Garlicky Green Beans

 This time last year: Blackberry Apple Pie

Well here's a deliciously simple way to consume mass amounts of fresh beans. My mom and I have each been cooking a version of this throughout bean season and are addicted.  You should try it!  It's adapted from Mollie Katzen's The Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without.  You just trim about a pound of beans and snap them in half.  Have ready about a tablespoon of minced fresh garlic.  Heat your largest pan over high heat for a few minutes, then swirl in a couple teaspoons of vegetable or sesame oil.  Keep the heat high as you pour in the beans.  Stir the beans constantly for about five minutes, adding a sprinkle or two of salt as they cook.  Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two longer, then remove from the heat.  Serve as an appetizer with a little sweet chili sauce for dipping, as a side dish, or make a meal of it!

On the Road Again with Sarah and Pat

My mom Anna and her friend Pat started the second handmade soap company in all of Canada. It's hard to believe, with all the thousands of soap sellers at craft fairs and shops these days, but it's true! North Mountain Soapery started in a corner of Pat's house in Burlington, then moved to rented spaces including a dusty nook behind Ye Olde Curiousity Shoppe in Port Williams. In about 1985, when I was nine, they renovated a barn on Pat's property and went big-time, selling soap and potpourri and bath salts at shows in Toronto and even at Disney's Epcot Centre in Florida. I remember asking my mom to pack me up inside one of the boxes destined for Dopey Drive.

Me, Meagan and Sarah

Every few years, we sit down to watch and howl at Mom and Pat's appearance on “On the Road Again” with Wayne Rostad. In the video, Pat's kids, Sarah and Jesse, are joined by my sister and I in a highly staged portrayal of quaint rural life. Pat calls us from the barn and we come running, to wash up for supper, with North Mountain Soapery soap in an old washtub on the porch. Mom and Pat are so young and sweet in their interview, so passionate about what they were making, and with all that 80s hair going on, it is really a scream.  Or, in the case of Pat and Sarah, a snort.

We lived just down the road from Pat and her husband Doug, and Meagan, Sarah and I were pretty much all the same age, so we were together fairly often. We played in Sarah's treehouse, gorged ourselves on fruit in Doug's orchard, and dared each other to walk across the beams of the barn next door. We went on picnics in the woods, swam in the pond stocked with salmon, and cooked supper together when our moms were away in Toronto (legendary meals cooked by our Dads included Kraft Dinner with ground venison, highly salted spaghetti that made me throw up, and burgers undercooked by me that made Sarah throw up. These recipes aren't included here).

Sarah and I were both home sick one day, and mom had to go to work, so I was to spend the day at Sarah's convalescing with her while our Moms worked next door. Pat had a Crock-Pot of baked beans on the go for supper. Somehow, one of us tripped over the cord and the whole thing came crashing down onto the floor. We were terrified. Despite our illness, we sprang into action, all the while on high alert should one of our mothers walk in the door. We scooped up the beans with a dustpan and hastily dumped them back into the pot. We added water to bring the beans back up to their original volume, plugged it back in and wiped everything up as best we could. Lucky for me, we went home for supper.  Still, I couldn't shake the guilty feeling as I imagined her pretending to enjoy the tainted beans.

Me, Sarah, Meagan and Lyss in Cuba

Well, 25 years later, Meagan and I are still friends with Sarah. We can tell the same stories over and over and cry with laughter every time. Sarah and Jesse own a business together that Doug started towards the end of North Mountain Soapery (they sold it in 1989), Country Stoves and Sunrooms in Aylesford. And Mom and Pat are still wonderful friends, now working together on another big project, a book this time, about the history of the people of Burlington. We all have shared many meals together, with very few of them hitting the floor first. Pat makes an amazing Bok Choy salad that I first tasted when she brought me a meal after the birth of my daughter, Molly. Both Sarah and Pat are famous for the mouthwatering yet very simple Garlic Brie that makes an appearance at their parties, and Sarah willingly (I think) makes Peanut Butter Chocolate Chestnuts that her girlfriends clamour for each Christmas.

Garlic Brie

4 Cloves Garlic

2 T. Olive Oil

1 small wheel Brie or Camembert

Mince the garlic and combine with the oil. Place the brie on a pie plate and spoon the garlic oil over top. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or simply heat in the microwave until the cheese is soft and warm, about 30-60 seconds. Serve with your favourite crackers to everyone at the party.

Bok Choy Salad serves many

Pat calls this "Sugar Salad" for obvious reasons.  You can cut back on the butter (use 2-3 T.) and the sugar (use 1/2 C.) and it will still be good.  I suggest making it as is and sharing it with your delighted friends.

1 large head Bok Choy, chopped (any cabbage will do nicely, really)

2 bunches Green Onion, sliced

½ C. Slivered Almonds

2 pkg. broken Ramen Noodles (throw out the seasoning and bash up the noodles while still in the bag)

½ C. Sesame Seeds

½ C. Butter

1 C. Sugar

½ C. Vinegar

2 T. Soy Sauce

1 C. Canola Oil

Place the bok choy and green onions in a large bowl.  In a saute pan over medium heat, melt the butter and add the almonds, ramen noodles and sesame seeds.  Stir and cook until everything is toasty.  Drain on paper towels.  In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and canola oil until sugar has dissolved.  Just before serving, toss the bok choy and green onions with enough dressing to coat, then shake on the nuts and noodles and toss again.  Oh boy.

Webster's Baked Beans with a little Union Street twist (thanks, Alexis!)
 This traditional (almost) baked bean recipe comes to you straight from Webster Farms, a bean and raspberry grower in Cambridge, Nova Scotia.  We use their Jacob's Cattle Beans for this, but you can use almost any white or speckled dried bean.

1 lb.  Webster Farms Dried Beans
2 tsp.  Dried Mustard
1/2 t. Ground Ginger
1/2 cup  Brown Sugar
2/3 cup  Molasses
1/2 C. Ketchup
1 tsp.  Salt
1/4 tsp.  Pepper
4 strips Bacon (or not)
1 tsp.  Vinegar
1  medium Onion, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced


Soak beans overnight in plenty of water to cover.  Place beans in large pot with 6 cups of water, bring to a boil, and simmer until beans are tender, approximately 30 minutes. Eat a bean to make sure it's tender, they will not soften further once the remaining ingredients are added!  Place in slow cooker (in a secure location:).  Add remaining ingredients and stir gently to combine. Cook on high for 4-6 hours covered. Alternatively, bake in the oven for 4-6 hours at 300 degrees, checking in once in a while to make sure beans have enough liquid.

Honey Curry Dip

We throw two official staff parties every year-one in January after the craziness of Christmas parties has died down, and the other on Canada Day, just before the craziness of summer begins. There's also a Halloween party whenever someone has the desire to spearhead it. Union Street Cafe's staff are a family, albeit somewhat dysfunctional, and we truly love one another. Just as we're getting on each others' nerves, a little festive fun time can lift everyone's spirits and help us remember it's just a restaurant we work at, not an emergency room.
Of course, food figures into the fun even more then drink, so a couple weeks beforehand, I dream up some tasty snacks that bear almost no resemblance to what we serve at work. This past Thursday, that meant Greek Chicken Pitas, Vietnamese Meatball Sandwiches, miniature Hamburgers and a veggie tray with a super yummy and somehow retro-tasting Honey Curry Dip. I highly recommend it with the sweet little Sugar Snap Peas that are hitting their stride right about now.
I can also tell you that mayonnaise, being so utterly commonplace, becomes somewhat of a miracle (and I don't mean Whip) when made with your five year old son and two year old nephew. For that kind of fun, take one Egg and put it in a blender or food processor. Add a big pinch of Salt and a teaspoon of Dijon, plus a teaspoon of Vinegar or Lemon Juice. Get the motor running, then drizzle in 1½ cups Canola Oil very slowly. Watch their amazement (and maybe even your own) as the mayonnaise thickens before your very eyes! Then use it in this dip, and refrigerate the rest for your sandwiches, potato salad or perhaps licking off the spoon (you know who you are).

Honey Curry Dip
1 T. Curry Powder
1 T. Canola Oil
1 C. Sour Cream
½ C. Mayonnaise
¼ C. Honey (I use Foote Family Farms)
½ t. Salt
¼ C, Chopped Cilantro (optional, but highly recommended)

Heat the oil with the curry powder over medium high heat in a small skillet. After a minute or so ,the mixture will foam and smell very aromatic. (This step will absolutely elevate your dip above all other curry concoctions). Remove it from the heat. In a bowl, combine the sour cream, mayonnaise, honey and salt, and scrape in the curry and oil mixture. Add the cilantro and serve with assorted veggies, crackers (rice crackers are especially good) or potato chips. After chilling, the dip is thick enough to be a delicious condiment for burgers or folded into diced chicken, cranberries, celery and green onion for a killer Chicken Curry Salad.

I have personally banned this dip from my refrigerator since I cannot resist its call, but if you make a batch, please invite me over.