Vert-à-Go

photo by Sandy Pederson of Urban Land Army

September and early October were a complete washout for me on the blog posting front, so I really missed out on commenting on the Canadian election. I will be focusing much more on the Canadian food politics scene in the weeks ahead. But today (along with almost everyone else), I’m looking south of the border for the results of the US presidential election. It’s one night that I certainly won’t apologise for being glued to the TV!

Election Fever Pizza

• plain round focaccia bread (Bulk Cheese Warehouse) I had planned to try making homemade pizza dough today, but somehow forgot to buy yeast. Oops! Next time.
• homemade tomato sauce (from some of my roasted garden tomatoes)
• mild Italian sausage (Pine View Farms), pre-cooked
• green pepper (Grandora Gardens)
• onion (Saskatoon Farmers’ Market)
• mushrooms (Loveday Mushroom Farms, Manitoba)
• jalapeno peppers (my garden)
• part-skim mozzarella (Bulk Cheese Warehouse)

Assemble in the traditional fashion. Bake. Eat (preferably while exuberantly celebrating a major change of administration!).

Red, White & Blue Fool (I name no names)

• 1/2 cup strawberries (Strawberry Ranch)
• 1/8 cup blueberries (K-5 Market Farms)
• 1/8 cup raspberries (Rhodes’s Raspberry Patch)
• 1/2 cup whipping cream or plain (Balkan) full-fat yoghurt
• 1/2 cup full-fat vanilla yoghurt
• berry (castor) sugar to taste (optional)

(all the measurements and proportions for a fool are really up to you–you should really just chuck it together according to your mood and what you have on hand!)

Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and fold in the yoghurt (or just mix the two yoghurts together). Sweeten with berry sugar to taste (if you like). Chop the strawberries with a fork (I used frozen fruit, so there was a fair amount of juice after defrosting. If you want the white part to stay mostly white rather than vaguely…(socialist commie) pink(o)…drain off the juice from all the berries first).  Stir in the strawberries and spoon into glass dishes. Top with raspberries and blueberries and refrigerate for at least an hour. Eat while gloating.

I’ll be opening a bottle of Liberty School (a Californian cabernet sauvignon), and have put a bottle of President Canadian champagne in the fridge. I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll have a very good excuse to pop the cork later tonight!

photo: Little Rae’s Bakery’s election cookie pack

These delicious and topical shortbread cookies are from Little Rae’s Bakery in Seattle, Washington, which turns out the cutest cookies on the planet, as well as a wide range of other delectable baked goods using all-natural ingredients. The election pack of cookies was an instant hit in coffee shops and espresso carts across Seattle and on the first day they hit the streets, they sold out in 45 minutes flat. But the important question is, ‘Who’s winning the shortbread poll?’

As of this weekend, Obama was outselling McCain 72% to 28%. Not too big of a surprise in the historically Democratic Washington State, but still great news for everyone who prefers their politicians (and their baked goods) nut-free! Actor and liberal activist Sean Penn was spotted scarfing one in Los Angeles a few days ago.

James Morse, owner of Little Rae’s, says of the cookie-lovers’ overwhelming vote of support for Obama, ‘”We haven’t had any complaints of fraud, and we haven’t been accused of trying to steal the election or anything of the sort.” A local radio station interviewed an espresso cart owner based in front of Seattle City Hall, who said that a lot of people are buying McCain just to bite his head off–that they were taking a real “visceral satisfaction” in it. Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels responded with his belief that ‘people should buy their cookies out of love, not spite.’

Well, here’s hoping we’ll be feeling some love of the true blue variety by tonight!*

Some more photos of the cookies from the Seattle Daily Photo on Flickr.

* The Retail Bakers Association, which says its 2004 Cookie Poll was very accurate in predicting a Bush victory, currently has Obama in the lead at 58%, with McCain trailing at 42%.