We’re wrapping up a long weekend here in Canada, and it’s been glorious. A bit of twenty degree weather, celebrating a friend’s birthday with a (physically distanced) bonfire on Saturday night, and a nice run along the river this morning.
The recipe highlight of the week was definitely our mother-daughter recipe club pick: these Raspberry Ricotta cupcakes from Food52. We ate them for dessert with whipped cream to top, but calling them muffins and having them for breakfast would also be completely acceptable. I had to bake them for around 24 minutes and mom confirmed a 25 minute bake time. They came out light and the M-word and fluffy. I think they’ll be a staple in our house.
And a dark horse: these apple bran muffins, recipe from Robin Hood flour. So much sweetness from the apples and raisins. I’ll absolutely be saving this recipe for future use.
I also tried my hand at Saag Paneer for the first time, using this recipe from the Food Network. Used store-bought paneer. Flavours were spot on, and the spinach made me feel virtuous. However, I found the recipe a bit time consuming for a weeknight dinner.
The husband and I biked up to a local brewery yesterday afternoon — not to burn off the aforementioned indulgences, but to make room for their fried chicken poutine, with Carolina BBQ sauce. We took it (along with some beers) to a bench overlooking a golf course and chowed down. YUM!
I’m on what I hope to be the second last (or even the last) set of revisions on my novel before I send it for a manuscript review. It’s been slow going, but each time I get to the end, I feel like my protagonist’s wants and needs start to crystallize a little more in my mind. The main issue at this point is the word count: coming in just shy of 130k words, it’s well above the ~80k acceptable word count for a YA novel. Time to get ruthless with my darlings.
Three things I’m thinking about right now:
- This Instagram thread from Gretchen Rubin. Some of mine are: a made bed, the gallery wall above my desk, and the first sip of coffee after a long run on Saturday morning.
- Because we always have leftover tortillas
- A thoughtful list of ideas for making people feel loved from afar. I especially like the idea of the Spotify playlist.
Honorable mention, this cake. On that note, have week!
Emma Olive Billington 