by Marie | Sep 28, 2013 | Cooking, Salad
My favourite poem is a great one by Frank O’Hara. I’ve got it posted by my bed, mostly memorized from reading it so frequently. And that first line—”Light clarity avocado salad in the morning”—well, I’m pretty sure this is the avocado salad he was talking about. It’s lovely bright, creamy, rich, and flavourful. Best made with fresh, in-season tomatoes (I’m honestly not sure I’d bother otherwise). It’s perfect for late summer and fall. I love it on toast with some chèvre, or with my eggs in the morning.
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by Marie | Sep 21, 2013 | Cooking, Salad
One of the best parts about spending a week at my cottage is enjoying all the delicious salads and veggie dishes that my aunt and grandmother keep in their regular rotation. This year I enjoyed some fantastic salads, but these fantastic roasted vegetables took first place by a mile. They’re tender and smokey, with a fantastic dash of high quality balsamic vinegar that brings everything together in a delicious, tangy burst of deliciousness.
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by Marie | Aug 23, 2013 | Cooking, Salad
If you don’t have a raspberry bush in your own backyard, the next best thing is a neighbor who has one that will let you pillage their raspberries at your leisure. I have such a neighbor in Dallas, and I am not going to point out to him that I am clearly getting the better end of this deal (I am unsure what my end of the deal is, really).
Anyhow, I whipped up this salad as an accompaniment to dinner after pillaging a handful or two of raspberries from his backyard, and it’s delicious. Perhaps moreso because of the small amount of thievery involved.
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by Marie | Jul 26, 2013 | Chewy, Cleaning, Home
I think the most magical part about homemade cleaning products is not their low cost, the fact that they are non toxic, or the whole “yay I made something” factor—it’s that they have this incredible ability to make me excited to clean my bathroom. For the first couple times, at least.
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by Marie | Jun 24, 2013 | Baking, Dessert
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that I am the person in charge of birthday baking at my office. We’re a small company, and after I learned that sub-par grocery store cakes were the standard for employee birthdays, I hijacked the responsibility. Nobody has complained so far. Quite the opposite, in fact.
This cake has kind of made me famous. Well, as famous as you can be in a company of less than 20 people. This is the cake that everyone gets excited about. They hyperventilate a little, or gasp, or hug me, and I can watch their eyes grow large, like I just told a kid that tomorrow is surprise Christmas. I am not exaggerating, this cake really is that good.
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by Marie | Jun 15, 2013 | Chewy, Hair, Rinses
It isn’t often that I create something that immediately becomes part of my regular hair or body care routines. That’s partly because I am rather, err, prolific (i.e. my counters, cupboards, and pantries are loaded with tons of options to choose from every day), and partly because I love experimenting, so I’m always trying something new in the quest for awesomeness. This hair rinse, however, instantly earned itself a permanent place in my shower. It’s fantastic.
Ever since I discovered Saffire Blue, my herb cupboard has increased in size significantly. They’ve got a great selection of dried and powdered herbs and roots for delightfully low prices—herbs I’ve been reading about but have been unable to source. No more! After they all arrived the ones I was most excited about were the ones for hair, and of this excitement was born this fabulous hair rinse.
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