The Food Corner

is insulting.

When we look south of our border, we see a broken country, fractured. They can't even talk to each other. Are we headed that way too? Not just with the evolution of our everchanging language, but with our thinking--with our lack of tolerance for each other? The tone and intolerance that we see with Americans is finding its way right here into our small community.

The attacks on civic officials is one example. The people writing for this paper have targets on their backs as well. In a month celebrating Gay Pride, everyone has to watch every single little thing that they say. 'I am offended', or 'That offends me', has brought about a new level of censorship to almost all discourse. They don't let a bit of truth or civility get in the way of their crusade to a place called 'Politically-CorrectPurgatory'. I am tempted to say, 'kiss my bahookie' but that would be crass as well as impolite, so I shan't. Instead, I should say, 'Let's talk. Let's be more tolerant and less judgmental.'

Everyone has the right to be offended. Of course, but those rights do not pre-empt or negate the rights of others to freedom of speech and the freedom to express their own opinions. Thoughtfulness, civility and compassion should be part of the discourse. In short, 'Dinna fash yersel...dinna be a numpty nor a nugget.'

By Paul Cormier, Salamanders of Kemptville

Folks have been wondering what we keep around the kitchen at our farm that helps with “cooking from scratch”. As you can imagine, we are not very fond of fully processed foods and there is plenty of talent in the family to have home cooked meals pretty well each and every day. Below, you find an opening list of interesting spices, condiments and sauces that help make our home cooked dishes just that much tastier.

Our Favourite Kitchen Ingredients

• Balsamic vinegar

• Catsup (I hate to mention it but it’s an effective base to a lot of sauces for BBQ)

• Cheeses, e.g. cream, cottage, cheddar and mozzarella

• Concentrated chicken, beef and vegetable bases (Knorr)

• Crushed garlic as well as whole garlic cloves

• Crushed ginger

• Dried fruit, e.g., raisins and craisins

• Flavoured vinegars, e.g., garlic, chili, basil

• Honey

• Horseradish (the stronger the better)

• Maple syrup (for cooking, the dark stuff has a full-bodied flavour)

• Mayonnaise (I hesitate to say Miracle Whip, but what the heck)

• Molasses (a tasty additive to sauces)

• Mustard (assorted smooth and grainy (I’m really fond of Octoberfest Mustard!)

• Natural yoghurt (a great and healthy substitute for sour cream)

• Olive oil (pay the prices for as close to the best you can afford)

• Pasta sauces (they come in convenient sealer jars and are a great short cut)

• Sesame marinade (this is in common use at Salamanders)

• Sesame oil (really great when you add it to your Chicken Fried Rice)

• Sour cream (for anything and everything, as in Baked Potatoes)

• Spice cupboard basics: black and lemon pepper, cinnamon, cloves, dill, garlic, paprika, parsley, peppercorns, rosemary, sage, thyme

• Sweet Thai chili sauce (this has been a great boon to our cooking)

• Vanilla (the real stuff, preferably)

• Worcestershire sauce (it’s easier to pronounce it as Lee and Perrins…) For salads, it’s so easy to whip up your own salad dressing rather than picking up the bottled stuff: that way, your dressing turns out to your own and your family’s taste. Right, so please let me hear from you on what you have in your basic kitchen inventory. Best from Paul as always at pcormier@ranaprocess.com.