To me, food is all about having fun, experimenting with new flavours and creating enjoyable eats to share with family and friends. Working in the Chatelaine Test Kitchen leads me to so many encounters with food and foodies alike that we can't fit it all into the magazine. Follow along while I work on photo shoots, test new dishes and even put dinner on my own table. There'll be lots of behind-the-scenes tidbits, recipe tips and tasty photos of the one thing we all can't live without -- food.
Monday night’s great dinner in New York city.
Snack dragon
I had a taco with chorizo sausage, cilantro, sour cream, cheese etc. on a fresh blue corn tortilla.
This place is a cute and kitschy take-out hole-in-the-wall.
http://www.myspace.com/snackdragon
The next place I went for more eats and a unique cocktail is a SECRET. This place is a throw back to the speak easy era. So it required a password and a strange telephone booth. But because I loved it so much I won’t divulge the full details.
The decor there was great! Here’s what our “bartender” bear served up:
Concord grape and sake cocktail. Note: the interesting flavoured sprays in the top left background. These were sprayed into the glasses for an extra flavour boost.
A bacon-wrapped deep-fried hot dog with truffle aioli. Sounds over the top, and it was, but it was also delicious.
This week I’m on vacation. I know, I know I’m not supposed to work on vacation but I can’t resist sharing some of the great eats I’ve had so far. Throughout the week I’ll post pics of what I’ve had. Right now, I’m in New York City and on Thursday I head to Boston.
Here are some of the samplings I’ve had so far:
Breakfast/lunch today at Clinton Street Baking
http://www.clintonstreetbaking.com/
Biscuit breakfast: Biscuit, scrambled eggs and cheddar, bacon and TOMATO JAM plus hashbrowns. Delish!
Southern breakfast: fried eggs, SUGAR COATED BACON, fried green tomatoes and cheese grits.
I’ve capitalized the favourites but everything was incredible. OK, off to shop now.
Enjoying a pot of tea on a Sunday is a great way to spend the afternoon. So that’s exactly what I’m doing as I post this blog. As I waited for the tea to steep, I hunted for cookies in my cupboard. And I found treasure! Jules Destrooper butter crumble Belgian waffle-style cookies – They’re delicious and perfect tea cookies.
My friend Isla brought these lovely butter crumble cookies back from Belgian when she visited at Christmas last year. I must have forgotten about this last box. What a find. But now, I’m sad to be eating the last cookie as I write this. So I checked to see if I could purchase these butter crumble cookies here in Canada. It turns out I can. They have an online store that ships to Canada. You can even order cute little personalized tins with pictures of your loved ones. They’d make a great cookie Christmas present. Here’s the website:
http://www.destrooper.com/start/home/en
I was sad to see the very last issue of Gourmet magazine arrive a couple of weeks ago. Since I work at a magazine that specializes in food (although in a very different way from Gourmet) I found myself wondering what the editors are getting up to now. Here’s an interesting article about Ruth Reichl, what’s she’s doing now that Gourmet magazine has closed.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2010155302_pacificptaste08.html?cmpid=2628
I like Ruth’s closing quote to this article (see below). These are dinnertime words to live by.
“When people tell me they don’t have time to cook, I tell them no, no, no; what you’re telling me is that you don’t have time to shop. If you took 30 minutes on the weekend to plan what you were going to cook all week, you could make sure you had everything on hand. If you knew what you were going to cook, you could cook dinner every night in less than 30 minutes.”
This quote makes me wonder – What if there had been more of Ruth’s relaxed cooking approach in Gourmet magazine (over their lavish layouts and really great articles)? Would they have reached more readers cooking needs and managed to stick through these tight times? What do you think?
Robin Hood is turning 100. To celebrate they are holding bakeshop classes for the Month of November. What a great idea! I haven’t gotten a chance to attend any of the classes but I bet they’re great. Robin Hood flour is such a reliable ingredient, I’m sure they’re recipes and classes are too.
Here are the details:
What is Bake, Batter and Roll?
• A hands-on, pop-up bakeshop where parents and children can experience baking together
• A free, month-long, interactive bakeshop conceived and presented by Robin Hood Flour in honour of its 100th anniversary
• A unique, fun-filled spot where imagination meets baking, designed to ignite a passion for baking in all who visit
Bake, Batter & Roll locations:
• The Bake, Batter & Roll shop is located in midtown Toronto at 1034 Eglinton West, between Bathurst and the Allen.
• Bake, Batter & Roll mobile stations will be making their way through western Canada during the month of November including stops at:
o West Edmonton Mall > November 7th and 8th, 2009
o Cross Iron Mills in Calgary > November 14th and 15th, 2009
o B.C’s Richmond Centre > November 21st and 22nd, 2009
• Families can participate virtually from the comfort of their own kitchen by visiting www.robinhood.ca/bakeshop
Who can visit Bake, Batter & Roll?
• Bake, Batter & Roll is free and open to the public!
o Appointments must be made for the Toronto location, and visits to the mobile stations will be on a first-come, first-serve basis
o Due to an overwhelmingly positive response, the spots for the Bake, Batter and Roll Toronto bakeshop have filled to capacity quicker than expected. Names are still being accepted for the waiting list however, and consumers can register by visiting www.robinhood.ca/bakeshop
• Bake, Batter and Roll will live online at www.robinhood.ca/bakeshop
What will you find at www.robinhood.ca?
• Visitors to www.robinhood.ca will have direct access to Bake, Batter & Roll activities including:
o Online how-to recipe demonstrations
o Online timers to track the progress of their baked goods
o A Bakery Boutique where parents and children can create and decorate their own treat
o Baking certificates for participants
o Decorating tools such as stencils
What kind of recipes will be available?
• Visitors to Bake, Batter & Roll will have the choice to bake one of the following wildly imaginative treats:
o Bug Collection Cookies
o Cookie Pizzas
o Aquarium Cookies
o Funny Face Cupcakes
o Cupcake Caterpillar
o Baby Bird Cupcakes
How long will Bake, Batter & Roll be running?
• Bake, Batter & Roll will run daily through the month of November
Bake, Batter & Roll hours of operation and session schedules:
• Bake, Batter & Roll Bakeshop – Toronto
o Monday – Friday (2 sessions)
4:30pm & 7pm
o Saturday & Sunday
9am, 11am, 1:30pm & 3:30pm (4 sessions)
• Bake, Batter & Roll on the Road – Mobile Unit
o West Edmonton Mall: Saturday, November 7th & Sunday, November 8th, 2009
Event Hours: Saturday: 10am-9pm
Event Hours: Sunday: 11am-5pm
o Cross Iron Mills: Saturday, November 14th & Sunday, November 15th, 2009
Event Hours: Saturday: 10am-9pm
Event Hours: Sunday: 11am-6pm
o Richmond Centre: Saturday, November 21st & Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
Event Hours: Saturday: 9:30am-7pm
Event Hours: Sunday: 11am-6pm
