Weekend links and photos

by Aimee

I know it’s been a sobering week for my readers in the United States and I feel deeply for you all, I really do.

The blog stayed quiet as I couldn’t bring myself to add more noise to your email inbox and social media feeds. Today, the children and I unplugged completely, and took a long, long walk by a river. They chased ducks, hunted for snakes and skipped up and down the river bank, while I attempted to find some peace under the grey skies.

It helped, a little. Later we returned home and made pizza together, covering the kitchen in flour and bits of cheese. Life goes on, despite the state of the world and mankind. Sometime I think my biggest contribution is raising three little people to love others, no matter their race, religion or whatever. It’s a daily responsibility and privilege.

Alright. On to the list of links.

• If you take anything away from this post, let it be this list of required reading curated from Food 52 on the subject of #BlackLivesMatter: We’re Not Thinking About Food Today.
• I’ve been eating this salad every week: Kale and fennel salad with lemon dill dressing via Canadian Living.
• Grilled Portobello Mushroom and Broccolini Veggie Dogs via Liz at Floating Kitchen ~ Hot dogs are terrifying, am I right? And even scarier are ‘veggie dogs’. But these beauties? Totally craveable.
• My kale patch has take off in the garden and this is on the weekend menu: Kale salad with blueberries, manchego and pumpkin seed clusters via Healthy Seasonal Delish.
• Julie’s pie party with friends is so inspiring. Twenty-five strawberry-rhubarb pies, you guys.
• Ashley has been traveling with her family in Europe and shares the London leg: Traveling with Kids. Colour me green! I adore London, as you might remember. One day we’ll make it back there with kids.

Now hit the jump for my favourite photos from June….

June photos

On a much lighter note…we had two holiday weekends back-to-back here in Quebec, and both were celebrated to the max. The trends are obvious: pie, berries, salad, barbecue, repeat.

A grilled rib eye with compound butter kicked off our summer, served up with grilled sweet potato, wilted turnip greens from my garden, and the aforementioned Kale and fennel salad with lemon dill dressing. This could very well be my favourite summer feast.

The basil has taken off in my backyard garden and so homemade pesto was on the agenda recently. Flavoured with garlic scapes, it’s is now sitting pretty in my freezer.

I’ve been perfecting a recipe for strawberry-rhubarb pie for my next cookbook and I made six or seven last month. I’ve nailed it – not too sweet, not too sour; not too firm, not too runny. Pie!

Clara’s accompanied me to the market for berries every time. It’s never too early to start teaching kids about the benefits of sourcing food locally, seasonal eating and why food sustainability matters.

Simple summer dessert of soft whipped cream and seasonal fruit – easy peasy and loved by all.

My refrigerator was packed before our Canada Day backyard barbecue. Good thing I know 8 ways to maximize refrigerator storage capacity when entertaining! I made the stone fruit sangria and the Asian fusion chicken wings from my cookbook, as well as loads of pickles, grilled pork tenderloin and sausages. Friends brought salads, chips and beer. It was a feast.

Oh I also made my Feed-A-Crowd Perfect Chocolate Cake. Danny’s birthday falls on Canada Day, so we celebrated him with this berry-topped cake in all its chocolate cream cheese frosted glory.

We had a glorious few hours of sunshine, where we mingled in the yard over drinks and barbecue smoke, and children ran wild in the forest. Then the wind whipped up, we piled inside and the rain hit, hard.

We set up the buffet of barbecue and salads on my dining room table and partied into the night. Rain be damned! The weather will always be an unknown, but it should never stop you from inviting over way too many people and making memories together.

Have a wonderful weekend, all.

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