A picture post with some recipes and crafts thrown in!

From the City...

Here's a headband I made for our Little Miss Sunshine.

Stocking knit stitch, cast on 20.  Sewed the ends together with the machine and then laid the edges down and sewed them down flat.  I got my flowery inspiration from this blog.

I made this: Pasta and Red Cabbage Bake

I used these ingredients

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cook off pasta, rinse and set aside.  

Cook some good quality bacon in a large pot

Add garlic and onions and sauté (yes, right in the bacon fat)

***warning this will smell like total heaven.  

Add cabbage and kale and allow to cook down for about 10 -15 minutes until cabbage is soft

Add 2 big tbsp of dijon mustard

Add pasta and salt and pepper to taste.

Top with breadcrumbs and some dollops of butter and bake for 35-40 minutes 

Simon dressed Theo.

Pumpkin Bread: Recipe here.  Thank you Laurie!

3 loaves to find homes for... aka, in my belly...but really, one for my friend Amanda who's graciously invited me and my (little) plus one to dinner tonight, one for the freezer and one for eating this weekend.  

I have the best pen pal in the world.  A new recipe to try, handmade earrings to wear and a letter which is more like a piece of art full of colour and stories.  So beautiful, I love it.  

-ab

Enough Food to Feed a...seven piece folk band?

From the City...

Simon's band, The Strumbellas, is in the studio this week recording their first full length album.  It's a pretty exciting time and one that we've been waiting for what feels like forever.  In celebration, us wives headed to the studio to cook up a storm for the hard working musicians.  The menu; burritos (recipe here), chips and salsa, donuts and fresh Loukoumades from Athens Bakery on the Danforth.  

Yes that is 20 large burritos.

Theo's first trip to the Studio.

Here's just a few other pictures that I took this week.

Good Egg in Kensington Market.  Combining my two favourite things, meat and crafting.

We stopped at Tortilleria in Kensington Market for Lunch.  Best tacos in the city.

My new tea cup courtesy of the a very generous person who no longer wanted it and left in the lobby in our apartment building.  In my lobby, everyday, people leave the things they no longer want.  I was lucky one time to score an incredible vintage toaster, countless books and stacks of Toronto Life Magazines!!!  Also in the pic is my favourite tea pot from my sister in law and left over Loukoumades my husband so graciously scored for me.  

Occupy Toronto

photo credit *Lemur*

What more is there to say?

To see a great photo essay from Occupy Toronto click here

Foodstock 2011

From the country...

photo credit: Emily Burke

I had very important plans last Sunday. A day I wanted my family to be involved in. Instead I received a double dose of the flu. I barely left my bed all day.

To view some of the highlights click.here

 and here for a photo gallery of the event and an article here

..sounded like a pretty profound day, a day in protest while eating- what could be better.

One Can Never Have Enough Aprons

From the City...

Here's some pics from my apron making session the other day.  This one is actually a gift but I will not lie to you, I have a definite soft spot for aprons and not just for decoration, I wear them pretty much every time I cook.  This one I made out of an old vintage sheet I found at the salvation army.  

 I first cut out just a big U shape.  Nothing fancy here.  I really hope no seamstresses are reading this because they will shake their heads at my sloppy sewing skills.  I apologize in advance.  

 I then cut out a large belt out of a different fabric for the top of the apron and cut two strips for the rest of the belt. 

Attached 'em.  Make sure to sew them pattern side to pattern side.  Trust me.   

 Attach a pocket if you so desire.  This, I won't lie, is merely for appearance.  I mean, how often do you need to put something in your pocket when you're cooking?  

 Sew the whole thing together like mad.

 Voila.

Oh and here's the sweater that turned into a shawl that turned into a cowl.  Turns out cowl's are so hot right now and I was so damn sick of knitting this thing that I just needed to end it. 

Happy Sunday Everyone.

-ab 

OCTOBER

From the City...

Is it just me or is October just flying by?  I look forward to this month from mid summer on and it seems to me that it just zoomed by on its way to cold, depressing, dreary, grey November. 

Nevertheless, here are some pics I've been saving up from the month.  

 Simon makes the most incredible french toast. He even went to the bakery early in the morning to get a loaf of fresh cakey white bread, which hands down, is like heaven in your mouth.  The brown seedy bread we normally eat just can't be made into french toast, it just isn't fair to the maple syrup or to the cinnamon.  

Ms. Sunshine just sitting beside Yoda in the, handmade, landspeeder.  My brother in law puts on this amazing halloween contest in The City of Kawartha Lakes whereby people haunt their homes.  His entry this year is the most incredible star wars scene.  

You can check out pics of his and all the other haunters here.

 Little baby legs attached to a sleeping Mille in her daddy pouch.

 So, so, so much pastry.  Laura originally wanted to make 5 pies, I drew the line at 3.  

 Laura drank tea during the pie off of 2011, I needed beer to to get me through.  

 Crazy apple pie. Recipe here.

 Two little teeth just perfect for biting.

 Perfect poached eggs....well my version of perfect.

 Current project on my needles.  A shawl that was originally supposed to be a sweater but the cost of a skein of yarn is about $20 making the finished product roughly $3,000 dollars.  Shawls are so much more fashionable anyway.  

Theo's amazing knit slippers.  So cute right??? I've been waiting for his feet to grow so he can wear them and finally the time is here.  Gifted from his lovely Auntie Hayley.  

Man this child is loved.  

-ab

Foodstock in Melancthon Township October 16, 2011- Stop the Mega Quarry!

We need to keep our farmland.
For more information about this super important event click here.
For a recent article in the Toronto Star Newspaper about the event click here.

The Rest of Our Thanksgiving Dinner...

From the country...

The 1st sampling of our pickles with some cheese and crackers...not bad at all!

We had a roasted, dry aged Peking duck with bangers (a.k.a. sausage), herbed garlic mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, maple glazed sweet potatoes, buttered savoury runner beans, roasted root vegetables, shredded red cabbage with a red virjus, and a giblet gravy- oh my!

Did I mention pie??

Our Wedding, One Year Later

From the City...

Eight Years Together 

One Year Married 

One Busy Baby Boy

One Dog 

Seven Apartments 

Three Cities Lived In 

Three Countries Traveled To 

...Looking forward to many more adventures with my very best friend.  

I am forever grateful to have you in my life.

-ab 

Thanksgiving Dinner- The Pie Edition

From the country...

This pumpkin pie was the best, made with a combo of our own  Sugar pie pumpkins and Hubbard squash.

Found this cookie cutter, so the regularly named pumpkin pie became the Piggy Pumpkin Pie

PP, nectarine custard and apple pies adorning the table

An amazing apple pie made in a really unique, buttery and delicious way

Pie, pie and another pie (what the heck right?). Amelia made the pastry with her favourite recipe and I worked on the fillings. A pretty good trade off- but with babies, tea to down and shtuff to gab about we didn't finish these lovelies until mid afternoon. I don't like to rat Amy out or anything but she does get a little snarky around the 2nd hour of really any given task...

So let talk pies. The pumpkin we went with this recipe- I really think that this is the best or maybe it was the fact that the squash and pumpkins were so amazing when roasted up and milled. The recipe calls for brandy, which we didn't have but I would like to try. The nectarine custard we found here which had a nice almond and fruity flavour. The unusual apple pie we found here and will definitely make again and again. You make a brown sugar and butter sauce and then pour it over the lattice top- it was almost too crazy for me but turned out really nice and apple y.  If we had to number them the pumpkin ranked number 1, the apple #2 and the custard #3- we are pretty found of pumpkin pie around here though- this pie was snatched up first. But who can resist an apple pie with a nice sharp cheddar cheese.

So all in all, if you are gonna make pie, go big or go home. Am I right or am I right?