The sun was setting when my flight left for France.
The organic farm I stayed on was in the Normandy region, near a small town called Bernay.
August 31, 2011
France 2011
I'm back in town briefly before I fly out to Halifax to visit a friend who recently got married and moved out east, so here's a brief recap of my trip:
The sun was setting when my flight left for France.
The organic farm I stayed on was in the Normandy region, near a small town called Bernay.
The sun was setting when my flight left for France.
The organic farm I stayed on was in the Normandy region, near a small town called Bernay.
July 30, 2011
Strawberry Galette
I'm not exactly sure when this happened but it is somehow the end of July. This month has been a tiring, activity-filled blur, which included watching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 2) at the midnight showing. Nothing says I'm turning into an old bag like constantly yawning in line and hoping I don't fall asleep during the movie.
July is also the time of year where I grow another year older. I am trying my best not to let the mid-twenties crisis overwhelm me, but this year more than anything I can feel Adulthood approaching as friends around me are getting engaged and married. Cue the, "What am I doing with my life?" moment.
June 27, 2011
Jalapeno Cheddar Scones
Summer is officially here and the city is a-buzzing. After a long, cold winter, everyone comes out of hibernation and each weekend, streets are shut down for the many festivals happening around the city. While I'm sure this aggravates motorists to no end, summer festivals are one of the reasons why I love Toronto.
The past month has been filled with baseball games and bike rides and strolls along the beach. The farmers' markets are in full swing and my dragon boat team's season has started. Life has been busy but in the best, possible (if exhausting) way.
I also had the pleasure of trekking out to Prince Edward County to spend the day at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival, sampling on local wine and cheese. I purchased two blocks of cheese, a lovely smoked cheese from La Fromagerie Blackburn and the award-winning Louis d'Or from La Fromagerie du Presbytère.
May 22, 2011
Crunchy Granola
Ah, spring. Thank you for your belated arrival. Last week was the first week where the temperature stayed in the double digits and it was definitely most welcomed. However, it seems that I have developed an allergic reaction to pollen. My eyes were itchy and watery and I kept sneezing at random, but even this bizarre development (and the rainy weather this week) has not dampened my enthusiasm for warmer weather.
Do you know who else was enjoying the warm Toronto weather last week? Mark Bittman. I am a huge Mark Bittman fan and I let out a surprising but gleeful, "What?!" when I found out through twitter that he was in town to check out some of the wonderful food programming we have in the city. (Yes, I reluctantly joined the twitter world, mostly because I needed a way to get around New York Times' monthly article limit by following their twitter feed. I don't think I'll be sharing my account with you anytime soon as I have yet to do my first tweet.) For years, a weekly highlight was to see what recipe he was going to post for his now-defunct Minimalist column. The most mind-blowing revelation to date is savoury oatmeal. Who knew that adding soy sauce and scallions to oatmeal would taste like congee? These days, I look forward to his entries on food sustainability.
When I saw his How to Cook Everything at my favourite used bookstore (the one where I can never leave without buying something), I snatched it up without a second thought. It is the first thing I reach for whenever I have a cooking related question. Skills his cookbook has taught me: how to skin the overabundance of tomatoes growing in my backyard last summer to make oven-dried tomatoes, how to shape a baguette, how to roast a juicy chicken and how to make granola.
April 04, 2011
Almond Butter
A few days after I wrote my post on Japan, the Tohoku region of the country suffered massive destruction from the earthquake and tsunami. It was heartbreaking to see parts of the country so close to my heart, a place I called home for a year, completely in ruins. For days I couldn't turn myself away from the news and even though I was lucky enough that all my friends in Japan are okay, I know people who have friends and family affected by this tragedy.
On Friday night, I was more than happy to attend and participate in the Japan Benefit Party. It didn't matter that I had to be up at the crack of dawn the next day and only got four hours of sleep - it was my way of giving back to Japan, as well as thanking Japan for welcoming me with open arms and teaching me so many wonderful things about its culture.
Ganbare Japan.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
I am in love with my food processor. I'll let you in on a little secret: I purchased the food processor as a gift to myself, a self-congratulation for finally finding employment. That's right, while most people my age would go to the mall to buy a pair of shoes, a purse or an item of clothing, I bought myself a kitchen appliance.
It remains one of my favourite purchases in the past year. My 15+ year old blender just wasn't doing the job I needed it to do (I was sick of constantly having to scrap down the sides) and my shiny new toy is capable of producing fresh almond and flax seed meal. Also: homemade nut butter!
On Friday night, I was more than happy to attend and participate in the Japan Benefit Party. It didn't matter that I had to be up at the crack of dawn the next day and only got four hours of sleep - it was my way of giving back to Japan, as well as thanking Japan for welcoming me with open arms and teaching me so many wonderful things about its culture.
Ganbare Japan.
Now back to your regularly scheduled program.
I am in love with my food processor. I'll let you in on a little secret: I purchased the food processor as a gift to myself, a self-congratulation for finally finding employment. That's right, while most people my age would go to the mall to buy a pair of shoes, a purse or an item of clothing, I bought myself a kitchen appliance.
It remains one of my favourite purchases in the past year. My 15+ year old blender just wasn't doing the job I needed it to do (I was sick of constantly having to scrap down the sides) and my shiny new toy is capable of producing fresh almond and flax seed meal. Also: homemade nut butter!
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