June 2021: Month in Review
We're already halfway through 2021! Let's take a look back at the month of June.
Thursday afternoons in New West has seen the return of the farmer's market! It was weird to go to an event with lots of people after all this time. It was nice though because even as it felt as-normal-as-possible, it was still very safe--everyone was wearing masks, hand sanitizer everywhere, etc.
The stands were spaced far apart outdoors, shoppers are encouraged to move quickly through in one direction to allow for other people to come in (they limit the amount in the market).
It was a nice way to pass a balmy evening, good to support local businesses, etc. There was a good variety of products at the market and we ended up spending more money than we anticipated!
Most-Liked Chore: Preparing for guests
In the corner of the world where I live, COVID restrictions eased up quite a bit in June, and for the first time since we moved into our new place, we were able to have guests over! Very small gatherings of course- my mum, then a friend and her partner, and then my inlaws --one visit for every weekend.
We had to actually prepare our home to be public, which was odd after so long. Thinking about what to cook for more than two people. Putting everything back so it was decorative and not just practical and highly-suited to our routine. Cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. The best part for me was coming up with the menus of what to serve said guests--what would make them feel welcomed and cared for, you know? I might share these menus next month.
Least-Liked Chore: Unclogging the drains
No matter how careful I am or how often I put my hair up, our drains invariably get clogged with my hair. Its a very particular household crime for which I am unmistakably the culprit.
Our new bathtub drains have a raised plug, so I can't put in a drain catcher, and of course these ones are also harder to unclog. Many an evening in June I have spent with rubber gloves on, digging around in the drain, then carefully sprinkling baking soda and vinegar in the drain to little success.
One handy tip I read in Chatelaine magazine was to vacuum around your tub when it's fully dry to get the extra hairs that drop, will def be trying this in July!
June Recipes
The May-June 2021 issue of Chatelaine was a great read and I ended up cooking our way through this issue! Unfortunately I can't find the recipes online, maybe you can find the back issue somewhere? At any rate, I made four out of five salads (with vegetarian adaptations of course) including:
- Hot-smoked Trout and Rice Noodle Salad (we skipped the trout and just bulked up on veggies)
- Warm Wild Rice Salad (made this for my mum and she loved it)
- Greek Chicken Salad (we marinated tofu instead)
- Charred Cabbage and Bacon Panzanella (we used veggie bacon and vegan blue cheese, which was surprisingly good
I also scaled this zucchini ribbon and caper pasta recipe (Canadian Living) down to work for one on a night when my spouse was out which was very tasty.
P.S. This was a great read on Canadian food history: How Calgary’s Reluctant Food Icon Shared Her ‘Spicy Touch’ With The World
June Quote
I'm sure almost no one deludes themselves that all their ancestors were decent. Pick a vein, any vein: mud mixed with lightning that flows through, an unruly fusion of bad blood and good.
from Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi
