Hola!

It’s been quieter around WellPreserved these days; we’ve been slower to respond on comments, haven’t been tweeting, updating Facebook or Instagram.  Our posts and newsletter have continued to be published but we quietly snuck out the back door!

We’ve just returned from the trip of a lifetime to Spain.  Many people from the community that is WellPreserved helped us plan our trip by sending suggestions, advice and other ideas for our trip.  We’ll thank all in coming posts and are so appreciative – there’s so much to share on Spain, food, cooking and preserving!

Two quick trip photos (the one of Dana is in a Sheppard’s field; the one of me is in a cafe/ pub in Barcelona where Picasso and other artists hung out):

We’re fired up for summer and have so much to share in the coming weeks and months – both from Spain and from here.

Here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come:

• Gardening/ Growing.  Starting tomorrow we’re going to feature a step-by-step guide to square foot gardening.  By the end of next week you’ll know everything you need to know to maximize gardening in small spaces.  We’ve planned for months and are excited to share what we’ve learned, built and hope to inspire some others out there.  We’ve been hit and miss with our gardening over the last few years and we’ve got big plans for this summer!
• Spain posts.  We’ll be sharing a series of posts that relate to the glorious food experiences we had in Spain.  We’ve shot some video, a tonne of pictures and have so much to share that we think you’ll enjoy.  We’re going to spread the posts over a period of time so we don’t tire you out all at once.
• Small batch preserving.  Our larder is relatively well-stocked and it’s the start of summer!  We already have several hundred recipes for preserving on our site so we’re going to dedicate much of the summer to small batches to share really simple ideas if you want to preserve smaller portions, have limited time, space or budget.  Preserving doesn’t need to be a big ordeal with giant batches (though they can be fun).  Of course we’ll still have a few big batches.
• More.  I’m not sure what else – yet.  But am hoping to get some more foraging in soon as well as some fruit wine fermenting.

What would you like to see added to the list?

What an evening!

A few weeks ago we were honored to co-host an wine tasting with Malivoire Winery that was arranged by the Ontario Wine Society.  It was my first Ontario Wine Society event and it was really great – we sampled 7 different local wines paired with 7 bite-sized courses.

As part of the event we provided 3 ingredients (dried mushrooms, wine jelly and wine salt) that were used for the meal and I shared our passion for preserving.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many glasses on a table all at once!

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Especially when it involves coffee.

I have admittedly turned into a coffee snob over the past 5 years. I wont drink it if it isn’t fresh roasted and ground and from the best (ecologically and socially) sources. You can judge if you like, but coffee is like good wine, good beer and good food…once you get a taste for the good stuff…it’s tough (or impossible) to go back to plonk.

I’m lucky to live in what someone/somewhere (can’t remember who) dubbed Toronto’s ‘Caffeine Alley’. There are at least 5 amazing coffee houses within a 7 minute or less walk from my home and office and I regularly rotate my way through most of them in the course of a month.

But…every once and while I venture farther….and run into the guys at Manual Labour. Matthew Taylor used to be found at Mercury Espresso Bar, one of my aforementioned locals. That is, until he left town for the country and wound up kitting out an old 1969 Bailey Travel Trailer into a mobile coffee shop. Yep, you heard that right.

Anyway, we first stumbled across said awesome trailer at the James Street North Art Crawl (that’s in Hamilton)…then at the Junction Flea (in Toronto, go west my friend). Both events involve me waking up early…or staying up late and driving home from the hammer…so prime coffee drinking situations. If you’re at either of these events, or come across a tiny trailer with a lightbulbed ‘COFFEE’ on the top…stop. immediately.

“Manual Labour’s goal is simple—to serve the best quality coffee and in the process support as many local suppliers as possible.”

I can drink to that.

We had planned to make bean burritos for dinner when I realized I had made a bad assumption: I couldn’t buy wraps anywhere in our neighborhood (they were sold out) so I needed to come up with something on the fly.

I’m not sure that this is the most photogenic meal we’ve ever had (*cough*), but it was fantastic:

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This is a simple tip but something that I missed out on for years!

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Dehydrating mushrooms is as easy as it gets:

• Slice them thin.
• Stick them in the dehydrator at 125 degrees (assuming you have a dehydrator with variable temperature).
• Pull them out when dry (as they cool to room temperature they will be almost brittle.

It really is that simple.  But I’ve learned a few tricks over the year that makes them even easier.

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Ahhh, this was a bittersweet evening.  It was our final Home Ec at The Avro.  It was also our 15th event there (two HomeEc events were moved over the last 18 months and our first preserve swap, which predated HomeEc, was hosted there).

We had a great night.  I am always thrilled to see a great mix of regular attendees alongside newcomers.

Pat and Jesse brought these awesome single-serve Shepherd’s Pies:

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