Alas...my blog suffers - what to do

It's very very obvious I am not keeping my promise to continue to update my blog...I feel like I've failed in the blog realm of things...and my creativity spark has melted recently...

I seek new content for the blog and will gladly accept any suggestions from all.  I have tried travel...food...photography...

What do you want to see?

Cheers
Michelle

p8n8lop8's 'kick a$$' mac & cheese

Prep Time:  15 Min

Cook Time:  35 Min

Ready In:  50 Min

Servings:  12

Calories: Seriously, who's counting?

Freezability: Up to 3 months in glass containers

Ingredients:

• 5-6 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (the more macaroni the less creamier the end result is)
• ½ cup butter
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 heaping teaspoons mustard powder
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 4 cups half and half cream
• 500 grams sharp cheddar, cubed
• 1 cup Cheese Wiz
• 250 grams cream cheese
• ½ cup seasoned dry bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C). Spray olive oil into a 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add macaroni, and cook until not quite done, about 6 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a separate saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Blend in the flour, mustard powder, and pepper until smooth. Slowly stir in the cream, beating out any lumps. Add the cheddar, Cheese Wiz and cream cheese, and stir constantly with a metal whisk until the sauce is thick and smooth.

Pour noodles into oiled casserole dish and stir around coating noodles. Pour over cheese sauce and stir so that no macaroni is left unsmothered by the creamy cheese sauce. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until sauce is thick and bubbly. Then broil the top for 5 minutes on lo or until it's golden brown.

blog is suffering...from pure and utter neglect

I have been busy.
I admit.
My poor blog has been suffering and I had all these plans to blog at least once a week.

I have an upcoming blog on some recent travel I've done...hopefully this weekend the posts will be complete.

My apologies.
M

Contributing oyster lovers across the pond!

My good mates across the pond, James Toal and Nick Wright, spent some time a couple weekends ago enjoying LOCH FYNE oysters at Loch Fyne Restaurant in LEEDS, UK

Here is what's so great about where they enjoyed these lovely bivalves:

'Loch Fyne started with one inspirational idea – to grow oysters in the clear, fertile waters of Loch Fyne – and has developed into a cluster of businesses whose success is built on an honest approach to superb quality food.'

So it's kind of like an oyster co-op, or dare I say oyster grow-op? Taking in responsible environmental practices [yay sustainable, ethical and responsible!], which were established by John Noble and Andy Lane, the group of companies work together to ensure that only the very best produce – farmed and fished to the highest quality and environmental standards – reaches the kitchens and plates of their customers.

John Noble said that his ambition was to make oysters as cheap and plentiful as they were when Dickens's Sam Weller complained that "poverty and oysters seem to go together". When he died in 2002, aged 65, his Loch Fyne oysters were selling over a million gigas of oysters a year.  Loch Fyne oysters are grown in the clean waters of the loch, which, warmed by the Gulf Stream, is ideal for cultivating shellfish. John was also a moving force in the rapidly expanding chain of Loch Fyne restaurants.' [source: The Independent online obits]

Andy Lane, a Marine Biologist, and John Noble set up a business partnership and what was born was Loch Fyne Restaurants and a guidance to always carry responsible and honest foods.

It's no wonder their business philosophy is still 

Nach Urramach an Cuan

(How worthy of honour is the sea)

Loch Fyne is located at The Old Post Office, 2 City Square Leeds LS1 2ES, United Kingdom.  Click HERE to view the map.  Loch Fyne carries sustainably sourced seafood either from abundant wild stocks or farmed responsibly.  They are involved in the Channel 4 Big Fish Fight www.fishfight.net

If you get a chance to get over to the UK, or if you're one of my UK blog readers [I LOVE YOU MORE THAN WORDS CAN DESCRIBE] you can find a Loch Fyne restaurant location on this MAP

James & Nick have reported back to me and here is what they thought:

delicious Loch Fyne oysters

Mr. James Toal are all of those bivalves for you?

James:  I thought they tasted great. Just as I like them - salty, yet sweet, and perfect with just a little squeeze of lemon. 


As for their size, their shells were large but the oysters I felt were perhaps smaller than ones I'd eaten before.  Is size affected by being harvested at a certain time of the year. [p8n8lop8 note: apparently the size of the oyster can be affected by how deep they are lowered into the water - perhaps the food source was not as accessible as it should have been.] 

I was driving so I had mineral water - although I did have some of Nick's Nero D'Avola which suited them well. [p8n8lop8 note: That's über responsible of you James! You could have left the driving to Nick...however we won't get into that! I have never seen Nick drink white wine - I think Nero, which is one of my faves, if smokey and peppery could be a great oyster accomplice!]

James decided to start with an app of sardines - looks so delicious!

Nick:  I would just add that while traditionally people might have a white wine with oysters, that a medium bodied red with notes of cherry and spice works well to bring out the flavour in the oysters, without overwhelming them - besides, I needed something that would complement the duck that I had as a main. [p8n8lop8 note: while you may think James went to the restaurant solo, Nick did, in fact, join him. He just refuses to allow me to post a photo. I'll get him sometime...]

Shuck it up! They're Effin' good!

The buzz around Twitter and Facebook, at least my pages and quite a few of my followers' pages, has been quite sexy of late. Oyster virgins getting eff'd, asking your oyster local to carry Effing oysters and craving those Effing good bivalves. What the eff' is this all about you ask? When I first contemplated a blog on sustainable foods and their production I had no idea just how powerful social networking could be to a product that, quite honestly, not many people 'Tweeted' about. The 'viralness' of a catch phrase and a sexy, tasty product can be über powerful and through this story, my first post on the subject of sustainable food, you'll see just how insanely informed about these sexy bivalves you will become.

The London Oyster Man

Oysters are an aphrodisiac...uhuh...

“But haven't oysters been 'sexy' for centuries?” you ask. Well, not everyone can handle swallowing down in one gulp the 'slippery little suckers'. They do require a 'taste-for' and they do require some bravery – but once tried I guarantee those virgins will come back for more! Oysters are mainly referenced on Valentine's, anniversaries or when speaking of 'unique' food fetishes. What makes an oyster even sexier than being the world's most renown aphrodisiac? To foodies such as myself and many others out there, the sexiness of the oyster stems from the multitude of layered tasting notes and the pure and simple fact that it is a sustainable and responsibly-harvested eat.

cartoon courtesy of www.cartoonstock.com

Tasting notes? An oyster having tasting notes? 

It's not a crazy idea and in fact I was first introduced to the 'Oyster Tasting Note' card while enjoying a huge platter of east and west coast Canadian oysters at Toronto's Starfish Oyster Bed & Grill. 

Think of it this way – the oyster can take in, just like grapes growing on a vine, tasting notes from the environment it grows in. For oysters, those are things like seaweed, melon, sea cucumbers, minerals such as copper, salts, steel, mushrooms and many other pleasant tastes. What I found was East Coast oysters had a more 'mineral' taste to them such as copper, salts and steel where the West Coast oysters were plump with notes of cucumber, lettuce and melon.

A wonderfully sustainable food

My husband, a.k.a @thelonepine or as noted by @effingoyster 'the oyster virgin' and I were also very lucky to attend a free talk on 'The Science of Sexy Food' at Vancouver Aquarium in February. We enjoyed learning even more about oysters from Roberta Stevenson of the BC Shellfish Growers Association. I was surprised to learn that 'farmed' oysters are not bad for you or the environment and natural habitat.  In fact, all oysters in North America are farmed for a very good reason and farmers don't use the harmful methods traditionally used to farm other species such as salmon or trout. 

@effingoyster photo stock

About those farming practices

95% of the world's oyster consumption is farmed. In BC, they are mainly raised by raft culture – which means oysters are put into trays and suspended from a floatation device and submerged into deep sub-tidal waters. The oysters are not fed – so this means no medication and additives! They naturally filter the water in which they rest in eating plankton – not bottom waste. This also means the growing is monitored and the end product is less likely to contain toxins and harmful chemicals.

It's also been said that in addition to being important modulators of nutrient cycles in ecological systems, farmed oysters help to reduce greenhouse gases by removing carbon dioxide from the ocean for shell formation. As well, some people are starting to use crushed oyster shells in their gardens – or have for many years now – increasing the calcium content in their garden soils.

About that @effingoyster guy

Rob Tryon, a.k.a @effingoyster, is on a social networking mission to bring the sexy back to West Coast oysters and to turn what is the heart and sole of his family business into an advocacy on seafood and shellfish. You'll regularly see his Tweets on Twitter as he asks his followers and overall oyster lovers, 'Is anyone getting #eff'd tonight?', or 'Ask your local Oyster bar for #effingoysters!'. A catchy phrase he managed to come up with while promoting where his oysters hail from and I'm frank enough to admit will stick because it's darn good marketing!

Rob's social networking over the past month has really 'taken off' – so much so that he's been able to find oyster restaurants in Vancouver and all over North America who hadn't carried his oysters before. A few have signed on recently, such as Flex Mussels and The Mermaid Oyster Bar in New York City and the list is growing quickly. Many thanks to social networking and making establishments and oyster lovers much more accessible by search engines and groups. Everyone's out Tweeting and FB'ing about Effing! His plan is to expand his socializing on the internet to also promote his other products - Sechart savoury clams, Useless Inlet manila clams, Pacific Rim petites and Swale Rock smalls.

Rob's been in the business since he was the wee age of 15 starting out with his dad who was a commercial fisherman. After taking some time off school, he took the Fisheries and Aquaculture Program at Malaspina University College on Vancouver Island and began his journey in aquaculture. He's been on that expedited journey since 2002 and it's been flying ever since.

@effingoyster photo stock

Sustainable farming practices

What's really interesting about Rob's farming practices is that he installed alternative power about the same time fuel prices were rising.  Not that you haven't noticed lately, but petrol is about $1.30/litre here in Vancouver I can only imagine what the price is out on the island! He had been using generator power since the farming locations are such remote sites.  All of Rob's accommodations now have an inverter system, where a bank of 12V batteries are hooked up to a 2.5Kw inverter to power the site.  Solar panels and a wind mill were hooked up to help charge the battery.  His farms still have to run the generator for a certain amount of time per day to give the batteries an extra boost but he's well into being powered alternatively.  Rob's also been in the process of learning more about biodiesel to run his generators.  All of this happened without receiving any grants or subsidies for the alternative power.

@effingoyster photo stock

Effingham Inlet, Barkley Sound, Vancouver Island, THE PLANET EARTH

Nestled on the far west coast of Vancouver island are Rob's many farms – 8 locations to be exact. If you Google 'Effingham Inlet', you really don't 'get' there on the map. To really hone in on where exactly these farming locations of Barkley Sound settle you've got to type in '49 01 23.16N 125 08 55.89W' and you'll get a rough idea where the oysters are hiding.  Sorry - no Google street view here I'm afraid.  The closest road to the location is a mere 8.2km away.

About those @effingoysters already!

Effinghams are on the Ocean Wise list from Vancouver Aquarium's conservation program created to educate and empower consumers about the issues surrounding sustainable seafood. Ocean Wise works directly with restaurants, markets, food services and suppliers ensuring that they have the most current scientific information regarding seafood and helping them make ocean-friendly buying decisions.

@effingoyster photo stock

Effinghams are a tumbled oyster that is suspended from rafts in nutrient rich water. The tumbling process creates a uniform deep cup and hard shell which gives aficionados a premium quality oyster. During the spring and summer months these oysters are dropped to a depth of 60 feet, which is the same water temperature as the winter. The method in which they are cultivated is unique. In the springtime, Tryon lowers the oysters into cooler water to trick them into 'not going into the spawning cycle'. This ensures his Effingham oysters are available all year round.  You can watch a video of the tumbling here, courtesy of YouTube

Great start for an oyster virgin!

My hubby, a.k.a. @thelonepine, and I were able to enjoy Effingham oysters at a local restaurant near the waterfront in downtown Vancouver. A little place called Oyster Seafood and Raw Bar is on 475 Howe Street and literally, in the heart of the old Stock Exchange building. We took up a booth and quickly ordered a plate of fresh, raw oysters. With a mix of other oysters from around North America, we eagerly tasted the Effinghams. Now, I have been warned that for oyster connoisseurs, the Effingham Oyster may look a tad bit small. I do not claim to be an oyster aficionado, nor have I tasted every oyster out there. So this review comes strictly from our very own tasting experience. I disagree with the comment simply because there are those oyster lovers out there who do prefer a smaller oyster that's easier to take in.

@p8n8lop8 photo stock

The Effingham Oyster is, by far, THE sexiest little oyster I have ever seen! It's frilly, it's delicate and it literally melted in my mouth! For @thelonepine, he'd NEVER tried oysters before let alone put raw seafood in his mouth. I was a bit nervous for him – he likes to make faces when things just don't taste or feel right. I was really surprised! No funny, contorted faces from him. He said he even bit down on the oyster! For me, I was in Effing heaven!

@p8n8lop8 photo stock

@p8n8lop8 photo stock

@p8n8lop8 photo stock

In the above photo you can see the Effingham Oyster is on the far right - the white oyster shell. This is from the tumbling process which enables the oyster to have a deeper cup.

These little gems are so tender and tasteful I had a hard time not taking all of them for myself. It really is a special kind of oyster and very delicate on the palate with a leafy green taste and slight hint of cucumber. What surprised me even more was that @thelonepine was not pulling my leg about tasting green leafy goodness. The man has never been able to find a tasting note in any wine – so he jokes about 'tasting the tannins, leather and tobacco.' in red wines – when really, he doesn't taste them at all. The Effingham Oyster did actually give him a taste of leafy greens. So definitely a great oyster for oyster virgins across North America to try for their 'first time'.

@p8n8lop8 photo stock

About the @effingoyster nutritional values

Not only do raw oysters taste fantastic, you are eating them raw which means none of their nutritional value is lost in cooking methods and oils. There are many sources for information on just how nutritional a raw oyster can be when eaten raw. Plain and simple, for 100g of oyster meat, you get variations from east and west coast oysters. West Coast have 91 Calories, 10.6g of Protein, 2.2g of Fat, 40mg of Sodium, 30mg of Vitamin C and 85mg of Calcium. East Coast have 66 Calories, 8.4g of Protein, 1.8g of Fat, 73mg of Sodium, and 94mg of Calcium. How sexy is that? That doesn't even include your daily intake values. It's incredible! 5% of your Vitamin A, 15% Vitamin C and a whopping 92% of your daily Iron, 198% of your Vitamin D (let's eat more in the winter!), 804% of Vitamin B12 (I'm seeing some huge benefits here for women!).

We all know that vitamins are good for us. But without mineral intake our vitamins don't get absorbed into our bodies – listen to the mineral contents of oysters – 11% Calcium, 29% Magnesium, 33% Phosphorus, 11% Potassium, 1502% Zinc, 552% Copper, 46% Manganese and 226% Selenium. These are GOOD stats people! We should be eating WAY more raw oysters! And I'll leave you on the mineral note my Grandfather lived by, and perhaps where oysters got their so-called aphrodisiac reference. 'Zinc for your dink.' That's all I'm saying.

Oyster Shucking 101 - not for the faint hearted

When I embarked on writing about raw oysters and how sustainable they are, I also thought about the process of how you actually get those suckers out of their shells – a.k.a. shucking them. Something in which I am honestly not even going to try myself and I'll leave it up to the experts. These videos are just for reference and they are from YouTube:

There is an excellent, yet basic, video on Howcast.com that simply shows you the safest way to shuck an oyster.

If you'd like to see an expert, world-class oyster shucker click here and watch Shucker Paddy, a.k.a Patrick McMurray of Ceili Cottage and Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill shuck it up! [VIDEO COURTESY OF YOUTUBE]

How do you take your oysters?

Most experts will say to you, 'Leave it alone!'. Don't mess with a perfect form of raw food by complicating it too much. I agree! Some will enjoy oysters with a simple splash of fresh lemon wedges, others prefer seafood sauce [I'm envisioning the ketchup and horseradish my mom mixed together for fish sticks when I was a kid so don't even go there!] and many restaurants serve them with freshly grated horseradish on the side. I prefer to try a new type of oyster in its naked form. I need to experience those tasting notes, then I can see if anything needs to be added. Most often I'll opt for lemon or a chilli and vinegar mignonette.

Common oyster toppings

chilli sauce, cocktail sauce, mignonette sauce [white wine vinegar and shallots], salsas and caviar

And last, but not least, an accompanying and quite complimentary drink for oysters

Many, many, many [in fact too many] oyster aficionados pair their oysters with wines. BORING. This is how you'll know I'm no aficionado because those who've enjoyed oysters for many years will 'tut tut' at me now. I'm not claiming I'm an oyster expert in any way, but I prefer to pair delicate oysters with either champagne or a cold Hendrick's mix.

Here is my signature drink [really – it's mine and only one bar in Manhattan carries it on their menu!]. 

The drink pairs well with oysters [and pretty much everything else!] and provides an alternative to high caloric wines mostly suited for oyster pairing. It's important you use Hendrick's Gin as it has juniper, coriander and citrus peel along with cucumber and rose infusions – so it compliments West Coast oysters well. It's also very important to use Canada Dry ginger ale as it's less sweet than it's competitor brand – again complimenting the sweeter oysters found on the West Coast.

MJ's Fo-Hito - available at Merchants Cigar Bar in NY City

Super simple! In a tumbler add crushed ice to the halfway mark. Add 1 ½oz of Hendrick's Gin. Add finely chopped and bruised fresh mint leaves. Fill remainder of glass with Canada Dry Ginger Ale. Enjoy!

@p8n8lop8 stock photo

__________________________________________________________________________________

ONLINE OYSTER SOURCES:

www.youtube.com

http://www.aquaculture.ca/index.php

Aquaculture Association of Nova Scotia: www.aansonline.ca

Aquaculture Association of Canada: www.aquacultureassociation.ca

British Columbia Shellfish Growers Association: bcsga.ca

Fanny Bay Oysters: http://www.fannybayoysters.com/

La Maison Beausoleil: http://www.maisonbeausoleil.ca

Mac’s Oysters Ltd: www.macsoysters.com

New Brunswick Professional Shellfish Growers Association: acpnb.com

Newfoundland Aquaculture Industry Association: www.naia.ca

Prince Edward Aqua Farms Inc: www.peaqua.com

Prince Edward Island Aquaculture Industry Alliance: www.aquaculturepei.com


Smokey Bay Seafood Group: smokeybay.com/tools.html

http://www.goshuckanoyster.com/

http://goshuckanoyster.blogspot.com/

http://www.pacifickiss.ca/the-kiss-of-sustainability

NEW foodie blogpost coming soon!

Hi Everyone

I'm really excited about the upcoming blog post I've been working on and I PROMISE it's coming soon!  This week we are moving into our new house so the launch date for the blog entry will most likely be Monday morning...as I assume this weekend I will be unpacking...seems like forever ago we left Toronto.

So please stay tuned for Monday, 7th March where I launch my first foodie blog post on a fantastic, sustainable food...and a really cool guy who leads sustainable fishing and shellfish social networking on Vancouver Island! Oops...did I say too much?

Cheers

Michelle

I love when being passionate about something pays off! *blushing* just a little.

I think my work is done for the day! Signing off is p8n8lop8, a.k.a. the Oyster GEEK!

Wordless Wednesday - a photo says a thousand words

I am going to commence a 'Wordless Wednesday'  feature. After spending WAY too much time in front of my Mac on Tuesday I felt I should savour one day in the middle of the week where I refrain from words...or at least cut my output in half.  Let's see how this week fairs...I might not be able to hold in the excitement!

Here are, not one, but a few images for you to ponder and wonder...let me know what first comes to your mind when you view them! They were all taken by me last February in Vancouver.

a sneak peek at a an upcoming feature blog

just a teaser...

image courtesy of vintageprintable.com

Lost in a tangled Apfelbaum - works of Klimt

I have a love for Gustav Klimt's paintings - mainly 'The Kiss'  [like every other woman on this planet who appreciates his work]. One of his lesser known paintings is 'Apfelbaum'.  Why I love this painting? Because it's not mainstream Klimt. Klimt was better known for his gold-embellished erotic works and drawings which were much more controversial than apple trees.

When I look at this painting I get completely lost in it. It's a huge tangle of green and branches. The apple tree seems very wild and unbalanced to me.  Crazy branches come out the bottom in a way that is sort of unrealistic.  

It reminds me of a pastel and chalk drawing I did in grade 3 art that sat behind my mom's desk at her office for years. I begged her to take it down because it was a drawing of flowers in a vase [the teacher showed us Van Gogh's works to inspire us] and in my non-conformist grade 3 way drew one of the flower stems outside of the vase - so it looked like it was behind the vase. I was so embarrassed over it - but she kept it there for years because people who came up to her desk commented on it - whether they said positive things or not - she kept it there.

Gustav Klimt, Apfelbaum (Apple Tree) c.1912, oil on canvas. Private Collection