We had a lovey getaway, on Salt Spring Island.  It was quick, and busy as DH was playing music two nights, back to back.  But I love it there - any chance to go and I grab it!  The first night, we ate dinner at the outdoor seaside Restaurant where the guys played.  I ate a delicious, grilled prawn skewer with brown rice, and a lovely salad.  This is where things began to drastically change.

My second to last bite, I had this searing pain on the inside of my bottom lip.  I knew instantly, that it was a blister...cross contamination.  Here is the weird part.  Immediately, I felt disorientated - like really disorientated.  Probably the worst I have experienced to date.  It was unbelievable.

This "brain fog" lasted about 24 hours.  I knew the inevitable was coming - that within hours, I would not be leaving the bathroom.  The next morning, I was still in a brain fog.  And I was angry.  Really angry.  With this brain fog, came an unexplainable, extreme anxiety which just made me feel like crying.  I am not a crier - but when this happens, it feels unbearable. I had to keep telling myself, it would pass, I just had to get through it.

That day I barely ate anything, yogurt, water, and some soup broth.   Finally, by the evening things improved a little bit, however, I did not venture out to hear the guys play.  I was weak, exhausted, and still had some brain fog.  I went to sleep at 8:30 pm - and slept almost 9 hours.  Unheard of for me.  But when I awoke, now day 2,  I knew I was starting to get better.  The brain fog was lifting, the anxiety was gone,  the blister in my mouth was on the mend, and the intestinal pain was gone.

Finally.  I have eaten at this Restaurant for years - without a problem, but now, never again.  Cross contamination is just too great a risk.  Either we will eat at our cottage or B&B, or we will eat at a Restaurant that has a gluten free menu.  Hence, there are no pictures of our Lakeside cottage.  I was too out of it!

Now for the good news... I have now found two new Restaurants that offer gluten free food.    We had a lovely lunch at the Salt Spring Island Inn, a delicious baked tomato soup, with chive butter on toasted gluten free English Muffins, as well as a lovely crab dip with corn chips.  There was a lot to choose from on the menu:  chicken tenders, muffins, soup, halibut and chicken burgers, sandwiches on gluten free bread and much much more.  Happy Days!

The 2nd cafe is a place called Cafe Talia.  They too have gluten free soups, salads and sandwich buns.  As well as a number of desserts.  This was such a relief, to know I can travel to this lovely Island and eat at a Restaurant that has gluten free food.  Now onto our last night there - thank the heavens for organic rib eye steak - by now I was starving!

This was one thick steak that DH and I shared.  Wow.  The flavor, texture, tenderness was unbelievable.  I cooked it in a brown butter garlic sauce - in this gorgeous pan:

This cast iron pan I am thinking is about 30 years old....it had the best finish on it, that was a real pleasure to cook with.  I set it on a medium heat with a few huge dollops of butter, and some sliced organic garlic cloves.  Let it simmer, just until it started to get golden, then watched it carefully, and once I saw a slight browning of the butter, took it off the heat and poured the butter and garlic over these lovely steamed farm fresh veggies:

Although it was not fun suffering from cross contamination...in the process, I did find two new Restaurants that offer a Gluten Free Menu.  Happy, happy days....there is more and more awareness out there in the world, and best of all....it is slowly becoming a safer place for those of us that can not have gluten.

We are headed to our Island Getaway this weekend, not sure if we will get Internet Access, but hopefully, and this time I won't forget the camera!  Note:  with this dish, it was surprisingly good served cold the next day with a salad, although any leftovers could easily be re-heated in the oven too.

KEBABS – WITH MARINATED MUSHROOMS

Originally, we were going to have meatloaf for dinner….then perusing  The Flavor Bible, a new recipe developed. I thought about what ingredients I had in the fridge:  crimini mushrooms, lemons, fresh thyme, Greek Yogurt, fresh parsley and what started this recipe….was the thought of marinated mushrooms…then the recipe evolved from there.

Soak 7-10 wooden kebab sticks in water 1 hour before cooking Kebabs.
1 lb. Ground turkey (I used Hormone/Antibiotic free turkey and pork)
½ lb. Ground pork
3 tblsp. Minced flat leaf parsley
2 finely minced garlic cloves
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. Oregano
salt, and lots of fresh ground pepper

Mix up the ingredients in a bowl, then shape into 1-2 inch meatballs.  Set on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 2 hours before cooking.

Marinated Mushrooms:
14 crimini mushrooms – well cleaned, stem on slightly trimmed
juice of 1 lemon
olive oil – 3 to 1 with the lemon juice
1 minced garlic clove
3 stems of fresh Thyme – peel off the thyme leaves
salt and pepper
Mix up the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper into a bowl – whisking well to combine.  Add in the mushrooms top side down – marinate 2-3 hours in the fridge.
Yogurt Dipping Sauce:
½ a tub from a 500 gram container of Greek Yogurt (Yogurt cheese/dripped yogurt works well too)
1 - 6 inch slice  of cucumber (mine was thin) de-seeded and chopped
about a palmful of Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
1 minced garlic clove
2 tsp. Fresh lemon juice
1 rounded tsp. (dry) dill (fresh would be better, but did not have any)
2 Tblsp. Olive oil
salt and pepper

Add the chopped cucumber, parsley, garlic clove, lemon juice and olive oil to a food processor, blend till fine.  Spoon into a bowl, add in the yogurt and dill  and mix well.  Adjust salt and pepper.  Refrigerate 2 hours before serving with the meatball Kebabs.
Kebab Assembly: Remove  the wooden kebab sticks from the water,  lightly pat dry, then add 1 meatball, 1 marinated mushroom, 1 meatball, 1 more mushroom, finishing with 1 more meatball – leaving space between each meatball and mushroom.
Lay down the skewers onto a parchment lined baking sheet.  Then brush each meatball with the rest of the mushroom marinade – coating well.

Bake at 350 degrees, about 40 minutes or until cooked through.  Turn over half way through cooking time, and brush the other side with the marinade.  Served with the yogurt dipping sauce, and a rice side dish.  These kebabs would be good with marinated chicken, beef, seafood – shrimp and scallops….I am thinking that more kebabs will be  gracing  our dinner plates!

Our first bowl of ripe tomatoes....this was a long time in coming.  Despite me bemoaning our poor summer here on the West Coast, I realize we were lucky to have grown anything at all.  This year certainly presented it's challenges.

And, hoping this bowl of tomatoes will ripen nicely.  The rains are coming, so I picked these for now.  There are still many green tomatoes on the vines, but they looked too green to pick.  Every other day, we have been able to pick the odd handful of green bush beans and scarlet runner beans, as well as the occasional zucchini.  So overall, not too bad considering the summer.  Last year was the exact opposite.  I had huge abundance, we even had enough to freeze. I am just thankful for what we did grow this year.   So this morning, before the rains come, I wandered around the gardens with a bowl, picking what I could and put together this lovely salad:

Fresh tomatoes, scarlet runner beans and zucchini that I lightly blanched, fresh Italian Flat leaf Parsley, Basil, and Chives.

Then I added crumbled Feta cheese, with a drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, fresh squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Summer freshness that tasted divine!  This was so good, I actually had it for breakfast - all that freshness of just picked goodness, and I savored every bite...knowing the rains are coming.

This was a "Lord have Mercy" moment.  Seriously.  I think I have finally done it!  It has only taken me 100 years to figure this one out, and yes, I may have said this before....but this time I really really mean it!  The secret for a delicious, yummy, gluten free "crisp"....is to omit the flours from the "crisp". Eureka, finally, a really, good gluten free fruit crisp!  This "crisp" stood out on it's own.  Lordy Be!!!  How long have I waited for this discovery.  Over the years, looking at different recipes, they all include Gluten Free flours added to the crisp.  Honestly, I just never liked them.  They tasted too much like flour.  I wanted CRISP!  And this is it....

5-6 lovely apples - not sure what kind mine were, DH brought them back from the Oakanagan, but these were red, crisp, juicy and slightly tart
5 pears - a little on the firm side
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/3  cup of cornstarch
1/3 cup brown sugar
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
Crisp:
2 1/2 cups crushed Gluten Free Corn Flakes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
1/2 cup butter, plus a few tblsps. to scatter on top of the crisp
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and generously grease a casserole dish with butter.  Peel and slice the apples and pears, squeezing in half the juice of a lemon, and toss to coat.  In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch, brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger - whisking to combine.  Pour this mixture over the fruit, mixing well, until the fruit is well coated.  Transfer the fruit to the casserole dish.

In another bowl, combine all the ingredients for the crisp.  I used  a fork to mix in the butter, to get a crumbly texture.  Spread evenly over the fruit, and dot the top with extra pads of butter.

Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the fruit is cooked tender.  Serve with whip cream or ice cream....soooo good!  From now on...this will be the only way I make a "Crisp" of any kind, Yeahhh it worked!

Pastas are so versatile…whether cream or tomato based they all work well with seafood, chicken, beef, ground turkey – or vegetarian.  This would also be tasty on baked spaghetti squash too.
2 Tblsp. Olive oil
1 onion diced
1 quarter of a finely chopped green pepper
4 large garlic cloves – minced
1 28 oz can tomatoes (cut into bite sized pieces)
1 tsp. Anchovie paste (optional)
seasonings: 1 tsp.  fennel, basil, oregano,  Italian seasonings, salt and pepper
2 Tblsp. Tomato paste
1 large bay leaf
handful of diced kale, spinach, or collard greens
Parmesan cheese and grated Asiago cheese
1 package Tinkyada Spaghetti Style pasta – any pasta would work
340 grams package of thawed, frozen shrimp, and baby scallops-if you can get "flash-frozen" at sea - these are amazing!
Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan on low to medium heat.  Add in the onions, and chopped green pepper.  Saute until the onions are translucent.  Add in the garlic, stirring till fragrant, then add in the seasonings, stirring another minute or so.  Add in the anchovie paste, stirring until dissolved.  Stir in the can of tomatoes, and the diced green, (I used Kale) turn the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer about 1 hour or so.
Cook pasta as per directions.  Note:  I have found with Tinkyada pasta of any kind, it cooks better if it is stirred frequently.
While pasta is cooking, add in the 2 tblsp. Tomato paste to the sauce, stirring to combine, lid off so it can reduce a bit.
Meanwhile, rinse the shrimp and scallops in a colander with cold water, lay out on paper towel – and pat dry.
Heat a frying pan on medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil.  Saute 1 minced garlic clove till fragrant, and add in the seafood, season with salt and pepper.  Once the shrimp are pink and the scallops are opaque,  only takes a couple of minutes, remove from heat, and squeeze in about 2 tblsp. Fresh lemon juice.
Once pasta is cooked, drain well, add to the tomato sauce, mix well to combine.  Add in the cooked shrimp and scallops, a good handful of grated Parmesan cheese, mixing well.  Top with a sprinkling of fresh diced Flat Leaf Italian Parsley, and grated Asiago cheese.  So yummy!

We are getting ginormous red cabbages from the garden.  I honestly thought that since this was such a poor summer, we would get next to nothing this year, but it looks like  red cabbage loves cooler weather.  So far we have had it in salads, and stir fries.  Now onto Sauerkraut, something I have never made before.  In doing some research, I discovered that Kimi over at Nourishing Gourmet has a great post for making Sauerkraut - check out her site for the original recipe.  I used her recipe as a guideline, but discovered, that I would need to make a couple of changes as I started off in a different direction.  Kimi's recipe shows the cabbage being shredded finely in a food processor, I chose to finely slice mine, as I wanted a bigger texture.

Using a clean glass bowl, or crock, something that is non reactive, I sliced up 5 lbs. of red cabbage, to which I added about 4 tsp. of Himalayan Course Salt.  I then put a plate on top and covered the bowl with clean towels.  I realized after an hour or two, there was still no natural juices forming, so I used a wide jar, and began pressing down onto the cabbage, and slowly the juices began to form.  It was a bit of a work out, but glad I did this to get the process happening.  Then I filled a 4 liter jar with water, tightened the lid and placed that on top of the plate to weigh it down.  There should be enough juice so that it begins running onto the plate.   Then cover well with clean towels to prevent any dust or debris from entering the bowl of cabbage.  The following morning, I checked the cabbage,  cleaned the plate and returned it on top of the bowl of cabbage, placed the jar of water on top and covered well with towels.  The fermentation process is beginning! I just realized, the recipe should have had a total of 3 1/2  Tblsp. course salt, and I used 4 tsp., so although it was two days later, I added more salt.  At this point I was not sure if it would continue to ferment.  From the research I have done, apparently, there should be a layer of "bloom"  that should be removed each day.  I never did get any, but I did check each day.  After 10 days, I decided to taste it.  Wow, it was surprisingly delicious!  I then transferred the Sauerkraut to clean glass jars, and filled the jars, pressing down the cabbage, and poured any remaining liquid over top of the cabbage.  Add a screw top and place in the fridge.  Sauerkraut is surprisingly easy to make, nutritious and delicious. Thank you Kimi for your guidelines!

This is a new ingredient discovery for me…..Himalayan Sea Salt.  See the lovely pink color?  It is said that Himalayan Sea Salt contains many more naturally occurring minerals, and health benefits than any other salt.  Please check out Jeena’s Kitchen for the great article she wrote about “Sole” (pronounced solay) and the many health benefits of this salt.

I have been using this salt in all of my cooking and really like it. The first time using this salt, I added it to water that was simmering for steamed asparagus.  Then, I used it in boiling pasta water.  It imparts a distinct, delicate "softness" in terms of flavor to anything you are cooking.
It is hard to describe the taste of this salt….I just know I love it!  You should be able to buy Himalayan Sea Salt in most Health Food Stores…what a great find….one I will continue to always use.

This was another amazing meal Jarrod created - Oh my goodness!  You can not tell from the picture, but this was a very large zucchini 10-12 inches long, about 4 inches wide, and I wanted to eat the whole thing!  Although my tummy would not have let me, I sure wanted to!   And the aromas coming out of the kitchen..Divine.  I love it when Jarrod cooks, I always know we will be served something amazing.
This was all the veggies sauteing, - lots of color in this pan!
Then it became this:
As well as this:
This delicious veggie pate is wonderful as a spread on sandwiches, or as a dip for crackers and a vegetable plate too!
So here is a list of ingredients:
Olive oil
1 1/2 large chopped onions
5 minced garlic cloves
1 Pablano pepper, de-seeded and membrane removed
1 Large Zucchini
2 carrots chopped small
2 1/2 cups roasted sunflower seeds
1 3/4 cup chopped, shredded red cabbage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. smoked sweet Paprika
sprinkle of dried Thyme
Balsamic Vinegar
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Now I will pass on Jarrod to give you the step by step process, take it away Jarrod:
Hey there everyone here is the numerical order of events.

1. Grind sunflower seeds and put aside in a large bowl.
2. Saute the onions in a large skillet over medium heat until soft ( about 5 minutes)
3. Stir in the paprika and the salt
4. Add the rest of the veggies  and the garlic and cover for about 5 minutes . ( if the veggies start to stick to the pan, add a bit of water)
5. Cut the zucchini in half and hollow out the the inside by scraping the seeds out with a spoon, then stir in these scrapings to the sauteed veggies  in the skillet, add a sprinkling of thyme and cover for about 5-10 minutes or until the carrots and cabbage have become soft.
6. Transfer the sauteed veggies to a food processor and pulse the mixture until it has a c0leslaw-like consistency (it should be a bit chunky, and not a paste)
7. Stir the mixture into the ground sunflower seeds and put aside for a moment ( if you like you can add some freshly chopped cilantro at this point).
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
9. With a fork  pierce holes into the flesh of the zucchini every 1cm or so ( don't puncture the skin)
10. Pour a little balsamic vinegar into the holes you've just pierced,  then sprinkle a bit of salt  over the inside of the zucchini.
11. Fill the zucchini with the Vegepate mixture and  bake in the oven for 35 min at 350 degrees F.  (The rest of the Vegepate can be put into a pan, formed into a loaf, and baked as well)
12. After 3o minutes in the oven sprinkle parmesan cheese over the zucchini and return to the oven. (Vegans can omit this step)
13. Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
14. Enjoy!