Saturday was another installment of the Ladyfest “Not your Grandma’s Craft Sale”.  It was my first show under my new business name, Paper Skirt and the first time selling Gocco cards that I designed from scratch.

People seemed to react well to the new line of cards, especially the humourous ones.  I made some good contacts and sales, so all-in-all a very good day.

Now to start thinking of items to make for the holiday season.

Don’t forget – this Saturday is the Not your grandma’s craft sale put on by Ladyfest Ottawa. It’s at the Jack Purcell Community Centre (tucked behind Starbucks on Elgin Street – 320 Jack Purcell Lane!) and runs from 10am – 5pm.

I’ll be there under my shop name, Paper Skirt, with photo cards, accordion books and lots of Gocco greeting and recipe cards. If you don’t see something you like, ask me about custom orders. Please stop by and say hello!

Last week’s veggie box contained another large head of purple cauliflower, which was extremely pretty but very puzzling. What the heck am I supposed to do with a purple cauliflower? For the first time, the internet let me down. I found one recipe that looked like it could work over at RecipeZaar.

So, I whipped it up but in the end, the points it won for being cool looking were quickly revoked due to extreme blandness. A fistful of parmesan cheese did help the cause, but I won’t be making this soup again. It did look cool.

Yesterday I was reading through my blogroll of foodblogs and came across Morsel and Musings recipe for Greek trahanas. Anna’s photos of this soup had me totally sold.

According to Wikipedia, the trahanas is a mixture of cracked wheat and either yogurt or sour milk. It’s then fermented and dried. Tasty no? It sounded tasty to me, I love yogurt.

Luckily, I live very close to a small Greek market (Olympia Market on Gladstone/Bay) so I ran down to look for the pasta. I walked in and stared at the pasta shelf, but everything was in greek! (Insert “it’s all Greek to me!” joke here) I asked for help just to make sure I picked the right pasta. (See the picture above – just look for the little lady on the package.)
I scooted home and whipped up this soup in a matter of minutes. It’s the quickest soup I’ve ever made and it was freaking de-lic-ious. Anna’s recipe quickly moved into the “recipes to keep” binder.

I’m just sorry I didn’t take a photo. But I will definitely be making this again. It’s going to be a new staple soup recipe for this winter – hearty, healthy, thick and quick.

Boyfriendly rating: 5/5 (mmm feta)

You know how sometimes everything breaks all at once?  Well – this year, that item was my “sweet ride”… my bike.  In the spring, I took it in for its yearly tune-up.  I had my brake pads replaced and got a new chain.  Then I bought a new lock (but had to return it twice due to manufacturing flaws).  But the straw that broke the camel’s back.. and almost mine (well, not really) was the seat.

During my commute home last night, my saddle decided to turn into a rocking chair.  Not good.  I beelined to the bike shop.  My seat had some major rust damage and the whole kit had to be replaced.

I’m back in the saddle again today.  Hooray!

The newest Donna Hay magazine is on newstands and I had to have it – even though it’s the kids issue.  In fact, I think this makes it even better.  How else would I find the recipe for the perfect stawberry mousse milkshake?  Or the idea of serving cupcakes in antique mis-matched tea cups?  Love that.

And if my obsession with Australian magazines (Donna Hay, Delicious, Australian House & Garden) wasn’t complete – today I read about *another* cool Aussie mag called Frankie on the Black Eiffel’s blog.

Oh those Australians will not be happy until all of my money is tied up in their international magazine shipping fees!

This week’s veggie box included leeks and carrots. With the slight dip in temperature, it was time to get back into the soup swing. Soups are my favourite meals to make – the stove does all the work! Just chop chop chop and let the whole thing simmer away.

I wasn’t sure how much I really liked fennel, so I went light on the seasoning… but in retrospect, I should have used more – or possibly ground fennel – if there is such a thing.

Lana’s Fennel Soup

1 Fennel bulb

1 bunch of carrots

2-3 leeks

6 cups chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp thyme

Salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add fennel and leeks. Stir over low-medium heat 3 – 4 minutes or until leeks have softened. Continue cooking, stirring frequently but not continuously, 10 minutes or until vegetables are wilted.

Stir in carrots and broth. Heat and simmer 30 minutes or until carrots are quite soft.

Puree soup in a blender and stir in milk.

Toss fennel seeds on top for presentation!

Boyfriendly meal rating: 2.5 / 5 (An unpopular vegetable and no cheese in this recipe reduced the rating)

A shopping trip today included a stop at the newly renovated Gap store. Have you been to a newly renovated store? It’s so different. Let’s start with the lighting – it’s sombre. It’s such a nice change, but it also makes me want to start calling the shop “the khaki cave.” Of course, the lighting is only gentle while you’re shopping – as soon as you hit the counter to pay, you’re under some sort of alien-abduction type lighting. Blinding. But it’s so worth it because they’re bringing cardigans back. How I’ve missed the cardigans.

Trends I saw today that I would like to end right.now:

• Babydoll anything.  Just because Nicole Richie wears it, doesn’t make it ok.
• Bows.on.everything.  I don’t need bows on my toes or around my neck.   Thank you.
• Leggings.  Die leggings die.
• Anything that makes  you look like an adult Strawberry Shortcake doll.  Seriously, lay off the ruffles and the puffed sleeves.
• 1940s telephone operator style outfits
• Plaid.  OMG.  Northern Reflections-esque purple and pink plaid is turning up in stores where there should be no plaid of any kind.