We took a few days off recently and went to our family cabin on Qualicum Beach. We drank piña coladas, ate oysters and kind of lazed around in the sun. It was surprisingly hot when we were there, weather I feel like I haven't felt in BC since I was a kid.     I cut a pile of rhubarb from my parent's backyard before making the drive up island. I brought along the Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book (shot by the super talented Gentl & Hyers) for the task of making a rhubarb pie and was SO pleased with the result!     I love that the Elsen sisters suggest to freeze the chopped rhubarb and then thaw and drain before making the pie. Such a great tip to get a little extra juice to drain from the stalks. It's late in the season for rhubarb I'm told, but there was no shortage at my parents place.     I noticed only afterward that the recipe is quite similar to the one Jen Causey made for my, For the Love of Pie series back in 2012, also by the Elsen sisters, but I'm including the recipe here  just because I think it's worth mentioning again. And if you don't have it already, go buy the book, it's great. xo, N                         [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:24]       I can't wait for this chocolate chip cookie recipe from Tara's book. Michael and I shot the new Bon Appétit Cover, find it on newsstands now! This place looks amazing. The design and photos in this story from the current print issue of Afar Magazine are beautiful. Michael snapped this in NYC the other day, I love it. This place looks nice. And we updated the shop last week, have a look. Photos: Nikole Herriott            

    We're updating! Watch for new items tomorrow, July 31^th at 6pm EDT. In the meantime, find our NEW pantry items here sign up to our newsletter here,
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xo, HG                                                

  We have a small strawberry patch in our garden. So small that it's not really a patch at all, more like a few strawberry plants in mismatched pots on a small deck to the side of our place.     We don't get an abundance of berries, but enough that we can eat one or two a day or if we wait, enough to have with breakfast on the weekend.     That works as I've been thinking of breakfast a lot lately. We have new maple syrup over in the shop (something we're pretty excited about!) so I've been fitting it into cooking and baking whenever I can. From that came the idea of these sweet crêpes with strawberries and maple syrup.     I'm sort of a traditionalist when it comes to sweet crêpes, but I like that this recipe has beer, something I hadn't tried before. The result is really nice texture and a pretty sort of lacy feel (you can see it well in this photo). And they're simple to make. I found that 1/3 of a cup of mix worked well when cooked on an 11" cast crêpe pan. If you don't have one, I recommend this one.       On the crêpes in the photo, I topped with fresh cut strawberries, a little sour cream and a generous pour of maple syrup. You should try it, it's so delicious. xo, N                   [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:23]

      Hello! We've got a few new pantry items on the way, find the first one here. It's the most delicious seashore honey, churned on the Gaspésie Pennisula in Québec.  
It's beautifully smooth with sweet floral notes and is made by the Trigaux & Potvin families. Plus, our hand-dipped beeswax candles are back as well, find them here. And we're updating the shop really soon. Stay tuned! xo, N  

  I love a good sandwich. I especially love a good sandwich with some sort of pickle. But until recently I hadn't made my own.       I found the inspiration to give them a try when I was walking through Toronto's Chinatown a few saturdays ago. It's a brilliant place on weekend mornings. The streets are full and bustling then, the shops feel like they're overflowing with produce.       The woman I bought my onions from said she had grown them in her backyard. They were tiny and pink and sort of beautiful I thought. I like that she and other vendors form a long line up Spadina where Dundas crosses. They sell houseplants they've propagated, vegetables from their backyards and other little things. It's a hodgepodge row of tables and upside-down milk crates that runs up the curb toward College. There's something about that row of them for me, something that's kind of awesome.     All that said, try the onions. They're simple and pretty and super tasty. xo, N         [amd-zlrecipe-recipe:22] A bit of history on Toronto's Chinatowns, plus some old visuals. PHOTOS: Nikole Herriott