Good Feeling: Sweet & Spicy Rosemary Pecans

"Anything can happen, anything can be!"  ~ Shel Silverstein

One of my favourite songs ever is "Good Feeling", by the Violent Femmes.  The general gist is how you wish for that good feeling to stay with you, just a little longer.  I suppose that's how I feel about this bright and shiny new year.  All of the good stuff that came my way in 2015, I want it to stick around for as long as possible.  2015 will be remembered as the Year of My Amazing Luck, which is a nice upgrade from the years of "Enough Already", and "What Have I Done to Deserve This?"  2013, 2014, I'm looking at you.  I like the turning over of a new calendar year.  Like our buddy Shel said, anything can happen.   That's the brilliant thing about a blank slate - you can set intentions for how you want your life to unfold.  Obviously you won't always get what you want, but then again, you very well may.  I hope that 2016 is full of magic and adventure, courage and creativity.  May there be more laughter than tears, and more hellos that goodbyes.  I'm sending off 2015 with a grateful heart, and I'm eager to see what this new year will look like.  No doubt it won't always be smooth sailing, but I've got a good feeling we're all gonna rock it.  Happy New Year!  

 

Apricot and Pecan Stuffing for Turkey

Oh my gosh you guys.  It's October.  Already.  Which means there are only three months left in this year.  Holy cow.  Time has slid on by, hasn't it?  Usually I'm all melancholic about the upcoming fall and winter, but this year I'm embracing it.  For the first time in my life I get to devote my career to writing.  Like, come over here and pinch me already.  My seasonal pastry chef gig ends in a couple of weeks (that's right, no one golfs in Saskatchewan in the winter) which means my focus will shift to working on the cookbook as well as my regular food writing gigs.  I'm super pumped.  Not because I get to work in my pyjamas and sleep in past 5:30, but because I'm pretty much living out my dream.  That's a pretty big deal.  I'm also traveling to Montreal later this month, which I'm crazy excited about.  The annual Food Bloggers of Canada conference is taking place, and it couldn't happen in a prettier town.  Given that I used to live there 20 years ago, Montreal holds a special place in my heart, and it will be fun to revisit it with old and new friends.  And the food.  Oh lord the food.  Bagels, croissants, poutine - I'll pretty much be carb loading all week.  And I can't wait.  If you know of any must-visit places to eat and drink while there, let me know in the comments! 

Quinoa With Roasted Butternut Squash and Pecans

 

So check it out - these photos were all taken in my backyard a couple of days ago.  The cats stretched out, chewing on new shoots of grass while I snapped away.  Every once in awhile they'd stop chomping and start horking and give me a look like "she's still at it - that quinoa must be cold."  Oh the feline attitude I deal with.  I'm totally loving these days of longer light and the ability to shoot outside again.  I've gots the springtime fever I tell ya!  There are baby buds on trees and life is popping out allover.  Spring just oozes possibilities and I'm totally digging it.