The battle for midwives is never over...

Stumbled across this article which someone posted on my program message board.

New York Midwives Lose Right to Deliver Babies at Home


It seems unfair that midwives who have been safely practicing should suddenly have their privileges taken away based on the closure of only one hospital. Where have the obstetricians gone who signed them off before? Better still, why do educated health professionals need another professional to give them the right to practice? It seems a little like a power trip to me. It is extremely frustrating to see a seemingly finished battle be suddenly reopened for these women and their midwives.

It is also frustrating to find out that the OBs are actively fighting against midwifery on the basis that they are 'competition' when there are not enough practitioners to serve all of the women in the first place and besides, shouldn't doctors be putting patient outcomes and healthy deliveries ahead of the bottom line? Apparently not, and it is a similar situation up here in Canada. We as a society have been brainwashed to believe that doctors have only our best interests at heart, and it can be a rude awakening to discover that that is not always the case.

Something to ponder...

Blank Canvas

The site and source of much future happiness, as well the medium of my creative energies this summer...so excited!

A Garden Solution Found!/ Veg of the Week

Alright, I know I've been pretty much MIA for the last 3 weeks and I do apologize. My only real excuse is that I've been very busy, but none of what I've been doing is interesting enough to be blogging about. That alone got me to thinking: "I was supposed to be enjoying this summer to its fullest to appreciate being home in NB, and can I really say I'm doing that if NOTHING I've done is worth a blog post?!" The answer of course is NO. So I'll be keeping that new criteria in mind over the next few weeks as I plan out my weekends and after work activities. But for now I have some good news...

The garden crisis has been solved! Remember how I was sad and empty at the prospect of a garden free summer? Well my lovely father-in-law has handily dispatched that particular problem by basically tilling up his lawn to make me one. Now it's not quite as drastic as that might have sounded since the area of lawn in question used to be his vegetable garden before he downsized to a smaller plot nearer his house. But the area had nearly completely grassed over since then so it certainly wasn't an easy task. But I am absolutely thrilled!

I'm already in full swing with garden plans. It was a bit too late when I arrived home from school to start my own tomatoes for this season, they need about 8 weeks inside and I only had about 5. But I was able to start all the summer and winter squashes and cucumbers, and they are quickly sprouting on the window sill and will soon be ready to go outdoors to be hardened off. There is something magical about watching these little seeds push up through the soil and sprout their first leaves, all safe and warm inside. Life is simply mind boggling.

Now since I could go on all day long about all the different veggies I am growing this summer, the blog posts could get quite lengthy if I don't set myself a limit. So I think each week I will post on just one of the types of veg I have chosen this summer. That way I can share without boring you all to death in one go!


So, to start us off: Patty Pan Squash!


I do realize that these do not produce until later in the summer, but nothing is growing outside yet and these little guys were the first to sprout when I started all the squashes last week. So they are the stars of my garden for now!

Patty pan squash (also called sunburst squash or scallopini) are a summer type squash (C. pepo), meaning that you eat them while they are young and soft skinned, like a zucchini. They can be green, yellow or white in colour and are best eaten when only a few inches in diameter. The flesh is slightly more dense than the more familiar zucchini and with a creamier, buttery flavour. Patty pan sqaush are also a good source of magnesium, and Vitamins B3, A and C. I personally like to eat them sliced into a spaghetti sauce or tossed with olive oil, garlic and herbs (maybe mint or oregano) and oven roasted until browned. They are also great on the barbeque!

Food Revolution Friday - Part 2

And now for Part 2 of the cheese making adventure! You can find Part 1 over at The Horseless Nut, if you haven't already read it, to get up to speed!


After waiting the 5 minutes to allow the curd to form and separate from the whey, we gingerly tested it's readiness by pulling it away from the side of the pot with our finger tips. It was amazing! It looked exactly as it did when we put the lid on, but touching it revealed a firm gelatinous solid and clear fluid that filled the space at the edge. Encouraged by this revelation we began heating the curds and when they were hot and starting to melt we drained off the whey, reserving a portion to use in the pizza dough we were planning.


The next step was dipping the cheese curd into a hot water bath to increase the temperature and folding and stretching the cheese into a smooth ball. This was much harder than it looks, and made even more difficult by the heat of the cheese. At this point we also added the cheese salt, for some extra flavour.


A point of advice, the recipe called for rubber gloves to handle the cheese at this point to protect your hands from the heat. We didn't have any, and went ahead with it, and boy, was that a mistake. Our sister V made the sacrifice and didn't come out with any serious burns, but her hands stayed red for quite a while afterwards!

And the end result looked like cheese!!

The final step was placing the ball of mozzarella into a water bath to help cool it and hold it's shape. The whole process only took around 30 minutes, which doesn't seem like nearly enough when you set out on a task like making your own homemade cheese! Now the only step left was to make the pizza upon which we would enjoy our homemade treat...


We made our own pizza dough, substituting the discarded whey in place of the water in the recipe, which helped our crust to brown very nicely as well as adding some flavour.

For toppings we included: red onion and red peppers...


and zucchini... (we also enjoyed a few locally brewed beers throughout the day!)


Ready to pop into the oven!


And the final product, which was very tasty, if I do say so myself!


Over all this was a very positive experience. The recipe was easy to follow and played out exactly the way it was supposed to. The cheese itself was very mildly flavoured, with only a hint of farmy-ness that gave away it's raw milk beginnings. I would personally add a bit more salt than the recipe recommends as I found the cheese a little too bland for my taste. But other that that, it was very pleasant!

I will likely be adding this cheese recipe to my regular repertoire from now on. But of course now we've all got the cheese making bug! Next stop hard cheeses! Parmesan and cheddar....here we come!