From the archives of my blog There is a Light: A rainy sunset in Kananaskis Country, May 2012.
It’s raining here this morning, but it’s nowhere near as picturesque as the photo above – rather, it’s one of those nasty ice rains that is predicted to turn into snow this afternoon. I’ve been absolutely swamped with work and writing projects this week so the flowerbeds and my community garden plot are still in a state of Autumn 2013 neglect…and now, on my day off, I can’t get out there to do anything. Oh well! I think I’ll have another cup of tea and then go for a nap….
While I put the kettle on, I’ll leave you with a few topics I’ve been musing about:
Banff-based photographer Paul Zizka has a book out called Summits & Starlight: The Canadian Rockies (2013, Rocky Mountain Books, Alberta), with some absolutely breathtaking and unique shots of the mountains next door…I finally had a chance to go through the book and I was just astonished at the places he has visited and captured. Check out his gallery to see what I mean – these aren’t your average roadside pics of giant rocks.
I’ve been seriously considering the idea of creating a sourdough starter…this would be my first crack at it and so any tips you bread-makers out there have would be massively appreciated! The clincher is that I have a huge amount of red fife flour in the freezer, so I want to make my starter from that, not regular all-purpose white flour. I found a book at work called Baking Sourdough Bread (by Göran Söderin and George Strachal, 2014 Skyhorse Publishing, Sweden) that looks like it may be able to offer up some assistance, so we’ll see how it goes. I don’t know when I will embark on this new venture…I am in research mode right now. 🙂
Speaking of food, The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, The Calgary Stampede, has announced its midway food offerings for this year – I don’t know if scorpion pizza will have universal appeal, but poutine with perogies sure has my vote. Peruse the madness here (and let me know in the comments what grosses you out the most…or what you’d willingly sample).
Have a wonderful weekend!
Flowery Prose 
I haven’t had much success with sourdough starters! Interesting food for the festival. I would have to try the poutine because that is a completely new dish to me.
I’ve eaten regular poutine, which is delicious (well, I guess if you like cheese curds, that is – some people hate the texture). I always have to giggle how it is considered a quintessential “Canadian” dish when most of us in the west never had a taste of it until it recently started popping up in restaurants. Now it’s all the rage here and the easterners probably think we’re crazy because they’ve been enjoying it forever…. 🙂
Oh, good to hear some more about poutine. It’s looks an intriguing combination of ingredients. I must ask my friend from Manitoba (originally) if his quintessential Canadian dish is poutine.
Yes, I’d be curious, too! 🙂
I could certainly try a deep-fried Reese’s cup! But scorpion pizza? No thanks! Hope your weather cheers up for the weekend Sheryl!
Yes, I agree…those deep-fried Reese’s might indeed be tasty! And I kind of have a hankering for those tequila lime fries as well…. 😉 Enjoy your weekend – hope it’s sunny and bright!
No crocodile for me! I love your photo 🙂
Thanks! The light was so beautiful that evening, I had to get my hubby to pull the truck over on the side of the road so I could take a picture.
I think the crocodile will go over well at the Stampede, it’s a bit unusual for here but not too weird and daring like the scorpion pizza. I don’t know if I would try it…maybe? I notice there aren’t many vegan or vegetarian offerings on that menu.
Here’s my plan. I won’t eat for two days and then I’ll try Vicious Fish, Bacon Wrapped Corn, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough for dessert. Then, of course, I can’t eat for another two days and I’ll need a full bottle of Tums. 🙂 What a menu!
I LOVE it! I burst out laughing when I read this…I would definitely have the upmost sympathy for your stomach….
Gorgeous picture!! Good luck with the sour dough starter and the bread.
Thank you! I’m really excited to give it a go!
How frustrating! Work, work, work, and then on a free day the weather conspires against you, preventing you from getting on! I can completely sympathise. I must look into the Stampede Fare – sounds weird to an outsider! Hope the weather improves.
Some of the midway food at the Stampede is definitely more than a bit strange – I think they try to outdo themselves every year! I guess it’s all part of the big attraction and offers something extra for the attendees to “experience.”
Hopefully the weather will clear up by the end of the week…I would really love to get out and plant my onions. Also, we have our spring clean up at the community garden on Saturday! Last year it snowed and we had to postpone.
I hope you’re having a wonderful weekend! 🙂
Your photo is simply lovely–so soft and subtle! And I’m completely on board with all the poutine food options! I think poutine may be more a staple food in Quebec or at least eastern Canada? I live about an hour south of Montreal, in NY, and it seems I’ve been eating poutine my whole life. Yum.
Thanks!
Poutine has been really slow arriving in western Canada, so it’s all new to us and old hat to everyone down east! (Glad to hear you can get it in NY, too!) I’m pretty fond of it and delighted that it has made its way here….
Jerk chicken and garlic chicken kebabs are foods you might actually want to eat. OK, the poutine pierogis are hard to say no. This looks very similar to state and county fairs around here. Do you already have deep fried snickers bars, deep fried pickles, deep fried bacon, and deep fried butter (really)?
Yes, there are all the deep fried options as well (ugggh…just the thought of deep fried butter makes my arteries clog). One year when we attended, I did break down and try the deep fried Coca-Cola – it was delicious but I’ll never do it again.
Last year, they had what they called a “pulled pork sundae” which was all the rage and I think even garnered the restaurant that was selling it some awards.