We have been making beer at a local u-brew in preparation for the wedding. Not only does this save us money, but it is a whole lot of fun to experiment with!

We’ve found a spot that can make pretty much any kind of beer you can dream up – so far we’ve made an easy-on-the-corriander belgian white beer, and next up is oatmeal stout with a whisper of coffee!

Despite the rather cool weather we’ve been having we managed to find a sunny afternoon to enjoy our beer in our new lawn chairs (they were Ikeas’s last two in the whole province. I love their bright red colour – it really pops against the grass, and makes them feel funky and retro and maybe a little european to me).

I went to a costume sale last weekend where a bunch of vintage clothing sellers, and movie costumers were selling off old stock. I expected to find a few wedding related bargains, and boy, did I ever!

I came home with a lovely old antique kimono that I’m going to wear when I get ready – vintage boudoir style! It is bright green, with pink lotus flowers painted on it, and a bright pink silk trim on the inside, that coyly peeks out (it doesn’t seem to photograph so well, unfortunately – at least not with my crappy little iPhone camera!). It’s much brighter than I originally pictured, but I’m a pretty bright person, and it matches my bedroom – so I think I could probably hang it up in there as art when I’m not wearing it (double score!).

It was – get this – 30 bucks! And it’s real, direct from Japan! The idea of vintage clothing – clothing someone else wore once – sometimes creeps me out a little, but I love the idea that some little Japanese girl once wore my kimono – maybe to a happy picnic under cherry blossoms!

I still need to figure out some sort of belt for it – I was thinking of going a non traditional route and buying one of those metallic bow belts from American Apparel. But if I find an more appropriate obi-like solution, I might go in that direction too.

My parents recently got back from a lovely vacation in Greece and Turkey, and brought me back (along with Ouzo, Turkish Delight and olive oil soap) something I’ve wanted for quite a while:

A pouf!

It’s not the fanciest pouf (it’s large, unembellished and a plain off-white) but it makes the perfect ottoman for my vintage velvet club chair…

And a good cat bed on occasion.

The best part is it comes unstuffed, so it didn’t take up a huge amount of room in my parents luggage, and it was TEN EUROS.

Which, if you’ve ever looked at purchasing one on this continent is about 1/10th the price you find them for here.

We had a great long weekend. An especially nice day was had on Saturday, as we took a trip to Kensington Market and popped into my favorite little Mexican grocer to pick up some exotic, fun ingredients. This is part of my vow to make this summer the Summer of the Burrito, in this house.

I always get stuck in a rut come the hot months, cooking my house into a humid, hot mess (soup? in August? What was I thinking!) when I should be eating foods that require little to no cooking! So the Summer of the Burrito is my way of combating that. They can be stuffed with lots of fresh ingredients, grilled meats, and if I want to make rice and beans ahead of time in the cooler parts of the day, they’re pretty self contained in a pot, and they re-heat super easy! And all I need to have around to make it happen is lots of tortillas, which keep much longer than bread does (which is an an issue in house of only two people – you can never finish the whole loaf before it goes stale).

It’s a pretty ideal plan, actually.

What did I get in the market? Wonderful fresh tomatillos, a poblano pepper, 4 ridiculously cheap limes, a few delicious sodas (made with cane sugar!) and a bar of mexican hot chocolate – man is that stuff good! I’m actually wondering if it would taste good chilled over ice, but I also enjoy a little hot chocolate in the summer sometimes too. It reminds me of my grandparents, who used to let me run through the sprinkler in their backyard, but then would wrap me in towels and give me hot chocolate afterwards.

The tomatillios found their way into a salsa verde, of course. I’ve been making a lot of my own condiments recently because, well, I kinda have this thing for them. My fridge is crammed full of condiments. So I’ve vowed, rather than let the fridge burst at the seams I’m making more of my own. And salsa is a great place to start it’s so easy, and – with a little salt and citric acid to preserve it, it will last for a couple weeks (in the fridge of course). Best of all fresh homemade salsa is soooooooo much better than the bottled stuff!

Salsa Verde

• 1 pound tomatillos
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-3 dried chilis (or preferred hot sauce to taste)
• 1 tbsp lime juice (+ zest if you like!)
• 1 tbsp cilantro paste (or a small handful of the fresh stuff)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp citric acid (available in the spice aisle)

1. Put everything into a blender or food processor and blend!
2. Done! Serve!

I have been searching for old fireking mugs, for pretty much as long as I’ve been thrifting – and I’ve been hitting the sally annes and charity shops for a very long time (I did grow up in the nineties, after all). I only ever find ugly orange and brown seventies ones, or McDonald’s branded eighties one. Ideally, I’d like the pretty primary coloured fifties and sixties ones.

There is a beautiful diamond patterned set my family shares up at our cottage, in all 4 colours (red, yellow, turquoise and dark green) still in great condition… But of course I can’t just take those. They belong to the cottage.

Finally, a few weeks ago, while thrifting, I ran across this old beaut! He’s not in perfect condition, but he’s charming nevertheless.

Most mornings now, I fill him up (rather triumphantly) with some good South African rooiboos.

We went for a walk through the neighborhood yesterday, and came back with a really good haul. We got slurpee’s, a copy of “My Aim is True” by Elvis Costello on Vinyl for eight bucks, and a little pink harness for the kitties to share.

We’re planning on spending lot’s more time outside this year, and even though we’re very big believers in having indoors cats, we don’t want to begrudge them a little bit of (highly supervised) time in the sun.

We spent the rest of the afternoon out on a fuzzy blanket in the backyard surrounded by our kitties. It was pretty much perfection.

My friend (and bridesmaid) Amy’s doing the hundred mile diet, and it’s sorta my fault (long story).

It was Friday afternoon and we had invited her over to dinner that night, when we realised this. Ooops. We couldn’t just show up at the grocery store and grab whatever’s there…

Thankfully, we live in a delightful little neighborhood that happens to have little local and organic butchers, bakers, cheesemongers and green-grocers – all within a 1 block radius of each other.

We picked up some local sourced pizza dough from the Brick Street Bakery, some organic local sheeps-milk gouda from the Leslieville Cheese Shop, some asparagus from my parents backyard, and took it all home where we made it into a pizza blanco with some butter and my home-grown, sun-dried heirloom tomatoes (from last fall’s garden).

It was, hands down, the best pizza I’ve ever had.

There may be something to this whole hundred mile diet thing…

Just like any children we may have someday we love all our kitties equally – but Flora is the cutest, and the most fun. She just is. She works for it. She’s obnoxious at it.

She turns every moment into a chance to either play a game, or be admired for her adorability. She deserves it as a title – Kitten Princess of Cuteness and Fun!

Some mornings she does this thing, where she gets up on our headboard and goes backwards and forwards above us, under the quilt we have on the wall. She peeks out at us from under it, gently swatting at our fingers if they poke her from underneath. She literally goes backwards, her little butt first, her little paws frantically reaching behind her for the next foothold.

Have I also ever mentioned that constantly forces you to kiss her on the top of the head? Or that she snuggles by force?

This cat is ridiculous.

We drove up to my parents house yesterday and their tulip tree was in beautiful, full bloom. Then we stole some fresh asparagus from the backyard.

I also saw a fluffy white bunny.

It was a good day.

It must be this weather. Things have been cool and rainy – positively temperate. It’s like living in Vancouver, or something… Or maybe it’s just spring. Yeah, spring, I know, what’s that?

Which is to say, we don’t usually get such such long luxurious springs around here.

And so, what with the ludicrously verdant world around me, I’ve been itching to get in the garden.

We started our heirloom tomatoes weeks ago, but I felt like this was the week for me to start seriously considering my garden options.

My first purchase:

This gorgeous geranium. Funnily enough, it’s called “Vancouver centennial.” The flowers are going to be wee, but neon red. The leaves are fuzzy and fragrant. I’m excited.

Liam got laid off last month. Which I’ve stayed mostly quiet about, but it’s not really as big a deal as it sounds I guess. Or we’re not making it out to be a big deal anyways. We’re actually having a lot of fun, working on projects, and spending a lot of time with each other and the little kitties.

One such project was getting our attic office/studio up and running. That meant finally getting our little mac mini to go along with our sleek flatscreen tv/moniter that’s set up in front of our daybed. Now we’ve got the perfect little quiet area to relax, play some wii, work on some writing, or designing and watch a movie. Or take a nap. Or maybe have an overnight houseguest!

It’s actually probably been the thing that’s made this the easiest. Having a new delineated space to hang out in and get work done makes having two people around the house all the time a lot easier.

Lookit’ everybody!

It’s our Save the Dates!

The turned out really, really well. Everybody who’s seen them has gone a little ga-ga. I’m a little ga-ga.

How did they come about?

Well, we needed save the dates. They’re not a necessary thing, you can totally just send out invites once and be done with it, but since we have so many guests coming from very far away (Australia and Korea far!) we thought they’d be a nice gesture so people have time to make plans.

Then I realized that half my friends are Graphic Designers and artists. This thing had to look awesome. No pressure or anything.

Well, blame it on me reading too many wedding websites, but I was drooling just a little too much over all the crazy-gorgeous engagement photos I’ve been seeing. I also find them just a little ridiculous. Spending all that money on a bunch of professional photo shoots, a year before you even get to the wedding? Seems a little much to me. But at the same time, a nice photo on a postcard seemed liked the easiest route for a save the date.

So we put together our own professional photo shoot instead. We found cute little vintagey outfits (mostly from our own closets), found an atmospheric – but free – location ( which was admittedly a little tricky in the middle of dreary March – but the loading dock at Liam’s former work worked out surprisingly well), posed cutely and got our sister to press the button on a borrowed DSLR camera.

There’s nothing pro about what we did, except for the polished, editorial-quality results. I think they even get across the vibe we’re going for perfectly – vintage, thirties-era whimsy. Which just proves that there’s no need for a fancy-shmancy photo shoot. All you need is a camera, a location and two people in love (although cute outfits help too!).

Oh, and there’s out-takes. Lot’s of them. Good ones. Expect to see them sometime soon, as well.

Spring has sprung, originally uploaded by beth maher.

In my little old backyard. Something to look forward to…

I need something to look forward to right now.

I’ve been playing around with my little iPhone camera a lot lately. I downloaded a cool little app called Camerabag that automatically slaps some arty filters on your pictures, and actually makes them look pretty cool (for 2 megapixels).

This pic was snapped at our favourite new local bar: the Curzon. They have an amazing, and eclectic draft selection, an awesome bartender with a brogue (who will grab you Thai food if the kitchen isn’t open) and is ringed with rather decadent old Victorian style couches – careful, sink into one and you might never leave!

What I love about the place is that it (and the whole Leslieville neighborhood, actually) is certainly hip, but not too cool for school. It is super friendly, and cosy at the same time as being arty and unconventional – and there’s not a surly hipster to be found (Parkdale hangouts could learn a thing or two).

To be fair, this is only Greek in the sense that Frito pie is Mexican – not very. It’s a sort of fifties style ode to Grecian food that includes pretty much every ingredient associated with the cuisine.

I was actually inspired by something my University cafeteria used to serve, back in ancient history when I lived in a dorm. Not much there was edible, but I have fond memories of the days when they served this.

It’s warm, comforting and filling like a retro casserole – but unlike most cafeteria food, it’s low in fat and packed with veggies. So you get all of the fun of a guilty pleasure dish, with none of the actual guilt.

The best part though, is that the orzo cooks right in the casserole, so this is truly a one pot dish – perfect for a weeknight supper – or maybe even a last minute pot luck. Omit the cheese, and it’s even vegan. Or make protein seekers happy by adding some ground lamb sausage (going along with the greek theme) or shredded chicken. It’s super versatile!

I’ve made this twice so far, and I loved it both times. It’s my new favourite go-to meal, actually. So go to it!

Greek Orzo Bake.

• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups fresh spinach (chopped) or 1 cup cooked or frozen (apx 1 package – defrosted, of course)
• 1 1/2 cups orzo (uncooked)
• 1 pepper (red or green – finely chopped)
• 1 red onion (finely chopped)
• 2 cups water or stock
• 1/2 cup black olives (chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (finely diced)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta (tossed with 1 tsp olive oil)

1. Combine all ingredients (except for feta and oil) in large, lidded casserole dish, and bake for 20 minutes covered @ 450 f – or until pasta is tender and cooked.
2. Remove cover, stir and return to oven for 10 minutes, or until “sauce” is thick and creamy.
3. Add feta (season with cracked black pepper if desired) and broil for 5 minutes.

(serves 4-6)

I have developed a thing for pies.

I don’t, entirely, know where it came from, (and asking if it was flavoured by a certain favourite TV show, and a certain favourite movie both of which happen to be centred around pies, and pie diners is probably a chicken and egg kinda question for me, frankly).

The pies of my youth were not anything special. I do remember my grandmother’s raspberry rhubarb pie being particularly good (although that certainly had something to do with the raspberries and rhubarb freshly gathered from my grandparents back yard). My grandmother also had a little to do with my undying belief that apple pie is best accompanied by a slice of sharp cheddar cheese (making Chuck’s family on Pushing Daisies my kinda people).

But somewhere along the way, I got bogged down with the unnatural flavour and colour of commercial cherry pie filling, (not to mention it’s inevitable pits and stems), the occasional too-sour cranberry pie, and most of all soggy, torpid, unappealing crusts. I avoided pie, at all costs.

I think it was upon a visit to a pie diner in the outskirts of Seattle where my love for pies first emerged. I have no idea what the place was called, all I know is that they served a mean chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles, and a couple dozen delicious varieties of pie. I wish I could go back there, just to hear the pacific north-western waitress rhyme off the unending list of varieties of heaven-by-the-slice.

Things, recently having come to a head as they have, with visions of pies served in lieu of cake at my own wedding swimming in my head, I decided it was probably time to actually cook up my own pie (a seasonally appropriate butternut squash pie, to be specific).

So, I’m going to recommend if you want to do the same, to immediately go to Smitten Kitchen and read pie crust’s 101, 102 and 103 (but especially 102). Although my recipe veered away from her’s a little, in that I used pastry flour and salted butter in my crust – omitting the added salt. However, through the Smitten Kitchen’s intervention, I think I’ve realised that my problem with most pie crusts is solely related to their inclusion of things that aren’t butter.

Butter is better. End of story.

It makes your crust taste like the nummiest shortbread, crumble and flake like it should, and your kitchen smell like butterscotch. Shortening tastes like oil and chemicals. Lard tastes like pigs. Go for the butter, instead.

So. I make pie now.

It’s a brave new world.

Butternut Squash Pie

(This will probably make enough filling for 2 shallow pies, or 1 deep dish pie, or in my case 1 overfilled pie and a half dozen tartlets.)

• 1 butternut squash
• 1 teaspoon butter or oil

1. Cut squash in half, remove seeds, rub with butter (or oil) roast in oven on sheetpan (cut side down) at 400(f) for 45 minutes.
2. Remove from oven, remove skin and puree meat using blender, food processor, or (like me) your grandma’s awesome old potato ricer.

• 2 cups butternut squash (roasted and pureed)
• 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 teaspoons chai masala spice (or pumpkin spice)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients
2. Pour into pie crust (I used Smitten Kitchens pie 102) and bake for 40 minutes, or until filling is set.
3. Serve when cool, smothered in cinnamon whipped cream.

For some reason, the change in seasons always spurs a lot of inspiration and activity in me. By the time that season starts to die, so does my enthusiasm. This is especially bad in these gray months of November and later on, February. Does anybody actually like this time of year?

But I’ve got a lot of things to look forward to. For once I actually have a plethora of projects (both personal and professional) to chose from. Now I just have to actually DO them.

I’m finding myself completely obsessed with blogs from Portland, and as such, going hiking. The state seems absolutely awash in gorgeous natural wonders, and delightful parks around every corner.

So this weekend, I decided, enough wishing and dreaming I lived halfway across the world, we were going to find the nearest, most picturesque place to go hiking, and then do so. There had to be someplace to go hiking that wasn’t a hundred miles away, right?

I remembered, growing up in Rexdale (yes really) that we often made field trips to the Humber Arboretum, and that it was gorgeous. Plus, who doesn’t love an Arboretum? It’s a museum of trees. An awesome word really, old-timey in the best possible way.

So we packed up a little picnic containing some seasonal treats (the last of my heirloom tomatoes chopped up in a cous-cous salad, some pesto-mayo made from my basil plant before the frost hit it in a yummy sandwich, and of course some of my pumpkin pie squares) and drove up. The arboretum isn’t exactly in our neighborhood, but it’s easy to get to, right off the highway.

It’s a pretty awesome place, especially considering it’s absolutely surrounded by urban sprawl – you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. We even got a little lost at one point – and Liam sort of lost his footing in a swampy area (thankfully we were a few hours in at that point, so we were about ready to go home anyways).

It was a wonderful choice, and totally fulfilled my need to partake in the autumnal splendor. I’m kinda considering investing in hiking boots. I might want to keep doing this.

We’ve been celebrating fall pretty hard-core around here. We even tried to go apple picking this weekend, but it turned out the harvest is over, so we went hiking instead. We also attended a squash sampling party (I liked the turban squash, and the butternut pie the best – yum!). For the party, we brought a little squash-based creation of my own – pumpkin pie squares.

The recipe came about from trying to perfect a recipe for pumpkin bread. The first recipe I tried was dry and flavourless. So I played around until I came up with this recipe – more of a dense, moist square then a bread really.

I also felt the dark chocolate most pumpkin based recipes (which seem to be very trendy these days) call for would be so overwhelming and heavy for the delicate, spicy pumpkin flavour. So I switched dark chocolate chips for white chocolate ones – which was really a genius move, if I do say so myself. The little gooey bits of creamy white chocolate tasted just like tiny bites of whipped cream, mixed into pumpkin pie.

It’s all the flavours of pumpkin pie, in a much more portable square form!

So portable, you could take these squares on a picnic (like we did on our hike), or pack them with your lunch. Just try doing that with a slice of pie!

pumpkin pie squares

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tbsp masala chai spice, or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups canned pumpkin (puree – apx 1 large can)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (melted)
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, spices, salt).
2. Add wet (pumpkin, sugars, butter, eggs, vanilla) to dry, then add chocolate chips.
3. Bake for 40 minutes – 1 hour @ 350 in large, greased pan (9×13 pan would be a good choice).