When the Boyfriend's Away...

I will play! Today GP is doing some former-law-student thing down in Metchosin and I felt like I'd be a third leg (is that a thing?) if I went. So instead I stayed here and unfortunately none of my friends (you jerks) could come play with me, so I went solo for the day. No big deal, it turned out to be a lot of fun to be out on my own on a sunny day.

(Aside: Friskies just came and sat on my lap and now she's purring her head off. Ugh... SO EFFING CUUUUUUUTE) Here is a picture of me loving her:
GP and I went and looked around Cowichan Bay yesterday for a little bit, but we got there too late and all the shops were closed. So today I took it upon myself to go back and do my own little investigation. In particular, there was a cheese shop I had my eye on looking into and I sure am glad I did. I'm sure if you've ever been to Cowichan Bay you know the one I mean. It's called Hilary's Cheese Shop and Deli (or something like that) and it's got various gourmet delights. I could've bought the entire showcase but instead I bought some French Port Salut, my granny's favourite cheese (it's kind of a creamy cheddar), and some Spanish Valdeon, a very strong blue cheese with a crumbly yet creamy texture. Goodbye P90X diet...

On the subject of blue cheese, I am so very glad I'm one of those people who can stomach an exceedingly strong one. When I asked the woman in the shop what kind of cheese "that one" was she kind of hesitantly explained its origins and asked me if I'd like to try it. "Of course!" I said, thinking everyone who works in a cheese shop likes blue cheese. Apparently that's not so, but the taste was delicious. It's good there are people like her because if the world was only populated with blue cheese lovers we wouldn't be very special. She was almost reverent when I told her how much I liked it and kept going on about how it's the "strongest cheese we have in the shop!". I am such a freak that a co-worker of this lady came over and asked me if the cheese was a gift. Thinking back on it, I'm not really sure if that's a compliment. What a crappy gift to give someone, "Happy birthday, here's a six dollar wedge of cheese that smells like armpits." I guess it would be a good gift if it were given to someone like me... Hint hint.

I really wanted to visit some farms today, as I just found this website: http://www.islandfarmfresh.com/ via my friend Amy. It's a list of all the farms in Southern Vancouver Island, which is pretty cool. I think it would be more fun to do that with friends though. Any takers? Instead of visiting farms, I went to the Old Market just south of Duncan because I know they have tonnes of local strawberries right now. Needless to say I bought a basket and it's very hard not to run to the fridge right now to grab a couple. There really isn't anything like gulping down a juicy farm-fresh strawberry full of flavour but not sweet like anything else. In fact, I can't wait to have my own garden so that I can grow my very own strawberries and eat them warm from the sun. Failing that, I'll just have to find a neighbour with a prolific berry patch, like my brother and I used to do.

When I got home I cooked up a delicious meal for myself, which included a couple of these tasty morsels:
What are they, you ask? Well I'll tell you. They are feta cheese with lemon, mint, olive oil, and a little bit of spicy red pepper all wrapped up in a piece of grilled eggplant and they are SO IMPOSSIBLY GOOD. So fresh, so smoky, so slightly spicy and coolly creamy. I have to thank dear Adrian again for Nigella's Forever Summer because that was where the recipe for these came from. Let me tell you, this is a summer recipe if ever I've tasted one. Originally there were ten little babies, but I admit I uttered the phrase "You're too small, I have to eat you" to two runts. Later, two more (sadly for them, happily for me) found their way to my stomach, but there are six awaiting their end in the refrigerator because I couldn't bear to pass up the praise I know I'll get when GP tastes these. Plus, I have a feeling this is one of those recipes that profits greatly from a sit overnight if that's possible. You should buy Forever Summer or get a friend who is as great as Adrian and will buy it for you even if, like Adrian, his reason for buying it is because "she just looks so sultry on the cover, caressing those tomatoes".

I tried making protein bars today. All I can say about that is: dismal failure. I'll keep trying and post my successes (if any) here. I'm not so sure I'll be trying too often unless I find a foolproof one; protein powder is expensive and, therefore, screwing up is too.

Now it's very likely I'll knit, or keep reading The Vegetarian Myth. Who knows? The night is young!