Ten Easy Kitchen/Food Hacks

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For many years, the only thing I could cook was breakfast. I could make an excellent wrap and the odd time I would try really hard to replicate my grandmothers chili and/or spaghetti sauce. Pretty much, that was it. I never even brewed my own coffee. I worked as a server most days, so I could count on something delicious at least ONCE a day. I told myself that I would cook when it was for more than just myself and that perhaps if I ever found my one true Love, I would then start fixing up dishes. Therein lies a BIG problem, I mean WHAT is the problem for cooking for one? Upon looking back, I KNOW it was pure laziness and that, I too, was caught up in the fast food world.

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I know, sometimes you don't have the time to prepare a meal and/or the inspiration to do so. I totally get it. When that is the case, I usually pull out a pre-made pizza with only cheese and tomato sauce on it, then I add whatever toppings I have. You would be surprised at what one can find to decorate a pizza with; any left-overs will do! My favourite adds are olives, artichoke hearts, onion slices, tomato slices, mushrooms and MORE cheese (to your taste of course but it is SURE to be delicious, it's pizza after all.) A super easy meal, and not quite fast food but almost. I try to have a pizza "shell" in my freezer just in case! Making your own dough is always a fun experiment. Mine never comes out quite as good as anybody else's but I will keep trying....

So fast forward through the years, and I finally met someone worthy of my cooking skills! Hahaa... Actually, I surprise myself with how good some of the stuff is that I create... I must have been learning through Osmosis all those years standing beside the chefs I worked with, asking them of their secrets (on the slow days!)  But now (when I am not feeling lazy or uninspired) I Love to cook! My husband LOVES to eat and is always complimentary on what I place in front of him. Except for potatoes. For some darn reason, I can't cook them to perfection, EVER! Never! I swear, they are always too hard, even when I think to leave them in longer, they never work out.  Alas, one day, I am sure to make them right!

Okay, so here I will list my top ten favourite things to have in the kitchen!

1) A pre-made frozen (or thawed) pizza crust with cheese & tomato sauce. (details explained earlier!)

2) Sharp knives. There is no bigger pain in the butt then trying to slice food (onions & tomatoes come to mind) with a dull knife. Thankfully my babe has sharpening tools and if I ask nicely, he will get to it! Click here to see a really easy way on HOW TO SHARPEN YOUR KNIVES!

3) Lemons! (Limes will do too.) I LOVE my lemons. They add SO much to SO many different things. Salad dressings, Sauces, Smoked Salmon (or fish of any kind!) I also start my day off with squeezing the juice from half a lemon into a large glass of room temperature water, it's a great thing to sip on after a strong cup of coffee! The health benefits of adding lemon into your diet (daily!) are really amazing. Check it out here!! 

4) Sea Salt ... Salt adds flavour to your food. It brings out the flavour. Seasoned food is the only way. Some chefs will say "let them add salt to their food if they want it" but I rather like it when the food I prepare is delicious as is, not bland. Unsalted food is bland. Email me with complaints if you must! I can take it!

5) Whole pepper... My husband could twist a tonne all over his food. He adores the spice it brings. I don't need it as much, but still a few twists over eggs, in salad dressings etc are definitely an asset. Notice I said WHOLE pepper as opposed to the powdery stuff. Buy a pepper mill, it's worth it!

6) A coffee pot. NOT the ones that pre-make coffee from pods. No way! Buy your own beans, pulverize them yourself and brew up some hot black gold! (some folks out there are tea drinkers, totally fine! I prefer coffee, to each their own) A pod coffee machine will never produce the same rich delicious and FRESH coffee as a Moka Pot or whatever you choose to use. We have an old fashioned hand-turning-wooden coffee mill. It has become a ritual for me, my morning coffee ritual... While we are at it, buy a favourite mug!! Support one of your local pottery makers (not CHINA!!) These will always come in handy. Thank you JOVIC POTTERY for our beautiful mugs!!

7) Cucumber. Okay, some of you may hate it! That is okay, but try to get it into you. See, cucumbers are rich in nutrients and vitamins. Most green things are, but cucumbers are SUPER easy to eat! Just grab one, wash it, slice it and eat it. You are getting goodness into your bodies and that is ALL THAT MATTERS!!! They are alkaline forming and in a world full of acidic food, this (as well as lemons) can balance you out a bit. 

8) Butter!!! Never margarine!! Ew! Margarine?? What is that stuff??  (I don't really have to go into detail about the PLUS SIDE of butter.) Butter makes Beautiful.

9) Coconut Oil... Oh my goodness this is simply the BEST thing ever. I can use it to cook with, I can use it to condition my hair AND skin with. I even make cream with coconut oil. I should have put this one way up at the top. Oh my goodness really I can not say enough about Coconut Oil.

10) Coconut Milk... this stuff turns sauces, soups and curries into small miracles. Do you always use cream for your soups?? Try a can of coconut milk. Do you always use yogurt for your smoothies? Try coconut milk. So delicious and SO FULL OF GREATNESS. Trust me, I promise!

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Enter 2016

Ahhh... here we are. Into the New Year, new beginnings, new ideas, new designs and into getting better at something or into getting better at ourselves. Am I right? Are you reading this and feeling better about YOURself, six days in, have you made any changes? Maybe the fact that so many of us ARE trying to work on ourselves, it is easier to harness the power that we need? Am I wishful thinking? It was from Emoto's water experiments that I learned about these monks who gathered around a small body of water, holding hands, sending positive vibrations and Love into the water, to heal the eco-system within and it DID come back to life!  That idea of many folks working on something together, releasing "strength rays" might just be what is going on at the start of the New Year, far and wide!!  

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 There's something new for me! I am playing at one of the funkiest little venues in Bern next week. I did a few house concerts over the past while, which I LOVE to do, but sometimes you gotta get down and dirty in a vibey city venue! I have been going to Café Kairo on and off over the past few years. They have the best Open Mic in Bern, for sure, and I am STOKED to hear some new music next Monday, as well as singing my own set after, so if, by chance you are reading this and you are in der Schweiz, come on out, eh?? Getting back to new-ness....Yes, that! We were at a NYE party, a quaint and cozy one, spent with wood-fired pizza, children, red wine and music. It was a beautiful evening spent on the Lake of Zurich. Nearing the end of the evening, or should I say morning (ahem) we played a little game, one that was new to me. Molybdomancy is a form of "telling the future" by melting lead shapes and tossing the melted metal into cold water; whatever shape comes out of the water is supposed to give you a sign of what is to come in the New Year. We all sat around with our shapes and expressed what we might like to see in this year of 2016.

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What do you see? I posted this photo on my personal Facebook page and received some very interesting ideas, which just remind me that everyone looks at everything in their own way, we are all individuals! These shapes are both mine and my husbands, and I thought it impressive that we had such similar forms. A good start to the New Year, whatever the case! As we were dreaming up new visions for 2016, I thought the most important thing to do for myself is to eat healthier and to drop the junk food. Not sure I will be able to do it, but I will try, darn it! My great-Grandfather, Dominion Botanist, Dr. Hans T. Güssow, (A doctor of flowers! He once came up with the cure for wheat disease, in Canada) Well, once upon a time.. He said EVERYTHING IN MODERATION! With hopes that one day I will actually live by that rule, I am doing my best, for now!

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The history before me is epic and I just wish that I could go back in time and ask some of my ancestors questions, even just hearing the voices of those before me.. I wonder what they sounded like, my Great Grandparents... I wonder who sang? Someone must have. Ahhh, sweet music running through the blood of those before me and I became blessed with it. Lucky me.

p.s My new record made TOP 50 ALBUMS of 2015, according to CKCU, a fabulous radio station out of Ottawa, Ontario, Lucky me, indeed!

Come People

There is a river rushing outside my window. You can hear it and it runs pretty quickly especially after a long rain, which is happening right now. The river here is not one for diving into, as it is mostly shallow, but it is crystal clear and you can bend down to drink it's glorious cold right from your hand.

I also hear the harmony of bells from the sheep and miniature ponies, grazing on the long green grasses in our fields around this old farm house.

I Love to open all the windows and just revel in all the sounds that are flowing in. The days and nights are getting colder though, and this unique soundtrack will be missed. Living here in Switzerland is different from our Canadian life, but similarities balance both. The food may taste a little different, friends and family have different ways and faces and the hills around here may be a little steeper than those in the Gatineau.

Bottom line though, I have learned through travel and massive change, that you will be who you are wherever you live. You will find things that piss you off and you will find ways to bring joy into your life. You live with yourself your entire life and the way to get through it is not running away hoping for a deep, profound change from within. This ideal/new “solution” will last until the newness rubs off, and then it's back to you again. You with all your fear, strength, insecurities, happiness, anger; over all mood swings (that may or may not be a part of your life.)

Some folks look at me with stars and dreams in their eyes when I talk about living between two countries. For the most part, I do not see it that way. I used to, when I first came here forever ago, it was so new and I was given a fresh perspective for awhile, but me and my life will follow me wherever I go, there is no escape! There is only will. Will to keep going, will to better oneself, will to face fear, will to accept fear, will to conquer fear, will to eat better, will to be better, will to make art (in some form) a part of your life (cinema, art exhibits, baking, reading, music, whatever, there is so much choice in artful ways!!)

Finding the will to teach and to learn is also fundamental. Finding that balance between hearing and being heard...There is no simple way to blast through this cosmos, we are all one in this case, and we can all do it. I suppose accepting that there will be days filled with frown and days filled with smile, and sometimes the two shall meet. Wherever we are in this world, one foot in front of the other, trying to find our way through this beautiful and sad place, knowing we are not alone in the battle but rather we are one. Now HERE is a profound and beautiful heart lifting song that might just hammer that last nail in about what I am going on about... Music speaks louder after all! Introducing Xavier Rudd's COME PEOPLE.