cookie sheet lined with parchment, at 400 for about 15 minutes (this will depend on how thick your bacon is cut and how crispy you like it). Once done, set aside. Roast your apple slices in a skillet on medium heat with a little drop of butter. In a couple of minutes they are softened but not mush. Remove and set aside. Then, in the same skillet, slices of onion and a little butter for the same amount of time. They will brown and soften as well. Set them aside. Now it is just a matter of buttering your bread of choice, laying it butter down on your low heating skillet and loading up your cheese (I use old cheddar for this one because it works so well with the sweet additions and salt of the bacon) and bacon, apples and onions. I tend to slice my cheese rather thin when I am layering it with other good stuff. This allows me to put a layer of cheese first, the other elements, and then another couple of slices of cheese on top to bind it all together. Top with the other slice, butter side up and you are ready to flip in a couple of minutes.

Gruyere & Slice Tomatoes - is self explanatory and simply delicious. Long winded, yes.

You all know how to make grilled cheese... these were just some ideas how to change it up at times, without losing any of the comfort.

And the simplest and sweetest dessert in the world prize (other than raiding the Halloween candy) goes to..... Sliced Pineapple dipped in mint sugar. Mortar and pestle to some mint and sugar and then added to pineapple, is a true surprise. Takes seconds, it's FRUIT, and it tastes like bubblegum.

For those of us not hunkered down, having suffered through a hurricane, now enduring a blast of snow and cold, possibly without heat or power - a grilled cheese may seem like an awfully humble meal. It is so easy to forget all of the luxuries that we are afforded every day, until they are beyond our grasp. Every little bit counts, every effort is acknowledged, so if it is within your power to help, please do so. It is also just as important to value what we do have and send out well wishes, positive thoughts or any and all good energy possible to those that are in need and those that are working so hard to help.

Here's the link to do what you can:

Thank you Barbara and Jenn for coming up with just one way for us all to feel a little helpful.

[morevanilla1]

More Than Fair

Every year at this time, Toronto is graced by the arrival of royalty. The smell of manure and other animal scents waft up from Exhibition Place and the city knows... it must be November. The Royal Winter Fair has been an institution here since 1922. It would have started in 1921, but the heating system for the Coliseum wasn't installed in time. Save for the two years that Canada was involved in World War Two, we haven't missed a year in over 90. Tens of thousands of entries arrive each year from across our nation and some from the United States to compete in all manner of agricultural challenges and exchange ideas and advancements. Horse shows, rodeos, milking competitions, butter sculpting, show goats, best corn, best hay, tallest gourd, those incredible kids in 4H.... the list goes on. The greatest beneficiaries of this tradition though, have got to be the city dwellers who are afforded the opportunity each year to marvel at the wonder of those who tend the land and the livestock. The farmers and their families that keep old and invaluable traditions alive, passing down skills that are fundamental to our survival, from one generation to the next, so that they are not forever lost. Every year, when entering the arena of the Royal, you are reminded of the importance of the message it brings. There is life beyond the city, a whole world of craft and dependance on our ecosystem - a group of people that we depend on. Every year, this is our chance to show them some appreciation. Having only spent a couple of years on the farm, I only have a cursory understanding of the commitment and breadth of knowledge it takes to exist and thrive, on the land. Other than a backyard garden in the city, I purchased that land without any real clue as to how I was going to learn what I needed to. What I managed to figure out early on, with the help of some very generous farmers and neighbors, was that farming requires constant learning, as change, is the one constant. I moved in June, late June, it should have been too late for most of the crops I wanted to plant. What I didn't know until later that year was that my ignorance, the fact that I planted regardless, went unnoticed by Mother Nature. My first year was a success because the heavy rain in the spring had done damage to most crops planted at the 'right' time. I had gotten lucky. Many lessons were painful, most involving my animals. Nursing frail newborns every 2 hours through the night in the bitter cold of the barn was easier than when they didn't make it. I didn't appreciate hearing the familiar credo, "If you have livestock, you're going to have deadstock." I never got used to that. But the veterinarians that work with farmers are heroes. I owe a lot to those animal doctors who taught me so much, were so patient with the city girl and so kind when I sobbed like one. When I rescued a mare and her foal at the meat auction, my kind vet told me that I was a fool. I was warned that she had been so neglected that it was too late, that she wouldn't make it through the night and her foal was too wild for me to break on my own. Yet, he came out many times over the next three weeks and tended to her regardless, as she ailed and he waited patiently one day as I lay her head in my lap and spoke to her as he administered the final shot to end her pain. These vets come to you, and they don't charge nearly what they are worth. It is a drop in the bucket compared to the city. Thanks to that kindness and care, that foal is now a beautiful Paint, talented and happy. There were the kind neighbors who schooled me in how to protect my livestock (not to mention my daughter and myself) from predators of various kinds, coyotes being the biggest concern. Dealing with well water is something you want to master; fertilizing naturally is a time consuming endeavor well worth all the effort; hay doesn't bail itself; watering takes hours from your day and it seems as though the majority of the day is spent feeding the animals, while the rest of it consists of cleaning up after them. I have never felt so vital, purposeful or healthy. My daughter's education came first though, so here we are, city mice again. I am thankful for her exposure to that life and thrilled that she misses it. Her farm education was invaluable, however. I would be thrilled for her if she ends up going back to the land one day. I myself hope to settle on a little farm again. Filling a table with food that is entirely of your own efforts, from your own farm - there is really nothing like it. I have a hard time enjoying eggs in the same way anymore, it just isn't the same as eating ones from the hens you care for yourself. No doubt about it though. For all the romanticizing, it is hard, hard work. We owe a great deal to those who find that amount of labour and uncertainty, rewarding and worthwhile. The Royal Winter Fair allows us to shed a little light, each year, on just a few - on some that can afford to take the time to share their achievements with us. There are countless more like them, those that they represent, that we don't see. If we are lucky though, all of the children that file through each year, raised in the city, take this farm experience with them as they grow. For fostering an appreciation in all of us, for the efforts of agriculture, The Royal deserves a 1st Place ribbon.