Eddie and His Cat Grass
Hey, you know what? Eddie just realized he never showed you what he got for Christmas. Here are some shots of him with his extra-special cat grass planter.
We sprout the seeds by just sprinkling them over the dirt and pressing down very lightly, and then watering. Within a few day, he has a fresh crop to dig into. During the summer when the grass out in the yard is green he just eats what is out there, but we provide this wheat grass for him at other times of the year. It is good for his digestion and he really really likes it.
Here's a shot of him just after receiving his gift. The gift was only the planter and it really wasn't much good to him until there was grass in it. In fact, he was a bit confused at the time about the present and was much more interested in the wrapping and the ribbons.
Food Friday : Easy Pickled Vegetables
Greetings! I made a variety of pickled vegetables this week and am quite happy with how they turned out. These are an easy quick version that, since they don't require sterilization and vacuum sealing the jars, have to be kept in the refrigerator. They are also quick in that they only need to sit in the brine a couple of days before they're ready to eat. They will keep in the fridge for 4 to 6 weeks.
I originally wanted to make my own hot pickled peppers but when I saw all the fresh produce at the market, decided to branch out and try doing some carrots, beans and garlic as well. And while the spicy peppers and garlic are my favourite they are all good.
So far we have had these pickles as a garnish/side for sandwiches and I also chopped some of the carrots and beans into a tossed salad. The beans can also be left whole and served as a garnish for a Bloody Mary or Bloody Caesar.
Next time I am going to try some turnip. I had pickled turnip in a restaurant once and it was delicious.
Photo Scavenger Hunt : Lime Green
Here is a situation where once you begin to notice something, you start to see it everywhere! In this case it was things that are a bright lime-green colour, and I was seeing it all over town this summer. I began to photograph the series back in June after noticing the neon green foliage the city had planted in many of the street planters (seen below). I have never noticed this bright colour in these mini-gardens before, and when I saw them I wasn't quite sure if I liked them. The plants almost looked fake, they were so vividly coloured. But once I got used to them, I appreciated the pop of colour they added to otherwise grey streets.
But one item does not a series make, so once I got the picture of our new garbage collection trucks (Toronto has recently out-sourced the collection of trash to a private firm), I was on a lime-green roll. Here are the images I collected ...
Out for Brunch and What I Wore
On Sunday of the Canadian Thanksgiving week-end we had brunch out with our friend G, someone we have shared a meal with around Thanksgiving with for a few years now. As he put it, it has become a tradition for us to get together at this time of the year. Here's to making new traditions with friends!
He likes to research restaurants and really wanted to try the place called "Beast". You might recall that Nick and I had dinner there a little while ago (discussed here), after realizing that even with such a name, there was plenty on the menu if you didn't feel like eating meat. In fact, we have been there another time too, as this is where we went with Nick's uncle when he was visiting from Newcastle in August.
They had a great brunch menu, served in a room with a very cool vibe, and we all enjoyed ourselves. (I had the Eggs Benedict, made with smoked fish ... delicious. There were two kinds of house-made hot sauces too!)
It’s Take Tuesday and the Theme is Flowers!
Take Tuesdays is a photography series co-hosted by Shakti and Nicole (links removed because they no longer blog). And as the title says, this week's theme is Flowers.
