guilty pleasures #1

Oh, I've got them, do I ever! So here we go, the first of many, I'm sure...

...these remind me of the dog (har har) days of summer, afternoons down at the Exhibition with funnel cakes and ferris wheels. And lemonade, and tiny doughnuts...

You know what they say: so bad, it's gotta be good!

breakfast #3

Being the egg lover I am, I was tickled pink to receive this cute-as-a-button set over the holidays, courtesy of the sweet boy.

(He likes to joke that I'm happiest when I'm eating. I might, if I were the sensitive type, get offended if it wasn't so entirely true...)

Seriously, though. Doesn't this just make you smile?

The egg cup must be one of the best little inventions in the world, if only as an accessory that an devoted egghead (eggophile? eggoist? hee hee, it's just too silly) can appreciate. What other food demands its own tiny pedestal on which it can be worshipped, really?

tap, tap, tap...

A great gift for the great ritual of eating a breakfast of a soft boiled egg. Thanks, D!

the gift of jerk

Mmm, killer jerk sauce. Honestly, one of the coolest ideas for a holiday, nay, anytime present from our fabulous friend J. Definitely a tasty gift that keeps on giving!

J's note of holiday cheer, brought to you by a recipe for jerk chicken wings, sauce included.





Yes, these are instructions I can definitely follow.





J scoured the city looking for this specific bottle. Walkers Wood...amazing, spicy, and so, so flavourful; it's the real deal so pick it up if you can.




I would be inspired to try making my own, if this wasn't so darned good already.

And so, on this cold, cold afternoon we were definitely craving some warmth in our lives. We bought some chicken drumsticks, slathered them up in a goodly amount of delicious marinade and roasted the lot in a hot oven....oh, I wish you could have smelled the goodness!

Just a little side of brown rice and peas. See, greens!



Ummm....




...finger lickin' good.

Thanks for the wicked gift, J, you rock!

breakfast #2

Got the juice goin' today! I finally unearthed our noisy little juicer from the depths of the cupboard so we could enjoy a bit of a kickstart to the day: freshly made carrot, apple, beet and ginger juice.

Hooray for antioxidants! We've got a few tiny local Kestral Farm carrots, a red beet...

...Ida Red apples from Algoma Farms and a tiny bit of organic ginger for that spicy kick.

I love that colour...bottoms up.

hail caesar!

I always think of my great friend Steve whenever I make this salad...thanks for the lunch inspiration.

Caesar salad with sliced button mushrooms, boiled egg and parmesan shavings.

breakfast #1

Oh, Oprah. So I had my fix recently (it's my secret daytime feel-good indulgence...and yes, I sure do want to live my best life!), and found myself inspired to start my day off all healthy-like.

So instead of my usual egg/butter/salt with toast and coffee, today starts with a pretty cup of green tea, organic yogurt, toasted walnuts, organic raisins and a dollop of buckwheat honey.

(I'm thinking about an Egg McMuffin for "second breakfast" already...)

comfort food #2

An oldie but a goodie...

...yes, a good breakfast indeed!

i do love those noodles...

A bit of a working lunch today. Soba noodles in a quick miso soup with broccoli, carrot, wakame seaweed and green onions...slurp!

in the kitchen: chomeur pudding

So the weather outside is frightful, and you're craving something warm, sweet and totally indulgent; 'tis the season, after all. Well, kiddo, do I have just the thing for you!

Enter the chomeur pudding (or pouding, as they say in Quebec). This little doozy of a dish is something I first tried at Au Pied de Cochon, a spot justly (in)famous for its celebration of all things fatty and fun...just thinking about the foie poutine makes my heart beat just that much faster, for real.

Here's the deal; think warm, gooey maple syrup bathing a tender biscuit in all its sticky toffee glory. With a bit of cold pouring cream to help wash it all down...mmm, I just can't resist!


Chomeur Pudding

(I recently found out that this literally means a poor man's/unemployed person's pudding, since the very few ingredients could be found in even the barest of cupboards...so now there's definitely no excuse not to try this out!)


dough
3 eggs
6 oz butter
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt


syrup
2 cups maple syrup
2 cups 35% cream
pinch salt

Cream together your softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time until blended. Scrape down bowl and add flour, baking powder and salt.

Mix just until combined. The dough should feel quite sticky and gloppy, (that's the technical term) like a loose biscuit batter. Chill your dough at least 20 mins before using.

As for the maple syrup, um, syrup - it's as easy as bringing your cream, syrup and pinch of salt up to a simmer. Give it a stir and let it cool down. That's it!

Assembly time. You can do individual portions (may I gently suggest that smaller is better, these babies are rich) in oven safe bowls, or bake the whole lot in one large casserole dish.

Scoops of chilled dough...



...mostly covered with the maple syrup mix. And into a 350 oven.

The individual portions take about 15-17 minutes to bake. Your kitchen is going to smell amazing, by the way!

The only tricky part is letting them cool down enough so you can eat them without burning your face off. Sticky, sweet and oh sooo yummy...

...the only thing better is to have a supply of cold pouring cream handy (slightly boozed up with Jack Daniels, totally optional, but definitely recommended).

Unrepentant comfort food at its best; this is how I plan to survive the long winter ahead!