Thursday's Child: California Academy of Sciences

One of the things I love to do when I travel is give other family members a chance to help me plan our trips.  When we visited San Francisco in March, I asked my youngest daughter for ideas, and her priority was visiting The Japanese Tea Garden and The California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.  Together, they were a true highlight of our trip.  I’ve written about the Japanese Tea Garden earlier. Today I’ll keep the words to a minimum, as I let our photos from the Academy of Sciences speak for themselves.

One of our favourite displays at the Academy was the four-story rainforest. This self-contained exhibit was held within a ninety-foot diameter dome with a spiral walkway leading from floor to floor. While it was all impressive, the butterflies were especially breathtaking.  Hundreds of them flew freely throughout the exhibit, one even landing on my mom's sweater.  

Butterflies weren't the only animal in the rainforest display.  Parrots also flew through the air, and there were collections of reptiles and insects. (One of us found rainforest spiders to be particularly menacing.)  Forests from three different continents were represented, including Costa Rica, Madagascar and the Amazon.

With a collection of nearly 40,000 animals, the Steinhart Aquarium was dazzling.  The standout exhibit was the Philippine coral reef habitat, based on one of the most diverse coral reefs in the world.  Full of colour and beauty, there were over 4,000 animals in that display alone. The Northern Californian exhibit may have been less exotic, but it boasted a sanctuary with floor-to-ceiling display cases, and separate exhibits depicting tide pools, estuaries and rocky reefs.

Celebrating friendship

Thursday was a beautiful day in every way.  It was unseasonably warm, and a group of us spent a day outside the city celebrating a milestone birthday of one of our members.  In addition to going on a vigorous hike and enjoying great food, we spent a lot of time talking about life before and after fifty.  We talked about growing older with integrity, and about how we hope to spend the rest of our lives.  We shared ideas about music, spirituality and books, and connected in a thorough way that we seldom have the luxury for in the city.

It was a perfect day with a wonderful group of friends, and days like that must be cherished.

Did I mention how beautiful the weather was?  And I'm hoping you'll indulge me as I post one more summer recipe.  This frittata is a perfect summer dish, but you could make it any time of the year by substituting seasonal vegetables, or frozen vegetables.

Happy birthday, Karen!

Frittata with Summer Vegetables and Goat’s Cheese

(adapted from River Cottage Veg)

2 medium new potatoes

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 ounces mixed vegetables, such as asparagus, green beans, fresh or frozen peas, broccoli (I used 1/2 cup peas, 8 stalks of asparagus and 1 cup of broccoli)

1 Tbsp canola or olive oil

1/2 cup green onions (scallions), trimmed and coarsely chopped

A handful of chives, chopped (about 1 1/2 Tbsp)

9 large eggs

3 ounces goat cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/4 inch slices.  Put them in a large pan, cover with plenty of water, add salt and bring to a boil.  Meanwhile, cut asparagus (and green beans, if using) into 

1 1/2” lengths, and cut broccoli into small florets.  When the potatoes come to a boil, add the green vegetables.  Once the water has returned to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes, by which time all the vegetables should be just tender.  Drain well. Cut potatoes into 3/4” fingers.

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add green onions and sweat for about 5 minutes, until soft.  Add drained vegetables and chives, and toss with the onions.  Turn heat to medium-low.

In a bowl, beat eggs with salt and pepper, and pour over the vegetables in the pan.  Cook, gently stirring once or twice, until well mixed.  Pour into a well-greased 10" round baking dish. Crumble the cheese over the surface of the frittata, then bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the egg is set and top is starting to colour.

Allow to cool slightly before serving.  May be served warm or cold.

From This Valley

"Oh the desert dreams of a river
That will run down to the sea
Like my heart longs for an ocean
To wash down over me.

"Oh the outcast dreams of acceptance
Just to find pure love's embrace
Like an orphan longs for its mother
May you hold me in your grace."

- from "From this Valley", by the Civil Wars

The Civil Wars are playing the soundtrack to my life these days.  I'm a pretty happy person, but I do like my music full of longing, and the Civil Wars have that in spades.  I chose one of the more upbeat songs on the album to excerpt here; I thought you might be alarmed for me if I quoted "Dust to Dust" or "Eavesdrop".

Fall is the perfect season for melancholy, as the days grow shorter and the weather cooler.  Out of the corner of my eye, I can almost see winter wafting into the on-deck circle.  And maybe this impacts my baking as well as my choice of music.

Zucchini is technically a summer vegetable, but this recipe is a perfect way to pull it into autumn. Although I don't make cake very often, this one has catapulted its way into my top two or three. The spicy flavours of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg warm up the zucchini, and the cinnamon cream cheese frosting is so great, I want to spread it on everything I make.  Curl up with the The Civil Wars and a slice of this cake, and you might feel like a little bit of wistful isn't a bad thing.

Zucchini Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting
(cake recipe from Eats Well With Others; frosting recipe from Tracey's Culinary Adventures)

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp coarse kosher salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

3/4 cup olive oil

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (8 oz)

3/4 cup raisins or walnuts

For the frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ (icing) sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9” round cake pan (or an 8” x 8” square baking pan) with parchment paper.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.  In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar and vanilla.  Mix in the eggs until well-mixed.  Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until just incorporated.

Mix the zucchini and raisins into the cake batter until just incorporated.  Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 40 – 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting, beat butter and cream cheese together until creamy and well-mixed.  Add icing sugar, a bit at a time, and beat on low speed until combined.  Add cinnamon and vanilla extract, and beat on medium speed for an additional minute.  Spread over cake.

Thursday's Child: Valparaiso, Chile

With all the travelling we’ve done, it’s surprising that I’ve been south of the equator only once, when we visited Chile.  We loved everything about this beautiful country, but one of the standouts was quirky Valparaiso – a city that's still rough around the edges, but with charm to spare.

Because the city's a bit of a labyrinth, we hired Thomas Poussard, a guide with a background in journalism, to show us around.  He shared both the beautiful and the unusual with us, and gave us a great overview of Valparaiso's history.

One of my favourite memories of Valparaiso was taking the ascenseurs, or funiculars, from one level to another.  Because the city is built into the hills that emerge from the ocean, most of the streets descend at a sharp angle.  The funiculars were built over a century ago, to facilitate getting around.  The oldest, serving Cerro Concepcion, was built in 1883.  

I wrote in an earlier post about the street art in Valparaiso.  Any city with an open-air museum of street art is one worth visiting.

Pablo Neruda spent much of his time in his home in Valparaiso.  La Sebastiana, as it was called, has astonishing views of the harbour. It displays the beautiful objects that he loved to collect, as well as his poetry.  La Sebastiana is rumoured to be the best place in Valparaiso to watch the famous New Year’s Eve fireworks.

Valparaiso was a major international port until the Panama Canal was built in 1914, but it went into decline as shipping business began to move through the canal.  Recently, however, the city has made enormous strides.  It has rebuilt some of its former glories (renewing La Sebastiana after it was looted following the 1973 military coup), preserved existing ones (its funiculars being named to UNESCO’s World Heritage List), and launched new ones (the street art).

“Valparaiso

So small

Like a cloth

Helpless

Hanging

Ragged in a Window

Swaying

In the Wind

of the ocean

Impregnated

With all the pain

Of your ground

Receiving

The dew

Of the sea, the kiss

Of the wild angry sea

That with all of its power

Beat the rocks

It could not

Knock you down

Because on your southern chest

Is tattooed

The struggle

The hope

The solidarity

And the joy

As anchors

Resisting

The waves of the earth."

-       from “Ode to Valparaiso”, Pablo Neruda

Procrastination

Sometimes, procrastination is a good thing.

I made these sandwiches a few months ago, at the beginning of summer.  I loved them and knew I wanted to post them, but other recipes kept pushing them aside.  Some were recipes that used seasonal ingredients (like Blueberry Lemon Bars), some had seasonal associations (S'mores Ice Cream), and some had to be posted right away because of the story that went with them (Black Bean Burgers).  And all that time, the photos of these sandwiches sat on my desktop, patiently awaiting their day.

That day has arrived.  And here's why procrastination is a good thing: because if I'd posted the recipe right away, I wouldn't be staring lovingly at the photos today and remembering how awesome these sandwiches were.  And I wouldn't be drawing up my grocery list and adding ciabatta, arugula and goat cheese.  A word to the wise though – don’t wait too long before trying the recipe yourself.

Caramelized Onion, Arugula and Goat Cheese Sandwich

(adapted from Simply Life)

Makes 2 – 3 sandwiches

2 or 3 small ciabatta or sourdough buns

2 – 3 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, sliced

4 large button mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, drained and chopped

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 handfuls arugula

2 – 3 ounces goat cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and cook about 5 minutes, until browned.  Add mushrooms and cook 5 more minutes.  Add garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, sprinkle with sugar, and mix together.  Stir in balsamic vinegar and cook about 5 additional minutes.  Set aside.

Slice buns open down centre.  Spread goat cheese on the bottom half, then top with arugula and caramelized onion mixture.  Wrap entire sandwich in foil and bake about 8 minutes.