the best of: june edition

Happy July 1st! And even though I'm not there - Canada day!  Here are a few of my favorite moments from my last bit of time there (and Washington too).  Like, I mean, remember this pie?

And when I would be washing dishes and look up to see the silly cat had nested herself inside a cake box.  She's pregnant by the way!  It's crazy to think one day soon I may come home from class to tiny little baby cats waiting for me!

Hannah and I's sweet early morning breakfast at Fol Epi before work.  She made a green smoothie and we shared a caramelized onion and bacon quiche - so good.

Impromptu picnics outside of my place.

When my neighbors would hang laundry up outside of my place and the setting sun would shine through it in just the right way.  Also that I had access to all those green things growing!

Silly photo shoots on the Washington state ferries with my sister.

This cupcake.

victoria breakfast.

 I would be woken up early, early in the morn, and bike over with Alex, having the silly, delirious conversations that can only happen when you've just woken up.  We would wind through different neighborhoods and across bridges where the Cascade mountains spread on the other side of the water, and then up a decent hill that made being met with coffee and breakfast even more appreciated.

Sophie is a breakfast extraordinaire.  While I was busy sleeping she would be up, preparing huevos rancheros, sweet potato hashbrowns, mango salsa, baked oatmeal with warm berries, and the list goes.  

It was amazing to come over for breakfast and immediately feel like I was home, even though I was so far away.  And, after eating food from the road these last few days, I've already begun to miss sharing meals with these sweet people.

mustard making.

Every shift at the bakery someone says, "Oh, let's get together and make sriracha, or kimchi, or beer, or, or, or..." so, the event that actually ended up coming together was a gathering to make mustard.  One person brought mustard seeds, the other let her own mustard sit overnight, and then we all helped to make it (although I did more eating than helping, to be honest).  The Wild Fire staff was like a little family sharing food and stories, and the atmosphere was too lovely for me to stand.  It's rare to find coworkers who appreciate little things like doilies, ceramics, and wooden accents as much as you do.  I walked my bike home, passing the boats and fisherman, and was so appreciative of what was finally feeling like my home.

fancy desserts.

These last 3 weeks I've spent most of my time learning how to put together these fancy things.  Making pumpkin mousse, tempering chocolate, sculpting caramelized sugar - I spent more of my time sneaking tastes than actually prepping the food.  The funny thing is, while I can't deny I learned how to make some impressive looking things, it was a challenge for me to really enjoy the class.  Fancy desserts look great and all, but I'd really rather spend my time kneading dough for a simple bread than spending so much time to create a sugar rose or burning my fingers to make a tuile cone.  Even still, I'm happy to have learned these techniques, and if I ever need an impressive party trick, I have a wealth of new garnish knowledge to pull out.

sweet potato burgers.

The best way to spend a Saturday is to make sweet potato burgers, brew up some iced honey mint tea and take it to the lake to share with an old friend.

old time music.

Make- your- own (free??) wood fired pizzas, a lot of really good people, dancing at night, and always lively folk music playing in the background.  What made this place really dreamy though was the land.  The little gathering was set on a retreat space with two ponds, so many gardens and cabins, an outdoor kitchen and dancing space, and a wood fired oven.  It sparked more dreams of owning my own land and all of the magical things that can be hosted and created if you have your own designated block of earth.

snack & swim.

We made these by the water (but much less pretty) because those are all already our favorite foods.  Swimming at sunset feels like magic - the light bounces off everything in just the right way.  I really, mainly love having my dear old friend so near.

family weekend.

This weekend my dad came to visit.  Parents coming means so much being taken out to dinner and breakfast (no complaints).  My dad is a pretty silly person, so seeing him is always a funny time and now that I'm finally able to drink we had our first night of drinking fancy drinks and laughing over all the ridiculous things he's done (some of them are so ridiculous).  We also took a trip over to Connecticut to take my grandfather to the beach!

cheddar and herb biscuits.

For the picnic yesterday I made these cheesy biscuits. I added rosemary (and sliced chives), because rosemary in bread is just always a good idea. And despite the fact that my oven now doesn't have any temperature control on it - they turned out pretty well!

papoutsakia.

 It literally means "little shoes" in Greek, hee.

I used this recipe and boiled 3 cubed potatoes and added zucchini instead of ground beef to make it vegetarian. So, basically it was moussaka in an eggplant. My bechamel sauce turned out a bit liquidy (I used rice milk instead of whole milk), but it still ended up tasting so, so good.  

beet pancakes.

All i had in my refrigerator was a beet and the ingredients to make pancakes, so here you go.  There are fancy beet pancake recipes if you search, but I just pureed a beet and mixed it in with some whole wheat pancake mix.  I adjusted the mix and water to get it to the right consistency and the final result ended up being something really delicious!