Jennie Marsland

 Here is a really cool video if you love Thoroughbred horses.

It features the most famous racehorse of the twentieth century, Man O'War. What a gem for a horselover like me. I'd like to thank Carly Kaiser for making it. For the history to go with it, check out this link: Man O'War  It says everything better than I could.

A sneak preview of McShannon's Heart:  When Rochelle McShannon accompanies her father to his childhood home in Yorkshire, she thinks she's leaving love behind her. Could she be wrong?

PREVIEW 

She Mov'd Thro' The Fair

Music is an important part of McShannon's Heart, as the hero, Martin Rainnie, is a talented fiddle player. This is one of the songs Martin plays and sings. It's one of my favorite old ballads, so I recorded it here.

 Gravenstein apples are an old variety grown in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley and, as far as I know, almost nowhere else.  Tart and flavorful with mottled red and yellow skin, they are delicious straight off the tree, but unfortunately don't store well. They are a seasonal delight and the best pie apples on the planet.  This recipe brings back memories of fall days in windy orchards in "The Valley", as it's known here. When my mother calls herself a valley girl, she isn't talking SoCal.

The Valley is the home of Trey McShannon's Acadian ancestors, the setting of Longfellow's Evangeline, and the only farmland in Nova Scotia worthy of the name. It's as lovely with blossom in the spring as it is bountiful with produce in the fall. Now for the recipe:

Pastry:  Stir 1 tsp salt into 2 cups of flour. Cut in 1 cup cold vegetable shortening until the texture is coarse and crumbly. Do not overmix.  I use my grandmother's old pastry bowl - I think it knows the recipe by heart.

Stir together 1 egg, 5 or 6 tbsp ice cold water and 1 tbsp white vinegar. Add to dry mixture, stir to form dough. When it comes together turn out on a floured surface and knead two or three times, just until workable.  Pastry making is a metaphor for life - you get better at it with practice, and you spoil it by trying too hard,

Wrap and chill for 30 - 60 min. Makes enough for two 9-inch double-crust pies or one larger pie and a turnover.

Filling: for one generous ten-inch pie, peel and slice 8 or 9 fresh Gravenstein apples. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Combine 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/3 cup brown sugar, and about 3/4 cup white sugar (taste apples and adjust as needed.) Pour over apples and mix.

Assemble pie and bake at 425 for 15 min, then reduce temp to 350 and bake for another 45-60 min or until apples are tender. Serve with sharp aged cheddar cheese.

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers

The smallest retrieving breed, these little dynamos were bred by the Acadians to mimic the appearance and behavior of red foxes. Foxes "toll" for ducks by playing on the shore of a lake or pond while their mate waits in hiding. For some bird-brained reason, waterfowl are drawn to the frisking fox. When they get close enough, the hidden partner springs out and grabs dinner. The Acadians bred tough little dogs with webbed feet, red coats and white markings, who would retrieve ducks as well as lure them within shooting range.  We've never hunted with our Toller, Chance, but he certainly has the instinct. Perhaps Trey's ancestors owned Tollers as well.