Summer Salad Frenzy

I have truly enjoyed finding one new ingredient to try using each month of 2014 and I am proud to say that July's ingredient was something I grew in my garden. It's pineapple mint.

Pineapple mint tastes exactly what you would expect a mint and pineapple fusion to taste like and I have no idea how anyone could have made it happen. It's fresh, bright, and delicious. And you might not believe me, but it's perfect with seafood.

The dish I made to first taste pineapple mint is a fresh summer salad and I know it's going to find it's way back onto my dinner table throughout August. It's too simple and perfect to serve on a warm day.

Flavour Explosion

Whenever I bite into a tart dessert, I feel happy. Lemon, lime and rhubarb are pretty much heaven to me. I just love the feeling of wanting more and light, bright, tart, fresh flavours always seem to make me want more.

This summer I've made a lot of rhubarb desserts, but this time I wanted something a little extra rhubarby. I wanted a rhubarb cake with a rhubarb sauce. I wanted it all. And since I had plenty of rhubarb, I could it all to myself as a little treat.

Ready for flavour explosion? Read on and discover a cake and sauce recipe that unlocks my heart.

Chocolate for Breakfast?

When I find a breakfast I like, I make it a lot. But I don't like to make it exactly the same each time, so I come up with new versions of my favourite concepts. This is how I came up with the dish I am sharing today, my Chocolate Chia Pudding with Bananas.

I love the fact that this breakfast is super quick to whip up the night before you eat it, it travels well, it's pretty healthy (considering you could be choosing a donut or sugary cereal), and it tastes great. Plus, bananas and chocolate are always a great combination.

Ready for the recipe? Keep reading.

July's Crazy Ingredient Challenge

July's Crazy Ingredient Challenge is a little less crazy than most months, it's combining cranberries and shallots! But while I think that's the perfect combination for Thanksgiving, but it's a little more challenging for the summer.

I came up with a shallot and dried cranberry compote butter that would amazing when tossed with veggies, but I felt like making something a little different for this challenge. So I took a look in my fridge and found a head of cauliflower. Then I looked in my garden and saw that my basil was bright and beautiful. I knew I would make a gorgeous summer soup out of the cauliflower and top it with tart little dried cranberries and bright basil.

This soup was one of my best so thanks to Dawn from Spatulas on Parade for, what turned out to be, a perfect summer combo!

Sex Tape and a Giveaway #BedroomSpice

One of my favourite kind of dates is watching a movie with my sweetie. I love snuggling up on the sofa with snacks and laughing along as a great movie plays and I am always on the lookout for what to watch next.

On July 18, 2014 Sony is releasing what looks to be a seriously funny movie, Sex Tape. Just watch the trailer to see what I mean! In the movie, the two main characters try to spice up their relationship by making a "romantic" video and that video somehow gets uploaded to the Cloud and gets shown to all their family and friends... I can't even imagine that happening!

Luckily the ways I keep the magic alive are a little more tame. I love packing a picnic full of my sweetie's favourite foods and taking it somewhere romantic. Or spending the weekend hiking and camping in a tiny little tent. And if we just snuggle up on the sofa with a new movie, making a Spicy Chocolate Sauce for ice cream sundaes with a movie never hurts. I always serve mine with cinnamon flavoured kiss jujubes too!

MasterChef Hopeful

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be chosen to audition for MasterChef Canada in Vancouver, BC and I had such a fun time. My dish held up well over the terrifically long day and tasted great, I wasn't as nervous as I had been last year, and I met a lot of lovely people.

Last year my food turned out great too, I made a Pimm's Cup Upside-Down Peach Cake, but I knew I didn't win a seat on the show. I stood in front of the judges full of nervous laughter, shaking knees, and every single thought in my head poured out my ears as I walked through the doors. This year, anything is possible and I might be one of the lucky ones.

Want to know what I made? It's a combination of a lot of great dishes I've made before. I called my dish Chocolate and Orange Profiteroles. It was pretty yummy.

20 Minute Dinners

I am love with quesadillas. I love them done in a pan, on the BBQ, or in the oven. I love them filled with anything, but gooey cheese should always be involved. Basically I don't think anything is wrong with them.

But this recipe is one of the best. Smokey black beans mashed up with garlic powder and cumin. Lots of gooey cheese. Avocados smeared over everything. And they're quick to whip up. Perfect? I like to think so.

Fungi Nights

If I had to eat one thing every single night of the week, I don't even have to think about what I would choose. I know it would be pizza. Pizza can be done in a million ways and not one of them are bad. Plus, almost every single pizza I've ever eaten contains cheese in some form and if you know me, you know how much I love cheese!

Today's pizza is my version of a fungi pizza. It's not a first date pizza because of all the roasted garlic and blue cheese, but it's certainly the pizza I'd choose to make for a 10th date. It's a real winner.

Summertime Tabbouleh

I feel very comfortable cooking most cuisines but middle eastern food has never been one of my favourite foods to eat or cook. But when I first tasted a new version of tabbouleh, filled with fresh Canadian corn, I knew I would be revisiting middle eastern cuisine all summer long.

The tart lemon and sweet corn are a perfect match in this dish. And the roasted baby tomatoes and salty feta cheese don't hurt either. I like to eat a big bowl of this tabbouleh with nothing else, but I know it would be great served as a side dish with something grilled too.