Hello readers! I’m posting, once again, from my cell phone.

I’m in beautiful Montreal today to take in a concert with some friends.

Just now, while walking down rue Sainte-Catherine finishing off a delicious bottle of sparkling lemonade, I noticed something quite odd about Montreal (well, at least this section of it) — there’s no where to recycle along the streets! I saw plenty of garbage cans but no recycling bins of any sort.

Ottawa has big metal disposals for garbage, paper, cans, and glass on nearly every corner but I couldn’t find a single on in downtown Montreal. It almost broke my heart to have to throw my glass bottle in the garbage. To be completely honest, I did carry it around for about an hour looking for somewhere to recycle it but to no avail.

Are you from Montreal? Do you really not have public recycling bins? If so, why couldn’t I find any downtown?

I did, however, notice that Montreal has rent-a-bike stations and just as I was thinking to myself “yeah, but who uses them?” I saw about 15 of them go by in a row — looked to be a group of tourists. Great way to see the city!

So Montreal: You win some green points but you lose some too. I haven’t made up my mind yet if you’ve broken even though. I’ll get back to you, I suppose.

Alright, alright — you got me. It’s not Cinco de Mayo, but can’t we pretend?

The weather’s getting colder and soon there’ll be… *brace yourself* …snow on the ground.

With the long weekend finally here, why don’t you get in one last hurrah with this tasty organic Margarita recipe?

Ingredients:

• 3oz of 4 Copas 100% Agave Organic Tequila
• 2oz of freshly squeezed organic lime juice
• 1oz of simple agave syrup
• Topped with some organic sugar and kosher salt for the rim

Method:

1. Prechill your glasses.
2. To make the simple syrup add:1 part agave nectar,1 part organic sugar &1 part water to a sauce pan and cook & stir over low heat until the sugar is disolved.
3. Next fill your coctail shaker with the tequila, lime juice, syrup and ice and shake unitl until mixed and cool.
4. Mix up 2 parts salt and 1 part sugar and put it in a dish.
5. Now dip the rim of your chilled glass in the sugar/salt mix, it should stick. **Make sure you do this before you fill your glass with Margarita. Don’t ask
6. Now strain the Margarita into your glass and enjoy!

My house is actually full of candles in beautiful glass jars. I’ve always loved candlelight. But after reading about how toxic some candles can be (here and here and here), I’ve decided to switch to soy, non-toxic, clean burning candles.

There are a variety of candles that fit the bill out there, but the ones I’ve ordered are called Pure Malie Candles. Out of all the reviews online, these candles seemed to have the most positive feedback. And they come in delightful scents, too: Pikake, Plumeria, Coconut Vanilla, Koke’e, Organic Mango Nectar.

The candles are made from clean-burning waxes and are petroleum-free with 100% cotton wicks.

I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new Coconut Vanilla candle and will definitely let you know how it works out!

I wish you could smell things through the internet. Their website is quite pretty though and I can almost taste/smell the fruit in the banner!

This is definitely something I would have up in my home. In fact, I’m considering the possibility right now while staring distainfully at my current crappy-plastic/glass and wood 1970’s era chandelier.

What a genius idea for recycling old wine bottles! And believe it or not, this one right here is from Pottery Barn.

I think that personally I’d prefer one solid colour — ie. all green bottles — but I bet you could find some really cool coloured bottles out there. Though, you’d have to drink all the wine before you could hang up the bottles. But that’s nothing that a big wine and cheese party at your house couldn’t solve, right?

And what’s better for that wine and cheese party than cheese platers made out of flattened wine bottles? Brilliant.

Alright, story time: My cookbook has a lemon section, can you tell? This cookbook was part of my inheritance from my grandmother who loved to cook. She and I spent a lot of time cooking together and everything I know about cooking I owe to her. Sadly, it’s in rough shape — there are Reader’s Digest clippings Scotch taped in and newspaper clippings attached to pencil-written recipes. My grandmother couldn’t read much past a 4th grade level but loved the pictures from recipe books and worked very hard to make her cooking adventures result in these professionally done picturesque Good Housekeeping entries.

This was my favourite and, hilariously enough, it was her most hated. She wasn’t a fan of melon of any kind. And turning to this page, I’ve noticed a note with an asterix: “*This is the one bambi lickes”

It’s true. I do. So hey, if you make some and love it, thank my grandmother.

Ingredients

• 4 cups cubed ripe cantaloupes
• 1 lemon, juice and rind of
• 3 cups sugar

Method

1. Place the cantaloupe in a bowl and add the lemon juice and rind.
2. Pour the sugar over the top (make sure it’s good and saturated!) and let stand overnight.
3. Transfer to a large kettle and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until thick.
4. Let cool to room temperature, then stir to keep the fruits evenly distributed.
5. Pour in hot sterilized glass jars and seal.

Makes about 4-5 cups.

This is the perfect summer drink — the addition of grated ginger really gives the lemonade a delicious zing! I drink lemonade at least 5 times a week every summer so I’m always looking for ways to jazz up my ordinary lemonade and trust me, this recipe’s perfect.

I’ve just recently – thanks to this green project – have switched up my favourite recipes from standard grocery store purchases to healthier, green choices. And let me tell you, organic fruit and vegetables are so much more delicious! I find that this recipe in particular is much better with organic lemons and ginger. Try it out for yourself!

Ingredients

• 10-12 medium organic lemons (scrub them well, slice them thinly)
• 3 tablespoons grated fresh organic ginger (crystallized ginger works well enough, but fresh is best)
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (I’ve switched to raw sugar as I like the taste much more)
• 5 cups cold water

Method

1. Mash lemons, ginger, and sugar (and salt, if using) in large, deep bowl with potato masher or wooden spoon until lemon slices give up their juice, sugar is dissolved, and juice is thickened to syrup consistency, about 4 minutes.
2. Pour half the lemon slices and syrup through large sieve over bowl; press on solids with masher or back of wooden spoon to release as much liquid as possible. Discard solids; transfer liquid to serving pitcher. Repeat process with remaining lemon slices. Stir in water until blended.
3. Chill well and stir to blend before serving over ice.
4. Enjoy! No, really. Grab yourself a good book and some sunglasses and go sit outside! Enjoy the summer while it’s still here.