Staying Power Blog
Posted on September 8, 2015 by Jackie DeKnock No comments
GOURMET LOVE
“Spreading love, one recipe at a time!”
The back-story that inspired the menu that inspired the recipes! Foodie and Love stories combining love, romance, and adventure (remember this is all fiction my friends)! Let me take my paintbrush, paint the scene and the mood to take you there…
Inspired Quote to love by: “There are things in life we don’t want to happen, but have to accept; things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.” ~ Unknown
Love Dateline: Love Potion No 9
Where: Never mind, I’m trying to forget
When: Maybe this happened in a dream?
Mood: Surprise mixed with understanding and compassion
Emotion: Hurt mixed with some disappointment
Staying Power Shortfall? AAAARGH!
Ever been in this situation? I’m sorry if you have, just know that you’re not alone (yep another story). Definitely awkward to say the least (can you say E.D. or impotence fast enough)! Get thee to a pharmacy? Or skip the little blue pills in a bottle (tons of side effects) and try this approach (whatever works in the event of a bedroom emergency). Throughout history, food and drink have had a reputation for making love-making more attainable and pleasurable. The word aphrodisiac comes from the Greek goddess of love – Aphrodite – and she knows a thing or two about love! Serve up the aphrodisiac dishes from this ‘Staying Power Menu’ pronto and make some magic (don’t worry, we won’t ask you to serve up crushed reindeer antlers, one of the best natural aphrodisiacs available ‘not’ in a bottle)! And, the most important thing is to find love, compassion and understanding in your heart. Don’t take it personally, we are mere mortals after all and this situation doesn’t mean that you aren’t loved. Find love, understanding and patience.
LOVE DATELINE: Charmed I’m Sure
Where: Northern Sweden
When: January 2001 (post Y2K if you recall)
Mood: Charmed and chilled
Emotion: Joy
Too Cute For Words
I share this story because reindeer antlers are revered as aphrodisiacs (who knew)? How could anyone resort to consuming crushed reindeer antlers to make a little magic I ask? Reindeer are just too cute to remove and crush up their poor little antlers…how could they? Staying power is important (agreed), however, how could anyone use reindeer powder as a magic potion…here’s why:
My foodie story isn’t so much about the food, but about my first (and only) encounter with a cute, charming little reindeer face-to-face. I was up in Northern Sweden, 200km north of the Arctic Circle exploring the frozen artic. I travelled there to stay at the coolest hotel in the world, the Icehotel. It was an absolutely amazing, chilling experience. I flew into Kiruna from Stockholm and watched the endless frozen Artic tundra pass me by. Brrrrr, it looked chilly and stunningly beautiful at the same time. The area was blanketed in snow, the whitest snow I’ve ever touched, so peaceful and so pure. I ventured to the village of Jukkasjärvi to seek out Swedish Lapland’s blockbuster attraction, the world’s largest igloo. The Icehotel is built every year beside the Torneälven River in late October, and it melts away back into the river in May. The original IceHotel was founded in 1989. It’s an art exhibition slash hotel made of natural ice and snow. The walls, floors and ceilings are a canvas of ice art which varies from year to year. Outdoors was cold, freezing cold (not that I’m not used to that having grown up in the north). The cold here is a dry cold, so it leaves you feeling warmer than a damp cold (if that makes any sense). What a magical place to be in the whole wide world, I was in the land of the midnight sun! However, wrong time of the year for that. The opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in the winter when the sun stays below the horizon throughout the day (for a whole month). In Kiruna, the most northern city of Sweden, the polar night lasts for around 28 twenty-four hour periods. Most of my stay was in darkness, it was a cool experience, the glittering moon and the stars made up for the darkness. The mornings are bright though, you just have to wake up early enough to catch and enjoy the light as it reflects off the white snow and makes everything brighter than imaginable!
Mush
We decided that the absolute best way to experience the Arctic was to take a sled dog ride into this winter wonderland. We woke up early to a bright sun shiny chilly morning, I was so glad I did. It was so worth it to be out on the sleds for this amazing tour. The sun hung on the horizon as we made our way out to the sleds, crisp snow crunching under foot. I could see my breath in the air…ahhh winter at its best. We met up with our sled dogs, climbed aboard and hung on for dear life. The sled dogs just love what they do, they love to run and pull and fast! We sledded through the beautiful landscape up close and personal as we watched the rivers, lakes, trees and frozen Arctic zip by. Next, it was time to meet the reindeer. We met our local Sámi guide at a reindeer camp and she introduced us. What beautiful animals, they are smaller than I expected (I suppose I had lofty expectations as they pull Santa’s sleigh once a year). They were very curious, inquisitive and friendly as I hand-feed them. I pet as many of the reindeer as possible, they seemed to enjoy that. What sweet, sweet animals who genuinely loved human interaction…or was that the food? I loved meeting them, I couldn’t imagine someone removing their antlers to make a magic potion! Just buy the blue pills and be done with it! I felt like protecting them and I decided that I’d love a reindeer as a pet (maybe I’ll put that on my Christmas list for next year…ha ha…it’s not quite frigid enough where I live). Our day continued on as we savoured hot coffee and local baked treats around a roaring fire in a traditional tent sitting on reindeer skins (hmmm). What an experience it was! I now have a new appreciation for reindeer and where they come from!
LOVE DATELINE: Memorable
Where: Toronto
When: Valentines Day 1994
Mood: Romance and vulnerability hung in the air
Emotion: Joy
Caviar – Nectar of the Gods
The first time I ever tasted caviar was non other than Valentines Day – how romantic is that? My boyfriend, Humphy Bogart, was a hopeless romantic and served me my first taste of this delicious nectar. He painstakingly prepared the caviar exactly as the caviar in this ‘Staying Power Menu’ is served. He did the research and did the legwork to make this Valentines Day oh so romantic (even down to the caviar spoon…yes, the spoon)! There is a custom that caviar should not be served with a metal spoon, because metal may affect the caviar flavour. He bought a special Mother of Pearl spoon especially for this occasion (now you can see why I fell in love with him). I absolutely loved the entire caviar experience, it was one of the most memorable Valentines Days that I have ever had in my life. I just had to share the experience with you! I hope that your Valentine loves and appreciates this dish as much as I did and remembers it fondly for years to come. I’m sure he will…what’s not to love. And oh, if you can’t find a Mother of Pearl spoon, you can borrow mine! Oh and of course I married him. Always follow your heart and if you are served caviar with a Mother of Pearl spoon, you know he’ll go to the ends of the earth for you. Food nourishes your soul, you are so worth being loved heart and soul. The end.
XO
PS Love your food, what comes from the heart touches the heart! Craving isn’t a ‘Bad Word,’ food IS sexy!
PSS I came up with this handy wallet-sized ‘Manly Ranking Scale’ – pull it out when you need it! It’s similar to the Richter Magnitude Scale that measures earthquakes (the idea came to me as I survived a major earthquake in Vegas years ago). I’ll grade each man of my life at the time of my Love Dateline story! Feel free to grade the man of your life, If he’s a +10 (and I hope he is), I’d say go for it!:
No doubt that he was a keeper…a special spoon for the occasion, now that’s a keeper.
Some music to get you in the mood!
Check out the complete “Staying Power” menu