Bliss

Summer afternoons spent outside anywhere are great. But some real special ones are the days I get to relax in the oasis my parents have created in their yard. Already, their garden is full of colour and life. The veggie garden is almost full of seedlings, and it looks like it will be a bumper crop of apples this year - a huge win as they harvested 3 apples last year!

Some of my favourite flowers are in bloom right now. I love how large and delicate peonies are. They come in so many colours and appear to be handcrafted out of the lightest-weight tissue paper available. Irises are very special to me. My grandma always had her back garden full of irises, especially the blue one, so these are very sentimental for me.







a view up to the house

fresh bark mulch makes the pathways "pop"

the blueberry patch is new this year - can't wait for fruit!

mom shows the salad greens hiding under their shade canopy

the apple trellis

the herb garden kinda hides a compost site

looking through the peas, past the potato pots to where dad is watering his veggies

I spy a tomato/basil bed!

Summer is finally on its way!

It's 9pm in the evening and the song birds are still chirping away outside. Add in the fact that I just came home from a day spend at the beach and an evening bbq-ing and it's official: summer is on the way!

May Long was looking a little dissapoining: I was raining on at the Moss St Market on Sat, needed two teas to keep me warm walking around downtown on Sunday. But today, it all came together. The sun was shining - it was warm out!! - I met up with friends down at Gonzaleas and felt like a teenager as I hid my beer from the cops patrolling the beach!
















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Even when it's raining

Even on a grey day like today, there's always crowds and vibrant colours on display at the market. The reason I went this week, was the same as last week: I need my jam! So I set out with Alyx this morning to hunt it down.




I have almost used up the last jar that I bought last fall - the nectarine butter. So delicious! My all time favorite so far has been the rhubarb & vanilla bean. A little sweet with a lot of tart.

Last week I bought a mini jar of plain rhubarb but was promised that the rhubarb & vanilla bean combo would be back this week, and I was not disappointed. I also bought a caramel apple butter and a mini blueberry lavender too! My crumpets are gonna taste soooo good!

You can find out more about these jams and their maker here.














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Huckleberry beer!?!?!

I had heard of this phenomena last September when I was on a whirlwind weekend in Fernie. The Fernie Brewing Co was talked about by my friends before I arrived and I was hoping to swing by and check it out. Alas, the craziness of prepping for and coordinating a wedding kinda ate up all our time and I never did stop in to taste their beer.

That's why I was so stoked last week to see the the Strath Liquor Store had some bottles in. The beer is called What the Huck and it's a wheat beer (a favorite style of mine) infused with huckleberries.

I have fond memories of summers spend camping around Cowichan Lake. I'd often walk through the woods during the day - within view of the rents, being 7 or 8 - and pick huckleberries. I'd pretend that I was lost in the woods and I was picking them to survive on. If you're familiar with them, you know they are a teeny tiny berry and in order to live off them, you'd be picking for hours.

I cracked open the bottle tonight and I'm super stoked on this beer. Here's hoping they have it in stock often as I can see it being a regular bevy this summer!





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Easy meals

I had bought a groupon a few months ago for a local company called What's for Dinner ( check out their website here: http://www.whats4dinner.ca/).

Their idea is to take most of the prep work out of cooking. You order your meals in advance from their menu that changes monthly. You arrive, wash your hands and visit each station where you proceed to mix all the ingredients. This is the great part - diabetic? Don't add sugar. High blood pressure? Leave out the salt. You can alter the recipes to your taste. They are fresh in the store - you freeze them when you get home, so you have the opportunity to add some extras in your own kitchen before you pop them in the freezer.




Above is the prep station before I made my Spinach & Gruyere Quiche - yumm!

I can see how this is a super idea for busy people, new moms, working professionals. It took me about 50 minutes to prep 6 meals, although half of these I separated into smaller portions right there.



Here's all my meals packed and ready to go home... Balsamic Glazed Chicken, Japanese Fried Chicken, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chinese BBQ Pork Roast, Spanikopita Turkey Meatballs and the quiche... Now my freezer's stocked and ready for a busy month!

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Location:What's for Dinner

Kitchen drawer dinner

My friend Meag often refers to these "kitchen drawer dinners" - the ones where you don't go to the grocery store and make dinner exclusively from what's in the bottom drawers in the fridge. Usually this turns into a one pot dinner too. It's often the best way to go.

That's what dinner was for me tonight. And I love these, especially when they cone together like this - delicious!

Mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, asparagus, shrimp (from the freezer), diced tomatoes (added later) with wine. Add some pappardelle and a little grated hard cheese - perfection!



Not too shabby for a mid-week dinner, ya?



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Location:Home