This is a chick that is called a naked neck or silkie, it might be related to the americana chicken that lays the blue eggs. When they are cuddled up they look like a regular chick, but when they stretch out their heads they have tiny black necks. This chick was at the farm where we get our eggs from. Kyle picked him up and we almost took him home, but we new he would miss his friends. Chicks are so cute, they just wanna be warm.
I found this butterfly today when I was outside. I don’t feel like blogging right now because trying to open a restaurant is hard and it makes me feel vulnerable. I don’t want to talk about myself right now. We are just in the process of costing everything out and we are having trouble finding bar stools and used restaurant cutlery. One thing I’m really excited about is setting up my office in a spare room in our house, I have a great vision for it. I don’t want to say anything about what I’m working on because I’m afraid it won’t come true. I just want to let it unfold naturally.
I’m trying to put kitchen hardcoreness behind me but, I’m continually fascinated. When I was visiting Bryan in Vancouver I read his copy of the Momofuku cookbook, and I couldn’t believe how hardcore David Chang is. It was disturbing how he gave himself shingles from work and stress and basically waited until half his body went numb before taking a break. At first I was like no! that shit is too crazy but here I am still thinking about it a couple weeks later. To be the best takes everything you have at every moment, Chang almost having a stroke and Grant Achatz working around the clock while doing chemo, these young chefs are unbelievable. I would never do that but it is inspiring to think that there are people that do. Also David Chang sounds like a total dick, he swears and drinks and never sleeps like old Boudain and I can’t get enough of it! I really feed off of that craziness to keep me going in the kitchen. I really want to be in any kitchen. My burnout time is over, I really want to get back in there. I’m supposed to be writing a Philosophy paper right now so I should probably go, it’s really an ‘everything at once’ time for me right now
No more waiting. We were waiting to buy but we want something now, so we are going to find something for lease. We are looking in the 20th street area of Saskatoon because it is an older more run down neighborhood that has a lot of character. 20th is close to the river, downtown, the farmers market, and many other good things. To us it is the Gastown of Saskatoon. My cousin and her partner just bought a farm along with some other young couples from the horticulture society, so I hope there will be some beautiful vegetables growing this summer. If we can find a place I think the timing will be right. We also plan to do a lot of small road trips throughout Saskatchewan this summer to show Kyle around and to get acquainted with the nature here.
It’s been weird trying to figure out how this blog fits in to things now that I’m back home, especially since I’m in school and Peach quit his blog. I finally decided that I was keeping this as a journal for myself and my family and friends back home, so I will still keep it as a journal for myself and my friends and family back in my other home of B.C.. I was just back there to visit Bryan, Scotty, Travis and Satoshi. Scheming with them is always the most fun, they are amazing to me and give good advice. We roamed in a pack around Gastown, drinking everywhere, eating everything and smoking california hash. In and out of Meat and Bread and in and out of the 5, drinking espresso or tequila when we would get tired. I came back with a sore liver and blotchy skin knowing that is was time for us to do our own thing in Saskatoon.
Greenhouses do really well in Saskatchewan. There is tons of sun even in the middle of winter. I just joined the horticulture club at the U of S and it is just what I needed to get me through the rest of the winter. I picked some greens and herbs and had my first satisfying salad in a long time. The people there are so nice and it’s good to make contacts with the young growers. I love being in the greenhouse, the smell is so good.
I made some smoked duck sausage, and I wanted to use sea buckthorn so I made a mustard. I cooked down the berries and then pureed them and added honey and mustard powder. They are so tart that the honey is necessary to bring out their tropical flavor.
It’s a struggle for me to post because I am very busy with university and in my spare time I just lay in bed and think about how horrible I am. Since I’m not cooking I feel like I’ve lost my identity as a cook, and looking back on my cooking days I’ve realized I had a terrible ego problem. This winter is hard for me because I wasn’t here this summer to prepare by preserving and setting up my grow light. For some reason Kyle has agreed to stay with me here for a year so we will see what Saskatchewan has to offer this summer.
We have been looking for a building for a restaurant for the last 6 months and have had no luck, so I’m a little sad about that as well. I feel I should carry on writing this for Kyle’s mom who relies on this blog for updates on us which is why I started it in the first place. This seasonal depression, sad sack shit is for you Jody.
Lots of different kinds of citrus is in season right now. Oranges and grapefruits keep well for many months if stored properly but winter is their peak season. I was really happy to have access to blood oranges this last month as they have a shorter season. I think the oranges I got are moro, there are many types of blood oranges. The moro blood orange has a sweet/tart orange flavor with a hint of dark raspberry flavor. They are super good for you. I gorge myself on citrus in the winter. There are thousands of varieties of citrus fruits.
We started our bootleg brunches again only this time they are on Sundays instead of Saturdays. Also, instead of everyone coming at noon it is restaurant style, with different groups booking different times. We also have a menu that is two main items for $5 each and two sides for $2 or $3 each. Above is a picture of a menu item we have been working on, it is our take on a dutch pancake that we had in Amsterdam last summer. It consists of egg, bacon, pancake, fried apples and aged gouda. I like mine with lots of maple syrup, but we’re still working on perfecting it.
