With Christmas only a couple days away, I imagine that most people already have finalized their holiday baking, but I thought I would throw one more recipe in the mix for all the tea lovers out there. Fun fact: I actually made these cookies at the beginning of the month for our condo’s holiday party, but I forgot to post the recipe until now. Pregnancy brain will do that to you!
It feels really good to be back in the kitchen after a very busy couple of months. The rest of my summer was pretty much a write-off due to pregnancy fatigue, we were away for most of October due to our Italy trip and then I headed off to Ottawa to attend FBC2017. The beginning of November had us driving up to Newmarket for my brother’s wedding and afterward, my parents stayed and visited for an extra couple of days. Mid-November, we finally enjoyed some long-awaited weekends that allowed us to do nothing but sleep-in and catch up on housework and laundry. Now, I can’t believe we’re approaching the last month of the year – seriously, where did 2017 go?
Helloooo! This is probably the longest I’ve gone without writing a single post. I had every intention to write and share some recipes over the last few months, but life got a little busy and well, I’ll let this post do most of the explaining.
Our Trip to Italy
At the beginning of October, Trevor and I took a trip to Italy! We had booked this trip back in the summer to try and take advantage of the cooler weather and the quieter tourist season. As luck would have it though, when we arrived in Rome it was 28*C for the first couple days and all we had packed was sweaters, jackets, and long pants. Luckily our AirBnb had air conditioning, so we didn’t melt when we were sleeping, but the first couple of days of walking around in the heat were a little uncomfortable. However, it was still a vacation for us and I made the best of the hot weather by eating gelato every single day. When in Rome, right?
A couple weeks ago I was contacted by Bria, creator and owner of Food Nook Tours, about attending one of her tours here in Toronto. Once I saw her email, my fingers couldn’t answer “yes” fast enough. Even though I’ve been living in Toronto for almost seven years, I still love exploring the city and new-to-me restaurants, bakeries and eateries. Especially when it’s an area of the city that I’m not too familiar with.
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.
Canadian food blogger, baking and eating her way through life. Musical theatre fanatic. Personal finance nerd. Sometimes runner/yogi. Green smoothies are pretty amazing.