Wednesday, September 12, 2007

mushrooms... mmm.. fungus...

Last night I cooked a bunch of different dinner options, including a delicious funghus - yum!


They're stuffed with tomatoes, onions, breadcrombs, and cilantro (and probably some other stuff that I'm forgetting).

As we speak, I'm also defrosting the Soyrizo that I bought whil in America recently (why can't Canada get as much cool Veg stuff as America...) I'm excited to try this (I think I'm going to make Soyrizo burritos for dinner .. make sure to check back!)

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

alright... i'm givin' this another try...

So I've been kicking myself for not blogging in awhile.. but I'm going to blame a chock'a'block full summer of eating, visiting, and not wanting to sit in front of a computer... now that the fall is here, I'm back!! And here is my oath:
I, Urban Granola, promise to be a better blogger. I promise to cook like no one has cooked before, and to photograph it and write about it.

How's that? Oathy enough?

For now, some highlights from the summer. A super great trip to visit Dave's parents out in BC (including an amazing stay in Tofino.. wow!), one of my bestest friends wedding (yay Kaps), and two more weddings after that!, two seasons of beach volleyball (Spring/Summer), and a couple of camping trips around our fair Ontari-ari-ario!

Lately I've been cooking a bunch here are some examples:
  • some vegan tacos (complete with a salsa verde ground round, and homemade salsa)
  • oatmeal cranberry/chocolate cookies
  • easy-peasy individual lasagnas
  • lots of barbecued veggies and guacamole
I would post photos but blogger is being persnickety, so I'll try again from home. I'm back, and here's a fun photo of Dave and I:


All for now, blogger world... but happy to say, I'M BACK!!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

oreos... a vegan treat... who knew??

Since Meg was out of town for the weekend and was in for a looooong drive on Sunday; Dave and I decided to make both dinner and dessert for Sunday night dinner. For dinner we made quesadillas with a variety of toppings... arugula, sundried tomatoes, cannelinni bean paste, walnuts... and chicken for the boys. This is them:

For dessert we made oreo cupcakes...after finding out that Oreos (that's right, name brand Oreos, are actually gegan)... so we made these deeelicious cupcakes (from Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World!!)... have a look: and one more view - cause it's hard to see in that photo:

that was dinner... and dessert.

Monday, April 16, 2007

carpet of onions

How's that for a cryptic title??

Yesterday was a busy culinary day... it was my turn to make Sunday night dinner and I decided to go Thai --- Pad Thai. Now, because I'm not a very good blogger... I've only got a photo of the prep and not of the final product (our batteries died).. so here is Dave 's Carpet of Onions... it's pretty neat-o:

Check out Megan's blog for our fabulous desert ... mmm.. chocolate...mmm. peanut butter... mmm together.

Tomorrow... dumprings. That's right -- tofu, mushrooms, ginger... and you guessed it... green onions.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Quelle Surprise

It's only fitting that since my last post was about my birthday, today's post should be about Dave's birthday.

Last Thursday was Dave's birthday and I decided to throw a surprise party for him -- he must be very trusting as he fell for every fib I fed him (even the slightly too far fetched ones). He had no idea and thought that after our dinner our at the Liberty Cafe we were just stopping in at home for a quick rest before meeting some of his work friends for a drink. Mwa ha ha ha little did he know that 15 friends were waiting in our apartment to surprise him (funny that the 15 pairs of shoes at the front door didn't clue him in) witness his surprised look here:

The highlight of the party for me (other than seeing everyone, of course) was the birthday cake. Megan and I racked our brains thinking about an appropriate cake after the poker cake made for Paul... after some brainstorming we came up with the idea of a West Coast themed cake as Dave is from Vancouver and was supposed to go home for the Easter weekend, but his airline went bankrupt. We spent 3 evenings making this cake which included the Rockies, Stanley Park, the ocean, Kitsilano Beach (logs and all), and even some waterfront condos. I think he liked it:
I'm planning to be a better blogger, if not about food then at least about my Ottawa Marathon training (which is in its last 7 weeks). Oh, and a shout out to Cynthia (Dave mentioned that you'll be in Toronto sometime soon -- we'll have to hit up some Veggie places!)

Monday, February 26, 2007

Cake for Ewa!


Hello Everyone,
This is a guest appearance by everyones favourite boyfriend. David!! Yay!!! Well tomorrow is Ewa's birthday and Megan baked her a lovely cake. It matches our bedroom walls perfectly. It looked great and tasted even better. I took these photos to show you all!
I also got her a little surprise for tomorrow which maybe she will blog about if she likes it enough.
Bye,
Dave

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

We've Moved!!!

I can't believe it, but we finally moved and are in our new place. It's crazy that we don't have to go back and forth between the two houses and that we can shower, use the toilet, wash the dishes... all the things that you can do in a regular house!

It's been kind of sad leaving the Queens Quay house, it was Dave and my first place together and we've had great times there. Here's me (and Emeryt, my 34 year old teddy bear) saying good bye: to come... photos of the new place all finished up (minus base boards, white electrical outlets, a cooktop, pot lights, oven, dishwasher... but who's counting).

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The worker bees

Oh how I do love our worker bees... they came out in full force and oh boy does it show! They mortared, they tiled, they grouted and thanks to them we've got one gorgeous shower:
We also now have kitchen cabinets and countertops - by golly, I think we're the luckiest people in all the land:
Finally, yesterdays pièce de résistance [drum roll please] we now have running water AND a bathroom sink AND a functioning toilet (turns out that Dave is quite the plumber!) Photo to come, don't wory... you'll get to see his handy work.

I'll leave you with a photo of our fabulous new pantry (thanks Andy for the great design and idea!)

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

two very important p's

none other than Plumbing and Painting!

This past weekend we took advantage of some helping hands and painted pretty much the entire place (at least with first coats). Here is Joan (Megan the Vegan's mum) doing the heinous work of painting along the ceilings edge: I say this is the worst job but she likes it; so much as to say it's her favourite job!!! Crazy... is what I say!

While the ladies were doing the painting, Dave tried his hand at plumbing [insert suspensful music here] and alas after extensive blow torch use, one bent copper joint, a quick trip to home depot, and one burn to the forearm... it was DONE! It looks great and more importantly doesn't leak! Who knew, but as it turns out I've found me a plumber who's plumber butt I don't mind looking at (he he he!!)

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

floors, floors wonderful floors

so, after yesterdays post showing nothing but mess.. i'm happy to show the beginnings of the place coming together.

Before we went away to Vancouver for the holidays, we managed to get all of the flooring into the place... here is our sea of floor: We used a walnut laminate, as we didn't think that traditional Hardwood flooring was the way to go in a condo (the price different between it and laminate is a little unbelievable!) In the bathroom we used a porcelain tile, which in a bit of a freakish conicedence is the same colour as the floors in the rest of the place.

More photos to come tomorrow....

Monday, January 08, 2007

Hello world.. I'm back!

Well... after a long time away from blog land, and then some username problems with blogger, I'm back baby... I'm back.

What has been happening since the last time I posted... A LOT OF RENOVATIONS! Dave and I have been working on the new place for what seems like eons, though it has only been 5 weeks. It's coming along and we should be ready to move in by our deadline of Jan. 27th.

As you can see the demolition was extensive: It seems as though we removed everything but the windows and the concrete walls that surround the place. But since then it has been onward and upward... more posts to come with the latest renovation news; for now, I'm happy to have returned to Blogville.

Adieu.