Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to our dear blog friend in the Great White North, Susan Black of the blog 29 Black Street.

Susan is an artist and graphic designer extraordinaire.

She's a prolific and talented photographer

She also loves good food and knows how to make us all want to come to her house for dinner.

Happy Birthday Susan, please enjoy some NamaimoBars on us.

L'heure du souper, Canadian Style

I love getting mail. I know it's a dying art, hard copy mail. Luckily I've found someone who enjoys getting packages in the mail as much as I do and her name is Susan Black. Earlier in the year I had sent her some of my favorite hometown seasoning, Old Bay. Apparently her local grocery doesn't carry it. By way of thanks, Susan decided to send me some of the best of Canada has to offer. Love that little Maple Leaf. Susan and I have a little cross border rivalry going on but it's all in good fun. However when it comes to food, we could be sisters. We both love our seafood so it was only natural that I found this in my package. Not only a can of lovely fish but a beautiful card of Susan's own design......along with a recipe for Fish Cakes.But first I had to investigate what the heck this was?
Palmaria palmata or red algae. A great source of protein that you can use in soups, salads or on top of fish cakes. But a word of caution, dulse will burn quicker than pine nuts if you don't watch it carefully when you toast it.
The fish-potato cakes were wonderful especially when served with the Macaroni and Blue Cheese I made with the Dragon's Breath Blue Cheese that Susan also sent. Spiced with Canadian Summer Savory and healthy sprinkle Old Bay the tin of chicken haddie produced a hearty, crispy patty that was more than welcome on a cold winter's afternoon.

Even had time to whip up a little dessert.
A pineapple, banana, cream cheese and nut filled dessert spring roll. Still a work in progress but tasty none the less.

The Last Mallomar

I ate the last Mallomar today. There was no special event, no occasion that prompted the eating. It was a bit of chocolate available in my post operative, driving ban stash. A stepping stone to get me through to Friday. The last Mallomar.
Not the last Mallomar forever, no, Nabisco would never consider dumping this lovely concoction from it's stable of sweet nibblings. For some reason Kraft, the parent company of Nabisco, won't release the sales figures for the yearly sales of Mallomars but I would imagine they are fairly healthy. Blame the Mallomar Mystique. You see Mallomars are only available for roughly 5 months out of the year. Right now, New Yorkers are beginning to salivate like Pavlov's hungry dogs as October draws nearer. October marks the beginning of Mallomar season. End cap pyramids of the bright yellow boxes of this hypnotic cookie start to appear in Northeastern grocery stores. Hoarding immediately follows. IF (and I mean if) one is strong, at least a box or two will be locked into the freezer to be enjoyed later, in the cruel hot summer months when no Mallomars are produced. We can thank our brothers and sisters to the North for this iconic American cookie for the Mallomar is only produced in Canada. Only in Canada Mallomars are not called Mallomars, they are called Dream Puffs. There is also something called a Whippet but it's only made in Quebec. Don't ask, apparently it's a Canadian thing. If the Canucks only knew what power they wielded with a virtual stranglehold on our Mallomar obsession.

I don't know when I ate my first Mallomar but I'm sure a box was always on my shelves when I worked in the lean years as a theatre techie in Stamford Connecticut. Now I rely on finding a box or three when I travel east for the holidays. It's a simple cookie really, round graham cracker cookie as the base, a dollop of marshmallow and an envelope of pure dark chocolate. It's sexy and erotic, all smooth curves and exotic darkness. (The very fact that cookies are now erotic signals drastic need for change in my personal life) Other cookies try and duplicate the Mallomar Mystique but it's just not the same. So while everyone else is celebrating the end of summer and the beginning of crisp fall weather, colorful foliage and hearty fall foods, I will be waiting to get my Mallomar freak on. God Bless the Canadians.