What?! – Yeah, I dropped the monthly mélange for a while – the whole summer, in fact! The last one I did was in April. It’s OK, though – it’s not like I’ve been slacking on posts, I just had more fun stuff to post about. Maybe time to bring this one back to life.

Better Make Some Room…
I’m going through another phase where I’m trying to clear out some of the things in my freezer, to make room for new stuff. After seeing the crazy old freezer burn choked food that managed to move to the new apartment with us, I decided to do my best to use frozen food while it’s still edible. In the last week or so, I’ve used up some spaghetti squash, peanut sauce, paneer and broth that I had frozen in the last year. Not bad!

I Made This!
As usual, the Daring Cooks’ Challenges have given me some new things to try making. This month, I made cabbage rolls, as well as something I can’t post about yet. J says that my squash soup (to be posted soon!) is one of the best things I’ve made this month.

Party in My Mouth
The latest addiction has been butter tarts and single malt Scotch. Seriously. I got some amazing pecan butter tarts from the farmer’s market at Nathan Phillips’ Square, and found that they paired PERFECTLY with the Scotch. I wasn’t much of a Scotch person until a few months ago, and only recently have I started to drink it on its own.

Monthly Spice
This month, I’ve been using the thyme and oregano from my garden. As Fall sinks in, I’m wanting more woody flavours, and herbs like thyme, rosemary, lavender and sage are perfect for this. I’ve started digging into the herbes de Provence again! Obsessed!

Mystery Ingredient
Granny Smith apples, baby!

Missing You…
No surprise, I’m missing summer and the flood of fruits and veggies. I miss the Wednesday lunch hours at the farmer’s market at Nathan Phillips Square, where I would pick out 7 ears of corn, pack tomatoes into containers I brought from home (so I don’t get squashed tomato juice all over my skirt again), buy a mixed basket of yummy fruit, try new things like the Elephant Heart Plum. Sniff. Until next year, my dear.

S