Changes

My food box deliveries and baking extravaganzas are on hold while I renovate. I thought that I'd have a kitchen by now, but it looks pretty much like this:

I will post more pictures as the rooms are completed (and once my head stops spinning). And, one day, I might even get to cook again!

The Food Box Chronicles

I've started packing for my move and the renovations have begun on my new place (I will be painting tomorrow), but the food boxes keep on coming! I am not sure what I will do once I move as I will not be able to have the food boxes dropped off at my new condo. I may have to turn to the neighbourhood farmers marker instead. Not a bad trade off!

In any case, my food box delivery on April 21 contained: apples, onions, carrots, yams, pears, a cucumber, bananas, celery, garlic greens, asparagus, lettuce and sunflower sprouts.

And I made one of my new favourite dishes, Roasted Asparagus and Eggs.

I also made lots and lots of salads with the cucumber, lettuce, celery and sprouts.

I am so glad to be moving from the roots to the leaves as the weather warms up. Soon will come the fruits. Mmmm.

The Food Box Chronicles

Yes, it is time to catch up with my food box reporting, especially since I have moved from bi-weekly to weekly food box deliveries. Unfortunately, I seem to be spending more time eating than taking pictures as I do not have much to account for the last delivery.

On April 14, I received: blueberries (frozen from last year), two kinds of apples, onions, potatoes, bananas, garlic greens, lettuce and spinach.

Now, I do recall making blueberry sauce (for crepes), more crepes with Nutella and bananas, a spinach quiche with a potato crust, potato and apple soup and lots of salads. However, I do not have any evidence for this so you'll just have to take my word for it!

The Food Box Chronicles

My food box for the week of March 31, 2010:

It contained apples, onions, carrots, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, cucumber, bananas, asparagus, salad mix and crunch bean sprouts.

And I made:

A pasta salad with cucumbers, parboiled carrots, red onion and crunch bean sprouts.

Applesauce muffins.

A citrus and mint salad.

And, my new favourite dish, Roasted Asparagus and Eggs (I'll get a better picture next time).

Yum!

I have Minions!

The sale of my condo closes on April 30 and I am thick into the "planning for renovations" stage. I have even hired my own set of minions who will start making things pretty on May 3! At this point, things are going smoothly, but I live in fear that everything will suddenly collapse and I will be left will a disaster a la Holmes on Homes or that things will drag on for 5 years and cost me 10 times as much as planned.

So, rather than dwell on that, I am debating the more important things, like what surface to use for my kitchen counter top:

Option 1: Bianco Carrara Marble

Apparently a nightmare in the kitchen, but oh so lovely.

Option 2: Quartz Reflections Cesarstone

This is my current favourite, but it is so expensive and I don't know what people will think of it in a few years.

Option 3: Kashmir White Granite

Granite is not my favourite material. I find that there is just too much going on colour-wise unless it is very dark in colour. However, I do like this Kashmir White and the price is right. It may be the best of both worlds (price and durability) although I think that it may eliminate the use of my longed for blue glass tile backsplash.

My kitchen minion thinks that I should choose granite. What do you think?

The Food Box Chronicles

Yikes! It's been a crazy few weeks. I bought a condo and my computer had a major incident. My brother is also moving to town and I've gone apartment hunting with him a couple of times. It's been intense and it's no wonder that I can hardly drag myself away from the couch. In any case, I missed a couple of weeks of food box documentation and am just now posting about my March 3 delivery. I hope to get back on track over the next few days because lack of food preparation = cheezies in my cupboards = bad news!

Here is what I received on March 3, 2010:

Delicata squash, apples, onions, potatoes, rutabagas, oranges, grapefruit, pears, gold beets, kale and salad mix.

My first dish was a favourite standby, Potato Crusted Quiche. As a vegetarian, I never use the fillings this recipe calls for and, instead, used the potatoes, onions and kale from my food box to make a tasty pie.

The next order of business was stocking up on Botanical Burgers (I freeze them for work day meals). This took care of more onions and potatoes as well as the rutabagas and gold beets. I have to say that I prefer the red beet version, but these were good too.

I also tried this fresh citrus salad for the first time. A delicious taste of spring.

The bitter salad mix I received worked perfectly when stirred into Barley Risotto. Mmm. Perfect for a wet and dreary day.

And finally, I roasted my Delicata Squash with maple syrup and then mashed it into my kitchen sink muffins. I am not a huge squash fan, but love it in muffins with cinnamon and cloves (and chocolate chips, of course).

I can feel my winter eating habits (soup!) giving wait to a craving for crisp greens and tart berries. I can't wait until the local foods start rolling in!

Brownies

I love brownies and Smitten Kitchen's Best Cocoa Brownies are winners! Not only are they delicious, but they are super simple to make. As Smitten Kitchen found, these brownies take 10 minutes longer to cook than suggested in the recipe.