Summer Spread: Herby White Bean and Feta Dip

 

This is a sponsored post. While I was compensated by the Ontario Bean Growers, I've been a huge fan of all things bean related for a very long time. All opinions are mine.

While the “official” start to summer is less than a week away, I’ve been feeling those summertime vibes for some time now. It’s another scorcher of a day here in Saskatoon, and with a house that lacks air conditioning, finding meals to cook without generating any heat inside the house is a huge deal for me. Heck, even when I boil the tea kettle, my thermostat goes up by half a degree! Gotta love old houses and the sweat boxes they truly are. Oh what I wouldn’t give for a finished basement and/or the hum of air conditioning right now. Alas, I’ve sweltered in the summer for well over a decade here, and I am more or less used to it. Doesn’t mean I won’t whine about it from time to time!

Watermelon, Pomegranate and Feta Salad with Mint

This is a sponsored post.  I was compensated financially by the National Watermelon Promotion Board.  As always, I wouldn't tell you about a product unless I really really love it.  And I love watermelon.  

So, we're in the thick of it, aren't we?  Hustling to and fro, going to holiday parties and Christmas concerts, and doing our best to make the season bright.  If you're like me, and busy busy busy, you're behind on your baking and unsure if those Christmas cards will be sent out before the Big Day.  Don't fret.  Do the best you can.  And if in doubt, hum along to Good King Wenceslas.  It works!  I swear!  And, of course, the Plan B is always a shot of something boozy into a hot beverage.  Baileys in hot chocolate is a fave around here!

Greek Stuffed Zucchini with Rice and Lentils

This is a sponsored post.  I was compensated financially by USA Rice.  All thoughts and feelings and opinions about rice are entirely my own.  As always, I wouldn't tell you about a product  unless I loved it.   


I didn't grow any zucchini this year.  In fact, I didn't grow much of anything except pots of herbs and 3 tomatoes.  No, not tomato plants.  Tomatoes, singular.  I'm not sure why the heck my tomatoes did not flourish, but I have an inkling it's because my yard has become tremendously shady over the past couple of years.  Veg hate shade, that's a known fact.  Good thing I'm dating a vegetable farmer so there has been no shortage of tomatoes, or zucchini or anything else that grows in the ground around here.  If I were an emoji right now, I'd be the one with hearts for eyes.

Finish Line: Roasted Chickpea & Cauliflower Tacos

You guys!  I did it!  The manuscript and photographs for my first ever cookbook are now at the publisher’s and I’m still kinda in shock that hey, I just wrote a cookbook.  No big whoop.  Except of course, it is.  A very big whoop.  I’m still kinda processing the whole experience, really.  When people ask what it was like, all I can say is that I loved it.  So much.  Even the parts where I had to wash dishes until midnight, only remembering then that I never even brushed my teeth that day.  Such was the life!  I want to talk more about it later, after I’ve kinda calmed down a bit, but today, I’m spilling the beans on these really, really good tacos I made my mom went I went to visit her last week.  

Summer in a Bowl: Watermelon, Feta & Mint Salad

How in the world is it possibly the first day of August?  Not to be all Debbie Downer on ya, but summer is half over, you realize that.  So, please tell me you are having loads of fun, okay?  That you are sucking in the sunshine and breathing out wisps of joy.  I hope you've walked on beaches and dug your toes in sand and eaten too many marshmallows, and maybe seen a falling star (or two) and made very.important.wishes, because they come true you know.  If you haven't done any of that stuff yet (me neither) don't fret, you still have time.  But summer won't last forever so read this post because it's very important you do, then get out there and soak in some summatime.  Slather on the SPF 45 first though, right?

Go Green! Lentil Salad with Sorrel & Asparagus

Don't you just love this time of year?  Anything green and leafy has been bursting with life.  The lilac hedge outside my window, the same window I gaze out of as I write this, is lush and terribly fragrant.  Even the grass I thought was dead seems to have come back to life.  Of course the creeping bellflower (the current bane of my existence) and other hideous weeds are having their fun in the sun too.  But let's not talk weeds when we can talk Good News:  my garden is finally planted!  However, I can't find kale seeds/plants anywhere!  A certain handsome man loves the kale like crazy so it is my current mission in life to find some kale seeds.  He has kindly offered to be my weeder (!!), so it's the least I can do in return.  For serious.  Who offers to weed a garden?  Oh love.  It must be love.

Double Mushroom Pizza with Bacon & Balsamic Drizzle

I'm SUPER thrilled to be guest posting on the Mushrooms Canada blog today.  This pizza was created specially for them, and mushroom lovers everywhere! 

Just Waking Up: Breakfast Tacos with Avocado Salsa

 

"Springtime is the land awakening.  The March winds are the morning yawn."  Lewis Grizzard


Give it up for being officially into Spring!  While there are still bits and pieces of snow scattered here and there, and the night-time temps are well into freezing, the big melt is on.  I even dug out my blue rubber boots, and almost teared up from the sheer joy of pulling them on, once again.  Yep, total weirdo.  I've seen life, in my flowerbeds - glimpses of green beneath the mulch of dead leaves.  It's subtle, but it's there.  Earth is beginning to turn over, and shed Winter's dead weight.  I'm crazy in love with this time of year.  I felt the warmth of the sun on my back today and thought of this song.  Always a sucker for fresh starts and a general rebirth of well being, Spring is my time and I dig it.  Hardcore.