Zucchini Bread Grilled Cheese??

A few nights ago as I was taking stock of our refridgerator while trying to decide what to have for dinner, I saw two beautiful zucchini sitting in the crisper and remembered this video that I saw last week on Chow.com of chef Michael Bulkowski making a sandwich that blew my mind: grilled cheese on zucchini bread.

 These are the kinds of things that I dream about making but stop myself because it just sounds too crazy...but this video is evidence that real sane people out in the world make the things that I only dream of making! Chef Michael has set me free!

I whipped up this recipe for zucchini bread and waited in agony patiently for an hour and a bit while it baked and cooled, filling the house with its intoxicating smells.  

I used this very strong goat cheese that I picked up at Atwater market. (I think next time I would use a not-quite-so pungent cheese, as this one was a bit like a kick in the mouth...in a good way...sort of.)

I ate this totally delicious sandwich. Mind officially blown.

I feel like a world of possibilites has been opened up to me with this sandwich! I'm already dreaming up sequels. Would a fried peanut butter and jam on banana bread be crossing the line?

Oh my gosh. I want one right now.

Quinoa Tomato Salad & A Good Ol' Romp in the Great Outdoors

I grew up in White Rock, BC. Our family always had two cars in the driveway. When my brother and I learned to drive, it became three and later four, as each of us needed our own car to get to work and school, respectively. When everyone was home, it looked like we were having a party at our house. Living in the suburbs means a lot of driving, because nothing is within walking distance and public transit basically sucks.  We in the suburbs think nothing of a daily hour long commute. That's just the way it is. 

This past year in Montreal is the first time I have ever really lived in a city. It's been a great experience, and there are things about it I absolutely love. I love that there's a 24 hour bagel place down the street from us where we can also buy milk and eggs. I love that we can decide to go out to dinner after 8 'o clock at night and have a choice between a dozen different restaurants on our street. I love walking around downtown and suddenly running smack dab into the middle of a festival that I didn't even know was happening. There is always something interesting going on here. 

One of the things I really miss about living in BC though, is the openness - looking out over the ocean and not being able to see the other side; going an hour in any direction and hitting farmland or wilderness; that feeling of wanting to head out on the highway and drive off into the great unknown. I miss being able to get away from it all. I miss nature. So when a new friend asked my husband and I if we wanted to go hiking with her last weekend, we were all over the idea. Although the weather was not what we hoped it would be (read: it poured with rain), the chance to leave the confinement of city buildings and spend some time in the great wide open was irresistible, and something I think we both needed. I myself took great pleasure in packing us an energizing and delicious lunch, and we ate it with relish on a forest path by the water, the wind blowing in our faces.