My regular bread requires little effort. In fact it allows me the luxury of rolling out of bed at 9am and still having fresh made-from-scratch bread on the table in time for lunch. It’s a recipe that my mother-in-law has been using for years and it’s pretty fool proof. The best part is that it still tastes delicious. Either make it in a bread pan or just pop on a baking tray for a more rustic look.

Bread

Bread

However, every cook likes to experiment and when I received a book titled “Artisan Baking” (by Maggie Glezer) for Christmas I couldn’t wait for our house to warm up enough (remember the stories of no upstairs heating, in fact you were pretty much sure to freeze if you moved more than 1/2 a meter from the wood stove) to try some of the recipes. Now spring has defiantly sprung (it’s 28oc out today) and so has my experimental side.

So what is Artisan (Artisanal) Bread, I hear you ask? According to the dictionary (quoted in the book also), “artisan” refers to a person working in a skilled trade or a craftsman. However, like me, Maggie Glezer wasn’t happy with this unclear definition and hence polled several well-respected bakers. The only conclusion that can be drawn from their varied responses is that for bread to be considered “artisan”, at least one part of its production must be performed by hand and it must be of good quality!

Being overly ambitious Cameron and I took a very big jump in at the deep end with our first attempt at artisan bread – a rustic baguette. The fact that the recipe called for 2 different starters should have been enough to warn us off. We tried and I must say we didn’t completely fail. We ended up with a rustic baguette that was cooked to the point where it may have made a reasonably good baseball bat. Overcome the crust, however, and the bread had a delicious flavor. (more…)

Dinner

Last Wednesday, Cameron and I realized that we’d been together for 5 years! We’ve lived together for 4 years and 2 months of that and have so far managed 9 months of marriage (Cameron has just told me it feels like 9 years – charming!) Thinking this quite an achievement (and a good excuse) we decided we’d cook something special for dinner at the weekend.

I love Tapas and vote for it for any special occasion dinner. However, Cameron wanted lobster especially since they are ridiculously cheap at the moment only $4.99 per lb (approx £3 per lobster). We decided to combine the two and settled on a dinner of lobster with melted coriander (or cilantro in Canada) butter, chorizo fried in red wine, tumeric infused rice and peas and fresh crusty bread from the farmer’s market.

Lobster

All washed down with a bottle of wine or two…. Yummy!

Our mail box is always full of advertising flyers and today was no exception. The exception came when rather than chucking it straight in the recycling bin, I took it home. The flyer caption was “Project Fire Engine Red – Blood Donor Clinic.” Strange that this had suddenly popped up as only a few days ago I was discussing blood donations with my in-laws.

Blood Donor

Since the age of 17, I have been a regular blood donor in Scotland and have proudly given over ten pints during the last 6 years (although my dad will boast that he has given over 50 since he started donating!). So the flyer prompted me to pick up the phone and call for an appointment. I spoke with the nurse and she asked if I was a first time donor, as she didn’t have my details on file. I informed her that although this would be my first Canadian donation, it was by no means my first time – I went on to tell her about moving here from Scotland.

blood bag

I was shocked (and furious) when the nurse informed me that I am NOT A CANDIDATE (and probably NEVER will be) for blood donation in Canada. Why? Because I lived in Europe between the years of 1980-1996….. and am therefore considered to be at risk of hosting a CJD (Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease) infection.

Prompted to try and find some basis for this discrimination, I have spent the last few hours trawling the internet for facts on the history of CJD in both the UK and Canada. Unfortunately, I’m unable to find conclusive UK infection figures for the years 1980-1996. However, the advance of the disease in the UK was not believed to have peaked until at least 2001 (BBC, 2005) so I think that the figures I have found (for 1995-2004) are still relevant in considering my ‘risk’ as a donor. So, according to the BBC (British Broadcasting Cooperation) 141 people in the UK died of the disease during this 1995 – 2004 period, or an average of 14 in each of these 10 years. Now, rounding The UK’s 2001 national census figures down slightly to 58,789,000 (to make the math easier) that means that there was approxiately one CJD fatality per 4,199,000 British residents, per annum. Not to be obtuse, but considering that Scotland has a population hovering around 5 million in recent years – its conceivable we could have had only ONE person per year fatally infected with the disease!

It is estimated that, worldwide, between 0.5 and 1 case of CJD per million population occurs annually. A recent review of mortality data in the United States has shown that the average annual incidence of CJD in that country is 0.9 deaths per million population. Overall, 334 deaths attributed to CJD were recorded in Canada in the 15-year period from 1979 to 1993. The number of deaths ranged from 14 to 34 per year (Public Health Agency of Canada).

I know that these statistics are not the easiest to compare, but I think you see my point – that CJD does not only affect Europeans! Nor is the infection apparently any more common in Europe than North America.

“Every 60 seconds, someone in Canada requires blood or a blood product!” (Canadian Blood Services, 2009).

“One unit of blood can save or improve up to 3 lives.” (Canadian Blood Services, 2009)

So what’s the issue? Why don’t scientists get on with developing a blood test that can identify CJD and start saving lives by freeing up ‘risky’ donors like myself. A blood test has been in the pipe-line for years now but due to the fact that it carries a small risk of identifying the disease in people that are not actually affected, completion of development and production hasn’t been encouraged. The issue is that legally donors would have to be told if their CJD tests were positive, even if there was a chance that the test result was false.

Patient

If he doesn’t die of a blood transfusion/lack of transfusion then surely the hospital food will finish him off!

“1 in 2 Canadians is eligible to give blood. Last year 1 in 60 actually did.” (Canadian Blood Services, 2009).

Maybe this would help…

Drive through blood

Shortly before the provincial government purchased the old railway line running between Halifax and Liverpool, Bridgewater acquired the section inside its municipal boundaries. Passing through the centre of the town and following alongside the Lahave River, this trail makes for a beautiful hiking, biking or even cross-country skiing route.

Map

The centrepiece of the whole thing is the massive steel bridge that crosses the Lahave river. If you look closely you will spot the Michelin Tire logo on the side of the bridge – the company paid for the restoration of this grand structure.

Lahave River Bridge

The trail offers several different paths. Cameron and I opted for the more remote/scenic route and took a left turn after crossing the bridge. This section of trail runs high above the river and is shaded by lots of pines. It is also scattered with various plants, flowers and blossom.

Trees