Care Package

It didn’t feel right to blog this month and write about food, when a watershed movement of social activism is happening around the world. Instead I spent a lot of time educating myself and then baking 350+ cookies as part of Bakers Against Racism. I still had to eat though, so here’s the monthly recap of what I was cooking up in my kitchen:

  • My friend Erin came for a (socially distant) visit and brought me rhubarb from her garden, along with some drinks from her local brewery in Uxbridge. I’ll show you what I made with the rhubarb this week!
  • My friends Judy & Mark are big fans of any treats coming out of the Planet Byn kitchen, which is good news, since my freezer has been filling up with quarantine baking. I made them up a care package of Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Swirl, Carrot Cake Scones, and some of my stash of Bake Shoppe’s Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (so good I’ll also be blogging about them separately). I also made them a special batch of Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting which is Judy’s favourite flavour combo.
  • I feel like I lost my cooking mojo this month, which happens every year when the super hot days arrive. I think I’ve been so used to cooking comfort food in quarantine that I kind of forgot to switch things up for Summer, so my plan for July is to get into warm weather meals (i.e. assembling things on a plate more than cooking).
  • Stuff I made from the archives: more Sweet Potato & Black Bean Taco Bowls, and I finally took a picture of the new way I eat these, so I’ll write that recipe up soon
  • Some of my favourite go-to dishes: Tahini Kale Caesar from the Cookie + Kate cookbook, Soy Ginger Eggs with Rice and Pickled Cucumbers AGAIN, Turkey Tacos with Tahini Ranch Salad AGAIN, a batch of Smitten’s Everyday Meatballs, Cold Sesame Noodles (wow, I guess I was very into tahini this month!)
  • New things that I tried and liked: this Mango Burrito Bowl with Crispy Tofu and Peanut Sauce is so good and I’ll be making it all summer.
  • Take-out: I still haven’t been ordering a lot of take-out, but when I did this month I supported a couple of local places that I love: Stoney’s and Maro’s.

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

  • It was the one-year anniversary of the Raptors Championship! I re-watched Game 6 of the Finals and cried, and then re-watched the ring ceremony from October and cried again. The NBA is set to return in August, and I’m cautiously excited, but mostly worried about the players’ health and safety.
  • We heard from our CEO that we’ll be working at home until (at least) September, so I followed my friend Jen’s lead and signed up for a fresh flower delivery subscription service to bring a little joy into my place. I’ll be getting a mini-bouquet every month for June, July and August from Bloom Scout and I’m so excited.
  • I only read one book this month, but I LOVED IT. I mean, I love all of Curtis Sittenfeld’s books, so my expectations were high, but Rodham delivered. I love a ‘sliding doors’ story and that’s the premise of this one: what if Hillary never married Bill? I started a little Planet Byn Book Club for a few friends this Summer and we met over Zoom to discuss it last weekend. Next up for July: Friends & Strangers.
  • My co-worker recommended the show Younger to me, and I’ve watched the first couple seasons and it’s really fun and cute! I also watched the Little Fires Everywhere miniseries (the book was better), Queer Eye Season 5, Dating Around Season 2, and started Schitt’s Creek, which Danielle says is in her Top 5 shows of all time.
  • I downloaded the CBC Gem app for the sole purpose of watching Normal People, after hearing everyone raving about it on all my podcasts earlier this year. This show is based on a book by Sally Rooney, which was on every 2019 Top 10 list, but the thing is, I read her first book and absolutely HATED IT, so I never bothered with Normal People. So look, the show is really good, it’s true but it is SO BLEAK and DEPRESSING – two moods I’m actively trying to avoid right now. Anyway, they only put up two episodes each week, so I think I only have a couple more weeks of Marianne and Connell torture.

Flashback!