Nectarine, Mascarpone & Gingersnap Tartlets

It's nectarine season, and ohhhh man are they good. You think you know what nectarines taste like... and then you take a big, juicy bite out of some ripe in-season fruit and your brain explodes from the sweet, gorgeous flavour party in your mouth. You basically have to make out with one of them to keep the juices from dripping all over you, but they're so insanely good that it's totally worth looking a bit vulgar while you eat. 

Anyway, I picked up a basket of perfect nectarines from Steve & Dan's fruit stand at the 124th Street Grand Market last week, and have been gorging on them ever since. While I mostly just eat them whole, I wanted to make something special with them - a celebration of nectarines - and make sure the internet knows how inappropriately in love I am with this fruit.

Keep reading »

Rhubarb & Strawberry Galettes

It's been so gloomy out the past few days, but this weather makes me all the more grateful that our May long weekend was so gorgeous. I booked off an additional two days from work to turn it into a five day weekend, as did my mom (who came up to visit), and we had an awesome family weekend that included seeing Fleetwood Mac in concert, shopping on Whyte Ave, and wandering around the jungle of flowers and plants at the Enjoy Centre. On Saturday we all went to have lunch on the Manor Bistro's sunny patio (if you live in Edmonton and haven't been to this little hidden gem, you need to go. Like, right now). Afterward we went on a leisurely walk up 124th Street - we purposely skipped dessert at the restaurant so we could go to Duchess for a treat. It was packed in there, as usual, and I panic-bought the most delicious looking thing I could see through the crowd of customers - a rhubarb galette. I demolished it before we even got back to the car. 

Keep reading »

Gourmet Granola Bars

Like so many others, I get tired of making lunches to take to work every day. I know it's cheaper and healthier and less wasteful to bring your own food, but sometimes the laziness takes over and I just go out and buy something. Not only is it not good for my bank account, but when you're keeping track of calories, protein, fibre - whatever - it's hard to control your intake when you didn't make the food yourself. It's a bad habit.

So, after several days of buying lunches and having cereal for dinner, I decided I would make a huge batch of granola bars so at least I would have something substantial and homemade to take to work every day. I found this basic recipe and thought up a few different varieties that I wanted to try. I went to my friendly neighbourhood Bulk Barn again (they're starting to recognize me) and loaded up on fruit, nuts, and other bits and pieces to put in my bars. They have everything from protein powders to fibre supplements, so you can really make a powerhouse batch of granola bars if you're so inclined.

Keep reading »

World's Best Sangria

This weekend, my sistah-from-anotha-mistah Jenna came to visit. We shopped at the Old Strathcona farmer's market, walked down Whyte, did lunch at two of my favourite restaurants (Mayfield Joey's and the Cactus Club), went to the mall and shopped till we dropped, AND made an epic meal from recipes we found on Pinterest. Basically the girliest weekend ever.

And here's one more superlative: this is the best sangria I've ever had, like ever. In my whole life. We made two big pitchers of it and guzzled it like juice. It was a gorgeous weekend for it - I don't want to jinx anything, but I feel like summer is officially here to stay. And now that we have a signature drink, I hope there are many more girly weekends in the coming months.


Keep reading »