Best Ever Roast Chicken

Oh yes! This is the best ever roast chicken. Not only did I start with a plump, beautiful organic bird from Rusty Gate Farm in the Comox Valley, I used a foolproof Jamie Oliver recipe to roast this mouthwatering fowl. Along with being easy and delicious, I got to use some of the hardy herbs that are battling their way through November and hanging sturdily on in my garden. In this case, thyme and rosemary (I have to admit, rosemary is my favourite garden herb - don't tell the parsely!)

(Uncooked chickens always look so naked & chilly.
I want to cover their little thighs with my oven mitts!)

The recipe was so simple and the result so tasty. Juicy. Rich. Chicken-y. Jamie Oliver offers brilliant cookery advice - his recipes really are my one weakness. Is it his mischevious boyish twinkle? The great hair that curls this way and that? His "Aw-shucks, luv, anybody can do this" handsome way about the kitchen and garden? Well, of course!

And his recipes are just plain good. I think he is a maestro of roll-up-your-sleeves cooking with an unerring instinct for flavour-matching. I've never had a recipe of his fail. His cookbooks are pleasure to read, filled with great tips and wonderful pictures. And he is on a mission to promote fresh real food. Plus he is boyishly good-looking.

I served the chicken for Sunday dinner and there were plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week. (Such joy!) The organic roasters are really savoury and generous. Speaking of generosity, my aunt purchased a quantity of birds and most generously passed one on to us. Needless to say, the next time I am in Courtenay BC, I will be finding my way to Rusty Gate to fill up my cooler and return the favour! Definitely worth a 4-hr trip for these bosomy beauties (I am, of course, speaking of the chickens).

In keeping with my rich fantasy life, I am already planning out my imaginary chicken coop. Eating Rusty Gate poultry has given me an aspirational goal for hen-keeping - even the pretend version.

I served our roast chicken with a side of oven-roasted rutabaga, brussels sprouts and pecans and a cranberry-almond couscous.  Lipsmackingly good. Like Jamie. (Did I menion how cute he is?)

http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/perfect-roast-chicken

Cunning Cannisters

I love happy little projects. The kind of activities where I find myself humming along while I dream them up, or while I start to put them together.

For many years I have had a beautiful set of pottery canisters. They were made by Betty Warren of Texada Island, a potter who was a dear theatre friend of my mothers. My mom had the cannisters for years and when I moved out she passed three of them on to me. One had been broken along the way, and of the three that remained, one had a chipped lid. I loved them and used them in all my kitchens right up until this year. Another lid is chipped and the set is looking weary. I still use them in my cupboards to store dried beans and back-up sugar for jam-making, but they have become decidedly shabby *sigh*.

First, I replaced them with a second-hand set of copper ones from the local Value Village. They worked well enough but were a bit 'kitschy' for me. I've got my eyes open for a perfect set, but in the meantime, I decided that I'd like glass. This summer, while out stocking up on new jam jars (how is it these jars never really make it back? I know they are being lovingly reused somewhere...), I came across large glass canning jars from Bernardin. Now as most of you know, I have an imaginary French Country kitchen, so these jars gave me a little frisson of excitement.

And, I suppose, since I acquired my first set of cannisters when I was 17, I reverted back to my broker-than-broke, first-out-on-my-own days and came up with a happy little decoration project to make a temporary set of glass cannisters to hold my day-to-day staples. This is a perfect simple fall project and a great idea for cash-strapped students or others who might be on a budget. And I offer it here, as November really settles in and we are well and truly in deep autumn.




Select a fabric you love. (Mine is 100% cotton gingham that I purchased in a market in Provence). Measure according to the canning jar lids. Use pinking shears to cut.



Trace a circle around the lid with a pencil. Trim along line with pinking shears. Using an old craft paintbrush (one you don't mind throwing away) coat the lid with Mod Podge (I LOVE this stuff - it's my one weakness - you can use it for all kinds of craft projects) and while still wet, attach the fabric circle. Coat with another layer of Mod Podge. Let dry and and add rings and lids to jars. Voila!



Another side benefit of this project is that when I finally do find my perfect replacement cannisters, I can re-use the jars to preserve some kind of delicious monster foodstuff. Next year's squash, perhaps?

And as an extra fall bonus, here are a couple of links to some great canning sites. Dreaming up next year's harvest!

 http://www.bernardin.ca/pages/home/1.php

http://www.punkdomestics.com/