Hello and welcome to the weekend. We have some abnormally high temperatures in store here in southern Ontario. I am firmly on hellebore watch (see above) as all of mine are starting to emerge. Other than some snowdrops here and there, this is the first sign of life in my garden. My seedlings are sprouting and it’s been warm enough to grill pretty much all week. The hope of spring! It feels good.

We’re hosting a little game night at our house this weekend, getting more seeds going, hopping out to our favorite café, walking the doggies, hitting the gym, and doing the usual errand running. I’ll be resisting the urge to start cleaning up leaves and brush as I know lots of little insects, pollinators, and critters are still hiding out in there at night when it’s chilly.

Keeping it short and sweet so that I can go soak up a bit of sunshine. Be well and take care of yourselves! ♥️

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. Woman, 100, has journaled every day for 90 years: ‘No excuse for me not to’ via The Washington Post
2. How produce became the hot new celebrity status symbol via Fast Company
3. How an unexpected observation, a 10th-century recipe and an explorer’s encounter with a cabbage thief upend what we know about collard greens’ journey to the American South via The Conversation
4. Meet the former F1 engineer behind the ‘world’s best croissant’ via The Athletic
5. On my nightstand: Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. Maybe Top Chef: Destination Canada can heal Canada-US relations in these wild times?
2. Might I suggest we pump the breaks and have a cup of tea? (the whole slideshow is so ✨)
3. Bluesky’s CEO on the future of social media
4. Are you losing 2 months-worth of waking hours to scrolling PER YEAR?! 😟
5. Downloaded the iNaturalist app to identify plants and animals in my region, but to also contribute data for working scientists.

5 Questions:

1. Which mandolin should I purchase?
   I’ve had the same basic Benriner mandolin for almost 15 years. It’s still super sharp and I use it all the time. I like that it doesn’t have any frills or unnecessary bits.
2. I bought a big bag of buckwheat groats on a whim… now what?
   If they’re raw buckwheat groats, you should definitely make my apple spice baked buckwheat or the buckwheat crispies from my cookbook! The flavor and texture of this grain loans itself nicely to breakfast foods in general. These overnight buckwheat groats sound delicious and super easy to prepare too! If your buckwheat is toasted (also called kasha), I don’t think I can help you as I don’t really enjoy it 😅
3. Do you have a favorite baking scale?
   I have this one by Zwilling and it’s great! Easy to use and rechargeable. Sometimes I wish it was a little bigger so that it could accommodate my wider mixing bowls, but I manage no matter what.
4. How do you go about recipe testing? How different is testing a baking vs cooking recipe?
   For a cooking recipe, I start playing around with the idea and making notes with our regular lunches and dinners (usually as a smaller batch). Once I have the basic formula/flavor combination down, I’ll refine the recipe and test that. Then I’ll test again and take photographs, post it etc. Baking is totally different. I’ll start researching a recipe concept on the internet and in my cookbooks to get a feel for the base formula (muffin batter, cookie batter, pie crust etc). I’ll pull ideas from sometimes up to 5 different recipes, veganize what I need to, adjust flour and liquid ratios, and typically change the sweetener until I have an initial recipe that I can test. If that test goes well, I will probably refine and re-test up to 5 more times, always with half batches if I can because I don’t want to be wasting a ton of food.
5. My spices are all expired. Your top 10-15 spices that I need to have in my drawer?
   My top 15 are: garlic powder, onion powder, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, ground cumin, ground coriander, sumac, ground turmeric, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, bay leaves, ground ginger, nutmeg, and mustard seeds. If we’re including blends, I use the following a lot: za’atar, baharat, garam masala, and Montreal steak seasoning.

5 Seasonal Recipes:

1. Cold Ginger Noodle Salad with Mint, Edamame & Orange
2. Coconut Green Soup with Celery, Kale & Ginger
3. Pesto Quinoa & White Bean Bake with Spring Vegetables
4. Kale Power Salad with Spicy Almond Dressing
5. Lemony Oregano Vegan Meatballs