Easy Does It: Chocolate and Cherry Cheesecake Jars

Just five days ago, I had to say goodbye to my sweet orange cat, Sunny. If you've been reading my blog long enough, or following me over on Instagram, you know that this little fella was a dear furry friend to me. Found in 2010 when he was just a young one, Sunny was my sidekick for over 11 years. He was a special little guy and I miss him so much. In recent years, he was diabetic. Needles full of insulin twice a day, special food for a special diet, you name it, we did it. He continued to be active and healthy, with a good appetite and spirit. But in the span of a week he stopped running around the yard and trying to snag the bacon off of my breakfast plate, to not wanting to eat, drink or even move. I rushed him to the emergency vet hospital on Saturday and it was there we found out he was very sick with complications to his diabetes and treatment would be very costly and extensive. I made the toughest decision to let him go, as I couldn't bear it if he was suffering. We said our goodbyes curled up together on the cold floor of a dimly lit room. I brushed the soft fur on his belly one last time and told him I'll love him forever. And then my sweet Sunny was gone. Just like that. On the drive home the Saskatoon sky was lit up with orange and pink, and I can't help but think this was Sunny's way of saying his final goodbye to us. The house feels strange now, like something is missing. The other cats have felt it too - not wanting to eat very much, and are looking around for him outside. They never got to say goodbye to their brother, and I know they miss him too. I've been trying to take it easy this week, being gentle with myself and letting the grief come and go. Cats are like family, and I loved Sunny dearly. But, the thing is, we carry on. We live the next day and the next. We laugh to remember and cry, too. Life is full of really great and really sad moments. Taking the good with the bad is the just the way it goes. I'm hoping for more of the good now, please.

Summer Bubble: Cherry Dutch Baby

"Cherries bring with them a certain frivolity, a carefree joy like hearing the far-off laughter of a child at play.  Their appearance, in deepest summer, comes when life is often at its most untroubled.  A bag of cherries is a bag of happiness."  ~ Nigel Slater

I'm taking a break from stuffing my face with all of the glorious summer fruit to say hi.  Hi.  I hope your summer is especially untroubled and frivolous.  It's the only way to behave right now, right?  Someone told me the other day how many weeks, no days, are left in summer and I told them to shhhhhhhhh.  No one burst my summer bubble.  I'm not thinking past the middle of September, thank you very much.  Right now it's all about reveling in the sunshine, letting the warm air wash over my skin and driving on back roads with the windows rolled down.   I've been on a few road trips here and there, exploring beautiful pockets of Saskatchewan and Alberta.  If you've been following me on Instagram, you've no doubt seen the deluge of prairie vista shots.  I can't stop!  The photos will no doubt show up in a post here very soon.  But today I want to tell about this Dutch Baby I made my mom for her birthday breakfast.  It's so good, it's worth turning the oven on for.  Promise.  

Dark Chocolate Waffles & Oscar Talk

I know, I know, every year I hit ya with some sort of scrumptious appetizer to create for your Oscar party.  This year, I'm a total slacker (where are the days going?) but I have these insanely good waffles to share with you.  By all means, make them for Oscar day - breakfast, lunch, dinner - nothing wrong with that.  I wish someone would invite me to a party where they served waffles.  Hint hint wink wink.  But really this post is just an excuse for Oscar talk, which right now, is the best kind of talk.  

13 Things You Need To Eat This Summer

Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clothes, and the right kind of day is jeweled balm for the battered spirit. ~ Ada Louise Huxtable

It's true though, isn't it?  How long have we waited for the warm summer breezes to wash over us and carry away our worries and general maladies?  Now that we are in the throes of this most glorious time of year, I hope you are indeed wearing less clothing and generally feeling quite awesome.  Today we delve into the archives for a little summertime fun and food.  It was quite the trip to pick my favourite foods to eat while wiping away sweat from the upper lip.  Look how much my photos have changed!  We've come a long way, baby.  Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with me.  I'll be back in a few with a brand new post.  I made cake!  And there may or may not have been milk chocolate ganache involved.  Believe me, you don't want to miss it.  Until then, happy 4th of July to my American friends, and don't forget the SPF. 

Wonderment: Washington Organic Fruit Tour

 Bosc Pears.

Just over a week ago I returned from Washington State, after a four day excursion that saw me climb around orchards; tour an apple packing plant; get a preserving lesson from a pro - in Whole Foods no less (my first time there!); dine out in some of Washington's finest organic restaurants; hang out with some of this country's finest (and funnest!) food writers; and wander around Pike Place Market in awe and fascination, wishing I could take it all home with me.  And in a way I have.  I'm still tasting that organic Gala, picked off the tree, so sweet and crisp.  I can still smell the sweet apple pie preserves, bubbling away on the stove.  I'm still wishing I could find flowers here, like I saw there, with baby cabbages in them and everything.  And the coffee.  My God the coffee.  So delicious.  I have so much to tell you, but be warned!  The post is HEAVY on photos and text.  Like, I hope you don't get bored.  Please come along for the ride - it was a good one.