I secretly love when the time changes and the days get darker earlier. I find myself much better at time management, and just generally more appreciative of my waking hours. Also I love going to bed early and feel a bit better about it when the sun is setting at 5 haha. We’ve been cooking so much delicious cozy food lately. A standout was a root vegetable and harissa chickpea “roast” with tahini, dill, and dukkah from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Extra Good Things. Big fan of this cookbook!

We’re expecting a lot of rain this weekend, so we’re keeping it very chill! My partner and I have filled the past few weekends with yard work mostly, and since we’re finally caught up, it’ll be nice to rest a bit. I can’t wait to read by the wood stove, maybe play some Scrabble, and definitely cook up homemade pizza.

I hope that you find some moments of rest for yourself this weekend! Also, just a reminder that I collect the questions that I answer in these posts from Instagram. But if you think of one for next week, please feel free to leave it in a comment on this post :)

5 Things I’m Reading:

1. The Age of Social Media is Ending
2. “As daily meditators, we don’t put our minds and bodies at risk of distress. We thrive through life due to regularly filling up in rest and adaptation energy.”
3. On Tipping (Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter is yet another one of my favourites)
4. How to Layer your Skincare
5. Candle Names Have Gotten Out of Control

5 Things I’m Enjoying:

1. Wow, this episode of This American Life: Kids These Days
2. Dolly on the cover of Better Homes & Gardens
3. Appreciating this handy guide to some of the key placements in one’s astrology birth chart.
4. Dry brush, warm bath, and this frankincense & geranium body cream = ideal night in. My code thefirstmess gets you 10% off!
5. I finally tried Proxies the other night and really enjoyed it! We had the Pastiche variety and it was tangy, tropical fruit-forward, and it almost reminded me of a non-fizzy, not sweet kombucha. Complex!

5 Questions:

1. What brand of wooden cooking utensils do you use?
   Most of the wooden utensils in my photos and videos are by Earlywood Designs. The sauté sticks are my absolute favourite. Once you have one of these, you’ll just keep reaching for it for all of the tasks. They just feel good in the hand and are very useful. They make excellent gifts too.
2. Best coconut oil to not taste coconut flavour in food?
   You want refined coconut oil! It has all of the same qualities as virgin coconut oil (high smoke point, richness, great for baking), but the coconut flavour has been removed using high temperature steam and filtering. I get this one from Organic Matters.
3. What do your dogs think of your kitty cat neighbour?
   For those not in the loop, there is a super cute cat that belongs to one of my neighbours that’s been hanging around our house a lot lately. We have a bench by our front door and he likes to take little naps there. When we’re working outside, he always comes over to hang out. He’s such a sweet bud! We’ve started calling him Salem and I post occasional updates on Instagram. The dogs are not fans hahaha.
4. If you had to eat out of the grocery store freezer section, what are your top picks?
   My go-to frozen vegetables are: broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, and cooked spinach (amazing value and great for smoothies). I also love some frozen sweet potato fries and hash browns, and always have them on hand. Lots of stores have pouches of frozen cooked grains/legumes now that are super convenient–I use them a lot! I like to have frozen falafel, veggie burgers, and vegan sausages in my freezer too because they’re quick and easy, which is necessary a lot of the time!
5. Do you have a favourite soup or recipe for the flu?
   Anything with ginger is a win for me in this department because it can help ease the feelings of nausea/upset stomach. Also the warm spice can be invigorating when you’re not feeling so hot. This Ginger Sweet Potato Coconut Milk Stew or this Coconut Green Soup with Celery, Kale & Ginger are both good picks.