Devon and I met up and went for a bit of a walk - pausing for a long while in the Book Warehouse up near 10th and Trimble. I picked up Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life. Here's what it's about:

"...their journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it." 

Kind of interesting, I thought. And then, appropriately enough, on the way back home we walked by a house that was all garden in the front. We had a long chat with Jim who does all the vegetable growing while his wife takes care of all the flowers. They've lived in this house since the mid-seventies and he's put into practice all he's learned from his mother about gardening. He snapped off the flower part of some kale (the yellow flowers on the right) and gave us each a mustard leaf to try out - spicy! He even leaves out little cuttings of various plants for people to take. I picked out a Russian kale to give to Emma and Devon took a couple of plants as well. Jim's parting words were "if you don't know about socialism, read about it".

Then we carried on down the hill, kind of starving and thinking about dinner. It took us quite awhile to make it back to my place with stops to pick up groceries for a Wild Rice and Broccoli Casserole. The thing I forgot was how long it takes to cook. There are no pictures since we were way too hungry to think about anything but eating. But it's definitely a dish I'd recommend as long as you've got the time to pull it together. 

I'm so behind on things that I'm starting to forget what's been happening of late. Trish & I decided to challenge ourselves for just over a month to not eat out - at all. I'm notorious for leaving the house without eating breakfast and never bringing my lunch to work. This adds up to overpriced food purchases at the market. We decided that it would be okay to have beverages - otherwise you'd never be able to go out for coffee or beers with other friends. The limitation there being that you weren't supposed to buy any snacks. We've done pretty well! I think we've both cheated two or three times and they have been pretty minor infractions.

So, instead of eating out with Devon, I made him a roasted vegetable curry dish. It's from the Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers book. Fast, easy & delicious! And enough food that he was able to go back for a large plate of seconds but leave enough for me to take for lunch the next day. Perfect!

Trish and I did make it to the opening weekend of the Kitsilano Pool where I got to try out my new swimsuit - don't expect to see a picture of that! Thankfully the May long weekend cooperated with some summer-like weather. We did some leisurely laps while chatting and watching the other folks strewn about the pool deck. It's a nice lead in to the craziness that will follow when summer really hits us.  I love the pool but the beach side of things gets to be too much of a scene when the weather gets hot. Instead, you'll find me heading towards Spanish Banks.

Yet another lovely brunch over at Trish's house. I brought a Coconut Citrus Salad courtesy of Martha Stewart and her staff. I thought it was quite tasty but I might include a bit more lettuce next time. Trish made some currant scones - the first batch didn't work out so well and Devon was sent to the store to get more ingredients so another batch could be started. We blame the silicone pan for the burning plastic smell which caused the smoke alarm to go off several times and the jeans that Devon was trying on for causing Trish to forget to include a couple of key ingredients. Devon brought along some french vanilla yogurt and bran buds with psyllium. Aren't we healthy?

And then we headed down to the beach and realized that Kits pool would be opening soon! So exciting!

So the sad news is that my sewing machine is currently out of commission. I was sewing along and then suddenly there was a loud noise and the feed dogs stopped working. I blame the pillow I was making for Emma. It killed a few needles as well. Some day I'll either manage to get the machine fixed or I'll get a new and improved machine. But for now my crafting options are rather limited. I'm not a person who enjoys hand sewing so I've picked up the knitting again. Here's the scarf I started while on the bus to Tofino...

It's not quite finished but that's only because I was distracted by making these guys...