This Friday, July 4th, a ton of local artists will be opening a show at Cyclelogik, a new mostly bike shop / kindof coffee bar in Wellington Village to celebrate their grand opening. Running with a theme of “Bicycles” you’ll see work from local artists, jewelry designers, fashion designers, textile artists, photographers and more – including me!

Since I know the first thing *I* do when faced with a giant list of artists is try and figure out who they are and if I already know their work, I’m including some handy links for you below for artists whose websites I could find without having to resort to googling obscure text strings. Enjoy! And I hope to see you there. Come say hello!

abi lyon wicke
Andrea Stokes
Christina Ballhorn
Erin Robertson
Jenny Mcmaster
Karina Bergman
Katie Dutton
Laura Twiss
Maria Lezon
Mary Spicer
Patti Normand
me!
Sarah Hallman
(and more!)

warm potato salad, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

The last few months have found me practically addicted to Food & Wine magazine (though I do very little reading about the wine part), and I’ve finally succumbed and ordered a subscription.

Tonight we tried a recipe from their “Best New Chefs” issue, though I modified it somewhat based on what we had on hand. I was skeptical at first, roasting potates in my warm third floor apartment, but it was totally worth it. It even got a double-thumbs up from Brett, which is always a good sign.

Warm Potato Salad (adapted from Food & Wine, July 2008)
Serves 4 as a side salad.

• 1.5 lbs white potatoes (we used potatoes fresh from the farmer’s market)
• 1/4 + 3 tbsp olive oil (extra-virgin)
• salt & pepper (we used sea salt, and smoked sea salt, and freshly ground pepper)
• 2 tbsp grainy mustard
• 1.5 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cups fresh spring mix, washed and dried

Steps:

1. Preheat over to 425 F. Cut potatoes into bite-sized wedges. Scatter on a ridged baking sheet and drizzle 3 tbsp olive oil over top. Toss with your hands to coat evenly and spread out in a single layer. Top with salt and pepper, and roast in oven for approx. 25 minutes, turning them halfway through to ensure that nothing sticks to the pan.
2. In a small container, add 1/4 cup olive oil, mustard, and red wine vinegar. Cover/seal and shake to mix. Set aside.
3. Toss potatoes with onion and arugula. Add dressing to taste and toss again. Serve warm.

warm potato salad, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

cat tent tragedy, originally uploaded by mintyfresh.

The kitties very favourite Royal Canin cat tent (free with a bag of “BabyCat” cat food about a year or so ago) has finally started to come apart (quite literally) at the seams.

No other cat tent has compared to this one in “we like it” levels with the kitties – Trixie, Honey and Hugo have made it their hangout for the last four weeks and now that they’re big enough to play, they’re dragging it around the house, flipping it on its head, and testing out it’s capabilities as a trampoline. They *love* this tent. And so has every other cat that’s come before them.

But there are no more….even an email to Royal Canin asking if I can buy/find another resulted in nothing (or shall I say, no return email.).

This means sad cats.

Updated to say: Aww! There are no tents left, but they’re sending us a little cat tunnel instead! Hopefully no one eats it.

Updated again July 2nd to say: it arrived! They love it!