Hello and happy Saturday! It’s a long weekend here in Canada. I’m looking forward to lots of gardening time, visiting a couple nurseries, the race at Imola, dinner out tonight (writing this on Friday), coffee on our new patio couch (see above–Cleo is a fan lol), and cooking on the BBQ. It’s gonna be a good one. I hope that you’re enjoying some of your favourite things and relaxing a bit as well.

This is a big fireworks weekend around our parts. Please be safe out there and don’t forget about your furry friends. Ontario SPCA has some helpful safety tips here. Cleo and I will be hiding in a blanket/pillow cave on the couch 🥲

All the usual reads, links, and answers to your questions below! As always, feel free to ask a question for next week in the comments or send me an email if you prefer. Be well and take care!

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. Can the harsh conditions of space breed more resistant crops for earth?
2. The Power Of The Word “Yet”
3. The Truth Behind Too Much Blue Light Exposure
4. Where every cent of $1 goes at one L.A. restaurant, explained
5. When Did Everything Become a ‘Journey’?

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. Love the Snaxshot newsletter so much! Thanks to my pal Jessica Murnane for recommending it.
2. Following Max Kolo’s mission to update flyers/signs around NYC
3. This happened last weekend in our neck of the woods: Northern lights illuminate skies in US and Canada – in pictures. Also, check out this article about the legends and meaning of northern lights in Indigenous communities.
4. Watching: Bridgerton season 3 + I also really loved the last episode of Top Chef highlighting indigenous ingredients. Anyone else watching Top Chef this season? I’m rooting for Soo all the way.
5. Sometimes when a kitchen gadget is going viral on social media, I will get one to see what all the fuss is about–for research! And also just plain curiosity. The air fryer is a good example of one of these experiments working out well for our everyday cooking life. I purchased a veggie/fruit chopper recently after seeing it in action here. Wow, I love this thing so much! I have good knife skills, but this is so much faster and also just plain fun. It makes perfect fresh salsa, fruit salads, cucumber/tomato/onion salad mixtures, hash brown cuts (sweet potato and regular potato), and more. It would be an absolute game changer for some folks during proper soup season. I truly did not want to like this thing, but here we are haha. This is the one I have (Amazon affiliate link).

5 Questions:

1. What’s the blender in your photos that you’re using for salad dressings?
   It’s the Beast Health blender! My Vitamix (which is going on 15 years old) has started to have that hot/overworked smell when I run it lately. So while I figure out how to deal with that (replace the whole thing? get the motor looked at? I don’t know), I’ve been using my Beast personal blender that I got a couple years ago. I wasn’t too keen on it at first honestly! It’s definitely powerful enough, but I was having a hard time cleaning it. Then I saw an Instagram post where the person cleaned it the same way that I clean my Vitamix (fill with hot water, a drop of dish soap, run for 30 seconds), and now I kinda like it! The small container really is perfect for salad dressing, sauces, and pesto. I would not recommend buying it in white though because the blade base stains so easily with all the handling.
2. Any concerns with the material of the mesh grilling bags that you’re recommending?
   The short answer is: no. Most of them are made from a nonstick material, which I know some folks have concerns with. While I’m not using anything that would scratch the bags, they are going over high heat with the grill. With things like this, I think the worry and over-analyzing can sometimes be more detrimental than the thing itself, if that makes sense? The grill bags help us eat more vegetables, so I just focus on that. I’m sure with enough digging online, you could find something similar made out of stainless steel or other less concerning material!
3. How do you approach a dinner party menu when you have non-vegan guests?
   I know that this will upset some people, but I cook for the people that I’m inviting over; not just for me. That often means using meat, fish, dairy etc. Of course I try to make as much as I can totally plant-based and crowd pleasing, but sometimes you just have to know your audience. For me, the goal is to make folks feel comfortable and totally at ease! My partner is not plant-based and can typically handle cooking any meat or fish that we may be serving. And of course I’m classically trained, so can usually fix up whatever we deem appropriate. Of course if we’re hosting folks that eat everything and love vegan food, I’ll go all out with the plants :)
4. Tips for a successful morning routine? I struggle with this.
   Just start with one thing at a time (journaling or a 5 minute meditation for example) and see how it works for you. If it feels good and you can be consistent with it for a couple weeks, try adding another thing. And so on! No sense putting a ton of pressure on yourself to optimize your morning if it’s not contributing to your overall quality of life.
5. I noticed that you never really cook with seitan. Any reason why?
   Seitan is too close to meat in texture for me, I just can’t do it! So many times I’ve ordered a vegetarian spring roll or noodle dish at a restaurant and have wanted confirmation that I didn’t accidentally get a version with meat lol.