Grilled Flatbread with Pesto, Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Posted on July 25, 2013 by

Last summer, I had a pretty fun dinner party with some of my friends. Everyone brought over a dish and we had a little potluck! I’m planning on having another one soon and I’m going to have to make this recipe for it!

Usually when I share a recipe, I say it’s “easy” or “quick”. I’ll tell the truth and say that this one does take a little bit of time, but that’s only because of the flatbread aspect and assembling. There is a bit to do, but the end result is definitely worth it.

flatbread

My family members were the lucky firsts to try this recipe out, and I think we all agreed that it is “a keeper”. Also on the table was some marinated chicken skewers and Greek salad. A wonderful summer dinner!

Recipe makes 2 flatbreads

For the pesto, you’ll need:

  • 3 cups packed fresh basil leaves
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 pine nuts

Combine basil, garlic, cheese, olive oil and nuts in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend to a smooth paste. (Makes 2 cups)

For the flatbread, you’ll need:

  • 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 heaped teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 heaped tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried herbs or spices, such as thyme, parsley, sumac or crushed fennel seeds, optional
  • 6 tablespoons olive oil

Mix your flour, salt, baking powder and herbs or spices (if using) in a large bowl, using a fork. Make a well in the centre, then pour in the olive oil and about 150ml of warm water. Use the fork to gradually bring in the flour from the edge of the bowl, and add another splash of water if it’s too dry. Once started to combine, use your hands to bring the dough together.

Dust your hands and a clean work surface with flour and knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (5 to 10 minutes). Put the dough back into the bowl, dust it with a bit more flour, then cover and leave to relax.

Divide your dough into two balls. Dust a surface with flour, and roll both balls into long rectangular shapes. Each flatbread should be about 1cm thick.

Grease a barbecue or in a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat. Cook them for a few minutes on each side and check the underside – you want them to puff up with a nice bit of golden colour.

NOW, you can assemble!

You’ll need:

  • 1 punnet cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 2 cups arugula or mixed greens
  • Half a log of goat cheese
  • Pesto

Spread a layer of pesto over both flatbreads. Top with arugula, tomato halves and goat cheese. Serve!

Post a picture with #yourstrulyg if you make this!

yourstrulyg

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Strawberry Thyme Lemonade

Posted on July 21, 2013 by

Summer drink time!

This recipe is dedicated to the handsome and amazing Sanford 🙂 This guy was lucky enough to get a bottle of this tasty drink today along with some Nutella popsicles. (More yummy stuff is coming next week Sandy 😉 )

strawburry drank

I got this recipe from ww.chezus.com

You’ll need:

  • 1 pint of strawberries, hulled
  • 5 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/ cup water
  • 1 cup of fresh lemon juice, about 5 lemons
  • 3 cups of water

strawberry

  1. Place the strawberries, thyme, sugar and 1 cup of water into a saucepan.
  2. Over medium heat bring to a boil.
  3. Lower the heat to a low simmer.
  4. Simmer for 30 minutes.
  5. Remove from the heat and let cool.
  6. Strain through a fine sieve.
  7. Place the strawberry syrup, lemon juice and water into a pitcher.
  8. Stir.
  9. Serve.
  10. Enjoy

Have fun making this recipe. If you do, post a picture on twitter or instagram and use the hashtag #yourstrulyg. That’d make me so happy.

Also a shout out to the BEAUTIFUL J Morr. She’s an inspiration.

yourstrulyg

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DIY Galaxy Tie-Dye

Posted on July 12, 2013 by

It’s the time of year for tie-dying! Oddly enough, I’d never actually tried tie-dying before this. I’m happy to say that my first try happened to go well! I’ll be honest and let you know they didn’t turn out exactly how I pictured them (the traditional tie-dye style), but in this case, it was a good thing.

gracieMy cousin Gracie, modelling the double swirl shirt

gwynSingle swirl

The trick for this pattern is to use a cotton polyester blend shirt. The dye does not sink as well into this type of shirt, leaving more white as a result.

Below are some step by step photos of how to complete this DIY. As you’ll see, I attempted to use the traditional “twisting of the shirt” technique, but it didn’t turn out perfectly in both t-shirts. The twist definitely helped to create a pattern though!

For one shirt, you’ll need:

    • 1 cotton polyester blend shirt
    • 1 tsp red powdered fabric dye
    • 1 tsp blue powdered fabric dye
    • 1 tbsp dye salt
    • 3 cups water
    • Elastic bands
    • Rubber gloves
    • 2 containers

1

For the single swirl:

Pinch the middle of the folded shirt and twist, until you’ve created a ball (almost like a cinnamon bun). Secure with elastics.

Put on your rubber gloves! Mix each dye in separate containers with 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2 tbsp dye salt. Cover and shake to mix.

Place your shirt ball onto a protected surface. Begin to pour your dyes over the shirt however you like. Once one side is completed, turn the shirt over and repeat on the other side. Place the shirt in a plastic bag and leave for 5 hours.

Unwrap your shirt and rinse under water until it runs clear. Wash and dry the shirt.

2For the double swirl:

Fold the shirt in half lengthwise. Repeat steps from the single swirl above.

Now go out and sport your fancy new DIY shirt! I hope you enjoy this tutorial and share it with your friends. Gracie and I had a great time making these, and it was wonderful to have her company. She’s a pretty awesome cousin. Check out her blog here.

yourstrulyg

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Nutella Popsicles

Posted on July 9, 2013 by

Another blog post from the cottage, and this time it’s popsicles! The only problem I have with making popsicles is the waiting. It’s hard to make something so delicious and then wait overnight for them to freeze! But let me tell you – these were worth the wait. I’m serious. These guys are outta this world.

popsicles

This recipe is one my friend Jack shared with me, so if you try these out and love them, it’s Jack you should be thanking!

You’ll need:

  • 2 cups milk
  • 2/3 cup Nutella

Mix ingredients in blender until fully combined. Pour into popsicle moulds, and freeze for 3 hours or overnight.

Makes 12 popsicles.

Another popsicle recipe is on the way, so check back soon. Grandmom saw a strawberry coconut milk something-or-other on Dr. Oz, and thinks I should try it. I’m lucky I have her! She gives me so many blog post ideas!

They’re really addictive…watch out.

yourstrulyg

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Homemade Salsa

Posted on July 2, 2013 by

Now that its officially summer, I’ve been at the cottage quite a bit! This salsa was the perfect thing to have with a bowl of tortilla chips on the back deck. Most of the ingredients you should already have in your kitchen, so that’s a bonus!

Salsa

If you’re not into spicy food, this recipe is for you. The garlic gives just the right amount of kick, without throwing a whole chilli in!

I put this recipe together this past weekend after my Grandmom threw out the idea of making a salsa! Afterwards, I discovered that the recipe is very similar to a Mexican dish called pico de gallo. It is a condiment made from chopped tomato, white onion, cilantro and chillis (typically jalapeños or serranos). This recipe does not include the chilli, but you can toss it in there if you’d like!

Here’s the recipe! You’ll need:

  • 4 ripe tomaotes, diced (I used beefsteak, but plum or any other type would work)
  • 1 small white onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix! Refrigerate, or serve immediately with tortilla chips!

VOILA! Shortest recipe I have ever posted.

yourstrulyg

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A Purrfect Pair

Posted on June 5, 2013 by

Today I won’t be sharing a DIY project or recipe, but a film instead! A Purrfect Pair is my latest stop motion animation about a dog and cat who spy each other at the veterinarian’s office and instantly fall in love. After being dragged away from each other by their owners, they dream of what their life together would be like.

A Purrfect Pair

I entered this film into the ViewFinders NBC Universal Film Challenge and made it to the finals, which was incredibly exciting! Now it has been selected for the People’s Choice Gallery of the YoungCuts Film Festival! It is competing against other great short films for three spots in this year’s final selection. In order to get there, it needs VOTES! I would really appreciate it if you would go watch and vote 🙂

CLICK HERE to vote

So, how did I make this film? I had always been inspired by Andrea Dorfman, a local filmmaker, after taking a ViewFinders workshop with her. I was incredibly honoured to be along side her in the CBC Atlantlic Shorts Gala in the Atlantic Film Festival last year. In her stop motion film, she used paper, a technique I had never tried before! I decided to test it out, and came up with a storyboard for A Purrfect Pair.

I created all my characters and sets out of paper and tried out filming…but it didn’t go as smoothly as I planned. SO – I imported everything into the computer, used Photoshop in some places, and finished up the film with Final Cut Pro X. I am very happy with the results, and learned A LOT more about editing in the process.

I can’t wait to head to the University of Advancing Technology in the fall to learn even more!

I hope you enjoy the film! Please share it around 🙂

yourstrulyg

Posted in DIY, Films | 1 Comment

Baked Fig and Goats Cheese Salad

Posted on May 16, 2013 by

Every time I see a new Bondi Harvest video in my Youtube subscription box, I get incredibly excited. It’s like getting a little present every week!

Bondi Harvest is an online cooking series starring Guy Turland and is filmed in beautiful Bondi, Australia. Every one of Guy’s videos shows off this amazing place! He films on the beach, by the water and even on his rooftop! I absolutely love this series (if you haven’t been able to tell already 😉 ) and am really excited to share it with you. I honestly believe it hasn’t received the amount of attention it deserves.

salad

“Baked Fig and Goats Cheese Salad” was the first Bondi Harvest video I ever watched and I instantly fell in love with the recipe. Can you guess why? ….GOATS CHEESE. That’s always the answer. Goats cheese. Goats cheese. Goats cheese.

I also had always wanted to try figs and this gave me the chance. I will tell you, I was thoroughly pleased with the end result. My aunt, cousin and parents got to enjoy the salad tonight and all agreed that it’s “a keeper“! I made sure to post a picture to Instagram right away (http://instagram.com/p/ZZCh7PRu_b/).

Please check out more of Guy’s videos and make sure you go like Bondi Harvest’s Facebook page.

You’ll need:

  • 5 fresh figs
  • 200g goat cheese
  • 1 bunch baby spinach
  • 1 bunch asparagus
  • 3 strips of prosciutto
  • 1 chilli
  • 100g walnuts
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 bunch thyme
  • 1 bunch parsley
  • Olive oil
  • Salt

(Watch the video recipe here)

I hope you love the salad as much as my family did!

yourstrulyg

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