summer cookies

This week is all about celebrating Village Papa's birthday, all week long! He's a super human being and deserves all the cookies in the world (not to mention love, and all that gooey stuff...). Today we made Sparkled Ginger Cookies, VWAV p192, but we only added ginger - not the cinnamon and cloves because they remind me of Christmas baking, and given the shortage of hot summer weather 'round these parts I want to keep it strictly summery. We'll make these again, but next time we'll double the recipe.

lunatic lemonade

get the elf/elves to wash 14 organic lemons
chop up all lemons into quarters
let the elves take turns placing lemon pieces, yes skin and all into juicer

what you will end up with is the lemoniest pure lemon juice you will ever taste, you will want to add, at least 2 cups sugar, and once you dilute the juice with water, look out: you will have enough juice of lemons to make about 4-6 pitchers of lemonade!


Village Papa did not enjoy this type of lemonade; the kids are drinking it, and I LOVE it - but then again, I eat food that hangs out on the floor, and week-old leftovers with suspicious, I mean, exotic odours...

trail mix marinade, take 2

Trail Mix Marinade, take 2


* 1/4 cup almond butter

* 1/4 cup tahini

* 1/8 cup olive oil

* 3/4 cup water

* 1/4 cup Bragg All Purpose Seasoning


- pour all ingredients into a large bowl, and stir until smooth
- makes enough dressing/marinade for about 4 meals!


The first night I used the marinade for the tofu and veggies (featured in the picture) which I cooked on the BBQ, on medium, for about 15 minutes - to ensure even cooking toss bbqables every 1 to 2 minutes.

trail mix marinade

At our house the issue isn't 'what's for dinner?' it's 'when is dinner?' - when is mom going to realize that it's almost 7pm and there is no hint of dinner in sight'. If a productivity coach/organization guru where to analyze me I'm pretty sure the analysis would be two fold: 'the mother is showing signs of fatigue i.e. she has yet to clean up the all-day-buffet bag; 'the mother enjoys/thrives on the challenge of making fast and delicious meals'.

Saturday night was like most other nights:

I knew we had tofu, broccoli, and garlic, I knew we had items to marinade with, I knew we were going to BBQ, but, I was feeling drained and wanted it all to magically appear; waved my wand and nothing happened. So I took a deep breath and broke down my dinner task into many mini tasks.

First I washed and trimmed the broccoli; then I sliced up tofu; then I peeled a whole head of garlic; then I decided on a tahini dressing, which turned into a 'trail mix marinade' (see recipe below); once the marinade was ready I poured it over the veggies and tofu and let them marinade for about 30 minutes. Then while waiting for the brown rice to cook the 'a ha' moment came to me: ask for help. So Village Papa bbq'd the bbqables, and we ate happily ever after...



TRAIL MIX MARINADE
Warning: I did not measure any of the ingredients, you will need to tweak to your desired consistency and to suit your palate.


2 generous/overflowing tablespoons of tahini
1/2 cup tamari*
1/3 cup water**
3 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 tablespoons of almond butter*** (ours is very runny)

- place all ingredients in a large bowl and stir by hand with a fork; or you can use any type of electrical appliance that blends

*no salt needed because tamari is very salty
** add more water as required
*** play around with different types of nuts butters and oils and enjoy!

fruits & veggies 101

I have to apologize, big time, for my misleading question, see the answer is 'red pepper' - a fruit, not a vegetable. I'm sorry :-(


I am making it up to Alexandra, BarbaraH and Amanda: each one of you wins a prize! Contact me and I'll drop off your prize in person. Thanks for playing!

handmade rules!

CONTEST ENDS TOMORROW, HAVE YOU GUESSED YET?






LUSH - Fresh Handmade Cosmetics has gifted me with one darling 'It's a Wrap' gift, for you, not me. That's right, it's something you can win! All you have to do is guess which seasonal vegetable I added to last night's homemade pizza. We only had one of them...


Winner will be announced Friday June 19, 6pmish.


Thank you @LUSHJenOholla for this lovely virtual door-prize!

Happy Weekend!

TGIP Thank gawd it's Pie Day!

Photo credits: Susana Molinolo, please don't steal my images, if you want to 'borrow' I'm happy to share, email me and then we can be friends: susana@gahan.ws




FROM TOP TO BOTTOM:

my first slice of The Pie Shack's blueberry pie (Tim said that he thought it was a good breakfast choice); interior decor is dreamy, gorgeous, and most importantly mostly made by hand with driftfood etc. from The Beach(es) - plus they play awesome tunes, not too loud; every home in the Beach(es) should be lit by one of these beauties - ask Tim or Daniel for the local artist's card; Tim McConey; Daniel Jemes - like I said on twitter, these guys will receive an Order of Canada for their customer service. You walk into to The Pie Shack and it feels like you've arrived at a fantastic party. Seriously, Tim and Daniel will introduce themselves to you and you to everyone there - so if you are antisocial or have 'trouble' talking with strangers or are looking for a place to be an ipod/cell phone/laptop zombie then go somewhere else.


The Pie Shack
'Keep your fork dude, there's pie'!
Tim McConvey - Daniel James
2305 Queen St. E. - East Queen East across from Glen Stewart Ravine
647-351-1411
URL
Follow them on Twitter - you don't want to miss the pie party...

National Hunger Awareness Day

Today is National Hunger Awareness Day. There are many ways to help.

market bag

Contest winners are:

Laura

Cheryl

Stephaie


Yes(!!) a prize to the 3 of you because all proceeds from the sale of St. Lawrence Market market bags are donated to Epilepsy research.


Thanks so much for participating! Email your snail mail to: 'susana@gahan.ws'

The Empanada Baby

Juan Reda, Owner/Butcher Juan Meat Market - never met a harder working man in my life. Talk about ironies, I'm a vegetarian and he's one of my childhood idols!


Juan Meat Market aka "El Gaucho", 18 Beverly Hills Dr. (Wilson & Jane), Toronto,
416-248-2808


Portrait of a stern lookin' gaucho with mate gourd in hand.




Juan's sells meat plus it's a delightful Argentine food boutique - empanadas, dulce de leche, soccer jerseys, cold cuts, fresh bread, mate products, facturas (pastries), and much more!



Bought 'tapas de empanadas' (empanada shells/covers) and stuffed them with mostly Ontario veggies.



Village Papa took one bite, slow-motion nodded with controlled delight and purred 'these are good'. I'll share the recipe later this week, and I'll explain the title of this post.

Will announce winner of the contest tomorrow. Wishing you all a sweet night!