I didn’t expect to go so long without posting, but here is my first recipe of 2018! The beginning of the year was pretty hectic, what with work, attending prenatal classes at the hospital, and just trying to get everything organized before my leave, and most of all, before our baby’s arrival. I’m now a couple days into my maternity leave and I finally feel like I have a chance to breathe this year.

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I didn’t get my act together in time for a traditional Canada Day recipe to celebrate Canada 150 (real talk: I’m still testing it), so I bring you this non-traditional recipe of Whole Wheat Flax Pancakes with Stewed Rhubarb. Thick, fluffy pancakes with ruby-red stewed rhubarb and drizzled real Canadian maple syrup, this breakfast is a great way to kick off the upcoming Canada Day long weekend. I consumed a lot of pancakes in the last two weeks to perfect this recipe and I can honestly say that without a doubt, this has become my favourite go-to recipe.

Trevor and I don’t have any real plans for celebrating Canada’s sesquicentennial, but we live in a pretty big city so I’m sure we’ll stumble onto something fun to do. Since the days have been getting longer, we’ve been making a point to get out more instead of hiding out in our air-conditioning. Earlier this month, we explored the Art Gallery of Ontario, enjoyed a free visit to the Royal Museum of Ontario, and wandered through the Taste of Little Italy Festival (complete with a pitcher of sangria and pizza on a patio). Our neighbourhood is also having monthly film screenings in the park and everywhere I turn it seems like more farmer’s markets are popping up. Have I mentioned that I love this time of year? I’m definitely getting my fill of Vitamin D with all this sunshine.

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I feel like a broken record when I talk about how quiet I’ve been here. Lots of baking and cooking has been going on in the background, but nothing blog-worthy or anything that I could call my own until now.

In April, I felt a little burnt out from cooking until we did some major spring cleaning. I went through my cookbook collection, pulled out my favourites and placed them in a high-traffic, visible spot near our couch. The move to the couch has been great because I sometimes get restless when watching TV and flipping through cookbooks are a great alternative to playing mindless games on my iPad. As a result, our meals have had a lot more variety and I actually look forward to spending time in the kitchen again. I highly recommend this method if anyone feels like they are in a rut and don’t know what to make for supper. It’s also been great for planning ahead for breakfasts in the morning and for packing lunches for work.

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Although I do the majority of the cooking in our kitchen, there are many days where Trevor and I will make separate meals. I’m not a big meat eater and Trevor can’t have dairy, so once in a while, I’ll make a pizza for myself and Trevor will grill himself a steak with all the fixings. It’s a win-win situation because we each still get to cook and enjoy our own favourite foods even if the other person won’t be eating it.

Trevor isn’t the biggest fan of sweet breakfasts, so I’m usually on my own if I make pancakes or waffles on the weekend. Luckily I don’t mind because the majority of the recipes I use will make enough for 2 or 3 people at the most. That way if Trevor doesn’t want any, there is just enough leftovers to make a nice weekday breakfast. I always feel a little bit more ahead on Monday when I can toss leftover pancakes or waffles in the toaster and slather with almond butter and homemade Grandma jam.

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Next to being able to sleep in, one of my favourite things about the weekend is having the time to make a good breakfast. During my 6 am weekdays I constantly rely on either a bowl of cereal, the odd piece of toast or my easy yogurt overnight oats if I’m smart and plan ahead the night before. But on the weekends, as long as our mornings are free, I’m in complete breakfast bliss.

The Sunday morning I made these whole wheat ginger blueberry pancakes started off blissful even if the day was cloudy, grey and so,ooo very cold. Side note: I can’t believe last week I was gloating about sunshine and melting snow. Serves me right I guess. As long as it doesn’t snow again though, I think we’re still in the clear. The only white fluff I want to see from this moment on is a generous spoonful of coconut whipped cream on my stack of weekend breakfast pancakes. Or clouds. Fluffy clouds are pretty too.

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In early November, I started taking hot yoga classes at a studio near our condo. Nothing too crazy, just something to help me stretch and unwind a couple nights a week. It’s been especially good because my job is very sedentary and much of my morning and afternoon is spent sitting at a computer desk. The last time I did any hot yoga was a little over two years ago, so the first few classes were a little rough to say the least. However, it’s now been a little over a month and I’m amazed at how quickly I was able to gain back some flexibility. The human body is a pretty cool thing.

Besides flexibility, I’ve also had to deal with an increased need to eat ALL the food around me. Luckily it’s a pretty great time of year for food. Between holiday parties, cookie swaps, and baking up a storm on the weekends, my hungry yoga belly has never been happier.

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I’ve been on an comfort food kick as of late, what with the weather turning colder and the days being shorter. Over the weekend, Trevor and I went to Nuit Blanche which is an all-night art event held in downtown Toronto and it was so cold that I was kicking myself for not bringing my mitts, toque and a scarf. The streets were literally packed with people, but that didn’t stop the wind from picking up at random intervals and making me a miserable, shivering person. The event was all-night, but we ended our evening early just before 11pm and made a stop over at the food trucks that were parked conventionally across the street from our condo. Street food, warm pjs and late night television. Call me Grandma Jessica, but it was the perfect end to our Saturday night.

My longing for comfort food continued into the next morning when I swear these pancakes were calling my name. Normally I can’t even function first thing in the morning without my coffee, but for some reason I knew I was going to make spiced pumpkin pancakes before I had even crawled out of bed. ‘Tis the season I guess, because if it isn’t apples, apples and more apples, it’s pumpkin. I’ll probably be sick of both by the end of the month, but for now I’m embrace it while it’s here. Fall is such a short season and the fall produce season is even shorter.

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One of my personal goals this year is to not stress myself out over things I cannot control. This was tested at the end of February when things got a little busy and I couldn’t find the time to bake or think up something to write about. I normally maintain a pretty good routine of posting once a week, and I’m not going to lie, I did get a little twitchy. Rather than stress myself out over not having a recipe to share (or worse, throw something together in a panic), I decided to shrug it off and start fresh again this week.

Another thing that happened was that I fell in a food rut and I managed to dig myself out by purchasing one of my favourite bloggers, Angela at Oh She Glows, first cookbook. I’ve been following Angela’s vegan food blog for years, long before I started blogging, and none of her recipes have disappointed me. Normally I avoid using cookbooks for my everyday cooking and like to save them for special occasions (I know, weird), but since this book arrived in my arms, I’ve made a point to make a new recipe every few days. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen the photos and it’s been great trying new recipes and buying ingredients I’ve never purchased before.

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“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
― Charles M. Schulz

This first month of 2014 can best be summed up as writer’s block. I have no idea why it’s been such a struggle to write this month, only that all of my posts would have been published much sooner without this sudden huddle I’ve had to face. For some reason as of late, when I sit down to write, my mind goes completely blank. And then when I do start typing, it becomes a mumble-jumble of thoughts and ideas with no real structure and then I turn into the Queen of Random Ideas and Run-On Sentences.  I’ve completely run out of new ways to say “delicious” that now I feel like it’s easier if I just call a recipe “awesome.”

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A couple days ago while making supper, I found myself trapped in a Google-searching hole (similar to getting lost on IMDB or Wikipedia) and I searched “baking with tea.” As a self-proclaimed tea lover/hoarder with an overflowing section of our kitchen cupboard dedicated to tea and coffee, I’m surprised I haven’t considered adding tea to my baking sooner. Now that the weather is cooler, I’ve re-introduced the daily ritual of a hot mug of tea and paired with a warm blanket and a good ebook, I can’t think of a better nightly ritual.

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