apple-picking mayhem!


oh! dear me. hi.

not having grown up in the wonderful province of ontario, i never got to have the quintessential ontario-elementary-school-field-trip experience of picking apples in the fall. now that i have some time on my hands, i decided to grab the bull by the horns.

i think i picked about three before i got bored and started gossiping about boys. thereby unintentionally completing the elementary school field trip experience. here is a little photo diary:




i carefully orchestrated that picture. for posterity.




my first bite of an apple fresh off the tree.




for the record, that look says "holy shit, that's a good apple."






and the finished result. apple pie with a cheddar crust.

newfound freedom


sorry to be a bit late in responding to the italian wonderfulness. i'm extremely jealous. especially because the best kind of trip i'm going to get this summer is here or maybe here and here. i'm hoping for some serious lobster and beach time in august at the latter.

BUT! exciting news. i'm all finished with school! which means that i'll actually have time to cook again. and guess what little dr. science got me as a congratulations?




he's a good gift-giver, that one. now if only it wasn't seven-hundred millions degrees outside, i might turn on the oven.

food adventures in italy

this is pointwise folks, cuz i got a curry on the stove and a cliff and a sarah on their way over to devour it.

so italy pretty much rocks. but we knew that already. here is a list of the best of our fly-by visit:

1. stupidly delicious spaghetti alla vongole scarfed not two hours into our holiday.
2. chicory fried in olive oil and dressed with lemon juice. ooh!
3. suppli snack on the way out to the bar. very necessary. very delicious.
4. strawberry gelato from heaven. oh! so! good! i went from 'mmm yum strawberry' to 'oooooh strawberry' to 'holy shit! that is strawberry madness!' in three seconds flat.
5. foccacia snacks slathered with ligurian pesto and buffalo mozzarella on our hike along the coast. yes.
6. artichoke pizza in a roman back street. mmm. actually there were artichokes everywhere. spring is a good time to travel in italy. i continued the artichoke love when we got home with this little number:


risotto ai carciofi. very very good.

fiddleheads!

if ever there were a sure sign of spring around these parts, it would be the arrival of these guys at the local market. they usually sit at the foot of the door, in big pans filled with water. and you had better snatch them up fast, because they're only around for about two weeks. you know, it was actually jack and lydia who pointed them out to me first, when they were visiting a couple years ago. not being a native ontarian, i always thought they looked kind of gross. but you know what? they aren't. they're really totally super delicious.




here they are next to some soupe au pistou (which i am still eating EVERY DAY at work). i'm gonna miss those little guys when they're gone. even if it DOES mean we're that much closer to xmas.

you had better be taking a lot of photos in italy, miss abigail. i want to see them all.

further to the easter feast thing

so although the indian fiesta will doubtless go down in history as a major (and unmatchable) eat-a-thon, it seems as though this year's holiday was also fairly foody o'er here. at least, the last two meals i photographed were both on easter weekend. the first was a light dinnery thing after eating the motherload of picnic goodness in the park for lunch. i'd been meaning to try this haloumi and strawberry salad for a while and finally had sweet enough berries to justify giving it a go. i think i'm going to do a rerun during prime season but the early guys were yum all the same.


the second was a much heavier roast lamby thing with eggplant, chickpeas and chargrilled chilli peppers. the recipe came from deicious magazine but they don't seem to list it online so i'll have to get back to you on that one. super yum though. mm-mmm.


in other news, we're off to italy on wednesday for a little pre-summer treat. i'll try to take some food pics! love.

two for one

two dishes today, ms. abigail, to demonstrate my love for gourmet. i was a non-believer for a long time, but i think this marks my conversion. first up: a savoury pain perdu



and last night's special dinner: roasted mushrooms and lemon-y gnocchi



pay no heed to their pictures. mine are much more edible. that lemon gnocchi thing made me hum and wiggle with glee. yum.

also: it's time to grab a picnic basket! i'm very excited.
and look at this.
(awwwwwwwww. sminket.)

artichokes!

as per usual, spring has me perplexed by the mere fact that seasonal change is possible, and i find myself wandering around the market saying things like 'holy shit, these vegetables are not only fresh, they're almost affordable!' and 'how the hell did i ever bike with these heels on anyways?' only to have those first few moments of wonder quickly once again fade into the everyday. it's kinda sad, really. so for those first couple of days when the sight of beautiful, fresh, tender baby artichokes is enough to make my heart stop, you gotta just run with it and have a little party. plus, this was a nice chance to try out a new recipe. (two hours prep time? totally not true.) i was singing a little song and licking my fingers all the way to the plate. except for that sad excuse for falafel. i'm not really sure what happened there.



remember our easter feast? when we made lemon pickle and all the chutneys and then that mango lassi with the cumin star? i was thinking about that this weekend. this year saw me feastless. by choice.

ps - these plates belong to the good doctor. i used to think they were hideous, being a white plate snob myself, but they're kinda starting to grow on me.
help.