Blogging and brussel sprouts.

It seems as if almost every post I have written lately begins with some sort of apology for my infrequent blogging. A year of school, days in the garden, summer holidays… lots of reasons and excuses, but enough is enough already. I officially graduate in less than a week so school isn’t an excuse, the garden is (almost) ready for winter, and I’m attending a blogging conference just days from now. Gulp. Let me repeat that, the woman who has averaged about a blog a quarter is attending a conference. For food bloggers. Filled with people who write (and publish!) for a living. Double gulp. With that looming motivation in mind I pulled out my notebook and started looking at the list I’ve been keeping of topics I want to turn into brilliant, informative, funny or tasty stories. But where to start?

Getting outside and nettle soup.

If April showers do in fact bring May flowers then Vancouver should have an amazing May. But May is here and while there are lots of flowers the continued rain (and snow in certain parts of the country – shudder) is making me think that perhaps May needs a little reminder what its job is, to be warm enough that we can all get outdoors after a long, cooped up winter and raise our pasty faces to the sun.

Spring and radish greens pesto.

Polar vortex or not, it is officially spring. To celebrate I spent my spring break holiday in northern Canada where it is definitely still winter. Despite the winter weather I kept warm with bundled up walks along the ice covered river, days spent on the couch in my pajamas reading and a glass (or two) of restorative red wine.

But, after a relaxing week of warming holiday comfort food, and with optimism in mind, I’m craving the tastes of spring. One of the first crops that is poking up out of the ground this year are the radishes.

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.

The sting of spring.

I think I can, without jinxing myself, say spring has officially arrived in Vancouver. The morning air is still a bit cool, and there will still be monsoon rains to come, but the sun has a warmth to it that we have been missing for a long, long while. Trees and flowers are blooming, the birds are devouring the seed from the feeder daily and neighbours are stopping to say hello as I dig in the dirt. Yes. Hooray for spring.

Guests, Pie and Potato gratin.

When I was a kid we had great neighbours. They had a fun basement (a color tv!), let me play with their foster racoons, and often invited us to dinner. I should also add there was always really good pie. Truly. Mrs. L. won ribbons for her pie.

So when in the midst of play the question was asked “do you want to stay for dinner Meg?”. It was an easy answer. “Let me check with my mom”.

Padron Pepper love.

I have a confession. I’m in love. My new love is green, small and occasionally a bit spicy. No, not a leprechaun, wrong season and country, but the padron pepper from Spain.

It boggles my mind that not only have I never really eaten them before, but that I haven’t been growing them myself. Don’t worry, I’ve already made a note to plant some next year. Thankfully, this year, my local farmers market has had lots for me to try. And try them I have.

The summer I learnt how to cook zucchini.

Zucchini, it is kind of an odd vegetable. Okay, maybe not that odd, but kind of odd.

Think about it. It often looks like a cucumber but is in actual fact a member of the squash family. It can be eaten cooked or raw and while it is most definitely a summer vegetable it is just as comfortable on a winter table.  I don’t quite get it.  I mean seriously? You can even eat the flowers. Now, it’s not as if the zucchini is some sort of “out there” esoteric vegetable. Quite the opposite. It is actually pretty common. It’s just that other than zucchini bread, for years it didn’t figure that high on my radar. And even then only if someone else made it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always eaten it and known it was good for me. It’s high in potassium, vitamin A and antioxidants. I have never disliked it, I have never quite understood how to use it so it’s not just one of those boring, good-for-you kind of vegetables.

Until last summer.

That was when thanks to the magic of a summer holiday, a recipe from one of my favourite cookbooks and a friend more well versed in the subtleties of squash than I, it happened. I fell in love with this humble little vegetable.

Easy Peasy Pesto.

It is so green and spring like here. The garden is growing, the neighbourhood outdoor pool is beckoning and the farmers markets have officially opened for business. It however is definitely not summer. That does not make me a happy girl. The one thing that does make me happy is that the cooler weather means there is still some time to enjoy spring vegetables. After a week of travelling and eating delectably delicious (but exceptionally rich) food I have been craving the light, fresh taste of spring. I’ve had lettuce from the garden, simple chopped kale salads and radishes pulled fresh from the dirt. And peas. Lots of peas. I’ve had them curried, in salads, in the pod and as a quick and versatile pea pesto.

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.