Quaintrelle Weekender

Four ways to a better weekend.

Welcome to Quaintrelle Weekender.

This is a short list of things I am currently loving to make eating, drinking, and hosting easier and a lot more interesting.

We’re somewhere between the mid-point and two-thirds of summer. A summer that’s largely been a literal wash-out in Toronto. But today is supposed to be gloriously rain free, so I’ve spent the morning in the kitchen whipping up a fresh batch of bacon burgers in anticipation of a sunny outdoor dinner with friends and family.

Currently, I’m reading Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín. Everyone is absolutely gushing about it, but I’m having trouble getting into it. Ergo, it’s not officially part of this week’s recommendations. I’ve vowed to stick with it, however, since a billion people can’t be wrong. I’ll report back.

Also, if you haven’t discovered my friend

Maddie Burton

’s newsletter, On the Cusp, check it out. Her writing is reflective, insightful, thought provoking, and touching. It’s also often light hearted, offering glimpses into her renovated office, tips on what to pack for hiking, and a record of her pizza making adventures. In fact, I guest star in that last one, offering a wine recommendation for her first foray into pizza.

To Eat

Cake Salé

Don’t sleep on this most excellent and thrillingly easy recipe from Saveur.

I am in no way a baker. The rigidity of measuring and weighing gets on my nerves, so I’m decidedly a free-wheeling cook in the kitchen. However, being a major fan of apéro and all things savoury, Saveur had me at lardon. And me, being me, I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I decided to do a little digging. What is this magical cake and why hadn’t I heard of it before? Well, I didn’t have to look very hard, as loads of articles – from Melissa Clark in NYT Cooking to Epicurious to everyone’s baker BFF

Dorie Greenspan

– touted the brilliance of this savoury bread. I followed the Saveur recipe to a T, and it came out perfect. Now that my confidence has been emboldened, I’m dabbling with other flavourings like olive and capers, sun dried tomatoes, parmesan, rosemary, jalapeños, roasted red peppers… just not all at once.

To Drink:

Sgroppino

Toronto will finally get a short break from the rain today (but it’s scheduled to come back on Sunday!) and temperatures are going to hit the low 30’s. When the heat is on, I look to the effortlessly chic and sweat free-Italians. How they stay stylish in their inferno summers, I will never know. Sgroppino, a dollop of lemon sorbet in a glass of prosecco, is a sophisticated slushie to take the edge off.

To Read:

Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink

I spend a good deal of summer on my lawn chair, G+T or Limoncello Spritz (recipe linked below) in one hand, absorbing read in the other (usually I have one non-fiction and one fiction on the go.)

Right now, I’m feeling the nostalgia of a time I’ve never known and revisiting many old food and wine essays from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and listening to The Way We Were.

Secret Ingredients is a fabulous collection of essays written from its beginning in the 1920’s right through to modern day musings. The New York Times cheered in its review that you couldn’t ask for a more dazzling collection of writers, and that is absolutely correct.

To Listen:

Books, Beach & Beyond

When I’m not on my lawn chair, and instead road tripping through Ontario, or simply wandering around Toronto, I’m generally absorbed in a great podcast. (If you see me wandering down Bloor St. with a furrowed brow, that’s not RBF; I’m pretending I’m the podcast guest and I’m developing my witty retort. It’s a real banger.)

I’ve recently discovered this book podcast hosted by summer read queen, author Elin Hilderbrand and Nantucket Book Festival President, Tim Ehrenberg. I’ve totally binged the first season (my fave, with the hilarious Taylor Jenkins Read, author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six is a must listen for any book lover). The duo are now about four or five episodes into Season Two, so I’m trying to pump the brakes so I don’t run out of episodes.

Hey – did you know if you check that little heart at the bottom or the top of this post, the magic internet fairies will show it to more people? And, seeing little hearts all lit up just makes mine light up too.

If you like reading Quaintrelle, it would mean so much to me if you could share it with a few like-minded winos, foodies, travellers, and party throwers.

And if you feel like saying hi, I love to hear from you.