Great weather...for weeds!

Weather is such a subjective thing. One's opinion of it depends so much on expectations, and plans. Kelda, my beautiful assistant from Calgary, cannot believe that Ontario is just as humid as she remembered it from childhood visits to her grandmother. She lies on the floor and says "I think even my eyeballs are hot". But she has planted a garden that is clearly loving the heat and the rain, and has the weeds to prove it.
Everyone with a veggie garden has been waging a continuing battle just to keep the weeds at bay. But the lettuce, beans, swiss chard and the ubiquitous zucchini are happy as veggies in mud.
The Ontario garlic, for which everyone has waited since the supply wained in early spring, has been very hard hit by the wet July. Some farmers have experienced almost total crop failure, even as the demand across the country has boomed. Those who have it will be able to sell it out of the region, so if you have an opportunity to lay in a store, find a cool, dry, dark spot away from any mould sources and hang it in a mesh bag to enjoy until next July.

"I don't eat white vegetables"

That's what my husband Ted used to say, until I caught him eating cauliflower at my sister's. With most vegetables, there are aficionados and detractors. Often the latter have had bad experiences as children - vegetables cooked to mush, or a sister who mentions the similarity between the half head of cauliflower and a cross-section of the human brain. The attempt to disguise one flavour with another is an unfortunate ploy of motherhood and marketing - such as the CheezWhiz commercial that recommends microwaving an entire jar of their product to pour over a single head of cauliflower.
In reality, most vegetables are best with little if any embellishment. Learn what the vegetable actually tastes like, then choose dips, recipes and accompaniments that really suit the flavour and bring out its best. I'm happy munching down on raw cauliflower, and it travels really well for snacking or picnics. Cooked, the best version is tossed with a little olive oil (and fresh garlic if you are so inclined) and roasted at 400 for 20 minutes or grilled in the barbecue.
When cauliflower is plentiful and BIG, blanch any leftovers for the freezer and in the winter you can have cauliflower soup in 20 minutes any time you like, with or without the cheese.

What is local?

I am writing this from the public library in Haliburton, on the last day of our holiday. We've tried to drop in at every food store we could, and any restaurant with a local specialty. You can see the bounty of the season - lots of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries - and proudly promoted local fish, maple syrup and greens. But the challenges of logistics are evident too. Lamb is from New Zealand, huge strawberries from Mexico, because it's easier to call the distributor and order everything at once than deal with the uncertainty of supply and delivery from local producers. From a farmer's perspective, the challenge is when restaurants want the lamb shanks, an inexpensive front fore-leg cut, two per animal, but does not want the leg, shoulder, ribs or stew from the rest of the lamb. Or when the store wants strawberries for the weekend, but the crop is all finished by the previous Wednesday.

My favourite activity on holiday is to find the local thrift store. It is an exercise in both treasure hunting and letting go. You may find something that is the perfect colour and just what you need, but it is clearly one or two sizes too small. You can't look on the next rack, you just have to let it go.

Local food is somewhat similar. Flipping through the cookbook and finding an eye-catching photo of an appetizing recipe and making a shopping list is one thing. Being willing to reconsider your menu when you discover that asparagus is already out of season and bookmarking the recipe for next year is quite another.

The local possibilities continue to grow, so consider it a treasure hunt to find the perfect recipe to highlight your latest discovery. Cookbook author Margaret Howard will be at Around the Sound on Thursday, July 29 from 4 to 7 to sample some of her own creations to inspire your imagination.