The Most Delicious Panzanella

Panzanella
One of our favourite easy dinner dishes this summer has been panzanella. It's quick to make, refreshingly cool on a hot day, and it gets gobbled up by the Wee Lass.

Here's how I make it for 2 adults and 1 toddler ...

Most Delicious Panzanella
stale bread (good quality crusty French or Italian style bread, approximately 1 cup per person when cubed)
3 fresh tomatoes (approximately 1 per person your salad will serve)
1/2 fresh cucumber (optional)
1/2 to 1 can of diced tomatoes (optional -- desirable if your bread is rock solid stale)
4 Tbsp olive oil (really just a generous glug ... I don't actually measure it)
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar (or red wine vinegar or cider vinegar)
garlic (1 clove)
shallot (optional)
capers
Taggia olives
assorted fresh herbs (basil, thyme, oregano)
salt and pepper

Saw the stale bread into small bite-size cubes and place in a shallow salad bowl or deep pie dish. I used the end of a loaf of rosemary foccaccia. If your bread is really stale, you'll want to make sure it all gets thoroughly soaked, so that's why a shallow dish works better. Now you're going to make a juicy concoction to dump on top. You could mix it in a separate bowl first, but I always just add it to the bread as I go.

Finely chop your tomatoes (and cucumber if you're using it) into small cubes. If your bread is super stale, then add a can of diced tomatoes for extra liquid and tomatoe-y goodness (I didn't need it in this case). Drizzle on a generous amount of olive oil (use a bit more if your bread is really hard) and add the balsamic vinegar. Mix this sauce around to combine. You can add finely chopped garlic and shallot directly, but I prefer to soften the flavour of it with a quick saute. I actually forgot to add it in the pictured salad and the whole thing was still tasty.

Add a bit more olive oil if it seems like a good idea. Toss in a big spoonful of capers and enough olives for everyone to get at least 3 or 4. Finely chop a generous bunch of fresh basil, thyme, and oregano and add to your bowl. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix it and let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.


Panzanella
Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Feathers and seed pods

nature finds

Sometimes life is just too busy happening to have much time left for blogging. Besides, when the sun is out and summer is shining (in this hemisphere at least), we all probably have better things to do than noodle about on the internet. For the moment, here is a picture of some assorted pretty things I've picked up on various walks and expeditions.


Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Bicycling to the Beach

path through the grasses

Yesterday we went on an adventure. A 60 km long adventure. We biked from Amsterdam to Bloemendaal aan Zee for the day. We left at 10 in the morning, arrived at the beach around noon, enjoyed the sun, sand, and sea until 5, then biked home, arriving at around 7:30. We spent pretty much exactly the same amount of time cycling as at the beach. Overall, it was a really lovely outing, though the ride back was ... painful. My legs were soooo sore by the time we got home that I just lay on the sofa the rest of the evening. I thought for sure they'd still hurt today, but it turns out not really. I have a funny squiggly sunburn on one arm where I missed applying sunscreen properly, but we otherwise slathered ourselves sufficiently and kept our sunhats on.


the beach!

I have never been particularly sporty, so a 30km cycling trip each way was definitely ambitious. But I wanted to visit the ocean and the weather was forecast to be absolutely glorious, so with a bike route mapped on Damian's android phone, we ventured forth. We marvelled at the lovely bike paths which are kept well away from the roads. Once we were out of the city, it felt like we were just biking through the countryside, with wildflowers, trees, birdsong, and pretty views. While scenic, the route is not uselessly twiddly; it largely followed along the route of the N200. There are also lots of little signposts along the bike route, at each intersection, making it relatively easy to follow (and clear that there are many other routes to follow for future adventures).


pony by the bike path

We packed ourselves 2 bottles of water and some frozen apple juice boxes and a picnic. The fruit salad (strawberries, mango, and cucumber) was perfect to eat when we first arrived at the beach, tired and thirsty! We had some other classic picnic food like peanut-butter-honey-cinnamon sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, and bananas.


me biking under the trees

The beach was very busy and quite different from the kind of beach I grew up with. I am used to beaches with more rocks and driftwood, and little crabs and things. This was sand, with bits of shells of course, as far as you could see. The North Sea was chilly, though pleasant to paddle our feet in and let the waves splash our legs. We took advantage of the tractor-pulled food carts on the beach and tried a shrimp sandwich, some deep-fried calamari, and some ice cream bars.


little bridge

When we arrived a noon, there were already lots of people on towels and loungers, but by mid-afternoon, there was a whole new row of towels in front of ours and tons of people playing on the sand. A paddle ball kind of game seemed extremely popular, as was kicking a soccerball, though surprisingly we only saw a couple frisbees. By 5:00, the tide was coming in, and we were ready to head home. I'm not sure if I'd go to this particular beach again as I prefer more rocky bits for exploring and fewer people, but it was a fun adventure, and we only got a little lost on the way back to Amsterdam. (We actually think it made one stretch of the route shorter, though less scenic).


D biking by farmland


Photographs by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

what I did on my summer holiday

heart by the water
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
On my summer holiday, I left behind some hearts and towers made of stones.


tower of stones
Originally uploaded by allisongryski


stacked stones
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
I saw pretty wildflowers in purple ...


wildflowers
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
and white ...


wildflowers
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
and pink.


wildflowers
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
I watched misty sunsets across the bay.


misty sunset
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
I saw an abandoned house ...


abandoned house
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
and an old graveyard.


old graveyard
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
And now it is very decidedly Autumn, with a bit of a chill in the air and brisk breezes.

Thrifty souvenirs of summer

1930s quilt
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
One of my family's beloved activities is searching garage sales, thrift stores, flea markets, and antique fairs for treasures. This summer, we had an absolute bonanza of it, and I came home with some gorgeous bargains. The main event was the Odessa antique fair. It's a huge collection of booths and tents out in a field with everything from furniture to figurines. I have no pictures as I was far too busy searching the hundreds of stalls for something spectacular. But picture a grassy field absolutely stuffed with stalls. Odessa has often been brutally hot and sunny, but for a change, this year it was cool and grey. Just as I stepped inside the small building to finish the few indoor booths, it started pouring rain. But I wasn't too sorry, since I'd already found my Find early on.

This year, I came home with a beautiful, hand pieced and quilted quilt for just $60. Based on the fabric, we figure it's probably from the 1930s. In any case, having worked on a quilt with a machine, I can only have a sense of the huge amount of work that went into this:


1930s quilt
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I saw another quilt, also at Odessa. It was larger, with a pinwheel pattern and some green blocks. I rather loved it too, but at the (fair) price of $335, it was outside the range of my allotted spending money. I'm still boggling that the vender could sell me the above quilt for only $60. I could barely say "I'll take it" fast enough, once he named his price. My mom and I waited until we were several stalls down to let our massive grins shine.

And the thrift stores were just as kind. First, this pretty vintage sheet, which will work well with lots of my quilt fabric leftovers.


vintage sheet
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

This hand-embroidered cloth has a couple holes in it, but for 75 cents, it deserves a second life.

hand-embroidered cloth
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I think each quadrant could perhaps be used for a pillow or totebag. (Apologies for the creases, but this is straight off the laundry line.)


hand-embroidered cloth
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

And, last, but certainly not least... perhaps my most surprising thrifty find to date...


Fluevog boots
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

A pair of Fluevogs! Now, if I'm totally honest, they are a little snug on the toes, but for $2.50, I'm going to wear them and enjoy them... just maybe not for all-day excursions.

Back from holiday

Prince Edward Point
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
I am back from nearly 2 weeks of holiday in the countryside. It was wonderfully relaxing to visit family and be away from the city for a bit. I didn't miss my computer at all, though I did miss my sweetie who could only join me for part of the trip. Thinking of him, I picked up heart shaped stones along this lovely pebble beach.


Heart Stones
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I absolutely adore the beach. When I was little, we lived just a short walk from a wonderfully rocky beach. The kind that's best for poking about and exploring and turning over rocks to see what's underneath. I can spend ages watching waves curl in and splash, a little differently every time. Something in me, despite having lived away from the seashore for so long, is still inextricably drawn to it. An afternoon at this beach, followed by a picnic on a rock shelf nearby (perfect for paddling one's feet in the water from) was really an absolutely perfect way to spend a summer's day.

Yesterday, my first day back in Montreal, was the usual laundry and errands day that follows a holiday. I bixi'd downtown in the morning, and despite the mostly downhill ride, was melting by the time I got there. Montreal decided to greet our return with the first truly sweltering day this year ... it was 41°C with the humidity. We went to see Julie/Julia in the evening, mostly to enjoy the air conditioning in the theatre (though we both enjoyed the Julia Child part of the film too). We walked home in the cooler evening and paused for some refreshing lemon sorbet. More holiday stories to follow as I upload the rest of my pictures...


Heart Stone
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

Summer weekend

girl's night print
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I hope everyone had a glorious weekend. Mine included these moments:

• read in the park with my sweetie while we munched on graham crackers (oh how I look forward to the picnic quilt which will be much more comfortable than our dollar store tablecloth)
  
• took the last bite of an ice cream cone just before the first crack of thunder
  
• cut out some more squares for my picnic quilt (crossed the 500 mark)
  
• had a nostalgic sleepover party with 4 of my girlfriends (we made pizza and chocolate gelato from scratch, played a cheesy 80s boardgame and watched a cheesy 80s movie)
  
• lainevierge gave us matching girl's night prints that she found at the Fringe bazaar (they come from Witty Workshop)
  
• made pancakes for breakfast
  
• played scrabble in the park with Barbara
  
• went to bed far too late on Saturday and consequently very early on Sunday

state of the stack of squares
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

Fabric folly

reprodepot fabrics
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
I'm not sure when this blog turned into fabric porn, but I just can't resist taking pictures of stacks of pretty fabric. I also can't seem to resist buying it, more's the pity. (The full extent of said lack of will power will become clear when I receive and photograph a certain package that's in the post). I got the 4 remnants above from the Reprodepot table at the Pomme-Pomme craft/zine fair this past Saturday. My favourite is the top one with snails and pea pods.

The space for the fair at La Sala Rossa was unfortunately muggy and crowded. After a quick once-around and a good rummage through the fabrics, my friend Taylor and I left in search of ice cream. We found ourselves some AC and inspiration at the nearby Au Papier Japonais first, then stopped by Local23, an excellent consignment/vintage clothing shop that was new to me. Then we wended our way back towards Le Patio (where I had a refreshing Guava-Grapefruit sorbet) and met up with my sweetie. The three of us finished off the lovely afternoon by having a picnic in Parc Lafontaine. There were further picnic and park lounging plans for Sunday, but the weather gods weren't having it and it poured rain all day.

In other fabric-stacking news, here's a picture of my quilt-squares-so-far. It actually looks less impressive in the picture than the square of paper on top with 410 written on it suggests it should.


That means the stack on the right has 410 squares. The stack on the left is the 16.5" squares for the back, of which I have 31/42. And if that wasn't enough fabric for one day, here's a picture of one of my favourite thrift-store sheet finds. This is actually the first one that I bought for the quilt.

Tart and refreshing

homemade limeade
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
The limes were outrageously cheap at the market, so a batch of homemade limeade seemed in order. I looked for a recipe online but everything seemed too sweet. I like my limeade tart and refreshing, so here's my method (which can be scaled as necessary):

In a pot, combine:
1c sugar
1c water

Heat while stirring until all the sugar dissolves (it should go clear). You'll end up with about 1 1/4 c of simple syrup.

To make your limeade:
1 c fresh lime juice (6-9 limes depending on juiciness)
1 c syrup
4 c water

Chill and serve with ice and mint sprigs. I froze my extra syrup in ice cubes for use later. I've heard some grated ginger is a yummy addition, but I haven't tried it.



I also made some wholewheat pizza dough and whipped up some delicious pizza with red onion, mushrooms, parmigiano-reggiano, wild roquette, tomatoes, bocconcini, and fresh ground pepper.

Strawberries: with glee and great abandon

strawberry preserves
Originally uploaded by allisongryski
Just about every summer, I like to buy strawberries when they're in season and delicious and cheap and make a bunch of things to enjoy both right away and during the winter. I went a little overboard this year. On Saturday, I bought 2 flats (24 pints) of organic strawberries from the Jean Talon market. I washed all of them and put 24 cups (only about 10 pints worth) into my giant stockpot to macerate with some sugar and lemon juice.



On Sunday morning, I made a delicious orange-yogourt loaf cake to go with strawberries. I used lemon and lime zest and orange juice from concentrate since I didn't actually have an orange on hand. This recipe promises to become a new favourite. It whipped together very quickly and the result was sweet enough to be a tea cake, but also pleasant for breakfast.




I also made a strained strawberry juice, but forgot to take any pictures. Just imagine a long length of nylon tulle, folded up and pinned with clothespegs over a stripy bowl. A splodgey mass of mashed strawberry, cooked with some fresh mint and basil leaves, sat on this, slowly dripping essence-of-summer into the purple-and-pink bowl. I was left with mostly-juice-free, but still yummy strawberry pulp, so I attempted to make a summer berry and bread pudding thing. It turned out yummy, but didn't exactly work since it relies on the juices completely soaking the bread and I only added a stingy couple spoons back. Sometime I'll actually have to follow the recipe, which calls for a variety of different berries.




On Sunday afternoon, I turned the macerated strawberries into a syrupy jam. The recipe is from my Mom and while not really jammy enough for toast, it's excellent on pancakes, waffles, ice cream, and porridge. I may try some over a slice of my orange-yogourt cake. It was very satisfying to listen to the ping of my jam pots as the proper seal formed. I managed to get nearly 14 assorted pots of strawberry preserve. I labelled some of them with some old paper labels that were my Grandmother's.




After all this, and still with boxes of strawberries in the fridge, I was a bit worn out. So I took a picnic to the park and lolled in the dappled sunlight near the fountain with my sweetie. Feeling a bit peckish, we stopped for poutine on the way home. In the evening, I finished reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's collection of articles, titled "Hugh Fearlessly Eats-it-all". All in all, a very lovely weekend. (And now, I just have to make a strawberry tart, strawberry purée, and maybe some strawberry frozen yogourt.)

Summer hols

dusk in the country
Originally uploaded by allisongryski

I recently had a short holiday in the country. It was glorious and relaxing.



I spent almost all of one day in various places on the dock reading decorating magazines, paddling my feet in the water, and eating fresh strawberries.


I did some painting.


I read three books (Gifts by Ursula K. LeGuin, Thornyhold by Mary Stewart, and Od Magic by Patricia McKillip). I saw my sister's new house and got bitten by the mosquitoes in her backyard. I walked along a beach and sat on the rocks by a lighthouse. I went to the farmer's market and flea market in town and even found some vintage sheet additions for my picnic quilt at a thrift shop.



I watched sunsets.