Cooking
New to the blog, red lentil tomato soup: there’s nothing I love more than tomato soup when I’m feeling meh. The ultimate comfort food IMO. I need a little extra something in my lunches to keep me satiated until supper, so I added in red lentils to make this classic a bit heartier.
My suppers this week have been some baked pasta with my mom’s spaghetti sauce. Back in February, my parents came to Toronto to help my move and my mom left some extra special treats in my freezer (turkey soup and this sauce). Paired with kale salad featuring my favourite store-bought dressing: smoked lemon caesar from Hope Blooms. TBD if you can buy in Ontario but definitely in NS Superstores! I always add a little lemon juice and lots of freshly cracked pepper. I would recommend doing this for any store-bought dressing - adds that extra oomph.
Other things I cooked:
These Avocado Handwraps from Healthnut Nutrition: like sushi without the rice.
Minimalist Baker’s falafel - froze half for future lunches.
NYT Cooking: Greek Lemon Potatoes - I halved the recipe and these turned out wonderful. *Almost* like being back on the Danforth.
NYT Cooking: Eggplant w/ ricotta and honey - loved this, I let my eggplant sit with salt for 45 mins before cooking, and they were super flavourful and had great texture.
Drinking
This Brett IPA from Left Field Brewery.
I described it to a friend as a great beer for when you want one beer and you want it to be worth it. Full of flavour, bursting with citrus notes and a little funky. Keeps you guessing and tasting, paired perfectly with Emily in Paris (should this just become an Emily in Paris discussion newsletter?!?!).
This Sour Hopped Pale Ale from Burdock Brewery.
Great weekday beverage at 3.5% ABV. A good in-between of summer and fall - I was really into sours this summer so it’s a perfect transition beer for me. Picked up a few more for my fridge over the weekend.
Reading
Alicia Kennedy’s newsletter. Her Monday emails On Vegetables, On Community, On Going, etc are so thought-provoking and beautifully written.
Following
@thecanadianafrican: her recent post on Maple Syrup and Colonialism made me realize how little I know about Indigenous food history in Canada. I will be purchasing my next maple syrup from an Indigenous-owned business.
Listening
It’s officially fall, which means cozy times(TM). Donovan Woods is back in heavy rotation, loving his new release “She Waits For Me to Come Back Down” feat Katie Pruitt.
Using
My food scale*. Specifically to weigh out half a box of cake mix so that I could make myself a personal cake without having to *make a cake*. I think it’s my most genius move yet in the kitchen. *Affiliate link with Amazon, but as always if you can, buy from your local kitchen supply shop!
Thinking
About Thanksgiving. I am back in Toronto so I will be doing Friendsgiving but this year much much smaller. I emailed my butcher to ask about half turkeys and turns out it’s a thing!
I’ll share my #isolationthanksgiving adventures next weekend.
Laughing
At my favourite New Yorker Cartoon. Never gets old. I think of it every time I cook pasta.
—
Kaleigh