May Morning in the Meadow

May Morning in the Meadow



The covenanted Garry Oak Grove located on High Salal, Hornby Island, was once called The Thousand Oaks. This is the most northerly Garry Oak Grove in North America and is considered an endangered ecosystem. The owners of the High Salal Strata are slowly removing some of the invasive fir trees that shade out the oaks. They are also protecting the young oaks from the deer, who love to munch on the tender young leaves. 

This morning I would like to share the beauty of the meadow, of the oaks are decked out in their finery, amongst the Arbutus trees in full blossom.

 

 

Fine Dining, Hornby Style

Roquefort Quiche

I made this last night for dinner and since I have a habit of forgetting how I adapted recipes, I am taking advantage of my own blog to record my diversions.

About 1 cup crumbled Roquefort cheese
2 pears (sweet and juicy, if possible- mine weren’t so I just cut them small)
4 beaten eggs
2 cups cream (I forgot to put the second cup in and just as well as it overflowed with 1 cup)
Salt and Pepper and nutmeg
I added one large caramelized onion and I also put some emmentaler cheese on top of my quiche.

To caramelize the sliced onion cook at low heat until golden brown, covering for except for the beginning and end. I had just made two strawberry rhubard pies for the freezer and had made a double double pastry recipe using 5 cups flour so I had enough dough left for a single crust pie. I favour a crust made with all butter. So that was 1 pound for 5 c. flour and about 2/3 +c. cold water.
Peel and dice pears. Beat Roquefort and add to pears. Beat eggs and cream. Add salt, pepper, and nutmeg (fresh grated is best).
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put pie shell on baking sheet in oven and pour filling in. Sprinkle with grated ementaler cheese. For extra filling pour into a greased custard dish and bake. Bake quiche for 30 minutes or more until it is set in the middle.
Delicious served with a crisp salad. And darn good left over for breakfast!

Morning Walk

I love living in the oak grove at High Salal where I can have this morning walk on my doorstep:

Feed Your Soul

On Saturday, April 5, 2014 we attended yet another fabulous event at the Hornby Hall. This was a Cajun BBQ and Silent Auction fundraiser, which was particularly heartfelt so no wonder the hall was packed to the gills with folk who were there to show their support.

It never fails to amaze me how distinguished the Hall appears decked in a new fashion for each event. Tonight white table cloths, bountiful daffodils, and twinkling fairy lights lent a festive air.

A Beautiful Setting: photo courtesy of Ian Thomson

The stage was set for the much anticipated music that would follow. The lineup of tonight’s talented singers were warmed up and accompanied by our own Jazz Band, veteran volunteers.

photo courtesy of Ian Thomson

We chose our tables, socialized, and viewed the walls of beautiful and bountiful Art donated by local
artists, a veritable treasure trove of remarkable pieces.

The dinner was wonderful, lots of variety for all diets and really tasty. I was reminded of the Four
Seasons Hotel in Vancouver in the 70’s when the ‘girl’ came along with a dessert tray complete with
a bowl of whipped cream on the bottom. And in the background notice the Gospel Gals. They did the
most delicious rendition of Kahlil Gibran’s, Your Children Are Not Your Children, which was originally recorded by Sweet Honey on The Rocks.

Fully satisfied, everyone settled back to enjoy the local talent with only occasional sneaks up to the
silent auction sheets to see if they had been out bid.

photos courtesy of Ian Thomson

It was a close one, but this irreverent saint, by Elaine Savoie, now hangs in MY house!

P.S. The evening brought in a profit of $20,000 for the young man and his family. It’s a Hornby way of donating to charity, to the people we know and love, in their hour of need.

Harbinger House Concerts

Harbinger House Concerts have been a happening thing on Hornby for many years.  Now, I don’t know if they were called Harbinger when I went to my first concert at Lex’s house.  I do recall the intimate ‘Hornby house’ setting with a cool group of contemporary folk musicians called Fish and Bird, playing banjo, fiddle, guitar, and bass drums.

Their bio page on their website describes their music as:

“Their take on ‘folk’ includes original songs in odd time signatures and traditional murder ballads with rock beats.” Which sounds about right.

Sadly, I missed one of Harbinger’s recent concerts, featuring Shari Ulrich, the songbird with Pied Pumpkin who many of us followed in the 70’s.  AND I would have loved to visit the beautiful home where the concert took place.

However, on April 6, 2014, Harbinger brought a concert to our house!

Born and bred in Duncan, B. C. Linda is now living in Nashville with her husband, James.  Linda is a folk, blues, roots singer songwriter and multi-instrumentalist performing on banjo, guitar, accordion, and vocals. She and James are a great song writing team and she entertained about 30 of us in my very own living room. 

Thanks to Melissa Devost and Ted Tanner and whoever else might be the Harbingers  of House Concerts.

The Tastes of Spring

Tarte au Citron 

One of the joys of living on Hornby is sharing a meal with friends, and this lemon tart is one of my favourites for serving this time of year. 

Crust

100g ground almonds

1 cup flour 

3 T. sugar

Salt

6 T chilled butter

2 T. ice cold water

Filling

2/3 cup fresh lemon juice 

1/2 cup sugar

3 T. crème fraiche/sour cream

4 large eggs

Combine ground almonds, flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in butter as for pastry. Add cold water and form a ball. Make into a disc and chill one hour.

Roll dough to 12 inch round and put in tart pan with removable bottom. Make sides thicker than bottom. Pierce all over with a fork and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown. Cool on rack. Maintain oven temperature. 

For filling, whisk lemon juice and sugar, blend in crème fraiche, then whisk in eggs one at a time until well blended. Pour into crust. I find it easiest to put the crust on the oven rack and pour filling directly in there…saves spilling as you transfer from counter to oven. 

Bake about 35 minutes covering top if browning too fast.

Cool, then refrigerate about 2 hours. Garnish with lemon slices.