Welcome to the weekend at the cottage! Here are a few things that have been happening around here lately, including some of what’s caught my eye out there on the Internet. Grab a cup of coffee or tea, or maybe treat yourself to a hot chocolate or a glass of wine (it’s five o’clock somewhere!), and settle in for some reading and browsing.

Out and About

It’s here! Spring is about to burst forth all around us here in Southwestern Ontario, as you can see in this photo that I took yesterday. Not only has it warmed up dramatically, with some temperatures in the 20s (that’s Celsius, for all you Fahrenheit lovers wondering what the fuss is about), but we finally have days of sunshine on tap! And yes, I’m excited about it.

I know, I know, we’ve had snow as late as the May 24 weekend in the past. Might that happen this year? Doesn’t matter. After all, my word of the year for 2016 is present so I’m going to enjoy each great day as it arrives. In fact, I’m so excited about no boots! no coats! no gloves! no cold, dreary, slushy drizzle! that I’m going to clean some windows when I’m done here. Removing a winter’s worth of accumulated grime and seeing the world beyond my office through clear and sparkling glass is a great way to herald the arrival of this wonderful season. (Don’t worry, I can think of better ways to celebrate as well, and will be walking in the park again later today.)

Happening in the Urban Cottage Kitchen

If you’d like to see what’s happening in my kitchen on a regular basis, why not follow my Facebook page? I post photos of food I’m cooking (flops and all, just to keep it real), links to older recipes that are on my mind currently, and occasionally links I think my community will enjoy.

I use Instagram mostly to showcase my various creative endeavours: cooking, photography and crafting. You can even find my Kindergarten photo there! If you’re on Instagram, you can follow me (@marlenecornelis), but if you’re not, just follow this link and you can view it all in your browser.

Wherever you find me, do leave a comment or a question and let’s have a chat!

Around the Web

Pancakes! If you can’t get enough of them, here is a roundup from Food Bloggers of Canada featuring 20 Scrumptious Pancake Recipes for Breakfast, all from Canadian food bloggers. And yes, my recipe for Marlene’s Healthful Pancakes is in there. I’m proud of that recipe; it’s one of the first I ever developed, about 20 years before I began blogging (before there were blogs, in fact!). I created it to serve my children a nutritious breakfast they’d enjoy and I’ve made it countless times since, usually accompanied by maple syrup, yogourt and sliced strawberries. Good memories.

I tried making granola once and wasn’t happy with how it turned out. Next time I’m going to use this recipe from the lovely blog Strawberries for Supper as my guide. I enjoy Christina’s writing; check out what ingredient she tried once that made her granola seem “peppered with bits of hate”!

Is eating cereal too much work?

As fresh produce season will be arriving soon, many of us will be filling up our freezers. I’ve been trying to cut down on the use of plastics; these tips will help.

This is the first paid freelance article I wrote for the London Free Press a couple years ago. I enjoyed the experience, but unfortunately the supplement I was writing for ceased publication.

Recap

Here are the recipes I’ve posted since the last issue of Urban Cottage Weekend. Do check out the tropics-inspired coconut mango muffins and this primer on pre-cooking and storing grains and legumes for later use!