Your Thoughts

BEAN THERE ALREADY: I felt I should email you regarding your response to Pamela Smith in the summer issue of Food for Thought. You said runner beans are available in major supermarkets. I have lived in Alberta for 26 years and the only time I have ever seen runner beans here was when we brought a packet of seeds from the U.K. and grew them in our backyard. There are none to be had here!

- Janet, Calgary, Alberta

Calls to gardening experts and grocers reveal that everybody thinks that so-called runner beans are as common as dirt in Alberta. (“Of course we have runner beans, you can get them anywhere!”) The problem may lie in terminology. Just as “red breasted robin” refers to different birds in England and Canada, “runner bean” seems to be a different bean in each place.

Here, most garden experts and grocers think of any kind of climbing scarlet runner bean as “runner beans.” (Some English people call these “French beans.”) You, and our original letter writer, seem to be thinking of a larger, flatter, longer bean, different from “broad beans,”  such as Fava or Windsor. We can’t find what’s known in England as “runner beans” either. Readers, have you spotted these beans in Alberta? Let us know.

–Editors

THE MEASURE OF A MAN: In your summer 2008 issue, in the recipe on page 33 (Pizza Party Dough) it says: “Combine the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup (125 mL) of the water.” Unfortunately, 1/4 cup does not convert to 125 mL. Also, page 50 asks us to add 1/2 cup (250 mL) of Dijon mustard to the Alberta Chicken and Market Salad. Again, the conversion is not accurate.

As I have been cooking for more years than I wish to count or reveal, this has not created a problem for me; I used the imperial measure for these. But it may be confusing to a young person just starting out.

I do all my shopping at the Crescent Heights Safeway in Medicine Hat because the staff there is excellent. That’s where I pick up Food For Thought. Thank you for your publication. I appreciate new recipe ideas.

- Richard Steinkey, Medicine Hat, Alberta

Looks like we goofed, and you were right to follow the Imperial measure in these recipes. While different conversion charts may give slightly different metric measures, here’s a decent cheat sheet:

1/2 tsp – 2-3 mL

1 tsp – 5 mL

1 Tbsp – 15 mL

1/4 cup – 60 mL

1/3 cup – 85 mL

1/2 cup – 125 mL

2/3 cup – 165 mL

1 cup – 250 mL

–Editors

recipe index

• Kim’s Kicking Chili – page 8

• Raspberry Peach Clafouti - page 9 (Alberta Milk)

• Ron Berezan’s Backyard Harvest Pasta – page 17

• Greek Lamb Kebabs – page 19

• Tzatziki – page 19

• Sausage, Back Bean & Sweet Potato Soup – page 19

• Sunterra Walnut Cranberry Pie – page 21

• Apple Feta Pizza with Spinach Salad – page 29

• Thai-Style Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry – page 40 (Alberta Beef Producers)

• Rex Deserves the Best – page 46

• Slow-Roast Beef with Roasted Ratatouille - page 50

• Mediterranean Wraps - page 50

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