It's a lovely and relaxing Saturday. Nibbles to nosh!

We love to nosh on delicious spreads that go well with baguettes and crackers. They are especially nice on weekends because we are relaxed and unhurried and martinis are usually on the menu as well.

First up, we have really amazing hummus and garlic spread from Fresh n Nova that find at Whole Foods. So far this is the best packaged hummus for me. I don't know why it's so hard to find good packaged hummus! Below is the garlic spread which is very much like the famous garlic spread at local middle eastern restaurant Zankou Chicken. So garlicky and amazing.

My husband is a runner (I'm more like a "kind-of" runner!) so he was excited to get this book which has both meat and veggie recipes. The vegan recipes are clearly marked which I like. It's a gorgeous book with tempting recipes.

Pretty photos too and clear, concise recipes.

Here is the chickpea spread. I made it pretty much how it was written except I added the juice of a small lemon. It needed some brightness. I also chilled it a bit instead of serving it hot. It's really good!

And a quick olive tapenade made with chopped black and green olives, red onion, white onion, garlic, red wine vinegar and olive oil.

All together now. Let me tell you, it's all scrumptious and vegan! My husband loved it so much he wants it all again tomorrow!

Grilled veggie sandwich, Lunch plate, Garlic Sauce and Cake.

My second attempt at making a Paragon-style vegetarian sub sandwich. (See the previous post about Montreal.) I finally did it right and made it with a soft and tender french roll that worked perfectly. The grilled onions, mushrooms and green peppers were so good!

Yum.

Saturday lunch plate. Fresh bread, whole grain crackers served with hummus, garlic sauce, bruschetta and olive salad. All homemade by me.

This garlic sauce was really simple to make but I made way too much! I used instant mash potatoes since that is what I had, lemon juice, 10,000 cloves of garlic (no, not really - maybe 10), olive oil and salt. I whizzed it all in the blender and made about 2 cups.

And to celebrate the weekend, I made a cake. This is a pumpkin apple cider upside down cake. I got the idea from the Midcentury Menu blog. I liked this recipe so much I tracked down a copy of the vintage book it came from called "The Apple Kitchen Cookbook"(1967) and bought it. Watch this space for apple centric recipes!