Guest Blog Post: Dinner With Friends

By guest food blogger Mette Bech

I love Marusya Bociurkiw’s food blog because it captures exactly what I love about eating: being with friends and having great conversations while indulging the taste buds. When I saw she wanted someone to write a guest blog, I couldn’t resist. Thanks for reading.

Elaine and I met in Grade 8. We had two classes together: Phys. Ed., and Foods. When we consistently tied for last place in the 1K runs in P.E., we became friends. That friendship solidified in Foods where we learned how to make cinnamon pinwheels and macaroni and cheese. We excelled in that class!

Elaine and I were immigrant kids in a school where most kids brought peanut butter sandwiches and grape drink for lunch. We used to joke that since she’s Chinese and I’m Danish, between us, we could eat pretty much anything. We sure prided ourselves in trying.

Twenty years later, she and her sister are still my best friends. We still love cooking and eating together.

I recently visited Elaine,her husband Terrence, and their daughter in Toronto. Elaine and Terrance work full time so even though they are foodies, it’s hard to spend much time on food prep. We brainstormed easy recipes. When I suggested pulled pork, they thought that sounded complicated. Actually, it’s the easiest thing in the world; since they already had a slow cooker, we went for it.

We got a pork shoulder, marinated it in ketchup, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. And, like the infomercials of our youth, we simply ‘set it and forget it’.

To accompany the pork, we made some corn muffins with cheddar and jalapeno. That was surprisingly easy, too.

For a salad, we made an apple fennel slaw.Terrence took charge of grating the apple and fennel on their mandolin. After that, we made a vinaigrette of grainy mustard, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. This salad is so fresh and delicious, it makes the perfect accompaniment to a rich pulled pork dish. And the best part is that you can throw it together in less than ten minutes.

There is really nothing like making dinner and sharing food with the people you love. I feel grateful that even after so many years, Elaine and I are still the same goofballs we were in Junior High. Neither one of us got any better at sports but we still love feasting.

Bette Mach’s essays have appeared in Vancouver Review, First Person Queer (Arsenal Pulp Press), Second Person Queer (Arsenal Pulp Press) and Visible: A Femmethology (Homofactus Press). Her journalism has appeared in The Advocate, The Globe & Mail, WestEnder and Xtra.
Off the Highway is her first book. Georgia Straight called it one of the best reads of 2010.

*all photo credit goes to Terrence Chu