These days, I often feel very very scattered. I have thoughts and ideas and dreams and goals spewing from my ears (I mean like smoke shooting out both sides sort of shit). I have laundry piles that never seem to get folded, even though it feels like all I am ever doing is folding laundry. I have three businesses that I am attempting to build, two children that I am attempting to raise, and then there’s that marriage thing too.. I have friendships I adore and cherish and am always trying to find time for. I have my body, heart, and mind that I want to take care of.. (my mere 5k a week is all I’ve been finding time to fit in lately.) I haven’t been out for a ‘cinq à sept‘ (happy hour in french) in, well, I actually have no idea how long. Our happy hours currently consist of dinner and bath time.

These days, it seems, I spend most of my time in the kitchen. And ironically, this is by choice.. I mean, if you had asked me 6 years ago if I liked cooking, (let alone did it), I would have probably responded with something like, wait, what’s that??. The kitchen has become, for me, a place where I can focus. Where I can get creative. Where I can try new things. Where I can put on music and get messy and make mistakes and sip on some delicious red wine while doing it, of course.

And then, the best part at the end of all of this, is that I get to feed my people. And that grounds me and brings focus and calm and peace into my crazy, short, often stressful days. This is my new cinq à sept, and I must say, as surprised as my 27 year-old self is about it, I am totally  ok with it.

It’s been chilling down at night here in Québec City, and I’m finding myself starting to crave some of my staple fall foods and spices. I threw this sort of play-by-play version of a sort of autumn swedish meatballs dish together with some frozen meat we had in the freezer and some fresh veggies the girls and I had picked up at Marché du Vieux Port on Sunday. My favorite part about living in a big farming community, is that you always have fresh, local stuff at your fingertips. The rosemary and thyme on the potatoes, and the little bit of allspice I threw in last minute into the meatball sauce(which I made with coffee creamer btw… ha!), added just the perfect touch of cool weather comfort, while the buttery corn still had us holding onto the tail end of this summer season.

I devoured my plate, and the girls ate about 2/3 of theirs, which is impressive for them. All in all, I think I can say that it was a pretty successful dish!