I'm in the middle of a week-long visit to Saskatchewan and, lucky me, cooking inspiration is around every corner in this beautiful province. From the vast farm fields to the homegrown meals I have been enjoying, there is a lot to love about life on the prairies. I will be sharing even more about my experience in the days to come, but right now I'm simply enjoying the prairie life and feeling inspired.
Here are my wishes for this weekend:
Start planning our next family camping trip
Inspiration: The Busy Baker's compilation of 25 delicious recipes for your next camping trip.
I always take the simple route with camping food in the planning stages, then end up wishing I had done something a little more special. Where will we go next? I'm hoping it's British Columbia's Okanagan region for some hot weather and fresh, juicy peaches.
Flip through a great cookbook
Inspiration: The 2015 Taste Canada - The Food Writing Awards shortlist.
There are some great-looking books on this list, some of which I have read but several I have not. There are even cookbooks on my own shelves I haven't really flipped through properly. Time to get reading and soak in some inspiration.
Enjoy someone else's preserves
Inspiration: Christina's strawberry preserves with vanilla bean which I saw her making live on the Periscope app.
When you make your own preserves, you eat them a lot. Or at least you do if you make a lot of them. But sometimes seeing how someone else prepares something and having a taste can inspire you to try out new ideas in your own kitchen. Plus, you get to eat preserves.
Eat an icy treat
Inspiration: Jan's ice cream sandwich pops are too easy and too cute.
Sometimes a cold, creamy treat with sprinkles is all it takes to make you feel like a kid again. I am definitely making these for my ice cream sandwich-loving kids when I get back home to Victoria.
Drink a cold one and then maybe eat some beer too
Inspiration: Food Trend TV's feature on beer beyond the glass.
Sometimes food trends are eye-roll worthy, but this one makes sense to me. Beer flavoured mustard, jelly and ice cream? Bring it on.
Have a summer weekend to remember, everyone!