somewhere in noble, ontario

had this to watch while eating dinner last night...

gone fishing...

just kidding. although i might end up fishing in the canadian wilderness on our trip to toronto and nyc. i'm hoping to be able to post an entry or two while on the road, but if not, bear with me, we'll be home on sept11.

the dog will not be happy, but grandma is coming to babysit, and i bet the dog is getting plenty of treats and attention while we're gone...

august moon

just as i was parking my car after getting home last night, the moon was perfectly behind this huge blumby cloud, it looked like a huge halo. i hurried indoors, remembered to take the tripod from car. but, the moment was gone...only this was left







i took the pictures from my balcony, left the camera on tripod, and went out once in a while to click the camera. i wished i had been at the cottage, the lake would have made amazing reflections of the moon







took this one at 1.30 am (yes mom, i know i should have been asleep since today was work). it was rather chilly, only +10c at that time

very quick veggie noodles

this was one quick lunch / dinner to go. i had a little thing going on with button mushrooms not too long ago, brown them in a little butter...hmm






brown like this







i was happy to find out that my favourite noodles come now in whole wheat as well







cooked the noodles according to package instructions, i usually don't use even half of the spices included, way too salty for my taste, but i do like the garlicky oil of some sort







frozen wok-veggies, heated them in a colander over the boiling noodles







divided the noodles, veggies and mushroom in half. ate the other half right away, took the rest to work for my dinner. did add some sesame oil to the portion i took to work

mushroom risotto

on monday i decided that there has to be something in the pantry for dinner without having to go to the grocery store...i found these







dried black trumpets (craterellus cornucopioides) and funnel cantharelles (cantharellus tubaeformis)







these mushrooms keep almost forever in an airtight container. they only need a bath in boiling hot water to revive







30 mins, or so, will do the trick







i had decided to make risotto with the mushrooms. took out an onion, garlic (not pictured), parmesan and risotto rice







and these. for the life of me i can't understand why i've ever bought them! yes, they are handy at the cottage, in a snowstorm when there is no way to get anything else, but other than that...i just plain don't like them







the tin was going to expire in a few months so instead of tossing them in the compost, i gave them a good rinse and chopped them quite fine







took out this as well...the souvenir from split, minced black truffle in oil







i had never tasted it before...interesting







happened to have some whipping cream in the fridge (closing in on the expiry date)







loads of parmesan







started by sauteeing the minced onion on medium pan, then added the rice and garlic, sauteed some more before adding vegetable stock in batches (according to the rice package instructions). i added all of the mushrooms in the beginning figuring they'll yield more flavor that way. i used ½ tsp of the truffle mince to season before adding the parmesan and cream







yam!







will need to try the truffle on it's own on something, not sure i could quite taste it in here