tart wild thing: wild apple crisp

Last night, just after dusk, I heard a pack of coyotes howling. It’s such a classic call of the wild – first the high-pitched yipping – then the howls. Then the dark silence, as though it never happened. Except it’s so haunting that the sound stays with you a while – lingering on – giving you just the slightest sense of unease.

This morning it was the wild geese. They’re gathering on the river just beyond my house. Every fall they do this. They congregate for days until, I presume, they reach some critical mass, when they take off and head south in their classic V-formation.

Wild seems to be a theme in my life just at the moment.  Things are a bit wild – a bit messy and out of control – too many deadlines – too much on. I’m overwhelmed. Even my misuse of hyphens seems to have become a little more wild than normal. 

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the joy of foraging

Vegan Applesauce Loaf

It’s the start of wild apple season in Ontario. I know this because along my dog-walking trail, there’s a huge, ancient, completely untended apple tree that has already started dropping its bumper crop. It seems early and perhaps that’s due to the extended drought we’ve had this summer. In many regions of Ontario, July 2012 was the amongst the driest since record keeping began.

The apples are small and gnarly and tart. They’re just starting to turn red. And they’re falling to the ground, laying about willy nilly. The branches are drooping with apples. I picked a few, brought them home and tried cooking them. Miraculously, they’re some sort of cooking apples. They make the most fantastically flavourful applesauce. I’m going back for more. I love foraging. Wild leeks, wild blueberries and wild apples; these are a few of my favourite things.