Virtual Vacation by the Sea and Appetizers for Two

[Giveaway Alert:  Today is the last day to enter the cookbook giveaway!  Post your comment by 12:00 midnight (Toronto time) to be eligible to win a free copy of Sweet Freedom!]

It seems impossible, but I returned to full-time work at the college this week after two months away. (Yes, just when most college students and profs are beginning their summer off, my vacation is over. I’m just wacky that way.)

Where did the time go? Somehow, it just doesn’t feel like a “real” vacation without either a flight somewhere, a ten-hour drive, flip-flops, suntan lotion, sand in your underwear, martinis with 3 olives, holding hands as you stroll along the beach, abnormally extroverted conversations with strangers–or all of the above.  Instead, all I’ve done is stay at home attending to the usual quotidien activities that define one’s working days:  cooking, writing, exercising, walking the Girls, getting together with friends, or wrapping up a cookbook. 

It’s not as if I forgot about taking a proper vacation, no, no; it’s just that I never seemed to get around to it, sort of like that pile of 57 boxes that have been sitting in our basement since we moved in to this house in November, 2007.  (It’s incredible, really, how you can get along perfectly well without stuff you once thought essential, isn’t it?)

Better late than never, I say.  So with Mother’s Day upon us last weekend, the HH and I enjoyed a mini, virtual vacation (or “stay-cation,” as it’s being called in these tough economic times).   We slept in late, listened to the stereo, watched funny movies, took The Girls for an extra-long walk in a woodsy park, cooked together (though without hand-holding).  And we ate appetizers.

[The prize: in honor of the end of the semester.]

Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself.  Because before all that, the weekend kicked off with a trek downtown to visit Ruth of Plentiful Plants and deliver her prize from my last blog giveaway: a chocolate layer cake from a Sweet Freedom recipe (which she blogged about here).  It was so great to meet Ruth in person–now I’ve got a friendly face to attach to a name. 

[Don’t those look yummy? Recipe at the bottom of this post]

And she had the sweetest surprise for me–some cinnamon roasted chickpeas that she’d made as a gift.  And the best part? They are even ACD-friendly!! Whoo-hoo! Thanks so much, Ruth.  I’ve been snacking on them since then and will be sorry to see them gone!

And so, on to dinner.

Years ago, when my friend Gemini I got married, she and her hubby honeymooned on a small Greek island, where their days were spent wandering from ruins to quaint local taverns to dusty roads bordered by wild flower gardens and back to their B and B. Mealtimes were spent gazing into each other’s eyes, hands clasped over a small, private table by the seaside, rocks so white you had to squint just to look at them. A cornucopia of fresh, rainbow colored produce and seafood graced their plates, the cerulean sea splashing up over their sandaled toes as they ate.  I had an image of the HH and I doing something similar over a casual appetizer platter (well, without the island, hand clasping, white rocks, seafood or water part.  No matter.)

We ended up with three appetizers: Almond “Feta” (in honor of that Greek island); lupini beans in garlic and olive oil (Italy’s representative here); and Raw Sunflower and Carrot Pâté (nothing to do with the Mediterranean–I just like it).

I’d been eyeing the recipe for Almond “Feta” from last month’s Vegetarian Times ever since it arrived in the mail.  After thinking I’d lost the magazine, I finally found it again while clearing my desktop of stray papers and other debris (gee, imagine what I’d find if I ever did open those 57 boxes in our basement?). 

I’ve loved feta cheese ever since I first tasted it as a twenty-something one summer when I worked as a secretary.  One of my colleagues, a wacky, brash blonde named Dia Nicolopoulos (I mean, how could you forget a name like that?) invited me to her home for dinner. Remember the rock band Blondie?  Well, Dia bore an uncanny resemblance to (young) Debbie Harry, complete with outrageous wardrobe, carmine lipstick, raspy voice, and teetering, stillettoed walk. She had a belly laugh that could drown out a fire alarm, and when she extended that dinner invitation, I didn’t hesitate to accept. 

In a scene straight out of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Dia’s mother kept foisting plate after plate of food at me.  When I was sure I was about to burst, out came the feta. It was Dia’s mother’s own recipe, homemade from goat’s milk and bathed in a pool of opaque salted water. It was rich, creamy, salty, smooth–like nothing I’d ever tasted before, and I was smitten.   I ended up eating three servings.

And while this almond-based version does require some advance prep (you’ve got to start 48 hours before you want to eat it), it was a worthy reminder of that long-ago dinner.  With a color, taste and texture remarkably feta-like, this cheese was fantastic on its own or spread on crackers. Firm enough to cut yet not quite solid inside, it would be perfect sprinkled in bits and blobs inside a tofu omelet along with some red onion and basil.  As the HH remarked, “You know, this cheese is really good in its own right.  I mean, even if someone wasn’t particularly into the “veggie” thing, you could serve them this and they’d still like it.” High praise, indeed!

The raw pâté is my adaptation of a sunflower pâté  in Nomi Shannon’s seminal Raw Gourmet. I added a hefty serving of beta carotene via carrots, both for color and flavor.  The result was a fresh, light, with a slightly grainy texture and understated, natural sweeteness, it provided a perfect foil for the briny cheese.   

The final appetizer, lupini beans in garlic and olive oil, were an experiment I tried following a chance remark while shopping at the bulk store.  But I think these warrant an entire post of their own. . . suffice it to say that they require even more advance prep than the feta.

We completed the dinner with baby carrots, raw kale salad, and some crackers.  With nothing else to do but enjoy each other’s company as we  nibbled, it was a great way to end the evening. And while I still wasn’t quite ready to dive back into work, at least I ended my holidays in a relaxed frame of mind.  I’m already planning the next appetizer dinner. . . now, if only I could secure that Greek island setting. 

“Mum, you don’t really want to go away from us for two weeks, do you?  Because, well, eating appetizers by the sea is all fine and dandy, but if you left, who would feed us??”

I thought these dishess would be the perfect contribution to Cheryl’s virtual baby shower for Sea of Book of Yum.  Cheryl asked bloggers to post foods that would be appropriate for a baby shower. Congratulations, Sea!

Last Year at this Time: Swiss “Cheese” in a Mosaic Salad

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