on pause

Sorry for the blog silence.  This week has been filled with much needed quiet, as we have been coping with the loss of a dear loved one.  Thanks to all my lovely friends and family who have given nothing but love and kindness.

Not being much in the snap happy mood, I don't have much in the way of photos to share with you.  I will share however, some sweet photos sent to me by a friend who knew that the sight of my rapidly growing baby tomatoes would make me smile. 

When times are difficult, what cheers you up?

Kitchen craftiness part 3

There has been a relentless stream of kitchen creativity happening this summer.  It all started with a simple batch of snickerdoodles and the need to cut grocery costs.  But it has developed into a fabulous adventure into the world of baked goods (we've entered Pastryland, a new take on the original). 

While I've been doing my part by making ever-so-simple snickerdoodles and bread (in a breadmachine I confess), my boyfriend has been upping the ante (as you can see from kitchen crafty posts one & two).

His treats this week were twofold: lemon meringue pie and banana cream pie!

If he continues at this rate, I'll have turned into a giant pastry (pie perhaps, or dare I say tart?) by summer's end.  No complaints here.

Summer bounty

Happy Canada Day and Independence Day!  Two fun ways to celebrate the beginning of July.  Any event that includes fireworks is at the top of my list.

Our recent roadtrip to Long Island for my boyfriend's family reunion was wonderful.  I adore his family; they are such welcoming and lovely people. The gorgeous weather and delicious eats made for a perfect weekend.

During our visit I got to stop by the Hamlet Organic Garden (HOG) to admire their harvest.

Tasty fruit...

...onions too...

...even kiwi! (although these were not fruiting at the time, apparently they are crazy delicious)...

...and highbush blueberries (yum!).

A clever and efficient way to wash produce: old bathtubs set up on stands.

And some exciting veggie news from closer to home (from our small deck garden in fact!)... our tomato plant has produced it's first fruit! It's tiny but oh so glorious.

Hope you're enjoying a lovely and fruitful start to summer too!

Dragons for dinner

My kitchen ninja boyfriend has crafted yet another delicious masterpiece.  A tasty veggie pot pie protected by dragons!  I had doubts about how well these dainty cookie cutters would work, but they exceeded my expectations.  Plus the resulting dragons not only made the pie look fancy, they taste good to boot.