What a busy weekend – I updated all of my sites to the latest version of Wordpress with only a couple of hiccups.  You should always read the instructions first.  Really.  Disable all plug-ins.

The faulty new blender got returned.  More books were made for the upcoming shows and new recipes were tried using produce from our veggie box.

Oh!  And I decided to start a blog just for recipes.  Check out Boyfriendly Cooking  to see what I did with kohlrabi.

I watched last night’s episode of Marketplace – the topic?  Putting “Made in Canada” on products that are clearly not Canadian.  They pointed out that if a manufacturer spends 51% on “production costs” (such as shipping!) then it can be labeled “Canadian”.  What was even more shocking?  Frozen fish.  Caught and then sent to China for processing and then travels on a boat to Canada for packaging – totaling 25,000km.  That’s too far.

They provide tips for eating locally,  reading labels for ice cream & cheese, garlic, and fish.

I feel so duped – I am a label reader.

Yesterday’s lentil soup is still going strong. Like the Energizer bunny of pulses.  Lots of leftovers meant we haven’t had to cook all weekend – except for one thing – apple crisp. It took about 15 minutes to chop up some apples for this apple crisp. I had forgotten how much I liked this dessert.

Mom’s Apple Crisp

• 1/4 cup of margarine or butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 3/4 cup oats (I used the 3-5 minute kind)
• pinch of salt

• 4 1/2 cups chopped apples (I like the skin on.. you may not)
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg

Mix the crumble ingredients well. Set aside. Chop up the apples and mix with lemon, sugar and spices. Empty into a square baking dish. Top with crumble.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.

* Tip from Mom: Throw in some candied ginger or cranberries.

Boyfriendly rating: 5/5 (So into eating the crisp, he forgot to say how much he liked it until asked.)

I am a big fan of “Presto Pasta Night” by Once Upon a Feast and when I read What Did You Eat’s post about this lentil and sausage soup I knew it was going to be good!

In fact, this was the first time I’ve ever cooked with dry lentils and not the canned type.  I’m officially a convert now.

I did a few things differently :

• I’m not sure what an “oz” really means – I used 4 links of turkey sausage.  It was plenty.  Probably even generous.
• I didn’t have sage!  Oops.  I threw in dried basil, thyme, marjoram, and tarragon.  I LOVE tarragon.
• For the pasta – I used tubetti.  A very generous cup of tubetti.

Boyfriendly rating:  No rating yet.

So, there was this sale on herbs at the grocery store and I went a little herb crazy buying basil. I don’t know why it’s so cheap in October, but I didn’t ask any questions. Next thing I know, I’ve got four packs of basil in my cart. This could only mean one thing – pesto!

After two meals of pasta with pesto, I was starting to feel a little pesto’d out. But my thrifty self couldn’t toss the leftover pesto – for shame. What to do? Make pizza. I took a couple of packs of pizza dough mix and covered it with the remaining pesto. Next, I took some chicken and pork sausage from Aubrey’s and sliced it up. I topped it with a few tomatoes from our veggie basket and some Gouda that was on sale at La Bottega.

Boyfriendly rating: 5/5. Fast and delicious. Meat + cheese = result!

Lana’s pizza-perfect pesto

• 2 cloves of local garlic (three if it’s supermarket garlic)
• 1/4 cup + handful of toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup + generous handful of grated parmesan
• 1 tsp of coarse sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp (or more) of lemon juice
• 2 cups (3 supermarket packages) of basil

Blend in a food processor or with a hand blender. Sometimes I also throw in some sun dried tomatoes (after soaking them for a few minutes in hot water).

A few weeks ago I had an email from the producers of the CBC TV show “Living in Ottawa” to see if I would be interested in filming a segment on card-making. Um… yes! I tried very hard to channel my inner “Martha” and the results will be broadcast tomorrow.

Ottawa residents can check out CBC TV at 1pm. Or you can also watch it online from the Living in Ottawa website. (For five days only!)

Kim from at home with Kim Vallee has sent out a green challenge.  Here are a few things that I try to keep “green”.

• Reusable grocery bags.  Note: not just for groceries!  Though, Banana Republic does get their nose a little bent out of shape when you say you don’t need one of their bags.  Or maybe it’s because I use the free bag that Lululemon was giving out in the summer.
• Walk / bike to work.  I don’t own a car.  I am not fond of the bus.  I’m not a bus snob – but for most destinations, riding my bike is much quicker.  Except in the winter, then it’s ‘yay bus’.
• Local groceries.  We’ve been a lot better about eating locally since signing up for organic vegetable delivery.  Now at the grocery store, I check the labels to see where the produce is from.  If there is a local alternative, (or at least one from Canada) I’ll choose it.  I also try to avoid too many fancy tropical fruits.. but I will not give up avocados!  No way.
• Over in the Paper Skirt studio, I reuse all scrap paper before it goes in the recycling bin.  I always need scrap paper when I’m gluing books together.  I hardly ever throw out decorative paper.  There’s always a way to use it – like these scraps that I made into belly bands for my set of recipe cards.
• Soaps.  I’m currently trying to find a good laundry detergent with less chemicals.  I recently tried the new Method lavender dish soap and it’s sooo nice.  Bottle looks great and it smells summery.  Will have to try their laundry detergent as well.

Orville hasn’t tired of his cardboard box yet.  We moved it to the living room so that he could sit in it while we watch TV.  And he does.  It’s like his kitty arm chair.

I know several people who visit this site get organic vegetable/fruit delivery from Ottawa Organics. Sometimes I’m not always sure what to make with all of these veggies each week and I get panicky that I’ll waste the vegetables. Here’s a helpful blog called Seasonal Ontario Food that can help you (and me) figure out what to do with your seasonal produce.

I’m keen to try this Beets in Mint-Anise dressing this week.

After swooning about the Sophie Conran dishware for many months, we finally picked up a couple of pieces on the weekend.  Two very cute rectangular pie plates.  They are the perfect size to make Aussie meat pies (and possibly homemade Mac & cheese too).

Mmmm.