Pasta with meatballs

Row upon row of flavour bombs.

What a rollercoaster two months! My sister moved back from three years abroad, work returned to its dizzying pace and I shopped myself into a retail coma three times over.

That said, it’s high time I get back into the swing of things. I have been busy taking photos of everything I have been making and will do my best to update them here with more effort than I was able to put forth last year. Promise!

It has been snowing here in Vancouver, which is fairly unusual and very exciting, so I have been making a lot of cozy meals. This one for meatballs in a simple roasted tomato sauce is a new favourite. If you are looking for a good family friendly crowd-pleaser, I seriously recommend rallying the troops and getting busy in the kitchen. Make a mess! It’s only half the fun (besides eating), right?

Long Weekend Brunch

Smooth, fresh & packed with flavour.

Warm, cheesy & comforting.

For those of you living in Canada, this post might seem a little late; for those of you living in the U.S., this post is right on time. Whether the long weekend has just passed or is quickly approaching, there is no question food is going to be on the brain.

Hopefully during your long weekend the weather was or will be beautiful, as it was here in Vancouver. I find nothing more than some sunshine beaming into my kitchen will put me in the mood to whip up something new and special. Sounds like a cliché from some 1950s happy homemaker advertorial, doesn’t it?

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Light as air lemon cake.

Easter brought me a lot of things this year: a food coma courtesy of my mom’s amazing cooking (what she calls “lunch”, most people call “three lunches”), $15 worth of Cadbury Mini Eggs and a weekend full of baking.

Already having made the now-famous quinoa chocolate cake (seriously–it tastes like a Two Bite Brownie!), the next obvious progression was to make something sweet and light. Cue my citrus obsession: Ina Garten’s yogurt lemon cake. It’s lush with lemon flavour, though not too intense, and replete with drizzles of tart, citrusy glaze.

Moist Chocolate Cake

Okay everyone, I have to say a couple of things up front:

1. I am sorry for neglecting you. Two weeks ago I started taking a really intense editing class and have also been a wee bit under the weather. But I’m back, still impoverished and hungry, and going full steam ahead.
2. You’re probably going to see a few more gluten-free posts in the future. I recently came into possession of Quinoa 365: The Everyday Superfood and it’s changed the way I think about what “healthy” is.

Now, I’m a person who likes vegetables and food that is generally good for me, but good luck getting me to consume grains of any kind unless they are baked into bread or muffins. Consider this Moist Chocolate Cake from Quinoa 365 one heck of a game changer.

Cranberry Orange Scones

Baked clouds of sweet citrus & tart cranberry.

It looks as though Spring is finally turning up by way of warm, dry afternoons and incredibly gorgeous, sunshine-filled weekends. When I think of the seasons getting warmer I instantly turn to citrus fruits: their colours, scents and flavours jolt the senses out of a wintery rut.