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.

Rye Shortcakes with Roasted Strawberries & Rhubarb

 

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees,

 just as things grow in fast movies, 

I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Oh summer.  It took you long enough.  Really.  But I'm so glad to finally see you.  Your first couple of official weeks were full of too much rain and not enough heat.  Glad to see you are making up for it now.  Never have I ever been so happy for the return of back sweat.  And excuses to eat ice cream for dinner.  And the feeling of bare feet in the tall grass.  I know you only have a couple of months to spend with me, but like any good, short, sweet romance, lets make the most of it, shall we?  

 

Roasted Rhubarb & Vanilla Bean Clafoutis

Hark!  It's finally here!  The first day of summer y'all!  I just broke so many blogging rules by my gratuitous use of exclamation marks, but whatevs.  Summer is here and I'm happy.  Considering I was buried under a cloak of never-ending winter, I need this summer.  And I need it to be good.  Thoughts of these sun-soaked days are what kept me going when there was 4 feet of snow remaining in my yard mid-April.  These are the days not to be taken for granted.  So get all up in your summer.  Roll around in it.  Breathe it in and let it take over you.  Make it the best short-term relationship you've ever had.  

Worth It: Chocolate & Sour Cherry Cake

90 days.  90 days since there's been anything chocolaty on the blog.  Sure there was that Raspberry and White Chocolate Tiramisu, but we all know white chocolate doesn't really count in the chocolate world.  No, there hasn't been anything deep dark and delicious since the time that crazy good Pecan Caramel Fudge Pie made an appearance way back in June.  June!  Do you remember June?  Summer was just beginning to breathe; full of promise and sunshine and the excitement of holiday playtime.  I hope you played well and hard, friends.  

Streusel-Topped Strawberry Balsamic Galette

 

I'm kind of at that place in my head (scary stuff) where I need to use all of the most amazing in-season fruit, right.  now.  before, it goes away again til next summer.  There are peaches on my counter crying to be put in a buttermilk cake, and cherries that absolutely must be combined with chocolate in any way, shape or form.  Plus apples, just picked last week that might make a mighty fine pie.  Not too mention that the nectarines have failed to make it home from the market, but I'm hoping to remedy that soon.  Too much fruit!  Too little time!

Blush: Raspberry & White Chocolate Tiramisu

So I'm at work today, doing work stuff, and all I can think about is going home and picking my raspberries. It's that season again kids, and I totally love it.  I pad out into the yard, bare feet and all, which confuses the hell out of my handsome man.  "You are not wearing shoes?" he asks in a bit of sweet confusion.  And I reply, blushing just a little, "no, I love the feel of grass and dirt underfoot."  He just smiles and nods.  And slips on my Crocs.  I head back to the hot spot, against the garage and there is the towering raspberry patch.  It has exploded since last year, which means I sometimes have to sit on the ground to catch all of the low low low ones, then stretch to get all of the goodness smack against the garage.  Most of them go into my bowl, but if I'm telling the truth to you, and I always do, a helluva lot go in the mouth.  I relish these fleeting days of scratched up arms and mosquito bites just to pick a basket or two of my favourite berry.  The taste of sunshine is worth it.

Summer Lovin': Strawberry, Rhubarb & Mascarpone Crepes

Today is the first full day of summer - hip! hip! hooray!  Saskatchewan summers are terribly short, so the thing is to make the most of them because before you know it we'll be bundled up in parkas again.  There's so much to love about right now, this time, this place.  My yard is bursting into colour and the most dramatic Oriental Poppies are beginning to open so like a total dork I stare at them constantly.  I know their moment to shine is fleeting so I'm savouring their beauty while I can.  There's a lesson in that, right there, which isn't lost on me.  The next 90 days will be jam-packed with bonfires, star gazing, picnics, ice cold beers, pool side margaritas, outdoor concerts, garden goodness, bare feet, sunburns, strappy sandals & sundresses, (old) friendly faces, ice cream and more ice cream, wishes on shooting stars, road trips, skinny dips(?), sand between toes, kids blowing bubbles, hammock afternoons and lots and lots of BBQ.  So much to look forward to I can't stand it.

Rhubarb Fool with Lavender Cream & Pistachios

I do this thing every year, every day, at this point in Spring - a walkabout around the yard.  I poke at perennials to see if they are still alive - most are but for some wild and crazy reason some don't make it.  (I lost Lamb's Ear and Globe Thistle and Purple Coneflower this year - what the hell?!).  If I were more organized and more nerdy I'd totally make a journal with drawings so I can remember where the hell I planted what, because I'm getting old and the short term memory is just not there anymore, though I can tell you who won the Stanley Cup in 1990 and what year Shakespeare in Love won the Best Picture Oscar.  If you're curious, keep on reading.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, garden nerd talk.  So in this walkabout around the yard, I'm always excited to go back to the veg patch - there is no action there yet - it's just a sad heap of wet, rotten leaves covering dirt until the Rototiller Man can come and work it up for me.  But there in the corner, thriving away in all of its big leafy business in my old friend Rhubarb - or the Barb as I lovingly call it.