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sage and garlic pork tenderloin with almond sage pesto
Tag: food blog
shades of blue: breakfast blueberry oatmeal muffins
There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance- pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that’s for thought. -William Shakespeare
I love summer mornings when I can wake up with the sunrise and the world (it seems), as well as my loves, are still asleep and quiet. And I have time to sort out my thoughts. I do this best in my kitchen while measuring and weighing, mixing ingredients and watching something great come together.
In this quiet solitude, I take out my hurts and pains; so many shades of blue. I weigh and measure them as I do my ingredients. Some remain raw and heavy as they were the day they happened and I sink them quickly into the deepest, darkest oceans of my thought. In these quiet mornings, I look for answers. That never seem to come. But a walk in my garden always lifts me up; on dew laden grass, barefoot. I hear bird songs over scents of rosemary. I see the miracles of petals and leaves, and small creatures, and the beauty of life and decay and the fragility of it all.
Life is fragile. We are fragile. And we damage easily. But the thing about life is that another morning still comes and begins a new day with a new sunrise and if we are lucky enough to have that, then we should be grateful and make the most of it; weighing and measuring what we have and making something great out of it. Continue reading “shades of blue: breakfast blueberry oatmeal muffins”
roasted asparagus with thyme, lemon and parmesan
hummus, the humble spread of our ancestors
The higher we are placed, the more humbly we should walk. -Marcus Tullius Cicero
Hummus is a humble food. At first glance, it really doesn’t come across as all that impressive. Its recipe, simple; its appearance, quite bland. But don’t be fooled. Hummus is not just a tasty, super healthy food but an excellent substitute for the many unhealthy snacks and spreads we have around these days.
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whole wheat and quinoa chocolate chip cookies
an easy summer feast with chimichurri sauce
Blogging is still a new thing for me, so is photography. If there is a right way and a wrong way to be a food blogger, then I’m certain that I err on the side of the wrong way. This is how a photo shoot normally pans out in our home: John, my husband, and I make dinner and we are just about ready to eat when I will realize “Hmm… this looks good, let me take a few photos.” I send the kids off to do whatever they were doing and quickly gather a few ideas and props and ask John to help out. After a short while, one kid yells out “Mom, are you done? I’m hungry!” This is followed by a more endearing “Mommy, I hungry” from my not-quite-a-toddler-anymore. At this point, my husband gives me that look. (After over a decade of marriage, we communicate quite well with our eyes.) That look asks me “Can we just eat now? While the food is still warm?” This is followed by my pleading eyes that say “Please, a few more clicks? I know I can get this right.” And I continue to fumble some more with my camera. By the time we sit down to eat, the food has gone cold and we need to reheat everything in the microwave. I’ve got to figure out a better way of doing this!
I hope you enjoyed this little peak into my blogging adventure. Here are the photos of one such episode which feature a simple and delicious meal idea: grilled balsamic vegetables, oven roasted potatoes and grilled pork with chimichurri sauce. The notable ingredient here is the chimichurri sauce which is used both as the marinade for the pork as well as a dipping sauce for the grilled pork and the roasted potatoes.
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mediterranean fusion: grilled chicken, tzatziki and roasted pepper salad
After enduring a long winter, as soon as the weather warms up in Montréal, layers of clothing come off and all attention turns to the outdoors. Terasses open up, bicycles and convertibles hit the streets, parks become bursting with laughter, and no one wants to be stuck indoors toiling away in a hot kitchen. Every Montréaler has his or her favourite grill recipe. Here are a few of my family’s favourite.
I love the simplicity and flavors of this meal. It brings together Greek and Moroccan cuisines and best of all, everything except the rice can be prepared outdoors using a grill.
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scandinavian strawberry and cream
They have arrived. More specifically, they arrived last week. ‘They’ being the first harvest of Québec strawberries. After a long winter of seeing jet-lagged, unseemly large strawberries from California and Mexico at the grocery store, these homegrown ones are met with great anticipation and welcome. By far, they are the sweetest strawberries that I have ever eaten. The first week was spent gorging on just plain strawberries right out of the carton.
labneh and lilacs
The smell of moist earth and lilacs hung in the air like wisps of the past and hints of the future. – Margaret Millar
This year, summer begins with the solstice on June 20th. Although, technically, the season of spring is as long as the other three seasons, here in Montréal, it never seems that way. Winter always drags on way past the first day of spring like an unwanted house guest that keeps extending his stay and Victoria day (or Fête de la Reine as it is called in Québec) weekend unofficially marks the start of summer well in advance of the summer solstice. In between are the fleeting days of spring when the lightly coloured buds on tree branches that were just shyly making their debut burst into an opulent mass of green and everyone forgets the stubborn hold the wintry days had on us just several weeks ago. There is something quite bittersweet about these evanescent days, like a romance that has to end before it can take off, the one that you think of now and then and can’t help but smile and wonder what if? During this short spring, gardens throughout the city come to life with tulips and daffodils, crab apples and lilacs in full bloom. Of all of these, lilacs are my favourite.
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a promise made & red cabbage with balsamic vinegar
A promise is a cloud, fulfillment is rain. -Arabian proverb
Hello World.
With these words, I begin a labour of love dedicated to my three loves, my three outstanding children whom I am so proud to call my own. conifères & feuillus is where I will record, as promised to them, all of our family recipes for them to use one day and make memories around the table of their own. In the meantime, I shall share them with the world. So let’s begin.
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