Cooking: Spiced Kale Shaksuka

I thought I would share this recipe I tried last week. I randomly flipped through the Impatient Foodie cookbook by Elettra Wiedemann when it came into the library and the recipe caught my eye. I made it during one of the cooler rainy days when I actually wanted to be cooking instead of just throwing stuff on the bbq. The author also apparently has a blog that I had never heard of but looks like it has some interesting ideas for vegetarian meals.


The recipe is for Spiced Kale Shaksuka. It's a great way to use up any greens and/or tomatoes you have around.

The cookbook. No other recipe really grabbed my attention so back to the library it goes.

What it's suppose to look like.

Ingredient list. I used beet greens instead of kale because that's what we had. I didn't chop them up super small and Isaiah complained that it wasn't very scoopable with the long stems. So next time, maybe I should actually follow the recipe. I cut the recipe down a bit and used 4 eggs because 6 seemed like way too many for 2 people and poached eggs do not make good leftovers. The recipe says it serves 6 and uses 6 eggs so I guess we eat more than we should.

1) Not browning garlic is very hard. 2) It took longer than 4 min for my eggs to poach in their little wells. Maybe they weren't deep enough? It took about 6 min and I peaked many times after the first 4 minutes. It did not ruin anything. 3) I cooked everything in a mid-size pot because I thought it wasn't enough food for a 12-inch skillet when I cut it by 1/3. It probably would've been fine in the skillet but the pot worked great too.

Yum!

Served with hamburger-type buns. Great recipe for when you're craving eggs but want more than eggs and toast.

Pictures of Mt. Carleton

We survived the wilderness of New Brunswick! We spent 4 days at Mt. Carleton (3 nights) and hiked everything. Well, all of the peaks at least which felt like everything. We got pretty wet on Sunday and again Tuesday night but it was worth it. The views at the top were amazing, and the stars there at night are unbelievable. It's considered a "dark sky area" and you really notice the difference when looking at the stars. Totally worth the long drive. I tried to take pictures of the stars but all I got was a black screen. This weekend has been a much needed relaxing-stay-at-home few days.

Lake Sunday evening

Isaiah out for a paddle. When I went out, it downpoured.

Up the trail to Mt. Sagamook.

Made it! Quick lunch then onward to the next peak!

Top of Mt. Head!

Woohoo, but we must go onward!

Success!

NB can be so pretty.

Rewarding sunset that night.

Burning things.

Top of Mt. Bailey the next day while Mom and Dad went for a kayak.

Super fun rock cliff on the way down.

And a blueberry snack.

A trail marker being eaten by a tree.

Burning all the wood on the last night!

I'm on a bit of a hiatus.

I spent the last week in Yarmouth at the cabin and this weekend I'm off to the wilderness of Northern NB to hike. So I'm going to say I'm on vacation because I haven't had any time on the computer to write. I'm still very excited about my book contract! Hope everyone is having a great August!

I'M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!!

Back in December I mentioned that I had submitted the manuscript I had been working on about my transplant story to a publisher. I thought it would be fun to try going through official channels of publishing instead of doing it myself this time. After being asked for the full manuscript a few months later (one of the more exciting emails in my life) and then asked to revise and resubmit, I got the following email:

And I signed the contract with Nimbus on Wednesday!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

I'm stoked. I feel like a real writer!

The publishing date is going to be sometime in Spring 2019 which feels very far away but the publishing industry does not move very quickly. They also want to give a lot of time for editing and revising. It's going to be very different and a much longer process than my self-published experience.

But it's also more exciting to be working with a real publisher. So many more things to think about. I need to get headshots done! Eek!

Look for me on your bookshelves in 2019!!