Pizza Primavera Precedes Parsley Pesto Pasta

Yum! I made this veggie pizza after I looked in my fridge and saw some leftovers that needed to be used up. There's zucchini, peppers, tomatoes and the base was some leftover cream cheese and pesto from the pasta recipe! It turned out fabulous (except for the one I forgot about and burnt to a crisp). * This is not from my new veggie cook book and the detectives in you will sleuth out a bit of elk sausage residing on this pizza.*

This is "Artichoke Pesto Linguini" from the new cookbook. It was quite nice and light. Basically, you just make a pesto in the old magic bullet using parsley and artichokes from the jar. Add some water to thin it out and you're done. It was alright if you like artichokes, which I don't mind, but I love pesto for the basil and this didn't have any. Might make it again in summer, as it was a light meal.

In other food news, we've got the dog on a new diet as well, although not vegetarian. He keeps getting ear infections so the vet said that can be related to a food allergy. So now he's on some fancy pants food and we're hoping he doesn't "nickel and dime us to death" as Gord said. Ha! He is a funny one. If you have any suggestions on this one, they would be much appreciated.

More news to come shortly. And no, I'm not pregnant, so don't ask.

Peasant's Soup

which, as the title implies, was actually quite inexpensive - the main ingredients being tomatoes and beans. It was quite good considering that it was just a simple soup recipe. I guess sometimes it comes down to the right combos of veggies and spices.

Calgary is cold right now. Which means this week will be doling out many hearty pasta dishes. That's right people, when it's cold, we live for comfort food.

As I write this I am home while my dear husband has fun adventures with his friend Luke, while we stay home sick. And by we, I mean the dog and me - we're both sick. Who knew dogs got ear infections too? And I must say I feel mighty bad for the poor guy seeing as how I grew up with ear infections and still get them from time to time. Well, maybe some soup will make us better :)

Gardener's Pie

AKA Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie. Basically replaced the beef with lentils and soy crumble and the top added sweet potatoes to the normal potatoes. What a delicious meal! We both loved this one, although it was my very first time cooking with lentils and they seemed to take forever! We'll definitely make this meal again. Also, I made a double recipe which ended up making two 9x13 pans and a little 8x8. I shared one 9x13 with a friend. I knew it would be a recipe with quite a bit of work so it's always good to make extra. Plus, isn't it wonderful sharing food with friends?

This week we were both back to work after more than a week off. Gord was running the company while his boss was off which is a bit of a challenge. We were both glad to be back as we were beginning to go "squirrelly". I managed to finally get around to doing a simple hem of some old curtains I had and managed to make them way too short (picture NOT included). And then I was glad to be back at work doing what I love with the people I love. There sure are times when I get frustrated at work, but I know that I am lucky to have an awesome work environment and an interesting job at which I feel fulfilled.

After Christmas comes resolutions

But I'm not into resolutions, so don't expect to see one here. I did however make a proposal. Which all started with Christmas. Gord and I had a wonderful Christmas. We stuck around Calgary for the first time ever. We had a lovely Christmas Eve and Day with Gord's family including raclette, skating (read:booting - for me in case you didn't know about my winter sport skill deficiencies) and family time. Then after Christmas my family came out for a visit. We had a great time hanging out and going to the Gasoline Alley (the old car museum) at Heritage Park - or at least we had a great time watching my dad watch cars. Here is a picture of the six of us.

Also, for Christmas I got a wonderful cookbook from my parents.

Which leads to my proposal. I'm going to make one of these fabulous new veggie recipes every week. I am not going to "cook my way through" this book, as some of the recipes have ingredients I don't like to cook with, take too much time etc. I would just like to try to make some new recipes. I know it can be hard to find good/easy/delicious vegetarian recipes and I thought this plan might inspire me. I will try to post pics of each recipe and if it looks half decent you can contact me for the recipe. We've been eating very little meat lately and I'm finding vegetarian cooking quite fascinating. I hope you do too (or at least pretend). I'll post my first recipes soon!

Just some pictures

Possibly not the most creative title. But accurate, nonetheless. This is what we've been up to lately.

Gord finished crafting a fabulous set of "Liars Dice"

I decorated the house (and bought and wrapped all the presents)

I did monumental amounts of baking, but have no photos to prove it.

And Atticus had a sleepover with his BFF Lucy. These quiet, tender moments were rare, to say the least.

And that's about all that's new around here. We've had lots of splendid Christmas parties and we went to a beautiful Christmas concert last night. I really do love Christmas when I don't have to go to a mall :)

Summer is now over.

But it never really came, which is always a depressing way to start the fall. So it's a good thing I love the fall. I love the colours, the weather, the smells. And it's bunnyhug and jeans weather - the best!

Well, summer may be over, but it was well lived around here. We kept busy visiting family and friends, gardening, working on the yard and watching the puppy grow into a dog. Our garden yielded many a carrot, potato, zucchini, pea, bean, beet, tomato and onion. We must have had beginners luck because everything just shot up. What a wonderful experience to watch your own food grow. And talk about tasty! I don't like to brag but I don't think I've ever had carrots that good before. That you mother nature.

This summer I . . .

• went from distraught, to anxious, to relieved, to thankful as I watched my parents battle with my Mom's health problems all the way from Newfoundland while they were on vacation.
• had the privilege of welcoming her back home to Saskatoon and watch her health improve
• had the good fortune to watch my longest friend marry her best friend in the loveliest wedding I could imagine.
• headed out to Winnipeg to spend some long overdue time with dear family out there.
• watched as Gord got more and more excited about cycling and the prospect of opening a community bike shop.
• celebrated the opening of the aforementioned bike shop
• took pride in the fact that a year ago we bought a shack, and now I live in a beautiful home that has been reclaimed and restored just-so.
• spent many hours walking and running with Atticus and Gord enjoying the sun and the air and life

What did you do this summer?

the house 2

The old hallway (looking towards front entry)

Before:

After:

Front Entry.

Before:

Don't you just love the color choice?

After:

And lastly, the bathroom.

And to think we were going to wait to renovate it.

Before:

After:

And now, let me introduce you to

Atticus Finch, who joined the family on April 12.

At just 11 weeks, he's quite a handful, but super sweet and cuddly too. We're glad you came to stay with us Atticus!

the house 1

Ah . . . the post you've all been waiting for. I've decided to split it into two because the uploads just take so darn long with lite speed internet. For those who haven't talked to us recently. This was a 2-3 month project that turned into a 7 month project including much more renovation than we had anticipated. We ended up renovating the entire main floor, leaving the basement for another time. We worked tirelessly (especially Gord) for a long time, but I definitely feel that the results are worth it!

So. . . for today's photos, we are starting with the living room/kitchen. I've tried to do a direct comparison so you get a better feeling. I have some extra photos of the kitchen at the end, as it wasn't much to photograph in the before pics. Enjoy!

Main Living Room/Bay Window Before:

After:

Other Side of Bay Window/Old Front Door Before:
After (no door anymore):

East Living Room Wall Before:
After:

Bay Window Before:

And After:

Kitchen Before:

After:

Thanks for coming on this mini tour. Drop by anytime!

Our House

We are getting closer to moving into our house and are as excited as child on Christmas Eve. Well, that mixed with the exhaustion of working there after work every day and every weekend, but the end is near. We've given our notice for the end of the month and so we'll be in the new house by the end of Feb. In the mean time, here are some bownesian pictures for you to enjoy.

We enjoy the particular detail of the letter coloring on the second line of this sign.

We spied this little beauty on a lovely walk through Bowness.

And me, in front of my treasured chalkboard wall.

More pictures will come once we're moved in. And a large party will be had by all.

Do you see what I see?

And no, this is not a Christmas post. Although I do feel Christmasy today with the snow all around and it being the 1st of December and all. House renos and going fine, but slow, so don't ask when we'll be in, 'cause we really don't know. Paint is on the walls and I'm trying to convince Gord that orange tiles and blackboard paint can be cool in a funky way. Or maybe I'm still trying to convince myself.

It feels lovely that Christmas is just around the corner. I'm so excited to relax and have fun with friends and family. On that note, we will be in Saskatoon for Christmas so if anyone would like to do lunch, just call our people. . . Being us.

Finally, for today's "do you see what I see?" I have two lovely pictures from my work. There are sometimes in my job when I look at an image and even though I know what I'm looking at, I just have to giggle. So tell me friends, what do you see when you look at these?

*note: trying to guess what they really are isn't that fun because they're not very exciting images.*