Canola fields, God's own fruit and tiny loaves of bread...

Where have I been, you ask? Truthfully, I'm not quite sure. I seem to have had one of those weeks where everything just gets on top of me and I can't find a spare minute that isn't filled with some sort of chore or errand or some such nonsense. And yet, I don't feel as if I've accomplished anything. Perhaps  it was all busy work that I would have got done over a longer period of time had I not gone away for 4.5 days to Southern Saskatchewan to visit my mum and my sister and new brother in law to be (henceforth BILTB).

I hate it when that happens. When you have a great time on a break, and everything from your ordinary laundry doing, rushing to work, eating takeout, "where are my socks" daily life just kind of melts away and there are no mundane expectations. And then you come back and have to work twice as hard to catch up to where you were and after 24 hours back in your life, your stress levels are higher than ever and your holiday is a distant memory. Every time this happens to me, I swear to myself that there must be some better way. A way to maintain that carefree state perpetually. So far, no transforming ideas have presented themselves to me.

The next best thing, I suppose, is to hang on to the memory of the holidays, so you can draw upon them when daily life threatens to, or does in fact, swallow you up again.

What vacation of mine would be complete without food as a main player? None.

So what are my favourite parts of this past weekend holiday?

Canola fields - They are all over Alberta and Saskatchewan. Have you ever driven down a dirt road, flanked by canola fields on either side as far as the eyes can see? It's like something straight out of the wizard of oz - blue, blue skies and deep golden waves for miles. I could drive down those dirt roads into eternity. I suppose canola fields are really indirectly related to food in my mind, as I have not even a basic understanding of how the yellow canola plants turn into salad oil.  The whole farm atmosphere however, is a fundamental part of my food paradigm. It really is awesome to contemplate the path that food takes from the farmers' hands to my table.

We spent Saturday driving in the country, the four of us. We drove from Regina (where my sister lives) to Fort Qu'Appelle, which is a beautiful lake valley about 45 minutes drive from Regina. We drove past fields and through small towns. We stopped in Indian Head to admire the spectacular number of large brick houses, built in the late 1800's and early 1900's by wealthy farmers and merchants. Indian Head was, at that time, a hub for agricultural transportation, and has a surprising number of grand old home for its size.

1950's recipe books - We stopped at a wee antique shop where I purchased an assortment of commercial recipe booklets (the kind that you could send away for or that came free with a package of baking soda) from the 1930's to 50's. I promise a selection of trials from the pages of those books sometime soon.

Tiny little breads -We also made our way over to the Indian Head bakery, at my sister's insistence. I wasn't intending to buy anything until I spotted the bags of tiny, baby loaf-shaped buns! There was never a question whether I was going to buy them or not. They were pretty good to boot. Nothing beats a dinner bun made by someone's prairie grandma. Did I mention they were the cutest carbohydrates I have EVER seen? Why, oh why did I use up all my quail eggs? I could have made miniature eggs on toast!

The Cherries of Uncommon Goodness-  I found the best fricking cherries I have ever in my life had the privilege to taste. They were sold from one of the ubiquitous Western Canadian summer roadside fruit stands that pop up every linear mile between British Columbia and God only knows where from June to September every year.

The particular fruit stand in question was selling heaps of cherries, which happen to be my favourite fruit-stand-fruit. As a bonus, they were selling Washington Rainier cherries, which happen to be my favourite cherry. I love the splotches of bright red on the glossy yellow fruits.

I swear these were the best Rainier cherries I have ever tasted. We ended up going back 3 times, each time buying a 2 pound bag. We would have returned more than 3 times, but the stand was in Saskatoon, where my Mum lives, and we were only passing through on our way south and back. At $4.50 per pound, we spent $27 on cherries over the weekend! I would gladly have spent more.

If you are in Saskatoon, or going near there, BUY THESE CHERRIES. The fruit stand in question is in the parking lot of Shoppers Drug Mart at the corner of Broadway and Taylor.

Clearly, we're going to have to undertake a reconnaissance mission around Edmonton this weekend to see if we can scare up some of the same cherries a little closer to home.

Comments

[clare eats]

Wow! what a post
canola, the cutest buns, awesome cherries and a 1950's cookbook! We need to have a 1950's cookoff!!!! what do you think? complete with food styling ;)

[mireille]

that cherry photo: what an eye you have. and yes, Rainiers are the absolute best. I'm scouting them for clafoutis as we speak. xoxo

[ejm]

I JUST saw Rainier cherries at the fruit stand and rejected them because (Yikes, I'm ashamed to admit it) I'd never seen them before and the whiteness disturbed me. I guess I should race back and get some to try!

Ah yes, canola fields! They are beautiful, aren't they? When I was a kid growing up in Alberta, canola was still called rapeseed and beside almost all of the rapeseed fields were signs saying "warble control". Are those still posted too?

I have a wonderful 1950's paperback that I stole from my mother's kitchen when I left to go to school: "The Kate Aitken Cookbook". It has 'tips for brides' under several of the recipes. I still consult that book when I'm making pancakes or cookies.

-Elizabeth

[Ana]

Love that picture of a cherry. I love all cherries but we don't get them in the fruit stands over here. I've only seen the strawberries!

[Randi]

I was just in MI and almost bought some there, but there were 2.99lb and I was too cheap. Im glad now, cause i saw them here in Ontario for 2.77lb. Believe it or not, Ive been to Regina and Saskatoon.

[Jo Dee]

Yum - I love rainer cherries! I live in Scotland so needless to say cherries in general are hard to come by! I have actually seen rainers before, but they are very expensive for a tiny amount - 500g for £5! When I visisted Alberta this summer I had a bag from the grocery store every day!