Hope everyone had a nice Labour Day weekend! After a month of being away or busy every weekend, I decided to lay low, ignore my phone, and binge on The Mindy Project. Take a look at what else I was up to in August:

• The month kicked off with a weekend away at a friend’s cottage, where I ate like a queen thanks to the mad skills of my friends. Big brunches, barbecued dinners, lots of snacks – I was in heaven. I was amazed at the ability of my friends to meal plan on the fly (we picked up groceries on the way) and incorporate last night’s leftovers into something totally new for brunch the next day. Seriously, I can’t do this to save my life. Such a treat!
• My FBC friends and I went on a foodie tour through Tasty Tours, and without getting into too much detail, let’s just say I could have done a better one myself (and have, start here). I have high expectations for something like this, and although I’ll happily spend my money on foodie adventures, this was way overpriced for what we got. Shout-outs to Jenny for all the time and energy she spent coordinating this for us!
• The day was saved with an absolutely incredible dinner at Gusto 101. Jenny, Heather and I shared: Cavolo Nero (kale salad with lemon, currents, parmesan and pine nuts), Mafalde ai Funghi (pasta with wild mushrooms, truffle and cream), Diavola pizza (sundried tomato pesto, spicy salami, smoke provolone, roasted peppers) and the Hamburger al Gusto (with aged cheddar and roasted garlic aioli). Everything was insanely good, and this meal has shot up to #2 in my 2014 restaurant power rankings, trailing only Big Crow and their amazing ribs.
• Jenny and I headed to Guelph where we met up with Christina at the launch party for Charmian Christie’s new cookbook, The Messy Baker. We’ve gotten to know Charmian through FBC, and were totally blown away by the book, and all of the amazing treats we got to sample at the party.
• My social policy when starting a new job is to say YES to everything, which is how I ended up at The Pickle Barrel (gross) for lunch last week, but also at The Works. Do you know about this place? It’s never even been on my radar. Basically what’s going on here is a ginormous burger menu with about 50 toppings combinations. I had the MANCAVE (horrible name), which had bbq sauce, caramelized onions and jack cheese. DELICOUS! My new friend told me to have the chips instead of fries, and I’m obsessed with these things. There are also about 10 different DIPPING SAUCES on the menu. And the drinks are served in liquid measuring cups! I kind of can’t wait to go back.
• True to form, I barely cooked at home this month (I have a hard time cooking in the summer), but I did make this Kale, Sausage and Sun-dried Tomato Pasta TWICE! I’m definitely going to make it again soon and blog about it, because it meets all my criteria for a weeknight dinner (quick, almost one pot, delicious, reheats well for lunch the next day).

Other non-foodie things I was obsessed with this month:

• I didn’t read much this month, but the two I did read were AMAZING. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty was the best summer read! It has a murder mystery component, but is also kind of a satire of playground mommy culture. So great. I also read Rainbow Rowell’s first book, Attachments, and cried at the end. Picture Chris Pratt (but the chubby, Andy Dwyer version, not the buff Guardians of the Galaxy version) as Lincoln, which Rainbow said on Twitter was her ideal casting.
• There is really no rhyme or reason to this, but I seem to have become inexplicably obsessed with Love It or List It this month. I had never seen an episode in my life, but actually sat down and watched one from beginning to end, and it was all over after that.