Baking

A good portion of yesterday afternoon was spent baking.  

I got a bunch of rhubarb the other day (thanks Vicki!), and so I made rhubarb snacking cake using this recipe.  

 

I also made dough for pie crust which I chilled overnight, and a couple loaves of my favourite bread.

I gave Christopher a container last night to fill up with snacky cake for his sister and Will, since they had provided me with the rhubarb.  I said, "Give them lots, because you won't eat it all, and I'm making pie tomorrow too."  He agreed.

He snapped the lid on the container for his sister.  

I burst out laughing when I saw this:

Need a closer look:

Somebody doesn't want to share his snacky cake ;-)  After a good laugh, he grudgingly happily filled the container to the top.  

Do you like rhubarb?  Have you ever cooked/baked with it?

Weekend Re-Cap

What a beautiful weekend!  It started out with a dinner at 13th Avenue Food & Coffee House on Friday.  

I was happy that we ran in to pals (and the restaurant owners), Emanuela and Dalton.  We enjoyed dinner while visiting with them and listening to the drum and didgeridoo duo that was playing outside.  

Ema gave us a tour of the restaurant, which was cool, since I'd been eating there for years, but had never seen behind the scenes.

On Saturday we had a friend over for some BBQd eats before heading to see Alice in Chains in concert.  We ate ribs with a Korean BBQ sauce, grilled portobellas, corn and potatoes with herbs and shallot oil.

 

How was your weekend? 

Five on Friday

1) Yesterday I had an awesome day with Christopher's sister Vicki.  We went for breakfast to Fresh & Sweet, ran a few errands and visited with some bubbly in the backyard.



2) I used to make my green smoothies with spinach, but I'm totally loving kale these days (4 large kale leaves, 1/2 large frozen banana, about 1 cup chocolate coconut water).



3) I went to take a bite out of my egg bagel sandwich this morning, and this happened:



Darn runny eggs (but they taste so good)!

4) I have a lot of cleaning/purging/organizing plans for the summer around the house.  Today was just a clean house/laundry day.  All sparkly clean!




5) I'm looking forward to seeing Alice in Chains in concert tomorrow!

What do you have planned for the weekend?  Do you have any summer cleaning/organizing projects on your to-do list?

Food Lists

Sometimes I do really important research. 

Like, you know, looking up the 10 most expensive foods in the world.  Google - I blame you for this.  Thankfully, none of these foods look appealing, and my bank account just breathed a sigh of relief.

Hmmm, what next, maybe the 50 best foods in the world ...

CNN posted an article quite a while ago about what their staff consider to be the 50 most delicious foods/dishes on the planet.  I thought the list was too general, and also a little ridiculous (and off base - where's the kimchi!?).  Some of the foods that made the cut include:  buttered popcorn, poutine, ketchup, maple syrup, donuts, ice cream, stinky tofu, buttered toast with Marmite, pho, tacos, Montreal smoked meat, lasagna, lobster, sushi, chocolate, and corn on the cob.

Corn on the cob was the only vegetable that made the list.  I think my list would be full of veggies! This evening we had a veggie-filled dinner that included grilled portobellos, skewers with peppers, tofu, tomato and cucumber, and corn on the cob.

I like a more specific list, such as this list of 33 foods worth traveling across the world just to eat.  I actually want to try the foods on this list, and beebimbap made the cut ... now we're getting somewhere!

This list of the worlds most extreme foods is kind of fun! 

Alright, bed time Jolene.

Summer!!

My first day of summer holidays (yesterday) was spent indoors at the library, page numbering the appendices of my thesis, and cursing the university computers.  I got that off of my plate right away so that the next little while could be spent on more enjoyable activities.  

Today I was up bright and early to make the most of the beautiful day.  I did a bunch of yard work, pulling every last weed, mowing the lawns, and ridding the yard of bug webs, etc..  I look forward to spending a lot of time enjoying the backyard this summer.

I headed downtown to meet my pal Shauna for lunch and a visit on her break.  I got there a little early and wandered the farmers market for a bit.  I ended up running into my sister and nephew :-)  They were grabbing lunch so I got a drink and joined them for a while.

Lunch was at Gilmore's Place, and it was really good.  I had the tuna sandwich on multi-grain.  I especially liked that they served it with pickles.

Even though it was rippin' hot, we sat out in the sun and soaked it up.  Summer is far too short here.  I ran errands this afternoon and started prepping supper; I love productive days!

Do you live in a place with a short summer?  How do you make the most of it?  Do you have any time off this summer - plans? 

Mid-Year Review

I can't believe it is officially the middle of 2013.  It's true that time flies when you're having fun!  The first half of this year has been awesome.  I've eaten some of the best meals of my life this year, and we came up with some delicious recipes so far, including some favourites:

Po Boys

Seafood and Sausage Gumbo

Fish Burrito  

Shanghai Noodles with Pork

 

We traveled to Mexico where we saw two friends get married, soaked up some much-needed sun, and relaxed. 

We also traveled to New Orleans, where we saw out first live NBA game, and ate at numerous restaurants that were featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  

We went on many little road trips, enjoyed a lot of live music, celebrated life, love and other things ...  I'm very excited for the rest of 2013. 

How has 2013 been for you so far?

No More Food!

I am full.  After what felt like a week of parties/events at work, a seafood celebration on Friday, and more indulging over the weekend, I don't think I want to see rich foods for a long time!

That being said, celebrating on Friday was pretty great!

We started with tuna sashimi.

This was followed by escargot.

Finally we had Alaskan king crab legs; they barely fit on this over-sized cookie sheet.

Breakfast on Saturday was half of a bagel with some yogurt and toppings.  This kept us full until dinner, which was at Korea House.

I took some of my bee bim bop home and saved a little room to try Menchies frozen yogurt.  We shared about $3 worth, before heading out to see This is the End.

Sunday morning started out with a southern-inspired breakfast, including a crawfish omelet, bacon, grits and beet lemonade!  

The fullness had kicked in by this point, as we barely made a dent in this breakfast.  We didn't eat again until later in the evening when we got together with family for a low key BBQ and a visit.  Although the food was great, I didn't eat much there either.

It's been decided, we're existing on primarily fruits and veggies for the month of July!  I don't want to see sugar, salt, or fat for at least a few weeks.

How was your weekend?  What was the highlight?  

Do you ever get sick of food after a period of indulgence?