Tag Archives: Summer

Tuesday tidbits.

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A couple of sweet treats for the start of the week!

A crazy beautiful cookbook:

You could acquire Marit Hovland’s Bakeland: Nordic Treats Inspired by Nature and actually make the recipes – I would highly encourage it!  But, really, this cookbook is the most deliriously glorious eye candy you’ll have the pleasure of perusing in absolute ever, so you should spend some quality time simply ogling.  A celebration of baking, organized seasonally and inspired by Scandinavian ingredients and design, Bakeland is so pretty you’ll drool.  I have no decorating skills so I’m going to stick to the Spice Cake with Cinnamon Almonds.  Because chocolate icing is possible for people like me.

If you want a preview of some of the book’s insanely gorgeous food photos, click here. (2018, Greystone Books, Vancouver)

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Eat some berries:

If you’re cleaning out the freezer and you find a package of frozen raspberries, make this sauce.  I reduced the sugar by a smidge (which is, of course, a completely technical cooking term). Then eat it out of the saucepan (ahem!) and pretend it’s summer already. Do. It.

Do you have any tidbits to share? – for example, projects you’re working on, new things you’ve learned, delicious or interesting new foods you’ve tried, delightful books or TV shows or movies, or a piece of music or art you’ve created or enjoyed?  

 

 

Flowery Friday.

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Flashback to mid-summer last year and a public planting found in a playground in the Beltline area of Calgary.  That mix of foliage textures and the pop of lime green, yellow, and pink-purple (possibly combined with the fact that it was crazy late in the evening and I hadn’t eaten supper yet) made me drool.

Pretty much any colour is making me drool right now….the absolutely bananas weather has given me a serious case of cabin fever!

Peekaboo pumpkin.

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I’m a newbie pumpkin grower (I grew them once, years ago, with mixed results) and so I’m rather proud of these little ‘Algonquin’ plants that have – so far – weathered extreme heat and hail and powdery mildew.  I am anxious for the fruit to ripen before frost hits. Last night, our temperature dropped to a brisk 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit), so I’m feeling a tad worried about the number of frost-free days left in this growing season.  ‘Algonquin’ is a heritage cultivar, and the fruit is quite small and elongated, not round.  You can check out a photo and description here.

Do you grow pumpkins? 

Recipe: Lime and chili roasted pumpkin seeds.  

Flowery Friday.

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Ah…lilac flowers.  Divinely dreamy.  Even if they make me sneeze.  😉

Wow, do I miss summer already! I snapped these photos while taking in the gorgeous sights of the Silver Springs Botanical Garden here in Calgary at the end of May this year.

Do you grow lilacs? If so, which ones are your favourites? (If you have any photos on your blog or website, feel free to link them here so we can admire!). 

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Alberta snapshot: Chain Lakes.

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If I recall properly, there are three lakes in the province of Alberta that share the name “Chain Lakes.”  This is the southern one, near Nanton.  I checked into the area’s history and apparently it used to be three small, linked lakes that drained into the nearby Oldman River via Willow Creek.  When the south and north dams were built in 1966, this long (over 10 km), narrow (>500 m) sliver of a lake was created.

I took this rather moody photo from our boat, on a cool evening this past August. The skies were heavy with forest fire smoke.