I RETURNED late last. night fom a spur-of-the-moment trip to Calgary. It was a direct result of the recent high school reunion in Medicine Hat — an old friend from California and her sister from Spokane were heading for pasta and toss with 2 tablespoons Calgary, why didn’t I join them and we’d round up a few more.... You know, sort of a re-run of the oid hen party. Great fun but I nearly froze to death! Who would think to take winter clothes to Calgary in August? Meanwhile, Brian was left to the mercy of the kids and assorted friends who saw to it that he ate, Can you believe that man can’t cook? eeo Last spring, Brian planted a lovely herb bed for me. When I got home, one of the first things 1 noticed was. the basil, huge, velvety-green and threatening to go to seed. I’m sure most of you have tasted pesto that wonderful Genoan pasta topping, rich with basil, garlic, olive oil, pine nuts and Parmesan. In Genoa, it’s: always good. Here? Well, sometimes. I’d never ‘made my. own, especially with my own basil. I must have 20 recipes for it but 1. settled for one from’ an.old- Woman’s Day magazine cookbook — vintage 1960. This is simply superb — as good as any I’ve tried in Italy. It takes half a minute to make .and will keep a ‘ ‘couple of days in the fridge. © Pesto is spooned over buttered fettucini or linguini, either ‘as a side dish (in: Italy, an appetizer course) or a main dish. True pesto lovers also‘ eat it on crusty bread or spoon it into vegetable soup. Pesto 16 fresh basil leaves — mine are about the size of my iwo thumbs side by side : BUDGET BEATERS 2 parsley sprigs — figure about 12 acup ~- Y% cup pine nuts (expensive — I paid $4 for a tiny package) 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese 4 teaspoon sait 3 huge cloves garlic — mine were as big 2s marbles Ya cup top grade olive oil “Put everything but the oil in your food processor and buzz un- til finely minced. You can also do this in a blender of a mortar. With machine running, trickle the oil in slowly through the feed tube and buzz it a bit more at the end. Spoon into a small bowl and refrigerate. If you aren’t using it immediately, cover the top with a - Bureau warns firms of _ telephone survey scam . your’ nhotoroner and/or laser printer which wanted to know who. regularly serviced . your equipment, be prepared to receive a follow-up phone call using your generously . provided information ‘to make an “assumed, sell’” for pricey toner or paper. : Phones have been ringing at businesses all over B.C, for the past couple of weeks as increas- ingly sophisticated telephone ‘ ped- dlers have been calling to. unload their highly over-priced merchan- dise. Better. Business Bureau counsellors received 15 calls on this practice on Monday, Aug. 9 alone, an incredible number for one day, when you consider these solicitations. Decide now how your company will deal with this sales approach and tell everyone who answers the phone (ever) what your plan is. Be sure they how how you purchase toner or paper, who is authorized to confirm orders in your absence and the steps that person must take to check out the price and the supplier before they do so. : Please. share this information with religious or community groups with which you are in- volved as they too appear to be primary targets. Free tours highlight weekend of N. Shore heritage events SEPTEMBER SEVENTEENTH signals the beginning of a weekend of North Shore heritage events. A celebration coordinated by the communities of the North Shore, the program gets underway Friday, Sept 17 with a pres- entation by local heritage landscape architect Ron Rule. Saturday and Sunday’s events will. feature walking tours of heritage sites from Deep Cove to Caulfeild village in West Van- couver. Included are tours of log- ging sites, the industrial ‘water- front and early urban and resi- dential settlements. As well, the new Gertrude Lawsen House Museum will be open for inspection and the North Vancouver Museum will launch three new displays: ‘‘A Waterfront Transformed,’ ‘‘From Logs to Lumber,’’ and ‘Bridging the Lions Gate.” On Sunday, Sept 19, the public will be invited, to board the SS Constitution for free tours of the North Shore waterfront. Ad- vance free tickets may be oba- tained from the North Vancouver Museum and the North Vancouver City Hall. Most North Shore heritage weekend . events are free. For further information please call 987-7529. thin layer of olive oil and seal with plastic wrap — pesto will blacken. To serve, cook 12 oz. fresh butter. Add pesto, about half of the above to start and more if you like. Toss well and pass extra parmesan. This amount of pasta will do for six side servings or 3-4 meal- sized. Leftover pesto, if properly covered, keeps two days. For a full meal, add a green salad and crusty bread. I served it with poached salmon and it would be fantastic with grilled prawns. Two of my friends | joined in Calgary are Greek. Cecilia owns a motel in La Habra, CA (go visit — Beach La Habra Motel, 7705 Beach Blvd., La Habra 90631) and Christina is an antique dealer in Spokane. Although they were born and raised in Alberta, they speak Greek and are expert Greek cooks. Here’s Cecilia’s recipe for: Pastitso Don’t ask me why, but all Greek food is cut in triangles for serving. Let this stand a couple of minutes before cutting. Y% cup butter (Cecilia uses nothing but the real thing) 1 onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 1% lb. ground beef Vv cup tomato sauce 1 teaspoon each: salt and pepper % teaspoon cinnamon 1 Ib. small elbow macaroni, cook- ed Ye cup grated Parmesan cheese 2 cup: milk 5 eggs, beaten Melt butter in a large frying pan, Cook the onion and garlic until limp. Add beef and cook, breaking it up, until no longer pink, Add sauce and seasonings. Spread half the macaroni in a buttered 9°’ x 13"? baking dish, Top with half the cheese and all the meat. Top with the rest of the macaroni. Beat the milk and eggs and pour over. Top with the rest of the cheese. Bake at 350°F, 45 minutes. Serves 8. This next recipe isn’t Greek but it’s one of Christina’s favorites. It makes 2 loaves — one for the freezer. For. anyone with a pear tree, this is a new use for those bushels you can’t give away. Chocolate Pear Bread — 3 eggs 1% cups sugar 1 cup oil 2 tablespoons vanilla 3 cups mashed ripe pears 3 cups flour Ya cup cocoa (pure, unsweetened) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon soda ¥ teaspoon baking powder 1% teaspoons cinnamon Y cup chopped nuts Beat eggs and add sugar, oil, vanilla. and pears. Combine the dry, ingredients and add, stirring just until moistened. Stir in nuts... Turn into two 8” x 4’ loaf pans. Bake at 350°F, one hour, " MONTESSORI ACADEMY PRESCHOOL OPEN HOUSE - Saturday, Aug. 24 Aiam -— 2pm Registration for September 1992 Mes Petits: 980-1102 440 Hendry Avenue Lower Grand Blvd. NortTH SHORE HEALTH REGIONALIZATION. STEERING COMMITTEE he North Shore Health Regionalization Steering Committee invites interested residents of North Shore communi- ties to become part of committee responsible for develcp- ing a community process leading to the establisnment of a Regional Heatlh Board and/or Community Health Councils for the North the steering Care and Costs. The Steering Committee is seeking one resident from each of West’ °° Vancouver and North Vancouver (City or District) with wide interests in health and health care issues. To ensure broad community represen- tation, volunteers should not be’ members of an agency or group Shore. Responsibilities of the Community Health Councils or Regional Health Board will include regional or community health plan- ning, service coordination, and allo- cation for a health service budget. These Boards and councils and the community process are part of the Ministry of Health's “New Directions: for a Healthy British Columbia” based on recommendations from the Royal Commission on Health already represented on the 25 member Steering Committee. Letiers of appliciation should _ include relevant experiences, and. explain why you feel the residents of the North Shore would benefit from your invoivemerit. (Note that those individuals requiring financial or transportation assistance in order to attend meetings may have their expenses covered in order fo facili- - tate their involvement.) If you are interested in joining the committee, or becorning involved with one of its sub- committees, please drop off or mail a written application to Richard Wagner, Social Planner, c/o North Shore Health Regionalization Steering Committee, West Vancouver Municipal Hail, 1750-17th Street, West Vancouver, V7V 3T3, by September 10, 1993. For further information please cail the appropriate individual on the following list: West Vancouver — Richard Wagner North Vancouver City ~ Cheryl Kathler North Vancouver District - Erica Bell-Lowther 922-1211 locai 201 985-7761 local 218 987-7131 local 316