In Ireland I had so much to write about everyday, now that I’m home, my life seems same old same old, so it’s hard to keep up on the blog! But, thought I would write a little update about what’s been going on, and a little rant about chicken stock, and the price of organic meat.

I was in Vancouver at the end of May to help a family friend cater a huge outdoor event for the community she lives in. Bette has been catering in Vancouver for years, and what she pulls off is incredible. Imagine cooking for six hundred, yes, six hundred people with a handful of people to help with the prep and getting everything to the site – which was on a ball diamond. It was really neat to be a part of the event, and I learned a lot in the two quick days I was there about the catering world! Great experience, so glad Bette asked me to be a part of it!

It’s been so beautiful, an although we desperately need rain, I’ve been enjoying lots of time in the sun, pool parties and picnics with Olivia and Bryce, drinks on the deck, hanging my washing out (of course!). Love going to the market every Saturday to see what’s new, it’s such a great time of year watching the next new season fruit and veg come in. Asparagus are almost done for the year, but last weekend was the first weekend with BC cherries, yum!

The Edmonton Pride Festival started on the weekend, my cousin Tammy and I headed down on Saturday to enjoy some of the festivities, and a couple of beers. The sun was shining, and we had such a fun evening.

I am still busy working on my ideas for a mini sort of business, it’s all exciting, and there is lots to think about. Spending most mornings in the kitchen recipe testing, and tweaking some of my old favourites, I generally run out the door at 2:45 to get to work, and leave the kitchen in some state of chaos, on a scale of 1 – 10, it ranges from 1 – 10 depending on the day! Thanks mum for cleaning up after me!

Most days I hear something on the radio, see something in a grocery store, or think about something as I’m busy cooking in the kitchen that drives me even more… I really want to be able to try and show people what food should really be – the insane fact about that is, why should there be a question about what food is?

A few years ago I was making risotto and opened a box of “organic chicken stock,” and decided the smell, and the contents were too questionable to continue using… Since then I have made my own chicken stock, which I freeze in 1.5 cup and 3 cup containers. Sometimes I go through it so quickly I have to make it once a week, other times it might last a couple of weeks. Stock is cheap, simple, and quick to make, and it changes the flavour of the final product of whatever we are using it in. Often stock is in the simplest of dishes – soups, gravy, sauces, etc. so, it’s kind of a “star,” ingredient, why wouldn’t we want it to be the best quality, and have the best flavour? I mean seriously, smell a box of chicken stock next time you open it – it smells a bit like cat food – gross. Try to make your own, and I bet you’ll notice a difference in the taste. It’s not a question of time with stock, you just throw it all into a stockpot, turn it on, bring it to the boil, and let it simmer. The “new” trend these days is to eat bone broth (a.k.a stock!) it’s not really a new trend though when you think about it, stock has been eaten for years in most cultures… We had a nasty flu run through the family at the end of May / beginning of June, thankfully I didn’t get it, but I fed my dad chicken stock, and I swear he recovered more quickly than the others – who knows? Reading this back, I guess I could have been a nice sister and given some to the rest of the family…

My other rant… The cost of organic meat… I totally understand and can respect that it is more expensive than non-organic, and it can seem like a cost that can’t be justified or worth it. For me, what we put in our body should be the best we have access to. Yes, organic doesn’t always mean the best, but if you’re able to find local farmers that you can create relationships with, and trust, I think you can find pretty great products out there. I keep going on and on about the price of organic chickens and how far they can go, I’m sure everyone around me is sick of hearing it, but I really think we need to start thinking about food pricing from a different angle. An organic chicken costs between $25 and $30 usually… The options are endless with what you can do with that one chicken, but at the end of the day, you can get a lot of meals out of one chook. For three of us, I have recently been roasting the entire chicken, having a roast dinner the first night (my all time fav!), using the carcass to make stock, then maybe making chicken noodle soup and quesadillas for the next two meals, or chicken sandwiches and pesto with chicken… The options are endless, and when you think about the cost of that chicken per portion, it’s pretty reasonable… Between $2 and $4, and you end up with stock in the freezer! I’ve also started to joint whole chickens, and cook half for two meals, and freeze the other half for later. Another thing we can all consider when thinking about the cost of good quality meat, why not just buy better quality and eat less meat? Do we need to eat meat every single day – nope! End of rant!

I can remember Darina saying, “I’ll come down to you if…” I really do hear her most day, whether I’m in the kitchen cooking, walking into Costco, reading a menu that says “seasonal soup,” wondering what they mean by seasonal… I don’t know that I will ever kick her voice in my head, which isn’t a bad thing, I don’t think.

“Real food means big-flavoured, unpretentious cooking. Good ingredients made into something worth eating. Just nice, uncomplicated food.” – Nigel Slater