Cook (those) books. Spring edition.

Social media is a funny thing. It’s a superficial entity filled with soundbites and pictures of the perfect moments of our lives. (Lets not even talk about all the pouty lipped “selfies” out there) Arguments could be made that it both brings societies and people closer together and yet somehow manages to isolate us even further. After all, we’ve all seen the table filled with people using their smart phones rather than having an actual conversation. I like to think though that used the right way social media is a great way to make new friends and keep up with old ones.

And that’s just what happened. A couple of weeks ago I had the great fortune of meeting an online twitter and blog friend Jeanette Ordas from the delicious website Everybody Likes Sandwiches. In our brief (in person!) chat we, not surprisingly, talked about blogging and cookbooks. It got me thinking that it had been awhile since I had written a Cook(those)books post about the recipes I’ve been trying from my cookbook collection. So, with thanks to Jeanette, a blog post was born.

Cook(those)books. Year two. And Canning.

You know how in goal setting 101 it is often said that if you want to achieve something you first need to write it down and then you need to make it public? Well almost exactly a year ago I gave myself a cook(those)books challenge. I pledged to try two new recipes a week from my rather extensive collection of cookbooks and cooking magazines. I blogged about it (which is pretty much as written down and out there as you can get) and off I went. But, as with many well laid plans the challenge didn’t go at all as hoped. I guess one could say that I failed. Awesome. And here I thought it was going to be one of the easier goals I had ever set myself.

September Foodie Penpal Package

It seems that, quite unintentionally, I took the month of September off from blogging. It wasn’t planned, it just sort of happened. But I’m back, embracing fall and raring to go with a list of ideas and recipes to test in the next few months. I decided it only seemed fitting to have my first post back be a thank you ,and mirror my last post before my “mini-break”. So here we are with a Foodie Penpal package post.

Summer’s End Foodie Pen Pal Package

Well, it’s official. The end of August is here and summer is over. Sigh.

I would have been dreading it a lot more if it hadn’t been for one thing, a package from my Foodie Pen Pal.

Cook(those)books. Summer Edition.

Summer is an easy time to entertain. Food is fresh, nights are sultry and most people aren’t craving the heavy rich meals of the colder months. Summer also means more casual and outdoor dining. It couldn’t be simpler than to light up the barbeque, make some salads and serve fruit for dessert. Perfect.

If you’re looking to celebrate this August long weekend here is my cook(those)books roundup of a few of my recent favourite finds from cookbooks and magazines. Packed in a picnic basket, spread on the picnic table or schlepped to the cottage, these three recipes are absolutely easy and delectable.

Cook(those)books & weekends.

Ah, weekends. How those days do beckon. To me there are three kinds of weekend people. The practical ones who actually relax, the determined-to-get-away (and have fun!)-even-if-it-means-I’ll-be-exhausted-at-the-end-of-it ones and the bury the head in the sand types who spend their days at their desks happy that the phone isn’t ringing as much and they can finally get some work done. Now practical people recognize that you need at least three days for a proper weekend. A day to wind down and get some things accomplished, a day to relax and a day to wind back up and get ready for the week ahead. But how many of us actually find the balance and do this? This past Victoria Day weekend I tried. I gardened, and then I took a nap. I went to a wedding, but then went to bookclub with my girls. I tried a new recipe and cooked dinner for family, but then stayed in my pj’s until noon. Not a bad balance all in all.

What I also did over the long weekend was download about a bazillion photographs and sort through some of my menu and cooking notes. As I was doing that I realized it had been awhile since I did a Cook(those)books recap. So if you need a bit of inspiration here are a couple of the recipes that have been new to my kitchen in the last while.

Peas on earth.

There is an adorable picture that has been around for years that has a bunch of peas sitting on top of the world with the caption “Peas on Earth”. In the interest of copyright I haven’t included it, but do a google search, you’ll find it. If you haven’t seen it let me tell you, it’s pretty cute. Cute enough that my sister bought herself a t-shirt with it emblazoned on it (I haven’t included a picture of her either not because she’s copyrighted but because I figured she might hunt me down). Given that Sunday April 22nd is Earth Day I therefore thought it was only fitting to write about peas.  In this case pea soup.

Hoppy Easter.

This is weekend of religious celebration.  It doesn’t matter to me (and shouldn’t matter to anyone else either) if you celebrate Easter, Passover, something else or nothing at all.  I hope your weekend is filled with activities that renew your spirit, celebrate spring, your many blessings and the people in your life.

Ballerina’s, writers and cookbooks.

What did you want to be when you grew up?  I wanted to be a ballerina.

Well, first I wanted to be a garbage collector.  Seriously.  They wore really cool orange jumpsuits.  For the record, I look horrible in orange.  I moved on.

What I never thought I would do is write.