Change Is Good: Finding My Inner Gluten Free Baker

You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try.  ~ Dolly Parton 

Change.  It's good, but terrifying at the same time.  While we welcome and thrive in routine, every once in awhile a little upheaval is called for.  To grow professionally and personally, sometimes we have to take a big leap into the unknown and just hope to God that our instincts are right.  For the past year or so I've known that I needed to make some professional changes.  Considering how much time is devoted to work, I needed to make that part of my life better.  But how easy it is to coast along.  You get comfy and kinda forget what else is out there.  That is, until a phone call comes from out of the blue and your life changes forever.

Don't Freak Out: Chocolate Cream Filled Profiteroles

Tonight I watched a swarm of about 20 birds (don't ask me which ones - I'm terrible when it comes to birds) descend upon my birdbath in the rock garden.  I was just noshing on the last few leaves of my salad and suddenly, from out of nowhere, these feathered friends decided to take a bath together.  It was fascinating stuff.  Some would hang back and wait their turn before jumping in.  Others would bully the smaller birds into retreating.  I was kinda captivated.  For some reason this birdbath gets plenty of avian action.  In the morning, just after I've woken up and fed the fur babies their fancy feast, I take a peek out the window and more often than not there is a fat robin or even fatter blue jay splashing around like crazy.  I don't know why it makes me happy to see them having so much fun, but it does.  Especially when they shake all of the water off.  That's the best part.  Along with their wet heads.  I love it.  It's these small moments at either end of my day which grab my attention and hold it.  Little reminders, I suppose, that life is full of big and small and in-between moments, and for whatever reason the simple sight of a bird washing its feathers is enough to ease me into or out of that good night. 

Grilled Thai Turkey Salad Rolls with Enoki Mushrooms & Peanut Sauce

 

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post, but you know I wouldn't tell you about 

something unless I thought it was completely and utterly fabulous.

Can we all agree that one of the best things about summer is the food?  My oven basically goes into hibernation on those super hot days, and the grill is the way to go.  I'm so pleased to have partnered up with Mushrooms Canada and Turkey Farmers of Canada on their brand new e-cookbook Get Your Grill On With Turkey & Mushrooms.  Inside are 20 recipes from really great Canadian food bloggers and I'm thrilled to be sharing my Grilled Thai Turkey Salad Rolls with Enoki Mushrooms & Peanut Sauce.  These gorgeous rolls pretty much scream SUMMER, and I know they'll be making many repeat performances over the next few months.  Perfect little appetizers, or if you can't eat just one or two (like me) a highly acceptable dinner; ideally accompanied by a cool, frothy beverage and a patio table in the shade. 

Tomato Basil Salad with White Beans & Bocconcini

Do you ever have those days when you don't know what in the world you are going to feed yourself?  I see your heads bobbing up and down so I'm going to take that as a yes.  Lately I've been having plenty of those glassy-eyed glances into the refrigerator.  Chalk it up to a new gardening season going at full throttle and other fun extra-curricular activities occupying a good chunk o'time.  And then there are those days when I just. don't. want. to. cook.  There I said it.  I make a living feeding people and some days I find it hard to muster the energy to feed my own belly.  It's ever-so-tempting to stop by the pizza place on the way home, but I'm cheap take-out is expensive and I'm picky often not very good.  My well-stocked pantry and refrigerator save my bacon many a day, and before I know it a delicious salad like this comes together in under 15 minutes.  Easy.  And right now easy is good. 

Flourless Banana-Chocolate Pudding Cakes with Whipped Coconut Cream

Sitting here, on this quiet Sunday evening, I find myself a little stuck for words.  No, nothing horrible has happened (yippee!) in fact I'm on the cusp of something fantastic (I think!), though I don't want to spill the details just yet.  Superstition and all that.  And no, it doesn't involve a boy.  This will continue to be a boy-free zone for a good while longer, though I can't remember the last time I shed a tear over the man who was so reckless with my heart.   I'm guessing that's a good sign the heart is in repair, ready for it's final tune-up.  Time really does have magical healing properties, doesn't it?  As does chocolate.  Both work wonders, in their own way.  No.  Good things are around the corner, I can feel it.  Stay tuned for future developments.  In the meantime, today I bring you banana-chocolate pudding cakes and a wee adventure on whipping coconut cream.  Let's dive in, shall we?

For the Gardener: Chipotle Spiced Lamb & Kale Tostadas

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. ~ Margaret Atwood

You can't see me right now but I'm totally doing a little happy dance.  Well, little wiggles in my chair, but that still counts.  Nope, not drunk (though I did have the best mango margarita this afternoon), but insanely happy that I've officially started gardening.  I busted out the garden gloves and the trowels and got friendly with some dirt today.  It felt good.  After what seemed like the longest winter in the history of the universe, I never thought I'd be so happy to uproot dandelions.  Just watching earthworms slither along the freshly turned over soil made me smile.  I'm a total weirdo, but after the winter I've had, you'd do the same thing.  I'm also super happy to have my post-surgery strength back, which means I don't have to be so paranoid about lifting anything over 10 pounds.  (Um, my cats are fat over ten pounds so I can finally squish them to bits.  I think this pleases me more than them).  Being strong again means all I want to do is make my yard pretty.  Which kinda means less time is spent in the kitchen, so food has to be quick and dirty.  And that's why today we are talkin' tostadas.
 

Skillet Cornbread with Goat Cheese & Fig Jam

May long weekend - the unofficial start to summer - is just around the corner, and loads of happy campers are preparing to head to the wilderness for a little escapism.  But not this gal.  Call me crazy but I'm a fan ofindoor plumbing; not sleeping on the cold, hard ground; and I believe in a decent barrier between me and bears.  I get grumpy if I'm damp and cold for too long, and I like washing my hair.  Daily.  I am what would be called a comfort camper, and that's probably why I don't get invited camping a whole lot.  But if you want to invite me to your cozy cottage by the lake (you have a shower, right?), I'd be down with that and even make you dinner.  My culinary skills make me a valuable houseguest - true story.