tomato chick pea soup with rosemary

so there is something that i must admit here. i love soup. is honestly the best. they are all great, blended, chunky, spicy, brothy. i love to take them to work and heat them up with a bun or salad. winter begs you to bring out your soup pot and put it to good use.

this is one of the easiest more delicious recipes i have ever come across. seriously, so tasty with a base of hearty tomato and the fresh rosemary gives it depth and heartyness. and a breeze to make. literally the hardest part is opening so many cans. this recipe could be made in the blender but if I had an immersion blender i would have used that and would be able to say this is a one pot meal.

i first read about this recipe on orangette. a fabulous recipe blog if you don't already salivate over all of her recipes.

yields about 6 servings.

ingredients:

2 15-ounce cans chickpeas

3 Tbs olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 3-inch sprigs fresh rosemary, needles removed from stem and finely chopped

2 cans diced tomatoes, one 28-ounce and one 14.5-ounce

A pinch of sugar

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 cups vegetable stock (I used Imagine brand)

Drain the canned chickpeas in a colander, and rinse them well.

Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-low heat, and add the garlic and rosemary. Cook for a minute or two, and then add the tomatoes, sugar, salt, a few grinds of pepper, roughly half of the chickpeas, and the stock. Bring to a boil over high heat; then reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes.

Remove the soup from the heat to purée. If using an immersion blender, purée the soup directly in the pot. Otherwise, wait a few minutes, until the soup cools; then purée it in batches in a blender or food processor and return it to the pot. Add the remaining chickpeas, and warm the soup over medium heat. Serve warm.

warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over med heat. add the garlic.

chop up the fresh rosemary. given the super low cost of the rest of the ingredients i would defiantly say don't skimp out and use dried rosemary. so much of the flavor is from this ingredient.

add the rosemary to the party in the pot.

next add the whole tomatoes

and some salt and pep

and the sugar. i had brown crystal sugar, i don't think it matters

rinse the chickpeas while the rest of the ingredients are simmering.

i didn't have any stock on hand so i used the crystal stuff that you add boiling water too. not my finest moment but just know if you use this stuff you probably won't need too much extra salt for seasoning.

add about half of the chickpeas to the pot

and the stock too. now simmer that for a while. maybe do some dishes or decided to pull out the blender for the next step only to realize the horrible waste of space in the cabinets above the fridge, so then you get a little distracted organizing that. you know, or maybe not.

take the soup off the heat for 5 or 10 minutes to let it cool slightly before putting it in the blender. be careful to only fill the blender slightly over halfway because the soup will expand and will still be extremely hot. also i seem to have misplaced the lid to mine so this make this step extra important.

blend all of the soup.

put it back in the pot and add the rest of the chickpeas. i warmed the soup back up because i wanted to add some extra seasoning, as you will see in the next step, but if you didn't want to add anything else the soup would be ready now.

after tasting it i decided to go with some extra rosemary and pepper. it was the first time making this recipe when i took the photos but i have made this soup many times since and always go heavy on the rosemary.

then its time to pack it up into mason jars and let it cool down some more. mason jars are the perfect thing to bring soup to work in. the perfect amount, no spilling, super easy to clean, plus pretty cute looking i think. sometimes i just heat the soup up in the glass jars and eat it just like that.

enjoy!

so....remember halloween?

so i worked all day then at 4:3o flew out the door and raced home to the sewing machine. where i whipped up this little number.

not bad for a last minute costume. also cost=1.99 for the mask. the dress was all scraps i had lying around, mostly dresses/skirts that i didn't wear anymore. the base is an old pillow case.

then my friend the paper bag princess travelled to the city to make sure it was a fun night. which it was. 

we accidently stayed out until 5 in the morning. trick or treat. 

you know that feeling, when something is on the tip of your tongue and you can see the word but you just can't grasp it. somehow you remember how many syllables it has but not what it starts with, you can see the shape of the letters but not what they spell? 

you force your mind to focus and squint and it doesn't matter because it is just out of your reach. 

you try and sound it out. you think of words that mean the same thing. all of the other words in the world that mean the same thing - but not that word. 

all you need is a letter. a sound. a hint. 

you can taste it but its not real. 

the best thing to do is stop. 

step away. 

and it will come to you, in a bright flash of clarity. and you will catch it and hold it, and keep it. its yours -you earned it. 

i learned the first time not to let it go. then. i learned that lesson again. and now. its back to that illegible stage. and i want it back. 

i know what it means. what it stands for. what else might be a substitute for it. its sometimes this, except when it this and there's times when its this, but its never going to be this. 

but there is a word that fits perfectly. 

and its on the tip of my tongue. 

HAVE NOTHING IN YOUR HOUSE THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW TO BE USEFUL, OR BELIEVE TO BE BEAUTIFUL.

from Mr. Ford's firm via Simple Lovely »

– William Morris

love it

shatter your illusions of love

saturday night my entire plan for halloween changed.

because before saturday night there was no plan. now there is a plan and i need a costume.

this is my inspiration. and that adorable owl movie i saw saturday night.

from seablanket

wish me luck :)

rulers make bad lovers, you'd better put your kingdom up for sale

hello dears. busy weekend. 

thursday night at 9pm i get a voicemail from my mom that she is coming to sleep over the following evening. luckily the boy had done the PILE of dishes earlier that day so all that was left was things i don't really mind doing. 

pumpkin pie in jars from inchmark

friday afternoon my mom and brother travelled separately to toronto and after finishing up a productive week at work i met them at the apartment. greek food was what we decided on, and to the danforth we went. have you ever been to messini? best best best. always a line up -its an inconvenience but a sure sign it will be worth it. (ps they put french fries in their gyros, every male i know is blown away by this, so good)

saturday morning the three of us ventured out to the st. lawrence market and enjoyed some samples and baked apple streusel. i purchased cherry tomatoes, a basket of mixed peppers, sprout salad, whole grain bagels (with crunchy seeds on the top mmm) cheese curds (more for my brother) dried quinoa, and fresh cannelloni and this amazing pasta sauce that is alfredo, pesto and tomato sauce mixed. 

from wet behind the ears via happiness is

after that we walked over to the convention center to the creativ festival which was the reason for mom visit. it wasn't really my cup of tea but i do think she enjoyed herself. it suprised me how expensive yarn and patterns were. for that much money i could just buy something and save myself the grief. hahah which is exactly the difference between my mom and i because i'm sure she doesn't view it as a hassle. 

from wilt + delight via happiness is

later that evening after my mom left my brother and i went to the movies with the intention of seeing the social network but it was sold out so we saw legend of the guardians, the owl movie. IN IMAX 3D. blewwwwwwwww my mind! more so the IMAX and 3D part but the movie was cute too. 

and that my friends leaves us at today. where laundry was done, items picked up, brothers dropped off, cannalonni baked and blogs read. 

i don't have any pictures for you so i hope you enjoy the ones i found around the internet today. 

you know that saying ...i have good news and bad news?

i don't like it. 

i was at the mac store because my work laptop stopped turning on and the lady took it into the back room for like 15 minutes, the entire time i am getting more and more stressed. what can be taking so long?             ?            then she comes back and i nearly jump over the counter TELL ME WHATS GOING ON. she says:

i have good news and bad news.

the good news is, your computer is one of the cleanest i have ever seen. hardly any dust or any spills.

i say, thats the good news? lousy good news. 

the bad news is your motherboard is fucked and something about the power not reaching the computer. and its about $900 to replace but really i wouldn't suggest putting that kind of money into it. 

shit son. 

so anyway, wish me luck on monday when i break the news to my boss. i mean it really isn't life changing for me but it was sweet to have a fast little new laptop to do work on bring home and read blogs on. 

so i'm back to my old mac. he may be a little larger, a little (lot) heavier, a little dirtier and a little slower but you know what HE WORKS. i realized last night, this computer is 6 years old. SIX. tell me a pc that still works 100% after 6 years. i mean i replaced the battery but only by choice and because jay insisted and bought one for a good price on ebay. but its still running perfectly. well and the screen was replaced but that was because my corkboard fell on it in second year and i paid heavily for that mistake. BUT my own fault, not the computers. 

so i'd like to just put a little good will out there. a shout out to the mac gods who have kept this computer safe. i can't thank you enough. you bring me blogs in the morning and recipes on the weekends. you keep my pictures safe (and your pal lacie does a good job of that too) and my music current. he has travelled with me to all 12 places i have called home since i bought him and i do respect him as a reliable electronic. there aren't that many out there.

thanks. 

ps. for anyone else with an old(ish) white laptop, i give you my number one tip for keeping the keyboard and exterior clean - mr. clean magic eraser. works wonders. 

fill in the blanks

source

1. The first thing I do in the morning to start my day is hit the snooze button. or on the weekends i turn on the espresso machine.

2. Today I wish I was staying home with the boy, or driving around taking pictures of the beautiful fall colours and drinking a pumpkin spice latte.

3. If I had an extra $100 in my bank account today I'd stop at ikea on the way home from work.

4. Tomorrow I will be at work, stressing out because Thursdays is my big meeting day where the status of all my projects is discussed.

5. Two things that don't go together are oranges in salad. BLECK

6. Something I can never pass up at the grocery store is a good sale! or salad. I always have salad in the fridge at work. I constantly eat and work and with salad i feel less guilty about that. plus its crunchy and saucy and something i never seem to get tired of.

7. The last time I tried something new was hosting thanksgiving at our apartment this year. it went beautifully and now we have tons of leftovers. i didn't let myself get too stressed out and just kinda went with the flow of the night. i think everyone had a good time and it was nice to not have to drive home at the end of the evening :) plus it was an excuse to buy wicked plaid napkins at ikea and finally get around to hang some art up on the walls.

see more fill in the blanks here: the little things we do

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okay okay okay. appologies!

i'm sorry. really stupidly sorry that i haven't even posted on here.

i was sitting (no joke) in roacharama's backyard oasis of peacefulness and for some reason it totally dawned on me that i should do this. THIS. should be done.

so here we are kids HA

people always ask me. hows it going? i always say "good.... busy"

but am i really busy? do I really do exceptional amounts of things? meh. doubt it. maybe more then someone who doesn't work but in the big scheme of a day or a week, i don't know if i should brag. which i guess brings me to a point that i just decided i was trying to get to.

MULTI VITAMINS

changed my life.

i am a happier person now. my body likes me more. this is good.

i found a recipe for caramel apples with chocolate and snikers bars online today. mmmmmmmight be good.

man i am super ADD when it comes to internet surfing. i mean i guess thats the point, but emails bring me to websites that make me click on other websites, then i start thinking about a picture or a recipes then i am on the hunt for that when i find another good blog post with links of its own, and on and on and on.

and the moral of the story is, thats all i got for ya.

xo
(its been a month, i have to work my way into this)

post smonday thoughts

so! one post every two weeks. i'm killing it i know.

today i have good reason for not blogging though. rearranged the crap out of the entire apartment last night and today. pretty much every single thing in the apartment moved except one bookshelf and the couch. although the couch did scootch down the wall a little bit but eh whos looking.

this time i will show pictures. promise promise. well maybe not the whole thing but vignettes of the pretty stuff anyway.

went to the cottage friday-sunday afternoon, was fun but not as great as organizing. its fall. fall fall fall. the wonderful mysterious season of fall. my lovely friend cas who lives in paris told me that in gift shops around the world canada is always represented by fall trees. i think thats kinda funny and its true they are beautiful and so illusive. next time i go to the cottage it will be thanksgiving and full of fall.

anyway, the whole reason i brought up fall has nothing to do with turkeys of coloured leaves. for me its more of an internal change. the lazy days of summer are gone and something inside of me switches. its like going from fourth to fifth gear, my attention can focus and i can work up a sweat again. piles of paper start to bother me, drawers without purpose call my name. i definitely can't stand to look at fabric that is not folded and somehow i gain the strength to lift filing cabinets between rooms.

i really think my life calling is professional organizer.

ahh sweet dreams.

__________

i starting writing this post sunday night and it is now thursday evening. where does the time go?!?! seriously.

here are some things i found interesting on the internet this week.

photoshop actions - have you heard of these? i need to do more research but they seem really cool. its like the cheaters way to photoshop effects.

a little quiz from NWT on design trends that have come back into style. now or then? i scored close but no stiletto

a lovely etsy shop with some really beautiful jewelry. verabel

this camera lens mug!!!! have you seen this?!!?! amazing. definitely getting this for my uncle for christmas.

creativity

helloooooo

so i was perusing the blog world, as usual, and came across this interview of Elizabeth Gilbert, better known as the author of Eat Pray Love. please - if you have 20 minutes to inspire yourself i would highly recommend this video. first of all her voice is just so calm and controlled and she is so .... genuine. so true to herself. so honest on a subject that is never really discussed. always present, but never really questioned. such a fundamental truth of how we see creativity but never subject it to analysis. which asks the question, can you analyze creativity? can creativity come from one thing and not another, can it be given these - or any - qualities? i don't know.

i'm open to her suggestion that it passes through us. with us one day and gone the next. there are times when i feel it. i itch to create. its hard for me to explain it when i don't feel it. like today, and these past couple months. when i am removed from the creativity. my senses are numbed, to exhausted to feel it. to get excited about it. this is sad. i WANT to embrace it. i want to feel it in the middle of the day and ACT on it.

i've been struggling with working full time, investing in a career, and still embracing with any form of creativity. i don't get to have feelings and act on them, i have deadlines and shit that has to get done.

earning a living and creativity somehow are disconnected for me. i really do think this but sometimes there is a glimmer of hope. a flicker that it could turn into something more. to be honest i should spend more time just thinking about creativity. not designating time for it, but at least leaving time open for it.

creativity demands your full attention. it can not be done while watching mad men or looking at mad men. i feel like these days most of my creativity happens in the kitchen. i get very... absorbed, by different flavors, smells, acid levels. how something tastes when it is chopped versus blended. i feel very satisfied creating a meal, watching it grow. i also think that i am most creative when i am alone. i don't like to be disturbed. i feel like i am very protective of my work when it is not finished, i don't like questions. although i should really be honest and say the truth of the matter is, i don't like judgement.

which brings me to this blog. in a roundabout way. i feel like this is an expression of my creativity - or rather COULD be a view into my world. but. its not. its just this. thing. this thing that exists and there are pictures and memories and other internet leftovers. but there is no creativity. i don't make anything on here. and i feel bad about that.

i'm sorry about that. i want to give real content. real thoughts. real feelings.

none of that is going to make any sense unless you watch it now haha.

common how often do i post videos?! she is brilliant!

cave springs

as you know, friday the boy and i somehow miraculously got out of work so we went on a little road trip. we have always wanted to go on a wine tour and see what canada's wine country has to offer.

niagara on the lake is about an hour and a half drive from downtown toronto. really not that bad when if the traffic co-operates. the niagara escarpment is really a fluke in canada. in this small area grows about 70% (based on what I remember from the presentation, don't quote that) of the wine that canada produces. the only other place in canada is in bc, in the okanogen valley. The winters in canada are so cold that normally the grapes vines freeze and then do not produce grapes the following summer. but because of the location of niagara, right at the west end of lake ontario, the air is heated while going over the lake and then warmed when it hits the land. the escarpment is a huge ridge that keeps this flow of air contained to the niagara valley and thus it is about 10 degrees warmer in this little pocket then anywhere else in canada. and the only reason we can even dream about growing wine grapes here. this is a pretty good website to find out more info.

we chose to check out cave springs, on the recommendation of a friend. it was in a cute little town, not far from the highway and consisted of a few shops and sleepy bungalows. the tour itself was short and sweet. i was hoping we could actually go out to the vineyard and see the grapes growing but we just toured the wine making facility and then were able to taste some of the wines. overall a good learning experience for me. the boy deals with wine everyday at his job so the wine tasting was pretty elementary for him but we both really liked the Riesling we were able to try.

playing hooky

Hey!

so guess who is NOT at work today?! AH! i love my boss....i was complaining that i never get to see my bf, J, and even though we live together i still never get to spend time with him. yeah maybe a couple hours one night a week but lets be honest, after a full days work i'm beat. and somehow a miracle happened and J got four whole days off in a ROW.

let me tell you how rare this is. this is more rare then people who like to eat cheese whiz and pickle sandwiches. this is more rare then finding a main floor apartment near high park where dogs are allowed. this is so unbelievably rare that i had to miss work for it.

so, my friends, instead of my one hour drive into work today, i did the laundry. and instead of answering the 35 emails that i have already received today, i packed a picnic lunch. and instead of adjusting the budget, booking ads, reviewing agreements and generally getting shit done, i had a shower, made espresso and blogged. the simple joys.

i'll let you know what we get up to on this glorious sunny FRIDAY.

Girl quits her job on dry erase board, emails entire office (33 Photos)

if you haven't seen this yet i highly recommend it. happy monday.

sunday rainday

1. The best day ever was i'm going to take this question literally because thats what i do and say that you should only get one best day ever so i'm going to say i am still possibly waiting for that day. although its POURING rain outside right now and i can hear kids having the best time out there and i remember one afternoon my brother and i were allowed to put our bathing suits on and run around in the front yard while it rained and that was a pretty wicked feeling. i remember our neighbor saying i was 'graceful' running around and to a little girl who wanted to be a ballerina that was pretty much the nicest compliment ever.

2. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast because i am one a huge yogurt, fruit and granola kick.i went from not eating breakfast to eating this and holy crap it makes me feel incredible.

3. This weekend is almost over. bummer. but on the plus side i relaxed the crap out of this weekend. and made a delicious bc salmon dinner last night. went to the market, cleaned, vacuumed, bought bbq accessories and read in the park. i didn't really have any serious plans for the weekend. friday night driving home from work my college and i were talking about what we were doing - she had a few plans to meet up with friends. my plan was finishing a 1 liter bottle of white wine that was left over from last weekend.

which reminds me.

4. Never in my life have I haha i LOVE playing never have i ever. Never have i ever....driven a car without a seat belt.

5. The only thing better than fresh sheets is sleeping in a hotel with fresh sheets! this is kinda sneaky but jay got thursday to saturday off this week and i might umm be cough sick COUGH. not sure where we are going yet but it will be somewhere and it will be the first vacation we have had together in almost a year. heck it will be the longest consecutive time we have been able to just be together in months. i work the 9-5 and he works nights and weekends. tragedy.

6. I could really do with some tylenol. or for the pressure outside to break. my head feels like its shrinking.

7. The most recent thing I bought myself was spray paint to paint the ugly green desk a clean shade of white. glad i didn't start that with the rain that is coming down now. last weekend i found this ammmmmmazing creamy white colour cable knit blanket at the st. lawrence antique market. its 100% cotton and it feels like the perfect sweater when i'm wrapped up in it. its also extremely practical for the hot nights and cool mornings we are having. completely practical therefore justified.

see other lists at the little things we do