A Late-Summer Morning

This morning I was having trouble getting out of bed to go to work. School is starting soon and there is an impending busy-ness that comes with that. Today I just wanted to hang out in my apartment and listen to music and read a book.


Two things managed to turn my mood around this morning. One was a delicious mini watermelon that was as tasty as it was colourful. The second was my new tote from Bookhou that I picked up this weekend from the store on Dundas West. While I was in the shop I got to meet Piper and Lliam who I see so often on the bookhou at home blog.


I'm looking forward to fall, the sweaters and scarfs and warm tea all make it my favourite season, but for the first time I can remember I'm also feeling a little bit of sadness at seeing what was a wonderful summer come to an end. I know there are still plenty of hot summer-y days ahead but the evenings have begun to cool off, a sure sign of fall on the way.

Late Night Snack for Two

bowl

boiled potatoes 

 mashed potatoes

tilapia baked in milk and flaked 

lemon zest

lime zest

ground sumac

chilli powder

salt 

pepper

egg 

messy making of patties 

 

hot oil 

resting

meanwhile

red cabbage

sunflower seeds

lemon zest

 mayo

sour cream

red wine vinegar

sugar

salt

tasty fish cakes with dill and garlic dip and red cabbage coleslaw

Treasures from the Sea Side

I'm back in Toronto now but I took this photo of my little souvenirs from my trip. I went to Halifax when I was nine years old and I remember admiring these pewter sea creatures. This time I knew that I had to buy them because I've been remembering them from more than a decade. They are now happily nestled on my bookcase, a happy reminder of my summer holiday.

Lunenburg

Lunenburg is lovely and bright. The buildings are painted in bright colours and the ships have colourful flags on their rigging. All the colours just made me want to do a painting of the harbour front (which is I guess why there are so many paintings of the Lunenburg harbour front available in Nova Scotia). The sun was out so Rob and I just sat in the sun on one of the docks and watched all the people go by.

A lot of people in Halifax told us that if we went to Lunenburg, we had to go to Magnolia's for lunch. Luckily we ended up going for a late lunch because we managed to miss the rush.

Fresh squeezed lemonade

Fish cakes with salad and homemade 

rhubarb jam

The food was delicious and the restaurant was quaint and relaxed. I would agree with those people in Halifax that said it was the place to get lunch in Lunenburg.

A Picnic at Mahone Bay

After going to the farmer's market, we drove out to Mahone Bay. We walked around the town and had a delicious little picnic in a gazebo by the water. We had blueberry scones, raspberries and gouda cheese that we had bought at the market and brought with us. It was a lovely place for our mid-day snack.  

Halifax Farmer's Market

Here are some pictures I took at the farmer's market in Halifax. My boyfriend and I stopped there for breakfast. All the produce was so colourful. The market has a green roof where there were lots of people sitting and having their coffee and pastry from inside and enjoying the weather and the view of the harbour. I had a savoury crepe with cured ham, mozzarella, dried figs, onions, arugula and a honey dressing. It was delicious!

A Drizzly Day at the Halifax Harbour

Swish Chard and Peach Salad for Supper

I've been trying out some new greens and learning how to cook them. The greens section of the grocery store is so varied, it is about time a stepped away from romaine lettuce and tried some new things.I chose to start with Swiss Chard and this recipe for a supper salad. 

 Dressing:
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. maple syrop
- juice from 1/2 a lemon
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. chilli powder
(makes more than you need so be sure to not overdress)


Salad:
- Swiss chard washed, stems removed,greens sliced into ribbons
- Bacon, cooked and crumbled
- Wax beans, steamed
- Peach slices
- Greek style feta cheese
- Sunflower seeds


Sauteing the chard is the very last step for this salad. Make sure that everything else is prepped before cooking the greens. Using a hot pan toss in some olive oil and the chard greens. Keep the greens moving as much as possible. You want the leaves to become a  very slightly darker green but not allow them to overcook and wilt. A little bit of crunch is a good thing. The greens should be in the pan for less than a minute.

Move the greens directly from the pan to the plates and top them with the rest of the ingredients. Drizzle the dressing over the lot and finish with some coarse ground black pepper.

I served this with some spring potatoes on the side seasoned with salt and pepper and sour cream.

Second Hand Book Shop Stop

I'm going to start a collection called My Toronto Stops. It will be a catalogue of my favourite places to go in Toronto for life's many essential pleasures such as the Gelato stop, the Soup stop etc.

The other night I went into Balfour Books, a second hand book store at 601 College Street. It was delightfully tidy and organized. I am kind of particular about second hand book shops but this one satisfied me in every way. The cook books were organized by type of cuisine rather than by author and they even had each category of books labelled with Scrabble letters. 

This will be the first shop on the My Toronto Stops list.

The Time of Tea

I've been admiring a book that we have at my work called The Time of Tea. It is a project that was done by photographer Bruno Suet and writer Dominique T. Pasqualini. It's a two book set. One book is information about the history of tea and the second one is a collection of beautiful photographs of tea and the people who drink it. I've shared with you some of the photographs with you below. My camera didn't do them justice but they are lovely all the same.