It Is Difficult To Think Anything...

"It is difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a home grown tomato."-Lewis Grizzard

 Dear blog readers, you must excuse me, I have not been at my best. I was gone for two weeks, and summer got in the way before I left. Recognize that song? In all seriousness I am very sorry and understand how frustrating it is when you check blogs and updates cease to happen. I will be catching up over the next couple of weeks and PROMISE at minimum a blog a week. I won't leave you in the lurch again my friends.

Enough apologies. Have you ever made oven roasted tomato sauce? Well, my friend Michala brought me the most beautiful, big, unevenly shaped heritage tomato and I was inspired! I have made pasta sauce before, many times and am almost always disappointed with the result. This time I winged it, and the results were superb! Best fresh tomato based sauce I have ever had! Now I am even more inspired to grow my own tomatoes on my deck next summer! My fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants recipe follows! Enjoy!
-m

In a glass baking dish lined with parchment (cause I hate brown baking dishes that were once crystal clear!) add as many tomatoes as you have on hand (I had one massive and two small...which yeilded just enough for two!) chopped into decent sized chunks. Drizzle with a good dose of olive oil, I used basil from Liquid Gold, season with sea salt and pepper. Then take a large clove of garlic, quartered and mashed with the blade of your knife. Toss in a few fresh basil leaves torn by hand and a pinch or oregano if you have some! You may also choose to add some chilies if you enjoy a little heat! Bake at 400 for an hour or so, or until tomatoes are very soft and falling apart. Allow to cool for a few minutes then toss into mixer or food processor and voila! Perfect on spaghetti or angle hair pasta!

If You Wish To Make An Apple Pie From Scratch...

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, first you must invent the universe."- Carl Sagan

Pies are a precarious things. Many people attempt them, many don't even bother and many buy the frozen variety. There is something time consuming and stressful about a pie crust, you really never know how it will turn out. If you are anything like me, you spend a whole day trying to touch it and mix it as little as possible in the hopes it is thick and flaky and doesn't collapse. There is just something comforting about a home made pie and I guess that is why we go to all the trouble.  Thanksgiving growing up wouldn't have been the same without mom's pumpkin pie, nor Christmas without apple. Pie was such an all time favorite in our house that both my sister and father opted out on birthday cakes in request of their favorite pie, leaving my mother to get up at crow-piss and make a masterpiece for them.

Recently my favorite guy was away on vacation so I thought I would make him his all time favorite pie...blueberry. I was talking about this at work and asking around to see if anyone had a decent recipe. That is when Sheila introduced me to a wonderful thing, The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Beranbaum.
Oh-ma-gahd, this book is the same size and weight as my Joy of Cooking, but where Irma B stocked hers full of every type of recipe you can think of and just a bit of every cultural food and dessert, Rose dedicated as many pages to pie and pastry ridden desserts. Sheila assured me, this book has never lead her wrong and that it was full of important tips. Did you know that pie crust should be cold when you fill it and then chilled an hour before you bake it?  Or that you should put a foil ring around the edge of your crust half way through so that it doesn't over-brown. I feel as though I have been waiting my whole life for these tips! Her blueberry pie was simple as can be and was a show stopper. Recipe follows pics! Forgive the side-ways pictures, haven't figured out how to flip I-phone pics yet!!
-m

Pie Bible's Blueberry Pie

Make a crust of your desire (2x9inch) and chill. Pre-heat oven to 425 and line a cookie sheet with tin foil (to avoid over flow ). In a mixing bowl add four cups of washed and dried blueberries, in a second bowl combine half a cup of sugar, two tsp of lemon zest,  two tbs of lemon juice, two tbs or corn starch and a pinch of salt. Mix up and then toss with blueberries until well coated. Transfer mix into bottom pie crust and apply top crust, tucking under moistened bottom edge and finishing with a fork or whatever you fancy. Chill for an hour. Bake for 40-50 min, applying a foil ring to the crust edge at 30 minutes to prevent from over browning. Allow to cool and set for at least 3-4 hours so you filling doesn't run like lava out of your delicious flaky crust!

Ah Summer..

"Ah summer, what power you have to make us suffer, and like it!"- Russel Baker

Here is what a summer dinner should look like...

Colorful! It should be simple, fresh, tasty and preferably cooked on the BBQ! My lovely lady friend Janna came over for a toss together of  a few summer favorites...Lemon and dill salmon, crunchy asparagus and a summer salad with blueberries, apples and goats cheese! Easy pea-sey, ready in twenty minutes! Everything should be this simple!
-m

My beauty of a girl Janna shows me how badly I need to work on my tan...sigh

Yeah, We All Shine On...

"Yeah, we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun." -John Lennon

Sunshine. I can't get enough. I feel lighter and happier and as though I have many less cares in the world. I never realise how much I miss warm, sunny weather until it is here full blown. It is a wonder we even make it through the fall, winter and often spring (yes it can snow and be gloomy even in spring when you live on the east coast).I strongly suggest everyone get their butts outside, right now, and soak up some of that wonderful vitamin D.
-m

The view from my lounger...

It`s Better To Help People...

"It's better to help people than garden gnomes..."-Unknown Author

So the handsome man in my life planned a date one evening last month. He didn't give me any hints or clues, just told me to get dressed and get in the car..how exciting! We drove all around the city, him making sure I was good and confused (all the while I blurted out everything I thought it could be!). We ended up at Clay Cafe (www.claycafe.ca) on Quinnpool road. A place where you sit down with a coffee, a ceramic of choice and glaze the shit out of it with a rainbow selection of glazes and a handful of paint brushes. In the end you end up with a unique hand painted little piece of art that they fire in the kiln and you can pick up a few days later. If you know me, which he does, you would know this is just about a perfect date. I love getting creative and love being able to do something with my hands and have a great conversation at the same time..not to mention the people watching from those big windows is top notch! There were so many neat pieces of ceramic to choose from. In the end it came down to a coffee mug and a spoon rest for the stove, that is until I found the tiniest of garden gnomes. When I saw him, I just had to have him! Only the size of my hand, we christened him "Rory" and I vowed to make him unique and not a typical garden gnome...I have always wanted one!!

Here is a quick history lesson: Wikipedia tells me that garden/ lawn gnomes originated in Germany in the late 18th- early 19th century. They were generally human like with small pointy hats, and were placed in gardens to protect them from evil and sorcery...There were many myths and stories of their protection and they became very popular in ceramic, wooden and terracotta forms. They continue to be popular outdoor decorations world wide and have prompted thefts called "gnoming" in which these gnomes are returned "to the wild". They may also be kidnapped and sent on trips around the world and in one instance a man was arrested for stealing over 170 lawn gnomes.Sheesh!

Anyway, Clay Cafe was a very fun success, I highly recommend it for children and adults alike. Now I shall introduce you to Rory...but only if you promise not to steal him or send him around the world. He tells me he is quite happy living under the iris and tiger lily in my garden.
-m

Oh hi there!

Flowers Always Make People Better...

"Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul."- Luther Burbank

My little gardens are teeming with flowers. I have tiger lilies over running one side of my houseand a hardy wild rose bush on the opposite side (that has managed to bloom even though I cut it to pieces when I first moved in). I have bachelor buttons, bleeding hearts, pansies and irises. Pinks, begonias and hostas galore. Still I feel as though it is not near enough and I want as many as I can get my hands on! I find them inspiring. I am loving the bright colors and recently have applied that inspiration to my nails. Yes nails, you read that correct. I am a nail polish junkie. A believer that OPI and trendy colors can brighten a day (at least my day) and even though I am not allowed to wear it to work, I revel in painting my nails. It is now part of my turn around day routine. A long lover of OPI colors, I have recently switched to Essie and am really enjoying the change. For the summer I am feeling bright pinks, nudes, oranges, greens and glitter. Garden colors, which is a welcome change from the ballet pinks and dark greys and taupes I rocked all winter long. Ah such a cheap thrill nail polish is!
-m

Cute as a button, Action, Turquoise and caicos, Mamba and Set in stones, all my go to summer shades!

Odd man out on my ring finger, inspired by the always fabulous Janna Goodwin.

If A June Night Could Talk..

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast about inventing romance."- Bern Williams

Ah summer. It is officially here by dates, but in Halifax, we have been boasting beautiful weather interspersed with torrential down pours for well over a month. I even have tan lines! Shocking right? With warm weather has come gardening, lawn maintenance, reading on the deck and many barbecues. All of those are things I have not been able to enjoy since leaving my parents home for the independence and lack of outdoor living my string of apartments afforded me. Sitting with the window open, in a low rise, in the heart of the city doesn't quite cut it. Neither does sunning in the varies public parks with creepy strangers on-looking. And even though I spent many a summer tenting as an adolescent, I refused to sit in a lawn chair in the concrete car park that was our "back yard" at my last apartment. I have to have a little bit of class right? So this summer I am taking advantage of every little bit of summer that comes my way and I would suggest you all do the same! Happy outdoor living!
-m

An Easy Twist on Strawberry Shortcake...

Take a pint of raspberries and a pint of strawberries...mash em up with a pastry cutter, potato masher or in your mixer. Throw in a good sprinkle of sugar and a dash of vanilla and mash a little more. Make your favorite biscuit recipe and sprinkle with sugar before you bake. Slice in half, layer whip cream and berry mix for a fresh take on a summer classic!