A Field Guide To Christmas, once again

Welcome to the final episode of Season four. If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know that ‘season’ is a loose word. Season one lasted about 5 years… Since then we’ve tidied things up around here with eight episodes per season. And here we are, at number eight. There’s never been a theme to the seasons, but looking back over season four, I see a thru-line connecting the episodes. The theme is Nova Scotia - the place where I produce these episodes, the place where I live.Above is an image of the Halifax Central Library where I record The Food Podcast. It’s a bright, white space with stairs, bridges and atriums connecting the five stories. On the second floor is a sound studio that’s open to the public. It has become my room of one’s own, my quiet space, uninterrupted and sound proofed from the outside world, just two blocks from my house.In episode one of the season - Balancing in the Middle- I promised to look back at where we began, where we’ve ended, and what we’ve learned in between. So here I am at the library, in a red room, feet on the floor, headphones on, balancing in the middle, looking back over the season. Thanks for exploring life through the lens of food with me. It means so much.I’ll back back with Season 5. Take care in the meantime,x LindsayPS - here’s a taste of the season - Credits:Hosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

Cake, Pudding and the Space In Between with Colleen Thompson -  is officially live! Yes we are back to regular programming after a little pause in the season. I haven’t been toes up and eating cake - I mean pudding - this whole time. I’ve been sorting out the semantics of dessert. It can be confusing, so the episode begins with a short primer on the sweet and savoury world of cakes and puddings, and how their names vary from place to place. The cake above, a Malva Pudding, is where a pudding and a cake intersect. It is also where the magic of science comes into play. The sponginess of this pudding happens when baking soda and vinegar meet- sweet bubbles and growth, that’s what this pudding/cake is all about. And the space in between? That’s the story that lives in this cake - its journey from South Africa to a little restaurant in Canada, and the story of writer and photographer Colleen Thompson who wrote a cookbook capturing the flavours of these places. And woven through the in between is music, because as Colleen writes, “music, like food, has an incredible ability to shape us. Songs describe the longings, the passions, the small details we might otherwise miss.” And like recipes, when we record these songs, we remember who we were when we loved them.I hope you enjoy this story of life, through the lens of a sweet, spongy, storied pudding. x LindsayLinks:* Dark Angel - featured in this episode with permission from Jill Barber, Rose Cousins and Jenn Grant* Colleen Thomspon - writer, photographer and raconteur Instagram @monkeyweddings* Monkey Weddings & Summer Sapphires - South Africa to Nova Scotia: Stories, Recipes and Memories (General Public Inc, 2020) * 32 Songs to Live and Cook By - Colleen Thompson* Field Guide, Halifax - Malva pudding is still on the menu!* Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book Malva Pudding - from Monkey Weddings & Summer Sapphires, reprinted with permission.Yield: 4-6 servingsINGREDIENTS1 tablespoon unsalted butter1 tablespoon smooth apricot jam2 teaspoons white wine vinegar1 cup flour1 teaspoon baking sodaPinch of salt1 cup granulated sugar1 large egg1 cup milkSyrup½ cup sugar½ cup heavy cream 3 tablespoons unsalted butter½ cup hot water(this is where some might add a splash of booze - Cognac if you have it!)* Preheat oven to 400°F and grease a square 9” baking dish.* In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter, apricot jam and vinegar together. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes. * In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. * In a separate bowl, mix the egg and sugar together until the mixture is pale yellow - about 4 minutes. Add the butter, apricot jam and vinegar mixture to the eggs and sugar together with the milk and mix. * Add the flour mixture bit by bit and mix well. * Pour mixture into the baking dish and bake for 30-45 minutes until the pudding is golden and baked through (a skewer inserted should come out clean). * In a small saucepan, over medium heat combine all of the syrup ingredients and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the syrup over the cooked pudding and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve with heavy cream, custard or vanilla ice cream.CreditsHosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

Here I am, on a sunny day back in October, savouring a Shore Lunch sushi bowl in the sun. I am sitting on a red adirondack on the wharf in Lunenburg, NS. A few tourists are milling around. A ship is tied up in front of me. Water is lapping against its sides. I take this picture then put my phone away. This food takes all my focus. Yellofin tuna. peppery greens. Chickpeas. Seaweed salad. Nori Flakes. Sesame Chickpeas. Miso Whip. Later I will see Amy Funk’s art exhibition at the Lunenburg School of the Arts. Amy is also the chef behind the Shore Lunch food truck. She made this bowl. This episode is the story of how Amy Funk, and artist and chef who has lived far and wide, has landed here, on the south shore of Nova Scotia. Cooking, painting, and feeding me in the sun. We discuss life. Hardships. Ingredients. Wanting the big time, and finding it in Nova Scotia. Here in this bowl.Thanks for listening, x LindsayLinks:* Shore Lunch Food Truck* Tipping is a Legacy of Slavery by Michelle Alexander* Lincoln Street Food* Lunenburg School for the ArtsCreditsHosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

This episode began with a prompt in my writing class - to explore a threshold moment. It could be an ending, a beginning, leaving something behind or entering into something new. It could be a boundary, a tipping point, the edge of an experience. I began by making lists, but like all good prompts, I found myself transported to a place I hadn’t expected - my grandmother’s apartment overlooking the Bedford Basin. And as I walked through the memory, images, flavours, aromas and textures emerged. And a recipe too. So here is it, an episode through the lens of my grandmother Vivian. I hope it transports you into your own threshold memories. Feel free to share a taste of them with me in the comments below. I’d love that.Thanks for listening, x LindsayCreditsHosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

A Measure of My Dreams is a lyric from A Rainy Night in Soho by the Irish band The Pogues. The lyric speaks to love and loss, but it also touches on the transient nature of life, and the fleeting beauty of moments, and the profound impact brief encounters can have. Liz Chute has made a life from profound encounters. For 25 years Liz has owned and run The Pebble Bed and Breakfast in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Liz is from Listowel, Ireland, and her family, her home, her business and her kitchen is full of Irish love and passion. This episode is Liz’s story, told through the lens of music, food, family, dancing, running, pressed sheets and a passion for authentic hospitality.It’s a special one. I hope you enjoy it!X LindsayLinks:* The Pebble B&B * That review on Tripadvisor * The Food Podcast - A Field Guide to Christmas* The Pogues - A Rainy Night in Soho* Simon Pearce Glassware* Frette Linens* Molton Brown * qualifying for the Boston MarathonCreditsHosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

Lauren Gerrie is my guest this week on The Food Podcast. She is a New York based chef, a dancer, teacher, artist, collaborator and community builder. She’s a flavour alchemist, a master in texture, a cheerleader and a woman who barbecues scallops on the windy shores of Nova Scotia in a leotard. This conversation is a celebration of community through the lens of food, friendship, The Two Fat ladies, dance, movement and celebration. And Pat Benatar. Thanks for listening.Links:* We Belong by Pat Benatar * Ryan Heffington - Ted Talk: How Dance can unleash your inner joy* Moves Pure Joy - Instagram @movespurejoy* Lauren Gerrie - Instagram @laurengerrie * The Two Fat Ladies Complete Series on Youtube* Books for Cooks Notting Hill, LondonCreditsHosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

I’m jumping in here to welcome you to a re-leased episode of last year’s A Field Guide to Christmas. For those who celebrate, we do it every year, but somehow, we still need a field guide, a mentor, and calming friend to shepherd us through this beautiful, nostalgic and sometimes difficult time of year. At least I do, and I know there’s one other person too…I was sitting at a high school football game earlier in the fall, watching my son and nephew play. It was an away game -  A five hour drive. But the last of the fall leaves were still hanging on, there were thermoses of coffee in the cup holders, so it wasn’t such a bad drive. The Cape Breton autumn winds were whipping at our backs as we perched on metal bleachers. (I should say that the field guide to watching Canadian football would include pads to sit on  - we use the little cushions that come with our ikea outdoor furniture - they work like a charm and keep you warm.) Anyway, the turnout wasn’t so good for our team, spectators were thin, but those who were there had clearly read the football field guide and were kitted out in cozy jackets, hats, mitts and were lounging in portable camping chairs. At half time one of the mom’s leaned over and said, I’ve been listening to your Field Guide to Christmas. I know we’re two months away, but it soothes me knowing other people cry on Christmas. And we can laugh about it. So if you too need a refresh for how to get through the next week with ease and wonder, listen to the rest of this episode, perhaps again, for the first time. You too might pick up a word I had forgotten in the wisdom shared by writer and long time Christmas host Vicky Grant. The word she drops is outdoorfin - the rush of joyful energy received when you leave the chaos of the home, the chaos of the world, the heat of the oven, the wrapping paper on the floor, and the drying Christmas tree, and GO OUTSIDE. So with that, I give you our field Guide to Christmas, recorded in December of 2022… and by the way, my sons would say I did spiral out of control last Christmas, just for a little bit, but, not only did I go for a walk on christmas day, I also dipped in the river with my sister and nieces on New Year's Day. A cold plunge in a brackish river on the east coast of canada in winter will give you enough ourdoorfins to last at least a week. But before we listen I just want to say Thanks so much for being here at The Food Podcast, sharing stories, through the lens of food. The Food Podcast will be back on the 9th of January with chef, artist and dancer, Lauren Gerrie. Until then,x LindsayShow Notes* Nigel Slater, The Christmas Chronicles . Or listen to the Christmas Chronicles here - * Anja Dunk, ADVENT - Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas * Jenn Grant’s Forever on Christmas Eve Album* Writer Vicki Grant. Vicki says a Christmas party isn’t a Christmas party without Grease Babies. I wrote about them here. As for the recipe, here’s the gist: begin with white bread, crusts cut off. Add a teaspoon of undiluted Campbell’s Mushroom Soup to each slice and spread edge to edge. Roll slice and wrap with bacon. Bake until crispy but still gooey on the inside. They’ll be gone in seconds.Episode CreditsHosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to season four, episode two of The Food Podcast! This episode is all about the storied history of the blue fin tuna, told through the lens of investigative food systems journalist Karen Pinchin. Through the writing of her book Kings of Their Own Ocean, a story that follows a tagged blue fin called Amelia back and forth across the Atlantic, we also learn about Karen. Karen and I are friends, but it wasn’t until I read this book that I learned how the story of what happens beneath the ocean can also uncover details of human life, Karen’s life. Thanks for listening, x LindsayLinks:* Karen Pinchin* Kings of Their Own Ocean - Penguin Random House Canada* Kings of Their Own Ocean on Audible And for a deeper dive into Kings of Their Own Ocean - * Gastro Pod: All About the Tuna Rollercoaster* Canadian Geographic * The American Scholar - On the Line* The New Yorker - The Magnificence of the Blue Fin Tuna* The Coast - The Reel DealCreditsHosted by Lindsay Cameron WilsonEdited by Abigail CerquitellaTheme song is One More Night by Jenn Grant Follow: @thefoodpodcast and @lindsaycameronwilson Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

New! Click to listen to the essay. It’s me, mistakes and all. I’m going for a done, not perfect, approach. Fits with today’s theme. Please let me know if this is a helpful/fun/user friendly/easy addition to the newsletter and if so, I’ll do it every time. I planted spring bulbs in a light hail storm yesterday. The ground was soft after heavy rain the night before; digging was easy. I wore my husband's sailing gear - waterproof overalls and a matching jacket, rain boots and gardening gloves. I was overdressed, but I had fifty dollars of bulbs to put in the ground, bought hastily the other day after my friend Piia texted with the reminder to get bulbs in the ground, asap, before it freezes. I didn’t have time to mess around.I bought the bulbs at Halifax Seed. I arrived just as woman in a teal Subaru was pulling up. She had bangs the same colour as her car. Together we dug through the dregs of their bulb collection, both with the frantic air of a late-November bulb shopper. Some were massive, the size of small onions, others looked like shriveled plums or bulbs of garlic. The blue banged woman and I carefully counted the bulbs by the dozen, tipped them into the paper bags provided, and scratched the names of the bulbs on the side of the bags.Purple scilla. Silver bells. Full star pink.Full star red. White crocuses. Grape hyacinth. We both were grabbing at things, unknowing, but there was an understanding that we needed these bulbs. Winter stretches long into April in this part of the world. Pops of colour against the gray winter sky and cold black earth pull us through to mid-May, when spring begins in earnest. “Have you heard the weather forecast for tomorrow?” I asked as we finished up our task. “It might freeze overnight,” she said, shrugging, “But just pour boiling water over the soil if you can’t get the shovel through. I’ve done that many times when planting garlic. Works like a charm.”The bulbs sat on the floor of our cold, drafty porch until yesterday. It turns out the ground was soft from rain the night before. It was a sign, a gift of nature. But the sun would set in an hour. This was my window. I used to be a big procrastinator. In high school I would clean my room and bake a double batch of chocolate chip cookies before I sat down to do homework. I wrote essays through the night in my first year of university, then printed them off on a dot-matrix while I showered before class. I remember my friend Mark standing in the hallway, waiting for me, while the printer screeched back and forth, back and forth. When I started writing freelance pieces for the local paper I filed each story so late there was never enough time for edits. I dreaded seeing my editor’s number on my phone display. Almost done? She’d ask, hopefully. Almost, I’d say. Almost. I’m much better now. Things began to change when I realized the feeling of getting it done was better than putting it off. My husband’s grandfather always said, “why do it tomorrow when you can do it right now!” I will never be that fervent when attacking a to-do list, but I have tools and limitations to help me now: egg timers. A small desk of my own. Noise canceling headphones. A dog that needs walking. Kids with schedules. Weather patterns. They all help me get things done. Most of the time. I’ve known about the annual cookie exchange for twelve months now. I have decided on my contribution (the ever popular peanut butter ball dipped in chocolate. I’ve shared the family history of those peanut butter balls over here). I have bought the ingredients. I even went to the hardware store, twice, to pick out a small scooper to shape the balls (I can hear my grandmother saying, “oh for goodness sake, what do you need a scooper for?” But I’m trying to up my game). The first time at the hardware store, the man at the counter held up the smallest scoop, a 1 ⅛’’, frowned and said, “I’d prefer a bigger peanut butter ball”. So I went bigger, 1 ⅝”, but really, they were too big. How would I ever get 80 made with that big scoop, by Friday? I went back and bought the smaller of the two. The pro of procrastination means forward, as in promise, promote or progress. It can also mean for, as in sharing the pros of an argument. Procrastination is said to be the thief of time, it takes and doesn’t give it back. But there is also the gift of moving forward, of progressing, of getting it done. It’s a push and pull word, one that I, maybe we, will always wrestle with.  This brings me to right now, the day before the cookie exchange. The bulbs are nestled in the ground beneath soil frozen in the shape of my rubber boot treads. This story is almost written, but I still have thirty balls to roll and dip. I’ve employed a scoop then hand roll technique. The trip to the hardware store, I tell myself, was worth it. My sister arrives tonight from Vancouver. We are gathering the day after the cookie exchange for my father’s eightieth birthday. Her bed is made. The birthday dinner is planned. The birthday boy has requested lasagna and carrot cake. My husband made the sauce. I’m on pasta and cake. I can feel the rush of adrenaline pumping through me, the kind that comes with the crushing of tasks, last-minute. I don’t like it. But I like it. And soon, I will have a freezer full of cookies, shining like a colourful bulb in spring, ready, just when I need them. Chocolate Peanut Butter BallsMy Aunt Susan’s recipe. I’ve done something radical this year and added a touch of natural peanut butter to the recipe. It doesn’t affect the texture, and it mellows the sweetness, just enough. 2/3  cup smooth peanut butter⅓ cup natural smooth peanut butter4 tablespoons butter, softened1 cup icing sugar1/2 cup desiccated coconut1 cup Rice Krispies250g dark chocolate1 teaspoon oil, to loosen the melted chocolate if too thick (I used coconut oil)sea salt crystals, to finish – optionalIn a large bowl mix together the peanut butters, butter and icing sugar. Add the coconut and Rice Krispies. Stir to combine. Roll into balls (chill first if mixture is too soft.) Meanwhile, melt chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl suspended over a saucepan. Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Coat the balls in melted chocolate, place on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with sea salt (optional!) and refrigerate or freeze. Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to season four of The Food Podcast!In this episode, our first of the season, we mention - * Skyting Yoga * Kumi Sawyers* The poet Alden Nowlan * The Food Podcast Season 3 Ep 5 ‘All We Need is Here’ with Gillian BellThe Food Podcast is produced by Abby Cerquitella Get full access to Food Stories at lindsaycameronwilson.substack.com/subscribe