Heather_Lou's Profile

I am SOOOO jealous. In Quebec a single bottle of Big House is $17!!! It's my favourite easy drinking table wine but it's too expensive here to buy regularly (in Ontario it's only $12 but STILL). $20 for 3L!? Heaven!

EEEEEEEEEE! This sounds so delish I had to fight the urge to rush home after work and buy a pork shoulder (I have a fridge full of food to get through first).

Faith, when you say "reseed" what do you mean? Do you cut the dill/cilantro down and let it grow back up or....?

Just got back from my community garden this morning and everything is on STEROIDS! Doing square foot gardening for the first time this year and bringing in our own soil mix over the depleted clay soil there has made all the difference.

We've got 6 heirloom tomatoes, peppers, Lebanese cucumbers, zucchinis, peas, beans, carrots, turnips, beets, radishes, 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, artichokes, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, ground cherries, rhubarb, dill, 2 kinds of basil, thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, chives and red onions.

Already harvesting radishes, lettuce and chard. Always tastes so much better when you grow it yourself!!!

I've been eating sardines a lot since they are so cheap, healthy and sustainably fished. Favourite application (besides on toast with lemon or in pasta) is in a salad nicoise in place of tuna (which I have completely cut out due to horrific tuna fishing practices). Boiled egg, potato, green beans, olives, capers, lettuce, tomato + Sardines with a dijon dressing = best lunch ever.

Best dressing EVER for this type of salad. Maple-chipotle vinaigrette from the Rebar cookbook (one of the best vegetarian cookbooks of all time, btw). A little spicy and smoky, totally different and unexpected for salad but SO EFFING GOOD.

2 cloves Garlic, minced
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Pure maple syrup
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp Pureed chipotles peppers in adobo sauce (buy smallest can and mix in blender)
1/8 tsp Liquid smoke
1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Cracked pep

Oh come on now. You will probably not smell anything one floor up. Lived in similiar situations and it was never a problem. Ask them not to smoke outside when your windows are open. Case closed.

I moved into my current place and started repairing the walls from other folks' nails. I was scraping away some hanging paint when lo and behold, sheets of it started pouring down, revealing the most beautiful toffee-pink and metallic vintage floral paper. I stripped 2 whole walls. Definitely one of my favourite things about my apartment - people often lose their sh*t when they see it for the first time.

And another thing - I have to disagree with LivC on her biggest complaint. Since when was it a crime to have beautiful objects in your home that are not highly functional? Isn't this what accessorizing and personalizing your home is all about? The ladder in the corner and fur under the keyboard were some of my favourite details!! I would love to have a little furry pelt under my wrists when I'm chained to my ol' man (that's what I call my desk).

Your bathroom is so tiny that in order to circumvent the sink to reach the toilet you've invented a dance move called "The Can Opener".

It is a daily struggle. Trying to balance a career, a social life and a moderately maintained home can be trying when you don't have a roommate or partner helping out. When I'm very busy (ie. running from one holiday party to another) my place looks like it did this morning - unwashed dishes, clothes on the floor, bathroom in need of cleaning, litterbox in need of scooping, mail in need of sorting.

I try to dedicate one afternoon every weekend to doing a solid tidying up, and more or less live in a state of casual dishevelment unless I'm expecting guests. But no one comes into my house unless I've done a solid cleaning. I've been in a few borderline filthy places this week for house parties and I was stunned and slightly impressed at their total lack of slothful self-consciousness.

Until the day comes when I can afford to hire a housecleaner, or move in with someone, my housekeeping skills are unlikely to change. If I'm to be honest with myself about my relative inability to keep a tidy house all the time, I would say it is because there is some comfort in having a home that is not perfect all the time, that I gain pleasure from being able to leave a sweater on the floor or dishes in the sink - its MY house and if I'd rather watch Top Chef then dust, I will. Oh, the benefits of living alone.