February 2012
1 post
1 tag
Chicken Pot Pie: Need I Say More?
by Trish
Ask anyone when the the last time they had a homemade savory pie and I’d venture the answer would be a very, very long time. Sadly, even the stuff you get from the neighborhood pub is usually straight from the freezer. It’s not entirely surprising, chicken pot pie certainly isn’t the worst option in the freezer aisle, and it beats rolling pastry. But if you find...
October 2011
8 posts
1 tag
Let’s Not Be Paternalistic About Food
by Trish
Food policy is in the news lately. Denmark has a fat tax, Americans are overweight, why you should be a locavore, these are just a few topics I’ve seen in recent weeks. For a refreshing take on food policy, check out a great article by Adam over at the Amateur Gourmet about keeping food in perspective. Read it!
1 tag
Bar Nuts So Good, You Could Even Skip The Beer...
by Trish
Sure, it looks like a bowl of cashews. A bowl of cashews with a bit of annoying greenery poked in it. But really all I can say about these is that they’re really, really good. Good enough to stand on their own rather than play second fiddle to a foamy beverage. Yet simply enough to require no more skill than the ability to turn on your oven.
Bar Nuts
You can use...
1 tag
The Alphabet in Bacon
by Trish
File this one under “way too much time on your hands.”
Henry Hargreaves, a Prada model and photographer, has made a rendering of the alphabet in an Old English font made entirely out of bacon. The project took Hargreaves and his assistant two days to complete and about 15 lbs of bacon, which they made into bacon jam after they finished.
Why this is newsworthy, I cannot...
Cellars: Not Just For Wine
by Trish
Bill Sysak from Stone Brewing Co., a phenomenal brewery from California, explains how you can cellar certain beers for several years like you would wine.
Read the entire article at The Kitchn.
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Foodies Team Up To Stop Mega-Quarry
by Trish
What does mining and food have to do with each other? Well, not a heck of a lot. Unless you’re a well-renowned Canadian chef donating your time to raise money to stop a huge mining project. Which is exactly what Foodstock is.
It all started with a proposal for a mega-quarry near Orangeville, Ontario to mine limestone. The quarry would be a pit-mine covering over 3 miles and dug...
Quebec Announces Lowering Drinking Age To 14
by Trish
It must be a big week for booze, because here’s my second alcohol-related post this week!
The Province of Quebec announced earlier this week that the drinking age will be lowered from age 18 to 14 for general consumption and 12 if you are at home with your parents. This move is the first change in the drinking age in Quebec since 1972 when the drinking age was lowered from 20 to...
1 tag
Wine Hits The Taps
by Trish
Visiting my family over the holiday weekend, my sister and I wandered down to a local bar after dinner for a drink. It’s a small town, and while this particular place is one of the cleanlier establishments, it has a very casual vibe with TVs showing college football, a popcorn machine, and some comfy leather chairs. I ordered a pint of beer and my sister a glass of red. But when...
1 tag
September 2011
8 posts
1 tag
OCD (Obsessive Chopping Disorder) Cutting Board
by Trish
Does knowing the difference between a large dice, medium dice, and small dice cause you to lose sleep? Do you agonize over if you cubed vegetables are actually 1/2 inch?
Me neither.
But if you’ve got a friend who’s more food-engineer than cook, the Obsessive Chopping Disorder Cutting Board would be a great and probably really useful gift. And given that’s...
2 tags
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Overly Complicated (But Totally Worth It) Chili
by Trish
These last two weeks I have been on a streak of cooking failures. New recipes turned out mediocre at best. A batch of potato leek soup is still lurking in the back of my fridge, untouched. It was a tough week for my kitchen.
Maybe I should have then fallen back on a tried-and-true recipe, but instead I decided to block off my entire Saturday afternoon to attempt to make a chili recipe...
1 tag
Man Breaks Into Fast Food Restaurant, Makes Some...
by Trish
It must have been one extreme case of the midnight munchies to cause 19-year-old Hachem Gomez to stop and fix himself a snack after he broke into a Illinois fast food restaurant.
Police arrived at the Mr. Beef and Pizza restaurant around 3:30 am to find the suspect microwaving himself some chicken nuggets and fries. Surveillance videos showed Mr. Gomez breaking in through the...
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A Field Guide to Obnoxious Eating
by Trish
There’s at least one in every office, the person who is blissfully unaware that their food related habits cause their coworkers to cringe. The Wall Street Journal rounds up most of the common office food offenses here. Read them; it could be you.
via The Food Section
1 tag
Drop The Mix: Pancakes From Scratch Are...
by Trish
Pancakes can be polarizing things. Some like them thin and crispy. Others, including myself, opt to put the emphasis on ‘cake’ and prefer them light and fluffy. Fluffy pancakes mean better absorption of maple syrup, and really isn’t a pancake just a big syrup sponge anyways?
While there are lots of great variations for pancakes (buttermilk, banana, blueberry,...
August 2011
12 posts
Worst Kitchen Gadgets
by Trish
The folks over at Food Republic have compiled an amusing list of the “Top 5 Kitchen Gadget Fails”. It must have taken some restraint to limit the list to 5 as kitchen stores are brimming with useless junk to clutter up your kitchen.
If I could round out the list, I’d like to add those ridiculous avocado slicers and the utterly idiotic Egg Pillow. I’m always...
2 tags
Adorably Tiny Mini Pops Are Made From Popped...
by Andrew
Plain popcorn is already a pretty healthy snack alternative if you avoid covering it in excess mounds of salt and butter. But apparently these Mini Pops, which are like popcorn but made from sorghum grain, are even better. Not only are they gluten free, but they’re also lacking the outer husk that you usually end up spending half an hour picking out of your teeth after eating a...
1 tag
Salmon Rillette (Spread)
by Trish
We all have the friends who abide by their own clock. Love them as we may, they’re an unpredictable bunch when it comes to scheduling/meeting. They are the reason you always keep a book in your purse. They are the reason you’ve gotten so good at Angry Birds. And they are the reason it’s good to have a ready-anytime snack for when you invite them to dinner.
Besides...
1 tag
Shrimp Po' Boys With Chipotle Mayo
by Trish
Wanna bring the bayou to your apartment without having to flood the place? po’ boy sandwiches are your answer! A Louisiana staple, po’ boys are fried seafood on a hoagie with lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo. Adding to the po’ boy sandwich is supposedly heresy, in which case I should warn you that this post is sacrilege. I chose to pan fry the shrimp and swapped out...
1 tag
How Not To Decorate A Cupcake
by Trish
If you see nothing wrong with the above cupcake, then congratulations - you’re a mature human being. I, however, am not. What do I think about when I see the round, brown, swirly pile on that cupcake? I’ll give you a hint: it ain’t frosting.
Maybe the bakery I got this cupcake from is just naive, but strangely enough the turd-cake is turning up at many different...
1 tag
T-Rex Writes A Recipe: Dinosaur Comics Goes Foodie
by Trish
I was delighted to stumble across this special edition of Dinosaur Comics done for Saveur Magazine where T-Rex shares his recipe for chili. (Click the comic for a larger version.) If you’re new to Dinosaur Comics, it’s a web strip that features the same six static panels with different text each day. It’s funny, so you should read it!
Apparently T-Rex makes...
1 tag
Arugula Salad With Poached Egg
by Trish
This little beauty of a salad is the perfect light and quick dinner for one. It comes together quickly, is delicious and healthy, and doesn’t require much more than boiling a pot of water. You can also use just about anything sitting around your fridge. It would be great with beets and goat cheese, leftover chicken or salmon, nuts or any sort of cheese you have. Just don’t...
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Sausage Balloon Animals Are Perfect For...
by Andrew
The next time you’re hosting a birthday party for kids, forget about hiring a clown to make balloon animals. Instead, hire yourself a talented chef to twist together these adorable sausage animals. There’s no risk of them popping, which usually results in crying and wailing, though wrangling them away from tiny hands, slapping them on the bbq and then serving them up on...
2 tags
Murray Street And The Quest For The Perfect Pulled...
by Andrew
Most quests are undertaken with a definite goal or ending in mind. But I have a quest that I hope never ends. It’s to find the perfect pulled pork sandwich, and I sincerely hope I never, ever find it. With this quest the hunt is far more enjoyable than the ultimate goal I think. Besides, if and when I do find the perfect pulled pork sandwich it means I no longer have a reason to...
1 tag
EcoTensils: Solving Problems That Aren't Really...
by Trish
Meet the EcoTensil, a fully biodegradable paper utensil. This little bit of paper can be folded into a spoon-like shape and is aimed at replacing the non-biodegradable plastic tester spoons found at most ice cream stands. Turns out those plastic spoons take hundreds of years to break down in landfills, while the EcoTensil will break down in mere weeks. Plus, because they’re flat...
2 tags
"How To Make A Carrot Darth Vader"
by Andrew
There are a lot of basic skills an aspiring chef should learn. Knife and chopping techniques, how to perfectly cook pasta and most importantly; how to carve Darth Vader from 3 large carrots. Thankfully that last one is covered by this tutorial posted over on My Sushi World. Now all you need is a step-by-step guide on creating a pickled radish Obi-Wan Kenobi and your next sushi platter...
July 2011
21 posts
1 tag
A Toast To Friday
by Trish
It’s the Friday before a long weekend, and I shall make a toast. To College Humor, and their playful article about recipes that just use toast.
Bon appetit!
2 tags
Chicken Breasts To Impress
by Trish
Chicken breasts are a go-to for many because they’re easy to cook, readily available, and familiar. Unfortunately, most chicken breasts aren’t particularly good, tending to be dry or rubbery, under-seasoned, and bland. This recipe is infinitely better than the standard boneless, skinless chicken breast and is also really easy to make. I think it’s impressive enough to...
1 tag
An Evening At The Waterfront Night Market
by Trish
Feeling adventurous?
If you think you’ve seen it all, then I challenge you to check out a Night Market. The weekend festival is a recreation of the poplar evening markets in Taiwan, Hong Kong and other East Asian countries. They’re outdoor treasure troves of street foods that are as bizarre as they are delicious. Armed with my Cantonese-speaking friend, we ate our way...
1 tag
Recyclable Cooler Good For The Environment, Not...
by Trish
For some reason, urban-dwellers like myself feel a strange obligation in the summertime to leave our cozy, air-conditioned life and spend a weekend in flimsy nylon structures. This process entails buying expensive equipment you will rarely use, attempting to slink out of the office early, spending hours stuck in traffic, and being feasted upon by mosquitos. All in the name of...
1 tag
Peugeot: Forgettable Cars, Amazing Pepper Mills
by Trish
For years I struggled with a cheap pepper mill from Walmart. It was nice looking and came with a matching salt shaker, but it was miserable at grinding pepper. For most dishes I would simply battle through, twisting the grinder furiously until my wrists were sore for a measly sprinkling of black dust. When I needed a lot of pepper, I poured peppercorns in a baggie and took a...
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Vanilla Bean Scones a la Starbucks
by Trish
I pretty much like everything on Starbucks’ menu, but lately a particular favorite has been their Petite Vanilla Bean Scones. I like that the scones are small, mildly sweet, and tender. This is a welcome change to the bland, dense scones that inhabit most coffee shop pastry cases.
In reality, most scones come out bland and dense because they’re tricky to make. I’ve...
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Chechnya Becomes An Even Bigger Buzz-Kill By...
by Trish
Health officials in the Russian republic of Chechnya announced on Monday that the energy drink Red Bull will not be available to individuals under the age of 18. Health officials likened the drink to beer, calling into question the health consequences and declaring it un-Islamic.
The largely Muslim republic already has strict limitations on the sale of alcohol and forces...
1 tag
Ketchup Salt?
by Andrew
I have my doubts it tastes as good as just straight-up Ketchup, but often times eating a whole mess of fries smothered in the red sauce can be a messy affair. And, if you’re out for lunch while at work, even the tiniest drop on your shirt can brand you a total slob the rest of the day. So if just a shake or two of this Ketchup Salt results in even a remotely similar flavor,...
1 tag
DIY Vanilla Extract
by Trish
Vanilla tends to be an overlooked and under-rated flavor. It’s plain white ice cream. It’s a slang for things that are ordinary, boring and unexciting. It’s a smell we all recognize and in the recipe for practically every baked good. Vanilla doesn’t often get to appear front and center in a recipe. Which is a shame, because vanilla packs a whole lot...
1 tag
Parmesan Pencils: Cheese Meets Adorable
by Trish
There aren’t a heck of a lot of foods that aren’t improved by shaved parmesan. And now with these adorable pencil-shaped cheese sticks you can add parmesan to everything on-the-go while not seeming like a weirdo who carries around hunks of cheese with them.
Each ‘pencil’ is actually made of parmesan cheese, with a ‘lead’ of pesto, chili, or...
1 tag
Fries And Self-Loathing In Smoke's Poutinerie
by Trish
Eating poutine is essentially a self-destructive behavior. It’s ‘how-to-take-5-years-off-your-life’ in a carton. It’s an oozing brick of fat, sodium, and cholesterol that does every organ in your body a major disservice… except your tongue.
Leading the pack in the poutine diet disaster is Smoke’s Poutinerie, a fast food shack that sells nothing but...
2 tags
Roasted Red Pepper Sandwiches
by Trish
There are a few lessons I’ve learned in the kitchen.
More butter never hurts.
Hot sauce covers a multitude of sins.
Never doubt Ina.
By Ina, I’m referring to the lovely Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. Her recipes are always bang-on and never fail to be delicious and impressive. Be this as it may, when I flipped across the recipe for Roasted Red Pepper and Goat...
3 tags
Bahn Mi! Get Your Vietnamese Sandwich On
by Andrew G
As with other food-making projects I’ve undertaken recently (including an epic BBQ you may hear about here soon) the theme of my Banh Mi dinner was escalation. It starts off with an invitation to dinner, or a suggestion to make something simple, like a nice piece of fish with roasted vegetables and potatoes. My response could be summarized as “eh, boring!”
(Now...
2 tags
Williams-Sonoma Star Wars Cupcake Stencil Set
by Andrew
Williams-Sonoma seems to still have a monopoly on Star Wars-related cooking merchandise, and quite frankly, I’m still not impressed. They seem to be concentrating their efforts on pancake moulds and cupcake kits, including this latest addition to their collection, decorative stencils. For $9.95 you get 4 designs including Vader, Yoda, a Stormtrooper and the iconic Star Wars...
How To Eat 6,000 Calories A Day, Tour De France...
by Trish
It’s July, and that means it’s time for France’s little bike race!
Ok, it’s not little. It’s perhaps one of the most grueling sporting events in existence. Attempting to finish, much less win, a 3,400 km race means that cyclists in the Tour face an uphill battle to keep their nutrition in tip-top shape throughout the three week ordeal. Because many...
3 tags
Strawberry Cake
by Trish
Here’s how the summer usually goes as I see it. After months of seemingly endless winter, spring arrives and brings locally-grown produce with it. Sweet and juicy peaches and berries, lovely tomatoes and corn on the cob. You get really excited, and buy lots. Which turns out to be more than a single person could ever possibly eat. But you’ve got good intentions! You, my...
1 tag
Locavore Movement Does Something Useful For A...
by Trish
You’ve probably heard of the local food movement. It started out as something benign with good intentions. “Hey, let’s encourage people to eat the awesome food that’s being produced right around the corner from where they live, rather than buy the stuff that’s been shipped from halfway around the world!” It was all fine and grand, but then somewhere...
1 tag
Happy 4th Of July! Now Get Inside And Bake This...
by Andrew
We don’t care how you spend your 4th of July, as long as it includes taking some time out to bake this impressive stars & stripes cake which was originally posted on 17 and Baking a couple of years ago. The flavors of the cake, and even the frosting, are open to your own interpretation. But we suggest following the simple and clean design as closely as possible for the best...
2 tags
Taste Test: Chips Ahoy! Middles
by Andrew
Now that I’m of an age where I can operate an oven without adult supervision, I can bake chocolate chip cookies whenever I please. So I haven’t bought the pre-made store variety, particularly Chips Ahoy!, in a few years now. They can’t really hold a candle to a cookie that’s come fresh from the oven, but damned if Nabisco (Christie here in Canada) isn’t...
1 tag
Fried Chicken Cookies
by Andrew
The best part of these ‘fried chicken’ sugar cookies, besides the clever crushed Corn Flakes topping, is the presentation. I had no idea KFC would sell you an empty bucket for just 25 cents. You can find the recipe over on Bake at 350, though it’s really more of an instructional guide since you’re left to your own devices to create the chicken leg-shaped sugar...
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Ontario Craft Beer Week At barVolo
by Trish
Craft Beer Week comes but once a year, and every year I regret not making it out to more events. With local breweries taking over bars, hosting special events and cooking up interesting food and beer pairings; it’s a great showcase of some lesser known and often quirky experimental brews. And as part of Craft Beer Week, barVolo introduced its new pet project: House Ales.
If...