At Home on the North Shore - Winter 2021-22

winter Winter 2021-22 Vol. 7 Edition 1 / $4.95

wonders KIM SHAND’S INVITING WENTWORTH CHALET

WRAPPERS DELIGHT

A SCONE WORTH A STORY

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ON THE COVER: Kim Shand greets the holiday season and gets cosy with friends and family at her year-round chalet in the Wentworth Valley of Nova Scotia.

PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

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Seasons Greetings

PUBLISHER: Fred Fiander EDITOR: Crystal Murray CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Janet Whitman VP SALES AND MARKETING: Linda Gourlay ART DIRECTOR: Jamie Playfair GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Barbara Raymont PHOTO EDITOR: Steve Smith FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Stephanie Balcom, Marketing Advisor office: 902 420-9943 • cell: 902 292-9584 sbalcom@metroguide.ca Connie Cogan, Marketing Advisor office: 902 420-9943 • cell: 902 499-7467 ccogan@metroguide.ca Nicole Fawcett, Advertising Advisor, Strait Area 902 625-3300, ext. 1509 nicolefawcett@porthawkesburyreporter.com Brendan Nichol, Sales, Pictou County 902 396-8136 brendannichol@advocatemediainc.com Michele White, Marketing Advisor, Tatamagouche/Colchester County 902 818-2904 mwhite@metroguide.ca FOR EDITORIAL INQUIRES CONTACT: Crystal Murray 902 485-1990 crystalmurray@advocateprinting.com At Home on the North Shore Published four times per year by: Advocate Media Inc., 2882 Gottingen St., Halifax, N.S. B3K 3E2

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Vol. 7 Edition 1 Winter 2021-22

Cover Story

20

Woodland Wonder

A Wentworth Valley, NS chalet is all decked out to welcome family and friends

Inside this issue The Inside Story

Departments

10 A Kitchen for Christmas

7 Editor’s Letter 14 Off the Wall

Christena and Rob Hubbard welcome the season with a fresh renovation

Healthy At Home

Tracy Stuart gets competitive with Forbidden Rice

36 Noodles for the New Year

Anna Chow shares her recipe for long-life noodles

38 She OTTER Know

Drool-worthy scones and so much more from The Otter Girls Bakery

Keep it local and give your favourite finest retail shop a little extra love this year

4 DIY—Faux and Foraging

A wreath that will transition from holiday to winter

38

Gardening 42 Winterproof Your Planters

Sarah Butland reviews Dann Alexander’s book Let Nothing Go To Waste

27 Holiday Gift Guide

On the Table

Allison Gaudett and Christena Hubbard team up for some wrapping fun

26 The Library

48 Medalling With My Food

Meet Antigonish visual artist Antoinette Karuna

18 Thresholds

32 Great Walks of the North Shore Exploring Six Mile Brook Trail

18

Wonderful winter containers that can take the cold

10

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

Happy Holidays from

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From our families to yours, we wish you a wonderful holiday season. May your holidays be filled with peace, joy and plenty of rest and relaxation with loved ones.

The Carter Wealth Planning Group Blair Carter, CFP Senior Wealth Advisor Office: 902-893-2518 Cell: 902-890-1106 blair.carter@rbc.com

Michelle Mills-Wood Associate 902-421-8335 michelle.mills-wood@rbc.com

Jon-David Fitzpatrick Associate 902-832-5722 jondavid.fitzpatrick@rbc.com

www.blaircarter.ca

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Giving Back

editor’s

Celebrate the chaos

M

y youngest daughter has a tiny scar on her right cheek. It’s barely noticeable but every once in a while I see that little mark that becomes fainter every year and I wonder if someday it will just disappear. Fear not—there was no great injury that begot that scar. It was just a moment when an untrimmed razor-sharp baby fingernail met newborn fresh plump skin. A teensy gash on rosy, fresh cheeks from out of the tub, 17 years ago.

My husband and I were getting the four kids ready for the Christmas Eve service at our church. All of the children had a role in the nativity scene that evening. One was a shepherd, one was an angel, the oldest boy would play Joseph and hold his new sister for the role of all roles, starring as the baby Jesus–with a Steri-strip on her face.

It was just one moment in a comedy of chaos that happened that Christmas Eve. By the time we left the church with our motley cast and crew from the sacred vignette, our boy with type one diabetes was having a low blood sugar reaction that needed quick attention. To complicate the situation, we arrived home to our Christmas tree tipped over in the living room, as if it had one too many rums and eggnog in our absence. A quick tending to the emergencies and the remainder of our evening of traditions when grandparents and neighbours arrived continued without further calamities— what else could go wrong on this night before Christmas?

After the rituals of putting out cookies for Santa, hanging their stockings by the chimney with care, and tag-teaming bedtime stories, we got the kids tucked in for the night. Just as my husband and I settled in to take stock of the magic that still had to happen before we put our own heads down, we arose to the clatter of hurried footsteps. We ran up the stairs to see our six-year-old son in his reindeer pyjamas running for the bathroom whilst losing the contents of his tummy with great flourish. I think you can picture how the rest of the night rolled out—we’ve all been there.

At Home on the North Shore

PHOTO BY NORTHOVER PHOTOGRAPHY

LETTER

It seems a little odd to be nostalgic about a scar on your child’s face but for some reason when I do catch a glimpse of the minuscule mark, it stirs something in me, and it takes me back to that night before Christmas when our picture-perfect family on our Christmas card were just us—perfectly imperfect.

My husband and I have put a lot of effort in trying to create the quintessential Christmas for our family over the years. I don’t need to tell you that it never goes exactly as planned and, to be honest, I don’t think we really want it to. It’s the unexpected and, yes, sometimes even messy moments in life that are the greatest gifts. It’s not all visions of sugar plums and it’s not the rare times when all falls into place that are the most cherished. It’s the tiny little scars, the little imperfections that make life more beautiful, more real, and more memorable.

Last year many of us experienced a holiday that was less festive than usual, but I think it was a year where we spent more time reflecting on what is truly important to us. This year as we begin a season that is a little more recognizable, I hope that you take the time to remember and to laugh at all the things that can and have gone wrong that make everything just right.

Whatever way you celebrate this season, may you find and share the joy!

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CONTRIBUTORS

ALLISON GAUDETT is a local interior decorator, is pulling current design colour trends into this season’s holiday wrapping and décor pallets. Just as we all feel inspired by differing design styles, holiday décor can also be individualized to reflect personal styles. Whether it be taking a cue from your home’s permanent hard finishes, like the soft coastal blues in Christena and Rob Hubbard’s home in A Kitchen for Christmas, or feelings of merriment evoked my a jewel-toned colour scheme, like the wrapping featured in Thresholds, embrace that which sparks joy for you.

TRACY STUART Olympian Tracy Stuart loves a good competition. Late this fall she pulled out her training as a whole foods chef and competed in an on-line cooking challenge. She gives an ancient ingredient her own local twist with Forbidden Rice, A Meal Fit for Royalty...and her kids too.

TRISH JOUDREY, an ardent world adventurer, has uncovered some of her top hiking trails right here on Nova Scotia’s North Shore. Trish was especially drawn to the Six Mile Brook Trail because of its extensive history and charming public bothy. When her hiking boots are put away, she writes, plays the piano, or plans for her next adventure from her home in Halifax.

SHELLEY CAMERON-McCARRON has always been a believer in the joys of Christmas from the days of flipping through the Sears Wishbook to today’s penchant for holiday movies. In this issue, she’s happy to delve deeper into the magic of the season, speaking with a Wentworth couple who deck their halls—and everything else.

PHOTO: STEVE SMITH,VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

SARAH BUTLAND was delighted when she re-connected with William (Dann) Alexander.

Now more than ever, it seems that connections have become more vital. His book Let Nothing Go To Waste sparked memories of years gone by living in Pictou County.

STEVE SMITH Welcome Winter 2021 At Home on the North Shore. From visiting Kim’s beautiful chalet in Wentworth that is our cover story, to a lovely kitchen renovation in New Glasgow by Allison Gaudett. Scones by the fire at Sugar Moon Farms, and artist Antionette Karuna in Antigonish.

It’s always the people that make these stories shine. And this time people I call family. My son Cooper and his grandmother Anna Chow celebrating with noodles. There’s more to enjoy inside these pages, Happy Holidays to all!

NICOLE LEBLANC is a communications professional, a passionate community volunteer, and current town councillor who loves DIY. She lives in Trenton with her husband and beloved dog—and when she’s not getting crafty, she can be found exploring Nova Scotia, meeting new people, and being involved in projects that make our communities better.

LAURA LAVENDER is a gardener, calligrapher and illustrator. She made the move from B.C. to N.S. two years ago with her husband and three children, and they are now making a life in a happy yellow house in New Glasgow. Laura brings her passions for gardening and illustrating together in the story Winterproof Your Planters and shares her joy for trying new things in the kitchen in Noodles for the New Year.

JANET WHITMAN Contributing editor Janet Whitman is a city- and nature-loving journalist who divides her time between Halifax and her cottage on the Northumberland Shore, when pandemic restrictions permit. She’s happiest digging in the dirt, picking up a hammer or messing around in the kitchen — she had fun connecting with artist Dawn MacNutt who lives just down the road from her summer haunt in Little Harbour.

At Home on the North Shore

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INSIDE STORY

kitch

A

BY ALLISON GAUDETT

Christena and Rob Hubbard welcome the season with a fresh renovation

When Rob and Christena Hubbard began the planning process to renovate the main level of their side-split home on the west side of New Glasgow in Pictou County, their priority list was well defined. Their main agenda was to deliver a clear impression of their individual personalities while harmoniously creating a fundamental sense of welcome to anyone who comes knocking.

That goal was the driving force behind each functional and aesthetic decision. They made a list, checked it twice, and with the help of some great local tradespeople, with a dash of their efforts, they finalized their kitchen reno just in time for the holiday season.

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henChristmas FOR

PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

One foot in the door and the Hubbard home has your senses dancing. The smells of gingerbread cupcakes warm out of the oven, pecan thumbprint cookies drizzled in caramel, and Aunt Barb’s fudge recipe from cousins’ baking day. While the recipes reflecting the holiday and being greeted by baked goods on just about any given day is not out of the norm when you visit Christena and Rob. Christena is an avid baker, a self-declared ‘natural born feeder’—an expression that she adopted from Rosie Daykin, one of her favourite Canadian bakers. She finds joy in feeding others.

“Food is love,” she says and speaks fondly of her late grandmother as the inspiration to her passion for food, as well as the yarn that she says has kept her extended family so incredibly close-knit.

“Growing up, my Nannie was the heart of our family. She made all of us who we are and taught us that family is everything.

She didn’t have a lot of money, but anyone could show up and she’d welcome them in and feed them.”

Christena, Rob and pooch Sadie Mae practice a few tunes for their first holiday gathering.

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INSIDE STORY

These family values were at the heart of their main level transformation. “One of the issues we had with our house (before the reno) was that it wasn’t conducive to gathering and entertaining,” says Rob, referring to the formerly compartmentalized layout. He loves a good family gathering as much as his wife does. He was the driving advocate to overhaul the kitchen and living rooms, identifying that an open concept layout made the most sense for them.

“Spending more time at home these last few years has allowed us the time to focus and identify what is important.

One of the things Chrissy is passionate about is baking, experimenting with new recipes and sharing that food with family and friends. In order to enhance that experience, I thought the kitchen reno was a good idea,” explains Rob. Christena throws a friendly jab that perhaps acting on this transformation

Removing the wall between the kitchen and living room transformed the main level and creates an inviting space for entertaining. The floating shelves function as a bar.

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At Home on the North Shore

A self proclaimed “natural born feeder,” Christena says there will be no supply shortage of cookies in the Hubbard kitchen this Christmas.

mid-pandemic was less than ideal. However, in their case, equipped with a powerhouse team of all-local tradespeople, everything went off without a hitch and their home is now prepared to open the door to the 2021 winter holiday season.

“We spend more time in here than we ever did before,” says Rob, his guitar within an arm’s reach sitting beside their trio of Christmas trees as Christena steps away, pulling another batch of petite gingerbread men out of the oven for me to carry home to my kids.

It is difficult to anticipate how you will occupy space differently on the finished end of a renovation. In the Hubbards’ case, the results have paid off tenfold, freeing up space elsewhere in their home for each of them to develop their personal crafts. Rob is now able to have a niche music room where he and their 10-yearold cocker spaniel, Sadie Mae, hang out and “work on their sound,” as Christena

likes to tease. And when Christena isn’t creating in her bright inspiring kitchen, she has allocated space for crafting with an emphasis on gift wrapping.

Her husband speaks fondly of her shopping ability. “Chrissy loves to give {thoughtful} gifts.” On Christmas day, when the extended family comes together for the progressive house-tohouse showing of the gifts, everyone loves to see what Rob has under the tree.

This year will be no exception certainly.

But perhaps, the guests may have to extend that enthusiasm to the simple yet impactful holiday décor, thoughtful design details, and a home that genuinely represents its owners.

As we sit and talk about what might be next for the Hubbards, Christena pipes up with a request. “Can we pause the conversation and talk about lunch?

Because this is legit the priority under our roof.”

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Meet Antigonish visual artist Antoinette

OFF the WALL

KARUNA

BY SHELLEY CAMERON-MCCARRON PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

A

s a visual artist, Antoinette Karuna, a veteran and award-winning filmmaker, and freelance writer, has always been a storyteller.

Now, she’s found a new passion for expression in an old tradition—in rug hooking.

The Antigonish, NS woman who has spent parts of her life living in London, England, Montreal, and Berlin, recently turned to fibre arts, finding inspiration, success, and creative communication in a series of autobiographical hooked rug wall hangings.

“I’ve only done three works, but they’ve taken me quite far,” says Karuna who, along with her art, works as a freelance writer, editor, and translator in her business Karuna Communications, and teaches filmmaking in St. Francis Xavier University’s Art Department.

The richly-detailed hooked rugs, a time-consuming process done by hand, are made from recycled fabrics and Atlantic Canadian yarns and feature both punch needle (a flat punch of the yarn down) and traditional rug hooking techniques, a unique combination one doesn’t see often. One rug she describes as a self-portrait, evoking the story of her biracial identity, Sri Lankan Tamil on her dad’s side, and French Canadian through her mom.

The two others explore the spiritual aspects of erotic love.

The three pieces were an integral part of her successful application to Memorial University’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in the visual arts program, which she starts in May 2022. She’ll remain based in Antigonish, completing an in-person summer residency, and fall and winter terms online.

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At Home on the North Shore

Additionally, in summer 2021, her pieces were spotlighted in a group show, TOIL HERE: Works from rural Mi’kma’ki, at the Khyber Centre of the Arts in Halifax, one of the Maritimes’ leading arts centres. The show, intended to subvert what people think of when they think of a rural Nova Scotia artist, generated quite a bit of visibility for her, including inclusion in a Chatelaine magazine article on how a new generation of Nova Scotia fibre artists are reinvigorating the province’s rug hooking tradition. The article detailed how this new generation is reclaiming the medium.

“I really like it. There’s a lot of creative freedom and expression through this medium,” says Ms. Karuna who, in her MFA plans to complete a body of large-scale hooked rugs, is exploring the theme of her biracial identity, and furthering her work in animation film.

“Being biracial is an important part of my identity. Being mixed race is not something discussed a lot in society,” she says.

While the experience of being biracial is different for everyone, she says one constant is that biracial people “usually feel ‘other,’ because you don’t fully belong in either.

“There is so much to explore on that topic. I’m doing an auto-ethnographic exploration of what that means to me.”

Ms. Karuna will research scholarly materials on topics such as how identity is formed, developing a sense of belonging, the biracial experience in society, and how you situate yourself in your family when you don’t look like either parent. She’ll then dig deeper into those themes as she crafts three to four large-scale hooked rugs.

“I can tell a story, but in a way that doesn’t have to be cohesive and linear, that’s evocative and felt.”

She’s excited to start the MFA. “Taking that time out is thrilling, to have time to rug hook and learn animation techniques. I’m so looking forward to being totally immersed in my creative work.”

Her journey into rug hooking came about in a roundabout way.

“I’m a filmmaker, I was trained as a filmmaker, and I was very focused on that,” says Ms. Karuna, who holds a BA in communication studies, with a specialization in film production and a minor in creative writing, from Concordia University.

“I needed to take a break from filmmaking to focus on making a living,” she says.

Used to doing different things, she turned to painting, and about three or four years ago, she started experimenting with textiles, doing some weaving with a friend, and then felting. “It was fun,” she says. Eventually, she started rug hooking, liking it too.

During this period, she was spending time in Nova Scotia in the summers, where her father has worked since the 1970s as a professor at StFX in Antigonish, a town where she completed high school. She moved back in 2018.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she began concentrating more on rug hooking.

“Since we were in lockdown, I’ve said I’m going to finish this rug.”

The more she worked, the more it appealed.

“Sometimes, you just connect with a medium,” she says.

“Rug hooking is so simple and I like that it has a low environmental mark.”

She often asks family and friends to pass along any old sheets, socks, or clothes they’re no longer using, which she’ll cut up to recycle and use, along with local Atlantic yarns.

Ms. Karuna usually does a rough sketch, and then starts hooking, working in different textures, with a punch needle and a hook, two different tools.

She says it’s freeing—if you don’t like something, you can just take it out. Also appealing is how accessible it is. You can do textiles from home, on the couch, working alone, while expressing your creativity.

“I think I have an experimental approach,” she says.

“It’s figurative, but not verging on the abstract.”

“Being biracial is an important part of my identity. Being mixed race is not something discussed a lot in society.”

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HOLIDAY Lobster Elegant for Christmas dinner parties, New Year’s Eve celebrations, or a romantic holiday dinner for two

Feast

Grilled BBQ Lobster Tails in Garlic Butter Thaw the tails in the refrigerator overnight.

Using scissors, cut a V-notch on the top of the lobster tail then

From our very own Kilted Chef Alain Bossé to your plate

insert your finger underneath the meat to lift the tail in the V. Place 1 tsp (5 ml) garlic butter in the cavity between the spine and the tail meat, and place a bit of garlic butter on the top of the tail.

Grill on the top rack of your barbecue and keep basting (indirect heat assuming 450 °F (230 °C) for 5 to 6 minutes).

Flip it meat-side down for a few minutes to get grill marks, and finish it flipped back.

Oven-Baked Lobster Tails in Garlic Butter Thaw the tails in the refrigerator overnight.

Using scissors, cut a V-notch on the top of the lobster tail then insert your finger underneath the meat to lift the tail in the V. Place 1 tsp (5 ml) garlic butter in the cavity between the spine and the tail meat, and place a bit of garlic butter on the top of the tail.

Bake in a 450 °F (230 °C) oven for approximately 5-6 minutes on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

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THRESHOLDS

BY ALLISON GAUDETT PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

Wrappers Delight

T

his holiday season, take your wrapping fashion sense from the colours that are trending in your Insta feeds. Who doesn’t love the traditional reds and greens that say “Hey, the holidays are here.” But in a time when nothing is really what it once was, maybe it’s time to get a little playful with your present presentation. This year, roll out some new colour palettes, get creative, and find your delight in wrapping up gifts that will be so pretty the recipient won’t want to open… at least before December 25th.

Pretty in Pinks

Design Tips:

A full pallet range of garden-inspired colour tones makes striking accents under any holiday tree. The vibrant hues can read as juvenile for the young adults on your list and equally translate as sophisticated with a varied application.

When gifting several gifts to one household, coordinate by repeating colours in different materials. Add a ribbon to a baked-good tin, select a hand towel in the colour story to act as wrapping, and a useable addition to the gift.

Layer! Sometimes less is more, certainly.

In this case, more is more!

CORAL DUST

BURGUNDY ROSE

DARK BURGUNDY

Bulbs and Bows A creative spin on a holiday classic.

Reinterpreting the Christmas bulb as a striking bow is a creative excuse to break out the needle nose pliers in your toolbox.

I used the accommodating hooks to hold them together.

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At Home on the North Shore

LEFT: Allison Gaudett and Christena Hubbard team up for some wrapping fun.

Brilliant and Blue There are seemingly endless gorgeous shades of blue to choose from— beyond the classic Tiffany blue often BEACH GLASS seen interpreted as holiday. Mixing both muted and dramatic shades of blue creates BOSTON BLUE a timeless appeal.

At Home on the North Shore

Warm It Up with Neutrals and Natural Greens BLUE LACE

Inspired by nature’s landscape, layered shades of taupe and browns create a rich, sophisticated pallet. Paired with natural greens, a sense of cosiness and calm.

CUSHING GREEN

DIXON BROWN

NATURAL LINEN

Design Tip: Get creative with out-of-the-box textural elements that lean into the theme.

I’ve used fresh cedar clippings, leathers, and woven papers.

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COVER STORY

LEFT: Close-knit friends (left to right) Pam Eisner, Karen Mason, Kim Shand, and Helen Steeves are ready to embrace the winter.

Woodland Wentworth resident Kim Shand turns up the warmth with her holiday style

BY SHELLEY CAMERON-MCCARRON PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS 20

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W

hen it comes to decking the halls and creating comfort and joy at Christmas, Kim Shand is all in.

The Wentworth Valley, NS woman annually transforms the year-round, chalet-style home she shares with husband Andy Shand into a Christmas card-worthy retreat as she swags foraged berries, evergreen boughs and as many natural pieces as possible, displays antique and prized ornaments, and gets to work creating a setting for special times, for welcoming friends, family, and favourite people in fellowship.

“I try to do a lot of natural-looking décor. I forage in the woods, trying to find goodies such as natural pine and cedar, and red holly berries to augment store-bought garland with many natural touches,” says Kim who likes that the décor’s go-to natural

At Home on the North Shore

ABOVE: Kim adds a little bit of bling and festive spledour to her rustic décor.

RIGHT: Kim Shand likes to keep things warm and inviting for the holiday season.

wonder palette works well with the rustic ski chalet-style ambiance of the two-story, three-bedroom property they’ve called home since 2008.

The couple, who operate Maritime Diamond Drilling (an exploration company), and are partners in Seafoam Campground, bought the house built in 2004 from a friend who had put it up for sale. They were already living in Wentworth (Kim is a former Ski Wentworth ski director) and were drawn by the appeal of the airy, open-concept design and the living room’s 16-foot-by-16-foot windows; a dreamy spot for gazing out over snow-covered maples to watch the sun rising over the Cobequid Mountains and beyond into the Wentworth Valley.

At Home on the North Shore

Set back on a small hill, surrounded by spruce and maple trees, the house spans more than 4,000 square feet and exudes a woodsy lodge feel with walnut kitchen cabinets and ceilings and trim done in pine. The tone-on-tone beige exterior siding and trim play into the peaceful surroundings where, over the years, they’ve planted grasses, shrubs, and evergreens to complement the yard full of native trees.

Step inside and you’ll see crisscrossed antique skis hanging over a large faux river stone fireplace and sheepskins on cushions scattered in front of the hearth. An ample and roomy brown leather couch and distressed black leather chairs add to the relaxed, homey feel.

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COVER STORY

CELEBRATING THE SEASON

Dr. Stephen Ellis grew up in a modest but hard-working family.

He had dreams of becoming a doctor but did not have the financial resources to easily attain his dream. It took great determination and perseverance.

In many ways, Dr. Ellis achieved what he refers to as his Canadian Dream — he was able to accomplish his goals regardless of his social circumstances.

federal issues. One issue that his constituents have vocalized is health: specifically, a lack of access to primary healthcare.

As a Member of Parliament, Dr. Ellis’ major goal is to ensure that all Canadians can live their version of the Canadian Dream.

Dr. Ellis has more projects in the works that have yet to be announced. If you are interested in learning more about upcoming projects, please contact us today.

Dr. Ellis is working towards this goal through addressing multiple

Tel: 902-895-2683 Email: stephen.ellis@parl.gc.ca

For decorating, no two years are ever alike.

“Every season I change it up,” says Kim, who studied landscape horticulture in school and worked for years in landscape design.

She’s always been a fan of Christmas and has been collecting ornaments for 30 years, starting in her 20s.

“My parents always loved to decorate and entertain in their home for the holidays, and my sister and I got the bug,” she says. “We first started out helping, and when we moved to our own homes, we started collecting for ourselves. Christmas gets the most attention, but I look forward to changing things up with each season.”

Kim admits she never thought her Christmas decorating would grow as much as it did.

Every other year, a lot of their friends will come over for a big Christmas decorating/dinner party. Andy will throw a brisket on the barbecue and there’ll be plenty of good cheer. This past

Après snowshoe with a latte.

From the left Kim, Pam, Karen and Helen.

d @drsdelliscc Ô @drsdelliscc F /Dr. Stephen Ellis

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At Home on the North Shore

year, while they still celebrated with a brisket, the party was toned down due to COVID-19. In normal years, they’d also usually host a Christmas Eve party and Christmas Day dinner for their family.

BRINGING THE OUTDOORS IN

A field stone fire place reaches the top of the cathedral ceilings inside the chalet. Garland drapes across the mantle and along the second-story loft wrapping the room in festive hug.

At Home on the North Shore

Getting Christmas-ready for the couple means that decorating starts in mid to late November, with the more natural elements added in December.

The chalet-chic feel extends from the outdoors in with the blue spruce and maple trees in the front yard adorned with stars (that Andy made), lit with white lights that send a little Christmas glow out onto the property.

Kim brings festive splendour to the entryway, changing up the look of the front door porch each year. This past year, she made a pine wreath to go behind the bell wreath her mother gave her for Christmas a few years ago. Pots filled with pine boughs, dogwood, rhododendrons, ribbon, lights, and a few berries stood beside a beckoning rocking chair. “It was hard to find deciduous holly berries this year. They are biennial so I am hoping that next year we will have lots to forage for.”

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23

COVER STORY

Continuing the aesthetic inside, she strung greenery, antique red birds, and white lights into the faux deer antler chandelier hanging above her dining room table. Garland wound along railings and was swagged over the mantle, where stockings are hung—thoughtfully and with care.

A cast of deer statues peeked out amongst the decorations, highlighting the winter wonderland feeling.

Typically, Kim will add table-top and metallic feather trees (they are little, artificial, sparse trees that originated in Germany in the late 1880s, made initially out of green-dyed goose feathers.) This past Christmas, she did five little trees—one with antique-only ornaments, three with birds, and one with pewter ornaments mostly from Seagull Pewter.

The main tree is traditionally about 12-feet high (and usually cut down at Scothorn Farms) and the rest of their ornaments are reserved for it.

One year, their Christmas tree soared to the ceiling of the living room (which, at its peak, is about 20 feet)—and they had to use a ladder on their second-floor landing to decorate the top branches!

LOVE FOR HOME Kim and Andy originally met in Truro, where they’d both grown up. They found their way to Wentworth as they wanted to live in the country, and with their jobs at the time, they could live anywhere— Andy was working away as a diamond driller and Kim worked seasonally in landscape horticulture and in winter as a part-time ski instructor and then ski director at Ski Wentworth. Wentworth appealed, in part due to its proximity to the alpine ski hill.

Their attachment quickly grew.

“I could live here forever,” says Kim. “We fell in love with the area.

It’s absolutely beautiful here, especially in the fall and spring, driving through the valley, seeing the mountains.”

As outdoor enthusiasts, they love that the area provides many opportunities to be active, from gorgeous hiking trails (including in Wentworth Provincial Park and behind the International Youth Hostel) to mountain biking to waterfall chasing. Once avid skiers, the couple are now into snowmobiling come winter.

Many of their friends live in the area, and they enjoy being part of Wentworth’s robust dinner party crowd.

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At Home on the North Shore

LEFT: Out of the woods. Kim and friends trekking the backyard trails.

RIGHT: Kim steps out into her own winter wonderland.

“The nature is so beautiful,” says Kim, who can often be found out hiking or snowshoeing with girlfriends.

“We’re so lucky to live here. I appreciate it, even more so with COVID, to have a wide-open countryside to explore. We enjoy all of it. We feel very blessed and lucky.”

What about the Christmas season speaks to her? What does she enjoy most?

“Spending time with our friends and family, creating a wonderful meal for them to enjoy and making an environment that is warm and cosy.”

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THE LIBRARY

A REVIEW BY SARAH BUTLAND

A memoir of family and place Through his newest book, Let Nothing Go To Waste, Dann Alexander collects a series of personal memories that many on the North Shore will be able to relate to. As he was attempting to “grow up” on New Glasgow’s West Side, we are treated to memories of obstacles that prevented the growing and humorous reports of how he prospered in his own backyard, often without even realizing it.

Published through his own company,‎ Frogsong Productions, this is Alexander’s latest book: his others are Planned UnParenthood: Creating a Life Without Procreating and Throwing Dice, a collection of short stories. Alexander started with writing music reviews for State of the Rock World which makes sense after you read Let Nothing Go To Waste. Currently living in Halifax, his roots are clearly tying him to Pictou County as he muses about his time and family here, along with promoting animal rescue and his vegan life through his newsletter, current blog (dannalexander.com) and Twitter.

Through memories of Alice’s pizza, back trails to trouble, and friends’ basements learning that music is more about friends and community than lyrics and being in tune, Let Nothing Go To Waste includes flashbacks and friends who make the stories treasures.

Alexander wants everyone to remember that we all have stories to tell, and he certainly did that for me. While reading his personal accounts of years gone by and of people I never met, I instantly connected with the moments of dreading shopping with my grandmother, standing in front of a class to give a speech about a topic that didn’t really matter, and

more. An interesting aspect of this book is what story will stand out for each reader as well as what memories each will spark that brings us back to our younger days.

Losing his brother David to cancer in 2020, after one last road trip together to PEI, Alexander honours his memory through living with passion and purpose, and, of course, memories. This personal loss has helped him appreciate life and love more than ever.

If you have any connection at all to the streets and businesses of Pictou County. This collection of personal essays will bring you right back without having to get out of your chair. Like many, Alexander did move west to figure out his financial future but has since returned to Nova Scotia and continues to make East Coast memories.

FRENCH

UP YOUR LIFE

Travel

from the comfort of your HOME Visit our website athomeonthenorthshore.ca 26

ah! Winter 2021–22

Visit www.afhalifax.ca for more information on online group classes, tutoring, exam preparations and events.

At Home on the North Shore

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HolidaY Gift guidE Great gifts finds for the North Shore Your Christmas shopping just got a whole lot merrier with our annual gift guide that has been hand-picked from some of our finest East Coast retailers.

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Head Chocolatier Julien Rousseau has been practicing this art form for nearly two decades!

Enjoy skillfully handcrafted chocolates made with the finest sustainable chocolate and many of Nova Scotia’s natural resources. Each decadent piece is handmade from wholesome ingredients, real fruits and is free of any artificial preservatives. Gift Box sizes available in 6, 8, 12 and 24 pieces.

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The Gallery Shop is proud to feature a selection of hand made products by Indigenous artists and makers from the region and across Canada. Pick out an original piece of jewelry, smokefired pottery, or soapstone sculpture.

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A NATURAL BALANCE

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HEALTHY AT HOME

History, Beauty and a Scottish Bothy Exploring Six Mile Brook Trail

BY TRISH JOUDREY

Great walks of the

North Shore

I

t is not often you find a trail in Nova Scotia peppered with history, stories of love and death, and a comfortable place to rest your tired body in the middle of the woods. The Six Mile Brook Trail has all that…and more.

It is just after 10:00 a.m. when our footsteps start to ascend the centuries-old path the early settlers to Pictou County had once used.

“As early as 1767, they would have used this route to pick up supplies in Truro and bring them back to Pictou,” says Pat MacDonnell, the historian in our group. Stepping carefully over the roots of the tall hemlocks lining the mountain path, I imagine the difficulty the early

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Scottish and British settlers must have had traveling across and farming this terrain.

Luckily, the brook, and many bubbling springs around, provided plenty of clean drinking water.

The Six Mile Brook Trail, a short twentyminute drive from Pictou along the 376-S, is a wonderful forested looped trail that follows a flowing brook on the south side of Dalhousie Mountain to a newly constructed bothy. It then climbs up to a picturesque panorama on the crest of the mountain, returning via the forest again to the trailhead.

“A bothy is an open shelter in the Scottish Highlands,” explains Pat. “Gordon Young, an avid hiker of this

Sponsored by

trail, thought it a perfect name to use for this cabin where hikers can get warm, have a snack, or sleep overnight. It’s always open, free to anyone using the trail, and has a guest book for visitors to sign. Most of the construction of the bothy was done by students at North Nova Education Centre.

“Our MacLaughlin Bothy is so well-used, especially now during COVID-19, that we are thinking of constructing another one on the Cape-to-Cape Trail, of which the Six Mile Brook is a part.”

I expect to see a rustic log cabin.

Instead, an inviting post-and-beam lodge with a sleeping loft, large wooden table and chairs, and an open-air loo, greets

At Home on the North Shore

Bothy in winter.

Finished! Theresa Dickson, Pat MacDonnell,Jim Vance, Doug Baker.

Photo by Trish Joudrey

Photo by Cape-to-Cape Committee

us in a clearing by the brook about four kilometres up the trail.

“We found this serendipitous clearing in the woods and knew it was the perfect spot to build the bothy,” says Jim Vance, pointing to a wide level area. “We think it may have been flattened as part of the old 1890 copper mine. The remains of the abandoned dug mine can still be seen up behind the bothy if you look carefully.”

“In winter, many people snowshoe to the bothy. It’s beautiful and accessible at any time of year,” adds Pat who, along with many community members and students from the neighbouring school helped construct the bothy.

Resting on the wooden porch, I picture how magical it must be in winter with the snow falling on the hemlock boughs and slivers of ice flowing down the Six Mile Brook.

“There are many remnants of the early immigrants on this unceded land,” says

Stop along the brook.

At Home on the North Shore

Jim, leaning against the open door and munching on his sandwich.

“Yes, I found a large engraved granite tombstone on a corner of the trail commemorating Sarah Luke’s death in 1835,” says Pat. “Someone must have truly loved her to have built such a huge headstone like that so long ago,” he adds, his voice full of emotion. “I found it way up behind the bothy. She died at 60 and came from County Donegal in Ireland.

All I know is that she lived on a farm on Dalhousie Mountain.”

“There is so much history on this trail,” I say. “How do you know so much about it?”

“Well, James Burns Berry Jr., who in addition to being a musician in this area, kept a diary and wrote entries every day from 1849-1906,” says Pat. “Imagine that.

He even built his own printing press and printed books right here in Six Mile Brook.”

At the edge of the woods, we climb to a blueberry field plateau on the south side

Photo by Elaine Falconer

Blueberry fields in autumn.

of Dalhousie Mountain. The autumn air blazes with the newly turned auburn and golden leaves stretching far across the mountainside.

As we stop to admire the beautiful scene, the Northumberland Strait pops into view across the fields and over the distant treetops.

“To the left, we can see Pictou Harbour, Trenton Power Plant, and Green Hill.

Then, way over there to the right is the escarpment to Merigomish and Irish Mountain,” pointed out by Pat and Jim as we scan the spectacular view. “You can see at least 25 or 30 miles away.”

Just below the viewpoint stood the old Mas Young House, where we stop for a quick snack before heading down to the starting point. “Years ago, when constructing a house, they would place a coin in the plaster from the year of the building,” says Pat. “The coin they found in the wall of this house was 1865.”

Photo by Trish Joudrey

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HEALTHY AT HOME

Winter Magic.

Photo by Elaine Falconer

Gordon Young, chair of the Capeto-Cape Trail committee, bought the house about 35 years ago. “I have five generations of connection here,” says Gordon. “My great-great-greatgrandfather moved to Millsville in 1837.”

“Before we head down the trail, there is one more stop to make,” says Pat. Not far from the Mas Young House, we

entered the old Willis Cemetery. “Ever heard of Willis pianos?” asks Pat. “Yes,” I answer. “I’ve played on one of their beautiful old uprights.”

“Well, here we have the Willis family cemetery, the original makers of the Willis pianos.” I am moved by this special connection. “And over there, you have the headstone for the Air Force men who died in a plane crash in 1944, en route from Trenton, Ontario to Pictou.

The walk back through the forest and over the brook for one last time allows me time to savour the peacefulness and historic legacy of this hidden gem.

Without noticing it, time has whizzed by. With all our investigating of sights and history on the trail, I hadn’t realized I have walked more than 13 kilometres. The rich history, the natural beauty of the woods and brook, along with the stories and laughter from the group made this trail a magical, timetravelling experience.

Tips for Snowshoeing on the Six Mile Brook Trail The lower brook trail is open all winter. The upper brook trail is closed.

1. Trekking poles are recommended due to a 600-foot elevation and potentially icy conditions.

2. Snowshoe with a buddy to the Bothy where you can warm up inside, and have your snacks.

3. Take a portable phone charger with you. Taking pictures of the beautiful trees and brook in winter drains the battery quickly.

4. No snowshoes? Rent at the Pictou/ Antigonish Regional Library with your PARL card for a period of seven days.

5. Carry a pair of ice cleats in your pack.

The trail can sometimes be icy in parts.

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ON THE TABLE

Noodles for the New Year START YOUR CELEBRATION WITH A BIG SLURP

BY LAURA LAVENDER PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

D

id you know that in China noodles are a symbol of long life and prosperity? As a bonafide “Noodle-aholic,” I was pleased to learn this symbolism. What a lovely idea. A long, delicious unbroken noodle, that everyone likes to eat, represents a long and happy life. As a result of this happy denotation, prosperous pasta dishes are

found at celebrations such as birthdays, new baby blessings, weddings, and are often a traditional dish served at Chinese New Year. When talking longevity noodles, the idea for consumption is that they should never be cut or even bitten, lest your risk cutting off the prosperity.

So, it’s best just to slurp–it’s considered good manners with the sound effects the

best evidence that you are enjoying your meal.

While any noodle dish is an auspicious meal, there is a particular noodle especially associated with long life and prosperity in China. This noodle is known by many names including Yi mein, e-fu, and longlife noodles. These noodles are wheatbased and are made as long as possible!

Additionally, the noodles have what is called an “alkalizing agent” added to the dough, often lye water, soda water or baking soda, which makes the noodles “springy.” This type of noodle, due to the deep-frying, is not typically made at home and comes to life after they have had a good soak in boiling water.

Yi mein noodles are usually served at the end of celebratory banquets in China. These banquets often have as many as 10 courses so it seems most guests take as big a slurp as they can of the long-life noodles, but most of the noodles end up coming home in a take-out box for the next day.

The longevity noodles are often served with mushrooms, which naturally grow very quickly and therefore symbolize an increase in abundance. A green herb, or vegetable, such as chives, is added as green represents wealth.

Despite the notoriety of the longevity noodle Anna Chow, who owned and operated the Moonlight Restaurant with her late husband in Antigonish for 32 years, she says she never makes the long life noodle herself but she has enjoyed them at many Chinese celebrations. She is, however, quick to share her love of other noodles dishes that have become favourites and the center of many of the Chow family

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At Home on the North Shore

Use your noodle when you plan your next celebration. Glass noodles are Anna’s favourite. They don’t

Anna Chow’s grandson, Cooper Smith of

have a lot of their own flavour but go with just about anything you toss in with them.

Trenton, gets a lesson in noodle making.

celebrations and she was delighted to make a few of these dishes recently with her grandson Cooper Smith of Trenton.

Anna told me that glass noodles are one of her favourites to prepare, and she often makes glass noodle dishes for family dinners.

Anna shared a few tips on preparing glass noodles that will keep your family and guests happy and slurping all through the dinner.

Start by soaking your glass noodles in by soaking in boiled hot water for a few moments. Glass noodles don’t have a lot of flavour. She likes to serve them with a stir fry of bacon, cabbage, and red pepper slices that are seasoned with salt, pepper, and soy sauce.

Chinese glass noodles are lightweight, almost transparent noodles that are made from mung bean starch. (Other glass

At Home on the North Shore

noodles, such as Korean and Japanese ones, are made from other starch, such as sweet potato or sometimes arrowroot or tapioca) They are also called cellophane noodles, which alludes to their wispy nature.

I shared my experience of hand-making wheat flour Chinese noodles with Anna and I admitted that I found them very difficult to eat with their extremely heavy denseness.

Anna suggested I would love glass noodles, as they are so light.

Another noodle dish Anna prepares regularly is made with egg noodles that are purchased frozen from one of the Chinese markets in Halifax. Anna boils the egg noodles, allows them to dry, then stir-fries them in oil with garlic and ginger.

Meanwhile, Anna cooks cubed chicken and shrimp. To this, she adds red pepper slices, snow peas, and bean sprouts, that are stirfried with salt and pepper. Soy sauce and

oyster sauce are added. The egg noodles are put on the bottom of the plate, then topped with the stir fry, and green onion slices are added for garnish.

When I asked Anna where she purchases her noodles, she told me that she gets them from the Chinese markets in Halifax. When I asked her about other stores selling good noodles, she told me there is an excellent Japanese noodle - round, thick and white, which she buys from a local grocery store.

When I told Anna about my love of noodles, and how pleased I was to learn of the prosperity and longevity linked to them, she laughed and agreed how wonderful it is that something so tasty is also so auspicious.

For Anna’s noodle recipes, visit our website at... athomeonthenorthshore.ca

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37

ON THE TABLE

She OTTER know DROOL-WORTHY SCONES AND SO MUCH MORE

BY JANET WHITMAN PHOTOS BY STEVE SMITH, VISIONFIRE STUDIOS

A scone’s throw away.

Ceilidh and Neila Otter cosy up to the fire place at Sugar Moon Farm near their home in Earltown.

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ah! Winter 2021–22

At Home on the North Shore

C

eilidh Otter says there’s nothing special about the recipe she uses for her drool-worthy scones. What sets them apart, and makes her raspberry white chocolate variety her best-seller, is the carefully selected ingredients that go into them.

“Real butter and buttermilk, things like white chocolate— I’ve gone through a lot of brands of white chocolate to find something that’s not outrageously expensive but has cocoa butter in it as a first or second ingredient,” says The Otter Girls Bakery owner and regular fixture at the Saturday morning farmers’ market in New Glasgow. “It’s taking the time with those things that make all of the difference.”

The self-taught baker says it’s easy to take shortcuts. “You can get a product to look good, but I was so tired of getting disappointed every time I went to buy something that was baked and it did not taste like I wanted it to.”

When she decided to venture into the baking business last year, Otter figured others, like herself, would be happy to pay a bit more knowing the products would taste good. “We don’t cut on ingredients,” she says. “We use a lot of butter in the run of a week.”

Before starting Otter Girls Bakery, she was living in Hubbards, where she sold beeswax wraps, lip balms, and lotions. She and her husband Luke Otter, a plumber from West Branch, wanted to live closer to his parents and bought a home two years ago in West Earltown. “In a rural area, you kind of need to make your own job to live,” she says.

The local beeswax wrap market was already saturated. Otter wasn’t interested in elbowing her way in. Turning her baking hobby into a business was the obvious choice, she says. “I’ve always loved to bake. I come from a family of caterers and cooks.”

She started out from her home kitchen, selling to neighbours. Soon after, Jamieson’s General Store in Tatamagouche picked up her products and other retailers followed. She opened an online shop.

In January, with demand growing, she moved to a commercial kitchen in Bible Hill, where she’s hired a baker and a student to do packing and labelling.

The business is named for Otter and her four-year-old daughter, Neila. While too young to bake, she has a hand in the business using her sales savvy from the beeswax days at the markets in Hubbards. (Just don’t ask her about the scones.

She prefers the muffins.)

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ah! Winter 2021–22

39

ON THE TABLE

Otter says her specialty growing up was rice pudding, “that no one in the family liked.” In her teens, she started getting into baking and trying new recipes. “When we were newly married, I baked a lot. It’s something I love to do.”

Last year, she rode the hot chocolate bomb wave. “I nearly broke my dishwasher. There was so much chocolate going down the drain. I’m not interested in doing it again.”

Her new commercial dishwasher can handle it, but the chocolatey spheres were too much work and she’s sticking with her line of baked goods, which include muffins, brownies, squares, bread, and custom cakes. “There’s a reason chocolate is its own profession,” she says.

This winter she’s planning to tackle “dough lamination,” creating a series of separate layers of dough and fat to make pastries and croissants. “I love to try and master new skills,” she says.

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At Home on the North Shore

Recipe from Ceilidh Otter, owner of the Otter Girls Bakery | Makes 12 large scones | Preheat oven to 400°F In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl add: 8¼ cups white flour ½ cup white sugar 1 tbsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda ½ tsp salt 1½ cups butter, cut into 1-inch chunks 1. Using a pastry cutter, two knives, or a bowl stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cut butter into flour mixture until butter is no larger than the size of a pea.

2. Chop the following ingredients into small pieces, then add to flour bowl mixture: 1½ cups dried berries ½ cup candied ginger (Fresh or frozen berries are also an option, just make sure they total 1½ cups with the candied ginger, or two cups without)

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Add: 2½ cups buttermilk (+\- ¼ cup) 3. Using a large spoon fold together until scone dough is moist but not sticking to the spoon or bowl. If using a stand mixer, do not mix for more than 10-15 seconds.

4. Empty dough onto a cutting board and form into a circle 10”-12” across and about 2” high.

5. Generously sprinkle turbinado sugar on top.

Cut into 12 wedges and place on a baking sheet.

Bake 30 mins., until nice and golden.

Otter Girls Bakery pro tips: • Make sure butter is very cold when working with scone dough.

• Do not over-mix dough: fold instead of stirring liquid into flour.

• Handle the dough as little as possible when shaping. Try pushing it into shape instead of kneading or rolling out.

• Replace turbinado sugar with coconut, chocolate, or another yummy topping.

• If baking scones on two trays, rotate trays during baking.

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ah! Winter 2021–22

41

GARDENING

Winterproof your planters

Dressing your house with outdoor plant displays and décor is a gift to your neighbours.

While many houses dress in their finest during the holidays, the décor doesn’t have to end when the Christmas tree decorations are put

Wonderful winter containers that can take the cold

away. We can still celebrate the beauty that is winter with elegant outdoor plantings around our front door. However, living where the temperature dips (or even plummets) during the winter months means we must take some time to consider outdoor plants, pots, and

STORY AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY LAURA LAVENDER

décor that can take all that winter might bring.

Here are some ideas for winter potted displays that will look great until the snow melts.

Pots First of all, we need a container to display our potted arrangement. Not all outdoor pots are cold weatherproof, and we need to select with care. Icy cold can wreak havoc on pots, as when the temperature dips at night, then goes up again during the day, pots can crack when the water in them freezes and then thaws. The same phenomenon can create an event called frost heave in the ground, where the creation of ice in the soil can push plants and bulbs right out of the soil. In addition to the damage to plants, a frost heave can add even more pressure to pots.

Pots that can take the cold For the most part, metal, plastic, wood, and fibreglass pots can survive freezing temperatures. With metal pots, especially cast iron, it is advised to keep them well painted as protection. Keep an eye out for rust on metal pots and take measures to remove it as the rust will eventually deteriorate the pot.

With regards to plastic, it is best to avoid purchasing any new plastic due to the steep environmental cost. If you still have plastic pots in use, they can take a few seasons of freezing temperatures, but eventually, they will degrade in the sunlight and crack.

42

ah! Winter 2021–22

At Home on the North Shore

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Wood containers are a good choice for a longer-term, cold-weather solution. Wood expands and contracts naturally, and can move along with frost movement of the plants and soil.

Fibreglass and resin are cold-weather tolerant materials with the added bonus of being lightweight. Many coldweather gardeners list this material as their number one pot choice.

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Bring these pots inside Generally, terra cotta (clay), ceramic, and concrete are all materials that absorb water and will crack in the freeze and thaw cycle as water in the pot turns to ice. We can sometimes find ceramic outdoor planters that are labelled frostproof. These have been fired at very high temperatures which saves them from the risk of breaking. Additionally, some concrete pots are mixed with resin to make them (supposedly) frostproof. However, who knows if the manufacturer is intending for a light frost, or for minus 30°C with the wind chill?

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Plants If you are looking for a living plant to add to your outdoor décor this winter, this is the time to choose the hardiest, most tolerant of specimens.

Here are some ideas to help keep your outdoor plants alive all winter: • Choose a sheltered spot. Keep potted plants near the house doors, out of the wind, where they can benefit from residual heat from the house. A sheltered porch is ideal.

• Give the plant lots of room in the pot to give it lots of insulting soil.

• Avoid bare soil. Mulch with any of your favourites: tree bark, compost, evergreen branches, moss.

• If especially cold weather is predicted, protect plants with horticultural fleece, old blankets, or evergreen branches.

(Don’t get rid of your Christmas tree just yet.)

• Consider an anti-desiccant spray. These sprays protect evergreen plants such as rhododendrons, euonymus, and conifers from damage from the cold, dry winds of winter.

Look for an all-natural spray with pine tree resin. (Ardent DIYers can make this spray by special ordering pine tree resin oil and mixing it yourself.)

At Home on the North Shore

ah! Winter 2021–22

43

GARDENING

A few beautiful, cold-hardy evergreens: • Boxwood (Buxus spp.) Be sure to check hardiness zones as boxwoods vary. For example, Green Mound boxwood is Zone 5.

• Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) Elegant, edible red berries on a low creeper, Zone 3.

• Blue Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca ‘Sanders Blue’) is a narrow-shaped dwarf variety hardy to Zone 4.

Branches and berries Cutting branches and berries to arrange for outdoor winter décor is an excellent, no-maintenance décor solution: The branches are preserved in the cold and come out of winter looking great. Sometimes willow branches will have sprouted roots, ready to be planted!

• Willow species (Salix spp.)

• Winter Berry, aka Canada Holly (Ilex verticillata) • Red Dogwood (Cornus sericea) • Birch branches • A mix of evergreen branches (or arrange some cut from your Christmas tree)

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At Home on the North Shore

A few easy winter arrangements These containers are created by reusing the soil and pot from a summer planter. Take an old plastic nursery pot that fits perfectly inside your weatherproof pot and fill it with old potting soil from last summer’s container plantings. The potting soil provides a heavy substance to weigh down the pot and hold your arrangement. Another idea is to create a ball of chicken wire and place this in the bottom of your pot, along with a few rocks or bricks for weight.

1. White branches with short birch logs This frosty-looking arrangement is made with naturally light-coloured, foraged birch branches, and small birch logs. Finish the wintery look with white twinkly lights, strung on a white wire for a cohesive look.

2. Willow branches tied with raffia or ribbon This modern arrangement requires a huge armload of willow branches. A sleek monochrome container adds to the modern look. Tie the branches with a bow for an extra touch.

3. Twiggy branches with small lights Large bunches of twiggy branches gathered in a wooden container have a rustic feel. Intertwine lots of small lights (choose some on a dark-coloured wire to blend in with the branches) for a festive wintery look that works all winter.

4. Evergreen branches A generous arrangement of cut evergreen branches is lovely all winter.

Keeping the look a monochrome green makes it work all winter without being overly holiday-focused. White pine branches are a favourite of mine. A variety of evergreen species mixed together in a container is equally beautiful.

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45

Plan ahead now for your spring container garden Gardening is all about planning for the future. After all this talk of winter, let’s do a quick project now to ensure we have abundant spring blooms. One idea is to plant bulbs in plastic nursery pots, bury the pots in the garden in an unused spot, and wait patiently for spring. I think daffodils are especially wonderful; they are tough, longlasting flowers and are resistant to being eaten by deer or other wildlife.

Choose a plastic pot that will neatly fit into your display pot, if you have multiple pots of the same size, double them up for extra stability. Fill the plastic pot with good potting soil and arrange the bulbs “shoulder to shoulder” for abundant blooms. Top with potting soil, then dig a hole to fit the pot, and mark it with a label stick.

Once the soil has thawed in spring and the bulbs have sprouted their first green shoots, dig up the plastic pot. If you have selected a plastic pot that will fit neatly into your display pot as mentioned above, you can simply pop the bulbs, pot and all, into the pot and wait for the blooming to begin.

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ah! Winter 2021–22

A MEAL FIT FOR ROYALTY

BY TRACY STUART

MEDALLING WITH MY FOOD Tracy is an Olympic medallist and has a Chef’s diploma from the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts.

I

was recently invited to participate in a Master Chef competition that was organized by an international peer group that I belong to. Of course, my competitive spirit kicked into high gear and I accepted the challenge.

To prepare for the challenge we were given a scorecard and the point system, but the only real parameter was that the dish must contain rice. As you can imagine, the contestants could really take this anywhere—with rice, the world truly is your oyster. So to speak.

I was determined to make something special; something fit for a queen and yet would be enjoyed by children as well.

The search began; I pored through my beloved cookbooks, which took me on journeys through Mexico, Brazil, Spain, France, Japan, and China. I finally landed on a recipe that I have made a few times and as I reacquainted myself with the ingredients, my taste buds began to water as the memories of this dish came flooding back to me.

I discovered the recipe in Food: What the Heck Should I Cook by Mark Hyman.

His original recipe is entitled Forbidden Rice—No-fry Stir Fry, but for this challenge I really wanted to make it my

own. I made some adaptations to suit my palette for the competition, after all, a racer must stick to their own race plan.

I absolutely love race planning, so I decided that I would treat this competition exactly like the Master Chef competitions that you would see on television. This meant grabbing my basket and heading out to source the best ingredients, sticking to local and organic where possible.

I knew that the key to making this recipe was to misé en place the heck out of it. Imagine everything chopped, diced, sliced, and measured out ahead of time. When you prepare this way, the recipe will come together like a dream; it will seem effortless to those watching, just like a perfect race. This meant having lots of bowls—five in fact—at the ready, since the different vegetables and ingredients all require different cook times.

The clock is also a major factor in racing and in cooking, so I thoughtfully developed a race plan (or rice plan, if you will) to keep everything on track and under one hour. If you follow these steps, this recipe will go from page to table within 55 minutes. Ready. Set. Go. At Home on the North Shore

INGREDIENTS ½ cup forbidden rice 1 large head broccoli 1 large carrot 1 red bell pepper 1 yellow pepper 1 head of bok choy 1 cup green cabbage ½ cup shelled thawed edamame 3 garlic cloves

1 ½ tablespoons fresh ginger ¼ cup gluten-free tamari ½ teaspoon sesame oil 3 tablespoons slivered almonds 4 ounces bean sprouts 1 lime ½ cup pea shoots 3 tablespoons green onions 1 avocado, pitted

I had an absolute blast competing again, and my guests gave this dish a 12/10 review. The adjectives that my peers used to describe the dish were beautiful, delicious, crunchy, flavourful, and wow! I couldn’t have asked for any more than that.

DIRECTIONS 1. Measure ½ cup of forbidden rice into a pot. Cover with water and set aside to soak.

Take note of the gorgeous colour and superior nutritional value of this rice. Its purplish black colour is a result of a high concentration of anthocyanin, a brilliant antioxidant.

Forbidden rice earned its name because it was once reserved for the Chinese emperor to ensure his health and longevity, and forbidden to anyone else. Perfect to gain the upper hand in a competition!

2. Prepare your misé en place for the stir-fry (approximately 20 mins).

3. Rinse and cook the rice in 1 ½ cups water (approximate cook time 20 mins).

Combine rice and water in a small pot and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and cover, simmering for 20-25 mins, until rice is tender. Spread on a large plate to cool.

4. While rice is cooking prepare your misé en place for the garnish • Juice of 1 lime • ½ cup loosely packed pea shoots • 3 tablespoons green onions • 1 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced • 1 tablespoon slivered almonds toasted 5. Show time. This is where it all comes together.

Note: use tongs to stir often throughout this process. (approximate combined cook time, 15 mins).

Note the rainbow of colour in the bowls; phytonutrients are plentiful in this dish, your body will love you for it.

• Heat avocado oil in a large sauté pan (or wok) over medium heat until shimmering.

• Add contents of bowl 1 and stir-fry for 5 mins.

• Add contents of bowl 2 and stir fry for 2 mins.

• Add contents of bowl 3 and stir fry for 2 mins.

• Add contents of bowl 4 and stir fry for 3 mins.

• Add rice to vegetables and reduce the heat for 3 mins.

• Add contents of bowl 5, toss, and remove from heat 6. Plate and Garnish.

Remember food is art, and we eat with our eyes first.

Divide the stir fry among four bowls and top each with garnishes to complete your work of art.

BOWL 1 (MEDIUM SIZE )

BOWL 2 (LARGE SIZE)

BOWL 3 (SMALL SIZE)

BOWL 4 (SMALL SIZE)

BOWL 5 (SMALL SIZE)

• 1 large head broccoli, stems peeled, and thinly sliced. Florets cut in bite-sized pieces • 1 large carrot, cut into rounds

• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced • 1 yellow pepper, stemmed, seeded, and thinly sliced • 1 head of bok choy, thinly sliced • 1 cup green cabbage thinly sliced

• ½ cup shelled, thawed edamame • 3 garlic cloves, micro-grated • 1 ½ tablespoons fresh ginger, micro-grated

• ¼ cup gluten-free tamari • ½ teaspoon sesame oil

• 3 tablespoons slivered almonds, toasted (set 1 tablespoon aside to be used for garnish) • 4 ounces bean sprouts

At Home on the North Shore

ah! Winter 2021–22

49

DIY

Faux and foraging

BY NICOLE LEBLANC PHOTO BY STEVE SMITH, VISION FIRE STUDIOS

E

ver leaf through a magazine like this and see a beautiful wreath and say, “I wish I could do that?”

Well, now you can because we’re going to walk through how you can make this beautiful wreath using simple faux materials and fresh items that you can source locally.

For this project, on a seasonably warm day, my dad and I headed out to some family property to snip some greenery.

I usually try to gauge what I need, and if there’s any left over, I love to throw it in a vase with water for decoration.

If you don’t have a favourite location where you can grab some snippets, local grocery stores often sell boughs of pine, spruce and cedar, which will give you plenty to work with. I also grabbed two types of eucalyptus from a local flower farmer to add some dimension to the monochromatic greenery and snipped some end-of-season lavender from my home garden. Finding various shades of greens can add depth and interest to your wreath.

Steps and tips:

Add a pop of colour

• For your greenery, bring along some scissors or pruning shears (recommended tool) and a bag or box to collect your items.

• Fluff your wreath. Most of the time these have been tucked in boxes and then put on the shelf or stored until the following holiday. Spend some time fluffing out the branches to prepare the base.

• These wreaths are quite full and it’s easy to insert your greenery securely. Each branch also has wire in it, making it easy to insert your live pieces and give them something to hang onto.

• If you like a balanced look, treat the wreath like a clock and start at 12, 3, 6, and 9 to create symmetry on the wreath.

• Remember, you can’t mess this up. It’s easy to take pieces out or add more— there’s no right or wrong way to do this.

• This project can also be done with live greenery wreaths, however, they may not last as long.

Going back to faux items, you can easily add some holiday embellishments such as winter berry is often a favourite as are pine cones, and when the holidays are over, pop in some neutrals like white berries, or swap out your ribbon to enjoy this wreath as winter décor. The blue velvet ribbon here makes this the perfect wreath for our door during the cold winter months.

Tip: Spritz the wreath with water from the back to keep your cuts hydrated and lasting a little longer.

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ah! Winter 2021–22

Share a fun activity This activity is a great low-cost activity, a way to get outside for some fresh air, involve the kids in foraging, or make it a craft night with friends. Fire up the hot chocolate, throw on some Christmas tunes, and enjoy a fun night where everyone leaves with a special piece of décor.

If you get creative, make sure to tag @athomeonthenorthshore so we can

see what you create.

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