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Page 5, News, Tuesday, April 24, 1990 Sometime this spring a person will walk into a bookstore some- where in North America and pur- chase James McNair's millionth cookbook. In Canada, a "best seller" is one that sells a mere 5,000 copies...in the States, it's 20,000. But 1,000,000 cook- books! I hope that his publisher, Raincoast Books, has the sense to have one dipped in solid gold for this modest, imaginative south- emer. Last autumn I had the privi- lege of showing him around Toronto for a day. We ate "Canadian" at both Metropolis and Nekah. It was his first expe- rience in eastern Canada. Jet- lagged and frazzled from the book tour, he loved the city, its food and its people. McNair now lives in a quiet Anita Stewart neighbourhood in San Francisco. Quiet, that is, until the earthquake hit. Running into the hall, he says it was somewhat like being inside a washing machine. Teamed up with photographer Patricia Brabant, he has created over a dozen books, all reason- ably priced at $14.95. Two recipes follow, one for a hearty Salmon and Corn Chowder from his Salmon Cookbook. The Citrus Cream Pie with Coconut Crust is from his latest, "The Pie Cookbook" which contains the most of the basic information any pie baker will ever need: By mastering McNair's pies, one will become expert enough to create any number of new pastries. SALMON AND CORN CHOWDER Use fresh corn if possible, but canned or frozen is satisfactory. For those of us who can't obtain salmon, this basic chowder recipe is good with this winters Georgian Bay whitefish or splake. 3 tbsps unsalted butter 2 medium sized leeks, including any portion of the - green that is tender, thinly sliced 1 large potato, peeled and finely diced 2 cups fish or chicken stock 3 cups whole milk 2 cups heavy cream (35%) 1 Ib salmon filet, skinned and cut into cubes 1 cup whole kernel corn Salt and pepper, to taste. Marvellous meals from McNair Melt the butter in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the leeks and cook, stirring frequent- ly, until very soft but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add the potato and stir to coat with butter. Pour in the stock and simmer uncovered over low heat for 15 minutes. Add the milk-and cream and simmer for 10 minutes more. Add the salmon and corn, simmering until the fish and corn are done, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pep- per. Serve immediately. Serve 4. CITRUS CREAM PIE WITH COCONUT CRUST James says that "any citrus fruit can be used to make the smooth, rich filling for this pie. Adjust the amount of sugar to suit continued on page 6 Why there are no lady hermits Feminists are always scream- ing around about how there isn't any difference at all between the male mind and the female one; but, last time I looked, I didn't see no lady hermits in sight. So, what's that got to do with anything? Everything. 'Cause it surely points up the fact that there must be a heck of a difference to make a man hike himself off to the nearest mountain top, or desert, or bush wilderness, there to happily commune with his Maker, Ground-of-Being, or just ' plain navel in search of the ulti- mate spiritual experience. But catch a woman doing that? No way. First of all, she couldn't stand her own company for more than twenty-four hours (if that!), before she'd be either talking to herself or to all the little birds, bees and animules. A woman is a born gabber, and she needs peo- Olga Landiak ple to gab to, and there ain't peo- ples on mountain tops or in wildernesses. Next, with all her nesting habits, she wouldn't be the least bit satisfied with just a fox hole, a cave or even a log shanty (provid- ing she had the strength and know-how to put one up, that is) as a place of shelter. What, all that dirt and dust and messy detri- tus, and her without a vacuum cleaner let alone a lousy old broom? Would drive her nuts. Not to mention the lack of a chair, table, bed, frilly curtains and spreads, cushions and carpeting, an all other such modern-house etceteras. And what about the lack of mod. cons.? Ah hah, that would really drive our lady hermit crazy to have to lug water from the nearest stream. Providing one wasn't in the middle of a desert and no place to do a Moses-like act, that is. And what about hav- ing to make do with all of Mum Nature's great outdoors in which to ...ahem....well, you know what I mean. And not a roll of toilet paper ;in sight either. That would be the crowning inconvenience. Well, next door to the lack of change of clothing. Can you imagine our lady hermit being content to wear the same raggedy, shabby, dirty old robe day in and night out? No fashions to follow, no shops to prowl through, no 'buy-a-new-outfit-and-lift-me- out-of-the-blues' kind of thing. Horrors!. And what about no make-up and no weekly hair set? Make do with plain washed face and let the hair hang-a-down any old which-a-way? More horror. And the car, what about the car? You expect our lady hermit to hot foot it around on her bare little tootsies while pan-handling for a bowl of rice and a veggie or two? And her what's never set foot to pavement since the day she was born? And food, what about food? Between you and me and the doorpost, I don't think our lady hermit would last too long on a diet of grass, berries, nuts and locusts and all such other 'natural' foods. Mind you, she'd be nice and slim and the envy of her once-upon-a-time Health Club, but she wouldn't be very happy. But hermit men can live like this. And they do. All over the place. They disappear into moun- tains, forests, jungles, bushlands and even deserts for months, years, at a time. Sometimes even forever. But, like I said, last time I looked, I didn't see no lady her- mits in their company. So don't tell me there isn't any difference between the mind of a man and that of a woman. There most surely is. "Not in my back yard' syndrome John Sewell, the crusading reformist former Mayor of Toronto, no longer wears long hair, a leather jacket and a neck- lace, like he did two decades ago. When he addressed the annual Lakehead Social Planning Council recently, he was wearing a conservative blue business suit. His hair has all but disappeared from the middle of his head, except for some thin wisps. The man I knew over 20 years ago when we were both community development workers in the poor- est downtown sections of Toronto, now lectures to law stu- dents at Osgoode Hall. But Sewell has not lost any of his wit, or his knack for penetrating anal- ysis. His address to the Social Planning Council was called "Why Not in My Backyard?". It was part of a panel discussion on the growing resistance from mid- dle class neighborhoods to any "social housing" projects - such as half way homes for recovering alcoholics, psychiatric patients, juvenile offenders, or group homes for disturbed adolescents. According to Sewell's analysis, this resistance has its origins in the 1950's. When E.P. Taylor, Canada's most famous multi-mil- NORTHERN INSIGHTS lionaire at the time, introduced the concept of "suburbia" to the Canadian housing market by building Don Mills, on what was then rural pasture land in the north end of Toronto. The suburbs of Don Mills cre- ated a model for all future middle class housing development - Streets were laid out in confusing patterns of crescents and curves, instead of the traditional grid pat- tern. Residential areas were clearly segregated from commer- cial malls, instead of allowing comer stores to spring up. Only nuclear families were allowed in the suburbs, since all the bunga- low's were made to contain only one family. Grandparents and borders were restricted by space, and discouraged through zoning laws. But the real selling point of suburbia was "exclusively": Only by Larry Sanders safe, middle-income families were allowed in. Lower income families could not afford the monthly mortgage payments, and were discouraged from living in suburbia by the absence of afford- able rental suites. The concept was enshrined in Canadian con- sciousness that it was alright to choose to live somewhere where "undesirables" are not allowed. Sewell's argument is that the unwillingness of middle class neighborhoods to tolerate social housing projects - a phenomena called NIMBY, or "Not in My Back Yard" - comes from this social exclusivity, now perpetuat- ing itself in another generation of affluent Canadians. Social plan- ners have a major problem on their hands, because, despite thir- ty years of relative affluence in Canada, the percentage of poor people has increased. not decreased. Unemployment remains entrenched at over 10% of the population. Yet, in order to break the poverty cycle; the plan- ners have to build decent, afford- able housing somewhere for peo- ple who need it. And that means proposing developments in some- one's backyard - including the suburbs. Two days after hearing Sewell's speech, I participated in a workshop in a small northern fishing village, called Rossport. Its a pleasant two hour drive east of Thunder Bay, along the beauti- ful north shore of Lake Superior. Rossport is not only geographi- cally far away from Don Mills, its socially isolated as well. Rossport does not show any evi- dence of NIMBY. Its total popu- lation is under 200. Rossport Started as a fishing port in the 1930's. when commercial fishing was strong enough on Lake Superior to support many fami- lies. In the 50's, the sea lamprey and excess fishing nearly wiped out the lake trout population. Rossport nearly died. Lately, its been going through a revival. Families who wanted to move away from the smells and Don Mills-like sterility of nearby pulp and railway towns have built "dream homes" in Rossport - some on gorgeous lake front lots. Rossport is a "suburb" in one sense, or bedroom community, for people who work for the CPR in Schreiber, the Minova mine outside Schreiber, or the Kimberly Clark pulp mill in Terrace Bay. But the "suburban mentality" Sewell complained about is not evident in Rossport. The work- shop was called to look at Rossport's future. A local devel- opment committee has launched a major study of the tourism poten- tial of the area, since Rossport has been picked by the provincial government as one of the "Five Star" tourist attractions in the Lake Superior corridor. So the Rossport Conservation and Development Group decided to continued on page 6